to err on that side. Dates sometimes injure the harmony of periods, but, nevertheless, are indispensable in philosophical history. They are sad incumbrances to impassioned writers, but are never neglected by honest ones. If history were considered only as an amusing tale, dates would, indeed, be useless; but if it be written for the purpose of enlarging the mind and instructing us in the survey of nations, as well as of individuals, dates must be crowded into the page, notwithstanding they march awkwardly on with sentiment, and are annoying to ornament. A bald chronicle is tedious enough in all conscience, but a history without time or place is no better than a fable; in fact, it is a fable.

The works of Xenophon are more familiarly read in the original, and in translations, than those of any of his predecessors; perhaps, for the reason that he had more fame as a warrior than most scholars. His retreat with the ten thousand Greeks, has been considered by military chieftains, of all times since, as a most masterly feat of generalship. This story is told in such a simple, elegant manner, that youth and age, learned and unlearned, are delighted to read it. The perseverance and fortitude of this Grecian band have attracted and roused our infant wonder, before we had ever thumbed a grammar, or conjugated a verb. But in this, the youthful hero was only emulating the feeling of Alexander the Great, who was fired by the subject, and who was determined to march into Persia, by learning how Xenophon marched out. If the elder was not the greater, he was the most prudent man. The son of Philip was a wonder of the world. Full of the knowledge of the age, he was a patron of philosophy, and a protector of wise men. His instructer, the

stagarite, was the most acute of all the philosophers of antiquity, and it is difficult to say whether the writings of the sage, or the sword of the warrior, has had the greatest effect on mankind. If it were left to the schoolmen they would decide for Aristotle, against Alexander; but had the question been submitted to Napoleon, he would have held a different opinion.

The track of Alexander from Macedon to the Granicus, from thence to India, and the triumphal entry into Babylon, was one unquenchable blaze of glory, which has illumined the world unto the present time, and has now become a familiar household flame, as full of reflection as attraction, and offers as much for the moralist as for the historian. Individuals perish-generations pass away-empires sink to dust-but the grave digger, Time, has no influence over the immortal part of man; that is indestructible. The bounds of earth are narrow, extended as they may seem; but the hopes of man are boundless, obscure as they are. Every page of history is full of wisdom, but no one more so than the history of Alexander the Great. I am happy to see that it is in the volumes composing what is called the Family Library.

There is a fastidiousness among many of our modernscholars about reading ancient history, and particularly the history of such warriors as Alexander. An orator of some note, within a short time past, has decried the histories of heroes as tending to make our youth of too martial a spirit. I can only say, that I differ entirely from him in his conclusions. The fate of the greatest heroes is calculated to damp the ardor of a martial passion. Every one, as he reads, reflects how short is the course of the successful conqueror, and in

how restless and unhappy a manner even the few years he lives, pass away. The great Roman satirist had a most thorough view of human nature, and he puts the life of Alexander in its true light in a few lines.

There can be no danger in opening all the fountains of human knowledge to the human mind, as early as it can comprehend what it reads, if under proper guidance. The mind should be exposed as the Spartans exposed their infants, provided they are watched with parental care. The world is full of moral evil, as well as natural, and flying from exposure is not the way to avoid either. Care and attention, anxious attention, are necessary. It is the duty of one generation to educate another. The youth should see all, grasp at the good, eschew the evil, and overcome the tempting. The union of moral delicacy with moral hardihood, is a desideratum in education. A good sound moral, intellectual, and religious education is the great life preserver in the storms and tempests of our existence; and will, by the power of the Father of all things, conduct us to the haven of everlasting happiness.

CHAPTER VIII.

We shall now take a survey of the Roman empire, one which has been of more importance to the world than any to be found in the annals of history. Its early history is involved in fable and abounds in legends. The time of the foundation of the city has not been precisely fixed; but some of the most accurate writers of the

present day, fix it in the year 3251, that is, 753 years before Christ.

In the reign of the kings for 244 years, the city grew in size and strength. The good Numa had tried hard to change the habits of the people, which had been pretty deeply rooted in the days of his predecessors; in this he succeeded in part, for during his long reign there was peace, but his successors were ambitious, and Rome was growing up by the spoils of conquered nations. On the expulsion of Tarquin, a consular government was formed. This revolution grew out of an outrage committed on the rights of a citizen; it was also, a violation of the rights of nature; and ended by the expulsion of the proud and savage race of kings. The quiet of Rome was secured by the stern virtues of Lucius Junius Brutus, who taught the citizens that they must obey the laws by a high resolve of justiceby adjudging to execution his son who had committed an offence against them. To this act of the godlike Brutus, I shall leave it for moralists to give the proper epithet: I will not do it. But, however high or low the deed may rank in morals, it was a masterly stroke of political wisdom, and the blood of millions was saved by it; for by it consular power was established, and a dread of insulting the majesty of the laws was impressed in the minds of the Roman people, which was never forgotten in the long continuance of consular power.

The consuls were, according to their laws, patricians by birth, elected every year. Abuses soon crept into consular authority, which was quite equal, while it lasted, to kingly power. In 494, before Christ, the plebeians revolted from the tyranny of the consuls and

the arbitrary conduct of the senate, and confusion reigned for a time; but at length, matters were settled by creating a dictator. He was elected only for six months. The dictator armed the victors with axes, and made many alterations in the customs as well as the laws. At this time, new officers, called tribunes, were created. They were elected by the people, and their persons were sacred. Their duty was to defend the oppressed; to arraign the enemies of the people; to pardon offences; and, at their fiat, to stop all proceedings in every branch of the government,―to put, as it were, their hands upon the heart pulses of the empire, and stop the blood from flowing. This was a dangerous power, for their hatred to the patricians often made them use it most outrageously. The tribunes demanded two other officers, called ediles, who had the care of the public buildings. The buildings were mostly temples of the gods, and their superintendence was nearly connected with religion and morals.

The aristocracy were proud and overbearing, and the lower orders ignorant and vindictive. It was only the intermediate classes that made Rome great, or saved her from destruction, and these found it difficult to restrain the senate, or pacify the rabble. These tribunes were often great men, but could not always do what they would have wished to have done. We must not take Shakspeare's representation for the true one. He, probably, had some design in making them vulgar men: they were not so. In 491, before Christ, the tribunes and the people banished Coriolanus, who deserved his fate for his superciliousness.

In these times of confusion, a patrician, Spurius Cassius Viscillinus, aimed at supreme command. He was