136 be for the procession of the consecrated boat; but when remote from waters, for gymnastic performances.-p. 18. The former hypothesis we hold to be fanciful. The second we think fair, on account of the following circumstances. In the Archæologia Americana, and Hodgson's Letters from North America, vol. ii. p. 430, is arr account of several similar avenues (among the other Druidical relics), which are presumed to have been made for the celebration of games, as were the Grecian Stadium and Roman Circus, to which they have a resemblance. The education of the Celts chiefly consisted of gymnastics, composed of various games, enumerated in Mr. Fosbroke's Encyclopedia of Antiquities, (i. p. 383.) Stukeley formed a similar idea of the Cursus near Stonehenge. REVIEW.-Emerson's History of Modern Greece. We shall end our remarks with observing, that in Mr. Logan's “Scottish Gaël, or Celtic Manners," ii. p. 6, is an account of similar huts in many parts of Scotland. All antiquaries and students of our ancient history owe an obligation to Mr. Rowe for this valuable pamphlet. We recommend him to compare the ground-plan of the British village at Steeple Langford Down, engraved in Sir R. C. Hoare's Moderu Wiltshire, Sect. Branch and Dole, pl. xi. p. 171, because we think that these remains may, in certain respects, illustrate each other. [Feb. But there may be histories modelled from his higher merits, and which carefully exclude the pompous struts of his ostentatious style. In this improved form we may see that the standard and superior work before us is executed. It has all Gibbon's admirable management of details (which is his pre-eminent merit), and in the narration, that philosophical spirit appears which confers upon it the character alone fitted to accurate elucidation of action; and which, if united with contemporary ideas, is the only complete mode of historical composition. For there must be shown both the motives arising from the common properties of the species, and those of a particular kind which proceed from locality and contemporary ideas and The History of Modern Greece, from its Con quest by the Romans B. C. 146 to the present Time. By James Emerson, Esq. of Trinity College, Dublin. 2 vols. 8vo. IN History few men have possessed the taste of Gibbon. Livy might have been the archetype studied; but the merit of the Roman is limited to the narration. Gibbon is a philosopher as well as historian, and while he judges concerning incidents with the fine reason of the former, he moulds details as the latter ought to do, into picturesque exhibition. He throws the earth out of the mine, and displays the ore; and the difficulty of writing history consists in avoiding tiresomeness of detail. It is very true that he is turgid and foppish; but that is a manner, and it most certainly contributes to order and method, however finically displayed. Fops and slovens are rarely united characters. circumstances. What we admire in ancient Greece is the intellectual perfection exhibited in its works of literature and art. In a general view, heroism may be generated by danger, intellectual acuteness by business and intercourse with mankind, and excellence in the arts by successive improvements, in order that pre-eminence and, in consequence, patronage may be acquired. As to heroism, the Greeks were always pirates, soldiers, and sailors; and situations of constant peril necessitate union and beget fellow feeling. The Greeks had numerous sea-ports, which occasioned traffic and business, from which ensue perpetual intercourse and worldly knowledge. Their excellence in the arts did not only grow out of the circumstances hereafter quoted from Mr. Emerson, but froin more ignoble sources, viz. the wealth thus brought into the country. One eminent statue of a deity attracted thousands of foreign visitors. Many sailed to Cnidos for the mere purpose of viewing the Venus of Praxiteles; and the Cnidians refused the statue to King Nicomedes, who would have forgiven them an immense debt in return;* for well did they know that Cnidos without that lion would have sunk into obscurity and poverty. Greece is not naturally a rich country, and it required artificial embellishments to ennoble it. Hostility to the theism of Socrates was founded upon the same alarm as that of the silversmith to the oratory of St. Paul. The profit of the craft was in danger. * Flaxman on Sculpture, 89.-Rev. 1831.] 66 For the poetry and literature it is more difficult to account, unless we ascribe it to the successive improvements of society and practice. Herodotus was a regular narrator of long stories, full of mythology and wonders. This manner would excite the contempt of wellinformed men of business and the world, and ruin the succeeding professors. The necessity of gratifying an educated mind (for the Greeks never neglected education) would therefore stimulate authors to soar higher and improve in taste; for it is noticeable that in proportion as education is diffused and becomes more fastidious, composition is progressive also. Beautiful poetry and classical history is, in this country and every other, written only for the educated; vulgar ballads and dying speeches only for the ignorant. In short, we ascribe the preeminence of Greece to the necessity imposed upon the inhabitants of benefitting their country, and in so doing themselves, by the utmost practicable means. Holland, a mere bog turned up to dry," will illustrate the existence of such a necessity, and in a more sordid way show the manner of its operation upon the natives. Its Celtic and German origin may explain the barbarism of its taste and manners, compared with those of Greece, whose inhabitants had archetypes of mechanical excellence and the arts in their oriental neighbours, from whom they borrowed nearly all their originals. If Grecian taste cannot be surpassed (and it is almost only in sculpture that it cannot be so), it is because that grew out of the study of the human form in nudity, and had time to acquire perfection. In architecture there is a style, viz. the Gothic, fully as fine and perfect as their orders; and their painting, as seen on their vases, was, in a modern view, merely elementary. Their divine language owes its sweetness to the predominance of vowels and liquids, and its admirable construction to that endless study to improve it, so repeatedly exhibited by Plutarch and others in their notices of eminent grammarians and tutors. Providence produces great events by humble means, and so far from wishing to degrade the Greeks, we know that among them (setting aside the superior morals of Revelation) they elevated in every other respect the human characGENT. MAG. February, 1831. 137 ter to a perfection which cannot be surpassed, and, taking it on the whole, not even approached. Our French neighbours are very fond of the word glory, but the Greeks really exemplified it, for even poverty could not sink beneath reputation those who merited rank. The sordidness of European habits has converted this Temple of Glory into a mere counting-house, but, disgusting as is the profanation, Mr. Emerson convinces us that Homer and Pindar never drew more heroic characters than those which still exist among the Klephts or Mountaineers ⭑ (the Highlanders of this still in some respects fine nation), nor is there an Achilleau hero, or a knight of chivalry, who has exceeded the inimitable heroism of George and his brother in the recent warfare. Being mountaineers, inhabiting a country which they could not turn to commercial advantage, they did not become sordid, were fixed to the spot for a bare support, and retained that bravery which philosophers know to have been always attendant upon the pastoral state of society, because property in flocks and herds requires perpetual defence, and that of agriculture cannot exist without laws, and protected appropriations of the soil. These, however, are extraneous considerations with regard to the Greeks. Their intellectual superiority was the Sun of a system; and we regard it with the same homage as we do that glorious orb of material nature. As to what St. Paul says about them, Montesquieut very justly observes, that they were great talkers, great disputants, and sophists by nature, who never ceased to create controversies about religion, indeed about every thing. REVIEW.-Emerson's History of Modern Greece. What, however, exclusively distinguishes Greece is, we say again, its almost divine beau ideal, its wonderful taste. The following extract will show, that to consider works of the kind as efforts of intellect, not mere productions of mechanical skill, is the grand method of creating the distinction in question. Mr. Emerson says, "It has been a favourite though now almost an exploded theory, to attribute the excellence of the Greeks in works of literature or taste, to the influence of their cli * See vol. i. c. xi. p. 416 seq. + Quoted by our author, i. 337. 138 REVIEW.-Emerson's History of Modern Greece. mate and their soil; that of Italy was equally salubrious and pure, and yet the one has proved the grave, whilst the other was the cradle of Genius. It is true that art is indebted for its second birth to Italy, but it was under a different constitution that it revived; when its professors were rendered honourable, instead of being branded as infamous, and their works were looked upon as efforts of intellect, and not regarded as mere productions of mechanical skill. "The inventive excellence of the Greeks in works of taste has been attributed to various and united causes, but principally to the scope afforded to imagination by the sublimities of their mythology, and the splendour attendant upon the celebration of their national games. But let their origin be as it may, their ultimate perfection is solely attributable to the honours heaped on those who practised them, and the high rewards conferred by their countrymen on distinguished artists. Whilst the mercurial spirit of the Athenians and the other states was involving them in continual wars, their slaves and menials were occupied in the exercise of the mechanical and domestic arts at home. But during their intervals of peace, when the haughty soldier returned flushed with triumph, he disdained to share with his servants and dependants the practice of these humbler professions. It was then, that to find encouragement for these turbulent warriors or restless citizens, the decree was passed which forbade the exercise of sculpture or design to slaves, rendered the liberal arts the province of freemen alone, and dignified them for ever in the eyes of the Athenians. "Thus confined exclusively to the exalt ed portion of the state, riches or aggrandisement became in a short time a secondary object with the sculptor or the painter; and a laurel crown or a public decree was considered a higher gratification than the gold of individuals, or the most costly gains of the artist. The crowd, dazzled with maguificence, bestowed a species of worship on those whose talents had adorned their cities; and they in turn became intoxicated with the glorious pride arising from their elevation. The most distinguished individuals did not disdain to use the chisel or the pallet; the labour as well as the design equally embodied genius; and the boldest conception was expressed in the most graceful execution. Honours and rewards rapidly swelled the number of candidates for national distinction, and on every public occasion the productions of numerous artists were exhibited for the selection of the state. Nor was patronage corrupted by an abandonment to the rich and the powerful, but entrusted to the assembled nation, whose united voices directed its conferment. With the increasing passion of the people for the adornment of their na [Feb. tional edifices, arose the ambition of indivi- The Romans had a Gothic feeling "Trace no unwonted developement of thought, and perceive no superior effort of creative mind; they looked upon them as mere matters of convenience, not as objects of respectful admiration. Even Virgil himself does not hesitate to stigmatize as beneath the dignity of a Roman the elegant accomplishments of the Greek."-—pp. 193 -197. We have indeed works of the Ro- "But at the same time this perfection We have elsewhere noted that the Cyclopean construction of the Treasury of Atreus at Mycenæ is similar to that of our old church-spires, and we have no doubt but that the primitive and simple method below described was that of the ancient architects. Le Roy in 1753, saw the plan executed by a Greek builder, and Mr. Eton says, "In some parts of Asia, I have seen cupolas of a considerable size built without any kind of timber support. They fix firmly in the middle a post about the height of the perpendicular wall, more or less as the cu pola is to be a larger or a smaller portion of 1 1831.] REVIEW.-Emerson's History of Modern Greece. a sphere; to the top of this is fastened a strong pole, so as to move in all directions, and the end of it describes the outer part of the cupola; lower down is fixed to the post another pole, which reaches to the top of the inner part of the perpendicular wall, and describes the inside of the cupola, giving the thickness of the masonry at top and bottom, and every intermediate part, with the greatest possible exactness. As they build their cupolas with bricks, and instead of lime use gypsum, finishing one layer all round before they begin another, only scaffolding for the workmen is required to close the cupola at top."-ii. 220. Le Roy's description shows that the pole was elevated upwards to point out the successive decreasing circles of the dome, till it arrived at the perpendicular, when the arch was closed by a keystone. See p. 219. Mr. Emerson (ii. 279) observes, that though the modern Greeks have lost the excellence of their ancestors, they still preserve their modes of working, and practice painting frescoes and encaustic with wax, the colours being fixed by heat, as formerly. The latter has, with regard to facility, very cousiderable advantages over the oil painting now in use. Isaiah describes our Saviour as "having no form nor comeliness;" but David makes him "fairer than the children of men." This discrepancy produced two opposite opinions concerning the person of Christ. A French proverb compares a lean or meagre person to "un crucifix des Grecs;" and it seems that the Greeks so degraded the subject, because "their talents were unequal to the expression of agony and passion, united to majesty and grace; and their only resource was by increasing the deformity of the subject to add to its disagreeable effect on the nerves of its spectators.”—ii. p. 266. The Roman painters, however, had almost from the earliest periods coincided with the majority of the fathers in asserting the beauty and grace of our Saviour's form. Mr. Emerson thus explains the origin of our present portraits: "The letter of Lentulus, whose promulgation dates between the ninth and fourteenth centuries, serves to show that the ideas of Hadrian I. and St. Bernard, relative to the beauty of Jesus, had then become prevalent in the West, and the description of Nicephorus Xanthopulus, which agrees with it, seems to indicate that the same 139 opinion was not altogether without supporters at Constantinople. The features, figures, and expression, attributed by both to the Saviour, are precisely those which on the restoration of painting served as models to the works of Guido of Sienna, Cimabue, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michael Angelo. So that to the Italian followers of Gregory, Ambrose, and Augustine, we are indebted for the portraits of Jesus at present in use; nor is it necessary to add, that their forms are imaginary, and that their authenticity is supported neither by sacred authority, nor attested by models."-ii. 268. Portraits of God the Father were first devised by the Latins; but those which were common in our old churches, and are still to be seen in illuminations and the woodcuts of the Golden Legend, are a Greek improvement. Mr. Emerson says, "It was with extreme awe and hesita tion, that the Greeks seem to have venDown to the eleventh century they contitured on a delineation of the Almighty. bol of a hand extended from a cloud, an nued to represent his presence by the symidea borrowed most probably from the figurative words of Jeremiah (c. i. v. 9, c. xxvii. v. 5), and Ezekiel (c. ii. v. 9.) It was only when an example had been set to them by the artists of the west, that they presumed to paint him in a human form. Some miniatures of the ninth century executed in France, as decorations for a Bible, still preserved at Paris, afford the first specimens of this kind with which we are acquainted, and depict the Creator under the figure of a beardless youth, a golden cloud encompassing his head, clad in an azure robe, and bearing a sceptre in his hand. The Greeks, improving upon this conception, adopted Daniel (vii. 9, 10,) and painted him as an for their model the ancient of days' in old man of venerable aspect, full of majesty dividing chaos by his look, and calling forth and goodness, seated amidst rolling clouds, light from the midst of darkness. These splendid imaginings, though rudely expressed, seemed to have been never either abandoned or surpassed; and in the lofty designs of Michael Angelo and Raphael, the spectator will recognize the first bold conceptions of the Greeks."-p. 269. Mr. Emerson throws much light upon the bad drawing of the human figure during the middle ages, in the following passages: "The use of undraped figures had perpetuated in some degree the knowledge of anatomy and figure; the severity of historical design now demanded the introduction of costume, and anatomical correctness was for ever lost to the Greeks."-ii. 267. 140 REVIEW.-Nicolas's Refutation of Mr. Palgrave's "Remarks." [Feb The other cause was the introduc- clude in his "Observations" on the tion of armour : "The Greeks and Romans, accustomed to contend chiefly on foot, and with such defensive arms alone, as protected the body and left the limbs at liberty, afforded the purest models of manly strength and graceful action. Charlemagne, in increasing the use of cavalry, first adopted the practice of encasing the person of the rider in iron; and though the custom was slow in gaining ground, it eventually prevailed throughout almost every country of Europe. In the delineations of these shapeless warriors, the artist required no anatomical skill; and grace and attitude were effectually excluded from the persons of his inanimate por traits."-ii. 273. This work will place Mr. Emerson among the first of our authors. Refutation of Mr. Palgrave's "Remarks in Reply to Observations on the State of Historical Literature.' "" Additional Facts relative to the Record Commission, and Record Offices. Addressed to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Esq. 8vo. pp. 228. Pickering. IN the article on this subject in our last number we willingly acceded to Mr. Nicolas's principal arguments, and which can alone lead to any useful result, that the management of the offices of Records might be remodelled with advantage, and that the new Record Commission ought to be sufficiently furnished with practical men; nor could we either dispute or defend the undeniably enormous expenses of the late Record Commission. But the author of the "Observations" had introduced other topics, which have been made of undue importance, and which we much lament should ever have obstructed the course of this gentleman's useful and public-spirited exertions. At the period of their discussion such matters are apt to be magnified in the view of the parties concerned; and, because we deprecated what we considered as more likely to promote private animosities than public benefits, our pages were no sooner before the author, than he hastily wrote three pages of complaint against us, which are appended as a Postscript to the present Pamphlet. On this Postscript we shall have a very few words to say hereafter. It is to be regretted that Mr. Nicolas should have thought it necessary to in Record Commission the subject of the Society of Antiquaries. He had already repeated his strictures upon that body too often to make any further impression. His advice when a member had been rejected, and his subsequent censures disregarded; and if so, why trouble himself again? In the do not exist, which so often afford, to case of that society those circumstances self-devoting patriotism, a plea for its interference with the economy of public institutions. It is neither endowed by the munificence of deceased benefactors, nor supported at the public expense. Nor even is a man obliged to join it, in order to take a degree or to obtain a certificate. The profession of historian, or any other, may be practised without its license. In short, it is purely a matter of voluntary choice to come or go, to join the Society or to leave it: and the members themselves provide its means. In such a case, if the members are themselves satisfied with the management, they may be justified in judging for themselves, and in disregarding objections from without. When the Society publishes its works, they are undoubtedly as amenable to criticism as the productions of individual authors. Mr. Nicolas has frequently had such opportunities for giving his opinions, and it is clear they have not escaped him; nor has he been known law, which enjoins the literary too strictly confined by that wellcritic that, however a book may be abused, the author must be spared. We are convinced that, on this occasion, to repeat his objections was useless, because, from the irritation he to make but little impression; and inhad previously excited, they were sure judicious, because he thus afforded to his Record Commission antagonists a neutral position, in which to fight their battle in advance of their own territories. mation against us, we can in most re- Floriferis ut apes in saltibus omnia libant, |