Chacun a ses vertus.
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_Crébillon’s Xerxes._ Antiochus Epiphanes is very generally looked upon as the Gog ofthe prophet Ezekiel. This honor is, however, more properlyattributable to Cambyses, the son of Cyrus. And, indeed, thecharacter of the Syrian monarch does by no means stand in need ofany adventitious embellishment. His accession to the throne, orrather his usurpation of the sovereignty, a hundred andseventy-one years before the coming of Christ; his attempt toplunder the temple of Diana at Ephesus; his implacable hostilityto the Jews; his pollution of the Holy of Holies; and hismiserable death at Taba, after a tumultuous reign of elevenyears, are circumstances of a prominent kind, and therefore moregenerally noticed by the historians of his time than the impious,dastardly, cruel, silly, and whimsical achievements which make upthe sum total of his private life and reputation. Let us suppose, gentle reader, that it is now the year of theworld three thousand eight hundred and thirty, and let us, for afew minutes, imagine ourselves at that most grotesque habitationof man, the remarkable city of Antioch. To be sure there were, inSyria and other countries, sixteen cities of that appellation,besides the one to which I more particularly allude. But ours isthat which went by the name of Antiochia Epidaphne, from itsvicinity to the little village of Daphne, where stood a temple tothat divinity. It was built (although about this matter there issome dispute) by Seleucus Nicanor, the first king of the countryafter Alexander the Great, in memory of his father Antiochus, andbecame immediately the residence of the Syrian monarchy. In theflourishing times of the Roman Empire, it was the ordinarystation of the prefect of the eastern provinces; and many of theemperors of the queen city (among whom may be mentioned,especially, Verus and Valens) spent here the greater part oftheir time. But I perceive we have arrived at the city itself.Let us ascend this battlement, and throw our eyes upon the townand neighboring country. “What broad and rapid river is that which forces its way, withinnumerable falls, through the mountainous wilderness, andfinally through the wilderness of buildings?” That is the Orontes, and it is the only water in sight, with theexception of the Mediterranean, which stretches, like a broadmirror, about twelve miles off to the southward. Every one hasseen the Mediterranean; but let me tell you, there are few whohave had a peep at Antioch. By few, I mean, few who, like you andme, have had, at the same time, the advantages of a moderneducation. Therefore cease to regard that sea, and give yourwhole attention to the mass of houses that lie beneath us. Youwill remember that it is now the year of the world three thousandeight hundred and thirty. Were it later—for example, were it theyear of our Lord eighteen hundred and forty-five, we should bedeprived of this extraordinary spectacle. In the nineteenthcentury Antioch is—that is to say, Antioch will be—in alamentable state of decay. It will have been, by that time,totally destroyed, at three different periods, by threesuccessive earthquakes. Indeed, to say the truth, what little ofits former self may then remain, will be found in so desolate andruinous a state that the patriarch shall have removed hisresidence to Damascus. This is well. I see you profit by myadvice, and are making the most of your time in inspecting thepremises—in —satisfying your eyesWith the memorials and the things of fameThat most renown this city.— I beg pardon; I had forgotten that Shakespeare will not flourishfor seventeen hundred and fifty years to come. But does not theappearance of Epidaphne justify me in calling it grotesque? “It is well fortified; and in this respect is as much indebted tonature as to art.”
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