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tion and practice of whatever is virtuous, 'corrupt the youth;' —and, indeed, we well know what it is to corrupt them. But show us, if in your power, whom of pious, I have made impious; of modest, shameless; of frugal, profuse. Who from temperate is become drunken; from laborious, idle, or effeminate, by associating with me? Or, where is the man who has been enslaved, by my means, to any vicious pleasure whatever?

2. How could it escape being regarded even by you, Melitus, as a thing deserving the highest admiration, that while in every other instance, the man who excels in any employment, is supposed not only entitled to a common regard, but receives many, and those very distinguishing marks of honor; I, on the contrary, am persecuted even to death, because I am thought by many, to have excelled in that employment, which is the most noble, and which hath for its aim the greatest good to mankind; by instructing our youth in the knowledge of their duty, and planting in the mind each virtuous principle !

3. It is necessary, O ye judges! that all those who instructed the witnesses to bear, by perjury, false testimony against me, as well as all those who too readily obeyed their instructions, should be conscious to themselves of much impiety and injustice; but that I, in any wise, should be more troubled and cast down than before my condemnation, I see not; since I stand here unconvicted of any of the crimes whereof I was accused, for no one hath proved against me, that I sacrificed to any new deity, or even made mention of the names of any other than Jupiter, Juno, and the rest of the deities, which, together with these, our city holds sacred; neither have they once shown what were the means I made use of to corrupt the youth, at the very time I was enuring them to a life of patience and frugality.

4. As for those crimes to which our laws have annexed death as the only proper punishment,-sacrilege, man-stealing, undermining of walls, or betraying of the city, my enemies do not even say, that any of these things were ever practised by me. Wherefore I the rather marvel that ye have now judged me worthy to die.

5. But it is not for me to be troubled on that account; for, if I die unjustly, the shame must be theirs who put me unjustly to death; since if injustice is shameful, so likewise

every act of it; but no disgrace can it bring on me, that others have not seen that I was innocent.

6. I am persuaded that I shall have the attestation of the time to come, as well as of that which is past already, that I never wronged any man, or made him more depraved; but, contrawise, have steadily endeavored throughout life, to benefit those who conversed with me; teaching them, to the very utmost of my power, and that, too, without reward, whatever could make them wise and happy.

Socrates, who was the greatest and best philosopher of all antiquity, was born in Greece 467 years before Christ, and was cruelly put to death by the Athenians, at the age of 67. They charged him with atheism, and with endeavoring to corrupt the youth. He was not guilty. If, however, he had been an unbeliever in their deities, it would have been no crime. Every human being has a perfect right to form, cherish, and express his opinions on all subjects; and it is rank intolerance which converts opinions into crimes. Socrates doubtless paid great reverence to the gods; and so far from being a corrupter of youth, he reclaimed many from vice, by practising and recommending all the virtues which can adorn human character. Believing that the soul is immortal and incorruptible, and that good men, like himself, would be happy beyond the grave, Socrates was willing, and even desirous to exchange worlds. The illustrious philosopher cheerfully drank the poison, and died without a struggle or a groan. Let us all adopt his motto: Esse quam videri; i. e., be rather than seem, for, an Socrates used to say, "The only way to true glory is, for a man to be really excellent, not affect to appear so." The defence of Socrates should be read in an animated manner.

84. PART OF THE BURIAL SERVICE.-Bible.

1. I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die. I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.

2. Behold, thou hast made my days, as it were, a span long; and my age is even as nothing in respect of thee; and verily every man living is altogether vanity; for man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain; he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.

3. A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday, see

ing that is past as a watch in the night. As soon as thou scatterest them, they are even as asleep; and fade away suddenly like the grass. In the morning it is green and groweth up; but in the evening it is cut down, dried up, and withered.

4. We consume away in thy displeasure; and are afraid at thy wrathful indignation; for when thou art angry, all our days are gone; and we bring our years to an end, as it were a tale that is told. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

5. Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept; for since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

6. But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die; and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain; but God giveth it a body, as it hath pleased Him; and to every seed his own body.

7. So also is the resurrection of the dead; it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

8. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep; but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

9. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

10. The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The "Burial Service," comprised of passages from the holy scriptures, is eloquent beyond description, It surpasses any thing that can be found in the whole circle of literature. It should be given on a low key, with

slow time, long quantity, and rhetorical pauses. A pause of that kind ought to be made after uttering the last word but one, in the first verse. The phrase with which the "Service" is concluded, "through our Lord Jesus Christ," requires the monotone.

85. THE DREAM OF CLARENCE.-Shakspeare.

Brakenbury. Why looks your Grace so heavily to-day? Clarence. O, I have passed a miserable night, So full of fearful dreams, of ugly sights, That, as I am a Christian faithful man, I would not spend another such a night, Though 'twere to buy a world of happy days, So full of dismal terror was the time.

I

Brak. What was your dream, my lord?

pray you

tell me.

Clar. Methought that I had broken from the tower,
And was embarked to cross to Burgundy;

And in my company my brother Gloster
Who from my cabin tempted me to walk

;

Upon the hatches; thence we looked towards England,
And cited up a thousand heavy times,

During the wars of York and Lancaster,

That had befallen us,-as we paced along

Upon the giddy footing of the hatches,

Methought that Gloster stumbled; and in falling,
Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard,
Into the tumbling billows of the main !

O Lord! methought what pain it was to drown!
What dreadful noise of water in mine ears!
What sights of ugly death within mine eyes!
Methought I saw a thousand fearful wrecks,
A thousand men that fishes gnawed upon,
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,
Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,

All scattered in the bottom of the sea.

Some lay in dead men's skulls; and in those holes
Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept,
As 'twere in scorn of eyes, reflecting gems,
That wooed the slimy bottom of the deep,
And mocked the dead bones that lay scattered by.

Brak. Had you such leisure in the time of death,
To gaze upon the secrets of the deep?

Clar. Methought I had; and often did I strive
To yield the ghost; but still the envious flood
Kept in my soul, and would not let it forth
To seek the empty, vast, and wandering air;
But smothered it within my panting bulk,
Which almost burst to belch it in the sea.
Brak. Awaked you not with this sore agony ?
Clar. O no, my dream was lengthened after life;
O, then began the tempest of my soul;

I passed, methought, the melancholy flood,
With that grim ferryman which poets write of,
Unto the kingdom cf perpetual night.

The first that there did greet my stranger soul,
Was my great father-in-law, renowned Warwick,
Who cried aloud: "What scourge for perjury
Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence?"
And so he vanished;-then came wandering by
A shadow like an angel, with bright hair
Dabbled in blood; and he shrieked out aloud:

"Clarence is come, false, FLEETING, PERJURED Clarence, That stabbed me in the field of Tewksbury;

Seize on him, furies, take him to your torments!"
With that, methought a legion of foul fiends
Environed me, and howled in mine ears
Such hideous cries, that, with the very noise,
I trembling waked; and for a season after,
Could not believe but that I was in hell!
Such terrible impression made my dream.
Brak. No marvel, lord, that it affrighted you;
I am afraid, methinks, to hear you tell it.

Clar. O, Brakenbury, I have done these things,

That now give evidence against my soul,

For Edward's sake; and see how he requites me!
I pray thee, gentle keeper, stay by me;

My soul is heavy, and I fain would sleep.

Brak. I will, my lord. [Clarence reposes himself on a chair.

Sorrow breaks seasons and reposing hours,

Makes the night morning, and the noontide night.

Princes have but their titles for their glories,

An outward honor for an inward toil;

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