The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1872-05-09
For the Crr1zrk.
Snnprstifion.


of the ruins 0f empires. AS we gaze
in melancholy mHsing on those
mighty wrecks We wonder Why they
fell. We ask the once proud and
lofty temples, but now crumbling
piles Of by5gone greatness, the
cause or their fall, sud in sepul-
chrel tones they answer, superstition!
We hear the lonely answer in the
wild winds Wail--ia tie siroeeo's
deadly blast, as il h0Els mouFnfaily
pver deserted wastes-in the porn-
ing 8 breeze as il chants its nleian-
choly requiem over the rains of dc
serted cities. We hear i Ia the
rushing Nile-4ia the sacred roar of
the Ganges-in the majestic En-
pirates, as i rolls On iii lands Of
glepsEiea splendoy. KYe ask all the
cause Of ali their ruin, and all re
ply, superstition! DARK. mysterious
Egypt hrst olls on from the chaos
Of the past. Egypt exceeded in
arts aad Rrms and literature. The
deep learning Of her astroloeers
struck a nalnelcss awe into the
hearts of the surrounding nations-
the. Ingenuity of her artists excited
their wonder, whilst the daring Of
her warriors, who went forth net for
gain and greatness. but for ruin and
iesolatioh, eiicitsd their warmest
admiration. Sadly We gaze on her
mighty ruins, and think of the days
of her glory aRd the cause OF her
fall. Behold Phebes. with her hun
dred gates; behold the mouldering
MONUMENTS of wrecked and ruined
Memphis; behold her Slihinx, that
huge and llideous deity that has
gazed for forty centuries on burning
wastes aroNhd behold her pVra-
nfds, her .hieroglvrhic tablets,
and wonder what tale they would
tell Of Egypt's s,rise aud fall. EgyI.t,
they would say, built mighty cities,
gorgeous temples and bright and
Sparkling palaces, Egypt sent forth
her warriors only to retarn laden
with spoils and laurels. She reared
the orator, the statesman, the poet.
the warrior aud the artist. Egypt
did everything to add 10 the glory
and greatness of her empire save
one. She did not take the star of
~sasoB as her guide, for she beat in
blind alteration to the dark divini
ties Of the Nile, a deyesee at the
shriPe of superstition, and all her
arts, her .seience, her literature and
glory have. fled. The crumbliBg
monuments of Memphis, the lonely
ruins of once gorgeous T'hebes,
the. blcak pYranids in their sad
grandeur. alone remains TO warn US
Of the gulf that vawns beneath Us.
Had the Egyptian taken reason as
his guide, We might have seen in
the place Of the tent Of the wild
Arab q palace Of some Egyptian
lord in tha place of some half
ruined Mosque 0f afahomet, q state
ig temple, from whence flow forth
living streams of knowledge. But
shrouded Egypt in her
fatal mantle, and her greatness is
with the past. India new rolls on,
half shaded hy oblivion's darIened |
veil. Like Egypt, India gave birth |
to the warrior, the statesman and |
the orator. Proud aud mighty |
cities glittered in the blooming |
plain and shOne on the rocky !
But India has fallen.
Reason and knowledge were crushed /
oy bigotry, Next rolls on Assyria, /
with her great prophet and stStes,
man, Zoruaster; in her terretories
arose Ninevah and Babylon and
ardis She sent out con
Iuering armies; and kingdom after
and nation after nation
we're compelled to bow to Assyria's
Kings. ALI knelt. in submission
rom the Csspian's waters to where
he coral rock threw back the Indian
pillows. Zoroaster told his people
If bright and beautiful worlds
which would shine etcrnally beyCnd
ieath's dark portals; told them to
)attle bravely in defense of their
country and their God. But with /
VI its beautiful Preecpts that re-
igion derived it's strength from su
Ahd Assyria is no
more. Nov comes Greece, ''the
and OF poetry and the home of |
ong, with her Athens, her Their
nophylea and her Olympus. Greece!
here is magic in that name which
hrills through the scholar as Wild
ancy wanders amidst the poetic
Ields. Greece boasteCl of her Nil
isdes. her Themistacles, her Aris-
ides aud her PericIes. But all hef
were bound down Ia
save Socrates, and he
eli 8 victim to their wild fanaticism.
Iecanse he did cot believe in his
OuntFy,s fabled divinities he Was
enounted as the most impious Of
len, and Condemned to drink the
eadlys hemlock. The very name of
be skeptic's purseenters are almost
whilst HE name lives en-
hFined Within the bosom Of INNER
atty. but of all Grecian greatness
few melancholy talcs-days oi
anger and days of slavery alone
slRain. 'Tis sad 10 think Of ,
lreeee. Rome, noW, ike some tre-
iendcus giant, strides before US.
III bowed TO the Roman eagle, from
Ie frazenf wastes OF the north 10 !
le burning sands. of the south. Thel !
rilliaht minds Of her sons rivaled
rose Of Greece. Her Cicero stands
as q Statesman, her Ce
u as = general. her Augustus as an
and Rome herself as an
npire. There lived and a0urished
le stern stole and luxurious
sicurian. Worshipers from 3 thou :
md alters offered their prayers TO
! many aeities within the walls Of :
ONE But the eternal city has fal
n. We gaze on the ruins OF her {
lpitol. Of her mighty amphitheatre, :
E look into the glowing depths of :
r dark catacombs, on the remains :
ali that vas great and glorious, |.
ia wonder Why she fell. There :
as her Pompey and her Marius to
.fend her. There was her Cato
"a her Senica 70 lead her II the
.eko r,F --f~fss~ Thar so Ia