able being. It is in this light that discretion is represented by the wise man, who sometimes mentions it under the name of discretion, and sometimes under that of wisdom. It is, indeed, as described in the latter part of this paper, the greatest wisdom, but, at the same time, in the power of every one to attain. Its advantages are infinite, but its acquisition is easy.

-ADDISON.

MAZEPPA.

"BRING forth the horse !"-The horse was brought :
In truth he was a noble steed,

A Tartar of the Ukraine breed,

Who looked as though the speed of thought

Were in his limbs; but he was wild,

Wild as the wild deer, and untaught.

With spur and bridle undefil'd—

"Twas but a day he had been caught;
And snorting with erected mane,
And struggling fiercely but in vain ;
In the full foam of wrath and dread
To me the desert-born was led;

They bound me on, that menial throng,
Upon his back with many a thong;
Then loosed him with a sudden lash-
Away!-away!-and on we dash!
Torrents less rapid and less rash.

Away!-away!—my breath was gone,
I saw not where he hurried on:
'Twas scarcely yet the break of day,
And on he foam'd-away!-away!
The last of human sounds that rose,
As I was darting from my foes,
Was the wild shout of savage laughter,
Which on the wind came roaring after
A moment from that rabble rout:
With sudden wrath I wrench'd my head,
And snapp'd the cord, which to the mane
Had bound my neck in lieu of rein;
And, writhing half my form about,
Hurl'd back my curse; but 'midst the tread,
The thunder of my courser's speed,

Perchance they did not hear nor heed;
It vexes me--for I would fain

Have paid their insult back again.

Away, away, my steed and I,

Upon the pinions of the wind,

All human dwellings left behind,
We speed like meteors through the sky,
Town-village-none were on our track,
But a wild plain of far extent,
And bounded by a forest black.
The sky was dull, and dim, and grey,
And a low breeze crept moaning by--
I could have answer'd with a sigh-
But fast we fled away, away ---
And I could neither sigh nor pray;
And my cold sweat-drops fell like rain
Upon the courser's bristling mane;
But snorting still with rage and fear
He flew upon his far career,

At times I almost thought, indeed,
He must have slackened in his speed;
But no, my bound and slender frame
Was nothing to his angry might,
And merely like a spur became
Each motion which I made to free
My swoll'n limbs from agony
Increased his fury and affright;

I tried my voice-'twas faint and low,
But yet it swerved as from a blow;
And, starting to each accent, sprang
As from a sudden trumpet's clang:
Meantime my cords were wet with gore,
Which, oozing through my limbs, ran o'er;
And in my tongue the thirst became
A something fireier far than flame.

We near the wild wood-'twas so wide,
I saw no bounds on either side ;
"Twas studded with old sturdy trees,
That bent not to the roughest breeze;
But these were few, and far between,

Set thick with shrubs more young and green; 'Twas a wild waste of underwood,

And here and there a chestnut stood,
The strong oak and the hardy pine;
But far apart-and well it were,
Or else a different lot were mine-

The boughs gave way, and did not tear
My limbs; and I found strength to bear
My wounds already scarr'd with cold-
My bonds forbore to loose their hold.

We rustled through the leaves like wind,
Left shrubs, and trees, and wolves behind;
By night I heard them on the track,

Nor left us with the morning sun;
Behind I saw them, scarce a rood,
At daybreak winding through the wood,
And through the night had heard their feet
Their stealing, rustling step repeat.

Oh! how I wished for spear or sword,
At least to dic amidst the horde,
And perish-if it must be so-
At bay, destroying many a foe.
When first my courser' race begun,
I wish'd the goal already won;

But now I doubted strength and speed-
Vain doubt! his swift and

savage
breed
Had nerv'd him like the mountain roc :
Nor faster falls the blinding snow
Which whelms the peasant near the door,
Whose threshold he shall cross no more,
Bewilder'd by the dazzling blast,

Than through the forest-paths he passed.
The wood was past: 'twas more than noon,
But chill the air, although in June:
Or it might be my veins ran cold-
Prolong'd endurance tames the bold;
What marvel if this worn-out trunk
Beneath its woes a moment sunk?
The earth gave way, the skies roll'd round,
I seem'd to sink upon the ground:
But err'd, for I was fastly bound.

My heart turn'd sick, my brain grew sore,
And throbb'd awhile, and beat no more;
The skies spun like a mighty wheel;
I saw the trecs like drunkards reel,
And a slight flash sprung o'er my eyes,
Which saw no farther; he who dies
Can die no more than then I died,
O'ertortur'd by that ghastly ride.

-LORD

THE FACTIONS OF THE CIRCUS.

(A.D. 532.)

A MATERIAL difference may be observed in the games of a the most eminent of the Greeks were actors, the Rom merely spectators. The Olympic stadium was open to merit, and ambition; and if the candidates could de their personal skill and activity, they might pursue

steps of Diomede and Menelaus, and conduct their own horses in the rapid career. Ten, twenty, forty chariots, were allowed to start at the same instant; a crown of leaves was the reward of the victor, and his fame, with that of his family and country, was chanted in lyric strains more durable than monuments of brass and marble. But a senator, or even a citizen, conscious

of his dignity, would have blushed to expose his person or his horses in the circus of Rome. The games were exhibited at the expense of the republic, the magistrates or the emperors; but the reins were abandoned to servile hands; and if the profits of a favorite charioteer sometimes exceeded those of an advocate, they must be considered as the effects of popular extravagance, and the high wages of a disgraceful profession. The race, in its first institution, was a simple contest of two chariots, whose drivers were distinguished by white and red liveries two additional colors, a light green and a cærulean blue, were afterwards introduced; and as the races were repeated twenty-five times, one hundred chariots contributed in the same day to the pomp of the circus. The four factions soon acquired a legal establishment and a mysterious origin, and their fanciful colors were derived from the various appearances of nature in the four seasons of the year; the red dog-star of summer, the snows of winter, the deep shades of autumn, and the cheerful verdure of the spring. Another interpretation preferred the elements to the seasons, and the struggle of the green and blue was supposed to represent the conflict of the earth and sea. Their respective victories announced either a plentiful harvest or a prosperous navigation, and the hostility of the husbandmen and mariners was somewhat less absurd than the blind ardor of the Roman people, who devoted their lives and fortunes to the color which they had espoused. Such folly was disdained and indulged by the wisest princes; but the names of Caligula, Nero, Vitellius, Verus, Commodus, Caracalla, and Elagabalus, were enrolled in the blue or green factions of the circus: they frequented their stables, applauded their favorites, chastised their antagonists, and deserved the esteem of the populace by the natural or affected imitation of their manners. The bloody and tumultuous contest continued to disturb the public festivity till the last one of the spectacles of Rome; and Theodoric, from a motive of justice or affection, interposed his authoriy to pro

158

THE FACTIONS OF THE CIRCUS.

tect the greens against the violence of a consul and a patrician who were passionately addicted to the blue faction of the circus.

Constantinople adopted the follies, though not the virtues, of ancient Rome; and the same factions which had agitated the circus raged with redoubled fury in the hippodrome. Under the reign of Anastasius, this popular frenzy was inflamed by religious zeal; and the greens, who had treacherously concealed stones and daggers under baskets of fruit, massacred at a solemn festival three thousand of their blue adversaries. From the capital this pestilence was diffused into the provinces and cities of the East, and the sportive distinction of two colors produced two strong and irreconcileable factions, which shook the foundations of a feeble government. The popular dissensions, founded on the most serious interest of holy pretence, have scarcely equalled the obstinacy of this wanton discord, which invaded the peace of families, divided friends and brothers, and tempted the female sex though seldom seen in the circus, to espouse the inclinations of their lovers, or to contradict the wishes of their husbands. Every law, either human or divine, was trampled under foot; and as long as the party was successful, its deluded followers appeared careless of private distress or public calamity. The licence, without the freedom of democracy, was revived at Antioch and Constantinople, and the support of a faction became necessary to every candidate for civil or ecclesiastical bonours.

A sedition, which almost laid Constantinople in ashes, was excited by the mutual hatred and momentary reconciliation of the two factions. In the fifth year of his reign Justinian cele‐ brated the festival of the ides of January: the games were incessantly disturbed by the clamorous discontent of the greens; till the twenty-second race the emperor maintained his silent gravity; at length, yielding to his impatience, he condescended to hold, in abrupt sentences, and by the voice of a crier, the most singular dialogue that ever passed between a prince and his subjects. Their first complaints were respectful and modest; they accused the subordinate ministers of oppres sion, and proclaimed their wishes for the long life and victory of the emperor. "Be patient and attentive, ye insolent railers!" exclaimed Justinian;" be mute, ye Jews, Samaritans. and Manichæans!" The greens still attempted to awaken his