arts of
mortals--herb of Enjoyment and herb of Safety, gathered from a grove in
Heaven; and, from the meadows of [228] Acheron, the herb of Death;
expressing from it one single drop only, no bigger than a tear one
might hide. 'With this juice,' he said, 'pour slumber upon the eyelids
of mortals. So soon as it hath touched them they will lay themselves
down motionless, under thy power. But be not afraid: they shall
revive, and in a while stand up again upon their feet.' Thereafter,
Jupiter gave wings to Sleep, attached, not, like Mercury's, to his
heels, but to his shoulders, like the wings of Love. For he said, 'It
becomes thee not to approach men's eyes as with the noise of chariots,
and the rushing of a swift courser, but in placid and merciful flight,
as upon the wings of a swallow--nay! with not so much as the flutter of
the dove.' Besides all this, that he might be yet pleasanter to men,
he committed to him also a multitude of blissful dreams, according to
every man's desire. One watched his favourite actor; another listened
to the flute, or guided a charioteer in the race: in his dream, the
soldier was victorious, the general was borne in triumph, the wanderer
returned home. Yes!--and sometimes those dreams come true!

Just then Aurelius was summoned to make the birthday offerings to his
household gods. A heavy curtain of tapestry was drawn back; and beyond
it Marius gazed for a few moments into the Lararium, or imperial
chapel. A patrician youth, in white habit, was in waiting, with a
little chest in his hand containing incense for the [229] use of the
altar. On richly carved consoles, or side boards, around this narrow
chamber, were arranged the rich apparatus of worship and the golden or
gilded images, adorned to-day with fresh flowers, among them that image
of Fortune from the apartment of Antoninus Pius, and such of the
emperor's own teachers as were gone to their rest. A dim fresco on the
wall commemorated the ancient piety of Lucius Albinius, who in flight
from Rome on the morrow of a great disaster, overtaking certain priests
on foot with their sacred utensils, descended from the wagon in which
he rode and yielded it to the ministers of the gods. As he ascended
into the chapel the emperor paused, and with a grave but friendly look
at his young visitor, delivered a parting sentence, audible to him
alone: Imitation is the most acceptable-- Make sure that those to whom
you come nearest be the hap