PLUTARCH’S CONSOLATORY LETTER TO HIS WIFE. BY ROBERT MIDGLEY, M.D., AND COLL. MED. LOND. CAND. He counsels patience, 386. The child was affectionate and interesting; her memory should be cherished, 387. The mother is commended for controlling her grief; excessive grief is unreasonable, 388. The mother’s admirable conduct on the previous death of her eldest son, 389. Women are frantic with joy at the birth of their children, and mourn excessively at their death, 389, 390. The body should not suffer through grief, 390. Women nourish and increase the grief of bereaved wives and mothers, by their tears and lamentations when visiting them; Plutarch does not fear this in the present case, 390. We should remember the pleasure our deceased child has afforded us, 391. True happiness arises from the mind itself, and not from external circumstances, 392. You have much left to comfort you, 392. State of the soul after death; the soul will return to earth in a new body; an early death is desirable, 393, 394. OF THE THREE SORTS OF GOVERNMENT,—MONARCHY, DEMOCRACY, AND OLIGARCHY. BY R. SMITH, M.A. Which of these three sorts is best? 395. The word _policy_ or government defined, 396. The Persians had monarchy; Sparta had an oligarchy; Athens was a democracy: and all were powerful and prosperous, 397. The author prefers monarchy, 398. WHETHER THE ATHENIANS WERE MORE RENOWNED FOR THEIR WARLIKE ACHIEVEMENTS OR THEIR LEARNING. BY THE SAME HAND. Historians, even the most admired and popular, only relate the actions of other men, 399. Athens was the nurse of History, of Painting, and of Poetry; and has derived great reputation thereby, 400, 401. But what are historians, painters, and poets, compared with the generals, admirals, and statesmen, whom they commemorate? 402, 403. Athens not renowned for epic or lyric verse, 404. Tragedy flourished there, but what benefit did tragedy procure for the Athenians? 405. They lavished money on scenes and shows, to the neglect of more important interests, 406. True renown belongs to those commanders who have upheld the honor of their country, and they merit a lasting remembrance, 407, 408. But not so poets, rhetoricians, and orators, 408-411. Miltiades and other commanders, compared with Demosthenes and other orators, to the disadvantage of the latter 408-411. AGAINST RUNNING IN DEBT, OR TAKING UP MONEY UPON USURY. BY THE SAME HAND. Running in debt should not be resorted to but in the last necessity, 412. To avoid it, practise the closest economy, 413. The borrower is slave to the lender, 414, 415. Usurers are chargeable with oppression, fraud, and falsehood, 416, 417. They take a man’s money without an equivalent, 417. It is shameful to be in the power of another, 418. We incur debt, not to procure necessaries, but to purchase ornaments and superfluities, 420. We must avoid the usurer or be ruined, 421-424.