the Mansion-House, and by the church of St Stephen, Walbrook, and by Dowgate, into the Thames; and the Lang or Long Bourne, which still gives name to one of the wards of London. Any one who has walked over Blackfriars or Waterloo Bridge when the tide is down, may have observed men and boys, and occasionally women, walking upon the shores of the river, knee deep in the slime, with baskets upon their backs, or slung over their arms, picking up pieces of wood that have been left behind by the tide, or bits of coal that have fallen from the numerous coal barges that come up laden from the Pool, where the collier vessels are moored, to discharge their cargoes at the wharfs further to the west. These 'mud-larks,' as they are sometimes called, bear generally a bad character, being accused of not contenting themselves with the prizes they find on the shore, but of robbing the coal barges or other vessels, on board of which they can creep at nightfall without detection. However this may be, their functions do not end with the shore, but in the sewer. With torch in hand, to preserve them from the attacks of numerous large and ferocious rats, they wade, sometimes almost up to the middle, through the stream of foul water, in search of stray articles that may have been thrown down the sinks of houses, or dropped through the loop-holes in the streets. They will at times travel for two or three miles in this way-by the light of their torches, aided occasionally by a gleam of sunshine from the grating by the wayside-far under the busy thoroughfares of Cornhill, Cheapside, the Strand, and Holborn, very seldom able to walk upright in the confined and dangerous vault, and often obliged to crawl on all fours like the rats, which are their greatest enemies. The articles they mostly find are potatoes and turnips, or bones, washed down the sinks by careless scullery-maids; pence and halfpence, and silver coins; occasionally a silver spoon or fork, the loss of which may have caused considerable distress and ill-will in some house above; and not unfrequently more valuable articles, which thieves, for fear of detection, have thrown down when they have been hard pressed by the officers of justice. It might be thought that a life amid the vilest filth, and amid so much danger and unpleasantness of every kind, would allure but few; but the hope of the great prizes sometimes discovered in this miserable way deprives it of its terrors, and all the principal sewers that branch into the Thames have their regular frequenters. Were it not that the tide gives them too little time for that purpose, they would extend their researches to the extremities of London; but two or three miles inland is the utmost bound of their peregrinations. Those who value their lives will not be tempted to extend their researches further, lest they should be drowned by the rising waters of the river. About two years ago, these and some other particulars of their mode of life were first elicited in consequence of the following circumstance:-An old man who had long pursued this calling was suddenly missed. Every search was made for him by the few to whom he was known; and his wife and family, not without many fears that he had lost his way in the sewers, or had been surprised by the tide, and drowned in his efforts to escape, made anxious inquiries at every police office in London; but without receiving any tidings of his fate. Months elapsed, and his name was passing from the remembrance of all but those who had lost their husband and father by his disappearance, when a young man, passing with his torch up the Fleet, at nearly a mile distant from the place where it discharges itself into the Thames, was startled at seeing the figure of a man amid the darkness sitting at the junction of a smaller sewer with the main current of the Fleet. He shouted, but received no answer, and heard nothing but the rolling of the black and fetid water, and the splash or squeak of the numerous rats which he had alarmed. Advancing nearer, he held the light to the face of the silent igure, and beheld the ghastly countenance of a skeleton. He was not a man of strong mind, and losing his selfpossession in his horror, he stumbled against it and fell. His light was extinguished. His situation was now sufficiently awful; but the added horror of the total darkness recalled his startled faculties instead of scattering them entirely. He knew his way by the number of iron gratings at intervals above, and groped along cautiously, shouting as loudly as he could, to keep up his own courage, and to startle the rats from his path, lest he should tread upon one which would turn upon him and fasten on his flesh. Grating after grating was thus passed, and he heard the carriages rattling above whenever he came near, and at times the conversation of people. Once he stopped under a grating, by the side of which an old woman sat at her apple-stall, and overheard her discourse with her customers, and was tempted to give the alarm, that he might be drawn up. This, however, would have been a work of time, and he therefore decided to go on. He proceeded accordingly, and arrived at the Thames without accident, and immediately informed his companions of the discovery he had made. It was surmised at once that the skeleton was that of the man who had been so long missing. Information was given to the police, and a constable was despatched to see the issue. He would not, however, venture up the sewer, but remained by the river side to await the return of the three mud-larks' who went up with torches and a basket to bring out the remains of the dead man. They found, on reaching the spot, that the discoverer, in his fright, by falling against the skeleton, had overturned it from its sitting position. A skull, a mass of bones, with a few buttons, and a portion of his shoes, alone remained-his flesh and his attire having been devoured piecemeal by the rats. The remains were collected and brought out without accident. A coroner's inquest was held on the following day, and the identity was established by the buttons, the only means by which it could be proved. Of course it could never be known to a certainty how the life of this unfortunate being had been lost; but the general supposition was, either that he had been suffocated by foul air, or that he had been seized with a fit of apoplexy in that darksome sewer. The simple verdict found dead' was returned by the jury. Such is the romance of common things; and such is one of the many marvels that lie around us and beneath us, observable only by those who are disposed to study the manners, the habits, and the struggles of the poor. THE RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND. THERE are certain facts in ancient history to which popular attention is, at intervals, pointedly directed, because they bear a resemblance to some passing occurrence of the present time. Thus, the recent disastrous retreat of British troops from Cabul, in the heart of Asia, has caused much to be said of late, by way of comparison, of a like military evolution performed some two thousand years ago, under nearly similar circumstances, but with far more fortunate results. The historian to whom we are indebted for the details of this military expedition was Xenophon, a Greek philosopher and soldier who accompanied it. His simple and circumstantial narrative-called the Anabasis (literally, The going up') is one of the most interesting specimens of literature which has been snatched from the wreck of time. A modern, and therefore to us a double interest has been infused into it by an indefatigable and learned eastern traveller, who, having lately passed over fourfifths of the route, has been able, from personal inspection, to identify the sites of most of the places mentioned by Xenophon, and thus to place the minute fidelity of his history beyond all question.* The small portion of the * Travels in the Track of the Ten Thousand Greeks; being a geographical and descriptive account of the expedition of Cyrus, and of the retreat of the ten thousand Grecks, as related by Xenophon. By William F. Ainsworth, F.G.S., &c. surgeon to the late Euphrates expedition; author of Travels in Asia Minor, &c, track which this writer did not visit, has fortunately judged to amount to about two thousand in number. In been inspected by Major Rennel, and by Mr Hamilton the onward progress of the army, it was perceived that Junior. From these various authors, ancient and mo- this cavalry had burned all the forage, and laid waste dern, we propose furnishing our readers with a sketch the country which lay in the line of march, so as to of the renowned expedition under Cyrus; chiefly, how-deprive the invaders of provisions. Thus Cyrus, to his ever, in reference to its most celebrated events-the surprise and mortification, perceived that all his plans battle, and the retreat of the Greeks. were known, and that his brother was fully prepared for his reception. In the year 404 before Christ, the seat of the Persian empire was Babylon, and its sovereign Darius II. He had two sons, Artaxerxes Mnemon and Cyrus; the latter being satrap or viceroy over a large district of Asia Minor. In the same year Darius died, and Artaxerxes succeeded him. Cyrus conspired against his brother, in order to obtain the throne: his treason was discovered by Tissaphernes, satrap of another province, who happened to be in the capital, and it was only the intercession of his mother (Parysatis) which saved him from the death of a traitor. He was, moreover, restored to his government, and returned to it with a mind exasperated by disgrace, and meditating a revengeful return for his brother's clemency. No sooner did Cyrus return than he collected a vast army of the Asiatics belonging to his own principality, secretly intending to march to Babylon against his brother. It happened at this time that Clearchus, a Spartan general, had landed from Greece to subdue the Byzantines, or inhabitants of modern Turkey; but, instead of obeying the orders of his superiors, had taken part with the people he had been sent to fight against. A second army of his own countrymen was shipped off against him, by whom he was defeated. In this terrible emergency he offered himself and his whole army to Cyrus, who received him with open arms, and paid him a large sum of money. Thus, despite the classical interest which Xenophon has thrown around this famous expedition, it was, in reality, composed entirely of rebels and traitors. Having collected a sufficient number of men, Cyrus assembled the whole army at Sardes, in Lydia, which is now Sarte in the Turkish province of Anadolia. Cyrus deceived his army into the belief that he only intended to invade the country of the Psidians, none but the Greek general, Clearchus, being in the secret. Tissaphernes, however, on hearing of the vast equipment, suspected the truth, and posted off to the Persian king to put him on his guard. Thus Cyrus's main object, secrecy, was defeated. It was here at Sardes-that Xenophon joined the expedition; for he was not amongst the army of Clearchus when it first hired itself to the Persian. Being at Athens, Xenophon received a letter from Proxenus, a friend of his at Sardes, to come and he would introduce him to Cyrus. Xenophon, having consulted both the Delphian oracle and his master, Socrates, accepted the invitation. Curiosity to behold, rather than join so vast an army, appears chiefly to have prompted him. On arriving at Sardes, however, he volunteered into the service of Cyrus, under Clearchus. Everything being ready, Cyrus commenced his undertaking, which was to march with his vast army 1505 geographic miles,* and then to fight his way to the throne of the most powerful empire then extant. On the 7th of February, in the year 401 B.C., three years after his father's death, and about two subsequent to the beginning of his preparations, Cyrus and his immense military train commenced their eastward march. Except the shifts to which he was occasionally put to conceal his real object from the soldiery, and the danger of desertion which impended when he was obliged at length to make it publicly known, nothing very startling occurred, till-arrived at a spot on the banks of the Euphrates within about 108 miles of Babylon-there appeared the foot-prints and dung of horses, which were Parker, London: 1844. The entire space travelled over by the Grecian army was 3465 geographical miles, only 600 of which Mr Ainsworth left untraversed. * Such being the distance from Sardes to Babylon by the line of march he afterwards followed. At about 72 miles north-west of Babylon Cyrus halted, and held a review at midnight; for he expected Artaxerxes would appear next morning at the head of his army to give him battle. This took place between the 1st and 9th of September (B. c. 401), eight months after setting out from Sardes. At the review, it was ascertained that the effective force consisted of 10,400 heavy-armed Greeks, and 2400 targeteers of the same nation; and that of the native Asiatics from his viceroyalty (always called by Xenophon Barbarians'), there were 100,000 men, with about twenty chariots armed with scythes. The next day Cyrus commanded his army to march in order of battle. They had only proceeded four miles and a half, when they came upon a trench, five fathoms broad, three deep, and thirty-six miles long, which had been dug across their route, between the Euphrates and Tigris, by way of fortification. This the invaders were allowed to pass unmolested, probably to throw them off their guard; an effect, indeed, it seems to have had, for they concluded that the Persians had given over all thoughts of fighting. Hence Cyrus marched with less circumspection; and the third day rode in his car, very few marching before him in their ranks; and great part of the soldiers observed no order, their arms being carried in wagons and upon sumpter-horses. 'It was approaching,' as Xenophon expresses it, about the time of day when the market is usually crowded, the army being near the place where they proposed to encamp, when Patagyas, a Persian, one of those whom Cyrus most confided in, was seen riding towards them at full speed, his horse all in a sweat, and calling to every one he met, both in his own language and in Greek, that the king was at hand with a vast army, marching in order of battle; which occasioned a general confusion among the Greeks, all expecting he would charge them before they had put themselves in order: but Cyrus, leaping from his car, put on his corslet, then mounting his horse, took his javelin in his hand, ordered all the rest to arm, and every man to take his post; by virtue of which command the entire army was skilfully disposed by the various generals in battle array.' This happened in the plain of Cunaxa, on the Euphrates, called at present Imseyab. It was now,' says Xenophon, the middle of the day, and no enemy was yet to be seen; but in the afternoon there appeared a dust like a white cloud, which not long after spread itself like a darkness over the plain! When they drew nearer, the brazen armour flashed, and their spears and ranks appeared, having on their left a body of horse armed in white corslets (said to be commanded by Tissaphernes), and followed by those with Persian bucklers, besides heavyarmed men with wooden shields reaching down to their feet (said to be Egyptians), and other horse and archers, all which marched according to their respective countries, each nation being drawn up in a solid oblong square; and before them were disposed, at a considerable distance from one another, chariots armed with scythes fixed aslant at the axletrees, with others under the body of the chariot, pointing downwards, that so they might cut asunder everything they encountered, by driving them among the ranks of the Greeks, to break them. The Persians came regularly on; the Greek army standing on the same ground, the ranks being formed as the men came up: in the meantime, Cyrus, riding at a small distance before the ranks, surveying both the enemy's army and his own, was observed by Xenophon, who rode up to him and asked whether he had anything to command? Cyrus, stopping his horse, or dered him to let all know that the sacrifices* and victims promised success. While he was saying this, upon hearing a voice running through the ranks, he asked him what it meant? Xenophon answered that the word was now giving for the second time. Cyrus, wondering who should give it, asked him what the word was; the other replied, "Jupiter the preserver, and victory." Cyrus replied, "I accept it; let that be the word.' We stop for an instant to remark that these warcries have descended down to modern times. The signal, 'England expects every man to do his duty,' given by Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar, is the last of these battlemottoes on record. Cyrus 'immediately returned to his post, and the two armies being now within three or four stadia of each other, the Greeks sung the Pæan, and began to advance against the enemy; but the motion occasioning a slight break in the line of battle, those who were left behind hastened their march, and at once gave a general shout, as their custom is when they invoke the god of war; and all ran forward, striking their shields with their pikes, as some say, to frighten the enemy's horses; so that the Persians, before coming within reach of their darts, turned their horses and fled; but the Greeks pursued them as fast as they could, calling out to one another not to run, but to follow in their ranks. Some of the chariots were borne through their own people without their charioteers; others through the Greeks, some of whom seeing them coming divided, while others being amazed, were taken unawares; but even these were reported to have received no harm; neither was there any other Greek hurt in the action, except one upon the left wing, who was said to have been wounded by an arrow. Cyrus, seeing the Greeks victorious on their side, rejoiced in pursuit of the enemy, and was already worshipped as king by those about him. He was not so far transported as to leave his post, and join in the pursuit. He charged with his horse, but was unsuccessfal. However, upon discovering Artaxerxes properly attended, he exclaimed, "I see the man!" and ran furiously at him, and striking him on the breast, wounded him through his corslet, as Ctesias the physician says, who affirms that he cured the hurt. While Cyrus was giving the blow, he received a wound under the eye from somebody who threw a javelin at him with great force. The king and Cyrus still engaged hand to hand.' In this encounter Cyrus was slain. The whole of the Asiatics, or 'Barbarians,' were signally defeated by that division of the Persian army immediately commanded by Artaxerxes. The head and right hand of Cyrus were cut off on the spot where he was slain, and the king's army broke into and plundered his camp. Meanwhile the Greeks pursued that division of the Persian forces they had previously routed to a village near to the trench before mentioned. 'Hereupon,' says Xenophon, the Greeks halted (it being near sunset), and, lying under their arms, rested themselves; in the meantime wondering that neither Cyrus appeared, nor any one from him; not knowing he was dead, but imagined that he was either led away by the pursuit, or had rode forward to possess himself of some post. However, they consulted among themselves whether they should stay where they were, and send for their baggage, or return to their camp. Resolving upon the latter course, and arriving at their tents about supper-time, they found the greatest part of their baggage plundered, with all the provisions, besides the carriages, which, as it was said, amounted to four hundred, full of flour and wine, which Cyrus had prepared, in order to distribute them among the Greeks, lest at any time his army should labour under the want of necessaries; but they were all so rifled by the king's troops, that the greatest part of the Greeks had no supper: neither had they eaten any din It was the custom of the ancients to make sacrifice to the warrior-deities before a battle. From the agonies of the victims when dying, they drew favourable or unfavourable auguries. ner; for before the army could halt in order to dine, the king appeared. And in this manner they passed the night.' The next morning Clearchus and the Greeks were made to see the full extent of the danger in which they were placed. They found themselves nearly two thousand miles from home, in the midst of the territories of an enemy at whose mercy they were. They were, in fact, surrounded on all sides. In the evening heralds arrived from Artaxerxes ordering the Greeks to deliver up their arms. After some consultation amongst the Greek generals, they sent the following answer to the Persian king: If it is proposed we should be friends to the king, we shall be more valuable friends by preserving our arms than by parting with them; and if we are to go to war with him, we shall make war with greater advantage by keeping our arms than by delivering them!' To this it was replied, that if the Greeks attempted to retreat, Artaxerxes would attack them. Afterwards, however, he consented to a truce. Ariæus, Cyrus's lieutenant-general, now offered to guide the Greeks through the country, if they decided upon forcing a retreat. This guidance Clearchus accepted, and about the 16th of September (B. C. 401) the Greeks commenced the retreat, which proved one of the most famous events in ancient history. They had not marched far, when they had reason to suspect that Ariæus and his Asiatic followers had been tampered with by the Persians. This suspicion was strengthened when it was found that Tissaphernes was also hovering around their track with a second army, under pretence of returning to the seat of his viceroyalty. However, no actual hostile movement was made till after the Ten Thousand had crossed the Tigris, which they did between the 11th and the 29th of October. Arrived on the northern bank of the Zabatus (now the 'Zab,' a feeder of the Tigris), the Greeks entered into a friendly conference with Tissaphernes, who invited Clearchus to a conference in his quarters. After some debate amongst the Greeks, their chief consented to accept the invitation, but with the precaution of being accompanied by five generals, twenty captains, and about two hundred soldiers, who went under pretence of buying provisions. When they came to the door of Tissaphernes, the generals, Proxenus, a Boeotian, Menon, a Thessalian, Agias, an Arcadian, Clearchus, a Lacedæmonian, and Socrates, an Achaian, were called in; the captains stayed without. Not long after, at a given signal, those who were within were apprehended, and those without cut to pieces. After this, some of the Barbarian horse, scouring the plain, killed all the Greeks they met with, both freemen and slaves. The Greeks, from their camp, seeing these excursions of the horse, were surprised, and in doubt of what they were doing, till Nicarchus, an Arcadian, came flying from them, being wounded in the belly, and bearing his bowels in his hands, and informed them of all that had passed. Upon this the Greeks were amazed, and expecting they would immediately come and attack their camp, ran to their arms. But they did not all come; only Ariæus, and ten other generals. When within hearing, Ariæus said, "Clearchus, O Greeks! having been found guilty of a violation both of his oath and of the article of peace, is justly punished with death. Of you the king demands your arms, for he says they are his, as having belonged to Cyrus, who was his subject." The snare here tendered was too palpable, and the Greeks answered indignantly, upbraiding Ariæus, whom they termed the most wicked of men.' This treachery nerved the Greeks in their despair: they determined more firmly than ever to cut their way out of the country, or to die by the way; and proceeded to choose new generals, amongst whom was Xenophon, to whom was intrusted the command of the rear-guard. At this point the historian first appears as a prominent actor in his own narrative. Of the perfidy exhibited by Ariæus and Tissaphernes, Mr Ainsworth justly remarks, that it leaves an indelible stain on the Oriental character, somewhat similar to that which belongs to our own era, after the lapse of twenty-two centuries, in the conduct of Akbar Khan and his Afghans to the retreating Britons.' It was under pretence of guiding the British troops from Cabul that Akbar Khan caused it to be cut to pieces in the fatal Khoord-Cabul pass. The massacre of the Greek generals in Tissaphernes's camp took place, according to Major Rennel's computation (which we have followed throughout), on the 29th of October, 401 years B.C. dred proofs furnished by modern travellers of the minute fidelity of Xenophon's narrative. Ainsworth states, that at about thirty miles from the junction of the Zab (on the banks of which the massacre of the Greek generals took place) with the Tigris, the actual ferry over the river, performed by means of rafts supported on inflated skins, exists in the present day at a place called Kelek I'zedi, or the ferry of the Izedis or Yezidis.' The Rhodian's ingenuity was not, however, put to the test, for the Greeks decided on continuing their march along With a very slender knowledge of the country, and the eastern bank of the Tigris, and to enter Karduchia with no other guide than the sun, the Greeks recom- (Kurdistan). By a masterly manoeuvre, they managed menced their northward retreat towards the Euxine or to pass the mountains, and enter Kurdistan without Black Sea, surrounded by enemies always hovering molestation from the enemy. The spot they passed over around their track. After many skirmishes and difficul- was part of a remarkable district, it being the point,' ties, marching near Nineveh, they came to an eminence says Ainsworth, where the lofty mountain chain, now that commanded the road, on which the Persians having designated as Jébel Júdi, and the same, according to got before them in the night, had obtained a position. Chaldean, Syriac, and Arabian traditions, as that on This pass it was determined to force. 'On which occa- which the ark rested, comes down to the very flood of sion,' says the historian, there was a great shout raised, the Tigris, which it encloses in an almost impassable both by the Greek army and that of Tissaphernes, each barrier of rock.' After this we hear nothing more of encouraging their own men. Xenophon, riding by the Tissaphernes and Ariæus. The diligence and skill of the side of his troops, called out to them, "Soldiers! think generals, and the indomitable perseverance of their folyou are this minute contending to return to Greece-lowers, had completely baffled them. The retreat was, this minute to see your wives and children: after this however, constantly impeded by new enemies, consisting momentary labour, we shall go on without any further of the various people through whose territories they passed opposition." Upon this a discontented soldier, whose in their northward course to the shores of the Euxine. name is preserved by the historian, Soteridas the Sicy- Arrived in the country of the Scythians (at present onian, said, "We are not upon equal terms, O Xenophon! partly occupied by the Turkish province of Armenia), for you are on horseback, while I am greatly fatigued they reached a holy mountain called Theches (Kop with carrying my shield." Xenophon, hearing this, Tagh), whence, to their inexpressible delight, the sea leaped from his horse, and thrust him out of the ranks, was visible. 'As soon as the men who were in the vanand taking his shield, marched on as fast as he could. guard ascended the mountain, and saw the sea, they He had, however, on him a horseman's corslet, which gave a great shout, which, when Xenophon and those impeded his progress, and the rest of the soldiers beat in the rear heard, they concluded that some other eneand abused Soteridas, and threw stones at him, till he mies attacked them in front; for the people belonging was glad to retake his shield and go on. Xenophon to the country they had burned followed their rear, then remounted, and led them on horseback as far as the some of whom those who had charge of it had killed, way would allow; and when it became impassable for and taken others prisoners in an ambuscade. The noise his horse, he hastened forward on foot. At last they still increasing as they came nearer, and the men, as gained the top of the mountain, and turned the position fast as they came up, running to those who still conof the enemy, who then fled, every one as he could, tinued shouting, their cries swelled with their numleaving the Greeks masters of the eminence. Tissa- bers, so that Xenophon, thinking something more than phernes and Ariæus with their men turned out of ordinary had happened, mounted on horseback, and, the road, and went another way, while Cheirisophus taking with him Lysius and his horse, rode up to their (commander of the Greek vanguard) with his forces assistance; and presently they heard the soldiers callmarched down into the plain, and encamped in a village ing out, "the sea! the sea!" and cheering one another. abounding in everything. There were also many other At this they all set a-running, the rear-guard as well villages in this plain, near the Tigris, full of all sorts of as the rest, and the beasts of burden and horses were provisions.' The plain here alluded to, remarks Ains- driven forward. When they were all come up to the worth, is evidently the district around the modern Jezi- top of the mountain they embraced one another, and reh ibn 'Omar, the Bezabde of the Romans, and Zozarta also their generals and captains, with tears in their of the Chaldeans.' eyes; and immediately the men, by whose order it is not known, bringing together a great many stones, made a large mount, upon which they placed a great quantity of shields made of raw ox-hides, staves, and bucklers taken from the enemy. Xenophon's description,' says Rennel, speaking of this scene, on the arrival of the vanguard of the army on mount Theches, when they caught the first glimpse of the sea, is highly pathetic. No one, we presume (and indeed hope), can read it without emotion. What a number of tender ideas must have crowded at once into their minds! The thoughts of home, wives, children, friends-thoughts which they had scarcely ventured to indulge before that moment! In a word, it was a prospect of deliverance; like an opening view of heaven to departing souls.' 'When they came to their tents, the soldiers employed themselves in getting provisions, and the generals and captains assembled, and were in great perplexity; for on one side of them were exceeding high mountains, and on the other a river so deep, that when they sounded it with their pikes, the ends of them did not even appear above the water. While they were in this perplexity, a certain Rhodian came to them and said, "Gentlemen, I will undertake to carry over 4000 heavy-armed men at a time, if you will supply me with what I want, and give me a talent for my pains." Being asked what he wanted, "I shall want," says he, "two thousand leather bags. I see here great numbers of sheep, goats, oxen, and asses: if these are flayed, and their skins blown, we may easily pass the river with them. I shall also want the girths belonging to the sumpter-horses: with these," adds he, "I will fasten the bags to one another, and, hanging stones to them, let them down into the water instead of anchors, then tie up the bags at both ends, and when they are upon the water, lay fascines upon them, and cover them with earth. I will make you presently sensible," continues he, "that you cannot sink, for every bag will bear up two men, and the fascines and the earth will prevent them from slipping." This proposition affords one amongst a hun Many of the towns on the southern shores of the Euxine having been originally Greek colonies, the retreating army were, with few exceptions, allowed to pass unmolested. As they were originally traitors to the republic of Athens, they of course made no attempt to return thither; but most of them settled in the Byzantine territories. The whole of the way, both of the expedition and of the retreat, comprised 215 days' march of 1155 parasangs, or leagues, and of 34,650 stadia, or 3465 geographic miles; and the time employed in both was a year and three months. The first news Xenophon heard was that of his having been publicly banished from Athens for the part he had taken in the expedition of Cyrus, and having now become a general, he gave his services to Agesilaus in his Asiatic wars. Here he acquired both fame and riches. He afterwards retired to Scellus, a small Spartan town, where he wrote his Anabasis and the other works which have made his name revered by posterity. The rest of his time was employed in rural pursuits and amusements. Having been driven from his retreat to Corinth, he died there, 359 years before the Christian era, in the 90th year of his age. THE CHAPLAIN'S REPORT ON THE PRESTON HOUSE OF CORRECTION. Nor the least satisfactory among the evidences of the moral progress of society-of the tendency, though slow and imperfect, to a better state of life and action than at present prevail-is the care bestowed on the moral and physical condition of criminals. Ventilation, cleanliness, order, and cheerfulness, are now found in those places which formerly were the most noisome dens of dirt, depravity, and despair; in which ignorance grew to villany, and lax principle to confirmed vice. In the treatment of the culprit at the present day, an object is aimed at beyond that even of the devoted Howard. Punishment is no longer regarded as the sole end of imprisonment; the reclamation of the offender, and his restoration to a steady course of life, now constitute the chief object of criminal discipline. The publication of prison reports, while affording matter for congratulation, enables us to compare the statistics of former years with the actual amelioration. We have before us one of these reports, of a highly interesting nature, by the Rev. J. Clay, chaplain to the Preston House of Correction. In reading the statements which it gives as to the character of some of the prisoners, we cannot avoid noticing the apparently narrow boundary between a life of hope and usefulness, and one of crime and disgrace. All the facts which prison reports bring to light corroborate what has been so much insisted on in the evidence on the recent sanitary inquiries, that where the population is physically most wretched, there will be the greatest amount of crime. A miserable home, a dirty neighbourhood, have been the primary causes of ruin to many who, in a more favourable position, might have become respected members of society. The little hope that can be entertained for the cultivation of virtuous feelings, the fostering of good motives, amid surrounding depravity, has been frequently adverted to: the obvious inference is, that the deteriorating influences must be mitigated or removed, before we shall see the genuine fruits of the inculcation of sound morality. A gentleman, well known from his connexion with a leading London journal, has said, in reply to the remarks of his friends on this subject, 'You may talk about the effect of education on your labourers and workpeople as long as you please; but morality cannot exist on an empty stomach. I will take care that those on my estate shall be well clothed, housed, and fed, and will not shrink from any comparison with others.' This, though an extreme assertion, has nevertheless some foundation in truth. a long period of embarrassment and distress, coal, there have been some previous religious training, and The case of nine boys is then given, of whom six scarcely possessed a feeling or an idea which could be made available for good. They were ignorant of the alphabet, incapable of uttering a prayer, and unacquainted with even the name of the Saviour.' It is obvious that, on such offenders as those enumerated, the ordinary discipline of a prison will have but little effect. Solitary confinement, unaccompanied by any incentives to a better course of life, is undergone with a feeling in which repentance has no share. It is not regarded as remedial, but as a punishment; and in this view, in nine cases out of ten, the heart is hardened, and vicious habits confirmed. It is to be hoped that the light now thrown on the moral and physical condition of the lower orders of society, will have the effect of promoting the adoption of precautionary and preventive measures, whereby not only the injurers, but the injured will be gainers; for when the young criminal, liberated from the punishment of his first discovered offence, runs again into crime, and again stands convicted at the bar, the community demands the infliction upon him of a sentence rendered necessary by its own neglect; and pays a hundred pounds for the removal from the country of a dangerous pest, who, for one-tenth part of the money, might have been educated to fulfil, happily and creditably, the duties of the station for which Providence designed him.' The report now quoted sets out with stating that the improvement which has taken place in trade during One of the tables illustrates the connexion between the past year has had a material effect in diminishing occupation and crime, which involves some important the number of committals to the house of correction. considerations. It will hardly be contended that any In the year 1842-3 they amounted to 2050, while in the trade is in itself vicious; but if one demands more corresponding period of 1843-4 they were 1549. Fore- attention than another, leaving the person less exposed most among the offences stand assaults on the police.' to the temptations of idleness; or if, on the contrary, This offence always arises from intoxication-a vice an uneducated man's occupation be such as to allow a which unfortunately becomes prominent as a cause of visit to the alehouse whenever he may be inclined, the offence in proportion as increased wages permit in- probability is greater that, in the latter case, bad habits creased indulgence in it.' We find the number of lar-will be formed and criminal acts committed. It apcenies of exposed articles' serves as a sort of index of pears that the tendency to crime in the trades enumethe seasons when work is abundant or scarce. During rated-beginning with the one most productive of |