290 Upon the Cronian sea 292 295 An ancient name of the river Nieman. Cathian coast. to the rich A province of Tartary, having the Frozen Ocean on the north and China on the south. It is called Cara, Kitai, and Ava, by the Tartars, (that is) Black China, because the inhabitants were sun burnt, whereas those of China in the northern provinces are white. It consists of the six northern provinces of China, so called from the ancient Cati of Tartary, who conquered China, and established Sathæie for the seat of their empire, then Pekin or Cambala became the Royal City, and the whole empire of China went under that denomination by the Tartars, who conquered it; (although it had been the most ancient empire on the earth) A. D. 1278. These places and names were first made known to Europeans by the Saracens, who began a long war with the Tartars, A. D. 1616, which ended in the conquest of China, and the destruction of the reigning family of Tæminga, A. D. 1644. and fix'd as firm As Delos floating once; An island in the Archipelago, one of the Cyclades (they say it suddenly made its appearance by the power of Neptune on the sea). This island is celebrated for the nativity of Apollo and Diana; and the solemnity with which the festivals of these deities were celebrated there, by the inhabitants of the neighbouring islands, and on the continent, is well known. One of the altars of 296 304 Apollo in the island, was reckoned one of the seven wonders of the world. the rest his look Bound with Gorgonian vigour not to move; The Gorgons were the celebrated sisters who had the power of transforming those into stone who looked at them. They made great ravages in the country, but at last were destroyed by Perseus. from hence a passage broad Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction. Matt. vii. 13. I would press you to exert a becoming resolution, and courageously to enter in through the straight gate of self-denial and holiness; for wide is the gate and smooth and spacious the way which leads to destruction; and there are many who enter into destruction by it. 307 Xerxes, the liberty of Greece to yoke, ་་, Xerxes succeeded his father Darius on the throne of Persia; he continued the warlike preparation of his father, and added the revolted kingdom of Egypt to his dominions; he afterwards invaded Europe. The battle of Thermopylae was the beginning of the disgrace of Xerxes. Mortified with the ill success of his expedition he hastened to Persia, and in thirty days he marched over all that territory which he had passed with much pomp in the space of six months. When he reached the Hellespont, Xerxes found the bridges of boats which he had erected there, destroyed by the storms, and he crossed the straits in a fishing vessel. Restored to his kingdom and safety, he forgot his dangers and defeats, and gave himself up to riot and pleasure. 308 From Susa his Memnonian palace high 309 The chief town of Susiana in Asia, the capital of the Persian empire, the royal palace was built with white marble, and its pillars were covered with gold and precious stones; it has been called Memnonia, or the place of Memnon. and over Hellespont Bridging his way, Europe with Asia join'd, Hellespont, a narrow strait between Asia and Europe, which received its name from Helle, who was drowned there in her voyage to Colchis. Also celebrated for the death of Leander, and for the bridge of boats which Xerxes built over it, when he invaded Greece. 328 Betwixt the Centaur 328 Centaurs, in mythology, were a kind of fabulous monsters, half men and half horses. This fable is differently interpreted: some suppose the Centaurs to have been a body of shepherds and herdsmen, rich in cattle, who inhabited the mountains of Arcadia, and to whom is attributed the invention of pastoral poetry. Centaurus, the Centaur. This is a part or moiety of a constellation, in form of half man half horse; usually joined with the wolf. and the Scorpion steering According to Ovid, this serpent was produced by the earth, to punish Orion's family for having boasted that there was not on the terraqueous 329 337 globe any animal which he could not conquer. Some assert, that Orion challenged Diana, who should kill most wild beasts; whereupon she raised up a scorpion, which bit and killed him. while the sun in Aries rose: Aries is the ram with the golden fleece, which Jupiter prepared to carry Phryxus and Helle in the air from Ilchos in Thessaly, towards Colchis, adjacent to the eastern extremity of the Euxine or Black Sea. Helle became giddy and fell into the sea, from which circumstance it received the name of Hellespont. Phryxus arrived safe at Colchis; where he sacrificed the ram to Jupiter, and suspended its fleece upon a tree in a forest consecrated to Mars; many authors have endeavoured to show, that this fable is an allegorical representation of some real history. It is, perhaps, best explained, by supposing it to refer to the profit of the wool trade to Colchis, or the gold which they commonly gathered there in fleeces in the river. but when he saw descend The Son of God to judge them, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? Matt. viii. 29. 403 My substitutes I send ye, That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. Heb. ii. 14. 424 Of Pandemonium, city and proud seat Of Lucifer, Pandemonium, the infernal court or palace. 425 Of Lucifer, so by allusion call'd, Lucifer, the name of the planet Venus, or morning star. It is called Lucifer, when appearing in the morning before the sun; but when it follows it, and appears some time after its setting, it is called Hesperus. 431 As when the Tartar from his Russian foe By Astracan over the snowy plains 433 The princes of Muscovy or Russia were subject to the Tartars, and their history was little known till the reign of John Basilowitz the Ist. who drove out the Tartars, and assumed the title of Czar, in 1486. His grandson, John Basilowitz the 2nd. added Astracan and the vast tracts of Siberia to his other dominions. or Bactrian Sophi from the horns Of Turkish crescent, The Persians were subdued by the Tartars under Tamerlane, whose posterity established themselves on the throne. These were supplanted by the Sophi family; Sophi, or wool, which name was given to that king who first wore the woollen turban or vest, or pure and sincere because he professed to be of the race of Alla, the above king was Israel Sophi, chief of the seventh race of their kings, who from a shepherd, by his courage and good fortune was raised to the throne, A. D. 1370. The last of this family was dethroned by his ambitious general, Kouli Khan, in the year 1735. In 1739 he invaded India and conquered the Mogul empire, taking Delhi, and acquiring great wealth, but committing the most horrible |
