167 
Of the ancient Etruscans, Tyrrhenians'or Tus- 
cans, by Andrew Stuart, Esquire. 
pa 
A strange mystery hangs over this people. Like the 
Greeks they had cultivated the arts at a very remote period ; 
and the monuments which still remain, attest the excellence 
they had reached. From the Etruscans the Romans derived 
the greater part of their religious institutions ; and Lucumo 
and the colony which he brought with him, transferred to 
Rome a civil wisdom which laid the corner stone of the fabric 
that was destined to be the temple of victory and empire. 
When Rome was first established under the commanding 
gevius of Romulus, the power of this people was in the wane 
and the brave Shepherd and his successors had to combat 
Etruscans superior to them in knowledge, but inferior in fru- 
gality and jn public and private virtue. The withering influs 
ence of luxury and of vice had produced their usual effects, 
and the Etruscans were subjugated, 
It is to be observed, that whilst in modern times, new settle- 
ments proceed from the low lands and along the banks of the 
rivers to the highlands and mountains ; the exact converse 
of this must have taken place for a long time after the great 
deluge for reasons too obvious to be detailed. The fact is 
also supported by historical authority. 
The chain of mountains which surround Italy have the 
form of a crescent whereof each extremity touches the sea: 
The earliest immigration must have been by land and either 
from er through this crescent. 
The two shortest passages of the Alps are at their two ex+ 
tremities: That of the north which leads from Carniola into 
Frioul, and traverses the Julian Alps is the easiest ofall. The 
southern passage touching the Mediterranean though less easy 
than the former is sufficiently short, and is passable even by 
savuges. After thesetwo passages the most conyenient one is 
that of the Tyrol and Trentin, 
Ancient 
