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consider the matter; the moth eats away the garment; the worm gnaws the wood. But of all the ills of life, the worst is envy, which has done, will do, and does, most mischief,-the base attendant of an impious soul.

SLANDER.

Whosoever lends a greedy ear to a slanderous report is either himself of a radically bad disposition, or a mere child in sense.

SILENCE.

O boy hold thy tongue, silence has many advantages.

COUNTRY LIFE.

The life of those who live in the country possesses pleasures, comforting the sorrows and annoyances of man with hope.

LISTEN BEFORE DECIDING.

He who condemns before he has heard clearly the case is himself a bad man, ready to believe ill of his neighbor.

IMPUDENCE.

A FATHER.

How delightful is a father, gentle and cheerful in his manners!

BROTHERS.

How pleasant a thing it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!

So Psalms (cxxxiii. 1)—“ Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"

FOLLY OF PRIDING ONESELF ON HIGH BIRTH. My high birth suffocates me. If thou love me, mother, thou wilt not on all occasions quote my high rank; it is those only who have no peculiar good in their own nature who have recourse to splendid monuments and their noble birth, and who count up all their ancestors who have preceded them. But thou canst not see nor name a man who has not had ancestors.

For how otherwise could they have come into existence? Those who are not able to name them, from change of country or want of friends, why are they less noble than those who can enumerate them? He who is by nature good and virtuous, though he be a blackamoor, is noble-born. Is some Scythian a

There is no better provision for life than impu- rascal? Yet was not Anacharsis a Scythian? dence and a brazen face.

WISDOM COMES NOT FROM YEARS.

THE WELL-BORN IN ADVERSITY.

Those who have been well born, and honorably It is not hoary hairs that bring wisdom; but brought up, though they have fallen into adversity, some have an old head on young shoulders. ought to pay regard to the world's opinion.

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Where are women, there are all kinds of mis- has not gone to ruin. chief.

AN ATTACHED SERVANT.

HAPPINESS AND PAIN EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED.
There are men who seem to the world around to

When one has got an attached servant, there is be happy; but, inwardly, men are very much alike. no nobler possession on earth.

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THE DIVINE NATURE.

Do not search into the essence of the Divine nature; for thou art impious, wishing to know what God has not revealed.

GOD IS TO BE PROPITIATED BY A PURE HEART.

If any one, offering sacrifices of numerous bulls and of goats, or, by Jupiter, of any such things, or making presents of gold or purple robes, or images of ivory or emerald, think thereby to propitiate God, he errs, and shows himself to be of a silly understanding; for he ought to be a virtuous and upright man, committing no crimes for the sake of gain. Thou shouldst not even covet a needle, Pamphilus; for God, standing near thee, sees whatever thou doest.

A FRIEND TRIED BY ADVERSITY.

Gold is tried by fire; so also the affections of a friend is proved by time.

DUST WE ARE, AND TO DUST WE RETURN.

If thou wishest to know what thou art, look at the monuments of the dead as thou passest along the road; there thou wilt find the bones and light dust of kings, and tyrants, and wise men, and of those who prided themselves on their blood and riches, on their glorious deeds, and the beauty of their person; but none of these things could resist the power of time. All men have a common grave. Looking at these things, thou mayest understand what thou art.

So Genesis (iii. 19)—" For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

buried with the silent dead; but it has appeared good to the nymphs that the frog should croak forYet I do not envy him: for 'tis no pretty ever. song he sings.

In Job (xiv. 7) we find-"There is hope of a tree, if i the cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch | thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in

the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he ?"

Spenser says

66 'Whence is it that the flow'ret of the field doth fade And lieth buried long in winter's vale?

Yet soon as spring his mantle hath displayed,
It flow'reth fresh, as it should never fail,
But thing on earth that is of most avail,
As virtue's branch and beauty's bud,
Reliven not for any good."

A BIRD OVER HER YOUNG.

As when a bird bewails her callow brood as they perish, which, still young, a fierce snake devours in the thick bushes, while she, kind mother, hovers over them, shrieking wildly, yet is not able, I ween, to aid her children; for she, in truth, herself is in great dread to come nearer to the cruel monster.

Virgil (Georg. iv., 512) has imitated this very closely"As the sad nightingale under the shade of the poplar behas found unfledged in her nest and carried off, while she wails the loss of her young, which a hard-hearted ploughman laments the night long, and, sitting on the branch, renews her piteous song, and fills far and wide the woods with her mournful complaints."

WEEPING.

But thou meltcst away like water, weeping both at night and as many days as are given by Jove.

Thus in Joshua (vii. 5) we find-"Wherefore the hearts of the people melted and became as water;" and in Psalms (xxii. 14)-"I am poured out like water; my heart also in the midst of my body is like melting wax; and Psalms (lviii. 7) -"Let them melt away as waters which run continually."

MOSCHUS.

FLOURISHED ABOUT B.C. 210.

MOSCHUS, a bucolic poet of Syracuse, lived about the close of the third century B.C., of whose personal history we know little more than that he was a pupil of Bion, and was acquainted with the grammarian Aristarchus. Theocritus was his model; but he is far inferior to that poet in simplicity.

THE DECEITFULNESS OF LOVE.

For he does not speak the same as he thinks; his word is honey; but, if he be enraged, he is ruthless, deceitful, never telling the truth. Wily child! he laughs at the beguiled.

THE GREAT, THE BRAVE, AND THE LEARNED LIE

FORGOTTEN.

Alas, alas! when the mallows have died in a garden, or the green parsley, or blooming crisp dill, they revive and bloom another year. But we, the great, the brave, the learned, soon as the hand of death has closed our eyes, unheard of, in hollow tombs sleep a right long and endless slumber, to wake no more. Thou too in the earth wilt be

NICOSTRATUS.

FLOURISHED ABOUT B.C. 380.

NICOSTRATUS, the youngest of the three sons of Aristophanes, was also a comic poet; the titles of nineteen of his plays have come down to us.

A CHATTERER.

If to speak without ceasing, and much and quickly, were the sign of sense, the swallows would be regarded much wiser than we are.

NO MAN HAPPY IN EVERY RESPECT.

"No man is happy in every way." By Minerva, beloved Euripides, thou hast described human life in one verse.

OLD THINGS BECOME NEW AGAIN.

Old things become new again in course of time. There is nothing more difficult to please than Time. The same things never continue to please this god.

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O old age! how burdensome and grievous every-year. where art thou! only not in one thing; for when we fail in strength and power, thou teachest us at that time to use our understanding with wisdom.

PHILEMON.

BORN ABOUT B.C. 360-DIED B.C. 262.

PHILEMON, a Greek dramatist, who stands next to Menander among the poets of the new comedy, was the son of Damon, and a native of Soli, in Cilicia. He flourished in the reign of Alexander, a little earlier than Menander, whom, however, he long survived, and spent his life at Athens. His career seems to have been singularly prosperous. Though inferior to Menander, he was a greater favorite with the Athenians, and often conquered his rival in the dramatic contests. He continued to write till he had produced ninety-seven comedies. He died, it is said, from excessive laughter at a ludicrous incident.

NATURE OF MAN.

How radically bad is the nature of man! for otherwise he would stand in need of no laws to restrain him. Dost thou think that he differs in any respect from other animals? In nothing certainly, but in figure. Other animals are bent; but man is a wild beast upright in form.

MAN AND OTHER ANIMALS CONTRASTED.

Why, pray, did Prometheus, who, they say, formed us and all other animals, give to each of the beasts his own peculiar nature? All lions are brave, whereas all hares are timid. Then, as to the foxes, one is not cunning and another simple in its nature; but if thou wert to collect three myriads of foxes, they would all have the same nature and the same habits. With man it is different; whatever number of persons there are, the same will be found the number of minds and of characters.

THE JUST MAN.

The just man is not he who does no man an injury, but he who, being able to inflict it, does not wish to do so; nor yet is it the man who has abstained from seizing petty gains, but who determines not to lay hold of great possessions, when he might do so, and might hold them with impunity; nor is it the man who observes all these things, but who, endued with a noble and ingenuous disposition, wishes to be just, and not merely to seem so.

THE FOOL AND THE WISE MAN.

The man who never utters a word of sense consider to be tedious, even though he only give forth two syllables. The man who speaks with prudence, do not think him to be tedious, though he speak much and long. Take Homer as a proof of this: he writes myriads of words, yet no one ever

OUR EVILS FOUND light wheN COMPARED WITH called Homer tedious. THOSE OF OTHERS.

If thou only knowest the evils which others suffer, thou wouldst willingly submit to those which thou now bearest.

HOW SELDOM MAN OBTAINS HIS WISHES.

If we were all to perish who did not succeed in obtaining what we wished, all mankind would die.

TEARS.

A. If tears proved a remedy for our misfortunes, and if he who wept always ceased to grieve, we would buy tears with gold. But, alas! our affairs are in no way influenced by tears, pursuing their own course whether we weep or not. What wilt thou do, then? B. I am in no way influenced by such thoughts; for grief, like a tree, has tears for its fruit.

THE SNAIL.

when it falls in with a bad neighbor, it takes up How ingenious an animal is a snail, by God! its house, and moves off; for it dwells without anxiety, always flying the bad.

THE DIVINE NATURE.

Believe that there is a God, worship Him, but do not inquire too curiously into His essence; for thou wilt have nothing for thy trouble except the labor of inquiry. Do not care to know whether He exists or not; worship Him as if He existed, and were present.

A SLAVE.

Though a man be a slave, he is the same flesh as thyself; for no one has ever been born a slave by nature; but Fortune subjected his body to servitude.

ANGER.

We are all mad when we are in a passion; for it is a difficult task to restrain anger.

BYGONE EVILS.

How pleasant it is to think of former evils! for if I had not then been in difficulties, I would not now be in joy.

THE DIFFERENCES OF MEN.

In this thing one man is superior to another, that he is better able to bear adversity and perity.

WHAT WE OUGHT TO PRAY FOR.

PHILIPPIDES.

FLOURISHED B.C. 335.

PHILIPPIDES, one of the principal writers of the new comedy, who flourished B.C. 335, and is said to have written forty-five comedies. He is said to have died at an advanced age from excessive joy at having conquered unexpectedly in a contest with other poets.

TO COMMIT A FAULT.

When thou hast committed some fault, be glad pros-that thou hast failed, for it is chiefly in this way that the becoming is preserved.

I pray, first, for good health; then, for prosperity; thirdly, for happiness; and, lastly, to owe no man anything.

So Romans (xiii. 8)—“ Owe no man anything."

ANTICIPATION OF EVIL.

Grief is apt to imagine to itself evils more than double the reality.

A GIFT OF AFFECTION.

Every gift which is given, even though it be small, is in reality great if it be given with affection.

HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.

Before all things, pay respect to thy parents.
So Exodus (xx. 12.)-"Honor thy father and mother."
AN AFFECTIONATE FATHER.

A father is dear if he treat affectionately his children.

THE SWALLOW.

O woman! it is the swallow which announces the spring.

GOD.

A. Tell me what thou understandest by God. B. The Being who sees all things, and yet is seen by none.

THE DEAD.

Dost thou think that the dead who have enjoyed the good things of this life have escaped the notice of the Divinity, as if they were forgotten? Nay, there is an eye of Justice which sees all things; for we believe that there are two roads to the lower regions, one for the just and one for the impious. For if the just and the impious are to have one and the same road, and if the grave covers them both forever, then thou mayest rob, steal, plunder, and do every mischief thou choosest. Yet do not be mistaken, for there is a place of judgment below, which God the Lord of all shall occupy, whose name is terrible, and which I dare not utter, who gives a long license to sinners.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SAYING AND DOING.

It is not difficult for one feasting to say to another in a sorry plight, "Don't be miserable:" it is not hard to find fault with a boxer fighting, but it is no easy matter to fight: there is a great difference between saying and doing.

MAN IS BORN TO TROUBLE.

When it has happened to thee to be unfortunate, master, remember the saying of Euripides, and thou wilt be more easy-"There is no man who is happy in every way." Then imagine thyself to be one of the great crowd of mankind.

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GIONS.

he learned music, dancing, and all the mysteries | THE WICKED PUNISHED IN THE INFERNAL REof the chorus requisite for his training as a lyric poet. He also attended the school of Agathocles and Apollodorus. Between the age of twenty and twenty-two Pindar began his professional career as a poet, but in the great events that took place in Greece during his time, Pindar seems to have

taken no share.

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But he who possesses wealth is well aware of what is in store for him,-that the guilty souls of those who die here have to dree their penance in another life, for there is one beneath the earth who judges the crimes committed in this empire of Zeus, passing sentence by a hateful constraint.

THE GOOD IN ELYSIUM.

But the good, enjoying eternal sunshine night and day, pass a life free from labor, never stirring the earth by strength of hand, nor yet the waters of the sea in that blessed abode, but with the honored of the gods, all such as took pleasure in keeping their plighted faith, spend a tearless existence, while the impious have to endure woes too horrible to look upon.

THE MAN OF GENIUS.

Truly many things are wonderful: and it is not unlikely that in some cases fables decked out in cunning fictions beyond the truth give false accounts of the traditions of man. But Poesy, that smooth enchantress of mankind, by causing credit That man is a true poet who knows much by into be given to these myths, ofttimes makes the in-herent genius, while those who have acquired credible to appear credible: the rolling years, their knowledge, loquacious, like crows, chatter however, are the surest test of truth. Now it is vainly against the divine bird of Zeus. wise for man to speak nothing unseemly of the gods, and thus he will be free from guilt.

SLANDERERS.

DEEDS OF VALOR WITHOUT RISK. Deeds of valor without risk are unhonored either among men or in hollow ships; whereas many Ofttimes slanderers get no good for their pains. speak of it if a noble action has been done with

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MAN TURNED FROM HIS PURPOSE.

Now it is respectful obedience arising from forethought on which the merit and success of men depend; but it sometimes happens, in an incomprehensible way, that a cloud of forgetfulness

Some are great in this, others in that; but the comes over the mind, and causes the right way of highest point of glory is reached in kings.

WHAT IS DONE CANNOT BE UNDONE.

Of deeds that have been done, whether rightly or wrongly, not even Time, the sire of all things, can annul their accomplishment; yet oblivion may come with prosperity. For by success a rankling sore is got the better of and put an end to, when kind Heaven causes happiness to spread from far.

OUR FUTURE LOT UNKNOWN.

There is no appointed term to men for their death; nor do we know when we shall pass through a quiet day, the child of the sun, with never-failing good; for currents run now this way, now that, bringing both pleasures and sorrows to mortals.

WEALTH WITH VIRTUE.

doing things to be unattended to, and to pass from the memory.

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE.

But at one and the same point of time different breezes go rapidly in different directions.

VARIOUS FORTUNES OF MEN.

Still different blessings come to different people, and many are the roads to fortune by the favor of the gods.

TO REPROACH THE GODS IS WISDOM MISAPPLIED.
To reproach the gods is wisdom misapplied.

WHAT COMES BY NATURE IS THE BEST. That which comes by nature is in all cases the best, though many men have tried to gain glory by taking lessons in valor. Whatsoever is done It is wealth, when adorned by virtues, that without the aid of the god had better be kept brings the attainment of our different aims, sug-quiet. For there are different roads to glory, one gesting to the mind a deep care for them, a con- better than another, yet one training will not lead spicuous star, the brightest lamp to men. us all alike. Perfect skill is difficult to attain.

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