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PART II.

OLD ROME AND HER RIVALS.

1. HORATIUS AT THE BRIDGE.

(About B. C. 500.)

ACCORDING to a Roman legend which Macaulay has fully unfolded in the "Lays of Ancient Rome," Horatius Cocles, with two comrades, defended the Sublician bridge across the Tiber, before that city, until the bridge itself could be destroyed, and then saved his own life by swimming, although heavily armed. The same writer, with equal vividness, describes the monument which honors the noted exploit.

IT stands in the Comitium,
Plain for all folks to see :
Horatio in his harness,

Halting upon one knee;
And underneath is written

In letters all of gold,

How valiantly he kept the bridge.

In the brave days of old.

And still his name sounds stirring

Unto the men of Rome,

As the trumpet-blast that cries to them

To "charge the Volscians 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.

And in the nights of winter,
When the cold 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;
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;
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.

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THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY.

NOTE-The Sublician bridge was the most ancient bridge of Rome, and the last in order, in following the course of the river. As its name implies, it was built of wood. It was raised by Ancus Martius, and dedicated with great pomp and ceremony by the Roman priests. It was afterwards rebuilt by Æmilius Lepidus, whose name it assumed. It was afterwards injured by an overflow of the river; and the Emperor Antonius, who repaired it, made it all with white marble. Some vestiges of this bridge still remain. — ED.

2.

REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT

TRUSTWORTHY.

THIS memorable appeal finds special application in the history of the American Republic. Paulus Æmilius had been called to the command of the Roman army, B. C. 168, under peculiar circumstances of responsibility. He had also been assigned to the territory, or department, which demanded the greatest wisdom, and involved the greatest risk. His address to the people at large, before taking the field, might well have been that of General Grant when he assumed command, and the criticisms of "stay-athome critics" are almost precisely those of General Sherman, who offered free transportation to all scolding advisers who would not fight where fighting brought danger.

You seem to me, Romans, to have expressed more joy when Macedonia fell to my lot than when I was elected and entered upon office. And to me, your joy seemed to be occasioned by the hopes you conceived that I should put an end, worthy of the grandeur and reputation of the Roman people, to a war which in your opinion had already been of too long continuance. I shall do my utmost not to fall short of your anticipations.

The Senate has wisely regulated everything necessary to the expedition I am charged with; and, as I am ordered to set out immediately, I shall make no delay. I know that my colleague, Caius Lentulus, out of his great zeal for the public service, will raise and march off the troops appointed for me, with as much ardor and expedition as if they were for himself. I shall take care to transmit to you as well as to the Senate, an exact account of all that passes; and you may rely upon the certainty and truth of my letters. But, I beg you, as a great favor, that you will not give credit to, or lay any weight, out of credulity, upon the light reports which are frequently spread abroad without any author.

There are those who, in company and even at table, command armies, make dispositions, and provide all the operations of the campaign. They know, better than we, where we should camp and what posts it is necessary for us to seize; at what time and by what defile we should enter Macedonia; whether it be proper that we have magazines; from whence, either by sea or land, we are to bring provisions; when we are to fight the enemy, or lie still. They not only prescribe what is best to do; but, deviating ever so little from their plans, they make it a crime in their Consul General, and cite him before their tribunal. But know, Romans, that this is of very bad effect with your generals. All have not the resolution and constancy of Fabius, to despise impertinent reports.

I am far from believing that generals stand in no need of advice, and think, on the contrary, that whoever would conduct everything alone, upon his own opinion, and without counsel, shows more presumption than prudence. But some may ask, "How, then, shall we act reasonably?" I answer, “By not suffering anybody to obtrude their advice upon your generals but such as are, in the first place, versed in the art of war, and have learned from experience what it is to command; and in the second place, who are upon the spot, who know the enemy, are witnesses in person to all that passes, and are sharers with us in all the dangers.

If there be any one who conceives himself capable of assisting me with his counsels in the war you have charged me with, let him not refuse to do the Republic that service; but let him go with me into Macedonia. Ships, horses, tents, provisions, shall be provided for him. at my charge. But if he will not take so much trouble, and prefer the tranquillity of the city to the dangers and fatigue of the field, let him not take upon him to hold the helm, and continue in the port. The city of itself

supplies sufficient matter of discourse on other subjects; but as for these, let it be silent upon them, and know that we pay no regard to any counsels but such as shall be given us in the camp itself.

PLUTARCH.

3. FABRICIUS REFUSES BRIBES.

PYRRHUS, King of Epirus, in Northwestern Greece, a formidable enemy of Rome, attempted in vain to bribe Caius Luscinus, a Roman ambassador, who visited his court to negotiate conditions of peace. When, afterwards, about 280 B. C., Fabricius was approached by the physician of Pyrrhus, with offers of money, to poison his master, the high-minded Roman exposed the plot to the king. Afterwards he became Consul and Censor; and for fear that money would tempt officials to wrong-doing, he actually banished Cornelius Rufinus, a senator, because he kept a large service of silver plate. At his death, the Roman people gave dowry to his two daughters when they became of age.

WITH regard to my poverty, the king has been justly informed. My whole estate consists in a house of but mean appearance, and a little spot of ground, from which, by my labor, I draw my support. But if by any means. thou hast been persuaded to think that this poverty. renders me of less consequence in my own country, or in any degree unhappy, thou art greatly deceived.

I have no reason to complain of fortune. She supplies me with all that my nature requires, and if I am without superfluities, I am also free from the desire of them. With these, I confess I should be more able to succor the necessitous, the only advantage for which the wealthy are to be envied; but small as my possessions are, I can still contribute something to the support of the State and the assistance of my friends. With respect to honors, my country places me, poor as I am, upon a level with the richest; for Rome knows no qualifications for great

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