120 
ANTIQUITIES. 
■with a cjracter blazing like*, a comet to mow 
down ail incorrigible ami impenitent offend- 
ers who shall then be on earth. 
Among the most curious of the existing 
monuments of antient India, we must reckon 
the sculptures and ruins of Mavalipuram, a 
few miles nonh of Sadras, and known to sea- 
men by the name of tire Seven Pagodas ; 
tire vast excavations or Canarah ; the various 
temples and images of Buddha ; and the 
idols which are continually dug up at Gaya, 
or in its vicinity. 
The principal of the Hindoo excavations 
have been engraved and published by Mr. 
Daniel; and deserve the closest attention 
front all who are studious of tire antiquities of 
India. 
“ The first accounts of Greece” says Mr. 
Mitford, “ are derived from ages long be- 
fore the common use of letters in the country.” 
But so mysterious are the ages of antiquity, 
and so precarious are traditions, that we 
scarcely know by what method to distinguish 
where fable concludes, or truth begins. 
Certain however it is, that from the Phoeni- 
cian and Egyptian colonies the Greeks first 
received tire culture o£ humanity. By the 
Phoenicians they were undoubtedly instructed 
in trade, navigation, and the use of letters ; 
and by the Egyptians in civil wisdom, the 
politer sciences, and religious mysteries. The 
antiquities of such a country then, which 
was afterwards so singularly illustrious in 
the annals of mankind, the introduction 
ot its institutions, and the invention or in- 
troduction of its arts, must surely carry 
with them ah interest still more striking than 
those either ot Egypt or India. Its antiqui- 
ties, ol course, in every accessible period have 
been more carefully and more minutely in- 
spected ; and have received such deep and 
extensive investigation, that to attempt a 
summary here would be impossible. We 
shall only observe, that the Athenians were 
the* first civilized people of Greece; and 
that in all the greatness of the Grecian states 
they still-retained the highest polish. 
t Gronovius has given a collection of the 
chief writers on the antiquities of Greece, to 
which < we shall refer the reader once for all; 
and Rouse, Pfeiffer, Bos, and bishop Potter, 
have given shorter systems ; the last of which 
is certainly esteemed the best, and which 
no scholar’s library should be without. In 
what relates to the religion, the gods, vows, 
and temples of Greece, it has been deemed 
too summary ; but in the military affairs and 
miscellaneous customs it remained till lately 
without a rival. A work which supersedes 
it, and perhaps all others in the English 
language, for accuracy and completeness, has 
just made its appearance from the pen of 
Mr. Robmson of Ravenstondale. 
On the gods, temples, oracles, and priests 
of G reece, the writers are extremely nu- 
merous: on the public weal and magistracy 
of Greece, Stephanas, Laurentius, and Van 
Dale, ot modern writers, have perhaps the 
greatest share of credit ; on the court of Are- 
opagus, Meursius, and Freher; on the laws 
and punishments of Greece, Prateius, Meur- 
sius, and Petit; on military concerns, Arrian, 
Polysenus, and /Elian ; on the gymnastic art, 
and exercises of the Greeks, Hieronymus Mer- 
curialis, Joubert, Faber, and Burette ; on the 
theatres and scenic exhibitions, Donatus, 
Scaliger, Brindin, and the abbe Barthelemy ; 
on their entertainments, luxury, and baths, ! 
Cornarius, Meusonius, Gedovii, Du Choul, 
Ferrarius, and Kuhn ; on their marriages and 
institution of their children, besides the gene- 
ral writers, Hauptmann, Junius, Stisser, and 
Zeibich, are the more particular ; and .on 
their funerals, Nicolai, ixmgius, and jJcG 
hard. i 
The best relics which still mark the former 
splendor of the Grecian states have been pre- 
served by Stuart in his Athens ; in the Ionian 
Antiquities, published under the direction of 
the Dilettanti society; in the. Voyage Pilto- 
resque de la Grece ; anu in the Museum 
Horsleyanum. The best relics of its' sculp- 
ture in this country are to be found among 
the Tow nicy marbles ; and of its beautiful 
coinage, in the cabinet of Dr. Hunter. 
Poetry, sculpture, architecture, and paint- 
ing, perhaps attained the summit of perfec- 
tion under the respective cultivation of Ho- 
mer, Phidias, Praxiteles, and Zeuxis. 
Nothing, says Dr. Adams, has more en- 
gaged the attention of literary men, since the 
revival of learning, than to trace from antient 
monuments the rites and customs of the Ro- 
mans, comprehended under the general name 
of Roman Antiquities. This branch of 
knowledge, he observes, is not only curious in 
itself, but absolutely necessary tor under- 
standing the classics, and for reading with 
advantage the history of that celebrated peo- 
ple. And it is particularly requisite for such 
as prosecute the study of the civil law. 
Scarcely on any subject have more books 
been written, and many of them by persons 
of the most distinguished credit. Among the 
oldest of the good writers may be reckoned 
Dionysius Haiicarnasseus, who traced the 
origin of the Romans, with the utmost fide- 
lity, back to the remotest ages. His accounts 
are generally preferred to Livy’s. They are 
more ample, and his facts described with 
more particulars; and on their ceremonies, 
worship, sacrifices, manners, customs, disci- 
pline, policy, courts, laws, Ac. he is perhaps 
the most authentic writer. 
A body of the authors on the Roman anti- 
quities was published by Gnevius in the The- 
saurus; and Danetand Pitiscus published lexi- 
cons of them. For the most part however 
they are too voluminous, not only to be gene- 
rally useful, but even to refer the studious 
reader to, except on single points. On this 
account a number of abridgements have been 
published ; of which, till of very late years, 
those of Kcnnet and Nieuport were esteemed 
the best. The latter was written in Latin, 
but it abounded in difficult phrases, and was 
deficient in one or two material parts, which 
were supplied by Rennet. Both, however, 
have been since superseded by the work of 
Dr. Adams which of all the abridgements is the 
best adapted to illustrate the classics. It is suf- 
ficient to say that he has borrowed with freedom 
from all hands whatever he judged fit for his 
purpose ; and the enumeration of his sources 
will prove the best aid to an enquiring reader. 
He was chiefly indebted to Mauritius, Bris- 
sonius, and Middleton, on the senate : to Pig- 
norius on slaves ; to Sigonius and Grucchius, 
Mauritius, Huber, Gravina, Merula,and Hei- 
neccius, on the assemblies of the people, the 
rights of citizens, the laws and judicial pro- 
ceedings ; to Lipsius on the magistrates, the 
art of war, shows of the circus, and gladiators ; 
to Shelter on naval affairs and carriages ; 
! to Ferrarius on the Roman dress; to Kirk- 
mannus on funerals ; to Arbuthnot on coins ; 
to Dickson on agriculture; to Donatus on 
the city; to Turnebius, Abraham us, Rossinus, 
Salmesius, Hoitomanus, Graivius and Grono- 
vius, Montfaucon, Pitiscus Ernesti, and par- 
ticularly Gesner, in different parts of the 
work. « 
On the antiquities of antient Rome, the 
works of Publius Victor, Fulvius, Fabricius, 
Onuphrius Panvinius, Boissard, and Adler, 
are perhaps the best: on its antient edifices, 
the work of Desgodetz, in which the views 
are given from actual measurement ; Venuli’s 
Descrizione Topografica delle Antichita di 
Boma; and D’Overbeke’s Restes de l’An- 
cienne Rome: on its public ways, its walls, 
aqueducts, and bridges, Bergier, Gautier, 
and D’ An ville, may be referred to : while the 
statues and other works of art with which 
Rome and her provinces abounded have fre- 
quently furnished subjects for separate disqui- 
sitions. 
The arts it 'should seem in the best periods 
of the Roman history flourished in the greatest 
perfection at Rome ; where the specimens 
which remain are still viewed with singular 
veneration. Among the best of them are 
the columns of Antoninus and Trajan ; the 
statue of Marcus Aurelius ; the- arches of Sep- 
tiinius Severus and Constantine ; the am- 
phitheatre ; the theatre of Marcellus; and the 
different baths. The columns of the temple 
of Concord arc the only eminent specimens 
in Rome of the Ionic order, where the vo- 
lutes of the capital stand in a diagonal direc- 
tion ; and the first and purest specimen of 
the Corinthian order -is exhibited in the three 
columns of the campo vaccino, supposed 
to have belonged to the temple of Jupiter 
Stator. 
A correct view of the Antiquities of Bri- 
tain. from the earliest period to the end of 
Henry the Eighth’s reign, may perhaps fra 
best collected f.Mn Dr. Henry’s History. 
The writers he refers to will present the read- 
er with all the most authentic sources of 
enquiry. 
Of what relates to the early Britons, how- 
ever, much that has been written is too nearly 
connected with the fabulous ; and instead of 
seeking for information on Druidical history, 
where it was most likely to be obtained cor- 
rectly, the generality of our writers have 
been too apt to busy themselves with theory 
and etymology. “ Druidism,” says one, 
“ was palpably Phoenician. The Druidical 
system was taught the Gauls by Pythago- 
ras /” The opinion, however, which in Cae- 
sar’s time was generally entertained in Gaul, 
has been overlooked. Caesar evidently took 
considerable pa ns to learn every particular 
relating to the Druids ; and he states it to 
have been the received opinion that Druid- 
ism originated in Britain. And in corrobo- 
ration of this idea, it has been both strongly 
and correctly urged, that there is not a single 
authority for the existence of Druidism any 
where but in Celtic Gaul and part of Eng- 
land. Caesar, however, did not himself 
witness its existence in Britain : Tacitus is 
the first, and, we believe, the only author 
who notices it ; for the Romans did not meet 
with it till they had advanced far into Wales. 
Caesar, Dio Cassius, and Tacitus, are the prin- 
cipal authorities in regard to British history. 
On the religious system, and the mysteries of 
