Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1873-06-07

dllilu All our cAuILillOIlj Jul Ni5OI, anu
our strength, that mere matcrialism and
brute force will only make our grave,
unless we arise from them to higher
things. We 90 back to the building
period to draw our lessons for the present.
/ History tells US but to plainly what is
the end of mere materialism.
There was no mind contained in that
I elry period. Art was in its lowest
STAGE. There is no evidence Of taste or
skill and scarcely of the sense Of beauty.
The buildings were nothing but great,
r1de structulcs-heaps of stone, put to-
gcthcr with unthinking strength only.
The Pyramids were massive, and were
lifted to lofty heights, but were only
platforms Of stone, rising in single strps,
sharp, and angular, and square, spread
ing ont and rising higher as the years Of
tie monarch increased and only finished
when he died, and then serving no earth
ly use but to contain the Ucdy Of him
Tor whom they were built. ILcrc is 10
art--no architecture according TO which
they were erected. The secret Cf the
arcn was not even known. Ivcn the
temples were only massive columns, sur
rounded By greet, square stones, only
making l. p IN size 10 grace and grand
eur. Even the statues that arc found,
and faces that have been preserved for
50 many Gges, convey no expression eH-
cept tGat VI u certain Le1'itching sensu-
antv, and calm and composed con
sc.Uusuess Of power. The mutilated
statues that stand in colossal lines amid
the sands ot Egypt, are rs silent rs the
stones, and convey 10 sense Of the III
teIieut Of the race, that has departed.
That sphynS, my steriOus, and silent and
grand, with its human head and Its
uon's form hiding between its great
paws temple ct worship, tins is only
elnble1natical oi the people who formed
1t. ;-tand Lcside that colossal shape
and look UP at its gigantic form and Its
massive face and see how the race that
built it fairly worshipped the crude
force which tLey here embodied. Look
a ,out YOU at the immense structures
which ere then erected, and admire
and wonder, but remember that this
was as far as that strange race ever
reached The, never rose above the
, GOtst4ey wor,hipred; centuries pass
!, and they ne .cr aScended 10 highrr
at. All was stereotyp d, nd sol i trd
! stony. " c,..,n C..l,.- 81 upon tneM. Du,
! tIey never went beyond this servile
safe. 1t as q state of sensuailtv, OF
orute stiel gth, Of mere materiaiism.
, Greece borrowed their skill and carried
| it On to higher perfection. Architectu c
) adv anced Irom the reign of rude
, strength to the realms OF beauty and
-,race. Sculpture advanced from the
=. a ,t,I 81 n
. beauties and glories OF the soul enbodl-
ed statues. Painting and music and all
/ .he tne arts followed. But the material
ism of Babylon and Assyria and Egypt
never arose from the low level Of it.
: own sandy desert. 1t was all 4 dead
: waste. Brute force and the S!rength OF
q tie nation built cities and walls and pal
D aces and temples, but they neither fur-
. nished the world with the works of art
@ nor cid they give to the race SOU
+ which could survive. The race of Ham
were the first builders, and they never
Il arose above their own building period
@ 1t now becomes a question whethe
n W. are content to build after the Han
i, Ike pattern. Shall we be satisfied witt
II tle material strength OF the Baby ylOnial
f race. and build our towers toward hCav
h en- and de.y the Almighty, or shall ",
.e make our building period subordinate t'
@ tle philosophical, and that to the rellg
il. ious state. Those old nations lie burieC
"a ii tie T. ruins, and are warning to IL
* that we shall also be buried i'll our mate
II. rial grandeur unless we pass beyond tin
+ building period to the higher grade
If our material prosperity advancing on
d intellectual growth, and our lnteiiigenc
ID increasing the Christian graces ChrI'
Iv tiauity followed philosophy and philoSc
~ phy succeeded art, but the sinful race!
m though builders, lie buried in thei
w graves, having left massive structure
as us their only monuments. Shall we civ
- to the world the legacy OF materia
IN graz deur, or shall we seek to impart
N greater intellectual vigor, or to leav
~ the best blessing-a religious character
rs us an eternal inheritance.
ne III. There is one more view of th
d building period that we must give b.
&c fore We close, that is its transitory cha
&c a,ter. The building period Of antiquit
sc WIS followed By the migratory, the di
al elcnt races scattered to the tour-quarte
n. ol the globe. Ihe three great ance
Is. tors, Snem, Ham aud Japheth, CAV
Is, to the three continents of tic old wor.
ur tner impress and their character :
ok The outset. he matcrialism {
St Africa, the intellectual vigor Of EuroL
rim and the religions OF Asia had their or
id gin in the ark. Ham gave Il body, j;
M pheth the mind and Shem the spirit
nut the world. What the nations first I
81 ceieved they have retained. III
nd philosophy and religion, wealth, lear
.el my and spirituality, these have descen
nv ed from the different ancestors of Il
US races. 1t becomes question who
OF children we will be: Seeking after d
tv materalism of Egypt, thinking aft
of the Grecian mode, or feeling, prayin
ne living in the Christian spirit. Evel
as rlce, every nation, every town and ccr
lg. m unity, rs we'll as individual, hay
i'll their peculiar spirit. waich they alwa!
re- retain. The original stamp which the
h receive at the outeet they never los
.d. The ruling spirit of the first tounde
I'd, controls the future history. For tn
; a reason, the character of place is mo
he permanent than its growth; this is Il
ch enduring mark which we are to NAL
isb upon the world. The mere building