Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1834-12-04

wef.-- ihSfe arc tcW q our readers who are not
familiar with the theme Of Pompeii. With H.,
descriptions II lis temples and private dweII;s~.
the new Offering upon the altar, the half trusk
wine upoa the social board-the priest thai RE
Istered and the rcveller that quaffed-fhat ,ycr,.
all laid bare 10 modern eyes alter bcIsg buried
tor seventeen esnturics. The story Of Skeletons
found in every familiar position-the ssst,,,s
still standing at his post, and the miser ss;l,
clutchIng his money bags and apparently sfrivi,.
10 pierce has way through the dense clooas -
ashes BY which this devoted city was oyerrbel
med the beanty by her toilet-thc busler !,
his wine vault, and the baker with his seorched
ioaves, seemingly just taken from the oven be-
side him--fnisgies with the most ihriilisg mem,
ories Of our childhood, aad invests the fate Of
Pompeli with an interest that can never grow
stalls.
1t is these desolatcd dwellings and moulderiny
skeletons-which the labers Of sixty wears h,.vs
gradually disinicrred from their frightfuI tomb
that the genius Of Bulwer has attempted 10 re-. an
innate with the sounds and motions that long avo
were SO fearfully siiled To say that he La
completely succeeded would BE- awarding hin,
praise such none but Shakespeare aud Scott
have yet exacted; TO say that he wholly failed
would be equally far from the Truth. The con-
ception Of his story is original and striking. Th.s
characters are just the phantasmagoria thas
should move athwart the gloom Of such awful
scenes; but il must be confessed, that with all
the minute Typographical details and learned IL
perhaps impossible task, the execution still falls
short of reality. He his achieved Gorgeous
picture he gives us splendid dramatic repre-
sentation Of The Last Days CT Pompcii = but
1t is not those days themselves which we live
over. The tfBge Of pedantry-s scbo
lastic and sometimes dandyish--which colors all
Of Bulwer's brilliant writings, is not indeed a.
apparent In work where classical lore must h..
continually in rcquisition; but the want of sim.
plicity, which IS his greatest defect, prcycatss
seul of fFuf From c 49,
a mastery production. No one can read ~
work without the hyehest admiration for ~,
powers Of its author; but one will, on singis
page, forget The author, in his ideal charaetr5s
The feminine dcvotedness of the high souled
lone-thc classic elegance and Pron.et6ean ~
il Of her Athenian lovcr-that delicate and rfah-
eratciy finished creation, their blind attends,
the astute wiics and magnificent profigncy &c
the grovelmg but naughty Egyptian, who q 20
admirably grouped with then-Olynthus, the
heroic Christian, and Lydon, whose springy slcp
we can amos: behold in the glldiaorial sramI
Nothing can be finer than the drawing of anv ~
all OF these, for they are all struck from tbe cs
vass with the hand Of a master-bnt they are al
pictures. Like hiordant in the DisownedD ex.
ereux, lsoria, Eugene Aram, and all of Mr. Ful.
wer's most prominent characters, they excite III.
mlration rather than sympathy: they belono 10
poetry rather than life. The last days Of Pom
pen, however, will we conceive. take rant
with either Of these works unless il be perhans
the last, which is prodgious favortc in this
country Our national taste Is decidedly for tho
strange, the Wild and the unnatural Rvron i
the most popular Of poets among US !; and there
IS no writer OF fiction whose works are
disseminated as widely through the Unio, a.
those oil Bnlwer. He is indeed, we have good
reason Tor believing, greater fayorite in this
country than in his own and as his new wort,
has been there received with the utmost praise.
It's success here is undoubtcd II will be read
with pie asurc, as one Of the most brilliant nro
auctions OF the day and it will be REQUIRED 70
as illustrating some OF the most interesting pas
sages Of piiny and Dion Cassus, and offering
with salcrius and the sEpicure an the hap,i
est representation of a.cicnt manners through The
medium OF iction
We gave yesterday column Of extracts en-
bracing several of those ingenious aphorsms
which always enrich Buiwer,s novels, and which
.nougn py no means sound, arc generally sowell
now take leave of the work by Quoting the fol
lowing powerful description Of some of the hor-
rible scenes that accompanied the devastation Of
Pompeii:
"The cloud which had scattered deem m,r.
kincss over The day had now settled into solid
and impenetrable mass. 1t rescmbled less even
the thickest gloom of night in the open air than
the close and blind darkness Of some narrow
room. But in proportion the blackncss gath. 4
cred, did the lighnings around Vesuviis increase
IN their vivid and scorching glare Nor was
oil lire; no rainbow ever rvalled their varying
and prodigal dies. Now brightly blue as the
most azure depth Of southern sky--now Of Ii. Is
wa and snakeiike green, darling rcstlessy to and
ITO as the ioids Oh an enormous scrpent--now Of VI
lurid and intolerable crimson, gushing forth b
through the columns of smoke far and wide & Isl
lighting up the whole city from arch to arch,- b
then suddenly dying into sckIy palencss like 81
the ghost of its own life
Ia the pauses of the showers Won heard the #
rumpiing OF the earth beneath, and the grooming 81
waves oil the tortured sea CT, lower STILL and
audible but TO the watch Of the intensest fear the M
grooming aud Kissing murmur of escaping gases
through the chasms Ct the distant mountain
sometimes the cloud appeared to break from its #
solid mass, and, by the lightning, 10 assume
ster shapes, striding across the gloom h,stling 8
one upon tae other, and vanishing into the tur j
ouIcht ABYSS Of shade; so that to the eyes and Md
iancIes OF the affrighteG wanderers, tile unsub
slahtiai vaponrs were as the bodily forms Of 81.
gahllc ioes, the agents of fear and death
The ashes in many places were already knee
deep; and the broiling showers which came
from the steamng breath of the volcano forced
their way into the houses, bearing with them
strong and snifocating vapour. In some places
immense fragments OF rock, hurled upon the
nous roofs, bore down along the streets masses
Oh Confused ruin, which yet more and more,
every hour, obstructcd the way; and. as the
day advanced, the motion Of the earth was more
senslDiy ielt-the footing seemed 10 slide and
and creep-nor could chariot or litter be kept
steady, even on the most level ground.
Sometimes the huger stones, striking against
each other as they fell, broke INTO coGntless
fragments, initiating sparks of fire which caught
Whatever was combustibe within their reach
aud along the plains beyond the city the dark
ness was now terribly relieved for several
houses y and even vineyards, had been set on
names; and at various intervals the fires rose
sgiienly and iercely against the solid gloom
10 add to this partial relief the darkness, the
citzenS' had here and there, in the more public
places such as the orticos of the temples, and
entrances to the forum, endcavorcd to place
rows OF torches; bat these rarely continued long;
me showers and the winds exiinguished them,
and The sudden darkness into which their sud.
den birth vas converted had something in
douoiy terrible and doubly impressing on the in
potence of human hopes the lesson Of despair.
Frequently, by the momentary light Of thrse
torches, parties of fugitivcs encountered each oa
cr-somc hurryng toward the sea, others flying
from the sea back TO the land for the ocean had
retreated rapidly from the shore-an utter DARK
ness lay over IT., and upon its groanins and toss
ing waves the storm of cindcrs and rock fell with
out the protection W hich the streets and roofs o.