The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-05-25

For the Dispatch.
The New capitol-Thc MHisen Care.

t.lI'S For the Dispatch.
The New Capitol-Thc Maison Caree.
- have been much gratified In reading IN
your paper Of the 18th instant your adr0ca-
CIV. i'm the event Of the erection OF a new
Capitol, that the original model Shonia oe
rigidly adhered to. The present building,
while snowy, fs Of wretched material ana
stone and Corinthisn.
AS the history Of the Mason Cafree may
not be known to many Of your readers,
will cndeavor to supply the information as
far ne INV means OF ascertaining have enabled
me-. II was only very recently that an Ell
tcrprisinc French artist Of the name OF
- seuuier" made out tho inscription on
the friezc by connecting together the hoics
in which the nails were driven that formerly
confined bronze letters upon the wall. tic
found that the building was erected In
honor of Caius and Luci,is Caesar, sons OF
kcrippa, and grandsons of Augustus. AS
ASrtpna died twelve years before the birth
Of Christ. and his sons did not long survive
him, both having been nssassinated ae
very early age, this beautiful building has
been standing for eighteen hundred years,
and is vet in good preservation.
About twenty years ago some very enter-
tanning numbers appeared in Backcood,
headed EfClaret and Olives" written Joy
Angus Reach. which in 1852 were collected
and published in book form by Putnam.
The author, in the course Of his travels
from the Garonne to the Rhone, visited
Nismes-the ancient Nemansis-and thus
describes the Maison Carrec:
"The Maison Carree was no doubt built
nv Roman hands, but entirely after Greek
models. 1t is wholly Of Athens; not ut all
of Rome-a Corinthian temple Of the pure>t
taste and divinest beauty--small, slight,
without an atom Of the ponderotts majesty
OF the arena" ian amphltheatre IN inc
neighborhood Of vast proportions reign.
ing by love and smiles, like Venus, not by
trowns and thunder, like Jove. Cardinal
Alberoni said that the Maison Carree was
= gem which ought to be set in gold and
The two great Jupiters of France-Louis
Ouatorze and Nspoleon-had both OF them
schemes for lifting the temple bodily out.ot
the ground and carrying it to Paris. Inc
building is perfectly simple-mereiy an Oh
long square with portlco and nllted 20
rinthian pillars-yct the lorellness OF IL is
like enchantment. The essence OF It's power
over the senses appears to me TO consist IN
an exquisite subtlety Of proportion, which
amounts to the very highest grace and the
very purest and truest beauty. Il is, per,
hans. the most perfect piece OF building and
stone-carving in the world.
81 believe that it requires neither arr,
training, nor classic knowledge, to enjoy
the unearthly beauty Of the Corinthian tenn
ple. Give me healthy-minded youth who
can admire the droop Of lily, the springer
deer, the fight Of an eagle set him op-
posite the MaiSon Carree, and the sensation
of divine, transcendant beauty will rush
into his heart and brain as when contem-
plating the flower, or beast, or bird. Never
mind the grave sermons preached about
educating and training taste. An edu-
Gated and trained taste will, no doubt, ad-
mire with even more fond appreciation and
far higher enjoyment, but he who cannot,
at the first glance, see and feel the perfect
grace of pure Grecian art must be insensi-
bic to the blue of the sky, to the beauty OF
running water, to the song of birds, and
the silver radiance OF moonlight. never
revisited the amphitheatre while remained
in Nsmcs, but i haunted the temple. Tue
grandeur and the massiveness OF the Roman
work was like the north wind. 1t rudeiy
buffetted the ayfarer, but he chung to ms
cloak. The Grecian trophy shone out IKE !s
the gentle sun, and the traveller, dofed
mantle and cap to pay it alteration H.!