ON THE DEATH OF MR. SNIDER MURDER'D BY RICHARDSON
on
the
In the second century of the Christian Aera, the empire of Rome comprehended
the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilized portion of mankind.
The frontiers of that extensive monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and
disciplined valor. The gentle but powerful influence of laws and manners had
gradually cemented the union of the provinces. Their peaceful inhabitants
enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth and luxury.
of
mr. snider
The principal conquests of the Romans were achieved under the republic; and
the emperors, for the most part, were satisfied with preserving those
dominions which had been acquired by the
policy of the senate, the active emulations of the consuls, and the martial
enthusiasm of the people. The seven first centuries were filled with a rapid
succession of triumphs; but it was reserved for Augustus to relinquish the
ambitious design of subduing the whole earth, and to introduce a spirit of
moderation into the public councils.
by
richardson
*
ISAIAH LXIII. 1 - 8.
isaiah
lxiii.
1
Happily for the repose of mankind, the moderate system recommended by the
wisdom of Augustus, was adopted by the fears and vices of his immediate
successors. Engaged in the pursuit of
pleasure, or in the exercise of tyranny, the first Caesars seldom showed
themselves to the armies, or to the provinces; nor were they disposed to
suffer, that those triumphs which their indolence neglected, should be
usurped by the conduct and valor of their lieutenants.
8.
*
ON BEING BROUGHT FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA
The native Caledonians preserved, in the northern extremity of the island,
their wild independence, for which they were not less indebted to their
poverty than to their valor. Their incursions were frequently repelled and
chastised; but their country was never subdued.
being
brought
The poet Buchanan celebrates with elegance and spirit (see his Sylvae, v.)
the unviolated independence of his native country.
africa
to
Ossian's Poems, which, according to every hypothesis, were composed by a
native Caledonian.
*
TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. 1768.
to
See a Memoir of M. d'Anville, on the Province of Dacia, in the Academie des
Inscriptions.
king's
The praises of Alexander, transmitted by a succession of poets and
historians, had kindled a dangerous emulation in the mind of Trajan. Like
him, the Roman emperor undertook an expedition against the nations of the
East; but he lamented with a sigh, that his advanced age scarcely left him
any hopes of equalling the renown of the son of Philip.
It was an ancient tradition, that when the Capitol was founded by one of the
Roman kings, the god Terminus (who presided over boundaries, and was
represented, according to the fashion of that age, by a large stone) alone,
among all the inferior deities, refused to yield his place to Jupiter
himself.
majesty.
1
St. Augustin is highly delighted with the proof of the weakness of Terminus,
and the vanity of the Augurs.
68.
*
ON RECOLLECTION
o
Careless of the difference of seasons and of climates, he marched on foot,
and bare-headed, over the snows of Caledonia, and the sultry plains of the
Upper Egypt; nor was there a province of the
empire which, in the course of his reign, was not honored with the presence
of the monarch.
recolle
The terror of the Roman arms added weight and dignity to the moderation of
the emperors.
on
*
PHILLIS'S REPLY TO THE ANSWER
The emperor Domitian raised the annual stipend of the legionaries to twelve
pieces of gold, which, in his time, was equivalent to about ten of our
guineas. This pay, somewhat higher than our own, had been, and was
afterwards, gradually increased, according to the progress of wealth and
military
government.
Besides a lighter spear, the legionary soldier grasped in his right hand the
formidable pilum, a ponderous javelin, whose utmost length was about six
feet, and which was terminated by a massy triangular point of steel of
eighteen inches.
The European provinces of Rome were protected by the course of the Rhine and
the Danube. The latter of those mighty streams, which rises at the distance
of only thirty miles from the former,
flows above thirteen hundred miles, for the most part to the south-east,
collects the tribute of sixty navigable rivers, and is, at length, through
six mouths, received into the Euxine, which appears scarcely equal to such
an accession of waters.
The authority of Plato and Aristotle, of Zeno and Epicurus, still reigned in
the schools; and their systems, transmitted with blind deference from one
generation of disciples to another, precluded every generous attempt to
exercise the powers, or enlarge the limits, of the human mind. The beauties
of the poets and orators, instead of kindling a fire like their own,
inspired only cold and servile imitations: or if any ventured
