legislation which had an origin immediately divine. In every other code that the world has ever seen or known you will find no prohibition of evil thoughts, but you will find that prohibition alike in the first and in the last of those ten commandments which are the code of Him who alone searcheth and knoweth the heart of man. Yea, in the code of Heaven a bad thought indulged is a bad deed committed. Oh, if we listen to this warning from the first, if we thus obstamus principiis, how strong, how noble, how impregnable to the assaults of evil, may the soul become! For there are but two ways by which men grievously fall: the one is by some sudden access of temptation; the other, by the subtle corrosion of some besetting sin. But into the latter, if we be true to that voice within us, we cannot fall, because innocence is nature's wisdom, and conscience faithfully cherished makes it more terrible, more difficult, to yield than to resist; and if, on the other hand, evil, unable thus to surprise us by the noiseless and sinuous gliding of the serpent, bounds suddenly upon us with a wild beast's roar and leap, even then it will not master us, because then our habits and our impulses, being pure and true, shield themselves instantly under the strong breastplate of righteousness, and the reiterated choice of what was good has prepared the whole instinct of our nature, the whole bias of our character, for resistance to the sudden sin. Whatever be the shape that the vile allurement takes, the spirit within us thrills its glad response to the noble utterance of the stainless Hebrew boy: "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" Yes, this is the state at which we all should aim: "This is the happy warrior-this is he Whom every man-at-arms should wish to be." For when we have attained this state or are attaining to it, then we are happy; then, the eye being single, the whole body is full of light. We reverence ourselves; films fall away from our eyes; we know that righteousness tendeth to life; we cherish in our consciences the eternal protest against everything that can degrade and ruin us, the eternal witness that everything sweetest and noblest is within our reach. It is one of the very finest and deepest sayings of the great sage of China that "heaven means principle." With him-with all good men who have ever lived-this was the solid result and outcome of experience. Other sources of happiness are but as transient gleams of sunlight, but this is life eternal; other blessings fade as the flowers fade, but this is an everlasting foundation. FREDERIC W. FARRAR (Archdeacon Farrar). DEATH OF PLINY THE ELDER. THE fire from Vesuvius flamed forth from several parts of the mountain with great violence, which the darkness of the night contributed to render still more visible and dreadful. But my uncle, in order to calm the apprehensions of his friend, assured him that it was only the conflagration of the villages which the country-people had abandoned. After this he retired to rest, and it is most certain he was so little discomposed as to fall into a deep sleep; for, being corpulent and breathing hard, the attendants in the ante-chamber actually heard him snore. The court which led to his apartment being now almost filled with stones and ashes, it would have been impossible for him, if he had continued there any longer, to have made his way out. It was thought proper, therefore, to awaken him. He got up and joined Pomponianus and the rest of the company, who had not been sufficiently unconcerned to think of going to bed. They consulted of the company and obliged him to rise. He raised himself up with the assistance of two of his servants, and instantly fell down dead, suffocated, I conjecture, by some gross and noxious vapor, having always had weak lungs and being frequently subject to a difficulty of breathing. PLINY THE YOUNGER. FROM THE GERMAN OF BERTHOLD AUERBACH. HEN twilight began to fall, Lenz WHE dressed and went down into the together whether it would be most prudent ALL HOUSES WILL BE OPEN TO YOU. to trust to the houses, which now shook from side to side with frequent and violent concussions, or flee to the open fields, where the calcined stones and cinders, though levigated indeed, yet fell in large showers, and threatened them with instant destruction. In this distress they resolved upon the fields as the less dangerous situation of the twoa resolution which, while the rest of the company were hurried into by their fears, my uncle embraced upon cool and deliberate consideration. They went out then, having pillows tied upon their heads with napkins, and this was their whole defence against the storm of stones which fell around them. It was now day everywhere else, but there a deeper darkness prevailed than in the blackest night, which, however, was in some degree dissipated by torches and other lights of various kinds. They thought it expedient to go down farther upon the shore, in order to observe if they might safely put out to sea, but they found the waves still running extremely high and boisterous. There my uncle, having drunk a draught or two of cold water, laid himself down upon a sail-cloth which was spread for him, when immediately the flames, preceded by a strong smell of sulphur, dispersed the rest valley. "All houses will be Translation of LADY WALLACE. TRUE NOBILITY NOT IN BIRTH, BUT VIRTUE. HEN the pure offspring of a I mean to-day, by privilege of my pen, splendid line Where godlike heroes in bright order shine Burns, like Dangeau, to em ulate their fame, Nobility is something more than name. But who can stoop to hear a coxcomb trace The faded glories of a pomp ous race, On foreign merit build his empty prideDegenerate fool to ancient worth allied? Though chronicles of earliest France record Some generous triumph of his grandsire's sword, Say, then, great demigod, creation's boast, Courts the steep mountain and the dashing flood, Who drinks the gale, elate, with quivering ear, And, all-impatient in the proud career, Welcomes the doubling shout and scorns to yield, And, stung with glory, spans the listed field; But when the line of proud Bayardo's race Though elder kings adorned the haughty Ends in a jade, we sell her with disgrace, shield And shared their lilies rescued in the field, In whom his household's honor is impaired, Nor does her haughty pedigree avail Virtue alone denotes the noble mind. Can you to glory sacrifice repose Count thousand ancestors or travel back Through Time's old round and early worlds ransack : But changing seasons sunk old Merit's head, And Vice, usurping, triumphed in his stead; Say from what warrior past you choose to Then Pride, attended by his barren train, come Who blazed in Ilion, Macedon or Rome. Seized Honor's sceptre and began his reign; claims And plead the potent virtue of their names; While your unworthy deeds proclaim you His fortune spent, Grandeur soon finds the Cursed be the hour when first the pride of On dignity in rags the world looks cold, birth Defiled the simple morals of the earth! Each gloried in his innocence and truth, And rank cannot survive the loss of gold; And pride of birth enhances their disgrace : What though a livery had betrayed your Temperance gave plenty, justice banished Though none could tell one fear. fathers bore, name your And merit crowned the king or robbed the The college would supply you with a score. peer. Translation of C. AND R. BALDWIN. RISE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC, B. C. 509. OVERTHROW OF MONARCHY. UCIUS TARQUIN-justly surnamed "the Proud "-after having usurped the sovereign power by the murder of his father-in-law, Servius, retained possession of the throne by the same odious means to which he owed his elevation. His whole reign presented a series of cruelties and acts of injustice. Hence neither his victories and conquests over the enemies of Rome nor the splendid edifices which he undertook or finished in the city could wipe away the stain of his usurpation or obliterate the remembrance of his crimes. His power was upheld by numerous bands of soldiers and satellites, but his subjects were his enemies, and readily availed themselves of the first opportunity to overthrow his oppressive domination. During the siege of Ardea, a rich city of the Rutuli, Sextus Tarquinius, the king's son, offered violence to Lucretia, the virtuous wife of his cousin Collatinus. This lady, in the deepest affliction, called in her husband, her father and their intimate friends, Valerius and Brutus, and, having entreated them to punish her oppressor, stabbed herself with a dagger and fell dead in their presence. Brutus, raising the bloody weapon, swore on the spot that he would pursue the tyrant and his family with fire and sword until royalty should be abolished in Rome. His three friends took the same oath. Their indignation was soon communicated to the other citizens; the people and the army joined in their views, and a decree was passed, with unanimous consent, to banish from among them not only the Tarquins, but even the title and the name of king. This decree was immediately enforced, and its execution put an end to the regal power in Rome after it had lasted, under seven successive kings, for the space of two hundred and forty-four years (B. c. 753-509). THE REPUBLIC. The Roman people now directed their attention to the adoption of a new form of government. After several debates it was unanimously agreed that two supreme magistrates, under the name of "consuls," should be annually chosen from the patrician order by the suffrages of the citizens for the administration of the commonwealth. These magistrates were to be invested with full power to convene public meetings, to preside over the Senate, to levy troops and select their officers, to administer the revenues of the state and impart justice to private persons, etc. Hence their authority might in some respect be deemed equal to that of kings, but, besides its being divided between two, it was not to extend, in virtue of each election, beyond the term of one year; and the modest appellation of "consuls" constantly reminded them that they were not the sovereigns, but the counsellors and guardians, of the republic. |