Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1831-10-12
LITERARY.

vols. s yo., Messrs, C%arvills. Swords, Bliss
and O. Halstead, N. Y.-These two handsome
" executed volumes, compiled by the brother OF
the deceased, constitute a pure and hts'ns mon
ument, erected BY the hands OF iraterna' lpeF'
haps we might add too %paterna) Affection to the
memory Of one cut off in the bright morn Of MS
existence, and when the brilliant promises OF
boyhood and of youth were about to be amply
realized.
The biographical notice by professor McVick-
ar is alike creditable to its subject and Its author.
Ii is indeed admirably written, with the lnsplra-
ton of genuine feeling.
The contents of the volumes, selected, as we
are told, from a mass Of manuscript that would
have filed twice as many more, relate Pr1nei-
pally to the tour in Europe from which this accom-
plishcd young clergyman had returned only a few
short months before his death. 1t is indeed a re-
markable evidence Of the industry, as well as OF
the facility in composing. and resources. OF MIR.
Griffin, that although he had at the time of his
death only attained his s5th year,, there were
found among his papers 60 carefully composed
sermons, which of themselves, would more than
fill a volume. OF the papers now published 1t
is said by the compiler, that, with the exception
of the Latin poems, and an English poem on
Greece,-all written in b%oyhood, not one, as he
believes, was ever designed by the writer for
publication. The journal of his tour through TIA
ly and Switzerland was written, as he went, for
the qualification Of his own family, and was ne
YER in any shape revised by him. 1t is from this
we shall make our principal extracts;.and our
readers will be struck we are sure, with the just
sense of all that is pure and beautiful in nature
and in art, which they exhibit. as well as with
the somewhat rare alliance Of sound judgment
and high enthusiasm evinced in them. Take tor
example the following description of a noble
bas-relig by Michael Angelo, in the chapel OF the
.4lJergo di Poueri, at Genoa:-
But all ITS fade into insignihcance
when compared with a b~as-relief BY Michael An
CELLO, which is placed over one OF the affairs. 1t
il a round medallion, about two feet and a halt In
diameter, and represents Christ dead and en-
braced by his mother. The head of the Saviour,
and the head and hands Of Mary, are alone visi-
Bile. One hand of the mother supports his FALL
ing head. the other rests upon his neck and bosom.
Her lips are approached towards him, as II to
kiss the cold and inanimate cheek. The face OF
our Saviour bears the marks OF a consuming and
overwhelming anguish. The hollow eye, the
lines of the brow and mouth. speak irresistably
to the heart. Yet the storm is overpast. and more
than the repose of death. the very tranquility OF
heaven, has settled down upon the teatures.-
The face of the mother is one of living anguish,
modified by the tenderest traits of affcctiun.-
should the pile of st. Peters tumble To the earth.
and were the walls of the Vatican itself detaced,
the immortal artist might trust to this single
remnant for the preservation OF his tame.
1t is in Rome, however, that the feelings of the
scholar burst forth,-that the reverence Of a ma
tive of the new world for this seat of earth's EN-.
pi.e, long centuries before his own country was
known to be of the earth,-is most strikingIy
manifested. He is at the CoIlosseum-let him
describe it, and hns own sensations:
The Colosseum is surely the most majestic OF
ruins. EIiptical in form, more than sixteen hun.
dred feet in circumference, and one hundred and
sixty in height. it Is pierced by three ranges OF
arches. one above another, whose narrow inter
walls are adorned with halfcolumns of the Doric.
Ionic, and Corinthian orders respectively y. Above
is a range Of quadransular windows and compos.
lite p~ilasters, surmounted by a light aud appropri'
ate %cornice. This vast ediiice is composed of tn.
IA stone. One of the blocks which ] observed
more particularly, though in the third story and
only Of the ordinary size, measured at least eight
feet in length by S in height, and four in thickness.
The walls. however. are frequently faced inter-
nally with brick, which is also used in the arch
es that support the staircases. in the snbstructIons
of the Seats and in the walls Of the ambnlacra.
The arena within is about three hundred feet
long, by two hundred broad. Around the arena
rises a wall, pierced BY doorways. through which
the sladiators and the wild beasts entered. This
wall was called the Podium; and from this ascen-
ded the first range Of seats, set apart tor the EN-.
peror, his family and court, the senators. the ma
g~Istrates, and (proh pudor! for the vestal virgins.
Above this separated by a broad passage and a
perpendicular wall. rose another range; and still
aaove, divided in like manner from the second.
lowered a third. Even beyond the top OF this
range there was a gallery, surrounding the whole
edifice. adorned with columns. unprovided with
seats. and appropriated to the populace. The
seats were nothing more than a series of broad