on the first point, that, in construction of law, day is night and night is day; because a day consists of twentyfour hours, and the law will not allow a fraction of a day:-"De minimus non curat lex," in English, "the law don't stand upon trifles." On the second point, that' twelve o'clock at night, being the precise line of division between Friday night and Saturday morning, is a portion or point of time which may be considered as belonging to both, or to either, or to neither, at the discretion of the Court. And thirdly, that, in the construction of law, fingers are thumbs and thumbs are fingers, and thumbs and fingers are great-toes and little-toes, and great-toes and little-toes are thumbs and fingers: And so judgment for the plaintiff. h OPKINSON, JOSEPH, an American jurist and poet; son of Francis Hopkinson; born at Philadelphia, November 12, 1770; died there, January 15, 1842. He was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, studied law in Philadelphia, where he attained a high rank in his profession. He was the leading counsel for Dr. Rush in his famous libel suit against William Cobbett in 1799, and was also employed in the trials under the alien and sedition laws before Judge Chase in 1800, and in the impeachment of the latter on charges of misdemeanor in connection with those trials before the United States Senate in 1805. From 1815 to 1819 he was a Member of the United States House of Representatives, where he distinguished himself as a speaker, particularly in opposition to the United States Bank and on the Seminole War. In 1828 he was appointed Judge of the United States Court for the Eastern District VOL. XIII.-24. of Pennsylvania, which position he held until his death. As an author he is known almost solely by his national song, Hail Columbia, written in 1798 for the benefit of an actor named Fox. HAIL COLUMBIA. Hail Columbia! happy land! Hail ye heroes! heaven-born band! Who fought and bled in Freedom's cause, Let Independence be our boast, Immortal patriots! rise once more; Sound, sound the trump of Fame! Ring through the world with loud applause, Let every clime to Freedom dear, Listen with a joyful ear! With equal skill and godlike power Behold the chief who now comands, Firm, united, let us be, etc. L ORACE (QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS), a Roman poet; born at Venusia, in 65 B.C.; died at Rome in 8 B.C. His father was a freedman, who appears to have been a servus publicus, or bondman of the community, who took his distinctive name from the Horatian tribe to which the community belonged. After his manumission he was made a coactor, a term designating a collector of the revenue and an auctioneer at public sales. The elder Horace appears to have exercised both these functions, and acquired a moderate competency, including a small farm, upon which his son was born. When the boy was about twelve his father took him to Rome, his means being sufficient to give him the education of a gentleman. It does not appear that either father or son ever revisited their former home. Of this slaveborn father, Horace, as will be seen, speaks in terms of the highest admiration and veneration. At about eighteen Horace was sent by his father to Athens to complete his education. For some four years he devoted himself to the study of philosophy. After the assassination of Julius Cæsar (44 B.C.), Brutus arrived at Athens on his way to the Eastern provinces, to the command of which he had been assigned, in conjunction with Cassius. Brutus remained some time at Athens, ostensibly engaged in philosophical studies, but really recruiting officers for his army from the young Romans who were studying there. Among those whom he enlisted was Horace, who was made a military tribune, and placed in command of a legion, at the head of which he took part in the battle of Philippi (42 B.C.). Believing that there was no hope of continuing the struggle, Horace "threw away his shield," and made his way back to Rome. The general amnesty which had been proclaimed assured him personal safety. But as he himself says: "Bated in spirit, and with pinions clipped, His first productions were lampoons, of which he soon became thoroughly ashamed, designating them as "smart and scurrilous lines," most of which he succeeded in suppressing. But one poem, written in 40 B.C., when he was in his twenty-fourth year, and addressed to "The Roman People," is pitched on a loftier key than anything else which he ever wrote. The civil war was raging with more fierceness than ever, and there was reason to apprehend that Rome itself would be taken and sacked by the hostile faction. Horace urged all worthy citizens to flee from the doomed city, and take ship and sail for those Islands of the Blest which were fabled to lie far out in the unknown Western Ocean. TO THE ROMAN PEOPLE. Another age in civil wars will soon be spent and worn, And by her native strength our Rome be wrecked and overborne : That Rome the Marcians could not crush, who border on the lands, Nor the shock of threatening Porsena with his Etruscan bands, Nor Capua's strength that rivalled ours, nor Spartacus the stern, Nor the faithless Allobrogian, who still for change doth yearn. Ay, what Germania's blue-eyed youth quelled not with ruthless sword, Nor Hannibal by our great sires detested and abhorred, We shall destroy with ruthless hands imbued in brothers' gore, And wild beasts of the wood shall range our native land once more. A foreign foe, alas! shall tread the City's ashes down, renown; And the bones of great Quirinius, now religiously enshrined, Shall be flung by sacrilegious hands to the sunshine and the wind. And if ye all from ills so dire ask how yourselves to free, Or such at least as would not hold your lives un worthily No better counsel I can urge than that which erst inspired The stout Phocæans when from their doomed city they retired, |