Tomb of Darius.
One of the most remarkable tombs of the ancients was that carved out of rock, by order of Darius, for the reception of his own remains, and which exists to this day at Persepolis, after a duration of twenty-three centuries.
The portico is supported by four columns twenty feet in height, and in the centre is the form of a doorway, seemingly the entrance to the interior, but it is solid; the entablature is of chaste design. Above the portico there is what may be termed an ark, supported by two rows of figures, about the size of life, bearing it on their uplifted hands, and at each angle a griffin—an ornament which is very frequent at Persepolis. On this stage stands the king, with a bent bow in his hand, worshipping the sun, the image of which is seen above the altar that stands before him, while above his head hovers his ferouher, or disembodied spirit. This is the good genius that in Persian and Ninevite sculpture accompanies the king when performing any important act. On each side of the ark are nine niches, each containing a statue in bas-relief. No other portion of the tomb was intended to be seen, excepting the sculptured front; and we must, therefore, conclude that the entrance was kept secret, and that the avenues were by subterranean passages, so constructed that none but the priviledged could find the way. We are told by Theophrastus that Darius was buried in a coffer of Egyptian alabaster; also that the early Persians preserved the bodies of their dead in honey or wax.
Temples the First Museums.
Natural objects of uncommon size or beauty were, in the earliest periods, consecrated to the gods, and conveyed to the temples, to awaken curiosity and to excite reverence. In the course of time the natural curiosities dedicated to the gods formed large collections. When Hanno returned from his distant voyages, he brought with him to Carthage two skins of the hairy women whom he found on the Gorgades Islands, and deposited them in the temple of Juno. The monstrous horns of the wild bulls which had occasioned so much devastation in Macedonia were, by order of King Philip, hung up in the temple of Hercules. The unnaturally formed shoulder-bones of Pelopos were deposited in the temple of Elis. The crocodile, found in attempting to discover the sources of the Nile, was preserved in the temple of Isis, at Cæsarea. The head of a basilisk was exhibited in one of the temples of Diana, and in the time of Pausanias the head of the celebrated Calydonian boar was to be seen in one of the temples of Greece.
Wesley's Plate.
An order was made in the House of Lords, in May, 1776, "that the commissioners of his majesty's excise do write circular letters to all such persons whom they have reason to suspect to have plate, as also to those who have not paid regularly the duty on the same." In consequence of this order, the accountant-general for household plate sent to the celebrated John Wesley a copy of the order. The reply was a laconic one—
"Sir: I have two silver teaspoons in London and two at Bristol. This is all the plate which I have at present; and I shall not buy any more while so many round me want bread.
"I am, sir,
Your most humble servant,
John Wesley."