en as to produce exhalations, fatal to every species of animal, at certain seasons of the year. At the time we passed them, although in the midst of winter, a sulphureous smell was so powerful, that we were obliged to shut up every window of our coach, and with that precaution, the effects of it were distressing. The popes have expended immense sums in vain attempts to restore and maintain the ancient dykes and drains of the Romans, but it is too mighty a. work for modern enterprise and resources. Throughout the whole of this road you pass over the ancient Appian way, in many parts of which the old pavement remains, not only intire, but in a perfect state. Here, then, is another among the numerous arts in which the ancients excelled us ; or at least if they did not excel us in every part of the art, they certainly did in the strength and durability of their work. As we approach the southern and eastern extremity of these morasses, on our right towards the sea, rises the lofty promontory of Circello, which Virgil so elegantly describes as the abode of the enchantress Circe. The marshes are so low around it, that it appears to be an island. Hence the mistake, or the designed intimation of its peculiar appearance in the lines of Virgil's Eneid : Proxima Circæ raduntur littora terræ, uries which Virgil describes, for the promontory is not extensive, and appears to be a barren rock. As you pass Circello, you discover in front the conspicuous and romantick town of Terracina, situated on an almost inaccessible eminence on the shore of the Mediterranean. Its lofty and romantick rocks form a most noble and beautiful object, as you approach from the Pontine marshes. It was the ancient Anxur of the Romans, and in its position and appearance answers the description of it by Horace : Impositum latè Saxis candentibus Anx ur. Except as to the colour of the rocks, which are now of a yellow brown, instead of white. This town was supposed to be a peculiar favourite of Jupiter, to whom the inhabitants erected a temple, the remains of which are still visible. They do not, however, bear the marks either of taste or grandeur. They appear to me just what you might expect village architects to produce. It is true that many, and I believe some respectable writers have given a very different account of it, and have formed some very grand and_imposing descriptions of it; but I am persuaded, that the most of these writers of descriptions never took the trouble to ascend to this temple, which is situated on the top of a very high hill, to ascend which, in this enervating climate, is no small labour. And in the III. Æneid he calls man, who has ever seen these re Certain I am, however, that no it an island: Et Salis Ausonii lustrandum navibus æquor Infernique lacus, Æææque insula Circes. I cannot conceive in what manner the enchantress procured, unless by her mysterious art, the lux mains, which are now incorporated into the body of a catholick church, (where, perhaps, there is as much idolatry as before) can doubt, that the style of the ancient temple was mean and vulgar, at least if the pillars, which are now shewn to us, were really part of the ancient façade. I have been the more minute in this circumstance, of the difference between the real appearance of these ancient remains, and the descriptions of them in several books of travels, because the same thing has occurred to me frequently. It is a fact, that travellers, who make books, generally follow each other blindly, without either taking the trouble to examine by their own senses, when on the spot, to see if the descriptions are correct; and oftentimes perhaps without visiting the objects, which they attempt to describe. I shall occasionally notice these blunders as they occur, of which the description of the temple of Jupiter at Terracina is certainly one. Terracina, in point of position, is one of the most beautiful cities of Europe. The landscapes around it, like all those upon the shores of the Mediterranean, are a mixture of the sublime and picturesque. Surrounded on the land side by rocky mountains, which overhang the city; to the north the eye ranges without limit over the Pontine marshes; to the west the view is terminated by the promontory of Circe, and to the south the Mediterranean stretches before you. On the top of the mountain, behind the city, Theodorick, the most powerful of the Gothick kings, erected a magnificent palace in the Gothick style. The remains of it are still extensive and noble, and together with the rudeness and inaccessible nature of the spot, forcibly recal the barbarous ferocity of the age in which it was erected. With great labour I ascended to the spot, through thickets of myrtle and other evergreens, whose beauty and fragrance were enchanting. Under our feet the antirrhinum, and the daisy, and several species of narcissus, now in full bloom (December) enamelled the mountain side. It is not surprising, that in a climate and with a soil so mild and so fertile, Virgil should have sung so sweetly of rural scenes. As you quit Terracina, you enter the kingdom of Naples, and, in my opinion, the most charming country in the world. At this season, so inclement and sterile in the greater part of the inhabited world, the orange and lemon in full fruit, the olive and the cork tree in glossy verdure, the myrtle and the arbutus with their fragrant flowers, enrich and beautify the scenery, and regale the senses. Passing a most wretched, dirty village of Fondi, which has retained its disagreeable character ever since the time of Horace, who thus contemptuously speaks of it, in a description of his tour to Naples. Fondianos ubi Aufidius Prætor est, libenter relinquimus,' you soon arrive at the charming village of Mola da Gaeta, which is admitted to be the scite of the ancient Formia, so great a favourite with the Romans. Here many of their most distinguished statesmen and writers had their villas. Here was the favourite residence of Cicero, whose tomb, in very tolerable preservation, is still shewn at the entrance of this place. It was near this spot, that he was betrayed (you will recollect) by a young man whom he had patronised, and where he was murdered by the assassins of Mark Antony. The spot, on which these villas were situated, is truly enchanting, and justifies the good taste of Cicero in selecting it for his residence. The sea has however made great inroads upon this place, and you perceive the ruins of palaces and villas submerged at the distance of several rods from the shores. For the Anthology. REMARKER, No. 23. Fufidius vappæ famam timet ac nebulonis, THE last Remarker held up to merited detestation a crime, that from its frequency has almost ceased to be thought immoral; and which, if it continues much longer with impunity, bids fair to rank among the cardinal virtues of a commercial people. It is practised by many of the rich, the influential, and apparently respecta ble part of the community; who call it good, and endeavour to justify it by reasons, as well as sanction it by their example: it is more profitable than any species of fair trade, and therefore speaks powerfully to the strongest feelings of tradesmen and candour will never let it be supposed, that those men can be scoundrels, who have been looked up to for many years as the first of their fellow citizens, as patterns of prudence, and models of steady habits. Usury, as it easily evades the law, allures by the prospect of great gain, is sanctioned by greybeards, and defended by all the efforts of perverted reason; bids defiance to censure, whether from the pulpit or the press it stifles the voice of conscience, and laughs at the dictates of honour: yet as its meanness is in direct opposition to every liberal feeling, and its natural tendency perfectly hostile to the interests of general commerce; every honest merchant ought to treat it as an inveterate enemy, and every gentlemen to keep the finger of scorn constantly pointing at it. HOR. sat. 2. b. 1. Monopolies have ever been considered as unfair and unjust, and in proportion to the necessity or general utility of the article mos nopolized, is the odium cast on the monopolizer: in this point of view, how unfair and unjust, is the character of the usurer. The monopolizer of grain, in a famine, is not more infamous, than the wretch, who, by his influence over monied establishments, prevents the oil of commerce from being diffused among the smaller wheels of the machine; for though the larger ones may be able to keep in motion, the effect of their mo tion extends not beyond themselves, and the benefits that should result from the proper exercise of the whole, is confined to a few, instead of being advantageous to the country. This pernicious vice, which undermines what it professes to support, as it is peculiarly obnoxious to the mercantile interest, ought by merchants and tradesmen to be combated by every possible means. Every prudent man will endeavour to be content with moderate profit, safely acquired, rather than pay immoderately for an additional sum to enable him to hazard his all; and every honest man will, as soon as he finds himself getting behind hand, call those, to whom he is indebted, at once together, and make an honourable composition, rather than, for the sake of a little delay, suffer his property to become the prey of vultures, who at last will not have shilling in the pound for his confiding and liberal creditors: but the allurements of gambling speculations, and the false shame of having been unsuccessful, induces men to sacrifice their principles, their families, and those friends by whose aid they were first set up, and by whom they yet might be rescued, could they but resolve to act candidly and justly, instead of gratifying a mistaken pride by means, that must ultimately be ruinous. But this they would not be able to do, how much soever they might be inclined, if the Shaver, like the lurking spider in his web, did not lie in watch to entangle the heedless wretch in his snares to the usurer therefore, is to be fairly attributed all that laxity of principle and carelessness of reputation which brings disgrace on the mercantile character, embarrasses its operations, and ruins so many of its professors. The justice of this charge against them, severe as it is, they cannot, dare not, deny; but that the exposure and condemnation of injustice will make them cease to be unjust, would shew little knowledge of a usurer's heart in any one that expects it. The usurer is totally devoid of real honesty, and is correct in his dealings only as the letter of the law obliges him. Not what he ought or ought not to do, but what he may and can do, is the rule of his conscience. His breast has not a spark of human feeling, he is cruel as death and greedy as the grave. If any thing can make him part with money or forego an opportunity of gaining it, it must be some publick ostentatious charity, which will be recorded, and trumpeted forth to the world, by which means some may be deceived into an opinion of his liberality, and put it in his power to make them repent their credulity; or it must be to feed his revenge on those who expose his villany, and in some degree diminish his extortions. The deadly and immoveable hatred of Shylock to Anthonio, was not merely because the latter was a christian, But more, for that in low simplicity, He lends out money gratis, and brings down The rate of usance here with us in Venice.' This was the ancient grudge he bore him, and for which he was even willing to give three thousand ducats to have the means of revenge. The writer of this well knows he shall excite similar sentiments in the hearts of the Shylocks of Boston, but as he never was, and is never likely to be an object of their voracity, he despises their malice as much as he holds them and their practices in abhorrence and contempt. POLITICKS. THE superiority of our own constitution over that of GreatBritain, both in theory and practice, has ever formed a favourite subject of declamation to igno Vol. IV. No. 7. Xx For the Anthology. rant and insidious politicians among us. To refute all the silly objections of these cavillers would be far beyond the compass of a single paper. But there is one evil, which has been more frequently than any other the theme of their abuse; and yet the smallest inquiry into been selected as candidates for popular election. In this, where those town or village heroes have been the history of that transferred to publick life, they country would have shewn them consolation, and as a under all the afflictions which good men of every party must suffer from the too frequent exaltation of the base, the vicious, and the ignorant, to those employments from which the noble-minded, the virtuous, and the wise have been so unworthily dismissed. For my own part, I am inclined to think that in England, the shoemakers, the tailors, and the butchers retire to their long homes, without having, at any period of their lives, been raised to a seat in the senate or in the cabinet, principally because in that country, as in this, such men have never been found possessed of knowledge and ability sufficient to recommend them to such stations. In fact, we have not often seen their geese desirous of becoming consuls, nor have the subjects of that country, under any violence of party spirit, have not generally been noticed for the brilliancy of their talents, or the usefulness of their exertions. But although low birth, or the practice of the more ordinary occupations in society, (respectable as they may be) have not of themselves formed in any one an irresistible claim to the favour of the prince or the people, yet that many have risen from early obscurity to the highest rank in Great-Britain, splendid examples may be found among our own contemporaries, or among those who have but lately quitted the stage of life. The following great and wellknown names are probably but a few among numbers. Were we to recur to more ancient times, we might discover the rich, the magnificent, the all-powerful Wolsey, a butcher's son; and Thomas Cromwell, his equal almost in rank, and in all other things his superiour, in early life the menial servant of the cardinal. In the reign only of the present king, the highest offices of almost every kind have been held by such men, as must have risen to fame and power under any government, in which advancement could follow the possession of great and commanding abilities. Moore alone, the late archbishop of Canterbury, It is said of the marquis of Halifax, who rose to that exalted station that after the revolution in 1688, many from the lowes birth, (for he was, absurd applications were made to him I believe, son butcher at from persons pretending great services, Gloucester) may be considered a for his recommendation to posts and places under the government, which child of fortune, favoured by the they were utterly unqualified to fill. mere concurrence of lucky chance. The marquis, being at last wearied with The office, which, according to the their importunities, observed, "that he English rules of precedence, ranks had frequently been told that the Ro- immediately after that of the archman republick had been saved by geese, but he never heard that those geese bishop of Canterbury, and before all the hereditary nobility not of were made consuls." |
