708 



KHEMNITZER, IVAN IVANOVITCH. 



KHOSRU II. 



710 



held for thirteen years ; during; which time he contributed articles in 

 his favourite department of philology to the ' Journal of Education,' 

 established by the Society for tbe Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. To 

 the first number of this journal he contributed a review of iiumpt's 

 ' Latin Grammar,' advancing views which he subsequently developed 

 more systematically in his own ' Latin Grammar,' published in parts 

 between 1843 and 1846. On the opening of a Junior School in con- 

 nection with University College in 1833, Mr. Key and his colleague 

 Mr. Maiden were appointed joint head-masters, an arrangement which 

 continued till 1842, when Mr. Key gave up his latin professorship 

 in the College, and became sole head-master of the school, associating 

 with this office that of Professor of Comparative Grammar in the 

 college. Both of these offices he still (1856) holds. 



Mr. Key's high reputation among British philologists depends on 

 his numerous writings, the chief of which are as follows : articles on 

 subjects connected with Latin literature, contributed to the first four 

 volumes of the Useful Knowledge Society's ' Journal of Education ; ' 

 various articles in the ' Penny Cyclopedia,' including that on the 

 'Alphabet ; ' papers in the ' Proceedings ;of the Philological Society ' 

 (vole, ii.-vi), and also in the Transactions of the same society 

 (vola. i.-iii); thirteen papers on Latin Etymology signed "Claudius," 

 in Bell's ' English Journal of Education,' from July 1850 to September 

 1851; two papers on the "crude-form" method of teaching the 

 classical languages, published in tbe same journal, December 1850 

 and February 1851; a few articles in the 'Dictionary of Classical 

 Antiquities,' edited by Dr. Smith; and finally, his 'Latin Grammar,' 

 published complete in 1846. In the autumn of 1844 Mr. Key engaged 

 in a controversy with the Rev. J. W. Donaldson, respecting that gentle- 

 man's work, entitled ' Varronianus ; ' and the five pamphlets which 

 he then published were reprinted for private circulation. Mr. Key 

 also contributed an article on ' Latin Dictionaries ' to the ' West- 

 minster Review' in July 1856. 



Of these numerous philological writings the most important, after 

 his ' Latin Grammar,' are perhaps those in which he expounds the 

 metres of Terence (' Quart. Journ. of Ed.,' voL 'ii.), the claims of the 

 Finn and Lapp languages to admission into the Indo-European family 

 (' I'roc. of PhiL Soc.,' vol. ii.), and his (' Proc. of Phil. Soc.') theories of 

 the demonstrative pronouns, of the substantive verb, of the middle 

 or passive voice, and of the irregularities seen in such forms as ' Good, 

 Better, Best ' to which may be added his paper on the representatives 

 of the Greek preposition ava in kindred lansuages. (' Trans, of Phil. 

 Soe.,' TO! i.) A 'Latin-English Dictionary,' on which he has been 

 engaged for ten years, and which will necessarily be the most import- 

 ant of hii works, is still, we believe, in course of preparation. 



Mr. Key married in 1824 the daughter of Richard Troward, E-q., 

 the solicitor who conducted the prosecution against Warren Hastings. 

 One of bis daughters is married to his colleague, Dr. Williamson, 

 Professor of Chemistry in University College. 



KHEMNITZER, IVAN IVANOVITCH, an admired Russian 

 fabulist, was born in 1744, at St. Petersburg, where hia father, who 

 was a native of Saxony, held the appointment of physician at one of 

 the hospitals. His aversion to medical and anatomical studies deter- 

 mined him to enter the army in preference to following the profession 

 chosen for him ; but after serving in two campaigns against the Prus- 

 sians and Turks, he served only as a military engineer, in which 

 capacity he quickly won the regard of his superiors. In 1784 he was 

 appointed consul general at Smyrna, but had hardly arrived there 

 when he died (March 20th). Although his Fables reached a second 

 edition in his lifetime, they did not attract much notice until a com- 

 plete edition of all his pieces appeared in 3 vols. in 1799, with a 

 memoir of the author and his name, which last had not been pre- 

 viously given to the public. Since then they have been reprinted 

 several times, and have acquired great popularity. 



KHERASKOV, MICHAEL MATVIEVITCU, born on the-25th of 

 October 1733, was a Russian poet of considerable celebrity in the last 

 century, although his reputation has since declined. His epic poem 

 in twelve csntos, entitled the ' Rossiada,' which first appeared in 1785, 

 celebrates the liberation of Russia from the yoke of the Tartars in the 

 reign of Ivan Vassilievitch. Although hardly rising to the dignity of 

 an epic, this production possesses much interest of narrative, and 

 several very striking scenes and descriptions. ' Vladimir,' his second 

 poem of the same class, is in eighteen cantos, and was first published 

 in 1786. Besides these he wrote numerous other works, both in 

 prose and verse, including an imitation of Corneille's ' Cid," and some 

 other tr.igedios and dramatic pieces. He died on the 27th of Septem- 

 ber 1807. 



KHOSRU I., called CnosnoES by the Greek writers, but more 

 commonly known in the east by the name of NUSHIRWAK ('noble 

 soul'), succeeded his father Kobad in the kingdom of Persia, A.D. 531. 

 Kobad, at the time of his death, was engaged in a war with Justinian, 

 the emperor of ConHtantinople; but Khosru, shortly after his accession, 

 concluded a peace with Justinian, on the payment by the latter of 

 10,000 pounds of gold. Khosru diligently employed this interval of 

 rent in regulating the internal affairs of his kingdom ; the corrupt 

 officer* and magistrates, who had been appointed during the reign of 

 liia father, were removed; justice was impartially administered in 

 every part of the empire ; and tbe fanatical followers of Mazdak, who 

 liad obtained numerous proselytei to the inviting doctrine of a com- 



munity of goods and women, were banished from his dominions. He 

 divided the empire into the four great provinces of Assyria, Media, 

 Persia, and Bactriana, and established a vizir over each ; and he secured 

 at the same time the stability of his throne by the murder of his two 

 elder brothers. In the course of a few years he extended hi* domi- 

 nions as far as the Indus, and compelled the nomadic hordes, who had 

 taken possession of the northern provinces of the empire during the 

 reign of his father, to repass the Oxus and withdraw to the central 

 plains of Asia, 



Though Khosru was successful in his wars with the people of Asia, 

 he beheld with concern the conquests of Belisarius in Italy and Africa; 

 and afraid lest Justinian should acquire sufficient power to attack the 

 Persian dominions, he collected a large army, and, in violation of the 

 truce that still subsisted, he invaded Sjria in 540. His unexpected 

 attack had given the Greeks no time for defence ; the principal cities 

 were plundered by the Persian troops, and Antioch, the capital, was 

 taken after a short but vigorous resistance. On his return, Khosru 

 founded, at one day's journey from Ctesiphon, a city, which ho called 

 Antioch Khosru, where he placed the numerous captives he had taken 

 in hia invasion of Syria. In the following year Belisarius was recalled 

 to defend the east ; and his superior military skill enabled him, with 

 an army far inferior to the Persians both in discipline and numbers, to 

 prevent Khosru from extending his conquests. In 542 Belisarius was 

 recalled to Constantinople, and degraded from all his employments ; 

 and the generals who succeeded him were easily defeated by the 

 Persian troops. The war continued to be carried on for many years, 

 though with little vigour on either side, in the neighbourhood of the 

 Black Sea, and principally in tlie territories of the Lagi, a Colchian 

 people ; till at length, after much delay and many negociations, 

 Khosru condescended to grant a peace to Justinian iu 562, on tho 

 annual payment by the latter of 30,000 pieces of gold. 



This peace however was only preserved for ten years. The lieu- 

 tenants of Khosru had subclued the province of Yemen in Arabia, 

 and compelled the Abyssmiaus, who hail possessed the supreme 

 authority for many years, to withdraw from the country. The Abys- 

 eiuiaus were the allies of the emperors of Constantinople ; and Justin, 

 who had succeeded Justinian, having entered into an alliance with the 

 Turks, collected a powerful army in order to avenge the cause of his 

 allies. But his efforts were unsuccessful ; hia troops were evory whero 

 defeated, and the province of Syria was agaiu plundered by the 

 Persian soldiers. Justin was obliged to resign the sovereignty, and 

 his successor Tiberius obtained a truce of three year?, which time was 

 diligently employed by Tiberius iu collecting an immense army from 

 all parts of tbe empire. The command was given to Juatiuian, and a 

 desperate battle was fought between the Greeks and Persians iu the 

 neighbourhood of Molitenc, a town in the eastern part of Cappadocia, 

 iu which Khosru was completely defeated. He died in the spring of 

 the following year, 579, after a reign of forty-eight years, and was 

 succeeded by hia sou Hormisdas IV. 



The virtues, and more particularly the justice of this monarch, form 

 to the present day a favourite topic of eastern panegyric ; ami the 

 glories and happiness of his reign are frequently extolled by poeta as 

 the golden age of the Persian sovereignty. His reign forma an 

 important epoch in the history of science and literature : he founded 

 colleges and libraries m the principal towns of his dominions, and 

 encouraged tho translation of the most celebrated Greek and Sanscrit 

 works into the Persian language. A physician at his court, of the 

 name of Barzuyeh, is said to have brought into Persia a Pehlvi trans- 

 lation of those celebrated fables which are known under the name of 

 Bidpai or Pilpay ; and it was from this translation of the Indian tales 

 that these fables found their way to nearly every other nation of 

 Western Asia and Europe. The conquests of Khosru were great and 

 numerous; his empire extended from the shores of the Red Sen to 

 the Indus; and tin monarchs of India, China, and Tibet are repre- 

 sented by Oriental i'istorians as sending ambassadors to bis court with 

 valuable presents to solicit his friendship and alliance. (See the origi- 

 nal passage in Ewald s ' Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes,' 

 vol. i. p. 185.) ' 



KHOSRU II., the j. randson of Khosru 1, was elevated to the throne 

 of Persia, A.D. 590, on the deposition of his father Hormisdas by 

 Bindoes, a noble of the royal blood. In the first year of his reign 

 Khosru was obliged to leave his native country to escape from the 

 treachery of Bahrain, who rebelled against his sovereign and seized 

 upon the royal power. Khosru took refuge in the dominions of 

 Maurice, the emperor of Constantinople, who assisted tho Persian 

 monarch with a numerous army, with which he was enabled to defeat 

 Bahram, and again to obtain possession of the sovereignty. The 

 friendship of Maurice was however purchased by the surrender of 

 some of the most important towns of Mesopotamia and the payment 

 of a large sum of money. During the life of Maurice, peace was pre- 

 served between the two nations ; but on his assassination by PJiocas 

 in 602, Khosru took up arms to revenge the death of hii> benefactor, 

 ami in the space of fourteen years subdued almost all the provinces 

 of the Greek empire. In 611 Antioch was taken; in the following 

 year Csesarea, the capital of Cappadocia, fell into the hands of the 

 Persians; in 614 tho whole of Palestine was subdued ; in 616 Egypt 

 was conquered, and Alexandria taken by Khosru himself; while 

 another Penian army subdued tho whole of Asia Minor, and advanced. 



