The Percy Anecdotes: |
'He who sincerely loves his country, leaves the
fragrance of a good name to a hundred ages.'
PEKIN GAZETTE, NOV. 13, 1814.
WHEN Pericles, the noble Athenian, was on his death bed, and the chief citizens were about him rehearsing his illustrious services to the republic, and the virtues that in him were so conspicuous: Pericles, whom they supposed speechless and insensible, overheard, and thus addressed them: 'I wonder that you should so honourably mention those achievements that are common to other generals, and which fortune claims a share in; and yet omit what I value above them all, viz., that in the whole exercise of my authority in turbulent times, and when I had many great enemies yet I never gave any of my fellow citizens cause to put on mourning, either for themselves or any of their relatives.'
Patriotism, or the love of country, is so general, that no spot, even were it a desert, but is remembered with pleasure, provided it is our own. The Cretans called it by a name which indicated a mother's love for her children. The Ethiopian imagines that God made his sands and deserts, while angels only were employed in forming the rest of the globe. The Arabian tribe of Ouadelin conceive that the sun, moon, and stars rise only for them. The Maltese, insulated on a rock, distinguish their island by the appellation of 'The Flower of the World;' and the Caribbees esteem their country a Paradise, and themselves alone entitled to the name of man.
The Abbe de Lille relates of an Indian who, amid the splendour of Paris, beholding a banana tree in the Jardin des Plantes, bathed it with his tears, and for a moment seemed to be transported to his own land. And when an European advised some American Indians to emigrate to another district, 'What!' said they, 'shall we say to the bones of our fathers: arise, and follow us to a foreign country!'
Bosman relates, that the negroes of the gold coast of Africa are so desirous of being, buried in their own country that if a man die at some distance from it, and his friends are not able to take his entire body to his native spot they cut off his head, one arm, and one leg; cleanse them, boil them, and then carry them to the desired spot, where they inter them with great solemnity. And the Javanese have such an affection for the place of their nativity, that no advantages can induce the agricultural tribes in particular, to quit the tombs of their fathers.
The Norwegians, proud of their barren summits, inscribe upon their rix dollars 'spirit, loyalty, valour, and whatever is honourable, let the world learn among the rocks of Norway.'
The deputies of Philip, King of Macedon, offered a great sum of money in that prince's name to Phocion the Athenian, and entreated him to accept it, if not for himself, at least for his children, who were in circumstances that prevented them from supporting the glory of his name. 'If they resemble me,' said Phocion, 'the little spot of ground, on the produce of which I have hitherto lived, and which has raised me to the glory you mention, will be sufficient to maintain them.' Alexander, the son of Philip, afterwards sent him a hundred talents. Phocion enquired what design Alexander had in sending him so large a sum, when he did not remit anything to the rest of the Athenians? 'It is,' said they 'because Alexander looks upon you as the most just and virtuous man.' 'Let him,' replied Phocion, 'suffer me still to enjoy that character, and to deserve it.'
When Fabius Maximus was created Dictator, it was for the purpose of more effectually carrying on the war against Hannibal, who was gaining great advantages over the Romans at the head of his victorious troops in Italy. These advantages having been owing to the rash and impetuous conduct of some of those generals who had preceded Fabius in this important command, he was induced both from the general coolness of his temper and from the particular circumstances of the campaign, to act a more circumspect part, by prudently avoiding a general engagement.
This drew upon him much unjust censure, not only from his enemies at Rome, but from the soldiers of his army, both parties imputing his judicious conduct to a principle of cowardice. The noble answer he returned when these calumnies were reported of him, well deserves to be remembered. 'I should be a coward, indeed,' replied this brave and experienced captain, 'if I were to be terrified into a change of measures by groundless clamours and reproaches. That man,' added he, 'is unfit to be at the head of an army, who is capable of being influenced by the calumnies or caprice of those whom he is appointed to command.'
Neither bribes nor promises could gain Epaminondas from the interests of his country, nor would threatenings or danger make him betray its honour. It was this noble ardour for his country, that made him go and fight for it as a private sentinel, when his ungrateful countrymen had been induced, by the prevailing faction, to strip him of all his posts.
The Persians knowing of what consequence it would be to bring Epaminondas over to their interest, spared no means to effect it; but were so far from succeeding, that he gave them a very mortifying repulse. Diomedon of Cyzicus, in particular, had been sent to offer him a large sum of money, and had even gained over a favourite of his, named Micythus. Epaminondas rejected the offer with the scorn and indignation of a true patriot, saying, that he would never set the wealth of the whole world in competition with the interest of his country. 'It is plain,' said he to the Persian agent, 'that you do not know me: but let me advise you to make the best of your way home, before you attempt to corrupt another Theban.'
The behaviour of Epaminondas to Jason was still more noble. Jason had gone to Thebes to negotiate a peace; and as he did not doubt that Epaminondas's narrow circumstances would induce him to accept some present, he tried to gain his friendship by one so valuable, that it was not likely to be refused by an indigent person. 'This attempt to corrupt me,' said Epaminondas, refusing the bribe, 'I resent as the greatest indignity that can be offered to me, and shall look upon it in no other view than as a declaration of war; and as I am born a member of this free state, I shall be so far from selling the freedom of voting to my fellow citizens, that I will maintain it with all my might.'
Theanor was soon after despatched to Thebes with presents from Arcesius. When the Thebans debated whether or not they should be accepted, Epaminondas boldly declared against it; and addressing himself to Theanor, said, 'Jason resented my rejecting the vast presents with which he designed to corrupt me; and I gave him such an answer as his attempt deserved. Your offers are indeed more honourable, and consistent with virtue, and as such we esteem them; but then they are like physic to a man in health. Were you, or any of our allies, who imagined us to be at war, and incapable of maintaining It, to send us a supply of men, arms, and provisions, do you expect we should accept of it, when you found us enjoying a profound peace? The case is much the same. Your generosity has made you look upon us as sinking under the poverty of our condition; whereas that very poverty, instead of being burthensome to us, we look upon as our greatest happiness, glory, and delight, and as the most welcome guest that can come within our walls. The philosophers who sent you here, in that, made the noblest use they could of their wealth, and you may assure them, that we highly commend and thank them for it; but tell them, at the same time, that we make the right use of our poverty.' Theanor, still desirous to engage him to accept something valuable from him, begged that he would take at least as much as would reimburse him for the charges which Polymnus, his father, had been at in the maintenance and funeral obsequies of his late preceptor, Lysis. Epaminondas replied, 'That Lysis had abundantly repaid him, in the pains he took to make him cherish the practice of poverty.' In vain did Theanor endeavour to make him sensible of the necessity of acquiring at least an honourable competency, it only gave the other an opportunity of displaying his talent in praise of his favourite notion of poverty, which he did with such forcible reasoning as left Theanor without reply.
When Lycurgus, by his institutes, had settled the form of the Spartan commonwealth, he declared he would go and consult the Oracle at Delphos, to know whether the system he had established was good for the people, and in the meantime he exacted a solemn oath from the Spartans that they should not alter any of these laws until he returned. The Oracle pronounced his institution beneficial to the public, of which he gave notice to the king, senate, and people of Sparta; and having done this, he went into a voluntary banishment, from which he would never return, that the Spartans might not be freed from the oath they had taken. Lycurgus died in Crete; and fearing the Spartans might carry his remains to Sparta, as a presence for making innovations or alterations in the government, he gave orders that, after his death, his body should be burnt and the ashes thrown into the sea.
When Herodotus, taking advantage of the domestic troubles at Rome, possessed himself of the capitol, the Consul Valerius Publicola repulsed him, but fell at the head of his troops. Another consul was now to be elected, and after much deliberation the choice fell on Cin cinnatus, in consequence of which the senate sent deputies to him to invite him to come and take possession of the magistracy. He was then at work in his field, and, being his own ploughman, he was dressed in a manner suitable to that profession. When he saw the deputies coming towards him, he stopped his oxen, very much surprised at seeing such a number of persons, and not knowing what they could want with him.
One of the company approached him and requested him to put on a more suitable dress. He went into his hut, and having put on other clothes, 'he presented himself to those who were waiting for him without doors. They immediately saluted him Consul, and invested him with the purple robe; the lictors ranged themselves before him ready to obey his orders, and begged him to follow them to Rome. Troubled at this sight, he for some time shed tears in silence. At last, recovering himself, he said only these words: 'My field will not be sown this year!' and then repaired to Rome
The conduct of Cincinnatus during his consulship fully showed what patriotism and greatness of soul had inhabited a poor wretched cottage. By the vigour and prudence of his measures, he appeased the tumult, and reinstated judiciary proceedings, which had been interrupted during many years. So peaceful a government could not fail of applause, and the people, in consequence, expressed their entire satisfaction with it. But what charmed them was that, upon the expiration of his term, he refused to be continued in office with no less constancy than he had pain at first in accepting it. The senate, in particular, forgot nothing that might induce him to comply with being continued in the consulship but all their entreaties and solicitations were to no purpose.
No sooner had this great man resigned his office than domestic troubles again embroiled the state, and the Roman state were forced to declare that the commonwealth required a dictator. Cincinnatus was immediately nominated to the office, and the deputies sent to announce it to him again found him at his plough. He, however, accepted the office, and a second time saved his country.
Cincinnatus afterwards received the honour of the most splendid triumph that ever adorned any general's success, for having in the space of sixteen days, during; which he had been invested with the dictatorship, saved the Roman camp from the most imminent danger; defeated and cut to pieces the army of the enemy; taken and plundered one of their finest cities, and left a garrison in it, and, lastly gratefully repaid the Tusculans, who had sent an army to their assistance.
Such were a few of the advantages which this great patriot rendered his country.
Sensible of their obligations, and desirous to convince him of their regard and gratitude, the senate made him an offer of as much of the land he had taken from the enemy as he should think proper to accept, 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.
Ptolemy Philadelphus, King of Egypt having sent to desire the friendship of the Roman people, an embassy was despatched from Rome in the following year to return the civility. The ambassadors were Q. Fabius Gurges, Cn. Fabius Pictor, with Numerius, his brother; and Q. Ogulnius. The disinterested air with which they appeared sufficiently indicated the greatness of their souls. Ptolemy gave them a splendid entertainment, and took that opportunity to present each of them with a crown of gold, which they received because they were unwilling to disoblige him by declining the honour he intended them but they went the next morning and placed them on the heads of the king's statues erected in the public parts of the city. The king likewise having tendered them very considerable presents at their audience of leave, they received them as they before accepted of the crowns, but before they went to the senate to give an account of their embassy after their I arrival at Rome, they deposited all those presents in the public treasury, and made it evident, by so noble a conduct, that persons of honour ought, when they serve the public, to propose no other advantage to themselves than the honour of acquitting themselves well of their duty. The republic, howsoever, would not suffer itself to be exceeded in generosity of sentiment. The senate and people came to a resolution that the ambassadors, in consideration of the services they had rendered the state, should receive a sum of money equivalent to what they had deposited in the public treasury
When Pedaretus, the Spartan, missed the honour of being elected one of the three hundred who held a distinguished rank in the city, he went home extremely well satisfied, saying he was overjoyed to find that there were three hundred men in Sparta more honourable than himself.
In the year 1148, the Venedi having overrun the whole province of Wagraa, came before the little town of Susle, which at that juncture had not above an hundred men in it. The Venedi troops, consisting of three thousand men, set fire to all the avenues, and began to attack the place with the utmost fury; but perceiving by the brave resistance of the townsmen that they should pay dear for their conquest, they proposed a capitulation, and offered not to touch the lives or limbs of the inhabitants' on their laying down their arms and quitting this fortress.
The people in the town were eager to close with these conditions, when a priest, named Gerlau, thus harangued them. 'Countrymen, consider well the consequences of surrendering. Do you imagine such submission will Save your lives? That there is any faith in these barbarians? Can you be ignorant that of all foreigners, the Venedi hate the Frisians most? Our very name they hold m detestation. I conjure you, my friends, by the great Creator of the earth, who is able to protect us against any numbers, I conjure you to exert your strength, and renew your efforts. Whilst within this fence we are masters of our hands, masters of our weapons, and have hopes of saving our lives; but once disarmed, our fate will be an ignominious death. Take, then, your swords, which the enemy would fain get from you without fighting; drench therm in their blood; revenge your slaughtered friends and relations; give these strangers a sample of your courage, make them feel you are men, and determine to sell your lives as dear as possible'
These words he seconded with a suitable action, for, throwing open the gates, he rushed towards the enemy, laid numbers of them at his feet, and though he lost an eye, and was wounded in the body, continued fighting with indefatigable impetuosity; when the townsmen joined him, and repulsed the enemy, notwithstanding a vast superiority of numbers.
The mountains near Shiraz in Persia are desolate and dreary, yet so attached are the Persian shepherds to them, that when the British secretary of embassy was observing their height and sterility, one of them enquired with an air of exultation, whether his country could boast of anything like them? And when Mirza Abul Hassan, the Persian ambassador, was in England, he replied to an argument relative to the comparative beauty of England and Persia: 'It is true, we have not such fine houses, adorned with looking glasses, as you have; no carriages, nor are we rich; but we have better fruit, and we see the sun almost every day.'
Nothing could be more solemn or impressive than the manner in which Henry III, in the thirty-seventh year of his reign, ratified Magna Charta. The king, with all his nobles, the bishops, and chief prelates in their clerical robes and ornaments, with burning candles in their hands, assembled to hear the terrible sentence of excommunication pronounced against those who should infringe the great charter. The candles being lighted, the king gave his to a prelate, saying, 'It becomes not me, being no priest, to hold this candle, my heart shall be a greater testimony, and then laid his hand on his breast, while the sentence of excommunication was pronounced. This done, he caused the charter of King John, his father, to be openly read. Then having thrown away their candles, which lay smoking on the ground, they uttered a solemn curse against those who incurred the sentence; the king, with a loud voice, exclaiming, 'As God me help, I will, as I am a man, a Christian, a knight, a king, crowned and anointed, inviolably observe all these things.' The bells then rung, and the people shouted for joy.
Notwithstanding these solemn protestations, the king soon broke his oath; so that at a Parliament held at London, in the forty-second year of his reign, the baron) bound him to release them from their allegiance, whenever he infringed the charter.
The States-General of Former Times.
When Philip the Third, King of Spain sent his ambassador to treat with the states of Holland about their independance, he was shown into an ante-chamber, where he waited to see the members of the states pass by. He stayed for some time, and seeing none but a parcel of plain dressed men with bundles in their hands (which, as many came from distant provinces, contained their linen and provisions, he turned to his interpreter, and asked him when the states would come? The man replied, that those were the members whom he saw go by. The envoy, on this, wrote to the commanders-in-chief of the Spanish army, to advise the king, his master, to make peace as soon as possible. In his letter was this remarkable passage: 'I expected to have seen in the states a splendid appearance; but instead of that, I saw only a parcel of plain dressed men, with sensible faces, who came into council with their provisions in their hands. Their parsimony will ruin the king. my master, in the course of the war, if it be continued, for there is no contending with people, whose nobles can live upon a shilling a day, and will do everything for the service of the country' The king, struck with this account, agreed to treat with them as an independent state, and to put an end to the war.
When Bornholm was obliged to submit to the Swedes, on account of their superiority in the Baltic, Mr. Jens Koefod, and the Rev. Mr. Paul Anker, projected the resolute plan of throwing off the Swedish joke, and appointed for the accomplishment of their purpose, the day on which Prindsenkiold, the Swedish commander, was to pass from Fort Hammershuus to Hasle and Roenne, to collect the taxes. Mr. Koefod on horseback, with five followers, went in search of Prindsenkiold, whom he found at the house of the Burgomaster at Roenne. Mounting a guard before the door, Mr. Koefod, with his little party, entered the house, and declaring themselves to be Danes, ordered Prindsenkiold, as their enemy, to surrender on pain of death. The Swede obeyed; but having shortly afterwards attempted to escape, a musket shot arrested his progress.
Having thus commenced the glorious task of rescuing their country from a foreign yoke Mr. Koefod and one of his followers seized two horses belonging to Prindsenkiold, and rode from village to village to raise men. Citizens, clergy, end peasantry, crowded with arms to the churches, and the next morning made their appearance before Hammershuus; when the Swedes, dismayed by their formidable appearance, and the loss of their own leader, surrendered. The inhabitants then took possession of the country, confined their prisoners, and sent to Copenhagen for a commander-inchief; but no one arriving for some time, Mr. Jens Koefod, with the consent of his countrymen, assumed the office, and discharged it faithfully.
A Hottentot boy, taken from his cradle, and bred up in the manners of the French Colonists, voyaged to India, where he engaged in the trade for many years. In the course of his mercantile transactions, he visited the Cape of Good Hope; and naturally desirous of seeing the spot in which he was born, as well as of visiting his relatives, he went to their huts. He there beheld them clad in sheer skins, and disfigured with oil; but after staying a short time with them, became so attached to the spot, and so charmed with the simplicity of their lives and manners, that he resolved to quit the society to which he had been accustomed, and to adopt the more barbarous language, manners, and habits of his relatives. With this view, he returned to the Cape, and obtaining an audience of the governor, thus addressed him: 'I have returned from the huts of my relatives, in order to inform you that I have resolved to renounce the mode of life you have taught me to embrace. I will follow the manners and religion of my ancestors, to the day of my death: I will keep this collar and sword which you have given me, as a mark of my affection: but all the rest of my habiliments and property I shall leave behind me.' Saving this, he ran out of the chamber, and was never seen or heard of after.
In the historical introduction to a volume of Hans Egede, is related an account of several Greenlanders who were imported into Denmark. The king desired that particular attention might be paid to them. Milk, cheese, butter, raw flesh, and fish, were served up to them in abundance; and everything was done that was thought likely to captivate them, but nothing was able to divert their melancholy. Their country was ever uppermost in their minds; and they were observed continually to turn a wistful and desponding look towards the north. Three of them fell sick, and died; two pined away with regret; and one of them was observed frequently to shed tears, whenever he saw a child at the breast of its mother. They made several attempts to escape, but without success. At length one of them succeeded, and it is supposed was overwhelmed by the sea in his little boat, as he was never heard of afterwards
Tavo, the Archbishop of Lund, and Iver Axelsen, an opulent landholder in Schonen, had a very serious quarrel, which they were on the point of deciding by a duel, when Charles Knudsen, King of Sweden, unexpectedly invaded Schonen, at the time that no assistance could be obtained from Denmark, on account of the Sound being nearly covered with ice. The enemy ransacked the country, and advancing rapidly towards Lund, the capital, summoned the archbishop to surrender. Iver Axelsen, seeing his country in danger? instantly forgot all personal enmity in a wish to promote the public good; and calling upon the archbishop, he said, 'The common enemy is at our door, and we cannot hope for any relief from our king. Let us, therefore, now unite; our own dispute should await till a better opportunity presents itself. We will combine our counsel and our strength; the welfare of our country demands it from us. Endeavour to gain an armistice from Charles Kundsen, even if it is but for a few days; I will in the meantime collect as many troops as possible.'
The archbishop, who had bravely defended himself, and despised the threats of the invader, accepted the proposition of Iver Axelsen. They acted in concert against the enemy, and thereby became strong enough not only to check his progress, but even to repulse him.
When General Tilly, with a numerous army, was preparing to attack Holstein, Christian the Fourth summoned the states of his kingdom to attend at Rendsboorg, to concert measures for the defence of the realm. In this assembly, Geert Rantzau, Stadtholder of Holstein, rose, and in an eloquent speech urged the necessity of encountering the enemy before he had reached their frontiers. He recommended to the nobility to lead personally into the field as many troops as they should be able to collect, saying, 'Although I am now upwards of sixty-eight years old, and have very indifferent health, yet it is certainly my firm intention to march against the enemy, and I therefore trust to the patriotism and loyalty of my countrymen, who I doubt not will follow my example.'
The nobility encouraged by the patriotic ardour of the veteran, followed kits example, and Holstein was saved. When Rantzau died, he was attended to the grave by Christian the Fourth, who refused to mount a horse, richly caparisoned for his service' saying, 'Geert Rantzau often trudged on foot for our sakes, now let us walk for his.'
At the peace of Roeskilde, the diocese of Drontheim was ceded to Sweden, and taken possession of by Governor Stiernshild. The brave Norwegians, incensed that a haughty conqueror should rule over them, burned with ardour to emancipate themselves, but were restrained from attempting It, by a consideration that treaties should be held sacred.
But scarcely had Charles Gustavus sounded the tocsin of war, than the Norwegians, rushing from their mountains like a tremendous torrent, meditated a dreadful vengeance on their foes. Ten thousand men rose in arms, and took the road to Drontheim. When General Bielke, the commander-in-chief in Norway, heard of this event, he despatched General Reichwien to take the command of those heroes. The whole diocese of Drontheim declared against the Swedes, and eagerly rallied under the standard of Denmark.
This intelligence reaching Sweden, a body of troops was ordered to march to the support of Drontheim; but the Norwegian peasantry met them on their frontiers, and gave them such a reception, that all hopes of invading Norway were relinquished. Other bodies of peasantry marched against Drontheim, which, as well as the whole diocese, the Swedish governor found himself compelled to surrender.
The Emperor Vespasian laid his peremptory commands on a senator, to give his vote against the interests of his country, and threatened him with immediate death, in case 'he spoke the least word in favour of the other party. The intrepid patriot, conscious that through his prevailing influence there was a chance of saving the people of Rome from utter ruin, answered with a smile, 'Did I ever tell you I was immortal? my virtue is at my own disposal my life I know is at yours; do then what you will, I shall do what I ought: and if I fall in the service of my country, I shall have more triumph in my death, than you in all your laurels.'
Jacob Dannefaer, a young man who had served in the war of 1657 against Sweden, was among the number of Danes who were delivered up to Sweden in pursuance of the treaty of Roeskilde. He was, however, taken notice of by Admiral Vrangel, who forced him into his service. When the peace was suddenly broken by the Swedes, they invaded Zealand, laid siege to Copenhagen, and took Cronborg, where they found an immense booty. This they shipped in a vessel for Sweden; the crew were entirely Swedes, except Jacob Dannefaer and a few Danish peasants.
The tale of his country's sufferings, excited in Dannefaer a wish to render Denmark a service, however perilous the attempt. He consulted with his countrymen on board, and proposed that they should endeavour to seize the vessel; this was agreed upon, and in order to carry the project into execution, it was arranged, that as soon as a sufficient number of the crew should quit the deck, Dannefaer should attack the commander, while the peasants were to close the hatches. The wished-for moment arriving, Dannefaer ordered the captain to surrender, out finding himself resisted he ran him through the body. Dannefaer then turned to the mate, whom he commanded to steer for Copenhagen, and stood over him with a drawn sword, lest he might disobey his orders. The peasants had in the meantime, performed their part of the patriotic enterprise, and there being no further opposition, Dahnefaer carried the ship and treasure to Copenhagen, where it was of great service in enabling the king to prosecute the war to a successful issue.
'Great Boadicea, glory of thy race,
Britannia's honour, and thy foe's disgrace;
In burning fancy I behold each fight
Where female velour warr'd for Albion's right;
Thy very fall perpetuates thy fame,
And Suetonius' laurels droop with shame.'
T. DIBDIN.
Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni, who had been insulted in her person and in her family, took advantage of the absence of Suetonius, when he invaded Anglesey, to become the principal mover of a most formidable revolt, in order to revenge her own wrongs, and the grievous oppression of the people under the Roman yoke. Three Roman stations were soon laid in ashes, and upwards of seventy thousand of her persecutors slain, when Boadicea's army, increased to two hundred and thirty thousand, was met by Suetonius, who with all his exertion could not raise more than ten thousand men.
With this army, small as it was, he determined on hazarding a battle, and having formed his army, waited the approach of the Britons, who soon appeared, covering the plains with immense numbers. Boadicea, with her daughters, drove in her chariot along the ranks, renewing the detail of Roman injustice, and encouraging her troops in the most animating language, while Suetonius, on his side, did not neglect to cheer his men by a suitable oration. The Britons came on, uttering loud shouts, menaces, and songs of victory. The Romans, closely drawn up, awaited the event in silence, and received the attack of the natives with great firmness; having then expended all their javelins, with dreadful carnage to the enemy, they rushed forward from all parts at once, observing the form of a wedge, the more easily to penetrate such an immense multitude; the first ranks of their opponents were hewn in pieces, but the rest crowding to surround the Romans, a bloody contest ensued. The British war chariots occasioned terrible annoyance to their enemies until Suetonius ordered his men to direct their blows at the naked bodies of the drivers. The action was long maintained with fury on both sides; but finally, the superior skill, coolness and bravery of the Romans, triumphed over the obstinacy and desperation of the British. Prodigious numbers perished beneath the swords of the legions, or by the charges of the cavalry, who trampled all before them, while the crowds that endeavoured to save themselves by flight, met an insurmountable impediment in their own waggons, which enclosed them m the form of a semicircle. Here the slaughter was terrible; for mercy, in the circumstances of Suetonius, would have been in the highest degree imprudent. The Romans in the heat of their fury, spared neither age nor sex. Even the beasts of burden struck through with darts, increased the horrors of the scene, and the heaps of dead covered the plains, the fields, and the surrounding forests. Upwards of eighty thousand Britons are computed to have perished on this occasion; while of the Romans, four hundred were killed, and scarcely so many wounded.
The remaining Britons, terrified at this dreadful chastisement departed into their respective districts; and Boadicea perished herself soon after the battle, either through chagrin or by poison.
In the reign of Richard II., the several lords and commissioners who had confederated together to relieve their country from tyranny and oppression had a meeting at Haringay Park near Highgate. Intelligence of this was brought to the king, at a time when Sir Hugo de Lyn (who was thought to be deranged) was present. The king turned to him, and asked him what he should do with these men? The old knight answered, with a smiling countenance, 'Let us march out and kill every man of them: and then you will have destroyed the worthiest men and the best subjects in your dominions.'
Alonzo the Fourth, surnamed the Brave, ascended the throne of Portugal in the vigour of his age. The pleasures of the chase engrossed his whole attention; his confidants and favourites encouraged and allured him to it; his time was spent in the forest, while the affairs of government were neglected, or executed by those whose interest it was to keep their sovereign in ignorance. His presence at last, being essential at Lisbon, he entered the council with all the impetuosity and fervour of a juvenile sportsman; and with great familiarity and gaiety, entertaining his nobles with the history of a whole month spent in hunting, fishing, and shooting. When he had finished his narrative, a nobleman of the first rank rose up. 'Courts and camps,' said he 'are allowed for kings, not woods and deserts. Even the affairs of private men suffer, when recreation is preferred to business; but when the phantasies of pleasure engross the thoughts of a king a whole nation is consigned to ruin. We came here for other purposes than to hear the exploits of a chase. If your majesty will attend to the wants, and remove the grievances, of your people, you will find them obedient subjects; if not,' The king starting with rage, interrupted him: 'If not, what?' 'If not,' resumed the nobleman in a firm and manly tone, 'they will look out for another and a better king!' Alonzo, in the highest transports of passion, expressed his resentment, and hastened out of the room. In a little time, however, he returned calm and reconciled. 'I perceive,' said he, 'the truth of what you say; he who will not excuse the duties of a king, cannot long have good subjects. Remember, from this day forward, I am no longer Alonzo the sportsman, but Alonzo, King of Portugal.' His majesty kept this resolve with the most rigid observance, and became as a warrior and politician, the greatest of the Portuguese monarchs.
This illustrious monarch, in answer to a petition of the lord mayor and aldermen of the city of London, on the 6th of November, 1718, said, 'I shall be glad, not only for your sakes, but for my own, if any defects which may touch the rights of my good subjects are discovered in my time, since that will furnish me with the means of giving you, and all my people, an indisputable proof of my tenderness of their privileges.'
During the patriotic war in Corsica, the nephew of a criminal condemned to. death went to General Paoli, in company with a lady of distinction, to solicit the life of his uncle. The nephew's anxiety made him think that the lady did not speak with sufficient force and earnestness. He therefore advanced and addressing Paoli, said, 'Sir, is it proper for me to speak?' as if he felt it was unlawful he should make such an application. Paoli bade him proceed. 'Sir,' said he, 'may I beg the life of my uncle? If it is granted, his relations will make a gift to the state of a thousand zechins. We will furnish fifty soldiers in pay during the siege of Furiani. We will agree that my uncle shall be banished, and will engage that he shall never return to the island.' Paoli knew the nephew to be a man of worth, and replied, 'You are acquainted with the circumstances of this case, and such is my confidence in you, that if you will say that giving your uncle a pardon would be just, useful, or honourable for Corsica, I promise you it shall be granted.' Though the affection between relations is exceedingly strong in the Corsicans, the young man turned round, burst into tears, and quitted the general, saying, 'Non vorrei vendere l'onore della patria per mille zechini.' 'I would not have the honour of my country sold for a thousand zechins;' and the uncle suffered.
Charles Gustavus, King of Sweden, returning from Poland with his victorious troops, entered Holstein, which he soon conquered; a severe frost had bound the waters, so that he crossed from Jutland to Funen, and thence to Zealand, with the utmost facility. The Danes attempted to stop his rapid progress in vain, and Charles made his appearance before Copenhagen at the head of his whole army.
Frederic III., King of Denmark, fearing to put the fate of his empire to the hazard of the day, thought it expedient to sue for peace: and Charles, with some hesitation, consented to a negotiation, demanding, however besides other advantages, that there should be delivered up to him, Schonen, Holland, Breking, Bahuus, Drontheim, Bornholm, and some domains belonging to Denmark, in the island of Rugen.
Joachim Gersdorff, one of the deputies on the part of Denmark, fired with indignation at the haughty terms of the enemy, remonstrated with firmness, but was at length compelled to yield. When this patriot took up the pen to sign the fatal treaty he turned round and emphatically said, 'Vellum me nescire litteras.'
Gersdorff displayed equal zeal at the subsequent siege of Copenhagen; the city teeing at that time but ill provided with accommodation for the wounded Dutch who had suffered in fighting their passage through the Sound, he generously subscribed 4000 rix dollars for their relief.
This virtuous patriot represented his native town of Kingston-upon-Hull for a period of twenty years, and was the last member of parliament who received pay from his constituents, the sum being four shillings a day! Although he frequently attacked King Charles II. in his satires, yet the king was very fond of his conversation, and tried every means to win him over to his side, but in vain. His inflexible integrity of principle was proof against all temptations, either of his own distresses (and he was often reduced to great poverty), or of the large offers made him by the court, which was earnest in the endeavouring to gain a man of his talents and character on their side.
The king having had Marvell at the palace one night, when he was most cordially and splendidly entertained, sent the lord treasurer, Danby, the next morning, to find out his lodgings, which were then up two pair of stairs, in one of the little courts in the Strand. Here he was busily engaged in writing when the treasurer abruptly opened the door upon him. Surprised at seeing such an unexpected visitor, he told his lordship, he had, he believed, mistaken his way. 'Not now I have found Mr. Marvell,' replied the Lord Danby. He then assured him he was expressly sent to him from the king, and his message was to know what his majesty could do to serve him? 'It is not in his majesty's power to serve me, my lord' answered Mr. Marvell, jocularly; but the lord treasurer making a serious affair of it, he told him that he full well knew the nature of courts, having been in many, and that whoever is distinguished by the favour of the prince is always expected to vote in his interest. Lord Danby told him that his majesty, from the just sense he had of his merit alone, desired to know whether there was any place at court he could be pleased with? Mr. Marvell replied, with the utmost steadiness, that he could not with honour accept the offer, since if he did, he must either be ungrateful to the king in voting against him, or false to his country in giving in to the measures of the court. The only favour which he begged therefore of his majesty was, that he would esteem him as dutiful a subject as any he had, and acting more truly in his proper interest while thus he refused his offers than he could possibly do should he accept them. The lord treasurer finding his solicitations to be quite fruitless, and that no arguments could prevail on him to accept any post under the government, told him the king had ordered him a thousand pounds, which my lord hoped he would receive till he could think what further to ask of his majesty. But Mr. Marvell continued equally inflexible to this temptation, and rejected the money with the same steadfastness of mind with which he had refused the proffer of a place, though he was at that instant so straitened for walls of cash that he was obliged, as soon as Lord Danby took his leave, to send to a friend to borrow a guinea; so far did the love of public good overrule all sense of private interest in his honest heart.
The Earl of Stair was as much celebrated for his patriotism, as for his polite accomplishments, generosity, and military talents. When all his offices and honours were taken from him by Sir Robert Walpole for voting in parliament against the excise scheme, he retired to Scotland, and put his estate into the hands of trustees, to pay bills drawn by him in his magnificent embassy to Paris, which administration had refused to accept; reserving only a hundred pounds a month for himself During this period, he was often seen holding the plough three or four hours at a time. Yet on receiving visits of ceremony, he could put on the great man and the great style of living, for he was fond of adorning a fine person with a graceful dress, and two French horns and a French cook had refused to quit his service when he retired.
When the messenger brought the king's letter for him to take the command of the army, he had only ten pounds in the house. He sent expresses for the gentlemen of his own family, showed the king's letter, and desired them to find money to carry him to London. They asked how much he wanted, and when they should bring it; his answer was, 'The more the better, and the sooner the better.' They brought him three thousand guineas. The circumstance came to the king's ears, who expressed to his ministers the uneasiness he felt at Lord Stair's difficulties in money matters. One proposed that the king should make him a present of a sum of money when he arrived. Another said, Lord Stair was so high spirited, that if he was offered money, he would run back to his own country, and they should lose their general. A third suggested, that to save his delicacy the king should give him six commissions of cornets to dispose of, which, at that time, sold for a thousand pounds a piece. The king liked this idea best, and gave the commissions blank to Lord Stair, saying, they were intended to pay for his journey and equipage. But in going from court to his own house, he gave all the six away.
The best princes are apt to forget their obligations to their best subjects, especially when they dare to oppose their high will. The Earl of Stair had spoken and voted, as he thought at least, for the good of his country against the measures of the court and ministry. Queen Caroline, the next time she saw him at court after his obnoxious behaviour in the House of Lords, told his lordship that she was sorry he went out of his proper sphere. 'He was a good fellow.' she owned, 'but wished he would not dabble in politics.' 'Madam,' said the earl, 'if I had not some years ago meddled in political matters, I should never have had the honour to see your majesty at St. James's.'
Soon after William the Third had been raised to the throne of England, a French ship belonging to the fleet of Admiral Tourville took prisoner an honest Sussex fisherman. The admiral was then preparing to make a descent upon England in favour of King James; and intending to land in Sussex
he was earnest to know how the people of that county stood affected to the government. He ordered the fisherman upon deck, and began himself to question him how he and his neighbours loved King James, and how the Prince of Orange, or King William as you call him, said the admiral, and how they were affected to the government. The fisherman stared, and said, 'that he never had seen either of the gentlefolks whom his honour was pleased to mention, in his life; that, mayhap,
they were very civil persons: and he had no ill-will to either; God bless them both: as to matters of government, how should he know anything of them, for he could neither read nor write?' The admiral continued to question him, but without effect; for he found the fellow grossly ignorant of all public transactions. At last, 'Come, come,' says the admiral, 'you are a good likely fellow, and as you. are so very indifferent about all parties, you can have no objection to carrying a musket in my ship.' 'What? carry a musket to fight against my country!' cried out the fellow; 'indeed, your honour must excuse me, you shall put me to a thousand deaths before I fight against my country.'
When Procopius usurped the imperial purple, Arbetio, a respectable veteran of the great Constantine, who had been distinguished by the honours of the consulship, was persuaded to leave his retirement, and once more to conduct an army to the field. In the heat of action, calmly taking off his helmet, he showed his grey hairs and venerable countenance, and saluting the soldiers of Procopius by the endearing names of children and companions, exhorted them no longer to support the desperate cause of a contemptible tyrant, but to follow their old commander, who had so often led them to honour and victory. In the two engagements of Thyatira, and Naconia, Procopius was deserted by his troops, and after wandering some time among the woods and mountains of Phrygia, he was betrayed by his desponding followers, conducted to the imperial camp, and immediately beheaded.
When the brave Sir George Rooke was making his will, some friends who were present expressed their surprise that he had not more to leave. 'Why,' said the worthy man 'I do not leave much, but what I do leave was honestly acquired, for it never cost a sailor a tear, nor my country a farthing.'
On one of those occasions when that intrepid reformer, John Knox, took the liberty of lecturing Queen Mary from the pulpit, her majesty indignantly exclaimed, 'What have ye to do with my marriage? Or what are you in this commonwealth?' 'A subject born within the same, madam,' replied the reformer, piqued by the last question, and the contemptuous tone in which it was proposed.
'And albeit I be neither earl, lord, nor baron in It, yet has God made me (how abject that ever I be in your eyes) a profitable member within the same. Yea, madam, to me it appertains no less to forewarn of such things as may hurt it, if I foresee them, than it cloth to any of the nobility; for both my vocation and conscience require plainness of me. And therefore, madam, to yourself I say that which I speak in public place: whensoever the nobility of this realm shall consent that ye be subject to an unfaithful husband, they do as much as in them lieth to renounce Christ, to banish his truth from them, to betray the freedom of this realm, and perchance it shall in the end do small comfort to yourself.'
In the reign of Charles I. the fees of Sir Henry Vane's office as treasurer of the navy, though but fourpence in the pound, by reason of the Dutch war amounted to £30,000 per annum. Of this circumstance he had the magnanimity to acquaint the parliament; and observing that such profit was a shameful robbery of the public, offered to give up his patent, which he had obtained from Charles I., and to accept in lieu, for an agent he had bred up to the business, a salary of £200 a year. The parliament readily assented to the proposal; and as a reward for his public virtue settled on Sir Henry an annuity of £1,200. How many are there to whom, in these critical and trying times, we might well say, 'Go ye and do likewise?'
Origin of the Order of Christian Charity.
Henry III. of France passing near the castle of Chamont, stopped and dined there. In the court yard and gardens he was surprised to see several men who wanted either a leg or an arm. 'Sire,' said the host, William Pot, a knight of Rhodes, 'a merchant who thought himself under great obligations to my father, died three years ago; having none but distant relations, he left me by his will, 600,000 livres; I have appropriated this fund, and the interest of this sum, to the nourishment and support of fifteen soldiers born on my estate, and whom their wounds have disabled from serving your majesty.' This foundation of the Knight of Rhodes, gave Henry III. the idea of an order of Christian charity for poor officers and soldiers maimed in war. The troubles which harassed the kingdom, prevented this establishment from being supported, and it sunk again after the death of Henry the Fourth, who had resumed the design in 1605. The creation of the palace of Mars with magnificence, and on a solid foundation, was reserved for Louis the Fourteenth.
The Duke of Wirtemberg dining in company with some sovereign princes and petty German potentates, the conversation turned upon their different forces and powers. After hearing all their pretensions, the duke said:
'I do not envy any one of you that power which God has given you, but there IS one thing of which I can boast, which is, that in my little state, I can walk at all hours alone, and in security. I ramble among the woods, I lie down to sleep under some trees unconcerned, for I fear neither the sword of a robber nor of an injured subject. Which of the crowned heads of Europe can say the same?'
James II. in his Autobiography, relates, that 'it having been proposed and solicited by the Lord Roberts, Lord Ashley Cooper, and others, that by the king's declaration, a toleration should be granted to tender consciences, in pursuance of, and grounded on, the declaration of Breda; it was resolved by his majesty, in a private council held by him in the chancellor's (Lord Clarendon's) lodgings at Worcester House, that a declaration to that purpose should be brought into the House of Lords, the Duke of York (afterwards James II. ) being also very much for it. But when that business afterwards came to be debated before the Lords, the chancellor spoke violently against it; and being seconded by the bishops and others of the zealous Church of England men, it was laid aside, which did not a little cool the king's warm heart towards the chancellor.' What an instructive lesson! Had that declaration of liberty of conscience which Charles II. and his brother so earnestly wished for, been adopted, it would have been the commencement of a reform, which might have saved Clarendon from banishment, and the house of his royal master from downfall. The history of England might not then have been illustrated by a glorious, because necessary, revolution.
At the time that the treasury of Poland was exhausted, the city of Warsaw drained of its last ducat, the provinces laid waste, and every means of raising a supply seemed impracticable, the council, hopeless of devising any expedient for even a temporary succour, met in his majesty's cabinet, to consult about obtaining resources. The debate was as desponding as their situation, until Thaddeus Sobieski, who had hitherto been a silent observer, rose from hi, seat. He advanced towards Stanislaus, and taking from his neck, and other parts of his person, those magnificent jewels which it was customary to wear in the presence of the king, he knelt down, and laying them at the feet of his majesty, said, in a suppressed voice, 'These are trifles, but such as they are and all of the like kind which I possess, I beseech your majesty to appropriate to the public service.'
'Noble young man!' cried the king, raising him from the ground, 'you have indeed taught me a lesson; I accept these jewels with gratitude. Here,' said he, turning to the treasurer, 'put them into the national fund, and let them be followed by my own, with my plate, which, I desire, may be instantly sent to the mint. One half of It the army shall have, the other we must expend in giving some little support to the surviving families of the brave men who have fallen in our defence.'
The palatine readily united with his grandson, in the surrender of all their personal property, for the benefit of their country, and according to their example, the treasury was soon filled with gratuities from the nobles which enabled the army to march out, newly equipped, and in high spirits.
A Corsican gentleman who had been taken prisoner by the Genoese, was thrown into a dark dungeon where he was chained to the ground. While he was in this dismal situation, the Genoese sent a message to him, that if he would accept of a commission in their service, he might have it. 'No,' said he 'were I to accept your offer, it would be with a determined purpose to take the first opportunity of returning to the service of my country. But I would not have my countrymen even suspect that I could be one moment unfaithful.'
When the French armies entered Switzerland, at the commencement of the revolution, Aloys Reding resumed the sword in favour of his country, and performed many splendid actions. But the armies of his enemies were too numerous, and treachery and cowardice thinned his own ranks. At length the time arrived which was to decide the issue of the contest. Certain death appeared to await the whole band of heroic Swiss. On the sublime heights of Morgarten, Reding appeared at the head of his troops. Morgarten had been a theatre for the performance of great actions, and calling to mind the heroic achievements of ancient times, the brave general thus addressed his soldiers. 'Comrades and fellow citizens! the decisive moment is arrived. Surrounded by enemies, and deserted by our friends, it only remains to know if we will courageously Imitate the example formerly set by our ancestors among these magnificent mountains; indeed upon the spot on which we now stand. An almost instant death awaits us. If any one fear, let him retire, we will not reproach him; but let us not impose upon each other at this solemn hour. I would rather have a hundred men firm and steadfast in their duty, than a large army which, by flight, might occasion confusion; or by precipitous retreat, immolate the brave men who would still defend themselves. As to myself, I promise not to abandon you, even in the greatest danger. Death and no retreat! If you participate in my resolution, let two men come out of your ranks, and swear to me, in your name, that you will be faithful to your promises.'
When the chieftain had finished his address, his soldiers, who had been leaning on their arms, and listening in reverential silence, distantly hailed its conclusion with loud shouts, of 'we will never desert you;' 'we will never abandon you,' 'we will share your fate, whatever it may be.' Two men then moved out of each rank, as Reding had desired; and giving their hands to their chief, confirmed the oath their comrades had taken. This treaty of alliance between the chief and his soldiers was sworn in open day, and in one of the sublimest scenes in all Switzerland; a treaty which, as the historian Zochockle observes, bears marks of patriarchal manners worthy the simplicity of the golden age. These brave men fought and bled with the resolution of heroes, and the enthusiasm of patriots; but fate having for a time decreed the subjugation of their country, they fought therefore in yam.
When Louis XIV. after his momentary reconciliation to his people, went to the Hotel de Ville to receive the keys of Paris, M. Bailly, the new mayor, addressed his majesty in a speech which, commenced with the following piquant observation: 'Sire, I present your majesty with the keys of the good city of Paris. They are the same which were presented to Henry IV. He reconquered his people, now it is the people who have reconquered their king.'
On the 15th of July, 1789, when the unfortunate Louis XVI. paid an unexpected visit to the States General of France, the clergy, nobility, and commons, taking hold of each other's hands, formed a semi-circle around his majesty, and conducted him to the palace, crying out, 'Il ne lui faut pas d'autres gardes des corps.'
In the memorable war against Russia in 1812, the news of the entrance of the French into Smolensko, arrived during the conferences of the Prince of Sweden with the Emperor of Russia; and it was there that Alexander contracted the engagement with himself and the Prince Royal, his ally, never to sign a treaty of peace. 'Should Petersburg be taken' said he, 'I will retire into Siberia. I will there resume our ancient customs; and like our long-bearded ancestors, we will return anew to conquer the empire.' 'This resolution will liberate Europe,' exclaimed the Prince Royal: and his prediction was accomplished.
In the year 1710, the Danish fleet under the command of Admiral Gyldenlseve, was sent to the Baltic in pursuit of a Swedish fleet: but in consequence of the sudden sickness of his crew, he found it necessary to sail for Kioege Bay, and secure a defensive position.
The Swedish admiral having received intelligence of the calamity, hastened to take advantage of it. He appeared off the bay, and engaged, but did not conquer the fleet.
During the engagement, one of the Danish line of battle ships, the Danbrog, took fire; nor could all their efforts to extinguish the flames avail. Captain Hvitfeldt saw one ray of hope which, at the moment, promised safety to himself and his crew; it was to cut his cables and drive ashore; there was, however, danger to be apprehended if the wind should change, that the vessel might drive among the Danish fleet, and thus endanger both the shipping and the town. Of the two evils, Hvitfeldt chose the least. He gave positive orders that the cables should not be cut; and then sent his officers among the crew, to ask them if it would not be more glorious to pursue the destruction of the enemy while the Danbrog existed, than by an attempt merely to save themselves, endanger the lives of thousands of their countrymen?
The sailors answered the noble proposal of their gallant captain by the most cordial cheers. Hvitfeldt then sent six men on board the admiral to inform him of their determination, and to bid their country farewell. In a few minutes the flames reached the magazine, explosion followed, and the whole crew perished in one of the most patriotic acts of self devotion ever recorded.
The town of Frederikshald was attacked by Charles the Twelfth, during his invasion of Norway in 1716, and made a most vigorous resistance. The citizens defended the town from street to street, and house to house; but the superiority of the Swedes prevailed, and the town was taken.
Although Charles was thus become master of the town, yet the inhabitants refused to acknowledge his authority. Some of them retired to the fort, and others went on board the praam they had constructed, or hid themselves in the mountains. From all quarters a constant fire was kept up on the town, especially from the fort, to expel the enemy. A few hours after the surrender of the town, Charles sent a trumpeter to the fort, to solicit a truce, but he was sent back with the following answer: 'The King of Sweden being an uninvited guest, it is our duty to send him whence he came.' The fidelity with which they kept their promise, was soon evident to
Charles; for when they found it impossible to dislodge the enemy by their cannon, they desperately set fire to the town. The citizens eagerly hastened to fire their own houses, while the enemy in vain sought to extinguish the increasing flames. The scene of horror was considerably augmented by the fire of the artillery from the fort and the praam.
Charles, whom nature had endowed with an invincible spirit, strengthened by a familiarity with danger, stood appalled with this extraordinary spectacle, and left the town that very day,
When Edward the Third, after the battle of Cressy, laid siege to Calais, the citizens under the command of Count Vienne, the governor, made an admirable defence. Day after day the English effected many a breach, which they expected to storm by break of day; but when morning appeared, they beheld new ramparts raised nightly, erected out of the ruins which the previous day had made. France had now put her sickle into her second harvest since Edward, with his victorious army, sat clown before the town. The eyes of all Europe were intent on the issue. The English made their approaches and attacks without remission, but the citizens were as obstinate in repelling all their efforts. At length famine did more for Edward than arms. After the citizens had devoured the lean carcases of their half-starved cattle, they tore up old foundations and rubbish, in search of vermin; they fed on boiled leather and the weeds of exhausted gardens, and a morsel of damaged corn was accounted matter of luxury. In this extremity they resolved to attempt the enemy's camp. They boldly sallied forth; the English joined battle, and after a long and desperate engagement, Count Vienne was taken prisoner; and the citizens who survived the slaughter retired within their gates.
The command now devolved on Eustace St. Plerre, the mayor of the town, a man of humble birth, but of the most exalted virtue; Eustace soon found himself under the necessity of capitulating, and offered to deliver the city up to Edward, with all the wealth and possessions of the citizens, provided they might be permitted to depart with life and liberty. As Edward had long expected to ascend the throne of France, he was exasperated against these people, whose sole velour had so long defeated his warmest hopes; he, therefore, determined to take an exemplary revenge. He answered by Sir Walter Mauny that they all deserved capital punishment, as obstinate traitors to him, their true and lawful sovereign; that, however, in his wonted clemency, he consented to pardon the bulk of the plebeians, provided they would deliver up to him six of their principal citizens, with halters about their necks as victims of due atonement for that spirit of rebellion with which they had inflamed the common people. All the remains of this desolate city were convened in the great square; and like men arraigned at a tribunal from whence there was no appeal, expected, with throbbing hearts, the sentence of their conqueror. When Sir Walter had declared his message, consternation and dismay were impressed on every face, each looked upon death as his own inevitable lot; for how should they desire to be saved at the price proposed? Whom had they to deliver up, save parents, brothers, kindred, or valiant neighbours, who had so often exposed their lives in their defence? To a long and dead silence, deep sighs and groans succeeded; till Eustace St. Pierre, ascending a little eminence, thus addressed the assembly:
'My friends and fellow citizens, you see the condition to which we are reduced, we must either submit to the terms of our cruel and ensnaring conqueror, or yield up our tender infants, our wives, and chaste daughters to the ferocity of the soldiery. We well know what the tyrant intends by his specious offers of mercy. It does not satiate his vengeance to make us merely miserable, he would make us criminal; he would make us contemptible; he will grant us life on no condition save that of being unworthy of it. Look about you, my friends, and fix your eyes on the persons whom you wish to deliver up as the victims of your own safety. Which of these would you appoint to the rack, the axe, or the halter? Is there any here who has not watched for you, who has not fought for you, who has not bled for you? Who, through the length of this inveterate siege, has not suffered fatigues and miseries a thousand times worse than death, that you and yours might survive to days of peace and prosperity? Is it your preservers, then, whom you would destine to destruction? You will not, you cannot do it. Justice, honour, humanity, make such a treason impossible. Where then is our resource? Is there any expedient left, whereby we may avoid guilt and infamy on one hand, or the desolation and horrors of a sacked city on the other? There is, my friends there is one expedient left, a gracious, an excellent, a god-like expedient! Is there any here to whom virtue is dearer than life? let him offer himself an oblation for the safety of his people! he shall not fail of a blessed approbation from that Power, who offered up his only Son for the salvation of mankind.'
He spoke, but a universal silence ensued. Each man looked around for the example of that virtue and magnanimity in others, which all wished to approve in themselves, though they wanted the resolution. At length St. Pierre resumed:-
'It had been base in me, my fellow-citizens to promote any matter of danger to others which I myself had not been willing to undergo in my own person. But I held it ungenerous to deprive any man of that preference and estimation which might attend a first offer on so signal an occasion, for I doubt not but there are many here as ready, nay, more zealous for this martyrdom, than I can be, however modesty and the fear of imputed ostentation may withhold them from being foremost in exhibiting their merits. Indeed, the station to which the captivity of Count Vienne has unhappily raised me, imports a right to be the first in giving my life for your sakes. I give it freely, I give it cheerfully: who comes next?' 'Your son!' exclaimed a youth, not yet come to maturity. 'Ah, my child!' cried St. Pierre, 'I am then twice sacrificed. But no, I have rather begotten thee a second time. Thy years are few, but full, my son: the victim of virtue has reached the utmost purpose and goal of mortality. Who next, my friends? This is the hour of heroes.' 'Your kinsman!' cried John de Aire. 'Your kinsman!' cried James Wissant. 'Your kinsman!' cried Peter Wissant. 'Ah!' exclaimed Sir Walter Mauny, bursting into tears, 'why was I not a citizen of Calais?'
The sixth victim was still wanting, but was quickly supplied by lot, from numbers who were now emulous of so ennobling an example.
The keys of the city were then delivered to Sir Walter. He then took the six prisoners into his custody. He ordered the gates to be opened, and gave charge to his attendants to conduct the remaining citizens, with their families, through the camp of the English.
Before they departed, however, they desired permission to take their last adieu of their deliverers. What a parting! what a scene! They crowded with their wives and children about St. Pierre and his fellow-prisoners. They embraced; they clung around; they fell prostrate before them. They groaned; they wept aloud; and the joint clamour of their mourning passed the gates of the city, and was heard throughout the camp.
At length, St. Pierre and his fellow victims appeared under the conduct of Sir Walter and his guard. All the tents of the English were instantly emptied. The soldiers poured from all parts, and arranged themselves on each side to behold, to contemplate, to admire this little band of patriots as they passed. They murmured their applause of that virtue which they could not but revere, even in enemies; and they regarded those ropes which they had voluntarily assumed about their necks, as ensigns greater in dignity than that of the British Garter.
To the eternal honour of Philippa, the Queen of Edward, through her intercession, the lives of these virtuous citizens were spared. [See Anecdotes of Humanity.]
The town of Nyekoebing, doomed to the flames by Charles Gustavus, King of Sweden, in consequence of the inhabitants being unable to pay the heavy contributions levied upon them, was preserved by the bold and patriotic conduct of the rector, the Rev. Mr. Jessen.
Sunday was the day appointed by the enemy for carrying into execution their dreadful purpose; and the impending danger naturally afforded a most affecting subject for the clergyman's discourse. He expatiated on the miserable fate to which he and his fellow citizens were doomed, and pointed out the only source of consolation in religion. Perceiving some Swedes of rank in the lower part of the church, he raised his voice, and eloquently animadverted on cruelty and oppression.
The worthy minister had scarcely entered his house after the service of the morning, when he received a message from Charles Gustavus, who had been at church, signifying his Swedish majesty's intention of dining with with trim. The clergyman still retaining sparks of that warmth with which he had pleaded the cause of his countrymen, instantly returned the following answer: 'Sire, my dinner consists in peas-soup and pork; it is all your majesty's soldiers have left me; and such fare being too mean for a king, I most humbly beg to decline the honour your majesty most graciously intended me.'
The king, however, would not be refused, and sent another messenger, announcing his approach. At table, Mr. Jessen turned the conversation on the distressed inhabitants, and exerted all his eloquence to move the Swedish monarch in their behalf, until, at last, the king assured him that he would spare the town. Orders were issued accordingly, and the more effectually to prevent the inhabitants from sustaining injury, Charles Gustavus ordered a guard for their protection.
This act of the patriotic Jessen is recorded by a portrait placed in the town-hall at Nyekoebing. It represents a venerable man, whose expressive features give assurance of the eloquent and persevering zeal with which he succeeded in personally assuaging the anger of a warlike king, and averting a general calamity.
During the seven years' war the exertions of the Prussians at some critical periods to support the sinking fortunes of their enterprising monarch, were of a nature truly astonishing; but they were far outdone by the public sacrifices which were voluntarily made by individuals to repel the invasion of the French in 1813, An anecdote of a Silesian girl is recorded, which serves in a striking manner to show the general feeling which pervaded the country. Whilst her neighbours and family were contributing in different ways to the expenses of the war, she was for some time in the greatest distress at her inability to manifest her patriotism, as she possessed nothing which she could dispose of for that purpose. At length the idea struck her that her hair, which was of great beauty, and the pride of her parents, might be of some value; and she accordingly set off one morning privately for Breslau, and disposed of her beautiful tresses for a couple of dollars. The hairdresser, however, with whom she had negociated the bargain, being touched with the girl's conduct, reserved his purchase for the manufacture of bracelets and other ornaments; and as the story became public, he in the end sold so many, that he was enabled by this fair maiden's locks alone) to subscribe a hundred dollars to the exigencies of the state.
When Charles Gustavus laid siege a second time to Copenhagen, the city was very ill prepared for defence. The fortifications were in many places decayed, there was no supply of provisions, and the garrison scarcely amounted to a thousand men. The sudden attack of the Swedes prevented any reinforcement reaching the city, either by sea or land. Frederick the Third sued for peace; but the King of Sweden replied, "I will explain the cause of the war when I have conquered Denmark." A general terror now prevailed in the Danish court, some members of which entreated the king to consult his own safety, by escaping to Norway or Holland. "No," said he, "I am resolved to perish or conquer in my own nest. I shall cease to value life, when my kingdom is trampled upon by my enemies."
The king then ordered the drums to beat to arms throughout the city, and issued the following proclamation. "His majesty confiding in the unanimity and valour of all true Danes and Norwegians, and firmly persuaded that nothing will be left undone by them which can in any degree tend to the delivery of their country, declares to all such persons as may feel reluctant to partake the dangers of the contest, that they are free to leave the city, while it is yet time, and not be an encumbrance to those who are determined to stand or fall with our royal self."
Such a declaration from the king, could not fail to inspire all classes with hope and confidence, and the brave Frederick soon found in every subject a hero and a patriot. The city, which a few hours before was without troops, suddenly displayed as many warriors as could be furnished with arms. These were divided into four classes, the nobility, the clergy, the citizens, and the soldiery. Their hearts beat with patriotic fire, and every individual longed for an opportunity of hurling death and destruction on the enemy.
The first object was to restore order on the ramparts; all lent a willing hand to this essential duty; even women rivalled each other in supplying materials. The fortifications being thus repaired, the suburbs were set on fire in the presence of the Swedish army.
Charles opened his trenches, while his fleet bombarded the city; but all in vain. When any part of the town was on fire, the citizens hastened to extinguish it, and whenever the Swedes showed any intention of scaling the ramparts, they met with a most vigorous resistance; the king sharing every danger with his subjects, and by his presence and example encouraging them to persevere. Thus the first month of the siege passed amidst a succession of calamities, fears, and expectations; but the fall of Cronborg, and the delay of the Dutch fleet, which had been long expected, threw a momentary gloom over the city, though an unconquerable spirit still animated every soul. Opulent individuals applied their wealth to the relief of the poor; while the king sold many of his valuables, and pledged other parts of his property, to obtain money, which he distributed among the necessitous.
When the siege had continued three months, during which no impression whatever was made on the city, which proudly mocked the efforts, and defied the rage of the Swedish monarch, the Dutch fleet entered the Sound; and after fighting its way into port, brought a vast supply of men and provisions to the besieged city.
The sea was soon after frozen over, and every preparation was made by the Swedes for storming the city, which they perpetually harassed. The guards in the city were doubled; persons were employed in breaking the ice, and every individual was on the alert by day and by night, ready for the impending moment. The men went to work as soon as they were relieved from guard, and mounted guard when they left off work.
At length the important night arrived. The Swedes commenced the assault the utmost fury, and continued to storm the town the whole night. A few succeeded in scaling the ramparts; but they had to contend with men resolved to bury themselves in the ruins of their city, rather than be subdued. The Swedes, after sustaining a great loss of men, and some of their best officers, were compelled to retreat, nor did they ever attempt to renew the attack.
A short time before the storming took place the English ambassador advised Frederick to sue for peace on any terms; but the king replied, in a dignified tone, "I will beg peace from none, I am accustomed to look danger in the face. Charles may come when he pleases, but he may rest assured he will meet with men who know how to give him a proper reception.' He then mounted his horse, and rode about encouraging his brethren in arms, assuring them that he would watch and fight for them to the last. He kept his word, for he continued on horseback during the storming, and was always where the assault was the fiercest.
Though it perhaps can scarcely be said of Brutus, that he was 'the noblest Roman of them all,' yet his inflexible regard to justice and to liberty are entitled to the highest admiration; and perhaps of all the distinguished personages of antiquity, he best deserves to tee considered as the model of a virtuous citizen. According to modern manners, when assassination under any circumstance is strongly and justly reprobated, the death of Caesar was a crime which no redeeming virtues of Brutus could atone for; but tyrannicide was viewed by the Romans in a very different light from what it appears at present; and it is not by the ideas of our own times that we are to judge of the heroes of antiquity. It is said that Brutus was guilty of the highest ingratitude by killing Caesar, who had been his benefactor; but in the opinion of the ancients, this circumstance only rendered his act the more glorious; since by disregarding favours to himself, he showed the greater attachment to his country. How clearly has Shakspeare drawn the line between Brutus' friendship for Caesar, and his love for his country. 'If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's, to him I say that Brutus' love for Caesar was no less than his. If, then, that friend demand why Brutes rose against Caesar, this is my answer: Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more."
The celebrated letter which Brutus wrote to Cicero, on his having interceded for his pardon with Octavius, perfectly marks his character, and breathes the purest principles of true patriotism. 'I have read,' he says, 'a part of your letter which you sent to Octavius, transmitted to me by Atticus. Your zeal and concern for my safety gave me no new pleasure: for it is not only common, but our daily news, to hear something which you have said or done with your usual fidelity, in the support of my honour and dignity. Yet that same part of your letter affected me with the most sensible grief which my mind could possibly receive. For you compliment him so highly for his services to the republic, and in a strain so suppliant and abject, that - What shall I say? - I am ashamed of the wretched state to which we are reduced - yet it must be said, - you recommend my safety to him; (to which, what death is not preferable?) and plainly show, that our servitude is not yet abolished, but our master only changed. Recollect your words, and deny them, if you dare, to be the prayers of a slave to his king. There is one thing, you say, which is required and expected from him, that he will allow those citizens to live in safety, of whom all honest men, and the people of Rome, think well. But what, if he will not allow it? Shall we be the less safe for that? It is better not to be safe, than to be made safe by him. For my part, I can never think all the gods so averse to the safety of the Roman people, that Octavius must be entreated for the life of any one citizen, I will not say for the deliverers of the world. It is a pleasure to talk thus magnificently, and it becomes me surely-to do so to those who know not either what to fear for any one, or what to ask of any one. Can you, Cicero, allow Octavius to have this power, and be still a friend to him? Or, if you have any value for me, would you wish to see me at Rome, when I must first be recommended to the boy, that he would permit me to be there? What reason have you to thank him, if you think it necessary to beg of him that he would grant and suffer us to live in safety? Or is it to be reckoned a kindness, that he chooses to see himself, rather than Antony, in the condition to have such petitions addressed to him? One may supplicate, indeed, the successor, but never the avenger of another's tyranny, that those who have deserved well of the republic may be safe. It was this weakness and despair, not more blameable, indeed, in you than in all, which first pushed on Caesar to the ambition of reigning; and after his death determined Antony to attempt to seize his place; and has raised this boy so high, that you judge it necessary to address your prayers to him, for the preservation of men of our rank; and that we can be saved only by the mercy of one, scarce yet a man. What reason,' he continues, 'had we to rejoice at Caesar's death, if after it we were still to continue slaves? Let other people be as indolent as they please; but, as for me, may the gods deprive me sooner of everything, than the resolution of not allowing to the heir of him whom I killed, what I did not allow to the man himself, nor would suffer even in my father were he living, to have more power than the laws and the senate. How can you imagine that the rest of you can ever be free under him, without whose leave there is no place for us in that city? Or how is it possible for you, after all, to obtain what you ask? You beg, that he would allow us to be safe. Shall we then receive safety, think you, when we have received life from him? But how can we re ceive it, if we first part with our honour and our liberty? Do you fancy, that to live at Rome is to be safe? It is the thing, and not the place, which must secure that to me: for I was never safe while Caesar lived, till I had resolved with myself upon that attempt: nor can I in any place live in exile, as long as I hate slavery and insults above all other evils. Is not this to fall back again into the same state of darkness, when he who has taken upon him the name of the tyrant (though in the cities of Greece, when the tyrants are de stroyed, their children also perish with them) must be entreated, that the avengers of ty ranny may be safe? Can I ever wish to see that city, or think it a city, which has not the power even to accept liberty, when offered, and even forced upon it, but has more dread of the name of their late king, in the person of a boy, than confidence in itself; though it has seen that very king taken off in the utmost height of power, by the virtue of a few? Do not recommend me, therefore, any more to your Caesar, nor yourself indeed, if you will hearken to me. You set a very high value on the few years that remain to you at that age, if for the sake of them you can supplicate that boy. But take care, after all, lest what you have done, and are doing, so laudably against Antony, instead of being applauded as the effect of a great mind, be not charged to the account of your fear. For if you are pleased with Octavius, so as to petition him for our safety, you will be thought not to have disliked a master, but to have wanted a more friendly one. As for myself, may I never re turn to you, if I ever either supplicate any man, or do not restrain those who are disposed to do it, from supplicating for themselves: or I will remove to a distance from all such who can be slaves, and fancy myself at Rome, wherever I can live free, and shall pity you, whose fond desire of life neither age nor honours, nor the example of other men's virtue, can moderate. For my part, I shall ever think myself happy, as long as I can please myself with the persuasion, that my piety has been fully requited. For what can be happier than for a man, conscious of virtuous acts, and content with liberty, to despise all human affairs? Yet I will never yield to those who are fond of yielding, or be conquered by those who are willing to be conquered themselves but will first try and attempt everything, nor ever desist from dragging our city out of slavery. If such fortune attends me as I ought to have, we shall all rejoice: if not, I shall rejoice myself. For how can this life be spent better, than in thoughts and acts which tend to make my countrymen free? I beg and beseech you, Cicero, not to desert the cause through weariness or diffidence. In repelling present evils, have your eye always on the future, lest they insinuate themselves before you are aware. Consider that the fortitude and the courage with which you delivered the republic when consul, and now again when consular, are nothing without constancy and equability. The case of tried virtue, I own, is harder than of untried: we require services from it as debts, and, if anything disappoints us, we blame with resentment, as if we had been deceived by it. Wherefore, for Cicero to withstand Antony, though it be a part highly commendable, yet, because such a consul seemed, of course, to promise us such a consular, nobody wonders at it. But if the same Cicero, in the case of others, should waver at last in that resolution which he exerted with such firmness and greatness of mind against Antony, he would deprive himself, not only of the hopes of future glory, but forfeit even that which is past: for nothing is great in itself but what flows from the result of our judgment, nor does it become any man, more than you, to love the republic, and to be the patron of liberty; on the account either of your natural talents, or your former acts, or the wishes and expectations of all men. Octavius, therefore, must not be intreated to suffer us to live in safety. Do you rather rouse yourself so far, as to think that city in which you have acted the noblest part, free and flourishing, as long as there are leaders still to the people to resist the designs of traitors.'
A fortunate occurrence gave birth to the wealth, honour, and patriotism of the Bedford family. During the reign of Henry the Seventh, the Archduke of Austria, on his passage from Flanders to Spain, was driven by a violent storm into Weymouth, where he was hospitably received and princely entertained by Sir Thomas Trenchard, whose house was situated upon that coast, until the king should be informed of his arrival. Meanwhile, Mr. Thomas Russell, who lived in that vicinity, because he had travelled abroad, and could speak different languages, was sent for-to converse with the duke, who was so captivated with his intelligence and manners, that he carried him along with him to court, where he warmly recommended him to the king, who instantly made him one of his privy council. By steady steps, and increasing merit, the ancestors of Lord Russell added to their fortune and fame. The patriot William Russell inherited from his ancestors those religious and political principles which are founded upon a regular execution of our ancient constitutional laws - government by parliaments, and trial by juries. Lord Russell was one of those who indicted the Duke of York as a popish recusant, before the grand jury et Westminster; but before they could give judgment, they were dismissed in an irregular manner. Unmoved by this defeat Lord Russell rose in his place in the House and spoke in the following manner: 'Mr. Speaker. Sir, seeing by God's providence and his majesty's favour, we are here assembled to deliberate concerning the great affairs of the nation, I humbly conceive that we ought to begin first with that which is of most consequence to our king and country and to take into consideration how to save the main, before we spend any time about the particulars. Sir, I am of opinion that the life of our king, the safety of our country and the protestant religion, are in great danger from popery; and that either this parliament must suppress the power and growth of popery, or else that popery will soon destroy not only parliament, but all that is near and dear to us.' His lordship accordingly moved that they should take into consideration how to suppress popery, and to prevent a popish successor; and a bill passed the House of Commons to disable James, Duke of York, from inheriting the imperial crown, because he was a papist. This bill Russell carried up to the House of Lords, where it was lost by sixty-three against thirty. On this occasion, Lord Russell is said to have exclaimed with a violence unequal to his nature, 'If my own father had been one of the sixty-three, I should have voted him an enemy to the king and kingdom.'
Upon another occasion, when the king requested a supply, Lord Russell declared, that whenever he should free the house from the danger of a popish successor, and remove from his council and places of trust all those who were in the duke's interest, he should be ready to give all he had in the world, but till then, a vote of money would only have the effect of destroying themselves with their own hands, together with the rights and liberties of their country. With equal steadiness and unabating fortitude, he continued to defend the rights and liberties of his country against the unlawful, unconstitutional, and tyrannical measure of government, till he, at last, fell a martyr in the glorious cause of freedom and of his country.
The diet of the Arabian tribes in Persia is more frugal than that of any other of the inhabitants of that kingdom. It consists chiefly of dates. Some years ago, a woman belonging to one of the Arab families settled at Abusheker, had gone to England with the children of the British resident at that place. When she returned, all crowded around her to hear the report of the country she had visited. She described the roads, the carriages, the horses, the wealth and splendour of the cities, and the highly cultivated state of the country. Her audience were full of envy at the condition of Englishmen, and were on the point of retiring with that impression, when the woman happened to add, that the country she had visited only wanted one thing to make it delightful. 'What is that?' was the enquiry. 'It has not a date tree in it,' said she. 'I never ceased to look for one all the time I was there, but I looked in vain.' The sentiments of the Arabs who listened to her, were in an instant changed by this information. It was no longer envy, but pity, which they felt for men who were condemned to live in a country where there are no date trees.
'Such is the patriot's boast where'er we roam,
His first best country is at home.'
The celebrated answer of our old barons when it was proposed to introduce some part of the Roman laws, 'Nolumus leges Angliae mutare,' is by no means so strongly adverse to innovation, as an institution of Charondas, legislator of Thurium, a city of Magna Grecia. Whoever proposed a new law, was obliged to appear in the Senate House with a rope about his neck, and remain in that situation during the debate. If the law was approved, he was set at liberty: but if it was negatived, he was immediately strangled.
The people of Arragon in the election of their kings used the following form of election: 'We, the free-born inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Arragon, who are equal to you, Don Philip, and something more, elect you to be our king, on condition, that you preserve to us our rights and privileges. If in this you fail, we own you for our king no longer.'
Julian the Apostate was not insensible of the advantages of freedom. He sincerely abhorred the system of Oriental despotism which Diocletian, Constantine, and the patient habits of fourscore years had established in the empire. A motive of superstition prevented the execution of the design which Julian had frequently meditated, of relieving his head from the weight of a costly diadem; but he absolutely refused the title of Dominus, or lord, a word which was grown so familiar to the ears of the Romans, that they no longer remembered its servile and humiliating origin. The office, or rather the name, of consul, was cherished by a prince who contemplated with reverence the ruins of the republic, and the same behaviour which had been assumed by the prudence of Augustus was adopted by Julian from choice and inclination. On the calends of January, at break of day, the new consuls, Mamertinus and Nevitta, hastened to the palace to salute the emperor. As soon as he was informed of their approach, he leaped from his throne, eagerly advanced to meet them, and compelled the blushing magistrates to receive the demonstrations of his affected humility. From the palace they proceeded to the senate. The emperor on foot marched before their litters; and the gazing multitude admired the image of ancient time, or secretly blamed a conduct which, in their eyes, degraded the majesty of the purple.
During the games of the Circus, he had imprudently, or designedly, performed the manumission of a slave in the presence of the consul. The moment he was reminded that he had trespassed on the jurisdiction of another magistrate, he condemned himself to pay a fine of ten pounds of gold, and embraced that public occasion of declaring to the world that he was subject, like the rest of his fellow-citizens, to the laws, and even to the forms, of the republic.
The attention of Julian was extended to every province in his empire; he abolished, by repeated edicts, the unjust and pernicious exemptions which had withdrawn so many idle citizens from the service of their country; and by imposing an equal distribution of public duties, he restored the strength, the splendour, or according to the glowing expression of Libanus, the soul of the expiring cities of his empire. He relieved the distress, and restored the beauty, of the cities of Epirus and Peloponnesus. Athens acknowledged him for her benefactor; Argos, for her deliverer.
Julian sustained adversity with firmness and prosperity with moderation. After an interval of one hundred and twenty years from the death of Alexander Severus, the Romans beheld an emperor who made no distinction between his duties and his pleasures; who laboured to relieve the distress, and to revive the spirit of his subjects; and who endeavoured always to connect authority with merit, and happiness with virtue. Even faction, and religious faction, was constrained to acknowledge the superiority of his genius, in peace as well as in war, and to confess with a sigh, that the apostate Julian was a lover of his country, and that he deserved the empire of the world.
The patriotic zeal of Barneveldt, the celebrated Dutch statesman, inducing him to limit the authority of Maurice, Prince of Orange, the second Stadtholder of Holland, the partisans of that prince falsely accused him of a design to deliver his country into the hands of the Spanish monarch. On this absurd charge, he was tried by twenty-six commissioners deputed from the seven provinces, condemned and beheaded in 1619. His sons, William and Rene, with a view of revenging the death of their father, formed a conspiracy against the usurper, which was discovered. William fled, but Rene was taken and condemned to die, which fatal circumstance has immortalized the memory of his mother, of whom the following anecdote is recorded. She solicited a pardon for Rene; upon which Maurice expressed his surprise, that she should do that for her son which she had refused to do for her husband. To this remark she replied, with indignation, 'I would not ask a pardon for my husband, because he was innocent; I solicit it for my son, because he is guilty.'
A few months before the abdication of James the Second, Lord Chancellor Jeffries, of infamous memory, went to Arundel, in order to influence an election. He took his residence at the castle, and went on the day of election to the Town Hall, where Mr. Peckham, then Mayor of Arundel, held his court. The mayor, on seeing Jeffries, instantly ordered him to withdraw, and in case of refusal, threatened to commit him. 'You,' said he, 'who ought to be the guardian of our laws, and of our sacred constitution, shall not thus audaciously violate them. This is my court, and my jurisdiction is above yours.' Jeffries, who was unwilling to perplex the king's affairs further, retired immediately. The next morning he invited Peckham to breakfast with him, which he accepted; but he had the honesty to refuse a lucrative situation which the-chancellor offered him.
The late Duke of Leinster having a particular friendship for a young banker in Dublin arising from his patriotism and general good character, returned him for one of his boroughs. The banker, on waiting on his Grace to thank him for the honour, received this truly noble declaration. 'Sir, I have returned you for this borough because I think you a good private character, and a man fit to serve your country. I have, however, one condition to make with you in return, which is, that in every parliamentary discussion whatever, you never consider yourself in the least connected with me, or my interests.'
After the battle of Ivry, Henry the Fourth of France being very much in want of money, asked one of his most trusty courtiers where he could procure some The courtier mentioned a rich merchant's wife, who was a zealous royalist. The monarch, in disguise, immediately accompanied his courtier on his visit to the lady, Madame le Clerc, who received them with great hospitality, and congratulated them on the success of the king's arms. 'Alas! madam,' replied the courtier, 'to what purpose are all-our victories. We are in the greatest distress imaginable. His majesty has no money to pay his troops; they threaten to revolt, and join the league. Mayenne will triumph at last.' 'Is it possible?' exclaimed Madame le Clerc: 'but I hope that will not afflict our sovereign, and that he will find new resources in the loyalty of his subjects.' She then quitted the room but soon returned with several bags of gold, which she presented, saying, 'This is all I can do at present. Go and relieve the king from his anxiety; wish him all the success and happiness he deserves, tell him to be confident that he reigns in the hearts of his subjects, and that my life and fortune are and ever will be, at his disposal.'
The king could no longer conceal his incognito. 'Generous woman,' he cried, 'my friend has no occasion to go far to tell his majesty the excellence of your heart, here he stands before you, and is a witness to it Be assured that the favour will be indelibly engraved on the heart of your prince.'
From that time, success attended the king and when he was master of the capital, and safely seated on the throne, he sent for Madame le Clerc, and presenting her to a full and brilliant court, said, 'You see this lady who is a true friend of mine. To her I owe all the successes of my last campaigns. It was she who lent me money to carry on the war, when the troops threatened to abandon me.'
As soon as intelligence was received in Norway, that the Swedes, under Charles Gustavus, had laid siege to Copenhagen Lauritz Undahl, a magistrate at Christiana, collected all his cash and valuables, even to his wife's necklace and other diamonds, and sent them to Holland, for the purchase of fire arms; which, when be obtained, he distributed to a company of artillery raised at his own expense.
At the conclusion of the war, Frederick the Third offered to reimburse the expenses his subjects had incurred in providing for the defence of the country. The patriotic Undahl would not, however, accept of any, recompense. 'I consider it my duty,' said he, 'to devote not only my property, but my life, to the service of my country.'
When Orleans was besieged by the Huns under the command of Attila, in the fifth century, the pastoral diligence of Anianus, a bishop of primitive sanctity, and consummate prudence, exhausted every art of religious policy to support their courage till the arrival of the expected succours. After an obstinate siege, the walls were shaken by the battering rams; the Huns had already occupied the suburbs; and the people who were incapable of bearing arms, lay prostrate in prayer. Anianus, who anxiously counted the days and hours, despatched a trusty messenger to observe from the ramparts the face of the distant country. He returned twice without any intelligence that could inspire hope or comfort; but in his third report he mentioned a small cloud, which he had faintly descried at the extremity of the horizon. 'It is the aid of God!' exclaimed the bishop in a tone of patriotism, joy, and pious confidence; and the whole multitude repeated after him, 'It is the aid of God!' The remote object on which every eye was fixed, became each moment larger and more distinct, the Roman and Gothic banners were gradually perceived and soon discovered, in deep array, the impatient squadrons of AEtius and Theodoric who pressed forwards to the relief of Orleans On their approach, the king of the Huns raised the siege, and sounded a retreat.
On the surrender of Lord Cornwallis in the revolutionary war of America, the crew of the Loyalist, a frigate of twenty-two guns, was immediately conveyed to the Count de Grasse's fleet. Of that fleet, the Ardent, captured off Plymouth, made one, but she was in a very leaky condition. The Count being informed that the carpenter of the Loyalist was a clever fellow, and perfectly acquainted with the chain pump, of which the French were then quite ignorant, ordered him on board the Ville de Paris, and said to him, 'Sir, you are to go on board the Ardent directly, use your utmost skill, and save her from sinking, for which service, you shall have a premium, and the encouragement due to the carpenter of an equal rate in the British navy. To this I pledge my honour; but if you refuse you shall have nothing but bread and water during your captivity.' The tar, surprised at being thus addressed in his own language by the French admiral, boldly answered. 'Noble Count, I am your prisoner; it is in your power to compel me; but never let it be said, that a British sailor forgot his duty to his king and country, and entered voluntarily into the service of the enemy. Your promises are no inducement to me; and your threats shall not force me to injure my country.' To the eternal disgrace of Count de Grasse, he rewarded this noble conduct by wanton severity as long as he had it in his power to inflict it; but on his exchange, Admiral Rodney appointed him carpenter of his own ship and which the Board of Admiralty confirmed.
One of the wealthiest of London's lord mayors, was also the most patriotic This was Sir John Spencer, who filled the civic chair in 1594. In that year, the government required the Bridge House, or city granary, as a store-house for provisions for the navy but this was refused by Sir John Spencer who boldly remonstrating with Lord Burleigh, told them, that in order to provide against a dearth, the Bridge House had been filled with grain from foreign parts for the use of the city, and that therefore 'they could with no convenience spare the same.' Sir John was then told, that 'he should hear more to his dislike' for this refusal. He replied, that if they did procure any letters for the Bridge House, 'he doubted not but to answer them to their lordships' (of a privy council) good acceptance.'
When the queen, intending to take the recorder, Sir John Crooke, into her service, desired the lord mayor to return her the names of the persons intended to be put in nomination for that office, the citizens, alarmed at so extraordinary a proceeding, and fearing it might affect their privileges, nominated only one person, and this act was so ably and firmly vindicated by Sir John Spencer, that the queen never made the alteration she proposed.
In 1782, it was proposed in several counties of England, to raise a subscription in each sufficient to add a ship of the line to the British navy. Among the contributors to this patriotic measure was Nathaniel Bayly, Esq., of Epsom, who sent the sum of one hundred guineas, with the following letter, to Middleton, Esq., the High Sheriff of Suffolk. The letter was dated September 26, 1782:-
'SIR, - After returning you my thanks for the trouble you are taking to procure an adequate subscription in the county of Suffolk for the laudable purpose of adding a ship of the line to the navy of Great Britain, give me leave to beg that you will subscribe a hundred guineas thereto for me. Haying no estate or interest in your county, (more than in common with every Englishman who may think himself, as I do, deeply interested in every place and part of the British empire,) is the reason that I did not offer you my mite sooner, but hearing that the subscription is not yet completed, and hoping that in so liberal a nation there may be many persons disposed to contribute in the same manner, without regard to local interest, particularly in London and other great cities, which have ever been remarkable for their liberality. So that I doubt riot if other subscriptions are set on foot, they will meet with the greatest encouragement in the same way; for I assure you, sir, and hereby pledge myself to give the same sum, not only to each of the twelve counties you have promised, but to every other county and city in which subscriptions shall be opened-for the like good purpose throughout our three kingdoms.
'I have the honour to be, &c.
'NATHANIEL BAYLY.'
The name of Hampden is dear to every English patriot; his love of country was untainted by selfishness; his resistance to authority unstained by crime, he pleaded and remonstrated against the encroachments of power, until pleading and remonstrance were disregarded; and he only resorted to arms when the liberties of his country were so endangered, as to render it criminal to remain any longer passive.
John Hampden was descended from one of the most ancient families in Buckinghamshire. When he had attained his thirtieth year he was chosen to represent his native county in parliament, an event which roused to exertion those principles of virtue and patriotism which seemed latent in his character. He was consulted by the leading members of parliament in all the important points of opposition. It was Hampden's peculiar talent to act powerfully when he seemed most disengaged He made no public figure, however, till 1636, when he became universally known by a solemn trial at the King's Bench, on his refusing to pay the ship-money. He carried himself, as Clarendon tells us, through this whole suit with such singular temper and modesty, that he obtained more credit and advantage by losing it, than the king did service by gaining it. The infamous judgment given by the judges on this cause, only roused the nation to a more serious attention to the conduct and views of the court; and encouraged those men of genius and abilities who laid the grounds for the succeeding revolution, to concert measures how to improve, to an effectual height, the growing discontent.
From this time Hampden soon grew to be one of the most popular men of the nation, and a leading member in the Long Parliament. 'The eyes of all men,' says Clarendon, 'were fixed upon him as the pater patriae; and the pilot that must steer the vessel through the tempests and rocks which threatened it.
NW that he had engaged in the important scheme of abridging the power of the court, and reforming the government of the country, he totally discarded the levities of his youth, and became remarkable for the sobriety and strictness of his manners, which, still retaining his natural vivacity of temper, he embellished with an affable, cheerful, and polished behaviour in the parliament of 1640, an event which had been long and impatiently expected by the people, and to which the indefatigable industry, activity, and abilities of Hampden had in a good measure conduced. He was one of the chief directors of the anti-court party; and especially trusted in the business of watching the king's conduct in Scotland, and preventing the Scots being seduced from the interests of liberty, by the cabals and cajolements of the court. His art of directing the understanding and governing the inclinations of men, being such, in all the transactions between the two nations, he was appointed by the parliament one of the commissioners to treat with that people. When the quarrel between the king and the parliament came to hostilities, he accepted the command of a regiment of foot under the Earl of Essex, and was one of the first who opened the war, by an action at a place called Brill, in Buckinghamshire. As the sagacity and intrepidity of his conduct in the character of a senator had rendered him so much the object of the king's indignation as to be one of the six members marked for particular vengeance, so his activity and bravery in the field, and his wise and spirited counsels on the operations of the wet, rendered him so formidable a rival of Essex, that it was thought, had he lived, his party, who were at this time highly incensed at that general's conduct, would have taken the command from him, and given it to Hampden.
Clarendon has drawn the portrait of this eminent personage; but though marked with those partial lines which distinguished the hand of this historian, it is the testimony of an enemy to virtues possessed only by the foremost rank of men. All the talents and virtues which render private life useful, amiable, and respectable, were united in Hampden, in the highest degree, with those excellencies which guide the jarring opinions of popular counsels to determine points and, whilst he penetrated into the most secret designs of other men, he never discovered more of his own inclinations than was necessary to the purpose in hand. In debate he was so much a master, that, joining the art of Socrates with the graces of Cicero, he fixed his own opinion under the modest guise of desiring to Improve by that of others and, contrary to the nature of disputes, left a pleasing impression, which prejudiced his antagonist in his favour, even when he had not convinced or altered his judgment. His behaviour was so generally uniform, and unaffectedly affable, and his conversation so enlivened by his vivacity, so seasoned by his knowledge and understanding, and so well applied to the genius, humour, and prejudices of those he conversed with, that his talents, to gain popularity, were absolute With qualities of this high nature, he possessed in council penetration and discernment, with a sagacity on which no one could impose, an industry and vigilance which were indefatigable with the entire command of his passions and affections, an advantage which gave him a decided superiority over less regulated minds. Whilst there were any hopes that the administration of the country could be corrected, without the entire overthrow of the constitution, Hampden chose, before other preferment, the superintendence of the prince's mind, aiming to correct the source from whence the happiness or misfortunes of the empire, if the Government continued monarchical, must flow: but the aversion which the king discovered to those regulations which were necessary to secure the freedom of the constitution from any future attempt of the crown, with the schemes he had entered on to punish the authors of reformation, and rescind his concessions, determined the conduct of Hampden. Convinced that Charles's affections and understanding were too corrupt to be trusted with power in any degree, he sought the abolition of monarchy, as the only cure to national grievances, warmly opposing all overtures for treaties, as dangerous snares, or any other expedient than conquest for accommodation.
This virtuous patriot was shot in the shoulder by a brace of bullets on Chalgrove field in the year 1642, and after lingering six days, expired in exquisite pain. The king, on hearing of Hampden being wounded, though he was then in arms against him, immediately sent his own physician to attend him, and expressed his consciousness of his integrity, and the regret he felt at his severe wound.
In such respect is the memory of Hampden still held by his grateful countrymen, that some years ago one of his descendants being deficient in an amount of public money, he was exonerated from the debt due to Government by an Act of Parliament, particularly expressing that it was for the services which his illustrious ancestor had rendered to the country, that this mark of favour was shown to him.
In the rebellion of 1745, a large subscription which was entered into for the support of the government, was filled with unexampled expedition. The Duke of Grafton, congratulating his royal master, George the Second, on such an unequivocal proof of the affections of his subjects, his majesty replied, in his broken English, 'My good lord, my peoples be my wife; though they quarrel with me themselves, they will not suffer others to do it.
Hoen Thong, the Emperor of China, was sitting one day in the gardens of Pekin with his favourite counsellor Ti Chi. They talked of the long glories of the Chinese empire from the beginning of the world to the present era; the excellence of its laws, and the wisdom of its government. 'Ti Chi,' said the emperor, 'what is most to be feared in a government?' 'In my opinion, sire,' replied the counsellor, 'nothing is more to be dreaded than what they call the "Rat in the Statue."' The emperor not understanding the allegory, Ti Chi explained it to him. 'You know sire,' said he, 'that it is a common practice to erect statues to the genius of the place: these statues are of wood, hollow within, and painted without. If a rat gets into one of them, one does not know how to get him out.
One dares not make use of fire, for fear of burning the wood; one cannot dip it in water, for fear of washing off the colours; so that the regard one has for the statue, saves the rat that has got into it. Such, sire, are in every government, those who, without virtue or merit, have gained the favour of their prince. They ruin everything; one sees it, one laments it, but one does not know how to remedy it.'
Sir Jerome Bowes, who was proud of being the guardian of his sovereign's and his country's honour, was sent to Moscow as ambassador from Queen Elizabeth to the Emperor Ian Vasilovich. On entering the presence chamber, he was desired by the emperor to take his seat at ten paces distance, and send to him her majesty's letter and present. Sir Jerome thinking this unreasonable, stepped forward towards the emperor, but was intercepted by the chancellor, who wished to take