of wickedness, who had acted a distinguished part in the bloody scenes of Scylla's tyranny. At this time Cæsar and Crassus, who, next to Pompey, were the most distinguished of the Roman generals, were so engaged, in their aspirations for power, in courting the favor of the people, that they not only spared Catiline, but perhaps secretly encouraged him, while the only two eminent Romans who boldly determined to uphold their falling country were Cato the younger and the orator Cicero. Even in the very senate-house Catiline boldly confronted Cicero, who there pronounced against him that famous oration which caused the banishment of the traitor and saved the city. We give the following picture of the scene which is supposed to have transpired in the senate on this occasion.

Cicero. Our long dispute must close. Take one proof more Of this rebellion. Lucius Catiline

Has been commanded to attend the senate.

[Enter Catiline hastily. As he seats himself on one side, all the senators go over to the other.

Cic. (Turning to Catiline.) Here I repeat the charge, to gods and men, Of treasons manifold-that, but this day,

He has received dispatches from the rebels;
That he has leagued with deputies from Gaul
To seize the province; nay, he has levied troops,
And raised his rebel standard; that, but now,
A meeting of conspirators was held

Under his roof, with mystic rites and oaths,
Pledged round the body of a murdered slave.
To these he has no answer.

Catiline.

Conscript fathers,

I do not rise to waste the night in words:

Let that plebeian talk; 'tis not my trade;

But here I stand for right!-Let him show proofs !

For Roman right; though none, it seems, dare stand

To take their share with me. Ay, cluster there!

Cling to your master, judges, Romans, slaves!

His charge is false. I dare him to his proofs.

You have my answer: let my actions speak.

Cic. (Interrupting.) Deeds shall convince you. Has the traitor done? Cat. But this I will avow, that I have scorned,

And still do scorn, to hide my sense of wrong.

Who brands me on the forehead, breaks my sword,

Or lays the bloody scourge upon my back,

Wrongs me not half so much as he who shuts
The gates of honor on me, turning out

The Roman from his birthright, and for what'?
To fling your offices to every slave;
Vipers, that creep where man disdains to climb;

Ꮓ

[Looking around.

And, having wound their loathsome track to the top
Of this huge, mouldering monument of Rome,

Hang hissing at the nobler men below.

Cic. This is his answer. Must I bring more proofs ? Fathers, you know there lives not one of us,

But lives in peril of his midnight sword.

Lists of proscription have been handed round,

In which your properties are made

Your murderer's hire.

[A cry without, "More prisoners!" Enter an officer with letters for Cicero, who, after looking at them, sends them round the senate.

Cic. Fathers of Rome, if men can be convinced

By proof as clear as daylight, here it is.

Look on these letters. Here's a deep-laid plot
To wreck the provinces; a solemn league,
Made with all form and circumstance. The time
Is desperate-all the slaves are up-Rome shakes!
The heavens alone can tell how near our graves
We stand even here! The name of Catiline
Is foremost in the league. He was their king.
Tried and convicted traitor, go from Rome!

Cat. (Rising haughtily.) Come, consecrated lictors, from your thrones.

Fling down your sceptres; take the rod and axe,
And make the murder, as you make the law.

[To the senators.

Cic. (To an officer.) Give up the record of his banishment.

[The officer gives it to the consul. Cat. (With indignation.) Banished from Rome'? What's banished, but set free

From daily contact of the things I loathe'?

"Tried and convicted traitor'!" Who says this'? Who'll prove it, at his peril, on my head'?

Banished'? I thank you for 't. It breaks my chain.

I held some slack allegiance till this hour,

But now my sword's my own. Smile on, my lords.
I scorn to count what feelings, withered hopes,
Strong provocations, bitter, burning wrongs,
I have within my heart's hot cells shut up,

To leave you in your lazy dignities.

But here I stand and scoff" you: here I fling
Hatred and full defiance in your face.

Your consul's merciful. For this, all thanks.

He dares not touch a hair of Catiline.

Consul. (Reads.) "Lucius Sergius Catiline, by the decree of the senate,

you are declared an enemy and alien to the state, and banished from the territory of the commonwealth."

Lictors, drive the traitor from the temple.

[Turning to the lictors.

Cat. "Traitor!" I go-but I return. This trial! Here I devote your senate. I've had wrongs

To stir a fever in the blood of age,

And make the infant's sinews strong as steel.

This day's the birth of sorrows. This hour's work

Will breed proscriptions. Look to your hearths, my lords!
For there henceforth shall sit, for household gods,

Shapes hot from Tartarus! all shames and crimes-
Wan Treachery, with his thirsty dagger drawn ;
Suspicion, poisoning his brother's cup;

Naked Rebellion, with the torch and axe,

Making his wild sport of your blazing thrones;

Till Anarchy comes down on you like night,

And Massacre seals Rome's eternal grave.-CROLY.

LESSON XXIV..--WARS OF CESAR AND POMPEY-DEATH

OF CATO.

1. Soon after the conspiracy of Catiline, which was quelled after a brief struggle by the energy of Cicero, civil war broke out between the adherents of Cæsar and Pompey, and the vast Roman world was divided into two hostile camps. In a great battle, which was fought on the plains of Pharsalia, in Thessaly, Cæsar was victorious, and Pompey, fleeing to Egypt, was slain by order of the Egyptian king Ptolemy, who hoped thereby to secure the favor of Cæsar.

2. After the fall of Pompey, Cæsar passed into Africa, where was a large party still opposed to him, headed by Cato, the sons of Pompey, and other generals. These he defeated in battle; after which Cato, having advised his followers not to continue their resistance, committed suicide. He had seen, he said, the republic passing away, and he could live no longer. After having read Plato on the Immortality of the Soul twice over, as if to prepare his mind for the deed which he meditated, he is supposed to have indulged in the following soliloquy:

CATO'S SOLILOQUY.

[This should be read or spoken deliberately, and the countenance and voice should in. dicate that the mind is employed in solemn contemplation.]

3.

4.

It must be so. Plato', thou reasonest well' !

Else whence this pleasing hope', this fond desire',
This longing after immortality?

Or whence this secret dread and inward horror

Of falling into naught'? Why shrinks the soul
Back on herself, and startles at destruction'?

'Tis the divinity that stirs within us:

"Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter,
And intimates eternity to man.

Eternity! thou pleasing, dreadful thought'!
Through what variety of untried being,

Through what new scenes and changes must we pass'?

The wide, the unbounded prospect lies before me:

Here will I hold. If there's a Power above us

5.

(And that there is, all nature cries aloud

Through all her works), he must delight in virtue;
And that which he delights in must be happy.

But when'? or where'? This world was made for Cæsar.
I'm weary of conjectures-this must end them.

[Laying his hand on his sword.

Thus I am doubly arm'd. My death and life,
My bane and antidote, are both before me.
This, in a moment, brings me to my end;
But this informs me I shall never die.
The soul, secured in her existence, smiles
At the drawn dagger, and defies its point.
The stars shall fade away, the sun himself
Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years;
But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amid the war of elements,

The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds.-ADDISON.

LESSON XXV.- -THE DEATH OF CESAR.

1. AFTER Cæsar had finished the war in Africa, the Roman senate created him dictator for ten years; he was appointed censor of the public morals, and his statue was placed opposite that of Jupiter in the Capitol, and on it was inscribed "To Cæsar, the demigod." Not long afterward he was made dictator for life, with the title of imperator, and all the powers of sovereignty were conferred upon him, although the outward form of the republic was allowed to remain.

2. The people, however, soon became suspicious that he courted the title of king; and a large number of senators, headed by the prætors Cassius and Brutus, formed a conspiracy to take his life, and fixed on the day of the meeting of the senate for the execution of their plot. As soon as Cæsar had taken his seat in the senate-house, the conspirators crowded around him, and as one of them, pretending to urge some request, laid hold of his robe as if in the act of supplication, the others, Brutus among the number, rushed upon him with drawn daggers, and he fell, pierced with twenty-three wounds, at the base of Pompey's statue, which was sprinkled with his blood. The scenes which followed-the speech of Brutus in defense of the deed, and the artful funeral oration of Antony, by which the fickle populace were roused to demand vengeance upon the conspirators, are well set forth in the following extract from Shakspeare:

Scene: the Roman forum.

Enter Brutus and Cassius, and a throng of citizens.

Cit. We will be satisfied; let us be satisfied.

Bru. Then follow me, and give me audience, friends. Cassius, go you into the other street,

And part the numbers.

Those that will hear me speak', let them stay here';
Those that will follow Cassius', go with him';

And public reasons shall be rendered

Of Cæsar's death.

1st Cit.

I will hear Brutus speak.

2d Cit. I will hear Cassius; and compare their reasons When severally we hear them rendered.

[Exit Cassius, with some of the citizens.

Brutus goes into the rostrum. 3d Cit. The noble Brutus is ascended: Silence! Bru. Be patient till the last.

Romans', countrymen,' and lovers'! hear me for my cause; and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honor; and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom; and awake your senses, that you may the better judge. If there be any in this assembly', any dear friend of Cæsar's', to him I say that Brutus's love to Cæsar was no less than his. If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Cæsar', this is my answer-Not that I loved Cæsar less', but that I loved Rome more'. Had you rather Cæsar were living, and die all slaves', than that Cæsar were dead, to live all freemen'? As Cæsar loved me', I weep' for him; as he was fortunate', I rejoice' at it; as he was valiant,' I honor' him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew' him. There are tears' for his love', joy' for his fortune', honor' for his valor', and death' for his ambition. Who is here so base that would be a bondman'? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.

[Several speaking at once.

Cit. None', Brutus', none'. Bru. Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Cæsar than you should do to Brutus. The question of his death is enrolled in the Capitol; his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy; nor his offenses enforced, for which he suffered death.

Enter Antony and others, with Cæsar's body.

Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony; who, though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth; as which of you shall not? With this I depart-that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death.

Cit. Live, Brutus, live! live!

1st Cit. Bring him with triumph home to his house.

2d Cit. Give him a statue with his ancestors.

3d Cit. Let him be Cæsar.

Shall now be crowned in Brutus.

1st Cit. We'll bring him to his house with shouts and clamors.

Bru. My countrymen—

Z*