Stories of the Olden Time
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Title: Stories of the Olden Time
Editor: James Johonnot
Release date: October 16, 2010 [eBook #34083]
Most recently updated: January 7, 2021
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES OF THE OLDEN TIME ***
Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
[illustration]
_HISTORICAL SERIES--BOOK IV PART I_
STORIES
OF THE OLDEN TIME
COMPILED AND ARRANGED
BY JAMES JOHONNOT
[Illustration]
NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1889,
BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
E. P. 12
PREFACE.
When we go back to the early history of any people, we find that fact
and fiction are strangely blended, and that the stories told are
largely made up of traditions distorted and exaggerated by imagination
and time. The myth, however, is valuable as representing the first
steps of a nation in the evolution of its literature from a barbaric
state, and as indicating special national characteristics.
The myths of Greece, for example, are chiefly derived from the
traditions extant when the alphabet was invented, and are preserved in
the poetic stories of Homer and Virgil. Combined, they make that
mythology which grew up in Greece, and which now so largely permeates
the literature of every civilized language.
The first stories given in this book are myths. They stand first in
the order of precedence because they stand first in the order of time.
The myths are followed by a few parables and fables, forms of stories
which from the earliest times have been used to apply some
well-established principle of morals to practical conduct.
Next follow legends, where we are called upon to separate the probable
from the improbable, the true from the false. Herodotus, the father of
history, wrote his account of the "Persian Empire" several hundred
years after the events took place which he has recorded. The stories
had been preserved to his day by tradition.
In the traditional stories and in the truer records which follow, the
pupil will see the play of the same emotions and passions which
actuate men at the present time, and the careers of the great
conquerors, Frederic and Napoleon, differ little essentially from
those of Alexander and Cæsar. Tyranny remains the same forever,
encroaching upon human liberty and limiting the field of human
conduct. It will be seen also that from the state of barbarism there
has been a gradual evolution which more and more places men under the
protection of equal laws.
These books are to be used mainly for the stories they contain. By a
simple reproduction in speech or in writing, we have the best possible
language lesson. The value of the books may be entirely lost by
catechisms which demand the literal reproduction of the text.
CONTENTS.
MYTHS.
PAGE
I. Arion 7
II. Arachne 12
III. Polyphemus 15
IV. Ulysses's Return 17
V. Thor's Visit to Jotunheim 20
PARABLES AND FABLES.
VI. The Wolf and the Dog 24
VII. Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard 26
VIII. Parable of the Sower and the Seed 28
IX. Pairing-Time anticipated 30
LEGENDS.
X. The Gift of Tritemius 33
XI. Damon and Pythias 36
XII. King Canute 40
XIII. A Norseman's Sword 43
IV. The Story of King Alfred and St. Cuthbert 46
XV. A Roland for an Oliver 49
XVI. The Legend of Macbeth 52
OLD BALLADS.
XVII. Chevy-Chase 59
XVIII. Valentine and Ursine 65
EARLY EASTERN RECORD.
XIX. Sennacherib 71
XX. Glaucon 75
XXI. Cyrus and his Grandfather 80
XXII. Cyrus and the Armenians 83
XXIII. The Macedonian Empire 90
XXIV. Alexander's Conquests 98
XXV. Judas Maccabæus, the Hebrew William Tell 106
ROMAN RECORD.
XXVI. Tarquin the Wicked 117
XXVII. The Roman Republic 127
XXVIII. Cincinnatus 137
XXIX. The Roman Father 141
XXX. Archimedes 150
XXXI. The Death of Cæsar 154
XXXII. How Romans lived 161
MEDIÆVAL RECORD.
XXXIII. Conversion of the English 169
XXXIV. Leo the Slave 173
XXXV. The Moors in Spain 179
XXXVI. Charlemagne 183
WESTERN RECORD.
XXXVII. The Norsemen 191
XXXVIII. Rolf the Ganger 200
XXXIX. The True Story of Macbeth 206
XL. Duke William of Normandy 211
XLI. The Norman Conquest 217
XLII. King Richard C[oe]ur de Lion in the Holy Land 224
XLIII. King John and the Charter 230
XLIV. An Early Election to Parliament 237
XLV. The Battle of Cressy 245
XLVI. The Battle of Agincourt 251
MYTHS
[Illustration]
_I.--ARION._
1. Arion was a famous musician, and dwelt at the court of Periander,
King of Corinth, with whom he was a great favorite. There was a
musical contest in Sicily, and Arion longed to compete for the prize.
He told his wish to Periander, who besought him like a brother to give
up the thought. "Pray stay with me," he said, "and be contented. He
who strives to win may lose." Arion answered: "A wandering life best
suits the free heart of a poet. A talent which a god bestowed upon me
I would fain make a source of pleasure to others; and if I win the
prize, how will the enjoyment of it be increased by the consciousness
of my wide-spread fame!"
2. He went, won the prize, and embarked with his wealth in a
Corinthian vessel for home. On the second morning after setting sail,
the wind breathed mild and fair. "O Periander!" he exclaimed, "dismiss
your fears. Soon shall you forget them in my embrace. With what lavish
offerings will we display our gratitude to the gods, and how merry
will we be at the festal board!" The wind and sea continued favorable,
not a cloud dimmed the firmament. He had not trusted too much to the
ocean, but to man he had. He overheard the seamen plotting to get
possession of his treasure. Presently they surrounded him, loud and
mutinous, and said: "Arion, you must die! If you would have a grave on
the shore, yield yourself to die on this spot; but if otherwise, cast
yourself into the sea."
3. "Will nothing satisfy you but my life?" said he; "take my gold in
welcome. I willingly buy my life at that price." "No, no; we can not
spare you. Your life would be too dangerous to us. Where could we go to
escape Periander if he should know that you had been robbed by us? Your
gold would be of little use to us, if, on returning home, we could never
more be free from fear." "Grant me, then," said he, "a last request,
since naught will prevail to save my life, that I may die as I have
lived, as becomes a bard. When I shall have sung my death-song, and my
harp-strings cease to vibrate, then I will bid farewell to life, and
yield to my fate." This prayer, like the others, would have been
unheeded--they thought only of their booty--but to hear so famous a
musician moved their hearts. "Suffer me," he added, "to arrange my
dress. Apollo will not favor me unless I am clad in my minstrel garb."
4. He clothed himself in gold and purple, fair to see, his tunic fell
around him in graceful folds, jewels adorned his arms, his brow was
crowned with a golden wreath, and over his neck and shoulders flowed
his hair, perfumed with odors. His left hand held the lyre, his right
the ivory wand with which he struck the chords. Like one inspired he
seemed to drink the morning air and glitter in the morning ray. The
seamen gazed in admiration. He strode forward to the vessel's side,
and looked down into the blue sea.
5. Addressing his lyre, he sang: "Companion of my voice, come with me
to the realm of shades! Though Cerberus may growl, we know the power
of song can tame his rage. Ye heroes of Elysium, who have passed the
darkling flood--ye happy souls, soon shall I join your band. Yet can
ye relieve my grief? Alas! I leave my friend behind me. Thou, who
didst find thy Eurydice, and lose her again as soon as found, when she
had vanished like a dream, how thou didst hate the cheerful light! I
must away, but I will not fear. The gods look down upon us. Ye who
slay me unoffending, when I am no more your time of trembling shall
come! Ye Nereids, receive your guest, who throws himself upon your
mercy!" So saying, he sprang into the deep sea. The waves covered him,
and the seamen held their way, fancying themselves safe from all
danger of detection.
6. But the strains of his music had drawn around him the inhabitants
of the deep to listen, and dolphins followed the ship as if charmed by
a spell. While he struggled in the waves a dolphin offered him its
back, and carried him mounted thereon safe to shore. At the spot where
he landed, a monument of brass was afterward erected upon the rocky
shore to preserve the memory of the event.
7. When Arion and the dolphin parted, each returning to his own
element, Arion thus poured forth his thanks: "Farewell, thou faithful,
friendly fish! Would that I could reward thee! but thou canst not wend
with me, nor I with thee; companionship we may not have. May Galatea,
queen of the deep, accord thee her favor, and thou, proud of the
burden, draw her chariot over the smooth mirror of the deep!"
[Illustration: _Arion and the Dolphin._]
8. Arion hastened from the shore, and soon saw before him the towers
of Corinth. He journeyed on, harp in hand, singing as he went, full of
love and happiness, forgetting his losses, and mindful only of what
remained, his friend and his lyre. He entered the hospitable halls,
and was soon clasped in the embrace of Periander. "I come back to
thee, my friend," he said. "The talent which a god bestowed has been
the delight of thousands, but false knaves have stripped me of my
well-earned treasure." Then he told all the wonderful events that had
befallen him. Periander, who heard him in amazement, said: "Shall such
wickedness triumph? Then in vain is power lodged in my hands. That we
may discover the criminals you must lie here concealed, so that they
come without suspicion."
9. When the ship arrived in the harbor, he summoned the mariners
before him. "Have you heard anything of Arion?" he inquired. "I
anxiously look for his return." They replied, "We left him well and
prosperous in Tarentum." As they said these words, Arion stepped forth
and faced them. He was clad in all his glory as when he leaped into
the sea. They fell prostrate at his feet, as if a lightning-bolt had
struck them. "We meant to murder him, and he has become a god! O
earth, open and receive us!" Then Periander spoke: "He lives, the
master of the lay! kind Heaven protects the poet's life. As for you, I
invoke not the spirit of vengeance; Arion wishes not your blood. Ye
slaves of avarice, begone! Seek some barbarous land, and never may
aught beautiful delight your souls!"
_II.--ARACHNE._
1. In the old mythology it was considered a great sin for any mortal
to enter into a contest with a god, and whenever one did so he
incurred a fearful penalty. The maiden Arachne early showed marvelous
skill in embroidery and all kinds of needle-work. So beautiful were
her designs that the nymphs themselves would leave their groves and
fountains, and come and gaze delighted upon her work. It was not only
beautiful when it was done, but was beautiful in the doing. As they
watched the delicate touch of her fingers they declared that the
goddess Minerva must have been her teacher. This Arachne denied, and,
grown very vain of her many compliments, she said: "Let Minerva try
her skill with mine, and if beaten I will pay the penalty!"
2. Minerva heard this, and was greatly displeased at the vanity and
presumption of the maiden. Assuming the form of an old woman she went
to Arachne and gave her some friendly advice. "I have much
experience," she said, "and I hope you will not despise my counsel.
Challenge mortals as much as you like, but do not try and compete with
a goddess!" Arachne stopped her spinning, and angrily replied: "keep
your counsel for your daughters and handmaids; for my part, I know
what I say, and I stand to it. I am not afraid of the goddess."
3. Minerva then dropped her disguise, and stood before the company in
her proper person. The nymphs at once paid her homage. Arachne alone
had no fear. She stood by her resolve, and the contest proceeded. Each
took her station, and attached the web to the beam. Both worked with
speed; their skillful hands moved rapidly, and the excitement of the
contest made the labor light.
[Illustration]
4. Minerva wrought into her web the scene of her contest with Neptune.
The gods are all represented in their most august forms, and the
picture is noble in its perfect simplicity and chaste beauty. In the
four corners she wrought scenes where mortals entered into contest
with gods and were punished for their presumption. These were meant as
warnings to her rival to give up the contest before it was too late.
5. Arachne filled her web with subjects designedly chosen to exhibit
the failings and errors of the gods. Every story to their discredit
she appears to have treasured up. The last scene she represented was
that of Jupiter in the form of a bull carrying off Europa across the
sea, leaving the heart-broken mother to wander in search of her child
until she died.
6. Minerva examined the work of her rival, and doubly angry at the
presumption and the sacrilege manifested in her choice of subjects,
struck her web with a shuttle and tore it from the loom. She then
touched the forehead of Arachne and made her feel her guilt and shame.
This she could not endure, and went out and hanged herself. Minerva
pitied her, as she saw her hanging by a rope. "Live, guilty woman,"
said she; "and that you may preserve the memory of this lesson,
continue to hang, you and your descendants, to all future times." She
sprinkled her with the juice of aconite, and immediately her form
shrunk up, her head grew small, and her fingers grew to her sides and
served as legs. All the rest of her is body, out of which she spins
her thread, often hanging suspended by it in the same attitude as when
Minerva touched her and transformed her into a spider.
_III.--POLYPHEMUS._
1. When Troy was captured, Ulysses, the King of Ithaca, set sail for
his native country. With favorable winds he should have reached home
in a few months, but he met with so many adventures that it was ten
years before he saw the shores of his beloved Ithaca. At one time he
and his companions landed upon an unknown shore in search of food.
Ulysses took with him a jar of wine as a present should he meet with
any inhabitants. Presently they came to a large cave, and entered it.
There they found lambs and kids in their pens, and a table spread with
cheese, fruits, and bowls of milk. But soon the master of the cave,
Polyphemus, returned, and Ulysses saw that they were in the land of
the Cyclops, a race of immense giants. The name means "round eye," and
these giants were so called because they had but one eye, and that was
placed in the middle of the forehead.
2. Polyphemus drove into the cave the sheep and the goats to be
milked, and then placed a huge rock at the mouth of the cave to serve
as a door. While attending to his supper he chanced to spy the Greeks,
who were hidden in one corner. He growled out to them, demanding to
know who they were, and where from. Ulysses replied, stating that they
were returning from the siege of Troy, and that they had landed in
search of provisions. At this Polyphemus gave no answer, but seizing a
couple of Greeks, he killed and ate them up on the spot. He then went
to sleep, and his snoring sounded like thunder in the ears of the
terrified Greeks all the livelong night. In the morning the giant
arose, ate two more men, and went out with his flocks, having
carefully secured the door so that the remainder could not get away.
3. Then Ulysses contrived a plan to punish the giant, and get away
from his clutches. He found a great bar of wood which the giant had
cut for a staff. This his men sharpened at one end and hardened at the
fire. Then a number were selected to use it, and they awaited events.
In the evening Polyphemus returned, and having eaten his two men he
lay down to sleep. But Ulysses presented him with some of the wine
from the jar which the giant eagerly drank, and called for more. In a
short time he was quite drunk, and then he asked Ulysses his name, and
he replied: "My name is Noman."
[Illustration: _Polyphemus._]
4. When the giant was fairly asleep, the sailors seized the sharpened
stick, and, aiming it directly at his single eye, they rushed forward
with all their might. The eye was put out, and the giant was left
blind. He felt around the cave trying to catch his tormentors, but
they contrived to get out of his way. He then howled so loud that his
neighbors came to see what was the matter, when he said, "I am hurt,
Noman did it!" Then they said, "If no man did it, we can not help
you." So they went home, leaving him groaning.
5. In the morning Polyphemus rolled away the stone to let out his
sheep and goats, and the Greeks contrived to get out with them without
being discovered. Once out, they lost no time in driving the flocks
down to the shore, and then with their vessels well provisioned they
set sail once more for their native land.
_IV.--ULYSSES'S RETURN._
1. Ulysses, the lord of Ithaca, went to assist the Greeks in the siege
of Troy. For ten long years the war lasted, and when Troy fell,
Ulysses was ten more years in reaching his home. He met with so many
accidents and adventures that delayed him, that even his stout heart
almost gave out as he thought of the wife and children waiting for him
through all these weary years. In the mean time his son Telemachus had
grown to manhood, and had gone in search of his father.
2. During all this time his wife, Queen Penelope, never lost hope, but
lived daily looking for her husband to come sailing over the sea. But
while the master was away, more than a hundred young lords laid claim
to the hand of Penelope, so as to obtain the power and riches of
Ulysses. They lorded it over the palace and people as if they were the
owners of both, and they paid no attention to the wishes of Penelope,
as she was but a woman, and could not protect herself. Her only safety
lay in the fact that the suitors were jealous of each other, and no
one could make any advance until Penelope had made her selection.
[Illustration: _Ulysses and his Dog._]
3. At last Ulysses returned in the disguise of a beggar. No one knew
him except his old dog Argus, who, in his excess of joy, died while
licking his hands. He made himself known to Eumæus, a faithful
servant, and by him was presented to Telemachus, who had just
returned. Great was the joy of father and son at thus meeting each
other. Then the three laid a plan to punish the suitors and to rid
Ithaca of their presence. In carrying out this plan, Telemachus went
to his mother's palace publicly, and the suitors bade him welcome,
though they secretly hated him, and had tried to take his life. Here
he found feasting going on, and, at his request, the supposed beggar
was admitted to the foot of the table.
4. Penelope had put off her decision on various pretexts until now,
when there appeared no other reason for delay. So she announced that
she would accept the one who would shoot an arrow through twelve rings
arranged in a line. A bow formerly used by Ulysses was brought in and
all other arms removed. All things being ready, the first thing to be
done was to attach the string to the bow, which required the bow to be
bent. Telemachus tried and failed. Then each of the suitors tried in
turn, and all failed. They even rubbed the bow with tallow, but it
would not bend.
5. Here Ulysses spoke and said: "Beggar as I am, I once was a soldier,
and there is some strength in these old limbs of mine yet. Let me
try." The suitors hooted at him, and would have turned him out of the
hall; but Telemachus said it was best to gratify the old man, and so
put the bow in his hand. Ulysses took it and easily adjusted the cord.
Then he selected an arrow and sent it through the twelve rings at the
first shot. Before the suitors recovered from their astonishment he
sent another through the heart of the most insolent of them.
Telemachus, Eumæus, and another faithful servant sprang to their aid.
The suitors looked around for arms, but there were none. Ulysses did
not let them remain long in doubt; he announced himself as the
long-lost chief whose house they had invaded, whose substance they had
squandered, and whose wife and son they had persecuted for ten long
years, and told them he meant to have ample vengeance. All the suitors
were slain but two, and Ulysses was left master of his own palace and
the possessor of his kingdom and wife.
[Illustration: _Penelope and Ulysses's Bow._]
_V.--THOR'S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM._
1. Thor, the god of the Northmen, who always carried a hammer to make
his way or obtain his wishes, heard of the giant's country, Jotunheim,
of which Utgard was the capital, and he resolved on a visit to that
region to try his strength with any one whom he might find. So,
accompanied by his servants, Thiolfi and Loki, he set out. Thiolfi was
of all men the swiftest on foot. At nightfall they took refuge from a
storm in a very large building which they imperfectly saw in the dim
light, but were kept awake by loud thunder which shook their abode
like an earthquake. In the morning it was found that the thunder was
the snoring of a huge giant sleeping near by, and that the building in
which they had taken shelter was the giant's glove.
2. The giant, whose name was Skrymer, knew Thor, and proposed that
they should travel together, to which the god consented. At night they
encamped, and soon the giant was asleep. Thor, finding that he could
not untie the provision-bag which the giant had carried all day, went
into a rage and struck the sleeper a mighty blow with, his hammer.
Skrymer awoke and said, "The leaves are falling, for one just now fell
upon my breast." They lay down again, and soon the giant began to
snore so loud that Thor could get no sleep, so he grasped the hammer
in both hands and dealt him another blow. Skrymer awoke and called
out, "How fares it with thee, Thor? A bird must be overhead--a bunch
of moss has just now fallen upon me." Just before daylight Thor
thought that he would end this matter then, so he seized his hammer
and threw it with all his might. Skrymer awoke, and stroking his cheek
said, "An acorn fell upon my head. But let us be stirring, as we have
a long day before us."
3. When within sight of the city Skrymer turned off, as his route lay in
another direction, and soon Thor and his companions were in presence of
the giant king. Addressing Thor, the king asked if he or his companions
could do anything better than others, for he said that no one was
permitted to remain in the city unless he excelled in something.
4. Loki, who was a great eater, proposed a feast, and the king called
Logi to come out and compete with him. A trough filled with meat was
placed in the midst of the hall, and Loki beginning at one end soon
ate all the flesh to the middle of the trough; but it was found that
Logi had devoured both flesh and bones and the trough to boot. So the
company adjudged Loki vanquished.
5. Next Thiolfi presented himself to run a race, and the king brought
out a young man named Hugi to run with him. Hugi ran over the course
and turning back met Thiolfi but just started. Then the king remarked
that if Thor could not do better than his servants, it were well that
he stay at home. Then a drinking-match was proposed, and a drinking
horn was brought in. It was not very large, but was of great length,
and the king remarked that any one of his subjects ought to empty it
at a single draught, but none would fail to do so in three draughts.
Thor drank long and deep, but the horn was as full as before; a second
trial met with a similar failure. Then Thor straightened himself for a
mighty effort and drank as the thirsty earth drinks of the rains from
heaven. The liquor was diminished, but still the horn was nearly full.
"I perceive," said the king, "that thou canst not be very thirsty, or
thou wouldst drink more."
6. "What new trial do you propose?" said Thor. "We have a trifling
game here," said the king, "in which we exercise none but children. It
consists in merely lifting my cat from the ground, and I should not
have mentioned it to the great Thor if I had not observed that thou
art by no means what we took thee for." As he finished speaking, a
large gray cat sprang into the hall. Thor put forth all his mighty
strength three times without lifting her, though on the third trial
one foot was raised from the floor.
7. "Well," said the king, "only one trial remains for thee. Thou must
wrestle with somebody, and after thy failures to-day none of our men
will wrestle with thee." So saying, the king called upon his old
nurse, a toothless crone, shaking and trembling on the edge of the
grave. Thor grasped her and put forth a mighty effort, but the old
woman stood fast. At last she grasped him in turn, and he was thrown
upon his knee. The king here interfered, and the contests came to an
end. The travelers, however, were royally entertained, and after a
good night's rest, and a bountiful breakfast, they bade the king
good-by, and set out on their return.
8. Toward night they overtook a traveler, who proved to be Skrymer,
their former companion and guide, and they encamped together in the
very wood where they passed their first night together. The giant,
perceiving the dejected looks of Thor, said, "Something appears to
trouble thee; has thy journey gone amiss?" Thereupon Thor related the
whole story of his failures. "Then," said the giant, "take heart, for
thou hast performed great wonders, but hast been the victim of
delusions. Observe me closely!" Thor looked, and saw that Skrymer and
the king were one and the same person.
9. "Now," said the king, "Loki devoured all that was set before him,
but Logi was Fire, and consumed trough and all. Hugi, with whom
Thiolfi was running, was Thought, and not the swiftest runner can keep
pace with that. The horn that thou failedst to empty had its lower end
in the sea, and thou wilt see how the very ocean is lowered by thy
draught. The cat is the animal that bears up the world, and thy last
mighty effort caused the solid earth to shake as with an earthquake.
The old woman with whom thou wrestledst was old age, and she throws
everybody." The king then pointed out the place where Thor dealt his
blows on the night of their first meeting, and lo! three mighty chasms
showed where the solid mountains had been rent asunder.
PARABLES AND FABLES.
_VI.--THE WOLF AND THE DOG._
[Illustration]
Lean, hungry wolf, fell in one moonlight night with a jolly, plump,
well-fed mastiff, and after the first greetings were passed, the wolf
accosted him: "You look extremely well," said he, "I think I never saw a
more graceful, comely personage; but how comes it about, I beseech you,
that you should live so much better than I? I may say, without vanity,
that I venture fifty times more than you do, and yet I am almost ready
to perish with hunger." The dog answered very bluntly: "Why, you may
live as well as I if you will do the same services for it." The wolf
pricked up his ears at the proposal, and requested to be informed what
he must do to earn such plentiful meals. "Very little," answered the
dog; "only to guard the house at night, and keep it from thieves and
beggars." "With all my heart," rejoined the wolf, "for at present I have
but a sorry time of it; and, I think, to change my hard lodging in the
woods, where I endure rain, frost, and snow, for a warm roof over my
head and plenty of food, will be no bad bargain." "True," said the dog,
"therefore, you have nothing more to do than to follow me."
2. As they were jogging along together, the wolf spied a circle, worn
round his friend's neck, and, being almost as curious as some of a
higher species, he could not forbear asking what it meant. "Pooh!
nothing," said the dog, "or at most a mere trifle." "Nay, but pray,"
urged the wolf, "inform me." "Why, then," said the dog, "perhaps it is
the collar to which my chain is fastened; for I am sometimes tied up
in the day-time, because I am a little fierce, and might bite people,
and am only let loose at night. But this is done with design to make
me sleep in the day, more than anything else, that I may watch the
better in the night-time. As soon as the twilight appears, I am turned
loose, and may go where I please. Then my master brings me plates of
bones from the table with his own hands; and whatever scraps are left
by the family fall to my share, for you must know I am a favorite with
everybody. So, seeing how you are to live, come along! Why, what is
the matter with you?" "I beg your pardon," replied the wolf, "but you
may keep your happiness to yourself. I am resolved to have no share in
your dinners. Half a meal, with liberty, is, in my estimation, worth a
full one without it."
_VII.--PARABLE OF THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD._
1. For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder,
which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.
2. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent
them into his vineyard.
3. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle
in the market-place,
4. And said unto them; go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is
right I will give you. And they went their way.
5. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
6. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing
idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
7. They say unto him, because no man hath hired us. He saith unto
them, go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that
shall ye receive.
8. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his
steward, call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from
the last unto the first.
9. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they
received every man a penny.
10. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have
received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
11. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man
of the house,
12. Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made
them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
[Illustration]
13. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong:
didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
14. Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last,
even as unto thee.
15. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine
eye evil, because I am good?
16. So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be
called, but few chosen.
(_St. Matthew, xx. 1-16._)
_VIII.--PARABLE OF THE SOWER AND THE SEED._
1. The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
2. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he
went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a
sower went forth to sow;
4. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side, and the fowls
came and devoured them up:
5. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and
forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had
no root, they withered away.
7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked
them:
8. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a
hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold.
9. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
10. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto
them in parables?
11. He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
[Illustration: _A Sower went forth to Sow._]
12. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more
abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even
that he hath.
13. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see
not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
(_St. Matthew xiii, 1-13._)
_IX.--PAIRING-TIME ANTICIPATED._
1. I shall not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau
If birds confabulate or no;
'Tis clear that they were always able
To hold discourse,--at least in fable;
And even the child, who knows no better
Than to interpret by the letter
A story of a cock and bull,
Must have a most uncommon skull.
2. It chanced then on a winter's day,
But warm and bright and calm as May,
The birds, conceiving a design
To forestall sweet Saint Valentine,
In many an orchard, copse, and grove,
Assembled on affairs of love,
And with much twitter and much chatter,
Began to agitate the matter.
3. At length a bull-finch, who could boast
More years and wisdom than the most,
Entreated, opening wide his beak
A moment's liberty to speak,
And silence publicly enjoined,
Briefly delivered thus his mind:
"My friends! be cautious how ye treat
The subject upon which we meet;
I fear we shall have winter yet."
4. A finch, whose tongue knew no control,
With golden wings and satin poll,
A last year's bird, who ne'er had tried
What marriage means, thus pert, replied:
"Methinks the gentleman," quoth she,
"Opposite in the apple-tree,
By his good will, would keep us single
'Till yonder heaven and earth shall mingle,
Or, what is likelier to befall,
'Till death exterminate us all.
I marry without more ado!
My dear Dick Redcap, what say you?"
5. Dick heard, and tweedling, ogling, bridling,
Turning short round, strutting and sidling,
Attested glad his approbation
Of an immediate conjugation.
Their sentiments so well expressed,
Mightily influenced all the rest.
All paired and each pair built a nest.
6. But though the birds were thus in haste,
The leaves came out not quite so fast,
And destiny, that sometimes bears
An aspect stern on men's affairs,
Not altogether smiled on their's.
The wing of late breathed gently forth,
Now shifted east and east by north.
Bare trees and shrubs, but ill, you know
Could shelter them from rain or snow.
[Illustration]
7. Stepping into their nests they paddled;
Themselves were chilled, their eggs were addled;
Soon every father bird and mother,
Grew quarrelsome and pecked each other,
Parted without the least regret--
Except that they had ever met--
And learned in future to be wiser
Than to neglect a good adviser.
8. Moral:
Misses, the tale that I relate,
This moral seems to carry--
Choose not alone a proper mate,
But proper time to marry.
_Cowper._
LEGENDS.
_X.--THE GIFT OF TRITEMIUS._
1. Tritemius, of Herbipolis, one day,
While kneeling at the altar's foot to pray,
Alone with God, as was his pious choice,
Heard from without a miserable voice,
A sound which seemed of all sad things to tell,
As of a lost soul crying out of hell.
2. Thereat the abbot paused; the chain whereby
His thoughts went upward broken by that cry;
And, looking from the casement, saw below
A wretched woman, with gray hair a-flow,
And withered hands held up to him, who cried
For alms as one who might not be denied.
[Illustration: _The gift of Tritemius._]
3. She cried, "For the dear love of Him who gave
His life for ours, my child from bondage save,--
My beautiful, brave first-born, chained with slaves
In the Moor's galley, where the sun-smit waves
Lap the white walls of Tunis!" "What I can
I give," Tritemius said: "my prayers." "O man
Of God," she cried, for grief had made her bold,
"Mock me not thus; I ask not prayers, but gold.
Words will not serve me, alms alone suffice;
Even while I speak, perchance, my first-born dies."
4. "Woman," Tritemius answered, "from our door
None go unfed; hence are we always poor;
A single soldo is our only store.
Thou hast our prayers; what can we give thee more?"
5. "Give me," she said, "the silver candlesticks
On either side of the great crucifix;
God may well spare them on his errands sped,
Or he can give you golden ones instead."
6. Then spake Tritemius: "Even as thy word,
Woman, so be it! (Our most gracious Lord,
Who loveth mercy more than sacrifice,
Pardon me if a human soul I prize
Above the gifts upon his altar piled!)
Take what thou askest, and redeem thy child."
7. But his hand trembled as the holy alms
He placed within the beggar's eager palms;
And as she vanished down the linden shade,
He bowed his head, and for forgiveness prayed.
8. So the day passed, and when the twilight came
He woke to find the chapel all aflame,
And, dumb with grateful wonder, to behold
Upon the altar candlesticks of gold!
_Whittier._
_XI.--DAMON AND PYTHIAS._
1. About four hundred years before the Christian era, the government
of Syracuse fell into the hands of Dionysius, a successful general of
the army. He dispossessed the magistrates whom the people elected, and
was therefore a usurper. While ruling justly in the main, he had a
capricious temper, and often in his rage performed actions which he
sincerely regretted in his sober moments. He was a good scholar, and
very fond of philosophy and poetry, and he delighted to have learned
men around him, and he had naturally a generous spirit; but the sense
that he was in a position that did not belong to him, and that every
one hated him for assuming it, made him very harsh and suspicious. It
is of him that the story is told, that he had a chamber hollowed in
the rock near his state prison, and constructed with galleries to
conduct sounds like an ear, so that he might overhear the conversation
of his captives; and of him, too, is told that famous anecdote which
has become a proverb, that on hearing a friend, named Damocles,
express a wish to be in his situation for a single day, he took him at
his word, and Damocles found himself at a banquet with everything that
could delight his senses, delicious food, costly wine, flowers,
perfumes, music, but with a sword with the point almost touching his
head, and hanging by a single horse-hair! This was to show the
condition in which a usurper lived.
[Illustration: _Damon and Pythias._]
2. Thus Dionysius was in constant dread. He had a wide trench round his
bedroom, with a drawbridge that he drew up and put down with his own
hands; and he put one barber to death for boasting that he held a razor
to the tyrant's throat every morning. After this he made his young
daughters shave him; and by-and-by he would not trust them with a
razor, and caused them to singe off his beard with hot nut-shells.
3. One philosopher, named Philoxenus, he sent to a dungeon for finding
fault with his poetry, but he afterward composed another piece, which
he thought so superior that he could not be content without sending
for this adverse critic to hear it. When he had finished reading it,
he looked to Philoxenus for a compliment; but the philosopher only
turned round to the guards, and said dryly, "Carry me back to prison."
This time Dionysius had the sense to laugh, and forgive his honesty.
4. All these stories may not be true; but that they should have been
current in the ancient world, shows what was the character of the man
of whom they were told, how stern and terrible was his anger, and how
easily it was incurred. Among those who came under it was a
Pythagorean called Pythias, who was sentenced to death, according to
the usual fate of those who fell under his suspicion.
5. Pythias had lands and relations in Greece, and he entreated as a
favor to be allowed to return thither and arrange his affairs,
engaging to return within a specified time and suffer death. The
tyrant laughed his request to scorn. Once safe out of Sicily, who
would answer for his return? Pythias made reply that he had a friend
who would become security for his return; and while Dionysius, the
miserable man who trusted nobody, was ready to scoff at his
simplicity, another Pythagorean, by name Damon, came forward and
offered to become surety for his friend, engaging that, if Pythias did
not return according to promise, to suffer death in his stead.
6. Dionysius, much astonished, consented to let Pythias go, marveling
what would be the issue of the affair. Time went on, and Pythias did
not appear. The Syracusans watched Damon, but he showed no
uneasiness. He said he was secure of his friend's truth and honor, and
that if any accident had caused his delay, he should rejoice in dying
to save the life of one so dear to him.
7. Even to the last day Damon continued serene and content, however it
might fall out; nay, even when the very hour drew nigh and still no
Pythias. His trust was so perfect that he did not even grieve at having
to die for a faithless friend who left him to the fate to which he had
unwarily pledged himself. It was not Pythias's own will, but the winds
and waves, so he still declared, when the decree was brought and the
instruments of death made ready. The hour had come, and a few moments
more would have ended Damon's life, when Pythias duly presented himself,
embraced his friend, and stood forward himself to receive his sentence,
calm, resolute, and rejoiced that he had come in time.
8. Even the dim hope they owned of a future state was enough to make
these two brave men keep their word, and confront death for one
another without quailing. Dionysius looked on more struck than ever.
He felt that neither of such men must die. He reversed the sentence of
Pythias, and calling the two to his judgment-seat, he entreated them
to admit him as a third in their friendship.
_Charlotte M. Yonge._
_XII.--KING CANUTE._
1. Upon his royal throne he sat
In a monarch's thoughtful mood;
Attendants on his regal state,
His servile courtiers stood,
With foolish flatteries, false and vain,
To win his smile, his favor gain.
2. They told him e'en the mighty deep
His kingly sway confessed;
That he could bid its billows leap,
Or still its stormy breast!
He smiled contemptuously and cried,
"Be then my boasted empire tried!"
3. Down to the ocean's sounding shore
The proud procession came,
To see its billows' wild uproar
King Canute's power proclaim,
Or, at his high and dread command,
In gentle murmurs kiss the strand.
4. Not so thought he, their noble king,
As his course he seaward sped;
And each base slave, like a guilty thing,
Hung down his conscious head:
He knew the ocean's Lord on high!
They, that he scorned their senseless lie.
5. His throne was placed by ocean's side,
He lifted his scepter there,
Bidding, with tones of kingly pride,
The waves their strife forbear;
And while he spoke his royal will,
All but the winds and waves were still.
[Illustration: _Canute and his Courtiers._]
6. Louder the stormy blast swept by,
In scorn of idle word;
The briny deep its waves tossed high,
By his mandate undeterred,
As threatening, in their angry play,
To sweep both king and court away.
7. The monarch, with upbraiding look,
Turned to the courtly ring;
But none the kindling eye could brook
Even of his earthly king;
For in that wrathful glance they see
A mightier monarch wronged than he!
8. Canute, thy regal race is run;
Thy name had passed away,
But for the meed this tale hath won,
Which never shall decay:
Its meek, unperishing renown
Outlasts thy scepter and thy crown.
9. The Persian, in his mighty pride,
Forged fetters for the main,
And, when its floods his power defied,
Inflicted stripes as vain;
But it was worthier far of thee
To know thyself than rule the sea!
_Bernard Barton._
_XIII.--A NORSEMAN'S SWORD._
1. The smelting of iron in the north of Europe is believed to have
commenced with the Finns or Laplanders, the original inhabitants of
Scandinavia, who then occupied the localities where the best ores are
still found. The diminutive stature of these people compared with that
of their Gothic invaders, their skill in penetrating the bowels of the
earth in search of ores, the smoke of their collieries, the flame and
thunder of their furnaces and forges, and, above all, the excellent
temper of the weapons wrought by them--all these conspired to render
them objects of superstitious wonder to the Goths.
2. The legendary stories of that people are filled with strange tales
of the northern dwarfs, who lived in the solid rock, and possessed
magic skill in all the various arts of the smith. One of these legends
may be worth citing, and the rather, because it relates to Vanlander,
the Scandinavian Vulcan, of whom many traditions are extant, even in
England, where he is styled Wayland Smith. At the age of thirteen
Vanlander was apprenticed by his father, the giant Vade, to two of the
dwarfs who dwelt in the interior of the mountain, and he applied
himself so faithfully to their instructions, that in two years he
equaled his masters in knowledge of all the arts of smithery, both
black and white.
3. Being at the court of King Nidung, where his dexterity as a smith
became known, a rivalship arose between him and Amilias, principal
smith to the king. Amilias challenged Vanlander to a trial of skill,
upon condition that the life of the vanquished should be at the
disposal of the victor. The terms proposed were that Vanlander should
forge a sword, and Amilias a helmet, cuirass, and other defensive
armor, and a twelvemonth was allowed for preparation. If the sword of
Vanlander penetrated the armor of Amilias, the former was to be
declared the victor, if otherwise, his life was forfeited to his rival.
[Illustration: _A Norseman's Sword._]
4. Amilias spent the whole year at his task, but Vanlander did not
commence his labors until two months before the trial. He now, after
seven days' labor, exhibited to the king a sword of great beauty and
excellent temper, but too heavy for use. By way of testing its edge,
he took a cushion stuffed with wool a foot in thickness, threw it into
the river, and let it float with the current against the edge of the
sword, which cut it fairly in two. The king thought this a sufficient
proof, but Vanlander was not satisfied.
5. He took the sword to his smithy, filed it quite to dust, and after
subjecting the filings to an odd process of animal chemistry, he
forged from them another sword of somewhat smaller size than the
first, though still rather heavy. Upon testing this sword in the same
manner as before, it readily divided a cushion two feet in thickness,
and the king thought it the finest weapon in the world, but Vanlander
said he would have it half as good again before he was done with it.
6. It was now reduced to filings, which were treated as in the former
instance, and in three weeks Vanlander produced a sword of convenient
size, inlaid with gold, and with an ornamental hilt, all of the
highest finish and beauty. The king and the smith went again to the
river with a cushion three feet in thickness, which was thrown into
the water and driven against the blade as before. The sword divided
the cushion as easily as the water, and without even checking its
progress as it floated with the current, and King Nidung declared its
fellow could not be found on earth.
7. At the appointed day Amilias put on his armor, all of which was of
double plates, and, declaring himself ready for the trial, seated
himself in a chair, and defied his rival to do his worst. Vanlander
stepped behind him, gave him a blow upon the helmet, and asked him if
he felt the edge. "I felt as if cold water were running through me,"
replied Amilias. "Shake yourself," said Vanlander. His rival did so,
and fell asunder, the sword having cleft him to the chine.
_George P. Marsh._
_XIV.--THE STORY OF KING ALFRED AND ST. CUTHBERT._
1. Now King Alfred was driven from his kingdom by the Danes, and he
lay hid three years in the Isle of Glastonbury. And it came to pass on
a day that all his folk were gone out to fish, save only Alfred
himself and his wife and one servant whom he loved. And there came a
pilgrim to the king and begged for food. And the king said to his
servant, "What food have we in the house?" And his servant answered,
"My lord, we have but one loaf and a little wine." Then the king gave
thanks to God, and said, "Give half of the loaf and half of the wine
to this poor pilgrim." So the servant did as his lord commanded him,
and gave to the pilgrim half of the loaf and half of the wine, and the
pilgrim gave great thanks to the king.
2. And when the servant returned he found the loaf whole, and the wine
as much as there had been aforetime. And he greatly wondered, and he
wondered also how the pilgrim had come into the isle, for that no man
could come there save by water, and the pilgrim had no boat. And the
king greatly wondered also. And at the ninth hour came back the folk
who had gone to fish. And they had three boats full of fish, and they
said, "Lo, we have caught more fish this day than in all the three
years that we have tarried in this island!" And the king was glad,
and he and his folk were merry; yet he pondered much upon that which
had come to pass.
3. And when night came the king went to his bed, and the king lay
awake and thought of all that had come to pass by day. And presently
he saw a great light, like the brightness of the sun, and he saw an
old man with black hair, clothed in priest's garments, and with a
miter on his head, and holding in his right hand a book of the Gospels
adorned with gold and gems. And the old man blessed the king, and the
king said unto him, "Who art thou?" And he answered: "Alfred, my son,
rejoice; for I am he to whom thou didst this day give thine alms, and
I am called Cuthbert the Soldier of Christ.
4. "Now be strong and very courageous, and be of joyful heart, and
hearken diligently to the things which I say unto thee; for henceforth
I will be thy shield and thy friend, and I will watch over thee and
over thy sons after thee. And now I will tell thee what thou must do:
Rise up early in the morning and blow thine horn thrice, that thine
enemies may hear it and fear, and by the ninth hour thou shalt have
around thee five hundred men harnessed for the battle. And this shall
be a sign unto thee that thou mayst believe. And after seven days thou
shalt have, by God's gift and my help, all the folk of this land
gathered unto thee upon the mount that is called Assaudun. And thus
shalt thou fight against thine enemies, and doubt not that thou shalt
overcome them.
5. "Be thou, therefore, glad of heart, and be strong and very
courageous, and fear not, for God hath given thine enemies into thine
hand. And he hath given thee also all this land and the kingdom of thy
fathers, to thee and to thy sons and to thy sons' sons after thee. Be
thou faithful to me and to my folk, because that unto thee is given
all the land of Albion. Be thou righteous, because thou art chosen to
be the king of all Britain. So may God be merciful unto thee, and I
will be thy friend, and none of thine enemies shall ever be able to
overcome thee."
6. Then was King Alfred glad at heart, and he was strong and very
courageous, for that he knew that he would overcome his enemies by the
help of God and St. Cuthbert his patron. So in the morning he arose
and sailed to the land, and blew his horn three times, and when his
friends heard it they rejoiced, and when his enemies heard it they
feared. And by the ninth hour, according to the word of the Lord,
there were gathered unto him five hundred men of the bravest and
dearest of his friends.
7. And he spake unto them and told them all that God had said unto them
by the mouth of his servant Cuthbert, and he told them that, by the gift
of God and by the help of St. Cuthbert, they would overcome their
enemies and win back their own land. And he bade them, as St. Cuthbert
had taught him, to be pious toward God and righteous toward men. And he
bade his son Edward, who was by him, to be faithful to God and St.
Cuthbert, and so he should always have victory over his enemies. So they
went forth to battle and smote their enemies and overcame them, and King
Alfred took the kingdom of all Britain, and he ruled well and wisely
over the just and the unjust for the rest of his days.
_E. A. Freeman._
_XV.--A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER._
1. Milon, or Milone, a knight of great family, and distantly related
to Charlemagne, having secretly married Bertha, the emperor's sister,
was banished from France. After a long and miserable wandering on foot
as mendicants, Milon and his wife arrived at Sutri, in Italy, where
they took refuge in a cave, and in that cave Orlando was born. There
his mother continued, drawing a scanty support from the compassion of
the neighboring peasants, while Milon, in quest of honor and fortune,
went into foreign lands. Orlando grew up among the children of the
peasantry, surpassing them all in strength and manly graces.
2. Among his companions in age, though in station far more elevated,
was Oliver, son of the governor of the town. Between the two boys a
feud arose, that led to a fight, in which Orlando thrashed his rival;
but this did not prevent a friendship springing up between the two
which lasted through life.
3. Orlando was so poor that he was sometimes half naked. As he was a
favorite of the boys, one day four of them brought some cloth to make
him clothes. Two brought white and two red; and from this circumstance
Orlando took his coat-of-arms, or quarterings.
4. When Charlemagne was on his way to Rome, to receive the imperial
crown, he dined in public in Sutri. Orlando and his mother that day had
nothing to eat, and Orlando, coming suddenly upon the royal party, and
seeing abundance of provisions, seized from the attendants as much as he
could carry off, and made good his retreat in spite of their resistance.
5. The emperor, being told of this incident, was reminded of an
intimation he had received in a dream, and ordered the boy to be
followed. This was done by three of the knights, whom Orlando would
have encountered with a cudgel on their entering the grotto, had not
his mother restrained him. When they heard from her who she was, they
threw themselves at her feet, and promised to obtain her pardon from
the emperor. This was easily effected. Orlando was received into favor
by the emperor, returned with him to France, and so distinguished
himself that he became the most powerful support of the throne and of
Christianity.
6. On another occasion, Orlando encountered a puissant Saracen
warrior, and took from him, as the prize of victory, the sword
Durindana. This famous weapon had once belonged to the illustrious
prince Hector of Troy. It was of the finest workmanship, and of such
strength and temper that no armor in the world could stand against it.
7. Guerin de Montglave held the lordship of Vienne, subject to
Charlemagne. He had quarreled with his sovereign, and Charles laid
siege to his city, having ravaged the neighboring country. Guerin was
an aged warrior, but relied for his defense upon his four sons and two
grandsons, who were among the bravest knights of the age. After the
siege had continued two months, Charlemagne received tidings that
Marsilius, King of Spain, had invaded France, and, finding himself
unopposed, was advancing rapidly in the southern provinces. At this
intelligence, Charles listened to the counsel of his peers, and
consented to put the quarrel with Guerin to the decision of Heaven, by
single combat between two knights, one of each party, selected by lot.
8. The proposal was acceptable to Guerin and his sons. The name of the
four, together with Guerin's own, who would not be excused, and of the
two grandsons, who claimed their lot, being put into a helmet,
Oliver's was drawn forth, and to him, the youngest of the grandsons,
was assigned the honor and the peril of the combat. He accepted the
award with delight, exulting in being thought worthy to maintain the
cause of his family. On Charlemagne's side Roland was designated
champion, and neither he nor Oliver knew who his antagonist was to be.
9. They met on an island in the Rhône, and the warriors of both camps
were ranged on either shore, spectators of the battle. At the first
encounter both lances were shivered, but both riders kept their seats
immovable. They dismounted and drew their swords. Then ensued a combat
which seemed so equal, that the spectators could not form an opinion
as to the probable issue. Two hours and more the knights continued to
strike and parry, to thrust and ward, neither showing any sign of
weariness, nor ever being taken at unawares.
10. At length Orlando struck furiously upon Oliver's shield, burying
Durindana in its edge so deeply that he could not draw it back, and
Oliver, almost at the same moment, thrust so vigorously upon Orlando's
breastplate that his sword snapped off at the handle. Thus were the two
warriors left weaponless. Scarcely pausing a moment, they rushed upon
one another, each striving to throw his adversary to the ground, and,
failing in that, each snatched at the other's helmet to tear it away.
Both succeeded, and at the same moment they stood bareheaded face to
face, and Roland recognized Oliver, and Oliver Roland. For a moment they
stood still; and the next, with open arms, rushed into one another's
embrace. "I am conquered," said Orlando. "I yield me," said Oliver.
11. The people on the shore knew not what to make of all this.
Presently they saw the two late antagonists standing hand-in-hand, and
it was evident the battle was at an end. The knights crowded around
them, and with one voice hailed them as equal in glory. If there were
any who felt disposed to murmur that the battle was left undecided,
they were silenced by the voice of Ogier the Dane, who proclaimed
aloud that all had been done that honor required, and declared that he
would maintain that award against all gainsayers.
12. The quarrel with Guerin and his sons being left undecided, a truce
was made for four days, and in that time, by the efforts of Duke Namo
on the one side, and of Oliver on the other, a reconciliation was
effected. Charlemagne, accompanied by Guerin and his valiant family,
marched to meet Marsilius, who hastened to retreat across the frontier.
_Bullfinch._
_XVI.--THE LEGEND OF MACBETH._
1. Soon after the Scots and Picts had become one people, there was a
king of Scotland called Duncan, a very good old man. He had two sons,
Malcolm and Donaldbane. But King Duncan was too old to lead out his
army to battle, and his sons were too young to help him. Now it
happened that a great fleet of Danes came to Scotland and landed their
men in Fife and threatened to take possession of that province. So a
numerous Scottish army was levied to go out to fight with them. The
king intrusted the command to Macbeth, a near kinsman.
2. This Macbeth, who was a brave soldier, put himself at the head of
the Scottish army and marched against the Danes. And he took with him
a near relative of his own called Banquo, a brave and successful
soldier. There was a great battle fought between the Danes and the
Scots, and Macbeth and Banquo defeated the Danes and drove them back
to their ships, leaving a great many of their soldiers killed and
wounded. Then Macbeth and his army marched back to Forres in the north
of Scotland, rejoicing on account of their victory.
3. Now, at this time, there lived in the town of Forres three old
women, whom people thought were witches, and supposed they could tell
what was to come to pass. These old women went and stood by the
way-side, in a great moor near Forres, and waited until Macbeth came
up. And then stepping before him as he was marching at the head of his
soldiers the first woman said, "All hail Macbeth! hail to the Thane of
Glamis!" The second said, "All hail to the Thane of Cawdor!" Then the
third wishing to pay him a higher compliment, said: "All hail Macbeth,
that shall be King of Scotland!" While Macbeth stood wondering what
they could mean, Banquo stepped forward and asked if they had not
something good to say to him. And they said he should not be so great
as Macbeth, yet his children should succeed to the throne of Scotland
and reign for a great number of years.
4. Before Macbeth had recovered from his surprise, there came a
messenger to tell him that his father was dead; so that, he was Thane
of Glamis; and then came a second messenger from the king to thank
Macbeth for the great victory over the Danes, and to tell him that the
Thane of Cawdor had rebelled against the king, and that the king had
taken his office from him, and had sent to make Macbeth Thane of
Cawdor. Macbeth, seeing that a part of their words came true, began to
think how he might become king as the three old women had predicted.
Now Lady Macbeth was a very wicked woman, and she showed Macbeth that
the only way to become king was to kill good King Duncan. At first
Macbeth would not listen to her, but at last his ambition to be king
became so great that he resolved to murder his kinsman and best friend.
5. To accomplish his purpose he invited King Duncan to visit him in
his own castle near Inverness, and the king accepted the invitation.
Macbeth and his lady received their distinguished guests with great
seeming joy and made for them a great feast. At the close of the feast
the king retired to rest, and all the other guests followed his
example. The two personal attendants of the king whose duty it was to
watch over him while asleep, were purposely made drunk by Lady
Macbeth, and they fell upon their couch in a profound slumber.
[Illustration: _Macbeth._]
6. Then Macbeth came into King Duncan's room about two o'clock in the
morning. It was a terrible stormy night, but the noise of the wind and
the thunder could not awaken the king, as he was old and weary with
his journey; neither could it awaken the two sentinels. They all slept
soundly. So Macbeth stepped gently over the floor and took the two
dirks which belonged to the sentinels and stabbed poor old King Duncan
to the heart, so he died without a groan. Then Macbeth put the bloody
daggers into the hands of the sleeping sentinels and daubed their
hands and faces with blood. Macbeth was frightened at what he had
done, but his wife made him wash his hands and go to bed.
7. Early in the morning the nobles and gentlemen who attended on the
king assembled in the great hall of the castle, and then they began to
talk of what a dreadful storm there had been the night before. They
waited for some time, but finding the king did not come out, one of the
noblemen went to see whether he was well or not. But when he came into
the room he found King Duncan dead, and went back and spread the alarm.
The Scottish nobles were greatly enraged at the sight, and Macbeth made
believe he was more enraged than any of them, and drawing his sword he
killed the two attendants of the king, still heavy with sleep in
consequence of the drink furnished by Lady Macbeth the night before.
8. Malcolm and Donaldbane, the two sons of Duncan, when they saw their
father dead, fled from the castle, as they believed that Macbeth had
committed the murder. Malcolm, the eldest son, made his way to the
English court, and solicited aid to get possession of his father's
throne. In the mean time Macbeth took possession of the kingdom of
Scotland. The remembrance of his great crime continually haunted him,
and he became so sleepless as to be nearly insane. He remembered that
the witches had said that the children of Banquo should reign as kings
in Scotland, and he became terribly jealous of his old friend and
companion. At last he hired ruffians to waylay Banquo and his sons and
murder them. The scheme was partially successful--Banquo was killed
but the sons escaped, and from him descended a long line of the early
Scottish kings.
9. But Macbeth was not more happy after he had slain his friend and
cousin Banquo. He knew that people began to suspect him of his evil
deeds, and he was constantly afraid that some of his nobles would
treat him as he treated King Duncan. In his perplexity he sought the
three witches he had met before, to ask them what was to happen to him
in the future. They answered him that he should not be conquered nor
lose the crown of Scotland until a great forest, called Birnam Wood
should come to attack him in his strong castle on Dunsinane hill. As
the distance between the two was about twelve miles, Macbeth thought
it was impossible that the trees should ever come to assault him in
his castle. He immediately summoned all his nobles to assist him in
strengthening his castle at Dunsinane. All the nobles were obliged to
furnish oxen and horses to drag the heavy stones and logs used on the
fortification up the steep hill.
10. One day Macbeth noticed a pair of oxen so tired with their burden
that they fell down under their load. Upon inquiry he learned that they
belonged to Macduff, the Thane of Fife. The king, who was jealous of
Macduff, flew into a great rage and declared that "since the Thane of
Fife sends such worthless cattle as these to do my labor, I will put his
own neck into the yoke, and make him drag the burden himself." A friend
of Macduff who heard this speech hastened to the king's castle and
informed Macduff who was walking about while the dinner was preparing.
11. Macduff snatched a loaf of bread from the table, called for his
horses and servants, and galloped off toward his own castle of
Kennoway in Fife. When Macbeth returned he first asked what had become
of Macduff, and being informed that he had fled from Dunsinane,
Macbeth put himself at the head of a large force of his guards, and
immediately pursued. Macduff reached his castle which is built upon
the shore of the sea, a little in advance of the king. He ordered his
wife to shut the gates of the castle and pull up the drawbridge, and
on no account permit the king or any of his soldiers to enter. In the
mean time he went aboard a small ship and put out to sea.
12. Macbeth then summoned the lady to open the gates and deliver up
her husband. "Do you see," said she, "yon white sail upon the sea?
Yonder goes Macduff to the court of England. You will never see him
again until he comes with young Prince Malcolm to pull you down from
the throne and put you to death. You will never be able to put your
yoke upon the neck of the Thane of Fife."
13. Some say that Macbeth was so enraged at the escape of Macduff that
he stormed and took the castle, and put to death the wife and children
of Macduff. But others say that Macbeth turned back from the strong
castle and its brave defenders, and returned to his own home at
Dunsinane. Macduff readily found Prince Malcolm and the English king,
fitted them out with an army. Upon entering Scotland a large share of
the nobles deserted Macbeth and joined the forces of Malcolm. The army
marched as far as Birnam Wood where they encamped to rest and recuperate.
14. Macbeth, in the mean time, shut himself up in his castle, where he
thought himself safe according to the old woman's prophecy, until
Birnam Wood should advance against him, and this he never expected to
see. Malcolm's army having entirely recovered their strength and
vigor, at length were ready to march. As they were about to start,
Macduff advised each soldier to cut down the bough of a tree and carry
it so as to conceal the strength of the army as they crossed the
valley. The sentinel on the castle walls saw all these green boughs
advancing, ran to Macbeth and informed him that the wood of Birnam was
moving toward the castle of Dunsinane. The king at first called him a
liar and threatened to put him to death; but when he looked from the
walls himself, and saw the appearance of a forest approaching from
Birnam, he remembered the prediction, and felt that the hour of his
destruction had come.
15. His followers were also superstitious and began to desert him. But
Macbeth, at the head of those who remained true to him sallied out,
and was killed in a hand-to-hand conflict with Macduff. This story, a
tradition, is told by Sir Walter Scott, and forms the foundation of
Shakespeare's tragedy of "Macbeth."
[Illustration]
OLD BALLADS.
_XVII.--CHEVY-CHASE._
1. God prosper long our noble king,
Our lives and safeties all;
A woful hunting once there did
In Chevy-Chase befall.
2. The stout Earl of Northumberland
A vow to God did make
His pleasure in the Scottish woods
Three summer days to take--
3. The chiefest harts in Chevy-Chase
To kill and bear away.
These tidings to Earl Douglas came,
In Scotland where he lay;
4. Who sent Earl Percy present word
He would prevent his sport.
The English earl, not fearing that,
Did to the woods resort,
5. With fifteen hundred bowmen bold,
All chosen men of might,
Who knew full well in time of need
To aim their shafts aright.
6. The gallant greyhounds swiftly ran
To chase the fallow deer;
On Monday they began to hunt
When daylight did appear;
7. And long before high noon they had
A hundred fat bucks slain;
Then, having dined, the drovers went
To rouse the deer again.
8. Lord Percy to the quarry went,
To view the slaughtered deer;
Quoth he, "Earl Douglas promised
This day to meet me here;
9. "But if I thought he would not come--
No longer would I stay";
With that a brave young gentleman
Thus to the earl did say:
10. "Lo, yonder doth Earl Douglas come--
His men in armor bright,
Full twenty hundred Scottish spears
All marching in our sight."
11. Earl Douglas on his milk-white steed,
Most like a baron bold,
Rode foremost of his company,
Whose armor shone like gold.
12. "Show me," said he, "whose men you be,
That hunt so boldly here,
That, without my consent, do chase
And kill my fallow-deer."
13. The first man that did answer make
Was noble Percy he--
Who said: "We list not to declare,
Nor show whose men we be:
14. "Yet will we spend our dearest blood
Thy chiefest harts to slay."
Then Douglas swore a solemn oath,
And thus in rage did say:
15. "Ere thus I will out-bravèd be,
One of us two shall die!
I know thee well, an earl thou art--
Lord Percy, so am I.
16. "Let you and me the battle try,
And set our men aside."
"Accursed be he," Earl Percy said,
"By whom this is denied!"
17. Then stepped a gallant squire forth,
Witherington was his name,
Who said: "I would not have it told
To Henry, our king, for shame,
18. "That e'er my captain fought on foot,
And I stood looking on.
You two be earls," said Witherington,
"And I a squire alone.
19. "I'll do the best that do I may,
While I have power to stand;
While I have power to wield my sword
I'll fight with heart and hand."
20. Our English archers bent their bows--
Their hearts were good and true;
At the first flight of arrows sent,
Full fourscore Scots they slew.
21. Yet stays Earl Douglas on the bent,
As chieftain stout and good;
As valiant captain, all unmoved,
The shock he firmly stood.
22. His host he parted had in three,
As leaders ware and tried;
And soon his spearmen on their foes
Bore down on every side.
23. At last these two stout earls did meet;
Like captains of great might,
Like lions wode, they laid on lode,
And made a cruel fight.
24. "Yield thee, Lord Percy," Douglas said.
"In faith I will thee bring
Where thou shalt high advancèd be
By James, our Scottish king.
25. "Thy ransom I will freely give,
And this report of thee--
Thou art the most courageous knight
That ever I did see."
26. "No, Douglas," saith Earl Percy then,
"Thy proffer I do scorn;
I will not yield to any Scot
That ever yet was born."
27. With that there came an arrow keen
Out of an English bow,
Which struck Earl Douglas to the heart--
A deep and deadly blow;
28. Who never spake more words than these
"Fight on, my merry men all;
For why, my life is at an end;
Lord Percy sees my fall."
29. Then leaving life, Earl Percy took
The dead man by the hand,
And said: "Earl Douglas, for thy life
Would I had lost my land!
30. "In truth, my very heart doth bleed
With sorrow for thy sake;
For sure a more redoubted knight
Mischance did never make."
31. A knight amongst the Scots there was
Who saw Earl Douglas die,
Who straight in wrath did vow revenge
Upon the Earl Percy.
32. Sir Hugh Mountgomery was he called,
Who with a spear full bright,
Well mounted on a gallant steed,
Ran fiercely through the fight;
33. And past the English archers all,
Without a dread or fear,
And through Earl Percy's body then
He thrust his hateful spear.
34. So thus did both these nobles die,
Whose courage none could stain.
An English archer then perceived
The noble earl was slain.
35. Against Sir Hugh Mountgomery
To right a shaft he set;
The gray goose-wing that was thereon
In his heart's blood was wet.
36. This fight did last from break of day
Till setting of the sun;
For when they rung the evening-bell
The battle scarce was done.
37. Of fifteen hundred Englishmen
Went home but fifty-three;
The rest in Chevy-Chase were slain,
Under the greenwood-tree.
38. The news was brought to Edinburg,
Where Scotland's king did reign,
That brave Earl Douglas suddenly
Was with an arrow slain.
39. "Oh, heavy news!" King James did say;
"Scotland can witness be,
I have not any captain more
Of such account as he."
40. Like tidings to King Henry came
Within as short a space,
That Percy of Northumberland
Was slain in Chevy-Chase;
41. "Now God be with him," said our king,
"Since 'twill no better be;
I trust I have within my realm
Five hundred as good as he:
42. "Yet shall not Scot or Scotland say
But I will vengeance take;
I'll be revengèd on them all
For brave Earl Percy's sake!"
43. This vow full well the king performed
After at Humbledown:
In one day fifty knights were slain,
With lords of high renown;
44. And of the rest, of small account,
Did many hundreds die:
Thus endeth the hunting of Chevy-Chase,
Made by the Earl Percy.
45. God save the king and bless this land
With plenty, joy, and peace;
And grant, henceforth, that foul debate
'Twixt noblemen may cease!
_Old Ballad._
_XVIII.--VALENTINE AND URSINE._
1. When Flora 'gins to deck the fields
With colors fresh and fine,
Then holy clerks their matins sing
To good St. Valentine.
2. The King of France, that morning fair,
He would a-hunting ride,
To Artois Forest prancing forth
In all his princely pride.
3. To grace his sports a courtly train
Of gallant peers attend,
And with their loud and cheerful cries
The hills and valleys rend.
4. Through the deep forest swift they pass,
Through woods and thickets wild,
When down within a lonely dell
They found a new-born child.
5. All in a scarlet kerchief laid,
Of silk so fine and thin,
A golden mantle wrapt him round,
Pinned with a silver pin.
6. The sudden sight surprised them all,
The courtiers gathered round;
They look, they call, the mother seek--
No mother could be found.
7. At length the king himself drew near,
And, as he gazing stands,
The pretty babe looked up and smiled,
And stretched his little hands.
8. "Now, by the rood," King Pepin says,
"This child is passing fair;
I wot he is of gentle blood,
Perhaps some prince's heir.
9. "Go, bear him home unto my court,
With all the care you may,
Let him be christened Valentine,
In honor of this day.
10. "And look me out some cunning nurse,
Well nurtured let him be;
Nor aught be wanting that becomes
A bairn of high degree."
11. They looked him out a cunning nurse,
And nurtured well was he;
Nor aught was wanting that became
A bairn of high degree.
12. Thus grew the little Valentine,
Beloved of king and peers,
And showed in all he spake or did
A wit beyond his years.
13. But chief in gallant feats of arms
He did himself advance,
That, ere he grew to man's estate,
He had no peer in France.
14. And now the early down began
To shade his youthful chin,
When Valentine was dubbed a knight,
That he might glory win.
15. "A boon, a boon, my gracious liege,
I beg a boon of thee:
The first adventure that befalls
May be reserved for me."
16. "The first adventure shall be thine,"
The king did smiling say.
Not many days, when lo! there came
Three palmers clad in gray.
17. "Help, gracious lord," they weeping said,
And knelt, as it was meet;
"From Artois Forest we are come,
With weak and weary feet.
18. "Within those deep and dreary woods
There dwells a savage boy,
Whose fierce and mortal rage doth yield
Thy subjects dire annoy.
19. "To more than savage strength he joins
A more than human skill;
For arms no cunning may suffice
His cruel rage to still."
20. Up then rose Sir Valentine
And claimed that arduous deed.
"Go forth and conquer," said the king,
"And great shall be thy meed."
21. Well mounted on a milk-white steed,
His armor white as snow,
As well beseemed a virgin knight,
Who ne'er had fought a foe--
22. To Artois Forest he repairs,
With all the haste he may,
And soon he spies the savage youth
A-rending of his prey!
23. His unkempt hair all matted hung
His shaggy shoulders round;
His eager eye all fiery glowed,
His face with fury frowned.
24. Like eagle's talons grew his nails,
His limbs were thick and strong,
And dreadful was the knotted oak
He bare with him along.
25. Soon as Sir Valentine approached,
He starts with sudden spring,
And yelling forth a hideous howl,
He made the forest ring.
26. As when a tiger fierce and fell
Hath spied a passing roe,
And leaps at once upon his throat,
So sprang the savage foe.
27. So lightly leaped with furious force,
The gentle knight to seize,
But met his tall uplifted spear,
Which sank him on his knees.
28. A second stroke, so stiff and stern,
Had laid the savage low;
But, springing up, he raised his club,
And aimed a dreadful blow.
29. The watchful warrior bent his head,
And shunned the coming stroke;
Upon his taper spear it fell,
And all to shivers broke.
30. Then, lighting nimbly from his steed,
He drew his burnished brand;
The savage quick as lightning flew
To wrest it from his hand.
31. Three times he grasped the silver hilt,
Three times he felt the blade;
Three times it fell with furious force,
Three ghastly cuts it made.
[Illustration:
"_To court his hairy captive soon
Sir Valentine doth bring,
And, kneeling down upon his knee,
Presents him to the king._"
]
32. Now with redoubled rage he roared,
His eyeballs flashed with fire,
Each hairy limb with fury shook,
And all his heart was ire.
33. But soon the knight, with active spring,
O'erturned his hairy foe,
And now between their sturdy fists
Passed many a bruising blow.
34. But brutal force and savage strength
To art and skill must yield;
Sir Valentine at length prevailed,
And won the well-fought field.
35. Then binding straight his conquered foe
Fast with an iron chain,
He ties him to his horse's tail,
And leads him o'er the plain.
36. To court his hairy captive soon
Sir Valentine doth bring,
And, kneeling down upon his knee,
Presents him to the king.
37. With loss of blood and loss of strength,
The savage tamer grew,
And to Sir Valentine became
A servant tried and true.
38. And, 'cause with bears he first was bred,
Ursine they called his name--
A name which unto future times
The Muses shall proclaim.
_Old Ballad._
[Illustration]
EARLY EASTERN RECORD.
_XIX.--SENNACHERIB._
1. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith
the Lord God of Israel, that which thou hast prayed to me against
Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
2. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The
virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to
scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
3. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast
thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against
the Holy One of Israel.
4. By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With
the multitude of my chariots, I am come up to the height of the
mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall
cedar-trees thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof: and I will enter
into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
5. I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my
feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
6. Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient
times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou
shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
7. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed
and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green
herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be
grown up.
8. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy
rage against me.
9. Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine
ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy
lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
10. And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such
things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which
springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and
plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
11. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet
again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
12. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that
escape out of Mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
13. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He
shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come
before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
14. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall
not come into this city, saith the Lord.
15. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and
for my servant David's sake.
16. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went
out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and
five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they
were all dead corpses.
17. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned,
and dwelt at Nineveh.
_II Kings, xix, 20-36._
THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB.
1. The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
2. Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with its banners at sunset was seen;
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
3. For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed on the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still.
4. And there lay the steed, with his nostrils all wide,
But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
5. And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail,
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
6. And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.
[Illustration]
_Byron._
_XX.--GLAUCON._
1. When Glaucon, the son of Ariston, attempted to harangue the people,
from a desire, though he was not yet twenty years of age, to have a
share in the government of the state, no one of his relatives, or
other friends, could prevent him from getting himself dragged down
from the tribunal and making himself ridiculous; but Socrates, who had
a friendly feeling toward him on account of Charmides, the son of
Glaucon, as well as on account of Plato, succeeded in prevailing on
him, by his sole dissuasion, to relinquish his purpose.
[Illustration: _Socrates._]
2. Meeting him by chance, he first stopped him by addressing him as
follows, that he might be willing to listen to him: "Glaucon," said
he, "have you formed an intention to govern the state for us?" "I
have, Socrates," replied Glaucon. "By Jupiter," rejoined Socrates, "it
is an honorable office, if any other among men be so; for it is
certain that, if you attain your object, you will be able yourself to
secure whatever you may desire, and will be in a condition to benefit
your friends; you will raise your father's house, and increase the
power of your country; you will be celebrated first of all in your own
city, and afterward throughout Greece, and perhaps, also, like
Themistocles, among the barbarians, and, wherever you may be, you will
be an object of general admiration." Glaucon, hearing this, was highly
elated, and cheerfully stayed to listen. Socrates next proceeded to
say: "But it is plain, Glaucon, that if you wish to be honored, you
must benefit the state." "Certainly," answered Glaucon. "Then, in the
name of the gods," said Socrates, "do not hide from us how you intend
to act, but inform us with what proceeding you will begin to benefit
the state." But as Glaucon was silent, as if just considering how he
should begin, Socrates said: "As, if you wished to aggrandize the
family of a friend, you would endeavor to make it richer, tell me
whether you will in like manner also endeavor to make the state
richer?" "Assuredly," said he. "Would it then be richer, if its
revenues were increased?" "That is at least probable," said Glaucon.
"Tell me then," proceeded Socrates, "from what the revenues of the
state arise, and what is their amount; for you have doubtless
considered, in order that if any of them fall short, you may make up
the deficiency, and that if any of them fail, you may procure fresh
supplies." "These matters, by Jupiter," replied Glaucon, "I have not
considered."
3. "Well, then," said Socrates, "if you have omitted to consider this
point, tell me at least the annual expenditure of the state; for you
undoubtedly mean to retrench whatever is superfluous in it." "Indeed,"
replied Glaucon, "I have not yet had time to turn my attention to that
subject." "We will therefore," said Socrates, "put off making our
state richer for the present; for how is it possible for him who is
ignorant of its expenditure and its income to manage those matters?"
4. "But Socrates," observed Glaucon, "it is possible to enrich the
state at the expense of our enemies." "Extremely possible, indeed,"
replied Socrates, "if we be stronger than they; but if we be weaker,
we may lose all that we have." "What you say is true," said Glaucon.
5. "Accordingly," said Socrates, "he who deliberates with whom he
shall go to war, ought to know the force both of his own country and
of the enemy, so that, if that of his own country be superior to that
of the enemy, he may advise it to enter upon the war, but if inferior,
may persuade it to be cautious of doing so." "You say rightly," said
Glaucon.
[Illustration: _Socrates and Glaucon._]
6. "In the first place, then," proceeded Socrates, "tell us the
strength of the country by land and sea, and next that of the enemy."
"But, by Jupiter," exclaimed Glaucon, "I should not be able to tell
you on the moment, and at a word." "Well, then, if you have it written
down," said Socrates, "bring it, for I should be extremely glad to
hear what it is." "But, to say the truth," replied Glaucon, "I have
not yet written it down."
7. "We will therefore put off considering about war for the present,"
said Socrates, "for it is very likely that on account of the magnitude
of these subjects, and as you are just commencing your administration,
you have not yet examined into them. But to the defense of the
country, I am quite sure that you have directed your attention, and
that you know how many garrisons are in advantageous positions, and
how many not so, what number of men would be sufficient to maintain
them, and what number would be insufficient, and that you will advise
your countrymen to make the garrisons in advantageous positions
stronger, and to remove the useless ones."
8. "By Jove," replied Glaucon, "I shall recommend them to remove them
all, as they keep guard so negligently, that the property is secretly
carried off out of the country." "Yet, if we remove the garrisons,"
said Socrates, "do you not think that liberty will be given to anybody
that pleases to pillage? But," added he, "have you gone personally and
examined as to this fact, or how do you know that the garrisons
conduct themselves with such negligence?" "I form my conjectures,"
said he. "Well, then," inquired Socrates, "shall we settle about these
matters also, when we no longer rest upon conjecture, but have
obtained certain knowledge?" "Perhaps that," said Glaucon, "will be
the better course."
9. "To the silver-mines, however," continued Socrates, "I know that
you have not gone, so as to have the means of telling us why a smaller
revenue is derived from them than came in some time ago." "I have not
gone thither," said he. "Indeed, the place," said Socrates, "is said
to be unhealthy, so that when it is necessary to bring it under
consideration, this will be a sufficient excuse for you." "You jest
with me," said Glaucon. "I am sure, however," proceeded Socrates,
"that you have not neglected to consider, but have calculated, how
long the corn which is produced in the country, will suffice to
maintain the city, and how much it requires for the year, in order
that the city may not suffer from scarcity unknown to you, but that,
from your own knowledge, you may be able, by giving your advice
concerning the necessaries of life, to support the city and preserve
it." "You propose a vast field for me," observed Glaucon, "if it will
be necessary for me to attend to such subjects."
10. "Nevertheless," proceeded Socrates, "a man can not order his house
properly, unless he ascertains all that it requires, and takes care to
supply it with everything necessary; but since the city consists of
more than ten thousand houses, and since it is difficult to provide
for so many at once, how is it that you have not tried to aid one
first of all, suppose that of your uncle, for it stands in need of
help? If you be able to assist that one, you may proceed to assist
more; but if you be unable to benefit one, how will you be able to
benefit many? Just as it is plain that, if a man can not carry the
weight of a talent, he need not attempt to carry a greater weight?"
11. "But I would improve my uncle's house," said Glaucon, "if he would
but be persuaded by me." "And then," resumed Socrates, "when you can
not persuade your uncle, do you expect to make all the Athenians,
together with your uncle, yield to your arguments?
12. "Take care, Glaucon, lest, while you are eager to acquire glory,
you meet with the reverse of it. Do you not see how dangerous it is
for a person to speak of, or undertake, what he does not understand?
Contemplate, among other men, such as you know to be characters that
plainly talk of, and attempt to do, what they do not know, and
consider whether they appear to you, by such conduct, to obtain more
applause or censure, whether they seem to be more admired or despised?
13. "Contemplate, again, those who have some understanding of what
they say and do, and you will find, I think, in all transactions, that
such as are praised and admired are of the number of those who have
most knowledge, and that those who incur censure and neglect are among
those that have least.
14. "If, therefore, you desire to gain esteem and reputation in your
country, endeavor to succeed in gaining a knowledge of what you wish
to do; for if, when you excel others in this qualification, you
proceed to manage the affairs of the state, I shall not wonder if you
very easily obtain what you desire."
_Xenophon._
_XXI.--CYRUS AND HIS GRANDFATHER._
1. When Cyrus was twelve years old, his mother Mandana took him with
her into Media to his grandfather Astyages, who, from the many things
he had heard in favor of the young prince, had a great desire to see
him. In this court young Cyrus found very different manners from those
of his own country: pride, luxury, and magnificence reigned here
universally. Astyages himself was richly clothed, had his eyes
colored, his face painted, and his hair embellished with artificial
locks; for the Medes affected an effeminate life--to be dressed in
scarlet and to wear necklaces and bracelets--whereas the habits of the
Persians were very plain and coarse.
2. All this finery had no effect upon Cyrus, who, without criticising
or condemning what he saw, was content to live as he had been brought
up, and adhered to the principles he had imbibed from his infancy. He
charmed his grandfather with his sprightliness and wit, and gained the
favor of all by his noble and engaging behavior. I shall only mention
one instance, whereby we may judge of the rest. Astyages, to make his
grandson unwilling to return home, made a sumptuous entertainment, in
which there was a vast plenty and profusion of everything that was
nice and delicate. Cyrus looked upon all this exquisite cheer and
magnificent preparation with great indifference, and, observing that
it excited the surprise of Astyages, "The Persians," says he to the
king, "instead of going such a roundabout way to appease their hunger,
have a much shorter one to the same end: a little bread and cresses
with them answer the purpose."
3. Astyages desiring Cyrus to dispose of all the meats as he thought
fit, the latter immediately distributed them to the king's
officers-in-waiting: to one, because he taught him to ride; to
another, because he waited well upon his grandfather; and to a third,
because he took great care of his mother. Sacas, the king's
cup-bearer, was the only person to whom he gave nothing. This officer,
besides the post of cup-bearer, had that likewise of introducing those
who were to have audience with the king; and, as he could not possibly
grant that favor to Cyrus as often as he desired it, he had the
misfortune to displease the prince, who took this occasion to show his
resentment.
4. Astyages, manifesting some concern at the neglect of this officer,
for whom he had a particular regard, and who deserved it, as he said,
on account of the wonderful dexterity with which he served him--"Is
that all, father?" replied Cyrus; "if that be sufficient to merit your
favor, you shall see I will quickly obtain it; for I will take upon me
to serve you better than he." Cyrus immediately equipped as a
cup-bearer, and advancing gravely with a serious countenance, a napkin
upon his shoulder, and holding the cup nicely with three of his
fingers, presented it to the king with a dexterity and a grace that
charmed both Astyages and Mandana. When he had done he threw himself
upon his grandfather's neck, and, kissing him, cried out with great
joy: "O Sacas! poor Sacas! thou art undone; I shall have thy place!"
5. Astyages embraced him with great fondness, and said: "I am highly
pleased, my dear child; nobody can serve me with a better grace; but
you have forgot one essential ceremony, which is that of tasting";
and, indeed, the cup-bearer was used to pour some of the liquor into
his left hand, and to taste it, before he presented it to the king.
"No," replied Cyrus, "it was not through forgetfulness that I omitted
that ceremony." "Why, then," says Astyages, "for what reason did you
not do it?" "Because I apprehended there was poison in the liquor."
"Poison, child! How could you think so?" "Yes, poison, father, for not
long ago, at an entertainment you gave to the lords of your court,
after the guests had drunk a little of that liquor, I perceived all
their heads were turned. They sang, made a noise, and talked they did
not know what; you yourself seemed to have forgotten that you were
king, and they that they were subjects; and when you would have danced
you could not stand upon your legs." "Why," said Astyages, "have you
never seen the same thing happen to your father?" "No, never," says
Cyrus. "What, then? How is it with him when he drinks?" "Why, when he
has drunk, his thirst is quenched, and that is all."
6. Mandana being upon the point of returning to Persia, Cyrus joyfully
complied with the repeated requests his grandfather had made to him to
stay in Media; being desirous, as he said, to perfect himself in the
art of riding, which he was not yet master of, and which was not known
in Persia, where the barrenness of the country and its craggy,
mountainous situation rendered it unfit for the breeding of horses.
7. During the time of his residence at this court his behavior
procured him infinite love and esteem. He was gentle, affable,
beneficent, and generous. Whenever the young lords had any favor to
ask of the king, Cyrus was their solicitor. If the king had any
subject of complaint against them, Cyrus was their mediator; their
affairs became his, and he always managed them so well that he
obtained whatever he desired.
_Rollin._
_XXII.--CYRUS AND THE ARMENIANS._
1. The King of Armenia who was vassal to the Medes, looking upon them
as ready to be swallowed up by a formidable league formed against
them, thought fit to lay hold of this occasion to shake off their
yoke. Accordingly he refused to pay them the ordinary tribute, and to
send them the number of troops he was obliged to furnish in time of
war. This highly embarrassed Cyaxares, who was afraid at this
juncture of bringing new enemies upon his hands if he undertook to
compel the Armenians to execute their treaty.
2. But Cyrus, having informed himself exactly of the strength and
situation of the country, undertook the affair. The important point was
to keep his design secret, without which it was not likely to succeed.
He therefore appointed a great hunting-match on that side of the
country; for it was his custom to ride out that way, and frequently to
hunt with the king's son and the young noblemen of Armenia. On the
appointed day, he set out with a numerous retinue. The troops followed
at a distance, and were not to appear till a signal was given. After
some days' hunting, when they had nearly reached the palace where the
court resided, Cyrus communicated his design to his officers; and sent
Chrysanthes with a detachment, ordering them to make themselves master
of a certain steep eminence, where he knew the king used to retire in
case of an alarm, with his family and his treasures.
3. This being done, he sent a herald to the king of Armenia, to summon
him to perform the treaty, and in the mean time ordered his troops to
advance. Never was a court in greater surprise and perplexity. The
king was conscious of the wrong he had done, and was not in a
condition to support it. However, he did what he could to assemble his
forces together from all quarters; and in the mean time dispatched his
youngest son, called Stabaris, into the mountains, with his wives, his
daughters, and whatever was most precious and valuable. But when he
was informed by his scouts that Cyrus was closely pursuing, he
entirely lost all courage, and all thoughts of making a defense.
4. The Armenians, following his example, ran away, every one where he
could, to secure what was dearest to him. Cyrus, seeing the country
covered with people that were endeavoring to make their escape, sent
them word that no harm should be done to them if they stayed in their
houses; but that as many as were taken running away should be treated
as enemies. This made them all retire to their habitations, excepting
a few that followed the king.
5. On the other hand, they that were conducting the princesses to the
mountains fell into the ambush Chrysanthes had laid for them, and were
most of them taken prisoners. The queen, the king's son, his
daughters, his eldest son's wife, and his treasures, all fell into the
hands of the Persians.
6. The king, hearing this melancholy news, and not knowing what would
become of him, retired to a little eminence, where he was presently
invested by the Persian army, and obliged to surrender. Cyrus ordered
him with all his family to be brought to the midst of the army. At
that very instant arrived Tigranes, the king's eldest son, who was
just returned from a journey. At so moving a scene he could not
forbear weeping. Cyrus, addressing himself to him, said: "Prince, you
are come very seasonably to be present at the trial of your father."
And immediately he assembled the captains of the Persians and Medes,
and called in also the great men of Armenia. Nor did he so much as
exclude the ladies from this assembly, who were there in their
chariots, but gave them full liberty to hear and see all that passed.
7. When all was ready and Cyrus had commanded silence, he began with
requiring of the king, that in all the questions he was about to
propose to him, he would answer sincerely, because nothing could be
more unworthy a person of his rank than to use dissimulation or
falsehood. The king promised he would. Then Cyrus asked him, but at
different times, proposing each article separately, and in order,
whether it was not true, that he had made war upon Astyages, King of
the Medes, his grandfather; whether he had not been overcome in that
war, and in consequence of his defeat had concluded a treaty with
Astyages; whether by virtue of that treaty he was not obliged to pay a
certain tribute, to furnish a certain number of troops, and not to
keep any fortified place in his country.
8. It was impossible for the king to deny any of these facts, which
were all public and notorious. "For what reason, then," continued
Cyrus, "have you violated the treaty in every article?" "For no
other," replied the king, "than because I thought it a glorious thing
to shake off the yoke, to live free, and to leave my children in the
same condition." "It is really glorious," answered Cyrus, "to fight in
defense of liberty, but if any one, after he is reduced to servitude,
should attempt to run away from his master, what would you do with
him?" "I must confess," said the king, "I would punish him." "And if
you had given a government to one of your subjects, and he should be
found to misbehave, would you continue him in his post?" "No,
certainly; I would put another in his place." "And if he had amassed
great riches by his unjust practices?" "I would strip him of them."
"But, which is still worse, if he had held intelligence with your
enemies, how would you treat him?" "Though I should pass sentence upon
myself," replied the king, "I must declare the truth; I would put him
to death." At these words Tigranes tore his tiara from his head, and
rent his garments; the women burst out into lamentations and outcries,
as if the sentence had actually passed upon him.
9. Cyrus, having again commanded silence, Tigranes addressed himself
to the prince to this effect: "Great prince, can you think it
consistent with your wisdom, to put my father to death, even against
your own interest?" "How against my interest?" replied Cyrus. "Because
he was never so capable of doing you service." "How do you make that
appear? Do the faults we commit enhance our merit, and give us a new
title to consideration and favor?" "They certainly do, provided they
serve to make us wiser; for wisdom is of inestimable value. Are either
riches, courage, or address to be compared to it? Now it is evident,
this single day's experience has infinitely improved my father's
wisdom. He knows how dear the violation of his word has cost him. He
has proved and felt how much you are superior to him in all respects.
He has not been able to succeed in any of his designs; but you have
happily accomplished all yours; and with such expedition and secrecy
that he has found himself surrounded and taken before he expected to
be attacked, and the very place of his retreat has served only to
ensnare him."
10. "But your father," replied Cyrus, "has yet undergone no sufferings
that can have taught him wisdom." "The fear of evils," answered
Tigranes, "when it is so well founded as this is, has a much sharper
sting, and is more capable of piercing the soul, than the evil itself.
Besides, permit me to say, that gratitude is a stronger and more
prevailing motive than any whatever; and there can be no obligations
in the world of a higher nature than those you will lay upon my
father--his fortune, liberty, scepter, life, wives, and children, all
restored to him with such a generosity. Where can you find,
illustrious prince, in one single person, so many strong and powerful
ties to attach him to your service?"
11. "Well, then," replied Cyrus, turning to the king, "if I should
yield to your son's entreaties, with what number of men, and what sum
of money, will you assist us in the war against the Babylonians?" "My
troops and treasures," says the Armenian king, "are no longer mine;
they are entirely yours. I can raise forty thousand foot and eight
thousand horse; and as for money, I reckon, including the treasure
which my father left me, there are about three thousand talents ready
money. All these are wholly at your disposal." Cyrus accepted half the
number of the troops, and left the king the other half, for the
defense of the country against the Chaldeans, with whom he was at war.
12. The annual tribute which was due to the Medes he doubled, and
instead of fifty talents exacted a hundred, and borrowed the like sum
over and above in his own name. "But what would you give me," added
Cyrus, "for the ransom of your wives?" "All that I have in the world,"
replied the king. "And for the ransom of your children?" "The same
thing." "From this time, then, you are indebted to me the double of
all your possessions. And you, Tigranes, at what price would you
redeem the liberty of your lady?" Now he had lately married her, and
was passionately fond of her. "At the price," said he, "of a thousand
lives if I had them." Cyrus then conducted them all to his tent, and
entertained them at supper. It is easy to imagine what transports of
joy there must have been upon this occasion.
13. After supper, as they were discoursing upon various subjects,
Cyrus asked Tigranes what was become of a governor whom he had often
seen hunting with him, and for whom he had a particular esteem.
"Alas!" said Tigranes, "he is no more; and I dare not tell you by what
accident I lost him." Cyrus pressed him to tell him. "My father,"
continued Tigranes, "seeing I had a very tender affection for this
governor, and that I was extremely attached to him, suspected it might
be of some ill consequence and put him to death. But he was so honest
a man, that as he was ready to expire, he sent for me and spoke to me
in these words: 'Tigranes, let not my death occasion any
dissatisfaction in you toward the king your father. What he has done
to me did not proceed from malice, but only from prejudice, and a
false notion wherewith he was unhappily blinded.'" "Oh, the excellent
man!" cried Cyrus, "never forget the last advice he gave you."
14. When the conversation was ended, Cyrus, before they parted,
embraced them all, as in token of a perfect reconciliation. This done,
they got into their chariots, with their wives, and went home full of
gratitude and admiration. Nothing but Cyrus was mentioned the whole
way; some extolling his wisdom, others his valor; some admiring the
sweetness of his temper, others praising the beauty of his person and
the majesty of his mien. "And you," said Tigranes, addressing himself
to his lady, "what do you think of Cyrus's aspect and deportment?" "I
do not know," replied the lady, "I did not observe him." "Upon what
object, then, did you fix your eyes?" "Upon him that said he would
give a thousand lives to ransom my liberty."
The next day the King of Armenia sent presents to Cyrus, and
refreshments for his whole army, and brought him double the sum of
money he was required to furnish. But Cyrus took only what had been
stipulated, and restored him the rest. The Armenian troops were
ordered to be ready in three days' time, and Tigranes desired to
command them.
_Rollin._
_XXIII.--THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE._
1. After the battle of Platæa, in which the army of the Persian king
Xerxes was defeated and destroyed, the Greek states became the
dominant power in the civilized world, and the Greek cities became
centers of influence and art. Under Pericles, the successor of
Themistocles, Athens, in richness and beauty of her palaces and
temples, arrived at a point of excellence which far surpassed anything
the world had before seen. But jealousies between different states led
to civil wars that desolated the whole land, and in the next one
hundred and fifty years scarcely any progress was made in adding to
the national strength. While these bloody wars were going on
principally between Sparta and Athens, the tribes of Macedon, a region
lying immediately north of Greece, were rapidly becoming civilized and
consolidated. In 359 B. C. Philip became the reigning monarch.
2. He was very desirous of being considered as a Greek, invited
distinguished men to his court, and ordered public rejoicings in his
kingdom when his chariots had won the prize at the Olympic games. He
was very clever, and cared little about the justice and honor of the
means by which he attained his ends, which were, to hold in subjection
all the rest of Greece, and to conquer Persia. In the first design he
succeeded, for the latter he only prepared the way for his son. He had
both to form his officers and his army. The first he attempted by
bringing the young nobles to his court, and there instructing them;
and in the last he succeeded in a remarkable manner.
3. The chief strength of the army, as he constituted it, was in the
phalanx, a body of sixteen thousand foot soldiers, fully armed in the
Greek fashion, with spears twenty-four feet long. When drawn up in
order of battle, the four front ranks held their spears pointing
outward, and stood at such a space apart, that the foremost line had
four spear-points between each man and the enemy, or on occasion they
marched with their shields touching, so as to form an almost
impenetrable wall.
4. As soon as Philip's designs against Greece were apparent, a strong
spirit of resistance showed itself, and chiefly at Athens, where the
great orator, Demosthenes, never ceased to rouse his countrymen to
maintain their freedom. Demosthenes had trained himself in eloquence
under great difficulties; he naturally either stammered, or had an
indistinct pronunciation--a defect which he cured by speaking with
pebbles in his mouth, and he used to rehearse his speeches to the
roaring sea, in order to nerve himself against the clamors of a
tumultuous assembly. He so far succeeded, that he often swayed the
minds of the Athenians; his name stands as the first of orators, and
his Philippics, as his discourses against Philip are called, are
considered as models of rhetoric.
5. At Cheronæa, in 338, a battle was fought by Philip against the
allied forces of the Athenians and Thebans. At one time the Athenians
gained some advantage, but they used it so ill, that Philip, calling
out to his troops, "They do not know how to conquer," made a sudden
charge, and routed them with great slaughter. The battle of Cheronæa
was the end of the independence of Greece, which from that time
forward became subject to Macedon, in spite of its many struggles to
shake off the yoke, and recover the liberty which had been lost for
want of a firm, united, settled government.
6. The King of Macedon next commenced his arrangements for his other
favorite scheme--the invasion of Asia; but in the year 336, in the
midst of the feasts in honor of his daughter's marriage, he was
murdered by a young Macedonian noble, who was slain in the first anger
of the surrounding guards, without having time to disclose the motive
of his crime.
7. Alexander, son of Philip and his Epirot queen Olympias, was twenty
years of age when he came to the throne. On the night of his birth the
temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was burned to the ground by a man named
Erostratus, in the foolish desire of making himself notorious, and
this Alexander liked to consider as an omen that he should himself
kindle a flame in Asia.
8. He traced his descent from his father's side from Hercules, and by
his mother's from Achilles, and throughout his boyhood he seems to
have lived in a world of the old Greek poetry, sleeping with Homer's
works under his pillow, and dreaming of deeds in which he should rival
the fame of the victors of Troy. He was placed under the care of
Aristotle, the great philosopher of Stagira, to whom, when Philip had
written to announce Alexander's birth, he had said that he knew not
whether most to rejoice at having a son, or that his son would have
such a teacher as Aristotle.
9. From him the young Alexander learned to think deeply, to resolve
firmly, and devise plans of government; by others he was instructed in
all the graceful accomplishments of the Greeks, and under his father
he was trained to act promptly. At fourteen he tamed the noble horse
Bucephalus, which no one else dared to mount; two years later he
rescued his father in a battle with the Scythians, and he commanded
the cavalry at Cheronæa, but he was so young at the time of his
accession, that the Greeks thought they had nothing to fear from him.
[Illustration: _Battle on the Granicus._]
10. There were very ungenerous rejoicings at Athens at the murder of
Philip. Demosthenes, though he had just lost a daughter, crowned himself
with a wreath of flowers, and came with great tokens of joy to announce
it to the Athenians so soon after the event, as almost to excite a
suspicion that he must have been concerned in the crime. But they found
that their joy was unfounded, for no sooner did Thebes take up arms,
than Alexander marched against it, destroyed the walls, killed many of
the citizens, and blotted it out from the number of Greek cities. The
other states did not dare to make any further opposition, and he was
thus at leisure to prepare for the invasion of Persia.
11. Leaving Antipater as governor of Macedon, he set out in the spring
of 334, at the head of thirty thousand infantry and four thousand five
hundred cavalry, and bade farewell to his native land, which he was
never to see again. He crossed the Hellespont, and was the first man
to leap on Asiatic ground; then, while his forces were landing, he
went to visit the spot which had so long been the object of his
dreams--the village which marked the site of Troy. He offered a
sacrifice at the tomb of Achilles, hung up his own shield in the
temple, and took down one which was said to be a relic of the Greek
conquerors, intending to have it always borne before him in battle.
12. His march was at first toward the east, along the shore of the
Hellespont, until at the river Granicus he met the Persians drawn up
on the other bank of the river, under the command of the satrap
Memnon. Alexander himself, at the head of his cavalry, charged through
the midst of the rapid stream, won the landing-place, and followed by
the phalanx, quickly gained a complete victory.
13. All the neighboring country fell into his hands, and after taking
possession of it, he changed his course, marching along the shores of
the Ægean, and taking all the towns. It was his first object to cut
the Persians off from their seaports, and thus deprive them of the use
of their fleet, which was so superior to his own, that he never
ventured on one sea-fight.
14. This march round the western and southern coasts of Asia Minor,
together with an expedition into the interior, occupied a year, and in
the early part of the summer, he arrived at Tarsus, in Cilicia. Here,
on entering the city, overwhelmed with heat and fatigue, he bathed in
the cold waters of the Cydnus, and the chill brought on a violent
fever, which nearly cost him his life. A letter was sent to warn him
that his physician, Philip, had been bribed by the Persian king to
poison him. While he was reading it the physician himself brought him
a draught of medicine; the king put the letter into his hand, took the
cup and drank it off, even before Philip could profess his innocence.
In three days' time he was again able to appear at the head of his
troops, and not before he was needed, for the enemy's army was near at
hand, under King Darius Codomanus himself.
15. The Persians advanced in great state. First came a number of
persons bearing silver altars, on which burned the sacred fire; then
followed the Magi, and three hundred and sixty-five youths robed in
scarlet, in honor of the days of the year. Next came the chariot and
horses of the Sun, with their attendants, and afterward the army
itself, the Immortal Band, with gold-handled lances, white robes, and
jeweled corslets, and a host of others of less note, all far more fit
for show than for battle. Darius himself, arrayed in purple robes and
glittering with jewels, was in the midst, in a chariot covered with
gold ornaments, and with him came his mother, Sisygambis, his
principal wife, his daughters, a number of other ladies, and a
multitude of slaves. This unwieldy and useless host took up their
position on the hilly ground above the city of Issus, where they were
so entangled among the rocks, that their numbers were of little profit
to them, and it was an easy victory for the Macedonians. No sooner did
Darius see that the day was against him, than he turned his chariot
and fled, leaving his family to fall into the hands of the conqueror,
while he himself hastened to Babylon to collect another army.
16. Alexander treated the mother, wife, and children of Darius with
great kindness and courtesy, sending an officer to assure them of his
protection, and going the next morning to visit them, accompanied by
his friend Hephæstion, a young man of his own age. Alexander, though
of beautiful and noble countenance, and well formed for strength and
activity, was rather short in stature, and as his dress was very
simple, Sisygambis mistook Hephæstion for the King of Macedon, and
threw herself on the ground before him; and she was greatly confused
and distressed when she discovered her error; but Alexander said, as
he raised her, "You were not deceived, for he is Alexander's other
self." He gave her the name of mother, never sat down in her presence
except at her request, and showed in every point a respect and
courtesy such as she had probably never before received from the
Asiatic princes, who always held women in contempt.
17. Pursuing his intention of first destroying the naval power of the
Persian empire, Alexander next entered Phoenicia, and readily received
the submission of Zidon, but Tyre refused to admit him within the
walls. New Tyre, which was built after the seventy years' desolation
which followed the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar, stood upon an island
about half a mile from the shore, and was inhabited by a numerous and
brave people, who thought themselves secure from an enemy who had no
fleet to bring against them.
18. Alexander was, however, not to be daunted by any difficulty. He at
first attempted to build a causeway from the shore to the island, and
when the Tyrians destroyed his works he went to Zidon and there
obtained a fleet, by means of which he at length took the city after a
seven months' siege. He stained his victory by a cruel slaughter, and
made slaves of all whose lives were spared, excepting a few whom the
Zidonians contrived to conceal in their ships. This was the final fall
of the great merchant city, so often predicted by Isaiah and Ezekiel.
19. He then marched through the rest of Palestine, intending to punish
Jerusalem, which had stood loyal to Darius, and refused to send him
supplies. The Jews, on his approach, prayed for guidance and
protection, and it was revealed to Jaddua, the high-priest, that he
should open the gates and go forth in his sacred robes to receive the
Grecian conqueror. It was accordingly done; and Jaddua, in the
vestments of Aaron, came forth at the head of the choir of priests in
white garments as Alexander and the Greeks mounted the hill toward the
city. No sooner did the king meet the procession than he bent down to
the ground in adoration, and walked in the midst of the priests to the
temple, where a sacrifice was offered; and he not only spared the
Jews, but showed them much favor.
20. He told his generals that before he left Macedon he had seen in a
dream a figure exactly resembling that of the high-priest, which had
foretold all his conquests. And surely there is little reason to doubt
that such a revelation might be made to a conqueror marked out as
clearly by prophecy as Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus, before he set out on
the work appointed for him. Both his predecessors in conquest, as soon
as they came in contact with the chosen people, were taught that they
were the subjects of prophecy; and Alexander, in his turn, was shown
by Jaddua the prediction of Daniel, which spoke of him as a he-goat
(the actual ensign of Macedon), "Who came from the West, and smote the
ram, and brake his two horns, and cast him down and trampled on him."
"And the rough goat is the King of Grecia."
21. He then proceeded southward, besieged and took Gaza, after a brave
resistance, which he cruelly requited, and entered Egypt, subduing it
with little difficulty. On one of the peninsulas formed by the mouth
of the Nile, he founded a city, called after his name Alexandria,
which became the capital of Egypt under its Greek rulers, and one of
the most famous cities in the world. He made an expedition to the
temple of Jupiter Ammon, on an oasis in the Libyan desert, and
consulted the oracle there, and then after appointing a Macedonian
satrap in Egypt, retraced his steps toward the Holy Land, and marched
toward Babylonia, where Darius was again collecting his forces to
oppose him.
_Charlotte M. Yonge._
_XXIV.--ALEXANDER'S CONQUESTS._
1. Alexander crossed the Euphrates and Tigris without opposition, and
the decisive battle did not take place till he reached the plain of
Arbela, where the Persians were drawn up to receive him. The
Macedonians wished to make a night attack, but Alexander would not
permit it, saying that he disdained to steal a victory, and the combat
took place the next day.
2. The present army of Persians was drawn from the more remote
regions of Bactria and Parthia, where the men were more warlike, and
they fought better than any whom the Macedonians had before
encountered; but Darius himself fled early in the day, leaving behind
him his bow and shield; his men lost courage, and followed him, and
Alexander was left master of the field of Arbela.
3. This battle placed in his power all the western part of the Persian
empire, and he had only to march to the great cities of Babylon, Susa,
Ecbatana, and Persepolis, to take possession of the huge stores of
treasures there heaped up by the Persian kings, which he now
distributed among his followers with royal bounty. The unfortunate
Darius escaped into Bactria, where two satraps, in whom he had
confided, treacherously seized him and made him prisoner, carrying him
along with them as they fled before Alexander, until at length, being
closely pressed by the Greeks, they threw their darts at him, and left
him lying on the ground mortally wounded.
4. He was still alive when some of the Greeks came up, but died before
the arrival of Alexander. The conqueror wept as he beheld the corpse
of the last of a line of such great princes; he threw his own cloak
over it, and sent it to Babylon, where it was buried with great
magnificence.
[Illustration: _Alexander at the Dead Body of Darius._]
5. The wife of Darius had died a prisoner, but Sisygambis still
remained with her grandchildren at Babylon. Only once does Alexander
seem to have hurt her feelings, and this was through ignorance of
Persian customs. He showed her some robes of his sister's own weaving
and embroidery, and offered to have her grand-daughters instructed in
the same art, at which she wept, since Persian ladies deemed such
employments work fit only for slaves and captives, and Alexander was
obliged to explain how honorably the loom and needle were esteemed
by his own countrywomen.
6. Alexander was much attached to his own mother, Olympias, and
portions of his letters to her have come down to our time. She was a
proud and violent woman, who often interfered with Antipater, governor
of Macedon, and caused him to send many complaints to the king: "Ah!"
said Alexander, "Antipater does not know that one tear of a mother
will blot out ten thousand of his letters."
7. Alexander had indeed an open and affectionate heart, but he was
fast becoming too much uplifted by his successes. On Darius's death,
he took the state as well as the title of a king of Persia, wore the
tiara and robes, and claimed from the Macedonians the same servile
tokens of homage as were paid by the eastern nations, thus causing
perpetual heart-burnings among them, since they could neither endure
to see their king exalted so much further above them, nor to be placed
on the same level with the barbarians whom they despised.
8. Their jealousies troubled Alexander from the time he assumed the
tiara of Persia. He found it impossible to raise the condition of the
Persians, and treat them with favor, without offending the
Macedonians, and his temper did not always endure these provocations.
The worst action of his life was the sentencing to death, on a false
accusation, the wise old General Parmenio, and his son; and in a fit
of passion at a riotous banquet, he slew, with his own hand, his
friend Clitus, his nurse's son, who had saved his life at the battle
of Granicus. It was the deed of a moment of drunken violence, and he
bitterly lamented it, shutting himself up for several days without
allowing any one to approach him, and paying all honors to the memory
of his murdered friend.
9. His pride and vain-glory went so far, that he declared that the
oracle of Jupiter Ammon had announced that he was the son of Jupiter,
and sent to Greece to desire to be enrolled among the gods in his
life-time. Some of the Greeks were shocked at his profanity, others
laughed at him; but all the Spartans said was, "If Alexander will be a
god, let him."
10. The next four years were the most laborious of Alexander's life.
He pursued the murderers of Darius into Bactria and Sogdiana, avenged
his death, and reduced the numerous hill-forts as far as the frontier
of Scythia. Fierce insurrections broke out among the wild tribes of
Sogdiana, which it required all his activity and judgment to quell,
and more than once provoked him into cruelty, though in general,
conqueror as he was, he was no spoiler, but wherever he went founded
cities, and tried to teach the Persians the civilized arts of Greece.
11. In 326 he set out for India, as the region was called round the
river Indus. Here the inhabitants were warlike, and Porus, king of a
portion of the country, made a brave resistance, but was at length
defeated and taken prisoner. On being brought before Alexander he said
he had nothing to ask, save to be treated as a king. "That I shall do
for my own sake," said Alexander, and accordingly not only set him at
liberty, but enlarged his territory.
12. All these Indian nations brought a tribute of elephants, which the
Macedonians now for the first time learned to employ in war. Alexander
wished to proceed into Hindostan, a country hitherto entirely unknown,
but his soldiers grew so discontented at the prospect of being led so
much farther from home, into the utmost parts of the earth, that he
was obliged to give up his attempt, and very unwillingly turned back
from the banks of the Sutlej.
13. While returning, he besieged a little town belonging to a tribe
called the Malli, and believed to be the present city of Mooltan. He
was the first to scale the wall, and after four others had mounted,
the ladder broke, and he was left standing on the wall, a mark for the
darts of the enemy. He instantly leaped down within the wall into the
midst of the Malli, and there setting his back against a fig-tree,
defended himself until a barbed arrow deeply pierced his breast, and,
after trying to keep up a little longer, he sunk, fainting, on his
shield. His four companions sprung down after him--two were slain, but
the others held their shields over him till the rest of the army
succeeded in breaking into the town and coming to the rescue.
14. His wound was severe and dangerous, but he at length recovered,
sailed down to the mouth of the Indus, and sent a fleet to survey the
Persian Gulf, while he himself marched along the shore. The country
was bare and desert, and his army suffered dreadfully from heat,
thirst, and hunger, while he readily shared all their privations. A
little water was once brought him on a parching day, as a great prize,
but since there was not enough for all, he poured it out on the sand,
lest his faithful followers should feel themselves more thirsty when
they saw him drink alone.
15. At last he safely arrived at Caramania, whence he returned to the
more inhabited and wealthy parts of Persia, held his court with great
magnificence at Susa, and then went to Babylon. Here embassies met him
from every part of the known world, bringing gifts and homage, and
above all, there arrived from the Greek states the much desired
promise that he should be honored as a god. He was at the highest
pitch of worldly greatness to which mortal man had yet attained, and
his designs were reaching yet further; but his hour was come, and at
Babylon, the home of pride, "the great horn" was to be broken.
[Illustration: _Alexander the Great._]
16. In the marshes into which the Euphrates had spread since its
channel was altered by Cyrus, there breathed a noxious air, and a few
weeks after Alexander's arrival, he was attacked by a fever, perhaps
increased by intemperance. He bore up against it as long as possible,
continued to offer sacrifices daily, though with increasing
difficulty, and summoned his officers to arrange plans for his
intended expedition; but his strength failed him on the ninth day, and
though he called them together as usual, he could not address them.
Perhaps he thought in that hour of the prophecy he had seen at
Jerusalem, that the empire he had toiled to raise should be divided,
for he is reported to have said that there would be a mighty contest
at his funeral games. He made no attempt to name a successor, but he
took off his signet-ring, placed it on the finger of Perdiccas, one of
his generals, and a short time after expired, in the thirty-third year
of his age, and the twelfth of his reign.
17. There was a voice of wailing throughout the city that night. The
Babylonians shut up their houses, and trembled at the neighborhood of
the fierce Greek soldiery, now that their protector was dead; the
Macedonians stood to arms all night, as if in presence of the enemy;
and when in the morning the officers assembled in the palace council
chamber, bitter and irrepressible was the burst of lamentation that
broke out at the sight of the vacant throne, where lay the crown,
scepter, and royal robes, and where Perdiccas now placed the
signet-ring. More deeply than all mourned the prisoner, the aged
Sisygambis, who covered her face with a black veil, sat down in a
corner of her room, refused all entreaties to speak or to eat, and
expired five days after Alexander.
18. Nor did the Persians soon cease to lament the conqueror, who had
ruled them more beneficently than their own monarchs had done; their
traditions made Alexander a prince of their own, and adorned him with
every virtue valued in the East. That he had many great faults has
already been shown, and, of course, by the rules of justice, his
conquests were but reckless gratifications of his own ambition; but he
was a high-minded, generous man, open of heart, free of hand, and for
the most part acting up to his knowledge of right; and if unbridled
power, talent of the highest order, and glory such as none before or
since has ever attained, inflamed his passions, and elated him with
pride, still it is not for us to judge severely of one who had such
great temptations, and so little to guide him aright.
_Charlotte M. Yonge._
_XXV.--JUDAS MACCABÆUS, THE HEBREW WILLIAM TELL._
1. The kingdom of Judah escaped destruction at the hands of
Sennacherib, but its respite was short. Soon afterward Babylon,
closely related to Assyria, and the heir of its dominion, swept into
captivity in distant Mesopotamia nearly all that were left of Hebrew
stock. For a time, the nation seemed to have been wiped from the face
of the earth. The ten tribes of Israel that had been first dragged
forth never returned to Judea, and their ultimate fate, after the
destruction of Nineveh, whose splendor they had in their servitude
done so much to enhance, was that of homeless wanderers. The harp of
Judah, silent upon the devastated banks of the Jordan, was hung upon
the Babylonian willows, for how could the exiles sing the Lord's song
in a strange land! But the cry went forth at length that Babylon had
fallen in her turn, just as destruction had before overtaken Nineveh.
In the middle of the sixth century B. C., Cyrus the Mede made a
beginning of restoring the exiles, who straightway built anew the
Temple walls.
2. In David's time, the population of Palestine must have numbered
several millions, and it largely increased during the succeeding
reigns. Multitudes, however, had perished by the sword, and other
multitudes were retained in strange lands. Scarcely fifty thousand
found their way back in the time of Cyrus to the desolate site of
Jerusalem, but, one hundred years later, the number was increased by a
re-enforcement under Ezra. From this nucleus, with astonishing
vitality, a new Israel was presently developed. With weapons always at
hand to repel the freebooters of the desert, they constructed once
more the walls of Jerusalem. Through all their harsh experience their
feelings of nationality had not been at all abated; their blood was
untouched by foreign admixture, though some Gentile ideas had entered
into the substance of their faith. The conviction that they were the
chosen people of God was as unshaken as in the ancient time. With
pride as indomitable as ever, intrenched within their little corner of
Syria, they confronted the hostile world.
3. But a new contact was at hand, far more memorable even than that
with the nations of Mesopotamia--a contact whose consequences affect
at the present hour the condition of the greater part of the human
race. In the year 332 B. C., the high-priest, Jaddua, at Jerusalem,
was in an agony, not knowing how he should meet certain new invaders
of the land, before whom Tyre, and Gaza, the old Philistine
stronghold, had fallen, and who were now marching upon the city of
David. But God warned him in a dream that he should take courage,
adorn the city, and open the gates; that the people should appear in
white garments of peace, but that he and the priests should meet the
strangers in the robes of their office. At length, at the head of a
sumptuous train of generals and tributary princes, a young man of
twenty-four, upon a beautiful steed, rode forward from the way going
down to the sea to the spot which may still be seen, called,
anciently, Scopus, the prospect, because from that point one
approaching could behold, for the first time, Jerusalem crowned by the
Temple rising fair upon the heights of Zion and Moriah.
4. The youth possessed a beauty of a type in those regions hitherto
little known. As compared with the swarthy Syrians in his suite, his
skin was white; his features were stamped with the impress of command,
his eyes filled with an intellectual light. With perfect horsemanship he
guided the motions of his charger. A fine grace marked his figure, set
off with a cloak, helmet, and gleaming arms, as he expressed with
animated gestures his exultation over the spectacle before him. But now,
down from the heights came the procession of the priests and the people.
The multitude proceeded in their robes of white; the priests stood
clothed in fine linen; while the high-priest, in attire of purple and
scarlet, upon his breast the great breastplate of judgment with its
jewels, upon his head the mitre marked with the plate of gold whereon
was engraved the name of God, led the train with venerable dignity.
5. Now, says the historian, when the Ph[oe]nicians and Chaldeans that
followed Alexander thought that they should have liberty to plunder
the city, and torment the high-priest to death, the very reverse
happened; for the young leader, when he saw the multitude in the
distance, and the figure of the high-priest before, approached him by
himself, saluted him, and adored the name, which was graven upon the
plate of the mitre. Then a captain, named Parmino, asked him how it
came to pass that, when all others adored him, he should adore the
high-priest of the Jews. To whom the leader replied: "I do not adore
him, but that God who hath honored him with his high-priesthood; for I
saw this very person in a dream, in this very habit, when I was at
Dios in Macedonia, who, when I was considering how I might obtain the
dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to pass
over the sea thither, for that he would conduct my army, and could
give me the dominion over the Persians." Then, when Alexander had
given the high-priest his right hand, the priests ran along by him and
he came into the city, and he offered sacrifice to God in the Temple,
according to the high-priest's direction, and magnificently treated
both the high-priest and the priests. He granted all the multitude
desired; and when he said to them that if any of them would enlist
themselves in his army on this condition, that they should continue
under the laws of their forefathers, he was willing to take them with
him, many were ready to accompany him in his wars.
6. But this Aryan troop that went southward is less interesting to us
than companies that departed westward, for in these westward marching
bands went the primeval forefathers from whose venerable loins we
ourselves have proceeded. They passed into Western Asia, and from Asia
into Europe--each migrating multitude impelled by a new swarm sent forth
from the parent hive behind. At the head of the Adriatic Sea an Aryan
troop had divided, sending down into the eastern peninsula the ancestors
of the Greeks, and into the western peninsula the train destined to
establish upon the seven hills the power of Rome. Already the Aryan
pioneers, the Celts, on the outmost rocks of the western coast of
Europe, were fretting against the barrier of storm and sea, across which
they were not to find their way for many ages. Already Ph[oe]nician
merchants, trading for amber in the far-off Baltic, had become aware of
the wild Aryan tribes pressing to the northwest--the Teutons and Goths.
Already, perhaps, upon the outlying spur of the Ural range, still other
Aryans had fixed their hold, the progenitors of the Sclav. The
aboriginal savage of Europe was already nearly extinct. His lance of
flint had fallen harmless from the Aryan buckler; his rude altars had
become displaced by the shrines of the new gods. In the Mediterranean
Sea each sunny isle and pleasant promontory had long been in Aryan
hands, and now in the wintry forests to the northward the resistless
multitudes had more recently fixed their seats.
7. In the Macedonians, the Aryans, having established their dominion
in Europe, march back upon the track which their forefathers long
before had followed westward; and now it is that the Hebrews become
involved with the race that from that day to this has been the
master-race of the world. It was a contact taking place under
circumstances, it would seem, the most auspicious--the venerable old
man and the beautiful Greek youth clasping hands, the ruthless
followers of the conqueror baffled in their hopes of booty, the
multitudes of Jerusalem, in their robes of peace, filling the air with
acclamations, as Alexander rode from the place of prospect, upon the
heights of Zion, into the solemn precincts of the Temple.
8. The successors of Alexander the Great made the Jews a link between
the Hellenic populations that had become widely scattered throughout the
East by the Macedonian conquests, and the great barbarian races among
whom the Greeks had placed themselves. The dispersion of the Jews, which
had already taken place to such an extent through the Assyrian and
Babylonian conquests, went forward now more vigorously. Throughout
Western Asia they were found everywhere, but it was in Egypt that they
attained the highest prosperity and honor. The one city, Alexandria
alone, is said to have contained at length a million Jews, whom the
Greek kings of Egypt, the Ptolemies, preferred in every way to the
native population. Elsewhere, too, they were favored, and hence they
were everywhere hated; and the hatred assumed a deeper bitterness from
the fact that the Jew always remained a Jew, marked in garb, in feature,
in religious faith, always scornfully asserting the claim that he was
the chosen of the Lord. Palestine became incorporated with the empire of
the Seleucidæ, the Macedonian princes to whom had fallen Western Asia.
Oppression at last succeeded the earlier favor, the defenses of
Jerusalem were demolished, and the Temple defiled with pagan ceremonies;
and now it is that we reach some of the finest figures in Hebrew
history, the great high-priests, the Maccabees.
9. There dwelt at the town of Modin a priest, Mattathias, the
descendant of Asmonæus, to whom had been born five sons--John, Simon,
Judas Maccabæus, or the Hammer, Eleazar, and Jonathan. Mattathias
lamented the ravaging of the land and the plunder of the Temple by
Antiochus Epiphanes, and when, in the year 167 B. C., the Macedonian
king sent to Modin to have sacrifices offered, the Asmonæan returned a
spirited reply. "Thou art a ruler," said the king's officers, "and an
honorable and great man in this city, and strengthened with sons and
brethren. Now, therefore, come thou first: so shalt thou and thy
house be in number of the king's friends, and thou and thy children
shall be honored with silver and gold and many rewards." But
Mattathias replied with a loud voice: "Though all the nations that are
under the king's dominions obey him, and fall away every one from the
religion of their fathers, yet will I and my sons and my brethren,
walk in the covenant of our fathers. God forbid that we should forsake
the law and the ordinances! We will not hearken to the king's words to
go from our religion, either on the right hand or the left."
10. An heroic struggle for freedom at once began, which opened for the
Jews full of sadness. An apostate Jew, approaching to offer sacrifice
in compliance with the command of Antiochus, was at once slain by
Mattathias, who struck down also Apelles, the king's general, with
some of his soldiers. As he fled with his sons into the desert,
leaving his substance behind him, many of the faithful Israelites
followed, pursued by the Macedonians seeking revenge. The oppressors
knew well how to choose their time. Attacking on the Sabbath-day,
when, according to old tradition, it was a transgression even to
defend one's life, a thousand with their wives and children were
burned and smothered in the caves in which they had taken refuge. But
Mattathias, rallying those that remained, taught them to fight on the
Sabbath, and at all times. The heathen altars were overthrown, the
breakers of the law were slain, the uncircumcised boys were everywhere
circumcised. But the fullness of time approached for Mattathias; after
a year his day of death had come, and these were his parting words to
his sons: "I know that your brother Simon is a man of counsel; give
ear unto him always; he shall be a father unto you. As for Judas
Maccabæus, he hath been mighty and strong even from his youth up; let
him be your captain and fight the battles of the people. Admit among
you the righteous."
11. No sooner had the father departed, than it appeared that the
captain whom he had designated was a man as mighty as the great
champions of old, Joshua and Gideon and Samson. He forthwith smote
with defeat Apollonius, the general in the Samaritan country, and when
he had slain the Greek he took his sword for his own. Seron, general
of the army in C[oe]le-Syria, came against him with a host of
Macedonians strengthened by apostate Jews. The men of Judas Maccabæus
were few in number, without food, and faint-hearted, but he inspired
them with his own zeal, and overthrew the new foes at Bethoron. King
Antiochus, being now called eastward to Persia, committed military
matters in Palestine to the viceroy, Lysias, with orders to take an
army with elephants and conquer Judea, enslave its people, destroy
Jerusalem, and abolish the nation. At once the new invaders were upon
the land; of foot-soldiers there were forty thousand, of horsemen
seven thousand, and as they advanced many Syrians and renegade Jews
joined them. Merchants marched with the army, with money to buy the
captives as slaves, and chains with which to bind those whom they
purchased. But Judas Maccabæus was no whit dismayed. Causing his
soldiers to array themselves in sackcloth, he made them pray to
Jehovah. He dismissed those lately married, and those who had newly
come into great possessions, as likely to be faint-hearted. After
addressing those that remained, he set them in the ancient order of
battle, and waited the opportunity to strike.
12. The hostile general, fancying he saw an opportunity to surprise
the little band of Hebrews, sent a portion of his host against them,
by secret ways at night. But the spies of Judas were out. Leaving the
fires burning brightly in his camp, to lure forward those who were
commissioned to attack him, he rushed forth under the shadows against
the main body, weakened by the absence of the detachment. He forced
their position, though strongly defended, overcame the army; then
turned back to scatter utterly the other party who were seeking him in
the abandoned camp. He took great booty of gold and silver, and of
raiment purple and blue. He marched home in great joy to the villages
of Judea, singing hymns to God, as was done in the days of Miriam,
long before, because they had triumphed gloriously.
13. The next year Lysias advanced from Antioch, the Syrian capital,
with a force of sixty-five thousand. Judas Maccabæus, with ten
thousand, overthrew his vanguard, upon which the viceroy, terrified at
the desperate fighting, retired to assemble a still greater army. For
a time there was a respite from war, during which Judas counseled the
people to purify the Temple. The Israelites, overjoyed at the revival
of their ancient customs, the restoration of the old worship in all
its purity, and the relief from foreign oppressors, celebrated for
eight days a magnificent festival. The lamps in the Temple porches
were rekindled to the sound of instruments and the chant of the
Levites. But one vial of oil could be found, when, lo, a miracle! the
one vial sufficed for the supply of the seven-branched golden
candlestick for a week. This ancient Maccabæan festival faithful Jews
still celebrate under the name of the Hanoukhah, the Feast of Lights.
14. Judas subdues also the Idumeans of the southward, and the
Ammonites. His brethren, too, have become mighty men of valor.
Jonathan crosses the Jordan with him and campaigns against the tribes
to the eastward. Eleazar is a valiant soldier, and Simon carries
succor to the Jews in Galilee. But at length the Macedonian is again
at hand, more terrible than before. The foot are a hundred thousand,
the horse twenty thousand; and as rallying-points, thirty-two
elephants tower among the ranks. About each one of the huge beasts is
collected a troop of a thousand foot and five hundred horse; high
turrets upon their backs are occupied by archers; their great flanks
and limbs are cased in plates of steel. The host show their golden and
brazen shields, making in the sun a glorious splendor, and shout in
exultation so that the mountains echo. In the battle that follows
Fortune does not altogether favor the Jews. In particular, the
champion Eleazar lays down his life. He had attacked the largest
elephant, a creature covered with plated armor, and carrying upon his
back a whole troop of combatants, among whom it was believed that the
king himself fought. Eleazar had slain those in the neighborhood,
then, creeping beneath the belly of the elephant, had pierced him. As
the brute fell, Eleazar was crushed in the fall. Judas was forced to
retire within the defenses of Jerusalem, where still further disaster
seemed likely to overcome him. Dissensions among themselves, however,
weakened the Macedonians. Peace was offered the Jews, and permission
to live according to the law of their fathers--proposals which were
gladly accepted, although the invaders razed the defenses of the Temple.
15. The peace was not enduring. New Macedonian invasions followed; new
Hebrew successes, the Maccabees and their partisans making up, by
their fierce zeal, their military skill, and dauntless valor, for
their want of numbers. But a sad day came at last. Judas, twenty times
outnumbered, confronts the leader Bacchides in Galilee. The Greek sets
horsemen on both wings, his light troops and archers before the
heavier phalanx, and takes his own station on the right. The Jewish
hero is valiant as ever; the right wing of the enemy turns to flee.
The left and center, however, encompass him, and he falls, fighting
gloriously, having earned a name of the most skillful and valorous of
the world's great vindicators of freedom.
_James K. Hosmer. "The Story of the Jews."_
_Putnam's "Stories of the Nations" Series._
[Illustration]
ROMAN RECORD.
_XXVI.--TARQUIN THE WICKED._
1. For his tyranny King Tarquin was banished from Rome about 500 B.
C., and after his expulsion he sent messengers to Rome to ask that his
property should be given up to him, and the senate decreed that his
prayer should be granted. But the king's ambassadors, while they were
in Rome, stirred up the minds of the young men and others who had been
favored by Tarquin, so that a plot was made to bring him back. Among
those who plotted were Titus and Tiberius, the sons of the consul
Brutus; and they gave letters to the messengers of the king. But it
chanced that a certain slave hid himself in the place where they met,
and overheard them plotting; and he came and told the thing to the
consuls, who seized the messengers of the king with the letters upon
their persons, authenticated by the seals of the young men. The
culprits were immediately arrested; but the ambassadors were let go,
because their persons were regarded as sacred. And the goods of King
Tarquin were given up for plunder to the people.
2. Then the traitors were brought up before the consuls, and the sight
was such as to move all beholders to pity; for among them were the
sons of Lucius Junius Brutus himself, the first consul, the liberator
of the Roman people. And now all men saw how Brutus loved his country;
for he bade the lictors put all the traitors to death, and his own
sons first; and men could mark in his face the struggle between his
duty as a chief magistrate of Rome and his feelings as a father. And
while they praised and admired him they pitied him yet more. This was
the first attempt to restore Tarquin the Proud.
3. When Tarquin saw that the plot at home had failed, he prevailed on
the people of Tarquinii and Veii to make war with him against the
Romans. But the consuls came out against them; Valerius commanding the
main army, and Brutus the cavalry. And it chanced that Aruns, the
king's son, led the cavalry of the enemy. When he saw Brutus, he
spurred his horse against him, and Brutus did not decline the combat.
They rode straight at each other with leveled spears; and so fierce
was the shock, that they pierced each other through from breast to
back, and both fell dead.
4. Then, also, the armies fought, but the battle was neither won nor
lost. But in the night a voice was heard by the Etruscans, saying that
the Romans were the conquerers. So the enemy fled by night; and when
the Romans arose in the morning, there was no man to oppose them. Then
they took up the body of Brutus, and departed home, and buried him in
public with great pomp.
5. And thus the second attempt to restore King Tarquin was frustrated.
After the death of Brutus, Valerius, the remaining consul, ruled the
people for awhile by himself, and began to build himself a house upon
the ridge called Velia, which looks down upon the forum. So the people
thought that he was going to make himself king; but when he heard
this, he called an assembly of the people, and appeared before them
with his fasces lowered, and with no axes in them, whence the custom
remained ever after, that no consular lictors wore axes within the
city, and no consul had power of life and death except when he was in
command of his legions abroad. And he pulled down the beginning of his
house upon the Velia, and built it below that hill. Also, he passed
laws that every Roman citizen might appeal to the people against the
judgment of the chief magistrates. Wherefore he was greatly honored
among the people, and was called _Poplicola_, or _Friend of the People_.
6. After this Valerius called together the great assembly of the
centuries, and they chose Spurius Lucretius, father of Lucretius, to
succeed Brutus. But he was an old man, and not many days afterward he
died, and Marcus Horatius was chosen in his stead.
7. The temple on the Capitol which King Tarquin began had never yet been
consecrated. Then Valerius and Horatius drew lots which should be the
consecrator, and the lot fell on Horatius. But the friends of Valerius
murmured, and they wished to prevent Horatius from having the honor; so,
when he was now saying the prayer of consecration, with his hand upon
the door-post of the temple, there came a messenger who told him that
his son was just dead, and that one mourning for a son could not rightly
consecrate the temple. But Horatius kept his hand upon the door-post,
and told them to see to the burial of his son, and finished the rite of
consecration. Thus did he honor the gods even above his own son.
8. In the next year Valerius was again made consul, with Titus
Lucretius; and Tarquin, despairing now of aid from his friends at Veii
and Tarquinii, went to Lars Porsena of Clusium, a city on the river
Clanis, which falls into the Tiber. Porsena was, at this time,
acknowledged as chief of the twelve Etruscan cities; and he assembled
a powerful army and came to Rome. He came so quickly that he reached
the Tiber, and was near the Sublician Bridge before there was time to
destroy it; and if he had crossed it the city would have been lost.
9. Then, a noble Roman, called Horatius Cocles, of the Lucerian tribe,
with two friends--Spurius Lartius, a Ramnian, and Titus Herminius, a
Titian--posted themselves at the far end of the bridge, and defended
the passage against all the Etruscan host, while the Romans were
cutting it off behind them. When it was all but destroyed, his two
friends retreated across the bridge, and Horatius was left alone to
bear the whole attack of the enemy. He kept his ground, standing
unmoved amid the darts which were showered upon his shield, till the
last beams of the bridge fell crashing into the river. Then he prayed,
saying, "Father Tiber, receive me, and bear me up I pray thee." He
then plunged in, and reached the other side safely; and the Romans
honored him greatly: they put up his statue in the Comitium, and gave
him as much land as he could plow round in a day, and every man at
Rome subscribed the cost of one day's food to reward him.
_Liddell._
10. This story is told in very spirited verse by Macaulay, in his poem
of Horatius:
HORATIUS.
1. Fast by the royal standard,
O'erlooking all the war,
Lars Porsena of Clusium
Sate in his ivory car.
By the right wheel rode Mamilius,
Prince of the Latian name;
And by the left false Sextus,
That wrought the deed of shame.
2. But when the face of Sextus
Was seen among the foes,
A yell that rent the firmament
From all the town arose.
On the house-tops was no woman
But spate toward him and hissed;
No child but screamed out curses,
And shook its little fist.
3. But the consul's brow was sad,
And the consul's speech was low;
And darkly looked he at the wall,
And darkly at the foe.
"Their van will be upon us
Before the bridge goes down;
And if they once may win the bridge,
What hope to save the town?"
4. Then out spoke brave Horatius,
The captain of the gate:
"To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods!
[Illustration: _Horatius._]
5. "Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul
With all the speed ye may;
I, with two more to help me,
Will hold the foe in play.
In yon straight path a thousand
May well be stopped by three.
Now, who will stand on either hand,
And keep the bridge with me?"
6. Then out spoke Spurius Lartius,
A Ramnian proud was he:
"Lo, I will stand on thy right hand,
And keep the bridge with thee."
And out spoke strong Herminius,
Of Titian blood was he:
"I will abide on thy left side,
And keep the bridge with thee."
7. The three stood calm and silent,
And looked upon the foes.
And a great shout of laughter
From all the vanguard rose:
And forth three chiefs came spurring
Before that mighty mass;
To earth they sprang, their swords they drew
And lifted high their shields, and flew
To win the narrow pass.
8. Aunus from green Tifernum,
Lord of the Hill of Tines;
And Seius, whose eight hundred slaves
Sicken in Ilva's mines;
And Picus, long to Clusium
Vassal in peace and war,
Who led to fight his Umbrian powers
From that gray crag where, girt with towers,
The fortress of Nequinum lowers
O'er the pale waves of Nar.
9. Stout Lartius hurled down Aunus
Into the stream beneath;
Herminius struck at Seius,
And clove him to the teeth;
At Picus brave Horatius
Darted one fiery thrust,
And the proud Umbrian's gilded arms
Clashed in the bloody dust.
10. But meanwhile axe and lever
Have manfully been plied,
And now the bridge hangs tottering
Above the boiling tide.
"Come back, come back, Horatius,"
Loud cried the Fathers all.
"Back, Lartius! back, Herminius!
Back, ere the ruin fall!"
11. Back darted Spurius Lartius;
Herminius darted back:
And as they passed, beneath their feet
They felt the timbers crack.
But when they turned their faces,
And on the further shore
Saw brave Horatius stand alone,
They would have crossed once more.
12. But with a crash like thunder
Fell every loosened beam,
And, like a dam, the mighty wreck
Lay right athwart the stream;
And a long shout of triumph
Rose from the walls of Rome,
As to the highest turret tops
Was splashed the yellow foam.
13. Alone stood brave Horatius,
But constant still in mind;
Thrice thirty thousand foes before,
And the broad flood behind.
"Down with him!" cried false Sextus,
With a smile on his pale face.
"Now yield thee," cried Lars Porsena,
"Now yield thee to our grace."
14. Round turned he, as not deigning
Those craven ranks to see;
Naught spake he to Lars Porsena,
To Sextus naught spake he;
But he saw on Palatinus
The white porch of his home,
And he spake to the noble river
That rolls by the towers of Rome.
15. "Oh, Tiber! Father Tiber!
To whom the Romans pray,
A Roman's life, a Roman's arms,
Take thou in charge this day!"
So he spoke, and speaking sheathed
The good sword by his side,
And with his harness on his back
Plunged headlong in the tide.
16. But fiercely ran the current,
Swollen high by months of rain;
And fast his blood was flowing;
And he was sore in pain,
And heavy with his armor,
And spent with changing blows:
And oft they thought him sinking,
But still again he rose.
17. And now he feels the bottom;
Now on dry earth he stands;
Now round him throng the fathers,
To press his gory hands;
And now with shouts and clapping,
And noise of weeping loud,
He enters through the River-gate,
Borne by the joyous crowd.
18. And still his name sounds stirring
Unto the men of Rome,
As the trumpet-blast that cries to them
To charge the Volscian home;
And wives still pray to Juno
For boys with hearts as bold
As his who kept the bridge so well
In the brave days of old.
19. And in the nights of winter,
When the cold north winds blow,
And the long howling of the wolves
Is heard amidst the snow;
When round the lonely cottage
Roars loud the tempest's din,
And the good logs of Algidus
Roar louder yet within;
20. When the oldest cask is opened,
And the largest lamp is lit,
When the chestnuts glow in the embers,
And the kid turns on the spit;
When young and old in circle
Around the firebrands close;
When the girls are weaving baskets,
And the lads are shaping bows;
21. When the goodman mends his armor,
And trims his helmet's plume;
When the goodwife's shuttle merrily
Goes flashing through the loom;
With weeping and with laughter
Still is the story told,
How well Horatius kept the bridge
In the brave days of old.
_Macaulay._
[Illustration]
_XXVII.-THE ROMAN REPUBLIC._
1. The establishment of the republic marked an era in the history of
Rome. The people had decreed, that for them there never should be a
king, and the law was kept to the letter; though, if they meant that
supreme authority should never be held among them by one man, it was
violated many times. The story of Rome is unique in the history of the
world, for it is not the record of the life of one great country, but
of a city that grew to be strong, and successfully established its
authority over many countries.
2. The most ancient and the most remote from the sea of the cities of
Latium, Rome soon became the most influential, and began to combine in
itself the traits of the peoples near it; but owing to the singular
strength and rare impressiveness of the national character, these were
assimilated, and the inhabitant of the capital remained distinctively
a Roman in spite of his intimate association with men of different
origin and training.
3. The citizen of Rome was practical, patriotic, and faithful to
obligation; he loved to be governed by inflexible law; and it was a
fundamental principle with him that the individual should be
subordinate to the state. His kings were either organizers, like Numa
and Ancus-Marcius, or warriors like Romulus and Tullus Hostilius; they
either made laws, like Servius, or they enforced them with the
despotism of Tarquinius Superbus. It is difficult for us to conceive
of such majestic power emanating from a territory so insignificant.
4. We hardly realize that Latium did not comprise a territory quite
fifty miles by one hundred in extent, and that it was but a hundred
miles from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic. It was but a short walk
from Rome to the territory of the Etruscans, and when Tarquin found an
asylum at Cære, he did not separate himself by twenty miles from the
scene of his tyranny. Ostia was scarcely more distant, and one might
have ridden before the first meal of the day to Lavinium, or Alba, or
Veii, or to Ardea, the ancient city of the Rutuli. It is important to
keep these facts in mind as we read the story of the remarkable city.
5. All towns were built on hills in these early days, for safety in
case of war, as well as because the valleys were insalubrious, but
this was not a peculiarity of the Romans, for in New England in the
late ages of our own ancestors, they were obliged to follow the same
custom. On the tops and slopes of seven hills, as they liked to remind
themselves, the Romans built their city. They were not impressive
elevations, though their sides were sharp and rocky, for the loftiest
rose less than three hundred feet above the sea-level. Their summits
were crowned with groves of beech trees and oaks, and in the lower
lands grew osiers and other smaller varieties.
[Illustration: _Ancient Roman Monument._]
6. The earlier occupations of the Roman people were war and
agriculture, or the pasturage of flocks and herds. They raised grapes
and made wines; they cultivated the oil-olive, and knew the use of its
fruit. They found copper in their soil, and made a pound of it their
unit of value, but it was so cheap that ten thousand pounds of it were
required to buy a war-horse, though cattle and sheep were much lower.
They yoked their oxen and called the path they occupied a _jugerum_
(_jugum_--a cross-beam or a yoke), and this in time came to be their
familiar standard of square measure, containing about two-thirds of an
acre. Two of these were assigned to a citizen, and seven were the
narrow limit to which only one's landed possessions were for a long
time allowed to extend. In time commerce was added to the pursuits of
the men, and with it came fortunes and improved dwellings, and public
buildings. Laziness and luxury were frowned upon by the early Romans.
Mistress and maid worked together in the affairs of the household,
like Lucretia and other noble women of whom history tells, and the man
did not hesitate to hold the plow, as the example of Cincinnatus will
show us. Time was precious, and thrift and economy were necessary to
success. The father was the autocrat in the household, and exercised
his power with stern rigidity.
7. Art was backward, and came from abroad; of literature there was
none, long after Greece had passed its period of heroic poetry. The
dwellings of the citizens were low and insignificant, though, as time
passed on, they became more massive and important. The vast public
structures of the later kings were comparable to the taskwork of the
builders of the Egyptian pyramids, and they still strike us with
astonishment, and surprise.
8. The religion of these strong conquerors was narrow, severe, and
dreary. The early fathers worshiped native deities only. They
recognized gods everywhere--in the home, in the grove, and on the
mountain. They erected their altars on the hills; they had their lares
and penates to watch over their hearth-stones, and their vestal
virgins kept everlasting vigil near the never-dying fires in the
temples. With the art of Greece that made itself felt through Etruria,
came also the influence of the Grecian mythology, and Jupiter, Juno,
and Minerva found a shrine on the top of the Capitoline, where the
first statue of a deity was erected. The mysterious sibylline books
are also a mark of the Grecian influence, coming from Cumæ, a colony
of Magna Græcia.
9. During the period we have considered, the city passed through five
distinct stages of political organization. The government at first was
an elective monarchy, the electors being a patriarchal aristocracy.
After the invasion of the Sabines there was a union with that people,
the sovereignty being held by rulers chosen from each, but it was not
long before Rome became the head of a federal state. The Tarquins
established a monarchy, which rapidly degenerated into an offensive
tyranny, which aroused rebellion and at last led to the republic.
10. During all these changes, the original aristocrats and their
descendants held their position as the Populus Romanus, the Roman
people, insisting that every one else must belong to an inferior order,
and, as no body of men is willing to be condemned to a hopelessly
subordinate position in a state, there was a perpetual antagonism
between the patricians and the plebeians, between the aristocracy and
the commonalty. This led to a temporary change under Servius Tullius,
when property took the place of pedigree in establishing a man's rank
and influence; but owing to the peculiar method of voting adopted, the
power of the commons was not greatly increased. However, they had made
their influence felt, and were encouraged.
11. The overturning of the scheme by Tarquin favored a union of the
two orders for the punishment of that tyrant, and they combined; but
it was only for a time. When the danger had been removed, the tie was
found broken and the antagonism rather increased, so that the
subsequent history for five generations, though exceedingly
interesting, is largely a record of the struggles of the commons for
relief from the burdens laid upon them by the aristocrats.
[Illustration: _Roman Private Life._]
12. The father passed down to his son the story of the oppression of
the patricians, and the son told the same sad narrative to his
offspring. The mother mourned with her daughter over the sufferings
brought upon them by the rich, for whom their poor father and brothers
were obliged to fight the battles, while they were not allowed to
share the spoil, nor to divide the lands gained by their own prowess.
The struggle was not so much between patrician and plebeian as between
the rich and the poor. It was intimately connected with the uses of
money in those times. What could the rich Roman do with his
accumulations? He might buy land or slaves, or he might become a
lender; to a certain extent he could use his surplus in commerce; but
of these its most remunerative employment was found in usury. As there
were no laws regulating the rates of interest, they became exorbitant,
and as it was customary to compound it, debts rapidly grew beyond the
possibility of payment. As the rich made the laws they naturally
exerted their ingenuity to frame them in such a way as to enable the
lender to collect his dues with promptness and with little regard for
the feelings or interests of the debtor.
13. It is difficult, if not impossible, for us to form a proper
conception of the magnitude of the wrongs involved in the system of
money-lending at Rome during the period of the republic. The small
farmers were ever needy, and came to their wealthy neighbors for
accommodation loans. If these were not paid when due, the debtor was
liable to be locked up in prison, to be sold into slavery, with his
children, wife, and grandchildren; and the heartless law reads, that
in case the estate should prove insufficient to satisfy all claims,
the creditors were actually authorized to cut the body to pieces, that
each Shylock might take the pound of flesh that he claimed.
14. At last the severity of the lenders overreached itself. It was in
the year 495 B. C., that a poor but brave debtor, one who had been at
the very front in the wars, broke out of his prison, and while the
wind flaunted his rags in the face of the populace, clanked his chains
and told the story of his calamities so effectually in words of
natural eloquence, that the commons were aroused to madness, and
resolved at last to make a vigorous effort, and seek redress for their
wrongs in a way that could not be resisted.
15. The form of this man stands out forever on the pages of Roman
history, as he entered the forum with all the badges of his misery
upon him. His pale and emaciated body was but partially covered by his
wretched tatters; his long hair played about his shoulders, and his
glaring eyes and the grizzled beard hanging down before him added to
his savage wildness. As he passed along he uncovered the scars of near
two score battles that remained upon his breast, and explained to
inquirers that while he had been serving in the Sabine war, his house
had been pillaged and burned by the enemy; that when he had returned
to enjoy the sweets of the peace he had helped to win, he had found
that his cattle had been driven off, and a tax imposed.
16. To meet the debts that thronged upon him and the interest by which
they were aggravated, he had stripped himself of his ancestral farms.
Finally, pestilence had overtaken him, and as he was not able to work,
his creditor had placed him in a house of detention, the savage
treatment in which was shown by the fresh stripes upon his bleeding back.
17. At the moment a war was imminent, and the forum--the entire city,
in fact--already excited, was filled with the uproar of the angry
plebeians. Many confined for debt broke from their prison-houses and
ran from all quarters into the crowds to claim protection. The majesty
of the consuls was insufficient to preserve order, and while the
discord was rapidly increasing horsemen rushed into the gates
announcing that an enemy was actually upon them, marching to besiege
the city. The plebeians saw that their opportunity had arrived, and
when proud Appius Claudius called upon them to enroll their names for
the war, they refused the summons, saying that the patricians might
fight their own battles; that for themselves it was better to perish
together at home rather than to go to the field and die separated.
18. Threatened with war beyond the gates, and with riot at home, the
patricians were forced to promise to redress the civil grievances. It
was ordered that no one could seize or sell the goods of a soldier
while he was in camp, or arrest his children, and that no one should
detain a citizen in prison or in chains, so as to hinder him from
enlisting in the army. When this was known, the released prisoners
volunteered in numbers, and entered upon the war with enthusiasm. The
legions were victorious, and when peace was declared, the plebeians
anxiously looked for the ratification of the promises made to them.
19. Their expectations were disappointed. They had, however, seen
their power, and were determined to act upon their new knowledge.
Without undue haste they protected their homes on the Aventine, and
retreated the next year to a mountain across the Anio, about three
miles from the city, to a spot which afterward held a place in the
memories of the Romans similar to that which the green meadow on the
Thames called Runnymede has held in British history since the June day
when King John met his commons there, and gave them the great charter
of their liberties.
20. The plebeians said calmly that they would no longer be imposed
upon; that not one of them would thereafter enlist for a war until the
public faith was made good. They reiterated the declaration that the
lords might fight their own battles, so that the perils of conflict
should lie where its advantages were. When the situation of affairs
was thoroughly understood, Rome was on fire with anxiety, and the
enforced suspense filled the citizens with fear lest an external enemy
should take the opportunity for a successful onset upon the city.
21. Meanwhile the poor secessionists fortified their camp, but
carefully refrained from actual war. The people left in the city
feared the senators, and the senators in turn dreaded the citizens
lest they should do them violence. It was a time of panic and
suspense. After consultation, good counsels prevailed in the senate,
and it was resolved to send an embassy to the despised and downtrodden
plebeians, who now seemed to hold the balance of power, and to treat
for peace, for there could be no security until the secessionists had
returned to their homes.
22. The spokesman on the occasion was Menenius Agrippa Lanatus who was
popular with the people and had a reputation for eloquence. The
address of this good man had its desired effect, and the people were
at last willing to listen to a proposition for their return. It was
settled that there should be a general release of all those who had
been handed over to their creditors, and a cancelling of debts, and
that two of the plebeians should be selected as their protectors, with
power to veto objectionable laws, their persons being as inviolable at
all times as were those of the sacred messengers of the gods. These
demands, showing that the plebeians did not seek political power, were
agreed to, the Valerian laws were reaffirmed, and a solemn treaty was
concluded, each party swearing for itself and its posterity, with all
the formality of representatives of foreign nations.
23. The two leaders of the commons, Caius Licinius and Lucius Albinus,
were elected the first tribunes of the people, as the new officers
were called, with two ædiles to aid them. They were not to leave the
city during their term of office, their doors being open night and
day, that all who needed their protection might have access to them.
The hill upon which this treaty had been concluded was ever after
known as the Sacred Mount; its top was enclosed and consecrated, an
altar being built upon it, on which sacrifices were offered to
Jupiter, the god of terror and deliverance, who had allowed the
commons to return home in safety, though they had gone out in
trepidation. Henceforth the commons were to be protected; they were
better fitted to share the honors as well as the benefits of their
country, and the threatened dissolution of the nation was averted.
_Arthur Gilman, M. A. "The Story of Rome."_
_Putnam's "Stories of the Nations Series."_
_XXVIII.--CINCINNATUS._
1. In the course of the early Roman wars, Minucius, one of the consuls
suffered himself to be cut off from Rome, in a narrow valley of Mount
Algidus, and it seemed as if hope of delivery there was none. However,
five horsemen found means to escape and report at Rome the perilous
condition of the consul and his army. Then the other consul consulted
the senate, and it was agreed that the only man who could deliver the
army was Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. He was thereupon named dictator,
and deputies were sent to acquaint him with his high dignity.
2. He was called Cincinnatus, because he wore his hair in long curling
locks, _cincinni_, and, though he was a patrician he lived on his own
small farm, like any plebeian yeoman. This farm was beyond the
Tiber, and here he lived contentedly with his wife Racilia.
3. Two years before he had been consul, and had been brought into
great distress by the conduct of his son, Kæso. This Kæso was a Wild
and insolent young man, who despised the plebeians and hated their
tribunes. One Volscius Fictor alleged that he and his brother, an old
and sickly man, had been attacked by Kæso and a party of young
patricians by night, and that his brother had died of the treatment
then received. The indignation of the people rose high; and Kæso was
forced to go into exile. After this the young patricians became more
insolent than ever, but they courted the poorest of the people, hoping
to engage them on their side against the more respectable plebeians.
4. Next year all Rome was alarmed by finding that the Capitol had been
seized by an enemy during the night. This enemy was Appius Herdonius, a
Sabine, and with him was associated a band of desperate men, exiles and
runaway slaves. The first demand he made was that all Roman exiles
should be restored. The consul, P. Valerius, collected a force and took
the Capitol, but was killed in the assault, and Cincinnatus, father of
the banished Kæso, was chosen to succeed him. When he heard the news of
his elevation, he turned to his wife, and said: "I fear, Racilia, our
little field must remain this year unsown." Then he assumed the robe of
state, and went to Rome. It was believed that Kæso had been concerned in
the desperate enterprise that had just been defeated. What had become of
him was unknown; but that he was already dead was pretty certain; and
his father was very bitter against the tribunes and their party, to whom
he attributed his son's disgrace and death.
5. P. Valerius, the consul, had persuaded the plebeians to join in the
assault of the Capitol, by promising to gain them further privileges;
this promise Cincinnatus refused to keep, and used all his power to
frustrate the attempts of the tribunes to gain its fulfillment. At the
end of his year of office, however, when the patricians wished to
continue him in the consulship, he positively declined the offer, and
returned to his rustic life as if he had never left it.
6. It was two years after these events that the deputies of the
senate, who came to invest him with the ensigns of dictatorial power,
found him working on his little farm. He was clad in his tunic only,
and as the deputies advanced they bade him put on his toga, that he
might receive the commands of the senate in seemly guise. So he wiped
off the dust and sweat, and bade his wife fetch his toga, and asked
anxiously whether all was right or no. Then the deputies told him how
the army was beset by the Æquian foe, and how the Senate looked to him
as the savior of the state. A boat was provided to carry him over the
Tiber; and when he reached the other bank, he was greeted by his
family and friends, and the greater part of the senate, who followed
him to the city, while he himself walked in state, with his four and
twenty lictors.
7. That same day the dictator and his master of horse came down into
the forum, ordered all shops to be shut, and all business to be
suspended. All men of the military age were to meet in the Field of
Mars before sunset, each man with five days' provisions and twelve
stakes; the older men were to get the provisions ready, while the
soldiers were preparing the stakes. Thus all was got ready in time:
the dictator led them forth; and they marched so rapidly, that by
midnight they had reached Mount Algidus, where the army of the consul
was hemmed in.
8. Then the dictator, when he had discovered the place of the enemy's
army, ordered his men to put all their baggage down in one place, and
then to surround the enemy's camp. They obeyed, and each one raising a
shout, began digging the trench and fixing his stakes, so as to form a
palisade round the enemy. The consul's army, which was hemmed in,
heard the shout of their brethren, and flew to arms; and so hotly did
they fight all night, that the Æquians had no time to attend to the
new foe, and next morning found themselves hemmed in on all sides by
the trench and palisade, so that they were now between two Roman
armies. They were thus forced to surrender. The dictator required them
to give up their chiefs, and made their whole army pass under the
yoke, which was formed by two spears fixed upright in the ground, and
a third bound across them at the top.
9. Cincinnatus returned to Rome amid the shouts and exultation of his
soldiers: they gave him a golden crown, in token that he had saved the
lives of many citizens; and the senate decreed that he should enter the
city in triumph. So Cincinnatus accomplished the purpose for which he
had been made dictator in twenty-four hours. One evening he marched
forth to deliver the consul, and the next evening he returned
victorious. But he would not lay down his high office till he had
avenged his son. Accordingly, he summoned Volscius Fictor, the accuser,
and had him tried for perjury. The man was condemned and banished; and
then Cincinnatus once more returned to his wife and farm.
_Liddell._
_XXIX.--THE ROMAN FATHER._
1. Among the most interesting of the early legends of Rome is that of
Virginius, a soldier of the army belonging to the plebeian order.
While performing his duty in the army which was encamped about twenty
miles from Rome, his young daughter, Virginia, about fifteen years
of age found her home with her near relatives in the city. Her beauty
attracted the attention of Appius Claudius, one of the ten governors
of Rome. With the view of getting possession of her person, he ordered
one of his clients, M. Claudius by name, to lay hands upon her as she
was going to her school in the Forum, and to claim her as his slave.
The man did so; and when the cries of her nurse brought a crowd round
them, M. Claudius insisted on taking her before the decemvir, in order
(as he said) to have the case fairly tried. Her friends consented, and
no sooner had Appius heard the matter, than he gave judgment that the
maiden should be delivered up to the claimant, who should be bound to
produce her in case her alleged father appeared to gainsay the claim.
[Illustration: _The Seizure of Virginia._]
2. Now this judgment was directly against one of the laws of the
Twelve Tables, which Appius himself had framed: for therein it was
provided, that any person being at freedom should continue free, till
it was proved that such person was a slave. Icilius her betrothed,
therefore, with Numitorius, the uncle of the maiden, boldly argued
against the legality of the judgment; and at length, Appius, fearing a
tumult, agreed to leave the girl in their hands, on condition of their
giving bail to bring her before him next morning; and then, if
Virginius did not appear, he would at once, he said, give her up to
her pretended master.
3. To this Icilius consented; but he delayed giving bail, pretending
that he could not procure it readily, and in the mean time he sent off a
secret message to the camp on Algidus to inform Virginius of what had
happened. As soon as the bail was given, Appius also sent a message to
the decemvirs in command of that army, ordering them to refuse leave of
absence to Virginius. But when this last message arrived, Virginius was
already half-way on his road to Rome; for the distance was not more
than twenty miles, and he had started at nightfall.
4. Next morning early, Virginius entered the forum leading his
daughter by the hand, both clad in mean attire. A great number of
friends and matrons attended him; and he went about among the people
entreating them to support him against the tyranny of Appius. So, when
Appius came to take his place on the judgment-seat, he found the forum
full of people, all friendly to Virginius and his cause. But he
inherited the boldness as well as the vices of his sires, and though
he saw Virginius standing there, ready to prove that he was the
maiden's father, he at once gave judgment against his own law, that
Virginia should be given up to M. Claudius, till it should be proved
that she was free. The wretch came up to seize her, and the lictors
kept the people from him. Virginius now despairing of deliverance,
begged Appius to allow him to ask the maiden whether she were indeed
his daughter or no. "If," said he, "I find I am not her father, I
shall bear her loss the lighter." Under this pretense, he drew her
aside to a spot upon the northern side of the forum (afterward called
the Novæ Tabernæ), and here, snatching up a knife from a butcher's
stall, he cried: "In this way only can I keep thee free!" and, so
saying, stabbed her to the heart.
5. Then he turned to the tribunal, and said: "On thee, Appius, and on
thy head be this blood." Appius cried out to sieze "the murderer"; but
the crowd made way for Virginius, and he passed through them holding up
the bloody knife, and went out at the gate, and made straight for the
army. There, when the soldiers had heard his tale, they at once
abandoned their decemviral generals, and marched to Rome. They were soon
followed by the other army from the Sabine frontier; for to them
Icilius had gone, and Numitorius; and they found willing ears among the
men. So the two armies joined their banners, elected new generals, and
encamped upon the Aventine hill, the quarter of the plebeians.
6. Meantime, the people at home had risen against Appius; and after
driving him from the forum, they joined their armed fellow citizens
upon the Aventine. There the whole body of the commons, armed and
unarmed, hung like a dark cloud ready to burst upon the city.
_Liddell._
VIRGINIUS.
1. When Appius Claudius saw that deed he shuddered and sank down,
And hid his face some little space with the corner of his gown,
Till with white lips and blood-shot eyes Virginius tottered nigh,
And stood before the judgment-seat, and held the knife on high.
"Oh! dwellers in the nether gloom, avengers of the slain,
By this dear blood, I cry to you, do right between us twain;
And even as Appius Claudius hath dealt with me and mine,
Deal you by Appius Claudius and all the Claudian line!"
So spake the slayer of his child, and turned, and went his way;
But first he cast one haggard glance to where the body lay,
And writhed, and groaned a fearful groan; and then with steadfast
feet,
Strode right across the market-place into the sacred street.
2. Then up sprang Appius Claudius: "Stop him; alive or dead!
Ten thousand pounds of copper to the man who brings his head."
He looked upon his clients, but none would work his will.
He looked upon his lictors, but they trembled and stood still.
And as Virginius, through the press, his way in silence cleft,
Ever the mighty multitude fell back to right and left.
And he hath passed in safety unto his woful home,
And there ta'en horse to tell the camp what deeds are done in
Rome.
3. By this the flood of people was swollen from every side,
And streets and porches round were filled with that o'erflowing
tide,
And close around the body gathered a little train
Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain.
They brought a bier, and hung it with many a cypress crown,
And gently they uplifted her, and gently laid her down.
The face of Appius Claudius wore the Claudian scowl and sneer,
And in the Claudian note he cried, "What doth this rabble here?
Have they no crafts to mind at home, that hitherward they stray?
Ho! lictors, clear the market-place, and fetch the corpse away!"
4. Till then the voice of pity and fury was not loud,
But a deep, sullen murmur, wandered among the crowd.
Like the moaning noise that goes before the whirlwind on the deep,
Or the growl of a fierce watch-dog but half-aroused from sleep.
But when the lictors at that word, tall yeomen all, and strong,
Each with his axe and sheaf of twigs, went down into the throng,
Those old men say, who saw that day of sorrow and of sin,
That in the Roman Forum was never such a din.
The wailing, hooting, cursing, the howls of grief and hate,
Were heard beyond the Pincian hill, beyond the Latin gate.
5. But close around the body, where stood the little train
Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain,
No cries were there, but teeth set fast, low whispers, and black
frowns,
And breaking up of benches, and girding up of gowns.
'Twas well the lictors might not pierce to where the maiden lay,
Else surely had they been all twelve torn limb from limb that day.
Right glad they were to struggle back, blood streaming from their
heads,
With axes all in splinters, and raiment all in shreds.
[Illustration: _The Dead Virginia._]
6. Then Appius Claudius gnawed his lip, and the blood left his cheek;
And thrice he beckoned with his hand, and thrice he stro
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