thank me; it is my duty to assist my subjects in disFor no other purpose am I king." tress. LEX TALIONIS. "The quality of mercy is not strain'd. MERCHANT OF VENICE. When Gustavus Adolphus was pressed to revenge on Munich the cruelties which the famous Count Tilly had perpetrated at Magdeburgh, by giving up the city to pillage, and reducing the Elector's magnificent palace to ashes, he replied, "No: let us not imitate the barbarity of the Goths, our ancestors, who have rendered their memory detestable by abusing the rights of conquest, in destroying the precious monuments of art, and doing violence to humanity." ARCHBISHOP TILLOTSON. In 1685, Archbishop Tillotson avowed himself a warm advocate for affording charitable relief to the French refugees. On the repeal of the edict of Nantes, Dr. Beveridge, the prebendary of Canterbury, having objected to reading a brief for this purpose, as contrary to the rubric, the archbishop observed to him roughly, "Doctor, doctor, charity is above all rubrics." While this truly great man was in a private station, he always la aside two tenths of his income for charitable uses; and after his elevation to the mitre he so constantly expended all that he could spare of his yearly revenues in acts of beneficence, that the only legacy which he was able to leave to his family consisted of two volumes of sermons; the value of which, however, was such, that the copyright of them brought no less a sum than £2500. EARTHQUAKE AT LISBON. No sooner did the news of this dreadful calamity reach England, than the British parliament voted one hundred thousand pounds for the relief of the unhappy sufferers. This noble instance of national humanity was enhanced by the manner of conferring the benefit. A number of ships, laden with provisions and clothing, were immediately dispatched to Lisbon, where they arrived so opportunely, as to preserve thousands from dying of hunger and cold, who, destitute of the means of subsistence, were obliged to take up their abode in the open air; and but for this seasonable relief, must inevitably have perished. THE CULLODEN REFUGEES. "Ask the grey pilgrim by the surges cast On hostile shores, and numbed beneath the blast, Ask who revived him? who the hearth began To kindle? who with spilling goblet ran? O he will dart one spark of youthful flame, And clasp his withered hands, and Woman name." BARRETT, After the battle of Culloden, so fatal to the last hopes of the House of Stuart, Colonel Stewart, attended by his friend, Mr. Hamilton of Balgour, sought his personal safety in flight. They approached a lonely hut in the Highlands, to which Mr. H. went to ask shelter for an ill-starred stranger. The good woman was opening her wattled door; and by his looks comprehending at once that a poor refugee was in distress, though she did not understand one word of English, she followed Mr. Hamilton to the spot where he had left Colonel Stewart, who addressed her in her native tongue, and as his case was desperate, confided to her their names, and their peril. She told him the cattle were pasturing near her cottage; but if he would wait a little she would send the herds out of view, and get him removed without exciting suspicion. Having succeeded in this, she kept them concealed for several days; and when they at length quitted their humane preserver, she loaded them with provisions, accompanied them for several miles, pointing out the unfrequented paths, or where they might venture to ask for a lodging, refusing at the same time the slightest remuneration. What adds to the merit of the action is, that the poor widow had lost two sons in the king's cause, to which she was strongly attached. Colonel Stewart pays a well merited tribute to the female sex. "In all our wanderings," says he, "we have preferred applying to the gentler sex. They never rejected us; and if they could contribute to providing for our safety, after separating from them, we found they had a quick and clear perception of the means and sympathy to stimulate their exertions, and to render them effectual. Even ladies who were keen partizans of the house of Hanover, spared neither trouble nor expence in our behalf. CHRISTIAN LOYALTY. Mr. William Gordon, Minister of Alvey in Kincardineshire, was one of the most ardent of the Scotch royalists in 1745. During all the troubles previous to the decisive conflict of Culloden, he delivered from the pulpit every Sunday an animating exhortation to his flock, to hold themselves in readiness for shedding the last drop of their blood in defending the throne, which formed the sole barrier between their religious privileges and sweeping destruction. He showed them his dirk girded on his thigh; and assured them, that with that weapon in his hand, and the shield of scriptural truth on his heart, he himself would go before them to the field of martial glory; and whoso refused to follow, must be a traitor not only to his king, but to God Almighty. Yet when the rebels were scattered, wounded, outlawed, and pursued by the arm of justice, this benevolent pastor was the bold advocate and the agent of mercy, professing that as gratitude for a signal deliverance from ecclesiastical despotism, and as christians forgiving their enemies, every loyal subject should obliterate all remembrance of the injuries they suffered from the opposite party, and relieve their wants and distresses. When the hostile armies were known to have moved northward, Mr. Gordon ordered a large quantity of malt to be brewed into ale, and huge piles of oat cakes to be prepared, telling his wife that he was sure many unfortunate men must pass that way, and all ought to have meat and, drink, with dressings for their wounds, whatever might be the side which they had espoused. After the battle of Culloden, immense numbers of officers and men received refreshments from Mrs. Gordon; and every part of the house, except one room, was filled with the wounded. Mr. Gordon was in terms of very intimate friendship with the late Principal Robertson, and had his valuable life prolonged to the age of one hundred and four years. THE BRITISH TAR. During the siege of Acre, an old sailor of the name of Daniel Bryan, then on board Sir Sidney Smith's ship, Le Tigre, made frequent applications to be employed on shore, but his age and deafness were considered as insuperable disqualifications. At the first storming of the breach, one of the French generals was slain. The Turks struck off his head, and after inhumanly mangling his body, threw it out to be devoured by the dogs. Bryan heard his messmates describe this horrid spectacle; and when any boat's crew returned from the shore, he often enquired if they had buried the French general. The answer he commonly received was, "Go and do it yourself." At length Bryan got leave to go and see the town; and dressed in his best clothes, went with the surgeon in the jolly boat. He procured a pick-axe, a shovel, and a rope, and insisted upon being let down from a porthole close to the beach. Some young messmates begged hard to share his danger; for a slight circumstance enkindles the nobler and milder virtues that |