Maternis dabitur natam complectier ulnis? 5 10 15 Nescia quid timeat, " Ditem nunc," inquit, “adibo, Acciderit proli si quis mihi casus amatæ” Plura locuturæ vox nunc pervenit ad aures, 20 "Diva Ceres, o siste gradum, te cuncta docebo"- 25 309 35 40 Et sic alloquitur Superumque hominumque parentem : 45 "O Pater omnipotens, jam supplicis annue votis: Te facilem præbe, miseramque ulciscere matrem! Oro te, liceat, si quid pia numina prosint, Qui mihi Hæc ubi dicta, sinum lacrymis implevit obortis ; Tu descende Erebi ad sedes, noctemque profundam, Imperat hoc fieri Divum pater atque hominum rex."- " 50 55 60 65 70 75 We wish to suggest to the young candidates for poetical fame, that a verse should not begin with a spondee closing the sense, as in No. 1. p. 41.-Savis? Fundis? A short final vowel should not be followed by a word beginning with sc, sp, sq, st, as No. 1. p. 45.-Astræa stateramNo. 2. p. 41. tempora spicis; 44. semina spargens-glaciale strinxit. The enclitic should follow the first word of a clause; hence we would propose a correction in No. 2. p. 44. On this subject we beg to refer to the Classical Journal, Vol. 1x. p. 589. In English Poetry it is scarcely necessary to guard the young writers against defective rhymes; of which we observe several instances. 401 ON THE ELEAN INSCRIPTION. In one of your late numbers, I perceive that a correspondent has given another interpretation of my Olympian inscription, miscalled, as I now understand, the Elean. It may perhaps give some satisfaction to your readers to know its history, and that it was found at Olympia by a Greek, to whom I had given a commission to enquire for such treasures among the peasants and laborers of Antilalla. One of these, after a flood, found several articles of bronze, a helmet, a cauldron, and some inscribed plates. The former were brought to me, and the latter, supposed to be useless, as exhibiting characters which nobody could read, were left behind to be sold to a brazier. I dispatched a messenger immediately to the spot, who traced the bronzes up the valley of the Alpheius, to the shop of the brazier at Karitěna. The other pieces, which the owner would not believe could interest me, were described as broken and corroded, but they were inscribed, and may remain there yet, as I had not the means of sending again. On my return to England I endeavoured, in vain, to persuade several gentlemen to undertake an excavation at Olympia, where doubtless an invaluable treasure has been preserved by the deposit of the rivers Cladeus and Alpheius, and I had secured the friendship of the Agas of Lalla, who were then the independent lords of the country. The scheme was treated as visionary, and even my inscription, except with a few, was for some time in danger of passing for a forgery. In the mean time the revolution has put an end to all future hopes of discovery; for if the Greeks triumph, no government of theirs would ever permit an excavation by the Franks.-I shall conclude by expressing my astonishment that it has never occurred to any of the interpreters of this inscription, to look at any common map of the Peloponnesus for the state or city which was most likely to have entered into a treaty with Elis. They would surely have found that the assistance of the ETFAO101 would have been of as little consequence to the Eleans as that of the Hivites, while they must have seen that the very next city on the bank of the river was Heræa, to the ruins of which the bronze returned in the hands of the brazier of Karitěna. They might then have been induced to look at the original, an impression of which I have now before me, where they would have found their T to have been a P, leaning it is true to the right, but exactly like the second letter in line 4, and forming, with its adjuncts, the word EPFAOIOIZ. This is so like the "Heræans," particularly when the digamma is pronounced in the English fashion, that I have never been able to account for the necessity of hunting up into existence an obscure and distant village in order to create a fresh difficulty. Possibly some learned doctor will discover that there is no instance of the F in such a situation; but these fancies, which may pass in regard to printed books, are contradicted by inscriptions every day, and this would not be the only word in the present inscription which appears in a new shape, should such an objection be offered. Naples, Nov. 20, 1821. WILLIAM GELL. On the confessed Plagiarisms and convicted Falsehoods of CHARLES JAMES BLOMFIELD, by GEORGE BURGES. AFTER the lapse of more than five years from the publication of the 6th, the 7th Number of the "Museum Criticum, or Cambridge Classical Researches," has at length appeared. Parturiunt montes; nascetur ridiculus mus: which the Reviewer, in that Journal, of Bland's Anthology, would perhaps thus translate, The mountains groan with more than usual throes; It were well, however, for the character of the author of the article facetiously headed, "Supposed Plagiarisms. Mr. George Burges," (as if, truly, G. B. were the supposed plagiarist) should C. J. B., the confessed plagiarist, excite no worse feelings than that of contempt for his talents in penning the weakest defence, that ever disgraced a hopeless cause; where, to bolster up a falling reputation, recourse has been had to deliberate falsehoods. The charge of plagiarism, acknowledged in some instances, and effectually disproved in two alone, is nothing when compared with that now boldly thrown in the teeth of C. J. B., and to which I dare him to reply, if he can. Nor let him deceive himself, with more success than he can deceive others, by his threatened silence. It is true that, like Friar Bacon's brazen head, he has spoken once, to speak no more; yet speak again he shall, unless he is willing to have it said of him, that debilitatus atque abjectus conscientia convictus conticuit. To those who are not conversant with the facts, it will be necessary, and to those who are, amusing, to read a recapitulation of the points alleged against the unfortunate culprit. Be it known, then, that, on various occasions, I kindly cautioned C. J. B. against the indulgence of the habit, to which he was terribly addicted, of plagiarism. But finding all gentle and delicate admonitions useless, I deemed it necessary to expose at full length a portion of his numerous pilferings. And as the offender had, on every possible occasion, expressed his abhorrence of similar iniquity, in words equally strong, applied either to the living or the dead, I felt I was only following his own steps by adopting similar language towards himself. It seems, however, that C. J. B. ἄλλων ἰατρὸς, αὐτὸς ἕλκεσιν βρύων, a quach to others, though himself one sore, has, like some maniacs, seen in the person of his best, though severest physician, his deadliest enemy. For to an aberration only of intellect, can one in charity attribute the egregious folly of compromising his character for at least a common share of veracity. Before entering on his defence of particular instances of plagiarisms, C. J. B. thus expresses himself: "Where plagiarism is laid to the charge of a scholar, the only thing he can do is, to deny the accusation; and if the number or nature of the instances alleged be such as to preponderate against his assertion, he must submit to his fate. I wish to premise, that where I am compelled to have recourse to simple asseveration, I make it upon the honor and good faith of a scholar and gentleman; and, having done so, its reception must be such as my readers think fit to give it." Although an objection might fairly be taken to the justice of that course of defence, which relies upon a flat denial, as the only means of repelling an accusation, supported by |