at would be the issue of the battle against
the Persians, headed by Cyrus, the answer was, he "should behold a
mighty empire overthrown;" but whether that empire was his own, or
that of Cyrus, only the actual issue of the fight could determine.

7. Similarly, when PHILIP of Macedon sent to Delphi to inquire if his
Persian expedition would prove successful, he received for reply, "The
ready victim crowned for sacrifice stands before the altar." Philip
took it for granted that the "ready victim" was the king of Persia,
but it was himself.

8. TARQUIN sent to Delphi to learn the fate of his struggle with the
Romans for the recovery of his throne, and was told, "Tarquin will
never fall till a dog speaks with the voice of a man." The "dog" was
Junius Brutus, who was called a dog by way of contempt.

9. When the oracle was asked who would succeed Tarquin, it replied,
"He who shall first kiss his mother." Whereupon Junius Brutus fell to
the earth, and exclaimed, "Thus, then, I kiss thee, O mother earth!"

10. Jourdain, the wizard, told the duke of Somerset, if he wished to
live, to "avoid where castles mounted stand." The duke died in an
ale-house called the Castle, in St. Alban's.--Shakespeare, _2 Henry
VI._ act v. sc. 2.

11. A wizard told King Edward IV. that "after him should reign one the
first letter of whose name should be G." The king thought the person
meant was his brother George, but the duke of Gloucester was the
person pointed at.--Holinshed, _Chronicles_; Shakespeare, _Richard
III._ act i. sc. I.

ERAC'LIUS (_The emperor_) condemned a knight to death on the
supposition of murder; but the man supposed to be murdered making his
appearance, the condemned man was taken back, under the expectation
that he would be instantly acquitted. But no, Eraclius ordered all
three to be put to death: the knight, because the emperor had ordered
it; the man who brought him back, because he had not carried out the
emperor's order; and the man supposed to be murdered, because he was
virtually the cause of death to the other two.

This tale is told in the _Gesta Romanorum_, and Chaucer has put it
into the mouth of his Sumpnor. It is also told by Seneca, in his _De
Ira_; but he ascribes it to Cornelius Piso, and not to Eraclius.

ERASTE (_2 syl._), hero of _Les Facheux_ by Moliere. He is in love
with Orphiso (_2 syl._), whose tutor is Damis (1661).

ER'CELDOUN (_Thomas of_), also called "Thomas the Rhymer," introduced
by Sir