argument.

The reign of Nebuchadnezzar was characterized by a recrudescence of
architecture and busy years of building. The great king spent his
enormous revenues in the construction of public buildings, and the land
blossomed under his influence and sway. It was inevitable that the
delvings at the site of Babylon should have brought to light some of the
palaces and works of this great kingdom. It was the custom among the
Babylonian builders to mark their public buildings, even as we do in our
present culture. Upon the cornerstone of our city hall or court house,
we engrave the name and purpose of the building, with the date of its
erection. Over the doorways of our libraries and public buildings we
chisel deeply into the building stones the name of the building and a
brief dedication. It seemed to be almost providential that one of the
first great marble palaces discovered in the ruins of Babylon was
designated by the builders themselves as “The Place of Learning.” There
captive princes were taught the learning of Chaldea.

This one discovery reopened the whole case of the credibility of Daniel.
His historicity was questioned primarily upon the grounds that _such
schools did not exist_, and captives were not so treated. The
foundational vindication of Daniel that emerged from the dust of
countless centuries, caused a re-examination of the entire structure
that criticism had reared against his integrity. The result was a
complete vindication of Daniel and his record.

The argument of philology also turned against its producers and showed
that their case against Daniel was baseless. It has been shown that
eight of the eleven alleged Greek words in Daniel’s manuscript are
Sumerian and not Hellenistic. At one time the Sumerian language was the
universal language of ancient diplomacy. As French was the language of
international correspondence until recent times, when it has been
largely displaced by English, so most of the courts of antiquity
conducted much of their business in the Sumerian tongue. This custom,
however, was discontinued by the time of the Persian conquest. If there
is any value in the argument of philology for the dating of a
manuscript, the evidence is conclusive that Daniel could not have
written after the time of Nebuchadnezzar, for the Sumerian language was
no longer in use from that time on.

The three bona fide Greek words that do occur in Daniel’s writings are
an evidence for his accuracy and historical fidelity, rather than a
source of criticism, as has been implied. These three words are the
names of musical instruments that were Greek in origin. The language of
music was and is universal and it did not take generations for such
words to penetrate to the courts of other nations. As an instance, the
reader may remember that the seven-stringed harp was invented by the
Greek poet Terpander. Assur-bani-pal died twenty-five years after the
invention of this harp. He shows it, however, upon his monuments, and
the statement is made that one was buried with the king. The Babylonian
records depict this harp under its Greek name. Thus we see that instead
of taking centuries for a Greek word to reach Babylon, this word had
become a household word in a few short years. So the argument of
philology turns out to be a boomerang which returns to smite the critic
who hurled it.

The tales that are told by dead men who have no purpose in deceiving the
living, not only enhance our understanding of this disputed text, but
bring to us irrefutable evidence of its scrupulous accuracy. The case
for Daniel’s vindication is even more graphically presented when we come
to the realm of these sections of alleged folklore and fable.

It is of course necessary that the careful scholar walk warily so as not
to over-emphasize the facts at his disposal. There is a tendency among
those who have a justified confidence in the Book of God to allow their
natural elation over the illuminating vindication wrought for the
Scripture by archeology to result in an unfortunate over-emphasis. Here
is where we face an illustration of such a tendency.

In one of the earlier excavations at Babylon a peculiar building was
uncovered which at first sight appeared to be a firing kiln in which
bricks or pottery might be baked. It was rounded in the typical shape
common to the ancient beehive, which is preserved even among some of our
kilns of the present generation. When the inscription was deciphered
that designated the purpose of the building, however, it was startling
to read, “This is the place of burning where men who blasphemed the gods
of Chaldea died by fire.” The tremendous significance of this discovery
becomes at once apparent. The tendency would be to explain with delight,
“We have discovered the fiery furnace where Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abed-nego walked with the Son of God.” Such an application of this fact,
however, would not quite be warranted. This may or may not have been the
Scriptural site of that great miracle. We can say, however, that the
three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace can no longer be consigned to
the columns of mythology and dismissed as simple folklore. This
discovery has showed us without doubt that there _was_ such a furnace as
Daniel depicts. It was customary to punish blasphemy in this fashion,
and the Chaldean monuments and annals are replete with instances of men
being burned alive, who had angered the king or rebelled against his
sovereignty.

So, then, the implacable, unrelenting voice of archeology penetrates the
innermost retreats of higher criticism to destroy, in this instance,
their familiar and favorite argument of folklore and mythology.

No less dramatic and interesting was the accidental experience of the
famed excavator Dieulafoy, who fell into what at first sight would have
been called an ancient well. Being rescued by his companions from his
uncomfortable, but in nowise dangerous, situation, they proceeded with
their work to the point of identification. The well turned out to be a
pit which was used as an open cage for wild animals, and upon the curb
was found the inscription, “The place of execution where men who angered
the king died torn by wild animals.”

Once again we must tread cautiously, for we cannot say with dogmatic
finality, “This is the place of Daniel’s experience.” We _can_ say,
however, with positive assurance that _there was such a pit of
execution_, and the only unusual feature in Daniel’s experience was that
he came out alive under the defense and protection of the God whom he
served.

In the excavation of the palace at Shushan, an ancient record was
uncovered giving a list of four hundred eighty-four men of high degree
who thus died in a den of lions. The name of Daniel was not found among
them. This might be accepted as collateral evidence that Daniel escaped
alive from that place of execution.

Even the strange experience of Nebuchadnezzar, who dreamed that he would
be turned into a wild beast and roam the fields like an ox, has also
been accredited. It will be remembered that the mighty monarch dreamed
of a tree that stood in the center of the earth and grew to an
unprecedented height. Its towering branches swept the heavens and from
all the ends of the earth its foliage was visible. Fruit hung upon this
tree that satisfied the needs of men, and the very beasts of the field
shadowed themselves under its spreading branches. Even the fowls of the
air dwelt safely therein, and all living things drew strength and
protection from this mighty growth.

The dream continued to the point where a Holy One came down from heaven
and ordered the destruction of the tree. The trunk, the branches, the
leaves, and the fruit were all to be swept away, but the stump and roots
were to be undisturbed. The heart was to be changed from a man’s heart,
and the heart of an animal was to be given it until seven times should
pass over that stump. This drastic action was explained by the Holy One
as being intended to teach the high and lordly king that only the Most
High rules in the kingdom of man, and that He gives dominion to
whomsoever He will. He has the right and authority to make the basest of
men to sit in the places of highest power and to humble the most lordly.

Upon coming to Daniel with his troubled spirit, the king sought an
interpretation of the dream. Daniel recounts that for the passing of an
hour he was so astonished and troubled in heart he could not find the
strength to speak. The king, whose kindly affection for Daniel is one of
the wonders of that day, besought him to speak frankly and not to allow
his affection and regard for Nebuchadnezzar to hinder him from telling
the complete truth to the troubled king. Daniel’s interpretation was
given in simple but graphic words: The tree which grew and reached the
heavens, whose leaves, branches, and fruits sheltered and nurtured all
flesh, was a symbol of the mighty Nebuchadnezzar. (It is true that in
the day of Nebuchadnezzar he builded a world empire, as far as the
cultured races of mankind extended.) But because of the high pride which
was natural to the human heart over such great accomplishments, the Most
High God had decreed that the king should be humbled. He should forsake
the councils and fellowship of men and sleep in the open fields, wet
with the dew of heaven; imagining himself to be one with the beasts of
the earth, Nebuchadnezzar was to learn humility.

Daniel then pleaded with the king that by repentance and restitution he
should forsake his sins and dedicate himself to the pursuit of
righteousness. Thus by showing mercy, he might receive grace and his
iniquities be blotted out.

Twelve months later the prophetic dream was fulfilled. As the king
strolled on the roof of his great palace, he surveyed the might of
Babylon and boasted in his heart saying, “This great Babylon have I not
myself built it; have I not erected this kingdom and this house by the
might of my own power and for the honour of my majesty.” While this
exalted boast was still echoing upon the king’s lips, there fell a voice
from heaven which said that the hour of the fulfillment of the prophecy
had come.

Madness fell upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he fled from the presence of men.
Sleeping in the open fields and dwelling with the beasts of the earth,
his hair grew as long as an eagle’s feathers and his nails became like
the claws of a bird. During those seven years of the madness of
Nebuchadnezzar, his faithful counselors administered his kingdom,
apparently in the earnest hope that the reason of the king would be
restored. Their confidence was justified, for at the end of seven years
the king recounts that he lifted up his eyes to heaven and understanding
returned to him. Thereupon he blessed the Most High God and swore that
he would bless and honour Him that liveth forever. He confessed that the
dominion of God is an everlasting dominion and His kingdom is eternal.
His psalm of praise exalted Almighty God above the reach of men.

When his reason had thus been restored, the king again occupied the
throne of Babylon and profited by this experience. The glory and honour
of his kingdom he henceforth attributed unto the majesty and kindness of
God. The king testified personally that the words of God are true and
His judgments righteous. He turned to monotheism, and became the
greatest convert, perhaps, that Daniel had made in all of his ministry.

This brief account of those amazing seven years is given by Daniel in
the fourth chapter of his great prophecy. The literal words of the king
are preserved for us in that historical record. This is perhaps the most
outstanding instance of critical repudiation of the text that we have in
the Old Testament. The whole record was uncompromisingly declared to be
a fabrication of a vivid imagination.

_It fell to the lot of the great Sir Henry Rawlinson to find the
original document wherein Nebuchadnezzar tells this episode exactly as
Daniel had given it._

The most dramatic and astonishing vindication of the integrity of the
text that the Book of Daniel has sustained, providentially occurred in
that field of criticism which was supposed to be the strongest evidence
that criticism possessed. This was in the realm of the historical
accuracy of the Book of Daniel. The basis of the critical contention was
right to a certain extent. Profane history possessed no record of a king
in Babylon by the name of Belshazzar. When the period of anarchy in
Babylon ended by means of the military coup that placed Nabonidus upon
the throne, it took a short while to quiet the realm and reëstablish the
authority of the crown. Nabonidus then gave himself to a period of
construction and rehabilitation. In the course of his work on the
fortifications of his capital city, Nabonidus was strengthening the
walls at certain neglected points. Delving deeply, to buttress the
foundations, he came upon the ruins of an ancient palace which had been
built centuries before by Narum-sin.

The discovery so delighted king Nabonidus that he became a confirmed
archeologist. He reconstructed this palace of Narum-sin and turned it
into a museum of antiquity. The delight of discovery drove the energetic
Nabonidus into expeditions far and wide. The administration of the
kingdom became of secondary importance to him. He had a son whose name
appears in the ancient records as “Belt-sar-utzar,” which is given in
the record of Daniel as Bel-shazzar. Upon the thirtieth birthday of his
son, Nabonidus made him regent, and the throne of Babylon was
thenceforth occupied jointly by Nabonidus and Bel-shazzar. Because the
more common form is familiar to our readers, we will from this point on
designate him by the Biblical name of Belshazzar.

The decrees and laws were signed, of course, by the seal of Nabonidus,
the senior monarch, but the practical administration was left in the
hands of the regent. This will explain why Belshazzar, wishing to honour
Daniel for the interpretation of the writing upon the wall, with which
we shall deal later, offered to make him the _third_ ruler of the
kingdom. This, of course, is eminently unorthodox! It was always the
custom in antiquity, if records can be trusted, to honour a man by
giving him the hand of the king’s daughter in marriage and making him
ruler over _half_ the kingdom. Belshazzar could not go so far as this.
Nabonidus, his father, was the number one ruler as long as he lived.
Belshazzar, the regent, was the second ruler of the realm. Therefore, if
Daniel became prime minister and had an office second in authority to
Belshazzar, _he would be the third ruler in the kingdom_.

How amazing indeed is the historical accuracy of this ancient Book!
These writers were faultless in their efforts to keep the Scripture in
line with the historical facts. In this case they have been inspired
even in their choice of numerical descriptions in the honours conferred
upon their heroic characters.

So now we peer into ancient Babylon through the telescope of archeology
and we see a quaint situation. Nabonidus, the kind and able monarch,
fascinated with the study of antiquities, has left the active control of
the kingdom to his son and heir, Belshazzar. The prince regent, however,
was not able to stand prosperity. He seems to have degenerated into a
drunken profligate who spent all of his time in the dubious pleasures of
sin. The administration of the kingdom fell on evil days during the
brief span of time that Belshazzar was in authority. As nearly as we can
build an accurate and credible chronology from the now available records
of Babylon, Belshazzar became regent in 541 B. C., and in the year 538
B. C. the Babylonian dynasty disappeared.

In those three years great and marvelous events were being shaped in the
womb of time. Cyrus, thereafter called the Great, had previously begun
his phenomenal rise to power. Apparently he had been born a minor prince
in an obscure tribe of the Medes, but was endowed with genius and
brilliancy from his early youth. The picture that is now painted of
Cyrus, as we see him in the treasured records, depicts this fascinating
personality engaged first of all in welding the scattered families of
the Medes into a close, binding organization that made them a power. So
rapid was his climb to dominion, there is no other explanation to
account for the phenomenon than that of Isaiah, who in his forty-fifth
chapter, states that the Lord God Almighty Himself had raised Cyrus to
the position of world dominion. This prophecy we shall refer to later;
but our present purpose is to show the conjunction of Cyrus with
Belshazzar.

We come to a period of time when the records are fragmentary, but it is
evident now that Cyrus the Mede became naturalized as a Persian that he
might occupy that throne and combine it with his own kingdom. When the
youthful Cyrus had combined Media and Persia into one great dominion, a
new world empire was born, although it was not immediately apparent.
After a number of successful forays and campaigns that enlarged his
possessions and strengthened his position until he felt himself to be
well nigh invincible, the ambitious Cyrus turned his eyes toward
Babylon. He realized that if he possessed Babylon, he would indeed be
the master of the earth.

Cyrus is reported to have sent an ambassador to Nabonidus saying, “Come
thou under my yoke and I will be thy protection and defense.” The modern
system of ‘muscling in’ is supposed to be a development of the
racketeers of our generation. These modern pragmatists, however, are
merely amateur performers at an old game, at which the ancients were
masters. This invitation of Cyrus, of course, could be interpreted only
one way. In the vernacular of the modern day, it was a case of
surrender, “or else.” When the Persian ambassador arrived at the court
of Babylon, Nabonidus was absent on one of his many expeditions.
Belshazzar, as usual, was in the midst of a drunken orgy and was more
concerned with the hilarity of the hour than with the future safety of
the kingdom. With that ill-guided and perverse humour which is
characteristic of the insanity of drunkenness, the Regent conceived a
brilliant jest. He caused the ambassador to be hewed into pieces and
packed into a basket which was returned to Cyrus with a note saying,
“This we will do to you and your army if you invade our empire.”

When this insult was delivered to Cyrus, the outraged king was so wild
with indignation that he could not contain himself long enough to
assemble his army. He ordered Darius the chief of his bodyguard, who was
one of his Median counselors and companions, to assemble an advance
force and lay siege to the city. While Darius invested the city, Cyrus
was to follow with the balance of his cohort. Thus the scene was set for
the most singular episode of those stirring days.

It occurred on the birthday of Belshazzar, which marked the beginning of
the third year of his regency. The ignoble king had gathered to himself
all the lords and ladies of his court, the thousand dissolute companions
who were the fellows-in-drunkenness of this king. Belshazzar again
conceived a drunken jest, which struck him as highly humourous. In the
midst of their debauch, he ordered that the sacred vessels, which his
grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the temple of God in
Jerusalem, should be brought to the table to be used as flagons for
their drinking bout. This was done, and as this godless and idolatrous
crew drank from the holy implements dedicated to the God of Israel, they
toasted the idols of Babylon and sang their praise.

Even while they were thus engaged, according to the fifth chapter of
Daniel, a hand appeared which wrote on the wall and pronounced the doom
of the kingdom. Almost at this exact hour, Darius, the counselor, friend
and commander of the vanguard of Cyrus’ army, appeared before the walls
of Babylon!

To the surprise of the great Median general, the gates of the city were
open. This is according to his own record. It being the birthday of
Belshazzar, the entire city was celebrating in a fashion made popular
and characteristic by the debauched ruler. Wine had been provided for
the guards that they also might share in the happy celebration of the
king’s natal day. The drunken soldiers had failed to close the city
gates with the coming of nightfall, and by the time Darius appeared
before the city, they were in a stupor of drunkenness. The able Mede,
skilled in all the arts of ancient warfare, moved swiftly, well knowing
the value of a surprise attack. His company, although few in number when
compared to the complete might of the armed forces of Cyrus, was
sufficient to hold the city, if it could be gained.

Daring men fell upon the drunken guards and slew them. Leaving a small
company to guard the gate and keep it open, Darius’ troops swept through
the city to the very palace of Belshazzar. Slaying all whom they met
upon the way, they fell upon the royal company with a shock of complete
surprise. Scarcely had the voice of Daniel finished interpreting the
words that the hand of God had written upon the wall, when the sword of
Darius fulfilled the prophecy by slaying Belshazzar. Darius caused the
head of Belshazzar to be sent to Cyrus with a grim and brief note,
saying “The kingdom is thine. Do thou enter.” When Cyrus, therefore,
came with his mighty company, the city already had been captured by
Darius and Cyrus had only to make a triumphal entry.

In the meantime, Nabonidus heard that his kingdom was invaded, so he
gathered a force and marched to the relief of Babylon. When he arrived,
however, he found that the city was already in the possession of Cyrus.
Acting with characteristic wisdom, he laid down his arms, surrendered to
Cyrus and cast himself upon the mercy of the great king. He was well
received, and lived as an honoured guest in the court of Cyrus until he
died a natural death several years later.

Cyrus ruled Babylon through Darius, his counselor and friend, whose
courage and strategy were rewarded when the king made him satrap of
Babylon. Herein is found a reconciliation of the apparent contradiction
between the two statements made by Darius and Cyrus concerning the fate
of the king of Babylon. Although the critics never bothered to notice
such, archeology has its difficulties as well as has Scripture.

Darius tersely recounts, “In the night that I captured Babylon, I slew
the king.”

The annalistic tablet of Cyrus, however, contains this note, “In the day
that I entered Babylon, I made the king my captive.”

The contradiction is more fancied than real. The two generals are
speaking about two different kings! Darius killed King Belshazzar; Cyrus
made King Nabonidus his captive and friend.

Because of the insult that Belshazzar had offered to his majesty, Cyrus
caused the Regent’s name to be stricken from all the available records
and thus Belshazzar’s name passed out of history and faded from the
memory of men. _For twenty-five hundred years the only record of the
name of Belshazzar that was preserved for posterity was found in the
writings of Daniel. This very historic accuracy of Daniel was the source
of a great deal of the critical rejection of his notable writing!_

The first discovery in archeology that shed light upon these events was
the prayer cylinder of Nabonidus. Upon the ascension of Belshazzar to
the regency of the kingdom, Nabonidus caused to be engraved in all the
temples of Bel a prayer for the protection, praise, and prosperity of
his son, Belt-sar-utsar. In the excavations at Mukkayyar, one of the
great buildings uncovered was the temple of the moon god. In each of the
four corners of the building, Nabonidus, who had rebuilt the temple, had
caused a clay cylinder to be buried containing the record of the work.
On this cylinder, which dedicated the rebuilding of an ancient temple
which was originally constructed about seventeen centuries before the
day of Nabonidus, the kindly king engraved the prayer for his son and
heir, to which we have previously referred.

The name of the moon god was Sin, and he was one of the chief deities of
the land of Babylon. The wording on the cylinder that particularly
interests the student of historical accuracy is found in these words:
“Oh, Sin, thou lord of the gods, thou king of the gods of heaven and of
earth, and of the gods of the gods, who dwellest in heaven, when thou
enterest with joy into this temple, may the good fortune of the temples
E-sagil, E-zida and E-gish-shirgal, the temples of thine exalted godhead
be established at thy word. And set thou the fear of thine exalted
godhead in the hearts of my people, that they sin not against thine
exalted godhead, and let them stand fast like the heavens. _And as for
me, Nabonidus, the king of Babylon, protect thou me from sinning against
thine exalted godhead and grant thou me graciously a long life and in
the heart of Belshazzar, my first born son, the offspring of my loins,
set the fear of thine exalted godhead so he may commit no sin and that
he may be satisfied with the fullness of life._”

In the British Museum, Table Case “G” in the magnificent Babylonian Room
contains these cylinders, which are numbered 91,125 to 91,128; the
cylinders of Nabonidus are many. Some of them recount his building
operations, while others give the record of his discoveries of some of
the great monuments of antiquity in the search for which he spent so
much of his time and treasure. Perhaps no single event in the long
records of archeology so startled and delighted the careful students
whose interest was in the authority of the Word of God, as did this
discovery of the name of Belshazzar. In one magnificent demonstration
archeology thus accredited the _history_ included in the prophecies of
Daniel, and shattered the conclusions of criticism beyond the
possibility of recovery.

Also in this same section and case of the British Museum, there is a
portion of a baked clay cylinder inscribed by Cyrus. This bears the
Museum number of 90,920 and is a priceless record. We are tempted to
believe in the providential preservation of this fragment, since the
balance of the tablet has been destroyed and is missing. In this
particular record, Cyrus describes his conquest of Babylon, following a
recital of some of the chief preliminary events in the early part of his
reign. He ascribes his good success to the god Marduk. He tells how he
had forced all nations to accept his standard until finally, under
divine command, Marduk caused him to go to Babylon. Because of the
significance of this statement and its bearing upon our foregoing
paragraphs, we reproduce this much of the words of Cyrus, “Marduk the
great lord, the protector of his people beheld his good deeds and his
righteous heart with joy. He commanded him to go to Babylon and he
caused him to set out on the road to the city and like a friend and
ally, he marched by his side; and his troops with our weapons girt about
them, marched with him in countless numbers like the waters of a flood.
Without battle and without fighting, Marduk made him enter into his city
of Babylon; he spared Babylon tribulation and Nabonidus the king who
feared him not, he delivered into his hands.”

The Babylonian sources of the British Museum also contain an amazing
number of highly important documents which cover every year of the reign
of Cyrus in Babylon, namely, B. C. 538 to 529. These records are
concerned with commercial transactions, legal business and documents
that deal with the personal and public life of the people. Such homely
affairs as a deed recording a loan of three thousand bundles of onions
from one man to another is legally dated by the year of the ascendency
of Cyrus. The apprenticeship of slaves to various masters in the arts
and sciences, the worship of the people, the blossoming of prosperity
under the firm but kind rule of Cyrus, all make up a wonderful picture
of those days and times. Therein are included apparently unconscious
references to the historic events that are of such tremendous interest
to those who today read the Word of God in the light of this historical
illumination.

There are, of course, also many private and public letters preserved
from this period which are found in Table Case “H” of the Babylonian
Room, where they are available to the student who cares to delve into
the minute evidences of those days and times.

We shall have to condense a great deal of this material, however, into
the one simple statement that _the Book of Daniel is historically
accredited by these voluminous records_! Thus there is only one possible
basis whereupon criticism of Daniel may be continued today. In all
kindness, but in absolute assurance, we must say that the rejection of
the historicity of Daniel by our generation can be predicated only upon
complete ignorance of an amazing body of historical knowledge that is
available to the student. Either that, or there is a sad desire in the
heart of the critic to frustrate the purpose of the Word of God even at
the expense of the surrender of personal integrity. The original
construction of the case against Daniel did appear formidable at first.
It has turned out, however, to be a tissue of falsehood, and Daniel has
emerged from the den of liars unharmed and under the continuing
protection of God, even as he came forth in safety from the den of
lions.

With the coming of Cyrus, the Assyrian and Babylonian dynasties ended
and Persian history began. Much of this period of the Persian sway was
contemporaneous with the times of the Maccabees, and is of tremendous
importance and interest to the student of the history of Israel. But
since that same period parallels the four hundred silent years, during
which the voice of God was not heard through the prophets, and sacred
revelation is awaiting the appearance of Jesus Christ, there is very
little of archeological value from those years that can be useful to the
establishment of our present thesis.

The exception to this would be seen in the case of the return of the
people to rebuild Jerusalem, and to establish a Jewish culture, so that
Jesus could be born in the land of Israel, and minister to the people of
Israel, as the prophecies had foretold. The events of this return are
told in the prophecies of Ezra and Nehemiah, which are abundantly
substantiated by secular evidence, and have thus not been questioned or
disputed by criticism to any major extent. Cyrus has left an account of
this return, and the great king seemed to be vastly elated over the
opportunity thus to show kindness to the people of Israel.

According to the record that is generally received, Cyrus the Great
signed the decree authorizing the return of the children of Israel to
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and the temple of God, primarily because
of one of those fascinating anticipations of coming events which is the
peculiar field of prophecy.

It is recorded that the scribe Zerubbabel entered the presence of Cyrus
and with the grandiloquent salutation of that day bowed himself and
said, “Oh king live forever! Be it known unto my lord the king that our
God hath named him by name in the prophecy of His sacred writings
generations before the king was born.” When Cyrus expressed a desire to
inquire into this wonder, there was brought into his presence the scroll
of the prophet Isaiah and to him was read the forty-fifth chapter. The
opening verses of this chapter contained this statement:

  “Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I
  have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins
  of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall
  not be shut.

  “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will
  break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of
  iron:

  “And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of
  secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee
  by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and
  Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have
  surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.”

This is a significant prophecy indeed! Isaiah wrote these words about
the year 712 B. C. Cyrus took over the dominion of Babylon 538 B. C. So
in this ancient prophecy the conqueror is named by name some century and
a half before he was born. His conquest of all nations was clearly
delineated and the explanation was given that God had pre-named him for
the sake of the thing that he should later do for Israel. Astounded and
deeply moved by this evidence of divine favour, Cyrus wrote a notable
decree which is preserved for us in these exact words:

  “Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, the Lord God of Heaven hath given me
  all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an
  house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all
  His people? his God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which
  is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the
  God,) which is in Jerusalem, and whosoever remaineth in any place
  where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver,
  and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the free-will
  offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

With this authority, the remnant returned to start that magnificent epic
of the history of Israel that climaxed with the coming of the Redeemer
of whom also Isaiah had written.

There is a sense of frustration that is inevitable to any writer who
attempts to cover so vast a subject as this present work in the limits
of one small volume. The difficulty has not been in finding evidence to
support the thesis that “dead men tell tales” which vindicate the
historical infallibility of the Bible. We have been embarrassed by too
much evidence! So we have sought to present only the most striking
cases, such as can be confirmed by any reader, without the background of
years of archeological education. Unlimited tons of material have been
passed over with scarcely a mention, due to the limitation of time and
space.

The author has hoped to achieve one purpose in this volume, namely, the
arousing of a definite interest in the average reader which will cause
that person to study the sacred page with understanding and appreciation
of its force and authority. “These Scriptures,” said the Apostle Paul,
“are able to make thee wise unto salvation.” It is imperative in the
light of this purpose, that they be able to sustain their claim to
divine origin as well. With the prayer that God will bless His Word to
the salvation of the many in these closing days, we have thus offered
you the testimony of men long dead, whose words nevertheless live on in
the records of tablets and tombs. And with those evidences, we have also
an increased assurance in the infallible character of the Bible, and are
historically justified in receiving it “as it is in truth, the Word of
God.”

                              BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Baikie, James                The Amarna Age
 Baikie, James                Lands and People of the Bible
 Baikie, James                A History of Egypt (Two Volumes)
 Bennett, Charles W.          Christian Archeology
 Blackman, A. M.              Luxor and Its Temple
 Boscawen, W. St. Chad        The Bible and the Monuments
 Boulton, W. H.               Egypt
 Budge, E. A. Wallis          From Fetish to God in Ancient Egypt
 Budge, E. A. Wallis          Books on Egypt and Chaldaea
 Budge, E. A. Wallis          The Literature of the Egyptian
 Chiera                       They Wrote on Clay
 Clay, Albert T.              A Hebrew Deluge Story in Cuneiform
 Clay, Albert T.              Amurru, the Home of the Northern Semites
 Cobern, Camden M.            The New Archeological Discoveries
 Deissman, Dr. Adolf          Light from the Ancient East
 Delitzsch, Friedrich         Babel and Bible
 Gadd, C. J.                  A Sumerian Reading Book
 Gadd, C. J.                  History and Monuments of Ur
 Gardiner, Alan H.            Egyptian Grammar
 Garstang, J.                 Burial Customs of the Ancient Egyptians
 Garstang, J.                 The Land of the Hittites
 Goodspeed, George Stephen    A History of the Babylonians and
                              Assyrians
 Grenfell, B. P.              Tebtunis Papyri
    A. S. Hunt
    J. G. Smyly
 Grenfell, B. P.              Greek Papyri
 Habershon, Ada R.            The Bible and the British Museum
 Hilprecht, Herman V.         Recent Research in Bible Lands
 Hilprecht, Herman V.         Explorations in Bible Lands During the
                              19th Century
 Hogarth, D. G.               Authority and Archeology, Sacred and
                              Profane
 Huffman, Prof. J. A.         Voices from Rocks and Dust Heaps of
                              Bible Lands
 Kennedy, Sir Alexander B. W. Petra, Its History and Monuments
 Kenyon, Frederic G.          Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts
 King, L. W.                  Assyrian Language (Vol. 5)
 Koldewey, Robert             The Excavations at Babylon
 Kyle, Melvin Grove           The Deciding Voice of the Monuments in
                              Biblical Criticism
 Kyle, Melvin Grove           Excavating Kirjathsepher’s Ten Cities
 Laurie, Rev. Thomas          Assyrian Echoes of the Word
 Layard, Austen Henry         Layard’s Discoveries at Nineveh
 Lynch, W. F.                 Expedition to the Dead Sea and The Jordan
 Marston, Sir Charles         The Bible is True
 Marston, Sir Charles         New Bible Evidence
 Martin, Percy F.             Egypt—Old and New
 Maspero, Gaston              New Light on Ancient Egypt
 Maspero, Gaston              Egypt—Ancient Sites and Modern Scenes
 Milligan, George             Greek Papyri
 Miller, H. S.                General Biblical Introduction
 Moulton, James Hope          From Egyptian Rubbish Heaps
 Murray, Margaret A.          Egyptian Temples
 Nelson, Byron C.             The Deluge Story in Stone
 Orr, James                   The Bible of the Old Testament
 Orr, James                   The Bible Under Trial
 Petrie, Flinders             Measures and Weights
 Petrie, Flinders             Royal Tombs
 Petrie, Flinders             Researches in Sinai
 Pilter, W. T.                The Pentateuch. A Historical Record.
 Politeyan, J.                Discoveries from the Nile to the Tiber
 Ramsay, Sir William          St. Paul, the Traveller and the Roman
                              Citizen
                              Luke the Historian
                              The Trustworthiness of the New Testament
                              in the Light of Recent Discovery
 Rawlinson, Canon             Egypt and Babylonia
 St. Clair, George            Creation Records
 Smith, George                The Chaldean Account of Genesis
 Smith, G. Elliott and        Egyptian Mummies
 Warren R. Dawson
 Stadelmann, H.               Cleopatra
 Tischendorf, Dr. C.          Codex Sinaiticus
 Todd, J. A.                  The Banks of the Nile
 Weigall, Arthur              The Life and Times of Akhnaton
 Weigall, Arthur E. P.        A Guide to the Antiquities of Upper Egypt
 Wiseman, P. J.               New Discoveries in Babylonia About
                              Genesis
 Woolley, Sir Leonard         Abraham. (Recent Discoveries and Hebrew
                              Origins)
 Woolley, Sir Leonard         Ur of the Chaldees
 Woolley, Sir Leonard         The Sumerians
 Worrell, William H.          A Study of Races in the Ancient Near East
 Wright, G. F.                Scientific Confirmations of Old
                              Testament History
 Wright, William              The Empire of the Hittites

_Publications of the British Museum_:

  A Guide to the Babylonian and Assyrian Antiquities
  The Babylonian Story of the Deluge and the Epic of Gilgamesh
  The Babylonian Legends of the Creation and the Fight Between Bel and
              the Dragon
  The Book of the Dead
  The Mount Sinai Manuscript of the Bible
  The New Gospel Fragments
  The Rosetta Stone

_Pamphlets_:

  The Bearing of Archeological and Historical Research Upon the New
              Testament. By the Rev. Parke P. Flournoy.
  The Witness of Archeology to the Bible. By A. M. Hodgkin.
  Biblical History in the Light of Archeological Discovery Since A. D.
              1900. By the Rev. D. E. Hart-Davies.
  The Value of the Spade. By the Rev. M. G. Kyle.
  The Syriac Forms of New Testament Proper Names. By F. C. Burkitt.

                               FOOTNOTES

[1]As this book goes to press, the grave of this Shishak has just been
    discovered in the famous Valley of the Kings. The first word is that
    the grave is intact, unspoiled by robbers. If this proves to be so,
    much material of value to the Biblical student will probably be
    recovered.

                          Transcriber’s Notes

—Silently corrected a few typos.

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
  is public-domain in the country of publication.

—Canonically replaced “plate number” with “plate” in plate references.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
  _underscores_.


was niggardly, obscurantist. Brushing aside details, it is easy to see
how the servant and the official masters, choosing different roads, would
ultimately part. The 'dangerous man' was outcast, and thereon he said in
ripeness: 'If my going was equivalent to recall, I have nothing to regret
in what I did. Farther, I think history has vindicated my work as a
whole.'

XVII  FOR ENGLAND'S SAKE

'Suppose,' urged Sir George Grey, 'that in my lifetime a hundred men have
died from disappointment and chagrin--that is enough to condemn the whole
system!'

He was speaking of Disraeli's discovery, that the great colonial
Governorships should go to those who had been 'born in the purple' or had
married into it. It was, in a way, a matter personal to him, because the
plan came into operation about the date his Pro-Consulship ceased. He
felt that possibly it influenced the manner of his going, and, if so,
that a wrong was done him as an individual. But he was merely bringing
out his attitude to the system itself.

'I thought it was bad for everybody. In effect, it shut the field against
simple merit; anyhow, discouraged it. A person might have all the
qualities for a Governorship, except part and parcel in the peerage. On
the other hand, it was injurious to the Colonies, because it set up men
on an eminence, not for sheer merit, but because they happened to be born
to rank. How did Napoleon Bonaparte make his army? By opening the very
highest places to whoever could best fill them.'

Governor or no Governor, Sir George Grey must still work for his ideas
and ideals, and after a little he hied him to England. Thinking, perhaps,
that it had been abrupt with him, Downing Street was affable and kindly.
But he was never, no matter how British Governments came or went, to be
more employed. South Africa yearned for a strong pilot, and he was ready
to step aboard. 'I even asked,' he said, 'to be sent back there, the one
occasion on which I ever asked for anything, but without result.'

Disraeli offered to find him a seat in Parliament, perhaps as a sort of
balm for wounded feelings. 'I put that meaning on the offer,' Sir George
remarked, 'and really it was very good-natured on Disraeli's part. It was
so, all the more, when I remembered our contest over the affair of the
Kaffir chiefs and their allowance. You see, I rather had the best of
that, and his friends chaffed him about it.' Sir George was his own
political party all through life, so far as he was a politician at all.
Disraeli asked no pledges, but, as Sir George observed, 'We were far
divided in our views, and I should have been in revolt almost before I
had taken my seat. Therefore I declined with thanks.'

Meanwhile, being free of official shackles, he hurled himself against the
movement, rampant in England, to throw off the Colonies. He was Pro-
Consul at large, under warrant of a duty for which he held himself
accountable to the English-speaking people. He doubted whether he was
not, thus, doing even better work, than he would have found to his hand
as an employed Governor. There rang from end to end of the country a
shriek of dismemberment: 'Cut the painter, chop off the Colonies, they
are a burden to us; we should confine ourselves to ourselves!'

'It is difficult,' said Sir George, 'to make anybody, who was not in that
struggle, understand it. One would have called it simply freakish, if the
possible outcome had been less grave. It was a strange fit to seize upon
the country, and unfortunately it expressed the view of nearly all the
leading statesmen. Cut the painter! You cannot imagine any sensible
person of these later, and regenerate, days having such an idea. Throw
away Australasia or South Africa! You have heard my retort on such a
demand. Who had the right, to tell another man, of the same blood, that
he was no longer a Briton, because he lived many sea miles distant? Who
could answer that? None! It was all a whimsy, a craze, a nightmare, which
will never return--Never, Never!'

Sir George instructed the country, by word and pen, on the true value and
destiny of the Colonies. He moved about, a crusader, indignant at
separatism, eloquent to knot, and re-knot, the painter. For the slash of
the knife he offered federation, and, springing therefrom, a happier,
better world altogether. He did not doubt, to his last days, that the
peril of the Empire was very real. Neither did he doubt that it was
overcome, largely by the wisdom and foresight of the Queen. 'But for her
action,' he declared in so many words, 'events would most probably have
ended in the cutting adrift of some of the colonies. She saw true, and
clear, and far, as the Prince Consort when alive had seen, and the Anglo-
Saxon race has reason to be thankful.'

Wherever he had been, Sir George Grey had endeavoured, in his own phrase,
to extend the liberties and right's of the people. 'Thus,' he instanced,
'until I went to the Cape, no judge had been appointed to the supreme
court there, except from England. On vacancies occurring, I named two
local men, both, I fancy, of Dutch family, thus breaking down a bad
custom. I felt that it was impossible to govern a nation upon terms which
hurt its manhood and dignity.' His crusade in England was on a like note,
and eventually it found him a parliamentary candidate for Newark.

'Immediately my friends heard of the vacancy,' he narrated, 'they
proposed that I should stand for it. I did so, an independent Liberal,
and I was ostracised by the party leaders, who had another candidate they
wanted to get in. I suppose I was too advanced altogether, and indeed I
preached a kind of new gospel. It included emigration; a handmaid to
federation when the Colonies had ripened. Then I was for free education,
and disestablishment all round, as a necessary thing in relation to
Christianity--in fact as one of its main doctrines. Farther, I advocated
Irish Home Rule, even drafting a short Bill, and in fine I was for a
variety of innovations.'

Apart from all else, he understood that his Liberal rival was required in
the House of Commons, to help Cardwell with military affairs. Anyhow, he
gathered that impression from a visit which Mr. A. J. Mundella,
journeying over from Nottingham, paid him at Newark. The encounter
supplied a good story, and its manner was Sir George Grey in a
characteristic mood. This was how he gravely met Mr. Mundella's gentle
overture, 'Now, won't you withdraw from the contest?'

'Yes, I quite see the difficulty. You want somebody to assist Cardwell.
However well your suggestion might obviate the difficulty, I have an
alternative which I think would equally suit. I had a military training,
I did very creditably as a student at Sandhurst, I served with the
colours, and I attained the rank of captain. I shall be glad to show you
my papers, proving my knowledge of military affairs; and altogether, if
your War Minister requires somebody to prompt him, I don't see why I
should not fill the place as satisfactory as another. 'Oh,' exclaimed Mr.
Mundella, 'there's no use in coming to you with anything, for you always
make a joke of it.' So they parted, and laughing, over the years, at the
incident, Sir George said: 'You know Mundella was a capital fellow, of
sterling ability and many qualities, but I'm afraid he was never a
humorist.'

Sir George was not to be member for Newark, since, in the long run, to
save the loss of a Liberal seat, he retired. His committee put it to him
that this was the rule of the road, and he felt it no sacrifice to quit
the field. The tribes had to be, pacified, but how different the methods
in primitive and civilised society! Two tribes fell out during his first
Governorship of New Zealand, and they must settle their difference by
combat. Sir George deprecated such things, as not being conducive to the
welfare of the Colony. No sooner did he hear of the duel, than he ordered
a warship to up-steam and carry him to the spot. He was put ashore, when
the day was breaking, at a point still sixteen miles from the combatants.
He obtained a, horse for himself, another for an orderly, and the pair
were given rein.

'I believe,' he told, 'that our first mounts proved not very good, only,
at a farm on the way, we were able to replace them with better. Our ride
was across rough country, innocent of roads, but we reached our
destination just as the campaign opened for the day. I waited a minute to
master the state of parties, then galloped straight between them, and
called out "Stop! Stop!" Amazed at my appearance, they just shouted along
their ranks "Te Kuwana"--the Maori effort to say "The Governor."

'As I had ridden into the fusilade, a chief was shot in the neck, with
the penalty that he could never afterwards turn his head. Happily he was
not looking over his shoulder at the moment, for that would have been an
awkward position in which to be left. My plunge into the battle was a
little risky, but I calculated that the Maoris would, most likely, be
glad of an excuse to stop fighting. Combatants who fall out easily,
generally are. They regard as a benefactor, anybody who can rescue them
from their scrape, with due form of ceremony and guarantee of dignity. My
order to the Maoris, desiring peace, was obeyed.'

This is the Sir George Grey whose doings you follow with the keenest
tingle of interest--Grey, Pro-Consul. But his other activities all
grouped round this signature, and they are to be read with it. From
England he went back to New Zealand, thinking he could best influence the
Old World from the shores of the New World. He sat himself down in the
remote solitude of Kawau, among his books, and every morning his heart
beat round the Empire, a morning drum.

Twice Governor of New Zealand, he was yet to be its Prime Minister, a
record which is unique. Being asked to work in New Zealand domestic
politics, he replied: 'I will be a messenger if in that capacity I can
usefully serve the State.' Yet, once more, you turn to the romance maker
and discover him taking down, by the lake side of Rotorua, that of Hine-
Moa. He rescued it, a Hero and Leander legend, with a variation, from the
Maori ages, and placed it, a pearl, among his other delvings from
Polynesian mythology. The story captured him, with its naive charm, when
first he heard it from the lips of a chief, and many should know it.

''Tis odd,' he made the comment, 'how frequently like incidents occur in
the mythology of diverse races. By what means were they communicated? As
I have pointed out, in my compilation of Maori legends, there is one of
Maui, which recalls to you the finding of Arthur, in Tennyson's "Idylls
of the King." The same legendary idea occurs; a child cradled by the sea,
none knowing that it had any other parent.'

'Now, O Governor,' spoke the Maori chief, 'look round you and listen to
me, far there is something worth seeing here.' Sir George was sitting on
the very spot where sat Hine-Moa, the great ancestress of the tribe, when
she swam the lake to join her sweetheart Tutanekai. She was a maiden of
rare beauty and high rank, and many young men desired to wed her. She
found escape from these perplexities in a long swim to her choice,
Tutanekai. But the Maori chief goes forward with the idyll, and must be
followed word for word, as Sir George wrote:--

At the place where she landed there is a hot spring, separated from the
lake only by a narrow ledge of rooks. Hine-Moa got into this to warm
herself, for she was trembling all over, partly from the cold, after
swimming in the night across the wide lake of Rotorua, and partly also,
perhaps, from modesty at the thought of meeting Tutanekai.

Whilst the maiden was thus warming herself in the hot spring, Tutanekai
happened to feel thirsty and said to his servant, 'Bring me a little
water.' So his servant went to fetch water for him, and drew it from the
lake in a calabash, close to the spot where Hine-Moa was sitting.

The maiden, who was frightened, called out to him in a gruff voice like
that of a man: 'Whom is that water for?

He replied, 'It's for Tutanekai.'

'Give it here then,' said Hine-Moa. And he gave her the water and she
drank, and, having finished drinking, she purposely threw down the
calabash and broke it.

Then the servant asked her, 'What business had you to break the calabash
of Tutanekai?' but Hine-Moa did not say a word in answer.

The servant then went back, and Tutanekai said to him, 'Where is the
water I told you to bring me?'

So he answered, 'Your calabash was broken.'

And his master asked him, 'Who broke it?' And he answered, 'The man who
is in the bath.'

And Tutanekai said to him, 'Go back again, then, and fetch me some
water.'

He therefore took a second calabash and went back and drew water in the
calabash from the lake and Hine-Moa again said to him, 'Whom is that:
water for?' So the slave answered as before, 'For Tutanekai.' And the
maiden again said, 'Give it to me, for I am thirsty.' And the slave gave
it to her and she drank and purposely threw down the calabash and broke
it. And these occurrences took place repeatedly between those two
persons.

At last the slave went again to Tutanekai, who said to him, 'Where is the
water for me?' And his servant answered, 'It is all gone; your calabashes
have been broken.'

'By whom?' said his master.
'Didn't I tell you that there is a man in the bath?' answered the
servant.

'Who is the fellow?' said Tutanekai.

'How can I tell?' replied the slave. 'Why, he's a stranger.'

'Didn't he know the water was for me?' said Tutanekai. 'How did the
rascal dare to break my calabashes! Why, I shall die from rage!'

Then Tutanekai threw on some clothes and caught hold of his club, and
away he went and came to the bath and called out 'Where's that fellow who
broke my calabashes?'

And Hine-Moa knew the voice, that the sound of it was that of the beloved
of her heart; and she hid herself under the overhanging rocks of the hot
spring. But her hiding was hardly a real hiding; rather a bashful
concealing of herself from Tutanekai that he might not find her at once,
only after trouble and careful search for her.

So he went feeling about, along the banks of the hot spring, searching
everywhere, whilst she lay coyly hid under the ledges of the rocks,
peeping out, wondering when she should be found.

At last he caught hold of a hand and cried out, 'Hullo, who's this?'

And Hine-Moa answered: 'It's I, Tutanekai.'

And he said: 'But who are you? Who's I?' Then she spoke louder, and
said: 'It's I, 'tis Hine-Moa.'

And he said: 'Ho! ho! ho! Can such in very truth be the case? Let us two,
then, go to my house.'

And she answered 'Yes.'

And she rose up in the water as beautiful as the wild white hawk, and
stepped upon the edge of the bath as graceful as the shy white crane. And
he threw garments over her, and took her, and they proceeded to his house
and reposed there, and thenceforth, according to the ancient laws of the
Maoris, they were man and wife.

XVIII  A FATHER OF FEDERATION

Mr Gladstone and Sir George Grey  ploughed different seas, under charter
from the English-speaking race. One flew his pennant in the nearer
waters, the other in the farther. Now and then they met, but briefly, as
ships do which pass in the night.

'What I saw of Mr. Gladstone,' said Sir George, 'was mostly at official
gatherings, or gatherings arising out of official life. One session,
however, during which I was in England, we dined almost every Wednesday
evening at the same London house.

'Mr. Gladstone was always a most charming personality, and I recall his
friendliness in walking up with me to the hall of ceremonies, when I
received the honorary degree at Cambridge. He also was to have the honour
conferred upon him that day, and it was considerate on his part to convoy
me along, as I knew few people at Cambridge, the result of absence from
England.

'As to public affairs, I suspect that he and I held widely different
views, at all events on some subjects. Like everybody else, I recognised
in him a commanding figure, but I am bound to say that his greatness
seemed to me to lie in carrying out ideas, after they had been suggested
by others, rather than in working them out himself.'

Sir George meant that Mr. Gladstone's genius as a statesman, was
constructive more than creative, the fashioner of progress. For himself,
a solitary idea sufficed to keep his heart warm, even in the colds of
age--the federation of the English-speaking people. In one of the last
letters he received from David Livingstone, there was the request, 'Write
me often, because you cheer me up.' It was always possible to cheer Sir
George up on federation; that set him aglow.

There were few to listen when he first preached the federal idea; he
cried in the wilderness, but he did not cease to cry. He waited long for
the echoes to come back, and they did come, with interest, too, when
negotiations for an Anglo-American treaty of arbitration went afoot.
Then, the negotiations tumbled through, whereat he said: 'Oh, the road
may be a gradual one, with hills and stops, but there it lies, traced by
destiny, and in the fulness of time it will be trodden.'

Peering into the twentieth century, one who would never see it, he
foretold that its great problem would be this of Anglo-Saxon federation.
It was not for us to dip into the future, farther than we could
reasonably behold, but so far we were not only entitled, but bound, to
go. He doubted whether any question, equal in importance to federation,
had ever before engaged the attention of so large a portion of mankind.
On that account he put forward with diffidence, the views which, after
much reflection, he had formed upon it.

By Anglo-Saxon federation, he understood joint action, in the interests
of mankind, on the part of those owning allegiance to the English tongue.
Forms and methods might take care of themselves, so the thing itself was
begotten. Yet that could only be, if the ties sought to be woven were
elastic, free and freedom-giving. He wanted a golden chain, binding men
to men the Anglo-Saxon world over, but a curb-chain nowhere.

'I am,' he spoke, 'merely expressing what is generally agreed, when I say
that the end of the nineteenth century has brought us to a critical
period in the history of the world. Systems of government do not last for
ever; they decay and have to be replaced. The most perfect of machines
wears itself out, and another has to be substituted.

'Not merely that, but the new one has to be of a different design,
adapted to a fresh, most likely a severer, set of circumstances. A man
who refused to utilise the wisdom and resources of his age in machinery,
would be regarded as a madman. It is the same in the economy of the human
family; to dread wise and ordered change is to court trouble.'

Thus, Sir George reasoned that we had arrived at an epoch of federation,
the application of which would be something new, only the conditions
needing it had not arisen before. The ancients had not discovered the art
of securing political representation, or, what the moderns called the
principle of federation. It was not necessary for the ancients, as it had
become for the moderns. Simply, the conditions of the world had changed,
and that on two planes.

In the past, there had been the continual discovery and peopling of new
countries. No more remained to be discovered; no corner of the globe
remained unknown to us. We knew what each nation was engaged in doing,
and we were able to estimate, with some measure of assurance, what it
would continue doing. Next, the mass of the people had gained a potent
voice in the management of affairs. Democracy was coming to the throne,
if it had not quite grasped all the trappings.

The key of what was to be, rested in those two facts, which made the
world so different a working-machine from what it had been. And the using
of the key was primarily confided to the Anglo-Saxon race, since it
occupied the greatest extent of the globe, and included what was ripest
and best in democracy.

'Everywhere,' Sir George showed, 'our people are working, with might and
main, to develop the resources of the earth. They are characterised by a
common language, a common literature, and common laws. Shakespeare,
Milton, the riches of our classic literature, belong as much to these new
nations over-sea, as they do to the Mother Country. The men and women of
Anglo-Saxon stock carry with them, wherever they go, the one faith of
Christianity.

'Really, there could not be anything but a unity, a oneness, in the whole
structure upon which the race rests. If the progress, in natural
federation, has been so great, through years when South Africa, or New
Zealand, was far distant from England, when there were no swift steamers
and no cables under the sea, what must it now become? Such wonderful
changes has modern science brought about, that the peoples of Greater
Britain and America are next-door neighbours to the folks in the Old
Country.

'Nay, daily and hourly counsel goes on between all parts of the world,
bringing the wisdom of the whole to each point. Communities, separated by
seas and continents, are able to discuss with each other, on the minute,
what action is for the highest interests of all. It is impossible that
the federation we see existing in the incessant congress of the civilised
world, can ever be gone back upon.'

A pretty incident of Sir George Grey's tour through Australia as a
tribune might have been reported in London next morning. This was
following the first conference, held in Sydney, on the great subject of
Australasian federation: Sir George, after a season of heather burning,
was taking ship at Sydney, to return to New Zealand. A multitude of
people streamed forth to bid him good-bye, and he walked down their ranks
to the steamer.

'As I was stepping on board,' he told the episode, 'I noticed a lad
smoking a cigarette. Being near him, I remarked quietly, "What a pity it
is to see a bright boy like you smoking! You are very young to smoke. I
am sure if you consider the expense it will lead you into, and perhaps
the injury to your health, you will not smoke."

'He looked up at me for a minute as if thinking, and then, with the
declaration, "I'll never smoke again," threw the cigarette from him. By
this time the crowd had noted what was transpiring, and they cheered the
lad again and again, much, I'm afraid, to his confusion. Now, wasn't that
a nice thing for a boy to do? It pleased me wonderfully.'

The proofs of federation by cable, which Sir George selected, were not,
however, related to himself. One was the auspicious and happy event of
the birth of a child, in direct succession to the English throne, Prince
Edward of York. 'Why,' he paused, 'that was known within an hour on the
farthest shores of Greater Britain, and the news, I can assure you,
received with as keen a joy as in England.' The second ease was the
historic London dock strike, of which he said, 'Not merely was that
struggle followed from hour to hour in Australasia, but encouragements
and assistance from Australasian workers to their comrades at home, swept
continually across the seas.'

There was already union between the different branches of the Anglo-Saxon
family, and all we had to do was to afford it assistance in growing and
forming. Ever, we must provide more adequate means for utilising the
onward tide of humanity, striving after higher ideals. We needed to have
life permeated with all the helps and lights that were possible; not to
shut these out as they became available.

There had been disturbances to the growth of Anglo-Saxon union, and
opportunities for its furtherance had been thrown away. Perhaps the
greatest disturbance was the war between the Northern and Southern States
of America. 'It arose,' Sir George noted, 'out of the one great flaw in
that wonderful creation, the American Constitution. Strangely enough, the
Constitution omitted to make any provision for dealing with slavery, and
inevitably, in course of time, came dispute and war.' Yet, the strands of
race held unbroken through that trial, and the future was secure.

Sir George Grey found himself reinforced, in so believing, by the opinion
of General Grant. This he heard from Sir T. Fowell Buxton; who had
travelled in America with Mr. W. E. Forster, while Grant was President.
The General took his English visitors for a drive, and his talk was of
military matters and his horses, until they were nearly back at
Washington. Suddenly, he went off on the subject of an alliance between
Great Britain and the United States, his hopes and expectations of it. He
added that he should not live to witness the drawing together, but he was
certain it must become a great power in the world, especially on sea.

'Well,' Sir George commented, 'if General Grant, a man of singularly
practical character, was among the prophets, I am quite content to be in
his company.'

When he talked of the federation of the British Empire, or of the larger
welding in which he had belief, Sir George would declare, 'No good
service is rendered by creating difficulties ahead. We may be certain of
this that each generation, as it comes rolling on, will hold its own
views upon every subject, differing widely, perhaps, from the views of
its predecessors. The essential thing, in all government, is to secure to
the people at large, the power of enacting the laws they deem to be the
wisest and best suited to the circumstances of their age.'

Thus, while he had worked out definite lines of federation, he was
content if principles were accepted. 'No man,' he argued, 'should presume
to lay down the law in such a matter; just let the vision be realised by
natural process. Be there the hewing of materials, and the building would
follow by and by. If it were possible to solidify the English-speaking
people for common purposes, the gain to them, and to mankind, would be
splendid. The blessings of federation were a hundredfold.

'Why,' said Sir George, 'war would practically die off the face of the
earth. The armed camp which burdens the Old World, enslaves the nations,
and impedes progress, would disappear. The Anglo-Saxon race, going
together, could determine the balance of power for a fully peopled earth.
Such a moral force would be irresistible, and debate would take the place
of war, in the settlement of international disputes. If the arbitrament
of reason, ousts the arbitrament of war, a new and beautiful world is
unveiled.'

It was because Sir George saw, in federation, a vista of brighter life
for the masses, that he was so persuaded an advocate of it, so keen a
believer in its realisation. As a result of the cohesion of the race, we
should have all life quickened and developed; unemployed energies called
into action in many places where they lay stagnant. Below federation, the
very essence of it, was decentralisation, the getting of the people
fairly spread over the earth, not huddled into a few places where decay
would follow overcrowding.

'Every section of the British Empire,' Sir George detailed this point,
'having complete self-government would contain its own life within
itself, would offer the highest opportunities to the labours of its
citizens. Whenever you constitute a new centre of authority you create a
basis of general activity, which, in its turn, has off-shoots. There
would be more employment; the waste lands of the Old World, and the still
untilled ones of the New World, would be taken up. Federation is not the
mere grouping of us together, but the settlement of problems that have
long been forcing themselves to the front. Difficulties which we can ill
solve now, which appear to block our path, we should be able to settle
with ease.'

Sir George discerned an element, not fully dreamt of, which would
immensely strengthen the federal idea. It was the influence of women,
growing to be a powerful factor in the affairs of the world. This sweet
authority would tend to keep nations from plunging into scenes of
bloodshed. It would be a blessed assistance towards the peace of the
world in times of excitement, and so a bulwark for federation, which was
the creator of peace.

Finally, the rise of the Anglo-Saxon, by means of federation, would
benefit the world in respect to religion and language kernels of all
advancement. It would mean the triumph of what, if carried out, was the
highest moral system that man in all his history had known--Christianity.
And it would imply the dominance of probably the richest language that
ever existed, our own English.

So speaking, Sir George Grey summed up: 'Given a universal code of morals
and a universal tongue, how far would be the step to that last great
federation, the brotherhood of mankind, which Tennyson and Burns have
sung to us?'

NOTE. Those who desire to study Sir George Grey's full and final scheme
for Anglo-Saxon federation, may refer to the 'Contemporary Review' of
August 1894, where it appeared as an article by the present writer.

XIX  WAITING TO GO

'I am just waiting my time to go, meanwhile doing what little I can that
may be useful to my fellow-men.'

These were the words of Sir George Grey, and none could better express
the closing years of his life. If he might sow, in some wayside garden,
an idea for the common happiness, he counted that a day on the active
list. It made him feel young again, blowing the old fires red and rosy.
Ever, he held to his tryst with Dean Stanley.

'One evening,' it had been made, 'the Dean and myself were walking round
Westminster Abbey, as the doors were being closed. It was during my visit
to England, after my last Governorship, and the Dean was full of the
restorations then being carried out on the Chapter House. Naturally, I
had the keenest interest in whatever affected the ancient seat of the
House of Commons, regarding it as a shrine of constitutional government.

'Dean Stanley wanted to show me everything, to explain the whole place.
He told me of a theory of his that the Commons, while sitting there in
the circular room, probably had no parties, so called. They were grouped
in a ring, not confronting each other sharply, antagonistically, and
everything went on with quietness. But when they moved across to St.
Stephen's, they found themselves set opposite-wise, which fact may have
tended to create the party system. That was the idea put to me by the
Dean, though how far he applied it, I do not recollect.

'Anyhow, he was anxious that I should study the Chapter House under him,
but it was too late to do it that evening. "Never mind," he said, "let us
wait until things are more complete and we shall go in together." "Oh," I
answered, "I really need not trouble you. I can look in myself one
afternoon." "No, no," he insisted, with much good nature, "I want to be
your guide. You must promise that you will not go there without me."
"Very well, then," I assured him, "I shall wait until you take me."

'The Dean and myself did not, as it happened, meet again at that period,
nor were we, by the decree of Providence, ever to meet. Thus, I shall not
see the earliest home of the House of Commons, as it has been restored,
for I promised.'

There swam in Sir George's recollection, a little story touching the
evolution of the body politic, during his own time. It was like Maui of
Maori legend, and Arthur 'by wild Dundagil on the Cornish sea,' in that
he scarce knew whence it came. He inclined to link it, a whiff of airy
gossip, with two of the most strenous middle Victorians, but would hold
no names certain.

'At all events,' he said, 'the Cabinet was formerly a smaller body than
it now is, and less formal in its proceedings. The members would drop in,
with the newspapers in their hands, and take a chair, here or there, as
the case might be. A quite large Cabinet being created, the Prime
Minister suggested, "Gentlemen, had we not better sit round the table?"
The suggestion met with approval, and the Premier made to take his place
at the head of the table. Thereupon, a colleague caught up a chair, put
it beside that of the Premier, and sat down with the remark, "There is no
such thing as a President of the Cabinet."'

For a good while, Sir George Grey spoke of himself as being in England,
only to bid England farewell. Some fine morning he would pack his trunks,
and sail south to those who knew him best. Every step in New Zealand was
a greeting; in London a mile was bare. Once he did pack his trunks, but
the fine morning never arrived.

When rallied about that, Sir George defended himself, 'I suppose I want
to see what I can do, as one of your most eminent statesmen did, in his
youth. He went to a small island, then connected with the family
property, and studied laboriously for a whole winter. He desired to
establish what was in him, what exertion he was likely to be equal to, in
the world's affairs. Then, lest trouble should ever befall him, he,
another time, went into lodgings to test how little it was really
possible to live upon. I don't recall at what figure the experiment
worked out, but it was a ridiculously small one.'

A spirit, kindred in its attitude to the seriousness of life, animated
Sir George Grey, even as he spoke. Affairs in England seemed critical,
and he would stay on to watch them, since any hint might be of import. In
London there beat the heart of the Empire, and he would keep his ear to
it. He heard most clearly through that trumpet, the endless roll of
London's traffic. Moreover, the great city, while she hardly nodded to
Sir George, smote him afresh with the spell which is hers alone. Oh to be
in London!

So dates moved past, and Sir George Grey, as he waned under the growing
load, realised that he and Greater Britain would be no more together.
That thought he parried, not liking to admit it, but the painter was cut
when he resigned his place in the Parliament of New Zealand. It had to be
done, therefore let it be done; but it was a shock, like losing a limb to
the surgeon.

A hail from Greater Britain became thrice welcome, and that of Mahomed
Naser Eben took Sir George by siege, especially its quaintness and
literary touch. When Governor of the Cape Colony, he sent word up-country,
by David Livingstone, that he would be glad of any manuscripts
throwing light upon the Greeks and Romans in Africa. To a British
man-of-war, making patrol of the Mombasa coast, there rowed out a boat,
having a respectable old Arab gentleman in the stern-sheets. He handed
up a parcel, desiring it to be delivered to Sir George Grey at Cape
Town. Sir George had left South Africa for New Zealand, and the
manuscripts, as the contents of the bundle proved, were sent after him.

'But nobody could read them,' he stated, 'until here, as I learn, an
Assyrian gentleman has been visiting Auckland. What is my surprise, on
opening this envelope, to find everything made clear in English,
including Mahomed Naser Eben's letter to me. He addresses me as a cavern
of hospitality, which is very handsome, and a phrase with a true Oriental
flavour. Unluckily, he appears to have got lost for two years in that
part of Africa marked Oman on the map. Hence a delay with him, in sending
the manuscripts, but he need not have apologised, my single feeling being
gladness that he discovered himself again.'

It was nigh forty years since Mahomed Naser Eben wrote, and in the
interval many skies had changed. Two had been apart, a sundered heaven,
the doing of that tragedy which ever lies in wait upon romance. But they
came together, as the clouds were gathering, and upon them the sun ray of
Mahomed Naser Eben could sparkle. Sir George had scarce mastered the
mystery of his epistle when he was drawing out a reply to it. His only
doubt was whether the erudite Arab might not have changed his address!

'We are about the same age,' Rewi imparted to Sir George Grey in New
Zealand, 'and when I go, your time will be approaching.' Sir George
recalled this, on hearing that Rewi had been gathered to his Maori
fathers. He was buried in a grave which 'The Governor' had selected, near
the spot where the last fight took place between the Maoris and the
English. 'We should lie together,' Rewi also held, 'as being the two
people who brought peace to New Zealand. Sir George's voice shook when
telling this proof of Maori affection, as his eyes turned dim at reading
an address sent him, to fabled London, by the men of that race in the
Cook Islands.

'Our word to you, O Grey,' they saluted him, 'is this. We wish you
happiness and health, and to know that our love goes forth with this
letter. We wish to tell you that your name will never be forgotten by the
Maori people in these islands Many of us knew you in New Zealand, but all
have heard of the great things done by you, for European and for Maori,
in that country. May God's blessing rest upon you, and give peace and
happiness to you, who have done so much for the peace and happiness of
others, in your long and honoured life.'

An illness brought that life very near the ebb, and friends wondered, of
an evening, if next morning they would hear his simple, tender, 'Good-bye
to you.' Sir George waited ready, abiding in the faith, witnessing of it,
'Man should have religion as his guide in all things. I feel that God
communicates with His creatures when they please. He lets them know what
is right and wrong, even argues with them.

'It was a comfort to me, in trying hours, to feel that I was working
according to the way of my Maker, so far as I could comprehend it.
Perhaps I most experienced this nearness of an all-wise Providence while
I was amid the heathen acres of the far south. You seemed to be communing
with the Great Spirit more intimately in these lonely haunts than
elsewhere. I have always been supported by the belief in God's goodness,
as manifested to me. My judgment is that man cannot prosper if he falls
from faith, by which I mean trust in a Supreme Being.'

There were no shadows, no terrors for Sir George Grey, in what we chilly
term death. He could look blithely along the road, ready to greet it with
outstretched hand when it turned the corner. Just, he waited to go, as he
might have waited for a sure arm on which to lean. He saw the lamps afar.
'When one has reached an old age,' was his vista, 'the thought of death
should not be a sad thought. It is not sad with me, but on the contrary
pleasant, meaning a happy event to be welcomed. Death! I do not believe
in death, except that the flesh dies; for the spirit goes on and on.
Terror of death is necessary, in order to keep men and animals from
killing themselves. That is all.

'The future is mystery, for none have returned to inform us what is
there. But our knowledge of the, Creator teaches us that His goodness
will be greater and greater towards His creatures. If the babe leaves the
womb, to come into such a beautiful world as ours, how beautiful a world
may we not pass into? It was terrible to the babe to be torn from the
womb, but it had no idea what loving hands were waiting for it.

'We have God's assurance that He is always good to His creatures who die,
and we may be satisfied. Really, there is a lovely romance in death, in
the spirit being released from the clay, which, through ill-health or old
age, has grown to burden it. That spirit, struggling onward and upward,
shakes itself free and soars off, bright, fresh, eternal, to the other
world for which it had been preparing. It purifies itself, by throwing
aside a weight, and thus death is not death but life; another birth, life
in death.'

Not then, not for another year and more, was the departure to be. 'Put my
watch under my pillow,' he looked up cheerily to those at his bedside;
'and thank you for taking care of it while I have been ill. It's the
watch the Queen gave me, and I like to have it near.' But that illness
sapped and mined him, even while he proposed, 'Oh, yes, we'll go down to
Chelsea and inspect Carlyle's old house. I'll try and fill it again with
him, in particular the room at the top which he built to be noise-proof,
and which wasn't.' The visit was never paid, but the celebration of the
Queen's reign of sixty years still found Sir George able to be about.

That was right well, for how many had made such a contribution to the
history and dominion of the reign? Truly, dreams had come about, since he
listened to the bells of Plymouth, when taking passage by the "Beagle."
Here was goodly proof of things achieved for the happiness of men, such
as even he had scarce dared to imagine. The fairies had been working.

Sir George followed, in imagination, the nations of the realm as they
walked through London, its capital, while all the world .wondered. He
attended, in heart, the simple service at St. Paul's Cathedral, where he
himself was to find a last resting-place, sleeping with the worthies. He
could picture the great fleet, seal of the sea-power which made all
possible, spread itself athwart the Solent. Yes Sir George Grey heard,
from afar, the 'tumult and the shouting,' and they rounded off his own
career as the True Briton and True Imperialist.

He heard also, amid the glorious rumble, of another royal progress made
by the Queen. It was at her Highland home, the spectators the eternal
hills which lie about it. For caparisoning there was a donkey-chaise, and
for escort a Highlander, carrying the shawls. The Queen was bound for the
manse, across the fields by the river-side, to pray with the minister's
wife that he, being ill, might be made whole.

That was the royal progress Sir George Grey would best have liked to see,
because it held the key to the other. From it, he sent, by his friend the
Prime Minister of New Zealand, a last message to Greater Britain. 'Give
the people of New Zealand my love,' it ran, 'and may God have you in His
keeping? It was the closing of the book, save for the blank pages which
occur at the end.

'It's all light,' was Selwyn's dying exclamation in Maori. None knew the
Maori words that Sir George Grey murmured, and none doubted what they
were. To us, the island race of two worlds,

     Under the Cross of Gold,
     That shines over city and river,
     There he shall rest for ever,
     Among the wise and the bold.

THE END

End of Project Gutenberg's The Romance of a Pro-Consul, by James Milne