suspect that the principal men of the place were fretting under the foreign yoke, and were plotting his destruction. As the story goes, he caused a hat to be raised on a pole, and ordered all that passed near or within sight of it to make obeisance in proof of fidelity.

77. William Tell (II.)

The first that passed without paying the required tribute of respect was William Tell, a celebrated archer. He was at once arrested, and hurried into the presence of the tyrant, who addressed him thus :-" Why hast thou disobeyed my orders, and dared to pass before the badge of thy sovereign without paying the mark of bondage demanded?" Saying this, in a fit of passion he ordered the archer's children to be brought, and, selecting one of them, he placed an apple on his head, and cried "I command thee to split this apple; if thou miss or kill the child, thy own life shall be the forfeit." It is impossible to describe the feelings of the father in this cruel dilemma. He soon saw that it would be vain to hesitate about making the attempt. So taking up his bow, he drew it boldly to his breast, and he was soon assured by the acclamations of the surrounding multitude that he had succeeded in his attempt, and saved the life of his child.

78. A Clever Escape.

The escape of the Scottish prisoner Archibald Douglas, a warrior famous in the annals of his country, from the English at Poictiers, is curiously related by Fordun and Hume of Godscroft. Being arrayed in armour of a very sumptuous kind, he was supposed to be a noble of high rank; and, late in the evening, when some English were about to strip him of it, his friend Sir William Ramsay of Colluthie, also a prisoner, anxious he should escape, affected to be furious with passion, and said, "You accursed murderer, how comes it that you are decked in your master's armour? Come hither, and pull my boots off." Douglas, who instantly divined his object, knelt down and pulled off one of the boots of Ramsay, who struck him with it, on which some Englishmen interposed, and asked Ramsay how he dared to so misuse a nobleman of rank. "He a nobleman!" exclaimed Ramsay. Why, he is a scullion-a base knave, who, I' fear, has killed his master. Go, villain, to the field, and search for the body of my cousin, your master, that I may give him decent

burial." He then ransomed him for forty shillings, and said, "Go, get you gone." Douglas carried on the deceit. He was permitted in the dark to search for the body of his pretended master, and was soon beyond the reach of his captors.

79. Asinius Pollio.

Asinius Pollio, for the publication of whose history, Horace, as your late tasks have shown you, was extremely anxious, is entitled to be ranked among the greatest benefactors of Roman literature, and that not so much for what he wrote as for the encouragement he gave to learned men. Besides being the patron of such poets as Horace and Virgil, he was the first person that established a public library at Rome, on which he spent the whole of the income that he had obtained in his Illyrian campaign. He also taught how useful it was that works should be read before a circle of critics, previous to publication, a practice, however, of which Martial complained as often inconvenient, and troublesome. All Pollio's own writings, with the exception of three letters to Cicero, are now lost, but those who had the good fortune to see them, mention his name with those of Cicero, Virgil, and Sallust. GEDDES.

80. Clan Chattan and Clan Kay.

A feud had long existed between two Highland clans, the Chattan and the Kay. It was agreed that, instead of bringing all their respective forces into the field, thirty persons on each side should be chosen to decide the quarrel by the sword, like the ancient Horatii and Curiatii. The fight was appointed to take place at Perth, on 25th Sept., 1396. On that day, however, it was found that one of the Clan Chattan was absent. A person of the name of Henry Wyne, who, most historians say, was a blacksmith, but whom others, who perhaps ought rather to be believed, call a saddler, stepped forward, and expressed his willingness to supply the place of the man wanting, on condition of receiving a sum of money in hand, and of being furnished for life with everything he needed, in the event of his being disabled in the battle. By the prowess of this man, it was brought about that the Clan Chattan, though at first repulsed, was at length victorious.

M.

81. Charles and Francis.

Though this unsuccessful conspiracy, instead of stripping the Emperor of the possessions which he already possessed in Italy, contributed to extend his dominions in that country, it showed him the necessity of coming to some agreement with the French king, unless he chose to draw on himself the confederacy of all Europe, which the progress of his arms and his ambition, now as undisguised as it was boundless, filled with general alarm. He had not hitherto treated Francis with the generosity which that monarch expected, and hardly with the decency due to his station. Instead of displaying the sentiments becoming a great prince, Charles by his mode of treating Francis, seems to have acted with the mercenary spirit of a Corsair. M.

82. Richard Coeur-de-Lion.

Richard the First was shipwrecked near Aquileia, on his way home from Palestine. He was afraid of falling into the hands of some unfriendly prince, who might detain him for the sake of ransom. So he assumed the habit of a pilgrim, and travelled homeward through Germany. He was, however, detected, and given up to the Emperor, who kept him in close confinement, till the English on learning his misfortune, ransomed him with a large sum of money. His brother had done all that he could to prevent his ransom, and took up arms against him on his return, but being obliged to yield unconditionally, he obtained pardon on his mother's intercession, Richard exclaiming, as he granted it, that he wished he could as soon forget his brother's offences, as he would forget the clemency to which he owed his escape from punishment.

83. Marius.

Marius of Arpinum, being banished from the city of Rome, fled southward, followed by a few friends who had sworn to be faithful to him for ever, and in whom he had no small confidence, inasmuch as they had preferred suffering hardships with him, to accepting honours at the hand of Sulla. When they were about a mile and a half from Minturnæ, not far from the Liris, which you are aware separated Latium from Campania, they happened to spy a troop of horse, about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, advancing towards them in

such a way that no one of the exiles could be in doubt as to who they were, or what was their object. Marius' band was too small to oppose them. Such a panic seized everyone, not even Marius excepted, that a scene of universal disorder ensued, and all of them forgetting the oath they had lately sworn, sought safety each for himself, and took refuge some in the marshy grounds, some in the surrounding forests. GEDDES.

84. Cato of Utica.

Cato of Utica was born B.C. 96. He was the great-grandson of that Cato, who was the principal cause of the last war waged by the Romans with the people of Carthage. Deprived of both parents while yet a boy, he was brought up in the house of Drusus along with his famous sister Porcia, and the children of his mother, who had married a second time. Drusus died soon after, and he was committed to the care of one Sarpedon, who found that he was difficult to control, however gentle he might be to all appearance. It is recorded that he was not given to play, nor any of those amusements which most boys love, that he rarely smiled, and still more rarely joined the society of his comrades. M. (?)

85. Pyrrhus and Cineas.

It is universally allowed, that Pyrrhus did wrong in declaring war on a people he had never seen; and this we are well aware was admitted by himself not long after, when he had once repented of having no regard to justice itself, and of thinking more of his own advantage, than of the happiness of the people of Epirus. Besides, he was recommended to think seriously before answering the envoys, for one Cineas who thought he had no small influence with him, and was allowed to speak to him with freedom, would appear to have used all his eloquence, and spared no pains to convince him, that no good could come of such an expedition, and proceeded to such a pitch of boldness, as to say that he would be a fool to treat with those that had crossed the sea to apply to him for assistance, and yet pretended to be able to supply him with an army capable of reducing the whole world. GEDDES.

86. Pyrrhus (II.)

The ambassadors were too late in making their appearance, to be able to receive assistance the same year, only a small part of the

summer now remaining; the consequence being that Pyrrhus was reluctantly obliged to put off the expedition till the following year. This plan was followed by him in order to be able to take the field with better preparation, that his allies might be inspired with good hopes and his enemies with great apprehension. The rest of the chiefs of Greece, who were afraid that he would attack them, and who envied him that he was so strong both on land and sea, were delighted at the report that Pyrrhus was on the eve of invading Italy, not that they wanted him to be victorious over that country, but that they thought it was not very likely that he would ever return, and thus they would be relieved from all fear, and be in no danger of falling victims to his wild ambition. GEDDES.

87. Pyrrhus sails to Italy.

The troops commanded by Pyrrhus were expected almost daily by the Tarentines, who had so little confidence in themselves, that they were now grown too impatient of delay to conduct themselves quietly and cautiously; and it does not admit of a doubt, that it evinced the greatest folly to put all their hopes in another, and then to grow angry with him for needing time to discharge the duty confided to him. It reflects no small honour on Pyrrhus, that the soldiers enlisted as willingly as though the war had been a regular one; for had they been summoned to arms by a dreaded and detested prince, they might have been expected to desert him, and decline service under him. Such was his eagerness to embark, that he ventured to set sail in the middle of winter. He was just coming in sight of Italy, when a storm arose which cost him the lives of many brave soldiers. It is added by some authorities of note, that the king himself was within a little of being drowned. GEDDES.

88. Salamis.

It was in the year 490 B.C., that the battle of Marathon was fought. In that battle for the first time the immense hordes of the East had to succumb to a small band of patriotic citizens fighting for their altars and homes. Ten years after other heroes took the place of those fallen at Marathon, among whom Themistocles would have obtained the chief place, had he been an honest man, and preferred his country's good to private considerations. It was he that urged on the confederates the propriety of giving battle to the Persians in the narrow sea between Salamis and the mainland, where he