Excerpt from The Ruins, or a Survey of the Revolutions of Empires: To Which Is Added, the Law of Nature
Solitary Ruins, sacred Tombs, ye mouldering and silent Walls, all hail! To you I address my invoca tion. While the vulgar shrink from your aspect with secret terror, my heart finds in the contemplation a thousand delicious sentiments, a thousand admirable recollections. Pregnant, I may truly call you, with useful lessons, with pathetic and irresistible advice, to the man who knows how to consult you. A while ago the whole world bowed the neck in silence before the tyrants that op teased it; and yet in that hopeless moment you altea y proclaimed the truth that tyrants hold in abhorrence mixing the dust of the roudest kings with that of the meanest slaves, you 0 ed upon us to contemplate this example of equality. From your caverns, whither the musing and anxious love of liberty led me, I saw escape its venerable shade, and with unexpected felicity direct its flight, and marshal my steps to renovated France.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.