The Arkansas advocate., 1830-09-15
ELEG AN \ MI Esssssssss FIX I ss ACT. CT

as 1ssto iS7is'Sd tuS uCSlIOtinS 0alu or time. Kingdoms haxe arisen, flourish cd an fallen--the rock of power, the ad- ar1ant of genius have crumbied--moral earthquakes have dashed into ruin, the strongest, the fairest fabrics of human wisdom-nasonry has remained unbro- ken; 1t has not bent to the storm, nor has it died in tho sluggish calm. If we examine the nature and progress of mans institutions we shall find them aili Partaking of that mutabiiity which cllaraeterises lis own strange, thitiui fl and feYerish existence; perishable himself, how canhe conteretefnity uponhis work 1? He efects his statues uf brass, the CO., iessessf triumphant time. thou hurlest the dastl True, he can ascend the e9er daring arch of fame, and in- scribe the letters Of his Knmortality-he can lSindle the fire of his renown which hlazcs ioragcs,a beacon to the universe; but he cannot recall the last faint sign of existence, protect his trophies d. gainst the fcethe of destruetion. Go and learn this truth from the inelaneho- y picture of history--go, and moralize amidst the ruins of 'Fhebes, and ask where are her hundred gates, herthou- sand ehariots, and her millions of war riors?
 q An, there is desolation cold.
 The desert serpent dWeils alone, Estone
 Where grass o'ergroWn each mouldering
 And stones themselves to ruin grown,
 Are grey and death-lilxe old .''
 Go, and learn wisdom from solitary Tyre, and ask where are her golden na- laees and her nunabefiess natives! Go and ask of Egypt where are her twenty thousand cities-her temple of the sun her oracle of Ammon-and her sa- cred fenntain--there the sun now shines on q bleak waste--the voice Of the. ora ele hath been silent ffoi ages, and the wild weed hath long waved in the bed of its ioumain--let Maeedon produce the trophies of her cenquering son--let Persia show the diamond of Gyras, and the spear of Cambyses-they are envel-
  oped by the oblivious pail, and the moarnful voice of history tells only that they have been. So it IS with man, and with the works of lnan--ehild of doubt and danger-the spectre of uncertainty bends over his cradle of slumber. and darkens over the warnnoon of his man. hood, and extends his dusily arm over the evening of his declne-he walks forth in his majesty, the image of God, and the Lord of creation-his path isl ever the siigi mighty eeep--iiiis footsteps are on the iofy nountaiit--hc stands on his proud eminence and looks down on a subject world. Look once again and where is he? The mysterious fire of his existence is extluguisied--thecold cIod presses his colder bosom-the dull worn banquets on that brow where once spar kled genius and beauty-the bright glance of the dark eye has ceased-and the eharnel shrouds enwraps that form where once glowcd the star of honor. and the purple of dominion!
 Since, then, instability is inherent in the very nature of man. and spreads it. self over all his works. we can best judge of the value of all institutions by their longer or shorter resistance to sub duing time. We are safe in the asser- ton that no society can compete with masonry in duraton--it hath resisted every change and braved every tempest it hath stood firm and beheld the wide spreading pine of Assyrra strewing the earth with it's branches, in vast and gi- gantic ruin--it hath seen the rising food of mighty hosts desolate imperial Babylon--it hath seen the starry throne of the just Haroun broken down-ithath seen the majestic eagle of the Romans extending his dark form over battle fields, [ Where deaths brief pang #as quickest. And the battic's wreck lay thickest.
 Strew'd beneath the advancing banner 0fthe eagles burning crest;
 There, with thunder clouds to fan her. Who could then her wings arrest,
 Victory beaming from her breast!"
 An! that wing was arrested and the proud bird struck down, prey to the oif the northern forest. So it 1 hath been-the pomp, the pageantry, the mightiness of nations have hun1bled l -the hand of obscurity has spread ifs folds over palace and temple and tower. The fierce storm of war, and the lazy moth of luxury, have united in this work of destruction, and the impetuous wave of time have ever been chequred1 ,ythe fragmentsof glory and the wrecks f u1-g.s n l