and on the soldiers seeing this, they said, that now the head was going without doubt. So Mr B. gave the plan how the head was to be raised,-we got the levers and applied them, and raised it four feet high, and Mr B. ordered the car to be put under it, which was done; now the men being tired, Mr B. gave them liberty to rest until one o'clock, after which they all assembled again. Now we put our rollers under the car, and Mr B. gave orders that the ropes should be attached to the car, which we did immediately, and got all the men to the ropes. The order was given to pull, which was done with the effect of moving it six inches. The ca "Now their astonishment was greater than ever, and they said, that he moved it by necromancy, and not by their strength. They gave the head a name of Cafani. It being cooler, we went to work again, and in the course of four hours, we had moved the head eight yards; it being late, Mr B. gave the men liberty to go home, but told them that he expected them the next morning early. They all said iva or yes. shief, or governor, left three soldiers with Mr B. to guard the head. Next morning the men came, according to their promise, and more than came the first time; we got to work, and took the head that day thirty yards, and so continued for several days. Now the French party got on with their intrigues, so the cashief stopped the men all at once. Mr B. was very soon acquainted that it was the French doing; but however Mr B. soon got over that, for he was one of the most persevering men in the world, and what he has suffered in that undertaking no person would credit it, what with having the French and the Turks his enemies. "Now the head being near the Nile, Mr B. went to try to take out the cover of the sarcophagus that M. Drouetti made Mr B. a present of on his arrival at Manfalout, which Mr B. found was counter-ordered by M. Drouetti, who made it a present to Mr Salt, after giving it to Mr B. at Manfalout; but this was of no consequence; for it only made the difference of not being taken away that year. Now Mr B. wished to have the head still nearer the Nile; so he sent for some men, who, to his great surprise, were sent immediately; and now the cashief receiving his long expected present from M. Drouetti, which consisted of only six bottles of olives and six bottles of anchovies, and seeing that he had nothing else to expect, thought his best plan was to make Mr B. his friend." Belzoni was now detained by the difficulty of getting a boat; and to lose no time by the delay, he made journey towards Ipsambul, in Nubia, with a view to the clearing away the sand from that temple. In the mean time, Mrs Belzoni, who was left behind to excavate among the ruins of Thebes, made the discovery of the statue of Jupiter Ammon, and a row of fourteen sphinxes; On upon which she immediately despatched a messenger after her husband, acquainting him with her success. receiving this intelligence, he engaged a small boat, and returned to Carnac, and had them secured, and a guard of soldiers placed over them. No boat being yet arrived, he again set out for Phil, where he took down, from a ruined wall, sixteen stones with inscriptions on them, and brought them away with him. A boat had now arrived from Cairo, with some Frenchmen in it, who had been hired by Drouetti, the French consul, to bring down some antiquities; but the cachief having received orders from the pasha to impress all vessels, for the purpose of carrying corn to Cairo, that of the Frenchmen was taken possession of among the rest. Belzoni, however, had just received a letter from Mr Salt, enclosing a firmaun from the pasha, ordering a proper boat to be provided for his use. The cachief, therefore, took the boat of the French, which was very large, and gave it to Belzoni; but he still had great difficulty, and at last was obliged to give 3000 piastres to the reis or commander of the boat; besides, as might be expected, he met with great obstruction from the French, "who came to see the head, which they did with great malice, saying, that it was not worth the expense; and telling the reis or captain, that his boat would be broken, and that he never would be paid the money agreed for." "Now Mr B. prepared to get the head on board, and made a small bank for the purpose, on account of the Nile being going down. The bank being made, and all things being ready, the head was to be put on board the next morning. All the villagers, for eight miles all round the country, were all assembled there on both sides of the Nile. The workmen having come, the platform was placed, and all things prepared. At this time the reis of the boat went out of the way, that he might not see his boat broken in pieces. Now the word was given to let go, and the head was on board her in a quarter of an hour, with loud shouts and huzzas from the people." Mr Belzoni having thus succeeded in getting the head safely embarked, together with the sphinxes and the statue of Jupiter Ammon, made all sail, determined to stop no where, lest the decreasing water of the Nile might put an end to the voyage. Unluckily, however, the boat grounded; and after six hours labour of all the sailors, they abandoned all hope of getting her off, and said, that she must remain there till next year, or her cargo must be thrown overboard. Belzoni, on hearing this, jumped out of the boat; and fixing the anchor on the bank, he prevailed on the Arabs to assist him in hauling on the cable, and in half an hour succeeded in moving her into deep water. They reached Saccard without further impediments, and stopped here for a short time to give Mrs Belzoni a view of the pyramids. On entering a dwelling near these stupendous masses, they observed a party of Bedouin Arabs, who, after some surprise, observed to each other, that Mrs Belzoni would be a good prize to carry to Cairo to sell to some of the beys; which Belzoni overhearing, thought it prudent to make off with all possible despatch. From this place to Alexandria, the boat and her cargo proceeded with out accident or interruption. THE EGINA MARBLES. It is a subject of universal regret, that the Ægina marbles, which have already so much excited the public attention, and the loss of which is made still more sensible by Mr Cockerell's interesting memoir,* should have been destined to any other country than this, which possesses the only authentic illustrations of the history of art. Our museum, enriched with these, would have held unquestionable superiority over any other of Europe. We have been at some pains to collect accurate information on this subject, and we are happy to find that no reproach of indifference or neglect can attach to any of the English gentlemen concerned in this affair. The discovery was made in 1811, by Messrs Foster and Cockerell, English, and Messrs Haller and Linckh, Germans. These gentlemen, equally zealous for the honour and advantage of this acquisition to their respective countries, sent immediate advices of this discovery to the most active authorities. The Englishmen, sensible of the necessity of sacrificing some portion of their interest in order to facilitate their purchase for their country, made their first proposition to Mr Canning, their minister at Constantinople, and they were willing to take half the sum the Germans might require for their portions. Propositions of a favourable nature were made also to the Marquis of Sligo, who passed through Athens, on his return to England, at that period. The apprehensions they were under of interruption from the Turkish government, and the expenses of the undertaking, and little prospect of their ultimate success in acquiring them for this country, induced them to leave no means untried; and when Messrs Galley, Knight, and Mr Fazakerly, came shortly afterwards to Athens, they felt the object so important, that it was resolved to purchase the share of the Germans if possible, and that the party should then present the whole collection to the British Museum. In Mr Fazakerly's evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons, on the subject of the Elgin marbles (of which we insert the following paragraph), ample testimony of the zeal of these gentlemen is given. "Messrs Galley, Knight, and myself (Mr Fazakerly), were anxious to purchase those marbles for the British Museum, and we requested M. Lusieri to put some value upon them. At his suggestion we offered the sum of £2000; the marbles belonging to two English proprietors, and to two Germans, the English proprietors consenting to relinquish marbles should come to England; so that their share of the profits, in hopes that the the offer implied that the marbles were worth £4000. I think it justice to those two gentlemen, who made this liberal offer, to mention their names-Mr Cockerell and Mr Foster." The Germans did not accept these terms; and finding it necessary to remove the marbles, they got the assistance of Mr Gropius, a Prussian merchant residing in that country, and well acquainted with the means of conducting affairs with the Turks. With great difficulty and risk, they transported them to Zante, as a deposite of greater security, until their public sale, which, as the best means of settling the respective interests of the party, it was determined should take place in the following year. Mr Gropius was constituted their agent during the absence of the several proprietors, whose avocations called them to different countries. Advertisements were published in the Gazettes of Europe, announcing the sale. In the mean time, an offer was made, from his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, of £6000, for these marbles, on condition that they should be found worth it on their arrival here; "but this was looked upon as a kind of blind bargain, and they did not know what might become of them."* Accordingly this offer was not accepted; but as there was an apprehension at that time as to the security of the Ionian Islands, it was agreed that it would be advisable to send them to Malta, which was accordingly done; and it was on this accident that hung the unfortunate event of their sale. Mr Gropius, upon whom, for the reasons above, the conduct of the business was intrusted, ought to have altered the advertisements already published (stating their future sale at Zante), as to take place at Malta instead. The marbles were a commodity not to be purchased by a sample; that the sale should be effected where they could be viewed and examined, was not necessary to be suggested to a ci-devant artist; but Mr Gropius, who was not with the proprietors at the moment of their joint determination, expressed a singular aversion to Malta. He took none of the necessary measures; and when the day approached, he insisted (in the absence of the greater part of the proprietors) on holding the sale in Zante. Mr Combe,t on the part of the British Museum, went to Malta on the day appointed, where he concluded it must naturally take place; See Report of Committee of the House of Commons, p. 62. + Mr Combe came with an offer of £8000: the marbles were sold for 10,000 sequins, nearly £6000. the French agent, M. Fauvel, and Mr Wagner, on the part of the Prince Royal of Bavaria, who held to the advertisement published, and was ignorant of their transport to Malta, arrived at the same moment at Zante, where the latter finally concluded the purchase. Mr Gropius, more anxious to avoid the embarrassment which awaited him on other affairs at Malta, than consulting the wishes and interest of his employers, had sent no notice of his intention to hold the sale at Zante to the agent of the proprietors of the marbles at Malta, under the pretence of the necessity of attending to the letter of the advertisement; nor was Mr Combe's arrival there known in time to defer the sale. This being concluded, by an agent legally constituted, Messrs Foster and Cockerell, who were absent in other places, found themselves, on their return, under the disagreeable predicament of being obliged to support the sale to the Prince of Bavaria, contrary to their interest and wishes, and the exertions they had hitherto employed for their acquisition to this country; and we are glad to have the means of thus informing the public of the cause of this circumstance, and of laying before them the very laudable proceedings of these gentlemen, which we hope may instigate further researches in the ancient world, with the same enterprise and liberality, and may contribute to render our Museum, what it may already almost claim to be-the first in Europe; and thus to elevate our rank in the fine arts to the same superiority over the rest of the world, which our useful ones have hitherto held unrivalled. SPECIMEN OF AN UNPUBLISHED TRANSLATION OF ARISTOPHANES. [The following specimen of a translation of Aristophanes, will, if we be not greatly mistaken, at once recall to the recollection of our readers, some exquisite versions from a modern language, which have already received the highest praise from Mr Jeffrey, and what is much better, from Mr Southeyand which, we have no hesitation in saying, always appeared to ourselves to be superior in all the qualities of closeness, ease, vigour, and elegance, to any thing which any age or country has produced in the shape of poetical translations. The difficulty of rendering Aristophanes, we should suppose to be a greater In addition to the superior one than any the author had previously overcome. difficulty which must attend transferring an ancient into a modern language, it is to be remembered, that of all ancients the most abounding in things difficult of translation, is, without exception, Aristophanes. Wit and humour clothed in the most unrivalled richness of elegant language, are the staples of his poetry. The most sly, minute, local, and personal allusions perpetual double-entendres and puns-endless parodies-these are the things which rendered him the delight of the vivacious audience for which he wrote, and these are things of which it is well-nigh impossible that even the most learned of his modern readers should understand more than a small part. Above all other species of his wit, that which is embodied in parody, has suffered from the lapse of time. Of the works which he has ridiculed, by far the greater part have perished; and even when the very passage which he has parodied survives, to enjoy the parody, as an Athenian enjoyed it, requires that the passage should be as familiar to us as it was to the Athenian. The caricature gives us comparatively little delight, when we are compelled to gather our knowledge of the original from the microscopic pica of a Scholiast, or the leaden italicks of a German annotator. In the specimen which follows, the translator has attacked the utmost of the difficulties with which he had to contend, and we think our learned readers will agree with us in thinking, he has triumphantly overcome them. The Frogs, perhaps the most phantastick and original of all Aristophanes' surviving comedies, presents us throughout with a bold mixture of the affairs of the upper world and the lower. This grotesque mixture is finely exemplified in the specimen. From some admirable strophes and antistrophes of the Chorus, in which the political abuses of the poet's time are handled with a dry asperity of sarcasm, whereof none besides Swift and Aristophanes ever was master-we are at once transported into the midst of the infernals, and find two of the most distinguished of his literary contemporaries contending for precedence at the court of Pluto. These are the old, rough, venerable father of Greek tragedy, Eschylus, and the most polished of his successors, Euripides. The former is, upon the whole, treated with respect, although nothing can be more exquisitely happy than the ridicule of his knotty and pompous phraseology. The latter is, upon all occasions, the most favourite butt of Aristophanes. His Plebeian origin, his affected sentimentality, his immorality, his scepticism, his sophistry, and the comparative want of vigour in his conceptions and styleevery thing about the son of the old cabbage-woman, is claimed by this relentless persecutor, as the property and food of his intolerable satire. The scene in which these two great poets abuse and vilify each other's writings, as every word in it is at once a parody and a personal sarcasm, is, primâ facie, the most untranslateable passage in the most untranslateable of books. This scene forms part of the specimen below. Those who can read Greek, will turn to verse 686 of the Bargax, and enjoy the comparison of the version with its original. But even the mere English reader will feel like one. who contemplates, at the present day, a portrait by Titian or Holbein, that this must be a likeness.] RANE. CHORUS. Muse attend our solemn summons, And survey the assembled commons Congregated as they sit, An enormous mass of wit, -Full of genius, taste, and fire, Jealous pride, and critic ire- À familiar foreign bird,) Chatters loud and will be heard, Which he brought with him from Thrace) It behoves the sacred Chorus, | and of right to them belongs, -Not that we condemn the measure; we conceiv'd it wisely done, Much the wisest of your measures | and the first and only one: -But your kinsmen and your comrades, those with whom you fought and bore Danger, hardship, and fatigue, | or with their fathers long before In so many naval actions | labouring with the spear and oar. -These we think as they profess | repentance for their past behaviour, If your hearts are filled with fancies, proud and captious and severe; If the Muse foresees at all, Often times have we reflected | on a similar abuse Foreign stamp and vulgar mettle, | raise them to command and place; Whom the state, in former ages, scarce would have allow'd to stand -Time it is—and long has been, forsaking all your follies past, To recur to sterling merit, and instrinsic worth, at last. -If we rise, we rise with honour; if we fall, it must be so: —But there was an ancient saying, | which we all have heard and know : That the wise, in dangerous cases, have esteem'd it safe and good, To receive a slight chastisement | from a Wand of noble wood. 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