Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1858-09-11
WHEEL
THE INTELLTGENCER.
PoMPEII AS IT IS NOW.

dence to tho Utica Herald, we so frequently
take occasion to quote, writes most interesting
letter from Naples, in which he describes the
ruins of Pompeii with a graphic pen. Who has
not felt his or her heart kindle at times over
the poems and paeans that have been written
and sung over the ruins of Pompeii and Hercu.
laneum:
1 have seen Pompeii. have walked through
its silent streets, wandered amid its deserted
shrineS, and stood within its desolate halls No
other wreck Of the Past has so impressed me-
No other Ruin has spoken with so eloquent
tongue. have seen grander temples, and more
imposing columns, and more splendid arches
butnOne that told SO dread and disastrous n tale
as this. They speak of a life that gradually
went out in the Eclipse of Barbarism; but here
was the story of life suddenly arrested in the
full glow of heath-the golden cord snapt vio-
lenty asunder No gradual decay-no insidious
sapping of the fountains of life--no slow vast
ing away, but one fearful, binding stroke, and
all is over. To-day gay and prosperous city
Tomorrow Ruin. Today the streets throne-
cd with busy populace, thousands hurrylng
to and fro, wealth and station looking contemp.
tuouSly down on Poverty; sin Haunting in gay
attire; speculation and commerce busy with
their ledgers counting loss and gain; the Dance
the song and the revelat their height, Pleasure
busy with its little Paradise,-and tomorrow
still-the eloquent lips mute-the glowing face
-cinders! Notimc for preparation-no avenue
of escape-one prayer to gods who could not
saye-and the keen agony was over.
Such is the story the ruins of Pompeii tell
with their mute but eloquent lips. You read it
in every moulde.ing pile-on the corner Of every
silent street.-in every deserted hall. You read
it in the palaces of the rich and the novels of
the poor,-in the workshop, in the form, in the
theatre, in the temples Of the gods. The impIe-
ments Of Toil-the gewgaws of NVeaVth-the
bath and the couch arc all there. The marble
hals-the vaulted ceilings-the walls gorgeous
with paintings-the flowers of matchless mosaics
are there-GInlost as bright and beautiGul-al-
most as rich and resplendcnt-as when the oc-
cupants We're summoned, away. Death, which
swept every living thing with its fierce and
fry tide, has neTcifully spared the material.
Remember you it's not here and there an iso-
lated Ruin, Pompei presents to the wonder
stricken traveller, but miles and miles of c0ntin1
Gus wreck We are on the Street of Fortune
1t IS long, staght, and beautiful thoroughfare.
The pavement is hard and smooth Consisting
ofsmall blocks oflava-stonc.) The ruts made
by the wheels ofthe chariots-in someinstances
two and three inches deep-are distinctly visi
BILE. On either side are narrow sidewalks, just
such as you sec in some of the German and
Italian cities of1today. Portions of the walls of
nearly all the houses are yet standing. Some
are large and some small-some gorgeous and
some plain-just as we see rich and poor now.
Here is lordly mansion, the residence ofone
ofthe chief citizens Let US enter. \ wide
hall, and we are in the interior court This
court is square, and is surrounded by beautiful
Ionic columns, whose graceful capitals lose
themselves imperCeptibly in the rich carvings Of
the ceiling. The floor is of the most exquisite
mosaic in which the most delicate and ingeni-
GUS pictorial representations are wrought
Some of these are allegorical and mythical-the
virtues and the vices, gods and goddesses, he
roes and demi-gods Some are historical, tanci-
| ful, domestic, -al wonderfully preserved, and
all exquisitely wrought. To the right, door
opens into the banqucting hall-with floor of
still more delicate lnosaic-with walls and CELL
( ing covered over with still more wonderful
paintings; Not feature marred-not q group
destroYcd--not bit of carving or moulding
defaced, you wonder the lord of the mansion
is not there to greet you. Further on, and We
are in the BEDROOM but cozy-plain but
airy-the very ideal Of sleeping apartment
From the FURNISHED walls'and glittering ceiling,
| look down troops Oflaughing Loves and lascivi-
Gus YENUsEs, eloquent memorials at once fthe
refinement and the vices of the denizens of the
dead and damned city. A narrow passageleads
to the bathroom with its fine vaulted roof, and
walls rich in5pictures and vases ofporphory and
alabaSteT, and remains of luxurious couches; an
apartment fit for the revels orreposc of a King.
Then other and other apartments, all bespeak
fling wealth, luxury refinement vice. And.last-
| ly, the garden, withits sculptures and remains
of fountains, and shady, avenues, and dreamy
bowers. And yeti this house with all its blaze
of wealth and beauty has been tenantless six
teen centuries!
/ leave the Street of Fortune--the Fifth Az
enue of Pompeii-and enter the realm of Trade
and Toll. Here are the workshops of the Me.
Echanic-the magazine ofthe manufacturer-thel
humble stall fthe dealer in nsmall wares. Here
are the cauldrOns the soap-boiler, the vats of
the distiller, the measures of the dealers in
grains, the implements of the artisan, the uten-
sils ofthe cook. Here are the public fountains,
around which the edark-eyed maidens of Pompeii
gossipped in the warm summer evenings. The
public houses with the signs still over the
door) where the gossps and the sots resorted;
the broad avenue along which youth and pride
and beauty swept in their gorgeous chariots;
the very footmarks of the multitude asthey
rushed toithe theatre or the temples Of their
gods. Every chariot-furrowed stonc-every
hoary pile and silent tavenue-speaks. Nothing
seems dead but man.
1 will not pause to speak of the Forum, of
the gorgeous Temples ofthe Amphitheatre and
| the kindred wonders of the fallen city. They