who stand candidates for places of power and trust, before and after their obtaining them. They solicit them in one manner, and execute them in another. They set out with a great appearance of activity, hu quickly fall into sloth, pride, and avarice. It is, undoubtedly, no easy matter to discharge, to the general satisfaction, the duty of a supreme commander in troublesome times. I am, I hope, duly sensible of the importance of the office I propose to take upon me for the service of my country. To carry on, with effect, an expensive war, and yet be frugal of the public money; to oblige those to serve, whom it may be de for his unsullied integrity: the former became renowned by his humanity and compassion; an austere severity heightened the dignity of the latter. Cæsar acquired glory by a liberal, compassionate, and forgiving temper; as did Cato, by ne-mility and moderation; and they ver bestowing any thing. In the one, the miserable found a sanctuary; in the other, the guilty met with a certain destruction. Cæsar was admired for an easy, yielding temper; Cato for his immoveable firmness: Cæsar, in a word, had formed himself for a laborious active life; was intent upon promoting the interest of his friends, to the neglect of his own; and refus ed to grant nothing that was worth accepting; what he desired for him-licate to offend; to conduct, at the self was to have sovereign command, to be at the head of armies, and engaged in new wars, in order to display his military talents. As for Cato, his only study was moderation, regular conduct, and, above all, rigorous severity. He did not vie with the rich in riches, nor in faction with the factious; but taking a nobler aim, he contended in bravery with the brave; in modesty with the modest; in integrity with the upright; and was more desirous to be virtuous, than appear so; so that the less he courted fame, the more it followed him. Sallust, by Mr. Rose. same time, a complicated variety of operations; to concert measures at home, answerable to the state of things abroad; and to gain every valuable end, in spite of opposition from the envious, the factious, and the disaffected-to do all this, my countrymen, is more difficult than is generally thought. But, besides the disadvantages which are common to me with all others in eminent stations, my case is, in this respect, peculiarly hard; that, whereas a commander of patrician rank, if he is guilty of a neglect or breach of duty, has his great connexions, the antiquity of his family, the important services of his ancestors, and the multitudes be has by power engaged in his Caius Marius to the Romans, show-interest, to screen him from coning the Absurdity of their hest-dign punishment, my whole safety tating to confer on him the Rank of General merely on account of his Extraction. It is but too common, my countrymen, to observe a material difference between the behaviour of those depends upon myself; which renders it the more indispensably necessary for me to take care that my conduct be clear and unexceptionable. Besides, I am well aware, my countrymen, that the eye of the people is upon me: and that, though I submit to your judgment, Romans, on which side the advantage lies, when a comparison is made between patrician haughtiness and plebeian experience. The very the impartial, who prefer the real advantage of the commonwealth to all other considerations, favour my • pretensions, the patricians want nothing so much as an occasion against ine. It is therefore my fixed reso-actions which they have only read, lution, to use my best endeavours, I have partly seen and partly mythat you be not disappointed in me, self achieved. What they know and that their indirect designs by reading, I know by action. They against me may be defeated. are pleased to slight my mean birth: I despise their mean characters. Want of birth and fortune is the objection against me; want of personal worth, against them. But are not all men of the same species? What can make a difference between one man and another, but the endowments of the mind? For my part, I shall always look upon the bravest man as the noblest man. Suppose it were enquired of the fathers of such patricians as Albinus and Bestia, whether, if they had their choice, they would desire sons of their character, or of mine; what would they answer, but that they should wish the worthiest to be their sons? If the patricians have reason to despise me, let them likewise despise their ancestors, whose nobility was the fruit of their virtue. Do they envy the honours bestowed upon me? Let them envy, likewise, my labours, my abstinence, and the dangers I have undergone for my country, by which I have acquired them. But those worthless men lead such a life of inactivity, as if they despised any honours you can bestow, whilst they aspire to honours, as if they had deserved them by the most industrious virtue.They lay claim to the rewards of inactivity, for their having enjoyed the pleasures of luxury: yet none can be more lavish than they are, in praise of their ancestors. And they imagine they honour themselves, by celebrating their forefa I have, from my youth, been familiar with toils and with dangers. I was faithful to your interest, my countrymen, when I served you for no reward, but that of honour. It is not my design to betray you, now that you have conferred upon me a place of profit. You have committed to my conduct the war against Jugurtha. The patricians are of fended at this. But where would be the wisdom of giving such a command to one of their honourable body? a person of illustrious birth, of ancient family, of innumerable statues, but-of no experience! What service would his long line of dead ancestors, or his multitude of motionless statues, do his country in the day of battle? What could such a general do, but, in his trepidation and inexperience, have recourse to some inferior commander, for direction in difficulties, to which he was not himself equal? Thus, your patrician general would in fact have a general over him; so that the acting commander would still be a plebeian. So true is this, my countrymen, that I have, myself, known those who have been chosen consuls, begin then to read the history of their own country, of which, till that time, they were totally ignorant; that is, they first obtained the employment, and then bethought themselves of the qualification necessary for the proper discharge of it. The Character of Catiline. Lucius Catiline was descended of an illustrious family; he was a man of great vigour both of body and mind, but of a disposition extremely profligate and depraved. From his youth he took pleasure in civil thers: whereas they do the very contrary; for as much as their ancestors were distinguished for their virtues, so much are they disgraced by their vices. The glory of ancestors casts a light indeed upon their posterity; but it only serves to show what the descendants are. It alike exhibits to public view their dege-wars, massacres, depredations, and neracy and their worth. I own, I cannot boast of the deeds of my forefathers; but I hope I may answer the cavils of the patricians, by standing up in the defence of what I have myself done. Observe, now, my countrymen, the injustice of the patricians.They arrogate to themselves honours, on account of the exploits done by their forefathers; whilst they will not allow me the due praise, for performing the very same sort of actions in my own person. He has no statues, they cry, of his family. He can trace no venerable line of ancestors.-What then? Is it matter of more praise to disgrace one's illustrious ancestors, than to become illustrious by one's own good behaviour? What if I can show no statues of my family? I can show the standards, the armour, and the trappings, which I have myself taken from the vanquished: I can show the scars of these wounds, which I have received by facing the enemies of my country. These are my statues. These are the honours 1 boast of. Not left me by inheritance, as theirs, but earned by toil, by abstinence, by valour; amidst clouds of dust, and seas of blood: scenes of action, where those effeminate patricians, who endeavour by indirect means to depreciate me in your esteem, have never dared to show their faces. Sallust. intestine broils; and in these, he employed his younger days. His body was formed for enduring cold, hunger, and want of rest, to a degree indeed incredible: his spirit was daring, subtle, and changeable: he was expert in all the arts of simulation and dissimulation; covetous of what belonged to others, lavish of his own; violent in his passions; he had eloquence enough, but a small share of wisdom. His boundless soul was constantly engaged in extravagant and romantic projects too high to be attempted. After Sylla's usurpation, he was fired with a violent desire of seizing the government; and, provided he could but carry his point, he was not at all solicitous by what means. His spirit, naturally violent, was daily more and more hurried on to the execution of his design, by his poverty, and the consciousness of his crimes; both which evils he had heightened by the practices above mentioned. He was encouraged to it by the wickedness of the state, thoroughly debauched by luxury and avarice; vices equally fatal, though of contrary natures. Sallust, by Mr. Rose. The Character of Hannibal. Hannibal being sent to Spain, on his arrival there, attracted the eyes of the whole army. The ve army; ever the foremost in a charge, and the last who left the field after the battle was begun. These shining qualities were however balanced by great vices; inhuman cruelty, more than Carthaginian treachery; no respect for truth or honour, no fear of the gods, no regard for the sanctity of oaths, no sense of religion. With a disposition thus chequered with virtues and vices, he served three years under Asdrubal, without. neglecting to pry into, or perform any thing, that could contribute to make him hereafter a complete general. Livy. Junius Brutus over the dead body of Lucretia, who had stabbed herself in consequence of the rape of Tarquin. terans believed Hamilcar was revived and restored to them: they saw the same vigorous countenance, the same piercing eye, the same complexion and features. But in a short time his behaviour occasioned this resemblance of his father to contribute the least towards his gaining their favour. And, in truth, never was there a genius more happily formed for two things, most manifestly contrary to each other, to obey and to command. This made it difficult to determine, whether the general or soldiers loved him most.Where any enterprize required vigour and valour in the performance, Asdrubal always chose him to command at the executing it : nor were the troops ever more confident of success, or more intrepid, than when he was at their head. None ever showed greater bravery in undertaking hazardous attempts, or more presence of mind and conduct in the execution of them. No hardship could fatigue his body, or daunt his courage : he could equally bear cold and heat. The necessary refection of nature, not the pleasure of his palate, he solely regarded in his meals. He had no distinction of day and night in his watching, or taking rest; and appropriated no time to sleep, but what remained There, Romans, turn your eyes after he had completed his duty to that sad spectacle !--the daughhe never sought for a soft, or a ter of Lucretius, Collatinus's wiferetired place of repose; but was she died by her own hand! See often seen lying on the bare there a noble lady, whom the lust ground, wrapt in a soldier's cloak, of a Tarquin reduced to the necesamongst the centinels and guards. sity of being her own executioner, He did not distinguish himself to attest her innocence. Hospitafrom his companions by the mag-bly entertained by her as a kinsnificence of his dress, but by the man of her husband, Sextus, the quality of his horse and arms. At perfidious guest, became her bruthe same time, he was by far the tal ravisher The chaste, the gebest foot and horse soldier in the nerous Lucretia, could not survive VOL. I. 3 Z : Yes, noble lady, I swear by this blood which was once so pure, and which nothing but royal villany could have polluted, that I will pursue Lucius Tarquinus the Proud, his wicked wife, and their children, with fire and sword: nor will I suffer any of that family, or any other whatsoever, to be king of Rome.-Ye gods, I call you to witness this my oath. the insult. Glorious woman! but once only treated as a slave, she thought life no longer to be endured. Lucretia, a woman, disdained a life that depended on a tyrant's will; and shall we, shall men, with such an example before our eyes, and after five-and-twenty years of ignominious servitude, shall we, through a fear of dying, defer one single instant to assert our liberty? No, Romans; now is the time; the favourable moment we have so long waited for is come. Tarquin is not at Rome; the patricians are at the head of the enterprize; the city is abundantly provided with men, arms, and all things necessary. There is nothing wanting to secure the success, if our own courage does not fail us. And shall those warriors, who have ever been so brave when foreign us hostages more dear to them than life; their wives, their children, their fathers, their mothers, are here in the city. Courage, Romans, the gods are for us; those gods, whose temples and altars the impious Tarquin has profaned by sacrifices and libations made with polluted hands, polluted with blood, and with numberless unex. piated crimes committed against his subjects. Ye gods, who profected our forefathers! ye genii, who watch for the preservation and glory of Rome! do you inspire us with courage and unanimity in this glorious cause, and we will to our last breath defend your worship from all profanation. Livy. Scots. enenties were to be subdued, or The Character of Mary Queen of when conquests were to be made to gratify the ambition and avarice of Tarquin, be then only cowards, when they are to deliver themselves from slavery? To all the charms of beauty, and the utmost elegance of external form, Mary added those accomSome of you are perhaps inti- plishments which render their immidated by the army which Tar- pression irresistible. Polite, afquin now commands: the soldiers, fable, insinuating, sprightly, and you imagine, will take the part of capable of speaking and of writing their general. Banish such a with equal case and dignity. Sudgroundless fear: the love of liber- den, however, and violent in all ty is natural to all men. Your her attachments; because her heart fellow-citizens in the camp feel was warm and unsuspicious. Imthe weight of oppression, with as patient of contradiction, because quick a sense as you that are in she had been accustomed from her Rome; they will as eagerly scize infancy to be treated like a queen. the occasion of throwing off the No stranger, on some occasions, yoke. But let us grant there may to dissimulation; which in that be some among them who, through perfidious court where she receiv baseness of spirit, or a bad educa-ed her education, was reckoned tion, will be disposed to favour the among the necessary arts of gotyrant; the number of these can vernment. Not insensible to flatbe but small, and we have means tery, or unconscious of that pleasufficient in our hands to reduce sure, with which almost every wothem to reason. They have left man beholds the influence of her |