applications to foreign powers, his imprisonment should be perpetual. At the fame time they gave permiffion, that the Doge and his lady might vifit their unfortunate fon.

Thofe

13. The Doge was, at this time, very old; he had been in poffeffion of the office above thirty years. wretched parents had an interview with their fon in one of the apartments of the palace; they embraced him with all the tendernefs which his misfortunes and his filial affection deferved.

14. The father exhorted him to bear his hard fate with firmnefs. The fon protefted, in the moft moving terms, that this was not in his power; that however others could fupport the difmal loneliness of a prifon, he could not; that his heart was formed for friendship, and the reciprocal endearments of focial life; without which, his foul funk into dejection worfe than death, from which alone he fhould look for relief, if he should again be confined to the horrors of a prifon; and, melting into tears, he funk at his father's feet, imploring him to take compaffion on a fon who had ever loved him with the moft dutiful affection, and who was perfectly innocent of the crime of which he was accufed.

15. He conjured him by every bond of nature and religion, by the bowels of a father and the mercy of a Re deemer, to ufe his influence with the Council to mitigate their fentence, that he might be faved from the most cruel of all deaths, that of expiring under the flow tortures of a broken heart, in a horrible banifhment from every creature he loved. My fon," replied the Doge, "fubmit to the laws of your country, and do not afk of me what is not in my power to obtain.'

66

16. Having made this effort, he retired to another apartment; and, unable to fupport any longer the acuteness of his feelings, funk into a state of infenfibility, in which condition he remained till fome time after his fon had failed on his return to Candia.

17. Nobody has prefumed to defcribe the anguifh of the wretched mother. Those who are endowed with the moft exquifite fenfibility, and who have experienced dif treffes in fome degree fimilar, will have the jufteft idea of what it was.

18. The accumulated mifery of thofe unhappy parents, touched the hearts of fome of the moft powerful Senators, who applied with fo much. energy for a complete pardon for young Fofcari, that they were on the point of obtaining, it; when a veffel arrived from Candia, with tidings, that the miferable youth had expired in prifon a fhort time af

ter his return.

19. Some years after this, Nicholas Erizzo, a noble Venetian, being on his death bed, confeffed that, bearing a violent refentment against the Senator Donato, he had committed the affaffination for which the unhappy family of Eofcari had fuffered fo much..

20. At this time the forrows of the Doge were at an end; he had exifted only a few months after the death of his fon. His life had been prolonged, till he beheld his fon perfecuted to death for an infamous crime; but not till he fhould fee this foul ftain washed from his family, and the innocence of his beloved fon made manifest to the world.

21. The ways of Heaven never appeared more dark and intricate, than in the incidents and cataftrophe of this mournful ftory. To reconcile the permiffion of fuch events to our ideas of infinite power and goodnefs, however difficult, is a natural attempt in the human mind, and has exercifed the ingenuity of philofophers in all ages; while, in the eye of Chriftians, thofe feeming perplexities afford an additional proof, that there will be a future ftate in which the ways of God to man will be fully juftified.

I

ASK now, Verres, what you have to advance against this charge? Will you pretend to deny it? Will you pretend that any thing falfe, that even any thing. aggravated is alleged against you

?

not.

not think we had fufficient reafon for declaring immediate war against them?

3. What punishment, then, ought to be inflicted upon a tyrannical and wicked prætor, who dared, at no greater diftance than Sicily, within fight of the Italian coaft, to put to the infamous death of crucifixion that unfortunate and innocent citizen, Publius Gavius Cofanus, only for his having affected his privilege of citizenship, and declared his intention of appealing to the juftice of his country against a cruel oppreffor, who had unjustly confined him in prifon at Syracufe, whence he had juft made his escape?

4. The unhappy man, arrefted as he was going to embark for his native country, is brought before the wicked prætor. With eyes darting fury, and a countenance diftorted with cruelty, he orders the helpless victim of his 'rage to be ftripped, and rods to be brought; accufing him, bat without the leaft fhadow of evidence, or even of fufpicion, of having come to Sicily as a spy.

5. It was in vain that the unhappy man cried out, am a Roman citizen; I have ferved under Lucis Pretius, who is now at Panormus, and will atteft my innocence. The blood-thirfty prætor, deaf to all he could urge in his own defence, ordered the infamous punishment to be inflicted.

6. Thus, fathers, was an innocent Roman citizen pub. lickly mangled with fcourging; whilft the only words he uttered amidst his cruel fufferings were, I am a koman citizen!" With thefe he hoped to defend himfelf from violence and infamy. But of fo little fervice was this privilege to him, that while he was afferting his citizenship, the order was given for his execution; for his execution upon the crofs!

7. O

man ear!

y! O found, once delightful to every Ro

cred privilege of Roman citizenship! once facred! now trampled upon ! But what then? Is it come to this? Shall an inferior magiftrate, a governor, who holds his power of the Roman people, in a Roman province, within fight of Italy, bind, fcourge, torture with fire and red-hot plates of iron, and at laft put to the infamous death of the chofs, a Roman citizen?

8. Shall

8. Shall neither the cries of innocence expiring in agony, nor the tears of pitying fpectators, nor the majefty of the Roman commonwealth, nor the fear of the juftice of his country, restrain the licentious and wanton cruelty of a monfter, who, in confidence of his own riches, ftrikes at. the root of liberty, and fets mankind at defiance?

9. I conclude with expreffing my hopes, that your wifdom and juftice, fathers, will not, by fuffering the atrocious and unexampled infolence of Caius Verres to escape the due punishment, leave room to apprehend the danger of a total fubverfion of authority, and introduction of general an-archy and confufion..

A DIALOGUE BETWEEN A TUTOR AND PUPIL, ON ILL HUMOR..

WHY that four look and those short Tutor fpeeches, which you gave your companion, my young friend? Nothing gives me more uneafinefs than to fee perfons in ill humor, and difpofed to torment each other. In the flower of their age, and in the very feafon of pleasure efpecially, why will they wafte the few days of funthine in difputing and repining; and only feel their error, when it is too late to repair it? Ill humor embitters every enjoyment, and turns a paradife into a place of mifery..

Pupil. How can we poffibly appear always happy, when we have fo few happy days? There is ever fome thorn annexed to the fweeteft rofe.. A bitter difappointment; an unfatisfied defire; an unexpected evil is ever prefent to irritate and ruffle the mind, and deftroy. its peace..

Tutor.. Let us preferve our minds in a difpofition to en-joy the good things Heaven fends us, and we fhall be able to fupport the evil, when it comes, with refignation and compofure..

Pupil. But we cannot always command our tempers; much depends on the conftitution; and when the body is in pain, the mind cannot be at eafe..

Tutor. Allow it to be a natural difeafe of the mind, to be difcompofed by untoward events; but is there no

T2

remedy

remedy for it? May not much be done by prudence and refolution towards curing it? Ill humor may be compared to floth. It is nature to men to be indolent; but if once they get the better of indolence, they exert themfelves with alacrity, and action becomes a real pleafure!

Pupil. But we are not mafters of ourselves; our feelings overpower our reafon, and even make us neglect our intereft. You may as well advife milk not to turn four by being expofed to the fun, or the fenfitive plant not to fhrink from the touch, as the mind of man to be unruffled by crofs accidents, and his appearance to be calm and cheerful, when he fuffers infults, injuries or pain.

Tutor. Say not what our ftrength will effect till we have tried it. Do not the fick confult phyficians, fubmit to fcrupulous regimen, and the moft naufeous medicines, to recover their health? Why neglect the more pernicious diforders of the mind? Why not ufe more diligence and care to cure them? What quality is more defirable than good humor? It adds charms to virtue, and even leffens the hatefulness of vice. It is effential to focial happiness: and when we choofe a companion, whether for an hour or a year, for the journey of a day, or the journey of life, this is a principal requifite.

Pupil. I acknowledge its excellency. It is valuable in brute animals; it pleafes even in a domeftic cat or dog: and good temper is one of the best qualities in a horse, which no beauty of fhape, color, or eyes can fupply. How much more amiable is it in a fellow-being But what methods can you prefcribe for obtaining and preferving it? Perhaps I may become a proficient if not an adept in this

art.

Tutor. Cultivate benevolent difpofitions. Accustom vourfelf to turn your mind from deformed and painful objects to fcenes of moral and natural beauty. Think how unreafonable and cruel is ill humor. Is it not enough that we are without the power to make another happy, but muft we deprive him of the fatisfaction, which, if left to himfelf, he is frequently capable of enjoying? It is often mean and contemptible. When a man is in ill humor, why does he not hide it, and bear the burden of it himself, without interrupting the pleasure of others? Becaufe, he is con