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THE CALAMITY IS FROM GOD.

The gods have contrived this misfortune, and destined it for men, that it might be a theme of future song.

So 2 Kings (vi. 33)-"This evil is of the Lord;" and Amos (iii. 6)—Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it ?"

AN EQUAL DIVISION.

We have divided the many possessions which we received, so that no one has gone away deprived of his share.

So 1 Samuel (xxx. 24)—" As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike."

ALL GROW SPONTANEOUSLY.

They neither plant nor sow, but all things grow without ploughing or sowing, wheat, barley, and vines.

See 2 Kings (xix. 29)-"Ye shall eat this year things that grow of themselves."

THOU CANST NOT ESCAPE THE DISEASE SENT BY

GOD.

Thou canst by no means escape the disease sent by mighty Jove.

So 1 Samuel (iv. 8)—“Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians;" and 1 Peter (v. 6)- Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God."

DO NOT IRRITATE THE IRASCIBLE.

66 LOVE NOT SLEEP."

A man who does not sleep has a double reward. So Proverbs (xx. 18)-"Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty: open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread."

TEARS VAIN IN MISERY.

But tears in mortal miseries are vain.

A MIND NOT TO BE CHARMED.

In thy breast there is a mind that cannot be gained over by charming.

So Psalms (lviii. 5)—“ Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely."

WHY DOST THOU SIT LIKE A DUMB MAN.

Why, Ulysses, dost thou sit thus like a man bereft of speech, wasting away thyheart, and touching neither bread nor drink?

See 1 Samuel (i. 8); and 1 Kings (xxi. 5.)-"Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?"

A WILD SCAMP.

Elpenor was the youngest, neither famed in war nor for sense, who, away from his companions in the sacred hall of Circe, delighting in a cool recess, slept, overcome with wine.

WHO CAN SEE GOD?

Who can see God with his eyes if He wills not,

Unhappy man, why dost thou exasperate a sav- going hither and thither?

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The bad counsel of my companions got the bet- there, with loud wailings; pale, I trembled with ter of me.

So 2 Samuel (xvii. 14)—“And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel: for the Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom;" and 1 Kings (xii. 18) -"And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him; and spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions."

BAD COMPANIONS.

fear.

THE EVILS OF DRUNKENNESS.

I have been ruined by an evil fate and excess in wine.

So Proverbs (xxiii. 30)—“Who hath woe? who hath sorrow They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed

wine."

THE DEAD.

But this is the law of mortals when they die: their muscles hold no longer flesh and bones, but

Bad companions have ruined me, and in addition the strong force of flaming fire destroys these to these, excessive sleep.

So Proverbs (xxiii. 20)-"Be not among the wine-bibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh; for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags."

parts, after the spirit has first left the white bones, while the soul wings its flight, vanishing like a dream.

So Luke (xxiv. 39)—" A spirit hath not flesh and bones."

LYING VAGRANTS.

Ulysses, we do not suspect in looking at thee that thou art capable of guile and tricky frauds, though such the earth produces in numbers, vagrants, artful to deceive, so as to elude detection; to thee there is a grace of language, and gifts of mind; thou hast told thy story skilfully, like some bard the sad woes of all the Greeks and of thyself.

HONOR TO THE OLD.

It would be improper to afflict with disgrace the oldest and worthiest.

So Proverbs (xvi. 31)-" The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness."

THE OPPRESSED ARE CARED FOR BY GOD.

May they be punished by Jove, the protector of suppliants, who watches over men, and makes

So Titus (i. 10)—“There are many unruly and vain talkers those who commit wrong pay a due penalty.
and deceivers; " and 2 John (7)-" For many deceivers are
entered into the world."

A TIME FOR EVERYTHING.

A time for talking, however prolonged; a time, too, for sleep.

So Ecclesiastes (iii. 7)—" A time to keep silence, and a time to speak."

WOMEN.

Than woman there is no fouler and viler fiend, when her mind is bent to ill.

TRUST NOT A SECRET TO A WOMAN.

Though thou lovest thy wife, tell not everything which thou knowest to her; but unfold some trifle, while thou concealest the rest.

So Psalms (x. 14)-" Thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with Thy hand."

ENDURE WHAT HAPPENS FROM NECESSITY.

Whatsoever sorrows may be thy doom, bear them with patience if necessity entail them.

So Hebrews (xii. 1)-"Let us run with patience the race that is set before us;" and James (i. 4)-" Let patience have her perfect work."

ENDURE.

Submit in silence to many ills, enduring the violence of men.

So Isaiah (liii. 7)-" He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth."

I CANNOT LEAVE THEE.

Wherefore I am not able to leave thee, since

So Micah (vii. 5)-"Keep the doors of thy mouth from her thou art unfortunate. that lieth in thy bosom."

THINK ALL WOMEN FALSE.

There is no trust to be placed in women.

So Psalms (xxxvii. 28)-"The Lord forsaketh not His saints."

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IF GOD BE FOR US."
Would that thou wouldst stand by me and en-

RATHER BE A SLAVE ON EARTH THAN REIGN IN courage me, thou blue-eyed goddess; with thee on

HELL.

I would rather be a peasant and slave to some poor hind of slenderest means, than reign over the dead who have passed from life.

Milton ("Paradise Lost," i. 252) says the reverse of this"Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven!"

"TO GO DOWN ALIVE INTO THE PIT." Unhappy wretches, who alive go'down into the pit of Hades, dying twice, while other men die only once.

So Numbers (xvi. 33)—“They went down alive into the pit ; " and Psalms (lv. 15)-"Let them go down into hell;" and Hebrews (ix. 27)-" And it is appointed unto men once to die."

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my side would I be willing to encounter three hundred men.

So Psalms (iii. 6)-"I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about;" and Romans (viii. 31)" If God be for us, who can be against us?"

THE TORMENT OF A GUILTY CONSCIENCE.

The blessed gods love not impious acts, but honor justice and the pious deeds of men; the foes of peace and scourges of mankind, who overrun the lands of others, given to them by Jove as a prey, filling their vessels with ill-got spoil, proceed homeward, yet great fear of divine vengeance falls upon them.

So Psalms (v. 5)-"Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with thee; Thou hatest

O friends! we have by no means been unac- all workers of iniquity;" and (xxxiii. 5)—“Thou lovest quainted with woes.

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THE RETURN OF AN ONLY SON.

The father receiving his only son, the child of

Why shouldst thou, being such as thou art, lie his old age, embraces him affectionately, as he rashly?

So Colossians (iii. 9)- Lie not one to another."

ENJOY THE PRESENT.

returns from some far distant land after an absence of ten years, for whom he has suffered many a bitter pang of anxious care.

So Luke (xv. 20)-" And when he was yet a great way off,

Enjoy such things as thou hast; for God will his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran and fell give one thing and one withhold.

So Philippians (iv. 11)-"I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content;" and Hebrews (xiii. 5)— "Be content with such things as ye have."

POWERS OF WINE.

For wine leads to folly, making even the wise to laugh immoderately, to dance, and to utter what had better have been kept silent.

So Proverbs (xx. 1)-" Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise;" and Isaiah (xxviii. 7" They have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way."

WOMAN MARRIED A SECOND TIME.

For thou knowest the dispositions of women; whoever marries a second time wishes her family to prosper, forgetting her former children and dead husband, never thinking of them.

So 1 Timothy (v. 9)~" A widow having been the wife of one man; but the younger widows refuse; for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will mary." 11 WELCOME THE COMING, SPEED THE PARTING

GUEST."

Who loves too much hates in the same extreme; the golden mean is to be preferred. It is equally wrong to urge the unwilling to come back and to detain him who desires to depart. True friendship's rule is "to welcome the coming, to speed the parting guest."

So Ecclesiastes (iii. 8)—A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace;" and Romans (xii. 18)— "Given to hospitality;" and Hebrews (xiii. 2)—" Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; " and 1 Peter (iv. 9)-"Use hospitality one to another without grudging;" and Genesis (xviii. 16)—“ And Abraham went with them to bring them on the way:" and Romans (xv. 24)-" For I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you;" and 3 John (6)-" Whom if thou bring forward on their journey, thou shalt do well."

MEN OF MEAN ESTATE.

With the good-will of the messenger Mercury, who imparts grace and honor to the works of men, few could with me cope in dexterous service, to pile the fire, to split the dry wood, to cut up the carcase, roast the flesh, pour out the wine, offices in which the humble wait upon the rich.

on his neck and kissed him."

I KNOW AND UNDERSTAND.

I know, I understand; thou art giving directions to one who is acquainted with these things.

So Job (xiii. 1)-" Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it. What ye know, the same do I

know also: I am not inferior unto you."

GOD INVISIBLE.

For the gods do not make themselves visible to all.

So Exodus (xxxiii. 20)—" Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me and live; " and 1 Timothy (vi. 16)—— "Whom no man hath seen, nor can see."

I AM NOT A GOD.

I am no god; why dost thou liken me to the immortals ?

See 2 Kings (v. 7)-" Am I God?"-and Psalms (lxxxix. 6)— "Who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord?"--and Isaiah (xlvi. 5)-" To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal and compare me, that we may be like?"

THE POWER OF GOD.

It is easy for the gods, who inhabit the wide heaven, to raise or cast down mortal man.

See 1 Samuel (ii. 7); and 2 Chronicles (xxv. 8)-" God hath power to help and cast down;" and Psalms (lxxv. 7)—“God is the judge; He putteth down one and setteth up another;" and Luke (i. 52)-"He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree."

READY SWORDS OFT CAUSE BLOODSHED. The steel blade itself oft incites to deeds of violence.

CONTRIVE NOT EVIL AGAINST ONE ANOTHER.

Men ought not to devise evils against one another.

So Proverbs (iii. 29)-"Devise not evil against thy neighbor;" and (xxiv. 8)-" He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person."

ONE ROGUE IS USHER TO ANOTHER.

Here sure one rogue leads on another; thus it is that God for evermore links like with like. So Matthew (xv.14)—“ Blind leaders of the blind."

THE IDLE.

Since he has learned evil deeds he will not be willing to turn to labor; but at the people's heels forever cowering, he wishes to feed his insatiable belly by begging.

So Proverbs (xix. 24)--" A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again."

BAD SHEPHERDS.

Bad shepherds destroy their sheep.

So Ezekiel (xxxiv. 2)--"Woe be to the shepherds, ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed, but ye feed not the flock;" and John (x. 12)—" But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep."

WANT.

It is not possible for the hungry belly to conceal her wants, causing unnumbered woes to mortals, for which well-benched galleys are equipped for the barren sea, bearing ills to the enemy.

ENVY NOT THY NEIGHBOR'S PROPERTY. Thou oughtest not to envy the wealth of thy neighbor.

So Matthew (xx. 15)—“Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good!"

MAN SUBJECT TO VICISSITUDES.

The earth produces nothing feebler than man, of all that breathes or creeps on earth; for he thinks himself exempt from evil in years to come, while the gods give him strength and his knees are able to support him. But when the blest gods bring sorrow, he is unwilling to bear it with patience. For men are such as the Father of men and gods wills it.

So Job (xxv. 6); and Psalms (xxxix. 5)—" Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity;" and (xc. 5)-"Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as asleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morn ing it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut said, I shall never be moved; " and Psalms (xxxi. 15)—“My down, and withereth; " and (xxx. 6)—“ And in my prosperity times are in Thy hand;" and Ecclesiastes (vii. 14)—“In the ~ day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity con sider: God also hath set the one over against the other, t

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So Ecclesiastes (vi. 7)—“All the labor of man is for his the end that man should find nothing after Him.” mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled."

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The gods, like strangers from some foreign 13)-"Others mocking said, these men are full of new wine." land, assuming different forms, wander through cities, watching the injustice and justice of men.

So Proverbs (xv. 3)-"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good; " and Acts (xiv. 11) The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men."

ATTEND TO YOUR HOUSEHOLD AFFAIRS.

I wish, my son, that thou wouldst look with care after thy household, and guard all thy pos

sessions.

So Proverbs (xxvii. 23)-"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds;" and 1 Timothy (iii. 4)-"One that ruleth well his own house."

THE IDLE.

TO PERISH BY OUR OWN FOLLY.

He proceeded on, destroyed by his own folly, bearing his own evils in his arrogant mind.

So Galatians (vi. 5)—“Every man shall bear his own bur

I shall not allow any one to be idle who lives at den." my expense, though he has come from far.

So Genesis (iii. 19)-"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat rt bread;" and Proverbs (xx. 4)—“The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing;" and 2 Thessalonians (iii. 10)—“If any would not work, neither should he eat."

CONFUSION of tongues.

There was a great confusion of tongues.

So Genesis (xi. 9)-"There the Lord did confound the language of all the earth;" and Acts (ii. 4)—“They began to speak with other tongues."

SHORTNESS OF LIFE.

Mortals have a short span of life.

So Job (viii. 9)-"For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow;" and (xiv. 1); and Psalms (xxxix. 5)—“Behold thou hast made my days as an hand-breadth, and mine age is as nothing before Thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity;' and (xc. 10)—"The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow: for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."

BE PATIENT.

Be patient, my soul; thou hast at another time suffered something still worse than this.

So Psalms (xlii. 5)—“ Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me?" and Romans (v. 4)— "And patience worketh experience: and experience, hope."

GOD KNOWS ALL THINGS.

THOU SHALT SUFFER WHAT THOU INTENDEST FOR
ANOTHER.

What thou thoughtest to perpetrate, that thou shalt suffer in thy own person.

So Psalms (vii. 16)" His mischief shall return upon his own head;" and 1 Kings (ii. 44)—“The Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head."

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THE POOR MAN IS DESPISED.

Now, because I am in squalor, and clothed in rags, he despises me, and says that I am not the

For God knows all things well, the evil and person I assume to be. good that befalls men.

So Psalms (cxxxix. 1-4)—“O Lord, Thou hast searched me,

and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine

up-rising: Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path, and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether."

EVEN KINGS suffer CALAMITIES.

The gods overwhelm those men with misfortunes who ramble about, when even on kings they impose toil.

So James (ii. 2)—“ For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or Sit here under my footstool."

HIS FAME SHALL NEVER PERISH.

The fame of his virtuous deeds shall never be forgotten, while the gods will in beauteous song preserve the name of wise Penelope.

So Psalms (cxii. 6)—“The righteous shall be in everlasting So Job (v. 6)" Although affliction cometh not forth of the remembrance;" and Proverbs (x. 7)-"The memory of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground." just is blessed."

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