The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1848-06-13

In the elenr heaven OF her deighttal eyei
4 An angel guard OF loves and graees lie! ift ~
Around her knees domestic duties meet, 5I ~ -t4Q
And ireslde pleasures gnmbol at her fset Q o ss,s5
Where shall tha, land that spot Of earth be foundt
Art thou mania patro,l-look around;
b o. thou shalt 6nd, howe'er thy footsteps roam, rF
That lana thy country, and that spot thy homel
REFLECTIONS ON ANCIENT WELLS,
Before leaving this part Of the subject, i.
may be remarked that ancient wells are of
very high interest, inasmuchas many of them
are the only memorials, that have come down
TO us, of the early inhabitants Of the world;
and they differ from almost all other monu-
men,s Of mar il former times; not only in
their origin. design, and duration, but above
all, in their UTILITY. in this respect, no
barren monument, of whatever magnitude or
material, which ambition, vanity, or power,
has erected, at the expense of the labor and
lives OF the oppressed, can ever be compa-
red with them. Such monuments are, with
few exceptions, proofs of a peoples suffer
ings; and were generally erected 10 the bas-
est OF our species: whereas ancient wells
have, through the long series Of past ages,
continually alleviate d human woe; and have
furnished man with one Of natures best gifts
without the least alloy. igs s1.,irl sd }l .
1t would almost appear, as if the divine
Being had established law, by which works
of pure beneGcence aud real utility should
endure almost for ever; whilst those Of mere
magnifcence, however elaborately consruc-
ted, should in time PASS away. The temple
Of Solomon, his golden house. ivory palaces,
and splendid gardens, are wholly gone; but
the plain cisterns, which he luilt to supply
his people with water remain almost as per-
feet as ever. Thus the pride Of man is pun
ished by a law, to whichthe MOST. favored Of
mortals formed no exception. aE .slg'a..it
An additional interest is attached 10 sever
al wells and fountains Of the old world, from
the frequent allusion TO them in the Scrip
lures, and by the classical writer's Of Greece
and Rome. In addition TO those already nam
ed, The following may be noticed. When
the Israeli,es left Egypt, "they came 10 Elm,
where were twelve wells Of water, and three
score and ten palm trees" Now the grove
Of Elm yet fonrishes: and its fountains
Lave neither increased nor diminished, since
the Israeliies encamped by them. Modern
travellers in Palestine often allay their thirst
at the well which belonged 10 the birth place
Of David, the "Well of Bethlehem," whose
waters he so greatly preferred to all others
The Inhabitants of Cos. drink of The same
spring which Hippocrates used twenty-,hree
hundred years ago; and their traditions still
connect it with his name. The nymphs Of
Scyros, another island in Egean, in the early
ages assembled at certain fountain to draw
water for domestic uses. This fountain, says
DR.. Clarke, exists in its original state aud
is still the rendezvous as formerly, of love or
of gallantry, of gossipping and tale telling.
Young women may be seen coming from II
in groups, and singing, with vases on their.
Leads, precisely as represented on ancient
mables. II was. at Scyros where young
Achilles was concealed to prevent his going
10 the Trojan war. He was placed among,
and habi,ed like, the daughters of Lycome-
des, but Ulysses adroitly discovered him, BY
offering for sale, in the disguise Of a pedler,
fine suit Of armor, among trinkets for wo-
men. gliis q u. e,isIrt A qrW 81
Heliopolis, the city of the Sun. the ON Of
Genesis, of which Joseph's falher-ifslaw was
governor and priest. and whose inhabitants,
according to sHerodotus, iii. 81 were the
most ingenious Of all the Egyptians, and
where the philosophers Of Greece assembled
10 acquire "ihe wisdom of Egypt,n wss "a
nous for its fountain of excellent water:-
this fountain, with a solitary obelisk, is all
that remains TO point out the place where
that splendid city stood. .,ea5
Aqueducts, fountains, cisterns aud wells,
are in numerous instances the only remains
Of some Of the most celebrated cities of the
ancient void. OF Hetiopolis, Syene and
Babylon in Egypts Tyre, Sidon, Palmyra,
Nnevehs Carthage, Utica, Barca, and many
otherss and when, In the course Of future
ages, the remaining portals and columns of
Porsepoiis are entirely decayed, and lis
sculptures crunb bled 70 dust: its ciserns and
aqueduct (bo,h hewn oul of the rock will
serve TO excite the curiosity Of future anti
quaries, when every other monument Of the |
city to which they belonged has perished.-|
The features of nature, says DR.. Clarke,
continue the same, though works Of art may
be done away; the beautiful gate of the Je-
rusalem temple is no more, bur Siloah's foun-
tain still flows, and Kedtonye, murrnurs in