Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-12-28
THE EMPEROR NERO.
A Stone UneRrthed on Which In In
scribed speech bv the Son of
Agrippina.

has, so the Paris correspondent OF the Lon
don Telegraph sais, unearthed n stone from
the sanctuary OF Apollo Ptoos, on which
Is inscribed, he tells US, "a genuine speech OF
Nero's" That Is to say, IL appears To be The
record, not OF any official or state uttcrance,
composed for the emperor by q secretary or q
professional rheiorician, but real meat and
appropriate" address, delivered, go far as can
be judged from internal evidence, ex tenn
pore, probably on the occasion OF the grant
OF liberty 10 the Greeks We know that 10
ward the end OF his reign this extraordinary
autocrat, satated with his triumphs on the
domestic stage, set out on starring tour"
through the chief cities OF Greece, aud that
he Is said to have received no fewer than
1,S00 crowns for his victories In the public
Grecian gamea 1t would at this distance of
time be ungracious TO assert and obviously
impossible TO prove that the judges Dy whom
these honors were awarded displayed favorit-
ISM Nevertheless, II is certain that Nero
must have entered the lists against other com
petltors whether In the arts Of poetry Of
music or OF elocution, with several points 20
the good.
Let but a lord once own the happy lines,
How the wit spaikles and the sense refinesl
are likelS to manifest themselves Ia an en-.
HANGED form when the bard the reciter. or
the musician is the master Of the world. How
many OF tue 500 crowns went TO Nero by
desert, and how many went, as kissing is said
to, by favor, pos erit, has never yet had AZ
opportunity of Judging. That he greatly
'fancied hmselr' as a man of all-round ac-
complishment is certain. His passion for the
mil nf nil of IL Ia
good opinion of himself, and in his dying
ejaculation the sentiment OF personal vanity
almost touches that heroic point at which 1t
qua tes rijicuie with admiration One
thinks of the weak and tmd voluptuary cow
ering away in his hiding. place from the pur.
su.vants of the senate charged with the order
for his execution and craving the charity OF
an attendants dagger IN his liability 10 drive
his own-ouc thinks, we say, Of this forlorn
aud hunted caitiH reused b. last stir OF his
ruling passion OF scf-esteem To the eXclams.
lion, "tgIalis artiieX pereo r'-"What an
artist perIshes with me !'-aud some feel that
~ least there was some human touch about
Tue tyraut TO remind us OF a kinship that
there would otherwise be excuse enough for
forgetting. If NJ llOlleaux is right IN his
judgment upon his lucky lind, the world will
get taste OF NerO's artistic quality at last;
and. according 10 the belief OF the learned eX-
cavator, 1t viii be o favorable taste for the
fragments OF oratory found on the stone are
couched, he says In ''slrong, sonorous and
emphatic Creek
1t will bc something to know that Nero's
Greek was good whatever may be said of his
heart. That Ia; could fiddle or rather play
on the ]yre-for that was probably the real
nature OF a certain historic or pseudo hstor-
jc performaDce-we knew, already;
and we knew, too that with that
power OF selfabsraction which distinguish.
es the true artist lie proved himself able to
IA fNr..l Int alan
Stances which other musicians would have
found, to use The miIdest term, distracting.
Yet, though 1t seems a pity To throw doubt
on so picturesque story, and thereby per-
hsps 10 deprive the modern orator OF one OF
his best worn classical illusions, it Is only
common fairness to the memory of ruler
who has plenty OF better authenticated sins
TO answer for 10 admit that there is not a
scIntiila OF evidence worthy Of the name for
the wel!-known storF that Nero assembled a
toger during the great fire at Rome and
amused himself by singing TO Tyre accom-
panment a little thing OF his own compost
ton entitled "The Destruction OF Troy"
The fable was a mere Establishment on what
was in all probs liability the equally SANDER
Gus accusation that the fire Itself was his own,
work. All that Is known Of Nero's conduct
on this occasion goes TO suggest that the
charge is absolutely baseless. He acted In
the emergency with the greatest liberality
and Kindness, supplying the distressed city
with provis ons at very moderate price,
throwing open tic imperial gardens to the
sufferers and erecting buildings for their ac-
commodation. Ii was whispered OF course
bv The Romans, and still more industrously
10y the Chris tian gossips OF the day, that
all this only the Caiar's
dabOlcal cunning, that he wish
cd 10 divert suspicion, and 10 fix
1t upon the humble and suppressed sect
against whom be was about tn launch ter
rible persecution. No authority however Of
any real weight can be cited in support of
this p.ece of scandal. Tacitus gives the en-
peror the benefit of a verdict OF Not proyen,u
and the judgment of the great historian on
such a matter Is of the utmost possible weight
Suetonius, II is true declares that Nero was
guilty; but Suetonius would say anything. 1t
would be as reasonable TO accept the verdict
Of French royalst phamphleteer on charges
against Robespierre as TO believe the convict
ed calumuiator OF Tiberius when lie holsters
up an accusation against one Of that emper-
or's successors On the whole, IL seems as
reasonable as IL is charitable to believe that
Nero had no hand in The firing of Rome. and
that he certainly never exhibited his vocal
and instrumental POI ers $ "A music an on the
occasion. The account against him is quite
heavy enough without swelling il with ncti.
tious crimes /; must be admitted. we fear,
that he killed his mother, who however, was
Largely IL not wholly respons bic for his per-
vertercd education, aud that he put TO death
his adopted son; and, though IL Is not abso-
lutely certain III his wife Poppea died from
the effects OF kick from her brutal husband
there is too much reason to fear that this
charge is not without foundation. Grimes OF
this kind, though they could, Of course, be
matched IN he records OF many another des-
pot both in the eastern and western worlds,
would be quite sufficient TO Justify impartial
history in branding the memory Of their au-
thor.
Yet 10 may fairly be doubted whether i'm
partial history has had To do much with fix.
/ Ing the place to which Nero has been con-
/ fined By posterity. The name Of the ruler
who was 10y nature probably rather weak than
wicked, aud Who never, in his worst excesscs,
cquaed either the capricious cruelty OF Calig
MA or Tho sullcn fcrocity Of Domitian, has
become n b,-word for barbarty and disinter-
esied love of torture No one ever thinks of
using the name Of either OF the two last-meD-
toned emperors as n synonym for these pro-
pensities. IL is Nero alone who has become
! proverbal. There can hardly be doubt that
/ this is unjust The son Of Agrippina was
/ from all that can be gathered, youth OF toll.
erably harmless II not positively virtuous
/ tendencies when he at the early age of IL,
succeeded TO The imperial purple. Even at
! that time his virago OF a mother. herself
| the murderess of her husband, did her ut