after entering on their office, to swear that they would observe the laws of the empire; and after the expiration of their office they might be brought to trial if they had done anything amiss. No one was allowed to enter upon an office unless the omens were favorable.

The laws of Rome were ordained by the people upon the application of a magistrate. The great foundation of Roman law or jurisprudence, was that collection of laws called the "laws of the twelve tables," compiled by the decemviri and ratified by the people,—a work, in the opinion of Cicero, superior to all the libraries of philosophers.

Yet the unsettled state of the Roman government, the extension of the empire, the increase of riches, and, consequently, the number of crimes, with various other circumstances, gave occasion to a great variety of new laws; and those ordinances originally were distinguished by the name of the persons who proposed them, and the subjects to which they refer.

The Roman punishments authorized by law, were fine, imprisonment, and fetters; stripes, generally inflicted with rods, or the infliction of the same injury that had been done to the accuser; public shame or penance, selling into slavery, and death.

There were several ways of inflicting the last upon criminals: they were either beheaded, strangled in prison, or thrown from the Tarpeian rock. Slaves and the lowest order of criminals were usually crucified. Those guilty of parricide were first scourged, then sewed into a leathern sack, together with an ape, a cock, a serpent, and a dog, and thrown into the sea or a deep river.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Review.

We have now noticed the great states and empires of antiquity, and given some idea of their political institutions. We have seen that the first great empire of the world was that of Assyria, which began with Nimrod, about 2200 years before Christ, and which continued till about the year 538, when it was swallowed up by Persia.

Persia greatly extended its dominion, and under Cyrus and Cambyses, about 530 years B. C., it embraced Mesopotamia, Palestine, Syria, and Egypt. In the year 330, Persia was invaded by Alexander of Macedon; its capital was taken and its king put to flight. The Greek dominion was of short duration, for the Parthians soon conquered Persia, since which period it has ever continued to be an inferior power.

Throughout the whole history of the great ancient empires, the government was despotic, the kings claiming absolute authority, even to the taking of life and property, and the people blindly and slavishly submitting.

The political institutions of other countries in Asia have also been similar to those of Persia and Assyria, excepting among the wandering tribes, who have ever maintained a patriarchal form of government. China and Japan, two populous empires, have despotic governments, and both exclude foreigners from their dominions, allowing them to trade only at a single port in each country. These two last, though of great an

tiquity, still continue to maintain their ancient systems with little change.

The institutions of the Hebrews, though in some respects similar to those of most eastern nations, were in others altogether peculiar, and have never been adopted by any other nation of ancient or modern times.

With the exception of the last, we see little in the governments of these countries that is worthy of our imitation. We learn from them, indeed, only lessons of warning. They all show us that countries submitting to despotic institutions, continue in a state of ignorance, weakness and degradation. About 1500 years before Christ, the seeds of learning and arts are wafted from Egypt to Greece, and here, after five hundred years, they spring up and flourish. It is in Greece that the first clear ideas of human rights, and of human government to secure them, are disclosed and attempted to be realized. Here we see a people rising to a high degree of civilization and power through the influence of freedom, yet, for the want of a solid basis of religion and morality in society, finally crumbling to pieces; leaving, where a blaze of light once sent forth its illumination far and wide, but a ghastly heap of ruins.

Rome, borrowing something from Egypt and Greece, becomes a mighty empire, swallowing up all the great kingdoms around her, whether in Europe, Asia, or Africa. She grows rich on the spoils of other nations. For a time she feels the fire of liberty, but this vanishes amid the corruptions and looseness that pervade society; and, finally, gorged with conquest and bloated with wealth, she becomes the prey of the Goths and

Vandals, that come upon her, like locusts, from the north of Europe.

Though Greece and Rome have long since declined, yet many of their political institutions have come down to our times: of these we have given a brief sketch. There is much in them to admire, but they show that Christianity was still wanting to lay a sure foundation for liberty, in the responsibility of man to clear and inflexible rules of justice.

The great lights of Greece and Rome having become extinct, the Arabs, or Saracens, from the seventh to the twelfth century, cultivated literature with success in Asia and Africa; but Europe continued, for this whole period, in a state of ignorance and barbarism. This is called the dark age, during which the institutions of Greece and Rome were forgotten, and those of the northern nations of Europe became partially established over this entire quarter of the globe.