Squatter sovereign., 1856-12-23
SHORT PATENT SERMON.
ON DESTRUCTION.
BY DOW JR.

By DOW JR.
&c The owl upon Afrasiab's tower hath sung
Her watch-song, and round th' imperial throne
The spider weaves his web"
Those OF you, my friends, who have
read history much, may recollect that when
Mahomet the ii. entered the palace Of By
zantins emperors, after his victory, he was
so struck with the silence and desolation
that reigned there, that he repeated aloud
the above Persian distich. He then felt
that everything belonging to this worli is
sanity-that human greatness is nothing
but pipe-clay-that the diadems Of smper-
ors and kings are all fansy-work and
their palaces become in time the habita-
ticns of rats, mica, bats, spiders, cock
reaches and all such yermin. They may
WELD their sceptres for while, and defy
the whole universe, old Kentucky incluled
but that noted pugilist, called Time,
eventually hits them sly rap, which lays
prawling-nnd if you were afterward to
gather up an ounce Of their dust, and
compare it with some hod carriers you
would be puzzled to tell the difference
Even Queen Victoria, whom they make
such fuss about, is made Of no better
dirt than any kitchen pot-wrsstler, though
she has prettier calicoes, and drinks cut
of silver Cup. Tue days allotted to her
are no longer than any ones and the
throne she sits upon will soon become
worm-eated, and no act of Parliament
can save it from decay, which levies Oh
all things without discrimination. Yes,
my hearers, there is spirit of decay
abroad that makes great havoc in the uni
verse. This mighty city of ours-this
giant Gotham, that stretcheth his legs to
the north and south, and his arms to the
east and west-which is bounded on the
north by spuytenduyvel Creek, on tho east
By Catherine market, on the south by the
Battery, and on the west by Jersey Ferry
may, in the course of time, be prostra
ted 10 the earth and only a heap of
smouldering ruins be left TO tell of its for
lner greatness. Some wanderer, per-
chance, may linger here, and mediate.
with his elbows on his knees, a did Volney
over the ruins of empires-and as he sees
around him on every side the broken ffag-
ments of magni6csnce, exclaim Here
once stood mighty city but its glory
hath departed for ever! Like Tyre of
old, the fishermen here dry their nets up
on barren waste, and the owl sings her
uatch-song DER the dusty mansions OF the
dead! Perhaps he may enter the yet
standing walls of the Egyptian Sepul-
chre,' and say, hsw silent and deserted this
enduring monument of art! the wretched
are released from these gloomy cells, and
the sound of the keepers voice no more is
hoard-the spider weaves his web areun
these shattered pillars-ths dragon-wing
ed bat here takes up his abode, and nought
but dssolation riegns!
My friends! few years may not effect
this harum scarum business but the day
must ,sssurely come when the City Hall, the
Aster Hourss, the Rams Head, P Quirs' 8
House, Sc, shall be crumblsd to dust,
aid all that inhabit them. There is moth
ing time proof-overything in this world
must warp, and finally snap in two. Old
| Time himself, will kick the bucket when
he arrives at the threshold of Eternity
the sand in his glass witt then be run-his
scythe be broken, and the Great Destroy
er will yield up the ghast, with groar
that shall cause the very pillars of the uni
verse to tremble! Seeing now, my hear
ers, that all is perlshable, pray you tc
bear In mind that from the ashes of NOR.
tality there springs an imperishable spirit,
the future welfare of which must be pro-
v.ded for here. Faith alone won't de
much towards supporting it without works
II you are industrious, moral. temperate,
conscientious. pay all your debts TO one
another, and do not 60 on the credit system
in your dealings with Providence. MOI
quarrel with different sects about ha'pen.
ny's worth Of religion-the Locomotive o
time viii take you safely beyond the linn
its of this troublesome world. If they
don't, I'll pay the damages. So mote
be!
II - The le1s of the lame are not equal