Amycus, he is more clear and pathetic than Apollonius, who has the same subjects. Others have the ease and familiar dialogue which reign in the Odyssey; while some critics have discovered in the Hercules Lion-Slayer all the majesty of the Iliad. The panegyric on Ptolemy, has always been considered a anodel in that species of writing. In de. licacy of address, in the soothing and graceful expression of his respect and attachment, he is not inferior to Callinachus. In the noble bym in praise of Castor and Pollux, it is perhaps no extravagance of criticism to say, that, in boldness of thought and splendour of diction, he scarcely yields to Pindar or Homer.† But, after all, it is as a pastoral poet that Theocritus is known to the generality of readers, and in this light only we are now to consider him. His pas torals, undoubtedly, form the foundation of that high estimation in which he is held as a poet. Upon these rest his claims to immortality, as the great master, and probably inventor, of his art. Few of the imitatorum servum pecus, have yet approached him in excellence. It is as true in poetry as in painting, that originals generally, if not always, excel their copies; a truth unquestionably exemplified in Theocritus, and his followers. He is in pastorals what Homer is in the epic-the standard by which all perfection in that species of poetry must, he estimated. The critics have converted his practice into so many settled Idyll. 25. It is singular that Scaliger, Heinsius, and Casaubon, bestow no commendation upon this beautiful piece, the longest, and perhaps the best, of Theocritus. Apollonius, in the second book of his Argonaut has copied the contest between Poliux and Amytus, in the former part of this hymn of Theocritus: and Scaliger, in his usual authoritative style, gives the preference to Apollonius: splendore et arte ab Apollonio Theocritus suferatur, Poet. lib. v. c. 6. This decision seems to be adopted by Warton. But Casaubon is of a different opinion. The I The severity of critics has adjudged eleven only out of the thirty idylliums, to be purely and properly pastorals. Against this decision, su re appeals might be made. Hylas, for instance, has many of the characteristics of a pa-toral; and the 20th Idyllium, which has for its subject Eunica, or the Neatbird, is surely bucolical enough. Heinsius, it is true, has attributed it to Moschus; but Fawkes has, in our opinion, justly restored it to Theocritus. The and eternal rules, for the guidance of every future pastoral; nature herself seems to be measured by this accom plished model. Virgil, who sometimes translates, rather than imitates him, is avowedly inferior to him in simplicity and sweetness. These are, indeed, in two words, the peculiar and character istic beauties of Theocritus. The soft. ness of the Doric dialect, which he im proved beyond any poet who had preceded him, is what the Roman writers confessed their language could not ap proach. His thoughts and sentiments are as inimitably soft and tender, as the verse in which they are conveyed, is sweet and melodious. The same uniform simplicity is observable in his cha racters. His shepherds, in their contests, their amorous jealousies and complaints, never rise above the ideas or lan guage natural to their station. characters of Virgil are too well read in the philosophy of Epicurus and Plato; the modern shepherds of Guarini pro fess the sentiments and speak the language of courtiers. But Theocritus, like Tasso, confines his to cottages and plains; his comparisons are drawn from the country itself; his thoughts seem naturally the result of the rural life he describes. He is as soft as Ovid; he touches the passions as delicately; "and all this (says Dryden*) is performed ont of his own fund, without diving into the arts and sciences for a supply." The ro mantic wildness thought, heightened by the Doric dialect, the lively pictures of the passions, and the pleasing delineation of simple unadorned nature, are specimens of genuine pastoral, which which have rendered him unimitated, we meet with only in Theocritus; and and inimitable, ever since. We are not however asserting here, that Theocritus is absolutely faultless. Ile is accused of being occasionally coarse; the dialogue is sometimes rude and abusive; the expressions uncouth and obscene. These charges appear to bechiefly, if not wholly, founded upon the against the verum atque DECENS of 5th Idyllium, which undoubtedly offends Horace. Yet Heinsius selects this and the third eclogue of Virgil, as examples of genuine bucolics; "vere Bucking exemplum in quinto Theocriti, in Vergila tertio habemus. But it is said that Theocritus intended it as a specimen of the * See Dryd. Pref. to his Translations. The very ancient bucolic, which abounded in gross and offensive images.* 27th Idyll. which is still more indelicate, is, by many, attributed to Moschus. It is unnecessary to repeat the comparisons so often drawn between The ocrites and Virgil. They are both so well known to classical readers, as to require little or no additional illustration. Virgil, in particular, is so familiar even to the youngest students, that we shall not take any separate notice of his eclogues, but proceed, in our next, to consider the amatory poets of antiquity. Theocritus, with Pindar, editio princeps, apud Ald. Venet. fol. 1595. -Paris. apud Morell. 1561. 4to. ab Heinsio. 4to. Oxon. 1699. Oxon. 1770. -à Walckenaer, Lug. Bat. 8vo. 1773. This edit. has only the first 11 Idylliums. -with Moschus and Bion-a T. C. Harles, 8vo. Lipo. 1780. Multum a reliquis differunt quæ aixokina sunt, in quibus major est incivilitas: ut in quinto apparet, quod Idyll singulare est, et in suo genere exemplum, antiquæ nimirum Buxoias; ubi nunquam ferè sine obsceno sensu rixatur Caprarius. Ibid. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. AS meet your approbation, and as they are derived from authentic documents relative to a valuable part of Europe little known in this country, but the very great advantages of which the emperor Napoleon justly knows how to appreciate, I send you, according to my promise, an account of the celebrated salt mines of Wieliczka, in Upper Poland. That they were of vast importance to the Austrian monarchy, is evident by the late treaty of peace between that power and France, by which the new-made vassal king of Saxony derives a great increase of revenue from them; exclusive of the acquisition of territory in Eastern Gallicia, and a populous district round Cracow. To illustrate this, I subjoin an article of the treaty, dated at Vienna, October 14, 1809. "Article 4. Wieliczka, and the whole of MONTHLY MAG. No. 200. the territory of the salt-pits, shall belong in common to the emperor of Austria, and the king of Saxony. Justice shall be administered therein in the name of the municipal power: there shall be quartered there only police, and they shall consist of equal numthe troops necessary for the support of the bers of those of both nations. The Austrian salt from Wieliczka, in its conveyance over the Vistula, and through the duchy of Warsaw, shall not be subject to any toll-duties. Corn of all kinds, raised in Austrian Gallicia, may also be freely exported across the Vistula." Description of the SALT-MINES in UPPER POLAND; from MALIE-BRUN's late PICTURE OF POLAND. THERE are two districts in Upper Poland worthy of claiming the attention of the naturalist and geographer; the one is that of the mines between the Pilica and the Vistula, the other that of the sait-mines between the Vistula and the Carpathian mountains. The whole extent of the chain of the Carpathian from the north, rises into a grudual ascent, intermixed with small hills composed of white clay, and some times of chalky plaster. Underneath this stratum is found another, which consists of a fine soft pliable sand; next to this sand is a layer of sandy marl; and under this, and often in the middle of it, is found the fossil salt. of sand is visible in the plain. On asFrom Cracow to Lemberg, this bed cending to the height of one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet above the Vistula, the argillaceous hillocks commence; amongst which, wherever they make holes of any depth, fossil salt and salt-water is met with: springs of sulphur and bitumen are common: in this tract of land are situated the two famous salt-mines of Bochnia and Wieliczka, According The following are the most accurate descriptions of these salt-mines, arranged in chronological order. 1. An anonymous Account in the Philosophical Transactions. Hamburg Magazine. vol. 4, Part III 1760. 2. Schober's Physical Description, &c. Hamburg Magazine. vol. 6. Part II. He was intendant of these mines. 3. Memoir of Guettard, member of the Academy of Sciences. 1763. 4. Observations, by Berniard, in the fournal de Physique. 1780 5. Description, by Hansen, inspector of salt mines. Berlin Magazine. No. 1. Part III. According to the Polish historians and geographers, the salt-mines of Bochnia were discovered in 1251. This discovery is attributed to St. Kunigonda, an Hungarian princess, the wife of the duke Boleslas V. but attended with many fabulous circumstances; notwithstanding which, it is easy to conclude, that she brought along with her some Hungarian miners. They were not regularlyworked, or well known, till 1442; but at present the salt-mines of Bochnia are far inferior to those of Wieliczka. The produce of both, under the Polish government, amounted to about ten millions of florins (Polish,) and the expenses of working, &c. to about nine-tenths of that sum. After the restrictions which were taken off, and the encouragement given by the Austrian government, it is stated that the produce of the mines amounted to two millions of florins of Vienna, clear of all deductions. The mine of Bochnia, according to Monsieur Schober, consisted of a long subterraneous sort of gallery or passage, about seven hundred and fifty feet wide from north to south; about ten thousand feet long, in a line from east to west; and its greatest depth from one hundred to twelve hundred feet. The mine first appears in crystal spars, and the salt is found everywhere in veins. It is rather finer than that of Wieliczka, especially where they quarry deeper. It is cut into moderate-sized pieces, in order to be put into barrels. Pieces of broken black wood are often found amongst the salt. Within the whole extent of the mine there is so little mois ture, that dust abounds in great quantities. Alabaster too is found in the mine. The salt-mines of Wieliczka are divided into three parts: that of St. John, the Old, and New Field. The town of Wieliczka is not only undermined, but the mines extend on each side to a distance equal to its size; that is, from east to west six thousand feet; from south to north, about two thousand; and in the deepest part of the valley about eight hundred, according to Busching; but to Hansen, and Zollner alone, one thousand one hundred lachter from east to west; and one hundred and twenty-three lachter in depth. There are ten pits or shafts; but that known by the name of Wodna-Gora serves as a canal to carry off the waters which filter through the different strata above; for throughout the whole extent of these famous mines, there is not a single spring of water. In the shaft or entrance called Leszno, king Augustus III. caused a winding stair-case to be made of four hundred and seventy steps, which cost forty thousand Polish florins in completing. It is by the shafts or entrances of the Daniclowitz, that travellers descend by means of ropes. On their ar rival at the first mine, they are struck with the grandeur, elegance, and regu larity, of the columns and vaulted roofs: in many of those excavations are several little chapels and altars, cut out of the rock, that is to say, the salt; and adorned with a crucifix, or the image of some saint, before whom a lamp is continually burning. The chapel of St. Anthony is thirty feet high; there are several very spacious apartments in it; some of thei serve as store-houses for barrels of salt ready packed; some for the forage of the borses, and others as stables for those animals, about twenty or thirty, according to the demand for the article. In some spots where water has been, the sides and bottom are covered with crystallized pieces of salt, hanging over each other in clusters of thousands; many of those pieces weigh half a pound and more, and form a brilliant spectacle where many torches are held near them; but much less so than many ancient enthusiastic travellers have described it. In the chapel of St. Kunegonda, there is a statue of king Augustus III. entirely of salt. The air is particularly wholesome, although it is chiefly composed of a nitrous gas, which rises towards the roofs of the passages, where it sometimes is set on fire by the approach of torches; it burns slowly, with a clear reddish flame: the miners call it saletra. The number of persons employed in the mines, is generally about seven hundred. No one passes his life in them, although travellers have asserted the contrary. Accidents but rarely happen: at certain distances, large pillars of salt are left standing to support the weight of the solid roof. In the year 1745, however, a considerable part fell in. Owing to neglect, the mines took fire in 1644, and 1696, and continued to burn for a long time. In the two first strata, the salt is found in huge unformed masses, from which pieces may be cut of three, four, and five, hundred cubic feet. The earths or rocks, are of three sorts: one is a marl, of a deep greyish colour, moist and soft to the touch, sometimes intermixed with gypsum. In this marl is found the kind of salt called zielona, or green salt; it takes this colour from a small portion of marl which it contains. Amongst the different varieties of this salt the spisa is distinguished; it is of a greyish colour: it is the common salt, the lodowaty or frozen salt, and the jarka or sandy salt. The second sort of earth is a rich unctuous soapy marl, which contains an infinity of shells. The third nature of the rock offers a mixture of impure salt, with gypsum and pyrites; in this mixture called zuber, is found the salt-gem or crystals of salt, which are either regular cubes, or rectangular prisms. After these nests of salt, frequently very irregular, there is generally found a bed of marl and lime before they ar rive at the szybakowa, or the regular bed of fossil salt, the most compact and pure: these beds are alternately mixed with white clay, slate, and gypsum; they run with a very little declination in a line from west to east: they incline upwards towards the south principally, and consequently towards the Carpathian mountains. The layers or beds of salt, are strongly undulated above; while their base presents a flat regular surface. The layers, whether of salt or earth, are often found interrupted by what the miners call coins. In the earth, and even in the body of the salt, are found pieces of a black sort of wood, winch frequently resemble strong branches of trees. Mons. de Born cites an instance of a piece of an elephant's tusk having been taken out of the mine; and he adds, that the jaw, teeth, and several bones of the same animal, have also been found there. To the north-west of Cracow is the town of Olkusz, now in a wretched state of decay, but formerly flourishing from its mines. The strata follow in regular order: first, a marl; then a species of marble, slate, silver ore, with a little iron and calamine; and then the calcareous stone. The public accounts prove, that in 1658, the royal tithe of these mines amounted to 1,225 marks, of eight ounces each; and to 1,858 quintals of lead; which may naturally be supposed to be one-tenth less than their real lue, as the royal tithe was not levied with any rigour. Adopting for our data however the most moderate valuation, the produce of the mine amounted to 476,773 florins (Polish) of the then currency, or to 1,907,100 florins of the present. It has frequently been in contemplation to resume the working, on a liberal and advantageous plan. At Ligots is a mine of calamine. The marbles of the environs of Czarnowa are intersected with veins of lead; there is a curious kind of mixture also found there: it is a sort of white lead combined and embodied with the sand: this mineral yields in the proportion of fifty-four to the hundred of pure lead. The mines, the most common however in this part, are of iron. At Drzeoics, from sixty to seventy quintals of iron are produced weekly from a mineral found on a sandy free-stone; in other parts, a sort of muddy iron ore abounds, as in the neighbourhood of Konskie The iron of Breri near Wochoc, would be most excellent, if, owing to the want of care in its preparation, a nsiderable portion of copper were not left in it. A naturalist, on his travels, found at Miedziana Gora, a piece of native iron: it is certain that in the same place are found pyrites of iron, azure-coloured copper, malachite, vitriol, and quicksilver : this last substance appears to abound here. It is evident, that this is the mine ral of which the ancient authors speak, when they say, "The bishops of Cracow, among their other possessions, chiefly prefer the city of Slawkow, on account of the celebrated silver mines which are in its neighbourhood." But the riches of this interesting country do not alone consist in metals. Mill-stones of a superior quality are found at Mniow; and fine marbles, in many other places. At Chencyn, a perpendicular vein of pyrites of copper, three ells wide, traverses a hill composed chiefly of marble: from this vein of copper, according to a Polish naturalist, is extracted lazulite; and the Palatine Bidzinsky even offered to Pope Innocent IX. a table made of this precious substance. At Miedzianka, there is a green copper, disseminated in small veins through the marble: near Ostrowice and Gorna-Wola, the fields are covered with an efflorescence of vitriol and alum. Generally speaking, the whole of this country appears to consist of rocks composed of small fragments, fancifully mixed mixed together, and containing minerals flint, one may imagine, that the sub- Both by its important productions, as well as by its military position, Upper Poland offers a considerable degree of interest in the event of a re-establishment of Poland. For the sovereign of Poland can never believe himself firm upon his throne, so long as any other power shall remain master of the passages of the Carpathian mountains: on the other side, the salt-districts, and mines of Wielicza, are the natural magazine of all Poland. Nature has rendered a separation between Upper and Lower Poland equally disadvantageous for both. The Vistula is common to them; and this natural conveyance of the productions of both countries, this great aquatic road, should never own but one sovereign, if the policy of states deigned to consult the interests of the people. W. B. H. stances composing them may have been dissolved by some menstruams, and have mixed together on coming in contact, when in a liquid state; but the fact appears otherwise with respect to these shells; they preserve their natural characters so correctly, that their change can, in some instances, be only known, even to fossilogists, by actual examina tion of their substances; here the silicifying matter seems to have been taken up by the calcareous matter of the shells, and a total change in their nature, without any alteration in form, appears to have been the result. I should wish your correspo dents to advert to this circumstance, as one of them has a notion that the outer coat of common flints is indicative of a gradual increase in their bulk. The above-mentioned shells are found in great abundance and variety of genera, among the loose sand, and in the Whitstone Pits on Blackdown hills in Devonshire; and also in other parts of England. The study of extraneous fossils is becoming every day more attended to; and if some of your corresponding tourists would point out where any have been recently discovered, giving either their proper or provincial names, as most convenient to themselves, it would doubtless give great pleasure to many others of your constant readers, as well as, X. Y. Z. London, 6th, June, 1810. MEMOIRS AND REMAINS OF EMINENT PERSONS. Original and authentic MEMOIRS of the late MA LORD ROKEBY, ATHEW ROBINSON, (Morris,) the late Lord Rokeby, was son of Mathew Robinson, esq. a gentleman formerly well known in Kent by his residence in that county during the life of his wife, the heiress of the families of Morris and Drake, but who, holding those estates during her life only, resided, from the time of her death, in London, where he died so late as 1778, at the age of 84; on which event the paternal estates in Yorkshire descended to the subject of this article, who had possessed the seat at Horton, and the other inheritance of his mother, from her decease in 1745. Mr. This venerable peer was born at York, in March 1713, many years before las father came into possession of the Kent. ish estates; and before even the death of his great grandfather Thomas Morris, esq. the builder of the present mansion at Horton, who died in 1717. Morris left an only daughter, at that time the wife of the celebrated Dr. Con. yers Middleton, whom she re-married in 1710, being the widow of Mr. Drake, Recorder of Cambridge. But her son, Mr. Morris Drake, succeeded his grandfather, and added the name of Morris to his own. He died young before 1725; and the Horton estates reverted to his mother, who spent a summer or two here with her husband, Dr. Middleton, |