m m* i^i 'ym\mK jOF-CWI >P Iv t r ft n s s ^1 JNIVERJ/A AjclOSANCElfj> ^^1 r * l-3i\V 1^" ^d/OJITOJ^ ^OFCAIIFOM^ ^OFCAIIFO^ ^ 5 ^ ■•^J'iH'JNV-SOV'^'' -odJAINiVJlW' "^ii < m •< CO '^■■fJijaw-soF'''" KtC -vfeji r l-3't\V^ ■^> ''^aoJITVD-JO %0JnV3JO^"' -f-^i. M:OF-CAI ,^:C c'UJllVJ-J>J' '<:/UiiivjjOf ■3 C? « ^ AyEDNIVER% ^ _f?^ Jj I t 5 3 1^ AOSAUCfl^ OJO^ \WEUNIVERSy/, ^lOSANCElfj-^ ^tllR!?ARYQ. 2 "- "^AaaAiNn^wv^ -< ." ,^0FCA1!F0% 7'. ^^.OFCAIIfOf?;/, ,\^' C3 • v< ^■^■' f v*^ ^(?Aavaani'^ ^tllBRARYQ^^ CD '^J'Jirj, ^OFCAtlFO/?^ M;OFCA11FO/?^ '^«d]AINlV3i\V "^OAavaaii-i^^ '^<5Aavaaii-#-" ;ARYa<-. r^ ^i >- •:e- ■^ o v^lOSANCElfj^ ..vMllGf;AR^,'>/ '^\v TO MR. FLAXMAN, Receive, my dear friend, with your ufual kindnefs, the '\ long-fufpended Work, of which I had the pleafure of re- peating to you a few verfes (as a joyous falute) on your iafe arrival from Rome in the year 1794. I then hoped to render it a more early and a more chearful tribute to your improved talents, and to our long friendfhip. My produdion is not fuch as I intended ; yet I truft, in its prefent ftate, it is not utterly unworthy of your accept- ance, or of that favour which every warm heart muft be inclined to hope its endeavours to celebrate the genius of a friend may receive from the public. a Douncl in lull old red morocco, g'cid panelling's auu (itr^ij^n. mi fillets. g;old edges. Paris. 1829 FORE-EDGE PAINTING. One of these beautiful and unusual volumes, do] fore-edge painting was at its height. A scene in water-color is painted on t edge of the book, and then covered with gold which entirely conceals the below, until the leaves of the book are correctly fanned out. The effect • 1 -- t-Un anrtlication of aoM r»w«»** •■I*-' — •■-" --i~- /l^ ' \N m V 1 >\ U3e INTRODUCTORY LETTER TO MR. FLAXMAN. Receive, my dear friend, with your ufual kindnefs, the H) long-fufpended Work, of which I had the pleafure of re- peating to you a few verfes (as a joyous falute) on your lafe arrival from Rome in the year 1794. I then hoped to render it a more early and a more chearful tribute to your improved talents, and to our long friendfhip. My produdion is not fuch as I intended ; yet I truft, in its prefent ftate, it is not utterly unworthy of your accept- ance, or of that favour which every warm heart muft be inclined to hope its endeavours to celebrate the genius of a friend may receive from the public. a 191530 VI You know but too well what impediments of anxiety and afflidtion have thwarted, for years, the progrefs of a performance that the honeft pride of friendfhip would have zealoufly laboured to make more worthy of the artift to whom it is infcribed. I am yet willing to think that affliction (fo often ufeful in life) may have had fome fort of beneficial influence on this compofition : Sunt lacrymje rerum, et mentem mortalia tangunt. As much as my Work has loft, in knowledge and re- finement, by the fevere trouble, that interrupted and changed its courfe, it may have gained, perhaps, in nature and pathos. I could hardly convert the fufFerings of your dear difciple to a ufe more noble, than that of making them inftrumental, in any degree, to the reputa- tion of fuch an inftrudor. When I began the Poem, I intended that it fhould comprize a fketch of modern as well as ancient art : but Vll my attention has been turned from Donatello, Ghiberti, and their fucceflbrs, to the dearer juvenile artift who, after the faireft promife of future excellence, under your tender and animating care, has been deftined to lofe the uncommon advantages he poffefTed, and valued, by a length of ficknefs and complicated fufferings. I have now watched, you know, confiderably more than two years over this interefting invalide : I have feen him enduring a horrible feries and variety of increafing tortures ; yet in this very long trial of a martyr's con- ftancy and courage I have never heard a fingle murmur efcape from his lips ; but have beheld him triumph over the fevereft unmerited corporeal torments by the ferenity, fortitude, and fweetnefs of a fpirit truly angelic. In a part of this long and diftrefling period 1 have refumed, at his affedionate requeft, my fufpended Work, and ad- vanced in it, by fuch troubled induftry, as thofe only can perfedlly conceive, who have forced the mind to labour a 2 Vlll with motives of limilar afFedion, and with fimilar dif- quietude. Under fuch circumftances, you will not blame me for allowing my juft admiration of your affedionate and mag- nanimous, though difabled difciple, to alter the intended current of my verfe. Writing, as I have ever done, from the heart, I have followed its imperious fuggeftions ; and your fympathy, my dear friend, which I am confident I fliall obtain, in this part ofmyfubjed:, will form, at once, my juftification and my reward. For your credit I ought, perhaps, to apprize my reader, that whatever defeats he may difcover in my Book, they are to be afcribed folely to myfelf. As my fequeftered life has not allowed me to derive from feveral diflant friends (of intelligence far fuperior to mine on the fubjed: which I prefume to treat) that light which might otherwife have embellifhed my compofition, I ought not to expofe them to a fufpicion of having fuggefted, or countenanced any IX erroneous ideas, that a produdion of retired, yet often in- terrupted ftudy, may happen to contain. To guard myfelf alfo from a charge of prefumption, it may be proper to declare that, in venturing to write upon Sculpture, I pretend not to inftrudt the accom- plifhed artift, or the real connoiffeur ; (two clafles of men whom I ought rather to confult for information, and from whom I muft ever have much to learn!) but 1 had perfuaded myfelf, that, by an extenfive Poem on this un- tried fubjed:, I might be fo fortunate as to promote the celebrity of a friend, in whofe talents I delight; and afford fome kind of afliftance to all the admirers of Sculpture, in their various endeavours to naturalize a deferving Art, which may ftill be confidered as little more than an alien in our country, if we compare the portion of public notice and favour, which it has hitherto obtained among us, to the honour and influence it enjoyed in the ancient world. To encourage a general delight in the ingenious Arts, and to extend the reputation of their fuccefsful profeffors, has ever appeared to me one of the moft defirable purpofes that Poetry can purfue ; and particularly when that pur- pofe is happily blended with the intereft and the honour of friend (hip. Should the wiflies of thofe whom I regard induce me, in a feafon of more tranquillity and leifure, to delineate the rife and progrefs " of modern Art, in another Poem, for which I have abundant materials, I {hall probably in- troduce that new fubjed; by a fketch of the injuries that Sculpture fuftained from the fed: of Iconoclafts, or Image- breakers, and the animation it might acquire from the difcovery of Herculaneum, and a more fpirited refearch in the fubterranean cities. I intimate thefe topics, to obviate any furprife that my reader might feel on not finding them mentioned in the prefent Work. They appeared to me as more fuited to XI form the line of connexion between the two diftindl pro- vinces of ancient and modern Sculpture, But whatever fortune may attend me as the admirer and the eulogift of your noble art, that you, my excellent friend, may long cultivate and improve it, and that uni- verfal applaufe and increafing felicity may be juftly and gracioufly beftowed by earth and Heaven on your labours and your life, is the cordial wifli of Your very fincere and fervent. Though deeply-afflifted friend, April 19, 1800. Vv, ri. ERRATA. Page 4. line 1^. /or who rea J whom 16. — 6. yir invalid r^af/invalide 31. — 1 1, yir protentous rM ^o 38 Unhappy genius of a brutal age! Admir'd and fpurn'd by ignorance and rage ! Though ftyl'd a murd'rer, who, with envy blind, Kill'd the keen fcholar to his charge confign'd ; Though doom'd to forrow's moft oppreflive weight. To mourn a darling fon's difaftrous fate ; 240 Juft Heaven allow'd thy tortur'd mind to reft On one difciple, in thy guidance blefl — Thy kind Enda^us joy'd thy lot to fhare. Thy friend in exile, and in art thy heir ! A witnefs of his fkill Minerva ftood — ■ Coloffal deity in fculptur'd wood; And from his touch lefs-yielding ivory caught Of life the femblance, and the air of thought. The different ufes of an art divine From thee he learnt ; for Art's wide field was thine: 250 Rich, though yet rude ; where her prophetic eyes Saw diftant wonders from thy genius rife, Whofe native ftrength, like England's early fage, Burfting the barriers of a barbarous age, 39 Emerg'd, while Nature bade thy mimic ftrife Make bold advances to ideal life. Not vain, O Daedalus ! thy toil, to raife A varied column of inventive praife; Though loft to fight each boldly-labour'd mafs Of wood, of ftone, of ivory, of brafs, 260 That from thy fpirit vital femblance won ; Though Time, unfeeling, crufh'd thy fculptur'd fon, Whofe form, more fondly labour'd than thy own, In radiant bronze with radiant luftre fhone, And long to ftrangers would thy love atteft, An idol of the land that gave thee reft — ^ Though thefe were funk in early ruin, ftill, An happier offspring of thy plaftic fkill. Schools of Greek art arole, with fpirit free, And bleft a bold progenitor in thee*. 270 ^gina, like the morning's early rays. And Corinth, bright as the meridian blaze ; • See NOTE XL 40 Sicyon, ingenious Beauty's native earth, And Rhodes, who gloried in Minerva's birth — Hence Sculpture drew her nurferies of fkill. Rich as a river fed by many a rill ; While earth and Heaven exult in its advance To fhine refleded in its bright expanfe! Nor there alone did liberal Art difplay The fweet enchantment of her early fway: 280 Even rough Sparta, though engrofs'd by arms, Efteem'd the patient chifTel's fofter charms. Proud of her dauntlefs race in battle tried. She rear'd a fculptor with parental pride ; Pleas 'd that her fon Gitiades combin'd Three kindred arts in his accomplifh'd mind. He built, he deck'd with bronze Minerva's fane. Then fung the goddefs in a hallow'd ftrain . The triple homage won her kind regard. And from oblivion fav'd the artift and the bard *. 290 * See NOTE XII. 41 But, like the caft of Spartan manners, coarfe, And flighting fofter charms for finewy force. E'en Grecian art, through all its ftudious youth, Reach'd not the latent grace of lovely Truth. Her chiefs, her gods, as in a mental fl:orm, Aw'd with a proud aufterity of form ; Yet Sculpture's fons, with Nature in their vie w,^^ on 5fi i Increas'd in talents, and in honour grew. Such power Dipaenus gave to Parian ftone, That gods appear'd to make his caufe their own ; 300 And Terror thought they curs'd the fterile foil Where hafte infulted his unfinifh'd toil *. Thy fons, Anthermus, with a filial pride Their dear hereditary talents plied, And bade, the meafure of her fame to fill, Their native Chios glory in their fkill : But, in an evil hour of angry hafte. They with malignant fkill their, art debas'd ; * See NOTE XIII. G 42 Pleas'd to devote to mockery's regard The homely vifage of no trifling bard : 310 Hipponax, fam'd for acrimonious fong, Soon with Iambic rage aveng'd the wrong. Deform'd of foul, Derifion fann'd the ftrife : But the mild patrons of enlighten'd life, The nobler Graces, mourn'd the bickering hour, And blam'd the mean abufe of mental power *. For aims more worthy of an art divine, A purer fame, Antenor, fhall be thine, Whofe fkill to public reverence conflgn'd The patriot idols of the Grecian mind — 320 The young Tyrannicides, whofe dauntlefs foul Difdain'd fubmiffion to ufurp'd control ; Whofe brave achievement, and whofe blended praife, Athens rehears'd in her convivial lays — Athens, exulting thofe dear forms to fee' — Whofe very filence cried aloud, '* Be free f 1" • See NOTE XIV, f See NOTE XV. 43 Inftru6llve Sculpture ! chafte and awful queen Of Arts that dignify this earthly fcene ! Thy fineft {kill, thy moll empaflion'd powers, Form'd to outlive the pencil's fading flowers, 330 Are well devoted, as true honour's prize, To Freedom's fon who for his parent dies : For fhe, the prime ennobler of the mind. That, wanting her blell beam, is weak and blind — Freedom, of Excellence the foftering friend. Whom Virtue loves, and Sciences attend — Freedom firft made in Greece, her favourite land, Beauty and Force the creatures of thy hand : She taught thee with fuch forms to deck thy fphere As wife Idolatry may yet revere ; 340 Forms, in which Art refin'd on Nature's plan, At once refembling and furpafling Man. 'Twas in the fplendor of thofe glorious days, When attic valour won eternal praife — When, happy to have clear' d her cumber'd coaft From fierce Invafion's foil'd barbaric hoft — G 2 C( (C 44 Exulting Liberty to Sculpture cried, " Aid thou our triumphs, and our joys divide I *' Since I and Nature in this fcene confpire To warm accomplifli'd minds with happiefl fire, 350 That Fame may fee them in her fane prefide, " And deem her attic fons her deareft pride! " To memorize their noble forms be thine ! *' Grace thou the mortal with an air divine ! " That Grecian excellence, eluding fate, ** Age after age may fhine fupremely great ; " That Greece herfelf, and every polifh'd clime, " May, through the long vicifiitudes of time, *' Hail thofe who fav'd her from Oppreffion's rod, " The patriot hero, or the guardian god !" 360 So Freedom fpake, and at her potent call Obedient Sculpture peopled every hall ; The generous artift fix'd, with proud delight, The ftate's brave champions in the public fight ; And grateful Genius felt his powers expand, While public virtue taught his willing hand 45 To honour chiefs who every danger brav'd, And decorate the land their valour fav'd. Nor gave juft Gratitude to man alone This vital tribute ofexpreflive ftone, 370 But to Athenians who, in beauty's form, Reprefs'd their female fear in ruin's ftorm ; Who, in the hour when their delightful home, Domeftic altars, and each facred dome. Were feen to fink in fate's barbaric blaze, Difdain'd defpair, and look'd for happier days In Grecian arms ftill daring to confide With tender fortitude and virtuous pride ; Pleas'd in Trezene's fheltering walls to wait, Till attic force reftor'd their native flate. 380 Ye patient heroines ! not vain your truft. By love fuggefted, and to valour juft ! Athens, the favourite theme of every tongue, (A real Phenix,) from her afhes fprung — Athens, endear'd to every feeling heart, A throne of Genius, and a mine of art — 46 Athens was proud your condudl to review ; She to your courage rais'd memorials due, And with your fculptur'd charms Trezene deck'd, Who fav'd her fugitives with fond refped. 390 Ye heroines of hope, whofe force of mind Induc'd relenting Fortune to be kind ! Teach me to copy what I j uftly praife ! Teach me, like you, in dark affliftion's days — Now while the lyre, by forrow's ftern command, Sinks in forc'd filence from my troubled hand— Teach me to wait, in Quiet's friendly bower, The future funfhine of a fairer hour *. * See NOTE XVI. THE END OF THE SECOND EPISTLE. EPISTLE THE THIRD, EXXaS* EVfWfis tfsuvwv AWia xa^oio-iv (x»£U(Ta» TrocrHr KoM Tv;^«v TipirviDn y^uxEla)'. PiNDAR. ARGUMENT OF THE THIRD EPISTLE. The Grecian fculptors of later time — Myron-^—Polycletus — Phidias^Prax- iteles — Euphranor — Lyfippm — The Colojfus of Rhodes. — Addrefs to Time^ as the reflorer of buried Art,-^The Laocoon, — Niobe, — Hercules. Apollo. — Venus. 49 EPISTLE III. Justice and Honour call ! Awake, my lyre! Artifts of Attica thy voice require ! Ye Greeks ! ye demi-gods of ancient days ! Whofe life was energy, whofe paflion praife ! What patriot rapture muft your hearts have known, When with new charms your native Athens fhone ! Confpiring Arts ftrain'd every nerve to crown Their refcu'd darling with unmatch'd renown ; And of thofe earth-ennobling Arts who ftrove, Foft'ring her glory, to enfure her love. lo H Nor laft, nor leaft, O Sculpture ! was thy claim, Delightful miniftcr of deathlefs fame ! E'en at this day, when Time's illufive cloud Enwraps departed empire like a fhroud, Rending Oblivion's veil in Fancy's light, Thy Grecian fons my willing praife invite. Thy Myron, firft of that accomplifh'd race Who gave to ruder forms true vital grace ; See him with fmiles his brazen cow carefs. While herds applaulive round the fculptor prefs ! 20 His work they hail with fond amazement wild. And deem their kindred ftatue Nature's child : A numerous train of rival bards rehearle His brazen heifer's praife in partial verfe. But not to brutes was his pure art confin'd ; Myron in nobler forms infus'd a mind. 'Twas his in Bacchus' fane that god to place. With fuch commanding and fuch cheerful grace, That the pleas'd eye, of potent form the tefl. Gladly the joy-in fpiring power confeft. 30 51 'Twas his with genius, in pofition rare, To lliow the labouring limbs with learned care. His keen Difcobolos in every part Spoke toiling Nature trac'd by patient Art ; And his fleet Ladas, train'd for Piza's prize, Hope in his heart, impatience in his eyes. Through all his fhape exprefs'd his eager foul, A thirft for praife, and panting for the goal *. Of higher ftudies and fuperior note. See Polycletus his ftrong mind devote, 40 To frame for ftudious youth inflrudlion's plan, And found his precepts on his faultlefs man! The model, fam'd through Ibng-fucceeding time, Difplay'd young Vigor in his martial prime. Nor did thy female forms with weaker claim, Accomplifh'd artifh ! at perfection aim : Witnefs Epheflan Dian's ample fane, Fill'd with her adive Amazonian train. * .§fe NOTE I.. H 2 52 By many a fculptor, emuloully keen, Thefe rival nymphs, high-wrought, enrich'd the fcene. 50 There, where the judges of thy art declare Which figure they pronounce fupremcly fair, How great the triumph of thy chafte defign ! The Amazon of Phidias yields to thine* ! But as low vallies to the mountain grove, As humble deities to awful Jove, Such, in his time, was every fam'd compeer With Phidias match'd in Art's fublimeft fphere ; Where the rapt mind, to Heaven itfelf convey'd, Imbibes celeftial form by Fancy's aid, 60 And gives adoring mortals to furvey Features that indicate Almighty fway. Genius of ancient Greece ! whofe influence ran Through every talent that ennobles man ; O'er bright ideas taught the mind to broody And feaft on glory, as its native food ; * See NOTE H. 53 Bear me, in vifion bear me, to that ground Where Honor's fervent fpirit breath'd around ; "Where gay Diftindion held the garland high, And thy prime wonders gladden'd every eye ! 70 Thy favourite precindls at my wifh appear, Where hymns of triumph fill the raptur'd ear ; My eager feet have pafs'd thy olive grove, And touch the threfhold of Olympian Jove ! Lo, in calm pomp, with Art's profufion bright, Whofe blended glories fafcinate the fight, Sits the dread power ! Around his awful head The facred foliage of the olive fpread. Declares that in his fovereign mind alone Peace ever fhines, and has for ever fhone. 80 The temple's fpacious precindls fcarce enfold The grand quiefcent form of ivory and gold. The fymbols of his fway, on either hand. Delight and reverence at once command. Behold his right fweet Vid'ry's image bear, Form'd, like his own, elaborately fair : 54 His left a fceptre with rich light inverts, And tranquil on its point his eagle refts ; His fandals are of gold ; a golden robe Proclaims his empire o'er the living globe : 90 For earth's mute creatures, on his veft are feen With flowers, and firft the lily as their queen. The rich compartments of the throne enfold Ivory with ebony, and gems with gold : Adcrn'd with images, four maflive feet Suftain the radiance of the regal feat. Around each foot four joyous forms advance. Four Vicl'ries, weaving a triumphant dance. The throne's high fummit fhapes more lovely ftill With animation and with beauty fill : 100 The Graces here upon their parent wait ; His filial Seafons there, and both in triple ftate. The labouring eye, with admiration fmit, Labours in vain each iigure to admit, That blended arts confpiring toil'd to raife On this grand fpedacle, furpafling praife. 55 Yet here all eyes, the fkilful and unfkill'd, Imprefs'd with awe, and with amazement fill'd, From the bleft features of the god imbibe Such thoughts as meliorate his mortal tribe. no Phidias ! all vouch thy fame, though not in fpeech — ■ Thine, the prime glory pagan minds could reach — Thine, to have form'd, in fuperftition's hour, The nobleft femblance of celeftial power ! Illuftrious artift ! in thy lignal lot What ftains the glory of thy country blot ! Genius of Athens ! forrow feals thy lips. And all thy fplendour finks in dark eclipfe, When hiftory fhews with a regret benign. The {ins of bafe ingratitude were thine — i2o Ingratitude to men, whofe (kill fublime Gave thee to triumph o'er the rage of time ! How, Phidias ! was thy heart with anguifh flung. When public malice, by thy pupil's tongue, Charg'd thee, whofe mind was caft in honor's mould, With the mean facrilege of pilfer'd gold I 56 But thee thy Pericles, that noble name Who rear'd thy talents, and who (hares thy fame, By generous Friendfhip's providential care Refcu'd from Slander's execrable fnare — 130 Vengeance was thine, that vengeance juft and grand, Which fires wrong'd genius with an eager hand Of national iniquity to foil Th' opprefTive aim, by new and nobler toil, Till Envy's felf with wonder ftand aghaft, Seeing the works that wak'd her rage furpafs'd. So with himfelf this injur'd artift ftrove. His far-fam'd Pallas yielded to his Jove ; And grateful Elis, proud new palms to gain, Boafted, with truth, of Phidias juftly vain, 140 That Athens was eclips'd by her Olympian fane *. Still dear to fame, though ficklenefs, thy joy, UrgM thee, by turns, to cherifh and deftroy The very excellence thy breaft fupplied, Child of thy love, and nurfling of thy pride, • Sec NOTE III. 57 Even thy foes, O Athens ! mourn'd thy fate, When fierce Lyfander thunder'd at thy gate. And all thy wounded Arts felt War's o'erwhelming weight — War, whence the word of human mifery fprings ; The people's folly, and the guilt of kings. 150 Thy Pericles, whofe talents feem'd to claim A monarch's empire, with a patriot's name — He, thy untitled king, whofe liberal mind Genius enrich'd, and difcipline refin'd ; Whofe potent voice control'd a people free, As Heaven's preflding breath commands the fea — Fie, who delighted on fine Art to raife The deathlefs fabric of his country's praife ; Taught public wealth to rear ingenious worth, Exalted Nature, and embellifh'd earth — 160 He, by mild virtues to the world endear'd, Whofe dying boaft Humanity rever'd — E'en he, by fits of martial frenzy fway'd, To blood's dire demons a rafh offering made; 5B And, blind to ill his nature muft abhor, Hurried his nation to that fatal war Whofe lengthen'd horrors on his Athens threw Difgrace that Death hid kindly from his view, When at the favage Spartan's foot fhe lay ; Her fhame his pride, her ornaments his prey *. 1 70 Wherever Liberty, when doom'd to weep In tranlient pangs, or fink in death-like fleep. Loft her quick fpirit, wounded or betray'd, Her fofter'd Arts with filial grief decay'd. But ftiort, in Athens, was the baleful courfe Of envious Tyranny and Spartan force. Her thirty tyrants, with a robber's dread, From the juft arm of Trafybulus fled : His patriot virtue burft the fervile yoke, And, bright from brief eclipfe, effulgent Freedom broke; 180 Attendant Arts her fatellites appear, And filed new luftre round her Attic fphere. * See NOTE IV. 59 When happy Genius, by a daring flight, Has feem'd to perch on proud Perfedion's height, Afraid on difproportion'd wings to rife, Aw'd and abafh'd, weak Emulation dies. Such fate had Poefy for Homer's Mufe, No Greek with profperous rivalfhip purfues. Sculpture, more fruitful, though fhe joy'd to claim For her dear Phidias pure Homeric fame, 190 Not to one darling felt her pride confin'd. But to new fons new excellence affign'd*. Scopas ! in wond'rous harmony 'twas thine The charms of paflion and of grace to join ; Thy fkill exprefs'd new fhades of foft defire, Each varying character of Cupid's fire. In thy gay figure Bacchus fmil'd to fee His gambols of tumultuary glee. Thy genius wrought, by different powers infpir'd. As fondnefs wifh'd, or dignity requir'd ! 200 * See NOTE V. 1 2 6o *Twas thine to decorate the gorgeous icene, Where Arts were proud to aid the Carian queen. Richly £he rais'd, for widow'd love's relief, The grand memorial of imperial grief, The Maufoleum, whofe immortal name Records her forrow, and preferves her fame. Of feelings exquifite, to fondnefs prone. And pleas'd to make peculiar praife thy own, Praxiteles ! the power that fway'd thee moft, Made it thy joy, thy privilege, thy boaft, 210 To fee coy Beauty own thy kind control. And fhow each foft emotion of her foul ; While breathing ftone accomplifh'd thy beheft, And every charm of tender grace exprefs'd ; Till thy fine Work fuch perfed life difplay'd, Venus with pride her marble felf furvey'd. Enchanting artift ! whofe warm heart was feen Devoting all thy fkill to Beauty's queen ! ""Twas not thy fate to ferve a thanklefs power ; Her fmile is gratitude, delight her dower. 220 6i Love, her young darling, thy dear Art carefs'd, Child of thy genius, fovereign of thy breaft! Thy fportive patronefs to thy embrace Consign' d the faireft of her Grecian race, Whofe wit to beauty could new charms impart, Pleas'd to infpirit and reward thy art. This playful fair would fecret knowledge feek. Which her unboafting friend declin'd to fpeak : She wifh'd to know (a wifh in vain exprefs'd) Which of his happy works he deem'd the beft : 230 The beft is hers, if fhe the beft will choofe, But felf-applaufe his modeft lips refufe. A fubtle fidlion aids her ftrong deftre : " Praxiteles ! thy gallery 's on fire !" With fear well feign'd the fond enthufiaft cries. Quick, in alarm, the man of art replies : " Oh, angry Vulcan ! mar each meaner fhape, " But let my Cupid and my Faun efcape !" The fmiling fair relieves him in a trice. And Cupid, foon her own, repays the fond device *. 240 * See NOTE VI. 62 of fterner fpirit, and with bold defign, Toiling in two congenial arts to (Line, With energetic truth Euphranor wrought The forceful features of heroic thought; And ere the youth a vanquifh'd world o'errun, In glory's car he feated Philip's fon *. Hail to that graceful youth ! whofe fervid mind Feeling and tafte in early life refin'd ; Who on the foul of cherifli'd art imprefs'd That zeal for glory which his ownconfefs'd ! 250 Let the ftern fage chaftife with Reafon's rod, Ambition's vid^im, and Delirium's god, More pleafing duties to the bard belong, While tracing Sculpture's march in moral fong. Honour's juft tribute to the prince he pays, Who view'd her beauty with a lover's gaze ; And nobly fav'd it from a quick decline By liberal care, and bounty's warmth benign: Who bade her favourite fon his power furpafs. And call to life in fame-conferring brafs 260 * See NOTE VII. 63 (A work, where Gratitude with glory blends!) His guardian group, his felf-devoted friends. Proud of the vidor's praife, and pleased to aid A hero's fpirit by affedion fway'd, With fuch enchanting {kill Lylippus' hand Rais'd to diftindiion this devoted band, That as each Macedon their forms beheld, With kindred fire each martial bofom fwell'd ; Each for their lot would gladly yield his breath. And deem their honor cheaply bought by death; 270 How bleft, Lyfippus ! was thy fignal fate, Whofe genius found all graces in the great ! Nature and Fortune feem'd for thee to blend, In one bright form, the model, patron, friend. His tafte enlighten'd whom his power fuftain'd. And in the fculptor's heart the hero reign'd. Hence, for thy godlike Ammon 'twas thy praife Each varying femblance of his form to raife ; Marking of changeful life the gradual courfe, From childhood's tendernefs to manhood's force; 280 64 And thefe appropriate images to fill With fuch felicity of latent fkill As labour, led by love alone, can find, By love, the offspring of a grateful mind. Ever, Lyfippus ! be thy name rever'd, By moral dignity of mind endear'd ! Glory, well-pleas'd, thy double worth beheld, The matchlefs artift by the man excell'd ; Thy upright fpirit, firm in manly fenfe, Scorning to favour impious Pride's pretence, 290 Reprov'd thy friend Apelles, that he ftrove To lavifh lightning on a fancied Jove ; And to thy ftatue, rationally grand. Gave the juft weapon of a hero's hand. Thy tafte ador'd, with Virtue's temperate flame, Truth, as the fountain both of art and fame ; Yet no ill-founded rule, no fervile fear, Chain'd thy free mind in Fancy's fav'rite fphere. Thy dauntlefs thought, proportion for its guide. From life's trite field each brave excurfion tried : 300 65 Thy changeful genius, patient and acute, Toil'd on colofTal forms, or play'd with the minute ; And Nature own'd each work, with fond furprize, True to her foul, though faithlefs to her fiize. The hallow'd bulk of thy Tarentine Jove Check'd the proud fpoilers of each facred grove ; Roman rapacity, in plunder's hour, Paus'd, and rever'd the mighty fculptor's power. Thy Hercules, the table's grace and guard, Rais'd to extatic joy a Roman bard, 310 Whofe focial Mufe deligrhted to rehearfe The feflive ftatue's charms in friendly verfe ; Prais'd the fmail form where force and fpirit dwelt. Small to be feen, but mighty to be felt ; And, pleas'd in grateful numbers to relate The fculptur'd powers. Felicity and Fate, Told how young Ammon, with affedion's pride, Drew martial fire from this infpiring guide — This, the choice idol of his life, carefs'd To prompt his battle, or proted his reft — 320 K 66 To this, when poifon forc'd his frequent fighs, Turning, in death, his elevated eyes, He view'd the pain-tried power with frefh delight, And fed his fearlefs fpirit on the iight. The life of Amnion clos'd, the ftatue pafs'd To a new vidlor of a direr caft. With ruthlefs Hannibal, by Rome abhorr'd, The priz'd aflbciate of the Punic lord, This idol viilted Italians fhore. And faw Rome's eagles drench'd in Roman gore : 330 But when the African, fo fiercely great. Fell by the dark viciflitude of fate. This fculptur'd Hercules, ftill known to Fame, As worfhipp'd by a chief of higheft name, Felt, e'en in Rome, his influence increas'd, As the prefiding power of Sylla's feaft. The darling image Time at laft confign'd To a new mafter, of a nobler mind. Hail, gentle Vindex ! 'twas not thine to buy A name immortal at a price too high. 340 67 No bloody fword, with mangled Nature's pain, Carv'd thee a paffage into glory's fane, But manners fweetly mild, and mental grace, In Mem'ry's temple fix thy purer place. Thy genuine praife Affedion gladly penn'd ; For Arts were thy delight, a poet was thy friend. Happy diftindtion ! and rever'd by Time ! Sweet in its ufe, in confequence fublime ! Accomplifh'd Vindex ! all thy fculptur'd ftore, Though Genius fill'd with life the finifh'd ore — 350 All that thy perfedt tafte, by Fortune's aid, With liberal joy colledled and difplay'd — All, all in dark Perdition's gulph are drown'd, Nor can an atom of the wreck be found. But fhining dill, and ftill in luftre ftrong, Such is the facred power of friendly fong. Thy virtues are beheld in living lays, Where feeling Statius thy pure feaft pourtrays. And makes thy cherifh'd Arts confederate in thy praife. K 2 68 He, juft to merit of benignant mein, 260 Fondly defcribes the mafter of the fcene So free from fenfelefs pride and fenfual vice, Of mind fo polifh'd, and of tafte fo nice, That under his regard, true honour's teft, Lyiippus might have wifh'd his works to reft *. To reft! vain word, that fuitsnot fcenes like thefe, Where empires fludluate as Time decrees ! The mighty defpot, of a double fway, The guide of growth, the monarch of decay, Grants, ever bufy in the changeful plan, 270 No lafting quiet to the works of man. Witnefs, Lyftppus, that ftupendous frame Form'd by thy pupil for his country's fame ; Who, when foiFd War renounc'd her rich abodes, Rear'd the proud trophy of triumphant P.hodes In giant fplendour which the world amaz'd, Protentous in his bulk this proud Apollo blaz'd ; « See NOTE VIII. 69 So large, fo lofty, that, beneath his bafe, Mortals feem'd fhrunk below the pigmy race. Yet let not vain, fenforious fpleen deride 380 This Pagan monument of tow'ring pride. Great in his aim, in patriot purpofe good, A glorious witnefs the ColofTus flood : How his brave ifle, in valour's trying hour, Joy'd to refift Invafion's ruffian power ; Still to invading arms this fortune fall, To deck thofe ifles they threaten to enthrall. But with what fpeed can time and chance deftroy The piles of honour, and the pomp of joy ! Though rear'd with ableft art jhat might defy 390 Tempeftuous feafons and a raging fky, Subtler Deftruclion waits the fovereign block, The deep foundations of his ifland rock ; Earth, as infulted, to her center fhakes, Th' enormous idol reels — he falls — he breaks I Amazement's eye his fmallell fragments fill. In ruin mighty, and a wonder flill t 70 His fall is felt through Glory's wounded heart, And Grief's convuljion fhakes the fphere of Art*. Ye Rliodians ! early a diftinguifh'd race 400 For arts and arms, Minerva's double grace ; Ye, who around this fliatter'd mafs lament Y'our honour ruin'd in the dire event ! Mourn not your fall'n Coloffus, but complain Of change more ruinous to Sculpture's reign ! Mourn for degenerate Athens, where the king, From vvhofe foil'd arms your ftatue feem'd to fpring, No more refifted, finds a fervile crowd Tam'd to his yoke, and in his praifes loud ; Where Art is feen, in Proftitution's hour, 410 Dejedling virtue, and exalting power. Ye flaves ! who ftation, blind to public good, A tyrant's ftatues where a fage's ftood ! Ye prove the love of liberty alone Enlivens Art with luftre all its own. * See NOTE IX. 71 Where that beft paffion of the foul refin'd, That firm Coloflus of th' unfhaken mind — Where that exifts no more, all mental power Takes the cold tint of twilight's funlefs hour ; The energies of Art and Virtue ceafe, 420 Servility benumbs the foul of Greece *. That wondrous land, where Nature feem'd to fhower A bright profufion of all mental power ; Where talents glitter'd to delight the mind, Rich as the groves by filv'ry froft enfhrin'd; " From her fpoil'd fhores faw every grace withdraw, Like groves unfilver'd in a mifty thaw ; While Strife and Slavery, in union bafe, Disfigure earth, and Nature's felf deface,. The tender Arts in hafty terror fly, 430 To feek a refuge in a milder fky ; Driv'n from their darling Athens for a while, They feem'd reviving by a monarch's fmile : * See NOTE X. 72 Seleucias' Court the fugitives carefs'd, And ^gypt nurs'd them on her fertile bread. But not the Ptolemies' imperial grace, A bounteous, fplendid, but enervate race — Not all their fond protedion could impart True Attic luftre to tranfplanted Art : The fweet exotic fcorn'd the foil it tried, 440 And, faintly promifing to flourifh, died *. Genius of Greece! whom love can ne'er forget! Exhauftlefs fource of rapture and regret ! Of all the chang-es that Time's wild command Works on this globe, the rattle of his hand, Is there viciflitude more worthy tears Than what in thy difaftrous fate appears, When Learning's retrofpedlive eyes furvey Thy bright afcendant, and thy dark decay ! Refiftlefs defpot ! all-controlling Time ! 450 Though Pride may curfe thy ravage as a crime ; * See NOTE XI. 73 Let Truth,, morejuft, thy milder power declare, And boaft with gratitude thy zeal to fpare ; For thou haft fpar'd — and be fuch mercy bleft, Of Grecia's literary chiefs the beft. The pure Triumvirate, of potent minds, Whom in her zone ideal Beauty binds ; The radiant three, who palms unrivall'd bore In verfe, in eloquence, in moral lore — Yes, in the letter'd world, that lofty fphere 460 Whence light defcends to Art divinely clear. Great is thy clemency, O Time ! nor lefs Thy zeal to fave, may Sculpture's field exprefs* ! Man's rage has given to Havoc's hateful powers Gods and their altars, ftatues, temples, towers: But mark where Time, with more benignant pride, Redeems the wreck of defolation's tide! Lo, at his bidding, curious hands explore Imperial Ruin's fubterranean ftore ! » See NOTE XII. L 74 Behold where once a virtuous emp'ror glow'd, 470 And thy rich bath, benignant Titus! flow'd ! For ages buried, and Oblivion's prey. The mafter-piece of Sculpture fprings to day. How Rapture bends o'er the receding earth, Blefllng the fkilful wonder's fecond birth! Hail, thou fublime refemblance of the fire, Excruciated to fee his helplefs fons expire ! Though Fate's fierce ferpent round thy manly frame Wind its vaft volumes, and with deadly aim Dart its impetuous poifon near the heart ; 480 Though thy fhrunk flank announce the wounded part ; To felfifh pangs fuperior thou art feen. And fuffering anguifli, more intenfely keen, I fee the father in thy features rife, To Heaven directing his death- darken'd eyes, And for his fons, in agony's extreme, Yet afking mercy from the fire fupreme 1 Alas ! thy younger hope, already pierc'd By quick Perdition's fnake, expires the firfl ! 75 Thy elder darling, lock'd in fnaky folds, 490 With fruitlefs pity his rack'd fire beholds ! Ye happy Sculptors! who in this your pride Enjoy th' immortal fame for which you figh'd ! Your bleft ambition Ruin's hand difarms ; Hoflility reveres the work, whofe charms At once amaze the mind, and melt the heart, The foul of pathos, the fublime of Art! Let Rhodes, exulting in your birth, proclaim Her title to renown, her Agefander's name — Him, if kind Fancy fandion with applaufe 500 The pleafing pidure that conjedure draws — Him, life's beft bleflings once were feen to crown, Bleffmgs more rare than genius or renown — The blifs, to fee two fons in art afpire To ferve as friendly rivals to their fire ! The triple group, fo fuited to their ftate, They form'd with parity of love elate; L 2 76 And Nature, pleas'd, gave all her powers to fill This richeft offspring of confederate fkill *. Nor haft thou, Sculpture ! on whofe ancient ftate 510 The train of paftions all were known to wait, Thy deep and fpirit-fearching charms confin'd To {how the conflid: of a father's mind : Thy Niobeyet lives, a glorious teft, ; Dssfn^ sd. Thou could'ft exhibit the maternal breaft, Where gods relentlefs every pang defcried Of wretched beauty, and of ruin'd pride -f-* * I Yes, Attic Art ! each change of vital breath, Of life the fervour, and the chill of death, AlJ, all were fubjed to thy glorious power ; 520 Nature was thine, in ever- varying hour: Witnefs that offspring of thy fkill profound. Thy Gladiator, bending to the ground. In whom the eye of fympathy defcries His brief exiftence ebbing as he lies J ! * See NOTE XIII. f See NOTE XIV. % See NOTE XV. 77 With rifing wonder, and increafing joy, As Grecian reliqiies my fond thoughts employ, Her time-fpar'd marble miracles I trace — Marbles of higheft note, ftrength, beauty, grace — In each Olympian form divinely fhovvn, 530 Who boaft thefe heavenly attributes their own. On Glycon's Hercules the proud eye refts, Dwells on that force which all the form invefts. Till the fpe(3:ator glows with vigor's flame, And feels the god reanimate his frame *. In perfedl forms what potent magic dwells, Thy peerlefs fragment of perfedion tells, Skill'd Apolonius ! whofe fine work exprefs'd This forceful deity in blifsful refl ! How dear thy Torfo to the feeling mind, 5/j.q Rememb'ring Angelo, when old and blind, Fed, on this wreck, the paflion of his heart For the recondite charms of pureft art ! » See NOTE XVI. 78 The veteran, while his hand, with fcience fraught, Rov'd o'er the ftone fo exquilitely wrought, (His fancy giving the maim'd trunk a foul,) Saw, in his touch, the grandeur of the whole *. Joys on the fwelling mind more richly fhower When beauty's manly and majeftic power Shines, fweetly awful, in Apollo's form, 550 Elate with filial love, with anger warm Againft the ferpent whofe terrific creft Aim'd its bafe fury at his mother's breaft. His fliaft is launch' d ; 'tis empire's fateful rod ; His fervid gefture proves the vidlor god ; His glowing features the firm foul difplay Of confident fuccefs and righteous fway. Enchanting image ! thy pure charms conduce To moral leflbns of no trifling ufe : Thee while the fafcinated eyes admire, 560 The fpirit, kindling with indignant fire, * Sec NOTE XVII. 79 Learns that bright fcorn, which in thy movement glows, Scorn for the rancour of malignant foes * ! In milder tones, kind Harmony ! impar^ Thy magic foftnefs to the melting heart; While Love's ingenuous fong afpires to trace The fweeter influence of female grace ! Hail, Medicean Venus! matchlefs form I As Nature modeft, yet as Fancy warm ! Thy beauty, mov'd by virtuous inftindl, tries 570 To fcreen retiring charms from rafli furprife : Thy hands are eloquent ; they both attefl The coy emotion of thy feeling breaft ; And prove, by delicacy's dear control, Her quick fenfations are of grace the foul, Thou darling idol of the Pagan earth ! Whofe pomp had vanifb'd at thy fecond birth, When, from Oblivion's fliades that o'er thee hung, Thy foft attractions to new honour fprung ; • See NOTE XVIII. 8o To thee, fvveet pride of Nature and of Art ! 580 Be endlefs homage from the manly heart Which bends, obedient to a law divine, In guiltlefs ^^vorfhip to fuch charms as thine ! Though mortals, wayward when by Fortune crofs'd, Slight what they have, in mourning what they loft ; Let us, dear Flaxman ! with a grateful joy On Sculpture's refcu'd wealth our thoughts employ. O, while with Friendihip's pure, though proud defires, I praife that Art, who thy free fpirit fires, May thy pleas'd goddefs, with her kind regard, 590 Support, inftrudl, invigorate thy bard, Till my fond fancy, by her aid refin'd. Fills with new zeal thy energetic mind Yet far above her living fons to foar. And match the wonders of her Attic ftore I Yes there is room, and Chriftian fubjeds yield For Art's fublimeft aims a happier field : But paufe, my eager fong ! nor yet rehearfe A fav'rite truth referv'd for future verfe * ; * See NOTE XIX. 8i Another tafk awaits thee, to furvey 600 Scenes of Etrurian art and Roman fway : Yet paufe, and, liftening to the wintry main, In this retreat let Meditation reign ! Here falutary Solitude repairs The fpirit wafted by affliding cares : Here reft, while Study for thy ufe explores Art's early fate on thofe eventful fhores, Where, hardly refcu'd from Oblivion's torh^ Polifh'd Etruria funk by favage Rome ; And Rome, whofe pride an iron tempeft hurl'd 610 With force oppreflive round a proftrate world, Sunk in her turn, herfelf the bloated prey Of Retribution's wrath, in ruinous decay. THE END OF THE THIRD EPISTLE. M EPISTLE THE FOURTH. Inter fumantes templorum armata ruinas Dextera viftoris fimulacra hollilia cepit, Et captiva domum venerans ceu numina vexit : Hoc fignum rapuit bimaris de ftrage Corinthi, lUud ab incenfis in prasdam fumpfit Athenis. PaUDENTius. M 2 ARGUMENT OF THE FOURTH EPISTLE. Fjruria. — Rome.—Vtfton of Hadrians Villa, EPISTLE IV. Ingenuous Flaxman ! thyjuft foul delights To fee opprefs'd Defert regain his rights. Oft haft thou prais'd, as far as truth allow'd, Rude talent ftruggling through misfortune's cloud t With generous patience thou canft deign to trace Through dim Tradition's fhade Etruria's race. Ingenious nation ! haplefs in thy doom ! The flave and teacher of the upftart Rome ! Her fierce ambition from the page of Fame Seem'd eager to erafe thy fofter name : i o 86 But while flie borrow'd, in thy plunder clad, Thy train of augurs, ominoufly fad. Dark Superftition's more defpotic weight Prefs'd on her fancy, and aveng'd thy fate ! Obedient fervant of a favage queen ! Thee fhe employ'd to deck her proudeft fcene. Thy pliant artifts, at the vidlor's nod, For her new temple form'd the guardian god : Her patrons, deftin'd to fuch wide command, Arofe the offspring of a Tufcan hand. 20 Ye injur'd votaries of Art, whofe fkill, Emerg'd from darknefs, and emerging ftill. Shines through Oppreffion's ftorm, whofe envious fweep Had funk your language in her lawlefs deep ! Expert Etrurians, who, with rapid toil, Form'd the fine vafe Oblivion's power to foil ! Your bards to bafe annihilation doom'd Hiftory, who fpurn'd the grave, herfelf entomb'd : Friendly conjecture can alone fuggeft How Fortune on your coaft young Art carefs'd. 30 87 'Tis faid that ^Egypt was your early guide ; That Greece, more fecial, all your fkill fupplied, The fond idolaters of Greece pretend : But bounteous Nature was your leading friend j She frankly gave you the prime fource of fkill, The fervid fpirit, and the lively will, To call Invention from her coy recefs. And bid juft Form the young idea drefs. Let different Arts with gen'rous pride proclaim Inventive Genius form'd Etruria's fame. 40 Mars as a gift from her his trumpet found, And Honour's heart exulted in the found ; To her, e'en Athens, as the learn'd declare, Might owe the mafk dramatic Mufes wear*. But, O Etruria ! whatfoe'er the price Of thy ingenious toil and rare device. Of all thy produce, I applaud thee moft For thy mild Lares, thy peculiar boaft. * See NOTE I. 88 'Twas thine in Sculpture's facred fcene to place Domeftic deities of focial grace, 50 Whofe happy favour, on the heart imprefs'd, Made home the paflion of the virtuous breafk*. O that fond Labour's hand, with Learning's aid, Could refcue from Oblivdon's envious fliade Artifts, defrauded of their deathlefs due, Who once a glory round Etruria threw, When, with her flag of tranfient fame unfurl'd, She fhone the wonder of the weftern world ! Eclipfing Greece, ere rais'd to nobler life, Greece learnt to triumph o'er barbaric ftrife; 60 Driving her Argonauts, her naval boaft, Foil'd in fharp conflidl, from the Tyrrhene coaflf. But Defolation, in her cruel courfe, Rufh'd o'er Etruria with fuch ruthlefs force, That, of her art-devoted fons, whofe fkill With fculptur'd treafures could her cities fill * Sec NOTE II. f See NOTE III. 89 In fuch profufe and luminous difplay, That Roman avarice mark'd them for her prey, Mem'ry can hardly on her tablets give More than a iingle Tyrrhene name to live. 70 Mnefarchus, early as a fculptor known, From nice incifion of the coftly ftone, But more endear'd to every later age As the bleft fire of that abftemious lage ; Who, born and nurtur'd on Etruria's fhore, Refin'd her fpirit by his temp'rate lore. And in Crotona gloried to difplay His mild morality's benignant fway *. Bleft were Etrurian art, il^, fpar'd by Time, Forth from the caverns of her ravag'd clime 80 She could prefent to Admiration's gaze Each fculptur'd worthy of her profperous days, Who won, by labours of a virtuous mind, The benedictions of improv'd mankind. • See NOTE IV. N 9^ But one vafl: whirlpool of oblivious night Abforb'd together, in fair Fame's defpite, Men who there rofe the paths of fame to fill, Her hofts of valour, and her tribes of fkill ; All, who might hope to gain, or hope to give. The noble lot, through many an age to live, 90 Save a few reliques fondly kept, to deck The cabinet of Taile, from Glory's wreck. There fhines, not deftitute of martial grace. Her brave Halefus, of Argolic race* ; There every brazen, every marble frame. Mute, mournful fhadows of Etruria's fame> Yet feen declaring, on their country's part. She might have vied with Attica in art, Had fhe not fallen, in her early bloom. The ftripp'd and mangled flave of barbarous Rome. 100 Yes, thou imperial fpoiler I I abhor Thy ceafelefs paffion for oppreffive war, • See NOTE V. 91 Thy rage for rapine, and the pride malign In the vaft plunder of the world to fliine. Woe to the land, abjuring Arts refin'd, That afk the patient hand, the polifh'd mind ; And vaunting only with tyrannic fway To make furrounding provinces their prey : — Rapacious arrogance, for outrage ftrong, May boaft a cruel triumph, loud and long ; no At laft the coarfe gigantic glutton dies, O'ergorg'd, and finking from his bloated fize : So funk the fpoiler Rome, who from her birth Drew execration from the bleeding earth. Too fierce for Arts, that claim a milder foul, Their works fhe blindly prais'd, or bafely ftole *. Faft bound or filenc'd in her iron fpell. Her ill-ftarr'd neighbour firft, Etruria fell. Far, as her force increas'd, her rapine fpread ; Beneath her grafp the fweet Sicilia bled ; 120 * See NOTE VI, N 2 92 And, amply deckM with Beauty *s fculptur'd charms, ,Fair Syracufe was fpoil'd by favage arms. There Roman avarice, of ruthlefs heart, Firft gloated on her prey of Grecian Art ; And like a blood-hound, on the tafte of gore, Hunted with fierce inquietude for more *. Her wider ravages Achaia crown'd j The richefl feaft her ravenous eagles found ! Lo, Corinth blazes in confuming flame ! Corinth, the fplendid favourite of Fame ! 130 Her fhrines, her flatues, brazen, filver, gold. In one promifcuous conflagration roU'd, To a vafl furnace of perdition turn ;, The mingled ores in fiery torrents burn ; And Havoc's hateful fons, in fportive rage. Annihilate the toil of many an age. The treafury of Sculpture, where fhe Itor'd Thofe wonders of her hand that Tafte ador'd f. « See NOTE VII. f See NOTE VIII. 93 The favage vidlor would his triumph fill By bearing proudly home feme works of fkill : 140 But, deftitute of fenfe as blind to grace, Deems that a common hand may foon replace Works that in Talent's cultivated hours Rofe, the flow growth of rarefl Grecian powers. Infenfate ravager ! why deck thy land With fpoils thy heroes cannot underfland*? Thy country, who, a ftranger to remorfe. Trains all her fons to deeds of brutal force ; She ne'er the fweet and graceful pride fhall know That taught the heart of lovelier Greece to glow, 150 When fhe had rear'd, and hail'd with fond acclaim, The liberal artifl of accomplifh'd fame. On Rome's (tern breall no Phidias can be bred, Of whom his proud compatriots fondly faid, 'Twas a misfortune, as Athenians thought. To die, and not have feen the works he wrought f. » See NOTE IX. t See NOTE X. 94 Greece, wifely confcious that fine arts require Such penfive energy, fuch mental fire. As Honour afks, in every polifh'd age. To form the martial chief, or moral fage, i6o Cherifh'd her artifts with maternal pride, And bright Diftindlion their rich power fupplied. Her fculptors bafk'd in national efteem. As the young eagle in the folar beam, Rever'd as men, whofe faculties fublime Secur'd their country's fame from envious Time ; Who doubly foil'd the darknefs of the grave, And fhar'd the immortality they gave *. How different the Roman fculptor's fate, Whofollow'd, in a tame and abjed ftate, 170 An art, not rais'd to glory or to grace, Deem'd the poor trade of a dependent race. The chifTel to a fervile hand confign'd, Shews but the weaknefs of a fervile mind. * See NOTE XI. 95 Hence liberal Sculpture rais'd no Roman name High in her annals of ingenious fame ; And hence the Goddefs, with a fcornful fmile, Spurns the diftindlion of her Roman ftyle *. With juft difdain, that to abhorrence fwell'd, She the bafe arrogance of Rome beheld ; 1 80 Saw Roman robbers, of heroic fize, Not merely feize, as bold Ambition's prize, Her deareft wealth in defolated Greece ; But, as prefumption will with fpoils increafe. From her Greek ftatue its juft name efface. And fix a lying title in its place. So ruffian Pride, that Fortune deigns to crown, Would, with a fwindler's fraud, ufurp renown. While dauntlefs Truth, undazzled by the blaze Of Rome's fierce power in her defpotic days, 190 Upbraids that Emprefs, with reproof fevere, For follies and for crimes, in Sculpture's fphere : ♦ See NOTE XII. 96 While Scorn condemns her rapine and her fraud, With equal warmth let Jullice ftill applaud One proof of noble fpirit that prevail'd E'en in this very fphere, where mod: flie fail'd. Yes, it was fpirit fuited to fuch worth As well might claim pre-eminence on earth, Which in the walls he labour'd to o'erthrow, Honour'd the ftatue of her fierceft foe. 200 Such brave regard, the foldier's brighteft crown, Rome nobly paid to Hannibal's renown : And more fublime of foul fhe ne'er appear'd Than when fhe grac'd the chief whom once flie fear'd. True Valour thus his genuine temper fhews, Juft to the talents of accomplifh'd foes *. Bright Excellence ! 'tis thine, in evil days To joy in Enmity's extorted praife : So Grecian Art, her parent ftate undone. From Roman pride reludant homage won. 210 • See NOTE XIII. 97 Rough was his worfhip paid to Sculpture's charms, That injur'd beauty in a ruffian's arms ! Who view'd her grace with uninflrufted eyes, Proud to poflefs, though wanting tafte to prize. Gods ! how regret and indignation glow When Hiftory, mourning over Grecian woe, Defcribes the fortune of each fplendid fane, Where Sculpture feem'd with facred fway to reign ! Lo, like a whirlwind by fierce demons driven At once disfiguring earth and dark'ning Heaven, 220 Sylla, the bloodieft vulture, gorg'd with gore, The keeneft wretch that ever Rapine bore. Extends o'er proflrate Greece opprefllon's rod, And pillages the fhrine of every god ! Thy glories, Elis! — Epidaurus ! thine. And Delphos, (richeft treafury divine !) Defencelefs fall in Devaftation's day. Of this infatiate ravager the prey ! The plunderer, who no compundlion feels. Builds future greatnefs on the god he fteals ; 230 o 98 With a fmall ftatue, feiz'd on Grecia's coaft, The fubtle homicide new-nerv'd his hoft ; When on the battle's edge they doubtful flood, This god he brought, to make his battle good ; Before his troops the fraudful favage prefs'd This fculptur'd patron to his impious breaft ; Invok'd, to haflen what his vows implor'd, The vidVy promised to his eager fword ! So fraud, and force, and fortune made him great, To fhine an emblem of the Roman ftate. 240 Her he refembled in his varying day, In growth portentous, loathfome in decay : He, whofe fierce pride (all human feelings fled) On blood the hell-hounds of Profcription fed, Met not a righteous fword, or potent hand. To free from fuch a peft his native land. Yet though he flemm'd the ftreams of blood he fpilt, He died a lelTon to gigantic guilt ; For on his bed of death as long he lay, Avenging vermin made his living frame their prey ; 250 99 And he, whofe thirft of power and thirft of praife Taught Fortune's temple in new pomp to blaze — He, who amafs'd, to deck his days of peace, The fculptur'd opulence of ravag'd Greece, Sunk from his fplendid mafs of power and fame To the poor found of a deteikd name *. A mightier vidlor, of a nobler foul, Yet darken'd by ambition's dire control, The fearlefs C^far, of indulgent heart. Shone the protecting friend of Grecian art. 260 Of tyrants moft accomplifh'd and benign, 'Twas his in genius and in tafte to fliine. Could talents give a claim to empire's robe, He might have liv'd the mafter of the globe : But pride imperious that o'er-leap'd all bound, Deferv'd from Roman hands the fate he found. Yet fhall the defpot, though he juftly bleeds. Receive the praifes due to graceful deeds : * See NOTE XIV. O 2 lOO His rival's ftatiies, by mean flaves difgrac'd, He in their public dignity replac'd. 270 His zeal for Sculpture, and his liberal care To force the grave her buried works to fpare, To guard the refcu'd, and the loft to feek, Let Corinth, rifing from her ruins, fpeak. That brilliant queen of Arts, at Caefar's word, Sprung from her afhes, like th' Arabian bird : Her great reftorer, fond of glory's blaze. Sought to be firft in every path of praife; And found, in favour'd Art's reviving charms. Delight fuperior to fuccefsful arms. 280 Had the firm Brutus not pronounc'd his doom. His power to fafcinate relenting Rome, His varying genius, fafhion'd to prevail In peaceful projedls of the grandeft fcale, Would o'er the ftate have thrown fuch dazzling light, And foil'd refiftance with a blaze fo bright, Freedom herfelf, enamour' d of his fame, Might have been almoft tempted to exclaim, 101 " I fee his benefits his wrongs tranfcend, *' And all the tyrant vanifh in the friend!" 290 Julius ! thou proof how mifts of pride may blind The eye of reafon in the ftrongeft mind ! It was thy fatal weaknefs to believe Thy fculptur'd form from Romans might receive Homage as tame as Afian flaves could pay Their Babylonifli king, of boundlefs fway, Where all, for leave his city gate to pafs, Bent to his flatue of imperial brafs. With equal pomp, by vain ambition plac'd, Thy fculptur'd form the Capitol difgrac'd ; 300 For, on a trampled globe, infulting fenfe, It fought to awe the world with proud pretence. Nor didft thou only in thy proper frame Call Art to fecond thy afpiring aim : Thy fav'rite fteed, from whofe portentous birth Augurs announc'd thy reign o'er all this earth, Nurs'd with fond care, beftrld by thee alone, In Sculpture's confecrated beauty fhone. 102 Before the fane of that celeflial power, Said, with parental fmiles, to blefs thy natal hour*. 310 Mifguided Julius ! all the wide control Which force and franknefs in thy fearlefs foul To thy firm grafp delufively aflur'd, Confummate cunning to thy heir fecur'd. Blufh, blufh, ye poets of Auguflan days, For all your pomp of proftituted praife ! The man, fo magnified through Flatt'ry's cloud, Hymns to whofe honour ye have fung fo loud, Seems, to the eye of an impartial age. The prince of jugglers upon Fortune's ftage, 320 Whom fear infpir'd with artifice fupreme To win from flaves their prodigal efteem. Ye lovely Arts ! whofe beauty and whofe ufe So largely to the weal of man conduce ! What might not Earth, in your propitious hours, Expedt from efforts of your blended powers, • Sec NOTE XV. 103 Beneath the guidance of a mind elate, Supremely juft, and uniformly great, If bafe Odlavius by your aid could fhine To dazzle Romans with a light divine ? 330 Peace to his crimes ! though on their blackeft dye The blood of Tully feems aloud to cry ; While fofter'd Arts for their protestor claim No common portion of pacific fame. He faw the rock on which bold Julius run, And deeply labour'd the bright fnare to fhun. The fubtle defpot wore a fervant's mafk ; Though able to command, he ftoop'd to afk : The eyes of envy from himfelf to turn. Thy fplendour, Rome ! appear'd his fole concern. 340 Though fear devis'd, it was a graceful plan (And Tafle achiev'd what trembling Power began) To bid fair Sculpture a new pomp afTume, And fit the public patronefs of Rome : For fuch great charge to her he feem'd to give, When the loft worthies fhe had taught to live 104 Whofe blended merits in the tide of Time Rais'd Roman glory to her height fublime ; Rang'd in his Forum with Auguftan care, Heard him before the hallow'd groupe declare 350 They flood as monitors, of folemn weight, To him, and all who might dired the ftate, At once a facred teft, and awful guide, By whom he wilh'd his condud to be tried. O lovely Sculpture ! what fweet praife were thine, If ftridly true to fuch a fair defign, Prefiding power, in every realm on earth, Call'd thee to minifter to public worth, To worth, of milder and of purer ray Than Rome's rapacious demi-gods difplay ! 360 Though feated there in empire's ftrongeft blaze, The fhrewd Odavius aim'd at Amnion's praife. His milder praife, (to fhine in tafte fupreme. And heighten talents by protedion's beam,) Blefs'd in what Ammon wanted, bards renown'd ! Sculpture more coy than Poefy he found ; 105 Nor could the mandate of imperial (way Raife a Lyfippus out of Roman clay ; And Fortune's fav'rite in the naval fcene, Where funk the glory of the Egyptian queen, 37c Though fculptur'd emblems of that profp rous hour Speak him the darling of defpotic power, Has ftill the fate in feeble pomp to ftand The time-fpar'd flatue of no potent hand ; Wrought as if Sculpture felt her powers confin'd By native meannefs in the monarch's mind *. Yet many a wandering, ingenious Greek, Sent, by his ftars, his Roman bread to feek, Nourifh'd degenerate pride on foreign praife. And bleft the funfhine of Auguftan days. 380 One, whofe fine labour on the coftly ftone, Greece, in her happieft days, might proudly own — Her Diofcorides ! by Patience taught. Minute refemblance on the gem he wrought, * See NOTE XVI. p io6 And form'd, with Miniature's confummate grace. Power's fav'rite fignet, the imperial face *. Nor fhall his rival in the curious {kill Nice Diminution's lines with truth to fill, The fculptor Solon, want the Mufe's praife, Since on his work the Nine may fondly gaze ; 390 For his the portrait of prime note to them, Their own Mscenas, their peculiar gem -f- ! As Nature, joying in her boundlefs reign, Adorns the tiny links of Beauty's leffening chain,, Her rival Art, whom Emulation warms, Loves to aftonifh by diminifh'd forms, And the confummate chara6ler to bring Within the compafs of the coftly ring» Delightful talent of the patient hand, Gaining o'er life fuch delicate command I 400 The heroes of old time were proud to wear The feal engraven with ingenious care ; * See NOTE XVII. f See NOTE XVIIL And wife Ulyffes, if tradition's true, No trifling pleafure from his fignet drew. A dolphin's form the fculptur'd flone exprefs'd, Of gracious Providence a graceful teft : Sav'd from the deep, thefe wat'ry guardians bore His filial pride, Telemachus, afhore ; And the fond fire difplay'd, with grateful joy, The juft memorial of his refcu'd boy -f; 410 To this fine branch of ufeful Art we owe Treafures that grandeur may be proud to fhow ; Features of men who, on Fame's lift enroU'd, Gave life and luftre to the world of old. Oblivion's pall, a net of Mercy's fhape. Has feiz'd the large, and let thefmall efcape: Worthies, whofe ftatues fail'd Time's flood to ftem, Yet live effulgent in the deathlefs gem. But, O how few can merit fuch a fate, Where Nature finks by Power's defpotic weight! 420 t See NOTE XIX. * P 2 io8 When the proud player Auguftus, worn with age, Made a cahn exit from his brilliant ftage, In that vaft theatre what fcenes enfu'd ! What beafts of Tyranny's imperial brood! Sculpture, in days of turpitude profufe, Of her funk powers deplor'd the fhameful ufe When ftatues rofe, to wound the public eye, To the bafe fycophant and murd'rous fpy ; Nor mourn'd fhe lefs diftindlion ill-conferr'd On many a wretch of her Cffifarean herd : Moft on the bafe Caligula, who burn'd With frantic folly that all limits fpurn'd. His life exprefs'd, in every wild defign. Delirious fancy, with a heart malign ; And moft difplay'd that fancy and that heart In the fair province of infulted Art. Oft o'er her Grecian works griev'd Sculpture figh'd, Made the maim'd vaffals of his impious pride * ! • See NOTE XX. I09 rie dies ; but ftill the burthen'd earth mufl: groan For guilt gigantic on th' imperial throne ; 44.0 And Sculpture's call'd, as waiting on the nod Of Grandeur, wifhing to be deem'd a god. To her Greek votary (he denied the fkill Requir'd to execute vain Nero's will, Who fought all fplendor that could ftrike mankind Save the pure fplendor, of the chaften'd mind; Who marr'd the jftatues of Perfe6lion's mould, Thy bronze, Lyfippus, with debaiing gold. The daring defpot wifh'd, with frantic aim, To awe the world by his colofTal frame : 4^0 Vainly he bade his molten image run With metals to out-blaze the Rhodian fun ; His toiling Greek, though fam'd for works of brafs, Fail'd in his art to form the fluid mafs *. But turn, indignant Mufe ! thine eyes away From the mad monfters of unbridled fway, * See NOTE XXI. no To mark with juft applaufe the milder mind, Whom boundlefs domination fail'd to blind ; Whofe voice imperial bade the Arts appear The friends of bounty, not the flaves of fear. 466 Frugal and gay, behold Vefpalian's care Honour and Virtue's ruin'd fanes repair ! To ftatues, meant for Nero's golden dome, Peace in her temple gives a purer home *. Titus ! the pride of Nature and her friend, Could thy brief reign to happier length extend. How might th^ warmth of thy benignant heart Raife and infpirit every graceful art ! Sculpture might well her fineft toil employ To fill thy bofom with parental joy. 470 Fancy e'en now exults to fee thee gaze On thy rich gem, beyond the diamond's blaze. Where by Evodus wrought, in narrow fpace Shone thy fair Julia, full of filial grace : * See NOTE XXIL Ill Beauty and fweetnefs deck'd her maiden life, But ah ! no common fhame awaits the wife : And Heaven, mild Titus ! made thy days fo brief, To fpare thee torments of domeftic grief* : Thy brother's ftatues, in their fate, fulfill'd The rabble's vengeance on a tyrant kill'd f . 480 In radiant contraft to that wretch, afcend, Trajan! the graceful Pliny's martial friend! Juftly 'tis thine to ftand an honour'd name On thy rich column of imperial fame ! Through thy vaft empire, in which vice had fpread The worft contagion fpringing from its head, Thy adive fpirit gloried to infpire A noble portion of new vital fire. Though fond, too fond of war and warlike praife, Pacific talents fiiar'd thy foft'ring rays. 490 Not that thy hand proud Vidory's flag unfurl'd, And added Dacia to the Roman world, * See NOTE XXIII. f Sec NOTE XXIV. H2 But for mild ads, that purer aims evince, Shall memory prize thy name, excelling prince ! Thy fofter merit, that commands my praife, Was thy fond care with regal grace to raile Statues to youthful virtue, in its prime Unfeafonably crufli'd by envious Time : Thy gift imperial to a noble chief (The filial ftatue) footh'd a father's grief 500 With the true temper of a fovereign mind. Tenderly juft, magnificently kind*. Thee, too, with fovereigns not unjuftly plac'd For bright magnificence and liberal tafte, Whofe hand well-judging Fortune deign'd to ufe, O'er Grecian fcenes new luftre to diffufe ; Smiling to fee, from Wealth's myfterious fprings, Her private favourite furpafiing kings — Thee, rich Herodes ! Honour has enroU'd For elegance of mind that match 'd thy gold : rjo • See NOTE XXV. 113 Exhaufted quarries form thy graceful piles ; Thy Venus prais'd thee with vidlorious fmiles *. Lo, with new joy, peculiarly their own, The Arts furrounding the Casfarean throne ! See their prime patron that firm throne afcend, Talent's enlighten'd judge, and Sculpture's friend ! His fpirit, adive as the boundlefs air, Pervades each province of imperial Care ; While fated Conqueft keeps his banner furl'd, And peace and beauty re-adorn the world. 520 Accomplifh'd Adrian ! doom'd to double fame. Uniting brightefl: praife and darkeft blame ! To noble heights the monarch's merit ran, But injur'd Nature execrates the man. Had he, with various bright endowments bleft. The higher fway of that fweet power confefs'd, How might fair Sculpture, in her triumphs chafte, Unblufhing, glory in her fovereign's tafte ! • See NOTE XXVI. 114 Wielding himfelf her implements of fkill, He joy'd the cities of the earth to fill 530 With all the fplendor that endears the day Of cherifh'd talents and pacific fway ; Aiming, by lib'ral patronage, to crown Athens, Art's fav'rite feat, with new renown I In her confummated Olympian fane He taught fublime magnificence to reign. Where, in rich fcenes, beneath unclouded ikies, He bids his own Italian villa rife, Th' imperial ftrudures with fuch charms increafe, They form a fair epitome of Greece. 540 There all her temples, theatres, and towers, Fabrics for ftudious and for adive hours, All that made Attica the eye's delight. In fweet refiedion re-inchant the fight. O Defolation ! thou haft ne'er defac'd More graceful precinds of imperial Taftef But, with a ravage by no charms controll'd O'er the proud fpot thy ruthlefs flood has roll'd : IIS Still from thy vortex, by the tide of Time, Its buried treafures rife, to deck fome diftant clime. 550 As o'er this faireft fcene of fcenes auguft Whofe pride has moulder'd into fhapelefs duft, My fancy mus'd, a vilion of the night Brought it in recent fplendorto my fight. Its fhrines, its ftatues, its Lyceum caught My wond'ring eye, and fix'd my roving thought : Beneath the fhadow of a laurel bough, With all the cares of empire on his brow, I faw the mafter of the villa rove In fhades that feem'd the academic grove : 560 Sudden a form, array'd in fofteft light. Benignly fimple, temperately bright, Yet more than mortal, in the quiet vale, Appear'd the penfive emperor to hail. Sculpture's infignia, and her graceful mein, Announc'd of finer Arts the modeft queen. Troubled, yet mild in gefture and in tone, She made the troubles of her fpirit known : ii6 " O thou," llie faid, " that in thy fovereign plan " Art often more, and often lefs than man! 570 " Whom, as my juft, though ftrange emotions rife, *' I love, admire, and pity, and defpife! " While to vain heights thy blind ambition towers, " Thou haft ennobled and debas'd my powers " As far as fame and infamy can ftretch, " To deck the world, and deify a wretch ! ** I come th' Almighty Spirit to obey, " For Arts are heralds of his purer day — " I come, with viiions of portentous aim, " To mortify thy frantic rage of fame! 580 " As a prophetic parent, taught to trace *.* The future troubles of a fated race, " 'Tis mine to fliew how ruin fhall be hurl'd " On the vain grandeur of thy Roman world. *' Marie how my vifionary fcenes reveal " The deftin'd havoc that our works muft feel!" She fpoke, and fuddenly before her grew The femblance of a city large and new. 117 Where pomp imperial feem'd employ'd to place Sculpture's prime labours on a lading bafe. 590 There Samian Juno and Olympian Jove, The rareft treafures of each holy grove, The pride of ranfack'd Aiia, Greece, and Rome, There, in new fcenes, new dignity affume. The ftartled mafter of the Roman throne Exclaim'd, in envy's quick, indignant tone, *' What mean thefe pageants that my eyes explore? " They feem to fparkle on Byzantium's fhore !" The lovely raifer of the viiion cried, " Thou fee'ft a fecond Rome in Roman pride ! 600 " But turn, and fee what miferies await " The pomp that wakes tliy envy ! Mark its fate !" He turn'd : but O, what language can difclofe The changing fcene's accumulated v/oes ? Barbaric outrage, rapine, fword, and fire Convert it to a vaft funereal pyre. Supreme in height, colofTal Phoebus burns, The Phydian brafs to fluid lava turns ; ii8 And lo, yet dearer to poetic eyes, The living bronze of high-wrought Homer dies ! 6io The fculptur'd pride of every clime and age, The guardian god, the hero, and the fage. All in promifcuous devaftation fall; And Time, felf-flyl'd the conqueror of all — Time, the proud offspring of Lyfippus' hand, Adorn'd with emblems of his wide command — Time perifhes himfelf! Aggriev'd, aghaft, The heart-ftruck Hadrian exclaim'd at laft, *' Shew me no more of diflant lands the doom — ** I afk the fate of my embellifh'd Rome !" 620 " Look, and behold it!" the enchantrefs faid: Byzantium difappear'd, and in its ftead Rome's recent boaft, with all its fplendor crown'd, The fpeaking monarch's monumental mound, In graceful pomp arofe, and on its height, That glitter'd to our view with orient light, His image feem'd to guide a blazing car. And fKone triumphant like the morning ftar. 119 Sudden, at founds of difcord and difmay, The imperial form in darknefs melts away ; 630 The Maufoleum, of ftupendous ftate, Turns to a fort ; and at its guarded gate Barbaric foes, in Roman plunder fierce, Strain their rough powers the mafllve mound to pierce. Romans defend the dome : but O what arms Rafh Fury feizes in its blind alarms ! Marbles divine, of Praxitelian form, Are fnatch'd as weapons in the raging ftorm ; And, in the tumult of defenfive wrath, Are hurl'd in fragments at th' invading Goth. 64.0 On this dire fate of fav'rite ftatues plac'd To deck this hallow'd fcene of royal tafte, From wounded Pride a groan convulfive burft, And at the mournful found the vifions all difpers'd *. • See NOTE XXVII. ♦' THE END OF THE FOURTH EPISTLE. EPISTLE THE FIFTH. Ora ducum, et vatum, fapientumque ora priorum Quos tibi cura fequt. Statius. > ^^'■'^ V^'; ARGUMENT OF THE FIFTH EPISTLE. 'The ■ moral influence of Sculpture in the Pagan world. — Pratfe of eminent writers on ancient Art — Pliny — Paufanias — yunius — VAbbe Cuafco — Winckelmann-—M. de Caylus, EPISTLE V. Excelling Artift ! whofe exalted mind Feels for the higheft welfare of mankind, And values genius, rightly underftood. But as it minifters to moral good ! Yet, ere I clofe this tributary lay. This homage to thy art that love vs^ould pay, Let us with free and fond refearch explore Her Ethic energies in days of yore ; Mark how fhe rofe of polifh'd Arts the firft, What joys flie waken'd, and what virtues nurs'd, lo R 2 124 when on her growing beauties Glory fmird, When Time carefs'd her as his perfedl child ; And, in the fplendor of acknowledg'd worth. She reign'd the darling of the Pagan earth ! Sculpture! thy influence to heights fublime Inflam'd th' heroic zeal of elder time; That zeal which fteer'd, with every fail unfurl'd, Th' advent'rous foirit of the ancient world : The martial chief, enamour'd of thy charms, Felt and ador'd thee in his field of arms ; 20 Confcious thy care would make his merit known, He died, exulting, to revive in ftone. Let thofe who doubt if thou could'fl e'er infpire Ambition's bofom with fo ftrong a fire, Mark Cafar, ere his own exploits begun. Sigh at the fculptur'd form of Ammon's fon *. If, in thy ruder days, thy potent aid To dark Idolatry the world betray'd, * See NOTE I. 125 That fafcinating power, with thee combin'd, Felt, as thy beauty grew, her favage foul refin'd. 30 Hence, where thy hand, with love of Nature warm, Wrought mild divinities of graceful form, Calmly that fcene misfortune's victim trod, Safe in the dome of thy proted:ing god. Such awful reverence that afylum bred, Where facred Sculpture fcreen'd Afflidlion's head, Weaknefs might there revengeful power defy. While Mercy blefs'd thee as her dear ally * : Yet in one fcene, whence thy foft charms might chafe All barbarous fury from the Pagan race, 40 E'en at the time when, to their zenith rais'd, The Arts and Genius in perfedion blaz'd, One ruthlefs wretch, (and be his deed accurs'd!) Raging for blood, thy fanduary burft. See, on Calauria's fhore, to Neptune's fhrine Flies the fam'd Greek, of eloquence divine; » See NOTE II. 126 He, whofe ftrong fenfe, adorn'd with Freedom's charms, Made Philip tremble for his {ilver arms, Ere that infidiou^ ki<^g> ^^1^^ friend of peace, Sapp'd, by corruption, the high foul of Greece : 50 Her fame-crown'd orator, his triumph paft, Driv'n by Adverfity's o'erwhelming blaft, In Neptune's temple deems he yet may meet An heavenly guardian and a calm retreat. Delufive hope ! for e'en thofe facred (hades The blood-hound of Antipater invades. Yet freedom's champion, in his mental force. Still finds the fuffering Pagan's brave refource. By friendly poifon well prepar'd, to foil The mercenary villain's murd'rous toil. 60 Shock'd to behold the wretch of blood profane The hallow'd precinds of a peaceful fane, He views this outrage with indignant eyes. And at the bafe of Neptune's ftatue dies ; Bleft to refign his glory-giving breath In the mild arms of voluntary death ! 127 If Sculpture fail'd, in her unequal flrife With bafe Barbarity, to fhield his life, Fondly fhe made immortal as his name The ftern attraftions of his manly frame. 70 Wrought with her kindeft care, his image rofe In endlefs triumph o'er his abjed foes ; And Athens gloried with delight to gaze, Age after age in her declining days. On him, her fav'rite fon, whofe fiery breath, Difpelling dread of danger and of death. Made, by the thunder of his warning voice. The path of honour be his country's choice. True to his word, as quicken'd by a fpell. She march'd in that precarious path, and fell ; 80 Yet in her fall the nobleft tribute paid To that bright mind, by whofe bold counfel fway'd, She gain'd, uncheck'd by imminent diftrefs. Virtue's prime purpofe, to deferve fuccefs *. * See NOTE III. 128 Juftly, O Sculpture ! would thy fondeft fkill ^ The wifli for glory of that friend fulfil, " •^' ' Whofe fervid foul, with bright ambition fraught, By matchlefs Eloquence fublimely taught The land, that gloried in his birth, to claim Pre-eminence in all the paths of fame. 90 His heart, for ever in a patriot glow, Exulted, in its civic zeal, to fhow How from thy honour' d hand his native ftate Receiv'd a gift magnificently great : From him we learn that the Bofphoric fhore Of fignal Art this bright memorial bore. Athens, a female of coloffal height. In fculptur'd beauty charm'd the public fight : Of equal ftature, and benignly grand, Two focial cities flood on either hand — 100 Byzantium and Perinthus, each difplay'd A fifter's heart by grateful pleafure fway'd ; As each was feen a friendly arm to bend. Fondly to crown their tutelary friend. 129 Such honours, Athens, were afllgn'd to thee, Aid of the weak, and guardian of the free ! While thy Demofthenes could rule the tide Of civic fortune and of public pride. Beneath his aufpices fo Sculpture rofe. The fweet remembrancer of baffled foes, no Caird by confederated ftates to fhew From lib'ral union what fair bleffings flow ; The brilliant leflbn her bold work difplay'd, And Gratitude and Glory blefs'd her aid *. Nor was it thine, enchanting Art ! alone With public virtue to infpirit ftone, Diffufing, by the praife thy forms exprefs'd, Heroic ardour through a people's breaft : *Twas thine, for loftier minds above the croud, With gifts of rare pre-eminence endow'd, 12c To counterad the ills that bafe mankind To envied Genius have too oft aflign'd. • See NOTE IV, s 136 When Thebes (induced her Pindar to condemn By abjedl anger and malignant phlegm) Fin'd her free bard for daring to rehearfe The praife of Athens in his lib'ral verfe, Kind Sculpture then, his Attic friend, arofe. And well aveng'd him of ungen'rous foes. Pleas'd her juft tribute to the bard to give. She taught his figure, like his verfe, to live: 130 Athens, of finer Arts the bounteous queen, Difplay'd his ftatue in her public fcene. Seated in regal ftate, the crown, the lyre, Announc'd the fov'reign of the lyric quire : Greece, who, with all a mother's tranfport, found Envy's bafe cry in Honour's plaudit drown'd, Smil'd on the fplendid palm the poet won, And fondly hail'd her glory-giving fon, Whofe Mufe rich neftar to the mind conveys. Poignant and fwcet 1 — Morality and Praife * ! 140 * See NOTE V. 131 Fair and benignant as his fervid Mufe, Sculpture, like her, a radiant path purfues ; Pleas 'd to enlarge the province of renown. And add new luftre to th' Olympic crown. To him, whom Pifa's public voice proclaims As thrice a vid:or in her hallow'd games. The ftatue, rais'd beneath the guard of Jove, Shines a bright inmate of the facred grove. Thou fafcinating fcene of Arts combin'd, Where fofl'ring Glory rear'd the Grecian mind! 150 Oft, as to thee the glance of Memory turns, The fpirit kindles, and the bofom burns. Enchanting Altis ! whofe domain to fill Elaborate Sculpture lavifh'd all her fkill ! Pure was the pleafure thou wert form'd to raife, Where emulation grew by honour's blaze. While triumph flufh'd the happy vi6lor's cheek, Each heart exulted in the name of Greek : Inteftine feuds by Glory taught to ceafe. One foul infpir'd the mingled ftates of Greece ; 160 s 2 132 And public virtue felt her ardour rife From the fweet impulfe of fraternal ties. Olympia 1 hadft thou well that fpirit nurs'd Which made thee long of fplendid fcenes the firft j Had it been thine to cherifli and impart Vigour of form, and dignity of heart, Pure and unmix'd, like true heroic worth, With all the abjed vice of meaner earth, No barb'rous foes had made thy triumph ceaie, No favage Roman had disfigur'd Greece ; 17-0 Nor Ammon faid, (deriding, when he found Thy fculptur'd victors in Miletus crown'd,) ** Where were thefe bodies of gigantic powers, " When the barbarian force o'erthrew your towers * ? But games of honour, in effed benign. With morals flourifh, and with them decline. Through hallow'd walls, where Excellence is nurs'd^ Intruding Envy rarely fails to burft — • See NOTE VI. 133 Envy, whofe touch corrodes, as ruft onfteel, Both private happinefs and public weal. 1 80 Envy was early an Olympian peft ; Thy mangled image may this truth atteft, Thiagenes ! enrich'd with rare renown For many a conteft, and each varied crown ; Some abjed: rival, with refentment bafe, In fecret dar'd thy ftatue to deface : The fculptur'd form, as confcious of the blow, Fell with avenging weight, and crufh'd thy foe. Of Envy's fordid race, fo perifli'd one, Herfingle, namelefs, defpicable fon *. 190 But Envy, apt for ever to increafe, Prov'd moft prolific in the realms of Greece ; Hence her free ftates, by jealous jars deftroy'd, Left in the polifh'd world a mournful void. Corporeal ftrength, and intelledual power, Shone, lovely Greece ! fupremely as thy dower : • See NOTE VII. 134 But cordial union, the bed fruit of fenfe, The life, the foul of national defence — Spirit, that leads the weak to foil the ftrong, When every bofom burns for public wrong — 200 This fpirit, thy vain fons no more the fame, Fail'd to prefer ve, as they advanc'd in fame : Her fnares around them thus Opprefllon threw, Taught by their feuds to fep'rate and fubdue. If Greece herfelf her real ftrength had known, Greece might have foil'd the hoftile world alone ; In war's wild tempefl an unfliaken tower, Peerlefs in arts, and paramount in power. Too late to fave, yet potent to fufpend The ftorm of ruin, haftening to defcend, -210 Sicyon ! thy free, conciliating chief. Thy firm Aratus, planning wife relief, Reclaim'd the bickering Greeks by union's charm. Bade jarring flates with focial prowefs arm ; And, ere fhe funk OpprefTion's helplefs thrall, Of Greece protraded and adorn'd the fall. ^35 Juft to his merit, Sculpture's grateful hand With grace heroic gave his form to ftand : In lib'ral Corinth {he the ftatue rear'd, And as a guardian power this patriot chief rever'd *. 220 If e'er Greek. Art, with Glory for her guide, The high-foul'd portrait form'd with fonder pride, Perchance 'twas when, a ftudious fcene to grace, Her fkill, employ'd on Plato's penlive face, Labour'd to memorize from age to age The fpeaking features of that fav'rite fage, Who toil'd to fix, in honour of mankind, Sublime ideas in the public mind. Enlighten'd Pagan ! whofe bright works difplay A cheering dawn before the Chriftian day ! 230 Where the calm grove of Academus grew Thy fculptur'd form a fignal luftre threw ; Rais'd by a foreign prince, whofe lib'ral heart To Grecian intelled and Grecian art * See NOTE VIII. 136 Paid this pure tribute, proud in thee to own The friend who taught him virtue's nobleft tone *• Ye fages who, aloof from martial ftrife, Purfu'd the purer charms of penflve life ! How oft has Sculpture joy'd, with moral aim, To multiply your forms, and fpread your name ! 240 By^fop's ftatue, Greece this leflbn gave f , Fame's path is open even to a flave ; And Socrates, ordain'd in bronze to ftand The honour'd labour of Lyfiippus' hand, Inform'd the world, although an injur'd fage Had perifbi'd in a ftorm of envious rage, Repentant Athens, fighing o'er his dufl:, Rever'd his glory as a public truft J. How oft, before the gofpel's rifing ray Darted through earthly clouds celeftial day, 250 In fcenes where Meditation lov'd to dwell, The public portico or private cell, • See NOTE IX. f See NOTE X. t See NOTE XI. 137 Has many a penfive, philofophic buft, Reprefs'd the giddy, or confirm'd thejuft, And kept frail Virtue on her mental throne By the mild leiTon of the fpeaking ftone ! Nor breath' d Inftrudlion in her marble fcene Confin'd to ftronger Man's expreflive mein: The female ftatue gloried to infpire Maternal dignity and patriot fire. 260 The rigid Cato, with a cenfor's frown, Strove from the fphere of fculptural renown Aufterely to exclude the worthier frame. And rail'd at ftatues rais'd in woman's name*, Still the ftern Romans, though they ne'er polTefs'd That zeal for art which fiU'd the Grecian breaft, Gaz'd, with a generous admiration warm. On female virtue in its fculptur'd form : Witnefs th' equeftrian image that arofe To tell how Clelia, foiling potent foes 270 * See NOTE XI I. T 138 By patriot fpiiit, in Rome's early days E'en from a hoftile king extorted praife * — Witnefs maturer form, of matron grace, Worthy, in Honour's fane, the pureft place. Thou Roman ftatue ! whofe plain title fhone With luftre to enrich the meaneft ftone, " Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi I" — Time ! Could'ft thou, from every art-ennobled clime Where buried Sculpture undifcover'd lies, Bid, for my choice, her latent treafures rife, 280 Cornelia would I choofe, if happy Art Show'd, in her refcu'd form, a mother's heart ; Work wrought by Nature, on Perfedion's plan. To claim the boundlefs gratitude of man ; The fineft work to which his thoughts can climb — Confummate beauty and the true fublime f ! Sculpture! fweet power, whofe moral care exprefs'd The deareft feelings of the human breaft ! • Sec NOTE XIII. j , t See NOTE XIV. 139 In early days, before the martial throng Of Grecian heroes, arm'dfor Helen's wrong ! 290 'Twas thine to fhew, in Beauty's fhape enfhrin'd, The prime perfection of the female mind. When young Ulyffes won, in gallant ftrife, The child of fond Icarius for his wife, The good old man deflr'd the graceful pair To live content in his paternal care ; Loth to reflgn the darling of his fight, A peerlefs daughter, and his heart's delight : Heroic duties bade the prudent chief Decline the favour, to the father's grief, 300 Who, juftly feeling what forbade their ftay Led his lov'd children on their diftant way. 'Tis time to part — but the too tender fire Summons, in vaiuj his courage to retire: Nature fubdues him, and the lovely bride Clings, in mute anguifh, to her father's fide. The noble Ithacus, of manly foul, Viewing, with pity, Nature's ftrong control, T 2 140 Says, " Sweet Penelope ! thy fteps are free " To guide thy father, or to follow me." 310 The fire, with Queft ion's agitated air. Looks up for the decifion of the fair : She could not fpeak, but, ftill to Nature true, ''fT O'er her flufh'd cheek her decent veil fhe drew. : The hufband and the iire, who heard her figh. Both underftood her exquifite reply ; And the proud father felt his pangs beguil'd By the fweet graces of his modeft child. He blefs'd and bade her go : but on the fpot. Often revifited, and ne'er forgot. 320 His fondnefs rais'd, with a regret ferene, A fair memorial of that tender fcene — • A graceful ftatue of a female frame. Sacred to love, and Modefty its name ; In which kind Sculpture, by her fpeaking power, Exprefs'd the feelings of that parting hour *. • See NOTE XV. 141 Enchanting Art ! fiich ever be thy tone As graceful Nature may be proud to own ! No forms of elegance Fame ranks above Thy groups of filial and parental love : 330 Witnefs ye brothers of Sicilian name, Who pafs'd through ^Etna's defolating flame, Each, nobly loaded w^ith a parent's weight, Spar'd by receding fire, rever'd by Fate ! The brafs has perifii'd, whofe exprefiive charm Difplay'd your virtues in the dread alarm ; Yet in a Roman poet's faithful lines Theperifh'd brafs with new exiftence fhines — In Claudian's verfe I fee your bofoms thrill. And with a graceful terror tremble ftill* ! 340 O lovely Sculpture ! when, to thee unjuft, Ravage condemns thy offspring to the dufl:. Though form'd with power and merit to endure Through many a peaceful age of praife fecure, * Sec NOTE XVI. 142 May Mufes, confcious of thy gen'rous aim, Still of thy ruin'd works the worth proclaim ; And to a new and firmer life reftore Thy moulder'd marble, or thy vanifh'd ore ! Sculpture ! to Heav'n-taught Poefy allied By dignity of foul and decent pride, 350 By talents true to Glory's guiding fires, That fcorn to minifter to mean defires ! Dear Arts ! to whom in high degrees belong Sifterly charms, by fweet alliance ftrong ! May lafpire, of each devoutly fond. Of that alliance to confirm the bond. While both I honour in my ftudious hour, As Friendfhip dilates the prefiding power. Who, when I incenfe on your altars throw, Guides my juft hand, and gives my heart to glow ! 360 Ingenuous Sculpture I in thy long career Of various fortune in thy Pagan fphere. Thou art intitled to the nobleil: praife, For adding force to worth's refleded rays I 143 'Twas tKine to give, in that dark world of ftrife, Ardour to virtue, elegance to life ! If Fortune, to thy pureft purpofe blind, Lavifh'd thy honours on the worthlefs mind, Indignant Freedom, in fome diftant day, Would rife to vindicate thy moral fway. 370 When her Timoleon with a guardian fword To injur'd Sicily her rights reflor'd. Statues were tried, and all of public note Or fell or flourifh'd by the people's vote. Alas ! how few in regal rank are found Endear' d to Nature, as by Merit crown'd ! That polifli'd ifle her Gelon deem'd alone Worthy to live in monumental ftone*. There is no art to man by Heaven convey 'd Which man's rafh folly dares not to degrade ; 380 And thou can ft reckon, in thy numerous race, Sculptors whom fkill ferv'd only to difgrace : • See NOTE XVII. 144 Pygmalion, burning with a vain defire. The dupe of Vanity's delirious fire * I The bafe Perillus, Cruelty's high-prieft, Condemn'd to bellow in his brazen beaft f ; And a coarfe artift from the Roman fchool, Of vile obfcenity the venal tool J ! But fhould affembled Arts their fons produce, And all be tried for Talent's moral ufe, 396 Perchance, the foremoft tribe in Honour's crowd. The fons of Sculpture might be juftly proud That, mark'd colleftively in Fame's review, Their merit's infinite, their faults are (qw. O that, redeem'd from dark Oblivion's fpoils, That rich memorial of their nobleft toils Which juft Pafiteles, of gen'rous heart, Fram'd on the higher works of happieft Art, Might to our diftant eyes, with luftre new, Of ancient genius give a wider view ||. 400 * See NOTE XVIII. | See NOTE XIX. t See NOTE XX. || See NOTE XXI. 145 Vain wifh, in Lethe's gulf, by Tafte abhorr'd, The literary fculptor's kind record Of works his judgment knew fo well to prize, Untimely funk, and never more to rife. But here let gratitude your merit fpeak, Thou learned Roman, and thou faithful Greek ! Who 'mid the wrecks of time confpicuous ftand, Still holding light with a benignant hand. To guide thofe fond advent'rers on their way Who would the wafted fcenes of ancient art furvey. 410 Pliny ! whofe adlive, comprehenfive mind The richeft map of Nature's realms defign'd, Well haft thou mingled in thy mighty plan Sketches of arts that foften favage man ! Thy ftudies on thy country's rugged breaft Enlighten'd paflion for thofe arts imprefs'd. Though modern arrogance, with envious aim. Has toird to undermine thy folid fame. Nature and Truth may yet, in thee, commend Their lively eulogift, their liberal friend; 420 u 146 And Tafte with grateful joy thy page explore For rich Antiquity's recover'd ftore. There her loft wonders feem again to live, There frefh delight to Fancy's eye they give ; Like phantoms, rais'd in magic's ample bower, With all the fplendor of departed power *. To one, lefs apt with warm applaufe to fpeak, Minutely faithful, though a rambling Greek, To thee, Paufanias ! let me juftly raife A column, deck'd with plenitude of praife 430 Proportion'd to ineftimable aid. And copious light with modeft care difplay'd I Tafte, by thy guidance, ftill has power to rove Through ancient Sculpture's confecrated grove. Delightful traveller through Talent's clime ! 'Twas not thy lot to view its graceful prime : Yet, nobly careful of its glories paft, 'Twas thy brave aim to make its glories laft ; • See NOTE XXII. 147 And Time fKall honour, as his years increafe, Thy Panorama of enchanting Greece *. 440 And you, ye moderns ! whofe fond toils difplay Art's ancient powers in Learning's bright array — You, whofe enlighten'd minds affift my lays, Friends of my verfe ! accept its friendly praife ! Sage Palatine ! whofe foul of temp'rate fire No toils could daunt, and no refearches tire : Accomplifli'd Junius ! who, in Britain's ifle, Wer't pleas'd to bafk in bright Protedion's fmile ; And noble Arundel's regard to fliare With thofe fine Arts that boaft his lib'ral care. 450 With Erudition's ample aid, 'twas thine To form a portrait of antique defign, Bright as the image of elaborate fkill, Where blended flones the fine mofaic fill ; Where richeft marbles all their tints unite, And varied fplendor fafcinates the fight. • See NOTE XXIII, U 2 148 In thy vail: work rare proof of patient toil, That glean'd from every age its fpotlefs fpoil, There breathes a w^arm benignity of foul, And moral beauty decorates the whole *. 460 Of kindred fpirit, in a later age, See gentle Guafco, in a friendly page, To touch a brother's heart with tender joy. On Sculpture's powers his penfive mind employ I As April drops foon thicken to a fhower. The fprightly comment of a vacant hour Grew a rich work, where truth and tafbe have fhown How life deriv'd from Art a nobler tone ; Where lovely Sculpture fhines benignly bright In mild Philofophy's endearing light. 470 Alas ! while Fame expeds the volume penn'd By high-foul'd Montefquieu's attractive friend, Calamity, that ftrikes Ambition mute, Obftruds the writer in his dear purfuit ! • See NOTE XXIV. 149 His injur'd eyes in cruel quiet clofe, And iink from glorious toil to dark repofe *. While Art deplor'd her fuffering friend's retreat, Griev'd to refign an eulogift fo fweet, Her lofs fee Learning haften to repay With richer floods of intelledlual day ! 480 She, potent guide of each afpiring mind That aims to pleafe and benefit mankind — She, in a petty cell of German duft. Taught youthful Genius in her aid to trufl: ; Break his juft way through Poverty's bafe bar, And vault vidlorious into Glory's car. Yes, fervid Winkelman ! this praife is thine. Thou bold enthufiaft of a heart benign ! Nature exults to mark thy happier courfe. And the fair triumph of thy mental force ; 490 Though Fortune blended thy rare lot to fill, As for the Grecian bard, extremes of good and ill. • See NOTE XXV. But though thy life became a ruffian's prey, Nobly fecur'd from peril and decay Thy well-earn'd fame fhall Time's refped: command, Thy merits live, engrav'd by friendfliip's hand ; And grateful Art, where'er her powers may rife. That fond hiftorian of her charms fhall prize Who, with enlightened love, defcrib'd the whole. Each changeful feature, and her inmofl foul*. 500 If Art exults in his afpiring flight Who as her champion rofe, in penury's defpite, While gratitude her graceful bofom fways, She owns a debt of no inferior praife Due to her different friend, of Gallic name, Who, high in rank, in fortune, and in fame. To her dear fervice his rich purfe affign'd, With all the radiance of his richer mind, Shining through clouds that thicken'd to o'erwhelm His lov'd Antiquity's embellifli'd realm; 510 • See NOTE XXVI. Whofe treafures, bright'ning at his touch, commend The piercing genius of their ftudious friend : Thou, to whom idle nobles are a foil ! Thou model of munificence and toil ! Accomplifti'd Caylus ! if thy zeal fublime Lavifh'd on Art thy treafure and thy time, Thine idol, blamelefs as the peaceful dove. Paid thee with pleafure equal to thy love. She footh'd thee in thy gafp of parting breath. And charm'd thy fpirit through the fhades of death *. 5 20 Mild, lib'ral fpirit ! take (to thee not new !) Tribute from Englifh truth to merit duel For once a Briton, who enjoy 'd, with wealth, Conceal'd munificence to charm by ftealth, Surpris'd thee with a fplcndid gift, defign'd A namelefs homage to thy letter'd mind, To both an honour ! — O, inftrucTlivc Time, Ripen the nations to that fenfe fublime, ♦ See NOTE XXVII. 152 To own the folly of contention's rage, That makes the globe a gladiator's ftage ; 530 Till blood-ftain'd rivals boaft no other ftrife But which may beft befriend art, fcience, truth, and life *. * See NOTE XXVIII. THE^ END OF THE FIPTH EPISTLE. EPISTLE THE SIXTH. Tu quoque magnam Partem opere in tanto, fineret dolor, Icarc, haberes. Virgil. ARGUMENT OF THE SIXTH EPISTLE. the Author laments with his friend the fate of his difcipky a promifing young Sculpt or y forced to quit his profejjion by afevere lofs of health. — A character of that difciple^ and the intereji he Jlill takes in the profperity and honour of his beloved Mafer^ conclude the Poem. EPISTLE VI. . Arts were an early gift of heavenly grace, To chear and ftrengthen man's afflided race ; And now, dear Flaxman ! in thy art I find A lenient med'cine for a tortur'd mind : Elfe, in this feafon of paternal grief. When, from dark ficknefs that eludes relief, Thy dear difciple's pangs my fpirit pierce, Could I refume this long-fufpended verfe ! Years have elaps'd, and years that have imprefs'd Deepeft afflidlion on my wounded breaft, lo X 2 156 Since, at the fight of malady unknown That prey'd on health far dearer than my own, The lyre, whofe chords fhould with thy glory fwell, From my fond hand, by forrow palfied, fell ; And all my faculties of heart and foul Had but one aim — to make the fickly whole. But Heaven ftill tries the never-failing truth Of patient virtue in this fuff'ring youth. Sunk as he is, and doom'd in pain to gafp, (A young Prometheus in a vulture's clafp !) 20 His purer fpirit does not Heaven arraign. Or breathe a murmur on his galling chain : But on the mafter, to his heart endear'd, Whofe powers he idoliz'd, whofe worth rever'd. His generous thoughts with juft attachment turn. And for thy honour boaft a brave concern. Fondly he bids his father's falt'ring hand Refume th' unfinifh'd work by Friendfliip plann'd. Forgive the filial love that deems thy friend, Weak as he is, may yet thy fame extend! 30 The wifli of filial excellence diftrefs'd To me is facred as a God's beheft : Hence I with fond precipitancy frame The verfe devoted to thy honour'd name. Pardon, if trouble can but ill achieve What joy fhould execute, with leifure's leave I Here, if thefe fketches of thy art fucceed, Her ancient reign the fair and young may read ; Her modern empire, and her future power. May form my fubjedt in a happier hour, 40 If happier hours may to that heart be given Which leans, with unexhaufted hope, on Heaven. Whatever lot, excelling friend ! is mine, I bend, with gratitude, to power divine That thou, whofe progrefs in thy noble aim I deem a portion of my country's fame — That thou enjoy'ft the fpirit's genuine wealth, Unfetter'd genius, and unfading health ! The bards of Greece have twin'd thy laurel crown, And form'd the prelude of thy rich renown : 50 rs8 Homer and iEfchylus thy mind infpire With all their varied grace, and vivid fire : Deck'd by thy pencil, they with joy affign To thee the fecial palm of pure defign ; And Britain, while her naval triumphs blaze Above the boaft of Graecia's brighteft days, Looks to thy talent with a parent's pride, Pleas'd to thy (kill her glory to confide. Fit to record, with monumental art. The fimple grandeur of her feaman's heart *. 60 O, while with joy to Honour's nobleft height I view, infancy, thy Dzedalean flight! Thy little Icarus I yet mufl mourn. Soon, from thy fide, by cruel ficknefs torn, (Not raflily drown'd in fond Ambition's fea,) Still breathing, ftill in heart attach'd to thee! I know he ftill, though diftant from thy care. Lives in thy love, and profpers in thy prayer ; * See NOTE I. 159 For I beheld in thy parental eyes The tear of tender admiration rife, 70 When noble labours of his crippled hand, Achiev'd by courage, by aiFedion plann'd. Drew from thy judgment that fweet praife fincerc Which even Agony has fmil'd to hear *. That crippled hand, fo fkill'd, in early youth, To feize the graceful line of fimple Truth, More by increafing malady opprefs'd, Sinks, in its fetters, to reluctant reft ; And thy dark veil> Futurity ! enfhrouds Its diftant fortune in no common clouds. 80 Magnanimous and grateful to the laft, The fufF'rer blefles Heaven for bounties paft : Pleas'd under Flaxman to have ftudied Art, (Child of thy choice, and pupil of thy heart !) His fpirit trufts that, w^here thy talents reign, His virtuous wifh may yet be known, though vain ; • See NOTE II. i6o His willi to rife, by filial duty's flame, Friend of thy life, and partner of thy fame t io i: Yes, (hould thy genius, like Auguftan power, Spread o'er the earth, profperity its dower, 90 Thy heart, my tender friend I however high Thy juft renown, will often, with a figh, Fondly regret thy art's intended heir, (The young Marcellus of thy foft'ring care !) Whofe mild endurance of a ftorm fo great May charm the roughnefs of relenting fate. That youth of faireft promife, fair as May, Penfively tender, and benignly gay. On thy medallion ftill retains a form. In health exulting, and with pleafure warm. 100 Teach thou my hand, with mutual love, to trace His mind, as perfedt as thy lines his face ! For Nature in that mind was pleas'd to pour Of intelleftual charms no trivial ftore; Fancy's high fpirit, talent's feeling nerve, With tender modefty, with mild referve. i6i And thofe prime virtues of ingenuous youth, Alert benevolence, and dauntlefs truth ; Zeal, ever eager to make merit known, And only tardy to announce its own; no Silent ambition, but, though filent, quick. Yet foftly fliaded with a veil as thick As the dark glafTes tinted to defcry ^ The fun, fo foften'd not to wound the eye ; Temper by nature and by habit clear From hafty choler, and from fullen fear. Spleen and dejection could not touch the mind That drew from folitude a joy refin'd, To nurfe inventive fire, in filence caught, And brood fuccefsful o'er fequefter'd thought. 120 Such was the youth, who, in the flatt'ring hour Of Health's fair promife and unfhaken power. The favour'd pupil of thy friendly choice, Drew art, and joy, and honour from thy voice ; y l62 Whofe guidance, then his healthy day's delight, Still forms the vifion of his fickly night. Could I, dear Flaxman ! with thy fkill exprefs Virtue's firm energy in long diftrefs, And all his merit, 'gainft afflidlion proof. Since ficknefs forc'd him from thy guardian roof; 130 Thou might'ft fuppofe I had before thee brought A Chriftian martyr, by Ghiberti wrought : So Pain has crufh'd his frame with dire control. And fo the feraph Patience arm'd his foul. But not for notes like thefe my lyre was ftrung ; It promis'd joyous hymns, to happy Genius fung ; And Truth and Nature will my heart confefs, Form'd to exult in fuch a friend's fuccefs. Yet will that friend, whofe glory I efteem My cordial pleafure and my fav'rite theme,. 140 Forgive paternal pain, that wildly flings An agitated hand acrofs the firings. i63 A fhade of forrow o'er his triumph throws, And fighing, bids th' imperfedt paean clofe*. • See NOTE III. THE END OF THE POEM. ^ O T E S. NOTES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE. NOTE I. Ver. 87. Jt^armld by the light they love^ the very fragments found. An allufion to the frequently-cited verfe of Juvenal : " Dimidio magics refonant ubi Memnone chordse." There is hardly any work of antiquity more celebrated than this myfterious image ; a favourite objed of ancient and of modern curiofity ! Confidering the attention paid to it in different ages, it is fingular that the mutilated ftatue fhould ftill retain a name which, according to an ancient tradition, was afligned to it improperly. This miraculous coloflal figure is commonly called the Statue of Memuon, and iuppofed to reprefent an ^Ethiopian prince of that name, the fon of Tithonus and Aurora : but Paufanias, from whom we de- rive one of the early accounts of it, exprefsly fays, the inhabitants of the city where it was placed (the Thebans of -^gypt) afferted that it was jgg NOTES ON THE HRST EPISTLE. not a reprefentation of Memnon *, but of Phamenophls, a native of their country ; " and I have heard perfons affirm," continues Paufa- nias, " that it is the ftatue of Sefoftris which Cambyfes broke afunder; ** and now as much of it as extends from the head to the middle of the " body is thrown down : the remainder is ftill fitting, and founds every " day at the rifing of the fun. Its found is moft Hke the burfting of a " firing on the harp or lyre." The intelligent and accurate Strabo has recorded his own vifit (in a more early age) to this flatue, in company with his friend M'lus Gallus, and a military train. He declares that he heard the miraculous found, but intimates a doubt whether it really proceeded from the bafe, from the fragment of the figure, or from the artifice of perfons who formed a bufy circle round it f . Strabo does not aflign any name to the flatue in queflion ; but calls the fcene where it was placed the Memnonium. " Here," he fays, " are two colofTal figures, each of a fingle ftone, " and near to each other. One is preferved ; the upper part of the *' other has fallen, and, as they fay, by an earthquake." The fagacious geographer exprefTes, in very flrong terms, his un- willingnefs to believe that the furprifing found he heard could be the fpontaneous produdion of the ftone itfelf :}:. A refpe£table traveller of our own country, the learned, faithful, and elaborate Pococke, has laboured to gratify curiofity concerning this * AXKx ■)'»{ H M£/-tvov» 01 ©r,j3aioi XEyjwi, lJii xai SsTajrc**" ^a/^sVft.'V sivai raTO to a.ya.7,y.a., o Kay^^vcmc d*£xo\l£, x«* vvv crrayov ex xs^aXt;? =,' jitjo-ov (riL'jjiM rtf dTnefiu-iJ-'-yoy' to ^s Xoittov xa9r,T»i te x«i ay« irao-«.v rfjitfxy avKrxo^TOi uTiMi ^oa, xa» tov n^o^ /*a?js-* ukoutu tij xiSajKf 1 Xupas paysum; xof^is- Pausanias, p. lol. edit. Kuhnii. + Kovyw ^i Ttat.am nti ran Toffw, fj.iTa FaXXs AiXia, xai th TrXriOs; Tm (Tuvovtwv ai/Tii ipiXiiv te xai a-TjaxinTOT, TTspi moit Trgmmv wuitra ra 4'O^k, ute Se wto t»i; ^airix;, eite ccto t» xoXoarrs, £»t' EWcmdE! ruv xvxAu, xix* 9r£f» T>iv jSa<7i» tifV[/.irM> TOO,- iroina-ano; tov vl/otpon, hk ix'^ ciKrxi'fi'ra-adcu, Strabo, lib. xvii, p. 1171, edit. 1707. t Ai» yoc^ TO «^r,Mv rn; ainx,-, :ra» fM\'/.oi Eir£px"«' Tis-£i'=»>'j " to ex tw Xtfiw stu TET«yf*Evi'v ix.vtjj.via^a.1 NOTES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE. ,5q this celebrated image, by a very minute defcription, illuftrated by en- gravings : yet with every advantage that erudition and a furvey of the fragment could afford him, he is obliged to leave the fubjedt ftill in- volved in confiderable darknefs ; for among the various ftatues that he examined in this interefting fcene, (the ruins of Thebes,) he found that two of them had pretenfions to be regarded as the miraculous image * ; and of thefe he has given the following circumftantial account : " In the fecond court (of the temple) are remains of two ftatues of " black granite. That to the weft, which is fitting, meafured, from " the hand to the elbow, five feet ; thence to the fhoulder four. The " head is three feet and a half long, and the ear is one foot in length. " Theftatue to the eaft is three feet five inches long in the foot. At a " diftance from it is the head with the cap. It is three feet fix inches " long, and behind it is the ornament of the dome-leaf. Some perfons " have thought that one of thefe is the ftatue of Memnoh. From the " temple I went to the ftatues, which I ftiall call the coloflal ftatues of " Memnon. They are towards Medinet-Habou. I fpent above half " a day at thefe ftatues. They are of a very particular fort of porous, " hard granite, fuch as I never faw before. It moft refembles the " eagle-ftone. " The ftatues look to the fouth-fouth-eaft, and are on a pedeftal or " plinth, entirely plain. That to the north is thirty feet long and • Mr. de Caylus has diftinguifhed the ftatue of remote antiquity from that of a later time in the following remark on Egyptian antiquities : " llnefaut pas confondre la ftatue de Memnon, dont parle Pline, avec celle qui fubfifte, et " qui a infpire une fi grande curiofite aux voyageurs anciens et modernes ; non feulemcnt " cette derniere eft coloffiile, mais elle eft de granite. D'ailleurs elle etoit antique a I'egard de " Pline, puifqu' elle etoit placee defon tems dans I'endroit qu'elle occupe aujourdhui, c'eft-a- " dire, hors de la ville de Thebes, affez pres des tombeaux des anciens rois d'jEgypte, et " qu'elle avoit ete elevee avant la conquete, que les Perfes firent de ce pays ; tandis que la ftatue " de bajalte que Pline prefente comme un objet beaucoup nioins confiderable, etoit confacree " dans un temple de Serapis, dont le culte n'a ete introduit en .ffigypte que fous les PtOr " lemees." Antiquites de M. de Caylus, tom.v. p. 13. , -Q NOTES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE. " feventeen broad. The pedeftal of the other is thirty-three feet long " and nineteen wide, and they are about thirty feet apart. That to the " fouth is of one ftone. The ftatue to the north has been broken off " at the middle, above the arms, that lie on the hams, and it has been " built up with five tiers of ftones — one to the top of the clinch of the ♦' elbow, another almoft halfway up the arm, one to the arm-pits, " the fourth to the neck, and the fifth, the head and neck of one ftone. " The other tiers have two ftones in front, except that the middle tier " has three; and there are two ftones in the thicknefs of the ftatue. " The feet are broken a quarter off from the toes : but as I did not " take a particular draught of the parts of the ftatue that are maimed, I " thought it better to give it entire from the drawing and obfervations " I did make. I found the height, from the bottom of the foot to the " top of the knee, to be about nineteen feet ; from the bottom of the " foot to the ankle, two feet fix inches ; to the top of the inftep, four " feet ; the foot is five feet broad, and the leg is four feet deep. The *' ornament behind the head feemed to be the dome-leaf, as I have it *' on a ftatue of Harpocrates. At the fide of the legs are two reliefs, " and one between the legs, of the natural height, but much defaced. " Between the former and the great ftatue are hieroglyphics. The pe- " deftal of the imperfed ftatue is cracked acrofs, at the diftance of " about ten feet from the back part. There are alfo fome flaws and " cracks in the other ftatue; but it is of one ftone, which I dare pofi- " tively affirm, and in which I could not be miftaken, having been " twice at the ftatues. I fpent half a day there, and took down in my " notes an account of every ftone of which the upper part of the other *« is built. On the pedeftal of the imperfedl ftatue is a Greek epigram ; " and on the infteps and legs, for about eight feet high, are feveral in- " fcrlptions in Greek and Latin ; fome being epigrams in honour of " Memnon; others, the greater part, teftimonies of thofe who heard NOTES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE. lyi " the found ; and fome alfo in unknown charaders. All the infcrlp- " tions are ill cut, and in bad language, both on account of the hard- " nefs of the ftone, and the ignorance of the people, who probably " made money by cutting thefe infcriptions for thofe that came to hear " the found. I copied them with all the exadnefs I could ; though " many of them were very difficult to be underftood, and I was not en- " tirely undifturbed while I was doing it." Thus far I have tranfcribed the induftrious and accurate Pococke, be- caufe his menfuration affords a fatisfadory idea of ^Egyptian fculpture. I omit his difcuffion of the arguments concerning the point, which of the two ftatues he has mentioned is the real Mernnon, becaufe fome ideas fuggefted by a later and more lively traveller of France have led me to believe that the report of Paufanias was perfedly true, and that the marvellous ftatue was never intended to reprefent the prince of iEthiopia. How it acquired the name of Memnon we fhall gradually difcover. M. Savary, in his elegant, amufing Letters on Jigypt, has compared fuch reliques of Thebes as he could inveftigate himfelf, with the defcrip- tions of this magnificent fcenery that are to be found in ancient authors, particularly Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, by whofe affiftance he en- deavours to throw new light on this miraculous image. He falls, how- ever, into an evident miftake, in faying that Strabo calls it the Statue of Memnon. That illuftrious and accurate geographer only fays, after naming a place, which he calls Me[/.voviov, a word that may fignify the Temple, or perhaps merely the monuments of Memnon, that it contained two coloffal ftatues, which he proceeds to defcribe in the manner I have already mentioned. But the ingenious French traveller, borrowing, perhaps, a hint from Strabo *, though he does not intimate * El J'w; (fiaiTiv o ME/imin vnro rm AiyvTmuiv Ia-/^»»d»i; Xsysraij km o ^a/3l;p»v8t)^ M!/xvo»=iov «v itn xa» ra «tiT« ifyov, UTTif xai T« E» AoMci), xai T« s» Qrhx-i;' x«i y«j ix.u \iyiT«,i Tivx Msjuvovsfa. StrABO, p. 1 1 67. Z 2 172 NOTES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE. that he did, has ventured to beftow on the broken Coloflus, commonly called the ftatue of Memnon, the name of Ofymanduas; as he con- ceives that the dimenfions of the figure, and the fcene around it, fuf- ficiently anfwer to the magnificent defcription by which Diodorus has commemorated the tomb of that Egyptian monarch, whole title Pococke bellows on another coloflal figure. M. Savary goes ftill far- ther in his probable conjedture, and imagines that Carabyfes was tempted to break the ftupendous image by the infcription which it bore, accord- ing to the narrative of the Greek hiftorian ; which infcription the French traveller tranflates in the following words : " Je fuis Ofiman- " due, roi des rois. Si Ton veut favoir combien je fuis grand, et " ou je repofe, que Ton detruife quelqu'un de ces ouvrages*." — " I am Ofymanduas, the king of kings. If any one wiflies to know " how great I am, and where I repofe, let him conquer fome of my " works." The word vfi<.oi.Tu (literally, " let him conquer") is rendered by the Englifti traveller, " \t\.\\iv{\ furpafs \^ by the French traveller, " let " him deJlroyT The latter, in his interpretation of this fuperb infcrip- tion, feems to reduce it to a level with the pleafant, myfterious epitaph in Gil Bias : " A qui efta encerrada el alma del licenciado Pedro Garcias ;" and to fuppofe that it was defigned to lead fome ingenious interpreter to the happy difcovery of a latent treafure. Though I prefume to rally the accomplifhed traveller of France for his fubtle conftrudlion, I am ftill particularly inclined to credit the conjedure of M. Savary concerning the proper title of this celebrated coloflal figure, becaufe it tends to con- firm another conjedure by which I would account for the manner in which it acquired the very different name of Memnon. Diodorus Si- culus, in defcribing the tomb of Ofymanduas, and the coloflal ftatues with which it was adorned, declares that thefe ftatues were the work of rgyuv. Diodorus Siculue. NOTES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE. 1 73 Memnon Syenites. This fculptor muft have been an artift of the higheft celebrity in his time ; hence perhaps his mofl; remarkable ftatue aflumed the name of its maker, in preference to that of the monarch whom it was defigned to reprefent j and hence, as the name of this marvellous fculptor happened to be alfo the name by which an heroic prince of -Ethiopia was diftinguifhed, who is fuppofed to have founded the city of Abydus in jEgypt, many fabulous ftories feem to have been invented to account for what in all probability never exifted ; I mean, a fculptural reprefentation of the J^-thiopian hero (the ally of Priam, and the unfuccefsful antagonift of Achilles) among the coloQal ftatues of Thebes. Having expatiated fo far on the name of this interefting image, I will add but a few remarks on its miraculous found. Strabo and Savary feem to have agreed in the idea, that the wonder was rather to be flighted as the myfterious device of prieftcraft, than to be regarded as a genuine miracle of Nature. Yet the eminent philofophical poet of Derbyrtiire, who has introduced this fafcinating ftatue into his delightful Botanic Garden, appears, in a note to that poem, to think that philofophy might very honeftly contrive to produce a fimilar efFe£t. It may be well worth the attention, both of artlfts and philofophers, to confider how far it may be pofTible and proper to engage the fenfe of hearing as an affiftant to enhance the pleafure of fight, when that plea- furc arifes from any grand work of Art. Antiquity has proved that the pidure of a battle may be exhibited to advantage with an accom- paniment of martial mufic ; and perhaps in a great naval monument, it would be eafy to introduce, and conceal fuch works of mufical me- chanifm as might occafionally increafe, in a moft: powerful degree, the delight arifing from fuch a fped:acle. I cannot quit the ftatue of Memnon without mentioning the moft il- luftrious of his ancient vifitors. Thefe were the emperor Hadrian with i 74 NOTES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE. his emprefs Sabina, and a prince perhaps not lefs accomplifhed, and certainly more amiable than Hadrian, that deferving idol of the Roman people, Germanicus ! The hiftorian Tacitus, who has recorded thevifit of the latter to this attradive flatue, fays not a fyllable expreffive of his own opinion concerning the miraculous found *. I confefs myfelf in- clined to imagine that the marvel originated in the avaricious ingenuity of thofe who were engaged in fhewing this -celebrated fpedacle : but a different opinion was entertained by a modern writer on ftatues, whofc authority is fo refpedable, that I fhall fubmit to the reader his more candid ideas on this interefting image. The Abbe Comte de Guafco, whofe learned and elegant hiftorical eflay, " De TUfage des Statues," I fhall have very frequent occafion to cite and to applaud, fpeaks of this figure in his chapter on the prodigies and miracles attributed to ftatues. He defcribes it as a ftatue raifed to Memnon by Amenophis the Second, on the banks of the Nile ; and after noticing the incredulity of Strabo, he fays in a note, which I fhall tranfcribe, that modern travellers had aflured him they had been witnefles of the phenomenon, which, in his opinion, may be fairly and naturally explained by atmofpherical in- fluence f. * " Ceterum Germanicus aliis quoque miraculis intendit animum ; quorum prascipua fuere " Memnonis faxea effigies, ubi radiis folis Ida eft vocalem fonum reddens." Tacitus. f " Des voyageurs modernes m'ont affuie avoir eie temoins de ce phenomena. II n'eft pas " etonnantque dans des fiecles oil la croyance en la divinite du foleil etoit dominante, il fut " regarde comme furnaturel, et que ce bruit fut trouve harmonieux. Mais dans un terns ou " la phyfique eft mieux connue, il s'expliquera naturellement. I,a rarefadlion del'atmofphere " et la dilatation des folides caufee par la chaleur des rayons du foleil, peuvent fournir d'autres " examples de cette nature, et ils ne feront point embellis par la prevention que fait naitre la " fuperftition." De I'Ufage des Statues, p. 174. NOTES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE. ly^ NOTE II. Ver. 127. Miltonic temper to thy fervent foul. An allufion to the following Sonnet, which the author had the plea- fure of addreffing to his friend feveral years ago, before he vifited Italy — a brief but early prefage of his prefent excellence ! Flaxman ! young artift of an ardent mind ! Whofe juft ambition, by the Gr.eeks infpir'd, Thirfts for pure Attic glory, though inclin'd To doubt if partial Nature e'er aflign'd To modern fouls, howe'er fublimely fir'd. Genius like that, whofe energy refin'd, Difdaining lucre, and by toil untir'd. Led the keen Greek to what his heart defir'd ! Accept and read, with hoaeft Englilh pride, A bard, whom Greece might view with envious eyes ! Let Milton's Mufe your daring chiflel guide ! And, if your fculpture like his fong can rife, England, who glories in his fame, in you Shall boaft a Phidias to her Homer true. In recolleding how warmly I formerly recommended the perfonages of Milton to the attention of my friend the fculptor, I am naturally led to fpeak of the ftriking colours in which thofe perfonages have recently appeared on the canvafs of Mr. Fufeli. The Miltonic Gallery is a noble monument of induftry and genjus. I feize with pleafure an op- portunity of declaring my fentiments of its merit, becaufe thofe fenti- ments are confirmed by the more valuable judgment of the friend to . whom this publication is addreffed. 1 76 NOTES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE. NOTE III. Ver. 227. And confecrated life to toil intenfe. Milton, defcribing, mod ingenuoufly, the dawn of literary ambition in his own youthful mind, has the following expreffions : After mentioning the favour he experienced from his learned ac- quaintance of Italy, he fays, " I began thus far to aflent both to them, and divers of my friends " here at home, and not lefs to an inward prompting which now grew " daily upon me, that by labour and intent ftudy, (which I take to be " my portion in this life,) joined with the ftrong propenfity of Nature, I " might perhaps leave fomething fo written to after-times as they fhould " not willingly let it die." Profe Works, quarto edit. vol. i. p. 62. NOTE IV. Ver. 238. All that Vve done is due to patient thought. The writer of Newton's Life, in the Biographia Britannica, has very juftly remarked, that modefty was one of the many admirable qualities which fo eminently diftinguifhed this fublime philofopher. Two ftrik- ing examples of it are recorded; the firft, drawn from a converfatioa in which Newton, with the fimplicity of a mind truly great, fpoke what he thought himfelf of his own mental exertions : the fecond, from a paffage in one of his letters, containing almoft the very words of the verfe which gave rife to this note. NOTES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE. ^n NOTE V. Ver. 246. For low and little cares of languid life. The two celebrated and amiable phyficians, Zimmerman and Tiflbt, whofe writings deferve the title affixed to the famous library of .3iigypt, " Medicine for the Mind," afford moft valuable advice and confolation to thofe votaries of art or fcience who may have been forced by fick- nefs or forrow to fufpend their favourite purfuits. Few literary inva- lids can fail to feel themfelves foothed, and encouraged to ftruggle with calamity, by the touching defcription which Zimmerman has given to the world of his own fufferings, and thofe of his learned and accom- plifhed friends, Garve and Mendelfohn, in his beneficent Eifayon Soli- tude. Some readers, indeed, are fo faftidious as to think that infirmity and afflidtion fhould on no occafion obtrude their private grievances (paft or prefent) on the eye of the public : but every writer who records, with the eloquence of real fenfibility, calamities that he has encountered with any degree of fuccefs, is certainly a friend to fuffering humanity ; as his record may furnifh prefent or future fellow- fufferers with a frefli incentive to fortitude or exertion ; and the general fympathy of Nature will probably make him ample amends for any accidental cenfure that he may happen to incur from unfeeling individuals. NOTE VI. Ver. 280. With thee ^ inJlruBive guide I to Jludy Rcme. The author had pleafed himfelf with a profpedl of enjoying the fociety, and taking a fhare in the ftudies of his friend, during the A A 178 NOTES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE. laft of the feveral years that the fculptor devoted to Italy : but he relinqirifhed this favourite defign at the earneft entreaty of fome other friends, who requefted him to remain in England for the purpofe of writing a Life of Milton. He facrificed to their requeft a project that feemed to promife him infinite advantage and delight. Time and chance conferred on him an unexpected and ineftimable recompence for that facrifice, in the friendfhip of Mr. Cowper, which his attachment to. Milton proved the means of his acquiring. NOTE VII. Ver. 324. On whom that coyeji queen her/mile bejlows. The paragraph which clofes with this line is founded on a paflage of fingular beauty in one of Milton's Latin letters to his friend Diodati; " Unde fit, ut qui fpretis, qua; vulgus prava rerum seftimatione opi- " natur, id fentire et loqui et efle audet, quod fumma per omne sevum " fapientia optimum efle docuit, illi me protinus, ficuti reperiam, ne- " ceflitate quadam adjungam. Quod fi ego, five natura, five meo fate *' ita fum comparatus, ut nulla contentione, et laboribus meis ad tale " decus et faftigium laudis ipfe valeam emergere, tamen quo minus qui "- eam gloriam affecuti funt, aut eo feliciter afpirant, illos Temper co- " lam et fufpiciam, nee dii puto, nee homines prohibuerint." " Hence, wherever I find a man defpifing the falfe eftimates of the " vulgar, and daring to afpire, in fentiment, language, and conduft, " to what the higheft wifdom, through every age, has taught us as moft " excellent, to him I unite myfelf by a fort of necefl'ary attachment; " and if I am fo influenced by nature or deftiny that by no exertion or " labours of my own I may exalt myfelf to this fummit of worth and NOTES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE. 1 79 " honour, yet no powers of Heaven or earth will hinder me from look- " ing with reverence and affedion upon thofe who have thoroughly " attained this glory, or appear engaged in the fuccefsful purfuit of " it." END OF THE NOTES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE. A A 2 NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. NOTE I. Ver. 42. jThe JavWite idol of benighted zeal. An ingenious foreigner, who has added extenfive learning to a lively imagination, and who publifhed, in our country, a work of confider- able magnitude on the origin and progrefs of the Arts, indulges a con- jedure that the head of the Urus, or favage bull, was the earliefl: work of fculpture. This idea ftruck him fo forcibly, that he has endeavoured to difplay and confirm a conje(fture, not very probable, in the two fol- lowing paflages of his elaborate and amufmg refearches : " Ces obfervations nous decouvrent la marche de la fculpture, et celle " de la the'ologie des anciens. Cette theologie admettant d'abord un " Etre Supreme, qu'elle regarda comme la pere invifible de toutes chofes, " le reprcfenta par I'embleme du boeuf fauvage. Le terme Tho, ou " The'o, exprimant cet animal produifit le mot The'os, d'ou vint celui 1 82 NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. *' de Deus, qui fignifia DIeu ; parceque fon embleme fut primitivement " reprefente fous la forme de I'individu dont ce mot etoit le nom. La " fculpture en imitant la figure de cet animal, rendit I'ide'e de la the- *' ologie. Cette idee prefcrivit robjet qui fit peut-etre decouvrircet art " ingenieux, ou du moins qui encouragea ces premiers effais." — Recherchesfur COrigine^ VEfpr'it^ et les Progres des Arts^ torn i. p. 145. The author fays, in the fame volume, where he labours to flrengthen his CO nje dure by the authority of very early medals, " Ces me'dailles, frappees dans I'orient par un peuple Scythe, nous " reprefentent la figure du boeuf a tete humaine, telle qu'on I'avoit dans " un pais tres voifin de celui dont elle vint, et chez les defcendans d'un " peuple qui le premier employa cette embleme. II pafla dela dans la *' Grece, dans la Sicile, et dans I'ltalie, ou on le voit fi frequemment " repre'fente fur les me'dailles de Gela, d'Agrigente, de Naples, et de " tant d'autres villes, repandues dans toutes les parties de la Grece. " S'il eft vrai, comme je le crois, que cette figure fut le principe de celles " des autres dieux, repre'fente's fous la forme humaine, elle doit etre " regardee comme le germeet le premier pasde la fculpture." — P. 177. NOTE II. Ver. 48. The new at t ration of a modeW d face. Two refpedtable writers of antiquity, the philofopher Athenagoras, and the naturalift Pliny, agree in deriving the art of modelling from the celebrated though anonymous Maid of Corinth, whofe father Dibu- tades, a potter, was fo pleafed with the ingenuity of his daughter, in drawing the (hade of her fleeping lover, by lamp-light, on a wall, that he is faid to have filled her outline with clay, and, hardening it with NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. 1 83 the reft of his earthen-ware, to have thus produced a buft, or a me- dallion, (for it might be either,) which was preferved at Corinth as a curious rudiment of art, rill that city was deftroyed by Mummius, according to a tradition mentioned by Pliny *. The Athenian philofo- pher, who lived a confiderable time after the deftrudion, and after the revival of Corinth, fpeaks of this interefting produdion of early art as being ftill preferved when he wrote, in the reign of Marcus Au- relius f. The anecdote of the Corinthian Maid is fo pleafing to the imagina- tion, that we cannot be furprized at its being readily received as genuine hiftory. M. de Caylus makes a very juft remark upon it, in his excel- lent Memoir on the Sculpture of the Ancients : " Cette idee eft melee " de vrai-femblance dans le detail, et d'agre'ment dans I'invention : " mais quand on voudroit douter de ces pretendus faits, il eft encore " plus commode de les adopter : on ne pourroic mcttre a la place que " d'autres fuppofitions." — Mem. de V Academie^ torn. xxv. p. 305. NOTE III. Ver. 56. Till impious ivorjhip grew from tender grief. " For a father, afflided with untimely mourning, when he hath " made an image of his child foon taken away, now honoured him as * " Fingere ex argilla fimilitudines, Dibutades Sicyonius Figulus primus invcait Corinthi " filiae opera; qux capta amore juvenis, illo abeunte peregre, umbram ex iacie ejus ad lu- •' cernam in pariete lineis circumfcripfit : quibiis pater ejus imprefla argilla typum fecit, & " cum caeteris fiiflilibus induratum igni propofuit ; eumque fervatum in NympliKO donee Co- " rinthum Mummius everteret tradunt." Plin. lib. 35. cap. 12. •j- Atto 5e T>i; y-ojyii « xopoir^arixi tvfi^n ifi^riy.uc yap nn; ty^h'tra., irtfuyfo.'i^iv cana xctftufum cv «i^j; t»iv vxiay :i6' irarrip ko-Ssi; aTrapaXXaxTiu a^jn th ojuowrnri (xspa^v Si ii^ya^no) ava"/Xi;4-a; tuv irifiypaipnv n-ij^si •TfOju«; Sewv am ayaXfiiiTuy tijjoir «pyoi X1C51. Fausanias, p. 579. NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. 185 At Orchomenos, the favourite feat of the Graces, fo happily cele- brated by Pindar, thofe interefting divinities were originally reprefented by three white ftones. When a rude fymbol was exchanged, in pro- cefs of time, for a more refined image, the Greeks were folicitous to preferve feme idea of the original type ; a pradlice well illuftrated by D'Hancarville, in his remark on thefe memorable fymbols that firft re- prefented the Graces. He imagines that the union of the fymbols gave rife to the attitude which thefe patronefles of Grecian art affumed in their fubfequent form : " L'unlon des trois pierres blanches, qui indiquoient les Graces a Orchomene, fut confervee lorfque la fculpture convertit ces pierres en ftatues, le point par ou elles fe touchoient devint la main par laquelle chacune d'elles fe repofa fur les bras de I'autre, tandis que de celle qu'elles avoient libre, elles tinrent les attributs qui les diflinguoient. Cette attitude charmante continua d'indiquer I'avantage qu'elles fe pretent Tune a I'autre, I'harmonie qui les rend infeparables, et le plaifir qu'elles procurent par leur union. Telles on les voit fur les medailles, fur beaucoup de pierres gravees, dans un petit groupe qui appartient a la maifon de Borghefe, mais particulierement dans les an- tiquites d'Herculaneum. David, torn. iii. pi. 21." D'Hancarville, Jntiq. Etruf. torn. iv. p. 6. The firft Minerva adored at Athens is faid to have been nothing more than a rough pointed ftake *. In contemplating the great contraft be- tween fuch objeQs of popular veneration and the works of Phidias and Praxiteles, the mind takes a generous delight in the progreflive powers of human ingenuity. The pleafure we naturally feel in fuch a contraft has induced many writers to inveftigate, with great labour, the ob- fcure origin of different arts. M. D'Hancarville, in the ingenious dif- *" Sine effigie rudis palus et informe lignum." Tsrtullian. B B l86 NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. fertations prefixed io his Etrufcan Antiquities, has endeavoured to trace the rife and early progrefs of fculpture through many centuries of dark- nefs prior to the age of Daedalus ; a period with which the adive en- thufiafm of Winkelman had feemed to fatisfy itfelf, in his elaborate and animated Hiftory of Ancient Art. If the conjectures of a writer may be trufted, who ventures to deli- neate a period fo very diftant and dark, the origin of Grecian fculpture may be affigned to the reign of Apis, the fucceflbr of Phoroneus, about 177S years before the Chriftian aera*; and according to a very reafonable fuppofition of M. D'Hancarville, this delightful and difficult art was more than a thoufand years in proceeding, by infenfible degrees, from a ftate of rude barbarity to its period of exquifite perfection. Of its moft remarkable fteps, and of many memorable artifts who particu- larly contributed to its advancement, I fhall fpeak in fubfequent notes. I return to the immediate fubjed of this, — the difpofition to fond idola- try in an afflided parent. Two ftriking, though very different charac- ters of the ancient world are remarkable examples of this difpofition — Nimrod and Cicero. The ftrong feelings of nature, on the lofs of a beloved child, produced the fame wildnefs of afFeCtionate fancy in the imperial hunter and in the republican philofopher. Thofe who recol- lect the infinite tendernefs with which the great Roman orator fpeaks, in his Letters, of his darling Tullia, will forgive and pity the unhappy father, whofe excefs of affliction led him fo far to forget his own philo- fophical principles as to think very ferioufly of building, not a tomb, but a temple, to his departed child, as a proper objeCt of worfhip. The Abbe Mongault has clearly afcertained this intention of Cicero, in his interefting remarks on the Fanum TuUise, in the Memoirs of the French Academy. * " Ainfi I'invention de la ftatuaire remonte jufqu'au tems de cet Apis qui finit vers Pan " 3932 de la perlode Julienne, a-peu-pres mil fept cent foixante dix huit ans avant la naif- " fance de Jelus Chrift." D'Hancarville, Antiq. Etruf. torn. iii. p. 21. NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. 187 NOTE IV. Ver. 68. Thy f am' d Prometheus^ thy primceval pride. Of all the celebrated perfonages of antiquity, there is not one who feems to have had a harder fate, in every point of view, than this extra- ordinary character. He has peculiar claims to a place in this Work, from having been long regarded as the very firft of Pagan artifts, and indeed, the firft of philofophers *. The poets have reprefented him as fufFering the fevereft of tortures for ingenuity and benevolence. His acute and energetic fpirit, nobly painted by ^fchylus, rendered him a favourite hero of the Athenian, and afterwards of the Roman ftage, as we may conjedure from the fragments of Accius. At Athens he had an altar infcribed to him in the Academy ; and a feftival was held in his honour, diftinguifhed by a race, in which the candidates for the prize carried a flame as they ran, and he only was confidered as the viftor who brought it alive to the goal f . Paufanias, who mentions this tri- bute to the memory of Prometheus, relates alfo that the inhabitants of Phocis preferved, with great veneration, fome reliques of the very clay from which this firft of modellers was faid to have faftiioned man %. Yet fome of the Pagan philofophers did not fcruple to deny the mortal exiftence of Prometheus, and to reduce him to a mere fymbol of man's inventive faculty. Some early Chriftian writers treat him with ftlll * rioKrai ■ny^cu /5f&Toia'i» ex ripo/inSEii;?. jDsCHYLUS. -|- Ey Axaaii/xt» Jn Er» nfO/AJiGsiii; /3ai/xs;' xa» 6s»i7iy om omth Tpof T)1» iroXiv e;^ovt£5 xaio/xsva^ AajuTraJaj' t« 3i a'yoiwcTjLca, ojxa ™ ^fo^ $uAa|ai mv Jaioa fTi xaioftimv, srw. Pausanias, p. 76. M. de Caylus has inferted in the firft volume of his Antiquities a vignette, formed from a monument found in Athens, alluding to this race. \ Tama it» \ti-zt^cu tb irn^n Xr^wrty, c| s xai «7rav viro tb Tlfo^JiSEiij to ymoi TrXarSnysa rw* aySpuTuiy. P. 806. • ' B B 2 138 NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. more feverity. The refpe£table Ladtantius, in particular, allows him his exiftence and his ingenuity, but defcribes him as employing his rare powers to the bafeft of purpofes, to promote the prepofterous ambition of his relation Jupiter; and as contriving, by his fculptural art, to convert the tyrant into a god*. Gf an interefting charader, fo long the fport and vidim of fancy, fable, and conjedure, it is natural to defire, but very difficult to obtain, a fimple, rational hiftory. Who (hall folve the doubt whether Pro- metheus really exifted or not ? He has been called a Cretan, an Egyptian, a Scythian ; and Olaus Rudbecke, in that marvellous work of extenfive erudition and fanciful ingenuity, his Atlantica, feems inclined to make him a Swede, and claim him for a countryman with the reft of the Titans. Of our own modern writers. Lord Bacon and Mr. Bryant (two refpedable names) agree with the emperor Julian in their inclina- tion to melt this primaeval artift into a mere allegory. I confefs myfelf rather inclined to the opinion of the learned and intelligent Brucker, ■who, in his elaborate and candid Hiftory of Philofophy, has very mo- deftly ftated fuch conjectures of his own, concerning this celebrated perfonage, as account, in a very probable manner, for all his fabu- lous adventures. This author imagines that Prometheus was a fervant, high in the confidence of Ofiris, an ^Egyptian monarch, who ventur- ing, without the permiffion of his fovereign, to communicate the arts of Mzypl to the ruder Greeks, was imprifoned for that offence, and tormented, till the ^Egyptian officer who guarded him was flain by Her- • " Stultus igitur et amens, qui adorat quod ipfe fabricavit, cujus artificii deteftabilis et in- *• epti auftorfuit Prometheus, patruo Jovis Japeto natus. Nam cum primum Jupiter, fummo " potitus imperio, tanquam deum feconftltuere vellet ac templa condere, et quasreretaliquem " qui humanam figuram poflet exprimere, tunc Pi-ometheus cxtitit, quihominis effigiem de •' pinguiluto figuraret ita verifimiliter, ut novitas ac fubtilitas artis miraculo effet. Denique *' ilium et fuitemporis homines & poftea poets tanquam fidlorem veri acvivi hominis prodide- ♦' runt, et nos quoties fabrefafla figna laudamus vivere ilia et fpirare dicimus, et hie quidem " auftorfuit fidtiliumfimulacrorum." Lactantius, tom.ii. p. JJ- edit. 1748. NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. igp cules, and the prifoner fet free *. But whether Prometheus had a real, or only an imaginary exiftence, it is clear that the artifts as well as the poets of antiquity were employed in giving celebrity to his interefting charadler. We learn from Achilles Tatius, and from Seneca, that the two paint- ers, Evanthes and Parrhafius, executed remarkable pidures of his adven- tures ; and we have reafon to believe, from the two following epigrams of the Anthologia, that the Grecian fculptors alfo reprefented his tor- tures with admirable energy. laXiocva £<$• Ufoy.rjdex. Te^vri^ irvp " Tf £0^fTaTo;, xai sJwa^f* aTavraj . — EtVf Js xai a'yaXj**w:f» to» avxpa. ex(7a?r^iipa XiO«, x«i ExaXsiTo to ayaX^a AAtiStia. jElian, edit. PerizoBu, p. 911. 1^8 NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. their knowledc^e of an art which began to difplay itfelf among them at that early period. D'Hancarville ingenioufly interprets the fables con- cerning the ftones of Deucalion, and the ferpent's teeth of Cadmus, as alluding to the origin of Sculpture. " Deucalion et Corsebe furent contemporains de Cecrops : Cadmus " vecut avec Hellen, de qui les Grecs prirent le nom d'Hellenes ; il " etoit fils de Deucalion. Les fables difoient de ce dernier, que des " hommes naquirent des pierres qu'il jetta par derriere lui, apres le ■ " deluge qui arriva de fon tems ; ces memes fables racontoient que des " guerriers tout armes naquirent des dents du ferpent tires par Cad- " mus, et feme's dans la terre. Comme vers le regne de Cecrops on fit " en pierre les figures du tombeau du Corsebe, ces fables e'toient peut- " etre invente'es, pour marquer dans le ftyle dont on fe fervoit alors, " qu' au tems de Deucalion et de Cadmus, I'ufage de faire avec des *' pierres et de I'ivoire des figures qui repre'fentoient des hommes s'in- " troduifit dans la Gr^ct "—Antiquites Etrufques^ torn. iii. p. 58. <■■ The iEgyptians feem to have taken a pride in their early diftinflion"; for Herodotus fays they boafted of having invented ftatues ; and Diodo- rus Siculus mentions their idea that men were firft created in iEgypt. NOTE IX. Ver. 148. The paths of knowledge, truth, and fame are yours. An allufion to the following paflage from the 14th of Pindar's Olym- pic Odes, in which that poet has happily exprefled the high ideas he en- tertained on the influence of the Graces: Suv yap t/jttji/ TO. TE^TTva, koh to, yXvaeoc TiViTUi TTocvrx fSpoTotg' E» (Topog, Bi KuXo?, £* TK uyXuog Ayjjp, NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. ipp In the Memoirs of the French Academy there Is an animated diflert- ation " Sur les Graces," by that amiable fcholar the Abbe Maflleu, who has collected from ancient authors every particular relating to thefe fa- vourite divinities of Greece. The following paflage enumerates fome of the moft eminent works of art devoted to their honour : " Enfin les anciens aimoient a marquer leur zele pour leurs dieux, " par divers monumens qu'ils elevoient a leur gloire, par des tableaux, " par des ftatues, par des infcriptions, par des medailles. Or toute la " Gre'ce etoit pleine de femblables monumens, que la piete publique ^l avoit confacre's aux Graces. On voyoit dans la plupart des villes " leurs figures, faites par les plus grands maitres. II y avoit a Pergame " un tableau de ces deefles peint pour Pythagore de Paros. Un autre " a Smyrne, qui etoit de la main d'Apelle. Socrate avoit fait leurs " ftatues en marble, et Bupale les fit en or. Paufanias parle de " plufieurs autres egalement recommendables par la richefle de la ma- " tiere, et par la beaute du travail. Demofthene rapporte dans la ha- " rangue pour la couronne, que les Atheniens ayant fecouru les habitans " de la Querfonefe dans un befoin preflant, ceux-ci pour eternifer le " fouvenir d'un tel bienfait eleverent un autel avec cette infcription : " * Autel confacre a celle des Graces qui preTide a la reconnoifTance." NOTE X. Ver. i66. To limit England in the fphere of art. Every friend to literary merit muft lament that writers of fuch de- ferved celebrity as Montefquieu and Winkelman, could be induced to disfigure their immortal works with the fuppofition that the mhabitants of England labour under a natural incapacity of attaining excellence in 200 NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE- the fine arts ; a fuppofition that can only difgrace thofe who admit and endeavour to fupport it. NOTE XL Ver. 270. And blejs'd a bold progenitor in thee. Dxdalus was univerfally revered by antiquity as the father of Grecian fculpture : but in , proportion as his genius became an objedb of public veneration, his perfonal hiftory vpas fo involved in the decorations or difguifes of fable, that (to the regret cf thofe who love to invefligate the lives of meritorious men) it is hardly poffible to obtain a fatisfadlory account of this celebrated fculptor, architeft, and mechanift, whofe early and fuccefsful ingenuity has fo juftly endeared his name to every lover of art. The learned Junius has afligned a very copious article to Dsedalus, in his catalogue of antient artifts ; and the Abbe' Gedoyn (the refpecSt- able tranflator of Quintilian and Paufanias) has introduced a hiftory of Daedalus into the Memoirs of the French Academy. Thefe two elabo- rate writers have colledted all that antiquity could furnifh to elucidate his life ; but they both feem to admit, as an eftabllfhed fad, one moft difhonourable circumftance in the hiftory of their hero, which I am inclined to confider as not more entitled to ferious credit than the moft: fabulous portion of his adventures ; I mean, the horrid fuppofition that he envioufly murdered his nephew and his difciple, for poffeffing inge- nuity fuperior to his own. Of this I fhall fpeak in its place : let me firft relate the more early particulars that ancient writers have recorded concerning this celebrated fculptor. He was by birth an Athenian j and though authors differ on the name of his father, they agree in reprefenting him as the grand- • NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. 20 1 fon or great-grandfon of Eredheus, the fixth fovereign of Athens ; and Paufanias afferts that he Hved in the period when CEdipus reigned in Thebes ; that is, about half a century before the fiege of Troy. Dio- dorus Siculus, who may be called the earlieft biographer of Dsedalus that we polTefs, defcribes him as having greatly improved the rude fculpture of his age, and excited the admiration of his contemporaries, before the charge of having deftroyed his difciple reduced him to the neceffity of flying from his country. In the account that Diodorus has given of this very improbable crime, there is one particular that feems to mark the whole ftory as a fabulous invention. It is faid that this ingenious difciple, the fon of his fifter, was led to invent a faw by the accident of finding the jaw of a ferpent, and by obfcrving the ufe to which its teeth might be fuccefl'- fully applied. It is alfo faid that Dsedalus, being furprifed and quef- tioned in the ad of burying the murdered youth, anfwered, that he was configning a ferpent to the earth. The hiftorian mentions it as a wonder fand it feems one of thofe fpecious wonders, which the Greeks were fo fond of inventing) that the fame animal (the ferpent) fhould prove both the fource of a mofi: ufeful invention, and the means of dete£liiig an execrable crime. The fup- pofed criminal is faid to have been condemned by that folemn tribunal the Areopagiis : but the mode in which the royal fculptor is imagined to have accomplifhed the deftrudion of his difciple is fuch, that it could hardly admit any legal proof of a murderous intention. Ovid has briefly and forcibly ftated the circumflance to which I allude : Daedalus invidit, facraque ex arce Minervse Prjecipitem mifit, lapfum mentitus. D D 202 NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. The poet adds, that the falUng youth was metamorphofed into a par- tridge by the pity of Minerva ; and I confeis that I confider the meta- morpholis and the murder as equally fabulous. Every good mind that refleds on the fubjed: will efteem it hardly pof- fible that a man in an elevated rank of life, and bleft himfelf with a variety of talents, could be induced to murder a promifing youth whom he had engaged to inftruft, and the child of his own fifter, for difplay- ing fuch ingenuity as a mafter and a relation would be naturally dif- pofed to admire and encourage. A fa£t of this complexion ought, for the honour of human nature, never to be admitted, except in cafes where the evidence that fupports it is irrefiftible. For the glory of Dsedalus we may affirm, that the improbable atro- city imputed to him is fo far from being proved by any teftimony, that it refts only on dark tradition ; and the whole ftory has fo much the air of a fable, that it ought long ago to have been difcountenanced and dif- carded by every ferious biographer of this illuftrious artift. Yet writers are fo apt to tranfcribe the wonderful tales of their predeceflbrs without examination, or to credit enormities afcribed to men of talents and dif- tindion, that this barbarous ftory has been creduloufly repeated from age to age. The modern and enlightened authors who have recently difcufled the hiftory of Dsdalus do not fcruple to paint him as an af- faflin. The Abbe Gedoyn endeavours to varnifh his own cruel credu- lity on this fubjedl by the following remark : " De tout tems une bafle " jaloufie a ete le vice des artifans, meme de ceux qui font profeffion " des arts les plus nobles ; j'en pourrois citer plufieurs exemples en *' France, comme ailleurs." An Italian writer of our own time, (Francefco Milifia,) who has pub- lifhed an entertaining and fuccefsful Hiftory of Architeds, ancient and modern, fpeaks of Dsedalus in his architedural charader, and re- NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. 203 peats, in brief but energetic terms, his vifionary crime *". As I am in- clined to believe that the artifts of England may be lefs acquainted with thefe feelings oinera gelofia (to ufe the words of the Italian whom I have quoted) than the more impaflioned natives of France and Italy, I hope they will approve my endeavour to vindicate from the horrible impu- tation of an envious murder their ancient brother of Athens. At all events I have a pleafure in perfuading myfelf that he was as clearly in- nocent as he was confefTedly ingenious. When he removed from At- tica, whatever the caufe of that removal might be, he is faid to have obtained the friendfhip of Minos, the fecond of that name, who reigned in Crete ; and to have executed, in wood, two ftatues of Phx- dra and Ariadne, the celebrated daughters of the Cretan monarch. In Crete he is reported to have bxailt a labyrinth of marvellous intricacy, and copied, on a fmaller fcale, from a portentous edifice of iEgypf. He muft have ftudied, therefore, the works of Egyptian art in their own country, before his vifit to Crete. The Cretans were ever re- markable for their grofs deviation from truth ; and the narrative of fome fculptural works afcribed to Dsedalus, in their ifland, contains the moft filthy and difgufting fable that ever fullied the pages of fidion. The reader acquainted with mythology will immediately perceive that 1 allude to the fable of Pafiphae, the moft cruelly calumniated queen that ever fuffered from the licentioufnefs of fancy. Some decent in- terpreters of her ftory have fuppofed that flie was enamoured of a Cretan officer who bore the name of Taurus, and that Daedalus was employed in affifting their illicit attachment : but Lucian, with an ad- mirable mixture of wit and good-nature, imagines the Taurus of Pafi- * " Fra' fuoi alliev! fi contraddiflinfe un fuo nipote da alcuni detto chIo, da altri altalo, il " quale invento tra le altre cofe la fega e'l compaflb ; ma Dedalo ne concepi fi nera gelofia, " chc I'uccife." — Manorte degli jlrchitetti Jntichi e Moderni^ tomo i. p. 13. Parma, 4781. D D 2 204 NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. phae's afFedtion to have been merely the fign of the zodiac diftinguiflied by that appellation ; and Dazdalus is very happily metamorphofed, by this fuppofition, from the culpable confident of a difhonourable intrigue, into an innocent mafter of aftronomy. But however blamelefs lihe intercourfe might be between the flandered Pafiphae and the inge- nious Athenian, Dasdalus appears to have incurred the refentmcnt of the Cretan monarch, and to have been under the neceflity of efcaping from his dominion with fecret rapidity. Hence arofe the fable of his inventing wings for himfelf and his fon Icarus ; a fable fo captivating to the fancy of the Latin poets, that Ovid has related it twice at con- fiderable length*. Virgil has embellifhed it in a few verfes of finguiar delicacy and pathos. Horace, Silius Italicus, and Aufonius have all mentioned it occafionally. The ancient and fenfible interpreter of in- credible fidions, Palaephatus, has turned the fabulous wings of Dxda- lus and his fon into fails. He aflerts, that being imprlfoned by Minos, they efcaped from a window of their prifon, and embarked in a (kifF: but being purfued by the veffels of Minos, in tempeftuous weather, the father only got fafe to land and completed his efcape. Apollodorus relates that Hercules found the body of Icarus caftafhore upon an ifland, to which he gave the name of Icaria, in honour of the youth, whom he buried. The fame author adds, that Daedalus rewarded his illuftri- •ous friend for this humanity fhewn to his unfortunate child, by exe- cuting a ftatue of Hercules, which that hero miftaking in the night, for a living figure, is faid to have firuck with "a ftone. Paufanias mea- tions this ftatue as preferved by the Thebans in a temple of Hercules, and gives a fimilar account of its origin as a tribute of gratitude from the afBided father, whofe efcape fron Crete he alfo afcribes, like Pa- Isephatus, to theufe of fails. Though Virgil and Silius Italicus repre- fent Daedalus as building the temple of the Cumasan Apollo, immedi- * Metamorph. lib. viii. Artis Amatorlas, lib. ii. NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. 205 ately after his efcape from the tyranny of Minos, the Greek hiftorian of his adventures fuppofes him to have proceeded from Crete to Sicily, and to have ingratiated himfelf fo fuccefsfully with Cocalus, a prince of that country, that when Minos, with a naval force, purfued and de- manded the fugitive, his generous protedor, inftead of betraying his ingenious gueft, from whofe architectural talents he is faid to have de- rived great advantage, endeavoured to negotiate with Minos in his fa- vour. The Cretan monarch accepted the invitation of the Sicilian prince, and, according to the accounts of more than one ancient Greek author, the daughters of Cocalus contrived, from their partiality to the Athenian artift, to deftroy his formidable enemy ; which they are faid to have accomplifhed by the means of a hot bath, in fuch a manner, that the Cretans who attended their king fuppofed his death to be natural, and departed in peace with his remains — a tale that has much the ap- pearance of fidion. Dsedalus is reported to have exprefl'ed his gratitude towards his Si- cilian protedtor by executing many ingenious works in his country. Diodorus relates that he built an impregnable palace for his royal friend j that he fortified and adorned the temple of Venus Erycina; and that he conftru£ted a vapour-bath, in which the fick were plea- fantly cured of their infirmities, without fuffering from its heat *. Concerning the latter days and death of Dsedalus antiquity furnifhes no anecdotes : but the learned Abbe' Gedoyn imagines, with great pro- bability, that from Italy he paffed again into ^gypt, and ended his life in that country — an idea that he refts on the authority of the ^Egyptian priefts, who reported, accordii'ig to the narrative of Diodo- rus Siculus, that Dsedalus conftruded a moft beautiful veftibule to the * TpiToy St OTTuXatov xora ttdi StXiwavIiDv j^apav xaTsffXEuswrtv, ev u tav o-TptJara xar'auTin tujxj? «tio; fi/yo- ;^«>S £|£Xa?!», ui TE Si« Tfiv fidXciKimra Tn; ■uEp(x«wiaf fifidjiBv XiXri^OTuiq, xai xaroi jj-ixfot towj EvJialftxaj jiET« Tif\iu( ^ifaviuu) ra SiijJMra, |irid£vx«f£vox?'iTt«$«;, oMmtimu Vfim e; rnvQat, Pausanias, pi 25O. NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. 215 (lefcrlber of his fculptural works fpeaks highly of the figures that he executed in brafs, particularly thofe of Neptune and Amphitrite. That the Lacedemonians had a ftrong paflion for fculpture feems evi- dent, from the magnificence of their Amyclsean Apollo, whofe throne was decorated by Bathycles, an artlft of Magnefia, and comprifed, as M. de Caylus has juftly obferved, an epitome of ancient mythology. Winkelman fuppofes Bathycles to have lived in the age of Solon. One fingular advantage which the Spartans expeded to derive from the pofleflion of fine flatues was to improve the beauty of their offspring ; a fource of their partiality both to fculpture and to painting which Junius has explained in the following paflage : " Lacedjemonii quondam in re- '' liquis horridiores, pulcherrimas quafque piduras in fummo femper *' habuerunt pretio ; dicuntur enim de liberorum fuorum pulchritudine *' tantopere foUiciti fuifle, ut formofiffimorum adolefcentium Nirei, Nar- " ciffi, Hiacinthi, Caftoris et Pollucis, deorumque fpeciofiflimorum " Apollinis nempe ac Bacchi effigies gravidis uxoribus repraefentarent." Junius, de PiSluraVetenim^ P- 71* On the works of Gitiadas, which confided of brazen bas-reliefs, in the temple of the Spartan Minerva, D'Hancarville has made the fol- lowing judicious remark : " La fculpture dans les ouvrages de Gitiadas e'toit auffi avancee, que " I'etoit la peinture dans ceux d'Helotas, faits peu avant lui, fuivant le " rapport de Pline : cet art etoit par confequent arrive en Grece au *' point ou il parvint en Italic, quand Laurent Ghiberti fit en bronze *' les admirables bas-reliefs des portes du baptiftaire de Florence, et par " une fingularite remarquable les arts firent dans ces deux pays les " memes progres en des tems a-peu-pres egaux." Gitiadas, according to probable conjedure, lived in the age of Romulus. 2i6 NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. NOTE XIII. Ver. 302. Where hajie infulted bis unfin'ipjd toil. Dipasnus and Scyllis are ufually mentioned together as brothers and aflbciates in their art, which they learnt from Dsedalus. Some authors (according to Paufanias) fuppofed them to be his fons. The moft ftriking part of their hiftory is contained in the following paflage of Pliny : *' Marmore fcalpendo primi omnium inclaruerunt Dipxnus et Scyllis, " geniti in Greta infula, etiamnum Medis imperantibus, priufque quam " Cyrus in Perfis regnare inciperet : hoc eft Olympiade circiter L. li " Sicyonem fe contulere, qux diu fuit ofRcinarum omnium metallorum *' patria. Deorum quorundam fimulacra publice locaverant Sicyonii : " quae priufquam abfolverentur, artifices injuriam quefti abierunt in " ^tolos. Protinus Sicyonios infanda invafit fterilitas, mcerorque di- " rus. Remedium petentibus, Apollo Pythius affuturum refpondit, fi *' Dipsenus et Scyllus deorum fimulacra perfecilTent : quod magnis mer- " cedibus obfequiifque impetratum eft. Fuere autem fimulacra ea Apol- " linis, Dianae, Herculis, Minervse, quod e coelo poftea tadum eft." Plin. lib. T,^. c. 5. Cedrenus has defcrlbed a very curious Minerva, fuppofed to be the work of thefe fraternal artifts, as preferved at Conftantlnople : I^-aro ^t Y.M TO ayocK^a. Trji AivoKng ASijvaff TSTpoiTrri^u ex, X(5» (Tf^aifiwy^n, icyov ZKvXXt§og kki Anroivii tuv ayaXizocTHfyuv' OTrep ttotb owpov eTre^tf/e L'g- cus-fig AiyvTTTiS TVfxvvog KXeofiisXu tu h.tvhu TV^avvu^ — CedRENUS, p. 254. edit. Venet. NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. 217 NOTE XIV. Ver. 316. ^nd blamd the mean abufe of mental power. Anthermus, a fculptor in the ifland of Chios, had two fons of his own profeffion, Bupalus and Athenis. The brothers became famous by works of confiderable merit in their art ; and ftill more fo by their degrading it into an inftrument of malevolence againft the poet Hippo- nax. This animated but ill-favoured bard, diftinguifhed by mental ta- lents and perfonal deformity, is fuppofed to have been in love with the daughter of Bupalus, who, to prevent a connexion that he difliked, is faid to have exhibited a caricatura of the formidable lover. The exaf- perated poet retaliated by a fatire of fuch feverity againft the offending fculptors, that, according to tradition, it made them frantic, and im- pelled them to fuicide — a ftory which, as Pliny juftly obferves upon it, was fufficiently refuted by their fubfequent produdions. Their caricature of Hipponax (perhaps the firft caricature upon re- cord) is fuppofed by D'Hancarville to have fuggefted to Thefpis, their contemporary, the idea of furnifhing his actors with a maflc, inftead of colouring their faces with vermilion. The fatire of the vindidive poet, though we may hope it did not produce the horrible effedt afcribed to it, appears to have given celebrity to its indignant author. The Greek Anthologia contains no lefs than four infcriptions on this powerful fa- tirift. I have feleded the two beft of them, for the amufement of my reader : F F 2i8 NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. A E XINI A O T £(? iTnruvixxTix. ArpEjua Tov TUjitjGoi/ ffapajit£//3£Te, jttij rov sv uttvw TiiKpov syeifriTB crCpriK. ccvoc-Travofiivov' AciTi yua iTTTTuvuKTog Koci TOKBuv SO I2txv^ag Pijfcara Tn^fJioctvsiv oiSe xcci £<» Aiar. Grotii Verfio. Quam potes hinc tacitus tranfi, ne forte crabronem Expergefacias, quern fopor altus habet : Hipponadtis enim qus natos fa^va latravit Ira fuos, multa nunc cubat in requie. Sed cave nunc etiam fodes : ex ipfius aula Ditis adhuc Isdunt ignea didla viri. Leonidas on Hipponax. Glide gently by this tomb, for quiet's fake, Left you the bitter, fleeping hornet wake ! For he, whofe gibes againft his parents glanc'd, Here now the keen Hipponax lies entranc'd ! Beware ! for ftill his fiery words may flow, And wound with rancour in the fhades below. NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. 219 0EOKPITOY Big TOP OCVTOV. O fiova-OTTOiog evBxS' Ittttuvcx,^ xeirai : Ej S' Z(r(rt Kfyiyvog tb Kent Trtxfioi ^fitig-uv Grotii Verfio. Vates fepultus hic quiefcit Hipponax ; Abfcede bufto, fi quis es mala mente ! Quod fi bonus fis ipfe, de bonis natus, Tutus fedeto : fi libebit et dormi. See here the bard Hipponax lie j Hence from his grave, if wicked, fly ! Here reft, if thou in life art pure. And, if thou wifh it, fleep fecure. Hipponax was a native of Ephefus, and he is celebrated by Athenseus as the inventor of parody : but his title to that invention is in feme mea- fure controverted by the Abbe' Sallier, in his Diflertation on the Origin and Charader of Parody, in the Memoirs of the French Academy. Bayle has an article on Hipponax, in which he has colledted many curious examples of perfons who have fuffered from the dangerous fe- verlty of literary vengeance. The enmity between the fcuiptor of Chios and the Ephefian fatirift will probably recall to the recolledion of F F 2 220 NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. an Englifh reader the fimilar enmity between thofe bitter and powerful antagonlfts, Hogarth and Churchill. From the flight fragments that remain of Hipponax, I am inclined to believe that his Satires, celebrated as they have been, were inferior in genius, and perhaps in acrimony, to the vindidive performance of the Englifli poet, which contains fo many beautiful paflages, (beautiful both in fentiment and expreflion,) that although good-nature muft wifh the quarrel which produced it bad never exifted, the poem is ftill admi- rable as a mafterpiece of poetical indignation. NOTE XV. Ver. 326. Whofe very filence cried aloiid^ " Be free /" The paflion of the Greeks for liberty was at once proclaimed and nourifhed by the various honours which they paid to the memory of Harmodius and Ariftogiton. Thefe celebrated young friends had periftied in their perilous exploit of delivering Athens from the tyranny of Hipparchus : but the grate- ful Athenians revered them as the reftorers of freedom ; and according to the animated expreffions of Demofthenes in their praife, the venera- tion which they received from public gratitude was equal to that of he- roes and of gods. The four ftatuaries, Antenor, Critias, Antigonus, and Praxiteles, had diftinguiflied themfelves, at different periods, in executing the ftatues of thefe favourite public charaders. Pliny relates that this work of Praxiteles was carried off by Xerxes, in the plunder of Athens, and reftored to that city by Alexander the Great, after his conquefl: of Perfia. Arrian appears fo much plcafed with this munificence of his NOTES ON THE SECOND EPISTLE. 221 hero to Athens, that he has mentioned the reftitution of thefe intereft- ing (latues in two different paflages of his Hiftory ; and exultingly fays, in his account of them, " they are now in the Ceramicus* !" Paufa- nias aflertsthat the ftatues were reftored to Athens by Antiochus ; and Valerius Maximus afcribes the honour of their reftitution to vSeleucus. Thefe contradictory accounts may be reconciled, if we recolledl that many ftatues were executed of thefe idolized martyrs to freedom ; and as it is probable that feveral of thefe were carried out of their coun- try by the Periian plunderers, the honour of their reftitution might of courfe be truly afcribed to more than one vidorious friend to the arts and monuments of Greece. Sculpture and Poetry feem to have vied with each other in their endeavours to immortalize thefe young ty- rannicides. The Athenian fong of Harmodius is proverbially fa- mous ; and its potent enthufiafm is thus forcibly defcribed by our learned and eloquent Lowth, in his admirable Prccledliones : " Tam vehemens tamque animofum poefeos genus.... permultum *' habuifle moment! necefle eft in hominum mentibus, cum ad omnem " honeftatem erigcndis turn a fcelere abfterrendis ; maxime vero in fo- *' vendo et fuftentando illo vigore animi atque generofa oc^.ua-Biy quse *' libertatis et alumna eft eadem et cuftos. Num verendum erat ne " quis tyrannidem Pififtratidarum Athenis inftaurare auderet, ubi in " omnibus conviviis, et a^que ab infima plebe in compitis, quotidie " cantitaretur 'LzoXicv illud Calliftrati nefcio cujus, fed ingeniofi certe " poetae et valde boni clvis . . . . Quod i\ poft Idus illas Martias e ty- * A^iXETO h i; 2s XjuEpai; UKOO'i' xai TrapEXGau s»; rnv iroXiv ra. te ^^pviuara vafiXa'Sis, onTO, ajyufis laXa-jra, e; TTivraxitriWfUX,, xai tji» ciXXmi narcujuivny tuv (3acriX(xnv iro?.Xa Je xki aXXa x«TEX)i(f8n avm, oaa. Bif^n; awo Ti;; liXX'xdo; ayui dXSe, t« te aXka,, xa» Ap(^oJ<» xai ApiroyEiTOvo; yaAxat (txojEi xai Tai/ra; A9>iv«iojTep.w;i owio-w AX>)|avdpO;-, x»i mi v.niTV,i A9i;v>iioig 'Nefu-ea-tg. NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. Grotii Verfio. Me nlveum viva lapidem de rupe cecidit, Marmoream rumpens cufpide duritiem, Perfa, daret cum vela notis, ut fingeret ex me De Cecropis vidtrix gente tropha;a manus. Cladibus at Marathon poftquam refonavit Eois, Perque cruore rubens sequor iere rates, Fecit Adrafteam de me gens fortis Athense Ulcifci folitam fafta fuperba deam. Spes ego libratas teneo ; Vi£loria nam fum Cecropidis, Nemefis nee minus AfTyriis. Theastetus, on the Rhamnufian Statue of Nemefis. Of fnowy whitenefs, from a mountain rock, A Median fculptor in a maflive block Shipp'd me for Attica, and doom'd to ftand His mark of triumph o'er this Attic land : But when at Marathon fall'n Perfia groan'd. And for invafion fhatter'd fhips aton'd, By Attic Art (Perfedion's nurfe") I rofe, In form a goddefs who the proud o'erthrows. In different charaders my figure fpeaks : To Perfians vengeance, viEiSiix; ixtv^vvivi /9^»9>l>'a( Se toi; Xifiot; ilf y »ip9»i Ta oyaXjLcaTa, xeu xiocrw ii-a9n. To fjivi CsiJia tSii^E TO ivymi tm; Tfp^vrif, K«> irotffi Jia (Ttofunof Xoitov »)» o OtiJia?, To AAxe/xtva; yeXas^v, x«( ytXaif AXKa;uEii»i{. TzETZES, chil. 8. 193, 240 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. " fpeech of Pericles preferved in Thucydides, amounted to forty ta- " lents ; the drapery was of gold, and the uncovered parts of the figure " formed of ivory." The latter material was alfo employed in the head of Medufa that appeared on the bread of the goddefs, according to the defcription of Paufanias; and perhaps gold and ivory, were united in the image of Vidory of four cubits, that was placed in one of her hands ; though its pofition is not afcertained by Paufanias, who only fays that in her hand fhe held a fpear. But the fmaller figure of Vic- tory that was frequently added as a decoration to a coloUal ftatue, and difplayed in the extended hand of the triumphant divinity, was fome- times of folid gold, as we may conjedure from the profane jeft of Dio- nyfius, the tyrant of Syracufe, who, in dealing fuch figures, faid it would be folly not to take from the gods what they appeared to offer. — But to return to the Minerva of Phidias. Pliny fays that on the promi- nent fide of her fhield the battle of the Amazons was reprefented ; and in the concave part, the conflict between the giants and the gods. Nay, even her fandals were decorated, according to his account, with the battle of the Centaurs and the Lapithas. M. de Caylus has ventured to criticife, with a becoming fpirit, thefe minute decorations : " Apres avoir remercle Pline de nous avoir conferve ces details, qui " ne fe trouvent dans aucun autre auteur, on me trouvera lans doute •' hardi, et peut-etre temeraire, d'ofer defapprouver ces petits ouvrages •' en eux-memes. Je ne doute pointe alTurement de leur me'rite et de " leur perfedion ; mais je dirai franchement que fans parler de I'in- *' terieur du bouclier, dontje laifTe a juger pour la pofTibilite' du coup- " d'ceil, ces beaux details etoient en pure perte ; car il eft conftant " qu'il n'auroit pas e'te poffible de les diftinguer, quand meme la figure " auroit e'te de grandeur naturelle. Mais quoique le bouclier put avoir " dix pieds de diametre, on ne pouvoit examiner fes ornemens affez NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. 341 " pres, en quelque endroit qu'il ait ete place pour en juger fainement " fur une figure d'environ quarante pieds de proportion, d'autant " qu'elle etoitplacee fur un piedeftal qui I'e'levoit encore tout au moins " de dix ou de quinze. Cette figure, pour etre aufli belle que toute " I'antiquite' I'a declaree, devoit etre entendue et forme'e par de grandes " mafies, et ces mafles devoient necefralrement abforber un auffi grand " nombre de petits details. II faut convenir que les anciens paroiflent " les avoir aimes .... Cependant pour faire mieux entendre mon efpece " de critique, je comparerai ces petits travaux a ceux d'un peintre, qui *' faifant le portrait d'une femme aufli grand que la nature, auroit grand " foin de peindre en miniature un autre portrait qu'elle auroit au bras. " Je demande fi le travail et la difpofition du grand portrait ne feroient " pas abfolument e'vanouir le me'rite et I'ouvrage du brafl'elet. Cepen- " dant il s'en faut beaucoup que la comparifon foit en proportion avec " le point duquel je fuis parti. " Cette ftatue de Minerve prefente encore une difficulte, elle etoit *' d'or et d'yvoire, et elle avoit a fes pieds un ferpent et un fphinx de " bronze. Quel alliage de couleurs et de matieres ! on a peine a con- " cevoir leuragre'ment." — Memoires de VAcademk^ torn. xxv. p. 3iq. The fculptor Falconet, who attacks, without mercy, the inaccu- racies of Pliny, and is fometimes rather petulantly fevere on the re- fpedable connoifleur of his own country whom I have juft quoted, yet highly commends thefe remarks on the Minerva of Phidias. At the fame time he makes a lively, but arafh attempt, to vindicate the Athe- nian artift in the following conjedure : " Mais fi Phidias n'a point fait ces petits ornemens ; s'ils n'ont e'te' " ajoute's a fa Minerve d'or et d'yvoire que plufieurs anne'es apres la " mort de I'auteur, que deviendra I'exaditude de Pline et de ceux qui " le copient fans regarder ailleurs ? II 2A2 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. " Paufanlas, 1. i. c. 28. dit, * Mis, excellent graveur, a reprefente " fur le bouclier de la de'effe le combat des Centaures et des Lapithes, et " plufieurs autres hiftoires d'apres les defleins de Parrhafius, fils *' d'Evenor. Cette ftatue eft fi haute, que I'aigrette du cafque et la *' pointe de la pique peuvent etre aper9ues de Sunium.' G'eft-a-dire " de cinque lieues d'Athenes. " Le minutieux Paufanias, qui ne fait grace de rien a fon ledeur, " parle ailleurs de la Minerve du Parthenon, qui etoit, commeon fait, " dans la citadelle d'Athenes, et ne dit pas un mot de toute cette cife- " lure, gravure, &c. dont Pline fait mention ; details qu'il ne manque *' cependant jamais d'ecrire, quand il en a I'occafion. Ne fe pourroit-il " pas que les deux Minerves de Phidias euffent e'te confondiies dans la " tete de I'ecrivain Latin, et qu'il eut attribue' a Tune ce qui apartenoit " a I'autre? Je fuis loin de la vouloir aiTurer ; mais j'aimerois mieux ♦' Pline avec un de'faut de memoire, que Phidias avec un de'faut de " gout ; cela ne fe compare pas. " Ne feroit il pas poffible encore, comme il eft dit plus haut, qu'on *' eut charge d'ornemens fuperflus cette Minerve de Phidias quelques ♦' anne'es apres fa mort, comme on avoit fait celle de bronze? II " feroit glorieux pour la memoire d'un- artifte ce'lebre, dont on nous " dit le genie fi grand, fi fublime, de ne pas le voir minutieux dans ** fon art ; fur tout lorfque ncus pouvons foupyonner quelques pre- *' fomptions du contraire." — Falconet, Traduclion de Pliney torn. ii. p. 49. This animated artift, who is often very acrimonious in cenfuring the inaccuracy of refpedable writers on fubje£ts relating to his own pro- feffion, has fallen himfelf into confiderable inaccuracies, in fpeaking of this celebrated Minerva. I ftiall not enter into a minute difcufllon of thefe, but merely obferve, that his conjedure concerning the figurea oa N^OTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. 243 the fliield of the goddefs is entirely overthrown by many paltages from ancient authors colle£led by Junius to illuftrate this ftatue. It was alleged as a crime againft Phidias that he had introduced his own portrait and that of Pericles in the battle of the Amazons, which formed the moft ftriking ornament of the fhield in queftion ; and Ju- nius has cited a paflage from Ariftotle particularly remarkable, as it dif- plays the ingenious folicitude of the fculptor to preferve his own figure from the malignity of any one who might wifli to ftrike it out of the group *. Plutarch confiders the bafe attempt to ruin Phidias in the efteem of the Athenians as a political manoeuvre to try the public influence of his patron Pericles. We owe to that invaluable biographer the anec- dote to which I have alluded in the Poem : I mean the friendly pre- caution of Pericles, by which he protefled the fculptor from the flan- derous accufation of having embezzled a part of the gold configned to him for the decoration of Minerva. By the advice of his illuftrious friend, the artift is faid to have contrived the golden habiliments of the goddefs in fuch a manner that they might be eafily removed, and his probity afcertained by the infallible teft of the fcales. The vindication of his innocence in this important article did not fecure Phidias from the infidious rancour of his enemies. He was ac- cufed of alluring the chafte matrons of Athens to his houfe, under the pretence of (hewing his ftatues, for the diilionourable purpofe of grati- fying the licentious paffions of his patron. It has been faid that he * To» ayaXfiaroroiov Eioia» xa/rcurAivei^ojAivo}/ t»iv it axfOToXu ASwav, ipaa-iv ev fjuian td rai/nij oa-iriJi tit tccvra 'jTfoo'u'Jtov £VTU^wa'«ijtuyf)yia5' wj-s e| ava-yxiij, ei t*; /SuXuTO ai/To xsftaifstv, to (njjJ.va.v 'j.ya.'h^a. Xkeivtexki (Tvyxjui, " Phidiaill ilium, quem fi<5lorein pro- " bum fuifle tradit memoria, vidi ipfe in clypeo Minervae, quae arcibus Athenienfibus prxfi- " det, oris fui fimilitudinem ita colligafle, ut fi quis artificis voluiffet inde imaginera feparare " foluta compage, fimuluc tonus incolumitas interiret. — Sic Apuleius tranlliilic hunc locum de- " fumtum ex Ariftotele de Mundo. — Junius, Catal. Artif. p. ijg. I I 2 244 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. perifhed in prifon, under the popular indignation which this calumny excited : but the indefatigable Meurfius has proved, by the authority of an old fcholiaft on Ariftophanes, that the perfecuted artift efcaped to Elis, and ended his days with honour in a fcene which he is fuppofed to have adorned, in gratitude for the protedion it afforded him, with the fublimeft work of fculpture that was ever produced, even by Grecian talents — his Olympian Jupiter ; an image which he conceived, accord- ing to his own ingenuous account, from Homer's defcription of the god *. I will not enlarge this long note by tranfcribing all the animated paffages in ancient authors which allude to this moft memorable ftatue : but as it may gratify my reader to have an immediate opportunity of comparing my fketch of it in rhyme with more minute defcriptions in profe, I will add the Greek original from Paufanias, and a modern copy from the eloquent Travels of Anacharfis. KoidB^erui n*ev Stj o Qsog ev 9fiovu %pi'(ra 'jnTTor/ifjcsvog xoct iXt(pavTog' (rTB(pxvos ^B iTTtxeiTdi 01 TV KeCpctX'/i, [ji,efyLsy.i/ifjLevog eXocioig KXuvxg' ev [A,ev St/j rvi oe^toi. (^e^et Noiij!/ e| EXe(pavTog Koci raurijv koci %pt;(rif, txiviocv te Bx^a-«v, koh ett; rr jce- ix97ifABvog, Bg-iv o KBTog' %pU3"8 ae ««{ Tct vttoStiuxtix. tu ©bu, Koit iy,»Ttov iiiTOiVTug Bg-i' Tea 6b i[/.cctim (^wdt» re KOii Tcov uvQuv TK Kfivcx, B^tv Bf^7TB'7roii/i[/,evot. 'O Ss Spovof -TTOMiXog fiiv %pu(rw aai Xi- $OlCy ITODuXog Si Kdt B^iVU) Ti KXt £XB,!?ii|£V OXu/xTov. VALERIUS Maximus, l.iii. c. 7. NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. 245 a-uv 7rafi£%o/^£i/a< (rxvf^^ koctu bkoc^ov ra Sfova tov TroSx' ^vo Ss enrtv ccXXxt wpof iKocg-a TreQv voaog' tuv ttoSuv os skutb^u tuv efATrfoaSev, TrociSeg re sttdibiv- TOii @Yi0onuv VTTO crCptyyuv riftTroca-fievoi' x,xi vtto rocg (riptyyxg, Ntofitis nsi vxiSug AtToXXuV KOCTtHTO^BVOUCTi XtXl ApTE^ff' TUV d's SX TH SfiCiVH [/.BTOt^U TToSuV TBO"- (Txfsg KocvcvBi Biig b^btxi, th Epjttsf ob Eg-ix' '^btx Se Tfjv Y.s'txv Epcog Bg-iv bk. 9xXxfoSiTiiv (TTB^xvoi YIbiQcjo. BTTBifyxg-xi Sb kxi AttoXXuv (TUV AfiTi[/,iSiy A9vivx TB KXI HpxKXrig' kxi tjSfi th I3x9fii Trpo? tco ttb^xti Api,(piTfiTri kxi Hoa-BiSuv, 'LbXyivvi te iTTTsrov (^Bpt,ot SoKBivj BXxvvacrx. — PauSANIAS, p. 403. edit. Kuhnii. " La figure de Jupiter eft en or et en ivoire, et quoique affife, elle *' s'eleve prefque jufqu'au plafond du temple. De la main droite, " elle tient une vidtoire egalement d'or et d'ivoire ; de la gauche, un " fceptre travaille avec gout, enrichi de diverfes efpeces de metaux, et " furmonte d'un aigle. La chauflure eft en or, ainfi que le manteau fur " lequel on a grave des animaux, des fleurs, et fur-tout des lis. 2^.6 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. "• Le tione porte fur quatre pleds, ainfi que fur des colonnes interme- " diaires de meme hauteur. Les matieres les plus riches, les arts les " plus nobles concoururent a rembellir. II eft tout brillant d'or, ♦' d'ivoire, d'ebene, et de pierres precieufes, par tout decore de " peintures et des has reliefs. " Quatre de ces bas reliefs font applique's fur la face anterieure de " chacun des pieds de devant. Le plus haut repre'fente quatre Vic- ** toires dans I'attitude de danfeufes ; le fecond, des fphinx, qui en- " levent les enfans de Thebains ; le troifieme, ApoUon et Diane per- " 9ant de leurs traits les enfans de Niobe j le dernier enfin, deux au- " tres Vidoires. " Phidias profita des moindres efpaces pour multiplier les ornemens. " Sur les quatre traverfes qui lient les pieds du trone, je comptai trente " fept figures; les unes reprefentant des lutteurs, les autres le combat " d'Hercule contre les Amazones. Au deflus de la tete de Jupiter, " dans la partie fuperieure du trone, on voit d'une cote les trois Graces ** qu'il eut d'Eurynome, et les trois Saifons qu'il eut de Themis. On *' diftingue quantite d'autres bas-reliefs, tant fur le marche-pied que fur " la bafe ou I'eftrade qui foutient cette maffe enorme ; la plupart ex- " e'cutes en or, et repreTentant les divinite.s de I'Olympe. Aux pieds " de Jupiter on lit cette infcription : " Je fuis I'ouvrage de Phidias, Athenien, fils de Charmides." Voyage du Jeune Anacharjis, tome iii. p. 482. The dimenfions of this wonderful ftatue (which Callimachus is faid to have exprefled in Iambic verfe) are not preferved : but from a paf- fage in Strabo, which reprefents the head of the fitting figure as near the roof of the temple, (in height fixty feet,) we are enabled to form fome conjectures concerning its magnitude. Falconet fuppofes that the temple and the ftatue were wretchedly difproportioned to each other : NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. 247 but the general voice of antiquity, in praife of the very fublime efFe£l which this fpedacle aUogether produced, is fufficient to refute his fup- pcfition. Livy defcribes this efFedt very forcibly, infpeaking of Paulus ^milius : " Olympiam afcendit, ubi et alia quidem fpedianda vifa, et " Jovem velut prccfentem intuens, motus animo eft *." Cedrenus affirms that the ivory Jupiter of Phidias was preferved at Conftantinople ; and, if we may credit an author fo frequently erro- neous, the fame city contained alfo a reclining Jupiter in marble, by this illuftrious artift f . But it is time to take leave of Phidias. — Let me firft obferve that he fometimes ufed the pencil as well as the implements of fculpture, and painted a portrait of his kind and powerful friend Pericles, diftinguifhed by his lofty title " the Olympian." '* Cum et Phidiam ipfum initio pidtorem fuifle tradatur, Olympi- " umque Athenis ab eo pidum." — Plin. lib. 2S- Pliny mentions a portrait of Pericles in bronze, (by the fculptor Ctefilaus,) with the fame appellation : " Ctefilaus (fecit) Periclem " (Jlmypium dignum cognomine." Many artifts were undoubtedly patronized by this magnificent ftatefman: but Phidias was his favourite, and entrufted with the fuperintendance of thofe fplendid public works with which the liberal ambition of Pericles delighted to decorate his country. * Lib. xlv. c. 28. -f- Kai tiJi« sXt^avTJvo; Zeuj, cv nsfixXn? avsSnxsy ei; »si'v OXu^xTiiiv AvTuoi Tr/oi yr,i »)v iSpsia; Au sx XsuxB Ai9a, (pyov "tsiSia, i^avoy tu Joxiiv £Wi x?.i»>);. — Cl.I)RENUS, p. 255. 248 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. NOTE IV. Ver. 170. Her Jhame bis pride, her ornaments his prey. How deplorable was the fate of Athens, repeatedly the captive of two, the moft artful, fanguinary, and impious wretches that difhonoured the lift of ancient heroes — ^Lyfander and Sylla ! Both thefe barbarous conquerors had a paflion for fculpture ; fo great was the influence of that powerful art over the fterneft fpirits of antiquity ! Plutarch informs us, that after Lyfander had taken Athens, he devoted a part of his fpoil to the expenceof raifing his own ftatue, and thofe of his officers, at Delphi. Yet fo truly favage was this deteftable vidor, that Plutarch rather feems to believe the report he mentions of Lyfander's having propofed, in the council of the allies, to reduce the Athenians to flavery. A Theban officer, according to the fame authority, propofed the utter demolition of the city ; and Athens is faid to have been faved by the happy voice of a Phocenfian, who fung to the conquerors, at a banquet, a few verfes from a tragedy of Euripides, which awakened their humanity, and made them fhrink from their horrible purpofe of annihilating a city fo admirable, and the parent of men fo illuftrious. Milton alludes to this incident in the clofe of his 8th Sonnet: and the repeated air " Of fad Eledra's poet had the power " To fave th' Athenian walls from ruin bare." NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. 2^9 NOTE V. Ver. 192. ^ficf to newfons new excellence ajfignd. Sculpture Is afluredly one of the moft difficult of the fine arts ; yet it is a ftriking truth that Greece produced feveral fculptors of the firft rate:, though fhe could only boaft a fingle Homer. It is alfo remark- able:, that the Grecian fculptors were more numerous than the painters of their country. That intelligent and contemplative obferver of an- tiquity, M. de Caylus, has had the curiofity to compare their refpedlive numbers, as far as the narratives of Paufanias and Pliny enabled him to make the comparifon. Of the former he fays : " II ne fait mention que " de quinze peintres, tandisqu'il diftingue de la maniere la plus claire *' cent foixante et neuf fculpteurs. II faut cependant convenir que " Pline fait mention de cent trente-trois peintres Grecs, bonsou me'di- " ocres. .... On pourroit repondre pour concilier les deux auteurs, que *' Pline a parle' de tous les peintres de la Grece, de I'Afie Mineure, de la Sicile, et de ce que Ton appelloit la grande Grece, &c. et que Paulanias n'a pas meme vifite toute la Grece proprement dite, qu'il n'ecrivoit point I'hiftoire des artiftes, et qu'il parloit feulement de *' ceux dont il avoit vu les ouvrages ; ouvrages dont le nombre ctoit *' encore )//iafyo; aXuSsiaf r,v, xew rot; a-ufj-cun t»ij vXtif CiT'-TUTino ra ^ccvyMTCc' oa'. T« t> >.oyji dmrrXaTiuv AsLtos-Stm; ayoiKfjiOLtx, fux.f>i xa» Xvym ila^iv ulo; aurSuTOV, T0I5 in xai tppovwrt su; yitn^Mn iroyxEpavn;? ra, rv, riy()ini ^ecfiJiMxa. Kai yvMo-KrSf Js aurixa, u; sJe tk; oixoSfv xiv>i<7:a'{ sr^firai to aj ■^mftcu TTpoxtijitsvov ayaX^a, aM.a xai o,us dso^o^st xai ev ru p^apetxTupi a-u^u to» oixfioy y£i»>iTop». — Cali-istrati Statux, p. 893. NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. 2_j^ queft, two ftatues of brafs ; her own figure, and another reprefenting Rhodes fubmitting to her authority. " The Rhodians," fays Vitruvlus, " were prevented, by their religion, from removing thofe ftatues : but " they built around them, to conceal from the view of the public me- " morials of their difgrace *." Demofthenes, in his fine oration in favour of the Rhodians, inti- mates that Artemifia would not oppofe fuch efforts as Athens might honourably make to reftore the liberty of Rhodes. There is a medal of this affedionate heroine, with the Maufoleum, but it is a counterfeit, as I learn from the inftrudive and entertaining Efiay on Medals by Mr. Pinkerton : a writer equally admirable for depth of refearch and vivacity of defcription. - NOTE VI. Ver. 240. A?id Cupld^ foon her own^ repays the fond device. Praxiteles, who Is mentioned by Pliny as flouriftiirig with his brother artlft Euphranor, in the 104th Olympiad, arofe to the higheft diftindion for the impaflioned delicacy of his works, both In brafs and marble, but particularly in marble. The rank he held in the public efteem is evi- dent from the petty anecdote recorded In Phsedrus, that thofe who had delicate pieces of fculpture to fell, enhanced the price of them by erafing * " Tunc Arthernifia Rhodo capta, principibus occifis, trophxum in urbe Rhodo fux vic- " torisc conftituit, ^neafque duas ftatuas fecit, unam Rliodiorum civitatis, alteram fuse " imaginis et iftam figuravit Rhodiorum civitati ftigmata imponentem, Poflea autem " Rhodii rcligione impediti, quod nefas eft trophtea dedicata removeri, circa eum locum aediii- " cium ftruxerunt, et id eredla Graja ftatione texerunt, ne quis poffet afpicere, et id a/Sarcv " vocitari juflerunt."— ViTRUVius, lib. ii. edit. Galiani, p. 74. 2-56 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. the name of Myron, and inferting that of Praxiteles in its place *. Pliny, who has enumerated many produdions of Praxiteles, celebrates his Gnidian Venus as the moft perfedt image of beauty that fculpture ever produced ; and relates fome amufing incidents in proof of its per- fedion, particularly an offer made to the inhabitants of Gnidos, by the king Nicomedes, who was defirousof purchanng this admired ftatue on the liberal' terms of paying the heavy public debt of their ifland. They chofe rather to ftruggle with any difficulties than to relinquifh a woik of art with which Praxiteles had ennobled their country. The ftatue was ftationed in a fmall open temple, that the form of the goddefs might be vifible In every diredion j and it was efteemed ad- mirable in every point of view -f. Univerfal admiration gave birth to feveral Greek epigrams on this exquifite ftatue. I have feleded the two following from the Anthologia; * " TJt quidam artifices noftro faeiunt fsculo " Qui pretium operibus majus inveniunt, novo *' Si marmori adfcripferint Praxitelem fuo, *' Detrito Myrone argento. Phjedrus. -j- " Praxitelis xtatem inter ftatuarios diximus, qui marmons gloria fuperavit etiam " femet. Opera ejus funt Athenis in Ceramico ; fed ante omnia et non folum Praxitelis, *• verum et in toto orbe terrarum Venus, qiiam ut viderent, multi navigaverunt Gni- " dum. Duas fecerat, fimulque vendebat ; alteram velata fpecie, quam ob id quidem prs- " tulerunt optione, quorum conditio erat Coi, cum alteram etiam eodem pretio detuliflet ; fe- " verum id ac pudicum arbitrantes. Reje^lam Gnidii emerunt, immenfa differentia famae. " Voluit earn poftea a Gnidiis mercari rex Nicomedes, totum xs civitatis alienum (quod erat " ingens) diffolutururn fe promittens. Omnia perpeti maluere ; nee immerito. Ilio enim •' figno Praxiteles nobilitavit Gnidum. ^dicula ejus tota aperitur ut confpici poffit undique " effigies del ; favente ipfa, ut creditur, fa<51o, nee minor ex quacunque parte admiratio eft. — Plin. lib. xxxvi. c.5. NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. ANTin ATPOT eig uyaX^ot, Atpfo^iTnig Tvjg iv Kvi^u. TtcXtdov e^ux'^o'if ng ev %5ow Kwn-ftv east^ev ^ IfASfov £v veT^y) ng TOpw5?j aiTKCijf, Ti ot KaXXiTcv eiyj roiu fpywi/, cf^oXoynv f^sv (poccri SiSovat ot £pag"i}v OVTOt., KXTBITTBtV OVK sdiXSlV, Tl KOiXKlS'CV UVTU 01 (poCVOlTO, Ec^pa^Wl' HV oiKirr;; ^Jpuvjjf, i(px(n{.sv Oi^j^sa-Qoii ITpa^/rsXe* ro ttoKu tuv epywi/, TTi/poj ecttte- (TOVTOg tg TO 0l}C7l[/.Kf OVftSVOVV TTOiVTCC yi Ot,(puVI(rQyiVUl, I7p«i?pW»J S& f^eVBlV SoififiiiVTOi CKeXtUl' TTOC- &eiv yxf xvtufov aoiv, te^mj Se ocXovtoc o^oXoytiv tx kccXXi^oc cov eTTCiTicTB' *i>[ivvi] [A,eu av ovtu tov Epwra a» Plutarch, in one of his Moral Treatifes, has cited, with fome ap- plaufe, the two laft lines of this epigram ; and a very elegant, accom- pliflied writer of our own country, Mr. Webb, has inferred a tranfla- tion of them in his 7th Dialogue on the Beauties of Painting : but I think he has made the fuppofed fpeech of the hero rather more dif- refpedful to Jupiter than the Greek poet intended. I will give my reader an immediate opportunity of correcting me, if I am wrong in this fuppofition, by tranfcribing the couplet to which I allude : " Let us divide, O Jove !" the conqueror cries : *' I, lord of earth ! thou, tyrant of the fkies !" Webb, p. 172. edit. 1769. NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. 269 "We are indebted to Plutarch for the interefting anecdote concerning thejuft reproof of Lyfippus to his brother artift Apelles *. The cha- rader of this great ftatuary appears to have been fo noble, that his life was probably as worthy of being recorded for its virtues, as his pro- dudlions were for their fidelity to truth and nature: yet, to our regret, we can know but very little of his perlbnal hiftory, and of his nu- merous invaluable works. The two eminent antiquarians, Winkelman and Caylus, have fuppofed that not a fingle fragment remains. D'Han- carville is inclined to believe that a buft of Bacchus, preferved at Por- tici, is a real work of this exquifite artift ; and his reafons for think- ing fo may ferve to illuftrate the peculiar excellencies of Lyfippus. " Le beau bufte Bacchus en bronze, conferve a Portici, etant un " chef-d'oeuvre de I'art, il fut neceflairement exe'cute avant la perte des " anciennes methodes ; et comme la tete de ce bufte, comparee au " col, feroit petite par rapport au refte du corps, comme le cheveux " en font admirablement bien travaille's, et comme on y remarque *' d'ailleurs la plus grande ele'gance dans les molndres parties, cela m'a " faitedire ci-deffus que je croyois reconnoitre la main de Lyfippe dans *' ce rare.morceau, car ce font les caraderes que Piine donne exprefle- " ment a fes ouvrages, lib. xxxiv. ' Statuarise arti plurimum traditur " contulifte, capilium exprimendo, capita minora faciendo quam antiqui « Proprias hujus videntur effe argutise operum, cuftodita: in mint- " mis quoque rebus." In fpeaking of Lyfippus, I muft not fail to obferve that his brother Lyfiftratus was alfo an eminent ftatuary, and particularly diftinguifhed as the firft who executed portraits with the utmoft exadnefs, by the in- genious device of taking a caft in plaifter from the face. * Ey h. KCCi AuaiTCTTO^ 7r^«r>}? ATsWr,-* ty.^jA-^'a.TO Tov (^uiyfX^oVj on rnv AXs^avdp« y^aJ^m iiMi% KEpauvov iJEpfEipicrsv auTo; 5: Xoyjj>l», i{ tw &|«v sJs ei; a^atptjiTETai ^Jfovo?, «^rl9^»r,» vjm \,\y.i hi70i.v. — PluTARCH US, de Hide ctOfiride, p. 60. edit. Cantab. 1744- 270 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. In citing the words of Pliny, which celebrate Lyfiftratus for this in- vention, I will venture to fuggeft a new reading in the paffage, which may vindicate (as I imagine) this interefting author from the charge of having exprefled himfelf rather abfurdly on this fubjed *. I have feen it fomewhere obferved, that a ftatue, refembling the di- minutive Hercules of Lyfippus, was formerly in the poffeffion of the celebrated Pithou, who has been called the Varro of France : but I apprehend that interefting work of ancient art has long ceafed to exift ; and as the animated poem, in which Statius has defcribed the ftatue and its moft amiable poffeflbr, has not appeared (to my recolledion) in our language, I ftiall conclude this note with an entire verfion of the Latin epiftle I allude to, as the moft pleating tribute that antiquity has paid to the talents of Lyfippus. * " Hominis autem imaginem gypfo e facie ipfa primus omnium expreffit, ceraque in earn " formam gypfi infufa emendare inftituit Lyfiftratus Sicyonius frater Lyfippi, de quo diximus. " Sic et fimilitudinem reddere inftituit : ante eum quam pulcherrimas facere ftudebant. " Idem et de fignis effiglcm exprimere invenit. Crevitque res in tantum ut nulla dgnzjiatua- " vejine argil/a Rerent. Quo apparet antiquiorem banc fuiffe fcientiam quam fundendi seris. Lib. XXXV. c. 12. — So ftood the paifage till the Paris editor of Pliny in twelve quartos made the following alteration : " ut nulla figna fua fine argilla fierent." By changing the fuper- fluous wovdi Jlatuceve into fua, he hoped to reftify the weaknefs of the paffage : but I appre- hend another very flight alteration may improve it much more. Inftead o^.fine argilla, I would vziA fine arte ilia; confidcring thofe word's as exprefling the invention of Lyfiftratus, and giving alittle better fenfe to the clofe of the paffage, " antiquiorem hanc fuiffe fcientiam, quam fun- " dendi asris ;" which may then fignify that this practice of cafting the real features in plaifter was prior to the formation of perfeft portraits in bronze. HERCULES EPITRAPEZIOS. 272 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. Hercules Epitrapezios. Forte remittentem curas, Phosboque levatum Pedora, cum patulis tererem vagus otia feptis Jam moriente die, rapuit me coena benigni Vindicis, hgec imos animi perlapfa receflus Inconfumpta manet, neque enim ludibria ventris Haufimus, aut epulas diverfo e fole petitas, Vinaque perpetuis aevo certantia faftis. Ah ! miferi, quos nofle juvat, quid Phafidis ales Diftet ab hiberna Rhodopes grue : quis magis anfer Exta feral : cur Thufcus aper generofior Umbro : Lubrica qua recubent conchylia mollius alga. Nobis verus amor, medioqueHelicone petitus Sermo, hilarefque joci brumalem abfumere nodtem Suaferunt, mollemque oculis expellere fomnum ; Donee ab Elyfiis profpexit fedibus alter Caftor, et hefternas rifit Tithonia menfas. O bona nox ! jundaque utinam Tirynthia luna ! Nos, et Erythrsese Thetidis fignanda lapillis, Et memoranda diu, geniumque habitura perennem. Mille ibi tunc fpecies serifque eborifque vetufti, Atque locuturas mentito corpore ceras Edidici. Quis namque oculis certaverit ufquam Vindicis, artificum veteres cognofcere dudlus, Et non infcriptis audorem reddere fignis ? Hie tibi quse dodo multum vigilata Myroni JEra, laboriferi vivant quae marmora coelo Praxitelis, quod ebur Pifeo pollice rafum, NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. 273 The Table Hercules. Haply at eafe, from ftudious toil fet free, The day expiring as I rov'd at large, The call of Vindex, hofpitable friend ! Drew me to fupper ; and within the mind It refts yet unconfum'd. No feftive toys Of dainty appetite we there devour'd, Viands far-fetch'd, or wines of wondrous age. Ah ! wretched thofe, who nice difcernment boafl In crane or pheafant ; tell how geefe grow large; Why Umbrian boars by Tufcan are furpafs'd ; And on what weeds the richeft cockles reft ! Love and difcourfe, from Helicon deriv'd, With focial pleafantry, led us to wafte The wintry hours, difcarding downy fleep. Till a new Caftor from Elyfium rofe. And upon laft night's feaft Aurora fmil'd. Excellent night ! would thou hadft match'd, in length, That whence Alcides rofe ! Thy joys deferve Feftivity's red mark and endlefs fame. A thoufand beauties there, of ivory wrought, Of brafs, and wax, with mimic life endow'd, I learnt ; for who, like Vindex, has an eye That, feeing ancient artifts in their touch, Reftores the author to the namelefs work ? How the fme brafs, elaborately wrought, Speaks learned Myron's toil ; how marble grace Proclaims Praxiteles ; whofe ivory charms N N 274 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. Quod Polycletais juffum eft fpirare caminis, Linea quae veterem longe fateatur Apellem, Monftrabit ; namque hsec, quoties chelyn exuk ille, Defidia eft ; hie Aoniis amor avocat antris. • Haec inter, caftx Genius tutelaque menfae Amphitryoniades, multo meacepit amore PeQora, nee longo fatiavit lumina vifu : Tantus honos operi, finefque inclufa per artos Majeftas ! Deus ille, Deus ; fefeque videndum Indulfit Lyfippe tibi, parvufque videri Sentiriqueingens, et cum mirabilis intra Stet menfura pedem, tamen exclamare libebit, (Si vifus per membra feras) hoc pedore preflus Vaftator Nemees ; haec exitiale ferebant Robur, et Argoos frangebant brachia remos. Hoc fpatio, tarn magna, brevi, mendacia formse ! Quis modus in dextra, quanta experientia dodti Artificis curis, pariter geftamina menfae Fingere, et ingentes animo verfare ColofTos ? Tale nee Idseis quicquam Telchines in antris. Nee folidus Brontes, nee qui polit arma Deorum Lemnius, exigua potuiffet ludere mafla. Nee torva effigies epulifque aliena remiflis ; Sed qualem parci domusadmirata Molorchi, Aut Alex lucis vidit Tegesea facerdos : Qualis ab CEtxis emiffus in aftra favillis Nedtar adhuc torva lastus Junorj^ bibebat : Sic mitis vultus, veluti de pedore gaudens Hortetur menfas, tenet hasc marcentia fratris NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. What drew its breath from Polycletus' forge, And lines that own Apelles from afar, He fhews : his paftime when he quits the lyre ! This paflion calls him from Aonian caves. Ofthefe, the guard and genius of the board, Alcides, moft with awful love infpir'd My breaft, and feafted my infatiate eyes. Such grace adorns the work ; in narrow bounds Such majefty ; the God, the prefent God, Lyfippus ! bleft thy fight. Small to be feen. And mighty to be felt, within a foot His wondrous ftature : yet may we exclaim, Contemplating his limbs, " This bofom prefs'd " The Nemean lion ; and thefe arms, *' Endu'd with fatal force, the oars of Argo broke ! " Can fpace fo brief belie fo vaft a form ? " What fkill and knowledge in thy hand and mind, " Great artift ! thus to form the table's grace, " And in thy foul conceive coloflal fhapes ! " Not the Telchines in Idjean caves, *' Nor Brontes, nor the Lemnian power who points " Arms for the gods, could thus minutely fport." Not fierce this image, nor from feafls averfe. But as ador'd, Molorchus ! in thy hall ; Or in Tegxa, by his prieftefs feen, Such as from OEta, rifen to the ftars. Ne£tar he quaffs, and fmiles at Juno's frown. So mild his vifage, as with cordial joy Prompting the banquet, in one hand he holds N N 2 275 276 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. Pocula, at hjEc clavae meminit manus ; afpera fedes Suftinet, occultum Nemeaeo tegmine faxum. Digna operi fortuna facro : Pell^eus habebat Regnator Isetis numen venerabile menfis, Et comitem Occafus fecum portabat et Ortus : Prenlabatque libens modo qua diademata dextra Abftulerat dederatque, et magnas verterat urbes. Semper ab hoc animos in craftina bella petcbat, Huicacies Victor femper narrabat opimas, Sive catenates Bromio detraxerat Indos, Seu claufam magna Babylona refregerat hafta, Seu Pelopis terras libertatemque Pelafgam Obruerat bello : magnoque ex agmine laudum Fertur Thebanos tantum excufafle triumphos. Ille etiam, magnos Fatis rumpentibus actus, Cum traheret letale merum, jam mortis opaca Nube gravis, vultus altos in numine caro ^raque fupremis tenuit fudantia menfis. Mox Nafamoniaco decus admirabile regi PoflefTum ; fortique Deo libavit honores Semper atrox dextra perjuroque enfe fuperbus Annibal. Italics perfufum fanguine gentis, Diraque Romuleis portantem incendia tedis Oderat, et cum epulas, et cumLensea dicaret Dona, Deus caftris mscrens comes iffe nefandis. Praecipue cum facrilega face mifcuit arces Ipfius, immeritseque domos ac templa Sagunti Polluit, et populis furias immifit honeftas. Nee poft Sidonii lethum ducis xre potita Egregio plebeia domus : convivia Syllsc NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. The goblet, one is mindful of his club, The rock, his feat, his lion-veft conceals. Due fortune grac'd the hallow'd work ; fince firft Pella's young vidlor, on his feftive board Rever'd, and bore it to the weft and eaft, And clafp'd it in that hand which oft beftow'd, Oft feiz'd a crown, and mighty cities crufh'd. This for the morrow's battle he invok'd ; To this, when Victor all his triumph told, Whether from Bacchus' yoke he India freed. Or the beleaguer'd Babylon o'erthrew ; Or trampled on the liberties of Greece In martial rage. Of all his numerous feats, Only his Theban triumph fought excufe. He, when the Fates cut fhort his bright career. The deadly cup cxhaufted ; and his brow, Dark with Death's fhadow, on this foften'd bronze Fix'd his rais'd eyes, and prefs'd the focial god. Next, as the treafure of the Libyan chief, The ftatue fhone. The hand of Hannibal Fierce and fallacious, new libations pour'd To this brave power : but him, with Latlan blood Deform'd, and bearing defolating fire 'Gainft Rome, the god abhorr'd ; and at his feaft Mourn'd as the partner of an impious camp ; Then moft, when facrilegious he deftroy'd Herculean towers ; and juft Saguntum's fhrines Subverting, fir'd her fons to glorious rage. The Punic chieftain dead, the hallow'd bronze Shar'd no plebeian houfe, but Sylla's feaft 277 2y8 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. Comebat, femper claros intrare penates Afluetum, et felix dominorum ftemmate fignum. Nunc quoque (fi mores humanaque pedora curse Nofle deis) non aula quidem, Tirynthie, nee te Regius ambit honos : fed cafta, ignaraque culpse Mens domini, cui prifca fides, csptxque perenne Foedus amicitise : fcit adhuc florente fub ?evo Par magnis Veftinus avis, quern no£le dieque Spirat, et in carse vivit complexibus umbrae. Hie igitur tibi liEta quies, fortiffime divum Alcide ! nee bella vides pugnafque feroces, Sed chelyn, et vittas, et amantes carmina laurus. Hie tibi folenni memorabit carmine, quantus Iliacas Geticafque domos, quantufque nivalem Stymphalon, quantufque jugisErimanthon aquofis Terrueris ; quem te pecoris poiTefTor Iberi, Quem tulerit faevae Mareoticus arbiter arae. Hie penetrata tibi fpoliataque limina mortis Concinet, et fientes LibyjE, Scythiseve puellas. Nee te regnator Macetum, nee barbarus unquam Annibal, aut fsevi poflet vox horrida Syllas His celebrare modis ; certe tu muneris audtor Non aliis malles oculis, Lyfippe, probari. NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. Adorn'd ; accuftom'd to be nobly lodg'd. And happy in a line of fplendid hofts. Now, too, (if morals and the human heart Claim from the gods attention,) now no pomp Waits thee, Alcides ! but the blamelefs thoughts Of thy refin'd pofleflbr ; the pure train Of truth and friendfhip ! Thefe Veftinus knew, Whofe death outfhone his fires, to Vindex dear ; So dear, he lives by honouring the dead. Here, then, Alcides ! braveft of the gods, Share joyous quiet ; fee nor wars nor ftrife, But peaceful wreaths, the laurel and the lyre ! Your prefent hoft in folemn verfe fhall tell How great, in Thrace, in Ilion, on the fnows Of Stymphalus, in Erymanthian dales, You fcatter'd terror ; how Iberia's chief Fear'd you ; and how the lord of bloody fhrines. He too fhall fing the precindts of the dead, Owning your power, and nymphs of various climes. You, neither Ammon's fon, nor Punic chief, Nor favage Sylla, could applaud in ftrains Sojuft ; nor could'ft thou, author of the wrork, Lyfippus ! wifh a more accomplifli'd judge. 279 2 go NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. NOTE IX. Ver. 399. And Griefs convuljton Jhakes thefphere of Art. M. de Caylus clofes one of his Difcourfes on the Sculpture of the Ancients, in the Memoirs of the French Academy, with a circumftantial account of the Rhodia^l Coloffus, colleded from the authors of remote and recent times who have occafioiially mentioned this moft magnificent of all coloffal figures, the memorable produdlion of a lictle ifland once ennobled by the united influence of liberty, art, and naval power ! Yet, after the refearches of an accomplifhed writer, on a fub- jedt fo attractive to his fancy, we muft ftill remain in ignorance of fome particulars relating to this interefting image, that a lover of the arts would be glad to afcertain. Much, however, is known. Pliny has defcribed the fragments of this Coloffus in clear and animated lan- guage*. The Greek epigram, containing its dimenfions, varies (ac- cording to different readings' from feventy to eighty cubits. M. de Caylus, forming his calculation from the expreffion of Pliny, that few men could embrace the thumb, concludes that the height of the per- fed ftatue was about an hundred and five feet. * " Ante omnes autem in admiratione fuit Soils Coloffus Rhodi, quern fecerat Chares Lin- " dius, Lyfippi fupra difti difcipulus. Septuaginta cubitorum altitudinis fuit. Hoc fimula- " crum poll quinquagelimum fextum annum tcrr;E motu proftratum, fed jacens quoque mira- " culo eft. Panci poUicem ejus ampledunlur. Majores funt digiti quam pleraque ftatuae, *' Vafti fpecus hiant defraftis membris, fpedantur intus magns molis faxa, quorum pondere " ftablllverat conftituens. Duodecim annis tradunt cffeftum CCC talentis, quae contulerant " ex apparatu regis Denietrii reliflo, mora: t^.iio. Sunt alii minores hoc in eadem urbe co- " loffi centum numero; fed ubicunque fmguli fuiffent nobilitaturi locum," — Plin. lib. xxxiv. C.7. NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. 28 1 We learn from Strabo that it was broken afunder at the knees, and that the Rhodians confidered themfelves as prohibited by an oracle from replacing it. They probably guarded the fragments with a religious vetieration. I know not otherwife how to account for a very furprifing fa£l:, which my deceafed friend Gibbon has recorded with his ufual elegance and energy of expreffion. He obferves, that " after " ftanding fifty- fix years, the Coloflus of Rhodes was overthrown by " an earthquake : but the maffy trunk and huge fragments lay fcat- " tered eight centuries on the ground." I cannot tranfcribe the words of an accomplifhed author, whofe memory is fojuftly dear to me, with- out refledting, with poignant regret, what infinite advantages, for the improvement of my prefent work, I might have derived from his tafte, knowledge, and kindnefs, had his life been extended according to my wiflies. Gibbon, though he was not a collector of ftatues or pictures, had a lively efteem for all the fine arts. I return to the Rhodian Apollo. — If we may truft the Byzantine writers, Theophanes and Conftantine, the brafs of this Coloflus was gilt *. The Saracen chief, who invaded Rhodes in the year 672, feized and tranfported this ponderous plunder into Syria, where it was publicly fold to a Jew of Edefla. The ftory of loading nine hundred camels with the weight of thefe fl:upendous relics has the air of an Arabian tale. M. de Caylus imagines that modern writers have fallen into a great mifl:ake concerning the attitude and the ftation of the ftanding Cololfus, by reprefenting it as a ftriding figure at the entrance of the port, as the reader may have feen it in ordinary prints, with vef- fels failing between its legs. This intelligent writer rather fuppofes it to have been placed on the fhore, upon a fingle triangular bafis of white marble. He fays that no ancient author, no ancient monument, is * AyaXjiot, Je to TaHXia xw^xs" xj^fuo-w/itu)* avo ke?»X)ij eoij ito^m. — Constant, de Adminif. Imp. edit. 1640, p. 45. O O 282 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. found to countenance the modern fuppofuion of a ftridlng attitude : yet I apprehend the following epigram in the Anthologia, according to one mode of conftruftion, amounts alraoft to a proof that the ftatue had a double bafis ; part on the land, and part in the water : Eig ayciXfiOi ru HXicp Trapa Tiov Pcoiuu, AVTU (TOl TTOO? OXUjWTTOI' B{/,OCKVVXVTO KoXoCCOl/ TovSe VoSis vcciTtxi AuftSog AeXie, Ou yap UTTED TTiXocyivg [/.ovov avdecavy aXXa, k«i evyot AjGpoi' u^nXuTa (peyyo; eXiv&efirjg, To;f ycca oc^^ HfiXzXvjog ai^rjBsKri yiViBXtfi;, TluTpiog iv TrovTUf ki^v ^Bovt koi^xvivi. On the Statue raifed to the Sun by the Rhodlans. To thee, O Sun ! thy Rhodians bade arife This bright Coloflus, tow'ring to the fkies, , Of brafs ; for they, invafion's tide reprefs'd, Thus crown'd their ifle with fpoils, true valor's teft ! O'er land and water it was theirs to raife Unconquer'd liberty's enlivening blaze ; For they, who drew from Hercules their birth, Were heirs of empire o'er the fea and earth. But circumftances relating to this celebrated work are fo far from being clearly known, that the ftatue has been afcribed to different NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. 283 artifts: to Chares, to Laches, and to Lyfippus himfelf. Meurfius fup- pofes, with great probability, that it was begun by Chares, and finifhed by Laches. Thefe two fculptors were both natives of Lindus, a Rhodian city ; and Chares is known to have been a favourite difciple of Lyfip- pus. A paflage of Cicero, in which he is mentioned as fuch, informs us in what particular parts of the human figure different fculptors of eminence were thought to excel *. NOTE X. Ver. 421. Servility benumbs the foul of Greece. Winkehnann, who juftly eftimated the influence of freedom upon art, has obferved, that after Greece was reduced to the condition of a Roman province,, hiftory mentions no Greek artift of any note till the period of the Roman triumvirate. " The liberty of the Greeks," fays that animated author, " was buried in the ruins of Corinth. Art *' funk entirely in Magna Grsecia, where it had flourifhed with the phi- *' lofophy of Pythagoras and of Zeno, in the bofom of many free and " opulent cities. It perifhed utterly by the arms and the barbarity of the " Romans." * " Chares a Lyfippo ftatuas facere non ifto modo didicit, ut Lyfippus caput oftenderet " Myronis, brachia Praxitelis, peiflus Polycleti : fed omnia coram magiftrum facientem vi- " debat : caeterorum opera vel fuafponteconfiderare poterat." — Rhet. adHerennium, lib. iv. 002 284 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. NOTE XL V'er. 441. And ^ faintly promiftng tojlourifh^ died. The learned and enthufiaftic hiftorian of ancient art, in noticing its migration from the defolated cities of Greece into Syria and ^gypt, remarks, that being employed to ferve the pomp and pageantry of courts, it loft an infinite portion of its grandeur and genius under the Seleucides and the Ptolemies. Yet he aflerts, that under Ptolemy Phi- ladelphus, " Alexandria became almoft what Athens had been." Is not this paying rather too high a compliment to the Egyptian mo- narch ? He was, however, a patron of art, and a lover of magnifi- cence. His regard for a Grecian city, diftinguifhed by talents, appears confpicuous, from a circumftance recorded by Athensus, in the de- fcription of a fplendid feftival with which Ptolemy amufed himfelf and the people of Alexandria. In this gorgeous fcene an immenfe multi- tude of ftatues were carried in proceffion ; and near to that of Ptolemy himfelf (who was attended by three oddly-grouped companions, Alex- ander, Virtue, and Priapus) was the image of Corinth, adorned with a diadem of gold *. Winkelmann imagines, from the profufion of ftatues which appeared in this fumptuQUS pageant, that a great number of Grecian ftatuaries found, at this peirod, an afylum in Alexandria. If they did, it is but too probable that their talents were enfeebled by their change of fitua- tion ; fince Winkelmann himfelf has obferved, that of the artifts who * AXslavJpa Js xai nToXs/zais otyaX^ata i^i<^a.wy.iia. o-xtlfavois xjo-o-ivoi? tx xt""^' '"' °' '"5 AfSTi); ayaXfjM TOTwpEro; Til IlToXsfiaiai imfavov ti^E' fXa'a; Xf"'^'' xairifiawos S" auToi; cruy.vafm ixf" unur(, x«t irtfi Ticjv TEX"'™'' TB» sv T>i Ao-i« oTi /3£\ti»; EiTi TM £■> TYi Evfantv, afiPtTGwTvrat.—THEO- SHRASTUs, edit. Newton, p. 225. 288 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. wrote to his brother, on the fame fubje(fi, about fifty years ago. I will tranfcribe the two paflages 1 allude to ; obferving that the teftimony of Poggio is the more to be depended on, as he was particularly fond of ancient fculpture. His delight in colleding fragments of antiquity is recorded by the accomplifhed hiftorian of Lorenzo de Medici. — Rof- coe, vol. ii. p. 196. " Me maxime movet, quod his fubjiciam, ex innumeris ferme Co- " loflis, ftatuifque turn marmoreis, turn seneis (nam argenteas atque " aureas minime rniror fuifle conflatas) viris illuftribus ob virtutem po^ *' fitis, ut omittam varia figna voluptatis atque artis caufa publice ad " fpe£laculum coUocata, marmoreas quinque tantum, quatuor in Con- " ftantini Thermis ; duas ftantes pone equos, Phidias et Praxitelis " opus ; duas recubantes j quintam in foro Martis ; ftatuam quse " hodie Martis fori nomen tenet ; atque unam folam xneam equeftrem " deauratam qu^e eft ad Bafilicam Leteranenfem Septimio Severo di- " catam, tantum videmus fuperefle ; ut partem maximam ftragis urbis " fi quis numerum advertat, hoc folum fuilTe fateatur." — Thus feel- ingly did Poggio defcribe the fculptural poverty of Rotae ; poflefling only five ancient ftatues in the year 1430, according to Gibbon's re- marks on the date of his " elegant moral ledture'' De Varietate Fortuna. In the year 1745 the Abbe' Guafco, writing from Rome to his brother,, gives the following account of the fculpture that had delighted him in that city : " Ses anciennes produdtions font innombrables, et elles paflent toute " expreflion autant en beaute qu'en quantite. Le nombre des ftatues " antiques eft fi grand, que fi Ton faifoit comme dans I'ancienne Rome " le cens des citoyens, je doute fi ceux-ci . ne fe trouveroient pas in- " ferieurs en nombre a celui de ce peuple inaaime." — De tUfage des Statues chez les Anciens^ Preface, p. 1 7. NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE 289 NOTE XIII. Ver. 509. TMs rtcheji offspring of confederate JhilU It is a fuppofition of Winkelmann, that the Rhodian fculptor Agefan- der executed himfelf the figure of Laocoon, and Agefander's two fons, Athenodorus and Polydorus, the two younger figures of the group : an idea fo pleafing, that the fancy and the heart are both willing to embrace it. Felix de Fredis, a Roman citizen, had the good fortune to difcover the Laocoon, and to receive from pope Julius the Second an ecclefiafti- cal penfion for his difcovery. Leo the Tenth exonerated the revenues of the church from this penfion, and gave to Fredis in exchange the poft of apoftolical fecretary, in the year 15 17. Theraifingof this glo- rious work of art from its grave might form, perhaps, a very intereft- ing hiftorical pidure j as fome eminent perfonages might be introduced as fpedators of the fcene. The following Latin verfes were written on the ftatue, foon after its revival, by the celebrated Cardinal Sadolet : JACOBI SADOLETI, De Laocoontis Statua. Ecce alto terrae e cumulo, ingentifque ruinse Vifceribus iterum reducem longinqua reduxit Laocoonta dies, aulis regalibus olim Qui ftetit, atque tuos ornabat, Tite, Penates: p p 290 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. Divlnse fimulacrum artis ; nee do£ta vetuftas Nobilius fpedabat opus ; nunc alta revifit Exemptum tenebris redivivse moenia Romce. Quid primum fummumve loquar ? Miferumne parentem Et prolem geminam ? An finuatos flexibus angues Terribili afpedtu ? Caudafque irafque draconutn, Vulneraque, et veros, faxo moriente, dolores ? Horret ad hxc animus, mutaque ab imagine pulfat Peftora non parvo pietas commixta tremori. Prolixum vivi fpiris glomerantur in orbem Ardentes colubri, et finuofis orbibus ora, Ternaque multiplici conftringunt corpora nexu. Vix oculi fufferre valent crudele tuendo Exitium cafufque feros : micat alter, et ipfum Laocoonta petit, totumque infraque, fupraque Implicat, et rabido tandem ferit ilia morfu. Conncxum refugit corpus, torquentia fefe Membra, latufque retro fmuatum a vulnere cernas. llle dolore acri, et laniatu impulfus acerbo Dat gemitum ingentem, crudofque avellere dentes Connixus, laevam impatiens ad terga chelydri Objicit : intendunt nervi, coUedtaque ab omni Corpore vis fruftra fummis conatibus inftat. Ferre nequit rabiem, et de vulnere murmur anhelum eft. At Terpens lapfu crebro redeunte fubintrat Lubricus intortoque ligat genua infima nodo. Crus tumet, obfepto turgent vitalia pulfu Liventefque atro diftendunt fanguine venas. Nee minus in natos eadem vis effera fevit. Araplexuque angit rabido, miferandaque membra NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. 291 Dilacerat : jamque alterius depafta cruentum Pe£tus, fuprema genitorem voce cientis Circumjedtu orbis, validoque voluraine fulcit. Alter adhuc nullo violatus corpora morfu Dum parat addu£la caudam divellere planta, Horret ad afpedum miferi patris, hseret in illo: Et jamjam ingentes fletus, lacrimafque cadentes Anceps in dublo retinet timer : ergo perenni Qui tantum ftatuiftis opus jam laude nitentes Artifices magni (quanquam et melioribus a£lis Quccritur seternum nomen, multoque licebat Clarius ingenium venture tradere famse) Attamen ad laudem quxcunque oblata facultas Egregium banc rapere, et fumma ad faftigia niti. Vos rigidum lapidem vivis animare figuris Eximii, et vivos fpiranti in marmore fenfus Inferere adfpicimus, motumque, iramque, doloremque Et poene audimus gemitus : vos obtulit olim Clara Rhodos : veftrx jacuerunt artis honores Tempore ab immenfo, quos rurfum in luce fecunda Roma videt, celebratque frequens : operifque vetufti Gratia parta recens. Quanto prccftantius ergo eft Ingenio, ant quovis extendere fata labore Quam faftus, et opes, et inanem extendere luxum ! Carmina IlluJIrium Poetarum Italorum^ tom. viii. p. 228. p p 2 292 NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. NOTE XIV. Ver. 517. Of wretched beauty^ and of rum d pride. I have already obferved that It was a doubt, in the age of Pliny, whether the Niobe fhould be afcribed to Praxiteles or to Scopas. Win- kelmann and the Abbe Guafco agree in afligning it to the latter. If their conjedure be juft, it is yet probable that Praxiteles alfo exe- cuted a ftatue of Niobe, from the following epigram in the Anthologia : Ex ^wij? jwe ■^«o< Tiv^otv >^i6ov' sk Se XiSoio Zuvjv Ufct^iTeXvig SfiTrotXiv itfyoccrccTO. a .Grotii Verfio. Ex viva lapidem dii me fecere ; fed ecce Praxiteles vivam me facit ex lapide. Gods made me ftone, for a prefumptuous ftrife : Praxiteles in ftone reftores my life. NOTES ON THE THIRD EPISTLE. 293 NOTE XV. Ver. 525. His brief exijlence ebbing as he lies. The ftatue, commonly called the Dying Gladiator, has been fuppofed to be the work of Ctefilaus defcribed by Pliny : " vulneratum defici- " entem, in quo poffit intelligi quantum reftat animse *." But Win- kelmann imagines it to be rather the figure of a herald, and allows his reader the choice of three eminent heralds of antiquity who were flain in defpight of their pacific office j — Polyphontes, the herald of Laius, killed by CEdipus ; Copreas, the herald of Euryftheus, deftroyed by the Athenians ; and Anthemocritus, the herald of Athens, murdered by the inhabitants of Megara. NOTE XVI. Ver. ^ZS- And feels the god reanimate his frames In contemplating the Farnefian Hercules, I believe many fpe.xvxo)/, x«i xi/osfvi'vra avrnt, ote Icrm juExa xav Ttppjivuv cux' y eTO, fxcvox arpwrov yinaQou ev t»i »xi/^;^ia.. Kara. Js Aio; QnXnatv it tin mi 6a,\a,riri; /5i;9ai (fayuva*, xat axaf yf- «er&« SaXaTliov A«w//io»k, tro pom te Iswbxo; ^eufr&ntM. — AxHtN^US, p. 296. CLQ.2 -OD NOTES ON THE FOURTH EPISTLE. lofopher was born, the moral influence of his dodrine on the cities of Tufcany is univerfally allowed ; and Brucker, in his elaborate Hiftory of Philofophy, thus defcribes the effed of his admonitions on the in- habitants of Crotona : " Ita emendabat Crotoniatorum mores, et ad " frugalitatem revocabat, et ad virtutem fingulas hominum aetates et " fexum mira eloquentise efficacia excitabat." — Hijl. Crit. Ph'tlof. torn. i. p. IOI2. NOTE V. Ver. 94. Her brave Hale/us of ArgoUc race. " En paflant en Etrurie," fays the Abbe Guafco in fpeaking of ftatues raifed in honour of public charaders, " nous trouverions que les " anciens fondateurs ou legiflateurs de cette nation, obtinrent dans ce *' pays les memes honneurs que les Grecs accorderent a leurs he'ros. " On y voyoit le fimulacre d'Halefus, le premier qui porta dans ces " contrees les myfteres de Junon, qui fonda quelques villes, et que " I'infcription en caradere Etrufque, qu'on lifoit aux pieds de fa ftatue, ♦* difoit fils de Neptune et defcendu des Veiens Le cabinet de " Cortone conferve une ftatue de ces heros, arme en cuiralTe et en " cafque." I apprehend the learned Abbe has led me to confound two different heroes of the fame" title. This is not the Halefus who makes a much more graceful figure as a warrior in the poetry of Virgil, than his namefake does in the ancient fculpture of his Etrufcan cotemporaries, — according to the engraving of his image, which 1 find in the Firft Vo- lume of Gori's ** Mufeum Etrufcum." NOTES ON THE FOURTH EPISTLE. 301 Dempfter imagines there were two Etrufcan kings of this name. The firft governed the Veientes before the aera of the Sahan priefts ; the fecond is believed to have been a fon of Agamemnon, immortalized in the following verfes of Virgil and of Ovid : Sed bellis acer Halefus Tendit in adverfos, feque in fua colligit arma. ^neid x. v. 41 1. Argiva eft pompse facies. Agamemnone csefo, Et fcelus et patrias fugit Halefus opes. Jamque pererratis profugus terraque, fretoque, Mosnia felici condidit alta manu. Ille fuos docuit Junonia facra Falifcos. Sint mihi, fmt populo femper arnica meo. Ovid. Amorum, Lib. iii. Eleg. xiii. I ought not to quit Etruria without obferving, that many laudable efforts have been made to refcue and elucidate the almoft annihilated reliques of this unfortunate nation, by feveral authors of indefatigable induftry and refined erudition. Much may be learned from Dempfter, Gori, and the fenator Buonarotti ; ftill more from the various Latin differtations of Pafteri, and the Saggio di Lingua Etrufca Dall Abate Lauzi. The latter has added to his deep refearches into the language of Etruria a very pleafing little Treatife, " Circa la Scoltura degli Anti- " chi e i varii fuoi Stili." On that of Etruria he obferves : " Direb- ** befi che il difegno Etrufco nelle figure fi conforma con quello della lor *' loro architettura — I'ordine Tofcanico e il piu forte di tutti, ma il ** meno gentile." 302 NOTES ON THE FOURTH EPISTLE. NOTE VI. Ver. ii6. Their uorksjloe blindly praised atid bafelyjlole. Nothing coald exceed the inaptitude of the Romans to excell in the art of fculpture, except the rapacity with which they feized the ftatues of the various nations who furpafled them in ingenuity. Their public ravages of this kind were often followed by petty adts of barbarifm and bafenefs ftill more deteftable ; for, not contented with having carried off the monuments of public merit from the countries they overcame, they erafed infcriptions from the ftatues of illuftrious men, and inferted falfe titles of their own. On this occafion it is juf- tice to exclaim with Cicero, " Odi falfas infcriptiones ftatuarum aliena- rum." The learned Figrelius, who has written at length on the ftatues of the Romans, relates fome curious examples of this fculptural forgery. It appears, from the authority of Dio Chryfoftom, that Alcibiades was turned into iEnobarbus ; and according to Zonaras, even Conftantine the Great did not fcruple to put his own name on a ftatue of Apollo : but if he did fo, we may hope it was rather to annihilate the worfhip he condemned, than to impofe the figure of a Pagan divinity on the people as the real reprefentative of a Chriftian emperor. In juftice to the Romans it is proper to remark, that they might pof- fibly learn from the Greeks themfelves the difingenuous pradlice of falfi- fying the ftatues of ancient worthies. We know that Rhodes (one of the mcft magnificent marts of fculpture in the Pagan world !) incurred confiderable difgrace by this fpecies of falfehood, for which Dio Chryfof- tom reproves the Rhodians in a very copious, animated, and beautiful NOTES ON THE FOURTH EPISTLE. 303 oration, which contains fome interefting anecdotes of fculpture, and an eloquent defcription of its influence on the fpirit of antiquity : ITpof Tn Atog (fays the indignant orator) apa uyvoem tkto to t^yov vx. iKBtvag fjiovMg ciTij/.iig ttoisivj ocWcc jcai ttjv ttoXiv i^vi^ov tuv ewoB ~> "Where Dorian Corinth are thy graceful bowers ? Where thy fam'd fplendor, where thy crown of towers ? Where thy bright temples, fill'd with Beauty's train? Where now the myriads thou couldft once contain ? Of thee unhappy not a trace is found, But all by War's o'erwhelming flood is drown'd. We, the fole Halcyons of thy wafted fhore, Thy plaintive Nereids, thy dire fate deplore. 307 R R 2 3o8 NOTES ON THE FOURTH EPISTLE. NOTE IX. Ver, 146. Withfpoils thy heroes cannot underjland. The ftupidity of Mummius, the deftroyer of Corinth, is become al- moft proverbial, from the fpeech he made concerning the works of Grecian art that he difpatched to Rome. He threatened thofe, to whofe care he had entrufted this invaluable part of his booty, that whatever articles they loft, they fhould be bound to replace by new fimilar pro- ductions : Si eas perdidiflent novas eos reddituros. , 'v VfiLLEft^sPATERCULUS. Dio Chryfoftom in his Oration to the Corinthians very properly be- ftows on this Roman ravager the appellation of uv^^unroq aTrxtSeurcg • and gives a few curious fpecimens of his abfurd conduit concerning fome particular ftatues that made a part of his Grecian plunder. NOTE X. Ver. 156. 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