articles of ornament and use were
constructed in the most whimsical taste. We must restrict ourselves to
three specimens of Roman works, as many hundreds might be readily
brought together from public museums. Our group consists of two
clasp-knives and a lamp. The knife, Fig. 59, was found at Arles, in the
south of France; the handle is of bone, and has been rudely fashioned
into the human form: the second example, Fig. 60, is of bronze, and
represents a _canis venati_, of the greyhound species, catching a hare;
the design is perforated, so that the steel blade shows through it. It
was found within the bounds of the Roman station of Reculver, in Kent;
another of similar design was found at Hadstock, in Essex: nor are these
solitary examples of what appears to have been a popular design in
Britain. The superiority of the British hunting dogs has been celebrated
by Roman writers, and induced their frequent exportation to the capital
of the world. The lamp, with the quaint head of an ivy-wreathed satyr,
Fig. 61, was found in the bed of the Thames, while removing the
foundations of old London Bridge. The protruding mouth of this very
grotesque design holds forth the lighted wick. In nothing more than in
lamps did the quaint imaginings of the Roman artists take the wildest
license.

When the successful incursions of northern barbarism had quenched the
light of classic art, the struggle made by such artists as the Goths had
at command to embody the ideas of power or grace they wished to
indicate, were often as absurd as the work of a modern child. Hence the
grotesque is an inseparable ingredient in their designs, often quite
accidental, and frequently in express contradiction to the intention of
the designer, who imagined in all seriousness many scenes that now only
excite a smile. A strong sense of the ludicrous was, however, felt by
mediaeval men, and embodied in the art-works they have left for our
contemplation. With it was combined a relish for satire of a practical
kind. A very good and amusing instance is given in Fig. 62, which is
copied from a carved corner-post of an old house in Lower Brook Street,
Ipswich. It depicts the old popular legend of the Fox and Geese, the
latter attracted toward Reynard by his apparent innocence and sanctity,
as he reads a homily from a lectern, and meeting the reward of their
foolish trustfulness, in the fattest of their number being carried off
by the crafty fox. Both incidents are, as