dred ships, to help them in their war against the Æginetans. It was the breaking out of the Eginetan war which was at this time the saving of Greece, for hereby were the Athenians forced to become a maritime power. The new ships were not used for the purpose for which they had been built, but became a help to Greece in her hour of need. And the Athenians had not only these vessels ready before the war, but they likewise set to work to build more; while they determined, in a council which was held after the debate upon the oracle, that according to the advice of the god they would embark their whole force aboard their ships, and with such Greeks as chose to join them, give battle to the barbarian invader. Such, then, were the oracles which had been received by the Athenians. "LOPPING THE TALL EARS." THIS prince [Periander] at the beginning of his reign was of a milder temper than his father; but after he corresponded by means of messengers with Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus, he became even more sanguinary. On one occasion he sent a herald to ask Thrasybulus what mode of government it was safest to set up in order to rule with honor. Thrasybulus led the messenger without the city, and took him into a field of corn, through which he began to walk, while he asked him again and again concerning his coming from Corinth, ever as he went breaking off and throwing away all such ears of corn as overtopped the rest. In this way he went through the whole fields and destroyed all the best and richest part of the crop; then, without a word, he sent the messenger back. On the return of the man to Corinth, Periander was eager to know what Thrasybulus had counselled, but the messenger reported that he had said nothing; and he wondered that Periander had sent him to so strange a man, who seemed to have lost his senses, since he did nothing but destroy his own property. And upon this he told how Thrasybulus had behaved at the interview. Periander, perceiving what the action meant, and knowing that Thrasybulus advised the destruction of the leading citizens, treated his subjects from this time forward with the very greatest cruelty. Where Cypselus had spared any, and had neither put them to death nor banished them, Periander completed what his father had left unfinished. CLOSE OF THE HISTORY. A WISE ANSWER OF CYRUS THE GREAT IS RECALLED IN THE HOUR OF PERSIAN HUMILIATION. It was the grandfather of this Artayctes, one Artembares by name, who suggested to the Persians a proposal which they readily embraced, and thus urged upon Cyrus:-"Since Jove," they said, "has overthrown Astyages and given the rule to the Persians, and to thee chiefly, O Cyrus, come now, let us quit this land wherein we dwell; for it is a scant land and a rugged, and let us choose ourselves some other better country. Many such lie around us, some nearer, some further off: if we take one of these, men will admire us far more than they do now. Who that had the power would not so act? And when shall we have a fairer time than now, when we are lords of so many nations, and rule all Asia?" Then Cyrus, who did not greatly esteem the counsel, told them they might do so if they liked; but he warned them not to expect in that case to continue rulers, but to prepare for being ruled by others. "Soft countries gave birth to soft men. There was no region which produced very delightful fruits and at the same time men of a warlike spirit." So the Persians departed with altered minds, confessing that Cyrus was wiser than they; and chose rather to dwell in a churlish land and exercise lordship, than to cultivate plains and be the slaves of others. ROBERT HERRICK. HERRICK, ROBERT, an English clergyman and poet; born in London August 24, 1591; died at Dean Prior, Devonshire, in October, 1674. He studied at Cambridge, and after leaving the university led a jovial life in London for several years. Among his associates was Ben Jonson. At the age of thirty-six Herrick took Holy Orders, and was in 1629 presented by Charles I. to the vicarage of Dean Prior, in Devonshire. Here he wrote numerous poems, not altogether of a clerical character, but containing many clever descriptions of rural customs and manners. In 1647 he published the "Noble Numbers," and the "Hesperides, or Works Human and Divine." His volume had hardly been published when Herrick was ejected from his living by the "Long Parliament." He repaired to London, where he lived for ten or twelve years. Upon the restoration of Charles II., in 1660, Herrick was reinstated in his vicarage. He was now close upon threescore and ten, well wearied of a life which had been no wise saintly, though apparently not marked by any great excesses. His poems include not a few of the daintiest fancies in the English language. A THANKSGIVING. LORD, thou hast given me a cell A little house, whose humble roof Under the spars of which I lie Where thou, my chamber for to ward, Of harmless thoughts, to watch and keep Low is my porch, as is my fate, And yet the threshold of my door Who hither come, and freely get Like as my parlor, so my hall, A little buttery, and therein Which keeps my little loaf of bread Some brittle sticks of thorn or brier Close by whose living coal I sit, Lord, I confess, too, when I dine, And all those other bits that be There placed by thee: The worts, the purslane, and the mess Which of thy kindness thou hast sent; Makes those, and my belovèd beet, To be more sweet. "T is thou that crown'st my glittering hearth With guiltless mirth; And giv'st me wassail bowls to drink, Lord, 't is thy plenty-dropping hand That I should render for my part Which, fired with incense, I resign But the acceptance — that must be Is it to fast an hour, A downcast look and sour? No! 'Tis a fast to dole Thy sheaf of wheat, Unto the hungry soul. It is to fast from strife, And hate; To circumcise thy life. To show a heart grief-rent; And that's to keep thy Lent. TO FIND GOD. WEIGH me the fire: or canst thou find And taste thou them as saltless there TO DAFFODILS. FAIR Daffodils, we weep to see |