GREECE. 



699 



ry in the descendants of the present Otho, a Bavarian prince, who has been seated on the 

 throne by the great powers of Europe. There are two legislative houses, a Senate, and a 

 House of Representatives, chosen by the qualified electors. The revenue is small, and insuffi- 

 cient for the support of the government. 



29. .Antiquities. In ancient Greece, art embellished what nature had made beautiful. 

 Greece and the islands are in the most favored climate, and in the temples the richest marbles 

 retain their beauty, while the sculptures have preserved for ages their most delicate carving. 

 The surface of the statues is now as smooth as when they came from the hands of the sculptor. 

 No country was ever adorned like ancient Greece, and none can be again. She has left no 

 monument that is not now a model in literature and art. The elegance, simplicity, and 

 grandeur of her temples, standing frequently upon some hill or headland to which they seemed 

 appendages, attracted the eye of the mariner at a distance from the shore. Wherever a Greek 

 went, in his own country or colonies, he beheld among architecture and sculpture, objects that 

 refined his mind, and gave new aliment to its natural taste tor the beautiful. A temple was then 

 more than any temple is now. The I'rieze, and other parts that would permit sculptures, were 

 peopled with figures, that, mutilated as they now are, are the best preservative and school 

 of art. 



The antiquities of Greece are chiefly architecture and sculpture. Yet all but the very tem- 

 ples have been exported to different parts of the v,orld. The best, even of the temples, the 

 Parthenon itself, has been dilapidated and pillaged by a British Ambassador, and her best orna- 

 ments are now in England. Vases, statues, &c., are often found in excavations, at the ancient 

 cities, and it is probable, that hereafter many of great excellence may be recovered, and form 

 a national museum for Greece. 



In the Peloponnesus, whose ruins we shall first describe, the traveler cannot go far w'ithout 

 falling among the remains of greatness. The most of them are so broken, that scarcely a per- 

 fect column now exists, but others are in such a state of preservation, that, at a distance, they 

 seem entire. At Bassje is the temple of Apollo Epicurius. The frieze representing the 



Ruins of Ancient Corinlli. 



wars of the Centaurs and Lapiihas, and of the Greeks and Amazons, has been carried to Eng- 

 land. The temple is 125 feet long with a front of 48 feet. There are 13 columns in the 

 side, and 6 in the front. It is one of the most impressive remains of the ancient Greeks. At 



