A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE
SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD.
THO' the Pagans were grossly ignorant of the most important truths, with respect to God and religion; yet the virtuosi of this and preceding ages have been forced to acknowledge, that their tastes were elegant, sublime, and well-formed, with respect to works of sculpture, statuary, and architecture. As a proof of this, in behalf of the ancients, 'tis only requisite we should take a cursory view of those noble and magnificent productions of art, commonly called THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD.
The TEMPLE of EPHESUS.
THE first of these Seven Wonders was the Temple of Ephesus, founded by Ctesiphon, consecrated to Diana, and, (according to the conjectures of natural philosophers) situated in a marshy soil, for no other reason than that it might not be exposed to the violent shocks of earthquakes and volcanos. This noble structure, which was 425 feet long, and 220 feet broad, had not its bulk alone to raise it above the most stately monuments of art, since it was adorned with 127 lofty and well proportioned pillars of Parian marble, each of which had an opulent monarch for its erector and finisher; and so high did the spirit of emulation run in this point, that each succeeding potentate endeavoured to outstrip his predecessor in the richness, grandeur, and magnificence of his respective pillar. As it is impossible for a modern to form a just and adequate idea of such a stupendous piece of art, 'tis sufficient to inform him, that the rearing of the Temple of Ephesus employed several thousands of the finest workmen of the times for 200 years: but as no building is proof against the shocks of time, and the injuries of the weather, so the Temple of Ephesus falling into decay, was, by the command of Alexander the Great, rebuilt by Dinocrates, his own engineer, the finest architect then alive.
The WALLS of BABYLON.
THE works of the cruel, though ingenious and enterprising Semiramis, next command our wonder and admiration. These consisted of the walls erected about Babylon, and the pleasant gardens formed for her own delight. This immense, or rather inconceivable profusion of art and expence