Roman, as they may be (tolse il grido a tutte le statue moderne cd antiche, Greche o Latine, ch'elle si fossero.) Nor should Bottari be too much indulged, whose opinion is, that Buonarroti has very much surpassed the Greeks, whose statues, however larger than nature, have not succeeded so excellently, "ha saperato d'assai i Greci, le cui statue, quandoo sono maggiori del naturale, non sono riuscite cosi excellenti," but without trespassing upon the splendid fame of Greek masters, by comparing moderns with them, it may be safely asserted, that the boldness and life of the proportions, the attitude, the majesty of deportment in that colossal figure, have rarely been surpasIn all his works of sculpture, there is a grandeur united with nature most happily his own. So anxious was he about this noble art, and so delicate was his taste in the utensils even that he employed, that no workman could satisfy him, and his own hands made every wimble, every chissel that he used, accounting no labour too great that had for its object the attainment of that almost preternatural excellence in which he is a prince, and which has formed so brilliant a school for the sculptors of our own days. sed. His painting. Thus Michel Angiolo, without a rival in sculpture, dreaded the possibility of appearing in painting in a second or third character. Few are his designs, and the greater part of his compositions have remained traced out only by him, whilst succeeding artists have followed to the completion of his grand beginnings: hence many of the paintings given for those of Buonarroti in the galleries, are almost all of them of other masters. Not so, however, in the various pontificates which followed Pope Julius the Second, when the indifference towards painting of Michel Angiolo, occupied always in works of sculpture and architecture, may be well conceived by the frequent unavailing entreaties made to him to resume the pencil, by sovereigns and by princes. Still Clement the Seventh, wishing to have represented by him in the Sixtine chapel, (cappella Sistina) of the Vatican, two great histories, that of the Fall of the Angels, over the door, and the Universal Judgment on the opposite front, over the grand altar, prevailed upon Michel Angiolo to study for the latter, which, upon the decease of Clement the Seventh, was abandoned; but Paul the Third, who had come to the knowledge of it, after various ineffectual persuasions, finally resolved upon entreating him to the conclusion, by going personally to his house accompanied by ten cardinals, an honour without example in the history of artists, however great, and altogether unique in the glories of the art. Michel Angiolo, however, although obliged to yield to such splendid solicitations, evinced that independent and lofty spirit which his happy pre-eminence in sculpture had assured to him, by replying to the Pope, that he would not undertake the conclusion of the work at all, unless on fresco; that oil painting he deemed a fit occupation for women alone, and for persons of an easy and slothful genius. The Friar Sebastiano del Piombo had prevailed so far with Paul the Third, as to permit him to prepare the plaster for Michel Angiolo; this the latter immediately ordered to be destroyed, and, making a rough cast after his own disposition, he finished this stupendous achievement of the art in the space of eight years, and uncovered it in the year 1541. In this immense picture he had been fully able to content himself, and to display to the astonished world, the real grandeur of his worth; for that place may be said to have become peopled by him, and that he raised to that sanctuary the most superb and best adapted monument the proudest production of the ability of man. The innumerable figures awakened at the sound of the last trumpet: the hosts of good, and the bands of wicked angels; men elect and reprobates; some issuing from their tombs, others standing, some hastening to their reward, others dragged to punishment, are at once the most sublime, the most terrible display of a genius so incomprehensibly vast, of a mind so exalted on the summit of conception, that it could neither be awed by the appalling subject of the wrath of God, or by a history which had for its But RAL RAPP. General Rapp being on duty attending the King at St. Cloud, was informed of the death of Buonaparte while he was breakfasting with his Majesty. At first the General would not credit the intelligence; but on the King's assuring him that he had received official information of it the night before, the General could not restrain his tears, and audibly declared, that the death of his former General, whose Aide-de-camp he had been for fifteen years, most sensibly affected him: "I am not an ungrateful man," said he, and immediately retired home. The King, pleased with the faithful conduct of the General, sent for him after mass, and kindly addressed him in the following manner: "Rapp, I know that the news I have received has been very afflicting to you; it does honour to your heart; and I love and esteem you the more for it." NEW METHOD of refreshmENT. basis, a world of men who rise again. ANECDOTE OF LOUIS XVIII. AND GENEBut this unequalled work on fresco has not escaped the criticism to which all good works are subject; and Vasari, who participated even in most of his views and intentions, tells us in page 245 and 253 of his life, that Michel Angiolo, "intent upon the principle of the art, which is the human body, left aside the beauties of colours, of caprices, and of new fancies." "Inteso al principale dell' arte ch'è il corpo umano, lascio da parte le vaghezze de' colori, i capricci, le nuove fantasie;" and again, that there are neither landscapes, nor trees, nor houses, nor even certain varieties and beauties of the art seen there, because he never attended to them, as one who did not choose to debase his great genius by similar things. "Ne paesi vi sono né alberi, né casamenti; nè anche certa varietà e vaghezze dell' arte vi si veggono perché non vi attese mai, come quegti che forse non voleva abbassare il suo grande ingegno a simili cose.” why suppose Michel Angiolo, (a man gifted with every grand quality,) capable of so foolish a pride of mind? or why disinclined to arrive at perfection in an art which, having for its object whatever there is in nature, was not to be limited by one thing alone, such as is the naked or natural (nudo) or to one character, which is the terrible? True it is, that his character was the terrible, and his object was the nudo, and it is most probable, that seeing himself so strong therein, he sought no other, from the well known conviction, that perfection is rarely or never attained in all. His chief misfortune was, that he held no bridle to his fancy in the choice of the nudo, that he neither acknowledged limits nor measure, that the nudity to which he had given such unbounded scope in the grand work of the Judginent, had nearly lost to him the work; for succeeding popes, ashamed of the indecorum in the sanctuary, wished it to be washed over; nor was it but with great difficulty that Paul the Fourth was satisfied that its improprieties should be corrected by some veils added by Daniel of Volterra, which has preserved this splendid master-piece to the admiration of posterity. J. Monro, in the Narrative of the Military operations on the Coromandel Coast, speaks of the Gentoo and Malabar barbers cracking his joints very dexterously, and as displaying much art. "The operator, (he says) first seizes a person by the ears, and giving a sudden twist to the neck, makes it crack in a manner sufficient to frighten a stranger, he thence descends, in regular order, to every joint in the body and limbs; making each of them crack as he goes along, finishing at the great toe. This greatly refreshes a person after walking, or any exercise of fatigue." This joint-cracking might have been very agreeable to Mr. Monro: the detail reminds us of the Chinese champooing. In this northern climate, our joints are so knit, that the refreshment may be very well dispensed with. BON MOT. The keeper of a billiard-table at Cm had the good fortune to win so large a sum, on one occasion, that it enabled him to build a pretty house with a neat lawn; a wag has christened his residence Cue Green ! MODERN WITCHCRAFT. The trial of an indictment, the King v. Betty Townshend, in 1816, developed some disgraceful circumstances of the credulity of the mass of the people. The prisoner was 77 years old, resided in the parish of Taunton, and by the superstitious and ignorant had long been considered a witch. Her appearance was calculated to sanction the idea, and her levees were much frequented by those who chose to pay for a peep into futurity. The prosecutor, Jacob Pool, was a poor man residing in the hamlet of Taunton, and was in the habit of sending his daughter, about twelve years old, with apples in a basket to Taunton market. In January of that year, the child met the old woman, who stopped her, and after examining her basket, asked "hast got any money?" the child answering in the negative, she ordered her to get some and bring to her, threatening to "kill her by inches," if she disobeyed. The terrified child borrowed two shillings of Mr. Bruford, druggist, in Taunton, which she gave to the prisoner; and afterwards, in consequence of similar threats, borrowed 17. 48. 6d. of the same gentleman, at six different periods. At length Pool called on Mr. Bruford to pay him a bill, and was informed of the sums his daughter had borrowed "to go to market" with, and on questioning the child, the threats of the "witch" had made so strong an impression on her, that it was with great difficulty that she could be brought to disclose the truth. Pool's wife and a woman named Johnson then went to the house of the prisoner, and interrogated as to the facts; she swore and raved in a violent manner, and vowed that if they dared to accuse her, she would make them "die by inches." Mrs. Pool replied, "no, thee shalt not; I'll hinder that ;" and taking a pin from her clothes, she scratched the witch from the elbow to the wrist, that by drawing her blood she might dispel the power of her incantations! The prisoner being found guilty, the judge observed, that her extreme old age alone prevented him from pronouncing upon her the severest sentence of the W ATHENEUM VOL. 10. law. He ordered that she should pay a fine of 18. and be imprisoned in the house of correction, and there kept to hard labour, for six callendar months. PHYSICIANS QUACKS, &c. Where stands a dome majestic to the sight, Dumoulin, the famous French physician, at his death, observed that he left behind him two famous physicians: upon being asked who they were, regimen and river water. A very healthy old gentleman was asked, by a king, what physician and apothecary he made use of to look so well at his time of life. Sire, replied the gentleman, my physician has always been a horse, and my apothecary an ass. A rich valetudinarian called in a physician for a slight disorder. The physician felt his pulse, and enquired, Do you eat well? Yes, said the patient. Do you sleep well? I do. Then, said the Esculapius, I shall give you something to take away all that. Dr. Moore (author of Zeluco) used to say that, "At least two-thirds of a Physician's fees were for imaginary complaints." Among several instances of this nature, he mentions one of a clothier, who, after long drinking the Bath waters, took it into his head to try the Bristol hot wells. Previous, however, to his setting off, he requested the physician to favour him with a letter, stating his case to any brother Galen. This done, the patient got into a chaise and started. After proceeding about half way, he felt an itch to pry into the contents of the letter, when the following words presented themselves :-"Dear sir, the bearer is a fat Wiltshire clothier; make the most of him." It is unnecessary to add, that his cure was at that moment effected, as he ordered the chaise to return, and immediately proceeded home. But physicians are generally flattering. "Here am I, (said Pope, in his last illness,) dying of a hundred good symptoms! "This was just after the Doctor had been telling him that he was glad to find that he breathed so much easier; that his pulse was very good; and several other encouraging things. In modern days, we find Dr. Willis, for his successful attendance upon his Majesty King George the third, had the remuneration of 1500l. per annum for twenty-one years, and to his son 650l. per annum for life. The other physicians had thirty guineas each visit to Windsor, and ten guineas each visit to Kew. Dr. Willis had also the good luck to be sent for to the late Queen of Portugal, and to return loaded with bars of gold, and adorned with diamonds. What rewards would have been bestowed upon him had he proved successful! But the Queen's malady was incurable; her majesty was firmly persuaded she was in hell, saying, that a skilful physician can sometimes cure madness, but never can reverse the decrees of fate. The Queen's disorder was first occasioned by a plan contrived by some monks and waitingladies, for reversing the bloody decree respecting the families of D'Aveira and Tavora. Occasionally, however, doctors may be unfortunate, for when the fair Austrigilde was on her death-bed, she prevailed on her husband, King Gontran, to cause the two physicians who attended her in her illness to be put to death, and buried along with her. These, I believe, says St. Foix, are the only two gentlemen of the faculty who were ever privileged to lie in the tombs of kings: but I have no sort of doubt that many others have justly merited the same honour. On the other hand, the death of Pope Adrian caused such joy at Rome, that, the night after his decease, they adorned the door of his chief physician's house with garlands, adding this inscription, To the deliverer of his country.' Frightening the Gout. Fabritius makes mention of a gentleman, with whom he was familiar, who, being unjustly suspected, was tortured upon the rack, and, when released, found himself quite cured of the gout, which was, before this violent remedy, very troublesome. Ague may also be frightened away. An honest servant of the Marquis of Ferrara, (who had been long afflicted this way,) after taking every precantion, i. e. of having a boat ready, pushed his master into the river, and ran away. The Marquis was immediately taken out, frightened and cured, but vowing revenge. At length the servant returns, is apprehended, and ordered to prepare for execution. The Marquis, however, whose resentment had abated, was determined to save him, though he seemed to resolve that the law should take its course. At length the day of execution arrived; he was conducted to the scaffold, and there protesting he had no other motive than the cure of his master, laid his head upon the block, and gave the fatal signal. The executioner at that instant, according to his orders poured some cold water on his neck, and this was no sooner done than the colour left his cheeks, his eyes sunk in his head, and he died in a few moments without uttering a word.-Coming nearer home, we find that Mrs. Mantle, wife of Mr. Justice Mantle, who lived next door but one to a house then on fire, and who had been lame for twenty years, and unable to help herself to or from her bed, miraculously found the use of her legs, and ran from Mr. Mantle's house in Mount Street, unknown to any of the family, who had given her up for lost before they thus saw her. A gouty man has got up and run away on the house being on fire; epilepsies and agues have disappeared upon some sudden fright; and a fainting fit has rapidly disappeared upon au illnatured threat of the lancet, or even an insinuation about its reality. The Head Ache. It is a custom with the Africans, when affected with the head ache, " to lie upon the hearth before a large fire, having a heavy stone laid upon one side of the head." This remedy not having been tried in this country, may be adopted by those whose sculls are able to bear any thing. The following is an instance of a headache got rid of, as well as a lameness of the writer and rider's horse at the same time; it is from Mr. Wesley's Journal, from Oct. 27, 1743, to Nov. 17, 1746:-"My horse, (he says) was exceedingly lame: we could not discern what it was amiss, and yet he could scarce set his foot on the ground. My head ached more than it had done for some months (what I here aver is the naked fact; let every man account for it as he sees good.) I then thought, cannot God heal either man or beast, by any means, or without any! Immediately my weariness and head ache ceased, and my horse's lameness the same instant. Nor did he halt any more either that day or the next." Lameness. Schenekius, in his Medical Observations, says, that Nicholaus, an architect, falling from an high tower, recovered the use of his leg, which, before that tumble, used to halt. A very extraordinary mode of cure, which cannot, however, be safely prescribed. Phlebotomy. An Italian, mentioned by Solenander, was on his deathbed: presently comes in a man whom he had aggrieved, and although told he was in a dying state, resolved, in the Italian way, to do the business with his own hands. He enters the chamber, gives the sick man a desperate stab, and so departs. By the flux of blood that issued from the wound, (for it seems he required bleeding,) he quite recovered; his foe was his physician, who would not let him die, as die he would without this coarse phlebotomy. Vaccination had, of course, its many enemies, in the infancy of its science; among others Dr. Mosely, who described, in technical style, a whole tribe of cow-pox diseases; and Mr. Stuart, as a brutal degeneration of the human species. "The cow-pox, (said they) mange, or farcy, cow-pox, ulcers, with pus, green-green as grass, clearly demonstrating their bovine origin; cow-pox evil or abscess, cow-pox mortification, are nothing in comparison to the brutalization of the noblest work of creation."-" Among the numer ous shocking cases of cow-pox which I have heard of, I know not if the most horrible of all has yet been published, viz. of a child at Peckham, who, after being inoculated with the cow-pox, had its former natural disposition absolutely changed to the brutal; so that it run upon all fours like a BEAST, bellowing like a cow, and butting with its head like a bull. For my part, (it is added, with philosophical scepticism) I can scarcely think it possible, having had no time to ascertain the truth!" O Mosely! thy books nightly fantasies rousing, But many disorders are cured by being charmed away: as, a wedding-ring of gold, rubbed on a stye upon the eye-lid, used to be esteemed a sovereign remedy; but-it must be applied nine times! Children may cut their teeth beautifully, by wearing an anodyne necklace, a specific which we have fortunately had among us for this hundred years! Cato taught, that a fractured limb might be healed by a green reed and a charm. Even Galen taught, that certain remedies lost their efficacy, if they were pounded by a person who had any iron about him. Digby and Van Helmont had their sympathetic pow ders. In the journal, Les Nouvelles Ecclésiastiques, for 1767, several remarkable cures were attributed to the Abbé Salle, who had founded the schools, Freres ignorantins. Brother Giles was cured of the head-ache by applying, to the part affected, a letter he had received from his superior.Brother Timothy, who had a white swelling on the knee,by the sign of the cross made over it, was made whole. How many ages passed (says Pasquier) supposing that a child ought not to be blooded until it had attained the age of fourteen years; and that bleeding of them before that time, was not a cure, but their death? a heresy |