b o o k 0 f ^ d i v i n e poet,, be. immediately inclined to grant the
_ . conclufion, that Jfc is not'his work ; becaufe that obje&ion,
may be removed, by fuppofing,. that Homer might in one-
particular compofition fall below his ufual ftandard, of perfection..
A. ftronger. proof againft its originality may be
drawn from the words,, phrafes,. and inflexions occurring in.
this poem,.which are either of a later date than the age of
Homer, or not found in his unfufpedted works.. Some of
thefe the editor has enumerated *.
The claflical. reader, who is. defirous of further information,
relative to, the genuinenefs of this, antient poem, is
referred to,the laft edition of the Hymn by Ruhnkenius, and:
to the Preface o f Mr. Hole’s Tranflation t.
* T h e Hymn to Ceres has-fuffêred ’many make-in his name to.Ceres; thefe Rhea remutilations
and corruptions. It may not peats, Vv.461— 4 6 4 T h e 46-5111 verfe con-,
be improper to produce an initance. Among Riling o f the fame words with the 447th,
other particulars, in?which this hymm-re- the copier o f t he poem abfurdly tranfcribed'
fembîès the-Iliad and.Odyifey,. one o f the the five following lines (r. 4 4 8— 452.)-, a n d .
inoft conspicuous is that prouenefs to itéra- probably omitted'at leail as many, which
t’ion, which makes a diilinguiihigg feature , originally connected .this* part with the fe*•
o f Homer.' T h e author o f this hymn, from q u e l.. .
v. 443 to 447 inclufive, mentions the pro- + Homer’ s- Hymn to Ceres tranilated>
najfes which. Jupiter commiifions Rhea to . into Engliih verfe. by Richard H o l e là» .
C H A P.
C H A P . VI.
Retail trade in the Khitaigorod.— Market fo r the fale o f houfes^.
— Expedition ufed in building ‘Coooden Jiru&ures.— Excellence
o f the police in cafes o f riot or fir e .— Chefs very common
in Ruffia.— Account o f the Foundling Hofpital.—
Excurjion to the monajlery o f the Holy Trinity.— Delays o f
the pajl.— Defcription o f the monajlery.— I ’omb o f Maria
titular queen c/Livonia.— fh e hijlory o f that queen and o f
her bufband Magnus.— Tomb and charaSler o f Boris Go-
dunof.
TV/T O S C O W is the centre of the inland commerce o f c h a p .
Ruflia, and particularly connects the trade between. VI* ,
Europe and Siberia.
The only navigation to this city is formed by the Mofkva,
which, falling into the Occa near Columna, communicates
by means of that river with the Volga*. But, as the
Mofkva is only navigable in Spring upon the melting of
the fnows, the principal merchandize is conveyed to and
from Moicow upon fledges in winter.
The whole retail commerce of this city is carried on in
the Khitaigorod, where, according to a cuftom common in
Ruffia, as well as in moft kingdoms of the Eaft, all the fhops
are colle£ted together in one fpot. The place is like a kind
-of fair, confifting of many rows of low brick-buildings ;
the interval between them refembling alleys. Thefe
fhops or booths occupy a confiderable fpace; they do not,
For the communication o f the Volga with the Baltic,.fee the chapter on the Inland-
•Navigation o f Rufiia in the next volume.
Y y a as