{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_47302/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_47302","id":"gutenberg_47302","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47302","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Ancient","Category: History - Other","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","History -- Popular works","World history -- Popular works"],"text":"TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES:\n\n\u2014Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.\n\n\u2014This work is divided into three volumes, all of them available on PG;\n index is on third volume. It has been split replacing every item in\n the volume where they belong. A full version of index has been\n mantained at the end of third volume.\n\n\n\n\n                              HISTORICAL\n\n                               PARALLELS\n\n                           IN THREE  VOLUMES\n\n                                VOL. I.\n\n                                LONDON:\n\n                 CHARLES KNIGHT & Co., LUDGATE STREET.\n\n                                 1846.\n\n\n\n\n                                LONDON:\n                  PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,\n                           STAMFORD STREET.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                             Page\n\n  INTRODUCTION                                                  5\n\n  CHAPTER I.\n\n  Mythic period of Grecian history\u2014Savage state of Greece\n  compared with that of Scandinavia\u2014Anecdotes of Northern\n  warriors\u2014Hercules\u2014Theseus\u2014State of Greece in their time,\n  illustrated by that of England subsequent to the\n  Conquest\u2014Argonautic expedition\u2014Theban war\u2014Story of Don\n  Pedro of Castile\u2014Trojan war                                  11\n\n  CHAPTER II.\n\n  Aristomenes\u2014Hereward le Wake\u2014Wallace                         40\n\n  CHAPTER III.\n\n  Treatment of Prisoners of War\u2014Cr\u0153sus\u2014Roman Triumphs\u2014Sapor\n  and Valerian\u2014Imprisonment of Bajazet\u2014His treatment of the\n  Marshal Boucicaut and his Companions\u2014Changes produced by\n  the advance of Civilization\u2014Effect of Feudal\n  Institutions\u2014Anecdote from Froissart\u2014Conduct of the Black\n  Prince towards the Constable Du Guesclin and the King of\n  France                                                       77\n\n  CHAPTER IV.\n\n  Tyranny of Cambyses, terminating in madness\u2014of\n  Caligula\u2014of the Emperor Paul                                114\n\n  CHAPTER V.\n\n  Early changes in the Athenian constitution\u2014Murder of\n  Cylon\u2014Fatalism\u2014Usurpation of Pisistratus\u2014His\n  policy\u2014Hippias and Hipparchus\u2014Conspiracy of Harmodius\n  and Aristogiton\u2014Expulsion of Hippias\u2014Cosmo de\u2019 Medici,\n  Lorenzo and Giuliano de\u2019 Medici\u2014Conspiracy of the Pazzi     153\n\n  CHAPTER VI.\n\n  Invasion of Scythia by Darius\u2014Destruction of Crassus and\n  his army by the Parthians\u2014Retreat of Antony\u2014Retreat and\n  death of Julian\u2014Retreat from Moscow                         190\n\n  INDEX                                                       239\n\n\n\n\n                         HISTORICAL PARALLELS.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nWorks of history may be divided into two great classes: those which\nselect a single action or a detached period for their subject; and\nthose which follow a nation through the whole or a large portion\nof its existence; and which, embracing a number of such subjects,\ncompensate for giving less minute and accurate information upon each,\nby explaining their relation, and the influence which they have\nexerted upon each other. To the former belong Thucydides, Xenophon,\nand C\u00e6sar; to the latter Diodorus and Livy: or, in English literature,\nwe may take Clarendon and Hume respectively as the representatives\nof these divisions. It is obvious that the method of treating themes\nso different in character, must also be essentially different; that\nfor an historian of the latter class to aim at the particularity\nwhich we expect in the former, would involve something of the same\nabsurdity as if a landscape painter were to give to an extended horizon\nthe distinctness and detail which are proper to his foregrounds or\nto a closely bounded scene. If our curiosity is not satisfied by a\ncomprehensive view, the remedy is to be found by multiplying pictures\nof its most striking parts, not by introducing into one canvas a\nmultitude of objects which must fatigue and confuse the mind, and\nobscure those leading features which ought to stand out in prominent\nrelief. Any one who wished to become acquainted with the nature and\ncharacteristics of a country, which he could not survey personally,\nwould neither confine his inspection to bird\u2019s\u2013eye and panoramic\nviews, nor content himself with a series of detached paintings, though\nrepresenting separately whatever was most worthy of observation: in the\none case his ideas, though perhaps correct, would necessarily be slight\nand superficial; in the other, his knowledge of the parts would never\nenable him to form an accurate judgment of the whole.\n\nValuable, therefore, as is the assistance of those authors who have\ndevoted their talents and learning to epitomizing and rendering\naccessible the story of past ages, it is far from desirable that we\nshould content ourselves with a blind trust in them, without checking\ntheir assertions, and filling up their sketches by a more detailed\nknowledge than it is possible for them to communicate. To apply these\nobservations to the present work, the History of Greece contained\nin the Library of Useful Knowledge necessarily gives a very short\naccount of many things which deserve to be known in detail, both on\naccount of their historical notoriety and for the intrinsic value\nwhich they possess as striking examples of human power, passion, and\nsuffering. Much of the excessive commendation which has been bestowed\nupon ancient virtue and patriotism ought probably to be attributed to\nthe eager interest naturally excited by the revival of learning and\nthe peculiar circumstances under which it took place. The discovery\nof the works of the most celebrated writers of antiquity, whose names\nat least had not been forgotten, must at any time have produced much\ncuriosity and excitement: and peculiarly so when modern literature did\nnot yet possess many names to divide the palm of genius with them.\nBesides this the political circumstances of the Italian states, in\nwhich the new discoveries were at first most successfully and generally\nprosecuted, would give an additional interest and a peculiar bias to\nthe study of ancient literature; for their inhabitants would naturally\nbe disposed, as Italians, to exult in the glories of ancient Italy,\nand as republicans to look for patterns both of polity and of conduct\namong the famous republics of Greece and Rome. A contrary cause, in a\nlater age, and in countries subject to arbitrary power, would probably\nconduce to the continuance of the same feeling, when the prevalent\nsubjection of public opinion made it safer to enforce sentiments of\nfreedom and patriotism under the mask of an overstrained admiration\nfor actions, frequently of very questionable character, done in times\nlong past, than openly to profess the love of republican simplicity and\nliberty, which was willingly left to be inferred. The usual course of\neducation long tended, and in an inferior degree perhaps still tends,\nto cherish the same indiscriminate enthusiasm. The first histories\nput into the hands of children are usually those of Greece and Rome,\ntaken not from the sober and comparatively unprejudiced relations of\nthe earliest authorities, but from Plutarch, and other compilers of a\nlater age, who, living themselves under despotic power, and compelled\nto veil their philosophical aspirations after a better state of polity\nand morals under extravagant praises of a by\u2013gone period of imaginary\nvirtue and disinterestedness, were for the most part ready to warp\ntruth into correspondence with their own views. In such works actions\nare held up to admiration because they are brilliant, without much\ninquiry whether they were justifiable; wanton and unjust aggressions,\nand other crimes of still deeper dye, are glossed over upon some false\nplea of patriotism; or their moral quality is never alluded to, and the\nyoung reader is too much captivated by the splendour of bravery and\ntalent, to remember that the ends to which these gifts are directed\nshould never be forgotten in estimating their claim to applause.[1]\nBut whatever be our opinion touching Grecian and Roman virtue, or the\nmoral character of the most celebrated portions of their history, these\nhave obtained a degree of currency and notoriety which render familiar\nacquaintance with them almost necessary for the full understanding of\nmuch even of modern literature. The object of this work is to supply,\nin part, these details from the original historians, and to compare\nor contrast them with other remarkable incidents of ancient or modern\ntimes; in hope of forming a collection of narratives of some interest\nto those who are not largely read in history. And even those who are\nin some degree familiar with the subjects here treated, but whose\nknowledge is chiefly drawn from compilations of modern date, may be\ngratified by the variety in style, feelings, and opinions observable in\na collection of extracts from authors of various dates and nations.\n\nWe have selected from the Grecian History, in chronological order,\nas furnishing the readiest principle of arrangement, a series of\noccurrences of which some have obtained remarkable notoriety; some,\nbeing less known, are either striking in themselves, or characteristic\nof the age and people to which they belong; and finally some, with\nless intrinsic value, may serve to introduce curious or instructive\nmatter of comparison. To every person well acquainted with the\nsubject, many things will probably occur, of which the omission may\nbe regretted. Completeness, however, is evidently unattainable in an\nundertaking of this sort, and the passages taken from Grecian history\nhave necessarily been regulated in part by the correspondences which\npresented themselves in the histories of other nations. It has been\nour object to draw examples from a great variety of sources; from\ndifferent countries, in different ages, and in different states of\ncivilization: and to show that no particular virtues or vices have\nbeen inherent in any age or nation: believing that human nature and\nhuman passions are everywhere alike, and that the great differences in\nnational character are mainly to be ascribed to external circumstances\nand training. Comparisons of contrast, therefore, are no less valuable\nthan comparisons of resemblance, when we can trace the causes which\nhave produced a difference in conduct. It only remains to add, that we\nhave not always thought it necessary to require a close analogy either\nof motives or of actions.\n\nThe instances chosen have not been very strictly confined to what\nrests upon undoubted testimony. Perhaps we learn little less of the\nhabits and opinions of men, from ascertaining what they have believed\nof others, than from knowing what they have done themselves; and,\ntherefore, even works of fiction may be resorted to in some degree,\ncare being taken to distinguish the character of the authorities.\nFor example, we should have no hesitation in quoting even from the\nMort d\u2019Arthur, and still more from the earlier romances on which\nit is founded, in illustration of the manners of the twelfth and\nthirteenth centuries, in which those romances were written; or,\nthough on different grounds, the admirable narratives of the plagues\nof Florence and London by Boccaccio and Defoe, which probably are no\nless trustworthy for the character of the narrative, and in a great\ndegree for the facts themselves, than Thucydides\u2019 description of\nthe plague at Athens. Again, there is a sort of debateable ground,\nwhere genuine history begins to gain the ascendant over fable, as\nin the case of Aristomenes and Wallace, where we cannot tell, nor\nis it important to know, the exact measure of truth contained in\nthe legends concerning them. The outlines of their lives we have\nreason to believe to be correct, and rejecting from their exploits\nall that is grossly improbable, the remainder will furnish us with a\nsufficiently clear idea of the accomplishments and adventures of a\nwarrior of their respective ages. The poem of Blind Harry abounds in\nimprobable fictions, but much more information concerning Wallace\nand his contemporaries may be gained from it than from the meagre\nchronicles which composed the graver literature of the age. From\nsuch sources, therefore, we shall not scruple to borrow, though not\nwithout advertising the reader of their nature, and endeavouring, where\nnecessary, to draw the boundary line between truth and fiction.\n\nFor reasons above stated, our extracts have usually been taken from\ncontemporary authors, or at least from the earliest authorities\nextant. Where this rule has been departed from, it is because the\noriginals offer no striking passages to select, and are too prolix\nto be given entire. In this case, condensation becomes necessary,\nand we have gladly availed ourselves of the labours of others who\nhave already performed that task, in preference to seeking novelty\nat the expense perhaps of accuracy or elegance. For the same reason\nexisting translations have been used, whenever a good translation of\nthe particular passage could be found. Where none such occurred, we\nhave endeavoured to adhere closely to our author, and even where his\nnarrative has been much compressed, to give, as far as was possible,\nnot only his substance, but his words.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n Mythic period of Grecian history\u2014Savage state of Greece\n compared with that of Scandinavia\u2014Anecdotes of Northern\n warriors\u2014Hercules\u2014Theseus\u2014State of Greece in their time, illustrated by\n that of England subsequent to the Conquest\u2014Argonautic expedition\u2014Theban\n war\u2014Story of Don Pedro of Castile\u2014Trojan war.\n\n\nThe traditions from which our knowledge of what is called the mythic\nage of Greece, or the age of fable, from the earliest notices of it\nto the Trojan war, is almost entirely derived, furnish few materials\nfor a work like this, for where everything is misty and undefined,\nthere can be little opportunity for comparison. The wonderful poetic\ntalent displayed in their narration and embellishment has, however,\ngiven them a place in history, and an importance otherwise undeserved,\nand men study the actions and genealogy of an Achaian prince, as\ngravely as if he had been really the descendant of Jupiter, and the\nconqueror of monsters and oppressors innumerable. It becomes the more\ninteresting therefore to inquire into the actual condition of Greece\nin its earliest times, and ascertain, if possible, whether the godlike\nmen, sprung from the Gods, of whose superhuman powers and exploits\nsucceeding ages have read, until by the mere force of repetition they\nhave half believed them, had in reality any advantage over barbarians\nof other races and regions. To guide us in the inquiry we have two\nsorts of information, totally distinct in their nature: the meagre\nnotices of authentic history, and a copious store of mythological and\npoetical legends. So far as the former is available, we have no reason\nto think that the heroic age had much advantage over those dark times\nin which the foundations of modern Europe were laid. Passing over the\naccount given by Thucydides of the earliest inhabitants of Greece as\nbeing applicable to any savage race, in the next stage of society, when\nthe arts had somewhat advanced, in the reign of Minos, the first person\nperhaps of whom any rational and credible account is given, a code of\nhonour existed which made strength not only the first but the sum\u2013total\nof all virtues, and filled the sea with pirates and the land with\nrobbers.\n\n\u201cMinos was the most ancient of all that by report we know to have\nbuilt a navy, and he made himself master of the now Grecian sea, and\nboth commanded the Isles called Cyclades,[2] and also was the first\nwho sent colonies into most of the same, expelling thence the Carians,\nand constituting his own sons there for governors, and also freed the\nsea from pirates as much as he could, for the better coming in, as is\nlikely, of his own revenue.\n\n\u201cFor the Grecians in old time and such barbarians[3] as in the\ncontinent lived near unto the sea or else inhabited the islands, when\nthey began more often to cross over to one another in ships, became\nthieves, and went abroad under the conduct of their most puissant men,\nboth to enrich themselves and to fetch in maintenance for the weak:\nand falling upon towns unfortified, and scatteringly inhabited, rifled\nthem, and made this the best means of their living; being at that time\na matter nowhere in disgrace, but rather carrying with it something\nof glory. This is manifest by some that dwell on the continent, among\nwhom, so it be performed nobly, it is still esteemed as an ornament.\nThe same also is proved by some of the ancient poets, who introduce\nmen questioning such as sail by, on all coasts alike, whether they be\nthieves or not;[4] as a thing neither scorned by such as were asked,\nnor upbraided by those that were desirous to know. They also robbed\none another within the main land: and much of Greece useth that old\ncustom, as the Locrians called Ozol\u00e6 (or _Stinkards_), the Acarnanians,\nand those of the continent in that quarter unto this day. Moreover the\nfashion of wearing iron remaineth yet with the people of that continent\nfrom their old trade of thieving.\n\n\u201cFor once they were wont throughout all Greece to go armed, because\ntheir houses were unfenced and travelling unsafe, and accustomed\nthemselves like the barbarians to the ordinary wearing of their armour.\nAnd the nations of Greece that live so yet, do testify that the same\nmanner of life was anciently universal to all the rest.\u201d[5]\n\nA condition of society identical with that described in the latter\npart of this extract still exists among the Curdish and Caucasian and\nother Asiatic mountaineers, and existed till lately in the Scottish\nHighlands. But descriptions of the latter have been multiplied, until\nthey have become familiar in men\u2019s mouths as household terms; and we\npass in preference to a less hackneyed subject. In the eighth and\nninth centuries the piratical spirit of ancient Greece was revived\namong those fierce Danes and Norwegians, who led a life of constant\nrapine and bloodshed; of interminable warfare at home, of frightful\ndevastation abroad. \u201cThe Sea\u2013kings of the North were a race of beings\nwhom Europe beheld with horror. Without a yard of territorial property,\nwith no wealth but their ships, no force but their crews, and no\nhope but from their swords, they swarmed upon the boisterous ocean,\nand plundered in every district that they could approach.... It is\ndeclared to have been a law or custom in the North, that one of the\nmale children should be selected to remain at home to inherit the\ngovernment. The rest were exiled to the ocean, to wield their sceptres\namid the turbulent waters. The consent of the northern societies\nentitled all men of royal descent, who assumed piracy as a profession,\nto enjoy the name of kings, though they possessed no territory. The\nsea\u2013kings had the same honour, but they were only a portion of those\npirates, or _vikingr_, who in the ninth century were covering the\nocean. Not only the children of the kings, but every man of importance\nequipped ships, and roamed the seas to acquire property by force.\nPiracy was not only the most honourable occupation and the best harvest\nof wealth; it was not only consecrated to public estimation by the\nillustrious who pursued it, but no one was esteemed noble, no one was\nrespected, who did not return in the winter to his home with ships\nladen with booty.\u201d[6] Part of the regulations of a band of pirates is\npreserved by Bartholinus, and may serve as a specimen of the better\nclass, though the reader may not be inclined to agree with him in\nconsidering them as men \u201cdevoted to virtue, bravery, and humanity,\nrather than to the oppression of innocent persons.\u201d These regulations\nwere called the Constitutions of King Half. \u201cNo one might wear a\nsword more than an ell in length, that they might be compelled to\nclose in battle. Each was to be equal in strength to twelve ordinary\nmen. They made prisoners neither women nor boys. None was to bind his\nwounds until the lapse of twenty hours. These men everywhere infested\nthe land, and everywhere were victorious. They lay at anchor at the\nends of headlands. They never raised bulwarks on their ships\u2019 sides,\nand never lowered their sails, let the wind blow as it would. Their\ncaptain never had in his ship more than sixty men.\u201d No less creditable\nwere the ordinances of Hialmar, the sum of which was, that his men\nshould plunder neither traders nor husbandmen; that they should neither\nrob women of their money, nor carry them off against their consent:\nand should not eat raw flesh.[7] The fiercer class indulged in this\ndisgusting food, and washed it down suitably with draughts of blood.\nSavage in all things, it was an amusement to toss infants from one to\nanother, and catch them on the points of their lances. Many used to\nwork themselves literally into a state of bestial ferocity. Those who\nwere subject to these paroxysms were called Berserkir: they studied\nto resemble wild beasts; they excited themselves to a strength which\nhas been compared to that of bears; and this unnatural power was\nsucceeded, as we may well suppose, by corresponding debility. In the\nFrench and Italian romances, we frequently find a warrior endowed,\nfor a part of the day, with a double or treble share of strength;\nand it is not improbable that the fiction may have been derived\nfrom this species of frenzy, which is thus described by the Danish\nhistorian, Saxo Grammaticus. \u201cSivald had seven sons, so skilled in\nmagic, that, impelled by the sudden access of fury, they used often\nto howl savagely, to gnaw their shields, to devour live coals, and\nrush fearlessly into fire; and this passion could only be appeased by\nconfinement in fetters, or by human blood.\u201d This Sivald and Haldan\nwere rivals for the Swedish crown. Sivald challenged Haldan to decide\ntheir quarrel by contending alone with himself and his seven sons. The\nlatter answered that the legitimate form of the duel did not admit of\nmore than two. \u201cNo wonder,\u201d replied his antagonist, \u201cthat a man without\nwife or offspring, whose mind and body are alike deficient in warmth,\nshould refuse the proffered encounter. But my children, who own me as\nthe author of their existence, and myself, have one common origin, and\nmust be considered as one man.\u201d The force of the argument was admitted,\nand, in obedience to this modest request, Haldan knocked out the brains\nof the eight.\n\nThe same warrior was challenged by another Berserkir, named Harthben,\nwho always had twelve chosen men in attendance to prevent his doing\nmischief when the fit was upon him. Upon hearing that Haldan undertook\nto fight himself and his followers, he was seized with a paroxysm which\nwas not subdued until he had killed six of them, by way of trying his\nhand: and then he was killed by his antagonist, as he richly deserved,\nfor throwing away half his chance.[8] So also we read that Odin could\nblunt the weapons of his enemies; that his soldiers went to battle\nwithout armour, biting their shields, raging like wolves or dogs: like\nbears or bulls in strength, they slaughtered their foes, and were\nthemselves invulnerable to fire and sword.[9] At length, however, this\npassion changed from a distinction to a reproach, and was ultimately\nprohibited by penal laws.\n\nHarold Harfager, or the Fairhaired, who consolidated Norway under\nhis sceptre, A.D. 910, cleared the Northern Ocean from the\nscourge of piracy, as did Minos the Grecian seas. Still the spirit\nof depredation was alive. The spread of Christianity moderated the\nexcesses of the Northmen, but it was long ere their fondness for\nfreebooting was extinguished; nay, the very rites of religion were\nemployed to give a sanction to robbery. Maritime expeditions seemed\nto the Danes pious and necessary, that they might protect themselves\nfrom the incursions of their Sclavonic neighbours on the continent, and\npiracy was therefore practised under certain laws, which in the opinion\nof Bartholinus breathe a spirit of defence rather than of aggression.\n\u201cPirates had power to take such ships as appeared suited to their\npurpose, even without consent of the owners, upon payment of one\u2013eighth\nof the booty by way of hire. Before a voyage they made confession to\nthe priests, and having undergone penance, they received the sacrament,\nas if at the point of death, believing that things would go more\nprosperously if they duly propitiated God before war. Content with\ntheir food and armour, they avoided burdening their vessels, and took\nnothing that could delay their voyage. Their watches were frequent,\ntheir mode of life sparing. They slept leaning upon their oars. Their\nbattles were numerous: their victory ever easy, and almost bloodless.\nThe booty was shared equally, the master receiving no larger portion\nthan a common rower. Those Christians whom they found enslaved in the\ncaptured vessels, they presented with clothing, and dismissed to their\nown homes.\u201d[10]\n\nThe frantic ravages of these barbarians have been described by the\nsufferers, and belong in part to our own history; while those committed\nby the unknown tribes who two thousand years before occupied the other\nextremity of Europe, are long since forgotten, or remembered only in\nthe flattering traditions of their countrymen. The former, therefore,\nare known and execrated, while the latter stand fair with the world:\nand in the absence of evidence, we are far from wishing to impute to\nthem that bestial ferocity which so often disgraced the Northmen:\nbut who can compare the passages just given with that quoted from\nThucydides, without being convinced that they refer to corresponding\nperiods of civilization, and describe similar principles, if not\nsimilar modes of action? And as the best historical accounts which we\ncan procure represent the feelings and habits of the early Greeks\nas closely akin to those of our own barbarous ancestors, so their\ntraditions and fables lead us to the same conclusion. The Scaldic poems\nbear, indeed, a more savage cast; some say from the inhospitable rigour\nof our northern sky; but more probably because we possess them in their\noriginal or nearly their original state, while the earliest Greek\ncompositions extant were written in an age comparatively civilized.\nBut the heroes of both were actuated by the same spirit. Siegfrid and\nWolf Dietrich differ little but in external ornament from Castor, or\nAchilles, or Diomed; their pride was in the same accomplishments, their\ndelight in the same pleasures, their hope in an immortality of the same\nsensual enjoyments.[11]\n\nSome sketch of the life of Starchaterus, a purely fictitious person,\nmay serve as a specimen of these stories.\n\nStarchaterus was born in Sweden, a few years after the Christian era.\nHe was of giant stature, and of strength and courage correspondent to\nthe magnitude of his frame, so that in prowess he was held inferior to\nnone of mortal parentage; and, as he excelled all in bodily endowments,\nso his life was protracted to three times the usual duration of human\nexistence. Like his great prototype, the Grecian Hercules, he traversed\nthe neighbouring regions, and went even to Ireland and Constantinople\nin quest of adventures; but, unlike him, he was animated by a most\nintolerant hatred of everything approaching to luxury, insomuch that\nhe treated an invitation to dinner as an insult, and inflicted severe\npunishment upon all who were so imprudently hospitable as to request\nhis company. For it was the mark of a buffoon and parasite, he said, to\nrun after the smell of another man\u2019s kitchen, for the sake of better\nfare.[12] In other respects the severity of his manners was more\ncommendable; when he found any of the classes who live by the follies\nor vices of mankind mixing with soldiers, he drove them away with the\nscourge, esteeming them unworthy to receive death from the hands of\nbrave men. In addition to his other accomplishments, he was skilled in\npoetry, and persecuted luxury in verse no less successfully than by\ncorporeal inflictions, as is evident from certain of his compositions,\nwhich have been translated into Latin by Saxo Grammaticus.\n\nHe went to Russia on purpose to fight Visin, who possessed the power\nof blunting weapons with a look, and trusting in this magic power,\nexercised all sorts of cruelty and oppression. Starchaterus rendered\nthe charm of no avail by covering his sword with thin leather, and then\nobtained an easy victory.\n\nNine warriors of tried valour offered to Helgo, king of Norway, the\nalternative of doing battle singly against the nine, or losing his\nbride upon his marriage\u2013day. Helgo thought it best to appear by his\nchampion, and requested the assistance of Starchaterus, who was so\neager for the adventure, that in following Helgo to the appointed\nplace, in one day, and on foot, he performed a journey which had\noccupied the king, who travelled on horseback, during twelve days.\nOn the morrow, which was the appointed day, ascending a mountain,\nwhich was the place of meeting, he chose a spot exposed to the wind\nand snow, and then, as if it were spring, throwing off his clothes,\nhe set himself to dislodge the fleas that nestled in them. Then the\nnine warriors ascended the mountain on the other side, and showed the\ndifference of their hardihood by lighting a fire in a sheltered spot.\nNot perceiving their antagonist, one went to look out from the mountain\ntop, who saw at a distance an old man covered with snow up to the\nshoulders. They asked him if it were he who was to fight with them, and\nbeing answered in the affirmative, inquired further, whether he would\nreceive them singly or all together. His reply was rather more churlish\nthan the question deserved: \u201cWhen the dogs bark at me, I drive them off\nall together, and not one by one.\u201d Then, after a severe battle, he\nslew them all.\n\nAt last, being overtaken by age, he thought it fit to terminate his\nlife before his glory was dimmed by decrepitude; for men used to\nconsider it disgraceful for a warrior to perish by sickness. So he\nhung round his neck one hundred and twenty pounds of gold, the spoil\nof one Olo, to buy the good offices of an executioner, thinking it fit\nthat the wealth which he had obtained by another man\u2019s death should be\nspent in procuring his own. And meeting Hather, whose father he had\nformerly slain, he exhorted him to take vengeance for that injury, and\npointed out what he would gain by doing so. Hather willingly consented,\nand Starchaterus, stretching out his neck, bade him strike boldly,\nadding, for his encouragement, that if he leaped between the severed\nhead and the trunk before the latter touched the earth, he would become\ninvincible in arms. Now, whether he said this out of good will, or to\nbe quits with his slayer, who ran a good chance of being crushed by the\nfalling giant, is doubtful. The head, stricken off at a blow, bit the\nearth, retaining its ferocity in death: but Starchaterus\u2019 real meaning\nremained unknown, for Hather showed his prudence by declining to take a\nleap, which had he taken, he might never have leaped again.[13]\n\nThis is an early and rude specimen of an errant knight; the same\ncharacter which was afterwards expanded into Roland and Launcelot, the\npaladins and peers of Charlemagne and Arthur, worthies closely allied\nto the heroes of Homer and Hesiod. The triple\u2013bodied Geryon, the Nemean\nlion and Lern\u00e6an hydra, the deliverance of Andromeda by Perseus, the\ncapture of the golden fleece, and above all, perhaps, Amycus, who\ncompelled all strangers to box with him, till he was beaten by Pollux,\nand bound by oath to renounce the practice, are entirely in unison with\nthe spirit and imagery of chivalric romance. Examples to this effect\nmight easily be multiplied. But an essay on the fictions of the Greeks\nwould be foreign to the scope of this publication: and it would be\nabsurd to enter upon a critical investigation of a series of stories,\nextended by some chronologers over seven centuries, from the foundation\nof Argos to the Trojan war, while Newton contracts them within a\ncentury and a half, which tell of little but bloodshed, abductions,\nand violence of all sorts, intermixed, however, with notices of those\nwho invented the useful arts and fostered the gradual progress of\ncivilization. As we approach to the Trojan war, a sort of twilight\nhistory begins to dawn upon us. It is to what may seem at first the\nstrongholds of fiction, to the exploits of Hercules and Theseus, that\nwe refer. The earliest ascertained fact is the establishment of a\nregular government by Minos, who also cleared the sea from pirates.\nAt no long interval the above\u2013named heroes made another step in\ncivilization; they cleared the land from rapine, as Minos had cleared\nthe sea. Other men, roaming in search of adventures, had carried\nbloodshed through the land at the suggestion of their passions or for\nthe advancement of their fame; but Hercules first traversed the earth\nwith the express design of avenging the oppressed and exterminating\ntheir oppressors, and the example was soon after followed by his\nkinsman Theseus. Their exploits, of course, are chiefly fabulous:\nbut it is worthy of observation that those of Theseus approach much\nnearer to probability than the far\u2013famed labours of Hercules. Indeed\nthe history of the former presents this peculiarity, that the accounts\nof his youth are consistent, and scarcely improbable, while those of\nhis age run into all the extravagance of romance. Theseus, travelling\nfrom Tr\u0153zen to Athens, was strongly urged to go by sea, the way by\nland being beset with robbers and murderers. He refused to do so,\nbeing inflamed with emulation of Hercules\u2019 renown; and on the journey\nsignalized himself by slaying Sinnis, surnamed the Pine\u2013bender, because\nhe dismembered travellers by tying them to the tops of trees forcibly\nbrought together and then allowed to start asunder; Procrustes, who\nexhibited a passion for uniformity worthy a German general of the\nold school, in reducing all men to the measure of his own bed, by\nstretching those who were too short, and docking those who were too\nlong; together with others of less note, and similar habits. That\nPlutarch believed in these stories is evident, from the tone in which\nhe recites them; a corroboration, indeed, of no great weight, for\nhe proceeds with equal gravity to relate things which no one will\ncredit; but in this instance his account of the state of Greece gives\nwarranty for his belief, and is itself confirmed by our knowledge of\nlater ages. The passage has often been quoted, but it is striking and\nto the purpose, and its want of novelty, therefore, shall be no bar\nto its insertion. \u201cThe world at that time brought forth men, which\nfor strongness in their arms, for swiftness of their feet, and for\na general strength of the whole body, did far pass the common force\nof others, and were never weary for any labour or travail they took\nin hand. But for all this, they never employed these gifts of nature\nto any honest or profitable thing; but rather delighted villainously\nto hurt and wrong others; as if all the fruit and profit of their\nextraordinary strength had consisted in cruelty and violence only,\nand to be able to keep others under and in subjection; and to force,\ndestroy, and spoil all that came to their hands. Thinking that the more\npart of those which think it a shame to do ill, and commend justice,\nequity, and humanity, do it of faint, cowardly hearts, because they\ndare not wrong others, for fear they should receive wrong themselves;\nand, therefore, that they which by might could have vantage over\nothers, had nothing to do with such qualities.\u201d[14]\n\nThe enormities ascribed to Sinnis and his fellows have discredited\nthe whole train of adventures to which they belong; but this is an\nuntenable ground of doubt. He who reads descriptions of the state of\nEngland, before laws were strong enough to control private violence,\ngiven by contemporaries who saw what they relate, and whose narratives\nbear the impress of sincerity, will better appreciate the extent of\nhuman ferocity. In the reign of Stephen disorder was at its height.\n\u201cThe barons cruelly oppressed the wretched men of the land with\ncastle\u2013works, and when the castles were made, they filled them with\ndevils and evil men. Then took they those whom they supposed to have\nany goods, both by night and day, labouring men and women, and threw\nthem into the prison for their gold and silver, and inflicted on them\nunutterable tortures: for never were any martyrs so tortured as they\nwere. Some they hanged up by the feet, and smoked them with foul smoke,\nand some by the thumbs, or the head, and hung coats of mail on their\nfeet. They tied knotted cords about their heads, and twisted them until\nthe pain went to their brains. They put them into dungeons where were\nadders, and snakes, and toads, and so destroyed them. Some they placed\nin a crucet house; that is, in a chest that was short and narrow, and\nnot deep, wherein they put sharp stones, and so thrust the man therein,\nthat they broke all the limbs. In many of the castles were things\nloathsome and grim, called Sachenteges, of which two or three men had\nenough to bear one. They were thus made: they were fastened to a beam,\nhaving a sharp iron to go about a man\u2019s throat, so that he could in no\ndirection either sit, or lie, or sleep, but bear all that iron. Many\nthousands they wore out with hunger. I neither can, nor may I tell\nall the wounds and pains which they inflicted on wretched men in this\nland.\u201d[15]\n\n\u201cSome, seeing the sweetness of their country turned into bitterness,\nwent into foreign parts: others built hovels about churches in hope\nof security, and there passed life in fear and pain, subsisting for\nlack of food (for famine was felt dreadfully over all England) upon\nthe forbidden and unused flesh of dogs and horses, or relieving hunger\nwith raw herbs and roots, until throughout the provinces men, wasted\nby famine, died in crowds, or went voluntarily with their families\ninto a miserable exile. You might see towns of famous name, standing\nlonely, and altogether emptied by the death of their inhabitants of\nall ages and sexes; the fields whitening under a thriving harvest, but\nthe husbandman cut off by pestilential famine ere it ripened: and all\nEngland wore the face of grief and calamity, of misery and oppression.\nIn addition to these evils, the savage multitude of barbarians who\nresorted to England for the gains of warfare was moved neither by the\nbowels of piety nor by any feeling of human compassion for such misery:\neverywhere they conspired from their castles to do all wickedness,\nbeing always at leisure to rob the poor, to promote quarrels, and\nintent everywhere upon slaughter with all the malice of a wicked\nmind.\u201d Even churchmen amused themselves with these pastimes. \u201cThe\nbishops themselves, as I am ashamed to say, not all indeed, but many\nof them, clad in handsome armour, rode up and down on prancing horses\nwith these upsetters of their country; shared in their booty; exposed\nto fetters, or torture, knights, or any wealthy persons soever, whom\nthey intercepted; and being themselves the head and cause of all this\nwickedness, they threw the blame not on themselves, but only upon their\nfollowers.\u201d[16]\n\nEnough of general descriptions, which are fully borne out by the\nparticulars related. \u201cIn the reign of Stephen, Robert, the son of\nHubert, had gotten possession of the castle of Devizes. He was a man\nexceeding all within memory in barbarity and blasphemy, who used\nfreely to make boast, that he had been present when twenty\u2013four monks\nwere burnt together with their church, and profess that he would do\nas much in England, and ruin utterly the abbey of Malmesbury. If he\never dismissed a prisoner unransomed, and without the torture, which\nvery seldom happened, at such times, when they thanked him in God\u2019s\nname, I have with these ears heard him answer, \u2018God will never own the\nobligation to me.\u2019 He would expose his captives naked to the burning\nsun, anointed with honey, to attract flies, and such other tormenting\ninsects.\u201d[17] This worthy met with a fit end, being taken and hanged;\nbut this act of retribution was one of illegal violence, being done by\na knight who held Marlborough Castle, without a shadow of authority,\nand apparently on the principle that any one had a right to abate a\nnuisance.\n\n\u201cIn these times (the reign of William Rufus) men come not to great\nname but by the highest wickedness. Thomas, a great baron near Laudun\nin France, was great in name, because he was extreme in wickedness. At\nenmity with the surrounding churches, he had brought all their wealth\ninto his own exchequer. If any one by force or guile were holden in his\nkeeping, truly might that man say, \u2018the pains of hell got hold upon\nme.\u2019 Murder was his glory and delight. Against all usage, he placed\na countess in a dungeon, whom the foul ruffian harassed with fetters\nand torments to extort money. He would speak words of peace to his\nneighbour, and stab him to the heart with a smile, and hence, under his\ncloak, he more often wore his sword naked than sheathed. Therefore,\nmen feared, respected, worshipped him. All through France was he\nspoken of. Daily did his estate, his treasure, his vassalage increase.\nWouldst thou hear the end of this villain? Being stricken with a sword\nunto death, refusing to repent, and turning away his head from the\nLord\u2019s body, in such manner he perished: so that it might well be\nsaid, \u2018Befitting to your life was that death.\u2019 You have seen Robert de\nBelesme, a Norman baron, who when established in his castle was Pluto,\nMeg\u00e6ra, Cerberus, or anything that can be named more dreadful. He took\npains not to dismiss, but to dispatch his captives. Pretending to be in\nplay, he put out his son\u2019s eyes with his thumbs, while he was muffled\nup in a cloak; he impaled persons of both sexes. Horrid slaughter was\nas a meat pleasant to his soul: therefore was he found in all men\u2019s\nmouths, so that the wonderful doings of Robert de Belesme passed into\nproverbs. Let us come at length to the end. He who had afflicted\nothers in prison, being at last thrown into prison by King Henry, ended\nhis wicked life by an enduring punishment.\u201d[18]\n\nIt was this state of disorder which produced knight\u2013errantry, and\nthere is nothing absurd in believing that equal lawlessness in another\ncountry was checked by the same sort of interference. The reality of\nknight\u2013errantry has, indeed, been questioned; it has been pronounced a\nfiction, suited to the wants of the period in which it was supposed to\nexist. If this were so, and the tales of Hercules and Theseus equally\ngroundless, it would still be curious to see that men had been led to\nimagine the same means of making amends for the want of an executive\npower: but we do not believe this to be the case. The romances gave\nsystem and consistency to the scattered acts of individuals; they\ndescribed the better qualities of knighthood in their own days, and\nfilled up the picture with imaginary virtues and preter\u2013human prowess,\nattributes which men are always ready to confer on their ancestors, as\nNestor makes the heroes with whom he fought in youth far superior to\nthose whom he lectured in old age, and Homer endows those who fought\nunder Troy with the strength of three or four men, \u201csuch as mortals now\nare.\u201d But their productions bear the stamp of copies, not originals,\nand it is not very easy to believe that they would have invented, or\ntheir audience and readers relished, characters and rules of action for\nwhich their own experience gave no warrant.\n\nThere is, however, a double Theseus, of historic as well as legendary\nfame. In his latter capacity, both for the degree of reality and\nthe nature of his exploits, he may be compared to Arthur; in his\nformer, still to draw an illustration from British history, he is not\nunworthy to be placed by the side of Alfred. The union of these two,\ndiscordant as it may appear, is not more so than that of the poetic\nand the historical Theseus. Alfred, indeed, signalised his military\ntalents in many hard\u2013fought fields, but his victories were those of\na general: the exploits of Theseus were those of a knight. But among\nthe mass of stories of questionable truth or unquestioned falsehood\nrelating to him, it is generally acknowledged that this man, whose\nvery existence we might else have doubted, was the author of extensive\nand judicious reforms in government, such as proved the foundation\nof Attic greatness: reforms which he effected by the rarest and most\nvirtuous of all sacrifices, the resignation of his own power.[19]\nAttica was divided into twelve districts, shires we might call them,\nexcept that, taken all together, they were less than one of the\nlarger English counties. Professedly forming one body, and owning a\nprecarious obedience to one prince, they had still their petty and\nconflicting interests, and could with difficulty be induced to concur\nin any measures for the benefit of the whole. Theseus, encouraged\nby the popularity which he had gained by delivering Athens from its\nsubjection to Crete,[20] undertook to substitute a better polity. \u201cHe\nwent through the several towns, and persuaded the inhabitants to give\nup their separate councils and magistrates, and submit to a common\njurisdiction. Every man was to retain his dwelling and his property\nas before; but justice was to be administered and all public business\ntransacted at Athens. The mass of the people came into his measures,\nand to subdue the reluctance of the powerful, who were loath to resign\nthe importance accruing from the local magistracies, he gave up much of\nhis own authority, reserving only the command of the army, and the care\nof watching over the execution of the laws. Opposition was silenced\nby his liberality, together with the fear of his power, ability, and\ncourage, and the union of Attica was effected by him and made lasting.\nTo bind it closer, without disturbing the religious observances of the\nseveral towns, he instituted a common festival in honour of Minerva,\nwhich was called the feast of union, and (_Panathen\u00e6a_) the feast of\nall the Athenians.\u201d[21]\n\nThis process bears some resemblance to the consolidation of the Saxon\nHeptarchy, nominally effected by Egbert, but completed and made truly\nbeneficial by Alfred. The evils which were to be reformed were very\ndifferent in the two cases: at Athens civil dissension was to be\nremedied; in England a rude people, intermixed with foreign barbarians\nmore ferocious than themselves, and reduced to poverty by a series of\ndestructive invasions, required a strong curb for the re\u2013establishment\nof order and security. We must not expect, therefore, to find any\nresemblance between their institutions: the Saxons required no measures\nto prevent civil war, and inspire a spirit of nationality; the\nAthenians, though well inclined to civil broils, respected, from the\nearliest dawn of history, the security of property, and in consequence\nfar outstripped the rest of Greece in wealth and refinement.\nNevertheless the names of these princes may fairly be selected to\nadorn the same page: both advanced beyond their age in legislative and\npolitical science; both directed their wisdom, power, and popularity to\ntruly noble ends; and therefore merit the respect of all who believe\nrank and office to have been instituted for other ends than for the\nadvantage of those who possess them.\n\nWe have spoken of Hercules and Theseus as indicating the commencement\nof Grecian history. Previous to them, facts are mentioned which we\nhave no ground to disbelieve, as the various settlements by Ph\u0153nician\nor Egyptian emigrants; but all further particulars of these persons,\nwith the exception of Minos, are of such a nature, that where we find\nno internal evidence to pronounce them fabulous we can yet assign but\nscanty reasons for relying confidently upon their truth. But about\nthis era our knowledge begins to increase. We must refer to it an\nevent of which it is not easy to fix the date with certainty; namely,\nthe celebrated Argonautic expedition, in which both these heroes\nare said to have joined: a statement, however, irreconcileable with\nthe accounts of Theseus\u2019 introduction to \u00c6geus, and the plot formed\nagainst him by Medea.[22] Without troubling ourselves to account for\nthese discrepancies, it is evident that the expedition, if it ever\ntook place, which there seems reason to believe in spite of Bryant\u2019s\nopposition, who would ascribe this, and almost all other legends, to\nsome faint traditions of the deluge and preservation of Noah, must have\nborne a close resemblance to the Danish piratical excursions which we\nhave already described. Not long after occurs the first confederate war\nmentioned in Grecian history, that of the Seven against Thebes;[23]\nan event so closely connected with mythology that its reality might\nreasonably be questioned, but for the testimony of Homer and Hesiod.\nThe revolting nature of the struggle between two brothers, for the\nkingdom of a banished, miserable, and neglected father, would incline\nus indeed to give as little credit to the concluding tragedy of the\nhouse of Laius, as to the series of crimes and misery by which that\nhouse had been polluted: but all arguments founded upon the horrors\nof such fratricidal warfare fall to the ground, when in the brightest\nperiod of chivalry we find it revived with no less rancour, and a no\nless fatal end, and the flower of French knighthood a calm spectator,\nnay, almost an actor in the scene. The strife between Don Pedro of\nCastile, and his brother Henry of Transtamara, the deadly struggle in\nwhich Pedro, who had already slain one brother, fell, when defeated\nand a prisoner, by the dagger of another against whom his own hand was\narmed, involve circumstances of horror scarce less adapted to dramatic\neffect than those legends which have so often employed the Greek\ntragedians.\n\nDon Pedro was the legitimate heir to the crown of Castile. Don Henry\nand Don Fadrique (or Frederick) were his half\u2013brothers by Donna Leonora\nde Guzman, whom their father had entertained as his mistress, and even\nproclaimed queen, during the life\u2013time of his lawful wife. When Pedro\nsucceeded to the throne, at his mother\u2019s instigation he put her rival\nto death: his brothers, Henry and Fadrique, escaped, and the former\nrenounced his allegiance: the latter fled into Portugal; but after\nsome time he made his peace, returned, and was appointed master of the\norder of St. Iago. When several months had elapsed, he was invited to\njoin the court at Seville, and take his share in the amusements of an\napproaching tournament. He accepted the invitation, but was sternly\nand ominously received, and immediately executed within the palace.\nThe friends of Pedro asserted, that the king had, that very day,\ndetected Don Fadrique in a correspondence with his brother Henry and\nthe Arragonese; while popular belief attributed the slaughter of the\nmaster to the influence of Pedro\u2019s mistress, Maria de Padilla. The\ncircumstances of this event are powerfully described in one of the\nSpanish ballads, so admirably translated by Mr. Lockhart. There is a\npeculiarity of construction in the ballad, the person of the narrator\nbeing changed in the course of it. It is commenced by the victim\nhimself, who describes the alacrity with which he obeyed his brother\u2019s\nsummons.\n\n  I sat alone in Coimbra\u2014the town myself had ta\u2019en,\u2014\n  When came into my chamber a messenger from Spain:\n  There was no treason in his look, an honest look he wore,\n  I from his hand the letter took\u2014my brother\u2019s seal it bore.\n\n  \u201cCome, brother dear, the day draws near (\u2019twas thus bespoke the king)\n  For plenar court and nightly sport, within the listed ring.\u201d\n  Alas, unhappy master, I easy credence lent:\n  Alas, for fast and faster I at his bidding went.\n\n  When I set out from Coimbra, and passed the bounds of Spain,\n  I had a goodly company of spearmen in my train;\n  A gallant force, a score of horse, and sturdy mules thirteen;\n  With joyful heart I held my course, my years were young and green.\n\n  A journey of good fifteen days within the week was done,\n  I halted not, though signs I got, dark tokens many a one;\n  A strong stream mastered horse and mule, I lost a poniard fine,\n  And left a page within the pool, a faithful page of mine.\n\n  Yet on to proud Seville I rode\u2014when to the gate I came,\n  Before it stood a man of God to warn me from the same:\n  The words he spake I would not hear, his grief I would not see;\n  \u201cI seek,\u201d I said, \u201cmy brother dear\u2014I will not stop for thee.\u201d\n\n  No lists were closed upon the sand, for royal tourney dight,\n  No pawing horse was seen to stand, I saw no armed knight:\n  Yet aye I gave my mule the spur, and hasted through the town,\n  I stopt before his palace\u2013door, then gaily leapt I down.\n\n  They shut the door\u2014my trusty score of friends were left behind;\n  I would not hear their whispered fear, no harm was in my mind;\n  I greeted Pedro, but he turned\u2014I wot his look was cold;\n  His brother from his knee he spurned\u2014\u201cStand off, thou master bold.\n\n  \u201cStand off, stand off, thou traitor strong!\u201d \u2018twas thus he saith to me,\n  \u201cThy time on earth shall not be long\u2014what brings thee to my knee?\n  My lady craves a new year\u2019s gift, and I will keep my word;\n  Thy head methinks may serve the shift\u2014good yeoman, draw thy sword\u2014\u201c\n\n  The master lay upon the floor, ere well that word was said,\n  Then in a charger off they bore his pale and bloody head.\n  They brought it to Padilla\u2019s chair, they bowed them on the knee\u2014\n  \u201cKing Pedro greets thee, lady fair, his gift he sends to thee.\u201d\n\n  She gazed upon the master\u2019s head, her scorn it could not scare,\n  And cruel were the words she spoke, and proud her glances were.\n  \u201cThou now shalt pay, thou traitor base, the debt of many a year,\n  My dog shall lick that haughty face, no more that lip shall sneer.\u201d\n\n  She seized it by the clotted hair, and o\u2019er the window flung:\n  The mastiff smelt it in his lair, forth at her cry he sprung;\n  The mastiff that had crouched so low, to lick the master\u2019s hand,\n  He tossed the morsel to and fro, and licked it on the sand.\n\n  And ever as the mastiff tore, his bloody teeth were shown,\n  With growl and snort he made his sport, and picked it to the bone!\n  The baying of the beast was loud; and swiftly on the street\n  There gathered round a gaping crowd to see the mastiff eat.\n\n  Then out and spake King Pedro\u2014\u201cWhat governance is this?\n  The rabble rout the gate without torment my dogs, I wiss.\u201d\n  Then out and spake King Pedro\u2019s page\u2014\u201cIt is the master\u2019s head,\n  The mastiff tears it in his rage, therewith they have him fed.\u201d\n\n  Then out and spake the ancient nurse, that nursed the brothers twain\u2014\n  \u201cOn thee, King Pedro, lies the curse; thy brother thou hast slain;\n  A thousand harlots there may be within the realms of Spain,\n  But where is she can give to thee thy brother back again?\u201d\n\n  Came darkness o\u2019er King Pedro\u2019s brow, when thus he heard her say;\n  He sorely rued the accursed vow he had fulfilled that day;\n  He passed unto his paramour, where on her couch she lay.\n  Leaning from out her painted bower, to see the mastiff\u2019s play.\n\n  He drew her to a dungeon dark, a dungeon strong and deep;\n  \u201cMy father\u2019s son lies stiff and stark, and there are few to weep.\n  Fadrique\u2019s blood for vengeance calls, his cry is in mine ear;\n  Thou art the cause, thou harlot false; in darkness lie thou here.\u201d\n\nAfter Pedro had alienated his people\u2019s hearts by his cruelty, Don\nHenry returned with a formidable body of French auxiliaries. At first\nthe fortune of the rightful owner of the throne, who was supported\nby Edward the Black Prince, prevailed, and the invader was obliged\nto retire back to France: but suddenly renewing the attack, assisted\nby Du Guesclin, the flower of French knighthood, after the English\nauxiliaries had quitted Spain, he defeated and took prisoner his\nbrother. Upon entering the chamber where he was confined, Henry\nexclaimed, \u201cWhere is that whoreson and Jew, who calls himself King\nof Castile?\u201d Pedro, as proud and fearless as he was cruel, stepped\ninstantly forward, and replied, \u201cHere I stand, the lawful son and heir\nof Don Alphonso, and it is thou that art but a false bastard.\u201d The\nrival brothers instantly grappled like lions; the French knights, and\nDu Guesclin himself, looking on. Henry drew his poniard, and wounded\nPedro in the face, but his body was protected by a coat of mail. A\nviolent struggle ensued. Henry fell across a bench, and his brother,\nbeing uppermost, had well nigh mastered him, when one of Henry\u2019s\nfollowers seizing Don Pedro by the leg, turned him over, and his master\nthus at length gaining the upper hand, instantly stabbed the king to\nthe heart. Menard, in his history of Du Guesclin, says that, while all\naround gazed like statues on the furious struggle of the brothers, Du\nGuesclin exclaimed to this attendant of Henry, \u201cWhat! will you stand\nby, and see your master placed at such a pass by a false renegade?\nMake forward and help him, for well you may.\u201d[24]\n\nAt Athens, the poets who contended for the tragic prize, were expected\nto exhibit three pieces, which, from their number, were called\ncollectively a trilogy, together with a fourth, satirical, drama,\nwhich came last in the order of representation, like our farces now.\nOften they chose for the argument of these tragedies different events\nin the same story, so that the three formed a connected whole: of\nwhich an instance, the only instance extant, remains in the Agamemnon,\nChoephoroi, and Eumenides of \u00c6schylus. The tale which has just been\nnarrated is well fitted for this kind of representation, and would\nfurnish materials not unworthy even of that poet\u2019s genius. In the first\nplay we may imagine an insulted queen and deserted wife, brooding over\npast injuries, rejoicing in the prospect of revenge, and urging the\nsavage temper of her son to seek it in the blood of those who should\nhave been dearest to him; the play terminating with the death of\nLeonora de Guzman, and the escape of her sons, preserved, like Orestes,\nto be at once the ministers of vengeance and the instruments of further\ncrime. For the second the unsuspecting confidence of Don Fadrique, his\nrejection of the signs and warnings, which were offered in vain, and\nthe successful machinations of a wicked, perhaps a rejected woman,\nacting upon the proud and cruel Pedro, are well suited; while the\nchorus would find a fitting part, at first, in dark and indistinct\npresages of evil, and lamentations over the blindness with which the\nfated victim rushed into the snare; and at the end, in indignant\ndescription of the circumstances of horror narrated in the ballad, and\nin joining the aged nurse to bewail the death of her foster son, and\ndenouncing vengeance upon the murderer\u2019s head. The third would contain\nthe capture of Pedro, the mutual defiance and death\u2013struggle of the\nbrothers, and the barbarous exposure by Henry of his brother\u2019s corpse:\nwhile at the end the impression of these horrors might be relieved by\nthe constant love of Maria de Padilla, who, now neglected and despised,\nstill watched over the forsaken body of her monarch and lover, with a\nfidelity worthy of a purer bosom.[25]\n\nWe reach at length the Trojan war, the point assumed by Thucydides for\nthe commencement of his sketch of Grecian history: a circumstance alone\nsufficient to discredit the scepticism of those who believe it to be\na mere fabulous legend. The universal voice of antiquity testifies to\nits reality, and we know not of any arguments strong enough to shake\nthis testimony. Herodotus, on the authority of the Persians, mentions\nthe Rape of Helen as one of a series of reprisals consequent upon\nthe aggression of the Ph\u0153nicians, who carried off Io; the cause and\ncommencement of hostility between the Greeks and the Asiatic nations.\nThe former were clearly in the wrong, in the opinion of the Persians,\nboth because the rape of Helen only balanced accounts, and because\nthe Greeks made such injuries a ground for war. \u201cUp to that time they\nconfined themselves to mutual depredations; but the Greeks set the\nexample of carrying war from one continent to the other. Now, to carry\noff women is the act of rogues; but to be over eager to avenge their\nloss is the part of fools; and wise men will take no thought for them\nafter they are gone: for it is plain that they would not have been\nrun away with, except with their own good will. And in truth, say\nthe Persians, the Asiatics made no account of the carrying off their\nwomen: but the Greeks collected a mighty armament on account of a\nLaced\u00e6monian female, and then came to Asia, to pull down the empire of\nPriam!\u201d[26] So thought the Persians. Herodotus confesses that he is not\nprepared to say how these things took place, and sets us the example of\nhastening to ground which he can tread with some certainty. That there\nis no intrinsic improbability in the story, has already been asserted\nby Mitford, on the ground of its close analogy to an incident in the\nhistory of the British islands.\n\nDermod Mac Morough (or Mac Murchad), prince of Leinster, was attached\nto Dervorghal, wife of Tiernan O\u2019Ruark, another Irish chief, who held\nthe county of Leitrim, with some adjacent districts,\u2014a lady of great\nbeauty, but small virtue, who took advantage of her husband\u2019s being\ndriven into hiding by O\u2019Connor, who was then predominant in Ireland, to\nelope with her lover. \u201cAn outrage of this kind was not always regarded\nwith abhorrence by the Irish; they considered it rather as an act of\npardonable gallantry, or such an offence as a reasonable pecuniary\ncompensation might atone for. But the sullen and haughty prince,\nprovoked more by the insolence and treachery of his ravisher than\nthe infidelity of his wife, conceived the most determined animosity\nagainst Dermod. He practised secretly with O\u2019Connor, promised the most\ninviolable attachment to his interest, and prevailed on him, not only\nto reinstate him in his possessions, but to revenge the insult of\nMac Morough, whom he represented, and justly, as a faithless vassal,\nreally devoted to the service of his rival. The King of Connaught led\nhis forces into Leinster, rescued Dervorghal from her paramour, and\nrestored her to her friends; with whom she lived, if not in a state\nof reconciliation with her husband, at least in that opulence and\nsplendour which enabled her to atone for the crime of infidelity, by\nthe usual method of magnificent donations to the church.\u201d[27] This\ndomestic squabble led to more than usually important results, for\nthe expelled Dermod applied to our Henry II. for assistance, and the\nconquest of Ireland followed.\n\nThe ambition of Agamemnon, however, is regarded by Thucydides as the\ncause of the war; the abduction of Helen served only as the pretext.\n\u201cTo me it seemeth that Agamemnon got together that fleet, not so much\nfor that he had with him the suitors of Helena, bound thereto by oath\nto Tyndareus, as for that he exceeded the rest in power. For Atreus,\nafter that Eurystheus was slain by the Heraclid\u00e6, obtained the kingdom\nof Mycen\u00e6, and whatever else had been under him, for himself. To which\ngreatness Agamemnon succeeding; and also far excelling the rest in\nshipping, took that war in hand, as I conceive it, and assembled the\nsaid forces, not so much on favour as by fear. For it is clear, that\nhe himself both conferred most ships to that action, and that some\nalso he lent to the Arcadians. And this is likewise confirmed by\nHomer (if any think his testimony sufficient), who, at the delivery\nof the sceptre unto him, calleth him, \u2018Of many isles, and of all\nArgos king.\u2019\u201d[28] Argos here signifies the whole peninsula, called\nafterwards Peloponnesus. It is plain, however, from Homer, that the\nsovereignty here ascribed to him was of a most uncertain and insecure\ntenure; that his subordinate princes were in fact independent within\ntheir own dominions, and were too high spirited and powerful to be\nmaltreated with impunity. Altogether, without the elaborate machinery\nof the feudal system, the power and influence of Agamemnon seem to\nhave resembled that possessed by the kings of France, and emperors of\nGermany, over those great vassals who held whole provinces, and singly\nor united often proved an overmatch for their sovereign.\n\nHere ends the Mythic age. We shall pass over the next three, or\naccording to most chronologers the next five centuries, which are but\npartially filled up by notices of events, such as the return of the\nHeraclid\u00e6, the gradual subversion of monarchy throughout Greece, and\nthe great emigrations which peopled the Asiatic coast with a Hellenic\nrace. About the sixth century B.C. we begin to reap the\nbenefit of contemporary authorities; and thenceforward history, if not\nfree from an admixture of fiction, at least runs with a copious and\nuninterrupted stream.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nAristomenes.[29]\u2014Hereward le Wake.\u2014Wallace.\n\n\nSparta had not long acquired strength under the institutions of\nLycurgus, before she discovered that thirst of dominion which\ndistinguished her after\u2013history. The neighbouring state of Messenia\nwas the first to suffer. As usual, it is hard to say which party gave\nthe first provocation; but if the Laced\u00e6monians were ever in the\nright, they lost that advantage when, in time of peace, with studied\nsecrecy they bound themselves never to return home until Messenia was\nconquered; and when, without the formality of a declaration of war,\nthey stormed by night Ampheia, a frontier town, and put the unprepared\ninhabitants to the sword. Their enterprise succeeded better than its\niniquity merited; for after a vigorous and protracted defence Messenia\nwas subdued, and continued in servitude for forty years. At the end\nof that time a new race had grown up, ignorant of the evils of war,\nand too high\u2013spirited to bear their degradation tamely. A gallant\nleader is seldom wanting to gallant men engaged in a good cause; and\nAristomenes might serve as a type for all later heroes, whose exploits\nbelong to the debateable ground which lies between truth and fiction.\nHe was a young Messenian of the royal line, according to the report of\nhis countrymen; but other Greeks, with a more unbounded admiration,\nrelated that the hero Pyrrhus,[30] son of Achilles, was his father. His\nvalour, at least, did not disgrace his reputed parentage; and, though\ndaring in extremity even to desperation, was not of that blind and\nfoolish kind which hurries unprepared into action, and sacrifices a\ngood cause to the vanity and temerity of its supporters. Before taking\nthe field, he secured the co\u2013operation of Argos and Arcadia, to support\nand strengthen the eager spirit of his countrymen, and then, with a\nforce entirely Messenian, attacked the Laced\u00e6monians at a place called\nDer\u00e6. The event was doubtful; but that a conquered people should meet\nits masters in battle, and part from them on equal terms, was in itself\nequivalent to a victory. Aristomenes is said to have performed deeds\nbeyond human prowess, and was rewarded by his grateful countrymen with\na summons to the vacant throne. He declined the dignity, but accepted\nof the power under the title of commander\u2013in\u2013chief.\n\nHis next exploit was of a singular and romantic cast, such as would\nbefit a knight of the court of Arthur, or Charlemagne, or the less\nfabulous, but scarce less romantic era of Froissart, better than it\nassorts with modern notions of a general\u2019s or a sovereign\u2019s duties.\nConsidering it important to alarm the Spartans, and impress them with\na formidable idea of his personal qualities, he traversed Laconia, and\nentered Sparta by night, which, in obedience to Lycurgus\u2019 precepts, was\nunwalled and unguarded, to suspend from the temple of Pallas a shield,\ninscribed \u201cAristomenes from the Spartan spoils dedicates this to the\ngoddess.\u201d[31] Violence was not offered, and his object, therefore,\nmust have been to win her favour, or at least to alarm the Spartans,\nlest their protecting deity should be wiled away. It is to be wished\nthat we knew the result of this exploit, of which, unfortunately,\nno account remains. The year after the battle at Der\u00e6, he again led\nhis countrymen, supported by their allies, into battle, at a place\ncalled the Boar\u2019s Tomb; and if upon this occasion fortune favoured the\nrightful cause, it was again mainly owing to his personal exertions.\nSupported by a chosen band of eighty men, who gloried in the privilege\nof risking their lives by the side of Aristomenes, he attacked and\nbroke in detail the choice infantry of Sparta, committing to others the\ntask of routing a disordered enemy, himself ever present where they\nshowed the firmest front; till the Laced\u00e6monians forgot the precepts\nof their lawgiver in a hasty flight. Their disorder was complete, but\nthe pursuit was early stopped, either by the prudence of Aristomenes,\nor the promptitude with which the Spartans availed themselves of local\nadvantages. The latter is probably the real meaning of the following\nlegend. There lay a wild pear\u2013tree in the track of the retreating\narmy; Theoclus, the Messenian seer, warned Aristomenes not to urge the\npursuit beyond this tree, for that Castor and Pollux, the tutelary\ndeities of Laced\u00e6mon, were perched upon it. But Aristomenes thought as\nlittle of his friend\u2019s advice, as Hector of Polydamas\u2019s warning not to\nattack the Grecian camp, and was still hard pressing upon the enemy,\nwhen suddenly his shield disappeared. The loss of this weapon was\nesteemed disgraceful, and therefore we can scarcely wonder that even\nAristomenes, whose character stood above detraction, should have lost\ntime in a fruitless search, which, if improved to the full, might have\nbroken for ever the power of his country\u2019s oppressor. So great was the\nloss and dismay of Sparta, that the war was kept alive with difficulty,\nand that only through the influence acquired by Tyrt\u00e6us, who devoted\nhis poetical talents to recruiting the courage and exasperating the\nhatred of the Laced\u00e6monians.[32]\n\nThe history of this man is somewhat singular. At the beginning of the\nwar, the Laced\u00e6monians had been directed by the Delphic oracle to send\nto Athens for an adviser: they did so, and the city, unwilling either\nto aid in the aggrandizement of a rival, or to disobey the god, thought\nto extricate itself from the dilemma by making choice of one Tyrt\u00e6us,\nan obscure schoolmaster, halt of one leg, and esteemed to be of mean\nability. From the event, a Grecian would have argued in support of the\nfavourite doctrine, that the decrees of fate were inevitable; for to\nthe unknown talents of one so lightly valued did Sparta, upon this and\nother occasions, owe the favourable issue of the war.\n\nBut the reader may be curious to know the fate of Aristomenes\u2019 shield.\nApplying at Delphi, he was informed that he would find it in the\ncave of Trophonius,[33] at Lebadeia, in B\u0153otia, where he afterwards\ndedicated it, \u201cand I myself have seen it there,\u201d[34] adds Pausanias,\nlest any doubt should attach to a story which seems to border somewhat\non the marvellous. How it came there, we are left to conjecture: and\nin these days of scepticism and research, may well envy the historian\nwhose readers\u2019 incredulity was so easily overcome. But, with one or two\nbrilliant exceptions, it was sufficient for the Greeks that a story\npassed current; they cared little to investigate probabilities, or\nenter upon long and intricate inquiries, which in modern times have\nbeen so successfully employed in disentangling the mingled web of\ntruth and fiction. It is curious to mark the importance attached to\nthis miraculous loss. Aristomenes thought it of sufficient consequence\nto render necessary an immediate journey to Delphi; for we find that,\nreturning from Lebadeia, he renewed the war with his recovered shield,\nwhich therefore must have been dedicated at a later period. At first\nhe confined himself to predatory incursions. Returning from \u201cdriving\na creagh,\u201d in Laconia, he was attacked and wounded, but repelled the\nassailants; and, on his recovery, projected an attack upon Sparta,\nwhich, under such a leader, might have been fatal to an unfortified and\nunwatched city; but was deterred a second time by the interposition of\nCastor and Pollux. Turning aside, therefore, to Carya, he carried off\na band of Spartan maidens while engaged in a religious ceremony; and\non this occasion he showed that a life of warfare had not deadened the\nkindlier feelings of his heart, by protecting them from the drunken\nintemperance of his soldiers, even to the death of some who persisted\nin their disobedience. The captives, according to the custom of the\nage, were released upon ransom.\n\nAnother adventure terminated less happily, in which he attacked a\nquantity of matrons employed in celebrating the rites of Ceres, with\nsimilar views, but with a very different result. Armed only with spits\nand the implements of sacrifice, they showed the value of their Spartan\nbreeding, animated by religious enthusiasm, in the entire defeat of\nthe marauding party. Aristomenes, beaten down with their torches,\nwas taken prisoner. This might have been an awkward and ill\u2013sounding\ntermination to a life of lofty adventure: many a hero has fallen victim\nto female wiles; but to be overcome and captured in open war by women\narmed with spits and staves, is an event not to be matched since the\ndays of the Amazons, either in history or romance. The usual course\nof events, indeed, was inverted; for love was his deliverer from the\ndangers in which valour had involved him. Archidamia, the priestess\nof the goddess, who had been previously enamoured of him, forgot her\npatriotism, and set him free.\n\nThe Arcadians were zealous in the Messenian cause. Unhappily their\nprince, Aristocrates, proved treacherous, and took bribes from Sparta\nto betray his trust. \u201cFor the Laced\u00e6monians gave the first example\nof setting warlike prowess up to sale: prior to the transgression of\nLaced\u00e6mon, and the treason of Aristocrates, combatants referred their\ncause to the arbitration of valour, and the fortune which Providence\nshould allot to them. So also did they bribe the Athenian generals\nat \u00c6gos\u2013Potami:[35] but in the end the poisoned shaft recoiled upon\nthemselves. It was through Persian gold, distributed at Corinth, Argos,\nAthens, Thebes, that the victorious career of Laced\u00e6mon was stopped\nat its height, when, the Athenian fleet being destroyed, and a large\npart of Asia delivered, Agesilaus was compelled by the disturbances\nof Greece to lead home his victorious army. Thus did the gods turn\nto their own ruin the fraud which the Laced\u00e6monians had devised.\u201d[36]\nAristocrates kept his own counsel, until the eve of the battle of\nMegaletaphrus (the great ditch), and then disseminated an opinion\namong his countrymen that their position was bad, and offered no means\nof retreat if they were worsted; and, moreover, that the omens were\nunfavourable: finally, he advised all to betake themselves to flight,\nso soon as he should give the word. The Arcadians were steady friends\nto the Messenians, yet, strange to say, they became the abettors of\ntheir prince\u2019s baseness, without sharing his reward. They formed the\ncentre and left wing, and the consternation of the Messenians may be\nimagined, when two\u2013thirds of their army at once deserted them. To\ncomplete his treachery, Aristocrates led the flying troops through the\nMessenians, and threw them into irretrievable confusion; forgetful of\nthe battle, they betook themselves to expostulation and upbraiding of\ntheir treacherous allies; and the Laced\u00e6monians readily surrounded and\ndefeated them with such slaughter, that from the hope of becoming lords\nof their former masters, they were reduced even to despair of safety.\nAristomenes collected from all quarters the scattered remnant of his\ncountrymen, into one new city which he founded on Mount Eira.\n\nBy this step they gave up all their territory, except a strip along\nthe coast held by the Pylians and Methon\u00e6ans. But they were not men to\nstarve peaceably in the neighbourhood of full garners,\n\n      For why, the good old rule\n  Contented them; the simple plan\n  That they should take, who have the power,\n  And they should keep, who can:\n\nand in truth circumstances fully justified them in adopting this\nsimple and compendious rule of action, which they followed with no\nordinary success, carrying off corn, wine, and cattle, equally from\ntheir own country, now occupied by Laced\u00e6monians, and from Laconia;\nand providing for their other wants with the ransoms paid for men and\nmoveables captured in their predatory excursions. At last the Spartans\nfound out that it was worse than lost labour to sow, where an enemy was\nto reap; and forbade the cultivation, not only of Messenia, but even of\nthe borders of Laconia. So great a sacrifice bespeaks the formidable\nnature of the enemy, and produced disturbances, in appeasing which the\nvalue of Tyrt\u00e6us was again displayed. The measure was highly politic,\nfor it compelled the Messenians to gain their livelihood by long and\ndangerous excursions. In one of these Aristomenes, being surprised by\na superior force, was stunned by a blow, and taken, with fifty of his\ncomrades. Cruelty is almost the necessary consequence of injustice;\nand though the Messenians, and especially Aristomenes, seem always to\nhave treated their prisoners with humanity, it was resolved to insure\nfuture quiet by sacrificing a man whose only crime was perseverance in\nhis country\u2019s cause. The Spartans executed criminals by throwing them\ninto a deep pit, called Ceada: into this Aristomenes and his companions\nwere precipitated. All, except the hero, were killed by the fall,\nand he, reserved apparently for a more dreadful fate, retired to the\nextremity of the cavern, and for three days sat, his head wrapped in\nhis cloak, in patient expectation of a lingering and painful death. At\nthe end of that time he heard a slight noise, and raising his head (his\neyes by this time had become accustomed to the gloom) perceived a fox\ngnawing the dead bodies. It might have occurred to a less ready wit,\nthat where there is an entrance there may also be a way out; he caught\nthe fox, and allowing it to follow its own path without suffering it\nto escape, was led along a dark passage, terminating in a crevice just\nlarge enough to admit the animal, through which a glimmering of light\nappeared. Dismissing his guide uninjured, he enlarged the opening with\nhis hands, and against hope even, as well as probability, stood once\nmore free to vindicate his country. It was of course supposed that a\nspecial providence, on this as on other occasions, guarded his safety;\nand many, to magnify the wonder, asserted that an eagle interposed\nitself in the fall, and bore him down secure from all harm.\n\nThe whole event was considered marvellous: first, such was his lofty\nspirit, and renown in arms, that none believed Aristomenes would be\ntaken alive; but his return from the bowels of the earth was still more\namazing, and was held to be a manifest interposition of the Deity.\nThe Laced\u00e6monians, indeed, refused to believe it, until the total\ndestruction of a body of Corinthians marching to assist in the siege of\nEira, \u201cconvinced them that Aristomenes, and no other of the Messenians,\nhad done this.\u201d\n\nAfter this occurrence he performed a second time a rite peculiar to\nthe Messenians, called Hecatomphonia; a sacrifice offered to the\nIthom\u00e6an[37] Jupiter, by such as had slain a hundred men in battle. He\nhad celebrated it for the first time after the battle at the Boar\u2019s\nTomb; the slaughter of the Corinthians gave him a second opportunity;\nand he is said to have offered it yet a third time. The Laced\u00e6monians\nnow concluded a truce for forty days, that they might go home, to\ncelebrate one of their great annual festivals. Aristomenes wandering\nabroad without suspicion during its continuance, was seized by seven\nCretan bowmen, who, while the Spartans were feasting, amused themselves\nby traversing the country. Two of them set off to bear the news to\nSparta: the others carried him to a neighbouring village, in which a\ngirl dwelt, who, in a dream in the preceding night, had seen a lion\nbrought thither in bonds, and deprived of claws, by wolves. She loosed\nit, the claws returned, and it destroyed its captors. When Aristomenes\nwas brought in, and she heard his name, the interpretation of the dream\nflashed across her mind. She intoxicated the soldiers, and set him\nfree; the treacherous Cretans fell an easy prey. In recompence for his\nlife, he gave his preserver in marriage to his son Gorgus.\n\nSuch was the fortune of the war for ten years. After the destructive\nbattle at Megaletaphrus, in the third year, when their cause was ruined\nby the defection of the Arcadians, Aristomenes and the seer Theoclus\nconsulted the Delphic oracle concerning the fate of their country. The\nanswer ran thus\u2014\n\n  When the he\u2013goat shall bend to drink where dimpling Neda flows,\n  Messene\u2019s fate draws nigh; no more can I avert her woes.\n\nIn the eleventh year of the siege of Eira, the fourteenth of the war,\nTheoclus, while walking along the bank of the river Neda, observed a\nwild fig\u2013tree, which in the Messenian tongue was called by the same\nword which signifies a he\u2013goat, that had grown slanting out of the\nbank, and then just swept the water with its branches. He brought\nAristomenes to the place, and they agreed that the prophecy had\nreceived its fulfilment, and the hope of the nation was at an end.\nThere were certain objects preserved in secret, and invested with\npeculiar sanctity, such as the Palladium enjoyed in Troy. If these were\nlost, the fortune of Messenia sunk with them for ever; if not, ancient\noracles foretold that the Messenians should again enjoy their own.\nBelieving that the fated time had arrived, Aristomenes buried secretly\nthe mystic treasure in the wildest and most desolate part of Mount\nIthome; in the persuasion that the deities, who had till then supported\nthem in a righteous struggle, would still watch over the mysterious\npledge of their safety.[38]\n\nPausanias seems to take a malicious pleasure in observing that Eira,\nno less than Troy, owed its ruin to a woman. A herdsman, belonging to\nEmperamus, a Spartan of distinction, had fled from his master, and\nlived near the river Neda. He gained the affections of a Messenian\nwoman, who dwelt without the walls of Eira, and used to visit her\nwhen her husband was on guard. One night, the husband\u2019s sudden return\ncompelled him to conceal himself: a storm of extraordinary violence\nhad caused the guard to disperse, trusting that the inclement season\nwould keep the Laced\u00e6monians quiet, and aware that Aristomenes could\nnot go the rounds, according to his custom, since he was lying ill of\na recent wound. The herdsman listened to this account, and perceived\nthat it was a favourable opportunity for making his peace, and even\nsecuring reward. He hastened to Emperamus, his master, who was in\ncommand at the camp, narrated what had happened, and conducted the army\nto the assault. The way was difficult, and the night terrible, but they\nsurmounted these impediments, and entered the town before the alarm was\ngiven. Taken by surprise, its devoted inhabitants still acted up to the\nreputation they had so deservedly acquired. Aristomenes and Theoclus,\naware that Messenia at length must fall, yet concealed the fulfilment\nof the oracle, and roused the courage of their comrades to desperation:\neven the women showed that they preferred death to captivity, and\nexcited the men to higher daring by the participation of their danger.\nThe night passed without advantage to either party, but at day\u2013break\nthe rain poured down in still greater fury, and drove in the faces of\nthe Messenians; and the lightning flashing from the left, an evil omen,\nat once blinded them and depressed their spirits, while to the Spartans\nit came from the right, and was welcomed as the harbinger of success.\nThe latter too were far superior in number; but since they could\nnot avail themselves of this advantage in the narrow streets, their\ngeneral sent back a part to the camp to rest and refresh themselves,\nwith orders to return in the evening, to relieve that division which\nremained. Pressed thus continually by fresh foes, the wretched\nMessenians yet protracted the struggle. Three days and three nights\nthey maintained an unceasing fight; at the end of these, watching, and\ncold, and wet, and thirst, and hunger, had exhausted their strength.\nThen Theoclus addressed Aristomenes: \u201cWhy do we still maintain this\nfruitless labour? The decree has gone forth that Messene must fall:\nthat which we now see was foretold to us long since by the priestess\nof Apollo, and the fig\u2013tree lately warned us that the time was at\nhand. God grants to me a common end with my country: it is your part\nto preserve the Messenians and yourself.\u201d He rushed among the enemy,\nexclaiming, \u201cYe shall not rejoice in the possessions of the Messenians\nfor ever!\u201d and, sated with slaughter, fell surrounded by the victims\nof his despair. Aristomenes collected the survivors into a close\ncolumn, in the centre of which he placed their wives and children,\nand stationing himself with his chosen band at their head, motioned\nwith his spear to the enemy to allow them a free passage; which the\nSpartans granted, rather than exasperate their well\u2013tried intrepidity\nto frenzy. They found a hospitable and friendly reception in Arcadia,\nthe inhabitants of which supplied their wants, and would willingly have\nassigned to them a portion of their lands; but the ardent spirit of\nAristomenes could not brook a quiet submission. Selecting five hundred\nmen, the flower of his army, he asked if they were prepared to die\nwith him in their country\u2019s behalf; and having received their hearty\nconcurrence, proposed a scheme for surprising Sparta, and holding it as\na pledge for their own restoration. Three hundred Arcadians volunteered\nto join him; but their hopes were frustrated a second time by the\ntraitor Aristocrates. On this occasion, however, he was detected, and\nhis former villainy being at the same time revealed, the Arcadians,\nin just anger, stoned him to death. The Messenians, exhorted to join\nin the punishment, looked to Aristomenes, who sat weeping, and in\nimitation of their beloved leader, abstained from sharing in a merited\nrevenge. Tender by nature must have been the heart of one, who, after\nhaving slain three hundred men with his own hand, could yet weep over\nthe deserved punishment of an old companion in arms; and it is pleasing\nto contrast the staunch patriotism of the Messenians, still tempered by\nmoderation and mercy, with the savage and wanton cruelties acted by\nthe polished Greeks of later ages.\n\nThe Pylians and Methon\u00e6ans, who had preserved their navy, invited their\ncountrymen in Arcadia to join them, and seek a settlement in some\nforeign land. Aristomenes refused to accept the proffered command; he\nwould never cease, he said, to war against the Laced\u00e6monians, and well\nknew that he should ever be the cause of some evil to them. His son\nGorgus, and Manticlus, son of Theoclus, supplied his place. Ere they\nhad resolved on their course, Anaxilas, prince of Rhegium, sent to\ninvite their co\u2013operation in a war against the Zancl\u00e6ans, promising,\nin case of success, to assign to them that wealthy city. Zancle soon\nfell before their joint efforts. Anaxilas wished to slay the male\ncitizens, and reduce their families to slavery; but the Messenians\nhad learnt pity in the school of adversity, and deprecated being\nmade the instruments of inflicting upon others the miseries which\nthey themselves deplored. Interchanging oaths of fidelity with the\ninhabitants, they dwelt in union with them in the city, to which, in\nmemory of their beloved country, they gave the name of Messene, which\nit bears to this day, under the slightly altered form of Messina.[39]\n\nShortly after their departure, Damagetus, king of Ialysus, in Rhodes,\ninquiring at Delphi where he should seek a wife, was directed to choose\nthe daughter of the best of the Grecians. He hesitated not to fix\non Aristomenes, and took his youngest and only unmarried child. The\nwarrior passed with her into Rhodes, and died soon after, ungratified\nin his wish of striking another blow at Laced\u00e6mon. He was honoured with\na splendid monument, and worshipped as a hero in Rhodes, and by his\ngrateful countrymen.\n\nSuch of the Messenians as remained on the land were consigned to the\nmiserable class of Helots. But even in this degraded state they were\nstill a source of trouble to their masters; and at last revolting,\nmade so obstinate a defence, that they obtained permission to depart\nunarmed, and were settled by the Athenians at Naupactus, on the\nCorinthian gulf. Two centuries after their subjection, Epaminondas\ncollected the scattered remnants of the people, and re\u2013established\nthem in possession of their country, in a new city, named Messene,\nbuilt under his patronage, on Mount Ithome. Thus ancient oracles were\nfulfilled, the tutelary deities preserved their trust, and the dying\nprophecy of Theoclus was accomplished.\n\nThe annals of the Norman conquest of England introduce us to a fit\ncompanion for Aristomenes, in respect of similarity of fortunes, as\nwell as character. Hereward le Wake, a youth of noble Saxon family,\nwhile yet a boy was distinguished for strength and turbulence of\ncharacter: so rough was he in play, that his hand was against every\none, and every one\u2019s hand against him; and so impatient of superiority,\nthat if the prize of wrestling, or their other games, was awarded to\nanother, he would assert his own title by the cogent argument of an\nappeal to the sword. His father\u2019s love of quiet seems to have been\ngreater than his parental affection, for he took upon himself the task\nof ridding the neighbourhood of his troublesome son, and set forth so\nably his violences against others, and certain boyish impertinences\ncommitted against himself, that he obtained from Edward the Confessor\nan order for his banishment. Hereward went to Northumberland, and\nthence travelling to Cornwall, Ireland, and Flanders, he distinguished\nhimself everywhere so highly, for daring, skill in arms, and success\nin extricating himself from the greatest dangers, that it was a doubt\nwhether his courage or his good fortune were the more admirable. His\nfame, won in many a conflict, and confirmed even by the report of his\nenemies, was not long in reaching England; and so entirely changed the\ntemper of father, mother, relations, and friends, that the worthy abbot\nof Croyland, from whom our narrative is taken, can only account for the\nsudden conversion of so much ill will into such violent affection, by\nattributing it to the special interposition of Providence.\n\nDuring his abode in Flanders, he received news of the Norman invasion,\nof his father\u2019s death, and the bestowal of his inheritance upon a\nNorman, who insulted and oppressed his widowed mother. Hastening to\navenge her, he quickly expelled the spoiler; and then remembering that\nhe was no knight himself, though knights were now under his command,\nhe received the order from his uncle the Abbot of Peterborough. For\nthe English considered the investiture as a religious ceremony, and\nwhoever underwent it confessed himself, received absolution, and spent\nthe eve of his consecration in prayer in the church. In the morning,\nafter hearing mass, he offered his sword upon the altar; and after the\ngospel had been read the priest blessed the weapon, and completed the\nceremony by laying it upon his shoulder. But the Normans, who looked\nupon the order as exclusively military, held in abomination this method\nof receiving it.[40]\n\nA body of noble Saxons, who, like Hereward, had been expelled from\ntheir inheritances, or driven by maltreatment into rebellion, occupied\nthe Isle of Ely, a tract then environed by morasses, which now have\nalmost disappeared, and admirably fitted to be a place of refuge from\na more powerful but less active enemy. They chose Hereward for their\nleader, and he justified their preference and his own reputation by\na series of exploits, which continued long after to be favourite\nsubjects of the popular ballads; for the preservation of some of which\nposterity would have owned a much greater obligation to Ingulph, than\nfor the minute details connected with the monastery of Croyland, which\nhe has thought it more important to preserve.\n\nUpon his uncle\u2019s death the abbey of Peterborough was bestowed by\nthe Conqueror upon a Norman, by name Thorold, to Hereward\u2019s great\ndispleasure. In conjunction with the Danes, who then infested the\neastern coast, he resolved to disturb the temporal enjoyments at least\nof the intruder. Let the Monk of Peterborough tell his own melancholy\nhistory.\n\n\u201cEarly in the morning of the above\u2013mentioned day, came the aforesaid\nevil doers, with many ships;[41] but the monks and their men shut the\ngates, and bestirred themselves manfully in their defence from above,\nso that the battle waxed very sore at the gate called Bulehithe.[42]\nThen Hereward and his comrades, seeing they could by no means gain the\nmastery, and force entrance, set fire to the houses near the gate,\nand so made passage by burning; also, they consumed all the offices\nof the monks, save the church and one house. Yet the monks met them,\nand besought that they would not do this evil; but they listened not,\nand went armed into the church, and would have carried away the great\ncrucifix, but they could not. Nevertheless they took from its head a\ngolden crown set with jewels, and a stool, also made of pure gold and\njewels, from under its feet; also two golden reliquaries, and nine\nmade of silver, fashioned with gold and jewels, and twelve crosses,\nsome made of gold, others of silver, gold, and jewels. Nor did this\ncontent them, but they went up into the tower, and took thence a\ngreat table made entirely of gold and gems and silver, which the monks\nhad hidden there, which used to stand before the altar; and they took\nsuch a quantity of gold and silver in articles of all sorts, books,\nand ornaments, as can neither be told nor valued. All these were of\nthe best quality, nor did the like of them remain in England. Yet they\nsaid that out of fealty to the church they did thus, and that the Danes\nwould preserve those valuables for the use of the church, better than\nthe Normans. And, indeed, Hereward himself was of a monastic order,\nand therefore they put some trust in him, and he afterwards made oath\nthat he had done this from good motives, because he thought they should\nconquer King William, and themselves possess the land.\n\n\u201cSo it came to pass that nothing that was taken away was ever restored,\nand the monastery, which had been so rich, was now reduced to poverty.\nAnd from that day nothing was ever added or restored to it, but its\nwealth continually diminished. Since Abbot Thorold himself not only\nadded nothing, but dispersed its compact estates among his kinsmen and\nthe knights that came with him.\u201d[43]\n\nThe Abbot gave away sixty\u2013two knights\u2019 fees (feoda) upon tenure of\nmilitary service. Not long after, being naturally anxious to dislodge\nso formidable an enemy, he summoned his friends and vassals to drive\nHereward from the vicinity. Ivo Tailboys, a Norman baron, to whom\nthe Conqueror had granted the district of Hoyland, or Holland, in\nLincolnshire, still known by the latter name, entered the woods at the\nhead of his troops: the Abbot, with other dignitaries, kept warily on\nthe outside; but while Ivo entered upon the right, Hereward darted\nround upon the left, carried off the Abbot and his companions, and made\nthem pay a ransom of three thousand marks. At length William in person\nbrought a powerful army against him, beleaguered the island closely\nby land and water, and, at vast expense, proceeded to make causeways\nacross the marshes, by which his position was defended. Ivo Tailboys\nwas a great believer in witchcraft, and he prevailed upon the king to\ntry its efficacy. As the causeway proceeded, therefore, a witch was\nkept in advance, in a wooden turret, to fulminate her incantations\nagainst the enemy: but the farce soon met with a tragical conclusion,\nfor Hereward, watching his time when the soldiers and workmen had gone\nsomewhat forward, made a circuit, and by setting fire to the reeds\nupon their flank, involved soldiers, witch, and works, in one common\nruin. But the odds were overwhelming, and at last the Saxons were\ncompelled to submit. The other chiefs, including some of the most noble\nof the land, surrendered to the conqueror\u2019s mercy, and suffered death,\nmutilation, or fine, according to the sense entertained by him of their\nguilt. Hereward alone, by his superior gallantry and conduct, provided\nfor the escape of his followers and himself, and was ultimately\nrewarded for his valour and perseverance, by being admitted to favour,\nand reinstated in his paternal estates. He finished his days in peace,\nand was buried in Croyland Abbey.\n\nBut British history offers another character to our notice, who bears\nperhaps a nearer personal resemblance to Aristomenes, although both\nhis own fate and the issue of the struggle in which he engaged were\ndifferent,\u2014Wallace, the earliest, the stoutest, and the most fondly\nremembered champion of Scottish independence: whose name has been\npreserved and magnified in the recollection of his countrymen, with an\naffection not inferior to that which led the Messenians to pay divine\nhonours to their departed hero. The fame of both rests chiefly upon\ntradition, for the earliest Scottish author who gives the history of\nWallace wrote more than a century after his death, and the notices of\nhis exploits in the English chroniclers are meagre and unsatisfactory.\nIt is impossible therefore accurately to depict his character, or to\ndraw the line minutely between truth and fiction. We see a form of\ncommanding and colossal proportions, but we see it dimly, and the\nfeatures must be filled up from our own imaginations: but we may at\nleast trace indomitable courage, constancy, and patriotism; and if\nthese lofty qualities were sometimes sullied by ferocity, yet, in\njustification of the sympathy and interest which his career excites,\nwe may plead not only the character of the age, and the sufferings\nendured by Scotland under the English yoke, but the exacerbation of\ntemper which must necessarily arise from a life of constant hardship\nand danger. Hunted continually from morass to forest, denied the\nenjoyment of domestic happiness, dependent upon his own right hand for\nthe security which was to be found only in the death of his pursuers,\nit is rather matter for regret, than for stern censure, if in the hour\nof victory the call of mercy was unheeded. And in further extenuation\nwe may add, that to control the excesses of his followers does not\nseem always to have been in the power even when it was in the wish of\ntheir chief; and that it is reasonable and consistent with the bitter\nspirit of national enmity which long prevailed, to conjecture that the\nblind minstrel, who is his principal biographer, consulted the passions\nand prejudices of his hearers no less by exaggerating the deeds of\nvengeance acted by his hero, than his hair\u2013breadth escapes, and almost\nsuperhuman might.\n\nIt is amusing to note how party spirit has biassed the view taken of\nhis origin and motives. The English writers speak of him slightingly,\nwithout notice of the extraordinary qualities ascribed to him, as a\ncommon robber, who having by degrees collected round him a large band\nof desperate men, was emboldened to attack and plunder the suite of\nOrmesby, chief justiciary of Scotland. Compare this with the account\ngiven by Bower,[44] in whose eyes, it is but fair to say, the having\nfought stoutly in defence of Scotland was cloak enough to cover a\nmultitude of offences.\n\n\u201cIn the same year (1297) that famous warrior William Wallace, the\nhammer and the scourge of the English, son of a noble knight of the\nsame name, lifted up his head; and when he saw the affliction of his\nnation, and the goods of the Scots delivered into the hands of their\nenemies, his heart pined and was sore afflicted. For he was tall of\nstature, gigantic in body, of calm aspect, and cheerful countenance,\nbroad shouldered, big boned, proportionately corpulent, pleasant, yet\nstern to behold, thick loined, powerful of limb, a most stout champion,\nand very strong, and well knit in all his joints. Moreover the Most\nHigh had so distinguished him by a certain prepossessing mirthfulness,\nhad so graced with some heavenly gift both his deeds and words, that\nby his mere aspect he disposed the hearts of all true Scots to love\nhim. And no wonder, for he was most generous, in judgment most just, in\nministering comfort most patient, in council most wise, in sufferance\nmost enduring, in speech most eloquent: above all things hostile to\nlies and falsehood, and abhorrent of treachery: wherefore the Lord was\nwith him, through whom he was in all things prosperous, venerating the\nchurch, revering churchmen, supporting the poor and widowed, cherishing\norphans, raising the oppressed, lying in wait for thieves and robbers,\nand without reward inflicting deserved punishment upon them.\u201d\n\nThe following extract comprises such particulars of his early career\nas seem entitled to historical credit. \u201cAt this time (1297), and out\nof this middle class of the lesser barons, arose an extraordinary\nindividual, who was at first driven into the field by intolerable\ninjury and despair, and who in a short period of time, in the\nreconquest of his native country, developed a character which may\nwithout exaggeration be termed heroic. This was William Wallace, or\nWalays, the second son of Sir Malcolm Wallace, of Ellersley, near\nPaisley, a simple knight, whose family was ancient, but neither rich\nnor noble. In those days bodily strength and knightly prowess were of\nthe highest consequence in commanding respect and ensuring success.\nWallace had an iron frame. His make, as he grew up to manhood,\napproached almost to the gigantic, and his personal strength was\nsuperior to the common run of even the strongest men. His passions were\nhasty and violent; a strong hatred to the English, who now insolently\nlorded it over Scotland, began to show itself at a very early period of\nhis life; and this aversion was fostered in the youth by an uncle, a\npriest, who, deploring the calamities of his country, was never weary\nof extolling the sweets of liberty and the miseries of dependence.\n\n\u201cThe intrepid temper of Wallace appears first to have shown itself in\na quarrel with one of the English officers, who insulted him. Provoked\nby his taunts, Wallace, reckless of the consequences, stabbed him with\nhis dagger, and slew him on the spot. The consequence of this was to\nhim the same as to many others, who at this time preferred a life of\ndangerous freedom to the indulgence and security of submission. He\nwas proclaimed a traitor, banished his home, and driven to seek his\nsafety in the wilds and fastnesses of his country. It was here that he\ncollected by degrees a little band, composed at first of a few brave\nmen of desperate fortunes who had forsworn their vassalage to their\nlords, and refused submission to Edward, and who at first carried on\nthat predatory warfare against the English, to which they were impelled\nas well by the desire of plunder, and the necessity of subsistence,\nas by the love of liberty. These men chose Wallace for their chief.\nSuperior rank, for as yet none of the nobility or barons had joined\nthem, his uncommon courage and personal strength, and his unconquerable\nthirst of vengeance against the English, naturally influenced their\nchoice, and the result proved how well it had fallen. His plans\nwere laid with so much judgment, that in his first attacks against\nstraggling parties of the English, he was generally successful; and if\nsurprised by unexpected numbers, his superior strength and bravery, and\nthe noble ardour with which he inspired his followers, enabled them to\noverpower every effort which was made against them.\n\n\u201cTo him these early and desultory excursions against the enemy were\nhighly useful; as he became acquainted with the strongest passes of\nhis country, and acquired habits of command over men of fierce and\nturbulent spirits. To them the advantage was reciprocal, for they\nbegan gradually to feel an undoubting confidence in their leader; they\nwere accustomed to rapid marches, to endure fatigue and privation, to\nbe on their guard against surprise, to feel the effects of discipline\nand obedience, and by the successes which these ensured, to regard with\ncontempt the nation by whom they had allowed themselves to be overcome.\n\n\u201cThe consequences of these partial advantages over the enemy were\nsoon seen. At first few had dared to unite themselves to so desperate\na band. But confidence came with success, and numbers flocked to the\nstandard of revolt. The continued oppressions of the English, the\ndesire of revenge, and even the romantic and perilous nature of the\nundertaking recruited the ranks of Wallace, and he was soon at the head\nof a great body of Scottish exiles.\u201d[45]\n\nAbout this time he was joined by Sir William Douglas at the head of\nall his vassals. A series of brilliant successes followed the union of\ntheir little armies: and such was the effect produced on the public\nmind, that when their united strength broke in upon the West of\nScotland, they were joined by some of the most powerful of the Scottish\nnobles, among whom we find the Steward of Scotland, Sir Andrew Moray of\nBothwell, his brother, and Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow.\n\nSuch is the outset of Wallace\u2019s career, so far as it is matter of\nauthentic history. His biographer, Blind Harry, carries him through\na great number of adventures before this period; but they possess\nso little of interest or poetical merit, and are written in such\nantiquated language, that the reader would probably derive little\npleasure from them. They consist chiefly of rencontres with the\nEnglish soldiery; enterprising attacks upon the strongholds scattered\nthroughout Scotland, and the various events of a desultory and almost\npredatory warfare, in all which his knightly prowess and sagacity\nare represented as compensating for inferiority in numbers, and as\nextricating his followers and himself even in the extremity of danger.\nThe following specimens will probably be sufficient.\n\nThe first relates to the surprisal of Dunbarton Castle. Wallace,\nentering the town, found the captain and part of his garrison drinking,\nand bragging of what they would do if the rebel leader and his men were\nwithin reach.\n\n  When Wallace heard the Southron made sic din,\n  He garred all bide, and him alane went in;\n  The lave[46] remained, to hear of their tithans,[47]\n  He saluit them with sturdy countenance.\n  \u201cFellows,\u201d he said, \u201csen I come last fra hame\n  In travail I was our land, and uncouth fame.\n  Fra south Ireland I come in this countree,\n  The new conquest of Scotland for to see.\n  Part of your drink, or some good would I have.\u201d\n  The captain then a shrewish answer him gave;\n  \u201cThou seemest a Scot unlikely, us to spy;\n  Thou may be ane of Wallace company.\n  Contrar our king he is risen again,\n  The land of Fife he has rademyt in playne.[48]\n  Thou sall here bide, while we wit how it be;\n  Be thou of his, thou sall be hanged on high.\u201d\n  Wallace then thought it was no time to stand,\n  His noble sword he grippit soon in hand;\n  Athwart his face drew that captain in tene,[49]\n  Strake all away that stood abowne his eyne;\n  Ane othir braithly in the breast he bare,\n  Baith brawn and bayn,[50] the burly blade through share;\n  The lave rushed up to Wallace in great ire;\n  The third he felled full fiercely in the fire.\n  Stenyn of Ireland and Kerle, in that thrang,\n  Kepyt na cherge, but entred them amang;\n  And othir more that to the door can press:\n  While they saw him, there could no man them cess,[51]\n  The Southron men full soon were brought to dead.\n\nThe following extract is of a more romantic character. Wallace, being\nclosely pursued by the English, had, in a mingled fit of anger and\nsuspicion, struck off the head of one of his followers, by name\nFawdoun. At night, when he and his men had taken refuge in a tower,\nthey heard a horn blown at hand. Two of them went out to see what the\ncause might be; they did not return, and the horn was again heard\nlouder than before. Two more were sent, and so, till Wallace was left\nalone.\n\n  When he alane Wallace was leavit there,\n  The awfull blast abounded mickle mair.\n  Then trowed he they had his lodging seen;\n  His sword he drew, of noble metal keen,\n  Syne[52] forth he went whereat he heard the horn.\n  Without the door Fawdoun was them beforn,\n  As till his sight, his awn head in his hand.\n  A cross he made, when he saw him so stand.\n  At Wallace in the head he swaket[53] there;\n  And he in haste soon hynt[54] it by the hair,\n  Syne out again at him he couth[55] it cast;\n  Intil his heart he greatly was aghast.\n  Right well he trowed that was no sprite of man,\n  It was some devil, that sic malice began.\n  He wist no waill[56] there longer for to byde.\n  Up through the hall thus wight Wallace can glide,\n  Till a close stair: the boards rave in twain.\n  Fifteen foot large he lap out of that inn.[57]\n  Up the water suddenly he couth fare;\n  Again he blent[58] what perance he saw there.\n  Him thought he saw Fawdoun, that hugly sir;\n  That haill hall he had set in a fire;\n  A great rafter he had intill his hand.\n  Wallace as then no longer would he stand.\n  Of his gude men full great merveill had he,\n  How they were lost through his fell fantasy.\n\nIn the spring of 1297 his career of victory was checked at Irvine, by\nthe dissensions and desertion of his army; but the cloud soon passed\naway, for in the autumn we find him engaged in the siege of Dundee,\nfrom which he was recalled by the approach of the English, under the\ncommand of Warenne, Earl of Surrey. Wallace determined to await the\nenemy on the banks of the Forth, near Stirling, where the river could\nbe crossed only by a narrow and inconvenient bridge, that scarce\nadmitted the passage of two horsemen together. The Scottish army\nconsisted of forty thousand foot, and one hundred and eighty horse; the\nEnglish, of fifty thousand foot, and one thousand horse.\n\nSurrey was probably aware of the strong position occupied by the\nScots, and the danger of passing the bridge in face of the enemy, for\nhe despatched two friars to propose terms to Wallace. \u201cThat robber,\u201d\nsays Hemingford, \u201creplied, \u2018Tell your fellows, that we come not hither\nfor the benefit of peace, but are prepared for battle, to avenge and\nto free our kingdom. Let them, therefore, come up when they will, and\nthey shall find us ready to meet them beard to beard.\u2019 And when these\ntidings came to our men, they that were hot\u2013headed said, \u2018Let us go up\nagainst them, for these are but threats.\u2019 But the wiser part added,\n\u2018We may not yet advance, until we have well reflected what counsel\nto pursue.\u2019 Then said that stout knight, Sir Richard Lundy, who had\nsurrendered to us at Irvine,[59] \u2018My lords, if it shall be that we\nascend the bridge, we are dead men. For we can only pass by two and\ntwo, and the enemy are on our flank, and when they please, will form in\nline and charge us. But not far off there is a ford where sixty men can\ncross at once. Now then give me five hundred horse and a small body of\nfoot; and we will make a circuit in the enemy\u2019s rear and overthrow him:\nand meanwhile you, Lord Earl, and your company will pass the bridge in\nsafety.\u2019 But they would not abide by his good counsel, saying that it\nwas unsafe to separate. So being divided in opinion, some cried out\nto pass the bridge, others the contrary. Among whom Cressingham, the\nking\u2019s treasurer, a proud man and a child of perdition, said, \u2018It is\nnot well, my Lord Earl, to put off this matter farther, and to spend\nthe king\u2019s money in vain. Rather let us march up, and do our devoir\nas we are bound.\u2019 The earl, therefore, being moved by his words, gave\norders that they should pass the bridge. A strange thing was it, and\nvery direful in its issue, that so many, and such wise men, who knew\nthe enemy to be at hand, should venture on a narrow bridge, which\ntwo horsemen could hardly pass abreast. So that, as some said, who\nwere in that battle, if they had filed over without bar or hindrance\nfrom break of day till eleven o\u2019clock, still a large part of the rear\nwould have remained behind. Neither was there a fitter place in all\nScotland to deliver over the English to the Scots, or the many into\nthe hands of the few. The banners of the king and earl passed over,\nand among the first that most valiant knight, Sir Marmaduke Twenge.\nAnd when the enemy saw that as many as they thought to overthrow had\ncrossed, they ran down the hill, and blocked up the bridge end with\ntheir spearmen; so that from thenceforth there was neither passage nor\nreturn, but in the attempt many were cast over the bridge and drowned.\nAs the Scots came down from the mountain, Sir Marmaduke said, \u2018Is it\nnot time, my brethren, to charge them?\u2019 And they assented, and spurred\ntheir horses: and in the shock some of the Scots horsemen fell, and\nthe others, to a man, ran away. As our men pursued the fugitives, one\nsaid to Sir Marmaduke, \u2018Sir, we are betrayed, for our comrades do not\nfollow, and the banners of the king and earl are not to be seen.\u2019\nThen looking back, they saw that many of our men, and among them the\nstandard\u2013bearers, had fallen, and said, \u2018Our way to the bridge is cut\noff, and we are barred from our friends: it is better to make trial\nof the water, if it be that we may pass it, than to plunge into the\ncolumns of the enemy, and fall to no purpose. It is difficult, yea,\nimpossible, for us to pass through the midst of the Scots.\u2019 Then\nreplied that valiant knight, Sir Marmaduke, \u2018Surely, my dear friends,\nit shall never be said of me, that I drowned myself for nothing. Do\nnot ye so either, but follow me, and I will clear a passage through\nthem even to the bridge.\u2019 Then spurring his charger, he plunged among\nthe enemy, and dealing blows on either side, passed unhurt through\nthe throng, and laid open a wide path for his followers. For he was\ntall, and stout of body. And as he fought thus valiantly, his nephew,\nwho was wounded, his horse being slain, shouted after him, \u2018Sir, save\nme.\u2019 He replied, \u2018Get up behind me.\u2019\u2014\u2018I cannot,\u2019 he answered, \u2018for my\nstrength is gone.\u2019 Presently his comrade, an esquire of the same Sir\nMarmaduke, came up, and descending from his horse, he placed the young\nman on it, and said to his master, \u2018Sir, go where you will, I follow;\u2019\nand he followed him to the bridge, so that both were preserved. All\nwho remained, to the number of one hundred horsemen, and five thousand\nfoot, perished, except a few who swam the river. One knight, also, with\nmuch difficulty, passed the water upon his barded horse.\u201d[60]\n\nThe Earl of Surrey quitted the field as soon as he was rejoined by\nTwenge, giving orders for the destruction of the bridge. The Scots,\ntherefore, did not cross to pursue their success: but notwithstanding,\nquantities of plunder fell into their hands, and the decisive nature\nof the defeat is evident from the consequences which attended it. In\nthe words of Knighton, \u201cThis awful beginning of hostilities roused the\nspirit of Scotland, and sunk the hearts of the English.\u201d In a short\ntime not a fortress of Scotland remained in Edward\u2019s possession. The\ncastles of Edinburgh and Roxburgh were dismantled, and Berwick, being\nabandoned by the English upon the advance of the Scots, was occupied by\nWallace, who resolved on an immediate expedition into England, with the\nview of providing sustenance for his troops, and lightening the horrors\nof famine, which now fell severely upon Scotland.\n\n\u201cAfter that ill\u2013omened beginning,\u201d Hemingford continues, \u201cthe Scots\nwere animated, and the hearts of the English troubled. Wallace overran\nand devastated the whole of Northumberland. In that time the praise\nof God ceased to be heard in all monasteries and churches from\nNewcastle\u2013upon\u2013Tyne to Carlisle. For all monks, canons, and other\npriests, with all the commons, fled before the face of the Scots.\u201d\nTurning then westward, he passed Carlisle, which refused to surrender,\nravaged Cumberland, and was advancing into Durham, when his progress\nwas stopped by the winter\u2019s setting in with unusual severity: a\ndeliverance ascribed to the miraculous assistance of Cuthbert, the\npatron saint of the diocese. \u201cReturning to Hexham, where stood a\nwealthy monastery, which the Scots had plundered on their advance,\nthree canons of that house, who, having no fear of death, had just\nreturned, fled into an oratory which they had rebuilt, that, if it\nwere the Divine will, they might there be offered as a sacrifice of\nsweet savour. Presently the spearmen came in and shook their lances\nover them, saying, \u2018Show us the treasures of your church, or ye shall\ninstantly die.\u2019 One of them replied, \u2018It is not long since you and\nyour people carried off our property, as if it had been your own, and\nyou know where you have placed it. Since then we have sought out a few\nthings, as you now see.\u2019 Meanwhile Wallace appeared and rebuked his\nmen, and bid them give way, and asked one of the monks to celebrate\nmass, which was done. And at the moment of elevating the host, Wallace\nwent forth to lay aside his armour; and then, when the priest was about\nto take the holy sacrament, the Scots gathered round him, to snatch\naway the cup. And after Wallace had washed his hands, and returned\nfrom the sacristy to the altar, he found the chalice and the napkins,\nand other ornaments of the altar, carried off; even the book in which\nthe mass had been begun, was gone. And while the priest was hesitating\nwhat he should do, Wallace returned, and seeing what had passed, he\ngave order that those sacrilegious men should be sought out, and put to\ndeath. But they were not found, inasmuch as they were not sought for in\nearnest. And he said to the canons, \u2018Go not away from me, but keep near\nme, as you value your safety. For this people is ill\u2013disposed, and may\nneither be excused nor punished.\u2019\u201d[61]\n\nSoon after his return from this expedition, he was elected governor\nof Scotland, and his measures in this high office appear to have been\njudicious and temperate. But the haughty barons could not bear the\nsuperiority of one whose only claim was in his merit, and thus division\nwas sown in the Scottish councils at the time when unanimity was more\nthan ever needed. In the summer of 1298 Edward himself invaded Scotland\nat the head of a powerful army. The plan adopted by Wallace upon this\noccasion was the same as that which was afterwards so successfully\nexecuted by Bruce. He avoided a general battle, which with an army far\ninferior to the English must have been fought to a disadvantage,\u2014he\nfell back slowly before the enemy, leaving some garrisons in the most\nimportant castles, driving off all supplies, wasting the country\nthrough which the English were to march, and waiting till the scarcity\nof provisions compelled them to retreat, and gave him a favourable\nopportunity of breaking down upon them with full effect.[62]\n\nThey advanced unopposed, therefore, but found an inhospitable desert;\nand Edward, unable to replace his exhausted stores, was at length\ncompelled to issue orders for a retreat to Edinburgh, hoping to meet\nhis fleet at Leith, and then to recommence offensive warfare. At\nthis critical juncture, when the military skill and wisdom of the\ndispositions made by Wallace became apparent, and when the moment to\nharass and destroy the invading army in its retreat had arrived, the\ntreachery of her nobles again betrayed Scotland to the enemy. Two\nScottish lords, Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, and the Earl of Angus, at\nday\u2013break privately sought the quarters of the Bishop of Durham, and\ninformed him that the Scots were encamped not far off in the forest\nof Falkirk. The Scottish earls, who dreaded the resentment of Edward\non account of their late renunciation of allegiance, did not venture\nto seek the king in person. They sent their intelligence by a page,\nand added, that having heard of his projected retreat, it was the\nintention of Wallace to surprise him by a night attack. Edward, on\nhearing this welcome news, could not conceal his joy. \u201cThanks be to\nGod,\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cwho hitherto hath extricated me from every danger.\nThey shall not need to follow me, since I shall forthwith go and meet\nthem.\u201d[63]\n\nThe consequence of this treachery was the fatal battle of Falkirk, in\nwhich the Scots were totally defeated, with vast slaughter, owing to\nthe jealousy and dissensions of the nobility; and Wallace, finding his\nown exertions thwarted, resigned his office.\n\n  \u201cBeside the watyre of Forth, he\n  Forsook Wardane ever to be.\n  For lever[64] he had to lyve simply.\n  Na under sic doubt in Seigniory.\n  Na the leal comonys of Scotland\n  He wold not had peryst under his hand.\n    \u201cOf his good deeds, and manhood\n  Gret Gestis, I hard say, are made.\n  But sa mony I trow not\n  As he intil hys dayis wroucht.\n  Wha all his Dedis of price wald dyte\n  Him worthyd a gret Book to wryte\n  And all thae to wryte in here\n  I want both wyt and good laysere.\u201d[65]\n\nFor several years after this, we do not meet with his name in the\nrecords of authentic history. The blind minstrel transports him to\nFrance during this period, where he goes through many adventures, and,\namong others, kills a lion in single combat. But we must hasten to the\nclosing scene of his life. After Edward had overrun and subjected the\nwhole country in 1303, all others who had distinguished themselves in\nthe war were admitted to pardon upon terms more or less hard. \u201cAs for\nWilliam Wallace,\u201d says the deed, \u201cit is covenanted, that if he thinks\nproper to surrender himself, it must be unconditionally to the will\nand mercy of our lord the king.\u201d To accept such terms was to deliver\nhimself over to death; he therefore betook himself to the woods and\nmountains, and lived upon plunder.\n\nIt is amusing to trace the effects of national partiality in the\ncontradictory accounts of the Scottish and English historians. Bower\ntells us that Wallace\u2019s friends endeavoured to induce him to submit,\nupon the same terms as themselves; and that Edward was so anxious upon\nthis head, that he offered, not only personal security, but an earldom,\nwith ample domains, to be selected by himself, either in Scotland or\nEngland, as the price of his allegiance. But Wallace answered, that if\nevery other Scot should submit, still he and his companions would stand\nup for the freedom of the kingdom; and never, as they hoped for God\u2019s\nfavour, obey any one except their monarch or his deputy. Langtoft, on\nthe other hand, says that the Scottish hero offered to surrender upon\nassurance of safety in life, limb, and estate; but Edward\u2019s anger was\nso hot against him, that he burst into a fury at the bare proposition.\n\n  When they brought that tiding, Edward was full grim,\n  And betaught him the fende,[66] als his traytoure in lond.\n  And ever\u2013ilkon his frende, that him susteyned, or fond.\n  Three hundred marke he hette unto his warisoun,[67]\n  That with him so met, or bring his hede to toun.\n  Now flies William Wallis, of pes nought he spedis,[68]\n  In mores and in mareis with robberie him fedis.\n\n         *       *       *       *       *\n\n  Ah Jhesu whan thou will, how rightwis is thy mede:\n  That of the wrong has gilt, the endyng may he drede.\n  William Waleis is nomen,[69] that maister was of theves.\n  Tiding to the kyng is comen, that robberie mischeves.[70]\n  Sir Jon of Menetest sewed William so nehi,[71]\n  He took him whan he wend lest,[72] on nyght his lemman by.\n  That was thought treson of Jak Short his man,\n  He was the encheson,[73] that Sir Jon so him nam.[74]\n  Jak\u2019s brother had he slayn, the Waleis that is said,\n  The more Jak was fayn to do William that braid.[75]\n  Selcouthly[76] he endis, the man that is fals,\n  If he trest on his frends, they begile him als.\n  Begiled is William, taken is, and bondon.\n  To Inglond with him thei came, and led him to London.\n  The first dome he fanged,[77] for treson was he drawen.\n  For robberie was he hanged, and for he had men slawen,\n  And for he had brent abbeis, and men of religion,\n  Eft[78] from the galweis quick[79] thei let him doun,\n  And bouweld him all hote,[80] and brent them in the fire.\n  His hede than of smote, swilk[81] was William\u2019s hire;\n  And for he had mayntend the werre at his myght,\n  On lordship lended thore[82] he had no right,\n  And stroied thore he knew, in fele stede sers.[83]\n  His body thei hewed on four quarters,\n  To hang in four tounes, to mene[84] of his maners,\n  In stede of Gonfaynounes[85] and of his baners.\n  At London is his heved, his quarters ere leved,[86] in Scotland spred,\n  To wirschip ther isles,[87] and lere of his wiles, how well that he sped.\n  It is not to drede, traytour sall spede,[88] als he is worthi,\n  His lif sall he tyne, and die thorgh pyne, withouten merci.\n  Thus may men here, a lad for to lere, to biggen in pays.[89]\n  It fallis in his eye, that hewes over high, with the Walays.\n\n  _Langtoft\u2019s Chronicle of Edw. I._\n\n\u201cThe day after his arrival at London, he was brought on horseback to\nWestminster, the mayor, sheriffs, and aldermen, and many others, both\non foot and horseback, accompanying him; and in the greate hall at\nWestminster, he being placed upon the south bench, crowned with laurel,\nfor that he had said in times past, that he ought to bear a crowne\nin that Hall (as it was commonly reported), and being appeached for\na traytor by Sir Peter Mallorie, the king\u2019s justice, hee answered,\nthat he never was traytor to the king of England, but for other things\nwhereof he was accused, he confessed them, and was after headed and\nquartered.\u201d[90]\n\nHis head was set up at London, his quarters were sent to Newcastle,\nBerwick, Perth, and Aberdeen. But Edward reaped no advantage from\nthis act of cruelty and injustice, except the gratification of his\nimplacable temper. If intimidation was his object, it failed, as was to\nbe expected in the case of a high\u2013spirited people: and the only effect\nof raising these ghastly trophies was to inspire a deeper hatred of\nthe tyrant who commanded them, and of the treacherous minister of his\nrevenge. The latter long continued to be an object of especial hatred\nto the Scottish nation; and is condemned to shame in its traditional\nliterature under the fitting title of the \u201cfalse Menteith.\u201d\n\nHere, it might be supposed, history must end, and the ultimate destiny\nof the oppressor and oppressed, the tyrant and his victim, remain a\nmystery until the time when all things shall be brought to light.\nBut the patriotic chronicler before quoted, who probably could not\nbear that the last scene of his hero should be one of suffering and\ndegradation, undertakes to enlighten our curiosity on this subject. We\nread in the continuation of Fordun by Bower, that, according to the\ntestimony of many credible Englishmen, \u201can holy hermit, being rapt in\nthe spirit, saw innumerable souls delivered from purgatory marshalling\nthe way, while the spirit of Wallace was conducted to heaven by angels,\nin reward of his inflexible patriotism. To whom the proverb may be\napplied, \u2018The memory of the just with praise, and the name of the\nwicked stinketh.\u2019\u201d\n\nSoon after, he proceeds to illustrate the latter clause of the proverb.\nWhen Edward died upon his march to Scotland, an English knight,\nBannister by name, upon the night of his decease, saw in a trance his\nlord the king, surrounded by a multitude of devils, who were mocking\nhim with much laughter, and saying,\n\n  En rex Edwardus, debacchans ut leopardus!\n  Olim dum vixit populum Dei maleflixit.\n  Nobis vi\u00e6 talis comes ibis, care sodalis,\n  Quo condemneris, ut d\u00e6monibus socieris.\n  Te sequimur voto prorsus torpore remoto.[91]\n\nMeanwhile they drove him on with whips and scorpions. \u201cLet us sing,\u201d\nthey said, \u201cthe canticle of death, beseeming this wicked soul; because\nshe is the daughter of death, and food of fire unquenchable; the friend\nof darkness, and enemy of light.\u201d And then they repeated _En rex_, &c.\n\nWhile thus tormented by the evil spirits, he turned, said the knight,\nhis trembling and bloodless visage towards me, as if to implore the\naid which I was used to minister to him. But when voice and sense both\ndeserted me, he cast upon me such a dreadful look, that while I live\nand remember it I can never more be cheerful. With that, he was in a\nmoment swallowed up into the infernal pit, exclaiming in a doleful\nvoice,\n\n  Heu cur peccavi? fallor quia non bene cavi.\n  Heu cur peccavi? perit et nihil est quod amavi.\n  Heu cur peccavi? video, quia littus aravi,\n  Cum sudore gravi mihimet tormenta paravi.[92]\n\nBannister was so terrified by this vision, that he forsook the\nworld and its vanities, and, for the improvement of his life and\nconversation, spent his latter days in solitude.[93]\n\nScotland did not long languish in want of a deliverer. The place of\nWallace was quickly filled up by one scarce his inferior in knightly\nrenown, or in the affections of his countrymen. Were it not for the\nlength of this article, we should willingly narrate some of the\nexploits and hair\u2013breadth escapes which procured for Robert Bruce,\neven among the English, the reputation of being the third best knight\nin Europe; but we must hasten to conclude with the panegyric of the\naffectionate Bower.\n\n\u201cThere is no living man who is able to narrate the story of those\ncomplicated misfortunes which befell him in the commencement of this\nwar; his frequent perils, his retreats, the care and weariness, the\nhunger and thirst, the watching and fasting, the cold and nakedness,\nto which he exposed his person, the exile into which he was driven,\nthe snares and ambushes which he escaped, the seizure, imprisonment,\nexecution, and utter destruction of his dearest friends and relatives.\nAnd if, in addition to these almost innumerable and untoward events,\nwhich he ever bore with a cheerful and unconquered spirit, any man\nshould undertake to describe his individual conflicts, and personal\nsuccesses, those courageous and single\u2013handed combats in which, by the\nfavour of God, and his own great strength and courage, he would often\npenetrate into the thickest of the enemy,\u2014now becoming the assailant,\nand cutting down all who opposed him; at another time acting on the\ndefensive, and evincing equal talents in escaping from what seemed\ninevitable death;\u2014if any writer shall do this, he will prove, if I am\nnot mistaken, that he had no equal in his own time, either in knightly\nprowess, or in strength and vigour of body.\u201d[94]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n Treatment of Prisoners of War\u2014Cr\u0153sus\u2014Roman Triumphs\u2014Sapor and\n Valerian\u2014Imprisonment of Bajazet\u2014His treatment of the Marshal\n Boucicaut and his Companions\u2014Changes produced by the advance\n of Civilization\u2014Effect of Feudal Institutions\u2014Anecdote from\n Froissart\u2014Conduct of the Black Prince towards the Constable Du Guesclin\n and the King of France.\n\n\nThe wealth of Cr\u0153sus is proverbial, and the vicissitudes of his fortune\nhave been a favourite subject for moralists in all ages. In Mitford\u2019s\nHistory of Greece, as well as in that published in the Library of\nUseful Knowledge, all notice of them is confined to the simple\nstatement, that he was conquered by Cyrus. The circumstances of his\ntreatment, however, as they are related by Herodotus, are curious; and\nwe propose, therefore, to translate them literally from that author,\nleaving it to the reader\u2019s discretion to reject whatever is evidently\nfabulous.\n\nIt is well known that he was induced to make war upon Cyrus by an\nambiguous response of the Delphic oracle, which predicted to him,\n\u201cthat if he made war upon the Persians, he would destroy a great\nempire.\u201d The oracle was a very safe one. Cr\u0153sus understood it, that\nthe Persian empire would be destroyed; but the credit of the god was\nequally supported by the event which really took place, the defeat of\nCr\u0153sus and the destruction of his kingdom. Upon his defeat he took\nrefuge in Sardis, which was besieged and ultimately stormed. \u201cSo the\nPersians captured Sardis and took Cr\u0153sus alive, after he had reigned\nfourteen years; and led him before Cyrus, who caused a mighty funeral\npile to be built, upon which he set Cr\u0153sus in fetters, and with him\nfourteen Lydian youths; whether it were in his mind to offer them to\nsome deity as the first\u2013fruits of his conquest, or with intention\nto perform some vow, or because he had heard of Cr\u0153sus\u2019s piety and\ntherefore set him upon the pile, that he might know whether any god\nwould deliver him from being burnt alive. Howbeit, he did so: but while\nCr\u0153sus stood upon the pile, it struck him, even in this extremity of\nevil, that Solon was inspired when he said that no man ought to be\ncalled happy while he was yet alive.[95] And when this thought occurred\nto him, after being long silent, he thrice repeated with groans the\nname of Solon. Cyrus heard him, and bade the interpreters ask who this\nSolon, whom he invoked, might be; and they drew near, and did so. But\nCr\u0153sus spoke not for some time, and replied at length, when he was\ncompelled, \u2018One whom I would rather than much wealth, were introduced\nto the conversation of all monarchs.\u2019 But as he spoke unintelligibly\nto them, they again asked what he meant; and when they became urgent\nand troublesome, he related at length how Solon, an Athenian, came to\nhim, and having beheld all his treasures, set them at nought, having\nspoken to such purpose, that all things had happened according to his\nwords, which yet bore no especial reference to himself more than to the\nrest of mankind, particularly to those who trusted in their own good\nfortune. So by the time Cr\u0153sus had given this account, the pile being\nlighted, the outside of it was in flames. And when Cyrus heard from\nthe interpreters what Cr\u0153sus said, he repented, and reflected that he,\nbeing but a man himself, was casting another alive into the flames who\nformerly had been no whit inferior to himself in prosperity: and being\nalso in dread of divine vengeance, and considering that nothing human\nis unchangeable, he ordered the fire to be forthwith extinguished, and\nCr\u0153sus, with his companions, to be taken down; but his officers, with\nall their endeavours, were unable to master it. Then Cr\u0153sus, as the\nLydians say, discovering that Cyrus had changed his purpose, when he\nsaw that all were endeavouring, and yet were unable to quench the fire,\ncalled loudly upon Apollo, entreating the god, if that he ever had\noffered any acceptable gifts, now to stand by, and deliver him from the\npresent evil. And as he called upon the god in tears, suddenly clouds\ncollected in the serene sky, and the storm broke down, and a torrent of\nrain fell, and extinguished the fire. Cyrus, therefore, being by these\nmeans instructed that Cr\u0153sus was a good man, and beloved by the gods,\ninquired of him, when he was come down from the pile, \u2018Cr\u0153sus, who\npersuaded you to invade my kingdom, and thus become an enemy instead of\na friend?\u2019 And he said, \u2018O king, I have done thus to further your good,\nand my own evil fate: but the god of the Grecians, who puffed me up to\nwar, has been the author of these events. For no man is so witless as\nto choose war instead of peace, when, in the one, fathers bury their\nsons, and in the other, sons their fathers. But it was the pleasure of\nthe gods that these things should turn out thus.\u2019\n\n\u201cThus spoke Cr\u0153sus, and Cyrus released him, and kept him near his\nperson, and thenceforth treated him with much respect.\u201d[96]\n\nThe evident intermixture of fable with this tale is calculated to\nthrow doubt upon the whole of it, and indeed it seems at variance\nwith the character of Cyrus. That Xenophon omits all mention of the\ncircumstances related would be a strong argument in disproof of them,\nif they were calculated to advance his hero\u2019s reputation; but in the\npresent case his silence is of little weight. The close resemblance,\nhowever, between the preservation of Cr\u0153sus, and the miraculous\ndeliverance of the Jewish youths condemned by Nebuchadnezzar to\nthe furnace, might warrant us in suspecting that some account of so\nimpressive a display of Divine power had reached the western coast of\nAsia, and that the careless or unfaithful annalists of those early\ntimes transferred the scene from Babylon to Lydia, and substituted the\nnames best known in their own history for the barbarian appellations\nof the Assyrian monarch and his prisoners. This idea may be supported\nby the expression of Herodotus, that Cyrus condemned Cr\u0153sus to be\nburnt \u201cbecause of his piety, that he might know whether any god would\ndeliver him from being burnt alive.\u201d Cyrus was neither cruel nor a\nscoffer, so that we cannot suppose it to have been an impious jest,\nand can as little imagine that it was a serious experiment on the part\nof the Persian to try the power of the Grecian deities. It is not very\nlikely, therefore, that such a reason was invented to account for the\naction; but the recorded preservation of the Jews, and the decree of\nNebuchadnezzar \u201cthat there is no other god that can deliver after this\nsort,\u201d may well enough have led to the inference that the monarch\u2019s\nobject was to prove the power which in the end he was obliged to\nconfess.\n\nNo extraordinary quantity either of humanity or reflection was\nnecessary to have impressed on Cyrus\u2019s mind, in the first instance, the\ntruths contained in Solon\u2019s warning to his rival. But humanity towards\nprisoners was no virtue of antiquity; and in this respect the practice\nof European nations of modern times offers a striking contrast to that\nof heathenism in all ages and regions. Our Scandinavian ancestors\nand the North American Indians put prisoners to death for revenge,\nor for the mere pleasure of inflicting pain: the rude Druids and the\ncomparatively polished priests of Mexico alike esteemed an enemy\u2019s\nblood the most grateful offering to their savage deities. The histories\nof Greece and Rome abound also with acts of atrocious cruelty; while\nthe East is notorious alike for the frequent changes of her dynasties,\nand for the unsparing policy which has prompted successive conquerors\nto establish their own thrones by the extermination of all possible\nclaimants.\n\nIt is not fair, however, to select none but unfavourable examples; and\nof favourable ones, few or none are more celebrated than the generosity\nof Alexander and the virtue of Scipio. After Alexander had gained the\nimportant battle of Issus (B.C. 333), in the Persian war,\nDarius\u2019s family fell into the victor\u2019s hands.[97] They were treated\nwith the respect due to their rank and their misfortunes. \u201cNot long\nafter, one of his queen\u2019s eunuchs escaped to Darius, who, when he\nsaw him, first asked whether his children and his wife and mother\nwere alive. And hearing that they were so, that they were addressed\nas queens, and enjoyed all the respect and attention which they had\npossessed at his own court, he inquired in addition, whether his wife\nhad preserved her faith; and being satisfied on this point also, he\nagain inquired whether any insult or violence had been offered to her.\nThe eunuch affirmed with an oath, \u2018O king, your wife remains even as\nyou left her, and Alexander is the best and most temperate of men.\u2019\nUpon which Darius lifted up his hands towards heaven, and prayed, \u2018O\nsovereign Jupiter, in whose hands are placed the fortunes of kings upon\nearth, above all things do thou maintain the kingdom of the Medes and\nPersians, which thou hast given to me! But if thou wilt that I be king\nof Asia no longer, then intrust my power to none but Alexander.\u2019\u201d[98]\n\nClosely akin to this in all its circumstances is the celebrated story\nof the continence of Scipio, who has obtained immortal praise by\nsurrendering untouched to her lover a beautiful Spanish lady who had\nbeen selected from the other prisoners and presented to him; and from\nthe admiration testified by all antiquity for the virtue displayed\nalike by the Grecian and the Roman hero, we may form an opinion of\nthe treatment which captives generally endured. We have no wish to\ndetract from the praise which is justly due to them, or to undervalue\nthe merit of those who precede their age in humanity and refinement;\nbut it is worthy of observation that in modern times, far from such\nconduct being regarded as an effort of virtue almost super\u2013human,\ninfamy or death would be the portion of a general who acted otherwise.\nThese exceptions therefore do really serve to confirm the rule; and the\nextravagant commendation which has been bestowed upon such self\u2013denial\nbears incontrovertible evidence to the general want of generosity in\nconquerors, and to the unhappy condition of the conquered.\n\nFew foreigners of regal dignity or exalted fortune fell into the power\nof the Grecian commonwealths: of their treatment of each other\u2019s\ncitizens we shall have occasion to speak hereafter. But the gigantic\ngrasp of Roman ambition comprehended the most powerful of the earth,\nand made them drink deep of degradation. The usual lot of prisoners\nof war was slavery; a practice bad enough, but common to the rest of\nantiquity with Rome: the institution of triumphs is her peculiar glory\nand distinction. Something may be said in palliation of a victor,\nwho, having possession of his enemy, obviates the danger of further\nresistance or revolt by committing him to that narrow prison from\nwhich alone there is no chance of escape. But when a Roman general\u2019s\narms were crowned with success, the prisoners of highest estimation\nwere carefully reserved; and when all danger from their life was at\nan end, and their degradation, as far as external circumstances can\ndegrade, was complete, after they had been led in chains before their\nconqueror\u2019s car, to swell his vanity and satiate the pride of Rome,\nthey were sent to perish unheeded and unlamented by the hands of the\nexecutioner, and the thanksgiving due to the gods and the triumphal\nbanquet were delayed until the savage ritual was duly performed. \u201cThose\neven who triumph, and therefore grant longer life to the hostile\nchiefs, that from their presence in the procession the Roman people\nmay derive its fairest spectacle and fruit of victory, yet bid them\nto be led to prison when they begin to turn their chariots from the\nForum to the Capitol; and the same day puts an end to the conqueror\u2019s\ncommand and to the life of the conquered.\u201d[99] They led the prisoners\nto execution at the moment when the triumphal chariot began to ascend\nthe Capitoline hill, in order, they said, that their moment of highest\nexultation might be that of their enemies\u2019 extremest agony. There is\na needless barbarity and insolence in the whole proceeding which is\npeculiarly disgusting; and which was aggravated by the solemn hypocrisy\nof placing in the triumphal chariot a slave to whisper in the victor\u2019s\near, \u201cRemember that thou art a man,\u201d when in the same instant they\ndisplayed so signal a disregard for the reverses to which humanity is\nexposed, and such contempt for the lessons which that warning ought to\nhave taught.\n\nWe may take as an example the treatment of Jugurtha, king of Numidia;\nfor whom, indeed, so far as his own merits are concerned, no treatment\ncould have been too severe. \u201cMarius, bringing home his army againe out\nof Lybia into Italy, took possession of his consulship the first day\nof January, and therewithall made his triumph into the city of Rome,\nshewing that to the Romans which they thought never to have seen;\nand that was, king Jugurth prisoner, who was so subtill a man, and\ncould so well frame himself unto his fortune, and with his craft and\nsubtilty was of so great courage besides, that none of his enemies\never hoped to have had him alive. But it is said that after he was\nled in this triumph, he fell mad straight upon it; and the pompe of\ntriumph being ended, he was carried unto prison, where the serjeants,\nfor hast to have the spoil of him, tore his apparel by force from off\nhis back: and because they would take away his rich gold earrings,\nthat hung on his eares, they pulled away with them the tippe of his\neare, and then cast him naked to the bottome of a deep dungeon, his\nwits being altogether troubled, Yet when they did throw him downe,\nlaughing he said, \u2018O Hercules, how cold are your baths!\u2019 He lived there\nyet six days, fighting with hunger, and desiring alwaies to prolong\nhis miserable life to the last hour: the which was a just deserved\npunishment for his wicked life.\u201d[100]\n\nMarius, however, with all his military talents was but a rude and\nblood\u2013thirsty soldier. From C\u00e6sar, on the contrary, who throughout\nthe civil wars displayed signal generosity and mildness of temper, we\nmight have expected a fairer estimate of the treatment due to a noble\nenemy. But in his treatment of Vercingetorix those noble qualities are\nexchanged for the haughty and selfish cruelty which the foreign policy\nof Rome was most admirably calculated to produce. That prince, after a\nmost gallant and almost successful stand in defence of the liberties\nof Gaul, being shut up in Alesia, and reduced to extremity by C\u00e6sar,\nsurrendered himself to the victor\u2019s mercy in hope of obtaining better\nterms for his comrades. The scene is thus described by Dion Cassius:\u2014\n\n\u201cVercingetorix being still at liberty, and unwounded, might have\nescaped; but hoping, for the sake of their previous friendship, to\nobtain forgiveness from C\u00e6sar, he went out to him without notice of\nhis coming. And while the Roman general was seated on the tribunal,\nhe appeared suddenly, so as to alarm some persons, for he was tall of\nstature, and made a gallant appearance in his armour. All around being\nhushed, he said nothing, but fell on his knee, stretching out his hand\nin gesture of supplication. All others were struck with compassion,\nboth by the recollection of his former high state, and by the exceeding\npiteousness of the spectacle before them. But C\u00e6sar made that from\nwhich he chiefly expected to derive safety, the heaviest charge\nagainst him; for, dwelling on the return for his friendship, he made\nthe injury appear the heavier. And therefore he pitied him not in that\nconjuncture, but for the present cast him into bonds, reserving him\nuntil his triumph, after which he slew him.\u201d[101]\n\nBut Rome, which had so often insulted the majesty of fallen royalty,\nendured in the person of one of her emperors a greater degradation\nthan any which she had inflicted. When the emperor Valerian was taken\nprisoner by Sapor, king of Persia, his life was spared, but spared\nthat his age might waste in the most humiliating slavery; and when the\nhaughty monarch mounted his horse, he used the prostrate body of his\nroyal captive for a footstool. That, said the haughty Sapor, was a real\ntriumph; not painting imaginary processions upon walls, as the Romans\ndid. To gratify the victor\u2019s pride still more, he was compelled to wear\nthe imperial purple and decorations, and in this attire, laden with\nchains, he followed in the train of Sapor, and exhibited to the whole\nPersian empire a striking picture of the fallen pride of Rome. This\nsystem of insult extended even beyond the grave: his skin is related\nto have been dyed scarlet, and stuffed, and then placed in a temple as\nan enduring monument of the shame of Rome. The Christian writers, who\nalone relate all the particulars of Valerian\u2019s humiliation,[102] see\nin it the just vengeance of God for his persecution of our faith: the\nreason, probably, that Gibbon seems inclined to consider the story as\na pious fiction. If so, however, it soon obtained currency, for the\nEmperor Constantine, who flourished not much more than half a century\nafter the event, alludes to it in a letter to the king of Persia: \u201cAll\nthese emperors (the persecutors of Christianity) have been destroyed by\nsuch a dreadful and avenging end, that since their times all mankind\ndoth usually wish their calamities may fall as a curse and punishment\nupon those who shall study to imitate them. One of which persons I\njudge him to have been (him, I mean, whom divine vengeance like a\nthunderbolt drove out of our regions, and conveyed unto your country)\nwho by his own disgrace and ignominy erected that trophy so much\nboasted of among you.\u201d[103]\n\nSomewhat similar to the indignities offered to Valerian was the\ntreatment which the Sultan Bajazet is said to have experienced from\nTamerlane after his defeat and capture.\n\n  Closed in a cage, like some destructive beast,\n  I\u2019ll have thee borne about in public view;\n  A great example of the righteous vengeance\n  That waits on cruelty and pride like thine.[104]\n\nVoltaire and other modern writers have discredited this story, chiefly\non the authority of D\u2019Herbelot. It has been shown, however, by Sir W.\nJones, that the premises of that distinguished orientalist are false,\nand his authority therefore falls to the ground. On the other hand,\nLeunclavius, in his History of the Turks, professes to have heard from\nan old man, who was in Bajazet\u2019s service at the time of his defeat,\n\u201cthat an iron cage was made by Timour\u2019s command, composed on every side\nof iron gratings, through which he could be seen in any direction.\nHe travelled in this den slung between two horses. Whenever Timour\nand his retinue, on moving his camp, made ready for a journey, he was\nusually carried before; and after the march, when they dismounted, he\nwas placed upon the ground in his cage, before Timour\u2019s tent.\u201d Poggio\nalso, himself a contemporary, mentions this strange imprisonment as an\nundoubted fact.[105]\n\nThe English reader will find some countenance for the story in Edward\nthe First\u2019s inhuman treatment of the Countess of Buchan. That lady\nhaving dared, it is said, in virtue of hereditary privileges, to place\nthe crown of Scotland on the Bruce\u2019s head, and afterwards falling into\nthe English monarch\u2019s hands, was confined in a cage built upon one of\nthe towers of Berwick Castle, exposed, as it should seem, to the rigour\nof the elements and the gaze of passers by. One of Bruce\u2019s sisters was\nsimilarly dealt with. So much for the devoted respect paid to women in\nthe age of chivalry, and that by a prince who, when young, was inferior\nto none in knightly renown. But the demoralizing effects of absolute\npower found a fitting subject to work upon in Edward\u2019s stern and\nunforgiving temper. The original order for the Countess\u2019s confinement\nis to this effect:\u2014\n\n\u201cOrdered and commanded, by letters under the privy seal, to the\nChamberlain of Scotland, or his deputy at Berwick\u2013upon\u2013Tweed, that in\none of the turrets, upon the castle of that place, in such place as he\nshall chuse, and shall be most convenient, he do make a cage of strong\nlattice\u2013work and bars, and well strengthened with iron\u2013work, in the\nwhich he shall place the Countess of Buchan.\n\n\u201cAnd that he shall so well and surely guard her in the same cage, that\nin no manner shall she pass out from it.\n\n\u201cAnd that he do appoint one or two English women of the said town of\nBerwick who shall be in no wise suspected, who understand to serve the\nsaid Countess with meat and drink, and all things pertaining to her.\n\n\u201cAnd that he do so well and strictly guard her in the cage, that she\nspeak to none, and that no man or woman of the Scotch nation, nor any\nother appear before her, but only the woman or women who shall be\nassigned her, and those who shall have guard of her.\n\n\u201cAnd that the cage be so made, that the Countess may have there the\nconvenience of a fair chamber, but that it be so well and surely\nordered, that no danger may betide in respect of the custody of the\nsaid Countess.\n\n\u201cAnd that he who has care of her be charged to answer for her, body for\nbody, and that he be allowed her expenses.\n\n\u201cIn like manner it is ordered that Mary, sister of Robert Bruce,\nsometime Earl of Carrick, be sent to Roxburgh, to be kept there in the\ncastle, in a cage.\u201d[106]\n\nThe reader will not sympathise much with the harshness of Bajazet\u2019s\ndurance, if he knows the character of that redoubtable conqueror. The\nfollowing passage will convey a fair idea of it, and presents a good\nspecimen of the style of the 15th century:\u2014\n\n\u201cIn the year 1396, Sigismond, King of Hungry, sent sweet and amyable\nletters to the French king by a notable ambassador, a bysshop and\ntwo knights of Hungry. In the same letters was contayned a greate\nparte of the state and doyng of the greate Turke (Bajazet), and how\nthat he had sent worde to the King of Hungry, that he would come and\nfight with him in the middes of his realme, and would go fro thens\nto the cytie of Rome, and would make his horse to eate otes upon the\nhigh altar of Saynt Peter, and there to hold his see imperiale. Thus\nthe King of Hungry in his letters prayed the French king to ayde and\nsuccour him.\u201d[107] In consequence of this application, a strong body\nof French and other knights marched into Hungary, under command of\nJohn of Burgundy, Earl of Nevers. They crossed the Danube, and after\na successful campaign were besieging Nicopolis in union with the\nHungarian forces, when Bajazet marched to the relief of that city.\nThe loss of the battle which ensued is attributed by Froissart to the\nprecipitance of the French knights, who led the van, and rushed madly\ninto combat, against the order of the King of Hungary, and without\nwaiting for his support. The biographer of the Marshal Boucicaut, on\nthe other hand, throws the whole blame upon the cowardly desertion of\nthe Hungarians. However this may be, the French charged in a body not\nexceeding 700 men,[108] routed the first body of Bajazet\u2019s cavalry, and\npenetrated through a line of stakes, behind which the infantry were\nformed. \u201cThen the noble Frenchmen, like men already enraged at the loss\nwhich they had endured, ran upon them with such valour and hardihood\nthat they frightened all. I may not say how they laid upon them. For\nnever did foaming boar, or angry wolf, shew a fiercer recklessness of\nlife. There the valiant Marshal of France, Boucicaut, among other brave\nmen, thrust himself into the thickest press, and well proved whether he\nwere grieved or no. For there without fail did he so many acts of arms,\nthat all marvelled, and there bore himself so knightly, that whoso\nsaw him still avers there never was any man, knight or other, seen to\ndo in one day more brave and valiant acts than he did then.\u201d[109] The\nEarl of Nevers, the Lord of Coucy, and the other French nobility well\napproved their valour; but Boucicaut, if we may trust his biographer,\nwas the hero of the day. Mounted on a powerful war\u2013horse, he spurred\nforwards, and struck so fiercely to the right and to the left that he\noverthrew everything before him. \u201cAnd ever doing thus, he advanced so\nfar, which is a marvellous thing to relate, and yet true, as all who\nsaw it can bear witness, that he cut through the whole Saracen array,\nand then returned back through them to his comrades. Heaven, what a\nknight! God protect his valour! Pity will it be when life shall fail\nhim! But it will not be so yet, for God will protect him. Thus fought\nour countrymen as long as their strength lasted. Ah, what pity for\nso noble a company, approved so gentle, so chivalrous, so excellent\nin arms, which could have succour from no quarter, so ran they in to\ntheir enemies\u2019 throats, so as is the iron on the anvil![110] For they\nwere surrounded and oppressed so fatally on all sides that they could\nno longer resist. And what wonder? for there were more than twenty\nSaracens against one Christian! And yet our people killed more than\n20,000 of them, but at last they could exert themselves no more. Ah,\nwhat a misfortune, what pity! Ought not those disloyal Christians to\nhave been hanged who thus falsely abandoned them? Shame fall upon them,\nfor had they helped the valiant French and their comrades with good\nwill, not Bajazet nor one of his Turks would have escaped death or\ncaptivity, which would have been a mighty good to all Christendom.\n\n\u201cGreat pity was there again the morrow of this dolorous battle. For\nBajazet, sitting within a tent in the midst of the field, caused to\nbe led before him the Earl of Nevers and those of his lineage, with\nall the French barons, knights, and esquires who remained after the\nslaughter of that field. Sad was it to see these noble youths, in the\nprime of life, of blood so lofty as that of the royal line of France,\nfast bound with ropes, disarmed, in their under doublets, conducted by\nthese ugly, frightful dogs of Saracens before the tyrant enemy of the\nfaith who sat there. He knew for certain, through good interpreters,\nthat the Earl of Nevers was grandson and cousin\u2013german to a king of\nFrance, and that his father was a duke of great power and wealth, and\nthat others were of the same blood and nearly related to the king. So\nhe bethought himself, that for preserving them he might have great\ntreasure: therefore he did not put them to death, nor any other of\nthe greatest barons, but made them sit there on the ground before\nhim. Alas! immediately after began the cruel sacrifice. For then were\nled before him the noble Christian barons, knights, and esquires,\nnaked; and then, as they paint on the walls King Herod sitting on a\nchair, and the Innocents cut in pieces before him, there were our\nfaithful Christians cut in pieces by these Saracen curs before the\nEarl of Nevers and under his very eyes. So you may understand, you\nwho hear this, what grief went to his heart, good and kind lord as\nhe is, and what pain it gave him to see thus martyred his good and\nloyal companions, and his people that had been so faithful to him,\nand who were so distinguished for gallantry. Certes I think he was so\ngrieved at heart, that fain would he have been of their company in that\nslaughter. And so the Turks led them one after another to martyrdom,\nas men led in old times the blessed martyrs, and struck their heads\nand chests and shoulders fearfully with great knives, and felled them\nwithout mercy. Well may one know with what woful countenances they went\nin that sad procession. For even as the butcher drags a lamb to the\nslaughter, so were our good Christians, without a word being spoken,\nled to die before the tyrant. But notwithstanding that their death was\nhard and their case pitiful, every good Christian should esteem them\nthrice fortunate, and born in a happy hour, to receive such a death.\nFor they must sometime have died, and God gave them grace to die in\nthe advancement of the Christian religion, the holiest and worthiest\ndeath (as we in our faith hold) that a Christian can die; and also he\nmade them to be the companions of the blessed martyrs, the happiest of\nall the orders of Saints in Paradise. For there is no doubt but that\nthey are Saints in Paradise, if they met their fate with good will. In\nthis piteous procession was Boucicaut, the Marshal of France, naked,\nexcept his small clothes (petits draps). But God, who willed not to\nlose his servant, for the sake of the good service which he was to do\nthereafter, as well in avenging the death of that glorious company\nupon the Saracens, as in the other great benefits which were to follow\nfrom his talents and by his means, caused the Earl of Nevers to look\nat the Marshal and the Marshal at him right sorrowfully, at the very\nmoment that some one was about to strike him. Then was the foresaid\nEarl wonderfully vexed at heart for the death of such a man, and he\ncalled to mind the great good, the prowess, loyalty, and valour that\nwere in him. So, on a sudden, God put it in his mind to clasp his hands\ntogether as he looked at Bajazet, and he made sign that the Marshal\nwas to him as a brother, and that he should respite him: which sign\nBajazet soon understood, and released him. When this stern execution\nwas complete, and the whole field was strewed with the bodies of\nthese blessed martyrs, as many French as others of divers countries,\nthat cursed Bajazet arose, and ordered the Marshal, who had been so\nrespited, to be committed to prison in a large handsome town of Turkey,\ncalled Bursa. So his bidding was done, and he was kept there till the\narrival of the said Bajazet.\u201d[111]\n\nInnumerable instances of the like ferocity might be produced from\nEastern history. Rowe\u2019s polished and pious Tamerlane put to death\n100,000 persons in the streets of Delhi. Few men have so well and\nfairly estimated their own character, and the class to which they\nbelong, as did Nadir Shah, when to the remonstrance, \u201cIf thou art a\nking, cherish and protect thy people,\u2014if a prophet, shew us the way\nof salvation,\u2014if a God, be merciful to thy creatures,\u201d he replied,\n\u201cI am neither a king to protect my subjects, nor a prophet to teach\nthe way of salvation, nor a God to exercise the attribute of mercy;\nbut I am he whom the Almighty has sent in his wrath to chastise a\nworld of sinners.\u201d The following anecdote, striking in itself, is the\nmore interesting as an exception to a general rule: \u201cIn the year 1068\nAlp Arslan, the second sultan of Persia, of the Seljukian dynasty,\ndefeated and took prisoner Romanus Diogenes, husband of Eudocia, the\nreigning empress of Constantinople. He treated his prisoner with\nextreme kindness and distinction; he uttered no reproaches that could\nwound a humbled monarch, but gave vent to the honest indignation of\na warrior at the base and cowardly conduct of those who had deserted\nand abandoned so brave a leader. We are told that he asked his captive\nat their first conference, what he would have done if fortune had\nreversed their lot. \u2018I would have given thee many a stripe,\u2019 was the\nimprudent and virulent answer. This expression of haughty and unsubdued\nspirit excited no anger in the brave and generous conqueror. He only\nsmiled, and asked Romanus what he expected would be done to him? \u2018If\nthou art cruel,\u2019 said the emperor, \u2018put me to death. If vain\u2013glorious,\nload me with chains, and drag me to thy capital. If generous, grant\nme my liberty!\u2019 Alp Arslan was neither cruel nor vain\u2013glorious: he\nreleased his prisoner, gave all his officers who were captives dresses\nof honour, and distinguished them by every mark of friendship and\nregard.\u201d[112]\n\nFar from wishing to cast an undue reproach upon the past by these\nmelancholy details of cruelty and suffering, we should have been glad\nto relieve the narrative by more numerous instances of generosity\nand mercy. But that these virtues are not the attributes of a savage\nrace, will readily be granted by all: that they are not necessarily\nthe fruit of refinement and civilization (if that term be applicable\nto an advanced stage of art and knowledge, without a corresponding\nimprovement in moral wisdom) is shown by the universal experience of\nthe past, and nowhere more forcibly than in the history of Greece and\nRome. The progress of society seems only to have taught one lesson;\nthat it is better to make the conquered subservient to the profit\nor amusement of the conqueror, than to put him to death, like any\nother formidable or offensive animal. In man\u2019s earliest and rudest\ncondition, as a hunter, slaves are worse than useless; for sustenance\nis of more value than labour, and the precarious supply of the chase\nis insufficient to provide permanently and plentifully for his own\nwants. The avenging or preventing encroachments upon each other\u2019s\nhunting\u2013ground is therefore a most frequent cause of warfare among\nneighbouring tribes, and the massacre of the conquered is prompted\nequally by revenge and policy. We find accordingly that in North\nAmerica a prisoner\u2019s only chance of escape lay in being adopted\ninto the hostile tribe in the place of some one who had fallen in\nbattle. The still more savage practice of feasting upon prisoners\nis sufficiently proved to have existed at a very recent period in\nNew Zealand. In other heathen countries they have been reserved from\nindiscriminate slaughter, only to perish on the altars of false gods.\nBut labour becomes valuable, and the command of labour an advantage,\nin proportion as men emerge from barbarism, and apply themselves\nto agriculture, or a pastoral life; and when it is found out that\na prisoner\u2019s services may be made worth more than his maintenance,\nthe policy of the victor changes, and he preserves an enemy whom\nformerly he was almost compelled to destroy. Slavery, therefore,\nis, in the infancy of nations, an index of increasing civilization,\nand an amelioration of human misery, since the bulk of mankind have\never hailed with joy a respite from death, even though existence be\nattended with degradation and suffering. A generous spirit, indeed,\nwould be little gratified at receiving life upon terms of hopeless\nservitude; yet even to such the introduction of slave labour lightened\nthe evils of defeat. When men were detained merely for the value of\ntheir services, it was natural to release them if an equivalent for\nthat value were paid, and hence arose the custom of admitting prisoners\nto ransom, which exercised a two\u2013fold influence in favour of slaves:\nfirst by enabling them to acquire freedom at the sacrifice of wealth;\nsecondly, by removing the utter hopelessness and degradation of their\nstate, and introducing a possibility that the slave and master might\nsome day be replaced in their original relation to each other. This\npractice was familiar in the Homeric age, though revenge or the heat\nof battle often caused mercy and interest to be alike disregarded.\nMelancholy indeed was the fate of a captured city. The adult males were\nusually slaughtered, the females and children reserved for slavery;\nthose even of the highest rank were employed as menial servants in the\nvictor\u2019s household. \u201cWhat evils,\u201d says Priam, \u201cdoes Jupiter reserve me\nto behold on the threshold of age! My sons slain, my daughters dragged\ninto slavery, my chambers plundered, the very infants dashed against\nthe ground in mournful warfare, and my sons\u2019 wives dragged by the\ndestructive hands of the Greeks. The dogs which I fed in my palace,\nat my own table, to protect it, will tear me, even me, stretched dead\nat the outer door, as they lie ravening in the vestibule lapping my\nblood. To a young man it is becoming to lie slain in warfare, pierced\nby the sharp sword; to such nothing that can happen in death is\nunseemly. But that dogs should defile the grey head and the grey beard\nof a slaughtered elder, this is the mournfulest thing that happens to\nwretched mortals.\u201d[113]\n\nFor the lot of those who were reserved, we may quote Hector\u2019s parting\nspeech to Andromache.\n\n  I know the day draws nigh when Troy shall fall,\n  When Priam and his nation perish all:\n  Yet less forebodings of the fate of Troy,\n  Her king, and Hecuba, my peace destroy;\n  Less that my brethren, all th\u2019 heroic band,\n  Should with their blood imbrue their native land;\n  Than thoughts of thee in tears, to Greece a prey,\n  Dragged by the grasp of war in chains away,\n  Of thee in tears, beneath an Argive roof\n  Labouring reluctant the allotted woof,\n  Or doomed to draw, from Hypereia\u2019s cave,\n  Or from Messeis\u2019 fount, the measured wave.\n  A voice will then be heard which thou must bear,\n  \u2018See\u2019st thou yon captive, pouring tear on tear?\n  Lo! Hector\u2019s wife, the hero bravest far\n  When Troy and Greece round Ilion clashed in war.\u2019[114]\n\nAs time advanced the Greeks became more humane, and the treatment\nof their prisoners improved; insomuch that about the year 500\nB.C. it seems to have been usual among the Peloponnesian\nstates to admit each other\u2019s citizens to ransom at a fixed sum of two\nmin\u00e6, something less than eight pounds of our money;[115] and the\nAthenians released certain B\u0153otians for the same sum.[116] The meridian\nsplendour of Greece, as we shall have future occasion to notice, is\nmore especially dimmed by the cold\u2013blooded cruelty of her civil wars.\nIt is observable, however, that in the 10th year of the Peloponnesian\nwar, the mutual restoration of prisoners formed a condition in a treaty\nof peace; and this, we believe, is the first instance on record at all\nresembling the humane usage of the present day.\n\nIn the youth of Rome, as she gradually extended her dominion,\ncities were depopulated to be refilled by her citizens, and their\ninhabitants sold like cattle, by public auction.[117] In her days of\ngreatness, when whole kingdoms fell before her, the rights of conquest\nwere necessarily more leniently exercised; for nations cannot be\ndispossessed and enslaved in mass. But the number of Greek and of\nSyrian slaves in Rome shows that the independence of those nations\nwas not overturned without a corresponding loss of private freedom;\nand those uncivilised countries, which could contribute little else\nof wealth to satiate a Roman general\u2019s extortion, saw droves of\ntheir inhabitants sold into captivity to supply the labourers and\ngladiators of an idle and dissolute empire.[118] The exemption of\nmodern Europe, from these horrors is chiefly referable to the influence\nof Christianity, which, however ineffectual to purify the minds and\nlives of a vast majority of those who have outwardly embraced it, has\ngiven unquestionable proof of its intrinsic excellence by refining\nand enlarging men\u2019s views of morality and benevolence, wherever its\ndoctrines have not been altogether obscured and corrupted.[119] It is\ntrue that in the reign of Justinian, Constantinople witnessed for the\nfirst and only time the insolent splendour of a Roman triumph, granted\nto Belisarius after the reduction of the Vandal kingdom; on which,\nas on former occasions, the noblest of the conquered nation, headed\nby Gelimer, their king, swelled the vainglorious procession. But the\nchanged spirit of the times is shown in the subsequent treatment of\nthem. To the king and his family a safe retirement and an ample estate\nin Galatia were allotted; and the flower of the Vandal youth were\nenlisted, and served with distinction in the Persian wars. Among other\nclaims to our gratitude, the clergy of the dark ages have the merit of\nsteadily resisting the practice of enslaving Christians. The working of\nthe feudal system was also beneficial in this respect. The aristocracy\nof the land were also its soldiery; to make prisoners, therefore,\nwas a greater object than to kill, for the ransom of prisoners was\na never\u2013failing source of revenue to the brave and powerful. And as\nthe inferior classes might not be reduced to domestic servitude, and\nbesides passed naturally with the land, whether as serfs, in absolute\nand acknowledged bondage, or as vassals, free in name, but bound to the\nsoil by all the ties of property, the victor had no interest in the\ndetention of prisoners, except such as were able to purchase freedom.\nThe singular institutions of chivalry also exercised a strong influence\nin humanizing warfare. Knighthood formed a bond of union throughout\nEurope. Men fought for gain, for honour, for revenge; but victory,\nwhich ensured all but the last, was seldom tarnished by cruelty,\nexcept in instances of deadly feud. We are by no means inclined to\noverrate the savage virtues of those times, or to deny that they\nabound in examples of most flagrant cruelty and oppression; but we\ncontend, that compared with earlier ages, place even barbarism against\nrefinement, the half\u2013savage Teuton against the polished Greek or Roman,\nwe see the tokens of a vast improvement in this respect. And we may\nfurther observe that of the cruelties recorded a large proportion\nare foreign to the question, being perpetrated in prosecution of the\ncherished spirit of revenge, or to extract wealth from Jews, or others\nof inferior rank, and not on prisoners of war. We do not plead this\nin extenuation of those enormities; the evil passions of the heart\nsprung up unchecked into a plentiful harvest of evil actions: but\nof cruelty to their prisoners of war, the Europeans and the middle\nages were comparatively guiltless. Among them, for the first time in\nhistory, the victor and the defeated mixed in social intercourse upon\nterms of equality, without degradation being felt by the one, or an\nundue and ungenerous superiority assumed by the other; each aware that\non the morrow the turn of fortune might reverse their situations,\nand that disgrace attached to misfortune only when occasioned by\nmisconduct.[120] And the lofty, though fantastic notions of honour\nwhich prevailed, tended still further to lighten captivity, when the\nword of a knight was considered as sufficient surety for his ransom,\nand prisoners were enabled to obtain their release upon parole. Nowhere\nis this courteous and humane spirit more strongly marked than in the\nwars of England and Scotland during the 14th century. Yet we might\nexpect to find the warfare of that century distinguished by more than\nusual inhumanity. The perfidious aggression, the inveterate hostility\nof Edward I., were calculated to raise in the Scotch a most implacable\nresentment; while the obstinate resistance and successful reprisals in\nwhich our northern counties were repeatedly devastated, were equally\nwell fitted to inspire the English with no friendly feelings towards\ntheir northern brethren. A hundred years had elapsed since the first\nquarrel, during which the sword had scarcely been sheathed, the fire\nof burning villages scarcely quenched. We might reasonably then expect\nto find these wars carried on \u201c\u00e0 outrance;\u201d to find no mercy in their\nbattles, no gentleness or generosity in their intercourse. But the\naccount of Froissart is very different.\n\n\u201cEnglysshmen on the one partye, and scottes on the other partye, are\ngoode men of warre, for when they mete there is a hard fight, without\nsparynge; there is no troo bytwene them as long as speares, swordes,\naxes, or dagers wyll endure, but lay on eche upon other; and whan they\nbe well beaten, and that the one parte hath optaygned the victory, they\nthen glorifye so in their dedes of armes, and are so ioyfull, that\nsuch as be taken, they shall be raunsomed or they go out of the felde,\nso that shortely eche of them is so content with other, that at their\ndepartynge curtoysly they will saye, Gode thank you, but in fyghtynge\none with another there is no playe, nor sparynge; and this is trewe,\nand that shall well apere by this sayde rencounter (of Otterbourn), for\nit was as valyauntly foughten as coulde be devysed.... This batayle was\nfierse and cruell, tyll it came to the end of the discomfiture; but\nwhan the scottes saw the englysshmen recule, and yelde themselves, than\nthe scottes were curtes, and sette them to their raunsom, and every\nmanne sayde to his prisoner, Sirs, go and unarm you and take your ease,\nI am your mayster; and so made their prisoners as goode chere as though\nthey had been brethern, without doyng them any damage.\u201d[121]\n\nAnother anecdote of the same battle, from the same graphic and\ndelightful historian, will serve to illustrate more than one of the\npoints to which the reader\u2019s attention has been drawn. Sir Matthew\nReedman, the governor of Berwick, fought under Percy at Otterbourn and\nendeavoured to escape when fortune declared against the English.\n\n\u201cNow I shall shewe you of sir Mathue Reedman, who was on horsback\nto save himselfe, for he alone coulde not remedy the mater: at his\ndeparting sir James Lynsay was nere to hym, and sawe how sir Mathue\ndeparted, and this sir James, to wyn honour, folowed in chase sir\nMathue Reedman, and came so nere hym, that he myght have stryken hym\nwith his speare if he had lyst; than he sayd, Ah sir knyght, tourne,\nit is a shame thus to flye: I am James of Lynsay: if ye will not\ntourne I shall stryke ye on the back with my spere. Sir Mathue spake\nno worde, but strake his horse with the spurs sorer than he dyde\nbefore. In this maner he chased hym more than thre myles, and at last\nsir Mathue Reedman\u2019s horse foundred and fell under hym: than he stepte\nforthe on the erthe, and drewe oute his sworde, and took corage to\ndefende hymselfe: and the scotte thought to have stryken him on the\nbrest, but sir Mathue Reedman swarved from the stroke, and the speare\npoynt entred into the erthe: then sir Mathue strake asonder the spere\nwith his sworde; and whan sir James Lynsay sawe howe he had loste his\nspeare, he caste awaye the tronchon, and lyghted afote, and toke a\nlytell batayle\u2013axe that he caryed at his backe, and handeled it with\nhis one hande, quickely and delyverly, in the whiche feate scottes be\nwell experte, and than he set at sir Mathue and he defended hymselfe\nproperly. Thus they tourneyed toguyder, one with an axe, and the other\nwith a swerde, a long season, and no man to lette them: fynally, sir\nJames Lynsay gave the knyght suche strokes, and helde hym so shorte,\nthat he was putte out of brethe in such wyse that he yelded hymselfe\nand sayde, Sir James Lynsay, I yelde me to you. Well, quod he, and I\nreceyve you, rescue or no rescue. I am content, quod Reedman, so you\ndeale with me lyke a good companyon. I shall nat fayle that, quod\nLynsay, and so putte up his swerde. Well, sir, quod Reedman, what wyll\nyou nowe that I shall do? I am your prisoner, ye have conquered me; I\nwolde gladly go agayne to Newcastell, and within fyftene dayes I shall\ncome to you into Scotlande, whereas ye shall assigne me. I am content,\nquod Lynsay: ye shall promyse by your faythe to present yourself within\nthis thre wekes at Edenborowe, and wheresoever ye go, to reporte\nyourselfe my prisoner. All this sir Mathue sware, and promysed to\nfulfyll. Than eche of them toke their horses, and toke leave, eche of\nother. Sir James returned, and his entent was to go to his owne company\nthe same way as he came, and sir Mathue Reedman to Newcastell. Sir\nJames Lynsay could nat keep the ryght waye as he came: it was darke,\nand a myst, and he hadde nat rydden halfe a myle, but he met face to\nface with the bysshoppe of Durham and mo than v hundred Englysshmen\nwith hym: he myght wel have escaped, if he had wolde, but he supposed\nit had been his owne company that had pursued the Englisshmen: whan he\nwas among them, one demaunded of hym what he was. I am, quod he, sir\nJames Lynsay. The bysshoppe herde those words, and stepte to hym, and\nsayde, Lynsay, ye are taken; yelde ye to me. Who be you? quod Lynsay.\nI am, quod he, the bysshop of Durham. And fro whens come ye, sir? quod\nLynsay. I come fro the batayle, quod the bysshoppe, but I strake never\na stroke there; I go back to Newcastell for this night, and ye shall\ngo with me. I may nat chuse, quod Lynsay, sithe you will have it so:\nI have taken, and I am taken; such is the adventures of armes. Whom\nhave ye taken? quod the bysshop. Sir, quod he, I toke in the chase sir\nMathue Reedman. And where is he? quod the bysshop. By my faythe, sir,\nhe is retourned to Newcastell: he desyred me to trust hym on his fayth\nfor thre wekes, and so have I done. Well, quod the bysshop, lette us\ngo to Newcastell, and there ye shall spake with hym. Thus they rode to\nNewcastell toguyder, and sir James Lynsay was prisoner to the bisshop\nof Durham.\u201d\n\n\u201cAfter that sir Mathue Reedman was retourned to Newcastell, and hadde\nshewed to dyvers howe he had been taken prisoner by sir James Lynsay;\nthan it was shewed him howe the bisshoppe of Durham had taken the\nsayd sir James Lynsay, and how that he was thene in the towne as his\nprisoner: as sone as the bysshoppe was departed, sir Mathue Reedman\nwente to the bysshoppes lodgyng to see his mayster, and there he founde\nhym in a studye, lyeng in a wyndowe, and sayd, What, sir James Lynsay,\nwhat make you here? Than sir James came forth of the studye to hym,\nand gave hym good morowe, and sayd, By my fayth, sir Mathue, fortune\nhath brought me hyder; for as sone as I was departed fro you, I mette\nby chaunce the bysshoppe of Durham, to whome I am prisoner, as ye\nbe to me. I beleve ye shall nat nede to come to Edenborowe to me to\nmake your fynaunce: I think rather we shall make an exchaunge one for\nanother, if the bysshoppe be so contente. Well, sir, quod Reedman, we\nshall accorde ryght well toguyder: ye shall dyne this daye with me; the\nbysshop and our men be gone forthe to fyght with your men. I can not\ntell what shall fall; we shall know at their retourne. I am content to\ndyne with you, quod Lynsay. Thus these two knyghtes dyned toguyder in,\nNewcastell.\u201d[122]\n\nSome danger unquestionably there was, that where the marketable value\nof prisoners was so clearly recognised, humanity would be forgotten\nin avarice; a lapse of memory which our acquaintance with Algiers\nand other piratical states proves not altogether impossible. One\nof the causes which prevented this, the union and equality produced\nby knighthood, has been alluded to; and we may find another in the\nhigh\u2013spirited notions of personal honour which prevailed.[123] To\nrefuse a prisoner his liberty upon payment of ransom, either directly\nor covertly, by demanding a sum disproportionate to his rank and means,\nwas held dishonourable; for a knight would have esteemed himself\ndisgraced if it could be suspected that he retained an enemy in prison\nthrough fear of meeting him in the open field. \u201cAfter that the Prince\nof Wales was returned from Spain into Acquitayne, and his brother,\nthe Duke of Lancastre, into Englande, and every lorde into his owne,\nsir Bertram du Guesclin was styll prisoner with the prince, and with\nsir Johan Chandos, and coulde nat come to his raunsome, nor fynaunce,\nthe whiche was sore displeasaunt to kyng Henry,[124] if he might have\nmended it: and it so fortuned after, as I was enformed, that on a\nday the prince called to hym sir Bertram du Guesclin, and demaunded\nof hym how he dyde; he answered and sayd, Sir, it was never better\nwith me; it is reason that it shulde be so, for I am in prison with\nthe most renowned knyght of the worlde. With whome is that? sayd the\nprince. Sir, quoth he, that is with Sir Johan Chandos; and, sir, it is\nsayd in the realme of Fraunce, and in other places, that ye feare me\nso moche, that ye dare nat let me out of prison, the whiche to me is\nfull great honour. The prince, who understode well the wordes of sir\nBertram du Guesclin, and parceyved well how his own counsayle wolde in\nno wyse that he shuld delyver hym, unto the tyme that king Don Peter\nhad payed him all suche sommes as he was bound to do. Than he sayd to\nsir Bertram, Sir, then ye thinke that we kepe you for feare of your\nchivalry; nay, thynke it nat, for I swere by saint George, it is nat\nso; therfore pay for your raunsome an hundred thousand fraunkes, and ye\nshall be delyvered. Sir Bertram, who desyred gretly to be delyvered,\nand herde on what poynt he might depart, toke the prince with that\nworde, and sayd, Sir, in the name of God so be it, I wyll pay no\nlasse. And whan the prince herde hym say so, he wolde than gladly have\nrepented hymselfe; and also some of his counsayle came to hym, and\nsayd, Sir, ye have nat done well so lightly to put him to his raunsome.\nAnd so they wolde gladly have caused the prince to have revoked that\ncovenant; but the prince, who was a true and noble knight, sayd, Sithe\nthat we agreed therto, we wyll nat breke our promise; it shulde be to\nus a grete rebuke, shame and reproche, if we shulde nat put him to\nraunsome, seyng he is content to pay such a grete somme as an hundred\nthousand fraunkes.\u201d[125]\n\nThe following story of William Rufus, which is told by William of\nMalmsbury, illustrates the character of the man, rather than the spirit\nof the age. Helias de Flechia laid claim to the city of Mans, part of\nthat monarch\u2019s continental possessions. He was taken and brought before\nWilliam, who said insultingly, \u201cI have you, sir.\u201d \u201cYou have taken me by\nchance,\u201d said the baron; \u201ccould I escape, I should find something new\nto do.\u201d The hot\u2013headed king, shaking his fist, replied, \u201cYou rascal,\nwhat would you do? Troop, shog off, make yourself scarce\u2014you may do\nwhat you can; and by the face of St. Luke, if you get the better of me,\nI will ask you nothing for this favour.\u201d[126]\n\nIn conclusion we give a celebrated passage from English history, which\nis strongly and pleasantly contrasted with the early part of the\nchapter. It is well known that the king of France was taken prisoner by\nthe Black Prince at the battle of Poictiers. \u201cThe day of the batayle at\nnight, the prince made a supper in his lodginge to the frenche kyng,\nand to the moost parte of the great lordes that were prisoners: the\nprince made the kynge, and his son, the lorde James of Bourbon, the\nlorde John D\u2019Artois, the erle of Tancarville, the erle D\u2019Estampes, the\nerle Dampmertyne, the erle of Gravyll, and the lorde of Pertenay, to\nsyt all at one borde, and other lordes, knyghtes, and squiers at other\ntables; and alwayes the prince served before the kyng as humbly as he\ncoude, and wolde nat syt at the kynges borde, for any desyre that the\nkynge could make: but sayd he was nat sufficient to syt at the table\nwith so great a prince as the kyng was; but than he sayd to the kyng,\nSir, for goddes sake make none yvell, nor heavy chere, though god this\nday dyd not consent to folowe your wyll: for syr, surely the kyng my\nfather shall bere you as moche honour and amyte as he may do, and shall\nacorde with you so reasonably that ye shall ever be frendes toguyder\nafter; and sir, methinke ye ought to reioyse, though the journey[127]\nbe nat as ye wolde have had it, for this day ye have wonne the hygh\nrenome of prowes, and have past this day in valyantnesse all other of\nyour partie: sir, I say natte this to mocke you, for alle that be on\nour partie that saw every mannes dedes are playnly acorded by true\nsentence to gyve you the price and chapelette. Therewith the frenchemen\nbegan to murmure, and sayd among themselves how the prince had spoken\nnobly; and that by all estimation he shulde prove a noble man, if Gode\nsend him lyfe, to perceyver in such good fortune. Whan supper was done,\nevery man went to his lodgyng with their prisoners: the same night\nthey put many to raunsome, and beleyved them upon their faythes and\ntrouthes, and raunsomed them but easily, for they sayde, _they wolde\nsette no knyghts raunsom so hygh, but that he might pay at his ease and\nmayntaygne still his degree_.\n\n\u201cThe same wynter the prince of Wales, and such of Englande as were\nwith him at Bardeaux, ordayned for shippes, to convey the frenche\nking and his son and all other prisoners into Englande. Then he took\nthe see, and certayne lordes of Gascoyne with hym: the frenche kyng\nwas in a vessell by hymselfe, to be the more at hys ease, accompanyed\nwith two hundred men at arms, and two thousand archers: for it was\nshowed the prince that the thre estates, by whom the realme of France\nwas governed, had layed in Normandy and Crotoy two great armyes to\nthe entent to mete with hym, and to gette the frenche kyng out of his\nhandes if they might: but there were no such that apered, and yet thei\nwere on the see xi dayes, and on the xii day they aryved at Sandwych;\nthen they yssued out of their shyppe, and lay there all that nyghte,\nand taryed there two dayes to refresh them; and on the therde day\nthey rode to Canterbury. When the kynge of Englande knew of their\ncommynge, he commaunded them of London to prepare theym, and their\ncyte, to receyve suche a man as the frenche kyng was: then they of\nLondon arrayed themselfe, by companyes, and the chief maisters clothing\ndifferent fro the other; at saynt Thomas of Canterbury the frenche\nkyng and the prince made their offerynges, and there taryed a day, and\nthan rode to Rochester, and taryed there that day, and the next day\nto Dartforde, and the fourth day to London, wher they were honourably\nreceyved, and so they were in every good towne as they passed: the\nfrenche kynge rode through London on a whyte courser, well aparelled,\nand the prince on a lyttell black hobbey by hym: thus he was conveyed\nalong the cyte till he came to the Savoy, the which house pertayned to\nthe heritage of the duke of Lancaster; there the frenche kynge kept hys\nhouse a long season, and thyder came to se hym the kyng and the quene\nofttimes, and made him great feest and chere.\u201d[128]\n\nIt has been said that the Prince\u2019s conduct was too ostentatiously\nhumble; that in refusing to sit at table with the King of France, and\nin making him the principal object of attention in their entry into\nLondon, he exceeded the modesty of a conqueror, and exposed himself\nto the charge of hypocrisy. The censure is, we think, erroneous, and\narises from ignorance of the feelings of the times. The humility of the\nBlack Prince was that of a vassal in presence of his feudal lord, due,\nnot because he owed allegiance to the King of France, but because that\nmonarch was the peer of the King of England, and in courtesy entitled,\nespecially as a visitor, though a forced one, to an equal measure of\nrespect from his subjects. The victor merely overlooked the fortune\nof war, and paid to his royal prisoner the homage which he would have\nshown to his father, and which the King of France would have received\nfrom the heir to his own crown.\n\n\n\n\nEXTRACT FROM THE LIFE OF MESSIRE BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN.\n\n(_Referred to in the Note, p. 104._)\n\n\n\u201cOne day the Prince of Wales was risen from dinner, and gone into\na private chamber with his barons, who had been served with wine\nand spices. So they began to speak of many a bold deed of arms, of\nlove\u2013passages, of battles, and of prisons, and how St. Louis to save\nhis life was made prisoner in Tunis, from whence he was ransomed for\nfine gold, paid down by weight. Until the Prince, who spoke without\ncaution, said, \u2018When a good knight well approved in battle is made\nprisoner in fair feat of arms, and has rendered himself, and sworn to\nabide prisoner, he should on no account depart without his master\u2019s\nleave. And also one should not demand such portion of his substance,\nthat he be unable to equip himself again.\u2019 When the Sire de Lebret\nheard these words, he began to take heed, and said to him, \u2018Noble Sire,\nbe not angry with me if I relate what I have heard said of you in your\nabsence.\u2019 \u2018By my faith,\u2019 said the Prince, \u2018right little should I love\nfollower of mine sitting at my table, if he heard said a word against\nmy honour, and apprised me not of it.\u2019 \u2018Sire,\u2019 said he of Lebret, \u2018men\nsay that you hold in prison a knight whose name I well know, whom you\ndare not delyver.\u2019 \u2018It is true,\u2019 said Oliver de Clisson, \u2018I have heard\nspeak of it.\u2019 Then the Prince swore and boasted, \u2018that he knew no\nknight in the world, but, if he were his prisoner, he would put him to\na fair ransom, according to his ability.\u2019 And Lebret said, \u2018How then do\nyou forget Bertrand du Guesclin, that he cannot get away?\u2019 And when the\nPrince heard this, his colour changed; and he was so tempted by pride,\nanger, and disdain, that he commanded Bertrand to be brought before\nhim; with whom he wished to make terms, in spite of all who had spoken\nof the matter, and would fain not let him be ransomed, unless they\nthemselves should fix the amount. Then certain knights went and found\nBertrand, who, to amuse himself and forget his weariness, was talking\nwith his chamberlain. Which knights saluted him. And Bertrand arose\ntowards them, and showed a fair seeming, saying \u2018that they were come in\ngood time.\u2019 Then he ordered the aforesaid chamberlain to bring wine.\nThe knights answered \u2018that it was right fitting they should have much\nwine, good and strong; for they brought him good, joyful, and pleasant\nnews with good will.\u2019 Then one of them who was wise and discreet said,\n\u2018that the Prince sent for him to appear in his presence, and he thought\nthat he would be ransomed by help of those friends he had at court, who\nwere many.\u2019 \u2018What say you?\u2019 said Bertrand; \u2018I have neither halfpenny\nnor penny, and owe more than ten thousand livres, that have been lent\nme, which debt has accrued in this city while I have been prisoner.\u2019\nOne of them inquired of him, \u2018How have you accounted for so much?\u2019 \u2018I\nwill answer for that,\u2019 said Bertrand; \u2018I have eaten, drunk, given,\nand played at dice with it. A little money is soon spent. But if I be\nset free, I shall soon have paid it: he saves his money, and has it\nin good keeping, who shall for my help lend me the keys of it.\u2019 And\nan officer who heard him said, \u2018Sir, you are stout\u2013hearted, it seems\nto you that every thing which you would have must happen.\u2019 \u2018By my\nfaith,\u2019 said Bertrand, \u2018you are right, for a dispirited man is nothing\nbetter than beaten and discomfited.\u2019 And the rest said, \u2018that he was\nlike one enchanted, for he was proof against every shock.\u2019 Then he was\nbrought to the chamber where was the Prince of Wales, and with him John\nChandos, a true and valiant knight. And had they chosen to believe\nhim, they would long before have disposed of the war: for he gave much\ngood advice. And also there were Oliver de Clisson and other knights,\nbefore whom came Bertrand, wearing a grey coat. And when the Prince\nsaw him, he could not keep from laughing, from the time he saw him.\nThen he said, \u2018Well, Bertrand, how fare you?\u2019 And Bertrand approached\nhim, bowing a little, and said, \u2018Sir, when it shall please you, I may\nfare better: many a day have I heard the rats and mice, but the song of\nbirds it is long since I heard.[129] I shall hear them when it is your\npleasure.\u2019 \u2018Bertrand,\u2019 said the Prince, \u2018that shall be when you will;\nit will depend only on yourself, so that you will swear, and make true\noath, never to bear arms against me, nor these others, nor to assist\nHenry of Spain. So soon as you will swear this, we will fully set you\nfree, and pay that you owe, and besides give 10,000 florins to equip\nyou anew, if you consent to this; else you shall not go.\u2019 \u2018Sire,\u2019 said\nBertrand, \u2018my deliverance then will not come to pass; for before I do\nso, may I lie by the leg in prison while I live. God willing, I will\nnever be a reproach to my friends. For by Him who made the world, I\nwill serve with my whole heart those whom I have served, and whose I\nhave been from my outset. These are the good King of France, the noble\nDukes of Anjou, of Berry, of Burgundy, and of Bourbon; whose I have\nbeen, as became me. But so please you, suffer me to go. For you have\nheld me too long in prison, wrongfully and without cause; and I will\ntell you how I had gone from France, I and my people meaning to go\nagainst the Saracens. And so I had promised Hugh de Carvalay, intending\nto work out my salvation.\u2019 \u2018Why then went you not straight without\nstopping?\u2019 said the Prince. \u2018I will tell you,\u2019 said Bertrand in a loud\nvoice. \u2018We found Peter,\u2014the curse of God confound him! who had long\nsince thrice falsely murdered his noble Queen, born of the noble line\nof Bourbon, and of the blood of my Lord, St. Louis, which lady was\nyour cousin by the best blood in your body. Straightway then I stopped,\nto take vengeance for her, and to help Henry; for well I know, and\nsurely I believe, that he is the right king and the true heir of Spain.\nAnd also to destroy, and put to an end, Jews and Saracens, of whom\nthere are too many in these parts. Now through great pride you have\ncome to Spain to the best of your ability, both through covetousness of\ngold and silver, and that you may have the throne after the death of\nPeter, who reigns wrongfully, by which journey you have, in the first\nplace, injured your own blood, and troubled me and my people: whence\nit has come to pass, that after you have so ruined your friends, and\nyou and your people have been all famished, and suffered great pain\nand labour, Peter has deceived you by cheating and trickery, for he\nhas not kept faith nor covenant with you, for which, by my faith, I\nthank him heartily.\u2019 When Bertrand had related his reasons, the Prince\nrose, and could not help saying that on his soul Bertrand was right,\nand the barons said that he had spoken truth. Then was there great\njoy stirring all round and about, and they said of Bertrand, one to\nanother, \u2018See there a brave Breton.\u2019 But the Prince called, and said\nto him, \u2018You shall not escape me without paying a good ransom; and yet\nit vexes me that you obtain such favour. But men say that I keep you\nprisoner because I fear you; and to the end that every one may cease to\nsuspect this, and may know that I neither fear nor care for you, I will\ndeliver you on payment of sufficient ransom.\u2019 \u2018Sir,\u2019 said Bertrand,\n\u2018I am a poor knight of little name, and not so born as that I should\nfind help in plenty. And besides, my estate is mortgaged for purchase\nof war\u2013horses, and also I owe in this town full ten thousand florins.\nBe moderate, therefore, and deliver, me.\u2019 \u2018Where will you go, fair\nSir?\u2019 said the Prince. \u2018Sir,\u2019 said Bertrand, \u2018I will go where I may\nregain my loss, and more I say not.\u2019 \u2018Consider then,\u2019 said the Prince,\n\u2018what ransom you will give me: for what you will shall be enough for\nme.\u2019 \u2018Sir,\u2019 said Bertrand, \u2018I trust you will not stoop to retract your\nmeaning. And since you are content to refer it to my pleasure, I ought\nnot to value myself too low. So I will give and engage for my freedom\none hundred thousand double golden florins.\u2019 And when the Prince heard\nhim his colour changed, and he looked round at his knights, saying,\n\u2018Does he mean to make game of me that he offers such a sum? for I\nwould gladly quit him for the quarter.\u2019 \u2018Bertrand,\u2019 said he, \u2018neither\ncan you pay it, nor do I wish such a sum; so consider again.\u2019 \u2018Sire,\u2019\nsaid Bertrand, \u2018since you will not so much, I place myself at sixty\nthousand double florins; you shall not have less, sobeit you will\ndischarge me.\u2019 \u2018Well,\u2019 said the Prince, \u2018I agree to it.\u2019 Then said\nBertrand loudly, \u2018Sir, Prince Henry may well and truly vaunt that he\nwill die King of Spain, cost him what it may, and he will lend me one\nhalf my ransom, and the King of France the other; and if I can neither\ngo nor send to these two, I would get all the spinstresses in France to\nspin it rather than that I should remain longer in your hands.\u2019[130]\nAnd when the Prince had heard him he thus said: \u2018What sort of man is\nthis? He startles at nothing, either in act or thought, no more than\nif he had all the gold which is in the world. He has set himself at\nsixty thousand double florins, and I would willingly have quitted him\nfor ten thousand.\u2019 And all the barons also marvelled greatly. \u2018Am I\nthen at liberty?\u2019 said the gallant Bertrand. And Chandos asked him\nwhence the money should come. \u2018Sir,\u2019 said he, \u2018I have good friends, as\nI shall find, I am certain.\u2019 \u2018By my faith,\u2019 said Chandos, \u2018I am much\nrejoiced therefore, and if you have need of my help, thus much I say,\nI will lend you ten thousand.\u2019 \u2018Sir,\u2019 said Bertrand, \u2018I thank you. But\nbefore I seek anything of you I will try the people of my own country.\u2019\nThe news of this matter went through the city of Bordeaux. There you\nmight see all persons, great and small, citizens, and artisans of all\nsorts, run towards the mansion of the Prince to see Bertrand. And\nwhen the Prince\u2019s knights saw the people assemble thus, and knew the\ncause of their coming, they brought the said Bertrand to lean out at\na window, who laughed heartily at the matter. And when the commoners\nsaw him from a distance, they said, \u2018He is a downright enemy! cursed\nbe the hour that he escapes alive. He has done much evil, and will do\nworse.\u2019 And others said, \u2018Have we idled and yawned, and run away from\nour business, to look at such a squire as this? May God bless him not!\nfor he is an ugly fellow, and unable to pay the ransom at which he is\nvalued.\u2019 \u2018Whence should he draw it?\u2019 said others; \u2018he will never pay a\nsingle penny of his own, but will pilfer it through the broad land.\u2019\nAnd those who knew Bertrand better said to them, \u2018Now argue not so much\nin using such words, for there is no better knight in the world, and\nnone that better knows how to make war. And there is no castle, however\nstrong, however high the rock on which it stands, that would not\nsoon surrender if he went thither to assault it: and, throughout the\nkingdom of France, there is no man nor woman, however poor, who would\nnot contribute, if he needed it, rather than that he should remain in\nprison.\u201d[131]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nTyranny of Cambyses, terminating in madness\u2014of Caligula\u2014of the Emperor\nPaul.\n\n\nNo questions which can become the subject of judicial examination\nare more delicate and difficult than those which depend upon a man\u2019s\nmental sanity, whether the case be of a civil or a criminal nature;\nwhether it regard his competence to manage his own affairs, or his\npossession of that moral feeling of right and wrong in the absence\nof which he cannot be justly punished as a responsible agent. In the\nfirst instance, daily experience shows us that general eccentricity,\nand even delusion upon particular subjects, may exist in union with\nthe most acute perception of personal interests; in the second, it is\nequally clear that the moral sense may be perverted upon one or more\npoints without being destroyed, and indeed without any other indication\nof mental disease. We may take as an example of this the burning of\nYork Cathedral some years ago. Martin believed this to be morally a\nmeritorious act, and herein lay his madness: on a case of murder,\nrobbery, or any other infraction of the laws, he would have judged\naright. But though he believed it to be meritorious, he knew it to\nbe illegal; he knew that he was subject to punishment, and fled from\nit accordingly: and upon this ground the question might be raised,\nwhether his madness should have protected him from the penalty affixed\nto his act. But exclusively of those more strongly marked cases,\nwhich alone are likely to become subjects of judicial inquiry, no man\ncan converse extensively with the living, or, through the medium of\nbooks, with the dead, without continually asking himself whether the\neccentricity, perverseness, intemperance, and extravagance which he\nsees on all sides are compatible with a perfectly sound state of mind.\nMental as well as bodily illness may assume all shapes, and be of all\ndegrees: and both reflection and observation lead us to conclude that\nexcessive indulgence of the passions will impair the understanding,\nas surely as sensual intemperance injures the constitution. It would\nnot be difficult to enumerate a long list of causes tending more or\nless to unsettle the reason; indeed, no pursuit, however unexciting\nit may seem, can be exclusively followed without risk of this result.\nScience has its dangers as well as love: the philosopher\u2019s stone and\nthe quadrature of the circle have probably turned as many heads as\nhas female ingratitude, from the time of Orlando Furioso downwards.\nAt present, however, we mean to confine ourselves to one particular\nmanifestation of insanity, or something nearly allied to it, with the\nview of illustrating, in some degree, that large portion of history\nwhich is occupied by the crimes and follies of absolute monarchs.\n\nIn reading such narratives as the following, we naturally wonder how\nit is that anything human can have been led to play a part so entirely\nat variance with all the kindly feelings of human nature. To believe\nthat Caligula and Nero came into the world fully prepared for the\npart which they were afterwards to play, would be as unreasonable as\nto adopt the other extreme, and maintain, as some have done, that the\ntempers and abilities of all men are originally similar and equal. But\n\u201cthe child is father of the man.\u201d The work of education begins at an\nearly period, and circumstances seemingly too trivial to notice, may\nexert a powerful effect in fixing our future destiny for good or evil.\nThere are few persons whose patience has not been more or less tried by\nspoiled children, and who cannot point out examples where the temper\nof the mature man has been seriously injured by early injudicious\nindulgence; and many must know cases in which the paroxysms of a\nnaturally bad temper, exasperated by uncontrolled licence and habitual\nsubmission, have amounted almost to occasional insanity. Causes closely\nanalogous to those which render one man the dread of his domestic\ncircle, may render another the terror and the scourge of half the\nearth. The same spirit which vents itself in ill\u2013humour for a broken\npiece of china, or execrations for an ill\u2013cooked dinner, if fostered by\npower, might correct breaches of etiquette with the knout, and deal out\nconfiscations and death as unsparingly as oaths. We may observe that,\nbloody and unfeeling as their administration may have been, it is not\namong the adventurers who have carved their own way to a crown that\nthe wantonness of tyranny has been most developed; it is rather among\ntheir descendants, men nurtured among parasites, with the prospect of\ndespotism ever before their eyes. Surrounded from infancy by those\nwhose interest it has been to pamper, not to repress their evil\npassions, taught, in Pagan countries, to regard themselves as gods, and\nworshipped as such by a servile and besotted multitude, what wonder\nthat they tread under foot those who bow the neck before them, and\nscorn to sympathise with a confessedly inferior race? In private life,\nhowever, the regulation of the mind may be neglected, the supremacy\nof law, and the knowledge that excess, beyond a certain point, cannot\nbe committed with impunity, exerts a salutary restraint over the\nwildest spirits. But he who is above the influence of fear, whose angry\npassions have never been checked, nor his desires controlled, and who\nis harassed by the craving after excitement consequent upon satiety\nof sensual pleasures, is prepared for any caprice or enormity which\nthe humour of the moment may suggest. The mind can hardly be thus\nmorally depraved without becoming intellectually depraved also: as the\nanimal man is cherished, and the reasonable man neglected, the former\nwill assume the guidance due to the latter, and human becomes little\nsuperior to brute nature, except in its greater power to do mischief.\nIn this state of degradation\n\n                      Even\u2013handed justice\n  Condemns the ingredients of the poisoned chalice\n  To our own lips.\n\nThe dominion of the passions is worse than external oppression, and\nconscience exasperates, after it has lost its power to reform. Misery\nmay then complete the ruin which intemperance began, and cruelty, from\nbeing only indifferent, become congenial.\n\nIf a man deprives himself almost of the common necessaries of life,\nfor the purpose of accumulating money which he will never use or want;\nif he sleeps all day, and wakes all night; if he chooses to wear\nhis shoes upon his hands, and his gloves upon his feet, or indulge\nin any other such ridiculous fancies; we call him odd, eccentric, a\nmadman, according to the degree of his deviation from established\nusages: and justly, for in all these things a sound mind is wanting.\nYet that man may be perfectly able to foresee the consequences of\nhis actions, perfect master of his reason upon every subject; and\ntherefore be both legally and morally responsible. It is a state of\nmind strictly analogous, as we believe, to this, which has produced\nthe worst excesses of the worst oppressors; and one which has sprung\nfrom the same cause\u2014habitual submission to the will instead of the\nreason. From the childish passion of George II., who manifested his\ndispleasure on great occasions by kicking his hat about the room, to\nthe superhuman crimes of Caligula, we find this disease, if we may call\nit so, manifested in every variety of degree and form. In Henry VIII.\nof England, we trace it in the contrast between the early and later\nyears of his reign, in the increased violence of his passions, and in\nthe capriciousness and cruelty ingrafted on a temper not naturally\nungentle. We ascribe to it the ungovernable fury which obscured the\nbrilliant qualities of Peter of Russia; and we find it still more\nstrongly marked in the extravagances which are ascribed to Xerxes. His\nvery preparations for invading Greece, on a scale so disproportionate\nto the value of his object if attained, show how subordinate was his\njudgment to his inclinations; and no one can read the narration of his\nchastisement of the Hellespont, without recognising the weakness of a\nmind unsettled by extravagant presumption. \u201cWhen Xerxes heard that his\nbridges were carried away, he was much vexed, and ordered three hundred\nlashes to be given to the Hellespont, and a pair of fetters to be cast\ninto it. And I have heard that he sent men at the same time to brand\nthe Hellespont. Moreover, he commanded those that inflicted the stripes\nto use unholy and barbarian language, saying, \u2018Thou bitter water, thy\nmaster inflicts this punishment upon thee, because thou hast wronged\nhim, having received no injury at his hands. And King Xerxes will cross\nthee, whether thou wilt or no: and, as is fit, no one sacrifices to\nthee, because thou art a salt and crafty river.\u2019 So he ordered them to\npunish the sea thus, and to cut off the heads of the Grecians who had\ncharge of the bridge.\u201d[132] This is as downright frenzy as the walls of\nBedlam ever witnessed: a paroxysm of temporary insanity, produced by\ndisappointment acting on a vain, ungoverned mind.\n\nBefore proceeding to relate in detail the lives of some remarkable\npersons which bear upon the point in question, we wish briefly to\nallude to the very singular and striking history of Nebuchadnezzar,\nthough with no view of resolving that preternatural visitation, which\nis expressly stated to have been from God, into a natural consequence\nof his intemperate pride. From the few notices of him preserved in the\nBible, he seems to have been a man cast in no ordinary mould; to have\nbeen endowed with powers and capability of excellence commensurate with\nthe exalted situation which he was appointed to hold. It is evident,\nhowever, that he had drunk deep of the intoxication of despotism. His\nintended massacre of the wise men, and the Chaldeans, in point of\nwisdom and justice is on a par with the anger of a child who beats\nhis nurse because she will not give him the moon to play with; and\nhis conduct with respect to the image of the plain of Dura, if less\npreposterous, is not more creditable to his notions of toleration or\nhumanity. In fact, he appears to have been in a fair way to become as\ntruculent a tyrant as Cambyses or Caligula, when that awful vision,\nrelated at length in the fourth chapter of Daniel, was presented to\nhim, which foretold his banishment from the throne and from men: and we\nmay infer from the warning of the inspired interpreter, and from the\ncourse of the narrative, that his overweening pride and hardness of\nheart, the food and origin of that mental alienation of which we have\nbeen speaking at such length, were the vices against which Divine anger\nwas especially directed. \u201cThis is the decree of the Most High, which\nis come upon my lord the king: They shall drive thee from men, and thy\ndwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, till thou know that the\nMost High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he\nwill.... Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and\nbreak off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing\nmercy to the poor: if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity....\nAt the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of\nBabylon. The king spoke and said, Is not this the great Babylon that I\nhave built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and\nfor the honour of my majesty? While the word was in the king\u2019s mouth,\nthere fell a voice from heaven, saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee\nit is spoken; the kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive\nthee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field;\nthey shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass\nover thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of\nmen, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.\u201d[133]\n\nOf the following sketches the two first exhibit the dominion of passion\nin its most violent form; the last differs rather in degree than in\nnature. Strictly speaking, the life of Cambyses is not entitled to a\nplace here; but Herodotus makes us so familiar with Persian history\nfrom the time of Cyrus, that it seems naturally to find a place in\nworks relating to the history of Greece.\n\nCambyses succeeded to the undisturbed possession of that vast empire\nwhich his father Cyrus had acquired, extending from the Indus to the\n\u00c6gean, and from the Caspian to the Red Sea. This extent of dominion\nmight seem enough to satisfy the most ambitious, and employ the\nmost active mind; but the son, unhappily for himself, inherited the\nfather\u2019s military spirit, and in the fourth year of his reign quitted\nhis paternal kingdom to conquer Egypt. He marched along the coast\nfrom Palestine to Pelusium, where he found encamped Psammenitus, who\nhad succeeded his father Amasis on the Egyptian throne. A battle was\nfought, in which the Egyptians were defeated; they fled to Memphis, and\nthe rest of the country submitted without further struggle. Herodotus,\nwho visited the field of battle, relates a curious story. The bones of\neither nation were heaped apart, as they had been originally separated;\nand the Persian skulls were so weak that you could throw a pebble\nthrough them, whereas the Egyptian would hardly break, though beaten\nwith a large stone. Their descendants do not appear to have degenerated\nin this respect.\n\nCambyses sent a ship of Mitylene up the Nile, to summon Memphis to\nsurrender. The savage and exasperated inhabitants tore the herald\nand crew limb from limb, and made a long defence, during which the\nCyren\u00e6ans and the neighbouring Libyans submitted. The city being at\nlast taken, he put Psammenitus to a singular trial.\n\n\u201cOn the tenth day after the capture of Memphis, he placed Psammenitus,\ntogether with other Egyptians, without the gates; and meaning to make\nessay of his temper, he acted thus. He clothed that king\u2019s daughter in\nservile raiment, and sent her, bearing a water\u2013pitcher, to fetch water,\nand with her other maidens of the noblest families similarly clad. And\nas they went with wailing and lamentation past their fathers, these,\nall but Psammenitus, re\u2013echoed their cries, seeing the evil condition\nof their children; but he bowed his head to the earth. When they had\npassed, his son came by with two thousand Egyptians of like age, with\nbits in their mouths, and their necks bound with halters, who were\nthus led to death in retaliation for the Mityleneans who were slain at\nMemphis. For the royal judges had decided that for every one of them\nten of the noblest Egyptians should perish. And he, seeing them pass,\nand knowing that his son was carried to execution, while his countrymen\nwho were around him wept and were much distressed, did as in the case\nof his daughter. When they were gone, an old man, who was formerly of\nhis drinking parties, being now deprived of his fortune, and compelled\nto beg through the army, chanced to come where Psammenitus was sitting;\nand Psammenitus, when he saw his friend, cried aloud, and smote his\nhead, calling upon him by name. Men were placed near, who told Cambyses\nevery thing that happened; and he was much surprised, and sent this\nmessage: \u2018Psammenitus, your master Cambyses asks why, having given way\nneither to cries nor tears when you saw your daughter maltreated and\nyour son going to execution, you have honoured with them a man nowise\nrelated to you?\u2019 He answered, \u2018Son of Cyrus, my domestic misfortunes\nwere too mighty to be wept; but the sufferings of a friend, who, on\nthe threshold of old age, has fallen from a high and happy state into\nbeggary, form a fit subject for tears.\u2019\u201d[134] The heart of Cambyses was\ntouched for once, and he ordered the Egyptian prince to be sought and\nsaved; but his mercy came too late.\n\nProceeding from Memphis to Sais, he broke open the tomb of Amasis,\nthe late king, and caused the body, which was embalmed as usual, to\nbe scourged, and insulted in every possible way.[135] Finally, he\nordered it to be burnt, wherein he transgressed equally the religion\nof the Persians and Egyptians. For the former say that it is not fit\nto consign a dead man to a divinity, esteeming fire as such; while the\nlatter believe it to be a savage animal, which consumes every thing\nwithin its reach, and then dies; and consider it unlawful to let their\ncorpses be the prey of wild beasts. Hence the practice of embalming,\nthat worms may not prey upon their flesh. This wanton and disgusting\noutrage was prompted by personal hatred, arising from a slight said to\nhave been put upon him by Amasis, in consequence of which the invasion\nof Egypt was undertaken.\n\nThat country being subdued, far from being contented with his\nacquisitions, he now meditated three expeditions at once: one against\nCarthage, which was frustrated by the Ph\u0153nicians, who composed the\nchief part of his fleet, refusing to serve against their kinsmen and\ndescendants; another against the Ammonians, who lived in the Libyan\ndesert, in a spot made famous by the oracle of Ammon;[136] a third\nagainst the \u00c6thiopians, called Macrobii, or long\u2013lived, who were said\nto be the tallest and handsomest of all men, and to reach the age of\n120 years and upwards. The monarchy was elective, and they chose for\ntheir king whoever was most eminent for strength and stature. Before\nhe set out, Cambyses sent spies into this country, charged with gifts\nand professions of friendship, to which the \u00c6thiopian replied, \u201cThe\nking of Persia has not sent you with gifts, as setting a high price on\nmy alliance; and you speak falsely, for you are come as spies of my\nrealm. Neither is that man upright, for then he would covet none other\ncountry than his own, and not have enslaved those from whom he has\nhad no wrong. Give to him, then, this bow, and say, \u2018The king of the\n\u00c6thiopians advises the king of the Persians to invade the long\u2013lived\n\u00c6thiopians with overpowering numbers, as soon as the Persians can draw\nthus easily such bows as these; and, until then, to thank the gods who\nhave not inclined the sons of the \u00c6thiopians to add the lands of others\nto their own.\u2019\u201d[137]\n\nCambyses, as we may suppose, flew into no small passion at the receipt\nof such an answer, and urged his march, says Herodotus, like one out\nof his right mind, and too impetuously to wait until magazines could\nbe formed,\u2014a precaution the more needful, because, according to the\nprevalent notions of geography, he was going to the uttermost parts of\nthe earth. From Thebes he detached 50,000 men to enslave the Ammonians,\nand burn the temple of Ammon, while he advanced towards \u00c6thiopia with\nthe rest: but before one\u2013fifth of the journey was accomplished, all\ntheir food was consumed, even to the beasts of burden which attended\nthe camp. \u201cIf, when he found this out, he had changed his mind, and\nbrought home his army, then, bating the original fault, he would have\nbeen a wise man. But, instead of this, he pressed continually forward,\nwithout any consideration.\u201d\n\nThe consequence of this improvident obstinacy was, that his soldiers,\nwho had lived on herbs so long as the earth produced anything, began\nto live upon each other when they reached the sandy desert. Cambyses\nhad no relish for this sort of supper, whether he was to eat, or, like\nPolonius, to be eaten, and at length turned back, not before he had\nlost a large part of his army. The other detachment advanced deep into\nthe desert, whence they returned not, nor was it known what became of\nthem. The Ammonians said that a mighty south\u2013west wind had overwhelmed\nthem with sand. The circumstances of their supposed destruction are\npowerfully though rather extravagantly described by Darwin:\u2014\n\n  \u201cNow o\u2019er their head the whizzing whirlwinds breathe,\n  And the live desert pants and heaves beneath;\n  Tinged by the crimson sun, vast columns rise\n  Of eddying sands, and war amid the skies,\n  In red arcades the billowy plain surround,\n  And stalking turrets dance upon the ground.\n  Onward resistless rolls the infuriate surge,\n  Clouds follow clouds, and mountains mountains urge;\n  Wave over wave the driving desert swims;\n  Bursts o\u2019er their heads, inhumes their struggling limbs;\n  Man mounts on man, on camels camels rush,\n  Hosts march o\u2019er hosts, and nations nations crush,\u2014\n  Wheeling in air the winged islands fall,\n  And one great earthy ocean covers all!\u2014\n  Then ceased the storm.\u2014Night bowed his Ethiop brow\n  To earth, and listened to the groans below.\u2014\n  Grim Horror shook\u2014awhile the living hill\n  Heaved with convulsive throes\u2014and all was still!\u201d[138]\n\nThe king returned to Memphis, his army much weakened, and his warlike\nardour probably no less cooled, by this double failure; for he made\nno more trials to extend his empire. So humiliating a disappointment\nwas not likely to sweeten his arbitrary temper, and to its effects\nwe are inclined to attribute the sudden change which appears to have\ntaken place in his conduct. We say appears, because up to this time\nnothing is related of his private life: it is not probable, however,\nthat the historian would have omitted occurrences such as those which\ncharacterise it from henceforward. The seeds of the evil which now\nshot up had long been rooting themselves. Self\u2013gratification had\nbeen the end, and his will the guide, of his actions; and on such\npersons uncontrolled power acts like a hot\u2013bed, to draw up their bad\nqualities into tenfold rankness. Old tales make frequent mention of\nmagicians being torn in pieces by the spirits whom they have called\nup. He who gives loose to the evil passions of his nature, has a worse\nset of fiends to deal with, than the grotesque imaginations of our\nforefathers ever figured, and will find it harder to escape from them\nin safety: what wonder is it if the reason proves unequal to bear\nthe shocks of such a warfare? That the mind of Cambyses so yielded,\nthe cruelty, impiety, and extravagance of his latter years, in which\nhis conduct was as impolitic as wicked, will not allow us to doubt.\nDisappointment and vexation could not have produced the disorder,\nthough they may have hastened the crisis and increased its violence.\n\nThe Egyptians referred this change to another cause. When Cambyses\nreached Memphis he found the city in great joy. Apis,[139] the sacred\nbull, one of their most venerated deities, had just appeared, and,\nas usual, the whole country celebrated it as a festival. The despot\nsuspected, not unnaturally, that they were rejoicing over his defeat,\nand sent for the magistrates, to ask why the Egyptians, who had done\nnothing of the sort when he was before at Memphis, made such show of\njoy, now that he came there after losing his army. They replied, that\ntheir god, who was wont to appear at long intervals, had manifested\nhimself, and that on this occasion the Egyptians always kept holiday.\nCambyses said they lied, and therefore sent them to execution. He\nnext sent for the priests, and being similarly answered, said that he\nwould soon know whether any tame god was come among the Egyptians.\nAt his command, the animal was produced; he drew his dagger, struck\nApis in the thigh, and said, laughing, \u201cFools, are such things gods,\ncomposed of flesh and blood and penetrable to steel? He is indeed a\ngod worthy of the Egyptians! For you, you shall not make a mock of me\nwith impunity.\u201d So saying, he ordered the priests to be scourged, and\nall persons found celebrating the feast to be slain. Apis died, and was\nburied secretly. From this sacrilege the Egyptians dated the madness\nof Cambyses. Others ascribed it to epilepsy, to which he is said to\nhave been subject from his birth. The disease might have produced a\nliability to insanity, but it could scarcely have been the agent in\nworking so sudden a change. The extravagances of Caligula, however,\nwere referred by many to the same cause.\n\nThe change in his temper was first shown by the murder of his brother\nSmerdis, whom he had sent back to Susa in a fit of jealousy because he\nwas the only man in the army who could draw the King of Ethiopia\u2019s bow,\neven for two fingers\u2019 breadth. After taking this step, he dreamed that\na messenger came to him from Persia, with tidings that Smerdis sat upon\nthe throne, and touched the heavens with his head. Fearing, therefore,\nthat this vision portended his being deposed and murdered, he sent a\ntrusty follower, named Prexaspes, to Susa, with orders to assassinate\nhis brother. The commission was faithfully performed.\n\nA sister also, who had followed him into Egypt, and with whom he\ncohabited, fell a victim to his intemperate passion. \u201cBefore this\ntime,\u201d Herodotus says, \u201cthe Persians never married their sisters, but\nhe, wishing to do so, managed it thus. Knowing that he was about to act\ncontrary to their customs, he sent for the royal judges, and asked them\nif there were any law permitting any one who wished to cohabit with his\nsister. Now the royal judges are select men among the Persians, who\nretain their office during life, or till convicted of some injustice;\nand it is they who preside in the Persian courts and interpret the laws\nand institutions of the nation, and all things are referred to them.\nSo to this question of Cambyses they returned an answer that was both\njust and safe, saying that they could find no law permitting a brother\nto marry his sister; but they had indeed discovered another\u2014that it\nwas lawful for the king of the Persians to do whatever he liked. Thus,\nthen, they did not break the law from fear of Cambyses; and yet, lest\nthey should themselves perish out of regard for the law, they found\nanother law to help him in marrying his sister.\u201d[140] Cambyses and\nhis judges seem to have been well suited. There is on record a better\ninstance of courtly evasion, related by Waller. The poet went, on the\nday of a dissolution of parliament, to see the King, James II., at\ndinner. \u201cDr. Andrews, Bishop of Winchester, and Dr. Neal, Bishop of\nDurham, were standing behind his majesty\u2019s chair, and there happened\nsomething in the conversation these prelates had with the King on\nwhich Mr. Waller did often reflect. His majesty asked the bishops, \u2018My\nlords, cannot I take my subjects\u2019 money when I want it, without all\nthis formality in parliament?\u2019 The Bishop of Durham readily answered,\n\u2018God forbid, sire, but you should! You are the breath of our nostrils.\u2019\nWhereupon the King turned and said to the Bishop of Winchester, \u2018Well,\nmy lord, what say you?\u2019 \u2018Sire,\u2019 replied the bishop, \u2018I have no skill\nto judge of parliamentary cases.\u2019 The King replied, \u2018No put\u2013offs, my\nlord\u2014answer me presently.\u2019 \u2018Then, sire,\u2019 said he, \u2018I think it is lawful\nfor you to take my brother Neal\u2019s money, for he offers it.\u2019\u201d[141]\n\nIt was another sister who followed Cambyses into Egypt, and perished\nthere by his violence. She was present when he set a lion\u2019s whelp to\nfight a puppy. The latter had the worst, till another of the same\nlitter broke loose, and came to help it, when the two together beat the\nlion. The princess shed tears at the sight, and being questioned why\nshe did so, replied that it was for the remembrance of Smerdis, and the\nthought that there was no one to avenge his death. The brute kicked\nher, and thereby inflicted a mortal injury.\n\nHe held Prexaspes, the person employed to murder Smerdis, in especial\nfavour, and among other marks of it appointed that nobleman\u2019s son to\nbe his cup\u2013bearer. One day he asked, \u201cPrexaspes, what sort of person\ndo the Persians think me?\u201d He replied with unseasonable candour, \u201cthat\nthey praised him very highly, only they said that he was terribly fond\nof wine.\u201d Cambyses was very angry at the imputation. \u201cDo the Persians,\u201d\nhe answered, \u201csay that I am beside myself for love of wine? You shall\nsee whether they speak the truth, or whether it is they that are\nbeside themselves when they talk thus. If I cleave your son\u2019s heart\nwith my arrow as he stands without the door, then the Persians will be\nproved to talk nonsense: if I miss, then say that the Persians speak\ntruth, and it is I that am mad.\u201d He drew his bow, the boy fell, and he\ncommanded that he should be opened: the arrow was found fixed in his\nheart. He turned to the father and said, laughing, \u201cPrexaspes, I have\nmade it clear to you that the Persians are mad, and not I. Now tell me\nwhether you have seen any man who shot so well?\u201d The miserable wretch,\nfearing for his own safety, replied that not even a god could have done\nso well.\n\nCr\u0153sus, who was kept in attendance in his court, as before in Cyrus\u2019s,\nventured to remonstrate on the course which he was pursuing, but\nso unsuccessfully, that nothing but a rapid flight saved him from\nfurnishing another proof of Cambyses\u2019 skill in archery. He was then\nordered to execution, but the officers who had charge of him, knowing\nthe value that their master set upon Cr\u0153sus, and expecting rewards for\nsaving his life, concealed him until the king\u2019s anger should be over.\nOne day at length they produced him, when Cambyses was expressing\nhis regret for the Lydian\u2019s death. It is dangerous to calculate upon\na madman\u2019s conduct. The king said that he was very glad Cr\u0153sus was\npreserved, and put the officers to death for disobeying his orders.\n\nHe had now been absent from Persia three years nearly, when a revolt\nbroke out; the natural consequence of so long a desertion of the seat\nof empire, especially under a despotic government; in which case the\npeople, habituated implicitly to submit to those in authority, care\nlittle from what head that authority emanates, provided it is conveyed\nthrough the customary channels. On leaving Persia, Cambyses had\nappointed Patizeithes, a Magian, or one of the hereditary priesthood,\nto be steward or inspector of the royal household. This man probably\npossessed rank and influence, as, under all monarchies, the nobility\nhave been eager to fill even menial offices about the royal person;\nperhaps his station gave him political importance, as in France, under\nthe Merovingian dynasty, the Maires du Palais wielded the whole power\nof the state. He had a brother named Smerdis, closely resembling in\nperson Smerdis the son of Cyrus; and knowing both that the latter was\ndead, and that the fact of his death was carefully concealed from the\nnation, he conceived a plan, founded probably on the reputed madness\nand necessary unpopularity of Cambyses, for dethroning him, and\nsubstituting his own brother as the son of Cyrus. The attempt seems\nto have succeeded without opposition: for the historian merely states\nthat he set his brother on the throne, and sent heralds throughout the\nempire, to say that in future obedience was to be paid to Smerdis,\nson of Cyrus, and not to Cambyses. The herald sent into Egypt found\nthe latter with his army in Syria, and (a service of no small danger)\nboldly delivered his message to the king in public. On this occasion\nthe madman behaved reasonably, for instead of killing Prexaspes and\nthe herald in the first instance, and then proceeding to inquire how\nSmerdis came to be alive, he began by investigating, and soon perceived\nthe real state of the case. The true meaning of the dream already\nreferred to then struck him, in which he saw a messenger from Susa,\nwho told him that Smerdis sat upon the throne, and reached the heavens\nwith his head. Some remnant of kindly feeling and remorse now touched\nhis heart, and he wept to think that he had destroyed his brother to\nno purpose; but this soon gave way to a natural anger, and with his\nusual precipitation he would instantly have departed to assert his\nown empire, and punish the conspirators. But as he sprung to horse\nthe button dropped off which closed the end of his scabbard; and the\nnaked point pierced his thigh, the spot in which he had sacrilegiously\nwounded Apis. He thought that the injury was mortal, and asked the\nname of the city where he then was. It was called Ecbatana,[142]\nand in Ecbatana an oracle had forewarned him he should die; but he\nnaturally interpreted it of the more celebrated Ecbatana, the residence\nof the ancient Median kings. When he heard the name he was sobered,\nand comprehending the oracle aright, said \u201cHere then Cambyses, son of\nCyrus, is destined to end his life.\u201d[143] The wound mortified, and on\nthe twentieth day after the accident he sent for the most eminent of\nhis countrymen, and addressed them in these words: \u201cMen of Persia, I\nam now forced to declare to you what I have hitherto concealed most\ncarefully. For, being in Egypt, I saw in my sleep a vision which I\nwould fain never have seen, and thought a messenger from home brought\nword that Smerdis sat upon the throne, and reached the heavens with\nhis head. Fearing, therefore, to be deposed by my brother, I did more\nhastily than wisely, for it is not in man\u2019s nature to turn aside that\nwhich is decreed: but I, fool as I was, sent Prexaspes to Susa to kill\nSmerdis, and lived in security when this great evil was done, never\nthinking that, though he was removed, some other person might rise\nup against me. And thus, being wrong concerning every thing that was\nto happen, I have needlessly become a fratricide, and yet am equally\ndeprived of my kingdom. For it was Smerdis, the Magian, whose revolt\nthe divinity foretold in my dream. The deed then is done, and be\nassured that you have no longer Smerdis, son of Cyrus, but the Magi\nfill the royal office; he whom I left steward of my household, and\nSmerdis his brother. He is dead, then, whose part especially it was to\navenge the wrongs done to me by the Magi; dead, impiously murdered by\nhis nearest of kin. And as he is no more, I am compelled to give in\ncharge to you, O Persians, those things which at the end of life I wish\nto be done. I require of you then, and call the gods of our empire to\nwitness, that you suffer not the sovereignty to revert to the Medes,\nbut if they have obtained it by fraud, by fraud let them be stripped\nof it; if by force, by force do you recover it. And as you do this,\nmay your land be fruitful, and your wives and flocks yield increase to\nyou as a free people for ever; but if you recover not the empire, nor\nattempt to recover it, I imprecate upon you the reverse of all these\nthings, and further pray that the end of every Persian may be like\nmine.\u201d So saying, he bewailed in tears his whole condition. And when\nthe Persians beheld their king weeping they rent their clothes, and\nmade lamentation unsparingly.[144] Thus died Cambyses, in the seventh\nyear and fifth month of his reign.\n\nThe Egyptians, who were horror\u2013struck at the outrage committed upon\nApis, and who ascribed the atrocities perpetrated by the Persian\nmonarch to madness, the consequence of this crime, saw in the manner\nof his death a further manifestation of divine vengeance. Strange\ninconsistency, that men should believe a deity unable to protect his\nown person, and yet thus capable of inflicting punishment upon his\ninjurer! In a similar spirit, the death of Cleomenes, King of Sparta,\nan event attended with remarkable and impressive circumstances, was\nattributed to no less than four different acts of impiety by different\nparties, each believing that it was caused by an infringement upon\nthose things which they themselves considered as peculiarly sacred.\nCleomenes\u2019 mind was impaired before he ascended the throne, insomuch\nthat his younger brother endeavoured to set aside the strict order of\nsuccession in his own favour. We may notice this as a strong proof of\nwhat has been said of the efficacy of moral restraint in preserving\nmental sanity, and checking the progress of existing disease. The\nstrict discipline of Sparta, the subjection of her kings in common with\nall other citizens, not merely to written law, but to public opinion,\nwas sufficient to restrain the wanderings even of an impaired mind; for\nthough his reign was overbearing and violent, nothing is related of him\nwhich can be considered as a proof of madness until towards its close,\nwhen he became addicted to drunkenness, a vice especially contrary to\nthe Spartan laws. Being proved to have bribed the priestess to return\nan answer suitable to his own interests on one occasion when the\nSpartan government consulted the Delphic oracle, he fled to Thessaly,\nand from thence to Arcadia, where he employed himself so successfully\nin stirring up war against Sparta, that he was recalled and reinstated.\nShortly after he broke out into frenzy, having been before, says\nHerodotus, somewhat crazed; and being placed in confinement under the\ncharge of a Helot, he obtained a sword from his guard, with which he\ndeliberately cut himself into pieces, beginning at the legs and so\nproceeding upwards, until he reached the vital parts, and died.[145]\n\nThat so tragical an end should excite general attention, that it should\nbe referred to the direct interposition of the Deity to punish some\ncrime, is no wonder: what is chiefly observable, and characteristic of\nGrecian religion, is that no one thought of attributing the anger of\nthe gods to moral guilt, of which Cleomenes had no lack, but merely to\nsome injury or insult offered especially to the gods themselves. Hence,\naccording to the religious prepossessions of the party speculating,\nthere were four methods current of accounting for his madness. Some\ntime before, when commanding in an invasion of Argolis, he had defeated\nthe opposing army, and driven many of them into a wood sacred to the\nhero Argus (not he with the many eyes), from whom the Argians traced\ntheir descent. Unwilling to lose his prey, he at first enticed them one\nby one with promises of safety, and when his treachery was discovered,\nand they refused to quit their asylum, he caused the Helots attendant\non the army to surround the grove with dry wood, and burnt it together\nwith the wretches it contained. The Argians then said that the hero\nArgus thus avenged the pollution and destruction of his grove: the\nAthenians were equally confident that he was thus afflicted because he\nhad once ravaged the sacred precincts of Eleusis: the other Greeks,\nwho cared comparatively little either for Argus or Ceres, found a\nsufficient cause in his corruption of the Delphian oracle, which was\nconsulted and venerated by all alike. And the Spartans, bigoted\nto nothing so much as to their own institutions, probably stumbled\nupon the truth when they said that there was nothing divine about\nthe business, but that he was driven mad by hard drinking. A similar\nfeeling led the royalists to see something extraordinary in the death\nof Lord Brooke, who was killed by a musket\u2013shot in the eye, fired from\nLichfield Cathedral, while besieging it for the Parliament in 1643.\n\u201cThere were many discourses and observations upon his death, that it\nshould be upon St. Chad\u2019s day, being the 2nd of March, by whose name,\nhe being a bishop shortly after the planting of Christianity in this\nisland, that church had anciently been called. And it was reported\nthat in his prayer that very morning (for he used to pray publicly,\nthough his chaplain were in the presence), he wished \u2018that if the cause\nhe were in were not right and just, he might presently be cut off.\u2019\u201d\nOthers went still further, and observed not only that he was killed in\nattacking St. Chad\u2019s church on St. Chad\u2019s day, but that he received his\ndeath\u2013wound in the very eye with which he had said he hoped to see the\nruin of all the cathedrals in the kingdom. It is observable that the\nhonour of the tutelary saint seems to have been more thought of than\nthat of the Deity.\n\nC. C\u00e6sar Caligula, son of Germanicus and Agrippina, being left\nan orphan at an early age, passed under the guardianship of his\ngrand\u2013uncle Tiberius, who adopted and declared him his successor. In\nthis critical situation he profited so well by the admirable example of\nduplicity ever before him, that neither the destruction of his nearest\nrelations, nor even the insults studiously offered to himself, drew\nfrom him a complaint, or interrupted his obsequious attentions to the\nreigning power. It was well said after his accession, in reference to\nthis period, that there never was a better slave or a worse master.\nBut cruelty and licentiousness showed themselves through this mask of\nmilkiness; and the clear\u2013sighted Tiberius, it is said, often predicted\nthat Caligula would live for his own and all men\u2019s perdition, and that\nhe was cherishing a serpent against the Roman people, and a Phaeton\nagainst the whole world. If the speech be genuine, the emperor\u2019s kind\nintentions towards others merited that he should be the first victim\nof his amiable pupil, and such was the case. At the close of his last\nillness, while he lay in a stupor which was supposed to be death,\nMacro, the favourite minister, proclaimed Caligula. But he revived\u2014his\ncourtiers slunk away from the new\u2013made monarch, and Caligula in passive\nterror awaited the consequences of his precipitance, until Macro caused\nhis reviving benefactor to be smothered under the bed\u2013clothes.\n\nThe news of a change of masters was received with universal joy, partly\nfrom hatred to Tiberius, partly from love to the family of Germanicus;\nand the early conduct of the young prince was calculated to increase\nthe general attachment. He honoured the ashes of his mother and\nbrothers with a splendid funeral, remitted punishments, discharged all\ncriminal proceedings, professed to have no ears for informers, watched\nover public morals and the administration of justice, and in all things\nassumed the semblance of a mild and conscientious monarch. But this\naffectation of popularity lasted no longer than the caprice or fear\nwhich produced it.\n\nThe extravagant folly of his nature broke out in the assumption of\ndivinity. This was no new pretension; but he surpassed his predecessors\nin the extent and absurdity of his claims. He mutilated without remorse\nthe products of Grecian art, by placing his own head upon the images\nof the gods, without regard either to the beauty or sanctity of the\nstatues which he thus disfigured. He built a temple in his own honour,\nappointed priests, and laid down a ritual of sacrifice, including\nonly those birds which were most esteemed by the epicures of the day.\nHe assumed the title of Latian Jupiter, and completed the mummery\nby pretending to hold secret conferences with the Jupiter of the\nCapitol, in which he was heard threatening to send him back to Greece\nin disgrace; and was only mollified by the repeated entreaties of the\nfather of gods and men, who invited him to share his own abode, the\nvenerated Capitol.\n\nThe Jews of course did not acknowledge his divinity, which angered\nhim exceedingly, insomuch that he issued an order to erect his own\nstatue in the temple at Jerusalem. At the intercession of Agrippa this\nedict was recalled, but his anger against the nation still continued,\nand gave rise to a very curious scene. A deputation of Jews had gone\nto Rome in order to conduct a dispute between themselves and the\nAlexandrians. Caligula appointed the parties to come before him at\na villa which he had ordered to be thrown open for his inspection.\nOn the introduction of the Jews, \u201cYou,\u201d he said, \u201care those fellows\nwho think me no god, though I am acknowledged to be such by all men,\nand who confess none except that unpronounceable one of yours;\u201d and\nraising his hands towards heaven, he uttered that word which it was\nnot lawful to hear, far less to speak. The Jews were in despair, while\ntheir adversaries jumped and clapped their hands, and accumulated the\nepithets of all the gods on Caligula. One of them, to improve this\nadvantage, said that the emperor would detest the Jews still more if\nhe knew that they were the only people who had never sacrificed in his\nbehalf. The Jews all exclaimed that it was false\u2014that they had thrice\noffered hecatombs for his welfare. \u201cBe it so,\u201d he answered; \u201cwhat\nthen? You sacrificed to another, and not to me.\u201d All this time he was\nrunning over the whole house, up and down stairs, and dragging the\npoor Jews after, who, besides being in mortal terror, were exposed to\nthe ridicule of all the court. Presently he gave some orders about the\nbuilding, and then turned to them and said gravely, \u201cBut why do you not\neat pork?\u201d This was another triumph for their adversaries, who burst\ninto such immoderate laughter that the courtiers began to be shocked.\nThe Jews answered, \u201cthat the habits of nations varied. Some persons,\u201d\nthey added, \u201cdo not eat lamb.\u201d \u201cThey are right,\u201d said the emperor, \u201cit\nis a tasteless meat.\u201d At last he said, rather angrily, \u201cI should like\nto know on what plea you can justify your city;\u201d and as they entered\ninto a long speech, he ran over the house to give orders about the\nwindows; then returning, he asked again what they had to say, and then,\nwhen they began their speech again, ran off to look at some pictures.\nFinally he sent them off, with the observation, \u201cThese are not such bad\nfellows after all, but they are great fools for not believing me to be\na god.\u201d[146]\n\nNo man ever spilt blood more lightly, with more refinement in cruelty,\nor with less excuse. He had no rivals to fear, no conspiracies to\nprovoke him; but selfishness seemed to have stifled every humane\nfeeling, and to have left him a prey to the guidance of his evil\npassions, unrestrained by that natural abhorrence of blood which\nfew even of the worst entirely overcome. To relate one half of his\natrocities would weary and disgust the reader: the few here given are\nselected to show how closely levity was mingled with brutality. He\nasked one who had been banished by Tiberius, how he employed himself\nin exile. \u201cI besought the gods that Tiberius might perish, and you\nbe emperor,\u201d was the courtly reply. Thinking that those whom he had\nbanished might be similarly employed, he sent persons around the\nislands of the Mediterranean, the abodes usually prescribed to those\nunhappy men, commissioned to put all to death. Cowardly as cruel, he\nwas conscious that the prayer merited a hearing, and had superstition\nto fear, though not religion to venerate or obey. A civil officer of\nrank, resident for the sake of his health in Anticyra (an island of\nthe \u00c6gean Sea, celebrated for the growth of hellebore), requested\nthe extension of his leave of absence. Caligula answered, \u201cthat\nblood\u2013letting was necessary, where so long a course of hellebore had\nfailed,\u201d and sent at the same time an order for his execution. The\njoke, such as it is, appears to have been the only provocation to this\nact. Imperial wit need be brilliant if it is to be displayed at so high\na price. It was his frequent order to the executioner, whose work he\nloved to superintend, \u201cStrike so that he may feel himself die.\u201d When,\nby a mistake of name, one man had suffered for another, he observed\nthat both deserved alike; and here he probably stumbled upon a truth.\nOne of his exclamations is notorious: \u201cOh that the Roman people had one\nneck!\u201d In a similar spirit he lamented that his reign was distinguished\nby no public misfortunes\u2014he should be forgotten in the prosperity of\nthe age. It was a mistaken diffidence: he might have trusted in his\nown powers to avert such a misfortune. Another source of bloodshed was\nhis profuse expenditure. Within a year he spent the treasure left by\nTiberius, amounting to twenty\u2013two millions sterling, and then supplied\nhis extravagance by every species of extortion. He abrogated the wills\nof some, because of their ingratitude in not making his predecessor,\nor himself, their heir; those of others he annulled, because witnesses\nwere found to say that they had meant to do so; and having thus\nfrightened many into appointing him a legatee conjointly with their\nfriends and relations, he said that they were laughing at him, to\ncontinue alive after making their wills, and sent poisoned dishes to\nmany of them. And being thus callous, and boastfully indifferent to\nhis subjects\u2019 sufferings, he chose to affect horror when in the savage\nsports of the amphitheatre one gladiator killed five others, and\npublished an edict to express his abhorrence at the cruelty of those\nwho had endured such a sight.\n\nOne instance of his extortion we could pardon. After an exhibition\nof gladiators, he caused the survivors to be sold by auction. While\nso employed he observed that one Aponius was dozing in his seat, and\nturning to the auctioneer, desired him on no account to neglect the\nbiddings of the gentleman who was nodding to him from the benches.\nFinally thirteen gladiators were knocked down to the unconscious\nbidder for near 73,000_l._ Among other equally honest and dignified\nways of raising money, he sold in Gaul the jewels, servants, and other\nproperty, even the very children of his sisters; and he found this so\nprofitable, that he sent to Rome for the old furniture of the palace,\npressing all carriages, public and private, for its conveyance, to the\ngreat inconvenience and even distress of the capital. But the sale, we\nmay suppose, went off dully, for the emperor complained loudly of his\nsubjects\u2019 avarice, who were not ashamed to be richer than himself, and\naffected sorrow at being compelled to alienate the imperial property.\n\nThe most ludicrous part of his life is the history of his wars. Being\ntold that his Batavian guards wanted recruiting, he took a sudden whim\nto make a German campaign, and set out with such speed that he arrived\nat his head\u2013quarters in Gaul before the troops could be entirely\ncollected. He now assumed the character of a strict disciplinarian;\nbroke those officers whom his own causeless hurry had made too late;\nand mingling a due attention to economy with his caprices, deprived\n6000 veterans of the pensions due to them. He claimed the conquest of\nBritain, on the ground of receiving homage from an exiled prince of\nthat island; and having sent a pompous account of this magnificent\nacquisition to the senate, he proceeded to the Rhine and even crossed\nit. While marching through a defile, he heard some one observe that\nthe appearance of an enemy at that moment would cause no little\nconfusion. The notion of war in earnest was too much for the descendant\nof Germanicus and Drusus. He mounted his horse, hurried to recross\nthe river, and rather than wait until an obstructed bridge could be\ncleared, was passed from hand to hand over the heads of the crowd.\nNot finding, or rather not seeking a real enemy, he made some Germans\nof his own army conceal themselves in the forest, and while he was at\ntable caused the approach of an enemy to be hurriedly announced. On\nthis he rushed to horse, galloped with his companions and part of his\nguard into the next wood, erected a trophy in honour of his exploit,\nand quickly returned to censure the cowardice of those who had refused\nto share the danger of their prince. In a similar spirit he sent away\nsome hostages privately, then led the hue and cry to overtake them,\nand brought them back in fetters as deserters. But his most brilliant\nexploit was that of giving battle to the ocean. He drew his troops up\nin line upon the sea\u2013shore, ranged his artillery, machines for throwing\nlarge darts and stones, as if against an enemy, and then, while all\nwere wondering what folly would come next, commanded the soldiers to\nfill their helmets and pockets with shells, calling them the spoils\nof the ocean, due to the Capitol and the palace. To celebrate this\nvictory he built a lighthouse, and distributed a hundred denarii to\nevery soldier; and then, as if he had surpassed all former instances of\nliberality, \u201cDepart,\u201d he said, \u201cdepart happy and rich.\u201d\n\nSuch victories deserved a triumph, but there was some difficulty in\nprocuring proper ornaments for the ostentatious ceremony: for his\nGerman victories had produced no prisoners, and it does not appear to\nhave occurred to him that the ocean contained fish as well as shells. A\nlive porpoise would have formed a novel and appropriate feature in the\nprocession, and have done honour to his own prowess and to the majesty\nof the empire. To supply the deficiency he collected a number of Gauls,\ndistinguished by their stature and personal advantages, caused them\nto let their hair grow, and to dye it red (the characteristics of the\nGerman race), and even to learn the German language, and to assume\nGerman names. Strange mixture of vanity with disregard of his own\ncharacter and contempt of the public opinion! The slightest reflection\nmust have shown the futility of these pretences, and the immeasurable\nlittleness of his own behaviour. But so long as he had the pleasure of\nwearing his borrowed plumes, it seems to have mattered not that the\nworld knew them to be borrowed. In a similar spirit he affected to wear\nthe breast\u2013plate of Alexander the Great. What bitterer satire could his\nworst enemy have devised?\n\nThe capricious variations of his temper exposed his associates to\nconstant danger. At one time he loved company, at another solitude:\nsometimes the number of petitions made him angry, and sometimes the\nwant of them. He undertook things in the greatest hurry, and executed\nthem with sluggish neglect. To flatter, or to speak truth, was equally\ndangerous, for sometimes he was in a humour for one and sometimes for\nthe other; so that those who had intercourse with him were equally at\na loss what to do or say, and thanked fortune rather than prudence if\nthey came off unhurt.\n\nHis private life was polluted by vice and intemperance of every\ndescription. Cowardly as cruel, the report of a rebellion among those\nGermans of whose conquest he boasted, terrified him into preparing a\nrefuge in his transmarine dominions, lest, like the Cimbri of old, they\nshould force a passage into Italy. At a clap of thunder he would close\nhis eyes and cover his head, and in a heavy storm the Latian Jupiter\nused to run under the bed, to hide himself from his Capitoline brother.\nHe usually slept but three hours in the night, and that not calmly,\nbut agitated by strange visions: the rest he passed sitting upon the\nbed, or traversing extensive colonnades, impatiently calling for the\nreturn of day. Justice began the work of retribution early, and he who\ntroubled the rest of all others was unable to find quiet for himself.\nAmong his other extraordinary qualities was a most insane jealousy of\nthe slightest advantages enjoyed by others. He overthrew the statues of\neminent men erected by Augustus in the field of Mars, and forbade them\nto be erected to any one in future except with his express permission.\nHe even thought of not allowing Homer to be read: \u201cWhy not I, as well\nas Plato, who expelled that poet from his republic?\u201d and talked of\nweeding all libraries of the writings and images of Virgil and Livy.\nThis folly he carried even to envying the personal qualifications of\nhis subjects, and being bald himself, he sent the barber abroad to\nshave every good head of hair that came in his way.\n\nLittle remains to complete the picture, but to say that his tastes were\nlow, as his character was brutish. Passionately fond of theatrical\nentertainments and the sports of the amphitheatre and circus, it\nwas from the profligate followers of these arts that he chose his\nfavourites, to whom, and to whom alone, he was devotedly attached.\nThe story of his meaning to appoint his horse consul is well known:\nthe brute would have done more credit to the subordinate, than his\nmaster to the imperial dignity; but it is apocryphal. But besides a\nmarble stable and an ivory manger, indulgences to which so dignified\nan animal might reasonably aspire, Caligula assigned to him a house\nand establishment, that he might entertain company more splendidly.\nWe regret not to know whether the senators or their horses were the\nobjects of this hospitality.\n\nHe was wont to say, that of all his qualities, he most valued his\nfirmness of purpose (_\u0313 \u03b1\u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03c4\u03c1\u03b5\u03c8\u03af\u03b1_). The judgment was in one sense\ncorrect: this was indeed the predominant feature of his character.\nBut it was the firmness not of principle, not even of policy, but of\nobstinate and entire selfishness, which regarded not the weightiest\ninterests of others when placed in opposition to its caprices; of\nhabitual self\u2013indulgence, which gratified the whim of the moment, alike\ncareless of its folly or of its guilt. At first he would not, in the\nend he probably could not, control his passions; and this inflexibility\nis the symptom of that mental disease which we believe to originate\nin uncontrolled power. This plea furnishes no particle of excuse for\nhim, no more than drunkenness for the excesses of the drunkard: in both\nthe loss of reason is a crime in itself, and in neither probably is it\never so complete as to obliterate the perception of right and wrong.\nOf genuine madness we find no trace in his life. He appears to have\nbeen subject to no delusions upon particular subjects, to no access\neither of frenzy or melancholy. As a boy he, as well as Cambyses, was\nsubject to epileptic fits, which were supposed to have impaired his\nmind; and he entertained, it is said, doubts of his own sanity, and\nhad thoughts of submitting to a course of medicine for his recovery.\nOthers thought that a love potion, administered by his wife to fix\naffection, had produced madness; but the tenor of his life countenances\nneither supposition. Folly, selfishness, cruelty, and the restlessness\nof a self\u2013upbraiding spirit cannot be allowed shelter under the plea\nof insanity; and the mental weakness and incapacity of self\u2013control\nwhich arises from the habitual dominion of passion, is no less\nwidely different in its effects than in its origin from that which is\ndependent upon physical causes.\n\nHe perished by domestic conspiracy, in the fourth year of his reign and\nthe twenty\u2013ninth of his age. He oppressed the people and the nobility\nwith impunity: he fell, when his jealous temper rendered him formidable\nto his servants and favourites.\n\nPaul, emperor of Russia, was the son of Catherine II., who, as is\nwell known, murdered her husband Peter III., and took possession of\nhis throne, which she retained till death. She conceived a strong\naversion for her son, who was in consequence brought up in retirement,\nneglected, and even exposed to want. When arrived at manhood he was\nstill forbidden to reside at court; his children were taken away to\nbe educated under the empress\u2019s care; he was studiously excluded\nfrom all knowledge or participation in affairs of state; and even\ndenied permission to gratify his military taste by active service.\nHis mother\u2019s object was at once to render him unfit for empire, and\nto spread abroad the notion that he was so; with the view of passing\nhim entirely over in favour of his son Alexander, whom in her will she\nappointed to succeed to the throne. Paul seems to have been naturally\naffectionate, methodical, a lover of justice, temperate, even amidst\nthe most consummate profligacy ever witnessed in a court; but these\ngood qualities were stifled by the faults of his education. Privation,\ncontumely, and a constant sense of injury, soured his temper, and\nrendered him distrustful and cruel, at the same time that the enjoyment\nof a minor despotism made him capricious and ungovernable; for he was\nthe undisputed master of his little court, and could vent upon others\nthe ill\u2013humour inspired by his own crosses, unchecked by the presence\nof a superior, or the influence of public observation. He lived at the\ncountry palaces of Gatschina and Paulowsky, surrounded by his household\nofficers and troops, and shunned by all others; devoted to the minuti\u00e6\nof military discipline, and employed chiefly in reviewing his guards,\nfor whom he devised a new system of dress and regulations, which it\nwas afterwards his great pride and pleasure to introduce into the army\nat large. There was a long terrace at Paulowsky, from which he could\nsee all his sentinels, who were stuck about wherever there was room\nfor a sentry\u2013box. Here he used to promenade with an eye\u2013glass, sending\norders from time to time to one man to open a button more or less, to\nanother to carry his musket higher or lower, and sometimes trotting a\nquarter of a league to administer a good caning with his own royal hand\nto one soldier, or to bestow a rouble on another, as he was pleased or\ndispleased with his bearing.\n\nOne or two anecdotes of this part of his life will best illustrate his\ntemper. Travelling through a forest, with marsh on each side of the\nroad, he recollected some reason for going back, and ordered the driver\nto turn. He did not do so instantly, and Paul repeated the order. \u201cIn\na moment,\u201d the man replied; \u201chere the road is too narrow.\u201d Paul flew\ninto a passion, jumped out of the carriage, and called to an equerry to\nstop the driver and chastise him. The equerry endeavoured to allay the\nstorm by assurances that the carriage would turn as soon as possible.\n\u201cYou are a scoundrel as well as he,\u201d was the reply; \u201che shall turn\neven though he break my neck: at all hazards he shall do as I bid, the\nmoment I give the order.\u201d Meanwhile the coachman had done so, but too\nlate to save himself from a sound beating.\n\nHe ordered a horse that stumbled under him to be starved. On the eighth\nday word was brought him of the animal\u2019s death; to which he merely\nanswered, \u201cGood.\u201d The same accident happened after his accession in the\nstreets of St. Petersburgh, on which he got off, made his equerries\nhold a court\u2013martial, and sentenced the offending beast to receive\na hundred blows with a stick, which were immediately inflicted in\npresence of the Czar and the people. Worse anecdotes might be found.\nHis passion for the strict observance of military minuti\u00e6 has been\nmentioned. One day, as he exercised his regiment of cuirassiers, an\nofficer\u2019s horse fell. Paul ran to the spot in a fury: \u201cGet up, you\nrascal!\u201d \u201cI cannot, Sire\u2014my leg is broken.\u201d Paul spit upon him, and\nwalked away swearing.\n\nCatherine, as before said, appointed Alexander her successor by\nwill. She had intrusted this important document to Zoubow, her last\nfavourite, who hastened immediately upon her death, in the year 1796,\nto place it in Paul\u2019s hands. It is due to the late emperor to say,\nthat he never took any part in the measures adopted for excluding his\nfather, who succeeded to the vacant throne without opposition. The\nCzar\u2019s conduct towards his family, on this occasion, does him honour:\nthe more, that under similar circumstances, few of his predecessors\nwould have hesitated to establish their power by the imprisonment or\ndeath even of an involuntary rival. Instead of using severity, he gave\nan affectionate reception to his sons, who had been separated from him\nsince childhood, increased their revenues, and assured them and the\nempress, to whom he had been a harsh and capricious husband, of his\nlove and protection; and at the same time, with prudence commendable on\nhis son\u2019s account no less than on his own, he provided employment for\nAlexander which kept the prince near his person till the critical time\nwas over.\n\nThe court and city of St. Petersburgh, the whole public of Russia,\nreceived with fear their new sovereign, whose caprice and extravagance\nwere well known; but his first measures belied their expectation.\nHe showed a decent respect to his mother\u2019s memory, though he fully\nreturned the hatred which she felt for him, retained her ministers,\nwhom he had no reason to love, and displayed judgment and honesty\nin his first political measures, until every body thought that a\nfalse estimate had been formed of his character. This good sense and\nmoderation did not last long. His first step was to secure his throne\nby incorporating with the royal guards his own household troops, on\nwhose fidelity he depended. The latter, like the Pr\u00e6torian bands\nof the Roman emperors, were a highly privileged and powerful body,\ncaptains of which held the rank of colonels of the line. Its officers\nof course were chiefly of high rank, and many of them, to the amount of\nsome hundred, resigned their commissions, angry at seeing men not of\nnoble birth, perhaps raised from the ranks, placed over their heads,\nor unwilling to undergo the new and harassing discipline which Paul\nintroduced. The Czar became alarmed at this general desertion, and,\nby way of conciliation, issued an order that all who had resigned, or\nshould thereafter resign their commissions, should quit St. Petersburgh\nwithin twenty\u2013four hours. Many persons transported suddenly without\nthe barriers, and forbidden to re\u2013enter the city, and left on the high\nroad, without shelter or clothing fitted to protect them from the cold,\nperished miserably for want of money to reach their homes.\n\nPaul came to the throne ambitious of signalizing himself as a\nreformer, but his mind was far too confined to perform so hard a task\nsuccessfully. In the civil department, he did little but reverse all\nthat his mother had done; in the military, his attention was confined\nto insignificant details. His great object was to conform the dress and\nexercise of the whole army to the model which he had been so long and\nanxiously forming at Gatschina. The very morning after his accession\nhe commenced this important task by establishing what he called his\nWachtparade, to which every morning he devoted three or four hours.\nHowever severe the cold, he was still there, dressed in a plain green\nuniform, with thick boots and a large hat, for he placed his pride in\nbearing a Russian winter without furs; stamping about to warm himself,\nwith his bald head bare and his snub\u2013nose turned up to the wind, one\nhand behind his back, and the other beating time with his cane, and\ncrying _Raz, dwa_\u2014_Raz, dwa_, one, two\u2014one, two\u2014surrounded by gouty old\ngenerals, who dared neither to absent themselves nor to dress warmer\nthan their master. The old Russian uniform was handsome, suited to the\nclimate, and could be put on in an instant: it consisted merely of a\njacket and large trousers, which enabled the wearer to protect himself\nby any quantity of interior clothing, without injury to uniformity of\nappearance. The hair was worn long, and falling round the neck, so\nthat it defended the ears from cold. Paul introduced the old\u2013fashioned\nGerman uniform, which every true Russian hated for its own sake,\nand despised as holding the Germans in supreme contempt; he encased\ntheir legs in long tight gaiters, made them powder and curl their\nhair, and hung false pigtails from their necks. Marshal Suvarof, on\nreceiving orders to introduce these changes, together with the measure\nof the men\u2019s curls and pigtails (for everything under Paul was done\nby measure), observed that \u201chairpowder was not gunpowder, nor curls\ncannon, nor pigtails bayonets;\u201d and this witticism is said to have cost\nhim his recall.\n\nNot content with modelling the army after his own notions of elegance,\nhis meddling spirit exerted itself in the most vexatious and tyrannical\ninterferences with the freedom of private life. The dress, the colour\nof carriages and liveries, the method of harnessing horses, everything\nwas matter of rule, and woe to him who met the Czar with anything about\nhis equipage contrary to etiquette. One day he saw Count Razumoffski\u2019s\nsledge standing in the street without the driver, and ordered it\nto be immediately broken in pieces. It was of a blue colour, and\nthe servants wore red liveries: upon which he issued a proclamation\nforbidding the use of blue sledges and red liveries in any part of\nthe empire. He waged a crusade against round hats, which he thought a\nmark of jacobinism, the object of his greatest hate and fear. If any\nperson appeared in one, it was taken from his head by the police; if he\nresisted, he was well beaten. The cocked hats in St. Petersburgh were\nof course soon exhausted, and then round hats were metamorphosed into\nthree\u2013cornered hats, by pinning up the sides. The emperor himself is\nsaid to have stopped persons and pinned up their hats with his royal\nhands, to show his people how a loyal subject ought to be dressed. An\norder against wearing boots with coloured tops was no less rigorously\nenforced. The police officers stopped a gentleman driving through the\nstreets in a pair. He remonstrated, and said he had no others with\nhim, and certainly would not cut off the tops of those; upon which the\nofficers, seizing each a leg as he sat in his droski, pulled them off,\nand left him to go barefoot home. Coming down a street, the emperor\nsaw a nobleman who had stopped to look at some workmen planting trees\nby his order. \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d said he. \u201cMerely seeing the men\nwork,\u201d replied the nobleman. \u201cOh! is that your employment? Take off\nhis pelisse and give him a spade. There\u2014now work yourself!\u201d Once, when\nhe met an officer going to the palace wrapped in his cloak, a servant\nfollowing with his sword, he gave the servant his master\u2019s commission,\nand reduced the officer to the ranks.\n\nIt was an ancient Russian usage that all who met the Czar, male or\nfemale, should quit their carriage, be it in mud or snow, to salute,\nand even to prostrate themselves before him. Peter the Great used to\ncudgel soundly any person who did so, and Catherine II. had abolished\nthe practice; but Paul revived it, and exacted its observance most\nseverely. Of course, amid a crowd of carriages continually passing at\nfull speed, it was easy to neglect it, without intentional disrespect;\nbut no such excuse was admitted. A lady, wife of a general in the army,\nhastening into St. Petersburgh, from the country, to procure medical\nadvice for her sick husband, passed the Czar inadvertently, and was\nimmediately arrested and sent to prison. Alarm and anxiety threw her\ninto a burning fever, which terminated in madness; and her husband\ndied from the same causes, and for want of proper care and attendance.\nOn being presented to Paul, it was necessary to drop plump on your\nknees, with force enough to make the floor ring as if a musket had been\ngrounded, and to kiss his hand with energy sufficient to certify to all\npresent the honour which you had just enjoyed. Prince George Galitzin\nwas placed under arrest for kissing his hand _too negligently_. When\nenraged he lost all command of himself, which sometimes gave rise to\nvery curious scenes. In one of his furious passions, flourishing his\ncane, he struck by accident the branch of a large lustre and broke it;\nwhereupon he commenced a serious attack, from which he did not relax\nuntil he had entirely demolished his brittle antagonist.\n\nUnder a sovereign of such a temper no man could feel secure for an\nhour. The police kept strict watch over the words, the actions, the\ncorrespondence of every one; and the knout, exile to Siberia, or at\nthe best deportation without the frontiers, were unsparingly dealt out\nfor involuntary or chimerical offences: and suspected persons were\ncontinually hurried out of the country without time being allowed for\nthe arrangement of their affairs, and in ignorance at once of their\noffence and of the nature of the intended punishment. Such a state\nof things was not likely to last very long in Russia, with so many\nexamples to prove how easy the descent is from the palace to the grave.\n\nTowards the close of his reign his conduct became more and more\nintolerable, and at last he took care to advertise all Europe of his\nfolly or madness, or both, by inserting in the St. Petersburgh Gazette\na notice to the following effect: \u201cThat the Emperor of Russia, finding\nthat the powers of Europe cannot agree among themselves, and being\ndesirous to put an end to a war which has desolated it for eleven\nyears, intends to point out a spot to which he will invite all the\nother sovereigns to repair and fight in single combat, bringing with\nthem as seconds and esquires their most enlightened ministers and\nable generals, such as Turgot, Pitt, Bernstorff, and that the Emperor\nhimself proposes being attended by Generals Count Pahlen and Kutusoff.\u201d\nThis piece of extravagance appears to have completed the disgust of the\nnobility, and consummated his ruin.\n\nA plot was formed, at the head of which was Count Zoubow, the man to\nwhom he had been indebted for the important service of suppressing\nCatherine\u2019s will. Paul\u2019s aversion to every thing which his mother had\nfavoured soon overcame his gratitude, and Zoubow was ordered to quit\nthe court, and reside upon his estates. Fresh intrigues again brought\nhim into favour, and the first use he made of it was to plan the\nmurder of his master. He opened his mind gradually to other noblemen:\nit was resolved, as private crime will often assume the guise of\npublic virtue, that the safety of the empire required the deposition\nof Paul; and as there is but one prison whose doors can never open to\na dethroned monarch, they resolved, in conformity with all Russian\nprecedent, to put him to death. The details of this catastrophe are\ninteresting, and, it is presumed, authentic and accurate, since they\nwere thus related to Mr. Carr by an eye\u2013witness, and therefore an agent\nin the deed.\n\n\u201cThe Emperor used to sleep in an outer apartment, next the Empress\u2019s,\nupon a sofa, in his boots and regimentals; the other branches of the\nimperial family being lodged in different parts of the same building.\nOn the, 10th March, o.s. 1801, the day preceding the fatal night\n(whether Paul\u2019s apprehension, or anonymous information suggested\nthe idea, is not known), conceiving that a storm was ready to burst\nupon him, he sent to Count P\u2014\u2014, the governor of the city, one of\nthe noblemen who had resolved on his destruction. \u2018I am informed,\nP\u2014\u2014,\u2019 said the Emperor, \u2018that there is a conspiracy on foot against\nme: do you think it necessary to take any precaution?\u2019 The Count,\nwithout betraying the least emotion, replied, \u2018Sire, do not suffer\nsuch apprehensions to haunt your mind; if there were any combination\nforming against your Majesty\u2019s person, I am sure I should be acquainted\nwith it.\u2019 \u2018Then I am satisfied,\u2019 said the Emperor, and the governor\nwithdrew. Before Paul retired to rest, he unexpectedly expressed\nthe most tender solicitude for the Empress and his children, kissed\nthem with all the warmth of farewell fondness, and remained with\nthem longer than usual; and after he had visited the sentinels at\ntheir different posts, he retired to his chamber, where he had not\nlong remained, before, under some colourable pretext that satisfied\nthe men, the guard was changed by the officers who had the command\nfor the night, and were engaged in the confederacy. An hussar, whom\nthe Emperor had particularly honoured by his notice and attention,\nalways at night slept at his bed\u2013room door, in the antechamber. It was\nimpossible to remove this faithful soldier by any fair means. At this\nmomentous period, silence reigned through the palace, except where it\nwas disturbed by the pacing of the sentinels, or at a distance by the\nmurmurs of the Neva; and only a few lights were to be seen distantly\nand irregularly gleaming through the windows of this dark colossal\nabode. In the dead of the night, Z\u2014\u2014 and his friends, amounting to\neight or nine persons, passed the drawbridge, easily ascended a private\nstaircase which led directly to the Emperor\u2019s chamber, and met with no\nresistance till they reached the anteroom, where the faithful hussar,\nawakened by the noise, challenged them, and presented his fusee. Much\nas they must have admired the brave fidelity of the guard, neither\ntime nor circumstances would admit of an act of generosity which might\nhave endangered the whole plan. Z\u2014\u2014 drew his sabre and cut the poor\nfellow down. Paul, awakened by the noise, sprung from his sofa; at this\nmoment the whole party rushed into the room: the unhappy sovereign,\nanticipating their design, at first endeavoured to entrench himself in\nthe chairs and tables; then recovering, he assumed a high tone, told\nthem they were his prisoners, and called on them to surrender. Finding\nthat they fixed their eyes steadily and fiercely on him, and continued\nadvancing towards him, he implored them to spare his life, declared his\nconsent instantly to relinquish the sceptre, and to accept of any terms\nthey would dictate. In his raving he offered to make them princes, and\nto give them estates, and titles, and orders, without end. They now\nbegan to press upon him, when he made a convulsive effort to reach the\nwindow; in the attempt he failed, and indeed so high was it from the\nground, that, had he succeeded, the attempt would only have put an end\nto his misery. In the effort, he very severely cut his hand with the\nglass; and as they drew him back, he grasped a chair, with which he\nfelled one of the assailants, and a desperate resistance took place. So\ngreat was the noise, that, notwithstanding the massy walls and double\nfolding\u2013doors which divided the apartment, the Empress was disturbed,\nand began to cry for help, when a voice whispered in her ear, and\nimperatively told her to remain quiet, otherwise she would be put to\ninstant death. While the Emperor was thus making a last struggle, the\nPrince Y\u2014\u2014 struck him on one of his temples with his fist, and laid\nhim upon the floor: Paul, recovering from the blow, again implored his\nlife; at this moment the heart of Z\u2014\u2014 relented, and on being observed\nto tremble and hesitate, a young Hanoverian resolutely exclaimed, \u2018We\nhave passed the Rubicon: if we spare his life, before the setting\nof to\u2013morrow\u2019s sun we shall be his victims.\u2019 Upon which he took off\nhis sash, turned it twice round the naked neck of the Emperor, and\ngiving one end to Z\u2014\u2014 and holding the other himself, they pulled for a\nconsiderable time with all their force, until their miserable sovereign\nwas no more: they then retired from the palace without the least\nmolestation, and returned to their respective homes.\u201d[147]\n\nAfter the accession of the new emperor, Zoubow was ordered not to\napproach the court, and Count P\u2014\u2014 was transferred from the government\nof St. Petersburgh to that of Riga. No other notice was taken of the\nactors in this tragedy. Whether this extraordinary lenity is to be\nascribed to fear, or to a sense of the necessity of removing Paul from\nthe throne (for the high personal character of Alexander places him\nabove the suspicion of having been an accomplice), the late emperor\nwould better have consulted justice, the interests of his throne, and\nhis own reputation, if he had exacted a severer retribution for the\nmurder of a father and a sovereign.[148]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n Early changes in the Athenian constitution\u2014Murder of\n Cylon\u2014Fatalism\u2014Usurpation of Pisistratus\u2014His policy\u2014Hippias and\n Hipparchus\u2014Conspiracy of Harmodius and Aristogiton\u2014Expulsion of\n Hippias\u2014Cosmo de\u2019 Medici, Lorenzo and Giuliano de\u2019 Medici\u2014Conspiracy of\n the Pazzi.\n\n\nFor nearly four centuries subsequent to the age of Theseus, scarce any\nmention of Athens occurs in Grecian history: a circumstance honourable\nto that city, as denoting a long course of tranquil prosperity, and\nindicative of candour and veracity in the writers, who were content\nto relate the few incidents preserved by tradition, without taxing\ntheir imaginations to cast a fabulous splendour over an unknown\nperiod. The change of dynasty in the person of Melanthus, and the more\ncelebrated devotion of his son Codrus,[149] with the alterations in\nthe constitution subsequent to, and partly consequent upon, the death\nof the latter, constitute the only remarkable events during this long\nlapse of years; and when at length her authentic history commences, it\nis in consequence of the interruption of that happiness which we are\nled to believe she so long enjoyed. Upon the death of Codrus it was\nresolved that no living person could be worthy to bear the title which\nhe had borne, and his son Medon was appointed chief magistrate, with\nthe title of Archon, or ruler. Twelve Archons followed in hereditary\nsuccession, when a further change took place, the office being made\nelective, and limited to the period of ten years; and at the end\nof the seventh decennial Archonship the duties of the office were\ndivided between nine persons annually elected. After this change,\nthe possession of political supremacy became an object of strife\nto the Eupatrid\u00e6, or nobles, in whom all power was vested: and the\nAlcm\u00e6onid\u00e6, or descendants of Alcm\u00e6on, the last hereditary Archon,\nsecured the prize. Cylon, a man eminent for rank and influence, bore\ntheir superiority impatiently, and endeavoured by force of arms to\nmake himself master of the government. He seized the citadel; but the\npeople rose against him, and being unprovided for a siege he sought\nsafety in flight, abandoning his followers to the rage of the adverse\nfaction. As their best hope, they took refuge at the altars, where\nviolence could not be offered to them without incurring the guilt of\nsacrilege. Megacles, the head of the Alcm\u00e6onid\u00e6, was then Archon; and\nby his partisans, some of the suppliants, induced to quit their refuge\nupon condition of personal safety, were perfidiously executed; others\nwere put to death even at the dreaded altars of the Eumenides.[150]\nThus far there is nothing in this occurrence to distinguish it\nfrom a hundred other instances of perfidy and cruelty: it is to the\nremote consequences that we wish to direct the reader\u2019s attention.\nThe Athenians, without caring for the murder, were deeply shocked at\nthe sacrilege; insomuch that not long after, when parties had changed\nplace, it was decreed that of those who had been concerned in it, all\nyet alive should be condemned to banishment, and the bones of the\ndeceased be taken up and cast out of Attica. The exiles afterwards\nreturned; but, a prejudice long existed against their posterity, which\nproved no ineffectual weapon in political warfare, and twice furnished\nSparta with the means of embarrassing her enemy by requiring the\nexpulsion of some of the leading citizens of the state. The demand was\naptly met by recalling to mind two similar transactions in which the\nprincipal families of Sparta had been engaged, and bidding them set\nthe example of expiation.[151] It appears, however, from Aristophanes\n(unless the passage is merely a squib against the Laced\u00e6monians) that\nthe charge of being \u201cone of the polluted\u201d had not, even after the lapse\nof one hundred and sixty years, or more, lost all its influence.[152]\n\nWe have already mentioned that it was the insult offered to the gods,\nrather than the crime against man, which produced so deep a sensation.\nThat the perpetrators of a cruel and treacherous action should be\nregarded with abhorrence, will not indeed surprise us: but the lasting\nban entailed upon their posterity is connected with some remarkable\ntenets, and deserves a few words in explanation. The Greeks were firm\nbelievers in the doctrines of fatalism. Man, it was held, struggled in\nvain to escape from the vortex of destiny; however repugnant to his\nwishes, or abhorrent to his principles, he was borne on to do or suffer\nthat which was decreed, by an irresistible force, against which even\nthe immortal gods contended in vain. A very curious passage to this\neffect occurs in Herodotus. Cr\u0153sus, after his defeat and captivity,\nsent messengers to reproach the Delphian oracle with misleading to\nruin, by its false predictions, one who had merited the favour of the\ngod by the magnificence of his offerings. The answer ran thus:\u2014\u201cIt is\nimpossible even for a god to escape from fate. Cr\u0153sus but expiates\nthe sin of his fifth ancestor,[153] who, being in the guard of the\ndescendants of Hercules, in subservience to a woman\u2019s treachery, slew\nhis master, and seized upon a kingdom which belonged not to him. Fain\nwould Apollo have deferred the fall of Sardis until the time of the\nsons of Cr\u0153sus; but he could not turn aside the Fates.\u201d[154] Here,\ncoupled with the assertion of an immutable destiny, we find the not\nunnatural deduction that the crime of an ancestor entailed misfortune\non his posterity: but this doctrine was extended much farther, and\nit was taught that deeds of extraordinary blackness introduced a\nmalignant demon into the family of the offender, which empoisoned its\nprosperity, and hurried generations yet unborn to inevitable guilt and\nruin. The office of inflicting this retribution was assigned with some\ndegree of confusion and uncertainty to the Fates, \u201cwho follow up the\ntransgressions of gods and men,\u201d[155] to the Erinnyes, or Furies, or\nto Nemesis, the personification of divine displeasure. But when once\nthese fearful visitants were established in a house, that house was\nmarked out for misery and ruin. Such was the fate of the descendants\nof Pelops and Labdacus, the royal families of Argos and of Thebes,\nwhose misfortunes have furnished a never\u2013failing theme to the Greek\ntragedians, who abound in references[156] to the fatal curse upon these\nraces.[157] It is from the presence of these dread ministers of wrath,\nvisible to her inspired eyes, that Cassandra draws her fearful presages\nof evil in that scene, perhaps the grandest in Grecian tragedy.\n\n  \u201cFor never shall that bard, whose yelling notes\n  In dismal accord pierce the affrighted ear,\n  Forsake this house. The genius of the feast,\n  Drunk with the blood of man, and fired from thence\n  To bolder daring, ranges through the rooms\n  Linked with his kindred furies: these possess\n  The mansion, and in horrid measures chaunt\n  The first base deed; recording with abhorrence\n  The adulterous lust which stained a brother\u2019s bed.\u201d[158]\n\nSo, after the catastrophe, the chorus refers to the same cause the\naccumulated horrors and crimes which weigh down the house of Atreus.\n\n  \u201cO thou demon, who dost fall\n  On the high Tantalid hall,\n  Well I know thee, mighty fiend,\n  Who here dost ever wend,\n  Haunting down the double line\n  From father unto son!\n\n  \u201c_Clytem._  Aye, now thy words have sense and grace,\n  Calling on that thrice great fiend,\n  The demon of this race,\n  For \u2018tis from him their bowels burn\n  With rage of lapping blood;\n  Ere the old grief has ceased to throb,\n  Young gore comes on amain.\u201d[159]\n\nWith such ideas concerning an avenging destiny, it is no wonder that\nthe Greeks shunned contact with the inheritors of divine anger; and\nnational prejudice might be more strongly raised by the sacrilege\nof the Alcm\u00e6onid\u00e6, because many of the sufferers were slain at the\nvery altars of the Eumenides, to whom the punishment of such deeds\npeculiarly belonged, and whose worship had been introduced into Attica\nin amends for the judicial sentence which delivered Orestes from their\npower. In modern times an analogous persuasion concerning the fortunes\nof particular families has prevailed; in illustration of which we\nmay cite the belief in the ill\u2013luck of the Stuarts, a belief almost\njustified by the series of calamities and bloody deaths which beset\nthe princes of that house: and, indeed, this faith in the influence\nof misconduct to produce hereditary misfortune has been general in\nIreland and the Scottish Highlands, and probably in other countries\nwhere a vivid imagination is found in union with no high degree of\ncultivation and knowledge. In Ireland it is the popular creed, that\nan estate gained by fraud brings a curse along with it[160] (to open\nforce they seem to be more indulgent); that the possessor becomes a\ndoomed man, and neither he nor his descendants prosper. In Scotland it\nwas thought that a pious parent entailed a blessing upon his offspring,\nwhile the punishment of the wicked and oppressor, if not immediately\nmanifested upon himself, or his children, yet surely descended even on\nsucceeding generations. This feeling extended to all classes; and a\nstriking instance of it is connected with the massacre of Glencoe, the\nblackest incident in Scottish history. Colonel Campbell, of Glenlyon,\ngrandson of Glenlyon, who commanded the military upon that fatal day,\nbeing with his regiment at Havannah, was ordered to superintend the\nexecution of a soldier condemned to be shot. A reprieve was sent, but\nwith directions that no person was to be told of it until the prisoner\nwas on his knees prepared to receive the volley, not even the firing\nparty, who were informed that the signal would be the waving of a white\nhandkerchief by the commanding officer. \u201cWhen all was prepared, and\nthe prisoner in momentary expectation of his fate, Colonel Campbell\nput his hand into his pocket for the reprieve, and in pulling out the\npacket, the white handkerchief accompanied it, and catching the eyes\nof the party, they fired, and the unfortunate prisoner was shot dead.\nThe paper dropped through Colonel Campbell\u2019s fingers, and clapping his\nhand to his forehead, he exclaimed, \u201cThe curse of God and of Glencoe\nis here! I am an unfortunate, ruined man.\u201d He soon after retired from\nthe service, not from any reflection or reprimand on account of this\nmelancholy affair, for it was known to be entirely accidental. The\nimpression upon his mind, however, was never effaced. Nor is the\nmassacre, and the judgment which the people believe has fallen on the\ndescendants of the principal actors in this tragedy, effaced from\ntheir recollection. They carefully note, that while the family of the\nunfortunate gentleman who suffered is still entire, and his estate\npreserved in direct male succession to his posterity, this is not the\ncase with the family, posterity, and estate of those who were the\nprincipals, promoters, and actors in this black affair.\u201d[161]\n\nIn addition to the strife of faction consequent upon Cylon\u2019s attempt,\nAthens was convulsed by discord between the rich and poor, arising\nfrom the oppressive rights possessed by creditors over the persons of\ntheir debtors, and the difficulty experienced by indigent freemen in\nsupporting themselves by their own exertions, in consequence of the\ngeneral prevalence of slave labour. Solon was appointed archon, with\npower to remodel the constitution; and having done so, he quitted\nAthens, and remained abroad, it is said, for ten years, the people\nhaving engaged not to alter his institutions within that time. But to\nput an end to faction was beyond his power. The landholders of Attica\nwere divided into three parties, denominated from the lowlands, the\nhighlands, and the coast. The first consisted chiefly of the nobility,\nthe great proprietors; the second were a poorer class, among whom the\ndemocratical interest predominated; and the third, consisting in a\ngreat degree of men engaged in trade, held an intermediate station,\nboth in circumstances and politics. Lycurgus headed the first party;\nMegacles was chief of the third; and during the absence of Solon,\nPisistratus, with whom we are more immediately concerned, advanced\nto eminence, and assumed the direction of the second. Of his early\nlife few particulars have reached us; it is only said that he was\ndistinguished by eloquence and military talents, which he displayed\non different occasions in the wars against Megara. Not long after\nSolon\u2019s return, Pisistratus came in his chariot into the market\u2013place,\ncomplaining that, in consequence of the jealousy excited by his support\nof the democratical interest, his life had been attempted while he was\non his road into the country, in confirmation of which he exhibited\nwounds upon his own person and upon his mules. Whether the story\nwere true or false, has been controverted, and must remain a matter\nof opinion; but that it was a fiction, seems to have been generally\nthought by the ancient writers. At all events, the people believed\nthe tale, and a body of guards was decreed him, the numbers of which\nwere gradually augmented, until he was enabled to gain possession of\nthe Acropolis, or citadel, and, in the language of Greece, became\ntyrant[162] of Athens.\n\nDeath and confiscation being the usual concomitants of a Grecian\nrevolution, it was a matter of course that the leaders of the defeated\nparty should consult their safety by flight; and accordingly, Megacles,\nwith the other chiefs of the Alcm\u00e6onid\u00e6, withdrew from Athens. The\nterms on which he was invited to return, which happened soon after, are\ncurious and characteristic. He was distinguished by victories gained\nin the public games of Greece, and during his exile he had conquered\nin the chariot\u2013race at the Olympic festival. The condition of his\nrestoration was, that the glory of this success should be ascribed to\nPisistratus.[163] It may be doubted, though horse\u2013racing in modern\ndays, and chivalrous exercises in the middle ages, have been cultivated\nwith ardour by men distinguished by birth and station, whether the\npossession of the best horses in the world has at any time since\navailed to procure the forgiveness of a political enemy. But the high\nestimation of such honours forms a striking feature in the Grecian\ncharacter. We know from Homer, that, long previous to the institution\nof public games, princes contended with each other in athletic\nexercises: and when stated times were set aside, at which the flower\nof all Greece might vie in displaying strength and activity under the\nsanction and with all the pomp of religion, and the victor was rewarded\nby the acclamations of his assembled countrymen, it is no wonder that\na nation highly imaginative and susceptible of the love of fame should\nhave been led to set an extravagant price upon the superiority in\nqualities whose value was in truth great in times when the arm of one\nman was sufficient to decide a battle, but diminished proportionably to\nthe progress of art and science. The chariot\u2013race almost always formed\na part of these games; and naturally, for when warriors fought from\nchariots, the possession of the best horses was a valuable distinction.\nThis method of warfare had been disused long before the time of\nPisistratus; but the chariot\u2013race still formed a part, perhaps the most\nimportant one, in the Grecian games. And the welcome of a conquering\ngeneral to his native city was less distinguished than that of an\nOlympic victor, whose prowess reflected honour upon the state which\ngave him birth: and thus such triumphs, by gratifying popular vanity,\nmight become important, even to the interests of a statesman.\n\nThe year 560 B.C. is fixed as that of Pisistratus\u2019s\nusurpation. The union of Megacles and Lycurgus produced his expulsion,\nafter he had possessed the tyranny, it is thought, for about six years;\nof the transactions during which we have no information. He remained\nin banishment for an equal time, when the enmity between the united\nfactions broke out afresh, and Megacles, to establish his superiority,\nbrought back Pisistratus, connecting their interests by giving him\nhis daughter in marriage. To gain the consent of the Athenians to\nhis return, they devised a plan, characterised by Herodotus, from\nwhom we have the story, as a most simple device to ensnare a people\ndistinguished for intellect and very far removed from a simple\ngood\u2013nature. In one of the boroughs of Attica there lived a woman\nnamed Phya, of extraordinary stature, and withal of handsome person,\nwhom they selected to personate the patron Goddess of Athens; and\nhaving carefully instructed her how to act her part, they dressed her\nin appropriate armour, placed her in a chariot, and sent her into the\ncity, preceded by heralds, making proclamation, \u201cO Athenians, receive\nwith favour Pisistratus, whom Athene,[164] honouring him above all\nmen, herself brings back unto her own Acropolis.\u201d The news flew abroad\nthroughout Attica, that Athene had brought back Pisistratus, and those\nwho were in the city, believing that it was the Goddess, paid divine\nhonours to a mortal and received the exile.[165]\n\nHis prosperity, however, was of very short duration: a domestic\nquarrel is said to have produced his expulsion a second time, about a\nyear after his return, and he remained in banishment for a period of\nten years, at the end of which his son Hippias, who had now attained\nmanhood, induced him to attempt the recovery of his power. Thebes,\nArgos, and other cities assisted him with loans, by means of which\nhe collected an army; and sailing from Eretria, where he had fixed\nhis abode, he disembarked at Marathon, was joined by many of his\ncountrymen, and defeating the ruling party, for the third time became\nmaster of Athens. Both now and formerly his success was characterised\nby moderation and lenity; for his only measure of precaution against\nfuture conspiracies was to take as hostages the children of such of his\nchief opponents as chose to remain in Athens, who were committed to the\ncharge of Lygdamis, the friendly ruler of Naxos.\n\nThat Pisistratus\u2019s temper and character were mild and amiable, is\nproved by the bloodless nature of the revolutions which he effected;\nand confirmed even by the testimony of those authors who have\nendeavoured to raise the reputation of Solon at his expense, by\nnarrating many not very probable stories of the sage\u2019s pertinacious\nopposition to his schemes of advancement. That Solon saw and lamented\nthe ambition of Pisistratus is probable, but we learn upon the same\nauthority that they lived on terms of intimacy and esteem from the\nreturn of the former until his death; and Plutarch, whose object was\nto exalt the patriot philosopher, has yet, in doing so, drawn a most\nfavourable picture of the tyrant. \u201cHe was courteous, and marvellously\nfaire spoken, and showed himself beside very good and pitifull to the\npoore, and temperate also to his enemies: further, if any good quality\nwere lacking in him, he did so finely counterfeit it, that men imagined\nit was more in him, than in those that naturally had it in them indeed.\nAs, to be a quiet man, no meddler, contented with his owne, aspiring\nno higher, and hating those which would attempt to change the present\nstate of the Common Wealth, and would practise any innovation. By this\nart, and fine manner of his, he deceived the poore common people.\nHowbeit Solon found him out straight, and saw the mark he shot at: but\nyet hated him not at that time, and sought still to win him, and bring\nhim to reason, saying oft times, both to himselfe and to others, that\nwhoso could pluck out of his head the worme of ambition, by which he\naspired to be the chiefest, and could heale him of his greedy desire\nto rule, there could not be a man of more virtue, nor a better citizen\nthan he would prove.\u201d[166] He adds a strong testimony to the beneficent\nadministration of Pisistratus, in saying that Solon afterwards became\none of his council; and while Herodotus has distinctly asserted that\nhe ruled Athens honourably and well, neither changing the magistracies\nnor altering the laws, we learn from other authorities that he adhered\nto the regulations of Solon. And it is to his credit that he obeyed\na citation to appear before the court of Areopagus, on a charge of\nmurder, even if we grant that he ran little risk of being condemned;\nfor it shows prudence, and good sense, and good feeling, that he\nchose rather to wear the appearance of submission to authority, than\nto outrage popular opinion by the visible assumption of irresponsible\npower. Of his lenity towards those who personally offended or injured\nhim, several stories are told. A young man who was attached to his\ndaughter, with the help of his friends carried her off forcibly from\na sacrifice upon the sea\u2013shore, at which she was assisting. Their\ngalley was intercepted by Hippias, who was then cruising in search of\npirates, and they were led captives to Athens. Being brought before the\ninjured father, they scorned to use the language of entreaty, boldly\ndeclaring that they had held death cheap from the time of undertaking\nthe enterprise. Pisistratus, struck with the high spirit of the youth,\ngave his daughter in marriage to the principal, and thus converted\ndangerous enemies into valuable and attached friends.[167] The above\nextract from Plutarch bears witness to his charity, which yet was not\nindiscriminate, nor abused to the encouragement of idleness; against\nwhich he not only enacted laws, but would inquire of any one whom he\nsaw unemployed in the market\u2013place, whether it were owing to the want\nof agricultural implements, and if it were so, he would supply the\ndeficiency.\n\nIn this, however, perhaps policy was as much concerned as charity.\nHaving obtained his power through the support of the democratical\nparty, it was now his object to consolidate and establish it upon\nthe downfall of that interest, by removing the multitude as far as\npossible from the city, and compelling them to follow agricultural\nlabour. Another reason might be the improvement of the revenue, towards\nwhich he exacted the tithes of all agricultural produce. A humorous\nstory is told of an old man, who was found by him cultivating a\nstubborn and rocky piece of ground. \u201cWhat harvest can you derive from\nthence?\u201d he said. \u201cAches and blisters, and the tithe of them goes to\nPisistratus.\u201d The answer was well received, and procured for him an\nimmunity from the tax. On this subject, however, Pisistratus\u2019s conduct\nwas generally unjust and oppressive, for he not only forced the poorer\nAthenians to a rural life, but excluded them from the city, and made\nthem wear a particular dress, that this exclusion might be the better\nenforced.[168] At the same time he proved himself not indifferent to\ntheir interest, by appointing a public provision for those who were\nwounded in the public service.\n\nIt were much to be wished that our information concerning the policy of\nPisistratus and the public affairs of Athens during his administration\nwere more minute; but the total silence of history concerning this\nperiod indicates at least that it was one of tranquillity and\nhappiness. We have seen already that his private character was\namiable; it remains to be added that his tastes were elegant and\nhis mind cultivated. By many he is included in the list of worthies\ndistinguished as the seven sages of Greece; indeed all writers who\nmention him bear testimony to the successful cultivation of his mental\npowers; and he possesses a strong claim to the gratitude of the world\nat large, if it be true that he collected and rendered into order the\nscattered fragments of Homer\u2019s poems before they were irretrievably\ncorrupted and confused by the inaccuracies of oral tradition.[169]\nAnd he scarcely deserves less credit for having been the first to\nestablish a public library: an institution most valuable in all ages\nand places, but especially before the introduction of printing, when\nthe price of books rendered it impossible for any but the wealthy to\npossess them. He also devoted much of his attention and revenue to the\nembellishment of the city; he built fountains, and a gymnasium, or\nplace of exercise; he threw his private gardens open to the public; he\ndedicated a temple to the Pythian Apollo, and had commenced another to\nOlympian Zeus, the Latin Jupiter, when his labours were interrupted\nby death, B.C. 527, after he had enjoyed for ten years in\ntranquillity the sovereignty which he had pursued for so many anxious\nyears. He left a name adorned by many virtues and accomplishments, and\nblemished apparently only by one great fault, ambition: but this, the\nmaster\u2013passion of his life, has sullied his numerous great and good\nqualities, as a tainted fountain pollutes the whole stream. Had he\nbeen a rightful sovereign, he might have been hailed as the father of\nhis country: instead of which his fellow\u2013citizens saw in him only the\nparent of a hated and proscribed race, and later ages \u201cdamn him with\nthe faint praise\u201d of being the best of tyrants.\n\nHis sons Hipparchus and Hippias[170] appear to have succeeded quietly\nto his authority; which they shared in common, Hipparchus filling\nthe more prominent station. Their father\u2019s virtues descended to\nthem, and Athens for some time flourished under their guidance. The\nstrong expression of Plato is, that the Athenians lived as in old\ntimes under the reign of Saturn. He goes on to say that Hipparchus\nmade the collection of Homer\u2019s poems which others have ascribed to\nPisistratus, and caused them to be publicly read in the order of their\narrangement at the Panathenaic festival; and further displayed his\ntaste in the patronage of Anacreon and Simonides, whom he induced\nby his liberality to take up their abode in Athens. And having thus\nprovided for the mental cultivation of the citizens, he turned his\nattention to the improvement of the rustic population, and with\nthis view caused Herm\u00e6[171] to be erected in the main streets of\nthe city and boroughs, upon which he inscribed in verse the most\npithy maxims which he had heard or invented, that so the countrymen,\nwandering about, might taste of his wisdom, and come from the fields\nand woods to be further instructed in it. Two of these sentences are\npreserved\u2014\u201cThe memorial of Hipparchus. Do not deceive a friend.\u201d \u201cThe\nmemorial of Hipparchus. Depart, meditating justice.\u201d Further, we have\nthe testimony of Thucydides, that he oppressed not the many, but bore\nhimself ever inoffensively, and that \u201cthese tyrants held virtue and\nwisdom in great account for a long time, and taking of the Athenians\nbut a twentieth part of their revenues, (they diminished, therefore,\nPisistratus\u2019s impost by one half,) adorned the city, managed their\nwars, and performed the rights of their religion. In other points they\nwere governed by the laws formerly established, save that they took\ncare ever to prefer to the magistracy men of their own adherence.\u201d Thus\nfourteen years they ruled in peace and honour, when at length a single\nact of oppression and insult, a moment\u2019s violation of the maxims of\ntemperance and virtue, which their conduct as well as their precepts\nenforced, produced a revolution upon which probably the destinies of\nall Greece have hinged.\n\nHipparchus had conceived a personal ill\u2013will towards an Athenian\ncitizen named Harmodius, which he vented by insulting publicly the\noffender\u2019s sister. Another citizen, Aristogiton, had reasons of his\nown for wishing ill to Hipparchus: he stimulated his friend Harmodius\nto a keener sense of the injury, and they resolved to wash away their\nwrongs in blood. But few associates were admitted to the knowledge\nof their plot, which was to be executed at the Panathenaic festival,\nwhen it was usual for all persons to appear in arms. Hipparchus\nalone was personally offensive; but to dissolve the tyranny, and to\nsecure themselves from retribution, Hippias was to be involved in his\nbrother\u2019s fate. On the morning of the festival, while Hippias, attended\nby his guards, was in the Ceramicus,[172] ordering the procession,\nHarmodius and Aristogiton saw one of the conspirators conversing\nwith him familiarly, \u201cfor Hippias was accessible to all.\u201d Thinking\nthemselves betrayed, they resolved, at least, to take vengeance on the\nmore obnoxious party, and hastened to seek Hipparchus, whom they slew.\nHarmodius was slain in the tumult which ensued. Aristogiton escaped for\na time, but was soon after taken and put to death.\n\nThe news being brought instantly to Hippias before others had heard\nit, he dissembled his emotion, and bade the citizens repair to a\ncertain spot without their arms, as if he wished to address them\nprevious to the procession. He then summoned his guard, and selected\nfrom the assembled multitude all whom he suspected, or found armed\nwith daggers, a weapon not generally worn by those celebrating the\nfestival. Thus for the present he preserved his power; but his temper\nwas changed by the danger which he had escaped, and his government\nbecame jealous and intolerable. Many were slain, and many fled to\njoin the exiled Alem\u00e6onid\u00e6, whose cause became daily more popular at\nAthens, and throughout the rest of Greece, until at length they gained\nstrength sufficient to enable them, with the assistance of Laced\u00e6mon,\nto lay siege to Hippias in Athens, in the fourth year after the death\nof Hipparchus. The city, however, was strong and well provisioned;\nand he might have baffled their patience, but for a fortunate chance\nwhich threw his children, with those of his leading partisans, into\nthe hands of the assailants. Parental anxiety prevailed, and the town\nsurrendered, on condition that the obnoxious should receive no injury,\nbut should quit Attica within five days. Hippias retired to Sigeum.\nWhen advanced in years, he accompanied the armament of Darius in hope\nof recovering his sovereignty; it was he that counselled its descent\nupon the plain of Marathon, where once before he had landed under a\nbetter star, and he is reported by Cicero to have been slain in the\nmemorable battle which ensued.[173]\n\nAfter the expulsion of Hippias, the memory of Harmodius and Aristogiton\nwas hallowed by the Athenians in every way which the imagination of a\ngrateful people could devise. Brazen statues were erected in honour\nof them (by the side of which, in after\u2013times, those of Brutus and\nCassius were placed), their descendants were gifted in perpetuity with\nthe privilege of eating in the Prytaneum[174] at the public cost,\nwith select places at the public spectacles, and with immunity from\ntaxes: their names, forbidden to be borne by slaves, were ordered to\nbe celebrated at all future Panathenaic festivals: and if the orators\nof Athens wished to find a theme agreeable to national vanity, it was\nto the praises of the tyrant\u2013killers, or the events of the Persian\nwar, that they resorted. Yet, after all these tributes of admiration,\nit is asserted by \u00c6schines, that \u201ca temperate and governed feeling\nso modified the character of those benefactors of the state, men\nsupereminent in all virtues, that those who have panegyrised their\ndeeds do yet appear therein to have fallen short of the things\nperformed by them.\u201d This extravagant, or probably pretended, enthusiasm\nmay be endured, though not commended, as a privilege assumed by\nadvocates and public speakers in all ages: but we cannot extend the\nsame toleration to Simonides, who had benefited by the friendship\nand liberality of the deceased, when he asserts \u201cthat a light broke\nupon Athens when Harmodius and Aristogiton slew Hipparchus.\u201d Their\nexploit was a favourite subject of the odes[175] with which the musical\nAthenians enlivened their entertainments, one of which, composed by\nCallistratus, has been preserved, and is esteemed among the noblest\nspecimens of the lyric muse of Greece.\n\n  I\u2019ll wreath my sword in myrtle bough,\n  The sword that laid the tyrant low,\n  When patriots, burning to be free,\n  To Athens gave equality.\n\n  Harmodius, hail! though reft of breath,\n  Thou ne\u2019er shalt feel the stroke of death;\n  The heroes\u2019 happy isles[176] shall be\n  The bright abode allotted thee.\n\n  I\u2019ll wreathe the sword in myrtle bough,\n  The sword that laid Hipparchus low,\n  When at Minerva\u2019s adverse fane\n  He knelt, and never rose again.\n\n  While Freedom\u2019s name is understood,\n  You shall delight the wise and good;\n  You dared to set your country free,\n  And gave her laws equality.[177]\n\nNevertheless there seems not to be the smallest ground for supposing\nthat the actors in this tragedy were guided by patriotic motives.\nThe authors who speak of it vary somewhat in the circumstances which\nthey relate, but all agree that it was a private quarrel, a personal\noffence, which inspired their resolution and their hatred. Many have\nbeen the instances in which the wantonness of power exercised on an\nindividual has proved fatal to men who have trampled unopposed upon the\nliberties of their country, as if it were beneficially ordained that\nthe vices of individuals should work out the general good.\n\nBut though this conspiracy can in no respect be regarded as the\nproximate cause of the re\u2013establishment of democracy; though neither\nits motives nor its effects, so far as we can judge after the long\nlapse of ages, merit the encomiums which have been showered on them\nso profusely, it nevertheless affected vitally the interests of\nAthens, and, through her, of the civilised world. The mind need indeed\nbe far\u2013sighted and acute which presumes to trace the changes which\na single deviation from the ordained course of events would have\nproduced; yet it is neither uninteresting nor uninstructive to consider\nin what way a nation\u2019s destiny might have been modified, and to observe\nthe natural connexion by which crime results from intemperance and\ninjustice, misfortune and misconduct from crime; while the melancholy\nseries is still overruled to restore freedom to an injured people,\nand to punish the ambition which produced such fatal effects. From the\napparently uninterrupted content which prevailed at Athens during a\nperiod of twenty\u2013four years, from the last return of Pisistratus to\nthe death of Hipparchus, there is good reason to believe that, but for\nprivate enmity, the brothers might have borne uninterrupted sway for\nthe natural period of their lives. That of Hippias was prolonged for\ntwenty\u2013three years; making a sufficient period in the whole to have\nhabituated the Athenians to usurpation, and to have enabled him to\ntransfer the sceptre to his children as easily as he received it from\nhis father. Athens, thus converted, like the Ionian cities, into a\ntyranny,[178] would probably have offered no more effectual progress\nthan they did to the Persian power, and without her assistance all\nGreece would have fallen under the dominion of the King.[179] To pursue\nthe subject further would be both rash and useless: it is obvious that\nsuch an event would have exercised a most powerful influence over\nthe subsequent history of mankind: to define that influence would be\ndifficult to the most penetrating and comprehensive understanding, and\nthe attempt would be presumption here.\n\nIn the Italian republics of the middle ages we find the age of Greece\nrevived, though on a smaller scale and with diminished splendour.\nThey exhibit, in the same colours the results of multiplying small\nindependent states, where every citizen may feel that he has an\nindividual as well as a general interest in public affairs, and every\ncity that she is concerned in the domestic quarrels of her neighbours.\nThe effects of such a system are manifest alike in either country:\nthe good, in the remarkable number of distinguished men produced\nby them; the bad, in the prevalence of external aggression and\ninternal discord, signalised alike by political acuteness, unblushing\nprofligacy, and revolting cruelty. Above all, Florence and Athens are\nnaturally associated by their kindred eminence in art and literature;\nthey were alike distinguished for the mercurial temper and lively\nimagination of their citizens, and political resemblances are not\nwanting to complete the comparison. The early changes in the Florentine\nconstitution, the gradual depression of the nobles, by the rise of\nthe commons to wealth and importance, their exclusion from public\noffices and honours, the elevation of a plebeian aristocracy upon the\nruins of the feudal nobility, and the division of the commons into an\noligarchical and a democratical party, are briefly and clearly related\nin Perceval\u2019s History of Italy, and may not inaptly be compared to\nthe gradual subversion of the Athenian Eupatrid\u00e6. Towards the close\nof the fourteenth century, the oligarchy, headed by the family of\nAlbizzi, succeeded in obtaining possession of the government, which\nit held for fifty years with a mild and undisturbed sway. But their\nopponents, though silent, were not crushed: as new families gained\nwealth by trade, they grew impatient of political inferiority and\nexclusion: and the Medici, one of the most distinguished houses of the\npopular nobles, who had long ranked in opposition to the Albizzi, were\nnaturally regarded as the stay of the democratic cause. It was at this\ntime that Cosmo de\u2019 Medici appeared in public life. The characters and\nadventures of this distinguished man and of his immediate descendants\noffer a singular number of coincidences with those of Pisistratus and\nhis family.\n\nAt the beginning of the fifteenth century, Giovanni, the father of\nCosmo, was the most distinguished person of his house and party. The\ngreat wealth which he had acquired by commercial adventure was set\noff by generosity and unblemished integrity: and though hereditarily\nopposed to the ruling faction, his own disinclination to interfere\nin politics, and the moderation of his opponents, left him in\nundisturbed possession of his riches and influence. To these his son\nCosmo succeeded, and being possessed of greater talents and a more\nstirring ambition, he took an active part in public life, and became\nthe recognised leader of the popular party. The older heads, under\nwhose temperate guidance Florence had enjoyed a long interval of\ntranquillity, were now deceased, and Rinaldo degl\u2019Albizzi, a young man\nof inferior judgment and stronger passions, had succeeded to their\ninfluence. He observed and endeavoured to check the growing spirit of\ndiscontent, and thereby hastened a crisis which he was unprepared to\nmeet. By his machinations Cosmo was brought to trial upon a frivolous\nand unfounded charge, and though his life, which was aimed at, was\npreserved by a judicious bribe, he was convicted and sentenced to\nbanishment for ten years. He quietly submitted to the decree, and\nretired to Venice, where he was received with distinguished honour:\nbut Rinaldo had miscalculated his strength; the next year a set of\nmagistrates came into office who were attached to the Medici, and\nby them the dominant family was overthrown and expelled, and Cosmo\ntriumphantly recalled.\n\nThe youth then of Pisistratus and of the Florentine commenced under the\nsame political aspect, and was marked by the same adventures; but the\nadvantage thus far is clearly on the side of the latter, who owed his\nfirst elevation to hereditary distinction and to his own merit, and\nhis recall to the voice of his countrymen constitutionally expressed.\nAnd the resemblance of their youth holds good through their maturer\nyears: they alike retained their sway to the end of a prosperous life,\nand alike employed it with beneficence and moderation; for though the\ntriumph of Cosmo was not unstained by blood, and he hesitated not to\nensure its stability, when threatened, by the exile of his opponents\nand the retrenchment of popular rights, yet his measures seem dictated\nby prudence, not by revenge: they are unpolluted by the atrocious\ncruelties so common in Italian party contests, and Florence prospered,\nand was respected under his administration. He avoided, even more than\nPisistratus, the ostentation of that power which it would have been\nnobler not to have possessed; and presented to the world the spectacle\nof a merchant raised to the head of a powerful state, pursuing his\noriginal profession with industry and success, and declining the\nalliance of sovereigns to marry his children among his fellow\u2013citizens,\nwhom he treated as if they were in reality, no less than in appearance,\nhis equals. No superior magnificence distinguished his establishment\nor his table; but his wealth was profusely employed in distributing\nfavours to all around him, until there was scarce a man of his party\nwho was not bound to him by some personal tie. To this happy temper,\nand to the simplicity of his tastes and manners, he owes the enviable\nreputation which he has gained. Had he assumed the ostentation of a\nprince, which his riches and power might well have warranted, the\nobligations which he dispensed would have carried with them the impress\nof servitude. But men forgive injuries more easily than mortifications,\nand his fellow\u2013citizens reconciled themselves to the unconstitutional\nsuperiority of one who treated them in every\u2013day life as his equals,\nor displayed his elevation only in the extent of his generosity, and a\nfreer cultivation and patronage of all that is fascinating in art and\nliterature.\n\nWe have described Cosmo de\u2019 Medici as exercising a power little\nless than regal in a republic whose magistrates were changed every\ntwo months, and in which he neither possessed ostensible office and\nauthority, nor that armed support which has often enabled usurpers\nto dispense with all other title. The reader, therefore, may be at a\nloss to understand the nature of his influence; it is explained in\nthe following passage. \u201cThe authority which Cosmo and his descendants\nexercised in Florence, during the sixteenth century, was of a very\npeculiar nature, and consisted rather in a tacit influence on their\npart, and a voluntary acquiescence on that of the people, than in any\nprescribed or definite compact between them. The form of government\nwas ostensibly a republic, and was directed by a government of ten\ncitizens, and a chief executive officer, called the gonfaloniere,\nor standard\u2013bearer, who was chosen every two months. Under this\nestablishment the citizens imagined they enjoyed the full exercise\nof their liberties; but such was the power of the Medici, that they\ngenerally either assumed to themselves the first offices of the state,\nor nominated such persons as they thought proper to those employments.\nIn this, however, they paid great respect to popular opinion. That\nopposition of interests, so generally apparent between the people and\ntheir rulers, was at this time scarcely perceived at Florence, where\nsuperior qualifications and industry were the surest recommendations to\npublic authority and favour; and, satisfied that they could at any time\nwithdraw themselves from a connexion that exacted no engagements, and\nrequired only a temporary acquiescence, the Florentines considered the\nMedici as the fathers, and not the rulers of the republic. On the other\nhand, the chiefs of this house, by appearing rather to decline than\nto court the honours bestowed upon them, and by a singular moderation\nin the use of them when obtained, were careful to maintain the\ncharacter of simple citizens of Florence, and servants of the state. An\ninterchange of reciprocal good offices was the only tie by which the\nFlorentines and the Medici were bound, and perhaps the long continuance\nof their connexion may be attributed to the very circumstance of\nits being in the power of either of the parties at any time to have\ndissolved it.\u201d[180] The state of things described in a former part\nof this passage corresponds with what the Greeks called tyranny, and\nin the same sense in which Pisistratus was tyrant of Athens, Cosmo\nand Lorenzo de\u2019 Medici were tyrants of Florence. But in his remarks\nupon the nature of their power, Mr. Roscoe\u2019s partialities appear to\nhave led him astray. The Medici, from their brilliant qualities, were\npossessed of the affections of a large portion of their countrymen,\nand it so chanced, therefore, that the one were as ready to submit\nas the other to command. But it will scarcely be believed that the\nconnexion with a family which had usurped the entire command of the\nstate, the sole disposal of the magistracies, could have been dissolved\nat any time; or indeed that it could ever have been dissolved, except\nby force of arms: and the praise of moderation, however applicable to\nthe two elder Medici, is scarcely due to Lorenzo, who abolished even\nthe shadow of a popular magistracy, and asserted the dependence of all\nfunctionaries upon himself,[181] whose expenditure was upon a scale\nof regal extravagance, and who made his country bankrupt to prevent\nthe bankruptcy of his house. For he carried on the vast commercial\nestablishment by which his grandfather Cosmo had acquired wealth;\nbut with such different success, that he was compelled to debase the\nnational currency to raise means for meeting his mercantile engagements.\n\nCosmo, resembling Pisistratus in the elegance of his taste, lived,\nlike him, at a time which enabled him to confer singular benefits\nupon society. To the Athenian we probably owe the preservation of\nHomer\u2019s poems in a connected form; to the Florentine and to his family\nwe are mainly indebted for those treasures of ancient literature\nwhich time has spared; which, four centuries ago, were rapidly\ndecaying in obscurity, or, by a more ignoble fate, were defaced to\nmake room for lying legends and scholastic quibbles, until, early\nin the fifteenth century, a few enlightened spirits eagerly devoted\nthemselves to rescuing what still remained. The vast wealth of Cosmo\nand his extensive correspondence were ever ready to be employed in the\nservice of learning; at the request of the men of letters, by whom he\nloved to be surrounded, his agents were continually charged to buy\nor to have copied whatever manuscripts could be found in Europe or\nAsia; he founded public libraries, and among them that which is still\nnamed after his grandson, the Laurentian, and supported the cause of\nliterature by affording countenance to all who cultivated it with\nsuccess. His mansions were filled with gems, statues, and paintings,\nthe master\u2013pieces of ancient and modern art, and he was the friend no\nless than the protector of Donatello and Masaccio, to whom sculpture\nand painting respectively are much indebted for their rapid advance.\nNor was he so much absorbed by these tastes, or by affairs of state,\nas to neglect his domestic concerns, and the flourishing condition of\nhis estates of Careggi and Caffagiuolo bore witness to his skill and\nattention to agriculture, as did his foreign dealings to his mercantile\nknowledge and success.\n\nArchitecture, however, was his favourite pursuit. Like Pisistratus,\nhe spent vast sums in ornamenting his city, and if his glory as\na patron of the art be inferior to that of Pericles\u2014if he cannot\nboast, like Augustus, that he found Florence of brick, and left it\nof marble, he has one claim to our praise which neither they nor\nprobably any other public improver of ancient or modern times has\npossessed, namely, that the expenses of his works were defrayed from\nhis private fortune. It appears from a memorandum of his grandson,\nLorenzo, that in thirty\u2013seven years their house had spent in buildings,\ncharities, and contributions to the state, no less than 663,755 golden\nflorins, equivalent to more than 1,300,000_l._ of the present day.\nThe magnificent edifice known as the Riccardi palace was built by\nMichelozzi for Cosmo\u2019s residence; under his patronage the dome of the\nFlorentine cathedral was reared; he built churches and convents, the\nenumeration of which would be tedious, and erected a palace upon each\nof his four country estates. To these retreats he betook himself in his\ndeclining years, and, estranged from politics and surrounded by men of\nletters, he passed the evening of his life in tranquillity, unmolested\nby any enemy except the gout. Its close alone was clouded by the death\nof his younger son, whom he regarded as the destined supporter of his\nname and grandeur, for the bad health of the elder incapacitated him\nfor an active life; and the aged statesman, as he was carried through\nthe vast palace which he had no longer strength to traverse on foot,\nexclaimed with a sigh, \u201cThis house is too large for so small a family.\u201d\nHe died within a year of his son, in 1464, loved by his friends,\nand regretted even by his enemies, who dreaded the rapacity of his\npartisans when restrained no longer by the probity and moderation of\ntheir chief; and Florence bore the best witness to his virtues, when\nshe inscribed on his tomb the title of Father of his Country.\n\nPiero de\u2019 Medici, his eldest son, in name succeeded to his father\u2019s\ninfluence; but owing to his infirmities he resided chiefly in the\ncountry, while, under shelter of the respected name of Medici, a few\ncitizens monopolized the administration of justice and the management\nof the state, and converted both to their own private and corrupt\nemolument. He died in 1469, leaving two sons, Lorenzo, named the\nMagnificent, and Giuliano; the former being less than twenty\u2013one years\nof age, and the latter five years his junior. Had the Florentines still\nbeen animated by their ancient spirit, there was now a most favourable\nopportunity for the recovery of liberty: but, under various pretexts,\nmost of the distinguished families under whom the people might have\nranked themselves had been driven into exile, and the personal virtues\nof Cosmo, and his unquestioned pre\u2013eminence as a party leader, had laid\nthe foundations of an hereditary influence, and prepared a way for\nthe entire change of the constitution. So fully was the predominant\nparty aware of this, that the men who had ruled Florence in the name\nof Piero, but without reference to his will, and who had embittered\nthe close of his life by their profligacy and corruption, instead\nof profiting by the youth of his sons to shake off this nominal\nsubjection, were eager to ascribe to them a power which they did not\npossess. They took measures to continue, under an empty name, a junto\nwhich assured to them the distribution of all places and the disposal\nof the revenue. The ambassadors who had been used to treat with Thomas\nSoderini, the citizens who had long been aware that their fortunes\ndepended on his favour, hastened to visit him, upon the death of Piero.\nBut Soderini feared to rouse the jealousy of his associates, and to\nweaken his party by accepting these marks of respect. He sent the\ncitizens who waited on him to the young Medici, as the only chiefs\nof the state; he assembled the men of most importance, and presenting\nLorenzo and his brother, advised them to preserve to those young men\nthe credit which their house had enjoyed during thirty\u2013five years,\nand suggested that it was far easier to maintain a power already\nstrengthened by time than to found a new one.\n\nThe Medici received with modesty the marks of attachment and respect\nwhich were paid to them in the name of the commonwealth, and for\nseveral years they did not endeavour to assume an authority which\nostensibly was centred in the magistrates alone, and which could not\nbe exerted in secret, except by men whose long services and known\nabilities ensured attention. For seven years Florence enjoyed domestic\npeace; the Medici, divided between their studies and the tastes of\nyouth, at one time entertained men the most distinguished in art and\nletters, at another amused the people with brilliant spectacles. But\nas they advanced to manhood, and took the administration into their\nown hands, their rule became more absolute, and their innovations\non the constitution more obvious. They appointed a body of five\nelectors, who named the magistracy without any reference to the people:\nthey converted the _balia_[182] into a permanent council, in whose\nhands they placed the legislative, the administrative, and judicial\npower; and by its means they got rid of their enemies without legal\nproceedings, imposed new taxes at pleasure, and diverted the revenue\nto the maintenance of their commercial credit and the support of their\nluxury. Unwilling that any should enjoy consideration, excepting as\nit was derived from his own influence and favour, Lorenzo excluded\nfrom office, and depressed to the utmost of his power, all those whose\nrivalry seemed most to be feared, but especially the Pazzi, one of the\nnoblest and most powerful families of the state. At this period it\ncontained nine men of mature age, and of the first rank in the city:\nyet since the death of Piero, but one of its members had been admitted\nto the magistracy. This exclusion was the more offensive because\none of them had married Bianca, the sister of the Medici. Giuliano,\nwhose temper was less ambitious, as his talents were inferior to his\nbrother\u2019s, expressed his dissatisfaction at this conduct, and said to\nhis brother, that he feared they should lose what they had by grasping\nat too much. It was believed also that Lorenzo had interfered with the\ncourse of justice to deprive Giovanni de\u2019 Pazzi of a rich inheritance\nwhich was justly his due; and Francesco, one of the brothers\u2013in\u2013law of\nBianca, a man of violent and haughty temper, withdrew from Florence,\nand established a bank at Rome.\n\nSixtus IV., the reigning Pope, nourished also an inveterate hatred\nagainst the Medici, and under his auspices a conspiracy was formed\nto murder them and place Florence under the power of the Pazzi, in\nwhich Francesco Pazzi and Salviati, Archbishop of Pisa, were the chief\nactors. [183] \u201cThe design of the conspirators was to assassinate both\nthe brothers, Lorenzo and Giuliano, at the same instant, for the murder\nof one would otherwise only have the effect of putting the other on his\nguard.[184] The Pope therefore wrote to the Cardinal Riario, nephew\nof Count Girolamo, a youth of only eighteen years of age, whom he had\njust admitted into the sacred college, and who was then studying at\nthe University of Pisa, to desire him to obey whatever directions he\nshould receive from the Archbishop of Pisa; and Salviati accordingly\ncarried him to a seat of the Pazzi near Florence. The conspirators knew\nthat the new Cardinal must be welcomed with public entertainments,\nat which they hoped that the Medici might be found present together,\nand despatched while unsuspicious of danger. Jacopo de\u2019 Pazzi gave a\nf\u00eate, to which both the brothers were accordingly invited: Lorenzo,\nhowever, alone came, for Giuliano was indisposed. But Lorenzo, as had\nbeen foreseen, made sumptuous preparations to receive the Cardinal at\nhis villa at Fiesole; and there the conspirators fully resolved to\nexecute their purpose. The entertainment took place, but still Giuliano\nwas absent; and the Pazzi, thus again disappointed, and despairing of\nsecuring the presence of the younger Medici, at a second festival to be\ngiven by his brother, resolved to defer their enterprise no longer than\nthe following Sunday, when the Cardinal was to be present at high mass\nat the cathedral of Florence; an occasion at which it was thought that\nneither of the Medici could with decency absent himself. There it was\ndetermined that, in the midst of the most solemn offices of religion,\nthe crime of assassination should be perpetrated; that the elevation\nof the host, as the kneeling victims bowed their heads, should be\nthe signal of murder; and that at the moment of the sacrifice, the\nArchbishop Salviati and others should seize the palace of the signiory,\nwhile Jacopo de\u2019 Pazzi was to raise the city by the cry of liberty.\nFrancesco de\u2019 Pazzi charged himself, together with Bernardo Bandini,\na daring and devoted partisan of his house, with the assassination of\nGiuliano. Giovanni Battista Montesecco, a condottiere in the papal\nservice, had boldly engaged with his single hand to despatch Lorenzo,\nwhile he understood that the murder was to take place at a festival.\nBut when Montesecco found that it was before the altar of God that it\nwas intended he should shed the blood of a man whose hospitality he had\nenjoyed, his courage failed him. The soldier declared that he dared not\nadd sacrilege to murder and perfidy; and his office was committed to\ntwo ecclesiastics, who had not the same scruples.\n\n\u201cWhen the appointed morning arrived, the Cardinal Riario and Lorenzo\nde\u2019 Medici were already at the cathedral, the church was rapidly\nfilling with people, and still Giuliano de\u2019 Medici did not appear. The\nconspirators began to dread another disappointment, and Francesco de\u2019\nPazzi and Bernardo Bandini left the cathedral to seek for him, and to\npersuade him that his absence would be insidiously remarked. Every\nfeeling which revolts at murder and treachery is strengthened, when we\nlearn the terms of familiarity on which these men had just been living\nwith him whom they were hurrying to death. They passed their arms round\nhis waist, as if to draw him in playful violence towards the church,\nbut in reality to feel whether he had put on his cuirass, which he wore\nwith habitual timidity under his garments. But Giuliano was indisposed;\nhe had discarded his armour; and so unsuspicious was he at that hour\nof impending evil, that he even left at home the dagger which usually\nhung at his side. As he entered the church and approached the altar,\nthe two conspirators kept close to him; the two priestly assassins had\nalso fixed themselves in the throng beside Lorenzo; and when the host\nwas raised, and every knee was bending in adoration, Bandini struck\nhis dagger into the breast of Giuliano. The victim staggered and fell,\nand Francesco de\u2019 Pazzi threw himself upon him, with such blind fury,\nthat besides inflicting on him several blows with his dagger, the\nleast a death, he grievously wounded himself in the thigh. At the same\nmoment the two priests attacked Lorenzo. One of them struck at his\nthroat, but missed his aim; and the blow, which grazed the intended\nvictim\u2019s neck, merely startled him to his defence.[185] Rapidly\nthrowing his cloak about his left arm for a shield, he drew his sword\nand courageously defended himself until his attendants came to his aid.\nThe priests then lost courage and fled: but Bandini, his dagger reeking\nwith the blood of Giuliano, now endeavoured to rush upon Lorenzo, and\nstabbed one of his train to the heart, who interposed to defend him.\nLorenzo, however, was by this time surrounded by his friends, who\nhastily sought refuge with him in the sacristy, and closed its brazen\ndoors. Meanwhile the whole church was filled with consternation; and\nthe first moment of surprise and alarm had no sooner passed, than the\nfriends of the Medici collected from all quarters, and conveyed Lorenzo\nin safety to his palace.\n\n\u201cDuring this scene in the cathedral, the Archbishop Salviati, with\na strong band of conspirators, attempted, as had been concerted, to\nseize the palace of the signiory and the persons of the magistrates.\nAfter filling the outer apartments with his followers, the archbishop\nobtained by his rank an easy admission to the presence of the\ngonfaloniere and priors who were sitting. But instead of immediately\nattacking them he hesitated; and his manner betrayed so much confusion,\nthat the suspicion of the gonfaloniere being excited, he rushed from\nthe hall and assembled the guards and servants of the palace. The\ndoors were secured, and the conspirators were furiously assaulted by\nthe magistrates and their attendants with such motley weapons and\ninstruments as the furniture of the palace afforded. Dispersed and\nintimidated, they made but a feeble resistance, and were all either\nslaughtered on the spot, hurled from the windows, or made prisoners.\nJacopo de\u2019 Pazzi, followed by a troop of soldiery, attempted to succour\nthem, after an abortive effort to excite the citizens to revolt by\ncrying liberty through the streets. But the magistrates held the palace\nuntil numerous citizens came to their aid, and Jacopo, seeing that the\ngame was lost, fled into the country.\n\n\u201cThe fate of most of the conspirators was not long delayed. The\nArchbishop Salviati was hanged from a window of the public palace, even\nin his prelatical robes. Francesco de\u2019 Pazzi, who, exhausted by loss\nof blood from his self\u2013inflicted wound, had been obliged to confine\nhimself to his uncle\u2019s house, was dragged from his bed, and suspended\nfrom the same place of execution. Jacopo himself, being discovered\nand arrested in the country by the peasantry, was brought into the\ncity a few days afterwards, and similarly executed, with another of\nhis nephews, whose knowledge of the conspiracy was his only crime,\nfor he had refused to engage in it: and the whole of the devoted\nfamily of the Pazzi were condemned to exile, except Guglielmo, the\nbrother\u2013in\u2013law of Lorenzo. The priests who had attacked Lorenzo, the\ncondottiere Montesecco, and above seventy inferior persons besides,\nsuffered death; and even Bernardo Bandini, though he escaped for a\ntime to Constantinople, paid the forfeit of his crimes; for Lorenzo\nhad sufficient interest with Mahomet II. to cause him to be seized and\nsent to Florence for execution. The young Cardinal Riario, rather an\ninstrument than an accomplice in the conspiracy, was with difficulty\nsaved by Lorenzo from being torn to pieces by the fury of the\nFlorentine mob; but his attendants were mercilessly butchered by them.\u201d\n\nThe conspiracy of the Pazzi strikingly displayed the absoluteness of\nthe Medician dominion over the will and affections of the people of\nFlorence. So far from shewing any disposition to join the Pazzi in\nrevolt, the populace were filled with grief and fury at the murder of\nGiuliano, and at the peril in which Lorenzo had stood. They had flown\nto arms to defend the Medici: and they paraded Florence for whole days\nto commit every outrage upon the dead bodies of the conspirators which\nstill defiled the streets. The cry of \u201cPalle, Palle!\u201d the armorial\ndevice of the Medici,[186] continually resounded through the city;\nand the memory of the tragedy wherein Giuliano had fallen, was always\nassociated in the public mind with a deepened and affectionate interest\nfor the safety of Lorenzo, and with an attachment to his person which\nlasted to his death.\n\nWe might perhaps search history in vain to find two families, whose\nfortunes, whose dispositions, and even whose tastes were so faithfully\nreflected in each other, as those of Pisistratus and Cosmo de\u2019 Medici.\nIf we consider the younger Medici as immediately succeeding to their\ngrandfather (and the concession is not important, for in the interval\nno political changes occurred in Florence), the resemblance between\ntheir fortunes, so far as we have traced them, is perfect. The founders\nof either house, after similar reverses, established tyrannies in their\nnative cities, and yet lived and died beloved and respected by their\ncountrymen, and delivered their usurped sovereignty peaceably to their\nsuccessors. These successors were in either case two brothers, who\ninstead of running the usual course of jealousy and discord, exercised\ntheir joint power for years in harmony, and were at length separated\nby conspiracies which succeeded against the one, only to render more\ndespotic the sway of the other. With respect to personal character, the\nresemblance between Pisistratus and Cosmo de\u2019 Medici has been fully\ndwelt upon. That between the brothers their descendants is necessarily\nless completely made out, for we know very little of the political\nconduct of the two Athenians; but we may observe the same hereditary\nlove of art and literature, the same absence of jealousy, and the\nsame superiority of one brother over the other in the cultivation of\nlearning. The resemblance of their histories, so far as we have traced\nthat of the Medici, fails only in one respect: the death of Hipparchus\nwas due to his own intemperance, the murder of Giuliano de\u2019 Medici to\nthe arbitrary measures of his brother.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n Invasion of Scythia by Darius\u2014Destruction of Crassus and his army by the\n Parthians\u2014Retreat of Antony\u2014Retreat and death of Julian\u2014Retreat from\n Moscow.\n\n\nDarius, son of Hystaspes, having gained possession of the vast empire\nwhich had been established by Cyrus, devoted his attention to the\nregulation of its internal policy: a task which we are led to believe\nhe exercised with moderation and judgment. But the Persians were a\nwarlike nation, less advanced in civilization than their sovereign;\nhence his care of the finances of the empire degraded him in their\neyes, and comparing his character with that of their former princes,\nwhile they called Cyrus the father, and Cambyses the master, they\ndenominated Darius the broker of the empire. It was probably under the\nknowledge of these feelings, that his wife, Atossa, daughter of Cyrus,\nthus addressed him:[187] \u201cO king, though possessed of such ample means,\nthou sittest still, and gainest increase for the Persians neither of\nsubjects nor power. But it befits a young man who is the master of vast\nresources, to manifest his worth in the performance of some mighty act,\nthat the Persians may fully know they have a man for their king. Now,\ntherefore, it profiteth thee twofold to do thus, both that the Persians\nmay understand there is a man at their head, and also that they may\nbe harassed by war, and for lack of leisure may not conspire against\nyou. And now thou mightest distinguish thyself during thy youth, for\nthe spirit groweth with the growing body; but it ageth also with the\naging body, and is blunted towards all action.\u201d Darius answered, \u201cAll\nthese things which thou hast suggested, I have resolved to perform,\nfor I mean to build a bridge from this mainland to the other, to march\nagainst the Scythians, and within a little while all these things\nshall be accomplished.\u201d Atossa replied, \u201cDo not go first against the\nScythians, for they will be at your disposal at any time; but for my\nsake lead an army against Greece. For I have heard reports of the\nGrecian women, and wish much to have female slaves of Laced\u00e6mon, and\nArgos, and Corinth, and Athens.\u201d\n\nSome time elapsed before Darius was at leisure to pursue his schemes\nof conquest; but after the Babylonian rebellion was quelled, when the\nprosperity of Asia was at its height, he determined to invade the\nScythians under pretence of revenging the desolating incursion of\ntheir ancestors into Media, a century before. With this view he sent\norders throughout his dominions, to some nations that they should\nprepare infantry, others a fleet, others construct a bridge across the\nThracian Bosphorus, in which a Grecian artist, Mandrocles of Samos,\nwas employed. The fleet, which was contributed by the Asiatic Greeks,\nhe sent on to the Ister, or Danube, with orders to construct a bridge\nthere also, which was done, two days\u2019 sail from the mouth of the river;\nthe land forces[188] he himself conducted through Thrace. Darius,\nthough a wise prince, was not exempt from that inordinate spirit of\nboasting which has beset the eastern sovereigns in all ages. At the\nsource of the river Tearus, where are hot and cold medicinal springs\nissuing from the same rock, he caused a column to be set up, with this\ninscription:\u2014\u201cThe fountains of Tearus pour forth the best and fairest\nwater of all rivers, and thither, on his march against the Scythians,\ncame the best and fairest of all men, Darius, son of Hystaspes, King\nof the Persians, and of all the continent.\u201d Another instance of this\nspirit occurs, when he ordered a pile of stones to be raised at the\nriver Artiscus, as a monument of the magnitude of his army, each\nindividual being ordered to contribute one stone to the heap. Passing\nonward,[189] he crossed the Ister, and entered Scythia, leaving the\nIonians behind to protect his return, but with permission to depart\nhome, unless he should reappear within sixty days. The Scythians did\nnot attempt open resistance; they blocked up the wells and springs,\nand destroyed the forage throughout the country; and taking advantage\nof their own wandering habits, harassed the Persians by leading them a\nfruitless chase in pursuit of an enemy who seemed always within reach,\nand yet could never be overtaken. After wandering over a vast extent\nof desert, Darius began to weary of so unprofitable an occupation,\nand indulging a hope, perhaps, that the enemy would be complaisant\nenough to change their tactics for his own convenience, sent the\nfollowing message to Idanthyrsus, the Scythian king: \u201cO wonderful man,\nwhy wilt thou still fly, having the choice of these two things? If\nthou esteemest thyself capable to stand up against me, abide, and do\nbattle; but if thou acknowledgest thyself to be the weaker, even then\ndesist from flight, and come to my presence, bringing earth and water,\ngifts due to your master.\u201d The proposal was conceived in the spirit\nof our own chivalrous ancestors, and from them might have met with a\nprompt acquiescence; but Idanthyrsus was not to be piqued into an act\nof imprudence, and in truth more wisdom is visible in his reply than\nin the request which led to it. \u201cO Persian, this is my way: hitherto\nI have never fled for fear of any man, neither do I now fly before\nthee, nor act otherwise than I am wont in peace. And I will tell\nthee wherefore I decline a battle. We have neither towns nor tilled\nland, in defence of which we are compelled to fight; but if it be of\nimportance to thee to bring us to battle, lo, there are the tombs of\nour ancestors; find them out, and endeavour to destroy them, and thou\nshalt then know whether we will fight for our sepulchres, or whether\nwe will not. But, until this, unless we ourselves see reason, we\nwill not fight. So much for fighting. For masters, we own none, save\nJupiter, my ancestor, and Vesta, Queen of the Scythians. And instead of\nsending earth and water, I will send you such a present as befits the\noccasion; but as for calling thyself our master, I say, go hang.\u201d[190]\nNow the Scythians were very angry at the bare mention of servitude,\nand sent one division to commune with the lonians who guarded the\nbridge, while the rest of them, instead of still retreating before\nthe Persians, began to harass them by desultory attacks, in which\nthe Scythians had always the advantage over the Persian cavalry; but\nwhen these fell back upon the infantry, they were secure from further\nmolestation. These attacks were made continually by night and day.\nAnd now, says Herodotus, I will mention a very strange thing, that\nwas of great service to the Persians against these assaults. Scythia\nproduces neither ass nor mule, neither are there any such throughout\nthe country, by reason of the cold. The noise of the asses therefore\ndisordered the Scythian cavalry, and very often in a charge, when the\nhorses heard them bray, they would start and fly aside in terror,\npricking up their ears, for that they had never seen the like, nor\nheard such a sound. At length, when the country was exhausted, and it\nwas known that Darius was in want, the Scythian princes sent a herald,\nbearing a present of a mouse, a bird, a frog, and five arrows. The\nPersians asked what was the meaning of this offering; but he replied,\nthat his orders were merely to deliver it and depart immediately; and\nbade them, if they were skilled in such things, discover what these\ngifts should signify. Now Darius thought that the Scythians surrendered\nto him themselves, their land, and waters, arguing thus: that a mouse\ndwells in the earth, living on the same food as man, and a frog in the\nwater, and that a bird is likest to a horse, and the arrows meant that\nthey delivered up to him their power. But Gobryas conjectured that it\nmeant this: \u201cUnless, O Persians, you should become birds and soar into\nthe skies, or mice and sink beneath the earth, or frogs and leap into\nthe water, never shall ye return home, being stricken by these arrows.\u201d\nNow that division of Scythians which had been sent to confer with the\nIonians, when they arrived at the bridge, said, \u201cYe men of Ionia, we\nbring you liberty, if you will hearken to us. For we hear that Darius\nbade you depart home, after you had watched the bridge sixty days, if\nhe should not return within that time: now therefore by so doing you\nwill be free from blame, both towards him and towards us.\u201d And when the\nIonians had promised to do so, the Scythians returned in all haste.\n\nIdanthyrsus, after sending the above alarming intimation, changed\nhis tactics, and offered battle to Darius. It chanced that while the\nhostile armies were drawn up, waiting for the signal to engage, a\nhare jumped up from among the Scythians, who broke their ranks and\njoined unanimously in the chase. Darius inquired from what cause such\na tumult arose, and hearing that the enemy were engaged in hunting\nthe hare, he said to his confidential advisers, \u201cThese men hold us in\ngreat contempt; and now methinks Gobryas has spoken rightly concerning\nthe Scythian presents. Since, therefore, things are so, we need good\nadvice, how may we retreat in safety.\u201d Gobryas made answer, \u201cO king,\nI was pretty well acquainted by report with the poverty of these men,\nand now I am the more convinced of it, seeing how they make sport of\nus. Therefore it seems best to me, to light our fires as usual, so\nsoon as the night comes on, and then shackling the asses, and leaving\nthem behind, with such as are least able to bear fatigue, to depart\nbefore the Scythians can reach the Danube to destroy the bridge, and\nbefore such a plan, which might be our ruin, can be resolved upon by\nthe Ionians.\u201d This advice gave Gobryas: and when it was night, Darius\nleft in the camp all those who were wearied, and of whose death least\naccount was made, together with the asses, under pretence that he\nwould himself attack the enemy with the flower of the army, and that\nthe others should remain to protect the camp. So the Scythians seeing\nthe fires, and hearing the asses as usual, suspected nothing: but the\nnext morning, when the deserted Persians came and made submission, they\nset out with all speed, and arrived at the Danube before Darius, who\nhad wandered from the direct way. Then they said, \u201cYe men of Ionia, ye\nact unjustly in staying here after the days that were numbered have\npassed away. Hitherto you have remained through fear; but now, destroy\nthe bridge, and depart with all haste, rejoicing in your freedom, and\nacknowledging your obligation to the gods and the Scythians. And him\nthat was heretofore your master we will so handle, that from henceforth\nhe shall wage war upon no man.\u201d Therefore the Ionians took counsel; and\nMiltiades the Athenian (the same who afterwards commanded at Marathon)\nthat was their leader, and ruler over the Thracian Chersonese, was\nminded to take the counsel of the Scythians, and thus set free Ionia.\nBut Histi\u00e6us, of Miletus, said, on the contrary, that now each of\nthem that were in council was ruler over his own city through the\ninfluence of Darius, which being destroyed, neither he himself nor any\nof them would retain his sovereignty, for every city would choose the\ngovernment of the many rather than of one. Those, therefore, that had\nadopted Miltiades\u2019 opinion, now came over to that of Histi\u00e6us, and\nit was resolved to break up the Scythian end of the bridge for the\ndistance of a bowshot, that they might appear to comply with what had\nbeen requested, and thus be secured from all attempts to destroy it.\nHisti\u00e6us therefore replied, \u201cO Scythians, you bring good advice, and\nurge it at a seasonable moment, and as your proposition guides us to\nour advantage, even so we are inclined to follow it carefully. For, as\nyou see, we are breaking up the bridge, and we will manifest all zeal,\ndesiring to be free. But while we are thus employed, it is fit time for\nyou to go in search of the Persians, and to exact the vengeance that\nis due both to us and to you.\u201d So the Scythians, a second time giving\ncredit to the Ionians for speaking the truth, returned in quest of the\nPersians, but missed their track; so that the latter arrived at the\npassage without interruption, but coming there by night, and finding\nthe bridge broken, they were thrown into much alarm lest the Ionians\nshould have deserted them. There was in Darius\u2019s train an Egyptian,\nwhose voice was louder than that of any known man. Darius bade him\nstand on the bank, and call Histi\u00e6us the Milesian, who heard him at\nthe first shout, and reconstructed the bridge, so that the army passed\nover in safety. And the Scythians, judging of the Ionians from these\ntransactions, say, on the one hand, that they are the basest and most\nunworthy of all freemen; and on the other, reckoning them as slaves,\nthat of all such they best love their masters, and are least disposed\nto run away.[191]\n\nIf Darius\u2019s real object was to extend his empire, or take revenge\nupon the Scythians, his failure was complete and humiliating; if\nundertaken on the ground suggested by Atossa as a measure of policy, a\nsafety\u2013valve to guard against the explosion of Persian turbulence, his\npurpose probably was fully answered in the loss and suffering which the\narmy underwent. But whatever were his motives, he escaped more easily\nand creditably than most generals who have presumed to contest the\npossession of their deserts with the numerous and active cavalry of\nTartary and Persia. Troops of the highest character, irresistible where\ntheir proper arms and discipline can be made available, have often sunk\nunder the fatigue and hardships of warfare against a new enemy, under\na new sky, and have been conquered by circumstances, almost without\nthe use of the sword. By varying the climate and natural features of\nthe earth\u2014by giving man a frame which, notwithstanding the wonderful\nflexibility which adapts it equally for the snows of Greenland and the\nvertical splendour of the torrid zone, is ill calculated for violent\nand sudden changes, Providence has set bounds in some degree to the\nmarch of ambition, and often turned the triumph of the conqueror into\nmourning. We shall devote the rest of this chapter to relating a few\nof the most striking disasters which have occurred from the neglect\nof these considerations, and the rash invasion of regions where the\nelements, the face of the country, or the manners of its inhabitants\nhave presented invincible obstacles to the success of the attacking\narmy.\n\nThe unfortunate expedition of Crassus against the Parthians furnishes\nus with a second testimony to the valour of the Scythian hordes.\nExpelled or emigrating from Scythia Proper, that tribe long dwelt to\nthe eastward of the Caspian Sea, and successively obeyed the Mede,\nthe Persian, and the Macedonian dynasties, until at length they shook\noff the yoke of the last, and planted a new race upon the throne of\nCyrus. The motives of avarice and ambition which led Crassus to the\nfatal enterprise in which he fell, are well known. From the first\nhe was marked out for destruction by superstitious terrors: as he\nquitted Rome he was solemnly devoted by a tribune to the infernal\ngods; ill\u2013omened prodigies attended the passage of the Euphrates,\nand even the exhortations of the general were so equivocally worded,\nthat, instead of raising, they damped the courage of his soldiers.\nInstead of penetrating through the friendly country of Armenia, where\nthe mountains would have protected him from the enemy\u2019s cavalry, and\nthe king had promised not only a large reinforcement, but to provide\nfood for the consumption of the Romans, Crassus was induced, by\nthe treachery of a pretended friend, to plunge into the deserts of\nMesopotamia, the region of all others best adapted to the operations\nof his enemies. We shall not detain the reader with the particulars of\nhis advance, which for some time was unopposed; but when he was fairly\ninvolved in that inhospitable region, the enemy was not long in making\nhis appearance.\n\n\u201cThe enemies seemed not to the Romans at the first to be so great a\nnumber, neither so bravely armed as they thought they had been. For\nconcerning their great number, Surenas[192] had of purpose hid them\nwith certain troops he sent before; and to hide their bright armour\nhe had cast cloaks and beasts\u2019 skins over them; but when both the\narmies approached near the one to the other, and that the sign to give\ncharge was lift up in the air, first they filled the field with a\ndreadful noise to hear; for the Parthians do not encourage their men to\nfight with the sound of a horn, neither with trumpets, but with great\nkettle\u2013drums, hollow within, and about them they hang little bells and\ncopper rings, and with them they all make a noise everywhere together;\nand it is like a dead sound mingled as it were with the braying or\nbellowing of a wild beast, and a fearful noise as if it thundered,\nknowing that hearing is one of the senses that soonest moveth the heart\nand spirit of any man, and maketh him soonest beside himself. The\nRomans being put in fear with this dead sound, the Parthians straight\nthrew the clothes and coverings from them that hid their armour, and\nthen showed their bright helmets and cuirasses of Margian tempered\nsteel, that glared like fire, and their horses barbed with steel and\ncopper. And Surenas also, general of the Parthians, who was a goodly\npersonage and valiant as any other in all his host, though for his\nbeauty somewhat effeminate, showed small likelihood of such courage:\nfor he painted his face and wore his hair after the fashion of the\nMedes, when the other Parthians drew their hair back from the forehead\nin the Scythian manner to look more terrible. The Parthians at the\nfirst thought to have set upon the Romans with their pikes, to see if\nthey could break their first ranks. But when they drew near, and saw\nthe depth of their battell standing close together, firmly keeping\ntheir ranks, then they gave back, making as though they fled, and\ndispersed themselves; and yet, before they were aware, environed them\non every side; whereupon Crassus commanded his shot and light\u2013armed\nmen to assail them; the which they did: but they went not far, they\nwere so beaten in by arrows, and driven to retire to their force of\nthe armed men. And this was the first beginning that both feared and\ntroubled the Romans when they saw the vehemency and great force of the\nenemy\u2019s shot, which brake their armours, and ran through everything it\nhit, were it never so hard or soft. The Parthians, thus still drawing\nback, shot altogether on every side at adventure: for the battell of\nthe Romans stood so neare together, as, if they would, they could not\nmiss the killing of some. These bowmen drew a great strength, and had\nmuch bent bowes, which sent the arrows from them with a wonderful\nforce.[193] The Romans by means of these bowes were in hard state, for\nif they kept their ranks they were grievously wounded: again, if they\nleft them, and sought to run upon the Parthians to fight at hand with\nthem, they suffered none the less, and were no nearer to effecting\nanything. For the Parthians, in retreating, yet cease not from their\nshot, which no nation but the Scythians could better do than they. And\nit is an excellent contrivance that they do fight in their flight, and\nthereby shun the shame of flying. The Romans still defended themselves,\nand held it out so long as they had any hope that the Parthians would\nleave fighting when they had spent their arrowes, or would joyne battel\nwith them. But after they understood that there were a great number of\ncamels laden with quivers full of arrowes, where the first that had\nbestowed their arrowes fetched about to take new quivers; then Crassus,\nseeing no end to their shot, began to faint, and sent to Publius his\nson, willing him to charge upon the enemies before they were compassed\nin on every side. For it was on Publius\u2019 side that one of the wings\nof the enemies battell was nearest unto them, and where they rode up\nand down to compasse them behind. Whereupon Crassus\u2019 sonne, taking\nthirteene hundred horsemen with him (of the which a thousand were of\nthe men of armes whom Julius C\u00e6sar sent) and five hundred shot, with\neight ensignes of footmen having targets, wheeling about, led them unto\nthe charge. But they seeing him coming, turned straight their horses\nand fled, either because of the steadiness of his array, or else of\npurpose to beguile this young Crassus, inticing him thereby as far from\nhis father as they could. Publius Crassus seeing them flie, cryed out,\n\u2018These men will not abide with us;\u2019 and so spurred on for life after\nthem. Now the horsemen of the Romans being trained out thus to the\nchase, the footmen also were not inferior in hope, joy, or courage.\nFor they thought all had been won, and that there was no more to do\nbut to follow the chase: till they were gone far from the army, and\nthen they found the deceit. For the horsemen that fled before them\nsuddenly turned again, and a number of others besides came, and set\nupon them. Whereupon they stayed, thinking that the enemies, perceiving\nthey were so few, would come and fight with them hand to hand. Howbeit\nthe Parthians drew up again them their men at armes, and made their\nother horsemen wheele round about them, keeping no order at all: who\ngallopping up and down the plain, whirled up the sand\u2013hills from the\nbottom with their horses\u2019 feet, which raised such a wonderful dust,\nthat the Romans could scarce see or speak to one another. For they\nbeing shut up into a little roome, and standing close one to another,\nwere sore wounded with the Parthian arrowes, and died of a cruell\nlingering death, crying out for anguish and paine they felt; and being\nstill harassed by the shot thereof, they died of their wounds, or\nstriving by force to pluck out the forked arrow\u2013heads that had pierced\nfarre into their bodies through their veines and sinewes, thereby\nthey opened their wounds wider, and so injured themselves the more.\nMany of them died thus, and such as died not were not able to defend\nthemselves. Then when Publius Crassus prayed and besought them to\ncharge the men at armes with the barded horse, they shewed him theirs\nhands fast nailed to the targets with arrowes, and their feet likewise\nshot through and nailed to the ground; so as they could neither flie,\nnor yet defend themselves. Thereupon himself encouraging his horsemen,\nwent and gave charge, and did valiantly set upon the enemies, but\nit was with too great disadvantages, both for offence and also for\ndefence. For himself and his men, with weak and light staves, brake\nupon them that were armed with cuirasses of steele, or stiff leather\njackes. And the Parthians, in contrary manner, with mighty strong pikes\ngave charge upon these Gaules, which were either unarmed, or else but\nlightly armed. Yet those were they in whom Crassus most trusted, and\nwith them did he wonderfull feates of war. For they seized hold of\nthe Parthians\u2019 pikes and took them about the middles and threw them\noff their horse, being scarce able to stir for the weight of their\nharnesse;[194] and there were divers of them also that lighting from\ntheir horse crept under their enemies\u2019 horse bellies, and thrust their\nswords into them, which flinging and bounding in the aire for very\npaine, trampled confusedly both upon their masters and their enemies,\nand in the end fell dead among them. Moreover extream heat and thirst\ndid marvellously comber the Gauls, who were used to abide neither of\nboth: and the most part of their horses were slain, charging with all\ntheir power upon the Parthian pikes.\n\n\u201cAt the length, they were driven to retire towards their footmen, and\nPublius Crassus among them, who was very ill by reason of the wounds\nhe had received. And seeing a sand\u2013hill by chance not farre from\nthem, they went thither, and setting their horses in the middest of\nit, compassed it in round with their targets, thinking by this means\nto cover and defend themselves the better from the barbarous people:\nhowbeit, they found it contrary. For the country being plain, they\nin the foremost ranks did somewhat cover them behind, but they that\nwere behind standing higher than they that stood foremost (by reason\nof the nature of the hill that was highest in the middest) could by\nno means save themselves, but were all hurt alike, as well the one\nas the other, bewailing their inglorious and unavailing end. At that\npresent time there were two Grecians about Publius Crassus, Hieronymus\nand Nicomachus, who dwelt in those quarters, in the city of Carrh\u00e6:\nthey both counselled Publius Crassus to steale away with them, and\nflie to a city called Ischn\u00e6, that was not farre from thence, and took\nthe Romans\u2019 part. But Publius answered them, that there was no death\nso cruel as could make him forsake those that died for his sake.[195]\nWhen he had so said, wishing them to save themselves, he embraced\nthem, and took his leave of them: and being very sore hurt with the\nshot of an arrow through one of his hands, commanded his shield\u2013bearer\nto thrust him through with a sword, and so turned his side to him for\nthe purpose. And most part of the gentlemen that were of that company,\nslew themselves with their own hands. And for those that were left\nalive, the Parthians got up the sandhill, and fighting with them thrust\nthem through with their speares and pikes, and took but five hundred\nprisoners. After that, they struck off Publius Crassus\u2019 head, and\nthereupon returned straight to set upon his father, Crassus, who was\nthen in this state.\n\n\u201cCrassus, the father, after he had willed his son to charge the\nenemies, and that one brought him word he had broken them, and pursued\nthe chase; and perceiving also that they that remained in their great\nbattell, did not presse upon him so neare as they did before, because\nthat a great number of them were gone after the other; he then took\ncourage, and keeping his men close, retired with them the best he\ncould by a hill\u2019s side, looking ever that his sonne would not be long\nbefore that he returned from the chase. But Publius seeing himselfe in\ndanger, had sent divers messengers to his father, to advertise him of\nhis distresse, whom the Parthians intercepted, and slew by the way;\nand the last messengers he sent escaping very hardly, brought Crassus\nnewes that his sonne was but cast away, if he did not presently aid\nhim, and that with a great power. But in the meane time the enemies\nwere returned from his son\u2019s overthrow with a more dreadfull noise, and\ncry of victory than ever before, and thereupon their deadly sounding\ndrummes filled the air with their wonderful noise. The Romans then\nlooked straight for a hot alarme; but the Parthians that brought\nPublius Crassus\u2019 head upon the point of a lance, coming neere to the\nRomans, showed them his head, and asked them, in derision, if they knew\nwhat house he was of, and who were his parents: for it is not likely,\nsaid they, that so noble and valiant a young man should be the son of\nso cowardly a father as Crassus. This sight killed the Roman hearts\nmore than any other danger throughout all the battell. For it did not\nset their hearts on fire, as it should have done, with anger and desire\nof revenge, but far otherwise, made them quake for fear. Yet Crassus\nselfe shewed more glorious in this misfortune than in all the warre\nbeside. For riding by every band, he cried out aloud, \u2018The grief and\nsorrowe of this losse, my fellowes, is no man\u2019s but mine, mine onely:\nbut the mighty fortune and honour of Rome remaineth still unvincible,\nso long as you are yet living. Now, if you pity my losse of so noble\nand valiant a son, my good soldiers, shew this in fury against the\nenemy; make them dearly buy the joy they have gotten; be revenged of\ntheir cruelty, and let not my misfortune fear you. For why! aspiring\nminds sometime must needs sustaine losse.\u2019\n\n\u201cCrassus, using these persuasions to encourage his soldiers for\nresolution, found that all his words wrought none effect; but\ncontrarily, after he had commanded them to give the shout of battell,\nhe plainly saw that their heartes were done, for that their shout\nrose but faint, and not all alike. The Parthians on the other side,\ntheir shout was greate, and lustily they rang it out. Now when they\ncame to joyne, the Parthians\u2019 horsemen wheeling all round the Romans,\nstill galled them with their archery, while their men at armes,\ngiving charge upon the front of the Romans\u2019 battell, with their great\nlances compelled them to draw into a narrow roome, a few excepted\nthat valiantly and in desperate manner ran in among them, as men\ndesiring, though they could do the enemy but little harm, rather to\ndie quickly by a mortal wound. So were they soone dispatcht, with the\ngreat lances that ranne them through, head, wood and all, with such a\nforce as oftentimes they ranne through two at once. Thus when they had\nfought the whole day, night drew on, and made them retire, saying that\nthey would give Crassus that night\u2019s respite, to lament and bewaile\nhis sonne\u2019s death: unlesse that otherwise he, wisely looking about\nhim, thought it better for his safety to come and offer himself to\nKing Arsaces\u2019 mercy, than to tarry to be brought to him by force. So\nthe Parthians camping hard by the Romans, were in very good hope to\noverthrow them the next morning.\u201d\n\nIn this miserable condition the only hope of safety lay in the\nimmediate prosecution of their retreat under cover of the night; and\nthis measure was accompanied by the melancholy necessity of abandoning\ntheir wounded men to the mercy of an implacable enemy. Crassus,\novercome with sorrow, laid himself down with his head covered, and\nwould see no man. His chief officers, therefore, among whom was\nCassius, afterwards celebrated as one of the murderers of C\u00e6sar,\nheld a council of war, and resolved upon immediate departure; a step\nwhich held out the greater prospect of security, as the Parthians\nnever attacked by night, nor indeed took up their quarters in near\nneighbourhood even to the weakest enemy, for they used no sort of\nfortification or defence, and if attacked in the dark their cavalry\nwas difficult to be equipped and their skill in archery useless.[196]\nThose of the Romans who were capable of marching, retreated without\nfurther loss to the town of Carrh\u00e6; but the Parthians slew all that\nwere left, to the number of 4000 and upwards. Surena, lest the\nfugitives should outstrip him by immediate flight, had recourse to\na fraudulent negotiation, which was insultingly broken off as soon\nas his end was answered, and his troops collected before the city.\nEscape, therefore, was now more difficult than ever, and Crassus\u2019 evil\nfortune, or want of penetration, led him again to place confidence in\na traitor, who informed the enemy of the period fixed for departure,\nand completed his villainy by entangling the army in a morass. Cassius,\nmistrusting this man, returned to Carrh\u00e6. His guides advised him to\nremain there until the moon were out of the sign of Scorpio; but he\nanswered, \u201cI fear the sign of Sagittarius (_the archer_) more,\u201d and,\ndeparting immediately, escaped to Assyria with 500 horsemen. Crassus,\nand the main body of the army, after long struggling, had overcome\nthe difficulties in which they were involved, and were within a few\nfurlongs of the hills, when they were overtaken and attacked by the\nParthians.\n\n\u201cThen compassing Crassus in the middest of them, covering him round\nwith their targets, they spake nobly, that never an arrow of the\nParthians should touch the body of their general, before they were\nslain, one after another, and that they had fought it out to the last\nman in his defence. Hereupon Surena, perceiving the Parthians were not\nso courageous as they were wont to be, and that if night came upon\nthem, and that the Romans did once recover the high mountains, they\ncould never possibly be met withall againe: he thought cunningly to\nbeguile Crassus once more by this device. He let certain prisoners go\nof purpose, before whom he made his men give out this speech, that the\nKing of Parthia would have no more mortal war with the Romans; but\nfar otherwise; he rather desired their friendship, by shewing them\nsome notable favour, as to use Crassus very courteously. And to give\ncolour to this bruit, he called his men from fight, and going himself\nin person towards Crassus with the chiefest of the nobility of his\nboast, in quiet manner, his bow unbent, he held out his right hand, and\ncalled Crassus to talk with him of peace, and said unto him, \u2018Though\nthe Romans had felt the force and power of their king, it was against\nhis will; howbeit that now he was very willing and desirous to make\nthem taste of his mercy, and was contented to make peace with them, and\nto let them go where they would.\u2019 All the Romans besides Crassus, were\nglad of Surena\u2019s words. But Crassus, that had been deceived before by\ntheir crafty fetches and devices; considering also no cause apparent\nto make them change thus suddenly, would not hearken to it, but first\nconsulted with his friends. Howbeit the soldiers, they cried out on him\nto go, and fell at words with him, saying that he would fain set them\nto fight with an enemy, with whom he had not the heart to talk unarmed.\nCrassus tried entreaty first, saying that if they would but persevere\nfor the remainder of the day, they might depart at night through the\nmountaines and straight passages, where their enemies would not follow\nthem: and pointing them the way with his finger, he prayed them not to\nbe faint\u2013hearted, nor to despair of their safety, seeing they were so\nneare it. But in the end, Crassus perceiving that they fell to mutiny,\nand, beating of their harnesse, did threaten him if he went not,\nfearing there they would do him some villainy, went towards the enemy,\nand coming backe a little, said only these words: \u2018O Octavius, and\nyou, Petronius, with all you Roman gentlemen that have charge in this\narmy, you all see now how I against my will am enforced to go to the\nplace I would not, and can witnesse with me how I am driven with shame\nand force; yet I pray you, if your fortunes be to escape this danger,\nthat ye will report wheresoever you come, that Crassus was slaine,\nnot delivered up by his own soldiers into the hands of the barbarous\npeople, but deceived by the fraud and subtilty of his enemies.\u2019\n\n\u201cOctavius would not tarry behind on the hill, but went down with\nCrassus: but Crassus sent away his sergeants that followed him. The\nfirst that came from the Parthians unto Crassus were two mongrell\nGrecians, who, dismounting from their horse, saluted him, and prayed\nhim to send some of his men before, and Surena would shew them, that\nboth himself and his train came unarmed towards him. Crassus thereto\nmade him answer, that if he had made any account of his life, he would\nnot have put himself into their hands. Notwithstanding he sent two\nbrethren before, called the Roscii, to know what number of men, and to\nwhat end they met so many together. These two brethren came no sooner\nto Surena but they were staid, and himselfe in the mean time kept on\nhis way a horsebacke, with the noblest men of his army. Now when Surena\ncame neare to Crassus, \u2018Why, how now,\u2019 quoth he, \u2018what meaneth this? a\nconsul and lieutenant\u2013generall of Rome on foot, and we on horseback!\u2019\nTherewithal he straight commanded one of his men to bring him a horse.\nCrassus answered Surena again: \u2018In that neither of them offended,\neach coming to the meeting according to the custom of his country.\u2019\nSurena replied, \u2018As for the treaty of peace, that was already agreed\nupon between the king Hyrodes and the Romans: howbeit that they were\nto go to the river and there to set down the articles in writing; for\nyou Romans,\u2019 said he, \u2018do not greatly remember the capitulations you\nhave agreed upon.\u2019 With those words, he gave him his right hand. As\nCrassus was sending for a horse; \u2018You shall not need, saith Surena,\nfor, look, the king doth present you with this.\u2019 And straight one\nwas brought him, with a golden bridle; upon which his grooms mounted\nCrassus immediately, and following him behind, lashed his horse to make\nhim run the swifter. Octavius, seeing that, first laid hand on the\nbridle, then Petronius; and after them, all the rest of the Romans also\ngathered about Crassus to stay the horse, and to take him from them\nby force, that pressed him on of either side. So they thrust one at\nanother at the first very angrily, and at the last fell to blowes. Then\nOctavius drew out his sword, and slew one of the barbarous noblemen\u2019s\nhorsekeepers; and another came behind him, and slew Octavius, and\non the other side came Pomax\u00e6thres, one of the Parthians, and slew\nCrassus. As for them that were there, some of them were slain in the\nfield fighting for Crassus, and others saved themselves by flying to\nthe hill. The Parthians followed them, and told them that Crassus had\npaid the paine he deserved, and for the rest, that Surena bad them\ncome down with safety. Then some of them yielded to their enemies;\nand others dispersed themselves when night came, and of them very few\nescaped with life. Others being followed and pursued by the natives,\nwere all put to the sword. So as it is thought there were slain in\nthis overthrow above twenty thousand men, and ten thousand taken\nprisoners.\u201d[197]\n\nNot many years subsequent to this signal overthrow the Roman eagle\nagain swooped upon Assyria, and was again compelled to wing back its\ndisastrous flight to a more congenial soil and climate. Encouraged\nby the Syrian victories of his lieutenant Ventidius (the only Roman\ndown to the time of Trajan who ever celebrated a triumph over the\nParthians), and desirous to efface the stain upon the empire\u2019s honour\nby extorting the restoration of the captured standards and prisoners,\nAntony led into Media an army of 100,000 men. But his enterprise, like\nthose of his predecessors, proved barren alike of profit or renown: for\nif he could boast that the enemy, far from gaining any advantage over\nhis veteran troops, were uniformly baffled and repulsed during a long\nand dangerous retreat, yet that retreat proved as calamitous as the\nadvance had been useless; and the hardships of the desert were scarce\nless fatal to him than the Parthian arrows to Crassus.\n\n\u201cWhen they came to go down any steep hills, the Parthians would set\nupon them with their arrowes, because they could go down but fair and\nsoftly. But then again, the soldiers of the legion, that carried great\nshields, returned back and enclosed the light\u2013armed in the middest\namongst them, and did kneel one knee upon the ground, and so set downe\ntheir shields before them; and they of the second rank also covered\nthem of the first rank, and the third also covered the second; and\nso from ranke to ranke all were covered. Insomuch that this manner\nof covering and shading themselves with shields was devised after\nthe fashion of laying tiles upon houses, and to sight was like the\nsteps of a theatre, and is a most strong defence and bulwarke against\nall arrowes and shot that falleth on it. When the Parthians saw this\ncountenance of the Roman soldiers of the legion which kneeled on the\nground in that sort upon one knee, supposing that they had beene\nwearied with travel, they laid down their bowes, and took their spears\nand launces, and came to fight with them man for man. Then the Romans\nsuddenly rose upon their feete, and with the darts that they threw\nfrom them they slew the foremost, and put the rest to flight, and so\ndid they the next day that followed. But by means of these dangers and\nletts, Antonius\u2019 army could win no way in a day, by reason whereof they\nsufferred great famine: for they could have but little corne, and yet\nwere they daily driven to fight for it; and besides that, they had no\ninstruments to grind it, to make bread of it. For the most part of them\nhad been left behind, because the beasts that carried them were either\ndead or else employed to carry them that were sore and wounded. For\nthe famine was so extream great, that the eighth part of a bushell of\nwheate was sold for fifty drachmas,[198] and they sold barley bread by\nthe weight of silver. In the end they were compelled to live on herbes\nand roots; but they found few of them that men do commonly eat of, and\nwere enforced to taste of them that were never eaten before: among\nthe which there was one that killed them, and made them out of their\nwits. For he that had once eaten of it, his memory went from him, and\nhe knew not what he did, but only busied himself in moving and turning\nover every stone that he found, as though it had been a matter of great\nweight. All the campe over, men were busily stooping to the ground,\ndigging and carrying off stones from one place to another; but at the\nlast, they cast up a great deal of bile, and suddenly died, because\nthey lacked wine, which was the only sovereigne remedy to cure that\ndisease.\u201d[199]\n\nSuch were their suffering till they crossed the Araxes and gained the\nrich and friendly country of Armenia. The retreat from Phraata, or\nPhraaspa, the extreme point of advance, a distance of three hundred\nmiles, had occupied twenty\u2013seven days, and been signalized by eighteen\nbattles. On mustering the army it was found that twenty thousand\ninfantry and four thousand horse, nearly a quarter of the whole force,\nhad perished by the joint effects of sickness and the sword.\n\nAfter a long series of wars waged with various success during a\nperiod of four hundred years, the plains of Assyria again beheld the\ndestruction of a Roman army under circumstances of still greater\ninterest. The emperor Julian, redoubted for his brilliant victories in\nGaul and Germany, advanced with a veteran army of sixty\u2013five thousand\nsoldiers, to avenge the insulted majesty of the empire, and retaliate\nupon the Persian monarch (for a Persian dynasty again occupied the\nthrone of Darius, long held by a Grecian, and then by a Parthian\nconqueror) for the invasion of Mesopotamia, in the reign of his\npredecessor Constantius. He directed his march towards Ctesiphon,[200]\nwhere he crossed the Tigris, and advanced into the central provinces,\nin hope, like Alexander at Arbela, to rest the issue of the war on the\nevent of a single battle. Up to this point success attended his arms;\nbut now the evils which had destroyed his predecessors began to work\ntheir fatal effect on him; where\u2013ever he turned the country was laid\nwaste, the treachery of his guides caused him to spend several days\nin fruitless wandering, which diminished the already scanty stores of\nthe army, and at length, without a blow being struck, he found himself\ncompelled to give the signal for retreat.\n\n\u201cThe very morning, however, upon which the army began to retrace its\nsteps, a cloud of dust appeared in the distant horizon. Many thought\nthat it was caused by the troops of wild asses which abound in those\nregions; others more justly augured from it an enemy\u2019s approach. Being\nthus uncertain and fearful lest by advancing they should fall into some\nsnare, the emperor put an early stop to their march, and the night was\nspent in watchfulness and continual alarm. At sunrise, the glitter of\ndistant armour announced the presence of the royal forces, and the day\nwas spent in a succession of desultory and unsuccessful attacks. In the\nevening the Romans arrived at a small town abounding in provisions,\nwhere they spent two days. Resuming their march, upon the first day\nthey were exposed only to the same interruptions as before, but upon\nthe third day, when the army had reached the district called Maranga,\nabout dawn there appeared a vast multitude of Persians, with Merenes,\ngeneral of the cavalry, two sons of the king, and many of the chief\nnobility.\n\n\u201cAll the troops were armed in iron, every limb being protected by thick\nplates, the rigid joinings of which were adapted to the joints of the\nbody; and a mask, fashioned to resemble the face, was so carefully\nfitted upon their heads, that, their whole bodies being plated with\nmetal, the darts which struck them could pierce nowhere, except at the\neyes or nostrils, before which there were narrow apertures for sight\nand breathing. Those who were armed with lances remained immoveable,\nas if fixed with brazen chains: while near them the archers (from its\nvery cradle the nation has grown powerful by its great reliance on\nthat art) stretched their supple bows, with disparted arms, till the\nstring touched their right breasts, while their left hands were in\ncontact with the arrow head; and the shafts, thus skilfully driven,\nflew shrilly whistling, charged with deadly wounds. After them the\naffrighted mind could hardly bear the fearful aspect and savage yawns\nof the glittering elephants; by whose roar and smell, and unusual\nappearance, the horses were yet more terrified. Those who guided them\nwore hafted knives tied to their right hands, remembering the injury\nreceived from these animals at Nisibis;[201] that if the frantic animal\nbecame unmanageable by his driver, to prevent his carrying destruction\ninto the ranks of his own army, as then happened, they might pierce the\nspine, where the skull is connected with the neck. For it was long ago\ndiscovered by Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, that such was the\nspeediest way of killing these beasts. All this being observed, not\nwithout much dread, the emperor proceeded with all confidence to draw\nup the infantry for battle in a half\u2013moon with curving flanks;[202]\nand lest the advance of the archers should scatter our close array,\nhe broke the efficacy of their arrow\u2013flight by a rapid onset; and the\nword to engage being as usual given, the dense infantry of Rome dashed\nin the firm front of the enemy by a most spirited charge. The conflict\ngrowing hot, the clang of shields, and the melancholy crash of men and\narmour, leaving now no room for inactivity, covered the ground with\ngore and corpses; but the slaughter of the Persians was the greatest,\nwho being often slack and faint in close conflict, fought at heavy\ndisadvantage when foot was opposed to foot; though they use to battle\nbravely at a distance, and if they find themselves compelled to give\nway, deter the enemy from pursuit by a shower of arrows shot behind\nthem. The Parthians then being routed by their overpowering strength,\nour soldiery, long since relaxed by a blazing sun, at the signal of\nrecall went back to their tents, inspirited to higher daring for the\nfuture. In this battle the Persian loss appeared, as I have said, to be\nthe greater; our own was very light.\u201d Milton has a gorgeous description\nof the Parthian power and method of making war, in which his immense\nlearning is profusely introduced to illustrate this subject\n\n                          \u201cThe Parthian king\n  In Ctesiphon[203] hath gathered all his host\n  Against the Scythian, whose incursions wild\n  Have wasted Sogdiana; to her aid\n  He marches now in haste: see though from far\n  His thousands, in what martial equipage\n  They issue forth; steel bows and shafts their arm\n  Of equal dread in flight, or in pursuit;\n  All horsemen, in which fight they most excel;\n  See how in warlike muster they appear,\n  In rhombs and wedges, and half\u2013moons and wings.\n     \u201cHe looked, and saw what numbers numberless\n  The city gates out\u2013poured, light\u2013armed troops\n  In coats of mail and military pride;\n  In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong,\n  Prancing their riders bore, the flower and choice\n  Of many provinces from bound to bound\n  From Arachosia,[204] from Candaor east,\n  And Margiana to the Hyrcanian cliffs\n  Of Caucasus, and dark Iberian dales,\n  From Atropatia, and the neighbouring plains\n  Of Adiabene, Media, and the south\n  Of Susiana, to Balsara\u2019s haven.\n  He saw them in their forms of battle ranged,\n  How quick they wheeled, and flying, behind them shot\n  Sharp sleet of arrowy showers against the face\n  Of their pursuers, and overcame by flight;\n  The fields, all iron, cast a gleaming brown:\n  Nor wanted clouds of foot, nor on each horn\n  Cuirassiers all in steel for standing fight,\n  Chariots or elephants indorsed with towers\n  Of archers, nor of labouring pioneers\n  A multitude, with spades and axes armed\n  To lay hills plain, fell woods, or valleys fill\n  Or where plain was raise hill, or overlay\n  With bridges rivers proud, as with a yoke;\n  Mules after these, camels, and dromedaries,\n  And waggons fraught with utensils of war.\n  Such forces met not, nor so wide a camp\n  When Agrican with all his northern powers\n  Besieged Albracca, as romances tell,\n  The city of Gallaphrone, from thence to win\n  The fairest of her sex, Angelica\n  His daughter, sought by many prowest knights\n  Both Paynim and the peers of Charlemain.\n  Such and so numerous was their chivalry.\u201d[205]\n\n\u201cAfter the battle,\u201d Ammianus continues, \u201cthree days being passed\nin repose, that each might cure his own or his neighbour\u2019s wounds,\nintolerable want of victuals began to afflict us; and the burning both\nof corn and green crops having reduced men and horses to the extremity\nof distress, a large part of the provisions brought by the chief\nofficers of the army for their own use was distributed to the indigent\nsoldiery. And the emperor, who, in place of delicacies prepared with\nregal luxury, satisfied his hunger under a small tent, with a scanty\nportion of meal and water, which even the labouring common soldier\nwould have disdained; careless of his own safety, performed whatever\nservices were required in the tents of his poor comrades. Then having\nwithdrawn awhile to an anxious and uncertain repose, devoted not to\nsleep, but to some literary work, written in the camp, and under the\ntent\u2013skins, in emulation of Julius Caesar, in the dead of night, while\ndeeply meditating upon some philosopher, he beheld, as he acknowledged\nto his friends, that vision of the genius of the empire which he had\nseen in Gaul, when about to reach the dignity of Augustus,[206] pass\nsorrowfully from the tent in mourning habit, his head and horn of\nabundance covered with a veil. For a moment he was fixed in amazement;\nyet, superior to all fear, he commended futurity to the gods. As he\nrose from his lowly couch, to supplicate the powers of heaven with the\nrites deprecatory of misfortune, a blazing torch appeared to flash\nacross the sky, and vanished, leaving him filled with horror lest it\nwere the star of Mars which thus openly menaced him.\u201d[207]\n\nBefore daybreak he consulted the Etruscan soothsayers, who still\nretained the monopoly of this profitable art, concerning the meaning\nof this portent. They replied that on no account should anything be\ncommenced, in obedience to the rules of their science, which forbade\nthe giving battle, or undertaking military operations, subsequent\nto the appearance of such a meteor: but the emperor neglected their\npredictions, and gave order to march. Taught by experience not rashly\nto close with the firm ranks of the legions, the Persians hovered all\naround, and while Julian, unarmed by reason of the heat, advanced to\nreconnoitre in front, he was alarmed by tidings of an attack upon the\nrear. Forgetful or careless of his want of armour, he hurried to the\nspot, which was scarcely reached when a fresh alarm came that the\nvan, which he had quitted, was similarly menaced, and at the same\nmoment the iron\u2013clothed Parthian cavalry, supported by elephants,\ndashed in upon the flank. The light\u2013armed troops, encouraged by\ntheir sovereign\u2019s presence, rushed forwards, and put to flight these\nformidable assailants; and while Julian, forgetting the prudence of\na general in his ardour, cheered them on, a dart grazed his uplifted\narm, and penetrated deep into his unprotected side. He tried to draw it\nout, but the sharp edges cut the tendons of his fingers; and falling\nin a swoon from his horse, he was borne back by his attendants to the\ncamp. The prince being withdrawn, it is scarce credible with what\nardour the soldiery, heated by rage and anger, flew to their revenge,\nand though the dust blinded them, and the heat relaxed their sinews,\nyet, as if released from discipline by the fall of their leader, they\nrushed prodigal of life upon the enemies\u2019 steel. The Persians, on the\nother hand, shot still more eagerly, till they were almost hidden by\nthe constant arrow flight; while the bulk and nodding plumes of the\nelephants stationed in their front struck terror into horse and man.\nNight put an end to a bloody and indecisive contest, in which fifty of\nthe chief Persian nobility fell, including the two generals, Merenes\nand Nohodares.\n\nThis success, however, was dearly purchased by the death of Julian,\nwhich occurred soon after he reached the camp. He made a short address\nto those officers who surrounded his bed, expressing his willingness to\ndie, and a hope that the empire would devolve on a worthy successor,\ndeclining to interfere, or in any way direct their choice; and breathed\nhis last while arguing upon the nature of the soul. Among the tumult\nand intrigues consequent upon the election of a new emperor, Jovian, a\nhousehold officer of the highest rank, was chosen, rather as a means\nof reconciling the disputes of others of higher pretensions, than for\nhis personal merits, which rose not above mediocrity. The news of\nJulian\u2019s death was carried to Sapor the Persian king by deserters, and\nhe, inspirited by the death of his most formidable enemy, pursued the\nretreating army with increased vigour. On one occasion the heavy\u2013armed\nhorse and elephants broke the Jovian and Herculean legions which had\nbeen trained to war in the able school of Diocletian; on another the\nPersian cavalry broke into the camp, and penetrated almost to the\nemperor\u2019s tent. At length, after five days of constant harass and\nalarm, they reached the town of Dura on the Tigris. Four days were here\nconsumed in repelling the unceasing attacks of the Persians, until\nthe army, impatient of this daily annoyance, hopeless of bringing the\nenemy to battle, and stimulated by a notion that the Roman frontier was\nat no great distance, impatiently demanded permission to recross the\nTigris. The emperor and his officers in vain pointed out to them the\nriver swollen by the summer floods, and entreated them not to trust\nits dangerous whirlpools: they represented that most of the troops\nwere unable to swim, and showed the enemy, who lined the opposite\nbank of the overflowed river. But when these arguments proved vain,\nand dissatisfaction seemed ready to end in mutiny, a reluctant order\nwas given that the Gauls and Germans, trained to the passage of rapid\nrivers from their youth, should first risk the attempt; in expectation\nthat the others\u2019 obstinacy would be overcome by the spectacle of\ntheir fate, or else that their success would embolden and encourage\nthe less able. Accordingly, as soon as the fall of night concealed\ntheir purpose, they passed the river, swimming or supported by skins,\noccupied the opposite bank, and made slaughter of the Persians, who had\nbeen lulled to sleep by the fancied security of their position. Their\ncomrades, informed of their success by signal, were only restrained\nfrom emulating their courage and success by the engineers undertaking\nto construct a bridge upon inflated hides. But these attempts were\nbaffled by the strength of the stream, and at the end of two days,\nall sorts of food being consumed, the soldiery, reduced to want and\ndesperation, were loud in complaint of the ignoble death for which they\nwere reserved.\n\nThis would have been the time for a vigorous and decisive blow; but the\nPersian king was staggered in his confidence by the Romans\u2019 obstinate\nand successful resistance. The destruction among his troops had been\nsevere; the loss of elephants unequalled in any former war: while\nhis foes were seasoned and encouraged by a continuance of successful\nresistance, and, instead of being intimidated by the death of their\nnoble general, seemed rather to consult revenge than safety, careless\nwhether they were extricated from their difficulty by a brilliant\nvictory or a memorable death. These considerations, and the yet\nunbroken power of the empire, induced him to send ambassadors to treat\nof peace. But the conditions proposed were hard and humiliating,\nand four days were spent amid the agonies of famine in fruitlessly\ndiscussing what was best to be done, which if diligently employed would\nhave brought the army into the fruitful district of Corduene, distant\nbut a hundred and fifty miles from the scene of their sufferings. Five\nprovinces situated east of the Tigris were to be given up, together\nwith three important fortresses in Mesopotamia, Castra Maurorum,\nSingara, and Nisibis, the latter uncaptured since the Mithridatic wars,\nand regarded as the especial key of the East. The strong expression of\nAmmianus is, that it would have been better to have fought ten battles,\nthan to have surrendered one of these things. But a crowd of flatterers\nsurrounded the timid prince; they urged the necessity of a speedy\nreturn, lest other pretenders to the empire should start up, and his\nweak and easy temper was readily persuaded to acquiesce.\n\nThe delay occasioned by these negotiations, in which, in return for\nsuch important concessions, even the safe passage of the Tigris was\nnot provided for, proved fatal to numbers, who, impatient of the\nsufferings which they endured, plunged secretly into the stream, and\nwere swallowed up by its eddies, or, if they reached the shore, were\nslain or sold into a distant captivity by the Saracens and Persians.\nAnd when at last the trumpet gave the signal of passage, it was\nwonderful to see how every one hurried to escape the danger which they\nstill feared upon the eastern bank. Wicker vessels hastily constructed,\nto which their beasts of burthen were attached, or the hides of sheep\nand oxen, were the precarious means of transport to which most were\nreduced: the emperor and his suite crossed in a few small boats which\nhad laboriously accompanied the march, and continued to ply backwards\nand forwards, as long as any remained upon the farther shore. News came\nmeanwhile that the Persians were constructing a bridge, with intent of\nfalling suddenly and secretly upon the exhausted enemy; but either the\nintelligence was false, or the betrayal of their intention caused the\nPersians to desist from the meditated treachery, and Jovian, released\nfrom this apprehension, arrived by long and fatiguing marches at the\ntown of Hatra, of ancient fame in the wars of Trajan and Severus. From\nhence, for seventy miles, an arid plain extended, offering only salt,\nfetid water, and the bitter, nauseous herbs of the desert: and such\nprovision as opportunity afforded was made for the further march by\nfilling the water vessels, and slaughtering camels and other beasts\nof burthen. But a six days\u2019 march, through a country where not even\ngrass was to be found, reduced them to extremity; and it was with no\nsmall joy that they hailed a convoy of provisions, doubly welcome as\nproviding for the relief of present distress, and assuring the fidelity\nof Procopius and Sebastian, the powerful officers whom Julian had sent\nto co\u2013operate with him in Armenia. Passing Thilsaphata the army at\nlength reached Nisibis, and found an end of its distresses under the\nwalls of the city, which the emperor was unwilling, perhaps ashamed, to\nenter.\n\nIn all these cases the thirst of conquest worked its own punishment by\nsubjecting its votaries to the guidance of will instead of reason, and\nlike all other passions, when indulged, misleading them both as to the\ncharacter and the probable consequence of their actions. The expedition\nof Darius is said, indeed, to have been prompted by policy; but we look\nin vain for prudence and sound judgment in his unavailing pursuit of\nthe Scythians, in his protracted stay, in the treacherous abandonment\nof a part of his army, or in his hurried retreat; while his resolution\n(if Herodotus be credited) of destroying the bridge, and thus, in case\nof reverses, cutting off all hope of escape, could only have been\nsuggested by a frantic presumption in his own power and fortune. In\nthe other cases an eager desire and hope of terminating the war by one\ndecisive blow, and a well\u2013grounded confidence that in fair field no\ntroops would stand the shock of the Roman legions, stifled the voice of\ncommon sense, of wisdom and of experience, which concurred in teaching\nthat the desired opportunity was attainable only by the enemy\u2019s\nmisconduct, and that the failure of success necessarily involved severe\nmisfortune. We may draw from hence a lesson touching the pernicious\ninfluence of power and prosperity upon the mind. The warning of Amasis\nto Polycrates[208] contains valuable instruction, though we reject\nthe superstitious and unworthy notion of the Deity upon which it is\nfounded, and the equally superstitious remedy proposed. It is true\nthat a life of unbroken prosperity is frequently terminated by some\nmemorable reverse, but the effect of such prosperity upon ourselves\nis the greatest of evils, and the parent of all the others which may\nbefall us: and this chapter may be considered as a supplement to the\none which has been devoted to the effects of absolute power upon\nthe morals and intellect; for the judicial blindness produced by an\ninferior degree of grandeur and good fortune resembles that species of\ninsanity which we have noticed, and differs from it rather in degree\nthan in nature. History abounds in examples of such infatuation; the\nmost striking and perhaps the most important of them, it has been\nreserved for our own age to witness.\n\nIf ever there was an instance of a powerful mind delivered over\nfor its ruin to a strong delusion, it is to be found in Napoleon\u2019s\ncampaign in Russia. An unparalleled series of victories appears to\nhave confirmed the turn of his mind to fatalism, and to have inspired\na belief that no difficulties were insuperable by his genius and\nfortune. It is in such a belief, and in his natural resoluteness of\npurpose, aggravated into inflexibility by the habit of dictating to\nall who came within his widely extended sphere, that we must look for\nthe explanation of conduct into which no man would have been betrayed\nwhile in the full and sane possession of his judgment, however just\nand unbounded his confidence in himself and his troops. That he was\nfully aware of the difficulties which he was about to meet (it is\nimpossible that they should have escaped his penetration) is evident\nfrom his own declarations. \u201cFor masses like those we are about to move,\nif precautions be not taken, the grain of no country can suffice. The\nresult of my movements will be to assemble four hundred thousand men\non a single point. There will be nothing to expect from the country,\nand it will be necessary to have everything within ourselves.\u201d[209]\nImmense preparations were accordingly made, but made in vain, for a\nvery small portion of them ever reached the borders of Russia, and\nthose too late to supply the needs of the army. It is here that the\nobstinacy and infatuation of which we have spoken first appear. Too\nimpatient to wait for the supplies which he had declared indispensable,\nand unable to resist the temptation of endeavouring to gain his object\nby one decisive stroke, Napoleon plunged headlong into a savage\ncountry, without a commissariat, and with a most insufficient hospital\ndepartment, and suffered grievous loss before an enemy was even seen.\nWithout anything approaching to a general action, the effective force\nunder his immediate command was reduced in six weeks, between the\npassage of the Niemen and his departure from Witepsk, from two hundred\nand ninety\u2013seven thousand to one hundred and eighty\u2013five thousand;\nand was besides in so shattered and unsoldier\u2013like a condition, that a\nfortnight later, at Smolensk, Napoleon himself declared halt or retreat\nto be impracticable. \u201cThis army cannot stop: with its composition, and\nin its disorganized state, movement alone supports it. We may advance\nat its head, but not stop or retreat. It is an army of attack, not of\ndefence; of operation, not of position.\u201d[210] The desperate enterprise\nwas therefore pursued, and the nominal victory of Borodino, which\ncost in killed and wounded thirty thousand men, gave Moscow into his\nhands\u2014the specious prize which he hazarded so much to gain. But the\nadvantages hoped from its possession vanished when in his grasp, and\nthis seeming success proved but a snare to disguise his failure, and\nensure destruction by delaying retreat.\n\nWe probably shall never be satisfied as to the real origin of the\nconflagration of Moscow. If the voluntary act of the Russian people,\nit deserves to be classed, with the abandonment of Athens, among the\nnoblest acts of patriotism recorded; but with this difference, that the\nAthenians trusted their property to the victor\u2019s mercy, the Russians\ninflicted on themselves the utmost losses of war, rather than allow\nan invader to profit by the shelter of their homes. That a rugged but\ndeep love of their country did animate even those among them who had\nleast to love, is certain. Palaces and hamlets were alike committed to\nthe flames; the serf and the prince were equally indignant at their\nnational injuries. \u201cIt is an admitted fact, that when the French, in\norder to induce their refractory prisoners to labour in their service,\nbranded some of them in the hand with the letter N. as a sign that they\nwere the serfs of Napoleon, one peasant laid his hand upon a block of\nwood, and struck it off with the axe which he held in the other, in\norder to free himself from the supposed thraldom.\u201d[211]\n\nNapoleon depended on the possession of Moscow as a sure means of\ndictating peace to Russia on his own terms. As formerly at Vienna and\nBerlin, he expected to give laws in the Kremlin to a conquered nation;\nand his disappointment in finding this vantage\u2013ground crumble under his\nfeet was extreme. It was lost, however, irrecoverably lost, for the\nRussians had no longer anything to hope or fear for their capital, and\nMoscow, ruined and deserted, was no place for the invader to pass a\nfive\u2013months\u2019 winter in. Policy therefore prompted an immediate retreat,\nsufficient time being allowed to refresh and re\u2013organize the army; but\nNapoleon still clung with obstinacy to his original plan of dictating\na peace to Alexander from his capital, and sacrificed a fortnight of\nprecious time to this deceitful hope. It was frustrated; the Russian\nmonarch refused to listen to any overtures of peace, and the French,\nwho on the 12th of September had hailed Moscow as the goal of their\nlabours, quitted it on the 19th of October, to retrace their steps over\na ravaged country through a numerous and exasperated enemy.\n\nWe must touch very lightly upon the horrors of the retreat, confining\nourselves to a brief statement of the leading facts, and of the results\nof the whole. Famine, cold, and the sword combined to punish an unjust\naggression. When the French left Moscow they numbered one hundred and\ntwenty thousand men under arms, with an immense train of baggage and\ncamp followers: in twenty\u2013six days, from October 19th to November\n13th, when the Emperor quitted Smolensk, their organized force was\nreduced to thirty\u2013six thousand men, and they had lost three hundred\ncannon. Napoleon\u2019s partisans have tried to shelter him from blame, by\nalleging the premature rigour of winter as the cause of this wholesale\ndestruction. No doubt cold was the main agent in it, but the nature of\na Russian winter was well known, and should have been considered in the\nscheme of the campaign; and so far was it from being premature, that\nthe frost did not begin till November 7th, only three days before the\nFrench van and the Emperor arrived at Smolensk. Other causes aided to\nproduce this result. Napoleon intended to return to the above\u2013named\ntown by the unwasted route of Kalouga and Medyn, but the Russian\narmy barred his way, and, after an obstinate contest,[212] turned him\nback on the ravaged country through which he had already passed. Here\nneither food, shelter, nor clothing could be procured, and thousands\nfell victims rather to the want of all appliances to bear it, than to\nthe intolerable severity of the winter itself. Numbers fell in battle,\nor were intercepted and slain, or made prisoners by the ever active\nhostility of the Cossacks who hovered round their march: still the loss\nsustained in warfare was small in comparison to that which resulted\nfrom the combined operation of hunger and cold. The appearance of this\nnew enemy, and its effects, moral and physical, are powerfully, though\nrather theatrically, described by the Comte de Segur, himself a sharer\nin the miseries which he describes.\n\n\u201cOn the 6th of November the sky declared itself. Its azure disappeared.\nThe army marched enveloped in cold vapours, which soon thickened into\na vast cloud, and descended in large flakes of snow upon us. It seemed\nas if the sky were coming down, and uniting with this hostile land and\npeople to complete our ruin. All things are indistinguishable; while\nthe soldier struggles to force his way through the drifting whirlwind,\nthe driven snow fills up all hollows, and its surface conceals unknown\ndepths which yawn under our feet. The men are swallowed by them, and\nthe weakest, resigning themselves to fate, there find a grave. Those\nwho follow turn aside, but the storm dashes in their faces the snow\nfrom heaven and the drift from the earth, and seems to oppose itself\nrancorously to their march. The Russian winter under this new form\nattacks them from all sides; it pierces their thin dress and torn\nshoes. Their wet clothes freeze on them, a sharp and strong wind\nimpedes their breath, which at the instant of expiration forms round\nthe mouth icicles depending from the beard. The wretches, shivering,\nstill drag themselves on, till the snow which clogs their feet, or\nsome chance obstacle, causes them to stumble and fall. There they\ngroan in vain: the snow soon covers them; slight elevations alone\ndistinguish them: behold their graves! Everywhere the road is strewn\nwith these undulations like a burial\u2013ground: the most fearless, the\nmost unfeeling are moved, and turn aside their eyes as they pass in\nhaste. But before, around, every thing is snow\u2014the sight is lost in\nthis immense and sad uniformity; the imagination is astounded: it is\nlike a huge winding\u2013sheet, with which nature envelops the army. The\nonly objects which appear from out it are sombre pines, trees of the\ntombs, with their funereal verdure; and the gigantic fixedness of their\nblack trunks and their deep gloom complete this desolate aspect of a\ngeneral mourning, and of an army dying amid the decease of nature....\nThen comes the night, a night of sixteen hours! But on that snow which\ncovers all things, one knows not where to stop, where to rest, where\nto find roots for food, or dry wood for firing. However, fatigue,\ndarkness, and repeated orders stop those whom their own physical and\nmoral force, and the efforts of their officers, have retained together.\nThey seek to establish themselves; but the ever\u2013active storm scatters\nthe first preparations for a bivouac. The pines, laden with hoar\u2013frost,\nresist the flames; and the snow upon them, mixed with that which falls\ncontinually from the sky, and that lying on the earth, which melts\nwith the efforts of the soldier and the first effect of the fires,\nextinguishes those fires and the strength and courage of the men.\n\n\u201cWhen the flame at length is raised, officers and soldiers prepare\naround it their sad meal, composed of lean and bloody fragments of\nflesh, torn from wornout horses, and, for a very few, some spoonfuls\nof rye flour diluted with snow\u2013water. The next day soldiers, laid\nstone\u2013dead in circles, mark the bivouacs, and the ground about them is\nstrewed with the bodies of many thousand horses.\n\n\u201cFrom this day, men began to reckon less upon each other. In this\narmy, lively, susceptible of all impressions, and inclined to speculate\nfrom its advanced civilization, disorder soon gained footing,\ndiscouragement and insubordination spread rapidly, the imagination\nwandering without bounds in evil as well as good. Henceforward at every\nbivouac, at every difficult passage, some portion of the yet organized\ntroops detached itself, and fell into disorder. Yet there were some who\nresisted this mighty contagion: they were the officers, subalterns,\nand seasoned soldiers. These were extraordinary men; they encouraged\nthemselves by repeating the name of Smolensk, which they felt they were\napproaching, and where everything had been promised to them.\n\n\u201cThus since this deluge of snow, and the redoubled cold which it\nannounced, all, officers and soldiers alike, preserved or lost their\nstrength of mind, according to their age, their character, and\ntemperament. He of our chiefs, whom till then we had seen the strictest\nin maintaining discipline, now found himself no longer in his element.\nThrown out of all his fixed ideas of regularity and method, he was\nreduced to despair by so universal a disorder, and judging sooner than\nothers that all was lost, he felt himself ready to abandon all.\u201d[213]\n\nThe army quitted Smolensk in four divisions: that under the command of\nthe Emperor, which led the way, marched on the 14th November. Ney, who\nthroughout this long retreat brought up the rear, who distinguished\nhimself amid its horrors by indomitable courage and constancy, and was\nhailed by the general voice as the hero of the army, remained behind\nuntil the 17th. On the 20th all were once more united at Oreza, after\nseven days of almost continued fighting, in which nothing but the\nsluggishness of the Russian general saved the French from destruction,\nand Napoleon from captivity or death. Opposed with fifteen thousand\nmen, half starved and half armed, to a force treble that number, and\nin good condition, the Russians must have overthrown him by mere\nphysical force, had they ventured upon a vigorous attack; but even in\nhis distresses the presence of Napoleon inspired awe. At no time do\nthe brilliant qualities of the French troops appear more conspicuous\nthan in this disastrous retreat: headed on all sides, inclosed by an\noverwhelming force, every general outman\u0153uvred or cut his way through\nthe enemy,[214] fortunate if it cost him but half of his corps to\npreserve the remainder from the disgrace of surrender. Between Smolensk\nand Oreza the army was still further reduced to twelve thousand men,\nwho still preserved their arms and their discipline, encumbered with\nthirty thousand stragglers, who grievously increased its wants and its\nembarrassments, without adding a single bayonet to its strength.\n\nHitherto its retreat had been unopposed, the Russian army having\nbeen unwilling or unable to head the French and compel them to force\na passage by the sword; and being in possession of Oreza, it passed\nthe river Dnieper at that town without opposition. But Admiral\nTchitchagoff, the general in command of the Moldavian army, which was\nopposed to the Austrians on the south\u2013eastern end of the French base\nof operation, finding them slack and unenterprising in the cause of\nan ally, or master rather, to whom in truth they owed little good\nwill, left merely a division in the duchy of Warsaw to observe their\nmovements, and himself marched upon Minsk and Borizoff, to cut off\nNapoleon\u2019s retreat. At the latter town there was a bridge over the\nBeresina, the place itself being on the eastern bank, and on the\npossession of the town and command of the bridge depended the means\nof crossing that river. Tchitchagoff however, owing to some mistake\nof the French general opposed to him, had taken that town, and though\nafterwards expelled, had made the bridge impassable in his retreat.\nIt was necessary, therefore, to seek a passage elsewhere, and a place\nabove Borizoff, called Studzianka, was selected, where the river was\nonly fifty\u2013five fathoms across. The chance seemed desperate, for the\nopposite heights were occupied by six thousand Russians, and bridges\nwere to be built, and the army was to defile across them under their\nfire; but desperate as it was, this seemed their only hope, and\nNapoleon quitting the highway plunged into the thick pine\u2013woods which\nborder the Beresina, to conceal his march. The joy of the army may\nwell be imagined, when, in traversing these forests, they met the\ndivision of Victor, of fifty thousand men, in good order, which had\nbeen employed in checking Wittgenstein upon the western flank. \u201cThey\nwere ignorant of our disasters, which had been carefully hidden even\nfrom their chiefs. So that when, instead of a grand victorious column\nreturning from Moscow, they saw behind Napoleon nothing but a train\nof squalid spectres, covered with rags, with women\u2019s pelisses, pieces\nof carpet, or squalid cloaks scorched red and burnt into holes by the\nfires, their feet wrapped up in tatters of all sorts, they stopped in\nterror. They saw with affright these poor fleshless soldiers file past,\nwith faces like the grave, bristled with ghastly beards, without arms,\nwithout shame, marching in disorder with downcast heads, eyes fixed on\nthe earth, and silent like a troop of captives.\u201d[215] So contagious was\nthis spectacle, that on the first day two corps of Victor\u2019s army fell\ninto the same state of disorganization.\n\nAmong other attempts to deceive Tchitchagoff and make him believe that\na passage would be attempted elsewhere, some Jews had been interrogated\nconcerning the passes of the river; and to secure the breach of their\nfaith, they had been sworn to meet the army on the Beresina, below\nBorizoff, with intelligence of the enemy. The stratagem succeeded;\nthey carried a false report to the Admiral, and he and Napoleon turned\ntheir backs on each other, and while the latter marched up the river\nto Studzianka, the former marched down it to a ford at Oukoholda. All\nnight the French laboured to construct a bridge, expecting momentarily\nthe first salvo of the Russian artillery. Napoleon passed a restless\nand agitated night in a ch\u00e2teau near the river, continually repairing\nto the spot on which his last hope of escape rested. At morning, when\nall were prepared for a desperate and almost hopeless struggle, they\nwere equally astonished and delighted to see the Russian watch\u2013fires\nabandoned and the opposing force in full retreat. Napoleon would\nscarce believe the tidings, and when at last convinced by the evidence\nof his own eyes, he cried in transport, \u201cThen I have outwitted the\nAdmiral.\u201d[216]\n\nThat day, November 26th, two bridges were completed, and the opposite\nbank was occupied by Ney. Two days and two nights elapsed before the\nRussians came up, but this valuable respite was lost, owing to the\nbreaking of the bridge for artillery, and the insubordination of the\nstragglers, which rendered it impossible to force them across. On the\nnight of the 26th they were dispersed among the neighbouring villages;\non the 27th men, horses, and carriages rushed in an overwhelming mass,\nand choked the narrow entrance of the bridges: all efforts to restore\norder were fruitless, and it was necessary to employ force to clear a\npassage for the Emperor. A corps of grenadiers of the Guard declined\nfrom mere pity to open for themselves a way through these wretches.\nOn the approach of night another simultaneous movement drove them all\nto seek shelter in the village of Studzianka, which was torn down to\nfurnish materials for fires, from which they could not be moved; and\nthus another night was lost.\n\nOn the 28th, while Tchitchagoff on the right bank in vain endeavoured\nto drive Ney back upon the bridges, Wittgenstein, with vastly superior\nforces, attacked Victor, who still remained on the left bank with 6000\nmen to cover the retreat of his unhappy comrades. The first thunder of\nthe artillery drove this confused mass pell\u2013mell from their bivouacs to\nthe bridge, and the first Russian bullet which fell among them seemed\nthe signal of distraction and despair. The horrors of the scene which\nensued are almost too great for description. The more desperate forced\na way sword in hand through the crowd; others, prompted by a horrible\navarice, crushed their fellow\u2013creatures under their carriage\u2013wheels,\nrather than abandon the booty hitherto preserved with such labour;\nwhile those who felt themselves unequal to the struggle sat apart in\nsilence, their eyes fixed on the snow which was soon to be their tomb.\nOnce driven from the direct passage, men struggled in vain to climb the\nsides of the bridge; they were mercilessly forced back into the river:\neven women, their infants in their arms, shared this fate.\n\nIn the midst of this disorder the bridge for artillery broke, and all\nupon it, hurried on by the press, were ingulfed in the stream. The\nshriek of the perishing multitude rose high above the storm and the\nbattle: a witness of the scene declared that for weeks that horrible\nsound never quitted his ears. Artillery and waggons then poured to the\nother bridge, and on the steep and icy bank whole ranks were prostrated\nunder their wheels, or crushed between their unmanageable weights. The\nnoise of the storm, the roaring of cannon, the combined whistling of\nthe wind and bullets, the bursting of shells, the cries, the groans,\nthe fearful imprecations of the crowd, united in as horrible a concert\nas ever was presented to human ears. At nine at night Victor, who till\nthen had kept Wittgenstein in check, commenced his retreat, and opened\na dreadful passage through the wretches whom he had hitherto defended.\nA rear\u2013guard was still left, and the bridges were allowed to stand\nthat night, but in vain; men seemed to lose their reason with their\ndiscipline, and to be stupified by the horrors of their situation. The\nbaggage and plunder, to which they clung so obstinately, was burnt:\nstill it was impossible to drive them on. The next morning the French\nset fire to the bridge, and numbers lost their lives in a final effort\nof despair, endeavouring to swim the icy river or to cross upon the\nburning rafters. After the thaw, according to the Russian reports,\n36,000 bodies were found in the Beresina.[217]\n\nThe French, having forced back and defeated Tchitchagoff, were now\ndelivered from all immediate danger; and Napoleon, who had hitherto\nrefused to quit the army, hastened to Paris, where internal affairs\ncalled for his presence, leaving Murat his successor in command. From\nthis time forward the Russians, except Platoff and his Cossacks,\ndesisted from the pursuit; but this alleviation of their misfortunes\nwas fully compensated by other evils. A change had already taken place\nin the weather; the storms which had hitherto been experienced were\nsucceeded by a still more dreadful calm. Icy needles were seen floating\nin the air; the very birds fell stiff and frozen, everything possessing\nlife or motion seemed congealed by the intensity of cold.\n\n\u201cIn this empire of death we passed on like unhappy spirits. The dull,\nuniform sound of our march, the crackling of the snow, the low groans\nof dying men, alone broke this mighty melancholy silence. There was no\nmore anger, no more imprecations, nothing to indicate a trace of heat;\nstrength scarce remained even for prayer, and the majority fell even\nwithout complaint, whether through weakness or resignation, or that men\nonly complain when they hope to move, and believe that they are pitied.\n\n\u201cIn fact, when for an instant they stopped through exhaustion, the\nwinter laid her icy hand on them, and seized them as her prey. It\nwas in vain then that, feeling themselves numbed, they arose, and\nspeechless, stupified, advanced some paces like automatons: the blood\nfreezing in their veins checked the beating of their hearts, and\nthence rushed to the head; then stricken by death, they staggered like\ndrunken men. Real tears of blood dropped from their eyes, inflamed by\nthe unvaried glare of snow, by want of sleep, and by the smoke of the\nbivouacs; deep sighs burst from their breasts; they looked to heaven,\nto us, and to the earth with a dismayed, fixed, and wild eye; it was\ntheir last adieu, perhaps a reproach to that savage nature which so\ntormented them. Soon they dropped, on their knees first, then on their\nhands; their heads wandered still some moments to right and left; a few\nsounds of agony escaped from the gasping mouth, which in its turn fell\non the snow, and reddened it with livid blood, and their sufferings\nwere over.\n\n\u201cSuch were the last days of the grand army; its last nights were still\nmore dreadful. When surprised by the dark at a distance from all\ndwellings, they stopped on the border of some wood; there they lighted\nfires, before which they spent the night, upright and immoveable as\nspectres. Unable to get enough of heat, they crowded so close to them,\nthat their clothes and even frozen portions of their bodies were burnt.\nThen a horrible pain compelled them to enlarge their circle, and on the\nmorrow they endeavoured in vain to rise.\u201d[218]\n\nWe trace no further the details of suffering too great for human\nendurance. Sixty thousand men are computed to have crossed the\nBeresina. Loison, with 15,000, advanced from Wilna to meet and protect\nthem; he lost 12,000 by three days of frost. Other reinforcements\njoined the retreat; yet of this total, amounting fully to 80,000 men,\nthere recrossed the Niemen but 20,000 stragglers, nine cannon, and 1000\ninfantry and cavalry under arms, and the merit of preserving this\nremnant belongs to Ney alone. Murat, to whom Napoleon at his departure\nintrusted the command\u2013in\u2013chief, and other marshals, had ceased to issue\norders, or commanding, had ceased to be obeyed: Ney alone retained some\ninfluence and authority. Ever last in the retreat, with a rearguard\nsometimes of twenty men, he opposed a bold front to his pursuers, and\npre\u2013eminently merited the title of \u201cbravest of the brave,\u201d when the\ntried valour of others was changed into confusion and despair.\n\nScott\u2019s summary of the total loss in the campaign runs thus:\u2014\n\n  Slain in battle                        125,000\n  Died from fatigue, hunger, and }\n    the severity of the climate  }       132,000\n  Prisoners, comprehending 48    }\n    generals, 3000 officers, and }       193,000\n    upwards of 190,000 soldiers  }\n                                        \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n                                         450,000\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nEND OF VOL. I.\n\nLondon: Printed by W. CLOWES and Sons, Stamford Street.\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n                                                        Page\n\n  Battle between Theseus and a Centaur, from a design of\n  Flaxman              11\n\n  Warrior, in the undress of the heroic age         39\n\n  Head of Hercules, from a Camarin\u00e6an coin          ib.\n\n  Medal of Caligula         114\n\n  Profile of the Emperor Paul          152\n\n  Cosmo de\u2019 Medici, from a Florentine medal       153\n\n  Lorenzo de\u2019 Medici, from ditto        189\n\n  Giuliano de\u2019 Medici, from ditto          189\n\n  Head of Napoleon, from the series of Napoleon medals       190\n\n  Medal struck by Napoleon after the retreat from Moscow,\n  from ditto          237\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAll the medals have been engraved from the originals preserved in the\nBritish Museum.\n\n\n\n\n                                 INDEX\n\n\nAlp Arslan, 93.\n\nAntony, retreat of, from Parthia, 211-213.\n\nAristogiton, 169-174.\n\nAristomenes, 40-54.\n\n\nBajazet, imprisoned by Tamerlane, 86.\n  ----his treatment of French prisoners, 88-92.\n\nBrooke, death of Lord, 134.\n\nBuchan, Countess of, imprisoned by Edward I., 87, 88.\n\n\nCaligula, 134-143.\n\nCambyses, 120-131.\n\nCleomenes, 132, 133.\n\nCrassus, retreat and death of, 198-211.\n\nCr\u0153sus, 77-80, 156.\n\nCylon, insurrection of, 154.\n\n\nDarius, invasion of Scythia by, 190-198.\n\n\nEngland, state of, under first Norman kings, 23-27.\n\n\nFatalism, 156-161.\n\n\nGreek history, mythic period of, 11-13, 21-23.\n\nGuesclin, Bertrand du, treatment by Black Prince, 103, 104, 108-113.\n\n\nHarmodius, 169-174.\n\nHereward le Wake, 54-58.\n\nHipparchus and Hippias, 168-174.\n\n\nJohn, King of France, treatment by Black Prince, 105-107.\n\nJulian, Emperor, invasion of Parthia, and death, 213-223.\n\n\nMedici, Cosmo de\u2019, 175-180.\n  ----Piero, 181.\n  ----Lorenzo and Julian, 181-189.\n\nMessenians, early history of, 40-54.\n\n\nNapoleon, retreat from Moscow 224-237.\n\n\nPaul, Emperor, 143-152.\n\nPazzi, conspiracy of, 183-189.\n\nPedro, Don, King of Castile, 31-36.\n\nPisistratus, 163-168.\n\nPower, effects of absolute, 114-119.\n\nPrisoners of war, treatment of, 77-113.\n\n\nReedman, Sir Matthew, anecdote from Froissart, 100-102.\n\nRetreat of Darius from Scythia, 196-198;\n  ----Antony from Parthia, 211-213;\n  ----Julian in Assyria, 213-223;\n  ----Napoleon from Moscow, 225-237;\n  ----Ney in Russia, 190, 194;\n  ----Hawkwood in Lombardy, 194-197.\n\nRoncesvalles, battle of, 74-85.\n\n\nScandinavia, compared with Greece in its early state, 9-20.\n\n\nTriumphs, Roman, 82-86.\n\nTrojan War, 36-39.\n\n\nValerian, treatment by Sapor, 85, 86.\n\n\nWallace, 58-76.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] A striking instance of this occurs in Justin. Speaking of Harmodius\nand Aristogiton (see chap. v.), he says, \u201cOne of the murderers, being\nput to the torture to extract the names of his accomplices, enumerated\nall the nearest friends of Hippias. These were all put to death, and\nbeing asked whether any others were privy to his designs, he answered,\nthat now none remained whom he wished to perish, except the tyrant\nhimself. The city, admonished by his virtue, expelled Hippias.\u201d\u2014Lib.\nii. 9. The _virtue_ of this act consisted in sacrificing innocent lives\nto his revenge, by means of a lying accusation: and the stern endurance\nof this man is dignified with the praise of fortitude and patriotism,\nwithout the slightest reference to its atrocious injustice. The story\nitself rests upon Justin\u2019s authority, and may reasonably be rejected as\nan improbable fiction.\n\n[2] The cluster of the Archipelago nearest Attica.\n\n[3] The Greeks called all other nations barbarians, which generally\nmeans no more than people of a different stock.\n\n[4] So Nestor addresses Telemachus, \u201cStrangers, who are you, from\nwhence do you navigate the watery way? Is it with any settled purpose,\nor do you roam at hazard like robbers over the sea, who wander wagering\ntheir own lives, bearing evil to others?\u201d Odyss. iii. 71.\n\n[5] Thucyd. book i. chap. 4, 5, 6. We use Hobbes\u2019 translation.\n\n[6] Turner, Ang.\u2013Sax.\n\n[7] Bartholinus, De Causis Contempt\u00e6 a Danis Mortis, lib. ii. 9.\n\n[8] Saxo, lib. vii.\n\n[9] Bartholinus, ii. 5.\n\n[10] Barthol., l. ii. 9.\n\n[11] We speak with some degree of doubt, both from the fluctuating\nnotions of the Greeks upon this head, and from imperfect acquaintance\nwith their opinions. The unhesitating belief of the Celtic nations\nin a happy immortality was known even in the time of Lucan, and is\ncelebrated by him in a fine and well\u2013known passage. The immortality\nof Homer\u2019s heroes was mournful and discontented. \u201cTalk not to me of\ndeath,\u201d says Achilles (Od. xi. 487), \u201cI would rather be the hired\nservant of some needy man, whose means of life are scanty, than rule\nover the whole of the deceased.\u201d Other passages to the same effect are\ncollected at the beginning of the third book of the Republic, by Plato,\nwho objects seriously to their effect as making death an object of\nterror. Yet, in another passage, Homer speaks of the \u201cElysian plain,\nand the ends of the earth, where man\u2019s life is easiest, where there\nis no snow, nor rain, nor winter, but thither ocean ever wafts the\nclear\u2013toned gales of the west to refresh men.\u201d (Od. iv. 565.) Hesiod,\non the other hand (Works and Days, v. 166), and, some centuries after,\nPindar (Ol. ii.), speak of a future life as perfectly happy, describing\nit in terms closely similar to those of the last quotation from Homer.\nAll these writers appear to place their happiness in perfect rest: the\nblessed are no longer compelled to till the earth, or navigate the\nocean; they lead a _careless_ life; there is no reference to sensual\npleasures, except that the earth produces fruits spontaneously thrice\na year, nor even to their continuing to take delight in arms or in the\nchace. In later authors they are described as retaining the habits and\npleasures of life: see the note on the scholium of Callistratus, chap.\nv.; Ov. Met. iv. 444; and more especially the passage in Virgil, vi.\n651, which, but for wanting the personal superintendence of Odin, bears\nmuch resemblance to a refined Valhalla.\n\n  The chief beheld their chariots from afar,\n  Their shining arms, and coursers trained to war;\n  Their lances fixed in earth, their steeds around,\n  Free from their harness, graze the flowery ground.\n  The love of horses, which they had alive,\n  And care of chariots, after death survive.\n  Some cheerful souls were feasting on the plain,\n  Some did the song and some the choir maintain.\n\n  _Dryden._\n\nMitford, on the other hand, says, that \u201cthe drunken paradise of the\nScandinavian Odin was really a notion, as we learn from Plato, of the\nhighest antiquity among the Greeks.\u201d (Chap. ii. sect. 1.) He has not,\nhowever, given references, and we much regret that we have not been\nable to find the passage.\n\n[12] He had the advantage over Hercules here; see the Alcestes, v. 763,\ned. Monk.\n\n[13] Joannes Magnus, Hist. Gothorum.\n\n[14] We quote here, and in future, from Sir Thomas North\u2019s translation,\nA.D. 1579. North translated from the French of Amyot. His\nversion has been compared with the original, and corrected.\n\n[15] Ingram\u2019s Saxon Chronicle.\n\n[16] Gesta Stephani, ap. Duchesne, Script. Normann. p. 961, 2.\n\n[17] William of Malmesbury, Hist. Novell. lib. ii.\n\n[18] Henry of Huntingdon, De Episcopis sui temporis.\n\n[19] Perhaps this is too positively asserted. No doubt exists as to the\npolitical operation, but it has been questioned whether Theseus had a\nmore real existence than the other heroes who gave their names to, or\nwere named after, the several Athenian tribes. See Arnold\u2019s Thucyd.,\nAppendix II.\n\n[20] History of Greece, p. 5.\n\n[21] History of Greece, p. 6.\n\n[22] The arrival of Theseus at Athens roused Medea\u2019s jealousy, and she\nproposed to poison him. She did not arrive at Athens until some time\nafter she had reached Greece with Jason and the Argonauts; while the\njourney of Theseus from Tr\u0153zen to Athens appears to have been his first\nexploit. Either, therefore, Theseus was not an Argonaut, or this charge\nagainst Medea is ungrounded.\n\n[23] Eteocles and Polynices, the sons of \u0152dipus, agreed, after the\nexpulsion of their father, to reign alternate years in Thebes.\nEteocles, however, at the end of the first year, refused to surrender\nhis power, upon which Polynices laid siege to the city, assisted by six\nother princes. The brothers met in battle, and fell by each other\u2019s\nhands.\n\n[24] Lockhart\u2019s Spanish Ballads.\n\n[25] See a subsequent ballad in the same collection:\u2014\n\n  In her hot cheek the blood mounts high, as she stands gazing down\n  Now on proud Henry\u2019s royal state, his robe and golden crown,\n  And now upon the trampled cloak, that hides not from her view\n  The slaughtered Pedro\u2019s marble brow, and lips of livid hue.\n\n         *       *       *       *       *\n\n  Away she flings her garments, her broidered veil and vest,\n  As if they should behold her love within her lovely breast\u2014\n  As if to call upon her foes the constant heart to see\n  Where Pedro\u2019s form is still enshrined, and evermore shall be.\n\n  But none on fair Maria looks, by none her breast is seen,\n  Save angry heaven, remembering well the murder of the Queen;\n  The wounds of jealous harlot rage, which virgin blood must staunch,\n  And all the scorn that mingled in the bitter cup of Blanch.\n\n  The utter coldness of neglect that haughty spirit stings,\n  As if ten thousand fiends were there, with all their flapping wings.\n  She wraps the veil about her head, as if \u2018twere all a dream,\n  The love\u2014the murder\u2014and the wrath\u2014and that rebellious scream.\n\n  For still there\u2019s shouting on the plain, and spurring far and nigh;\n  \u201cGod save the King\u2014Amen! Amen! King Henry!\u201d is the cry,\n  While Pedro all alone is left upon his bloody bier\u2014\n  Not one remains to cry to God, \u201cOur Lord lies murdered here.\u201d\n\n\n[26] Herod, i. 4. It may be inferred from hence that the high\nestimation of female chastity, and implacable resentment consequent\nupon injuries in that respect, which now characterise Eastern manners,\ndid not prevail in the age of Herodotus. That these feelings did\nprevail at a very remote period, appears from the story of Darius and\nAlexander.\n\n[27] Leland\u2019s Hist. Ireland.\n\n[28] Thucyd. i. 9.\n\n[29] Pausanias evidently founded his account of Aristomenes upon the\ntraditions and legendary ballads of the Messenians; which, probably,\nwere about as historical as Chevy Chase, or the Spanish ballads of the\nCid, and other celebrated warriors. The reader will be on his guard,\ntherefore, against taking all that is here told for veracious history:\nbut we have not attempted to discriminate accurately between truth and\nfiction, which would entirely destroy the spirit and romance of the\nnarrative, very probably without coming nearer to the reality.\n\n[30] Pausanias merely says that the Greeks in general believed Pyrrhus\nto be his father. We have no doubt, from the context, that the hero is\nthe person meant, though the passage has been otherwise interpreted.\nThe practice of deifying eminent men prevailed in Greece at an early\nperiod, though apparently not in the age of Hesiod and Homer. Homer is\nfond indeed of dwelling on the superiority of the past; a superiority\nreferred to the celestial descent of the heroes who then flourished;\nbut he gives us no reason to think that divine honours were paid them.\nIn later times, a patron hero was as necessary to a Grecian, as a\npatron saint formerly to a European city: and there are few names of\neminence in the heroic age, in honour of which temples have not been\nbuilt, and sacred rites instituted. The twelve Athenian tribes had each\nits protecting hero: \u00c6acus and his descendants were believed to preside\nover \u00c6gina and Salamis. It is needless to multiply examples.\n\n[31] Probably this story is founded on the theft of the Palladium by\nnight from Troy, by Ulysses and Diomed. A similar spirit of chivalrous\ndaring, mingled with superstition, suggested a similar enterprise to\nFernando Perez del Pulgar, surnamed \u2018of the Exploits,\u2019 when serving\nat the siege of Granada under Ferdinand of Castile. \u201cWho will stand\nby me,\u201d said he, \u201cin an enterprise of desperate peril?\u201d The Christian\ncavaliers well knew the hair\u2013brained valour of del Pulgar, yet not\none hesitated to step forward. He chose fifteen companions, all men\nof powerful arm and dauntless heart. In the dead of the night he led\nthem forth from the camp, and approached the city cautiously, until\nhe arrived at a postern gate, which opened upon the Darro, and was\nguarded by foot soldiers. The guards, little thinking of such an\nunwonted and partial attack, were for the most part fast asleep. The\ngate was forced, and a confused and chance medley skirmish ensued.\nFernando stopped not to take part in the affray. Putting spurs to his\nhorse, he galloped furiously through the streets, striking fire out of\nthe stones at every bound. Arrived at the principal mosque, he sprang\nfrom his horse, and kneeling at the portal, took possession of the\nedifice as a Christian chapel, dedicating it to the blessed Virgin.\nIn testimony of the ceremony, he took a tablet, which he had brought\nwith him, on which was inscribed, in large letters, Ave Maria, and\nnailed it to the door of the mosque with his dagger. This done, he\nremounted his steed, and galloped back to the gate. The alarm had been\ngiven, the city was in an uproar; soldiers were gathering from every\ndirection. They were astonished at seeing a Christian warrior speeding\nfrom the interior of the city. Fernando, overturning some and cutting\ndown others, rejoined his companions, who still maintained possession\nof the gate by dint of hard fighting, and they all made good their\nretreat to the camp. The Moors were at a loss to conjecture the meaning\nof this wild and apparently fruitless assault, but great was their\nexasperation when, on the following day, they discovered the trophy of\nhardihood and prowess, the Ave Maria, thus elevated in the very centre\nof the city. The mosque, thus boldly sanctified by Fernando Perez del\nPulgar, was eventually, after the capture of Granada, converted into a\ncathedral.\u2014_Washington Irving, Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada_,\nchap. 91.\n\n[32] The spirit\u2013stirring strains, which are said to have produced so\nwonderful an effect, are the dullest longs and shorts that ever were\ncoupled together, if they are the same which have reached us under\nTyrt\u00e6us\u2019s name.\n\n[33] A celebrated oracle; those who entered the cave are commonly said\nnever to have smiled again. It appears, however, from Pausanias, that\nthis loss of the important faculty which is said to distinguish men\nfrom brutes was only temporary. The method of consulting the oracle\nwas singular. The aspirant descended into a cave, where was a small\ncrevice, into which he proceeded to insinuate himself feet foremost.\nSo soon as he had got his knees in, the whole body was sucked forwards\nby an overpowering force, and after passing through the circuit of the\nmysteries, he was ejected, feet foremost, at the place where he had\nentered.\n\n[34]\n\n  _Cade._ The elder of them, being put to nurse,\n        Was by a beggar\u2013woman stolen away:\n        And, ignorant of his birth and parentage,\n        Became a bricklayer, when he came to age.\n        His son am I; deny it if you can.\n\n _Smith._ Sir, he made a chimney in my father\u2019s house, _and the bricks\n are alive to this day to testify it_; therefore deny it not.\n\n  _Henry VI. Part 2_, Act iv., sc. 2.\n\n\n[35] We by no means pledge ourselves to the truth of this piece of\nsecret history, which is not supported by the testimony of earlier\nauthors.\n\n[36] Pausanias, iv. 17.\n\n[37] Ithome was a strong town on Mount Ithome, now Vourkan, in which\nthe Messenians made their last stand in the first war.\n\n[38] When the Messenians were restored by Epaminondas, the locality\nof this deposit was indicated by a dream. It was found to consist\nof a tin plate beaten thin, and folded into the shape of a book,\nupon which were engraved the rites and doctrines of the Eleusinian\nmysteries.\u2014_Pausanias_, iv. 26.\n\n[39] We have retained this story in the text for its intrinsic beauty,\nand regret being obliged to say that it is entirely false. It has been\nshown by Bentley to be inconsistent with Herodotus and Thucydides,\nand is tacitly rejected by Clinton. Zancle was taken by the Samians,\nB.C. 494, at the suggestion of Anaxilas, tyrant of Rhegium;\nwho afterwards expelled the Samians, and filling the city with men of\nvarious nations, called it Messene, being himself of Messenian descent.\n\n[40] Ingulph, Hist. Croyland. In later times the ceremony seems to\nhave been universally religious:\u2014see, for example, the dubbing of\nDon Quixote. We cannot doubt, however, but that Ingulph knew the\npractice of his own times. Probably the Normans, whose conversion to\nChristianity was not of very old standing, still retained a flavour of\nheathenism.\n\n[41] It is interesting to trace the physical changes of the island; the\nformidable swamps above mentioned are now converted into the richest\nland in England, and we doubt whether Peterborough, or Lincoln, then\na centre of trade and commerce, be now accessible to any vessel more\ndignified than a coal\u2013barge or an eight\u2013oared cutter.\n\n[42] \u201cNow (A.D. 1692) Bulldyke Gate, on the south side of the\nmonastery.\u201d\u2014_Gibson\u2019s Saxon Chronicle._\n\n[43] Hugo Candidus.\n\n[44] Bower continued the Scotichronicon of Fordun. The whole work is\nusually quoted under the latter name.\n\n[45] Tytler, History of Scotland, vol. i.\n\n[46] Remainder.\n\n[47] Tidings.\n\n[48] Recovered entirely.\n\n[49] In anger.\n\n[50] Bone.\n\n[51] Stop.\n\n[52] Then.\n\n[53] Cast forcibly.\n\n[54] Caught.\n\n[55] Could.\n\n[56] Knew of no advantage.\n\n[57] Abiding place.\n\n[58] Glanced.\n\n[59] A town in Ayrshire, where many of the insurgents had submitted a\nshort time before.\n\n[60] Hemingford, Hist. Edw. I., ed. Hearne, p. 126\u20139. Barded, clad in\narmour as well as his rider.\n\n[61] Hemingford, Hist. Edw. I., ed. Hearne, p. 134.\n\n[62] His system of war is embodied in some monkish Latin verses called\n\u2018The Bruce\u2019s Testament,\u2019 of which the following is an old Scottish\ntranslation:\u2014\n\n  On fut suld be all Scottis weire,\n  Be hyll and moss thaimself to weire,\n  Lat wod for wallis be; bow, and spier,\n  And battle\u2013axe, their fechting gear.\n  That ennymeis do thaim na dreire\n  In strait placis gar keip all stoire,\n  And birnen the planen land thaim befoire.\n  Thanan sall they pass away in haist\n  Quhen that thai find nothing bot waist;\n  With wyles and wakenen of the nycht,\n  And mekil noyse maid on hycht;\n  Thanen shall thai turnen with gret affrai\n  As thai were chasit with swerd away.\n  This is the counsall and intent\n  Of gud King Robert\u2019s testament.\n\n\n[63] Tytler, vol. i.\n\n[64] Rather.\n\n[65] Wyntown, VIII, xv. _v._ 65.\n\n[66] Consigned him to the devil as a traitor.\n\n[67] Promised for his reward.\n\n[68] Fails in obtaining peace.\n\n[69] Taken.\n\n[70] Has ill luck.\n\n[71] Menteith followed so nigh.\n\n[72] Least expected.\n\n[73] Occasion.\n\n[74] Nimmed, taken.\n\n[75] Office.\n\n[76] Strangely.\n\n[77] Sentence he received.\n\n[78] Afterwards.\n\n[79] Alive.\n\n[80] Embowelled him while warm.\n\n[81] Such.\n\n[82] Seized there.\n\n[83] Destroyed where. In many different places.\n\n[84] In memory.\n\n[85] Standards.\n\n[86] Head. Were left (?)\n\n[87] ?\n\n[88] It is not to be feared a traitor shall succeed.\n\n[89] A lad learn (?) to build in peace.\n\n[90] Stow, Edw. I.\n\n[91] It is impossible in English to give the odd effect of the leonine\nrhymes. The meaning of these rude lines may be as rudely given thus:\n\n  Behold the proud and cruel king, who like a leopard dread\n  In life the people of the Lord did put in woeful stead:\n  For which, good friend, along with us unto that place of woe,\n  Where friends and devils company, right merrily you go.\n\n\n[92]\n\n  Why did I sin, woe, woe is me? and took no heed or thought.\n  Why did I sin, woe, woe is me? all that I loved is nought.\n  Why did I sin, woe, woe is me?  my seed upon the shore\n  I sowed with toil and sweat, to reap of pains an endless store.\n\n\n[93] Lib. xii. 13.\n\n[94] Lib. xii. 9.\n\n[95] In the celebrated interview between Solon and Cr\u0153sus, the sage\nfirst offended the king by questioning the power of wealth to produce\nhappiness, and concluded by reading him a long moral lesson, to the\npurport, that since no man knew what the morrow might produce, no man\ncould be called happy until present prosperity was crowned by a happy\ndeath.\n\n[96] Herod, i. 86\u201388.\n\n[97] \u201cCi doivent prendre garde cils qui leur fames mainent avec euls en\nos, et en batailles, car Daires li rois de Perse, & Antoines, et autre\nprince terrien manerent leur fames en lor compaignie en os quant il i\naloient, & en batailles: et pour ce furent desconfit et occis, Daires\npar le grant Alexandre, et Antoines par Octavien. Pour ce meismement ne\ndevroient mener nus princes fames en tex besoignes: car elles ne sont\nfors empecchement.\u201d The language is that of the thirteenth century.\nCroniques de S. Denys, liv. v. 1.\n\n[98] Arrian, iv. 20.\n\n[99] In Verrem. Act. ii. lib. v. 30.\n\n[100] Plut. in Mar.\n\n[101] Dion, lib. xl.\u2014C\u00e6sar, in his Commentaries, slurs this transaction\nover with the mere notice that Vercingetorix was surrendered (viii. 89).\n\n[102] \u201cValerian for his persecutions was exposed to insult and\nreproaches, according to what was spoken to Isaiah, saying, \u2018They have\nchosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.\nI also will choose their delusions, and recompense their sins upon\nthem.\u2019\u201d\u2014_Dionysius of Alexandria, ap. Euseb._, lib. vii. 10.\n\n[103] Euseb., Life of Constantine, lib. iv. 11.\n\n[104] Tamerlane\u2014a tragedy worth reading, to see the notion which Rowe\nhad of a Tartar chief, and the absurdity produced by treating such\nsubjects with the sentimental bombast of the heroic romance.\n\n[105] M. de Masson asserts (it is to be taken on his authority, not\non ours) that he knew a lady of the Russian court, in the reign of\nCatherine II., who kept a slave who was her perruquier shut up in a\ncage in her own chamber. She let him out every day to arrange her\nhead\u2013dress, and locked him up again with her own hands after the\nbusiness of the toilet was over. His box was placed at her bed\u2013head,\nand in this fashion he attended her wherever she went. His fare was\nbread and water. He passed three years in this captivity, the object of\nwhich was to conceal from all the world that the lady wore a wig. The\nclose confinement was a punishment for running away from her service;\nthe meagre diet a measure of revenge, because he could not prevent her\ngrowing older and uglier every day.\u2014_M\u00e9moires Secrets sur la Russie._\n\n[106] Rymer, F\u0153dera, vol. ii.\n\n[107] Lord Berners\u2019s Froissart, vol. ii. chap. 203.\n\n[108] Froissart.\n\n[109] Hist. de M. Boucicaut.\n\n[110] \u201cAins cheurent en la gueule de leurs ennemies, si comme est\nle fer sur l\u2019enclume.\u201d It is a queer comparison: the only apparent\nresemblance is in the thorough beating which they and the iron were\nboth destined to undergo.\n\n[111] Hist. de M. de Boucicaut; premi\u00e8re partie, chaps. xxv. xxvi.\n\n[112] Malcolm, History of Persia.\n\n[113] Il. xxii. 60\u201376.\n\n[114] vi. 447\u2013461. Sotheby\u2019s Homer.\n\n[115] Weight for weight: to determine the sum which two min\u00e6 would\ncorrespond to in value is less easy.\n\n[116] Herod, v. 77; vi. 79.\n\n[117] See the instances of Fiden\u00e6, Liv. iv. 34; Veii, v. 22.\u2014_Carthage.\nAppian._\n\n[118] In Epirus, 150,000 persons are said to have been enslaved by L.\n\u00c6milius Paulus. In C\u00e6sar\u2019s Gallic wars 1,000,000 prisoners were taken\nand of course sold. (_Plin. Hist. Nat._ vii. 25.) Another million is\nsaid to have been slain: but these round numbers may be suspected to\nbe much exaggerated. Upwards of 100,000 Jews, according to Josephus,\nwere reduced to slavery by Titus. Cicero says of Britain, \u201cIt is well\nknown that there is not a drachm of silver in the island, and no hope\nof booty except in slaves; and among them you will hardly find learned\nmen or musicians.\u201d Ad Att. iv. 16.\n\n[119] It would be uncandid to pass in entire silence over the two\ndeepest stains perhaps in modern history\u2014the Spanish conquests in\nAmerica, and the slave trade.\n\n[120] See, below, the Black Prince\u2019s address to John of France.\n\n[121] Froissart, vol. ii. cap. 142, 145 (138, 141).\n\n[122] Froissart, vol. ii., cap. 146 (142).\n\n[123] We cannot deny this merit at least to what is called, vaguely\nenough, the age of chivalry. Few indeed merited the appellation of\nBayard, \u201csans peur, et sans reproche,\u201d but many were \u201csans peur,\u201d and\nthereby escaped one most fruitful source of \u201creproche.\u201d\n\n[124] In the contest for the crown of Castile, between Don Pedro and\nHenry of Transtamara, the former was supported by the Black Prince, the\nlatter by the French under Du Guesclin, who had been taken prisoner by\nSir John Chandos.\n\n[125] Froissart, vol. i. chap. 239. Subjoined to the chapter the reader\nwill find another version of this story, taken from a most amusing\nbook, entitled \u2018M\u00e9moires de Messire Bertrand du Guesclin.\u2019 The passage\nfrom Froissart, which illustrates the same point in a much smaller\ncompass, seemed better fitted for insertion in the text; but the other\ngives such a minute and pleasant representation of manners, that we\ncannot altogether omit it; and it is too long for a note.\n\n[126] Lib. iv.\n\n[127] Fr. journ\u00e9e\u2014though the day has not gone, &c.\n\n[128] Lord Berners\u2019s Froissart, vol. i. chap. 168, 169, 173.\n\n[129] This expression will remind the reader of a favourite saying of\nthe \u201cGood Sir James\u201d Douglas, the companion of Robert Bruce\u2019s dangers,\nthat \u201cIt is better to hear the lark sing, than the mouse cheep:\u201d\nmeaning that he would never shut himself up in a castle while he could\nkeep the open field.\n\n[130] Si le gagneroie aincois a filler toutes les filleresses qui en\nFrance sont, que ce que je demourasse plus entre vos mains.\n\n[131] Hist. du Messire Bertrand du Guesclin.\n\n[132] Herod. vii. 35.\n\n[133] Daniel, iv. 24, 25, 27, 29\u201332.\n\n[134] Herod. iii. 14.\n\n[135] The body of Cromwell was taken from the grave, exposed on a\ngibbet, and finally buried under the gallows, and this in the gay and\npolished reign of Charles II., who had not even the poor excuse for\nthis despicable revenge which the Persian king\u2019s unbridled passions may\nsupply.\n\n[136] The modern Siwah.\n\n[137] iii. 21.\n\n[138] Botanic Garden, v. 473.\n\n[139] Apis was a black calf, with a square white spot on its forehead,\nthe figure of an eagle on its back, a double tuft of hair on its tail,\nand the figure of the cantharus, the sacred beetle, under its tongue.\nWhen an animal bearing these marks was found, or manufactured, the\nbirth of Apis was announced to the people, a temple was built on the\nspot, where he was fed for four months, and after various ceremonies he\nwas finally conveyed to Memphis, where he spent the rest of his life in\na splendid palace, receiving divine honours.\n\n[140] iii. 31.\n\n[141] Preface to Waller\u2019s Poems, Lond. 1711.\n\n[142] A Syrian city; its site is not clearly ascertained. Cambyses\nseems to have been at this time on his route home.\n\n[143]\n\n  _K. Henry._ Doth any name particular belong\n                   Unto the lodging where I first did swoon?\n\n  _Warw._    \u2018Tis called Jerusalem, my noble lord.\n\n  _K. Henry._ Laud be to God!\u2014even there my life must end.\n                   It hath been prophesied to me many years\n                   I should not die, but in Jerusalem,\n                   Which vainly I supposed the Holy Land:\u2014\n                   But bear me to that chamber; there I\u2019ll lie.\n                   In that Jerusalem shall Harry die.\n\n  _King Henry IV._ Part 2, iv. 4.\n\nThe ground work of this passage is to be found in Holinshed; and the\nsame tale is told in Fabyan\u2019s Chronicles, and in Restell\u2019s Pastime of\nPleasure. The latter writers state it without any appearance of doubt.\nBut Holinshed uses a degree of caution not very common in a chronicler\nof that time: \u201cWhether this was true that so he spake, as one that gave\ntoo much credit to foolish prophecies and vain tales, or whether it\nwas fained, as in such cases it commonly happeneth, we leave it to the\nadvised reader to judge.\u201d The advised reader will probably hesitate\nlittle in adopting the latter conclusion; especially as the same tale\nis told of other persons. See the notes to Shakspeare, in the edition\nof 1821. The actors and the scenes differ in the different cases; but\nthe equivoque arises in all upon the name \u201cJerusalem.\u201d\n\n[144] Herod, iii. 65.\n\n[145] Loss of sensation or a depraved state of sensation in the\nextremities, is a common symptom of madness. Where the former exists,\nit is not uncommon for patients to burn themselves dreadfully,\nfrom mere insensibility to the action of fire. The latter is often\nmanifested by a sort of irritation which leads the sufferer to cut\nand lacerate the hands and feet. These facts, with a little allowance\nfor exaggeration, may do something to explain rather a startling\npassage.\u2014See Dr. Conolly on Insanity.\n\n[146] Philo _\u03a0\u03b5\u03c1\u1f76 \u1f08\u03c1\u03b5\u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd_. sub fin.\n\n[147] Carr\u2019s Northern Summer.\n\n[148] This sketch of Paul\u2019s life is chiefly taken from Masson, M\u00e9moires\nS\u00e9crets sur la Russie. Several of the anecdotes rest on Dr. Clarke\u2019s\nauthority.\n\n[149] Hist. of Greece, p. 18.\n\n[150] The Furies. These goddesses were worshipped with mysterious\nveneration by the Athenians, who held it an ill omen to call them\nby their proper name, and spoke of them as the venerable goddesses\n(_\u03c3\u03b5\u03bc\u03bd\u1f70\u03b9 \u03b8\u03b5\u1f70\u03b9_), or the Eumenides, because they had been propitious\n(_\u1f10\u03c5\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03b5\u1fd6\u03c2_) to Orestes after his acquittal by the court of Areopagus.\nThis was owing partly to a general dislike of alluding to gloomy\nsubjects, which led them, among other things, to avoid speaking openly\nof death or the dead (hence the phrases _\u1f41\u03b9 \u03ba\u03b1\u03bc\u03cc\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03c2,\n\u1f41\u03b9 \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03c7\u03cc\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03b9_, those who are worn out, the departed, &c.); partly\nto wishing to propitiate an object of dread by fair words, as the\nHighlanders called fairies \u201cmen of peace,\u201d especially on a Friday,\nwhen their power was greatest, and the Lowlanders entitled them \u201cgood\nneighbours,\u201d and the devil himself the \u201cgoodman,\u201d keeping reverentially\nout of sight his territorial designation.\n\n[151] See Greece, p. 55.\n\n[152]\n\n  _\u1f18\u03ba \u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd\u1f00\u03bb\u03b9\u03c4\u03b7\u03c1\u03af\u03c9\u03bd \u03c3\u1f10 \u03c6\u03b7\u03bc\u1f76\u03b3 \u03b5\u03b3\u03bf\u03bd\u03ad\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u03c4\u1fc6\u03bd \u03b8\u03b5\u03bf\u1fe6._\n\n  _\u0399\u03c0\u03c0. 445._\n\n\n[153] Gyges. Candaules, whom he murdered, was one of the Heraclid\u00e6, or\ndescendants of Hercules. The story is told in Herodotus, i. 8.\n\n[154] Herod, i. 91.\n\n[155] Hesiod., Theog., 220.\n\n[156] \u00c6sch., Sept. c. Theb., 832, 951. Eurip., Ph\u0153niss\u00e6, 1518.\n\n[157] Some modern historical instances of a similar superstitious\nfeeling are given lower down in the text. Its nature, however, cannot\nbe better illustrated than by reference to the legend attaching to the\nfamily of Redgauntlet in the novel of that name. The downfall of the\nhouse of Ravenswood, in the admirable tale of the Bride of Lammermoor,\nthough foretold and fated, is not sufficiently identified with the\nstory of the Mermaid\u2019s Well, to be quoted on this occasion. If it were\nso, that work, from the severe grandeur of its serious parts, and the\nsingularly impressive way in which all events, and all agency, human\nand supernatural, combine from the outset to bring about a catastrophe,\nforeseen and prophesied, but not the less inevitable, would offer\nto the English reader an excellent example of the spirit of the\nsuperstitions and tragedies here alluded to, though widely differing\nfrom them in form.\n\n[158] Potter\u2019s \u00c6schylus: Agam., 1157; ed. Blomf. We give the\ntranslation as we find it, and are not answerable for the rendering of\n_\u039a\u1ff6\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2 ... \u03be\u03c5\u03b3\u03b3\u03cc\u03bd\u03c9\u03bd \u1f18\u03c1\u03b9\u03bd\u03cd\u03c9\u03bd_.\n\n[159] Symmons\u2019 Agamemnon; 1414, ed. Blomf.\n\n[160] A similar belief existed in England with respect to the\nalienations of church property at the Reformation, of which the\nfollowing is a remarkable instance.\n\nSir Walter Raleigh was gifted by Queen Elizabeth with the lands of\nSherborne in Dorsetshire, which had been bequeathed by Osmund, a\nNorman knight, to the see of Canterbury, with a heavy denunciation\nagainst any rash or profane person who should attempt to wrest them\nfrom the church. This anathema was, in the opinion of the vulgar,\nfirst accomplished in the person of the Protector Somerset, to whom,\nafter sundry vicissitudes, the property belonged. This nobleman was\nhunting in the woods of Sherborne when his presence was required by\nEdward the Sixth, and he was shortly afterwards committed to the Tower,\nand subsequently beheaded. The forfeited estate then lapsed to the\nSee of Salisbury until the reign of Elizabeth, to whom it was made\nover by the bishop, at the instigation of Raleigh, who was blamed,\nand apparently with justice, for having displayed on this occasion a\ngrasping and even dishonourable spirit. So strong were the religious\nprejudices of the day, that even the discerning Sir John Harrington\nattributed to a judgment from heaven a trifling accident which occurred\nto Raleigh while surveying the demesne which he coveted. Casting his\neyes upon it, according to the notion of that writer, as Ahab did upon\nNaboth\u2019s vineyard, and, in the course of a journey from Plymouth to\nthe coast, discussing at the same time the advantages of the desired\npossession, Sir Walter\u2019s horse fell, and the face of the rider, then,\nas the relater observes, \u201cthought to be a very good one,\u201d was buried\nin the ground. After Raleigh\u2019s fall the estate was seized by James the\nFirst, who wished to bestow it on his favourite, Car, Earl of Somerset;\nbut Prince Henry interfered, and obtained possession, intending to\nrestore it to the owner. The prince\u2019s death, however, frustrated his\nintentions, and left Sherborne still in the favourite\u2019s hands. The\npremature death of this promising youth was thought by the vulgar again\nto corroborate the old prophecy. To Carew, the youngest son, and the\ninjured survivor of Sir Walter, the subsequent attainder of Car, and\nthe forfeiture of his estates upon his committal to the Tower, appeared\nto confirm the ill fortune attendant upon the owners of Sherborne; and\nthe misfortunes which afterwards befell the house of Stuart were also\nconsidered by him to corroborate the old presage. On the confiscation\nof Car\u2019s estates, Digby, Earl of Bristol, obtained Sherborne from the\nking, and in his family it now remains.\u2014_Life of Sir W. Raleigh, by\nMrs. Thomson_, chap. vi.\n\n[161] Stewart, Sketches of Highlanders, part i. sect. xii.\n\n[162] The proper meaning of this word will form the subject of a future\narticle; meanwhile it is sufficient to observe, that it will never be\nemployed here to denote specifically a blood\u2013thirsty and oppressive\nruler, but merely one who has raised himself to a degree of power\nunauthorised by the constitution of his country.\n\n[163] Schol. in Nub. Meurs. Pisistratus. This story is told of Cimon,\nthe father of Miltiades, instead of Megacles, by Herodotus, vi. 103.\n\n[164] Or Pallas, the Latin Minerva.\n\n[165] Herod. i. 60.\n\n[166] Plut. vit. Solon.\n\n[167] Meursius, Pisistratus.\n\n[168] Meurs. Pisistratus.\n\n[169] He is accused, however, of having interpolated several lines to\ngratify Athenian vanity, and one with a deeper view; that, namely,\nwhich says of Ajax, that he ranged his own alongside of the Athenian\nships (Il. ii. 558) with the purpose of strengthening Athens\u2019 claim to\nSalamis, then hotly contested by Megara. The Megarian versions said, on\nthe other hand, that Ajax led ships from Salamis, and from Polichne,\nNis\u00e6a, and other towns of Megaris. Both this trick, and the credit\nof collecting Homer\u2019s poems, are ascribed by other authors to Solon.\nSome eminent modern scholars have doubted whether this arrangement and\nrevision ever took place.\u2014See Knight, Proleg. ad Hom. \u00a7 4, 5.\n\n[170] Much doubt has arisen which of these was the elder. Thucydides\nsays, contrary to the general opinion, that it was Hippias, and\nhe seems to be corroborated by Herodotus; but it is a question of\nno importance, and not worth discussion. Pisistratus left a third\nlegitimate son, named Thessalus, of whom scarce any mention is made in\nhistory, and a natural son, Hegesistratus, established by his father as\ntyrant of Sigeum, on the Hellespont.\n\n[171] Statues of Hermes, the Latin Mercury, consisting of a square\npillar surmounted by a head of the god.\n\n[172] A space in the city, surrounded by public buildings, in which the\npeople usually held their meetings.\n\n[173] Ad. Att. lib. ix. 10.\n\n[174] In modern language this would be the town\u2013hall. There was a\ntable kept here for the Prytanes (the officers presiding in the senate\nfor the time being), and to have the right of eating here (_\u03c3\u03af\u03c4\u03b7\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2\n\u1f10\u03bd \u03a0\u03c1\u03c5\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03b5\u03af\u1ff3_) was one of the greatest honours that his country could\nbestow on an Athenian.\n\n[175] Allusions to the affection with which these patriots were\nregarded, both generally and with reference to this custom, are\nfrequent in Aristophanes.\u2014See _\u1f39\u03c0\u03c0_ 786, _\u1f08\u03c7\u03b1\u03c1\u03bd_. 980, _\u03a3\u03c6_. 1225.\n\n[176] Not the Hesperides, but an island called Achilleia, or Leuce,\nat the mouth of the Danube, consecrated to Achilles, where his tomb\nwas visible. The hero, however, must have been there in proper person,\nsince he espoused either Helen or Iphigenia, and had a son by her.\nHere he dwelt in perpetual youth, with Diomed, the Ajaxes, and other\nheroes. Many mythological tales are related concerning the island.\nBirds swept and sprinkled the temple of Achilles with water from their\nwings: passing vessels often heard the sound of sweet yet awe\u2013inspiring\nmusic; others distinguished the din of arms and horses and the shouts\nof battle. If vessels anchored for the night off the island, Achilles\nand Helen would come on board, drink with the sailors, and sing them\nthe verses of Homer, with particulars of their personal adventures,\neven of the most delicate description. Once a man who ventured to sleep\nupon the island was awoke by Achilles, and taken home to sup with him,\nwhen the hero played the lyre, and Patroclus served wine: Thetis and\nother gods were there. Many other stories, equally amusing and no less\nworthy of credit, are related concerning this wonderful place.\u2014_Bayle,\nart. Achilleia._\n\n[177] Bland, Anthology\n\n[178] See Herod. iv. 137, for the change in policy arising from such a\nchange in constitution.\n\n[179] _\u0392\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9\u03bb\u03b5\u1f7a\u03c2._ The king, simply and by pre\u2013eminence,\u2014the title by\nwhich the Persian monarch was universally known in Greece.\n\n[180] Life of Lorenzo de\u2019 Medici, chap. i.\n\n[181] Sismondi, chap. xc.\n\n[182] Upon any emergency, real or pretended, it was usual for the\nmagistrates to convene the citizens, and procure the appointment of a\n_balia_, or extraordinary council, which possessed the absolute power\nof a Roman dictator.\n\n[183] It would have been more agreeable to the plan of this book to\ntranslate from the original accounts of Machiavelli, or Politiano, who\nwas an eye\u2013witness of the conspiracy; but their accounts are long and\nminute, not to say tedious, and would require much condensation; and\nwe gladly avail ourselves of the brief and spirited narrative of Mr.\nPerceval.\n\n[184] \u201cConspiring against one prince,\u201d says Machiavelli, \u201cis a\ndoubtful and dangerous undertaking; but to conspire against two at\nthe same time must be either downright folly or madness:\u201d and he\nenforces his principle by the examples of the Pazzi and of Harmodius\nand Aristogiton. \u201cPelopidas,\u201d he adds, \u201chad ten tyrants instead of\ntwo to deal with:\u201d it would be very dangerous, however, for any man\nto build on the success of this conspiracy, which, indeed, was almost\nmiraculous, and is mentioned by all writers who speak of it, as not\nonly a rare, but almost unexampled event.\u2014_Political Discourses_, book\niii. chap. 6.\n\n[185] Machiavelli has drawn a shrewd caution to conspirators from the\nfailure of the attack upon Lorenzo. \u201cIt is necessary, in undertakings\nof this kind, to make use of men that have been sufficiently hardened\nand tried, and to trust no others, how courageous soever they may\nbe accounted: for no man can answer even for his own resolution, if\nhe have not thoroughly proved it before; for the confusion he must\nnaturally be in at such a time may either make him drop the dagger\nout of his hand, or say something which may have the same effect.\nLucilla, sister to Commodus, having spirited up Quintianus to kill her\nbrother, he waited for him as he came to the amphitheatre, and stepping\nup towards him with a drawn dagger in his hand, told him \u2018the senate\nhad sent him that:\u2019 upon which he was immediately seized before he\ngot near enough to stab him. Antonio de Volterra being fixed upon to\nkill Lorenzo de\u2019 Medici, cried out, as he advanced to kill him, \u2018Ha!\ntraitor!\u2019 which proved the preservation of Lorenzo, and the ruin of the\nconspiracy.\u201d\u2014_Political Discourses_, b. iii. 6.\n\n[186] The family arms of the Medici were six golden balls (palle\nd\u2019oro). They asserted that this bearing was derived from the\nimpressions left on the shield of one of their ancestors by a gigantic\nSaracen, who wielded a mace with six iron globes hung from it. Their\ndetractors said that they were the arms of an apothecary, from whom\nthe family derived the name of Medici, and that the golden balls were\nnothing better than gilded pills.\n\n[187] Herod. iii. 134.\u2014The style of Herodotus is highly dramatic, and\nwe by no means intend to say that such a conversation took place,\nthough there are circumstances attendant on the narrative which may\nsatisfactorily answer the natural question, how came it to be reported\nand known? But whether we believe it to be genuine or not, it embodies\na plausible reason for an expedition which seems at variance with\nthe character of Darius, and probably contains the grounds on which\nHerodotus accounted for it.\n\n[188] They are said by Herodotus to have consisted of 700,000 men,\nhorse and foot; the fleet of 600 ships.\n\n[189] Some curious particulars remain concerning the Get\u00e6, whom he\nencountered on his march. They believed in the immortality of the soul,\nas taught them by their lawgiver Zalmoxis, or as the name is otherwise\nread, Zamolxis, and in, a future state of happiness. Every fifth year\nthey sent a messenger to inform Zalmoxis, whom they had deified, of\ntheir wants, in this manner. Choosing a man by lot, they first give him\nfull instructions as to the purport of his embassy, and then certain\nmen, taking him by the hands and feet, toss him in the air, others\nhold three spears placed so that he might fall upon them. If he die\nimmediately, Zalmoxis is thought to be favourably disposed; if not,\nthey call the messenger a scoundrel, and proceed to make trial of\nsomebody else.\n\n[190] The reader may compare the following passage of Froissart, chap.\nxviii. The English army were in pursuit of the Scots, then employed in\nravaging Northumberland under the Earl of Douglas, who was strongly\nposted upon a hill side, with a deep and rocky river in his front. \u201cAnd\nthere were harauldis of armes sent to the Scottis gyvyng them knowledge\nif that they would come and passe the ryver to fight with them in the\nplayne felde, they wolde draw backe fro the ryver, and gyve theym\nsufficient place to arraynge theyr batelles, eyther the same day, or\nels the next, as they wolde chuse them selfe, or els to lette them do\nlyke wyse, and they wolde come over to them. And whan the Scottis harde\nthis they toke counsell among theymselfe: and anon they answered the\nharauldis, how they wolde do nother the one nor the other, and said,\nsyrs, your kyng and his lordis se well how we be here in this realme,\nand have burnt and wasted the countrey as we have passed through, and\nif they be displeased therwith, lette them amend it whan they wyll, for\nhere we wyll abide, as long as it shall please us.\u201d Challenges of this\nsort were often given in the days of chivalry, and not unfrequently\naccepted.\n\n[191] Herod. lib. iv. c. 83\u2013142.\n\n[192] This seems to be not a name, but a title of office, belonging to\nthe commander\u2013in\u2013chief of the Parthian army, as the appellation Brennus\nis supposed to have denoted a similar office among the Gauls.\n\n[193] This description will bring to the reader\u2019s recollection the\nskill of our own ancestors in the use of this destructive weapon,\nwhich mainly contributed to many of their most celebrated victories.\nThe following extract relates to the battle of Crecy. \u201cTher were of\nthe genowayes(a) crosbowes about a fiftene thousand, but they were\nso wery of goying a fote that day, a six leages, armed with their\ncrosbowes, that they sayde to their constables, we be nat well ordred\nto fyght this day, for we be nat in the case to do any grete dede of\narms, we have more nede of rest:\u2014these wordes came to the erle of\nAlencon, who sayd, a man is well at ease to be charged with such a\nsort of raskalles, to be faynt, and fayle nowe at most nede.... When\nthe genowayes were assembled toguyder, and beganne to approche, they\nmade a grete leape, and crye, to abasshe thenglysshemen, but they stode\nstyll, and styredde nat for all that: than the genowayes agayne the\nsecond tyme made another leape, and a fell crye, and stepped forward\na lyttell, and thenglysshemen remeued nat one fote: thirdly agayne\nthey leapt, and cryed, and went forth tyll they came within shotte;\nthan they shotte feersly with their crosbowes; than thenglysshe\narchers stept forth one pase, and lette fly their arowes so holly and\nso thycke, that it seemed snow: when the genowayes felte the arowes\npersynge through heedes, armes, and brestes, many of them cast downe\ntheir crosbowes, and dyde cut their strings, and retourned dyscomfited.\nWhen the French kynge sawe them flye away, he sayd, slee these\nraskalles, for they shall let and trouble us without reason: than ye\nshulde have seen the men at armes dasshe in amonge them, and kylled a\ngrete nombre of them: and ever styll the englysshemen shot whereas they\nsaw thickest preace; the sharp arowes ranne into the men of armes, and\ninto their horses, and many fell, horse and men, amonge the genowayes:\nand whan they were downe, they coulde nat relyve again, the preace was\nso thicke that one overthrewe another.\u201d\u2014_Froissart_, chap. 130. So at\nthe battle of Homildoun, Percy wished to charge the Scots, who were\ndrawn up upon a hill, but the Earl of March retained him, and bid him\nopen their ranks by archery. \u201cThen the English archers marching against\nthe Scots, _stitched them together_ with arrows, and made them bristle\nlike a hedgehog, as it were with thorns and prickles; the hands and\narms of the Scots they nailed to their own lances, so that with that\nsharp shower of arrows some they overthrew, others they wounded, and\nvery many they slew. Upon which the valiant Sir John Swinton exclaimed,\nas with the voice of a herald, \u2018My noble fellow\u2013soldiers, what has\nbewitched you, that you give not way to your wonted gallantry: that\nyou rush not to the mellay, hand to hand, nor pluck up heart like men,\nto attack those who would slaughter you with arrows, like hinds in\na park. Let such as will go down with me, and in God\u2019s name we will\nbreak into the enemy and so either come off with life, or else fall\nknightly with honour.\u2019\u201d\u2014(_Fordun, Scotichr._ lib. xv. cap. 14.) One\nmanuscript adds, \u201cI have never heard nor read that the English in fair\nfield beat an equal number of Scots by charge of lance, but very often\nby the thunder\u2013shower (_fulminatione_) of their arrows. Let the latter\ntherefore beware of waiting the flight of archery, but hasten to close\ncombat, even as Sir John Swinton then did.\u201d This is the story which Sir\nWalter Scott has worked up into his poem of Halidon Hill.\n\n                                          (a) Genoese.\n\n[194] In European warfare, overthrown knights were often unable to\nrise from the incumbrance of their ponderous defences, and not very\nunfrequently suffocated by dust, heat, and want of air.\n\n[195] Examples of a similar high sense of honour might be multiplied\nfrom the history of chivalry. Once during his crusade Richard\nC\u0153ur\u2013de\u2013Lion saw a party of Templars surrounded and overmatched by\nSaracens, and being unarmed, sent some of his barons to support the\nChristians until he himself should be ready for combat. \u201cMeanwhile an\noverpowering force of the enemy came up, and when he arrived at the\nfield, the danger appeared so imminent, that he was entreated not to\nhazard his own person in the unequal contest. The king replied, his\ncolour changing with his boiling blood, \u2018Sith I have sent dear comrades\nto battle with a promise of following to assist them, if, as I have\nengaged, I do not defend them with all my strength, but being absent,\nand wanting, which Heaven forbid, they should meet death, I will never\nagain usurp the name of king.\u2019 So with no more words, rushing into the\nmidst of the Turks like a thunderbolt, he pierced through, and cut them\ndown and dispersed them, and then with many prisoners and his friends\ndelivered, he returned to the camp.\u201d\u2014(_Broad Stone of Honour_, book iv.\np. 174.)\u2014So also the Marquis de Villena, a distinguished warrior of the\ncourt of Ferdinand of Arragon, being asked by Queen Isabella why he\nhad exposed his own life to save a trusty servant nearly overpowered\nby odds, replied, \u201cShould I not peril one life to serve him, who would\nhave adventured three, had he possessed them, for me?\u201d\n\n[196] So Xenophon says, in the Anabasis, that the Persians never\nencamped less than 60 stadia (6 or 7 miles) from the Greeks. \u201cThe\nPersian army is a bad thing by night. For their horses are tethered,\nand shackled also for the most part, that they may not run away if they\nget loose: and if there be any disturbance, the Persian has to saddle\nand bridle his horse, and mount him loaded with his armour, which is\nall difficult by night, especially in any tumult. For these reasons\nthey encamped away from the Grecians.\u201d\n\n[197] North\u2019s Plutarch; Life of Crassus. This statement of numbers,\nthough large, is not incredible, since the army originally consisted of\nseven legions, besides 4000 horse and as many light\u2013armed infantry; and\nfew appear to have effected their escape.\n\n[198] Nominally about 1_l._ 13_s._; but calculations of this sort\nconvey little instruction, unless the relative value of the precious\nmetals, then and now, were known.\n\n[199] North\u2019s Plutarch; Life of Antony.\n\n[200] A city founded by the Parthians as the capital of their empire,\non the eastern bank of the Tigris, nearly opposite to Seleucia, which\nwas built shortly after the death of Alexander by Seleucus Nicator, and\nintended as the capital of the East. The history of Julian\u2019s campaign\nis full of interest, and will repay the perusal. It has, however,\nno particular connexion with the subject of this chapter, which\nhas already reached length sufficient to preclude the introduction\nof extraneous matter, and we therefore are compelled to take up\nthe narrative of Julian\u2019s proceedings only at the point where his\nmisfortunes commenced.\n\n[201] At the siege of Nisibis, in the invasion of Mesopotamia above\nmentioned, the elephants being brought up to the attack of a breach,\nbecame unmanageable from pain and terror, and did much damage to the\nassaulting force.\n\n[202] Lunari acie, siuuatisque lateribus occursuros hosti manipulos\ninstruebat.\n\n[203] Ctesiphon\u2014see note, p. 214. Sogdiana, the northern province of\nthe Parthian empire, adjoining Scythia.\n\n[204] Arachosia, now Arakhaj, one of the eastern provinces of Persia,\nseparated by Candahar (Candaor) from the Indus. Margiana, a province\nof Parthia, south of the Oxus, and rather between that river and the\nCaspian Sea. Iberia lies between the Caspian and Black seas, south of\nCaucasus. Atropatia is south of Iberia, separated from Armenia by the\nAraxes. Adiabene is the western part of Babylonia. The poet proceeds\nsouthward through Media to Susiana, the province of Susa, on the lowest\npart of the eastern bank of the Tigris, to Balsora, a celebrated city\nand emporium of the East; having completed the circuit of the Parthian\nempire, except the deserts forming its southern boundary, between the\nPersian Gulf and Arachosia, where he began.\n\n[205] Paradise Regained, iii. 300\u2013344.\n\n[206] The night before Julian consented to accept the imperial purple\nat the hands of his rebellious army, he saw in a vision (so at least he\ntold his friends) one with the attributes of the tutelary genius of the\nempire. The phantom complained that hitherto his desire to serve the\nsleeper had been, frustrated, and warned him to accept the proffered\ndignity as he valued the continuance of his care and protection.\n\n[207] Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xxv. 2.\n\n[208] Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, was remarkable for the favourable\nissue of all his undertakings. Amasis, king of Egypt, wrote thus to\nhim: \u201cIt is pleasant to hear of the good fortune of a friend and\nconnexion; but your extraordinary prosperity pleases not me, knowing,\nas I do, that the Deity is envious: and I would have those for whom\nI am interested meet both with success and failure, and think a\nchequered life better than unclouded fortune. For I have never heard\nof any man who, being prosperous in all things, has not at last\nperished miserably, root and branch. Be persuaded, then, and take\nthis precaution against your good fortune; select whatever you have\nmost valuable, and would most regret to lose, and so bestow this that\nit shall never come to man again; and if, in future, good and evil\nfortune are not blended, remedy it in the manner which I now propose.\u201d\nPolycrates took the advice and cast into the sea an engraved gem of\nextraordinary value; and within a few days a fish was presented to him\nwithin which the gem was found. Amasis, hearing of it, renounced all\nfriendship and connexion with him, as a man predestined to an evil\nfate. The event must have strongly confirmed the notion from which the\nadvice proceeded; for Polycrates having given offence to the satrap\nof Sardis, or, as is more likely, being considered too powerful and\ndangerous a neighbour to remain on the Ionian coast, was entrapped into\nthat nobleman\u2019s power, and crucified by him.\u2014Herod. iii. 40.\n\n[209] Scott, vol. vii. p. 215.\n\n[210] Segur, liv. vi. chap. 6.\n\n[211] Scott, p. 301.\n\n[212] It is curious that Kutusoff and Napoleon were actually retreating\nfrom Malo\u2013Yarowslavitch, the scene of the battle, at the same moment;\nthe one fearing another attack, the other despairing of success in\nforcing the position.\n\n[213] Segur, ix. 11\n\n[214] During the whole retreat only one corps grounded arms to the\nenemy, and that not until it was surrounded and cut off from the main\narmy, and reduced to extremity. This occurred just before the passage\nof the Beresina.\n\n[215] Segur, xi. 3\n\n[216] Segur, xi. 5.\n\n[217] To get at the exact truth is no easy matter, even where the\nmeans of ascertaining it seem most ample. General Gourgaud, who also\nserved in 1812, has published an elaborate criticism of the Comte de\nSegur\u2019s work, in which he maintains that the difficulties and losses\nof the passage of the Beresina have been excessively exaggerated,\u2014that\nthe French had 250 guns, which commanded the opposite bank, and\n45,000 men under arms,\u2014and that of women and children, whom Segur is\nalways fond of introducing, there were next to none. Throughout the\nnarrative we have followed Segur\u2019s account, as generally considered\nmost authoritative, though he seems fond of writing for effect, and his\naccounts, as far as disparity of numbers in this latter part of the\nretreat is concerned, are somewhat startling.\n\n[218] Segur, xii. 2.","title":"Historical Parallels, vol. 1 (of 3)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":82599}