Southcote Lodge.
_The Olympic Plain, &c._--The success which has attended the excavations of
Dr. Layard at Nineveh, has rekindled the curiosity of the antiquary and the
classical scholar with regard to the buried remains of ancient Greece and
Rome:
"The Tiber at Rome," Dodwell says, "is supposed to contain a vast
assemblage of ancient sculpture; and thoughts are entertained of
turning its course, in order to explore its hidden treasures."
The same distinguished traveller remarks (_Classical and Topog. Tour
through Greece_) that--
"It was a favourite plan of the learned Winkelmann to raise a
subscription for the excavation of the Olympic plain. If such a project
should ever be consummated, we may confidently hope that the finest
specimens of sculpture, as well as the most curious and valuable
remains, will be brought to light. No place abounded with such numerous
offerings to the gods, and with such splendid and beautiful
representations in marble and in bronze."