New-York daily tribune., 1843-07-28
arc alone left standing. The roofs are fallen IL

arc alone left standing. The roofs are fallen IN.
and yet you scarcely notice it till you enter them.
They are all in the form Of paralleograns, COM
posed entirely Of columns with their entablaturcs.
The Temple Of Neptune the largest, and doubt
less the oldest, stands between the other two.
You ascend to it by three very high steps. 1t is
194 feet long by 70 feet wide. Each column,
with its capital, is about % feet in hight, and
feet 10 inches through at the base. Above them
is a second story OF smaller columns. They are
all fiuted and were once, doubtless, covered with
cement But why give measurements 1t
was a long while before thought Off Soitened
by the touch OF Age-standng alone in the midst
of an immense plain, with the sea BEND them,
and the lar-otf blue mountains before and around
them, scorning the ravages of Time, and mociung
the curiosity and learning Of Man-they held
me by spell so mysterious and potent, that l
seemed amid the creations of dream. Unlike
other ruins they awaken different feelings. In
Rome YOU can call back the dead that once
moved, and acted, and struggled, and died where
you stand. The Roman Legions go by, and the
naughty Caesar trowns down on you In Jcru-
salem and Palmyra We make the dead tell US OF
the past Imagination peoples the ruln for His
tory aids her efforts. But here Imagination acts
alone Who built these magnificent Temples,
and what rites were celebrated in them The
walls of an immense city once surrounded them;
but scarcely ruia is left so thoroughly has Time
done his work. because he has had so long to do
it in Here were streets, and palaces, and dwell
ings of men. All the ambitions jealousics hopes,
fears and sufiicrngs of a gorgeous city have been
here. Power has struggled, and Weakness fallen.
Pride has here decorated itself, and Thrones been
set Magnificent Tombs, that should outlive the
memory of mcancr Dust, have been reared deco
rated and crumbled away Palace and Sepulchrc
have alike turned to dust. We do not even know
who they were that first enclosed and fortified
themselves here on the borders Of the sea. Not
one of all its Kings can VIC recall. We cannot
even mourn over the departure of It's first great
actors, or moralisc over the vanity of this mans
or that mans ambition for we do not know for
whom to mourn. Oblivion covers them. The
wild briar bends its careless stem above the eveed
city, and the thistle mods idly over the silent plain.
he DlTC Il]CS lTOH1 COlulllll
its nest and sings in these old Temples, and the
nimble lizard runs over the desolatc altar-the
only dweers and worshipers left. Man has been
here, for we sec the work of his hands-Pride has
been here, for we see its broken arches and moul-
dcring ornaments; ; but they are here no more.
The antiquarian will search in vain for key to
the history of this place The ancient Sybarltes
Il t,o1l Il .
city under her sway. And this is all. These
ruins were visited by Augustus as remarkable
antiquities, and they certainly are such now
standing alone in the midst OF wido and de"o
late plain, surrounded by silence and solitude,
they are the most lonely objects | ever bchcld.
After wandering through them we went TO
stream near by, whose petrifying qualities formed
the stone from which the Temples were reared.
1t is called Trarertine, and still lines the bor
dcrs of the stream in immense quantities. The
Peasantry told me it still possessed this remark
able property, and that cane left in it would IN
six months be converted into stone We col
lccted some curious specimens, and returned to
the Temple Of Neptune. Here, on the fragment
of an old column, our servant had spread our
{ sdejeuncr'; and the mysterious Past was forgot
ten in the strong demands Of a keen appetite
After had finished threw chicken-bone and
an orangcpecl to Neptune, and prepared 10 de-
part. The clouds were fast gathering on the
sky;-the wind was increasing, and here and
there a drop Of rain admonshed Us to hasten
away. We reached here about dusk. The bells
were gaily ringing, and the town was Illuminated
in honor of the birth of Princess TO the Queen
of Naples Lonely, exhausted and weary, think
of YOU and home tonight, and the wide sea that
rolls between US. But even you grow dim under
the stronger claims of Somnus, and throw down
my pen to creep TO my couch. II.
~ SyIyanin AssociatiOn.--Oiice No 25
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