country, against a cruel oppressor, who had unjustly confined him in prison at Syracuse, whence he had just made his escape?

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2. The unhappy man, arrested as he was going to embark for his native country, is brought before the wicked prætor. With eyes darting fury, and a countenance distorted with cruelty, he orders the helpless victim of his rage to be stripped, and rods to be brought; accusing him, but without the least shadow of evidence, or even of suspicion, of having come to Sicily as a spy. It was in vain that the unhappy man cried out, I am a Roman citizen: I have served under Lucius Pretius, who is now at Panormus, and will attest my innocence. The blood-thirsty prætor, deaf to all he could urge in his own defence, ordered the infamous punishment to be inflicted. Thus, fathers, was an innocent Roman citizen publicly mangled with scourging; whilst the only words he uttered, amidst his cruel sufferings, were, "I am a Roman citizen!"

3. With these he hoped to defend himself from violence and infamy. But of so little service was this privilège to him, that, while he was thus asserting his citizenship, the order was given for his execution; for his execution upon the cross! O liberty! O sound once delightful to every Roman ear! O sacred privilege of Roman citizenship! once sacred! now trampled upon! But what then? Is it come to this? Shall an inferior magistrate, a governor, who holds his whole power of the Roman people, in a Roman province, within sight of Italy, bind, scourge, torure with fire and redhot plates of iron, and at last put to he infamous death of the cross, a Roman citizen? Shall either the cries of innocence expiring in agony, nor the ears of pitying spectators, nor the majesty of the Roman commonwealth, nor the fear of the justice of his country, estrain the licentious and wanton cruelty of a monster, who, n confidence of his riches, strikes at the root of liberty, and ets mankind at defiance?

A Scythian Ambassador's Speech to Alexander.

1. WHEN the Scythian ambassadors waited on Alexander he Great, they gazed on him a long time without speaking word, being very probably surprised, as they formed a judgement of men from their air and stature to find that his

did not answer the high idea they had entertained of hi from his fame.

2. At last, the oldest of the ambassadors addressed hi thus: "Had the gods given thee a body proportionable thy ambition, the whole universe would have been to little for thee. With one hand thou wouldst touch the Eas and with the other the West; and, not satisfied with thi thou wouldst follow the sun, and know where he hides hin self. But what have we to do with thee? We never st foot in thy country. May not those who inhabit woods b allowed to live without knowing who thou art, and when thou comest? We will neither command over, nor subm to any man. And that thou mayst be sensible what kin of people the Scythians are, know, that we received from heaven, as a rich present, a yoke of oxen, a ploughshar a dart, a javelin, and a cup.

3. These we make use of, both with our friends an against our enemies. To our friends we give corn, whic we procure by the labour of our oxen; with them we off wine to the gods in our cup; and with regard to our c inies, we combat them at a distance with our arrows, a near at hand with our javelins. But thou, who boastest th coming to extirpate robbers, art thyself the greatest robbe upon earth. Thou hast plundered all nations thou ove camest; thou hast possessed thyself of Lybia, invade Syria, Persia, and Bactria; thou art forming a design march as far as India, and now thou comest hither to seiz upon our herds of cattle. The great possessions thou hast, on make thee covet the more eagerly what thou hast not. I thou art a god, thou oughtest to do good to mortals, and n deprive them of their possessions. If thou art a mere ma reflect always on what thou art. They whom thou sha not molest, will be thy true friends; the strongest friendship being contracted between equals; and they are esteeme equals who have not tried their strength against each other But do not suppose that those whom thou conquerest ca love thee."

Publius Scipio's Speech.

1. THAT you may not be unapprized, soldiers, of whi sort of enemies you are about to encounter, or what is!

be feared from them, I tell you they are the very same, whom, in a former war, you vanquished both by land and sea; the same from whom you took Sicily and Sardinia; and who have been these twenty years your tributaries. You will not, I presume, march against these men with only that courage with which you are wont to face other enemies; but with a certain anger and indignation, such as you would feel if you saw your slaves on a sudden rise up in arms against you.

2. But you have heard, perhaps, that, though they are few in number, they are men of stout hearts and robust bodies; heroes of such strength and vigour, as nothing is able to resist. Mere effigies, nay, shadows of men! wretches, emaciated with hunger and benumbed with cold! bruised and battered to pieces among the rocks and craggy cliffs! their weapons broken, and their horses weak and foundered! Such are the cavalry, and such the infantry, with which you are going to contend: not enemies, but the fragments of enemies. There is nothing which I more apprehend, than that it will be thought Hannibal was vanquished by the Alps before we had any conflict with him. I need not be in any fear that you should suspect me of saying these things merely to encourage you, while inwardly I have different sentiments.

3. Have I ever shown any inclination to avoid a contest with this tremendous Hannibal ? and have I now met with him only by accident and unawares? or am I come on purpose to challenge him to a combat? I would gladly try whether the earth, within these twenty years, has brought forth a new kind of Carthaginians, or whether they be the same sort of men who fought at the gates, and whom at Eryx you suffered to redeem themselves at eighteen denarii per head. Whether this Hannibal, for labours and journeys, be as he would be thought, the rival of Hercules ; or whether he be what his father left him, a tributary, a vassal, a slave to the Roman people. Did not the consciousness of his wicked deed at Saguntum torment him and make him desperate, he would have some regard, if not to his conquered country, yet surely to his own family, to his father's memory, to the treaty written with Amilcar's own hand.

4. We might have starved them in Eryx; we might have

passed into Africa with our victorious fleet, and in a few days have destroyed Carthage. At their humble supplication we pardoned them. We released them when they were closely shut up without a possibility of escaping. We made peace with them when they were conquered. When they were distressed by the African war, we considered them, and treated them as a people under our protection. And what is the return they make us for all these favours? Under the conduct of a hairbrained young man, they come hither to overturn our state, and lay waste our country. I could wish, indeed, that it were not so; and that the war we are now engaged in, concerned our glory only, and not our preservation. But the contest at present is not for the possession of Sicily and Sardinia, but of Italy itself.

5. Nor is there behind us another army, which, if we should not prove the conquerors, may make head against our victorious enemies. There are no more Alps for them to pass, which might give us leisure to raise new forces. No, soldiers; here you must take your stand, as if you were just now before the walls of Rome. Let every one reflect, that he is now to defend, not his own person only, but his wife, his children, his helpless infants. Yet, let not private considerations alone possess our minds. Let us remember that the eyes of the senate and people of Rome are upon us; and that, as our force and courage shall now prove, such will be the fortune of that city, and of the Roman empire.

The studious youth should always keep in mind,
That the same words, not rightly understood,
Will false ideas convey, instead of truth:

And such wrong sentiments, when once embrac'd,
Will cost much pains and labour to destroy.

With honour, truth will bear you through the world,
Ensure a kind reception with mankind,
And tranquillize your life in joy and peace:
While falsehood poisons ev'ry thought and deed,
Produces scorn and hate from Gop and man,
And leaves you hopeless, overwhelm'd in wo.
Then learn aright, at first, nor deviate
In error's slippery and destructive paths.

Canute and his Courtiers.
Flattery reproved.

Canute. Is it true, my friends, as you have often told me, that I am the greatest of monarchs?

Offa. It is true, my liege; you are the most powerful of all kings. Oswald. We are all your slaves; we kiss the dust of your feet.

Of. Not only we, but even the elements, are your slaves. The land obeys you from shore to shore; and the sea obeys you.

Can. Does the sea, with its loud boisterous waves, obey me? Will that terrible element be still at my bidding?

Of Yes, the sea is yours; it was made to bear your ships upon its bosom, and to pour the treasures of the world at your royal feet. It is boisterous to your enemies, but it knows you to be its sovereign.

Can. Is not the tide coming up?

Os. Yes, my liege; you may perceive the swell already.

Can. Bring me a chair then; set it here upon the sands.
Of. Where the tide is coming up, my gracious lord?
Can. Yes, set it just here.

Os. (Aside)-I wonder what he is going to do.

Of (Aside)-Surely he is not such a fool as to believe us!

Can. O mighty ocean! thou art my subject; my courtiers tell me so: and it is thy duty to obey me. Thus, then, I stretch my sceptre over thee, and command thee to retire. Roll back thy swelling waves, nor let them presume to wet the feet of me, thy royal master.

Os. (Aside)-I believe the sea will pay very little regard to his royal commands.

Of. See how fast the tide rises!

Os. The next wave will come up to the chair. It is folly to stay, we shall be covered with salt water.

Can. Weil, does the sea obey my commands? If it be my subject, it is a very rebellious subject. See how it swells, and dashes the angry foam and salt spray over my sacred person! Vile sycophants! did you think I was the dupe of your base lies? that I believed your abject flatteries? Know, there is but one Being whom the sea will obey. He is sovereign of heaven and earth, King of kings, and Lord of lords. It is only he who can say to the ocean, "Thus far shalt thou go, but no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." A king is but a man, and a man is but a worm. Shall a worm assume the power of the great God, and think the elements will obey him? May kings learn to be humble from my example, and courtiers learn truth from your disgrace.

The two Robbers.

We often condemn in others what we practise ourselves. Alexander the Great in his tent. A man with a fierce countenance, chained and fettered, brought before him.)

Alexander. WHAT, art thou the Thracian robber of whose exploits I have heard so much?