this work for the press, I came upon some notes made by Mr.
Dakyns on the margin of his Xenophon. These were evidently for his own
private use, and are full of scholarly colloquialisms, impromptu words
humorously invented for the need of the moment, and individual turns of
phrase, such as the references to himself under his initials in small
letters, "hgd." Though plainly not intended for publication, the notes
are so vivid and illuminating as they stand that I have shrunk from
putting them into a more formal dress, believing that here, as in the
best letters, the personal element is bound up with what is most fresh
and living in the comment, most characteristic of the writer, and most
delightful both to those who knew him and to those who will wish they
had. I have, therefore, only altered a word here and there, and added
a note or two of my own (always in square brackets), where it seemed
necessary for the sake of clearness.

F. M. S.

CYROPAEDIA

THE EDUCATION OF CYRUS

BOOK I

[C.1] We have had occasion before now to reflect how often democracies
have been overthrown by the desire for some other type of government,
how often monarchies and oligarchies have been swept away by movements
of the people, how often would-be despots have fallen in their turn,
some at the outset by one stroke, while whose who have maintained their
rule for ever so brief a season are looked upon with wonder as marvels
of sagacity and success.

The same lesson, we had little doubt, was to be learnt from the family:
the household might be great or small--even the master of few could
hardly count on the obedience of his little flock. [2] And so, one idea
leading to another, we came to shape our reflexions thus: Drovers may
certainly be called the rulers of their cattle and horse-breeders
the rulers of their studs--all herdsmen, in short, may reasonably be
considered the governors of the animals they guard. If, then, we were to
believe the evidence of our senses, was it not obvious that flocks and
herds were more ready to obey their keepers than men their rulers? Watch
the cattle wending their way wherever their herdsmen guide them, see
them grazing in the pastures where they are sent and abstaining from
forbidden grounds, the fruit of their own bodies they yield to their
master to use as he thinks best; nor have we ever seen one flock among
them all combining