the Grecian drama in attacking, under the veil of satire, existing institutions, politicians, philosophers, poets, and even private citizens by name, some idea may be formed from the following extract from "The Knights" of Aristoph'anes, in which a chorus of singers, coming upon the stage, thus commences an attack upon Cleon, a corrupt political demagogue who had gained such consideration by flattering the lower orders and railing at the higher, that he stood in the situa tion of head of a party. THE POLITICAL DEMAGOGUE. Scene: the public market-place of Athens. Close around him, and confound him, the confounder of us all; Worthy veterans of the jury, you that, either right or wrong, Chorus. Rightly served'! we serve you rightly, for your hungry love of pelf; Him, besides, the wealthy man, retired upon an easy rent, Hating and avoiding party, noble-minded, indolent, Fearful of official snares, intrigues, and intricate affairs; Him you mark; you fix and hook him, while he's gaping unawares; At a fling, at once you bring him hither from the Chersonese, Down you cast him, roast and baste him, and devour him at your ease. Cleon. Yes'! assault', insult', abuse' me! this is the return I find For the noble testimony, the memorial I designed: Meaning to propose proposals for a monument of stone, On the which your late achievements should be carved and neatly done. Chorus. Out, away' with him! the slave'! the pompous, empty, fawning knave'! Does he think with idle speeches to delude and cheat us all, Cleon. Save me, neighbors'! Oh the monsters! Oh my side, my back, my breast'! Chorus. What! you're forced to call for help'? you brutal, overpowering pest'! [Cleon is pelted off the stage, pursued by the Chorus. Aristophanes: translated by MR. FRERE. LESSON X.-THE OLYMPIAN GAMES. [The Olympian Games, which were celebrated at Olympia, in Greece, every fifth year, consisted of horse and foot races, leaping, throwing, wrestling, and boxing, and other athletic exercises. The following description of a chariot-race is from one of the tragedies of Sophocles, translated by Bulwer. Orestes had gained five victories on the first day, and on the second he starts with nine competitors in the chariot-race: an Achæan, a Spartan, two Libyans, an Ætolian, a Magnesian, an Enian, an Athenian, and a Baotian. The great art of the charioteer consisted in turning as close as possible to the goals, but without running against them or against the other chariots.] THE CHARIOT-RACE, WITH THE DEATH OF ORESTES. 2. Ores'tes still, Aye,' as he swept around the perilous pillar So on erect the chariots rolled! Dashed their wild fronts: then order changed to ruin : Was, sea-like, strewn with wrecks: the Athenian saw, 3. Behind, Orestes, hitherto the last, Had kept back his coursers for the close; He nears-he reaches-they are side by side; A shriek-a shout! But yesterday such deeds- And while we speak, the Phocian strangers bear, That handful of cold ashes to which all The grandeur of the beautiful hath shrunk. 1 AYE (pronounced a), always; ever. [Used in this sense only in poetry.] LESSON XI.-THE LATTER DAYS OF GRECIAN HISTORY. 1. ABOUT fifty years after the battle of Plata'a the Grecians became involved in a series of domestic contests, called the "Peloponnesian Wars," which continued, with occasional intervals of peace, until Philip, king of Macedon, by the successful battle of Chærone'a, broke up the feeble Grecian confederacy, and soon after succeeded in inducing the conquered states to elect him commander-in-chief of all the Grecian forces. It was while Philip was plotting against the liberties of Greece that his intrigues called forth from the Athenian Demosthenes, the greatest of Grecian orators, those famous "Philippics" which have immortalized both the orator and the object of his invectives. 2. Alexander the Great, the son and successor of Philip, carried out the plans of his father by a successful invasion of the Persian dominions; but on his death, in the thirty-third year of his age (B.C. 324), the vast empire which he had so suddenly built up was as suddenly broken in pieces, and the Grecian states again became a prey to civil dissensions, which were terminated only by the subjugation of all Greece to the dominion of the Romans, in the year 146 before the Christian era. This point is the proper termination of Grecian history; for, as rivers flow into the sea, so does the history of all the nations known to have existed previously in the regions round the Mediterranean, terminate in the history of Rome." 3. With the loss of her liberties the glory of Greece passed away. Her population had been gradually diminishing since the period of the Persian wars; and from the epoch of the Roman conquest the spirit of the nation sunk into despondency, and the energies of the people gradually wasted, until, at the time of the Christian era, Greece existed only in the remembrance of the past. Then, many of her cities were desolate, or had sunk to insignificant villages, while Athens alone maintained her renown for philosophy and the arts, and became the instructor of her conquerors; large tracts of land, once devoted to tillage, were either barren, or had been converted into pastures for sheep and vast herds of cattle; while the rapacity of Roman governors had inflicted upon the sparse population impoverishment and ruin. LESSON XII.-EARLY ROMAN HISTORY. 1. THE early history of Rome, as recorded by Livy and other early writers, from the period of the supposed founding of the city by Romulus, about the year 753 B.C., down to the banishment of the Tarquins and the abolition of royalty, 510 B.C.—and even perhaps a century or two later-is of very doubtful authenticity, and was probably compiled from legendary poems that had been transmitted from generation to generation, and often rehearsed, to the sound of music, at the banquets of the great. 2. The historian Macaulay has aimed to reconstruct some of these poetic legends, which he has given to the world under the title of "Lays of Ancient Rome," and which are supposed to have been recited by ancient minstrels who were in no wise above the passions and prejudices of their age and country. It is stated by all the Latin historians that, a few years after the expulsion of the Tarquins for their despotism and crimes, the neighboring Etruscans, to which nation they belonged, endeavored to restore the tyrants to power, and came against Rome with an overwhelming force. The Romans, repulsed at first, fled across a wooden bridge over the Tiber, when the Roman consul ordered the bridge to be destroyed, to prevent the enemy from entering the city. The continuation of the legend is supposed to have been narrated by one of the Roman minstrels, as given in the following lesson, at a period one hundred years later than the events there recorded. LESSON XIII.-THE STORY OF HORATIUS. 1. BUT the consul's brow was sad, And the consul's speech was low, Before the bridge goes down; 2. Then out spoke brave Horatius, And the temples of his gods? 3. "Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul, Now, who will stand on either hand, And keep the bridge with me?" Two brave Romans, Spurius Lartius and Herminius, responded to the call of their comrade; and the three, with arms in hand, sprang forward to defend the passage, while others hastened to cut away the props that supported the bridge. 4. Meanwhile the Tuscan army, Right glorious to behold, Came flashing back the noonday light, Of a broad sea of gold. Four hundred trumpets sounded A peal of warlike glee, As that great host, with measured tread, |