* The cathedral of St. Denis is the tomb of the kings of
France; and it was because the towers of that edifice are
seen from the Castle of St. Germain, that Louis XIV. quitted
that admirable residence, and established a new one in the
savage forests of Versailles.
(This note, like many others, has been omitted from the
American editions. It seems pertinent to the subject, and
is explanatory of the text.—Pub.)
Ah! when the dream of life is over, what will then avail all its agitations, if not one trace of utility remains behind?
O Ruins! to your school I will return! I will seek again the calm of your solitudes; and there, far from the afflicting spectacle of the passions, I will cherish in remembrance the love of man, I will employ myself on the means of effecting good for him, and build my own happiness on the promotion of his.
THE RUINS OF EMPIRES. [ [!-- H2 anchor --] ]
CHAPTER I.
THE JOURNEY.
In the eleventh year of the reign of Abd-ul-Hamid, son of Ahmid, emperor of the Turks; when the Nogais-Tartars were driven from the Crimea, and a Mussulman prince of the blood of Gengis-Kahn became the vassal and guard of a Christian woman and queen,* I was travelling in the Ottoman dominions, and through those provinces which were anciently the kingdoms of Egypt and Syria.
* In the eleventh year of Abd-ul-Hamid, that is 1784 of the
Christian era, and 1198 of the Hegira. The emigration of
the Tartars took place in March, immediately on the
manifesto of the empress, declaring the Crimea to be
incorporated with Russia. The Mussulman prince of the blood
of Gengis-khan was Chahin-Guerai. Gengis-Khan was borne and
served by the kings whom he conquered: Chahin, on the
contrary, after selling his country for a pension of eighty
thousand roubles, accepted the commission of captain of
guards to Catherine II. He afterwards returned home, and
according to custom was strangled by the Turks.
My whole attention bent on whatever concerns the happiness of man in a social state, I visited cities, and studied the manners of their inhabitants; entered palaces, and observed the conduct of those who govern; wandered over fields, and examined the condition of those who cultivated them: and nowhere perceiving aught but robbery and devastation, tyranny and wretchedness, my heart was oppressed with sorrow and indignation.
I saw daily on my road fields abandoned, villages deserted, and cities in ruin. Often I met with ancient monuments, wrecks of temples, palaces and fortresses, columns, aqueducts and tombs. This spectacle led me to meditate on times past, and filled my mind with contemplations the most serious and profound.