Piney Woods planter. (Liberty, Mi. [i.e. Miss.]) 1838-1840, 1839-03-30


fallen columns. The regal mount alone
survives the wreck Of time, and guards its
sacred trust. But how silent are its SC.
pulchres--how awful its 'cnye of death!
Naught hut tho echo of the strangers tread,
now breaks the silence of this dismal scene
The warriors and philosophers. whose ash
es now halow these dark abodes--the I'M
perial lords and noble danes whose dust
now sleeps within "ihis wilderness OF
tombs," have gone, and the lapse Of time
erased the traces Of their memories. With
the same mingled wonder and delight
would VIC, while seated on the cloudcapcd
pyramids Of Egypt, survey the Wondering
greatness which spreads around the coun-
try of the Nile. Memphis lies fallen!--I
Alexandra is no more, and naught but
Cleopatra's needles, and the pompus colo
made, survive as lasting prodigies OF her
ancient splondor. Thebcs too, the land
of the giants and gods, has wrapped the
shroud Of ruin round her, and sets pillng
wonder on the land Of the Nile. In view
Of her deplorable condition, who can be-
hold her deserted templcs--her unrivalled
ruins, and not feel noiseless reverence
rising in his breasif What mind, 50 void
of taste, as not to burn with lofty emotions
when gazing on the stupendcus fame ker-
noe. Look at the 'City of the Dead and
while you ozark the clustering fragments
OH her hallow sands, let noble thought re-
turn among the solitudes of trodden Ger
moo. Solemn are the secusons of her
lonely sepulchres-hallowed every relic
of her sacred tomhs.
Though monuments have wasted, end
pyramids crumbled into dust--and these
: dark catacombs--thesc gloomy caves OF
the dead vet faced tie shocks of centuries.
c But lei US, leaving this consccrated CLINE,
on the wings of imagination, greet The CT
: IL of Israel's God The fate of Jerusalem
hath no parallel in history. Her long dc
solated shrines--her shattered walls and
=, ivyod towers. speak in accents loud that
! she has fallen to rise no more. The sound
ing share now CRATES among her moulder-
. ing domes, and the BarbariG infidcl treads
her sacred wales. In vain do we invoke
/, her departed glory. The shafts OF ven-
qnancc hago ratified on her walls, and the
yndictivc arm Of justice overthrow her
castled palaces. The shout Of Israel is
hu5hed. The halIowcd song of Zion is
|, heard no more upon the prophets lips
/ and the affairs around which once glowed
: with eternal truth, now burn with the in
cense Of tho hermit monk. Thus fits the
i shade of power! thus falls the fabric OF a
: thousand wears! Time laughs at the
proudest work Of man, and with them
quickly swells the catalogue of things that
4 we're.
Greece, unhappy Greece, presents
:, living proof of this. Fallen and desolate
6 is the country ofDcmosthenes. Truly hi!
:. glory is departed No longer does her LOT
" temples hold the gathered spoils of ma
,ions, or garnsh the trophies Of unwilling
kings. Tho household gods have ceaset
!, to watch; and the frequentcd shrines tt
. burn. The sacred fire has long been
= ouenched; and the bright torch OF liberty
e. extinguishcd. The warriors start no more
. at the shrill notes Of the clarion; or shout
the loud peals of victory. No more do hei
. armies flushed with the ardor Of patriotism
WELD the fate Of empire, and buffet the
!. raging floods Of war. DO you ask where
: are those statesmen who leglslated tor the
: millions then unborn! Where the phlloso.
6 pbers who shot athwart the gloom Of Pa
: gansm the lucid RAYS Of truth, and usher
: cd in the rising glories of the philosophlc
: sun? Where those orators who stirred
: and fred the passions; whom spirit NOV
r. inp cloqucnce guided the helm Of state
: and STAYED the tides of tyranny2 The
= poets who sung for Immortality, and the
artists who wrought for lofty famef Go
1 to the planes Of Marathon and inquire
! To the remnants Of Athens splendor, and
number the relics of the dead. Humanity
weeps over the fall ofbeloved Greecc!--
! Athens PROSTATE greatness wings me
, greatful tear from every philosophlc soul.
: She was the school Of philosophy-the
proud patroness Of letters, and the immor-
tai land Of genius. Here was the cradle
: of science-here the nursery of fine arts
!, here the standard Of literature. Philo-
: sophy ripened her classic soil, and elo-
: quence placed magic wreath upon her
: brow. Patriotism burned in every breast
and liberty fred TO daring deeds. Thrill
!. ling then are the feelings with which eve
: nv lover of letters--every scholar Of PHI
loso2hy turns to the RUNS of Athens
= Bright rush the recollections of her noon
day splendor on the mind land as no reads
Q over the dark struggle other chivalric sons ;
!. as he drinks deep at the springs of her
b philosophy, and in fancy listens TO the
/. whirlwind eloqucnco of Demosthenes;
/ wrapt in an enchanting glow Of the Imag-
/ nation, he rushes across tho dark vista Of
. two thousand years, and mingles cnraptu-
2 red among the scenes that were