most none. But in the creation of enmities he was terribly successful. Not so much at first, but increasingly as years went on, a state of ceaseless, vigilant hostility became his normal condition. From the time when he fairly entered upon the long struggle against slavery, he enjoyed few peaceful days in the House. But he seemed to thrive upon the warfare, and to be never so well pleased as when he was bandying hot words with slave-holders and the Northern supporters of slave-holders. When the air of the House was thick with crimination and abuse he seemed to suck in fresh vigor and spirit from the hate-laden atmosphere. When invectives fell around him in showers, he screamed back his retaliation with untiring rapidity and marvellous dexterity of aim. No odds could appall him. With his back set firm against a solid moral principle, it was his joy to strike out at a multitude of foes. They lost their heads as well as their tempers, but in the extremest moments of excitement and anger, Mr. Adams's brain seemed to work with machine-like coolness and accuracy. With flushed face, streaming eyes, animated gesticulation, and cracking voice, he always retained perfect mastery of all his intellectual faculties. He thus became a terrible antagonist, whom all feared, yet fearing could not refrain from attacking, so bitterly and incessantly did he choose to exert his wonderful power of exasperation. Few men could throw an opponent into wild, blind fury with such speed and certainty as he could; and he does not conceal the malicious gratification which such feats brought to him. A leader of such fighting capacity, so courageous, with such a magazine of experience and information, and with a character so irreproachable, could have won brilliant victories in public life at the head of even a small band of devoted followers. But Mr. Adams never had, and apparently never wanted followers. Other prominent public men were brought not only into collision but into comparison with their contemporaries. But Mr. Adams's individuality was so strong that he can be compared with no one. It was not an individuality of genius nor to any remarkable extent of mental qualities; but rather an individuality of character.- John Quincy Adams. OSCHUS, a Greek poet who flourished at probably a contemporary of Theocritus, and certainly a pupil of Bion. Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus form the Syracusan school of pastoral poetry, and their works are usually printed together in one small volume. The extant works of Moschus consist of four Idyls and a few fragments. The Elegy upon Bion about half of which is here given was evidently in Milton's mind when he composed his Lycidas. ELEGY FOR BION. Begin, Sicilian Muses, now begin the dirge. Wail, let me hear you wail, ye woodland glades, and wail In sad tone lisp the letters upon thee inscribed, - the most beloved singer - dead. Begin, Sicilian Muses, now begin the dirge. Ye nightingales, that 'mid the shaking leaves lament; That Bion, the loved swain, is dead, and that with him Begin, Sicilian Muses, now begin the dirge. Who now upon thy pipe shall play, O trebly mourned? vives; Echo among the reeds still feeds upon thy notes. Begin, Sicilian Muses now begin the dirge. This, Meles, thou most musical of rivers, this Of old thou didst thy Homer lose; men say that thou They both were lovers of the fountains: Homer quaffed Begin, Sicilian Muses, now begin the dirge. Each famous city mourns thee, Bion, mourn all towns: Beside the river Halys; Theocritus weeps To thy loved rural song; who am inheritor Of that sweet Dorian minstrelsy which thou didst teach Thy pupils. To others thou didst indeed bequeath Thy wealth; but unto me, more honored, left thy song. Begin, Sicilian Muses, now begin the dirge. Ai! Ai! The mallows in the garden lying dead, That the hoarse frog shall croak on eternally. When winds that move not its calm surface sweep - Translation of PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY. OSEN, JULIUS, a German poet and dramatist; born at Marienei, Voigtland, Saxony, July 8, 1803; died at Oldenburg, October 10, 1867. He was privately educated at home until the age of fourteen; then at the gymnasium of Plauen; and afterward at the University of Jena. He traveled in Italy in 1824; and in 1826 he made a special visit to Florence and Venice. In the following year he went to Leipsic, where he passed his examination in law at the university. He went home for a while; but seeing little prospect of earning a living at the law, and being reduced to extreme poverty, he became very despondent. The July Revolution, however, aroused him, and he went back to Leipsic and got out his novel George Venlot. He held a public office in Kohren from 1831 to 1834, when he removed to Dresden to practice law. In 1844 he was appointed official playwright at the Court theatre of Oldenburg, where he spent the rest of his life. His best-known poem is Ahasver (1838), a philosophical treatment of the legend of the Wandering Jew. His Gedichte were published in 1836. Of his philosophical historical dramas the best are Die Bräute von Florenz Der Sohn des Fürsten Kaiser Otto III.; Heinrich der Finkler; Cola Rienzi, and Herzog Bernhard von Weimar. In these, his ideas concerning the philosophy of history are illustrated by the representative personages of the plays. THE STATUE ABOVE THE CATHEDRAL DOOR Forms of saints and kings are standing Yet I saw but one among them Who hath soothed my soul with love. In his mantle, wound about him, |