Questions and Answers.

ACHILLES' SHIELD.

Will you give us a literal rendering of Homer's description of Achilles' Shield? JONATHAN.

First of all, Hephaestus (Vulcan) made a shield large and strong, ornamenting it in every part; and around it he threw a bright rim. triple, and glittering; and he fitted to it a silver handle. Five were the thicknesses of the shield, in which he made many ornaments with cunning skill.

In it he made earth, and heaven, and sea; and the never wearied sun, and the full moon; in it he made also every constellation with which heaven is decked-the Pleiades, the Hyades, and the strength of Orion; and the Bear, to which some give the Wain also, which revolves around the pole and looks toward Orion, and alone of the constellations dips not in the waters of ocean.

And in the shield he made two beautiful cities, in one were marriages and feasting; and they were leading brides from their chambers by the light of torches through the city, and loud the nuptial song arose. And dancing youths were moving quick, and pipes and lutes kept up music for them; and the women stood and admired, each at her house door.

[In another part] the people assembled in a public place; and there a dispute had begun; two men were disputing about the fine of another man who had been murdered. One man said that he had paid the whole fine, addressing himself to the people; and the other said that he had received nothing at all. And both were eager to have the matter decided by witnesses (or judges). The people shouted aloud as they favored either party; but the officers kept the people in check, and the old men (the judges) took their seat on benches of polished stone, forming a hollowed circle. In their hands they held wands. such as belong to loud-tongued criers; with these they waved for silence, and each in turn gave his opinion. And there lay before two talents of gold, to be given to him who should pass the most just judgment.

But around the other city were lying two armies, glittering in their armour; and they were divided in opinion, whether they should plunder the city, or consent to depart on receiving half of the citizens' goods. But the besiegers were not induced to come to terms, but armed themselves to lie in ambush. The walls were defended by the women and the young children who took their station there, and next to them stood the old men. The army advanced, and Ares (Mars) and Pallas Athene led them, both represented in gold, and clothed in golden garments, beauteous and tall as gods should be, and both of them conspicuous; but the people were smaller. And when they came

to a fit place for ambush, by the bank of a river, where all the cattle were watered, they sat down cased in their glittering armour of brass. Two scouts took their station at a distance, and waited to look out for the sheep and herds with bending horns. And they soon came on, with two keepers following, who were playing on their pipes, without suspecting any danger. The enemy, when they got sight of them, rushed on and separated the herds of oxen and the fine flocks of white sheep from their keepers, and killed the keepers themselves. But when the citizens heard a loud noise among the cattle, while they were seated in front of the public place, immediately on swift horses mounted they arrived at the spot; and there they fought a battle by the banks of the river, and pierced one another with their brazenpointed spears. And among the crowd were strife, and tumult, and deadly fate holding one prisoner just wounded and another unwounded; a third who was dead, she was dragging by the feet in the turmoil. And her garment about her shoulders was stained with blood. These mingled in the battle like mortals, and fought; and dragged off the dead from either side.

And in it he made a soft fallow, a fertile arable land, spacious, thrice worked; and many ploughmen in it, driving their oxen, turned them this way and that. When the ploughmen after turning came to the end of the field,a man was ready to put in their hands a cup of honey-sweet wine; they accordingly turned their ploughs along the furrows, being eager to arrive at the end of the fertile field. And it (the field) grew black behind them, and was just like a ploughed field, though made in gold; this indeed was a marvelous piece of workmanship.

And in it he made a field with high standing corn, and reapers were cutting with sharp scythes in their hands; while some stalks were falling on the swathes, close after one another on the ground, the binders were fastening others up in sheaves. The sheaf binders were three, and behind them children collecting the corn in bundles, and carrying it in their arms, continually supplied the sheaf-binders. Among them stood the lord in silence, on a swathe, with a staff in his hand, well pleased. In another part of the field servants were preparing a repast under a tree, and they were dressing a large ox which they had killed; while the women were preparing supper for the reapers, and were kneeding much white meal.

And in it he made a vineyard, heavily laden with bunches of grapes, beautiful and of gold; and the grapes were black. The vines were all supported by silver props. Around the vineyard was a dark-looking ditch, and also a hedge made of tin; and a single path led to the vineyard, by which the gatherers used to go, when they plucked the grapes. Merry virgins and youths were carrying in wicker branches the honey-sweet fruit. And in the midst of them a boy was playing on his sweet lute, and was singing to it the song of Linus with his

soft voice; while the youths and virgins, striking the ground to the tune, with songs and shouts followed, nimbly moving their feet.

And in it he made a herd of oxen with upright horns; and the cattle were made of gold and tin; and with lowing they were moving from the stalls to the pastures, along a murmuring brook, by the rustling reeds. Keepers of gold were following the herd; four keepers, and nine swift dogs with them. Two horrid lions seized a bellowing bull foremost among the herd, and he dragged along roaring, while the dogs and the young men came quickly after him. The lions having torn the hide of the strong bull, were eating the entrails, and lapping his blood; but the keepers in vain followed and urged on the quick dogs; for they had kept aloof from biting the lions, but stood. near and barked; yet all the while kept they out of the lions' way.

And in it skillful Vulcan made a peice of pasture, a large pasture for white sheep in a beautiful valley; he made both folds and huts for the shepherds, and pens with roofs.

And in it skilful Vulcan made a dance like that which Dædalus once made in spacious Gnossus for Ariadne with beautiful hair. There youths, and virgins too he bought with large dowries, were dancing, holding one another by the hand: the virgins were clothed in fine linen, and the youths in well-spun vests, smooth, and shining like oil. And the girls had beautiful chaplets on their heads, while the youths had golden knives fastened with silver chains. At one time they would move lightly with their feet (running in a circle), just as a potter who is seated tries the wheel well fitted to his hands, to see if it will run: at another time they would move in lines toward one another. And a large crowd delighted stood around the happy troop, two active dancers among them began the song, and moved quickly in the midst.

And in it he placed the great strength of Ocean, along the outer border of the well-made shield.

YGGDASIL. (Vol. V, p. 148.) Yggdasil is the great "WorldAsh" of the ancient Skandinavians, Fraser's Magazine derives the name from Y-g-g-r, the Thinker, the Terrible-a name of Odin, and draga, to bear or carry. This makes the name mean a vehicle or ovator of Odin; and the tree is analogous to the Bo-tree and Banyan of India. It is the Tree of Life, of which every human being is a participant. To describe it, however, would require a treatise, and there are several works already that treat of it, among them, the Prose Edda, Mallet's "Northern Antiquities," Forlong's "Rivers of Life," etc. Rev. James Challen wrote a poem upon it.

A. WILDER, M. D.

AN ANCIENT WORD. (Vol. V, p. 148.) Emanuel Swedenborg spoke repeatedly of an Ancient church and a most Ancient church The latter of these was in direct communication with the celestial beings, as he was himself in his illuminated seasons. The Ancient church was less exalted, and was the possessor of the "Ancient Word" -a divine revelation given for their benefit and instruction. In his work, the "Apocalypse Revealed," he says: "Seek for it in China, perchauce it may be found in Great Tartary."

Every person must, and will, exercise his own judgment in regard to the illumination and character of Swedenborg. I do not dispute them; but I have surmised that he was a member of secret orders of learned men who possessed in their arcana, ancient faiths and doctrines which formerly dominated in the oriental world, and were afterward proscribed by the Roman church. It is plausible that the Hebrew Scriptures were more or less formed from older records. We find such phrases as the "God of Heaven" (Ahurmazd), "God of Truth" (Asha-Vahia), also "angels" and "princes "or Yazatas and Amshashands. That there were ancient sacred Scriptures, the two Aryan collections, the Vedas and Avesta, conclusively show. There were also the Baskets of the Buddhists, and others now well known to exist.

Again, it is pretty generally believed among the learned that the earlier seats of the Aryans and other leading human races were in "Great Tartary," or somewhere in that region.

The Khatans, Akkads, Eurythæns, Drairdes, and others, also appear in Archaic monuments, and traditions appear to have originated them. Semitic and Aryan races seem to have been of late development The Chinese in the East, the Skyths, and Aethiopes were from that source. These people had religious and social polity, and letters. The late tribes about, whom we have tried to construct history, were their offshoots, and derived their notions and customs from them. Whether, therefore, Swedenborg derived this arcana from intercourse with those having knowledge in these matters, and afterward wrote it out after his own style of allegory and correspondence, or whether angels spoke to him, and he was illuminated, it is very certain that what he said of an Ancient Word" was borne out by facts, and that it is probably possessed by the intelligent classes in China. But who will know it when he finds it?

A. W.

Will you kindly inform me, through NOTES AND QUERIES, of any book or books on the subject of "Height or Growth of the Human Body," and oblige, C. F. PEASLEE, Boston, Mass.

The proportions of the human figure are said to be strictly mathematical. The whole figure is six times the length of the foot. Whether the form be slender or plump, the rule holds good; any deviation from it is a departure from the highest beauty of proportion. The Greeks made all their statues according to this rule. The face, from the highest point of the forehead, where the hair begins, to the chin, is one-tenth of the whole statue The hand, from the wrist to the middle finger, is the same. From the top of the chest to the highest point in the forehead, is a seventh. If the length of the face, from the roots of the hair to the chin, be divided into three equal parts, the first division determines the place where the eyebrows meet, and the second, the place of the nostrils. The height from the feet to the top of the head, is the same distance from the extremity of the fingers when the arms are extended.

"BY THE ETERNAL." (Vol. V. p, 163.) South Carolina, named in honor of Charles II. of England, by whom the province was created in 1663. One of the thirteen original states. ment made by English at Port Royal, 1670. troubles occurred 1832-33, led by J. C. Calhoun, ously by President Jackson, during which his famous expression "By the Eternal," was first used.

First permanent settleFamous nullification and opposed vigor

THEBES. (Vol. V, p. 148.) It is probable that the name Thebes (in Egypt) only means the city, in the same sense of metropolis or "town." Thus Rome was called Urbs, and time reckoned anno Urbis condita. Athens was aster and Tyre was Kartha.

Medina also signifies a dwelling-place-Daniel IV, 25-32, and v, 21. The Egyptian name is ta, the, and ape, city.

A. W.

"BY THE ETERNAL. (Vol. V. p. 31.) President Jackson used to have the credit of using the phrase "By the Eternal" pretty often. When Nicholas Riddle refused to permit him to carry his civil-service policy to the extent of warning officers of the United States bank, he is said to have declared his purpose to crush the bank, sealing it by that characteristic "swear." A. WILDER.