John Singleton Copley, John Trumbull, G. Stuart Newton, Thomas Cole,
Henry Inman, and a number of others; besides many now living, or but
recently deceased.


Upon what materials did the ancients paint their works?

Principally upon wood; the boards or tables were prepared with a thin
ground of chalk and size of some kind. Linen cloth or canvas was also
employed, but there is no evidence of its use before the reign of
Nero. Parchment, ivory and plaster were the other materials.

_Evidence_, testimony, record.


Who was Nero?

One of the Roman Emperors, a monster of cruelty, extravagance, and
debauchery; he raised a dreadful persecution against the Christians,
in which St. Paul was beheaded, and St. Peter crucified. At last,
being deserted by his army and the senate, he destroyed himself, after
a reign of fourteen years.

_Debauchery_, wickedness.


What is Poetry?

The glowing language of impassioned feeling, generally found in
measured lines, and often in rhyme. Most ancient people had their