545 As much as two strong oxen Could plough from morn till night; And set it up on high, To witness if I lie. 66 550 It stands in the Comitium, Plain for all folk to see; Halting upon one knee: In letters all of gold, In the brave days of old. 355 67 Unto the men of Rome, To charge the Volscian home; pray to Juno In the brave days of old, 565 68 When the cold north-winds blow, Is heard amidst the snow; 550. The Comitium was that part of the Forum which served as the meeting-place of the Roman patricians. 870 When round the lonely cottage Roars loud the tempest's din, Roar louder yet within ; 575 69 And the largest lamp is lit; And the kid turns on the spit; Around the firebrands close; And the lads are shaping bows; 585 70 And trims his helmet's plume ; Goes flashing through the loom, Still is the story told, In the brave days of old. 573. The Romans brought some of their firewood from the hill of Algidus, about a dozen miles to the southeast of the DR. JOHN BROWN. town. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. It happens now and then that a man writes some one story, or sketch, or poem, which goes straight to the heart of people. Though he may produce many other things, he is known peculiarly by this one ; and it often happens that he is not a professional author, but it may be a lawyer, or a schoolmaster, a minister, or a doctor, who has written the one notable thing out of some particular experience. Thus, at any rate, it was with Dr. John Brown, a Scottish physician, who one day told the story of Rab and his Friends, and thereupon became as famous among English-speaking people as he was loved and honored in his own town of Edinburgh. He was born September 22, 1810, and has himself told, in one of the tenderest tributes of a son to his father, something of his own childhood in the Scottish manse at Biggar, and more of that father, who was minister of the parish. Brought up in religious ways, he retained through life a simple faith, blended with an exquisite charity for men and women, children and animals, which was seen in his helpful work as a physician and surgeon, in his friendships, -for many both great and obscure people called him friend, and in his regard for dogs and other animals. “Once, when driving," writes a friend, “he suddenly stopped in the middle of a sentence, and looked out eagerly at the back of the carriage. “Is it some one you know?' I asked. “No,' he said, “it's a dog I don't know.' . . . He |