modestiâ, summâ verecundiâ, salutem prætoribus, candidatis, populo dico, pro quibus vota facio ut bene et prospere suffragia vestra eveniant, in hoc potissimum tempore quod præcipue, si unquam aliud, non leve officium desiderat. Neque enim levia jam aut ludicra aguntur. Totâ mente contremisco quum reputem, quantum ut in me reciperem negotium exposcere ausus sim. Nescio sane an propositis meis nimis crediderim, quæ quidem et justa et recta fuisse assevero. Neque parum felicia precor (pace vestrâ dixerim, cives), si quum ab hoc loco discedam, deos immortales oro atque obtestor, ut quemcunque in nostrum locum sufficiatis, is ita cæteroqui nobis consimilis sit, ut majorem tamen adjuvandi facultatem, meliorem placendi fortunam adipiscatur.

GULIELMUS ALFREDUS MEEK.

From Morris's Earthly Paradise-Cupid and Psyche.

Now underneath the world the moon was gone,
But brighter shone the stars so left alone,
Until a faint green light began to show
Far in the east, whereby did all men know,
Who lay awake either with joy or pain,
That day was coming on their heads again;
Then widening, soon it spread to grey twilight,
And in a while with gold the east was bright;
The birds burst out a-singing one by one,
And o'er the hill-top rose the mighty sun.

Therewith did Psyche open wide her eyes, And, rising on her arm, with great surprise Gazed on the flowers wherein so deep she lay, And wondered why upon that dawn of day Out in the fields she had lift up her head Rather than in her balmy gold-hung bed. Then, suddenly remembering all her woes, She sprang upon her feet, and yet arose Within her heart a mingled hope and dread Of some new being: and now she raised her head, And, gazing round about her timidly,

A lovely grassy valley could she see,

That steep grey cliffs upon three sides did bound,

And under these a river, sweeping round,

Idem Latine Redditum.

Luna polum fugit, lunâ deserta remotâ
Sidera jam radio lucidiore micant:
Lux variat donec terras sublustris Eoas,
Quæ procul Auroræ prævia pandit iter.
Quos vigiles spolient curæ, quos gaudia somno,
Admonet instantem rursus adire diem.
Clara magis fiunt incerta crepuscula noctis,
Aureaque Eoi subrubet ora poli.

Singula nunc resonant avibus virgulta canoris,
Et montis superans ardua Phoebus adest.

Ipsa simul Psyche cubito subnixa levatur,
Et stupet obtutu non sine flore torum.
Miratur variis cur sic circumdata sertis

Mane novo in solâ sola jaceret humo.
"Fallor? an ambrosii fugerunt gaudia lecti

Aurea, an hos," quærit, "mens mea finxit agros?" Continuo memori luctûs oblivia cedunt;

Exsilit, et pectus spesque metusque movent. Anne novam expectet sortem? Caput altius effert; Luminibus dubiis undique lustrat agros. Gramineam vallem prospectat, amona locorum, Quam claudunt niveis mænia terna jugis. Errantem sinuat cursum sub montibus amnis, Lympha repercusso lucida sole nitet.

C

With gleaming curves the valley did embrace,
And seemed to make an island of that place;
And all about were dotted leafy trees,

The elm for shade, the linden for the bees,
The noble oak, long ready for the steel
That in that place it had no fear to feel;
The pomegranate, the apple, and the pear,
That fruit and flowers at once made shift to bear,
Nor yet decayed therefore, and in them hung
Bright birds that elsewhere sing not, but here sung
As sweetly as the small brown nightingales
Within the wooded deep Laconian vales.

But right across the vale, from side to side,
A high white wall all further view did hide,
But that above it, vane and pinnacle

Rose up, of some great house beyond to tell,
And still, betwixt these, mountains far away
Against the sky rose shadowy, cold, and grey.

She, standing in the yellow morning sun,
Could scarcely think her happy life was done,
Or that the place was made for misery;

Yea, some lone heaven it rather seemed to be,
Which for the coming band of gods did wait;
Hope touched her heart; no longer desolate,
Deserted of all creatures, did she feel,
And o'er her face sweet colour 'gan to steal,
That deepened to a flush, as wandering thought
Desires before unknown unto her brought,
So mighty was the God, though far away.

Continet amplexu vallem; circumflua visa est Insula, dividuo quam fovet unda freto. Arboris hospitium dispergitur: ulmus obumbrat Prata, suæ tiliæ copia pascit apes.

Hic ferro matura diu caput erigit ilex,

Non tamen hic ferrum, ne cadat icta, timet. Poma ferunt silvæ commixto flore virentes; Mixta piro et malis Punica grana rubent. Pestis abest omnis: volucres hic carmina pictæ, Muta cohors alibi, per nemus omne sonant. Fusca Therapnæis sicut Philomela sub umbris Dat liquidos, nigrâ condita valle, modos.

Prospicit: hinc illinc moles argentea saxis
Tenditur oppositis: ulteriora latent.
Sola super turris, super ardua culmina surgunt:
Regificam scires haud procul esse domum.
Eminus in medio subnubila montis imago
Tollitur, et rupis frigida forma patet.

Mane erat aurato circumdata lumine virgo
Constitit, et dubiâ talia mente petit.
"Num mea fugerunt felicis gaudia vitæ?

"Terra parum est dandis ingeniosa malis. "Nescio quam sedem videor spectare piorum; "Huc adventuros auguror esse deos."

Spes nova corda subit; nec jam deserta, nec omnis
Orba sodalitii fædere visa sibi.

Serpit in ora color sensim suffusa decorus;
Nec mora, flagrantes erubuere genæ.
Fluctuat ignotâ perculsa cupidine; præsens
Numen erat, quamvis abforet ipse Deus.

ARTHURUS TREMAYNE BULLER.