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tion for the attainment of the beauti
ful, but forbade it him on pain of
punishment for the attainment of
ugliness, is well known. This was
no law agaipSt smatterers, as is gen
erally —and even by Junius —suppo-
sed. It was to condemn the Grecian
Gezzi, and that unworthy artifice
which strives to obtain resemblance
by exaggerating the uglier parts of
tho original—in a word, Caricature.
From this same spirit of the beau
tiful, sprang also that well known
law of the Olympic Judges. Every
victor at the Olympic games receiv
ed a statue, but only to him who had
thrice been a conqueror was thero a
'portrait statue erected. This was to
prevent too many indifferent
traits, fr<*jn finding a place among the
works of art. For although even a
portrait admits of an ideal, yet the
ideal is secondary and must be sub
ordinate to the likeness; it is the
ideal of an individual man, and not
of man as man.
We laugh when we hear, that with
the ancients, even the arts were sub
jected to municipal laws; but we are
not always right when we laugh.
Unquestionably law must not arro
gate to itself the right of controlling
knowledge; for theaim of knowledge
is truth; truth is essential .to the
soul, and it would be tyranny to im
pose upon it the slightest constraint
in satisfying this necesstoyif its be*'
The ai)n of
ry, is pleasure; and pleasure can be
dispensed with. It might, therefore,
fall within the provinco of the law
giver to decide what kind of pleas>
ure, and what degree of each kind he
would allow. The plastic arts espe
cially, besides the infallible influence
which they exercise upon the charac-s
ter of a nation, are capable of an
effect which demands the closest
scrutiny of the law. As beautiful
men produced beautiful statues, so
the latter reached upon the former,
and the State became indebted to
beautiful statues for beautiful men.
With us, however, the tender imagi
native power of the mother appears
to express itself only in monsters.
From this point of view, I fancy 1
can discover some truth in certain
old stories which are usually rejected
as totally false.
The mothers of Aristomenes, Aris
todemus, Alexander the Great, Sci
pio, Augustus and Galenus, all dream
ed during their pregnancy, of having
had intercourse with a serpent. The
serpent was a symbol of divinity, and
the beautiful statues and paintings of
Bacchus, Apollo, Mercury and Her
cules were seldom without one.—
These honorable wives had feasted
their eyes on the god during the day,
and at night the confusing dream re
called the serpent’s form. Thus I
preserve tho dream and expose the
interpretation which the pride of
THE GEORGIA COLLEGIA^.
their sons and the shamelessness of
flatterers gave to it; for there must
have been some reason why the adul
terous phantasy was in each instance
a serpent. .
But I digress. All I desire to es
tablish is, that among the ancients,
beauty was tho highest law of the
plastic arts. And this established, it
necessarily follows, that every thing
else which can be embraced at the
same time within their province,
must, if inconsistent with beauty,
yield entirely to it; and if not incon
sistent, must, at least, be subordinate.
teajp.
For the Georgia Collegian.
College Yisiting,
Editors Collegian :—
We thiDk there is no subject in re
gard to which the students of the
University entertain more mistaken
notions, or commit more flagrant
blunders, than in regard to that
which heads this article. Judging
by their actions, those who visit
seem to think that the paying of a
social call demands at least two hours,
which time is unfortunately, yet not
unfrequently, extended into three, or
even four. Now, we advocate socia
bility most cordially. And before
advancing further, we desiro to make
tho following qualifications, in order
we may n<fit
argue that College students, should
be literary hermits. We declare,
then, our belief that the cultivation
of friendship is one of the prime ob-.
jects to be sought in College life.—
Just as the grizzly bear that in tho
wintry season sullenly retires to his
cave resolving to have no commerce
with tho outer world—finds himself
at the season’s end, lean, lank, and
hungry for food ; so the student who
shuts himself up unsoeially with his
books, relying for his enjoyment sole
ly on his own resources, discarding
the genial companionship of his fel
lows, will find himself, at the close of
his College course, starved and ema„
ciated in heart and nature. We
would take up armspromptly against
any man that would preach to Col
lege students a doctrine tainted with
selfish unsociality.
But at the same time, wo beg leave
to enter a protest against visits of
undue length. And this protest will
be all the more worthy of attention,
because it comes from one who him
self does not suffer from the evils com
plained of; it comes from one who
writes merely as a gladiator in behalf
of his Triends. His friends are less
fortunate than he ; they suffer.
1. We would discountenance long
visits, because they are necessarily
bores to those visited. The majority
of our students are bent upon mental
discipline, either by text-book study
or by reading and writing. Imagine
then, the disappointment of that stu
dent, who, seating himself after sup
per in his easy chair, with his books
or paper beside him, intending to de
vote himself with diligence to the
task before him, is interrupted by an
almost interminable visitation. For
the first hour, if he be a sociable fel
low, the company of his guest is ac
ceptable; he is willing, or ought to
be, to spend that much time in friend
ly talk. But as another hour passes
by, and still another, tho yawns of
weariness will distend his mouth, and
tho conviction will be forced on him
that the leecb'-like visitor is a bore;
—■“ cne of the bores,
Who comes but never goes.”
He wishes that some kind fairy
would remind I,he auger-wielding
guest, that at the deluge the period
of man’s life was shortened, and that
it is but poor mathematics, which, in
the long division of time, assigns
three or four hours to a College call.
Even lovers can grow tired of each
other’s company. This is proven by
tho fact that for a young married
couple to retire from other associa
tions and spend the honeymoon con
stantly in each other’s society, fre
quently produces mutual disgust. If
then, Mr. Theophrastus Fuzgugglo
can grow a-.weary of his darling Ar
aminta’s presence, if not administer
ed in broken doses, how much more
it to fee expected that a "College'
stiident will become tired of a visitor
who holds on like a hard-sbell Bap
tist preacher ? If said visitor sits and
sits, and sits—until the persecuted
student’s hour for retiring has past,
is it to be expected that the latter, on
the day following, will look with
ranch benovolence on the man who,
by defrauding him of sleep, has made
his mind listless and his body lethar
gic?
2. We object to protracted visita
tions, because they inconvenience
those with whom the student visited
boards. Appreciating the kindness
of the citizens of Athens who take
us into their homes, we ought to be
considerate of their wishes and com
fort. Now Solomon says, u there’s a
time for all things;” surely then,
there is an hour for locking the door,
putting out the light, and for reti
ring. This time is convontially un
derstood to be 10 o’clock. How so
riously then, do longsabiding visitors
trespass on the rights of the family,
when they make it necessary to post
pone such economies as
locking theYp.dfc, etc., and when they
interrupt repose.
The principle of boring is found in
the law of inertia; the inability of a
body to change its state. This ina
bility in the case of the mind, is
merely reluctance. When one gets
engaged in any particular thing, he
is reluctant to leave it off. Fre*
quently a person begins reading, for
the sake of pleasure; continues to
read until the mind is weary; and
yet still continues, though his book
has lest its charm. Frequently too,
a person who dislikes letter writing,
begins to answer the missives of his
friends. The first letter is very hard
-to write, hut t.hfl npnnnfLie Anoiar •
welcome the soul to its mortal habi
tation ; and the last to cease from
duty, it ushers our immortality to its
eternal abode. Never thrusting it u
self into obsequious notice, never
claiming for itself an unusual regard,
the nose, that silent dignitary of the
human countenance, always dis
charges its accustomed functions, a
faithful and valuable officer. Sure!/
then, its services should entitle it to
an high position among the members
of facial society. But oh ! man’s
