514 Fulian Star—Query—Line in the Eineid—Greek Word. | Jaly 1; 
-the annotator indeed conjectures, that this 
extraordinary Juminary might have been 
appointed to prediét the nativity of Chrilt. 
His words are thefe :— 
‘© Porro cometes ille Chrifti Servatoris 
noftri natalem prenunciafie multo melus 
ereditur.”” 
But, with all deference to fo learned an 
authority, this opinion, I think, is fcarce- 
ly tenable; for Julius Czfar was af- 
faffinated forty years before the nativity 
of Chrift; and Suetonius informs us, that 
the Julian Star appeared at the funeral 
games, which were inftituted by Auguf 
tus to his memory foon after his death; 
a period of time, although not remote, 
yet too diftant ta fuppofe that it bore any 
afpeét to that important event; more- 
over, the Evangelifts do not take any no- 
tice of it, which they would not fail to 
have done, had it been connected with the 
advent of their Lord and Matter. 
Probably, therefore, after all, the ** Ju- 
lium Sidus ”? was no other than a regular 
comet, the critical appearance of which, 
the authority and influence of Auguftus, 
combined with the ignorance of thofe 
ages in aftronomy, might eafily convert 
into a divine teftimony of the deification 
of his uncle; for, befides the honour of 
‘his family, Auguftus had motives of po- 
licy fufficiently powerful to induce him to 
propagate this belief. Iam, Sir, 
Hanflope, Your’s, &c. 
May 15, 1804. W. SINGLETON. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
I SHOULD be much obliged to any of 
corréfpondents, who would inform me, 
through the medium of your valuable 
Magazine, at what time the Jalt edition of 
Eufebius was publifhed -in the original 
Greck. It is much to be regretted, that 
fo few copies of fome of the beft ancient 
authors in that language are extant, par- 
ticularly in a country where literature is 
cultivated, and where the ancients are fo 
much admired. Ft would not be an in- 
different fpeculation to reprint many of 
them; nor would it be a {mall fervice 
rendered to thofe whofe literary hours are 
partially engaged in claffical ftudies. 
April 7, 1804. UPsILON, 
= 
Ta the Editor of the Montkly Magazine. 
SIR, 
FrieNnD of mine, in the North of 
\. Germany, a great amateur of mi- 
neralogy, exprefles to me a defire to form 
a conneciion with fome gentlemen in this 
country, who might be willing to fupply 
him with the mineral produéts of Eng- 
land, Scotland, and Ireland, on barter for 
fele&t ores of German mines, or who are 
in the habit of importing fuch ores which 
the German mountains yield, whom he 
could provide with excellent fpecimens on 
the moft favourable terms, As I have 
not the pleafure to be acquainted with 
any gentleman of this defcription, and 
yet am anxious to ferve my friend if pof- 
fible, I take the liberty to addrefs my- 
felf to you, and beg you will do me the 
favour to. infert this in your Monthly 
Magazine, which I conceive to be the 
moft eligible place for that purpofe. If 
fhould be happy if any gentleman fhould 
feel inclined to enter into fuch a connec- 
tion ; and any letter on this fubjeét for- 
warded to Mr. Henry Holmes, bookfeller, 
Leeds, for J. W. (poft paid) will be daly 
attended to. Iam, &c. 
j. W. 
——— 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
N the third book of the AEneid, AEne- 
as relating to Queen Dido the events 
of his voyage, previoufly to his landing 
on the Carthaginian Coaft, after defcribing 
his departure from the Ceraunian Moun- 
tains, and the diftant view of Italy, fays— 
‘¢ Templumque apparet in arce Minerve. 
Now it may be afked, how could Aineas 
poffefs any topographical knowledge of 
Italy, fince he had not then reached it? 
It is obfervable too, that the poet brings 
forward no fupernatural machinery (to 
which he fo often reforts) for enabling his 
hero to poffeis this knowledge. ‘There is 
no mention of the Temple of Minerva in 
the prophecy of Helenus; it feems, there- 
fore, that Virgil muft here be guilty of 
the crime of zodding, however reluctant 
his admirers may be to impute it to him, 
Lyan, TG. 
May 7, 1804. 
ome GD 
To the Editor of the Monthiy Magazine. 
BIR, 
N reply to a query that occurs in your 
Magazine for April, with refpeét to 
to the ufe of the word didcasic, I be 
leave to obferve, that is ufed by Thucy- 
dides in his fecond book, to denote a 
change of habitation. Speaking of the 
removal of the Athenians from the open 
country tothe city itfelf, on the threaten- 
ed invafion of Attica by the Lacedemo- 
nians, in the firft year of the Peloponne. 
fian War, he has the following pailage: _ 
oF 
