It is not unlikely, however, that this sort of uncertainty was just the intention of Terence, or rather of Menander. It was probably their design to show the disadvantages resulting from each mode of education pursued, and hence, by an easy inference, to point out the golden mean which ought to be preserved by fathers; for, if Demea be unreasonably severe, the indulgence of Micio is excessive, and his connivance at the disorders of Ctesipho, which he even assisted him to support, is as reprehensible, as the extraordinary sentiment which he utters at the commencement of the comedy:— “Non est flagitium, mihi crede, adolescentulum Scortari, neque potare; non est: neque fores effringere.” This, though the breaking doors was an ordinary piece of gallantry, is, it must be confessed, rather loose morality. But some of the sentiments in the drama are equally remarkable for their propriety, and the knowledge they discover of the feelings and circumstances of mankind; as, “Omnes, quibus res sunt minus secundæ, magis sunt, nescio quomodo, Suspiciosi: ad contumeliam omnia accipiunt magis; Propter suam impotentiam se semper credunt negligi.” And afterwards,— “Ita vita ’st hominum, quasi, quum ludas tesseris; Si illud, quod maxime opus est jactu, non cadit, Illud, quod cecidit forte, id arte ut corrigas. * * * * * Nunquam ita quisquam bene subducta ratione ad vitam fuit, Quin res, ætas, usus, semper aliquid adportet novi, Aliquid moneat, ut illa, quæ te scire credas, nescias; Et quæ tibi putâris prima, in experiundo repudies.” A play possessing so many excellencies as the _Adelphi_, could scarcely fail to be frequently imitated by modern dramatists. It has generally been said, that Moliere borrowed from the _Adelphi_ his comedy _L’Ecole des Maris_, where the brothers Sganarelle and Ariste, persons of very opposite dispositions, bring up two young ladies intrusted to their care on different systems; the one allowing a proper liberty—the other, who wished to marry his ward, employing a constant restraint, which, however, did not prevent her from contriving to elope with a favoured lover. The chief resemblance consists in the characters of the two guardians—in some of the discussions, which they hold together on their opposite systems of management—and some observations in soliloquy on each other’s folly. Thus, for example, Demea, the severe brother in Terence, exclaims: —— “O Jupiter, Hanccine vitam! hoscine mores! hanc dementiam! Uxor sine dote veniet: intus Psaltria est: Domus sumptuosa: adolescens luxu perditus: Senex delirans. Ipsa, si cupiat, Salus, Servare prorsus non potest hanc familiam(312).” In like manner, Sganarelle, the corresponding character in Moliere:—