nourished them, an immbrtality of fame, which
no other cireumstances have been aqually able.
to perpetuate. For it is by those higher and
mere refined excellences of painting, sculpture,
and architecture, that Grecian and Roman.
greatness are transmitted down to the age in
which we live, as if it Was still in existence.
Many centuries have elapsed since Greeks and
Romans have been overthrown and dissolved as
a people; but other nations, by whom similar
refinements were not cultivated, are erased from
the face oft the earth, Without leaving any
monument or vestige to give the demonstration
that they" were ever great.
" It may, therefore, be fairlylassumed, that
an ACADEMY, whose objects and effects are so
enlightened and extensive as those which are pro-
secuted here, is highly worthy of the protection
of a patriot-king, of a. digniiied nobility, and of
a wise people.
" Another circumstance, permit me, gentle-Q
men, to mention, because I can speak of it with
peculiar satisfaction, as -important to the best