Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1809-04-19
FROM sALMAGuADI.
LETTER

fzS'R1eSS Ifie EaSfftet0 " sAffPo'e'
IS AaCNG:th variety of principles by
which mankind are actuated, there is 'one,,
nv dear Assem-, which scarcely know Wne-
Their to consider as. springing from grandeur
and nobility of mind, or from refined spe-
cies of vanity and egot:snl. s. L is that SIN
eular, although almost universal desire OF
living in the memory ofposterity !; OF oeeu-
Dying share Of the worlds attention,when
We shalllong since have ceased to be saseepP-
tible either of It's praise or cen5tre- Most OF
the passions ofthes alind are bounded by the
sraye-sonletimes indeed, an anxious hope
or trembling fear, wiltveHture beyond the
clouds and darkness that rest upon our NOR
tai horizon, and expatiate Iii bound!ess III
turity : hut it is only this active love OF tame
which steadily conse mp'ates IFS iruition, IN
the applause OF. gratitude OF future ages
Indignant at the narrow limits which cir.
.,mscribe existence, ambition iscver strug
cling 10 soar beyond them ITO triumph over
space and time, and to bear antznle at last,
above the inevitable oblivion in which every
thing else that concerns us must be mvov-
ed. Its this, my friend, which prompts
the patriot to his most heroic. atehieve-
ments which inspires the sublimest strains
5 of the poet, and breathes ethereal fire into
the productions Of thespainter and statua-
~.
For this, the monarch rears the fofty<co-
lunln ). the laureled conqueror claims the
,riumphal arch, while the obscure indlyidu-
Al. who moved in an hnmbler sphere, asks
but plain and simple stone to mark his
grave, and bear to the next generation this.
important truth, that he was born, died, and
WAS buried. Ituae Iiv a-o,aos
: erected the vast Numedlan piles, whose ru
ms we have scotch regarded with wonder,
IS the shades of evening, fit enablems Of
oblivion gradually stole over and enyelop-
edfhem in darkness--it was this which gave
being to those sublime monuments of Sara
cen maenihcence, whichnod IN Wondering
desolation as the blast sweeps over cur de-
serted plains. How futile are all our efforts
TO evade the obliterating hand of time! AS
/ traversed the dreary wastes of Egypt, on
nv Journey to Grand Cairo, stopped my
camel for while, and contemplated in aw-
fuladmnation, the stupcndous pyramids,an
appalling silence prevailed around such as
reigns In the. wilderness when the teRPestis
hushed, and the beasts OF prey have retired
tos<heir dens. The myriads that had once
been employed IN rearing these lofty me-
mentos of human vanity, whose busy hum
once ,enliyened the solitude of the desara--
had all been swept from the earth by their
resistiblc arm of death--all were mingled
with their native Gust-al were forgotten J
Even the mighty names which these sepul-
chres were tlesiguedto perpetuate, haGlong
since faded from remembrance history and
tradition afforded but vague conjeetures,
and the pyramids impaired humiliaying
lesson to the candidate for Immortality
Alas alas said / to myself, how mutable
are the foundations on which our proudest
hopes of future fame are reposed. He
who imapines he has secured to himself the
need of deathless renown, INDUCES in de-
ludinp visions, which only bespeak the va
nifty the dreamer. The storied obelisk---
the triumphal arch--thc swelling dome shall
.crumble into dust, and the names they
would preserve from oblivion shall often
pass away before theireown duration is ac-
.complished.
Yet this passion for fame, however ridi-
sculoas in the eye of the philosopher, de-
serves respect and consideration from hav-
ing beenvthe source of so many illustrious
actions and hence it has been the practice
In all enlightened governments to perpetu-
ate by monuments the memory of great
men, as testimony of respect for the IL
lusirious dead, and to awaken in the bo-
SONS of posterity an emulation to merit the
same honorable distinction. The people of
the American logocracy, who pride them.
selves upon improving on every precept or
example Of ancient or modern governments,
have discovered new mode rf sx,:.;