A FEASTING STOIC.* Ma. F. L. Leeee's lsook on Seneca
and his influence on the Eliza. betimes lg.& model of all that the geneeal reader desiresin a =nee graph. Seneca is a capital hero fur such a study ;. the unbending stoic philosopher who feathered his neat so remarkably under the reign of his dear pupil Nero,, who knew of the murder of Agnip- pina and found a sophistical justification for it, whose subtle brain: was again. and' again put to such shifts to, keep alive in that bloody and intriguing Court, and who. at last on his death- bed.behaved with true and stoic resignatiom, Mr. Lucas makes an intensely interesting and even amiable figure of Seneca, that, curious parallel of his predecessor Cicero. It is, delightful to meet again some of the Senecan ta and epigrams. His praise of. cosmopolitanism--" I Was- not born for one corner " ;. the answer of the old courtier who was asked the secret of his sue. cessful career—" Taking kicks and saying Thank you"; ; or the story of the exquisite of Sybaris who was exhausted. by seeing &labourer dig and blistered behind by sitting onu crumpled roseleaf. Or there is his remade on the custom of. keeping pet fools—" Personally,. I find myself sufficient:" But almost as. epigrammaticeand usuallybetter worth making, are Mr. Lucas's remarks ; for instance, of Seneese that it wag his lack of solid common sense, his amiable but not passionate temperament, his subtle mind, which could find an ingenious. excuse for any line of conduct; however obviously monstrous, that made the great moral philosopher's life se extremely ma edifying. He never could help floating with the stream—" he did not know how to make great refusals."
Mr. Lucas's, book will give the amateur of the stage further. understanding and enjoyment of the Elizabethan and pre.- Elizabethan drama at no greater cost than a summer afternoon's agreeable reading. A pleasanter book for the acquirement of a little easy information could hardly be found. TARN,
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