other savages, they were children of the forestmen living in woods, and in caves without comfortable houses or garments. Saturn called the country of his retreat, Latium; gave the people laws, taught them agriculture, and made them, in their improved condition, very happy.

8. The condition of these people was that of all who cultivate the ground, manufacture their own garments, live without commerce, without wealth, and without the fine arts, Among a community in such a state there is little envy, contention or ambition. The people are industrious, temperate, and peaceable, and for the most part are contented with their lot. There is neither so much virtue nor so much vice, so much happiness nor so much misery as in the state of higher civilization.

9. When this people of Italy became selfish— when wars had made them cruel, and avarice had disturbed their repose, the tradition of their former quiet happiness remained among them, and the period of Saturn's government is still called the Golden Age. According to the fable, Saturn was a god, he was, probably, some good man, who was a benefactor of his fellow-men, and whom, after his death, the superstitious and ignorant deified, or worshipped as a god.

10. When the Roman state became powerful, and the rich had numerous slaves; a festival was instituted called the Saturnalia, which doubtless referred to the freedom enjoyed in the age of Saturn. During the season of the Saturnalia, the slaves were excused from their accustomed labours, permitted to recreate themselves as they liked, and allowed to be familiar with their masters.

11. Romc takes its name from Romulus, a young man of whom the following story is related. Ro. mulus and Remus were twin brothers, sons of Rhea Sylvia, a vestal, who would have been condemned to die by the laws, had it been known that she was the mother of the children. The infants were therefore put into some tight vessel, and thrown upon the waves of the Tiber. Faustilus,

a shepherd, saw them, and saved their lives. He took them home to his wife Lupa, who nursed and bred them up. The name Lupa signifies a wolf, so a fable, that the children were nursed by a wolf, has originated in the name of their nurse.

12. When these boys grew to be men they discovered their grandfather Numitor who had been king of the country, and was deposed by his brother Amulius. They were young and strong, and made people love them, and procured assistance to expel the usurper, and reinstate their grandfa ther. Remus was killed, but Romulus engaged others with himself to lay the foundation of a city, and when a sufficient number of men were collect. ed in it, the city was called Rome, and Romulus was its first king,

ROME.

The history of Rome may be divided into three periods, in which the nation existed under three different forms of government.

The Kingdom,

The Commonwealth,

'The Empire.

The kingdom lasted from the foundation of Rome, B. C. 753, to the expulsion of Tarquin, the last king, B. C. 509-244 years. The Commonwealth existed from the expulsion of Tarquin till the title of Emperor was conferred upon Augustus, B. C. 27-482 years.

The empire flourished from the assumption of the title of Emperor, by Augustus, till the conquest of Odoacer, A. D. 476–593 years. The Emperor Constantine divided the empire into two parts; the Eastern and Western empires, A. D. 328. Constantinople, the modern Stamboul, and ancient Byzantium, was the capital of the Eastern, and Rome of the Western empire. Mahomet, the second emperor of the Turks, took Constantinople, A. D. 1453, nearly a thousand years after the Goths conquered Italy.

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Seven kings reigned in Rome during the two hundred and forty-four years of the Kingdom: of these Romulus was warlike, and conquered the neighbouring people; and he was generous and benevolent to his new subjects, so that the number of inhabitants in Rome increased and prospered. Romulus commended the poor to the favour of the rich-that is, the labourers upon the soil to the owners of it. Land, and a very few of the conveniences of life which we enjoy, formed the wealth of this infant state.

2. The writers of Rome who commend the simplicity of their ancestors, describe them as they

must have been, like all the first cultivators and inhabitants of a country without letters, arts or trade.

Where Romulus was bred, and Quintius born, Whose shining ploughshare was in furrows worn,

A little spot of earth well tilled,

A numerous family with plenty filled.-
The good old man, and thrifty housewife spent
Their days in peace, and fattened with content,
Enjoyed the dregs of life, and lived to see
A long-descending healthful progeny.-
Women were made for labour, stout and bold,
And men were fashioned in a larger mould.

3. This is coarse description, but it represents the primitive Romans as they were. Romulus created a senate, or assembly of elderly men, chosen from among the most respectable citizens, to advise the king concerning the government.The richer citizens were called the Patricians and the poorer sort Plebeians. The Patricians were advised by Romulus to take care of the Plebeians, and they did so. The Patricians were called the patrons of the Plebians, who were styled their clients. The word Patron is still understood as signifying protector and friend to those who need favour and assistance.

4. Numa the second king did not extend the territories of Rome: he reigned forty-three years, and regulated the religion of the Romans. The Romans worshipped the gods of Greece, but with some difference. They made gods of so many