Holly Springs gazette., 1844-05-25

throw or decay Of the master works "a man
IS. ofall blscls that enter tn mind abe E1ost
afilictlng. The high wrought periacuen ot
beauty and arr seem born but 10 pctlSl aud
deere IS seen and ielt 10 be en inherent law
Of their being But such IS the nature az
man. that even while gazing upon The relics
of unknown nations, which have survived
all history, ne fofsets his own peTshaoio
nation in the spectacle ot enduring greataesS.
We know of no spectacle 50 we'll Caicu'
lated 20 teach human humiliation, aad con
vince Us Of the utter tfagility otthe proudesI
monument Of arr IS The relics which remind
os of vast populations that have passed from
c.stlu, ots1 tur vsf lttVs tItrt H"NG Nt4la.
bled Into ruins We read upon their runs
of the pasl the fate Of the Freseat We feel
as If all tile cities of men we,e built on laan-
3arions beneath which the earth quake slept
and that we abide in the midst q. The same
doom which has already. swallowed 80 Wrch
Of the records of mortal maguitictnce. Tn
der such emotions we look on al! human
power as !oundalIonicSS. and view tie proud
est nations OF the present as covered caiy
with the rass ottatiC dlSoIdtl0n.
The Assyiian empire was once alike the
terror and wonder OF the world. and d Bsby-
lon was perhaTS never surpassed in power
and gorgeous maGn.6ceuce But where IS
there even relic ol Babylon now save en-
the faithful pages of Holy Wtit} The
very place Of rs existence is a mater of uu-
certainty and dispute AIasl thaithe meas
nre of time should be doomed 70 oblivion;
and that those who first di7iiel the wear iG-
to months. and invented the zodiac itself
should take 50 sPanngly of Immortality as
10 be in tie lapse of few centuries con
founded with natural phenomena of noun
tain and valley
Who can certainly show rs the site of
the Tower that was 'reare1 against heav-
en- 2 Who were tLe baildcTs Of the pvra-
mids that has excited so much tie asloush-
meLt of modern nations
Where is Rome. the irresistible monarch
otthe east. the terror Of the world ? Where
are the proud edslices &c her glory. the
idme Of which has reached even 10 our time
in classic vividuessl Alas She TOO. has
faded away In sins and vices Time has
swept his unspating scylhe over her alories,
a I'D shorn this prince o. It's towering dia-
Geus
'Her lonely colums stand sublime,
Fingi0g there shadows fiom on hisL
[. ~ dia!s which the wi. 2 rd Tn
ia raised o count his AGES. bga
Throughout the range Of our western
wild down in Mexico. Yucalan, Bolivia
&c, travellers have hecn able 10 discover
the most indispu:abe evidences Of our ex.
tinct races Of n en- highly skilled in learning
and the arts of whom we have no earthly
record. save the remains of their wonderful
works which time has spared for our con
temptation On the very spot where for
esis rise ia un5Token grandeur, and seem TO
have been explored only by there natural
inhabitants, generation, after generation,
has stood, has lived, has warred, grown old
and passed away; and not only their names
but their nation. their language have per
ished, and utter oblivion has closed over
their once popular abodes Who shall nn-
ravel TO Us the magnificent ruins of Mexico.
Yueatan. aud Bolivia, over which hangs
the subllmest mystery, and which seem 10
have been cattqultieS az tie d1y Of Phara-
oh Who were the builders Of those cor.
geous temples obelisks and palaces. now the
ruins Of powerful and highly cultivated
people whose national existence was pro-
baby before that Of Thebes or Rome. Car
lkage or Athens2 Alas there is none to
tell the tale all Is conjecture. and our best
information concerning them IS derived en-
ly from uncertain analogy
How forcibly do these wonderful revolu-
tons, which overturn the master works of
man, and utterly dissolve his boasted knowl.
edge, remind us that COP Is N THEM ALI
Wherever he eye IS turned. to whatever
quarter ofthe word the attention is directed.
there lie the remains of more nowerful.
more advanced, and more highly skilled
nations than ourselves, the almost oblItera.
ted records Of the mighty past How seem.
ingly we'll founded was the delusian and
indeed how current even now, that the dis.
covery of Columbus first opened the way
for cultivated people in .he new world
And yet how grea: reason is there fer the
conclusion, that while the country of Fer.
dinand and Isabella was ye. stranger 10 the
cultivated arts America leemed with powes
and grandeur with cities and temples. pv-
ramlds and mounds in comparison With
which the buildings Of Spain bear not the
slightest resemblance, and before which tho
relics oil the old world are shorn Of their
grandeur
Ali these great relics or still greater na-
tions, should they not teach Us a lesson Of
humiliation. confirming as they do. the truth
hat God IS IN Aisfory which man cannot
tpeneiraie2 Ii The historian tells Us truly
that hundred thousand men, relieved eve
ry three months, We're thirty years in erect