Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1877-01-29
For the Alexandria GsZette.
Wealth Of The AncientS.

Tom 1 have been sitting IN my once. Natu-
al, looking at the falling snow until such tor
reused up, and l find you absorbed in books, as
usual.
Nathan. l am glad you csme you are rs
much Of al antiquary as l am, and vii! ENJOY
this museum of old time curiosties. lts author
must have endured just such day As this, and
follow feeling for future sufferers made him
| compile this book. He commences at the Gel
uge, and digs curious tit bits out Of the records
| Of each century. DO you rocolect how aston
| ished we were at the prices labelled to many
pictures at tho centennial
Tom. Yes; and only the other day saw the
sale OF the "Cornaro," by Makart, to Philadel-
phis, for So, 000-just twenty thousand moro,
| in my humble estimation, than II is worth. Ex-
cept for its sizs, multitude Of figures and bril-
| liant colorng, il Is not remarkable That
homage WAS fiction Of the artist. History
says Venice took Cyprus nolens volens
Nathan. Julius Cesar would have ulsdalneu
to otter such low price for painting. My
suthor tells OF his giving go. OOO for two pic
| lures to hang in the temple Of Venus. We
think oc those days as bsrbsrous, and yet We
| hear astounding accounts Of their patronage Of
the arts, which show high degree of refinement
| in taste. Orr millionaires Of tho present day
are financial pigmits compared to the Crr;us OF
those times. Plny tells Of Agripps, who mar
| ried the daughter Of the Emperor Augustus,
giving fl0GJ0 for two psintngs-onc represent.
! ing Ajax, the other Venus; and Candidates,
King of Lydia, paid its weight in gold for pic
ture representing battle between himself and
the Magnetes. Conceive the weight Of it for it
| was painted on thick wooden panels.
| Tom. Hcrodotus tells that story; he had
cause to look at the transactions Of the ancieHts
through golden veil. The Athenians gavo
MIN e., SEQ for reading his history to them.
| Nathan. Virgil WAS oven more richly re.
wsrded. Ho received &l.TUO for his lines on
Marcellus Tborius, too, SO celebrated for his
savage cruelty. presented Asselius Ssblnus
E3,54U for 4 disputstious dialogue between n
cabbage, mushroom, an oyster and thrush.
| What contradictions those old time folks were ?
mixture of generosity, cruelty, love OF poetry,
art, music, together with violence OF passion
and o savage, animal thirst for blood-the dear
| est friend changed ii q moment to cruel foe
Tom. Was the love for statuary equal to the
rage for psinting2 l know the Colossus of
| Rhodes cost clO2. 600, but that was national
| work
Nathan. do not think it could have been.
Cicero speaks of q small bronze statue bringing
81 063. The city Of Avorni. in Guul, paid Zon-
odorus G335 600 for Il colossal statue Of Mercury,
and King Nlcomedes offered to pay the public
debt Of the city of Cnidus If they would sell him
| Venus, by Praxitelos. They refused, and Pliny
says they had good cause, for the statue Of
Prsxitees ennobed Cnidus;" yet l SEQ no in
stances CT private prodigal expenditure.
Tom. You have carried my wonderment =.
cxtravagancc-up to fever heat. Now it is my
turn. l have read somewhere that in Nero s
time murrhine cups were the rage. One sold
| for 200, but Nero gave 10000 for one. MUIR
hine was an upaline stone, decately variegated
1t was partly opal and partly teldspar. Tacitus
tells us Nero gave sway nineteen and enc hal
millions sterling in presents to his friends. l.
did not suppose there was ms luminous spot IN
his character.
Nathan The Ettrick shepherd said, Few
things in this weary world sac delightful as
keepsskes :" but he did not require N eros mil
lions to fulfill his desires. "A bit meta or a
agrees with him: "Of all kcepsskes, memorials,
N lost tenderly, most devoutly, James, do love
q loci; Of hair. And oh when the head it beau
tiled has long mou dered in the dust, how spir-
itusl seems the undying glossiness Of the sole
remaining ringotl All else gone TO nothing
save and except that SOFT smooth FURNISHED,
golden and glorious fragment Of the apparelling
that once hung in clouds and sunshine over an
angels browl"
Tom The Ettrick shepherd is great favor
ite OF NINE but you have mounted me on such
a golden pinnacle ! cannot just now appreciate
his humility. CHn you tell me anything Of
Lolita, AgrIpplna's rival, who was noted TO- hei
jewels?
Nathan will quote you Piny: IL have
seen Lol!ia ut Il plain citizens bridal supper all
covered with pearls and emerslds; her hair,
head dress, cara, neck and fingers worth as much
Tom. What contrast to all this splendor is
her horrible death. Agrppins has the credit Of
being the most wicked woman that ever had ex-
istence. Dion supports this character when he
tells of her command to the centurion to bring
the CHASTITY head of her victim to her that she
might see by her teeth if it was truly Lolita.
Nathan. had rather boar of the extrava.
gsnce Of the ancients than their evil deeds If
Agrippinas journal is ever found it, revelations
will make each particular hair stand on end"
Tom. My mind is so inflated by pounds that
dollars have O mean sound. But must ask one
question: what became of all that gold those
statues, jewels and paintings
Nathan. Query, did they ever exist? don't
believe in the outlines Of history. They sro
like the back ground Of paintings, thrown in to
5eautty the chief figures. As for kings, en-
perors, queens
Fslstsn. What is the old king dead?
Pistol. As nail in door. [ShskE.
The lately reported duel between two negroes
IN Nat u bnav ipfapSod m