LECTURE XIII.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

It is now two-and-thirty years ago,* after a long poetical and delightful two hours of musing in the midst of the Elgin marbles, when they occupied a pent-house in the court-yard of Lord Elgin's house, Piccadilly, (now belonging to the Duchess of Gloucester,) and while in the very act of chewing the cud of sweet and bitter fancy, that Lord Elgin came in. Naturally enough, I was extremely curious as to where he got this fragment, and how he got that; and when Lord Elgin was delighting me by every detail, in came Nollekens. His Lordship, finding himself thus tormented by two merciless artists, who never gave him a moment's respite from questions, thought the best way to put a stop to eternal demands on his memory was to give us the whole history of his pursuits in Greece, which he immediately did: and a history more interesting, unsophisticated, or manly, never did I listen to or record.

He told us, at the time he received his appointment of ambassador to the Porte, Harrison of Chester was with

* 1808.

him, he who had built the Court House at Chester on the model of the beautiful Propylæum of the Acropolis, and that he, Lord Elgin, immediately consulted Harrison how it was possible he could render his visit to Constantinople available to the improvement of architecture and sculpture, with reference to what remained at Athens.

Harrison, who was a man of the purest taste and greatest simplicity of mind, told Lord Elgin that he could greatly serve architectural knowledge if he could get leave to procure casts from the Ionic columns at the end or angle of the pediments, in order to show us how the Greeks turned the volute round at that point. Harrison confirmed this to me after, at Chester, 1821; and he also added, the greatest good would accrue to the science by such casts, or by casts from any other order, or any other part of pure Greek building, which he might meet or admire; for, notwithstanding the beauty of Stewart's engravings, still there was something in a real projection of architecture, which, under the varieties of light and shadow, far exceeded in utility any drawing which could be produced by the greatest draughtsman.

Harrison added: sculpture, too, would be greatly benefitted and advanced by casts from any fine work remaining. Lord Elgin, thus advised by a man of so pure a mind and eminent a genius as Harrison, came up to London, and laid a plan (before embarking for Turkey) before Dundas, Lord Grenville, and Mr. Pitt; but all these replied, that with all their love for the arts (“ an ounce of Civet, good apothecary!") they could not feel justified in advancing the public money for such objects! But had Mr. Pitt, or Lord Grenville, heard lectures at Oxford, they would have felt they might have advanced

public money, and very often did, for objects infinitely less worthy than improving the public taste.

Lord Elgin, thus baffled where he expected support, resolved, like a man of great energy, which he was, to take the whole responsibility on himself, Harrison having convinced him of the eminent advantage of the principle; and at once, without delay, he proceeded to engage in London the first artists to take views in Greece, the best moulders to take moulds, and the best man who could be obtained to design the sculpture which it might not be possible to take moulds of.

The artists of eminence, as might be expected in London, could not give up their time but under such terms of payment as were totally beyond the means of any private nobleman; Lord Elgin therefore relinquished the idea of employing Englishmen, but took immediate steps to secure the assistance of foreigners who might be more within his reach.

At Palermo, Sir William Hamilton was consulted, and he recommended an artist called Lusieri, who took fire at once; Mr. Hamilton, Lord Elgin's secretary, and Lusieri, went to Rome, to engage formatori (moulders), and at a reasonable rate they also procured two architectural drawers, a Signor Balestro and Ittar, with Theodore, a Calmuc, to make correct designs of the figures.

After a great deal of trouble, Lord Elgin succeeded in establishing these six people at Athens, about August, 1800; and they soon began to mould, to draw, to cast, and to measure everything valuable in art, whether in sculpture, architecture, or inscription.

They soon found, like other Englishmen, very great obstructions; they never could get into the Acropolis but

under a charge of five guineas a day* to the governor ; the French occupied Egypt, the hatred of Christians was intense; but when we conquered Egypt, and delivered it over to the Turks, so delighted were the people and the government at this unexpected generosity, that all difficulty vanished before Lord Elgin's desire: the English were admitted unreservedly, and greater facility of access was immediately granted to his artists.

From rough sketches by Ittar were now made measured elevations of every building, with plans and sections, not only in Athens but all over Greece, whilst Signor Lusieri drew most accurately, in colours, the most picturesque and classical scenery in Greece, Archipelago, and the Islands; Theodore designed the figures; Balestro moulded the metopes and grand figures of the pediments; and Lord Elgin and his artists proceeded to carry out the original plan given him by Harrison before he left England, with the greatest success; the power to do so being greatly extended by the good humour of the authorities, in consequence of the political relations of England and the Porte.

Nothing was therefore left undone which could increase our knowledge of the art, science, refinement, and literature of the finest periods of Greece.

Lord Elgin told us that up to this moment he had entertained no other views than those with which he left England, viz. to mould, to draw, and to measure; but when the artists engaged had informed him of the infa

* They were employed there about nine months, from August 1800 to May 1801, without having any sort of facility or accommodation afforded them even for the purpose of taking drawings, except by the payment of a large fee.--Report, page 4.