New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1853-12-30
ETERNAL LAMPS,

ETERNAL LAMPS.
rily recall that beloved lamp of our childhood,
burning in the secret mountain-cavern, and
throwing its magic radiance over so many of our
winter nghts-the wonderful Lamp of Aladdin
or we enter in imagination the Chapel of the
Nativity at Bethlehem, where the many golden
and jeweled luminaries, presents from Kings and
Emperors. hang like low stars within their own
rich twilight; or we think of the lamps borne
before the bride and bridegroom in ancient
Judea, like the Torch of Hymen, at the we'd
dipgs of old Greece and Rome--or of those
seven crystal vessels of supernatural flame
which St. George found in the enchanted castle,
and which he extinguished by means of goblet
Of precious liquor, to the instantaneous and
utter destruction Of that place Of illusions. By
the help Of the same word, moreover, we can, if
it so pleases US, penetrate into that mosque in
the city Of Fez, where nine hundred brazen
lamps are said to burn every night; or can
travel into the obscure antiquity Of Egypt (the
native country Of these artificial illuminators,
as some think), and be present at the Feast of
Lamps there held annually, according, as He
rodotus reports Our present business, howev-
er, is not with any Of these; but rather with
that bright consumate flower" Of all lamps
the lamp which burns perpetually.
There are two kinds of Eternal Lamps--one
which the Rosicrucians and other mystical phi
losophers conceived they could make, and which
was to be of use to them in their scientific expe-
riments Of the former kind we hear more fre-
quently and have fuller accounts, than of the
latter. The poet Cowley, in a note on this sub
ject expresses an opinion that the idea of sepul-
chral lamps came from the East 8" where there
was such infinite expense and curiosity bestowed
upon sepulchres." Be this as it may, it is chief
1 1,,, ,1c @bo4
we read of the discovery Of Eternal Lamps
According to the belief once entertained, the
Romans placed these lights in the mausoleums Of
| their friends and relations, as a mark of honor
here it was asserted they continued burning
without any waste, and in defiance of ordinary
natural laws, as long as the air was exclu
ded from them but, Immediately upon the open
ing of the tomb, the rare and apparently
supernatural fame was extipguished. The cir
cumstance furnished Cowley with simile in de
scribing the violent death of Ammon by tht
hand of Jonathan;
Twixt his right ribs deep pierced the furious blade
And open'd wide those secret vessels where
Life's light goes out when first they let in air.
1t is affirmed that, about the middle of th'
sixteenth century, during the pontifcate o
Paul Ill, an ancient tomb was discovered il
the Via Appia which, from the ncription upo,
it, was supposed to be the burial place of Cice
ro's daughter Tullia In this sepulchre was
found the body of a woman, with her hair done
up in tresses, and tied with golden thread
also lighted lamp, which, if the story wer
true, must have been burning for at least on
thousand five hundred and fifty years. Blu
this admirable spectacle did not last long. TIL
contents of the mausoleum were no sooner infu
enced by the exterior air, than the light extin
guished itself; and the bodybuilding like
ghost before the eyes of the beholders-fell int
O heap of formleSs dust
Between four and five centuries previous t,
this, a lamp, which had been burning for still
longer period, is said to have been unearthed i
tomb supposed TO contain the body of Pallas
the son of Evander, mentioned by Virgil.
must have been lying there for above two thou
neighborhood Of Rome, happening to dig littl
deeper than usual in his field, came upon til
body of q man taller than the city wall, an
enclosed in stone coffin with an inscriptio
establishing the identity of the corpse. An in
mense cash, measuring four feet and a hal
was in the middle of the breast-the very gas
inflicted by the spear of Turnus and over tn
head there was burning lamp. William
, Malmesbury, whose history contains an accoul
of this matter, says that the lamp was GO cor
structed by magical art so that no violent bias
no dripping of water, could extinguish il
I While many were lost in admiration at th
one person (as there are always some peop
expert in mischief) made an aperture beneat
the fame with an iron style, which, introduoir
: the air, the light vanished" Some days aftel
! wards, "the body being drenched with the DR.
Of the ewes, acknowledged the corruption con
mon to mortals; the skin and the nerves di
solving" Considering that Pallas is som
what doubtful historical character, and tn:
: there are good reasons for believing TIL
men taller than the city walls have never e,
listed, it is perhaps unnecessary to add that
would be exercising no great amount Of scept
!, cism to discredit this narrative, Eternal Ian
and all.
: Solinus, a Latin writer who lived in the fir
century of the Christian era, tells us that
light was found in q tomb, which had bur
there above fifteen centuries, and which f,
> into dust in the hands of those who took it u
: 1t is said that several of these lamps have bes
IS discovered in the territory of Viterbo in Ital
of which that Of Olybius Maximus of Pad
= is the most celebrated. This had remain
y burning for fifteen hundred years-which,
the by, appears to be the favorite allotment
% time in these matters Two phials, one Of 60
= the other of silver, both filled with an admir-
bly, clear liquor, nonrished, without any sen
: BILE diminution, lamp placed between the
or, as some say, under them. But whetl
this, like the others, expired " when first th
let in air" deponent sayeth not
le Hitherto we have spoken only of Italy; /
it appears that our own country has had
to honor of producing these phenomena. at
reported" says Bailey in his English D
Y tionary, Q730,) "that, at the dissolution
- monasteres, in the time of King Henry VII
there was lamp found that had been burnt
or a tomb from about three hundred years Of
Christ, which was near twelve hundred yea
= Two of these subterranean lamps" he ad
u are to be seen in the Museum of Rarities
}. Leyden, in Holland" Rarities indeed!
"a, did they continue to burn in the Museum
had their eternity come to an end?
= The existence Of these stories probably s.
.ie gestsd an image to Shakspeares mind in I