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The story related by the author, who assumed the name of Martinus Chronographus, is yet more ridiculous. He tells us, that in 1601 a peasant dug up the body of a man, whose carcass was so immense in height, ut erectum altæ mania Romæ excederet.

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At the head of this giant, (who it seems was Pallas the son of Evander,) stood an unextinguished lamp; and had they not bored a hole in it, and let the oil run out, this wonderful lamp might have been burning still. Mark, gentle reader, it had already burnt two thousand six hundred and eleven years!

It has been thought by some learned men, that the wick in these lamps was made from the asbestos. This extraordinary mineral, of which the filaments are so pliable as to admit of weaving, resists the operation of fire. Pliny expressly says, nihilque igni deperdit. In another place he says of it-ex eo vidimus mappas sardibus exustis splendescentes igni magis, quam possent, aquis. I believe, some experiments have been made before the Royal Society, which in a great degree confirm what Pliny advances.

With respect to the lamps, which the ancients placed in the sepulchres of the dead, it is extremely improbable that they burnt for any great length of time. In a small sepulchral vault, the quantity of oxygen gas would not have been sufficient to have preserved the flame, even if the oil, which supplied the lamp, had been inexhaustible.

Ver. 104.

crassisque lutatus amomis. The amomum is a small shrub, which in its growth in some degree resembles the vine. It has a small flower like that of the white violet, but its leaves are similar to those of the wild vine, which is called bryonia. The most excellent kind of the amomum, and that which has the most agreeable odour, is brought from Armenia. Its wood is reddish, inclining to the colour of gold.

Such is the account, which I have taken from Dioscorides. The amomum is also described by Pliny, L. xii.

c. 13.

Salmasius observes, that the ancients gave the name of amomum to various aromatics. It was likewise employed to signify perfumed ointments.

In the ancient world, it was the custom to wash and to anoint the dead. Thus Virgil,

·Corpusque lavant frigentis, et ungunt.

I must not omit here the curious note of Theodorus Marcilius.

Unctionum feralium differentiæ multæ.

I. alia libera

et prisca; alia servilis et nova. 2. Unctio una mortui ante exequias et collocationem: altera posterior. 3. Unctio aut mortui est, aut reliquiarum. 4. Unctio aut odoribus et aromatis fieri solita, aut ab domine. Alia item multæ unctionum differentia, sed justi voluminis ea rés, non perfuntorii commentarioli. (Mehercule, in ea sententia sum.)

Ver. 105. In portam rigidos calces extendit.

After the dead body was anointed, and laid out upon the bed, and crowned with flowers; it was carried into the vestibule, and was there placed with the feet opposite to the door. (This was called collocatio mortui; or perhaps simply collocatio. See, how Lipsius has explained a passage in one of Seneca's Epistles.)

SATIRE IV.

Ver. 1. Rem populi tractas?

In this satire Persius severely censures the conduct of Nero. He begins by imitating Plato's first Alcibiades ; and repeats part of the ironical conversation which Socrates addressed, in that celebrated dialogue, to his young and ambitious pupil. But the Roman satirist soon appears under the disguise of the Grecian sage; and the raillery, which humbled the vanity of the aspiring Athenian, is converted into a just and terrible invective against the tyrant of Rome.

It was, indeed, impossible for the poet to censure Nero under the name of Alcibiades, without soon and plainly discovering the real object of his satire. The character of that Athenian, shaded as it is by a thousand defects, interests us, even while it offends against morality; even while it amazes us by its levity; even while it displeases us by its inconstancy. Blest with almost every advantage, which Nature can bestow-liberal in his disposition-brilliant in his conversation-seductive in his manners-beautiful in his person-at Athens a luxurious libertine-at Sparta a rigid moralist—now too easily influenced by the suggestions of ambition

now too softly sensible to the charms of pleasure— strangely blending the insignificance of a fop, and the fickleness of a woman, with the magnanimity of a hero, and with the talents of a statesman-Alcibiades persuaded his countrymen to forgive him many crimes, to pardon him innumerable follies, and to find him amiable, even when he was culpable. How opposite was the character of Nero! that tyrant flattered only to betray; and betrayed only to destroy. Exceeding the limits of moderation in the gratification of his desires, and abandoning the guidance of justice in the exercise of his power, he abused alike the gifts of nature and of fortune. Alcibiades loved pleasure, but Nero hated virtue. The vile atrocities, which Persius imputes to the tyrant, could never have been applicable to the young Athenian, at least while he was the pupil of Socrates. Alcibiades, under the influence of passion, and corrupted by debauchery, is indeed accused of unjustifiable vices; but his mind had not arrived at that last degree of depravation, which causes so many wretches to forget character, to defy opinion, and to abandon principle; which degrades all that is most excellent in human nature; and which by making men infamous, makes them also desperate.

To read this satire may be useful to the young. It may help to correct petulance-it may serve to warn inexperience-I cannot hope that it will reclaim guilt. But from it the young statesman may learn, that even in remote times, and in small states, government was con

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