shown his learned guest the magnificence of his palace, and the vast riches accumulated from his extensive dominions, desired him to name the happiest person he had known. Solon, with a perversity which savoured of affectation, gave the palm of happiness to Tellus, an Athenian, remarkable for his poverty, for his good training of his children, and for the loss of his life while. fighting for his country. On being further pressed by the monarch, he next named Cleobis and Biton, the two sons of the priestess of Juno at Argos, who, harnessing themselves to their mother's chariot, drew her to the temple, and who, on her asking some reward for them from Juno for their piety, were both found dead next morning within the temple. Æsop, perceiving that the bluntness of the philosopher was displeasing to his master, said, "For my part, I am persuaded that Croesus hath as much the preeminence in happiness over all other men as the sea hath over all rivers." Croesus was so pleased at this answer, that he exclaimed, in a sentence which has since become a proverb : μᾶλλον ὁ φρυξ" The Phrygian has hit the mark, and spoken better than all." Subsequently, in conversation with Solon, Æsop endeavoured to persuade him that he would gain more attention from sovereigns to his counsels, if he would impart them in a more conciliatory and respectful spirit.

Æsop, though an accomplished courtier, and accustomed to "crook the pregnant hinges of his knees" before an eastern ruler, was no mere flatterer. Concentrating in himself the humour of the wit and the wisdom of the philosopher, he was probably at once "a fellow of infinite

jest and most excellent fancy," and "full of wise saws and modern instances;" and he conveyed to his master, under the veil of his admirable fables, more solemn counsels, well-considered advice, and valuable truths, than he would derive from the wordy disputations of sages and sophists. He was, indeed, so much esteemed by Croesus, that he employed him in his communications with the respective States of Greece on several important occasions demanding the exercise of tact, judgment, and the arts of diplomacy. On one of these occasions he was present at Athens, and conciliated the affections of the citizens towards their ruler Peisistratus by the narration of his fable of "The Frogs desiring a King." On another occasion, when at Corinth, he warned the inhabitants of that city against being led away by the temporary impulses of the multitude, in a fable illustrative of the dangers of mob-law. He met his death in the discharge of one of these important political missions. Sent by Croesus to the city of Delphi on a solemn embassy, he was intrusted with the duty of offering costly gifts at the shrine of Apollo, and of distributing to each citizen a present of four minæ of silver. In the course of the negotiations, differences of opinion, leading to bitter mutual exasperations, arose between himself and the citizens. These proceeded to such an extent, that he refused to distribute the funds committed to his care, and sent them back to Croesus. The citizens of Delphi determined to revenge this affront. In order to find a matter of accusation against Æsop, they secreted a valuable gold cup, belonging to the temple, * The mina of silver was 12 ounces, or about 31. sterling.

among the baggage of his attendants, and compelled him to return to the city to defend himself on a charge of sacrilege. In vain did Æsop entreat their patience, and resort to his most moving fables* to soften their displeasure. Too angry to listen to reason, they condemned him to die, and executed their cruel sentence by casting him headlong from a rocky precipice adjoining their city.

The death of Esop did not pass unrevenged. The inhabitants of Delphi were involved in a series of calamities, from which they were not delivered until they had paid a fine (voluntarily imposed on themselves as an acknowledgment of their deed of guilt) to the grandson of Jadmon, the former master of Esop. So notorious, indeed, was the reparation thus made by the citizens of Delphi, that it gave rise to a proverb-" Æsop's blood," which was henceforth used in confirmation of the truth that the crime of murder will not go unpunished.

The Athenians, two hundred years later, showed their admiration of Æsop by dedicating a statue to his honour in their public place of meeting, executed by Lysippus,

* Æsop related on this occasion the fable of the Beetle and the Eagle. As it is not contained in this selection, the Editor transcribes it. "The Eagle and the Beetle were at enmity together. The Eagle having seized and eaten up the young ones of the Beetle, and so given the first provocation, the Beetle got by stealth at the Eagle's eggs and rolled them out of the nest. The Eagle made his comp aint to Jupiter, who ordered him to place his nest in his lap. The Beetle, on discovering this, came buzzing about him, till Jupiter, rising up unawares to drive him away from his head, threw down the eggs and broke them." The moral of the fable is plain enough. Esop sought to impress upon the citizens of Delphi. that their cruel conduct towards him would not pass unavenged.

one of the most famous of their sculptors. These scanty records* supply all the information that can be relied on relative to the history of one who has for many successive generations tended to promote, by his admirable fables, the happiness, amelioration, and instruction of mankind.

* Several curious sayings are attributed to Æsop, among which is the remark: "That when Prometheus made man, he tempered the earth from which he was created, not with water, but with tears."

ONE hot, sultry day, a Wolf and a Lamb happened to come, just at the same time, to quench their thirst in the stream of a clear silver brook that ran tumbling down the side of a rocky mountain. The Wolf stood upon the higher ground, and the Lamb at some distance from him down the current. However, the Wolf, having a mind to pick a quarrel with him, asked him what he meant by disturbing the water, and making it so muddy that he could not drink, and, at the same time, demanded satisfaction. The Lamb, frightened at this threatening charge, told him, in a tone as mild as possible, that, with humble submission, he could not conceive how that could be,

B