comings, little noted before, start up around him like spectres, that the scheme of Redemption appears worthy of the infinite wisdom and goodness of God, and when what the Saviour did and suffered seems of efficacy enough to blot out the guilt of every offence. It is when the minor lights of comfort are extinguished that the Sun of Righteousness shines forth, and more than compensates for them all. The opinions which I formed at this time on this matter of prime importance, I found no after occasion to alter or modify. On the contrary, in passing from the subjective to the objective view, I have seen the doctrine of the union of the two natures greatly confirmed. The truths of geology appear destined to exercise in the future no inconsiderable influence on natural theology; and with this especial doctrine they seem very much in accordance. Of that long and stately march of creation with which the records of the stony science bring us acquainted, the distinguishing characteristic is progress. There appears to have been a time when there existed on our planet only dead matter unconnected with vitality; and then a time in which plants and animals of a low order began to be, but in which even fishes, the humblest of the vertebrata, were so rare and exceptionable, that they occupied a scarce appreciable place in nature. Then came an age of fishes, huge of size, and that to the peculiar ichthyic organization added certain wellmarked characteristics of the reptilian class immediately above them. And then, after a time, during which the reptile had occupied a place as inconspicuous as that occupied by the fish in the earlier periods of animal life, an age of reptiles of vast bulk and high standing was ushered in. And when, in the lapse of untold ages, IT also had passed away, there succeeded an age of great mammals. Molluscs, fishes, reptiles, mammals, had each in succession their periods of vast extent; and then there came a period that differed even more in the character of its master existence from any of these creations than they, with their many vitalities, had differed from the previous inorganic period in which life had not yet begun to be. The human period began the period of a fellow-worker with God, created in God's own image. The animal existences of the previous ages formed, if I may so express myself, mere figures in the landscapes of the great garden which they inhabited. Man, on the other hand, was placed in it to "keep and to dress it;" and such has been the effect of his labours, that they have altered and improved the face of the whole continent. Our globe, even as it might be seen from the moon, testifies, over its surface, to that unique nature of man, unshared in by any of the inferior animals, which renders him, in things physical and natural, a fellow-worker with the Creator who first produced it. And of the identity of at least his intellect with that of his Maker, and, of consequence, of the integrity of the revelation which declares that he was created in God's own image, we have direct evidence in his ability of not only conceiving of God's contrivances, but even of reproducing them; and this, not as a mere imitator, but as an original thinker. He may occasionally borrow the principles of his contrivances from the works of the original Designer; but much more frequently, in studying the works of the original Designer, does he discover in them the principles of his own contrivances. He has not been an imitator; he has merely been exercising, with resembling results, the resembling mind, i. e., the mind made in the divine image. But the existing scene of things is not destined to be the last. High as it is, it is too low and too imperfect to be regarded as God's finished work: it is merely one of the progressive dynasties; and revelation and the implanted instincts of our nature alike teach us to anticipate a glorious terminal dynasty. In the first dawn of being, simple vitality was united to matter; the vitality thus united became, in each succeeding period, of a higher and yet higher order ;-it was in succession the vitality of the mollusc, of the fish, of the reptile, of the sagacious mammal, and, finally, of the responsible immortal man, created in the image of God. What is to be the next advance? Is there to be merely a repetition of the past an introduction a second time of man made in the image of God? No! The geologist, in the tables of stone which form his records, finds no example of dynasties once passed away again returning. There has been no repetition of the dynasty of the fish, of the reptile, of the mammal. The dynasty of the future is to have glorified man for its inhabitant; but it is to be the dynasty-the kingdom'-not of glorified man made in the image of God, but of God himself in the form of Man. In the doctrine of the two natures, and in the further doctrine that the terminal dynasty is to be peculiarly the dynasty of Him in whom the natures are united, we find that required progression beyond which progress cannot go. Creation and the Creator meet at one point, and in one Person. The long ascending line from dead matter to man has been a progress Godwards-not an asymptotical progress, but des tined from the beginning to furnish a point of union; and, occupying that point as true God and true man, as Creator and created, we recognise the adorable Monarch of all the future. It is, as urged by the apostle, the especial glory of our race that it should have furnished that point of contact at which Godhead has united Himself, not to man only, but also through man, to His own Universe-to the Universe of Matter and of Mind." ASSYRIA AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN THE WORD OF GOD, LECTURE III. (Concluded from page 218.) I THINK it very likely that the fir cone and the basket, as they are supposed to be, so frequently carried by these winged figures, belonged to the original symbols, although the identity of the style of their dress with that of the king's and others, proves them to be adapted by the sculptor to the fashion of the time in which they were introduced among ASSYRIA AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN THE WORD OF GOD, ETC. 255 the subjects of the palace decorations, a time long after that in which their originals first appeared among the symbols of the ancients. When the winged figure holds the fir cone he is always in the act of presenting it, but the basket he simply carries. Layard supposes that the fir cone, being of an inflammable nature, might be intended as an emblem of fire, and that the basket-looking vessel might be for containing water, and thus the two elements, fire and water, might have been emblemized; but I think the science of correspondence will supply us with a more likely interpretation. The fir cone is either really intended for a fir cone or some other kind of fruit. Now the presentation by the hand of fruit to the Deity would signify no less than the free-will offering to his service of the fruits or operations of the life, while the simply carrying a basket or some receiving vessel in an unobtrusive way, would denote that readiness to receive from him what he may see it wise to supply us with for our spiritual needs, that should always accompany us in approaching him. It is the opinion of some that these winged figures were regarded by the Assyrians as divinities, and were worshipped by them, but I can find no evidence of this. The sculptures, I believe, never exhibit them in the act of receiving homage. They occupy the post of guards at the entrances; they are to be seen in attendance behind the king, and they are sometimes before what is supposed to be the sacred tree, as if themselves worshipping, and in one case are kneeling before it. I am inclined to think the same may be said of the winged lions and bulls, and even of the winged human figure with the eagle's or hawk's head, and which has been supposed to represent the god Misroch. In the case of Egypt, by which was represented the science or knowledge of natural things, it might be that the multiplicity of symbols among them might have furnished them in their idolatrous times with innumerable gods, and would accord with their representative character in its perverted condition; but I must venture to think, considering the representative character of Assyria, that three or four noble first-rate kind of gods would be more agreeable to them than worshipping sacred cats and lizards and beetles, and such sort of deities. That they entertained a high opinion of the comparative dignity and power of their own gods, is evident from Rabshakeh's exultation over the gods of the nations around them whom they had conquered. The winged human figure with the eagle's head had certainly more claims than the others to be regarded as the Misroch, because it occurs much less frequently than the others, but the one more particularly described by Layard was pourtrayed upon a slab in no distinguished place, but adjoining some others in the ordinary way. It is also standing, presenting the fir cone and carrying the basket, looking much more like a worshipper than a deity. It is also remarkable that the sculptures represent no character that can be distinguished as members of a priesthood, neither are there are any buildings that can be distinguished as temples, or, from what I can learn, anything really like altars discovered. Is it not just possible that their religious worship, though idolatry, was a rather concise affair, attended with very little parade or ceremony? Might not their lofty-mindedness and self-worship have superseded much of the humiliating performances, as they would feel them to be, of a ceremonial religion? The ornamental device which has received the appellation of the sacred tree, is thought to have been an object of adoration, but this is little more than a surmise; it may have been an object associated with some of their devotional exercises, but its appearance affords very little ground for ranking it with their deities. There is another object to be seen on some of the sculptures that might with more reason be considered an Assyrian god; that is, the upper part of a human figure within a ring, having two wings, and somewhat resembling a bird's tail underneath; this is generally above the king, sometimes in his battles, when it aids him against the enemy, by using the bow and arrow; it may not, however, be intended for anything more than an invisible guardian of the king. It is very likely a modification of some more ancient symbol. The ring or circle may have symbolised the principle of life in its perfect and universal emanation. The upper portion of the human figure within it may have denoted intelligence and operative power within this living sphere; the wings may denote the spiritual degree of thought or knowledge made use of. If this be near its meaning, it is a symbol suitable for the rational faculty. The eagle-headed figure is another symbol equally adapted. The eagle represents a lofty and clear-minded perception of truth. Its well-famed power of vision and of wing marks it as such. An eagle-headed human figure, therefore, would represent the human mind with more especial reference to the possession of such an intellectual power. The winged human-headed lion and bull claim our next attention. The first discovery of these remarkable figures made at Nimroud by Layard was a pair of gigantic winged bulls, the head and half of the wings of which had been destroyed. He then found the remains of two small winged lions, forming the entrance to a chamber. A gigantic human head, which the workmen had uncovered, to the amazement and terror of the Arabs, and which they exclaimed must have been the work of the infidel giants of old, proved to be the upper part of one of these wonderful statues. In one place he found a pair of winged human headed lions, differing from the generality of them, having the human shape continued to the waist, and being furnished with human arms as well as with the legs of the lion. In one hand each figure carried a goat or stag, and in the other, which hung down by the side, a branch with three flowers. They formed an entrance into a chamber. In describing a smaller pair of lions at another entrance, he observes that the body and limbs were admirably pourtrayed, the muscles and bones, though strongly developed, shewed a correct knowledge of its anatomy and form. These sculptures were partly in full and partly in relief. That the spectator might have both a perfect front and side view of them, they were furnished with five legs. The remains of colour could be traced in the eyes, but on no other parts. In one place he found a pair of couching sphinxes, not in relief, but entire. The human head was beardless, and the horned cap square, and highly ornamented at the top; the body was that of a winged lion; they measured about five feet square. The entrances to a great hall in the centre of the palace were formed by colossal human-headed lions and bulls. In the painted ornaments of some of the chambers the Assyrian bull was frequently introduced, sometimes with wings and sometimes without. In another palace, which had evidently been destroyed by fire, he again found the principal entrances to the chambers formed of winged bulls and lions with human heads, some of them having the high cap surmounted by a crest of feathers, and richly ornamented with rosettes, like the winged monsters of Persepolis. We have already explained the signification of these animals in their ordinary forms. The human head represents the human mind as to all its primary principles; attached to a lion's body it represents these principles developed in all the power and greatness represented by the lion; and having wings denotes its ability to exercise the activity and elevating energy of the spiritual degree of thought. The same with the bull, the distinction between them being that one relates more specifically to the understanding, the other more to the will. These symbols were doubtless used among the remotely ancient people in an instructive manner, of which but few indications remain. The Assyrians placed these symbols of intellectual and moral greatness at the entrances of their royal halls and chambers, for a mythical purpose as well as for ornament, for they could hardly fail, in beholding them, to have a feeling in that direction, even though any correct understanding of their signification may have been wanting. There are many curious figures found among the embroidery in the sculptures which do not otherwise [Enl. Series.-No. 66, vol. vi.] R proper |