The Nevada Democrat., 1859-04-13
WHOLE NO. 2s8.
Athensan Genius.

II is subject 10 which love to forget the
accuracy OF q judge, in the veneration of q wor-
shipper aud the gratitude Of a child. If We
consider merely the suhlety Of disquisition, tho
force of imagination, the perfect elegance Of
expression, which characterizes the great works
OF Athenian genius, we must pronounce them
intrinsically most valuable; but what shall We
say when we reflect that from hence sprung di-
rectly or Indirectly. all the noblest creations Of
intellect; that from hence were the vast acc0m-
plishments and the brilliant fancy of Cicero,
the withering FIRE of 'Juvenal; the plastic ina
gination of Dante; the humor Of Cervantes; the
comprehension of Bacon; the wit Of Butler; the
supreme and universal excellence Of Shaks-
peare All the triumps of truth and genius
over prejudice and power, in every country and
10 every age, have been the triumphs of Athens.
Wherever few great minds have made a stand
against violence and fraud, In the cause of lib
erty and reason, there has been her spirit In the
midst of them; Inspiring. encouraging, conso.
ling; by the lonely lamp of Erasmus; by the
restless bed of Pascal; in the tribune Of Mira
beau; In the cell of Calico; on the scaffbld of
Sidney. But who shall estiDato her funuenCg
on private happinessf Who shall say how ma
ny thousands have been made wiser. happier.
and better, by those pursuits ia which she has
taught mankind to engage; to how many the
studies which took their rise from her have been
wealth in poverty, liberty in bondage, health in
sickness, society in solitude. Her power is in
deed manifested at the bar; In the senate; In
the field Of battle; in the schools Of philosophy.
But these are not her glory. Wherever litera-
tnre consoles sorrow, or assnages pain,--wher-
ever 1t brings gladness to eyes which fail with
wakefulness aud tears, aud ache for the dark
house aud the long sleep,-there is exhibited,
in its nobleet form, the immortal influence Of
Athens.
The dervise in the Arabian tale did not hesi-
tate to abandon to his comrade the camels with
their load of jewels and gold, while he retained
the casket Of that mysterious juice. which cna-
bled him to behold ut one glance oil the hidden
riches of the universe. Surely IL Is no exag-
gerati0n TO say, that no external advantage Ia
to be compared with that publication Of the In
tellectual eye, which gives us to contemplate
the infinite wealth of the mental world; all the
boarded treasures of the prlmeval dynasties, all
the shapeless ore OF its yet unexplored mines
This is the gift of Athens to man. Her free
dom and her power have for more than twenty
centuries been annihilated; her people have
degenerated into timid slaves; her language in
to barbarous jargon; her temples have been
given up TO the successive depredations Of Ro-
mans, Turks aud Scotchmen; but her intellec-
tual empire is imperishable, And, when those
who have rivaled her greatness shall have shar-
ed her fate; when civilization and knowledge
shall have fixed her abode 10 distant continents;
when the sceptre shall have passed away from
England; when, perhaps, travellers from dis
tant regions shall in vain labor to decpher on
some mouldering pedestal the name Of our
proudest chief; shall hear savage hymns chant
ed to some misshapen idol over the ruined dome
of our proudest temple and shall see single
naked fisherman wash bis nets In the river of
the ten thousand masts,-her influence and her
glory will still survive,--fresh in eternal youth,
exempt from mutability and decay, immortal
as the intellectual principle from which they
derived their origin, and over which they exer-
else their CONTROL Macdnlay