''*ti A C .London 
 
RUINS OF MANY LANDS, 
 
 A DESCEIPTIVE POEM. 
 
 BY NICHOLAS HICHELL, 
 
 AUTHOR OP 
 
 "SPIRITS OF THE PAST," ETC. 
 
 REVISED ; 
 
 WITH CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS TO THE TEXT 
 AND HISTORICAL NOTES. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 WILLIAM TEGG AND CO., 85, QUEEN STEEET, 
 
 CHEAPSIDE. 
 
 1854. 
 
LIB.) 
 
 ?l'COEQUODALE AND CO., PRINTERS, LONDON. 
 WORKS NEWTON. 
 
95 
 
 TO 
 
 HIS WIFE, MAEIA, 
 
 THESE PAGES ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 ST. JOHN'S WOOD, LONDON. 
 
 911 
 
PKEFACE, 
 
 IN issuing the present Edition (the Fourth) of " RUINS 
 OP MANY LANDS," the Author would observe that as 
 such a work, from its nature, must continue necessarily 
 to admit of additions and emendations, he has availed 
 himself of the opportunity afforded, by introducing in 
 several places new matter, and by thoroughly revising 
 the entire poem. Since the Publishers have thought 
 it expedient to stereotype this Edition, the present is 
 the last time, perhaps, that the Author can hope to 
 amplify or correct, and, on this account, he has spared 
 no pains or care in the execution of his task, being 
 anxious to render the work less unworthy that favour 
 
 which has been shown it by the public. He must 
 
 b 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 here add, that to his Publishers he has now unreserv- 
 edly assigned over the copyright, for the pecuniary 
 remuneration which they have been pleased very 
 liberally to make him. He confesses that he feels more 
 satisfied in having effected this arrangement, than he 
 should have done, had he continued to retain the copy- 
 right, being now assured that the book will have a 
 protector, while a party will be interested in its further 
 success, if such should await it, when he is no more. 
 
 PEEFACE, 
 
 AS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN, TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 To be called upon to write a preface to a new Edition 
 of his work, must ever be to an author an agreeable 
 task. As the first Edition of " EUINS OF MANY LANDS" 
 has now been exhausted for some months, the present 
 issue would have appeared earlier but for one circum- 
 stance : Aware that in the poem, as it was at first pub- 
 lished, many of the descriptions were extremely brief, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 while the information conveyed was scanty, the writer 
 has wished not only to revise it, but to make additions; 
 these additions principally consist of the introduction 
 of remarks on the discoveries made by Mr. Layard on 
 the site of Nineveh; of an extended space being given, 
 both as regards the poetry and notes, to the ruins in 
 Nubia and Egypt, a chronological table of the reigns 
 of the Pharaohs having been compiled from the best au- 
 thorities with much care; of more ample observations 
 relative to the ruined cities of Central America, the 
 Hock-Temples of India, and the classic antiquities of 
 Greece and Italy; while the very interesting Roman 
 remains in the South of France are now described, and 
 additional notices given of the ruins on the African 
 coast, and in the Holy Land. 
 
 Still the Author does not presume to suppose that 
 in a limited work like the present, which treats of the 
 greater portion of the ruins in the Old and New World, 
 any thing like justice can be done to the subject. He 
 can only, as it were, catch the salient points, the more 
 prominent features, or fix those colours on his canvas 
 which appear to him most attractive, novel, and 
 interesting. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In respect to the study of antiquity, the rise and 
 fall of nations, and all the great convulsions which have 
 agitated the bygone world, many, no doubt, there are, 
 who regard these things with indifference. The mass 
 of mankind is imbued with the utilitarian principle. 
 The matter-of-fact man prefers enjoying the present, 
 and speculating on the future, to looking back on the 
 past : his motto is " Progress ! " and his cry, " Forward ! " 
 To a certain extent he acts wisely; but it is submitted 
 that this principle may be carried too far. Experience 
 is the daughter of Time; and the knowledge of what in 
 former days was achieved, both in a physical and moral 
 sense, cannot but be prod active of good ; while a study of 
 the beautiful in art, whether it be apparent in a statue 
 or an ivy-covered ruin, elevates the sentiments and 
 refines the taste, enabling men to be better judges of 
 the performances of their contemporaries, and to appre- 
 ciate the excellences or detect the faults which may 
 distinguish the erections from time to time springing 
 up in their own country. Yes, be assured, the past is 
 the great text-book in which the present should con its 
 lessons. 
 
 It has been intimated that the subject attempted in 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 this poem is a very comprehensive one. There is 
 scarcely a country which does not boast some remain of 
 architectural beauty associated with its earlier history, 
 and pointing, like a finger-post, to the shadowy and 
 eventful days that are gone. Travellers visit Greece 
 less to survey her mountains, her olived valleys, and 
 sparkling seas, than to gaze on the marble relics of her 
 departed glory, speaking of refinement, civilisation, and 
 matchless genius; and they traverse the valley of the 
 Nile, not to contemplate the inhabitants, the degenerate 
 race of to-day, but to stand within the shadow of the 
 mighty piles erected there by a people whose intellects 
 were developed, and who had attained to an extra- 
 ordinary degree of power and learning, before Rome was 
 thought of, and when Europe was only a wide hunting- 
 ground for barbarians. The theme is one calculated to 
 awaken poetic ardour, and to exercise a fascinating 
 influence on the mind. But as the mere love of art 
 will not always make an artist, so whatever devotion 
 the Author brings to the task, he may, nevertheless, 
 have failed in the execution. 
 
 It only remains to be said that he has endeavoured 
 to give a systematic arrangement to a work which, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 owing to the research necessary to the undertaking, 
 has been the study of some years. He has striven, 
 within a limited space, to press as much information as 
 possible in elucidation of the subject; the best authori- 
 ties having been consulted, and the steps of the most 
 intelligent travellers followed. Episodes, or short stories 
 connected with some of the remains, have been intro- 
 duced, and it is thought that they may be characteristic 
 of the respective eras treated of, and lend an additional 
 interest to the scenes through which the pilgrim passes. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 RUINS OF THE DARK ERA. 
 
 Babylon 11 
 
 Nineveh 27 
 
 Petra 45 
 
 Nubia .-. ... 51 
 
 Egypt 54 
 
 Ruined Cities of America 95 
 
 Ruined Cities of India ... ... Ill 
 
 Rock-Temples of Ellora, Elephanta, &c., in India ... ... 121 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 RUINS OF THE CLASSIC ERA. 
 
 Athens 137 
 
 Corinth 143 
 
 Ruined Theatre near Epidaurus 147 
 
 Mycenae 148 
 
 Ruins of Sparta 149 
 
 Marathon 157 
 
 Ruins of Old Boeotian Cities 163 
 
 Ruins on Mounts Helicon and Parnassus 165 
 
 The Greek Isles 171 
 
 Remains on the Field of Troy 181 
 
 Rome and its Environs 185 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Temple of Vesta, or the Sibyl, at Tib ur 201 
 
 Etruria 203 
 
 Cumse 204 
 
 Ruins near the Bay of Naples 208 
 
 Pompeii and Herculaneum ~. ... 209 
 
 Temples of Psestum 223 
 
 Roman Amphitheatres at Pola and Verona 225 
 
 Roman Remains at Vienne, Orange, Aries, Mines, &c., in the 
 
 South of France 235 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 RUINS OF MISCELLANEOUS AGES. 
 
 Carthage 250 
 
 Ephesus 253 
 
 Tyre 258 
 
 Baalbec , ... , 263 
 
 Palmyra... 273 
 
 Towers of Persian Fire- Worshippers 283 
 
 Ctesiphon and Seleucia 285 
 
 Ruined Palace of Khosru 287 
 
 Mounds of Susa 291 
 
 Persepolis 297 
 
 Jericho 309 
 
 Ruins of Geraza, in Gilead 315 
 
 Ruined Towns of Galilee 318 
 
 Mount Tabor 321 
 
 Samaria 327 
 
 Tombs of Abraham and Rachel 330 
 
 Jerusalem ... 331 
 
KUINS OF MANY LANDS, 
 
 IISrTRODUCTOKY STANZA. 
 
 YE who in fancy love to wander back, 
 
 With pensive step, o'er Time's dim shadowy track ; 
 
 Whose souls the magic Present hath not bound; 
 
 Who live to think, and dare to gaze around; 
 
 Who fain would read Man's history, hopes, and fears, 
 
 Writ on the dark remains of vanished years, 
 
 Can beauty see in forms laid waste and low, 
 
 And o'er Art's past creations burn and glow, 
 
 'Tis you we ask to share the Pilgrim's way, 
 
 Cross Ocean's foam, and other climes survey. 
 
 Old scenes to visit, and old dreams to dream, 
 
 Shall not to us a task of labour seem; 
 
 Though cloud-capped Alps uprear their rugged pride, 
 
 With lightsome foot we'll scale their hoary side; 
 
10 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. 
 
 Though, sands may rise, and burn the withering gale, 
 
 We'll tread enraptured Egypt's templed vale; 
 
 In Indian woods though tigers make their lair, 
 
 We'll pierce their depths, and view Art's wonders there. 
 
 Ours it shall be to trace what lingers still 
 
 Of early glory, and of ancient skill; 
 
 To mark how empires rose by might of mind, 
 
 And scan the wrecks those empires leave behind : 
 
 Oh ! yes, o'er mount and wild we'll wander far, 
 
 Now lit by History's sun, now Memory's star, 
 
 Traverse each land where Time his bolt hath hurled, 
 
 And view, deep charmed, the Ruins of the world. 
 
KUINS OF MANY LANDS, 
 
 BOOK I, 
 
 THE DAEK EEA. 
 
 PART L 
 
 BRIGHT stream ! whose wavelets flowed through Eden's 
 
 bowers, 
 
 Watering its trees, and incense-breathing flowers, 
 Soothing with nmrnmrs Eve's enraptured ear, 
 And all her heavenly charms reflecting clear : 
 River ! whose mountain-born and rapid flood 
 Swept Shinar's plain, where sky-topped Babel stood, 
 Wound, like a huge snake glittering in the sun, 
 Through Earth's first city, mighty Babylon 1 
 And saw, along those wild and palmy banks, 
 The first dread conqueror range his blood-stained ranks !* 
 All hail, Euphrates ! stream of hoary time, 
 Fair as majestic, sacred as sublime ! 
 
 * Nirnrod, by uniting the heads of families and tribes, and gradu- 
 ally extending his influence, was enabled, about 200 years after the 
 Deluge, to found a monarchy; and thus he became the first subju- 
 gator of his species. 
 
12 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 What thoughts of Earth's young morning dost thou 
 
 bring! 
 
 What hallowed memories to thy bright waves cling ! 
 The bowers are crushed where Eve in beauty shone, 
 The woods are wastes, the towers are overthrown; 
 Ages have whelmed, beneath their ruthless tide, 
 Assyria's glory and Chaldsea's pride; 
 But thou, exhaustless river ! rollest still, 
 Raising thy lordly voice by vale and hill; 
 Sparkling through palm-groves, washing empires' graves, 
 And gladdening thirsty deserts with thy waves ; 
 Mirroring the heavens, that know no change, like thee, 
 A glittering dream, a bright-leaved history ! 
 
 The pilgrim stands on famed Chaldsea's plain, 
 Th' immortal fields of Glory's ancient reign : 
 Hillah's small town is murmuring far away, 
 And o'er the desert dies the golden day. 
 What meets the eye 1 ? No stately-waving trees, 
 No sweet-lipped flowers that scent the passing breeze : 
 Stern Desolation here hath reared her throne, 
 And darkly calls this fated land her own. 
 Yast mounds sweep near us, clothed with stunted 
 
 grass, 
 
 Or strewn with shattered urns, and rings of brass; 
 And on, and on they wind, and cross, and meet, 
 Wrecks of proud towers, and many a gorgeous street. 
 But who shall say where dwelt in former age, 
 The high or low, the warrior, prince, or sage? 
 Wild asses browse where stood the Ninian gate, 
 The lizard crawls where monarchs moved in state; 
 
PAET L] BABYLON. 13 
 
 In Beauty's rosy garden wormwood springs; 
 
 Where cooed Love's ring-doves, vultures flap their 
 
 wings: 
 
 To trace the wall's vast round, skill vainly tries, 
 And o'er each shapeless ruin History sighs; 
 Man's last poor pride, the very tombs are gone ^ 
 And this was famed, earth-conquering Babylon !* 
 
 Yet, though doubt, mystery, round the muser spread, 
 Each mark of ancient grandeur hath not fled. 
 Far down the desert, scorched by sunbeam-showers, 
 A rugged pile, like some grim giant, towers; 
 Kude stones, that once, perchance, with beaming grace 
 Had glowed in statues, strew its circling base; 
 Though crushed the halls that Time's dread secrets keep, 
 Still, stage on stage, the crumbling platforms sweep : 
 High on its brow a dark mass rears its form, 
 Defying ages, mocking fire and storm : 
 Struck by a thousand lightnings, still 'tis there, 
 As proud in ruin, haughty in despair. 
 Oh ! wondrous fabric, reared by busy man 
 Ere Art's faint dawn on Europe's shores began ! 
 
 * On the eastern bank of the Euphrates, a few miles above the mo- 
 dern town of Hillah, are immense mounds formed of decayed buildings, 
 and covered with bricks, broken pottery, and masses of bitumen. They 
 lie in various positions; some are round, others square, while they 
 measure from 500 to 1000 yards in circumference; long ridges also 
 branch away from these, and intersect each other, strongly suggest- 
 ing the idea that they are the remains of former streets. Niebuhr, 
 Rennell, Porter, and Rich, followed by many other travellers and 
 antiquaries, have come to the conclusion that these mounds are no less 
 than the mouldered ruins of the once famous city of Babylon. 
 
14 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK. I. 
 
 Home's mouldering shrines, and Tadmor's columns grey, 
 
 Beside yon mass, seem tilings of yesterday; 
 
 In breathless awe, in musing silence, bow ! 
 
 'Tis hoary Belus glooms before you now 
 
 The shrine at which each prophet's curse was hurled, 
 
 The boast, the glory of the Eastern world ! (1) 
 
 See, Northward, too, in slow and stern decay, 
 Like Egypt's piles, and scarce less old than they, 
 Yon high-peaked ruin; dim Oblivion's wings 
 Shroud there the dust of Babylonia's kings. 
 She who with War's red crest, and glittering sword,* 
 Led armies forth, and fought beside her lord, 
 Conquered from Shinar's plains to Indus' shore, 
 In Death's drear chambers sounds her trump no more : 
 There he who caused the captive Hebrews' tears, 
 Sleeps his long sleep of thrice a thousand years : t 
 Cold gloom and silence wrap each royal brow, 
 Dust their sole throne, a vault their kingdom now; 
 Of all they swayed, no slave to bend the knee 
 Such as they are, Earth's mightiest kings shall be ! (2) 
 
 But lo! where broad Euphrates murmurs by, 
 The noblest wreck, the Palace, courts the sky; 
 
 (1) References marked thus ( ) to Notes not introduced at the foot 
 of the page, imply that they will be found at the end of the volume; 
 and tlie reader's attention is particularly directed to such Notes, 
 which are designed to convey information that cannot be given 
 through the medium of poetry. 
 
 * Semiramis. 
 
 f Nebuchadnezzar. He captured Jerusalem B.C. 606 years, and 
 carried the Jews into captivity. 
 
PART I.] BABYLON. 15 
 
 High walls where mystic emblems spread their maze, 
 
 Buttress and massy pier still awe our gaze. 
 
 Vast is the mound we climb with reverent tread 
 
 Oh ! days of glory, power for ever fled ! 
 
 A hundred kings have swayed their sceptres here, 
 
 Warriors have bowed, and princes quailed with fear; 
 
 Through gorgeous halls below, when Earth was young, 
 
 What feasts have blazed! what strains of music rung!* 
 
 Dark tree of ages ! crowning yonder steep, 
 
 Waving in sighs, and drooping as to weep, 
 
 What doth it there? its brethren all are gone, 
 
 A hermit now, it blooms and mourns alone; 
 
 Float, balmiest breezes ! round those thin grey leaves, 
 
 Where her last song some lingering spirit weaves; 
 
 Sun 1 veil thy fire ye storms ! forbear to swell, 
 
 And, dews of evening ! nurse this relic well. 
 
 Time-honoured tree, it marks the Hanging Bowers, (3) 
 
 Boast of a tasteful queen in pleasure's hours ; 
 
 * Perhaps the most interesting of the three great Babylonian 
 remains is the heap of ruins called by the Arabs the Kasr, one mile 
 south of the Mujelibe*, and close by the Euphrates; some travellers, 
 however, have designated the Kasr the Mujelibe*, and thus a confu- 
 sion in terms unnecessarily, we think, prevails. The Royal Palace, 
 beautified by Nitocris, but built by some previous monarch, as 
 described by Herodotus and Quintus Curtius, must have stood in this 
 place. On the opposite side arose another palace, the two being 
 connected by a bridge ; no remains, however, exist on the western 
 bank; the tunnel, also, which, according to Diodorus, Semiramis 
 excavated here beneath the Euphrates, is nowhere to be found. The 
 brick ruin on the Kasr is a very remarkable one; it consists of 
 several walls and piers, eight feet in thickness, and so fresh in ap- 
 pearance, that Mr. Rich, who, in his " Memoirs," gives a minute 
 account of it, could scarcely at first persuade himself of its being in 
 reality a Babylonian remain. 
 
16 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Yes, here Mtocris built her famed parterre, 
 Terrace on terrace raised, in upper air : 
 Trees of all bloom, and flowers of every hue, 
 Founts that aloft bright perfumed waters threw, 
 Arcades of roses screening sultry skies, 
 Birds, lutes, soft airs, half rivalled Paradise. (4) 
 
 As now the desert landscape meets our gaze, 
 A vision dawns of glory's radiant days : 
 In yon green arbour fair Nitocris sits, 
 A band of dark-eyed maidens near her flits; 
 Some deck her form with gems from Bactria's mine, 
 And 'round her brow sweet Syrian roses twine; 
 Some wreath in braids her soft far-floating hair, 
 And tinge her eyes to aid the witchery there : 
 Others, by jasper-fount and garden bed, 
 Chaldsea's dance so light and graceful tread, 
 High raise their arms the soft slow strains to suit, 
 That breathe from Persian pipe and Lydian lute; 
 Then, Peri-like, they swim in measures fleet; 
 Twinkle like stars their silver-sandalled feet; 
 Now at each graceful bound they scatter flowers, 
 Their low sweet laughter ringing through the bowers. 
 Oh! beautiful those bright, fair, joyous things 
 What want they, to be angels, but their wings? 
 
 Yet sad, 'midst all, Chaldsea's* queen appears; 
 Her fair brow droops, her cheek is wet with tears ; 
 
 * Chaldaea, at this period, according to Ptolemy, formed the 
 south-western portion of the Babylonian empire. The Babylonians 
 spoke the Chaldsean language; hence the terms Chaldaean and 
 Babylonian had almost become synonymous. 
 
PART I.] BABYLON. 17 
 
 She mourns her absent lord, who leads his host 
 'Gainst savage tribes, on Euxine's wintry coast. 
 Far from the bloomy bowers, her fancy flies 
 To War's dread plain, and horrors round her rise. 
 For lutes' soft tones, loud shouts assail her ear, 
 And for the dance, hosts charge in mad career. 
 Cleaving the sky, she marks the feather'd dart; 
 It comes she shrinks it quivers in his heart! 
 Yes, in her arms he leans, the fond and true; 
 He cannot speak, but looks a sad adieu; 
 And fast she showers her kisses on that brow, 
 Where Yalour sits, though Death is darkening now; 
 Catches the fluttering breath, the last faint moan, 
 And feels his pulseless heart, while breaks her own. 
 List ! on the walls that trumpet's sudden blast ! 
 See ! o'er the plain those troops careering fast ! 
 Gleams the rich standard, brays the sackbut out; 
 " He comes ! the conqueror comes ! " ten thousand shout. 
 Up from her tear-damp couch the mourner springs, 
 Back from her brow the raven tresses flings; 
 Strength nerves her frame, and joy illumes her eye, 
 Forth from her bower she darts, with rapturous cry, 
 Flies to those arms, past all her fear and woe, 
 And sinks upon that breast, her heaven below ! * 
 
 * This famous Queen Nitocris, daughter-in-law of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 ordered her subjects to bury her under the gates of the city, with an 
 inscription on her tomb to the effect that none should seek for 
 the treasures hidden there, unless under circumstances of the most 
 urgent necessity. Darius, the Persian, at length opened it, but, 
 instead of the anticipated treasure, found the following sentence 
 graven on the marble: "If thou hadst not an insatiable thirst 
 after money, and a most sordid soul, thou wouldst never have broken 
 B 
 
18 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 'Twas here, beneath this dark and silent mound, 
 Where ages heap their nameless spoils aroimd, 
 That he, the last great king, before his fall, 
 Spread his famed feast, and lit his gorgeous hall. 
 Oh ! ne'er in Babylon did blaze a sight 
 More richly grand, magnificently bright ! 
 Bearing his crown, and dressed in robe of state, 
 High on his throne of gold Belshazzar sate. 
 In shining rows, and stretching far away, 
 Like billows quivering 'neath the sunset ray, 
 Chiefs, nobles stood, the red lamps flashing o'er 
 The golden chains and purple robes they wore. 
 In gilded gall'ries damsels, too, were seen, 
 Like night thick set with stars, their jewels' sheen; 
 With rose-crowned locks, white hands, and radiant eyes, 
 Too fair for earth, too earthly for the skies. 
 
 The banquet speeds ; the harp and psaltery sound, 
 And all is splendour, joy, enchantment, round. 
 Wreathed with rich flowers, and crowned with rosy wine, 
 The golden cups from Salem's Temple shine.* 
 Joined by his chiefs, th' exulting monarch drinks, 
 Nor at thy voice, condemning conscience ! shrinks, 
 But mocks the Hebrews' God, and, with vain boast, 
 Extols their Bel, and Heaven's unnumbered host.t 
 
 open the monuments of the dead." Vid. Rollin, on the authority of 
 Herodotus. 
 
 * The Temple of Jerusalem had been rifled, and the sacred ves- 
 sels carried off to Babylon, just sixty-nine years before this memor- 
 able night. In the first year of Cyrus's reign, B.C. 536, the Jews 
 returned from their captivity. 
 
 f Belus, or Bel, signifying in the Chaldee language, " lord," was 
 
PART I.] BABYLON. 19 
 
 'Twas then, while pleasure held each heart in thrall, 
 A sudden light illumed the pillar'd hall; 
 No lamp, no earthly fire, could pour such beams 
 From sun or comet no such splendour streams. 
 Up sprang the king, and backward swayed the crowd ; 
 Mute was the harp, and hushed their laughter loud. 
 See ! where in flame, yet dazzling, strong and clear, 
 That shadowy hand doth trace its words of fear I 
 It writes ! Belshazzar stands with lips apart, 
 While terror's thrill runs shivering to his heart j 
 It writes; and all veil there, in dread amaze, 
 Their dazzled eyes from that portentous blaze ! 
 
 No sage was found to read those words of flame, 
 Till he, the exile, Salem's prophet came.* 
 He stood before them all, with noble mien, 
 Bold as unshrinking, lofty as serene. 
 
 the great god of the Babylonians; they were also confirmed Saba- 
 ians, or worshippers of the stars. At this period, six centuries before 
 Christ, the civilized world, with regard to religious systems, appears 
 to have been divided into five families namely, those who culti- 
 vated Sabaism or star-worship, being the inhabitants of Arabia, 
 Mesopotamia, and Phoenicia, the last superadding the worship of 
 Baal, or Moloch; the people of Iran (Persia), and Bactria, who 
 adored fire as the visible emblem of the Deity ; those who reared 
 temples to the innumerable gods that swell the Greek and Egyp- 
 tian mythology; the Brahmins beyond the Indus, whose deities were 
 Brahm, Vishnu, and Siva, and who maintained transmigration of 
 souls, being called by the Greeks Gymnosophists; and, lastly, the 
 small remnant of Hebrews, who alone, amidst the darkness that 
 shrouded mankind, retained the true religion, and bowed down to 
 Him who created Heaven and Earth. 
 
 * Daniel, a child when carried into captivity, B.C. 606, was now 
 above eighty years of age. 
 
20 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Age marked his brow, but in his deep clear eye 
 Still burned the fire of glorious days gone by. 
 So hushed each voice, that hall appeared a tomb 
 He stretched his hand, and spoke the monarch's 
 
 doom! 
 
 Yes, on that night the foe, whose hosts in vain 
 Had fought so long those stately towers to gain, 
 Bowed deep Euphrates from his wonted course, 
 Poured to the city's heart with whirlwind force, 
 Slew the last king Chaldaaa's rule was o'er ! 
 And Babylon, the mighty, was no more! (5) 
 
 Oh, man! proud, fragile thing! who dream'st of 
 
 power, 
 
 Founding thy laws, and rearing dome and tower, 
 Hoping to wage successful war with Time, 
 Great in thy schemes, and in thy aims sublime, 
 Pause, nursling of an hour ! and child of clay ! 
 Read on thy mightiest works that word decay ! 
 A little while on Earth's uncertain scene, 
 Pride's arm is strong, and Glory's bays are green; 
 A little while do thrones and empires claim, 
 From crouching thousands, homage and a name; 
 But, like the waves, still shifting as they glide, 
 Power onward rolls her ever-changing tide. 
 Ay, deem not, Man ! eternal fate to brave, 
 For all things earthly yawns Destruction's grave: 
 Sure as the writing on Belshazzar's wall, 
 Thy schemes shall fail thy Titan hopes shall fall; 
 Mind only lives for ever ; amaranths bloom, 
 And Time but breaks his scythe, beyond the tomb ! 
 
PART I.] BABYLON. 21 
 
 From grandeur's wrecks we Northward bend our way, 
 O'er desert heaths, where Ishmael's wanderers stray; 
 Scorners of cities, law hath failed to bind, 
 Children of rapine, foes to all mankind ! 
 No change in this wild race do ages see, 
 Savage, yet courteous ignorant, yet free, 
 Doomed by God's fiat evermore to roam, 
 The waste their only world, the tent their home.* 
 
 Now as the sun goes down, and zephyr brings 
 Balm in its breath, and freshness on its wings, 
 'Tis as enchantment thus to yield the rein, 
 And like a wild bird skim the level plain. 
 The caravan from Herat's bowers of bloom, 
 The pilgrim train from Ali's sainted tomb,t 
 Swift we dash by; the camel's tinkling bell 
 And guide's low song the breeze a moment swell, 
 Then both are gone, our courser tireless yet, 
 Though foam, like snow-wreaths, streaks his sides of jet : 
 
 * A notion has obtained with some writers that all the Arabs are 
 descended from Ishmael, the son of the bond-woman Hagar; but 
 Arabs existed in the great Peninsula long before Ishmael was born. 
 No people more carefully preserve the genealogy of their horses or 
 themselves than these desert wanderers. They divide themselves into 
 two great families or stocks the one, the most honourable, because 
 the oldest, being descended from Kahtan or Joktan, the son of Eber, 
 and the other from Ishmael. Mohammed belongs to the tribe of 
 Koreish, of the last-named family; which circumstance, it maybe 
 supposed, is a source of great boasting to the Ishmaelites, or children 
 of Hagar. 
 
 f In the Desert south-west of Hillah lies Mesjid Ali, where there 
 is a celebrated tomb, to which the Persians at this day make fre- 
 quent pilgrimages. The tomb said to contain the dust of Ezekiel is 
 also in the Western Desert. 
 
22 -RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 With, flying mane, arched neck, and airy bound, 
 He seems to paw the clouds, not scour the ground. 
 Hark ! 'tis the hyena's cry ! he prowls for prey, 
 And 'mid night's deepening shadows tracks our way; 
 But vain his efforts, lagging far behind ; 
 And now no more his fierce howl swells the wind; 
 While on, and on, the swift Arabian strains, 
 Fire in his eye, and lava in his veins. 
 
 The stars go out, the fire-fly veils her spark; 
 Still o'er the Western Desert all is dark; 
 But where rise Persia's hills, through vapours dim, 
 A soft faint purple tints the horizon's brim; 
 Slowly it spreads; it shines from peak to peak; 
 Now, like the deep rich blush on Beauty's cheek, 
 When from some dream of love she wakes, and 
 
 sighs, 
 One rosy hue bathes all the Eastern skies. 
 
 See ! on our right, where desert heath-flowers blow, 
 Yon ruined tower hath caught the crimson glow; 
 Streams on its sides the soft and dancing ray, 
 Like sportive youth with rugged age at play : 
 Earth's earliest king is fabled there to sleep ; 
 And well his dust those vaults of darkness keep. (6) 
 The palm-trees rise in light, and freshly 'round 
 The tamarisk blooms, and flowrets deck the ground; 
 Spring they not, nourished by life's sanguine tide? 
 For Persia's myriads here once fought and died. 
 Field ! where in arms two royal brothers met, 
 O'er the dire scene of blood we shudder yet; 
 
PART I.] BABYLON". 23 
 
 They whom one country owned, one mother bore, 
 Locked in strife's fierce embrace, and red with gore ; 
 While cheered the Greek, and rose the Parthian's yell, 
 Till, pierced with countless wounds, young Cyrus fell. 
 Bloom, flowrets, bloom ! and wave, thou spreading palm ! 
 Ambition's slaves are still; their sleep is calm; 
 What lives of all their wars, and pride, and rage, 
 And blood-stained thrones'? aline in History's page!* 
 
 Still on we press, and now the new-born beam 
 To amber turns swift Tigris' arrowy stream, 
 Shines on famed Baghdad's walls, and bathes with fire 
 Each gilded dome and crescent-mounted spire. 
 Romantic Baghdad ! name to childhood dear, 
 Awaking terror's thrill and pity's tear; 
 For there the sorcerer gloomed, the genii dwelt, 
 And Love and Worth to good Al Rashid knelt ; 
 Prince of the Thousand Tales ! whose glorious reign 
 So brightly shines in fancy's fair domain ! 
 Whose noble deeds still Arab minstrels sing, 
 Who rivalled all but Gallia's knightly king.t 
 
 * The great battle of Cunaxa was fought in the neighbourhood of 
 the brick pyramid named above, four hundred and one years before 
 Christ. Above a million of men met in arms. The deadly hatred 
 between the brothers Cyrus and Artaxerxes, and their combat on 
 this occasion, seem to have no parallel in history or fable, if we 
 except the feud of the two famous Thebans, Eteocles and Polynices. 
 It was from this point that commenced the ever memorable retreat 
 of the ten thousand Greeks who had fought in the army of Cyrus. 
 
 f Harun al Rashid, the Alfred of the East, and rendered immortal 
 in "The Arabian Nights' Entertainments," was contemporary with 
 Charlemagne. The illustrious caliph and the chivalrous French 
 monarch were on the most friendly terms; and among the splendid 
 
24 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Yonder where fountains gush, and yew-trees weep, 
 Watch o'er his harem-queen doth Azrael keep; 
 Yes, morn's rich hues illume that sacred pile, 
 Like beams shed down by some blest angel's smile 
 Where fair Zobeida, shrined in odour, lies, 
 Her soul long since ki starry Paradise.* 
 
 We breathe our steed, then mount again in haste; 
 Welcome once more, thou boundless desert waste ! 
 Suns rise and set, and gleams the moon's pale ray, 
 Yet forward still the pilgrim holds his way. 
 But now no more cool fragrant gales respire; 
 Heaven glows like brass, the level sands seem fire. 
 Lo ! on the plain's far verge, that purple haze, 
 Where, round and round, a stream electric plays; 
 All shapes it shows ; now banks with fiery flowers, 
 Red columns now, and now fantastic towers. 
 It comes the simoom comes ! and viewless Death 
 Stalks in its front, and rides its withering breath. 
 The brave steed halts its lesson instinct tells, 
 Instinct where more than man's poor wisdom dwells; 
 Prone on the ground he falls the sulphurous blast 
 Sweeps o'er our heads the deadly cloud is past ! 
 
 presents made by the Mohammedan to the Christian was a clock, 
 which has been described by Eginhard. This curious piece of 
 \vorkmanship is a convincing proof to what perfection the me- 
 chanical arts had arrived among the Saracens even at this early 
 period. 
 
 * Zobeida, wife of Harun al Rashid, died 216 of the Hegira, or 
 A.D. 831. Her tomb, which has a high dome, stands, surrounded 
 by trees and other mausolea, near Baghdad. See Buckingham's 
 Travels. 
 
PART I.] BABYLON. 25 
 
 Swift to the East the burning column flies, 
 And sunshine laughs again o'er earth and skies.* 
 
 Sweet is the bubbling fountain, cool and clear, 
 To him wha, faint and weary, journeys here: 
 Such yonder flows sure some kind angel sent 
 To waste, so wild, this bright blest element ! 
 Drink, thou poor steed, while, couch'd on moss and 
 
 flowers, 
 
 We stretch our limbs, and pass the sultry hours. 
 The almond tree, faint rustling o'er our head, 
 The rill, that purls along its pebbly bed, 
 The green cicada,t chirping in the grass, 
 The crested hoopoes, J singing as they pass, 
 All soothe the sense, and charm each care to rest, 
 And raise sweet dreams within the pensive breast. 
 
 'Twas here the Hebrew, halting on the plain, 
 Drew up by Haran's gate his camel train : 
 No stone marks now that perished city's pride, 
 But still bursts forth the fountain's limpid tide;|| 
 
 * The simoom occurs at Baghdad, and as far north as Mosul, in 
 the hot season : it comes from the west across the desert of Sinjar, 
 where tracts of sand are interspersed with extensive heaths; but it 
 may bring its pernicious qualities from a greater distance, probably 
 from the Syrian desert beyond the Euphrates. 
 
 f A species of grasshopper. 
 
 I The gold-crested hoopoes (the genus upupa of Linnaeus) are 
 found in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Egypt; they are called by the 
 Arabs " beni-Saliman," or the children of Solomon. 
 
 H " Abraham sent his servant into Mesopotamia to seek a wife 
 for Isaac in his native land." Genesis, xxiv. Haran, the City of 
 
26 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Yes, by this well, perchance, Rebeccah stood, 
 Her evening task to draw the crystal flood; 
 Vision of beauty ! fancy sees her now, . 
 
 Her downcast eyes, and half- veiled modest brow, 
 Her loose-twined girdle, and her robes of white, 
 Her long locks tinged by sunset's golden light. 
 The Hebrew craves his boon, and from the brink 
 Of that cool well, she gives his camels drink ; 
 Then, as he clasps the bracelets on her hands, 
 "With wondering look she views those sparkling bands, 
 Listens, and smiles to hear the old man speak, 
 While timid blushes flutter o'er her cheek. 
 Maid of a simple heart, and untaught age ! 
 Whom toys could charm, and rudest tasks engage, 
 Ah ! little dreamt she then, from her would spring 
 A mighty people prophet, sage, and king ! 
 Her memory treasured in each age and clime, 
 Her gentle name to perish but with time ! 
 
 But rainbow hues will fade, and flowers will die, 
 And dreams, however sweet, at last must fly. 
 
 Nahor that is, where Nahor dwelt, was situated south west of Ur 
 of the Chaldees, the Orfah of the present day. Its site is now a 
 matter of conjecture; Charrae, where Crassus was defeated by the 
 Parthians, has been named by some travellers, but others suppose 
 that place too far north. The probability is, that Haran, with other 
 ancient towns and villages, has entirely disappeared, the desert of 
 Sinjar having encroached upon the district where it was situated ; 
 this might be the case, but fountains, being dependent on the strata 
 beneath, are rarely obliterated; hence, that Rebeccah's well should 
 be found at this day in the desert of Sinjar, is by no means a start- 
 ling or extraordinary circumstance. 
 
PART I.] NINEVEH. 27 
 
 Eastward our course we bend; the stone-arched well, 
 Whose babblings seem of long-past days to tell, 
 Sparkles behind ; the bird, on winnowing wings, 
 Faint and more faint, his desert anthem sings; 
 The palms, that high their tufted summits raise, 
 Shrink to a speck, then vanish from the gaze. 
 Oh ! angel-guarded scene ! though now we part, 
 Not thus shall fade thy beauty from our heart : 
 As some sweet strain that, heard in earlier years, 
 Steals back in dreams, and melts the soul to tears, 
 Thy bloom and brightness oft shall charm and bless 
 Image of love in life's drear wilderness. 
 
 "What in the glass of Time behold we now? 
 A giant form with dark and saddened brow, 
 His lofty eye, whose fires have ceased to burn, 
 Fixed on a mouldered tomb and empty urn; 
 Emblem of ancient power, he strives to rear 
 A broken sceptre and a shivered spear 
 'Tis the proud Genius, melancholy, lone, 
 Who stood of old by Ninas' mighty throne. 
 
 Approach the scene ; doth not the heart appear 
 To hush its beatings, chilled with awe and fear? 
 Here lies a nation tombed ! the great, the brave, 
 Crime, virtue, power, in one forgotten grave. 
 More low thou art, dead city ! e'en than she, 
 Thy rival once in might and majesty,* 
 When Ind and Egypt heard thy trump of fame, 
 And isles of ocean trembled at thy name. 
 
 * Babylon. 
 
28 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 But Nature's aspect changes ; dense and dun, 
 Clouds slowly rise, and veil the mid-day sun; 
 O'er Mosul's towers they deepen still their gloom, 
 Till heaven seems one vast pall, and earth a tomb. 
 Like arrows tipped with fire, the lightnings fly, 
 As launched by fiends across the angry sky; 
 While bursts their howl in yon deep thunder's roar, 
 Which rolls from Eastern hills to Tigris' shore, 
 Then, like the wail of suffering and dismay, 
 O'er the far trackless desert dies away. 
 
 Meet is the hour thy dreary site to see, 
 City of darkness, vanished Nineveh ! 
 To trace the mounds that mark the barren plain, 
 Where, veiled from view, tombed wonders yet remain.* 
 Yes, Ninus' palace, where all glories shone, 
 And rose at once his sepulchre and throne ;t 
 
 * Travellers had long agreed that the once famous Nineveh ex- 
 tended over that desolate district which lies on the eastern bank of 
 the Tigris, nearly opposite the modern town of Mosul. Its situation 
 with regard to Babylon, the descriptions of Ptolemy and Herodotus, 
 and the vast accumulation of remains, all favoured the opinions 
 maintained by Niebuhr, Rich, and Buckingham. The external ruins 
 consist of a series of mounds, some covered with broken pottery, 
 tiles, bricks, and slabs of bitumen, and others clothed with coarse 
 grass, tamarisks, and wormwood. The highest of the mounds 
 opposite Mosul have obtained the names of Koyunjik, and Nebbe 
 Yunus. The now famous mound of Nimroud lies about eighteen 
 miles south of these ; but of the recent extraordinary discoveries of 
 Mr. Layard, and which have entirely settled the question as to these 
 remains occupying the site of Nineveh, we shall presently have oc- 
 casion to speak. 
 
 f Ninus, shortly after his expedition into India, died, and was 
 buried within his palace at Nineveh ; his warlike wife, Semiramis, 
 
PART I.] NINEVEH. 29 
 
 Thy far-encircling walls, and thousand towers, 
 Braving for ages Asia's banded powers; 
 The streets where princes drove their glittering cars, 
 And Traffic's sons were countless as the stars ;* 
 Arask's vast shrine, where that dread warrior died, 
 Whose marshalled myriads boastful slaves of pride 
 Tell in one night, when Heaven's own lightnings came, 
 And Death's pale angel waved her sword of flame, t 
 Are now but heaps with rude wrecks scattered o'er, 
 That bear a language writ by man no more; (7) 
 Where scarce the hermit wild-flower deigns to blow, 
 But coarse rank grass and plants of poison grow, 
 And jackalls lurk, and hooded serpents glide 
 Monarchs ! approach ye here, and bow your pride ! 
 Empires ! so strong to-day, like change await ! 
 And, laurelled conquerors ! weep, and read your fate ! 
 
 With musing step we wend from mound to mound; 
 Each spot, with mysteries fraught, seems sacred ground. 
 Here stood that prophet sent by Heaven to call 
 Doom on each head, and preach the city's fall; 
 
 erected a lofty tomb or pyramid over his remains, and which is said 
 to have stood above fourteen centuries. In the centre of the great 
 Nimroud mound Layard found a portion of a large brick pyramid; 
 it is not improbable that this may have been the bustum Nini, the 
 tomb alluded to. 
 
 * " Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of 
 Heaven." Nahum, iii., 16. 
 
 f The great temple of Arask or Asshur, called in Scripture the 
 house of Nisroch, rivalled in magnificence the shrine of Belus, at 
 Babylon ; and here the renowned Sennacherib, after the destruction 
 of a greater part of his army before Jerusalem, by the Destroying 
 Angel, was assassinated by his two sons, B.C. 713. 
 
30 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 And there he sat, far east from Tigris' stream, 
 Struck by hot blasts, and fainting in the beam : 
 On yon peaked hill they show his mouldered grave, 
 O'er which no yew-trees, funeral mourners, wave, 
 Or flowers in dew sweet tears of Nature weep, 
 Or winds at eve with breath of fragrance sweep. 
 But Moslem zeal hath reared a temple there; 
 Strange o'er that desert sounds the call to prayer! 
 Where sleeps God's prophet, Mecca's triumphs now, 
 And whispering " Allah !" Ishmael's children bow.* 
 
 Lost city of a hundred gates of brass ! (8) 
 Thy chiefs and conquering kings before me pass; 
 Thy sages reading, with prophetic eye, 
 The star- writ tablets of the solemn sky; 
 Glorious thou wert, and beautiful as proud ! 
 The moon in heaven that glows without a cloud, 
 Gems in the mine, and pearls, beneath the sea, 
 Among less radiant cities, emblemed thee ! 
 Dark day when leagued against thee traitor foes 
 First of thy curse, the dawning of thy woes ! 
 See ! thy walls bow before the Median host, 
 And on they rush, with shouts and vengeful boast; 
 Blood dyes thy pillared shrines, and porphyry halls, 
 And e'en for mercy Beauty vainly calls ; 
 Around the palace gathering thousands press, 
 Threat those within, and mock their wild distress. 
 
 * On the mound Nebbe Yunus the prophet Jonah is said to be 
 buried; and close by, or over his grave, rises a mosque, where the 
 inhabitants of the village which has been built at the foot of the 
 mound repair to worship. 
 
PAKT I.] NINEVEH. 31 
 
 The Monarch, who ne'er faced black peril's hour, 
 
 Passing his days in Pleasure's rosy bower, 
 
 Stands with pale lip all vain his splendour now 
 
 Fear at his heart, despair upon his brow. 
 
 Courtiers that fawned, and maids who once on him 
 
 Turned love-bright eyes that made their jewels dim, 
 
 No longer bend the knee or solace bring, 
 
 But all desert the doomed and ruined king. 
 
 And there stands Sardan,* last of that famed line, 
 
 Whose founders still were worshipped as divine. 
 
 Oh ! Nimrod, for thy sword, in hour like this ! 
 
 Thy trump of victory, dread Semiramis ! 
 
 Burst from your tombs ! inspire yon trembling slave ! 
 
 Stoop from your spheres, to succour and to save ! 
 
 Snatch from the altar Glory's trembling spark, 
 
 Ere its last ray expire, and all be dark! 
 
 They come ! their engines shake the palace wall ;t 
 The guards shrink back, and terror palsies all. 
 They who around their king should rallying die, 
 Drop their vile swords, and loud for quarter cry. 
 And yet, as doom draws nearer, Sardan's soul 
 Bursts from the silk- worm luxury's soft control, 
 
 * Sardan, or Sardan-Phul that is, Sardan, the son of Phul, com- 
 monly called Sardanapalus. 
 
 f This palace was situated either in the south extremity of the 
 city, being the district now called Nimroud, or in the quadrangular 
 enclosure of mounds opposite Mosul. The ruins exhumed at the lat- 
 ter place (the mound Koyunjik), consisting of bas-reliefs, and human- 
 headed bulls, even larger than those at Nimroud, have nearly all suf- 
 fered from fire many of the slabs are even reduced to lime by intense 
 heat ; we have, therefore, some grounds for concluding that the pa- 
 lace in which Sardanapalus burned himself was situated in this spot. 
 
32 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Feels hopes that burn, and wishes that aspire, 
 While valour lights her momentary fire. 
 But vain his jewelled falchion named in air, 
 Too late all deeds, all passions, save despair. 
 Backward he bent, and reached his gorgeous throne, 
 Where Indian gems and Tyrian purples shone, 
 Bade a few trembling slaves uprear a pile 
 Of odorous wood, and then, with ghastly smile, 
 Threw his rich crown thereon, and robe of state 
 Baubles all worthless now, that mocked his fate. 
 His hand was raised, resolve made stern his mien, 
 For fear gave place to majesty serene; 
 His black hair wreathed around his lofty brow, 
 His foot firm set he looks a monarch now ! 
 Yes, Nimrod's soul blazed out in that full eye : 
 The lion was struck down, but dared to die ! 
 
 "'Tis fate's decree; in sloth's entangling chain 
 I've reigned inglorious years, and lived in vain; 
 But let this last sad desperate act atone 
 For deeds of madness- follies all my own. 
 Ye planets ! where, if sooth our sages tell, 
 Raised now to gods, my great forefathers dwell, 
 Orbs I have worshipped with no earthly love, 
 Eternal travellers o'er yon fields above! 
 Will ye, as now I weep repentant tears, 
 Receive my spirit to your golden spheres? 
 And, while for ever there ye burn and roll, 
 Pour endless glories on my raptured soul? 
 Farewell, poor race of men ! farewell, my foes ! 
 I leave you to your struggles, crimes, and woes. 
 
PART I.] NINEVEH. 33 
 
 And now I go; I mount the crystal car 
 That soon shall waft me to my natal star; 
 Swifter than light my upward course shall be 
 Souls of the great and brave! I come to ye!" 
 
 From Bel's high altar, in a neighbouring room, 
 The dull red embers quivering through the gloom, 
 The monarch seized a brand the pile was fired! 
 And up, like wreathing snakes, the flames aspired; 
 They spread; they clasped, with many a burning 
 
 fold, 
 
 Pillar of cedar, and rich cloth of gold. 
 Far fled the slaves rushed women to and fro, 
 Blind in their terror, shrieking in their woe. 
 Sardan alone was calm ; 'mid volumed smoke 
 And mingling flames, that round and o'er him broke; 
 Erect he stood, his form of giant height, 
 His proud eye raised, and flashing living light : 
 He seemed some spirit that disdained to fall, 
 High throned in Arimanes' blazing hall. 
 But hark ! that sudden crash the walls give way 
 Towers toppling sink one shriek of wild dismay, 
 And all is still the maid, the child, the sire, 
 "Whelmed and enclosed within their tomb of fire! 
 
 Not sated yet, above the ruins rise 
 The eager flames, and dart into the skies: 
 Red through the night that fearful pillar glows, 
 And ghastly radiance o'er the city throws ; 
 The heavens seem blood, and Tigris' winding wave 
 Gleams the same crimson hue, by mount and cave. 
 c 
 
34 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Quivers the light across the desert sands, 
 Where the lone pilgrim, wildly wondering, stands, 
 Thinking that far-off blaze some meteor, driv'n 
 By demon hands along the verge of heav'n; 
 The pard, approaching human haunts for prey, 
 Starts as he looks, and, howling, scours away; 
 E'en from far Iran's hills is seen that glare, 
 Where bends the Magian, rapt in silent prayer, 
 Deeming, in light so grand, dread Ormuzd* nigh, 
 His star-gemmed mantle blazing down the sky. (9) 
 
 So fell great Nineveh ! and yet her power 
 Lingered awhile through many a varying hour, 
 Till other conquerors, t proud to seal her doom, 
 Swept her to Ruin's all-eiigulphing tomb. 
 Long ages passed, and turf o'ergrew the walls, 
 And silence reigned in Ninus' buried halls; 
 New races rose and died, till e'en the name, 
 And city's site, a shadowy dream became. 
 The Arab spread his tent, but did not know 
 Bright palaces of kings might shine below, 
 And Moslem tribes their little hamlets reared 
 On piles where nought but barren stones appeared. 
 Who comes at last from that once barbarous isle, 
 But where to-day art, science, wisdom, smile? 
 Hath he a genie's piercing vision won, 
 Or the strong seal of star-read Solomon, 
 
 * Ormuzd, the Persian god of light, opposed to Arimanes or 
 Ariman, the Principle of darkness. 
 
 f Cyaxares, King of Media, and Nabopolassar, King of Babylon, 
 who, B.C. 616, utterly destroyed Nineveh. 
 
PART I.] NINEVEH. 35 
 
 That bade the deeves unlock their iron caves, 
 And drew strange wealth from Ocean's mantling waves?* 
 LAYAED, thy name through grateful earth shall be 
 Linked with the wondrous past untombed by thee; 
 Bare genius, tireless energy, are thine; 
 Around thy brow let honour's chaplet twine. 
 Through thee more widely knowledge' stream shall flow, 
 Through thee Discovery's torch more brilliance throw, 
 Up the Cimmerian walks of perished days, 
 Gilding time's cloud, and light'ning history's maze. 
 
 The mound is opened Earth reveals her store, 
 The gorgeous secret ages keep no more, 
 Assyria's homes and temples on us gleam, 
 And her dread pomp no longer is a dream. 
 
 The shapes Ezekiel saw of monstrous mould, 
 Half gods, half mortals, now our eyes behold 
 The lion winged, the bull with human face, 
 Ponderous as towers, yet carved with passing grace, t 
 
 * Solyman ben Daoud, or Solomon son of David, is esteemed by 
 the Arabs an all-powerful magician, and the king of the genii. 
 
 f The great lions, twelve feet high, with wings and human heads, 
 were found guarding one of the portals of the south-west palace in 
 the mound at Nimroud, and, with the colossal human-headed bulls, 
 evidently maintained the same places as they occupied in the days 
 of the Assyrian kings. These sculptures are of limestone; the 
 heads are finely carved, and the expression of the countenance is 
 singularly majestic and calm. What these mystical figures were 
 intended to represent cannot with certainty be said ; probably they 
 were emblematic of the Divinity, the human head being the type of 
 intelligence, the lion and bull of strength, and the wings of swift- 
 ness. 
 
36 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Long galleries wind, and courts around us spread, 
 Where pictured pavements glow beneath our tread; 
 And still beyond we enter stately rooms, 
 Gay once with silks from soft Assyrian looms; 
 Now shattered helms, fair ivories, strew the ground, 
 And, quaintly carved, tall sculptures gleam around 
 Portraits of kings who ruled ere Rome was born, 
 Or pealed in Salem Israel's trumpet-horn ; 
 Priests, trees of life, with mystic symbols hung, 
 And sieges, battles, such as Homer sung. (10) 
 Lo ! where yon platform sweeps a floor of stone 
 Here blazed perchance the Assyrian's jewelled throne;* 
 Here Ninus sat, Semiramis the proud, 
 And here, to Tiglath, Israel's captives bowed, t 
 The heart beats high, and while warm fancies glow, 
 We think of days whose glories none may know, 
 Till, as eve's stranger sunbeams mellowing fall, 
 Light up each vault, and gild the sculptured hall, 
 
 * " In front of this bas-relief is the great stone platform upon 
 which in days of old may have been placed the throne- of the 
 Assyrian monarchs." LayarcCs "Nineveh" vol. ii. In the pre- 
 sent edition of this work, we are enabled to state that a throne 
 has in reality been discovered by Mr. Layard in the north-west 
 palace at Nimroud. It may be termed a gorgeous chair ; the wood 
 is cased with bronze, as Solomon's throne was with ivory; the 
 arms and some other portions are composed of winged deities, 
 and mythic animals ; the wood is much decayed, but the metal casing 
 is tolerably preserved, though the whole is in fragments. In front 
 of the throne was found a footstool made also of wood overlaid with 
 metal, the feet ending in lions' paws and pine-cones. See Layartfs 
 Second Expedition. 
 
 f Tiglath Pileser, who, 736 B.C., invaded Samaria, and carried 
 many Jews into captivity. 
 
PART I.] NINEVEH. 37 
 
 Those monarchs in the midst appear to rise 
 Crowns on their heads, and terror in their eyes ; 
 While slaves kneel trembling, courtiers stand in awe 
 Each look a mandate, and each nod a law. 
 
 But mark yon tombs, for Death has also here 
 Preserved his prize; yet strange those graves appear, 
 Rais'd o'er the halls which ages whelmed before, 
 Races interred on races known no more. 
 Lifb the stone lid can aught of man be there? 
 A figure shrinks to dust when touched by air; 
 Yet, placed by sorrowing love, still vases stand, 
 And lies unmoved the bracelet's silver band; 
 Here, circling once the neck, are beads of glass, 
 And there the pin that bound the hair's rich mass. 
 Oh, Beauty ! Beauty ! for whose nectared kiss 
 Men pine, fight, die and must she come to this 1 ? 
 Where are her graces now? her dimples bright, 
 Her snowy brow, and eyes' entrancing light? 
 These baubles all outlast her peerless clay 
 And love-born charms, more valued now than they.* 
 
 * One of the most extraordinary discoveries was made on the 
 west side of the mound at Nimroud. While pursuing excavations 
 here, Mr. Layard suddenly encountered about twenty sarcophagi, 
 nearly all of them holding human remains, but which crumbled to 
 dust on exposure to the air. One of these sarcophagi contained 
 earthen vases, glass beads belonging to a necklace, a cylinder or 
 amulet, two silver bracelets, and a pin for the hair. The remains 
 were evidently those of a female. Removing more of the soil he 
 found, several feet beneath this little cemetery, a handsome building, 
 the rooms as usual being lined with alabaster slabs. Tombs over 
 the houses ! some unknown race had occupied the country after the 
 
38 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Sleep, city ! nought is time to thine and thee, 
 Sleep till God's judgment, mystic Mneveh ! 
 Years raise up states, then dash them to the dust; 
 Mortals are weak, but call not Heaven unjust. 
 No change to thee will come thou liest there 
 In cold obstruction, type of Pride's despair. 
 Oblivion watches, as long ages close, 
 Thy buried glory, and thy dread repose; 
 Death sits, grim tyrant, on thy mound-strewn plain, 
 And thunders to awake thee peal in vain. (11) 
 
 And now, as standing here, we cast our eyes 
 Tow'rd the far West, dark thoughts within us rise. 
 England ! my country ! bright and favoured land ! 
 Must she, too, yield to Time's all-wasting hand? 
 What ! shall the hour arrive when that bold brow, 
 Which flashes like a sun, must fade and bow? 
 When that strong arm its sickle now that sweeps 
 Around the globe, and wealth's rich harvest reaps, 
 Must shrink in palsy, and send forth no more 
 Thunder-armed bands, and fleets to every shore? 
 Must she, the great Assyria of to-day, 
 Greece, Egypt, Borne, in one, resign her sway, 
 The vast Colossus which bestrode the world, 
 O'erthrown at length, and into fragments hurled? 
 
 England! my country! such thy fate of gloom? 
 No; Heaven look down! avert the bitter doom! 
 
 fall and burying up of the Assyrian palaces that race had also 
 passed away ! 
 
PAET I.] NINEVEH. 39 
 
 Oh ! scare the dream, break Fancy's faithless glass ! 
 His prey for once let greedy Ruin pass; 
 Live, Britain, live ! supreme in arts and lore, 
 Flourish, thou land! and Valour guard thy shore; 
 Virtue and wisdom thy palladium be, 
 While other empires fall, supporting thee ! 
 Hold on thy glorious course through good and ill, 
 Defying Time, 'mid change triumphant still! 
 
 END OF PAET I. 
 
RUINS OF MANY LANDS. 
 
 BOOK I, 
 THE DARK EKA. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 WHY was man summoned from the gulf of years. 
 Poor child of weakness, folly, crime, and tears'? 
 Why are affections woven round his heart, 
 When Death must rend the tenderest links apart? 
 Why ever looks he tow'rd a higher sphere, 
 Still panting for some good he finds not here, 
 If this poor world were all? as some would say 
 Who bound man's prospect to life's narrow day, 
 And, like the gloomy Sadducee of old, 
 Think when our toils are done and years are told, 
 Nought more remains but that we yield our breath, 
 And sink our hopes, and end our joys in death; 
 No wakening spirit hovering o'er the tomb, 
 No thought that stirs, no mem'ry still to bloom, 
 Eternal quiet brooding o'er that spot, 
 The soul at rest, and all her schemes forgot. 
 
PART II.] IDUMEA. 41 
 
 Children of night ! and erring sons of pride 1 
 "Who thus the God-formed spirit's fate decide, 
 Refusing to believe life's second Spring, 
 Because full proof weak Reason fails to bring, 
 Go! mark wide Nature, on her wonders pause; 
 Say, canst thou solve her dark mysterious laws? 
 Explain how lives in clouds electric fire, 
 Why flies it with dread speed along the wire? 
 Tell what fine cords from yonder sun convey 
 Attraction's charm to planets far away? 
 Heaven's azure space is void, and yet that force 
 Curbs the vast worlds, and binds them in their course. 
 These ye believe because the senses see, 
 And yet the soul may scarce more wondrous be : 
 He who hath formed the lightning, and the power 
 In inert matter, seen and felt each hour, 
 Can still continue life's mysterious part, 
 When hushed this pulse, and cold this throbbing heart. 
 
 Oh ! yes ; a viewless spark from One on high 
 Doth burn within, that will not, cannot die. 
 Do we not something feel, a godlike ray 
 Of soaring thought, that is not born of clay? 
 Something which cannot sleep, but still would rise, 
 And, spurning earth, claim kindred with the skies? 
 Father of spirits ! humbly let me bow, 
 Hope, and believe, and trust Thy mercies now: 
 Grant it be mine, when life is past, to view 
 Thy far-spread glories in yon depths of blue ! 
 Free as a formless thought, my way to wing 
 From star to star, and drink at Wisdom's spring! 
 
42 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Grant me sweet Memory's linking spell, to know 
 Spirits once dear, and forms beloved below ! 
 Then what were death but some kind angel given 
 To break the chain that keeps the soul from heaven? 
 And what the grave but some bright crystal door, 
 Opening to scenes and glories, hid before? 
 
 Such are the thoughts that rise, as now we tread 
 A tomb-strewn land a nation of the dead 
 Dark Esau's ancient home, where none remain, 
 Of all his race, to haunt this desert plain;* 
 Where from the Dead Sea shore to Elan's strand, t 
 Through lonely Araba's long vale of sand, 
 From Moab's lifeless wastes and arid steeps, 
 To grey Mount Hor, where sainted Aaron sleeps, 
 Each city is a grave, and, long o'erthrown 
 By tyrant ruin, holds the dead alone. J 
 Here myriads nourished, streams and fountains played, 
 And Job's vast flocks in thymy pastures strayed ;|| 
 
 * The Edomites, or Idumeans, were the descendants of Esau, and, 
 though so numerous were they even down to the period when Jeru- 
 salem was besieged by Titus, that we read of them sending thither 
 twenty thousand men to assist the Jews, yet no remnant of them can 
 anywhere be traced in the present day. 
 
 f The bay of Elana, a branch of the Red Sea. 
 
 J Of the twenty once populous cities of Edom or Idumea, men- 
 tioned in Scripture and by Josephus, not one is now inhabited: the 
 sands of the desert have entirely buried some, and others, such as 
 Petra, Elana, and Gerandel, exhibit only ruins and sepulchres. Vid. 
 Burckhardt and Ldborde. 
 
 || The Land of Uz, where Job lived, is supposed to have been in 
 Edom. 
 
PAKT II.] IDUMEA. 43 
 
 Here Israel trembled at those men of might, 
 And power and wisdom crowned the Edomite; 
 Now roves the Arab, Rapine's fiercest child, 
 And halves with beasts of prey the savage wild. 
 
 Where famed Mount Hor lifts high his barren 
 
 peak, 
 
 And, king of air, the eagle whets his beak, 
 I climb in awe, pass many a nameless cave, 
 And reach at length the Hebrew's holy grave. 
 And here he sleeps serene above that world, 
 Where Time man's proudest works to dust hath 
 
 hurled ; 
 
 As now I view yon heaven, whose dewy tears 
 Have wet these blocks for dark uncounted years, 
 My bosom thrills, and heated Fancy's eye 
 Sees Aaron's ancient spirit hovering nigh, 
 Calm waiting, till Heaven's final thunders roll, 
 And call the dust to join th' undying soul.* 
 
 Beneath me spreads a mighty sea of sand, 
 With hills flung round by dire Confusion's hand; 
 Brown pinnacles, and valleys lone and stern, 
 Where Nature dies, and withering sunbeams burn; 
 You deem that plain once heaved a lava-flood, 
 Then, fixed by spells, in rough-piled masses stood. 
 Here, ages since, did Israel march along, 
 Blow their loud trumps, and chant their desert song; 
 
 * A ruinous building stands on the summit of Mount Hor, and 
 which, according 10 a popular tradition, covers the bones of Aaron. 
 Both Jews and Mohammedans hold the spot in great reverence. 
 
44 EUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 There smoked their incense, burned their altar's flame, 
 And from the smitten rock the waters came;* 
 But lo ! fierce Edom, sallying forth, appears, 
 Raising against their march a wall of spears ; 
 The Hebrews turn, like meteors, still to stray, 
 And round these deserts drag their weary way. t 
 Yes, hallowed is the tract that meets our eyes, 
 Though Heaven's dire curse on vale and mountain lies. 
 It seems as if the look of drear despair 
 Sad Nature shows, would dwell for ever there; 
 Where famous cities stood ye may not guess, 
 Save by bleached stones that strew the wilderness. 
 Far northward lies that still and poisonous lake,J 
 Coiled 'tween its shores like some black sleeping snake ; 
 "While south, beyond those steeps men rarely tread, 
 Cloud-mantled Sinai lifts its awful head. 
 
 Calm sinks the sun o'er Edom's blighted hills, 
 And the whole air a pulseless silence fills : 
 The round red orb hath reached the horizon's brim, 
 Shooting its crimson flames ere all be dim; 
 Across the broad sands gleams the living fire, 
 Quivering, like hope, around each rocky spire. 
 These glories change, as lower sinks the sphere, 
 And still each moment lovelier tints appear; 
 
 * The waters of Meribah. 
 
 f The fact of the children of Israel vainly begging to be permitted 
 to pass through Edom, though they promised not to injure the fields 
 or vineyards, proves at once the power of the Edomites at that early 
 period, and the fruitfulness of their country. 
 
 J The lake Asphaltites, or Dead Sea. 
 
PART II.] PETRA. 45 
 
 Saffron and amber flood the gorgeous West, 
 Fairy-like towers in hues Elysian drest ; 
 Now shafts of pallid gold are upward cast, 
 But all to softened purple yield at last. 
 So suns went down when Israel trod this wild, 
 So, when they buried Aaron, evening smiled. 
 That mighty orb ne'er tires, or dims its ray; 
 Bright as when earth was born it flames to-day; 
 Man only passes, with his race and age 
 His works alone are blotted from Time's page; 
 E'en tower-crowned cities crumble like his dust, 
 And granite tombs at last resign their trust. 
 
 But near Mount Hor, for countless ages hid, 
 And sealed like vaults in Cheops' pyramid, 
 Hemmed in by rocks, a wall on every side, 
 Lo ! queen of deserts, Petra veils her pride.* 
 So wild that scene without, and stern and bare, 
 Ye scarce would deem man once had dwelling there, 
 But think those rocks the goat could only roam, 
 Or on their summits eagles make their home. 
 "We pierce yon dell at twilight's deepening hour; 
 Tall cliffs each side in savage grandeur tower; 
 
 * Petra in Greek, and Selah in Hebrew, the names given to the 
 capital of Edom, signify a rock. The ruins of this city are situated 
 in the Wady Mousa (Valley of Moses), about twelve leagues south 
 of the Dead Sea. From its isolated and concealed position, being 
 surrounded on all points by precipitous mountains, and owing to tho 
 frightful deserts in the vicinity, Petra had been lost sight of for 
 more than a thousand years. Burckhardt discovered the ruins in 
 1812, and they have since been visited by many travellers. 
 
46 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Meeting aloft, like threatening foes they seem, 
 Till scarce between the clefts the star can gleam. 
 The guides, with unsheathed daggers, lead the way, 
 For offctimes here the robber lurks for prey : 
 The flickering torches show each swarthy face, 
 And wilder horror lend that lonely place. 
 Dark fir and cypress wave above our head, 
 And ivy bands fantastic garlands spread. 
 A fiery ball oft gleams where black rocks scowl 
 'Tis the large eye of some sepulchral owl; 
 And oft a step is heard the crags among 
 'Tis the lone wolf that steals in shade along, 
 And turns and looks, yet flies the torch's glare, 
 And growls in rage, that man disturbs him there.* 
 
 The dell is passed; the moonbeams, soft and white, 
 Pour on the scene now forward cast thy sight; 
 Startling and strange, as 'twere enchanted ground, 
 A fair and spacious area spreads around : 
 Pillar and arch, defying Time's rude shock, 
 Gleam on each side, upspringing from the rock : 
 The ancient way shows polished pavements yet, 
 Where Pleasure tripped, and Traffic's children met, 
 But ah ! no more, to merry pipe and song, 
 Through those ravines shall wind the vintage-throng, 
 
 * The approach to Petra is through a narrow defile, which in 
 some places scarcely admits of two horsemen abreast. This ravine 
 is continued for about two miles, being bordered by cliffs 700 and 
 1,000 feet high : wild vines, and other shrubs and trees, grow out 
 of the crevices above, so as frequently to exclude almost the light of 
 day. Vide Irby and Mangles. 
 
PAKT II.] PETRA. 47 
 
 Or caravans bring store that Commerce loves, 
 From Ind's gemmed hills, and Saba's spicy groves.* 
 
 Down by the stream unnumbered dwellings trace, 
 Each hollowed from the mountain's marble face, 
 Halls, and long corridors, and banquet-rooms, 
 Where music thrilled, and maidens swung perfumes; 
 For slave and lord alike one impulse felt, 
 True sons of Esau, still in rocks they dwelt. 
 See yonder shrine, with frieze and moulding rich, 
 And finely carved each pedestal and niche, 
 Long pillared rows where Attic taste is shown, 
 Cornice on high, all cut from living stone ! 
 So fresh, so pure, the gazer well might say, 
 Not twenty ages since! 'twas built to-day !t 
 
 Turn, too for Rome has left her impress here, 
 Gorgeous in art, though not, like Greece, severe 
 
 * On leaving the ravine, Petra bursts on the traveller in all it 
 desolate beauty. Its site forms a natural amphitheatre, about two 
 miles and a half in circumference, a few openings appearing here 
 and there between the lofty hills. Some of the buildings, or rather 
 excavations, exhibit a freshness of hue, and a delicacy of ornament, 
 which nothing but a very dry climate, and their protected situation, 
 could have succeeded in preserving. " The sides of the mountains," 
 says Irby, " covered with an endless variety of excavated tombs and 
 private dwellings, presented the most singular scene we ever 
 beheld." 
 
 "j" The large temple, named by Laborde " The Temple of Victory," 
 which overlooks the stream not far from the theatre, is the best pre- 
 served of all the Petra monuments. Its facade is very imposing, 
 the Corinthian columns, pediment, and cornice being in the first 
 style of art ; but the rooms within the cliff are bare, and without any 
 decoration. 
 
48 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 See, round and round, theatric benches sweep, 
 For Edom's children once could smile and weep; 
 On yon broad stage where brambles nourish now, 
 The actor trod, with strangely-vizored brow, 
 Or, thrilling listeners' ears with notes of fire, 
 Burst the full chorus forth, and swelled the lyre. 
 Now the brown fox across those benches springs, 
 To Beauty's marble seat the blind worm clings; 
 Hark ! 'tis my step that sounds too loudly rude, 
 The rill's small voice disturbs this solitude.* 
 High o'er my head ascends a spiral stair, 
 Across yon cleft a bridge seems hung in air; 
 "While, mingling life with death, a thousand caves 
 Yawn far and near, the ancient dwellers' graves; 
 Some proud inscriptions bear, some fretted towers, 
 And others flame-crowned urns, and sculptured flowers. 
 O'er all, the hills still lift their brows to Heav'n, 
 Like giant guards by jealous Nature giv'n, 
 The peaks their spears, the clouds their flags unfurl'd, 
 To shut this rock-built city from the world. (12) 
 
 The hills of Seir have melted in the sky, 
 Ajid Edom's blighted plains behind us lie; 
 
 * The theatre is on the left hand as the traveller enters from the 
 defile. The semicircular rows of seats, all cut from the natural rock, 
 appear to be little injured by time ; but this structure and the tem- 
 ples are comparatively of modern date, having been formed during 
 the period that Petra was subject to Rome. The rock-excavations, 
 or private dwellings, including the chief portion of the tombs, are 
 the work only of the elder Edomites, and Nabathaean Arabs, and 
 to which, shrouded by the mists of antiquity, no date can be 
 assigned. 
 
PART II.] EGYPT. 49 
 
 Arabia's wild is passed : now fountains flow, 
 
 And birds begin to sing, and flowers to blow. 
 
 Hail ! Egypt ! land of ancient pomp and pride, 
 
 Where Beauty walks by hoary Ruin's side; 
 
 Where Plenty reigns, and still the seasons smile, 
 
 And rolls rich gift of God ! exhaustless Nile. 
 
 Land of the pyramid and temple lone ! 
 
 Whose fame, a star on earth's dark midnight shone; 
 
 Bright seat of wisdom, graced with arts and arms, 
 
 Ere Rome was built, or smiled fair Athens' charms; 
 
 What hath each age, each nation won from thee? 
 
 All that refines, sublimes humanity. 
 
 The tall papyrus whispering seems to say 
 
 Here rose the letters Cadmus bore away. (13) 
 
 The Greek to thee his Jove and Bacchus owes, 
 
 With many a tale that charms, and thought that 
 
 glows.* 
 
 In thy famed schools the Samian learnt his lore, 
 That souls, though wandering, live for evermore ;t 
 
 * From Egypt, the Mizraim of the Hebrews, and the M asp of the 
 Arabs, the Greeks borrowed the greater portion of their mythology, 
 together with their ideas of Hades ; but their Elysium seems to have 
 been the beautiful dream of their own poets. Among the principal 
 deities, as regards their attributes and characteristics, the Egyptian 
 Ammon, or Amun, answers to the Greek Zeus and Roman Jupiter ; 
 Isis and Bubastis (the Moon) to Diana; Osiris (the Sun) to Bacchus ; 
 Typhon to Pluto; Phtha to Vulcan; Thoth, the famous god of 
 letters, to Hermes or Mercury although Anubis, the dog-headed 
 god, performed some of the offices of the last Anouke* to Vesta; 
 Nephthys to Proserpine ; Athor to Venus; Sate" to Juno ; and Neith 
 ( Wisdom) to Minerva, 
 
 f Pythagoras, five centuries B. c., promulgated in Greece the 
 doctrine of metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls a doctrine 
 , D 
 
50 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 The giant structures, piled on Gizeh's plain/"* 
 Speak of the sages watching heaven's bright train, 
 Who first, years, months divided, traced afar 
 The comet's course, and named each glittering star. 
 Yes, wondrous land ! thou well may'st charm and awe, 
 August yet fair, thy like the world ne'er saw j 
 Gazing on thee, we see some mighty form, 
 Shattered, in truth a wreck amidst a storm; 
 But many a star beams forth, and moonlight plays 
 In graceful beauty, o'er the " doomed " of days, 
 Until that scene doth almost look as fair, 
 As when the bark rode on in triumph there. 
 
 Worshipped of old, whence flows the Nile's proud 
 
 wave*? 
 
 From what far spring, green vale, or sunless cave? 
 Vainly its fountains curious pilgrims seek; 
 The solveless mystery ages fail to break. 
 Sure on the spring some god hath set his seal, 
 Sworn the bright waters never to reveal: (14) 
 But if 'mid Ethiop wilds, or Lunar steeps, 
 Her secret charge the jealous Naiad keeps, 
 Sleeking her locks unseen in that bright well, 
 Glass of the blushing rose, and lily-bell, 
 What boots it? bounding from his cradling-place, 
 Young Nile comes forth, to run his giant race, 
 Pours down Sennar, and washes Nubia's wild, 
 Fresh, full, and free, as when first Nature smiled; 
 
 held by the priests of Egypt, and the Brahmins of India long ages 
 before the birth of the philosopher of Samos. 
 * The pyramids. 
 
PART II.] EGYPT. 51 
 
 Foams o'er the granite ridge by Souan's shore,* 
 With flashing billow, and with sullen roar; 
 Still sees the temple crown his palmy banks, 
 And solemn Sphinxes sleep, in long-drawn ranks. 
 What though no more the priest on Isis calls, 
 Or grand processions sweep from Memphis' walls, 
 Praying the flood to rise o'er bower and field, 
 Still swell the waves, and wonted blessings yield ; 
 And sweet the stream to traveller's thirsty lip, 
 As when the Egyptian deemed it heaven to sip;t 
 And green the flags, and fair the lotus flower, 
 As when that babe, within his bulrush-bower, 
 The embryo leader, J Fame's immortal heir, 
 Smiled on the royal maid who found him there. 
 
 Far down in Nubia's waste grey temples stand, 
 Tottering with age, each door- way choked with sand; 
 And further on, in groups against the sky, 
 Long lines of pyramids ascend on high, 
 By all forsaken, save by beasts of prey, 
 And that dark bird, a god in ancient day, || 
 Whose voice still sounds, as shadowy twilight falls, 
 Like a ghost's wail along those lonely walls. 
 And here stood Ethiop's city, once arrayed 
 In power and pomp, that sun-bright Afric swayed; 
 
 * The first and largest of the three cataracts of the Nile is formed 
 at Es Souan, by granite rocks, which cross the stream ; and below 
 this place the river enters Egypt. 
 
 f The salubrious qualities of the Nile water are well known : 
 Maillet remarks that " it is among waters what Champagne is among 
 wines." 
 
 t Moses. || The sacred bird Ibis. Meroe*. 
 
52 KU1NS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Here Ammon first bade listening nations quail, 
 And Isis wore her dim mysterious veil * 
 Home of young Learning ! cradle of each art ! 
 Where keen Discovery traced her mazy chart 
 Land, far and wide, that sent adventurers forth, 
 Peopled the South, refined the savage North, 
 Launched her bold pilots o'er the Indian wave, 
 And placed her gods in many a rock-hewn cave. 
 Long ere Columbus sought the Western world, 
 There was the daring Ethiop's flag unfurled. 
 'Tis no vain dream; beneath those skies lie hid 
 Many a hoar fane, and age-struck pyramid, t 
 Such as in Nubia's trackless wastes are shown, 
 Strange language traced on each gigantic stone, 
 The tombs like-shaped^ the sculptures vast and 
 
 grand 
 A wondrous link between each far-off land. (15) 
 
 Oh! days of old! we blindly, rashly deem 
 Your knowledge ignorance, your power a dream ! 
 Think no Columbus, Gama, could have birth, 
 Till modern science shed her beam on earth. 
 Creed dark as narrow; Pride must stoop her brow; 
 Truth, virtue, wisdom, walked the world ere now. 
 
 * A.mmon was first worshipped in Ethiopia, and his Oracle was 
 at Meroe* ; a grand temple was afterwards erected to him in the 
 Oasis of Siwah, in the Libyan Desert, to which the Greeks made 
 frequent pilgrimages. The statue of the goddess Isis, the universal 
 mother, bore the following inscription" I am all that has been, 
 that shall be, and no mortal has hitherto taken off my veil." 
 
 f The recently-discovered remains of pyramids and temples in 
 Central America will be spoken of hereafter. 
 
PART II.] NUBIA. 53 
 
 Weak man ! because thine eye shall strive in vain 
 To pierce the mists that wrap Time's boundless plain, 
 Dar'st thou pronounce the past all error's night, 
 Genius unknown, and quenched truth's heavenly 
 
 light? 
 
 As well declare no gems in earth's deep caves, 
 No pearls are hid 'neath ocean's mantling waves; 
 Or, when black tempests hang their shroud on high, 
 'No fair orbs roll through God's own liquid sky. 
 
 Ipsamboul ! name that wakens wonder's thrill 
 Why stand ye, spellbound, near yon sculptured 
 
 hill? 
 
 High o'er the flowing Nile the temples frown, 
 Their monster guardians gazing dimly down, 
 Those awful forms that seem with being rife, 
 Primeval giants starting into life ! 
 Beside those limbs how pigmy-like are we ! 
 'Tis toil and pain to climb the statue's knee : 
 See the broad breast like some vast buttress spread, 
 High as a war-tower springs the huge capped head. 
 What were they, mighty ones, dark Titan band, 
 Shaped to this awful guise by human hand? 
 The forms of heroes conquering once the world, 
 Or types of gods from heavenly regions hurled? 
 Yet in their lofty features nought appears 
 To shock the gazer's heart, or wake his fears ; 
 Calm and benign, they front the rising sun, 
 How oft the burning orb his course hath run, 
 Lighting to million graves the human race, 
 But, still returning, sees each solemn face ! (1 6) 
 
54 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 What mean those cells where shapeless walls are 
 
 piled, 
 
 And rude stone crosses deck the savage wild? 
 The wreck of Christian churches; long ago 
 When Afric's shores were wrapped in night and woe, 
 Christ's lowly followers found a refuge here, 
 The churchman prayed, the hermit shed his tear. 
 Soft o'er the waste where now hyenas yell, 
 Tolled at sweet eve the convent's silver bell, 
 And, where slave-hunters bathe the valley's sod 
 With life's red stream, once rose the hymn to God. * 
 
 But Nubia's sands are passed, and Egypt's palm 
 Hangs e'er the cataract it may not calm, 
 And Philce's ruined shrines reflect the beam, 
 Like Naiad-dwellings bosomed on the stream. 
 Thrice beauteous isle ! the hills e'en seem to press 
 More near to scan its marble loveliness, 
 And birds, enamoured, seek its sheltering towers, 
 And fairies tow'rds it sail on lotus flowers, t 
 By many a deep-hewn quarry glides the wave, 
 Where art once toiled, and rocks their treasure gave. 
 
 * Ruins of Christian churches are frequently met with scattered 
 along the banks of the Upper Nile. Christianity, it is well known, 
 was introduced into Nubia and Abyssinia at a very early period; for 
 Frumentius was sent to preach in the latter country by the patriarch 
 of Alexandria, A.D. 330. In Nubia, Christianity appears to have be- 
 come extinct ; but in Abyssinia the Christians, resisting the spread 
 of Mohammedanism, like the Nestorians among the mountains of 
 Kurdistan, remain at this hour a most interesting people. 
 
 f The isle of Philoe, near the first cataract, the ancient boundary 
 of Egypt, is full of ruins of the Ptolemiac period, and from its fine 
 situation it has obtained the name of " The Beautiful." 
 
PART II.] EGYPT. 5-5 
 
 Edfou's vast pile that frowns, a form of fear, 
 Within whose courts their huts wild Arabs rear, 
 Proves, by its awful grandeur, Egypt's creed 
 Called genius forth, though prompting grovelling deed.* 
 Still Ptolemy's fair temple, Esne, shines, 
 The columns carved with flowers, and palms, and vines, 
 The portico so graceful, tall, and light, 
 The zodiac gleaming on the ceiling's height, t 
 No priests are here, but see that female train, 
 Whose mournful voices sigh along the plain; 
 They sit in groups around the pillar's base, 
 Their black eyes dim, and sorrow in each face : 
 Some wake the pipe's soft breath, and others fling 
 Their slender hands across the cittern's string, 
 Or twine with henna-flowers their jetty curls 
 Ah! sad they look, those banished Almeh girls. J 
 Sweet maids like them we find engraved on stone, 
 Who swept the lyre, and danc'd 'round Pharaoh's 
 throne; || 
 
 * There are two temples at Edfou, founded by Ptolemy Philo- 
 meter, 180 B.C. The towers of the propylon, or principal entrance 
 of the larger building, are one hundred feet high, and covered with 
 sculptures and hieroglyphics. The huts of the modern inhabitants 
 are crowded around these beautiful ruins. 
 
 f The temple of Esne*, the Latopolis of the Greeks, was also built 
 by a Ptolemy ; it is chiefly famous for its very elegant portico, and 
 the zodiac, resembling that at Dendera, on its ceiling. 
 
 I To Esne", in the present day, are banished the greater number 
 of the dancing girls, called Almehs; for the Ulemas, or Turkish 
 priests, consider music and dancing an abomination. See Wilkin- 
 son's " Egypt" 
 
 || In the grottoes of Eleithias, near Esne*, there appears, among 
 many other sculptures of Egyptian domestic life, one representing 
 women playing on the harp and double flute, while their companions 
 
56 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 And now these children, ages wandered by, 
 The Moslem's scorn, in lonely exile sigh, 
 Their graceful dance abhorred, their music's spell 
 Deemed e'en the voice of Eblis breathed from hell. 
 
 Thebes, hearing still the Memnon's mystic tones, 
 Where Egypt's earliest monarchs reared their thrones, 
 Favoured of Jove !* the hundred-gated queen ! 
 Though fallen, grand though desolate, serene; 
 The blood with awe runs coldly through our veins, 
 As we approach her far-spread, vast remains. 
 Forests of pillars crowd old Nilus' side, 
 Ob'lisks to heaven high lift their sculptured pride; 
 Rows of dark Sphinxes, sweeping far away, 
 Lead to proud fanes, and tombs august as they. 
 Colossal chiefs, in granite, sit around, 
 As wrapped in thought, or sunk in grief profound. 
 Titans or gods sure built these walls that stand, 
 Defying years, and Ruin's wasting hand. 
 So vast, sublime the view, we almost deem 
 We rove, spellbound, through some fantastic dream, 
 Sweep through the halls that Typhon rears below,t 
 And see in yon dark Nile hell's rivers flow. 
 E'en as we walk these fanes, and ruined ways, 
 In musings lost, yet dazzled while we gaze, 
 
 are dancing in the style of those women known now in Egypt by the 
 name of Almeh. 
 
 * Thebes was sometimes called by the Greeks Diospolis, as being 
 sacred to Ammon or Jupiter ; but the hundred gates of Homer are 
 supposed to apply to her temples, rather than her walls. 
 
 j- Typhon is the Principle of Evil in Egyptian mythology. 
 
PAKT II.] THEBES. 57 
 
 The mighty columns ranged in long array, 
 
 The statues fresh as chiselled yesterday, 
 
 We scarce can think two thousand years have flown, 
 
 Since in proud Thebes a Pharaoh's grandeur shone, 
 
 But in yon marble court, or Sphinx-lined street, 
 
 Some moving pageant half expect to meet, 
 
 See great Sesostris, come from distant war, 
 
 Kings linked in chains to drag his ivory car; 
 
 Or view that bright procession sweeping on, 
 
 To meet at Memphis far-famed Solomon, 
 
 When, borne by Love, he crossed Arabia's wild, 
 
 To wed the royal Pharaoh's blooming child. * 
 
 Here let me sit in Karnac's gorgeous hall, (17) 
 Firm as when reared each massy pictured wall : 
 Yielding to meditation's calm control, 
 How shrinks, in conscious littleness, the soul ! 
 And as thought leaps the gulph that yawns between 
 Past days and now what is and what hath been, 
 How brief, how petty human life appears ! 
 A cloud that fleeteth as it rains its tears; 
 A puny wave on Time's vast ocean-shore, 
 That frets and foams, then melts to swell no more. 
 These ancient piles a higher moral teach 
 Than sage can write, or orator can preach; 
 
 * Solomon, in the year B.C. 1014, married the daughter of the 
 King of Egypt, and with that monarch contracted a friendly and 
 close alliance. We need, perhaps, scarcely observe that the term 
 Pharaoh is merely a prefix, Phra, in the Egyptian language, mean- 
 ing the sun, and it was applied to all the Egyptian kings, in the 
 same way as Caesar was assumed by the Roman emperors, and, in the 
 present age, the title of Czar distinguishes the sovereigns of Russia. 
 
58 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 The heart grows humbler in a scene like this, 
 Yet soars above low schemes of transient bliss ; 
 And while it sighs that man should waste his hours, 
 Hearing such mighty shrines to unknown powers, 
 Looks inward at the creed itself maintains, 
 If born of heaven, or free from error's stains. 
 
 But musing thus, by wandering dreams beguiled, 
 We half forget the fabrics round us piled 
 fabrics that breathe, from every sculptured stone, 
 Awe and a solemn grandeur all their own. 
 Dim vistas stretch, gigantic columns rise, 
 And ob'lisks point, heaven- watchers, to the skies. 
 There frown huge kings in stone such frown they wore 
 When on their thrones three thousand years before; 
 And one, the mightiest, Isis' arms entwine, 
 Immortal deemed, and like herself divine.* 
 Oh ! wondrous art ! yon granite roof behold ! 
 Fair still the colours, glittering still the gold ; 
 In azure skies, moons, clustering stars, appear 
 Alas ! the cunning hand that traced them here ! 
 But pass we altars and rich glorious things, 
 Lotus-crowned pillars, echoing halls of kings ; 
 
 * Four beautiful obelisks mark the entrance to the adytum, or 
 secret chambers of the great Karnac Temple; and here one of the 
 ancient monarchs is represented as embraced by the goddess Isis. 
 As the early kings of Babylon were deified, so some of the Pharaohs 
 received the honour of the apotheosis. The adytum alluded to con- 
 sists of a large apartment, and two rooms of less dimensions ; the 
 roof of the first is formed by three immense slabs of granite, on 
 which are painted, on a blue ground, several of the constellations. 
 The colours are at this day surprisingly fresh. 
 
PAET II.] THEBES. 59 
 
 What see we traced in outline ? shadowy, dim, 
 The very breathing face and sinewy limb 
 'Tis Thothmes, he who bade the Hebrew groan, 
 When hailstones fell, and thunders shook his throne, 
 He to whom Moses spoke, the king who sped 
 On wings of wrath when trembling Israel fled, 
 Raised his bright sword, and drove his bickering car, 
 Comet-like breathing terror from afar, 
 Pursued his foe along the Red Sea coa,st, 
 Then sank engulfed with all his fiery host.* 
 
 We cross the Nile: Worn rough by countless 
 
 years, 
 
 Like some tall tower, huge Memnon's form appears ; 
 Pale Arabs pause to scan that brow of pride, 
 And list sweet music harping from his side.t 
 
 * Thothmes III., whose reign commenced 1495 B.C., is now gen- 
 erally admitted to have been the Pharaoh who pursued the Israelites 
 and perished in the Red Sea. The portrait of this famous king, as 
 proved by his cartouche, or oval, is sculptured on one of the walls 
 in the Karnac Temple. Wilkinson's" Egypt." 
 
 f The statue of Memnon, so celebrated for its vocal qualities, 
 stands opposite the Temple at Luxor, but on the west side of the Nile. 
 It is of hard gritstone, and has undergone many repairs. Its height is 
 52 feet, being 18 feet across the shoulders, and 17 feet from the elbow 
 to the fingers' ends. It rests on a throne, the hands being placed 
 on the knees. Another statue, of nearly similar dimensions, appears 
 near it. A line of hieroglyphics running down the back declares 
 this figure to have been raised in honour of Amunoph III., who 
 reigned 1,400 years B.C. Hence the name it bears is wrongly ap- 
 plied, and the error seems to have arisen with the Romans. The 
 Memnon (for it will probably now ever retain that name) is covered 
 with inscriptions in Greek and Latin. A belief that it greets the 
 rising sun with music is still cherished by the Arabs, who call it 
 Salamat, or " the statue that bids good morning." 
 
60 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 But Pharaoh's palace courts us; still the wall 
 Glows with rich hues, though throne and statue fall. 
 Homer these sculptures saw; their grand design 
 Of War's dread pomp inspired his burning line. 
 Hush ! hold thy breath approach yon crypt of gloom 
 'Tis Egypt's hero, great Sesostris' tomb ! 
 Ay, he who fought on Indus' burning shore, 
 And fire and sword to Northern Europe bore, 
 Unpeopled countries, and wrapped towns in flame, 
 Like Rome's first Caesar, conquering with his name, 
 Lies here, states history search, ye find no bone, 
 No serecloth left within his cell of stone : 
 Th' embalmer's art hath proved of little worth, 
 The worm long conquering him who conquered earth. (18) 
 
 But other tombs are near : where rocks look down 
 From Libya's waste, Death's sombre dwellings frown.* 
 For many an age queens, princes here were laid ; 
 Along these hills what pomp hath Thebes displayed, 
 As melting on Time's sea like bubbling foam, 
 King after king was borne to Death's dark home. 
 What thousands here have bent in hopeless woe, 
 Wept on these sands, or wailed to breezes low ! 
 The wife has mourned her lord, the youth his bride 
 What boots it now? they moulder side by side; 
 
 * The rocky mountains of Gornoo, near Thebes, have been com- 
 pletely hollowed out to supply the old inhabitants with tombs. 
 Many of the kings were buried here ; and the immense vaults and 
 magnificently-painted chambers discovered by Belzoni, some of them 
 having been undisturbed until that traveller's entrance, during a 
 space of thirty centuries, render this City of the Dead one of the most 
 interesting spots in the neighbourhood of Egypt's ancient capital. 
 
PART II.] THE MUMMY. 61 
 
 Passed are their loves and hopes, their grief and pain; 
 Yet say not, harsh, cold man, they lived in vain. 
 Ah ! no, their souls set free from that sad shore, 
 Their drear Amenti,* now may glow and soar; 
 Fancy will dream they haunt, with strange delight, 
 Loved Egypt still, though power has set in night, 
 Sweep o'er yon temples, woo the musky calm, 
 Or walk the winds that stir the tufted palm, 
 And when by spirit-hands day's knell is tolled, 
 Glide back to heaven's bright gates on beams of gold. 
 
 The torch is lit, we pierce the mountain's side; 
 Dark ways that long man's curious step defied, 
 And secret passages and half-closed vaults, 
 Where zeal grows faint with toil, and daring halts, 
 Are passed at length, till bursting on our sight, 
 The pillars flashing in the torch's light, 
 And gorgeous paintings glittering on the wall, 
 Spreads in the hill's deep heart that wondrous hall. (1 9) 
 A tomb? we gaze around, and scarce believe; 
 Some vision sure our wandering fancies weave; 
 But yon sarcophagus with carvings rich, 
 And mummy forms in many a deep-sunk niche, 
 Reveal the secret ; oh ! so still, so drear, 
 We well may shrink to walk the chambers here, 
 Man still around us, though life's subtile flame 
 Had ceased to burn ere Rome obtained a name. 
 
 What wert thou, uncouth form, that liest there 
 Uncounted ages hid from outer air, 
 
 * Amenti, the Hades of the Egyptians. 
 
62 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Thus in thy strange and gilded wrappings cased, 
 With bird, and beast, and mystic symbols traced? 
 Dark mummy ! when we rend the covering band, 
 Around thee twined by some fond careful hand, 
 Ah! can we think this black and shrivelled limb 
 Was once all comeliness, these feet could skim 
 The turf like some gazelle's, while beauty drunk 
 Delight from flashing eyes, now closed and sunk? 
 What wert thou, then? a courtier, doomed to kneel 
 At Pharaoh's throne, and anxious tremors feel? 
 Wert thou a priest, and didst thou teach the crowd 
 From these blue lips, while listening votaries bowed? 
 Or face to face see Moses, when his rod 
 Shook o'er the trembling land the plagues of God ? 
 Wert thou a sage, this hollow, grinning skull 
 Peopled by thoughts, with wit and wisdom full, 
 While through these socket-holes thy curious eye 
 Scanned heaven's wide arch, and read the spangled sky? 
 Or wert thou some great chief? and didst thou lead 
 Fierce myriads on to conquer and to bleed? 
 Did this shrunk arm the glittering falchion wave, 
 And, scattering death, send thousands to their grave? 
 
 Alas ! poor mummy, gazing on thee now, 
 Ambition well may sigh, and Wisdom bow ; 
 Though mute these lips, they do not teach the less; 
 A sermon read we in thy ghastliness. 
 Ah ! what charmed word, what strong Median spell, 
 Shall rouse to life this dried and shattered shell? 
 Nought but the trumpet's final wakening blast, 
 When thou shalt burst thy bonds, dark thing, at last, 
 
PART II.] THE BRIDE OF THE NILE. 63 
 
 And oh! if just and pure and who are they 
 That dare condemn, and quench bright Mercy's ray] 
 Shalt see these blackened limbs in beauty shine, 
 All, all thyself again, but more divine. 
 
 We quit the tombs, and issue on the plain 
 As eve's pale shadows wrap each massive fane; 
 The moon climbs heaven's blue cope; her silvery 
 
 shower 
 
 Lights, while it softens, porch and ruined tower; 
 The huge Sphinx-forms that line the desert way, 
 The giant sculptures, sleep beneath the ray : 
 The quivering beams, so softly, purely shed, 
 Rest like a crown of pearls on Memnon's head. 
 E'en Gornoo's rocks that front the winding Nile, 
 With all their hoary tombs, appear to smile. 
 By wall and column flows the restless stream, 
 On each small wave the stars reflected gleam. 
 Silence, Death's sister, now her watch doth keep, 
 Save when the night-winds faintly moan and creep, 
 Or woo with whispers yonder lonely palm, 
 That droops, like some sad spirit, mid the calm, 
 Mourning o'er Thebes, as in her shroud she lies, 
 No more to rule, or ope her lovely eyes. (20) 
 
 What scenes passed here in Egypt's days of fame ! 
 What acts were done that Mercy shrinks to name ! 
 Behold one mournful sight the beauteous bride 
 Doomed to the cold embrace of yonder tide 1 
 Yes, down that path the fair one paces slow, 
 To murmuring lyres, and trumpets wailing low. 
 
64 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 She comes to appease the god that rules the 
 And priests beside her move, in lengthened file. 
 Bich are the robes the lovely victim wears; 
 Her jewelled hand a branch of cypress bears. 
 The sacred lotus-flowers t her soft brow deck; 
 Her coal-black tresses veil her glowing neck. 
 And doth no anguish touch her gentle heart, 
 So soon with earth, and all its joys to part? 
 To leave each friend, resign her virgin bloom, 
 For Typhon's realms, and Hades' sunless gloom? 
 Zeal fires her soul, and yet the smiles that break, 
 Languid and cold, across her changing cheek, 
 The frequent trembling, and the starting tear, 
 Tell of an inward pang, a stifled fear. 
 
 And now they reach old Nilus' worshipped wave, 
 That seems to pause and moan in every cave, 
 As if he mourned that youthful maiden's doom, 
 More kind than they who urged her to the tomb. 
 High on the bank she stands, her straining gaze 
 Fixed on the flood, while soft the cittern plays : 
 Scarce may you tell if that deep freezing air 
 Betokens firmness, or betrays despair; 
 Haply her soul flies back to childhood's hours, 
 When, like a wild bee sporting 'mid the flowers, 
 
 * The god Kneph, who presided over the inundation. 
 
 j- Extraordinary honour was paid to the white lotus by the an- 
 cient Egyptians; the capitals of their columns are frequently 
 adorned with a representation of that beautiful flower, and it is every- 
 where found carved upon their tombs. The lotus in India is equally 
 venerated, and figures largely in connection with the Hindoo my- 
 thology. 
 
PAET II.] THE BRIDE OF THE NILE. 65 
 
 She roamed the palmy vale, all mirth and bliss, 
 Nor dreamt of day so dread, of fate like this. 
 See! who starts forth, and kneels, and clasps her feet? 
 Her lover speaks once more their fond eyes meet; 
 The maid who late seemed stone, turns, trembles now,, 
 The bright blood flushing cheek and marble brow; 
 Religion scarce the heart's fond fire may quell, 
 And all love's strength revives in that farewelL 
 One sigh one look of anguish 'twas her last ; 
 Wildly aloft her gem-bound arms she cast, 
 Shrank from his warm embrace, and with a smile 
 Of bitter calmness, pointed to the Nile* 
 
 "Not thine!" she cried, "the god of yonder stream- 
 Calls me from life, and love's enchaining dream. 
 Anubis waits to waft me to the shore, 
 Where blooms no flower, and joy can smile no more.* 
 From this bright world, from friends, from thee I go, 
 To walk with shades, and pray, and weep below; 
 Sighs for my nuptial song, dark yew my wreath, 
 The slave of Orcus, and the bride of Death. 
 Crime it may be to mourn, and love thee there, 
 Yet must thou still my thoughts, hopes, wishes, share; 
 And when, at last, the pitying gods remove 
 My suffering soul to sun-bright bowers above, 
 I'll join thy side, and Typhon's blasting eye 
 Shall ne'er again bid Pleasure's roses die, 
 But Isis' own bright hand shall dry our tears, 
 And love entrance our souls through endless years!" 
 
 * The office of Anubis, like that of the Greek Hermes, was to 
 conduct the souls of the dead to Amenti or Hades. 
 
66 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 The victim paused, and o'er her stooping brow 
 Drew her white veil; the priests approach her now: 
 Gently they raise her, and, while louder swell 
 The barbarous tones of cymbal, horn, and shell, 
 They cast her from the bank; Nile's rushing tide 
 Parts as she falls, and claims the victim-bride; 
 One bubbling cry her young career is o'er, 
 Her heart is still, and gods can ask no more.* 
 
 Grey Thebes ! farewell ! thou matron of the earth ! 
 Old e'en when Rome and Athens sprang to birth, 
 And still in ruin glorious, shining here, 
 But like a sun with shadow-darkened sphere, 
 Save that breaks forth again the solar ray, 
 While thy eclipse shall never pass away. 
 
 Morn wakes the world ! along each granite height 
 That walls the East, soft streams the rosy light. 
 More distant still, the Red Sea glows and smiles, 
 Through all his coral rocks, and leafy isles. 
 The acacia, shadowed by the loftier palm, 
 Begins to drop its odour-breathing balm : 
 
 * That the custom anciently prevailed of annually sacrificing a 
 young virgin to propitiate the god who presided over the rising of 
 the Nile, cannot be doubted. The barbarous practice is said to have 
 been abolished by the Caliph Omar, A.D. 641 ; yet at this day, as if 
 in remembrance of the living victim, a statue of mud, called Anis, 
 or the Bride, is raised every year on the banks of the Lower Nile, to 
 be washed away by the increasing current. A somewhat similar 
 tradition prevails in India, that a youth and maiden, richly dressed, 
 were annually thrown into the Ganges another incident, or re- 
 flected custom, that goes to prove the relationship once existing 
 between the two countries. 
 
PART II."1 SCENERY OF THE NILE. 67 
 
 The lotus-flower, which, all the night had kept 
 
 Her soft leaves closed, wherein some sylphid slept, 
 
 Touched by the beam, unfolds her bosom fair, 
 
 And freedom gives the sky-born slumberer there.* 
 
 The humming-bird flits round the blossomed bower, 
 
 Shaking his plumes, himself a flying flower : 
 
 The lordly ostrich leaves his eave of rest, 
 
 And seeks the trackless, solitary west; 
 
 While dim-eyed owls, that ever love the gloom, 
 
 Fly to their haunt some lonely rock-cut tomb. 
 
 Far in the desert sounds the camel's bell, 
 
 "Where Arabs quit their tents beside the well; 
 
 And early monks, where grey- walled convents crown 
 
 The steep hill's brow, on flow'ry vales look down, 
 
 Drink the soft breeze, and scan heaven's depths of blue, 
 
 Nor sigh to join a world they never knew.t 
 
 * The Egyptian lotus is described as opening its broad white 
 leaves at sunrise, and shutting them in the evening. 
 
 f Among the mountains north-east of the desert of Thebais are 
 the Coptic Monasteries of St. Anthony and St. Paul. The Copts, 
 who are a very interesting people, derive their name, if the tradition 
 be entitled to belief, from Copt, of the family of Ham, who, after 
 founding the city of Coptos, in Upper Egypt, conquered a great 
 portion of the country. Their number at present does not exceed 
 one hundred and fifty thousand, and although their race is not un- 
 mixed, they are the real descendants, and only representatives, of 
 the ancient Egyptians. In the third and fourth centuries they em- 
 braced Christianity. The Copt is of small stature, of dark com- 
 plexion, but generally possesses finely-chiselled and handsome 
 features, and which are said to resemble in a remarkable degree the 
 countenances of some of the figures carved on the monuments at 
 Thebes. The Coptic language, though extinct as a spoken tongue, 
 is still used in their churches, and bears, in all probability, the same 
 relation to the language used in the time of the Pharaohs, as the 
 
68 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Our skiff is launched, and down the current glides, 
 The sun-lit wavelets sparkling round her sides. 
 Still by the winding stream some column rears 
 Its rich carved shaft, some temple bends with years. 
 In such a land no present seems to be ; 
 'Tis all the past all hoar antiquity ! 
 The long, long stream, like some huge snake unrolled, 
 The sands, the hills, the very skies look old. 
 Treading where once trod monarch, priest, and seer, 
 Men of to-day but seem intruders here. 
 Gazing around, we feel a chilly dread, 
 As mixed with shades, encompassed by the dead; 
 This fancy o'er the loveliest landscape flings 
 A solemn calm, that checks warm Pleasure's springs, 
 Saddens the notes which gush from greenwood bowers, 
 Half veils the beam that woos the desert flowers, 
 Deepens the shade the palm-tree casts around, 
 And turns to sorrow's plaint the river's sound. 
 
 And yet such sadness doth not touch the heart; 
 Such airy dreams no lasting gloom impart. 
 We mourn o'er Egypt as some mighty urn ; 
 The dust is there the soul will ne'er return : 
 No temple-builder, and no heaven-read sage, 
 Live 'mid her offspring of this later age ; 
 Turk, Copt, Armenian, Jew, divide the soil,* 
 Children of traffic, patient sons of toil ! 
 
 Italian does to the Latin, or the modern Greek to the pure Attic 
 dialect. 
 
 * The motley population of Egypt in the present day, consisting 
 of the Turks, or Osmanlees, the ruling race, Syrians, Greeks, Copts, 
 
PAKT II.] TEMPLE OF DENDERA. 69 
 
 Europe gives back the arts purloined of yore, 
 But Glory on Nile's banks will sit no more. 
 
 What yonder rises'? Dendera's solemn shrine, 
 Whose fading splendours grandly-mournful shine. 
 Rival of Karnac, Edfou, stern and lone, 
 It looks to heaven, its founder, date unknown. 
 Its lofty portico and painted walls, 
 Its snake- wreathed globes and dim resounding halls, 
 Towers where ten thousand sculptured forms ye trace, 
 Awe with their vastness, charm us with their grace. (2l) 
 And this was Isis' dwelling still she stands 
 Breathing from stone, with meekly-lifted hands. 
 Dark mother ! to whom zeal these walls upreared, 
 Whom monarchs reverenced, and whom myriads feared, 
 What wert thou, shrouded in thy silver veil, 
 That thus the ancient world should bend and quail? 
 Didst thou, as mortal beauty once adored, 
 Break by Love's charm the sceptre and the sword? 
 Wert thou a queen, and, when life's dream was o'er, 
 A goddess hailed, to rule for evermore? 
 Vain, shadowy being ! will each effort be 
 To pierce the cloud that wraps thy age and thee, 
 Thy pompous rites as secret as thy birth, 
 Thy mystic worship passed away from earth.* 
 
 Jews, Armenians, Ethiopian slaves, fellahs or cultivators of the soil, 
 is estimated at two millions and a-half. Far more populous was the 
 valley of the Nile in the days of the Pharaohs and Ptolemies, ancient 
 writers stating the number of inhabitants to have been from six to 
 seven millions. 
 
 * Isis was paid peculiar homage throughout Egypt ; she is said 
 to have been the sister of Osiris ; but the parentage of both is 
 
70 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 But turn where Nile's broad waters Westward sweep : 
 Whelmed by the sands that countless ages heap, 
 Lo ! Memnon's palace ! tread each massy stone, 
 'Thwart buried pillars, as by genii thrown; 
 All, save the huge stone roof, is veiled from sight, 
 But enter now, and lift the torch's light. 
 What meets the gaze? long chambers stretch away, 
 Hich gilded ceilings, walls with pictures gay, 
 Whose tints, though traced three thousand years ago, 
 As brightly still as Titian's colours glow.* 
 Memnon, whose memory lives in Homer's lays, 
 The young, the brave, the gallant of those days, 
 Bard, hero, king, too glorious long to reign, 
 Who fought and died on Troy's immortal plain, 
 Here passed his youth; within this palace fair, 
 He heaped his wealth, brought all things rich and rare ; 
 Wisdom, art, luxury, ruled the alternate hour, 
 And siren Pleasure built her rosy bower. 
 Nightly these rooms saw gorgeous banquets crowned, 
 Lamps shed their light, and red wine sparkled round; 
 Nightly they heard sweet cittern, flute, and lyre, 
 Breathe Love's own tones of soft dissolving fire ; 
 While fair-browed maids from many a mid-sea isle, 
 And Lydian beauties, born to sing and smile, 
 
 involved in the mists of fable. Her worship, like that of her bro- 
 ther, descended from Ethiopia, and in process of time it passed 
 beyond Egypt, for we find temples raised to Isis in Greece and in 
 Italy. 
 
 * " The best works even of the Venetian school," writes Russell, 
 " betray their age ; but the colours here, in existence two thousand 
 years before the time of Titian, are at this moment as fresh as if laid 
 on an hoar ago." 
 
PART II.] PALACE OP MEMNOtf. 71 
 
 Moved in the dance the glittering floors along, 
 
 Or poured from dulcet throats impassioned song. 
 
 Now, as we tread these long-deserted halls, 
 
 Our torch glares wild, our footstep strangely falls; 
 
 A whisper floats like mutterings on the air, 
 
 As if some spirit woke and answered there; 
 
 While the lone owl, with large and glistening eyes, 
 
 Sits in the gloom, the bat around us flies, 
 
 And coiled on marble seats, a hideous guest, 
 
 The scaly serpent rears his speckled crest; 
 
 To these must mirth give place, and grandeur bow, 
 
 The only lords of Memnon's palace now. (22) 
 
 Again we skim the waters; swift the gale 
 Impels like some blithe bird our snowy sail. 
 Far on our right the boundless desert sweeps, 
 High on our left frown Libya's granite steeps, 
 Beyond whose range the sand-girt islands lie, 
 Laughing in verdure 'neath a burning sky, 
 With streams and palm-groves, fruits and flowrets 
 
 graced, 
 Mysterious Edens planted in the waste ! * 
 
 * Amidst an ocean of sand in the Western Desert, and from four 
 to six days' journey from the banks of the Nile, are the Oases of 
 Libya. From the luxuriance of their fruit trees and the fertility of 
 the soil, they were called by the Greeks " Islands of the Blessed." 
 The Oasis of Siwah contains the remains of the renowned Temple 
 of Jupiter Ammon: the others, including the Little and the Great 
 Oases, extend southward, in succession, for many hundreds of miles; 
 and some of them were lost for centuries, until recently discovered 
 by Edmonstone and Browne. Nearly all of them contain ruins, but 
 chiefly of the Roman and Saracenic periods. 
 
72 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 But on we steer, just gazing, as we glide 
 Where Kebir's temple moulders by the tide;* 
 Or where the jackal lurks, and cypress glooms, 
 'Mid Siout's grots, and dim forsaken tombs; 
 No longer now the hermit hides him there, 
 Kisses his cross and breathes his lonely prayer, 
 Hoping, through misery here, to win heaven's bliss, 
 And gain bright worlds by hating, cursing this.t 
 Stillness, too, reigns in Hassan's sculptured cave, 
 Where busy life its thousand pictures gave.J 
 Vain might we seek that lab'rinth, once the boast 
 Of Egypt's kings by Mceris' desert coast : 
 Its porphyry halls, and gorgeous winding cells, 
 Live only in the tale tradition tells. (23) 
 But now famed Memphis' ancient bounds are gained, 
 Where the proud line of iron Pharaohs reigned. 
 Hallowed by sacred lore, these scenes impart 
 A speechless awe, yet interest to the heart. 
 Here exiled Joseph rose to wealth and fame, 
 And, bent with years, the trembling Israel came. 
 
 * The once splendid Temple at Gau el Kebir, the ancient Antceo- 
 polis, which stands close by the Nile, is fast mouldering to decay. 
 Vide Richardson, vol. 1. 
 
 j- The neighbourhood of Siout, the largest modern town in Upper 
 Egypt, abounds with grottoes and sepulchres of a very remote date. 
 They have all been ransacked by those whose object it is to obtain 
 mummies. In the third and fourth centuries Christian hermits 
 lived in these catacombs. 
 
 I The grottoes of Beni Hassan, excavated by Osirtesen I., the con- 
 temporary of Joseph, are very extensive ; here are depicted in most 
 interesting detail all the trades and amusements of the Egyptians ; 
 and among other drawings are seen men playing at chess or draughts; 
 so ancient in its origin is that now familiar game. 
 
PART II.] MEMPHIS. 73 
 
 Yonder in Goshen toiled, with many a sigh, 
 His countless sons, and mourned for days gone by; 
 And far away, where sweeps the Hed Sea shore, 
 Lies the long track their myriads hurried o'er, 
 When blazed the fiery cloud o'er mount and plain, 
 And midnight winds rolled back the subject main, 
 While Moses led them on with wand of might, 
 Saw Pharaoh's host, nor trembled at the sight. 
 
 But Memphis' kings are less than ashes now, 
 The crowns e'en dust, that decked each royal brow. 
 Goshen, where Israel toiled, no trace retains 
 Of all the towers they built, when scourged in chains. 
 Memphis herself, as cursed for injuries piled 
 On Judah's head, long, long hath strewn the wild. 
 Where is the shrine to white-browed Apis reared, 
 That sacred bull, kings, blood-stained chiefs revered 1 ?* 
 Where Vulcan's fane? and, gorgeous as a dream, 
 The gold-roofed palace raised by Nilus' stream? 
 No vestige meets the pilgrim's curious gaze; 
 O'er Memphis' site the turbaned robber strays; 
 
 * The god Apis, under the form of a bull, was peculiarly wor- 
 shipped at Memphis. The true Apis was known among all other 
 bulls : he was white in the forehead, but his body was black. When 
 he died, he was embalmed, and interred in great splendour, mourn- 
 ing being general throughout the land. The bull has been a favour- 
 ite object of superstitious worship in many countries : the Israelites 
 more than once adored Apis under the form of a golden calf. Human- 
 headed bulls occur every where in the mounds at Nineveh : then we 
 have the Aboudad of the Persians ; while in the present day the 
 bull is highly venerated by the Hindoos, the sacred city of Benares 
 being, in this respect, the Memphis of the eastern world. 
 
74 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Each wall is razed, each pillar'd shrine o'erthrown; 
 The sands drift on, the desert breezes moan ; 
 Shades of the Pharaohs ! rise from marble sleep ! 
 And o'er your lost loved city bend and weep ! (24) 
 
 Lo! tow'rds the West, where skies are blue and 
 
 clear, 
 
 Their bald, dark heads, what giant structures rear] 
 High o'er the Nile, and Gizeh's waste of sand, 
 They look around, dread guardians of the land. 
 Stupendous works of Mizraim's* early kings ! 
 Where Time hath dropped his scythe and farled his 
 
 wings, 
 
 The hoary god for ages standing by, 
 Watching their unchanged summits pieree the sky, 
 As nearer Gizeh's wondrous piles we draw, 
 What stirs within us? sadness blent with awe: 
 To gaze above, their massy outlines trace, 
 To lean, a less than pigmy, at their base; 
 To muse on that vast crowd, in other years 
 Worn with their toil, and weeping slavery's tears, 
 That one man's mortal frame might brave decay, 
 One tyrant's memory should not pass away t 
 How fills the soul with thoughts too deep for words ! 
 How dark a scene the pictured past affords ! 
 
 * The Hebrew name for Egypt, Mizraim being the second son 
 of Ham. 
 
 f A hundred thousand men are said, by Herodotus, to have been 
 employed, for twenty years, in building the great pyramid of Cheops. 
 He was interred, states the same authority, in a room at the bottom 
 of the pyramid. 
 
PART II.] THE PYRAMIDS. 75 
 
 But while we mourn the follies of our kind, 
 How glorious seems all-conquering, daring mind ! 
 These piles at once grand, matchless, and sublime, 
 Yet proofs of darkness, monuments of crime. (25) 
 
 O'er Libya's hills the Day-god sinks once more, 
 Brightly as when their crowns the Pharaohs wore; 
 Sweet, too, as then, red-mantled Evening throws 
 On Egypt's vale the spell of rich repose; 
 Soft glides and dimples 'neath the sunset smile 
 The stream of ruins, palm-fringed, storied Nile : 
 On painted tomb, and crumbling city's site, 
 Falls, like a shower of gold, the mellow light. 
 But brightest here the farewell splendours beam; 
 From pile to pile the lines of glory stream. 
 Up from the desert shoot the quivering rays; 
 No cloud, no mist, relieve that living blaze. 
 The horizon burns like some vast funeral pyre; 
 Each towering pyramid seems capped with fire. 
 But brief that glory one by one away 
 Fade the red beams; now softer colours play, 
 Pale rose-hues quivering down each structure's side, 
 Till deepening shadows veil their pomp and pride. 
 
 What were ye, earth-o'ergazers? shrines upreared 
 To Day's great god whom Eastern tribes revered, 
 When from Caucasian hills those shepherds came, 
 And wasted Mizraim's land with sword and flame ?* 
 Did your long galTries and deep cells behold 
 Mysterious rites that man might ne'er unfold? 
 * The Hyskos., or famous shepherd kings. 
 
76 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Did groans of victims through your chambers ring, 
 Or soft notes peal from pipe and silver string? 
 Or say, majestic piles ! did science raise 
 Your sky-robed tops, to meditate and gaze? 
 At midnight's noon to watch the planets glow, 
 And draw from signs on high man's doom below ? 
 Or were ye, sombre fabrics ! meant to hide 
 The dust of kings, the grasping heirs of pride ? 
 Those massive walls ensuring to such tomb 
 Eternal silence, and eternal gloom ; 
 Where in deep vaults and secret caverns hid, 
 No hand could come to lift the coffin-lid, 
 But safe from step profane and prying eye, 
 Its destined term the treasured dead would lie; 
 Till the pure soul, her long migration o'er, 
 Would come to rouse the senseless clay once more, 
 And make all fresh, as Morning's dewy tears, 
 The mummied slumberer of three thousand years.* 
 
 Perchance ye served each purpose; yet we know 
 Your vaults were tombs, by all we find below. 
 
 * The doctrine of metempsychosis embraced by the ancient Egyp- 
 tians, and still so blindly adhered to by the Brahmins of India, will 
 alone account for the extreme pains which the former people took 
 in the preservation of the body after death. The preposterous and 
 yet sublime idea that the spirit, after a migration through other 
 bodies for thousands of years, would return to the frame it originally 
 animated, led to the erection of massive sepulchres, and induced 
 them to exercise that mysterious art, which has succeeded in bringing 
 down to our days, in the forms of mummies, the identical beings 
 who might have surrounded the throne of the Pharaohs, or stood 
 face to face with Moses. 
 
PAET II.] THE PYKAMIDS. 77 
 
 Yon rich sarcophagus, where Cheops slept, 
 
 "What of the founder-king have ages kept? 
 
 Ah! could they not one scanty relic spare? 
 
 No crown, no mummied form, no bone is there ! * 
 
 And other monarchs leave no trace behind, 
 
 Less than the dust which floats on summer's wind. 
 
 And yet, Ambition's slaves ! their aim is won, 
 
 Their hopes are reached, their matchless task is done; 
 
 They burned to live for ever, and their name 
 
 These works of wonder shall bequeath to fame, 
 
 Standing in silence, and in strength, sublime, 
 
 Till Earth herself shall see the death of Time. (26) 
 
 Strange race of men ! more anxious to prepare 
 Their last abodes, and make them grand or fair, 
 Than grace their living homes ; one gloomy thought 
 Their souls possessed, one honour still they sought 
 To lie in splendour, and to bear in death 
 Life's form and seeming all things but its breath. 
 What though around them summer-flowers might bloom, 
 And bright suns shine, they only saw the tomb, 
 Wished there to rest their unconsuming clay, 
 And dream, in pomp, long age on age away. 
 For this they gathered gold, the slave, the king; 
 And all the wealth that toiling years could bring 
 
 * Herodotus has described the tomb of Cheops ; but whether the 
 celebrated sarcophagus found in that portion of the building called 
 the king's chamber did actually contain the royal remains, must be 
 left entirely to conjecture. It is formed of red granite, has no lid, 
 and, when first discovered, is said to have been empty. Belzoni met 
 with a similar sarcophagus in the centre of the pyramid of Cephren. 
 
78 
 
 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. 
 
 [BOOK i. 
 
 Was lavished oft on rites, which e'en outshone 
 The conqueror's march, the pageants of a throne ! 
 
 Hark ! through the land that low and ceaseless wail ; 
 The voice of myriad mourners swells the gale : 
 Dust on his head hath royal Pharaoh piled, 
 For Death hath stricken down his beauteous child.* 
 Love does its task arrives the burial day ; 
 Egypt awakes; the land is sad, yet gay; 
 Memphis from every street her people pours, 
 Boats crowd the stream, pavilions line the shores. 
 High on their crimson seats, in solemn state, 
 The judges sit to read the maiden's fate. 
 In her no taint can keen-eyed Justice find, 
 Guileless her life, and pure her virgin mind : 
 Her soul may glide to other worlds of bliss, 
 Theirs the dear care to shield her frame in this. (27) 
 
 The trumpet sounds, and with that solemn note, 
 They place the corpse within the sacred boat,t 
 
 * Mycerinus, the son of Cheops, built the third pyramid at Gizeh, 
 but, very different from his father, he restored the ancient religion, 
 opened the temples, and is described as one of the best and most 
 humane princes that ever occupied the throne of Egypt. Yet, like 
 (Edipus, he appeared doomed to every calamity ; and not the least 
 of his misfortunes, observes Herodotus, " was the loss of a darling 
 and only daughter." A lamp was kept perpetually burning before 
 an effigy of this princess in a tomb at Sais, while the real body, it 
 would seem, was carefully deposited by her father in the pyramid 
 which he had built. 
 
 f This boat was called Baris, and he who directed it Charon ; 
 hence, in after years, arose the poetical fable of the Greeks. An 
 actual custom was by them, as it were, spiritualized : Charon was a 
 god, who conducted souls over Styx, a river of hell. 
 
PART II.] EGYPTIAN FUNERAL. 79 
 
 Then cross the stream, grim Charon at the oar, 
 The god of sluggish Styx in Grecian lore. 
 And now on Nile's west bank where palm-trees wave, 
 They form the long procession for the grave. 
 First walks, arrayed in white, the royal choir, 
 "With cypress wreathed each softly-sounding lyre; 
 Sweet voices, too, rise mingling with the flow 
 Of countless harps, and breathe the soul of woe. 
 Next comes the sacred Scribe, who bears on high 
 The books revealed to Hermes from the sky ; * 
 A hundred priests of Vesta's spotless shrine 
 Bring mystic fire in lamps that dimly shine ;t 
 Osiris too, and Isis send their bands, 
 Globes, types of endless ages, in their hands; 
 Seers and magicians pace with thoughtful brows, 
 Regarding Death but Nature's genial spouse, 
 From whom shall spring soul still to follow soul, 
 Till all unite in God, the one great Whole. 
 
 Borne on a silver bier, while, raised on high, 
 Gleams o'er her head a star-gemmed canopy, 
 All that remains of Mirza now appears, 
 Lovely in death ah! who may check their tears? 
 Lifelike she looks, preserved by Egypt's skill, 
 And seems to sleep, or smile in fondness still. 
 The gauze thrown back from that pure marble brow, 
 The soft transparent cheek, sure dimpling now ; 
 
 * As the Vedas to the Hindoos ; the Zendavesta to the Persian 
 worshippers of fire; and the Koran to the Mohammedans; such 
 were the books of Thoth or Hermes to the ancient Egyptians. 
 
 f The Egyptian Vesta was called Anouke\ 
 
80 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Gems in her raven locks, whose masses fall 
 Around her like a rich and sumptuous pall; 
 The silken robe, the bracelet's glittering band, 
 The sacred lotus in her jewelled hand, 
 All charm the sight, and look so sweetly fair, 
 Ye half believe 'tis living Mirza there, 
 Nor deem those soft-sealed eyes can shed no tears, 
 Those lips are mute for everlasting years. 
 
 The king rides near, but screened from vulgar gaze; 
 The frequent sigh his heart's wild grief betrays; 
 Ten thousand troops, whose plumes, like Northern snows, 
 Wave o'er their helms, the long procession close. 
 Cheops' and Cephren's pyramids they pass, 
 Polished and glittering then like hills of glass ;* 
 And now the massive pile that southward towers, 
 The King's own destined grave, above them lowers. t 
 A myriad voices pour their wailings there, 
 And funeral trumpets thrill the desert air, 
 As sadly slow, to sleep her sleep of gloom, 
 They place the maid within the giant tomb. 
 
 Passed is the pageant; priest, sage, chief, are gone; 
 Beside the dead the Monarch stands alone. 
 
 * The pyramids at this period must have presented a far more 
 splendid spectacle than they do at present. They were covered, 
 we are told, from the summit to the base with tiies of fine granite, 
 polished as smooth as marble. The pyramid of Cephren, only, re- 
 tains about thirty feet of this casing, which extends from the apex 
 downwards. 
 
 f The pyramid of Mycerinus. 
 
PART II.] THE MOURNER. 81 
 
 Though still that lip, and calm that lofty brow, 
 Not less keen anguish wrings his bosom now. 
 His crown is off, his sword is cast aside, 
 And flung to earth his dazzling robe of pride; 
 No more a king, with high stern thoughts possessed, 
 All the fond father melts within his breast. 
 Again, and yet again, he bends his eyes, 
 Where, in her cell of stone, fair Mirza lies, 
 Calm as a saint who dreams of bliss above, 
 Or babe fond pillowing in the arms of love. 
 He thinks of pleasures flown, of hopes laid low, 
 And to the still cold slumberer breathes his woe. 
 
 " Star of my soul ! than power and fame more dear, 
 And must thou rest in gloom and silence here? 
 No more by thy sweet tones and looks beguiled, 
 Must I for ever say ' fare well,' my child? 
 Why should Death spare the old and withered tree, 
 And with his lightnings blast a plant like thee? 
 The sun goes down to beam again at morn ; 
 Spring-flowers will fade, but other flowers are born ; 
 Each loss beside, Time, Nature may restore, 
 But the star set in death will rise no more. 
 Sweet soul ! whatever thou art a breath a flame 
 Is it a truth or dream that priests proclaim? 
 Wilt thou through Hades' sable regions roam, 
 Till called by Isis to her sun-bright home? 
 Or, pure already, wilt thou mount on high, 
 Glide at free will along the star-paved sky, 
 And visit earth on morning's golden rays, 
 And move round those you loved in other days? 
 F 
 
82 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Oil ! yes, sweet spotless one ! thy doom will be 
 
 Bliss, instant bliss, the glorious and the free! 
 
 Come, then, with all thy smiles, from heaven's bright 
 
 sphere ! 
 
 Watch still, and love, the lonely mourner here ! 
 No, shun me, lest my woe one pang might wake, 
 And thou, dear shade ! should'st sorrow for my sake j 
 Leave me to mourn, unpitied and alone, 
 The deep regret, the anguish all my own. 
 The tower that falls to earth, by lightning riv'n, 
 ]STo hand will build again 'tis cursed by Heav'n; 
 No dews of eve its blackened fragments steep, 
 No moss springs forth, no ivies o'er it creep; 
 Shunned and forsaken, darkly let it lie, 
 A blasted wreck of brighter days gone by 
 Such, reft of joy and thee, is my drear fate, 
 Such are my hopes, all crushed and desolate ! " 
 
 So spake the father as he bent and wept ; 
 O'er his heart's woe long billowing years have swept ; 
 The mourned and mourner are but now the theme 
 Of studious scribe, the poet's passing dream : 
 Yes, fond affection glowed in those far years, 
 E'en as it thrills us now, or wakes our tears ; 
 From age to age descends that heaven-born fire, 
 Subdues men's hearts, and never shall expire ! 
 Paternal love, as life's last embers die, 
 Shall light its torch to burn beyond the sky. 
 
 The pyramids, the tombs Death's Stygian bowers, 
 TJngraced by yews, unbeautified by flowers, 
 
PART II. THE DELTA. 83 
 
 That crowd the desert sands where, race on race, 
 Men toiled, laugh'd, wept, then made their resting- 
 place;* 
 The Sphinx, like some vast thing of monstrous 
 
 birth, 
 
 Begot by mountains of the labouring earth, 
 Or darkly heaved from Pluto's realms below, 
 Save that too sweet those Ethiop features glow, 
 Too sadly calm, majestic, and benign, 
 To image aught but attributes divine, (28) 
 These fade like dreams, as down the Nile once more 
 We urge our course from Memphis' sandy shore. 
 
 A fairer scene now meets th' admiring gaze, 
 A scene each circling year this land displays; 
 In Northern climes stern Winter holds his sway, 
 But here 'tis genial Spring, and all is gay.t 
 The stream that late turned busy towns to isles, 
 Hath curbed its flood : again the landscape smiles ; 
 The meads are full of flowers, the groves of birds, 
 Through blooming clover stray the lowing herds; 
 High waves the flax, the yellow lupin blows, 
 'Mid bright green leaves the ripening melon glows. 
 
 * The surrounding country, viewed from the pyramids of Gizeh, 
 appears like one vast cemetery, the tombs, with their flat roofs and 
 Cyclopean walls, extending north and south, as far as the eye can 
 reach. 
 
 f The Nile begins to rise in June, reaches its utmost height in 
 September, and leaves the fields dry in December. Then commence 
 the seed-time and Spring, and by the end of February, the Delta, 
 and a large portion of the valley of the Nile, look like one delight- 
 ful garden. 
 
84 -RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 The fellah, clad in blue loose-floating vest, 
 Sings as he toils, with rude contentment blest.* 
 But chief from Delta's gardens, Zephyr brings 
 Luxurious sweetness on his balmy wings; 
 For there her head the virgin lily rears, 
 The soft-eyed violet sheds her odorous tears, 
 While the red rose unfolds his musky breast, 
 And woos the hovering sylph to fragrant rest. 
 The bright kingfisher skims the level stream, 
 His wings of purple glittering in the beam ; 
 And when the sun goes down o'er Damiat's vales, 
 Burst into song a myriad nightingales. 
 Beauty in every form that meets the eye, 
 Freshness on earth, and splendour in the sky, 
 Man's spirit scarce for Eden's bowers might pine, 
 While scenes like these around him live and shine; 
 Land of hoar tombs ! dark home of Pharaoh's race ! 
 Thou'rt old in all things save sweet Nature's face. 
 
 Where are the cities crowning Delta's plain, 
 Ere Persia came, or clanked the Roman chain] 
 The site of holy Butos none may tell, 
 For ever mute her far-famed oracle : 
 That royal town, where wealth and beauty shone, 
 Boasting its wondrous temple cut from stone,t 
 
 * The dress of the poor fellahs, or cultivators of the soil, consists 
 of a pair of loose drawers and a long blue tunic, the head being 
 covered by a red woollen cap. 
 
 f The celebrated monolithic temple, or sanctuary, made of one 
 entire stone, was brought to Sais from Elephantine, in Upper Egypt. 
 Its carriage, writes Herodotus, occupied two thousand men for the 
 space of three years. 
 
PART II.] THE DELTA. 85 
 
 Hath cowered to dust 'neath Euin's sweeping wings, 
 And left no relic save the tombs of kings. 
 Wave-washed Pelusium, Egypt's Tyre of old,* 
 Mart for proud India's gems, and Ophir's gold, 
 Where every air that stirred the tufted palm, 
 Breathed of far Bactria's musk, and Saba's balm ; 
 Through busy streets blithe Traffic's murmurs ran, 
 And swept, each moon, the wealthy caravan; 
 Now in her halls the desert thistle grows, 
 The choked-up port no gallant vessel shows ; 
 For merchant princes, Arabs roam the plain, 
 And steal the gold they cannot justly gain; 
 For India's diamond, gleams the snake's bright eye, 
 And sounds, for Commerce' voice, the lapwing's ciy. 
 
 What columns strew the waste, and mutely tell 
 Of Art's fair reign, ere Glory sighed farewell? 
 Bird of the sun, thou Phoenix ! born of fire ! 
 Mounting, but not to die, thy funeral pyre, 
 Still in that flame renewing youth's bright day, 
 Defying death, exulting o'er decay ! t 
 Couldst thou not save thy glory-beaming shrine, 
 And make its life enduring e'en as thine 1 
 
 * Pelusium, situated at the mouth of the most easterly branch of 
 the Nile, was once the key of Egypt, and the great emporium of its 
 foreign trade. 
 
 f The Phoenix, sacred to the sun, and a native of Arabia, has 
 been a renowned bird for all ages ; but the generally-adopted fable 
 seems to be that every five hundred years, setting out from Arabia, 
 he repaired to the great temple of the sun at Heliopolis ; there he 
 ascended his fragrant funeral pile, and from his ashes a worm was 
 formed, from which his successor speedily arose, or rather he himself 
 was re-produced. 
 
86 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Day's god, to which 'twas sacred, still on high 
 Walks his broad path, and burns along the sky, 
 Paints eve with gold, drinks morning's dewy tears, 
 His youth unbowed, his blaze undimmed by years; 
 But ah ! that pile once zealots hailed afar, 
 Flames in his eye no more a vanished star; 
 The Moslem wandering there doth slight his ray, 
 Turning to Mecca, not tow'rd him, to pray, 
 And views the splendid wrecks around him strown, 
 With many a bitter scoff, and pitying groan.* 
 
 One city yet, and Nile's time-hallowed shore 
 Our fondly-lingering step detains no more. 
 Domes, minarets, their spiry heads that rear, 
 Mocking with gaudy hues the ruins near; 
 Dim crumbling colonnades, and marble walls, 
 Eich columns, broken statues, roofless halls; 
 Beauty, deformity, together thrown, 
 A maze of ruins, date, design, unknown, 
 Such is the scene the conquest Time hath won 
 Such the famed city built by Philip's son. t 
 
 * The ruins of Heliopolis, "the city of the sun," and the On of 
 Scripture, are of considerable extent; they lie scattered near 
 the modern town of Kalioub, about ten miles north of Cairo. On 
 the famous obelisk of Heliopolis is graven the name of King Osirtesen, 
 and whence it has been inferred that this city was built about 1700 
 years B. c. 
 
 f Alexander the Great built Alexandria, B. c. 332. The architect 
 whom he employed was Dinocrates of Macedonia. The remains of 
 the ancient town, which was of far greater size than the modern, lie 
 to the south, and cover a considerable extent of ground, being en- 
 closed by a wall flanked with towers. Palaces and temples, and all 
 
PART II.] ALEXANDRIA. 87 
 
 Alas ! 'mid tottering towers, and regal tombs, 
 Tall sculptured columns, echoing catacombs, 
 How Turkish piles, and works of modern art, 
 Chafe with romance, and bid high dreams depart! 
 Sage of old days, great Ptolemy ! * who now 
 Sits on thy throne, and sees wide Egypt bow? 
 Who rules the land a hundred kings have swayed, 
 Since infant Time was in his cradle laid 1 ? 
 And cries, as round him ancient glories shine, 
 " Temples and sky-topped pyramids are mine ! " 
 'Tis he that comes from far Albania's wild, 
 The lowly-born, blind Fortune's favoured child, t 
 Yet grant we Ali's rise the well-earned meed 
 Of daring thought, and many a valiant deed; 
 Let Envy's breath blight not the hero's name, 
 Applaud Art's patron, and respect his fame; 
 And nearing now that shore where joys and woes, 
 Power, pomp, Ambition's visions all must close, 
 Let none, because to Islam's God he kneels, 
 And blindly for one prophet reverence feels, 
 Deny him grace; but mercy, hope, be giv'n, 
 And judgment rest between his soul and Heav'n. 
 
 the grandeur of the Ptolemies, present now little more, with a few 
 exceptions, than masses of confused and shapeless ruin. 
 
 * Ptolemy Soter, the first of the Greek kings in Egypt, and 
 which his successors, to Cleopatra, the last of the line, governed for 
 nearly three centuries, was himself a scholar, as well as a patron of 
 learning. He founded the famous Alexandrian schools. 
 
 f Mohammed Ali, who, when the text was written, swayed the 
 sceptre of the Pharaohs, was a native of Cavalla, a small town in 
 Albania. In his youth he was a collector of taxes under the Turkish 
 governor. 
 
88 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Lo ! where the shade of Learning sits and weeps 
 On marble fragments, and black- mouldering heaps ! 
 Here, bee-like, once she stored within her cells 
 Sweet spoils from every land where Genius dwells; 
 Till Alexandria's lettered wealth surpassed 
 The price of kingdoms hark ! the rising blast 
 Fans into flame the glories of the mind, 
 While barbarous caliphs leave no wreck behind. (29) 
 
 Thy palace, Ptolemy ! Serapis' fane, 
 And Euclid's far-famed schools are sought in vain. 
 But pause we by yon mosque that decks the mound, 
 Where G-allia's sons their marble treasure found, 
 Once holding the prized dust poor worshipped tiling 
 Of earth's dread conqueror, Macedonia's king : 
 He who was great in marring others' joy, 
 A firebrand sent to wither and destroy ; 
 He who was great in making nations slaves, 
 And sending millions to untimely graves. 
 Oh! dark the wreath that blood-stained conquerors 
 
 wear, 
 Watered by tears, and nurtured by despair ! * 
 
 * The body of Alexander the Great was brought from Babylon, 
 embalmed and buried at Alexandria, in the quarter of the Palaces. 
 The French, during their occupation of Egypt, discovered in the 
 Mosque of St. Athanasius a beautiful sarcophagus, which they pro- 
 nounced to be that which had contained the ashes of the son of 
 Philip. This splendid relic, which has been deposited in the British 
 Museum, is of the finest breccia, and covered with more than twenty- 
 one thousand hieroglyphical figures ; but archaeologists are now of 
 opinion that its claim to be called the sarcophagus of Alexander is 
 of a very doubtful nature, supposing it rather to be that of an early 
 Egyptian king. 
 

 PART II.] ALEXANDRIA. 89 
 
 Pillar of Pompey ! gazing o'er the sea, 
 In solemn pride, and mournful majesty! 
 When on thy graceful shaft, and towering head, 
 In quivering crimson, day's last beams are shed, 
 Thou look'st a thing some spell with life supplies, 
 Or a rich flame ascending to the skies. 
 Ah ! well the ill-starred memory dost thou keep 
 Of Rome's famed son, who perished in yon deep : (30) 
 Dark was the hour brave Pompey sought this strand, 
 Flying from foes to die by Treachery's hand. 
 As fell the stroke on him she could not save, 
 Cornelia's shriek was heard along the wave, 
 And viewless nymphs, that rode the ocean-gale, 
 Felt for her woe, and answered to her wail. 
 He who once vanquished kings, gave crowns away, 
 Alone, unhonoured, on the sea-beach lay, 
 Till, wrung by grief, an old man, drawing near, 
 Gazed on the hero's corpse with many a tear, 
 And raised a funeral pile, and scattered flowers, 
 Praying his soul might enter heavenly bowers : 
 Flame dust a darksome pit, not tomb of state; 
 So set the star of him men named the Great.* 
 
 What ob'lisk northward meets the curious eye? 
 Eich as an orient gem, it courts the sky; 
 Its tapering sides a myriad sculptures grace, 
 Dark mystic writing of earth's early race. 
 
 * Pompey, escaping to Egypt after the battle of Pharsalia, was 
 murdered off the coast before the eyes of his wife. The freedman, 
 Philip, with one soldier, alone was found to perform the honour of 
 funeral rites to the conqueror of Mithridates. 
 
90 EUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Borne from far Thebes, it decked the splendid pile 
 
 Where Beauty, famed for ever, shed her smile; 
 
 Hence to yon shaft cling memories sweet and rare, 
 
 And lore and love their souls are breathing there.* 
 
 Hail; Cleopatra! Egypt's peerless queen! 
 
 Though crushing Ruin walks the darkened scene, 
 
 Still seems her spirit, starlike, to illume 
 
 The mouldered palace and the rock-cut tomb, 
 
 Along the columned path to wander slow, 
 
 Or fill drear courts with regal pomp and show; 
 
 Across yon deep her galley ploughs its way, 
 
 The oars of silver flashing through the spray, 
 
 While wanton zephyrs spread the silken sail, 
 
 And airy music dies on Summer's gale. 
 
 Yes, her bright shade, her memory, iiaunt each 
 
 spot; 
 
 The choked-up fount, the ocean's sparry grot, 
 The flowers that bloom on Pharos' breezy isle, 
 The graceful palms that fringe the branching Nile, 
 The glittering wrecks of Glory's vanished hour, 
 All speak her fame, and Love's undying power. 
 
 * Of the two granite obelisks, called Cleopatra's Needles, one only 
 is standing, and, with its fellow, is believed to have adorned the 
 entrance of the palace of Cleopatra. Whether they were originally 
 brought from Thebes or Heliopolis must remain a matter of 
 conjecture. The obelisk lying on the ground, and which many 
 years since was given to the British Government, and is now 
 designed for our Crystal Palace, is about the same size as its 
 companion, and measures with the pedestal 79 feet; the monolith 
 itself is 63 feet, being rather less than that of the Luxor obelisk, 
 now standing in the Place de la Concorde, Paris. 
 
PART II.] CLEOPATRA. 91 
 
 'Twas here, perchance, where painted chambers tell 
 Kings in their shrouds were darkly doomed to 
 
 dwell,* 
 
 That Egypt's queen her soul in anguish sighed, 
 And Rome's Triumvir sought her arms and died. 
 Sad was her fate, her reign, her glory o'er, 
 And fortune's sun gone down to rise no more; 
 Yet deeper gloom her sorrowing heart o'ercast, 
 From him she loved, thus called to part at last; 
 There lay the Roman with his bleeding breast, 
 Who power and spotless fame had once possessed, 
 But for her sake, to shame and ruin hurled, 
 Had sunk his soul in crime, and lost a world ! 
 Yet no reproaches darkened in his eye, 
 His anger smiles, his curses but a sigh ; 
 The pangs he felt, thus gazing on those charms, 
 Folding once more the loved one in his arms, 
 Seemed turned to rapture, like the bliss that beams 
 From hope and pardon, on the felon's dreams. 
 
 Sweet woman, wearing smiles that oft decoy, 
 Yet the dear source of every finer joy; 
 Forger of silken chains more strong to bind, 
 Than iron links, the struggling vanquished mind; 
 
 * West of the ruins of Old Alexandria, and bordering on the sea, 
 are the catacombs; but sepulchral chambers of Graeco-Egyptian 
 origin extend all along the shore. One sepulchre of large dimen- 
 sions is supposed to have been the burial-place of some of the 
 Ptolemies. Cleopatra, after the fatal battle of Actium, and loss of 
 her kingdom, history states, shut herself up in the tombs of her 
 ancestors, and Marc Antony, who had stabbed himself in a fit of 
 desperation, was conveyed to her there. 
 
92 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [LOOK I. 
 
 Weighing to earth the spirit that would rise, 
 Now prompting hopes and visions of the skies; 
 Urging to deeds of worth, now acts of ill 
 Such hast thou ever been such art thou still ! 
 
 O'er the fall'n chief she bent ; so mute, so fair, 
 She seemed as turned to stone by that despair; 
 Save that her tears fell slowly one by one, 
 Like drops from heav'n when thunders have begun. 
 She watched her lover marked the fearful strife 
 Which Death was waging with retiring Life, 
 The hue that fluttered, went, again returned, 
 As memory stirred him, or as passion burned; 
 Like ever-varying colours wan and weak, 
 Which sunset casts around the stormy peak. 
 Loose and disordered flowed her robes of snow, 
 Her hair streamed o'er him, as she stooped more 
 
 low; 
 
 And oft with those long locks she wiped away 
 The damp cold dews that on his forehead lay. 
 Her heart might be tow'rd others hate and guile, 
 But ne'er for him she wore Deception's smile. 
 She loved him, spite of guilt, ambition past, 
 And all the spells blind Folly round her cast; 
 And now her passion, wrought to wild excess, 
 Gushed forth a torrent in its tenderness. 
 
 " Not yet," she cried, " Death's fatal arrow flies ; 
 He spares thee to my vows, my tears, my sighs : 
 In thee is centred all that earth can give 
 I reck not kingdoms lost, if thou but live. 
 
 
PART II.] CLEOPATRA. 93 
 
 Swift from these shores and all our foes we'll flee; 
 A desert were Elysium shared with thee : 
 Yet not in deserts, but some far green isle, 
 Blest by the gods, and Spring's eternal smile, 
 We'll build our bower, and know no care or fear, 
 Save love's sweet joy, and rapture's speechless tear. 
 Oh ! look, then speak, relieve my trembling heart ; 
 The fates relent no, no, we shall not part. 
 Unclose those eyes that wont with fire to shine, 
 And place thy hand thy cold, cold hand in mine; 
 Smile if thou canst, and tell me all thy pain; 
 My prayers to mercy shall not rise in vain. 
 And yet oh, cruel fate ! if thou must go 
 From love and rapture here to shades below, 
 Think not I'll drag life's chain bereft of fchee, 
 Think not the Stygian flood hath dread for me ; 
 Glad I shall walk those realms of ceaseless gloom, 
 Feel Pluto's fires, and share the sufferer's doom, 
 So thy pale shade may wander by my side, 
 And language, looks, and tears be not denied ; 
 So memory's treasured dreams may light each soul, 
 While their dark course eternal ages roll. 
 Come life, come death, come agony, or bliss, 
 I'm thine in other worlds, as thine in this!" 
 
 Thus spoke the lovely mourner; still she pressed 
 Her cheek to his, still sobbed, and still caressed; 
 'Twas o'er the Roman's soul had passed away, 
 And her pale lip but raved to senseless clay. 
 
 END OF PART II. 
 
KUINS OF MANY LANDS, 
 
 BOOK I, 
 
 THE DARK ERA. 
 PART III. 
 
 EGYPT! the world's great nurse, we break the spell 
 That binds us to thy ruins fare thee well ! 
 To roam far lands, which gained, perchance, from thee 
 Their ancient pomp, we cross the Western sea; 
 Lands where Power's footprints startle still the eye, 
 And Grandeur's wrecks in green oblivion lie; 
 For not 'mid wastes, where springs nor flower nor blade, 
 Those ruins rise from woods of deepest shade ; 
 Shrines clothed with moss, and pyramids with trees, 
 Where brooklets gush, and fragrance loads the breeze; 
 Cities that cover vales, and mountain-heights, 
 Eternal stillness o'er their mouldering sites, 
 Their history lost, no legend of their fame, 
 Without a dweller, and without a name. 
 
 Swift glides the bark along the mid-land sea, 
 The sails all set, the pennon floating free; 
 
PART III.] RUINED CITIES OF AMERICA. 95 
 
 Brighter than Orient gems on princely brow, 
 The surges break in diamonds round her prow; 
 The land-born breeze wafts sweetly o'er the wave 
 Scents from the wood, and music from the cave; 
 Capes, crowned with tower or convent, rising near, 
 Glass their dark forms within that mirror clear; 
 And far-off isles, in long perspective given, 
 Seem half on ocean's breast, and half in heaven, 
 Like blest Mohammed's corpse about to rise, 
 Upheld by angels stooping from the skies.* 
 The elements seem lulled to peace and joy, 
 As never more man's works they could destroy. 
 The dolphin sports, and, fearless of the gale, 
 The nautilus extends his tiny sail, 
 Woos the bright beam, and skims the level main, 
 The happy rover of that liquid plain, 
 And feels a pride as seated on a throne, 
 Sun, breeze, and ocean, made for him alone. t 
 
 Malta is passed, and northward far we view, 
 Staining with sable lines heaven's tender blue, 
 Dun wreaths of smoke o'er ^Etna's summit curled 
 Mount that hath burned since man possessed the 
 world. 
 
 * The coffin at Medina, which contains the dust of Mohammed, 
 say the old Arabian and Latin writers, does not touch the earth, 
 being suspended in mid-air by invisible hands, or the power of 
 magnets. 
 
 f The nautilus, which in calm weather uses its beautifully- 
 coloured fins as sails, is found in the Mediterranean, especially the 
 Adriatic Gulf. 
 
96 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Blow fresh, thou gale, or ne'er the bark may glide 
 
 Through Calpe's strait, and breast the coming tide;* 
 
 But see! Spain's cannon'd rock, and Afric's steep, 
 
 Grow less and less, and fade along the deep; 
 
 Ah ! many a sun must drive its fiery car 
 
 Down the blue vault, ere Western worlds afar 
 
 Greet the tired sense the long, long-straining eye 
 
 Resting on nought but boundless wave and sky. 
 
 Yet more that scene may teach the musing heart, 
 
 Than Nature's loveliest landscapes can impart ; 
 
 In those vast depths, unsearched, unpierced, unknown, 
 
 Type of Himself, th' Eternal's power is shown ; 
 
 Whether from Eastern waves the sun upsprings 
 
 With flaming forehead, and on rosy wings, 
 
 Climbs, like a god, the sapphire-vaulted height, 
 
 Till shines the sea, one plain of living light ; 
 
 While drowsy airs the glassy billows sweep, 
 
 Just curl their tops, and kiss them into sleep; 
 
 Or whether wakes the demon of the storm, 
 
 And clouds on clouds the changing heavens deform; 
 
 While the stirred waves, like mountains, fall and rise, 
 
 And lightnings write in fire along the skies, 
 
 The strong-ribbed bark bowed down like sappling spray, 
 
 Or tossed, a feather, on her foaming way, 
 
 Still, in all Nature's moods, the dark or bright, 
 
 Her ruling God is present to our sight, 
 
 Smiles in the stilly sunshine's warm repose, 
 
 Breathes in soft airs, in heaven's arched beauty, glows, 
 
 * The reader, perhaps, needs not to be told that a current invari- 
 ably flows from the Atlantic through the Straits of Gibraltar. 
 
PART III.] RUINED CITIES OF AMERICA. 97 
 
 Wings the dread storm, and looks the lightning's flash, 
 
 Speaks in the thunder's long-resounding crash, 
 
 One Infinite, one all-pervading Soul, 
 
 That formed, preserves, and will sustain the whole. 
 
 The seas are passed Columbus plough'd of yore, 
 A course he deemed no pilot traced before ; 
 And gales blow fragrance from those Indian Isles, 
 Where luxury dwells, and soft allurement smiles; 
 Yet, spite of fruits that bloom and flowers that wave,. 
 There fell Disease in mockery digs her grave. 
 Across the gulf tall vessels steer their way, 
 Or court the breezes down Honduras' bay; 
 Like clouds of snow, the restless feathered flocks 
 Skim the blue surge, or settle on the rocks. 
 The white man's axe in yon deep forest sounds, 
 Up the green steep the buskined hunter bounds. 
 Peace smiles on Yucatan, and Autumn throws 
 O'er wood and waste, her richness and repose; 
 The trees' deep brown, the lemon's amber hue, 
 The bloomy grape, that never culture knew, 
 The golden gourd, the sugar-dropping cane, 
 The watered valley, and the boundless plain, 
 Such are the sights this lonely tract displays, 
 That soothe the spirit while they charm the gaze. 
 
 World! wrongly called the New this clime was 
 
 old 
 
 When first the Spaniard came, in search of gold. 
 Age after age its shadowy wings had spread, 
 And man was born, and gathered to the dead; 
 
 G 
 
98 BUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Cities arose, ruled, dwindled to decay, 
 
 Empires were formed, then darkly swept away : 
 
 Race followed race, like cloud-shades o'er the field, 
 
 The stranger still to strangers doomed to yield. 
 
 The last grand line that swayed these hills and waves, 
 
 Like Israel, wandered long 'mid wilds and caves, 
 
 Then, settling in their Canaan, cities reared, 
 
 Fair science wooed, a milder God revered, 
 
 Till to invading Europe bowed their pride, 
 
 And pomp, art, power, with Montezuma died. (31) 
 
 The dense wild wood that hid the royal seat, 
 The lofty palms that choked the winding street, 
 Man's hand hath felled, and now in day's fair light, 
 Uxmal's broad ruins burst upon the sight.* 
 City ! whose date, whose builders are unknown, 
 Gracing the wild, mysterious and alone, 
 TJnchronicled thy name on History's page, 
 No legend left our fancies to engage; 
 Gazing around, we task the busy brain, 
 And who thy dwellers were, demand in vain: 
 The painted snakes that gleam on yonder wall, 
 The Hivites' worship haply might recall, 
 When, driv'n by Israel from their fatherland, 
 They crossed the wave, and sought some Western strand, t 
 
 * The ruins which bear the name of Uxmal, if not the most strik- 
 ing, are the best preserved of any yet discovered in Yucatan; they 
 are situated south-west of the town of Merida, and about thirteen 
 miles from the sea. The forest which had grown over the lost city 
 has been partly cleared away; and when Stephens visited the spot, 
 the buildings presented a beautiful and imposing appearance. 
 
 t On the walls of the inner court, in the building called " The 
 
PART III.] RUINED CITIES OF AMERICA. 99 
 
 That house, where burned the sacred fire, may tell 
 Of Eastern climes, where Magi wove their spell; 
 While the tall pyramid, with temple crowned, 
 And sculptured forms with flowing girdles bound, 
 Speak of the Nile* vain dreams! the mind is lost, 
 On shoreless seas of fancy blindly tost. 
 
 Yet Uxmars ruins no dark aspect wear, 
 Beauty and grace with Time are struggling there. 
 The smooth stone palace rears its front of white, 
 Its chequered floors, broad courts, are bathed in 
 light* 
 
 Nuns' House," are traced two immense serpents. The Hivites de- 
 rived their name from the worship of the serpent; and a tradition 
 exists that, when expelled by Joshua from Canaan, they proceeded 
 west down the Mediterranean. In this building, also, it is supposed 
 the sacred fire of the district was kept. 
 
 * On the largest Uxraal pyramid, which is 100 feet high, the sum- 
 mit being reached by 100 steps, there is a stone naos or chapel; the 
 west side of this building exhibits figures of men carved in stone; 
 their heads are covered by casques, while ear-ornaments and girdles 
 give them a striking resemblance to the figures on the tombs of the 
 Kings of Egypt at Thebes. Vide Norman and Stephens' s Travels. 
 
 f The palace called by the Indians Casa del Gobernador, the 
 Governor's House, is the most magnificent of all the Uxmal remains. 
 It is built of hewn stone, and elevated on three ranges of terraces 
 .35 feet high, so that it overlooks the entire field of ruins. Its fagade, 
 above 200 feet long, is richly ornamented with figures and hiero- 
 glyphics that appear above the mouldings of the door; the cham- 
 bers are lined with polished stone, but some of them are slowly 
 sinking to decay. A row of round pillars, eighteen inches in dia- 
 meter, and about four feet high, extends 100 feet along the second 
 platform; they form almost the only example of the cylindrical 
 column yet found among American ruins, but square pillars are 
 every where met with. 
 
100 RUINS OP MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Flowers deck the pyramid's high mouldering side 
 On many a wall the aloe lifts its pride; 
 Fluttering in air, or glittering on some tomb, 
 The bird of monarehs* spreads its purple plume. 
 So sweetly sad, so silently serene, 
 The shades of ancients well might haunt the scene, 
 Or elves by moonlight hold their revels here, 
 Play with the beams, and drink the violet's tear; 
 Dance round the rose, or climb the lily's stem, 
 Deeming that shadowy city built for them. 
 
 Pass we yon wilds where Ruin sternly lowers, 
 And covering roofs of shrines and lofty towers, 
 Ages have heaped the soil, till spreading trees 
 Have rooted there, and murmur to the breeze. (32) 
 Southward we press, where, screened from noontide's 
 
 beam, 
 
 Flows through dense woods Copan's pellucid stream; 
 Here their rich blooms the cassia's stems unfold, 
 And parrots spread their wings of green and gold. 
 This wooded landscape, picturesque and wild, 
 Might charm the breast of Nature's fervid child, 
 A desert of all beauteous things bees, flowers, 
 Fruits on the boughs, and odours in the bowers; 
 The green leaves whispering, as by spirits stirred, 
 The mellow note from some gay-plumaged bird; 
 Paths rarely trod by man the sparry cave, 
 The trees that bend to sip the glassy wave, 
 
 * The Quezale of South America has been styled the bird of 
 kings, its beautiful plumage being used only by royalty. Vide 
 Humboldt. 
 
PART III.] RUINED CITIES OF AMERICA. 101 
 
 All form a Paradise where Love might dwell, 
 And glowing fancy cast her brightest spell. 
 
 "What shines through yonder glades? approach with 
 
 awe, 
 
 A scene like this the Old World never saw. 
 City of shrines! the sainted and the blest! 
 Dark home of priests, the Mecca of the West ! (33) 
 As starting through the forest's tangled maze, 
 Thy countless pillars meet the wondering gaze, 
 Some crushed by trees, and some by lightning riv'n, 
 These prostrate laid, those looking still to heav'n, 
 Each traced with forms whose meaning none may know, 
 Each looking on its altar spread below, 
 We scarce feel pleasure, but a shrinking fear, 
 As borne by spirits to some darker sphere, 
 The marvels round us works of demon pride, 
 Where ghouls might dwell, and pale-eyed phantoms glide. 
 Then, too, the lines of Death's heads glistening white, 
 Marking each ancient tomb's long mouldered site, 
 Chill while we gaze, and tell how stern were those 
 Who bade their fathers in such graves repose.* 
 Yes, o'er Copan drear mystery spreads its veil; 
 What was its worship? ask the sighing gale! 
 Ask of the crumbling altars moss-o'ergrown, 
 Those dim carved shapes those idol-blocks of stone ! 
 
 * Rows of Death's heads cut in stone look out from among the 
 green bushes. Here Stephens found a large crocodile's head curi- 
 ously sculptured, and traced the elephant's tusk carved on some of 
 the monuments; the latter animal, it is well known, is found only 
 in Africa and Asia. Figures also, in relief, are seen sitting cross- 
 legged in the Oriental style. 
 
102 RUINS OP MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Nought do they answer; darkness still must reign 
 Above the trackless wood, and solemn plain. 
 
 Thus, child of blindness, vain-devising man ! 
 Thy countless creeds, since Time's long course began, 
 When born of dreams not fraught with heavenly light, 
 Shall pass away to black Oblivion's night. 
 Oh ! when will all thy race Truth's fountain find, 
 And lift the shroud that wraps the prostrate mind? 
 Own one great God who framed, with equal power, 
 The rolling planet, and the dew-hung flower, 
 Guides our small earth, and fills the boundless sky, 
 Calls into life the soul that ne'er shall die, 
 Rules all creation with like love and care, 
 And bids man's heart rejoice, and not despair? 
 
 Unlike Copan, yet buried, too, 'mid trees, 
 Upspringing there for sumless centuries, 
 Behold a royal city ! vast and lone, 
 Lost to each race to all the world unknown; 
 Like famed Pompeii, 'neath her lava bed, 
 Till chance unveiled the " City of the Dead." 
 Palenque ! seat of kings ! as o'er the plain, 
 Clothed with thick copse, the traveller toils with 
 
 pain, 
 
 Climbs the rude mound the shadowy scene to trace, 
 He views in mute surprise thy desert grace. 
 At every step some palace meets his eye, 
 Some figure frowns, some temple courts the sky. 
 It seems as if that hour the verdurous earth, 
 By genii struck, had giv'n these fabrics birth, 
 
PART III.] RUINED CITIES OP AMEEICA. 103 
 
 Save that old Time hath flung his darkening pall 
 On each tree-shaded tower, and pictured wall. (34) 
 
 The royal palace decks its stately mound, 
 Girt by wild shrubs, by waving thistles crowned ; 
 But strength still breathes throughout the lordly pile, 
 And lingering beauty sheds a mournful smile.* 
 We walk the rooms where kings and princes met, 
 Frown on the walls their sculptured portraits yet : 
 Strange their costume ye see no native face, 
 Lip, brow, and hue bespeak an Ethiop race. 
 The square stone portals, smooth and glittering floors, 
 The spacious courts, and sounding corridors, 
 The picture-writing earliest races learn, 
 The giant figures, mournful, calm, and stern, 
 All point to climes beyond the Eastern sea, 
 Egypt's old shores, or, far Cathay ! to thee : t 
 How the bold ancients crossed the watery way, 
 By star or needle, 'tis not ours to say; (35) 
 Enough, we meet their gorgeous buildings here, 
 Their picture-art, and creeds of gloom and fear. 
 
 * The grand palace at Pale*nque", in Chiapa, Mexico, once the 
 abode of kings, surpassing in size the royal seat at Mitla, and the 
 palace of the Incas in Peru, even now is a strikingly-fine edifice. 
 It is raised on a platform 43 feet high; its facade, which fronts the 
 East, is 228 feet, and its depth no less than 180 feet. There are 
 fourteen square doors, and on some of the piers between these doors 
 are figures in bas-relief of elegant workmanship, equalling any thing 
 of the kind found in Egypt. The building is divided into courts, 
 corridors, and smaller apartments. Whoever the people were that 
 planned and built this edifice, it must be granted they possessed 
 much architectural skill, and a highly-cultivated taste. 
 
 + Cathay China. 
 
104 RUINS OP MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Lo ! o'er the dense black mass of aged trees, 
 The moon upsprings, and harps the midnight breeze; 
 Now seems that city, 'neath the white cold rays, 
 The home of ghosts that haunt each leafy maze, 
 And yet it looks on ruin, ruin piled 
 August, though spectral beautiful, though wild : 
 The tower, just peering through the foliage green, 
 Bathed in the beams, a silvery point is seen ; 
 The moss-grown palace, temple dark and still, 
 The shattered pillar thrown across the rill ; 
 The fire-fly darting through the forest shade, 
 The owl's grey eyes that glare within the glade ; 
 The spells of silence on all earth that lie, 
 Nought but the cold moon moving in the sky 
 No sight like this may other ruins show; 
 They raise deep musing, while they melt to woe, 
 Speaking from depths of vague and dateless time, 
 A scene of wonder, dreary as sublime. 
 
 Fair Mexico, that, trembling in her chains, 
 Saw ruthless strangers waste her peaceful plains, 
 Where are the stately domes she reared of old, 
 Her terraced shrines that blazed with gems and gold? 
 Where her white-feathered chiefs that lined each steep, 
 Like foamy waves which crest the breezy deep? 
 Alas ! her tale is traced in tears and flame ; 
 Let History blush to write a Cortes' name; 
 Lo ! where the fires ascend from yonder vale ! 
 Ye hear the stake-bound victims' dying wail. * 
 
 * Many of the native soldiers, by order of Cortes, were burnt 
 alive ; five officers at once suffered in front of Montezuma's palace. 
 
PART III.] PYRAMIDS OF AMERICA. 105 
 
 Doth not a groan each turf-clad barrow yield, 
 From those who fell on red Otumba's field 1 * 
 While on each murmuring wind that wanders by, 
 Floats royal Montezuma's fruitless sigh. 
 
 But long ere these fair realms to Cortes bowed, 
 Or reigned the Aztec, rose the structures proud, 
 Which, more than tomb or temple, form a chain 
 That links the land to climes beyond the main. 
 Ah ! many a secret of old days lies hid 
 Beneath the ruined moss-clad pyramid ! 
 On Micoat's plain two stately piles are seen, (36) 
 Sacred to day's grand orb, and night's fair queen, 
 While north and south less towering structures sweep, 
 Where chiefs, perchance, and lowlier subjects sleep: 
 So on far Nubia's waste, on Gizeh's sand, 
 Small cone-shaped tombs around the mightier stand, t 
 In Tajin's woods where wanderers rare intrude, 
 A hunter-train the wild red deer pursued; 
 With hound, and echoing tube, they onward press, 
 But start to see a form of loveliness ; 
 Above the forest, flame-like, springs in air 
 A gorgeous tower, like some bright vision there; 
 
 * The decisive battle of Otumba, in which many Mexicans fell, 
 was fought in July, 1520. 
 
 f* That a number of small pyramids (nearly 200), from ten to 
 twenty feet high, should rise near the larger Mexican edifices, 
 precisely in the manner that little groups are seen around the 
 Cheops and Mycerinus, in Egypt, and the pyramids at Assur, in 
 Nubia, is, to say the least, a very remarkable coincidence, and might 
 furnish a strong argument in favour of the hypothesis which seeks 
 to give them an Egyptian or Ethiopian origin. 
 
106 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 From rich-carved base to apex-stone they trace 
 
 Egypt's vast strength, and Grsecia's matchless grace; 
 
 Huge blocks, that well might task man's power and skill 
 
 To move their bulk, on blocks ascending still ! 
 
 The pensile flower from every crevice peeps, 
 
 Up its fair sides the pale grey lichen creeps. 
 
 Some faun or wood-nymph, hovering round the spot, 
 
 Hath surely watched this pile, by man forgot, 
 
 And, through revolving ages, charmed away 
 
 The scythe of Time, the spectre of Decay. (37) 
 
 But not where lonely wilds, or forests spread, 
 The proudest, mightiest structure lifts its head; 
 Where blooms Cholula's plain, beneath the eye 
 Of Nature's giants frowning on the sky,* 
 In mouldering pride, in solemn ruin, stands 
 That lordly pile, the " Mountain made by hands." t 
 ~No Attic grace, no Asian pomp, are here, 
 'Tis simply grand, and savagely severe : 
 Pacing along its base, or climbing slow 
 Its terraced sides, to scan the scene below, 
 We feel that Belus' tower could scarce surpass, 
 In rude wild majesty, this wondrous mass; 
 That far Chaldsea's sons, or Egypt's kings, 
 Sent their bold genius here on spirit- wings; 
 
 * The volcanic mountain, Orizaba, 16,000 feet above the level of the 
 sea, and the peak of Telaphon, continuing the chain of the Andes 
 northward, overlook Cholula, which is situated in the Mexican state 
 of Puebla. 
 
 f The great Cholula pyramid is called by the natives " Monte hecho 
 a manos," the mountain made by the hands of man. 
 
PART III.] PYEAMIDS OF AMERICA. 107 
 
 For strange, between each nation, seems the tie 
 
 Of kindred creeds, of arts, and modes gone by; 
 
 Each worshipped day's bright god, and watched afar 
 
 From lofty pyramids, the midnight star ; 
 
 Each with ambition burned, vast tombs to raise, 
 
 Whose secret vaults should stand for endless days; 
 
 Yes, deep within this mount, the Toltec laid 
 
 The bones of monarchs, now to dust decayed : 
 
 Primeval race! their story who shall show? 
 
 They built, they reigned, they died is all we know.* 
 
 Age-stricken temple ! immemorial tomb ! 
 Linked with strange fables, and with tales of gloom ; 
 High on its summit stood the sacred cell, 
 Where, screened from sight, the god was wont to dwell. 
 
 * The largest, as well as, in all probability, the most ancient of 
 the Mexican pyramids, is that of Cholula. It is built of unburnt 
 bricks, and rises in four broad terraces to the height of 177 feet, 
 with a platform on the summit of 50,000 square feet. The resem- 
 blance of this erection to the great temple of Belus, at Babylon, 
 as described by Herodotus, is very striking. The two pyramids, 
 also, south of the Mycerinus, in Egypt, consist of four terraces, each 
 terrace being ascended by narrow steps; the arrangement in the 
 pyramid of Cholula being precisely similar. This immense pile 
 measures at the base each way 1,440 feet, being double the breadth 
 of the pyramid of Cheops ; its height, however, is little more than 
 that of the Mycerinus. Grass and bushes grow on the structure 
 from the base to the platform, whence the view of the great 
 mountain masses covered with snow, and the surrounding country, 
 is described as being remarkably grand. The Cholula pyramid is 
 not solid ; a portion of it, some time since, Humboldt relates, was 
 laid open, and a square internal chamber was discovered, contain- 
 ing statues in basalt, several painted vases, and some human 
 remains. 
 
108 KTJINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Here the stoled priest invoked the powers of air, 
 His offering burned, and breath'd a nation's prayer.* 
 Here, while a paler beam each planet shed, 
 'Mid shouts and music, human victims bled. 
 The sacred fire that mystic symbol brought 
 Perchance from Persia's hills, by Magi taught, 
 Here blazed for ever, save that fearful night 
 Each rolling age, when priesthood quenched its light, 
 And trembling thousands, with the vanished ray, 
 Deemed life would fail, and earth would pass away. (38) 
 
 Man, ages, creeds, have melted from those plains; 
 "Now o'er the giant ruin quiet reigns. 
 Spring decks its mouldering sides with many a flower, 
 That courts the bee at morning's dewy hour. 
 Where frowned the Toltec's god, the Virgin now 
 Sheds her meek smile, and Christian votaries bow; t 
 While, sadly sweet, the circling yew-trees wave; 
 And crosses deck the ancient Pagan's grave. 
 " Ave Maria!" evening's balmy breeze 
 Waffcs the soft prayer, like music, through the trees ; 
 'Mid golden clouds, his curtained couch of sleep, 
 The sun o'erhangs the vast Pacific deep, 
 
 * The Cholula pyramid was sacred to the God of the Air. The 
 far-spread custom of slaying and burning animals with a view to 
 propitiate the deity, prevailed in a remarkable degree among the 
 early races in America. The altars at Copan singularly attest 
 this fact. 
 
 f To the temple of the God of the Air, on the great platform, 
 has succeeded a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and here a 
 priest, of the Indian race, performs mass every day. The chapel is 
 surrounded by yew-trees. 
 
PART III.] PYRAMIDS OF AMERICA. 109 
 
 Gilds the far isles that tropic glories bear, 
 
 And charms to rest each storm-fiend brooding there. 
 
 " Ave Maria ! " mountain, plain, and shore 
 
 Hear the loud gong, the crowd's mad shout no more; 
 
 Soft as an angel's sigh, the bell's low sound 
 
 Steals from yon tower, and floats in whispers round. 
 
 Day smiles in death, and throws a crimson streak, 
 
 Like Beauty's blush, along each snowy peak; 
 
 E'en Orizaba's fires that burst on high, 
 
 Seem turned to roses in the glowing sky. 
 
 Mild are the rites, and gentle is the creed, 
 
 Thus doomed red Moloch's worship to succeed; 
 
 Eve's purple charm, the music of the hour, 
 
 Pour on the soul their soft dissolving power, 
 
 Melt the full heart, and waft the thoughts above, 
 
 On wings of warm devotion, hope, and love. 
 
 Oh ! land of wonders ! full of all that's fair, 
 Sublime, and beautiful, in earth and air, 
 As thus, thou new-found world ! from main to main, 
 We sweep, with Fancy's eye, vast hill and plain, 
 On every side still countless ruins start, 
 To trace whose grandeur mocks the poet's art. 
 From far Magellan's Straits to rich Peru, 
 Where Cuzco's palaces the desert strew; 
 Along the Andes piled, where modern man 
 Hath rarely climbed the awful scenes to scan ; 
 From Amazon and Plata's sun-bright streams, 
 To Northern woods where scarcely daylight gleams; 
 Thence to the Western lakes, and mountain peaks, 
 Where, in his cloud-rocked home, the eagle shrieks; 
 
110 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Helics of men unknown, and times of old, 
 
 Raising our awe, our wonder we behold. 
 
 Mound, stately pyramid, and pictured wall, 
 
 That Asia's creed and Egypt's art recall; 
 
 Embattled towers, with ivy-banners gay, 
 
 And shrines that reptiles halve with grim Decay; 
 
 These nameless wrecks, to darkness long consigned, 
 
 Prompt to strange thought the curious, musing 
 
 mind ; 
 
 When built? and who their founders? patient lore 
 To solve the question fails, the task gives o'er; 
 E'en daring Fancy scarce attempts to raise 
 The shadowy veil of long-departed days. (39) 
 
 From Egypt still the tide of life must flow, 
 "With art, lore, wisdom, all earth's children know; 
 From Egypt still we wing our spirit-flight, 
 Cross the Red Sea, Arabia's arid height, 
 Look down where pearls lie hid in Oman's waves,* 
 And green-robed mermaids dance within their caves, 
 Sweep Persian deserts, and glide awe-struck by 
 Himmaleh's peaks that seem to prop the sky, 
 Till 'neath us spreads, as fresh from Nature's hand, 
 That hive of myriads India's gorgeous land ! 
 
 Save Europe's Southern shores, what clime like this, 
 Luxurious, beautiful, and formed for bliss? 
 True, burning suns may wither central plains, 
 But on the airy hills Spring's freshness reigns, 
 * The Persian Gulf. 
 
PART III.] RUINED CITIES OF INDIA. Ill 
 
 And tank and nollah * cool the forest-glade, 
 And zephyr plays beneath the banian's shade. 
 Match me, ye rivers ! with that stream which flows, 
 A silver line, from distant Tibet's snows,t 
 Then bursts its bounds, and pours its giant tide 
 By pagod, tower, and city of old pride, 
 Watering a vale whose dwellers number more 
 Than all who people Gaul, and Albion's shore. J 
 Match me, ye hills ! with those dread mountain forms, 
 Where ice-bound Winter sits above the storms, 
 Sees through the gloom the bolt of thunder glow, 
 And frowns on Summer laughing far below. 
 Match me, ye gems ! with those so pure that shine, 
 Like earth-born stars, in famed Golconda's mine. 
 Match me, ye Northern deserts! with that brute, 
 So huge, yet gentle eloquent, though mute, 
 King of the woods, where, aged as their trees, 
 He walks his life of circling centuries 1 
 Match me, ye seas ! with those that roll and roar, 
 From Ganges' mouths, to Scindia's rock-girt shore, 
 Deep as the grave, and blue as skies above, 
 Now glassing heaven, and whispering as in love, 
 
 * The tank for holding rain water is a construction of high im- 
 portance in India ; it is commonly built of stone, and sometimes of 
 an enormous size. The nollah is a small artificial stream. 
 
 f The source of the Ganges, like that of the Nile, is still a disputed 
 question ; while some place its springs in the loftiest range of the 
 Himalaya or Himmaleh mountains, other travellers have traced 
 them to the high lands of Tibet beyond. 
 
 J The great plain, or valley, through which the Ganges flows, is 
 estimated to contain sixty-five millions, or more than one-half of 
 the population of Hindostan. 
 
112 RUINS Or MANY LANDS. [BOOK I 
 
 Now breathing stormy music, that might seem 
 The voice of Brahm awaking from his dream, 
 When calling Nature from the abyss of night, 
 And framing worlds of loveliness and light ! * 
 
 And this is India soul and eye, spell-bound, 
 Might muse and gaze, such glories blazing round; 
 And still, despite all War's red bolts have riven, 
 And Time hath crushed, her sun is high in heaven. 
 Yes, since the day when Pella's conqueror came, 
 Bursting from Persia's hills with sword of flame, t 
 And rajahs fled, and vanquished Porus sighed, 
 And Hindoo blood the deep Hydaspes dyed, 
 Ages small change have wrought ; on hills and plains 
 Old customs live, the primal race remains. 
 The Hindoo mind still superstition sways, 
 Still to his Triune GodJ the Brahmin prays; 
 The laws of " caste" each generous hope restrain, 
 And bind all mental powers with palsying chain. 
 
 * Brahm is the first personage in the Hindoo Trimurti. He is 
 the creator of all things, and has existed from all eternity. He has 
 called into being, say the Vedas, many universes, re-absorbing each, 
 after the lapse of countless ages, into his spirit. When Brahm 
 slumbers, all is desolation and silence, and the world is at an end ; 
 and when he awakes he creates another. The space of time allotted 
 to an universe constitutes his day, while the period of its suspension 
 or extinction forms his night. This conception, notwithstanding its 
 extravagance, must be admitted to be as original as it is sublime. 
 
 f Alexander the Great entered India from the Persian side, through 
 the passes of the mountains now called Hindoo Cosh, 326 years B.C. 
 
 I Brahm the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Siva the 
 Destroyer. 
 
PART III.] 
 
 IKDIA. 
 
 113 
 
 Still lives that old belief tlie Samian taught 
 Insects and brutes with human souls are fraught 
 Souls doomed to wander for uncounted years, 
 Till, pure from earthly dross, they seek the spheres. (40) 
 
 A moment yet we linger 'mid the bowers 
 Of Northern Ind a land of fruits and flowersy 
 Where the proud Affghan treads a blessed soil, 
 That yields all nature asks with little toil, 
 A land where God his heavenliest smile hath thrown 
 On all beneath man, man the blot alone. 
 Oh ! who Gabul's sweet region may behold, 
 When Spring laughs out, or Autumn sows her gold, 
 The meadows, orchards, streams that glide in light, 
 Nor deem lost Irem charms again his sight, 
 That wondrous garden rivalling Eden's bloom, 
 Too bless'd for man to view, this side the tomb?* 
 Flowers here of every scent, and form, and dye, 
 Lift their bright heads, and laugh upon the sky, t 
 From the tall tulip with her rich-streaked bell, 
 Where, throned in state, Queen Mab is proud to dwell, 
 
 * The garden of Irem, say Arabian .chroniclers, was made by King 
 Sheddad, in the desert of Aden, in imitation of Paradise. Sheddad 
 perished for his impiety, and the garden became invisible. See Koran. 
 
 f The province of Cabul, in Affghanistan, has been famous from 
 time immemorial for its fertility ; the snowy mountains of Hindoo 
 Cosh, on the north, and other lofty ridges on the south-east, 
 render the climate very variable ; in the spring and autumn it is 
 delightful, but in the summer the heat is oppressive. Superadded 
 to many of the products of India and Persia, all the fruit trees and 
 flowers that flourish f in Europe are found here, and seen from the 
 Sultan Baber's tomb on the hill near the city of Cabul, the country 
 around looks like a beautiful garden. 
 H 
 
114: RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 To lowly wind-flowers gaudier plants eclipse, 
 
 And pensile harebells with their dewy lips. 
 
 There turns the heliotrope to court the sun, 
 
 And up green stalks the starry jasmines run: 
 
 The hyacinth in tender pink outvies 
 
 Beauty's soft cheek, and violets match her eyes; 
 
 Sweet breathe the henna-flowers that harem girls 
 
 So love to twine among their glossy curls; 
 
 And here the purple pansy springs to birth, 
 
 Like some gay insect rising from the earth. 
 
 One sheet of bloom the level greensward yields, 
 
 And simple daisies speak of England's fields; 
 
 Drawn by sweet odour's spell, in humming glee, 
 
 Flits round the bloomy stock the robber bee, 
 
 While to the gorgeous musk-rose, all night long, 
 
 The love-sick bulbul pours his soul in song. 
 
 Then, too, the fruits through months that hang and 
 
 glow, 
 
 Tempting as those which wrought our Mother's woe; 
 Soft shines the mango on its stem so tall, 
 Hich gleams beneath the melon's golden ball; 
 How feasts the eye upon the bell-shaped pear! 
 Bright cherries look like corals strung in air; 
 The purple plum, the grape the hand may reach, 
 Vie with the downy-skinned and blushing peach; 
 Though small, its place the luscious strawberry claims, 
 'Mid snowy flowers the radiant orange flames; 
 To quench the thirst the cooling guava see, 
 And ripe pomegranates melting on the tree. 
 And here, too, England's favourite fruit is seen, 
 The red-cheeked apple, veiled by leaves of green : 
 
PAKT III.] RUINED CITIES OF INDIA. 115 
 
 All ! at the sight, dear thoughts of home awake, 
 And foreign lands are welcomed for its sake. 
 
 Thrice genial clime! Oh, favoured, sweet Cabul! 
 Well art thou named the bless'd the beautiful ! 
 With snow-peaked hills around thee guarding arms ! 
 Ah ! would thy sons were worthy of thy charms ! 
 Wild are those tribes, a free but barbarous race, 
 Crime still the shadow darkening Nature's face. 
 What to the Affghan's eye is smiling earth? 
 What scenes of glory? things of little worth; 
 Not his the finer joys, the charms of lore, 
 The taste that brightens, and the thoughts that soar, 
 His highest aim to lead his mountain horde, 
 And bathe in blood his Koran-graven sword. 
 
 Euins of Ind! Here, too, with busy hand, 
 Hath man built shrines, and gorgeous cities plann'd, 
 That Time may mock his toil? and must he still, 
 For weeds and reptiles, ply his plastic skill? 
 What ! dares he hope, frail nursling of a day! 
 To vie with Nature's power, arrest decay? 
 Soothing poor pride, the works his genius rears 
 May charm the sight, and brave a few brief years; 
 But, like himself descending to the tomb, 
 Age smites the marble it receives its doom; 
 The hills alone, the ocean, and the sky, 
 Bear on their front thy stamp, Eternity! 
 
 On Northern mountains Ruin takes his stand, 
 And casts his dull red eye o'er all the land, 
 
116 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Watches, well pleased, his slow and sapping power 
 Crush the priest's glittering dome, the warrior's 
 
 tower, 
 
 And fiend-like smiles, as dim oblivion glooms 
 O'er perished cities, and their founders' tombs. 
 Yet, Ruin's foe, pale Memory wanders here, 
 And, following Havoc's footsteps, drops a tear; 
 Led by her wand, the pilgrim onward hies, 
 And sees the wrecks of ages round him rise. 
 The pagod moulders on Mokundra's plain, 
 And 'mid its ivied towers the winds complain.* 
 Where frowns that sacred city hewn from stone, 
 The plover cries, the jackall makes his moan.t 
 The tall rich columns, boast of old Ajmeer, 
 The plaintive hymn to Buddh no longer hear; 
 Dark centuries steal their loveliness, and throw 
 Above their corpse-like charms the shroud of woe.J 
 
 * " The pagoda of Bheems Chaori in the Mokundra, now in 
 ruins, is very remarkable," observes Colonel Todd, in his travels, 
 " for the resemblance it bears, as regards massiveness of style, to 
 Egyptian monuments." 
 
 f About forty miles south of Madras are the ruins of a town 
 entirely formed out of the rock; but at what remote period of time 
 it was excavated, no record exists to show. This place, the Petra of 
 India, is commonly called the Seven Pagodas. See a description in 
 1st and 5th vols. of " Asiatic Researches" 
 
 | The elegant Buddhist temple at Ajmeer is thought to be, with 
 the exception of the rock-temples, the most ancient religious edifice 
 standing in India. Its architecture is totally different from that of 
 any other Hindoo fabric of a remote age. The columns are slender 
 and finely proportioned, but having stood for not less than 2,000 
 years, they may be supposed to have lost much of their original 
 delicacy and beauty. 
 
PART III.] BUINED CITIES OF INDIA. 117 
 
 Canoug, a tomb-strewn waste, by Ganges spreads, 
 For stately towers wild palm-trees lift their heads, 
 And Hindoo, Moslem, life's brief struggle o'er, 
 Forget their zeal, and burn with hate no more. * 
 
 The task were long those mouldering wrecks to name, 
 Eenounced their splendour, and forgot their fame; 
 Yet fain our steps would climb the rocky steep, 
 Where Somnauth's walls o'erlook the Western deep; 
 Shrine of the sun ! where once awed thousands knelt, 
 And Swerga'sf joys the saint already felt, 
 Where dancing-girls their veils of splendour raised, 
 And gems and gold, beyond a kingdom's, blazed, 
 Could not thy god, when Islam's plunderers came, 
 Vanquish with frowns, or blast with bolts of name ? 
 No, Mahmud left thee in his red career, 
 Pillaged, o'erthrown, to moulder darkly here; 
 High on Saurastra's rocks, thy ruined form 
 A thousand years hath braved the ocean-storm ; 
 To earth thy fretted pinnacles are thrown, 
 E'en Hindoos pass thee by, unmourned, unknown. 
 Yet while profaned, and, ghostly legends tell, 
 Within thy circle wander imps of hell, 
 When sunset paints with gold the Indian wave, 
 And sounds ^olian whisper from the cave, 
 When twilight's veil so rich, so gorgeous, falls, 
 Softening the moss-clad tower, and crumbling walls, 
 
 * The ruins of Canoug, once a capital city, are situated near the 
 Ganges, above Lucknow; they consist chiefly of brick edifices, and 
 the tombs of Mussulmen and Hindoos. 
 
 f Swerga is the Heaven or Paradise of the Hindoo. 
 
KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I 4 
 
 Fair dost thou look, and charm the seaman's gaze, 
 
 A crown of glory those red quivering rays, 
 
 As if the banish'd god returned awhile, 
 
 And on his once loved temple deigned to smile. (41) 
 
 IsTor may we pass Gour's ruins lone and grey, 
 Seat of Bengal's proud lords in ancient day.* 
 Vast piles of brick, once grandeur's glittering domes, 
 .Fragments of pillars shattered, nameless tombs 
 High banks where poison-shrubs and jungle grow, 
 Shrouding for leagues the winding walls below, 
 Such is the scene; e'en Ganges' sacred tide 
 Hath turned, for many a year, its course aside; 
 Like some false friend who flies, when adverse fate 
 Hath made its victim dark and desolate; 
 Type of the Hindoo faith, which says that stream 
 Conducts to heaven, all changeful though it seem. 
 Yes, where the hallowed waters gush'd of yore, 
 Myriads have knelt, to worship and adore; 
 Men of far countries, wan Disease and Age 
 Have sought these banks in weary pilgrimage, 
 On Ganges fixed at last their rapturous eyes, 
 And deemed its murmurs hymns of paradise, t 
 
 * The once famous city of Gour stood on the old bank of the 
 Ganges, and extended, Major Rennell conjectures, by the river, up- 
 wards of fifteen miles. The course of the Ganges is now at a 
 considerable distance, and the great capital of past ages has shrunk 
 to a small town situated in the vicinity of the ruins. 
 
 [ The sanctity of the Ganges surpasses that of the Indus, the 
 Krishna, or the Nerbudda, although the last-named rivers cleanse 
 from sin. There is no way to heaven, say the Brahmins, so certain 
 as through its waters; hence the frightful custom among the Hin- 
 
PART III.] THE HINDOO MOTHEE. 119 
 
 Where yon green plantains cast their quivering 
 
 shade, 
 
 A form bends low, in robes of white arrayed; 
 Her gems of costly price, her shawl of pride, 
 And the gold tali,* speak a high-born bride. 
 But grief is stamped on Corah's drooping brow, 
 And fast her diamond tears are falling now; 
 She holds her first-born babe within her arms, 
 A mortal sickness dims its guileless charms; 
 But meeting death where Ganges' waters flow, 
 Its sinless soul will instant rapture know; 
 Yamen'st dark brow will wear no frown of fear, 
 That soul transformed to some bright Glendoveer.J 
 Anxious she watches life's last quivering spark; 
 As stars go out, those beauteous eyes grow dark; 
 And like sweet rosebuds, poisonous winds breathe o'er, 
 Its soft cheeks lose their hue to bloom no more. 
 And this is death so still, so fair, so calm, 
 But ah! that ghastly silence brings not balm. 
 From grief's first shock she wakes, with frantic start, 
 The tender burden clasping to her heart ! 
 She recks not heeds not all that Brahmins tell, 
 Feeling but torture in that last farewell. 
 
 doos of throwing their dead into the Ganges, so that ships, sailing 
 tip the stream, meet daily with hundreds of bodies floating down to 
 the sea. 
 
 * The tali is a trinket attached to a riband, and worn around the 
 neck of the married lady. The suttee burns it on the funeral pile, 
 in token that the marriage union is dissolved. 
 
 f Yamen, judge of the dead, and lord of hell. See "Hindoo 
 Pantheon? 
 
 I The Glendoveers are the most beautiful of good spirits. 
 
120 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 But soon her tutored soul religion sways, 
 One duty more her bleeding heart obeys ; 
 'Tis in that holy stream the babe to cast, 
 Then, swift as upward swells the trumpet-blast, 
 The deathless part will rise to Swerga's bowers, 
 Absorbed in Brahm for everlasting hours.* 
 
 She holds it forth, that lifeless pallid thing, 
 But may not in the wave her treasure fling; 
 She stays to think, while terror -chills her blood, 
 What rav'nous reptiles lurk within that flood 
 To think, if laid beneath the spreading tree, 
 How safe, how calm, her infant's rest might be; 
 While she at evening hour could hover near, 
 And scatter flowers, and drop affection's tear. 
 Away, that softness ! zeal must conquer yet 
 Maternal love, and triumph o'er regret; 
 That plash 'tis gone ! pleased Heav'n may shed its 
 
 smile, 
 Her mind applauds, though breaks her heart the while. 
 
 But now, more famed than pagod, town, or tower 
 By zealots formed in India's earlier hour, 
 Behold the rock-cut temples ! e'en to gaze 
 On those dark works that wake the soul's amaze; 
 To feel we tread where awe-struck millions bent, 
 Ere to the world the Christian's God was sent; 
 To view that wondrous worship's cradling-place, 
 A faith this hour which sways half Asia's race 
 
 * The highest reward that man can receive, teach the Vedas, is, 
 after death, to be absorbed into the eternal spirit of Brahm. 
 
PART III.] BOCK-TEMPLES OF INDIA. 121 
 
 'Twill all repay the pilgrim, worn with toil, 
 Crossing the seas, and treading foreign soil 
 A sight o'er Time's vast gulf to bear his mind, 
 And prompt a sigh for wandering, lost mankind, 
 Bid many a wild and glowing vision start, 
 Exalt, and humble too, his musing heart.* 
 
 See! where those caverns yawn on Carli's steep; 
 Do spirits call, awaked from ages' sleep, 
 That yon lone Hindoo creeps with stealthy tread, 
 Hies down the hill, nor dares to turn his head? 
 So old the grots, so silent, and so drear, 
 E'en Brahmins view them with a solemn fear. 
 Wild rocks above, a lengthening vale below, 
 Through which at night the breezes wail like woe; 
 Huge sculptures, forms of gods e'en strangers 
 
 grown, 
 Along the walls a writing now unknown; 
 
 * The rock-cut temples of India, more numerous, elaborately 
 executed, as well as fantastically grouped, than those which exist in 
 Nubia, are undoubtedly the most extraordinary monuments of a 
 skilful fanatic people which time has left us. With the remains of 
 the perished Ethiopian nation, they stand alone amongst the ruins 
 of the world. Here chiefly is the resemblance between the colossal 
 architecture of the two countries apparent. The Indian rock- 
 temples occur, almost without exception, on the west side of the 
 great Peninsula, being situated in that portion of the country where 
 an Ethiopian or Egyptian colony would first of necessity settle. 
 The age of these excavations can by no means be satisfactorily 
 determined; but, if we except, perhaps, the temples of Ellora, the 
 formation of all may safely be referred to a period long antecedent 
 to the Christian era. 
 
122 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 The lions on their pillar, calm and still, 
 Watching for sumless ages on that hill, * 
 These throw o'er Carli's shrines an awe and gloom, 
 Which less befit the temple, than the tomb. (42) 
 
 Ellora's wonders half unearthly seem, 
 Born as of fancy, dazzling as a dream. 
 Shaped from the living stone, vast halls appear, 
 Their massive grandeur sculptured columns rear; 
 Ranged round the shrine, unnumbered gods are seen, 
 From Lashmit fair, to Siva's blood-stained queen; 
 From wisdom's lord, proud Ganesa, to him 
 The child of love, the god of mirth and whim.J 
 Who carved this grand cathedral^ ask yon sage 
 That haunts these ruins, bowed like them with age; 
 A king, he says, in earth's pure happy prime, 
 Ere China was, or Hebrews reckon time; 
 And then he kneels, o'er brighter days to grieve, 
 And simple hearts the fabling tale believe. (43) 
 
 Hark! from Salsette's once fair and flowery shore 
 The jaekall's cry, the tiger's hollow roar; 
 
 * Without the great cave-temple, stands a pillar 24 feet high, 
 supporting four lions. Lord Valenticts Travels. 
 
 f Lashmi the Indian Goddess of Beauty. 
 
 J Cameo, or Cama, the Oriental Cupid; the Indian poets repre- 
 sent his bow as formed of sugar-cane, while his five arrows are 
 tipped with a blossom of heating quality. See Sir William Jones. 
 
 Aged Brahmins, who reside near Ellora, mention a tradition, 
 that the temples were constructed by a Rajah named Eloo, seven 
 thousand years ago; an absurd legend, especially as the Ellora 
 temples are thought to be less ancient than some others of their class. 
 
PAKT III.] ROCK-TEMPLES OF INDIA. 123 
 
 Where dark-eyed Nautch-girls danced in beauty's pride, 
 
 The toad spits venom now, and serpents glide; 
 
 The marble steps are clothed with waving grass, 
 
 No sun-bright streams purl music as ye pass; 
 
 Yon altars own no more the prophet's sway; 
 
 The Eden that once bloomed hath passed away. (44) 
 
 Yet here, 'mid scenes luxuriant as sublime, 
 
 "Was Buddha worshipped, pride of elder time, 
 
 Classed with those spirits centuries only bring, 
 
 To raise their kind, and clear Truth's darkening spring, 
 
 Bless'd sage of Ind ! but Persecution's brand 
 
 His followers smote they fled their native land; 
 
 Their creed, their rites, the hapless exiles bore 
 
 To many a foreign wild, and mountain shore; 
 
 And fast their doctrines spread to Buddha now, 
 
 Like leaves in Autumn, countless millions bow; 
 
 If zeal prove truth, and numbers win the field, 
 
 To him must Brahm, e'en Mecca's Prophet, yield.* 
 
 See ! where he stands in Salsette's temple-caves ! 
 Time and his foes that form of granite braves : 
 He looks tow'rd Western skies ; though here his shrine 
 Is crushed, forlorn, and hailed no more divine, 
 He seems to smile, as if instinct with life 
 Vanquished of oiil, now victor in the strife, 
 
 * According to a calculation made by Hassel, the principal reli- 
 gious sects now in the world bear nearly the following numerical 
 proportions: Christians, one hundred and twenty millions; Jews, 
 four millions; Mohammedans, two hundred and fifty-two millions; 
 followers of the Brahmanic faith, one hundred and ten millions; and 
 Buddhists, three hundred and fifteen millions. 
 
124 EUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Conscious how bright elsewhere his starry fame, 
 His laws revered; and loved his ancient name. (45) 
 
 But near Salsette a fairer island blooms, 
 Where vassal winds do nought but waft perfumes; 
 Where painted shells adorn the sea- worn cave, 
 And stately palms are mirrored in the wave. 
 So lone the hills, so green the tufted trees, 
 Such health and freshness in the musky breeze, 
 So cool each glade, each grot within the isle, 
 Ocean and sky all withering heat the while, 
 It well might seem the small and bright domain 
 Of Eastern fay, or nymph-queen of the main.* 
 Land at the cove, and climb the bowery steep, 
 Where rocks are clothed with moss, and rivulets 
 
 weep; 
 
 Then midway rest, to gaze around, below, 
 And watch old ocean's everlasting flow. 
 Once more ascend wide opening in the hill, 
 Carved from the rock with all-surpassing skill, 
 Pillar on pillar, niche and lofty hall, 
 Statues that seem to speak from every wall, 
 Lo ! Siva's mighty temple ! scene more grand, 
 More darkly wondrous, boasts not India's land : 
 Hath some enchanter dug, in gloomy pride, 
 His gorgeous palace in that mountain's side? 
 
 * The little island of Elephanta, which rises, covered with trees 
 and plants, to a considerable elevation above the water, is situated 
 between Bombay and the Mahratta shore, about six miles from the 
 former place. It obtains its name from the figure of a black ele- 
 phant cut out of the solid rock, near the landing-place. 
 
PART III.] KOCK-TEMPLES OF INDIA. 125 
 
 No rock-cut shrines with Elephanta's vie, 
 
 Taste, beauty, couched 'neath Horror's haggard 
 
 eye.* 
 
 Within, the sight is dazzled, heart is chilled, 
 With mimic life each shadowy niche is filled;: 
 Here, monster giants glare in anger down, 
 With withering glance and hell-concentred frown; 
 There milder gods, arrayed in vestments fair, 
 With costly armlets, rings, and braided hair, 
 Look from their seats in mercy and in love, 
 As glad to waft the zealot's soul above. (46)/ 
 
 But pass we Kali t and her worshipped bull, 
 Lashmi, the bright-haired and the beautiful; 
 Indra the God of Thunder and his bride, 
 Sceptre and shield, and granite throne of pride ; 
 One figure stands revealed amidst that throng, 
 To whom more fame, more solemn thoughts belong 
 The Triune God once worshipped, ere the light 
 Of ancient faith was quenched in Error's night, 
 And Superstition's rampant brood unfurl'd 
 Their hellish standards o'er the Hindoo world. 
 
 * The rock-temples of Elephanta are, without question, the most 
 striking of their kind in India. They were dedicated exclusively to 
 the Brahmanic worsMp, since no inscription to Buddha, or image of 
 that Hindoo reformer can be found. Siva, the Destroyer, is evidently 
 the presiding Deity. Conflicting opinions have been held by writers^ 
 some assigning to the Elephantine caves a very ancient, and others 
 a comparatively modern date. From our utter ignorance of their 
 original author, and the absence of all written records, the question 
 will probably never be decided. 
 
 f Kali, the wife of Siva; one of her arms rests on the head of 
 a bull. 
 
126 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Here God's three attributes are carved in stone, 
 As Framer, Saviour, and Destroyer, known. 
 Immortal Brahm ! what thought in that proud face, 
 Awful composure, and celestial grace ! 
 "Well it beseems the eternal plastic Power 
 That formed earth, ocean, man, each tree and flower. 
 Vishnu, who still sustains what Brahm hath made, 
 In earth and heaven his guardian love displayed, 
 Looks calm benevolence, and sweetly bland 
 Smiles from on high, the lotus in his hand. 
 But he, the lord of ruin and dismay 
 Pleased with disorder, revelling in decay 
 Siva, whose hour will come, when flame-bolts hurled 
 From Indra's heaven shall fire the lower world, 
 Scowls like a demon ; skulls adorn his head, 
 And snakes, for hair, down ebon shoulders spread; 
 Fell Attribute ! and must the scene we see, 
 Gay earth, and smiling skies, all yield to thee? 
 Shall rivers cease to glide, and woods to wave, 
 Man to be born the world one dreary grave? 
 So thought earth's early races, Pagan named, 
 Yet partial truths their mystic faith proclaimed ; 
 Ay, though deep plunged in darkest errors now, 
 And blind, debased, thy children, India ! bow, 
 Their primal creed was framed by loftiest mind, 
 And left Greek, Eoman fables, far behind. (47) 
 
 And is this temple by the rolling wave 
 Bevered no more by monarch, priest, or slave? 
 No, Desolation claims these mountain cells, 
 And pulseless silence in each chamber dwells : 
 
PART III.] EOCK-TEMPLES OF INDIA. 127 
 
 Pilgrims from distant regions come no more, 
 No kneeling zealots tremble, and adore. 
 The swallow builds within the roof of stone, 
 The prowling fox hides here, secure and lone; 
 And when night's planets gem the Indian deep, 
 Waves, yellow sands, each shrub and flower asleep, 
 Phantoms, 'tis said, beneath the pillars glide, 
 While Siva's blood-stained sword is waving wide, 
 And many a god, whose form the eye appals, 
 Nods on his throne, or moves along the walls. 
 And yet time was when white-robed Brahmins here 
 Worshipped their god, and taught their creed of fear; 
 When jewels sparkled, incense-fires burned bright, 
 And gong and cymbal stunned the ear of night. 
 But veil each darker rite these caverns saw, 
 One scene alone would Fancy's pencil draw 
 Of woman's love, of courage undismayed 
 A scene no land but India e'er displayed. 
 
 Hark ! the deep wail on yonder mountain-shore ; 
 Rise and lament; the rajah lives no more! 
 Dying, he bade the Brahmins rear his pile, 
 Where breasts the wave this green and holy isle. 
 Now, where the platform spreads before the shrine, 
 Their busy hands heap spice-wood, beech, and pine, 
 And smear with gums, and drop each sweet perfume- 
 Meet for a Phoenix that rich odorous tomb. 
 There lies the rajah on his couch of state, 
 And mail-clad chiefs around lament his fate; 
 Grand are his robes, a circlet wreathes his brow 
 Ah! what avail gold, gems, and flattery now? 
 
128 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 The racer Death hath early won the goal, 
 And endless years have dawned upon his soul. 
 
 But see ! in many a bark, across the main, 
 Borne from the Indian shore, that female train ! 
 They come, slow-winding up the rocky strand, 
 Like ocean-nymphs, or Krishna's flower-crowned 
 
 band;* 
 
 Dies o'er the wave the flute's aerial note; 
 Like moonlit clouds, their veils around them float. 
 They reach the platform ; 'mid the throng one face 
 More fair is seen, one form of statelier grace; 
 As silvery stars begirt the queen of night, 
 Bound her they form a circling line of light. 
 "Wrapped in deep thought the beauteous bride appears, 
 Her soft silk lashes diamonded with tears; 
 Flowers on her head, gold bracelets on her arms, 
 Her gem-starred robe conceals her bosom's charms; 
 Her coal-black hair, its masses all unbound, 
 Falls like a veil, and glittering sweeps the ground; 
 Her orient eye, with spirit flashing bright, 
 Soft as Spring's skies, dissolves in its own light. 
 Oh, wojnan ! fairest thing that God hath made ! 
 Sun of Mind's world! in Heaven's own beams arrayed, 
 The gentle slave of impulse sure thou art, 
 Warped by the feelings, governed by the heart; 
 Whate'er thy frailties, still from eldest time, 
 Dazzling the sense, and beautifying crime. 
 
 * From Krishna, and his nine beautiful female attendants, called 
 Gopia, the Greeks seem to have borrowed their fable of Apollo and 
 the Muses. 
 
PART III.] THE YOUNG SUTTEE. 129 
 
 And she, the daughter of all blinding zeal, 
 Who bitterest hate, yet softest love could feel, 
 Was come to prove all other ties now o'er 
 How deep her love for him who breathed no more ! 
 Yes, her soul burns to join her lord on high, 
 She seems to hear him whisper from the sky, 
 Telling of brighter beams and fairer flowers, 
 In Swerga's halls, and angel-peopled bowers; 
 Telling how sweet Amreeta's* draught will be, 
 How bless'd the shade of green Cailasa's tree,t 
 Brahm ever breathing through those fields above, 
 Music and fragrance, luxury and love. 
 
 The dream is passed: the Brahmins now draw 
 
 near, 
 
 And her young spirit owns a thrill of fear. 
 They wrap her veil more close, cut off her curls, 
 Remove her wreath, and costly strings of pearls. 
 See ! round the funeral pile the Brahmins stand, 
 Each with an iron staff, and lighted brand; 
 They lead the victim on ; her dew-damp brow, 
 And quivering lip, betray her terror now; 
 That fiery torture well might daunt the brave, 
 Yet none are there to pity none to save ! 
 
 She clasps her hands, she cannot speak or sigh, 
 But lifts to Heaven her mute imploring eye. 
 
 * Amreeta the drink of immortality. 
 
 f On Mount Cailasa (says " The Hindoo Pantheon "), whose top 
 reaches to Heaven, is a famous tree, at the roots of which springs a 
 celestial stream, the source of the sacred Ganges. 
 I 
 
130 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Away ! her anguished heart is stilled at last, 
 The palsying fears of Nature from her cast. 
 She mounts the pile and calmly sits beside 
 Her hero-lord in life, in death, his bride ! 
 She takes his hand, his once dear name she calls, 
 And fast the tear upon that pale cheek falls. 
 Her white-robed handmaids now, a fairy ring, 
 Dance round the pile, and mournful dirges sing ; 
 The arch-priest mutters prayers, that soon may be 
 The faithful wife from earth's dull fetters free, 
 And, upward borne, no dark migration know 
 Through other forms, the heir of sin and woe, 
 But swiftly pass from Yamen's dread control, 
 Absorbed in Brahm, the universal soul. 
 
 Hark ! 'tis the fatal word with fiendly smile, 
 They wave their torches high they fire the pile ! 
 Then burst the shouts from that wild frantic 
 
 throng, 
 
 Clatters the cymbal, rolls the thundering gong. 
 "Vain are the sufferer's cries, mid tumult lost ; 
 Swift on the flaming pile more brands are tost; 
 Till like a pyramid the fires arise, 
 Turn rocks to blood, illume the evening skies, 
 And cast a ghastly radiance o'er the wave, 
 While Pity's shriek seems echoing from each cave. 
 So died the wife, who felt all martyrs feel, 
 Victim of love, the dupe of erring zeal. 
 
 Oh, India ! India ! land where Error's gloom 
 Hath made for ages one wide moral tomb; 
 
PART III.] INDIA. 131 
 
 "Where all the fiends that busy hell can find, 
 
 Crowd, and exult above the death of mind; 
 
 When will man's eye behold Truth's living ray? 
 
 When will that trance of darkness pass away] 
 
 Shall conquering Albion hold, beneath her reign, 
 
 Tracts mighty Alexander won in vain? 
 
 Pierce the dark depths, extend a friendly hand, 
 
 Scatter her arts, and humanise the land, 
 
 And yet forbear the grandest work of all 
 
 To break foul Superstition's hideous thrall? 
 
 No ; Hope proclaims the hour of light is nigh, 
 
 Propitious gleamings dawning in the sky; 
 
 Methinks e'en now, advancing from afar, 
 
 Truth comes she comes upon her burning car! 
 
 Her seraph voice, by Brahmins scorned before, 
 
 Thrills the dull Hindoo's ear from shore to shore; 
 
 Louder it grows, till thunder seems to roll, 
 
 Shakes the foul shrine, and wakes the slumbering soul; 
 
 Idols are shivered, pagods wrapped in flames, 
 
 And Juggernaut no more his victim claims. 
 
 Still Truth sweeps on ; before her eyes' bright glow 
 
 The demons flee, loud howling as they go, 
 
 While in their stead, Peace, Love, sweet angel-forms, 
 
 Hover o'er earth, like rainbows seen in storms; 
 
 And as the dove, her weary wanderings past, 
 
 Found, 'midst the lessening waters, land at last, 
 
 So, India ! Error's flood no more remains, 
 
 And Joy, the stranger, lights upon thy plains. 
 
 END OF PART III. 
 
KUINS OF MANY LANDS, 
 
 BOOK II, 
 THE CLASSIC ERA. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 BLOW, West winds ! blow, our onward course to urge ; 
 Swift cleave, thou gallant bark ! the bounding surge ; 
 Spread, Heaven ! your bluest, tenderest tints on high, 
 As Love himself were winging down the sky; 
 Shine forth, thou sun ! great Nature's central soul ; 
 Whisper, ye waves ! soft music as ye roll ; 
 For lo ! the seas, the haunted seas, that lave 
 Grsecia's famed shores, bowed Glory's trophied grave. 
 
 High o'er the billows Sunium whitens now, 
 A graceful temple gleaming on its brow. 
 Fair mount ! the first, the last to greet the eyes 
 Of those who sail beneath blue Attic skies, 
 How many a banished Greek, in ancient days, 
 Hath viewed yon rocks with sadly-wistful gaze ! 
 There Cimon looked in silence : o'er these seas 
 Heaved many a sigh the wronged Themistocles; 
 
PART I.] GREECE. 133 
 
 And lie whom gold ne'er tempted, fear ne'er 
 
 moved, * 
 
 Exiled by foes he saved, by friends he loved, 
 Prayed for the land fast fading from his view, 
 Gazed, while his veteran sonl all weakness grew, 
 Called on the gods ah ! not to curse, but bless, 
 Till blinding tears relieved his heart's distress. 
 
 What though no more on Sunium's sacred steep 
 .Altars shall blaze, and light the midnight deep, 
 Or hymns resound at morning's opening smile, 
 Answered by songs from neighbouring cape and isle, 
 While clouds of incense, floating through the calm, 
 Sweeten the sea, and lull the sense with balm; 
 Those snow-white columns ages still shall brave, 
 Charm seamen's eyes, and gleam across the wave, 
 Dead Art's sweet spirit watching on that shore, 
 Which glory owns, and gods protect no more, t 
 
 Rise, child of sadness ! stay the fruitless tear, 
 And mark the scene that bursts upon thee here; 
 Silence may brood, and haggard Ruin reign, 
 On many a templed height, and citied plain, 
 Yet Fancy's spell can call up forms of yore, 
 Bid Art revive, and people every shore. 
 
 * Aristides, the Just. 
 
 f Fourteen columns of the whitest Pentelic marble, each twenty 
 feet high, remain of the once fine Doric temple of Minerva Sunias. 
 This structure was erected at the same period as the Parthenon at 
 Athens, B. c. 448, and the ruins, perched on the bold promontory of 
 Sunium, present a striking and beautiful spectacle from the sea. 
 
134 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 From Salamis, on freshening breezes borne, 
 Sounds not the conquering Greek's exulting horn? 
 Pale with dismay on yon high beetling hill, 
 Watching the conflict, stands not Xerxes still 1 ?* 
 Where far Parnassus courts the Western beam, 
 Bough sire of woods, dark source of many a stream, 
 Walk not the Aonian sisters hand in hand, 
 Breathing bright genius o'er their favoured land? 
 Hark ! 'neath the rocks that breast Piraeus' bay, 
 Crowned by a tomb, with moss and ages grey, 
 Sing not soft airs the Nereids of the deep, 
 To charm the hero's long unbroken sleep, 
 Decking the turf with coral-flowers and shells, 
 While through his caves old Ocean's requiem swells ?t 
 
 Away these visions ! rock and billow past, 
 Th' immortal shores of Greece we tread at last. 
 There are, whose earth-born thoughts can ne'er aspire, 
 Who feel not Taste's fine glow, or Fancy's fire; 
 WTio view, with unmov'd heart and frigid gaze, 
 The pleading wrecks of bright departed days; 
 Who grasp at petty pelf, or present power, 
 And ask no joy beyond the passing hour 
 Oh ! let not such approach this land of fame, 
 For them no magic breathes in Grsecia's name; 
 
 * During the sea fight of Salamis, the Persian monarch was 
 stationed on the hill ^Egaleos, which commanded a complete view 
 of the hostile fleets. 
 
 f The tomb of Themistocles K situated on the south side of the 
 harbour of Piraeus. It is a square stone resting on a simple base, 
 but the soros which once surmounted the sepulchre has long 
 disappeared. 
 
PAKT I.] GKEECE. 135 
 
 For them tier ruins seem but silent stone, 
 
 Her cities wastes, her mountains stern and lone : 
 
 For them no classic forms would haunt the vale, 
 
 People the woods, or whisper on the gale. 
 
 They who would feel, admire, must crush the birth 
 
 Of grovelling thoughts, that weigh the soul to earth, 
 
 Break the strong chain the "now" hath round them 
 
 cast, 
 And, warmed by Beauty, woo the deathless past. 
 
 Oh ! land of Solon, Plato, and of men 
 Whose glorious like, earth ne'er shall see again ! 
 Thou art not dead thy every plain and hill 
 Sends forth a voice, and teems with spirits still ! 
 What though no more they teach, with valour burn, 
 Thy sage and warrior breathe from out the urn, 
 And each lone wreck that moss and ivies bind 
 Points to bright days, and speaks of godlike mind. 
 But rock-crowned Athens calls our thoughts away 
 There sits she, lovely in her calm decay, 
 The eye of Greece, Fame's daughter sad and lone, 
 The queen of Wisdom on her mouldering throne. 
 How thrill we, entering slow the western gate, 
 To climb yon mount where mightiest sages sate ! 
 The rostrum, carved from stone, is seen this hour, 
 Where Eloquence distilled her silver shower. * 
 
 * The famous hill of the Pnyx, south of the Piraic gate, and west 
 of the Areopagus, or hill of Mars, was partly included within the 
 old walls of Athens. The rostrum, or stone pulpit, from which the 
 orators addressed the assembly, still appears, and cannot fail to be 
 an object of great interest to the literary traveller. 
 
136 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 There on Mars'-hill stood Paul, with flashing eye, 
 Like some bright form just lighted from the sky, 
 Marvelled so blind learned Athens still should be, 
 Admired, but mourned, her Pagan brilliancy. 
 Pair tomb, which crowns Museium's rugged side ! 
 That ages watch with jealous care and pride, 
 Mourning as winds wear down the shattered walls, 
 And now a pillar, now a statue falls; 
 Here rests the scion of a line of kings, 
 His deeds no history tells, no minstrel sings; 
 Perchance he hoarded gold, and ruled the crowd, 
 And slaves obsequious at his footstool bowed; 
 Or he might shine the gallant of his day, 
 Bearing from rivals many a heart away. 
 Man may grasp pleasure, dazzle through his life, 
 Applauded, envied, free from care and strife; 
 But if no more than this, his name will pass, 
 Razed from Earth's records, lost amid the mass; 
 Oh ! hard the task to stem Time's sweeping shock, 
 And grave a name on Fame's enduring rock.* 
 
 What lofty columns near Ilissus' stream 
 Tower o'er each wreck, and glitter in the beam? 
 Temple of Jove ! around thy ruined site 
 Dogs lurk by day, and owlets hoot by night; 
 
 * The marble monument of Philopappus, on the hill of the 
 Museium, was erected in the time of Trajan. Two of the three 
 niches which it contained remain entire. The statues mentioned 
 by Pausanias were those of the royal Syrian, Philopappus, of whose 
 deeds nothing is known, his grandfather Antiochus, and Seleucus 
 Nicator. 
 
PART I.] ATHENS. 137 
 
 Where kings and heroes wont deep awe to feel, 
 Not one poor trembler now is found to kneel. * 
 But pass we other scenes, where living men 
 Have reared their homes yes, Athens lives again, 
 Called from the gloom of strong Oppression's grave, 
 No more the Moslem's scorn, the tyrant's slave; 
 Onward the pilgrim wends, and lifts his eyes 
 Where the proud rock of Cecrops courts the skies, (48) 
 Bearing the pile, whose beauty well may claim 
 Homage from Taste, and challenge endless fame. 
 
 We climb the ancient steep, which chief and sage 
 Mounted before, through many a changeful age; 
 Where Cimon blessed the gods that Greece was free, 
 And Thrasybulus shouted "Victory!" 
 From Alpine mountains view the world below, 
 Towns, waving woods, and streams meandering slow; 
 Dim is the scene to that which greets thee here, 
 Prompting to worship, waking Rapture's tear. 
 Yes, rise, fair mount ! the bright blue heavens to kiss, 
 Stoop not thy pri Je, august Acropolis ! 
 Thy brow still wears its crown of columns grey, 
 Beauteous in ruin, stately in decay. 
 Two thousand years o'er earth have spread their pall, 
 Not yet, thy boast, Minerva's shrine shall fall : 
 In spite of rapine, fire, and War's red arm, 
 Enough remains to awe us, and to charm; 
 
 * Sixteen Corinthian columns, sixty feet high, and six and a half 
 feet in diameter, between the Ilissus and the modern walls, mark 
 the site of the once magnificent temple of Jupiter Olympius. These 
 vast columns are conspicuous from every part of Athens; the ori- 
 ginal number was 128. 
 
138 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Glory and Phidias' shade the relic keep, 
 Shield as they watch, and strengthen as they weep. 
 The Doric columns, wrought from fairest stone, 
 Severe but graceful, round the cetta thrown, 
 The lofty front, the frieze where sculptures shine, 
 The long, long architrave's majestic line, 
 Dazzle the eye with Beauty's rich excess, 
 O'erpower the mind by too much loveliness. (49) 
 
 Here let me stand, where, once aloft displayed, 
 Flamed the bright arms of heaven's immortal maid;* 
 And while I sigh o'er Athens' modern hour, 
 O'er ruined fane, crushed wall, and mouldering tower, 
 Let Fancy up the stream of ages glide, 
 And view the scene of ancient pomp and pride. 
 
 Beneath my feet the columned causeway sweeps, 
 And many a shrine in dazzling sunlight sleeps. 
 High towers yon pile, where Thespis' magic art 
 Now fills with terror, and now melts the heart; 
 Plaudits and sighs rise mingling through the air, 
 For Phaedra's tears are thrilling thousands there, t 
 Hark! too, where palms around th' Odeon wave! 
 Soft as a Nereid whispers from her cave, 
 
 * The helm and spear of the colossal statue of Minerva could be 
 seen towering above the Parthenon at the distance of many miles. 
 Pausanias. 
 
 f The great theatre for dramatic entertainments at Athens, 
 and of which no remnant now stands, was called the Theatre 
 of Bacchus, and was situated at the foot of the Acropolis, on the 
 south-east side. Like other Greek theatres of an early date, it had 
 no roof. 
 
PART I.] ATHENS. 139 
 
 Music breathes forth; the lyre of passion born, 
 
 The Mysian flute, the Thracian's mellow horn, 
 
 Fill with sweet murmurs temple, cave, and cell, 
 
 Till faints the soul beneath that Orphean spell.* 
 
 Now eastward gaze where, fringed with olive-ranks, 
 
 The smooth Ilissus laves its verdant banks; 
 
 Immortal stream ! the haunt from age to age 
 
 Of Wisdom's sons the poet and the sage ; 
 
 Slow through the groves that crown its flowery side, 
 
 The forms of Zeno, Epicurus, glide, 
 
 While many a laurelled bard breathes thoughts of fire, 
 
 That ne'er shall die till Genius' self expire. 
 
 Yon plain a scene presents of martial life; 
 Athena's warriors muster for the strife; 
 Their bristling lines beyond the southern wall 
 Pour in dense mass, and form at trumpet-call; 
 There Phocion draws his sword the just, the brave 
 Points to the hills and victory-hallowed wave, 
 Calls on his band, by bright remembered days, 
 By all their hopes of Fame's undying bays, 
 To fight for Greece, to smile at dangers nigh, 
 With him to conquer, or with him to die. 
 
 The sacred stork on yon high Wind-tower sits,t 
 O'er Theseus' fane the shade of Beauty flits, 
 
 * The Ode"on, or Music Hall of Pericles, stood about one hun- 
 dred yards east of the Theatre of Bacchus, and about the same dis- 
 tance south of the beautiful Choragic Monument of Lysicrates. 
 
 f The Tower of the Winds, erected by Andronicus Cyrrhestes, 
 and standing at this day. 
 
140 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Its stately columns ranged in glittering row, 
 Its front of marble, fair as taintless snow. (50) 
 But northward now, rapt gazer, turn thine eye, 
 And through Time's vista still let Fancy fly. 
 In marble pomp, o'er all the plain are spread 
 "White sculptured tombs, where rest the mighty dead;* 
 Here Glory's favourite, Cimon's race is o'er, 
 And famed Aspasia lures and smiles no more; 
 Here Athens' Tell, the brave Harrncdius sleeps, 
 And Love's whole soul o'er fair Hegilla weeps, t 
 What means that wail, that new-pluck'd cypress bough? 
 Whom to his home of stillness take they now 1 
 'Tis he who kindled Learning's heavenly light, 
 His mind a star in Error's dreary night; 
 Who charmed with sapient tongue each stander by, 
 And taught mankind their souls should never die. 
 And now they bear him, chanting Death's low song, 
 To those green groves which heard his voice so long, 
 And young and old press on to drop a tear, 
 While Wisdom sighs o'er godlike Plato's bier. { 
 
 
 The prospect changes : Sunset's mellow beam 
 Smiles into gold Cephisus' winding stream; 
 
 * The chief cemetery of Athens was beyond the gate Dipylon, 
 where the open space, reaching to the groves of the Academy, was 
 covered with the tombs of illustrious men. 
 
 f Kegilla was the beloved wife of the wealthy Herodes Atticus, 
 who in the second century erected a musical theatre to her memory 
 a touching instance of marital fondness in ancient days. 
 
 I The tomb of Plato, beneath the trees that shaded the Academy, 
 and near the fountains which he himself had made, was an object 
 of veneration with the Greeks for many centuries. 
 
PART I.] ATHENS. 141 
 
 Tall palms, and flowers, and fruit-hung orange trees, 
 
 Give grace to earth, and incense to the breeze; 
 
 So pure the wave, so cool the purple air, 
 
 E'en gods might walk, and deem Elysium there.* 
 
 Now white-robed maids trip round the blossomed 
 
 bowers, 
 Their eyes all mirth, their young brows wreathed with 
 
 flowers, 
 
 Lave in the crystal stream their rosy feet, 
 While rings their laughter, silvery, soft, and sweet. 
 In armour clad, Athenian youths advance, 
 Part the fair throng, and weave the Phyrric dance ;t 
 Bright gleams the silver shield, and burns the eye, 
 And sterner bosoms learn Love's melting sigh. 
 How wave those arms which jewelled bracelets deck! 
 The fragrant breezes fan each ivory neck ; 
 Among the flowers, like gems, their small feet glow, 
 Tinged by the beam, in gold their tresses flow; 
 And thus they dance, till up the round moon 
 
 springs, 
 And evening o'er them spreads her starry wings. 
 
 One vision more; far, far as eye can sweep, 
 From western vales to Parnes' cloud-topped steep, 
 Thence to the hills that gird, with conscious pride, 
 Th' immortal fields where Greek and Persian died; J 
 
 * The river Cephisus bounds Athens on the west, while the 
 Ilissus flows east of the city; unlike the latter, the Cephisus is a 
 considerable stream, and its banks are highly cultivated. 
 
 f In the famous Phyrric dance the men always wore armour. 
 
 I Marathon. 
 
142 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 While glancing south, o'er waves that roll in light, 
 From Colias' cape to Sunium's templed height, 
 Till the eye rests where foamy billows kiss 
 The plane-crowned rocks of far-famed Salamis 
 Oh ! what a scene doth meet our ravished gaze, 
 Speaking, with trumpet-voice, of nobler days ! 
 
 Athens ! thou birth-place of the great, the free ! 
 Though bowed thy power, and dimmed thy name 
 
 may be, 
 
 Though old Renown's once dazzling sun hath set, 
 Fair beams the star of Memory o'er thee yet. 
 City ! where sang the bard, and taught the sage, 
 Thy shrines may fa 11, thou ne'er wilt know old age; 
 Fresh shall thy image glow in every heart, 
 And, biit with Time's last hour, thy fame depart. 
 
 Alas ! for Pleasure and her myrtle bowers ! 
 Her witching song, and crown of sparkling flowers ; 
 Alas ! for Wealth, and all its train commands, 
 Smiles from the servile, luxuries of all lands ! 
 Alas ! for bright-eyed Love ! whose honeyed dart 
 Sends fiery rapture to the youthful heart, 
 Who bows the senses to his tyrant sway, 
 A sun outshining Reason's sober ray 
 Alas ! for these ! their warm and summer breath 
 Melts o'er the heart, till comes cold wintry Death; 
 Then must her shadowy hand Oblivion wave; 
 They bear no flower to bloom beyond the grave; 
 Pleasure, wealth, love, all breathe their farewell sigh, 
 Born but to dazzle, charming but to die. 
 
PART I.] CORINTH. 143 
 
 So feel we, as fair Corinth meets the sight, 
 City of luxury, home of young delight; 
 Venice of classic times ! where dance and song, 
 And vine-crowned Bacchus, chased the hours along, 
 And youth and age but lived for present joy, 
 !N"o thought of gloom their raptures to alloy. 
 Ah ! vain the sage might plead, the apostle pray, 
 Corinth still listened Pleasure's syren lay : 
 Still soft-eyed Venus plied each wanton wile, 
 And men perdition dared for Lais' smile.* 
 Now, as we walk, where flowers of every bloom 
 Once made the land a garden of perfume, 
 And countless lyres, each sweet entrancing night, 
 Swelled from Love's temple gleaming on the height,t 
 We find but choking thorns, and grass that waves 
 On shattered walls, and long-forgotten graves. 
 Where now, high peak, that tower'st in barren pride, 
 The pillared fanes which decked thy myrtled side? 
 Where the bronze statues glittering in the sun, 
 Telling of deeds by Isthmian conquerors done? 
 Ay, Paul denounced, and Mummius wrapped in flame, 
 The cup was full, the bolt of ruin came, 
 
 * The renowned Lais, while in Corinth, numbered among her 
 admirers some of the greatest philosophers of the age ; even De- 
 mosthenes was smitten by her charms. Cicero, speaking of the 
 delights and gaieties of Corinth, calls that city" Totius Grcecice 
 lumen." 
 
 f On the summit of the AcrocorlL ihus (says Pausanias) was a 
 temple dedicated to Venus : on the sides of this famous hill stood 
 also numerous buildings, including two temples to the Egyptian 
 goddess Isis. All have now disappeared; but from the foot of the 
 Acrocorinthus to the Isthmus, the road is lined with tombs of the 
 ancient citizens. 
 
144 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Mirth spread its wings, the sister Graces fled, 
 
 -And Corinth bowed in death her beauteous head. (51.) 
 
 Yet relics, pointing thought to times of yore, 
 Still charm the eye on Corinth's blighted shore. 
 The Isthmian wall reveals its broken mass, 
 Half hid by pines, and high untrodden grass,* 
 But where the champions strove, or chariots raced, 
 Ye scarce may tell, each ancient line effaced. 
 Still weeps Pirene from her fount of stone, 
 The brook's low trill like sorrow's plaintive moan, 
 As if, for countless years forlorn, undone, 
 The hapless mother mourned her perished son. t 
 But Corinth's boast, her Dorian columns rise, 
 A clustering group that Time's strong hand defies ; 
 Athens', ^Egina's, Sunium's mouldering shrines, 
 Yield to their age, a halo round them shines : 
 Serenely grand, majestically fair, 
 Those lonely columns look like mourners there; 
 Winds sigh around them, oldest of their race, 
 Bains wear their shafts, green ivy clasps their 
 
 base, 
 
 Stars seem to view them sorrowing from the sky 
 Ah! who unmoved might pass their beauty by? (52) 
 
 * The ruins of the famous wall which once extended across the 
 Isthmus have been distinctly traced by Clarke. He also found 
 there the species of pine with which the victors in the games were 
 crowned. 
 
 f The classic fable is, Pirene*, having lost her son, sat down near 
 the Acrocorinthus and wept, until Diana, in compassion, changed 
 her into a fountain. A dropping well, just out of Corinth, on the 
 public road, has been hailed as the fount of Pirene'. 
 
PART I.] THE VALE OF EPIDAURUS. 145 
 
 Southward of Corinth, girt by many a steep, 
 Where olives wave, and mountain larches weep, 
 Walls of old shrines, and pillars frequent seen, 
 All bare and grey, o'ertopping groves of green, 
 Lo ! Epidaurus spreads his velvet vale, 
 Sacred to health, renowned in classic tale. 
 Here sprang that sage, a precious balm who drew 
 From every sweet-lipped flower which drinks the 
 
 dew: 
 
 Ay, doubt not symbols, scattered stones remain 
 Rose in this glen the healer's worshipped fane. * 
 Weak Age, sick Beauty, Youth with broken powers, 
 From distant climes came pilgrims to these bowers, 
 Fain to escape the grim destroyer, Death, 
 To pray, to hope, the boon of added breath j 
 For then, as now, man shrank to tread the shore 
 Where all is peace, and sorrow comes no more 
 Where sc;ds shall spring to new, immortal birth, 
 Endued with powers ne'er known on lower earth : 
 Oh ! yes, for here, weak heirs of grief and pain, 
 We move in darkness, drag a wearying chain; 
 How frail our bodies, changeful every joy; 
 An hour may heal us, or an hour destroy ! 
 
 * The temple dedicated to JEsculapius the Physician, in a valley 
 about five miles from the ancient city of Epidaurus, was one of the 
 most renowned of antiquity. Few traces of this Temple of Health 
 now meet the eye of the traveller, but the vale retains, if not all its 
 original, very considerable beauty. ^Esculapius, after death, was 
 deified by the Greeks; a serpent wreathed around his staff was the 
 symbol of healing; and this idea, there is little doubt, was borrowed 
 from the records of the Jews, and had reference to the brazen 
 serpent raised by Moses in the wilderness. 
 
 K 
 
146 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 In health, we fear disease may blight our bloom; 
 We garnish homes, still looking tow'rd the tomb. 
 He who shall view, with calm, unruffled mien, 
 Life's smiling bowers, and Death's funereal scene, 
 Eesigned to fate and Heaven's unerring rule, 
 Is sure the noblest sage in Wisdom's school. 
 
 How beauteous still this mountain-guarded dell, 
 Where JEsculapius' shade might love to dwell ! 
 Health's spirit seems to wave in yonder trees, 
 Gush with the brook, and mount the soft-winged 
 
 breeze, 
 
 Shine in each beam that plays on leaf and flower, 
 And move in odours round the blossomed bower. 
 Oh ! would for thee, thou loved and gentle one, 
 Whose days, months, years, in pain drag darkly on 
 Soul of my soul, with each fond hope entwined, 
 Whose body droops all, save unfading mind 
 Would Health for thee would shed his balmy dews, 
 And through that feeble frame new life diffuse ! 
 As rapt enthusiasts watch some worshipped star, 
 That slowly sinks o'er Western hills afar, 
 I look on thee, and pray thine eyes' sweet light 
 Not yet may dim, and leave my soul to night. 
 No, beam around me, star of this fond heart ! 
 Save thee and love, with all things let me part. 
 What makes more light the burden man must bear] 
 What decks with flowers the brow of brooding 
 
 Care? 
 
 And, 'mid life's discords, brings from spheres above 
 Music to soothe each woe? 'tis woman's love! 
 
PART I.] THE RUINED THEATRE. 147 
 
 Near Epidaurus' health-vale, hewn by skill 
 Of men, long dust, from green Coroni's hill, 
 There stand Theatric ruins ; row on row 
 The seats descend, till veiled by shrubs below: 
 Yet crushed the door, and vanished is the stage, 
 By actors trod in Graecia's polished age; 
 The gorgeous mass lies desolate and bare, 
 Scourged by the winds of thousand winters there. 
 We tread the mossy stones that histories tell, 
 While Meditation weaves her sleepless spell : 
 Here Comedy with laughter shook the soul, 
 There Tragedy swept by, in sable stole ; 
 Mirth's shout rang round; anon pale chilly Fear 
 Seized on all hearts, and fell soft Pity's tear; 
 Life, bustle, filled the scene now slowly wave 
 Time's wizard wand, and all are in their grave. 
 Earth, heav'n, at rest, ye hear no voice, no stir, 
 The spot itself seems Pleasure's sepulchre ! 
 The sun shines down, the thistle bends its head, 
 Where princes sat, wild vines their tendrils spread. 
 Low in the pit the moping owLet sleeps, 
 Where stood the stage, the scaly serpent creeps. 
 Dark ruin ! type of joy that will not stay, 
 Whose hues must fade, whose hopes must all decay ! (53) 
 
 Yet not o'er life let Woe's black cloud be thrown, 
 Man was not born to sigh and weep alone; 
 Let cynics snarl, and Timons still deride, 
 And in lone deserts stern-browed hermits hide; 
 Let meek cold vestals bid the world farewell, 
 And sullen monks do penance in the cell; 
 
148 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Still Truth, and Nature bid man's heart be gay, 
 Smile when he can, enjoy his little day. 
 Music's soft charm, the life-reflecting stage, 
 May well at times the wise man's heart, engage. 
 Why strive to make more dark our fleeting years, 
 By stifling joy, and finding cause for tears'? 
 The hills are green, the vales with flowers are clad, 
 Bird, beast, rejoice must man alone be sad? 
 Forbid it, Heaven ! they wrong Thy great design 
 Who mourn their fate, and at Thy laws repine. 
 
 We wander by Mycenae's grey remains ; 
 Why bounds the blood so quickly through our veins? 
 Do vast halls raised by Cyclopean skill, 
 The gate of Lions,* bid the bosom thrill? 
 Do Atreus' chambers, Agamemnon's tomb, 
 Startle with age, or awe the mind by gloom? 
 Beyond all these, the deathless spells we own 
 Which lore has wrought, and genius round us thrown : 
 Here, " king of men," did Homer's hero reign, 
 Conqueror of Troy, yet by weak woman slain; t 
 Here Sophocles hath sung, in strains of fire, 
 Blood-stained Orestes' wrongs and sleepless ire, 
 
 * The two lions which stand with a pillar between them over the 
 great gate of Mycenae, form probably the most ancient piece of sculp- 
 ture in Europe. It has been thought the genuine work of a Pelas- 
 gian artist, before the more polished Hellenic races expelled the 
 Pelasgi, the original settlers, from Greece. 
 
 f Agamemnon, Prince of Mycense and Argos, styled by Homer 
 <f king of men," on his return from the capture of Troy, was assas- 
 sinated by his wife Clytemnestra, who had conceived a guilty passion 
 for ^gisthus a catastrophe which forms the groundwork of the 
 sublime tragedy of ^Eschylus. 
 
PART I.] SPARTA. 149 
 
 "With fair Electra's sorrows filled all ears, 
 Charmed with her beauty, melted by her tears.* 
 Each spot is made immortal; courts forlorn 
 Men built a thousand years ere Christ was born; 
 The huge dark stones that guard the Treasure-cave, 
 The Lion-gate, the hero's lofty grave, 
 All breathe the burning tales of ancient time, 
 The seats of glory, yet the haunts of crime. (54) 
 
 City of giants ! built so legends tell 
 When gods and Titans deigned on earth to dwell, 
 Tiryns we pass ; as near us lower her walls, (55) 
 A solemn coldness on our spirit falls. 
 From Argos' battlements that darkly frown 
 On high Larissa's steep, the fox looks down. 
 Searching for prey, at twilight's glimmering hour, 
 Loud howls the ^v olf from old Tegaea's tower ; 
 But southward still we wend by mount and flood, 
 Pass many a ruin, many a field of blood; 
 Till on our left Laconia's mountains sweep, 
 Vales grow more wild, and barren crags more steep, 
 And, watched by spirits of the mighty dead, 
 Sparta's all-glorious plains before us spread. 
 
 Home of Lycurgus ! nurse of martial fame ! 
 Land of the lordly mien, and iron frame ! 
 
 * Orestes murdered his guilty mother, Clytemnestra, being urged 
 on by his sister, the beautiful and unfortunate Electra. Sophocles 
 and Euripides, in their great dramas of fate, have given to these 
 subjects an interest which must enthral the classic reader so long as 
 the Greek language shall be studied or admired. 
 
150 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Where wealth was held dishonour, Luxury's smile 
 Worse than a demon's soul-destroying wile ! 
 Where every youth that hailed the Day-god's beam, 
 Wielded the sword, and dreamt the patriot's dream; 
 Where childhood lisped of war with eager soul, 
 And woman's hand waved on to Glory's goal : 
 Ay, she would urge her son in that proud race, 
 Feared not his death, but only his disgrace; 
 Dropped on his home-borne corpse no woman's tear, 
 So he had died in Valour's red career; 
 Wept only for the son who lost his shield, 
 And, choosing life to honour, fled the field. 
 
 Sparta, 'twas thus thy narrow kingdom gained 
 The sway in Greece, and long that sway main- 
 tained; 
 
 But here must end our praises; wronged, oppressed, 
 Thou held'st in bondage those who served thee best : 
 Hark ! to the trembling Helot's fruitless sigh ! 
 In slavery born, in slavery doomed to die.* 
 Thy children, too, a rough and rugged race, 
 The arts ne'er loved, to learning gave no place; 
 Scorned was the culture of immortal mind, 
 Thy chiefs unlettered, monarchs unrefined; 
 For them no sage, with keen far-piercing eye, 
 Searched Nature's laws, or read the bright-paged sky; 
 With them no painter charmed the captive sight, 
 And dipped his brush in hues of heavenly light ; 
 
 * The Helots so called from the town of Helos, subjugated by 
 Sparta were held in a state of the most abject servitude; they cul- 
 tivated the soil, and performed every menial office for their austere 
 masters. 
 
PART I.] SPARTA. 151 
 
 And oh ! no lofty minstrel swept the lyre, 
 Melted to love, and filled the heart with fire; 
 The sword their birthright, war their sole employ 
 They knew no nobler aim, no higher joy.* 
 
 But where stood Sparta, covering hill and vale, 
 That made e'en Athens bend, and Persia quail? 
 What ! are these stones, yon column's broken shaft, 
 Where moss-crowned Ruin long hath sat and laughed, 
 These shattered steps, these walls, that earthward bow, 
 All Sparta's Royal Square can boast of now It 
 What ! in the streets which swept on every side, 
 Do but wild poppies lift their crimson pride? 
 Plant of Oblivion ! well thou here may'st bloom, 
 Type of unlettered Sparta's hastening doom ! - 
 The Stoa's v^ails with Persian trophies graced, 
 The circling course where brazen chariots raced, 
 The pillar where ye saw each graven name 
 Of red Thermopylae's great heirs of fame : 
 Juno's bright shrine the city's glittering eye 
 Ramparts below, and frowning towers on high, 
 
 * Tyrtaeus, the blind schoolmaster, whose martial songs animated 
 the Lacedaemonians in battle, was not a native of Sparta, but of 
 Attica. Alcman, the author of a few lyrics, is almost the only gen- 
 uine Spartan poet whose name has come down to us. Never, per- 
 haps, did a country raised above barbarism offer such a resistance 
 as Sparta to the cultivation of literature, the fine arts, and rhetoric, 
 on the grounds that they tend to emasculate the mind and repress 
 military ardour. 
 
 f Sparta included within its limits several small hills, and, accord- 
 ing to Polybius, was forty-eight stadia, or six miles in circumference. 
 The great central square, called the Agora, contained the Council- 
 House of the Senate, and whence streets diverged in all directions. 
 
152 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 All, all are gone, like forms in troubled sleep, 
 Blossoms in spring, or foam upon the deep. 
 Alone unchanged by battle, time, or blast, 
 Fresh as when born, Eurotas wanders past, 
 Breaks in soft kisses on the silver sands, 
 Trod in old times by Valour's conquering bands, 
 Mirrors the banks where temples shone of yore, 
 But ah! the bath of Beauty's train no more; 
 And further down, where snow-white lilies gleam 
 The drooping Naiads of the classic stream 
 To choiring winds the bubbling waters sigh, 
 Like Memory's wail for glories long gone by. (56) 
 
 We climb that mount of death, the stony height 
 Which looks o'er Sparta's wild and ruined site:* 
 Here would we stand, and take our far survey 
 At night's still hour, and not by garish day. 
 The sun goes down; the countless varying dyes, 
 Hed, orange, blue, forsake the Western skies, 
 And fast the raven wings of darkness spread 
 O'er slumbering vale, and silent mountain's head : 
 The moon comes forth, and pours her stainless 
 
 beams, 
 
 To charm the elves, and lap the flowers in dreams, 
 Now veils her face with clouds, as if to weep 
 That men no more her mystic rites should keep. 
 Dark lower the ruins through eve's deepening pall, 
 Loud hoots the night-bird from yon rifted wall. 
 
 * On Mount Taygetus were exposed, to die through cold and hun- 
 ger, all those infants which from any physical defect would, if allowed 
 to live, be incapacitated from serving the state. 
 
PART I.] CLEONICE. 153 
 
 What scenes took place on Sparta's ancient plain, 
 Embalmed in history,, famed b j minstrel's strain ! 
 Thick, thick the mental eye sees visions pass, 
 Called up from eld, in Fancy's wizard glass; 
 There the young soldier, armed for battle's hour, 
 Wreaths his long hair with many a mountain flower,* 
 And here a form of grace attracts the sight, 
 With looks of love and lineaments of light 
 'Tis she for whom a land was once undone, 
 Dazzling as when she lured old Priam's son; 
 Yes, Helen's smile, and beauty-beaming eye, 
 Housed thousands up, and bade her thousands die, 
 Proving how strong, in ancient days, could be 
 The frail fair thing of man's idolatry, t 
 
 But near yoj*. mound, where dewy wild-flowers 
 
 steep, 
 
 In Nature's tears, Pausanias' couch of sleep, J 
 We see a warrior stand, with crimsoned sword, 
 And, drooping low, a maid with bosom gored : 
 The murderer and the murdered see her there, 
 With piteous look and blood-besprinkled hair ! 
 
 * The Spartan soldiers, on going forth to battle, combed their hair, 
 which they wore long, and adorned their heads with flowers, regard- 
 ing war almost in the light of a festival. 
 
 f Sparta was the birth-place of the renowned Helen, who was 
 carried off by Paris of Troy. 
 
 I The pathetic story of the beautiful Byzantine maid, Cleonice*, 
 whom Pausanias loved, but unintentionally killed, is related by 
 Plutarch. In the text the picture is presented at the tomb of the 
 Spartan general, only in the form of a vision, the tragic event having 
 happened elsewhere. The tombs of Pausanias and Leonidas were 
 situated south of the theatre. 
 
154 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 On him who took her life those eyes are cast, 
 She breathes his name adores him to the last, 
 Now creeps along the ground, and clasps his knees, 
 Nought heeding death, him, him alone she sees, 
 Hangs on his arm in love that will not die, 
 Though life ebbs forth with every bursting sigh. 
 
 " Grieve not !" she seems to say in accents low, 
 " Feel not remorse thou did'st not mean the blow : 
 Farewell! with no regret my doom I meet, 
 From loved Pausanias' hand e'en death is sweet. 
 If gods permit, from Hades' dreary shore 
 I'll wander back, and on thee smile once more. 
 Thou may'st not know, but round thy path I'll move; 
 Death shall not chill thy Cleonice's love. 
 Then look, and smile one brief, one parting kiss; 
 No hour my life has known so bless'd as this. 
 Earth's scenes grow dim ; but still thou fill'st my 
 
 sight, 
 
 Thou my sole heav'n, thy love my only light. 
 Ah ! if I sin against the gods rebel, 
 It is in loving thee too wild and well. 
 Thou weep'st I feel thy tears upon my brow; 
 I, then, am dear the Fates may call me now; 
 This sweet assurance calms my fluttering breath, 
 And turns to rapture e'en the pang of death !" 
 
 Oh, woman ! woman ! thus in every age 
 Do Love's sweet mysteries all thy soul engage : 
 Poor Cleonice", with her dying charms, 
 Fading away in stern Pausanias' arms, 
 
PABT I.] CLEONICE. 155 
 
 But likens all thy sex the gentle slaves 
 Whom feelings govern, till they reach their graves. 
 Here, 'mid the wrecks of Sparta's fallen pride, 
 To bless thy truth the wanderer turns aside, 
 And half forgets the ruins and his theme, 
 O'er tales of ancient love to sigh and dream. 
 
 END OF PAET I. 
 
RUINS OF MANY LANDS, 
 
 BOOK II, 
 THE CLASSIC ERA. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 FREEDOM ! assassins take thy sacred name 
 
 To hallow schemes of blood, and deeds of shame ; 
 
 In thy fair guise how oft hath raged Misrule, 
 
 "With all the fiends of foul Rebellion's school ; 
 
 Yet, in thine own true self, how glorious thou ! 
 
 The speaking soul of man's heav'n-lifted brow. 
 
 Oh ! beautiful thou look'st, through time's soft haze, 
 
 Watching fair Grsecia's shores in earlier days; 
 
 Pointing with outstretched arm, o'er land and wave, 
 
 To Honour's meed, or Glory's deathless grave ; 
 
 Rearing thy front all tyrants to defy, 
 
 Smiles on thy face, yet lightning in thine eye; 
 
 Thy realms the wide blue heavens, august and lone, 
 
 The hills below, the footstool of thy throne. 
 
 Slow wending down Mendeli's caverned side,* 
 Whose milk-white rocks still yield their marble pride, 
 * Formerly called Mount Pentelicus, famous for its marbles. 
 
PART II.] THE PLAIN OF MARATHON. 157 
 
 Ye see a plain where Freedom walks sublime, 
 And Fame's bright iris spans the clouds of Time. 
 There many a barrow lifts its turf-crowned head, 
 And shattered pillars, half-sunk tombs are spread : 
 There, circling near, the breezy mountains rise, 
 Where waves the pine, the wind-rock'd eagle cries : 
 Through drooping alders purls across the plain 
 The bubbling brook, once choked with Persia's slaii; 
 And yonder, Ocean rolls his sounding surge, 
 Hymning o'er Valour's grave a funeral dirge, 
 And wafting there, in grief for perished years, 
 The white salt spray, his never-failing tears.* 
 
 And thif, is Marathon a word that long 
 Hath beamed rn history's page, and thrilled in song, 
 Hath fired each heart, round earth's wide circuit 
 
 flown, 
 
 And pealed in thunder o'er the tyrant's throne. 
 Do we not, tracing slow this hallowed field, 
 To Glory's shade a silent homage yield? 
 Treading on heroes' dust where'er we turn, 
 Doth not the pulse beat high, the spirit burn? 
 Thou trembling slave ! whose days are passed in tears, 
 Gaze on this field of fame, renounce thy fears. 
 
 * The plain of Marathon is about twenty-two miles north of 
 Athens ; it is bounded on three sides entirely by mountains, and on 
 the south-east by the sea. The village of Marathon, consisting of 
 a few poor houses, is occupied chiefly by Albanian peasants; it 
 stands on the north-west corner of the plain, near a small stream 
 (the Asopus of Ptolemy), which crosses the open ground, and falls 
 into the sea a little above the marsh, into which, during the memo- 
 rable battle, so many thousands of the Persians were driven. 
 
158 RUINS OP MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Tyrants ! whose strength is numbers stoop your pride, 
 
 Come and behold where Persia's myriads died. 
 
 Ay, here they fell, who thought their wrath to wreak, 
 
 And bind in chains the vanquished, prostrate Greek, 
 
 But found brute force to nobler mind must bow, 
 
 Valour, not glittering show, triumphant now. 
 
 Dire was the rout, as mail-clad squadrons new, 
 
 Hope's sun went down, their fear to madness grew; 
 
 The boasting shout, the trump that pierced the air, 
 
 Were turned to yells and wailings of despair; 
 
 Death o'er them shook his dart, and mocked their 
 
 woe, 
 And grisly Pluto laughed for joy below. 
 
 They died the victors, too, have passed away, 
 But earth's enduring praise embalms their clay. 
 To those who sleep in fame death brings no night, 
 Above their tomb a sun for ever bright; 
 Ne'er in the world of mind 'tis theirs to die 
 They speak from dust, and live in memory; 
 Oh! shed no tear above their honoured grave, 
 Their endless life the living e'en might crave. 
 
 Have not the mountains tongues, to yield applause 
 For those who sank in Freedom's sacred cause ? 
 Do not the whispering winds their story tell] 
 Doth not yon Nereid breathe it in her shell? 
 I stand beside the mound, the grass-grown heap, 
 Where Freedom's martyrs, Athens' heroes sleep. (57) 
 No urn or trophy envious ages show, 
 No funeral cypress shades the dust below; 
 
PART II.] THE PLAIN OF MARATHON. 159 
 
 The wandering goat on yon green hillock feeds, 
 The peasant carols by, and nothing heeds. 
 But mark that marble pile attentive trace 
 Its smooth-hewn sides, and still unmouldered base. 
 Column, and statue, years have long o'erthrown, 
 But infant wild-flowers shade each aged stone; 
 And here rests he, the chief of all that band, 
 Freedom's bold champion, saviour of his land ; 
 Where'er earth's paths extend, or roll her saas, 
 Thy name hath travelled, great Miltiades ! * 
 
 But Autumn's twilight falls; the quivering ray 
 From Fames' rock-crowned summit melts away, 
 And giant riiades, like errors doomed to gain 
 On Truth's fair landscape, fall across the plain; 
 The river dimly glides, old Ocean's wave 
 Sounds with a deeper murmur from his cave : 
 The eagle, wheeling to his inland peak, 
 Sends from the fields of air a harsher shriek; 
 The mound of buried slain the Grecians' tomb, 
 Grown indistinct, looks spectral in the gloom. 
 Now might we deem, as slowly in the skies 
 The jewelled planets ope their trembling eyes, 
 The creed was true which taught that midnight stars 
 Were heroes' spirits, on their burning cars : 
 
 * Near the tomb of the Athenians, and answering to the description 
 of Pausanias, stands the sepulchre of Miltiades. It is a square-based 
 monument, the foundation being of Pentelic marble. Although the 
 ancient ornaments are gone, the tomb itself seems to defy the ravages 
 of time. Clarke gives the dimensions of the marble slabs of which 
 it is composed ; shrubs and flowers a few years since grew upon its 
 summit. 
 
160 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Yes, ye far wanderers ! shining from your spheres, 
 Radiant as dreams, yet soft as Beanty's tears, 
 Are ye not souls, from blue Elysium's bowers, 
 Come forth to watch, and muse on mortal hours? 
 Souls of the Grecian dead, down-gazing now 
 On storied plain, and lonely mountain's brow: 
 And as the slanting rays, so softly cast, 
 Light up the scenes of deathless glory past, 
 Fancy beholds your trooping forms descend, 
 Glide by yon hills, or with the shadows blend, 
 With noiseless footstep walk the shining wave, 
 Or kneel in awe around your chieftain's grave. 
 
 But ere to Marathon we bid farewell, 
 Fain would we view how Freedom's ancient spell 
 E'en humbler men, the Attic peasant, fired, 
 And nameless Worth for much-loved Greece expired. 
 
 Before his cabin on the olived height, 
 A veteran stood, and armed him for the fight. 
 Though lowly born, he felt the patriot's glow, 
 Love for his country, hatred for her foe. 
 Mildly his eye his weeping spouse surveyed, 
 Then flashed with fire, as martial music played, 
 Borne from the vale's green depths, the city's tower, 
 Foretaste of battle's soul-inspiring hour. 
 He raised his infant; playfully the child 
 Grasped with small hand his helmet's crest, and 
 
 smiled. 
 
 "Poor babe!" he sighed, "indulge thy guileless glee, 
 Thou dream'st not what thy father's doom may be; 
 
PART II.] THE DYING GREEK. 161 
 
 Yet if I fall nay, Ina, dry that tear 
 A child of war this infant smiler rear ; 
 Teach him proud Asia's lords to scorn and hate, 
 To worship Greece, and to avenge my fate." 
 
 He placed the babe among the flowers to play, 
 As rosy, fresh, and beautiful as they, 
 Clasped the beloved one to his swelling heart, 
 And sighed, and felt how hard it was to part, 
 Then, as the battle-trumpet sounded shrill, 
 Drank her last tear and hurried down the hill. 
 
 The fight was o'er the Persian host had fled,. 
 And quiet noon its glow on nature spread; 
 No longer carafe stalked, or battle roared, 
 But in each vale his song the throstle poured. 
 Light airs blew fragrance from the orange bower, 
 And honeyed bees winged blithe from flower to flower. 
 Before his cabin, faint and bleeding now, 
 The warrior leant, yet pride was on his brow. 
 He welcomed death for Greece his blood was shed ! 
 Softer than down is Glory's gory bed. 
 He gazed along the hills, and isle-gemmed wave, 
 Heard Freedom whisper from each mount and cave, 
 Then fixed his eye on those who sorrowed there, 
 With looks of love, and bosoms of despair; 
 E'en his child wondered, wept, and near him pressed, 
 And strove to nestle on his bleeding breast. 
 
 "Farewell., sweet innocent!" the father cried; 
 " I leave thee no high rank, no name of pride; 
 
 __ L 
 
162 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Yet, at some future hour, perchance thou'lt shed 
 
 A grateful tear above my narrow bed, 
 
 Nor all despise, though low his lot might be, 
 
 The peasant-sire who died for Greece and thee. 
 
 And thou, whose hand has decked life's path with 
 
 flowers, 
 
 Light of my youth, and pride of manhood's hours ! 
 Ina, though darkening years may onward sweep, 
 Say, wilt thou still the soldier's memory keep] 
 Think of my love, and happy days gone by] 
 The blissful hope will soothe me as I die. 
 Farewell! dark Hermes comes to guide my soul 
 Across the gloom, where Stygian waters roll : 
 Elysium waits my spirit 'Tis no dream; 
 For thee, too, sweet, its starry glories beam; 
 Oh ! ours will be a bright, a happy doom, 
 For we shall meet and love, beyond the tomb." 
 
 The soldier bent his head his lip was still; 
 The birds sang low, and hymned the mountain rill; 
 And there in death's last trance the patriot lay, 
 But when they deemed his soul had passed away, 
 He reared his form, and seized his crimsoned blade, 
 And Phyle's rocks, and Athens' towers surveyed, 
 Waved o'er his head the reeking steel, and cried, 
 While flashed his eyes their last of fire and pride : 
 
 "Greece! land of fame! once more I gaze on thee; 
 The vaunting foe hath fled thou'rt free 1 thou'rt free ! 
 Mingling with joy's loud trump, from far and near, 
 The song of freedom greets my dying ear. 
 
PART II.] OLD BCEOTIAN CITIES. 163 
 
 Oh ! for a month, a day, of added life, 
 To strike again, and join the glorious strife! 
 Bear my land's standard on, and swell the cry 
 ' Death to all tyrants! Greece and victory!' " 
 
 He sank along the turf life ebbed away; 
 Still in his feeble hand his falchion lay, 
 Still on. the hills around his eyes were cast, 
 And, murmuring Freedom's name, he breathed his last. 
 
 From Marathon we turn, for bright Renown 
 On other war-fields hangs her laurel crown : 
 Leuctra of valour speaks ; Platsea's plain 
 Tells its red tale, nor thrills the world in vain : 
 When summer breezes wave the untrodden grass, 
 In lone Thermopylae's immortal pass, 
 Swell not the shouts of Sparta's dauntless band, 
 Who stood to die, but stood with sword in hand? 
 Saw, without shrinking, Xerxes' vast array, 
 Like stormy ocean, rolling on its way 
 Called on their country, pealed their signal horn, 
 Whose farewell echoes through that dell were borne- 
 Glowed to the last with patriot love and pride, 
 And sank, earth-lauded martyrs, side by side ! 
 
 In Northern Greece, too, many a classic spot 
 Hath starry memories ne'er to be forgot; 
 And pleased, yet sad, the pilgrim muses o'er 
 The sites of famous cities, now no more. 
 As slow we trace our groping, thoughtful way, 
 'Tis still to see Power's fall, and Art's decay, 
 
164 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 To search and not to find, Destruction's wings 
 Wearing to dust all fair and beauteous things ! 
 Corinna ! child of grace and witching song, 
 To whom Love's zone, and Phoebus' lyre belong, 
 As famed for numbers, as soft passion's sighs, 
 For learning's triumphs, as for conquering eyes ! 
 The town that gave thee birth hath left no stone, 
 "Not e'en a grave its very site unknown. (58) 
 Thebes, whose proud towers, so fabling minstrels tell, 
 Were raised by music's heaven-descended spell, 
 Boasts yet faint lines of beauty, crowning still, 
 'Mid cypress groves, her ancient rocky hill; 
 But Pindar's house, which Pella's conqueror spared, 
 When all beside his crushing vengeance shared, 
 In vain we seek neglect, time, scorn of fame, 
 More surely ruin work, than sword or flame.* 
 
 Platsea from yon lofty ridge looks down; 
 Its tombs are there, its walls of old renown ; 
 But stay, Boeotian hind ! who dost profane, 
 With plough and spade, yon column-scattered plain, 
 O'erturning walls thou marvel'st here should be, 
 And breaking statues worthless blocks to thee : 
 Oh, Leuctra ! Leuctra ! such is now thy fate, 
 Without a dweller, doomed and desolate ! t 
 
 * Every house in Thebes was demolished by Alexander the Great, 
 except that of his favourite poet, Pindar such is the respect which 
 even conquerors have paid to genius. 
 
 { The plain of Leuctra is covered with the ruins of the ancient 
 town, and the monuments which had been raised there in honour of 
 the famous victory gained by Epaminondas over the Spartans. When 
 Clarke passed over the plain, he observed some peasants removing 
 
PART II.] MOUNT HELICON. 165 
 
 He who hath lived till years, on-creeping slow, 
 Their shadowy twilight o'er life's landscape throw, 
 From whose dim heart the dreams of earlier day, 
 With all their hopes and raptures, fade away, 
 Let him yon cavern seek, where brightly still 
 Trophonius pours his memory-waking rill, 
 Drink, and renew the dying rays of truth, 
 The joyous views of love-delighted youth. 
 He who hath lived to drag a lengthening chain 
 Of harrowing care, and heart-consuming pain, 
 Whom musing thought appals, whose aching breast 
 Sighs for one heaven forgetfulness and rest, 
 Here let him come, for Lethe's sister-stream 
 Glides, too, hard b; , a cure for Memory's dream. 
 Oh! Lethe, why o'er thee should cypress gloom? 
 Thy tide might image gladness, not the tomb ; 
 Ay, many a heart would feel it bliss to be 
 From thought cut off, from retrospection free; 
 For who would cherish memory, when past years 
 Are fraught with sighs, can yield us only tears?* 
 
 Lo ! where those pines nod darkly on the hill, 
 And bounds to light yon silver-dancing rill ! 
 
 fragments of columns, and rooting up foundations of temples, in 
 order to clear the ground for sowing corn. 
 
 * The oracular cave of Trophonius, near Lebadea, will be visited 
 with extreme interest by the literary traveller. There still are seen 
 the niches in the rock for the reception of votive offerings; and near 
 the cavern issues the stream, abundant as in former days, called by 
 Pausanias the waters of Lethe and Mnemosyne that is, of Oblivion 
 and Memory. The sacred grove, however, the temples, and statues, 
 have long disappeared. 
 
166 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 'Tis Helicon ! the Muses' stream and grove, 
 
 But there, alas ! the Nine no longer rove : 
 
 The flower-crowned sisters, with their forms of grace, 
 
 To stern-browed monks have long resigned their place \ 
 
 The hoarse dull chant, the convent's hollow bell, 
 
 Sound through the walks where lyres were wont to swell. 
 
 Oh ! false though Grsecia's faith, her gods untrue, 
 
 The heart must grieve that altered scene to view; 
 
 Taste, Genius, Fancy, turn to days of yore, 
 
 Sighing o'er dreams that charm the world no more.* 
 
 But westward journeying slow by mount and stream, 
 While nameless ruins through green foliage gleam; 
 Treading old battle-fields where wild-flowers wave, 
 And trees of ages shade the hero's grave ; 
 We reach a grander scene, a holier spot, 
 Than mouldering town, or Heliconian grot : 
 Mountain ! where Desolation sits to twine 
 Her haggard brow with flowers, and gadding vine, 
 Eor ne'er she seemed so fair, so full of pride, 
 As, glorious mount ! upon thy living side ; 
 What though, Parnassus ! sorrowing thou look'st down 
 On mud- walled huts for Delphi's sacred town;f 
 
 * The famous mountain of Helicon, in Boeotia, is now called 
 Zagara. The grove, the ancient seat of the Muses, is occupied by 
 the Greek convent of San Nicolo. Relics of old places of renown 
 are scattered around the base of Helicon, but no spot retains, per- 
 haps, its original features, except the fountain of Aganippe, which 
 bursts out below the convent, and joins the little river Parmessus; 
 the monks have built an arch of stone above the well. The fountain 
 of Hippocrene is two miles higher up the mountain. 
 
 f The little village of Castri now occupies part of the site of an- 
 cient Delphi. 
 
PART II.] PARNASSUS. 167 
 
 Though stands no pillar now of Phoebus' fane, 
 And each bright haunt hath long in darkness lain; 
 Though dreary silence, save when thunders swell, 
 For ever hushes Pythia's awful cell; 
 Yet grandly beautiful thou towerest still 
 Above each wreck, defying change and ill. 
 The green pines bending o'er thy mossy rocks, 
 The fearful hollows cleft by earthquake-shocks; 
 Torrents that leap and gush through laurel bowers, 
 Or fall from crag to crag, in diamond showers; 
 Groves half-way up, by sky-born breezes fann'd, 
 Where ripening clusters tempt the traveler's hand; 
 Thy peak of snow so purely, softly bright, 
 To gain whose summit tasks the eagle's flight, 
 Where he may sit, his weary journey done, 
 
 Behold half Greece, and gaze upon the sun 
 
 Oh ! these, Parnassus ! know no dark decay, 
 These, Nature's glories, have not passed away! (59) 
 
 Famed mount ! that bards have hailed in every age, 
 And myriads sought ! th' enthusiast, and the sage, 
 Dear art thou to youth's dreams, a haunted scene, 
 In beauty wild, in majesty serene. 
 Thy darkly-waving wood, and murmuring spring, 
 A thousand rich and classic memories bring; 
 And precious relics, hallowing still the spot, 
 Live on thy side, and gleam in bower and grot. 
 Where'er we turn, remains of marble shrines 
 Peep through brown moss, or lie 'neath mantling vines; 
 Caves hewn from rock the fretted niche display, 
 And prostrate pillars choke the tangled way; 
 
168 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II, 
 
 By Castri's huts theatric benches sweep, 
 Where Greeks no more, but owls their revels keep, 
 While thorns conceal the Muses' sparry bower, 
 The robber's haunt at evening's shadowy hour. (60) 
 
 But yielding mystic interest ne'er to die, 
 Charm of the scene, Castalia's fount draw nigh; 
 That limpid spring, which years nor crush, nor dim, 
 Still bubbling forth, o'erflows its basin's rim; 
 The temple falls, the gods forsake their cave, 
 Empires decay, but lo ! that gushing wave ! 
 Peace-breathing spot! the tall rocks frown above, 
 A fig-tree bends close by, as if in love, 
 Chequering with shade the fountain's shining face, 
 Where azure skies and jutting crags ye trace, 
 While flowers, that hang their petals 'mid the calm, 
 Rise banked in moss, and fill the air with balm. 
 Drop drop soft-gurgling, forth the crystal flows, 
 Its silvery whispers lulling to repose, 
 Then forms a stream, whose pale blue waters creep 
 Through trembling flags to join the neighbouring 
 
 deep: 
 
 iSTo scene to which enchantment e'er gave birth, 
 In beauty rivalled this small spot of earth. (61) 
 
 I 
 
 'Twas here, while quafnng the celestial dew, 
 Child of gay dreams, inspired the poet grew; 
 'Twas here, before prophetic madness came, 
 And stirred the Pythia's soul, and shook her frame, 
 The lovely priestess bathed her radiant limb, 
 While rang from rocks above the Delphian hymn. 
 
PAKT II.] THE PYTHIA. 169 
 
 Say, do bright fancies cheat our dazzled eyes, 
 
 Or airy forms e'en now before us rise? 
 
 There by the brink the Pythia musing stands, 
 
 Fall to her feet her black hair's silky bands; 
 
 Her arching, swan-like neck is forward leant, 
 
 Her small heel raised, her eyes are downward bent, 
 
 As fain she'd view her face in that smooth glass, 
 
 Ere o'er the crystal envious zephyrs pass. 
 
 Now in the bath her glowing form appears, 
 
 Like a white lily steeped in morning's tears; 
 
 The waters round her dance and sparkle bright, 
 
 But 'tis from her they borrow all their light ; 
 
 Upward she springs, and showers of drops, like pearls, 
 
 Fall from her neck,/ and loosely-waving curls. 
 
 A name it is the god's, perchance she sighs, 
 
 For love must never light those vestal eyes, 
 
 In cold dim loneliness her heart must pine, 
 
 Or only burn before Apollo's shrine. 
 
 She leaves the fount, and handmaids wring her 
 
 hair, 
 
 Clothe her in white, and laurel-wreaths prepare; 
 Priests lead her to the stately temple now, 
 Religion's fervour brightening on her brow; 
 There as the mist, entrancing, round her steals, 
 The Delphic god his sacred will reveals, 
 Futurity's dark portals backward roll, 
 Prophetic gleamings bursting on her soul! 
 Then pours the Oracle in passion given, 
 And Beauty's lips seem touched by fire from Heaven 
 The Oracle which kings from empire hurled, 
 Sent armies forth, and shook a subject world. (62) 
 
170 BUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Again along the sea, where Nature's face 
 Smiles like a bride's, with fresh undying grace, 
 Along the mid-land sea we urge our way 
 Smooth glides the bark by Attic cape and bay; 
 Till wider spreads the deep unfathomed blue, 
 And inland peaks, like spirits, melt from view. 
 'Tis here, removed from all the crush and strife 
 That stir the world, the wearying cares of life, 
 We feel cut off from man, nor love the less 
 The awful calm of Ocean's loneliness. 
 'Tis here the soul hath time to think, to rest, 
 And ponder on that world the human breast. 
 How vain our thousand aims, our struggles seem ! 
 Power a poor puppet wealth an idle dream. 
 We marvel passions e'er should lead astray, 
 And fret, and wear life's few brief hours away. 
 Charmed by the quiet, Memory wakes her spell, 
 Unlocks Oblivion's gate and close-shut cell; 
 Things long, long buried, burst the grave of years, 
 And claim a smile, or prompt regretful tears. 
 
 Ye waves! in your unrest that murmur on, 
 As ye sighed, heaved, a hundred ages gone ! 
 Are ye not earth's great heart which beats and throbs. 
 Your calms Love's breath, your storms wild Passion's sobs ? 
 Gulfs, streams the veins that circle far and wide, 
 Bounding in might the rushing, living tide? 
 Unlike that heart, in which man puts his trust, 
 The thing which beats an hour, then turns to dust, 
 The pulse of Ocean shall not cease to play, 
 Through all those azure veins, till Judgment-day ! 
 
PART II,] THE GREEK ISLES. 171 
 
 The Isles of Greece are near, for fragrance flows 
 More sweet and rich, with every breeze that blows : 
 Yes, there they gleam, like bright eyes woke from sleep, 
 Flowers dropped from heaven, or pearls that strew the 
 
 deep. 
 
 Well gods to sojourn here might quit the skies; 
 Well on those shores might sea-born Venus rise; 
 Fancy would hail them, spite of crime and ill, 
 And man the spoiler, blessed Edens still, 
 Where ice-bound Winter withers not the bowers, 
 And Spring and Summer reign, all beams and flowers. 
 By music-breathing wave, in viny dell, 
 Here, wandering free, might Love delighted dwell; 
 The heart, with one /oO cling to, casting all 
 Those cares away which hold the world in thrall, 
 Might taste, in fairy solitude like this, 
 Elysian joy, nor sigh for higher bliss. 
 But boast the isles no wreck of ancient days, 
 To wake our rev'rence, or command our praise? 
 Oh ! yes, on marble hills, by crystal springs, 
 Beauty her spell o'er many a ruin flings; 
 'Bound fluted columns pale-leaved lichens twine, 
 Through thorns and dark rough oaks old temples 
 
 shine; 
 
 But these, as furrowed brows and locks of grey 
 Yield a stern grace to man's declining day, 
 A nameless interest lend each mouldering pile, 
 That awes yet charms, that mourns yet seems to smile. 
 
 Gazing on Zoster's high and rocky crest, 
 And Argos' hills that fringe the distant West, 
 
172 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 -^Egina's temple stands; trees skirt the glade, 
 And wrap the ruins in their solemn shade. 
 What scenes of darkness in this spot have past ! 
 What sounds of fear have loaded midnight's blast ! 
 Here Jove's grand hymns were sung here victims bled ; 
 Now coos the dove, the violet lifts her head; 
 O'er prostrate shafts the harmless lizard crawls, 
 And roses breathe perfume from crumbling walls : 
 Thy memory, god of thunder ! wakes no fear, 
 But Peace her sister Beauty kisses here. (63) 
 
 Delos, that wandered floating on the waves, 
 Her mountains trembling, vocal all her caves, 
 Where sprang a god to life, and blazed a shrine 
 Heaped with the wealth of kings, and deemed divine * 
 Alas! what see we now? no gorgeous fane, 
 No votive bark that ploughs the Summer main ; 
 The sacred groves, the Dryad-peopled bowers, 
 The golden altars decked with fruits and flowers, 
 All, all are gone a pillar crushed and lone, 
 A few stained porphyry steps with weeds o'ergrown, 
 Like some lorn remnant left from battle's hour, 
 Alone remain to speak her pride and power. 
 Against the barren rocks the wild waves beat, 
 Each secret cove the pirate's dark retreat, 
 And o'er the hills, like some god's parting sigh, 
 Floats the lone seabird's shrill and mournful cry. 
 
 * Delos, where Apollo and Diana were born, is represented, by 
 a fiction of the poets, as moving on the waters. The Athenians 
 despatched annually a sacred galley, called Theoris, with costly offer- 
 ings to the Delian Apollo, and the festival held in the island every 
 fifth year was one of the most celebrated in all Greece. 
 
PART II.] THE GREEK ISLES. 173 
 
 But Paros courts us to her shores, where gleam 
 The marble steeps that drink the solar beam. 
 Here Greece her pillars hewed, and sculptors sought 
 Their milk-white stores on which their genius 
 
 wrought : 
 
 Oh ! dwells no Phidias now in all those isles, 
 To carve again their daughters' sunny smiles? 
 Wake into life Marpesus' matchless stone, 
 Bind the fine form with Beauty's mystic zone, 
 And make immortal all that else will fly, 
 Like rainbow-dreams, or mists from morning's sky?* 
 
 We cross the deep but narrow "Vvave that shines 
 'Tween marble Paros, and the isle of vines : 
 Dear unto Bacchus fruitful Naxos still, 
 The rich red grape impurpling every hill; 
 E'en to each ruin vines and ivies cling, 
 That wont to crown the Bromian god and king, t 
 High rose his temple on yon sea-girt rock, 
 Baffling for ages storm and earthquake's shock, 
 
 * The mountain of Marpesus, in Paros, contains the celebrated 
 quarries of marble; and there, at this day, are seen huge blocks 
 half cut and abandoned by the ancient workmen. The four kinds 
 of marble most esteemed by the old sculptors appear to have been 
 those of Paros ; Mount Pentelicus, near Athens ; Naxos ; and Luna, 
 near Carrara, in Italy. The Pentelic marble was the whitest; the 
 Parian of a finer texture, and hardening by exposure to the atmo- 
 sphere, proved the most durable, and was also susceptible of the 
 highest polish ; hence the Medicean Venus, the Belvidere Apollo, 
 the Laocoon, and other famous statues, are of Parian stone. 
 
 f Bacchus was peculiarly worshipped in the isle of Naxos. All 
 the antiquities there, and every medal and gem, prove this. See 
 Chandler and Clarke. 
 
174 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 And still a shattered remnant, wild as fair, 
 Stands like the shade of Pleasure sorrowing there; 
 At morn and noon that ruin gleams like snow, 
 Poised o'er the sapphire wave that foams below; 
 But when, from Western skies, the dying day 
 Shoots through the ancient porch his crimson ray, 
 Red flushing sculptured base, and lintel-stone, 
 Long lines of light o'er trembling billows thrown, 
 It seems some ruby-rock asunder riv'n, 
 Or radiant gateway opening into heav'n. (64) 
 
 Yet Bacchus' shrine less prompts to pensive 
 
 thought, 
 
 Than yon small fount, with classic memories fraught. 
 While woman's tears for faithless love shall flow, 
 While hearts shall melt at tale of Beauty's woe, 
 Kaxos shall sigh o'er Ariadne's name, 
 Its woods and valleys sacred to her fame.* 
 Where flags and lilies round yon fountain bloom, 
 The maiden bent, and wept her bitter doom ; 
 Wild was her woe, yet blessings still she poured 
 On the dear head of him her heart adored : 
 Her coal-black tresses o'er her bosom fell, 
 And fast her tears dropped sparkling in that well : 
 Each pitying Naiad, gently hovering nigh, 
 Breathed balm in vain, and echoed back her sigh : 
 
 * " A fountain near the town (Naxos) is still considered by the 
 inhabitants as the fountain of Ariadne, and is called by that name." 
 
 Clarke's Travels. The story of Ariadne, daughter of Minos, king 
 
 of Crete, beloved by Theseus, and whom she rescued from the 
 Cretan labyrinth, only to be cruelly deserted by him in the island of 
 Naxos, will be familiar to most readers. 
 
PART II.] THE GREEK ISLES. 175 
 
 More sad the plane-trees whispered on the steep; 
 E'en marble statues seemed her fate to weep ; 
 More dense its shade the aspen round her cast; 
 The bright rill murmured sorrow as it pass'd; 
 The maiden's woe all nature seemed to share, 
 Yet failed to soothe her spirit's deep despair. 
 
 Icaria's rocks, and Lemnos' fruitful shores, 
 For classic relics, vain the eye explores : 
 Though Tenedos still looks on Troy's famed fields, 
 No ancient trophy vale or mountain yields. 
 Luxurious Lesbos only memory keeps 
 Of towns in dust, and graves where genius sleeps, 
 Boasts of the bard* who strung her far-famed lyre, 
 Of Sappho's sweetness, and Alcseus' fire ; 
 Sappho, who proved how warm, how deep, Love's spell 
 In youthful hearts of olden days could dwell ; 
 How, spite of frenzy, still could sweetly flow 
 Harmonious numbers, wrung from harshest woe, 
 And how weak woman dared for love to die, 
 And sell her bliss below, her hope on high. 
 
 Soft Chios, too, the Paradise of vines, 
 Where blooms the fig, the golden citron shines, 
 Whose rocks are clothed with myrtles, and whose vales 
 Are full of streams, gay flowers, and nightingales, 
 Chios with no fine wreck the eye beguiles, 
 Gone are her tombs and fair Ionic piles; 
 Yet what may thrill the heart like Homer's cave, 
 The haunted grot beside the sounding wave? 
 
 * Terpander, who added three strings to the lyre. 
 
176 "RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK IT. 
 
 "Where the blind bard his harp at eve-tide rung, 
 Or 'mid the storm his wilder battles sung, 
 Gave to eternal fame the Trojan shore, 
 And charmed the admiring world for evermore.* 
 
 Hail! Samos, leagued with Egypt's early kings, 
 "Where Wealth and Commerce spread their purple 
 
 wings, 
 
 Thy ruined mart yet decks the airy hill, 
 Walls cased in marble, turrets stately still. (65) 
 Lo ! where the bird that steals the rainbow dyes 
 Spreads his rich plume, alive with thousand eyes ! 
 He stands where stood his mistress' gorgeous fane ; t 
 Cornice and broken column strew the plain; 
 Ah! close thy wings, gay bird! thy pride must bow, 
 For what of Juno recks the Samian now? 
 Here taught that sage, who drew from Egypt's lore 
 Myst'ries that dazzled, hopes unknown before, J 
 Read Nature's laws, and traced the soul's bright course, 
 Though errant long, to one Eternal Source, 
 Caught from Truth's radiant planet partial gleams, 
 Sublime in error, beautiful in dreams. 
 
 We pass dark Patmos, with its convent bells; 
 Sweet from the echoing rocks that music swells, 
 
 * We are told that seven cities or districts disputed the right to be 
 called the birthplace of Homer. There is no doubt that he passed 
 much of his time in the island of Chios (the modern Scio), but it is 
 now believed by many, that he was an Asiatic Greek, having been 
 born at Smyrna. 
 
 f The peacock was sacred to Juno. 
 
 I Pythagoras, to whom allusion has been already made. 
 
PAET II.] THE GKEEK ISLES. 177 
 
 Yet faint and dying oft, as breezes sweep; 
 
 Sure some young Nereid sighs along the deep; 
 
 Or from yon cave, where he, the rapt one, lay, 
 
 While on his spirit burst eternal day, 
 
 Celestial harpings steal o'er Ocean's breast, 
 
 Angelic forms still haunting place so blest.* 
 
 Yet Patmos, not when heaven smiles calm and 
 
 bright, 
 
 Its wild and holy shore should meet our sight, 
 But when, with sable wing, black midnight broods 
 O'er hollow vales, and mountain solitudes, 
 And grave-like stillness rests on flower and tree, 
 And spectral shadows fall across the sea, 
 Then might we think the awful form of him, 
 The dreaming prophet, walks those mountains dim, 
 Leans on yon rocks, with calm, far-glancing eye, 
 Scanning the gulf of dread futurity ; 
 Or when the storm's strong spirit mounts his car, 
 And his loud thunder-trumpet peals afar, 
 And like bright swords unsheathing, or the glare 
 Of demon eyes, fierce lightnings fill the air, 
 That man of visions well might seem to rise, 
 And stretch his hand toward those fearful skies, 
 Call forth again mysterious, awful things, 
 That tell the doom of nations, fall of kings, 
 While nameless shapes around heaven's cope career, 
 That blast the eye, and freeze the heart with fear 
 
 * The Greek convents in Patmos and Naxos are famous for their 
 bells. The cave, called the Holy Grotto, in which St. John is said 
 to have written the Apocalypse, is still shown at Patmos, at a short 
 distance from the great monastery which bears his name. 
 
 M 
 
178 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Winged lions, dragons, phantoms in their shrouds, 
 And airy spirits talking from, the clouds 
 Phials of wrath poured out for man's red crimes, 
 And plagues with withering breath for after times, 
 Death on his horse, and swords which wave and 
 
 gleam, 
 And all the terrors of that wondrous dream. 
 
 Isle of Apelles ! Cos, the rich, the fair ! 
 While Time thy granite city deigns to spare, 
 Lives not one piece of all thy painter drew? 
 Phryne's fine form, Campaspa's eyes of blue] 
 Is Philip dust? doth Yenus glow no more, 
 Wafted by nymphs to Cyprus' myrtled shore?* 
 Alas ! thy master's heaven-descended art 
 Hath left no trace so brightest things depart : 
 Apelles' works have shrunk into a name, 
 An idle echo, voiced by doubtful fame ; 
 But Julis' wrecks still line the storied strand, 
 And speak this hour of all that's fair and grand. 
 The massive walls, the pillars of yon shrine, 
 Breathe Titan strength, yet grace in every line; 
 High on the ridge, that ocean breezes kiss, 
 Gleams o'er the surge the bold Acropolis. 
 
 * Apelles, the Raphael of classic times, was a native of the island 
 of Cos, the modern Zia. He drew several portraits of King Philip 
 of Macedon; but all his superb paintings were thrown into the 
 shade by his Venus Anadyomene ; it represented the birth of that 
 goddess, at the moment when she is supposed to be rising from the 
 waves, attended by all the marine deities. This picture, when three 
 centuries old, and much decayed, was bought (says Pliny) by the 
 Emperor Augustus. 
 
PART II.] THE GREEK ISLES. 179 
 
 No ruins rival these through. Grsecia's isles; 
 They wear not frowns, but Beauty's softest smiles. 
 It seems as though that sage who here had birth,* 
 The mighty healer, once renowned through earth, 
 Had breathed a spell on Julis' towers of grey, 
 Strengthening their strength, arresting e'en decay. (66) 
 
 Cos ! famed of yore for black-eyed loveliest maids, 
 Who walked in white, their hair in silken braids, t 
 As now the summer sunlight glistening falls 
 On grass-grown streets, and sites of royal halls, 
 Full many a glowing form to Fancy' eye 
 Leans in the shade, or graceful wanders by ; 
 The thin gauze veil, a cloud around her thrown, 
 Reveals a brow such Phidias carved in stone 
 A dimpling cheek, a sweet vermilion lip, 
 Where warm Anacreon's bee might nectar sip; 
 Blue is her girdle, loose her jetty curls 
 Fall o'er her arms, bedecked with costly pearls. 
 And thus she moves, her beauty shedding light, 
 Than morn's more soft, than eve's more purely bright, 
 All that bards, sculptors, dream of forms above, 
 A thing of grace, of poetry, and love. 
 
 'Twere long to tell where other islets lie, 
 Strewn with the scanty spoils of years gone by. 
 From rock-bound Scyros whitening o'er the waves, 
 Volcanic Hydra's robber-haunted caves; 
 
 * Hippocrates, the physician. 
 
 f Ovid describes the women of Cos as peculiarly handsome, and 
 says that they always dressed in white. 
 
180 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 From fruitful Rhodes, whose red-cheeked, favourite 
 
 flower 
 
 Still scents the gale, and blushes in each bower,* 
 To where the deeply-blue and freshening seas 
 Make music round the clustering Sporades; 
 E'en to far Crete, and Cyprus, once the home 
 Of her, th' immortal, born of Ocean's foam;t 
 Genius and ancient Glory watch above 
 These their own realms, the sunny isles they love; 
 While star-eyed Beauty follows in their track, 
 And musing Memory sighs, and oft looks back, 
 Shedding her pale, immortalising ray, 
 On all that Ruin dooms to dark decay. 
 
 Lo ! Asia's mountains, towering through the 
 
 haze, 
 
 Catch the far Eastern beam, and fix our gaze ; 
 And Helle rolls its wave along that shore 
 Where the bright torch of Hero blazed of yore; 
 But vain its light, for true love perished there 
 Hark to her cry of anguish and despair ! 
 That tale of fervid passion liveth still, 
 Though Hero's tomb has mouldered on the hill, 
 And nought remains of Sestos' lonely tower, 
 To mark the lovers' rapture-breathing bower : 
 Such is the deep, undying charm that clings 
 To all which touches feeling's mystic springs. 
 
 * Rhodes is said to have derived its name from the Greek word 
 rhodon, a rose, abundance of beautiful roses being found in every 
 part of the island. 
 
 f Venus. 
 
PART II.] THE FIELD OF TROY. 181 
 
 But where Sigeum rears his craggy brow, 
 As wild a spell as Love's is burning now. 
 With thrilling heart the silent plain we tread, 
 Where longs have met, and battling thousands 
 
 bled; 
 Field of old Troy, which song hath crowned with 
 
 fame, 
 
 Age after age still kindling at your name, 
 Though billowy time hath swept, like sand, away 
 Strong wall and fortress, shrine and column grey, 
 And scarce a stone points out where Ilion rose, 
 Pride of her sons, and terror of her foes, (67) 
 Doth not a living spirit breathe around, 
 Hauoit every grove, and speak from every mound? 
 Is it a fancy? walks not Yenus still 
 On yon bright cloud, o'er Ida's palmy hill? 
 Guards not the Dardan king his old domain? 
 Move not the ghosts of heroes o'er the plain? 
 Oh ! yes, this lone and silent desert teems 
 With radiant forms, the shades of deathless dreams : 
 In vain oblivious ages bring their night, 
 The stars of glory shed unfading light. 
 
 Where'er we turn, or cast the thoughtful eye, 
 Some memory starts, some form is sweeping by. 
 We live in other days, 'mong other men, 
 And fancy views all war's dread pomp again : 
 The Grecian ships, like white swans, crowd the bay,* 
 And moony bucklers flash a living ray. 
 
 * The coast between the Sigean and Rhsetean promontories was 
 the naval station of the Greeks during the ten years' siege. 
 
182 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Circling doomed Troy, up springs a wood of spears, 
 Their points like stars just fallen from their spheres. 
 Loud rise the shouts, and thrills the trumpet's blast, 
 And brazen chariots fly like whirlwinds past 
 Here Hector falls a Scsea's blood-stained gate, 
 And there Achilles vents his rage and hate, 
 Dragging, unmindful of his own dark doom, 
 His slaughtered foe around Patroclus' tomb. 
 Fair Helen shines with all too fatal charms, 
 Weeps her lost lord, and woos him to her arms. (68) 
 High on the wall white-bearded Priam stands, 
 Curses the Greek, and spreads to heaven his hands; 
 And, as o'er Troy the rushing flames arise, 
 Gild Helle's wave, and light the midnight skies, 
 Shrieks of despair to Ida's mountains swell, 
 And Freedom's trumpet sounds her last farewell. 
 
 But cease these fancies ! moonlight trembles now 
 On Troy's wide plain, and Ida's lonely brow; 
 To stir the myrtle's leaf there moves no breath : 
 Nature seems wrapped in sleep, or hushed in death. 
 And thou, small stream ! more famed in poet's line 
 Than mighty Amazon or castled Rhine 
 As if thy crystal wave ne'er ran with gore, 
 Or grisly battle thundered on thy shore 
 Dost smile in peace, or sparkling whisper by, 
 Soft as a sea-shell's plaint, or infant's sigh. 
 The glow-worm is thy green bank's glittering guest ; 
 Stars heaven's rich jewels tremble on thy breast; 
 The lily in some dream of love appears, 
 Hangs o'er thy tide, and drops her amber tears : 
 
PART II.] THE FIELD OF TROY. 183 
 
 Sure Venus watches yet her favourite rill, 
 
 Or Naiads lave their bright limbs in thee still.* 
 
 Here as we lean on famed Sigeuni's steep, 
 
 Scan all the shore to Helle's dashing deep, 
 
 Then eastward glance, till grey hills bound the 
 
 view, 
 
 Crowned with pale stars, and lost in ambient blue, 
 What see we left of man's far-spreading reign? 
 Nought, nought but death his trophies still remain. 
 Beneath our feet lies great Achilles' dust, 
 But where the marble? where the urn and bust? t 
 On Rhsetus' brow sleeps Ajax, he who poured 
 His grief in rage, and perished on his sword. 
 The mighty Hector, with his " beamy" spear, 
 'Neath yon small knoll hath closed his fierce career. 
 And other mounds, that mark the winding coast, 
 Hold dust of heroes, Valour's pride and boast ; 
 Gods of an hour, that once filled earth with dread, 
 How feeble grown ! how lowly lies each head ! 
 The timid hare hath climbed the hillock's brow, 
 E'en the poor glow-worm doth not fear them now. 
 What is man's prowess, then his pride his might? 
 A fragile reed, the meteor of a night ! 
 
 * While the Simois is completely dry in summer, the Scamander 
 is a fair running stream. " Its channel," says Delia way, " is nar- 
 row, but the current is transparent and regularly full." 
 
 j* The Achilleum, or tomb of Achilles, a high mound of an irre- 
 gular form, stands near Cape Sigeum. On the opposite promontory 
 of Rhaetus, or Rhseteum, is the monument of Ajax. Marc Antony 
 removed the urn and ashes of Ajax into Egypt, but they were after- 
 wards restored by Augustus, when, in all probability, the small 
 structure which now crowns the mound was erected. 
 
184 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Amid the wrecks that strew Time's starless shore, 
 The conqueror sinks, and power avails no more. 
 
 Thus we lament, weak heirs of slow decay, 
 Deeds leave no trace, and glory cannot stay; 
 That all which dazzles now, and fills the eye, 
 Must melt like hues of gold from evening's sky. 
 Ah ! sad the thought to those who covet power, 
 And honour seek, their all the present hour. 
 Yet still doth spirit live, and genius fling 
 Her heaven-born flowers that know no withering; 
 Immortal fields ! that boyhood pants to see, 
 And age reveres, still looks the world on ye ! 
 Pillars may fall, the granite e'en decay, 
 Nature may change, each trace be swept away, 
 But tower-crowned Troy, her heroes and her fame, 
 Shall live in song, eternal and the same, 
 And pilgrims through all ages tread this ground, 
 A spell in every stone, and heathy mound, 
 Their spirits to that scene of silence chained, 
 As if no spot more glorious, earth contained. 
 
 END OF PART II. 
 
RUINS OF MANY LANDS. 
 
 BOOK1L 
 THE CLASSIC ERA. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 SWEET Italy ! the traveller turns to thee, 
 Thou land of bloom, yet hoary majesty! 
 Where Ruin's iron foot doth tread on flowers, 
 And blood-stained murder prowls in Love's own 
 
 bowers ; 
 
 Where every gale is balm, and sapphire skies 
 Outmatch in softness all save Beauty's eyes : 
 Oh! who can press thy myrtle-shaded strand, 
 Nor feel his fancy glow, his soul expand 1 ? 
 Who breathe thy air of passion, who behold 
 Thy daughters, formed in Love's divinest mould, 
 Nor yield to thoughts of bliss? nor, sighing, own 
 The spell of sorcery round his spirit thrown 1 ? 
 Thou art bright Beauty's haunt, howe'er we deem 
 Thy splendour gone, thine old renown a dream 
 The land of valour, genius, deathless fame, 
 Howe'er priests, tyrants, dim thy modern name. 
 
186 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Thou beam'st like night's last star above the hill, 
 Half veiled by mists of earth, yet lovely still; 
 And though we mourn thy faint and dying ray, 
 We gaze admiring on, nor ask for day. 
 
 As thrills the exile's spirit when he hears 
 Some song of glory loved in other years ; 
 As starts the battle steed, when peals afar, 
 From marching bands, the well-known trump of war; 
 So at Eome's name with swelling hearts we turn, 
 While memories wake, and radiant fancies burn 
 A name which, like the thunder, yet sweet lyre, 
 Awes while it melts, and fills the soul with fire. 
 
 Oh! Home, whose steps of power were necks of 
 il 
 
 Europe, the earth, beneath her eagle's wings, 
 How, like a thing divine, she ruled the world ! 
 Her finger lifted, thrones to dust were huii'd : 
 High o'er her site the goddess Victory flew, 
 Mars waved his sword, and Fame her trumpet blew. 
 What is she now? a widow with bow'd head, 
 Her empire vanished, and her heroes dead; 
 Weeping she sits, a mute and dying thing, 
 Beneath the yew, and years no solace bring : 
 What is she now? a dream of wonder past, 
 A tombless skeleton, dark, lone, and vast, 
 Whose heart of fire hath long, long ceased to burn, 
 Whose ribs of marble e'en to dust return. 
 Her shade alone, the ghost of ancient power, 
 Wanders in gloom o'er shrine and crumbling tower, 
 
PAKT III.] EOME. 187 
 
 Points with its shadowy hand to Csesar's hall, 
 Sighs beneath arches tottering to their fall, 
 And glides down stately Tiber's rushing waves, 
 That seem to wail through all their hoary caves. 
 
 The Capitol, where Jove's grand temple shone 
 In massive strength, as ne'er to be o'erthrown, 
 Slowly we climb ; weeds, brambles, clothe the wall 
 Down which brave Manlius hurled the fiery Gaul; 
 Column, and roof of gold, and marble bust, 
 Have left no trace, commingled with the dust; 
 But there, for clashing shield and trumpet's sound, 
 The whirring bat doth trace its airy round, 
 And aged monks, at morn and twilight dim, 
 Glide in black stoles, and chant their feeble hymn.* 
 Here the proud conqueror came, his warfare done, 
 To thank Rome's guardian gods for victory won; 
 Here Scipio trod, when set bright Carthage' star, 
 And laurell'd Pompey drove his ivory car: 
 To Jove's famed shrine great Tully raised his eye, 
 And Manlius stretch'd his arms when doomed to 
 die.t 
 
 * The great temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, raised on a hundred 
 steps, supported by innumerable pillars, and containing the (i wealth 
 and plunder of the world," has not left a single relic of its former 
 grandeur. Its site is occupied by the church and convent of Ara 
 Call. 
 
 f Cicero, more particularly in his orations against Cataline, was 
 accustomed to raise his hands and eyes to the Capitol to increase 
 the effect of his declamation ; and the Romans, when they found 
 Manlius deserving of death, were unable to pass sentence on him, 
 while he continued to point at the Capitol which his valour had 
 once saved. 
 
188 BUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 But darker scenes this glorious mount hath, shown; 
 
 From yon high rock were hapless felons thrown ; * 
 
 While in the towers which Servius reared below, 
 
 Fell many a tear, rose many a plaint of woe; 
 
 E'en now those mouldering dungeons meet the gaze, 
 
 But closed the eyes that wept in other days; 
 
 Culprit and judge Oblivion's pall sinks o'er, 
 
 And the crushed hearts that bled, can break no more.t 
 
 Away these thoughts! though war, and fire, and 
 
 storm, 
 Have launched their lightnings o'er Rome's prostrate 
 
 form, 
 
 Benown, like some sweet rainbow, glitters still 
 Above each time-worn arch and darkened hill ; 
 More grandeur lights her lone and ruined hour, 
 Than other cities boast in pride of power. 
 Gazing around, it is not grief we feel, 
 Emotions high, ennobling, o'er us steal. 
 What though in dust the Forum's arches lie, 
 And evening winds through Jove's grey columns sigh;J 
 Though Nero's house that blazed on hill and plain, 
 Where Asian luxury held her golden reign, 
 
 * The famous Tarpeian rock is on the south side of the Capitol, 
 but its elevation now, owing to the accumulation of fallen buildings, 
 does not exceed sixty feet. 
 
 f The Mamertine and Tullian prisons, built or enlarged by 
 Servius Tullius, 500 years before Christ, stood near the base of the 
 hill, arid some of the walls and vaults remain at this day. 
 
 I The three solitary but beautiful Corinthian columns which 
 stand between the Capitol and the Forum, belonged to the temple 
 of Jupiter Tonans, built by Augustus. 
 
PART III.] ROME. 189 
 
 Boasts but a vault, a few dark rifted walls, 
 On which the long grass waves, the beetle crawls;* 
 Though Hadrian's tomb a fort ye now behold, t 
 And cannon roars where sighed the dirge of old; 
 Though Titus' baths are hid by creeping vines, 
 And Trojan's form of bronze no longer shines; (69) 
 While in the halls where music breathed her spell, 
 The raven croaks, and owls and foxes dwell, J 
 Fancy, with plastic skill, can quick repair 
 Each perished scene, and light a glory there, 
 Palace the lonely mount, and rear the shrine, 
 And make long-fallen Home again divine. 
 
 Then, too, the very ruins charm the gaze; 
 "We scarce lament Rome's prouder, mightier days. 
 A sweet majestic sadness breathes around, 
 Shadows each wreck, and hallows e'en the ground. 
 When sinks the garish sun, and, calm and high, 
 The moon's white orb ascends the pathless sky, 
 How grandly solemn spreads the scene beneath! 
 Soft as a vision, still and fair as death. 
 Trajan's high column peering through the gloom, 
 The lonely Caelian, crowned with fane and tomb ; 
 The myrtle bowers that clothe the Pincian hill, 
 Where statues, founts, and odours linger still ;|| 
 
 * The Aurea Domus, or golden house of Nero, covered the Pala- 
 tine, and occupied the small valley between that mount, the Cselian, 
 and the Esquiline. 
 
 f Castle of S. Angelo. * 
 
 I In the baths of Caracalla, on the Aventine, there was an odeum 
 for music: these thermce present ruins of a surprising extent, but 
 are entirely stripped of their marbles and other ornaments. 
 
 i] The Pincian Mount, the Collis Hortulorum, or Hill of Gardens, 
 
190 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 The domed Pantheon, with its walls of white, 
 As built by gods to grace Olympus' height; (70) 
 Yesta's fair shrine, near Tiber's winding tide, 
 Rich in its Parian pillars' fluted pride;* 
 The arch of Titus, worn by circling years, 
 Telling of Salem's fall, of Salem's tears, t 
 All catch the silvery beams that shower below, 
 Smile as they sleep, and soften as they glow; 
 All prompt to thought, and charm the gazer's 
 
 glance, 
 
 Till, spell-bound there, he bends in rapture's trance, 
 And half forgets that Ruin rolls his wave, 
 And Death keeps watch above an empire's grave! (71) 
 
 To those of soaring mind and thoughtful mood, 
 The populous city seems a solitude; 
 The stars are their companions, and the waves 
 For them make music, harping in their caves; 
 The mountain is their altar, where they kneel 
 Alone with God, and no false fervour feel, 
 Sighing for purity, and truth, and light, 
 Mingling their spirits with the infinite. 
 
 was the favourite retreat of Pompey and Sallust ; and at this day it 
 is adorned with villas, and planted with trees and flowers. 
 
 * Nineteen fluted Corinthian pillars of Parian marble remain of 
 the circular temple of Vesta. 
 
 f The beautiful arch of Titus was raised in commemoration of 
 his conquest of Jerusalem. It is of Pentelic marble, and highly 
 decorated. On the sides of the piers are bas reliefs illustrative of 
 the triumph of Titus; the sacred trumpets, the golden candlesticks, 
 and other Jewish insignia, are faithfully represented. This single 
 arch stands not far from that of Constantine, in the neighbourhood 
 of the Colosseum. 
 
PART III.] HOME. 191 
 
 Such here may come, oh, Rome ! and find in thee 
 All that they love, and bend the lowly knee 
 On those bald ruined hills that never more 
 Shall send their thunder to each distant shore; 
 Yet, ah ! not lonely voiceless piles may lie 
 Dark wrecks around them, and the thistle sigh 
 On walls laid bare to rain and searching blast, 
 They live intensely with the peopled past. 
 What is the present? while we speak 'tis gone, 
 The future to be present hurrying on, 
 And that, too, comes, then swiftly disappears, 
 A time-drop melting in the sea of years. 
 Draw hither, learn a lesson, reckless man ! 
 Hate not thy kind, nor mourn life's little span, 
 But in dim, mouldering, tottering Rome, survey 
 A leaf from Empire's tree half torn away; 
 The winds of Autumn whistle sear and dry 
 The once green leaflet, quiv3ring, hangs on high; 
 Below, ne'er resting, Time's swift currents glide, 
 When will it drop in that insatiate tide? 
 But ne'er despond, young boughs the tree doth 
 
 bear, 
 
 And other leaves sprout forth, all fresh and fair. 
 Rome (lioo in Italy, but brighter still 
 To rise elsewhere, and Heaven's design fulfil : 
 Beyond the Alps, beyond the waves that foam 
 Round Albion's cliffs, her eagle finds his home, 
 E'en sits where cloud-robed mountains tower afar, 
 And vast lakes spread beneath the Western star, 
 While Wisdom smiles Art, Science, have their birth, 
 Unknown to Rome, when swaying half the earth. 
 
192 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 The Forum, glory of departed time ! 
 Where temples dazzled, arches rose sublime, 
 And statues burned with life what see we now? 
 Stones, fragments, dust yet pride is loath to bow; 
 A few pale columns point to what hath been, 
 The last, lone, sorrowing orphans of the scene, 
 And mouldered walls, fair marbles, ages' spoil, 
 Reluctant mingle with the meaner soil : 
 Still Phocas' pillar struggles with decay, 
 And thy bold arch, Severus, spans the way; 
 But gone the car, and lightning-breathing steed, 
 And where an emperor stood, now waves the weed; 
 No more along the Forum's stately side 
 The thoughtful sage sweeps by in toga'd pride, 
 Or hear we, from the platform's glittering beak, 
 The fiery orator in thunder speak;* 
 But there the herdsman leans, and sheep and swine 
 Pollute the once rich path, and radiant shrine : 
 Caesar, Augustus, Tully! gaze ye here, 
 Frown from the grave, and drop th' indignant tear. (72) 
 
 Turn, pensive muser, down the Appian way, 
 And if thou lov'st to mourn departed clay, 
 There may'st thou sigh in truth, for dreary miles 
 The cypress bends o'er Death's fast mouldering piles; 
 There, too, descend, and by pale torch-light tread 
 The winding vaults of Rome's unnumbered dead, 
 
 * The place whence the orators declaimed in the Forum Romanum 
 was a platform raised on arches, and they ascended to it by a flight 
 of steps; it was called the rostra, from the brazen beaks of ships 
 taken in battle having been affixed to the front of it. 
 
PART III.] ROME. 193 
 
 "Where early Christians from their foes withdrew, 
 
 Dropped Sorrow's tear, yet holy rapture knew. 
 
 Mysterious catacombs ! a world below, 
 
 More calm than ours, with less perchance of woe, 
 
 The silent citizens for ever there 
 
 Freed from turmoil, hard want, and harrowing care; 
 
 Ambition's phantom glides not through those caves, 
 
 But angels watch a myriad martyrs' graves. (73) 
 
 "West of the Appian way, near Ostia's gate,*- 
 O'erlooking fields wild, waste, and desolate, 
 There stands a funeral pillar, fair and lone, 
 Springing aloft from slabs of massy stone, 
 Its strong-built sides with polished marble graced,, 
 Nor hath the proud inscription Time etfkced. 
 Enter yon door it breathes no air of gloom, 
 For Art's bright triumphs beautify that tomb* 
 Rich arabesques the wall, the ceiling, fill, 
 And glows each colour, softly brilliant still; 
 And here sleeps one whose mem'ry long had died,. 
 Save for this guarding sepulchre of pride. 
 Yes, Cestius, not like Scipio, whose great name' 
 On yon bowed ruin sheds the light of fame,t 
 Thou ow'st to this fair tomb what gazers say 
 Cestius lived, boasted wealth in former day, 
 
 * Now Porta S. Paola. 
 
 f The tomb of Scipio is situated between the Via Appia and the 
 Via Latina, about a mile east of the pyramid of Caius Cestius de- 
 scribed above. It consists of several chambers cut out of the tufa 
 rock. A beautiful sarcophagus was found in one of these rooms, 
 and is now in the Vatican. Further down, on the Via Appia, is seen 
 the elegant circular tomb of Caecilia Metella, the wife of Crassus. 
 N 
 
194 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Walked with, proud step, or bore the rod of power, 
 A little god in splendour's fleeting hour, 
 Then passed from earth, and left no trace behind, - 
 His name engraven here is all we find. (74) 
 
 "What spot beyond this pyramid is seen, 
 Marked with rude stones, and many a mound of green? 
 A modern burial-ground where strangers sleep, 
 ISTo friend to deck their graves, no eye to weep.* 
 Here do they rest, their clay commixed below 
 With those who died two thousand years ago; 
 Leaves fall in Autumn generations pass, 
 The living can but mourn, and sigh alas ! 
 And here he slumbers, England's gifted son, 
 Whose star went out ere half its course was run, 
 Who framed a world of hopes, and sky-born dreams, 
 By virtues peopled, lit by Love's bright beams, 
 Called forms of glory up, and lived anew, 
 'Mid the fair shapes his golden fancy drew ! 
 But ah ! the mark of scorn which loves to blight, 
 And turn to darkness genius' heavenly light, 
 He saw his fabric crushed^ his dreams depart, 
 And o'er his lyre of sweetness broke his heart, t 
 
 But thou who sleep'st beside thy rival here, 
 Claiming, like him, the pensive pilgrim's tear, 
 
 * This small cemetery is called the Protestant burial-ground. 
 
 f Keats, the author of "Endymion," "Hyperion," and other 
 poetic fragments, died at Rome in 1821, being in his twenty-fifth 
 year. He was buried in the Protestant burial-ground, near the py- 
 ramid of Cestius. 
 
PART III.] THE COLOSSEUM. 195 
 
 Did'st bend not to the world thy firmer mind 
 Recked not sharp censure, but defied mankind. 
 Dark doubter ! who didst cast on all things gloom, 
 Seeing no peace, no hope, but in the tomb, 
 And branding kings as tyrants, men as foes, 
 Dazzling in error, charming in thy woes, 
 Yes, mystic Shelley! thou didst burn afar, 
 In mind's wide heav'n a bright yet baleful star : 
 Ah ! why cut off from hope Man's foundering bark 1 
 Why make his doom of sadness doubly dark? 
 Yet spite of sombre thought, and cheerless creed, 
 Thy soul was pure, and aimed at virtuous deed ; 
 To thee the child of Want ne'er sighed in vain, 
 Thy generous heart still bled at others' pain; 
 Heav'n, not ourselves, must judge thee rest in peace ! 
 Thou tread'st the shore where doubts and conflicts cease; 
 Green grows the turf above thy narrow bed, 
 There morn's first smiles, and eve's last beams are shed, 
 Spring's earliest flowers in virgin beauty blow, 
 And the soft night-bird pours his strain of woe.* 
 
 But see ! Vespasian's fabric yonder stands,t 
 That looko uoo vast for work of mortal hands ; 
 How the huge pile, in day's declining light, 
 Frowns on the sky, and grows upon the sight ! 
 
 * Percy Bysshe Shelley was drowned by the upsetting of a 
 pleasure-boat in the gulf of Spezzia, in July, 1822 ; his remains 
 were burnt on the sea-shore, and the ashes being collected, were 
 conveyed to Rome, and interred close by the grave of his friend 
 Keats. 
 
 f The Colosseum. 
 
196 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 In broken masses giant shadows fall, 
 
 From hanging cornice, pier, and circling wall; 
 
 The countless arches, opening in the gloom, 
 
 Seem ghostly doorways to some Titan's tomb. 
 
 As labouring, slow, we grope our glimmering way 
 
 Through sounding gall'ries, arcades lorn and grey, 
 
 Totter o'er prostrate pillars, musing tread 
 
 The arena's space, with marble fragments spread, 
 
 How thoughts on thoughts, like waves, o'ersweep the 
 
 heart ! 
 What dreams arise, what airy phantoms start ! 
 
 Here, on the massive podium, let me lean;* 
 No longer stern or silent is the scene; 
 Roll back time's wheel hark ! ancient spirits call 
 From buried ages lift the shadowy pall! 
 Hero and sage, from death's cold marble rise! 
 And, Beauty, smile again with love-bright eyes ! 
 Crowd, crowd the circling benches tier on tier 
 Prince, freedman, slave half Rome is gathered here. 
 Than yon vast throng, less numerous seem to be 
 Leaves in the forest, billows on the sea; 
 And their deep hum is like the winds that creep, 
 Their shouts like Ocean's voice, when tempests sweep. 
 
 What sight to-day attracts the eager crowd? 
 A scene that meek-souled Mercy fain would shroud 
 
 * The podium is a strong protecting wall which runs around the 
 whole arena. The benches above the podium were considered the 
 place of honour, and here sat the emperor, the senators, and most 
 distinguished men. The women, except those of high rank, and the 
 vestal virgins, occupied the galleries. 
 
PART III.] THE COLOSSEUM. 197 
 
 A scene that pleases well an Emperor's eye, 
 
 O'er which e'en Rome's fair daughters heave no sigh. 
 
 See! where that old man stands he stoops to pray; 
 
 His brow is ploughed by years, his locks are grey; 
 
 A chief of Britain, doomed for Christ's pure creed 
 
 Not on the pile to burn, the block to bleed, 
 
 But with a tiger combat ! spear and shield, 
 
 In those old hands, a small defence may yield; 
 
 And yet to life unconquered instincts cling ; 
 
 He stands erect, and glances round the ring, 
 
 Then droops his eye, which mirrors mournful thought, 
 
 Scenes of past days to busy fancy brought; 
 
 His happy boyhood, gay aspiring youth, 
 
 When earth smiled round him, and each heart seemed 
 
 truth; 
 
 His native vale, old elms, and Lee-loved bowers, 
 Voices that sing, white hands that gather flowers, 
 And brawling brooks from rock to rock that leap, 
 And British meadows dotted thick with sheep 
 All, all the nameless charms that hallow home, 
 From which, though feet may wander, hearts ne'er 
 
 roam. 
 
 Entrance his mind, chase thoughts of coming doom, 
 And yield sad rapture as he nears the tomb. 
 Well may he mourn, for never, never more, 
 He'll view those skies, or tread that dear, loved 
 
 shore, 
 
 Or worship God on hills where childhood played, 
 Or teach his offspring 'neath the broad oak's shade, 
 Dragged to a foreign soil, to perish here, 
 Where none will tomb his bones, or drop a tear. 
 
198 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 But now the Briton starts those pictures flee, 
 And dreams give place to stern reality; 
 He fears not death, yet life possesses still 
 Charms that attract, sweet hopes his heart to filL 
 The den is opened; fiery eye-balls glare; 
 A long wild roar the tiger bounds in air, 
 Then crouches watchful, growling fierce and low 
 In that dread pause how bosoms beat and glow ! 
 The chief his foot plants firmly on the sand ; 
 His eye is fixed his spear is in his hand; 
 The tiger comes the steel has struck his side! 
 Bursts his loud howl, and spouts the purple tide, 
 And up to heav'n ten thousand plaudits swell, 
 That man of iron nerve hath fought so well. 
 Antl yet 'tis vain; swift rallying from the blow, 
 Mad with his wound, the tiger gripes his foe : 
 Once more the Briton drives his crimsoned spear; 
 The talons rend the fangs are glist'ning near; 
 A yell of pain a human groan and sigh, 
 And man and brute alike sink down to die! 
 
 Such, boast of Rome ! that pile august and vast ! 
 Such were the scenes it saw in ages past 
 A den of slaughter, yet a throne of pride, 
 Where Mirth and Agony walked side by side ! 
 The Csesar's pomp, the throng, the pageant bright, 
 Valour's proud crest, and beauty's eyes of light, 
 What are they now? the relics of a dream, 
 Long scattered wrecks engulfed in Lethe's stream. 
 See ! o'er the bench where queens and emperors sate, 
 The ivy hangs its crown to mock their state; 
 
PART III.] ROME. 199 
 
 Where shouts arose, and trumpets rent the sky, 
 
 Ye hear the beetle's hum, the wind's low sigh; 
 
 By yon bowed column hoary Ruin sits, 
 
 Through crumbling arches dim Oblivion flits; 
 
 Time, with his glass, leans o'er yon granite wall, 
 
 And counts the hours when e'en those stones shall 
 
 fall. 
 
 Dark mouldering pile ! the scene that meets us here 
 May teach a moral, while it wakes a tear; 
 All that man's grosser powers design, or raise, 
 Bears dissolution's germ, and falls decays; 
 But that which wisdom rears, the works of Sutil 
 Shall gather lustre still, as ages roll, 
 Instruct, delight, and prompt to deeds sublime, 
 Live o'er the wrecks of earth, and mock at time. (75) 
 
 Queen of the ancient world ! fall'n Rome, adieu t 
 As to a mother, Sorrow turns to you, 
 For ah ! she loves the aspect thou dost wear, 
 So sad, yet solemn- -desolate, yet fair! 
 Campagna's far-spread plains before us lie, 
 Not yet the summer gales waft poison by,* 
 But trees wave greenly on the Alban hill, 
 And health is gushing in the moss-fringed rill : 
 At Tusculum, where Tully mused, along 
 The Sabine vales, where Horace weaved his song, 
 The birds sing blithe, the wether shakes his bells, 
 And Youth his tale to blushing Beauty tells. 
 
 * During the prevalence of the Malaria in the hot summer months, 
 the Campagna is almost deserted ; but in the winter and spring it 
 is nearly as healthy as any district in Italy. 
 
200 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 But Tibur courts us, where Spring's first-born flowers 
 Impearl the steep, and deck the valley's bowers;* 
 And Nature paints with freshest, greenest dyes, 
 The hanging woods, and spreads her bluest skies ; 
 Where mount, grot, ruin, other days recall, 
 And genius haunts the Anio's silver fall. 
 Here, in Rome's palmy time, from Summer's heat, 
 Her sons retired to many a cool retreat : 
 Statesmen and chiefs forgot Ambition's dreams, 
 To muse in groves, and sit by babbling streams, 
 Renounced awhile a jarring world's alarms, 
 And wooed, with softened spirits, Nature's charms. 
 
 But gone are Tibur's palaces of pride, 
 Where Sculpture triumphed, Art with Pleasure vied. 
 Hadrian's grand villa once yon mountain crown' d, 
 All gorgeous things, all beauties, there were found; 
 Arched galleries spread, proud columns rose on high, 
 Gilt chambers blazed, and statues charmed the eye : 
 Dark now the scene, soft luxury's reign is o'er, 
 And ruin frowns where smiled each grace before, 
 Rich frieze, and sculptured porch, and cornice-stone, 
 Blent in one crumbling mass, and prostrate thrown.t 
 
 * Tibur, the modern Tivoli, is about sixteen miles north-east of 
 Rome. The old territory of Tibur extended along the banks of the 
 Anio (now Teverone), and several miles around the city, including 
 some of the finest scenes of that locality. 
 
 f Extensive remains of what was the magnificent villa of Hadrian 
 are still seen en a hill near Tivoli. The emperor, after having tra- 
 velled over the whole of his dominions, is said to have designed 
 this villa as a concentration or a blending of all architectural 
 beauties, and gathered within its walls the finest specimens then 
 extant of Gr^ek and Roman art. Tibur was very celebrated as the 
 
PART III.] TEMPLE OF THE SIBYL. 201 
 
 The porphyry pillars, too, by Anio's stream, 
 That proud Vopiscus reared, no longer gleam : 
 Fall'n is Mecsenas' home on Tibur's side, 
 The seat of Horace ferns and thistles hide. 
 Where others dwelt, on mount, in classic dell, 
 No stone remains, no memory lives to tell. 
 
 Oh ! Time, with iron foot and crushing hand, 
 Hath walked in triumph o'er this lovely land; 
 Man's proudest works to dust his arm hath Burled, 
 King of the past ! and conqueror of the world ! 
 Yet hath he spared one relic taste endears, 
 One beauteous pearl beneath the sea of years. 
 Sweet temple ! shining on yon bank afar, 
 Fair as in heaven some singly-glittering star! 
 For thou alone remain'st to charm the gaze, 
 A radiant dream of long-departed days. 
 High on the rock thy slender columns glow, 
 The flashing cascade sounding far below, 
 Thy hue as fresh, thy pillared form as fine 
 As when the Sibyl murmured from thy shrine; 
 Age hath not stooped to wither, but caress, 
 And wreath a glory round thy loveliness ! * 
 
 favourite resort of literary men, and the spot where the patricians 
 and those Romans who possessed wealth erected their country seats ; 
 the most famous of these mansions, after Hadrian's, were the villas 
 of Mecaenas, Marius, Scipio ^Emilianus, Virgil, Catullus, Vopiscus, 
 and Horace. 
 
 * Some antiquaries are inclined to believe that the finely-preserved 
 Corinthian temple, commonly called the temple of the Sibyl, was 
 dedicated to the goddess Vesta. Its circular form seems to favour 
 their opinion, but the site of the shrine of the Sibyl, at Tibur, whose 
 
202 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 'Twas here, through leafy woods, the Dryad's home, 
 That he who built yon fabric loved to roam;* 
 Mecsenas, too, and Marius, paced along, 
 And tunefiil Yirgil dreamed his deathless song. 
 Do not e'en now their spirits haunt the spot, 
 Glide through the temple, whisper from the grot, 
 And sigh above the wrecks on Tibur's hill, 
 The scenes they loved in life enchanting still] 
 Here on this mound, beside the rushing stream, 
 By plane-trees screened from noontide's scorching 
 
 beam, 
 
 How sweet to rest, and link thought's subtile chain, 
 While fairy visions crowd the musing brain ! 
 But not the Sibyl, with her proud dark brow, 
 Nor bard ; nor hero, flits before me now; 
 Where pour the waters down yon dizzy height, 
 Like sheet of diamonds, or a flash of light, 
 Close by the brink a form of beauty stands, 
 With rounded limb, white neck, and lily hands; 
 Bright as Hope's beamings shine her soft black eyes, 
 Her cheek of roses rich as morning's skies : 
 An iris, glittering through the pearly mist, 
 Plays o'er her head an arch of amethyst ! 
 Low in the foam she dips her ebon locks, 
 Her silvery laughter echoing round the rocks, 
 Then sings with sprightly voice, like some young bird, 
 Yet sweet as harp-strings sigh, by zephyrs stirred; 
 
 oracles were consulted for many ages, is pretty clearly proved by 
 the descriptions of Virgil and Horace to be identical with that of 
 the building standing at this hour, close by the celebrated falls. 
 * The Emperor Augustus. 
 
PART III.] ETRURIA. 203 
 
 And who the maid] 'tis she who guards the 
 
 wave, 
 The sky-born nymph, the Naiad of the cave.* 
 
 Tibur ! thy ruins whitening 'mid green shades, 
 Thy classic fane, bright falls, and leafy glades, 
 The Sabine hills so famed in other day, 
 Home's towers of glory shining far away, 
 And, more than all, the spell which lore has cast 
 On each bright spot the memories of the past 
 These to thy name undying charms impart, 
 And well may bind thee to the wanderer's heart. 
 
 Etruria greets us with her long-drawn vales, 
 And wizard streams, which tell their by-gone tales, 
 Her mountains hoar dread Nature's barrier wall 
 Answering, from peak to peak, the thunder's call; 
 That scene remains, but dreary starless night 
 Shadows the era of her arts and might : 
 Of all her strong- walled cities nought is shown, 
 Save here a buttress, there a giant stone. 
 Like the lost tribes on far Columbia's shore, 
 Whose language, laws, and creeds, are known no 
 
 more, 
 
 Etruria's sons have vanished from the land, 
 With all their science wrought, their genius plann'd; 
 Their painted tombs, which urns and vases deck, 
 Alone survive that dark and sweeping wreck. (76) 
 
 * The cavern, at the second fall of the Anio, was the reputed resi- 
 dence of the Naiad, the domus Albunece resonantis. The rocks above 
 rise to the height of nearly 200 feet. 
 
204 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Southward we speed, for many a ruin lies 
 To prompt deep thought beneath Campanian skies. 
 The Latian plains are passed, and white swans glide, 
 Mirroring their plumes in Fondi's lilied tide; 
 The fitful breeze, like wailing spirit, sweeps 
 The Formian hills, where hapless Tully sleeps;* 
 And bubbling Liris flows through brake and bower, 
 As Ruin sits by dark Minturnse's tower; 
 Yet bright those waters lave her ivied walls ; 
 Hark ! 'tis the voice of fettered Marius calls ! 
 In yon dim cell I see his murderer stand, 
 Fire in his eye, the dagger in his hand : 
 " Dar'st thou kill Marius 2" all-disarming spell ! 
 The fierce Gaul bowed, his half-raised weapon fell; 
 He shrank that voice to hear, that look to see, 
 And Rome's dread hero, Sylla's foe, was free !t 
 
 Thou breeze! why bear the violet's rich perfume? 
 Ye birds ! why soar and sing on wanton plume ? 
 Through the long grass why flow, ye crystal streams? 
 And why, thou sun ! pour down thy gladdening 
 beams? 
 
 * The tomb said to contain the ashes of Cicero, who was assas- 
 sinated near his Formian villa, is still seen in the vicinity of Mola. 
 See Eustace's Tour. 
 
 f The ruins of Minturnse, on the banks of the beautiful little 
 river Garigliano (the ancient Liris), are of considerable extent, but 
 moulder in complete desolation. In the neighbouring marshes the 
 renowned Marius was captured, when flying from his successful 
 rival, Sylla. "Audes occidere Caium Marium?" were the memorable 
 words he uttered, and which paralysed the arm of the Gaul deputed 
 to assassinate him in prison. 
 
PART III.] POSILIPO. 205 
 
 Cimmerian darkness here its cloud should spread, 
 
 And silence claim this Cit y of the Dead. 
 
 Cumse ! that lives in Virgil's matchless lay, 
 
 Mother of states ere Rome commenced her sway ! 
 
 Who braved Etruria's might, and dared the power 
 
 Of Afric's chief in Carthage' proudest hour; 
 
 Where are her busy forums, merchant-fleets, 
 
 Her mustering armies, and her crowded streets? 
 
 Where her bronzed shrine that gleamed along t>e wave, 
 
 And, more than all, her Sibyl's mystic cave? 
 
 Pride of Campania ! daughter of the sea ! 
 
 Gone is her wealth, and bowed her majesty; 
 
 Where once her palace shone, her towers arose, 
 
 Turf wraps the soil, a shadowy forest grows ! 
 
 There, blent with weeds, the wild-flower wastes its 
 
 breath, 
 And cold Oblivion's shade joins hands with Death. (77) 
 
 Musing and slow, we pass Averno's tide, 
 Hell's entrance feigned, where phantoms wail and glide; * 
 But fairer scenes are near we climb yon hill, 
 And Taste at Nature's charms may drink her fill 
 Posilipo. o'erlooking shore and sea, 
 And Love's own city, bright Parthenope.f 
 
 * The lake Averno, about a mile from Cumge, and near the gulf 
 of Baise, is a circular piece of water, of great depth, and surrounded 
 by high banks. Here the Cimmerians dwelt, according to fabulous 
 tradition, and here was the entrance to the infernal abodes. But 
 darkness and foul vapours no longer characterise the region, 
 though the air about Averno and the Lucrine Lake is still considered 
 unwholesome. 
 
 f Naples. 
 
206 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Glorious that landscape spreads around, below, 
 
 In hues of heaven all earth appears to glow; 
 
 Through vales of flowers the wild bee blithely wings, 
 
 'Mid orange-groves the soft-plumed mavis sings. 
 
 Kissing the shores, and stretching far away, 
 
 One sheet of sapphire spreads the isle-gemmed bay. 
 
 "Vines clad the mountains, myrtles fringe the wave, 
 
 And harp-like music whispers from each cave : 
 
 The very winds seem born of joy and love, 
 
 And earth laughs up to laughing skies above. 
 
 Oh ! lovely land ! when banished angels flew 
 
 From Eden's bowers, and bade our world adieu, 
 
 The heavenly strangers dropped their parting tear, 
 
 And stamped their smiles, and left their footprints here 1 
 
 Yet 'tis not Nature's beauties, glowing round, 
 Lend the chief charm to this enchanted ground, 
 But brilliant memories of long-vanished years, 
 The priceless lore which hallows and endears. 
 Each ruin tells a tale; rock, grove, and stream, 
 The classic haunt of some bright spirit seem. 
 What rises near? a fabric lone and grey, 
 That boasts no pillars rich, no friezes gay; 
 An ilex bends above its moss-clad walls, 
 In long festoons the mourning ivy falls, 
 And pale-eyed flowers, like watching vestals, bloom 
 Kneel, stranger, kneel ! that cell is Virgil's tomb ! 
 Ay, doubt not, though thou find'st nor urn nor bust, 
 That slumbers here th' immortal poet's dust; 
 Gaze on his laurelled brow with Fancy's eye, 
 And hear his harp amid the ruins sigh. (78) 
 
PART III.] BAI^E. 207 
 
 But Baiae, soft retreat in days of yore, 
 Recalls our step, and woos us to its shore. 
 Heroes and emperors trod this smiling strand, 
 And art, song, pleasure, reigned, a fairy band. 
 Here Csesar stooped his pride to garden bowers, 
 And stern-browed Marius wreath'd his sword with 
 
 flowers; 
 
 Here gay Lucullus gorgeous banquets spread, 
 And Pollio time in chains of roses led : 
 Steeped in warm bliss seemed ocean, earth, and sky, 
 Life one rich dream of love and luxury. (79) 
 
 Alas ! these shores are waste and lonely now ; 
 Dark nameless ruins crown Misenuin's brow ; 
 FalTn towers, crushed temples, villas 'neath the 
 
 deep,* 
 
 Tell sorrowing tales, and ancient secrets keep. 
 Approach yon relic, scan its mouldering wall, 
 Age, crime, and myst'ry, o'er it spread their pall; 
 There sleeps a Eoman empress dark her doom, 
 The Furies haunt, 'tis said, the blood-stained tomb, 
 And when the labouring moon her crescent fills, 
 Low trumpets wail along the neighbouring hills. t 
 
 * In calm weather the remains of many villas are distinctly seen 
 beneath the waters, proving either that the sea has encroached 
 upon the shore, or that the Romans possessed a very singular taste, 
 in laying the foundations of their houses in such a locality. 
 
 t Agrippina, the cruel mother of a more cruel son, Nero, was 
 murdered by his order, at her own villa, near the Lucrine Lake. 
 The legend alluded to in the text attaches to the ruinous monu- 
 ment; it rises close on the beach, and is semi-circular in form, 
 containing a gallery adorned with basso-relievos. 
 
208 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 But, fair and beauteous, Love's small temple stands, 
 Watched by his eye, and guarded by his hands; 
 To dim the halls of Yenus years forget, 
 Her Cupids fly, her doves are glowing yet. 
 Oh! yes, the goddess left her Paphian shrine, 
 Deeming this land more glorious and divine; 
 And still her spirit, loath to quit the spot, 
 Glides o'er the shore, and haunts the sparry grot, 
 Sighs in the gales that wander round her home, 
 And smooths with kisses Ocean's silvery foam.* 
 
 What ruins draw us to Vesuvius' side? 
 Not one grey temple, arch, or tower of pride 
 A buried city meets the curious gaze, 
 Charms while it awes, and wraps us in amaze. 
 Called from the grave of dim Leth6an years, 
 Her graceful form again Pompeii rears, 
 Reveals her winding streets, her frescoed walls, 
 Gods on her hearths, and pictures in her halls, 
 And wants but white-robed priest, and toga'd sage, 
 The mooned chariot, and the peopled stage, 
 Once more the town of classic times to be, 
 The home of taste, the pearl of Italy, t 
 
 * This elegant building, which stands behind a projecting point 
 of the shore, is now called Tempio di Venere. It measures ninety 
 feet in diameter, and is in excellent preservation. Adjoining the 
 temple, which appears at one time to have been used as a bath, are 
 several small rooms, the walls of which display stucco reliefs, illus- 
 trative of passages from the Greek and Roman poets who have 
 written on love. 
 
 f Pompeii and Herculaneum, according to Strabo, owe their ori- 
 gin to the Felasgi, a people of Greece. In all probability, however, 
 
PART III.] POMPEII. 209 
 
 But Death and Quiet spread their pinions here, 
 And faintest whispers strangely strike the ear; 
 Halls for long ages shut from cheerful day, 
 Temple and bath, and narrow tomb-lined way, 
 Sleep in the Summer sun, while softly spread 
 Cerulean skies o'er calm Vesuvius' head. 
 Not such that day of fear, whose records still 
 Wake in the musing bosom terror's thrill, 
 When from the shaken mountain's labouring throes, 
 Havoc was born, and Ruin darkly rose, 
 While, like another Sodom, shore and plain 
 Were swept by flames, and whelmed by ilery rain. 
 Here, with doomed Pliny, let our eye survey 
 The mount's first wrath the herald of dismay.* 
 High shoots to heaven a sable sulphurous cloud, 
 Then spreads and stoops, like pine by tempests bowed; 
 Anon, a sound, like whir of bickering wheels, 
 On noonday's stifling air portentous steals ; 
 Then louder rumblings wake the echoes round, 
 While quick and ceaseless tremors rock the ground. 
 Gradual heaven's depths the volumed vapour fills, 
 The sun grows dark above the Western hills ; 
 On thunder, drear eclipse, waits no such gloom, 
 E'en shrinking brutes expect some fearful doom. 
 See! o'er the steep now fires of varied dye, 
 Green, azure, crimson, glance and dart on high, 
 
 these towns were built after Cumae and Parthenope, or about seven 
 centuries before Christ. 
 
 * In the afternoon of the 24th of August, A. D. 79, Pliny the Elder, 
 in order to obtain a nearer view of the eruption, which had just com- 
 menced, rowed from Misenum to Stabiae, and there, not many hours 
 after he had landed, perished from suffocation. 
 
 O 
 
210 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Light up far towns, the shadowy wood and cave, 
 Turn, as to blood, the toss'd and troubled wave, 
 And give man's upraised face a hue that well 
 Might seem reflected, less from heaven than hell. 
 
 Day lingers still, but, struggling, cannot shed 
 Its farewell beams through rolling clouds o'erhead. 
 Hark ! from the mount that long its wrath has nursed 
 Shaking the shore, volcanic thunders burst ! 
 While from the maddening crater's centre driven, 
 Ashes and red-hot rocks are hurled to heaven; 
 The rocks fall crashing on the coast and plain, 
 The ashes borne by winds across the main 
 Borne e'en to Afric's wastes and Nile's far shores,* 
 Where, as the kneeling priest the sun adores, 
 He starts to see his worshipped god grow dim, 
 And fiery vapours skirt the horizon's brim.t 
 
 How fare the cities at Vesuvius' feet? 
 Unscathed as yet each soft voluptuous seat ; 
 Mirth at his board, and Beauty in her bower, 
 Still deem them safe, and brave the dreadful hour. 
 Around the circus fly the racing steeds, 
 The actor plays, the gladiator bleeds, 
 And woman smiles applause, and gallants lie, 
 Bless'd in that light the sunshine of her eye. 
 
 * During this great eruption not only were the ashes carried across 
 the Mediterranean to Africa, but we are told some fell in Greece, and 
 even on the plains of Syria. 
 
 f Sabaism, or the adoration of the host of heaven, appears at dif- 
 ferent periods to have had many votaries in Egypt, more especially 
 at Heliopolis, where there was a grand temple dedicated to the sun. 
 
PART III.] POMPEII. 211 
 
 Too reckless race ! an hour, and many there 
 Shall flee in vain, and perish in despair.* 
 E'en as they sit, and deem that black array 
 Of clouds will pass, like storms of former day, 
 Earth shakes, and pillars fall, and showers of fire 
 Pour on their heads, as from some funeral pyre. 
 But now the mountain yawns, and swifb out gush 
 Bright lava-streams, that on with deadly rush 
 O'er rock and tree, o'er cot and vineyard swec^, 
 Burn as they roll, and hiss into the deep; 
 And one wide stream, that every heart appals, 
 Glides, dread and slow, tow'rd Herculaneum's walls: 
 The startled dwellers flee, ere that red wave 
 Turns their fair city to a fiery grave, t 
 But loud at last from doomed Pompeii rise 
 The strong man's yell, and woman's wilder cries ; 
 From pleasure's haunts forth pours a maddening throng; 
 Through glimmering streets they blindly haste along ; 
 The warrior's arm, the sage's soaring mind, 
 Rank, meanness, virtue, vice, one level find. 
 
 * Most historians agree that the terrible catastrophe came upon 
 the inhabitants both of Herculaneum and Pompeii by surprise. On 
 the day of its occurrence all the places of public amusement were 
 open. Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, in his beautiful romance, has 
 taken due advantage of this circumstance. 
 
 f Herculaneum, being situated nearer to Vesuvius than Pompeii, 
 perished before the latter city. It was overswept by a stream of 
 burning lava, whereas Pompeii appears to have been buried by 
 showers of ashes, volumes of mud, and fragments of heated rock. 
 The greater portion of the inhabitants of each city escaped with 
 their most valuable effects. One thousand three hundred, however, 
 are supposed to have fallen victims in Pompeii and its immediate 
 neighbourhood. 
 
212 BUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Their only thought to fly from death and doom, 
 Some seek the temple, some the sheltering tomb; 
 These howl to heaven, or stand in stony woe, 
 And those, pale tremblers ! hide in vaults below. 
 Mothers their babes to shrinking bosoms fold, 
 Priests seize their gods, and misers clutch their gold. 
 The felon, stifling in the dungeon cell, 
 Clanks his strong chain with many a frantic yell. 
 The old and sick, too weak to rise and fly, 
 Turn on their couch, and feebly gasp and die. 
 Beauty, so dainty, now must face the storm, 
 Lightnings gleam round, and ashes scorch her form; 
 Her limbs that totter, and her feet that bleed, 
 Scarce bear her forwards in that hour of need. 
 They seek the shore, and trembling crowd the caves, 
 But earthquakes reach them there, and tossing waves. 
 It seems as demons, envying human joy, 
 Had sought this spot to wither and destroy, 
 And turn to hell Campania's flowery shore, 
 Where Peace and each good angel smiled before. 
 
 Time sped his course, for ne'er, in joy or ill, 
 Was Time's revolving wheel one moment still. 
 Two cities lay entombed, but o'er their grave 
 No thought, no tear, the new-born ages gave : 
 Young Spring with verdure decked the outward ground, 
 And Summer-flowers breathed wonted fragrance round: 
 There did the peasant train the leafy vine, 
 And teach rich fruits o'er lava-streams to shine; 
 There sang the bird at peep of dewy morn, 
 O'er thymy beds the wild bee blew her horn; 
 
PART III.] POMPEII. 213 
 
 "While laughed the maiden, weaving in her hair 
 The crimson rose-bud and the lily fair; 
 And man the ant that toils, come weal or woe 
 Raised other domes, nor thought of those below, 
 The marble dwellings that in silence slept, 
 Like earth-embosomed halls by genii kept.* 
 
 Thus age on age swept on, when chance reveled 
 "What Fame forgot, and Nature's veil concealed : (80) 
 Now free to heav'n Pompeii's dwellings stand, 
 Ranged as of old, in classic order plann'd, 
 Save that crushed arches, pillars worn and bare, 
 And roofless halls, a spectral aspect wear. 
 Pause we, half spell-bound, near the Northern gate, 
 To view the scene, so sweet, yet desolate ! 
 Lo ! on our right, where paintings lustre shed, 
 The gorgeous home of wealthy Diomed ! 
 He, in his garden bowers, outstretched was found, 
 Gold by his side, and vases strewn around : 
 White skeletons, a piteous ghastly row, 
 His slaves were seen in half-choked vaults below; 
 Here, too, adorned with rings and bracelets gay 
 Mock'ry of woman's love of rich display 
 One form appeared, the stamp of her soft breast 
 E'en on the hardened ashes still impressed; 
 And tiny bones were mouldering by her side 
 The wife, the babe, had hid them here, and died.t 
 
 * Portici and Resina are built over the site of Herculaneum, the 
 mass of hard, semi-vitreous matter which covers the ancient city 
 being about seventy feet thick. 
 
 f The suburban villa of Diomed stands on the road beyond the 
 gate of Herculaneum. Seventeen skeletons were discovered here 
 
214 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Oh ! on that night of darkness, Fancy sees 
 
 A scene of fear, which makes the heart's blood freeze : 
 
 Still as the burning load above was piled, 
 
 The young fair mother clasped her helpless child, 
 
 Hushed its last sobs, and drank its gasping breath, 
 
 Kissed its white cheek, fast icing into death ; 
 
 Then, when its fluttering bosom beat no more, 
 
 She knelt on earth, her raven tresses tore, 
 
 Prayed to the gods that swift her soul might fly 
 
 And join her babe, beyond the star-gemmed sky, 
 
 Or sink to Hades' gloom she cared not where, 
 
 So it were near to brighten her despair. 
 
 The earthquake raged, and poured the sulph'rous flame, 
 
 That scene unheeding, still she called its name ! 
 
 Scorching and deep the ashes round her lay, 
 
 Still in her arms she strained the senseless clay. 
 
 O'erpowered at last, and sinking by degrees, 
 
 She placed her lifeless treasure on her knees; 
 
 Her long locks, falling, e'en would shield it now, 
 
 Her last tears dropped like diamonds on its brow; 
 
 Faint as the sea-shell's voice, her pale lip sighed 
 
 Its name once more and thus the mother died. 
 
 The Street of Tombs ! Oh ! pace with reverent tread 
 O'er hushed Pompeii's long-forgotten dead ! * 
 
 in a vaulted chamber, and to one of them, that of a female, were at- 
 tached costly ornaments, as described in the text, while the impres- 
 sion of her bosom was left on the volcanic mud which had gradually 
 hardened around her. The bones of an infant also were found in 
 this cellar. Vide GeWs "Pompeii" 
 
 * The avenue, called the Street of Tombs, extends nearly to the 
 entrance of the city at the Herculaneum gate. Some of the monu- 
 
PAKT III.] POMPEII. 215 
 
 We view the spot ere, stealing Taste's fair name, 
 
 To seize his prey the modern spoiler came; 
 
 Gloom o'er the graves no dark-winged angel throws, 
 
 But calm as lovely seems their deep repose. 
 
 What though no more the sacred cypress weeps, 
 
 Love, that ne'er dies, each frail memorial keeps. 
 
 Still in its niche the urn of ashes stands; 
 
 The vase for flowers once twined by friendship's hands, 
 
 The pictured glass that held affection's tear,* 
 
 The lyre, the death-god's statuet all are here! 
 
 It seems as mourners just had passed away, 
 
 And o'er the lost ones wept but yesterday. 
 
 See ! near the city-gate, his cuirass on, 
 And cap of steel, yon glist'ning skeleton ! 
 'Tis he, the sentry, who disdained to fly, 
 And there with Roman firmness stood to die.J 
 Move down the streets where traffic hummed of yore, 
 And " Salve!" || read o'er many a lowly door: 
 The causeway bears the track of chariots still, 
 The empty wine-flask stands upon the sill. 
 So true the scene, ye scarce would start to greet 
 Jove's own adorers winding through the street, 
 
 mental edifices present mere masses of ruin, but others are in a 
 state of good preservation. Many interesting relics were found in 
 the sepulchral chambers, giving evidence that the friends of the 
 deceased, in accordance with the Roman custom, paid frequent 
 visits there. 
 
 * The lachrymatory. { Hermes. 
 
 J Within a stone recess, just beyond the gate, the skeleton of a 
 Roman soldier was found ; his arms were in his hands, and he had 
 evidently died at his post ! 
 
 11 Welcome. 
 
216 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 The sage within his porch, the man of war 
 
 Guiding in haste his trophied iron car. 
 
 Pass the fair fount, which never more shall shower 
 
 Its living diamonds round at noontide's hour; 
 
 Enter gay Sallust's house its beauties trace 
 
 Model, in those far times, of Roman grace. (81) 
 
 On arch and wall its seal hath ruin set, 
 
 But luxury breaches from many a chamber yet. 
 
 Here stately pillars, carved by Grecian rule, 
 
 Guard the once-thronged and lofty vestibule; 
 
 Tread the grand hall, approach th' Impluvium's brim,* 
 
 Mark its fair marble bed and sculptured rim, 
 
 The sumptuous floor with bright mosaics rich, 
 
 Statues of gods once placed in many a niche ; 
 
 For here were kept the Lares, they who shield 
 
 Men's homes from harm, and peace and concord yield. 
 
 Beyond, where silken screens were wont to fall, 
 
 Art heaped her stores, and gleamed the pictured wall; 
 
 In mortal hues the gods were shown to men, 
 
 And Homer's heroes fought, and died again. t 
 
 Sweeping across, where many a column rears 
 
 Its fluted shaft, an airy walk appears, 
 
 Opening to cabinets and chambers gay, 
 
 And Beauty's bowers long pass'd to dark decay; 
 
 * The Atrium, which in Sallust's house succeeds to the vestibule, 
 was the distinguishing feature of all large Roman houses, and it 
 was never without its central basin for holding water, termed the 
 Jmpluvium. The Atrium was the most spacious as well as most 
 sumptuous room, being furnished with couches of rare workman- 
 ship, and frequently lined with statues. 
 
 f The Tablinum, situated behind the Atrium, contained the family 
 paintings and objects of taste, together with the vellum scrolls and 
 papyri, which constituted the library of a Roman gentleman. 
 
PART III.] POMPEII. 217 
 
 Close by, the fair Triclinium blazed with gold, 
 "Where Ceres reigned, and Bacchus laughed of old ; 
 And, crowned with garlands, leaned the happy 
 
 guest, 
 
 Feasting till suns went down the crimsoned West, 
 While songs of gay Anacreon fired each soul, 
 Or softer music o'er their senses stole.* 
 
 Fronting the hall of Feast, in Summer's heat, 
 The bowery garden lent a cool retreat ; 
 There choicest statues stood, and sweetly glew 
 Balm-breathing shrubs, and flowers of gayest hue; 
 Founts leaped on high, then purled in rills along, 
 And birds in cages murmured plaintive song. 
 Here to calm thought the master might resign 
 His fevered soul, and, lapped in dreams divine, 
 Muse with Pythagoras, with Plato soar, 
 Quaff the rich stream of Greek and Boman lore, 
 Despite gross sense, confess the spirit's spell, 
 And half renounce a world he loved so welLt 
 
 Such was the home of Sallust ; well may sigh 
 The gazer now to muse on days gone by, 
 
 * The Triclinium, usually richly ornamented, was an apartment 
 entirely dedicated to the pleasures of the table; in the house we 
 are describing it is on the left of the Tdblinum, close by the portico. 
 
 f The garden behind Sallust's house is limited in extent; the 
 wall at the back is fantastically painted, somewhat resembling the 
 drop of a modern theatre. Trees and fountains are represented, 
 evidently with a view of giving to the garden a magnitude which it 
 did not possess. A little pavilion, or summer-house, still stands a 
 highly-pleasing relic, which speaks, we think, more than columns 
 or temples, for it speaks of the domestic pleasures and mental re- 
 
218 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 To see unroofed those gorgeous, classic halls, 
 Rain stain the pavements, ivy clasp the walls ; 
 While he, the lord, long past the Stygian shore, 
 Can feast, admire can gaze, return no more. 
 Unlike his lettered namesake,* nought shall save 
 His frail, poor memory, from Oblivion's grave : 
 He who would hope to live beyond his kind 
 "Not through vain wealth or pride must live by mind. 
 
 Pile ! frowning near the Forum, sternly fair, 
 Where hearts now dust have broken in despair 
 House of the spirit's pangs, the body's pain ! 
 In yon deep vaults what means that rusty chain? 
 Two ghastly forms *lie stretched upon the ground, 
 Their hands still manacled, their ancles bound : 
 Thus have those prisoners lain a thousand years, 
 Unknown their crimes, their struggles, and their tears, 
 If slaves or freedmen, friends or bitter foes ; 
 Fancy alone can paint them and their woes.t 
 Methinks two patriot brothers they might be, 
 Who, hating tyrants, scorned to bend the knee : 
 Long had they chafed and pined in dungeon gloom, 
 But cheered with friendship's light their living tomb; 
 And when the fiery showers and earthquake came, 
 They trembled not, erect each stalwart frame, 
 
 creations of a people as extraordinary as they were interesting in 
 all their relations of public and private life. 
 
 * We need scarcely observe, perhaps, that the historian Sallust 
 flourished more than a century before the destruction of Pompeii. 
 
 f In one of the cells of the Basilica, or Court of Justice, which was 
 used also as a public prison, two skeletons were found ; the irons 
 were still upon their limbs they had perished in their chains. 
 
PART III.] POMPEII. 219 
 
 But only shook their chains, and raised their eyes, 
 Deeming the gods spoke thunder from the skies, 
 Called on great Jove to lay all tyrants low, 
 And chase the fiends of slavery, wrong, and woe. 
 Then yielding to mild thoughts, they slowly crept 
 Each to the other's breast, and sighed and wept, 
 [Recalled past hours, when in their native vale 
 Fond twins they roved, and heard the stock-dove's tale. 
 Thus gasping, falling, in that la^t embrace, 
 This cell became the patriots' burial-place; 
 And now we find them, as they sank and dibd, 
 Linked in their iron fetters, side by side I 
 
 The rich-roofed baths, fair courts without a name, 
 The house where burned the Vestal's sacred flame ; 
 Love's pictured shrine, each circling Thespian pile 
 Where soul-moved thousands wont to weep or smile; 
 The columned Forum, boast of Caesar's age, 
 Where spoke the statesman, and where taught the 
 
 These still attract, to tasteful spirits dear, 
 And charm the eye of him who wanders here.* 
 Strange are the spells on each old object cast ; 
 Starts at each step some image of the past; 
 
 * The number of Pompeiian buildings now disinterred is nearly 
 as fjllow: two theatres, two Basilicae, the half-ruined Forum, the 
 prison, the baths, the amphitheatre, eight temples, some triumphal 
 arches in ruins, and about 130 houses, including private residences 
 and shops. As regards Herculaneum, owing to the depth and hard- 
 ness of the superincumbent mass, and the houses erected upon it, 
 very little progress has been made in the excavations. Yet Hercu- 
 laneum has yielded many relics of interest and objects of taste which 
 have served to enrich the Museum of Naples. 
 
220 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 But when day yields to midnight's solemn noon, 
 And o'er Vesuvius hangs the yellow moon, 
 Column and arch, beneath the softening beam, 
 Less grey with years, less bowed by ruin seem; 
 More richly glow the marbles in the hall, 
 More life-like spread the paintings on the wall : 
 Proud forms, on couch of stone and spangled floor, 
 Appear to lean, or softly glide once more; 
 While streets, here bathed in light, there wrapped 
 
 in shade, 
 
 Seem to pour forth not phantoms shroud-arrayed, 
 But ancient citizens, a living throng, 
 Who sweep in robes, or urge the car along. 
 World of the past, these visions crowd the 
 
 brain 
 
 But brief the stay of Fancy's radiant train, 
 For e'en as forms that charm the slumbering eye 
 Of sorrow's child, flit past, and smile and die, 
 The moon goes down o'er fair Pompeii's site, 
 And all our gay illusions take to flight. 
 
 City ! where busy life no more hath part, 
 With touching power thou speakest to the heart; 
 On thee, Pompeii ! long our eyes would dwell, 
 Again, and yet again, to look farewell. 
 Thy calm sad scene more deeply charms the view 
 Than living marts, where all is gay and new. 
 So when in silence lies some lovely frame, 
 To heaven returned the bright ethereal flame, 
 We gaze, and still admire that marble cheek, 
 Across whose pallor smiles no more shall break, 
 
PART III.] POMPEII. 221 
 
 See beauty wave in every falling tress, 
 Kiss the fringed eyes while sealed in lifelessness, 
 Hang o'er that form, and sigh our souls away, 
 Though nought is there but cold unconscious clay. 
 
 Pilgrim! who wander'st down Campania's shore, 
 Where sun-bright waves speak music in their roar, 
 Turn thee aside to Paestum, though the gales 
 So oft waft death along those beauteous vales. 
 Pass old Amalfi, whitening on the steep, 
 And where blue Sele's* moss-marged wavelets creep; 
 Climb wooded knoll, through tangled thickets press, 
 Still as the grave that leafy wilderness, 
 Save when at times some hermit bird awakes, 
 Whirs on swift wing, or warbles in the brakes. 
 What see'st thou now? a circling belt of stone, 
 Blackened by age, by shrubs and weeds o'ergrown. 
 Sweeps on for miles that strange and massive wall, 
 Though towerless, gateless, scorning yet to fall. 
 Where bowmen shot, and sentries raised their cries, 
 The owl sits now, with large and glistening eyes. 
 Within that round, where once the palace bright, 
 And art and luxury charmed the Sybarite, 
 And dark-haired Beauty pressed her bed of down, 
 The rough black bramble lifts its prickly crown, 
 Henbane and nightshade dews of poison weep, 
 And shining vipers coil them up to sleep. (82) 
 
 Yet here, e'en here, despite the savage scene, 
 Gracing the wild, lo! Paestum's garden queen! 
 * The ancient Silarus. 
 
222 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II, 
 
 Thou soft red rose! so famed in poet's lay, 
 
 Races have died, and empires shrunk away, 
 
 But thou, fair flower! above the wreck and doom 
 
 Springing in pride, still breath'st thy rich perfume/' 5 ' 
 
 Like some sweet nun, who sheds her heaven-bright 
 
 smile 
 
 In convent cells, unprized, unseen the while, 
 So thou, young child of fragrance ! laughest here, 
 While drops, unmarked, thy bright ambrosial tear. 
 How softly pure, how beautifully meek, 
 Laid on those ruins, gleams thy virgin cheek! 
 The nightingale, to court thee, hither wings, 
 And o'er thy lovely form enamoured sings. 
 Thine odorous bosom half-unfolded glows, 
 Like some young bashful bride's, sweet Psestan rose ! 
 Ah ! fear thou not no touch shall mar thy grace, 
 No rude hand pluck thee from thy hiding-place; 
 But guardian sylphs shall seek thy ruined bower, 
 Watch thy frail charms at noontide's withering hour, 
 And weave at midnight many a mystic spell, 
 To soothe the slumbering rose they love so well. 
 
 But Psestum's giant temples lift thine eyes 
 In all their stern and columned grandeur rise. 
 Pause ! travller, pause ! say, doth not wonder thrill 
 Thy creeping veins, and awe thy bosom fill? 
 
 * The roses of Paestum tlferi rosaria Pcesti have been cele- 
 brated by Virgil, Ovid, Ausouius, and other classic poets, for their 
 sweet scent and extraordinary beauty. These roses are still found 
 among the ruins of the deserted city, and, as described of old, bloom 
 twice a year, in May and December. 
 
PART III.] TEMPLES OF P^ESTUM. 223 
 
 Wrestling with Time, the hoary brethren stand, 
 
 Superbly graceful and severely grand; 
 
 Their style of rival countries seems to speak, 
 
 In strength Egyptian, and in beauty Greek; 
 
 Built ere Minerva's shrine on Athens gazed, 
 
 Or, Glory's nursling, infant Rome was raised. 
 
 Three thousand years these structures Ml to bow, 
 
 Massive when Christ was born, and massive now. 
 
 Gaze on the architrave's majestic length, 
 
 The deep-ranged fluted pillars' Titan strength, 
 
 The low wide pediment, the strong-walled cell, 
 
 Where altars burned, and gods once deigned to dwell; 
 
 And say no more, in poor and narrow pride, 
 
 Art lives to-day, but rather Art hath died; 
 
 Confess that Taste beholds on Psestum's plain, 
 
 What modern skill might strive to match in vain. (83) 
 
 He who up Adria's waters turns his sail, 
 Many a wild tract, yet lovely scene shall hail : 
 There, bare and stern, above the eastern foam 
 Albania heaves her hills, the eagle's home; 
 Here sweet Italia paints her shores with flowers, 
 Hangs her green woods, and spreads her bird-filled 
 
 bowers : 
 
 But leave we blooming isle and cloud-robed peak, 
 Ruins, dark ruins stil 1 , 'tis ours to seek, 
 Between the " now " and past, those links sublime, 
 Those ghosts which stand above the grave of Time ! 
 
 Where the blue bounding waves with sullen roar 
 Bace with the winds, and break on Istria's shore, 
 
224 RUINS OP MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 A relic greets us now in dreary pride, 
 
 Gracing the rocky hill's unsheltered side; 
 
 Yes, Pola there her far-famed ruin rears, 
 
 Half veiled in mist, and grey with circling years; 
 
 Stately it looks, though Time hath writ its doom, 
 
 Grand though a wreck, magnificent in gloom. 
 
 Deserted monument ! when storms are high, 
 
 And o'er thy dark walls sounds the sea-bird's cry, 
 
 When lashed to foam the midnight billows rave, 
 
 And the pale moon just lights the crested wave, 
 
 How turns the pilot tow'rd the rugged steep 
 
 Where frowns thy form, the beacon of the deep ! 
 
 And as the lightning's forky lines of blue, 
 
 High arch and mouldering wall, reveal to view, 
 
 And thunders, pealing from the hovering cloud, 
 
 Echo around thy area, long and loud, 
 
 Haply he deems, in superstition nursed, 
 
 The souls of ancients from their graves have burst, 
 
 Or fiery fiends, along the troubled air 
 
 On lightnings borne, have come to revel there. (84) 
 
 Cross Adria's gulf, and land where softly glide 
 A stream's crisp waves,* to join blue Ocean's tide; 
 Still westward hold thy way, till Alps look down 
 On old Yerona's walled and classic town. 
 Fair is the prospect; palace, tower, and spire, 
 And blossomed grove, the eye might well admire : 
 Heaven-scaling mountains, browed with endless 
 
 snow, 
 Where shivering Winter envies earth below ; 
 
 * The river Adige, the Athesis of the Romans. 
 
PART III.] AMPHITHEATRE OF VERONA. 225 
 
 Old castles gracing many a craggy steep, 
 From which, in silver, sounding torrents leap ; 
 Southward the plain where Summer builds her bowers, 
 And floats on downy gales the soul of flowers ; 
 And orange-blossoms glad the truant bee, 
 And vines in festoons wave from tree to tree; 
 While, like a streak of sky from heaven let fall, 
 The stream's soft sapphire, glittering, winds through 
 
 all; 
 
 The woods that whisper to the zephyr's kiss^ 
 Where nymphs might taste again Arcadian bliss ; 
 The sun-bright hills that bound the distant view, 
 And melt like mists in skies of tenderest blue, 
 All charm the ravished sense, and dull is he 
 Who, cold, unmoved, such glorious scene can see, 
 
 Here did the famed Catullus rove and dream, 
 And godlike Pliny drink of Wisdom's stream :* 
 Wronged by his friends, and exiled by his foes, 
 Amid these valleys Dante breathed his woes, 
 Raised demons up, called seraphs from the sky, 
 And framed the dazzling verse that ne'er shall die.t 
 Here, too, hath Fiction thrown her loveliest spell, 
 Visions of beauty float o'er crag and dell; 
 But chief we seem to hear, at evening hour, 
 The sigh of Juliet in her star-lit bower, 
 
 * The poet Catullus and Pliny the Elder were natives of Verona. 
 
 fin 1302, Dante, proscribed by his enemies at Florence, and 
 under sentence of banishment, commenced his wanderings. He 
 repaired first to Verona, governed then by the Scala family, and he 
 is said to have composed there part of his " Purgatorio." 
 
 P 
 
226 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Follow her form slow gliding through the gloom, 
 And drop a tear above her mouldered tomb.* 
 
 Sweet are these thoughts, and in such favoured scene 
 Methinks life's stormiest skies might grow serene, 
 Care smooth her brow, the troubled heart find rest, 
 And, spite of crime and passion, man ce blest. 
 But vain our rainbow pictures; we must trace 
 Verona's ruins, not bright Nature's fece ; 
 Be still, chase lightsome fancies, ere thou dare 
 Approach yon pile, so grand yet softly fair: 
 The mighty circle, breathing beauty, seems 
 The work of genii in immortal dreams. 
 So firm the mass, it looks as built to vie 
 With Alps' eternal ramparts towering nigh. 
 Its graceful strength each lofty portal keeps, 
 Unbroken round the first great cincture sweeps ;t 
 The marble benches, tier on tier, ascend, 
 Wind long arcades, o'er arches arches bend : 
 Glist'ning and pure, the summer sunbeams fall, 
 Softening each rugged pier, and time-stained wall 
 We tread the arena; blood no longer flows, 
 But in the sand the pale-eyed violet blows, 
 While ivy, covering many a bench, is seen, 
 Staining its white with lines of liveliest green 
 Age-honouring plant ! that weds not buildings gay, 
 But clings with faithful love to stern decay. (85) 
 
 * The tomb of Shakspeare's Juliet is still shown at Verona to the 
 credulous traveller. 
 
 f Of the second, or outer encircling wall, only a fragment remains. 
 See Note at the end of the volume. 
 
PART III.] AMPHITHEATRE OF VERONA. 227 
 
 How calm the lonely scene ! distinct is heard 
 From loftiest gallery e'en a whispered word : 
 Lured by the wall-flower's breath, the bee has come, 
 And hark ! ye catch her faint and drowsy hum ! 
 Along this bench our weary form reclined, 
 How many an image fills the busy mind ! 
 Rome's Colosseum calls up thoughts of gloom, 
 Pola's stern ruin looks a giant's tomb, 
 But grace so lingers o'er Verona's pile, 
 Skies are so blue, woods, plains, so sweetly smile, 
 That nothing chills us, nothing dark appears, 
 As thought sails up the stream of other years. 
 I see yon seats with fluttering thousands gay, 
 The warrior's pride, the senator's display, 
 Rich-robed patrician, beauty's kindling eyes, 
 In whose sweet depths, all armed, young Cupid lies. 
 Fast speed the games ; their strength the wrestlers show, 
 In mimic hunt the archer bends his bow, 
 And stags and wolves around the arena fly, 
 Rush on their foes, or wounded sink and die. 
 Now hostile squadrons form in lengthened line, 
 And bucklers clash, and swift-whirled falchions shine : 
 They charge they fall in dust half hid from sight, 
 And shouts attest each gazer's keen delight. (86) 
 
 Ah ! would these walls no other scenes had known 
 Than harmless sports, which Mercy e'en might own! 
 The Greek indulged in pastimes chaste, refined; 
 The Roman pleased gross sense, and banished mind, 
 Hung with fierce rapture o'er the tiger's throes, 
 Turned to a "show" the tortured felon's woes; 
 
228 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 While on the scene in smiles fair woman dwelt, 
 Saw human life-blood poured, nor pity felt. 
 
 'Tis noon : They clear the arena fluttering rise 
 Awnings aloft to screen from sultry skies; 
 The umpires take their stand and now around 
 Dart eager looks, and anxious voices sound. 
 Two death-doomed culprits meet in mortal strife, 
 But he who conquers wins the prize of life ! 
 The trumpet peals, and turns each straining glance 
 Where o'er the sand the fated men advance. 
 He like a Samnite armed, with brazen shield, 
 And ponderous sword no untrained hand might wield, 
 Greaves on his leg, and casque upon his head, 
 Hath oft the blood of peaceful traveller shed.* 
 The light-armed man, with straight and slender glaive, 
 Etrurian cap, no plate his limbs to save, 
 With small round targe, long tried in fields of fame, 
 Bears, doubtful word, a traitor's tainted name. 
 The robber glows with youth, his mien is gay 
 The rebel's scanty hairs are mixed with grey, 
 Yet hath his aged limb both strength and grace, 
 And a stern bravery lights his mournful face. 
 
 Ten thousand eyes upon the champions gaze, 
 Some for the youthful murderer plaudits raise, 
 
 * The combatants were frequently named from the kind of arms 
 which they assumed : thus, the Dimachceri, because the} r fought with 
 two swords ; the Samnites, because armed after the old fashion of 
 the Samnite people. They usually wore greaves, or plates of iron, 
 on the left leg. 
 
PART III.] THE COMBAT. 229 
 
 And some the wronged, the man of sorrow cheer, 
 
 But who the arena's barrier rushes near? 
 
 Her pale lips quivering, and her dark blue eyes 
 
 Weeping bright tears, like rain from April's skies, 
 
 She looks, in fear so wild, in woe so fair, 
 
 A Pythia wrought to frenzy and despair. 
 
 The veteran sees- his iron pride droops now, 
 
 A deeper cloud o'ercasts his down-bent brow; 
 
 Well may the firmness of his soul depart, 
 
 Ah ! well may bleed his anguish-stricken heart, 
 
 For she, the beauteous one, whose shriek so wild 
 
 Thrills the bright summer air, is Galba's child ! 
 
 They bear her off, despite his forced embrace, 
 And on a marble bench the maiden place; 
 There with clasped hands, and strained uplifted gaze 
 'Tis all she now can do she weeps and prays. 
 Again the stirring trumpets echo round; 
 The guards* fall back, the champions take their 
 
 ground. 
 
 His brazen shield the Samnite lifts on high, 
 And, like a viper's, gleams his fierce keen eye; 
 Above his head he waves the shining steel, 
 Eeady the thrust, or downward stroke to deal. 
 Clalba erect, nor shrinks r_or turns aside ; 
 His look less fierceness shows, than thoughtful pride; 
 With head thrown back, and raised his slender blade, 
 His foot firm set, his burnished targe display'd, 
 
 * The Editor and his assistants, whose office was to superintend 
 the exhibitions in the arena, while the Designators assigned to the 
 spectators their proper places. 
 
230 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 He stands in attitude to meet the foe, 
 
 Or, calm and steady, ward the threatened blow. 
 
 It falls the old man's dinted buckler rings, 
 
 And round again his sword the Samnite swings : 
 
 Galba in spite of skill recoils, gives way, 
 
 His foes exult, his patrons look dismay; 
 
 See ! on his knee he sinks, while blows are still 
 
 Showered on his head by him who burns to kill : 
 
 Blood stains his tunic Pity well might sigh 
 
 For Age thus forced to fight, thus doomed to die ! 
 
 Hushed is the crowd, each gazer holds his breath 
 The moment now has come for life or death. 
 But hark ! on yonder bench half-stifled shrieks ! 
 One soul is there that thrills, one heart that breaks ! 
 Those sounds gay prince or noble nothing heeds, 
 But strange they stir the heart of him who bleeds. 
 To die and leave his child, the heavenly beams 
 Of those meek eyes no more to light his dreams 
 Yield past delight and love to Lethe's wave, 
 Deaf to her voice of music in the grave 
 The thought each heart-string rends, e'en madness brings, 
 From his bowed posture wildly up he springs, 
 With nerves re-strung confronts his savage foe, 
 Parries no more, but deals himself the blow. 
 With fury's heat already breathless worn, 
 The Samnite wavers yields is backward borne : 
 No longer Galba's eye is drooping dim, 
 How vigorous now that gaunt and iron limb ! 
 His sword, fire-striking, round like lightning gleams, 
 His silvery hair behind him wildly streams, 
 
PART III.] THE ALPS. 231 
 
 And on he presses ; murmurs, cheers arise, 
 That grow to shouts on earth the Samnite lies ! 
 And o'er him Galba stands his task is done, 
 The victory his, and freedom, life, are won ! 
 
 In Portia's ears as sweet these plaudits swell, 
 As Orphean strains once breathed to souls in hell. 
 Her starry eye is lit with rapture's flame : 
 What recks she men's harsh word, or woman's 
 
 shame? 
 
 Her robes unbound, her dark locks floating wide, 
 Forward she springs, and gains her father's side, 
 Sinks on his breast, her arms around him. thrown, 
 And looks a language all to lips unknown, 
 While joy, but rivalled in Elysian spheres, 
 Speaks in her bursting sobs, and gushing tears. 
 
 Verona's ruins fade; our path we bend 
 Tow'rd Northern wilds, where Alpine heights ascend; 
 Still as we climb we seem shut out from life, 
 And all its busy scenes, its joys, its strife. 
 Ye mountains ! with your feet in earth's deep caves, 
 Where burns the central fire, the earthquake raves, 
 While your hoar brows are reared above the cloud, 
 As if for this poor world too vast and proud ! 
 Shrinking we view the wild stupendous scene, 
 Eude as first chaos dread, yet how serene ! 
 Strength here has calmness like a giant's sleep, 
 Awful repose on each eternal steep. 
 There is a charm in terror, and we feel, 
 When dumb with awe, a pleasure o'er us steal. 
 
232 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 'Mid rocks, and shaggy caves, and aged trees, 
 
 That sigh like restless spirits to the breeze; 
 
 'Mid torrents, dashed from heights with echoing roar, 
 
 While far above wild eagles shriek and soar; 
 
 'Mid sounds and scenes, to peopled tracts unknown, 
 
 It is not lonely e'en to be alone : 
 
 The soul, absorbed, forgets her cumbering clod, 
 
 Holding high converse with great Nature's God. 
 
 See where the Jungfrau lifts its peaks on high, 
 
 Pillars of heaven, and ramparts of the sky ! 
 
 Seasons may change, and summer suns may glow, 
 
 Bernard still wears his crown of endless snow; 
 
 What heeds Mont Blanc the thunder or the storm? 
 
 Eternity is imaged in his form ; 
 
 Earthquakes wreck human cities, but they bring 
 
 No change, no fear, to that dread mountain-king; 
 
 Clouds spread beneath his stainless, dazzling crest, 
 
 vV^hich, as Eve's burning pencil paints the West, 
 
 Catches pale rose-hues, and deep burnished gold, 
 
 Till mists, rocks, snow, in fire seem round him roll'd 
 
 A mighty altar flaming to the skies, 
 
 A stepping-stone to God's great Paradise. 
 
 Yet not alone in calm, or when the moon 
 Bides o'er the heights in soft and tranquil June, 
 And star-beams sleep in beauty on the snow, 
 And cascades fall in showers of pearl below, 
 Climb ye the Alps, but view the giants there, 
 When storms let loose the demons of the air, 
 And darkness, like a pall, descends on earth, 
 And the sky-cleaving lightning hath its birth. 
 
PART III.] THE AVALANCHE. 233 
 
 Here let us stand, where floods have worn the rock; 
 
 Clouds roll on clouds it comes, the tempest's shock! 
 
 The wolves for shelter flee, their long, deep yell, 
 
 In ghostly chorus, echoing from the dell; 
 
 The tall black pines that lately towered on high, 
 
 Like ebon pillars carved against the sky, 
 
 Bend low and lower to the rising blast, 
 
 Their murmur like a trumpet wailing past. 
 
 Where the dense clouds embrace yon rocky spire, 
 
 Quick from their blackness shoots a lance of fire; 
 
 Away, across the sky, across each height, 
 
 Zigzag and blinding, darts that line of light; 
 
 The oak is crashing, and the rock is rent, 
 
 So swiffc thy work, mysterious element ! 
 
 Then rolls th' unprisoned thunder on the air, 
 
 JSTow muttering like some demon in despair, 
 
 Now bursting forth like dread artillery's sound, 
 
 From peak to peak the echoes doubling round; 
 
 Still are those peals renewed, when peals expire, 
 
 As if the Almighty spoke in tones of ire, 
 
 While sheets of flame, that fill heaven's lighted space, 
 
 Seem the fierce anger on His awful face. 
 
 Hear, too, that rushing terror, where the ball 
 Of loosened snow begins its fearful fall ! 
 Scarce seen at first, but gathering strength and size, 
 Down, down it rolls ! on, crashing on, it flies ! 
 Till the huge av'lanche, scattering wide dismay, 
 Levels strong oaks, and tall rocks bears away, 
 Bounds o'er deep openings, thundering downward still. 
 Chafed snow, like smoke, arising from the hill. 
 
234 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III 
 
 Woe to the hamlet nestling in the vale ! 
 The peasants lift their eyes, aghast and pale; 
 It comes ! they strive to fly a dreadful fate : 
 The av'lanche comes ! they shriek, but 'tis too late ; 
 Swift o'er their homes the mountain load is borne, 
 Alas! that once fair scene when breaks the morn! 
 One huge wide tomb of snow is spreading there, 
 And all is stillness all is blank despair. 
 
 But Alps are passed, and Western skies we greet, 
 Gaul's lovely plains are smiling at our feet; 
 For mist-wrapped peaks, the purple vineyard blooms, 
 For trackless snows, warm gardens breathe perfumes, 
 For wolves' wild yell, floats laughter from afar, 
 And, for hoarse thunder, melts the soft guitar. 
 Blue arrowy Rhone ! renowned and storied stream ! 
 Pure as first love, yet changing as a dream ; 
 Here laving banks all crowned with fruits and flowers, 
 There glassing in thy depths tall feudal towers, 
 And churches clad with ivy, old as they, 
 And Pagan ruins, stately in decay : 
 The varied scenes, swift Rhone I thou windest through, 
 Speak of the past, but charm the present too. 
 Though Romans stalk, Greek sages* muse no more, 
 A classic spirit hallows all thy shore ; 
 Gods seem to hover round each beauteous spot, 
 And Naiads haunt bright fount and sparry grot. 
 
 * On the banks and in the vicinity of the Rhone, the Phocoeans, 
 a people of Ionia, and originally from Greece, planted some colonies 
 long before the rise of the Roman power in Gaul; Massilia, the 
 modern Marseilles, was the chief of these settlements, and became 
 very famous for its learning. 
 
PART III.] VIENNE. 235 
 
 Fresh, as of old their fruit green olives hang, 
 And flows red wine as when gay Martial sang.* 
 Thrice happy they whose halcyon hours may glide, 
 In lettered ease, beside thy deep blue tide ! 
 Sure learning here might plume its eagle wing, 
 Fond genius glow at calm Yauclusia's spring, 
 And hearts be taught to love, beneath those skies 
 That lent their light to Laura's witching eyes. 
 
 Vienne, that stood when Caesar's blood-stained sword 
 Mowed down the Gaul, and many a Celtic horde, 
 Still boasts her wreck of Rome's departed power, 
 A crumbling theatre, a granite tower 
 Walls where Judaea's king a captive sighed, 
 And many a Christian martyr groaned and died.t 
 With foliaged columns graced, yon shrine behold ! 
 There priests knelt round, and altars blazed of old, 
 But now the curious heap their little stores, 
 Shell, bird, and fish, quaint scrolls, and sparkling ores. J 
 
 * The Roman poet Martial alludes to Vienne on the Rhone in 
 several of his epigrams; he styles the neighbourhood of this town 
 vitifera, or vine-bearing ; and one of the finest red wines in France 
 is still made here, called Cote R6tie. 
 
 f Archelaus, son of Herod i\= Great, when deposed from the 
 throne of Judaea was banished to Vienne. Vide Josephus. A great 
 number of the primitive Christians suffered martyrdom at this place. 
 
 I The Corinthian temple called, like the finer edifice at Nimes, 
 La Maison Carree (the Square House), is now used as a museum. 
 Vienne, the Vienna of the Romans, situated on the east bank of the 
 Rhone, is one of the oldest towns in the South of France; Caesar 
 names it in his "Commentaries," for at the time of his invasion of 
 Gaul it was the chief town of the Allobroges. It afterwards became 
 a Roman colony, and was the great rival of its neighbour, Lugdu- 
 num (Lyons). Roman antiquities are abundant at Vienne, the 
 
236 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 From these we turn, a darker pile to view, 
 Fraught with an interest years must still renew; 
 Mark yon square basement with the tall arcade, 
 That casts at evening hour a solemn shade; 
 The pillars grey with years, the carvings worn, 
 No name, no sculptured form, the sides adorn, 
 But o'er those mouldering arches, once so fair, 
 A pyramid high lifts its peak in air; 
 How shrinks the spirit, palled by dreams of gloom, 
 To know that hoary structure Pilate's tomb ! 
 Yes, here sleeps he who doomed that One to die, 
 Whom nations hail the Lord of earth and sky : 
 Perchance he walked this spot with tortured 
 
 brain, 
 
 And moody brow the clouded brow of Cain, 
 Remorse and anguish, never to depart, 
 Feeding like vultures on his withering heart. 
 Here might he lean, by dreary thought oppressed, 
 Fearing the grave, yet sighing for its rest; 
 The pains of body reckless could he bear, 
 His pains had fixed in mind and hell was there. 
 Come, Lethe-born Forgetfulness ! and throw 
 Your veil of shadows o'er that man of woe ! 
 Hoot from his heart compunction's poisoned fang, 
 Cheat baleful Memory of her bitter pang ! 
 To live, and not to think of other years, 
 To brave his fate, not shed repentant tears, 
 
 principal being the remains of a theatre and amphitheatre; a tri- 
 umphal arch; a square Roman tower called Fort Pipet ; but Fort 
 Solomon is of Gothic origin; the Corinthian temple named above; 
 and the tomb of Pontius Pilate. 
 
PART III.] ORANGE. 237 
 
 Eenounce each feeling dead to joy and pain 
 Was all perchance he asked, but asked in vain. (87) 
 
 There stands an arch at Orange pause awhile, 
 And let fond Taste admire that gorgeous pile, 
 Whose massive strength, whose front that towers sub- 
 lime, 
 
 Have stood unscathed the thunderbolts of time. 
 Behold that sweeping vault, those mouldings fair, 
 The pillars crowned with foliage rich and rare, 
 The classic sculptures glowing down each side, 
 The high-raised attic graced with shields of pride 
 You gaze, and ask whose skilful hand could rear 
 This beauteous mass, and wherefore stands it here I 
 Rare hath the builder honour all in vain 
 The task of those who toil, no name they gain ; 
 Ay, others reap the glory; chiefs and kings, 
 Who framed them not, thus claim earth's grandest 
 
 things ; 
 
 Rome's Colosseum lives with Titus' fame, 
 The mightiest pyramid bears Cheops' name. 
 But rose this arch in honour of some sage? 
 Some opener of great Nature's dazzling page? 
 Some bard heaven-fired ? some noble heart who strove 
 To make men bless'd, and spread a heaven of love? 
 Ah ! no ; as wont, the man of blood alone 
 Is deemed deserving Glory's laurelled throne; 
 He who sent most to Hades he who hurled 
 Red Ruin's shaft the furthest o'er the world, 
 Trampled in dust, not raised, his fellow man, 
 Hath won the chief applause since time began. 
 
238 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 The patriot let us crown with deathless bays, 
 
 But not on ruthless conquerors waste our praise. (88) 
 
 We pass Yaucluse, where Petrarch's pensive shade 
 Still seems to haunt the grot, and shadowy glade, 
 And, nursed by Love, that laurel still appears, 
 The enamoured poet watered with his tears. 
 Yonder bright Durance trails its silver line, 
 And here rich gardens bloom, and turrets shine, 
 Where Avignon o'erlooks the Elysian scene, 
 Gay as a bride, yet stately as a queen. 
 The olived walks, the vines, and myrtle bowers, 
 The gliding Rhone thick-fringed with trees and 
 
 flowers, 
 
 Soft bells whose murmurs steep the rosy air, 
 Havish each sense, and make an Eden there. 
 
 City of Laura ! though yon tree of gloom, 
 Shadowing but ruins, marks a doubtful tomb,* 
 Doth not each wind, as if an angel came 
 Whispering Heaven's music, breathe her gentle name? 
 But where sweet Remy nestles 'neath the hill, 
 And mulberry groves the deep green valley fill, 
 A beauteous monument of filial love, 
 Yet spared by ages, peers the boughs above : 
 Carved pedestal, rotunda, column, rise, 
 Graceful and light, and charm the coldest eyes; 
 
 * The church of the Cordeliers, at Avignon, in which Petrarch's 
 Laura was buried, is destroyed, and her tomb has disappeared, a 
 cypress alone standing now on the spot which it is said to have 
 occupied. 
 
PART III.] ARLES. 239 
 
 Each side displays the sculptor's glowing art, 
 
 Life-like the varied figures seem to start ; 
 
 Here horse and horseman charge in furious fight, 
 
 Triumph the brave, the vanquished take to flight; 
 
 And here a sadder scene the field of death, 
 
 Where pride lies low, and warriors yield their breath, 
 
 Though Glory hangs her laurel, not in vain, 
 
 O'er the drooped head, and soothes their dying pain. 
 
 Above, two statues, mouldering wrecks, are shown, 
 
 A mother, sire, their story all unknown, 
 
 Save that for them fond children raised this pile; 
 
 Gently sweep by, ye years ! ye seasons ! smile, 
 
 Slow-wasting winds ! this hallowed fabric spare, 
 
 Guard it, ye sylphs ! ye spirits of the air ! 
 
 Long let it rise of olden love to tell, 
 
 Gentle as touching love which breathes a spell, 
 
 Fraught with bright instincts pure from Nature's God, 
 
 For children's tears have sanctified this sod. (89) 
 
 In tottering Aries, where all things speak of age, 
 Past days alone the thoughtful heart engage ; 
 The squalid homes, the narrow winding way, 
 The traveller heeds not, stops not to survey, 
 But sees in fancy Rome's proud emperors walk 
 Those mouldered stones, or Gothic heroes stalk : 
 Still by the Rhone white fluted columns shine, 
 Where stood thy palace, far-famed Constantine ! 
 And frequent statues, urns, and costly things, 
 From grass-grown mounds, to light the searcher brings. 
 Though doomed to uses vile, not yet shall fall 
 The mighty circle with its arch-pierced wall; 
 
240 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 And high that ob'lisk towers which Romans bore, 
 
 Ere Christ bless'd Earth, from Egypt's templed shore. 
 
 But deeper, holier thoughts the bosom fill, 
 
 As now we thread those trees, and climb the hill : 
 
 The Elysian Fields Ah ! yes, the ancients sought 
 
 The loveliest spots to rest, as though they thought 
 
 The soul would feel delight to know her clay, 
 
 'Mid scenes of beauty, dreamed its term away. 
 
 Around us whiten tombs, the homes of those 
 
 Who once swayed earth how still their last repose ! 
 
 The small sunk pillar, quaintly-sculptured stone, 
 
 Where Charon's boat, and Hades' gods are shown, 
 
 Mingle with crosses raised to saints of yore, 
 
 For Pagans, Christians, here are foes no more : 
 
 Fancy might deem the soft pervading calm 
 
 Of earth and heaven steals o'er their graves like balm ; 
 
 The fragrant airs that kiss the flowers to rest, 
 
 The golden day that dies along the West, 
 
 The mourner-willow bending as in sleep, 
 
 The viewless dews that skies of twilight weep 
 
 How flits the notion through the musing brain ! 
 
 E'en for the dead can these exist in vain? (90) 
 
 But lo ! famed Nimes, that second Rome, is near,* 
 The hum of busy thousands greets the ear. 
 Ay, life goes on its chains of mystery link 
 Age unto age, these rise while others sink; 
 
 * Nimes, for its striking remains of architectural grandeur, and 
 the number of its monuments, takes the precedence of all other 
 towns in the south of France, and has been called "a second 
 Rome." 
 
PART III.] LA MAISON CARREE, AT NlMES. 241 
 
 Man just as active, full of schemes is found, 
 
 Courts Joy's bright form, and runs his giddy round, 
 
 Now, as a thousand buried years before 
 
 So will his days sweep on till time be o'er. 
 
 City! where classic Beauty deigns awhile^ 
 
 Watching the past, to hover and to smiley 
 
 As standing by thy temple, whose excess 
 
 Of rich adornment, and light loveliness, 
 
 Might clothe full many a pile with beaming gracej 
 
 We view it e'en as some rare beauty's face; 
 
 The mouldings chaste, the marbles smooth and white, 
 
 The deep rich frieze, the columns' graceful height 
 
 Each part is true to the sweet faultless whole, 
 
 Which, like harmonious music, charms the soul; 
 
 E'en spell-bound, very Ruin seems to stand, 
 
 And fain would smite, but dares not lift his hand. (91) 
 
 Another huge ellipsis framed of stone, 
 Whose every block might form a Titan's throne 
 Nimes boasts her amphitheatre, where flowed 
 The life-stream once, young Joy's yet Death's abode. 
 We lean above the wall the low winds creep, 
 Whispering through stones, where ivies droop and weep ; 
 We pluck the wild-flower blooming at our side,. 
 Queen of the scene, grim Ruin's fairy bride; 
 Yet scarce we mourn that yon stupendous mass 
 To silence and decay should slowly pass; 
 We feel no sorrow that the scenes of yore, 
 Which shocked the human heart, are known no more. 
 Years, as aside their clouds of darkness roll, 
 Pour light on man, and say he hath a soul : 
 Q 
 
242 RUINS OF MANY LANDS, [BOOK II. 
 
 What ! shall he joy to see God's creatures slain, 
 
 Exult in butchery, riot in their pain? 
 
 Joy to behold his fellow rend away 
 
 His comrade's life for fame, or meaner pay? 
 
 Ah ! sad the sight where, bleeding on the sand, 
 
 With head bowed down, and resting on his hand, 
 
 Yon gladiator sternly meets his fate; 
 
 It is not pride supports him, 'tis not hate, 
 
 But sullen apathy, for nought he knows 
 
 Of heaven or hell, or where his spirit goes : 
 
 Though Fancy draws some picture, vague and dim, 
 
 Of fair Elysium's field, 'tis not for him; 
 
 Death only seems the end of action here, 
 
 With nought beyond the grave to hope or fear; 
 
 His soul is night, Truth's star hath never beamed 
 
 And this was valour, ancient Eomans deemed. (9 2) 
 
 Where is Diana's fount, in whose bright wave 
 Their radiant limbs young nymphs were wont to lave; 
 While, like a house of pearl, or mound of snow, 
 Her spotless temple, mirrored, shone below? 
 Here gleamed that spring, and gleams exhaustless still, 
 A friend that fails not, gushing 'neath the hill; 
 Pure as the sky the liquid crystal glides, 
 Bright as a star each frothy bubble rides; 
 Flowers, too, along the banks are taught to twine, 
 And graceful willows bend, and statues shine. 
 But see those columns whitening through the leaves, 
 Hound which green moss some pitying spirit weaves; 
 And rich-carved marble wrecks at random thrown, 
 The pictured frieze, the fretted cornice stone 
 
PAKT III.] THE YOUNG PRIESTESS. 243 
 
 Tis fair Diana's shrine that treasure keep, 
 And o'er the beauteous ruin, Naiads! weep. (93) 
 
 Linked with that temple's fate, a tale is told; 
 Love still is young, though man's proud works grow old. 
 'Twas night's calm hour, the priests had breathed their 
 
 prayer, 
 
 And left the shrine, one nymph alone was there, 
 Her task the sacred altar to adorn 
 With gems and flowers, against the festive morn, 
 With careful hand to string her sweetest lyre, 
 And feed the fragrant lamp's undying fire. 
 The beauteous priestess, in her robes of white, 
 With arms of snow, and eyes of softened light, 
 With step that air, not marble, seemed to press, 
 Looked scarce a mortal in her loveliness, 
 But some sweet creature of celestial birth, 
 Dropped by mischance upon our lower earth. 
 Who breathes, who sighs behind yon pillar's base, 
 The daring lover's darkened hiding-place? 
 And now he fronts her, while the conscious blush 
 Springs to her cheek, thrice beauteous for that flush; 
 Backward she draws, in timid, sweet surprise, 
 Fear in her mien, but love within her eyes; 
 For oh ! though sworn a priestess, wed to Heaven, 
 Her young warm heart to one of earth is given. 
 
 Her hand was in his own, her head was bow'd, 
 Her heart-breathed sobs came frequent, but not loud; 
 The tears, that lay like diamonds on her cheek, 
 Spoke of a soul too fond, a faith too weak. 
 
244 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 "Fly with thee? break my vow?" she softly said, 
 Then, shuddering, starting, raised her drooping head; 
 "False to my goddess prove? resign the bliss 
 Of other worlds, for guilty joy in this? 
 Avaunt ! thou tempter nay, those frowns will kill, 
 In spite of vows, faith, heaven, I love thee still; 
 Thy words, though fraught with poison, charm my ear, 
 Thy looks, that lure to ruin, seem so dear, 
 That for one smile, methinks, I'd bear the pain 
 Of Pluto's endless fires, and ne'er complain. 
 Goddess! look down! give strength unto thy slave; 
 Help me to conquer ! come, my soul to save ! 
 No more fond woman, let me priestess be, 
 Forget my love, yield heart, life, all to thee ! 
 Farewell! sweet joys of earth to others known, 
 And thou, too blindly loved I'm Heaven's alone; 
 No human passion must my soul avow, 
 Life's once warm tide a frozen river now. 
 And yet to see thee kneel to hear thee plead, 
 My heart grows weakness, stern resolve a reed; 
 While e'en religion, and each joy above, 
 Are half despised, seem dim beside thy love !" 
 
 Such were that maiden's words, and still she kept 
 Her eyes on that dear form, and sighed and wept. 
 Now from his arms she shrank, returned, and then 
 Clung to the altar's side, and sobbed again. 
 Strong were the links which superstition cast 
 Bound her poor soul, but love prevailed at last; 
 She fled, renouncing fear, forgetting crime 
 So woman's heart was won in olden time. 
 
PART III.] THE YOUNG PRIESTESS. 245 
 
 But vain their flight swift hurrying on their track, 
 The raging priests o'ertake, and drag them back : 
 " Dark was his deed, but thine more dark ;" they cry 
 To soothe Heaven's wrath, they doom the maid to 
 
 die.* 
 
 Far in the shrine, obscured, not veiled from sight, 
 Lamps shedding round a pale and quivering light, 
 The victim waits her fate ; she drops no tear, 
 But her strained eye bespeaks a mortal fear; 
 Her neck is bare, her raven locks, unbound, 
 Fall o'er her arms, and sweep the marble ground; 
 White are those rgbes drawn round her whiter feet, 
 Robes soon to be her blood-stained winding-sheet. 
 What sees she now, 'mid Nature's fearful strife ? 
 The priests, the altar, or the fatal knife'? 
 No; looking love and truth, she casts her eyes, 
 Where, bound with thongs, her warrior-lover lies, 
 His cruel fate to view her perish there, 
 No power to save, or soothe her last despair. 
 
 But Floria moves not, resignation now 
 Calms her drooped eye, and smooths her ivory brow, 
 Each tear is checked, each murmur is repressed, 
 And the sad sob is stifled in her breast; 
 
 * The Vestal Virgins, when they violated their oaths of celibacy 
 or chastity, were condemned to a cruel death starvation in a tomb. 
 The priestesses of the virgin goddess Diana appear, in different 
 establishments and at different periods, to have been treated more 
 or less rigorously for similar delinquencies; the pontiffs, when 
 judging the crimes of those in the sacerdotal office, had the power 
 of life and death in their hands ; their sentence being in some cases 
 merely ratified by the praetor or civil magistrate. 
 
246 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. ("BOOK II. 
 
 By showing wild distress, she would not give 
 
 One fruitless pang to him who still might live. 
 
 But see ! the priests approach a ruthless hand 
 
 Hath seized the knife they tie the blinding band; 
 
 She gropes with feeble arms, support to gain, 
 
 And near the altar-stone where oft have lain 
 
 Her own sweet offering-flowers, herself more fair 
 
 Folds her white hands, and breathes a whispered prayer. 
 
 Otho beholds, and strives his limbs to free, 
 
 Curses his foes and yells in agony : 
 
 But Floria bids him ne'er lament her fate, 
 
 This bitter death her crime will expiate : 
 
 'Twas sin to love, yet doats her heart the same, 
 
 She dies in peace, and blessing Otho's name. 
 
 "Now let them strike;" she cried; "the blood may 
 
 flow, 
 
 Thinking of thee, I shall not feel the blow. 
 I haste before, to pray the gods will send 
 Peace to thy soul, and joys that shall not end; 
 Elysium's flowers, dear love, I'll twine for thee, 
 And there thy sinless bride I yet may be." 
 
 And so she perished ; o'er her crimson tomb 
 No dirge was sung, to mourn her cruel doom, 
 But a red sword of vengeance flickered there, 
 Wielded by love, and sharpened by despair; 
 Otho, with Christian zealots, madd'ning came, 
 And gave that shrine to slaughter and to flame; 
 The beauteous fabric, wrapt in ruin's night, 
 Saw from that hour no more the Pagan's rite, 
 
PART III.] THE YOUNG PEIESTESS. 247 
 
 But, sad as its poor priestess' hapless fate, 
 Lay bare to heaven, lorn, crushed, and desolate. 
 
 Here pause we in our lay; howbeit not yet 
 The closing seal upon our task is set ; 
 Ruins of varied years, of sacred times, 
 Invite our wanderings still to other climes. 
 Yes, we must mourn where Tyre's rude stones are piled, 
 And Baalbec's gorgeous fabrics strew the wild; 
 Yes, we must weep by Kedron's hallowed rill, 
 And where the night-owl hoots on Zion's hill : 
 While awe must wrap our souls on Persia's plain, 
 Graced with the relics of her ancient reign, 
 Those columns towering heavenward, sad yet fair, 
 As fixed by some dread spell for ever there.* 
 
 Sweep on! sweep on! mysterious as sublime, 
 Ye never-resting waves of Change and Time ! 
 Ye heed not human toil, or tears or groans, 
 Overwhelming races, dynasties, and thrones; 
 What was, what is, and what, alas ! shall be, 
 Must sink alike in one eternal sea. 
 Sweep on! nought dares oppose your rushing sway, 
 Upbearing on your bosom stern Decay; 
 She, your wild ocean-queen, all earth transforms, 
 More dread than lightnings, and more strong than storms, 
 Hope? Can we hope, while thus, insatiate waves! 
 Ye bury kingdoms, blot out e'en our graves, 
 * The pillars of Persepolis. 
 
24:8 RUINS OP MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Engulf in night the hero's, sage's name? 
 For what are present glory, future fame? 
 Man's soul that wondrous germ alone is made 
 Of elements that ne'er can change or fade j 
 Bright spark of God, of that ethereal flame, 
 Which must through endless ages burn the same : 
 Yes, thou, oh, soul ! when all deemed glories now, 
 Shrines, pyramids, and towers, to dust shall bow, 
 When the last empire shall receive its doom, 
 And the "last man" is gathered to his tomb ; 
 When earth shall rock, the sun shall quench its ray, 
 And every distant star-world melt away, 
 Thou, on calm pinion, and with eye serene, 
 Wilt view the wreck, and mount above the scene, 
 Hove through the fields where Time's dark rule is o'er, 
 In light, and life, and joy, for evermore. 
 
 END OF PART III. 
 
EUINS OF MANY LANDS, 
 
 BOOK m, 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS AGES, 
 
 PARt I. 
 
 I STAND in Carthage; Dido's city here 
 Sprang into power, and waved her wand of fear; 
 The seaman hailed her tall, white towers afar, 
 Each gilded palace glittering like a star; 
 Armies obeyed her nod, vast fleets her boast, 
 And bee-like Commerce hummed along the coast; 
 Gems, gold all wealth within her walls was seen, 
 And tawny Afric bowed, and owned her queen. 
 City of Hannibal ! who not in vain 
 Swore hate to Rome, and crossed the heaving main, 
 Climbed with his dauntless bands yon Alpine height, 
 And southward poured, an av'lanche in his might, 
 While Rome confessed the terror of his name, 
 Drooped her bright eye, and hung her head in shame, 
 For those who sank by Thrasymene's side, 
 And those whose blood the flowers of Cannae dyed.* 
 * The passage of Hannibal with his army across the Alps took 
 
250 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 I stand in Carthage: What! no humble town, 
 No village left, to speak her old renown? 
 "Noi e'en a shrine, a wall? Oh! ruthless years! 
 To spare not these to pride, and pity's tears ! 
 Well was avenging Scipio's task performed, 
 The flames announced it, and the towers he stormed; 
 But ye bring heavier doom; deserted land, 
 Where scarce a palm-tree crowns the heaps of sand, 
 Old mouldering cisterns, rude unshapen stones 
 For e'en the graves are gone, and leave no bones 
 A half-choked stream, amid whose sedge is heard 
 The mournful cry of Afric's desert bird, 
 These, Carthage, terror once of earth and sea, 
 Are all dark time hath left to tell of thee. (94) 
 
 And here mourned Marius, Home's ambitious 
 
 son, 
 
 When his bright fortune-star its course had run; 
 Ay, ruined Marius felt that Carthage' fate 
 Likened his own, so drear and desolate, t 
 On yon wild rocks we see him twilight's ray 
 From cape and mountain slowly fades away; 
 The last faint purple dies from Ocean's breast, 
 And each small billow trembles into, rest; 
 A voice seems rising from the solemn deep, 
 " For Afric's fallen queen, for Carthage weep!" - 
 
 place in the autumn of the year 218 B.C. ; and his celebrated victo- 
 ries over the Romans at the lake of Thrasymene and at CannsB, 
 made him master for the time of a great portion of Italy. 
 
 f It was after his flight from prison at Minturna? that Marius, the 
 renowned opponent of Sylla, took refuge on the African coast, and 
 has been described as " mourning over the ruins of Carthage." 
 
PAET I.] CARTHAGE. 251 
 
 His hand supports his head, to breezes low 
 The musing warrior breathes his words of woe. 
 Oh ! 'mid that scene with coming darkness clad, 
 So wildly lone, and yet so softly sad, 
 Linked with historic spells, the gorgeous past 
 Like music hushed, or hues that could not last, 
 What marvel for a moment sorrow stole, 
 In softening trance, upon that hardened soul? 
 Or moral light across his path should break, 
 And tears bedew the iron soldier's cheek? 
 
 Away from Afric's shores ! bland Zephyr brings 
 From Sicily rich fragrance on his wings : 
 There Admiration well might pause awhile, 
 Muse o'er vast blocks, and many a fallen pile, 
 Column on column crushed, and heap on heap, 
 Where Agrigentum crowned the breezy steep; (95) 
 But swift the bark glides on, our path must be 
 By cape and isle, far up the mid-land sea. 
 Though fair Improvement, scattering heavenly 
 
 light, 
 
 And star-eyed Science with her arm of might, 
 Long, in their onward march, have sought the 
 
 West, 
 
 Raised and refined, and made barbarians blest, 
 Still must we turn to Asia's storied shore, 
 And love the land with age and ruin hoar, 
 Eevere the clime where Eden's glory spread, 
 And saintly Ararat still lifts his head, 
 And hail each valley as some holy place, 
 Nurse of our faith, and cradle of our race. 
 
252 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Yes, once again we visit Asian bowers, 
 And walk the plains, half desert and half flowers. 
 Cool blow the breezes from the ^gean deep, 
 Green wave the whispering pines on Latnms' steep, 
 As when lay there the Carian's faultless frame,* 
 And fresh from heaven th' enamoured goddess came, 
 With lip of roses and with brow of snow, 
 To bless her love with all immortals know. 
 Ah ! must those shadowy dreams of olden day, 
 Before the light of wisdom, melt away? 
 No ; reft of Fancy's fairy-peopling spell, 
 Dim were the harsh cold world in which we dwell; 
 Warmed by those tales man once could hold divine, 
 Truth half forgives the poet's fabling line. 
 
 And where stands Ephesus, in years gone by 
 Pride of the East, Ionia's radiant eye, 
 Boasting the shrine to famed Diana reared, 
 Earth's wonder called, that myriad hearts revered? 
 There spreads Selinus' lake beneath the hill, 
 And flows unchanged the Cayster's willow'd rill;t 
 These speak the city near through waving grass, 
 O'er blackened ruins, labouring, slow, we pass; 
 Across our way the timid leveret springs; 
 Woke from his sleep, the snake uncoils his rings. 
 No street we tread, but climb a grass-grown mound 
 What! is this Ephesus that moulders round? 
 
 * Endymion. 
 
 f The lake Selinus, west of the hill called Lepre, is now little 
 better than a stagnant pool or morass; the Cayster, after running 
 near the ruins of Ephesus, and the modern Turkish village of Aiasa- 
 louk, falls into the bay below. 
 
PART I.] EPHESUS. 253 
 
 Th' embattled walls that swept o'er Lepre's side, 
 
 To shapeless ruin crushed, have stooped their pride : * 
 
 Where stood that early church Paul loved so well, 
 
 No cross, no tomb, no stone remains to telL 
 
 Diana's fane that, glassed in depths below, 
 
 From bronze and silver cast a starry glow, 
 
 With statues, colonnades, and courts apart, 
 
 And porphyry pillars, each the pride of art 
 
 Have Time's stern scythe, man's rage, and flood and fire, 
 
 Left nought for curious pilgrims to admire? 
 
 A few poor footsteps now may cross the shrine, 
 
 Cell, long arcade, high altar, all supine; 
 
 Bound with thick ivy, broken columns lie, 
 
 Through low rent arches winds of evening sigh, 
 
 Hough brambles choke the vaults, where gold was 
 
 stored, 
 And toads spit venom forth, where priests adored. (96) 
 
 The shivering bolt of ruthless Ruin falls 
 On Pleasure's haunts, as well as priestly walls : 
 See ! in the circus where, with hoof of speed, 
 And flying mane, plunged on the racing steed, 
 The lonely plover rears her callow brood, 
 Queen of the gorgeous, marble solitude. 1* 
 
 * Nothing can exceed the desolate appearance of the ruins of the 
 once splendid Ionian capital. The walls, according to Pococke, 
 four miles in circumference, are still easily traced : they pass over 
 the hill of Lepre, and along the side of Mount Corresus, being ten 
 feet thick, but in some places they are levelled to their foundations. 
 
 f The circus, which still exhibits massy ruins, is of great size, 
 being 780 feet long, while the chariot-course is 130 feet wide: the 
 seats on the north side are very singularly constructed upon arches. 
 
254 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Ten thousand voices rang from yonder hill, 
 
 There, clothed with moss, sweep circling benches still, 
 
 But e'en the peasant shuns that spot in fear, 
 
 So deep the voiceless calm, its look so drear. 
 
 Poor actors ! Greek or Roman, where are they, 
 
 That toiled and laughed to make their fellows gay? 
 
 Down the long stream of sable Lethe tost, 
 
 Their graves unknown, and e'en their memories lost.* 
 
 Yet, Ephesus ! while desolate and lorn, 
 And though thy starless night shall know no morn, 
 Cold is the breast of him who looks on thee, 
 And feels no thrill of solemn ecstasy. 
 As musing now we walk thy desert bound, 
 The heart leaps up as at a trumpet's sound, 
 For here, e'en here name never to expire 
 Paul taught his Church, and breathed his words of fire; 
 These very stones his foot, perchance, hath trod, 
 These roofless walls have heard his prayers to God. 
 There did Demetrius raise his heathen-cry, 
 'Gainst him who led men's wandering thoughts on high, 
 Showed the dark errors of their baseless dreams, 
 Poured on the spirit's night celestial beams, 
 And cheered us with the hope, when worms shall prey 
 On this poor form consigned to slow decay, 
 The soul, with added powers and new-fledged plume, 
 Shall spring to life and joy, beyond the tomb. 
 
 * The semicircular theatre, 330 feet in diameter, is in a ruinous 
 condition ; it is partly hollowed out of the hill Lepre, and has thirty 
 rows of seats. This is the great theatre into which Demetrius and 
 his companions rushed when they raised a tumult against St. PauL 
 
PART I.] EPHESUS. 255 
 
 Ay, Paul's bright fame, above the fame of kings, 
 On these sad mins dazzling lustre flings. 
 But chief tradition points to yon rude tower, 
 Where passed in bonds the Apostle's lonely hour, 
 And pious hands have reared, in later day, 
 Encircling Gothic walls, and arches grey:* 
 Within this cell hush, heart ! thy fluttering fears 
 To Fancy's eye his godlike form appears : 
 What solemn thought that lofty brow displays! 
 What holy fervour in that lifted gaze! 
 Monarchs! behold a greater far than ye; 
 Conquerors! to Christ's brave champion bend the 
 
 knee! 
 
 Earth only boasts one Paul, but many slaves 
 Of mad ambition, hurrying men to graves; 
 These, Glory's minions, bade peace, joy, farewell, 
 Caused death and tears, and oped the gates of hell ; 
 But he, Mind's chief, drew Truth's bright sword in 
 
 love, 
 To vanquish crime, and lead the way above. 
 
 Ionia ! clime of softness, long, oh ! long 
 Could linger here the pensive child of song, 
 Mourn by the crumbling tombs of great ones gone, 
 Where wild-flowers wave o'er perished Colophon, 
 
 * One of the most interesting objects among the ruins of Ephesus, 
 is a tower on the western wall, which has obtained the name of 
 " St. Paul's Prison." The building raised around the original tower 
 is Gothic, having narrow windows and pointed arches. St. Paul's 
 imprisonment at Ephesus is a tradition, for no distinct allusion is 
 made to it in the Acts of the Apostles ; it is recorded, however, that 
 he preached there for the space of two years. 
 
256 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Sit by the rocks of Mycale, and hear 
 The Greek's wild shout, the Persian's cry of fear,* 
 And drink the gales still Passion seems to ride, 
 Where famed Miletus moulders by the tide; 
 For there Aspasia sprung, whose melting sighs, 
 Whose lip of eloquence, and soul-bright eyes, 
 Conquered the hero, and allured the sage 
 Alas! for Beauty's spell in every age It 
 
 But South the pilgrim speeds ; Ionia's hills 
 Vanish in mists, like joys that yield to ills; 
 Still seeking ruins, round his eye is cast; 
 Now Bodroum's walls he wanders slowly past; 
 The Turkish crescent gleams, the guns look down 
 How changed in all, that once-famed classic town ! J 
 Yet mark yon fort ; there marbles, rent and worn, 
 Sculptured with forms that ancient robes adorn, 
 Speak of a gorgeous tomb, and darkly tell 
 Affection's tale, nought else could breathe so well. 
 Here stood that pile an Eastern queen upreared, 
 Tribute to one a husband's love endeared. 
 To baffle crushing Time, and dazzle still, 
 Wealth gave his splendour, Science plied her 
 
 skill; 
 
 It rose in air, its matchless sculptures done, 
 Crowned with winged horses flashing in the sun; (97) 
 
 * Mycale, famous for the defeat of the Persians by the Greeks, 
 B.C. 479. 
 
 { Aspasia, who taught eloquence at Athens, numbering Socrates 
 among her admirers, and gaining absolute sway over Pericles, was 
 born at Miletus. 
 
 J Bodroum, the ancient Halicarnassus. 
 
PAET I.] TOMB OF MAUSOLUS. 257 
 
 But ah! doth sounder now the monarch sleep? 
 
 Doth she who mourned his doom forget to weep] 
 
 Go, as pale evening calms the Western wave, 
 
 See Artemisia near that fabric rave ! 
 
 Sadly and slow she treads the moonlight shore, 
 
 Recalls his looks, his voice, to charm no more, 
 
 Begs of the gods, in agonising prayer, 
 
 His dear bless'd shade to see one moment there. 
 
 Now through that door where lamps of silver 
 
 gleam, 
 
 Behold her move, like some sad restless dream ! 
 Gemmed floors below, and golden roofs on high, 
 No pleasure wake in that pale languid eye; 
 She thought by this display to soothe her grief, 
 But breaking hearts in pomp find no relief. 
 
 "Where art thou, my loved lord?" she faintly 
 
 cries; 
 
 " Doomed to the dreary halls where misery sighs? 
 Or roams thy shade through joy-bright fields above? 
 And art thou ^lappy there, without thy love? 
 Lord of my soul ! whate'er thy lot may be, 
 Eapture or pain, I still would be with thee, 
 Assuage each cruel pang, or share thy bliss, 
 True in that world above, as true in this. 
 Thou hear'st me not thy dust I can but keep, 
 Lament the past, and hide me here and weep: 
 Yes, let me kneel, and thus my fond arms throw 
 Around thy urn there's pleasure yet in woe. 
 Ah! why did love e'er fill my woman's heart? 
 Why were we bound by vows, if thus to part? 
 
 1 
 
258 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Have gods no pity tow'rd their creatures here? 
 
 Are sighs all fruitless? fruitless every tear? 
 
 One thought but soothes the hour when death shall 
 
 lay 
 
 Beside thine own, my frail consuming clay, 
 Hush the wild throbs that rend my anguished breast, 
 Give to this stricken frame eternal rest, 
 And join our souls on bright Elysium's shore, 
 To bask in love's sweet sun for evermore." 
 
 Where breaks the wave on wild Phoenicia's coast, 
 Land in past days a marvel and a boast, 
 There stands a humble village, lone and calm, 
 Girt by old fig-trees, and the tufted palm. 
 Along the heathy sand-banks children play, 
 No stately vessel floats within the bay, 
 But there the fisher's tiny sail is set, 
 Or on the quiet shore he dries his net. 
 
 And this is Tyre the mighty mart of old, 
 City of Merchants ! conquering kings with gold ! 
 Through whose long streets that knew no dull repose, 
 Like stormy waves the voice of Commerce rose, 
 While palaces, each worthy Ocean's queen, 
 O'erlooked in dazzling pride the busy scene. 
 Here Afric brought her ivory and rich plumes, 
 Ophir her gems, Arabia her perfumes; 
 The adventurous Tyrian sent his daring sail, 
 Where'er might roll the waves, or sweep the gale; 
 Spain's vine-clad hills, the spicy Indian isles, 
 And where soft Spring on green Canary smiles, 
 
PART I.] TYRE. 259 
 
 E'en Britain's barbarous coast,* and lands afar, 
 Vast and untrod, beneath the Western star, t 
 All, all he sought, and home exulting bore 
 Things new and strange, the wealth of every shore, 
 Till that proud mart earth's envy well might be, 
 Queen of the land, and goddess of the sea, 
 Deeming within her wave- washed lofty wall, 
 No hand could strike, no spoiler work her fall. 
 
 Strange that to power, states, kingdoms never grew, 
 From age to age their glory to renew; 
 But like the sun they gain meridian height, 
 Blaze their appointed time, then sink in night; 
 Yet, ah! not doomed, like heaven's untiring sphere, 
 Bursting from gloom, again our world to cheer. 
 Why should we marvel nations thus decay? 
 One dread eternal law they but obey. 
 The valley's flower its fragrant leaves must shed, 
 The oak must fall upon the mountain's head; 
 
 * The Tyrians were the earliest and best navigators recorded in 
 history. Hiram, King of Tyre, who assisted Solomon in building 
 the Temple of Jerusalem, performed the passage around Africa to 
 India. About two centuries afterwards, they planted the colonies 
 of Carthage, Utica, and Gades (Cadiz.) It is well known that these 
 remarkable people made frequent visits to the western coast of 
 Britain for tin. The writer has seen the remains of several of their 
 old works or furnaces in Cornwall, where masses of metal smelted 
 by them are sometimes found, having been left, probably, in haste, 
 when they might have been attacked by the barbarians. These fur- 
 naces are called by the natives of the present day, " Jews' houses." 
 
 f We have elsewhere endeavoured to show the high probability 
 that the Tyrians, in conjunction with the Egyptians, discovered 
 South America ; and that their colonies built those remarkable cities 
 and pyramids the ruins of which now perplex the traveller. 
 
260 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Ocean upheaveth isles, and now his flood 
 Rolls o'er the land where stately cities stood : 
 Heav'n breathed its fiat change ! and dost thou dare 
 Raise thy frail voice, and Heav'n unjust declare? 
 Man works his destiny, from seeming ill 
 Gathering some truth, some good educing still. 
 
 And so Tyre fell her riches could not save, 
 The city of the proud is now a grave, 
 Swept, like her daughter Carthage, by the wings 
 Of ages, from the list of living things. 
 And so Tyre fell where rose her granite towers, 
 And shone her palaced streets, and jewelled bowers, 
 The goatherd heedless roves, nor asks her name, 
 Nor recks her glories past, nor ancient fame. 
 He sees bowed arch, an aqueduct, and well, 
 But who their builders were he cannot tell. 
 The wave, unsympathising, beats the strand, 
 Moss clothes black fragments buried deep in sand, 
 And seabirds, stooping in their ocean flight, 
 Pass with wild shrieks the vanished city's site. (98) 
 
 Day blushes : Forward moves the camel train ; 
 Tyre sinks behind; we tread the Eastern plain: 
 How fresh the air, the earth, ere burning skies 
 Flash down their fire, and Nature panting lies ! 
 The East just softens with uncertain beams, 
 Like Beauty slowly waking from her dreams; 
 The wind, faint creeping, stirs the whispering palm, 
 And cools the brow, and soothes each sense with 
 balm. 
 
PART I.] THE VALLEY OF BOCAT. 261 
 
 Bocat's sequestered vale we wind along, 
 
 Glorious with countless flowers, and famed in song, 
 
 The Arab's haunt when Winter spreads its gloom, 
 
 Home of the Peri living on perfume.* 
 
 Clear as the conscience of a saintly bride, 
 
 Soft flows Litani's heaven-reflecting tide:t 
 
 The lily stoops her graces to behold, 
 
 The melon shows through moss his globe of gold : 
 
 Shook by the breeze, its flowers of odorous snow 
 
 The jasmine sheds upon that wave below, 
 
 Which bears them off, and drinks their luscious dew, 
 
 Thus by the theft adorned, and sweetened too. 
 
 And now that flower which courts the sun uprears 
 
 Her yellow crest, and gleams through night's soft tears; 
 
 See ! how, fond worshipper ! with diamond eye 
 
 She looks from earth, and finds the Eastern sky, 
 
 Breathing to Heav'n prayer-incense from the sod 
 
 Ah ! would that man did so adore his God ! J 
 
 Gradual as mists roll off the bounding hills, 
 
 A rosier light the widening prospect fills, 
 
 * The beautiful Valley of Bocat, sometimes called Beka, com- 
 mences near the sea, not far from the site of Tyre, and extends in a 
 north-eastern direction for about thirty miles to Baalbec. The 
 mountains of Libanus bound it on the one side, and those of Anti- 
 Libanus on the other. " This valley," says Wood (in his " Journey 
 to Palmyra,") " is more fertile than the celebrated vale of Damascus, 
 and better watered than the rich plains of Esdraelon and Rama." 
 
 f The river Litani runs through the valley of Bocat, having taken 
 its rise a little to the west of Baalbec in the chain of Anti-Libanus. 
 
 I There is a small flower of a bright yellow colour, not much 
 larger than our daisy, which always turns to the sun ; the Arabs call 
 it " Werd el Shems," or the flower of the sun. See Buckingham's 
 Travels. 
 
262 EUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 And graceful planes that skirt the vale are seen, 
 And mulberry groves extend their living green. 
 From yon high rock looks down the shy gazelle, 
 And bright- winged birds flit oft across the dell : 
 The eagle mounts like some dark ghoul above, 
 The thrush 'mid flowers begins his lay of love. 
 
 But see ! Day's king, with robes of glory on, 
 The sun hath climbed sky-piercing Lebanon ! 
 Like thousand arrows dipped in ruby light, 
 Beams dart from rock to rock all heaven is bright; 
 The hanging pines shake off their sombre sleep, 
 "With freshened breath the mountain breezes sweep; 
 The cascades, dashing joyous, catch the ray, 
 And leap from crag to crag in feathery spray. 
 Nestling in dells, the hamlet hides from view, 
 Smoke o'er the deep green foliage curling blue, 
 But high above, on rocks exposed and bare, 
 Grey convents hang, as poised in upper air : * 
 The matin bell with music loads the gale, 
 And listening Echo answers from the vale. 
 O'er all, the mountains lift their crests of snow, 
 Nature's grand crown where stainless jewels glow; 
 E'en the huge cedars, standing dark and lone, 
 That years and storms have bowed, but not o'erthrown, 
 Whose shade might hallow priest's or prophet's tomb, 
 Hail morning's smile, and half forget their gloom, t 
 
 * There are among the mountains of Lebanon nearly two hun- 
 dred convents of Maronite Christians. 
 
 f Of the renowned cedars of Lebanon seven remain standing, 
 which, from their immense size, favour the opinion that they are the 
 
PART I.] BAALBEC. 
 
 263 
 
 Beyond those mountains dwelt one known to fame, 
 Who from far shores a willing exile came : 
 Lady of Albion ! didst thou shed no tear, 
 Bursting the bonds to Nature ever dear? 
 Thy home forgot, around thee darkly stood 
 The savage Druse, the desert's robber brood; 
 And midst them passed thy years thy life had grown 
 Orient, calm, sad thy heart seemed turned to stone. 
 E'en when death came, no home-born friend was nigh 
 To soothe thy pangs, or catch thy parting sigh ; 
 Strangers alone grouped near thy silent bed, 
 Nor spoke of Heav'n, nor propp'd thy dying head; 
 And if, when faded life's last beams from thee, 
 One thought was given to lands beyond the sea, 
 Unshared it pierced thy soul around thee fell 
 The night of death, and no one breathed farewell : 
 The mountain-vulture shrieked, the wild wind sighed, 
 And wilder eyes gleamed near, as Stanhope died.* 
 
 But mid-day comes, and eve descends at last, 
 And Bocat's green and watered vale is passed. 
 Lo ! o'er the trees, on platform vast and high, 
 What graceful pillars stand against the sky^t 
 
 identical trees celebrated by Ezekiel and Solomon. Vide Lamar- 
 tine's Travels. 
 
 * Lady Hester Stanhope, whose story is so well known, after she 
 had quitted Sidon, resided in a house situated on a high hill near 
 Beyrout. The, Druses of Mount Lebanon and the Arabs were her 
 only friends, if such they might be termed. She died in June, 1839; 
 no person of her own country was near her, and she was buried in 
 the garden attached to her house. 
 
 f On approaching Baalbec from the south, you descry the ruins 
 over groups of large walnut trees. Volneifs " Travels in Syria" 
 
264 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 They look on ruin calm as in their prime, 
 Meeting with, smiles the strokes of envious Time ; 
 Lovely in desolation, as the eyes 
 Of Beauty gazing heavenward as she dies ; 
 Fair as white spirits ranged by music's tone, 
 In shining rows, round Allah's wondrous throne. 
 
 Baalbec! thou glorious city! where the sun, 
 Long ages back, mysterious worship won;* 
 Where, turning eastward, myriads bent the knee, 
 Well might Day's burning god be proud of thee. 
 As now he seeks the ancient cedar'd hills, 
 Bathing with gold the rocks .and falling rills, 
 Doth he not view, with sad regretful eye, 
 The beauteous wreck of glories long gone by? 
 And teach the desert wind to creep and moan 
 Around each prostrate shaft, and ivied stone? 
 And call Eve's genii forth, along the maze 
 Of pillar'd walks to spread his dying rays, 
 And hang their dewy tears on shrubs and flowers, 
 That deck with mournful grace Love's ruined 
 bowers? 
 
 City of mystery ! by whose hands were piled 
 These gorgeous fanes on Syria's lonely wild? 
 
 * Baalbec the city of Baal or the sun, called by the Greeks Helio- 
 polis, which is but a translation of the Syrian name Baal, signify- 
 ing also lord or master. Baal and Moloch have been supposed to 
 be names of the same god, who with Astarte", or the moon, was 
 worshipped with peculiar splendour at Baalbec. Astarte" is found 
 sculptured on the Nimroud marbles standing on the back of a 
 lion. 
 
PART I.] BAALBEC. 265 
 
 No record tells, but Roman art is here, 
 
 More rich than chaste, more splendid than severe.* 
 
 Who reared yon stones? or were they upward hurled, 
 
 The huge foundations of a granite world 1 
 
 A hundred giants could not lift them there 
 
 Did Eblis build their mass, or powers of air? 
 
 We ask in vain, and only marvelling stand, 
 
 And scarce believe that work by human hand. 
 
 And yet, perchance, far back in history's night, 
 
 These blocks were heaved by old Phoenician might, 
 
 And here, since Abraham walked the world, have lain, 
 
 The elder Baalbec's dark and sole remain. (99) 
 
 The stately shrines on this grand platform rise, 
 And e'en in ruin charm the wondering eyes, 
 Pass we the lonely pillar tow'rd the west, 
 High on whose top the stork hath built her nest, 
 Calm standing now, with white and folded wing, 
 Watching the sun, like some carved lifeless thing, t 
 Pass we the temple, beautiful as strange, 
 Hound which rich-wrought Corinthian columns range, 
 
 * History maintains a singular silence regarding the magnificent 
 buildings both at Baalbec and Palmyra. Yet, notwithstanding the 
 great antiquity of each city, the Corinthian order generally adopted 
 in the temples, and the florid style, plainly indicate that the erection 
 of these edifices cannot date back, at the farthest, more than two 
 centuries before Christ, while they were undeniably the work of 
 Greeks or Romans. With respect to Baalbec, we are led to believe 
 from certain Roman coins, and on the testimony of John of Antioch, 
 that the Temple of the Sun was built by the Emperor Antoninus Pius. 
 
 f A single Doric pillar, sixty feet high, with a large stone basin 
 on the summit, stands at some distance south-west of the great 
 platform ; it is supposed to have been a water-dial. 
 
266 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 With, bending architrave and circling cell, 
 
 Where Christian priests now ring their holy bell;* 
 
 We mount the platform, and approach with awe 
 
 The mightiest shrine the kneeling Syrian saw : 
 
 No columns rise in front, the porch o'erthrown, 
 
 And spacious gateway heaped with many a stone; 
 
 Rude towers, by Moslems raised, o'erhang the wall, 
 
 And, built on ruins, fast to ruin fall.t 
 
 Slow we advance; arcades once swept around, 
 
 Now shattered frieze, bust, cornice, strew the ground; 
 
 And still beyond, a noble area sweeps, 
 
 And here fond Taste the wreck of beauty weeps. 
 
 As bursts that glorious picture on the sight, 
 
 The spirit thrills, yet feels a sad delight ; 
 
 We look and ponder, doubt and look again, 
 
 With dazzled eye, intoxicated brain : 
 
 The marble chambers opening round the court, 
 
 In ancient days the white-stoled priests' resort; 
 
 The frieze, with sculptured fruit and foliage rich, 
 
 The quaint-carved arch, and decorated niche; 
 
 * The circular temple, near that part of Baalbec still inhabited, is 
 a very singular and elegant construction. Twelve Corinthian 
 columns surround the exterior of the cella, and Ionic columns adorn 
 the interior. The roof was a dome, open, perhaps, at the top, like 
 that of the Pantheon at Rome. The effect of the whole is airy and 
 graceful in the extreme. Wild shrubs now grow out of the curved 
 entablature, and the cella has been converted into a Christian 
 church. 
 
 f Twelve bases only remain of the fallen columns which formed 
 the portico of the great Temple of the Sun. This portico faced the 
 east. The gate is half choked with rubbish, and the ancient wall is 
 disfigured by ruinous towers built by the Turks many ages ago. 
 See Wood's " Journey to Palmyra." 
 
PART I.] BAALBEC. 267 
 
 The fine relief, where gods frown out in stone, 
 
 The fluted shaft, the pavement moss-o'ergrown; 
 
 And high o'er all, soft bathed in rosy air, 
 
 Yon columns of the sun so grand, so fair 
 
 The wondrous scene enchants, o'erpowers the gaze, 
 
 Nor sighs the soul for Glory's brighter days; 
 
 For Ruin lends a charm, and hoary Time, 
 
 While darkening beauty, makes it half sublime; 
 
 And scenes like these send thought o'er backward 
 
 years, 
 Speak to the heart, and wake the fount of tears. (100) 
 
 We lean upon this column's fallen mass; 
 The fitful breeze just bends the whispering grass; 
 On yon tall arch the yellow wall-flower blows, 
 And eve around a pulseless silence throws. 
 The present here is lost ; the busy train 
 Of worldly schemes no longer racks the brain: 
 We live with ages gone; events long o'er 
 Seem to come back ; the dead exist once more : 
 Yes, on this spot, where Ruin now is king, 
 And Life folds up her silent, listless wing, 
 Time was when priests were hurrying to arid fro, 
 And women knelt, and princes bowed them low, 
 When altars blazed, and music pealed on high 
 To greet the sun slow mounting in the sky; 
 The cruel rites, which stern Phoenicia taught, 
 Were practised here, and babes to Moloch 
 
 brought 
 
 Moloch, Astarte", names that chill with dread, 
 E'en when their living terrors all have fled. 
 
268 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 A vision of the past : That friend of Death, 
 The Plague through Baalbec sends her blasting breath; 
 In desperate revelry, or wailing loud, 
 Men meet their doom, and fast to Hades crowd; 
 The warrior's mail-clothed arm avails no more, 
 The proud lie low, the statesman's dreams are o'er. 
 Beauty, who smiles this hour with sparkling eyes, 
 And sweeps her lyre, to-morrow droops and dies : 
 The viewless hand still smites, and thousands there 
 Quail 'neath the scourge, and tremble in despair. 
 
 And what the Plague-fiend's deadly course may 
 
 stay? 
 
 " No blood of beasts," red Moloch's votaries say ; 
 " A high-born infant cast ye to the fire, 
 And then will cease the god's afflicting ire." (101) 
 She comes the mother comes a heart is found 
 To offer all it loves your trumpets sound ! 
 And shout Astarte", and dread Moloch's name ! 
 Prepare the furnace, and make fierce the flame! 
 Oh ! beautiful that daughter of high zeal ! 
 Struggling with woe, yet seeming not to feel : 
 [Resolve sits stately on her radiant brow, 
 With heaven's own light her eye seems flashing now; 
 A robe of Sidon's purple wraps her form, 
 She the fair halcyon, calm in terror's storm : 
 Her raven hair falls cloud-like o'er her breast, 
 And there, with smiling lip, her babe is prest. 
 
 Eternal Nature ! must thy ties give way, 
 And Truth and Love black Error's law obey? 
 
PAKT I.] THE SACRIFICE. 269 
 
 Can she, the mother, view yon rising bla,ze 
 
 With heart unharrowed, and unshrinking gaze? 
 
 She gives her babe to dark Phoenicia's god, 
 
 To soothe his wrath, and stay his withering rod. 
 
 The priests approach, with slow and solemn pace, 
 
 To rend that nestler from its hiding-place; 
 
 She stands with firm, and calmly-rigid air, 
 
 Looks at her first-born child 'tis smiling there, 
 
 Gay eye, and rosy lip, like flowers which bloom 
 
 Decking some dread volcano's edge of doom; 
 
 That reckless gleesome look it reached her heart ; 
 
 Religion fades, heroic dreams depart; 
 
 Soft o'er her soul the dew of Nature steals, 
 
 A mother's love, and all her woes she feels. 
 
 Oh ! now her arms around the babe are cast, 
 
 In wild caresses must they be her last? 
 
 Back from the prieste she shrinks, her youthful frame 
 
 Recoiling, shuddering at that hissing flame, 
 
 And fear grows frenzy, as they still advance, r 
 
 While beauteous horror lightens in her glance. 
 
 " No, no !" she cries, " I dreamed some blinding spell 
 Was thrown around me by th<j fiends of hell; 
 Heaven's laws I rev'rence, but I cannot part 
 With this dear thing, the life-blood of my heart ! 
 What ! give to fire oh ! hear me, gods above ! 
 My own, my beautiful, my cherub love? 
 No, I repent; my infant shall not brave 
 Those raging flames a million lives to save! 
 Ah ! will ye, priests ! my treasure from me tear, 
 Nor heed my pangs, nor pity my despair? 
 
270 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 My husband ! father ! shield me snatch away 
 From fiery death, the helpless, sinless prey ! 
 Hold! ruthless murderers! on my knees I fall; 
 Could my blood turn to tears, I'd shed it all : 
 A moment pause this boon yell not deny 
 If one must perish let the mother die ! 
 I'll bear your fires, and think your tortures mild, 
 So you forget the past, and spare my child." 
 
 Thus spoke a mother's love, each age the same, 
 Bright burned in darkest years that sacred flame; 
 But Moloch's priests affection's prayer deride, 
 Fiends steel their hearts, and fill their souls with pride. 
 Poised o'er the flames the brazen image stands; 
 The babe is placed upon those giant hands; 
 They bend it drops behold that frenzied eye ! 
 Hark! through the shrine that wild and startling 
 
 cry! 
 
 It reaches furthest courts and vaults below, 
 Each pillar seems to echo shrieks of woe, 
 Then all is hushed-^-she sinks upon the floor 
 Her heart is still the mother's griefs are o'er.* 
 
 Baalbec we leave ; still East our course we urge, 
 Each ruin fading on the horizon's verge. 
 
 * Diodorus states that the image of Moloch was of brass; the fire 
 was placed beneath the extended hands, which, when th^y received 
 the victim, turned downwards, thus permitting it to fall into the 
 furnace. The worship of the sun, as observed by the Phoenicians, 
 has now perished from the earth, for very different indeed are the 
 rites of the fire-worshippers in Persia and at Bombay, those gentle 
 followers of Zoroaster. 
 
PART I.] THE DESERT. 271 
 
 No streams run gurgling now, no flower is seen, 
 
 Heaven hath, no cloud, and earth no spot of green. 
 
 Yast as a sea, the desert round us sweeps, 
 
 Where Desolation tomb-like silence keeps, 
 
 And dull-eyed Melancholy broods alone, 
 
 And Death triumphant sits on Nature's throne. 
 
 The scene with solemn thought the heart may fill, 
 
 Expand the soul, and passion's tumult still. 
 
 Ah ! let the city-dweller leave his sphere 
 
 Of narrow toil and care, and wander here : 
 
 Yon sapphire vault down-stooping -to the plain, 
 
 The sands that shift like waves along the main, 
 
 JSTo sign of life save where the ostrich stalks, 
 
 Or lurks the hyena on his stealthy walks, 
 
 While that blank wearying waste, so wide and lone, 
 
 Since earth threw off its flood, no change has known 
 
 Placed on this spot, lie feels his vauntings o'er, 
 
 Lord of the soil, and of the world no more ! 
 
 His busy marts, their torture, strife, and sound, 
 
 Seem lost, e'en nothing, 'mid that hush profound : 
 
 He looks to heaven, and casts his straining eye 
 
 O'er the dread wild, and whispers " What am I? 
 
 But as the grain of sand beneath my feet, 
 
 My hours, than yonder sun-flash, e'en more fleet." 
 
 Day's parting spirit burns, not smiles, farewell; 
 The tents are pitched around the desert well; 
 Cooling the air, the moss-fringed waters glide, 
 Irem's bless'd rills less grateful than that tide. 
 The weary camel yields to slumbers calm, 
 The travellers group beneath the spreading palm, 
 
272 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 And odours of the fragrant weed inhale, 
 While some swart Arab tells his fabling tale. 
 Slow sails the moon, a silver bark through heav'n, 
 The foam of fleecy clouds around her driv'n, 
 And myriad star-eyes, through their veil of blue, 
 Glance sparkling out, our lower world to view 
 Immortal watchers, from their heavenly height, 
 Gazing so purely calm, divinely bright ! 
 Just as they shone when old Chaldsea's sage 
 Scanned all their lights, and read their mystic page, 
 And sad, and slow, beneath their glimmering ray, 
 The bond-maid Hagar trod her lonely way, 
 Clasped to her bursting heart her outcast child, 
 And breathed her sighs along the distant wild. 
 
 Again 'tis day : We quit the palmy stream, 
 Winds pant, and faint, while glares the scorching beam; 
 White as hot steel the broad sun mounts the skies, 
 The burning vapours quivering as they rise. 
 No beast, no wandering bird doth hither come, 
 Not e'en an insect wakes her drowsy hum. 
 But lo ! the hills on which some dark curse rests, 
 Barren their sides, all rocks their withered crests, 
 Approach with frowns, and form a savage dell, 
 Where snakes retreat, and vultures love to dwell.* 
 
 * Unlike the neighbourhood of Baalbec, nothing can be more 
 desolate than the country in the vicinity of Palmyra. The ruins 
 are situated in a complete desert of sand, about one hundred and 
 thirty miles east of the first-named place, and sixty west of the 
 Euphrates. Yet we have every reason to believe, from the remains 
 of aqueducts, and the accounts left us of the large population of the 
 city, that the locality was once well supplied with water and extremely 
 fertile. 
 
PART I.] PALMYRA. 273 
 
 Silent and strange along this craggy way, 
 
 Rise countless towers that brave thy hand, Decay ! 
 
 Did busy men once live, and flourish here, 
 
 Their palaces yon piles so old and drear? 
 
 Draw nearer scan each building's dark recess, 
 
 What mean those crumbling bones that mouldered 
 
 dress? 
 
 Yes, these are tombs,, as many a mummy shows,. 
 Where man in distant ages found repose;* 
 The street of graves ! where kings laid down their pride; 
 And many a restless phantom yet may glide : 
 Murdered Longinus here may wander still, t 
 And she, whose dust was laid by Tibur's hill, 
 Far-famed Zenobia, for her kingdom wail, 
 Mounting with viewless form the desert gale.. 
 
 We pass the tombs : beneath heaven's arching blue> 
 A startling scene now meets the ravished view; 
 Baalbec's huge group of columns charmed the eyes,. 
 But here, like some vast wood, the pillars rise: 
 
 * On each side of the barren valley by which the traveller ap- 
 proaches Palmyra from the west, are to be seen very singular square 
 towers, from three to five stories high. The chambers are divided 
 into compartments, the ceilings of some of which are richly painted, 
 and the walls stuccoed. The remains of mummies, resembling those 
 of Egypt, have been found in these recesses, at once explaining the 
 design and nature of the buildings* These tomb-towers of the old 
 inhabitants, unlike any structures raised by the Ramans or Greeks, 
 must have been built prior to the conquest of Palmyra by Aurelian, or 
 even the era of the Seleucidae. 
 
 f Longinus, the eloquent author of A Treatise on the Sublime, 
 and the secretary of Zenobia, was cruelly put to death by order of 
 Aurelian. 
 
274 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 There, trees cast shade, and herbage decked the plain, 
 
 Here, all is sand, death's still and drear domain. 
 
 Deserted Tadmor ! queen of Syria's wild ! 
 
 Well may'st thou fill with rapture Fancy's child ; * 
 
 Yet not by day too glaring, harsh, and rude 
 
 The eye should scan thy fairy solitude; 
 
 But when the still moon pours her hallowing beam, 
 
 And crumbling wall and palace whitely gleam, 
 
 Then mark the lofty arch, shrines moss-o'ergrown, 
 
 All Time hath left of poetry in stone; 
 
 See how like spectral giants columns stand, 
 
 And cast long shadows o'er the yellow sand; 
 
 How the soft light on marble tracery plays, 
 
 And sculptures life-like look through silvery haze 1 
 
 Tread the broad colonnade, where Traffic's throng, 
 
 And chief and sage were wont to sweep along; 
 
 Bum on ruin mouldering, calm and lone, 
 
 Arch following arch, fane, massy wall o'erthrown, 
 
 And still some noble line of columns grey, 
 
 In dim perspective, stretching far away, 
 
 These will the stars in desolation show, 
 
 Shedding o'er all a soft ethereal glow, 
 
 * Tadmor, or Palmyra each word signifies a palm-tree, indicat- 
 ing that this tree once flourished where now all is sterility. The 
 first view of Palmyra is overwhelmingly grand. The pillars at Baal- 
 bec, though of great size, are very limited in number, but here the 
 columns seem to defy every attempt to count them. Unobstructed 
 by other buildings, and of the purest white marble, they extend in 
 one direction nearly a mile and a-half. " There," writes Volney, in 
 his travels, " we see them (the pillars) ranged in rows of such length, 
 that, similar to rows of trees, they deceive the sight, and assume the 
 appearance of continued walls." 
 
PART I.] PALM YEA. 275 
 
 Till beauty scarce of earth around us beams, 
 And like the home of spirits Tadmor seems; 
 Or half we think that Eastern story true 
 His plastic spell the strong enchanter threw, 
 And built by genii, in one glorious night, 
 Those shrines of pride, and palaces of light. (102) 
 
 And are no dwellers here? no beings found 
 Within Palmyra's wide and haunted bound? 
 Yes, come and see where Beauty, in old days, 
 Touched her sweet harp, and blushed at her own 
 
 praise, 
 
 There jackalls lurk, ^mid hollow stones up-piled, 
 And send their savage yell across the wild. 
 Yes, come and see where kings in council sate 
 On ivory thrones, 'mid all the pomp of state, 
 There mopes the owl, with shining sleepless eye, 
 And growls the panther, stealing slowly by. 
 Commerce in Tadmor fixed her gorgeous seat ; 
 Her voice was heard through every busy street : 
 The caravan brought gems from Persia's shore, 
 Tyre sent her cloths, and Ind her golden store; 
 And this long ages saw, till Syria's mart 
 Drew and poured forth wealth's streams a mighty 
 
 heart!* . 
 
 Now come and see within yon pillared walls, 
 'Mid tottering shafts and broken capitals, 
 
 * That Palmyra was a place of much trade at a very early epoch 
 cannot be doubted. Lying in the route from Mesopotamia to the 
 Mediterranean, it became the great emporium of merchandise from 
 Persia and India. 
 
276 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Squalid and lorn, cut off from all mankind, 
 In tattered garbs, to want and woe consigned, 
 A few poor Arabs crouch with senseless stare 
 They view the pomp and beauty lingering there, 
 Tend their lean goats, to Mecca idly bow, 
 The only merchants, only princes, now! (103) 
 
 Yet lovely, 'mid these ruins, 'tis to see 
 What yet survives, all bounding, fresh, and free. 
 Sweet brook ! that lift'st thy small and happy voice, 
 And, like some sportive child, dost here rejoice, 
 Untired by wearying ages, from thy spring, 
 Up, up thou bubblest, like some fairy thing : 
 Cool is thy grot, and smooth thy basin's rim; 
 Wild vines and flowers overhang the water's brim; 
 Hard by, an altar's sculptured fragments lean, 
 There, carved in stone, thy patron's name is seen.* 
 Sure Naiads watch thee with unceasing care, 
 Lest aught pollute a thing so chaste and fair, 
 Defend thy low stone font from crushing years, 
 And on thy limpid bosom drop their tears; 
 Yet, pitying maids, they will not scare away 
 The desert wanderer, fainting 'neath the ray, 
 But, smiling, view him stoop his thirsty lips, 
 And turn to nectar every drop he sips. 
 Thy playful bounding stream then quits the cave, 
 Palmyra's ruined walls and shrines to lave; 
 
 * A spring rises^at the foot of the hills west of Palmyra, in a 
 fine grotto, whence the water issues into a stone basin ; an inscrip- 
 tion on a ruined altar near, says it was dedicated to Jupiter, and 
 called Ephea. Vide Wood. 
 
PART I.] PALMYRA. 277 
 
 And now it chafes with columns prostrate thrown, 
 
 Its tiny rage in froth and murmurs shown; 
 
 Now, calm as holy dreams, it wanders by, 
 
 Gives back each ruin, and reflects the sky, 
 
 Till, tombed like some bless'd saint, its course is o'er, 
 
 And, lost 'mid sands below, is seen no more.* 
 
 City of Solomon ! whose fame and power, 
 And wondrous wealth, began in earth's young hour; 
 How, 'mid her fallen pomp, thought wanders back 
 O'er vanished days a sad, yet dazzling track. 
 Arabia's fierce and desolating horde, 
 Rome's conquering eagle, Babylonia's sword, 
 All we behold, but chief one form appears, 
 Rising all radiant from the gulf of years: 
 Proud is her step, her dark eye varying oft, 
 Now flashing fire now languishingly soft; 
 Well suited to that brow the crown is seen 
 'Tis great Zenobia, Tadmor's glorious Queen. 
 Beauty hath oft put War's dread helmet on, 
 And, leading armies, honour, victory won ; 
 Yet not Semiramis, who boasts her bays, 
 Nor Gaul's bold maid, who graced these later days, 
 Swayed the rough hearts of men with wilder power, 
 Or met more bravely battle's dreadful hour, 
 Than she on whom pleased fame and fortune smiled, 
 The dark-haired mistress of the Syrian wild.t 
 
 * This stream, after running part of its course in an artificial 
 stone channel, about three feet wide, is absorbed in the desert east 
 of the ruins. Vide Wood. 
 
 f Zenobia, wife of Odenatus, who perished amidst his victories, 
 was the last independent sovereign of Palmyra. Under her sway 
 
278 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 But now the conqueror's brighter hour hath passed, 
 And fair Zenobia's star goes down at last. 
 The Roman comes his legions file around 
 Doomed Tadmor's walls, to deafening trumpets' sound. 
 Aurelian bids the desert princess yield, 
 But hark ! her answer clashing sword and shield ! * 
 Girt by her chiefs, her proud plumed head she rears, 
 Defies the foe, and each faint spirit cheers; 
 Her milk-white courser prances round the wall, 
 Her gestures, looks, and words, inspiring all. 
 Through opened gates her troops are sallying now, 
 Still in their front appears that dauntless brow; 
 Where'er her silver wand is seen to wave, 
 There rush the boldest, and there fall the brave, 
 And when borne back by Rome's immense array, 
 She fights retreating, pauses still to slay. 
 
 But ceaseless war, and famine's tortures slow, 
 "Wear bravery out, and bring Palmyra low. 
 'Twas then the Queen, not yet quenched Hope's sweet 
 
 light, 
 
 Passed from the gates beneath the veil of night, 
 At that last hour from Persia aid to call, 
 Save her loved land, and stay Palmyra's fall.t 
 
 the city of the desert reached a height of power and magnificence 
 known, perhaps, at no former period. Zenobia, by her general, 
 Zabdas, conquered part of Egypt, and a considerable portion of 
 Asia Minor. 
 
 * After the defeat of Zenobia's troops at the battles of Antioch 
 and Emesa, the Queen retired to Palmyra, where she was closely 
 besieged by Aurelian, A. D. 273. 
 
 f Zenobia, when reduced to extremity in her capital, set out in 
 
PAET I.] ZENOBIA. 279 
 
 With fluttering heart, but calm and fearless eye, 
 Across the trackless desert see her fly! 
 On swept the camel with unflagging speed, 
 As though he knew that time of deadly need ; 
 Her Syrian guards o'er Arab steeds might lean, 
 But not keep pace with her, their flying Queen. 
 What recked she drifting sand, or scorching sun? 
 What recked she pain or toil, that mission done] 
 Come hunger, thirst on, on her course must be, 
 Each swift-winged hour brought, Tadmor, doom to 
 thee! 
 
 Gleaming afar, through clouds of rising sand, 
 Bright helms were seen, now bickering spear and brand ; 
 Then horsemen forward dashed a long-drawn row 
 'Twas Rome's dread troops, the fierce pursuing foe ! 
 They saw, and hailed across the waste was borne 
 The hoarse, deep note of many a trumpet-horn; 
 And on they came, like winds careering fast, 
 Not half so fearful sweeps the simoom-blast ; 
 They brought for her who scoured those desert plains, 
 Woe and disgrace captivity and chains. 
 
 But still Zenobia flew; the steeds that bore 
 Her guards had sunk- those chiefs could aid no more; 
 And now that camel shaped his course alone, 
 He reared his head as louder blasts were blown, 
 And strained each nerve, his soft black drooping eye 
 Telling of suffering, fear, and agony; 
 
 person on her fleetest dromedary, to beg assistance of the Persians 
 on the other side of the Euphrates. 
 
280 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Unhappy, faithful thing ! that still would brave 
 Toil, peril, death, his royal charge to save. 
 
 'Twas vain : as hounds at length chase down the deer, 
 Those horsemen, breathing terror, drew more near; 
 Though some fell back, or sank upon the way, 
 Yet others, slowly gaining, reached the prey. 
 They halted, wheeled their armour's dazzling sheen 
 Formed a dread wall round Syria's fated Queen; 
 Hope fled her breast she yielded ruined now, 
 But still majestic shone that high-born brow. 
 Ah ! as they led their prisoner o'er the plain, 
 No more to rule, but grace a tyrant's train, 
 And, exiled, pine where wooded Anio sweeps, 
 Far from her desert home and palmy steeps, 
 The sun of Syria's power went down in night, 
 On Freedom's tree there rained a withering blight, 
 Glory to proud Palmyra sighed adieu, 
 And o'er her shrines Destruction's angel new. (104) 
 
 END OF PART I. 
 
KUINS OF MANY LANDS. 
 
 BOOK m. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS AGES. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 PERSIA ! time-honoured land ! who looks on thee 
 A desert, yet a Paradise, will see; 
 Yast chains of hills where not a shrub appears, 
 Wastes where no dews distil their diamond tears, 
 The only living things foul birds of prey, 
 Who whet their beaks, or court the solar ray, 
 And wolves that fill with howlings midnight's vale, 
 Turning the cheek of far-off traveller pale : 
 Anon, the ravished eye delighted dwells 
 On chinar-groves, and brightly-watered dells; 
 Blooming where man and art have nothing done, 
 Pomegranates hang their rich fruit in the sun; 
 Grapes turn to purple many a rock's tall brow, 
 And globes of amber deck the citron's bough; 
 'Mid rose-trees hid, or perched on some high palm, 
 The bulbul sings through eve's delicious calm; 
 
282 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 While girt by planes, or washed by cooling streams, 
 On some green flat the stately city gleams. 
 'Tis as a demon there had cast his frown, 
 And here an angel breathed a blessing down; 
 As if in nature as the human soul, 
 The god of darkness spurned heaven's bright control, 
 Good struggling hard with Evil's withering spell, 
 A smiling Eden on the marge of hell.* 
 
 Immortal clime! where Zoroaster sprung, 
 And light on Persia's earlier history flung; 
 Let charity condemn not Iran's sage, 
 Who taught, reformed, and humanised his age. (105) 
 In him one great as Mecca's prophet see, 
 But oh ! more gentle, wise, and pure than he. 
 And what the creed that man of ancient fame 
 Gave Iran's sons, his worshippers of flame 1 ? 
 He taught one Spirit dwells in light afar, 
 Who framed the world, and each mysterious star, 
 Ormuzd, the source of mercy, truth, and love, 
 Who fain would see all bless'd below, above; 
 But still rebelling, darkening Nature's face, 
 With ills afflicting man's unhappy race, 
 Black Arimaij. ascends from shades below, 
 Tempts us to crime, and triumphs in our woe. 
 Through earth and air good Ormuzd's angels glide, 
 Watching our steps, and turning harm aside ;t 
 
 * Ormuzd is the god of light, the beneficent deity, and Ariman, 
 the god of darkness, in the ancient mythology of Persia, now called 
 by the natives Iran. 
 
 f Guardian spirits, called Kherdars, are appointed, says the 
 Zendavesta, to protect every being from his birth, for the malice of 
 
PART II.] PERSIA. 283 
 
 But fiends oppose them and our souls ensnare, 
 
 Lure on to death, and sink us in despair. 
 
 Fire, that makes pure the earth, and lights the skies, 
 
 Is Ormuzd's glorious type to mortal eyes 
 
 The stars his angels, and the sun his throne, 
 
 "Where with the great Zurwan* he reigns alone: 
 
 Thus on a myriad altars blazed the flame, 
 
 That, watched from age to age, must burn the same; 
 
 And thus each morn they climbed the tower-crowned 
 
 height, 
 To hail with rapture-hymns returning light. 
 
 Man ne'er shall die his mortal parts obey 
 The law of change, and blend with kindred clay; 
 The routhj or soul, the angel of the tomb 
 Bears to the bridge, where Justice reads its doom. (106) 
 But time rolls on, and down heaven's star-paved 
 
 road 
 
 Great Ormuzd comes from Glory's bright abode, 
 Revives the slumbering dust that Genii keep; 
 Atom joins atom all awake from sleep : 
 The world dissolves, the reign of ill is o'er, 
 Crime will expire, and tears be known no more. 
 E'en Ariman, repentant, now will fall, 
 And fiends adore One father, lord of all. 
 
 Ariman is continually surrounding us with deeves, or ministers of 
 evil. 
 
 * Zurwdn is to be considered the first great active principle, 
 rather than a distinct being, and signifies time without beginning 
 and without end. This Time summoned Ormuzd and Ariman 
 themselves into existence, Ormuzd afterwards creating the universe. 
 See Du Perron! s Translation. 
 
284 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 The groans of those in torment, too, will rise, 
 Nor plead in vain for mercy to the skies. (107) 
 
 So taught the Persian sage, and so to-day, 
 Despite the Moslem's scorn and. withering sway, 
 Clings to that faith the hapless Gueber band, 
 Driv'n to wild wastes, and India's hostile land. 
 The sacred flame on Queda's holy hill 
 Hath blazed three thousand years, and blazes still;* 
 Like sun-flowers there, when Morn unfolds her rays, 
 Kneel white-robed crowds, and eastward turn their gaze; 
 Still they believe that orb, which tireless rolls, 
 Is God's bright throne, the home of happy souls; 
 Still they believe good angels hover nigh, 
 That Mythrat wafts each heart-breathed prayer on high; 
 And calm they wait till death, with torch of fire, 
 "Waves them from earth to beams that ne'er expire. 
 
 No classic shrines like those in Greece that smile, 
 No temples towering as by hoary Nile, 
 Speak of the Gueber's creed on Persia's plains, 
 But oft on rocks, where Desolation reigns, 
 The awe-struck pilgrim marks a mouldering tower, 
 Worn by long storms, or rent by lightning's power; 
 
 * About four thousand families of Guebers are located at Yezd, 
 an oasis in the great Persian desert. The sacred mountain of Ater 
 Queda is near the city. (See Stephens' Persia.) At Bombay the 
 Fire-worshippers form a large and respectable community, and are 
 known by the name of Parsees, from the Persian province of Pars 
 or Fars. 
 
 f Mythra, one of the chief Angels of Fire, and benevolently in- 
 clined to all the creatures of Ormuzd. 
 
PART II.] SITE OF SELEUCIA AND CTESIPHON. 285 
 
 There burned the flame 'twas bliss for man to see, 
 There Magi prayed, and monarchs bent the knee : 
 Bless'd walls ! their builders deemed not other kings, 
 And priests unborn, would hail them cursed things. 
 
 But westward see ! swift Tigris rolls his tide,* 
 And shine afar old Baghdad's mosques of pride : 
 A long, long desert tract before us lies, 
 Where nought appears but rocky plains and skies, 
 Save where some loose-robed Santon, bowed by age, 
 With staff and scrip, pursues his pilgrimage, 
 Hoping to kiss bless'd Selman's sacred tomb, 
 Or breathe to Allah prayers in distant Koom.t 
 What mean yon mounds, like long-forsaken graves, 
 Where its coarse stems the desert wormwood waves 1 
 Hid in tall grass the snake and lizard play, 
 And, roused from sleep, the jackall scours away. 
 Now all is hushed save yon deep river's flow, 
 Breathing like some lorn spirit's plaint of woe; 
 Ah ! Nature seems to mourn, so still and sad, 
 But Death smiles here, and Ruin's heart is glad. 
 
 This heath once swarmed with myriads : gay and loud 
 Rose the light laugh of Pleasure's reckless crowd : 
 These mounds were palaces, and streets, and towers, 
 Where wealth heaped gold, and luxury charmed the 
 hours. 
 
 * Nearly all the country through which the Tigris flows formed at 
 one period part of the Persian empire. 
 
 f The sepulchre of Selman Pauk, a Mohammedan saint, is near 
 Madain and the ruins of Ctesiphon. In Room lie buried some of 
 the descendants of Ali, and thither pilgrimages are made. 
 
286 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Two cities moulder here and can it be, 
 
 Seleucia!* Ctesiphon! we gaze on ye? 
 
 Boast of the Greek, and pride of Parthia's kings, 
 
 Ho w has your glory flown on eagle wings ! 
 
 The thrones of ivory, and the myrtle bowers, 
 
 The harems, full of Beauty's choicest flowers, 
 
 The burning censers of the Magian train, 
 
 The bright-plumed hosts careering o'er the plain, 
 
 "Where are they now? The lowly turf I tread, 
 
 On which the daisy lifts its yellow head, 
 
 Veils the past scene of splendour Genii, come ! 
 
 From cave and dell, your green and haunted home, 
 
 Shed memory's tear, put wreaths of cypress on, 
 
 And mourn Selucia! weep for Ctesiphon! (108) 
 
 By ruin struck, yet wrestling hard with years, 
 One noble relic on this waste appears : 
 See ! where yon lofty-raised, stupendous wall, 
 Nods o'er the desert mounds, but will not fall; 
 Beneath the mighty arch we wander slow,, (109) 
 On sand-heaped floors the thorn and thistle grow. 
 And here dwelt Khosru, Persia's tasteful king, 
 Lapped in each joy that power and splendour bring; 
 Here blazed that throne, all formed of pearls and 
 
 gold, 
 Like sunset cloud round Mythra's chariot rolled; 
 
 * Some prosodists, in accordance with the Greek, have accented 
 this word on the penultimate, but Ainsworth, Milton, and some 
 others, following the genius of our tongue, have placed the accent 
 on the u. 
 
 " Of great Seleucia built by Grecian Kings." 
 
 PARADISE LOST. 
 
PART II.] THE PALACE OF KHOSRU. 287 
 
 Here Indian slaves knelt down in glittering rows, 
 And Tyrian couches wooed to cool repose ; 
 Breathed from a thousand urns each choice perfume, 
 Till fainting sweetness filled each dazzling room. 
 Here Barbud's* hand the harp-strings swept along, 
 Till all the trembling air seemed steeped with song. 
 The soul in dreams half thought her in the skies, 
 Mistaking earth for star-bright Paradise.t 
 
 Yet, more than all, Love's spirit seems to dwell 
 Within these walls, and haunt them with a spell ; 
 His fragrant breath floats round yon pensile flower, 
 That decks in loneliness his broken bower; 
 His tones of softness melt a summer sigh 
 On every musky breeze that wanders by. 
 Here Persia's prince, removed from War's dark 
 
 scene, 
 
 Parsed years of rapture with his fair Shireen : 
 They loved, as changeful mortals rarely love, 
 Their highest joy below, their hope above, 
 To hear each other's voice, and still to see 
 Each other bless'd, and never parted be. 
 Oh ! from those eyes so darkly, softly bright, 
 As from heaven's stars, did Khosru drink delight ! 
 
 * Khosru's chief musician was called Barbud. 
 
 f The magnificence of Khosru, of the Sassan Dynasty of Persian 
 Kings, and who commenced his reign A. D. 531, has been the theme 
 of Oriental poets and historians. He built palaces in all his prin- 
 cipal cities, and after conquering Syria and Egypt gave himself up 
 to a life of ease and pleasure. His thrones for their splendour have 
 been very celebrated, one of which, named Tucht-dis, was made to 
 represent the twelve signs of the Zodiac wrought in pearls and gold. 
 
288 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Her heart -born smiles a lustre shed for him, 
 
 To which warm Kerman's summer suns were dim; 
 
 And more he prized one shred of those rich curls, 
 
 Than all Bokhara's gems, or Bahrein's pearls. 
 
 To watch her every lock, and only sigh 
 
 When saddening thoughts a moment dimmed her eye; 
 
 To share her calm delights, and shield from ill, 
 
 To bow his every wish to her dear will; 
 
 To pray the God of light, that yet might bloom 
 
 Affection's flower beyond the chilling tomb, 
 
 This was his love was e'er a truer seen? 
 
 And thus did Khosru worship sweet Shireen.* 
 
 Spirit ! whate'er thou art a breath of heav'n, 
 Or born of earth for man's chief rapture giv'n, 
 Eternal Love ! for thou art old, though fair, 
 Old as the world, and all that liveth there 
 Here would our heart confess, to thee we owe 
 The little bliss that lights our path below; 
 'Mid dreams of fame, and hopes too fondly nursed, 
 Doomed, like pale wandering stars, to shine and burst; 
 'Mid scenes that chill the heart, and cloud the brain, 
 Casting around the soul a wearying chain; 
 'Mid friendships broken, and affliction's gloom 
 For dear ones passed to silence and the tomb ; 
 Still, Love ! thy starry eye hath sparkled through 
 The clouds of fate, and chased their sombre hue ; 
 
 * Shireen is not a fictitious, but an historical character; and the 
 incomparable beauty of this princess, and the deep unchanging 
 affection manifested for her by Khosru, have been renowned 
 throughout the East. 
 
PART II.] TOMB OF DANIEL. 289 
 
 The voice, the look of one oh ! more than dear, 
 Can call up light our darkest hour to cheer. 
 Will not such union, tell me, be the bliss 
 Of other worlds, as 'tis the joy of this? 
 Hence, ye false hearts ! cold sceptics ! who would say 
 Ties formed on earth but last life's fleeting day; 
 That souls which meet on heaven's calm radiant shore 
 Shall know not, reck not those they loved before, 
 Memory's bright gleamings quenched within the grave, 
 As lightnings flash, then die beneath the wave! 
 
 Far south of Ctesiphon, Ulai flows, 
 That heard of old the song of Israel's woes,* 
 There meet ye a low Gliding, shapeless, rude, 
 Wild as the scene, where all is solitude ; 
 Who owned in other days this moss-clad cell? 
 Here, Allah's child, did some bless'd dervish dwell, 
 Hoping, by scorning pleasure, hatiiag man, 
 And dragging on in woe life's wretched span, 
 To win his prophet's praises in the skies. 
 Sit in bright bowers, and bask in houris' eyes? 
 No! yon small ruin marks the ancient dead; 
 Hushed be thy voice, and walk with reverent tread; 
 Towers near a mighty mound 'tis all ye see 
 Of Persia's boast of Susa's majesty; 
 Wild fern and rue around thee whispering wave, 
 Meet to adorn a perished people's grave. 
 
 * The Ulai of Daniel, the Eulaeus of the Greeks, now called Abi- 
 Shapur, washes the western side of the great mound at Sus. The 
 ruins at Sus, in the modern Persian province of Khuristan, it is 
 now satisfactorily decided, cover the site of the once-famous city of 
 Susa. 
 
290 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Now on that tomb sleep evening's mellow rays, 
 Its dark sides softening in the golden haze ; 
 The heart throbs high, yet solemn feeling steeps 
 The awe-struck soul, for here famed Daniel sleeps!* 
 
 Mighty of eld ! interpreter of dreams ! 
 Stern, mystic, awful, as his sacred themes ! 
 We pause, and doubt his very bones can rest 
 Beneath this heathy turf, the wild-bird's nest; 
 Yet here stood Susa there those waters roll, 
 Where heaven-born visions burst on Daniel's souljt 
 Yes, he, the favoured of Chaldsea's kings, 
 Who swept the future's depths on prophet- wings, 
 Hath oft, perchance, roamed here in thought sublime, 
 Mused by these murmuring waves, unchanged by time, 
 At night's deep hour yon lonely mountains trod, 
 Mourned for his captive race, and called on God. 
 
 Bless'd be the hands that raised this dateless tomb ! 
 Yet o'er the ruin hangs a spectral gloom, 
 Ideal terrors clothe it, like a pall, 
 E'en flowers look scarcely Nature's on the wall : 
 
 * The small ruinous building which native Persians as well as 
 foreign travellers agree in calling the tomb of the Prophet Daniel, 
 or at least in supposing that it stands over the place where his bones 
 were interred, is situated at the foot of the great mound. That 
 Daniel died and was buried at Susa, the scene of his prophetic 
 visions, we are led by Jewish tradition to believe; but when, or by 
 whom, the tomb was erected, we have no means of ascertaining. 
 Colonel Macdonald, during his travels in this desolate region, passed 
 a whole night in the sepulchre. 
 
 f See Daniel's vision on the banks of the Ulai at Shushan or 
 Susa. Daniel viii. 2, &c. 
 
PART II.] SUSA. 291 
 
 We dread, as blackened fragments creeping o'er, 
 A shade may greet us at that darkening door, 
 Some phantom-shape of dim unearthly mould, 
 To thrill the heart and make the blood run cold ; 
 And in each wailing wind we seem to hear 
 Tones as from heaven, the prophet's voice of fear. 
 
 Susa ! that held the wealth of Persia's kings, 
 Gold, silver, gems, and Art's most costly things; 
 Susa ! the pleasant city of delight, 
 Begirt with groves so shady, streams so bright, 
 "Where sang the bulbul to his blushing rose, 
 Half matched by Beauty's lyre at evening's close; 
 While spread those lily-gardens far and near,* 
 Like carpets of soft snow through half the year, 
 Save that they breathed perfumes as purely sweet 
 As wreaths of angels, when the bless'd they meet ; 
 Save that their tall green stems hid frolic Love, 
 Who laughed and played, and still would peep above, 
 Crowning the maid he lured amid their flowers, 
 With blooms all fresh as those in Eden's bowers. 
 
 Alas ! for Susa ! Climb we thoughtful, slow, 
 The giant mounu, ^he Hebrew's grave below. 
 The eye looks east and west, but all is bare, 
 A drear expanse, a savage desert there; 
 And other mounds in wild confusion sweep, 
 Like waves heaped high, then frozen on the deep. 
 
 * Susa, which was one of the chief treasure cities of the ancient 
 Persians, was renowned for the beautiful lilies in its vicinity: Shu- 
 shan signifies, in the Hebrew language, a lily, the city being so 
 named by the Jews. 
 
292 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 The joyous city, and the murmuring crowd, 
 The lily-garden, and the palace proud, 
 The lutes of maids, the bulbul's melting song, 
 The happy groups that danced the meads along, 
 All now have mingled with the eternal past, 
 A lamp gone out, a dream that might not last, 
 And o'er these heaps Oblivion waves her wing, 
 And the poor grasshopper will scarce be king! (110) 
 
 Yet interest halos still fair Susa's name, 
 And hearts unborn shall treasure up her fame, 
 Shall thrill sweet Esther's varied tale to hear, 
 And ask for Yashti's wrongs a pitying tear. 
 Pilgrims, when we are dust, shall climb this mound, 
 And gaze like us, and sink in thought profound. 
 Here, too, when day dies slowly o'er the waste, 
 And clouds, like burning waves, by clouds are chased, 
 Will lean the dreamer, and in fancy see 
 Gay sights of old, and pomp no more to be. 
 High on yon pile where rays of violet fall, 
 Will feast Darius, throned amidst his hall, 
 In deeper shade sad Yashti wander by, 
 Weep for her lord, and breathe her fruitless sigh. 
 There Mordecai will watch the palace gate, 
 And proud Haman defy approaching fate; 
 While, as the stars peep out, and trembling beams 
 Fall, diamond points, on rocks and desert streams, 
 And nun-like flowers their dewy eyelids close, 
 And all but elves and peris seek repose, 
 That group of chosen maids will seem to shine, 
 Sweet as the flowers, and as the stars divine 
 
PART II.] SHIRAZ. 293 
 
 The maids from every country gathered there, 
 The pale, the rosy-cheeked, the dark, the fair, 
 The bright, the languid-eyed, the short, the tall, 
 And Hebrew Esther loveliest of them all ! * 
 
 When wandering slow, in weariness and pain, 
 The sun-scorched desert, and unpeopled plain 
 Where nought hath met the gaze, for many a day, 
 But dreary ruins and lone beasts of prey 
 How joys the way-worn man again to find 
 The busy haunts of life, and greet his kind ! 
 The rising sun with roses strewed the sky, 
 As Shiraz glittered on the pilgrim's eye: 
 City of palaces ! how sweet the sight, 
 As there it spread, all steeped in golden light ! 
 Flashing as if some precious gem were set 
 On each rich dome, and pointed minaret, 
 The plane and cypress lofty as the towers, 
 And homes still seen through intermingling bowers. 
 Behold the stir of life ! the turban'd throng 
 Comes forth like bees, and pours the walks along : 
 Hark! from his shrine the Muezzin calls to prayer, 
 And far those sounds the wandering breezes bear : 
 "Allah is great!" seems whispering through the sky; 
 " Allah is great ! " the cavern'd hills reply ; 
 The peasant hears, and kneeling on the sod 
 With face tow'rd Mecca, breathes the name of God j 
 
 * Whether the Ahasuerus of Scripture, who divorced the ill-used 
 Vashti and married the Jewish maiden Esther, be Darius Hystaspes, 
 Cambyses, or Artaxerxes, commentators are divided in opinion. 
 Archbishop Usher argues in favour of Darius, and his view of the 
 question has been adopted in the text. 
 
294 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 And e'en the child, 'mid blossom'd groves at play, 
 Stops in his pastime " God is great ! " to say ! 
 
 City of dark-eyed woman ! where the beam 
 Ripens her beauty, as the fruits which gleam, 
 Forced into lusciousness by Summer's sun 
 Such maids the prophet's homage might have 
 
 won; 
 
 But what avail their charms, the loveliest flowers 
 Soft Persia boasts still hid in harem-bowers? 
 Woman is here man's slave, his sensual toy, 
 Born only, he believes, to yield him joy : 
 Nought recks the Moslem graces of the mind, 
 To all but outward beauty ever blind. 
 E'en now, methinks, where sad, with pining heart, 
 The envied harem-favourite mourns apart, 
 As free-born thoughts and hopes instinctive rise, 
 In words like these she breathes regretful sighs : 
 
 " I've silken couches, fount-cooled gorgeous rooms, 
 Around me glitters gold, and breathe perfumes; 
 A turban rivalling heaven's gay bow I wear, 
 Like star-lit cascade flows my gem-decked hair; 
 My robes are softer, girdle gleams more bright, 
 Than peris' garments, wove of morning's light. 
 The rosy rubies in our land that shine, 
 The diamonds brought from India's spangled mine, 
 Glow on my bosom, striving to eclipse 
 The eye's bright ray, the hue upon my lips : 
 Slaves from far countries round my musnud stand, 
 Kneel at my nod, and fly at my command; 
 
PART II.] THE HAREM FAVOURITE. 295 
 
 When day-beams burn, the spreading plume they wave, 
 
 To cool my cheek, while some my temples lave; 
 
 Or soft as Summer breezes sigh o'er flowers, 
 
 They tune their lutes to charm my dreamy hours. 
 
 Yes, as the harem's queen I've this all this, 
 
 Yet hath my heart a void, my soul no bliss; 
 
 Dear home-born joys these cold halls never gave, 
 
 I govern slaves, yet bow myself a slave. 
 
 The Frank may travel lands, and read, and see; 
 
 A prisoner I all knowledge veiled from me. 
 
 Though now I claim my lord's fond kiss and smile, 
 
 'Tis as a bauble charming for awhile; 
 
 Let Time but brush the insect's painted wing, 
 
 And dim the colours of the fragile thing, 
 
 The fire that lights his passion-torch will die, 
 
 And maids more fair and young my place supply. 
 
 Not this, we learn, where justice rules the West, 
 
 Is woman's doom her lot how bright and blest ! 
 
 Man there weds one; his love but rarely cloys; 
 
 She shares his fate his sorrows and his joys, 
 
 And when the bitter shaft of Azrael flies, 
 
 Halves with him still the raptures of the skies. 
 
 But we, alas! by heaven's bright streams must 
 
 rove, 
 
 Pale, lonely souls, unwarmed by hope or love, 
 Doomed to behold with envious, fruitless tears, 
 Our lords with houris bless'd for endless years."* 
 
 * Mohammed did not exclude women from Paradise, as it has 
 been vulgarly supposed, but a place there is set apart for their re- 
 ception ; they will not (says the Koran) mingle with the men, since 
 they are to be superseded by creatures more beautiful than them- 
 selves the celestial houris; nevertheless when a man particularly 
 
296 
 
 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Shiraz ! the proud ! not yet her fame hath ceased, 
 Nurse of bright genius, Athens of the East! 
 Where, sage and poet, brilliant Sadi sprang, 
 And, crowned with Love's own garlands, Hafiz sang 
 Hafiz, who shed Joy's charm on every theme, 
 And painted life one rapturous Summer dream. 
 With verdure still the poet's lawns are clad, 
 Still roses bend o'er crystal Roknabad; 
 And maidens, like young peris, fresh and gay, 
 Dance 'neath the shades of bowery Mossela j * 
 Now to crisp gold, Morn turns the babbling waves 
 That murmur near the tuneful brothers' graves, 
 And yew-trees, softening, cast no shade of gloom, 
 Bending like calm bless'd watchers o'er each tomb.t 
 
 But not for us the gorgeous city smiles, 
 With couch of softness, and sweet woman's wiles ; 
 'Tis ours to urge our lone untiring way 
 Through spoils of years, memorials of decay, 
 Striving, with curious aim, aside to cast 
 The veil which shrouds the Isis of the past.* 
 Near Shiraz, giant groups of ruin stand, 
 The pride of taste, the boast of Persia's land : 
 
 wishes for one of his earthly wives, the general rule will sometimes 
 be departed from, and his prayer granted. 
 
 * The stream of Roknabad, and the " bowers of Mossela," so cele- 
 brated in the strains of Sadi and Hafiz, are still pointed out to the 
 traveller ; but masses of ruinous buildings in the vicinity have greatly 
 impaired their ancient beauty. 
 
 f The tombs of Sadi and Hafiz are to be seen (at Shiraz) close to 
 the spot which gave them birth. Frazer. 
 
 I The Egyptian goddess Isis is represented as closely veiled. 
 
PART II.] PERSEPOLIS. 297 
 
 The dark o'erhanging hills our footsteps gain, 
 
 Wild and majestic sweeps that mountain-chain ; 
 
 No trees adorn the slopes, or corn, or flowers, 
 
 But ruined shrines of fire, and mouldered towers. 
 
 Ah ! well the smile from azure skies hath gone, 
 
 And Nature here put Terror's garment on : 
 
 The clouds their inky pall have hung on high, 
 
 The blast comes muttering like a spirit by; 
 
 Those clouds now open read ye Vengeance' name 
 
 Writ there in fire? or see ye tongues of flame? 
 
 Down dart the lightnings blinding from heaven's height, 
 
 In zigzag lines of blue and living light ; 
 
 Crash breaks on crash, and peal succeeds to peal, 
 
 The hero now might shrink, and terror feel, 
 
 For what's man's strife, though raging fierce and far, 
 
 To Heaven's artillery, and dread Nature's war? 
 
 The spirit owns a higher Power is here, 
 
 That wings the bolt, and speaks those sounds of fear. 
 
 But where the forky lightning fiercest plays, 
 What shadowy columns meet the straining gaze? 
 Now wrapped in gloom, and now in light they stand, 
 As swift between them darts the fiery brand. 
 It seems as Ruin, revelling in high mirth 
 O'er fallen things, the beautiful of earth, 
 Led to this spot the demons of the storm, 
 To show and mock each lonely column's form : 
 Yet tower they still, though fierce as now the skies 
 Have launched their lightnings countless centuries, 
 Gazing upon the mountains, and on heav'n, 
 As endless years to them were also giv'n; 
 
298 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 High, raised above that wild and mournful plain, 
 Where pomp and pageant ne'er must shine again, 
 But the green turf wraps cities, and the waves 
 Of winding Kur * sweep past a million graves : 
 Throned on their rock, they look like kings afar, 
 The column'd pride of glorious Chil Minar! (Ill) 
 Yes, storms ! rage on ! at such an hour as this, 
 Grand is the scene at dark Persepolis. 
 
 We leave far west the vanished city's site, 
 And mount by marble steps the platform's height; 
 Here frowns a massive gateway, such as Nile 
 Sees on his banks, a strange and solemn pile, (112) 
 And still another lifts its giant head, 
 Titanic strength to gorgeous beauty wed. 
 There figures stand, of earth that scarcely seem, 
 Like those which filled the Apostle's wondrous dream 
 The bull, the unicorn, and beauteous things, 
 Angels with starry wreaths, and high-spread wings; 
 While on each sweeping terrace lofty face, 
 A countless host of human forms ye trace ; 
 Kings, warriors, captives, from the marble start, 
 But rude the genius, coarse the sculptor's art. 
 Here, too, is carved that writing, Europe's sage 
 But dimly reads in Wisdom's boasted age, 
 Strange, mystic, as those words once seen to fall 
 In spectral light on Babylonia's wall.t 
 
 * The river Kur, the ancient Cyrus, flows by the ruins, and 
 through the great plain of Merdusht below. 
 
 f The different fronts of the terraces are covered with sculptures 
 in relief; Le Brun has calculated the number of figures of men and 
 animals on the entire ruins and tombs at Persepolis to be 1,300. The 
 
PART II.] PERSEPOLIS. 299 
 
 Whence came the Persian's dazzling dreams of 
 
 yore, 
 
 His worshipped forms, and wild mysterious lore? 
 Go to dark Nimroud, there the source is found, 
 See wonders sepulchred beneath the mound ! 
 In Nineveh those gods the Persian saw, 
 Enthroned them with his own, and bowed in awe; 
 The conqueror from the conquered knowledge won, 
 So Iran rose, Assyria was undone. * 
 
 Hewn from the rock, and near that towering door, 
 A cistern spreads, but fountains play no more : 
 Gone is the jasper brim which lustre gave, 
 Gone the pink coral-bed beneath the wave; 
 With golden backs the fish no longer glide, 
 Following young Beauty's footstep round the tide ; 
 But rank weeds flourish there, and vipers lie, 
 With forky tongue, and greenly-glistening eye 
 
 cuneiform, or arrow-headed character, which is every where met with, 
 after having perplexed so long the learned of Europe, is beginning 
 slowly, perhaps satisfactorily, to be understood, thanks to the in- 
 defatigable labours ot Grotefend, Rawlinson, and other Oriental 
 scholars and antiquaries. One inscription, deciphered by Grotefend, 
 goes to prove that Darius and Xerxes were the builders of Per- 
 sepolis, and part of it has been translated thus "Darius, the power- 
 ful king, king of kings, king ot gods, &c. " Such were the pompous 
 titles assumed by the Persian monarchs. 
 
 * The similarity between the remains at Persepolis and the winged 
 bulls, lions, and other grotesque sculptures recently exhumed on the 
 site of Nineveh, is very striking; but tor a briet account of Mr. 
 Layard's discoveries, and an intimation how largely the Medes and 
 Persians borrowed from the Assyrians, whom they conquered, we 
 refer the reader to the concluding Notes of Part I., Book I., at end 
 of this volume. 
 
300 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 That reptile tribe which worked man's earliest ill, 
 And his dark home in ruin haunteth still. * 
 
 But now the column-group before us stands, 
 A once proud palace raised by tasteful hands. 
 Though pictured walls have sunk beneath Time's frown, 
 And every age hath cast some fragment down, 
 Enough is here to dazzle, and impart 
 Interest and wonder to the gazer's heart. 
 Link between Greece and Egypt, rise the forms 
 Of those pale pillars battling with the storms; (113) 
 The giant pedestals round which we pass, 
 The towering shaft's fine cut and fluted mass, 
 The tombs in yonder cliff, where monarchs sleep, 
 And once-famed chiefs, whose names no records keep, 
 And, as the storm goes down, the deeply-still, 
 Deserted scene wide plain and voiceless hill, 
 May well impress the heart, light thoughts control, 
 And wake high dreams within the glowing soul. 
 
 What are the armaments of despot kings 1 
 They desolate the earth on locust-wings, 
 They slaughter and cause tears, then melt away, 
 Blent like their victims with the common clay : 
 Here where I lean did Xerxes sit and plan 
 To conquer earth, and crush his fellow man : t 
 Around this platform drew his mighty host, 
 Heaving like stormy waves on some wild coast; 
 
 * This cistern is eighteen by sixteen feet, and is hollowed out of 
 the solid marble of the platform. 
 
 f"From Persepolis all those mighty armies poured which had 
 overflowed Greece." Rollin. 
 
PART II.] PERSEPOLIS. 301 
 
 Bright shone their spears, harsh jarr'd their armour's 
 
 clang, 
 
 With trump and shout the mountain echoes rang; 
 And forth they went in glory and in pride, 
 To pour on Europe's plains that living tide, 
 To burn her cities, strew her fields with bones, 
 And hear the music of men's dying groans. 
 Poor slaves! they fell themselves, War's victims 
 
 there, 
 
 And their own forms the eagles did not spare; 
 Of all that host few saw these pillars more, 
 And boastful Persia slept on Graecia's shore. 
 
 Here, too, came one who bartered all for power, 
 The dread Napoleon of earth's younger hour; 
 Ay, the same spot we calmly muse on now, 
 Saw chiefs and kings to Alexander bow : 
 A conqueror yes, men praise and bend the knee, 
 Who spreads most woe, the greatest hero he. 
 But lo ! that night of revelry and doom, 
 Which turned this palace to a fiery tomb, 
 When perished all things costly, bright, and fair, 
 And left, as now, these pillars stern and bare.* 
 The feast is spread ; around the monarch shine 
 Those earth-born pomps weak mortals deem divine; 
 High sits he on his throne of gems and gold, 
 Bright starred and purple robes his limbs enfold; 
 
 * It was after the battle of Arbela, and the occupation of Babylon 
 and Susa, that Alexander entered Persepolis, where he found im- 
 mense treasure. His banquet in the palace, and the wanton act to 
 which he was incited by his mistress, the beautiful Thais, are facts 
 known to all readers of history. 
 
302 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 i 
 
 ISTo crown adorns his brow, for festive hours 
 
 Have wreathed his head with Bacchus' bloomy flowers. 
 
 Lamps, hung in silver chains, a softened glow 
 
 Shed on the warrior chiefs that group below. 
 
 There prince and noble round the board are met, 
 
 Who fought those fights embalmed in history yet ; 
 
 But thoughts of slaughter past, and blood-stained 
 
 fields, 
 
 Mar not the joys that gorgeous banquet yields; 
 Sparkles in cups of gold rich Cyprian wine, 
 Melts the Greek fig, the grapes of Ora shine; 
 Pears from far Bactria vie with Kerman's peach, 
 And fruit from climes e'en Greeks have failed to 
 
 reach, 
 
 Hot Indian Isles, to Scythia's mountain snows 
 Each luscious orb on plates of crystal glows. 
 Hark ! in the gilded gallery flute and lyre ! 
 Strains soft as sighs of dreaming love respire; 
 Then harp and sacbut bolder notes ring out, 
 Like victory's psean o'er some army's rout. 
 And thus they revel; mirth and joy control 
 The sterner thoughts, the high aspiring soul; 
 And e'en the slaves, in sumptuous garments dress'd, 
 Forget their toils to see their lords so bless'd. 
 
 But what young beauty leans beside the king, 
 With form so graceful, air so languishing? 
 While other maids are glittering down that hall, 
 A moon 'mid earth's sweet stars, she dims them all. 
 Her mask is off, unveiled her radiant head, 
 A lovelier veil those flower-bound tresses spread; 
 
PART II.] PERSEPOLIS. 303 
 
 A spangled zone her Grecian robe confines, 
 Bright on her breast a costly diamond shines, 
 But oh ! more bright, that eye's entrancing ray 
 Melts where it falls, and steals the soul away ! 
 Who looks must look again, and vanquished own 
 Earth boasts, than tyrant Love's, no mightier throne; 
 Woman was born to triumph he, the brave, 
 The nation-trampler, bowed her veriest slave; 
 Yes, beauteous Thai's, with Love's flag unfurled, 
 Conquered the blood-stained conqueror of the world!* 
 
 There sat the srniler, skilled all hearts to win, 
 Light round her thrown, but darkness still within; 
 That wanton dazzled for the passing hour, 
 But lacked soul's charm, and virtue's lasting dower; 
 Unlike those leaves autumnal roses shed, 
 Which keep their scent when all their bloom is fled, 
 She shone a tulip, whose brief season o'er, 
 It boasts no worth, and glads the sense no more. 
 But Thai's now, the beautiful, the proud, 
 Felt all her strength, and sternest warriors bowed. 
 Each envied his young king, to whom were turned 
 Those large dark eyes where melting fondness burned. 
 But see ! she moves she speaks with witching grace, 
 A Pythia's ardour brightening in her face : 
 How boldly proud her lovely arm is raised ! 
 By those sweet lips the monarch's deeds are praised 
 
 * Thais was born at Athens, and while one of the most vicious, 
 has been described as the most lovely woman of her time. She 
 accompanied Alexander in his Persian campaign, but her unenvi- 
 able fame mainly rests on the part which she took at the memorable 
 banquet, in the destruction of the Persian palace. 
 
304 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Dire lips, which urge him to an act that well 
 Destruction's fiend might prompt an act of hell. 
 
 "Fire Xerxes' palace! fire these royal halls! 
 His soul 'twill torture vengeance on us calls; 
 What ! dost thou waver, conqueror ! man of might ? 
 And ye, his chiefs? then I the torch will light, 
 And Greece avenge, though none the deed may share, 
 Woman shall do what heroes could not dare!" 
 
 Galled by the Beauty's bold and taunting words, 
 The monarch and his bacchants grasp their swords; 
 The quick-drawn blades a moment flash on high 
 " The Greek saith well we'll follow ! " was the cry. 
 Up rose the king, and seized a burning brand, 
 And swiftly torches gleamed in many a hand. 
 Heated with wine, and shouting fiercely loud, 
 Forth from the palace rushed that frantic crowd. 
 But she, bold Thais, moves the foremost there, 
 With waving arm, and unbound streaming hair; 
 Shines on her face the torches' flickering light, 
 But her wild eye with passion gleams more bright ; 
 Lovely she looks, and in that frenzy seems 
 Like Wrath's pale angel bursting on our dreams, 
 When vengeance takes some fair and heavenly form, 
 Or comes like beauteous lightning in a storm. 
 
 But countless brands now burn around the pile; 
 A moment yet its orient splendours smile 
 Its purple hangings, and its pictured walls, 
 Its thrones, its statues, and its cedar'd halls! 
 
PART II.] PEKSEPOLIS. 305 
 
 Xerxes' great work, each Persian monarch's pride 
 And must its virgin pomp be Ruin's bride 1 ? 
 
 Away ! 'tis fired ! the bacchants' shouts arise, 
 The smoke rolls out, the flames ascend the skies ; 
 Far o'er the city, and the plain below, 
 Those blood-red fires a ghastly radiance throw; 
 Like molten brass, the deep-dyed river sweeps; 
 The Greek exults, the hapless Persian weeps. 
 So sank the palace, and from that far day 
 Have these lone pillars stood in dark decay, 
 Telling of perished pomp, and vanished bliss, 
 The last sad wreck of proud Persepolis. (114) 
 
 END OF PART H. 
 
RUINS OF MANY LANDS. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 MISCELLANEOUS AGES. 
 
 PART IIL 
 
 HAIL to the hills where Desolation weeps, 
 Yet holy watch untiring Memory keeps ! 
 Hail to the vales where Plenty laughs no more, 
 Or mantling vines display their purple store, 
 But every rock with history's wreath is crowned, 
 And every barren glen is hallowed ground ! 
 Hail to the streams that flow not now along 
 Bless'd by the saint, or charmed by holy song, 
 Yet seem the haunt of angels, that still glide 
 By tree and cave, and skim the silent tide ! 
 Hail to the spot Heaven favoured, land divine, 
 Revered, long-suffering, beauteous Palestine ! 
 
 Ah! who so cold, can gaze and wander here, 
 Nor feel his bosom thrill, nor shed a tear? 
 Thrill, when he thinks of glorious times of yore, 
 And weep to know that glory ever o'er. 
 
PART III.] PALESTINE. 307 
 
 The ground lie treads a thousand saints have trod, 
 Prophets, far-visioned bards, and seers of God. 
 The ruined tower, the once green olived hill, 
 The stony waste, the half-choked fount and rill, 
 Each tells its tale that prompts a hope or sigh, 
 Linked with celestial memories ne'er to die. 
 The harp of Judah sounds o'er Sharon's vale, 
 Though there no more the roses scent the gale : 
 Despite the Roman's plough, and Moslem's shrine,* 
 Fancy beholds the Temple's splendours shine; 
 High stands on Olivet that sacred form, 
 Bright in our world, as rainbow in a storm; 
 By Kedron's tomb-lined brook he wanders slow, 
 Teaches his followers 'mid those caves below,t 
 Sheds tears loved Salem's bitter fate to tell, 
 Or leans and talks by bless'd Samaria's well : 
 Yes, those far ages flash a heavenly ray, 
 That hallows every scene we here survey. 
 
 Ruins? the land is one vast ruin glooms 
 The pall of death o'er cities as o'er tombs ; 
 Through towns once peopled see the jackall steal! 
 A stone marks some, and some no trace reveal. 
 On doomed Judaea rests the Almighty's ban, 
 Withering like lightning all the works of man. 
 We stand before that lake whose waves are rolled 
 Above two cities vengeance whelmed of old; 
 
 * The Mosque of Omar covers the site of the Temple on Mount 
 Moriah. 
 
 f The Kedron runs through the valley of Jehoshaphat, which is 
 full of sepulchres. The grotto or cave is still shown, near the tomb 
 of Zechariah, where Christ is said to have taught his Disciples. 
 
308 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 How dead, how heavy, those dark waters sleep, 
 
 No foam that murmurs, and no winds that creep : * 
 
 Flowers bloom not here ; no palms yon mountains crown, 
 
 Whose naked blasted forms, like fiends, look down: 
 
 Through the salt depths no finny darters swim, 
 
 ~No bright-winged birds the poisonous surface skim.t 
 
 All things of life, instinctive, shrink away ; 
 
 Spring, Summer, come, but nothing here is gay. 
 
 That scene resenibleth well the dreary fate 
 
 Of hopeless hearts, forlorn and desolate ; 
 
 That fixed eternal calm, that cold repose, 
 
 Are like the gloom his brooding spirit knows 
 
 Whose passions sleep in death, who joy and pain 
 
 Can hold alike, who bears the curse of Cain, 
 
 Hath nought to cling to, owns no human tie, 
 
 And recks not if he live, or when he die. 
 
 Where are thy walls, proud Jericho? the blast 
 Of Israel's horn to earth thy towers might cast, 
 But Time more surely lays thy bulwarks low; 
 Yonder the Jordan sweeps with tireless flow, 
 And Pisgah rears his earth-o'ergazing brow, 
 Defying storm and thunder where art thou? 
 
 * Owing to the great specific gravity of the waters of the Dead 
 Sea, they very rarely rise in waves; this general calm is also in 
 part produced by the lofty hills, which prevent the action of winds 
 on the surface of the lake. The Dead Sea lies in a complete hollow, 
 being by the measurement of Russegger 1,400 feet below the 
 Mediterranean, 
 
 f The old belief that owing to noxious vapours no birds haunt 
 the Asphaltic lake may, to a certain extent, be correct; the rule, 
 however, admits of exceptions, for gulls have occasionally been seen 
 to cross it; but fish have never yet been found. 
 
PART III.] JERICHO. 309 
 
 No tower hath left a stone ; not e'en a palm 
 
 Waves on thy site amidst the burning calm : 
 
 A few green turf-clad mounds alone remain, 
 
 Like those which mark famed Troy's deserted plain. (115) 
 
 Gone is that costly plant, a queen's fair hand 
 
 To Salem brought from Sheba's spicy land, 
 
 The weeping balsam, whose nectareous dew, 
 
 More prized than silver, well the trader knew:* 
 
 Yet still one flower above its flinty bed, 
 
 Renowned by minstrels, lifts its lowly head; 
 
 White rose of Jericho ! so small yet sweet, 
 
 That oft the way-worn traveller stoops to greet, 
 
 What dost thou in this desert? vain thy bloom 
 
 As the lamp's light that gilds the cheerless tomb ; 
 
 Vain opes thy bosom to the thankless air, 
 
 "No painted insect flies to nestle there; 
 
 Thy scents embalm the ground, but useless shed 
 
 As gifts of good upon the ungrateful head. 
 
 Alas ! fair rose, the barren plain we see, 
 
 How can it warm to life, have charms for thee] 
 
 Yet here exhaling sweets, thou dost remain, 
 
 Like hope fond lingering in this world of pain, 
 
 Whose bright and holy smile will ne'er depart, 
 
 Though every joy beside may fly the heart. t 
 
 * " This tree, which was peculiar to the vale of Jericho, was 
 more like a vine than a myrtle ; it (the balsam) was so dear that 
 it sold for double its weight in silver." Pliny. The Queen of Sheba 
 (says Josephus) brought the balsam from Arabia as a present to 
 Solomon. The gum is obtained by making an incision in the plant 
 with a sharp stone. 
 
 f The rose of Jericho has been a famed flower in Palestine, but 
 why it obtained the name it bears is not very apparent, for it little 
 
310 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Not yet we gaze on Salem's fallen pride, 
 But eastward speed, and cross smooth Jordan's tide; 
 Few ruins now those willowy banks disclose, 
 But fresh as in old days the current flows; 
 Here lofty reeds and palms shut out the beam, 
 And there romantic rocks o'erhang the stream. 
 Rare flowers, man trains not, deck the mossy ground, 
 And each slight breeze wafts almond-blooms around : 
 The bee secure along the lilied shore 
 Winds her blithe horn, and steals her honeyed store ; 
 Blue skies look down on bluer waves, the air 
 Is soft and fragrant, as some angel there, 
 Just flown from Paradise, had spread his plume, 
 Hushing the earth, and shaking round perfume. 
 Sweet Jordan ! surely here worn hearts might rest, 
 And calm Religion love a scene so blest. 
 
 How famed this lonely tract in sacred lore ! 
 'Twas here the desert prophet* roamed of yore; 
 Far south dark Nebo lifts its hoary head, 
 Whence Moses viewed the land he could not tread, 
 Tow'rd Canaan cast his dim-beholding eye, 
 And blessed the scene before he sank to die. 
 Here, too, the mighty seer, Elijah came, 
 And rose to heav'n, upborne by steeds of flame. 
 In yon wild valley mouldered Ammon lowers, 
 And weed-topped walls are seen, and fallen towers ; 
 
 resembles the common rose, and is found in many parts of the Holy 
 Land; the flower is white and small, and more remarkable for its 
 durability than its appearance. Dr. Kitto describes this flower in 
 his beautiful work, " The Pictorial Palestine." 
 * John the Baptist. 
 
PART III.] MOUNTAINS OF GILEAD. 311 
 
 There, reigned a king who swayed these palmy plains ; 
 
 No child of Lot, no subject now remains; 
 
 Lone sits the stork in Ammon's royal halls, 
 
 And from her reed-grown courts the bull-frog calls.* 
 
 A gentler tale the heart with sorrow fills, 
 Where Ramoth once adorned green Gilead's hills, 
 But spreading oaks above that city wave, 
 The Towers of Refuge now no more can save. (11 6) 
 Lo ! where the conquering Jephthah marches on, 
 With laurels crowned, to lyre and tymbalon ! 
 Hailing him home, a lovely maid appears, 
 With smiles of welcome, and soul-speaking tears ; 
 Trips dancing tow'rd him, whispering sweetly mild, 
 And asks the wonted kiss it is his child! 
 Why doth that anguish cloud the father's brow? 
 Why shakes his frame? his vow, his fatal vow! 
 Yes, her he loves, who now stands wondering by, 
 The oath he cannot break has doomed to die.t 
 
 On Gilead's hills a voice of wail is heard, 
 'Tis not the sighing wind, or plaining bird; 
 
 * The Ammonites were the descendants of the younger daughter 
 of Lot. The ruins of Rabbath-Ammon, afterwards called Phila- 
 delphia, are situated in a deep glen, about six hours' journey east of 
 the Jordan, proceeding from Jericho. Some massy stone remains 
 of the Roman period were found by Lord Lindsay on both sides of 
 the stream, and part of the south gate was standing. The place 
 was haunted by a great number of storks and frogs. Lord Lindsay's 
 Travels. 
 
 f The vow of Jephthah to sacrifice, if he should obtain a victory 
 over ihe Ammonites, the first person who might meet him on his own 
 threshold, will be familiar to all. It was to Ramoth-Mizpeh, we 
 are given to understand, that he returned. 
 
312 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Where yon cool fountain flows, beneath the shade 
 Of arching willows, sits the Hebrew maid : 
 Young girls around her raise those cries of woe, 
 But from sweet Miriam's lips no murmurs flow : 
 Calm on that breast, which soon beneath the knife 
 Must yield to heaven its gentle springs of life, 
 Droops her fair head, her rich locks, once her pride, 
 In unbound masses floating by her side. 
 Like soft dark clouds which screen too brilliant skies, 
 The silken fringe half veils those large black eyes, 
 And as in that deep hush scarce comes her breath, 
 She seems absorbed in thought, and dreams of death.* 
 
 Though feeble shrinkings shake not Miriam's 
 
 soul, 
 
 Regret's sad pangs she may not all control; 
 She feels how lovely Nature smiles around, 
 Joy in each beam, and music in each sound ; 
 But soon for her the sun will quench its ray, 
 And all that's bright and glorious fade away; 
 "No more for her will gush the bird's glad song, 
 The lithe gazelle in beauty bound along ! 
 "No more, oh ! never more, the much-loved voice 
 Of sire or friend will bid her soul rejoice : 
 That yoiing warm breast, now fond Affection's seat, 
 In soft response to love must cease to beat ; 
 In Gilead's vales no bride shall Miriam smile, 
 "No mother's joys shall e'er her heart beguile, 
 
 * The Daughter of Jephthah mourned on the mountains o 
 Gilead, with her female companions, for the space of two months. 
 See Judges, xi. 
 
PART in.] JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER. 313 
 
 Her nuptial wreath must be Death's plant of gloom, 
 Hymen's sweet bower the cold undreaming tomb. 
 Did fiends or angels prompt that fatal vow? 
 Oh! Heaven, look down! support and pity now! 
 Were ever woes so dark, and crushing, piled 
 On one fair head? alas! for Jephthah's child! 
 
 And there that maiden sat, but made no moan; 
 Still drooped her beauteous brow, as turned to stone; 
 The willow branches o'er her sighing spread, 
 Its crystal tears the bubbling fountain shed : 
 The bird, as carved in marble, on the spray 
 Stood motionless, and hushed its wonted lay; 
 Doth nature sympathize with human woe? 
 For human pain may tears of angels flow? 
 Ages have past, poor ill-starred Hebrew maid! 
 Thy heart is hushed, in long, long quiet laid, 
 Yet pilgrims, drawing near this lonely spot, 
 Will ever think of thee, and mourn thy lot. 
 
 Where Sihon reigned by Jabbok's osier'd tide, 
 The Arabs pitch their tents in kingly pride; 
 Cisterns we pass, and towers without a name, 
 That tell of once fair towns, and ancient fame.* 
 But north, where spreads a land of wood and stream, 
 Between the hills what stately ruins gleam? 
 Not Bashan's might, nor Israel's skill could rear 
 Such classic, gorgeous piles as moulder here. 
 
 * The territory of Sihon, King of the Amorites (says Josephus), 
 extended from the Arnon (now Modjeb) to the Jabbok, the Jordan 
 bounding it on the west. 
 
314 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Rome! must we still thy giant footprints meet, 
 Stamped on the soil of every land we greet ? 
 Sure earth ne'er bore, save one, a race like thine; 
 Shivering 'mid snows, or panting 'neath the line, 
 Still are we doomed to find some trace of thee, 
 Floating above the wrecks on Time's vast sea; 
 Such as thou wert, great Rome ! in might and sway, 
 Britain, thy Caesar conquered, is to-day ! 
 
 And this was Geraza, the grand, the proud, 
 Where to the stranger trembling Israel bowed, 
 And Roman victors passed a life of ease, 
 'Mid all that could exalt, refine, or please:* 
 They melted from the scene the Moslems came, 
 Pillaged the palace, wrapped the shrines in flame, 
 And searched the dead, and broke the coffin-lid, 
 Lured by the wealth which Jew or Christian hid.t 
 They in their turn departed ; ploughing years 
 Have swept the world; that city still appears, 
 Queen-like and sad, on ruin gazing down, 
 No foe but Time, no subjects and no crown, 
 
 * The remarkable ruins of the Roman city of Geraza, the Ger- 
 gashi of the Hebrews, and now called Jerash, are situated among 
 the mountains of Gilead, about a day's journey east of the Jordan; 
 they were discovered by Dr. Seetzen, thirty years ago, and have 
 since been visited by Burckhardt, Buckingham, and a few other 
 travellers. 
 
 f The followers of the Prophet of Mecca, ever impressed by the 
 idea that treasures are concealed among the ruins of infidel cities, 
 have ransacked all the tombs on the north and west of Geraza. 
 Buckingham saw more than one hundred stone sarcophagi lying in 
 heaps above the ground, being handsomely sculptured with shields 
 and other devices in the Roman manner. 
 
PAET III.] GERAZA. 315 
 
 Her only guest Oblivion's shade, who keeps 
 
 Watch o'er the scene, while Rome's pale genius weeps. 
 
 Behold this Arch of Triumph! reared to whom? 
 No line declares 'tis lonely as a tomb; 
 Yet here the monarch passed, or man of war, 
 While shouts rang round, and laurels decked his car;* 
 Hoar ruin follows ruin, far and near; 
 Not harsh the scene, not gloomy or severe, 
 But grandly beautiful, and softly mild 
 Another Tadmor mourns upon the wild. 
 The broken statue, column worn and rent, 
 The tottering tower, the grass-grown monument, 
 Are mixed with fairer objects classic shrines, 
 Round which the row of rich-carved pillars shines, 
 And lengthened colonnades, like vistas seen 
 Narrowing to shadowy points in forests green. 
 Here spreads the huge Naumachia, where of old 
 Ships struck, in mimic fight, their beaks of gold; 
 That marble lake is dry, and flowrets fair, 
 And many a fragrant shrub, are blooming there, f 
 The circus still displays its ample bound, 
 Where glittering chariots ran their dizzy round: 
 
 * Geraza is approached from the south by an isolated Gate of 
 Triumph; it is composed of three arches, the central one being 
 thirty feet high. The building is of the Corinthian order, and the 
 summit is covered with grass and shrubs. 
 
 f On the left hand, after quitting the arch, the traveller sees an 
 immense oblong basin formed of large stones, coated with fine 
 masonry; this was evidently a Naumachia, or artificial lake, for 
 the display of mock naval combats ; the channels which supplied it 
 with water are still seen. AVild plants grow at the bottom, and 
 when Buckingham saw it, part of it was sown with corn. 
 
316 BUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 The theatres, all open to the sky, 
 
 In size and grace with those of Hellas vie; 
 
 The broad deep orchestra, the circling seat, 
 
 The shattered gallery, now the bat's retreat, 
 
 Crushed porch, stage clothed with brambles such the 
 
 scene, 
 The once fair haunt of Pleasure's bright-eyed queen. 
 
 Down where the winding streamlet frets and brawls, 
 The gorgeous baths uprear their massy walls; 
 Quaint mouldings, dome-shaped roofs, attract the sight, 
 But fall'n the statues, gone the paintings bright; 
 For no Pompeii here 'neath lava lay, 
 Preserving art, arresting stern decay. 
 Yet Time hath spared what well may show the grace, 
 The soft delights, and luxuries of the place : 
 Pillars, in squares and circles, mark the rooms 
 Where waters gushed, and floated rich perfumes; 
 Here did the Roman youth in crystal swim, 
 And there coy Beauty lave her ivory limb.* 
 Sweet still the verdant scene, for springing near, 
 Pure as the heaven-wed vestal's secret tear, 
 Purls by the limpid stream, and holds a glass 
 For wild gazelles to gaze in as they pass. 
 Flowers, too, perchance the offspring e'en of those 
 Planted by Roman maids, the banks disclose; 
 
 * There are two large baths at Geraza, one on each side of the 
 stream, which rising near a Corinthian temple flows south, and 
 divides the city into two parts. These buildings consist of thick 
 stone walls, portions of vaulted roofs, arches, and passages ; broken 
 columns show the dimensions of the ruined apartments, but no 
 statues or other works of art have been found. 
 
PART III.] MOUNTAINS OF GILEAD. 317 
 
 The rich-globed tulip trembles on the brink, 
 
 The fair Narcissus, love-sick, stoops to drink;* 
 
 The brown bee hums, the insect spreads its wings, 
 
 And, perched on ruins, many a small bird sings. 
 
 Sure fauns might haunt this spot so lone and still, 
 
 And lares dance at eve beside the rill;t 
 
 Or, while the living fly this beauteous scene, 
 
 The shades of Roman dead might walk serene, 
 
 Hero and sage 'mid ruins pacing slow, 
 
 And maids with eyes of light, and brows of snow, 
 
 While Quiet folds her wing, and moonlight shines, 
 
 A silvery sea o'er mouldering towers and shrines. (117) 
 
 But Gilead's mountains other wrecks display 
 Of nameless cities races passed away. 
 Green grow the oaks in Bashan's watered dells, 
 But there no more the steel-clad warrior dwells : 
 The battled wall the timid hare o'erleaps, 
 Where spread wide towns, his corn the peasant reaps; 
 From grassy mounds near Kami's bulrush'd wave, 
 See Arab hands uptear the marble grave ! 
 Ay, living man piles reckless o'er his head 
 The sacred homes of Israel's glorious dead, 
 Nor deems, within those sculptured massive things, 
 Once slept the dust of prophets and of kings. J 
 
 * " There is here a beautiful carpet of green turf. Around this 
 fountain are several finely- clustered trees and shrubs, and at the 
 head of the spring are vestiges of altars probably erected to the deity 
 of the stream." Buckingham's Account of Geraza. 
 
 f The lares rustici of the Romans, as distinguished from the lares 
 familiares, presided over the country, and may be considered, in 
 certain respects, to resemble our fairies. 
 
 JNear the Hami, the ancient Hieromax, which falls into the 
 
318 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 But now in beauty, and in light, we see 
 The hills and vales of far-famed Galilee.* 
 Though man may walk no more, as in old time, 
 With step of freedom, and with brow sublime; 
 Though on the Jew the Moslem pours disdain, 
 And thinks him less than reptile of the plain; 
 Though Rapine, mocking law, may prowl the land, 
 And Murder daily rear her blood-stained hand, 
 Still Nature smiles, and Galilee appears 
 Fair as a bride, although a bride in tears. 
 .In Jezreel's vale the corn is waving deep, 
 Fir, larch, and myrtle, grace high Tabor's steep ; 
 In Sepphoris' warm beds the tulip's streak 
 Rivals red Morn when soft her blushes break ;t 
 Ten thousand pansies breathe their odorous breath, 
 And orchards bloom round holy Nazareth; 
 While birds with song, as cooler eve comes on, 
 Fill the green groves of bowery Zebulon. 
 
 Slow moves our skiff o'er still Tabaria's tide, 
 Through whose clear azure fish are seen to glide; 
 Abrupt and steep the girdling mountains frown, 
 Gigantic shadows stealing darkly down. 
 
 Jordan, Buckingham found whole families living in houses formed 
 of disinterred sarcophagi. 
 
 * Galilee and Samaria are the best cultivated districts of the Holy 
 Land; "these," says Lord Lindsay, "still smile like the Land of 
 Promise." The valleys of Galilee are small, but well watered and 
 finely wooded. The vale of Nazareth is surrounded by high hills, 
 and abounds in gardens and orchards ; Sepphoris and Zebulon are 
 famous for their flowers and pasturage. 
 
 f In the valley of Sepphoris, Morison found tulips. 
 
PART III.] GALILEE. 319 
 
 No murmuring crowds group busy on the shore, 
 
 No shepherd sings, or fisher plies his oar; 
 
 "No voice in heaven, no whisper from the cave, 
 
 Man seems unborn, and Nature here a grave.* 
 
 A quiet sadness fills the musing mind, 
 
 We fain would speak, but language may not find. 
 
 Yet, not like Sodom's waters, here we trace 
 
 A holy beauty, and a solemn grace; 
 
 Though man may now desert yon silent strand, 
 
 Fancy will call up forms on wave and land; 
 
 And countless memories treasured still shall be, 
 
 Linked through all ages, hallowed lake, with thee. 
 
 Here lowly Peter's youthful days were past, 
 
 In yon green cove, perchance, his net was cast; 
 
 Here, mingling blood with pure and sparkling foam, 
 
 In her last throes Juclsea fought with Kome;t 
 
 On yon fair Mount J that bless'd discourse was given, 
 
 By One who spoke, as angels speak in heaven. 
 
 Lo ! on the lake day's farewell smiles expire, 
 
 And night's deep shadows wrap each rocky spire; 
 
 * The sea of Galilee, or lake of Gennesareth, is now called 
 Tabaria. This sheet of water is about fourteen miles long, and 
 from six to nine miles wide, being very limpid and sweet. Moun- 
 tains surround the lake on all sides, except at the ingress and egress 
 of the Jordan, but they are without wood, and have a barren, 
 gloomy aspect. The waters are usually very calm; a living object 
 is seldom seen, except birds, on the margin of the lake, and a boat as 
 rarely crosses it. The natural scenery may be the same as when 
 Josephus described it 1800 years ago, but busy life has given place 
 to solitude. 
 
 f During the last war between the Jews and the Romans, each 
 party had ships on the sea of Gali ee, and frequent battles took place. 
 
 I The Mount of Beatitudes, oii which Christ is supposed to havo 
 delivered his sermon. 
 
320 RUINS OP MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Struggling with winds, and toss'd on surges dark, 
 The Hebrews urge in vain their labouring bark; 
 "No friendly moon not e'en a star on high 
 Casts on their course its mild celestial eye. 
 See ! near their ship that calm and awful form, 
 Who walks the waves, unheeding night and storm ; 
 Far o'er the lake they see strange lustre gleam, 
 And round his head a lambent glory beam; 
 Shrinking in fear, with eyes that wildly stare, 
 They deem that form a spectre gliding there; 
 But soft as music, to the saint who dies, 
 Floats o'er Time's gulf from opening Paradise, 
 His voice now sounds along the troubled wave, 
 And calms their fears the bless'd One comes to 
 save! 
 
 He who shall search for cities famed of yore, 
 Few wrecks will find on lone Tabaria's shore : 
 Where stood tower-crowned Chorazin, men forget; 
 A palm-tree marks thy site, Gennesaret. 
 Tiberias, Herod's pride, still flaunteth fair, 
 But, not the cross, the crescent triumphs there; 
 With zeal for Islam's creed men's bosoms burn, 
 And brows to Mecca., not to Salem, turn.* 
 -N"o more Bethsaida breasts the shining flood; 
 An ancient watch-tower tells where Magdal stood. t 
 
 * Tiberias, built by Herod, stands on the western edge of the lake, 
 and contains at this day 2,000 inhabitants. It is surrounded by 
 walls, and with its mosques and minarets, has a peculiarly Moorish 
 appearance. 
 
 f The old city of Bethsaida, like Chorazin and Gennesaret, or 
 Chinesareth, has left no trace. A ruinous square tower stands on 
 
PART III.] MOUNT TABOR. 321 
 
 Clothed with green moss Time's sad but fragrant 
 
 pall 
 
 Many a dark bath extends its tottering wall; 
 They sink to dust, yet Health still spreads his wings 
 O'er the warm fountain's life-reviving springs. * 
 
 But near TV here Jordan, rippling, joins the lake, 
 And towering hills a wilder aspect take, 
 Dark groups of ruin draw the traveller's eye> 
 And, while they prompt reflection, ask a sigh. 
 Frieze, cornice, pillar, lie in shapeless heaps, 
 Where in the sun the listless adder sleeps. 
 With ivies hung by Ruin's mocking hand,, 
 A huge black pile o'erlooks the wave-kissed sand; 
 Here frowns a building, pierced with arches grey, 
 Temple or royal palace, who may say? 
 Within those courts their tents wild Arabs spread, 
 Or some fell robber hides his dastard head: 
 Pleasure's bright town, where sorrow shed no tear, 
 'Tis proud Capernaum, all that moulders here. (118) 
 
 Esdraelon's plain still boasts its myrtle bowers, 
 Golden with corn, or carpeted with flowers : 
 How like a sainted mind that seeks the skies, 
 Crowned with a glory, Tabor's tops arise! 
 From base to summit groves are waving green, 
 While many a hoary ruin peeps between. 
 
 the site of Magdal or Magdala, where Christ landed after the mira- 
 cle of the loaves and fishes. 
 
 * On the shores of the lake of G?.dlee are many tepid medicinal 
 springs. A Roman bath, a very picturesque ruin, stands on the 
 Hieromax, south of the lake. 
 
322 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Here crumbling church, and dust-laid convent, show 
 How warm was zeal a thousand years ago; 
 In yon stone cell the hermit knelt to pray, 
 And passed in dreams his martyr life away. 
 Jasmine's white bells, and henna's yellow bloom, 
 Breathe out their sweets till rocks e'en drink per- 
 fume; 
 
 In viewless clouds those odours mount the air, 
 And Tabor stands like some rich altar there. * 
 
 How oft War's cry Esdraelon's breezes bore! 
 How oft the virgin lily dripped with gore ! 
 Here, wild as waves, and countless as the sands, 
 Ranged their dense ranks the fierce Crusader bands; 
 Scorn not their deeds, nor Christian zeal deride, 
 Though vain they brought their myriads vain they 
 
 died; 
 
 Their bones may strew the land they came to save, 
 Yet o'er their dust let Honour's trophies wave.t 
 
 * Tabor is by far the most beautiful mountain in Palestine. It 
 rises in the north-east extremity of Esdraelon to the height of a 
 thousand feet, and from its circular form and isolated position is a 
 very striking object. Almost every variety of shrub and flower 
 known in the Holy Land, is said to flourish on this hill. The summit 
 displays some old fortifications ; on the east side are the ruins of a 
 Christian church of the middle ages, and cells where ascetics once 
 hid themselves from the world are very numerous. Here is supposed 
 to have taken place the Configuration of Christ, and the friars of the 
 neighbouring convent every year, in August, say mass on the moun- 
 tain, and raise bonfires through the night. 
 
 f The plain of Esdraelon may be termed the great battle-ground 
 of Palestine. The Philistines often engaged the Israelites here, and, 
 during the memorable Crusades, the Christians on this fine field were 
 accustomed to concentrate their forces. 
 
PART III.] SISERA. 323 
 
 What view we in yon rocks'? 'tis many a tonib, 
 
 But no Crusader there doth sleep in gloom; 
 
 The large stone lid, by rains half worn away, 
 
 The strange device, bespeak a distant day. 
 
 Gaze down no cross-legged knight that form can be, 
 
 Straight lies the skeleton ye dimly see; 
 
 What! have the mighty shrunk to this? so still 
 
 The head that planned, the arm that once could kill?* 
 
 Here haply sleep the chiefs whom Barak slew, 
 
 When round yon mount their iron chariots drew,t 
 
 And Heaven's bold maid J urged Israel to the fight, 
 
 And bade them spare no flying Canaanite. 
 
 Yes, here he passed, the valiant, though o'erthrown, 
 
 His warriors slain, himself escaped alone; 
 
 And now he flies on foot, where Kishon's stream 
 
 Runs red with blood, not evening's crimson beam : 
 
 Alas ! for Sisera, no home, no rest, 
 
 Like the poor stag by ruthless hunters prest. 
 
 A dwelling now is near a voice is heard 
 
 The chief is hailed with fair and courteous word; 
 
 The fallen hero enters, faint and spent, 
 
 And slakes his thirst beneath the Kenite's tent; 
 
 Then, fearing nought, he drops in ^alm repose, 
 
 That soon in sweet oblivion steeps his woes. 
 
 But Jael rises Beauty's beaming eye 
 
 Burns with dire rage and fiend-like cruelty; 
 
 * Near Mount Tabor Buckingham dicovered about twenty tombs 
 cut perpendicularly into the rock; lirge stone slabs covered their 
 mouths, and moving one he perceived a human skeleton. 
 
 f " And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hun- 
 dred chariots of iron." Judges iv. 13. 
 
 J The Prophetess Deborah. 
 
324 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Back o'er her shoulders streams her snaky hair, 
 Her cheek is white she looks hell's priestess there! 
 Above the slumberer's couch the murderess bends, 
 She grasps the pointed steel her arm extends : 
 And dares a woman deed so dark and dread? 
 Oh honour! pity! whither had they fled? 
 From Truth's stern book that leaf let Mercy take, 
 And veil the fearful scene for woman's sake ! 
 
 Southward of Tabor, nestling lone and still, 
 An ancient village sleeps beneath the hill; 
 Dark Endor! caii'st thou now existent be? 
 How creeps the blood, as thus we gaze on thee ! 
 Hath nothing changed? Time's wave rolled on unfelt? 
 Is this the cave where Endor's Sorceress dwelt? 
 Our fancy leaps past years, we see her now 
 Stand in the midst with scorched and withered 
 
 brow; 
 
 She shakes her wand of might, and speaks her spell, 
 And calls on powers of air and fiends of hell. 
 And there leaned he, in stern though calm dismay, 
 Whom deep remorse and woe had made their prey 
 Who, wronged by men, and now cast off by God, 
 Crime's fearful path in desperation trod, 
 And came to bid the dead unfold his doom, 
 And lift from future hours the veil of gloom. 
 
 She saw the witch moved back in pale affright, 
 And her bleared eyes shot forth a fiendish light : 
 He comes ! in mantle clad, austere and old, 
 Around his brow the grave's white napkin rolled; 
 
PART III.] WITCH OF EKDOR. 325 
 
 He comes, in ghastly stillness rising slow, 
 Through opening earth, from Hades' mists below! 
 For ah ! not yet the soul hath winged away, 
 Wrapped in deep rest, till dawns the judgment-day. 
 
 Could Saul confront that Prophet's risen shade 
 With eye unblenching, spirit undismayed? 
 He never quailed in fight, but now he grew 
 Palsied with fear, his cheek of livid hue ; 
 The grave's cold atmosphere was round him cast, 
 That silence thrilled beyond the trumpet-blast; 
 Instinctive dread ran creeping to his heart 
 His hair stood up, his eye-balls seemed to start : 
 Yet still he gazed, retreating wildly stirred 
 His heaving breast, though lips might speak no 
 
 word; 
 
 Each pale limb shook he bowed to earth he clung, 
 And on his brow big drops of terror hung. 
 
 Then Samuel spoke : his words sepulchral came, 
 And pierced like fire the wretched monarch's feme; 
 And Saul can answer now alas ! his fate 
 Is hopeless all, and more than desolate; 
 The battle lost his kingdom torn away 
 All clouds and darkness life's fast-closing day. 
 Hark! 'tis the Shade declares " Another sun, 
 Thou man of woe and crime ! thy race is run; 
 To-morrow, Hades opes its gloom for thee, 
 Thou and thy warrior sons shall be with me!" 
 And so it fell ; the fierce unpitying foe 
 Triumphed o'er Saul, and laid his followers low; 
 
326 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 And yonder rise those hills in lonely pride,* 
 Where on his sword the King in anguish died, 
 And gentle Jonathan's career was o'er, 
 To shield his friend, and warm with love no more. 
 
 Pass we high Carmel, with his slopes of green, 
 "Where holy cell and moss-clad tower are seen; 
 Pass we where shrieking sea-birds wing their flight, 
 O'er Csesarea's long-forsaken site, 
 The booming waves, with far-resounding roar, 
 Lashing the ruins mourning on that shore, t 
 Samaria courts us with her streams and dells, 
 Where, softening rugged grandeur, Beauty dwells, 
 And Ruin loves the deep and grassy glen, 
 And Meditation would retire from men. J 
 Gone is the race that ruled these hills of old, 
 For priest and seer, the turban'd Turk behold ! 
 Long ages since, the tyrant seized his prey, 
 And crushed the land, and bore the Tribes away; 
 By Tigris' waves, on Median plains they wept, 
 Forgot their God, and rites unholy kept. 
 Then strangers ploughed Samaria's fruitful plains, 
 And strangers mixed with Israel's small remains, 
 
 * The mountains of Gilboa are situated south of the village of En- 
 dor, and there Saul, wounded by the Philistines, to escape falling into 
 their hands, fell on his own sword; there, also, his three sons were 
 slain. 
 
 f The ruins of Csesarea, a city built by Herod twenty-two years 
 before Christ, are close upon the sea; they consist principally of 
 Roman arches, the remains of the forum, and a theatre. There 
 Paul pleaded before Felix, and was imprisoned two years. 
 
 I Samaria, for its mountains interspersed with beautiful and 
 fruitful valleys, has been called the Switzerland of Palestine. 
 
PART III.] SAMARIA. 327 
 
 Till lost and blent with Syrian, Persian, Greek, 
 
 One Hebrew pure in blood 'twere vain to seek. 
 
 Now sail each sea, and traverse every shore, 
 
 The fated hapless "Ten" ye find no more; 
 
 A triple vengeance on those Tribes was hurled, 
 
 Their race, a sun-flash, vanished from the world! (119) 
 
 Yet hallowed be the land where Joseph sleeps, 
 And Jacob's well Tradition guards and keeps.* 
 Though crushed the shrine which graced the holy hill, 
 Green woods on Gerizim are waving still : 
 Soft pipes the lonely bird at dying day 
 Where incense rolled, and priests were wont to pray; 
 And Ebal, towering north of Shechem's vale, 
 Lifts its wild rocks, and echoes back the tale; 
 Each knoll in emerald mantle seems arrayed, 
 And countless rills make music through the shade, t 
 
 But seek ye ruins? pilgrim, raise thine eye, 
 On yon steep mount what whitening relics lie? 
 'Tis Herod's city, built where Israel reared 
 Samaria's walls, ere conquering Eome appeared, 
 
 * Joseph was buried at Shechem, now Nablous. Jacob's well, at 
 which Christ conversed with the woman of Samaria, is south-east of 
 that town ; the ruins of an edifice built by Helena stand above it. 
 
 f On the sacred mountain of Gerizim the Samaritans, 320 B. c., 
 built a temple, which, being considered in a measure the rival of that 
 at Jerusalem, served to embitter the feelings and widen the breach 
 between the pure Hebrews and the spurious race. This temple 
 stood no more than two centuries. Fbal, the Mount of Cursing, is 
 situated north of Gerizim, the Turkish town of Nablous lying in the 
 hollow between them; the fine vale of Shechem is said to be watered 
 by 365 springs. 
 
328 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Royal Sebasta, crowning Shemer's brow, 
 A spot of wildness and of silence now. (120) 
 See yon fair pillars, threatening soon to fall ! 
 Once rich with gold, they graced a monarch's hall; 
 Threading their shafts, the raven flaps his wing, 
 And round their base long grass and thistles spring: 
 And this was Herod's palace, luxury's slave, 
 Who heart, soul, life, to "Vildering riot gave; 
 And here his goblets flowed, fair women sang, 
 And, charming night, sweet harp and tabret rang : 
 Yes, by these pillars, mourners of the wild, 
 Once danced Herodias' beauty-beaming child; 
 Here waved her locks, and pealed her laughter 
 
 sweet, 
 
 And, light as fairy's, gleamed her sandalled feet. 
 The prince who gazed with rapture in his eye, 
 Nought to that fair enchantress could deny : 
 A mother's burning hate then sped the blow, 
 Which smote a prophet in those cells below. 
 
 But holier relics yon mossed banks reveal; 
 From fane so bless'd do seraph-harpings steal? 
 The massy buttress, and the solid tower, 
 Reluctant yield to Time's o'erwhelming power; 
 No more shall sweep beneath those arches dim 
 The priestly train, or sound the choral hymn; 
 No more white-vestured youths rich censers swing, 
 Or rapt Devotion mount on burning wing. 
 Helena ! peace to thee, whose pious hand, 
 With Christian shrines, thus decked this sainted 
 land; 
 
PAET III.] HEBRON. 329 
 
 Bright on thy memory Honour's beams be shed! 
 A_s amaranths now adorn thine angel head.* 
 
 There stands a tree at Hebron huge its form, 
 Oft seared by lightning, worn by many a storm; 
 Ages that level thrones beneath their stroke, 
 And sweep off races, spare that spreading oak. 
 Pilgrims, when Rome was Pagan, came to see, 
 And muse beneath this famed and hallowed tree.t 
 Here oft did Abraham sit, when evening still 
 Cooled the green vale, and crimsoned Hebron's hill; 
 The musky breezes round his forehead played, 
 He bless'd bright Nature's God, and bless'd that shade. 
 Here stood those guests sent earthward from the 
 
 skies, 
 
 Mortal their forms, but heaven within their eyes;J 
 And yonder glooms Machpelah's ancient cave, 
 The bartering sons of Heth to Abraham gave. 
 Yast stones protect the vault by millions blest, 
 Where the great sire and Hebrew mother || rest; 
 Nor yet perchance the rock betrays its trust, 
 Though forty ages brood above their dust. 
 But sea^d to Christian eyes that cell of gloom, 
 The Turk's proud crescent glittering o'er the tomb; 
 
 * The picturesque ruins of the church built by Helena, the 
 mother of the Emperor Constantine, about A. D. 326, form the most 
 conspicuous object on the Hill of Samaria. Helena erected also 
 the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and that at Bethlehem. 
 
 f Jerome and Eusebius say that this huge oak or terebinth tree, 
 at Mamre, by Hebron, was a place of great resort for pilgrims before 
 the time of Constantine. 
 
 J The three angels. 
 
 II Sarah. 
 
330 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 For Moslems guard the spot with jealous care, 
 And burn their lamps, and read their Koran there, 
 And pray to Allah in that worshipped place, 
 E'en while they scorn and hate the Patriarch's 
 race. (121) 
 
 What mouldering pile near Ephrath* stands 
 
 alone, 
 
 With dome-shaped top, and base of massy stone? 
 Rude is the chamber where her bones repose, 
 Yet here, 'tis said, fair Rachel's pillar rose. 
 Ah! sad her fate in Nature's pangs to die; 
 To sorrowing friends I hear her parting sigh; 
 I see her husband's woe, his streaming tear, 
 His last fond kiss before he laid her here, 
 His anguished brow, where smiles no more would be, 
 For ne'er was wife, poor Rachel! loved like thee.t 
 
 But round us now Judaea's mountains spread, 
 Rocky and bare, as Nature's life had fled; 
 In vain may dews descend at evening hour, 
 They cool no herb, refresh no grateful flower : 
 
 * Ephrath or Bethlehem. 
 
 f The building erected over the spot where Rachel is said to 
 have been buried, after having given birth to Benjamin, stands near 
 the road, as the traveller proceeds from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. 
 " And Rachel died and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is 
 Bethlehem." The square ruinous building, of Turkish origin, is 
 surmounted by a dome, and has an aperture on the south side. 
 Within, a mass of masonry rises nearly to the roof, and this is said 
 to enclose the pillar set up by Jacob as a memorial of his beloved 
 wife. Most travellers are disposed to consider this spot the genuine 
 place of Rachel's interment. 
 
PART III.] JERUSALEM. 331 
 
 On all beneath that burning, brassy sky, 
 
 A blight, a withering curse, appear to lie : 
 
 No more through willowy banks flows Kedron's stream, 
 
 Or grapes on slopes hang luscious in the beam. 
 
 The Turk, the Hebrew, shun the barren plain; 
 
 None plough or sow, for harvests here were vain; 
 
 Oppression, Rapine, lording o'er the soil, 
 
 Would snatch the fruits of earth from honest Toil; 
 
 Wild Arabs wander, robbers lurk in caves, 
 
 Throughout this land of ruin, rocks, and graves.* 
 
 Awake ! behold ! within the mountain zone 
 That, circling, girds her stern and desert throne, 
 Immortal Salem sits, famed Zion's queen, 
 Stretching her hands, and weeping o'er the scene, t 
 Immortal? yes, though ills have laid her low, 
 Patient in ruin, deathless in her woe ! 
 And do we gaze, our weary wanderings past, 
 On Sheba's envy, David's pride, at last? 
 The city prophets blessed, and kings revered, 
 The saintly loved, and barbarous nations feared? 
 What lips have kissed these stones ! what holy sighs, 
 And burning prayers, have mounted to those skies, 
 
 * On quitting the more fruitful regions of Galilee and Samaria, 
 the traveller will be oppressed by a painful sense caused by the 
 utter desolation around him; all Judaea, with the exception of a few 
 isolated spots, is a stony desert. See Lord Lindsay, Lamartine, and 
 others. 
 
 f Jerusalem is built on the three rocky hills of Moriah, Zion, and 
 Acra; and, except towards the north, is surrounded by barren 
 eminences, and deep ravines. Mount Olivet rises on the east, 
 Mount Gihon on the west, and part of Zion, beyond the valley of 
 Hinnom, on the south. 
 
332 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 As zealous pilgrims, kneeling on the sod, 
 
 Have hailed the towers so favoured once by God ! 
 
 Methinks we see those travellers from the West, 
 
 With weary limb, and soiled and tattered vest, 
 
 Just as they gain the last hill's stony brow, 
 
 And glorious Salem bursts upon them now. 
 
 The aged man whom peril, nought could daunt, 
 
 With eager step still presses to the front, 
 
 Throws back his locks, and spreads his hands on high, 
 
 Light long unknown re-kindling in his eye, 
 
 And blesses Heaven 'tis his that scene to view, 
 
 Ere his bones rest beneath the funeral yew. 
 
 The maiden, taught from earliest hour to deem 
 
 That city holy as a seraph's dream, 
 
 Half veils her face in awe, and, bending meek, 
 
 Yents in deep sobs all, all she may not speak. 
 
 E'en the small child, that ran beside his sire, 
 
 Hath caught from those around the hallowed fire, 
 
 Drops on his knees with calmed and solemn air, 
 
 And lisps from cherub mouth the simple prayer, 
 
 Raises his eyes, each orb a sapphire gem, 
 
 And folds his hands, and cries " Jerusalem ! " 
 
 The heart may be forgiv'n the thoughts that burn, 
 And feelings thus warm-gushing from their urn. 
 Shall not our breast throb, too, our spirit glow, 
 And trembling tears of speechless rapture flow? 
 Oh ! come, bright angels, haunting Kedron's rill ! 
 Heaven's starry forms o'er Zion hovering still! 
 Warm and inspire, shed round me fervour's beams, 
 And lap my soul in beatific dreams! 
 
PART in.] JERUSALEM. 333 
 
 Where through the world shall traveller hope to tread 
 Soil bless'd as this, though beauty long hath fled? 
 With every scene we see is linked a spell, 
 And every rock we climb a tale can tell. 
 The ground is holy sainted memories rise 
 Cities decay, but nought of spirit dies. 
 Sure shapes aerial walk yon desert vale, 
 Speak from the cave, or murmur on the gale; 
 We* seem to hear, Siloam's rocks among, 
 David's sweet lyre, Isaiah's hallowed song; 
 And glowing fancy hails that form divine, 
 Where to the winds yon olive boughs repine 
 The form of Him, who came to teach and save, 
 Unlock heaven's gates, and triumph o'er the grave. 
 
 Salem ! since David stormed her craggy height, 
 And dwelt where scoffed the vaunting Jebusite, 
 What stern, what varied fortunes hath she known ! 
 "Now conquering nations, now herself o'erthrown !* 
 To-day her temple glitters wide and far, 
 Shining in glory like a new-born star; 
 Tyre gives her arts, and Ophir sends her gold, 
 And m Anarchs burn at all their eyes behold. 
 
 * The name of Salem, signifying " peac<\" first occurs as that of 
 the capital city of Melchizedek, who was contemporary with Abra- 
 ham. The Jebusites, the descendants of Jebus, a son of Canaan, 
 next occupied it, and when the Children of Israel seized the Lower 
 City, it bore the name of Jebus. These Jebusites held the upper 
 portion on the hill of Zion, until the time of David, who took their 
 stronghold. The city then assumed the name of Jerusalem, the 
 word being a compound, with the alteration of the letter b into r 
 and the omission of one s, of Jebus and Salem. The Mohammedans 
 call it El-Kuds, or the Holy. 
 
334 EUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Chaldsea comes she darkens Salem's fame, 
 Her walls are stormed, her temple sinks in flame, 
 And distant far, where Babel's waters sweep, 
 Her prophets pine, her captive children weep. 
 Woe's midnight past, again dawn freedom's hours, 
 And Salem smiles, the new-built temple towers;* 
 Once more the caravan from Yemen comes, 
 The altar burns, and busy commerce hums; 
 Once more his lion front stern Judah shows, 
 And heroest rise, to brave their country's foes. 
 
 But lo ! o'er western hills that gathering cloud, 
 Where muttering thunder peals more loud and 
 
 loud, 
 
 And forky lightning glitters down the sky 
 'Tis the dread flash of Rome's avenging eye ! 
 The Titan stalks beneath his coming tread, 
 Towns bow in dust, and Syria quakes with dread; 
 Where'er he moves, the oldest empires fall, 
 And B/ome, wide-conquering Borne, seems lord of 
 
 all 
 
 Gihon's long hill sweeps out a wood of spears, 
 And filled with bucklers Kedron's vale appears; 
 While north and south the bristling troops advance, 
 And bear War's engines on, and shake the lance ; 
 
 * The temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, B. c. 588, was rebuilt 
 after the return of the Jews from their seventy years' captivity, but 
 with far less splendour. This edifice stood till within a short time 
 of the birth of Christ, when Herod the Great, to please the Jews, 
 re-erected it in all its original magnificence. It was Herod's temple 
 that Christ denounced, and which fell before the Romans. 
 
 f The Maccabees. 
 
PART III.] JERUSALEM. 335 
 
 Girt on all sides, doomed Salem sees her grave, 
 Her cup of woe is full, and nought can save.* 
 
 Oh! direst fruit of crime, and hate, and rage; 
 Oh ! bloodiest leaf in History's warning page ! 
 Was it too little Rome besieged her wall, 
 But Salem's sons by Salem's sons must fall? 
 See ! Hebrew chiefs above yon mangled heap, 
 Their kindred slain, exult when all should weep; 
 In hearts once brave true valour ceased to glow, 
 'Twas who should crush his fellow, not the foe. (122) 
 
 Dire sights, 'twas said, foreran the city's doom, 
 Meteors, like swords, blazed fierce in skies of gloom; 
 O'er Gihon's steep, as sank the sun's red rim, 
 Chariots of fire raced round the horizon's brim, 
 And mail-clad warriors, grasping spears of light, 
 Spurred their fierce steeds, and climbed the zenith's height. 
 Hark! to the dismal cry, that, night and day, 
 Sounds from the wall, the street, and winding way ! 
 " "Woe to the city ! " thoughtful, pale, and sad, 
 Wends the tall form, in mourning garments clad : 
 "Woe to the city!" mock'ry, scourgings given, 
 Check not that voice a voice which seems from heaven; 
 Still 'mid the battle's roar, the murmurs low 
 Of dying pain, is heard that cry of " Woe!"t 
 
 * The Romans, under Titus, began closely to invest Jerusalem in 
 April, A.D. 70. 
 
 f For an account of the portents said to have preceded the fall of 
 Jerusalem, and of the extraordinary being who, without ceasing for 
 years, proclaimed " Woe to the city 1" the reader is referred to Jose- 
 phus. 
 
336 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 But Pestilence now rides the tainted air, 
 And white-faced Famine smites its thousands there; 
 Sons from their starving parents tear the food, 
 Sisters cast lots that one may yield her blood. 
 Harrowing the heart, a tale the Hebrews tell, 
 Where Love to Nature s instincts bade farewell ; 
 She nursed her child, embraced its form so weak, 
 And fondly, madly, kissed its paling cheek. 
 Her worshipped star, her nowret in the wild, 
 Her life ot life, was that young cherub child ! 
 But hunger gnaws within no food no drink 
 She looks to start, and clasps it but to shrink, 
 Then turns, and looks again with wolf-like eye, 
 Sheds many a tear, heaves many a frantic sigh ; 
 The demon Hunger fills her veins with fire, 
 Memory grows dim, and Love's last rays expire, 
 With hands that tremble, and with lips that rave, 
 She takes her infant's life, her own to save.* 
 
 O, Titus! Titus! "darling of mankind!" (123) 
 That saw his virtues, to his errors blind, 
 Extolled his feeling heart, his justice praised, 
 And busts and arches in his honour raised ; 
 But Salem's name in blood must written be, 
 The leprous spot that blasts his memory ! 
 What though he rears his countless captives high, 
 To crosses nailed, that friends may see them die, 
 
 * The incident described in the text is not a poetic fiction ; the 
 woman who killed her own child to appease the cravings of hunger 
 during the horrible famine, was of noble extraction Mary, daughter 
 of Eleazar. See Josephus, BK. vi., ch. 3. 
 
PART III.] JERUSALEM. 337 
 
 The Hebrews shed no tears, for woe has worn 
 Their senses dull, and more may scarce be borne :* 
 Pangs, like old wounds, oft lull though will not heal, 
 Excess of feeling makes us cease to feel. 
 Some fight despairing, some in caverns hide, 
 These mope in madness, and their God deride; 
 While others full of zeal, in frenzy strong, 
 Still call on Heaven to avenge their country's wrong, 
 And half expect, down stooping from above, 
 Messiah's form will come in power and love, 
 And with one wave of Glory's dazzling sword, 
 Scare from their holy walls the Pagan horde, t 
 
 'Tis o'er a deadlier struggle earth ne'er knew, 
 E'en fiends might shrink those scenes of blood to view : 
 'Tis o'er a million hearts lie cold and still, 
 And Rome's dread eagle soars on Zion's hill; J 
 Salem, the home of prophets, helpless lies, 
 The mean one's jest, the raging Heathen's prize. 
 Fire wraps her towers, her blazing Temple falls, 
 With all its golden spires, and cedar'd halls. 
 Yes, that proud fane, as by an earthquake's shock, 
 Is hurled to dust, and levelled with the rock; 
 
 * It is recorded that five hundred Jewish prisoners were some- 
 times crucified in a day, and exhibited in the agonies of death to 
 their brethren on the walls. 
 
 f To the last many of the Jews entertained a hope that the long- 
 expected Messiah would come and deliver them from their enemies. 
 
 J The number that perished through famine and by the sword 
 during the siege has been stated to be one million three hundred 
 thousand; for, owing to the Feast of the Passover, when all Judaea, 
 as well as distant colonies, sent representatives to Jerusalem, the 
 city was full to overflowing. 
 
 Y 
 
338 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 And o'er its site must pass tlie Latian plough * 
 Seraphs ! look down from heaven, and pity now ! 
 And if in your bless'd eyes grief e'er appears, 
 For lost and ruin'd Salem shed your tears ! 
 
 Time soothes the sharpest pang, and pitying throws 
 O'er harsh despair the softness of repose ; 
 There reigns a quiet in this land of grief, 
 As if to Salem ages brought relief: 
 But ah! still strong her injured children's woe, 
 Though noiseless all, deep, deep the currents now. 
 Where are her hallowed ruins? few remain, 
 E'en for her ancient walls ye search in vain, 
 Her buildings crushed, o'erturned by barbarous hands, 
 Unchanged alone the hiUs on which she stands, t 
 See! yon proud Mosque, its courts and crescents shine, 
 Where stood great Solomon's far-blazing shrine! (124) 
 The Turk on Zion, too, hath reared his pile, 
 Master and j udge, who deems all others vile, 
 Scowls his disdain on Christian and on Jew, 
 And scoffs their zeal to mark, their tears to view, 
 Calls on his prophet, chants his Koran-prayer, 
 The creed of Mecca all triumphant there. 
 
 * The stones of the Temple, after the conflagration had ceased, 
 were thrown down by the Roman soldiers into the valley of the 
 Tyropaean, beneath ; and, as a type of utter subjection, a plough was 
 passed over the foundations. 
 
 f It has been supposed with good reason that the Fountain of 
 Siloam, the Pool of Bethesda within the city, a portion of the 
 foundation of the old wall at the south-east angle, with the caves 
 and tombs in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, are the only objects and 
 scenes which remain as they were a few centuries before Christ. 
 
PART III.] JERUSALEM. 339 
 
 Yet 'midst the clouded night of ruined years, 
 One lovely spot, like some sweet star, appears : 
 Cross Hinnom's vale, good Hebrews view with, shame, 
 Where once to Moloch burned the idol-flame;* 
 Wend o'er the waste where now no flowret springs, 
 But bloomed of yore the " Garden of the Kings ;" 
 Ye reach an opening pierced in Ophel's side, 
 While, high beyond, the huge Mosque lifts its pride, 
 'Tis cool Siloam's fount; when palms grew round, 
 Here Jewish minstrels woke their harps' sweet sound, 
 And Hebrew sages, on these rocks reclined, 
 Taught listening crowds, and scattered pearls of mind. 
 This rugged path the bless'd Apostles trod, 
 Beneath yon arch once stood their king their God ! 
 Now, on these steps worn smooth by countless feet, 
 Young Arab maids at dewy evetide meet, 
 Their veiled heads bearing pitchers, and their hands 
 Wreathing the well's dark sides with flowery bands. 
 Thou blessed fount! whose bubbling waters still 
 With sky-clear sapphire lave that holy hill, 
 Fire, War, and Ruin, wasting on each side, 
 Have left untouched thy pure and sparkling tide, 
 A living coolness in that cell below, 
 Health in thy dew, and music in thy flow. 
 Sure angels, while deserting Salem's towers, 
 And Zion's Mount, and David's perished bowers, 
 Might hither come, and sorrowing vigil keep, 
 Glide through the shade, above those waters weep, 
 
 * The rocky Valley of Hinnom bounds Jerusalem on the south, 
 and here Ahaz 3 and some other Hebrew kings, forgetting the 
 religion of their forefathers, celebrated the rites of Moloch. 
 
340 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 And fold their wings, resolving ne'er to flee 
 
 The lingering guardians, hallowed fount! of thee. (125) 
 
 But hath the Hebrew, 'neath Oppression's reign, 
 Resigned all feelings save the thirst of gain? 
 No ! let those stones, down which green ivies fall 
 The sole poor remnant left of Salem's wall 
 Those stones attest how deeply Hebrews feel 
 For that loved home, whose woes they cannot heal. 
 " The Wailing-Place" when Sabbath eve descends, 
 And to their slavish toils a respite lends, 
 Mark yon sad groups, who fix their mournful eyes 
 On those rude stones their hearts so dearly prize; 
 Here, kneeling on the flints, to heaven they pray, 
 And bless their brethren, scattered far away; 
 They ask for strength their weight of ills to bear, 
 Hope brighter hours, and wrestle with despair : 
 Then through the chinks they sigh, and pale lips keep 
 Pressed to the wall, and spread their hands and weep. 
 From broken hearts those bitter wailings rise, 
 Craving kind help and pity of the skies : 
 No sound more plaintive ever heavenward stole, 
 Or woke the listener's tear, and to ached his soul.* 
 
 We enter Kedron's vale, the stony height, 
 Once crowned with olive-forests, bounds our right : 
 
 * The spot called "The Wailing-Place" is at a short distance 
 north-east of the Pool of Siloam ; here large rugged stones are seen, 
 some twenty-eight feet long, the only portion remaining of the old 
 walls of Jerusalem. It has long been a custom with the Jews, on 
 the eve of their Sabbath, to repair to this place, and lament over the 
 ruins of their city. 
 
PART III.] VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT. 341 
 
 Age after age men yielded up their breath, 
 
 Till millions slumbered in this glen of death ; 
 
 And here, with those he loves, in peace to lie, 
 
 Is still the hapless Hebrew's latest sigh. 
 
 Ah! where so sadly sweet may scene be found 1 
 
 Though flowers no longer deck the shrunken mound, 
 
 And plane and yew have ceased their shade to cast, 
 
 They, voiceless mourners, dead themselves at last, 
 
 Here, deep below sad Salem's eastern walls, 
 
 The garish sunbeam mildly-tempered falls; 
 
 Perched on some tomb, soft plains the hermit bird, 
 
 And scarce the Pagan's Allah-cry is heard : 
 
 Orphan of years, small Kedron pours its rill, 
 
 Sweet Nature's child 'mid death surviving still, 
 
 Its low-breathed voice like whispers from the graves, 
 
 As their stone fronts its limpid wavelet laves. 
 
 The rocks of Olivet are piled above, 
 
 Whose shade steals down, as if in hallowing love. 
 
 In such a spot the soul, till judgment-day, 
 
 Might wish to leave her frail and cumbering clay, 
 
 E/evisiting, at moonlight's holy hour, 
 
 That vale of peace, where Death has built his bower. 
 
 Stately are Kedron's tombs;* in yon grey pile 
 Strength seems to frown, yet grace to wear a smile; 
 
 * The deep and narrow Valley of Kedron, or Jehoshaphat, com- 
 mences near the Pool of Siloam, and runs northward between Jeru- 
 salem and the Mount of Olives, for nearly a mile. This valley from 
 an early epoch has been the great Jewish cemetery. The rocks 
 at the foot of Mount Olivet are full of excavations, very similar to 
 the tombs at Petra; monumental stones also abound everywhere. 
 
342 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Cornice and base are hewn from living rock, 
 
 Its pointed summit braves Time's lengthened shock; 
 
 The murdered rests within those breezes bear, 
 
 To Fancy's ear, his last and anguished prayer.* 
 
 Enter in pleasing awe this columned grot, 
 
 Meet for calm musing seems the tranquil spot, 
 
 For here, tradition tells, the Apostles came, 
 
 To hear those words which touched their hearts with 
 
 flame. 
 
 Still further, near yon bridge, whose arch of stone 
 By modern hand across the stream is thrown, 
 A pile more massive, and of statelier height, 
 Like Petra's cliff-hewn temples, meets the sight. 
 Strange towers its form, and well may wake surprise ; 
 Its top, like flame, is pointing to the skies; 
 And yet no saint, a rebel slumbers here, 
 But ah ! to one fond heart how passing dear ! 
 The fair-haired Absalom, the gay of mien, 
 Who proud and graceful as a god was seen : 
 Hark to the royal father's heart-breathed sigh ! 
 See his rent robe, and sorrow-streaming eye ! 
 The traitor's, rebel's, crime, he all forgave, 
 And only mourned in dust the lost, the brave! (126) 
 
 On evening's balmy air what voices swell, 
 Soft as the tones which haunt the ocean's shell, 
 Dying away, till scarce we catch the sound, 
 Then rising while the rocks give answer round? 
 
 * The tomb of Zechariah, who was stoned to death. 2 Chron. 
 xxiv. 
 
PART III.] JERUSALEM. 343 
 
 'Tis not the muezzin from the mosque's high wall, 
 Crying, "to prayer!" as deepening shadows fall; 
 'Tis not the sighs of saints who bend the knee, 
 And crowd in awe, round mournful Calvary ; 
 Those voices float from yon deep sculptured cave, 
 Where pale lamps gleam, and priests their censers 
 
 wave, 
 
 And marbles shine, and altars blaze with gold, 
 And costly offerings zealots' eyes behold; 
 There kneels the Greek, the Armenian clasps his 
 
 hands, 
 
 And many a form in snow-white vestment stands; 
 They chant their " aves" to the dead, whom more 
 Than saint, or seer, their trembling hearts adore; 
 The vault beneath if priestly tale we trust 
 Guarded for ages, holds the Yirgin's dust. (127) 
 
 Close on the valley's edge, what giant trees 
 Group like tried friends, and court the western breeze ? 
 Firm as a tower each huge brown trunk appears, 
 The far-spread boughs the growth of countless years ; 
 Patriarchs in wintry ruin, there they rise, 
 Their thin pale leaves all vocal as with sighs : 
 Sure 'tis the voice of prayer that soothes the ear, 
 Sure spirits of the just are hovering near; 
 These very boughs their shadowy roof have spread, 
 At night's dim hour, above Messiah's head ; 
 Fell on this very sod His tears of woe, 
 Fraught with an anguish man might never know. 
 While earth shall last, this spot revered must be, 
 And hearts unborn shall bless Gethsemane. (128) 
 
344: RUINS OP MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Tis in this vale of tombs, the Hebrews say, 
 The world's great Lord will hold the judgment-day ; 
 Kedron's wild rocks will hear the trumpet sound, 
 And every ancient mountain answer round; 
 Then will those caves give forth their treasured dead, 
 Around, like leaves, earth's gathered myriads spread; 
 Justice, to whom Heaven's withering bolts belong, 
 Will speak in thunder to that trembling throng, 
 But Mercy, gentle as green Hermon's dew, 
 And soft as seraph-sighs, will whisper too. * 
 
 Farewell! on Olivet's famed mount we stand, 
 And view once more this sad but glorious land ; 
 Here, lost in thought, the bard might linger long, 
 But we must break our dream, and close our song. 
 Eve stands, with finger raised, on western hills, 
 And earth and heaven a holy quiet fills; 
 Calm in her desolation Salem sleeps, 
 Round Omar's mosque the tall green cypress weeps ;t 
 Soft gleam the rays on church and convent-spire, 
 And each slight minaret is tipp'd with fire : 
 Peace, like an angel, 'midst the coming gloom 
 O'er Zion hangs, and wraps Messiah's tomb. J 
 
 * The Jews, through all ages, have been impressed with the idea 
 that the valley of Jehoshaphat will be the scene of the final judg- 
 ment of mankind: the Moslems believe the same, except that 
 Mohammed is to be the judge; and these besotted men have placed 
 a large stone in the eastern wall of the city, on which the prophet 
 is to sit; the broad slab is called "Mohammed's stone." 
 
 t The mosque of Omar, which occupies a more imposing position 
 than any other edifice in Jerusalem, is surrounded by cypress-trees. 
 
 I The church built over the Holy Sepulchre stands in the north- 
 west part of the city, and is distinguished by its white and blue 
 
PART III.] JERUSALEM. 345 
 
 A spell on that dim city seems to lie, 
 
 And hush the vales around, and crimson sky; 
 
 It is not age, or mystery, or despair, 
 
 It is not death which casts a shadow there, 
 
 But sadness for a blighted, fallen race 
 
 A once proud nation that has lost its place - 
 
 A sorrow that invests each glorious spot, 
 
 By feeling reverenced, memory ne'er forgot, 
 
 And as we muse and think of brighter years, 
 
 The eye still gazes on, and fills with tears. 
 
 Children of Judah ! wandering long and far, 
 From India's suns to moist Columbia's star, (129) 
 Bearing the brand of scorn where'er ye go, 
 Reviled, oppressed, but silent in your woe, 
 Is it in vain you trust, in vain you dream, 
 That Zion's darkened sun again will beam? % 
 That Israel's scattered race will come once more, 
 Possess yon towers, and people hill and shore 2 
 Oh ! no ; a spirit now inspires mankind 
 To raise the weak, and not in fetters bind, 
 Grant rights to all, whate'er their land or name, 
 And honour mind, and cherish ancient fame. 
 Hark to Hope's whisper ! soon will dawn the day, 
 When black Oppression's night will melt away, 
 From North and South, the exiles, wandering 
 
 home, 
 Shall claim their long-left hearths, no more to roam; 
 
 domes; Calvary is beneath the same edifice. In the time of Christ 
 this spot was without the walls, but the modern city, increasing 
 towards the north, entirely encloses it. 
 
346 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Then shall bowed Salem's towers more proudly rise, 
 A brighter temple court Judaea's skies; 
 Then corn and palms will clothe each mountain's side, 
 And gardens smile by Jordan's winding tide; 
 In Eshcol's vale rich clustering grapes will glow, 
 Again the long-lost rose of Sharon blow; 
 Justice and Peace shall ancient days restore, 
 Love, Yirtue, reign, and Israel mourn no more. 
 
 The song is hushed the Minstrel's task is done 
 The weary Pilgrim's course at length is run. 
 Of earth's dark Ruins, relics of Time's Spring, 
 Thus have we dared in feeble strain to sing; 
 But while the trembling fingers woke the shell, 
 That strove their dying grace and pomp to tell, 
 We feel how frail the hand, how faint the lay, 
 That language breathes not half the soul would say. 
 There are who toil in vain, but pant for still 
 The golden shrine on Fame's sky-piercing hill; 
 The child that sees float by, on wings of light, 
 O'er Summer meads, some insect passing bright, 
 Pursues it long, and almost gains the prey, 
 He opes his hand but lo! it flits away; 
 So, oft ambitious hearts a phantom chase 
 In bright renown, and fail to win the race. 
 To hope, to dream, and then forgotten die 
 Should this be ours, why breathe the sorrowing sigh? 
 
PART III.] CONCLUSION. 347 
 
 Above our urn though no proud wreath may wave, 
 Would Flattery's paean charm us in the grave? 
 Then, live or perish 'tis enough our strain 
 Beguile an hour, or soothe an anxious pain, 
 Wake in man's breast, for man, a throb of love, 
 Or point from Earth's dim wrecks one hope above. 
 
 END OF PART III, 
 
HISTOKICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES, 
 
 BOOK I, 
 THE DARK ERA. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 (1) PAGE 14. 
 The boast, the glory of the Eastern world. 
 
 THE mass of ruins on the plains of Babylon, called by the Arabs 
 Birs Nimroud, or the Tower of Nimrod, and by the Jews Nebu- 
 chadnezzar's prison, is situated in the Western Desert, ten miles 
 from the great remain El Mujelibe*, on the north. This pile affords 
 another proof of the vast size of the ancient city, since the Temple 
 of Belus, of which the Birs Nimroud, in the opinion of the majority 
 of travellers, is the undoubted relic, together with the northern edi- 
 fice, rose within the walls. Allowing for the exaggerated state- 
 ments of Herodotus, Quintus Curtius, and Strabo who, with slight 
 variations, give a circumference to the walls of 480 stadia, or 60 miles 
 the position of these remains will show that Babylon occupied an 
 area not less than ten miles on each side ; for, unlike Nineveh, the 
 city was an exact square, the Euphrates dividing it into two (though 
 not equal) parts. Babylon contained fifty principal streets, cutting 
 each other at right angles, and, it has been recorded, 676 squares. 
 But while it occupied far more ground than London, we must not 
 suppose it full of houses, and teeming with inhabitants. Large 
 spaces were appropriated to the exercise of troops, and the plant- 
 ing of trees and flowers for pleasure-grounds, termed paradises. 
 
350 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Many arguments have been adduced to establish the identity of 
 the gigantic ruin under consideration with the great Babylonian 
 Temple: still, we must admit that the question is by no means de- 
 cided, and some archaeologists, whose opinions are entitled to much 
 weight, imagine it to be the remain of a great fortress which stood 
 in the town of Borsippa, the name of which very ancient place occurs 
 in the inscription on the Obelisk found by Layard at Nimroud. The 
 view we adopt is that supported by Rich, Niebuhr, Porter, and 
 Buckingham; but we cannot for a moment contend that the mass 
 of brickwork, now surmounting the Birs, forms a part of the original 
 erection, which may be confined to the immense mound beneath. 
 All the bricks yet examined here, as well as at the Mujelibe* and 
 Kasr, are inscribed with the name of Nebuchadnezzar; this is a re- 
 markable fact; yet we submit it does not prove that Nebuchadnezzar 
 actually erected all the palaces and temples in his great capital; he 
 raised without doubt many new edifices, but he beautified and en- 
 larged those already standing, heightened the city walls, strengthened 
 the towers, and advanced the glory of Babylon to its culminating 
 point. The bricks in the Birs Nimroud and other monuments, 
 bearing the stamp of his name, may have been superadded, in the 
 way of embellishment or repairs; or Nebuchadnezzar, from a motive 
 of vanity, may have rebuilt the more conspicuous portions of such 
 monuments, being anxious that posterity should imagine him the 
 founder of edifices erected in reality by his ancestors ; and thus in 
 the pride of his spirit he exclaimed, " Is not this great Babylon that 
 I have built?" Few remains of importance have yet been discovered 
 at the Birs, nor up to this period has any trench been opened to the 
 centre of the mound : a slab, however, of beautiful workmanship was 
 some time since exhumed by Major Rawlinson, representing in 
 relief a man and a dog, and which is admitted to belong to the early 
 Babylonian Empire. 
 
 We have only to add that Bel or Belus, which signifies lord, was 
 a term give ,n to Nimrod after his apotheosis, and the famous tower 
 of Babel was converted into a temple, in which he was to be wor- 
 shipped. This temple, the oldest in the world for no remains of 
 any religious edifice now exist in Egypt prior to the reign of Osir- 
 tesen I., 1740 B.C. has been minutely described by Herodotus; and 
 the picture he gives answers precisely, in regard to its external form, 
 to the ruin as it now appears. It was constructed in the pyramidal 
 shape, and had eight galleries or platforms, four of which are still 
 
PART I.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 351 
 
 distinctly traced : the ruin is 2,280 feet in circumference at base ; the 
 height of the temple was 500 feet; the blackened mass of wall that 
 now stands on the great mound, and which is composed of solid 
 vitrified brick, is thirty-seven feet high, by twenty-eight in breadth ; 
 the entire height of the whole above the plain, including the stupen- 
 dous mound of decayed brick, being 235 feet. 
 
 (2) PAGE 14. 
 Such as they are, Earth's mightiest kings shall be. 
 
 The second great Babylonian relic is called El Mujelibe*, or "the 
 Overturned." It is situated five miles north of Hillah, and about 
 900 yards from the Euphrates. Like the Birs Nimroud, it presents 
 a heap of confused ruins, the summit of the mound being crowned 
 with a low wall of unburnt brick; the highest point, however, does 
 not exceed 141 feet above the surrounding plain. Its sides, like 
 those of the Egyptian pyramids and, strange to say, of some of the 
 pyramids in Mexico face the cardinal points. Some travellers 
 have imagined this remain to have been the Temple of Belus, others 
 a strong fortified castle; but modern excavations have thrown more 
 light on the subject, and led, we think, to the revelation of the truth. 
 Mr. Rich, penetrating into the north face of the Mujelibe', discovered 
 certain passages formed of brick; several Babylonian curiosities were 
 the fruits of his labours; such as urns, metal ornaments, together 
 with a wooden coffin that contained a skeleton in a state of good 
 preservation. To the outside of the coffin was fixed a brass bird, and 
 the same emblem of the soul's power of flight was found within. 
 Other skeletons occupied the passages. These facts, coupled with 
 the position and character of the mound, lead to the conjecture that 
 the building was a vast pyramid designed for the interment of the 
 Babylonian kings, though possibly it was afterwards used as a place 
 of sepulture by the Greeks. Mr. Layard also has caused several 
 trenches to be opened in the Mujelibe*, but owing to the loose nature 
 of the decayed brick-work, little progress has been made. Like Mr. 
 Rich, he has found coffins and skeletons, some slabs bearing the name 
 and titles of Nebuchadnezzar, together with bowls, bronze arrow- 
 heads, and other relics of a doubtful period. The Kasr, which, dur- 
 ing many ages, has been a mine for bricks, has also been partially 
 examined, but with very little result. 
 
352 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 (3) PAGE 15. 
 Time-honoured tree! it marks the Hanging Bowers. 
 
 That a tree existing now should have flourished in ancient Baby- 
 lon, seems scarcely possible ; but, extraordinary as it may appear, 
 such is the opinion entertained, not only by the Arabs, but many 
 enlightened travellers. This famous single tree, called Athela, 
 stands on the north side of the Kasr ; it is about fifteen feet high, 
 has no leaves except near the top, and these more resemble long 
 drooping stems than ordinary foliage. Mr. Buckingham asserts 
 that no other tree of its kind is to be found in all Mesopotamia, 
 with the exception of one somewhat resembling it growing at Bas- 
 sorah. It is a species of lignum mice, and being very hard in its fibre, 
 the immense age it has attained about 2,500 years needs not al- 
 together stagger belief. The great chestnut at Tortsworth, and the 
 oak at Allouville, in Normandy, are above ten centuries old ; the 
 Banian-tree, in India, under which Alexander encamped part of his 
 army, is said still to stand ; and some Baobab trees of Africa, natu- 
 ralists, by counting their rings, have conjectured to be even more 
 aged than the renowned Athela of Babylon. 
 
 (4) PAGE 16. 
 
 Birds, lutes , soft airs, half rivalled Paradise. 
 
 The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were ranked among the 
 wonders of the world. Ancient writers have ascribed their formation 
 to different parties. It seems probable they were commenced at a 
 very early date, but Queen Nitocris, wife of Evil-Merodach, and 
 daughter-in-law of Nebuchadnezzar, is generally allowed to have 
 enlarged and beautified them to an extent which entitled her almost 
 to be called their founder. Strabo and Quintus Curtius describe 
 these gardens as being attached to the palace, and close by the 
 Euphrates. They were carried aloft into the air by means of solid 
 piers, across which yast stones were laid, until they equalled the 
 height of the city walls. The earth was kept in a state of perpetual 
 fertility by engines which raised water from the river; and not 
 only all descriptions of plants and flowers, but trees of considerable 
 magnitude, flourished in this artificial garden. When Alexander 
 took Babylon, three centuries before Christ, the Temple of Belus 
 
PART I.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 353 
 
 had been overthrown; these gardens, also, were rapidly falling to 
 decay; and they must, with the palace, have finally settled down 
 into a mound the mound, we have every reason to believe, over 
 which the traveller now walks without seeing one flower or shrub, 
 saving the solitary tree just described. 
 
 (5) PAGE 20. 
 And Babylon, the mighty, was no more. 
 
 Independently of Scripture, which everywhere speaks of the great 
 power and splendour of the Babylonian empire, all profane historians 
 agree, that during the height of its prosperity it had no equal on 
 earth. It is a singular fact that the name of Babylon does not 
 occur in the early inscriptions exhumed at Nimroud, while that of 
 Borsippa in the neighbourhood is mentioned several times. An 
 argument has thus been raised against its great antiquity, but it 
 cannot be doubted that the city, afterwards named Babylon, was 
 for many ages styled the city of Shinar, while envy may possibly 
 have prompted the compiler of the Nimroud chronicles studiously to 
 avoid alluding to the glory or even the name of Nineveh's great 
 rival. Many of the reputed deeds of Semiramis and the earlier 
 monarchs must be rejected as absolute fables ; but the exploits of 
 Nebuchodonosor II. (Nebuchadnezzar), Babylon's most powerful 
 and glorious king, are established historical facts. Nebuchadnezzar 
 was of the dynasty founded by Belesis, about B.C. 746; he conquered 
 all Syria and Palestine, annexing them to his dominions; stormed 
 Jerusalem, and carried the Jews captive to his capital ; besieged the 
 ancient and commercial city of Tyre, which, after a long resistance, 
 yielded to his power. He then turned his arms against Egypt, and 
 overran with his victorious troops the fertile land of the Pharaohs; 
 so that his empire, B.C. 570, extended from the Caucasian mountains 
 to the African desert. Nebuchadnezzar was, in every sense, a great 
 king, and, notwithstanding his pride and adherence to the old religion 
 of star-worship, seems on many occasions to have been impressed 
 with the belief of the true God. Belshazzar (the Labynetus of 
 Herodotus), possessing the defects and vices, without the virtues of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, had reigned seventeen years when he was attacked 
 by Cyrus. The Persian monarch, having long besieged Babylon, 
 conceived the design of turning the Euphrates from its natural 
 channel; and the generally received account is, that on the night 
 
 Z 
 
354 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 when Belshazzar gave a banquet to his nobles, in honour of their 
 god Belus, he entered with his army the dry bed of the river, made 
 himself master of the city, killed Belshazzar, and put an end to the 
 second Chaldaeo- Assyrian dynasty, 537 B.C. 
 
 The duration and prosperity of the Babylonian empire may, 
 perhaps, be ascribed more to its commerce than to its military 
 strength; for Babylon was the grand emporium of merchandise 
 coming from India and the towns on the Persian Gulf, by way of 
 the Euphrates. Thence, as from a centre, traffic passed into Persis, 
 Media, and to the countries bordering on the Caspian and Euxine 
 seas; into Syria, where flourished the commercial towns of Damascus 
 and Palmyra ; while the merchants of Tyre, Sidon, Petra in Idumea, 
 and Pelusium in Egypt, received the fine carpets, dyed robes, spices, 
 and emeralds of Babylon, in exchange for their own commodities. 
 Including the two centuries which elapsed from the death of 
 Sardanapalus, the last King of Babylon and Nineveh united, to the 
 fall of Belshazzar, this empire, though obscure and limited at first, 
 subsisted for no less a period than 1,600 years. How brief, compared 
 with this, has been the duration of many kingdoms and republics 
 which we are accustomed to believe had flourished for a great 
 length of time, or to which, existing still, we apply the term 
 "ancient!" Athens, dating from the Trojan war, when she first 
 obtained anything like power and fame among the petty neigh- 
 bouring states, to her final subjugation by the Romans, B.C. 146, 
 will show a duration of 1,030 years. The monarchy of the Jews, 
 from their first king, Saul, including the period of their captivity, 
 and subsequent existence as a nation, to the destruction of Jerusalem 
 by Titus 1,165 years. Rome, from the foundation of the city, B.C. 
 753, to the irruption of the Germanic tribes under Odoacer, who 
 dethroned the last Western Emperor Augustulus 1,229 years. 
 Carthage, from its Tyrian colonisation, B.C. 850, to its destruction 
 by Scipio, 704 years. The Saracen domination, usually called the 
 Caliphat, from the immediate successors of Mohammed, to the over- 
 throw of Mostasem, the last of the Caliphs of Baghdad, by the Tartars 
 A.D. 1242, 610 years. Of the monarchies of Europe, France, Spain, 
 and England boast the greatest antiquity ; but neither of them has 
 yet reached the term allotted to the kingdom of Babylon. France 
 numbers from her Clovis, 1,300 years ; Spain from her Gothic kings, 
 about a similar period; and England, from her Egbert, only ten 
 centuries. Three kingdoms alone have surpassed Babylon in the 
 
PART I.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 355 
 
 duration of their existence y and these are Egypt, Persia, and 
 China. 
 
 (6) PAGE 22. 
 
 And well his dust those vaults of darkness hecp. 
 
 About eight miles from Baghdad, near Akkerkoof, stands an ex- 
 traordinary monument, commonly called the Tower of Nimrod. 
 Rich and Buckingham state its height to be 126 feet, being 300 feet 
 in circumference at the base. It is built of burnt bricks, with 
 alternate layers of reeds, resembling in this respect the brick 
 masses on the plains of Babylon. The edifice appears to be of 
 solid masonry, although an aperture visible on the north-east side 
 would suggest the notion that, in former ages, access was given 
 there to some internal chambers. The word Akkerkoof in Arabic 
 signifies, " the place of him who rebelled against God." If this 
 singular ruin, then, mark the site of Accad, and is the burial-place 
 of the first potentate named in the Hebrew Scriptures and many 
 travellers have dared to conceive it probable it is of greater 
 antiquity than any pyramid of the kind now standing in Egypt. 
 Some, however, not admitting its great age, have conjectured that 
 it may have been the citadel of an early Babylonian town, whose 
 name has now passed away. 
 
 (7) PAGE 29. 
 
 That bear a language writ by man no more. 
 
 The cuneiform or arrow-headed characters inscribed upon the 
 remains at Nineveh, Babylon, on the tombs and terraces at Persepolis, 
 and on slabs found at Susa and elsewhere, have presented more 
 difficulties, with regard to their meaning, than even the hieroglyphics 
 of Egypt. Of all those who have propounded theories, and laboured 
 at their interpretation, perhaps Professor Grotefend and Major 
 Rawlinson have been the most successful. Cuneiform writing, it 
 seems, may be divided into three branches the Assyrian, Persian, 
 and Median; the Assyrian or Babylonian branch is the oldest, being 
 the parent of the others. The element in each variety is the same 
 the wedge; but the combinations of these wedges differ. The 
 Persian variety occurs at Persepolis, and on the great rock at 
 Behistun ; but it has not been found on the disinterred monuments 
 at Nineveh a proof of the great antiquity of those remains. As 
 
356 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 interesting an inscription as any, perhaps, brought to this country, 
 prior to the discoveries of Layard, is that in the Babylonian variety 
 now preserved in the East India House, for it is supposed to contain 
 the decrees of Nebuchadnezzar. Cuneiform writing did not come 
 from Egypt, being totally distinct from each kind of writing 
 practised there; bearing an affinity, as it does, to the Hebrew, 
 Phoenician, and Arabic, it must be considered older than either, nor, 
 perhaps, is it too much to suppose that the cuneiform phonetic 
 character was the invention of the primitive races who settled on 
 the plain of Shinar the first written language of the earth. What 
 tongue did this writing seek to express? At the present stage of 
 philological investigation in connexion with Assyrian inscriptions, 
 it would be hazardous to offer a conjecture. Whatever the language 
 may have been, it is thought to have borne a strong resemblance to 
 the Sanscrit and Zend, and these tongues may indeed have grown 
 out of it. But if at length it shall be found that the oldest 
 cuneiform character (the Babylonian variety) expressed pure 
 unmixed Chaldee, then, perhaps, settling the long-agitated question, 
 we may with some safety conclude that the Chaldee tongue was the 
 original language imparted to man by his Creator the language 
 spoken in paradise. 
 
 (8) PAGE 30. 
 Lost city of a hundred gates of brass! 
 
 Strabo has declared Nineveh to have been larger than Babylon ; 
 but following Herodotus, Diodorus, and other writers of equal 
 authority, we shall find this was not the case. For magnitude and 
 splendour, however, it may be ranked, at that early period, as the 
 second city in the world, not excepting Memphis, and Thebes in 
 Egypt. The walls were 100 feet high, and sufficiently wide for 
 three chariots to be driven on them abreast; 1,500 towers rose on 
 these walls at equal distances, and it had a hundred brazen gates. 
 Nevertheless, Nineveh appears to have been a long straggling city, 
 rather than a compact or densely-populous one ; and its computed 
 length (nineteen miles), has been nearly equalled by the ancient 
 city of Gour, in India, which extended, according to observations 
 made by Major Rennell, fifteen miles along the old bank of the 
 Ganges. In regard to the population of Nineveh and Babylon, 
 it is almost impossible to arrive at any thing like a just 
 
PART I.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 357 
 
 estimate. The Prophet Jonah speaks of Nineveh as containing 
 more than "six score thousand persons" who knew not their right 
 hand from their left ; Rosenmiiller and other writers, presuming 
 these to mean children, less, perhaps, than three years of age, 
 argue that the population would be, under these circumstances, 
 about two millions; such also, taking into consideration the 
 respective sizes of the two cities, might have been the population 
 of Babylon. 
 
 (9) PAGE 34. 
 His star-gemmed mantle blazing down the sky. 
 
 As much uncertainty and mystery involve the early history of 
 this great city as that of its rival, Babylon. It would appear, how- 
 ever, that while it was founded by Asshur, Ninus, the son of Nimrod, 
 the builder of Babylon, was the first king, and that it dates posterior 
 to the latter city. The royal race of Nimrod governed Babylon and 
 Nineveh united ; but from Ninyas, the son of Semiramis, down to Phul, 
 B. c. 790, the very names of the monarchs, up to the time of the dis- 
 coveries of Botta and Layard, had been unknown : now, however, there 
 is every reason to believe that, by the deciphering of the cuneiform 
 inscriptions, the hiatus will be filled up. This ancient line ended 
 in Sardan-Phul, or Sardanapaltis. A second dynasty, which was 
 founded by Belesis, ruled at Babylon, as we have seen, until the 
 death of Belshazzar. The luxury of Sardanapalus has passed into 
 a proverb ; he fell, however, by treachery ; his general Arbaces, 
 governor of Media, and Belesis, the priest of Babylon, having con- 
 spired against him. The monarch burned himself alive in his 
 palace, with all his treasures, and half redeemed by this act, accord- 
 ing to Athenseus, the vices and effeminacy of his life. This event 
 happened about 747 B.C. Nineveh, under the successors of Ninus 
 the younger, existed, after the death of Sardanapalus, as a separate 
 kingdom, nearly a century and a half, during which period reigned 
 in succession the famous Tiglath Pileser, Shalmaneser, who carried 
 away captive the ten tribes from Samaria, and Sennacherib, whose 
 throne has been discovered in the north-west palace at Nimroud. 
 Nineveh was finally destroyed by the Babylonians and Medes 616 
 B.C. ; and from that period Babylon was without a rival, the capital 
 of the great Chaldaeo-Assyrian empire. So rapidly did Nineveh 
 now sink to decay, that in the time of Alexander the Great, though 
 
358 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Babylon was still a flourishing city under the Persians, Nineveh is 
 not even mentioned as a village in the account of that conqueror's 
 progress down the Tigris. 
 
 (10) PAGE 3G. 
 
 And sieges, battles, such as Homer sung. 
 
 Pointed helmets and other pieces of armour were found in some 
 of the rooms; the ivory images, in their style and subjects, are 
 Egyptian ; the god Horus, the son of Isis, seated on a lotus flower, 
 at once shows this. They might have been taken from Egypt as 
 spoil, or presented to the King of Assyria by one of the Pharaohs, 
 when a friendly intercourse existed between the two countries. 
 Nearly all the rooms yet uncovered in the great Nimroud mound are 
 lined with alabaster slabs, on which are carved in relief figures and 
 subjects in endless variety, with inscriptions in the cuneiform cha- 
 racter of the Assyrian or earliest branch of that mysterious writing. 
 The great hall is 1G5 feet long and 35 feet wide. No columns have 
 yet been found, and if any ever existed they were probably of wood. 
 Square openings in the ceilings, and not side windows, seem to have 
 admitted light. 
 
 (11) PAGE 38. 
 
 And thunders to awake thee peal in vain. 
 
 The recent discoveries of Mr. Layard and M. Botta of France, 
 on the site of ancient Nineveh, must be considered more impor- 
 tant and more interesting than any made since the disinterment 
 of Pompeii, and the announcement to the world of vast and ruined 
 cities built by unknown people in Central America. As a conse- 
 quence of investigations commenced with such success, light will 
 now probably be thrown on a great portion of the world's earlier 
 history, hitherto involved in impenetrable darkness, and passages 
 in the Scriptures, once difficult to be understood, will be elucidated. 
 Mr. Layard, by his penetration and indomitable perseverance, has 
 made himself entitled to the gratitude of the scholar, not only of 
 England but of Europe ; and his name, in connection with the once 
 famous city of Assyria, will be handed down to posterity with last- 
 ing applause. 
 
 We can allude here only to a few of his most important discoveries. 
 
PART I.] HISTOEICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 359 
 
 The chief excavations have been made in the great Nimroud 
 mound. This mound is situated in the angle formed by the Tigris 
 and the Greater Zab, and appears to be richer in remains than the 
 mounds opposite Mosul, though there Layard's researches have not 
 been unrewarded, a splendid palace having been found twenty feet 
 beneath the surface. The principal objects brought to light after 
 an inhumation of above two thousand years, are as follows: 
 Colossal bulls and lions, each weighing many tons, having wings 
 and human heads, animals precisely like those which the prophet 
 Ezekiel describes in his vision ; alabaster slabs, lining passages and 
 spacious apartments ; these slabs are covered with bas-reliefs of a 
 most interesting character, and calculated, there can be little doubt, 
 when the inscriptions shall be deciphered, to enlarge our knowledge 
 of important events which transpired at a very remote epoch. An 
 obelisk beautifully carved, with an inscription of two hundred and 
 ten lines ; while, from the animals depicted being peculiar to Bactria 
 and India, we are led to believe that it is the identical obelisk set up 
 by Semiramis to commemorate her conquests in those countries. 
 Ivories of Egyptian origin ; human figures with wings and heads of 
 birds; several sarcophagi containing remains of an unknown race 
 inhabiting the country after the fall of Nineveh ; and lastly, vases, 
 jewels, arms, personal ornaments of the ancient citizens, and other 
 articles too numerous to be mentioned. 
 
 It may appear a strange circumstance that the Persian monuments 
 at Persepolis should so nearly resemble those found in the mounds 
 at Nineveh ; at the same time it is an exceedingly interesting fact, 
 since we now know that when the grand palace of Xerxes was 
 erected, the halls of Nineveh were open to the light of day, for the 
 Persian artist made them his exact models. The truth seems to be, 
 that the Persians, after conquering the Assyrians and Babylonians, 
 adopted from them the arrow-headed writing, and imitated them in 
 the grotesque character of their sculptures. From the subjugation 
 of the country by Alexander the Great, the Perso- Assyrian style of 
 architecture was abandoned, and the cuneiform character ceased to 
 be written. 
 
 The question now to be considered is, whether the palaces at 
 Nimroud, and those in the mounds opposite Mosul, belonged to the 
 same city ; or does Nimroud represent the ancient Larissa, and tho 
 mounds at Mosul, Mespila? antiquarians and scholars are divided in 
 opinion, and each can bring, in support of his view of the matter, 
 
360 EUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 forcible argument. We do not think, however, that the distance 
 between the respective places forms an insurmountable objection to 
 the supposition, that they were included within the walls of ancient 
 Nineveh. Nimroud is distant from Mosul about eighteen miles; 
 the mounds at Khorsabad, where M. Botta has discovered many 
 Assyrian antiquities, are twelve miles north-east of Mosul, and the 
 mounds at Karambles are about the same distance east of Nimroud. 
 Thus we have an oblong square; and granting these places to have 
 been the four points of the city, where stood citadels or palaces, we 
 possess a remarkable fact: the circumference just agrees with that 
 given by Diodorus namely, sixty miles, a measurement also ascribed 
 by him to the walls of Babylon. In the intermediate space smaller 
 barrows occur, shrunken edifices of perishable materials, while pot- 
 tery and bricks are found every where on turning up the soil. Is it, 
 then, hazardous to conclude that Nineveh in its vast dimensions lies in 
 dust before us? But it may be asked how fallen palaces should be 
 so completely covered with soil, and how leave such stupendous 
 mounds, some of which are little short of one hundred feet in height? 
 The answer is this the Assyrians, before erecting a palace or large 
 public building, were accustomed to raise a brick platform about 
 forty feet above*the level of the country ; on this elevation the subse- 
 quent erections would have an imposing and dignified appearance ; 
 when the palaces, w r hich were of brick, being only coated with 
 alabaster slabs, sank to ruin } and were abandoned at the fall of the 
 empire, the frailer materials gradually decayed, together with the 
 lofty platform ; the sands, drifted by the winds from the Western 
 Desert, added to the mass, grass grew, turf accumulated age after 
 age, until the palaces and walls of the city left no other visible 
 monuments than the great tumuli which arrest the traveller's atten- 
 tion, and the ignorant occupiers of the soil believe to be natural hills; 
 but the enterprise of a Layard lias now brought to light the secrets 
 beneath. 
 
PART II.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 361 
 
 THE DAEK ERA. 
 PART II. 
 
 (12) PAGE 4S. 
 
 To shut tliis rock-built city from the world. 
 
 The remains of Petra, if we except the works of the Romans, may 
 well be classed with the ruins of the Dark Era. That the city was 
 founded by the descendants of Esau, who, we are told, settled among 
 the mountains of Seir, cannot be doubted; but when the countless 
 grottoes, supposed to have been the private houses of the citizens, 
 and the tombs hollowed out of the surrounding mountains, were 
 formed, no records exist to show. Biblical history, however, satisfies 
 us that the Edomites were a powerful people 1,500 years before 
 Christ, when the children of Israel approached their borders. Petra 
 was very advantageously situated for purposes of commerce, being 
 on the high-road of the caravans proceeding from Syria to the trading 
 cities on the Red Sea, and the famous Saba or Sheba in Arabia 
 Felix ; there was a caravan route, also, across the Desert to Babylon. 
 Saul conquered Edom, and Petra remained tributary to the Jews 
 until the reign of Joram, when it again established its independence. 
 About two centuries afterwards, the Nabathsean Arabs, who were 
 descended from the eldest of Ishmael's sons, overran Edom, and the 
 children of Esau were partly scattered, and partly incorporated 
 with that people. Petra was again subject to the Jews dur- 
 ing the sway of the Asmonsean princes, and underwent various 
 vicissitudes, as related by Josephus, until, with the rest of Judaea, it 
 submitted to the Romans. After the time of Hadrian no further 
 mention of the fate of Petra occurs in history; and at what period 
 it was deserted by its inhabitants and left to desolation, the home 
 of the fox and the owl, it would be a fruitless task to inquire. 
 Origen, who lived in the third century, affirms that the name of 
 Idumea had ceased to exist in his time ; consequently, we may with 
 safety say that Petra, up to the period of its discovery by Burckhardt 
 
362 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 in 1812, had been lost to the world except that it might have been 
 known to a few wild and ignorant Arabs for a space of one thousand 
 four hundred years. 
 
 (13) PAGE 49. 
 Here rose Vie letters Cadmus bore away. 
 
 The common tale is that Cadmus introduced his sixteen letters 
 into Greece from Phoenicia, but the learned and indefatigable Dr. 
 Young, Champollion, and others, have now satisfactorily proved, 
 that in Egypt the Phonetic characters were invented some centuries 
 before Moses, who was versed in all the learning of the Egyptians, 
 compiled his narrative. By Phonetic characters are meant those 
 written signs, not presenting ideas to the mind by means of symbols 
 or pictures, but expressive of sound, having the power of the alpha- 
 bet in modern use. Now Cadmus, a Phoenician prince, is said to 
 have visited Egypt for purposes of commerce ; hence papyri, inscribed 
 with the newly-invented character, having fallen into his hands, 
 the error arose, on his settling in Greece, that to Phoenicia was to be 
 ascribed the honour of the invention of letters. We may here remark, 
 that the Egyptians practised several modes of writing; the most 
 ancient was the figurative and symbolical, such as was used by the 
 Mexicans when Cortes landed in America, in which pictures are 
 presented to convey the intended meaning. The Hieratic, or writ- 
 ing of the priests, seems an abridged form of hieroglyphical signs, 
 both phonetic and symbolical, and had recourse to enigma and 
 metaphor, so that it might not be readily understood by the vulgar. 
 The enchorial, or demotic, expressed the language of the people, and 
 written from right to left almost resembles a running alphabetical 
 hand. The famous Rosetta stone, discovered by the French during 
 their occupation of Egypt, was at first thought by philologists very 
 valuable, as they hoped by means of it to fix the power of 
 hieroglyphical signs. This slab of basalt exhibits three distinct 
 inscriptions in as many bands ; the first is the sacred character or 
 writing of the priests ; the second, the enchorial or writing of the 
 country; and the third is Greek. The stone was erected in the 
 reign of Ptolemy V., about 193 years B. c.; but the labours of Dr. 
 Young and Champollion go to prove that the Greek text does not 
 faithfully represent the hieroglyphic bands, giving rather their 
 general meaning, than being a translation word for word. 
 
PAKT II.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 363 
 
 I 
 
 (14) PAGE 50. 
 
 Sivorn the bright waters never to reveal. 
 
 The source of the Nile, in spite of modern science, and all the 
 efforts of travellers, is still a secret. The question, disputed in the 
 days of the Ptolemies, as to the origin of the main branch, twenty 
 centuries have not been able to set at rest. Bruce thought he had 
 reached the spring-head in the high land of Gojam, in Abyssinia, but 
 it appears he was deceived: the Blue River which rises there is not 
 the principal branch, recent discoveries having proved that the 
 Abiad, or White River, is the chief of the three parent streams. 
 Browne and Linant describe the White River as flowing from the 
 south-west, in which direction lies the great mountain range, called 
 the Mountains of the Moon. General opinion, then little stronger, 
 however, than conjecture poinfs to the Lunar Mountains as the 
 spot where the Nile takes its rise. 
 
 (15) PAGE 52. 
 
 A wondrous link between each far-off land. 
 
 Mer6e*, the ancient capital of Ethiopia, was situated between two 
 rivers ; the ruins found by Cailliaud, at Assour, between the Atbara 
 and the Nile, are now believed to be those of Meroe*. The pyramids, 
 which stand in groups on the border of the desert, are limited in 
 size, and in a very ruinous condition. Ethiopia comprehended, 
 according to Herodotus, all that district to the south of Egypt now 
 known by the names of Nubia, Sennar, and Abyssinia. The origin 
 of this extraordinary nation, more ancient even than that of Egypt, 
 giving to the latter her religion and her civilisation, has been the 
 subject of many conjectures among the learned. Scarcely a written 
 Ethiopian record exists for the poetical allusions of Homer, and the 
 doubtful legends preserved by the Egyptian priests, cannot be termed 
 history appeal, then, must be made to the monuments now stand- 
 ing ; these abound in the regions of the Upper Nile, particularly in 
 Nubia. Burckhardt, Belzoni, and others, describe some of them as 
 bearing the appearance of a much greater antiquity than any cor- 
 responding edifices in Egypt. They consist chiefly of pyramids and 
 vast temples hewn out of the solid rock. Ethiopia in the Scriptures 
 is usually termed Gush ; such, also, is the name the country bears on 
 
364 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Egyptian monuments. From a consideration of the rock-temples 
 and pyramids in Nubia so nearly resembling those found in India, 
 and, on the report of Humboldt, in South America, a startling 
 question presents itself to us. The connection of one nation with 
 another can in no way be so clearly traced and established, as by the 
 detecting an affinity or family likeness between their religious insti- 
 tutions. Edifices of so strange a character, all agreeing in certain 
 points, could only be raised to like divinities, though these divinities 
 may differ in name; hence, dark and perplexed as the subject is, 
 we must look to the country containing the oldest monuments of a 
 certain class, as being the parent from whom the other nations 
 sprang; that country is the little-known and mysterious Ethiopia; 
 and the ruins of Meroe*, its ancient capital, may vie in antiquity with 
 those of Babylon and Nineveh. Ethiopian monarchs, at more than one 
 epoch, reigned over the entire of Egypt, and Herodotus saw, in the 
 royal records at Memphis, the names of eighteen of these kings who 
 preceded Sesostris. Women were not excluded from the throne, 
 and we find the lloman general, Petronius, conquering Queen 
 Candace in the reign of Augustus. The age in which this interesting 
 country ceased to be a kingdom, has not been determined ; probably 
 it was about the fourth century, when the Nuba?, and other Arabian 
 and African tribes, pressing from the east and south, established 
 themselves in this part of Africa, and so gradually extinguished an 
 empire concerning which, though it lasted for thousands of years, so 
 little is known. The Ethiopians, as painted on their monuments, 
 appear of a deep copper colour ; their hair, not crisp, like that of the 
 negro, is straight and long; and in their physiognomy as well as com- 
 plexion, they bear no slight resemblance to the Red Indians of 
 America. 
 
 (16) PAGE 53. 
 
 jBut y siill returning, sees each solemn face. 
 
 The great temple of Ipsambul, or Abousambul, in Nubia, is exca- 
 vated from a mountain on the west side of the Nile, and fronts the 
 south-east. Somewhat resembling in design the striking excava- 
 tions at Mount Barkal, in Dongola, it surpasses all others of its 
 class in magnitude and splendour, if we except the caves of Ellora 
 and Elephanta, in India. Belzoni, in 1817, assisted by Irby and 
 Mangles, cleared away the sand which had buried the front of this 
 temple; its depth is nearly two hundred feet, and it has fourteen 
 
PART II.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 365 
 
 apartments, some of them being adorned with square columns thirty 
 feet high. Two of the four enormous colossi still retain their places 
 at the entrance. They are attached to the rock, and seated on 
 thrones; their hands rest on their knees, and their countenances 
 have a calm and beautiful expression. The dimensions of the 
 largest of these figures, as it sits like some unearthly guardian of 
 the place, are given as follow: 25 feet 4 inches across the shoulders j 
 the face 7 feet long; the beard 5 feet; the forefinger 3 feet; the 
 cap 14 feet; the entire height being 64 feet. The Abousambul 
 temple was dedicated to Osiris, whose form appears in relief over 
 the entrance. The cartouches, or elliptical rings, which always 
 surround the names of royal personages on Nubian and Egyptian 
 monuments, contain here the name of Rameses the Great. There 
 can be little doubt that these gigantic figures were raised in honour 
 of this famous conqueror; and, if he were the excavator of the tem- 
 ple, its date would be about 1350 B.C. A similar edifice, but of 
 smaller dimensions, is situated on the opposite side of the valley, 
 and was sacred to Isis. 
 
 (17) PAGE 57. 
 Here let me sit in Karnac' s gorgeous hall. 
 
 Every attempt would fail to give the reader an idea of the mag- 
 nificence of the great hypostyle hall, or court of the one hundred 
 and thirty-four pillars, in the grand temple at Karnac. One of the 
 chief distinctions between a Greek and an Egyptian temple is, that 
 in the Greek the pillars are nearly all ranged on the outside, forming 
 porticos and peristyles; whereas in the Egyptian the columns are, 
 for the most part, within the building, and, standing near each other, 
 appear to fill up the vast rooms like trunks of trees in a forest. The 
 one hundred and thirty-four pillars in the hall at Karnac are dis- 
 posed in nine rows down and sixteen rows across; many of them 
 measure fifty feet from the base to the capital, and some of them are 
 of the enormous circumference of thirty-four feet. The circumfe- 
 rence of the Doric columns of the Parthenon at Athens is eighteen 
 feet, and that of the columns of one of the Paestan temples, the 
 largest out of Egypt, twenty-one feet. The beauty and magnifi- 
 cence of this hall were described by Diodorus nineteen centuries 
 ago ; and although then deserted, such is the durable nature of the 
 materials, that it stands in our own day little shaken, and nearly 
 
366 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 perfect in all its parts. Compared with the Karnac temple, St. Peter's 
 at Rome, and even the Colosseum, will shrink into insignificance. 
 
 (18) PAGE GO. 
 
 The worm long conquering him who conquered earth. 
 
 The palace or temple called the Memnonium, on the west bank 
 of the Nile, faces Karnac ; it was raised by Rameses the Great, the 
 Sesostris of the Greeks, and who was named also Osymandias, the 
 most warlike king that ever sat on the throne of Egypt. He flou- 
 rished 1350 years before Christ, and overran with his arms (states 
 Diodorus) all the countries that lie between Egypt and further India; 
 he also ravaged the North, and the pillars erected by him in the 
 several lands he conquered were standing, Strabo asserts, in his day. 
 The colossal statue of this Pharaoh now lies in ruins in one of the 
 courts of the Memnonium; his various battles are pourtrayed on 
 the walls, and Homer, who lived about 450 years after him, is sup- 
 posed to have seen these sculptures, as they answer in a remarkable 
 manner to the descriptions in the " Iliad." The royal tomb in this 
 building has been described by Hecatseus, but it does not seem that 
 any mummy or sarcophagus has been discovered. Rameses the 
 Great was surnamed Miamum, or devoted to Amun (Ammon); and 
 hence, by a corruption of the word, the edifice has been called the 
 Memnonium. 
 
 (19) PAOE 61. 
 
 Spreads in the hill's deep heart that wondrous hall. 
 
 Of the many magnificent tombs in the hills west of Thebes, com- 
 monly called the " tombs of the kings/' we can only here describe 
 one; it is that supposed by Wilkinson, from the sculptures and 
 hieroglyphics on the walls, to have held the body of King Osirei, 
 father of Rameses the Great, and who reigned 1370 B.C., six centu- 
 ries before the foundation of Rome, when a few savage tribes only 
 hunted through the interminable forests that covered the face of 
 Europe. The tomb of Osirei is entered by a narrow passage at the 
 foot of a high rock, and the excavation may thus in brief words be 
 described : A rapid descent twenty-four feet deep, a narrow pas- 
 sage eighteen feet long, a door, a second staircase twenty-five feet 
 long, two doorways more and a passage, then a chamber fourteen 
 
PART II.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. SG7 
 
 by twelve feet. This seemed at first the limit of the tomb, but 
 Belzoni discovered a small aperture in the ceiling, and, making a 
 breach, a splendid hall, twenty-six feet square, opened upon the 
 intruder. It is supported by pillars, and the sculptures on the walls 
 are as fresh as if executed yesterday. But the end of the sepulchre 
 was not gained yet. The Egyptians understood the effect of climax, 
 and, heaping splendour on splendour, usually reserved the most 
 striking display for the last. Two passages more being threaded, 
 a hall was reached, larger and more dazzling in its decorations than 
 any yet beheld. At the upper end, beneath a vaulted dome, was 
 found that sarcophagus now in the museum of Sir J. Soane, and 
 which for beauty has no equal in the world. It is above nine feet 
 long, of the finest alabaster, and is transparent when a candle is 
 placed on the inside. The entire depth of the tomb into the heart 
 of the mountain, Wilkinson calculates at three hundred and twenty 
 feet. No body was found in the great sarcophagus, for the tomb 
 had been entered before, probably by the Persians, and most of the 
 mummies (for the king's household or favourites appear to have 
 been interred in some of the rooms) had been carried off. 
 
 (20) PAGE 63. 
 No more to rule, or ope her lovely eyes. 
 
 A few words more, and we must close our notice of Thebes. As 
 the arts, sciences, and religious institutions, it is now believed, de- 
 scended the Nile from Ethiopia, so we find Thebes, the No of the 
 Scriptures, and the Hecatompylos of Homer, to be the first Egyptian 
 city built below the cataracts; and here Menes, the earliest recorded 
 monarch, reigned about three centuries, says Josephus, on the au- 
 thority of Manetho and others, before the birth of Abraham. When, 
 however, the patriarch, with his wife Sarah, visited Lower Egypt, 
 B.C. 1920, that portion of the valley of the Nile, the last to be colo- 
 nised, appears to have been in a very flourishing condition. The 
 greater number of the buildings now standing on the site of Thebes 
 may, in all probability, have been erected during the brilliant reign 
 of Sesostris; but one of the halls was built by Thothmes III., the 
 contemporary of Moses; and some pillars bear the name of Osirtesen 
 I., who nourished two centuries earlier. The ruins extend over 
 the districts now called Karnac and Luxor, on the east bank of the 
 Nile, and Medinet Abou and Gornoo, on the west. But to enter 
 
3G8 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 into a description of the immense structures at Karnac, the statues 
 of granite, the magnificent propyla or gateways, the avenues of 
 sphinxes, one of which formerly stretched all the way across the 
 plain, two miles in extent, to the temple at Luxor; the obelisks there, 
 the finest in the world; together with the extensive ruins on the 
 opposite side of the river, reaching to the mountain of tombs, would 
 alone require a volume. Thebes never recovered its glory after the 
 invasion of the Persians, 525 B.C., for Cambyses is said to have burnt 
 nearly all the private dwellings; the massy temples alone, with the 
 stately tombs, defying the ravages of the flames. 
 
 (21) PAGE 69. 
 Awe with their vastness, charm us with their grace. 
 
 The temple of Dendera, the ancient Tentyra, on the west bank 
 of the Nile, opposite Keneh, is one of the most perfect, as well as 
 magnificent, of the structures of its class now standing in Egypt. 
 It was dedicated to Isis, and Athor the Egyptian Venus. The solid 
 brick walls which enclose the various portions of the temple, form 
 a square of 1000 feet each way, being thirty feet high, and fifteen 
 feet thick. The beautiful portico in front has twenty-four columns 
 disposed in four rows; the capitals are quadrangular, having a 
 colossal Isis' head on each side, and the shafts, including the bases, 
 are forty-six feet high. The lofty gateways, the columns, architraves, 
 walls, and ceilings are covered either with hieroglyphics, or figures 
 in relief, among which Isis is conspicuous ; so that scarcely a square 
 foot will be found through the whole extent of the buildings but 
 bears evidence of the indefatigable industry of the Egyptian artist. 
 The winged globes, surrounded by serpents, embleming eternity, 
 are found here ; together with the sacred boats carved on stone, the 
 last symbolical of the soul, to be conducted by Anubis over the river 
 of death to Hades. Much has bsen written and argued regarding 
 the beautiful planispheres or zodiacs of Dendera, which enrich the 
 ceilings of some of the rooms ; but the extravagant calculations of 
 Depuis, and other French savans, as to their immense antiquity, 
 have long been discarded. When the temple was founded is not 
 known; but the small shrine of Isis, behind the larger building, 
 alone claims very great antiquity; and the zodiacs, the principal one 
 of which has been removed, are now ascribed to the first century 
 of our era. It was here that our Sepoys, when in Egypt, prostrated 
 
PART II.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 369 
 
 themselves before the sacred cow of Isis and other sculptured figures, 
 declaring that the Egyptians must have been good Hindoos, as they 
 acknowledged the deities worshipped in India by their forefathers 
 and themselves. 
 
 (22) PAGE 71. 
 
 The only lords qfMemnorfs palace now. 
 
 The palace of Memnon is said by Strabo to have been at Abydus, 
 and the site of this ruined town is now partly occupied by the village 
 of Arabat, a few miles west of Dendera. Greek writers have made 
 many contradictory statements regarding their favourite hero, Mem- 
 non, celebrated for the beauty of his person, as well as his valour. 
 Hesiod describes him as a king of Ethiopia, and the son of Tithonus. 
 and Pausanias says he came to the siege of Troy from Susa; but the 
 majority agree in calling him an Egyptian king. That he was not 
 Amunoph III., the Memnon of the vocal statue, who reigned 1400 
 years B.C., is evident since the young hero was slain by Achil- 
 les, at the siege of Troy, which city was taken 1184 B.C. by the 
 Arundelian Marbles. The Memnon of Abydus, then, must have 
 been a Rameses probably Rameses V. s-urnamed, like his great 
 predecessor, Miamum; and hence again the corruption of the name 
 by the Greeks. The palace of Memnon is at present almost buried 
 by the sands; the immense roof being on a level with the surround- 
 ing country. This roof is formed of massy slabs, placed edgeways, 
 and extending from wall to wall ; the vault afterwards having been 
 cut out instead of built a mode very commonly practised in Egyp- 
 tian edifices when an arch has been aimed at. The principal apart- 
 ments are two grand halls, supported by columns ; the vivid colours 
 of the paintings on the walls we have already alluded to. In the 
 adjoining building was found the famous tablet, or list of kings, 
 prior to Rameses the Great, and whieh is now in the British Museum ; 
 but the commencement, unfortunately, has been broken off, so that 
 the names of the earliest Pharaohs cannot yet with certainty be 
 determined. 
 
 (23) PAGE 72. 
 
 Live only in the tale tradition tells. 
 
 The Labyrinth, said to have been constructed by King Psam- 
 miticus, is described by Herodotus as one of the greatest wonders 
 of Egypt. The chambers were innumerable, and all of the finest 
 
 2 A 
 
370 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Parian marble. This structure is now no more, or lies buried be- 
 neath the accumulated sands of ages. The exact spot where it stood 
 even the researches of Pococke and Belzoni have failed to ascertain. 
 That its site, however, was in the neighbourhood of Arsinoe, the 
 City of Crocodiles, south of Lake Maeris, ancient historians plainly 
 declare. 
 
 (24) PAGE 74. 
 
 And o'er your lost loved city bend and weep. 
 
 As a consequence from the hypothesis that monarchy and civili- 
 sation descended the Nile from Ethiopia, step by step, it will follow 
 that Memphis was founded after Thebes. It may be asked in this 
 case, how such magnificent remains should exist at Thebes, while 
 Memphis has entirely disappeared. Two great causes have operated 
 in desolating the latter city: first, the overflow of the Nile, Mem- 
 phis having been situated on lower ground than Thebes; and 
 secondly, the building of Alexandria, and other large towns in and 
 near the Delta. Memphis offered a quarry, whence, age after age, 
 materials were carried off. Thebes, on the contrary, in her remote 
 position, remained untouched. When Joseph and his family settled 
 in Egypt, about 1700 B.C., the Pharaohs reigned at Memphis in all 
 their glory. But innumerable and perplexing were the dynasties 
 that sometimes reigned at Memphis, and sometimes at Thebes. 
 Moses conducted his people out of the land, after a sojourn there 
 of two centuries, Thothmes III. being supposed by Wilkinson to 
 have been the Pharaoh who pursued them, and perished in the Red 
 Sea. After the invasion of Egypt by the Persian Cambyses, 
 Memphis fell rapidly to decay, and its very site is now a subject of 
 dispute, although the majority of travellers would place it near 
 the Nile, between the pyramids of Gizeh and Sakhara, the Arab 
 village of Metrahenny occupying a portion of the ground where it 
 stood. 
 
 (25) PAGE 75. 
 
 These piles, at once grand, matchless, and sublime. 
 
 It is a remarkable circumstance that all the pyramids are situated 
 on tlie west bank of the Nile, in Lower Egypt. Beginning at 
 Gizeh, nearly opposite Cairo, they extend in an irregular line for 
 
PART II.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 371 
 
 about seventy miles, to the neighbourhood of Lake Moeris. The 
 principal group is at Gizeh, and on the authority of Herodotus, 
 who inspected them 460 B.C., we ascribe the building of the 
 largest to Cheops, that of the second in magnitude to his brother 
 Cephren, while the third was erected by Mycerinus. These struc- 
 tures, including several smaller ones, stand on an elevation about 
 150 feet above the surrounding desert, and the pyramid of Cheops 
 is the most stupendous mass of masonry ever raised by human 
 labour. It consists of a series of platforms diminishing in depth 
 towards the submit ; these platforms are 203 in number, and afford 
 the common facility of steps to those who mount the pyramid. It 
 measures at the base each side 763 feet, and covers 13 acres, which 
 area, by a singular coincidence, is the exact measurement of Lin- 
 coln's-inn Fields, London, the whole ground being taken in close to 
 the houses. The total height is 457 feet, and, were the apex 
 of the structure restored, it would be about 478 feet, exceeding by 118 
 feet the summit of St. Paul's; and it has been calculated not, per- 
 haps, without some approximation to the truth that the mass of 
 stone of which this pyramid is composed, would be sufficient to form 
 the cathedral just named, St. Peter's at Rome, Notre Dame at Paris, 
 St. Mark's at Venice, the great Mosque at Constantinople, and the 
 cathedrals at Cologne and Strasburg. The entrance to this pyramid 
 is on the north face, about forty-seven feet above the base, and the 
 access to all the other pyramids that have been entered has been 
 found on the same side. The vertical height of the Cephren is 
 about 450 feet, and that of the Mycerinus 174 feet. The two small 
 pyramids south of the last are built, like the pyramids in Mexico, with 
 receding platforms, each platform being connected with the other 
 by narrow steps. 
 
 (26) PAGE 7/. 
 
 Till Earth herself shall see the death of Time. 
 
 The original design or purpose of the pyramids has given rise to 
 innumerable conjectures. Presuming Cheops to have been one of 
 the Shepherd-kings of the second irruption, and who came from 
 the country now called Palestine, or the Caucasian mountains, it is 
 reasonable to suppose that he should introduce Sabaism, or the 
 adoration of the sun and stars ; hence his pyramid might have been 
 a grand temple raised to the luminary of day. Cheops all writers 
 represent as a tyrant, who closed the temples, and forbade the 
 
372 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 religion of the land to be practised ; that he should have ordered 
 his body, however, to be interred in his pyramid, would at once 
 imply that he designed it as a sepulchre, as well as a religious 
 edifice. Following some general rule, all the pyramids in Egypt 
 have their sides exactly facing the four cardinal points from which 
 circumstance, observes an eminent writer, we gain the very valuable 
 information, that, during the lapse of three thousand years, " the 
 poles of the world have not changed." Those who would ascribe 
 the building of the pyramids to kings who flourished before the 
 Children of Israel settled in Egypt, are probably in error; being 
 opposite Memphis, and visible at a short distance from Goshen, had 
 they stood in the days of Moses, we might certainly expect he 
 would have made some allusion to them ; but the entire silence of 
 Scripture regarding them, and the testimony of Strabo and Hero- 
 dotus, oppose the hypothesis of their very early erection. The 
 passion for building pyramids in Egypt, appears to have sprung up 
 during the latter portion of the time that the Hebrews sojourned 
 there, and continued for some centuries after their exode. This 
 being assumed, a greater age cannot with reason be given to 
 the Cheops or Cephren than 3300 years ; indeed, we are inclined 
 to ascribe a higher antiquity to the brick pyramids at Faioum 
 and Dashour, than to the stone edifices at Gizeh, and in the 
 erection of the former it is very possible the Children of Israel 
 assisted. 
 
 A late writer on Egyptian antiquities has laboured to disturb the 
 chronology long established by the mass of archaeologists and Biblical 
 commentators, and endeavours to show that the pyramids were built 
 between four and five thousand years ago a period reaching back 
 to the time of Noah. With due deference for the abilities of Mr. 
 Gliddon, we must on this point entirely disagree with him, consider- 
 ing his statements ill supported by facts. 
 
 (27) PAGE 78. 
 Theirs the dear care to shield her frame in this. 
 
 Diodorus has left an interesting account of the ceremonies observed 
 at Egyptian funerals. After the body had been embalmed for a 
 certain period prior to its interment, judges, amounting to forty-two, 
 assembled to pass sentence on the dead. This tribunal was held 
 on the banks of the river, or canal of the Nome to which the 
 
PART II.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 373 
 
 deceased belonged. If a favourable judgment were delivered, the 
 body received all the honours of burial; but if it were proved that 
 the deceased had been without virtue, or had committed any great 
 crime, the rites of sepulture were withheld the greatest disgrace 
 and calamity that could befall an Egyptian. In the small temple of 
 Dayr el Medeeneh at Thebes, is a very interesting sculpture repre- 
 senting the judgment in Hades. Osiris on his throne awaits the 
 arrival of souls, and the four genii stand before him on a lotus blos- 
 som ; Thoth, the scribe of heaven, bears in his hand a tablet, on which 
 are noted down the actions of the deceased, while Horus, the son of 
 Isis and Aroeris, weighs the soul's good deeds; the forty-two asses- 
 sors occupy seats above. 
 
 (28) PAGE 83. 
 
 Too sadly calm, majestic, and benign, 
 To image aught but attributes divine. 
 
 The Sphinx of Gizeh, near the pyramids, is the largest of all exist- 
 ing figures of its class. The recumbent body is that of a lion, the 
 head and shoulders being those of a female. When uncovered by 
 Caviglia, its length was found to be one hundred and forty-three 
 feet, its height in front sixty-two feet, the enormous legs being 
 thrown out in advance of the body fifty feet. The sand has again 
 almost buried this wonderful statue, with the exception of the head 
 and breast. The features are Nubian or Ethiopic, but totally dis- 
 tinct from those of the negro, for their expression is peculiarly placid 
 and sweet. As to the original meaning or design of this extraordi- 
 nary compound being, the mind is lost in a wilderness of conjecture. 
 Yet the great Egyptian Sphinx, perhaps, is no more than a grand 
 hieroglyphic. Its double sex, the lion and the woman, may suggest 
 the idea of self-creating energy, all things being produced by one 
 First Cause. It would be, therefore, in the dark and mystical lan- 
 guage of the children of Ham, the palpable word shadowing forth 
 the one Almighty Artificer. Sphinxes are found in India, but there 
 they usually exhibit the head of a man. 
 
 (29) PAGE 88. 
 
 While barbarous caliphs leave no wreck behind. 
 The famous Alexandrian Library was situated in the quarter 
 called Bruchion, north of the Obelisks ; large masses of ruin point 
 out this district as being the spot where stood palaces, temples, and 
 
374 KTJINS OP MANY LANDS. [BOOK i. 
 
 theatres. The library was partly destroyed by fire during the siege 
 of Alexandria by Julius Caesar; it was replenished, and continued 
 to flourish, until the days of the successor of Mohammed, who, in 
 holy indignation at such a vast collection of profane books, gave 
 them over as fuel to the four thousand baths of the city. " If," said 
 Omar, " these writings of the Greeks agree with the Koran, they 
 are useless, and need not be preserved ; if they disagree, they are 
 pernicious, and ought to be destroyed." 
 
 (30) PAGE 89. 
 Of Rome's famed son, who perished on yon deep. 
 
 The monument commonly called Pompey's Pillar stands on a 
 mound south-east of the new town. The shaft, a single piece of red 
 granite, measures sixty-nine feet in length, and is calculated 
 to weigh two hundred and eighty tons; the capital is Corinthian, 
 and little injured by the effects of time. Many disputes have arisen 
 regarding the person in whose honour this famous pillar was 
 erected, the Greek inscription on the plinth of the base having 
 been read different ways. Yet if Diocletian's or Adrian's name 
 be made out, this will be no proof that to Pompey the column 
 was not originally raised, since it was a common practice with the 
 Roman emperors to erase the names of their predecessors from 
 the public monuments, and in their place vainly to parade their 
 own. 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REIGNS OF THE PHARAOHS. 
 
 Some of the Pharaohs reigned at Thebes, some at Memphis, 
 while others governed both Upper and Lower Egypt. Manetho 
 and Herodotus have given a list of Egyptian Kings, but their state- 
 ments are at variance. The intricate subject of Egyptian chronology 
 has been treated of by Dr. Hales and Prichard ; but Champollion 
 
PART II.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 375 
 
 and Wilkinson have chiefly appealed to the monuments of the 
 country, and to their indefatigable industry and deep erudition, we 
 are indebted for the comparative light thrown upon the obscure but 
 interesting question. 
 
 MENES, first king of Thebes, coming either from Ethiopia 
 or migrating from the East, commenced his reign, 
 
 according to the majority of writers 2200 
 
 Babylon, probably called for many centuries the 
 City of Shinar, and Nineveh, were founded about this 
 period. The authenticated records of China com- 
 mence with King Yao, 2057 B.C. 
 
 ATHOTHIS, son of Menes, supposed to have built Memphis, 
 
 in Lower Egypt, 2180 
 
 Several kings follow, their names being uncer- 
 tain or unknown; Manetho makes at this period 
 an irruption of the Shepherd-kings, the builders of 
 the pyramids, but Herodotus places this event 
 some centuries afterwards. Abraham, with Sarah, 
 visits Egypt, 1920. 
 
 APAPPUS, the Papi of the hieroglyphics 1900 
 
 Several dynasties succeed, but the names of the 
 kings are not known with certainty. Argos, in 
 Greece, founded, 1856. 
 
 SIXTEENTH DYNASTY (REIGNING IN LOWER EGYPT.) 
 
 OSIRTESEN I., the builder of Heliopolis, his name being en- 
 graven on the famous obelisk there 1740 
 
 Joseph is carried into Egypt 1729, and Jacob, 
 with his family, arrives 1706. No religious edifices 
 of a date prior to this reign are now standing. Two 
 Pharaohs succeed their names disputed. 
 
 SEVENTEENTH DYNASTY (REIGNING AT MEMPHIS.) 
 
 OSIRTESEN II 1650 
 
 OSIRTESEN III. Joseph died in this reign, 1635 1636 
 
 EIGHTEENTH DYNASTY (FROM THEBES.) 
 
 AMOSIS. This is the greatest and most famous of the 
 
 Egyptian dynasties, and commenced 1580 
 
 Amosis is probably the Pharaoh " who knew not 
 
376 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 Joseph,"' being from Thebes. It has been supposed 
 that the Shepherd-kings were the hard taskmasters 
 of the Hebrews ; but Champollion and Wilkinson 
 think otherwise, and we are of opinion that the fact 
 of the new dynasty coming from Upper Egypt, will 
 sufficiently explain why the memory of Joseph was 
 no longer held in honour. Moses was born 1571. 
 AMUNOPH I. The science of the arch was known in Egypt 
 in this reign, and probably was communicated 
 some centuries after by Egyptian exiles to the 
 
 Etruscans in Italy 1550 
 
 THOTHMES I. Moses fled from Egypt, 1531 1532 
 
 THOTHMES II. Glass used in Egypt 1505 
 
 THOTHMES III. Exode of the Israelites, 1491, being 238 
 
 years from the arrival of Joseph in Egypt 1495 
 
 AMUNOPH II. His father is presumed to have been the 
 Pharaoh drowned in the Red Sea. He came to the 
 throne very young, as appears by a drawing at 
 
 Thebes. Moses died 1451 1490 
 
 HORUS, or THOTHMES IV. The great sphinx at Gizeh 
 
 made in this reign 1466 
 
 IRRUPTION OF THE HYSKOS, OR SHEPHERD-KINGS. 
 
 Authors have disagreed as to the date of the 
 reigns of these celebrated kings, who came from 
 the land of Canaan, or the mountains beyond the 
 Euphrates ; it seems probable there were two irrup- 
 tions, and the leaders of the last, conquering Lower 
 Egypt, built the great pyramids at Gizeh. We have 
 ventured to differ from Wilkinson, who supposes 
 these pyramids built before the exode of the Hebrews ; 
 many arguments might be adduced to show the great 
 probability of their subsequent erection, and much 
 stress ought to be laid on the fact, that Moses does 
 not once allude to them in his narrative, though, 
 had they been built, the Hebrews might have seen 
 them at a short distance from Goshen. Herodotus 
 assigns them a date even after the reign of Sesos- 
 tris, 13oO. 
 
PART II.] CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 377 
 
 B.C. 
 
 CHEOPS, builder of the great pyrmid at Gizeh, about 1450 
 
 CEPHREN, brother to Cheops, builder of the second pyramid, 1425 
 MYCERINUS, son of Cheops, builder of the third ditto 14.15 
 
 EIGHTEENTH DYNASTY RESTORED. 
 
 AMUNOPH III. The Memnon of the vocal statue at Thebes 1400 
 
 RAMESES I 1380 
 
 OSIREI I. Son of Rameses I. Moeris, who excavated the 
 great lake, lived about this time, according to 
 Herodotus, but his name does not occur in the 
 phonetic inscriptions. Osirei's splendid tomb at 
 
 Thebes was discovered by Belzoni 1375 
 
 RAMESES II. This prince was Rameses the Great, entitled 
 Miamum, the Sesostris of the Greeks, and the 
 most famous warrior that evor sat on the throne of 
 Egypt; he was the son of Osirei, and reigned 
 (states Manetho) sixty-six years; his name is found 
 
 inscribed on innumerable monuments 1355 
 
 AMENOPHIS, son of Rameses II 1289 
 
 NINETEENTH DYNASTY OF DIOSPOLITAN OR THEBAN KINGS. 
 
 SETHOS. First naval expedition of the Greeks to Colchis, 1263 1269 
 
 OSIREI II 1255 
 
 RAMESES III 1235 
 
 RAMESES IV 1205 
 
 RAMESES V., supposed to be the Memnon of Strabo, and 
 whose ruined palace is standing at Abydus. Troy 
 
 was taken 1184, by the Arundelian Marbles 1190 
 
 RAMESES VI 1184 
 
 TWENTIETH AND TWENTY-FIRST DYNASTIES. 
 
 Several Pharaohs, whose names are doubtful, 
 reigned from 1170 to 980 B.C. Solomon married 
 the daughter of one of these Pharaohs 1014, but 
 his name is unknown. 
 
 TWENTY-SECOND AND TWENTY-THIRD DYNASTIES OF THEBAN 
 KINGS. 
 
 SHESHONK, the Shishak of Scripture, who pillaged the Tem- 
 ple of Jerusalem 971, coming with a vast army 978 
 
378 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 B.C. 
 
 OSORKON 1 945 
 
 OSORKON II. Homer was born 907 (Arundelian Marbles) ... 908 
 SHESHONK II 890 
 
 A blank follows of about ninety years. 
 
 TWENTY-FOURTH AND TWENTY-FIFTH DYNASTIES OF ETHIOPIAN KINGS. 
 
 SABACO; he conquered Egypt, reigning over that country 
 
 and Ethiopia united. Rome founded 753 778 
 
 SHEBEK. Captivity of the Ten Tribes 721 728 
 
 TIRHAKA; a great warrior, whose wars with Sennacherib 
 are mentioned in the Scriptures; during this bril- 
 liant reign the temples at Mount Barkal in Nubia 
 are supposed to have been constructed 714 
 
 SETHOS; he ruled at Memphis with Tirhaka 700 
 
 TWENTY-SIXTH DYNASTY OF SAITE KINGS. 
 
 NECHAO; he came from Sais, a royal city in Lower Egypt ... 690 
 
 PSAMMITICUS: 664 
 
 NECHAO II., or Necos; this famous prince conquered Josiah, 
 King of Judah. Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, 
 flourished. Nineveh finally overthrown in his reign. 620 
 
 PSAMMITICUS II 600 
 
 APRIES, called also Pharaoh Hophra; he took Sidon, and 
 his fleet is said to have circumnavigated Africa; 
 Nebuchadnezzar in his reign ravaged part of Egypt 590 
 
 AMOSIS. Cyrus took Babylon 537 B. c 571 
 
 PSAMMENITUS; this reign is the fatal epoch of Egyptian 
 history, for Cambyses, King of Persia, invaded 
 and subdued the country, burning Thebes and 
 insulting the Deities 525 
 
 TWENTY-SEVENTH DYNASTY (PERSIAN KINGS.) 
 
 The Persians governed Egypt, except at the periods 
 when the country revolted and placed native princes 
 on the throne, for 200 years. Herodotus, to whom 
 history owes so much, visited Egypt 460 B.C. 
 Amyrtoeus was recalled to the throne 414. Nec- 
 tanebo, the last of the Pharaohs, fled into Ethiopia, 
 340; and 332 B.C. Alexander the Great conquered 
 Egypt from the Persians. 
 
PART II.] HISTORICAL AXD DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 379 
 
 DYNASTY OF MACEDONIANS, COMMONLY CALLED THE PTOLEMIES. 
 
 These renowned kings, encouragers of learning, 
 and patrons of the arts and sciences, swayed the 
 sceptre of Egypt, through a series of brilliant reigns, 
 for above 290 years, the famous Cleopatra being 
 the last of the line; at her death, 30 B.C., Egypt 
 became a Roman province. 
 
 THE DAEK EEA. 
 PART III. 
 
 (31) PAGE 98. 
 
 And pomp >, art, power, with Montesuma died. 
 
 When the Spaniards arrived in that part of America called 
 Anahuac (now Mexico), the reigning race, the Aztecs, had only 
 been in possession of the country about three centuries. " We 
 know,'* said King Montezuma to Cortes, " by our books, that we 
 are not natives, but strangers who come from a great distance." 
 The wanderings of this extraordinary people, the Aztecs, from the 
 tract of land north of the Gulf of California, southward, conquering 
 other tribes, and building cities on their way, until they settled on 
 the table-land of Mexico, extended, according to their annals, over 
 a period of some hundreds of years. Previously to their arrival, the 
 country appears to have been occupied successively by four distinct 
 races, of which the Toltec was the most famous. "Mexican annals 
 go no further back than the time of the Toltecs," is the observation 
 of the learned Humboldt; and that epoch corresponds with the 
 seventh century of our era. 
 
 (32) PAGE 100. 
 
 Have rooted there, and murmur to the breeze, 
 
 Among other appearances suggestive of the great antiquity of the 
 ruins at Uxmal and Chi-chen in Yucatan, is the accumulation of 
 
380 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 soil on the tops of the edifices. The grand temple and some of the 
 smaller pyramids at the latter place, show a deposit of decayed 
 vegetation from four to five feet thick. However rapid in this 
 climate the growth of plants may be, yet, from the first deposition 
 of mosses on a high, and perhaps exposed edifice, to the gradual 
 deepening of the soil until capable of supporting large trees, many 
 ages must necessarily elapse. Not far from the ruins of Chi-chen 
 is a series of mounds, extending over a considerable tract of country; 
 the spot is supposed to have been the great cemetery of the early 
 races. See Norman's Travels. 
 
 (33) PAGE 101. 
 
 Dark home of priests, the Mecca of the West. 
 
 On the left bank of the beautifully- wooded river, Copan, which 
 falls into the bay of Honduras, stands the group of remarkable ruins 
 described in the text. These remains are unique, for they bear no 
 resemblance to any other ruins with which we are acquainted. 
 The entire city appears to have been dedicated to the exercise of 
 religious rites. Rude square pillars ascend through the trees in 
 every direction, varying from fifteen to twenty-five feet in height. 
 They are of gritstone, and covered with hieroglyphics; some are 
 completely overgrown with shrubs and moss, and others lie on the 
 ground, bound down by the roots of gigantic trees. Before every 
 pillar stands a flat stone altar, evidently for the purpose of sacrifice. 
 Some of these pillars (says Stephens) retain traces of red paint the 
 sacred colour of the Egyptians, as seen on the Sphinx, and several 
 of the figures in the Temple of Dendera, on the Nile; red also is 
 esteemed sacred by the Hindoos. 
 
 (34) PAGE 103. 
 
 On each tree-shaded tower and pictured wall. 
 
 The ruins discovered in 1750, in the forests of the Mexican state 
 of Chiapa, and since called the ruined City of Palenque from the 
 neighbouring village, are, perhaps, the most important and splendid 
 of all the remains of an unknown age yet found in Central Ame- 
 rica. Many vague and incorrect accounts of Palenque had reached 
 Europe prior to this century. Some travellers asserted that it was 
 sixty miles in circumference, or twice the magnitude of London. 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 381 
 
 Captain Del Rio surveyed the ruins in 1787, and Dupaix, in 1835, 
 published a work respecting them. They extend, there can be no 
 doubt, over a tract many miles in length ; but owing to the trees 
 and underwood, not a tenth part of the monuments, it is supposed, 
 has yet been discovered. These monuments consist chiefly of pyra- 
 mids, the remains of temples, baths, and stone buildings, the palaces 
 of the old Caciques. The houses, as regards their flat roofs and 
 low massy walls, are built in the Egyptian style ; but in the arrange- 
 ment and number of the apartments and courts, they rather resemble, 
 strange to say, Greek and Roman dwellings. One peculiarity 
 attaches to nearly all the ruined stone palaces yet discovered in 
 Central America; they are constructed, as were the Ninevite palaces, 
 on artificial platforms, that vary in height from twenty to fifty feet; 
 the fronts are stuccoed and richly ornamented, and the floors are of 
 a hard cement. Apertures in the walls, of the form of the well- 
 known Egyptian Tau, have been found in the palace at Palenque, 
 giving rise to many speculations among the learned. Though square 
 pillars may be met with here, the cylindrical have never been dis- 
 covered. Sculptured figures in relief occur everywhere ; some of 
 them are rudely done, but others are executed with considerable 
 taste. The features of the persons pourtrayed are usually in profile ; 
 the forehead is low and receding, the nose is remarkably large and 
 prominent, and the whole physiognomy bears no resemblance to 
 that of any race or people at present occupying the country. Of 
 the so-called Palenque, no history, no tradition, not even a name 
 exists; and in the time of Cortes, three centuries ago, the city was 
 as desolate as it appears in the present hour. 
 
 (35) PAGE 103. 
 By star or needle, 'tis not ours to say. 
 
 It has been assumed, but never proved, that the mariner's compass 
 was unknown to the ancients. The vulgar error that it was invent- 
 ed by Flavio Gioja, of Amain in Italy, in the fourteenth century, 
 is at length exploded. The truth seems to be that Marco Polo, on 
 his return from China in 1260, introduced it to the notice of Euro- 
 peans; for in China, Japan, and the Indian seas, the compass appears 
 to have been known from the remotest antiquity. In the grand 
 annals of the Chinese empire (the passage has been translated by 
 Klaproth), mention is made of this nautical compass a thousand 
 
382 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 years before the Christian era. It requires, then, but little strain 
 on our credulity to believe that the needle was known to the Ara- 
 bians on the Red Sea, the Egyptians, and the Phoenicians. 
 
 (3G) PAGE 105. 
 On Micoafs plain two stately piles are seen. 
 
 Eight leagues north-east of Mexico stands a group of pyramids on 
 the plain called Micoat, or " the Path of the Dead." The largest, 
 which was dedicated to the sun, is 170 feet high; the second in size, 
 sacred to the moon, 140 feet. Like some of the pyramids at Sakhara 
 and Dashour, in Egypt, they are built of small stones in a strong 
 cement. When Cortes arrived in America, these two Teocallis, as 
 the Mexicans called their pyramids, were surmounted by colossal 
 figures covered with plates of gold, but the avaricious Spaniards soon 
 appropriated the precious metals to themselves. One feature in 
 which the American pyramid differs essentially from the Egyptian, 
 is that the former is rarely found without a structure on the summit, 
 consisting usually of a small temple with an altar, dedicated to the 
 gods of the country. 
 
 (37) PAGE 106. 
 The scythe of Time, the spectre of Decay. 
 
 About forty years ago some Spanish hunters discovered in the 
 thick forest of Tajin, not far from the Gulf of Mexico, a pyramid of a 
 very elegant form, and rich in decoration. The Papantla (for so it 
 has been called) is built entirely of hewn stones of immense size ; 
 it is less broad at the base, and consequently more tapering, than 
 any other Mexican pyramid of a similar altitude. The steps are 
 covered with hieroglyphics, and figures are carved in bold and beau- 
 tiful relief on its sides. We may here remark that the American 
 hieroglyphics on the monuments of an ancient date, and especially 
 at Palenque, bear little resemblance to the Egyptian; they consist 
 of strange figures grotesque human heads, hands, cylinders, and 
 other devices, which as yet, for the most part, defy interpretation. 
 Whether the Papantla has been buried in wood for one or three 
 thousand years, no one may attempt to decide; but certain it is that 
 a structure so elegant could only be the work of a people highly 
 polished, and possessed of great artistic skill. Antiquaries are at 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 383 
 
 a loss to assign a reason for the pyramidal structure occurring so 
 frequently in Central America, while it has never, we believe, among 
 other existing remains of antiquity, been met with so far north as 
 the Canadas. Did the race who raised these pyramids migrate 
 direct from Western Asia or Egypt, where this description of build- 
 ing was once so general ? If they had come from the north, we 
 might reasonably presume pyramids would be discovered on the 
 banks of the Huron or the St. Lawrence. It is rather remarkable 
 that a chain of pyramids should be found nearly in the same latitude, 
 forming as it were, a belt around the world, beginning in Central 
 America, passing from Nubia and Egypt to Mesopotamia, thence to 
 Hindostan, where the ruins of Buddhist dagobas or pyramidal 
 towers are common, and ending at Benares, in the same country, 
 where some brick pyramids still exist, though nearly worn down to 
 mounds. 
 
 (38) PAGE 103. 
 Deemed life would fail, and earth would pass away. 
 
 The Mexican cycle or age terminated every fifty-two years, and 
 the ceremony of extinguishing the old and kindling the new fire, 
 that marked the event, was one of the most solemn and important 
 of the many observances of the country. The sacred fire was usu- 
 ally kept on the summit of pyramids and hills, these localities some- 
 what resembling the "high places" mentioned in Seripture among 
 the Canaanites. Until the priests succeeded in obtaining this new 
 fire, the greatest consternation prevailed amongst the superstitious 
 people, for they imagined at the close of ore of these cycles, the 
 world would be at an end. When sanctity began to be attached to 
 fire in the old world, it is impossible to say, but long before the 
 time of Zoroaster that element was worshipped as the symbol of the 
 Deity in those countries now called Persia. To trace this myste- 
 rious adoration in the various forms it took, would be a task of great 
 interest. The Jews believe that their holy altar-fire was never ex- 
 tinguished during their forty years wandering. The Greeks kept 
 up a perpetual fire in their chief cities, particularly atDelphos; and 
 the Romans committed to the care ol certain virgins, who were 
 highly honoured, the fire sacred to the goddess Vesta, and its acci- 
 dental extinguishment was ever regarded with the greatest alarm. 
 Even on the rude altars of the ancient Gauls, tire was kept perpet- 
 
384 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 ually burning. The modern Parsees in India maintain that they 
 have preserved the pure element which Zoroaster obtained from 
 heaven, without its being once extinguished, to the present day. 
 
 (39) PAGE 110. 
 
 E'en daring Fancy scarce attempts to raise 
 The shadowy veil of long -departed days. 
 
 In dismissing the subject of American ruins, we may be expected 
 to offer some opinion relative to the probable age and builders of 
 those remarkable cities and monuments, to which public attention 
 and antiquarian research have been directed only within the last 
 fifty years. Many theories have been offered, but they who have 
 studied the subject with the deepest attention, appear most cautious 
 in putting forward any decided opinion. The question, viewed as 
 it may be, is surrounded with many difficulties. That America was 
 peopled at a very early period in the world's history cannot be 
 doubted: all the remains, both as regards tumuli and the ruins of 
 Cyclopean edifices, in Peru, Mexico, and the tract west of Florida 
 to the Pacific Ocean, confirm the supposition. That its early 
 settlers were not the Indian races in possession of the country when 
 discovered by Columbus, is likewise an ascertained fact. We have 
 seen in Europe how successive irruptions from the North, at different 
 periods, have changed political systems and national manners, the 
 new comers, by amalgamating with, or expelling the conquered 
 nations, half destroying the primitive type. That such a catastrophe 
 operated to a large extent on the great American Continent, we have 
 every reason to believe. The present Indian races, Humboldt satis- 
 factorily proves, belong to the Mongul stock a branch of the human 
 family more restless and migratory in its propensities than any 
 other. These might have passed at different times over that narrow 
 arm of sea called Behring's Straits, separating the north-eastern 
 extremity of Asia from tlie American shore. The Mexican annals, 
 we have observed, go no further back than the seventh century. 
 Some are written on deerskin, some on a cotton texture, and all in 
 hieroglyphics. The skins or cloths do not form rolls like the 
 papyri of the ancient Greeks and Romans ; those preserved in the 
 libraries of Berlin and the Escurial are folded up somewhat similar 
 to a lady's fan in our days, and, when opened, reach from twenty to 
 thirty feet in length. It is remarkable that no light in the ancient 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 385 
 
 manuscripts, so far as they are understood, is thrown upon the 
 origin of the cities and pyramids now under consideration. Some 
 of the Aztec writers, however, (the last race,) vaguely ascribe all 
 antiquities to the Toltecs, which people occupy in America much 
 the same position as the Pelasgi in ancient Europe. Humboldt has 
 doubts whether some of the cities may safely be ascribed to an epoch 
 preceding that of the Toltec dynasty the seventh century ; but to 
 the great pyramid of Cholula, the type and model of most others in 
 America, he is inclined to give a far higher antiquity. Allowing 
 thus much, we fall back to a period antecedent to any existing 
 annals. But, indeed, an account of the ruined cities must not be 
 sought for in written records. Their history is stamped on them- 
 selves : and all their characteristics, one feature excepted the rare 
 occurrence of the pillar go far to prove their erection by an Asiatic 
 or African race. The Egyptians, though long averse to maritime 
 enterprise, possessed under Necos II. and Apries, a large and 
 powerful fleet. A singular passage occurs in Plato's " Critias," 
 relative to the Egyptian Sonchis having informed Solon of the 
 " Atlantic isles, which were larger than Asia and Africa together.' 3 
 The islands alluded to, it has been supposed, were no other than 
 the great Western Continent. If then, as we have elsewhere 
 shown, the mariner's compass, afterwards lost, was known to the 
 ancients, we see nothing calculated to excite surprise in the notion 
 that Egyptian or Ethiopian colonies, in conjunction with 
 colonies from Tyre and other Phoenician cities, found their way 
 across the Western Ocean, built the cities and pyramids, the ruins 
 of which at the present hour so perplex the archaeologist, and 
 having governed the land for many ages, weie swept away by new 
 races from the north, consisting of Monguls, Tibetians, and other 
 Asiatic invaders. 
 
 (40) PAGE 113. 
 Till, pure from earthly dross, they seek the spheres. 
 
 The doctrine of transmigration of souls being also prevalent 
 among the ancient Egyptians, the question naturally arises whether 
 this extraordinary belief originated with them or with the Hindoos. 
 We have no historic data to guide us, but assuming the early inha- 
 bitants of Hindostan, at least those on the Western coasts, to have 
 been a colony from Ethiopia or Egypt, we are driven to one conclu- 
 2B 
 
386 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 sion. Indeed there is a leaning among most historians and archaeo- 
 logists to assign a higher antiquity to the inhabitants and monu- 
 ments of Egypt than to those of Hindostan. The knowledge 
 which the Greeks, Romans, and Jews possessed of India appears to 
 have been very limited. Alexander the Great did not advance 
 further East than the river Hyphasis (the Garra in the modern 
 Punjaub), and thence he followed the Indus to the ocean. The 
 Punjaub at that time was occupied by many warlike nations, who 
 might rival in bravery the modern Sikhs, and it was upon the banks 
 of the Hydaspes (the Jylum) that Alexander defeated the gallant 
 Porus, near the spot, it is thought, where in 1849 a bloody conflict 
 took place between the disciples of Nanak Shah (the Sikhs) and the 
 British forces. 
 
 (41) PAGE 118. 
 
 And on his once loved temple deigned to smile. 
 The ruined temple of Somnauth, which has of late years acquired 
 additional celebrity, from being connected with certain acts of a 
 British Governor-general of India, is beautifully situated on the 
 promontory of Saurastra, which juts out into the Gulf of Cambray. 
 It was dedicated to Surya, the god of the sun, Somnauth meaning 
 the " lord of the moon." Its desecration and pillage by Mahmud of 
 Gazna, A.D. 1028, is alluded to by Gibbon. This temple possessed 
 immense wealth, and the author quoted states that two thousand 
 Brahmins, three hundred musicians, and five hundred dancing girls, 
 were attached to the shrine. It is now utterly deserted, harbouring 
 only, when Todd visited the place, birds and beasts of prey. 
 
 (42) PAGE 122. 
 
 These throw o'er CarlCs shrines an awe and gloom, 
 Which less befit the temple than the tomb. 
 
 The Carli excavated temples are situated near Poonah ; the Hin- 
 doos, remarks Lord Valentia, believe them haunted by evil spirits. 
 They are reached by steps cut in the rock half way up the hill. 
 The chief cave consists of a vestibule and a temple beyond, arched 
 and supported by pillars; the temple is one hundred and twenty-six 
 feet long and forty-six feet broad. The principal figures are in the 
 vestibule, where Buddha is sitting cross-legged. In the adjoining 
 caverns also he is the chief personage, other deities paying him ado- 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 387 
 
 ration. Hence it is evident that the entire range of temples at Carli 
 was dedicated to Buddha, and whatever their real age, they must 
 have been excavated before the fifth century of our era, when the 
 religion of the Buddhists ceased in India. 
 
 (43) PAGE 122. 
 
 And simple hearts the fabling tale believe. 
 
 The caves of Ellora, near the city of Dowletabad, are, with the 
 caves of Elephanta, the most famous in India. These temples, like the 
 Carli excavations, are cut out of the solid rock on the side of a hill, 
 and the labour bestowed upon them must have been immense. The 
 great cave, called the Kailasa, is two hundred and forty feet in 
 length, and one hundred and fifty feet in width; within this is a 
 monolith, or sacred chamber hollowed out of one entire stone, one 
 hundred and three feet by sixty feet, being eighteen feet high. 
 Other caves occur around the mountain, and are supposed to have 
 been the residences of the officiating priests. The temples of Ellora 
 are marked by one peculiarity: they contain sculptures of almost 
 all the gods of the Hindoo Pantheon. In some of the shrines were 
 celebrated Buddhist rites, proving that the Hindoo Brahmins and 
 the worshippers of the great reformer Buddha, afterwards such 
 mortal enemies, were, at the formation of these temples, on friendly 
 terms. 
 
 (44) PAGE 123. 
 
 The Eden that once bloomed hath pissed away. 
 
 The rocky island of Salset, or Salsette, off the Mahratta shores, 
 contains the famous Kenneri caves. The remains of tanks, stone 
 terraces, and small edifices, overgrown with jungle, speak of the 
 time when the spot was either a great rendezvous for pilgrims, or 
 was well peopled; many parts of the island bear evidence of having 
 been once highly cultivated. The Kenneri caves were dedicated 
 to the pure worship of Buddha, whose colossal statue, twenty feet 
 high, still adorns the vestibule of the principal ruined temple. 
 
 (45) PAGE 124. 
 
 His laws revered, and bless'd his ancient name. 
 It is a melancholy fact, that of all the systems of religious belief 
 now prevalent on earth, Buddhism has the greatest number of fol- 
 
388 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 lowers; yet while the creed of its votaries is dark enough, and some 
 of their most esteemed traditions are inexpressibly childish and ab- 
 surd, a distinction ought to be made between the reveries of the 
 Buddhists and the gross idolatry as at present practised by the Hin- 
 doos. One of the characteristics of Buddhism is unobtrusiveness; 
 it has been propagated neither by fire nor sword, and it inculcates 
 virtue, gentleness, and submission to constituted authority, while 
 it is disgraced by no bloody or obscene rites. The date of the rise 
 of this extraordinary faith in India has been a subject of much dis- 
 pute, and some have even claimed for it an existence prior to that 
 of the Brahmanical worship. It is now, however, generally agreed 
 that Buddha lived 1100 years before the Christian era; he was 
 born in South Bahar, and assuming the name of Buddh, or Buddha, 
 which means the sage, commenced teaching his doctrines at Benares. 
 He may be considered, like Zoroaster of Persia, in the light of a great 
 reformer, for he protested against many of the idolatrous practices 
 and corruptions of faith which had begun to deform the religion of 
 Hindostan. He opposed the system of castes, also Sutteeism, or the 
 burning of widows on the funeral piles of their husbands. Never- 
 theless, his followers seem to have lived peaceably with the orthodox 
 Hindoo Brahmins for a long period, since not until the fifth 
 century of our era did that persecution commence on the part of the 
 Brahmins, which ended in the entire exile of all the Buddhists 
 from Hindostan. At the present time not a single temple in which 
 Buddhist rites are performed, is to be found there. The chief 
 countries where the religion now prevails, are Ceylon, Nepaul, Tibet> 
 Birmah, Japan, and China; in the last-named country the faith of 
 Buddha has been embraced by about one-third of the vast population. 
 Though repudiating the system of castes, and differing on some im- 
 portant points of belief and discipline, the Buddhists cherish many 
 of the doctrines held by devout Brahmins. Like the latter, they 
 believe in transmigration of souls; their Iswara, who answers to 
 Brahm, was the creator of all things, and into him, as into Brahm, 
 all spirits will at last be absorbed. They likewise personify the 
 preserving and destroying principles. The ancient statues of 
 Buddha usually appear in a sitting posture, crossjegged, with the 
 left hand on the left knee, and the right hand held open on the lap; 
 the features are finely chiselled, and have an expression peculiarly 
 mild and thoughtful. The Buddhists, from a tendency to contem- 
 plation, are much addicted to the monastic life; convents for priests, 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 389 
 
 and nunneries for female ascetics, abound in every land where 
 their faith prevails. We find them in the spicy valleys of Ceylon, 
 and in the cities of Japan aud China. Buddhist convents hang on 
 the sides of the mountains of Tibet ; the quiet monks teach their 
 doctrines to the wild rovers of the deserts of Tartary, and their 
 influence only ends where the snowy tracts of Siberia deny further 
 progress to the teachers of the sunny South. 
 
 (46) PAGE 125. 
 
 As glad to waft the zealofs soul above. 
 
 Many smaller temples surround the mountain in Elephanta, but 
 the principal cave half way up the ascent faces the north; it has a 
 fine platform in front, and rivets the beholder's attention. This 
 striking and gorgeous temple, hewn out of the rock, is 130 feet wide, 
 and of a similar depth, its height being about eighteen feet. It is 
 supported by columns, which are masses of stone left standing, the 
 capitals somewhat resembling two bells joined at the open ends, the 
 shafts near the pedestals being square. The roof, unlike the ceil- 
 ings of the Carli and Kenneri temples, is flat, and in this respect it 
 resembles the Egyptian edifices. The colossal figures, about fifty 
 in number, varying from twelve to fifteen feet in height, are cut in 
 relief so prominent that some of them nearly stand out from the 
 walls. As works of art they are much inferior to Greek and Roman 
 sculptures, but they surpass in minute detail and finish the Nubian 
 Colossi, the reliefs found at Persepolis, and eqaal in many points 
 " the finest Egyptian models. 
 
 (47) PAGE 126. 
 
 And left Greek, Roman fables far behind. 
 
 He is greatly deceived who supposes that the system of faith now 
 practised in Hindostan prevailed in that country at a very remote 
 period. The hideous and revolting superstitions of to-day have 
 grown up within the last fifteen centuries, each age bringing with 
 it something more debased and horrible to add to the great mass 
 of error. Some of the original Hindoo Brahmaic doctrines, as taught 
 in the Vedas, or sacred books, it must be confessed, are based on 
 certain conceptions as striking and sublime as ever entered the mind 
 of uninspired man. The Vedas are written in Sanscrit, the great 
 
390 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK I. 
 
 fountain-head of most of the Oriental languages, and the abridg- 
 ment of them, made by a learned Hindoo about two centuries before 
 our era, is called the Vedant. These sacred books acknowledge 
 one God, omniscient, omnipresent and incomprehensible : they give 
 him the name of Om, and this appellation is regarded so holy that 
 no pious Brahmin must dare repeat it. The three great attributes 
 of Om are represented by Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, the Creator, 
 Preserver, and Destroyer, who form, as before observed, the Indian 
 Trimurti. Extreme interest attaches to the Elephanta temple, 
 inasmuch as this most ancient and sublime notion is here admira- 
 bly and beautifully figured forth. The great bust of the Trimurti 
 stands on the south side facing the entrance; it consists of three 
 colossal heads or faces, Brahm the Creator occupying the centre ; his 
 face is five feet in length ; it measures from the ear to the nose three 
 feet four inches; and the whole bust is nearly eighteen feet high, 
 and twenty feet in breadth. On the left of Brahm is Vishnu, and 
 on the right Siva. The figures are richly adorned with stone head- 
 dresses, neck ornaments and rings, and each face is characterised 
 by an expression wonderfully in accordance with the qualities as- 
 cribed to the deity it represents. But the idea of Om, the one God, 
 has long been lost sight of by the Hindoos, for in their wild and 
 absurd system of belief they have converted almost every moral at- 
 tribute and every object in nature into a deity. No temples in 
 India are now dedicated to Brahma, for his work of creation being 
 complete, it becomes the duty of the people to propitiate the pre- 
 serving and destroying principles, consequently many splendid tem- 
 ples are raised in honour of Vishnu and Siva. The avatars or in- 
 carnations of Vishnu form a very striking and romantic portion of 
 the Hindoo creed. Vishnu has appeared on earth, at greater or 
 less intervals, nine times; the tenth avatar is yet to come. When 
 he re-appears, the Brahmins say, the world will be at an end, and 
 all nature and spirits, including those undergoing the penance of 
 transmigration through other bodies, will be absorbed into Brahm. 
 
 :END OF THE DARK ERA. 
 
HISTOEICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES, 
 
 BOOK n, 
 
 THE CLASSIC ERA. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 (48) PAGE 137. 
 Where the proud rock of Cecrops courts the shies. 
 
 THE Acropolis, or Cecropian citadel so called from the Egyp- 
 tian Cecrops, who has had the credit of being the founder of Athens 
 is a rock which starts abruptly from the plain. Ancient Athens 
 extended on all sides of this eminence, though the larger portion 
 lay towards the North. The city is almost surrounded by hills, 
 which exhibit, for the most part, a very barren aspect ; the princi- 
 pal are Mount Anchesmus and Pentelicus on the north ; the exten- 
 sive range of Ilymettus, still, as in former days, famous for its 
 honey, on the east ; and the hills of Areopagus, the Pnyx, and Mu- 
 seium, on the west and south. The long walls which, commencing 
 at the Piraic gate and the Museium, connected Athens with her sea- 
 ports on the PiraBus, were about four miles in extent, and some 
 vestiges of them remain at this day. The circumference of Athens, 
 B.C. 430, was, on the authority of Thucydides, forty-three stadia, 
 or about five and a half miles; but this did not include the mari- 
 time city, or the space between the long walls. The population of 
 Athens has been variously estimated, for no statistical account on 
 which much reliance can be placed has been left us by ancient writers. 
 Adopting Leake's opinion on the subject, we shall not probably be 
 far from the truth when we state, that during the most flourishing 
 
392 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 period of the republic the population within the walls amounted to 
 1 1 6,000 namely, 40,000 free citizens, 53,000 slaves, and 23,000 resident 
 aliens and paupers. The entire population of Greece, including 
 the islands, has at the same epoch been computed at three millions 
 and a half. The pure Hellenic race no longer exists, the people 
 being in the present day, with the exception of the inhabitants of 
 a few districts, a mixture of ancient Greeks, Latins who invaded 
 the country in the middle ages, Albanians, Candiotes, Souliotes 
 from Epirus, and some other races from Western and Northern 
 Europe. 
 
 (49) PAGE 138. 
 
 Overpower the mind by too much loveliness. 
 
 The famous ruins of the Parthenon, or Temple of Minerva, on 
 the Acropolis, are so well known that we need only very briefly 
 advert to them. The Parthenon was built in the time of Pericles, 
 448 B.C., the architects being Ictinus and Callicrates, and the chief 
 sculptor Phidias. It may be regarded as the finest specimen of pure 
 Doric now in the world, the only monuments at all contesting with 
 it the palm of excellence being the Temple of Theseus and the 
 edifices at Psestum. The Parthenon did not owe its grandeur to its 
 size ; it measured only 228 feet in length, being 100 feet wide. The 
 impressive effect produced depended rather on the elegant arrange- 
 ment of the pillars, the unrivalled beauty of the sculptures in the 
 pediments and frieze, and the exquisite style and finish exhibited 
 in every part. This temple was technically termed peripteral 
 that is, columns ran completely around the building, enclosing the 
 cella, which was open to the sky; the external columns were forty- 
 six in number, being thirty-one feet five inches high, and six feet 
 one inch diameter at base. The interior of the building was con- 
 verted into a Christian church, and afterwards into a Mosque. The 
 Parthenon suffered much during the wars between the Turks and 
 Venetians; it is now in a very shattered condition, and the prin- 
 cipal sculptures, every one knows, have been removed by the Earl 
 of Elgin; nevertheless, the portion which remains, though but a 
 skeleton of the former edifice, excites the admiration of all travellers 
 of taste; and with common care this magnificent specimen of 
 architectural genius may yet be preserved for many centuries. In 
 addition to the Parthenon, there stand on the Acropolis the ruins 
 of a building of the Ionic order, in various parts, commonly called 
 
PART I.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 393 
 
 the Erectheium : it consists of the Erectheius, the small temple of 
 Minerva Polias, and that of the Nymph Pandrosus; the south portico 
 of the last was supported by six colossal female figures in lieu of 
 pillars, and termed caryatides. 
 
 (50) PAGE 140. 
 
 Its front of marble fair as taintless snow. 
 
 The Doric Temple of Theseus, north of the Areopagus, was 
 built of the purest Pentelic marble, by Cimon, about twenty years 
 before the erection of the Parthenon. So perfect is it at this hour, 
 that the beholder is led almost to doubt its great age 2300 years. 
 It stands on a platform of two steps ; the sculptures in the friezes 
 are in the first style of art, and it appears that they were originally 
 painted, for the brazen colour of the arms, and the blue and red of 
 the drapery, can still be distinguished. In architectural beauty the 
 Theseium is considered little inferior to the Parthenon; its size, 
 however, is less than that of the building on the Acropolis, and the 
 thirty-four Doric columns which surround it are only eighteen 
 and a half feet high, and three feet four inches in diameter. 
 This temple was esteemed an inviolable asylum, and here slaves 
 who had deserted their masters commonly took refuge. In 
 the present day it answers the purpose of a church, and is 
 dedicated to St. George. 
 
 (51) PAGE 144. 
 
 And Corinth bowed in death her beauteous head. 
 
 The original name of Corinth was Ephyra; it was built on the 
 north side of the lofty steep, Acrocorinthus, and at a very early period 
 was a place of considerable trade ; even Homer, in his time, calls it 
 the " wealthy." ("Iliad," B. n.) The final destruction of Corinth 
 was effected by the Consul Mummius, B.C. 147, and the paintings 
 and statues which he carried off to Rome were of inestimable 
 value. Proving how little some of the Roman generals understood 
 of works of art, it is said that Mummius, when consigning to the 
 care of his attendants some of the master-pieces of Parhasius and 
 Apelles, threatened them that, if the paintings were lost or injured, 
 they, his servants, should be bound to make others in their stead I 
 
394 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 (52) PAGE 144. 
 
 Ah ! who unmoved might pass their beauty by ? 
 Considered as a genuine specimen of the earliest Doric, the 
 Seven Columns at Corinth possess interest little inferior to that 
 which belongs to the Parthenon, and the Psestan temples in Italy. 
 They are composed of limestone, being five feet ten inches in dia- 
 meter at the base, and twenty-three feet nine inches high, while 
 each shaft is one entire stone. Five of them support a broken 
 mass of the old entablature. The Seven Columns are supposed to 
 have belonged to a temple of Juno; they are low in proportion to 
 their diameter, and have the heavy massy appearance of some of 
 the temple-columns on the banks of the Nile. Indeed, though the 
 style of their architecture is sufficiently distinct from the Egyptian, 
 they may be regarded as erected at a time when Greek forms of 
 elegance began to be engrafted on Egyptian solidity; thus consti- 
 tuting, as it were, a connecting link between the styles of the 
 Egyptian and Hellenic races. These solitary pillars have long been 
 famous, and that their proportions may be seen in comparison with 
 the size of some other celebrated columns belonging to ancient 
 edifices, we subjoin the following table: 
 
 DORIC ORDER. 
 
 Height of columns. Diameter at base. 
 
 The Seven Columns at Corinth 23 feet 9 in. 5 feet 10 in. 
 
 The Parthenon at Athens 31 ,,5,, 6 1,, 
 
 The Temple of Neptune at PaBstum ... 29 10 7 
 
 Ditto of Theseus -18 7., 3 4,, 
 
 Ditto of Minerva, at Sunium 20 ,,0,, 3 4,, 
 
 Ditto of Hercules, at Agrigentum 33 0,, 6 ,,10,, 
 
 Trajan's Column, at Rome 97 9,, 12 2,, 
 
 CORINTHIAN ORDER. 
 
 Temple of the Sibyl, or Vesta, at Tivoli 23 6 2 5 
 
 Stoa, or Portico, at Athens 28 ,,0,, 2 ,,11,, 
 
 Temple of the Winds, ditto 13 ,,6,, 1 7,, 
 
 Monument of Lysicrates, ditto 11 ,,7,, 1 2,, 
 
 Portico of the Pantheon, Rome 46 5,, 4 ,,10,, 
 
 Temple of Jupiter Tonans, ditto 46 ,,6,, 4 8,, 
 
 Ditto of Jupiter Olympius, Athens CO ,,0,, 6 6,, 
 
PAKT I.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 395 
 
 IONIC ORDER, 
 
 Height of columns. Diameter at base. 
 
 Temple of Erectheus, Athens 27 ,,7,, 2 4,, 
 
 Ditto on the Ilissus 14 ,,8,, 1 9,, 
 
 Aqueduct of Hadrian 19 2 2 2 
 
 Temple of Fortuna Virilis, Rome 27 3 1,, 
 
 (53) PAGE 147. 
 Dark ruin ! type of joy that will not stay. 
 
 The ruined theatre of Polycletus, near the once-famed Epidaurus, 
 affords, with the theatre at Sicyon, the most perfect example of 
 buildings of its class in Greece. The remains are situated on the 
 side of a hill near the village of Coroni. As is the case in most 
 Greek theatres, the ranges of seats are hewn out of the mountain, 
 and the pulpitum, or stage, extended on a platform opposite. These 
 seats in the Epidaurian theatre are very perfect, forming fifty-six 
 rows from the bottom of the pit to the summit of the coilon : the 
 pit is 105 feet in diameter; the stage, however, has disappeared. 
 Bushes, mountain trees, and ivy, envelope nearly the whole mass of 
 this interesting ruin, while it is the resort of serpents and other 
 reptiles. The theatre of Polycletus, resembling other buildings in 
 Greece designed for scenic representation, had no roof. The mild- 
 ness of the climate and the circumstance that plays were acted only 
 during the day, rendered this appendage unnecessary. Yet modern 
 taste will feel that great drawbacks to scenic effectiveness were 
 connected with the Greek stage. The magic of artificial light 
 wanting, and the glaring sun destroying all illusion, the picture 
 represented must have been broad, harsh, and real; the mask, 
 without which an actor never appeared, seems to have been, as de- 
 scribed by Greek writers, and preserved in statues, sufficiently 
 grotesque and revolting. Then women were not allowed to tread 
 the stage; and this fact seems at once to throw a coldness over the 
 whole atmosphere of the Greek drama. Yet it is evident that the 
 theatre possessed great attractions for the lively and imaginative 
 people of Greece; and if the drama were altogether ineffective, we 
 cannot suppose that men would have flocked in such immense 
 numbers to witness plays, as we are assured was the case. Rome 
 took pleasure in her gladiatorial exhibitions, which appealed to the 
 senses within the walls of the Amphitheatre Greece delighted in 
 
396 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 her histrionic displays, which, embodying the poetic imaginings of 
 her JEschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, addressed themselves to 
 the mind. 
 
 (54) PAGE 149. 
 
 The seats of glory, yet the haunts of crime. 
 
 The associations connected with Mycenae are of a very interesting 
 character. It is especially the city of tragic and appalling occur- 
 rences, which, though embellished by the poet, have an historic 
 basis. So old is Mycenae that it ceased to be inhabited four hundred 
 years before the Christian era, yet its massy ruins astonish the 
 traveller of the present day. The most remarkable of these remains 
 are the Cyclopean walls, the Gate of Lions, the tombs of Agamem- 
 non and other kings, with the vast underground treasure-vaults of 
 Atreus, the largest of which has a conical roof, and (according to 
 Leake) is fifty feet wide. 
 
 (55) PAGE 149. 
 
 Tiryns we pass; as near us lower her walls. 
 
 Tiryns, as well as Mycenae, is said to have been the work of the 
 Cyclops, to whose agency the poets were accustomed to ascribe those 
 gigantic edifices raised in Greece prior to the possession of the 
 country by the Hellenic race. The stones in the walls of Tiryns, 
 put together without cement, are of surprising magnitude, and are 
 surpassed only by the massive blocks which form the platform, at 
 Baalbec, supporting the ruined Roman temples. "Whether these 
 extraordinary specimens of masonry be the work of early Egyptian 
 colonies, of the Pelasgi, or of a Celtic race emigrating from the 
 north of Europe, is a question which, perhaps, the learned will 
 never be able to decide. 
 
 (56) PAGE 152. 
 Like Memory's wail for glories long gone by. 
 
 The remains of ancient Sparta are very inconsiderable; they lie 
 principally on the western bank of the Eurotas, now called Iri; the 
 once-famous streets of Aphetse and Skias can no longer be traced. 
 The theatre south of the Agora, though most of the stone benches 
 are destroyed, is the best preserved of the ruins; many parts of the 
 
PART II.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 397 
 
 ground, however, are covered with broken Doric columns, and 
 other architectural fragments. The small town of Mistra in the 
 neighbourhood, has been built of the stones taken from the ruins of 
 Sparta. The city was not surrounded by walls until the time when 
 the Romans interfered with the affairs of Greece, and few vestiges 
 of these walls can now be traced. The traveller, on surveying the 
 site of this renowned city, and the small territory of Lacedeemon, is 
 astonished that, from so limited a space, armies were sent forth 
 which even the mighty Persian hosts were taught to fear. An allu- 
 sion has been made in the text to the heroism of the Spartan 
 women: among no people of antiquity did woman enjoy so high a 
 social position as among the Spartans ; she was not considered, as 
 by the other Hellenic communities, an inferior being, doomed only 
 to minister to the pleasure of her husband, but while esteemed, a 
 respect also was paid her; she was honoured by the title of "Lady, 
 or Mistress;" indeed the influence which woman obtained at Sparta 
 not a little resembled the chivalric homage rendered to her by the 
 people of Western Europe during the middle ages. This feeling of 
 deference to the sex, so uncommon at the period, we cannot but 
 consider as a beautiful relief to the otherwise unlettered rudeness, 
 and the stern martial ferocity that distinguished Spartan character. 
 
 THE CLASSIC ERA. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 (57) PAGE 158. 
 Where Freedoms martyrs, Athens' heroes sleep. 
 
 The great tumulus, called the tomb of the Athenians, stands a few- 
 furlongs from the sea, and is a very conspicuous object on the plain 
 of Marathon. Its circumference is 180 feet, and it measures from 
 the base to the summit, the measure being passed over the surface, 
 30 feet. No monumental stone, or cippus, has been discovered, but 
 Doctor Clarke, in an opening of the barrow, found many arrow- 
 
398 RUINS OP MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 heads made of flint, remains of the arms used in the famous battle, 
 490 B. c. The tomb of the Plataeans and Boeotians, the allies of 
 the Athenians, rises at a short distance. 
 
 (58) PAGE 164. 
 
 Not e'en a grave its very site unknown. 
 
 Tanagra was the birth-place of the famous poetess Corinna, who 
 obtained a poetical prize even when Pindar was her competitor. 
 Travellers in vain have sought for the ruins of this Boeotian town. 
 Thebes, that gave birth to Pindar and Epaminondas, may, at the 
 present hour, contain about a tenth part of its ancient population. 
 Some houses are scattered over the old Cadmean citadel, but the 
 place boasts few antiquities; the seven gates renowned by the poets 
 are gone, and the Cyclope'an walls are less striking than those of 
 Tiryns or Mycenae. 
 
 (59) PAGE 107. 
 
 These, Nature's glories, have not passed away. 
 
 Parnassus, called in the present day Liakura, is the most celebrated 
 of all the mountains of the classic world. It is situated in Phocis, 
 north-west of Helicon, and south-east of Pindus. Three distinct 
 climates are experienced by the inhabitants of this mountain; 
 fruit-trees and flowers in profusion encircle the base, and the first 
 ascent, as far as the ruins of Delphi ; above, groups of pine, oak, 
 and chestnut, are intermingled with vast masses of rock ; and beyond 
 this band of forest trees vegetation dwindles, until stunted shrubs 
 and short grass are succeeded by snow, which covers the summit of 
 Parnassus nearly all through the year. 
 
 (60) PAGE 168. 
 
 The robber's haunt, at evening's shadowy hour. 
 
 Many ruins, interesting to the scholar and antiquary, will be 
 found on the south side of Parnassus. The old town of Delphi was 
 built on a very extraordinary plan; it consisted of a series of 
 semicircular terraces hewn out of the mountain; these terraces 
 were sufficiently wide to support houses and temples, and the 
 masonry of their fronts remains to this day in a tolerably perfect 
 
PART II.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 399 
 
 state. The ruins of the Gymnasium are situated behind a monastery. 
 Above the village of Castri, the marble seats of the stadium, where 
 chariot-races and other games were held, are distinctly traced. 
 Grottos, with niches for offerings, walls of temples, and fragments 
 of columns, abound on this side of Parnassus, a district always con- 
 sidered by the ancients eminently holy. 
 
 (61) PAGE 168. 
 
 In beauty rivalled this small spot of earth. 
 
 The fount of Castaly, enduring as the strains in which it has been 
 celebrated, is perhaps the most interesting object to be found on 
 the hill of Parnassus. At the foot of a perpendicular precipice 100 
 feet high, which has two jagged summits, and east of the village of 
 Castri, there is a large square basin with steps cut out of the rock; 
 opposite is a stone seat, probably three thousand years old, where 
 Homer, Hesiod, and Pindar may have sat. The basin is usually 
 full of the purest water, and in addition to moss, ivy, and wild 
 lilies, which grow thickly around it, an aged fig-tree bends over the 
 cistern. Such is the famous Castalian fountain as seen by travellers 
 in the present day. 
 
 (62) PAGE 169. 
 
 Sent armies forth, and shook a subject world. 
 
 The Pythia, in the early ages of Greece, was a young and beauti- 
 ful virgin, but subsequently it was thought proper that she should 
 be a person of mature age. After washing in the Castalian spring, 
 she was conducted to the Temple of Apollo; there the priests 
 placed her on a tripod above a cavity, whence issued a vapour some- 
 what similar, it has been thought, tf that which proceeds from the 
 Grotto del cane near Naples. This vapour had the effect of speedily 
 throwing her into convulsions, and while in that state she gave 
 utterance to her prophetic ravings. The four principal oracles of 
 the Pagan world were those of Delphi, Dodona, Trophonius in 
 Boeotia, and Jupiter Ammon, in the Libyan Desert; and the 
 influence which they exercised on the superstitious mind in general, 
 notwithstanding more enlightened intellects were not to be deceived 
 by them, appears to have been immense. Seldom an expedition of 
 any importance was entered upon without a previous consultation 
 
400 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 of one of the Grecian oracles. Man at all periods of the world's 
 history, and under all circumstances, has ever been anxious to dive 
 into the future, and this curiosity gave rise among the Greeks to the 
 famous oracles, and among the Jews to the mysterious Urim and 
 Thummim. In Cicero's time oracles had begun to fall into con- 
 tempt ; but it was not until the reign of Theodosius, in the fourth 
 century, when Christianity had spread widely over the Eoman world, 
 that they ceased entirely to be consulted. 
 
 (63) PAGE 172. 
 
 But Peace her sister Beauty kisses here. 
 
 The picturesque ruins of the temple of Jupiter Panhellenius, in the 
 island of JEgina, continue to excite the admiration of all travellers. 
 The lofty pillars, the original colour of which has been turned to a 
 rich brown, rise among plane-trees on the north-east shore. The 
 style of architecture, though similar to that of the Parthenon at 
 Athens, and the Temple of Minerva on the promontory of Sunium, 
 would indicate, according to Chandler and Stuart, an era antecedent 
 to the time when those renowed fanes were built. The date of the 
 ./Eginetan temple may be fixed at 550 B.C.; yet it is less ancient 
 than the Seven Columns at Corinth, and, in all probability, than 
 the temples of Paestum. 
 
 (64) PAGE 174. 
 
 Or radiant gateway opening into heav'n. 
 
 The remains of the Temple of Bacchus are picturesquely situated 
 on a mass of rocks that start out of the sea, on the north side of the 
 port of Naxos. The portal has long been famous. "We were 
 struck with admiration," says Clarke, " at the massive structure and 
 simple grandeur of the part still standing. It consists of three, 
 pieces of Naxian marble. The view, through this portal, of the town 
 and island is very fine." 
 
 (65) PAGE 176. 
 
 Walls cased in marble, turrets stately still. 
 
 Seven centuries before the Christian era, Samos, under the patron- 
 age of Psammiticus, King of Egypt, became remarkable for maritime 
 enterprise, and was inferior only to Tyre and Pelusium, as regarded 
 its foreign trade. The ruins of the ancient city, a ground-plan of 
 which Pococke gives in his travels, are partly situated on the south 
 
PART II.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 401 
 
 side of Mount Ampelus. The walls are incrusted with marble, and 
 many of the square towers still stand; but the renowned Temple of 
 Juno, the tutelar goddess of the island, exhibits in its scanty remains 
 but little to attest its former magnificence. 
 
 (66) PAGE 179. 
 
 Had breathed a spell on Julis* towers of grey, 
 Strengthening their strength, arresting e'en decay. 
 The ruins of Julis, once the capital of Cos, seem entitled to more 
 attention than has been bestowed upon them by travellers. The 
 famous marble at Oxford, called the Parian Chronicle, from a belief 
 that it was found at Paros, " was in reality," to use the words of 
 Clarke, "discovered among the ruins of Julis." These striking 
 remains cover the summit of a hill, the base of which is washed by 
 the sea; the Acropolis, or ancient citadel, stands on the cape. 
 Totirnefort describes the masses of marble in the ruins of the great 
 temple and the walls of the city, as surpassing any other remains of 
 antiquity to be found in the Greek islands ; many of the stones are 
 more than twelve feet in length, rivalling the immense blocks at 
 Tiryns, and the masses of limestone which form the lower courses 
 of the pyramid of Cheops. 
 
 (67) PAGE 181. 
 
 And scarce a stone points out where Ilion rose, 
 Pride of her sons, and terror of her foes. 
 
 No monuments, except the tumuli, or barrows, where the Grecian 
 and Trojan heroes are supposed to rest, remaining on the plain of 
 Troy, the site of the ancient city has given rise to many learned 
 and interesting speculations. The hypothesis which would place it 
 at the junction of the Simois and Sf amander seerns to have arisen 
 from the fact, that a second city was built there in the time of the 
 Romans, and called by them Troy. Pococke, Le Chevalier, and 
 Von Eckenbrecher, have argued with great plausibility that the 
 situation of the real Troy was farther south. Still, however, if we 
 are guided by the descriptions of Homer, we shall agree that it stood 
 between the two rivers ; and, following the majority of opinions, we 
 may safely fix upon the modern Turkish village of Bounar-Bashi 
 as being in the immediate neighbourhood, if it do not occupy the 
 exact site, of the renowned city of old King Priam. The Trojans 
 were of Thracian origin, and it does not appear that their territory 
 
 2c 
 
402 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 boasted of any other towns of note besides Ilium, their capital. It 
 would seem by Homer's narrative that they were more advanced in 
 Tefinement, and all the arts of civilisation, at that early period, than 
 their enemies the Greeks; for the cruelty of the latter, during the 
 memorable ten years' siege, ever throws a shadow on the brightness 
 of their valour. The date of the famous sack of Troy is fixed by 
 the Arundelian marbles at 1184 B. c., when Israel was governed by 
 Judges, and a Rameses was King of Egypt ; his immediate predeces- 
 sor, Rameses V., having been, as we have shown it probable, the 
 young Memnon who led troops to the assistance of King Priam, and 
 who fell by the sword of Achilles, his palace at this day being repre- 
 sented by the splendid ruins half buried in the sands at Abydus. 
 
 (68) PAGE 182. 
 Weeps her lost lord, and woos him to her arms. 
 
 The character of the famous Helen, whose abduction by Paris, 
 every one will be aware, gave rise to the Trojan war, has been regarded 
 in two aspects; under one, she is represented as having willingly fol- 
 lowed the son of Priam, and ardently embraced the cause of the ene- 
 mies of her country : under the other, she is pictured as being retained 
 by force, and ever mourning for her lawful husband, Menelaus. 
 Homer paints her character in the latter light, the more poetical, as 
 well as consistent one, inasmuch as a nation was more likely to rise 
 in arms to avenge the cause of an injured, than to claim a faithless 
 woman. 
 
 THE CLASSIC EEA. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 (69) PAGE 189. 
 
 Though Titus' baths are hid by creeping vines y 
 And Trajan's form of bronze no longer shines. 
 The baths of Titus were constructed near the Golden House of 
 Nero, A. D. 80. The ruins now, consisting of vaults, fallen arches, 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 403 
 
 and dilapidated walls, stand in the midst of a vineyard. The 
 colossal statue of Trajan, which once adorned his magnificent pillar 
 at the foot of the Quirinal hill, has been cast down, its place being 
 occupied by the image of the Apostle Peter. 
 
 (70) PAGE 190. 
 
 The domed Pantheon, with its walls of white, 
 As built by gods to grace Olympus' height. 
 
 The Pantheon, the largest circular building ever raised in classic 
 times, is the best preserved of all the ancient structures now in Rome. 
 Whoever built the rotunda, or main body of the edifice, the noble 
 portico, as we are informed by an inscription on the frieze, was 
 erected by Agrippa, son-in-law of Augustus. The chief architec- 
 tural features of the Pantheon are the dome, and unrivalled Corin- 
 thian portico. The interior diameter of the rotunda is 142 feet, the 
 entire height to the summit of the dome being 148 feet. A circular 
 opening in the centre admits the light, which is softly and beautifully 
 diffused throughout the building. The portico is a Corinthian 
 octastyle, and has an air of extreme majesty; the columns, sixteen 
 in number, are 46 feet high, and arranged so as to divide the portico 
 into three avenues or aisles; the bases and capitals are of white 
 marble, but the shafts are granite, each formed from a single block. 
 The Pantheon seems originally designed to receive statues of all the 
 gods, and to whom it was dedicated. In the seventh century, after 
 it had been despoiled of its bronze-work and sumptuous ornaments, 
 it was consecrated as a Christian church, and it remains at this hour 
 a model of all that is chaste and elegant. Several circular buildings 
 have been raised in imitation of it by English, German, and French 
 architects, but none have made even a distant approach to the 
 admired original. \ 
 
 (71) PAGE 190. 
 
 And Death keeps watch above an empire's grave. 
 
 Eome, in her palmy days, extended principally east and south of 
 the Capitol, covering the Palatine, Esquiline, Ca3lian, and Aventine 
 hills. All this district now, a few spots excepted, is a field of ruin 
 and desolation, for the chief part of the modern city is situated north 
 of the Capitol. To the antiquary the charm of Rome is confined to 
 the southern and eastern quarters, and there, among ruined baths 
 
404 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 in the midst of vineyards, the foundations of palaces, and scattered 
 convents and churches, built from the costly marbles of Pagan temples, 
 he might wander for weeks speculating on the past. The walls of 
 Rome, on the east side of the Tiber, occupy the line of those erected 
 during the reign of Aurelian; Belisarius, in the sixth century, 
 partly rebuilt them, and they have since been repaired by several of 
 the popes ; they are made of bricks mixed with stone ; the average 
 height being fourteen feet, and the entire circuit, including the more 
 modern walls on the west side of the river, nearly fifteen miles. 
 
 (72) PAGE 192. 
 Frown from the grave, and drop the indignant tear. 
 
 The great Forum, called the Forum Romanum, during the reigns 
 of the first emperors, afforded, without doubt, the most noble and 
 imposing spectacle in Rome. Commencing at the Via Sacra, it 
 swept through the narrow valley between the Capitoline and 
 Palatine hills towards the Tiber. It was lined on each side by 
 statues, columns, triumphal arches, and the most magnificent 
 temples. Here civil causes were tried, the orators haranguing from 
 the rostra, which commanded a view of the Capitol, crowned with 
 the temple of Jupiter. The Roman Fora, no less than nineteen in 
 number, were of two kinds the one description being designed for 
 law and state affairs, and the other dedicated to purposes of com- 
 merce. The Forum Romanum is now a wild and ruinous district ; 
 the chief monuments of note remaining are a few columns of the 
 temples of Fortune, Antoninus and Faustina, and Jupiter Tonans, 
 the Pillar of Phocas, raised on a flight of steps, and the Arch of 
 Severus. The last is a fine monument, erected A.D. 205, in honour 
 of Severus and his sons Caracalla and Geta, for their victories over 
 the Parthians. The arch is of Pentelic marble, and each front is 
 adorned with fluted columns. From ancient medals it appears that 
 this arch was once crowned with a chariot, containing the emperor 
 and his two sons, and drawn by six horses. The Forum is now 
 desecrated, being a mart for cattle, and known by the name of 
 Campo Vaccino. 
 
 (73) PAGE 193. 
 
 But angels watch a myriad martyrs' graves. 
 The entrance to the famous catacombs of Rome is on the Appian 
 
PAKT III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 405 
 
 Way, at some distance from the southern walls. The date of their 
 formation is uncertain, except that they are known to have been 
 excavated before the Christian era. The subterranean galleries 
 wind in a very intricate manner; they are about eight feet high 
 and six wide, and have commonly three tiers of cells for the 
 dead at the side. These passages at certain intervals expand into 
 large chambers, which bear the appearance of having been used as 
 churches. The length of the dreary galleries is stated to be six 
 miles; but, taking in all their windings, they extend little short of 
 twenty. Here the early Christians, during the Roman persecutions, 
 retired to worship, and thousands of martyrs were interred. 
 
 (74) PAOE 194. 
 
 His name engraven here is all we find. 
 
 The pyramid of Cains Cestius, situated on the Via Ostiensis, close 
 by the old southern walls of Rome, is a remarkably fine sepulchral 
 monument. It is covered with slabs of white marble, the massy 
 basement being of Travertine stone. The inscription to Cestius is 
 very legible, and from it we learn the structure, which was raised 
 in the time of Augustus Ceesar, occupied its builders 330 days. 
 The entrance is in the centre of one of the sides, between two Doric 
 fluted columns. The vaulted chamber within is richly decorated 
 with arabesques, some portions of which preserve their original 
 colour, almost uninjured by the lapse of years. 
 
 (75) PAGE 199. 
 
 Live o'er the wrechs of earth, and mock at time. 
 
 The Colosseum so called, it has been said, from the colossal 
 statue of Nero standing near it was erected by the emperors 
 Vespasian and Titus, on the site of the great pond attached to the 
 grounds of Nero's Golden House. It stands south-east of the Forum, 
 between the Palatine and Esquiline hills, and covers nearly six 
 acres of ground. The form of this immense edifice is an ellipsis, 
 the diameter, the external walls included, being 515 feet; the 
 length 620 feet ; and the elevation of the highest portion remaining 
 of the encircling band, 1GO feet. The building is composed of 
 three grand stories, with an attic ; each story has eighty arched 
 openings: the piers between all the openings present engaged 
 
406 RUINS OF MAN? LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 columns, which support their entablatures extending all around 
 the structure. Three orders of architecture are apparent; the 
 columns of the ground story are Roman Doric, but debased in the 
 extreme; those of the second have the Ionic voluted capital; and 
 those of the third the foliated Corinthian. The Colosseum sur- 
 passes every other building of its class in having two corridors 
 abreast on the outer side; and innumerable seem to be the staircases, 
 connecting passages, and galleries. The number of spectators 
 which this gigantic building would accommodate, has been calcu- 
 lated to be from ninety to one hundred thousand. Nevertheless 
 the Colosseum, as regards its interior, is in a more ruinous condi- 
 tion than either the amphitheatres at Verona, or at Nimes, in the 
 south of France. Exhibitions in the amphitheatre, during the 
 reigns of the first emperors, were more popular than the games 
 of the circus, while, in comparison with them, dramatic performances 
 were very lightly esteemed. They seem to reflect the ferocious 
 character of the age, as corrupted from the heroic and generous 
 times of the Republic. In truth, within the walls of the Colosseum, 
 scarcely an exhibition ever took place that was not associated with 
 cruelty, suffering, or death. 
 
 (76) PAGE 203". 
 
 Their painted tombs, which urns and vases deck, 
 Alone survive that dark and sweeping ivreck. 
 
 The origin of the extraordinary people named the Etruscans is 
 still involved in great obscurity. But whether they emigrated from 
 Greece, being an offset of the great Hellenic family, or whether 
 they were learned and polished Egyptian exiles, who left their 
 country when the Shepherd-kings persecuted the Egyptians, certain 
 it is they were a highly-civilised and powerful people many cen- 
 turies before the rise of Rome. They assisted in civilising the 
 subjects of Romulus; they taught them the arts and sciences, and 
 initiated them in many of their religious rites. The Cloaca Maxima 
 at Rome which exhibits the oldest example, perhaps, out of Egypt, 
 of the solid arch was built by Etruscan masons; hence that archi- 
 tectural secret, unknown to the Greeks, was known to them. Of 
 their twelve great cities in the valley of the Po, and between the 
 Arno and the Tiber, the sites of some are lost; but Cortona (the old 
 Corytum), Clusium, Fesulae, and Tarquinii, have been very fertile 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 407 
 
 in curiosities. The ruins of no Etruscan temple or other edifice 
 remain, but their magnificent tombs, found in so many places, 
 excavated in the rock, attest their genius and ancient grandeur. 
 The tombs at Tarquinii are particularly interesting; some of the 
 chambers are no less than fifty feet square, the ceilings being carved 
 into divers compartments, and the sides adorned with paintings, 
 some allegorical of the condition of the soul after death, and others 
 representing, as in the caves of Beni Hassan in Egypt, banquets, 
 games, and processions; indeed, the remains here, as well as the 
 rock-sculptures near Viterbo, singularly resemble in style the deco- 
 rations found in Egyptian sepulchres. The tombs at Tarquinii, 
 when discovered, contained cinerary urns, beautifully-painted vases, 
 statues, bronzes, and arms. Lucien Bonaparte disinterred at the 
 village of Canino a great quantity of similar relics, and of which he 
 formed an interesting museum. Modern Tuscany comprehends a 1 
 large portion of ancient Etruria, 
 
 (77) PAGE 205. 
 
 And cold Oblivion's shade joins hands with death. 
 
 Cumae, founded about nine centuries before Christ, was one of 
 the earliest Greek colonies on the coast of Italy, and gained great 
 wealth and importance through its maritime trade with the cities 
 of Phrenicia. According to Livy, Parthenope (the modern Naples) 
 was a colony from Cumae. During the second Punic war Hannibal 
 advanced to attack Cumae, but was repulsed. No vestige remains 
 of the Temple of Apollo, but amidst the herbage and trees are seen 
 fallen columns, tombs, and marble slabs with Greek inscriptions. 
 The Sibyl of Cumae, who brought her prophetic books to Tarquin, 
 was more famous than the Sibyl at Tibur, or any of her nine sisters. 
 Her grotto is still shown in a rock leading to subterranean galleries. 
 
 (78) PAGE 206. 
 
 And hear his harp amid the ruins sigh. 
 
 For a series of ages the singular monument on the hill of Posi- 
 lipo has been hailed as the sepulchre of Virgil; some modern scep- 
 tics only have thrown doubt on its identity; but the laurel described 
 as shading the poet's resting-place, no longer blooms. This dila- 
 pidated edifice is vaulted, and has two modern windows; but 
 
408 EUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Virgil's tomb, fit place only for quiet and meditation, is too fre- 
 quently the retreat of the robber and assassin. 
 
 (79) PAGE 207. 
 
 Life one rich dream of love and luxury. 
 
 Baiae, on the western side of the Gulf of Naples, was the favourite 
 watering-place of the Romans. So numerous were their villas 
 along this coast, that even to give a list of them would exceed our 
 limits. But neither Csesar, Hortensius, Pollio, nor Varro, could 
 emulate the splendour of the wealthy Lucullus, one of whose fish- 
 ponds still remains, forming the modern Lake Agnano. Not until 
 after the reign of Augustus did Baiae become a seat of profligacy, 
 Nero and Tiberius disgracing here the imperial purple, and almost 
 fegetting their natures as men. 
 
 (80) PAGE 213. 
 
 What Fame forgot, and Nature's veil concealed. 
 
 Herculaneum was discovered by the sinking of a well in 1713, 
 when the workmen were astonished at striking their pick-axes 
 against a door, which proved to be that of a theatre. The ruins of 
 Pompeii were accidentally brought to light twenty years previously, 
 although the excavations were not commenced until 1755. Pompeii 
 itself was built on a bed of lava thrown up from Vesuvius at some 
 early epoch in the history of our planet : the eruption of 79 A.D. is 
 the first on record, fifteen years before which, while Nero was sing- 
 ing at Rome, an earthquake occurred and did great injury to the 
 city. About a third part of Pompeii is now uncovered, and the 
 portion exposed to view is on the side next the sea. Nearly all the 
 old walls have been traced; they have six gates and twelve towers, 
 and their circuit, the extensive suburbs being excluded, is about two 
 miles. As the visiter enters from the street of tombs at the 
 Herculaneum gate, a long and winding street conducts him to the 
 forum ; houses of a good description of which Pansa's and Sallust's 
 are the largest extend on the right and left as far as the Street of 
 Baths, which, intersecting the main thoroughfare, runs east and 
 west, being lost at the points where the excavations cease. Passing 
 the house of the dramatic poet, and the baths (which are in a state of 
 good preservation), you enter the forum; its form is oblong, being 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 
 
 409 
 
 about 380 by 120 feet ; on three sides extends a colonnade, several 
 of the columns of which, twelve feet high, of the Doric order, are 
 still standing; temples, triumphal arches, and other fine buildings, 
 abound in this quarter, which seems to have been the most splendid 
 portion of the ancient city. Nearly opposite the great basilica or 
 court of justice, and the Temple of Venus, opens the Street of the 
 Silversmiths, conducting to the two theatres, the largest of which is 
 capable of containing five thousand persons. The amphitheatre, 
 about the size of that at Nimes, lies at a distance close to the eastern 
 wall, and between it and the forum a great extent of ground remains 
 yet to be explored. 
 
 (81) PAGE 216. 
 
 Model, in those far times, of Roman grace. 
 
 The building commonly called the house of Sallust, situated on 
 the left of the main street, near a public fountain, is inferior in size 
 to the residences of JDiomed or Pansa; but as regards decoration 
 and architectural elegance it had, perhaps, no superior in Pompeii. 
 As a general rule, the houses of the noble and very wealthy citizens 
 only are large and distinguished, for to the aristocracy of those days 
 every thing appears to have been sacrificed. The habitations of the 
 middle and humbler classes in Pompeii are small and meoa in the 
 extreme, being destitute of furniture and all decoration. Hence we 
 can conclude that the comfort and well-being of the many were not 
 consulted ; and whatever ideas we may possess of ancient liberty 
 and political systems, one thing is certain, the masses of the present 
 day have a voice, and live in comparative independence and 
 splendour, their lot being contrasted with that of the Roman, Greek, 
 or Persian multitude of early times. The description attempted in 
 the text of the luxurious abode of Sallust is necessarily very brief; 
 and the reader, if he desires a full and minute account of the houses 
 of Sallust, Pansa, and other Pompeiian citizens, is referred to the 
 elaborate work of Sir Willian Gell. 
 
 (82) PAGE 221. 
 
 And shining vipers coil them up to sleep. 
 
 The old Cyclopdan walls of Psestum, situated near the coast of the 
 Gulf of Salerno, and varying from five to ten feet in height, are 
 standing in their full extent. They enclose an area, according to 
 
410 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 Eustace's measurement, of about four miles in circumference, all 
 within being an uncultivated wilderness. The early history of 
 Psestum, called also Posidonia, is wrapped in much darkness. It 
 appears to have been one of the earliest settlements of the Phoe- 
 nicians, when those bold navigators, even in the days of Joshua, 
 proceeded up the Mediterranean, visiting Spain for its silver and 
 Britain for its tin. A colony of Dorians or Greeks succeeded, who, 
 we have presumed to conjecture, were the builders of the renowned 
 temples; and these people were expelled (says Strabo) by the 
 Sybarites, so famous for their luxurious style of living. The 
 Lucanians appear to have been the next occupants of Paestum, and 
 they, in their turn, yielded to the arms of rising Rome three 
 centuries before the Christian era. 
 
 (83) PAGE 223. 
 What modern skill might strive to match in vain. 
 
 The temples of Paestum are undeniably, if we except the Par- 
 thenon, the finest structures of the Doric order now standing in the 
 world. "While every other old building within the walls of Psestum 
 has disappeared, for the ground-work and vaults of the Amphi- 
 theatre only remain, these superb fabrics exhibit a massiveness 
 which seems to defy the wasting influence of years. They are three 
 in number, and stand in a line, as if they formerly had embellished 
 the principal street. The date of their erection must be sought for 
 in the formation of the pillars, so dissimilar in their style to the 
 Doric prevalent in the age of Pericles, when the Parthenon was 
 built. In the largest temple, the immense size of these fluted pillars 
 
 . for at the base they are twenty-one feet in circumference, while 
 
 they taper away to no more than fourteen feet below the capital 
 indicates the earliest period of Doric architecture, when, as in the 
 Seven Columns at Corinth, the Dorians seem to have formed a 
 compromise between the solidity of the Egyptian manner of build- 
 ing, and the more elegant style as established by themselves. The 
 Pa3stan temples, then, may safely be ascribed to an age long 
 antecedent to that when the lighter Doric edifices arose at Athens, 
 The great temple, the most perfect, dedicated to Neptune, is 195 
 feet long and 79 feet wide, with a range of fourteen columns on each 
 side, including those at the angles, and six columns at each end. 
 The pediment is broad and low, and the entablature is of the extra- 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 411 
 
 ordinary depth of fifteen feet; the cella, or inner court, is walled in, 
 but open to the sky. The building next in size, from the singular 
 arrangement of the pillars, has perplexed antiquaries, it being doubt- 
 ful whether it was a temple or a hall of justice. The smallest temple, 
 which measures 107 feet long by 47 feet wide, is supposed to have 
 been sacred to Ceres. These buildings, though plainly discernible 
 from the sea, remained for many ages unnoticed by any traveller, and 
 not until the middle of the last century was attention directed to them, 
 when, it is said, the splendid ruins were made known to the world by a 
 young artist, who happened to be sketching in the neighbourhood. 
 
 (84) PAGE 224. 
 
 On lightnings borne, have come to revel there. 
 
 The great external cincture or wall of the Amphitheatre at Pola, 
 which was erected about the time of Christ, remains almost perfect. 
 Inferior in size to the Colosseum and the edifice at Verona, it is 
 also less symmetrical than they in its proportions, and less finished 
 and elegant in architectural design. The building, which is of 
 Istrian stone, consists of two stories on its eastern and three on its 
 western side; each story is pierced by seventy-two arches, rusticated, 
 the pilasters being of the Tuscan order. Situated on a rocky 
 declivity, and the western front reaching to an elevation of no less 
 than 101 feet, it affords a fine and imposing spectacle from the sea. 
 In addition to the Amphitheatre, Pola boasts of the remains of two 
 small temples, originally dedicated to Augustus Csesar and Diana, 
 with the triumphal arch, or rather the sepulchral monument of 
 Sergius. 
 
 (85) PAGE 226. 
 
 But clings with faithful love to stern decay. 
 
 Of all existing structures of its class, after the Colosseum at Rome, 
 the Amphitheatre at Verona takes the precedence. Unlike, how- 
 ever, the edifice at Pola, the great external band is gone, if we 
 except a portion of wall containing three stories of four arches ; but 
 the inner cincture, with its bank of benches, consisting of forty-five 
 ranges of seats, all of the purest marble, and rising from the arena 
 to the second story of arches, remains entire. The two great portals, 
 also, the passages and staircases, the parts about the arena, and the 
 
412 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 numerous arches with which the circling wall is pierced, are in a 
 state of high preservation. The circumference of the building, as 
 it appears without the external band, is 1300 feet; the length of 
 the arena is 242 feet, and its breadth 140 feet. The benches will 
 accommodate twenty-two thousand spectators. The date of this 
 edifice is uncertain, but Domitian or Trajan is supposed to have been 
 its founder. Situated in the eye of the Alps, and overlooking the 
 ancient town, with the verdant plain that extends south in the 
 direction of Mantua, and the blue lines of the Apennines, the 
 Amphitheatre of Verona commands a landscape than which nothing . 
 can be conceived more beautiful or sublime. 
 
 (86) PAGE 227. 
 And shouts attest each gazer's keen delight. 
 
 The Roman Amphitheatre was not always devoted to scenes of 
 cruelty and bloodshed : boxing, wrestling, and other athletic sports 
 frequently preceded the gladiatorial combats. Hunting of wild beasts 
 is said to have been a favourite diversion in the time of Domitian; 
 and to enhance the effect of the spectacle trees were even planted 
 in the sand of the arena. The Indus Troyce, or mock fight, was 
 instituted, or, more probably revived, by Julius Ca3sar. Amphi- 
 theatres were at first made of wood, being two semicircular theatres 
 joined ; the earliest one, built of stone, was raised at Rome in the 
 time of Augustus. During rainy weather or great heat, an awning, 
 attached to poles fixed on the outer walls, was extended across the 
 amphitheatre; and at intervals it was customary for perfumed 
 waters, that issued from secret tubes, to be sprinkled over the 
 spectators. As regards gladiatorial combats, it is rather remark- 
 able that they should owe their origin to religious superstition. It 
 had been a custom to slaughter captives at the tombs of distin- 
 guished men slain in battle, with a view to appease their manes \ 
 but in the year of Rome 490, gladiators were appointed instead, to 
 fight at the grave until one fell as a victim to the gods: by degrees 
 the spectacle became more and more common; gladiators fought in 
 the fora, in the public schools, and on the building of amphitheatres 
 the sports became thoroughly nationalised. Gladiators at first were 
 malefactors, captives, and slaves, but in process of time free-born 
 citizens espoused the profession, being regularly trained under a 
 master, called lanista. Sometimes they fought in armour, and 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 413 
 
 sometimes were dressed only in short tunics, confined by girdles of 
 bronze. On all occasions the conflict was for life or death. 
 "When a combatant was wounded the spectators cried " hoc habet!" 
 (he has it !) when vanquished, he gave a sign by dropping his arms, 
 and the people awarded to him his fate; if they elevated their 
 thumbs, the sign of clemency, he was to be spared, but if they 
 depressed them, the victor was to dispatch him with his sword. 
 The gladiator commonly met death with astonishing firmness. 
 Such were these cruel entertainments; they were forbidden by the 
 first Christian emperor, Constantine, but it does not appear that 
 they entirely ceased for a century after his reign. 
 
 (87) PAGE 237. 
 
 Was all perchance he ashed, but ashed in vain. 
 
 The most interesting, as well as the best preserved of the Roman 
 remains at Vienne, is the structure called the Tomb of Pontius 
 Pilate, and which is situated at a short distance from the south 
 gate of the town. This monument has a singular and picturesque 
 appearance, and, whatever its date, is undeniably of Roman origin. 
 An open square arcade stands on a solid basement of stone; the 
 arches are well turned, and adorned at the four angles with 
 columns; above are some half-defaced mouldings, but no inscription 
 is seen; a slender pyramid succeeds, the stones of which are fas- 
 tened by iron cramps, and the height of the whole is about sixty feet. 
 Pontius Pilate, when suspended from his procuratorship of Judaea, 
 was sent into exile at Vienne, where, according to Eusebius, he killed 
 himself about A.D. 38. The tradition attached to this monument, as 
 being erected over the dust of this celebrated man, is at once so 
 ancient and so interesting that they would perform, we think, 
 a very thankless task who should endeavour to shake the popular 
 belief. 
 
 (88) PAGE 238. 
 
 But not on ruthless conquerors waste our praise. 
 
 Orange, called by the Romans Arausio, is delightfully situated 
 in the Department of Vaucluse, and was one of the towns of the 
 Cavares in the Celtic period. It has been celebrated for its anti- 
 quities, but, with the exception of the famous Arch of Triumph, 
 little now will interest the antiquary, for only a ruined wall of the 
 
414 KUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK II. 
 
 theatre is standing, whilf the great amphitheatre is entirely gone. 
 The arch described in the text stands on the north side of the town ; 
 it is of yellow-tinted stone, and composed of three archways, the 
 central, designed for carriages, being the largest. The vault of the 
 great arch is finely sculptured, and fluted Corinthian columns stand 
 between the several openings ; the sides are covered with sculptures 
 in relief, and the attics above are profusely decorated with shields 
 and trophies. The entire height is about seventy feet, and the 
 length sixty-five feet. From the name " Mario" having been found 
 inscribed on one of the shields, the Arch at Orange is thought to 
 have been raised in honour of that brave but ambitious man ; what 
 victory it commemorates is uncertain; that over the Cimbri, in Italy, 
 has been named, but it seems more probable it was erected in cele- 
 bration of some conquest on the north side of the Alps, where the 
 Romans were gradually driving back the Allobroges, the Sequani, 
 and other Gallic tribes. Two arches of a similar character, though 
 less splendid, are standing at Carpentras and Cavaillon. 
 
 (89) PAGE 239. 
 
 For children's tears have sanctified this sod. 
 The beautiful monumental edifice at St. Remy, a little town situ- 
 ated at the foot of a hill some miles south-east of Avignon, has long 
 been deservedly admired; it stands surrounded by trees near a small 
 Roman arch, and consists of three parts which rise to the height of 
 fifty feet. It was erected (says Millin) in the time of the Antonines, 
 about A.D. 160. The square base is formed of large freestones, and 
 supports a pedestal the sides of which represent successively, in 
 relievo, a combat of cavalry and infantry, the triumph of the victors, 
 and the field of battle after the action. Above the pedestal is a 
 square edifice with arches, and Corinthian columns at each angle; 
 to this succeeds a rotunda or circular temple of ten columns, and 
 which is crowned with a domed roof; within the rotunda are two 
 statues, male and female, but much mutilated, and from an inscription 
 we learn that the mausoleum was raised by children to the memory 
 of their parents ; what the father was, or if famous for any achieve- 
 ment, is not known. 
 
 (90) PAGE 240. 
 
 E'en for the dead can these exist in vain? 
 Aries.; the Arelate of the Romans, is a town of great antiquity: 
 
PAET III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 415 
 
 it gave birth to Constantine the younger, A.D. 315, and on the decline 
 of the Roman power became the residence of a king of the Visigoths. 
 The chief monuments now existing may be referred to the time of 
 Constantine the Great, who celebrated at this place the decennial 
 games with much splendour. The amphitheatre, the circumference 
 of which is entire, although the arena has been filled with rubbish 
 and blocked up by mean houses, is rather larger, but far less perfect 
 and splendid in architectural design than the amphitheatre at 
 Nimes; the remains of two temples and some baths are pointed out, 
 and columns of white marble on the banks of the Rhone, near St. 
 Jean, are supposed to be the ruins of Constantine's palace; the 
 obelisk the Egyptian origin of which is asserted by some antiquaries, 
 bu disputed by others stands in the square near the town-hall; it 
 is fifty feet high, but has no hieroglyphics; for many ages it had 
 lain concealed in the earth, and was discovered in 1389, but not 
 erected until 1676. The Champs Elyse'es, or Elysian Fields, the 
 ancient burial-place of the Romans, will not fail to be visited by the 
 antiquary; the remains it still exhibits, though many of the sarco- 
 phagi and columnar monuments with inscriptions have been 
 removed, offer a study of singular interest. This place, which is of 
 great extent, is situated on a pleasant hill, a short distance out of 
 the town, and commands a beautiful prospect. The] monumental 
 stones marked D. M. (diis manibus : to the gods, Manes) are the 
 tombs of the Pagans, while crosses distinguish the graves of the 
 early Christians. 
 
 (91) PAGE 241. 
 
 E'en spell-bound very Ruin seems to stand, 
 And fain would smite, but dares not lift his hand. 
 
 The Corinthian temple at Nimes called the Maison Carree (Square 
 House) is the most elegant in construction and the best preserved of 
 any monument of its order out of Rome. Its form is a parallelogram, 
 the total length being seventy-seven English feet, and its breadth 
 thirty-eight feet; several steps conduci, to the portico, which is of 
 considerable depth, consisting of six beautiful fluted columns in 
 front, and three at the sides, counting again the two at the angles; 
 the entire building is surrounded by thirty of these columns, thirty 
 feet high, the capitals of which, with the cornice and frieze above, 
 are surprisingly rich in decoration, the ornate style bearing a strong 
 resemblance to that displayed in the Baalbec and Palmyrene edifices. 
 
416 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK IL 
 
 This temple was thought to have been built in the time of Augustus, 
 and dedicated to his gran ichildren, Caius and Lucius Csesar ; but a 
 French antiquary, M. Pelet, has recently shown that it was erected 
 at a later period in the reign of Aurelius. The Maison Carree had 
 originally no windows, it having been lighted, like the Parthenon at 
 Athens, by an aperture in the roof. Various have been the changes 
 and fortunes of this elegant building; the early Christians used it 
 as a church, and the Saracens, during their occupation of Nimes, 
 turned it into a mosque; in the middle ages, being sold to a private 
 party, it was defiled as a stable; next it became a town-hall; in the 
 time of Louis XIV. it was again fitted up as a church ; during the 
 revolution it served as a central office of justice, till in 1824, like the 
 less elegant temple at Vienne, it was converted into a museum, and 
 such it remains at the present day. 
 
 (92) PAGE 242. 
 
 And this was valour, ancient Romans deemed. 
 
 The celebrated amphitheatre at Nimes is, as before observed, in a 
 state of far better preservation than that at Aries; indeed, in its 
 various parts the building is more perfect than the Colosseum at 
 Rome, while it is nearly as large as the amphitheatre at Verona, but 
 it is not enriched, like the last, with costly marbles. Its dimensions, 
 including the thickness of the walls, are 434 English feet by 340 
 feet; the exterior wall which consists of two stories, each being 
 pierced with sixty arches rises to the height of seventy feet, and 
 the four entrances face the cardinal points; the upper story is 
 adorned with Doric columns; and the rows of seats, originally thirty- 
 two in number, were capable of accommodating 17,000 spectators. 
 The Goths and Saracens in turn converted this building into a 
 fortress; the date of its erection is uncertain, but some writers have 
 stated that it was finished by Titus, A.D. 82. 
 
 (93) PAGE 243. 
 
 And o'er the beauteous ruin) Naiads ! iveep. 
 
 Rising at the foot of a calcareous hill, is seen the Fountain of 
 Mmes, so celebrated in the time of the Romans, who erected baths 
 in the neighbourhood. This fountain, sacred in ancient days to 
 Diana, and sometimes called the Fountain of the Nymphs, is about 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 417 
 
 seventy feet in diameter, and twenty feet deep; it is now situated in 
 a public garden, and an attempt has been made, by planting trees 
 and erecting statues, to giv% the place an antique character, though 
 the design is but indifferently carried out. The Temple of Diana, 
 once an elegant building, stands at a short distance from the foun- 
 tain ; but a few pillars, a portion of its fine roof, and a collection of 
 broken friezes, capitals, and inscriptions are all that the visiter now 
 sees. This temple is thought to have been built in the time of 
 Augustus, who was a great benefactor to the town. The antiquities 
 at Nimes in addition to those already named are, two Roman gates ; 
 the Tour-Magne, or Great Tower, on a hill behind the fountain, the 
 date and purpose of which are unknown; the remains of an immense 
 aqueduct near Nimes, called Pont du Gard, which once conveyed 
 water from springs at Uze's to the city; three ranges of noble 
 arches, one above the other, span the valley, and the construction is 
 on a surprisingly-gigantic scale. Sculptures, bas-reliefs, mosaics, 
 and tombs, complete the list of antiquities at the venerable town of 
 Nimes. 
 
 END OF THE CLASSIC ERA. 
 
HISTOBICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES, 
 
 BOOK III, 
 MISCELLANEOUS AGES. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 (94) PAGE 250. 
 Are all dark Time hath left to tell ofthee. 
 
 Carthage was founded by a colony from Tyre about eighty years 
 before the building of Rome; according to an ancient story related 
 by many writers, the Tyrians followed the famous Dido, who built 
 the city, and became their queen, but subsequently destroyed herself 
 on a funeral pile. Carthage was in the zenith of her power and 
 prosperity at the outbreak of the Punic wars, 264 B.C., when the city 
 is said to have contained little short of a million of inhabitants. 
 Her terrible struggle with Rome during the three famous wars, 
 ended in her final destruction by Scipio j^Emilianus, 146 B.C. The 
 horrors of the last siege have been described by Appian, and with 
 the fall of this commercial republic, civilisation was, in a measure, 
 extinguished in Northern Africa. Old Carthage was situated about 
 ten miles north-east of modern Tunis ; the ground which it occupied 
 has undergone considerable changes by the drifting of sands on the 
 coast, but its site most probably was between Cape Cammart and 
 Cape Carthage, where several mounds, hewn stones, and cisterns, 
 with some foundations of buildings under water, indicate the former 
 existence of a city. These remains, with the ruins of an aqueduct 
 that, for fifty miles, may be traced like a stupendous serpent trailing 
 through valleys, and from mountain to mountain, form the sole 
 
PART I.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 419 
 
 monuments of the great rival of Rome : the villa discovered in 1837, 
 fifteen feet beneath the soil, with painted walls, mosaic floors, and 
 resembling in its arrangements the edifices at Pompeii, belonged, 
 there can be little doubt, to the second Carthage built in the time 
 of Augustus, and called Colonia Carthago. The last-named city, 
 which occupied a portion of the ground of the original Carthage, 
 was entirely destroyed by the Saracens in the seventh century. 
 
 (95) PAGE 251. 
 Where Agrigentum crowned the breezy steep. 
 
 The remains of Agrigentum on the south coast of Sicily are of a 
 splendid and striking character; yet of the great Doric temple of 
 Jupiter described by Diodorus, (the largest temple except that at 
 Ephesus in the world,) not one pillar or wall is standing; but capitals 
 and portions of the entablature of immense size, some of the blocks 
 of which weigh, it has been calculated, upwards of ten tons, lie 
 scattered around. The temples of Concord, Hercules, and ^Escula- 
 pius are in better preservation. These edifices were erected by the 
 Greek settlers prior to the building of the Parthenon at Athens, 
 and have been ascribed to the sixth century B.C. 
 
 (96) PAGE 253. 
 And toads spit venom forth where priests adored. 
 
 The renowned Temple of Diana was situated near the lake Selinus. 
 The first edifice was built by Ctesiphon, but burnt down on the night 
 Alexander the Great was born, by Erostratus, who committed the 
 villainous act to eternise his name. The second temple (that stand- 
 ing in the time of Christ) arose in greater splendour than the first ; it 
 has been described by Pliny; its length was 425 feet, and its breadth 
 220 feet; the pillars, 137 in number, were of the Ionic order, and 
 sixty feet high, being nearly double the height of the columns of the 
 Parthenon. A lofty wall surrounded the temple and the numerous 
 courts it contained, and the whole building was cased with marble. 
 The traveller now standing on the site of this ancient " wonder of 
 the world," beholds nothing but a few architectural fragments, with 
 some foundation-walls probably of the cella, and openings into what 
 appear to have been vaults, or secret chambers of the priests; some 
 columns, however, of red granite, with beautiful composite capitals, 
 
420 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 supposed to have belonged to the Ephesian temple, are found built 
 into the mosque of St. John, at Aiasalouk. (See Pococke and Arundel.} 
 The founders of Ephesus (says Strabo) were Carians, but these 
 people being driven out by a colony from Greece, about 1000 B.C., 
 Ephesus became essentially a Greek city. Its fate much resembled 
 that of the other Ionian cities: it fell under the sway of all-conquer- 
 ing Rome, it was ravaged by the Goths, and finally seized on by the 
 Mohammedans. Ephesus is now a field of ruins, and its site, 
 except that a few herdsmen occasionally lodge there, is entirely 
 deserted. 
 
 (97) PAGE 256. 
 
 It rose in air, its matchless sculptures done, 
 Crowned with winged horses flashing in the sun. 
 
 One of the most interesting discoveries of modern times is that of 
 a portion of the celebrated tomb erected by Artemisia, Queen of 
 Caria, in memory of her husband, and from whose name (Mausolus) 
 all large sepulchral erections have since been termed Mausoleums. 
 This edifice, built by Pythis, and adorned by Scopas, Timotheus, 
 and others, 352 B.C., passed for one of the seven wonders of the 
 world. Pliny describes it as being nearly square, the sides measur- 
 ing 113 feet, and the ends 92 feet. It was adorned with a peristyle 
 of thirty-six columns, the structure being terminated by a pyramid 
 which bore on its summit four marble horses. The entire height 
 was no less than 140 feet. This stupendous tomb is said to have 
 been standing down to the twelfth century; in the sixteenth the last 
 fragments were carried off by the knights of Rhodes, to repair a fort 
 at the entrance of the harbour. Here recently some of the sculptures 
 were discovered, and by leave of the Sultan they have been drawn 
 from their concealment and transported to England. These very 
 interesting relics, the identical remains of the Mausoleum at Hali- 
 carnassus (for the bas-reliefs and figures answer to the descriptions 
 of the ancients) are now deposited in the British Museum : the allusion 
 to them in the poem is supposed to have been made prior to their 
 removal. 
 
 (98) PAGE 260, 
 
 Pass with wild shrieks the vanished city's site. 
 
 Old Tyre, a colony of Sidon, at a very remote time gave place to 
 the new and more splendid city built on an island opposite. The 
 
PART I.] HISTOKICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 421 
 
 period when old Tyre reached its highest prosperity may be about 
 1000 B.C., when King Hiram formed a league with Solomon. The 
 fall of Tyre was gradual. The city was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar 
 for thirteen years, and it was then the inhabitants removed to the 
 island. The most terrible stroke it suffered was the sack by Alex- 
 ander the Great, who had joined the island by a mole to the shore, 
 and not content with razing the greater part of the palaces, crucified 
 2,000 prisoners in cold blood. Tyre was next governed by a branch 
 of Alexander's successors, then by the Romans. The Saracens seized 
 it, and during the Crusades, the Christians, wresting it from them, 
 made it a bishopric ; the Christians were again driven away, and 
 Tyre gradually sank to what it now is a small fishing town, known 
 by the name of Sur. The only genuine relics of ancient Tyre are 
 some cisterns on the peninsula, the ruins of an aqueduct at some 
 distance, and three very singularly built wells, called the Wells of 
 Solomon, the masonry of ond of which is eighteen feet high and 
 sixty feet in circumference, while the water is so deep that the Arabs 
 say it cannot be fathomed. These wells and aqueduct are mentioned 
 by Josephus as existing before the siege of Tyre by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar. 
 
 (99) PAGE 265. 
 
 The elder Baalbec's dark and sole remain. 
 
 The stupendous stones of granite which form the platform on 
 which the chief ruins stand, surprise all travellers. On the west 
 side of the basement of the great temple, three stones, about twenty 
 feet from the ground, measure respectively fifty-nine, sixty, and sixty- 
 three feet, being twelve feet thick. The largest stones in the Pyra- 
 mid of Cheops measure only eighteen feet. One stone cut in a 
 quarry in the neighbouring mountains, and not removed by the old 
 workmen, exceeds in magnitude either of the above, and would 
 weigh, as calculated by Wood, more than 2,500,0001bs., or 1,135 
 tons. This extraordinary platform, there can be little doubt, was 
 raised at a very remote period, and the temples, compared with it, 
 may be considered modern erections. 
 
 (100) PAGE 267. 
 
 And scenes like these send thought o'er backward years, 
 Speak to the heart, and wake, the fount of tears. 
 Nothing may be conceived more august yet desolate than the 
 
422 KTJINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 interior of the Temple of the Sun at Baalbec. After passing the 
 first gate we enter an hexagonal court 180 feet in diameter; this is 
 surrounded by pilasters with luxuriant Corinthian capitals; many 
 niches are seen, but the statues which once adorned them are gone. 
 A second gateway brings us into a much larger court, being 350 by 
 830 feet. The scene here overwhelms by the grandeur of its ruinous 
 aspect, while it oppresses the eye by the architectural richness of 
 those portions of the structure which remain entire. Well has 
 Lamartine said, " the stone seems wrought into marble lace-work, 
 and to groan beneath the weight of its own luxuriance." The 
 ground is strewn with columns, capitals, and broken entablatures. 
 Unlike the arid ruins in Egypt, here the buildings are shaded in 
 many places by trees and flowers, which give a desolate but wild 
 grace to the picture. The curious chambers around the great court 
 are supposed to have formed the habitations of the priests. But 
 the most striking remains are six immense columns standing alone, 
 supporting their entablature at the bottom of the court; they are 
 nearly seven feet in diameter, the shafts being fifty-eight feet high; 
 yet they form a portion only of the peristyle of the grand temple 
 which had originally fifty-four! These six columns, indeed, are all 
 that remain of the building said to have been erected by Antoninus 
 Pius, and, with the magnificent courts just described, lead us to 
 presume that the Baalbec temple was one of the most splendid in 
 the world. 
 
 (101) PAGE 268. 
 
 " A high-born infant cast ye to the fire, 
 And then will cease the god's afflicting ire" 
 
 The Roman temples succeeded to the old Syrian " High Places of 
 Baal or Moloch," on the great Baalbec platform. We read that 
 the Tyrians, to whom undoubtedly at one period Baalbec belonged, 
 were famous for sacrificing children to their god. The nobler the 
 family of the child, the more acceptable to the deity was the immo- 
 lation, while the more stoical under the trial the mother could be, 
 the greater was Considered the amount of her piety. This cruel 
 practice prevailed \o the largest extent among the Carthaginians, 
 who came originally from Tyre. It is recorded by Diodorus that 
 when Agathocles was about to besiege Carthage, no less than two 
 hundred children were sacrificed to win the favour of Saturn or 
 Moloch. The flat altars found at Copdn, in Central America, were 
 
PART I.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 423 
 
 evidently for the purpose of human sacrifice, and from their limited 
 size we may infer they were designed for the slaughter of infants. 
 These horrible rites, it is universally allowed, were of Phoenician 
 origin; the Tyrians communicated them to the Canaanites and 
 Druids of Europe; and the circumstance, as regards Central 
 America, gives much strength to the hypothesis which would estab- 
 lish a connection between the builders of the ruined cities there, and 
 the ancient navigators of Tyre. 
 
 (102) PAGE 275. 
 
 And built by genii, in one glorious night, 
 Those shrines of pride, and palaces of light. 
 
 The Arabs at this day firmly believe that Palmyra was raised by 
 genii, under the direction of their king, the great magician, Solomon. 
 That the Hebrew monarch enlarged, though he did not found 
 Palmyra, is certain, for we read in the Second Book of Chronicles, 
 viii., 4, that "he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store 
 cities which he built in Hamath." Josephus also says, " Solomon 
 built strong walls around it, and called it Tadmour, or the place of 
 palms." But all the original erections of Solomon (writes John of 
 Antioch) were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, when he invaded 
 Syria. The splendid monuments we now behold are the work of 
 the Greeks, and some few of the Romans, but the age in which they 
 were erected is uncertain. The inscriptions, if we except one in 
 Latin and another in Hebrew, are Greek and Palmyrene, a circum- 
 stance strongly favouring the opinion that the edifices arose during 
 the time of the Seleucidae, or Greek kings. Nevertheless, no in- 
 scriptions yet found go back to an earlier date than the Christian 
 era; but this is no conclusive evidence that the temples had not a 
 prior erection, since the practice was very common, especially with 
 the Romans, of erasing old inscriptions, and supplying their places 
 with new. 
 
 (103) PAGE 276. 
 
 Tend their lean goats, to Mecca idly bow, 
 The only merchants, only princes now. 
 
 In the great court of the Temple of the Sun at Palmyra, are to be 
 seen about thirty huts, occupied by Arabs of the poorest description; 
 and these are all the inhabitants of the once populous city! A 
 
424 BUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 description of the numerous Palmyrene monuments could not in 
 this place be attempted: we must content ourselves with saying 
 that as the traveller enters the field of ruins from the south-west, 
 he perceives the Temple of the Sun on his left hand. The order here 
 is Ionic and the columns are fluted. The great court which sur- 
 rounds the temple is 679 feet square; the half-fallen temple in the 
 midst presents a front of 47 feet by 124 feet deep, and around it 
 runs a peristyle of 140 columns; the gate, entirely in ruins, unlike 
 that of the Baalbec edifice, fronts the setting sun. It must be 
 allowed, as a whole, that the Palmyra temple yields in magnificence 
 to the Baalbec shrine. The superioritv of the Palmyrene remains 
 consists in their number, and the vast extent of ground which they 
 cover. North-east of the temple are the ruins of a Turkish mosque, 
 and a grand column, the shaft of which is five and a-half feet in 
 diameter. A little to the south of these is a noble arch with a 
 postern richly ornamented, from whteh extends a colonnade nearly 
 4,000 feet long, terminated by a fine mausoleum. Isolated groups 
 of Corinthian columns, half crushed porticos, and masses of build- 
 ings the original design of which is unknown, cover a field about 
 three miles in circumference. Yet this formed but a small portion 
 of Palmyra in her prosperity; without the walls, and raised above 
 the surrounding desert, is a tract, indicating by the coarse remains 
 of buildings on the surface as well as below the ground, that here 
 was the real dwelling-place of the Palmyrenes. The area within 
 the three miles was appropriated to the temples and great public 
 edifices the tract alluded to is little less (says Wood) than ten 
 miles around! what an assemblage of human beings was once 
 gathered here] now, the sands of the desert cover all! 
 
 (104) PAGE 280. 
 And o'er her shrines Destruction's angel flew. 
 
 Zenobia, when captured by the Romans who pursued her across 
 the desert, was carried to the presence of Aurelian. He reserved 
 her to adorn his triumph, but condemned to death many of her 
 faithful subj ects, and among them her secretary, Longinus. Zenobia, 
 in the hour of her fallen fortunes, is accused of having betrayed that 
 famous man, but of such ingratitude we can scarcely believe this 
 bold and noble woman capable. She passed the remainder of her 
 days at Tibur, near Rome. The historian Trebellius Pollio has 
 
PART II.] HISTORICAL AtfD DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 425 
 
 left a description of the person and manners of this warlike queen. 
 She emulated the state and style of living of the Persian kings ; she 
 wore a helmet, and her dress was of the purple stuff of Sidon, 
 adorned with costly jewels; her complexion was dark, and her black 
 eyes possessed a peculiar brilliancy. She rarely rode in a chariot, 
 and would march on foot with her army for many miles. Her 
 voice was clear and sonorous, and she was accustomed frequently to 
 harangue her soldiers, her addresses exciting in their bosoms an 
 enthusiasm that impelled them at her bidding to any military under- 
 taking, however hazardous. Her ambition was great, and she has 
 been accused of entertaining even the mad idea of overthrowing 
 the Roman empire in the West, and of investing herself as the first 
 independent empress of Rome, with the imperial purple of the 
 Caesars. The closing history of Palmyra may be told in a few words: 
 for a considerable time it was garrisoned by the Romans; in the 
 seventh century it shared the fate of Baalbec, and was occupied 
 by the Moslems under the Caliphate of Abu Bekr. Little is known 
 of Palmyra for several ages after that time, but in 1400, when it con- 
 tained many Jews and Mohammedans, it was plundered by the 
 army of Tamerlane. The city was now gradually deserted, and 
 the sands of the desert encroached more and more upon the splen- 
 did temples, until Palmyra assumed the desolate appearance which 
 it presents at this hour. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS AGES. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 (105) PAGE 282. 
 Who taught, reformed, arid humanised his age. 
 
 The period at which Zoroaster lived has been disputed, but the 
 labours of Du Perron, the first translator of the Zendavesta, or sacred 
 writings of the Persians, and the researches of Hyde and Dean 
 Prideaux, go far to prove that he was born in the province of Azer- 
 bijan about the year 590 B.C. Like Buddha, in Hindostan, 
 
426 
 
 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Zoroaster may be considered a great reformer and not an originator 
 of the national faith; for long jjilor to the reign of C} r rus the Great, 
 fire was worshipped in Persia as a symbol of the Deity. The early 
 fire- worshippers had neither temples nor altars, but worshipped in 
 the open air on the summits of mountains; the altars and fire- 
 houses now met with in ruins in different parts of Persia, were 
 probably erected when the old religion began to lose some of its 
 original simplicity. The disciples of Zoroaster did not blindly adore 
 fire and the sun as independent deities, but merely as the purest 
 visible emblem of the unseen creator; their magi or priests possessed 
 great power and influence in the state, and were so celebrated for 
 astrology and enchantment, that all professors of those arts have 
 from them obtained the name of magicians. The extraordinary 
 work, the Zendavesta, written in a language now extinct (the Zend), 
 is said by order of Darius to have been transcribed on a vast num- 
 ber of bulls' hides, and deposited in a rock at Persepolis : it embo- 
 dies the entire belief and theology of the Guebers, as they are 
 called by the Arabs, the term signifying "unbelievers;" it contains 
 in truth many sublime ideas, but, like Mohammed's Koran, is 
 deformed by as many monstrous absurdities. Zoroaster is supposed 
 to have been personally known to the prophet Ezekiel, and to have 
 been one of the twenty-five apostates described by him in his 
 vision as adoring the rising sun. 
 
 (106) PAGE 283. 
 
 The routh, or soul, the angel of the tomb 
 Bears to the bridge, where Justice reads its doom. 
 
 The soul of man Zoroaster declares to be composed of five sepa- 
 rate parts, the chief being the jan or animal life, and the routh the 
 principle of knowledge and judgment. At death the jan mingles 
 with the elements until the day of judgment, of the coming of which 
 the fire-worshippers have a firm and unshaken belief; the routh, on 
 its dismissal from the body, is conveyed by Siroch, the guardian of 
 the dead, to the bridge Chinevad ; on this structure, which connects 
 earth and heaven, sits the Angel of Justice, and weighs the actions 
 of mortals. How evidently from Zoroaster's notion did Mohammed, 
 twelve centuries after, borrow the idea of the bridge Al Siratthe 
 passage of souls spanning the abyss, as described in the Koran. 
 
PART II.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 427 
 
 (107) PAGE 284. 
 
 Nor plead in vainjor mercy to the skies. 
 
 Zoroaster supposes our world will last twelve thousand years, at 
 the expiration of which time the fire- worshippers are to expect the 
 appearance of Ormuzd, who will descend upon earth. At his 
 coming, the genii of the elements will resign their trusts, and the 
 dead will arise in bodily shape, the jan, or material part, being 
 united for ever to the spiritual essence. The Zendavesta asserts 
 that Ariman and his evil spirits will no longer persist in their 
 rebellion, but become "Ministering angels to the Most High." 
 Like Origen, also, who promulgated the doctrine in the third 
 century of our era, the Persian prophet believes that the mercy of 
 Ormuzd or God will be extended to the condemned in hell, who, 
 having suffered in proportion to the magnitude of their crimes, 
 will be purified and called to heaven. Such is an imperfect out- 
 line of the extraordinary system of theology which prevailed in 
 Persia from the time of Darius Hystaspes, to the Mohammedan 
 conquest in the seventh century; and -such is the creed reverently 
 embraced by the persecuted Parsees of the present hour. Notwith- 
 standing many extravagant fables, it cannot be denied that the 
 Zendavesta contains much that is striking and sublime. But 
 whether some of Zoroaster's notions were derived from the Jews 
 during the Babylonish captivity, or whether they were the product 
 of his own wonderful mind, are questions which, at this remote 
 period of time, and in the absence of any satisfactory evidence, 
 it is impossible to decide. 
 
 (108) PAGE 280. 
 
 And mourn Seleucia! weep for Ctesiphon. 
 
 Seleucia, which stood on the west bank of the Tigris, about twenty 
 miles south of the modern Baghdad, was founded by Seleucus 
 Nicator, one of Alexander's generals, about 300 B.C. After the 
 desertion of Babylon, it became one of the largest cities in the 
 East. Pliny states that in his time it contained six hundred thou- 
 sand inhabitants. But Seleucia, in its turn, declined when Ctesi- 
 phon was built on the opposite side of the river, and it was almost 
 destroyed by the Emperor Severus, A.D. 198. All that the traveller 
 now descries are long mounds covered with coarse grass, and a few 
 
428 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 fragments of the northern and southern walls. See Rich. The 
 city Ctesiphon, built by the Pu,rthians, when they overran Persia, 
 was the favourite winter residence of their kings, on account of the 
 mildness of the air; in the summer they preferred Ecbatana. The 
 mounds of Ctesiphon, according to Buckingham, are about two 
 miles in circumference, and are covered with thick heath, which 
 affords a shelter to innumerable birds. 
 
 (109) PAGE 286. 
 
 Beneath the mighty arch we wander slow. 
 
 On the site of Ctesiphon one monument of interest only remains; 
 it is the Tauk Kesra, or palace of Khosru. This ruinous edifice, 
 which popular opinion declares to have been the palace of the Per- 
 sian king, and which undoubtedly was erected before the Moham- 
 medan invasion in the seventh century, presents a very imposing 
 appearance. Buckingham describes it as resembling our West- 
 minster Abbey without its towers. It is entirely of brick, and 
 the arch is thought to be the largest formed of that material in the 
 world, the vast semicircle being 85 feet wide, and 106 feet high. 
 
 (110) PAGE 292. 
 
 And o'er these heaps Oblivion waves her wing. 
 
 The great mound at Sus rises above a succession of other tumuli, 
 which are scattered around within a space measuring about seven 
 miles in circumference. It consists of the remains either of the 
 citadel or the palace of the Persian monarch probably of both. 
 The height of this vast pile, according to Major Rawlinson, is 165 
 feet, the circumference at the base being 1,100 yards. The mound 
 is strewn with broken pottery, shattered glass vessels, and bricks. 
 That the great Persian and Chaldasan cities should, with the excep- 
 tion of Persepolis, have left little or no trace of their former exist- 
 ence, beyond these shapeless heaps of decayed matter, will not be 
 surprising when it is remembered that, unlike the Greeks and Egyp- 
 tians, who reared their monuments of solid stone, as if designing 
 them for eternity, the Orientals used in nearly all their edifices the 
 perishable material of brick. Yet the height of these mounds will 
 be entirely unaccountable if the circumstance be not referred to the 
 old Eastern custom of erecting large public edifices on platforms ; 
 
PART II.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 429 
 
 such brick platforms, Mr. Layard has proved, exist on the site of 
 Nineveh ; the Persians, therefore, in this architectural arrangement, 
 imitated the ancient Assyrians. It is very remarkable that most of 
 the larger buildings in the ruined cities of Central America are also 
 erected on lofty terraces, although generally of stone. This is par- 
 ticularly the case at Uxmal and Palenque. (See Book I., Part III.) 
 It must not be imagined that all the Mesopotamian and Persian 
 mounds, if penetrated, would reveal archaeological treasures like the 
 tumuli at Nimroud, and those opposite Mosul; probably the material 
 of the palaces, with the sculptures, had been removed from the 
 greater number of them, the platforms only remaining, which in 
 process of time became covered with turf, the brick returning to the 
 original earth. 
 
 (111) PAGE 298. 
 
 The column* d pride of glorious Chil Minar. 
 
 Chil Minar, or the hall of the " Forty Columns," for so are the 
 ruins called by the Mohammedans. Persepolis has also been named 
 by Oriental writers Istikhar, and by the modern Persians Tacht- Jam- 
 schid, the hero Jamschid being supposed by them its founder. The 
 ruins of Persepolis, which was the chief city of Persia prior to the 
 conquest of the country by Alexander the Great, are situated about 
 ten leagues north-east of Shiraz ; they occupy an elevated terrace, 
 and here we have the great platform exposed, being formed of stone 
 instead of brick, the solid marble rock having been levelled. High 
 hills are seen on every side except towards the west, where extends 
 the plain of Merdusht, now a wilderness, but which once was 
 beautified by a great city, and probably other towns. It has been 
 argued by some that this city was the ancient Pasargada where the 
 Persian kings were crowned, and Cyrus was buried; but Chardin 
 and Porter have set the question at rest; the tomb of Cyrus has been 
 found fifty miles off at the real Pasargada, and on the plain of Mer- 
 dusht, agreeing with the descriptions of Arrian and Strabo, once 
 stood the famous Persepolis. 
 
 (112) PAGE 298. 
 
 Here frowns a massive gateway, such as Nile 
 Sees on his banks 
 
 The ascent to the terrace is by a broad marble staircase, consist- 
 ing of two flights of steps ; these steps are so shallow that about 
 
430 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 twelve are cut out of every block of marble, and the traveller may 
 ascend on horseback. On the second landing-place is a propylon 
 or lofty gateway, about thirty feet high, somewhat similar to the 
 propyla at Edfou, in Egypt. Colossal animals are sculptured on 
 pedestals, their necks being encircled by collars of roses, but in other 
 particulars they strongly resemble the human-headed bulls exhumed 
 at Nimroud. At the portal beyond for there is another human 
 figures are seen, some having the mutilated remains of diadems, and 
 some wings, the huge plumage of the last being as beautifully carved 
 as similar appendages to the eagle-headed human forms found at 
 Nineveh. Certain of the figures with wings are evidently intended 
 to represent angels, or guardian spirits, for celestial beings abound 
 in the mythology of the ancient Fire- worshippers, but the Feroher, 
 or winged figure within a circle, is the type of the Supreme Being. 
 
 (113; PAGE 300. 
 
 Link between Greece and Egypt, rise the forms 
 Of those pale pillars battling with the storms. 
 
 Of the seventy-two columns, the estimated original number, fif- 
 teen only remain entire. They are of light grey marble, the largest 
 being five feet nine inches in diameter, and, including the pedestals, 
 sixty feet high. From the absence of much accumulated rubbish on 
 the platform, they present a very imposing and beautiful spectacle. 
 Though erected long after the Prestan temples in Italy, and, if Pro- 
 fessor Grotefend's data be correct, only about fifty years before the 
 Parthenon at Athens, they belong to no distinctive order of archi- 
 tecture, being unique in their character. The pedestals are some- 
 what in the Egyptian style, being formed like the cup and leaves of 
 the pendant lotus; but the shafts are far too slender and lofty for 
 the massive description of buildings prevailing on the banks of the 
 Nile, while the capitals display grotesque figures, being the double 
 demi-bull or unicorn. Some have imagined, we think without suf- 
 ficient reason, that this palatial edifice never had a covering; but 
 near the heads of the unicorns are hollow spaces, which Sir R. K. 
 Porter conjectures once received beams, and these extending from 
 pillar to pillar, supported the roof. At what period this roof fell in, 
 or if it survived the conflagration which destroyed the palace, is 
 entirely unknown. 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 431 
 
 (114) PAGE 305. 
 
 The last sad wreck of proud Persepolis. 
 
 Since that fatal night, 330 B.C., the palace is thought, as far as 
 concerns the hands of man, to have remained untouched to the pre- 
 sent hour, for it does not appear ever to have been rebuilt, or occu- 
 pied again. Two thousand two hundred years have still spared 
 fifteen noble columns, and though boasting not Egyptian solidity, 
 they promise to brave the slow influences of time for many ages to 
 come. As specimens of art, the Persepolitan monuments and 
 sculptures, (some of the latter are now in the British Museum,) 
 do not rank high; the vigour and correct taste of the Assyrians, the 
 exquisite pains-taking of the Egyptians, and the elegance of the 
 Greeks, are alike wanting ; the figures are for the most part repre- 
 sented in profile, being clumsy and stiff; while the artist, when he 
 wishes to show the chief personage in a group, is forced to the bar- 
 barous and primitive expedient of making the figure exceed the 
 others in size. Yet the Persepolitan marbles possess extreme value, 
 as being connected with a people whose refinement and luxury have 
 been proverbial through all ages, and illustrating events in history 
 of a very interesting and important nature. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS AGES. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 (115) PAGE 309. 
 
 A few green turf-clad mounds alone remain, 
 Like those which mark famed Troy's deserted plain. 
 The Arab village of Rihhah has usually been considered the site 
 of the ancient Jericho, but Buckingham, with a plausible show of 
 truth on his side, points out another locality. The spot he names 
 is situated some twelve miles north of the Dead Sea, and six west 
 of the Jordan, Mount Nebo rising on the other side of that river. 
 Here the barren hills of Judaea overhang the plain as mentioned by 
 Josephus in his description of Jericho, and here Buckingham dis- 
 
432 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 covered several barrows or tumuli, apparently marking the position 
 of ancient walls, but no edifxoe is standing, and no fountain or 
 palm-trees, for which Jericho was once famous, are now visible ; the 
 whole scene is one of desolation. 
 
 (116) PAGE 311. 
 
 The Towers of Refuge now no more can save. 
 
 Ramoth in Gilead, or Ramoth-Mizpeh, where Jephthah resided at 
 the time he made his rash vow, was one of the cities of refuge 
 named by Moses, east of the Jordan. Some disputes have arisen 
 regarding the true site of this city : D'Anville places it south of the 
 river Jabbok, which falls into the Jordan about thirty miles north of 
 the Dead Sea, while Cellarius assigns it a position on the other 
 side of that river. In either case no original remains have been 
 discovered, beyond a few sepulchres shaded by the oleander and 
 oak ; the hills of Gilead and Bashan are still famous for the last- 
 named tree. " Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars." 
 Ezekiel, xxvii., 6. 
 
 (117) PAGE 317. 
 
 A silvery sea o'er mouldering towers and shrines. 
 
 The city of Geraza, in Gilead, was essentially Roman, though it 
 might have occupied the place of one of the old towns of the kings 
 of Bashan. Little mention is made of Geraza either in sacred or 
 profane history, but it is supposed to have been built shortly after 
 the conquest of Palestine by Pompey the Great. It formed one of 
 the ten Roman cities that gave to the district the name of the 
 Decapolis. The ruins of Geraza, which, as we have observed, 
 were discovered only thirty years ago by Dr. Seetzen, occupy an 
 area nearly three miles in circumference. From the Arch of 
 Triumph one principal street extends northward, three-quarters of 
 a mile in length, lined nearly all the way by Corinthian columns, 
 many of which still support their entablature. These columns are 
 plain, of a yellow stone, and, in violation of the laws of the order, 
 increase in diameter towards the middle of the shaft, which again 
 tapers aw r ay at the capital. The principal ruins are the Arch and 
 Naumachia, or stone basin, two gates, a beautiful circular colonnade, 
 fifty-six columns of which are still standing, the street of pillars, 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 433 
 
 three temples, a military guard-house, two baths, and two theatres, 
 one of which, facing the north, has a proscenium 120 feet in front, 
 with two divisions of benches, each consisting of fifteen rows of 
 seats. 
 
 Rome, Palmyra, and Pompeii being excepted, perhaps no field of 
 ruins will be found in Europe or Asia equalling in extent and mag- 
 nificence the remains of Geraza. It is uncertain when the city was 
 deserted; the name of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius being in- 
 scribed on one of the altars, would imply that it was held by the 
 Romans in the second century. Gibbon also mentions Geraza as 
 forming one of the fortresses on the frontiers of the Syrian Pro- 
 vinces belonging to the Lower Empire, when the Saracens were 
 prosecuting their conquests. The followers of Mohammed may 
 indeed have overthrown the city, burnt the private dwellings, and 
 driven out the inhabitants, but they made no permanent settlement 
 there themselves, since not a vestige of their architecture is dis- 
 cernible. The place has been for many ages uninhabited, and the 
 few Arab fellahs who cultivate the soil in the valley, and among the 
 ruins, and drive their camels to drink at the fountain, live chiefly at 
 a small village in the neighbourhood, called Aioode. No traveller 
 should visit Palestine without crossing the Jordan, and the hills of 
 Gilead, to view the fallen magnificence of Geraza. 
 
 (118) PAGE 321. 
 
 'Tis proud Capernaum, all that moulders here. 
 Capernaum, which means the " town of pleasure," the " hand- 
 some city," was famous for its trade, and stood close upon the lake 
 of Tiberias. The ruins now have obtained the name of Caphar- 
 Nahoam, and Tal-Hewn, the latter word signifying in Arabic "a 
 heap." Two ruinous buildings are conspicuous above the others, 
 and one, a circular edifice with many arches and clusters of double 
 columns, seems to be a portion either of a temple or a palace. The 
 spot at present serves as a station for Bedouin Arabs, who by night 
 pen their camels and goats in the deserted buildings. 
 
 (119) PAGE 327. 
 
 A triple vengeance on those Tribes was hurled f 
 Their race, a sun-flash, vanished from the world. 
 From Judah and Benjamin have descended all the Jews now 
 scattered through the earth. The other Ten Tribes lost their 
 
 2E 
 
434 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 identity many centuries before Christ, and none of them have since 
 been found, forming a distinct people. An opinion, however, has 
 been entertained that the missing " Ten " are even now located 
 somewhere ; and the wilds of the North, China, Central Asia, and 
 some un visited portion of the great African Continent, have severally 
 in turn been pointed out as the probable place of their concealment 
 from the rest of mankind. We can perceive no reasonable ground 
 for such an assumption, and think the fallacy of the idea will be 
 sufficiently apparent if we advert to the history of this unfortunate 
 section of the Hebrew family. It is briefly as follows : During the 
 reign of Rehoboam, the successor of Solomon, contentions arose 
 among the Jews, which led to the separation of ten tribes from their 
 brethren: Judah and Benjamin were left in possession of Jerusalem 
 and the southern districts, while the other tribes occupied Samaria, 
 and the parts adjacent. The latter made Shechem their capital, and 
 their kingdom was named the kingdom of Israel, in contradistinc- 
 tion to that of Judah. Under Omri, their king, they built Samaria 
 on the hill Shemer, and this city became then the seat of their 
 government. In the year B.C. 736, Tiglath Pileser, king of Assyria, 
 invaded Samaria, and carried off many captives. This was their first 
 captivity. Again, B.C. 721, Shalmaneser, the successor of Tiglath, 
 after a cruel siege of three years, took Samaria and transported all 
 the inhabitants, except a few cultivators of the soil, beyond the 
 Tigris, and thus fell for ever Samaria as a kingdom, having existed 
 254: years. 
 
 The Ten Tribes suffered more in their captivity, though less is 
 recorded of them, than the children of Judah and Benjamin, whom 
 Nebuchadnezzar a century afterwards carried off to Babylon. The 
 last, after seventy years had elapsed, returned to Jerusalem, but the 
 Ten Tribes came back no more. To supply their place, Shalmane- 
 ser sent colonies to Samaria from Cuth, Hamath, and other Assyrian 
 districts, and these aliens, intermarrying with the poorer class of 
 Israelites left behind, produced that spurious race which continued 
 to occupy Samaria, and was so despised by the unmixed Hebrews in 
 the time of Christ. These hybrid people, not unlike our English 
 race compounded of divers nations, about the time that Alexander 
 the Great overran Palestine, built a temple on their holy mountain 
 Gerizim, but they mingled idolatry with the worship of their fore- 
 fathers, and at one period Jupiter was installed in their temple as 
 their chief deity. A few Samaritans exist in the present day at 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 435 
 
 Nablous. From what has been stated^ vain we think will appear 
 the hope of discovering the lost Ten Tribes of Israel. Judah and 
 Benjamin have kept themselves apart from all the people of the earth, 
 and consequently have preserved their national individuality. The 
 other tribes mingled and married with the races who carried them 
 off captives; they adopted the manners and the religion of the 
 Assyrians, Medes, and others around them, and in process of time, 
 like a river joining the ocean, became blended with the great. human 
 family. We may, perhaps, as reasonably hope to find a colony of 
 genuine Northern Picts, pure Egyptian races, or unmixed Babylo- 
 nians, as the absorbed children of the ten sons of Jacob. 
 
 (120) PAGE 328. 
 Royal Sebasta crowning Shemer's brow 
 
 The Ten Tribes who separated themselves from those of Judah 
 and Benjamin, B.C. 975, subsequently, as we have stated, under their 
 King Omri, built Samaria on the hill Shemer. After it had fallen 
 to decay, Herod erected on its site the more splendid Sebasta, and 
 to this city the existing ruins belong : they consist of several rows 
 of white limestone columns on the summit of the hill ; the largest 
 quantity is grouped on the North-eastern side, but nearly all of 
 them have lost their capitals ; these, tradition says, belonged to 
 Herod's palace. It was his son, Herod Antipas, before whom the 
 daughter of Herodias danced, and the prison where John the Bap- 
 tist was beheaded is shown underneath the ruins of Helena's 
 church. 
 
 (121) PAGE 330. 
 
 E'en while they scorn and hate the Patriarch's race. 
 
 Abraham dwelt many years in Hebron, a town (says Josephus) 
 " seven years more ancient than Tanis, in Egypt," and it is a very 
 considerable place at this day. The same historian speaks of a 
 famous turpentine or terebinth-tree at Mamre, and this tree is 
 identified with one now standing there, known by the name of 
 Abraham's oak ; it is of the species called quercus gramuntia, and 
 the trunk (says Borrer) is twenty-five feet in girth. Though decaying 
 in some parts from its immense antiquity, it still puts forth leaves. 
 To say this tree has lived four thousand years may be a startling 
 assertion, and yet possibly a true one ; the famous single tree at 
 
436 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 Babylon, called Athela, is supposed to have been planted in the 
 hanging gardens of Queen Nitocris ; and in Africa, calculating by 
 the rings on their trunks, naturalists have been disposed to con- 
 sider some of the Baobab trees five thousand years old. The cave 
 of Machpelah, before Mamre, bought by Abraham of the sons of 
 Heth, for a place of sepulture, is shown near this oak ; immense 
 stones, some of them twenty-five feet long, as measured by Irby, 
 form the foundation of the old edifice, and above the tomb the Turks 
 have erected a mosque. They hold the place in extreme veneration, 
 permitting no Jew or Christian to enter; Burckhardt, however, suc- 
 ceeded in gaining admission. The Sultans of Constantinople 
 have placed in the mosque rich green carpets, and nine are said 
 to cover the tomb of Abraham. Sarah is likewise interred here. 
 
 (122) PAGE 335. 
 
 'Twas who should crush his fellow ', not the foe. 
 
 The most lamentable instances on record of the lengths to which 
 party spirit will urge men, perhaps occurred during the siege of 
 Jerusalem by the Romans. Instead of combining against the com- 
 mon enemy, we find the Jews split into factions, at the heads of 
 which severally were Eleazar, John, and Simon. These entertained 
 for each other the deadliest rancour, and it was a common practice 
 (says Josephus) for individuals of one party to exult over and mangle 
 the dead bodies of those of the opposite faction who had fallen by 
 the hands of the Romans. 
 
 (123) PAGE 336. 
 
 Oh, Titus ! Titus ! " darling of mankind" 
 
 Titus was emphatically styled the "darling of mankind," and 
 was applauded alike for his justice and humanity, yet we need but 
 peruse an account of the horrors of the Jewish siege, and the 
 cruelties which he inflicted on his prisoners, to be convinced how 
 little such encomiums were deserved. The celebrated arch at 
 Rome, which bears in relief a representation of the spoils of the 
 Hebrew temple, was raised by a people smitten with a love of mili- 
 tary glory, to a conqueror, not surely to a philanthropist. 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 437 
 
 (124) PAGE 338. 
 
 See yon proud mosque, its courts and crescents shine, 
 Where stood great Solomon's far-blazing shrine. 
 Besides the mosque built by Omar in the seventh century, called 
 Sakhara, covering the site of the Jewish temple on Mount Moriah, 
 and that erected over the palace and tomb of David, eight other 
 mosques lift their bulb-shaped roofs in different parts of the city. 
 The Turks are the masters ; their religion they consider the religion 
 of Jerusalem, and they permit the Latins, Armenians, and Greeks 
 to worship at their holy places merely for the sake of the money 
 which they extort from them. Jerusalem is an irregular square, 
 about two miles and a-half in circumference ; the walls are com- 
 paratively modern, being nearly fifty feet high, and are flanked by 
 square towers at intervals, battlements with loopholes for arrows 
 running around the summit. The north part of the city is crowded 
 with houses, nearly all of them having flat roofs of stone. The only 
 unaltered and genuine piece of antiquity within the walls is the 
 pool of Bethesda, situated south of St. Stephen's, or the Sheep-gate, 
 and near Omar's mosque. This great excavated cistern is 250 feet 
 long and 30 feet deep ; at the west end are the remains of three 
 arches, over which water was once conveyed to the cistern ; the 
 bottom is now dry, and choked with weeds and brambles. Perhaps 
 no other city on earth has sustained so many sieges, and yielded to 
 so many foreign invaders, as Jerusalem; the kings of Syria and 
 Egypt came against it ; Nebuchadnezzar razed the temple, and led 
 the inhabitants into captivity ; the Romans poured out the people's 
 blood like water ; the Persians, under Khosru, the Arabians, under 
 the Caliphs, and the Saracens of the middle ages, severally occu- 
 pied the holy city ; the Crusaders battled and won it ; the Mame- 
 lukes of Egypt re-took it ; Tamerlane ravaged it ; and lastly, the 
 Ottoman Turks seized it, and continue to be its lords. The present 
 inhabitants, exclusive of visitors and pilgrims, have been estimated 
 at fifteen thousand; the Mohammedans are the most numerous, the 
 Christians of all denominations being about 4,000, and the Jews 
 3,500 souls. 
 
 (125) PAGE 340. 
 
 The lingering guardians, hallowed fount ! ofthee. 
 The Pool of Siloam is one of the most interesting objects the 
 
438 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 traveller can visit about Jerusalem ; while most other localities, as 
 we have observed, have undergone a change and the Romanist is 
 ever busy in inventing scenes to delude the credulous the antiquity 
 and genuineness of this fountain are not to be disputed. The de- 
 scent to the deep square cistern is by several smoothly-worn steps. 
 The water flows from under Mount Ophel (a continuation of Mo- 
 riah), and Mount Zion, and having passed from the upper fountain 
 into the lower, the two fountains being about six hundred yards 
 apart, it proceeds across the barren spot, once the " Kings' Gardens," 
 and falls into the Kedron. " As the Arab women of the valley," 
 writes Bartlett, " came down to fill their pitchers, we remembered 
 that the daughters of Judah frequented it three thousand years ago* 
 and that kings and prophets have drunk of its waters." 
 
 (126) PAGE 342. 
 
 And only mourned in dust the lost, the brave. 
 
 The first tomb of magnitude which we meet in the valley of 
 Jehoshaphat proceeding from the south, is that called the tomb of 
 Zechariah, not the prophet, but of him who was stoned to death by 
 order of King Joash. It has a square basement hewn into form 
 from the solid rock ; four Ionic columns appear in front, with a 
 pilaster at each angle ; the architrave and cornice are in the heavy 
 Egyptian style ; the sides are covered with names written in He- 
 brew at an unknown period, and the whole is crowned with a 
 pyramid. A little north of the tomb of Zechariah is a square edifice, 
 having a portico ; this is sometimes called the tomb of St. James, 
 but more commonly the Grotto of the Disciples, from a tradition 
 that here they frequently retired with Christ, to receive from him 
 instruction in the mysteries of religion. Not far from the one- 
 arched bridge which spans the Kedron, stands the finest of the four 
 celebrated tombs in the valley of Jehoshaphat; the base, which 
 measures twenty-four feet square, is solid and formed from the rock ; 
 on the east side of the dome is an aperture opening to a room for 
 the reception of the dead. The building, which is thirty feet high, 
 terminates in a sharp point, designed to resemble flame ; the archi- 
 tecture is an extraordinary mixture of the Egyptian and Jewish 
 styles, with metopes and triglyphs of the Doric order displayed 
 above the engaged columns. The Grecian ornaments have evidently 
 
PART III.] HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 439 
 
 been added in later times, for the sepulchre is of undoubted anti- 
 quity, and has been called by common consent the tomb of David's 
 rebellious but beloved son Absalom. It is thought that David may 
 have removed his remains from beyond the Jordan to this place. 
 
 (127) PAGE 343. 
 
 Guarded for ages, holds the Virgin's dust. 
 
 North of the sepulchral monuments just named, and near Geth- 
 semane, is a building with a handsome front and pointed arched 
 door, situated within a paved court : it is erected over the supposed 
 burial-place of the Virgin Mary. The descent to the vaulted cavern 
 below is by fifty-five marble steps ; the outer cave is hung with 
 lamps, and adorned with a variety of ornaments. In arched recesses, 
 the dust of Anna, Mary's mother, and of Joseph, is said to lie ; but 
 the Virgin herself rests further in at the foot of an altar ; Syrians, 
 Copts, and Romanists worship here ; but the Greek and Armenian 
 priests say mass. 
 
 (128) PAGE 343. 
 
 And hearts unborn shall bless Gethsemane. 
 
 Eight olive-trees mark the site of Gethsemane : they stand within 
 a low walled enclosure, and the spot is usually, observes Dr. Wilde, 
 " sown with corn." The immense trunk of one of them measures 
 twenty-four feet in girth. An argument has been raised that these 
 olive-trees cannot be identical with the trees which flourished in 
 the time of Christ, because Titus, Josephus informs us, felled all the 
 timber around Jerusalem to make his war-engines. "We confess 
 some difficulties surround the subject, but Dr. Wilde and others 
 have argued that Titus did not destroy the olive-trees of Gethse- 
 mane ; this certainly would not have been on account of any sanctity 
 attached to them, but merely because the Roman general might 
 have found that description of timber ill suited to his purpose. The 
 question has not been settled, and perhaps never will be, but poetry 
 does only exercise its legitimate right in taking advantage of the 
 doubt which the argument implies. 
 
440 RUINS OF MANY LANDS. [BOOK III. 
 
 (129) PAGE 345. 
 
 Children ofJudah ! wandering long and far ', 
 From Indicts suns, to moist Columbians star. 
 
 Although the dispersion of the Jews had commenced a considerable 
 time prior to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, the Ptolemies 
 having planted colonies of them in Egypt, and along the African 
 coast, while numbers voluntarily remained beyond the Euphrates 
 after the seventy years' captivity, yet it is common to date their great 
 and final dispersion from that epoch. Notwithstanding the per- 
 secutions and frequent massacres to which they have been subjected, 
 the number of this doomed race has never, it would seem, in the 
 aggregate, very materially diminished ; on the contrary, at least for 
 the last two centuries, it has been steadily on the increase. The 
 question now is, not in what countries the Jews are found, but into 
 what countries they have not penetrated. Prom Cape Comorin to 
 Nova Zembla, from the Himalay mountains to the Alps, and thence 
 to the Andes, we find these wandering children of the man of Ur. 
 They are citizens of the world, yet divided by a barrier of rites and 
 customs from the rest of mankind, still bearing the mark of their 
 Chaldseo-Shemitic descent on their oriental features, flourishing and 
 amassing wealth in situations wherein others, if placed, would 
 starve, obeying the laws of the respective lands in which they so- 
 journ, still looking for the promised Messiah, their deliverer their 
 king and regarding Judaea as their home. The number of Jews 
 existing at present has been estimated at four millions, distributed, 
 as nearly as may be calculated, through some of the principal 
 countries as follow : America, 8,000 ; Great Britain, 33,000 ; Italy, 
 40,000; Prance, 50,000; Belgium and Holland, 80,000; Prussia and 
 Northern Germany, 270,000 ; the Austrian empire, no less than 
 520,000 ; Russia and Poland, 650,000 ; the Turkish dominions, where 
 a large portion of the trade is in their hands, 800,000. In Persia, 
 Tartary, India, China, and Africa, no estimate appears to have been 
 made on which reliance can be placed ; nevertheless it is very pro- 
 bable that the presumed total of four millions is under, rather than 
 above, the real number of Jews now in the world. 
 
By the same Author. 
 Recently Published, Crown 8vo, (pp. 390,) Price 5s., cloth, 
 
 SPIRITS OF THE PAST ; 
 
 An Historical Poem; with copious Biographical Notes. 
 
 CONTENTS. Scripture Characters: from Cain to Esther. Military 
 Heroes: from Xerxes to Napoleon. Celebrated Women: from 
 Aspasia of Athens to Lady Jane Grey. 
 
 nf tip |5raL 
 
 " Mr. Nicholas Michell is decidedly one of the most popular poets 
 of the day. His themes are peculiar to himself. They are of a cha- 
 racter demanding high intellectual attainments for their successful 
 treatment, true poetic feeling, and great learning and research. 
 Mr. Michell first gave evidence of these combined powers and re- 
 sources in his ' Ruins of Many Lands.' He has followed up this 
 work by an historical poem in three books, called * Spirits of the 
 Past/ and which treats of Scripture characters, military heroes, and 
 celebrated women. The field thus embraced declares its own deep 
 interest its boundless poetic resources. Mr. Michell has endowed 
 his various * spirits' with a vitality that almost brings the one into 
 rivalry with the other. We do not know whether we are happier 
 revelling in the exploits of an Alexander or a Wellington ; sorrow- 
 ing, yet in admiration, with a Lucretia or a Laura ; or reposing in 
 calm and holy love with the minstrel of Salem." 'New Monthly 
 Magazine. 
 
 " This work will add to the Author's fame. As an example of his 
 power of delineating character, we quote his remarks on Napoleon 
 the Great." Atlas. 
 
 " He causes to pass before the mind's eye the shades of those 
 who, by their character and deeds, have illustrated, whether for 
 good or evil, the world's progress from the remotest ages. In 
 delineating the leading features of the Scripture characters and 
 military heroes, he shows himself at once to be a Poet and a Philo- 
 sopher, and well versed in the historical knowledge requisite for 
 vivid painting. In the Third Part he assumes a wholly different tone ; 
 there, in his portraitures of celebrated Women, enthusiasm breaks 
 forth ; the beauty and feminine fascinations of some of his heroines, 
 and the lofty spirit of others, fill him with a fervour worthy of the 
 subject. We would instance Lucretia, Dante's Beatrice, Laura, and 
 
2 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Lady Jane Grey, as highly wrought and touching pictures. Mr. 
 Michell is entitled to take high rank among the poets of the age." 
 New Quarterly Review. 
 
 "Mr. Michell is a writer who shrinks from no task, however 
 difficult its accomplishment, and, having the highest aims before 
 him, spends not his strength for nought. ' Spirits of the Past' is a 
 poem worthy of the author of * Ruins of Many Lands.' Independent 
 of its poetical merits, the volume will be found very interesting 
 from its historical and biographical tableaux, which are numerous 
 and admirably delineated ; he has exercised a sound judgment in 
 the choice of his heroes and heroines." Taifs Edinburgh Magazine. 
 
 " Mr. Michell has already, upon the merits of his fine descriptions 
 in ' Ruins of Many Lands,' obtained an exalted place among the 
 true poets of the present age. In that work he enshrined inanimate 
 objects ; in this he selects from the wide field of humanity prominent 
 individuals, whose virtues or crimes have rendered them famous. 
 The subject is one demanding the highest powers. The style of 
 Mr. Michell is remarkably lucid and strong; his thoughts flow 
 easily and majestically, and the pictures he presents to us are as 
 vividly coloured as they are elegantly and spiritedly designed. In 
 this respect he may be compared to Byron, to whose descriptions in 
 ' Childe Harold,' many of those in l Spirits of the Past ' may be 
 placed in favourable comparison, for the admirable skill in word- 
 painting which the author displays." Sunday Times. 
 
 " This work will be no less admired for the richness of its histori- 
 cal lore, than for the beauty of its diction and the fidelity of its por- 
 traits. The sketch of Napoleon is very remarkable for its power 
 and faithfulness, and the last great struggle at Waterloo is painted 
 in vivid colours." Liverpool Albion. 
 
 " We must admit, that to delineate the history and character of 
 the leading spirits of ancient and modern times was a task beset 
 with difficulties, but the Author has effected his object in a manner 
 that could scarcely have been expected. He possesses the soul of a 
 poet with the imaginative taste and chastened feeling of a polished 
 intellect. There is so much real merit in this work, that we cannot 
 refrain awarding it our meed of high approval ; the truthfulness and 
 beauty of some of the passages are, indeed, beyond praise. We 
 must not omit to state, that the historical and biographical notes 
 evince much laborious study, and are full of interest and valuable 
 information." Oxford Chronicle. 
 
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