Hard thinkers were they, those old men, But made our fathers keen. I doubt me if their sons would hear Ay, pull them down, as well ye may, They speak of those long passed away, Whose ashes now are cold. Few, few are now the strong-armed men And they reproach you with their might, Who never bowed the knee; Then pull them down and rear on high New-fangled, painted things, For those but mock the modern eye, The past around them brings. Then pull them down, and upward rear A pile which suits who worship here. SAP SAPPHO. APPHO, who flourished about 600 B. C., was a native of Mitylene, a town in the isle of Lesbos, in the Egean Sea. The name of her father is said to have been Scamandronymos; that of her mother, Cleis. She was married to Cercolas, a wealthy inhabitant of the isle of Andros, by whom she had a daughter called Cleis, and who left her a widow. Sappho, according to the custom of her age, combined the professions of minstrel and poetess, and was the first who touched the lyre with a quill. She was, also, the inventress of her own metre. Her talent was not confined to amatory subjects: she composed a variety of odes, elegies and monodies, nine books of which were extant in the time of Horace. She was called "the tenth Muse," and the Lesbians struck a coin with her image. ODE TO VENUS. Inflict this torturing flame! Thy harnessed chariot came; Were quivering to and fro. The birds flew back; thou, blessed queen, A H! what availed the public breath Of favor, and the assembled people's shout, And years all full of honors? What availed Those features now convulsed, that hoary hair hands That wrought such mighty deeds now spurned beneath A Roman's haughty feet, and trampled on In triumph. Translation of JABEZ HUGHES. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. SIR JOHN SUCKLING. IR JOHN SUCKLING was born at Whitton, Middlesex, February 10, 1608-9, and was baptized at Twickenham church. He was the son of Sir John Suckling, a native of Norwich, whose father, Robert Suckling, had been alderman and mayor of that city. Sir John, the poet's father, settled at Whitton, and became one of the secretaries of state in 1622. He was likewise comptroller of the household to James I. and Charles I. He died in 1627, when his son was nineteen years of age. From his childhood the poet exhibited that talent which has made him known not only as an accomplished courtier, but also as a sound scholar. At five years of age he spoke Latin, and could write it elegantly at nine. He was easily taught and quick in acquiring knowledge, but, together with this, he was at all times volatile, thoughtless and exhibited great vivacity of disposition. In his father's house he associated with the most distinguished men of his day, and thereby acquired an ease and elegance of address and manner which qualified him for his future career as a courtier. Suckling does not appear to have entered either of the universities. At an early period of his life he commenced his travels on the Continent, where, it has been said, he acquired "a little too much of the French air." He joined the service of the famous Gustavus Adolphus, and was present at various battle and sieges. The period is fixed by a letter still in existence, dated Leyden, November 18, 1629. When Suckling returned to England, he associated with the wits of the period. Into their circle he was received with marked favor and esteem; for, although he exhibited such levity of disposition, it was compounded with great ability in argument and especial conversational power. We are not surprised, therefore, to find among Suckling's intimate friends such a distinguished scholar as “the ever-memorable John Hales" of Eton, and such noted men as Lord Falkland, Ben Jonson, Davenant, Digby and Carew. Suckling was "sealed of the tribe of Ben," and one of the famous Apollo Club. In the midst of his gayety the dark clouds of rebellion were gathering around the throne of Charles I. Suckling's loyalty constrained him to offer his services to the king. He raised and equipped at his own expense a troop of cavalry, consisting of a hundred men. They were so splendidly mounted and caparisoned that it is said Sir John expended twelve thousand pounds over their equipment. The conduct of this glittering band exposed Suckling to much ridicule. In an engagement (1639) between the royal army and the Scotch, Sir John's troop was led into the fight and behaved in a cowardly way. There was not the smallest reason for questioning the bravery of Sir John himself; the occa sion, however, was too tempting to the republican lampooners to be lost, and Suckling had to suffer under the shafts of ridicule fired at him from various directions. It has been said that the vexation Suckling felt because of the discomfiture of his soldiers shortened his days. Indirectly, though not directly, this seems true. This much is certain: Sir John retreated to France, where he met with a sudden death through the villany of the valet who attended him. Dr. Wharton says, "Sir John Suckling was robbed by his valet-de-chambre; the moment he discovered it he clapped on his boots in a passionate hurry, and perceived not a large rusty nail that was concealed at the bottom, which pierced his heel and brought on mortification." There are various versions of this story. One says that Sir John was poisoned and the blade of a penknife was stuck in his boot to disable him from pursuing the valet when he discovered that he was robbed of his casket of gold and jewels; another says the blade of a razor was used for this purpose; but all agree that he was robbed, and that death was caused by a wound inflicted upon the sole of the foot by some instrument put into Sir John's boot to prevent his pursuing the valet. There is a full-length portrait of Suckling at Knole, on which an inscription appears, attributing the death-wound to a razor. He died May 7, 1641, aged thirty ment. He was educated at Dumbarton, and from thence proceeded to Glasgow to follow the profession of physic. Medicine was indifferently pursued. Literature and history became his passion. At eighteen he completed a tragedy entitled The Regicide. In 1741 he sailed as surgeon's mate in a ship of the line in the expedition to Carthagena which is described in his Roderic Random. Having quitted the service, he resided for some time in Jamaica, where he fell in love with Miss Ann Lascelles. On his return to England in 1746 he wrote "The Tears of Scotland," in indignation at the butcheries practised by the duke of Cumberland after Culloden. He then commenced his satires, in which he ridiculed the various managers of theatres with whom he quarrelled. In 1747 he married Miss Lascelles, and the following year, to relieve himself of his pecuniary difficulties, he published Roderic Random; in 1751 it was followed by Peregrine Pickle. In 1755 his translation of Don Quixote appeared, and in 1758 he brought out his History of England, which was entirely written in fourteen months. In 1763 and 1764 he passed some time in France and Italy, and published an account of his travels. On his return he visited Scotland and fixed himself as a resident at Bath, where he set up as a physician-Dr. Smollett. There he wrote a variety of satirical pieces; among others, The Adventures of an Atom, in ridicule of the king's ministers. In 1770 he left England once again for Italy, and composed upon his journey Humphrey Clinker. He took up his residence near Leghorn, but the endeavor to recruit his declining health proved vain. He died at Leghorn, October 21, 1771, aged fifty. Smollett is known as one of our greatest | Adam Blair, a Story of Scottish Life; The English humorists and novelists. He stands Life of Burns; The Life of Napoleon; and next in repute to Fielding. As a poet he has published his translations of Spanish ballads. no title to fame. The Tears of Scotland is In 1826 he became editor of the Quarterly the only piece by which his name is now Review, and retained the appointment until known in poetry, but Roderic Random, 1853. In biographical sketches he was parPeregrine Pickle and Humphrey Clinker ticularly excellent, as is attested by his Life have given him a fame which in English of Scott and Theodore Hook. His health beprose is imperishable. coming delicate, he resigned as editor of the Quarterly Review, and went to Rome in 1853, but after a short stay he took up his residence in Scotland. J. C. M. BELLEW. JOHN GIBSON LOCKHART.. JOHN OHN GIBSON LOCKHART, born at Cambusnethan, Scotland, 1794, died at Abbotsford 1854, a modern English writer, author of the Life of Sir Walter Scott and other valuable contributions to literature, was the son of a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and was educated at Glasgow University, and afterward at Balliol College, Oxford. After a short sojourn After a short sojourn in Germany he went to Edinburgh in 1816, intending to practise law at the Scottish bar. He soon, however, became a prominent member of a small band of Scotch writers, whose chief was Wilson. In 1817, on the establishment of Blackwood's Magazine, Lockhart was one of its principal writers. The Toryism of the new periodical and of its writers caused both to become especial favorites with Sir Walter Scott, whose political views were of the same nature. Lockhart in a short time became an intimate friend of the great novelist, who advanced his interests on every occasion. In 1820 he married Sophia, eldest daughter of Scott, and went to reside at Abbotsford. During the succeeding five years he worked with great industry and success in literature. He produced, among others, Valerius, a Roman Story; JOHN MILTON. S. O. BEETON. ILTON was born at London in the MILT year 1608. His father, John Milton, by profession a scrivener, lived in a reputable manner reputable manner on a competent estate entirely his own acquisition, having been early disinherited by his parents for renouncing the communion of the Church. of Rome, to which they were zealously devoted. Milton was the favorite of his father's hopes, who, to cultivate the great genius which early displayed itself, was at the expense of a domestic tutor, whose care and capacity his pupil has gratefully celebrated in an excellent Latin elegy. At his initiation he is said to have applied himself to letters with such indefatigable industry that he rarely was prevailed upon to quit his studies hefore midnight, which not only made him frequently subject to severe pains in his head, but likewise occasioned that weakness in his eyes which terminated in a total privation of sight. From a domestic education he was removed to St. Paul's School to complete his acquaintance with the classics under the care of Dr. Gill, and |