Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1849-04-20


Nothing is more common than TO extol
The present age for its vast designs, its great
discoveries and its rapid strides in the paths
OF religious, moral, scientific and political
progress. Nor is this praise in our opin-
ION by any means altogether undeserved.
! We are among those who believe that the
world is advancing; and our proofs are that
science, with unwearied wing, is visiting
the lar OIL regions of the universe, and,
with unceasing toll and searching eve, is
! piercing the arcana of nature above and be-
meath and all round us, bringing hidden
things to light and discovering to the know
ledge~drlnking mind of man, new phenom-
ena and principles of nature with which to
slaae his mental thirst; that chrstia nilv-
true christianity, is gaining new conquests
over the kingdom CT darkness-her disci-
pies and missionaries bearing tie white
banner OF the cross to remOter and darker
helds OF moral gIoom-at home, too, as
well as abroad, she is continually unfolding
| broader and broader and more comprehen-
slVe. the principles of all moral action; and
that even political science, in consequence
OF the wide spread and the better under
standing of christianity is onward and ups
ward, however many the obstacles thrown
IN the way of its progress.
From all this we gather hope for man
hope for the down>trodden and oppressed
hope for him whether he is trodden un-
der by the foot of ignorance, by priestcralt
and superstition, or by iron-heeled despo-
tlsm.
The antiquarian and historian, too, as
well as the man of science is-lhe two are
onc-making new disco verieS in his partic-
ular field of labor. The streets of Hercu-
laneum and Pompeii, buried for centuries
beneath the lava, once more re-echo with
the tread of the feet of man. Mexico,
atlantic and 'barbarous' Mexico
the home of the tawny savage and the red
faced warrior; size too, has become all anti
quarian quarry from which are dug out
huge masses yet TO be reduced 10 historic
and authentic shape.
To the scholar, to the antiquarian and
historian, and to the Bible student, the
greatest and the most interesting discovery,
perhaps, is that Of the site, ruins, and re-
mains of ancient Nincveh, whose walls we
are told were a hundred feet in height, sixty
miles in compass, and defended by fifteen
hundred towers each two hundred feet high.
In the height Of prosperity Of the Assyr;an
Empire of which Nineveh was the capital,
and two hundred years before its fall the
prophet Nahum loretold that "lhe Lord
will make an utter end of the place thereof.
Affection will not rise up the second lime;
she is empty, void and waste. The Lord
will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyra, and will make Mines
veh dosolati0n, and like a wilderness. -
The prophecy was fulfilled. Even the
situation of Nneveh has long been mats
ter of doubt. Lucien who was born on
| the banks of the Euphrates during the ears
/ ly part Of the second century teslifies that
/ Ninevah was utterly persisted; that no ves>
tage of it remained in his day, and that its
/ situation was unknown. The historian
Roueck informs us that opposite 10 Mosul
range of hills is seen along the river lis
gres !; upon one stands village named
Nunia. Ills believed that these hills are
| the ruins of Niueveh."
Such having been the remarkable propll>
ecies respecting Nineveh and their equally
remarkable lulhllment, il cannot be other
than deeply interesting TO know that not on
~ after so many centuries, the ruins OF
Nineveh have been discovered And if
any thing can deepen the interest, it is to
learn that the monuments and various
pieces Of sculpture are N the incest state OF
preservation. These facts we learn from
AN article entitled "Nineveh and It's Re-
MAINS" in the London Quarterly Re-
view" for the present quarter. 1t is with
pleasure, too, tl.at we perceive that pubs
Usher In New York. Geo. p. Putnam, has
in press and will shortly publish the work
of which the article in The London Quar-
terly" is highly interesting review, the OBJ
ject of when we cannot better describe
than by quoting The authors own language
"our design" he says, "ls 10 notice
briefly the difficulties which he Mr.. Lay
ard, the discoverer, young Englishnan o
energetic character and abilities, had tt
. encounter, and the opponents with whom
: he had to deal, 10 Set him fairly 10 work
> and then follow him for time as the East
!. ern traveller, rather than as the discoverer o
ancient NineVeh; and in The latter portion
of our article 10 give summary accoun
of the extent and value of his discoveries
= with some examination of his theories a
to the ancient Assyrian history, lis success
n;,e ar, 0ires ,Dl tlynaSties. IN ennuira wi a