1898.] Medals of the ancient Kings of Bactria. men, in sight of Boston, by the Shan- (To be continued.) MEDALS OF THE ANCIENT KINGS OF AJOR JAMES TODD, M. R. some interesting particulars to the Asiatic Society, arising from the discovery of Indian Medals, particularly two ancient ones of the Greek Kings of Bactria, Apollodotus and Menander. For the last twelve years of the Major's residence in India, amongst Mahrattas and Rajputs, the collecting of coins, as an auxiliary to history, was one of his pursuits; and in the rainy season he had a person employed at Mathurá and other old cities, to collect all that were brought to light by the action of the water, while tearing up old foundations, and levelling mouldering walls. In this manner he accumulated about 20,000 coins, of all denominations; among which there might not be above 100 calculated to excite interest, and perhaps not above one-third of that number to be considered of value; but among them there was an APOLLODOTUS and a MENANDER, besides some rare medals of a Parthian dy The American Government complained of this, as being contrary to the strict rules of war, and Capt. Broke underwent some censure from the Admirality.-He was created a baronet in Sept. following. 109 nasty, probably yet unknown to history. On the medal of Apollodotus, there was a figure of Apollo, armed with a dart or spear inverted, in the left hand; denoting clemency after victory. Towards his right hand, was a monogram, indicating the date, which would appear to be the Bactrian æra, composed of the letters.On the reverse was a figure which appeared to represent a portable sacrificial tripod, or altar, having around it an inscription in the ancient Zend, or Pehlavi character, as in the Sassanian medals of Sapor, and the inscription's of Nakschi, Rustam, and Kermansha. The medal of Menander bore the effigies of the prince, the head covered with a helmet. On the reverse was a winged figure of victory. Around was the same Zend character, as in that of Apollodotus. The Zend characters, common to both these medals, afford some proof that these two princes held Bactria, or Balk'h, as the seat of empire; for, though the discovery of these coins gives validity to the reported extent of conquest of these princes, yet, bad they held the seat of government within the Indus, they would have adopted the ancient Núgari character on the reverse, not that of Parthia. By the acquisition of this coin of Apollodotus, Major Todd made a double discovery, namely, of the coin itself, and of an ancient capital city. The following is a brief abstract of Major Todd's communication to the Asiatic Society. Conversing with the principal disciple of a celebrated Jain, priest of Gwalior, about ancient cities, he related to me an anecdote of a poor man, about thirty-five years ago, having discovered amidst the few fragments left of Súrapura, on the Yamuná, a bit of (what he deemed) glass; showing it to a silversmith, he sold it for one rupee; the purchaser carried his prize to Agra, and sold it for 5000, for it was a diamond. The finder naturally wished to have a portion of the profit, and, on refusal, waylaid and slew the silversmith. The assassin was carried to Agra to be tried, and thus the name of Súrapura became known beyond its immediate vicinity. This was a sufficient inducement to me to dispatch one of my coinhunters, and I was rewarded by Apollodotus and several Parthian coins. The remains of Súrapura are close to the sacred place of pilgrimage, called by us "Betaisor," on the Yamuna, between Agra and Etawah. Tradition tell us, that it was 110 Medals of the ancient Kings of Bactria. an ancient city, and most probably was founded by SURAS' ENA, the grandfather of CUSHNA, and consequently the capital of the Suraseni of the historians of Alexander, which name they very appropriately assigned to the kingdom of Mathurá. Arrian mentions two capital cities on the Yamulá, "Methoras and Clisobaras." We easily recognize the first; yet, much as the Greeks disfigured proper names, we can hardly twist the latter into Súrapura.— Amongst the ruins of ancient Mat'hurá, I obtained two other medals of Apollodotus, one of which, very indistinct, I gave to Major Miles, who, believe, has since presented it to the Literary Society of Bombay. At Mat'hurá, where I obtained a few good medals, after many years search, I found MENANDER. Had not Apollodotus and Menander despised the narrow limits of the kingdom usurped by Theodotus, I should never have ventured west of the Indus, in search of the princes of Bactria; but as both of them contemned the Indus as the boundary of their sovereignty, and invaded the sons of PURU in Saurashtra, on the Indian shore, and on the Yamund, where they left these memorials of their conquests, they placed themselves within the sphere of my pursuits. It was from a passage in Dr. Vincent's "Translation of the Periplus of the Eryth rian Sea," that I discovered Apollodotus appertained to the Bactrian dynasty. Moreover, Sainte Croix, in his "Examen Critique des Historiens d'Alexander," p. 726, takes notice of the conquests of Menander; from both I had references to other authorities, which I had no access to in India. "Our author (Arrian)," says Dr. Vincent, "redeems his error, by the preservation of a circumstance which fell under his own observation, which is, that coins with the Greek inscriptions of Menan ler and Apollodotus, who reigned in this country after Alexander, were still current in Barugaza. This Apollodotus is hard to discover, even by the scrutinizing accuracy of the learned Bayer; but Menander he has introduced into the catalogue of his Bactrian Kings, and with a most peculiar distinction, that he had extended his sovereignty dowu the Indus, and over the Delta of the Patalene. It is somewhat singular, that, while there is an abundance of medals of the first Arsacidæ, we should have so few of the Bactrian princes, and none of the founders; and that of two so conspicuous as Apollodotus and Menander, those under our consideration, the only memorials of them should have been found under the Yamund, which is a decided proof of the extent of their conquests, and influence. The names of nine Princes have been, by various authorities, brought forward as ap [Aug. pertaining to Bactria; but not only is the order of their succession liable to doubt, but some are asserted, by good authority, never to have reigned in Bactria at all, but to have belonged to a collateral dynasty 'within the Indus; and of these, Bayer pronounces Apollodotus to be one. The claim of Menander to participate in the honours of Indian sovereignty, has been also questioned; and his career confined to the States dependant on the "mother of cities;" while the obscurity in which the name of Apollodotus was enveloped, originated in an error of Trogus Pompeius, which was adopted by Justin and Strabo. These writers confound the King Apollodotus with Apollodorus the historian of Bactria. The mistake would not have been cleared up, but for the incidental mention of Apollodotus by Arrian. To the learned Bayer the merit must be ascribed of having discovered and rectified this error. He observes,† "The preface of Trogus Pompeius, where reference is made to Eucratides, the Bactrian, thus says: To India also are added the exploits carried on by the Kings Apollodorus and Menander. Johannes Valens is offended with these words, remarking, that it is a most erroneous passage, for Apollodorus was not a King of the Bactrians, but an historian who had committed to writing, according to Strabo, the exploits of the Parthians, Bactrians, and Indians." Wilford, quoting most respectable native authority, says, that there are the ruins of a most extensive city, which he supposes to be Sangala, to the westward of Lahore. This was the last city which the Macedonian conqueror sacrificed to his ambition, in his career towards the plain of Hindust'han. Good fortune saved the cities on the Yamuna and Ganges from sharing the doom of Sangala, which was itself levelled to the ground, after a massacre of 17,000 of its people, and the captivity of 70,000. After Alexander's departure it seems to have sprung up again from its ruins, but only to become the possession of another Greek. But if we suppose Menander to have been this Grecian, which can hardly be doubted, though he also was master of Bactria, it is gratifying to humanity to think that the beneficence of his character may have obliterated from the remembrance of the Hindu the barbarous deeds of Alexander. A more honourable testimony of regard was never paid to departed royalty, than that which Menander received from his subjects. Bayer, quoting Plutarch, thus describes it: "A certain King, Menander, who had Balk'h or Bactria. + Hist. Reg. Græc. Bact. sec. xxxIII. page 77. + As, Res. 1829.] Abuses in the Ecclesiastical Court. reigned with justice over the Bactrians, having died in camp, the cities in common had the care of his funeral rites, but afterwards contended for his ashes; they at last divided his remains equally amongst them, and agreed that monuments to him should be raised among them all." There are many important objects yet left to be ascertained; but above all, a rich harvest might be expected in the countries radiating from the sources of the Oxus and Jaxartes, in Bactria and Sogdiana. The enterprising and intelligent traveller might avail himself of caravans of horse merchants in his journey. In the cave temples of Banian, inscriptions might be met with; and were but the single fact established, that the colossal figures in the temple were Bud'hist, it would be worth a journey; perhaps no spot in the world is more curious than this region. The field is ample, and much yet remains to reward patience and industry; nor is ther a more fertile or less explored domain for the antiquary, or for the exercise of the pencil, both in architectural and natural scenery, than within the shores of Peninsu lar Saurashtra. MR. URBAN, A August 7. DISCUSSION having lately taken place in Parliament, respecting the abuses practised in the Ecclesiastical Courts, it may not be ill-timed to send you an extract from a pamphlet in my possession, published about the year 1744, entitled, "A Dialogue concerning Bishops," between a learned Layman and a Welsh Curate, wherein the evils fostered in those Courts are particularly noticed and exposed. "Layman.-What is meant by " duly administering the godly discipline of God's Word," as mentioned in the prayer of consecration of Bishops? Curate. That expression relates chiefly to the censures of the Church, those dread-, ful and terrible weapons that God has committed into the hands of Bishops, to punish and cut off notorious offenders that cannot otherwise be reclaimed, to shut them out of the pale of God's fold, and to deliver them over to Satan, until by their penitence and submission they are qualified to be re-admitted, and to be restored to the common privileges of the Christian Church. Layman Is that "godly discipline" administered at this time according to the original design of its institution? Curate. I hope so; the offender, I suppose, is cited before the Bishop, who sits in Consistory with his Presbyters about him, and takes immediate cognizance of the cause himself; there the sinner is examined, reproved, admonished, threatened, and upon his continued obstinacy cast out of the church. The matter is not turned over to chancellors, commissioners, officials, and a parcel of hungry, unhallowed, lay officers, (who ean pretend to no relation to the com mission of Christ and his Apostles,) to persecute and squeeze the poor wretch, to torment him with cruel, tedious, and expensive processes, and when they have racked him to death and ruined him in his fortune, then at last to excommunicate him, and for any little failure in the form of their enslaving pro ceedings, to throw him out of all spiritual and civil commerce and society, to banish him as a vagabond like Cain, and make him infamous to all about him; and as if this were not enough, to call for help upon the temporal sword, to clap him up in a gaol, and let him rot in a dungeon. This would be setting up an inquisition with a vengeance; from which and all other popish crafts and cruelties, good Lord deliver us. Do you think this was the manner of binding and loosing intended by the commission delivered by Christ to his Apostles, and by them to the Bishops their successors in the Church? Can you imagine that the sentence of such judges is ratified in Heaven? That God will ever sign such dead warrants as these? Can this be the design of that petition offered up by the Archbishop in the office of consecration,-" Grant, we beseech thee, to this thy servant such grace that he may use the authority given him, not to destruction but to salvation, not to hurt but to help?" Layman.-If the Bishop himself was to sit in judgment, and to execute the censures according to the design of his Lord and Master, the sentence no doubt would be dreadful and of fatal effect; but when so many excommunications are thundered out, and published in a ludicrous and unedifying manner for the most trifling occasions, which the Bishop knows nothing of, when he never hears nor sees the offender, nor takes the least care of the happiness of his soul, but leaves that entirely to his officers to be saved or damned, as the subtle unrighteous forms of their unscriptural proceedings (first invented for the support of papal power, and spun out into a sort of trade by canon lawyers, the spawn of popery) shall think fit to pronounce; to consign a poor creature to eternal flames for some pitiful matter, to enjoin him penance perhaps, and then for a little money to loose him, and let him go; if this be the "due administering of godly discipline," according to this excellent prayer, let the consciences of those declare to whom it belongs. What a horrid profaneness and mockery of God it is to give it solemnly in 112 A. R. Bowes, Esq.-Judge Day.-Mr. Chamberlaine. " charge to a Bishop elect when he is consecrated to exercise "godly discipline, to be so merciful that he is not too remiss, and to minister discipline that he forget not mercy,' when at the same time he never knows any thing of the offender, nor of the cause. I could say much more, but it has been often said to no purpose. This has been a continual subject of complaint from the Reformation to this day; it remains still unredressed, and is a grievance of so high a nature, it is such a perversion, such a burlesque of the most solemn and tremendous act of Church authority, that it hangs like a millstone upon the neck of episcopacy, which I am afraid will one time or other sink it to the bottom, never to rise more." By inserting the above-written in your valuable Miscellany, you will oblige a constant reader, and furnish the public with an insight into the proceedings of the Spiritual Courts, which may tend to a reformation in them, or produce a total abolition,-a consummation most devoutly to be wished. PROPOSITOR. MR. URBAN, IN Aug 2. N reply to the letter of Mr. Faulkner, page 7 of your Magazine for July, I can only say I was actuated by no other motive in what I wrote re specting A. R. Bowes than a love of truth; and what I stated I know to be true. I also know that many of the charges of barbarity made against Bowes were false, though, as Mr. Faulkner observes, the daily papers teemed with recitals of his infamous conduct; but it is wel! known how the press can be enlisted in any cause. As to Mr. Jesse Foot's character of A. R. Bowes, those who know him and his writings will not place much value on his assertions. What can be thought of a man who was in the weekly, and sometimes daily habit of frequenting Mr. Bowes's table, while he could afford to keep a good one; and afterwards bringing in a heavy charge against him as a surgeon, and because it was resisted, libelling the memory of a man to whom he once bowed and cringed? Mr. Faulkner seems to have for gotten that this veracious biographer has represented Lady Strathmore in colours almost as dark as her husband; that in the advertisement of his intended Life of Bowes, he announced the publication of Lady Strathmore's confessions, which are recorded among [Aug. the proceedings in the suit in Doctors' Commons, and that he was only deterred from publishing them by the threat of a prosecution. I am no apologist for Mr. Bowes's misconduct, for which upwards of 22 years imprisonment was a tolerable punishment, if not an atonement. I am not related to Mr. Bowes or any of his family; I was never under any obligation to him or them; but on the contrary I have been a heavy sufferer by him. Hence I trust I shall be believed when I say that I wrote my letter merely and solely as A FRIEND TO TRUTH. Mr. URBAN, Aug. 1. A FEW days ago I had the honour to fall into company with the venerable Judge Day, late of the Irish Court of King's Bench, who, though above eighty years old, is in full health and vigour of body and mind. When at the Temple, which he entered in the year 1769, he frequented the Grecian Coffee-house, in Devereux Court, where he was in the habit of meeting Arthur Murphy, Charles Johnston, the Author of Chrysal, Pepper Arden, Mr. Baldwin, and many others now departed this life. Among the rest he mentioned Mr. commonly called Doctor Chamberlaine, uncle to R. B. Sheridan. Having seen in your entertaining Miscellany a few months back a notice of Mr. Chamberlaine, I asked some questions about him, to which the Judge answered that he was a very pleasant little man, had a good deal of anecdote, and was a determined punster, "of which," said the Judge, "I will give you an instance that now occurs to me. Passing one evening through the Strand, in his way to the Grecian, he turned into an auction shop (such as we now daily see in different places) and bought a small tea caddy, which he brought in his hand. It had a little plate on it for a cypher or name, and the Doctor observed that coming along he thought of an inscription for the plate, which was this, Tu doces. Why how. does that apply, Doctor?" asked somebody.-Nothing plainer,' said he; Thou tea-chest, pointing to it with his finger which produced a hearty laugh.f A REMEMBRANCER. * See our number for last Sept. p. 199.. This has been usually appropriated to Dr. Johnson.-EDIT. |