Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1870-02-03
The Innuence Dol Alhsns.

five consider merely tho subtle
ty OF disquisilion the force Of i'm.
aginati0n, the perfect energy and
elegance Of expression which char
aclerize the great Alhenian geIlns'
We must pronounce them inirihslral'
ly most valuable; bat what shall we
say when we reflect that from hence
have sprung, directly or indirectly,
all the n0blest creations OF the hn'
maH intellect; that from hence were
the vast accomplishments and the
brilliant fancy of Cicero, tho with
crins Dire of Juvenal, the plastic i'm.
agiraiion Of Dante, the hdmOr OF
Cvrvantcs, the comprehension OF
Bacon, the wit of Batter, tho tn'
prome and universal excellence OF
Shakespeare. All the triumphs OF
truth aud genius over prejudice and
power, in every country and IN
every age, have been the triumphs
of Athens. Wherever few great
minds have made n stand against
violence and fraud, in tho cause OF
liberty and reason, there has been
her spirit in the midst of them in
spring, encouraging, consolingi BY
the lonely lamp OF Erasmus; by tho
restless bed of PASCAL; in tho tri'
bune of Mirabcau in tho cell OF Gal
ileo; on tho scaifold of Sidney. But
who shall estimate her influence on
private happiness? Who shall say
how many thousands have been
made wiser, happier, and better by
those pursuits in which she has
taught mankind TO engage; to how
many the studies which took rise
from her have been wealth in pow
erty-libcrty in bondage-hcal,h
in sickness society in Solitude
Her power is indeed manifested at
the bar, in tho senate, in the field
of battle, in the schools philosophy.
But these are not her glory. Where
ever literature consoles sorrow, or
assuagcs pain wherever it brings
gladness TO eyes which fail with
wakefulncss and tears, and ache for
the dark house and the long sleep,
there is exhibited, in its noblcst
form, tho immortal influence OF
Athens.
The dervisc, in the Arabian talo,
did not hesitate 10 abandon to his
comrade the camels with their loads
ofjeweIs and gold, while he retained
tho casket Of that mysterious juice
which enabled him to behold at ono
glance all the hidden riches OF the
universe. Surely it is no cxnggcr-
alton to say, that no external advan-
tages is to be compared with that
purification Of the intellectual eye,
which gives MS TO contemplate tho
infinite wealth of the mental world;
all the boarded treasures of the phi
meval dynasties, all the shapeless
ore of its yot unexplored mines
This is the gift Of Athens to man.
Her freedom and her power have
for more than twenty centuries been
annihilatcd her people have degen-
Grated into timid slaves; her Ian
guage into a barbarous jargon her
temples have been given up to
the successive depredations of the
Romans, Turks and Scotchmcn but
her intellectual empire is imperish-
able. And when those who have
rivnllcd her greatness shall have
shared her fate; when civilization
and knowledge shall fix,their abode
in distant continents; when the
sceptre shall have passed away from
England when, perhaps, travellers
from distant regions shall in vain
labor to dccipher on some moulder-
ing pedestal the name of our great
est chief; shall hear savage hymns
chanted to some misshapen idol
over the ruined dome of our proud
est temple, and shall see q single
naked fisherman wash his nets in
tho river ofthe ten thousand masts
| her influence and her glory viii
still survive-frcsh in eternal youth
exempt from mutability and decay
immortal rs tho intellectual prinel.
pie from which they derived their
origin, and over which they cxer-
else their control. TT Macauly.
| %