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2 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