Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1859-05-29

AoAfEh HOMO ana Us hAAAaAANa
r-n me Crr-espsl51I-e ~ rh+E Y. Plst.l
Ihaye 20 confess that Rome has not quite
answered 20 mv expectations Knight easily
enough have known better. but was lust iEnCr-
ant enough 70 suppose that no inconsidera5le
portion Of -he present CITY was as Old or oder
than the empire hat 7 should find not only
public clifces, but streets Of habitable houses,
once the residence OF the r7ee whose history
was recorded By Livv, and whose vices were
s~atirized by JuVensl and Horace. Imagine my
d~isappoiu men,. chen, when ! zane and found
aniqEarics disputfns with each o'her over al
most every inch Of The ground within the fur
row Of Servius Tullius, and not a private resi-
dence in the whole city ~ Old as the time OF
Constantine. Even the capitol, which Horace
hougit would BE- eternal. II Augustus would
I onIr absn7on the i7ca of Transferring the seat
NJ the empire 20 Troy, has giFen placa 10 a
! comparatively Modern End altJga.ler common
place edihcr. The Temple Of Jupiter Capitol
mus. which used 10 stand with imposing emil
urnca hv its side. has given place 70 the con
vent where Gibbon, listening to he chants of
barc-footed fnars, saws he first conceived he
idea Of writing the Decline and Fan n ne
Roman Empire, and whore now Is exhibited
" the hlessrd ba9v,0 famous TO- r. miraculous
c1re Of diseases, and fo- the editions : has
made 70 the revenues OF the continent 4 Do--
tIon Of he Forum Romanun- which used 20
ring with the eloQle1ce o. Cicero 1n1 Hortrn-
slus. is now a COW vard.
"Ccfee li1uori idlG Turpei1' over the door
ot a vulgar drinking shop, guides the stranger
10 tlp TaTpeian rock; blacksmiths and char
| coal gendprs carry on theHr dirty trades IN the
theater Of Marcellus "PlHuaTy lndulEences
Tor the living and The dead are advertised and
sold ia the Coliseum; he temples Of Juno and
/ JuUiter have been converted into a hsh market:
he temple o. Minerva into 2 bakery; the
I troops OF Nanoleol are chartered In the Worlc-
renowned M2usaleum o. Harlan; and what
remains Of the Baths Of Dioclsfian is used for
a Government barn. Only a dav or two ago I
found Italian peasants hoeing broccoli IN the
/ ualzcc Of the Ces7rs: and from the portico Of
Oc'ayis, whence its imperial inmates used to
witness he games Of the Circus Maximus, in
sead II chariot and wrestling matches, lsaw
Only the tall and Indigenous chimney Of TIE
new Roman Ess-house. III Horace could give
PTS couftrvInen 10 assurance Of the favor o.
the cois until they rebuilt the temples,
te1pF 9ur lsbr1ies Des-un 81
Pods irtru Fiur.a--a funa.
what would have been his emotions eoald he
have foresee1 what ] saw The tall chimney
= a gas mandatory daily belching and DIFF
flushing its feti3 fumes through the now forssken
parfmeHts of bic imperial patrons palace,
and no o-hcr trace Of human civilization exist
i-r up1n the sfe OF that Famous circus, which,
10 his dsv. used 20 seat AMI smuss between
.hree and f0rr hundred thousand people az a
tine.
Tie only relic o. ancient Rene which re-
aims its original capabilities and efficiency
comparatively uuimpaired 10 the C'osca Max
INA, which carries az much filth daily 20 the
Tiher now as It ever did az any time withint the
I twenty centuries since 1t was built and, !
nav add, lest The reader form incorrect notions
Of the cleanliness Of modern Rome, that Il prob
ably leaves as mnch hlh behind now as ever.
But though the ruins Of the old city are
more ~diapidated and less numerous than In
nv Ignorance had been prepared 20 suppose,
7 an not sure but, ike the SYPHILIS books, they
esquire new valne as thew become more scarce.
| 7 doubt II 7 would have been - much impress
ed had the Gorgeous dwelling Of the Cesars,
retaining al is stupend0us and unimpaired
proportions, been opened 10 ms by a footman
In lace and gold. as ! was while threading nv
way beneath the shadows Of the crumbling
walls and still graceful arches, and listening
10 sgch snatcheso If song from the peasants who
were plying the Doe in apartments where Au-
zustrs nav have been waited upon bv TIE Ro-
man Senate. and where Nero might have nor
allied with Seneca, or have assisted at TIA as
ssss.nation Of his son. The very walls which
gave hack This mde PEASANTS Strains nav
have witnessed The acbsucheries Of Messalina,
he YiIlainous frivolites Of Caligula, the cow
ard terrors Of Dominican and, 40 a still later
day. they may have guarded the rcpose Of the
pious Antonius.
But few ard FAD az are the surviving traces
~ classic Rome. the wonder is that they are
60 numerous md 80 well preserved as thew are.
when we think Of the dep-edations 10 which
he city has been exposed during the past six
teen hundred years. S.. Peters, and msny q
/ he finest mo'eru palaces which now adorn the
city and is e%nyirons, were built with stone
taken from the ancient temples. The Col
liseum alone IS said 10 have supplied building
material % the Roman princes for more than
two hundred years. Able Barthpiemi
mentions having seen a manuscript letter here,
referring 10 p treaty between The chiefs Of the
| factions which desolated II in The l4th century,
10 which. among other things, at is agreed
that the Coliseum shall be common 70 all
parties, who shah be az liberty 10 take stones
from g."
The holes IN the walls Of this min,s supposed
to have been made By the Bsrbarisns 10 ex'r-
Z eating the iron clamps, and now swarming
WITH swallows, Ia a spectacle Tor the moralis--
But the noble monumen,s n ancient ar and
I marnifcence in Rome have endured even a
worse species Of desrcradon than any ] h7ve
vet mentioned. Hundreds Of he fines marble
/ columns have been burned into mi. The tenn
nIe OF Concord. which was quite perfect IS
late az 1890. has almost entirely disappeared IN
this way. u was Tbs temple which became
famous in the history q the Cantsline con-
spiracr, a. the place where Cicero oonvoked
! tie Senate before he arrest Of the AHob-ogian
ambassador al the MilFisn bridge N nix II lie
g~raceful columns and divers coio-ed pavenents
being burned into lime 10 cement and plaster
the dwellings Of degenerate aliansl Til I
heard Of this cnormity Inever felt the full i'm
port of Hamle''s soliloqu1y among The graves;
Iarerisl Caer. dead and t1-nnf UaaE.
Mlclf stop h1o 10 Eaep he VFrf swaFr
naftlr tlrh witch krrf fe w-h IN ave.
Should r1drh a wslsf1 eEplfhr waters nrut
It is due 20 the rresent Pontid, however, 10
say that be has SHARED no expense 10 his en-
deayoIs 20 stay the progress Of decay and pre-
serve such ancient monuments as have bees
transmitted % his care. He has given a sub
stautial rheck to The Vandalism encouraged, II
not commenced bv his predecessors, and 10 his
patronage in 30 iuconsidsrable degree is The
world indebted for the magnificent restorations
By CaLina, a far more durable memorial Of an
cieut art Than was left in stone or bronze By
any Of The Crsar. Tie excayatons which
have been made under the auspices Of Plus *
Justify The belief ihat nearly, i not qnite, as
instructive memorials u the ancient c~iviliza-
ton stil lie benesh the sansce Of Rome and
lie euFirnns, az are seen above IT,
At the Protestant Episcopal Convention 81
Loaisian1, lately held in New Orleans, in The
I course Of his annual address, Bishop Polk
I spoke very faVorably Of the progress made to-
ward establishing the proposed University Of
I the South, tow1rl which hewren two bundled
and ffv and three hundrei thorsand dollars
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