employed by him to render his precepts on them. He was a poet, we are informed, attractive. Austerity formed no element and composed a poem of some two thousand in the character of Solon; but he seems verses on the way to become happy: he had always to have been calm-tempered, and of found it, for he did good. strict justice; and if in some places his writings were tinged by voluptuousness, some allowance ought to be made for the laxity of morals then all-prevalent. In conclusion, we may remark, that the writings of Solon consisted of a number of letters, a poem upon the Atlantis-an isle which was supposed to exist far off in the Western Ocean, and several political elegies, of which some fragments have been preserved, which everywhere exhibit proofs of a noble mind, an elevated understanding, and a great talent for serious poetry. Bias flourished about five hundred and sixty-six years before our era. He was elevated by his countrymen to office in the state; but his native gentleness of heart was unchilled even by the stern forms of the hall of justice. On one occasion, we are told, on condemning a man to death, Bias wept. "If you weep," said one to him, "for the guilty, why do you condemn him?" """ ‘We can neither repress the emotions of nature," said the sensitive sage, "nor disobey the law." He is said to have been possessed of great eloquence; and, to the last hour of his life, it too, like his fortune, was ever ready at the call of benevolence. One day the old man was pleading the cause of one of his friends; when he had finished speaking, he leaned his head on the bosom of his nephew who stood near. When the judges had pronounced in his favor, the bystanders wished to awake him -but life was flown! SAYINGS OF BIAS. A good conscience is alone above fear. Listen much, and never speak but to the purpose. To desire what is impossible, and to be insensible to the troubles of others, are two great maladies of the soul. People who bestow all their talent on trifles, are like the bird of night, which sees clear in the darkness, and becomes blind in the light of the sun. You become arbiter between two of your enemies; you will make a friend of him whom your decision favors. You constitute yourself judge between two of your friends: be sure you will lose one of them. The wicked suppose all men knaves like themselves; the good are easily deceived. The most unhappy of men is he who cannot support misfortune. CLEOBULUS. Bias of Priene united the benevolence of the philanthropist to the wisdom of the sage; and the memory of his kind actions will more surely preserve his name from oblivion than even the purity and truth of his maxims. He was born in Priene, one of the twelve independent cities of lonia. He won the esteem of his countrymen by his talents and zeal in behalf of his native state, which, sharing the common fate of small republics, was alike torn by intestine divisions and menaced by powerful enemies We know but little of Cleobulus, but he from without; and which, but for his ex seems to have been a mild and good prince. ertions, must speedily have lost its indepen- He was a native of Lindos, in the island of dence. He inherited, or amassed by his Rhodes, and was elevated to the sovereignty own efforts, a considerable fortune; and his of his country; and it was as much by the wealth was employed by him in gratifying wisdom and the zeal for his country's welfare the promptings of a benevolent heart. which characterized his conduct on the Among other generous actions, he ransom-throne, as from his philosophical attained the young captives of Messena, watched over their education with all the interest of a parent, and afterwards sent them back to their native land, bearing with them the rich presents which his kindness had bestowed ments, that he won a place among the sages of Greece. Nature seems to have been no less kind to him in physical than in mental endowments, for he is said to have possessed great beauty of form. His leisure hours 546 B.C. were devoted to the cultivation of philosophy and poetry; and after a tranquil reign, he died in the seventieth year of his age, His daughter Cleobulina seems to have inherited her father's talents, and profited by his instructions. She distinguished herself as a poetess, and composed several enigmas, in one of which the year is thus characterized :--"A father had twelve children; and these twelve children had each thirty white sons and thirty white daughters, who are immortal, though they died every day." SAYINGS OF CLEO BULUS. Benefit your friends, that they may love you more dearly still; benefit your enemies, that they may at last become your friends. Never take the part of a railer: you would make an enemy of his victim. Many words and more ignorance: such is the majority of mankind. Choose a wife among your equals. If you take one from a higher rank, you will not have allies, but tyrants. CHILON. Chilon was a native of Sparta, and became one of the Ephori, or chief magistrates of the state; and in fulfilling the duties of his high office, his judgments were always dictated by the strictest impartiality. A true Spartan, he entertained a profound veneration for the laws of Lycurgus, and considered the slightest deviation from their rigid execution, in spirit as well as in form, as the highest of offences; and for one failing in this point he all his life after reproached himself. One of his friends, it seems, had been guilty of some misdemeanor, and was brought before him for trial: Clilon had the firmness to condemn him, but advised him to appeal from his decision. Such was the fault with which this upright magistrate reproached himself: it is one from which he is absolved at the bar of posterity. The character of his eloquence and of his writings bespoke the Spartan: always bold, always nervous, and of few words. "Know thyself," is one of his admired aphorisms-a precept the difficulty of rightly fulfilling which has since become proverbial, and one of which, from the preceding anecdote, Chilon, as was to be expected, seems to have been no more capable than others, for had he thoroughly" known himself" his sensitive mind would have had cause to weep over not one but a thousand failings. The Olympic games, at which all Greece assembled every fourth year, and in which rivals alike for literary and athletic fame competed, was the great arena of distinction for the Greeks. Sparta, of course, was not hindmost in the athletic contests; and in 597 B.C., a son of Chilon was a competitor in the games. He proved victor in the combat of the Cestus; and on his triumphal entrance into his native city, his aged sire, overcome with joy, died in the youth's arms while embracing him. SAYINGS OF CHILON. Know thyself. Nothing is more difficult: selflove always exaggerates our merits in our own eyes. You speak ill of others; do you not fear, then, the ill they will speak of you? You bewail your misfortunes; if you considered all that others suffer, you would complain less loudly. Distrust the man who always seeks to meddle with the affairs of others. It is better to lose than to make a dishonest gain. Your friends invite you to a feast; go late, if you like. They call you to console them; hasten. Do not permit your tongue to outrun reflection. To keep a secret, to employ well one's leisure, and to support injuries, are three very difficult things. Let your power be forgotten in your gentleness; deserve to be loved; avoid being feared. The touchstone tries the quality of gold: gold, the quality of men. PITTACUS. Pittacus was distinguished alike as a warrior and as a philosopher: his victories in the field endeared him to his countrymen and his wisdom was held in such high repute that many of his maxims were engraved on the walls of Apollo's oracular temple at Delphi. A patriot, a warrior, and a sage, he will live for posterity; virtuous, self-denying, and contented, his memory will be cherished by all good men. He was a native of Mitylene, in the island of Lesbos. His country was then groaning under the oppression of the tyrant Melanchrus; and as he grew up, young Pittacus resolved to attempt the liberation of his native isle. Alcæus, the great lyric poet, had roused the patriotic ardor of his fellowcitizens by his stirring warlike odes, and his bold invectives against tyranny; and his sons now associated themselves with Pittacus in his daring enterprise. Their efforts were successful. The citizens rose against the tyrant; and under the generalship of Pittacus, he was defeated and driven from the island. But scarcely had the Mitylenians begun to taste the sweets of freedom when a new danger arose, and they were menaced by a formidable invasion from the naval power of Athens. Pittacus was again chosen leader, and defeated the Athenians in several engagements, in one of which he killed the enemy's general in single fight. As the issue of the war seems in some way to have depended on the issue of this combat, it is recorded that Pittacus, besides his usual armor, provided himself with a net, which he concealed in the hollow of his shield, and during the fight he skilfully contrived to entangle his antagonist in its meshes, and thus came off victor. His countrymen were not deficient in gratitude; and Pittacus was soon after created governor of the city, with kingly power. His reign was marked by justice and moderation; he introduced many wise laws and institutions; and at the end of ten years voluntarily abdicated the throne, alleging that the virtues and innocence of private life were incompatible with the possession of unlimited power. Filled with admiration for his noble conduct, his countrymen now sought to load him with marks of their esteem. But Pittacus declined the dangerous gift of wealth; and when offered an extensive tract of land, he refused to accept more than he could overcast with a javelin. A costly present is also said to have been sent to him by King Croesus, which was declined in the same contented spirit of independence. His declining years were passed in peaceful retirement, employing much of his time in literary pursuits. His writings have perished; but they consisted, we are told, of acode of laws for his countrymen, a variety of moral precepts, and some elegiac verses. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-two, and died peacefully, full of years and of honors, 570 B C. Originally of obscure parentage, Pittacus is said to have had the weakness to marry a lady belonging to the class of the nobility, whose pride often disturbed his usual serenity of mind, and helped to embitter his otherwise tranquil existence. He had a high regard for the duties of children to their parents, and of parents to their offspring; and nothing could be better suited to express this than one of his own maxims "As you treated your father," he says, so expect in your old age to be treated by your children." One day, we are told, a son was about to plead against his father, when Pittacus stopped him: "You will be condemned," said he to the youth, "if your cause is less just than his : if more so, you will still be condemned." SAYINGS OF PITTACUS. Happy is the prince whose subjects fear for him, and do not fear him. Would you know a man? Invest him with great power. bears it without complaining. The prudent man foresees evil; the brave man You answer for another: repentance is at hand. In commanding others, learn to govern yourself. I love the house where I see nothing superfluous, and where I find everything necessary. PERIANDER. of THE enrolling Periander among the sages Greece is now-a-days regarded as derogatory to the high character of his colleagues; for in his case his vices and tyranny were more conspicuous, and are now oftener thought of, than his wisdom and ability. The word "tyrant " in its original signification means "prince," and it was only in after times that it came to be applied as an epithet of reproach. But Periander was a tyrant in the worst sense of the term; so that some writers have been tempted to think that it was another Periander who lived about the same time that was the sage; but there is little authority for this supposition, and the general opinion is, that the tyrant and the sage were one person. Periander was a native of Corinth, and became a magistrate and leading man in the state. At this time he is said to have been of a mild and even amiable disposition: but ambition sprang up in his heart, and seems quickly to have obtained a mastery over his early good qualities. Bent upon attaining supreme power in his native country, and at first uncertain as to the best means of succeeding in his ambitious project, he despatched an envoy to the court of the tyrant of Syracuse, that he might procure the advice of one well fitted to guide him aright in the course which he meditated. The tyrant was in the country when the messenger was brought to him; and after reading Periander's letter, he bade the envoy mark what he did, and then, plucking off all the ears of corn which overtopped the rest, told him that was the answer he was to make to his master. Periander divined his meaning. He forthwith surrounded himself with an friendship with the other six sages. Had armed guard; and, by high pay and other not ambition come with its deadening and inducements, secured their fidelity to his all-engrossing influence-had he continued person. By means of them he made him- in the rank in which it found him; he might self supreme in Corinth, cutting off all those have carried his attainments to a higher who by their talents or influence were likely perfection, and have preserved the better to prove rivals, selecting his officials from nature of his youth; and so bave bequeaththe servile and the cowardly, and issuing ed his title of sage uncoupled with that of death-warrants on the slightest suspicion. tyrant. He has left some valuable maxThe iniquities of his public career were ims; but perhaps in his case the most strikonly surpassed by those which stained his ing is one which must have been wrung from conduct in private life, where he was guilty of him in bitterness of heart, when, alone, unirregularities so gross that we are forced to loved, agitated by nervous terrors, the aged forbear detail. As he became old, constant tyrant called to mind what he might have and harassing fears preyed upon his mind; been and what he was-"Would you reign his agitation, his terrors, his remorse punish-in safety?" he remorsefully asks: "sured the tyranny which he had not courage to round not your person with armed satellites; abdicate; he trembled at his shadow-the have no other guard than the love of your echo of his own footfall filled him with subjects!" He lived eighty years, and alarm. His tyranny and its punishment died 585 years before the Christian era. lasted forty years. Enfeebled by age, and no longer able to bear the tortures of a guilty conscience, he one night dispatched some youths of his body-guard to lie in ambush at a certain spot, with orders to kill the first man who should pass that way. It was himself who went: they had killed their prince ere they recognised him. SAYINGS OF PERIANDER. Pleasure endures but a moment: virtue is im mortal. Do not content yourself with checking those who have done ill; restrain those who are about to do it. When you speak of your enemy, think that one day, perhaps, he may become your friend. This monster of cruelty was possessed of A dangerous promise has been drawn from you learning and wisdom, and was on terms of by force; go, you have promised nothing. From Howitt's Journal. ROBERT NICOLL. BY DR. SMILES. THE name of Robert Nicoll will always take high rank among the poets of Scotland. He was one of the many illustrious Scotchmen who have risen up to adorn the lot of toil, and reflect honor on the class from which they have sprung-the laborious and hardworking peasantry of their land. Nicoll, like Burns, was a man of whom those who live in poor men's huts may well be proud. They declare from day to day, that intellect is of no class, but that even in abodes of the deepest poverty, there are warm hearts and noble minds, wanting but the opportunity and the circumstances to enable them to take their place as honorable and zealous laborers in the great work of human improvement and Christian progress. The life of Robert Nicoll was not one of much variety of incident. It was, alas! brought to an early close, for he died almost ere he had reached manhood. But in his short allotted span, it is not much to say, that he lived more than most men have done, who have reached their three score years and ten. He was born of hard-working, God-fearing parents, in the year 1814, at the little village of Tulliebelton, situated about the foot of the Grampian hills, near Auchtergaven, in Perthshire. At an early period of his life his father had rented the small farm of Ordie-braes, but having been unsuccessful in his farming, and falling behind with his rent, his home was broken up by the laird; the farm stocking was sold off by public roup; and the poor man was reduced to the rank of a common day-labor- | ed in this humble vocation he read most of er. The memory of Ordie-braes afterwards haunted the young poet, and formed the subject of one of his sweetest little pieces "Aince in a day there were happy hames By the bonny Ordé's side: Nane ken how meikle peace an love In a straw roof'd cot can bide. the Waverley novels. At a future period of his life, he says, "I can yet look back with no common feelings on the wood in which, while herding, I read Kenilworth." Probably the perusal of that beautiful fiction never gave a purer pleasure, even in the state But these hames are gane, and the hand o' Timely halls of rank and fashion, than it gave The roofless wa's doth raze : Laneness and sweetness hand in hand, Gang o'er the Ordé Braes." to the poor herd-boy in the wood at Tulliebelton. In his "Youth's Dream," he looked back with delight to that glad period of his life,— "O, weel I mind how I would muse, An' think, had I the power, The gift, unending happiness- So pure and holy were my dreams When twelve years old, Robert was tak Robert was the second of a family of seven children, six sons and one daughter; the "sister Margaret," of whom the poet afterwards spoke and wrote so affectionately. Out of the bare weekly income of a daylaborer, there was not, as might be inferred, much to spare for schooling. But the mother was an intelligent, active woman, and assiduously devoted herself to the culture of her children. She taught en from the herding, and went to work in them to read, and gave them daily lessons in the Assembly's Catechism, so that, before being sent to school, which they were in course of time, this good and prudent mother had laid in them the foundations of a sound moral and religious education. My mother," says Nicoll in one of his letters, "in her early years, was an ardent book-woman. When she became poor, her time was too precious to admit of its being spent in reading, and I generally read to her while she was working; for she took care that the children should not want education" Robert's subsequent instructions at school, included the common branches of reading, writing, and accounts; the remainder of his education was his own work. He became a voracious reader, laying half the parish under contribution for books. A circulating library was got up in the parish. which the lad managed to connect himself with, and his mind became stored apace. Robert, like the rest of the children, when he became big enough and old enough, was sent out to field-work, to contribute by the aid of his slender gains, towards the common store. At seven years of age, he was sent to the herding of cattle, an occupation by the way, in which many of our most distinguished Scotchmen,-Burns, James Ferguson, Mungo Park, Dr. Murray (the Orientalist), and James Hogg-spent their early years. In winter, Nicoll attended the school with his "fee." When occupied in herding, the boy had always a book for his companion; and he read going to his work and returning from it. While engag the garden of a neighboring proprietor. Shortly after this, when about thirteen years of age, he began to scribble his thoughts, and to string rhymes together. About this time also, as one of his intimate friends has told us, he passed through a strange phasis of being. He was in the practice of relating to his companions the most wonderful and incredible stories as facts-stories that matched the wonders of the Arabian Tales, and evidencing the inordinate ascendency at that time of his imagination over the other faculties of his mind. The tales and novel literature, which, in common with all other kinds of books, he devoured with avidity, probably tended to the development of this disease (for such it really seemed to be), in his young and excitable nature. As for the verses which he then wrote, they were not at all such as satisfied himself; for, despairing of ever being able to write the English language correctly, he gathered all his papers together and made a bonfire of them, resolving to write no more "poetry" for the present. He became, however, the local correspondent of a provincial newspaper circulating in the district, furnishing it with weekly paragraphs and scraps of news, on the state of the weather and the crops, etc. His return for this service, was an occasional copy of the paper, and the consequence attendant on being the "correspondent" of the village. But another person was afterwards found more to the liking of the editor of the paper, and Robert to his chagrin, lost his profitless post. Nicoll's next change was an important |