HERCULANEUM. Referring the reader to the Encyclopædia for some account of the discovery and antiquities of this city, we propose in the present article to direct his attention to the attempts which have been made to recover the literary treasures, long retained in a state intermediate between existence and annihilation among its ruins. The few successful results of the investigation, which have hitherto been laid before the public, are, indeed, of such a nature as not to have rewarded, by their importance, the great labour which has been bestowed on them. But the zeal of the lovers and patrons of literature has not allowed their ardour to be subdued by the difficulties of the task. His present Majesty, GEORGE the FOURTH, is well known to have distinguished himself, in the early part of his life, by the munificence which he displayed in sending over a native of this country to superintend and remunerate the operations which were slowly and patiently conducted upon the manuscripts at Naples; and, in the course of the last few months, one of the most illustrious ornaments of British science, supported by a similar liberality on the part of our government, has been engaged in far more rapidly bursting the fetters of the imprisoned authors, by the masterly touch of his magic wand.
The progress of the discovery and examination of these singular remains of antiquity has been described, from time to time, in the Philosophical Transactions, and in many other publications. It was in October 1752 that the first of the carbonised rolls of papyrus were found: and Padermi's account of them is accompanied by an interesting specimen, which exhibits the genuine form of the characters used by the Romans in their manuscripts.