Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1827-09-19

tne uccp, not III Soitchcu Dcuu'y Dut W
dazzling splendour. With the weary
pace Of age, he glides, at eve. from peak
10 peak and sinks from hill to hill; nt
morn, he bursts at once across the thresh-
old Of the ocean with the firm and con-
scicus step Of warrior. His decline
conveys the idea Of fading brightness,
his rise the swelling effulgence Of mount
ing and resstlcss light.
The succeeding day was calm, and
we lay almost motionless in the narrow
strait which separates the islands of Zea
and Cyihnos. The former contains now
no objects of attraction amidst its sun
burnt hills and barren valleys, except the
snowy walls Of its villages, and the YES
tiges Of temple once dedicated 10 Mi
norva, and built, as our pilot said, by
Nestor, on his return from Troy. Gym
lhos is hilly, fertile mound, rising gent
ly from the sea, and remarkable for moth
ing but warm springs, from which il takes
the modern name Of Thermia we slow
" passed the strait, borne along solely
by the current, and about mid day lay
totally becamed in little bay formed
by the islands we had left, and those Of
G., arus and Syra.
II was Sunday, and if that day be pos
scssed Of peculiar stiffness and repose on
land, it must be doubly so al sea, and
among the Cyclades. The day was an
oriental one not wandering vapour to
stain the deep blue heaven, and not a
breath to warp the mirror OF the sea; no
passing bark gave life or motion to the
scene, the sails hung in lazy folds upon
the mast, aud not sound disturbed the
oceans silence. The crew were as
scmblcd on the quarter deck, and new
er listened to the Liturgy with such in
tcrcst and aitentIon-every sound was
solemn, and every line awoke some re-
collection of home and of England. 1t
was a new feeling, in such a situation,
to listen TO tho same accents we had so
long heard only in the village church,
repeated amid scenes rich in all the
sublimitics OF nature, and hallowed by
the brightest association o! history and
time: TO hearken to the preccpts of
Christianity almost amidst the very
scenes where it first arose, and to trace
the wandorings Of its Apostles on the
very waves their barks had traversed
There is no spot, not even the very
sea Of Greece, thot wants its peculiar at
fractions; every valley has It's ruin, eve
ry hill its history, and every wave is as
sociated with the naval enterprises and
martial spirit oftho mighty dead. Even
those spots unmarked by earlier memor-
ais of the fame Of Greece, arc rendered
interesting by aGcr-recollections Of her
fall Age has succeeded age, but to
leave the impress Of its events on the
shore where true greatness first burst to
light The same soil once trod by the
bard and tho warrior, was again pressed
by the feet Of those who bore over the
earth the pure prccepts of tho Gospel
and Of Christianity, and where even
these have left no traces Of their path,
the immortalizing hand of Liberty is now
raising on every hill trophy, and inscrb-
ing on every rock triumph.
In the evening, US there was no ap-
pearance of wind. few Of the officers
landed at Syria, within very short dis
tance of which we were floating on an
almost breathless sea. The town is by
no means so well built as some Of tho
other islands less equIvocally Creek
Its streets are irregular but strikingIy
clean, and its little harbour is crowded
with vessels Of various flags from Hydra,
Malta, and Marseillcs, as Syra is now
the only neutral port Of the empire
equally respected by Turk and Greek,
and permitted to carry on the trilling
remnant of commerce which remains to
the Cycladcs. On the beach We were
met by Greek merchant with whom l
had formerly made the voy age from iIy-
dra to Napol de Romania. His house,
to which he conducted us, after visiting
the town, was situated at short dis
tancc from the suburbs, in the midst of a
garden cultivated in the eastern style.
Its furniture was of that kind generally
found in the houses of the Greek Island
crs, half Oriental and half European,
combining the luxurious comforts of the
one, with tho taste and durability of the
other. Our pipes aud coffee in china
cups placed in little vases Of filigreed sill
yer, were presented by his daughters,
two rather handsome girls, dressed in a
costume between Grecian ard Frank,
and possessed Of an ease of manner
much superior to those of the same class
whom we had left in the Morea. The
old gentleman seemed deeply to regret
the ruin Of his trade in tho islands, oc-
casioned by the convulsion of the war.
A few weeks before our arrival, Syria
had boon thrown into the utmost commo-
ton by the arrival of Turkish corvette