any one say that as long as a man remains with me, I make use of his services, but that. when he desires to leave me, I seize and ill-treat his person, and despoil him of his property. But let them go, with the consciousness that they have acted a worse part toward us than we toward them. I have, indeed, their children and wives under guard at Tral'les; but not even of them shall they be deprived, but shall receive them back in consideration of their former service to me." Thus Cyrus spoke; and the Greeks, even such as had been previously disinclined to the expedition, when they heard of the noble conduct of Cyrus, accompanied him with greater pleasure and alacrity.

Twelve days' march from this point advances the expeditionary force to the river Euphrates, at the site of a large city named Thap'sa-cus. Here the army staid five days, and here Cyrus openly told the Greek captains that he was marching to Babylon against the Great King. He desired them to make the disclosure to their men. They did so. The men felt, or feigned, much displeasure, and demanded a liberal donative. Lavish gifts Cyrus was the last man to refuse the promise of, and the soldiers were promptly made rich with prospective and conditional wealth. The majority were prevailed upon to adhere to Cyrus. The selfish thrift and cunning of the leading Greek soldiers of fortune are well exhibited in the conduct of Menon on the present occasion. This conduct is thus related by Xenophon:

Before it was certain what the other soldiers would do, whether they would accompany Cyrus or not, Menon assembled his own troops apart from the rest, and spoke as follows:

"If you will follow my advice, soldiers, you will, without incurring either danger or toil, make yourselves honored by Cyrus beyond the rest of the army. What, then, would I have you do? Cyrus is at this moment urgent with the Greeks to accompany him against the king; I therefore suggest that, before it is known how the other Greeks will answer Cyrus, you should cross over the river Euphrates. For if they should determine upon accompanying him, you will appear to have been the cause of it, by being the first to pass the river; and to you, as being most forward with your services, Cyrus will feel and repay the obligation, as no one knows how to do better than himself. But if the others

should determine not to go with him, we shall all of us return back again; but you, as having alone complied with his wishes, and as being most worthy of his confidence, he will employ in garrison duty and post of authority; and whatever else you may ask of him, I feel assured that, as the friends of Cyrus, you will obtain it.”

On hearing these proposals, they at once complied with them, and crossed the river before the others had given their answer. And when Cyrus perceived that they had crossed, he was much pleased, and dispatched Glus to Menon's troops with this message: “I applaud your conduct, my friends; and it shall be my care that you may applaud me; or think me no longer Cyrus." The soldiers, in consequence, being filled with great expectations, prayed that he might succeed; and to Menon Cyrus was said to have sent most magnificent presents. After these transactions, he passed the river, and all the rest of the army followed him.

The remainder of Cyrus's advance lay along the river Euphrates, on its left bank-that is to say, the army had the river on its right, and were marching in a south-easterly direction toward Babylon. Through a region, called by Xenophon Arabia, their march was for five days across a desert, which Xenophon thus describes :

In this region the ground was entirely a plain, level as the sea. It was covered with wormwood, and whatever other kinds of shrub or reed grew on it were all odoriferous as perfumes. But there were no trees. There were wild animals, however, of various kinds; the most numerous were wild asses; there were also many ostriches, as well as bustards and antelopes; and these animals the horsemen of the army sometimes hunted. The wild asses, when any one pursued them, would start forward a considerable distance, and then stand still; (for they ran much more swiftly than the horse;) and again, when the horse approached, they did the same; and it was impossible to catch them, unless the horsemen, stationing themselves at intervals, kept up the pursuit with a succession of horses. The flesh of those that were taken resembled venison, but was more tender. An ostrich no one succeeded in catching; and those horsemen who hunted that bird soon desisted from the pur suit; for it far outstripped them in its flight, using its feet for running, and its wings, raising them like a sail. The bustards might be taken if a person started them suddenly; for they fly but a short distance, like partridges, and soon tire. Their flesh is very delicious.

They then reach a river, where they find a large deserted city. Here they stay three days and collect provisions. They were about to encounter a march of extremely formidable character. They were to traverse a region destitute of every means of subsistence. Many of their beasts of burden, during those thirteen dreary days, perished from sheer famine. Food also failed the soldiers, except that among the sutlers of Cyrus's Barbarian force, flour of barley or of wheat might be bought at exorbitant prices. The soldiers, accordingly, lived exclusively upon flesh. Xenophon relates an incident of this desert march illustrative of the individual character of Cyrus, and of the discipline which he was able to maintain among his Persian followers, accustomed to Oriental ideas of courtier devotion. He says:

On one occasion, when a narrow and muddy road presented itself, almost impassable for the wagons, Cyrus halted on the spot with the most distinguished and wealthy of his train, and ordered Glus and Pigres, with a detachment of the Barbarian forces, to assist in extricating the wagons. But as they appeared to him to do this too tardily, he ordered, as if in anger, the noblest Persians of his suite to assist in expediting the carriages. Then might be seen a specimen of their ready obedience; for, throwing off their purple cloaks, in the place where each happened to be standing, they rushed forward, as one would run in a race for victory, down an extremely steep declivity, having on those rich vests which they wear, and embroidered trowsers, some too with chains about their necks and bracelets on their wrists, and, leaping with these equipments straight into the mud, brought the wagons up quicker than any one would have imagined.

On the whole, Cyrus evidently used the greatest speed throughout the march, and made no delay, except where he halted in order to obtain a supply of provisions, or for some other necessary purpose; thinking that the quicker he went, the more unprepared he should find the king when he engaged him.

Still another incident, exhibiting the difficulties with which Cyrus had to contend in maintaining harmony of action. among the mutually jealous and high-spirited leaders of the Greeks, with their notions of personal independence, is, in

the words of Xenophon, as follows. This incident, too, belongs to the period of the desert march, the exigencies of which seem to have brought out the latent selfishness common to human nature:

The soldiers of Menon and those of Clearchus falling into a dispute about something, Clearchus, judging a soldier of Menon's to be in the wrong, inflicted stripes upon him, and the man, coming to the quarters of his own troops, told his comrades what had occurred, who, when they heard it, showed great displeasure and resentment toward Clearchus. On the same day, Clearchus, after going to the place where the river was crossed, and inspecting the market there, was returning on horseback to his tent through Menon's camp, with a few attendants. Cyrus had not yet arrived, but was still on his way thither. One of Menon's soldiers, who was employed in cleaving wood, when he saw Clearchus riding through the camp, threw his ax at him, but missed his aim ; another then threw a stone at him, and another, and afterward several, a great uproar ensuing. Clearchus sought refuge in his own camp, and immediately called his men to arms, ordering his heavy-armed troops to remain on the spot, resting their shields against their knees, while he himself, with the Thracians and the horsemen that were in his camp, to the number of more than forty, (and most of these were Thracians,) bore down toward the troops of Menon, so that they and Menon himself were struck with terror, and made a general rush to their arms; while some stood still, not knowing how to act under the circumstances. Proxenus happened then to be coming up behind the rest, with a body of heavy-armed men following him, and immediately led his troops into the middle space between them both, and drew them up under arms, begging Clearchus to desist from what he was doing. But Clearchus was indignant, because, when he had narrowly escaped stoning, Proxenus spoke mildly of the treatment that he had received; he accordingly desired him to stand out from between them.

At this juncture Cyrus came up, and inquired into the affair. He then instantly took his javelins in his hand, and rode, with such of his confidential officers as were with him, into the midst of the Greeks, and addressed them thus: "Clearchus and Proxenus, and you other Greeks who are here present, you know not what you are doing. For if you engage in any contention with one another, be assured that this very day I shall be cut off, and you also not long after me; since, if our affairs go ill, all these Barbarians whom you see before you will prove more dangerous enemies to us than even those who are with the king." Clearchus, on

hearing these remonstrances, recovered his self-possession; and both parties, desisting from the strife, deposited their arms in their respective encampments.

The army now had need of harmonious counsels. They were rapidly approaching the forces of the king. They found the country wasted before them, as they advanced. This was the work of a hostile cavalry detachment, conjectured, from the tracks observed, to number about 2,000. But Cyrus, besides dissensions to be composed among the Greeks, had his path of ambition planted with thorns through treachery arising among his own Persian adherents. According to the style of history-writing fashionable in Xenophon's time, our author dramatizes his work by introducing dialogues and speeches, as if reported word for word on the spot. Perhaps the form of what follows (given in Xenophon's own language) is unconsciously made by the narrator in some measure Greek; but the spirit of it is essentially and unmistakably Oriental and despotic. Still, let our readers observe with what skill of adjustment Cyrus adapts himself to the supposed different, more liberal ideas of the Greek leaders, whom it was for his present interest to consult and conciliate. Something of the Greek spirit had perhaps really penetrated the nature of this remarkable young prince, to qualify the effect of his Oriental blood and breeding. He was now but little more than twenty years of age. If he had conquered, it is not too much to surmise that the course of subsequent history might have been permanently changed. Asia might have conquered Greece, instead of being conquered by Greece; but, in that case, the irrepressible Greek spirit must still seriously have modified the force to which it ostensibly succumbed:

And here Orontes, a Persian, by birth connected with the king, and reckoned one of the ablest of the Persians in the field, turned traitor to Cyrus; with whom, indeed, he had previously been at strife, but had been reconciled to him. He now told Cyrus that if he would give him a thousand horse, he would either cut off, by lying in ambush, the body