r; but his philosophy was of a practical rather than a
speculative character--though he was versed in the wisest doctrines of
the great masters of ancient thought, and in some of his moral works
shows himself their not unworthy follower. Above all, he was a man of
cheerful and genial temper. A lover of justice and of liberty, his
sympathies are always on the side of what is right, noble and
honorable.

He was educated at Delphi and improved himself by the advantages of
foreign travel. On his return he was employed by his country on an
embassy to Rome, where he opened a school for youth, employing all his
leisure time at that capital of the world and chief seat of erudition
in acquiring those vast stores of learning which he afterwards read
for the delight and instruction of mankind. "It must be borne in
mind," he says, "that my design is not to write histories, but lives.
And the most glorious exploits do not always furnish us with the
clearest discoveries of virtue or vice in men; sometimes a matter of
less moment, an expression or a jest, informs us better of their
characters and inclinations than the most famous sieges, the greatest
armaments, or the bloodiest battles whatsoever. Therefore, as
portrait-painters are more exact in the lines and features of the
face, in which the character is seen, than in the other parts of the
body, so I must be allowed to give my more particular attention to the
marks and indications of the souls of men; and, while I endeavor by
these to portray their lives, may be free to leave more weighty
matters and great battles to be treated by others."

THE HORRIBLE PROSCRIPTIONS OF SYLLA.

(_By Plutarch._)

Sylla being thus wholly bent upon slaughter, and filling the city with
executions without number or limit, many wholly uninterested persons
falling a sacrifice to private enmity, through his permission and
indulgence to his friends, Caius Metellus, one of the younger men,
made bold in the senate to ask him what end there was of these evils,
and at what point he might be expected to stop? "We do not ask you,"
said he, "to pardon any whom you have resolved to destroy, but to free
from doubt those whom you are pleased to save." Sylla answering, that
he knew not as yet whom to spare, "Why, then," said he, "tell us whom
you will punish." This Sylla said he would do. These last words, some
authors say, were spoken not by Metellus, but by Afidus, one of
Sylla's fawning companions. Immediat