that all men resemble each other;1 but, in critical occasions, the most formidable are those who conduct themselves with most prudence and wisdom. Let us follow the maxims we have received from our fathers, by which we have preserved the State," and deliberate cautiously; let not a moment decide the fate of your property, your glory, the blood of so many citizens, and the destiny of so many nations. Do not declare war, but prepare yourselves as though you did not expect the success of your negotiations: these measures are the most useful for your country, and the most proper to intimidate the Athenians.-ABBE Barthelemi.

1 se resemblent ;-2 cet Etat ;-3 lentément ;-4 qu'un instant ne décide pas du sort de ;-5 biens;-6 si ;-7 utiles à.

DESCRIPTION OF A COMBAT.

14

WHEN the two armies behelds their chiefs closely engaged, all the other combatants silently1o laid down their arms to gaze upon them; and, from this single combat, they expected the issue of the war. Their swords, bright as the flashes13 which precede thunderbolts, frequently cross each other, and deal their fruitless blows15 upon their burnished armour. The two combatants stretch themselves out, curl themselves up,17 stoop down, rise again in an instant,18 and at length grapple with each other.19 The ivy growing at the foot of an elm, does not more closely embrace the hard and knotty trunk, with its entwining arms,20 than these two warriors grasp at each other. 21 Adrastus, in the prime23 of

16

11

8 virent;-9 combattre de près;—10 en silence; pour les regarder attentivement;-12 on attendit;-13 éclairs;-14 d'où partent les foudres;-15 et portent des coups inutiles;-16 armes polies ;17 se replient;-18 se relèvent tout-à-coup;-19 se saisissent;-20 par ses rameaux entrelacés ;-2 ne se serrent l'un l'autre ;-22 Adraste; 23 à la force;

4

his age, had lost nothing of his strength; Telemachus, much younger, had not yet acquired* the whole of his; Adrastus makes several efforts to throw down1 his antagonist by surprise, and at last he endeavours to seize the sword of the young Greek, but in vain; for, the moment he attempts it,3 Telemachus lifts him from the ground, and throws him on the sand. And now this wretch, who had always despised the gods, betrayed an unmanly apprehension of death; he is ashamed to ask his life, and yet cannot help manifesting his desire of it;10 he endeavours to move11 Telemachus's compassion. "Son of Ulysses," said he, “I at length acknowledge the justice of the gods; they punish me as I have deserved;12 distress13 alone opens men's eyes, and shows them the truth. I see it, that it condemns me; but let an14 unfortunate prince put you in mind15 of your father who wanders16 far from Ithaca, and move your pity."17-Fenelon.

1 pour renverser;-2 il tâche de saisir;-3 dans le moment qu'il la cherche;-4 l'enlève de terre ;-5 Alors cet impie;-6 montre une lâche crainte de la mort ;-7 il a honte de la vie ;-9 ne peut s'empêcher de ;-10 témaigner qu'il la desire;-" d'émouvoir; 12 comme je l'ai mérité ;- 13 le malheur ;-14 qu'un ;-15 vous fasse souvenir;-16 erre ;-17 qu'il touche votre cœur.

RODOLPHUS OF HAPSBURGH,18 EMPEROR OF
GERMANY.

THIS prince was tall and well-made, his shoulders were18 square and broad, his head20 small, with* light hair, his features very handsome, his eyes lively and penetrating, his nose long and aquiline, and his constitution robust. 24 He possessed25 in all

18 Habsbourg;-19 il avait les épaules;-20 la tête ;-2 les cheveux clairs;-22 les traits du visage-23 les ;-21 sa complexion était robuste 25 avait;

H

4

his manners an air of greatness and majesty which procured him the respect1 of the court, even when he appeared there only as a simple nobleman. He was always very plains in his dress,* temperate, liberal, adored by his vassals, and perhaps the only nobleman in Germany who had true friends at a time when connexions were formed only through interest or faction. To prudence, he joined great intrepidity. He was humane in a cruel age, 11 and as virtuous as a man12 can be13 with great1 political ambition. He knew how to moderate his passions, and to return into the right path,15 after having deviated from it;16 and in war, as well as17 in peace, nothing escaped, 18 his foresight. He studied mankind, 19 and learned to make use of men20 without being led by them. His principles of justice and honour prevented him from countenancing23 disorder, which, however, he pretended to be ignorant of, for some time, in order to procure the settlement of his family: he succeeded, 25 and laid the foundation of that greatness to which28 his family subsequently attained.29 He is reproached with having appropriated to himself the large sums of money which he drew from Italy, instead of applying them to the necessitiess1 of the state; but no sooner was hese firmly seated on the throne, than he governed his people with as much wisdom as justice.-LE PERE BARRE.

30

qui le faisait respecter;-2 lors même qu'il n'y paraissait que;3 simple;-4 habits ;-5 adoré de ;--6 seigneur; dans ;-8 où;9 ne se formaient que par;-10 une grande; siècle ;-12 on ;13 l'être;-4 beaucoup de 15 bon chemin ;-16 après s'en être écarté-17 et ;-18 échappait à ;-19 les hommes ;- à s'en servir; 21 sans se livrer à;-22 l'empéchaient;-23 favoriser ;-24 qu'il parût ignorer pendant ;-25 y réussit;-26 posa les fondemens;27 la ;-28 où ;-2 s'éleva dans la suite; 30 On lui reproche de s'être approprié ;- besoins ;-32 il ne fut pas plutôt.

SHAKSPEARE.

SHAKSPEARE was the man1 who, of all modern and perhaps ancient poets, had the most comprehensive soul. All the images of nature were present to him, and he drew them not laboriously: but, luckily, you more than see what he describes; you feel it too.* Those who accuse him of wanting learning, give him the greater commendation;7 he was naturally learned; he needed not books to reads nature; he looked inwards, and found her there. I cannot say he is every where alike;1o were he so,11 I should do him injury to compare him, 12 even with the1s greatest of mankind. He is sometimes flat and insipid; but he is always great when some greats occasion is presented to him;16 no man17 can say, he ever hadis a subject fit for his genius, and did not then raise himself19 above all other poets.-Dryden.

11

0

I fut celui-le génie le plus vaste;-3 lui étaient sans cesse présentes; ne les peignaient pas vous faites plus que de voir;-6 d'avoir manque d'érudition;-font son plus grand éloge; 8 lire dans; qu'il soit ;- toujours le même; si cela pour était-2 de le comparer;-3 même au ;-4 maussade;-15 sublime quand une grande ;-16 se presente à lui;-7 personne ne ;-18 qu'il ait jamais traité;-19 où il ne se soit pas élevé.

FREDERIC V. KING OF DENMARK.20

FREDERICK V. son of Christiern VI. succeededo1 his father in 1746, of whom he pursued the wise system. He maintained peace in his dominions, and promoted commerce and manufactures, and by this conduct augmented the wealth of his people and his own revenues; he likewise encouraged agriculture, the working of mines, 25 and laid out new

20 DANNEMARK;-21 succéda à;-22 dont il poursuivit ;-23 encouragea;-24 les richesses ;- 25 l'exploitation des mines;

roads;1 nor was he less attentive to promotes the arts and sciences.

A prudent economy, a constant application to the duties of his State, and a beneficent character, marked his reign, and distinguished him as one of the wisest and most patriotic monarchs of his age. He quitted this life with the pleasing reflection, that he had never injured any one, nor caused a single drop of blood to be shed.

1 il fit faire de nouvelles routes;-2 il ne fut pas moins ;- a avancer;-4 jamais fait injure à personne ;-5 et qu'il n'avait pas fait verser une seule goutte de sang.

CONTRAST BETWEEN® RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY.

*

I CONFESS the majesty of the Scriptures strikes me with admiration: the sanctity of the Gospel speaks to my heart. Peruse the works of philosophers; with all their pomp of* diction, how insignificant are they when contrasted with the Scriptures !10 Can a book11 so sublime, and yet so simply written,12 12 be the work of man ?18 Is it possible that he whose history it relates, be1 himself but a man? Is that the tone of an enthusiast, or of an ambitious sectary? What mildness, what purity in his man15 What a winning16 grace in his instructions! What sublimity in his maxims! What profound wisdom in his discourses! What presence of mind,-what subtlety-and what correctness in his answers! What command over his passions! Where is the man, where is the sage, who can1s act, suffer, and die, without weakness and without os

ners!

10

6 CONTRASTE DE LA; Ecritures;-8 m'etonne ;-9 Voyez les livres qu'ils sont petits près de celui là ;- se peut il qu'un livre à la fois ;-12 et si simple ;-13 des hommes ;-14 Se peut il que celui dont il fait l'histoire ne soit;-15 mœurs ;-16 touchante ;17 empire;-18 sait;