Eustace, John Cretwode: A classical tour through Italy An. MDCCCII (Vol. 3): 3. ed., rev. and enl (London: J. Mawman, 1815)

38 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IL
and selected a person, not only qualified for the
task by his deep and extensive information, but
peculiarly adapted to it by his zeal and perse-
verance. The gentleman alluded to is Mr. Hay-
ter, a clergyman of the Church of England, who
is now established at Portici, and superintends
the process of unfolding the papyri with indefati-
gable assiduity. Never indeed were vigilance
and patience more necessary, as the method em-
ployed requires the most delicate touch, and the
most unremitting attention. One hasty gesture
may spoil a whole volume, and the most impor-
tant and most laborious task of the superintend-
ent is to prevent such accidents by repressing the
eagerness of the workmen. To this tediousness,
inseparable from the very nature of the operation
itself, and to the difficulty of procuring steady
workmen in a country where ardor and impetuo-
sity are the predominant features of the national
character, must be attributed the slow and almost
imperceptible progress of this undertaking. It is
indeed melancholy to reflect, that supposing the
work to be carried on with the same zeal and on
the same principles as at present, centuries must
elapse before the manuscripts now in hand can be
unrolled, and their contents given to the public.
To which we may add, that such is the extreme
frailty of the papyri themselves, that with all the
care and precaution imaginable, not ohe proba-