ed his salam with a bow, and passing on, observed, “ I thank you as much as if I did.”

I had some letters of recommendation with me, directed to people of consequence in Calcutta. I delivered one of them. The gentleman treated me with civility; but was sorry he could do nothing for me. Just so poor Peter Pilgarlick was welcomed. I was, however, invited to dinner; but as I wanted employment, and not luxurious viands, I declined the invi tation with "I thank you as much as if I did." As I was allowed to remain on board the ship until I could procure a situation to my mind, my expenses, of course, were very small. My captain, a most worthy man, exerted himself in my behalf, and on the tenth day after, my arrival I was engaged as a copying clerk in a merchant's office, with a salary of 80 rupees per month. Having destroyed all my fine recommendatory epistles, I resolved to sink my pride down to my circumstances. Among other axioms I had adopted, as beyond controversy true and invaluable, was this, that any one, who has fallen from an eminence in society, may rise again, provided he go low enough, and change his scene of action. Agreeably to my opinion on this head, I hired a very small house in an ob scure gully, and made it neat and comfortable at a very trifling expense. I had health, spirits, and an approving conscience. I wanted but two servants-a d'hobee and a khidmutgar. Clean clothes are, indeed, in a country like that, a luxury as much in the power of a poor as a rich man; and I never knew a man in India, worth hanging, who lounged about in the same shirt two days successively. My other domestic was a factotum. He bought my victuals for me, and cooked for me, took care of my house, and with the assistance of a shrivelled old Sybil of a matrannee,‡ kept my tenement

*

Gully, is a narrow lane. Our American captains, &c. all know its meaning. Rannamoody gully, for instance.

↑ D'hobee is a washerwoman. Khidmutgar is a servant who attends at table, &c.

‡ Matrannee is a woman who sweeps the house, yard, &c, and is employed in a variety of dirty work."

and its appurtenances clean and in good order. When the first month was expired, my landlord offered to let the rent run on to another month, as the sum was so small;”—so much the easier to command, said I ;-your offer is kind, but as to accepting it, “ I thank you as much as if I did."

A brother clerk in the merchant's office where I was em ployed, used to treat me in a very friendly manner. He often lamented that I was obliged to trudge about on foot, and as he observed that our master was much pleased with my assiduity, he advised me to get a palankeen; for there could be no doubt of my speedy promotion. I candidly related my real circumstances to him. My original stock of one hundred pounds was considerably lessened by unavoidable expenses; as to purchasing a palankeen, it was out of the question, if ready siccas were to be the terms; and as to getting into debt with a stranger, that was equally out of my will or power He offered to lend me money-to make payment easy to myself, to take it by instalments-any way-" I thank you,” said I," as much as if I did."

But, Mr. Censor, I have extended this communication to an unintended length, and will therefore bid you and your readers adieu for the present. I hope you will not deem this well meant correspondence impertinent. If I see this letter inserted in the next number, I shall immediately send you an account of some other events in my life, which I hope may be useful to the young adventurer If you do not approve what I have already written, give yourself no further. trouble about it. You certainly have a right to reject my proffered assistance in your literary department, and to say to me, as I have frequently said to others, "I thank you as` much as if I did.”

Yours sincerely,

SIMON STEADY.

WASHINGTON has often been compared by his eulogists to Epaminondas; who is, in my opinion, the only character of antiquity that can justly be placed in competition with the American hero. Between these two great men, separated by the lapse of more than two thousand years, there are many points of resemblance, and some things in which they differ. To determine to which the preference should be given, is not my object, and would, perhaps, be a task of no easy execution. For it has been well observed, that the comparing of great men is like the comparing of great rivers: in one, we admire its width, the smoothness of its surface, and the majestic flow of its current; while in another we are struck with the rapidity and depth of its stream, and the meandering course it describes. All that I propose is, to exhibit some of the more striking characteristics, which have gained them the love and veneration of mankind, and which render them worthy of our imitation.

Of these two great men, it may first be observed, that both arose from inconsiderable beginnings to the first stations of trust and honor in their country. And for this elevation, they were indebted to no family connections, nor to no popular intrigue; but to the unbiassed suffrages of their fellow-citizens. They rose by their own inherent worth by their acknowl edged virtue and wisdom.

Epaminondas was of humble, though reputable birth. At an early age he discovered great fondness for letters, and received instruction in the Pythagorean philosophy, in which he made great proficiency. Indeed, he was no less distinguished among his countrymen for learning and knowledge, than for virtue and military skill.

Washington, born of respectable parents, spent his youth rather in the business of the farm, and the athletic exercises of the country, than in acquiring knowledge; and in this re

spect he must be confessed inferior to Epaminondas. For

L

knowledge is power; and whoever possesses it, other things being equal, may be justly reckoned superior to one who has it not. Whether Washington was not, upon the whole, as great as any education would have made him, I shall not pretend to determine.

Both, at an early age, gave evidence of great personal courage, of inflexible integrity and firmness, and of a prudence and wisdom far beyond their years. These great qualities, which appeared more conspicuous the oftener they were required, soon recommended them to the notice, and insured them the confidence of the public. Having distinguished themselves in the lower stations of military service, and a crisis having arrived in the affairs of their countries, demanding uncommon caution and ability, they were respectively chosen to the offices of highest trust and authority. Thus, by the voice of their countrymen were they called to the most responsible situations, and declared to be men most fit to rescue them from their hazardous situation.

A similar success attended the exertions of both.

Thebes, hitherto a small and inconsiderable state, under the command of Epaminondas, triumphed over the arms of Lacedemon, then the most formidable power of Greece. First at Leuctra, and afterwards at Mantinea, where Epaminondas fell, the Lacedemonians sustained two signal defeats. In these two battles their affairs were so much weakened, that they never recovered from the shock. Thebes, before neglected and despised, assumed, during the life of her general, a high rank among the powers of Greece. She was not only rescued from slavery and oppression, but became respectable in the eyes of their neighbors.

The steps by which Washington gained the independence which we now possess, are too well known to need a rehearsal. In this, however, his success much resembled that of the Theban hero; that he conducted a small, and, hitherto, inconsiderable state to greatness and respectability, though opposed by a great and powerful nation.

In estimating their military characters, it is to say who de

serves the greater praise. If it be said on one hand that Epaminondas gained more signal victories; on the other it must be owned that Washington had a more formidable enemy to oppose, with means less suited to the purpose of conquest. If we applaud Epaminondas for having vanquished the forces of Lacedemon, Washington deserves no less praise for having preserved the forces under his command from entire destruction.

Of the political conduct of Epaminondas, little is known. The probability is, that he was employed principally in the camp. Washington, however, was equally great in peace and in war-in the cabinet and the field. Having conducted his country through a perilous contest, he was placed at the head of affairs; where, in the most trying times, he conducted himself with singular prudence and wisdom. The benefits he conferred on his country as a statesman, were no less, either in number or degree, than those which he had before bestowed as a warrior.

As to their deaths, Washington must be considered the more fortunate.

EURIPIDES.

"The first of chiefs is he who laurels gains, But buys them not with death: the next is he Who dies, but dies in virtue's arms," Epaminondas fell at Mantinea, while bravely fighting at the head of his army. Being pierced with a javelin, which he perceived had given him a deadly wound, and knowing he must die as soon as it was withdrawn, he suffered it to remain till he was told the Thebans had conquered. "Hearing this, he exclaimed, "I have enough of life, since I die in the arms of victory;" then ordering the javelin to be withdrawn, he immediately expired. And with him perished the fortunes of his country. Thebes, before the birth of Epaminondas, had been in subjection to other states; during his life time, she was at the head of the Grecian powers; after his death, she fell back into her former insignificance and servitude. "Thus shewing," says Nepos, "that one man may be of more consequence than a whole state,”