202 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VoL. II. 



GREEK TYPE I^T MARSEILLES; WITH THE HISTORY OF ITS EARLY 



SETTLEMENT. 



Now I was not dreaming of Tyrian, Carthaginian, Greek or Roman 

 when at Marseilles I walked, one summer morning, up the broad Can- 

 nabiere, one of the "streets of the world," ranking with the Rialto at 

 Venice, the Strand in London, the Avenue de I'Opera in Paris, Broad- 

 way in New York, Peter Street in Quebec. But my gaze was suddenly 

 arrested by the girls who were selling flowers, fruit and vegetables — for 

 at Marseilles, though there are public markets, it is the custom to sell 

 such things in the streets also. Such graceful lithe figures, active move- 

 ments, firm elastic tread! And then such features! When I began to 

 look at the young women who were serving in the shops, or standing in 

 the doorways, the same unmistakeable natural stamp was there. Impos- 

 sible for one who has seen Greek statues, Greek coins, even the cuts in 

 schoolboys' books, not to be struck by these magnificent profiles. Per- 

 haps I was especially prepared for the revelation because I had recently 

 been comparing Chaucer's description of a handsome girl* with Ana- 

 creon's — the northern ideal with the southern — and had sent to the 

 Toronto JVeek my version of Anacreon's ode' Ef; xuuprjv, which I may 

 perhaps venture to repeat : 



ANACREON TO HIS SWEETHEART. 



"Aye Z<uYf)d<fiov dpiffs 



Now, my celebrated painter, 

 Best of portrait painters, paint her. 

 Show your skill in graphic art, 

 Sketch the face of my sweetheart. 



Smooth and shining paint her hair, 

 Black as night. And if you dare 

 Put the canvas to the trial, 

 Wash in scent from crystal phial. 



Following up this brave beginning 

 Draw her features, bright and winning. 



Round her forehead, ivory clear. 

 Crimson fillets make appear. 

 Arch her brows with cunning art : 

 Black, neither joined nor far apart. 



* Ghaucer — The Court of Love. 



