The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1856-01-16
THE CITY OF THE DEAD.

The many associations that crowd up.
on one who visits Naples for the. first
time are indeed bewildering. He would
fain distinguish the most important
events and individuals from the throrg
ing mass, but these are of themselves
SO numerous he is at loss which to fix
upon as of paramount interest. We're
he to consult Anthol's Classical Die
tionary, or the guide-book, or even
draw from the storehouse of his memo
ry, he might fill a volume To me the
most touching incidents are those con-
nected with the fatal eruption of Vesu-
vius in '79 the destruction of Pompeii
and Herculaneum, and the death of PHI
ny; and a lifelong curiosity promoted
an immediate pilgrimage TO the scenes
of those awful disasters, hallowed by
the lapse of ages and sacred as the tomb.
Where Nero lived, where Agrippina
was murdered, where Adrian died, where
Lucullus fed his fishes, where the Cau-
maean Sybil delivered her prophetic or
acles, where Apollo, Mercury, Diana,
had their shrines-these were as nothing
compared with the sight of disentombed
temples, of the terminated corpse of a
whole city, of a mighty sepulchre, in
which the dead seemed again to live,
almost to speak.
Breathlessly I hurried to Pompeii,
and, entering the villa of Diomede,
paused on the threshold of another
world, but of a world whose life and
spirit had passed away forever So
clear and speedy an insight into the dis
tant past is almost as awful as would be
a glance into the future. For nigh
| 800 years the city before me had been
closed from human eyes. Over its roofs
and walls the plough had passed for
ages, and the seeds of the olive, the vine,
and the fig, of the waving corn and
beauteous rose been nourished by the
ashes of its dead or those which had en-
tombed it. Yet here are the very
streets, the houses, the columns, the
paintings, the courts, the vestibules, the
tombs, in nearly as complete perfection
as when the eager crowds thronged the
on the F" Last day of Pom
peii ~ Here still are the ruts worn in
the pavement by Roman chariots, and
you may place your feet in the very i'm
press on the sidewalk of Roman sandals.
The domestic habits, the everyday ex-
istence of vanished people were bro't
to view, and the stranger from remote
aud in their day unknown continent
now penetrates, unmolested, into the
most secret sanctuaries of their myste-
rious temples.
If one spot on earth can supply food
'or thoughtit it is this City of the Dead
The emotions experienced are melancho-
y and painful, and one almost shudders
IS he walks along the deserted, silent
streets, and peers into the tenantless
oorticoes, lest he should meet the ghost
If some departed Roman, who might
summon the unwelcome intruder to ac-
count for profaning with christian feet
he hallowed shrines ofhis gods.
The excavations of Pompeii are slowly
progressing, and, although that portion
# the city now revealed requires hours
o pass. over, not more than one-third, I
hould say, is as yet brought to light
What a spectacle for future generations
o witness, when the whole extent with
n the circuit of its walls shall be laid
'are, and the statuary and paintings
low under ground be restored to delight
md instruct mankind No doubt some
# the finest specimens of antique art
viii yet be discovered among the beau
iful villas which were scattered with
ut the suberbs along the slope of We
uvius.
The extent of the ravages committed
y the volcano in the last two thousand
ears may be judged of from the fact
kat Pompeii when destroyed was stu
ted Immediately upon the bay, but is
ow about two miles from the shore,
he ashes and lava having caused the
"a to recede that distance; yet in that
asst sycle of time the level of the water
ne, according to Sir Charles Lyell,
as not materially changed, and were
1e scoria and ashes removed from be-
seen the lowest steps by which the
'ompeian entered his galley and the
aters of the bay the Neapolitan boat
len might row under the very garden
alls of the villa of Diomede. ]
It is extraordinary that the excaya-
ons have not been pushed with more
,ergy. When Murat was king of Ma
les the French showed the Italians
hat might me done. But what car, be
oped for with Bourbon on the throne
i'd lazzaroni to defend it !? A thou
md able-bodied men, such as make our
mails and railroads, would dig out
ompeii in year. There is nothing
1t ashes and pumice to excavate, and
have no doubt many of our enterpri-
ng contractors would be glad to under
Ike the JOB for twenty-five cents the
lbic yard, especialzyif they were al
we'd in addition a certain portion Of