1^.0 STUDIES OF NATURE. 



of bronze at Rome, the hands of which had been 

 worn away by the kifles of the People. What 

 glory to the memory of the perfon whom it repre- 

 fented ! Did it ftill exift, that mutilation would 

 render it more precious than the Fenus de Medicis, 

 with it's fine proportions. 



Our populace, we are told, is deftitute of pa- 

 triotifm. I can eafily believe it, for every thing is 

 done, that can be done, to deflroy that principle in 

 them. For example, on the pediment of the beau- 

 tiful church which we are building in honour of 

 Saint Genevieve-, but which is too fmall, as all our 

 modern monuments are, an adoration of the crofs 

 is reprefented. You fee, indeed, the Patronefs of 

 Paris in bas-reliefs, under theperiftyle, in the midft 

 of Cardinals ; but would it not have been more in 

 charafter, to exhibit to the People their humble 

 Patronefs in her habit of fliepherdefs, in a little 

 jacket and cornet, wiih her fcrip, her crook, her 

 dog, her fheep, her moulds for making cheefe, 

 and all the peculiarities of her age, and of her con- 

 dition, on the pedim.ent of the church dedicated 

 to her memory ? To thefe might have been added 

 a view of Paris, fuch as it was in her time. From 

 the whole would have refulted contrafts, and ob- 

 jets of comparifon of the moft agreeable kind. 

 The People, at fight of this rural fcenery, would 

 have called to memory the days of old. They 



v.'ould 



