TRAVELS IN GREECE.* IN the old days, when voyaging was

costly and travellers were rare, the happy few who were able to see other lands than their

• Travels in Southern Europe and the Levant, 1810-1817: the Journal of C. R. Cockerell, B.A. Edited by his Son, S. P. CockerelL London : LonEmans and Co. [10s. 6d.]

awn regarded their privilege with a jtaious eye. They set out determined to discover whatever they might, and even when they were not scholars in the modern sense, their energy and vigilance were often handsomely rewarded. Of these old- fashioned travellers no better specimen can be found than C. R. Cockerell, whose Journal was well worth publishing, for it records the achievement of a digger both fortunate and dis- tinguished, and reveals the character of an amiable and courageous gentleman.

When Cockerell left home for the East he was but twenty- two years of age. While he had already received some training in architecture, we do not suppose that he knew more Greek than other well-educated youths of his time. But no sooner did he arrive in Greece than he displayed a marvellous talent for excavation. He had not been there long before he visited the remains of the famous temple at Aegina. He was accompanied by three other architects, two Germans and an

Englishman, and in a few days they had learnt all that was to be known of the construction, from stylobate to tiles. But just as they were leaving an incident occurred which, in Cockerell'a own words— "wrought us all to the highest pitch of excitement. One of the excavators working in the interior portico struck on a piece of Parian marble, which, as the building itself is of stone, arrested his attention. It turned out to be the head of a helmeted warrior, perfect in every feature. It lay with the face turned upwards, and as the features came out by degrees, you can imagine nothing like the state of rapture and excitement to which we were wrought. Here was an altogether new interest, which set us to work with a will. Soon another head was turned up, then a leg and a foot, then finally, to make a long story short, we found under the fallen portions of the tympanum and the cornice of the eastern and western pediments, no less than sixteen statues and thirteen legs, arms, dio., all in the higaest preservation, not three feet below the surface of the ground."

This was the first romance of Cockerell's tour, and well might he be proud of it. Nor did the rimance end with the discovery. It was a matter of no slight difficulty to convey the precious sculptures to a place of safety, where they could be neither

seized by the Turks nor captured by the French. With vast tact and ingenuity they were at last brought safe to Zante.

Cockerell and Foster were willing to surrender their share of the prize if the statues were purchased by the English Government, and assuredly the British Museum would have obtained them but for an act of treachery which has never been satisfactorily cleared up. A sale by auction was ad- vertised to take place in Zante on November let, 1812, and the English representative arrived in Malta with an ample credit and in good time. But there he was told by a German agent that the sale would take place at Malta, and not at Zante, and, loitering at Malta, he missed Iris chance. The marbles, therefore, were purchased by Prince Louis of Bavaria, and are now the greatest treasure of the Glyptothek at Munich. It is superfluous at this time

to point out the importance of these sculptures to the historian and critic of art. They reveal to us the craft of sculpture as it was practised before Phidias, and they remain the most important link between the age of the primitives

and the efflorescence in the time of Pericles. To have had a hand in their discovery was no small triumph for a young archaeologist, and had Cockerell done no more than this he

would have earned our lasting gratitude.

But Cockerell was as yet on the threshold of discovery. Soon afterwards he dug up the famous frieze of Phigaleia, which adorned a temple built by Ictinus, the architect of the Parthenon; and this time there was no mistake, for under the

auspices of Cockerell the sculptures were acquired by the British Museum. Thus for several years Cockerell travelled up ani down Greece, making plans and drawings of all the buildings

that he saw, digging with excellent judgment when the chance came, gaining a rare insight into the character of both Greeks and Turks, and meeting many eminent men in his travels. And he recorded in his Journal all that he saw and beard with considerable vivacity, so that this book is far more interesting than the niece record of an archaeological tour. When Napoleon's retirement to Elba permitted him to visit Italy, he was received wherever he went with the respect due to one who had achieved much. But he did

not take kindly to being lionised. Studious by nature, he preferred to work in solitude, and his long absence in Greece had, he declared, added to his customary shyness. However,

he had his portrait drawn by Ingres, he made the acquaintance of innumerable scholars, be frequented the studios of Canova and Thorwaldsen, and he learnt the art of cameo-cutting. But great as was his fame when he first came to Italy, it was im- measurably increased by his happy reafrangement of the famous Niobe group. Fresh from the discovery of the Aegina Marbles, he was convinced that the celebrated Niobe group in the Uffizi at Florence was part of a pediment. He measured the statues and arranged them, and made the etching which still hangs in the gallery to illustrate his conviction.

His taste was as remarkable as his ingenuity. At a time when all the world lay at Canova's feet, he saw the poverty of his art. When Canova went to London, he hoped it was not to execute a paltry monument to Nelson. That, he saw clearly, would be a national disgrace. "1 hope," he said, "he will not be made too much of in England. It is true that nobody ever worked the marble as he does, and it is this finish of his which has deceived and captivated the world, but it is nothing but artificiality, and there is no Nature about it. When he attempts the sublime he is ridiculous. In seeking grace he is more successful but, after all, his Terpsichore was conceived in the Palais Royal, and her headdress is exactly the latest hairdresser's fashion." A wise criticism, and remarkable for the time at which it was uttered. So, after seven years' absence, Cockerell returned to England. He had made a vast number of sketches, he had copied a hundred and fifty inscriptions, he had assisted in the discovery of some of the most remarkable specimens of Greek sculpture, and since his dislike of writing caused most of his work to be given to the world by others, it is mere justice that we should be reminded of his achievement.