ceived the thanks of the nation, and been rewarded with thirty thousand pounds (the price offered by government for his person.) The prisoner, with a calm and dignified countenance, replied, that he had afforded him only that humanity which one man owes to another, and given him those refreshments that nature requires, a night's lodging and a frugal repast; and who is there among my judges, continued he, were they as poor as I am, that would have deigned to become rich by violating the rights of hospitality, in order to earn the price of blood?

The simple eloquence of this untutored orator, en forced conviction on the minds of his hearers. The court was filled with confusion and amasement; reproaches were turned into plaudits; the suit was dismissed, and the prisoner set at liberty; it being impossible to condemn a man who was neither deterred by the fear of punishment, nor altered by the hope of a great reward, from acting with compassion towards a fellow-creature in distress.

Sympathy with the afflicted shows an amiable disposition, which is much stronger in some people than in others; but, like the rest of our natural propensities, it may be cultivated and cherished by exercise, till it becomes one of the most exalted of virtues. When benevolence is the rule of a man's life, and, without any view to gaining a great name, he steadily pursues a course of doing good, and voluntarily undergoes fatigue, faces danger, exposes himself to reproach, and thwarts his own inclinations to serve others, who cannot repay him : he deserves the title of a truly benevolent character.

His kindness is disinterested: it is heroic, and claims the admiration and esteem of all beholders. A nice sense of honour, that, amidst the most tempting circumstances, can preserve the hands clean, and the heart pure, likewise entitles its possessor to great respect, whatever station he may fill in society.

An anecdote is related upon the best authority, that reflects high credit upon the national character of our English soldiers, during the late attack on Copenhagen. A party of our countrymen had taken possession of the villa of a gentleman of condition, about five miles from the city. The owner was obliged to fly with so much precipitation, that he left the plate on the table where he was dining. The love of life supersedes all other considerations: he abandoned his possessions, and gave them up for lost; but when the attack was over, private property was restored, and, in confidence of that permission, this gentleman returned to his house, and finding it guarded with soldiers, demanded an entrance, declaring that he was the rightful owner of the house, and every thing belonging to it.

The centinel replied, that he had no authority to admit him or any other person; that his orders were to keep a vigilant guard upon the property; and that, unless he brought the permission in form from his commanding officer, he should resolutely oppose his entering the gate. The gentleman persisted in asserting his right, till the centinel threatened to shoot him on the spot if he did not retire.

Thus repulsed, he had no resource, but to go to Copenhagen in search of the colonel, when having procured a formal order from him, he returned, expecting to find his house plundered of all such valuables as were portable. The centinel, on seeing the note, instantly admitted him, when, to his astonishment, he found every thing exactly as he had left it; not a spoon or salver was missing. He admired the honesty and discipline of the English troops, though enemies; and acknowledged the propriety of the centinel's conduct, which at first had so greatly offended him.

The applause due to virtue cannot be withheld: it is the spontaneous tribute of every rational being. Even the vicious are sensible of its beauty, and, notwithstanding their opposition to its dictates, pay it that homage that they are not able to refuse. Though a consistent and strictly virtuous character is rare; yet, virtuous dispositions frequently appear in individuals of every class that seem to issue directly from the heart, as if they were the effects of a natural law imprinted by the great Creator.

The magnanimous generosity of a sailor during the present war, is well adapted to confirm this pleasing truth. It happened, as one of our vessels was sailing pretty briskly in the night, a man fell overboard. A sailor on deck instantly gave an alarm for assistance. "Never mind him," replied another who was present, it is only a Frenchman." "He is nevertheless a man," said the first, and immediately plunged into the water, at the risk of his own life, to save his perishing fellowcreature, though an enemy.

185

THE TRAVELLER.

AMONGST the many noble families of France which suffered from the atrocities of the revolution, was that of the philosophic count Honorée, whose penetrating judgment foresaw that a long period of anarchy and tyranny must overwhelm his country, before tranquility, order, or liberty, for which so much had been risked, could be attained. From inclination, he preferred ease and the pursuits of science to the turbulence of political squabbles; yet he would have sacrificed his personal gratification to the interests of his country, if he had not been convinced that the contending factions were too powerful to be harmonised, and felt the difficulty of acting in opposition to the opinions of a beloved brother, who espoused the cause of the ancient regime, and being strongly prejudiced in favour of the rights of nobility, and particularly attached to his sovereign, supported the measures of the court with all his influence, became a distinguished leader amongst the Royalists, and finally lost his life under the guillotine. This melancholy event determined the count to put in execution a scheme he had before had in contemplation, which was to convert his property into ready money, and place it, through the interference of a friend, in the English funds; and then, before it was too late, to make his escape from his native country, that was every day becoming more the victim of rapine and bloodshed. He disguised his person under the appearance of a pedlar, which enabled him to carry with him a few valuable articles, that might be converted into a present supply of cash; and was so fortunate as to secure a passage in a vessel in the port of Toulon, destined for Leghorn, without being detected. The first sensations after the ship got under weigh, was that of a deer escaped from his pursuers; for he had certain information that his name was in the list of the proscribed. The regret of leaving the country that gave him birth, was diminished by the crimes that defaced it, and the remembrance of his brother's fate. For awhile he was a prey to melancholy reflections; but, convinced of the inutility of unavailing sorrow, he endeavoured to recal the wonted activity of his mind, and turn his thoughts to the objects around him. He looked upon himself as a single, isolated being, devoid of friends and country; a citizen of the world, with no peculiar home, and therefore free to inspect and examine the different advantages presented by each that accident or inclination should lead him to visit. Italy opened an extensive field for the indulgence of his taste in the different branches of art, whether he preferred the reliques of antiquity, or the productions of modern times. Temples, palaces, pictures, statues, and vases, solicited his admiration in all quarters. At Rome, the monuments of former ages, when that city was mistress of the world, excited in his mind reflections on the vanity of human greatness, and the vicissitudes that states and individuals undergo. He beheld the seat of consuls and senators converted into the abode