The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-02-01
THE RoMAN GB4cCHL.
A Highly Interesting Lecture By Rev.
 Stewart Means.


 Stewart Means
 Rev. Stewart Means, the rector of St. Johns P. E. church, gave an intensely interesting lecture on "The Gracchi, or the Story of Two Roman Brothers" be- fore a good sized audience at the United church chapel last evening. It was most scholarly effaort by Mr. Means He described the wretched and deplorable condition in Italy against which the Gracchi struggled, and their tragic careers, in a most dramatic and forcible manner. It is the mark of the earnest and thoughtful scholar, when he brings to light from the dimness of ages long past the thoughts and feelings and passionate actions of men. It is such a one that enters into the true spirit of history. He lives and moves among the men of that period, which he has chosen to reproduce for the in- struction of his generation.
 It was in such a philosophical spirit that MT. Means approached his sub ject, and one who listened could hardly fail to gain a thorough appreciation of the stirring times of which he spoke. The condition of the people of the world subject to the Romans, he said, a cen tury and half before Christ, was hor- rible and almost beggared description. Those who were sold into slavery suf- fered more than it Is hardly possible for the civilized people of to-day to conceive of. Men killed their wives and children and themselves to prevent their falling into the hands of the Romans. The island of Delos in the Aegean sea was at that time the great slave market of the world. As many as 10000 slaves were sold there in one day. Human life was looked on as a cheap thing in those days. It was better to buy new slaves to take the place of the old or sick than to preserve their lives. A spirit of feroclty and pride had taken the place of the old time Roman dig nity Unheard of vices became pre1a- lent, The number of slaves, however, had grown so large that rebellion was feared. There was at this time in Italy 20,000,00O people, 6,O00 free men and 14OO0 slaves. They perceived their own strength and only waited a leader.
 The position of the Italian was about as bad as that of the slave. He had all the duties of the Roman citizen without any of his privileges. The sturdy old patriotism had died out, and the greed for morey had taken its place. The Roman citizens themselves had become race of office seekers. In such times was the lot of Tiberius GracchuS was cast Scipio Aemilianus was about the last of the old stock of Romans. He was not liked by the cofnmonS people, to whom he once said: DO you think I will favor you whom I recently brought hither in fetters?" At the end of his year of office he prayed not as usual that the gods pre- serve the purity of the state, but that they only preserve the state. Instead of plain living and high thinking it was all high living and nothing at all worthy of being dignified by the name of thought. The whole social system was honeycon1bed with insincerity and wan toness. The dancing of the young boys and girls of the period was of such kind. Such was the condition of Roman society when Tiberius Gracchus began the work of reform. Grachus' mother came from one of the best of the old Roman families, and was Roman matron of virtue and nobility When he was elected tribune he pro- posed an agraran law by which the public lands should be divided up among the poor citizens so that each one should get 800 jugera Appius Claudius and the great Scaevola favored 1t. One tribune, Octavius, was bribed to oppose his. veto to the bill. But in spite of all opposition Gracchus' influence increased from day to day. But at last the crowd turned against him and he was mur- dered on the slope of the Capitoline in front of the temple of Fidelity. He made mistakes, but who does not? He violated the letter but not the spirit of the law. When he died he was little more than thirty years old
 Ten years after his death his brother, Cajus, was elected to the tribuneship. He entered upon his official duties 123 B. c. The fires of hate and revenge burned strong in him. He was of set tied mind, but lacked the generosity of his brother, and also his poetic ideal ism. He was possessed of the most inn passioned eloquence. He had learned of the hopeless se1fishness of the rich, and the selfish cowardice of the poor. But like his brother, the popular favor at last turned against him and he, too, perished.
 So it has been all through history, they to whom it has been given to do the highest work on this earth-poets, reformers, philosophers, and prophets, have all suffered this same fate, have all been offered the same bitter tn d1,i,,lr