stones where
sit the ghosts of those who perished from hunger and thirst! Eminently
Dantesque, but the sacrilege appalls Leo. She would sooner attend an
oyster supper, or a clam-bake in the Catacombs, or--" bowing to a young
Englishman standing near, "lead a German in the Poets' corner of
Westminster Abbey. My dear girl, under which flag do you fight?
Athenian, Roman, Carthagenian, Syracusan?

"The child of a man who fell in defence of his own fireside, could
scarcely fail to sympathize with the holy cause of the invaded; yet
here, in view of the horrors inflicted upon the captives, one almost
leans to Athens. It seems to me the most enduring monument of Syracusan
glory survives in the eloquent protest of Nicolaus against her cruelty;
especially when we recollect that it came from one who, of all others,
had most to forgive. Old, decrepit, unable to walk, the venerable
sorrow-laden man whose only children, two sons, had died fighting to
save Syracuse--was carried on a litter into the midst of the shouting
thousands, who were drunk with the wine of victory. 'Behold an unhappy
father, who has most cause to detest the Athenians, the authors of this
war, the murderers of my children! But I am less sensible of my private
afflictions than of the honor of my country, when I see it ready to
expose itself to eternal infamy by violating the law of nations, and
dishonoring our victory by barbarous cruelty. What! Will you tarnish
your glory, and have all the world say that a nation who first
dedicated a temple in their city, to Clemency, found none in yours?
Triumphs and victories do not give immortal glory to a city; but the
use of moderation in the greatest prosperity, the exercise of mercy
toward a vanquished enemy, the fear of offending the gods by a haughty
and insolent pride.' What a theme for Dore or Munkacsy?"

"Thank you ever so much, Miss Gordon, for brushing away the library
dust from that historic cameo. I had so utterly forgotten it lay in the
musty tomes, that it has all the charm of a curio." Mr. Cutting took
off his hat, and bowed.

"Acknowledgments are due rather to my cousin, Dr. Douglass, who called
my attention to the passage. The best of all things good abide with
him; and out of his overflowing store, he shares with the needy. Only
last night he reminded me of an illustration of the vanitas vanitatum
of human fame and national gratitude, to be found over yonder in the
necropolis. Less than a hundred and for