No More Learning

7. After endeavouring to regulate his subjects by law, Rom'ulus next
gave orders to ascertain their numbers. The whole amounted to no more
than three thousand foot, and about as many hundred horsemen, capable
of bearing arms. These, therefore, were divided equally into three
tribes, and to each he assigned a different part of the city. Each of
these tribes was subdivided into ten curiæ, or companies, consisting of
a hundred men each, with a centurion to command it; a priest called
curio, to perform the sacrifices, and two of the principal inhabitants,
called duumviri, to distribute justice.

8. By these judicious regulations, each day added strength to the new
city; multitudes of people flocked in from all the adjacent towns, and
it only seemed to want women to insure its duration. In this exigence,
Rom'ulus, by the advice of the senate, sent deputies among the
Sab'ines, his neighbours, entreating their alliance; and, upon these
terms, offering to cement the strictest confederacy with them. The
Sab'ines, who were at that time considered as the most warlike people
of Italy, rejected the proposal with disdain. 9. Rom'ulus, therefore,
proclaimed a feast, in honour of Neptune,[2] throughout all the
neighbouring villages, and made the most magnificent preparations for
celebrating it. These feasts were generally preceded by sacrifices,
and ended in shows of wrestlers, gladiators, and chariot-courses. The
Sab'ines, as he had expected, were among the foremost who came to be
spectators, bringing their wives and daughters with them, to share the
pleasures of the sight. 10. In the mean time the games began, and
while the strangers were most intent upon the spectacle, a number of
the Roman youth rushed in among them with drawn swords, seized the
youngest and most beautiful women, and carried them off by violence.
In vain the parents protested against this breach of hospitality; the
virgins were carried away and became the wives of the Romans.

11. A bloody war ensued. The cities of Cæ'nina,[3] Antem'næ,[4] and
Crustumi'num,[5] were the first who resolved to avenge the common
cause, which the Sab'ines seemed too dilatory in pursuing. But all
these, by making separate inroads, became an easy conquest to
Rom'ulus, who made the most merciful use of his victories; instead of
destroying their towns, or lessening their numbers, he only placed
colonies of Romans in them, to serve as a frontier to repress more
distant invasions.

12. Ta'tius, king of Cures, a Sabine city, was the last, although the
most formidable, who undertook to revenge the disgrace his
country had suffered. He entered the Roman territories at the head of
twenty-five thousand men, and not content with a superiority of
forces, he added stratagem also. 13. Tarpe'ia, who was daughter to the
commander of the Capit'oline hill, happened to fall into his hands, as
she went without the walls of the city to fetch water. Upon her he
prevailed, by means of large promises, to betray one of the gates to
his army. The reward she engaged for, was what the soldiers wore on
their arms, by which she meant their bracelets. They, however, either
mistaking her meaning, or willing to punish her perfidy, threw their
bucklers upon her as they entered, and crushed her to death. 14. The
Sab'ines being thus possessed of the Capit'oline, after some time a
general engagement ensued, which was renewed for several days, with
almost equal success, and neither army could think of submitting; it
was in the valley between the Capit'oline and Quiri'nal hills that the
last engagement was fought between the Romans and the Sab'ines. 15.
The battle was now become general, and the slaughter prodigious; when
the attention of both sides was suddenly turned from the scene of
horror before them to another. The Sab'ine women, who had been carried
off by the Romans, flew in between the combatants, with their hair
loose, and their ornaments neglected, regardless of their own danger;
and, with loud outcries, implored their husbands and their fathers to
desist. Upon this the combatants, as if by natural impulse, let fall
their weapons. 16. An accommodation ensued, by which it was agreed,
that Rom'ulus and Ta'tius should reign jointly in Rome, with equal
power and prerogative; that a hundred Sab'ines should be admitted into
the senate; that the city should retain its former name, but the
citizens, should be called Qui'rites, after Cu'res, the principal town
of the Sab'ines; and that both nations being thus united, such of the
Sab'ines as chose it, should be admitted to live in and enjoy all the
privileges of citizens of Rome. 17. The conquest of Came'ria was the
only military achievement under the two kings, and Ta'tius was killed
about five years after by the Lavin'ians, for having protected some of
his servants who had plundered them and slain their ambassadors; so
that, by this accident, Rom'ulus once more saw himself sole monarch of
Rome. 18. Soon after the death of Ta'tius, a cruel plague and famine
having broken out at Rome, the Camerini embraced the opportunity to
lay waste the Roman territory. But Rom'ulus gave them battle,
killed six thousand on the spot, and returned in triumph to Rome. He
took likewise Fidenæ, a city about forty furlongs distant from his
capital, and reduced the Veien'tes to submission.

19. Successes like these produced an equal share of pride in the
conqueror. From being contented with those limits which had been
wisely assigned to his power, he began to affect absolute sway, and to
controul those laws to which he had himself formerly professed
implicit obedience. The senate was particularly displeased at his
conduct, as they found themselves used only as instruments to ratify
the rigour of his commands. 20. We are not told the precise manner
which they employed to get rid of the tyrant. Some say that he was
torn in pieces in the senate-house; others, that he disappeared while
reviewing his army; certain it is, that, from the secrecy of the fact,
and the concealment of the body, they took occasion to persuade the
multitude that he was taken up into heaven; thus, him whom they could
not bear as a king, they were contented to worship as a god. Rom'ulus
reigned thirty-seven years; and, after his death, had a temple built
to him, under the name of Quiri'nus.


_Questions for Examination. _

1. What were the first proceedings of the rude inhabitants of Rome?

2. Of whom was the senate composed?

3. Who were the patricians?

4. Who were the plebeians?

5. What was the first care of the new king? In what did the Religion
of Rome consist?

6. What were the laws between husband and wife, and between parents
and children?

7. What were the regulations directed by Romulus?

8. What was the result of these regulations?

9. What conduct did Romulus adopt in consequence?

10. What treatment did the Sabines experience?

11. Did they tamely acquiesce in this outrage?

12. Who undertook to revenge the disgrace of the Sabines?

13. What was this stratagem, and how was its perpetrator rewarded?

14. Did the possession of the Capitoline put an end to the war?

15. What put a stop to this sanguinary conflict?

16. What were the terms of accommodation?

17. Was this joint sovereignty of long continuance?

18. Was Romulus successful in military affairs?

19. What was the consequence?

20. What was the manner of his death?

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This symbol of authority was borrowed from his neighbours, the
Istrurians.

[2] More properly in honour of Con'sus, a deity of Sabine origin, whom
the Romans, in a later age, confounded with Neptune. (See Keightley's
Mythology. )

[3] A town of Latium, near Rome. (Livy. )

[4] A city of the Sabines, between Rome and the Anio, from whence its
name,--Ante Amnem. (Dionys. Hal. )

[5] A town of Etruria, near Veii. (Virg. )

* * * * *




CHAPTER III.

FROM THE DEATH OF ROMULUS TO THE DEATH OF NUMA POMPILIUS, THE SECOND
KING OF ROME. --U. C. 38.

When pious Numa reigned, Bellona's voice
No longer called the Roman youth to arms;
In peaceful arts he bid her sons rejoice,
And tranquil live, secure from war's alarms. --_Brooke. _

1. Upon the death of Rom'ulus, the city seemed greatly divided in the
choice of a successor. The Sab'ines were for having a king chosen from
their body; but the Romans could not endure the thoughts of advancing
a stranger to the throne. In this perplexity, the senators undertook
to supply the place of the king, by taking the government each of them
in turn, for five days, and during that time enjoying all the honours
and all the privileges of royalty. 2. This new form of government
continued for a year; but the plebeians, who saw this method of
transferring power was only multiplying their masters, insisted upon
altering that mode of government. The senate being thus driven to an
election, at length pitched upon Nu'ma Pompil'ius, a Sab'ine, and
their choice was received with universal approbation by the people. [1]

3. Nu'ma Pompil'ius, who was now about forty, had long been eminent
for his piety, his justice, his moderation, and exemplary life. He was
skilled in all the learning and philosophy of the Sab'ines, and lived
at home at Cu'res,[2] contented with a private fortune; unambitious of
higher honours. It was not, therefore, without reluctance, that he
accepted the dignity; which, when he did so, produced such joy, that
the people seemed not so much to receive a king as a kingdom.

4. No monarch could be more proper for them than Nu'ma, at a
conjuncture when the government was composed of various petty states
lately subdued, and but ill united to each other: they wanted a master
who could, by his laws and precepts, soften their fierce dispositions;
and, by his example, induce them to a love of religion, and every
milder virtue. 5. Numa's whole time, therefore, was spent in
inspiring his subjects with a love of piety, and a veneration for the
gods. He built many new temples, instituted sacred offices and feasts;
and the sanctity of his life gave strength to his assertion--that he
had a particular correspondence with the goddess _Ege'ria_. By her
advice he built the temple of _Janus_, which was to be shut in time of
peace, and open in war. He regulated the appointment of the vestal
virgins, and added considerably to the privileges which they had
previously enjoyed.

6. For the encouragement of agriculture, he divided those lands, which
Romulus had gained in war, among the poorer part of the people; he
regulated the calendar, and abolished the distinction between Romans
and Sabines, by dividing the people according to their several trades,
and compelling them to live together. Thus having arrived at the age
of fourscore years, and having reigned forty-three in profound peace,
he died, ordering his body, contrary to the custom of the times, to be
buried in a stone coffin; and his books of ceremonies, which consisted
of twelve in Latin, and as many in Greek, to be buried by his side in
another. [3]


_Questions for Examination. _

1. Upon the death of Romulus, what took place in regard to his
successor?

2. How long did this order of things continue?

3. What was the character of Numa Pompilius?

4. Was Numa a monarch suited to this peculiar conjuncture?

5. Relate the acts of Numa?

6. What were the further acts of Numa?

7. What orders did he leave at his death?

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Nu'ma Pompil'ius was the fourth son of Pompil'ius Pom'po, an
illustrious Sab'ine. He had married Ta'tia, the daughter of Ta'tius,
the colleague of Rom'ulus, and on the death of his wife, gave himself
up entirely to solitude and study. (Plutarch--Livy. )

[2] More probably at Quirium, the Sabine town which was united with
Rome. (See Introduction, Chap. II. )

[3] The age of Nu'ma is scarcely more historical than that of
Rom'ulus, but the legends respecting it are fewer and partake less of
extravagance. Indeed, he had himself discouraged the songs of the
bards, by ordering the highest honours to be paid to Tac'ita, the
Came'na or Muse of Silence. His memory was best preserved by the
religious ceremonies ascribed to him by universal tradition. The later
poets loved to dwell on his peaceful virtues, and on the pure
affection that existed between him and the nymph Egeria. They tell us
that when the king served up a moderate repast to his guests on
earthen-ware, she suddenly changed the dishes into gold, and the plain
food into the most sumptuous viands. They also add, that when he died,
Egeria melted away in tears for his loss, and was changed into a
fountain.

* * * * *




CHAPTER IV.

FROM THE DEATH OF NUMA TO THE DEATH OF TULLUS HOSTILIUS THE THIRD KING
OF ROME. --U. C. 82.

From either army shall be chose three champions,
To fight the cause alone. --_Whitehead. _

1. At the death of Nu'ma, the government once more devolved upon the
senate, and so continued, till the people elected Tullus Hostil'ius
for their king, which choice had also the concurrence of the other
part of the constitution. This monarch, the grandson of a noble
Roman,[1] who had formerly signalized himself against the Sab'ines,
was every way unlike his predecessor, being entirely devoted to war,
and more fond of enterprise than even the founder of the empire
himself had been; so that he only sought a pretext for leading his
forces to the field.

2. The _Albans_, by committing some depredations on the Roman
territory, were the first people that gave him an opportunity of
indulging his favourite inclinations. The forces of the two states met
about five miles from Rome, prepared to decide the fate of their
respective kingdoms; for, in these times, a single battle was
generally decisive. The two armies were for some time drawn out in
array, awaiting the signal to begin, both chiding the length of that
dreadful suspense, when an unexpected proposal from the Alban general
put a stop to the onset. 3. Stepping in between both armies, he
offered the Romans to decide the dispute by single combat; adding,
that the side whose champion was overcome, should submit to the
conqueror. A proposal like this, suited the impetuous temper of the
Roman king, and was embraced with joy by his subjects, each of whom
hoped that he himself should be chosen to fight the cause of his
country. 4. There were, at that time, three twin brothers in each
army; those of the Romans were called Hora'tii, and those of the
Albans Curia'tii; all six remarkable for their courage, strength, and
activity, and to these it was resolved to commit the management of the
combat. [2] At length the champions met, and each, totally
regardless of his own safety, only sought the destruction of his
opponent. The spectators, in horrid silence, trembled at every blow,
and wished to share the danger, till fortune seemed to decide the
glory of the field. 5. Victory, that had hitherto been doubtful,
appeared to declare against the Romans: they beheld two of their
champions lying dead upon the plain, and the three Curia'tii, who were
wounded, slowly endeavouring to pursue the survivor, who seemed by
flight to beg for mercy. Too soon, however, they perceived that his
flight was only pretended, in order to separate his three antagonists,
whom he was unable to oppose united; for quickly after, stopping his
course, and turning upon the first, who followed closely behind, he
laid him dead at his feet: the second brother, who was coming up to
assist him that had already fallen, shared the same fate. 6. There now
remained but the last Curia'tius to conquer, who, fatigued and
disabled by his wounds, slowly advanced to offer an easy victory. He
was killed, almost unresisting, while the conqueror, exclaiming, "Two
have I already sacrificed to the manes of my brothers, the third I
will offer up to my country," despatched him as a victim to the
superiority of the Romans, whom now the Alban army consented to
obey. [3]

7. But the virtues of that age were not without alloy; that very hand
that in the morning was exerted to save his country, was, before
night, imbrued in the blood of a sister: for, returning triumphant
from the field, it raised his indignation to behold her bathed in
tears, and lamenting the loss of her lover, one of the Curia'tii, to
whom she had been betrothed. This so provoked him beyond the powers of
sufferance, that in a rage he slew her: but the action displeased the
senate, and drew after it the condemnation of the magistrate. He was,
however, pardoned, by making his appeal to the people, but obliged to
pass under the yoke; an ignominious punishment, usually inflicted on
prisoners of war. [4]

8. Tullus having greatly increased the power and wealth of Rome by
repeated victories, now thought proper to demand satisfaction of the
Sab'ines for the insults which had been formerly offered to some Roman
citizens at the temple of the goddess Fero'nia, which was common
to both nations A war ensued, which lasted some years, and ended in
the total overthrow of the Sab'ines.

[Illustration: The victorious Horatius killing his sister. ]

Hostil'ius died after a reign of thirty-two years; some say by
lightning; others, with more probability, by treason.


_Questions for Examination_.

1. On whom devolved the government on the death of Numa, and what is
the character of his successor?

2. What opportunity first offered of indulging the new king's
inclinations?

3. What proposal was offered, and accepted for deciding the dispute?

4-6.
Relate the circumstances which attended the combat, and the
result of it.

7. What act followed the victory?

8. What conquest was next achieved?

FOOTNOTES:

[1] It seems to have been part of the compact between the Romans and
Sabines, that a king of each people should reign alternately.

[2] The Hora'tii and Curia'tii were, according to Diony'sius of
Halicarnas'sus, the sons of two sisters, daughters of Sequin'ius, an
illustrious citizen of Alba. One married to Curia'tius, a citizen of
Alba, and the other to Hora'tius, a Roman: so that the champions were
near relatives.

[3] This obedience of the Albans was of short duration; they soon
rebelled and were defeated by Tullus, who razed the city of Alba to
the ground, and transplanted the inhabitants to Rome, where he
conferred on them the privileges of citizens.

[4] Livy, lib. i. cap. 26. Dion. Hal. l. 3.

* * * * *




CHAPTER V.

FROM THE DEATH OF TULLUS HOSTILIUS TO THE DEATH OF ANCUS MARTIUS THE
FOURTH KING OF ROME. --U. C. 115.

Where what remains
Of Alba, still her ancient rights retains,
Still worships Vesta, though an humbler way,
Nor lets the hallow'd Trojan fire decay. --_Juvenal_.

1. After an interregnum, as in the former case, Ancus Mar'tius, the
grandson of Numa, was elected king by the people, and their choice was
afterwards confirmed by the senate. As this monarch was a lineal
descendant from Numa, so he seemed to make him the great object
of his imitation. He instituted the sacred ceremonies, which were to
precede a declaration of war;[1] but he took every occasion to advise
his subjects to return to the arts of agriculture, and to lay aside
the less useful stratagems of war.

2. These institutions and precepts were considered by the neighbouring
powers rather as marks of cowardice than of wisdom. The Latins
therefore began to make incursions upon his territories, but their
success was equal to their justice. An'cus conquered the Latins,
destroyed their cities, removed their inhabitants to Rome, and
increased his dominions by the addition of part of theirs. He quelled
also an insurrection of the _Ve'ii_, the _Fiden'ates_, and the
_Vol'sci_; and over the Sab'ines he obtained a second triumph.

3. But his victories over the enemy were by no means comparable to his
works at home, in raising temples, fortifying the city, making a
prison for malefactors, and building a sea-port at the mouth of the
Ti'ber, called Os'tia, by which he secured to his subjects the trade
of that river, and that of the salt-pits adjacent. Thus having
enriched his subjects, and beautified the city, he died, after a reign
of twenty-four years.


_Questions for Examination_.

1. Who was elected by the people after the interregnum, and what
measures did he pursue?

2. In what light did his enemies consider his institutions? With what
success did they oppose him?

3. What were the other acts of Ancus? How many years did he reign?

FOOTNOTES:

[1] First an ambassador was sent to demand satisfaction for the
alleged injury; if this were not granted within thirty-three days,
heralds were appointed to proclaim the war in the name of the gods and
people of Rome. At the conclusion of their speech, they threw their
javelins into the enemy's confines, and departed.

* * * * *




CHAPTER VI.

FROM THE DEATH OF ANCUS MARTIUS, TO THE DEATH OF TARQUINIUS PRISCUS
THE FIFTH KING OF ROME. --U. C. 130.

The first of Tarquin's hapless race was he,
Who odium tried to cast on augury;
But Nævius Accius, with an augur's skill.
Preserved its fame, and raised it higher still. --_Robertson_.

1. Lu'cius Tarquin'ius Pris'cus was appointed guardian to the sons of
the late king, and took the surname of Tarquin'ius from the city of
_Tarquin'ia_, whence he last came. His father was a merchant of
Corinth,[1] who had acquired considerable wealth by trade, and had
settled in Italy, upon account of some troubles at home. His son, who
inherited his fortune, married a woman of family in the city of
Tarquin'ia.

2. His birth, profession, and country, being contemptible to the
nobles of the place, he, by his wife's persuasion, came to settle at
Rome, where merit also gave a title to distinction. On his way
thither, say the historians, as he approached the city gate, an eagle,
stooping from above, took off his hat, and flying round his chariot
for some time, with much noise, put it on again. This his wife
Tan'aquil, who it seems was skilled in augury, interpreted as a
presage that he should one day wear the crown. Perhaps it was this
which first fired his ambition to pursue it.

3. Ancus being dead, and the kingdom, as usual, devolving upon the
senate, Tarquin used all his power and arts to set aside the children
of the late king, and to get himself elected in their stead. For this
purpose, upon the day appointed for election, he contrived to have
them sent out of the city; and in a set speech, in which he urged his
friendship for the people, the fortune he had spent among them, and
his knowledge of their government, he offered himself for their king.
As there was nothing in this harangue that could be contested, it had
the desired effect, and the people, with one consent, elected him as
their sovereign.

4. A kingdom thus obtained by _intrigue_, was, notwithstanding,
governed with equity. In the beginning of his reign, in order to
recompense his friends, he added a hundred members more to the senate,
which made them, in all, three hundred.

5. But his peaceful endeavours were soon interrupted by the inroads of
his restless neighbours, particularly the Latins, over whom he
triumphed, and whom he forced to beg for peace. He then turned his
arms against the Sabines, who had risen once more, and had passed the
river Ti'ber; but attacking them with vigour, Tarquin routed their
army; so that many who escaped the sword, were drowned in attempting
to cross over, while their bodies and armour, floating down to Rome,
brought news of the victory, even before the messengers could arrive
that were sent with the tidings. These conquests were followed by
several advantages over the Latins, from whom he took many towns,
though without gaining any decisive victory.

6. Tarquin, having thus forced his enemies into submission, was
resolved not to let his subjects grow corrupt through indolence. He
therefore undertook and perfected several public works for the
convenience and embellishment of the city. [2]

7. In his time it was, that the augurs came into a great increase of
reputation. He found it his interest to promote the superstition of
the people; for this was, in fact, but to increase their obedience.
Tan'aquil, his wife, was a great pretender to this art; but Ac'cius
Næ'vius was the most celebrated adept of the kind ever known in Rome.
8. Upon a certain occasion, Tarquin, being resolved to try the augur's
skill, asked him, whether what he was then pondering in his mind could
be effected? Næ'vius, having consulted his auguries, boldly affirmed
that it might: "Why, then," cries the king, with an insulting smile,
"I had thoughts of cutting this whetstone with a razor. " "Cut boldly,"
replied the augur; and the king cut it through accordingly.
Thenceforward nothing was undertaken in Rome without consulting the
augurs, and obtaining their advice and approbation.

9. Tarquin was not content with a kingdom, without having also the
ensigns of royalty. In imitation of the Lyd'ian kings, he assumed a
crown of gold, an ivory throne, a sceptre with an eagle on the top,
and robes of purple. It was, perhaps, the splendour of these royalties
that first raised the envy of the late king's sons, who had now,
for above thirty-seven years, quietly submitted to his government. His
design also of adopting Ser'vius Tul'lius, his son-in-law, for his
successor, might have contributed to inflame their resentment. 10.
Whatever was the cause of their tardy vengeance, they resolved to
destroy him; and, at last, found means to effect their purpose, by
hiring two ruffians, who, demanding to speak with the king, pretending
that they came for justice, struck him dead in his palace with the
blow of an axe. The lictors, however, who waited upon the person of
the king, seized the murderers as they were attempting to escape, and
put them to death: but the sons of Ancus, who were the instigators,
found safety in flight.

11. Thus fell Lu'cius Tarquin'ius, surnamed Pris'cus, to distinguish
him from one of his successors of the same name. He was eighty years
of age, and had reigned thirty-eight years. [3]


_Questions for Examination_.

1. Who was Lucius Tarquinius Priscus?

2. What occasioned his removal to Rome, and what circumstances
attended it?

3. Was this presage fulfilled, and by what means?

4. In what manner did he govern?

5. Was Tarquin a warlike prince?

6. How did he improve his victories?

7. By what act did he insure the obedience of his subjects?

8. What contributed to increase the reputation of the augurs?

9. What part of his conduct is supposed, to have raised the envy of
the late king's sons?

10. What was the consequence of this envy and resentment?

11. What was his age, and how long did he reign?

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Corinth (now Corito) was a celebrated city of ancient Greece,
situated on the isthmus of that name, about sixty stadia or furlongs
from the sea. Its original name was Ephy're.

[2] Preparations for building the Capitol were made in this reign. The
city was likewise fortified with stone walls, and the cloacæ, or
common sewers, constructed by the munificence of this prince. (See
Introd. )

[3] The history of the elder Tarquin presents insuperable
difficulties. We are told that his original name was Lu'cumo; but
that, as has been mentioned in the Introduction, was the Etrurian
designation of a chief magistrate. One circumstance, however, is
unquestionable, that with him began the greatness and the splendour of
the Roman city. He commenced those vaulted sewers which still attract
the admiration of posterity; he erected the first circus for the
exhibition of public spectacles; he planned the Capitol, and
commenced, if he did not complete, the first city wall. The tradition
that he was a Tuscan prince, appears to be well founded; but the
Corinthian origin of his family is very improbable.

* * * * *




CHAPTER VII.

FROM THE DEATH OF TARQUINIUS PRISCUS TO THE DEATH OF SERVIUS TULLIUS
THE SIXTH KING OF ROME. --U. C. 176.

Servius, the king, who laid the solid base
On which o'er earth the vast republic spread. --_Thomson_.

1. The report of the murder of Tarquin filled all his subjects with
complaint and indignation; while the citizens ran from every quarter
to the palace, to learn the truth of the account, or to take vengeance
on the assassins. 2. In this tumult, Tan'aquil, widow of the late
king, considering the danger she must incur, in case the conspirators
should succeed to the crown, and desirous of seeing her son-in-law his
successor, with great art dissembled her sorrow, as well as the king's
death. She assured the people, from one of the windows of the palace,
that he was not killed, but only stunned by the blow; that he would
shortly recover; and that in the meantime he had deputed his power to
Ser'vius Tul'lius, his son-in-law. Ser'vius, accordingly, as it had
been agreed upon between them, issued from the palace, adorned with
the ensigns of royalty, and, preceded by his lictors, went to despatch
some affairs that related to the public safety, still pretending that
he took all his instructions from the king. This scene of
dissimulation continued for some days, till he had made his party good
among the nobles; when, the death of Tarquin being publicly
ascertained, Ser'vius came to the crown, solely at the senate's
appointment, and without attempting to gain the suffrages of the
people.

3. Ser'vius was the son of a bondwoman, who had been taken at the
sacking of a town belonging to the Latins, and was born whilst his
mother was a slave. While yet an infant in his cradle, a lambent
flame[1] is said to have played round his head, which Tan'aquil
converted into an omen of future greatness.

4. Upon being acknowledged king, he determined to make a great change
in the Roman constitution by admitting the plebeians to a
participation in the civil government. The senate was too weak to
resist the change when it was proposed, but it submitted with great
reluctance. 5. Ser'vius divided all the Romans into classes and
centuries according to their wealth and the amount of taxes paid
to the state. The number of centuries in the first class nearly
equalled that of all the others; a great





DALZIELS' ILLUSTRATED

GOLDSMITH:


COMPRISING of

THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD
THE TRAVELLER
THE DESERTED VILLAGE
THE HAUNCH OF VENISON
THE CAPTIVITY: AN ORATORIO
RETALIATION
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS
THE GOOD-NATURED MAN
SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER

AND A SKETCH OF THE

LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH,

BY H. W. DULCKEN, PH. D.


WITH

ONE HUNDRED PICTURES

DRAWN BY

G. J. PINWELL,

ENGRAVED BY THE BROTHERS DALZIEL.


WARD, LOCK AND CO. ,

LONDON: WARWICK HOUSE, SALISBURY SQUARE, E. C.
NEW YORK: 10 BOND STREET.


[Illustration: Publisher]

CONTENTS.


PAGE

A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH vi

THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD 1

THE TRAVELLER 175

THE DESERTED VILLAGE 189

THE HAUNCH OF VENISON 202

THE CAPTIVITY 205

RETALIATION 212

MISCELLANEOUS POEMS 225

THE GOOD-NATURED MAN 266

SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER 361




A SKETCH

OF THE

LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH.


The middle of the last century was an evil time, in England, for
literature and for literary men. The period was eminently one of
transition; and transition periods are always times of trial to all
whose interests they affect. The old system passes away, bearing with it
those who cling to it; the new system requires time until it is in
working order, and those who depend upon its advent for their
subsistence are sorely harassed while the turmoil lasts. Thus it was
with literature at the time when Goldsmith began to write. The age in
which literary men depended upon patrons had passed away. No more snug
government berths, no more secretaryships, as in the time of Addison and
Prior and Steele—and the time when the public was to support literature
had not yet come.

Thus the author was compelled either to depend entirely on the
booksellers, or to sell his pen, in true hireling fashion, to the
government of the day, or to the opposition, and to scribble approval or
invective at his master's dictation. Happily for his own fame, happily
for English literature, the author of the "Vicar of Wakefield" chose the
former alternative.

Oliver Goldsmith was born at Pallas, or Pallasmore, county Longford,
Ireland, on the 10th of November, 1728. He was one of a numerous family,
of whom he alone attained celebrity. His father, the Rev. Charles
Goldsmith, a clergyman of the Established Church, was in very poor
circumstances at the time of the birth of his famous son; but little
Oliver was only two years old when the sunshine of prosperity descended
upon his house, with what must have appeared to the inmates quite a
blaze of noonday splendour. The small income of forty pounds a-year,
upon which the Rev. Charles Goldsmith had managed painfully and
penuriously to struggle on with his family, was suddenly increased to
two hundred, when the rectory of Kilkenny-west was obtained by that
fortunate divine; and the Goldsmiths removed to Lissoy, near Athlone.

The Rev. Charles Goldsmith seems to have possessed, in a very large
degree, certain traits of character by which all the Goldsmiths were
more or less distinguished. Almost culpably careless in worldly matters,
his easy good-nature and kindly generous disposition frequently made him
the dupe of the designing and ungrateful. Himself incapable of cunning
and deceit, he imagined that all men were frank and open. The last man
in the world to take an unfair advantage of his neighbour, he never
suspected that any man could possibly take advantage of him. Goldsmith
himself under the guise of the Man in Black, gives us an insight into
affairs at the Rectory in these early days. "My father's education," the
Man in Black tells us, "was above his fortune, and his generosity
greater than his education. " Then we hear of numerous guests entertained
at the hospitable parson's table, and paying for their dinner by
laughing at the host's oft-repeated jests and time-honoured anecdotes.
"He told the story of the ivy tree, and that was laughed at; he repeated
the jest of the two scholars and one pair of breeches, and the company
laughed at that; but the story of Taffy in the sedan chair was sure to
set the table in a roar; thus his pleasure increased in proportion to
the pleasure he gave; he loved all the world; and he fancied all the
world loved him. We were told that universal benevolence was what first
cemented society; we were taught to consider all the wants of mankind as
our own; to regard the human face divine with affection and esteem; he
wound us up to be mere machines of pity, and rendered us incapable of
withstanding the slightest impulse made either by real or fictitious
distress; in a word, we were perfectly instructed in the art of giving
away thousands before we were taught the more necessary qualifications
of getting a farthing. "

[Illustration:

_The Man in Black_—(_Citizen of the World. _)
]


In fact, this inimitable Man in Black, who appears as one of the
characters in Goldsmith's "Citizen of the World," is, in many respects,
a counterpart of Goldsmith himself. Like our author, he is overreached
by every knave, and an object of contemptuous pity to all the worldly
wise. He tries one position after another, and fails in each, chiefly
through his honesty and credulity. He cannot succeed as follower to a
great man, because he will not flatter where he disapproves; he loses
his mistress because he believes her sincere when she expresses
admiration of him, and detestation of his rival's high-heeled shoes.
Everywhere he is snubbed and elbowed away by men more versed than
himself in the ways of the world; but, like Goldsmith again, he has an
easy, good-humoured philosophy, that carries him gaily through trials
and troubles that would have swamped other men. As he cannot be rich and
happy, he resolves to be poor and contented. He does not "invoke gods
and men to see him dining upon a ha'porth of radishes;" but rather tries
to persuade himself and others that a vegetable diet suits him. And he
has his reward in the verdict universally pronounced upon him—that he
"is very good-natured, and has not the least harm in him. "

On a lad of ordinary disposition, the Rev. Charles Goldsmith's peculiar
ideas would, perhaps, have had little effect.