[1] A striking instance of this occurs in Justin. Speaking of Harmodius and Aristogiton (see chap. v.), he says, “One of the murderers, being put to the torture to extract the names of his accomplices, enumerated all the nearest friends of Hippias. These were all put to death, and being asked whether any others were privy to his designs, he answered, that now none remained whom he wished to perish, except the tyrant himself. The city, admonished by his virtue, expelled Hippias.”—Lib. ii. 9. The virtue of this act consisted in sacrificing innocent lives to his revenge, by means of a lying accusation: and the stern endurance of this man is dignified with the praise of fortitude and patriotism, without the slightest reference to its atrocious injustice. The story itself rests upon Justin’s authority, and may reasonably be rejected as an improbable fiction.

[2] The cluster of the Archipelago nearest Attica.

[3] The Greeks called all other nations barbarians, which generally means no more than people of a different stock.

[4] So Nestor addresses Telemachus, “Strangers, who are you, from whence do you navigate the watery way? Is it with any settled purpose, or do you roam at hazard like robbers over the sea, who wander wagering their own lives, bearing evil to others?” Odyss. iii. 71.

[5] Thucyd. book i. chap. 4, 5, 6. We use Hobbes’ translation.

[6] Turner, Ang.–Sax.

[7] Bartholinus, De Causis ContemptÆ a Danis Mortis, lib. ii. 9.

[8] Saxo, lib. vii.

[9] Bartholinus, ii. 5.

[10] Barthol., l. ii. 9.

[11] We speak with some degree of doubt, both from the fluctuating notions of the Greeks upon this head, and from imperfect acquaintance with their opinions. The unhesitating belief of the Celtic nations in a happy immortality was known even in the time of Lucan, and is celebrated by him in a fine and well–known passage. The immortality of Homer’s heroes was mournful and discontented. “Talk not to me of death,” says Achilles (Od. xi. 487), “I would rather be the hired servant of some needy man, whose means of life are scanty, than rule over the whole of the deceased.” Other passages to the same effect are collected at the beginning of the third book of the Republic, by Plato, who objects seriously to their effect as making death an object of terror. Yet, in another passage, Homer speaks of the “Elysian plain, and the ends of the earth, where man’s life is easiest, where there is no snow, nor rain, nor winter, but thither ocean ever wafts the clear–toned gales of the west to refresh men.” (Od. iv. 565.) Hesiod, on the other hand (Works and Days, v. 166), and, some centuries after, Pindar (Ol. ii.), speak of a future life as perfectly happy, describing it in terms closely similar to those of the last quotation from Homer. All these writers appear to place their happiness in perfect rest: the blessed are no longer compelled to till the earth, or navigate the ocean; they lead a careless life; there is no reference to sensual pleasures, except that the earth produces fruits spontaneously thrice a year, nor even to their continuing to take delight in arms or in the chace. In later authors they are described as retaining the habits and pleasures of life: see the note on the scholium of Callistratus, chap. v.; Ov. Met. iv. 444; and more especially the passage in Virgil, vi. 651, which, but for wanting the personal superintendence of Odin, bears much resemblance to a refined Valhalla.

The chief beheld their chariots from afar,
Their shining arms, and coursers trained to war;
Their lances fixed in earth, their steeds around,
Free from their harness, graze the flowery ground.
The love of horses, which they had alive,
And care of chariots, after death survive.
Some cheerful souls were feasting on the plain,
Some did the song and some the choir maintain.

Dryden.

Mitford, on the other hand, says, that “the drunken paradise of the Scandinavian Odin was really a notion, as we learn from Plato, of the highest antiquity among the Greeks.” (Chap. ii. sect. 1.) He has not, however, given references, and we much regret that we have not been able to find the passage.

[12] He had the advantage over Hercules here; see the Alcestes, v. 763, ed. Monk.

[13] Joannes Magnus, Hist. Gothorum.

[14] We quote here, and in future, from Sir Thomas North’s translation, a.d. 1579. North translated from the French of Amyot. His version has been compared with the original, and corrected.

[15] Ingram’s Saxon Chronicle.

[16] Gesta Stephani, ap. Duchesne, Script. Normann. p. 961, 2.

[17] William of Malmesbury, Hist. Novell. lib. ii.

[18] Henry of Huntingdon, De Episcopis sui temporis.

[19] Perhaps this is too positively asserted. No doubt exists as to the political operation, but it has been questioned whether Theseus had a more real existence than the other heroes who gave their names to, or were named after, the several Athenian tribes. See Arnold’s Thucyd., Appendix II.

[20] History of Greece, p. 5.

[21] History of Greece, p. 6.

[22] The arrival of Theseus at Athens roused Medea’s jealousy, and she proposed to poison him. She did not arrive at Athens until some time after she had reached Greece with Jason and the Argonauts; while the journey of Theseus from Troezen to Athens appears to have been his first exploit. Either, therefore, Theseus was not an Argonaut, or this charge against Medea is ungrounded.

[23] Eteocles and Polynices, the sons of Œdipus, agreed, after the expulsion of their father, to reign alternate years in Thebes. Eteocles, however, at the end of the first year, refused to surrender his power, upon which Polynices laid siege to the city, assisted by six other princes. The brothers met in battle, and fell by each other’s hands.

[24] Lockhart’s Spanish Ballads.

[25] See a subsequent ballad in the same collection:—

In her hot cheek the blood mounts high, as she stands gazing down
Now on proud Henry’s royal state, his robe and golden crown,
And now upon the trampled cloak, that hides not from her view
The slaughtered Pedro’s marble brow, and lips of livid hue.

Away she flings her garments, her broidered veil and vest,
As if they should behold her love within her lovely breast—
As if to call upon her foes the constant heart to see
Where Pedro’s form is still enshrined, and evermore shall be.
But none on fair Maria looks, by none her breast is seen,
Save angry heaven, remembering well the murder of the Queen;
The wounds of jealous harlot rage, which virgin blood must staunch,
And all the scorn that mingled in the bitter cup of Blanch.
The utter coldness of neglect that haughty spirit stings,
As if ten thousand fiends were there, with all their flapping wings.
She wraps the veil about her head, as if ‘twere all a dream,
The love—the murder—and the wrath—and that rebellious scream.
For still there’s shouting on the plain, and spurring far and nigh;
“God save the King—Amen! Amen! King Henry!” is the cry,
While Pedro all alone is left upon his bloody bier—
Not one remains to cry to God, “Our Lord lies murdered here.”

[26] Herod, i. 4. It may be inferred from hence that the high estimation of female chastity, and implacable resentment consequent upon injuries in that respect, which now characterise Eastern manners, did not prevail in the age of Herodotus. That these feelings did prevail at a very remote period, appears from the story of Darius and Alexander.

[27] Leland’s Hist. Ireland.

[28] Thucyd. i. 9.

[29] Pausanias evidently founded his account of Aristomenes upon the traditions and legendary ballads of the Messenians; which, probably, were about as historical as Chevy Chase, or the Spanish ballads of the Cid, and other celebrated warriors. The reader will be on his guard, therefore, against taking all that is here told for veracious history: but we have not attempted to discriminate accurately between truth and fiction, which would entirely destroy the spirit and romance of the narrative, very probably without coming nearer to the reality.

[30] Pausanias merely says that the Greeks in general believed Pyrrhus to be his father. We have no doubt, from the context, that the hero is the person meant, though the passage has been otherwise interpreted. The practice of deifying eminent men prevailed in Greece at an early period, though apparently not in the age of Hesiod and Homer. Homer is fond indeed of dwelling on the superiority of the past; a superiority referred to the celestial descent of the heroes who then flourished; but he gives us no reason to think that divine honours were paid them. In later times, a patron hero was as necessary to a Grecian, as a patron saint formerly to a European city: and there are few names of eminence in the heroic age, in honour of which temples have not been built, and sacred rites instituted. The twelve Athenian tribes had each its protecting hero: Æacus and his descendants were believed to preside over Ægina and Salamis. It is needless to multiply examples.

[31] Probably this story is founded on the theft of the Palladium by night from Troy, by Ulysses and Diomed. A similar spirit of chivalrous daring, mingled with superstition, suggested a similar enterprise to Fernando Perez del Pulgar, surnamed ‘of the Exploits,’ when serving at the siege of Granada under Ferdinand of Castile. “Who will stand by me,” said he, “in an enterprise of desperate peril?” The Christian cavaliers well knew the hair–brained valour of del Pulgar, yet not one hesitated to step forward. He chose fifteen companions, all men of powerful arm and dauntless heart. In the dead of the night he led them forth from the camp, and approached the city cautiously, until he arrived at a postern gate, which opened upon the Darro, and was guarded by foot soldiers. The guards, little thinking of such an unwonted and partial attack, were for the most part fast asleep. The gate was forced, and a confused and chance medley skirmish ensued. Fernando stopped not to take part in the affray. Putting spurs to his horse, he galloped furiously through the streets, striking fire out of the stones at every bound. Arrived at the principal mosque, he sprang from his horse, and kneeling at the portal, took possession of the edifice as a Christian chapel, dedicating it to the blessed Virgin. In testimony of the ceremony, he took a tablet, which he had brought with him, on which was inscribed, in large letters, Ave Maria, and nailed it to the door of the mosque with his dagger. This done, he remounted his steed, and galloped back to the gate. The alarm had been given, the city was in an uproar; soldiers were gathering from every direction. They were astonished at seeing a Christian warrior speeding from the interior of the city. Fernando, overturning some and cutting down others, rejoined his companions, who still maintained possession of the gate by dint of hard fighting, and they all made good their retreat to the camp. The Moors were at a loss to conjecture the meaning of this wild and apparently fruitless assault, but great was their exasperation when, on the following day, they discovered the trophy of hardihood and prowess, the Ave Maria, thus elevated in the very centre of the city. The mosque, thus boldly sanctified by Fernando Perez del Pulgar, was eventually, after the capture of Granada, converted into a cathedral.—Washington Irving, Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada, chap. 91.

[32] The spirit–stirring strains, which are said to have produced so wonderful an effect, are the dullest longs and shorts that ever were coupled together, if they are the same which have reached us under TyrtÆus’s name.

[33] A celebrated oracle; those who entered the cave are commonly said never to have smiled again. It appears, however, from Pausanias, that this loss of the important faculty which is said to distinguish men from brutes was only temporary. The method of consulting the oracle was singular. The aspirant descended into a cave, where was a small crevice, into which he proceeded to insinuate himself feet foremost. So soon as he had got his knees in, the whole body was sucked forwards by an overpowering force, and after passing through the circuit of the mysteries, he was ejected, feet foremost, at the place where he had entered.

[34]

Henry VI. Part 2, Act iv., sc. 2.

[35] We by no means pledge ourselves to the truth of this piece of secret history, which is not supported by the testimony of earlier authors.

[36] Pausanias, iv. 17.

[37] Ithome was a strong town on Mount Ithome, now Vourkan, in which the Messenians made their last stand in the first war.

[38] When the Messenians were restored by Epaminondas, the locality of this deposit was indicated by a dream. It was found to consist of a tin plate beaten thin, and folded into the shape of a book, upon which were engraved the rites and doctrines of the Eleusinian mysteries.—Pausanias, iv. 26.

[39] We have retained this story in the text for its intrinsic beauty, and regret being obliged to say that it is entirely false. It has been shown by Bentley to be inconsistent with Herodotus and Thucydides, and is tacitly rejected by Clinton. Zancle was taken by the Samians, b.c. 494, at the suggestion of Anaxilas, tyrant of Rhegium; who afterwards expelled the Samians, and filling the city with men of various nations, called it Messene, being himself of Messenian descent.

[40] Ingulph, Hist. Croyland. In later times the ceremony seems to have been universally religious:—see, for example, the dubbing of Don Quixote. We cannot doubt, however, but that Ingulph knew the practice of his own times. Probably the Normans, whose conversion to Christianity was not of very old standing, still retained a flavour of heathenism.

[41] It is interesting to trace the physical changes of the island; the formidable swamps above mentioned are now converted into the richest land in England, and we doubt whether Peterborough, or Lincoln, then a centre of trade and commerce, be now accessible to any vessel more dignified than a coal–barge or an eight–oared cutter.

[42] “Now (A.D. 1692) Bulldyke Gate, on the south side of the monastery.”—Gibson’s Saxon Chronicle.

[43] Hugo Candidus.

[44] Bower continued the Scotichronicon of Fordun. The whole work is usually quoted under the latter name.

[45] Tytler, History of Scotland, vol. i.

[46] Remainder.

[47] Tidings.

[48] Recovered entirely.

[49] In anger.

[50] Bone.

[51] Stop.

[52] Then.

[53] Cast forcibly.

[54] Caught.

[55] Could.

[56] Knew of no advantage.

[57] Abiding place.

[58] Glanced.

[59] A town in Ayrshire, where many of the insurgents had submitted a short time before.

[60] Hemingford, Hist. Edw. I., ed. Hearne, p. 126–9. Barded, clad in armour as well as his rider.

[61] Hemingford, Hist. Edw. I., ed. Hearne, p. 134.

[62] His system of war is embodied in some monkish Latin verses called ‘The Bruce’s Testament,’ of which the following is an old Scottish translation:—

On fut suld be all Scottis weire,
Be hyll and moss thaimself to weire,
Lat wod for wallis be; bow, and spier,
And battle–axe, their fechting gear.
That ennymeis do thaim na dreire
In strait placis gar keip all stoire,
And birnen the planen land thaim befoire.
Thanan sall they pass away in haist
Quhen that thai find nothing bot waist;
With wyles and wakenen of the nycht,
And mekil noyse maid on hycht;
Thanen shall thai turnen with gret affrai
As thai were chasit with swerd away.
This is the counsall and intent
Of gud King Robert’s testament.

[63] Tytler, vol. i.

[64] Rather.

[65] Wyntown, VIII, xv. v. 65.

[66] Consigned him to the devil as a traitor.

[67] Promised for his reward.

[68] Fails in obtaining peace.

[69] Taken.

[70] Has ill luck.

[71] Menteith followed so nigh.

[72] Least expected.

[73] Occasion.

[74] Nimmed, taken.

[75] Office.

[76] Strangely.

[77] Sentence he received.

[78] Afterwards.

[79] Alive.

[80] Embowelled him while warm.

[81] Such.

[82] Seized there.

[83] Destroyed where. In many different places.

[84] In memory.

[85] Standards.

[86] Head. Were left (?)

[87] ?

[88] It is not to be feared a traitor shall succeed.

[89] A lad learn (?) to build in peace.

[90] Stow, Edw. I.

[91] It is impossible in English to give the odd effect of the leonine rhymes. The meaning of these rude lines may be as rudely given thus:

Behold the proud and cruel king, who like a leopard dread
In life the people of the Lord did put in woeful stead:
For which, good friend, along with us unto that place of woe,
Where friends and devils company, right merrily you go.

[92] Why did I sin, woe, woe is me? and took no heed or thought.
Why did I sin, woe, woe is me? all that I loved is nought.
Why did I sin, woe, woe is me? my seed upon the shore
I sowed with toil and sweat, to reap of pains an endless store.

[93] Lib. xii. 13.

[94] Lib. xii. 9.

[95] In the celebrated interview between Solon and Croesus, the sage first offended the king by questioning the power of wealth to produce happiness, and concluded by reading him a long moral lesson, to the purport, that since no man knew what the morrow might produce, no man could be called happy until present prosperity was crowned by a happy death.

[96] Herod, i. 86–88.

[97] “Ci doivent prendre garde cils qui leur fames mainent avec euls en os, et en batailles, car Daires li rois de Perse, & Antoines, et autre prince terrien manerent leur fames en lor compaignie en os quant il i aloient, & en batailles: et pour ce furent desconfit et occis, Daires par le grant Alexandre, et Antoines par Octavien. Pour ce meismement ne devroient mener nus princes fames en tex besoignes: car elles ne sont fors empecchement.” The language is that of the thirteenth century. Croniques de S. Denys, liv. v. 1.

[98] Arrian, iv. 20.

[99] In Verrem. Act. ii. lib. v. 30.

[100] Plut. in Mar.

[101] Dion, lib. xl.—CÆsar, in his Commentaries, slurs this transaction over with the mere notice that Vercingetorix was surrendered (viii. 89).

[102] “Valerian for his persecutions was exposed to insult and reproaches, according to what was spoken to Isaiah, saying, ‘They have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and recompense their sins upon them.’”—Dionysius of Alexandria, ap. Euseb., lib. vii. 10.

[103] Euseb., Life of Constantine, lib. iv. 11.

[104] Tamerlane—a tragedy worth reading, to see the notion which Rowe had of a Tartar chief, and the absurdity produced by treating such subjects with the sentimental bombast of the heroic romance.

[105] M. de Masson asserts (it is to be taken on his authority, not on ours) that he knew a lady of the Russian court, in the reign of Catherine II., who kept a slave who was her perruquier shut up in a cage in her own chamber. She let him out every day to arrange her head–dress, and locked him up again with her own hands after the business of the toilet was over. His box was placed at her bed–head, and in this fashion he attended her wherever she went. His fare was bread and water. He passed three years in this captivity, the object of which was to conceal from all the world that the lady wore a wig. The close confinement was a punishment for running away from her service; the meagre diet a measure of revenge, because he could not prevent her growing older and uglier every day.—MÉmoires Secrets sur la Russie.

[106] Rymer, Foedera, vol. ii.

[107] Lord Berners’s Froissart, vol. ii. chap. 203.

[108] Froissart.

[109] Hist. de M. Boucicaut.

[110] “Ains cheurent en la gueule de leurs ennemies, si comme est le fer sur l’enclume.” It is a queer comparison: the only apparent resemblance is in the thorough beating which they and the iron were both destined to undergo.

[111] Hist. de M. de Boucicaut; premiÈre partie, chaps. xxv. xxvi.

[112] Malcolm, History of Persia.

[113] Il. xxii. 60–76.

[114] vi. 447–461. Sotheby’s Homer.

[115] Weight for weight: to determine the sum which two minÆ would correspond to in value is less easy.

[116] Herod, v. 77; vi. 79.

[117] See the instances of FidenÆ, Liv. iv. 34; Veii, v. 22.—Carthage. Appian.

[118] In Epirus, 150,000 persons are said to have been enslaved by L. Æmilius Paulus. In CÆsar’s Gallic wars 1,000,000 prisoners were taken and of course sold. (Plin. Hist. Nat. vii. 25.) Another million is said to have been slain: but these round numbers may be suspected to be much exaggerated. Upwards of 100,000 Jews, according to Josephus, were reduced to slavery by Titus. Cicero says of Britain, “It is well known that there is not a drachm of silver in the island, and no hope of booty except in slaves; and among them you will hardly find learned men or musicians.” Ad Att. iv. 16.

[119] It would be uncandid to pass in entire silence over the two deepest stains perhaps in modern history—the Spanish conquests in America, and the slave trade.

[120] See, below, the Black Prince’s address to John of France.

[121] Froissart, vol. ii. cap. 142, 145 (138, 141).

[122] Froissart, vol. ii., cap. 146 (142).

[123] We cannot deny this merit at least to what is called, vaguely enough, the age of chivalry. Few indeed merited the appellation of Bayard, “sans peur, et sans reproche,” but many were “sans peur,” and thereby escaped one most fruitful source of “reproche.”

[124] In the contest for the crown of Castile, between Don Pedro and Henry of Transtamara, the former was supported by the Black Prince, the latter by the French under Du Guesclin, who had been taken prisoner by Sir John Chandos.

[125] Froissart, vol. i. chap. 239. Subjoined to the chapter the reader will find another version of this story, taken from a most amusing book, entitled ‘MÉmoires de Messire Bertrand du Guesclin.’ The passage from Froissart, which illustrates the same point in a much smaller compass, seemed better fitted for insertion in the text; but the other gives such a minute and pleasant representation of manners, that we cannot altogether omit it; and it is too long for a note.

[126] Lib. iv.

[127] Fr. journÉe—though the day has not gone, &c.

[128] Lord Berners’s Froissart, vol. i. chap. 168, 169, 173.

[129] This expression will remind the reader of a favourite saying of the “Good Sir James” Douglas, the companion of Robert Bruce’s dangers, that “It is better to hear the lark sing, than the mouse cheep:” meaning that he would never shut himself up in a castle while he could keep the open field.

[130] Si le gagneroie aincois a filler toutes les filleresses qui en France sont, que ce que je demourasse plus entre vos mains.

[131] Hist. du Messire Bertrand du Guesclin.

[132] Herod. vii. 35.

[133] Daniel, iv. 24, 25, 27, 29–32.

[134] Herod. iii. 14.

[135] The body of Cromwell was taken from the grave, exposed on a gibbet, and finally buried under the gallows, and this in the gay and polished reign of Charles II., who had not even the poor excuse for this despicable revenge which the Persian king’s unbridled passions may supply.

[136] The modern Siwah.

[137] iii. 21.

[138] Botanic Garden, v. 473.

[139] Apis was a black calf, with a square white spot on its forehead, the figure of an eagle on its back, a double tuft of hair on its tail, and the figure of the cantharus, the sacred beetle, under its tongue. When an animal bearing these marks was found, or manufactured, the birth of Apis was announced to the people, a temple was built on the spot, where he was fed for four months, and after various ceremonies he was finally conveyed to Memphis, where he spent the rest of his life in a splendid palace, receiving divine honours.

[140] iii. 31.

[141] Preface to Waller’s Poems, Lond. 1711.

[142] A Syrian city; its site is not clearly ascertained. Cambyses seems to have been at this time on his route home.

[143]

King Henry IV. Part 2, iv. 4.

The ground work of this passage is to be found in Holinshed; and the same tale is told in Fabyan’s Chronicles, and in Restell’s Pastime of Pleasure. The latter writers state it without any appearance of doubt. But Holinshed uses a degree of caution not very common in a chronicler of that time: “Whether this was true that so he spake, as one that gave too much credit to foolish prophecies and vain tales, or whether it was fained, as in such cases it commonly happeneth, we leave it to the advised reader to judge.” The advised reader will probably hesitate little in adopting the latter conclusion; especially as the same tale is told of other persons. See the notes to Shakspeare, in the edition of 1821. The actors and the scenes differ in the different cases; but the equivoque arises in all upon the name “Jerusalem.”

[144] Herod, iii. 65.

[145] Loss of sensation or a depraved state of sensation in the extremities, is a common symptom of madness. Where the former exists, it is not uncommon for patients to burn themselves dreadfully, from mere insensibility to the action of fire. The latter is often manifested by a sort of irritation which leads the sufferer to cut and lacerate the hands and feet. These facts, with a little allowance for exaggeration, may do something to explain rather a startling passage.—See Dr. Conolly on Insanity.

[146] Philo ?e?? ??et??. sub fin.

[147] Carr’s Northern Summer.

[148] This sketch of Paul’s life is chiefly taken from Masson, MÉmoires SÉcrets sur la Russie. Several of the anecdotes rest on Dr. Clarke’s authority.

[149] Hist. of Greece, p. 18.

[150] The Furies. These goddesses were worshipped with mysterious veneration by the Athenians, who held it an ill omen to call them by their proper name, and spoke of them as the venerable goddesses (se??? ?e??), or the Eumenides, because they had been propitious (??e?e??) to Orestes after his acquittal by the court of Areopagus. This was owing partly to a general dislike of alluding to gloomy subjects, which led them, among other things, to avoid speaking openly of death or the dead (hence the phrases ?? ?a??te?, ?? ?at????e???, those who are worn out, the departed, &c.); partly to wishing to propitiate an object of dread by fair words, as the Highlanders called fairies “men of peace,” especially on a Friday, when their power was greatest, and the Lowlanders entitled them “good neighbours,” and the devil himself the “goodman,” keeping reverentially out of sight his territorial designation.

[151] See Greece, p. 55.

[152] ?? t?????t????? se? f??? e?????a? t?? t?? ?e??.

?pp. 445.

[153] Gyges. Candaules, whom he murdered, was one of the HeraclidÆ, or descendants of Hercules. The story is told in Herodotus, i. 8.

[154] Herod, i. 91.

[155] Hesiod., Theog., 220.

[156] Æsch., Sept. c. Theb., 832, 951. Eurip., PhoenissÆ, 1518.

[157] Some modern historical instances of a similar superstitious feeling are given lower down in the text. Its nature, however, cannot be better illustrated than by reference to the legend attaching to the family of Redgauntlet in the novel of that name. The downfall of the house of Ravenswood, in the admirable tale of the Bride of Lammermoor, though foretold and fated, is not sufficiently identified with the story of the Mermaid’s Well, to be quoted on this occasion. If it were so, that work, from the severe grandeur of its serious parts, and the singularly impressive way in which all events, and all agency, human and supernatural, combine from the outset to bring about a catastrophe, foreseen and prophesied, but not the less inevitable, would offer to the English reader an excellent example of the spirit of the superstitions and tragedies here alluded to, though widely differing from them in form.

[158] Potter’s Æschylus: Agam., 1157; ed. Blomf. We give the translation as we find it, and are not answerable for the rendering of ???? ... ???????? ???????.

[159] Symmons’ Agamemnon; 1414, ed. Blomf.

[160] A similar belief existed in England with respect to the alienations of church property at the Reformation, of which the following is a remarkable instance.

Sir Walter Raleigh was gifted by Queen Elizabeth with the lands of Sherborne in Dorsetshire, which had been bequeathed by Osmund, a Norman knight, to the see of Canterbury, with a heavy denunciation against any rash or profane person who should attempt to wrest them from the church. This anathema was, in the opinion of the vulgar, first accomplished in the person of the Protector Somerset, to whom, after sundry vicissitudes, the property belonged. This nobleman was hunting in the woods of Sherborne when his presence was required by Edward the Sixth, and he was shortly afterwards committed to the Tower, and subsequently beheaded. The forfeited estate then lapsed to the See of Salisbury until the reign of Elizabeth, to whom it was made over by the bishop, at the instigation of Raleigh, who was blamed, and apparently with justice, for having displayed on this occasion a grasping and even dishonourable spirit. So strong were the religious prejudices of the day, that even the discerning Sir John Harrington attributed to a judgment from heaven a trifling accident which occurred to Raleigh while surveying the demesne which he coveted. Casting his eyes upon it, according to the notion of that writer, as Ahab did upon Naboth’s vineyard, and, in the course of a journey from Plymouth to the coast, discussing at the same time the advantages of the desired possession, Sir Walter’s horse fell, and the face of the rider, then, as the relater observes, “thought to be a very good one,” was buried in the ground. After Raleigh’s fall the estate was seized by James the First, who wished to bestow it on his favourite, Car, Earl of Somerset; but Prince Henry interfered, and obtained possession, intending to restore it to the owner. The prince’s death, however, frustrated his intentions, and left Sherborne still in the favourite’s hands. The premature death of this promising youth was thought by the vulgar again to corroborate the old prophecy. To Carew, the youngest son, and the injured survivor of Sir Walter, the subsequent attainder of Car, and the forfeiture of his estates upon his committal to the Tower, appeared to confirm the ill fortune attendant upon the owners of Sherborne; and the misfortunes which afterwards befell the house of Stuart were also considered by him to corroborate the old presage. On the confiscation of Car’s estates, Digby, Earl of Bristol, obtained Sherborne from the king, and in his family it now remains.—Life of Sir W. Raleigh, by Mrs. Thomson, chap. vi.

[161] Stewart, Sketches of Highlanders, part i. sect. xii.

[162] The proper meaning of this word will form the subject of a future article; meanwhile it is sufficient to observe, that it will never be employed here to denote specifically a blood–thirsty and oppressive ruler, but merely one who has raised himself to a degree of power unauthorised by the constitution of his country.

[163] Schol. in Nub. Meurs. Pisistratus. This story is told of Cimon, the father of Miltiades, instead of Megacles, by Herodotus, vi. 103.

[164] Or Pallas, the Latin Minerva.

[165] Herod. i. 60.

[166] Plut. vit. Solon.

[167] Meursius, Pisistratus.

[168] Meurs. Pisistratus.

[169] He is accused, however, of having interpolated several lines to gratify Athenian vanity, and one with a deeper view; that, namely, which says of Ajax, that he ranged his own alongside of the Athenian ships (Il. ii. 558) with the purpose of strengthening Athens’ claim to Salamis, then hotly contested by Megara. The Megarian versions said, on the other hand, that Ajax led ships from Salamis, and from Polichne, NisÆa, and other towns of Megaris. Both this trick, and the credit of collecting Homer’s poems, are ascribed by other authors to Solon. Some eminent modern scholars have doubted whether this arrangement and revision ever took place.—See Knight, Proleg. ad Hom. § 4, 5.

[170] Much doubt has arisen which of these was the elder. Thucydides says, contrary to the general opinion, that it was Hippias, and he seems to be corroborated by Herodotus; but it is a question of no importance, and not worth discussion. Pisistratus left a third legitimate son, named Thessalus, of whom scarce any mention is made in history, and a natural son, Hegesistratus, established by his father as tyrant of Sigeum, on the Hellespont.

[171] Statues of Hermes, the Latin Mercury, consisting of a square pillar surmounted by a head of the god.

[172] A space in the city, surrounded by public buildings, in which the people usually held their meetings.

[173] Ad. Att. lib. ix. 10.

[174] In modern language this would be the town–hall. There was a table kept here for the Prytanes (the officers presiding in the senate for the time being), and to have the right of eating here (s?t?s?? ?? ???ta?e??) was one of the greatest honours that his country could bestow on an Athenian.

[175] Allusions to the affection with which these patriots were regarded, both generally and with reference to this custom, are frequent in Aristophanes.—See ?pp 786, ??a??. 980, Sf. 1225.

[176] Not the Hesperides, but an island called Achilleia, or Leuce, at the mouth of the Danube, consecrated to Achilles, where his tomb was visible. The hero, however, must have been there in proper person, since he espoused either Helen or Iphigenia, and had a son by her. Here he dwelt in perpetual youth, with Diomed, the Ajaxes, and other heroes. Many mythological tales are related concerning the island. Birds swept and sprinkled the temple of Achilles with water from their wings: passing vessels often heard the sound of sweet yet awe–inspiring music; others distinguished the din of arms and horses and the shouts of battle. If vessels anchored for the night off the island, Achilles and Helen would come on board, drink with the sailors, and sing them the verses of Homer, with particulars of their personal adventures, even of the most delicate description. Once a man who ventured to sleep upon the island was awoke by Achilles, and taken home to sup with him, when the hero played the lyre, and Patroclus served wine: Thetis and other gods were there. Many other stories, equally amusing and no less worthy of credit, are related concerning this wonderful place.—Bayle, art. Achilleia.

[177] Bland, Anthology

[178] See Herod. iv. 137, for the change in policy arising from such a change in constitution.

[179] ?as??e??. The king, simply and by pre–eminence,—the title by which the Persian monarch was universally known in Greece.

[180] Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici, chap. i.

[181] Sismondi, chap. xc.

[182] Upon any emergency, real or pretended, it was usual for the magistrates to convene the citizens, and procure the appointment of a balia, or extraordinary council, which possessed the absolute power of a Roman dictator.

[183] It would have been more agreeable to the plan of this book to translate from the original accounts of Machiavelli, or Politiano, who was an eye–witness of the conspiracy; but their accounts are long and minute, not to say tedious, and would require much condensation; and we gladly avail ourselves of the brief and spirited narrative of Mr. Perceval.

[184] “Conspiring against one prince,” says Machiavelli, “is a doubtful and dangerous undertaking; but to conspire against two at the same time must be either downright folly or madness:” and he enforces his principle by the examples of the Pazzi and of Harmodius and Aristogiton. “Pelopidas,” he adds, “had ten tyrants instead of two to deal with:” it would be very dangerous, however, for any man to build on the success of this conspiracy, which, indeed, was almost miraculous, and is mentioned by all writers who speak of it, as not only a rare, but almost unexampled event.—Political Discourses, book iii. chap. 6.

[185] Machiavelli has drawn a shrewd caution to conspirators from the failure of the attack upon Lorenzo. “It is necessary, in undertakings of this kind, to make use of men that have been sufficiently hardened and tried, and to trust no others, how courageous soever they may be accounted: for no man can answer even for his own resolution, if he have not thoroughly proved it before; for the confusion he must naturally be in at such a time may either make him drop the dagger out of his hand, or say something which may have the same effect. Lucilla, sister to Commodus, having spirited up Quintianus to kill her brother, he waited for him as he came to the amphitheatre, and stepping up towards him with a drawn dagger in his hand, told him ‘the senate had sent him that:’ upon which he was immediately seized before he got near enough to stab him. Antonio de Volterra being fixed upon to kill Lorenzo de’ Medici, cried out, as he advanced to kill him, ‘Ha! traitor!’ which proved the preservation of Lorenzo, and the ruin of the conspiracy.”—Political Discourses, b. iii. 6.

[186] The family arms of the Medici were six golden balls (palle d’oro). They asserted that this bearing was derived from the impressions left on the shield of one of their ancestors by a gigantic Saracen, who wielded a mace with six iron globes hung from it. Their detractors said that they were the arms of an apothecary, from whom the family derived the name of Medici, and that the golden balls were nothing better than gilded pills.

[187] Herod. iii. 134.—The style of Herodotus is highly dramatic, and we by no means intend to say that such a conversation took place, though there are circumstances attendant on the narrative which may satisfactorily answer the natural question, how came it to be reported and known? But whether we believe it to be genuine or not, it embodies a plausible reason for an expedition which seems at variance with the character of Darius, and probably contains the grounds on which Herodotus accounted for it.

[188] They are said by Herodotus to have consisted of 700,000 men, horse and foot; the fleet of 600 ships.

[189] Some curious particulars remain concerning the GetÆ, whom he encountered on his march. They believed in the immortality of the soul, as taught them by their lawgiver Zalmoxis, or as the name is otherwise read, Zamolxis, and in, a future state of happiness. Every fifth year they sent a messenger to inform Zalmoxis, whom they had deified, of their wants, in this manner. Choosing a man by lot, they first give him full instructions as to the purport of his embassy, and then certain men, taking him by the hands and feet, toss him in the air, others hold three spears placed so that he might fall upon them. If he die immediately, Zalmoxis is thought to be favourably disposed; if not, they call the messenger a scoundrel, and proceed to make trial of somebody else.

[190] The reader may compare the following passage of Froissart, chap. xviii. The English army were in pursuit of the Scots, then employed in ravaging Northumberland under the Earl of Douglas, who was strongly posted upon a hill side, with a deep and rocky river in his front. “And there were harauldis of armes sent to the Scottis gyvyng them knowledge if that they would come and passe the ryver to fight with them in the playne felde, they wolde draw backe fro the ryver, and gyve theym sufficient place to arraynge theyr batelles, eyther the same day, or els the next, as they wolde chuse them selfe, or els to lette them do lyke wyse, and they wolde come over to them. And whan the Scottis harde this they toke counsell among theymselfe: and anon they answered the harauldis, how they wolde do nother the one nor the other, and said, syrs, your kyng and his lordis se well how we be here in this realme, and have burnt and wasted the countrey as we have passed through, and if they be displeased therwith, lette them amend it whan they wyll, for here we wyll abide, as long as it shall please us.” Challenges of this sort were often given in the days of chivalry, and not unfrequently accepted.

[191] Herod. lib. iv. c. 83–142.

[192] This seems to be not a name, but a title of office, belonging to the commander–in–chief of the Parthian army, as the appellation Brennus is supposed to have denoted a similar office among the Gauls.

[193] This description will bring to the reader’s recollection the skill of our own ancestors in the use of this destructive weapon, which mainly contributed to many of their most celebrated victories. The following extract relates to the battle of Crecy. “Ther were of the genowayes(a) crosbowes about a fiftene thousand, but they were so wery of goying a fote that day, a six leages, armed with their crosbowes, that they sayde to their constables, we be nat well ordred to fyght this day, for we be nat in the case to do any grete dede of arms, we have more nede of rest:—these wordes came to the erle of Alencon, who sayd, a man is well at ease to be charged with such a sort of raskalles, to be faynt, and fayle nowe at most nede.... When the genowayes were assembled toguyder, and beganne to approche, they made a grete leape, and crye, to abasshe thenglysshemen, but they stode styll, and styredde nat for all that: than the genowayes agayne the second tyme made another leape, and a fell crye, and stepped forward a lyttell, and thenglysshemen remeued nat one fote: thirdly agayne they leapt, and cryed, and went forth tyll they came within shotte; than they shotte feersly with their crosbowes; than thenglysshe archers stept forth one pase, and lette fly their arowes so holly and so thycke, that it seemed snow: when the genowayes felte the arowes persynge through heedes, armes, and brestes, many of them cast downe their crosbowes, and dyde cut their strings, and retourned dyscomfited. When the French kynge sawe them flye away, he sayd, slee these raskalles, for they shall let and trouble us without reason: than ye shulde have seen the men at armes dasshe in amonge them, and kylled a grete nombre of them: and ever styll the englysshemen shot whereas they saw thickest preace; the sharp arowes ranne into the men of armes, and into their horses, and many fell, horse and men, amonge the genowayes: and whan they were downe, they coulde nat relyve again, the preace was so thicke that one overthrewe another.”—Froissart, chap. 130. So at the battle of Homildoun, Percy wished to charge the Scots, who were drawn up upon a hill, but the Earl of March retained him, and bid him open their ranks by archery. “Then the English archers marching against the Scots, stitched them together with arrows, and made them bristle like a hedgehog, as it were with thorns and prickles; the hands and arms of the Scots they nailed to their own lances, so that with that sharp shower of arrows some they overthrew, others they wounded, and very many they slew. Upon which the valiant Sir John Swinton exclaimed, as with the voice of a herald, ‘My noble fellow–soldiers, what has bewitched you, that you give not way to your wonted gallantry: that you rush not to the mellay, hand to hand, nor pluck up heart like men, to attack those who would slaughter you with arrows, like hinds in a park. Let such as will go down with me, and in God’s name we will break into the enemy and so either come off with life, or else fall knightly with honour.’”—(Fordun, Scotichr. lib. xv. cap. 14.) One manuscript adds, “I have never heard nor read that the English in fair field beat an equal number of Scots by charge of lance, but very often by the thunder–shower (fulminatione) of their arrows. Let the latter therefore beware of waiting the flight of archery, but hasten to close combat, even as Sir John Swinton then did.” This is the story which Sir Walter Scott has worked up into his poem of Halidon Hill.

(a) Genoese.

[194] In European warfare, overthrown knights were often unable to rise from the incumbrance of their ponderous defences, and not very unfrequently suffocated by dust, heat, and want of air.

[195] Examples of a similar high sense of honour might be multiplied from the history of chivalry. Once during his crusade Richard Coeur–de–Lion saw a party of Templars surrounded and overmatched by Saracens, and being unarmed, sent some of his barons to support the Christians until he himself should be ready for combat. “Meanwhile an overpowering force of the enemy came up, and when he arrived at the field, the danger appeared so imminent, that he was entreated not to hazard his own person in the unequal contest. The king replied, his colour changing with his boiling blood, ‘Sith I have sent dear comrades to battle with a promise of following to assist them, if, as I have engaged, I do not defend them with all my strength, but being absent, and wanting, which Heaven forbid, they should meet death, I will never again usurp the name of king.’ So with no more words, rushing into the midst of the Turks like a thunderbolt, he pierced through, and cut them down and dispersed them, and then with many prisoners and his friends delivered, he returned to the camp.”—(Broad Stone of Honour, book iv. p. 174.)—So also the Marquis de Villena, a distinguished warrior of the court of Ferdinand of Arragon, being asked by Queen Isabella why he had exposed his own life to save a trusty servant nearly overpowered by odds, replied, “Should I not peril one life to serve him, who would have adventured three, had he possessed them, for me?”

[196] So Xenophon says, in the Anabasis, that the Persians never encamped less than 60 stadia (6 or 7 miles) from the Greeks. “The Persian army is a bad thing by night. For their horses are tethered, and shackled also for the most part, that they may not run away if they get loose: and if there be any disturbance, the Persian has to saddle and bridle his horse, and mount him loaded with his armour, which is all difficult by night, especially in any tumult. For these reasons they encamped away from the Grecians.”

[197] North’s Plutarch; Life of Crassus. This statement of numbers, though large, is not incredible, since the army originally consisted of seven legions, besides 4000 horse and as many light–armed infantry; and few appear to have effected their escape.

[198] Nominally about 1l. 13s.; but calculations of this sort convey little instruction, unless the relative value of the precious metals, then and now, were known.

[199] North’s Plutarch; Life of Antony.

[200] A city founded by the Parthians as the capital of their empire, on the eastern bank of the Tigris, nearly opposite to Seleucia, which was built shortly after the death of Alexander by Seleucus Nicator, and intended as the capital of the East. The history of Julian’s campaign is full of interest, and will repay the perusal. It has, however, no particular connexion with the subject of this chapter, which has already reached length sufficient to preclude the introduction of extraneous matter, and we therefore are compelled to take up the narrative of Julian’s proceedings only at the point where his misfortunes commenced.

[201] At the siege of Nisibis, in the invasion of Mesopotamia above mentioned, the elephants being brought up to the attack of a breach, became unmanageable from pain and terror, and did much damage to the assaulting force.

[202] Lunari acie, siuuatisque lateribus occursuros hosti manipulos instruebat.

[203] Ctesiphon—see note, p. 214. Sogdiana, the northern province of the Parthian empire, adjoining Scythia.

[204] Arachosia, now Arakhaj, one of the eastern provinces of Persia, separated by Candahar (Candaor) from the Indus. Margiana, a province of Parthia, south of the Oxus, and rather between that river and the Caspian Sea. Iberia lies between the Caspian and Black seas, south of Caucasus. Atropatia is south of Iberia, separated from Armenia by the Araxes. Adiabene is the western part of Babylonia. The poet proceeds southward through Media to Susiana, the province of Susa, on the lowest part of the eastern bank of the Tigris, to Balsora, a celebrated city and emporium of the East; having completed the circuit of the Parthian empire, except the deserts forming its southern boundary, between the Persian Gulf and Arachosia, where he began.

[205] Paradise Regained, iii. 300–344.

[206] The night before Julian consented to accept the imperial purple at the hands of his rebellious army, he saw in a vision (so at least he told his friends) one with the attributes of the tutelary genius of the empire. The phantom complained that hitherto his desire to serve the sleeper had been, frustrated, and warned him to accept the proffered dignity as he valued the continuance of his care and protection.

[207] Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xxv. 2.

[208] Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, was remarkable for the favourable issue of all his undertakings. Amasis, king of Egypt, wrote thus to him: “It is pleasant to hear of the good fortune of a friend and connexion; but your extraordinary prosperity pleases not me, knowing, as I do, that the Deity is envious: and I would have those for whom I am interested meet both with success and failure, and think a chequered life better than unclouded fortune. For I have never heard of any man who, being prosperous in all things, has not at last perished miserably, root and branch. Be persuaded, then, and take this precaution against your good fortune; select whatever you have most valuable, and would most regret to lose, and so bestow this that it shall never come to man again; and if, in future, good and evil fortune are not blended, remedy it in the manner which I now propose.” Polycrates took the advice and cast into the sea an engraved gem of extraordinary value; and within a few days a fish was presented to him within which the gem was found. Amasis, hearing of it, renounced all friendship and connexion with him, as a man predestined to an evil fate. The event must have strongly confirmed the notion from which the advice proceeded; for Polycrates having given offence to the satrap of Sardis, or, as is more likely, being considered too powerful and dangerous a neighbour to remain on the Ionian coast, was entrapped into that nobleman’s power, and crucified by him.—Herod. iii. 40.

[209] Scott, vol. vii. p. 215.

[210] Segur, liv. vi. chap. 6.

[211] Scott, p. 301.

[212] It is curious that Kutusoff and Napoleon were actually retreating from Malo–Yarowslavitch, the scene of the battle, at the same moment; the one fearing another attack, the other despairing of success in forcing the position.

[213] Segur, ix. 11

[214] During the whole retreat only one corps grounded arms to the enemy, and that not until it was surrounded and cut off from the main army, and reduced to extremity. This occurred just before the passage of the Beresina.

[215] Segur, xi. 3

[216] Segur, xi. 5.

[217] To get at the exact truth is no easy matter, even where the means of ascertaining it seem most ample. General Gourgaud, who also served in 1812, has published an elaborate criticism of the Comte de Segur’s work, in which he maintains that the difficulties and losses of the passage of the Beresina have been excessively exaggerated,—that the French had 250 guns, which commanded the opposite bank, and 45,000 men under arms,—and that of women and children, whom Segur is always fond of introducing, there were next to none. Throughout the narrative we have followed Segur’s account, as generally considered most authoritative, though he seems fond of writing for effect, and his accounts, as far as disparity of numbers in this latter part of the retreat is concerned, are somewhat startling.

[218] Segur, xii. 2.