guilty nation was fulfilled to the letter. During this war, Titus in a striking manner displayed the tenderness of his fraternal affection, by endeavouring to reconcile his brother Domitian to their common father; for Vespasian was justly displeased with the vices which even thus early appeared in the character of Domitian.

After the death of his father, Titus ascended the imperial throne, and thenceforward conducted himself with so much clemency, moderation, and justice, that he was deservedly called "The delight of the human race.” It is recorded, that being told one evening that he had not done a kind action during the day, he exclaimed with every mark of sincere sorrow, "Alas! my friends, I have lost a day!" To gratify the people, he dismissed the beautiful Berenice, and in spite of her tears, banished her not only from the city, but from Italy. Though his brother Domitian disturbed the tranquillity of his reign, by claiming a share in the government, the emperor would not treat him harshly, but endeavoured to soothe him by the most affectionate remonstrances. The race of spies and informers, which had flourished so much under previous emperors, received no encouragement from the virtuous Titus; he even pardoned those who conspired against his life, and forbade the prosecution of libels against his dignity.

In the first year of this reign occurred the memorable eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which produced such dreadful calamities in southern Italy, having overwhelmed the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, with other places of minor importance. Pliny, the celebrated naturalist, anxious to investigate the dreadful phenomenon, incautiously approached too near, and fell a victim. Titus exerted himself with the utmost diligence to relieve the sufferers by this awful calamity; the property of those who had perished without heirs devolved by law to the emperor, but he ordered that the entire should be devoted to the relief of the poor, and the reparation of the cities. While Titus was in Campania, personally superintending the distribution of his bounty, he received intelligence of a new calamity; a formidable conflagration burst forth in Rome, and raged for three days before its progress could be checked. It reduced to ashes many public and private buildings, amongst others a great part of the capitol, Pompey's theatre, and the magnificent library of Augustus. Titus generously took the entire loss upon himself, and repaired all the damages out of the imperial

D

revenues. The fire was soon followed by a plague, in which great multitudes perished.

The emperor's exertions in these trying circumstances were gratefully acknowledged by the senate and people; ingenuity was exhausted in devising new honours to his name. But he lived not to enjoy them. While witnessing some games in the magnificent amphitheatre that bears his name, he was suddenly taken ill, and was ordered by the physicians to try the effects of a change of air. He had scarcely reached his paternal estate when he expired, justly regretted by the entire empire. A little before his death, he is said to have declared that there was but one action of his life which he wished undone; if, as is generally supposed, he alluded to the nomination of Domitian as his successor, the Roman people had good cause to join in the wish; for a more execrable tyrant never disgraced a throne than the brother and successor of the virtuous Titus. Titus was born A.D. 40-died A.D. 81. Domitian, his wicked brother, is believed to have poisoned him. He reigned only two short years.

1. Name the first Emperor of Rome. 2. Name the Emperors here mentioned, and tell me something characteristic of each.

3. What narrow escape from death did Titus make in his youth?

4. In what capacity did Titus accompany his father to Judea ?

at the capture of Jerusalem?

6. What calamities befell the empire in the first year of Titus' reign?

7. What great man lost his life in the eruption of Vesuvius?

8. Relate the particulars of this good emperor's death.

9. Give the date of the destruction of

5. Who commanded the Roman army | Jerusalem.

CHELONIS, WIFE OF CLEOMBROTUS, OF LACEDEMON.

From "Biographies of Good Wives," by Mrs. Child. CHELONIS was the daughter of Leonidas, king of Lacedemon. During the reign of this monarch, Agis proposed an equal distribution of lands; a proposition which was, of course, warmly seconded by the mass of the people, and generally opposed by the wealthy. Leonidas gave his influence to the aristocratic party. A formidable faction arose against him, of which his son-in-law, Cleombrotus, was persuaded to be the leader; although the step was warmly opposed by his wife.

Leonidas fled to the altar of Minerva for safety,' and there his daughter Chelonis joined him in prayers to the goddess.

1 According to the laws of ancient Greece, a criminal could not be taken from the temples of the gods.

Cleombrotus ascended the throne; but his indignant wife refused to share his fortunes. As long as her father remained in sanctuary, she stayed with him; and when he escaped to Tegea, she followed him into exile.

It was not long before a counter-revolution took place, and Leonidas was recalled. The monarch, according to the fierce spirit of those ancient times, returned full of fury against the party which had dethroned him; and his rebellious son-in-law was particularly marked out as an object of revenge.

Cleombrotus took refuge in the temple of Neptune. Here he was sought by his angry father, who bitterly reproached him for his conduct. Cleombrotus, silent and confused, attempted no justification of himself. But with the change of fortune, Chelonis had changed: with dishevelled hair and a dress of deep mourning, she sat by her husband's side, endeavouring to console him in the most affectionate manner; her two little children were at her feet.

At this sight, Leonidas, and the soldiers who were with him, were moved even to tears.

Pointing to her mourning habit, Chelonis thus addressed the king: "This habit, my dear father, was not first assumed out of compassion to Cleombrotus. My sorrows began with your misfortunes, and have ever since remained my familiar companions. Now that you are again king of Sparta, can I assume royal ornaments, while the husband of my youth, whom you yourself bestowed upon me, falls a victim to your vengeance? If his own submission-if the tears of his wife and children cannot move you, he must suffer a severer punishment than even you wish to inflict upon him; he must see his beloved wife die before him. How can I live, and support the sight of women, when both my husband and my father have refused to listen to my supplications? If Cleombrotus wronged you, I atoned for it by forsaking him to follow you; but if you put him to death, you will make an apology for his ambition, by showing that a crown is so bright and desirable an object, that a son-in-law must be slain, and a daughter utterly disregarded, where that is in question.'

As Chelonis ended, she rested her cheek sorrowfully on her husband's head, and looked at her father with tearful eyes. After a short struggle with himself, Leonidas commanded Cleombrotus to arise and go into exile. He entreated his daughter to remain with him and share his prosperity, as she had shared his misfortunes.

Chelonis would not forsake her husband. When he rose from the ground, she put one infant in his arms, and took the other herself; and having prayed at the altar, where they had taken sanctuary, she went with him into banishment.

What a contemptible loss was a kingdom, to one who possessed the affections of this noble-minded Spartan matron!

ALFRED THE GREAT.

Dyn'as-ty, n. (Gr. dunastēs), sov- | Mal'a-dy, n. (L. malus), an illness ereignty; race or succession of rulers.

In-fest', v. (L. in, festus), to annoy;

to plague; to harass. In-va'der, n. (L. in, vado), one who enters a country as an enemy. Peas'ant, n. (Fr. paysan), a countryman; a rustic. Dev-as-ta'tion, n. (L. de, vasto), waste; havoc; desolation. In-dis'pu-ta-ble, adj. (L. in, dis, puto), not to be disputed; incontrovertible; undeniable.

or disorder of body; distemper. Em-bel'lish-ment, n. (Sax. em, L. bellus), that which adds beauty or elegance; ornament. Be-nev'o-lence, n. (L. bene, volo), a will or wish for the happiness of others; kindness. In-ces'sant, adj. (L. in, cessans), unceasing; continual; still going on.

Church, n. (Gr. Kurios, oikos), the house of the Lord; a place for the worship of God.

ALFRED, surnamed the Great, sixth king of England, of the Saxon dynasty, was born in the year 849, and ascended the throne in 871, in the 22nd year of his age. He succeeded his brother Ethelred, who died in consequence of a wound received in battle with the Danes, by which term we are to understand all the Scandinavian nations, Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians indiscriminately. These pirates in great numbers infested the shores of England and Scotland, plundering and cruelly oppressing the Saxon people. Alfred had scarcely time to follow Ethelred to the grave, when he was called on to fight for the crown to which he had succeeded. He gained some partial advantages over the invaders at first, but they, receiving ever fresh supplies from the continent, pressed him by degrees until he ceased to command an army, or even a guard; and, wandering alone, the youthful king found safety in a cowherd's hut at Athelney, in Somersetshire. The peasant's wife, quite ignorant of his rank, set him one day to watch some cakes that were baking on the fire, but the dethroned monarch's mind was far away devising means of relieving his country, and thus occupied, he let the cakes burn unnoticed. The worthy dame,

seeing his carelessness, cried out, "Man! what are you thinking about—can you not turn the cakes?—you'll be glad enough to eat them." After spending some months in concealment, Alfred, under the disguise of a wandering minstrel, penetrated the Danish camp, and while charming the soldiers with his music, he noticed the negligence of his enemies, and obtained such knowledge as enabled him afterwards to summon his people to his standard, fall upon the invaders unawares, and put them completely to flight. The time, however, had not yet come when Alfred and his kingdom were to enjoy the blessings of peace. In 893 a fleet of 330 ships under command of Hastings, the most renowned of the Danish leaders, landed on the coast of Kent, and for three years almost every part of South Britain became in turn the scene of devastation and bloodshed. At last the genius of the British monarch prevailed, and the remainder of his reign was passed in comparative tranquillity.

This truly great prince is equally celebrated as a warrior, a legislator, and a scholar. At his court were entertained some of the most learned men of his time, from various countries. He divided the land into counties; and with him, it is generally allowed, originated trial by jury, that great sheet-anchor of England's justice and of England's liberty. Above all things was he anxious that his subjects should know how to govern themselves and how to preserve their liberties. And in his will he declared that he left his people as free as their own thoughts. He left behind him many remarkable compositions in prose and

verse.

Down to the last days of his life he heard all law appeals in person with the greatest patience; and, in cases of importance, he revised all the proceedings with the utmost industry. His manifold labours in the court, the camp, the field, the hall of justice, the study, must have been prodigious; and our amazement at all this bodily and mental activity will be increased by the indisputable fact that these incessant exertions were made in spite of the depressing influences of a most tormenting malady that afflicted him from the age of twenty. The disease never quitted him, and was no doubt the cause of his death. "The shepherd of his people,"-"the darling of the English,"- "the wisest man in England,”—the truly illustrious Alfred expired in the month of November, in the year 900, when he was only in the fifty-first year of his age.