Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1837-06-07

could scarcely assign half this age 10 any
building of brick. But these bricks are
uncommonlv fine, the masonry exceeding
y massive, and the chunnam or stucco
with which thay were coated almost III
destruc,ibIe, in so mild climate The
edifces being regarded with religious
veneration, have been preserved from all
intentional liquidation. The plants and
trees too which overgrow deserted edifces
elsewhere, and by insinuatlng their roots
into crevjces, hasten their ruin, are here
not seen. This last peculiarly has been
thought to arise from the influence Of the
adjacent earth-oil wells and springs, Oh
the atmosphere.
AS would be expected by all who had
seen a Burman city, these ruins are of
sacred edlfces only. The frail bamboo
houses Of the people perish almost as
soon as deserted. [ entered the place
from the north, where a common cart
way crossed the crumbled ridge OF great
wall Gullies and torrents cut up the
environs on this side and it is probable
that the city never extended over this
region. Every spot, however, which
would accommodate a pagoda, has one
upon it, Within the wall the ground is
level, though very high. and commanding
wide prospect. Here for the first time
I saw buildings which could be called tenn
PIES; many Of the pagodas being built
hollow, with noble rooms devoted to ina
ges, and image worship. Some Of these,
as well as pagodas, are Of the nobIest de-
cription little injured by time, with here
and there some Of the remains Of the ex-
terror gliding in sheltered places. We
entered some, and found superb carved
and gided ceilings, shefering at once
great, ghastIy, haIf-crumbled, Gaudamas,
and herds of cattle. Marks OF fire in
some, showed them TO be used by the pro-
pie for occasional homes, or perhaps by
herdsmen.
| could not attempt to count these vene-
rabe piles. They are thickly scattered,
not only over all the site Of the city, but
for miles around Many of them are
more than a hundred feet high. One,
which seems to have been occasionally
repaired, istwo hundred and ten feet high.
The difference between their shape, and
that Of those in the lower provinces, is
very striking. Instead of the solid mass
Of masonry, rising with a tapering spire,
these are ponderous, wide-s pread build
ings, whose noble interiors entitIe them
to the name Of temples. The arches are
lofty in both Grecian and Gothic forms,
and the ceilings in many cases gilded and
ornamented with painting and tracery.-
The exterior is not less dissimilar, from
the profusion of labored cornices, turrets,
spires, and tees, which are scattered over
the whole surface
1t is evident that great reverence yet
exists for this spot; for many of the pa.
scarcely inferior to their venerable neigh
bors. Such feature, in landscape O.
ruins, is trul Y rare, and keeps the mine
, fastened on the sad thought that the cold
and gloomy system which reared these
- vain oblatons," has not passed away
, with the infatuated generation who con
. structed them.
| That the people should come to these
abandoned shrines, 70 add others also, ane
? leave them unhonored by the passing
= throng, is perhaps accounted for by tn,
e 1aCt That on thiS spot this reilGlOn was
! first proclaimed in Burmah. Ah-ra-han
. the successful missionary of Boodhism
j here proclaimed its doctrines nearly
thousand years ago, At this place, (he'
k the metropoIis,) under the patronage q
r king Altman, va-thah-mon-zan, he laugh
n his "new religion; and the spreadin!
Y influence utterly supplanted polythoisn
! and all the ancient superstitions Thu
j. may man, with kingIy aid, change tn
forms of human faith but Oh, how hope
n less are our efforts to change the hearts c
l. this people, without Divine aid Go
e grant that the period of Boodhist deIusion
e may soon cease, and leave these ne'
:. structures only to mark the melanchol
n prevalence of former sin!
\. ITO be Continued
IN