cian hills. CORINTH and SPARTA are mean towns, occupied by the hut of the goatherd; while ATHENS presents the appearance of a small modern town-Athens that sent forth the noblest historians, the most eloquent orators, the ablest statesmen, and the greatest military commanders! Ages and ages did Athens ride in the zenith of glory, till at length she became the prey of the spoiler, despot, and stranger; long she laid in the dust, grovelling, and wretched-but now having burst her thraldom, a brighter era begins to dawn; and future historians may perhaps record that Athens and Greece, so long blotted from the roll of nations, may rise from their ashes, like the fabled phoenix of old, to liberty, honor, and glory. A brief description of Athens, inserted in this place, may not be uninteresting to the general reader; and will, we trust, be read with profit in connexion with the engraving accompanying it. The modern town of Athens, is situated to the north of the Acropolis, and extends from the temple of Thesus, so conspicuous in the vale on the left side of our 66 VIEW," to the sublime temple of Jupiter Olympus, which has not escaped the ravages of time, nor the rude barbarity of the Turks. The greater part of the houses is concealed from our view by the glorious Acropolis, and by the hill of Mars, separated from it by that narrow valley through which the peaked summit of Mount Lycabettus is seen. Fragments of her stately temples still give a grand, though faint idea of her ancient splendor, and of the perfection to which she carried architecture and sculpture. With the picture before us, we may easily, in imagination, ascend Mars Hill, that sacred spot, once hallowed by the footsteps of the apostle PAUL. Here is still the same flight of steps, which were cut in the rock more than two thousand years ago. Here, in the days of old, the court of the Areopagus used to hold its sittings; and where Paul addressed the most intellectual audience, to whom he ever declared the Gospel of CHRIST. He was evidently filled with admiration, as well as with sorrow, at the sight of these (then) splendid temples, whose unequalled beauty and elegance are still so conspicuous. "He went about the city, and beheld these sanctuaries." But what an ardent love of GoD and man must have animated him! Surrounded by the very master-piece of architecture, he never forgot that idolatry, in whose honor they had been reared, was an insult constantly offered to the holy CREATOR of the universe, an unceasing offence against the benevolent FATHER of mankind, a disgrace to human nature; a source of infinite wretchedness; a state of guilt and thraldom, carefully maintained by the enemy of GoD, who would delight in the ruin of his blind and devoted slaves, and whose designs could only be frustrated by a saving faith in JESUS CHRIST. The spirit of love, which kept alive these impressions in the apostle's mind, while it imparted a tone of mild candor to his feelings, prompted him to immediate exertion, and inspired him with a noble courage. When Christianity was introduced, the heathen sanctuaries |
