should at least not stand in his way. When he speaks of the shortness of
time and the value of fame, riches and power, for which men strive in
this world, he speaks not from the standpoint of one who would wish to
obtain these things, but as a Roman emperor enjoying the highest honors
that man might expect to attain in this world. He certainly was in a
position to speak intelligently concerning these matters, and his
opinions ought to have weight with the coming generations. Children may
not prefer to read such thoughts; perhaps the majority of children do not
prefer the Bible to other books. Still, we all think it is well for them
to be obliged to read it. Perhaps requiring the use of such literature in
the schools might be as valuable as the adding, subtracting, multiplying
and dividing of interminable numbers, the memorizing of all the capes,
bays and rivers in the world, and the dates of all the battles that have
occurred since the creation of man. We should strive to stimulate the
thinking powers of children, leading them to form wise judgments
concerning the important things of life, without catering too much to
their own wishes at an age when they cannot form an intelligent opinion
of what is best for themselves.

At our first reading of the Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, we
marked many sentences that appeared to us specially good; in the second,
twice as many more. Where all is good it is hard to emphasize, but we
will cite just one of his reflections, as illustrating the trend of his
mind: "I have often wondered," he says, "how it is that every man loves
himself more than all the rest of men, and yet sets less value on his own
opinion of himself than on the opinion of others."

We have given Long's translation of the Thoughts complete, as published
by Messrs. Little, Brown & Co., but we have omitted some unimportant
portions of the biography and philosophy in the interest of space and