purpose. You may, then, boldly declare that the highest good is singleness of mind: for where agreement and unity are, there must the virtues be: it is the vices that are at war one with another. . . . It is the act of a generous spirit to proportion its efforts not to its own strength but to that of human nature, to entertain lofty aims, and to conceive plans which are too vast to be carried into execution even by those who are endowed with gigantic intellects, who appoint for themselves the following rules: "I will look upon death or upon a comedy with the same expression of countenance: I will submit to labours, however great they may be, supporting the strength of my body by that of my mind: I will despise riches when I have them as much as when I have them not; if they be elsewhere I will not be more gloomy, if they sparkle around me I will not be more lively than I should otherwise be whether Fortune comes or goes I will take no notice of her; I will view all lands as though they belong to me, and my own as though they belonged to all mankind: I will so live as to remember that I was born for others, and will thank Nature on this account for in what fashion could she have done better for me? she has given me alone to all, and all to me alone. Whatever I may possess, I will neither hoard it greedily nor squander it recklessly. I will think that I have no possessions so real as those which I have given away to deserving people: I will not reckon benefits by their magnitude or number, or by anything except the value set upon them by the receiver: I never will consider a gift to be a large one if it be bestowed upon a worthy object. I will do nothing because of public opinion, but everything because of conscience: whenever I do anything alone by myself I will believe that the eyes of the Roman people are upon me while I do it. In eating

and drinking my object shall be to quench the desires of Nature, not to fill and empty my belly. I will be agreeable with my friends, gentle and mild to my foes: I will grant pardon before I am asked for it, and will meet the wishes of honourable men half way I will bear in mind that the world is my native city, that its governors are the gods, and that they stand above and around me, criticising whatever I do or say. Whenever either Nature demands my breath again, or reason bids me dismiss it, I will quit this life, calling all to witness that I have loved a good conscience, and good pursuits: that no one's freedom, my own least of all, has been impaired through me." He who sets up these as the rules of his life will soar aloft and strive to make his way to the gods.

MARTIAL

(First century.)

LITTLE is known concerning Martial, the Latin poet, whose epigrammatic summary of the essentials of happiness in life has been translated and imitated by many modern poets. He was born in Spain, in the year 43 A. D., and he died in 104.

THE HAPPY LIFE.

(From Martial's "Epigrams," lib. x., ep. xlv.)

Vitam quæ faciunt beatiorem,
Jucundissime Martialis, hæc sunt:
Res non parta, labore, sed relicta;
Non ingratus ager, focus perennis,
Lis nunquam; toga rara; mens quieta;
Vires ingenuæ ; salubre corpus ;
Prudens simplicitas; pares amici;
Convictis facilis; sine arte mensa;
Nox non ebria, sed soluta curis ;
Non tristis torus, et tamen pudicus;
Somnus, qui faciat breves tenebras ;
Quod sis, esse velis, nihilque malis:
Summum nec metuas diem, nec optes.

(Translation by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey.)
Martial, the things that do attain
The happy life be these, I find —
The riches left, not got with pain;
The fruitful ground, the quiet mind,

The equal friend; no grudge, no strife;
No charge of rule, nor governance;
Without disease, the healthful life;
The household of continuance;

The mean diet, no delicate fare;
True wisdom joined with simpleness;
The night discharged of all care,
Where wine the wit may not oppress;

The faithful wife, without debate ;
Such sleeps as may beguile the night;
Contented with thine own estate,

Ne wish for Death, ne fear his might.

(Translation by Sir Richard Fanshawe.) The things that make a life to please (Sweetest Martial), they are these: Estate inherited, not got:

A thankful field, hearth always hot:
City seldom, law-suits never:
Equal friends agreeing ever:
Health of body, peace of mind:

Sleeps that till the morning bind :
Wise simplicity, plain fare:

Not drunken nights, yet loos'd from care:

A sober, not a sullen spouse:

Clean strength, not such as his that plows;

Wish only what thou art, to be;

Death neither wish, nor fear to see.

(Translation by Abraham Cowley.)

Since, dearest friend, 't is your desire to see A true receipt of happiness from me;

These are the chief ingredients, if not all:
Take an estate neither too great nor small,
Which quantum sufficit the doctors call.
Let this estate from parents' care descend;
The getting it too much of life does spend.
Take such a ground, whose gratitude may be
A fair encouragement for industry.
Let constant fires the winter's fury tame;
And let thy kitchen's be a vestal flame.
Thee to the town let never suit at law,
And rarely, very rarely, business draw.
Thy active mind in equal temper keep,
In undisturbed peace, yet not in sleep.
Let exercise a vigorous health maintain,
Without which all the composition 's vain.
In the same weight prudence and innocence take,
And of each does the just mixture make.
But a few friendships wear, and let them be
By nature and by fortune fit for thee.
Instead of art and luxury in food,

Let mirth and freedom make thy table good.
If any cares into thy day-time creep,
At night, without wine's opium, let them sleep.
Let rest, which nature does to darkness wed,
And not lust, recommend to thee thy bed.
Be satisfied, and pleas'd with what thou art,

Act cheerfully and well th' allotted part;

Enjoy the present hour, be thankful for the past,

And neither fear, nor wish, th' approaches of the last.

(Free translation or imitation by Alexander Pope.) Happy the man whose wish and care

A few paternal acres bound, Content to breath his native air,

In his own ground.