JE S C 



The confllifl between thcfi- two orators excited very prcneral 

 attention, and the two orations tiiat wore dclivrrcd by them 

 ks\e been always confidcred as the mallcr-pieccs of aiiti- 

 quky, cfpecially that of Dtiiiollhcncs, which is more powci-- 

 ful and imprel'livc than that of jEfchines. The latter loll 

 Lis caufe, and was fcntenced to baniduucnt for his rafli accu- 

 liition, ante ChrilK 3:^0. Upon this, he fettled at Rhodes, 

 vherc he opened a Vchool of eloquence, the reputation of 

 vhieh f.ibfilled for many ages. He is faid to have commenced 

 his lectures with the two orations that had oecafioned his 

 lianilhment That of /lifchines hinifclf was received with 

 appliiufe ; but wiieii theduditor. heard that of Demofthenes, 

 their plaudits were redoubled. On this occafion, yEfchincs 

 declared, with a candour and liberality highly honourable 

 to him as an enemy and rival, /K/'u/ applauj'es would you iwt 

 lave ie/h-Mtel, if vou hail heard DemojUienes /peak it kimfelf! 

 Plutarch and Phiioilratus, uli fiipra'. When iEfchines left 

 Athens, in order to embark for Rhodes, Demofthenes ran 

 after him and oliliged hin\ to accept a purfe of money ; 

 upon which jEfchines exclaiined, How will it be pojihle for 

 me not to regret a country, in nvhich I leave an enemy more 

 generous than I can hope to find friends in any other part of the 

 •world I From Rhodes, ylLfehines removed to Samos, and 

 there he died, at the age of 75 years. Some have faid, that 

 .^chines was the firll who delivered extemporaneous ora- 

 tions, a praftice which others have afcribed to Gorgias. 

 Philortratus extols him for luminous perfpicuity, decorous 

 gravity, and dillinguidied energy ; and he is denominated 

 by Dcmoilhenes fj.iyyXo'fjini-xlo:. Quinftilian, comparing 

 liim with Demollhenes, fays of him, (Inft. Orat. 1. x. c. i. 

 torn. ii. p. 901. Ed. Burman.) Plenior ^fchines, et magis 

 fufus, et grandiori fimilis, ,quo minus Jlriclus ejl : carnis tamen 

 plus hahet, lacertorum minus. Photius afcribes nine epif- 

 lles (according to the number of the mufes) to jEfchines ; 

 but there are twelve, which were addrefled to the Athe- 

 nians when he was an exile at Rhodes, in Wollius's edition 

 of Demofthenes and ^fchines, p. 205 ; and Taylor has 

 added them to his edition. The ancients acknowledge only 

 three genuine orations, viz. I. Adverfus Timavchum (Wolf. 

 Ed. p. 259.) Timarchus was his accufer, and it is faid 

 that in confequence of the reproaches of jEfchines he laid 

 violent hands on himfelf. 2. l)e falfa Legalione, (lb. p. 395.) 

 This is an apology for himfelf againil Demofthenes, who 

 bad aecufed him of perlidy in an embafTy to Phihp. 3. 

 Adverfus Ctefiphontem, (lb. p. 425.) who decreed the 

 golden crown to Demofthenes. Fabricius compares thefe 

 orations to the three graces. Another oration, intitled 

 Aii)>.iaxo-; vo/iof, was formerly infcribed with the name of 

 .^fchines ; but the ancients afcribe it to another perfon of 

 the fame name. See Plutarch and Philoftratus, ubi fupra. 

 Demofthen. et ^fchin. Opera, by Wolfius Francof. 1604. 

 Fabricius. Bibl. Graec. tom. i. p. 412 — 928, &c. Laertius, 



Stom. i. p. 118. tom. ii. p. 107. Ed. Meib.) mentions 

 everal other perfons, called yEfchines ; and this identity of 

 name has oecafioned no fmall confufion in the hiftory of the 

 perfons, and particularly with regard to the Socratic philo- 

 fopher and Athenian orator, who are the fubjefts of thefe 

 arlicles. 



^SCHNA, in Entomology, the name of a fpecies of 

 water-fly, of an afti-colour, with four wings, and a long 

 body, hairy near the tail. 



VESCHRION, in Biography, a fellow citizen, and one of 

 tlie mafters of Galen, by whom he is mentioned with refpeft. 

 He had great faith in a medicine he invented againft the ef- 

 fefts of the bite of a mad dog. The following is the prefcrip- 

 tion, and it is, without doubt, as efficacious as the famous 

 eompofition recommended by Dr. Mead. Take of the aflies 



iE S C 



of lobfters, burnt alive in a copper veiTel, ten parts ; of 

 gentian, in powder, five parts ; of jucanfa, one part ; mix 

 them, and let the patient take a fpoonful in a glal's of 

 water eveiy day, for forty days. There are fome idle cere- 

 monies direded to be obfervedin making the powder, which 

 are here omitted. 



jESCHY, in Geography, a town of Switzerland in the 

 Canton of ISern ; two leagues fouth-eaft of Spiek. 



AESCHYLUS, in Biography, the famous tragic poet, 

 was bom at Athens, in the fail year of the 63d Olympiad, 

 or the 525th year before Chrift, according to the Arundehaii 

 marbles, on which Stanley, in his notes on the life of this 

 poet, relics. He was the fon of Eupliorion, and diftinguiihed 

 by his military valour as well as by the exercife of thofe fignal 

 tdents, which intitle him to the appellation of the father of 

 tragedy. 



At the battle of Marathon, his brother, Cyna?gynis, 

 lignalized himielf ; and, as Herodotus informs us (1. ii. p. 

 491. Ed, WefTel.) laid hold of the prow of one of the Per- 

 fian (hips with his hands, which were cut ofl" by an axe, fo 

 that he died of his wounds : and his youngeft brother 

 Aminias, fays Diodorus Siculus (1. xi. p. 426. Ed. WefTel.), 

 who had the command of a fquadron of flaps, conduced 

 himfelf with fuch ikill and braveiy^, that he funk the ad- 

 miral of the Perfian fleet, and gained diftinguiihed honour. 

 In thefe battles, as we learn from Pautmias (l.i. p. 35. Ed. 

 Kuhnii), as well as in thofe of Platxa and Artemifium, he 

 was prefent ; and we are affured that he acquitted himfelf 

 with honour. But his principal attention was direfted to the 

 eompofition of tragedies and the improvement of the ilage. 

 Paufanias informs us^ (1. i. p. 49.) that he was admoniftied 

 by Bacchus, when a boy and afleep in the field, to write 

 tragedies ; and that when he awoke he made a trial and 

 fucceeded. 



His mind was naturally ftrong and ardent; and the 

 aufterity of his charafter was manifefted by his filence and 

 gravity. From his youth he had been accuftomed to the 

 lelTons of thofe poets, who, living near to the heroic times, 

 conceived ideas correfponding in fublimity to the illnftrious 

 deeds that were then atehieved. In the filftory of thefe re- 

 mote ages he beheld eveiy where the imprefs of grandeur, 

 and frequently that of ferocit)-. In order to bring fcenes of 

 this kind to view, and to exhibit, as it were, before the eyes 

 of the fpedlator the time and place, and various circum- 

 ftances of events, vEfchylus employed all the refources of 

 theatrical reprefentation : and thus the illufion became a 

 reality. Snfarion and Thefpis, and Phrynichus, the difciple 

 of the latter, had proceeded but a little way. Thefpis 

 indeed had introduced a fingle actor, and Phrynichus 

 felefted that kind of verfe which is nioft fuitable to the 

 drama, and made fome other clianges ; neverthelefs tragedy 

 was in its infancy before the time of ^fchylus. In his firit 

 tragedies he introduced a fecond aftor ; and, afterwards, 

 copying the example of Sophocles, who had juft entered on 

 his theatrical career, he admitted a third, and fometimes 

 even a fourth. By thus multiplying perfons, one of liis 

 aftors became the hero of the piece, and pofTefted the princi- 

 pal intereli: ; and as the chorus now held only a fubaltern 

 ftation, iEfcliylus abridged its part. He is ccnfured for 

 having admitted mute charafters into his drama ; but it has 

 been fuggefted that the veil which covered them and the 

 filent grief which they manifefted, produced a more fenfible 

 efiecl than any lamentatiotis and tears. What he has faid 

 of his hero Hippomedon (Sept. contr. Theb. v. 506.) may 

 be applied to hiinfelt : 



" Before him ftrides 



Gigantic terror, tow'ring to the ikies." 



And 



