Sallust and Livy have preserved some few notes in respect to the debates of the Roman senate; and thence the advice of many is preserved to memory whose deeds were nothing. The American congress, the French chambers, and the British parliament, present fine arenas for the display of advice, which, in consequence of their publication, insure appreciation both of time and of place.

The period will be happy, when men of imagination shall be gifted with power to accomplish what mere men of what is called practice will never be able to perceive till they see that it is done.

CXLIV.

WHO ACT CONTRARY TO THEIR OWN PRECEPTS.

THE Spanish writers speak, in general, more brilliantly of Francis I. than the French. This has been attributed, especially by Varillas, to the wish of endeavouring to convince the French, that as Francis was not able to subdue Spain, no other French monarch need adventure the attempt. Late events, however, have proved, that when a kingdom is divided by faction, a weak enemy is, in effect, not only too subtle but too strong.

.

The declaration of Francis in regard to protestantism was this: If I thought the blood in this arm were tainted with the Lutheran heresy, I would cut it off; ' and I would not even spare my own children, did 'I know they entertained sentiments contrary to those

' of the Catholic church *.' In the spirit of this declaration he condemned many to the flames for religious opinions. To soften his asperity, Calvin wrote the celebrated dedication of his Christian Institutions: and, as a practical illustration of his own precepts,-condemned Servetus to the stake!

CXLV.

THREE ORDERS OF PERSONS.

THESE orders are:-those who are always prepared ; those who never try; and those who love, to intensity, the hurry of business.

1. Of those who are always prepared. What is the reason,' inquired Demosthenes, in one of his orations against Philip, what is the reason, that the festivals, in honour of Minerva and Bacchus, are always 'celebrated at the appointed times; festivals, that cost more money than is usually expended upon a whole navy; while your expeditions have been all too late? 'The reason is this. Every thing relating to the former ' is ascertained by law; and every one of you knows, 'long before, who is to conduct the several entertain

ments in each tribe: what he is to receive, when and 'from whom, and what to perform. But in affairs of ' war and warlike preparation, there is no order, no re'gularity, no certainty.'

* See Mosheim, iii. 68. From Flor. de Remond, Hist. de la Naissance et du Progrès de l'Hérésie.

2. Who never try. What said the Lord Chancellor Brougham the other day*? I always think it 'time enough to say, "I can't;" when I have tried ' and failed. Whenever a man says, I can't, before he ' has tried, we may safely conclude that he means, I 'won't.'

3. Who love the hurry of business.-The Duke of Newcastle was of this order. What says Lord Chesterfield in respect to him?- His ruling, or, rather, his only passion, was the agitation, the bustle, and the hurry of business. But he was as dilatory in dispatching it as he was eager to engage in it. He was always in a hurry; never walked, but always ran; insomuch, that I have sometimes told him, that by his ' fleetness one should rather take him for the courier 'than the author of the letters.'

CXLVI.

CAIUS GRACCHUS.

CAIUS GRACCHUS may, in some respects, be regarded as a second Numa; yet his name, for the most part, has been lost in the splendour of his brother's. He was, in fact, the most effective regulator that Rome produced during the whole period of its republic. For he proposed, and caused to be passed, laws relative to the regulation of markets; a more equitable judication; colonization; and division of lands: as well as for making roads and erecting public granaries. His in

* June 24, 1831.

dustry and celerity, in fact, were the admiration of all but his enemies. He made roads straight, which before had been serpentine; grounded them with hewn stone, or a binding sand; built bridges, made causeways, placed mile-posts, and fixed stones for the use of those old men who travelled without servants, that they might the more easily remount their horses. To him, also, were the Latins indebted for having had extended to them the rights and privileges of Rome.

Cicero gives Caius a high character as an orator. His language was rich and copious; his sentiments judicious and manly; his manner striking and noble. These were the means with which he worked; those were the results for which he laboured.

CXLVII.

CHARACTERS WHICH REMIND US OF CERTAIN PICTORIAL

SKETCHES.

SOME remind us of sketches characteristic of Rubens and Rembrandt; the contrasts they exhibit being immediate. Chesterfield affords us an instance in Lord Bolingbroke: His virtues and his vices, his reason and his passions,' says his Lordship, did not blend themselves by a gradation of tints, but formed a shining and sudden contrast. Here the darkest; there 'the most splendid colours; and both rendered more 'striking from their proximity.'

Men of this kind are very agreeable to know, but not so easy to manage.

CXLVIII.

WITH WHOM IT IS NEVER THE TIME.

WITH Some the time never is.

'It is too early;'

changes are

it is too late; there is no necessity;'

6

'dangerous and pestilent things;' never be in a hurry about any thing;' 'wise men are never in

' haste.'

These are their arguments; these are their weaknesses; these their absurdities. It is never the time; neither in peace, nor in war; in prosperity, nor in adversity; in winter, nor in summer.

Napoleon, in this respect, made a lasting error. Caulincourt solicited full powers to treat with the allies at Chatillon. Napoleon refused. At length Caulincourt departed; and, as he left the town, met Napoleon's secretary with the powers, so often urged for. It was now too late. One day sooner, and he had, probably, died upon the throne of France.

Some men's watches, as Talleyrand said of Marmont, when he negotiated with Prince Schwarzenberg, go a few minutes faster than those of other men ;-and on those few minutes frequently hang the glory or the ruin of an empire or a state.

VOL. II.