question the
past; but only here and there a response is heard. Surely bold is he who
would attempt, from the few data at hand, to reconstruct the history of
times and people so far removed. We quickly become convinced that many
centuries, and tens of centuries, have rolled away since man's first
appearance on the earth. We become impressed with the fact, "that
multitudes of people have moved over the surface of the Earth, and sunk
into the night of oblivion, without leaving a trace of their existence:
without a memorial through which we might have at least learned their
names."<1>

To think of ourselves, is to imagine for our own nation an immortality.
We are so great, so strong, surely nothing can move us. Let us learn
humility from the past: and when, here and there, we come upon some
reminder of a vanished people, trace the proofs of a teeming population
in ancient times, and recover somewhat of a history, as true and
touching as any that poets sing, let us recognize the fact, that nations
as well as individuals pass away and are forgotten.

The past guards its secret well. To learn of it we must seek new methods
of inquiry. Discouraged by the difficulties in the way, many have
supposed it hidden from the present by a veil which only thickens as
time passes. In the remains of prehistoric times they have failed to
recognize the pages of history. They saw only monuments of ancient skill
and perseverance: interesting sketches, not historical portraits. Some
writers have held that we must give up the story of the past, "whether
fact or chronology, doctrine or mythology--whether in Europe, Asia,
Africa, or America--at Thebes, or Palenque--on Lycian shore, or
Salisbury plain--lost is lost and gone is gone for evermore." Such is
the lament of a gifted writer,<2> amongst the first to ponder over the
mysteries of the past. At the present day, with better means at hand,
a more hopeful view is taken. But here a caution is necessary; for, in
attempting to reconstruct the history of primitive times, such is the
interest which it inspires, that many allow imagination to usurp the
place of research, and write in terms too glowing for history.<3>

The human mind is sleepless in the pursuit of knowledge. It is ever
seeking new fields of conquest. It must advance: with it, standing
still is the precursor of defeat. If necessary it invents new methods
of attack, and rests not until it gains its objective point, or
demonstrates the