2

tentation? When Plato describes1 his imaginary perfect man, loaded with all the shame of guilt, yet deservings every reward of virtue, he depicts, in each feature, Jesus Christ himself:* the resemblance is so striking, that all the fathers of the church have felt it, and no one can mistake it.3

12

What prejudice, what blindness, must it be to compare the son of Sophronicus10 to the son of Mary! How great the disproportion between them!11 Socrates dying without pain, without ignominy, easily supported his character to the last; and, if his deaths had not done honour to14 his life, it would be doubtful's whether Socrates, with all his wisdom, were any thing more than a sophist. He invented, it is said, the system of morality; others before him had put it in practice; he had but to say what they had done; he only reduced their examples to precepts. 1

peint ;-2 juste couvert de ;-4 opprobre ;-5 et digne de ;6 tous les prix;- trait pour trait; et personne ne peut s'y méprendre ;-9 ne faut-il point avoir;-10 Sophronique ;- Quelle distance de l'un à l'autre ;--12 jusqu'au bout son personnage ;— ' 13 cette mort;-4 honoré ;-5 on douterait;-16 il ne fit que mettre en leçons leurs exemples.

Continuation.

ARISTIDES had been just, before Socrates had defined justice; Leonidas died for his country, 18 before Socrates had made it* a duty to love our country;19 the Spartans were temperate, 20 before Socrates had praised sobriety; before he had defined virtue, Sparta abounded in virtuous men. But where did Jesus find among his countrymen that pure and sublime morality, of which he alone gave the precepts and examples. From the midst28 17 était mort;-18 pays;-19 patrie:-20 sobres ;-2 où Jésus avait -22 a donné ;-23 sein;

pris.

"

of fanaticism, the voice of the most profound wisdom was heard,1 and the simplicity of the most heroic virtues exalted the vilest of all nations.

5

The death of Socrates, calmly moralizing with his friends, is the sweetest that can be wished for:✩ that of Jesus expiring in the midst* of* torments, abused, reviled, cursed by a whole nation, is the most horrible we can dread. Socrates takes10 the poisoned cup, and* blesses11 him who, in tears, presents it to him:12 Jesus, suffering in the midst of excruciating torments, 13 prays for his merciless executioners.14 Yes! if the life and death of Socrates are those* of a sage, the life and death of Jesus are those* of a God!

Shall we say that the History of the Gospel is invented15 at pleasure? No! it is not thus that man16 invents; and the facts related1 of Socrates, which no one doubts, 18 are less authenticated than those of Jesus Christ: at most, it is but shifting19 the difficulty, without destroying it. It would be more inconceivable that a number of 20 men should have written such as book, than that one only should have furnished the subject of it. The Jewish authors never could have hit upon such a diction, 25 such morality: 8 and the Gospel possesses marks of truth so great, so striking, so perfectly inimitable, that the inventor would be more surprising than the hero of it.*—J. J. Rousseau's EMILE.

10

26

18

15

1 se fit entendre ;-2 honora ;-3 philosophant;-4 désirer ;-5 injurié ;-6 raillé ; maudit de; tout un peuple ;-9 on puisse ;prenant; bénit ;-12 la lui présente et qui pleure;-13 au milieu d'un supplice affreux ;-4 bourreaux acharnés ;---15 soit inventée ;-16 qu'on ;-7 qu'on rapporte ;-8 dont personne ne doute;-9 c'est reculer;-20 plusieurs ;-21 eussent:-22 fabriqué; 23 ce-24 qu'il ne l'est qu'un seul en ait fourni le sujet ;-25 Jamais des auteurs Juifs n'eussent trouvé ni ce ton; ni cette morale-2 à des caractères.

SECTION II.

(The Infinitives of Verbs are to be altered into their proper Moods and Tenses, &c.)

SHORTNESS OF LIFE-DUTIES OF KINGS. "I AM Arcesius, the father of Laertes," said the old man; “I had finished my courses before my grandson, Ulysses, departed for the siege of Troy. Thou wert then but an infant in thy nurse's arms, but I conceived great hopes of thee, and they have not deceived me, since I see that thou art descended into Pluto's kingdom in search of thy father, and that the gods support thee in this enterprize. Oh! my happy child! the gods love thee, and are preparing a glory for thee, which will equal that of thy father, and happy Is to see thee again! Cease to search for Ulysses here; he is still alive, and is reserved to be the restorer of 10 our house in the island of Ithaca.11 Laertes himself, though bowing under a1 weight of years, still enjoys1s the light, and waits for his son's coming to close1 his eyes. Thus mortals pass away* like flowers which bloom in15 the morning, and wither and are trodden under

1 RAPIDITE;-2 Laërte;-3 mes jours ;-A enfant entre ;--5 pour chercher; te soutenir ;-te préparer une gloire; heureux moi-même de ;-9 de chercher ;-10 pour relever;- Ithaque ;~~ 12 courbé sous le 13 jouir encore de ;-14 que son fils vienne lui fermer les 15 s'épanouir;

foot in the evening. The generations of men roll away1 like the waves of a rapid river: nothing can3 stop the tide of* time, which draws after it every thing that seems the most immoveable. Thou thyself, O my son, my dear son,-thou who now enjoyest such a sprightly pleasureable youth,3 remember that this gay season is but a flower that withers almost as soon as it is blown. Thou wilt perceive thyself insensibly alter: the smiling graces, the sweet pleasures which attend thee-strength, health, joy, will vanish like a pleasing dream; nothing but a regretful remembrance will be left thee. Languid old age, that enemy to pleasure, will come and wrinkle thy brows, bow down thy body, weaken thy limbs, dry up the source of joy in thy heart, and make thee loathe the present, fill thee with apprehensions of the future, 10 and make thee11 insensible of all things12 but pain.

1 s'écouler ;-2 rien ne;-3 d'une jeunesse si vive et si féconde en plaisirs-4 Tu te voir changé insensiblement ;-5 t'accom pagnent -- il ne te rester qu'un triste souvenir; ennemie du :rider ton front; te dégouter du;-10 pour l'avenir ;-11 et te rendre ;-12 à tout.

Continuation.

"THAT time appears to* thee at a distance:18 alas! thou deceivest thyself, my son; it comes apace, 14 nay, 15 it is already near. What advances

with such a rapidity, is not far from thee; and the present fleeting moment is already at a distance, 13 since it ceases to be, the momentis we speak, and can approach us20 no more. Never, therefore,21 my son, rely on the present, but support thyself in

13 éloigné-4 rapidement ;-15 que dis je ;-16 tant de ;-17 le moment présent qui s'enfuit-18 foin; dans le moment que;— 2 s'approcher de nous;-2 Ne compter donc jamais;

the rugged and thorny path of virtue, by the sight of the future. Prepare thyself, by the purity of thy manners and the love of justice, a mansion1 in this blissful abode of peace.

"Thou shalt quickly see thy father; he will resume his authority in Ithaca; thou wert born to reign3 after him; but, alas! my son, how deceitful is a crown !4 Viewed at a distance, nothing* is seen but grandeur, lustre, and pleasure; but when near it is beset with thorns. A private persons may, without reproach, lead a life of obscurity; but a king cannot, without dishonouring himself, prefer a life of* pleasure and indolence, to the painful duties of government. He owes himself to his subjects; he is never permitted10 to be his own master: and his least oversights11 are of the greatest consequence, because they make1 his people wretched, and that sometimes for ages. He ought to curb14 the audacity of the wicked, to support innocence, to suppress15 calumny. It is not enough for him not to do any evil, he must do all the possible good of which the state-stands in need. 16 Nay, it is not enough that he does good himself, he must likewise17 prevent all the evils which others would do, were they not restrained.18 Be appre hensive, 19 therefore, my son,-be apprehensive of so dangerous a situation; arm thyself with resolution against thyself, against thy passions, and against flatterers."-FENELON.

13

1 place;-2 es né;-3 pour régner;-4 la royauté être trompeuse ;5 de loin; mais de près: parsemée de particulier;9 douce;-10 il ne lui est jarmais permis de;- fautes;-12 rendre ; 13 pendant des siècles;-14 réprimer;-15 arrêter;-16 a besoin ;17 aussi ;-18 s'ils n'être retenus;-19 Crains;-20 armer toi de.