what she now is. This theatre of contention between mighty factions, of
the struggles of orators, the exaltation and deposition of tyrants, the
triumph and punishment of generals, is now become a scene of petty
intrigue and perpetual disturbance, between the bickering agents of
certain British nobility and gentry. "The wild foxes, the owls and
serpents in the ruins of Babylon,"[202] were surely less degrading than
such inhabitants. The Turks have the plea of conquest for their tyranny,
and the Greeks have only suffered the fortune of war, incidental to the
bravest; but how are the mighty fallen, when two painters[203] contest
the privilege of plundering the Parthenon, and triumph in turn,
according to the tenor of each succeeding firman! Sylla could but
punish, Philip subdue, and Xerxes burn Athens; but it remained for the
paltry antiquarian, and his despicable agents, to render her
contemptible as himself and his pursuits. The Parthenon, before its
destruction, in part, by fire during the Venetian siege, had been a
temple, a church, and a mosque.[204] In each point of view it is an
object of regard: it changed its worshippers; but still it was a place
of worship thrice sacred to devotion: its violation is a triple
sacrifice. But--

"Man, proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high Heaven
As make the angels weep."
[Shakespeare, _Measure for Measure_,
act ii. sc. 2, lines 117-122.]

3.

Far on the solitary shore he sleeps.
Stanza v. line 2.

It was not always the custom of the Greeks to burn their dead; the
greater Ajax, in particular, was interred entire. Almost all the chiefs
became gods after their decease; and he was indeed neglected, who had
not annual games near his tomb, or festivals in honour of his memory by
his countrymen, as Achilles, Brasidas, etc., and at last even Antinous,
whose death was as heroic as his life was infamous.

4.

Here, son of Saturn! was thy favourite throne.
Stanza x. line 3.

The Temple of Jupiter Olympius, of which sixteen columns, entirely of
marble, yet survive; originally there were one hundred and fifty. These
columns, however, are by many s