Classical Theology.—Xxi.

of his potent hig hness the bandit prince Cseculus . The author of the ^ Eneid says that shepherds discovered Cseculus as soon as he was born , unhurt in the midst of a fire ; whence he ivas beliei'ed to be the declared son of Vulcan .

Masterpieces Of The Architecture Of Different Nations.

MASTERPIECES OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF DIFFERENT NATIONS .

BY J . G . LEGKAND . TIIE ARCHITECTURE OF THE GREEKS . —CONTINUED . The Great Temple of Pcestum , or Posidonia , in Magnet Graicia , twenty-two leagues from Napiles . — This is Ihe greatest of the three edifices still remaining in the Gulf of Salerno , and is eagerly visited by all travellers when they are at Naplesthat they may have an idea of Greek

, architecture . There is , indeed , a very close resemblance betiveen this order and the Doric order employed iu the monuments of Athens . Although the temples of Paestum are less elegant and pure in their proportions , which induces the supposition that they are more ancient , they do not bear the less a very great character . It is believed thafc a colony

of Sybarites took possession of Posidonia , and may have erected there these great monuments ; under this supposition we ought to have expected fco have found in them more delicacy , and the employment of the Doric or Corinthian order .

This edifice is in such a perfect state of rum and desolation that ifc now presents an inferiority of aspects , and of rich tones of colour for the pencils of artists . Accordingly , these ruins and those of Tivoli are the best knoivn and the most drawn of all in Italy . A Tomb in a state ofgood preservation at Milasa , in Caria ,

executed in while marble . —It is well enough executed , but singular in its proportions ; the profiles present some whimsical forms , and seem to have been intended to receive sculpture which was never executed ; the compartments of the ceiling are of a very agreeable distribution . The corona has no longer a cornice nor the embellishments with ivhich

it was ornamented , but the cornice has been found ; it is engraved in the second volume ofthe "Antiquities of Ionia , " published in London . Such a monument , with a change of its destination , would form amongst us a pleasant bdvedere , were it placed in the angle of some vast domain or of some great road ; by continuing either on the outside or the

inside a staircase to get to the first storey , the basement ivould then serve for an antechamber , and fche saloon open on all sides , but glazed , would be as the first storey . The Tomb of Afausolus , King of Garia , erected by his wicloiv , Artemisia , in the City of Halicarnassus , anel talcing its rank

as one of the Seven Wonders of the World . —It is only from the description of Pliny that an idea has been able to be formed of this monument , since there are no remains of its ruins . Several learned antiquaries have exerted themselves to reproduce it in memoirs and other works ; among others may lie mentioned "AIM . de Caylus and Choiseul-Gouflfer . ' The latter searched iu vain near Halicarnassus

for some fragment of this curious monument ; all has disappeared ; and the very minute description that was given of it by Philo of Byzantium is unfortunately lost . Those celebrated statuaries , Scopus , Briaxis , Tiinotheus , and Leochaves , had each ornamented one of the fagcules ivith the productions of their chiselsand Pifchis made the quadriga in marble

, , which was placed on the top of the pyramid . The total height ivas a hundred feet , which does not give it colossal proportions ; bub the harmony , the union , and the justness of the composition dispensed with the employment of more enlarged forms . It is at once a pyramid to ivhich there has been imparted all the elegance of templesand asort of Greek

, temple , which has all the gravity and wisdom of a pyramid . A Sarcophagus which is seen near Halicarnassus , noio Bodron . —It is in the Greek style and most elegant in proportion , There were two of them exactly alike , raised on a

common table land ; doubtless they enclosed the ashes of two friends , or of husband and wife . A Circular Temple , formed by G ' ariaticles . —The remains of this extraordinary monument are lo be seen about a quarter of a league from the ancient position of the temple of Diana , afc Ejihesus , going from the direction of the sea . M . Cassas discovered the foundation , and two of the figures that had

been thrown down and ivere hidden beneath the grass and the bushes with which the ground is covered . This imposing decoration might be applied to some concert hall or some rich canopied niche in one of the ajiarfcments of a great palace . By giving to each of the figures the attributes of a muse , or of one of the hours of the day , and placing tho throne of Apollo in fche centre , there could be designed , by an easily understood allegory , tho attributes of a prince who patronizes the arts .

The throne in the large assembly hall of the senate , at Paris , is decorated in a style almost pi-ecisely like this , and there is a conviction ofthe good effect of this magnificent disposition as much from the form as from the richness of the materials . Ancient Tripods found at Ilerculctneum , in the Museum of Fortici , near Naples . —The size of these monuments is about

two feet and a half There cannot be placed before the eyes of persons of taste , more elegant and more delicate forms . Lightness , grace , neatness , and agreeable execution , though in a severe style , are the characteristics of these charming productions ofthe art ofthe Greeks ; and at a time when ive ar-e trying to go back fco the ideas of the ancients in the

furnishing and decoration of edifices , there could not be made a , better choice of models , to associate them to those of the most celebrated models of all ages . Two other ancient Tripods . —One is formed of three figures of winged women thafc may bo supposed to be victories . The other , of Chimeras , also winged , tevmiviates in stag ' s feet ; the figures hold , with both ai'ius raised , a crown , which , doing the duty of a handle , would afford facility for carrying the tripod in procession at public ceremonies .

MONUMENTS OP PALMYRA . The ancient Thadmoru in the Deserts of Syria . —Palmyra , says the learned D'Anville in his ancient geography , gave the name of Pabnyrene to a vast country of plains adjoining the Desert of Arabia . Its foundation is attributed to Solomon by the historian Josephus ; and the name of Thadmora , * ivhich was given to ifcis preserved in that of Tadmorwhich

, , is proper to the Syrians , and tlie signification of which seems to have given place to the name of Palmyra in a situation intermediate with regard to two great empires , and also with regard fco two seas , by which was kept up a great commerce betiveen the east and west . This city became very considerable ; and it is known what ivas the power of Odenatns

and Zenobia in the reign of Gallienns and Amelian , and how tlie ruins of these edifices evince magnificence by the side of the huts ivhich are there inhabited by a few Arabs . The oriental authors appear to have always knoivn Palmyra by the name of Tadmor . It was distant about twenty leagues from the Euphrates , and fifty from the coast of fche

Mediterranean , where Tyre and Sidon flourished . Situated at the foot of a chain of mountains which sheltered it to the west , ifc rose by degrees aboi'e a fertile plain at all times watered by rivulets , the springs of which , placed on the neighbouring heights , took , at the will of the labourer , all sorts of directions , and became more abundant in summer than in winter ,

no doubt from the melting ofthe snow with which the peaks of the surrounding mountains were covered . This happy district , where nature displayed her riches and where palm and fig trees lavished enviously their fruits and their shade , was environed on all sides by vast deserts where the traveller , uncertain of his road , often found but sand , arid and burning from the heat of the sun . Favoured by such a situation , the city of Palmyra , separated from the rest of the world , took