EXTRACTS FROM THE ANTHOLOGY.

299

Now which is best?' The old man raised the staff which old men

bear,

And with it pointed to some boys that then were playing there, Whipping their tops along the street: 'Their steps,' he said, 'pur

sue,

And look and listen carefully; they'll tell you what to do.'

Following them, the stranger went to see what might befall, And 'Whip the top that's nearest you! was still their constant call.

He, by this boyish lesson taught, resigned the high-born dame, And wed the maiden 'nearest him.' Go thou and do the same."

ENVY.

"Poor Diophon of envy died,

His brother thief to see

Nailed near him, to be crucified,
Upon a higher tree."

THE FLEAS OUTWITTED.

"A countryman once who was troubled with fleas, Jumped up out of bed in a thundering breeze, And triumphantly cried, as he blew out the light,

'Now I have you, you rogues, you can't see where to bite!"

LUCIAN.

66

CURES FOR LOVE.

Hunger, perhaps, may cure your love,

Or time your passion greatly alter;

If both should unsuccessful prove,

I strongly recommend a halter."-CRATES.

"Too much is always bad; old proverbs call
E'en too much honey nothing else than gall."

"The winecup is glad: dear Zenophile's lip

It boasts to have touched, when she stooped down to sip.
Happy winecup! I wish that, with lips joined to mine,
All my soul at a draught she would drink up like wine."

"Short is the rose's bloom; another morn
Will show no rose, but in its stead, a thorn."

HELIODORA'S GARLAND.

"I'll frame, my Heliodora! a garland for thy hair,

Which thou, in all thy beauty's pride, mayst not disdain to wear;
For I, with tender myrtles, white violets will twine-
White violets, but not so pure as that pure breast of thine:
With laughing lilies I will twine narcissus; and the sweet
Crocus shall in its yellow hue with purple hyacinth meet:
And I will twine with all the rest, and all the rest above,
Queen of them all, the red, red Rose, the flower which lovers love."
MELEAGER.

GEMS OF GREEK THOUGHT.

HOMER.

"Mob rule is not good; let there be one monarch.-Victory changes oft her side. Pray, for all men require aid from on high.-Even the fool is wise after the event.-The man whom Jove loves, is a match for many. Wine leads to folly.-The force of union conquers all.— Too much rest itself becomes a pain.-Noblest minds are most easily bent. Few sons are equal to their sires.-To sorrow without ceasing is wrong."

HESIOD.

"Emulation is good for mortals.-The best treasure among men is a frugal tongue.-Idleness, not labor, is disgraceful."

PINDAR.

"Mirth is the best physician for man's toils.-The guilty souls of those who die here must pay the penalty in another life.-Point thy tongue on the anvil of truth."

ESCHYLUS.

"He hears but half that hears one party only.-To know and to conjecture differ widely. To be without evil thoughts is God's best gift."

SOPHOCLES.

"Clamorous sorrow wastes itself in sound.-Quick resolves are often unsafe. What good man is not his own friend?-In a just cause, the weak subdue the strong."

EURIPIDES.

"The Deity helps him who helps himself.-Gold has greater power over men than ten thousand arguments.--Temperance, the noblest

GEMS OF GREEK THOUGHT.

301

gift of Heaven!-To form devices, quick is woman's wit.—In darkness a runaway has mighty strength.-Death is a debt that all mortals must pay."

ARISTOPHANES.

"To fear death is a great folly.-Old men are boys twice over.-Poverty is a sister of beggary."

HERODOTUS.

"Rash haste ever goes before a fall.-Men are dependent on circumstances, not circumstances on men.-The god loves to cut down all towering things. The god suffers none but himself to be haughty. -The hand of a king is very long.-Self-restraint brings blessings, not seen at the moment perhaps, yet found out in due time."

XENOPHON.

"The sweetest of all sounds is praise.-It is impossible for a man attempting many things to do them all well."

PLATO.

"A boy is the most ferocious of animals.-Wisdom is the true and unalloyed coin. Much learning brings danger to youth. The race of fools is not to be counted.-Those are profane who think that nothing exists except what they can grasp with their hands.-Dogs are like their mistresses.-Let no one speak evil of another.—Selfconquest is the greatest of victories."

ARISTOTLE.

"One swallow does not make a spring.-We ought rather to pay a debt to a creditor than give to a companion.--Of this alone is even God deprived, the power of making that which is past never to have been. The beginning is said to be half the whole.-All flatterers are mercenary.--No one loves the man whom he fears."

DEMOSTHENES.

"Success tends to throw a veil over the evil deeds of men.-What we wish, that we readily believe. To find fault is easy."

MENANDER.

"A daughter is an embarrassing and ticklish possession.-He whom the gods love, dies young.-Evil communications corrupt good manners (quoted by St. Paul).-Whoever blushes seems to be good.— Nobody sees his own faults, but every one is lynx-eyed to those of his neighbor.-Love blinds all men.-Silence has many advantages.— He is well cleansed that hath his conscience clean.-There is noth

ing more daring than ignorance.-Truth, when not sought after, sometimes comes to light."

POLYBIUS.

"Nothing happens without a cause.-Royalty, aristocracy, and democracy, must combine to make a perfect government. Many know how to conquer; few are able to use their conquest aright."

PLUTARCH.

"Absolute monarchy is a fair field, but has no outlet.-What one does not need, is dear at a penny.-Often, while we are delighted with the work, we regard the workman with contempt.--Dead men do not bite."

MINOR WRITERS AND THEIR WORKS.

PART III.

ROMAN LITERATURE.

CHAPTER I.

LATIN AND ITS OLDEST MONUMENTS.

Italy Peopled. While watching the rise, meridian splendors. and glowing sunset of Grecian letters, we have left unnoticed the dawn of literary taste in Italy, the sister of Hellas, peopled, as we have seen, by kindred Phrygian tribes who spoke dialects of the Phrygo-Hellenic tongue (p. 133). Whether they were the first of human kind to wake the echoes of the Italian solitudes, must ever remain a matter of doubt. Some believe that the Alps had proved an insuperable barrier to previous emigrants from the East; others, that the adventurous Pelasgians, on descending their slopes, found a Turanian population already in possession of the peninsula. If the latter theory be correct, the Turanian aborigines were speedily overpowered by the new-comers and became incorporated with their conquerors.

When Rome was founded, 753 B.C., the predominant Italian races were distinguished as Latin and Umbrian (embracing the Oscans); their languages were closely related, and have been called Italic. The Etruscans, who lived west of the Tiber, though probably of Aryan origin, differed in many respects from the Umbrians and Latins.