240 



DISCOVERY OP ANCIENT GREEK SCULPTURE. 



[1855. 



neighborhood of Merthy Tydfil ; but the general abandonment of this 

 material for that of wrought iron, would cause such notes of little 

 value, if published. 





Tabular Slatement of the 



Duration of 



Iron Railroad Bars 





i. 



i. 







g 



1 

 □ 



1 





o 



1 -s 



» .2 





« 



s 



11^ 



B 



o 



0) 



-a 



a 



111 



3 



1 



CJ 



1 



P. 



.9 = 



P, s 



1 

 a-2 



& a a 



1 



.9 



1 





to*' 



.is a 



'a 

 u 



o 



1 



O © 



e 1 



If 



si 



fl 





i 



o 



1 



'I 



- J s 



II 



?^ o 



1 



p. 

 > 

 o 



5 -^ 



If 





gap 



'^ 



^ 



a 



a 



^ 



O 



> 



s 



c 



'^ 



O 



'^ 



1 



56 



2-5. 



•75 



16 



2-7 



16 



Locomotive 



1,822,800 



88 



4400 



414 



2 



63 



3-75 



2-25 



16 



2-7 



16 



Locomotive 



12,000,000 



99 4950 2424 



3 



56 



2-5 



1-75 



7 



1-2 



12 j Gravity 



4,043,500 



8814400 



919 



4 



56 



2-5 



1-1 



7 



1-2 



3 Horses 



9,800,000 



88 4400 



2227 



5 



90 



3-4 



1-7 



14 



2 



8 Stationary 



8,000,000 



142 



7100 



1126 



6 



55 



5- 



1-1 



8-5 



2-2 



3 Horses 



1,628,640 



86 



4300 



378 



7 



56 



2-37 



2-1 



4-8 



1-5 



6 Stationary 



7,840,000 



88 



4400 



1781 



8 



75J2-5 



1-5 



11 



2-4 



12 



Locomotive 



5,500,000 



117 



5850 



940 



9 



40 1 3 -87 



2-5 



5-9 



1-3 4 



Horses 



15,000,000 



63 



3150 



4126 



10 



50 



4-5 



2-5 



16 



2-8 



30 



Locomotive 



10,000,000 



78 



3900 2564 



11 



72 



5- 



2-7 



16 



2-8 



30 



Locomotive 



41,000,000 



113 



5650 7256 



12 



72 



5- 



2-7 



16 



2-8 



30 



Locomotive 



22,400,000 



113 



5650 8964 



13 



46 4-25 



2- 



10 



2-1 



10 



Locomotive 



1,318,000 



72 



3600 363 



Discovery of Ancient GreeU ScxilptHre, 



Letters from Athens mention the discovery of 300 antique statues, 

 or fragments of sculpture, recently brought to light by excav.'itions at 

 Argos, on the site of the Temple of Juno. These precious remains of 

 ancient art have been recovered by the Greek Government ; and, if it 

 had any large spirit or interest in archoeologj', Argos possesses within 

 its classic soil quarries of invaluable works of sculpture buried in the 

 ruins of the ancient city, and which might be reclaimed at no great 

 cost. Indeed, the sites of the old Greek temples in many districts, 

 excavated by the Government or by the capital of associations, would 

 probably, by sale of the works discovered, amply repay the outlay. 

 We have evidence of vfilue received in the voluntary and enterprising 

 exertions of our own countrymen, SirCharles f ellowesand Mr. Layard, 

 and in the produce of the rival labours of M. Botta and M. de Sauley, 

 under the auspices of the French Government. The small village of 

 Argo stands on the ruins of the ancient Argos. The old town is 

 described by Strabo as the principal city of Peloponnesus next to Sparta. 

 In number and magnilicence of temples and public edifices, in schools 

 of art and great artists, it perhaps only yielded the pabn to Athens. 

 In sculpture the Sicyonico-Argive school, under Polycletus, rivaled 

 the attic studios of Phidias and Praxiteles. Pausanias, in his descrip- 

 tion of the temples, statues, and paintings remaining in Greece, when 

 about A. D. 177 he ti-avelled throughout all its States, describes the 

 classic relics with the detail and accuracy of a Murray's Eandbook, and 

 devotes .several pages to the remains of Argos in his time. The temples 

 and their inestimable works of art were then generally complete and 

 perfect. Their marbles and casts of metal were of priceless value, 

 comprising many statues in marble and brass by Lysippus and other 

 eminent sculptors, besides the works of local artists. The Temple of 

 Juno, inits architectureaudriohesof art, competed with the P.arthenon. 

 The Roman generals, the barbarians, and the pirates we know plundered 

 the Greek cities, both before and after the visit of P.ausanias. Never- 

 theless, the great bulk of treasures escaped, themajority of the "Tem 

 pies of God" being preserved from sacrilege out of regard for the 

 common sentiment of religion and the faith of the conquered races, 

 Rome, Florence, and Naples, and private collections on the continent 

 and in England doubtless contain many first-class works of Greek 

 sculpture ; but the mass, probably, remains, whole or fragmentary, 

 beneath the ruins of their ancient resting places. Indeed, the Elgin 

 Mai-bles have only within this century been i-escued from ruin and 

 destruction by their transference from the architraves of the Parthenon 

 to the British Museum. The recent discoveries therefore at Argos 

 have occasioned the deepest interest on the continent among artists and 

 lovers of art. They may come to light unquestionable works of Poly- 



cletus. Although inferior to Phidias "in the fashioning of gods in 

 general," he was the most celebrated of Greek sculptors in the perfec- 

 tion of his colossal statues and in the superior representation of beautiful 

 gymnastic figui'es. One of his statues, the Dcryphorus, became a canon 

 of the proportions of the human frame. Pliny ascribes to him the 

 establishment of the principle that the weight of the body should be 

 laid chiefly on one foot, whence resulted the contrast, so significant and 

 attractive, of the bearing and more compressed with the borne and 

 more developed side of the human body. Polycletus is recorded to 

 have conquered Phidias, Ctesilaus, Phradmon, and Cydon with his 

 Amazon in a contest of artists at Ephesus. We are glad to learn that 

 the Greek Government will permit casts to be taken of these newly- 

 discovered sculptures, which we may therefore expect will soon become 

 as general and as valuable models as the Niobe and the Elgin Marbles. 

 The excavations also, we understand, are to be continued. We hope 

 that this spirit of antiquarian research in Greece, thus rewarded and 

 excited, will induce King Otho to direct similar explorations on the 

 sites of the Argive Temples of the Lycian Apollo, Bacchus, Minerva, 

 and of other monuments of Argos. Their localities are minutely 

 described by ancient and modern travellers. The majority of our 

 readers, may not know that Pausanias commonly gives the distances 

 and measurements of the Greek temples with minute accuracy, as 

 tested by travellers of our own times. He moreover, records particu- 

 larly all the chief works of sculpture in every building. His account, 

 also, of pictures is equally singular and full. The description of one 

 great work ofPolygnotus — the subject of which was the taking of Troy 

 and the embarcation of the Greeks — occupies several pages. The new 

 Ministry at Athens will find a useful guidebook if they only first ex- 

 haust Pausanias. If Greece will not progress. His Majesty may as 

 well increase the stores of Dresden and Munich. — Evening Mail. 



luaiGgeration or tlic Calcutta liaii-ivay« 



This great event took place on the 3rd February 1855. The line is 

 now completed for 122 miles to the coUieiies at Rnnee-gunge, but 

 Eurdwan, a town of importance, about 68 miles from Calcutta, was 

 selected for the ceremonies of the day, in order to suit the convenience 

 of all parties. Two trains were appointed to convey 600 passengers 

 from Calcutta to that station. The terminus at Howrah opposite Cal- 

 cutta was decorated for the occasion with great taste. 



" The train reached Burdwan in about three hours. The whole 

 Government (the Governor-General excepted) was on board, and a 

 bishop and a bishop elect. It was important, therefore, that the ut- 

 most care should be exerted to prevent accidents. At Burdwan the 

 station was djcorated in the most tasteful style, and a sumptuous en- 

 tertainment was spread in a noble pavillion for 700 guests. 



The enthusiasm of the natives along the line was boundless. The 

 tovfns and villages poured forth their inhabitants by hundreds and 

 thousands to witness the grand spectacle, and in many places, more 

 especially where education had made progress, gave us the most 

 hearty cheers. 



Contracts have been made for the completion of more than 600 

 miles from Burdwan to Cawnpore, and Mr. Stephenson is pushing 

 forw.ard the operations with all his characteristic energy, and is so 

 sanguine as to expect that the works wiU be accomplished in three 

 years. There can be no doubt that all the earth-work and masonry 

 may be completed within that period ; but four- bridges have to be 

 constructed as large as London-bridge, and one of them of a depth of 

 70 feet, and, as it appears to the engineers desirable to avoid the con- 

 struction of temporary bridges, and to make those which are built 

 permanent, there may be more delay than is at present anticipated." 



Three thousand miles of Telegraph have been completed during 

 one year in this Presidency, and it is hoped to furnish one thousand 

 miles of Railway in three years. The value of the electric telegraph 

 is likely to be fully shown during the approaching summer. The 

 Governor-General Lord Dalhousie, whose health is in a declining state, 

 wUl pass the hot weather and the rains at Ootacamund. The Foreign 

 and Military Secretary will accompany him, and, thanks to Dr. 

 O'Shaughuessy, he will be able to direct the affairs of India from his 

 mountain eyrie with such facilities as no previous Governor-General 

 has ever enjoyed. The electric telegraph has now been completed 

 to the capital of each presidency, and it passes through the Ootacamund. 

 By this matchless instrument he will be in daily and hourly commu- 

 nication with all the subordinate Governments, and will be able to issue 

 his instructions to every part of the country, and before sunset to re- 

 ceive information of their having reached the most distant extremities 

 of the empire. By the time he arrives at Ootacamund the telegraph 



