Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1860-06-09
Views from Bible Lands.


Smyrna. Built at the foot of the lofty Mount
Imo!us, IN lovely valley watorcd by tho
llermus, ond.its tributary, the paetolus, tho
situation OF Sartlis was one of mcompar,ble
beauty and, as might bo expected iunumcra,
bic battles were fought to obtain possession Of
this noble city, so coveted for its riches and
It's maguiGccnoc,
Sardis is a very ancient city the name of
/ its founder is unknown At the time of the
destruction of the great Assyrian empire Sar-
DIS was the capital OF the kingdom of lydia
and Its king WAS the celebrated ClUsus, whose
riches are proycrbial. Here he displayed to
the ptliosophic Scion his countless treasures,
and here, shortly after, these treasures be-
came the property Of his conqucror Cyrus,
and he himself Il prisoner, in danger Of death,
then lie remembered Solon's wise words
about the worthlcssncss and insecurity OF
earthly grandeur
1t Was more than five hundred years be-
fore the birth of Christ that Sardis was taken
by Cyrus, and the account Of the Treasures
delivered up To the conucror almost sur
passes belief Jhc date OF the taking of Sar-
dis marks an important era in the worlds his
tory, as the conqucror Cyrus immediately AT
forwards took Babylon, thus putting an end
to the ASSyrian empire thc first OF the four
great empires Of ancient times, the " golden
head of the innge," the "lon with eagles
wings" (Dnn. ii. 81 81 3S; vii 4 }, and raj.
sing the Sccoud empire, the Mcdcs and Per
SLAMS, to the chief dominion of the world-
During the wars between tho Pcrsians and thc
Greeks, their successors in power, Sardi5 was
more than once bcsiagcd, and once burnt to
the ground. Rebuilt, and once more flourish
ing, it GGal!y surrendered 10 the Greeks, un-
der Alexander the Ctrcat (thc third of the Ia
NOUS cMprc,), who conferred various priyili-
ges on lydia.
IRON .intochus, tic last king of Syria,
Sardis passed into the possessions of the Ro-
mans (thc fourth great e,pprc}, having snr-
rendered to the two Scipot more than cen
fury and half before the birth of Christ
S0rlis was under the Roman dominion
when Paul visited Asia Minor; and it was
probably ono of the churches 4f Asia in
which he preached the glad tiding OF the gos
pei { Acts xix. l0,) though his visit there is
not particularly recorded 1t WAS probably
imcludcd in his snlutaton to the churches of
Asia q Cor XVI 19). From. the criStlc adj
dressed BY our Lord to Sards, rclig. n was
evidently then in a declining state in tn, city
The Judgment threatened was slow. but sure
God is long-suf1cring, and warns often be;orc
lie strikes; aud gives time TO repent before the
final ruin
&ardis sulcrrd much from earthquakes, and
was once ucarIy destroyed but-w rebuilt.
1t continucd fourishing city, Under the en-
perors, to the close of the Byzantinc DYNASTY
1t was Tie scat of bishopric, and several
cnwncils were held there In the eleventh
century, it was seized by the Turks, and. two
centuries later, it was nearly DESTROYED bv
Tamcranc. Now it is Il dcsoation dccp
solitude rcigns on the spot which once re-
sounded with the hustle and the business of
the richest city OF the ancient world
The hcathen goddess Cybele, the fablcd
mother Of the gods, was worshippcd in Sards
and the pillars of her magnificent temple of
white marble are now the most striking OBJ
.icct& amid the universal ruin. In 700, six of
those noble columns we're Standing; but their
barbarous owners have destroyed them,-
blown them up with gun-powder, them
down, and used them as common stone, till
only two now remain, to tell where the temple
oncestood
The ruins of Sarls, called Sart by the
Turks, is thus described by modern travel
er : g saw fom afnr the lofty Acropos,
fringcd with crumLlng ruins and when
crossed branch OF the golden PactoIus,
which once flowed through the Agora on mar.
kct place, aud when stood there, at eleven
o'clock, the very hour at which, it its an
cicnI days, the place would be crowded, |
saw not Il soul, nor an object of any sort, to
remind me that this solitude had been a vast
and splendid city, save here and there a
patch Of ruin, a dismantcd wall, or heap of
bramblcs and brick work. mixed with BRAN
bics and creeping weeds. Where palaces
and temples, theatres and crowded habita-
tions, had stood, green and Aowcry carpet
| of smooth sward met the eye and the tall,
stately asphodcl, or day lily, cleaned in its
h"auty whcre marble column had rsen in
other days" Save the breeze that sighed
over the mountain, and through the under
wood, and the babbling of the pactolus, now
an insignificant brook other sounds were
there none, except the n,ighing of the tray
clcr's horse as lie crushrd the flowers and
scented turf beneath his hoof"
Truly nothing remains of Sards but the
name Its present DISSOLUTION seems a fit
| ting memorial of the state of it's ancient
church -" Thou hast Il name that thou lirest,
and art dead
FooLIsu TnouGmrs.-W arc APT 70 be-
lieyc in Providence so long as we lave our
own way; but if things 90 awrv, then VIC
think, il there is God, lIeis in Heaven, and
not on earth The cricket in the spring
builds his little house in the meadow, and
chirps for joy, because all is going so well
with him. Drt when he hears the sound of
the plough, few furrows off, and the thunder
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