The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1869-06-18

Is that rude stone whose humble face
Such words Of honor bear.
Oil m6ywe chisel on the hearts
or those Of home we love
An epitaph whose truth may be
Witnessed for us above.
THE SECRET OF THE TWO PLASTER
~, CASTS.
Years before the accession Of her Ma
jesty Queen Victoria, and yet at not 80
remote date as to be utterly beyond the
period to which the "reminiscences of our
middle-aged readers extend, it happened
that two English gentlemen sat at table
on o summers evening, after dinner,
quietly slipping their wine, and engaged
in desultory conversation. They were
both men know to fame. One of them
was o sculptor, whose statues adorned the
palaces of princes, and whose chiselled
busts were the pride of half the nobility
of his nation; the other was no less re-
nowned as an anntomist and surgeon.
The age of the anatomist might have
been guessed fifty, but the guess would
have erred on the side Of youth by at
least ten years. That Of the sculptor
could scarcely be more than fve-and-
thirty. A bust of the anatomist, 90 ad-
mirably. executed as to present, although
In stone, the perfect similithde fof life
and flesh stood upon pedestal opposite
to the table. at which sat the pair, and at
once explained at least one connecting
link Of companionship between them.
The anatomist was exhibiting for the
criticism Of his friend rare gem, which
he had just drawn from his cabinet; it
was cruoifx, mngnihcently carved in
ivory, and ipcased in setting of pure
gold.
'Tbe carving, my dear sir,n observed
Mr.. Fiddyes; the. sculptor, tisindeed, as
you say, exquisite. The muscles are ad-
mirably made'out, the flesh well model
ed-,.wonderfully 30 for the size and ma.
terial; and yet-by- the-by, on this point
you must know more than 1.-The more I
think upon the matter, the more regard
the artistic conception as utterly false and
wrong"
"You speak in riddle," replied DR..
Carnell; "but pray go on, and ex-
plain"
cit is a fancy first had in my stu
dent-days," replied Fiddyes. "Conven-
tionality, not to say most proper and
becoming reverence, prevents people by
no means ignorant from considering the
point. But once think upon it, and you
ut least, of all men, mustat once perceive
how utterly impossible it would be for q
victim nailed upon cross by hands and
feet to preserve the position invariably
displayed in figures of the Crucifxion
Those who 80 portray it fail in what
should be their most awful and agonizing
effect. Think for one moment, and i'm
agine, If you can, what would be the at
titude Of man, living or dead, under
this frightful torture"
"You startle me-" returned the great
surgeon, 'not only by the truth of your
remarks, but by their obviousness. II
is strange indeed, that such matter
should have so long been overlooked.
The moro think upon it, the more the
bare idea of actual crucifixion seems to
horrify me-though Heaven knows L am
accustomed enough to scenes of suffer-
ing. How would you represent such IL
terrible agony?"
Indeed, l can't tell" replied The
sculptor; ''to guess would be almost
vain. Tho fearful strain upon the mus
cles, their utter holplessnes and inactivi-
ty the frightful swellings, the effect oi
weight upon the racked and tortured
sinews, appal mo too much even for spc-
culation."
"But this" replied the surgeon, zone
might think matter Of Importance, not
only to art, but, higher still, to religion
ITSELF"
"Maybe So" returned the sculptor.
''But perhaps the appeal to the senses
through true representation might be
too horrible for either the one or the
other"
"Still," persisted the surgeon, L
should like-say for curiosity-thongh
am weak enough to believe even in my
motive as higher one-to ascertain the
effect from actual observation"
$50 should I could it be done and OF
course without pain to the object, which,
as condition, seems to present ct tho
outset an impossibility."
'Perhaps not" mused the anatomist,