WILL BLOSSOM AS THE ROSE

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 923, 16 September 1910, Page 9

WILL BLOSSOM AS THE ROSE

/•-: THE-DATS TO COME. It .seenis .to one. that never, in spite of all that is said to the .contrary has .Romance been more in the world than in- this_ the twentieth century. Again and again ivo are constantly hearing'and reading.'of-, marvellous achievements—the impossible becomes, the iiossible, the Unattainable at last attained, and that which appeared to be devoid, of life, rcvified anc( restore;! to fruitfulness. The Magii are. still with us , with their 'spells and- , mysteries and never have the ages been so full of such niighty struggles against the : forces of Nature, .or. ratner, should one say, of sucli mighty struggles to find. out in which direction tliey lay arid go to .work with them, as-now.-

, It:, was 'only ' this, week .that, a cable announced the fact of a , tremendous project about- to the; started by Sir. William . Willcocks in Mesopotamia—nothing less than the reclaiming of tho desort, of irrigating, the Euphrates Valley and;making,;it once more the centre of activity such as .it, has not been since the days of . Babylonia. The fascination .of. such a work is ( simply limitless. Dimly, gropingly,, tho,. wise' ones of today strive' to .pierce through, the mists that separate us from those' shadowy lives of by-gone, centuries. Very faintly and very uncertainly -they appear to us now, with all the l magnificence of their achievements in war,- in commerce, in agriculture. . . • *'

, know that the ..Valley of the Euphrates was .the' granary of the world, that her fertility was the. wonder of tho time, aud has not even . yet .been surpassed, that her cities were without parallel. -'Historians say that I ,for fully as long as Egypt, has Chaldia' : been the ■ abode of civilised races, .and. in. speaking, of the.Chaldeans a Jewish prophet says: "I raise up. the ; Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty • nation, which : shall march through, the; breadth of the-laud to possess dwelling-places'.that are not theirs. Their horses are' swifter .than leopards: thoi.r horsemen spread themselves: (their horsemen) shall fly as the . . eagle. : that haststh to eat." The Chaldean knights were martial and victorious liko. the Assyrians against whom, they fought and were ultimately, beaten. Of Tall ithe figures that we see so" faintly, perhaps. the most fascinating one is that of -Semirnmis. - ' Legend', that uutruStworthy will-'o-tli'-wisp, tells us that. Ninus had founded Ninevah and :finally .became _the conqueror of. all Asia Minor,-while his wife Semiramis, daughter of a god, as indeed one might believe, wonderful, and alluring as Cleopatra,' or as Helen; of Troy,, but with the heart'and mind of a mighty warrior,' subdued Egypt.; After that had been done, she was changed into the form of a dove. Legends; so often havo a most unsatisfactory way-of ending. In 625, 8.C., Ninevah,; the capital of Assyria; "the. lair of lions, the bioody city, the city gorged with prey" as the Jewish' prophets called it, was taken and all its: glory" and power was destroyed forever. "Ninevah is laid waste," says, the prophet Nahum, "and who will bemoan -pier?"' Then began the second' dynasty of the Chaldcaus,. a very, brief one, being destroyed; in SBS, 8.C., by the Persians.

~ More than anv city however, does Babylon captivate the imagination, and with it" the glories' and, magnificence of : that haughty. King Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed Jerusalem and who . afterwards became so eaten up with pride that a fall was inevitable. We,, are told that the , city was built : in a square, fourteen miles each way,- and that a wall, ivell equipped with towers, surrounded it, so wide that a four-horse chariot could drive upon it, while it-was pierced with one hundred gates of thick brass.....lts bridges and docks: excited admiration, while its palaces and' their hanging gardens were one of the seven wonders of the world. Dainty and delicate were its women- and pleasure and luxury were the gods of all, ':

. Qf all its mighty .buildings there is, now standing hardly one stona upon another, a few. solitary moun.ds from, which pale yellow bricks, clearly and deeply stamped with the namo and titles of Nebuchadnezzar, are taken, alone marking the spot where :a once mighty city stood.' ."I, will make it a possession' for bittern'and pools of water; and will sweep ■it with the bosom of destruction"-was the prophecy, and it has been fulfilled. Now, after the solitude and sleep of centuries' the spell of the Magii is at last to be. laid upon this deflate Chaldean land, and once more the "desert will blossom as the rose."' •'

" Mrs. J. Gifford Restall, of Ohristchurch, is visiting- Mrs. Francis Stevens, of . Oriental. Bay.

Miss .Elsie: Ashbolt leaves by the Manuka to:day on a holiday visit to her brothers, in Sydney and Melbourne.

A very pleasant' euchre party 'was given by Mrs. Clapham at her home iii M'Farlane Street on Wednesday evening, a large number of guests being present.

. On Saturday night; week, the crew of the Turakina are to be entertained at a dinner in the Sailors' Institute by Lady Islington, and at the concert which is to follow all the sailors in port are invited to be present. His Excellency the Governor will also be present.