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Article DETACHED THOUGHTS, ILLUSTRATED BY ANECDOTES ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. ← Page 2 of 2 Article ON CONSTANCY. Page 1 of 2 →
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Detached Thoughts, Illustrated By Anecdotes On Various Subjects.
The emperor Tbeodosius , moved with choler against the inhabitants of Salonica , who had raised a sedition and killed his lieutenant , sent his' army against them with orders to the chief to exterminate them all . In the slaughter there perished fifteen thousand men , women , and children . The emperor a few days after repenting of the deed , made a law by which he ordained that the execution of his letters
patent and ordinations' should be suspended thirty days after the order , in case they contained a punishment move rigorous than ordinary . Plato falling into a great passion against one of his servants for a veiy considerable fault he had committed , and seeing Xenocrate come in , said . If you are my friend I beg you would reprimand my servantbecause at this moment anger has got the better of my reason .
, The emperor Aurelian , endowed with many virtues , but very liable to anger , and to such a degree that the death alone of those who had offended him was able to appease his resentment ; his secretary Menesthus had one day greatly offended him , and he who knew the natural disposition of his master , thought on the following scheme to save his life : he made out a list ( counterfeiting the emperor ' s hand )
of several captains of his army , putting himself in the number , which it was the emperor ' s intention to put to death , and carried it to the parties concerned , telling them it had fallen from the emperor ' s sleeve . Surprised at what they heard and saw , they gave faith to it , therefore resolved to prevent him , which they did by his death .
On Constancy.
ON CONSTANCY .
DEATH had no terror to the noble-minded Seneca . He saw his blood flow from different parts of his body without being moved . If any emotions arose in his mind , they were those of pity for the tyrant who condemned him ; as if he had wished to have been guilty rather than have him stained with the crime of punishing an innocent man . Alcibiades , hearing the sentence of his own death pronounced , said , " Unfortunate Athenians ! they are condemned to deathand not
, " ' me ; for 1 am going up to the gods where 1 shall be immortal , and " they remain among men all subject to death . " Crcesus , king of Ly dia , being deprived of his kingdom , and prisoner to Cyrus , shewed more virtue , constancy-, and generosity , than he had done in the full enjoyment of his riches : being led to the stake , and the flaming brand already in the hands of the executioner to set fire to the pile ,
he recollected the wise sayings of Solon on , the small dependance that is to be made on . human felicity ; and that a man must never esteem himself happy but at the hour of his death ; he was therefore determined to suffer patiently ; and in gratitude to the philosopher who had given him such excellent advice , repeated loudly the name of Solon three times . Cyrus heard it , and asked the reason why he did so ; he repeated , word for word , the sayings of the philosopher , which touched the heart of Cyrus in such a manner that his hatred was changed to friendship , and he restored Crcesus to liberty and the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Detached Thoughts, Illustrated By Anecdotes On Various Subjects.
The emperor Tbeodosius , moved with choler against the inhabitants of Salonica , who had raised a sedition and killed his lieutenant , sent his' army against them with orders to the chief to exterminate them all . In the slaughter there perished fifteen thousand men , women , and children . The emperor a few days after repenting of the deed , made a law by which he ordained that the execution of his letters
patent and ordinations' should be suspended thirty days after the order , in case they contained a punishment move rigorous than ordinary . Plato falling into a great passion against one of his servants for a veiy considerable fault he had committed , and seeing Xenocrate come in , said . If you are my friend I beg you would reprimand my servantbecause at this moment anger has got the better of my reason .
, The emperor Aurelian , endowed with many virtues , but very liable to anger , and to such a degree that the death alone of those who had offended him was able to appease his resentment ; his secretary Menesthus had one day greatly offended him , and he who knew the natural disposition of his master , thought on the following scheme to save his life : he made out a list ( counterfeiting the emperor ' s hand )
of several captains of his army , putting himself in the number , which it was the emperor ' s intention to put to death , and carried it to the parties concerned , telling them it had fallen from the emperor ' s sleeve . Surprised at what they heard and saw , they gave faith to it , therefore resolved to prevent him , which they did by his death .
On Constancy.
ON CONSTANCY .
DEATH had no terror to the noble-minded Seneca . He saw his blood flow from different parts of his body without being moved . If any emotions arose in his mind , they were those of pity for the tyrant who condemned him ; as if he had wished to have been guilty rather than have him stained with the crime of punishing an innocent man . Alcibiades , hearing the sentence of his own death pronounced , said , " Unfortunate Athenians ! they are condemned to deathand not
, " ' me ; for 1 am going up to the gods where 1 shall be immortal , and " they remain among men all subject to death . " Crcesus , king of Ly dia , being deprived of his kingdom , and prisoner to Cyrus , shewed more virtue , constancy-, and generosity , than he had done in the full enjoyment of his riches : being led to the stake , and the flaming brand already in the hands of the executioner to set fire to the pile ,
he recollected the wise sayings of Solon on , the small dependance that is to be made on . human felicity ; and that a man must never esteem himself happy but at the hour of his death ; he was therefore determined to suffer patiently ; and in gratitude to the philosopher who had given him such excellent advice , repeated loudly the name of Solon three times . Cyrus heard it , and asked the reason why he did so ; he repeated , word for word , the sayings of the philosopher , which touched the heart of Cyrus in such a manner that his hatred was changed to friendship , and he restored Crcesus to liberty and the