Merlin, in his second macaronic, describes the giant Fracassus in the following terms : Primus erat quidam Fracassus prole gigantis, Cum quo mille hominum colpos fracasset in uno. MISCELLANEOUS PASSAGES FROM PERSIUS. Tun', vetule, auriculis alienis colligis escas? Auriculis quibus et dicas cute perditus, Ohe. "Quo didicisse, nisi hoc fermentum, et quæ semel intus "Innata est, rupto jecore exierit caprificus ?" "At pulchrum est, digito monstrari, et dicier, Hic est. "Ten' cirratorum centum dictata fuisse, "Pro nihilo pendas?" Ecce, inter pocula, quærunt Romulidæ saturi, quid dia poemata narrent! Sat. 1. It is evident throughout his works, how closely Persius imitated Horace. Many hints are taken from him in the passage above transcribed, and in the following lines which previously occur: Nam Romæ quis non-? Ah, si fas dicere! Sed fas The obscurity of Persius arises principally from the necessity he lay under, being determined not to compromise morality by courtly obsequiousness, so to clothe his satire, writing as he did in the reign of Nero, that what modern lawyers technically term the innuendos should not be too obvious. He was obliged to express himself in allusion rather than in direct attack. Thus in the passage above quoted, he takes aim from behind a bush at the emperor himself, who had ordered his poems to be taught to the curly-pated young nobility in their elementary schools. The practice of teaching parrots and magpies to speak certain common words, as salve, ave, and others, and to appropriate them to the seasons of meeting and parting, was known to the ancients as well as to ourselves. Hunger is supposed to be the powerful engine by which this feat is accomplished. The reward of good, in very small portions, is bestowed on their efforts at articulation. Persius illustrated the fate of scribblers by this allusion, whose necessities drive them to writing verses as mechanically, and with as little meaning, as parrots and magpies utter and even time articulate sounds, by mere dint of habit, without a spark of meaning: Quis expedivit psittaco suum xaïpe? MISCELLANEOUS PASSAGES FROM MODERN AUTHORS. THE President de Thou, lib. 113. on the year 1595, describes the usages of the Penitential at Rome, and the solemnities held when Henry the Fourth of France sent his two proxies to undergo his penance, and bring back his absolution. The royal heretic and renegade, more guilty than the mob of sinners, and therefore deserving severer punishment, was not slow to discover, that however it may be with geometry, there is a royal road to absolution. Delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi. On this principle, our James the First, though subject in all other respects to the severe discipline of Scotland, was allowed to have his whipping-boy. Henry's proxies are introduced with the following ceremonial: -"Inde ad solium deducti; cum capite demisso rursus in genua procubuissent, Psalmus 50 recitatur, ad cujus singulos versiculos Pontifex virgula quasi vindicta, qua ut olim servi apud Romanos manumittebantur, sic nunc peccatis nexi per absolutionem in libertatem Christianam asseruntur, leviter supplices procuratores tangebat." Budæus, lib. 5. of his treatise De Asse, institutes a comparison between Croesus and Midas, and explains the asses' ears with which that Phrygian tyrant was endowed, to have been typical of the spies and emissaries he kept in pay :-" At ille calamitate et summo atque ignominioso vitæ discrimine inclaruit, hic auribus asininis non aureis innotuit. Ex eo enim in proverbium venit, quod multos otacustas, id est auricularios et emissarios haberet, rumorum captatores et sermonum delatores, cujusmodi habere solent principes mali qui stimulante conscientia securi esse nequeunt." Caracalla, for whom every act of tyranny in past times formed a precedent, and every instrument, and every engine, which could play upon the meanness of jealousy, whether fabulous or practical, was an object of desire, not only consulted impostors of every description, among the foremost wizards and astrologers, for the discovery of conspiracies against his life; but expressed a sincere longing for such a pair of ears, as could take in every word uttered about him, of whatever character or tendency. In the Scaligerana, on the word Kooμrup, the great critic gives the following etymological meaning, founded on Homer:-"Kоsμýτwp ut ågμosis, Κοσμήτωρ ἁρμοςὴς, præfectum significabant," that is, the governor of a country, embracing the presidency over both judicial and military affairs. “ Κοσμεῖν enim et ἁρμόζειν verba sunt politica, quæ administrare remp. (non autem ornare) proprie significabant, ut apud Hom. Iliad. 1. 'Ατρείδα δὲ μάλιςα δύω Κοσμήτορε λαῶν.” The Popes Alexander VI. and Julius II. have been satirised by the poets of their time, for appearing in the field of battle and at sieges in armour and military array. Julius II., in 1511, exhibited himself with helmet and breastplate, to hasten a siege which his generals did not press so vigorously as |