ANNE CLAUDE DE TUBIERRE, DE GRIMOAD, DE PESTILS, DE LEVI, COMTE DE
CAYLUS, was born in Paris, in 1692, and died the 3rd of September,
1765. He entered the French army early, and distinguished himself in
Catalonia and at the siege of Fribourg. After the Peace of Rastadt
he visited Italy, and in 1717 went to the Levant in the suite of
the Ambassador of France to the Sublime Porte. During this journey
he undertook an adventure which proves his courage as well as his
love of art. On arriving at Smyrna, he was anxious to profit by the
necessary delay of a few days to visit the ruins of Ephesus, which
are about twelve hours' journey from that place. The neighbourhood
was at that time infested by a band of brigands, the chief of which
was the notorious and terrible Caracayoli. The roads were exceedingly
unsafe for travellers; but the Count de Caylus was not to be daunted.
He provided himself with a dress made simply of sail-cloth, and
carrying nothing about him that could tempt the most petty thief, he
sought out two of the band of Caracayoli, and bargained with them for
a safe conduct from Smyrna to Ephesus and back again, the money to
be paid only on his return. It being their interest to take care of
him, he found them the most faithful guides in the world. Caracayoli,
on learning the object of his journey, politely offered to assist
his researches. He informed the Count that in the neighbourhood of
his retreat there were some ruins well worthy his inspection, and to
expedite his visit to them, he mounted him and one of his guides on
two fine Arabian horses. The ruins proved to be those of Colophon.
The Count returned to the retreat of Caracayoli, and passed the night
there, and the next morning proceeded to the site of the ancient city
of Ephesus, from whence he was safely conducted back to Smyrna by the
brigands, each party well satisfied with their bargain.
After his return to France, in 1717, he made several other journeys
abroad, and paid two visits to London. At Paris he occupied himself
with drawing, music, painting, writing, and sculpture. He wrote the
lives of the most celebrated painters and sculptors of the Royal
Academy, and founded in that Academy an annual prize for the students
who were most successful in expressing the passions. In 1742 he was
elected an honorary member of "L'Académie des Inscriptions," in which
he founded another prize of five hundred livres for the best essays
on the manners and customs of the ancients. He formed a splendid
collection of Etruscan, Greek, Roman, and Gaulish antiquities, an
account of which was published (seven vols. 4to, the last in 1767) by
Monsieur le Beau. He discovered the ancient art of encaustic painting,
and of tinging marble, from hints in the works of the elder Pliny. But
all this occupation and study did not prevent this eminent scholar
and antiquary from indulging in the lighter pursuits of literature.
He did not disdain to acknowledge the fascination of a fairy tale, or
to contribute to the number of them. I have selected three from his
_Féeries Nouvelles_, which are in my judgment the best, and display the
greatest variety of style and power of imagination. The first,--