he kindles ardent hopes in the breasts of thousands of their bloody breth ren of the knife. No delay, no want of success, should discourage the truly ambitious patriot. He should reflect that if like has toiled twenty years, meeting with nothing but disaster and disgrace; like him too, he may, to the astonishment of all his friends, one day display the graces of his person in the chair of state; or the charms of his eloquence at the court of St. Cloud, or in the purlieus of the Escurial. In the road from Rome to this city, we passed the lake of Perugia, better known to scholars as the lake of Thrasymene, on the borders of which Hannibal defeated the Roman consul Flaminius, and when, if he had pursued his vic tory, and marched directly to Rome, it is probable Rome would have shared the fate which she afterwards brought upon Carthage. This battle has been so well described by different writers, and the ground taken by the respective generals, so accurately pointed out, that a traveller can easily discern upon the spot, not only how the battle was fought, but why it was lost. It is, however, a matter of astonishment to every man of sense, who views the ground, how a Roman general, acquainted with the country, could have suffered himself to be drawn into a spot where defeat was certain. At the same time it is impossible not to admire the talents of the Carthaginian general, who, in a foreign country, on land to which and to whose defiles he must have been till that time a stranger, could have contrived to draw or cajole an enemy into a position so fatal. -The lake of Thrasymene is, I should judge, about fifteen miles wide, and forty leng. On the east side it is surrounded by the Appennines, which, at two points not very far distant from each other, approach the lake in such a manner, as to form two very narrow defiles between the mountains and the lake. Between these two points the hills recede in such manner, as to form a large bason or plain of about ten miles square, and which is completely environed on the north, east, and south, by the Appennines, and on the west by the lake, with only two narrow passages by the abovementioned defiles. Hannibal allured or seduced the Roman general into this contracted bason; seized the heights, and attacking him in flank, presented detachments of his army at the defiles to prevent his escape. Possessing the mountain tops by a numerous and well disciplined soldiery, he poured down on the heads of the wretched Romans, like an irresistible torrent. Death by water, or the sword of the Africans, was the only alternative presented to them. Never were the masters of the world so humbled, or the fate of their nation so endangered, which must be my apology for introducing so bloody a subject to a lady.The revenge which the Romans took for this battle, I have stated to you in a letter which I wrote describing my tour along the Adriatic, on the shores of which Asdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, was completely defeated, and the general himself fell a victim to the conquerors. Although I think that Americus Vespucius has very unfairly stolen the honour of the discovery of America, to which Columbus is certainly entitled, in the same manner that John Faust stole from his master, Laurentius Coster, the discovery of the art of printing; yet as he is the locum tenens of that honour, and passes with the world as such, I had a great curiosity to see his tomb, which is in this city. He was a Florentine, and his tomb is placed in the church of Ogni Senti, or All Saints, belonging to the Franciscans. There is no parade about it. It is a simple, circular piece of marble, let into the floor of the church. and either so obliterated or imperfect, that I cannot make out the date. I wish our literary friends to solve the doubt, as I give you the inscription precisely as it now is : S AmeriGHO VESPUCIO POSTERISq, . Suis M LXXI. You will see by the above, that the Italians called him Amerigus, and not Americus. Why our lit erary men have changed it in translation, I know not. It is true, that the Italians render the Roman C often by G, but this was not a Latin nor Roman but an Italian name, and the Italian G sounds precisely like our own. I cannot see the reason why we do not call the pretended discoverer of America, Amerighus instead of Americus. I think it very likely that I shall shew my ignorance by this remark, but I really wish to be informed myself, upon the point, and to state to you, who are as little informed, the fact, that the pretended discoverer of our country was, in his own town, called as I have above stated. Yours, &c. From the General Magazine. CHARACTER OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM PITT, WRITTEN BY THE RIGHT HON. G. CANNING. THE character of this illustrious Statesman early passed its ordeal. Scarcely had he attained the age at which reflection commences, than Europe with astonishment beheld him filling the first place in the Councils of his Country, and managing the vast mass of its concerns, with all the vigour and steadiness of the most matured Wisdom. Dignity-Strength-Discretion-these were among the masterly qualities of his mind at its first dawn. He had been nur tured a Statesman, and his knowledge was of that kind which always lay ready for practical application. Not dealing in the subtleties of abstract politicks, but moving in the slow, steady procession of Reason, his conceptions were reflective, and his views correct. Habitually attentive to the concerns of Government, he spared no pains to acquaint himself with whatever was connected, however minutely, with its prosperity. He was devoted to the State. Its interest engrossed all his study, and engaged all his care. It was the element alone in which he seemed to live and move. He allowed himself but little recreation from his labours, His Mind was always on its station, and its activity was unremitted. He did not hastily adopt a measure, nor hastily abandon it. The plan struck out by him for the preservation of Europe, was the result of prophetick wisdom and profound policy. But, though defeat ed in many respects by the selfish ambition and short-sighted imbecility of foreign Powers-whose rulers were too venal or too weak to follow the flight of that mind which would have taught them to outwing the storm-the policy in volved in it has still a secret operation on the conduct of surround ing states. His plans were full of energy, and the principles which inspired them, looked beyond the consequences of the hour. In a period of change and convulsion the most perilous in the history of Great Britain, when Sedition stalked abroad, and when the emissaries of France, and the abettors of her Regicide Factions formed a league powerful from their number, and formidable by their talent-in that awful crisis the promptitude of his measures saved his Country. He knew nothing of that timid and wavering cast of mind which dares not abide by its own decision. He never suffered popular prejudice or party clamour to turn him aside from any measure which his deliberate judgment had adopted. He had a proud reliance on himself, and it was justified. Like the sturdy warriour leaning on his own battle-axe, conscious where his strength lay, he did not readily look beyond it. As a Debater in the House of Commons, his speeches were logical and argumentative; if they did not often abound in the graces of metaphor, or sparkle with the brilliancy of wit, they were al ways animated--elegant-and classical. The strength of his oratory was intrinsick, it presented the rich and abundant, resource of a clear discernment and a correct taste. His speeches are stampt with inimitable marks of originality. When replying to his oppo nents, his readiness was not more conspicuous than his energy. He was always prompt, and always dignified. He could sometimes have recourse to the sportiveness of irony, but he did not often seek any other aid than was to be deriyed from an arranged and extensive knowledge of his subject. This qualified him fully to discuss the arguments of others, and forcibly to defend his own. Thus armed, it was rarely in the power of his adversaries, mighty as they were, to beat him from the field. Eloquence occasionally rapidelectrick-and vehement-was always chaste-winning-and persuasive-not awing into acquiescence, but arguing into conviction. His understanding was bold and comprehensive. Nothing seemed too remote for its reach, or too large for its grasp. His Unallured by dissipation, and unswayed by pleasure, he never sacrificed the National Treasure to the one, or the National Interest to the other. To his unswerving integrity, the most authentick of all testimony is to be found, in that unbounded publick confi. dence, which followed him throughout the whole of his political career. Absorbed, as he was, in the pursuits of publick life, he did not neglect to prepare himself in silence for that higher destination, which is at once the incentive and reward of human virtue. His talents,superiour and splendid as they were, never made him forgetful of that Eternal Wisdom from which they emanated. The faith and fortitude of his last moments, were affecting and exemplary. In his forty-seventh year, and in the meridian of his Fame, he died on the 23d of January, 1806. For the Anthology. SILVA, No. 28. Ubi tu dubites, quid sumas potissimum.? PSALMANAZAR. Ar the commencement of this pretended Formosan's vagrant life, he was unable to purchase a pilgrim's garb; but observing one in a chapel dedicated to a miraculous saint, which had been set up as a monument of gratitude by some wandering pilgrim, he contrived to take both the staff and cloak away; and being thus accoutred, begged his way in fluent latin, accosting only clergymen or people of distinction; whom he found so generous and credulous, that before he had gone twenty miles he might easily have saved money, and put himself in a better dress. But as soon as he had got what he thought sufficient, he begged no more, but viewed every thing worth seeing, and then retiring to an inn, spent his money as freely as he had obtained it. Having heard the Jesuits speak much of China and Japan, he started the wild scheme, when in Germany, of passing for a native of the isl. and of Formosa; and what he wanted in knowledge he supplied by a pregnant invention. He formed a new character and language, on grammatical principles, which, like other oriental languages, he wrote from right to left, with great facility; and planned a new religion, and division of the year into twenty months, with other novelties to credit his pretensions. He was now a Japanese convert to christianity, travelling for instruction, with an appearance more wretched than even common beggars. He then entered as a soldier in the Dutch service; but still desirous of passing for a Japanese, he altered his plan to that of being an unconverted heathen. And at Sluys brigadier Lander, a Scotch colonel, introduced him to the chaplain, who, with a view of recommending himself to the bishop of London, resolved to carry him over to England. At Rotterdam some shrewd persons, having put questions to him which carried the air of doubt, he took one more whimsical step, and confined himself to eating only raw flesh, roots, and herbs, by which he thought to remove all scruples. The bishop of London patronised him with credulous humanity, and Psalmanazar found a large circle of friends who extolled him as a prodigy. Yet were there some, who entertained a just opinion of him; but their endeavours to expose him as a cheat, only made others to think better of him, especially as Drs. Mead, Dalley, Woodward, &c.(the most zealous against him) were not esteemed the greatest admirers of revelation. But in this instance easiness of belief was no great proof of penetration. He was employed to translate the church catechism into the Formosan language, which was examined, approved, and laid up as a valuable MS.; and the author, after writing his well known History of Formosa, was rewarded, and sent to Oxford to study what he liked, while his patrons and opponents were learnedly disputing at London on the merits of his work. The very learned members of the university were no better agreed in their opinions, than those at May not this insurrection have been that of the Gallovidians? The Hebrides were the Norwegian. But the Norweyan lord.'This invasion took place several years after Macdoneval's insurrection. • Till that Bellona's bridegroom.' -Bellona's bridegroom means Macbeth, any thing in the volumes of the commentators to the contrary notwithstanding. • Lapt in proof,'-perhaps' proof of shot,' like Orlando Furioso, &c. Sc. III. And like a rat without a tail?See king James's Demonologiæ,' where it is said, the warlocks, or male witches, in transformation can retain their tails; the females neither do nor can, causa,' &c. When the devil honours the assembly with a visit, he carries the candle under his tail, as the witch, examined before king James, confessed on trial. • And yet your beards forbid.— Women in this part of Scotland discovering a beard were instantly accused of being bewitched. Hail to thee thane of Glamis.' Glamis is uniformly a word of one syllable; a broad as in saw. Thou shalt get kings.'-That the Stewarts descended from this Banquo is altogether visionary. The first of the family, mentioned in authentick history was Waller, who lived in the reign of David the first, and Malcolm the fourth, circa 12th century. He built and endowed an abbey in Paisley, 1164. He was also, by the records, high steward of Scotland. By Sinel's death, I know?— A mistake. Macbeth's father's name was Finele,' in latin‹ Finelus,' anglice Finel. The thane of Cawdor lives a prosperous gentleman.-There was a thane of Cawdor' or 'Calder' |
