~-1799-] 
to have embellifhed to ferve for a model 
to the fine arts, among that people always 
great, although then in a ftate of fub- 
jection; and whofe magnanimity, never 
totally {tifled by defpotifim, ftill manifeited 
itfelf in its ceremonies, in its fpectacles, 
in its feftivals, and even in its public 
games.” 
<¢ In the fine part of the feafon, the in- 
habitants of Rome {fometimes reforted to 
the Vatican, or on the Quirinal, about 
a moft extenfive area; here they enjoyed 
a {peétacle which its refemblance to thofe 
of the antient Romans ennobled to my 
view. Seleé&t men, remarkable for their 
beauty and gracefulne{s, hurled to a very 
great diltance a ball, which other piayers 
threw back with no lefs. dexterity than 
force. But among thofe whom the favour 
of the acclamations diftinguifhed the moit, 
a beautiful map, a native of Pefaro, had 
by much the pre-eminence.”’ 
<¢ The elegant proportion of his body was 
‘not concealed by his garments; he was 
almoft naked. The multitude, tranfported 
at the vigorous and unexpeéted percuffions 
of the Pefarefe, made the air relound with 
a cry of univerfal joy. The young eléves, 
my fellow-ftudents in the arts, were ftu- 
Anecdotes of eminent Perfans. | 383 
dying in the midft of thefe paftimes ; they 
were obferving the ftroagly inclined atti- 
tude, the velocity, the beautiful difplay 
of the mufcles, the enchanting grace of 
this divine player. i heard them exclaim 
around me: ‘¢ ah! qwil eff beau! quwil eff 
fuperbe! Creft le gladiateur, voila le gla~ 
ciateur 1 How beautiful! how fuperb ! 
’Tis the gladiator, fee the gladiator! On 
the return of each movement, which was 
repeated every time that he threw his ball 
the firft, they conftantly re-echoed the 
fame acclamation.” 
« This ftriking obfervation leads to a 
very Gmple reafoning: if the moft natural 
attitude of a beautiful man, an excellent 
player, throwing the ball, refembles fo 
pertectly the pretended Borghefe gladi- 
ator, why not this figure reprefent a 
player at ball?” 
New matter for conjecture, new fabjeéts 
ef exultation are preparing for the ama- 
teurs of antiquity and of the fine arts; 
they may rely, with coufidence, on the 
bravery of the army of Italy; and the 
King of Naples, by his rafh agereflion, 
feems to have intended himfelf, that the 
antiquities of the mufeum at Portici 
fhould follow to Paris thofe of the capitol, 

ANECDOTES OF EMINENT PERSONS. 
Tatercfting and Original Anecdotes of the 
French Revolution ; to be continued in a 
regular feries from its commencement to 
the prefent period, and including its fecret 
hiftory. 
CUSTINES. 
AS Cuftines, who was condemned 
and executed as a traitor, really 
a traitor? Was he a culprit or a victim? 
This is a queftion which {till remains un- 
decided. 
Defcended from a rich and illuftrious 
family, colonel of a regiment of dragoons, 
which bore his name, as it had before 
borne his father’s, he enjoyed fome de- 
gree of confideration before he had done 
any thing to deferve it; the reputation 
of the father being, as it were, reflected 
upon the fon. What the one had done 
in Hanover, was, through ignorance, at- 
tributed to the other, who was not then 
old enough to perform any memorable 
act. Nor was there much better toun- 
dation for the addition he made to his 
military reputation, by taking Spires, 
Worms, and Mentz; cities which, as 
*every one knows, were not defended, and 
before which it was only neceffary for his 
army to fhew itfelf. ‘The perfons who 
remember thofe events will do jultice to 
this aflertion. 
When the American war extended it- 
felf to France, Cuftines parted with his 
regiment of cavalry, in order to command 
a regiment of infantry on the other fide 
of the Atlantic. “This exchange, which 
excited. fome furprife, was, in fa&, no 
great facrifice ; and was attended by con- 
fequences that exhibited him in no very 
favourable point of view. He had the 
misfortune to wound the honour of an 
officer of fmall tortune, who was a cap- 
tain in his own regimegt, and who de- 
manded fatisfaction. Out of prudence, 
or for fome other reafon, Cuftines had 
the ftill' greater misfortune to refufe it, 
or rather to promife it only on his return 
to France. The captain, in defpair, fhot 
himielf. The ruin of this officer, who 
was much efteemed by his brethren in 
arms, excited fo much indignation in all 
the officers of the regiment, that they 
tore off the colonel’s epaulettes upon the 
parade. The court thought proper to 
take no notice of this event; but it re- 
mained a terrible ftain upon ‘the charaéter 
of Cuftines. 
Several years after, on his return to 
France, 

