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himself, and making many submissive apologies and earnest entreaties, very hardly obtained forgiveness. But Epaminondas, loftily glorying in the very actions for which he was arraigned, declared, that he would willingly suffer death, if it might be written on his monument, that, -" He had wasted Laconia, the territory of an enemy, peopled Messena two hundred and thirty years after it had been sacked, united the Arcadians, and restored liberty to Greece, - AGAINST HIS COUNTRY's WILL!" The judges admired him, and wondering at the cheerful greatness of his courage, rose, and refused to receive the votes. When Scipio, to the infamy of his countrymen, was accused at Rome, "This day (said he to the assembled multitude) this day is the anniversary of that on which I conquered Hannibal and reduced Carthage! I, for my part, am going to the capitol with my garland on my head, to sacrifice to the Gods, and return them thanks for the victory; and those who chuse may stay here and pass sentence upon me." Whereupon the assembly followed him with shouts and acclamations, leaving his aceusers to declaim alone, to their mortification, discomfiture and disgrace. Magnanimity like this, with a supernatural frown, seizes upon the souls of men, and compels homage and admiration. Phocion, when one of his companions in death bewailed his misfortune, thus addressed him, "What! is it not a pleasure) for thee to die with Phocion?" Here was a

brave flash of a dying light! How godlike must have been the nature of that virtue which, in the darkest hour of adversity, could shed so divine an effulgence around the soul of Phocion! I shall conclude these specimens of what may justly be called heroic egotism, with a sentence from Plutarch, which is an admirable amplification of Sidney's remark; "As those who, in walking, affect a stiffness of body and a stretched-out neck, are accounted effeminate and foppish, but are commended if, in fighting, they keep themselves erect and steady, so the man, grapling with illfortune, if he raise himself like a strong champion to resist her, and, by a bravery of speech, transforms himself from abject and miserable to bold and noble, he is not to be censured

as obstinate and audacious, but honoured as invincible and great."

As nothing is more delicate than the ground upon which a man treads, when he comes to allege his own merit, (such egotism being generally considered an infringement of the rules of decorum and the laws of modesty,) it will be well, by pointing out the principles of what is praise-worthy, and what may appear so and is not, to shew mankind what actions will bear this self-acclaim. It is a weapon belonging to the lover of true glory, which the ambitious dare not use. There are no two things more mistaken than the love of glory, and its vile counterfeit, ambition.How do authors, statesmen, and conquerors, boast of notoriety, and call it fame! To he universally known, universally talked of, and sometimes universally feared, are tokens, in their opinion, of universal honour. But these persons form a wrong estimate of genius: virtue not being its essential property, it is only valuable as it super-adds that to the other ends of its existence. The direction which Voltaire gave to his talents, has spread their celebrity and his infamy together: Machiavel's baseness and his policy are inseparable in the memory: and the apostacy, cruelty, and treachery of Napoleon Bonaparte, will for ever disgrace the genius by which he subjugated France and awes the world. Dr. Johnson has said, that the chief glory of a country arises from its authors. But then, that is only as they are oracles of wisdom: unless they teach virtue, they are more worthy of a halter than of the laurel. As for the civic wreath, we see statesmen, who, to maintain a province, will take pains to ruin the morals of a nation And though common sense ought not to require being told, that every triumphant warrior is not a hero; yet this gross mistake hath so often been made, that justice demands its confutation. The natures of ambition and glory are essentially different. Ambition is like a whirlpool, which absorbs every thing into itself. Glory is like the sun, which pours its life-giving rays over all the globe.Ambition has no end but its own gratification: to attain which, it would sacrifice friends, relations, and country; all affinities, all rights, are trampled on in ascending its ladder of hope. The tyrant cares not what mankind think of him, provided they dare not but speak well of him, and must obey him: he is king Midas, whose absolute sceptre turns his subjects into statues. On the reverse, the candidate for true glory seeks, above all things, to deserve glory. His wish is, to win the race; the badge of victory is a secondary consideration. Devoted to the publie good, he would rather, by some unwitnessed, unwhispered action, administer to its welfare; than hear himself the applauded idol of millions, whom the pageantry of martial spoils, or the finesse of state intrigue, had deluded to such enthusiasm: Give me the heart! (he says) and the lips may be mute! But should fortune desert him, and his countrymen view his actions through a perverse medium, he is no Coriolanus, to take up arms against their ingratitude: the treachery of men can never urge him to betray himself: and the ungrateful obloquy or violence of those whom he hath defended, can never tempt him to abjure his duty to the laws which guard their safety: