The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1850-10-29

DarDarlSm, when men nave not yet learn
ed TO appreciate mental, much less NOR al
greatness. Greece is not without her
monuments and remains of this charac-
ter, and the modern traveller can ctill
gaze upon the huge fabrica,ions of Cy-
clopean art, wondering what prlmeva
race Of giants had strength enough to
WELD those enormous blocks Of granite
These works, however, were all CON
struc!ed confesscdly in the infant days
Of Greece, probably in those remote
ages, when her inhabitants, the rude Pc
lasgians knew not the use Of FIRE. AS
well might it be said that Central Amer
lea received her science and civilization
from the Azlecs, who but few conlu>
ries ago, reared the magnificent edifces
and carved the grim statues of Copan,
Uxmal and Palenque. Should some Ro.
setta stone be discovered, by which we
might be enabled to unrayel the inpor,
of those strange carvings, and add a
brilliant and Interesting page to Ameri-
can history, is it not possible that the fu-
ture antiquarian may attribute our pres
ent and appropriate greatness, TO the
teachings and examples of that very peo-
pie, concerning whose history we are so
lamentably ignorant
Uncal,iyaled minds find qualification,
only in works of massive grandeur; they
have not the taste to appreciate the
graces and charms of the perfect pro-
portion, symmetry and beauty that ami
mate the small, but liIe.ike statue. The
early days-the good old times-are all
ways represented as times in which there
we're giants upon earth. Now the word
"giant t-earth-b0rn-co contains a world
Of meaning The men to whom it was
applied, were moi, it is said, men oflarse
! stature-and enormous powers but men,
whose instincts and passions were earth
born, and whose greatness was wholly
physical, elevated by no working of the
intellect, aud sofiened by no play Of the
moral feelings.
If then, we had no other evidence, we
should be justified in asserting that the
greatness Of the Egyptian civilization
wos mainly physical. This fact is sup
ported by the analogy of other nations,
as well as by antecedent probability. But
we have other evidence. When has a
great new-thought been known to per-
ish The children Of the earth often
stone tho prophets sent to them, but
when have they failed to paint their sep
ulchres When have they forgotten tc
embam the memory of their mighty
ones, whom they recognized not, except
at their crucihxions! We have yet "a
learn that grand original poem-a
splendid effort in literature, stirring up
from its depths the stagnant waters Of
the human sou, - mighty discovery in
science, or any Of the thousand arts,
which give comfort to man. and soften
and relieve his daily intercourse with his
fellow we have yet to learn that any OF
these, have ever ceased from off the sur
fcce of the earth. Where are the traces
of Egyptian refinement, art, science OF
moral grandeur Where is her great
historan-her worldwide poet - her
profound philosopher, or her eloquent
moralstl By what name does she call
her Homer, her'rhucydides, her Aristotle
or her Plato In what dungeon, did her
Socrates quaf the hemlocls, tranquilized
by his mora! grandeur, and the con-
scousness Of Immortality, amid the
weeping of his friends, aud the agony Of
the last separation Yea, what bless
ing has Egypt bestowed on mankind
What tears has She wiped away! What
suHcrings has she alleviatcJ ! Oh ii
is time TO do away with our worship Of
this goldcn.calf-to cease this childish
cant about the profound and varied
learning of Egyrt.
\
Why all know how much Of true science
had its foundation in Mathematical knowl-
/ cdge-ihat without this, for example, adron-
omy would never be any thing more than
star-gazing. And yet the learned Priests Of
Egypt knew not how to solve one OF the
simplest problems in geometry and Gre
clan traveller first taught them, how to cal
culate the height of their own pyramids
What school-boy among us, cannot tell the
height of a sieeple by measuring its shad-
ow? In short if we throw aside imagina
tion-and listen to the testimony of facts
Egypt will be found to have no real claim
to the exalted position, she has so long en-
ioyeI Like her own beasily Gods, she
owes her elevation to the folly and stupidity
of her worshippers. 1t is from necessity,
that her annals speak only of wars and in
vasons; of pricst-craft pyramids and croc-
odiles of the hundred gated Thcbes,
and the divinity of Cats ~ She has lel;
the world no great inheritance--no great
poem-no great attainment in science she
has left us but her obelisks her mummies