» 
440 
made among the descendants of Her- 
cules, and shewed, that the field, where 
stood the temple in dispute, had es- 
cheated to their King ; that the proof of 
it had been cut on stone, and still sub- 
sisted in plates of brass.” The original 
of Hesiod’s works was written or cut upon 
sheets of lead, which were kept with the 
utmost care in the temple of the Muses 
jn Beeotia. Had not these metals. for- 
merly been the depositaries of the laws, 
the judicious Sophocles would not have 
made Dejaniva say, “ I have performed 
every thing imits full extent; an mmu- 
table iaw on tabies of brass was never 
more punctually observed.” - These ta- 
bles were fastened to pillars in public 
places; witness that mentioned by Audo- 
cides to. have been placed before the 
Senate-house, and which authorized the 
killing of that magistrate, who should 
reign after the subversion of the common- 
wealth. These imscriptions often cen- 
tain a part of the history of states. Po- 
Jwenus relates, that Alexander found in 
the palace in the kings of Persia a brass 
column, on which were cut not only the 
Jaws made by Cyrus, but a regulation 
for the sumptuous table of his successors. 
The Grecian conqueror had not probably 
at that time bezun to indulge in Asiatic 
luxury; for, ordering the column to be 
removed, he said to his friends, “ that 
documents of excess and intemperance 
did not become the residence of a king.” 
Tothese metallic inscriptions we owe 
the preservation of several facts recorded 
4y historians; the treaties of monarchs, 
the conventions of nations, and the al- 
liances of cities. They have transmitted 
the genealogies and the epitaphs of great 
men. Through them. we become ac- 
quainted with the prayers made. to the 
Pagan deities for all kinds of calamity 
and distress; their thanksgivings for mi- 
reculous cures and preservations, favour- 
able seasons and victories in war; and 
ianumerable other ancient customs. In 
short, in these monuments, the diflerent 
alphabetical and numerical ietters of dif- 
ferent times may also be observed, a fre- 
quent subject of them are those votive ta- 
bles, of which the ttle was always in 
verse,as may be proved from that of Arim- 
nestus, ‘aud the foliowing lines of the 
Sih book of Ovid's Metamorphoses. 
-__ Dant munera templis 5 
Addynt et titulos ; titulus breve carmen ha- 
bebat. r 
Hence it is, thet most of the ancient 
On Lines, supposed to be written by Butler. 
[June 1, 
Latin inscriptions are in verse. But the 
best proof of the value and authority of 
these memorials is the care with which 
they were collected by beth Greeks and 
Romans. Among the moderns, Jos, 
Sealiger has taken the pains to reduce 
into tables those which had been col- 
lected before his time; and the name 
and sedulity of that prodigy of literature 
are surely a sufficient warrant for col- 
lecting and studying them. O. 
(To be continued.) 
—— a 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
AM sorry I did not sooner pay at- 
tention to the wishes of your corre- 
spondent, Mr. James Rudge, who, in a 
letter of - January last, solicited infor- 
mation on the subject of the commonly 
quoted lines, 
<¢ He that fights and runs away,” ‘“&e. 
In August, 1784, a similar application 
was made by letter, signed Q. in the 
Morning Herald, which, with the ans 
swer I enclose you for insertion. 
Your’s, &e. 
Plymouth, April 10, 1809. 
J. Le 
For the Morning Herald. 
Grey. Gy S 
Mr. Eprror,—Every body. knows the 
following most beautiful lines: 
«¢ The man who fights and runs away, 
May live to fight another day; _ 
But he who is in battle slain, 
Can never rise to fight again,”” 
Will any of our poetical correspon- 
dents‘ be good enough to point out the 
author? If they should say that Butler 
was the author, and that they are in Hu- 
dibras, which twenty to oné but they 
will, we request them to mention the 
page and the edition. A wager was some 
time ago made at Brookes’s, of twenty to 
one, that the above lines were im Hudi- 
bras, and Dodsley was referred to as the 
arbiter. Dodsiey laughed at the idea of 
a diificulty. “Every fool,” says he, 
“‘knows that they are in Hudibras.” 
“@ Will you be good enouzh then,” says. 
George Selwyn, “ to inform an old fool, 
who is at the same time your wise wor. 
ship’s most humble servant, in what 
eanto of Eludibras they are to be found.” 
Dedsley took down the volume, but he 
could net find the place. He prongised 
- to 
