The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1895-06-26

epoch in Hellenic record when
Argive Helen first made her ap-
pearance within the Trojan walls;
that period fraught with the pa
thetic fate of Hector, Patroclus
and the bloody extinction OF the
Priamic dynasty-Homer's Ilium,
Simois and Scamander; the my
thical gods and semi divine heroes
Of the Agamemnoan era, an age
forever made glorious by the blind
epic bard OF Chios. In after ages,
the nomadic Thessalian shepherds
bivouacking on the debris OF
Priam's palace may have heard,
in the nocturnal reveries OF the
soul, weird cries issuing from the
tumuli surrounding the monument
of Illus; or, perchance, saw phan-
torn shapes dancing TO the music
ofan unseen harp-that harp once
swept by the jeweled fingers Of
Briseis in the days of her captivity
The classical readers of today can,
and do mingle their tears with
those of Dido, Niobe, Hecuba and
Andromache; human sympathy
that linguering in our better ma
ture-is not wholly eradicated from
the bosom of man, though we are
constrained to acknowledge it has
reached fearfully low ebb in that
direction. Both prophet and
heather sage-Moses and David,
Herodotus and Josephus-have
given US vivid, revolving pen pic
lures from the annals of ancient
days. Let us glance down the
chronological scale-what do we
ser The prophet, painting
Gibeah, Medeba, the battle of the
Kings, Uriah in the arms of death
the heather, etching Arbela
Thermopylae, the Slaughter o
Mali" the eleven-hundred thous-
and Jews entering the phantom
world when Jerusalem fell beneatl
the conquering sword of Titus
We could refer to times and scene
less remote-Bull Run, Gettysburg
and Spottsylvania do not belon
to a mythical past; millions c
hearts. beating today, were pierc
ed by sorrows dagger when tn
smoke lifted from those fratricida
plains. " hat is the evidence /
the case? Simply this: Life an
all its imaginary joys are crosse
by a bloody trail; a parabolic curV
whose divergent extremities, IN
like the approaching ends Of
semicircle, will never meet in tim
whatever may be the result in th
vast cycle Of the unknown. Fa'
aud fancy placed in close justapo
sition will, now and then, help I
to see how conflicting are III
views and opinions Of great minds
and, by way Of illustration, "
will introduce some ofthe worthiC
of a past period who have immor
talized the era in which they LIVED
First, we present HorAce-"Dau
nosa quid non imminuit dies
What does not injurious tim
diminish and impair" Twent
centuries after the old Roma
pets day, a cynical French phi
losopher wrote: THE world sys
t:maticaily degenerates in oil
age" Gibbon, after long years {
patient deiving in the archieves {
TIE dead past. was Of the opinio
tiat the world grew better an
W ser as the ages advance in thei
orbits; this however, is not a
a tiom which conclusivelY dc
m 1nstrates the truth Of the hi,
trian's pfopUsitiou-tbe living
present age refutes the pleasin
Islander, "I'Il talk a word wit
this same learned Theban." Bri
liant as are your facts. and theorit
in regard to the Decline aud ia
OF the Roman Empire" great Z
were your opportunities to invest
gate the empire Of matter in mint
tiai. yet yog have signaily faile
10 analyse the empire Of mind
that latent but potent factor whic
works out the great problems {
bldg without lractianal RENAME
ers. The world growing bette
Why, the prisons and reforma
tories Of this and ether lands al
not numerous nor large enough /
hold the reprobates who are dali,