Chap. IV. ARCHÆOLO EXPLORERS. OVERTURES TO THE securing historic fame for himself.* Mr. LAYARD knew— Book III, few men just then knew more fully-that in all matters ANOTHER of learning and of discovery the gains of France are the gains of the world. For the staunchest of John Bulls GISTS AND amongst us must acknowledge that in the arts of scientific dissemination and exposition a Frenchman (other things being equal) has usually twice the expertness of an Eng- BRITISH lishman. But he was naturally desirous that France should not have all the glory of Assyrian discovery. What, then, was the reception with which his first overtures were met ? 'With a single exception,' in the person of his London correspondent, no one,' he tells us, 'in England' GOVERN MENT. its Remains, 'seemed inclined to assist or take any interest in Nineveh and such an undertaking.' vol. i, p 10. What, on the other hand, were the encouragements given to the French explorer by the Government and the Nation of France? They were large; they were ungrudgingly given; and they were instantaneously sent. In Mr. LAYARD'S Words: The recommendation was attended to with that readiness and munificence which [has] almost invariably distinguished the French Government in undertakings of this nature. Ample funds to meet the cost of extensive excavations were at once assigned to M. BOTTA, and an artist of acknowledged skill was placed under his FRENCH orders, to draw such parts of the monuments discovered as GOVERNcould not be preserved or removed.' Who will wonder * Nor was there any petty or unworthy jealousy in the distinguished French explorer. During the entire period of his excavations,' writes Mr. Layard, M. Botta regularly sent me, not only his [own] descriptions, but copies of the inscriptions, without exacting any promise as to the use I might make of them. That there are few who would have acted thus liberally, those who have been engaged in a search after Antiquities in the East will not be inclined to deny.'-Nineveh and its Remains, vol. i, p. 14. LIBERAL AID EXTENDED TO M. BOTTA BY THE MENT. BOOK III, GROUP OF GISTS AND CONTRASTS: AND FRANCE. that at first it seemed as though France would carry off all the stakes, and England have no place at all in the archæological race? Mr. LAYARD, however, was otherwise minded. And he found, presently, a powerful helper in the person of the -ENGLAND British Ambassador at Constantinople, Sir Stratford CANNING (now Lord Stratford de Redcliffe). Had it not been for the union, in that ambassador, of a large intellect, a liberal mind, and a strong will, and also for the absence, in him, of that shrinking from extra-official responsibilities which in so many able men has often emasculated their ability, Mr. LAYARD's efforts, earnest and unremitting as they were, would assuredly have been foiled. The reader will perceive that for what was achieved, in 1845 and in the subsequent years, on the banks of the Tigris, the British public owe a debt of gratitude to Lord STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE, the encourager of the enterprise, as well as to Mr. LAYARD, its originator. But neither does this fact, nor does the like of it, five years earlier, in the help given by Lord PONSONBY to the Lycian researches of Sir Charles FELLOWS, invalidate or weaken the remark I have ventured to make (on pages 348; 381, of the present volume, and elsewhere) about the discreditable and long-continued apathy of our Foreign Office in matters of art and literature; especially if we compare on that head British practice with French practice. Perhaps, at first blush, it might be thought somewhat presumptuous, in a private person, to remark so freely on what seem to him the shortcomings of statesmen. But it has to be borne in mind that, in such cases as this, outspoken criticism is rather the expression of known public opinion, than of mere individual judgment. The one writer, how humble soever, is very often the mouthpiece of the thoughts of many minds. Nor is other warrant for BOOK III, such criticism lacking. Chap. IV. ANOTHER GROUP OF ARCHÆOLO EXPLORERS. Three years after beginning his excavations at Nimroud, Mr. LAYARD himself wrote thus (from Cheltenham): It is GISTS AND to be regretted that proper steps have not been taken for the transport to England of the sculptures discovered at Nineveh. Those which have already reached this country, and (it is to be feared) those which are now on their way, have consequently suffered unnecessary injury; . . . yet,... they are almost the only remains of a great city Nineveh and and of a great nation.' Part of the injury now observable in the Assyrian sculptures of the British Museum was, of course, inseparable from circumstances attending the discovery. Besides the injury already spoken of-from the pressure of the earthbanks-all the low-reliefs of one great palace had suffered from intense heat. From this cause, Mr. LAYARD's experiences recall, in one particular, the impressive accounts we have all read of the opening of ancient tombs in Egypt and in Italy. The fortunate excavator suddenly beheld a kingly personage, in fashion as he lived. The royal forehead was still encircled by a regal crown. The fingers were decked with rings; the hand, mayhap, grasped a sceptre. But whilst the discoverer was still gazing in the first flush of admiration, the countenance changed; the ornaments crumbled; the sceptre and the hand that held it alike became dust. So it was, at times, at Nimroud. Some of the calcined slabs presented, for a moment, their story in its integrity. Presently, they fell into fragments. its Remains, vol. i, p. xiii. THE CAUSES None the less, when the reader goes into the Kouyunjik MIXED Gallery; looks at the sculptures from SENNACHERIB'S NATURE OF palace; observes the innumerable 'joinings,' and then glances at his official Guide' (which tells him, at page 85, OF THE MUTILA TIONS OB BOOK III, GROUP OF GISTS AND many single slabs reached this country in three hundred or four hundred pieces'), he is bound for truth's sake to remember that, whilst some of the breakage is ascribable to the action of fire at the time of the Fall of Nineveh, another portion of it is ascribable to the want or absence of action, on the part of some worthy officials in the public SCULPTURES service of Britain, just twenty-five centuries afterwards. EXPLORERS. SERVABLE IN THE FROM ASSYRIA. LAYARD'S 1845. With Sir Stratford CANNING's help, and with the still better help of his own courage and readiness of resource, Mr. LAYARD surmounted most of the obstacles which lay in his path. There was a rich variety of them. To quote but a tithe of his encounters with Candian pashas, Turcoman navvies, Abou-Salman visitors, and Mósul cadis and muftis, would ensure the reader's amusement beyond all doubt; but the temptation must be overcome. Happily, the original books are well known, though the anecdotes are more than racy enough to bear quotation and requo tation. Two incidents of the first explorations (1845-46) must needs be told. The earliest discovery was made on the twentyeighth of November. The indications of having approached, at length, a chamber lined with sculpture, rejoiced the Arab labourers not less than it rejoiced their employer. They kept on digging long after the hour at which they were accustomed to strike work. The slab first uncovered was a battle scene. War chariots drawn by splendidly equipped horses contained three warriors apiece, in full career. The chief of them (beardless) was clothed in complete mail, ‘and wore a pointed helmet on his head, from the sides of which fell lappets covering the ears, the lower part of the face, and the neck. The left hand (the arm being extended) grasped a bow at full stretch; whilst the right, drawing the string to Chap. IV. GROUP OF ARCHEOLO GISTS AND EXPLORERS. the ear, held an arrow ready to be discharged. A second Book III, warrior urged, with reins and whip, three horses to the ANOTHER utmost of their speed. . . . A third, without helmet and with flowing hair and beard, held a shield for the defence of the principal figure. Under the horses' feet, and scattered about, were the conquered, wounded by the arrows of the conquerors. I observed with surprise the elegance and richness of the ornaments, the faithful and delicate delineation of the limbs and muscles, both in the men and horses, and the knowledge of art displayed in the grouping of the figures and the general composition. In all these respects, as well as in costume, this sculpture appeared to me, not only to differ from, but to surpass, the bas-reliefs of Khorsabad.' Thus cheered, the work of digging went on with fresh vigour, and in new directions. Parts of a building which had suffered from decay, not from fire, were at length uncovered. Slabs of still greater beauty were disclosed. 'I now thought,' says the explorer, I had discovered the earliest palace of Nimroud.' On the morning after the discovery of these new and more choice sculptures-middle of February, 1846-Mr. LAYARD rode away from the mound to a distant Arab encampment-wisely cultivating, as was his manner, a good understanding with a ticklish sort of neighbours. Two early Arabs, from this camp, had already paid a morning visit to the mound. They hastened back at a racing pace. Before they could well pull up their horses, or regain their own Oriental composure, the riders shouted at sight of Layard: 'Hasten, O Bey, to the diggers. They have found great NIMROD himself. Wallah! it is wonderful, but it is true! We have seen him with our eyes. The 'Bey' did not wait for lucid explanations; but Nineveh and (1849), vol. i, its Remains p. 41. |
