The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-10-12 00:00:00

er ca-me and whined over me,
as Mrs. Gamp might those of
then did that American come

whole of my journey,

heard of

.ante was costing me my
slave-captains, the callous
hearts of traders in human blood ; but that cold-blooded,
hare-lipped little man, or demon of Boston, would have
out-lago'd them all. I pray God his fellow-townsmen
may see this relation of his conduct, and that it may pre-
vent his recommittal of such atrocious cruelty as he dis-
played to me in that memorable crossing on horseback
from Palermo to Girgenti, by the longest and most diffi-

Oh ! I have

cult route, in
After three

..,„....ueMent to my little room, attended
only by an old Sicilian guide, who nursed me as if I had
been his brother--(he was the good Samaritan after my
Bostonian Pharisee had left me, with threatenings of re-
venge for fancied grievances and imaginary insults ; the
little malevolent cur barking at the dying lion was gone
for ever, and I breathed more freely)—l was led out and
helped to dress by my old white-haired Sicilian guide. I
,wled down to the Consul, who, with his lady, shewed
,rest kindness. He invited me to spend an evening,
..en better, at his beautiful mansion, which I accepted ;
he also recommended me to a very kind, excellent man, a
Mr. Williams, who got me medicine, paid every attention
in his power, and, as he was coming to Palermo, we joined
n a Intiga together as fellow-travellers. How happy, how
grateful to God was I when I met with this good man ; so
lo kind, so considerate, and he was only
-intendent of a sulphur mine, and Rat-
• •

truly humane,
eneineer and su

kins was an American gentleman. It was in very deed
Hyperion to a satyr. Daily I gained strength, and often
looking from Mr. Williams, apartment, situated on the
highest part of the lofty Girgenti, I inhaled the life-giving
breeze from the glittering sea, looked at the ruined tem-
ples that studded the plain leading down to the sea
through his telescope, and was soon, by Mr. Williams'
attention and kindness, able to walk down personally to
inspect and thoroughly examine those vast relics of ancient
tombs, temples, and altars. The modern town of Gir-
genti contains 15,000 inhabitants, and but one street fit
for carriages to pass. There are but few antiquities in the
town : a Latin inscription of the time of the Antonines—
part of the old Roman wall, now built upon, once part of
Tnnitpr. In the cathedral down in the val-

out of a sarcophagus, the basso-relievos
A which are still beautiful. There is also in this cathe-
dral an Etruscan vase of rare size and beauty ; also two
antique gold paterm. Near the monastery of San Nicolo
is part of the palace of a Roman praetor. It is a most
lovely stroll down the mountain upon which Girgenti
stands, amongst wild fig and almond trees, into the vast
plain, like another but more fruitful Compagna of Rome,
and to have your fevered brow fanned by the sea-breeze,
as you examine, gaze upon, and measure the spoils yet
left by all-destroying time. Here is the tomb of Thero !

s a tont mad

of Concord 1 that
Olvmi

_so of Castor and Pollux,
Id the vast one to t, titan Jove ! with its gigantic
on the ,s. Large columns only remain
-beautiful temple of Juno Lucina ; that of Her-
huge and fragmentary. Out of these
, flourishes on the decayed archi-
v flits forth, and wild birds scream.
"q ; the wind rustles among the
-tt columns, once supporting
nrshi ners. How frail do

Sublimely you 01

lofty temples, crowded with wok Jpl
all the works of mortal man appear ! how lasting, true,
sublime, and beautiful the works of God ! Talk of a!iti-
guides left by mortal men, why they are in comparison
but things of yesterday. The sun, moon, stars, Toun-
tains, oceans, rocks—these are the only true antiques !
The eternal yesterday, to-day, and for ever, sweep away
all other frail memorials of monarchs, cities, temples,
tombs and altars : great names indeed are nonentities.
" Pyramids, arches, and obelisks, are but the irregularities
of vain glory and wild enormity of ancient magnanimity.
'Tis all one to lie in St. Nicholas' church-yard as in the
sands of Egypt—to be content with six feet anywhere as
if covered by the moles of Hadrian. The Egyptian mum-
mies which Cambyses hath spared, avarice now consumeth.
Mummy is become merchandise, Mizraim cures wounds,
and Pharoah is sold for balsams. Darkness and light di-
vide the course of time. Oblivion shares with memory."