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Show 68 Chain' d to one centre whirl' d the kindred fpheres, And mark'd with lunar cycles folar years. IV. " GNOMES! you then bade diifolving SHELLS diftil Fr01n the loofe fun1mits of each Chatter' d hill, To each :fine pore and dark interfiicc Row, And fill with liquid chalk the mafs below. \"'\Thence fparry fonns in du!ky cavern gleatn \Vith borrow' d light, and twice refraB: the beam; \Vhile in white beds congealing rocks beneath Court the nice chiifel, and ddire to breathe.- 95 100 D !'ffi!ving fhe!ls dijlil. I. 93· The lime-fl:one rocks have had the1r origin from fhells formed beneath the fe:~, the fvfter Hrata gradually di!Tolving and filling up the interflices of the harder one~, afterwards when thefe accumulation ~ of {hells were elevated above the \-\'aters the upper !l:rata became di!Tolved by the aCl:ions of the air l\,Od dews, and fill ed up the ir.t er!l:i ces beneath, prcducing folid rocks of different kinds from the coa rfe limc-fl.ones to the finefl marbles. When thofe lime-fl:ones have been in fuch a fituation that th ey could form perf eel: cryfbls th ey are called fp:~rs, fome of which poffcfs a double r efraction, as ubfervcd by Sir Ifaac Newton. When thcfe cryfbls are jumbled together or mixed with fome colouring impurities it is termeJ marble, if its texture be equable and firm; if its texture be coarfe and porous yet hard, it is called lime-fl:one ; if its texture be very loofe and porous it is termed chalk. In fome rocks the !hells remain almofl: unchan6ed and only covered, or bedded with lime-!l:cme, which feems to have been cliffolved and funk down amougfl: them. In others the fofter fhells ami bones are cli{Tolved, and only {harks teeth or harder echini have preferved th eir form invclopcd in the chalk or lime-!l.one; in fome marbles the folution has been compleat :md no vd liges of {hell appear, as in the white kind called fl.atuary by the workmen. See addit. Notls, No. XVI. _;. :_,_, ' I' ~ , ,,: " Hence wearied HERCULES in tnarble rears His languid lin1bs, and refts a thoufand years; Still, as he leans, £hall young ANTINous pleafe With carelefs grace, and unaffeaed eafe ; Onward with loftier ftep APOLLO fpring, And launch the unerring arrow from the firing ; In Beauty's bafi1ful forn1, the veil unfurl' d, Ideal VENUS win the gazing world. Hence on RouBrLrAc's tomb iliall Fame fublin1e 105 Wave her triutnphant wings, an,d conquer Time; I I o Long with foft touch :{hall DAMER's chiifel charm, With grace delight us, and with beauty warm; I-Ienu wearitd Hacules. 1. tor. Alluding to the celebrated Hercules of Glyco re!l:ing after his labours; and to the eafy attitude of Antinous; the lofty Hep of the Apollo of Belvidere; and the retreating mode!l:y of the Venus de Medici. Many of the defigns by Roubiliac in W e!l:minflcr Abbey are uncommonly poetical; the allegory of Time and Fame contending for the trophy of General Wade, which is here alluded to, is beautifully told; the wings of Fame are Hill expanded, and her hair !l:ill floating in the air; which not only {hews that fhe has that moment arrived, but alfo that her force is not yet expended; at the fame time, that the old figure of Time with his difordered wings is rather leaning backwards and yi elding to her impulfe, and mu!l: apparently in another inHant be driven from his attack upon the trophy. |
