Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

τῶν δὲ κελαδεννὴν ὕβριν
ἄρεος ἐριβρόμου βολαΐς
φονίῳ προσπελάσασα πεδίῳ.
τεὸν ποτὶ, σεμνὰ, βωμὸν
οὔτε λύρας ἄτερ οὔτ ̓ ἀγαθοῖο
χάρματος ἐρχόμεθ', οἶσι τρόπων
ἐσλῶν, εὐεργετῶν τε,
καὶ θεοκτίστων νόμων
χάρις παραιθύσσει φρένας,
ὅσοις ποθεινόν ἐστιν ἡρώων κλέος,
φίλα δὲ πατρὶς αἰα.
* Ηλθες δὴ σωτηρία βροτοῖσιν
ὅτ ̓ ἀπ ̓ οὐρανοῦ κατέβας,
ἐν μάχῃ τὸ ἐπιοῦσι Γάλλοις
ἀντίους ἔστασας ̓Ιβάρους.
Σαυρομάτων δ ̓ ἑτέρωθι παῖδες
Σκύθαι τ' ἄμαχοι, δορυφόρος ὅ-
μιλος, δουλοσύναν ἀπὸ πατρίδος
ἀπεῖργον· οἱ ἴδον μὲν ἄστυ,
Σαρματίας παλαιὸν ἕδος,
ἐχθροῖς οἰκτροτάτως κατακαυθέν
ἀλλὰ Γάλλους ταχεία

μετῆλθε τίσις, χώ μεγάλαυχος
δραπέταις ποσὶν βασιλεὺς ἔφευγεν
ἐλευθέρων φόβῳ.

τότε σὺ γάθησας, Δίκα,

τότε δὴ Σαυρόμαται, Σκυθῶν τε
φίλιππος λαὸς ἄροντο κῦδος,
Γάλλου δὲ στυγερὰ τυραννὶς
ἔτρεμε δεινῶς, ὅποτ ̓ οὐράνιος
χειμωνίων ὄμβρων πατὴρ
κρυόεντα βέλη τῇ πολυάνδρῳ
ἐνέσκηψε στρατία
τεοὶ δὲ παῖδες,
Βορυσθένες εὐρυρέεθρε,
φοβερὴν ὀπίσω

πολέμου νεφελὰν κατέχευαν.
Μοῦσα δ' ὑμῖν, κλεινοὶ βασιλεῖς
συμπλέκει καλλίνικον στέφανον,
οἱ δόξας ἄωτον

ἀπεδρέψατ ̓ ἐς ἀεὶ, φυλάξαντες

γλυκυτάταν ἐλευθερίαν,

ἀρετῆς τε συμμαχία καλλίστα

πελώριον τελέσαντες ἔργον.

Spoken by the Hon. G. J. W. Ellis, of Christ Church.

COMPOSITIS jam tandem armis, dum tota quiescit
Europa, et justi agnoscens moderaminis usum,
Vos, tanti auctores, illustria nomina, doni
Grata colit, cingitque æterna tempora lauro;
Nos itidem Musarum artes atque otia doctæ
Pallados hic miti pacis servare sub umbra
Assoliti, his ultro vocemque animumque triumphis
Addimus, hospitibusque novis lætamur ovantes;
Nec minus interea patriæ patriique movetur
Imperii cura, neque te tua, maxime Princeps,
Gratari dubitat Rhedycina, et amore fideli
Excipit, et tanto felix se Præside jactat.
Auspice te, placidam carpit secura quietem
Pieridum sedes: tu namque exempla paterna
Rite colens, nostras ultro dignaris Athenas
Præsidio tegere, et donis cumulare benignis:
Scilicet omne tuum est, prisca quod ab Herculis urbe
Eruta Niliaci pretiosa volumina Bybli
Tandem insperatæ donari munere lucis
Vidimus, et Sophiæ hæc intra sacraria condi.
Nec minus interea studia in quæcunque vocetur
Vitæ altrix artisque parens, Te, Dia Mathesis,
Suspicit, et facilem veneratur læta Patronum.
Illa adeo, seu, quæ magno lex imperet orbi,
Edoceat, viresque ac pondera materiaï,

Seu quibus acta modis coeant, iterumque figuras
Dissiliant habitura novas vaga semina rerum,
Seu terræ scrutetur opes, quæ cæca metalli
Semina, quas gremio sparsim ferat ubere gemmas,
Illa sibi tantis præstari debita coeptis

Otia, subsidiumque tuo de munere jactat.
Ergo consiliis stabilita armisque suorum
Dum regina viget Brittannia, pacis amorem

Dum colit, et Phoebo doctum vacat Isidos agmen,
Hæc tibi perpetuæ stabunt præconia famæ

Victoris titulo, et belli potiora tropæis.

Spoken by Lord Clifton, of Christ Church.

Ὦ γαῖα πατρὶς, ᾗ παρῆν ἐν ἤματι
τῷδε στενάζειν, σιγ ̓ ὅταν τὸν ἄθλιον
ἄνακτα, πάσαν τὸν πλανώμενον χθονα,
δακρύοισι γοῦν προσεῖπας ὀμμάτων ἄπο.
τίς γὰρ προσέπτατ' ἐλπίς; εἰ μὴ σῆς ὅτι
ἄρησε πίστις δεξιᾶς, κατοῖσθά τε
εὕροντα κἂν ἀπόροισιν ἂν τὸν θεὸν πόρους.
NO. XXVII. CI. JI.

VOL. XIV.

G

οὐκοῦν τὸ μὲν σὸν ἔσχεν ἐν κακαῖς τύχαις
τὸν φύγαδα θέλγειν, χ' ὥ, τι λοιπὸν ἦν βίο
φιλοξένοισιν εὖ περιστέλλειν τοδε

κόσμοισιν· ὁ δ ̓ ἄναξ οὖχι τὴν ἄγαν φυγὴν
ἀνόνητά γ ̓ εἰᾶσ', ἀλλὰ σῶν, πατρὶς φιλὴ,
φρονημάτων εὖ οἶδε, θεσμίων τ ̓ ἄπο
σοφίαν βαθεία Φερβόμενος ἐσθλὴν φρενί.
τοιγὰρ δι ̓ εὐχῶν πολλὰ, καὶ τελεσφόρων
λιτῶν κατῆλθεν, ὡς μάλιστα μὲν δόμον
πατρῷον ἐπιδεῖν, μαλθακαῖς τε τὰς νόσους
κηλεῖν ἐπωδαῖς, γῆς ὅτῳ τὰ κύρια
ἀπηγρίωται πέργαμ ̓· εἰ δὲ μὴ, ξένω
ξένος οὗπερ ἦν τότ ̓, ἔνθα κοιμᾶσθαι τάφῳ.
οὐδὲ κενὸν ἦν τόδ' εὖγμα· καὶ γὰρ οὐρανοῦ
πλάκας διφρεύσαν ἐσχάτων ἀφ' ἡμέρας
στίβων ἔλαμψε, θαῦμα καὶ κώκυμ ̓ ὁρᾷν,
σέλας τι χρυσοφεγγὲς, ὡς πύργου τινὸς
πόλεώς τε, δεινοῦ πυρπολημάτων δορός.
τοῦνθενδε πῶς εἰποῖμ' ἄν ; ἡ γὰρ ἀνδράσι
φρέν' ἔοικε παντοδαποῖσιν ἐμπλήσσειν ῥόθος.
εὐψυχίας πῶς αὐτὸς, ὡς αὐδωμένης
θεόθεν βοῆς, σε ὦ παῖδες ἀνθρώπων, ἴτε,
ἐλευθεροῦτε πατρίδ, ἐλευθεροῦτε δὲ
παῖδας, γυναῖκας, θεῶν τε πατρῴων ἕδη,
θήκας τε προγόνων· νῦν ὑπὲρ πάντων ἄγων.”
καὶ δὴ πέπρακται· τῇδε γὰρ πανηγύρει
γέρας τυράννων, τῶντε τῆς γῆς κοιράνων,
*Ολυμπίας ἱεροῖσιν ὡς ποτ' ἐν μυχοῖς
Έλληνες άνδρες τιμίους τοὺς Ελλάδος
σωτῆρας ἐπεγέραιρον, ἐκσεσωσμένων
παιάνες οὕτως ἐκελαδοῦν λαῶν πάρα.

ὦ μακαρίων τόδε φασμάτων ήμαρ πλέον,
ὄλβου τ', ἐλευθερίας τε, τοῦ τ ̓ ἀεὶ κλέους.

Spoken by C. St. John Mildmay, Commoner of Brazen Nose
College.

ON THE ELGIN MARBLES.

As the author of an article on the Elgin Marbles, in No. XXVIII. of the Quarterly Review, expresses a wish to hear Mr. Payne Knight's explanation of the parts of his evidence concerning

them, which he has so grossly misrepresented, he shall be very concisely gratified; and if his motives are such as he professes, he will forthwith avow and retract his calumnies.

As to his observations on pèv, yàp and dè, they only betray his extreme ignorance of the Greek language, in which the former is merely the initial, and the latter the consecutive connective in a sentence; and, as the words which were initial in Plutarch's sentence were consecutive in the witness's, he thought himself at liberty to introduce them grammatically, when he could do it without altering the sense, which he conceives (with all due deference to these heaven-born Hoogeveens) he has not altered in the slightest degree.

As for believing this mass of architectural sculpture to be the work of Phidias, it is a sort of belief which defies argument. Plutarch states that Pericles contrived to employ all the artists and artisans of Athens, who had votes, in his public works; and in the figures of the Metopes alone there is evidence of many diffe rent hands of various degrees of merit. In those of the pediments too, there is equally distinct evidence of their being of different and remote ages; if any reliance is to be placed on what have hitherto been deemed certain criteria in the Chronology of Art. The figure of Hercules, called a Theseus, is the Crotoniate Hercules, extant upon many coins of that city, some anterior, some posterior, to the time of Phidias, and with the title xporwviάTag always inscribed over it. Croto having perished long before the time of Hadrian, the statue was then without doubt at Rome; and it is extremely probable that he should have a copy of it made as a symbol to accompany his own image in the additional decorations of the Parthenon; but extremely improbable that Phidias, Callicrates, or Ictinus, should have borrowed the guardian god of a Dorian city of Italy to adorn the temple of the guardian goddess of Athens. That the image of Hadrian was there, such as it appears on his coins, Wheeler says positively; and when Mr. Visconti undertakes to prove that it was a Vulcan, he should have first proved that it had a cap, or that Vulcan was ever represented without one.

As for the head of Ajax, at Petworth, Mr. Knight assures the Reviewer that, had it not been in a much better state of preservation than that of the Hercules above-mentioned, neither he nor any of his colleagues would have praised it, or even admitted it into their publication. It has brows and features, of which the grandeur of the expression still remains, though the delicacy of the finishing is lost; but in all these remnants of the Metopes and pediments of the Parthenon there is not a single feature left.

The Frieze of Phigaleia is unquestionably inferior to the best

specimens from Athens, but it is as unquestionably superior throughout to the worst even of the Metopes; and the Reviewer, by calling it low relief, proves that he is unacquainted with it, the figures being very highly relieved; while those of the Frieze of the Parthenon are in low or flat relief.

As for the scale of pecuniary value, Mr. Knight formed it as accurately as he could from what his experience furnished of prices paid for articles of the same class; and if the Soros and Ægyptian Beetle are worth no more than the Reviewer supposes, why did the proprietor bring them to England at so great an expense, and then expect the public to pay it?

quo

In page 541 of the Review, occurs an instance of fraud in tation, unparalleled, it is to be hoped, in the malevolence of controversy or libel. The witness was examined as to the modes in which ancient artists described or recorded the execution of their own works, with their own names, of which he mentions three; and is then immediately asked whether the word eipyάlero is ever so employed. To this he answers: No; I believe no artist would describe it (his work) so himself; it is the historical expression. (See printed report, page 42.) But the Reviewer quotes the single syllable no as the whole of the answer; and then applies it to what the witness had clearly and distinctly answered in the affirmative; namely, the historical use of the word sipyatero in describing the works of others, by Plutarch, Pausanias, and every other historian of art; while the artists themselves use ἐποίει or ἐποίησε. It is charitably to be wished that the confusion of ideas imputed to the witness could, on this occasion, be reasonably imputed to the Reviewer; since, if he has acted knowingly and with design, there is no epithet of scorn and detestation which language can supply, that will not appear feeble and inadequate when applied to him.

At the bottom of page 539 of the Review, is a note containing a narrative of a private transaction, which would be too trivial and unimportant to be obtruded upon the public, did not the gross and continued falsehoods of it implicate the reputation of another person, to whom it may be of serious consequence. The real transaction was as follows: About three years ago Mr. Bonelli, of Golden Square, sold to Mr. Payne Knight some engraved gems, and among them a fragment of a head of Flora, valued at one hundred, not two hundred and fifty, pounds; and paid for partly in money, and partly in duplicate medals. Though M. Bonelli gave no assurances of its being ancient, not only the purchaser, but the late Mr. Marchant, whom he consulted as usual, and other experienced judges, held it to be so; nor was it doubted till about four months ago, when Mr. Pistrucci, an artist from Rome, proclaimed it at Sir Joseph Banks's to be his own work, executed for Mr. Bonelli for twenty Roman crowns, exclusive of

« AnteriorContinuar »