Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1850-05-23
The Lost Arts.


liyered by The Hon. Wendell Phillips of Boston,
reported in the Woonscoke, Palrlo,.
FIRST, GLAss-Thls was for long lime
believed 10 be modern invention. Within ff-
~ years four quarto volumes were written in
Italy TO prove, IN opposition 10 the asse,ions OF
Pllny, that the article was unknown TO the an
clients, and on the very day which these vol
umes were published. warehouse was open
ed in Pompeli filed with cut, wrought pressed
and stained glass, far more beautiful aud per-
feet than any now manufsciured.---There Is
glass found, TOO, among he ruins Of Central
America. In the museum a, Florence, a piece
Of glass, an inch square by quarter of an inch
thick, on which were represented birds, which
could be seen equally on bO'h sides. aud their
plumage so perlec, tha. not even The sllghres
want of finish could be discovered with mi
croscope and though apparently mosaic, II Is
impossible to tell where or how II was put TO-
gelher. There is a small vase, 100, surroun
ded by figures Of women with children playing
upon their laps also perfect on both sides
and the art OF making them SO is no, only un-
known TO Us, but we cannot even imagine how
1t could be done. Their dresses, and The ours
of their hair, are perfect. Pliny tells US Of
drinking glass which could be folded Up as
10 occupy small space and hIch destroy
by its inventor, because his monarch would nn'
offer him " hat he considered sufficient sum
for lis invention. The moderns, with all their
arts, canno. equal The beautiful stained glass Of
t he middle ages, inferior this was that Of
! Egyp, and this remark leades TO the second
division.
CoLoRs-ln these, the ancienls certainly
| far exceIled the modern. Sir Humphry Da.
Wy made many efforts to analy ze The celebrated
Tyrian purple of the East but these effort,
were without success H declared he could
no, discover of what it was composed The
Naples yellow, too, though less known, was
much used, and The Of making it, is now
entirely gone. The Tyran purple is the col
: or of many houses of Pompeii and they look
as fresh as If just painted. The color of Titan
are equally as vivid and beautiful as when ir>r
laid On by the great artist. while those OF Slr
Joshua Reynolds already look ohalky and dead
And Sir Joshua himself confessed, after making
il The study of his life, hs, he had never been
able to discover how Raphael, and The Other
great artists, had been able TO preserve ,ht
beauty and brightness of their paintings. Bot
We marvel al these artists, ;hree centuries back
!, wha, shall we say of those paintings found il
, the tombs of Egypt, more than Two thousand
, years DID, and ye. kept fresh and bright. though
, buried for ha, time beneath the ground. IN the
damp, dark caves of The East! The very wife
of Solomon is found there, just as she was pain
ted on the eve of her departure from her fa'h
er's home, TO share The throne of Judea, anC
no, only the color Of her garments were pre-
served, but the bloom is still on her cheek anC
lips, and the lustle in her eye Is even as II 'het
: was. Their paintings, too, az far back as 'h'
time of Moses !; a portrait supposed to he tia
of The Nice, the king who drove the lsrealie
into the Red Sea aud even the colors of ,hi
are preserved perfectly.
We come TO the next, Meals. or The us
. of these, the Scripture make very eatly men
,ion In the days OF Moses gold is spoken o
as being put. and some time kept. in liqul'
state; while il is beyond our art even 10 re
t duce it 10 powder. The corner of the stones
of The pyramids are so sharp as TO break 'h'
skin of The hand when passed over them, an'
f so hard as TO resist the sharpes. STEEL Th
French found great difficulty in carving the Oh
!, elisk in La Place Concord, yet the ancient
had covered all the facades with figures. Ac
cordlng to history, iron was unknown; but the
: had an ar,, now lost of making copPer(one OF IN
of sof,es, metals) harder than sleel and |, wa
Of thi, that they made their tools. The iamnu
Delhi blades, j, is we'll known, are unrlvalied
They would Gu, off row Of hob nails, place
one after another, wiihou, dulling their edge
aud yet were SO pliable that the point could b
made TO touch the handle.
!. ; The lectures alluded 10 the warrler, who, To-
: impatient to wait for his sword 10 be cooled Il
. the usual way. snarched it red ho, and wavIn
. !, in The air. thus gave i, temper. They has
= lied in Paris. lately, many times thus 10 TEN
! ner steel. in he air, but wl'hou, success. ii
! spoke of Scouts description Of the sword OF Sa
u adln. which cot down men and steel with tn
same facility.
The cannons OF the British in India. u !
known soon became SO honey.combed by III
u dampness and dew so az TO be totally useles
u in war. The lines of Byron, on The rust upo
II the sleei of the warrior. are IN accordance VII
;, the truth, slough that warrior had laid but on
u nigh, beneath The open sky. Necessity ha
!. been 10 The East Indian the mother Of invention
II He will lake casl-of hoop of an English cas-
II aud make Of 1t sword equal 10 the bes Pa
II sian Steel The pliabilny of the steel oil N
J. ancients was wonderful. bur tha, of their bronz
!, was still more SO. And in this connection "
;, may speak Of the gems Of the aneien's, me
y ensmels, etc, -
= Their imitation of the gems is truly wende
II full. Instance was cited Of q vase, preserve
5, in church at Genoa. belIesed since lhe midu
| daclare0 ~ the M ie