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FORTUNE.

B.C 52 we find him tribunus plebis, and two years afterwards he was ejected from the senate by the But assuredly Fortune rules in all things; she censors, on account of immoral conduct. How-raises to eminence or buries in oblivion everything ever, he seems to have been restored to his rank, from caprice rather than from well regulated as he was prætor in B.c. 47. Next year he accompanied Cæsar in his African war, and was there left governor of Numidia. Here he is accused of having amassed immense riches by the oppression

principle.

AMBITION.

have one thing concealed in the breast, and anAmbition hath made many men hypocrites; to other ready on the tongue; to estimate friendships and enmities not from their real worth but from

of the people, and many scandalous tales are told respecting him. On returning from Africa he retired into private life, and passed quietly through the troublesome period after Cæsar's death, dy-motives of private advantage; and to have a fair ing B.C. 34.

MIND AND BODY.

Our whole strength resides in the powers of the mind and body; while we are willing to submit to

the directions of the former, we are anxious to render the body subservient to our will. The one is common to us with the gods; the other with the lower animals.

MIND.

The glory derived from riches and beauty is fleeting and frail: the endowments of the mind form the only illustrious and lasting possession. Antiphanes (Fr. Com. Gr. p. 570, M.) says:--

"We must have our mind rich; the riches of this world are merely outward show, that veil the real character."

FORETHOUGHT.

Before one begins, there is need of forethought, and after we have carefully considered, there is need of speedy execution.

MIND.

All the operations of agriculture, navigation, and architecture depend for their success on the endowments of the mind.

ACTIVE LIFE.

He and he alone seems to me to have the full enjoyment of his existence, who, in whatever employment he may be engaged, seeks for the reputation arising from some praiseworthy deed, or the exercise of some useful talent. But in the great variety of employments, nature points out different paths to different individuals.

So Wordsworth ("Tintern Revisited"):-

"Our acts our angels are, or good or ill,
Our fatal shadows that walk by us still."

CATILINE.

Greedy of the possessions of others, lavish of his own, eager in his pursuits, fluent enough in language, but possessed of little common sense.

MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE.

The Romans assisted their allies and friends, and acquired friendships by giving rather than receiving kindnesses.

Acts xx. 35:

outside rather than an honest heart.

THE GOOD AND THE BAD.

ious for glory, honor, and command; but the one The virtuous and unprincipled are equally anx-' other aims at the attainment of his object by strives to attain them by honorable means, the knavery and deceit, because good arts fail him.

PROSPERITY.

The truth is, prosperity unhinges the minds of the wise; much less could they, with their corrupt habits, be expected to refrain from abusing their victory.

THE MALEVOLENT.

He was malevolent and cruel, without any views of private advantage, lest his hands should get stiff through want of practice.

FRIENDSHIP.

For to have the same predilections and the same aversions, that and that alone is the surest bond of friendship.

FORTUNE.

Behold that, that liberty, for which you have so often panted; besides, riches, honor, glory, are placed before your eyes. Fortune hath given every reward to the conquerors.

THE POOR.

For always in a state, those who have no re sources of their own look with an evil eye on thei higher classes of their fellow-citizens; elevate to office those who are the same stamp with them selves; hate old things and desire new; are anx ious for change from dislike of their own; are supported by public disturbance without any ap prehension for themselves, since poverty is upheld easily without loss.

MATTERS OF IMPORTANCE.

All who deliberate on matters of importance, | ought to be uninfluenced with feelings of hatred, friendship, anger, or compassion.

THE LOW AND THE HIGH.

Those who pass their lives sunk in obscurity, if they have committed any offence through the im

"And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, pulse of passion, few know of it; their reputation It is more blessed to give than to receive."

and fortune are alike: those, who are in great

command and in an exalted station, have their deeds known to all men. Thus, in the highest condition of life there is the least freedom of action. They ought to show neither partiality nor hatred, but least of all resentment; at in others is called hastiness of temper is in those invested with power styled haughtiness and cruelty.

DEATH.

Respecting punishment, we may surely say that which the case warrants; in grief and misery death is a reprieve from the sorrows of life, not a punishment; it puts a termination to all the ills of mankind: beyond the grave there is room for neither care nor joy.

Euripides (Fr. Antig. 17) says:"For death is the end of troubles to men, for what is better to men than this? For who wounding a rocky cliff with a spear will cause it pain! Who can dishonor the dead if they feel nothing?"

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of person and fortune; all things that rise must set, and those that have grown must fade away: the mind is incorruptible, eternal, the governor of the human race, directs and overrules all things, nor is itself under the power of any.

OPPORTUNITY.

Opportunity leads even moderate men astray from the path of duty by the hope of self-aggrandizement.

CONCORD.

Neither armies nor treasures are the bulwarks of a kingdom; but friends whom you can neither command by force, nor purchase by gold: they are gained by kind offices, and by the exercise of fidelity. Who ought to be more friendly than a brother to a brother? or what stranger will you find to be faithful, if you be an enemy to your own connections? I indeed deliver to you a kingdom, which is strong, if you are good; weak if you are bad. For a small state increases by concord; the greatest state falls gradually to ruin by dissension.

ROME.

But after he had left Rome, he is said, often looking back in silence, to have exclaimed, "Ah venal city! destined soon to perish, could it but find a purchaser."

A GOOD MAN.

It is better for a good man to be overcome by his opponents than to conquer injustice by unconstitutional means.

A BOASTER.

Impatient of labor and of danger, more ready to boast of their valor than to display it.

ANCESTORS.

The glory of ancestors sheds a light around posterity; it allows neither their good nor bad qualities to remain in obscurity.

ANCESTORS.

But proud men are very much mistaken. Their ancestors have left all things which are in their power to them-riches, images, the noble recollection of themselves; they have not left their virtue, nor were they able: it alone can neither be presented as a gift, nor received.

CHILDREN.

No one has become immortal by sloth, nor has any parent prayed that their children should live forever; but rather that they should lead an honorable and upright life.

KINGS.

In general the desires of kings, though impetuous, are unstable, and often inconsistent.

EVERY ONE THE ARTIFICER OF HIS OWN FORTUNE.

Every one is the artificer of his own fortune.
Shakespeare (" Jul. Cæs." act i, sc. 2) says:—

"Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

SENECA.

BORN ABOUT A.D. 1-DIED A.D. 65.

L. ANNEUS SENECA, son of M. Annæus Seneca, was born at Corduba, and brought to Rome by his parents when he was a child. He was educated at Rome, and acquired distinction at an early age as a pleader of causes, exciting the hatred of Caligula from the ability he displayed in conducting a cause before him. In the first year of the reign of Claudius, A.D. 41, he was ordered to retire in exile to Corsica, where he resided for eight years, being recalled by the influence of Agrippina, A.D. 49. He then obtained the prætorship, and became tutor to the emperor Nero. His pupil did him no credit, but it would be unjust to blame him for the subsequent conduct of Nero. He did not, indeed, make him a good or a wise man; his natural disposition, however, was probably irreclaimable. For some years he was the chief minister of Nero, but, falling into disgrace, he received notice to die, and suffocated himself in a vapor bath, A.D.

65.

NONE BUT HIMSELF EQUAL TO HIMself. Do you seek a match for the descendant of Alcæus? There is no one but himself.

Louis Theobald ("The Double Falsehood ") says:— "None but himself can be his parallel."

THE MOB.

The mob more restless than the waves of the sea.

ENJOY THE PRESENT.

Few enjoy the pleasures of peaceful repose, who consider how swiftly time passes that is never to return. While the fates allow, eat, drink, and be merry. Life hurries forward with rapid step, and the wheel of time rolls on in its ceaseless round.

MIGHT MAKES RIGHT.

Successful crime is dignified with the name of virtue; the good become the slaves of the impious; might makes right; fear silences the power of the law.

Wordsworth ("Rob Roy's Grave," st. 9):

"Because the good old rule

Sufficeth them, the simple plan,

That they should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can."

And Sir John Harrington ("Epig." bk. iv. Ep. 3)—
"Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason?
Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
Beilby Porteus ("Death," 1. 154):-

"One murder made a villain, Millions a hero. Princes were privileged To kill, and numbers sanctified the crime." Young ("Love of Fame," Sat. vii. 1. 55):"One to destroy is murder by the law;

And gibbets keep the lifted hand in awe;
To murder thousands takes a specious name,
War's glorious art, and gives immortal fame."

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So Luke x. 37:

"He that showed mercy on him was his neighbor."

THE WRETCHED FATE OF THE GOOD.

O Fortune, that enviest the brave, what unequal rewards thou bestowest on the righteous!

HUMBLE FORTUNE.

In humble fortune there is great repose.

THE FEAR OF WAR.

The fear of war is worse than war itself.

TRUE LOVE.

True love hates delays and does not submit to them.

NO FATE OF LIFE IS LONG.

Man's fate never continues long the same, sorrow and pleasure alternate; pleasure is more brief. A few moments raise the lowest of mankind to the highest pinnacle of honor.

THE POWER OF THE ALMIGHTY.

Every monarch is subject to a mightier power.

REMEMBRANCE OF WHAT WAS DIFFICULT IS

PLEASANT.

What was difficult to endure is pleasant to call to remembrance.

THE GUILTY OVERWHELMED BY HIS OWN ACTS. Man suffers for his deeds: crime finds out its author, and the guilty is overwhelmed by his own

acts.

WE ARE DYING FROM THE FIRST MOMENT OF OUR
BIRTH.

The first moment which gives us birth begins to take life from us.

THE HEAVY-LADEN.

Let the weary and heavy-laden at length enjoy

repose.

ONE CRIME BEGETS ANOTHER.

While one crime is punished, it begets another.
THE ADVANTAGE ENJOYED BY A MONARCH.

This is the highest advantage to be derived by a monarch, that his people is obliged not only to submit to but to praise the deeds of their monarch.

THE HUMBLE OFTEN RECEIVE GREAT PRAISE.

Sat. Nay, rather, where neither modesty nor respect for the law or gods, piety nor faith, hold sway, there power is unstable.

Atr. My opinion is, that respect for the gods, piety and faith are merely virtues of men in private stations. Let kings be unshackled in their authority.

A BAD BROTHER NOT TO BE INJURED.

Consider it impious to injure even a bad brother.
So Genesis xiii. 8:-

"And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren."

THE YOUNG EASILY PERVERTED.

The young readily listen to evil counsels; they will practise against you, their father, what you have taught them against their uncle. Crimes have recoiled on those who gave the first lesson.

So Psalm cxvi. 10:

"Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape."

HOW SILENCE IS TAUGHT.

Silence is taught by many misfortunes in life.

A COUNTENANCE BETRAYING FEAR.

A countenance full of fear usually betrays many crimes.

GREAT COUNSELS BETRAYED BY THE COUN-
TENANCE.

Great counsels betray even the man who is unwilling that his plans should be discovered.

IT IS THE MIND THAT GIVES A KINGDOM.

An honest heart possesses a kingdom.
Percy's "Reliques of English Poetry " (vol. i. p. 307):—
"My mind to me a kingdom is,

Such perfect joy therein I find,
As far exceeds all earthly bliss,

That God and nature hath assign'd.
Though much I want that most would have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave."

RETIREMENT TO BE PREFERRED.

He is a king who is subject to neither fears nor desires. Every one can confer this on himself. Let whosoever chooses walk along the slippery paths of the court, I prefer peaceful repose, and, resigned to the obscurity of a humble life, shall enjoy the pleasures of retirement.

WHO LIVES FOR OTHERS NOT FOR HIMSELF.

Death broods heavily over the man who dies

The humble and lowly-born often receive true more known to others than to himself. praise.

THE EXAMPLE OF THE HIGH-BORN.

THE GIVER TO BE LOOKED at.

While you look at what is given, look also at

The king should wish what is honorable, and the giver. every one will wish the same.

DESPOTISM.

THE POOR ENJOY A SECURE REPAST.

What pleasure it is to stand in the way of no do not enter into the cottages of the poor; we may

Atr. Wherever a ruler is subject to the law, his one, to be able to enjoy a secure repast! Crimes power is of precarious tenure.

eat our food with safety on an humble table; poison is quaffed from golden cups. I speak from experience: an obscure life is preferable to one spent in a high station.

Diphilus (Fr. Com. Gr. p. 1092, M.) says:

"No one is more fortunate than the poor man: he has no change for the worse to look for."

BROTHERLY AFFECTION.

Affection usually returns whence it has been removed, and love that is just repairs its lost strength.

CAUTION.

It is too late to be on our guard when we are in the midst of misfortunes.

So Genesis xli. 9:

"I do remember my faults this day."

AFFECTION.

There is no power greater than true affection.

TRUE AFFECTION.

THE GREAT IN POWER.

The high in power are often desirous of impossibilities.

A REMEDY.

It is some part of a cure to feel a desire to be cured.

REPORT.

Report seldom adheres to the truth, favorable to the man who deserves the worst and unfavorable to the good.

THE COUNTENANCE BETRAYS THE FEELINGS.

Angry feelings are betrayed by the countenance, though they are concealed.

MODES OF DEATH.

How many kinds of death hurry off and gradually destroy mankind-the sea, the sword, and treachery! But say we were not subject to these

Whomsoever true affection has possessed, it will laws of fate, yet of ourselves we hasten to our

continue to possess.

TO-MORROW.

Nobody has ever found the gods so much his friend that he can promise himself another day.

LOVE OF LIFE.

That man must be enamoured of life, who is not willing to die when the world reaches its last day.

THE MISERABLE.

life's end, to the dark shades of Styx.
Massinger ("A Very Woman," act v. sc. 4) says:—
"Death hath a thousand doors to let out life,
I shall find one."

THE ADVANTAGES OF A COUNTRY LIFE. There is no mode of life more independent and free from vice, following more closely the ancient manners, than that which, abandoning cities, loves the woodlands.

THE HAPPY LIFE OF THE LOWLY.

This is the peculiarity of the wretched, that they can never believe that happiness will last. Even though good fortune returns, yet they re-reclines securely on a hard couch. joice in fear and trembling.

A more undisturbed sleep attends the man who

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