rius, the
vanquished king, think of nothing but their own safety; but Darius is
totally forgetful of himself. His hand extended toward his dying
general, he turns his back to the flying rabble and seems to invite
death. The whole scene--the headlong rush of the one army, the utter
confusion of the other, the chariot of the King wheeling to the front,
the rage, the terror, the pity expressed, and all this profoundly felt
and clearly rendered--strikes the beholder at first glance and engraves
itself upon his memory, leaving there the imperishable impression that
masterpieces in art can alone produce. And yet this wonderful work was
but the flooring of a saloon! The ancients put their feet where we put
our hands, says an Englishman who utters but the simple truth. The
finest tables in the palaces at Naples were cut from the pavements in
the houses at Pompeii.

It was in the same dwelling that the celebrated bronze statuette of the
Dancing Faun was found. It has its head and arms uplifted, its shoulders
thrown back, its breast projecting, every muscle in motion, the whole
body dancing. An accompanying piece, however, was lacking to this little
deity so full of spring and vigor, and that piece has been exhumed by
recent excavations, in quite an humble tenement. It represents a
delicate youth, full of nonchalance and grace, a Narcissus hearkening
to the musical echo in the distance. His head leans over, his ear is
stretched to listen, his finger is turned in the direction whence he
hears the sound--his whole body listens. Placed near each other in the
museum, these two bronzes would make Pagans of us were religion but an
affair of art.[I]

Then the mere wine-merchants of a little ancient city adorned their
fountains with treasures like these! Others have been found, less
precious, perhaps, but charming, nevertheless; the fisherman in sitting
posture at the small mosaic fountain; the group representing Hercules
holding a stag bent over his knee; a diminutive Apollo leaning, lyre in
hand, against a pillar; an aged Silenus carrying a goat-skin of wine; a
pretty Venus arranging her moistened tresses; a hunting Diana, etc.;
without counting the Hermes and the double busts, one among the rest
comprising the two heads of a male and female Faun full of intemperance
and coarse gayety. 'Tis true that everything is not perfect in these
sculptures, particularly in the marbles. The statues of Livia, of
Drusus, and of Eumachia, are but m