About 470 years before Christ, Xerxes, king of Persia, was leading an immense army against the Greeks. It is said that it consisted of a million of men. When they were all gathered in a vast plain, the king mounted a throne on the brow of a hill to review them. It was a splendid spectacle! There were the young, and the strong, and the ambitious, and the enterprising; and some were richly attired, and gallantly mounted on fine horses, and armed with shields and swords of glittering steel. It was, indeed, a proud army. But suddenly the thought came across the mind of the king—“In the space of one hundred years; all these living and breathing men will be in their graves!” It was a solemn thought; and it is said that even Xerxes shed tears.
Effects of Prohibition.
Mankind have seldom a strong desire for any thing lawful, that is easily obtained. We are not driven to our duty by laws so much as by ambition. If it were enacted that persons of high rank only should dine upon three dishes, the lower grade would desire to have three; but if commoners were permitted to have as many dishes as they pleased, whilst the rich were limited to two, the inferior class would not exceed that number. If gaming were reckoned ungenteel, cards and dice would lose half their attraction. In the history of the Duke of D’Ossuna, there is a remarkable instance given of this perverse nature in man.
A rich Neapolitan merchant prided himself upon not having once set his foot out of the city during the space of forty-eight years. This coming to the ears of the duke, the merchant had notice sent him that he was to take no journey out of the kingdom, under the penalty of 10,000 crowns. The merchant smiled at receiving the order; but, afterwards, not being able to fathom the reason of the prohibition, he grew so uneasy that he paid the fine, and actually took a short trip out of the kingdom.—English paper.
Saturday Night.
“Oh! it is Saturday night!” exclaimed Ellen; “I had forgotten that. A Bible story, then. I am sure I think the story about Joseph, or that about Isaac, or the prodigal son, or Lazarus and his sisters, as interesting as a fairy story.”
“They are a hundred times more interesting,” said Charles.
It was the custom of Ellen’s mother to tell her children a short story every night after they were in bed. She was very glad to find that the true and instructive histories from the good book, interested her children as much as those stories that were contrived to delight them.
“My dear children,” she said, “I shall not tell you a story from the Bible to-night, but I am going to relate an anecdote—which, you know, means a short story—of some little children of our acquaintance.