NAVARINO.
This is a strong town on the west coast of the Morea on the Gulf of Zoncheo, with an excellent harbour, recently distinguished by the fleet of the pacha of Egypt being blockaded there by admiral sir E. Codrington.
It is affirmed that this was the ancient Pylus, where the eloquent and venerable Nestor reigned. At the siege of Troy, according to Homer, he moderated the wrath of Achilles, the pride of Agamemnon, the impetuosity of Ajax, and the rash courage of Diomedes. In the first book of the Iliad he is represented as interposing between the two first-mentioned chiefs:
To calm their passions with the words of age
Slow from his seat arose the Pylian sage,
Experienced Nestor, in persuasion skill’d.
Words sweet as honey from his lips distill’d.[405]
It appears to have been also called Coryphasion, from the promontory on which it was erected. It was built by Pylus, at the head of a colony from Megara. The founder was dispossessed of it by Neleus, and fled into Elis, where he dwelt in a small town, also called Pylos. There was likewise a third town of the same name, and they respectively claimed the honour of having given birth to Nestor. The Pylos at Elis seems, in the opinion of the learned, to have won the palm. Pindar, however, assigns it to the town now called Navarino.
[405] Bourn’s Gazetteer.
COUNSELS AND SAYINGS.
By Dr. A. Hunter.
Up, and be Doing.
The folly of delaying what we wish to be done is a great and punishing weakness.
Be orderly.
Uniformity of conduct is the best rule of life that a man can possibly observe.
Man is orderly by Nature.
Is it not a matter of astonishment that the heart should beat, on the average, about four thousand strokes every hour during a period of “threescore years and ten,” and without ever taking a moment’s rest?
In Travelling be contented.
When we complain of bad inns in poor and unfrequented countries, we do not consider that it is numerous passengers that make good inns.
Are you an Orator?
Chew a bit of anchovy, and it will instantly restore the tone of voice when lost by public speaking.
Do not forget.
When your memory begins to leave you, learn to make memorandums.
Shun Will-mongering.
If you induce a person to make an improper will, your conscience will smite you from the rising to the setting sun.
Marriage is a Voyage for Life.
One who marries an ill-tempered person attempts to lick honey from off a thorn.
An odd Remark.
Women who love their husbands generally lie upon their right side.
Note.—I can only speak, from experience, of one; and, as regards her, the observation is true.