same punishment she had made John the Baptist undergo. But none of the ancients mention this particular; and it is contrary to Josephus." (Calmet's Dictionary of the Bible," Art. Salome.)

ON FORTUNE ("Delitiæ Delitiarum," 205).
Translated by D.

Perfidious Chance! thus wilt thou tilt and jest
With th' affairs of men, and the gods' behest?
Proclus, with his coffers full, wants not gold;
Lausus, with twice three babes, has wants untold;
The one for offspring prays, the other pelf,
Yet neither has his wish, thou sightless elf!
Reverse their doom. Take from rich Proclus' store
For Lausus, and thus set him to the fore;

Th' uncar'd-for offspring from poor Lausus take,
In whose stead heirs to Proclus' riches make.

Very similar is the complaint against Fortune, which Shakespeare puts into the mouth of King Henry ("King Henry IV." 2nd Part, Act IV. sc. 4):

Will fortune never come with both hands full,
But write her fair words still in foulest letters?

She either gives a stomach, and no food,—
Such are the poor, in health; or else a feast,

And takes away the stomach,-such are the rich,
That have abundance, and enjoy it not.

MAPHEUS BARBERINUS.

Born at Florence in 1568. In 1606 he was made a cardinal by Pope Paul V., and in 1623 became Pope, under the title of Urban VIII. He died in 1644.

ON THE STATUE OF NIOBE ("Delitiæ Delitiarum," 73).

Translated by D.

'Tis Niobe! by vengeance harsh bereft

Of a much-lov'd husband, while none are left
Of twice sev'n stalwart sons and daughters fair,
Whom, now tho' stone I be, I once did bear.

But, behold! I breathe, for the sculptor's art
To living marble gave a beating heart,
And foil'd the fates who sped the cruel dart:
No faculty I miss, I hear, I see,

And e'en the pow'r to speak's restor❜d to me;
But fear my utt'rance stays, lest once again
Latona's wrath be rous'd for language vain.

On no work of ancient art, with the exception of Myron's cow, have more epigrams been written than on this celebrated statue of Niobe by Praxiteles. The Greeks were warm in its praise, the Latins imitated them, and, so attractive is the subject, that the moderns have pursued the theme. A fine epigram by Meleager, written on the pedestal of the statue, will be found under that author.

ON A STATUE OF DIANA SLEEPING BY A FOUNTAIN ("Delitiæ Delitiarum," 73).

Translated by D.

Hark! she's not marble. With gentle heaving
She draws in the lightsome air,

And the breath plays, the parted lips cleaving,
Sweet chords round her bosom fair.

Nay, 'tis not the murmuring sleeper's breath,
But a kindred sound you hear;

"Tis what the prattling water sweetly saith,
Which charms and deceives the ear.

The epigrams of Barberinus seem to be generally either translations from the Greek, or founded upon some elegant thought in the Anthology. This, like the previous epigram on Niobe, is thoroughly Greek in tone, and is taken from some of those many epigrams in which the Greeks, who delighted to portray their deities in the most fascinating form, connected their favourite haunts with their religious sensibilities.

PAULUS THOMAS.

This was probably Paul Thomas, Sieur de Maisonnette (father of the better known Sieur de Girac), who was born at Jarnac, and resided at Angoulême. His poems were praised by Balzac and Nicolas Borbonius. He lived in the latter part of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries.

ON CELSUS ("Delitia Delitiarum," 49).

Translated by D.

With self-love Celsus burns: is he not blest? -
For thus without a rival he may rest.

This is perhaps the original of a well-known modern epigram:
To Damon's self his love's confin'd;

No harm therein I see;

This happiness attends his choice;
Unrivall'd he will be.

An epigram on self-love, perhaps the best ever written, will be found under Buchanan,-“ Corinna."

JOHANNES MEURSIUS.

Born at Losdun, near the Hague, in 1579. He travelled through a great part of Europe, as tutor to the children of John Barneveldt, the Dutch statesman, and on his return was appointed professor of history and of Greek at Leyden, and soon afterwards historiographer to the States of Holland. After the execution of Barneveldt, in 1619, he was persecuted on account of his connection with him, and retired to Denmark, where he was offered the professorship of history and politics in the University of Sora. He died in 1639.

THE POOR NOT INFERIOR TO THE RICH
("Delitiæ Delitiarum," 232).

Translated by D.

Rich, dost thou the virtuous poor despise,
And think'st thyself supreme?

Fool! in worth not wealth all the merit lies,

'Tis deeds that gain esteem:

Would'st thou be honour'd 'mongst thy fellow-men?

Be just, as one who dwells in Virtue's ken.

Pope might have taken this epigram as the groundwork of several passages in his "Essay on Man," Epistle IV. For instance:

What nothing earthly gives or can destroy,

The soul's calm sunshine and the heartfelt joy,
Is virtue's prize.

To whom can riches give repute or trust,
Content or pleasure, but the good and just?
Judges and senates have been bought for gold;
Esteem and love were never to be sold.

O fool! to think God hates the worthy mind,

The lover and the love of human kind,

Whose life is healthful, and whose conscience clear,
Because he wants a thousand pounds a year!

Honour and shame from no condition rise;

Act well your part, there all the honour lies.

Goldsmith's description of the country parson in the "Deserted Village," illustrates the truth, that not wealth but worth gains honour, for:

A man he was to all the country dear,

And passing rich with forty pounds a year.

There is a rather striking distich "On Westminster Abbey," in "Epigrams in Distich," 1740:

Kings, statesmen, scholars, soldiers, here are dust!
Vain mau, be humble; to be great, be just.

BLUSHING, THE SIGN OF MODESTY.
("Delitiæ Delitiarum," 233).

Translated by C.

"Tis well to see the cheeks with blushes drest:
For blushing is of modesty the test.

A very different view is found in a song by Moth, in "Love's Labour's Lost" (Act I. sc. 2):

If she be made of white and red,

Her faults will ne'er be known;

For blushing cheeks by faults are bred,
And fears by pale-white shown:

Then, if she fear, or be to blame,

By this you shall not know;

For still her cheeks possess the same,

Which native she doth owe.

Moth adds, "A dangerous rhyme, master, against the reason of

white and red."

THE POWER OF KINGS ("Delitiæ Delitiarum," 234).
Translated by D.

Vain man, wilt thou the monarch's anger dare
To fear him learn, to yield, and to beware?
He's Jove on earth, his thunder echoes wake,
And what he cannot bend, his pow'r can break.

A Greek epigram on the statue of Alexander the Great, executed by Lysippus, shows the monarch arrogating to himself the power of Jove on earth. The author is Archelaus, whose date is unknown. The translation is by Samuel Wesley, usher of Westminster School (Jacobs II. 57, i.):

Lysippus' art can brass with life inspire,
Show Alexander's features and his fire;
The statue seems to say, with up-cast eye,-
"Beneath my rule the globe of earth shall lie;
Be thou, O Jove, contented with thy sky.”

}

Shakespeare shows the danger which would arise, if great men were allowed to use Jove's thunder ("Measure for Measure," Act II. sc. 2). Isabella speaks:

O, it is excellent

To have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous

To use it like a giant.

Could great men thunder

As Jove himself does, Jove would ne'er be quiet,
For every pelting, petty officer,

Would use his heaven for thunder.

Beaumont and Fletcher, in their play of "Philaster," show a king claiming extraordinary powers, and acknowledging his weakness (Act IV.). The king speaks:

'Tis the king

Will have it so; whose breath can still the winds,
Uncloud the sun, charm down the swelling sea,
And stop the floods of Heav'n. Speak, can it not?

Alas! what are we kings?

Why do you, gods, place us above the rest,

To be serv'd, flatter'd, and ador'd, till we

*

Believe we hold within our hands your thunder?
And, when we come to try the pow'r we have,
There's not a leaf shakes at our threat'nings.