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Clarke, Edward Daniel
Testimonies of different authors, respecting the colossal statue of Ceres: placed in the vestibule of the Public Library at Cambridge, July the 1st, 1803 ; with a short account of its removal from Eleusis, November 22, 1801 — Cambridge, 1803

DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5264#0022
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ment of the Arts and Mythology of Greece,
may not prove unwelcome.

The difficulties to be encountered were not
trivial. It was first necessary to purchase the
Statue from the Waiwode, or "Governor of
Athens, who alone had power to dispose of
it.* A Firman was then to be obtained for its
removal; the attendance of a Turkish Officer
to enforce the order; and a vessel capable
of conveying it away. The old quay of Eleu-
sis, consisting of immense blocks of marble,
broken and disordered, required reparation.
Across the chasms, where the stones were want-
ing, it was necessary to place pieces of timber,
as temporary bridges, that the Statue might be
conveyed to the utmost extremity of the quay,
where a sufficient depth of water would admit
the approach of large boats.

When all these preliminaries were adjusted,
which required equal promptness and secresy,
amidst the opposition to be expected from a herd
of idle and mercenary Greeks, acting as Con-
suls to different nations; in what manner could

* Those who have visited Turkey know the difficulty of making
such a purchase. .Among other absurd notions which the Turks, and
even some of the Greeks, have about foreigners, they believe such
stones are only sought for the gold they contain; and this gold not in
the form of ore, but ready coined, fine, glittering sequins.

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