76 THE SACRIFICE OF POLYXENA. order than those which are uncertain and loose. Wherefore the best we can compass, so long as we have not a perfect knowledge of our emotions, is to lay out a method and settled rules of life, to commit these to memory, and constantly to apply them to such particular cases as do commonly meet us in life, that so our imagination may be penetrated therewith, and we may ever have them at hand. We laid down for example, among the precepts of life, that hatred should be conquered by love or high-mindedness, not repaid in kind. Now that this command of reason may always be ready for us at need, we should often think upon and consider the wrongs commonly done by men, and in what manner they are warded off by a noble mind. For thus we shall knit the image of a wrong done us to the imagination of this precept which will always be at hand when a wrong is offered us. THE SACRIFICE OF POLYXENA. [EURIPIDES, one of the three great tragic poets of Greece, was born at Athens B. c. 473, and died B. c. 406. As he was strolling through a wood, a pack of the royal hounds attacked and tore him to pieces. The assembled host of Greece before the tomb [When silence had been proclaimed through the host, and libations poured to the shade of Achilles, Pyrrhus spoke these words :-] "O son of Peleus, O my father, Swift passage homeward to the Grecian host." At his nod The noble youths stept forth to hold the maiden, "Let no man touch her": and the youths drew back. But we shall note that in ordering our thoughts and imaginations we are ever to attend to that which is good in a particular thing, that we may always be determined to action by an emotion of pleasure. For example, if one sees that he exceedeth in the pursuit of honour, let him think of the right use thereof, and for what purpose it is to be pursued, and by what means to be acquired; not of the misuse and vanity of it, the inconsistency of mankind and the like, of which no man thinks except for infirmity of spirit. For with such thoughts do ambitious men most plague themselves, when they despair of attaining the station they are bent upon; and so venting their anger they would fain be thought philosophers. Tis certain that they are most greedy of honour who are loudest concerning the misuse of it and the vanity of the world. Nor is this peculiar to the case of ambition, but it is common to all who meet with ill-fortune and lack strength of mind. . . . So he who endeavours to govern his emotions and desires purely by the love of freedom will strive, as best he may, to know the virtues and their causes, and to fill his mind with the joy which arises from the true knowledge of them; but in no wise to study men's faults, nor to flatter them and make merry with a false show of liberty; and whoever will diligently observe and use these precepts (for they are not difficult), assur- character, in some a benevolence that conedly in a short space of time he will be soles and bestows a relief; in others a de able for the most part to guide his ac-structive persecution of their fellow-men. tions after the rule of reason. And bared her snow-white bosom, beauteous Ear never yet has heard more mournful words [Even the "rugged Pyrrhus" is touched with pity, pauses, and at last reluctantly--] Deep in her bosom plunged the shining steel. She covered with her robe. Such is the contrast to be found in human (ERASMUS, b. 1447, d. 1536.) MARLOWE'S "FAUSTUS." [DENIS DIDEROT, was born at Langres, France, Octoer 5, 1713. Among his first writings were an Essay on Merit and on Virtue; and Letter on the Blind, (1749). The latter established his reputation, but it cost him a year's imprisonment. In later years he wrote several novels, but his reputation is chiefly founded on the Encyclopédie raisonnée des Sciences, des Arts et Metiers, of which he and D'Alembert were joint editors, and for which work his acute intellect and vast information peculiarly fitted him. He is considered the head of the skeptical philosophers styled Encyclopedists. He died July 30, 1784.] A young Mexican, tired of his work, was sauntering one day on the seashore. He spied a plank, with one end resting on the land, and the other dipping into the water. He sat down on the plank, and there gazing over the vast space that lay spread out before him, he said to himself:-"It is certain that my old grandmother is talking nonsense, with her history of I know not what inhabitants, who, at I know not what time, landed here from I know not where, from some country far beyond our seas. It is against common sense: do I not see the ocean touch the line of the sky? And can I believe against the evidence of my senses, an old fable of which nobody knows the date, which everybody arranges according to his fancy, and which is only a tissue of absurdities, about which people are ready to tear out one another's eyes? As he was reasoning in this way, the waters rocked him gently on his plank, and he fell asleep. As he slept, the wind arose, the waves carried away the plank on which he was stretched out, and behold our youthful reasoner embarked on a voyage. La Maréchale. -Alas, that is the image of all of us; we are each on our planks; the wind blows, and the flood carries us away. 77 remained in the same quarter, perhaps he would be borne to that very shore and among those dwellers on it, about whom his grandmother had so often told him. La Maréchale. And of his anxiety, you say nothing. C.-He had none. He said to himself: "What does it matter, provided that I find land? I have reasoned like a giddy-pate, granted: but I have been sincere with my self, and that is all that can be required of me. If it is no virtue to have understanding, at any rate it is no crime to be without it.' Meanwhile the wind continued, the man and the plank floated on, and the unknown shore came into sight. He touched it, and behold him again on land. La Maréchale.-Ah, we shall all of us see one another there, one of these days. แ C. I hope so, madam; wherever it may be, I shall always be very proud to pay you my homage. Hardly had he quitted his plank, and put his foot on the sand, when he perceived a venerable old man standing by his side. He asked him where he was, and to whom he had the honour of speak ing. I am the sovereign of the country," replied the old man. "You have denied my existence?"-"Yes, it is true."-" And the fact of my empire ?"-"It is true!”—“I forgive you, for I am he who sees the bottom of all hearts, and I have read at the bottom of yours that you are of good faith; but the rest of your thoughts and your actions are not equally innocent." Then the old man, who held him by the ear, recalled to him all the errors of his life; and as each was mentioned, the young Mexican bowed himself upon the ground, beat his breast, and besought forgiveness. MARLOWE'S "FAUSTUS." [CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE, next to Shakspeare the ablest of the British dramatists, was born in 1564, and died in 1593, from a wound received in a quarrel. His Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, a powerfully conceived work, formed the basis of Goethe's "Faust." Beside this he wrote Tamburlain, The Jew of Malta, and Edward III., and several anonymous dramas are attributed to him. By many critics Mar. C.-He was already far from the mainland when he awoke. No one was ever so surprised as our young Mexican, to find himself out on the open sea, and he was mightily surprised, too, when having lost from sight lowe is believed to be the author of the second and third the shore on which he had been idly walking only an instant before, he saw the sea touching the line of the sky on every side. Then he began to suspect that he might have been mistaken, and that, if the wind parts of Shakspeare's "Henry VI."] FAUSTUS.-WAGNER, his Servant. Faustus. Say, Wagner, thou hast perused my will. How dost thou like it? 78 Wagner. Sir, so wondrous well, MARLOWE'S "FAUSTUS." Faust. O gentlemen! Second Scholar. What ails Faustus? Faust. Ah, my sweet chamber-fellow, had I lived with thee, then had I lived still, but now must die eternally. Look, sirs, comes he not? comes he not? First Sch. O my dear Faustus, what imports this fear? Sec. Sch. Is all our pleasure turned to melancholy? Third Scholar. He is not well with being over-soli tary. First Sch. Why did not Faustus tell of this before, that divines might have prayed for thee? Faust. Oft have I thought to have done so; but the devil threatened to tear me in pieces if I named God: to fetch me body and soul if I once gave ear to divinity; and now it is too late. Gentlemen, away, lest you perish with me. Sec. Sch. Oh, what may we do to save Faustus! Faust. Talk not of me, but save yourselves, and depart. Third Sch. God will strengthen me; I will stay with Faustus. First Sch. Tempt not God, sweet friend, but let us into the next room and pray for him. Fuust. Ay, pray for me, pray for me; and what noise soever you hear, come not unto me, for nothing can rescue me. Sec. Sch. Pray thou, and we will pray, that God may have mercy upon thee. Faust. Gentlemen, farewell; if I live till morning, Sec. Sch. If it be so, we will have physicians, and I'll visit you; if not, Faustus is gone to hell. Faustus shall be cured. First Sch. "Tis but a surfeit, sir; fear nothing. Faust. A surfeit of a deadly sin, that hath damned both body and soul. Sec. Sch. Yet, Faustus, look up to Heaven, and remember mercy is infinite. Faust. But Faustus's offence can ne'er be pardoned. The serpent that tempted Eve may be saved, but not Faustus. O gentlemen, hear me with patience, and tremble not at my speeches! Though my heart pant and quiver to remember that I have been a student here these thirty years, oh, would I had ne'er seen Wirtemberg, never read a book! and what wonders have I done, all Germany can witness, yea, all the world: for which Faustus hath lost both Germany and the world; yea, heaven itself-heaven, the seat of God, the throne of the blessed, the kingdom of joy-and must remain in hell for ever. Hell, O hell, for ever. Sweet friends what shall become of Faustus, being in hell for ever? Sec. Sch. Yet, Faustus, call on God. Faust. On God, whom Faustus hath abjured? on God, whom Faustus hath blasphemed? O my God, I would weep, but the devil draws in my tears! Gush forth blood instead of tears, yea, life and soul! Oh, he stays my tongue: I would lift up my hands, but see, they hold 'em, they hold 'em! Scholars. Who, Faustus? Scholars. Faustus, farewell. FAUSTUS alone.-The Clock strikes Eleven. Now hast thou but one bare hour to live, And see a threatening arm and angry brow. Faust. Why, Lucifer and Mephistophilis. O gentle- Into the entrails of yon labouring cloud; men, I gave them my soul for my cunning. Scholars. O God forbid! Faust. God forbid it indeed, but Faustus hath done it: for the vain pleasure of four-and-twenty years hath Faustus lost eternal joy and felicity. I writ them a bill with mine own blood; the date is expired: this is the time, and he will fetch me. That when you vomit forth into the air, The Watch strikes. Oh, half the hour is past: 't will all be past anon. THE WATERLOO OF HANNIBAL. Let Faustus live in hell a thousand years, A hundred thousand, and at the last be saved. Oh, Pythagoras' metempsychosis, were that true, All beasts are happy, for when they die, First Sch. Come, gentlemen, let us go to visit Faus- For such a dreadful night was never seen All torn asunder by the hand of death. Third Sch. The devil whom Faustus served hath For 'twixt the hours of twelve and one, methought At which same time the house seemed all on fire 79 [The classical taste of Marlowe is evinced in the fine apostrophe to Helen of Greece, whom the spirit Mephis tophilis conjures up 'between two Cupids,' to gratify the sensual gaze of Faustus:] Was this the face that launched a thousand ships And burned the topless towers of Ilium? I will be Paris, and for love of thee, THE WATERLOO OF HANNIBAL. [THEODOR MOMMSEN, born at Garding, Sleswick, Nov. 30, 1817; studied law and philology at Kiel; travelled 1844-47 in France and Italy; was appointed professor of Roman Law at Leipsic in 1848, at Zurich in 1852, at Breslau in 1854, and at Berlin in 1858. He is best known by his History of Rome (not yet com. pleted), from which we extract.] The two armies came to a decisive battle at Zama (not far, probably, from Sicca). Hannibal arranged his infantry in three lines; in the first division the Carthaginian hired troops, in the second the African militia and the Phoenician civic force, along Sec. Sch. Well, gentlemen, though Faustus' end be with the Macedonian corps, in the third the such As every Christian heart laments to think on; For wondrous knowledge in our German schools, veterans who had followed him from Italy. In front of the line were placed 80 elephants; the cavalry were stationed on the wings. Scipio likewise disposed his legions in three divisions, as was the wont of the Romans, and so arranged them that the elephants could Chorus. Cut is the branch that might have grown out breaking it. Not only was this disposipass through and along the line with And all the scholars, clothed in mourning black, full straight, And burned is Apollo's laurel bough That sometime grew within this learned man: [Exeunt. tion completely successful, but the elephants making their way to the sides disordered also the Carthaginian cavalry on the flank, so that Scipio's cavalry (which, moreover, was by the arrival of Massinissa's troops rendered far superior to the enemy) had little trouble in dispersing them and were 89 80 THE RIGHT OF PROPERTY. soon engaged in full pursuit. The struggle in the case of the infantry was more severe. The conflict lasted long between the first divisions on both sides; at length, in the extremely bloody hand to hand encounter, both parties fell into confusion, and were obliged to seek a support in the second divisions. The Romans found that support; but the Carthaginian militia showed itself so unsteady and wavering, that the Mercenaries believed themselves betrayed, and a hand-to-hand combat arose between them and the Carthaginian civic force. But Hannibal now hastily withdrew what remained of the first two lines to the flanks, and pushed forward his choice Italian troops along the whole line. Scipio, on the other hand, gathered together in the centre as many of the first line as still were able to fight, and made the second and third divisions close on the right and left of the first. Once more on the same spot began a still more fearful conflict; Hannibal's old soldiers never wavered, despite the superior numbers of the enemy, till the cavalry of the Romans and of Massinissa, returning from the pursuit of the beaten cavalry of the enemy surrounded them on all sides. not only terminated but annihilated the Punic army; the same soldiers who, fourteen years before, had given way at Cannæ, had retaliated on their conquerors at Zama. With a handful of men Hannibal arrived, a fugitive, at Hadrumetum. This THE GERMAN FATHERLAND. [ERNST MORITZ ARNDT, patriot, scholar, traveller and poet, was born Dec. 26, 1769, at Schoritz, in Rügen. His prose and poetry alike are of high excellence and have taken strong hold upon the national feeling.] Which is the German's fatherland? Is't Prussia's or Swabia's land? Is't where the Rhine's rich vintage streams? Or where the Northern sea gull screams?— Ah, no, no, no! His fatherland's not bounded so! Which is the German's fatherland? Is 't where the Marsian ox unbends? His fatherland's not bounded so. Which is the German's fatherland? Pomerania's, or Westphalia's land? Is it where sweep the Dunian waves? His fatherland's not bounded so! His fatherland's not bounded so! Which is the German's fatherland? His fatherland's not bounded so! Which is the German's fatherland? His fatherland's not bounded so! Which is the German's fatherland? There, brother, is thy fatherland? There is the German's fatherland, That is the land, There, brother, is thy fatherland! That is the German's fatherland, Where wrath pursues the foreign band,- All Germany's thy fatherland! THE RIGHT OF PROPERTY. [JEREMY BENTHAM, the eminent writer on ethics and jurisprudence, and founder of the utilitarian school of philosophy, was born in London, February 15, 1748, and died June 6, 1832. Among his works are: Defence of Usury (1787); Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789); Treatise on Civil and Penal Legislation (1802); and Rationale of Judicial Evidence, (1827). "The style of Mr. Bentham," says Hazlitt, "is unpopular, not to say unintelligible ... His works have been translated into French-they ought to be translated into English." Macaulay says that Ben |