the prime of their strength. Some carried a sword and a lasso, others a trident and a net; some were in light armor, others in the full, heavy equipment of a soldier; some on horseback, some in chariots, some on foot. They marched in, and made their obeisance to the emperor, and with one voice their greeting sounded through the building: "Hail, Cæsar! We who are about to die salute thee !"N They were the gladiators- the swordsmen trained to fight to the death to amuse the populace. Fights of all sorts took place, the light-armed soldier and the netsman–the lasso and the javelin - the two heavy-armed warriors,-all combinations of single combat, and sometimes a general mêlée of the athletes. When a gladiator wounded his adversary, he shouted to the spectators, “He has it!” and looked up to know whether he should kill or spare. When the people held up their thumbs, the conquered was left to recover, if he could; if they turned them down, he was to die; and if he showed any reluctance to present his throat for the death blow, there was a scornful shout, “Receive the steel!” Many of us must have seen casts of that most touching statue of the Wounded Gladiator, that called forth from Byron N these noble lines of indignant pity : I see before me the gladiator lie: He leans upon his hand; his manly brow And his drooped head sinks gradually low; And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow Like the first of a thunder shower; and now The arena swims around him - he is gone, Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won. He heard it, but he heeded not; his eyes Were with his heart, and that was far away: But where his rude hut by the Danube lay There were his young barbarians N all at play, Butchered to make a Roman holiday- CHARLOTTE M. Yonge. Biography.-. Charlotte M. Yonge is a popular English authoress. Her first production, “Abbey Church," was published in 1844. This was followed by “Kings of England” and “Landmarks of History.” Her works number about thirty. Notes.— The “Conquerors of Jerusalem,” Vespasian and Titus, lived in the first century A. D. Or' phe us, a musician of fabulous times, was said to move rocks and trees by the music of his lyre. “ We who are about to die, salute thee" is the translation of the Latin words mor i tu'ri, te sal u ta' mus. Byron (1788-1824) was one of the most famous of English poets. Barbarians was a term applied by Greeks and Romans to foreigners, because their language sounded to them like “bar, bar.” Da' cian, belonging to an ancient tribo beyond the Danube. In mediæval Rome, I know not where, Until a learned clerk, who at noonday Midway the hall was a fair table placed, Long at the scene, bewildered and amazed, And all was dark around and overhead ;- The writer of this legend then records The scholar and the world! The endless strife, LONGFELLOW. Biography.- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) may justly be called the most popular of America's poets. He graduated from Bowdoin (Böd' n) College in 1825, and began the practice of law; but the tempting offer of a professorship in Bowdoin induced him to begin a literary life. His first prose work, “Outre Mer" (Beyond the Sea), appeared in 1835, and during the same year he was called to a professorship in Harvard College. Longfellow visited Europe a number of times in order to perfect his acquaintance with tho languages and the literature of the different nations. As a man and as a poet, he seems to have been in perfect harmony with all classes of society, and his writings have reached an enormous sale in both England and America. 86.-THE GOLDEN TEMPLE OF PERU. súb' ter rā' ne Qus, under. ground. do main', estate ; property. mu nil'i çençe, generosity. €ôrnyç eş, projecting pieces. věn' er á'tion, awe; respect. ew'erş (yurş), pitchers with wido spouts. incense is burned. The worship of the Sun constituted the peculiar care of the Incas, and was the object of their lavish expenditure. The most ancient of the many temples dedicated to this divinity was in the Island of Titicaca, whence the royal founders of the Peruvian line were said to have proceeded. From this circumstance this sanctuary was held in peculiar veneration. Every thing which belonged to it, even the broad fields of maize, which surrounded the temple, and formed part of its domain, partook of a portion of its sanctity. The yearly produce was distributed among the different public store-houses, in small quantities to each, as something that would sanctify the remainder of their contents. Happy was the man who could secure even an ear of the blessed harvest for his own granary! But the most renowned of the Peruvian temples, the pride of the capital, and the wonder of the empire, was at Cuzco, where, under the munificence of successive sovereigns, it had become so enriched, that it received the name of Coricancha, or “The Place of Gold.” It consisted of a principal building and several chapels and inferior edifices, covering a large extent of ground in the heart of the city, |