pends upon a small volume
written in Greek, and usually called 'The Meditations of Marcus
Aurelius.' The work consists of mere memoranda, notes, disconnected
reflections and confessions, and also of excerpts from the Emperor's
favorite authors. It was evidently a mere private diary or note-book
written in great haste, which readily accounts for its repetitions, its
occasional obscurity, and its frequently elliptical style of expression.
In its pages the Emperor gives his aspirations, and his sorrow for his
inability to realize them in his daily life; he expresses his tentative
opinions concerning the problems of creation, life, and death; his
reflections upon the deceitfulness of riches, pomp, and power, and his
conviction of the vanity of all things except the performance of duty.
The work contains what has been called by a distinguished scholar "the
common creed of wise men, from which all other views may well seem mere
deflections on the side of an unwarranted credulity or of an exaggerated
despair." From the pomp and circumstance of state surrounding him, from
the manifold cares of his exalted rank, from the tumult of protracted
wars, the Emperor retired into the pages of this book as into the
sanctuary of his soul, and there found in sane and rational reflection
the peace that the world could not give and could never take away. The
tone and temper of the work is unique among books of its class. It is
sweet yet dignified, courageous yet resigned, philosophical and
speculative, yet above all, intensely practical.

Through all the ages from the time when the Emperor Diocletian
prescribed a distinct ritual for Aurelius as one of the gods; from the
time when the monks of the Middle Ages treasured the 'Meditations' as
carefully as they kept their manuscripts of the Gospels, the work has
been recognized as the precious life-blood of a master spirit. An
adequate English translation would constitute to-day a most valuable
_vade mecum_ of devotional feeling and of religious inspiration. It
would prove a strong moral tonic to hundreds of minds now sinking into
agnosticism or materialism.

[Illustration: MARCUS AURELIUS]

The distinguished French writer M. Martha observes that in the
'Meditations of Marcus Aurelius' "we find a pure serenity, sweetness,
and docility to the commands of God, which before him were unknown, and
which Christian grace has alone surpassed. One cannot read the book
without thinking of the sadness of