ty delivered his first speech from the throne, he eried out, "Aye, I taught the boy to speak."

THEMISTOCLES.

As Themistocles was leading the forces of Athens against the Persians, he met some cocks fighting; on which he commanded his army to halt, and thus addressed them. "Fellow soldiers, observe these animals; they do not assail each other for the sake of country, nor for their paternal goods, nor for the sepulchres of their heroic ancestors, nor for glory, nor for liberty, nor for children; but for mastery. How then ought you to fight, who have all these things to contend for?" This homely but apt speech is said to have had a powerful effect in animating the Athenians to victory; and in order to perpetuate the memory of the incident, a law was afterwards passed, that "there should be a pub-| lic cock-match on the stage every year." And hence, says Elian, arose the pastime of cockfighting.

CHURCH MILITANTS.

During the Irish rebellion, a Roman Catholic priest of the name of Roche is said to have told the soldiers, that he would catch the bullets in his hand; and actually exhibited some which he pretended to have got in that manner. The imposture was by no means new. The celebrated anabaptist demagogue, Muncer, who, adding the fanaticism of religion to the extremest enthusiasm of republicanism, by his harangues to the populace of Mulhausen, soon found himself at the head of forty thousand troops, thus addressed them. "Everything must yield to the Most High, who has placed me at the head of you. In vain the enemy's artillery shall thunder against you; in vain, indeed, for I will receive in the sleeve of my gown every bullet that shall be shot against you, and that alone shall be an impenetrable rampart against all the efforts of the enemy." Muncer, however, was not so good as his word, for the Landgrave of Hesse, and many of the nobility, marching against him, his troops were defeated, himself taken prisoner, and carried to Mulhausen, where he perished upon a scaffold in 1525.

THE THREAD OF DISCOURSE. Some people contract strong habits of what may be called external association, the body being more concerned in it than the mind, and external things than ideas. They connect a certain action with a certain object, so that without the one, they cannot easily perform the other; although, independently of habit, there is no connexion between them. Dr. Beattie mentions the case of a clergyman, who could not compose his sermon, except when he held a foot-rule in his hand: and of another, who while he was employed in study, would always be rolling between his fingers a parcel of peas, whereof he constantly kept a trencher full within reach of his arm.

Locke speaks of a young man, who in one particular room, where an old trunk stood, could dance very well; but in any other room, if it wanted such a piece of furniture, could not dance at all. A writer in the Tatler, mentions a more probable instance of a lawyer, who in his pleadings used always to be twisting about his finger a piece of pack-thread, which the punsters of that time called, with some reason, the thread of his discourse. One day a client of his had a mind to see how he would acquit himself without it, and stole it from him. The consequence was, that the orator became silent in the midst of his harangue, and the client suffered for his waggery, by the loss of his cause.

WAY TO PROMOTION.

Speed relates, that Guymond, chaplain to King Henry the First, observing that for the most part ignorant men were advanced to the best dignities in the church, as he celebrated divine service before the king, and was about to read these words out of St. James, "It rained not upon the earth iii years and vi months," he read it thus: "It rained not upon the earth one-one-one years, and five-one months." Henry noticed the singularity, and afterwards took occasion to blame the chaplain for it. "Sir," answered Guymond, "I did it on purpose; for such readers I find are sooner preferred by your majesty." The king smiled, and in a short time afterwards presented Guymond to the benefice of St. Frideswid's in Oxford.

PIRATE'S DEFENCE.

Alexander the Great was about to pass sentence of death on a noted pirate, but previously asked him, "Why dost thou trouble the seas?" "Why," rejoined the rover boldly, "dost thou trouble the whole world? I with one ship go in quest of solitary adventures, and am therefore called pirate; thou with a great army warrest against nations, and therefore art called emperor. Sir, there is no difference betwixt us but in the name and means of doing mischief." Alexander, so far from being displeased with the freedom of the culprit, was so imprest with the force of his appeal, that he dismissed him unpunished.

THE ORATOR AND THE TYRANT.

The report of the miserable state of slavery into which the Agrigentines had fallen under the tyrant Phalaris, so affected Zeno Eleates, that he resolved to leave his native country, and make a journey to Agrigentum, in order to try whether he could not by his counsels effect some amelioration in its condition. The philosopher made his first overtures to Phalaris himself; but finding the ear of the despot deaf to all wholesome counsel, he turned his attention to the patrician youth, whom he endeavored by every effort to animate with a love of liberty, and a determination to free their country from bondage. Phalaris, being informed of the proceedings of Zeno,

ordered him to be arrested, and calling the people together into the forum, he put the philosopher into the rank before their faces, and repeatedly called upon him to point out who among those around him had lent a favorable ear to his counsels? Zeno observed on this point the most obstinate silence; but turning to the citizens, he began to reproach them in such glowing terms with their abject submission to such a tyrant, that all at once they were filled with an impulse of indignation not to be repressed, and stoned the tyrant Phalaris on the very spot which he had designed for the martyrdom of a philosopher and friend of liberty.

BOLD APPEAL.

A poor old woman had often in vain attempted to obtain the ear of Philip of Macedon, to certain wrongs of which she complained. The king at last abruptly told her, "he was not at leisure to hear her." "No!" exclaimed she; "then you are not at leisure to be king." Philip was confounded; he pondered a moment in silence over her words; then desired her to pro- | ceed with her case; and ever after made it a rule to listen attentively to the applications of all who addressed him.

HANNIBAL.

From the speech for peace which Livy makes Hannibal deliver to the senate of Carthage, he must, as Mr. Fox once observed, have been as eloquent a man as ever spoke. The figure which he made on that occasion, was extraordinary. After all the warlike declarations he had made, he felt the singularity of his situation, and thus shortly expressed it: "EGO Hannibal, peto pacem!"

L. SYLLA.

When L. Sylla beheld his army giving way before that of Archelaus, the General of Mithridates, he alighted from his horse, laid hold of an ensign, and rushing with it into the midst of his enemies, cried out, ""T is here, Roman soldiers, that I intend to die; but for your parts, when you shall be asked where it was that you left your general, remember to say, it was on the field of Orchomemum." The soldiers, roused by this speech, returned to their ranks, renewed the fight, and became the victors in that field from which they were about to flee with disgrace.

DEMETRIUS.

When Demetrius took Athens by assault, he found the inhabitants in extreme distress for want of corn. He called the principal citizens before him, and announced to them, in a speech full of humanity and conciliation, that he had ordered a large supply of grain to be placed at their free disposal. In the course of speaking, he chanced to commit an error in grammar; on which one of the Athenians immediately correct

ed him, by pronouncing aloud the phrase as it ought to have been given. "For the correction of this one solecism," said he, "I give, besides my former gift, five thousand measures of corn

more."

LAW LATIN.

In the debate in the House of Lords in the year 1732, on a bill for having law proceedings in English instead of Latin, as formerly, the Earl of Ilay moved an amendment, which was carried, "That the proceedings in the Exchequer of Scotland be also wrote in a plain legible hand." His lordship said, "that in Scotland they had come to that pass, that writs which were to be executed by sheriffs, were wrote in characters so hard to be read, that the sheriffs knew nothing of the contents." Lord Raymond said, "if the bill passed, the law must likewise be translated into Welch." On which the Duke of Argyle remarked, "that he was glad to see that his lordship, perhaps as wise and learned as ever sat in that House, had nothing more to offer against the bill than a joke.”›

JUDGE FOSTER.

A short time before this eminent judge's death, he went the Oxford circuit in the hottest part of one of the hottest summers that had ever been known. He was then so far advanced in years, as to be scarcely able to discharge the important duties of his office; and when the grand jury of Worcester attended for the charge, he addressed them as follows: "Gentlemen, the weather is extremely hot; I am very old; and you are very well acquainted with what is your duty; I have no doubt but you will practise it."

ELOQUENCE OF SILENCE.

Ambassadors were sent to Rome from the cities of Greece, to complain of injuries done them by Philip, King of Macedon; and when the affair was discussed in the senate, betwixt Demetrius the son of Philip, and the ambassadors, Demetrius was so overcome with the truth of their representations, that he could make no defence, but -blushed exceedingly. The senate, less moved by the eloquence of the ambassadors, than by the still more eloquent silence of Demetrius, dismissed the complaint.

EARL OF PETERBOROUGH. The Earl of Peterborough, who Swift says shone

-in all climates like a star, In senates bold, and fierce in war," was once surrounded by a mob in his way from the House of Lords, who took him for the Duke of Marlborough, then very unpopular. The earl with great presence of mind said, "I will convince you I am not the duke; in the first place, I have but five guineas in my pocket; and secondly, here they are, much at your service."

He threw his purse among them, and walked home, amid the acclamations of the populace.

BENCH AND BAR-THEIR DUTIES.

The

In the famous trial of the Dean of St. Asaph, Mr. Erskine put a question to the jury, relative to the meaning of their verdict. Mr. Justice Buller objected to its propriety. The counsel reiterated his question, and demanded an answer. judge again interposed his authority in these emphatic words: "Sit down, Mr. Erskine; know your duty, or I shall be obliged to make you know it." Mr. Erskine with equal warmth replied, "I know my duty as well as your lordship knows your duty. I stand here as the advocate of a fellow-citizen, and I will not sit down." The judge was silent, and the advocate persisted in his question.

SYMBOLICAL ORATORY.

Ludovicus Sforza sent an ambassador to the Genoese, to demand of them a large sum by way of tribute. The Genoese conducted the ambassador into a garden, and pointing out to him the herb basil, desired him to take some of that weak herb and smell it. He did so, and told them it smelt very sweet. They then requested that he would press and rub it betwixt his fingers, and smell it again. He did so. "But now," saith he, "it is most nauseous." "In like manner," said the Geneose," if the prince deals graciously and mercifully with us, he will oblige us to all cheerfulness and readiness in his service; but if he shall proceed to grind and oppress us, he will then find the bitter and troublesome effects of it."

CANDID BEGGAR.

Camerarius relates the following pleasant story: "As I was sitting," said he, "with some senators of Bruges, before the gate of the Senate House, a certain beggar presented himself to us, who with sighs and tears, and lamentable gestures, expressed to us his miserable poverty; saying withal, that he had about him a private disorder, which shame prevented him from discovering to the eyes of men.' We all pitying the case of the poor man, gave him each of us something, and he departed; one amongst us sent his servant after him, with command to inquire of him what his private infirmity might be, which he was so loth to discover? servant overtook him, and desired of him that satisfaction; and having diligently viewed his face, breast, arms, &c., and finding all his limbs in good plight, I see nothing,' said he, 'whereof you have any such reason to complain.' 'Alas!' said the beggar, the disease that afflicts me is far different from what you conceive of, and is such as you cannot see; it is an evil that hath crept over my whole body; it is passed through the very veins and marrow of me in such a manner, that there is no one member of my body that is able to do any work; this

The

disease is by some called idleness and sloth." The servant hearing this, left him in anger, and returned to us with this account of him; which after we had well laughed at, we sent to make further inquiries about this singular beggar; but he had withdrawn himself."

A BASE BRIEF HONORABLY REFU

SED.

The Emperor Severus, when dying, recommended his two sons to the protection of Papinianus, a lawyer, equally eminent for his integrity and eloquence. The impious Caracalla having embrued his hands in the blood of his brother Geta, solicited Papinianus to extenuate the matter to the senate and people. "No, sir,"

replied the worthy man. "It is more easy to commit a fratricide, than to justify it." Caracalla, incensed at this manly denial, caused the bead of his incorruptible guardian to be cut off.

FREE SPOKEN AMBASSADOR.'

After the death of Charles VI. the Spanish ambassador, Don Pedro Rouguillo, at his first audience of the new king, James VI., being requested to state freely his opinion of the state of affairs in England, his excellency told James, "that he saw several priests about his majesty, who would importune him to alter the established religion in England, but prayed him not to hearken to their advice, lest his majesty should repent of it when it was too late." The king being a good deal displeased with this counsel, asked the ambassador with some zeal, "whether it was not customary in Spain to advise with their confessors?" "Yes, sir," replied the ambassador, "we do so, and that's the reason our affairs succeed so ill."

THE EARL OF ROCHESTER.

This nobleman, whose brilliant wit and talents rendered him so distinguished in the court of Charles II., and who, during a temporary disgrace with his sovereign, made himself a mighty favorite with the lower orders, by his exhibition under the mask of an Italian mountebank on Tower Hill, felt so much diffidence in the House of Lords, that he never was able to address them. It is said, that having frequently attended, he once essayed to make a speech, but was so embarrassed, that he was unable to proceed. "My lords," said he, "I rise this time -my lords, I divide my discourse into four branches." Here he faultered for some time; at length he was able to add, "My lords, if ever I rise again in this house, I give you leave to cut me off root and branch forever." He then sat down, to the astonishment of all present.

THE SLAVE TRAD E.

In one of the last discussions on the slave trade, Sir Charles Pole said, "while he depre

cated the motion (for the abolition), he rejoiced
that it had been brought forward thus early, be-
cause it showed the cloven foot which had been
attempted to be concealed." To this remark
Mr. Sheridan very spiritedly replied.
"An
honorable baronet," said he, "has talked of a
cloven foot; I plead guilty to that cloven foot;
but this I will say, that the man who expresses
pleasure at the hope of seeing so large a por-
tion of the human race freed from the shackles of
tyranny, rather displays the pinions of an angel,
than the cloven foot of a demon." He then
entered into a view of the slavery of the West
Indies, which was unlike all other slavery, and
thus concluded: "A Mr. Barclay, to his eternal
honor be it spoken, who had himself been a slave
owner in Jamaica, and who regretting that he
had been so, on a bequest of slaves being made
to him, emancipated them; caused them to be
conveyed to Pennsylvania, where they were pro-
perly instructed, and where their subsequent ex-
emplary conduct was the general theme of admi-
ration. With this fact before him, should he be
told, that he must give up all hope of abolishing
slavery? No he would never give it up, but
exclaim in the words of the poet,

"I would not have a slave to till my ground,
To carry me, to fan me when I sleep,
And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth
That sinews bought and sold have ever earn'd."

FREDERIC THE GREAT.

Previous to the battle of Lutzen, in which eighty thousand Austrians were defeated by an army of thirtysix thousand Prussians, commanded by Frederic the Great, this monarch ordered all his officers to attend him, and thus addressed them: "To-morrow I intend giving the enemy battle; and as it will decide who are to be the future masters of Silesia, I expect every one of you will in the strictest manner do his duty. If any one of you is a coward, let him step forward before he makes others as cowardly as himself; let him step forward I say, and he shall immediately receive his discharge without ceremony or reproach. I see there is none among you who does not possess true heroism, and will not display it in defence of his king, of his country, and of himself. I shall be in the front and in the rear; shall fly from wing to wing; no company will escape my notice; and whoever I then find doing his duty, upon him will I heap honor and favor."

HEROIC NEGRO.

Greater cruelty was perhaps never exercised than by the Europeans to the negroes of Surinam. Stedman relates, that nothing was more common than for old negroes to be broken on the wheel, and young ones burnt alive; and yet the fortitude with which they suffered, was equal to that of the most ardent patriot, or enthusiastic martyr. One of the fugitive, or revolted, slaves, being brought before his judges, who had condemned him previous to hearing what he had to say in his defence, requested to be heard for a few

minutes before he was sent to execution; when leave being granted, he thus addressed them:

"I was born in Africa; while defending the person of my prince in battle, I was taken prisoner, and sold as a slave on the Coast of Guinea. One of our countrymen, who sits among my judges, purchased me. Having been cruelly treated by his overseer, I deserted, and went to join the rebels in the woods. There also I was condemned to become the slave of their chief, Bonas, who treated me with still more cruelty than the whites, which obliged me to desert a second time, determined to fly from the human species forever, and to pass the rest of my life innocently and alone in the woods. I had lived two years in this manner, a prey to the greatest hardships, and the most dreadful anxiety, merely attached to life by the hope of once more seeing my beloved family, who are perhaps starving, owing to my absence. Two years of misery had thus passed, when I was discovered by the rangers, taken, and brought before this tribunal, which now knows the wretched history of my life."

This speech was pronounced with the greatest moderation, and by one of the finest negroes in the colony. His master, who, as he had remarked, was one of his judges, unmoved by the pathetic and eloquent appeal, made him this atrocious laconic reply: "Rascal, it is of little consequence to us to know what you have been saying; but the torture shall make you confess crimes as black as yourself, as well as those of your detestable accomplices." At these words, the negro, whose veins seemed to swell with indignation and contempt, retorted: "These hands," stretching them forth, "have made tigers tremble, yet you dare to threaten me with that despicable instrument! No; I despise all the torments which you can now invent, as well as the wretch who is about to inflict them." On saying these words, he threw himself on the instrument, where he suffered the most dreadful tortures without uttering a syllable.

PHILIP AND THE ATHENIAN ORATORS.

Philip of Macedon was wont to say, "that he was much beholden to the Athenian orators; since by the slanderous and opprobrious manner in which they spoke of him [e. g. that he was a barbarian, an usurper, a cheat; perfidious, perjured, depraved; a companion of rascals, mountebanks, &c.], they were the means of making him a better man, both in word and deed. For," added he, "I every day do my best endeavor, as well as my sayings and doings, to prove them liars."

It would have been well, had Philip always acted up to this encomium on himself. After the battle of Cheronca, he indulged his joy for the victory by getting drunk, dancing all night, and going from rank to rank, calling his prisoners names. Demades, one of them, with the same decent freedom, told Philip that he acted the part of Thersites, rather than that of Aga. memnon. Philip was delighted with the smartness of the repartee, and for the sake of this bon mot, dismissed the prisoners without ransom.

AEXANDER THE GREAT.

THE celebrated quarrel between Macedon and Persia, we are told, originated in Alexander's refusing to pay the tribute of golden eggs, to which his father had agreed. "The bird that laid the eggs has flown to the other world," is reported to have been the laconic answer of the Macedonian prince to the Persian envoy, who demanded the tribute. After this, Darab (Darius) sent another ambassador to the court of the Grecian monarch, whom he charged to deliver to him a bat, a ball, and a bag of very small seed, called Gunjad.-The bat and ball were meant to throw a ridicule on Alexander's youth, being fit amusement for his age; the bag of seed was intended as an emblem of the Persian army, being innumerable. Alexander took the bat and ball into his hands, and said, "This is the emblem of my power, with which I strike the ball of your monarch's dominion, and this fowl (he had ordered one to be brought) will soon show you what a morsel your numerous army will prove to mine. The grain was instantly eaten up; and Alexander gave a wild melon to the envoy, desiring him to tell his sovereign what he had heard and seen, and to give him that fruit, the taste of which would enable him to judge of the bitter fare which awaited him.

HEROIC ENDURANCE.

When Alexander the Great was on one occasion sacrificing to the gods, one of the noble youths who waited upon him was so severely burnt by a piece of hot coal which fell upon his arm from the censor he carried, that the smell of the scorched flesh affected all who stood by. Yet the boy shrunk not; he exhibited no symptom of pain; but kept his arm immoveable, lest by shaking the censer he should interrupt the sacrifice, or by his groaning should give Alexander any disturbance.

NOBLE BROTHERLY CONTEST. The emperor Augustus having taken Adiatoriges, a prince of Cappadocia, together with his wife and children, in war, and led them to Rome in triumph, gave orders that the father and the elder of the brothers should be slain. The ministers of execution, on coming to the place of confinement, inquired which was the eldest? On this, there arose an earnest contention between the two young princes, each of them affirming himself to be the elder, that by his own death he might preserve the life of his brother. When they had continued this heroic and fraternal emulation for some time, the afflicted mother with much difficulty prevailed on her son Dytentus, that he would permit his younger brother to die in his stead, hoping that by him she might still