temple was overthrown by an earthquake, and the statues falling first, were covered by the rest of the ruins: the lapse of time added heaps of vegetable strata to the rubbish, and the roots of large trees had shot amongst the buried architraves and cornices. Our young artists caused the whole to be brought to light, and they have found the statues, which have not been much injured by the fall. The limbs, which were broken from the trunks, were lying beside them, and they can be easily replaced. There are seventeen of these statues, all of the finest specimens of sculpture: the heads alone are a little degraded, but they are highly beautiful; scarcely any of the fragments are missing. These figures much resemble those which are seen on the most ancient medals of Corinth, Thebes, and AthensThey are of the old school of Egina, one of the first which became distinguished in Greece.

I went to Ægina in order to profit by this discovery, which much interested me: I measured this ruined temple, so as to gain all the particulars of its plan. The pediments were five feet in height. Over each pediment were two statues of Isis, which were attached to the border; and at the four angles of the edifice were Sphinxes. These figures were exactly similar to those of the pretended tomb of Achilles, in the Troad; and from this circumstance I am inclined to think that the temple in question is not that of the Panhellenian Jupiter, but that it was dedicated to Isis. In the middle of each pediment was a statue of Pallas, armed with a lance and shield, and her breast covered with the agis. She was standing in the midst of combatants, who surrounded her on every side, and she appears as if animating them by her looks. This figure of Minerva is of the most antique style, and of the kind which we improperly call Etruscan, with regular folds.

On each side were the combatants, all of which appear to be the heroes of the Iliad. The faces seem to have been portraits, and the bodies are scientifically correct. These warriors are covered with offensive and defensive weapons, such as were in use at the time of the Trojan war: they are shaped with great nicety, and consist of quivers, helmets of different sizes, lances, shields, &c. The figures are rather less than the natural size. We thought we could discover Priam with his sons, like a Phrygian archer, resting one knee on the ground and drawing an arrow. His dress appears to be of leather, and made to fit close to the body; pantaloons, likewise tight, which descend to the ankles; the helmet has over it a leather bonnet, which terminates in a point, and falls over behind: this is the only figure that is dressed. Another is taken for Philoctetes; it is in the same attitude as Paris, and is opposed to the one just described:

It is armed with a bow. The front of its helmet represents a lion's muzzle; perhaps the figure is meant as a friend of Hercules. He wears a cuirass of a single piece, which could only open on the left side, which leads to the opinion that it was thin and elastic. Hector, or another Trojan Prince, is overthrown; he has received a large wound in the breast; his hair twisted symmetrically on the forehead, and fastened by a kind of diadem, falls over his shoulders. One head with a small beard, and the casque thrown back, seems to be Ulysses. Of these figures, the archers alone are clothed; the others are of the heroic kind; that is to say, literally naked, and armed with casques and shields: some have also swords, others have lances and pikes.

On the western pediment is a young girl, such as Venus is represented on the most ancient silver medals of Corinth; she wears a large diadem, raised above the forehead, and which seems to imitate the roughness of metal. The head of a fine young man, who is supposed to be Achilles, has an elegant helmet raised over the top of the head, falling backwards, and ornamented with a large crest. Beneath the casque the hair appears twisted over the forehead, and fastened by a kind of diadem. Another figure appears in the attitude of a rower, and is rising from his seat that he may pull with greater force. This statue has no hair, except on the forehead. Amongst these ruins we found an eye of ivory, four inches long, and the ball of which was blank, which indicates that it belonged to a colossal statue.

In this same Isle of Egina, towards the northwestern end, near a great oval tumulus, which I took for the tomb of Phocus, and about a quarter of an hour's walk northwards from the temple of Venus, is a square place regularly cut in the rock, sunk about fifteen feet, and at least a hundred fathoms in diameter; it seems to have been nothing but a mere quarry, from which stone has been taken for building. On this subject, however, there may be a difference of opinion. Near this spot are a number of cisterns cut in the rock, which is tolerably soft; there are also many large blocks of stone, regularly squared.

LETTER III.

Athens, December 19, 1811.

SIR-I have received your fine map of Greece. It is very neat and clear, and I dare say very exact. But why place Phygalia

at the temple of Apollo Epicurius, on Mount Cotylius? I. assure you that Phygalia is at present Caritena. Pausanias has se well described it, the steep rock, on which was the citadel, which rises in the middle of the town, and the river Limax, which runs through a deep ravine, that one cannot mistake it. Besides, on Mount Cotylius there are no ruins of a town; and the neighbouring village, Andritzena, has nothing of the antique. Caritena, indeed, is six hours' journey from Mount Cotylius, which is three times the distance laid down by Pausanias: but Pausanias is sometimes in error.

I have already said that I do not believe the temple, around which the diggings have been made in the Isle of Ægina, to be that of Panhellenian Jupiter, and that it rather appears to have been dedicated to Isis. But I have now renounced this idea. I have since found, in the excavations that have been made at Athens, a vase, on which is represented a marriage, and whereon is a figure exactly similar to those which are on the border of the pediment of the temple of Egina. The figure is that of Juno, in a bridal dress; so that this temple may have been that of the Panhellenian Jupiter, and not dedicated to Isis, as I at first supposed. All these figures serve to elucidate that which was found in the tomb of Achilles, and which has been so much metamorphosed by different writers. It is exactly the same as the one on my vase, and those which are on the border of the temple of Egina: the same sex, the same attitude, and the same folds of drapery. Sphinxes were at the angles of the temple of Ægina, and Sphinxes are on the head and arms of the figure of the tomb of Achilles. Hence we know the great antiquity of this figure, and of that of the tomb in question; though many efforts have been made to diminish it. If the temple on the Isle of Egina be that of Panhellenian Jupiter, I can say that I have seen the altar on which the Greeks vowed the destruction of Troy. I have observed, that I assisted at several of the excavations which were made near the Hippades Gate, at Athens: some others have since been made near the Gate Dipylon; and at the depth of twenty-five feet, some fine vases have been discovered, particularly several which appear to be of Phoenician manufacture. I have also dug behind the Museum, and afterwards all round the ancient walls; and the contiguity of the sepulchres which were discovered, leaves no doubt as to the ancient site of the town. I found a bas-relief, and many cippi, of different forms: the inscription on the basrelief speaks of a man named Aristotle; but who, without doubt, is not the philosopher of Stagira.

INTRIGUES OF LADY HAMILTON AT THE COURT OF NAPLES.

THIS lady, being the wife of the late Sir Wm. Hamilton, our ambassador at Naples, thinking her services, as a privileged spy, neglected while she resided at that court, has published her case, by way of shaming those who have reduced her to the necessity of taking this unpleasant step. Her ladyship details the services she performed at very great length. Very soon after her arrival at Naples, having a letter from the Queen of France to the Queen of Naples, she ingratiated herself so much, that she says she prevailed on her to take a private letter from the king's pocket unseen, which contained the King of Spain's resolution to withdraw from the coalition, a copy of which she immediately despatched to Lord Grenville.

Her ladyship makes no scruple in avowing that it was through her influence that the court of Naples repeatedly violated its treaties with France; and at length, when exposed to its vengeance, she persuaded them to emigrate to Sicily. "An army of Neapolitans," she tells us, "of 35,000 men, was raised nearly in a month; they marched, under Gen. Mack, the king himself in the ranks, on the 21st of Nov. against a scattered and inferior French force; yet so rapidly was this army destroyed, as to oblige our embarkation at Naples by that day month. The point of policy with the court was then, Whether they should put themselves entirely under the French, or fly to Sicily under our protection?" The many difficulties of getting away, and the uncertainty how a flying court would be received there, were strong inducements to abide all consequences at Naples; I urged and pleaded the necessity and safety of their coming away; the queen was almost always with me, and as the French advanced, I placed the horror of their approach full before her eyes; and at length prevailed in deciding this important measure, for the king was soon brought over to our side. The difficulties were yet many, and of the most dangerous complexion; the growth of French principles, and rapid march of their army upon the capital, made it too hazardous to trust the Neapolitans with the plan of getting away the royal family, the court, and treasures! I, however, began the work myself, and gradually removed all the jewels, and then 36 barrels of gold, to our house; these I marked as stores for Nelson, being obliged to use every device to prevent the attendants having any idea of our proceedings. By many such stratagems, I got those treasures embarked; and this point gained, the king's resolution of coming off was strengthened: the queen I was sure of. The immortal Nelson testifies that all this would never have been VOL. II, New Series.

20

effected, but for my management and exertions. In his letter to Lord St. Vincent, or Lord Spencer, he says, on this occasion, 'Lady Hamilton seemed to be an angel dropped from heaven for the preservation of the royal family.' To show the caution and secrecy that was necessarily used in thus getting away, I had, on the night of our embarkation, to attend the party given by the Kilem Effendi, who was sent by the Grand Seignior to Naples, to present Nelson with the Shablank, or plume of triumph! I had to steal from the party, leaving our carriages and equipage waiting at his house, and in about fifteen minutes to be at my post, where it was my task to conduct the royal family through the subterraneous passage to Nelson's boats, that moment waiting for us on the shore! The season for this voyage was extremely hazardous, and our miraculous preservation is recorded by the admiral upon our arrival at Palermo."

From the Empress of Germany, daughter to the Queen of Naples, her ladyship states, she refused the acceptance of a thousand pounds per annum, trusting she would be liberally provided for by her own country, for which, in losses and moneys expended, she asserts she is deficient in 20,0001. Through her ladyship's influence over Nelson, she asserts, she prevailed on him to fight the battle of Trafalgar, and to go to the attack of Copenhagen in 1801. And in one of her vulgarisms she says, Nelson would ever keep telling him, Sir Wm. Hamilton, "that the battle of the Nile was Emma's, and not his." Her ladyship appeals to the living testimony of Sir Walter Farquhar and Messrs. Canning and Rose, whether she had not Mr. Pitt's solemn, unequivocal pledge of honour, that suitable provision should be made for her; particularly to Sir Walter, to whom that great statesman, on his dying bed, confirmed those promises he had made to Lord Nelson in her behalf, with his dying request that they might be fulfilled by his successors. Sir William also be

fore his death, she says, had the same unalterable faith in the justice of his country which she had, so that in proportion, his provision for her was lessened. "In that expectation being liberally realized," she observes, "I can have nothing but implicit confidence, as our august prince was well acquainted with it by Lord Nelson himself, and fully coincided in its justice. It may be here expected of me to state why the codicil to Lord Nelson's will, bequeathing my services to the justice of the country, was not produced with the will itself. When Capt. Blackwood brought it home, he gave it to the present Earl Nelson, who, with his wife and family, were then with me, and had indeed been living with me many months. To their son I was a mother; and their daughter, Lady Charlotte, had been exclusively under my care for six years. The earl, afraid I should