Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1873-07-24
Monuments.
BY E. A. T.

deeds or events that would otherwise
have been buried by the dust of OBJ
livion
Thousands of glorious monuments
demonstrate the mastery of man over
the earth and show that he has wrought
wonderful changes on its surface, leav-
ing III every age monuments of his skill.
There are monuments visible. and
monuments invisible, those on the sur.
lace, and those beneath. To a traveller
surface monuments are generally the
first objects which excite his curiosity; !;
and, to person a. all acquainted with
history, what multitude Of recollections
go trooping through the mind as they
gaze upon those records of the past; for
instance, when looking at the tomb. of
the Great Washington, who carved his
nations history with the sword, is not
his whole life, as it were, held up before
them IN color more glowing than the
brush of the artist can traces
Even from the familiar story of the
Cherry Tree, througl1 his MANY wears
Of lfasdships and dangers on the battle
field, to his high position as president,
digDiied retirement, his death and burial.
Inc pillioro of salt in the plains of So
dom, left standing until the present day.
IS d monument Of curiosity and disobe.
dicnce
The erection Of the Egyptian pyramids
OF which is is said that no delineation'
can adequately convey the effect produced
on the beholder in viewing them, is as
crlbed to Cheops. If this be true, NAV
we not call them monuments of Cheops?
Most certainly! for we know not the
events they commemorate, therefore we
must presume them to be monuments of
/ the n hp nyxrl.0
erection; and what greater monuments
could he have wished erected to his
memory than those which have stood the
storms of nearly four thousand years, and
are likely, unless leyeled by some unfore-
seen cause, to stand as many more
! The coliseum, whose ruins stand OUT
50 maJestlcally, and the other grandeurs
OF the Eternal City, is perhaps one Of
/ The most sublime monuments of ancient
Roman power. But what a change in :
the purpose of this monument In an
cient times the wAll booked down on the
| horror of Paganism, She arena was filled J
with beasts of prey, and thousands of
! people witnessed daily the slaughter
they made OF human beings. Now the
materials OF that wall have gone to erect,
monuments to the true God, thereby
showing the triumphs Of christianity
over idolatry.
But these are only few Of the MANY
interesting monuments of art. Such
monuments add beauty and grandeur to
the most famous cities.
The churches whose towering pima
cleS point heayenward, the public libra
l1es, houses of instruction for the Young
the art galleries OF Italy, and other coun.
tries OF the old world, art monuments of
religion intellect and charity
There is not nation that does not
erect its monuments.
The castles OF the middle ages as tltey
stand by thousands, still majestic in their
RUNS, amid the scenery of rich pastures
ana green woods of merry England. the
vineyards and fertile plains of France.
along the banks of the Rhine, the passes
ofthe Alps, and among the SLOW capped
mountain ridges looking down on the
Danube, are monuments of a Warlike
iron age.
Indeed the characteristics Of a people
are shown by their monuments If war
like, battle monuments will be erected to
commemorate. victories. If devoted to-
science, grand observatories, elegant liz
orarles, colleges and scientific institutions
VIII rise as monuments of learning. Ifai
mercantile people, the splendid business
houses, banks, exchanges, &c, will rival
the palaces of kings, and if religions
people, their wealth and labor viii be-
generously devoted: to erecting. mohu-
ments of christian piety, in the form of
churches, conveuts, hospitals, and other
charitable institutions
Yet everything in nature, as well as
IN act, may be classed under the common.
head of monuments
Dig down through the different strata
OF the earth, there we find monument
on which is written the history of man
and the annals of creation. The yery
coal mines have their tales to- tell, and.
the different strata theirs
Ihe rocks are monuments on which,
the fossils have written the history of
the primeval ages.
The approaching and receding waves.
OF o-d ocean come and write their his,
tory on the rocky monuments of the,
shore, and then go rushing back with
'ae tide, to return again with new treas
lres from the past. Thus from year to-
year, and century to century flows the
ide OF lie, leaving its traces on the rug
ged shores of time
In nature the self-same inscription is
written on every tree, rock and mountain.
namely: | am monument of God,s
goodness and power
When we walk through the silent cit.
es OF the dead, when we gaze upon the
massive mosleums, stately obelisks. or
IN the simple mounds on which the
sfeen sWard OF many summer has
waved to and fro, or on the newly
made grave, each, il It's way, suggests
he same sad thought you have lived
md you have died. A piece of white
marble or perhaps a wooden cross marks
he spot where these once active beinrs,
lie movlderings into ashes. The marble
'r wooden structure, is simply a montl
nent OF the unchanging edict that went
ourth from the Garden of Eden.. whtth
ays dust thou art. and unto dust thou
halt return" The marble will crumble
ne wood will decay, and their only inn
monument is their good or
ad deeds.
Thus even as nations have their na.
lonal monuments, each individual NAV
rect monument of good and generous
FORKS, cemented by love, and while its