THE SLEEPING VENUS.
141
THE REV. DR. FOLLIOTT.
Bless me, sir, a terrible progeny: they belong to the tribe of Incubi.
MR. CROTCHET.
The great philosopher, Diderot,—
THE REV. DR. FOLLIOTT.
Sir, Diderot is not a man after my heart. Keep to the Greeks, if you please; albeit this Sleeping Venus is not an antique.
MR. CROTCHET.
Well, sir, the Greeks: why do we call the Elgin marbles inestimable? Simply because they are true to nature. And why are they so superior in that point to all modern works, with all our greater knowledge of anatomy? Why, sir, but because the Greeks, having no cant, had better opportunities of studying models?
