power, and empire; and each in turn met the fatal blow of the assassin. The first fell by the mad revenge of a foreign foe. The ambition of the latter was too strong for their friendship. From the gory locks of Pompey, Cæsar turned away and wept, - Cæsar, who, in his giant strides for empire, fell beneath the dagger of " the self-appointed executioner of his country's vengeance." 2. How marked the contrast! how wide the difference! Our triumvirs lived for their country, labored for its institutions, - dedicated the ardor of youth, the power of manhood, and the wisdom of age, to its sublime and sacred service. And when death, the tardy assassin, approached with faltering step the sanctuary of their lives, he found it tenanted by no ambitious and blood-stained conquerors; its arches hung with no escutcheons of heraldic blazonry; its galleries strung with no moldering laurels, or worn and rustclad mail; its porches flashing with no falchion lances of chivalric knights. But he found that temple swept and garnished; the aged priests at its altar, clothed in the pure white robes of virtue; its laureled arches twined with amaranth; its galleries hung thick with the trophies of wisdom. and eloquence; and its ivied porches glittering with the gems of immortality. The Cæsar of our triumvirate fell by a higher decree than the sword of Brutus, and left a nation of Antonies to mourn his fall. LESSON CXVI. - PARK BENJAM 1 Press on! surmount the rocky steeps, He fails alone who feebly creeps; He wins who dares the hero's march. Tramp on eternal snows its way, 2. Press on! if once and twice thy feet 3. Press on! if Fortune play thee false Makes up for follies past and gone: 4. Therefore, press on! and reach the goal, Come wealth, and honor, and renown. To thine own self be true, and keep Thy mind from sloth, thy heart from soil: Press on! and thou shalt surely reap A heavenly harvest for thy toil! LESSON CXVII. SOLILOQUY OF CATO ON IMMORTALITY. — ADDISON. 1. It must be so: Plato, thou reason'st well! - Or whence this secret dread, and inward horror, "T is Heaven itself that points out an hereafter, 2. Eternity! thou pleasing, dreadful thought! Through what variety of untried being, Through what new scenes and changes, must we pass! (And that there is, all nature cries aloud But when? or where? This world was made for Cæsar. 3. Thus I am doubly armed. this must end them! [Laying his hand on his sword.] My death and life, My bane and antidote, are both before me. But this informs me I shall never die. The soul, secured in her existence, smiles * The dagger. † Plato's Treatise. The stars shall fade away, the sun himself The wreck of matter, and the crash of worlds. LESSON CXVIII. A SCENE FROM TAMERLANE. ROWE. [Characters. — AXALLA, PRINCE OF TANAIS, TAMERLANE,* OMAR, and BAJAZET. - Enter TAMERLANE, AXALLA, PRINCE OF TANAIS, soldiers, and other attendants.] Axalla. From this auspicious day, the Parthian name Shall date its birth of empire, and extend, F'en from the dawning east to utmost Thule, ‡ The limits of its sway. Prince. Nations unknown, Where yet the Roman eagles never flew, Shall pay their homage to victorious Tamerlane; And own, that conquest is not given by chance, Tamerlane. It is too much you dress me Tam'er-lane, a sovereign prince of Tartary, and one of the most celebrated of the oriental conquerors. He was born in 1335, and died in 1405. + Baj ́a-zet, a Turkish emperor, and renowned warrior. He was defeated and taken prisoner by Tamerlane in 1402, and died in 1403. Thule, the name the ancients gave to the most northern country with which they were acquainted. . Of injured Heaven. Can we call conquest ours? Ax. With such unshaken temper of the soul Tam. Oh, Axalla! Could I forget I am a man as thou art, Would not the winter's cold, or summer's heat, Omar. Honor and fame [Bowing to Tamerlane.] And every day like this. The captive sultan, Attends your sacred will. Tam. Let him approach. [Enter Omar.] [Enter Bajazet and other Turkish prisoners in chains, with a guard of soldiers.; When I survey the ruins of this field, |