Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1854-10-28
An Interesting Spot.

I We make the following extract from ;
writer at Tunis 10 the Philadelphia Evening
Bulletin:
How little and insignificant seem thu
things of the present time when standing or
the summit of one of those sun-brownet
hills which rise beneath the city of Tunis
and look down upon that Rhades were devo
ted Regulus triumphed, and on those white
walls, beneath whose shadows he became
the prisoner of Spartan Xantippus. Before
you are spread out the plains wherein vim
which, like a deluge, he poured from the
Alpine cliffs over luxurious lilly. Those
ruins, which you see in the distance, look
ing towards the north, perpetuate the names
and deeds Of the two Scipios. On that fall
en- column Marius sat, contemplating his
ruined fortunes. He bid the officer of the
project to tell his master that he " had seen
Marius sitting among the ruins Of Carthage
Still little farther off, but perhaps out Of
view, the bare sight of Utica alone remains
to tell Of the city where Cato's sword took
its masters life, after he could no longer
give his senate laws" Those rocks, surf
beaten and weather-worn, bore witness to
the heroism of Syphax. From yonder
mountains came Numidian Jugurtha TO re-
vel amid the fruitful possessions of his cous.
ms, Adherbal and Hiempsal. Along that
rough coast old Belisarius led one of the last
of the victorious armies which decaying
Rome sent out against her enemies
From the harbor in front, fierce Genseric,
the Arian King, launched his vandal fleets
las he said) "against whatever country had
offended the justice of Heaven" The dust
which fills the air is that of the alters where
on Cyprian and Lactantius, and great Au-
gustiue worshiped "the living COD after
the manner which they had learned at the
feet Of the immediate pupils of Christ's Dis
ciples Turn around, and your eye will rest
upon those wooded gorges and narrow de-
files, through which fanatic Akbar led his
Moslem hosts from the deserts wastes be-
yond. to found new Holy City and plant the
standard of the false prophet upon those
casteld turrets so long used for the defence
of the cradle of christianity from the as
saults of heathendom. Yonder little white
chapel was erected by Louis PhilIippi. of
France, upon the spot where his ancestor,
ST. Louis, stretched on his bed of ashes sur
rendered his devoted spirit into the hands of
that God for whose cause he had so long
commended. On those battle fields Imperial
Charles THE Fifth) nearly three centuries
afterwards, fearfulIy revenged the sufferings
OF his royal predecessors of France. And
finally, from the port beneath your feet, the
Barbaropas, Hyraddin and Haydnc, and
their successors for ages sailed forth, car
rying terror and destruction to the confines
of the Christian world
Here, if Tradition, the mother of History,
is to be credited fed the remnant of the
Canaanites, when Joshua, the son of Nun.
led the children of God TO their homes in
the promised land. And here; too. followed
10 joiu them those of their Amalekite and
Philistine kindred, who remained after the
harvest Of the conquering sword of the ':sons
of JESSE" when he completed the work of
eradicating the original inhabitants of the
land flowing " with milk and honey" Hith-
er, also, by kind Of poetic justice. where
large portion of the descendants of the chill
dren of Israel forced to seek an asylum af-
ter Vespasian and Titus had overthrown the
temple of Solomon, and faction and rapine
desecrated Mount Zion. Here, aIso in turn,
came the disciples of that new faith, which
taught "peace on earth and. good will to
men," when a retreat from the prosecuting
spirit of paganism was demanded as shell
ter for infant Christianity. And finally,
strange to say. on this very same soil, which
had Graded the religion of Jesus in its
youth, and fostered ond strengthened it be-
yond almost any other in its vigorous man.
hood Abdallah and Akbar, planting the
green banner of Mahomet, effaced every
trace of their Christian predecessor, leaving
no stone upon another Of those magnificent
and marble columned cathedrals
which bristlel the whole coast of North
Africa from beyond Hippo to Alexandria.