Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-04-30

CID
DR.. Middleton Goldsmith writes an in
tcr,>ting letter to the Rutland Herald.
from Blla.ua. Italy. We copy several
passages
of al the places or regions which have
Yet seen, Jmnril, or rather Etruria. IS the
fullest Of weird interest. Here we see an
older ciyiliaati0n-m1ther at least to Rome
IA state which eliminated before Rome
was dreamed OF or Roinulus born-a people
80 old that Roman history has saved but
single words Of It's language. which, though
the letters are recovered, is still a sealed
book Ia those archIllogistS who have un-
ra7eiied sauscrit and deciphered the inserip-
lions Of Nuncycn. Yet is cities have walls
I'd masonry as well cut and laid as that Of
ue Croton aqgeduct. walls eight to twelve
niles IN circuit, thirty feet high. flced with
marble, and wide enough for chariots to run
sop; drains Is great as the Cloaca Maxima :;
R-u~e every city had its theatre, amphithea-
Ter, forum and temples, and whose urns and
ewelry are the models Of our most beauti-
I'D work have seen in it. tombs frescoes
Is ,tartiing as Guido ever painted, and mar
Tile carvings on its cinerary urns a beautiful
l, those % imperial G0me. The very bride
its of the time are the exact counterparts
1t those invented last year in Vermont and
used for holding pulling horses. You see
no these tolhs, on the treScOes, quarters Of
H5ei Just ike those in Fulton Market, and
wo1dcoc6 fresh enough To eat. The stone
benches are lined with urns still holding the
ashes oi the dead, and alongside are seen the
plates ard gohlels Of each ones funeral
feast. Compared with these. Pompeii Is
bat as yesterlly. History helps Us to see
PomTeli, it- men, its life, its occupations :,
bat ut Etruria the most IS fable, and as YOU
stand face to face with the realities of its
wondrous life. Won feel almost as if YOU
stood with No~e-. looking back upon the
gloomy cra- of au unhistorical past.
let Luu~ean civilization, Etruscan ma
~oury l. built upon another. whose blocks
are cyclopean still back of this there re
mains another, recorded in the dints Of
Perura, the lie Of another, the aboriginal
race.
A- one stands looking, other lessons come
home to him. How short Is the mans life I:
how long Is history. The marbles crumbe
slowly, and Yet have crumbled so much that
You can just dccipher the legends on the
arms. The very alphabet of the inscriptions
has almost passed from human ken and its
language Is unknown. Some of the arts
they illustrate have become obsolete, but
there Is one thing that mantles over all.
which lights up the Sepulchral shadows and
robes it with aerial garand-. and that is the
love ali humanity bears the household dar-
ings, the affection they bore them as we
belr now TO kin. That, and that alone, ap-
pears tn be immortal. What is left of Et-
ruscan history tells US that q POO years be-
fore Christi they bGilde1 temples 10 the IN
known God and w0rshipped him in his
tTiune Godhead, that the high priests conse-
Grated the ground on which 70 buiid the
temple with the symbol Of the cross that
they enacted jlst laws, holding sacred above
all other human law, the welfare Of the peo-
pie that they were provident and cared for
the poor that they compelled education
and honorei womanhood and that they
took no work in hand without bringing it
first before their throne of grace. could
not help wondering while looking at the 81
lent ashes, what a long time they have been
waiting for the Archangel's trumpet. how
they must have pondered the while on the
grim the0lo-ies of modern times, which
sends them to place too horrible 10 men
ion, and the ;hieying lazzlroni of Naples to
spheres too glorious 10 conceive of All.
me- have sometimes thought there may
be screw loose somewhere in all this bust
ness. Mayhap these old Etruscans have
found it. Qaiea s0ie
We are taught nowadays that brirhtwing-
cd angels stand beckoning beyond the flood.
ready to greet the iast on the neither shore.
To most men, doubtless, such greeting NAV
he w0ndrous welcome, especially TO those
who know not how it viii be for them. To
have gloriiied messenger to greet them as
they come Is a glorious reception, but It's
glorious chiefly in the assurance it gives
that all Is well with them. But | doubt not
every human being longs most to be met BY
the brethren who have gone before, and to
leel hrSt the greeting of that dear hand
winch he pressed 50 tenderly on the hither-
strand
These sculptures show the bricht-wingei
angels grasping the newcomers hand in
loyous welcome to the promised land. Et-
tuscan tOmbs tell all tins story. all these
loves, all these hopes. Surely that Is
wondroas civilization which. out of barbaric
strife, with no Star Of the East to guide its
wandering step, comes 80 near the deepest
fountains Of Christian civilization.
Alter all, this matter Of antiquity is rela-
tive, and looks differently from different
points ol view. can remember well with
what ieeiing Of reverence | have looked on
some oi the old Long Island houses, all be
shlnsled from gambrel peak to foundation.
How have felt like taking of my hat be-
lore Independence Hall When have look
ed at Martins gold spectacles, it has seemed
70 me 'hat they must have reached their way
oeeK IN their beginning to that first Fourth
o' july when according to the juvenile