it, are seen in marble exactly as on this coin. The little trunk which she holds in her hand, is the acerra so frequently mentioned by the poets, in which was preserved the frankincense that Piety is here supposed to strew upon the fire. Hope has a flower or blossom in her right hand, as these, in poetical language, are the hopes of the year. Ovid says, The green stem grows in stature and in size, And lavishly perfumes the fields arround. She holds up her train in her left hand, and draws back her garment, that it may not encumber her; for she is always drawn in the attitude of walking, it being as natural for Hope to press forward to her proper objects, as for Fear to fly from them. Security is not engaged in any pursuit. She is represented leaning carelessly against a pillar. She rests herself on a pillar, for the same reason as poets often compare obstinate resolution and great firmness of mind to a rock, which is not to be moved by all the assaults of the winds and waves. Peace and Felicity have also their pillars on several medals, as well as Security. Miss Eve. I have often observed the lower plaits of the drapery in antique females that seem to have gathered the wind into them: as she fled, the wind Increasing spread her flowing hair behind, And left her legs and thighs exposed to view. I have seen abundance of ancient figures, both in sculpture and as when the wearer is in the attitude of tripping forward. Miss K. The figure of Equity differs but little from what painters make her at present. The scales which she carries in her hand, are so natural an emblem of Justice, that Persius has turned them into an allegory, to express the decisions of right and wrong. Romans, know, Eternity holds a globe, with a This form's eternal, and may justly claim A circle, or a serpent with its tail in its mouth, also represents Eternity, where is neither beginning nor end; and sometimes a wheel or hoop of marble. On this medal is a representation of Eternity, with the sun in one hand and the moon in the other, which, in the language Each loss the hastening moon repairs again; painting, with just the same turns To dust and shades, without a sun, in the lower foldings of the vest, Descend and sink in dark oblivion's flood. Here Eternity is represented sit- || tues in petticoats; though, perhaps, this was because they chanced to be of the feminine gender in the learned languages. ting on a globe of the heavens adorned with stars, which, on account of their duration, are employed by the poets to express what is not likely to have an end. Eternity has a covering on her head, because we can never find out her beginning; and her legs are bare, because we see only those parts of her that are actually running on. She sits on a globe, and bears a sceptre in her hand, to shew that she is sovereign mistress of all things. Victory has wings. The palmbranch and laurel were both the rewards of conquerors, and therefore no improper ornaments of Victory. Miss K. Here is something bold and masculine in the air and posture of this figure, which is that of Virtue herself, and agrees with the description given of her by Silius Italicus. a different form did Virtue wear; Rude from her forehead falls th' unplaited hair, With dauntless mien aloft she rear'd her head, And next to manly was the virgin's tread; Her height, her sprightly blush the goddess shew, And robes unsullied as the virgin snow. Virtue and Honour had their temples contiguous to each other, and sometimes appear together on the same coin, as on this of Galba. Silius Italicus makes them companions in the glorious equipage Liberty in her left hand carries the wand which the Latins called rudis or vindicta, and in her right the cap of liberty. Persius ridi-which he gives to his Virtue, whom cules the ceremonies of making a he represents as thus speaking: freeman, in the following lines; With me the foremost place let Honour gain, from which they appear to have Fame and the Praises mingling in their train; consisted in clapping a cap on his Gay Glory next, aud Victory on high, White like myself, on snowy wings shall fly. head and giving him a turn on the heel: That false enfranchisement with ease is found, How, replies one, can any be more free? Here's Dama, once a groom of low degree, Not worth a farthing, and a sot beside, The head of Honour is crowned with laurel. In the same manner Martial has adorned his Glory, which indeed is but another name for the same person. Miss Eve. It is evident that the Latins mean courage by the figure of Virtue, as well as by the word itself. Among them courage was esteemed the highest perfection, and therefore went under the name of Virtue in general, just as the modern Italians give the same name, for the same reason, to the knowledge of curiosities. Were a Roman painter of the present day to draw the picture of Virtue, instead of the spear and the parato the same manner as that of Horace to Augustus: Golden Plenty, with a bounteons hand, Rich harvests freely scatters o'er the land. Fidelity was worshipped as a goddess among the Romans. From the following verses of Virgil and Silius Italicus, it seems, that she of an old woman: was represented under the figure Then banish'd Faith shall once again returu, Peace differs as little in her dress as in her character from Concord. It may be observed, that, in both these figures, the vest is gathered - up before like an apron, which may be supposed to be filled with fruits she, pleased with secrets rolling in her breast, as well as the cornucopia. It is to this part of the dress that Tibullus alludes in these lines: kind Peace, appear, And in thy right hand hold the wheaten ear; From thy white lap th' o'erflowing fruits shall fall. How appropriate the emblems of Plenty are to Peace, may be seen, in the same poet: strain. He to the shrines of Faith his steps addrest; Far from the world remote, revolv'd on high The cares of gods and counsels of the sky. Ere Jove was born she graced the bright abodes, Consort of Justice, boast of men and gods; Without whose heavenly aid, no peace below The steadfast earth and rolling ocean know. Hope and Friendship are described by Horace as clothed in white. On this medal is an emblem of She first, white Peace, the earth with plough- Fruitfulness, designed as a com pliment to Julia, wife of Septimius Severus, who had the same number of children as are upon this coin. Her head is crowned the mother of the gods, to whom, with towers in allusion to Cybele, for the same reason, the city of Rome is compared : High as the mother of the gods in place, With golden turrets on her temples crown'd. The vine issuing from the uru has the same signification as the words of the psalmist: "Thy wife shall be as the fruitful vine." The four stars overhead, and the same number on the globe, repre sent the four children of the empress. There is a medal of Romulus and Remus sucking the wolf, with a star over each of their heads. We find the Latin poets speaking Thou too, dear youth, to ashes turn'd, Thou star, that wont this orb to grace! Stay, great Casar, and vouchsafe to Resign to Jove his empire of the skies, the morning star; and so does JUNINUS. Thou pillar of the Julian race! MISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTS AND ANECDOTES. THE BRIDGE OF DRESDEN. parent, airy appearance. With AMONG all the bridges of Ger- the rich prospect on either side of many, that of Dresden was hitherto the enchanting vale watered by justly placed in the first rank, for the Elbe, the charming vineyards, lightness and elegance combined which amphitheatrically encircle with solidity; but to form a just | Dresden on the right bank, and of conception of its beauty, it was the churches, palaces, and terraces necessary to see it at night, when on both shores, which have remindthe illumined arch, thrown across ed many travellers returning from the spacious stream, and uniting Italy of the environs of the bridge two cities almost obscured by va- over the Arno at Florence, the pours, realized a scene such as bridge of Dresden could scarcely elsewhere exists only in the regions fail, in all seasons and at all hours, of imagination. Seventeen piers, to be the rendezvous both of naof Pirna freestone, formed 16 arch- tives and foreigners; so that not es. Iron cramps, secured with lead, only the inhabitants of Dresden, gave the foundation almost impe- but the natives of Saxony in generishable solidity; and prodigious ral, considered it as an ornament blocks of ice were annually shi- of their country, and were pleased vered against them like glass. The sometimes to hear strangers relate, recesses afforded the most conveni- that they prolonged their stay for ent seats for the weary passenger, some days at Dresden merely to and were capable of accommodat-enjoy the cool refreshing walk on ing 1000 persons. On each side, a On each side, a this bridge in an evening; and were pavement, 2 ells in breadth, form-fond of repeating, that, in the Seed an agreeable promenade for pe- ven Years' war, Frederic the Great destrians; while the high paved expressly commanded that it should carriage-way in the middle, 13 ells not be injured. broad, allowed room for three wag- The history of this structure gons to go abreast. The elegant may be divided into three principal lightness of the iron balustrade on periods. The first commences with each side, gave to the whole a trans-its foundation, in 1341, under the Margrave Frederic the Grave, who built a bridge with 24 piers of PirThe Pope, as tradition reports, granted towards its erec na stone. up on the 19th March, together with the contiguous arch towards' the Old Town. It is only by means of counter tion the produce of the dispensa-arches under the water, that a struc tions to eat butter, cheese, milk, and eggs on fast-days, to which, in the middle ages, many a great architectural work owed its origin. When the Elector Maurice surrounded Dresden with fortifications and bastions, the four piers next to the palace were demolished, and the materials employed for the purpose. This may be termed the second epoch. The most brilliant period begins with the year 1723-1731, when under the first Saxon King of Poland, his architect, Pöpelmann, gave it the present form, by means of balustrades, footways, and a raised carriage-road. Under the present || sovereign of Saxony, the center and highest pier received the addition of a well adapted standard for measuring the height of the river, which might be observed by the king from the apartments of his palace; so that regular tables of the state of the current might be kept and made public through the ture of this kind can be executed. When Augustus I. gave the bridge its present solidity, it was found" necessary to divert the whole current of the Elbe. It may easily be conceived how difficult and expensive must be the repair of this an-. cient master-piece of art, which the Vandal wantonness of a mercenary butcher destroyed in a moment, without reason and without object. Under the present cir cumstances of the country, its restoration is out of question. TONTINES. About the year 1790, a society was formed under the title of the Bristol and Universal Tontine Sociež ty, the subscribers to which were to pay quarterly 7s. 1d. où ́eachi share; the money to be put out at interest immediately; and at thẻ expiration of six years, the accu mulated fund was to be divided among the surviving subscribers. By making the subscribers pay à quarterly payment at the com2 mencement of the term, and another at the conclusion, the managers contrived to receive 25 quarters in six years; and as the treasurer, it was said, thought proper to de camp with the last quarter's payment in his pocket, this quarter, instead of being paid by the trea the bridge at Prague. Doubly gild-surer's sureties, was demanded from ed by the rays of the evening sun, it the subscribers, who in conse was for ages, to many pious per- quence paid; with the sixpence for sons, a symbol that pointed to a the articles, £9. 5s. 9d.; and the better world. It was the very next survivors, shared no more than arch to the principal pier on which £6. 16. 6d. a share, so that they stood the crucifix, that was blown were £2. 9s. 3. or rather more No. LV. Fol. X. C |