Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1853-08-20
FREMONT. sANDUsKY COUNTY. AUGUST 20, 1853.

A VISIT TO PIsA-Advancing along the
banks Of the Arno, after pleasant drive, we
arrived, somewhat early in the day, at Pisa,
All visitors must have felt the effect Of this
cily's singular aspect upon the mind. 1t is
not, like several ancient cities of the East des-
erted. It's buildings have MOI fallen into ru-
ms its streets are not entirely silent; grass
does not wave on its highways aud public
places. But it is fast approaching this state.
At Thebes and Memphis, Babylon Nincveh,
and Persepolis, YOU see the process Of d,sola-
tion accomplished. The nations that iuhab-
tied them have died out; the languages ;hry
spoke are forgotten Their history has be-
come fable, their religion lnockery Seated
among their crumbIing fragments, your heart
is oppressed by sorrow, by the fate which had
overtaken so many millions of human beings
once quick, like yourself, with life, and agi
tated 10y the ticrc sway OF the passions. Iou
behold them marching, in endless procession
as it were, down the great highway OF eter
nifty, emerging from darkness. and swallowed
up by darkness. What infinite untold histo
res have persisted with them!-what loves
whabt alrtdsl what struggles for fame! wha
bitter and agonizing disappointments! Blu
those generations have been so long at rest
that you contemplate their fate with serenity
as you do the general aspects of nature. Yet
acauiesce IN the award Of time you magin,
| they have been reconcilcd to death. Certain
( you are that unbroken peace broods ovei
the m with its doye-like wing, and soothe'
them in their everlasting repose.
But walking through Pisa is almost like
sitting beside death-bed Strength, ant
health, and yivacity, are gone; the form is at
( tenuated, the air auguid and painful, tht
voice reGuced by decay almost to an maud
ble whisper. Sometimes you imagine tina
the whole active population must have gon'
forth On some great expedition, or for the eel
ebratiOn of some mighty religious festival ii
! the mountains, and left their dwellings desc
late for season.
( Sometimes the thought strikes you that thC
city was built in expectation OF inhabitants
who have never come to take possession nt II
SO many of the houses are empty; without
the half f-cheeriul, hall melancholy intmatloT
that they are to let. This would indicate
some hone; but the poor Pisars have none
except when a few English families arrive
and excite in them the idea that more may fol
w,
be~s which have not echoed to u human foot
step for centuries.
Yet there is after all, an inexpressibl,
charm in thefplace, especially when the brill
lance of autumn is diifused over it. like sun
Ishine over hectic check. There is siraS'
pleasure in linking yourself with dying things
which, by the force of imagination, you en-
dow with a part Of your own consciousness
and send forward, as it were, like pioneers
or explorers into the religion of death fo'
imagine you can look through tn agonies @
their spirits into the world beyond the grave
Exactly SO is it with a dying city; and Pts
, is IN or!reH,is-ready to have the last rite
of religion paid to it, before it is packed u
in the coffin and sent to the universal ecu
etery.-Sh John'S Here and There