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•have ever stood at the edge of a precipice two hundred feet steep, with your arm round a tree, about as big as itself, shooting out from the side of the abrupt; to hang over and look down upon a sheet of water that pours in a beautiful arch from a rock eighty feet downwards, and dashes in snowy foam upon another rock; or if you have ever stood at the bottom, in the narrow cleft between two high mountains which look as if they had been split asunder at one stroke of an Almighty hand; and there, in the thrilling coolness of a spot which never be held the radiance of the sun, with the silvery spray sprinkling your face like dew, looked up to the massive fragments of rock over which hang the steep declivities of mountains clad with dark, lofty, majestic trees, rising in rows behind each other, like an amphitheatre; if you have seen and felt all that a scene like this inspires, but which would disdain to be conveyed by descriptive powers infinitely superior to mine, then, my dear brother, I am not afraid of your inquiring whether I have not had enough of waterfalls. That of Wölfelsgründe is about the same height as the Kochel-fall, but has a much greater effect than either of the three we had seen before, being much better supplied with water.' P. 195.

We have enlarged further on this work than we designed. It was, as we have said, in many parts new, and generally interesting. It reached us in no imposing form, decorated with no meretricious ornaments, raised by no pompous panegyric exciting and disappointing expectation. It was therefore necessary to give it that countenance which it did not claim from its own modest mode of introduction-that importance which it did not arrogate.

We ought, in turn, as candid critics, to point out its faults. It probably has more; yet we have detected but few. Its claims alfo are few; but these it has supported: its pretensions are not lofty; but in these it has not failed. A political and statistical view of Silesia, from the German travellers, with a fhort account of the most celebrated Silesian authors, concludes the volume.

ART. III.-Geil's Topography of Troy.

(Continued from Vol. III. page 90.)

WE left this interesting work at the period where the author speaks of the foundations, the ruins of Troy. We paused with the sacred awe of the classical scholar, who has been taught that even the ruins have perished.' This circumstance has induced us again to examine the whole of the evidence for the local situation of this famous scene of the most stupendous, the most interesting, military exploits of antiquity; and we again can positively assert, that, if Homer had local habitations, as well as names, in his mind's eye, the scenery delineated by our author applies to the description in every part. On the Acropolis, the ruins obviously remain: from this

to the warm springs, the situation of Troy is incontrovertible. The other diameter is not equally distinct; but this is imma terial: two great points are here unquestionable-Pergamus and the Scean Gate. To this we may add, that, if due attention be paid to the changes of the coast, there is a sufficient harbour for the Grecian fleet; a sufficient space for the Grecian camp. On these points, however, we must soon be more minute.

Let us in a word recapitulate, that, for a real or imaginary offence, all the Grecian chieftains united in a predatory expedition against what was, at that period, the depôt of commercial riches, at the entrance of the Euxine, the sea through which the trade of the North and of the East was conveyed. That with the same piratic spirit, these buccaneers of antiquity ravaged the neighbouring coasts for a series of years, till they at last sat down before Troy. The whole narrative supposes a harbour and a plain in the direct vicinity of the city. The rivers form no impediment; so that in the general operations of the assailants, no fords were to be crossed or disputed. When, then, we look at the remaining foundations, the first question that occurs, is, How did it happen, that, at the distance of little more than 700 years, no ruins were said to exist; although at this time, when 2987 years have elapsed, such ruins are actually found? The solution of this question is by no means intricate. From what cause such a fact may have arisen, is not clear; but it is a fact, nevertheless, that the situation of ancient Troy was nearly or altogether unknown. The country was not surveyed with Homer in the hands of the topographers; for the warm springs would have led them to the Scæan Gate, and this last to the Acropolis. The probable cause was, that they sought Troy too near the shores from which the Hellespont had receded. This latter fact indeed Strabo knew; but Demetrius, from whom he received his principal information, does not appear to have been acquainted with it.

Another circumstance which brings us more nearly to our author's opinion, relates to the number of Grecian combatants, which we think have been greatly overrated. Mr. Gell, on this subject, offers the following observations.

That point of the hill touching the Simois on the south west, is much elevated, and may be seen in the thirty-eighth plate. To the east of the village a road passes along a valley, which divides the hill of Bounarbashi from an eminence extending to the Simois. There is not, I think, reason to believe that this eminence formed part of the city, for there appears without it a sufficient space for the dwellings of that number of inhabitants which Troy may be supposed to have contained. Agamemnon in the second book of the Iliad asserts, that the Trojans were so few in number, that if the Greeks could have made

slaves of them, there would not have been found a sufficient quantity of captives to have allowed one to wait at table where ten Greeks might dine. Now the number of the Greeks at the commencement of the expedition was about 150,000, which may be found by adding together the forces of the different leaders enumerated in the catalogue of the ships. At the time, however, when Agamemnon spoke, the Greek forces must have been considerably diminished by a series of battles fought at Lyrnessus, at Thebes, and other cities of the Asiatic continent, as well as by a long protracted war, and a pestilence which had recently carried off great numbers of the people. Their army is generally conceived to have consisted of about 120,000 men, and that estimate does not allow of more than 12,000 to the Trojans. Suppose then 12,000 men, as many women, and by the usual rough mode of calculation, twice that number of aged persons and children, there would be at last a population only of 48,000 souls in Troy, and that number might easily inhabit a space not greater than that of the hill of Bounarbashi. Many instances might be given from the comparison of ether ancient cities, to prove that the population was almost invariably compressed into a very limited compass. Among others, Rome, which cannot be supposed to have contained less than a million of souls, was never, within the walls, more than twelve or fourteen miles in circumference, and Syracuse, which had 800,000 inhabitants, was included within a triangle, the sides of which were not at most four miles in length. Supposing, however, that every side of the triangle were four miles long, the area included would be only eight times greater than that of Troy, though the number of inhabitants was in the proportion of sixteen to one. That the population of ancient cities in fact occupied a much smaller extent of ground than is usual in those of modern times, may be seen by comparing the ancient with the present state of Athens; for though the buildings yet cover a tenth part of the space within the original walls, it does not contain 10 000 souls: whereas the same extent of soil must have afforded room, in the flourishing times of the republic, for at least 30,000; for the lowest calculation gives 300,000 inhabitants to that city. Another argument in favour of this idea, may be deduced from the description of the royal palace itself; where we find the younger princes of the house lodged under the same roof with the king, though almost all were grown up, and many were married. Should it be objected, that a state, the capital of which could not muster 50,000 inhabitants, was incapable of maintaining a protracted war against such numerous and powerful enemies as the confederate Greeks, the answer is obvious. The Trojans were certainly unable to keep the field for any length of time; and nothing but an impregnable fortress, defended by a numerous garrison, preserved them during so severe a contest. In fact, a city containing 50,000 inhabitants, must have been in those days worthy of the epithets bestowed on it by the poet. Compare it with the well-built Athens: that city must have been in the time of the Trojan war, much inferior to Ilion in extent, consisting of nothing more than the Cecropia, and a very small enclosure surrounding the base of the hill. Troy, with its spacious streets, must have been truly magnificent when compared to such a

town, and it is only by comparison that epithets expressive of beauty and magnificence can be understood. It is even said, that the whole naval force of Athens could ride in the little harbour of Phalerum; and surely Troy might with justice be stiled powerful in opposition to any of the states of Grecce at that period. It is fair to take Athens as an example, for that city had, at an earlier æra, enjoyed a very distinguished rank and celebrity under the auspices of Theseus. The extent and grandeur of Ilion is merely comparative, and ought not to be measured by our present ideas of magnificence, but by the insignificance of contemporary cities. Though Priam could not bring into the field a greater force than 12,000 Trojans, yet the allies and relations of his family supplied him with a powerful force drawn from the neighbouring shores of Asia and Europe. These were sufficient to enable him to defend a well fortified town against an enemy, who, though superior in the field, possessed nothing similar to those machines which were invented in later times for the destruction of artificial bulwarks. The allies, added to the Trojan force, amounted not to half the number of the Grecks, for when the whole army was encamped on the Throsmos, and none but the aged were left to defend the city, a thousand fires were lighted in the plain, and around each fifty men were stationed. Yet though inferior in number they might easily defend the town against an enemy for whom they were not a match in the field, or might protract the siege to any length of time, for the city was well stored with provisions, and we have no hint that it was closely invested.' P. 108.

Our author, in his reasoning, passes over one important step. It has escaped us, if, in any part of either poem, the aggregate number of the warriors be mentioned, or the average number of those carried in a ship. The naval force amounted, in round figures, to 1000 sail; and we do not recollect that the combatants were ever estimated at more than 100,000. We know not for what reason Mr. Gell augments the number to 150,000. We find the crew of a ship estimated in three places. Homer tells us, that the Boeotian ships carried 120 men, and those of Philoctetes 50. If the average number 85 be taken, the army could consist only of 85,000 men. The ships, however, enumerated in the catalogue, amount to 1186, and in this number, at the average rate of 85 to a ship, we find an army little short of 100,000. In order to give the estimate its full force, we shall presume that the soldiers acted as sailors also, as indeed it is almost certain they did.

On a calculation of this kind, probably, the force of the army has been computed; but is it reasonable to believe that this is correct? Many circumstances destroy the probability of its accuracy. We have, for instance, no reason to suppose that the largest and the smallest ships are mentioned: the observation is incidental. When Homer describes the action near the fleet, he expressly tells us, that Hector seised the

prow of the ship of Protesilaus (Iliad, O. v. 716); in such a vessel 50 men, with a store of provisions, however slight, could scarcely be conveyed. Again, the Arcadians were brought in 60 ships given them by Agamemnon; but in this case the average number would raise the Arcadian army to more than 5000 men; and the smallest number to 3000; each incredible, when we reflect on the small extent of Arcadia, its numerous inaccessible mountains, and the necessary proportion of old men, women, and children, left at home. The third instance in which the number is mentioned, is at the time when Ulysses left Troy. The crew then consisted only of 30 men in each vessel; and though the numerous battles must have in part thinned it, we may, on the other hand, reasonably suppose that the ten years' voyage and exposure to the air and weather had also rendered many of the ships unserviceable; so that perhaps the average number in each ship did not, on the whole, exceed 40. Mr. Bryant objects, with some share of reason, that the Grecian army, which opposed Xerxes, was far less numerous than the supposed force against Troy. Yet if we reflect, we shall find that the Persian monarch was chiefly opposed by a small part of the inhabitants of Peloponnesus; the Trojans by the Grecians of all the islands, and some portion of the inhabitants of the Northern Continent; of which last many were allies of Xerxes in his memorable expedition.

Mr. Gell, in his estimation of the Trojan forces, has scarcely any foundation to rest on. They had the continent of Asia behind them; and as we know that they had some allies, we cannot be certain of the extent of this power. The Lycians, the Mysians, and the Carians, are particularly mentioned. Agamemnon's Thrasonical speech may allude to the Trojans alone. These did not, however, act always on the defensive; for, during the anger of Achilles, they penetrated to the ships, and had nearly succeeded in burning them. We are not informed that these active exertions were occasioned by the diminution of the Grecian army in consequence of the secession of the Myrmidons, but that they merely arose from the absence of Achilles himself. Strange that a single man should so far enfeeble, by his resentment, the force of 100,000 men, while the two Ajaxes, Diomed, Ulysses, and Agamemnon, remained! This may, however, be epic fiction to raise the character of the hero. We suspect the ramparts to have been a similar compliment to the hero: while Achilles remained, the ships required no defence.

On this subject we may just stop to remark, that the ships, as we have said, drawn on the shore like a ladder, formed probably a convex front. For obvious reasons, the smallest would

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