Tvro-and-a-half  millennia  satisfy  our
grovelling  aspirations.  And  Mr
Mure  himself«  whilst  insisting  on  their
too  youthful  character,  admits  that
they  are  *<  superior  in  number,  variety,
and  elegance,  to  those  which  the
united  cities  of  Greece  can  now  show.'*
Yet  even  these  pure  monuments  have
been  ccombined  with  modem  after-
growths, as  in  the  case  of  the  Pro-
pylosa,  of  which  multitudes  doubt
[Mr  Mure  in  particular]  whether  they
can  now  be  detached  from  the  con-
nexion with  effect.  For  more  reasons
than  one,  it  will,  perhaps,  be  advis-
able to  leave  them  in  their  present
condition,  and  that  is  as  hybrid  as  the
population.  But,  with  respbct  to
Athenian  buildings,  it  strikes  our
feelings — that  finish  and  harmony  are
essential  conditions  to  their  effect.
Ruins  are  becoming  to  Gothic  build-
ings—decay is  there  seen  in  a  grace-
ful form:  but  to  an  Attic  building
decay  is  more  expressive  of  disease —
it  is  scrofula ;  it  is  phagedsenic  ulcer*
And  unless  the  Bavarian  Government
can  do  more  than  is  now  held  out  or
hoped,  towards  the  restoration  and
duengagemeiU  of  the  public  buildings
surmuuuting  the  city,  we  doubt
whether  there  will  not  be  as  much  of
pain  as  of  an  artist's  pleasure  in  a
visit  to  the  Athenian  capital,  though
now  raised  to  the  rank  of  metropolis
for  universal  Greece.
