Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1868-05-08
Extracts of Letters of Rev. DR.. Lord.
WRITTEN TO HIS FAMILY.
NAPLES. Anril 3. 1856,


On Monday last we went to Pom
peii. Pompeii has been one of my
dreams ever since, when boy, | read
"Last Days of Pompeii.'' l have long
ed to see it; to see the amphitheatre
where SO much blood was split; to
see the temples which Sallust and
Cicero and Pausa had all celebrated
to see the resorts of the old pagan
Romans, in the Gays of their highest
splendor. Well! I have looked upon
that exhumed city, and for three hours
walked its silent streets, that echoed
only to my football. | have travelled
the amphitheatre; the galleries where
the patricians and Senators sat: the
ssats of the plebeians; the boxes of
Roman ",atronS; the arena where
men fought with men and beasts. and
where Christian martyrs poured forth
their blood in the name of Christ
The seats and the walls, the entrances
and the corridors and the dungeons
are still perfect. But the stiffness is
awful. The hot sun glared down up
on US, and the lizards ran and played
and fought on the marble terraces of
the seats. But the builders were
dead; the spectators were gone, the
gladiatorS were perished, and the mar
tyrs were at rest. From thence we
went through the street of tombs.-
On either side marble monuments
were erected, and marble urns and
statues were placed, with the inscrip-
tions as perfect as the day they were
made. Men whose names are familiar
to the scholar, were graved on these
tablets, and under them lie buried
consuls, poets, orators and statesmen
OF immortal memory. Then | wand
cred through the streets, into the
shops and houses and temples and
theatres. Here was a theatre lyri-
que, and there a theatre tragique;
here the forum and there the barracks
here a school house and there a tenn
pie. | went through the house of
SalIust, viewed the frescoes on the
walls, as fresh and bright as when
oallust himself looked upon them. |
peered into an oven just exhumed in
which were ninety loaves of bread,
perfect in shape, though too well done
to be eaten. walked over the mo-
sale floors OF Pausa and Rufinus and
Cicero; into the temples OF Jupiter,
Hercules and Venus; saw the altar
of Sacrihc, and the sculpture which
decorated 1t, and the statuary which
occupies the very places Of old. |
went into the bedrooms of royalty
and of private citizens, all beautiful
= r--.---- - -a-.----~~>1, aud brilliant
with the creations of an art that
would demand admiration, if it did
not often inspire disgust. | beheld
the old utensils of house and kitchen
the lamps and kettles, the pottery and
porcelain and she'll work, and the col.
lection OF gold and silver and preci
Gus stones which have been dug from
the ashes. | saw the skeletons of
dogs, cats and horses, which have
lain SO long in the ashes; the skeIe.
tons, and the bodies too, of men. wo.
men and children, which the scoria
have preserved. A mother and daugh.
ter lay side by side, and near by a
woman of beautiful figure, with a
precious ring still glittering on her
finger, Seventeen skeletons, which
lay in one cellar, or rather stood there
as if striving to overtop the ashes as
they rolled in, left their gloomy i'm
preston on the walls, while all around
them the amphor8, once filled with
wine, told US that the cellar to which
they had fled to ind their tomb, once
ministered to their hilarity and joy
The skeleton of the soldier found al
his post, whom no terrors could fright
en- from his duty, told US of the per
fection of Roman discipline. Bu
two-ffths of the city has been exhum
ed, and they are still proceeding witt
the work, each day finding some
speaking record of the splendor ant
might Of that old city of death.
The village of Rascina, for mile!
this 9ide of Pompeii, has been destroy
ed three times by lava, and now looks
gay as ever with its new houses. w
followed the path of the lava in sew
eral directions. 1t is like the red-ho
iron that is smelted in the furnace
} and runs Oh its fiery course, coolins
into all sorts of grotesque and fanci
full shapes, mile or two in width
fifty or sixty feet in depth, overwhelm
ing all distractions, like river ol
fire and death. You can have NJ
conception of the stupendous desola
tion which a stream of lava carrie
with it, and leaves behind it.
On Wednesday we ascended Vesu
vius; Mr.. B. and myself. We lef
, our courier, and went up under tn
4 guidance of Leo Paul-so he told m
: was his name. We rode our horse
: as far as it was possible, for thre
,, miles over these wild rivers of lava
: some of them still smoking and ho
: to the feet, till we came to the crate
. of Monte Somma, at the foot of th
cone of Vesuvius, which is about so
or 900 feet high. Here our horse
!, stopped, for they could go no further
9 [ took here two men, one to pull b
strap, another to push, and bega
the PERCEPTIONS ascent, almost pei
: pendicular, to the crater. Ali th
: way up, the mountain kept THROWN
! up to great height stones and tuf;
: and detonating as cannon. Th