seemed to heighten their misery; and, with tears in their eyes, "How will it be possible," said one of them, "for us to appear publicly before all Greece, in the dreadful condition to which we are reduced; a condition stijl more shameful than dissatisfactory? The best way to bear misery is to conceal it; and no country is so sweet to the wretched as solitude, and an oblivion of their past misfortunes." They therefore besought the king to permit them to continue in a country where they had spent so many years; and to end their days among those who were already accustomed to their misfortunes. Alexander granted their request; and presented each of them three thousand drachmas, five men's suits of clothes, the same number of womens, two couple of oxen to plough their lands, and corn to sow them he commanded the governor of the province not to suffer them to be molested in any manner; and ordered that they should be free from taxes and tributes of every kind. Such behaviour as this was truly royal. Thrice happy those princes who are affected with the pleasure which arises from the doing of good actions, and who melt with pity for the unfortunate !

Q. CURT.

DURING the regency of Blanche of Castile, queen of France, and widow of Lewis vill, the oppression of the nation under the yoke of the ecclesiastics was intolera ble; and the queen was determined to redress the griev ance, at least in some measure. The Chapter of Paris had committed to prison all the inhabitants of Catheuai, and several other places, for having taken more liberty than became vassals: for such was the condition of the common people, especially those who lived in the country. Their lands were seized, and sold as a dependency belonging to the Chapter. A considerable number of those unhappy people languished, therefore, in the pri sons belonging to the ecclesiastics; in which they wanted even the necessaries of life, and were in danger of dying of hunger and misery. The queen, touched with compassion at the complaints which she received, sent to desire, out of regard to her, that they should be set at liberty; declaring that she would inquire into

the affair, and do justice fully. The Chapter returned for answer, "That no person had any authority over their subjects; and that they had a right to starve them to death if they thought fit;" and sent again to seize the women and children whom they had spared before. Not satisfied with this, and provoked at the queen's interposition in their favour, they treated them with such cruelty that numbers of them died. The queen, shocked at their insolence and inhumanity, went in person, with a strong guard to the prisons of the Chapter, and ordered the gates to be broke open. The miserable inhabitants, men, women, and children, flocked around ber, threw themselves at her feet, and with floods of tears, blessed her for their deliverance from hunger, cold, and nakedness: at the same time imploring her further protection, without which what she had already done would only enhance their misery, should they fall into the hands of their cruel masters. Sensible of this, she ordered the revenues of the Chapter to be seized, till they had paid a due submission to the authority entrusted with her and agreed to set their vassals free, on the payment of a certain sum annually.

:

HIST. FRANCE.

VOLTAIRE, in his history of the Czar Peter, gives us the following anecdote of the Czarina :* "The leni

As there was something very extraordinary in the advancement of this princess, the reader will not, I hope, be displeased with my relating the steps by which she ascended the throne. She was born in a village called Nungen, on the banks of the lake Worthsey, in Livonia; and losing her parents, who were of low condition, she became destitute of support. The parish clerk, who kept a school, took her into his house, till Dr. Gluck, minister of Marienberg, happening to come to that village, eased the clerk of his burden, by taking her into his family. The doctor, pleased with her behaviour, treated her almost in the same manner as if she had been his own daughter; and not only had her taught spinning and sewing, but instructed her himself in literature above

ty of this princess," says he, "has been carried to a degree unparalleled in the history of any nation. She had promised that during her reign nobody should be put to death; and she has kept her word. She is the first sovereign that ever showed this regard to the human species. Malefactors are now condemned to serve in the mines, and other public works; a regulation not less prudent than humane, since it renders their punishment of some advantage to the state. In other countries, they only know how to put a malefactor to death with the apparatus of an executioner; but are not able to prevent the execution of crimes. The terror of death does not, perhaps, make such impression on evil doers, who are generally given to idleness, as the fear of chastisement and hard labour, renewed every day.

CONSCIENCE.

SENTIMENTS.

MOST men are afraid of a bad name, but few fear their

consciences.

The severest punishment of an injury is the consciousness of having done it; and no man suffers more than he that is turned over to the pain of repentance.

the knowledge of her sex. At length, a Livonian serjeant in the Swedish army fell passionately in love with her; and she agreed, with the consent of the doctor, to marry him. The next day, the Russians made themselves masters of Marienburg; and the general casting his eyes accidentally on Catherine, and observing something very striking in her air and manner, took her under his protection, and afterwards into his service. Some time after, she was advanced to be housekeeper to Prince Menzikoff, who was the general's patron: here the Czar seeing her, she made such an impression on him, that he married her in the year 1711. What became of her former husband, the serjeant, is not known.

MEN. OF ILLUST. Ladies, vol. i. p. 124.

It costs us more to be miserable than would make us perfectly happy: how cheap and easy is the service of virtue; and how dear do we pay for our vices!

If a man cannot find ease within himself, it is to little purpose to seek it any where else.

No man ever offended his own conscience, but first or last it was revenged upon him.

Even you yourself, to your own breast, shall tell your crimes; and your own conscience be your hell.

EXAMPLES.

THE caliph Montaser having caused his father to be put to death; some time after, looking over the rich furniture in the palace, and causing several pieces of tapestry to be opened before him, that he might examine them the more exactly; among the rest, he met with one which had in it the figure of a very beautiful young man, mounted on a Persian horse, with a diadem on his head, and a circle of Persian characters round himself and his horse. The caliph, charmed with the beauty of the tapestry, sent for a Persian who understood the ancient Persic, and desired him to explain that inscription. The man read it, changed colour, and, after some hesitation, told the caliph, it was a Persic song, that had nothing in it worth hearing. The prince, however, would not be put off: he readily perceived there was something in it extraordinary; and therefore he commanded the interpreter to give him the true sense thereof immediately, as he valued his own safety. The man then told him, that the inscription ran thus: I am Sirões, the son of Chosroes, who slew my father to gain his crown, which I kept but six months. This affected the caliph Montaser so much, that he died in two or three days, when he had reigned about the same space of time. This story is perfectly well attested.

UNIV. HIST. vol. xi. p. 197.

A JEWELLER, a man of a good character, and considerable wealth, having occasion in the way of his bu siness to travel at some distance from the place of his abode, took along with him a servant, in order to take

care of his portmanteau. He had with him some of his best jewels, and a large sum of money, to which his ser vant was likewise privy. The master having occasion to dismount on the road, the servant watching his opportunity, took a pistol from his master's saddle, and shot him dead on the spot: then rifled him of his jewels and money, and banging a large stone to his neck, he threw him into the nearest canal. With this booty he made off to a distant part of the country, where he had reason to believe that neither he nor his master were known. There he began to trade in a very low way at first, that his obscurity might screen him from observation, and in the course of a good many years, seemed to rise by the natural progress of business, into wealth and consideration; so that his good fortune appeared at once the effect and reward of industry and virtue. Of these he counterfeited the appearance so well, that he grew into great credit, married into a good family, and by laying out his sudden stores discreetly, as he saw occasion, and joining to all an universal affability, he was admitted to a share of the government of the town, and rose from one post to another, till at length he was cho sen chief magistrate. In this office he maintained a fair character, and continued to fill it with no small applause, both as governor and judge; till one day as he sat on the bench with some of his brethren, a criminal was brought before him, who was accused of murdering his master. The evidence came out full, the jury brought in their verdict that the prisoner was guilty, and the whole assembly waited the sentence of the president of the court (which he happened to be that day) with great suspense. Meanwhile he appeared to be in unu sual disorder and agitation of mind, his colour changed often; at length he arose from his seat, and coming down from the bench, placed himself just by the unfor tunate man at the bar, to the no small astonishment of all present. "You see before you," said he, addressing himself to those who had sat on the bench with him, “ a striking instance of the just awards of heaven, which this day, after thirty years concealment, presents to you a greater criminal than the man just now found guilty.” Then he made an ample confession of his guilt, and of