SECTION II. BIOGRAPHY AND ANECDOTE. LIFE OF SOLON, THE GRECIAN SAGE. Leg'is-la-tor, n. (L. lex, latum), one Dis-tract', v. (L. dis, tractum), to De-moc'ra-cy, n. (Gr. dēmos, kratia), that form of government in which the superior power is lodged in the hands of the people collectively. Ol'i-gar-chy, n. (Gr. oligos, archē), that form of government in which the supreme authority is placed in the hands of a few persons; a species of aristocracy. Scheme, n. (Gr. schēma), design; system; plan. Vis'ion-ar-y, adj. (L. visum), fanciful; imaginary; having no real foundation. Ty'rant, n. (Gr. tyrannos), origin ally, an absolute ruler; usually, a cruel, severe master. Sage, n. (L. sagus), a wise man. Os-ten-ta'tion, n. (L. ostendo, see, ob, tendo), show; ambitious display. E-lated, p.p. (L. e, latum), elevated; flushed with success; puffed up. Max'im, (L. maximum), a very great truth; a leading principle; an axiom. SOLON, the great legislator of the Athenians, and perhaps the greatest of the ancient world, was the son of Execestides, a descendant of the royal house of Codrus. He was born about 638 B.C., in the island of Salamis. In youth Solon engaged in foreign commerce to repair the decayed fortune of his family; and while travelling as a merchant into other countries, he sought for knowledge more eagerly than for wealth, and found both in abundance. At this time the Athenians were driven by the Megaræans from the island of Salamis, and suffered so much in their vain efforts to reconquer it, that they forbade by decree its name to be mentioned under pain of death. Solon, indignant at the loss and disgrace to which the Athenians had been subjected, rushed into the Agora or market-place, disguised as a madman, and recited a poem which he had composed, urging his countrymen to make another effort to retrieve their fame. The effect of these spirited verses was such, that the shameful decree was rescinded, and an armament sent out under command of Solon, which proved completely successful. Returning victorious from Salamis, Solon was soon called on to undertake a far harder task. Attica was distracted by internal feuds instead of government, sects reigned. The inhabitants of the hill-country demanded a democracy; those of the lowlands, an oligarchy; while those on the coast preferred a mixed form of government. The eyes of all were turned to Solon as the fittest person to assume the regulation of the state, and he was accordingly chosen Archon or chief magistrate, B.C. 594, with powers to make a new division of the land, and to settle the whole affairs of the commonwealth on an entirely new foundation. Solon, in accepting this office, with unusual wisdom professed, that it was his design to give the Athenians, not the best possible laws, but the best they were capable of receiving; thus accommodating his measures to existing circumstances, and not to some fanciful scheme of visionary perfection. The excellence of his laws was proved by their permanence under all the revolutions of government that took place at Athens, and by their being adopted by other states. The Roman laws of the twelve tables were founded on them, and these again became the basis of the civil law as it is now established in Europe. Having completed his task, Solon left Athens for ten years, hoping that the people would have become accustomed to the new order of things by that time. But alas! the instability of human affairs! On his return, he found that Pisistratus, his cousin, had usurped the government, without, however, making any decisive change in the constitution. Failing in his endeavours to prevail on the tyrant to resign his illegal power, the venerable sage went into voluntary exile, that he might not witness evils he could not prevent. He died soon after his second departure, but the date and place are uncertain. ANECDOTE- -SOLON AND CROESUS. At the invitation of Croesus, Solon is said to have visited Sardis. When he arrived, he was like a person from an inland 66 country going to see the ocean, who mistakes great rivers for the sea; for as he passed through the court, and saw the nobles richly dressed, and attended by crowds of guards, he mistook each of them for Croesus. When, at last, he approached the royal presence, the king was arrayed in the most dazzling splendour, glittering with gold and jewels. Solon, so far from being surprised, showed that he looked on all this pride and ostentation with contempt. When Croesus had shown him his treasures, and his gorgeous chambers and furniture, he asked him, "Have you ever seen a happier man?" "Yes," said Solon, one Tellus, a plain but worthy citizen of Athens, who left excellent children behind him; and who, having lived above the want of necessary things all his days, died honourably fighting for his country." Then Croesus asked him, "Have you known any other man happier than I am?" "Yes; Cleobis and Biton, famous for their brotherly love to each other, and for their dutiful conduct towards their mother; they drew their mother in a chariot to the temple of Juno, amid the blessings of the people. After the sacrifice, they died, in the night, without pain or sorrow." Croesus, highly displeased, said, "Then do you not number me in the rank of happy men ?” Solon's last words to him were these: "King of Lydia, as God has given the Greeks a moderate share of other things, he has favoured them with a wise and liberal spirit, which cares little for the grandeur of royalty. We are not elated by any good fortune which is liable to change. He whom Heaven blesses with success at last is esteemed by us as the happy man. But while a man lives, with the dangers of life before him, he appears to us like a champion, whose combat is not over, and to whom the crown is still uncertain." Esop was then at the court of Croesus, and much caressed. He said to Solon, "A man should either not converse with kings, or say that which is agreeable to them." "Nay;" rejoined Solon, "he should say what is useful to them." Croesus was afterwards defeated by Cyrus, who took him prisoner, and captured his city. He was laid on a pile, to be burned to death. In the presence of Cyrus and the Persian conquerors, he called out loudly, "Solon! Solon! Solon!" Cyrus asked him, "What god or man do you thus call upon in your calamity? "He is one of the wise men of Greece," Croesus answered, "for whom I sent, that he might see my glory and spread my fame, that fame and glory which were only outward, and resting on opinion, but the loss of which now plunges me into real sufferings. That great man foresaw this. He advised me to look to the end of life, and not to rely for happiness upon uncertainties." Cyrus, who was a wiser man than Croesus, seeing Solon's maxim confirmed by this example, set Croesus at liberty, and befriended him as long as he lived. Thus it was Solon's glory to save one king, and to teach another. 1. Who was Solon, and when and where was he born? 2. What decree had the Athenians made regarding Salamis? 3. How did Solon act when he knew of this dastardly law? 4. What success attended the expedition? 5. To what most difficult duty was Solon called soon after his return? 6. What facts prove the excellence of Solon's laws? 7. Having completed his task, what did the great legislator do? 8. In what condition did Solon find matters when he returned? 9. Relate the anecdote of Solon and Croesus. TITUS, THE ROMAN EMPEROR. "Readings in Biography." Clem ́en-cy, n. (L. clemens), mercy; leniency. Con-spire', v. (L. con, spiro), to Sub-ver'sion, n. (L. sub, versum), | Fra-ter'nal, adj. (L. frater), brooverthrow; destruction; ruin. therly. De-spot'ic, adj. (Gr. despotēs), absolute; arbitrary; tyrannical. Profli-gate, adj. (L. profligatus, see, fligo), of ruinous or destructive morals; abandoned; shameless. Li-cen'tious, adj. (L. licet), unre breathe together; to agree in any wicked design; to plot. E-ruption, n. (e, ruptum, see, rumpo), a sudden bursting out from confinement. strained by law or decency; un-Phe-nom'e-non, n. (Gr. phainomai), ruly. Rhet'o-ric, n. (Gr. rheo), the art of speaking with propriety, elegance or force; oratory. Lieu-tenʼant-lev-ten'ant, n. (Fr. lieu, tenant), the officer who holds or supplies the place of a superior in his absence. any appearance in nature; particularly any extraordinary appearance. Am-phi-the'a-tre, n. (Gr. amphi, theatron), a building for public exhibitions, of a circular or oval form, with seats gradually rising all round. THE subversion of the republic by Julius Cæsar was fatal to the freedom of Rome; the civil wars destroyed all the materials of a free constitution, and the state fell under the despotic power of the emperors. The mild rule of Augustus Cæsar reconciled the people to the change, but under the dreadful tyranny of his successors, the people bitterly lamented the loss of their liberty. They bore successively the iron rule of the gloomy Tiberius and his infamous minister Sejanus; of the petulant Caligula, who made murders and tortures his favourite amusement; of the imbecile Claudius and his profligate spouse Messalina; of Nero, a monster of iniquity; and they suffered severely during the troubled reigns of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, while a licentious soldiery bestowed the imperial crown at their pleasure. The accession of Vespasian gave a temporary respite to these calamities, and promised a new era of tranquillity and happiness, from the hopes inspired by the virtues of his son Titus. The youth of Titus was spent at the imperial court in the company of young Britannicus, a prince poisoned by order of Nero. Titus is said to have shared in the banquet, when the fatal dose was administered to his friend, and to have narrowly escaped the same destruction. Vespasian bestowed all possible care on the education of his son, and procured for him the best preceptors that Rome could supply. The young student devoted himself assiduously to the cultivation of poetry and rhetoric; we are told that some of his poems possessed great merit, but they have all perished, and we can place little confidence in the literary productions of an emperor. The fame of his eloquence rests on a less dubious basis, for his orations were heard with applause while he yet occupied a private station. Like most of the young Roman nobility, he early entered into military service, and made several campaigns both in Germany and Britain with great honour. On his return to Rome he devoted his attention to the law, and was employed in several important causes. But the high military fame of his father led his ambition away from the quiet of civil life, and he quitted the bar for the army. Having held the office of quæstor, or military treasurer, to the universal satisfaction both of the soldiers and the officers, he was advanced to the command of a legion, and allowed to accompany his father to the Jewish war in the capacity of lieutenant. Before the war was concluded, Vespasian was raised to the empire, and the task of subjugating the rebellious Jews devolved upon Titus. The capture of Jerusalem, A.D. 70, was effected after the devoted city had been the scene of horrors to which history furnishes no parallel. It was levelled to the ground, not one stone of its magnificent Temple was left standing upon another, and the awful punishment which Christ had predicted to the |