The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1869-08-04

a little from their torpidity, and fol
lowed us to see what manner of people
those might be who needed none O
their help. All ! we were luckier peo
pie than they knew, for the book was
"Dennis' Cities and Cemeteries o.
Etruria." Dennis description of this
velous when We are told that it was
written entirely from memory-the
Pontifical government, for some rea
sons best known to itself, not allow
ing any memoranda to be made i'll the
rooms. D..
The first chamber is filled with Gin
erary urns, or ash-chests. Uudertak
ing must have been a more cheerful
trade in those days than in these, and
have offered openings for fine artistic
talent; in fact, these carved ash-chestS
looked so little like things belonging tc
burial that it was hard to believe that
they had not been meant originally fol
some other purpose. There was an
endless variety of them-square chests
oblong chests, round chests, oval chests
big chests, little chests, high and low
and wide and narrow chests-carved
figures on all the lids and on the sides,
some of them NEUROLOGICAL scenes,
some of them allegorical representa-
tions of the last journey of the inhab-
liant of the chase, in which the soul,
looking in nowise unlike the body, is
seen, wrapped in toga, sitting up
right astride a horse, which is led by a
| frisky little demon. On shelves above
the chests were heads of the same ter
ra Gotta, portraits of the dead. There
had been handles to the lids. Some
of the heads of little children were
very sweet and life-like; one especially
looked so like n baby 1 know that L
started, and wondered in my heart if
really just such another darling had
laughed and played on earth nearly
three thousand years ago. AT the end
of the chamber was large chest, in
which had been buried the ashes of a
husband and wife, who were perhaps
fortunate enough to be "not divided"
in their death, as their full-length fig
ures are carved on the lid, lying fond
ly clasped in each others arms.
In the centre of the next room stood
a huge sarcophagus, of great interest
as an antiquity, carved and carved
and carved again with scenes from the
stories of Clytemnestra, and Orestes,
and the Theban Brother, and from
thence all the way back to the broth
-ef.5 Cts,;l- ..44d q DJ1, ol.o "os.1a I1-;1-,-
There are minds which take a species
of anatomical, statistical, archeologi-
cal interest in this sort of thing; and
will tell you, down to the last joint of
Agamemnon's little finger, what it all
means. But confess / listen to their
accounts with fatiguiDg mixture of
reverence and incredulity. On shelves
in the corner of this room were some
little stone huts, not more thsn ten
inches high, which interested me far
more than the great historical sarco-
phagus. They too were ash-chests of
the very oldest form, made to initiate
the shape of the low, round huts of
skins, stretched over cross-poles, in
which the Latins lived. They made
you think of beehives. Ashes and
bits of burnt bone were in them still.
They were found, with many other
rare things, in big jar, hid away in
one of the Alban Hills; and the peo-
pie whose dust they held died before
Rome was city.
After one more room of terra cot
tas, urns, statues and bas-reliefs, you
come to the room of vases. There
are four Of these rooms, and the vases
are arranged on pcdestals and shelves.
The first thing you do is to resolve
that you will learn the names of the
different shapes. In few minutes
you persuade yourself that you know,
and will remember which is an am
phora, pelice, a calpis and patera.
For that one day you will but in a
week all that you will know will be
that the amphora, and the cal pis, and
the pelice are all beautiful kinds of
jars, and that the paterae and pelices
are the shapes which lucky people who
have them use for card-receiy ers.
The rarest and most beautiful vases
are on single pedestals in the centre of
the rooms. Neurological and histori-
cal scenes are painted on all of them.
One Of these has picture of Ajax and
Achilles playing at the game of "Mor-
ra," which is played all over Italy to-
day AS 1 write, some handsome AL
benese men are playing it under my
window, and shouting out the numbers
so loudly that 1 cannot, do what 1
will, help keeping run of their game.
1t looks stupid enough to one not born
to it. Two men thrust out their right
hands at each other, shutting up some
fingers and opening others. Each man
calls out on the instant what he thinks
the whole number of extended fingers.
If both are right or both are wrong,
is counted; but if only one is
right, it counts one for him. Nobody
would suppose that mistake could
ever be made in calling the number;
but it is played with lightning quick
ness, and there could not be so much
excitement in it if blunders were not
frequent. On this vase Ajax calls out
"FourI" and Achilles ''Three !" (the
words, printed in Greek letters COM
Ing out of their mouths), and both the
heroes look as intent as if they were
planning battle.
Some of the scenes are very comic,
and belong to all time. For instance,
a shortlegged, fat man, looking up
at his la9y-love, sitting in a
high window, and kind friend ap-
pearing in the distance, bringing a lad
der to his assistance. This was none
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