P. 37.—“Criterion,” cri-te´ri-on. A rule or test by which actions, facts and judgments are tried.
P. 38.—“Scythians.” The inhabitants of Scythia, a country whose borders were never distinctly defined. As described by Herodotus it included parts of eastern Europe and western Asia, its southern boundary being a portion of the Black Sea. Scythia was afterward the name given to a section of Asia north of the Oxus.
“Northmen.” The Scandinavian tribes, or the Swedes, Danes and Norwegians.
P. 39—“Pope.” (1688-1744.) An English poet. From early boyhood he was a student and writer. At thirteen he began a course of self-education, and at twelve wrote his “Ode to Solitude.” The “Pastorals,” his first published work, placed him at twenty-one among the first poets of his time, and introduced him to literary circles. In 1711 his “Essay on Criticism” appeared, and soon after the “Rape of the Lock.” Pope’s translation of the Iliad was the first of his works which was a financial success. In 1725 he edited an edition of Shakspere, and in 1728 produced “The Dunciad,” an attack on various contemporaneous scribblers. Of his other writings the “Moral Essays” are best known. Pope was never married. He was a little, weakly man, critical, narrow, vain, and often untruthful, but withal generous, clear-minded, and true to his friends.
P. 40.—“Fane.” A place dedicated to some deity; hence a place dedicated for worship.
P. 41.—“Republic.” A work of Plato’s, in which he sets forth his ideas of an ideal commonwealth. It treats of both Church and State, but is impracticable for the existing conditions of society.
P. 42.—“Petronius,” pe-tro´ni-us. The period at which he lived is uncertain, but he probably belonged to the age of the Emperor Nero. (A. D. 37-68.) The work here quoted describes the adventures of several young and dissipated men in southern Italy. Only fragments of it remain.
P. 42.—“Seneca.” See C. L. S. C. Notes in The Chautauquan for November.
P. 43.—“Bengal,” ben-gawl´. One of the ten political provinces of India. It is in the extreme east of the peninsula, and includes the regions lying about the mouth of the Ganges and Bramapootra rivers, and the adjacent hill regions.
“Medhurst.” (1796-1857.) An English missionary who spent most of his life in Java and China. Of the latter country and its people he wrote much. He translated the Bible into Chinese, beside publishing the “Chinese Repository,” a “Chinese and English Dictionary,” etc. “China, its Fate and Prospects,” is still a book of high authority.