48 SCULPTURE AND ARCH ITECTURE OF ATHEK. 



Hellespont, and Sigeum. On the south, the tomb of jEsyete, by 

 the road leading to Alexandria Troas ; and less remote, the Sea* 

 niander, receiving Simo'is or Callifat water, at the boundary of 

 the Simo'isian Plain. Towards the east, the Throsmos, with the 

 sepulchres of Bath iu and Ilus : and far beyond, in the great chain 

 of Ida, Gargftrus opposed to Samothrace, dignified by equal if 

 not superior altitude, and beaming the same degree of splendor 

 from the snows by which it was invested. 



[Dr. Clarke. 



SECTION XIV. 



Sculpture ami Architecture of Athens. 



IN the year 1799, when lord Elgin was appointed his majes- 

 ty's ambassador extraordinary to the Ottoman Porte, he happened 

 to be in habits of frequent intercourse with Mr. Harrison, an archi- 

 tect of great eminence in the west of England, who had there given 

 various very splendid proofs of his professional talents especially in 

 a public building of Grecian architecture at Chester. Mr. Harri. 

 son had besides studied many years, and to great purpose at Rome. 

 Lord Elgin consulted him, therefore, on the benefits that might pos. 

 sibly be derived to the arts in this country, in case an opportunity 

 could be found for studying minutely the architecture and sculp, 

 ture of ancient Greece ; and his opinion very decidedly was, that 

 although we might possess exact measurements of the buildings at 

 Athens, yet a young artist could never form to himself an adequate 

 conception of their minute details, combinations, and general ef. 

 fects, without having before him some such sensible representation 

 of them as might be conveyed by casts. This advice, which laid 

 the groundwork of lord Elgin's pursuits in Greece, led to the fur- 

 ther consideration, that, since any knowledge which was possessed 

 of these buildings had been obtained under the peculiar disadvan- 

 tages which the prejudices and jealousies of the Turks had ever 

 thrown in the way of such attempts, any favourable circumstances 

 which lord Elgin's embassy might offer should be improved funda- 

 iiMtitally; and not only modellers, but architects and draftsmen, 

 mijjht l.e employed, to rescue from oblivion, with the most accu. 

 rai<- detail, whatever specimens of architectures and sculptures in 

 C r^cce had still escaped the ravages of time, and the barbarism of 

 conqueror*. 



