Grosely, in his "Tour to London,"4 says, (relating to Ranelagh and Vauxhall,) "These entertainments, which begin in the month of May, are continued every night. They bring together persons of all ranks and conditions; and amongst these, a considerable number of females, whose charms want only that cheerful air, which is the flower and quintessence of beauty. These places serve equally as a rendezvous either for business or intrigue. They form, as it were, private coteries; there you see fathers and mothers, with their children, enjoying domestic happiness in the midst of public diversions. The English assert, that such entertainments as these can never subsist in France, on account of the levity of the people. Certain it is, that those of Vauxhall and Ranelagh, which are guarded only by outward decency, are conducted without tumult and disorder, which often disturb the public diversions of France. I do not know whether the English are gainers thereby; the joy which they seem in search of at those places does not beam through their countenances; they look as grave at Vauxhall and Ranelagh as at the Bank, at church, or a private club. All persons there seem to say, what a young English nobleman said to his governor, Am I as joyous as I should be?"

P. T. W.

FINE ARTS

THE CHIEF CAUSES OF THE SUCCESS OF PAINTING AND SCULPTURE IN GREECE AND ROME

(For the Mirror.)

A cursory glance at the principal occasion of the amazing success obtained by the Greeks and Romans, in painting and sculpture, during the early ages, may perhaps prove interesting to the lovers of the arts in this country.

The elevation to which the arts in Greece arrived was owing to the concurrence of various circumstances. The imitative arts, we are told, in that classic country formed a part of the administration, and were inseparably connected with the heathen worship. The temples were magnificently erected, and adorned with numerous statues of pagan deities, before which, in reverential awe, the people prostrated themselves. Every man of any substance had an idol in his own habitation, executed by a reputed sculptor. In all public situations the patriotic actions of certain citizens were represented, that beholders might be induced to emulate their virtues. On contemplating these masterpieces of art, which were so truly exquisite that the very coldest spectator was unable to resist their almost magical influence, the vicious were reclaimed, and the ignorant stood abashed. Indeed, it has often been asserted, that the statues by Phidias and Praxiteles were so inimitably executed, that the people of Paros adored them as living gods. Those artists who performed such extraordinary wonders as these were held in an esteemed light, of which we cannot form the least idea. We are certain they were paid most enormous prices for their productions, and consequently could afford to adorn them with every beauty of art, and to bestow more time on them than can ever be expected from any modern artist.

As soon as the arts had arrived at their highest pitch of excellency in Greece, the country was laid waste by the invading power of the Romans. All the Greek cities which contained the greatest treasures were demolished, and all the pictures5 and statues fell into the hands of the victorious general, who had them carefully preserved and conveyed from the land where they had been adored. Of the estimation in which these great works were held by the Romans, we may form some idea by the general assuring a soldier, to whose charge he gave a statue by Praxiteles, that if he broke it, he should get another as well made in its place. War is a very destructive enemy to painting and sculpture; the intestine quarrels which ensued after the Romans had conquered the country, rendered the exercise of the art impracticable.

The arts were neglected in Rome until the introduction of the popish religion. At that eventful era, statues and pictures were eagerly sought for; the admirable Grecian works were appropriated to purposes quite contrary to their pagan origin, for in many cases heathen deities were converted into apostles. The labours of Phidias, Myron, Praxiteles, Lysippus, and Scopas,6 were highly valued by the Romans, who became the correct imitators, and in time the rivals, of those celebrated sculptors.

G.W.N.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

LOVE'S VICTIM. 7

She left her own warm home To tempt the frozen waste, What time the traveller fear'd to roam, And hunter shunn'd the blast, Love pour'd his strength into her soul— Could peril e'er his power controul! She left her own warm home. When stone, and herb, and tree, And all beneath heaven's lurid dome By wintry majesty, In his stern age, were clad with snow, And human hearts beat chill and slow. It was a fearful hour For one so young and fair: The woods had not one sheltering bower, The earth was trackless there, The very boughs in silver slept, As the sea-foam had o'er them swept. Snow after snow came down, The sky look'd fix'd in ice; She deem'd amid the season's power, Her love would all suffice To keep the source of being warm, And mock the terrors of the storm. Love was her world of life. She thought but of her heart, And knowing that the winter's strife Could not its hope dispart, She dream'd not that its home of clay Might yield before the tempest's sway— Or judged that passion's power— Passion so strong and pure. Might mock the snow-flake's wildering shower, Proud that it could endure, As woman oft in times before Had peril borne as much or more. She went—dawn past o'er dawn, None saw her face again, The eyes she should have gazed upon, Look'd for her face in vain— The ear to which her voice was song, Her voice had sought—how vainly long! There is in Saco's vale A gently swelling hill, Shadows have wrapt it like a veil From trees that mark it still, Around, the mountains towering blue Look on that spot of saddest hue. 'Twas by that little hill, At the dark noon of night, Close by a frozen snow-hid rill, Where branches close unite Even in winter's leafless time, The skeletons of summer's prime. That flash'd the traveller's flame On tree and precipice, And show'd a fair unearthly frame In robes of glittering ice, With head against a trunk inclined, Like a dream-spirit of the mind. 'Twas that love-wander'd maid, death-pale, Her very heart's blood froze, Love's Niobe, in her own vale, Now reckless of all woes— Love's victim fair, and true, find meet, As she of the famed Paraclete. The mountains round shall tell Her tale to travellers long. The little vale of Saco swell The western poet's song, And "Nancy's Hill" in loftier rhymes Be sung through unborn realms and times.

New Monthly Magazine.

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The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 262, July 7, 1827

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FINE ARTS

THE CHIEF CAUSES OF THE SUCCESS OF PAINTING AND SCULPTURE IN GREECE AND ROME

(For the Mirror.)

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

LOVE'S VICTIM. 7

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