My life I never held but as a pawn / To wage against thine enemies

Loose mixed lot, with duplication, of the Portugal & Colonies first decimal definitive designs. Very mixed condition, from VF to junk, all mint in some form or another, some MNH, some MH, some MHH, some MNG, etc.

The merit of the German school stands in direct opposition to that of the Italian. While the latter accomplished all that the highest perfection of drawing can achieve, (though as yet they had hardly advanced far enough in finishing to give roundness to a limb or evenness to a back-ground,) their German antagonists carried their flowing lines over the varied surface of the muscular figures, waving in conformity to the swell or recess of the anatomical markings, or meändering through a maze of folded drapery obedient to the intricate perplexity of complicated perspective ; or swept the bold stroke round the swelling limb with mingled freedom, force, and feeling : but all their powers of execution were not sufficient to compensate the deficiency of their drawing, though they made a vast and rapid improvement in this respect from their gothic manner in the early stages of the art ; yet not having the antique to guide them, they still continued gross mannerists, ever liable to extremes, mistaking stiffness for simplicity, bombast for sublimity, and extravagance for spirit.

Some miles before the Arab fort the road fetches away inland from the coast and to reach the oasis one must swerve aside off the tarmac ….