No. 27, 29, 30. Bearded Bacchuses. Terminal, See n. 19, where the frequency of these heads is accounted for. No. 28. A recumbent Diana. Count Caylus has given a Diana in repose, and he and others have cruelly suspected that these attitudes, notwithstanding her known prudery, imply the occupation of her mind by Endymion, or some lover. Reposing Dianus are exceedingly rare. Wincklemann says, she is always repre. sented marching, or running. Art. i. 282. ed. Amstel. They are generally running figures: now and then sitting under a tree. No. 31. Boys quarrelling at the game of Talus. The leg is fine. The reader will recollect the famous Astragalizontes, or two naked boys playing with tali, of Polycletus, in the Atrium of the emperor Titus. See Plin. 34, 8. No. 32. A terminal head of Pericles, helmeted, and inscribed with his name. This is an authentic and genuine bust. From its perfect resemblance, in all respects, to the fine one found at Tivoli, in the rains of the villa of Cassius, and now or recently in the Museum PioClementinum, it may be suspected to be au ancient copy. In this bust we see the Greek helmet, called urar, with two apertures for the eyes, and which, by heing let down, covered the whole face Jike a mask. This accounts for its length and elevation; but it makes the busts of Pericles and Minerva (where also it often occurs) very unsightly. No. 33, 4 statue, in which the artist has united the two characters of Bacchus and a Faun. No. 34. A terminal head of Epicurus. This is a very common bust. Pliny the elder, (. xxxv. c. 2), and Cicero, (Finib. 1. v), observe, that the disciples of this philosopher not only preserved his portrait in their apartments, but ensculped it on cups and rings. The portrait too is authentic; for the bronze bust found at Herculanum (t. v. p. 81), perfectly resembles that in the Capitol. See Mus. Capit. t. i, P. 12. No. 35. A terminus of Pan, playing upon a pipe. These are exceedingly common; being placed in gardens, &c. No. 36. A Greek inscription. No. 37. A terminus of Aspasia. She is draped up to the chin; and according to my notes, higher than in the terminus found in the ruins of Castro-Nuovo, near Civita Vecchia, in the Pio-Clementine Muscum. See Mus. Pio Clem. t. vi. 1 pl. 30. This is a tête-donnée, or one of those husts, &c. the portraits of which are all alike; and if my marginal notes are correct, this bust is no copy of the Pio-Clementine, or one similar. No. 98. A Patera, No. 39. A bronze head of Homer. Pliny (S5, 11), notes, that in his day there were no genuine portraits of Homer, all being fanciful. Fulvius Ursinus, (pl. 72), has published a head from a coin of Chios, which Mongez thinks is the portrait of a magistrate named Ho mer. The features, beard, and hair, are certainly different from the bust generally ascribed to Homer, though upon tradition only, now in the French museum, and engraved in the Mus. Capitol. t i. pl. 59. At all events, this is a very fine bust; and I regret that we know nothing of its history, a most essential point in investigating busts of Homer. If it be ascribed to him only from the portrait, this can be nothing. There are Jupiters, &c. which much resemble the features of these Homers. No. 41. A Greek sepulchral monument. The bas-relief in front represents a trophy, on one side of which stands a warrior, and on the other a female figure, feeding a serpent, which is twined round the trunk of a tree, on which the trophy is erected. On the right of these. figures is the fore-part of a horse. An inscription on the top of this monument, contains a list of names, probably of those who fell in some engagement. The female figure is the well-known one of Hygeia, Salus, or Minerva Medica, the goddess: of convalescence; and, in my opinion, this bas-relief is not a funeral monument, but votive; and I think that the names apply to persons who had recovered their health. The horse is a mere symbol of rank, and the reason why we have so many statues of Hygeia, is, because it was customary for the rich to erect them, upon receiving a cure. No. 42. A terminal head of Periander. In the villa of Cassius at Tivoli, was found a bust inscribed. It is engr. Mus, Pio-Clement. t. vi. No. 43. Repetition of No. 33. No. 44. A terminal head, said to be of Homer. No. 45. Acteon attacked by his dogs. The noses of the dogs are very long: but possibly he was fonder of coursing than hunting. Very few people are there who would not stop to look, if they saw women bathing naked in public, which was the case of the modest Diana, who deserved deserved punishment much more than Acteon. In all probability, this common fable originated in the hydrophobia infecting his dogs. Actæon, and Peep ing Tom of Coventry! There is a very fine medallion in Pellerin of this adventure; some of them are very bad: that in Maffei, exhibits him in Roman military costume; possibly because the Orchomenians, after his death, made him a hero, and raised to him heroic monuments. Now the true Greek costume of heroes. is, to make an Hibernicisin, nudity, with much vein and muscle. No. 46. A terminal head of Bacchus and Hercules united. Very deep reasons have been assigned for this union. Vossius de Lisieux says, that Bacchus was a theological deity, of the same nature as the Theban Hercules, &c. Froret adds, that Hercules and Bacchus were gods of the first order, the soul of the world, &c. Perhaps these termini may not be mere caprices of the artist, but have an alle. gorical allusion. T. D. FOSBROOKE, For the Monthly Magazine. LETTERS OF A WANDERER. LETTER II,-To a Friend, MY Y last would inform you of my visit to Poole's Hole; I have now to acquaint you with my further ramble over an extensive hill that rises at the Back of the before-named cavern, in which there are a number of curiouslyconstructed dwellings, infinitely better worth looking at than the gloomy hole we had recently quitted. They are formed in what have formerly been limekilns, the sides of which having hardened by time and oft repeated rains, serve as the walls of these extraordinary habita. tions, the roofs being supported by poles fixed in the ground in front, while the other end of such rafters as they have, lean on the bank or wall at the back. Each hut, or cabin, contains two rooms, in general remarkable for cleanliness, and really a greater appearance of comfort and convenience, than could be at first imagined in such wretched places. The hill on which they are erected, has an astonishing appearance at a little distance: innumerable dwellings, from whence smoke is seen issuing perpetually, and which looking only like heaps of rubbish, may almost be mistaken for miniature volcanoes, opening on its bare uncultivated beights; for surely no person could imagine that above a couple of hundred human beings actually exist in But these abodes, and, on a nearer view of them, appear to wear the countenances of contentment and cheerfulness. so it is: and thus we behold another instance added to the many already under our knowledge, of how wonderful is the wisdom and the power of Providence; how "God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb," and bestows even on the meanest of his creatures, that happiness and ease of mind, the more favoured sons and daughters of opulence and luxury too frequently destroy in their own bosoms, by the wilful abuse of his blessings, and their own capricious dispositions. The poor people who inhabit these ash-hillocks, or ashy-hillocks as they are sometimes called, sometimes gain a trifle for the relief of their wants, by the sale of some small pieces of crystal and petrifaction they gather in the environs, and present to the notice of those whom curiosity, or the idea of a frolic, induce to pay a visit to their wonderful dwellings. Having heard of a famous Well called the "Ebbing and Flowing Well," a few miles distant from Buxton, I one day joined a party in a ride to visit it. We accordingly pursued the way across a dreary moorland tract of hilly country, about five miles; when, on reaching the spot we sought, we found only a very common-looking spring of water, received into a bason of about a yard square, which occasionally fills and empties itself to the astonishment of ignorant and superstitious observers, who imagine it the work of some supernatural power, and never enquire further into the cause of its appearance; which, in reality, I am told, arises from a bason being hid beneath the surface of the earth, which, on filling, disgorges its contents, and is again replenished as before. As there was nothing in the appearance of this place calculated to induce us to prolong our stay, and having neither inclination nor sufficient curiosity to penetrate further into its mysteries, we left its desolate melancholy precincts, and by a circuitous route arrived at the road leading from Middleton to Buxton, when alighting on an height called Chee Tor, we gave our horses to the servants, and after a short walk across a kind of common, round which there are a few cot tages picturesquely situated, we descended a steep and rugged bank, and sunk as it were at once into a contracted dell, through which a pretty rivulet winds its devious way, and in front beheld an immense immense pile of greyish rocks rising perpendicularly from the water's edge, formning an appearance somewhat similar to the ancient walls of a fortification, tufted and fringed with various-coloured shrubs and trees, finely contrasting the sombre hue of the rocks, and forming at once a scene, wild, interesting, and so admirably suited to the pensive cast of my mind, that with extreme pleasure I could have remained there for the day; but unfortunately, as is frequently the case, in what are falsely termed parties of pleasure, iny taste, and that of my companions, were not exactly similar; for though I would have greatly preferred the view of this enchanting spot to that of our well-filled table at the hotel, they were of a very contrary way of thinking, and as it began to draw near the hour of dining, they were impatient to resume the way back to the "busy haunts of men." Slowly and unwillingly I followed their steps up the ascent, and turned my back upon a spot, which, if you ever pay a visit to St. Ann's Well and Baths, you must not fail to see: nor must you omit walking to a sweet romantic scene, upon the banks of the stream that passes by the town, about half a mile from thence, where the rocks are extremely picturesque, and which you will readily hear of by enquiring for the Lover's Leap. My next excursion was to visit the celebrated Peak, or the Devil's Cave, near Castleton, a village about sixteen miles from Buxton. Our party consisted of six persons, all equally desirous to behold the wonders of this often-talked-of Cave. The day was as fine as we could have desired it to be, had the power of chusing the weather been our own; and having set off at an early hour, in order to have breakfast at the conclusion of our ride, and then visit the object of our curiosity, we pursued the way in perfect harmony and safety, notwithstanding we bad heard tremendous accounts of the frightful precipices, and steep descents, we should have to encounter ere we could reach the end of our journey. These, like many other reports, we found to be greatly exaggerated; and in spite of the steepness of the way descending from the moor to Castleton, we were much gratified by the view presented to our sight, when, after passing on the left, the lofty precipice of rocks and loose gravelly substance usually termed the Shivering-Mountains, Hope Vale was opened to our view, and seemed a little Paradise, compared with any thing we had seen for a considerable time before. This vale is not extensive, but it is cultivated and pretty; and the contrast formed by its smiling inclosures, and verdant meadows, from the bare and desolate-looking aspect of the surrounding hills, is at once striking and peculiarly pleasing. Castleton is a very simail village, not remarkable for any thing but its vicinity to the cave we were about to visit. Breakfast being over, we found the party encreased to the number of fourteen, besides some attendants, and the ordinary guides; and sallying forth to the entrance of the cave, we entered where it is arched over by a rock of about forty yards in height, formed by Nature at the foot of a craggy precipice, surmounted by a high hill, on which are the remains of a castle, fast hastening to decay. Within this arch is a spacious cavern of nearly an hundred yards in length, and very lofty, the roof of which is composed of darkish-coloured stone, and conveys ap awful feeling to the mind of the specta tor, who there beholds a number of his fellow mortals immured within this dise mal abode of wretchedness and penury, carrying on a manufactory of packthread, by means of the light that enters at the opening of the cave; for all beyond is dark as immagination can pic ture. One woman assured us she had lived upwards of half a century in that place, and never had the curiosity to venture a mile from it: a sure proof, you will say, that the failing of our first par ent does not extend in full force through every succeeding generation. Yet notwithstanding her stationary life, she wore the hue of health, and the air of cheerfulness and contentment: a proof likewise, that happiness is a plant of common growth, resting principally on the imagination, and easily disengaged from the weeds that surround it, if a lit the trouble only is bestowed upon the search for them. But to return: towards the farther end of this cavern, the ground slopes to nearly the edge of a stream, that winds the whole way along to its extremity, and a rock of considerable magnitude blocks up the passage, save by a low arch across the water, beneath which each of the visitors is ferryed over in a narrow boat, pushed forward by one of the guides, who are all supplied with lights, as in Poole's Hole, in order to display the wonders of the place. When landed on the farther side, (which is a work of time if the party is numg rous, which was intended as a pleasurable scheme, one of pain, vexation, and mor tification, if not of serious differences. This cave is certainly very deserving of a visit, as a great natural curiosity; but there are others in Yorkshire, and on the borders of Derbyshire, which are, in my opinion, better worth the seeing, and of some of which I shall hereafter have it in my power to give you a short descrip tion; in the meanwhile, I shall merely add of the Peak, that from the total darkness, and the uncertain glimmering light of a few candles, it cannot be viewed to advantage; that is, its height cannot be properly ascertained, and consequently the feeling and awe which would naturally be inspired by its lofty caverns, must fall far short of what it would be if seen more clearly, which might easily be effected by means of a few torches, or flambeaux. As for any beauty of spar, or incrustations on its sides or roof, the visitor need not expect to behold the least; for the constant moisture within its recesses, occasions a sliminess upon the rocks, and totally. prevents any lustrous appearance from becoming visible to the eye. rous, as one person only with conve- There is another cave accounted great curiosity, which may be visited either in going to, or returning from Castleton. It is known by the name of Eidon Hole: but a visit thither not being deemed so safe as to the one just described, it is not so much known, noṛ talked of. Our next excursion was to Chatsworth, the seat of the duke of Devonshire, situated on an eminence, above the river Derwent, which winds in beautiful meanders through an extensive park, and is crossed by a handsome stone bridge, not far from a comfortable inn, called Edonsor, where we breakfasted after our ride over the dreary moors from Buxton, and thence proceeded to view the house and gardens which are laid out in the old-fashioned French taste, with parterres of flowers, artificial cascades, fountains, and all the unnatural, unmeaning trumpery, once so much admired, but now most happily almost entirely exploded. By many persons, Chatsworth is accounted a beautiful place; but it is not one which would suit your taste more than it does mine; for you too are an admirer of nature's simple scenery, or her more sublime features, as they are dis played in rocks and mountains of enor mous magnitude; and it would only excite your ridicule to behold a copper tree, tree, spouting water at every branch; a stream set flowing over a range of steps, to form a cascade, to fall upon a fine shorn grass-plat, with Tritons, flying-fish, and cherubs, disgorging their contents on every hand. For my part, I turned from the sight of such absurdities, with a smile of pity at the folly of the inventor, to survey the really pleasing rural view across the park; while my companions waited the conclusion of the rareeshow, which being over, we repaired to gether to the house, and were there shewn a few tolerably good apartments, and some paintings, with a large hall and stair-case, ornamented by a profusion of gilding and painting, on the roof and walls, more gaudily than tastefully executed. The exterior of the building is handsome; it is a square edifice con structed of yellowish free-stone, finely cut, with a flat roof, and balustrades surrounding it. The principal front is towards the flower-garden, and is richly adorned by carved work, with large sashes of plate-glass, and the frames most gorgeously gilt. For a sight of these fine things, both within and with out the house, the visitor must pay largely, at least ten or twelve shillings, to the different attendants who conduct strangers over the place. I am not apt to grudge my money for the view of scenes I can admire, either for their natural or artificial beauties; but really such stupid inventions as are exhibited at Chatsworth, are not worth even the trouble of looking at. Reddlestone, the seat of lord Scars. dale, within a few miles of Derby, is infinitely better worth a visit than Chatsworth; for though there is also much that is artificial in the grounds, around this spacious mansion, there is nothing to offend the eye of taste, or excite ridicule for its absurdity. I visited Keddlestone some time previous to going to Buxton, and was pleased with it. The house is large and magnificent, with a grand outside staircase ascending to the first floor, in which there are a number of handsome apartments, adorned with paintings, by some of the first masters; and the whole wears an air of elegance, united with comfort and convenience, not always to be found together in the mansions of the affluent. The grand hall is spacious, and the roof is supported by rows of marble pillars, procured in the neighbourhood, and receiving a beautiful polish. At Derby there is much to be seen deserving of a stranger's notice; viz. the silk mills, where that material is spun and prepared for the loom by machinery of most ingenious contrivance. There is likewise a china manufactory, equal to any at Worcester, and the beautiful spar ornaments which bear so high a price, and are so universally admired, are there manufactured, and may be viewed in perfection. I must now conclude this long epistle, and resume my pen by an account of my visit to Matlock and Dovedale. Adieu, believe me your's with esteem and re gard. THE WANDERER. For the Monthly Magazine. PRESUMED IMPROPER PRONUNCIATION on our THEATRES; with INSTANCES of ABSURDITY in STAGE BUSINESS. MR. Kemble, generally affecting so great correctness and precision, both with respect to old and new read. ings upon his theatre, it has often ap peared to me an omission, rather strange in him, that he should permit the fol lowing erroneous, and even absolutely burlesque, mode of pronunciation, in a greatest and most lasting favourite of all most affecting part of perhaps the the name of one of the king's sons is our national tragedies. In Macbeth, pronounced by all the players, Mrs. Siddons herself not excepted, Donaldbāne, with the stress of the voice laid upon the last syllable, instead of the word being articulated, as it properly ought to be, according to the Scottish idiom, Dōnāldbane, the voice dwelling on the second syllable, nald, the last, bane, being pronounced short, as in the title of the present noble earl Brēadālbăne, who cer tainly would stare, should Mrs. Siddons address him as in the above mode of pronunciation, lord Breadalbane. To those who have noticed this as an error, the bawling out of Donaldbane! Donaldbane! just as the murder of the king has been discovered, is really the bane of the solemn and appalling interest of the scene, by mixing it with incongruous ideas, arising involuntarily from such burlesque sounds. Thus however has, no doubt, the word been pronounced Shakespeare to the present; but I can upon our English stage from the days of scarcely suppose the same upon the Stage of Edinburgh. I have farther always thought, that the word Macbeth is by no means spoken on our stage with sufficient attention to national manner, but rather given in a tone |