Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1859-10-08
WAR0I5 IW.
The Fall of Jernsalem.

has ever been my fortune to pcruso, is that
by Crowly, who in his works thus describes
tic fall ofJcrusalem:
The fall of our illustrious and happy
city was supernatural The destruction of
the conquered was against the first princi-
pies Of the Roman policy and to the last
hour of our national existence Rome held
out offers of peace, and lamentcd our fran
tic dispositions to be undone. But the de-
cree was gone forth from mightier throne.
During the latter days of the seigc, hos
tility, to which that of man was grain of
sand to ,.c tempest that drives it on, over
powered our strength and senses Fear
full shapes and voices in the air; visions
startling us from our short and Troublesome
sleep; lunacy in its hideous forms; sudden
death in midst of vigor, the fury of the
elements let loose upon unshctercd heads
we had every terror and evil that could
bcsct human nature, pcstilence, the most
intoerable of all in city crowded with
the famshing the diseased, the wounded
and the dead. Yet, though the streets
were covered with unburicd bodies though
every we'll and trench was tecmiug with
them: six hundred sthousand corpscs lay
sun-pcstlcncc come not, for if it had
come, the enemy would have been scared
away. But the % abomination of dissolu-
ton the pagan standard, was fixed where
it was to remain until the plow had passed
over the ruins Of Jerusalem. Ga this f,-
tai night no man laid his head on his pill
low. Heaven aud earth were in conflict
Nctcors burned above us; the ground
shook under our feet the volcano blazcd !;
the wind shot forth in irresistible blasts,
and swept the living and the dead in whir-
winds, far in the desert. We heard the
believing of the distant Mediterranean,
as if its waters were Mt our side, swclcd
by the dclugc The lake and rivers roarcd
and Inundated the land The fiery sword
shot out tcntold fire. Lightning, in i'm
mensc sheets of intensity and duration that
turned the darkness into more than day
whitening eye and soul, burned from the
zenith to the ground and shattered the
submits of the hills.
Defence was not thought Of, for the NOR
t4,l enemy had passed from our mind
Our hearts quakcd for fear; but it was to
see the power Of heaven shaken, All cast
away the shield and the spear, and crouch
ed before the descending judgment. We
were conscience smittcn. Our cries OF
rcmorsc, anguish and horror, were heard
through the uproar of the storm. We
howlcd to the caverns to hide us we plum
ged iuto the cscpulchrcs to escape the wrath
that consumed the living; we would have
buried ourselves beneath the mountains
knew the cause, the unspcakablc cause
l,n l,ct ,f -
\ few fugitives, astonishcd to see one mar
among them not sunk into the lowest fee
Llcncss of fc&r, came around me, and be
sought me to lead them to some ifa place
if such were now to be found on earth /
openly counselled them to dio on the hal
lowed ground of the temple. They followed
and | led through streets encountered witt
every shape of human suffering, to tho
foot of Mount Morian. But beyond that
we found advance impossible. Piles OF
clouds whose darkness was palpable, even
in the midnight in which We stood, obscu-
red the holy hill. Impatient, and not to be
daunted by anything that man could over.
come, | chccrcd my disheartcncd band,
and attempted 10 lead the way up the as
cent. But | had scarcely entered the
cloud when | was swept down by gust
that tore the rocks in finty shower around
nrc. And now came the last and most
wonderful sign that marked the fate of a
rejected Israel.
While lay helpless heard the whrl
wind roar though the cloudy hill, and tho
vapors bcgaT to rcvolvc a pale light
Ike that of the rising moon, quiycred OF
the edges, and the clouds rose rapidly, sha
ping themselves into the forms of battle
ncnts and towers The sound of voice
was heard within, low and distinct, ye
strangely sweet Still the lustrc brighten
cd, and as the airv building rose, tower OF
tower, and battlemcnt on battlement; w,
knelt and gazed on this more than morta
architecture, that continued rising anc
spreading, and glowing with serene
light, still soft and sivery, yet to whicl
the moon beam was dim. At last it stoot
forth from earth TO heaven, the colossa
Image Of the first temple of the building
raised by the wiscst Of men, one consccra
ted to the visible glory.
All Jerusalem saw the image, and th,
shout that. in the midst of their despair
ascended from its thousands told wha
proud remembrances that night have hush
ed the world beside. Never fell on my ear
never on human sense, a sound 80 majestic
yet so subdung; so full of melancholy
yet Of grandeur and command.