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on the mind, that the tale of Troy divine is a mere invention, may require yet more than the moft labo rious learning can lend to conjecture, and could it avail, we might lofe in the pleasures of the imagination, as much as we should gain by truth, could his arguments eftablish it, and lament with the enthusiast in Horace,

fpace of a mile, the first object on the brow is a ftony hillock, which Chevalier, with no apparent reafon, calls the tomb of Hector. It has been opened and examined, but we could not learn the refult.

"There are others covered with

grafs, appropriated likewife to Trojan heroes. Upon this area and the intermediate ground from the village, there is undoubtedly space e-demptus per vin mentis gratiffimus nough for fuch a city as Troy is de

error."

"As the fetting fun was more brilliant than for many days paft, the village of Bounàr-bafhi opened upon us very pleasantly from the ford of the Simocis, which we paffed within a furlong of the chiftlik of Hadji Mehmet Aghà, the prefent proprietor of a domain produc ing near £.5000 fterling per annum, and including little lefs fpace, and the identical ground of the kingdom of old Priam. His houfe is mean, but many columns were difperfed about it, which had been collected from the fites of adjacent cities.

"From the village the hill rifes rapidly, and foon becomes an infulated mountain. In the front of the house, at a small diftance, is the firft fource of the Scamander, which is faid, by M. Chevalier, to be the hot fpring, upon which he grounds the ftrongeft proof of his hypothefis refpecting the locality of the city of Troy. It is at leaft tepid; and the agha told us that in the winter months, especially during froft, it was hot, and fmoked. Homer muft be allowed the privilege of a hot spring, and a river full to the brink, if they happen once within the year. The lofty wall of Troy and the Scaan gate interfected the modern yillage of Burnà-bathi.

"Afcending the ill, thickly ftrewn with loofe ftones for the

fcribed to have been. The level falls abruptly on the fouth, with a precipitate cliff, into a very deep ravine, forming a mural rock as compact and regular as the remaining walls of Conftantinople, now almost covered at its bafe by the ftream and fands of the Simoeis, for the length of forty or fifty yards, and completing a fortification, rendered impregnable by nature, which will account for a ten years' fiege, and the fuperlative epithet of walls conftructed by the gods themfelves. Mr. Wood difcovered no place, amongst Ida, correfpondent to that defcription; and Mr. Bryant would feek for it (did he purpose an actual inspection) only in his favourite Egypt. This divifion of rifted rock from the groupe of foreft mountains, of which Ida is compofed on the east and north fides, does not exceed a hundred and fifty yards, and is fcarcely farther afunder at the top, finking as perpendicularly as an artificial channel. The face of the ground exhibits nothing worthy remark; bufhes and huge unhewn ftones only are to be feen. The whole view of the plain of Troy, from the height faid to have been the citadel, is of uninterrupted extent, with the winding Simoeis, and the grand horizontal line marked by Ucjek Tepee and the Sigean promontory, and turning to the left, by the two in the island of Tenedos. We then returned to the chiftlik, and bade adieu to the K 3

hofpi

hofpitable aghà, who poffeffed, in a great degree, that trait of a true mufulman, urbanity to ftrangers.

"For feveral hours we traced with the utmost attention the course of the Scamander from the cold or fecond fource, which is a collection of fmall fprings, through the morais, where for fome miles it is pofitively hid, till we reached the new canal, and faw plainly the ancient bed. The banks of this river, where expofed, are verdant and beautiful, and watered to the brink. M. Chevalier's topography and general idea, after a fair inveftigation, we acknowledged to be ingenious and plaufible.

"We then fixed ourfelves at Giawr-keuy, or cape Janiffary, a poor village confifting entirely of Greeks, the fite of the far-famed Sigæum, which has likewise the name of Yeni-cheyr. It is fingular that Greeks fhould ftill occupy that ancient ftation.

"From this eminence we looked over the plain, the whole fcope of which we commanded; its broadeft diameter may be five or fix, and its longeft twelve miles, to Atchè-keuy. It is naturally verdant and fertile, and now very generally cultivated, excepting near the marfh, which occupies a fifth part. Homer gives frequent evidence of his having perfonally vifited and examined this celebrated fpot, of which he fometimes enters into minute defcriptions. The rivers are particularly characterited. Simocis has broad fands, with a fudden and rapid current; Scamander is tranfparent, and regularly full, within a narrow chanel, and to they continue to be till their junction, before they reach the fea. Whatever change the former may have occafioned in the prefent appearance of the plain, the analogy taken from thofe of Ephefus and

Miletus, upon which Mr. Wood has refted his opinion that Troy was fftuated fo much higher amongft the hills of Ida, feems to be ill founded; for the Simoeis has, at no feafon, either the fize or declenfion from its fource that the Cäyfter and Meander are known to have. The foil exhibits no marks of volcanic fire, nor can it be reasonably prefumed, from any prefent appearance, that the face of the country, could have been changed by an earthquake, upon which circumftance as prefuppofed another hypothefis is built. Of all the proofs adduced by M. Chevalier, the tumuli, fo connected with the Rhætean and Sigean promontories, and the outpofts of the Grecian camp, are the moft fatisfactory. The fite is likewife confirmed by four others, which, to whatever heroes they may be conjecturally attributed, with no additional weight to the argument, give a certain degree of internal evidence, and afcertain the fcene of great military tranfactions, or vicinity to a large city. In thofe rude and primæval ages, heroes had no other monuments, nor could any more lasting have been devised.

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now placed at the door of a low hut, confecrated as a chapel. The letters are nearly worn out, having been fo long ufed as a bench to fit on. Advancing fome furlongs over the promontory, we faw the barrow (bethic tepee) called the tomb of Antilochus by Strabo. On the other "fide of the village, under the brow of the hill, crowned by half a dozen windmills, near the fea, are two fmaller tumuli, generally fuppofed to be thofe, one of which is attributed by the ancient geographers to the illuftrious friends Achilles and Patroclus, and the other to Pencleus the Boeotian. Since the opening and difcoveries made in the former, by order of the French embaffador, M. le compte de Choifeul Gouffier, in 1787, fome dervishes have built their convent against it, and placed a clay cabin on the top. They now ufe the barrow as a cemetery. "M. Chevalier has informed us,

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that towards the centre of the monument two large ftones were found, leaning at an angle one a'gainst the other, and forming a kind of tent, under which was pre'fently difcovered a small ftatue of Minerva feated in a chariot with 'four horfes, and an urn of metal • filled with afhes, charcoal, and human bones. This urn, now in the poffeffion of le compte Choiseul, is encircled in fculpture with a vine 'branch, from which are fufpended 'bunches of grapes, done with ex'quifite art. Two pages of learned commentary fucceed this affertion, which introduces a curious hypothefis refpecting early Grecian fculpture.

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"From information gained from the only perfon prefent at the opening of the barrow, whofe fimple detail the favour of a friend enables me to fubjoin *, it is probable that nothing was found which could justify

* EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM THE DARDANELLES.

I had a very interefting converfation with the fon of the late French conful, Sig. Solomon Ghormezano, relative to the opening of the tomb of Achilles, near the Sigean promontory. He faid that he had been employed by count Cholfeul Gouffier to examine the tumulus and to fearch for remains, and that he worked at it by night, deceiv ing the agha and people with the hopes of difcovering a spring of water, fo neceffary to the inhabitants of Yeni-cheyr. Two months elapfed in this work, as no other perfon fuperintended. He frequently wished to decline it in defpair, but was directed to perfevere. At length be difcovered the place where the reliques were depofited. He immediately collected the whole, and communicated his fuccefs to his employer, fill⚫ing a large cheft with what he had found. Mr. Choifeul enjoined him to bring them to him, and not to trust them out of his fight; but he repaid his trouble with thanks only. He was induced to referve several small fpecimens, which lie obligingly thowed and explained to us, as Mr. Choifeul was no longer formidable.

I fubjoin a lift of them.

1. Pieces of burned bones. 2. Pieces of a metal vafe. I enquired particularly concerning the vafe, and in what ftate it was originally found. He replied, that it was broken, and had had a small ornament only, round the rim; but that enough remained to determine the shape, and that it was of confideráble fize. What I'faw was * fo entirely destroyed by ruft that no plausible conjecture could be formed from it. 3. Charcoal, made of vine branches. 4. A piece of mortar and ftone, which appeared to have paffed through fire. 5. A piece of metal of a triangular shape. 6. Pieces of very fine pottery, well painted, with wreaths of flowers of a dark olive colour. He * obferved that fome of the pieces of pottery feemed to have compofed large vafes, befide which were feveral small cups, fome of which were intire, and refembled Etruf* can ware. It might have been a funeral ceremony to have emptied thefe to the me'mory of the deceafed, and then to have placed them in the tomb.

He delivered likewife to Mr. Choifeul a fragment of brafs about a foot and a half K 4

long

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STATE of the PEOPLE, and of CIVILIZATION in SCOTLAND, at the latter end of the 14th, and at the beginning of the 15th CENTURY.

[From the Firft Volume of PINKERTON'S HISTORY of Scotland, under the HOUSE of STUART.]

THETHER education, climate, or government, produce moft effect on national cha

racter, is an important problem, difcuffed by many able writers, but hitherto not fufficiently refolved. It

long, and in the middle, being the thickest part, about the circumference of a quart bottle, and weighing feven or eight pounds. It was, at firft, called the hilt of a sword, but afterward Mr. Choifeul declared it to be the ftatue of a man, with a lion under

each foot.

7. A finall piece of a tranfparent fubftance, belonging, as he faid, to a kind of tub☛ worked and clofed at one end. It may not be easy to conjecture for what ufe this was intended. From his defeription of it, I collect, that it was about a foot long and two inches in diameter, ornamented with branches in chafed or embossed work, and of fo tranfparent a nature, that objects might be clearly feen through it. It had receive ⚫ed but flight injury, having only a small fracture at the upper end.

He then acquainted us with the different firata of earth he had dug through is opening the tomb. On the outfide was a kind of fea fand, the fame as that near it; then yellowish foil, folid but light; coloured earths, black and yellow, each ftratum being two feet deep, with large ftones. On the foundation of the barrow apparently was a large flab, extending, as he supposed, over the whole, as wherever he dug he fill found it. In the middle was a hole twelve feet square, around which was raifed a wall three feet high, which was the fepulchre containing the reliques. By the weight of the earth all was preffed together, which accounts for the confused and broken flate in which the things were difcovered. On the outside of this ftone yas firewed • quantity of lime, and then of chorcoal, fuppofed to be the ashes of the funeral pile.

When the barrows were clofco up, count Choifeul placed a sheet of lead on the bottom inferibed "Ouvrage fait par le Compte de Choifeul Gouffier l'an 1787! Ma Chevalier's ignorance of modern Greek led him into a curious miflake. The two contiguous barrows are called 'dthèo tepè,' the two tombs. Mr. Chevalier hearing this name from the villagers, immediately conjectures away with his Ass Tews,' and puzzles himself with mythology.

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‚‹ October, 1795,'

muft

muft however be granted by all, that each has its fhare in exciting or depreffing mental energy, in eftablishing general induftry or indolence, in promoting public happinefs or mifery. But of thefe grand caufes education feems defervedly to claim the pre-eminence. To deny the power of climate, would be to forget that man is fubject to the fkyey influences;' yet his industry, or care, may generally overcome or elude its effects: and foil is almoft equally fubfervient to labour. Government exerts a more pervading influence; even the peasant in his cottage is oppreffed by the burning heat of defpotifm, or the blafting forms of anarchy. The rewards of his labour ceafe amid the general diftrefs: the caprice of fome little tyrant, for flaves are ever tyrants where they can, or the revenge of a foe, may affail his hovel; and while his family perishes in penury, the labourer joins the mountain robbers, and falls the victim of thofe laws which afforded him no protection. Even moderate governments affect domeftic life, and individuals, more than is commonly conceived; a war, a tax, an unwife law, becomes an univerfal misfortune; while the benignity, and kill, of the rulers enlarge the happiness of all. The influence, like that of the electric element, is rarely unveiled to the popular eye, though the fubtile fluid operate moft widely on the public health.

"In the oriental legiflations the connexion between laws and man-ners is often indiffoluble: and the laws become perpetual, by being grafted on the habits of that creature of habit, man. In Europe, on the contrary, the laws and manners are proverbially diftin&t. Jurifdiction punithes crimes, but rewards not virtues; far less can it improve

domeftic morals, or diffuse the light of inftruction over a benighted nation. These are the facred provinces of education, a caufe of national character more prevalent than either of the former, as it ftrikes the very root of offence, and fows lafting feeds of intelligence and worth.

“But education, on the extenfive fcale here implied, remains an experiment even to the most civilized nations; and its effects must neither be regarded as fpeedy, nor infinite. Even infants display, fome a perverfe, others a placid difpofition: and it is doubtful whether any care or art can eradicate, or fubdue, the inborn temper. If the bad habits of an individual prove often unconquerable by reafon or virtue, how deeply muft fuch habits be rooted in a whole people, where example operates like a contagion?

"Hence it is that the spirit, and manners, of the people ought to prefent the main object of political difcuffion on any particular state, and the more efpecially where government and education have little force. In whatever form of adminiftration, only a part can shine upon the public theatre, and thus attract the notice of hiftory. The mafs of the nation remains in obfcurity, even in enlightened ages; and philofophy can only estimate its hiftory by that of its manners, for which the beft materials are to be found, not in the pages of the annalist, but in poems, novels, and romances. Barren however as are the annals of the poor, their ftate may always be justly estimated by that of the actors, who vaunt and vanish in the hiftoric fcene; and from the progrefs of nations, as favage, barbarous, or civilized. The monkish page prefents but a

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