lladius was struck by the lightning which
accompanied the storm, and thus killed at once by the terrible agency
which he had presumed to counterfeit, before the inundation of the
palace came on. If he met his death in any sudden and unusual manner,
it is not at all surprising that his fate should have been attributed
to the judgment of God, for thunder was regarded in those days with an
extreme and superstitious veneration and awe. All this is, however,
now changed. Men have learned to understand thunder, and to protect
themselves from its power; and now, since Franklin and Morse have
commenced the work of subduing the potent and mysterious agent in
which it originates, to the human will, the presumption is not very
strong against the supposition that the time may come when human
science may actually produce it in the sky--as it is now produced, in
effect, upon the lecturer's table.

At last, toward the close of the four hundred years during which the
dynasty of the Silvii continued to reign over Latium, a certain
monarch of the series died, leaving two children, Numitor and Amulius.
Numitor was the eldest son, and as such entitled to succeed his
father. But he was of a quiet and somewhat inefficient disposition,
while his younger brother was ardent and ambitious, and very likely to
aspire to the possession of power. The father, it seems, anticipated
the possibility of dissension between his sons after his death, and in
order to do all in his power to guard against it, he endeavored to
arrange and settle the succession before he died. In the course of the
negotiations which ensued, Amulius proposed that his father's
possessions should be divided into two portions, the kingdom to
constitute one, and the wealth and treasures the other, and that
Numitor should choose which portion he would have. This proposal
seemed to have the appearance, at least, of reasonableness and
impartiality; and it would have been really very reasonable, if the
right to the inheritance thus disposed of, had belonged equally to the
younger and to the elder son. But it did not. And thus the offer of
Amulius was, in effect, a proposition to divide with himself that
which really belonged wholly to his brother.

Numitor, however, who, it seems, was little disposed to contend for
his rights, agreed to this proposal. He, however, chose the kingdom,
and left the wealth for his brother; and the inheritance was
accordingly thus divided on the death of th