And makes us rather bear those ills we have, 5. Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought; LESSON CLIII. Cato's* Soliloquy on the Immortality of the Soul.-TRAGEDY OF CATO. 1. It must be so-Plato,† thou reasonest well! Else, whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, This longing after immortality? Or, whence this secret dread, and inward horror, "Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter, 2. Eternity!-thou pleasing, dreadful thought! Through what variety of untried being, Through what new scenes and changes must we pass? Here will I hold. If there's a Power above us, Through all her works,) he must delight in virtuc; But when? Or where? This world was made for Cesar. Marcus Portius Cato, an eminent Roman, born 94 years B. C. He was a lover of Philosophy, and a brave general; a man of great integrity, and strong attachment to his country. He boldly opposed the conspiracy of Catiline, and the ambition of Julius Cesar. After the battle of Pharsalia, Cato fled to Utica, in Africa, and being pursued by Cesar, he advised his friends to flee, and his son to trust to Cesar's clemency. He then retired to his apartment, and read Plato on the IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL, twice over; and then stabbed himself with his sword, and died, aged 48-B. C 46 years. A Grecian Philosopher. 3. Thus I am doubly arm'd. My death* and life,† The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds. LESSON CLIV. Speech of Catiline before the Roman Senate, on hearing his sentence of banishment.-CROLY'S CATILINE. 1. "BANISHED from Rome!"-what's banished, but set free From daily contact of the things I loathe? "Tried and convicted traitor !"-Who says this? Who'll prove it, at his peril, on my head? "Banished?"-I thank you for't. It breaks my chain! I held some slack allegiance till this hour But now my sword's my own. Smile on, my lords; I have within my heart's hot cells shut up, 2. But here I stand and scoff you :-here I fling Hatred and full defiance in your face. Your Consul's|| merciful. For this all thanks. Or make the infant's sinew strong as steel. 3. This day's the birth of sorrows!-This hour's work Will breed proscriptions.-Look to your hearths, my lords, For there henceforth shall sit, for household gods, Shapes hot from Tartarus !—all shames and crimes;— The sword. + A book written by Plato. * A Roman Senator accused of a conspiracy against the government, and banished. #Marcus Tullius Cicero. Wan Treachery, with his thirsty dagger drawn. LESSON CLV. The Rich Man and the Poor Man.-KHEмnitzer. 1. So goes the world;-if wealthy, you may call This friend, that-brother; friends and brothers all Though you are worthless-witless-never mind it; You may nave been a stable boy-what then? 'Tis wealth, good Sir, makes honorable men. You seek respect, no doubt, and you will find it. 2. But if you are poor, heaven help you! though your sire Had royal blood within him, and though you Possess the intellect of angels too, 'Tis all in vain ;-the world will ne'er inquire On such a score:-Why should it take the pains? 'Tis easier to weigh purses, sure, than brains. 3. I once saw a poor fellow, keen and clever, Witty and wise :--he paid a man a visit, And no one noticed him, and no one ever Gave him a welcome. "Strange," cried I;" whence is it?" He walked on this side, then on that, He tried to introduce a social chat; Now here, now there, in vain he tried; Some formally and freezingly replied, And some Said by their silence-" Better stay at home." 4. A rich man burst the door, As Cræsus* rich, I'm sure He could not pride himself upon his wit; And as for wisdom, he had none of it; He had what's better;-he had wealth. What a confusion!-all stand up erect * Pronounced Cré-zus, a king of Lydia, in Asia Minor, 548 B. C., supposed the richest of mankind. These crowd around to ask him of his health ; "Allow me, Sir, the honor;"-Then a bow "This is indeed beyond my comprehension:" One friendly face he found, And said- Pray tell me why is wealth preferr'd Of gold or silver ore, But wisdom none can borrow, none can lend ?" LESSON CLVI. Address to the Ocean.-LORD BYRON. I. THERE is a pleasure in the pathless woods, What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal. 3. His steps are not upon thy paths,―thy fields Are not a spoil for him,-thou dost arise And shake him from thee; the vile strength he wields For earth's destruction thou dost all despise, Spurning him from thy bosom to the skies, And send'st him shivering, in thy playful spray, And howling to his gods, where haply lies His petty hope in some near port or bay, Then dashest him again to earth :-there let him lay. 4. The armaments which thunderstrike the walls Of rock-built cities, bidding nations quake, And monarchs tremble in their capitals, The oak leviathans, whose huge ribs make Their clay creator the vain title take Of ord of thee, and arbiter of war! These are thy toys, and as the snowy flake, They melt into thy yeast of waves, which mar Alike the Armada's* pride, or spoils of Trafalgar.† 5. Thy shores are empires, changed in all save thee- (Calm or convulsed, in breeze, or gale, or stʊrm, Of the Invisible; even from out thy slime * Ar-má-da, a fleet of armed ships. The term is usually applied to the Spanish fleet, called the INVINCIBLE ARMADA, Consisting of 130 ships, intended to act against England in 1588, in the reign of Elizabeth. + Cape Traf-al-gar, on the southwestern coast of Spain. Off this Cape, on the 21st of October, 1805, was obtained the celebrated victory of the British flec commanded by Lord Nelson, over the combined fleets of France and pain. Lord Nelson lost his life in the action, aged 47 years. |