164 Essay upon tJie Art of the Foundry 



Since ibis period we have seen similar monamenls erected 

 at Pisa, Placentia, Leghorn, Ferrara, Milan, Venice, and iu 

 the Papal states. Several cities of Germany and Holland 

 perpetuated in this manner the memory of their benefactors ; 

 and in 162 J (lie cij.y of ivolterdam erected a bronze statue 

 to the famous Erasnius, the only modern scholar who ob- 

 tained such an honour. 



ber of stones in oulcr to mnik the hours. V/ntcr-mllis, or^G;<ins wrtli all their 

 keys and intcrkir nicchanisni, were known in the time of Angustus : it is true 

 that water was Employed for keeping up a continual wind ; but it would seem 

 this method was soon rclinij'jislKd, and the same ciTuct produced hy means of 

 several pairs of bellows: — an epigram of the emperor Julian upon organs and 

 organists of his time mentions it. 



The system of Copernicus is the svstem of Pythagoras, or rather that of 

 the antient Chaldees, who, without any other assistance tlian their eyes, liad 

 already seen the rotation of the earth around its axis ; and all the discoveries 

 to which the telescope and the perfection of mathematical instruments have 

 given rise, arc so many proofs of the truth of the antient system. Lastly, 

 the decomposition of light by the prism, upon whicli the great Newton form- 

 ed his theory of colours, i& to be found in Sci;eca. — Questions, book i. ch. 7. 



ff wc have gunpcnvder, the antJents had their Greek lire, the elTccts of 

 which were terrible, in the reign of Louis XV., an inhaliitaiit of Dauphiny, 

 of thename of Dupre, who had spent his life in chemical experiments, re- 

 covered the secret. This fire was so rapid and so powerful that no art could 

 extinguish it ; water only gave it additional activity. Experiments were made 

 with it on the canal at Veriaillcs in presence of the king, in the arsenal at 

 Paris, and at some sea-ports : every where the most intrepid military men 

 trembled at its cHccts. The king, who wished to avert this new scourge from 

 lumTsnitv, forbid the author to communicate his secret to any one, and re- 

 warded him liberally. Dupre is no more, and it is thought his dreadful secret 

 died with him. 



Nothing proves the superiority of the antient inventions morcpovi'crfully 

 than the five orders of architecture. Modern architects hardly venture to 

 make the least change in the system : it is well known that the finest buildings 

 arc those in which these oidfcis reign in tlieir greatest purity. When will a 

 second Callimachus appear to invent anew order ? The,' men of genius, who 

 hav*- rcallv extended (he circle of Junn an knowledge, are separated by the in- 

 rcrvj.l of ages, and llicrc is nothing more humiliating to the human mind than 

 vjie slow progrcsn of its attainments. It is true, we speak at present of new in- 

 ventions as of new fashions: there is not a single mechanic in Paris who does 

 not pretend that he has enriched hi« trade with some invention : but all these 

 inventors resemble the modern grammarian, who .'.nnuiiuecd discoveries in 

 tlie Latin language. 



It must be confessed, however, that these joint eiTorts m:iy produce some 

 gocd elVccts, and tliat they are worthy of recompeasys and encouragements 

 tr*;m govcrnmrnt. 



3 The 



