intelligent, generous, clear, and communicative. I will therefore conclude with a short remark, which some of his works, contrasted with certain contemporary productions, forcibly suggest. Paradox is the infirmity of minds exalted by genius, or expanded by learning, bringing them, so far, to the standard or level of common men. In his calm retreat, at Cippenham, near "imperial Wind"sor," the incomparably learned and excellent Jacob Bryant endeavoured most elaborately to prove the Trojan war a fiction, and that "no such city as Troy "in Phrygia ever existed." But Chandler and others, who have surveyed these scenes of ancient renown, with the keen but impartial eye of an antiquary, assure us of a fact, in itself far from incredible, that the hills, the promontories, the rivers and barrows, visible at this day on these renowned plains and in the immediate vicinity, confirm beyond all doubt, to those conversant in the "pictures"," as they have been called, of the blind bard of ChiosTM, the general truth and accuracy of his descriptions; verifying, by consequence, the general outline of the Iliad, with little less certainty, than the ample barrow, raised at a later period on the plains of Ma "Ejus picturam, non poesim, videmus." Tusc. Disp. i. 39. m Εν δε το καλλιστον Χιος εειπεν ανηρ, Οΐη περ φύλλων γενεη, τοιηδε και ανδρων. Simonides. V. Elegiaca Græca, p. 20. rathon (which, as Dr. Chandler used to say, strongly resembles, in form and magnitude, the Castle-hill at Oxford) affords irrefragable proof of the victory achieved there, in the days of Grecian glory, by the valour of Miltiades. MIDDLETON, Jan. 28, 1825. R. CHURTON. P. S. The author informs us, (Travels in Greece, chap. xxvii.) that on leaving Athens, he set at liberty "a venerable and voracious prisoner," as he calls him, a large horned owl, which had been presented to him by a peasant. He brought home with him another, stuffed, and also a drawing of a graceful Attic female, spinning, in the modern, which is believed to have been also the ancient, costume; one knee resting on a cushion, one hand a little elevated, holding the distaff, the other a little lower, drawing the thread, and twirling the spindle. For the loss of Minerva's favourite bird I feel no very painful regret. The Penelope of modern days, could it have been found, would have formed, it was conceived, an elegant and appropriate vignette for the Travels; but my inquiries hitherto have been unsuccessful, to discover to whose hands it was confided, and whether it is still in existence. TO THE SOCIETY OF DILETTANTI. MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, THE relation of a journey into a remote country, performed at your expense, naturally claims the honour of your patronage, on its being submitted to general inspection. Indeed, justice requires that the author should point out the sources of his intelligence; and, if information or amusement result from his undertaking, that the approbation of the public should be referred principally to his employers. But, besides this motive for addressing you, the author is happy in an opportunity of avowing the pride and pleasure which he feels in having served a Society composed of such illustrious and distinguished personages as the Dilettanti, and in recording one remarkable instance of your munificent attention to letters and the arts. The countries to which his researches were particularly directed by your committee, have made a most conspicuous figure in history. The changes they have undergone, with their |