[346] Sir Thomas More. An English statesman and author who was beheaded in 1535 on a charge of high treason. The incident to which Emerson refers is one which showed his "pleasant wit" undisturbed by the prospect of death. As the executioner was about to strike, More moved his head carefully out of reach of the ax. "Pity that should be cut," he said, "that has never committed treason." [347] Blue Laws. Any rigid Sunday laws or religious regulations. The term is usually applied to the early laws of New Haven and Connecticut which regulated personal and religious conduct. [348] Epaminondas. (See note 329.) [349] Olympus. A mountain of Greece, the summit of which, according to Greek mythology, was the home of the gods. [350] Jerseys. Consult a history of the United States for a full account of Washington's campaign in New Jersey. [351] Milton. (See note 151.) [352] Pericles. A famous Greek statesman of the fifth century before Christ, in whose age Athens was preëminent in naval and military affairs and in letters and art. [353] Xenophon. A Greek historian of the fourth century before Christ. [354] Columbus. Give an account of his life. [355] Bayard. Chevalier de Bayard was a French gentleman of the fifteenth century. He is the French national hero, and is called "The Knight without fear and without reproach." [356] Sidney. Probably Sir Philip Sidney, an English gentleman and scholar of the sixteenth century who is the English national hero as Bayard is the French; another brave Englishman was Algernon Sidney, a politician and patriot of the seventeenth century. [357] Hampden. John Hampden was an English statesman and patriot who was killed in the civil war of the seventeenth century. [358] Colossus. The Colossus of Rhodes was a gigantic statue—over a hundred feet in height—of the Rhodian sun god. It was one of the seven wonders of the world; it was destroyed by an earthquake about two hundred years before Christ. [359] Sappho. A Greek poet of the seventh century before Christ. Her fame remains, though most of her poems have been lost. [360] Sevigné. Marquise de Sevigné was a French author of the seventeenth century. [361] De Staël. Madame de Staël was a French writer whose books and political opinions were condemned by Napoleon. [362] Themis. A Greek goddess. The personification of law, order, and justice. [363] A high counsel, etc. Such was the advice given to the Emerson boys by their aunt, Miss Mary Moody Emerson: "Scorn trifles, lift your aims; do what you are afraid to do; sublimity of character must come from sublimity of motive." Upon her monument are inscribed Emerson's words about her: "She gave high counsels. It was the privilege of certain boys to have this immeasurably high standard indicated to their childhood, a blessing which nothing else in education could supply."