The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-08-25
NERO.
BY ALEX. SWEET.

BY ALEX. SWEET.
 Nero, the Roman emperor, whose Christian name was Claudius Drusus, was the son of Domiticus Ahenbarbus and Agrippina, the daughter of Ger manicus. He was born A. D. 39. He was not precisely 8 noble Roman, but he was Roman noble, which was not the same thing, by great deal.
 No doubt his wicked and perverted disposition in subsequent life was caused by his having been spoiled by his parents. There are several ways of spelling a child. A child can be spoiled by over-indulgence, and prob ably this was the way Nero was spoiled. Another way to spoil child is to allow it to play with 8 lighted kerosene lamp. If that plan had been adopted by Nero's parents he would have turned out to be an angel, where as he grew up to play on the fiddle and commit numberless other acts of fiendish cruelty. Kind words have a certain influence with & child, but a boot-jack exerts 6 much more power- ful influence, if it is properly applied in time.
 Nero had Seneca for a teacher, and was quite clever at his lessons. In the year A. D. 50, Nero was adopted by Claudius, who had a license to prac- tice as emperor, and after Claud died, Nero, who had been his assistant, kept up the business at the old stand.
 In the beginning of his reign his conduct excited great hopes in the Romans. He appeared to be just, lib- eral, affable and polished; but this was merely a mask, which soon fell off. This was what might have been expected from an emperor who had already learned to play on 6 fiddle. It is not doing him violin justice to cay that the whole tenor of his life was base.
 Not satisfied with causing the de- preciation of real estate by his fiddle, he actually became poet. It seems he sounded the lowest depths of in- fanny. Fortunately, in those days,the facilities for springiDg his spring po- ems on the public were limited. He could not, however, lug spring poem up four flights of bone-spavined stairs into the abattoir of daily newspaper, as modern poets do, be- cause at that time the art of printing was waiting to be invented. After all, perhaps Nero was not so much to be blamed. It is stated positively that poets are born, not made, and there can be no doubt but that Nero was born-an event for which he can hardly be held responsible.
 In composing his madrigal Nero used typewriter. The frivolous ob- jection will be raised that typewriters were invented only recently, but the historian tells us on the other hand, that Nero dictated continually. If, however, we are mistaken, the type writer in the illustration is the one Nero would have used had there been any typewriters in those days.
 Nero has been very much abused because he fddled while Rome was burning. He should not be blamed for this. On the contrary, his play ing probably reconciled the Romans to the loss of their property, inas- much as the greater afi1iction is SUD- posed to include the lesser.
 Nero caused his mother to be assas- sinated. He vindicated his unnatural act to the senate on the ground that by sparing her he would have iustly laid himself liable to the charge of discriminating in favor of his own relatives, and that he did not want to go down to history charged with nep- otism.
 At last the Roman people became annoyed at Nero's failure to reform. Several vigilance committees were formed, but they were foiled by the local authorities. Finally, public spirited citizen by the name of Galba organized a committee that wound up MT. Nero for good. When Nero heard the committee investigating the front door with sledge hammers he resolved to commit suicide even if he perished in the attempt, but he failed for lack of nerve. Suicide is the only crime Nero did not commit frequently. He persuaded 8 slave to insert a frog sticker into his pericardium. The wound must have been fatal, as Nero perished on the spot.
 l never knew but one man to derive any comfort from reading the life of Nero. He was leading citizen of Austin, Texas, who had led : wicked life. The clergyman who attended his death bed was surprised, not to . say disgusted, at the calmness and se- renity of the aged sinner.
 My dying friend, ain't you afraid of the jedgment day?" asked the preacher.
 "Not much l" chuckled the dying friend.
 "Your sins have been many"
 "Yes, have had good time, but there is no danger of judgment day