nd Erectheus to the same use, whereby it is still constantly
exposed to a similar fate. Many of the statues over the entrance of the
temple of Minerva, which had been thrown down by the explosion, had been
powdered to mortar, because they offered the whitest marble within
reach; and parts of the modern fortification, and the miserable houses
where this mortar had been so applied, are easily traced. In addition to
these causes of degradation, the Turks will frequently climb up the
ruined walls and amuse themselves in defacing any sculpture they can
reach; or in breaking columns, statues, or other remains of antiquity,
in the fond expectation of finding within them some hidden treasures.

Under these circumstances, Lord Elgin felt himself irresistibly impelled
to endeavor to preserve, by removal from Athens, any specimens of
sculpture he could, without injury, rescue from such impending ruin. He
had, besides, another inducement, and an example before him, in the
conduct of the last French embassy sent to Turkey before the Revolution.
French artists did then attempt to remove several of the sculptured
ornaments from several edifices in the Acropolis, and particularly from
the Parthenon. In lowering one of the Metopes the tackle failed, and it
was dashed to pieces; one other object was conveyed to France, where it
is held in the highest estimation, and where it occupies a conspicuous
place in the gallery of the Louvre, and constituted national property
during the French Revolution. The same agents were remaining at Athens
during Lord Elgin's embassy, waiting only the return of French influence
at the Porte to renew their operations. Actuated by these inducements,
Lord Elgin made every exertion; and the sacrifices he has made have been
attended with such entire success, that he has brought to England from
the ruined temples at Athens, from the modern walls and fortifications,
in which many fragments had been used as blocks for building, and from
excavations from amongst the ruins, made on purpose, such a mass of
Athenian sculpture, in statues, alti and bassi rilievi, capitals,
cornices, friezes, and columns as, with the aid of a few of the casts,
to present all the sculpture and architecture of any value to the artist
or man of taste which can be traced at Athens.

In proportion as Lord Elgin's plan advanced, and the means accumulated
in his hands towards affording an accurate knowledge of the works of
architecture and sculp