B. Christ. 703. Corcyra built by the Corinthians. 658. Byzantium built about this time by a Colony of Argives. 630. Cyrene built by Battus, who begins that kingdom. 549. The Temple of Apollo, at Delphos, destroyed by Pisistratidæ. 539. Marseilles built by the Phocæans. 493. The Athenians built the Port of Piræus. 450. Temple of Minerva, at Athens, built. 434. Apollo's Temple at Delphos built; burnt down 362. 351. The Sidonians, being besieged by the Persian army, burn their city. The monument of Mausolus erected. 315. Cassander rebuilds Thebes, and founds Cassandria. 312. Appian way to Rome made. 304. Antioch, Edessa, Laodicea, &c. founded by Seleucus. Antioch destroyed by the king of Persia, A. D. 540; rebuilt, 542. The City of Antioch destroyed by an earthquake, 580. 291. Seleucus builds and peoples about forty new cities in Asia. 283. The college and library of Alexandria founded. 267. A canal made by Ptolemy from the Nile to the Red Sea. 83. Sylla destroys the Roman capitol; 69 B. c. rebuilt; A. D. 80, destroyed by fire; it was again rebuilt, and destroyed by lightning, A. D. 188. 55. Pompey builds a stone theatre for public amusements; destroyed by fire, A. D. 21. 50. Dover Castle built. 27. The Pantheon at Rome built; destroyed by fire, A. D. 80. 19. The aqueducts at Rome constructed by Agrippa. 10. The city of Cæsarea built by Herod; destroyed by an earthquake, A. D. 128. A. D. 18. Tiberius built by Herod. 50. London built about this time by the Romans. 56. Rotterdam built about this time. 70. Jerusalem destroyed by Titus. 79. Herculaneum and Pompeii destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius. 80. Titus builds the hot baths and amphitheatre at Rome. 114. Trajan erects his column at Rome. 121. A wall built by Adrian between Carlisle and Newcastle. 130. Adrian rebuilds Jerusalem, and erects a temple to Jupiter. 134 Urbicus's wall built between Edinburgh and the Firth of Clyde. 209. Severus builds his wall across Britain. 260. The Temple of Diana burnt. 274. The Temple of the Sun built at Rome. 306. London Wall built. 452. The city of Venice founded about this time. 575. The first monastery founded in Bavaria. 604. St. Paul's church founded by Ethelbert, king of Kent 611. Westminster Abbey founded by Sibert, king of the East Saxons. Henry the Seventh's Chapel built in 1504; complete repair of, begun 1818. 644. Cambridge University, or rather an academic institution, founded by Sigebert, king of East Anglia; the present University appears to have been founded in 915. 692. Carisbrook Castle built; rebuilt, 1610. 744. Monastery of Fulda, in Germany, founded. A. D. 762. Bagdad built by Almansor. 829. St. Mark's, at Venice, built. 886. Alfred founds the University of Oxford. 895. The monastery of Clune founded. 950. Edinburgh Castle built. 1078. Tower of London built. 1120. Kenilworth Castle built. 1132. Fountain's Abbey built. 1156. The City of Moscow founded. 1176. London Bridge begun; finished 1209. 1369. Bastile at Paris begun; finished 1383; destroyed July 14, 1789. 1588. The Rialto at Venice begun; finished 1591. 1662. The Royal Society established. 1675. St. Paul's Cathedral begun; finished 1710. 1732. Bank of England built; enlarged 1771, 1783, 1789; part of the front rebuilt 1824-5. 1738-9. Westminster Bridge begun; finished 1746. 1760. Blackfriar's Bridge begun; finished 1770. 1811. Waterloo Bridge begun; finished and opened June 18, 1817. 1814. Southwark (iron) Bridge begun; finished 1819. 1824. New London Bridge begun. PARAPET WALLS TO HOUSES. Parapet walls, it would appear, have a scriptural origin. In support of which, the following text in Deuteronomy may be quoted. "When thou buildest a new house, then shall thou make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thy house, if any man fall from thence." ORIGIN OF BUILDING WITH STONE IN ENGLAND. Building with stone was first introduced by one Bennet, a monk, in 670; building with brick was first introduced by the Romans into their provinces; and introduced by the Earl of Arundel, in 1600, at which time the houses of London were chiefly built of wood. DERIVATION OF THE TERM FRET-WORK IN The compound word fret-work, as applied to architecture, is derived from the Saxon word frættan, signifying fishes teeth. But its most distinguishing characteristics are small clustered pillars and pointed arches, formed by the segments of two intersecting circles. This style was of Arabian origin, introduced into Europe by the Crusaders, or those who made pilgrimages to the Holy Land. In the reign of Henry III. many of the old buildings were pulled down to give place to new ones of this model. The Cathedral of Salisbury was begun 'early in this reign, and finished in 1258. It is one of the finest productions of ancient architecture in this island, and is completely and truly Gothic. Gothic is a general term for that kind of architecture formerly used in England, and on the Continent, but the ancient buildings in this country are divided into Saxon, Norman, and Saracenic. ORIGIN OF EARTHENWARE AND PORCELAIN. "And he shall come upon Princes as upon Mortar, and as the Potter treadeth clay." Isaiah xli. 25. The origin of Earthenware and Porcelain may probably be asscribed to accident. It is very possible that the peculiar changes which clay experiences on being burnt in the fire, may have afforded to some of the early inhabitants of the world, the first hints for applying this earth to a variety of useful purposes. The making of bricks was one, as noticed in a preceding article. It was probably not long after the employment of clay in making bricks, that mankind learnt the art of using it in various other ways, and acquired methods of moulding it into vessels of capacity, and utensils for culinary purposes. Accordingly, the most ancient writers we have, mention earthen vessels,* and they speak of them, as if they had been in use from time immemorial. It appears also, that considerable pains were taken in tempering the clay for these purposes, for we read that this process was performed by treading it with the naked feet.+ From a passage in Juvenal, who wrote in the first century of the Christian æra, it seems, that earthenware was then made in great plenty in Egypt. "Hac sævit rabie imbelle et inutile vulgus, Parvula fictilibus solitum dare vela phaselis, In China and Japan common earthenware, and porcelain of excellent quality, was made long before the commencement of the Christian æra. "First China's Sons with early art elate, Formed the gay Tea Pot, and the pictured Plate, In the red stove vitrescent colours rise; Speck'd her tall beakers with enamell'd stars, Her monster-josses and gigantic jars; Smear'd her huge dragons with metallic hues, Bade on wide hills her Porcelain castles glare, That Earthenware and Porcelain was not uncommon in Europe, during the first century of the Christian æra, is evident from the discoveries that were made in the excavations of those cities which "But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken." Levit. vi. 28. "And the Priest shall take water in an earthen vessel." Numb. v. 17. "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”—Psalm ii. 9. + And he shall come upon princes as upon Mortar, and as a Potter treadeth clay.-Isaiah xli. 25. Juven. Sat. xv. ver. 126–138. "who drive with little sail Their earthen boat before the summer gale, HODSON'S Juv. 4to. London, 1807, p.288. "No colour is distinguishable in the red-hot kiln of the potter, but the red itself, till the workman introduces a small piece of dry wood; which, by producing a light flame, renders all the other colours visible in a moment."-Darwin. were destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius, in the first year of the reign of the emperor Titus. The Romans introduced it into Britain; and in the locality where the Staffordshire Potteries are established, were found, on sinking pits, very evident remains of Roman Potteries, and at a considerable depth below the present surface of the land. It is supposed also, that one of the principal Roman Potteries was on a small island (now sunk) at the mouth of the Thames, from the numerous fragments of Roman earthen utensils which the fishermen often find entangled in their nets. Holland has long been famous for the common yellow earthenware, called Delf, which name it originally received from the place of its manufacture, viz. the town of Delft. In closing this article, it may be observed, that England is now pre-eminent in the manufac ture of an article, which doubtless, from the commencement of the world, must have engaged the attention of its inhabitants, from its utility for all the general purposes of household economy, as well as for the medium of conveying down to posterity the progress of the arts and sciences. ORIGIN OF MAKING GLASS. "As in a Mirror." Among the various productions of art, there is, perhaps, none so truly surprising, when we consider the materials from which it is formed, as that of glass. It is the only instance, says Parkes, in his Chemical Essays, that I recollect of a substance perfectly transparent, being produced by the union of two dissimilar and entirely opake bodies. Many of the ancients who wrote on glass, seem however, to have known nothing of its real nature. Agricola, lib. xii. de metallis, calls it a concrete juice; Vincent Belluascensis, lib. xi. calls it a stone; and Fallopius classes it with the middle minerals. Different opinions have been held respecting the etymology of the word glass. Some have derived the word from its resemblance to ice (glacies), while others suppose it to be derived from glastam, the English woad, a vegetable which is employed in dyeing blue; glass having generally a tinge of blue in its appearance. The date of this elegant and useful invention, is involved in great obscurity. According to Pliny, the first vessels of glass were made in the city of Sidon; but Loysel asserts, that the glass-works of the Phoenicians were in high renown more than 3,000 years ago, and that they had merely depôts for the sale of their glass at Sidon, and at Tyre. The Egyptians, however, lay claim to having first made it, and say that they were instructed in the art by the great Hermes. Pliny attributes the invention of glass entirely to chance, and relates, that it was first made in Syria by some mariners who were driven on shore on the banks of the river Belus; and who, having occasion to make large fires on the sands, burnt the kali which abounded on that shore; and that the alkali of the plant uniting with a portion of the sand on which the fire stood, produced the first stream of melted glass that had ever been observed.† It is said that glass-houses were erected in Britain before it was visited by the Romans. This may have been the case, as the Phoe *Art of Glass," by H. Blancourt. Pliny, lib. v. cap. 19. nicians had traded with the island long before the Romans took possession of it: it was to the latter, however, we were indebted for that progress, which gave the impetus to that superiority in the art, which we possess above all other nations. GLASS WINDOWS. It is very uncertain when glass was first employed for the transmission of light and other optical purposes, or how long any of the nations of Europe have enjoyed the benefit of glass windows. Parkes says, the best buildings in Herculaneum had windows made with a sort of transparent talc. Our oldest English historian, Bede, says, that in the seventh century it was not known how to make window glass in England; and that in the year 674, the abbot Benedict sent for artists from abroad to glaze the church and monastery of Weremouth, in the county of Durham. These men probably came from Venice; for the first glass that was manufactured in Europe was made there. We learn also from Bede, that the agents of the abbot brought several glass makers with them when they returned, who not only performed the work required by Benedict, but instructed the English in the art of making window glass for themselves, also glass for lamps, and other uses. THE PORTLAND VASE. The famed Barbarine, or Portland Vase, which we read of, and hear spoken of, and which beautiful piece of antiquity was discovered in the tomb of Alexander Severus, who died so early as the year 235, and which is now deposited in the British Museum, derives its appellation from the late duchess of Portland, who gave 1000 guineas for it. It is made of glass. THE ETRUSCAN VASES. "Etruria! next beneath thy magic hands Glides the quick wheel, the plastic clay expands; The Etruscans, who were probably a colony from Phoenicia, 'are noted by the early writers for their excellence in the manufacture of porcelain. The art of painting vases in the manner of the Etruscans has been lost for ages, and this is supposed, by the author of the Dissertations on Sir William Hamilton's Museum, to have happened in the time of Pliny. The honour of the recovery of this long lost art has been given to the late Mr. Wedgwood, and the term Etruscan Vase has thus been continued to the present day. ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF SCULPTURE. Sculpture had its origin in Asia and Egypt, yet it derived its lustre and perfection from Greece, where Pericles and a multitude of other excellent sculptors laboured in emulation of each other, to render sculpture honourable, by an infinite number of works, which have been, and will be, the admiration of all ages. The most eminent sculptors were Phidias, Lysippus, Praxiteles, Myron, Seopas, and Polycletes. The Egyptians were famous for their collosal statues, by whom they are generally supposed to have been invented. Their first monuments recorded of this nature were erected in honour of |