they imagined his thoughts were elate by the victory he had obtained over their troops, they represented to him the vicissitudes and inconstancy of fortune, which no prudence of man could foresee; that the greatest overthrows in the field were incapable of sinking the Roman fortitude, and consequently it could never be alarmed at any little disadvantage; that the examples of so many enemies as they had defeated, should teach Pyrrhus to reflect on the enterprise he was forming; that he would find, at worst, that they were enemies prepared to receive him, and in a capacity to defend themselves. They concluded their remonstrances with leaving it to his choice, either to receive a ransom for their soldiers, who were then his prisoners of war, or to exchange them for such of his troops as the Romans had taken from him. * Pyrrhus, after a consultation with his friends, answered the ambassadors to this effect. << Romans, it is with an ill grace you demand the prisoners I have taken from you, as you intend to employ them against me, after your refusal of the peace I proposed. If our mutual interest had been the subject of your attention, you never would have had recourse to such evasions. Be it your care to end, by an amicable treaty, the war you are maintaining against me and my allies, and I promise to restore you all my prisoners, as well your citizens as your confederates, without the ransom you offer me. If you reject this condition, it is in vain for you to imagine, that Pyrrhus will ever be prevailed upon to release so great a number of soldiers." * Dion. Halicarn. Excerpt. Legat, p. 744-748. When he had returned this answer to the ambassadors, he took Fabricius aside, and addressed him in "As for you, Fabricius, I am the following manner. sensible of your merit. you are an excellent general, and perfectly qualified for the command of an army; that justice and temperance are united in your character, and that you pass for a person of consummate virtue. But I am likewise as certain of your poverty; and must confess, that fortune, in this particular alone, has treated you with injustice, by misplacing you in the class of indigent senators. In order, therefore, to supply that sole deficiency, I am ready to give you as much gold and silver as will raise you above the richest citizen of Rome; being fully persuaded, that no expense can be more honourable to a prince, than that which is employed in the relief of great men, who are compelled by their poverty to lead a life unworthy of their virtue; and that this is the noblest purpose to which a king can possibly devote his treasures. At the same time, I must desire you to believe, that I have no intention to exact any unjust or dishonourable service from you, as a return of gratitude. I expect nothing from you but what is perfectly consistent with your honour, and what will add to your authority and importance in your own country. Let me therefore conjure you to assist me with your credit in the Roman senate, which has hitherto assumed an air of too much inflexibility, with relation to the treaty I proposed, and has never consulted the rules of moderation in any respect. Make them sensible, I entreat you, that I have given my solemn word to assist the Tarentines and other I am likewise informed that Greeks who are settled in this part of Italy; and that I cannot in honour abandon them on any account, and especially as I am now at the head of a potent army that has already gained me a battle. I must, however, acquaint you, that I am called by some pressing affairs, to my own dominions; and this is the circumstance which makes me wish for peace with the greater solicitude. As to any other particulars, if my quality as a king causes me to be suspected by the senate, because a number of other princes have openly violated the faith of treaties and alliances, without the least hesitation; become my surety yourself on this occasion; assist me with your counsels in all my proceedings, and command my armies under me. I want a virtuous man, and a faithful friend; and you as much need a prince, whose liberalities may enable you to be more useful, and to do more good to mankind. Let us therefore consent to render mutual assistance to each other, in all the future conjunctures of our lives.” Pyrrhus having expressed himself in this manner, Fabricius, after a few moments silence, replied to him in these terms. "It is needless for me to make any mention of the experience I may possibly have in the conduct of public or private affairs, since you have been informed of that from others. With respect also to my poverty, you seem to be so well acquainted with it, that it would be unnecessary for me to assure you, I have no money to improve, nor any slaves from whom I derive the least revenue; that my whole fortune consists in a house of no considerable appearance; and in a little spot of ground that furnishes me with my support. But if you believe my poverty renders my con dition inferior to that of every other Roman, and that, while I am discharging the duties of an honest man, I am the less considered, because I happen not to be of the number of the rich; permit me to acquaint you, that the idea you conceive of me, is not just, and that whoever may have inspired you with that opinion, or you only suppose so yourself, you are deceived to entertain it. Though I do not possess riches, I never did imagine my indigence a prejudice to me, whether I consider myself as a public or private person. Did my necessitous circumstances ever induce my country to exclude me from those glorious employments, that are the noblest objects of the emulation of great souls? I am invested with the highest dignities, and see myself placed at the head of the most illustrious embassies. I assist also at the most august assemblies, and even the most sacred functions of divine worship are confided to my care. Whenever the most important affairs are the subject of deliberation, I hold my rank in councils, and offer my opinion with as much freedom as another. I preserve a parity with the richest and most powerful persons in the republic; and, if any circumstance causes me to complain, it is my receiving too much honour and applause from my fellow citizens. The employments I discharge cost me nothing of mine, no more than any other Roman. Rome never reduces her citizens to a ruinous condition, by raising them to the magistracy. She gives all necessary supplies to those she employs in public stations, and bestows them with liberality and magnificence. Rome, in this particular, differs from many other cities, where the public is extremely poor, and' VOL. 6. 14 private persons immensely rich. We are all in a state of affluence, as long as the republic is so, because we consider her treasures as our own. The rich and the poor are equally admitted to her employments, as she judges them worthy of trust, and she knows no distinction between her citizens, but those of merit and virtue. As to my particular affairs, I am so far from repining at my fortune, that I think I am the happiest of men when I compare myself with the rich, and find a certain satisfaction, and even pride, in that fortune. My little field, poor and infertile as it is, supplies me with whatever I want, when I am careful to cultivate it as I ought, and to lay up the fruits it produces. What can I want more? Every kind of food is agree. able to my palate, when seasoned by hunger; I drink with delight when I thirst, and I enjoy all the sweetness of sleep when fatigued with toil. I content my. self with an habit that covers me from the rigors of winter; and of all the various kinds of furniture necessary for the same uses, the meanest is, in my sense, the most commodious. I should be unreasonable, unjust, should I complain of fortune, whilst she supplies me with all that nature requires. As to superfluities, I confess she has not furnished me with any; but then she has not formed me with the least desire to enjoy them. Why should I then complain? It is true, the want of this abundance renders me incapable of relieving the necessitous, which is the only advantage the rich may be envied for enjoying. But when I impart to the republic, and my friends, some portion of the little I possess, and render my country all the services I am capable of performing; in a word, when I |