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those veiy monuments had been, no doubt, seen by the Prophet Ezekiel 

 himself, when he penned his inspired visions on the banks of the River 

 Chebar ; and that the artistic forms by which he was surrounded impressed 

 themselves upon the peculiar imagery in which he delivered his divine message 

 to his captive race. The unity of feeling, of fancy, of imagination, between 

 the language of Ezekiel and the marbles of Nineveh, is too obvious and 

 remarkable not to strike any one who has carefully studied them together. 



And thus we read in the material works of Art, as in the creations of 

 the poet, the character of the imagery, the style of workmanship, the type 

 of ornament, the sort of ideas, in fine, in which, the people for whom the 

 work was made were accustomed to seek the gratification of that yearning for 

 the beautiful, which is one of the ruling powers of the human soul. The most 

 barbarous people has some sort of perception of the difference of forms, in 

 inspect of their beauty ; and seeks, it may be in very grotesque ornament and 

 distorted images to gratify its capacity for admiring. And so it leaves behind, 

 in the works of its hands, a record from which we may infer somewhat of the 

 character of its mind, and the state of its civilisation. 



But not only do we find a perceptible difference in the character of the 

 Art of different races, but there is also a history in the Art of each. There 

 is a distinct law of growth and change, of culmination and decay. In no Art 

 is this history so distinctly traceable as in the Greek and the Roman. The 

 Roman, indeed, may be regarded as merely an off-shoot and product of the 

 Greek ; for in Rome, Art was exotic and imitated, not indigenous. And this, 

 no doubt, arises from the fact, first, that no other race has left us anything like 

 the same number of works of Art extending over so many centuries, in coins, 

 and gems, statues and vases, made in imperishable materials ; and secondly, 

 because no nation ever approximated to the Greek in the perception and love 

 of the beautiful ; and therefore in the Art of no people is there the same 

 difference between its worst and best works. Now we find one remarkable 

 law pervading this history of Art ; namely, that it grew with the growth of a 

 race, and decayed with its national vigour. And this is by no means accounted 

 for by the increased wealth which accompanies national prosperity ; for 

 neither a man nor a people can do more than it is in them to do, because they 

 get more money for it. There is, besides, abundant evidence, that the standard 

 of Art and the perception of beauty do not rise and fade with mere wealth. 

 Long before the time when the wealth of the Roman began to decay, he had lost 

 the ouly inspiration he ever' received from his Greek master ; and his Art was 

 rapidly degenerating, when his wealth and luxury were at their greatest. But 

 with the Greeks, the growth of their race, not only in the parent States but in 

 all their numerous colonies which studded the coast of the Mediterranean, 

 from the Pillars of Hercules to the valleys of Lycia, is written in indelible 

 characters upon their Art, from the earliest ages to the culmination of their 

 glory in the age of Pericles ; and in the same language, the decay of national 

 life after the time of Alexander the Great, is recorded with equal fidelity. 

 And so well ascertained is this law of growth and change, that the archaeologist 

 is never at a loss to assign to any work of Art, the approximate period, in 

 which it was produced. If you take the series of coins of any one city, such 

 as Thurium or Tarentum, in Magna Grsecia, on which one type occurs through- 

 out, you get the most perfect illustration of the growth of Art. The common 

 type on the coins of Thurium was a rushing bull ; on those of Tarentum, on 

 the obverse, a horse, and on the reverse, a boy riding on a dolphin. In the 

 earlier part of the series of these works, you find the first attempts of the 

 artist to express his idea. The character of the work is hard and crude, but 

 thoroughly honest and conscientious. You can see that the artist is doing his best. 

 He never slurs an outline, but ahvays renders it distinctly. There is no flow 



