Smyrna times., 1858-07-15

adherence to truth, in his manly confession OF
his trcspasscs upon the flvorlc orchard trees Of
his father. We had been taught to reverence
him as the great leader of our armies and the
conqucring hero of the battle field. But it was
not until we had begun to measure the power
and Importance, and calculate the grandeur OF
republican government, and the destiny Of our
country as the model of it, that we became SEN
sible in some degree of what man of wisdom
and forcthought, Of bravery. and patient fidelity
TO the cause of Truth and Right, was George
Washington.
But, said the speaker, to-day we stand to ap
peal TO you, as the children of a common father,
to guard the tomb where repose his sacred
ashes. The Mausoleums of the great and good
have always been regarded with Jealous pride
by those whom they have bcucftted. As an
Illustration, he REQUIRED to the ancient customs
Of the Jews. as especially careful of the resting
places of their prophets and ancestors; to the
event in the life Of Abraham indicating his love
tor Sarah and his household, by purchasing from
the sons of Heth, the field of Ephron, which
the field and the cave which was therein, in
the land of Canaan. Allusion was also made
to the dying charge of the aged Israel. respect
ing his sepulture in the same family vault, with
his review of those already consecrating it by
their buried ashes-Rebckah, and Sarah, and
Leah.
The grandest structures of antiquity among
the he0then nations, were their repositories for
the dead, and the catacOmbs and pyramids OF
Egypt are standing monuments Of the vanity of
their kings and the servile labor of their SUBJ
jects. The traditions of the Arabs have con.
secrated the birth and burial place Of their pro-
phet Mahomed, until it has become one of the
most trequented and noted spots on the globe.
They have rendered the Caaba and the we
Of Zem Iem objects of extraordinary venera-
ton, from the remotest antiquity, among the
people of the East, and especially the descend
ants OF Ishmael.
The tomb OF Cyrus was then referred to, as
an object OF intense interest, on account Of his
Irlumphs and the remarkable fulilment Of pro-
phecy he was the instrument in accomplishing.
a minute description of TIE coffin and sarco.
phagus was given, as furnished in the lif. OF
Alexander the Great, who visited it twice, and
on his last visit found it dcspoicd of its trca.
Sures, the body shamcfully manged aud the
golden coffin crushed
The body of Alexander himself a greater
than Cyrus, for the sake of the golden coffin,
was treated in similar manner
1t was from such desecration that Mr.. G..
would invoke his tellow-citzens to preserve
the tomb of Washington, greater than Cyrus
or Alexander. The remains of the latter have
been scattered to the winds, and his empty sar.
cophagus is now the mere curiosity Of mu
scum.
Reference was then made to the jealousy
with which Eng land has generally guarded the
resting places Of her great dead TO the mag
niiccnt chapel OF Henry the Seventh the
sepulchres Of the rival queens of Elizabeth and
Mary and yet, said the speaker, into this sa-
cred enclosure, this scene OF grandeur, teaching
US by the presence Of such solemn pomp, the
vanity OF earthly names, the foot of the spoiler
and the robbcr have dared to intrude. "The
coffin of Edward the Conessor has been b.oken
open and his remains despoiled of their funeral
ornaments; the sceptrc has been stolen from
the hand of the imperoua Elizabeth, and the
elfgy of Henry the Fifth lies headless."
Aluson was also made to the fact that the
victorious sword of Frederick the Great had
been carried away among the spOls Of war by
Napoleon, and rrecOverably lost in his depar-
turc for Elba. A particular account was then
given Of the solid ebony s1rcOphagus with the
name of Napoleon placed in letters of gold
upon Its polished and massive face, aud the cir
cnmstances of imposing pageantry attending
the transfer of his remains, twenty years after
his burial at st. II lena, to the church of the
InvaldS. Under the dome OF that church re-
pose the ashes of Frances most honored son, in
ment of the devotion and love of the French
people for the Emperor.
The appeal was then made Shall we do less
for our immortal Washington than other nations
of the earth have done for their heroes Shall
it be said that the nations Of the East guarded
and preserved the tombs OF their kings and he
roes, iyrannous and selfish as many Of them
were, but that the remains Of the pure and vr-
tuous Washington were left by an ungrateful
Republic, exposed to the casualties Of private
property and the raVages Of time Forbid it,
my countrymen
| Mr.. q. then directed the attention of his au
diory to brief review of the spheres filled by
these different men to whom alluson had been
made, and of the manner in which they lived
and died and then turned TO notice the high
destiny fulfilled the glorious life and peaceful
Christian death of Gen. Washington.
Reverting to Mahomed, he SAID he was the
unconscious instrument in the hands of Provi
dence of spreading the belief in the one true
God. He was a deluded, tho honest believer