EDWARD GIBBON.

1. ALARIC AT ROME.

(FROM "THE HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE," PUBLISHED IN 1776.)

THE last resource of the Romans was in the clemency, or, at least, in the moderation of the king of the Goths. The senate, who in this emergency assumed the supreme powers of government, appointed two ambassadors to negotiate with the enemy. This important trust was delegated to Basilius, a senator of Spanish extraction, and already conspicuous in the administration of provinces; and to John, the first tribune of the notaries, who was peculiarly qualified by his dexterity in business, as well as by his former intimacy with the Gothic prince. When they were introduced into his presence, they declared, perhaps in a more lofty style than became their abject condition, that the Romans were resolved to maintain their dignity, either in peace or war; and that, if Alaric refused them a fair and honourable capitulation, he might sound his trumpets and prepare to give battle to an innumerable people, exercised in arms, and animated by despair. "The thicker the hay the easier it is mowed," was the concise reply of the barbarian; and this rustic metaphor was accompanied by a loud and insulting laugh, expressive of his contempt for the menaces of an unwarlike populace, enervated by luxury before they were emaciated by famine. He then condescended to fix the ransom which he

(1) "A performance at once of such extent and of so sustained a brilliancy throughout [as Gibbon's History], perhaps, does not exist in ancient or modern historical literature; but it is a hard metallic brilliancy, which even the extraordinary interest of the subject and the unflagging animation of the writer, with the great skill he shows in the disposition of his materials, do not prevent from becoming sometimes fatiguing and oppressive."-Craik, English Literature and Language, ii. 358.

Both Hume and Gibbon have been censured for working on French models, and the latter especially has been charged with Gallicisms of style.

(2) It is customary to give this appellation to Alaric; but it ought, at the same time, to be stated, that, in the words of Dean Stanley, "the Christian part of his contemporaries regarded him, in comparison with the other invaders of the empire, as the representative of civilisation and Christianity."-Smith's Dictionary of Classical Biography.

would accept as the price of his retreat from the walls of Rome: all the gold and silver in the city, whether it were the property of the state or individuals; all the rich and precious moveables; and all the slaves who could prove their title to the name of barbarians. The ministers of the senate presumed to ask, in a modest and suppliant tone, "If such, O king, are your demands, what do you intend to leave us ?" "Your lives," replied the haughty conqueror: they trembled and retired. Yet, before they retired, a short suspension of arms was granted, which allowed some time for a more temperate negotiation. The stern features of Alaric were insensibly relaxed; he abated much of the rigour of his terms; and at length consented to raise the siege, on the immediate payment of five thousand pounds of gold, of thirty thousand pounds of silver, of four thousand robes of silk, of three thousand pieces of fine scarlet cloth, and of three thousand pounds' weight of pepper.1 But the public treasury was exhausted; the annual rents of the great estates in Italy and the provinces were intercepted by the calamities of war; the gold and gems had been exchanged, during the famine, for the vilest sustenance; the hoards of secret wealth were still concealed by the obstinacy of avarice; and some remains of consecrated spoils afforded the only resource that could avert the impending ruin of the city. As soon as the Romans had satisfied the rapacious demands of Alaric, they were restored, in some measure, to the enjoyment of peace and plenty. Several of the gates were cautiously opened; the importation of provisions from the river and the adjacent country was no longer obstructed by the Goths; the citizens resorted in crowds to the free market, which was held during three days in the suburbs; and while the merchants who undertook this gainful trade made a considerable profit, the future subsistence of the city was secured by the ample magazines which were deposited in the public and private granaries. A more regular discipline than could have been expected was maintained in the camp of Alaric; and the wise barbarian justified his regard for the faith of treaties by the just severity with which he chastised a party of licentious Goths, who had insulted some Roman citizens on the way to Ostia.

(1) Pepper, brought from India, was a favourite ingredient in the Roman cookery.

2. DEATH OF MAHOMET.

(FROM THE SAME WORK.)

TILL the age of sixty-three years, the strength of Mahomet was equal to the temporal and spiritual fatigues of his mission. His epileptic fits, an absurd calumny of the Greeks, would be an object of pity rather than abhorrence; but he seriously believed that he was poisoned at Chaibar by the revenge of a Jewish female. During four years, the health of the prophet declined; his infirmities increased; but his mortal disease was a fever of fourteen days, which deprived him by intervals (at intervals) of the use of reason. As soon as he was conscious' of his danger, he editied his brethren by the humility of his virtue or penitence. "If there be any man," said the apostle from the pulpit, "whom I have unjustly scourged, I submit my own back to the lash of retaliation. Have I aspersed the reputation of a Mussulman? let him proclaim my faults in the face of the congregation. Has any one been despoiled of his goods? the little that I possess shall compensate the principal and the interest of the debt." "Yes," replied a voice from the crowd, "I am entitled to three drachms of silver." Mahomet heard the complaint, satisfied the demand, and thanked his creditor for accusing him in this world rather than at the day of judgment. He beheld with temperate firmness the approach of death; enfranchised his slaves (seventeen men, as they are named, and eleven women); minutely directed the order of his funeral, and moderated the lamentations of his weeping friends, on whom he bestowed the benediction of peace. Till the third day before his death, he regularly performed the function of public prayer; the choice of Abubeker to supply his place, appeared to mark that ancient and faithful friend as his successor in the sacerdotal and regal office: but he prudently declined the risk and envy of a more explicit nomination. At a moment when his faculties were visibly impaired, he called for pen and ink to write, or more properly to dictate, a divine book, the sum and accomplishment of all his revelations a dispute arose in the chamber, whether he should be allowed to

(1) Conscious. This word is often used incorrectly in the place of aware. A man is "conscious" of his own danger, as above, and "aware" of another's. No man can be conscious of what is passing in another man's mind. "Consciousness," says Locke, "is the perception of what is going on in a man's own mind." One cannot say to another, " I am conscious that you are in danger.”

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supersede the authority of the Koran; and the prophet was forced to reprove the indecent vehemence of his disciples. If the slightest credit may be afforded to the traditions of his wives and companions, he maintained in the bosom of his family, and to the last moments of his life, the dignity of an apostle, and the faith of an enthusiast; described the visits of Gabriel, who bade an everlasting farewell to the earth, and expressed his lively confidence, not only of (in) the mercy, but of (in) the favour of the Supreme Being. In a familiar discourse he had mentioned his special prerogative, that the angel of death was not allowed to take his soul till he had respectfully asked the permission of the prophet. The request was granted, and Mahomet immediately fell into the agony of his dissolution; his head was reclined on the lap of Ayesha, the best-beloved of all his wives: he fainted with the violence of pain; recovering his spirits, he raised his eyes towards the roof of the house, and with a steady look, though a faltering voice, uttered the last broken, though articulate words: "O God, pardon my sins! ... Yes, I come. . . . among my fellow-citizens on high;" and thus peaceably expired on a carpet spread upon the floor. An expedition for the conquest of Syria was stopped by this mournful event; the army halted at the gates of Medina; the chiefs were assembled round their dying master. The city, more especially the house of the prophet, was a scene of clamorous sorrow, or of silent despair; fanaticism1 alone could suggest a ray of hope and consolation. "How can he be dead, our witness, our intercessor, our mediator with God? He is not dead; like Moses and Jesus, he is wrapt in a holy trance, and speedily will he return to his faithful people." The evidence of sense was disregarded, and Omar, unsheathing his scimitar, threatened to cut off the heads of the infidels who should dare to affirm that the prophet was no more. The tumult was appeased by the weight (i.e. influence) and moderation of Abubeker. "Is it Mahomet," said he to Omar and the multitude, or the God of Mahomet, whom ye worship? The

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(1) Enthusiast, fanaticism. "Those are credulous who are easy of belief; those are bigoted who are obstinate in their creed. Enthusiasm is the zeal of credulity, and fanaticism the zeal of bigotry."-Taylor. These words admirably distinguish the enthusiast from the fanatic. Taylor also remarks that "Enthusiasm is commonly a solitary, and fanaticism a social, passion."

(2) Prerogative, fr. Lat. prærogare, to ask first, differs from privilege, as being a special privilege, and confined generally to an individual, whereas a privilege may be indifferently claimed by a person or a corporation. Hence we speak of the "privilege of parliament," "the prerogative of the sovereign or crown."

God of Mahomet liveth for ever, but the apostle was a mortal like ourselves, and, according to his own prediction, he has experienced the common fate of mortality." He was piously interred by the hands of his nearest kinsman, on the same spot on which he had expired: Medina has been sanctified by the death and burial of Mahomet; and the innumerable pilgrims of Mecca often turn aside from the way to bow in voluntary devotion before the simple tomb of the prophet.

LORD CHESTERFIELD.

1. DO ONE THING AT A TIME.

(FROM "LETTERS TO HIS SON," PUBLISHED IN 1774.)

You may remember that I have always earnestly recommended to you to do what you are about, be that what it will, and to do nothing else at the same time. Do not imagine that I mean by this that you should attend to and plod at your book all day long. Far from it. I mean that you should have your pleasures too, and that you should attend to them for the time, as much as to your studies; and, if you do not attend equally to both, you will neither have improvement nor satisfaction from either. A man is fit for neither business nor pleasure, who either cannot, or does not, command and direct his attention to the present object, and, in some degree, banish, for that time, all other objects from his thoughts. If, at a party of pleasure, a man were to be solving, in his own mind, a problem in Euclid, he would be a very bad companion, and make a very poor figure in that company; or if, in studying a problem in his closet, he were to think of a minuet (the dance so called), I am apt to believe that he would make a very poor mathematician. There is time enough for everything in the course of the day, if you do but one thing at once; but there is not

(1) Lord Chesterfield's Letters were much admired when they appeared both by literary men for the style, which is simple, graceful, and pithy, and by men of the world, for the sagacity of their matter.