one word, anywhere; but chiefly of all in the to reach old age, and while they live they enjoy affairs of war. THE BRAVE LIVE WHERE THE COWARD DIES IN BATTLE. For I have always observed this, fellow-soldiers, that those who use every means to save their lives in war generally meet with a base and disgraceful death; whereas those who feel that death is the common and allotted fate of all men, I often see a happy life. GREAT THOUGHTS FROM LATIN AUTHORS. Cæsar. Sallust. Virgil. Livy. Tibullus .born B.C. 100...... ......died B.C. 44 born B.C. 95.. died B.C. 52 .born B.C. 87. died B.C. 47 .born B.C. 86.. .died about B.C. 34 .born B.C. 70. .born B.C. ..born B.C. .born about B.C. Propertius......born about B.C. Publius Syrus Ovid. Nepos.. PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION. LITTLE need be added to what was stated in Catullus former editions of this work. The illustrations from the Old and New Testaments have been increased, and many new passages have been given. Few of the ways that conduct to virtue are more full of pleasantness and peace than that which leads us to warm our hearts by putting them in close contact with noble natures. "I am not the rose, but I live with the rose," says the Eastern apologue," and so I have become sweet." It was a strong conviction of the truth of this apophthegm that induced the Editor to spend many of the leisure hours of a busy life in bringing together the beautiful thoughts of ancient writers; and he was induced to present them to the public, in the hope that many, who have little time to devote to the study of the Classics, would be glad to renew their acquaintance with the finer emanations of Tacitus.. the Roman masters. .died B.C. 19 65. 59. 59 51 died B.C. 8 .died A.D. 17 died about B.C. 18 died about B.C. 15 flourished about B.C. 45 Seneca. Persius. Martial ..born A.D. 23. .born A.D. 25. .born A.D. 34. born about A.D. 89. .born A.D. 40. .born A.D. 43. Petronius Arbiter flourished A.D. 50 born about A.D. Pliny the Younger Ausonius 59.....died about A.D. 120 died about A.D. 96 flourished A.D. 61 .born about A.D. 61 .....flourished A.D. 70 ..flourished A.D. 90 ..flourished A.D. 150 born A.D. 815............died A.D. Ammianus Marcellinus flourished A.D. 350 Claudian.........flourished A.D. 400 The Editor has not been disappointed in his expectations, for the sale of the work has continued Columella to increase, and proves that there is a large num- Juvenal... ber of educated minds who take delight in the wis- Curtius dom of the ancients. Each quotation is a separate bait, a temptation to feel greatly and to do greatly; and a friend, whose delicate health has obliged him to retire from the busy haunts of men, very beautifully remarks that their charm for the old and infirm is scarcely less. To such "it is nothing short of delightful to have a book at hand which will suit itself either to the exigencies or the deficiencies of the minute, with an elastic power of adaptability which no living friend can Ammianus Marcelpossess." It was for those of lofty aspirations_linus........ among the young, and for men of cultivated minds Ausonius.. among the old, that the Editor attempted to make a selection from a treasure that has continued to accumulate from the earliest times, till it now Claudian.... comprehends a brief abstract of the wisdom of all ages. 392 AUTHORS. PAGES. Persius 550-552 439-440 Petronius Arbiter ... 552-558 558-554 441-442 Plautus.. 554-563 442-448 Pliny the Elder.. 563-564 443-474 Pliny the Younger... 564-568 474-476 Propertius..... 568-570 476 Publius Syrus 570-573 GREAT THOUGHTS FROM LATIN AUTHORS. AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS. FLOURISHED FROM ABOUT A.D. 350 TO A.D. 390. AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, a native of Antioch in Syria, was the last subject of Rome who composed a profane history in the Latin language. Of his personal history little is known; he was an officer in the army, accompanying Ursicinus, an able general of the Emperor Constantius, to the East in 350. We next find him accompanying Julian in his expedition against the Persians, having a narrow escape in the retreat of the Romans. His history extended from the accession of Nerva, A.D. 96, to the death of Valens, A.D. 378, comprising a period of 282 years. It was divided into thirty-one books, of which the first thirteen are lost. What remains includes the reign of Constantius from A.D. 353, and those of Gallus, Julianus, Jovianus, Valentinianus, and Valens. FOLLY OF MEN. Some imagining that they can best commend themselves to the Eternal by erecting statues to that great Being, earnestly devote themselves to these, as if they were certain to obtain more reward from senseless idols of brass than from the conscientious performance of honorable duties. TRUTH IS SIMPLE. cares and anxieties have made upon it, brings before us those night visions which we call fantasies. Longfellow ("A Psalm of Life") expresses himself otherwise: "Tell me not, in mournful numbers, And things are not what they seem." But Byron ("The Dream," 1. 5) says: "Dreams in their development have breath, Which are the children of an idle brain, RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE. Adrasteia, whom we also call Nemesis, very often (I wish it were always so!) acts as the avenger of the deeds of the impious and the rewarder of the righteous-being a certain sublime law of the Almighty placed over the minds of men, The language of truth is unadorned and always or as others define it, a self-existing guardian simple. angel watching over each individual with uncon We find the three great tragic writers of Greece speak of trolled power; which theologians of old, falsely truth in the same way. Shakespeare ("Measure for Measure," act v. sc. 1) says: "Truth is truth To the end of reckoning." Matthew vi. 22: assuming to be the daughter of Justice, maintain to look down on all things earthly from the abysses of eternity. She, as the directress of original causes, the arbitress and judge of events, rules over the urn containing the fates of men, turning If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of out at will the lots of life; and ending very differ light," MAN PARALYZED BY FATE. ently at times from what she seemed to have intended, turns round our fates with endless changes. And binding with the indissoluble chain of neces The senses of men are usually blunted and dead-sity the pride of man, vainly puffed up, and causened, when fate lays a heavy hand upon them. THE MIND OF MAN IN SLEEP. The mind freed from the shackles of the body, never resting, being under the impressions which ing the ups and downs of life, as she best knows to turn them; now she throws him down from his lofty seat, and again lifting the upright from the lowest bottom raises him to the pinnacle of fortune. EXCEPTIONS TO EVERY RULE. But in the midst of thorns roses spring up, and amidst savage beasts some are tame. So Psalm xxx. 5:— THE SAME CHARACTER PROUD AND HUMBLE. So that he seemed, when he felt confidence in himself, to be like a tragic actor declaiming from the high-heeled buskin; and when he was cast "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the down, to be more humble than any low comedian morning." in his sock. BUSINESS FOR IDLE HANDS. Wicked acts are accustomed to be done with impunity for the mere desire of occupation. AUSONIUS. BORN ABOUT A.D. 315-DIED ABOUT A.D. 392. DECIMUS MAGNUS AUSONIUS, a Latin poet and grammarian, was a native of Bordeaux, born about the beginning of the fourth century of the Christian era. He devoted himself to the study of law, and Valentinian, by whom he was appointed præfecbecame tutor to Gratian, son of the Emperor tus of Latium, of Libya, and of Gaul, and at last. in the year 379, was made consul. The letter of Gratian conferring the dignity, and the grateful reply of Ausonius are both extant. After the death of Gratian he retired from public life, and ended his days in a country retreat at no great distance from his native city about A.D. 392, in the reign of Honorius. There can be no doubt from several passages in his works that he was a Christian. though the licentious nature of some of his writings proves that he did not at all times attend to its pure doctrines. He was the author of many works, which have been preserved, but the most celebrated are his twenty Eclogues, of which the tenth, entitled Mosella, is a description of the river Moselle, one of the best specimens of his powers as a poet, though the same faults pervade it as his other works-want of simplicity, taste, easiness of versification, and purity of language. ADVICE TO THE UPSTART. Whoever thou art that hast become rich from great poverty, use thy good fortune with moderation. EVERYTHING HUMAN PERISHES. Can we wonder that men perish and are forgotten when their noblest and most enduring works decay? Death comes even to monumental structures, and oblivion rests on the most illustrious names. A MAN OF LETTERS. Because thy library is full of books, which thou hast bought, dost thou think thyself a man of letters? In the same way, lay up strings, plectra, and lyres; having bought all these, to-morrow thou wilt be a musician. WELL BEGUN, HALF DONE. Begin; to have begun is half of the work. Let the half still remain; again begin this and thou wilt have done all. |