THE GOOD AND THE BAD.

To all eternity the bad can never be but bad the good but good; nor in misfortune does ma degenerate from his nature, but he is alway good. Is this difference from parents or from ed ucation? To be brought up well instils, indeed

So Psalms (cxlv. 17)—"The Lord is righteous in all his ways, the principles of honor; and he that is thu and holy in all His works."

LAMENT OF HECUBA OVER ASTYANAX.

taught knows, by the law of honor, what is base.

THE SAILOR.

In a large army the rabble are riotous, and th sailors' insolence runs like wildfire; not to join i

wickedness is a crime.

THE GODS.

The gods are strong, and powerful is their law for by the law we judge that there are gods, an form our lives, having right and wrong strictl defined.

PERSUASION.

O wretched one! how miserably have thy ancestral walls, the towers by Phoebus raised, rent the crisped ringlets from thy head, which thy mother fondly cherished with kisses, whence, amidst the crushed bones, murder grins out, to abstain from words more shocking! O hands! which once bore the dear image of thy father's, but now lie with loosened joints. O thou dear mouth! which utteredst many a pleasantry, thou hast perished; thou hast deceived me, when, flinging thyself on my couch, thou wouldst exclaim, "O mother! I shall cut off these clustering locks for thee, and to thy tomb shall lead bands of compeers, hailing thee with dear address." Thou dost not bury me, but I, old, reft of my children, of my country, bury thee, dead in thy early bloom, a wretched corse. Alas! those fond embraces, those nursing cares, those lullabies, have all vanished. And on thy tomb what verse shall the bard inscribe ?— How strange the events of human life! laws co "This boy who lies here the Greeks once slew, trol even the Fates, changing the sternest foe to for they feared him,"-a verse recording the dis-kind friend, and making enemies of those who b grace of Greece.

FORTUNE.

Foolish I deem him who, thinking that his state is blest, rejoices in security; for fortune, like a man distempered in his senses, leaps now this way, now that, and no man is always fortunate.

THE DEAD.

I deem that it is of little importance to the dead whether he obtain costly obsequies; this is the vain affectation of the living.

Wretch that I am, why should we poor mortal strive after sciences of all kinds as matter of duty diving into them, while we slight, as nothin worth, Persuasion, the sole mistress o'er the mind of men, refusing to pay money for that by whic we might persuade and gain what we wish?

THE EVENTS OF LIFE.

fore were on good terms.

This saying, but the sentence of the sage,
Nothing is stronger than necessity.

DIFFERENT FORTUNES TO DIFFERENT MEN.

My daughter, how God assigns to different men fortunes different and inscrutable! But well I

ween He turns affairs upside down, bearing them hither and thither: one toils, another knows not toil, but ruin overwhelms him, having no firm hold

on fortune.

PRUDENCE.

No one ever grew rich on hallowed flames by idly gazing: discernment and prudence are the best of prophets.

LIGHT LIES THE EARTH ON THE BRAVE.

For, if the gods be wise, they will lay the earth lightly on the grave of the brave, but cast the craven beneath a hard mound of earth.

THE UNRIGHTEOUS.

No one that is unrighteous has ever prospered, but hopes of safety never forsake the just.

"WHO HATH KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD ?" Whether it was a god, or not a god, or something between, who of mortals by searching to the end can find out?

THE LABORER.

It is pleasant for a laborer returning from a distance to find things in his house aright.

THE NOBLE TO BE JUDGED BY MANNERS AND BY
DEEDS.

There is no outward mark to note the noble, for

dren arise from vile parents, meanness grovelling in the rich man's mind and generous feelings in the poor. How, then, shall we discern and judge aright? By wealth? we shall make use of a bad criterion. By poverty ? poverty has this disadvantage: it prompts a man to evil deeds. Shall it be by arms? But who, by looking to the spear, could thereby discern the dauntless heart? It is best to leave these things to be decided as they may. For this man, neither great among the Argives nor puffed up by the honors of his house, being plebeian, has proved his nobility by nature. Will ye not, then, learn wisdom, ye who wander in the paths of vanity? Will ye not learn to judge the noble by manners and by deeds? For such men as these discharge their duties with honor to the state and to their house. Mere flesh without a spirit is nothing more than statues in the Forum. For the strong arm does not abide the shock of battle better than the weak: this depends on nature and an intrepid mind.

JUDGE NOT BY OUTWARD APPEARANCE.

They are noble in appearance, but this is mere outside; for many noble-born are base.

MARRY YOUR EQUAL.

And among all the Argives thou didst hear such words as these-"The man obeys the wife, and not the wife her husband." This is shameful for the woman, that the man should not rule the household; and I hate those children who are spoken of as sprung from the mother, not the father. For he who weds a wife of higher rank and nobler blood sinks into nothing, lost in her superior splendor.

UNJUST WEALTH.

Nature is immovable, not riches; she remains forever and uplifts her head: but wealth unjustly acquired, and in the possession of the base, is wont to flit from the house, having flourished for some short space.

A WOMAN.

When a wrong idea possesses a woman, much bitterness flows from her tongue.

WOMAN.

The woman who, in her husband's absence, seeks to set her beauty forth, mark her as a wanton; she would not adorn her person to appear abroad unless she was inclined to ill.

VICE HOLDS A MIRROR TO THE GOOD. Evil deeds hold up an example and mirror to the good.

WED NOT A VICIOUS WOMAN.

Whoever, allured by riches or high rank, marries the inward qualities of man are never clearly to be a vicious woman is a fool; for an humble yet moddistinguished. I have often seen a man of no est partner is better in our house than a noble worth spring from a noble sire, and worthy chil-one.

O nature, how great an ill thou art among the class of men alone preserve the country, prudent. bad, but in the virtuous a safeguard.

In distress a friend comes like a calm to the tem- given it to them. pest-tossed mariner.

house the foal of a bad mother, for such bring with them their mother's faults; wherefore remember this, ye wooers, make your brides daughters of a virtuous mother.

THE TONGUE.

From a small beginning the tongue excites mighty strife among men; but the prudent guard against contention with their friends.

SOCIAL INTERCOURSE.

VIRTUOUS LIFE.

Virtuous and noble deeds are better than high descent.

THE TONGUE.

If thou wilt not restrain thy tongue, it will bring evil upon thee.

RICH AND POOR.

Do you think that a land can prosper where the whole government is in the hand of the poor,

Social intercourse is the teacher of all things to without any admixture of the rich? The rich

mortals.

OLD AGE.

and poor should not be separate; but there should be a mixture, that the country may prosper. For

The race of old men is by nature hasty and im- the rich supply what the poor have not; and what we rich men do not possess, we can obtain by empatient of control, through choler. ploying the poor.

THE PASSIONATE.

If he be passionate, he will meet with passion, and shall receive deeds in return for deeds.

So Matt. (v. 21)—“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment."

A VOICE AND NOTHING MORE.

What thou sayest I bear unmoved; for thou hast a voice void of power, like a shadow: thou canst do naught but talk.

CALAMITIES SOONER OR LATER.

Calamities sent by the gods come to all mortals sooner or later.

So Proverbs (xvi. 33)"The lot is cast into the lap; but

the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord."

FEMALE BUSYBODIES.

But never, never (for I shall repeat it more than once), should the wise allow females to frequent their house; they are instructors to evil deeds. One corrupts the wife to make gain by it; another, who has fallen from virtue, wishes to make her vile like herself; and many do this from mere wantonness; hence the homes of men are ruined. Against such let him guard well his gates with bolts and bars; for these visits of women from without do no good, but abundant ill.

FATES OF MEN.

Seest thou not what various fates the Divinity makes man to pass through, changing and turning them from day to day.

TIME.

Time will discover everything to posterity: it is a babbler, and speaks even when no question is put.

FATHERLAND.

What is more dear to a man than his fatherland?

DEATH.

The debt of nature must be paid, even by the man who remains at home, away from all dangers.

WICKED ACTIONS OF MEN.

Do you think that the evil deeds of men fly on wings to heaven, and are there registered in the books of Jove, and that he, examining each, inflicts punishment on men? If it were so, the whole expanse of heaven would not be sufficient to contain the sins of mankind, nor could Jove have time to read and punish each. Yet Vengeance, if we only carefully watch, dwells always near us. woman, the gods send this to take vengeance on those men whom they hate, for no bad man is beloved by them.

VENGEANCE OVERTAKES THE WICKED. Whoever thinks that he can go on committing sin without the knowledge of the gods, acts foolishly; he will be overtaken, when Vengeance finds leisure, and will suffer for all his former misdeeds.

VENGEANCE SLOW OF FOOT.

Vengeance comes not openly, either upon you or any wicked man, but steals silently and imperceptibly, placing his foot on the bad.

FORTUNE ATTENDS ON THE WISE.

Experience has shown that whoever first uttered the proverb was right when he said "that Fortune is the constant attendant on the wise and prudent."

VARIOUS INCLINATIONS OF MEN.

Various are the inclinations of man: one desires to be considered noble; another cares nothing for high birth, but wishes to be possessed of much

wealth. Others, long for eloquence to persuade their audience to anything, however audacious. Others, again, prefer gain to honor; so dissimilar are men. For my own part, I care for none of these, but pray for a good name and reputation.

A BAD BEGINNING BRINGS A BAD ENDING. A bad ending follows a bad beginning.

DEATH THE FATE OF ALL.

All must die; it is wisdom to submit with patience to the common lot.

CHILDREN LIKE THEIR FATHER.

Son of Creon, how true is the observation, that noble children spring from noble fathers; and that the children of the bad are like in nature to their parents.

NEVER DESPAIR.

The wise should possess their lives in hope.

Of his private history very little information, on which reliance can be put, has come down to us. He was the son of Lyxes and Dryo, being descended from a family not less distinguished for its wealth and political influence than for its love of literature. His uncle, Panyasis, was highly esteemed as an epic poet. The tyranny of Lygdamis drove him from his native town, and though he assisted in delivering his country, the disputes among the cit

GOD DEPRIVES OF REASON HIM WHOM HE WISHES izens after their liberation were so little to his

TO DESTROY.

taste that he withdrew again, and settled at Thurii,

When God is contriving misfortunes for man, in the south of Italy, where he spent the remainder He first deprives him of his reason.

PLEASANT TO REMEMBER PAST LABORS.

of his life, and wrote, according to Pliny, his work in his old age. According to Lucian, Herodotus read his work to the assembled Greeks at Olympia,

How pleasant it is for him who is saved to re- B.C. 456, with the great applause of the audience, member his danger.

A FATHER'S ADVICE TO HIS SON.

In the first place, thou must have a gentle disposition: pay respect to all, giving the rich not more than an equal portion: be not opinionative when one of two things must be determined: get not riches by unjust means, if thou wishest them to continue in thy family, for riches unjustly acquired quickly vanish; yet try to get them, for riches and high descent enable a man to marry well: in poverty there is dishonor, even though a man be wise, and also disgrace: get friends who are not willing to yield to thy wishes, and shut the bars of thy doors against the wicked, who are anxious to gratify thy desires: love the conversation of those who are older than thyself, and hate those of intemperate habits, only pleasant to joke with; the enjoyment of unholy pleasure is of short duration.

ENVY.

in consequence of which the nine books of the work have been honored with the name of the Nine Muses. He also states that Thucydides, then about fifteen or sixteen years of age, was present at this recitation, and was moved to tears. To this work we are indebted for our knowledge of the origin and progress of the Persian monarchy; of that of the Medes and Assyrians.

LIFE IS NOTHING BUT MISERY.

Thus, Croesus, does our nature appear an uninterrupted series of misfortunes.

Who was the mother or father that produced illomened envy, such a great ill to mortals? Where does she dwell, and in what part of the body? Is So Ecclesiastes (1. 14)—“I have seen all the works that are she in our hands, or heart, or eyes? What a dread-done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of ful labor for physicians to remove this greatest of spirit." all diseases in men, whether by the knife, by potions, or drugs!

PEACE.

THE RICH MAN AND THE POOR CONTRASTED.

The man of affluence is not, in fact, more happy than the possessor of a bare competency; unless, in addition to his wealth, the end of his life be fortunate. We often see misery dwelling in the midst of splendor, whilst real happiness is found

Peace, thou richest and most beautiful of the happy gods, the envy of all, why dost thou loiter? I fear lest old age overtake me with its ailments before I behold thy delightful produce, songs within humbler stations. the dance and garland-crowned revellings. Thou benignant goddess, visit my city, and drive off from my house bloody sedition and frantic contention, delighting in the sharp-pointed sword.

GOD HELPS THEM THAT HELP THEMSELVES.

Call in self-help, then ask the gods to aid,
For the gods aid the man who helps himself.

HERODOTUS.

BORN B.C. 484-WAS ALIVE B.C. 408. HERODOTUS, the father of history, was a native of Halicarnassus, a town of Caria, in Asia Minor.

THE HAPPY MA

The rich man, indeed, is better able to indulge his passions, and to bear up against any harm that may befall him. The poor man's condition prevents him from enjoying such advantages; but then, as a set-off, he may possess strength of body, freedom from disease, a mind relieved from many of the ills of life, is blessed in his children, and active in his limbs. If he shall, besides, end his life well, then, O Crœsus, this is the happy man, about whom thou art curiously inquiring. Call no man happy till thou knowest the end of his life; up till that moment he can only be called fortunate.