Contrast is often the greatest source of pleasure to the mind; therefore do the citizens of this New World delight to revel in the scenes of the olden hemisphere, which was in full glory when this vast continent lay in undiscovered obscurity.
Orientalism! Talisman to conjure up the shades of the very parents of our race, and of the old patriarchs of Israel, to array in picturesque and savage beauty the vision of Arabian horsemen, flying steeds, vast encampments on arid plains, tribes of wandering Tartars, and almost to awaken the echoes of the clashing and blood-stained scimitars of the desperate champions of the Crescent, the followers of the Prophet. And while there is a wall of iron between us and our future, the eventful record of by-gone times displays to us the development of all that was hidden to our ancestors.
There is a great difference between the primitive condition of the human race and the effects which Time has produced upon that wonderful structure, MAN!
Simplicity, almost childlike, seems to characterize the living mind of man in its embryo state, while years of successive re-conceptions have continued to develop this noble emanation from the great spirit of the universe.
But how deeply interesting to us, who are the embodiment of the more mature and experienced human wisdom, to look into the vast womb of the Past, and trace the growth of the great human foetus.
The impress of the original condition of our race is yet upon the nations of the East, and wonderfully do they still retain the habits and ideas of the earliest ages.
How vividly are the scenes of Biblical record exemplified in the every-day habits of the people, who, at the present time, dwell in those venerated countries. The patriarchal family government, the flowing robes, even the very style of garment of which it is recorded--"They parted my raiment, and upon my vesture they cast lots," are one and all in daily use in the East.
Our attention is peculiarly directed to the history of former ages, and the progress of different empires, by the events which mark the present course of time--for the great theme of the day is the Past and Future of Turkey, the very garden of the East, and the desired of all nations, upon whose shores has lately been poured the life-blood of thousands of valiant heroes, each and all members of the vast human family, whether known to us as Turks, Russians, English, or French.