"ried into fervitude, their youths caftrated', their daughters carried to Bactra, and their country given to others. 31.423. Youths caftrated.]-We learn that caftration was in a very early period of fociety inflicted as a punishment for various crimes. Diodorus Siculus, book i. chap. 78, fpeaking of the Egyptians, has this paffage: "The laws with refpect to women were remarkably fevere : if a man committed a rape upon a free woman, he had his private parts cut off; they were of opinion, that this one crime included three others of a heinous nature-injuftice, defilement (ky TWY TEXTWv ovgxvon) and confufion with respect to children." Caftration in many countries was the punishment of adultery; and by an edict of Juftinian it was inflicted alfo on fodomites. Hume, in his History of England, gives the following extraordinary act of cruelty from Fitzftephen, which was perpetrated on the clergy by Geoffrey, the father of Henry the Second. "When he was master of Normandy, the chapter of Seez prefumed, without his confent, to proceed to the election of a bishop; upon which he ordered all of them, with the bishop elect, to be caftrated, and made all their testicles be brought him in a platter." Mr. Gibbon, relating this anecdote, fubjoins, in his usual farcaftic ftyle, "Of the pain and danger they might juftly complain; yet, fince they had vowed chastity, he deprived them of a fuperfluous treasure.”—T. 6 Bactra.]-This place, though mentioned by Strabo and other ancient writers, as of great importance, and the capital of a province remarkable for its fertility, is now either entirely unknown, or a very infignificant place. Some are of opinion that its modern name is Termend; d'Anville thinks it is the city Balck. Bactra is thus mentioned by Virgil: Sed neque Medorum fylvæ ditiffima terra, Nec pulcher Ganges, atque auro turbidus Hermus B 4 T. X. Under 12.3 X. Under cover of the night the Ionian princes were dispatched with the above refolutions to their refpective countrymen. The Ionians, who were thus addreffed, refused to betray the common cause, believing these propofitions made to themselves alone. Such were the incidents which happened on the arrival of the Perfians before Miletus. XI. The Ionians affembled at Lade, as had been appointed, and amongst the various opinions which were delivered in council, Dionyfius the Phocæan leader expreffed himself as follows:-" Our affairs "are come to that delicate point", O Ionians, that we ? Delicate point.]-Literally, " are upon the point of a razor." This paffage is quoted by Longinus, fect. 22. as a happy ample of the hyperbaton, which he explains to be a tranfpofition of words or fentiments out of the natural order of discourse, and implying extreme violence of passion. The word hyperbaton is derived from ve beyond, and Bave to go; and Pearce, in his notes upon Longinus, gives two examples of the ufe of this figure from Virgil: Moriamuret in media arma ruamus. En. ii. 348. Me, me, adfum qui feci in me convertite ferrum. Eu. ix. 427, Livy also has an expreffion fimilar to this of Hercdotus :Jam enim fub ictu teli erant et undique inftabant hoftes." Erasmus, in his Adagia, gives us three examples of this proverbial expreffion, from Homer, Sophocles, and Theocritus. That of Homer is in the tenth book of the Iliad, where Neftor fays: « "we must either be free men or flaves, and even fugitive flaves. If you willingly submit to the trouble, your fituation will at first be painful, but having vanquished your enemies, you will then "enjoy your liberties; if you fuffer your vigour to "relax, or disorder to take place amongst you, I "fee no means of your evading the indignation "with which the Perfian king will punish your "revolt. Submit yourfelves to my direction, and "I will engage, if the gods be but impartial, that " either the enemy fhall not attack you at all, or, "if they do, it shall be greatly to their own detri"ment." XII. In confequence of this speech, the Ionians refigned themselves to the will of Dionyfius. Every day he drew out the whole fleet in order of battle, leaving a proper interval for the use of the oars: he then taught them to manoeuvre their ships, keep 8 Which Pope has rendered thus, diffufely indeed, but with peculiar force and beauty, except in the second line, which is rather flat: But now the last despair furrounds our hoft, T. To manœuvre.]-ALEXπRoov osvμeros.-This paffage Larcher renders thus: " He made them pafs betwixt the ranks, and quickly retreat." Ernestus understands the expreffion differently; it is certainly a nautical term, I have therefore preferred the interpretation which I think the words will admit, and which will certainly be more intelligible and satisfactory to the English reader.-T. ing the men at their arms: the rest of the day the fhips lay on their anchors. Without being fuffered to receive any relaxation from this difcipline, the Ionians till the feventh day punctually obeyed his commands; on the eighth, unused to such fatigue, impatient of its continuance, and oppreffed by the heat, they began to murmur:-" We must On their anchors.]-The Greeks ufed to draw up their veffels along fhore whilft they themselves were on land. When the centinels perceived the enemy's fleet, they made fignals. and their troops immediately came on board. The Ionians, whom their leader would not fuffer to come on fhore, found the fervice very laborious; and as they were not accuflomed to military difcipline, it is not furprifing that they confidered this as a fpecies of fervitude which they were impatient to break.Larcher. The first anchors were probably nothing more than large ftones, and we know that they fometimes ufed for this purpose bags of fand, which might anfwer well enough for veffels of mall burden in a light and fandy bottom. Travellers to the Eaft make mention of wooden anchors; and there belonged to the large fhip made for king Hiero eight anchors of iron and. four of wood. The Phoenicians ufed lead for fome part of their anchors; for in a voyage which they made to Sicily, Diodorus Siculus fays, they found filver in fuch great abundance, that they took the lead out of their anchors, and put filver in its place. More anciently, the anchor had only one fluke or arm; the addition of a second has been ascribed to Anacharfis the Scythian. Our veffels carry their anchors at the prow; but it should feem, from Acts xxvii. verfe 29. that the ancients carried theirs at the ftern. "Then fearing left they fhould have fallen upon rocks, they caft four anchors out of the ftern, and wished for the day." -T. « furely," furely," they exclaimed one to another "have "offended fome deity, to be exposed to these hardfhips; or we must be both abfurd and pufillani« mous, to fuffer this infolent Phocæan, master of "but three veffels, to treat us as he pleases. Having us in his power, he has afflicted us with va "rious evils. Many of us are already weakened by fickness, and more of us likely to become fo. "Better were it for us to endure any calamities "than thefe, and fubmit to fervitude, if it muft be fo, than bear our prefent oppreffions. Let us obey him no longer." The discontent spread, and all fubordination ceafed; they difembarked, fixed their tents in Lade, and keeping themfelves under the fhade, would neither go on board, nor repeat their military exercifes. XIII. 10 Under the fhade.]-This expreffion may feem to border a little on the ridiculous, till it is remembered that in all oriental climates both travellers and natives place their greateft delight in fleeping and taking their repafts under fhade. From this circumftance the author of Obfervations on Paffages of Scripture has taken occafion to explain an expreffion in Homer, which has greatly perplexed the commentators. It is in the foliloquy of Hector, who deliberating whether he shall meet his adverfary unarmed, fays amongst other things: Ου μεν πως νυν εσιν απο δρυος εδ' από πέτρης Τῳ οάριζεμεναι. Il. xxii. 126. Pope omits the word werns altogether, and renders it thus: We greet not here, as man converfing man That |