?> ft . *• ■ ■ i -- " ' 11 * $ ■ ' . ■ . . . * . ■ . . - - . * ' . . ■ . ♦ >,■ . . . , V . ■ ■ . . - * LETTER FROM ATHENS ADDRESSED TO A FRIEND IN ENGLAND. ■ ' i i , iV .. ' London. J x ubl{fhcd by White. Cockrane Sc CP FI tel Sheet. A fV n 'J&TJer Albemarle Street. March. l8lZ. A LETTER FROM ATHENS, ADDRESSED TO A FRIEND IN ENGLAND. Reverere conditores Deos, Nomina Deorum; reverere Gloriam veterem, et hanc ipsam senectu- tem, quae in Homine venerabilis, in Urbibus, sacra est.—Sit apud te Honor Antiquitatis, sit ingentibus Factis, sit Fabulis quoque. Nihil ex cujusquam Dignitate, nihil ex Libertate, nihil ex Jactatione decerpseris.—Habe ante oculos, hanc esse terram, quae nobis miserit Jura, quae Leges non victa acceperit, sed petentibus dederit; Athenas esse quas adeas. Caius Plinius Secundus. LONDON: PRINTED BY T. BENSLEY, BOLT COURT, FOR WHITE, COCHRANE, AND CO. FLEET STREET, AND WILLIAM MILLER, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1812. . ■ • * ■ ■ ■ . Psl . * . ADVERTISEMENT. The following lines were partly composed abroad to break the tcedium of solitary travel. An excursion to Athens has become of late so much the object oj those who have a relish for antiquities , or classical recollections, that though the Author is sensible of the insufficiency of his poetical powers , he cannot help flattering himself with the hope of his composition proving an acceptable com¬ panion to those n ho purpose visiting that interesting city. In a work of small compass, they will be able to refresh their memories with the leading historical events, and a brief exposition of the Athenian Schools of Philo¬ sophy. The Author has subjoined some Notes, with the intent of illustrating one imitative art by another, and of shewing that he has guided his imagi¬ nation chiefly by historicalfacts. ■ . ' • * . ' , DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. The scene of the Frontispiece lies at the Entrance of the Garden of the Academy at Athens, and represents Diogenes replying to the Salutation of Speusippus. The Scene of the second Plate lies in the Interior of the nOIKIAH ZTOA, and represents Antigonus, King of Macedonia, listening to the Discourse of Zeno. The Columns and Entablature are restored from the Ruins, as delineated by Stuart. For an Explanation of the Vignette, see Note illustrative of the Bust of Cicero. . / ’ . . * London. Publifhed by White. Cochrane tc C° Fleet Street , Sc flPPMiUer. Albemarle Sheet. March. 1812 . A LETTER FROM ATHENS, &C. In regions bleak, where hoary winter throws O’er floods and wilds a glitt’ring sheet of snows, Where houseless Tartars dream their lives away, And fur-clad Russ, more barb’rous yet than they; Still mock’d by airy hope, I toil to find Some spot to true or fancied bliss consign’d, Some vale where peace distributes smiles around. And sorrow’s shafts fall blunted to the ground. But not where Neva’s stream in silence creeps, Nor where on oozy bed Moeotis sleeps, Doth innocence to blithe content give birth, And bid the cot resound with guileless mirth.— B There the lorn traveler disappointment chills, No heart-felt joy his craving bosom fills. At sight of peasant by no lord oppress’d, Whom guilt nor racks, nor passions storm whose breast. Too oft has Fancy forg’d such scenes of bliss, As gladden’d once the rough and artless Swiss, And fondly dwelt on visionary tales, Where Baydar’s hamlets laugh like Uri’s vales. Magnificent indeed wild Tauris shines. Boasts here her mountains, there her blooming vines; The forest crowns the lesser hills, and shows A grateful contrast to Trapezus’ snows; Extensive prospects greet the roving eye, And flow’rs and fruits in gay confusion lie; Here plains extend, there promontories rise, Here rocks in castellated forms surprise; ’Tis hard (so vast the precipices stand.) To hear the sullen Euxine lash the strand. Yet, though indulgent Nature opes her stores. And o er the land her cornucopia pours; 3 Though fruits spontaneous deck th’ exub’rant soil, And the rich glebe scarce asks the ploughmans toil. What boots it, if no joy the Tartar feels, If lust of pow’r th’ usurping Russian steels; If in those vales which Providence desigrn’d As bless’d retreats to th’ uncorrupted mind, Pale mis’ry stalks, and in her train appear Disheart’ning bigotry, and skulking fear? From hyperborean climes I wearied fly, And, led by thee, divine Philosophy! Remote and cheerless, guide my wand ring feet To thy once lov’d, but now forsaken seat. And thou, sweet Friendship! ignorant of guile, Whose presence oft has made the desert smile. My thirsty soul with draughts ambrosial fill, Matron, with look serene, my solace still. When sickness wastes, when difficulties vex. When dangers threaten, and when doubts perplex— Whether o’er Scythian wastes my course I bend. Stem Hadria’s wave, or ^Etna's steep ascend, Or hear the Euxine roar, where’er I go. My yearning heart solicits still to know i 4 How does my friend; doth converse sweet detain, Do Raphael s lines enchant him; doth he drain Nectareous cup of pure domestic joys. That never bosom unpolluted cloys? Doth architecture chaste provoke his toil, And bid him, as he wastes the nightly oil, Compare each Gallic sanctuary's pile. Or thine, Scamozzi, with Palladio’s style? Say, Britain’s Genius! if entranc’d he views Some scene embellish’d by Scott’s airy muse; Climbs he o’er Staffa’s rude basaltic pile. Or scans with art, Melrose, thy moss-grown ile? Descries, when twilight flings her dusky veil. When purple mists ascend, and stars grow pale, The thousand streams that meet in Cona’s vale? O say, (and haply now his eager eyes View thy bluff rocks, and heathy uplands rise,) A foreign realm with raptures I explore, By mem ry cherish’d, fam’d in classic lore; Where azure skies, and genial airs conspire To wake Poesy s all-creative fire— 5 The Muse, ambitious, wings her feeble flight O’er cleft Parnassus’ steeps, that meet her ravish’d sight; There are her haunts—there flow Castalia’s streams; There’s all that Poets have beheld in dreams.— And though she dictate no immortal verse. Nervous like Johnson’s, or like Goldsmith’s terse. Requited shall she be, if thou approve, Dear friend! this earnest of unshaken love— And, (O forgive fond fancy,) as I rove Through field in story fam’d, or Attic grove. The Nine, my labours willing to befriend, Seem, unsolicited, my course to tend; For, wheresoe’er my devious footsteps tread, Some sage has reason’d, or some patriot bled, Some bard has here been crown’d with deathless bays, Some statesman there has won his country’s praise— Great Nature too, exalted to the sight, Transports me with ineffable delight! 1 he sun, by chilling mists, unsullied here. With uniform effulgence marks the year; Here flow’rs of liveliest hues bedeck the ground, Here balmy odours scent the air around; 6 Aerial music’s wafted by the breeze, And more than whispers murmur through the trees; The rocks themselves beguile the ravish’d sense, And speak with more than echo’s eloquence. Bear me, some god, to where those wavy pines Screen Helen’s isle, or Laurium’s shelving mines; Hide me, O hide me, in some cool retreat. When Sirius pours intolerable heat. I’ll court the air in yon sequester’d glade. Where his spent limbs th’ iEolian shepherd laid; Watch by Callirhoe’s fount, at even’s close, iEgina melting into Night’s repose— Then o’er my temples as soft slumber creeps. And ev’ry sense in sweet oblivion steeps, The sullen god, that storms and darkness brings. Shall shroud all Acte with his tawny wings, And bearing in rude grasp the fainting fair, With whirring flight, shall speed through boundless fields of air! Or from those rocks, which Sciron’s name retain, Theseus shall hurl the robber to the main— 7 The lowing herd reclin'd in darksome dell. Shall haply break the airy vision s spell; The her ns that skim the foaming surges o'er, Pouring shrill notes that echo from the shore; The kids disporting in the sun-burnt meads. The locust s chirp, the undulating reeds. Or Procne’s scream, or Philomela’s song, This high in aether heard, that the dark shades among.— Degen’rate Athens! in my breast, by turns, Compassion stirs, and indignation burns. When I thy sons behold by Turks enslav’d. The sons of those who erst all Persia brav’d, Rul d by the very dregs of human kind. In mien disfigur’d, and debas’d in mind.— Oft have I gone Fate’s stern decree to mourn From where Ilissus pours his thrifty urn; from olive-crown’d Pentelicus survey’d I hy moulder d fanes, thy walls in ruins laid— While desolation wreak’d on ev’ry side Her keenest vengeance on Athenian pride. 8 How have I lov’d thy sacred haunts t’ explore, To range o’er Brauron’s solitary shore, Or onward where the briny mildews stain The stones that haply stay’d Diana’s fane; Or thine, O Nemesis! at whose command, Full many a vot’ry sought Rhamnusian strand; While Phoebus or led on the blushing day, Or ting’d some columns with a roseate ray.— Then would the full-orb’d harbinger of night O’er Tegea mount, resplendent to the sight, With partial gleam strike Cynosarges’ grove, Glance on thy mutilated temple, Jove, Play on the olives round Eleusis spread, And silver o’er Hymettus’ fragrant head.— Sometimes sublimer scenes have caught my sight; I’ve seen the gathering clouds turn day to night. While Heav’n’s dread bolt (earth trembled with the shock,) Rent the tall pine, or smote the rugged rock; I’ve heard the tempest burst upon the plain, Exhaust its fury on the troubled main, From Sunium’s naked steep by Pallas’ ruin’d fane.— 9 Ofttimes my eager footsteps have I bent Toward th’ aspiring Citadel s ascent; There, as I’ve sat me on some column’s base, Where now tis hard the sculptur’d forms to trace, Art’s brightest triumph, round as I’ve survey d, In shapeless piles the Propylaea laid; Athens, yet no more Athens! has my mind Rang’d ’mong thy pristine glories unconfin’d, Dwelt on thy genius, curs’d the luckless hour When Greece to th’ Ottoman resign’d her pow’r.— Unheeded lies, (and this with tears I’ve mourn’d) What Theseus rais’d, what Pericles adorn’d; Still do those columns prostrate on the ground, Which spread confus’d their marble wastes around, Attest thy splendour while a thriving state; Twas thine t’ invent—’twas Rome s to imitate.— What though besotted bigotry, and age, ’Gainst thy proud fanes a ceaseless warfare wage; Though Amurath’s blind zeal hath madly dar d To raze what Sylla’s hot resentment spar’d, Or fiercer Goth’s, whose hordes all Acte scar d, c 10 Yet the Theseums’ insulated pile Presents entire a Doric peristyle, That has for twice ten hundred years defied The raging elements, the victor’s pride. The architect, whose genius fancy feeds. Whom love of art to Athens’ relics leads, Oft eyes the sculptur’d pediment amaz’d, And cell compact, which deathless Cimon rais’d T’ his country’s sire, and enraptur’d views Th emboss d reliefs that fir’d a tragic muse. Yet their high-wrought entablature sustain Th’ Ionian columns of Erechtheus’ fane; And Carian virgins, a fantastic band, Whose forms betray no common sculptor’s hand. Each rob’d in graceful chlamys, bring to view The hallow d precinct where Pankyphos grew. Yet braving foreign arms, intestine jar. And Turkish pride, and elemental war. Its sumptuous frize the Parthenon displays. Spreads its bold front, arrests the traveler’s gaze, Proclaims how Pericles true genius priz’d, How Art s chaste forms Ictinus’ mind devis’d.— 11 Ah! how that theatre’s by time defac’d, Which once an audience of Athenians grac’d; What cumbrous heaps surround me, as I stray Where the Proscenium’s ruins choke the way! The Aga’s steeds repose where crown’d with bays Great Aeschylus demanded Athens’ praise; Where Sophocles with more harmonious song, And nobler buskin, charm’d the list’ning throng; Or where, Euripides, thy lovelier Muse Could pity in Athenian breasts infuse.— The lizard, from yon rock with weeds o’ersprung, Creeps by the seats which once with plaudits rung; The actor trod, where now the crested snake Collects his folds, and hisses from the brake; There Athens saw what Clytemnestra dar’d. How Ajax rav’d, how GEdipus despair’d; How winged serpents the fell murd’ress bore, While from her reeking blade distill’d the crimson gore; How, as her eye-balls roll’d with glist’ning stare, Her tresses floated in the dusky air;— How vex’d Orestes groan’d in frantic mood. How all-aghast Iphigenia stood By Dian’s shrine, that stream’d with human blood. 12 Rough is the spot, and heap’d with barb’rous piles, Where Poikile display’d her storied iles. Apelles there, who wond’ring Athens charm’d. Whom emulation spurr’d, whom genius warm’d, Skill’d to beguile the eye, to touch the heart, Disclos’d the secrets of unerring art. In magic colours, Theseus here withstood The quiver’d virgins from Thermodon’s flood; There Sappho ravish’d with poetic fire, (Silanion’s offspring) swept a marble lyre; And here, all tears, pale Niobe appear’d; Glycon’s Alcides there his huge limbs rear’d; The Pythian God, escap’d the wreck of fate, Here haply shone, pre-eminently great. Beside that form, wherein art’s essence lies. Which imitation’s humble pow’r defies; Here envy’s keenest shafts Parrhasius brav’d. There, Polygnotus, thy Cassandra rav’d; Again thy hand dyed Marathon with gore. And drove the barb’rous phalanx to the shore; Satraps and slaves resign d again their breath, A dumb creation, terrible in death.— 13 Oft at those walls th’ Athenian youth would gaze, (They too aspired to their country’s praise,) The tear would often start, as there they view’d How Persia’s hosts Miltiades pursu’d; How o’er the plain, impervious with the dead, By panic scar’d, the countless squadrons fled. Fain would the Muse commemorate in song, How groan’d the pavement with the pressing throng, To view what Zeuxis’ soaring Spirit dar’d. Or what thy wrath, Apollodorus, spar’d, Or Spartan nymphs with bosoms unconfin’d, Their wanton tresses playing in the wind. Fruit of Callimachus’ insatiate mind. But not to me do Phoebus’ handmaids bring The purest lymph of pale Pirene’s spring; ’Tis for some happier genius to rehearse The artists’ labours in immortal verse, T’ engrave their names in song that may outlast The works that Phidias carv’d, or Myron cast. Among these awful piles Indiffrence reigns; Deluding joys, and agonizing pains 14 Her presence fly—I feel her influence creep O’er inmost sense, and bid each passion sleep, Calm ev’ry tumult of the throbbing breast, Root out each care, and lull the soul to rest.— Say, chilling power. Death’s resemblance, say, Why feels the bosom here thy empty sway. Why is the heart of ev’ry wish bereft, And the whole soul to ataraxy left? Tread I some stone from which Chrysippus taught. Whereon Cleanthes stood immers’d in thought? Some shaft, ’gainst which Antigonus reclin’d, To cull the fruit of Zeno’s steadfast mind? W ho freed the soul by passion’s yoke oppress’d, Hid gen’rous Arria’s blade in Poetus’ breast; Bade Seneca no agonies to feel In Death’s chill grasp; empurpled Cato’s steel; Through whom, Cornutus, thy disciple bold, O er Rome’s fell lord his moral thunder roll’d, And dauntless pointed his satiric rage At the dark deeds of baneful Nero’s age; Through whom th untainted Phrygian sage defied Temptation s lure, and passion’s boist’rous tide, 15 And drew immortal precepts to confine The will to rectitude’s unerring line; Who heal’d a wounded world through Antonine. Within those walls which envy’s search defied, Where Polygnotus’ tints with Micon’s vied; Where sages met t’ emancipate the soul From pleasure’s snares, and passion’s loose controul, The stork’s shrill cries, and screech-owl’s hoots re¬ sound. And ivy flings her mantling tresses round. — I pass the fields lav’d by Cephisus’ flood, And gain the spot where erst Piraeus stood. No more, fam’d port, thy commerce stirs, no more Hurries the busy crowd along the sounding shore; Thy walls are levell’d by the hand of fate; Sunk are thy piers, thy streets left desolate! Where are those merchants who, intent on gain, In long processions mov’d to Neptune’s fane? Those sacred bands array’d in costly guise To institute the splendid sacrifice? Those hecatombs with flow’ry chaplets crown’d. Which bled on silver shrines to music’s solemn sound? 10 That Libs might waft from Afric’s palmy land Phoenician cargoes to Munychia’s strand? Where are those fleets, O Hellas! once thy pride, Which chain’d the ocean, and the world defied; Which streams of wealth diverted from afar, Or stunn’d the nations with the din of war? Where now is heard the joyous sailor’s song, Where, where are fled the mart’s tumultuous throng? The chariot’s clash, the carrier’s piercing cries, The buyer’s glee that with the vender’s vies? Where the blithe courtezans that Susa sold, Caskets of orient pearl, and Ophir’s gold? The heaving vessel’s groan, the flapping sails. The chests that teem’d with Tyre’s sumptuous bales? The barks that plough’d th’ inhospitable main. Deep-fraught with Pontus’ drugs, and Tauris’ grain? The sullen hulks that pour’d upon the shore Syene’s granite, and Iberia’s ore, Massilia’s forests, Phrygia’s varied stone, Tartessus’ fleece, and th’ iEthiop’s stubborn bone? All, all are fled.—Nought breaks that blank repose, Which casts a deeper shade o’er Athens’ woes. Save where some gulls their snowy wings expand, Shriek as they skim the waves, or gain the land; Save where the waves, by storms impell’d, resound From shelving rocks, and lash the pebbly ground; Save where yon Christian slaves their fate deplore, Their eyes turn wistfully toward the shore, Now shake their rattling chains, now ply the sturdy oar. Borne on imagination’s airy wings I rove ’Mong the tall planes in Acad emus’ grove— The anxious Stagirite fond Fancy sees In yonder walk, enclos’d by arching trees— Almost Callisthenes, Eudemus, fear That smile satiric, and that brow severe; That mind, which like a fi’ry meteor flies To ransack nature s laws in earth, sea, skies— He speeds with trembling nerve, and ardent gaze, Bewilder’d deep in metaphysic maze.— I mark how Crates stood, absorb’d in thought; How Phaedo mus’d, how deathless Plato taught. Pure offspring of the mind! that dar’dst explore The sacred source whence science pours her store, D 18 Free from material dross sublimely rise, And roam, though shackled, through thy kindred skies! While he with sober Aeschines unties The twisted knots of specious sophistries. Fair Lasthenia leaves the hoary sire. And speeds, to where disguis’d in male attire, The meek Phliasian spends the pensive hour, Where roses twine, and jasmine scents the bow’r— I see Antisthenes, and him, whose mind Is fraught with caustic spleen against mankind, Classing the mad with those that seek the truth, I hey jeer at Plato, as at Pella’s youth, And hie ’twixt yonder Platanes, scoop’d by age, To where in marble laughs Abdera’s sage, Product of Phidias mind; whereon reclines Hipparchia, whose breast a loathsome garb confines. Another meets my sight with mournful air, Uncouthiy clad, content with frugal fare, He at his cot can now enjoy repose, Now terror spread among his country’s foes.— lheies Socrates, whose comprehensive nnnd Can wisdom scan, and meliorate mankind; 19 Surely conflicting passions ne’er were known To discompose that forehead with a frown; All’s calm within, that breast was never torn By fear’s quick pulse, or envy’s rankling thorn. A mind with such internal quiet bless’d. By day’s serene, by night is lull’d to rest.— Around in silent admiration stand His lov’d disciples, an enlighten’d band, Who, whilst he strengthens virtue, combats vice, The sage’s reas’nings hear, the friend’s advice— E’en now, some pensive sit, some onward move. Some rise intent, a knotty point to prove; He seeks with Gryllus’ son, the shadiest trees, But half despairs of Alcibiades; * Who plans Ortygia’s downfall as he roves On yonder bank, beset with myrtle groves. Where, Canachus, thy Faun, in gamesome mood, Grins in the mirror of Cephisus’ flood.— ’Mong those sequester’d shades, there sits alone One, who’s ambitious but to live unknown; Fortune in whom nor hope inspires, nor dread; He owns a pitcher, and the coarsest bread— 20 (Jndazzled he, by Macedonia’s crown, Nor courted Philip’s smile, nor fear’d his frown; He scorns with artful guise his speech to clothe; His word alone is worth another’s oath— By pity mov’d, oft sheds the tender tear. To others lenient, to himself severe.— Timandra’s lovely progeny appears, Blooming in all the pride of youthful years; Her hair in ringlets hangs, entwin’d with flow’rs, Dipp d in the fountains of the fleeting hours; Her ebon locks flow negligent behind; Her robe transparent frolics in the wind. So blithsome scarce was Cytherea seen. When Ida’s boy survey’d her matchless mien. And all the little Loves hail’d their triumphant queen. Sicilian Lais, with unrivall’d charms. Drives Corinth mad, and wisdom’s self disarms; E’en stern philosophy her arts have foil’d; Her dazzling charms the Cynic’s heart beguil’d, And love, exulting in the triumph, smil’d— She comes, and hopes the sage’s heart to gain. And add this conquest to her soft domain; 21 She uses all her subtle wiles, and tries The magic influence of her liquid eyes; Now gently whispers, now steals softly by. Now lightly trips, now heaves a tender sigh. Tis all in vain—nought can his passions move; Still he resists the little arts of love. Contemns whate’er material worlds esteem, Spurns the deluding joys of life’s tempestuous dream. Contentious Euclid’s pale disciples roam ’Twixt the tall firs that shade yon Parian dome, Rais’d by thy son, Xanthippus, to the Sev’n, Who first to Greece reveal’d the will of heav’n— And where th’ umbrageous locust sweeps the grass, And Draco’s figure shines in Myron’s brass, Facetious Stilpo, whom th’ admiring crowd Surrounds, his ethics predicates aloud— There moves Speusippus, in his litter borne, In mind unbrok’n, though with anguish torn; Lo Tyrtamus! who searcheth aye the ground; And where the night-shade clings yon cypress round. Stern Menedemus sits, whose mien, whose frown Almost make Stoa claim him for her own— 22 I see Anniceris exalted ride In splendid car, and fi’ry coursers guide; Picture, beneath yon tam’risk, stretch’d at ease, Him, whom all habits, all conditions please, Content to share the purpled monarch’s feast. Or at the beggar’s board, a ready guest— Where age consumes yon shatter’d oak’s remains, Press’d with the load of sublunary pains, Hegesias sinks; and as around him stand His silent sect, a melancholy band, In sable robes array’d, in thought profound, With folded arms, and eyes that love the ground, Eschewing the vain aims of sordid lust, He weeps, and points to Heraclitus’ bust. Where its huge arms the Sycamore extends. And circling vine with purple clusters bends, (Beneath Anaximander’s image stands. Wrought by Praxiteles’ creative hands,) Pyrrho, with eye askance, perplex’d with doubt, Pursues his endless labyrinths of thought; And Tnnon, agoniz d by wish to know Whence things proceed, and into what they go. 23 Plants in his mind, unwearied with the toil, The varied fruits of Academus’ soil.— Twas thine, immortal Pyrrho! thine, to show What clouds obscure the intellect below. That pants through life’s dark ocean for a guide, Misled by ignorance, or dup’d by pride, Secure alone of this, that greedy death Soon tears from restless man his short-liv’d breath, And tramples on the wretch, that rack’d with pain, And fruitless expectation, strives in vain To sunder fate’s irresoluble chain.— Lo! where the aconite with deadly twine Of curling tendril clasps the stunted pine; Where clouds drive fleet with heav’n’s artill’ry stor’d, And streams of lightning, from black aether pour’d, Glare on Leucippus’ bust; another sits, Whose eyes are motionless, who starts by fits, Unfriended, and with painful thought oppress’d; And Bion’s there, in Iazygian vest; Bion, whom thirst of metaphysic lore, Like Anacharsis, parch’d on Scythian shore; 24 And o’er the wither’d blade, where yellow trees Sigh to the murmur of the fitful breeze, Moon-struck Diag’ras stalks, with visage sad, And hurrying step, in tatter’d mantle clad.— Arcesilaus moves with graceful mien. Where rows of scarlet arbutus are seen, And leaves to Lacydes the crowd that hung Mute, on what fell from his persuasive tongue; He, tir’d of hot debate, and circling throng, With Lesbian strains, or lov’d Moeonian song, Seeks to unbend his mind in yonder glade, Where cjuiv’ring aspens Homer’s statue shade. Lo! where Carneades harangues aloud, From Doric porch, the rude illit’rate crowd Escap’d from martial Rome; he drowns their sense With torrents of resistless eloquence. Great Africanus deeply ruminates On rising kingdoms, and on falling states; The Rhodian sage by Plato’s statue roves, And Laelius the sweets of friendship proves; And where Cephisus’ silent waters creep, And rustling willows from the margin weep. 25 The woes of Carthage Asdrubal deplores, And toils to heal his bleeding country’s sores. While musing as he leans on sculptur’d vase Where with her sisters smiles the beauteous Grace, Where in festoons the honeysuckle grows, And blends its tendrils with the blushing rose, Meek Philo as he scans the planets’ laws, Weighs all aghast the Universal Cause! With rigid Posidonius Pompey strays Through ilex, chequer’d with meridian rays; They indefatigable strive to find The mystic operations of the mind; Leucippus, Zeno, Aristotle, try, Or Clazomenian Homceomery, And ranking high among th’ enlighten’d few. Discuss old systems, and imagine new.— Lucullus roves where tow’ring cork-trees rise With twisted stems in rude fantastic guise; Struts, as he wastes the visionary hour In dreams of pomp, and exercise of pow r; Now Phanagoria’s hordes in fancy scares, Now Mithridates to the battle dares. E 2 6 The senate awes, Artaxata alarms, And sees Tigranes’ legions ground their arms; His fever o’er, he starts, and clasps his hands. And motionless as sculptur’d marble stands; And as he contemplates the Samian’s bust. Weeps, and remembers that he is but dust. Hortensius, from beneath yon spreading lime, Propounds aloud his postulate sublime; While Brutus, with abstruse reflection pale, Perambulates the solitary dale. Where round its od’rous scents the citron throws, And where Alcamenes’ creation shows How he who first to passive matter join’d The all-creative all-pervading mind, In deep abstraction, on Milesian shore Stood, as he gaz’d the empyrean o’er. In Academic stole great Julias hies O’er yonder mead, where loftier laurels rise; As pride inflames, as mad ambition tears His fev’rish soul, he runs, and wildly stares; Phi ones, armies, temples, swim before his eyes. And to his nod the world submissive lies—- 27 He gains the vista where, on either hand. The Stagirite and his disciple stand (Lysippus’ bronze); and Molo bids him weigh, Whether tis best to aim at worldly sway; To imitate the youth who Asia won, Or him, whose genius with such lustre shone, As made the intellectual world his own. On Parian couch, which round the Muses stand In bright array, emboss’d by Phidias’ hand, Reclin’d at ease, the youthful Tnlly lies, Searching Platonic scroll with greedy eyes; Heedless of thee, Pomponius! whose hours Are pass’d in culling Epicurus’ flow’rs.— O unremitting toil! O ardent mind, ’Mong lore recondite roaming unconfin’d! Still lab’ring to become the good man’s theme, Injustice firm, in eloquence supreme; To stand alone th’ applause of ev’ry age, Scourge of the factious, legislator, sage; In vain shall envious nations hope to find Thy counterpart, O boast of human kind! In vain shall seek, when foreign arms assail, When discord rages, and the bad prevail, 28 One, to arrest like thee, his country’s fate. And prop alone the bulwarks of the state— With smile benignant, and expressive gaze, Antiochus th’ aspiring youth surveys; From yonder planes, on converse bent, they move To where Cephisus murmurs through the grove.— Close to Archytas’ marble form reclin’d, With abstract letters Horace stores his mind; Now Zeno weighs, now Aristippus tries. While festive Sappho disregarded lies; Augustus leaves him to caress the muse, Where whisp’ring poplars wave o’er darksome yews; And rustic Maro scans Lucretius’ page, And arms his breast ’gainst warring passion’s rage. With Epicurus’ mail, where laurel shades Chequer his Homer’s bust, and lov’d Aonian maids. That spot with no less transports have I trod, Whence Paul proclaim’d the true, the only God— Methought th’ Apostle, ’mid th’ attentive band, Stood, as express d by godlike Raphael’s hand. Spoke, as by Heav n inspir’d—The Unknown Lord Few doubted, fewer scorn’d, and most ador’d— 29 They search’d their hearts, astonied all to find That Faith and Works lead understanding blind. Ye gods fictitious, whom the world obey’d. Mute were your oracles, your priests dismay’d! Nor could they longer dark expedients find T’ enforce submission from cajol’d mankind; No more the pilgrim sought his future lot, Or by some crystal fount, or hallow’d grot; Nor listened anxious to the dying breeze That panted on Dodona's rustling trees— No more the god t’ his sicken’d fancy spoke Prophetic from the antiquated oak; The Delphic Pythia, in her dark abode, Nor ate the madd’ning leaf, nor labour’d with her god; Minerva’s priestess shook with wild affright; Thy rites, Eleusis, veil’d from public sight, False and unhallow’d, were all brought to light! D elusive dreams, ecstatic visions, hail! Yet round my temples spread your mystic veil; Hide from my sight that slave in fetters bound. Close to the dwelling which great Phocion own’d; 30 Conceal that spot with Turkish fence enclos'd, Where Aristides' dust perchance repos'd— Where Metrodorus haply us'd to pause, As Epicure discuss'd his atoms' laws; Whilst num’rous friends, reclining by his side, Indissoluble knots of union tied— Let not my eyes that multitude discern, Who only with the thirst of lucre burn, Pore o’er the fatal die with anxious stare. And with their noisy cavils rend the air. Disputing eager for their paltry gains, Where Ihrasybulus broke his country’s chains— Or where Harmodius, whom his country crown’d, Upheld the reeking blade with wreaths of myrtle bound. Lo! where th’ echoing horn and trumpet shrill Sound from the crowd that cover yonder hill; A sinewy arm their boast, a bow their pride, Their chief ambition how with skill to ride; W hile high above his arrogant compeers. Their chief, bedaub’d with tinsel lace, appears. Whose giave deportment, and austere grimace, Pronounce him kindred to the Sultan's race; 31 Who even reads the Koran, and can tell How many Muftis in Medina dwell; How Asia sends her tribes to drain the sacred well; What numbers yearly bow to Mecca’s shrine, How surely Selim’s lineage is divine; He strikes with awe the gaping crowd, whose lot Is to applaud his sure, or erring shot; With hemlock there the Alopecian sage Extinguish’d Anytus’ vindictive rage; While Crito, by severest grief oppress’d. With floods of tears reliev’d his aching breast. I mark a wither’d hag in murky cell, Where vice and abject superstition dwell; By night she pilfers on the public way. But kneels before a crucifix by day, And while its glimm’ring rays the taper spreads. Invokes a gilded saint, then tells her beads; Hopes thus her God omniscient to cajole, And by her gestures to redeem her soul: ’Twas there Aspasia taught persuasion’s art, Spread her soft toils, and won the coldest heart; 32 Saw at her feet wits, poets, statesmen, laid, Who own’d her empire, and their homage paid.— Haply where yon Albanian lies reclin’d Beneath those pines that murmur to the wind. Or where the sober kine wearily move Toward the cooling rill, or tufted grove; He, whom the nations sought in crowds t’ admire, Whose lips persuasion touch’d with purest fire, His country mov’d to spurn a tyrant’s peace, Rous’d the last struggles of expiring Greece.— Some careless children prate, or cry for food. Some sport, where once the Ptolemaeum stood — And heifers graze, and kids disport around. Where rich Corinthian foliage strews the ground; And where yon octagon its summit rears. And Eurus’ hoist’rous brotherhood appears In high reliefs, the envious ivy grows, And iEolus through his fractur’d temple blows— Where Marathon’s immortal heroes lie, The drowsy Mussulman walks heedless by. Whose torpor no incentive can disturb, But lust, or Indian drug, or Moka’s herb— 33 Cannot the sight of Marathon’s fam’d plain Stir thy great efforts, Attica, again? Nor patriotic zeal, nor thirst of praise. Kindle that flame which blaz’d in ancient days?— O’er thee, Byzantium, at th’ Eternal’s word, Th’ avenging Angel holds the threat ning sword — Th’ horizon darkens, and the sky o’ercast Portends a tempest driving on thee fast. Loud thunder rends the skies: Distraction, Care, Spread their pale pinions in the darksome air; While lightnings flash around with vivid glare. Half Asia trembles, and a conscious dread Of civil outrage o’er th’ YEgean s spread— Long has oppression gall’d each subject isle, And rag’d from tli’ Euxine to remotest Nile; Let loose on Afric’s sons contentment’s foes, And delug’d Asia with a flood of woes— Each province by a dubious tenure held, ’Gainst thy tyrannic arm has long rebell d; Each chief erects an independent throne; The proud Pachas thy firmans now disown, F 34 Withhold allegiance, and in scornful pride. Thy threats contemn, thy impotence deride. A panic too thy crafty priests invades; By fraud emblazon’d, all their influence fades. Scarce do Arabia’s sons their prophet own, Scarce in his heav’n confide, or Mecca’s stone.— Two warlike nations, each a cumbrous state, Thy fall contrive, their spoil anticipate. I see thee strive some respite to obtain, Some help through wily politics to gain; I see thee strive thy system to reform, To pluck up courage, and repel the storm: Propitiate, if thou canst, th’ offended skies— Crowd Mecca’s mosques—let clouds of incense rise Arm, arm thy hosts—resort to secret spells— And moor thy fleets within the Dardanelles. Or, like the counterfeiting: lion, wake. And in thy toils th’ outwitted nations take; On thy deluded foes indignant bound, With unexpected feats the world astound— Ri se, rise, and do the deeds thou didst of yore. When Candia’s fields were red with Christian gore 35 When Hadria’s winged lion roar’d in vain. Bound by thy myrmidons in circling chain, And prove, that nought the Ottoman appals; Go, raze as heretofore, Vienna’s walls— Shake Malta s bastions—range the Tyrrhene o’er— Unfurl thy standards on the Caspian shore— Beset the Gaul—redeem the Tauric land— And take a late revenge on Samarcand. But ah! no keen-ey’d Mahomet presides, No murd’rous Bajazet thy councils guides, No Solyman, whose nod could now restrain Myriads of burnish’d scimitars, again Force from their sheaths, and brighten all the plain. Thy crimson’d banners spread dismay no more. From Calpe’s mounds to th’ hoarse Calabrian shore; No more the seas are throng’d with Turkish sail, Which palsied Venice, and turn’d Europe pale. Loos’d from their props, fanaticism, lust, I see thy min’rets crumble into dust; Thy frantic crowds mid burning mansions roam. Now fly for safety to Justinian’s dome, Now to th’ illuminated Hippodrome; 36 While on all sid es the redcl’ning flames arise. And pitchy clouds envelop half the skies. Ah! what despair thy Sultan’s bosom rends. When tli’ all-devouring element ascends; When he his blood-stain’d Bosporus surveys, Illumin’d with the proud seraglio’s blaze; When from those walls which broider’d silks display. With Serian gauze, and vitrous lustres gay, Relentless flames through gilded roofs ascend. Divans and iv’ry thrones in hideous ruin blend; Blithe from their baths where now Circassian fair With India’s odours scent their jetty hair; Where Georgia’s damsels, as they strike the lyre. Or tread fantastic maze, create desire In breasts, which love consumes with hopeless fire. In vain thy Galata on Pera calls. Pale at beholding her dismantled walls. When eagles o’er thy waned crescent fly, And exultations echo through the sky— Dire is the carnage, loud the battle’s roar, Responsive to the shrieks from Asia’s shore.—- 37 Haste then, some pow’r, the tott’ring Porte invest, Where vice exults, and virtue sinks oppress’d; Where rotten justice is by gold obtain’d, And murd’rous axe with guiltless blood is stain’d; Where fell revenge on hearts obdurate feeds, Pro mpts in broad day unwarrantable deeds; Stalks wide at midnight hour without controul. Points the dire dagger, and prepares the bowl.— Rise, Britain, rise! (for to thy sons is giv’n That high prerogative of fav’ring Heav’n, To rescue nations from the tyrant’s lust, To scourge the guilty, and avenge the just,) Pour forth thy dauntless legions, and release The fetter’d Hellespont—ah ! rescue Greece!— Through thee, let Acte’s sons assert their cause, And own no other but their Solon s laws. Let youths from Athens borrow as of yore The patriot’s ardour, and the sage’s lore. And whilst a Pericles the helm directs, And fosters genius, and the arts protects, D iscards ambition, seeks no empty fame, Knows how to vindicate his country’s name; 38 Some Plato rise, with mind of heav’nly mould, T’ expound the truth, the sov’reign good t’ unfold; Under whose guidance, O that I could store The wav ring mind with philosophic lore; In meditation pass life’s fleeting hours, And roam with thee, ’mid Academus’ bow’rs! NOTES. Magnificent indeed 8$c. —P. 2. For a faithful description of the scenery and antiquities of the Crimea, and of the unjust usurpation of that territory by the Russian government, consult Clarke’s Travels, vol. i. Doth architecture chaste 8$c. —P. 4. The late Rev. George Whittington, to whom these lines were addressed, and whose premature death was regretted by numerous friends, is advantageously made known to the public by valuable, though incomplete remarks on the ecclesiastical Antiquities of France. Watch by Callirhbesfount &$c. —P. 6. The fountain of Callirhoe, called also Enneacrounos, is opposite the Ionic temple of Ceres on the Ilissus. The sullen God, 8$c. —P. 6. Haec Boreas, aut his non inferiora locutus, Excussit pennas, quarum jactatibus omnis Afflata est tellus, latumque perhorruit iEquor, Pulvereamque trahens per summa cacumina pallam, Verrit humum, pavidamque metu caligine tectus Orithyifan amans, fulvis amplectitur alis.— Ovid. Metam. Lib. 6 . To raze what Sylla's 8$c. —P. 9- Alaric seems to have vied with Sylla in his savage treatment of the Athenians.—Zosimus however says, that he did not capture Athens; but this is contrary to the testimony of St. Jerom, who expressly says that he took it, and Claudian evidently alludes to its conquest by him in these lines: 40 Oppida semoto Pelopeia Marte vigerent, Starent Arcadiae, starent Lacedaemonis arces. Non mare fumisset geminum flagrante Corintho, Nec fera Cecropias traxissent vincula matres.—In Rufin. When Amurath the Second invaded Greece, A. D. 1445, he gave orders to his army to destroy every Greek monument that lay in their way.—See Knowles' Hist, of the Turks. Yet the Theseums 8$c .—P. 10. No better eulogium can he conferred on the Greek Doric order, than by casting our e 3 r es round those countries which yet present to view ruins of Grecian architecture; and we shall find that of the Ionic order very few remain, still fewer of the Corinthian, while those of the Doric style seem the best calculated to triumph over the ele¬ ments, earthquakes, the lapse of time, and the fury of barbarians. The temples at Pass turn are at least two thousand two hundred years old, and till the reign of his present Sicilian majesty, were never repaired. The Sisyph&um at Corinth, is probably of an older date, and a portion of the peristyle is the only vestige of the splendour of Corinth. At Athens, the temple of Theseus, generally supposed to have been erected by Cimon, is entire: the Parthenon is still a venerable ruin, though it suffered severely during the siege of Athens by the Venetians, towards the close of the seventeenth century. It would be superfluous to dwell on the magnificence of the Doric ruins in various parts of Asia minor, and Grascia magna; on the gigantic columns of the Agrigentine and Selinuntian tem¬ ples, which braved the fury of the Carthaginians, and still call forth the admiration of the traveller. The Poet, whose genius was universal as his theme, appears to have been aware of the majesty of this species of architecture; for his Pan daemon ium is of the Doric order. But enough has been already said to shew, that the government, which wishes to transmit to late posterity proofs of its aggrandizement and encouragement of art, to erect buildings equally conspicuous for dura¬ bility and taste, will not look for models at Bataiha, Granada, Agra, Pekin, or the island of Philce; but rather at Agrigentum or Athens, 41 where the eye of the architect should be at least as much exercised as at Vicenza, or on the banks of the Brenta. The present age seems to be making a rapid progress to the at¬ tainment of true taste in architecture. Most of the professors of the art seem at last to be aware of the absurdity of making additions to any building, in a different style from the original plan; so that we may hope in future not to see our cathedrals disfigured by hete¬ rogeneous ornaments. Many of the alterations in our sacred build¬ ings, of late years, have been conducted with judgment. But in private dwellings, when recourse is had to gothic architecture, the execution and materials are but too often flimsy and contemptible, and the beauty of the landscape disfigured by the appearance of Mansions that would disgrace the building taste Of any mason reptile, bird, or beast; Fit only for a doited monkish race. Or frosty maid, forsworn the dear embrace. Burns. But our efforts in Grecian architecture are, generally speaking, far happier. Hertford and Downing Colleges, the portal of the old Assembly rooms at Bath, and the Theatre in Covent Garden, are con¬ ceived and executed in the true spirit of Greece, and reflect honour on the talents of the artists. Nor is improvement in this branch of art confined to England. The Manage, Theatre, and Exchange, at St. Petersburg!!; the Theatre at Odessa; the Exchange at Trieste, with some buildings in Berlin, are classically designed. But it is chiefly at Paris that Grecian architecture triumphs, and I conceive that city to be now a better school for young architects, than either Rome or Venice. Tli emboss'd reliefs fyc. —P. 10. It is probable that Euripides had in his eye the metopes of the temple of Theseus, when he introduces that hero addressing Hercules in the following lines— G 42 . . TIuVTU^OV Si [XOt %0oi/o? T iy.ivri SiSxrou' tuvt’ izuvoy.usy.svot 2f0£V TO Xoizov iX j3gOTUV XIXAYiTXSIXI, Zuvrog' Suvovtos S=vr otv sig uSov y.oKrig, ©ixnu i’ HPAKAEOZ AIOZ EKTONOZ YIOZ WAinnOY AIAKIAHN TENEHZ MHTPOZ OAYMniAAOZ. W inckelmann is also mistaken when he says that artists always in¬ scribed their names in the genitive, on their works; witness the Hercules of Admon, the unknown portrait of Agathopus, the Apollo of Allion, the Faun of Axeochus, the Gladiator of Caseys, an Augustus of Dios- corides, the Julia of Euodus, the Diomed of Calpurnius Felix, the Harpocrates of Hellen, the Leda of Myrton, the Muse and Hercules of Onesas, the Sea-horse of Pharnaces, the Faun of Philemon, and the Love taming a Lion of Plotarchus; all of which bear the artists’ names in the nominative, and to many the word e-n-oiet is added.—See Stosch, Pier. Grav. passim. It is hoped that this digression will not be considered as obtrusive. It was occasioned by the wish of rescuing from unmerited oblivion what the author considers one of the sub- limest specimens of the glyptic art, and probably betraying from its excellence the hand of Pyrgoteles.—See Stosch, Pier. Grav. PI. 55, Amsterd. edit. This valuable gem was in the collection of the Elector of Mentz. It is of finer expression than the stone in the Marlborough collec¬ tion, and I think superior to the fine, but mutilated intaglio, in the possession of Josephine, pi devant Empress of the French. For a de¬ scription of which, see Millin, Monum. ined. Tom. II. p. 117 , where it is well engraved. Theres Socrates, <$c. —P. 18. Of Socrates we have a great variety of monuments, whether in busts, cameos, or intaglios. And as they all so nearly resemble one another, there can be scarce any doubt of our being able to form a toler¬ able idea of his physiognomy. It is laughable to observe how nearly he resembled the profile of Silenus, as given on ancient works of art 55 I should be tempted to place the most reliance on a gem the work of Agathemor, an artist supposed, by Stosch, to have been cotemporary with Polycletus.—See Stosch, Pier. Grav. PI. 41, and Tassie’s Gems, No. 10,240. He seeks with Gryllus ’ son, <$c. —P. 19 . There is a good head, supposed to be of Xenophon, on cornelian, Tassie, No. 10,347. But the fine bust of the Villa Albani is, per¬ haps, the most to be relied on. It often excited the admiration of Winckelmann. Diogenes Laertius relates, that Xenophon was preparing to sacri¬ fice, when the account of the death of his son arrived, who fell in the battle of Mantin&a; struck with grief at the intelligence, he removed the olive crown from his head; but as soon as he heard that his son had eclipsed the rest by his valour, he replaced the chaplet with composure, and continued the religious ceremony. The artist has seized this moment to represent the portrait of the illustrious Greek. It is executed in a grand style, and is indeed worthy of him, who was at once a philosopher, historiographer, and consummate general.—See Hist, de l’Art. Frontisp. Tom. II. But half despairs of Alcibiades ;—P. 19 . JElian, Valerius Maximus, and Plutarch, agree in describing Al¬ cibiades as having been handsome at every period of his life. Ar- nobius implies that Terms of Alcibiades were common at Athens. “ Quis est enim qui ignorat Athenienses illos Ilermas Alcibiadis ad corporis similitudinem fabricates?” There was a head discovered in the pontificate of Clement XII. at Rome, and preserved in the Capi- toline Gallery: Sir Richard Worsley found another, resembling the former, in the ruins of the Prytan&um at Athens.—Mus. Wors- leyan. Vol. I. p. 53. For a fine profile in his youth, see Tassie’s Gems, No. 9928 . One who's ambitious &;c. —P. 19 . Xenocrates.—Tassie gives nine heads said to represent this phi¬ losopher. There is a curious caricature of him in a medal, where he 56 is riding on an ass as Silenus, (for he was addicted to wine in his youth) in allusion to the comparison made by Plato between him and Aristotle.—It is engraved in iElian, cap. 18. Lib. III. Amsterd. edit. Timandrds lovely progeny appears ,—P. 20. I here introduce the well-known anecdote of Lais and Xenocrates, as presenting one of the most striking instances of the triumph of philosophy over passion. Contentious Euclid s fyc. —P. 21. The profile of Euclid, the founder of the Megaric sect, is seen on some of the Megarasan medals, with the pallium thrown over his head, in the manner that Horace describes Diogenes, Contra -quern duplici panno patientia velat. Rais'd by thy son , Xanthippus ,—P. 21. Pericles.—We may be satisfied as to his resemblance. It would indeed be extraordinary, if he, who was the greatest patron of art in antiquity, had not been honoured with a correct portrait. There is a fine bust in the Townleian collection. Another of superior execution was found in the Lake of Castiglione: they both harmonize very well with the bust which was found in the Tiburtine villa of the Pisos, by D’Azara, late Spanish Ambassador at Paris. - to the Serv'ti. —P. 21. For pretended heads of Thales, Bias, and Pittacus, consult Tassie’s collection. There is an interesting paste, lately belonging to Mr. Townley, representing a hero with a sword in his hand, sitting in a net, in which he is entrapped, supposed to be Phryno, defeated in that manner by Pittacus. Of Periander, there is a pretended head, of fine execution, in the Townleian collection. It remained for some time an unknown portrait, till in the year 1776 another was disco¬ vered at Tivoli with the name inscribed. Of Solon there was a reputed bust in the collection of Mr. M. Talbot, but it is most pro¬ bably a Mascenasj for it resembles an intaglio representing that Ro- 57 man, and executed by the engraver Solon, who has added his name. This idea is confirmed by the opinion of Millin, who believes the en¬ graver Solon to have been cotemporary with Dioscorides.—Traits de la glyptique. There is ahead engraved on chalcedony, which has been copied by Torricelli, with the inscription: SOAQN O NOMO0ETHS. One word on the Seven Sages. They lived at a period when art was in its infancy in Greece, and it would be nearly as visionary to place reliance on their pretended heads as on those of Homer. Facetious Stilpo, whom t/i admiring c^c.—P. 21. Hv St o Zti\tuv xo^otocto;, says Diog. Laert. At Athens, he wrought so much upon the people, that they ran out of their shops to see him.—Stanley’s Hist, of Philosophy. There moves Speusippus, 8$c. —P. 21. Though suffering from disease, he attended the meetings in the academy in a litter— yt, og~ig wnoytvtig fyv roiovlog uv .— Diog. Laert. See the frontispiece. Of Speusippus, there is a mutilatedTerm with the name inscribed.— See Bellori. According to Sidonius Apollinaris, Speusippus was usually represented with a bent neck, which induced the editors of the Antiquities of Herculaneum to suppose one of the monuments of that city to be his portrait.—See Bronzi di Ercol. Tom. V. Tav. 27. Lo! Tyrtamus !—P .21. This was the real name of Theophrastus. There is a Term of this philosopher, with the inscription ©EOPACTOZ MEAANTA EPECIOC, in the Massimi palace at Rome.—For a head somewhat similar, see Tassie, No. 10,336, which corresponds better with the above than with the Capitoline bust. Stern Menedemus sits. —P. 21. $a.ivtTxi Sn o M.tvtSriy.og . which would tempt one to suspect it as an imposture altogether, did not the stone bear marks of being an an¬ tique. There are two gems in the Florentine museum, said to resem¬ ble the bust of the capitol, but that which exhibits the most pleasing- expression is a sapphire with the inscription AIZn..—Tassie. 10. 189- A fine term was discovered in the ruins of the villa Hadriana with the inscription ZAnYXEfrZ, which is now unfolding at Naples. The deciphering of the Hercu- lanean MSS. forms quite an epoch in the republic of letters, and the lovers of Grecian literature will hail the moment when they may judge how the vivida vis animi pervicit, ct extrii Processit longe flammantia maenia mundi. With hemlock there 8$c. —P. 31. I know of no artist, ancient or modern, who has treated the death of Socrates with such skill, as Antonio Canova, who lays a fair claim to the honour of having revived the purity of Grecian taste in sculpture. 'Twas there Aspasia 8$c .— P. 31. There is a term of Aspasia in the Mus. Pio-Clement. which was found near Citta-vecchia, with the name inscribed. There is also a gem given by Bellori, which he calls an Aspasia. It is evidently a Minerva salutifera, executed by Aspasus the artist, who has inscribed his name thus: ACHACOY—See Stosch. PI. 13. Eckhel believes it to be a copy of the Minerva of Phidias. But there is another celebrated gem which was in the Barberini collec- 83 tion, representing a female with a helmet, which is with greater pro¬ bability a portrait of Aspasia, for she there appears with features of a mild expression. It is moreover the work of Apollodotus, who has inscribed his name thus: AIIOAAOAOTOV Al©0. —See Canini Ico- nograph. PI. 93 . It is probable that the Aspasia of Pericles was not so remarkable for her beauty, as the mistress of Cyrus of the same name, of whom a particular account has been transmitted by iElian. \ He , whom the nations 8$c. —P. 32. Ne illud quidem intelligunt, non modo ita memorise proditum esse, sed ita necesse fuisse, cum Demosthenes dicturus esset, ut con- cursus audiendi causa ex tota Grsecia lierent.—Cicero, de clar. Orat. Of Demosthenes there is a sitting statue in the Museum Napoleon, another at Knowle, but the head is only of Demosthenes. We are indebted to the discoveries made in Herculaneum for two valuable busts of this great man.—Bronz. di Ercol. Tom. V. Tav. 11, 12. But probably the most interesting monument that we have of him is a bas-relief once in the collection of Dr. Mead, but now belonging to Lord Chesterfield, wherein he appears advanced in age, sitting in pro¬ found thought, his left arm rests upon a stone, and grasps a scroll; underneath is the inscription : AHMOZ0ENHZ EfllBflMIOZ. It evidently represents the orator by the altar of the Temple of Neptune in Calaurea, preparing to swallow the fatal draught. It has been finely engraved by Marchant. Winckelmann remarks that the II erculanean busts and'abovementioned bas-relief resemble each other, though representing Demosthenes at different periods of life. Com¬ pare them with the celebrated amethyst, in the opinion of Millin, one of the choicest of the works of Dioscorides.—Winckel. monum. ineb Tom. II. p. 108; and as they differ very slightly, we may flatter ourselves with the probability of having a good likeness of the im- 84 mortal orator. As for the modern engravings of Demosthenes, they are not much worth attention with regard to the resemblance; for instance, there are many far more like the Florentine bust of Cicero, than the bas-relief of Mead, or bronzes of Herculaneum.—See Tas- sie's gems, especially No. 9997 . Where rich Corinthian foliage S^c. —P. 32. There are four remains of Corinthian architecture at Athens—to wit, the ruins of the Stoa, those of the choragic monument of Lysi- crates, commonly called the Lanthorn of Demosthenes, those of the 01ympi6um, called the Columns of Hadrian, and the monument of the Syrian. And where yon octagon > the supreme Good. And roam with thee ’mid Academics' bow'rs. —P. 38. Inter sylvas Academi quaerere verum.—Horat. I shall here subjoin some miscellaneous remarks relative to the philosophic topography of Athens. The Grove of Cynosarges was situated N. N. E. of the Acropolis at the foot of Anchesmus, now St. George’s Mount, at, or very near 88 the spot where now stands the convent of Hagio Asomato, and not many paces from the ruins of the Ionic aqueduct, as given by Stuart, Vol. III. ch. 4. Here Antisthenes o’ a-n-xowuv as he was called, discoursed after the death of Socrates, and it became the usual rendezvous of the Cynic philosophers. Between the Grove of Cynosarges and the city, but nearer to the latter, immediately adjoining the ancient gate Diocharis, and not far from the modern church of Soteira Lvcodemou, stood the Gymna¬ sium of the Lyceum. It was situated E. of the Acropolis. Aristotle retired to this spot, after he had separated from Plato, and it became subsequently the usual resort of the Peripatetics, who were so called because they philosophized as they walked It is probable that the youths were here taught the use of missive weapons, for Stuart dis¬ covered several leaden bullets with the inscription AEEAS, also heads of brazen arrows in the channel of the Ilissus hard by.—Stuart, Vol. III. p. 27. The Method of Instruction which Aristotle adopted in the Avenues of the Lyceum , was as follows: His discourses were two-fold, exoteric and acroamatic. The for¬ mer, which treated of rhetoric, civil affairs, and exercise of wit, were delivered of an evening to any who chose to attend. The latter, which discussed physics, dialectic disputations, and the higher branches of philosophy, were delivered in the morning only to those who united to exalted talents persevering industry. These acro- matic lectures were published when Alexander was in Asia; which gave rise to the following letters between him and Aristotle. Alexander to Aristotle , health. il You have not done wisely in publishing your acroamatic dis¬ courses. For in what can we surpass others, if that system of educa- 89 tion, wherein we have been instituted, be made common to all? It is our ambition to excel in wisdom, rather than in power. Farewell.” Aristotle to Alexander , health. “ You have written to me concerning the acroamatic discourses, as you thought they ought not to have been communicated. Know then, that they are at once public, and not public, since they are in¬ telligible to none but those who heard us. Farewell.”—Aul. Gel. 20.4. and Cic. De Fin. Bon. et Mai. 5. 5. Plato, in one of his dialogues, imagines Socrates meeting Phasdrus, who was going from a house near the Temple of the Olympian Ju¬ piter to the Lyceum. They join each other, and Socrates perceiving that PhEedrus holds a book under his cloak, proposes to step out of the road, and rest on the banks of the Ilissus. The latter accepts the proposal, and they both recline under the tufted shade of a superb plane-tree. Phsedrus then proposes to bathe, as the hour of the day, and season of the year invited. Then the conversation turns upon the story of the Rape of Orithyia, which was feigned to have taken place two or three stadia lower. Socrates here is introduced as ad¬ miring the picturesque appearance of the landscape; he dwells on the height and vast circumference of the plane-tree, the vigorous shoots, and thick shade of a clump of agnus castus in full bloom, and which diffuses a delightful fragrance; he admires the coolness of the neigh¬ bouring fountain, beside which, groups of young girls are sporting round a great number of statues. In fine, the soft air that he breathes, the piercing chirrup of the grasshoppers, which the fine season had collected together, conspire to delight and fascinate his senses. No doubt, the situation of the above scene corresponds as ill with Plato’s description, as the grotto of Calypso in Malta, with the brilliant dreams of Fen^lon. It is nevertheless practicable to follow the path which Socrates kept. Leaving the ruins of the Olympian Ju¬ piter, instead of going towards the chapel of St. George on Mount N £ Anchesmus, you turn to the right, and keeping along the Ilissus gain the bridge, which led to the Stadium Panathenaicum; continuing on the same side of the river, you come to a fountain, nearly opposite the church of Stauromenos Petros, formerly the Temple of Diana Agrotera. Here the conversation on the rape of Orithyia is supposed to have begun; you then return, following the river on the same side, till you arrive at the fountain of Callirhoe, opposite the Ionic temple of Ceres on the Ilissus, where it will be left to the imagination to create the wide-spreading plane, the groups of virgins, and the nu¬ merous statues. The Ptolemaeum stood between the Agora and temple of Theseus, about two hundred paces from the former, and seven hundred from the latter, nearly north of the Acropolis. The memory loves to dwell on a spot, where Cicero, his preceptor Antiochus, his friend Pompo- nius, and his relations Quintus and Lucius met, and agreed to take their afternoon walk in the garden of the academy, where they en¬ tered upon that fine philosophic discourse as given in De Fin. Bon. et Mai. lib. 5. According to Suidas, Epicurus had a house in the quarter of the city called Melit&, probably near the gate Dipylon, which led to the academy. For Atticus, as he walks with Cicero from the Gym¬ nasium of Ptolemy, remarks: sum multum cum Phsedro, ut scitis, in Epicuri hortis, quos modo prceteribamus . But the most celebrated resi¬ dence of Epicurus, where he delivered his discourses in the adjoining- garden, stood near the temple of Venus of the gardens, wherein was a statue, the work of Alcamenes, and according to Lucian, who was himself a statuary, one of the finest pieces of sculpture in Athens. Chandler says this temple was where now stands the church of Pa- nagia Spiliotissa, or our Lady of the Grotto. A plausible suppo¬ sition, for he adds, that he discovered an inscription immured, com¬ memorating the votive offerings of a woman who boasted of bearing the torch, and interpreting the dreams of Venus. On the other hand, the French consul Fauvel pretends, that the village of Angelo- kkpous, about half a league to the eastward of Athens, occupies the 91 site of the temple in question. He says, that he saw a church built there with fragments of Ionic architecture, in an enclosure, where there is an ancient well, and that round it shrubs of myrtle grew, which were not discoverable two leagues off. But Chandler’s asser¬ tion is, I think, the most satisfactory, for the bas-reliefs which Fauvel found in the spotwhich he describes, relate chiefly to Minerva, and not to Venus. It is altogether uncertain, for Barbie du Bocage places the situation of this temple between the Lyc6um and Cynosarges. See Cartes du voyage d’Anach. The school of Epicurus was often designated by the word Gar¬ den. Virgil calls it diminutively Hortulus; and Apollodorus, a suc¬ cessor to Epicurus, was styled l xwrolugocwog, the Garden-king. This retreat of the sage of Gargettus has been, no doubt, as much disfi¬ gured, as his opinions have been perverted. It is indeed to be lamented, that, either through ignorance or envy, the garden has been so often turned into the hog-stye, and the philosopher made there to wallow, Qui genus humanum ingenio superavit, et omnes Restinxit stellas, exortus uti aetherius Sol.— Lucret. Stuart imagines the Stoa to have been not far from the Gym¬ nasium of Ptolemy.—The ruins which he takes for that building are N. N. E. or very nearly, of the Acropolis. If his conjecture be cor¬ rect, a soap manufactory and coffee-house now occupy the spot where Zeno convoked his followers, as did Chrysippus and Clean tiles. It is nevertheless more probable that these ruins, which Spon and Wheler have supposed to be the temple of the Olympian Jupiter, Stuart the Poikilk, and Chandler the Prytaneum, are the remains of the Pantheon of Hadrian; 1. because the columns which form the front are not composed of Pentelic marble, as Wheler has remarked. They are of a variegated marble, resembling the Phrygian; and Pausanias ob¬ serves, that it was with columns from that country that the Pan¬ theon of Hadrian was embellished. 2. They are of the Corinthian order, which Hadrian almost universally adopted in his fabricks. 92 3. They stand on pedestals, which indicates their having been raised when art was on the decline. 4. The angles of the abaci are not cut, which has a bad effect, and cannot be said to belong to the best period of Grecian architecture. See the print annexed to this work. According to Cicero, Epist. ad Att. lib. 1. ep. 10, Titus Pompo- nius Atticus dwelt in Ceramicus without the walls. The tract so called probably extended from the Gate Dipylon toward the Pi¬ raeus.—See Stuart, Vol. III. p. 3. There was also another Ceramicus (Fr. les Tuilleries,) within the city.—See Meurs. de Ceramico gemino. The grove of the academy itself was N. N. W. of the Acropolis. Cicero remarks that it was distant six stadia, or three quarters of an English mile from the Gate Dipylon. Now, according to Stuart, the site of that gate may be ascertained, if so, there can be no doubt as to the spot occupied by the academy. Plutarch says, that it be¬ longed originally to a private person, by name Academus, who be¬ queathed it to the public. Cimon drained it, and planted it with rows of shady planes, which growing on the margin of running streams, diffused an agreeable freshness. Both Diogenes Laertius and iElian, relate that it was an unhealthy spot; and we know from the former, that Plato caught an ague by lecturing there, which he could not be deterred from doing by his physician. But he after¬ wards retired to a garden of his own near the hill of Colonus Hip- pius, which was the scene of one of the tragedies of Sophocles. It was surrounded with a wall by Hipparchus the son of Pisistratus, which we may presume was of the most beautiful materials, and of delicate workmanship, for the taxes which were levied on the republic, to defray the expense, were so heavy, that the words became proverbial, and were afterwards used to denote any heavy public burthen. When the Lacedaemonians ravaged Attica, they spared the aca¬ demy: but Sylla, who wanted wood to construct his battering ma¬ chines, felled the trees which constituted the charm of the place. H*e also laid waste the Lyceum. O the uncouth barbarian! on whom the EYSKIOI APOMOI AKAAHMOY ©EOY could make no impres- 93 sion! In successive times it is likely that the academy became a most elegant retreat; for the successors of Plato enjoyed a considerable revenue from the bequests of those who wished to contribute to the ease and tranquillity of a philosophic life. And probably both He- rodes Atticus and Hadrian, who were passionately fond of every thing relating to Athens, decorated it in a sumptuous manner. Hie Lacydean gardens were an enclosure in the grove of the aca¬ demy, and so called because they were a grant of Attalus King of Pergamus to Lacydes, successor to Arcesilaus, who discoursed there. About half a century ago, Achmet Agar established a country house, and surrounded it with plantations of fruit trees, on or very near the site of the Academy. No doubt, either he, or his heirs, if if not w 01 thy successois to Plato, prove themselves, in their seraglio at least, staunch supporters of the Hedonic sect. The classic traveller, whom curiosity may lead to Athens, will not fail to bring to mind what Cicero has expressed relative to this retreat once consecrated to philosophical pursuits: JVcitw'c/ne nobis datum dicam, an errove quodcini , ut cum ea loca videamus, in quibus memoria dignos viros acceperimus multum esse versatos, magis moveamur, quam si quando eorum ipsorum aut facta audiamus, aut sciiptum aliquod legamus? velut ego nunc moveor; venit enim Platonis mihi in mentem, quern accepimus primum hie disputaie solitum, cujus etiam illi hortuli propinqui non memonam solum afferunt, sed ipsum videntur in conspectu meo hie ponere. Hie Speusippus, hie Xenocrates, hie ejus auditor Polemo, &c.—De fin. bon. & mal. Lib. V. cap. 1. and in De leg. Lib. II. cap. 2. Movemur enim, nescio quo pacto, locis ipsis, in quibus eorum, quos diligimus, aut admiramur, adsunt vestigia. Me quidem ipsse ilke nostras Athenas, non tain operibus magnificis, exquisitisque anti¬ quorum artibus delectant, quam recordatione summorum virorum, ubi quisque habitare, ubi sedere, ubi disputare sit solitus; studioseque eorum etiam sepulchra contemplor. The illustrious orator was indeed so fond of the spot, that he 94 thought of decorating it with a new gateway. Audio Appium it^ottvXouov Eleusine facere; num inepti fuerimus, si nos quoque Aca¬ demia? fecerimus? puto, inquies. Ergo id ipsum scribes ad me, equi- dem valde ipsas Athenas amo. Epist. ad Att. Lib. VI. ep. 1. And we cannot wonder at his having been attached to the spot where he was initiated in eloquence, as well as in philosophy. Fateor me oratorem, si modo sim, aut quicumque sim, non ex rhetorum officinis, sed ex Academia? spatiis extitisse.—Orat. cap. 3. nor at his reverencing the place, where he gradually prepared his mind for the conception of these sublime sentiments: U Qui se humanis vitiis contaminavissent, vel republic^ violanda fraudes inexpiabiles concepissent, iis devium quoddam iter esse, se- clusurn a concilio Deorum; qui autem se integros castosque serva- vissent, quibusque fuisset minima cum corporibus contagio, seseque ab his semper sevoc4ssent, essentque in corporibus humanis, vitam imitati Deorum, his ad illos, a quibus essent profecti, reditum fa- cilem patere.—Tusc. Quaest. 1. 2 . Narnque eorum animi, qui se corporis voluptatibus dediderunt, earumque se quasi ministros praebuerunt, impulsuque libidinum vo¬ luptatibus obedientium, Deorum et hominum jura violaverunt, cor¬ poribus elapsi, circum terrain ipsam volutantur, nec hunc in locum, nisi multis exagitati saeculis, revertuntur.—Somn. Scipion. 3. Igitur alte ^pectare si voles, atque banc sedem et aeternam do- mum contueri, neque te sermonibus vulgi dederis, nec in pra?miis humanis, spem posueris rerum tuarum. Suis te oportet illecebris ipsa virtus trahat ad verum decus; quid de te alii loquantur, ipsi videant; sed loquentur tamen.—Ibid. 93 4. Nec vero Deus ipse qui intelligitur a nobis, alio modo intelligi potest, nisi MENS soluta quaedam et libera, segregata ab omni con- cretione mortali, ornniaque sentiens et movens, ipsaque praedita motu sempiterno.—Tusc. Quasst. 1. * T. Bensley, Printer, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, London. • ■ ■ V I - > I* . f IS7X THE GETTY CENTER LIBRARY