36 



polished ages of Greece, interests the lovers of 

 the arts by the severity of the style, or by its 

 finished execution, although no legend or mono- 

 gram connects these objects with any particular 

 point of history. Such is the privilege of the 

 marvels of genius, which were produced in the 

 climes of Asia Minor, and in part of the south of 

 Europe. 



The monuments of those nations, on the con- 

 trary, which have attained no high degree of in- 

 tellectual cultivation, which either from religi- 

 ous or political causes, or the nature of their or- 

 ganization, have never been affected by the 

 beauty of forms, can be considered only as me- 

 morials of history. To this class belong the 

 remains of sculpture, scattered over the vast 

 countries which extend from the banks of the 

 Euphrates to the eastern shores of Asia. The 

 idols of Thibet and Hindostan, those which have 

 been discovered on the central plains of Mon- 

 „ golia, are calculated to throw light on the 

 ancient communication of nations with each 

 other, and on the common origin of their mytho- 

 logical traditions. 



The rudest works, the most grotesque forms, 

 those masses of sculptured rocks, venerable only 

 from their enormous magnitude, and their re- 

 mote antiquity ; those lofty pyramids, which in- 

 dicate the multitudes employed in their construe- 



