with as many slaves and cattle as were necessary to stock it. He returned them his thanks, but would accept of nothing but a crown of gold, of a pound weight, decreed him by the army. He had no passion or desire beyond the field he cultivated, and the laborious life he had embraced; more glorious and contented with his poverty, than others with the empire of the world. LESSON TWENTY-FIFTH. The Pleasures of Retirement. Happy the man, whose wish and care Content to breathe his native air, In his own ground Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread, In winter fire. Blessed who can unconcernedly find Hours, days, and years, slide soft away, Quiet by day. Sound sleep by night; study and ease, Thus let me live, unseen, unknown; Steal from the world, and not a stone Tell where I lie LESSON TWENTY-SIXTH. Anglo Saxon Courts. The punishments inflicted by the Anglo Saxon courts of judicature, as well as the proofs employed, were different from those which prevail amongst all civilized nations, in the present age. Indemnity for all kinds of wounds received, and for death itself, was fixed by the Saxon laws at a regular price. A wound of an inch long, under the hair, was recompensed by one shilling; a scar, of equal size, upon the face, by two shillings; thirty shillings were received for the loss of an ear; and other scars were compensated in proportion. Their mode of evidence was still further dissimilar to the modern practice. When any controversy about a fact became too intricate for their judges to unravel, they had recourse to (what they called) the judgment of God; that is, to fortune; and their methods of consulting this oracle were various. The most remarkable custom was by the ordeal. It was practised generally by boiling water, or redhot iron. The water or iron being consecrated by many ceremonies, the person accused either took up a stone immersed in the former a certain depth, or carried the iron a certain distance: and his hand being then wrapped up, and the covering sealed for three days, if there appeared, on examination, no marks of burning, he was pronounced innocent; if otherwise, guilty. The trial by cold water, was different. Into this, the culprit was thrown, his feet and his hands being tied. If he swam, he was guilty; if he sunk, he was considered innocent; though, to us, it appears extraordinary, that any innocent person could ever be ac quitted by the one trial, or any criminal be convicted by the other. This purgation by ordeal seems to have been very ancient, and universal in the times of superstitious barbarity. It was known to the ancient Greeks; and there is also a very peculiar species of water ordeal, said to prevail amongst the Indians on the coast of Malabar; where, a person accused of any enormous crime, is obliged to swim over a broad river, abounding with crocodiles; and, if he escapes unhurt, he is reputed innocent. In Siam too, besides the usual methods of fire and water ordeal, both parties are sometimes exposed to the fury of a tiger, let loose for that purpose: and, if the beast spares either, that person is accounted innocent; if neither, both are held to be guilty; but, if he spares both, the trial is incomplete. LESSON TWENTY-SEVENTH. The Trumpet. The trumpet's voice hath roused the land, A hundred banners to the breeze The chief is arming in his hall, The peasant by his hearth; The mourner hears the thrilling call, And rises from the earth. The mother on her first-born son, They come not back, though all be won, The bard has ceased his song, and bound E'en, for the marriage altar crowned, And all this haste, and change, and fear, How will it be when kingdoms hear The blast that wakes the dead? LESSON TWENTY-EIGHTH. King Richard and the Minstrel. The singular manner of discovering the situation of King Richard the First, when a prisoner to Leopold, duke of Austria, which Fauchet relates from ar ancient chronicle, is thus related in Mrs. Dobson's Literary History of the Troubadours. A minstrel, called Blondel, who owed his fortune to Richard, animated with tenderness towards his illustrious master, was resolved to go over the world till he had discovered the destiny of this prince. He had already traversed Europe, and was returning through Germany, when, talking one day at Lintz, in Austria, with the innkeeper, in order to make this discovery, he learned that there was near the city, at the entrance of a forest, a strong and ancient castle, in which there was a prisoner, who was guarded with great care. A secret impulse persuaded Blondel that this prisoner was Richard. He went immediately to the castle, the sight of which, made him tremble. He got acquainted with a peasant, who went often there to carry provisions; questioned, and offered him a considerable sum to declare who it was that was shut up there; but the good man, though he readily told all he knew, was ignorant both of the name and quality of the prisoner. He could only inform him, that he was watched with the most exact attention, and was suffered no communication with any one but the keeper of the castle, and his servants. He added, that the prisoner had no other amusement than looking over the country through a small grated window, which served also for the light that glimmered into his apartment. He told him that this castle was a horrid abode; that the staircase and the apartments were black with age, and so dark, that, at noon-day, it was necessary to have a lighted flambeau to find the way along them. Blondel listened with eager attention, and meditated several ways of coming at the prison, but all in vain. At last, when he found that, from the height and narrowness of the window, he could not get a sight of his dear master, who, he firmly believed, was there, he bethought himself of a French song, the last couplet of which had been composed by Richard, and the first by himself. After he had sung, with a loud and harmonious voice, the first part, he suddenly stopped, and heard a voice, which came from the castle window, "continue, and finish the song." Transported with joy, he was now assured it was the king, his master, who was confined in this dismal castle. The chronicle adds, that, one of the keeper's servants falling sick, he hired himself to him, and thus made himself known to Richard; and, informing his nobles, with all possible expedition, of the situation of their monarch, he was released from his confinement, on paying a large ransom. LESSON TWENTY-NINTH. The Graves of a Household. They grew in beauty, side by side, |