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LESSON CCLXXI.

SEPTEMBER THE TWENTY-EIGHTH.
Mountains.

A COUNTRY destitute of mountains may be rich, wellcultivated, elegant and beautiful, but it can in no instance be grand, sublime, or transporting; and to what a degree boldness of scenery has the power of elevating the fancy may be, in some measure, conceived from an anecdote recorded of an epic and descriptive poet. When Thomson heard of Glover's intention of writing an epic poem, the subject of which should be Leonidas of Sparta, "Impossible," said he, "Glover can never be idle enough to attempt an epic!-He never saw a mountain in his life!" Petrarch had long wished to climb the summit of Mount Verroux, a mountain presenting a wider range of prospect than any among the Alps or Pyrenees. With much difficulty he ascended. Arrived at its summit, the scene presented to his sight was unequalled! After taking a long view of the various objects which lay stretched below, he took from his pocket a volume of St. Augustine's Confessions; and, opening the leaves at random, the first period that caught his eye was the following passage:— "Men travel far to climb high mountains, to observe the majesty of the ocean, to trace the sources of rivers-but -they neglect themselves." Admirable reasoning! conveying as admirable a lesson! Instantly applying the passage to himself, Petrarch closed the book; and falling into profound meditation,-"If," thought he, "I have undergone so much labour in climbing this mountain, that my body might be the nearer to heaven, what ought I not to do, in order that my soul may be received in those immortal regions." Let us, while climbing any of our British Alps, be visited by similar reflections, and be actuated by similar resolutions!

Though the view of mountains serves to elevate the mind, the inhabitants of those regions are, undoubtedly, more prone to rapine and to warlike enterprise than the inhabitants of vales. This, it is presumed, arises from the austerity of their climate and to the comparative poverty of their soil; but this remark, though true when generally applied, is not always so in particular. For though, in the time of Cæsar, the Helvetii, inhabiting that part of Switzerland lying round the Lake of Geneva, were the most warlike people of Gaul, yet they were not more so than the Parthians, who were natives of unexplored deserts. We may also instance as exceptions to this general remark, the Arabians, so remarkable for their conquests

GUSTAVUS VASA.

379

during the middle ages; Egyptians, in more remote times; the Tartars, who subjected China; and the Romans, who conquered not so much by the sword as by the arts; for it was the severity of the Roman discipline, and not the severity of the Apennines, which subdued the world;-of all their numerous legions, not one-tenth, in the time of Augustus or of Trajan, had ever breathed the air of Italy.

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2. What passage in St. Augustine's Confessions did Petrarch read? - and what were his own reflections on it ?

3. What exceptions to this general remark may we instance? to what general remark do you refer ?

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DIED on this day, in 1560, Gustavus Vasa, king of Sweden, the deliverer of his country from the Danish yoke. After the reduction of Sweden by Christian II. of Denmark, Gustavus was kept a prisoner in the capital of the conqueror; but after many years of captivity, he escaped, and appeared among the Dalecarlians, whom he incited to revolt.

A great boldness of character, and an ardent love of military glory, together with capacious resources of mind, had eminently fitted him for a leader in times of difficulty. The conduct of the Danes, who had murdered his father and other Swedish nobles, roused him to revenge. He retook Upsal; and though occasionally defeated, he acquired fresh vigour from disasters; and animated to desperation by the cruelties of Christian, who put his mother and his sister to death by shocking tortures, he overran Gothland, and besieged Stockholm.

The states of the kingdom were convened, and Gustavus was offered that kingdom which his valour had recovered, and by his influence the crown was declared hereditary in his male issue.

Invasion from abroad ceased by the expulsion of the Danish monarch; and Gustavus, secure in the love of his subjects, cultivated the arts of peace and commerce, and made the Lutheran tenets the established religion of his country.

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1. What brave warrior died on this day, in 1560 ?

2. What became of Gustavus after the reduction of Sweden by Christian II. of Denmark ?

3. What did the conduct of the Danes towards his father and mother rouse him to?

LESSON CCLXXIII. — SEPTEMBER THE THIRTIETH.

The Scythian Ambassadors to Alexander, on his making Preparations to attack their Country.

If your person were as gigantic as your desires, the world would not contain you. Your right hand would touch the East, and your left the West at the same time: you grasp at more than you are equal to. From Europe you reach Asia; from Asia you lay hold on Europe. And if you should conquer all mankind, you seem disposed to wage war with woods and snows, with rivers and wild beasts, and to attempt to subdue nature. But have you considered the usual course of things? Have you reflected, that great trees are many years in growing to their height, and are cut down in an hour? It is foolish to think of the fruit only, without considering the height you have to climb to come at it. Take care lest, while you strive to reach the top, you fall to the ground with the branches you have laid hold on. Besides, what have you to do with the Scythians, or the Scythians with you? We have never invaded Macedon; why should you attack Scythia? You pretend to be the punisher of robbers; and are yourself the general robber of mankind. You have taken Lydia; you have seized Syria; you are master of Persia ; you have subdued the Bactrians, and attacked India: all this will not satisfy you, unless you lay your greedy and insatiable hands upon our flocks and our herds. How imprudent is your conduct! you grasp at riches, the possession of which only increases your avarice. You increase your hunger by what should produce satiety; so that the more you have, the more you desire. But have you forgot how long the conquest of the Bactrians detained you? while you were subduing them the Sogdians revolted. Your victories serve no other purpose than to find you employment by producing new wars; for the business of every conquest is twofold-to win, and to preserve: and though you may be the greatest of warriors, you must expect that the nations you conquer will endeavour to shake off the yoke as fast as possible: for what people choose to be under foreign dominion? If you will cross the Tanais, you may travel over Scythia, and observe how extensive a territory we inhabit. But to conquer us is quite another business; you will find us, at one time, too nimble for your pursuit; and at another time, when you think

are fled far enough from you, you will have us sur

THE SCYTHIAN AMBASSADORS TO ALEXANDER.

381

prise you in your camp for the Scythians attack with no less vigour than they fly. It will, therefore, be your wisdom to keep with strict attention what you have gained; catching at more, you may lose what you have. We have a proverbial saying in Scythia, that "Fortune has no feet; and is furnished only with hands to distribute her capricious favours, and with fins to elude the grasp of those to whom she has been bountiful." You give yourself out to be a god, the son of Jupiter Ammon: it suits the character of a god to bestow favours on mortals, not to deprive them of what they have. But if you are a god, reflect on the precarious condition of humanity. You will thus show more wisdom than by dwelling on those subjects which have puffed up your pride, and made you forget yourself.

You see how little you are likely to gain by attempting the conquest of Scythia. On the other hand, you may, if you please, have in us a valuable alliance. We command the borders of both Europe and Asia. There is nothing between us and Bactria but the river Tanais; and our territory extends to Thrace, which, as we have heard, borders on Macedon. If you decline attacking us in a hostile manner, you may have our friendship. Nations which have never been at war are on an equal footing; but it is in vain that confidence is reposed in a conquered people there can be no sincere friendship between the oppressors and the oppressed; even in peace, the latter think themselves entitled to the rights of war against the former. We will, if you think good, enter into a treaty with you according to our manner, which is, not by signing, sealing, and taking the gods to witness, as is the Grecian custom, but by doing actual services. The Scythians are not used to promise, but perform without promising. And they think an appeal to the gods superfluous; for those who have no regard for the esteem of men will not hesitate to offend the gods by perjury. You may therefore consider with yourself, whether you had better have a people of such a character, and so situated as to have it in their power either to serve you or to annoy you, according as you treat them, for allies or for enemies.

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1. What question does the Scythian ambassador put to Alexander?→→ and by what wise remark is the question followed?

2. Of what does he accuse him?

3. What proverbial saying had the Scythians?

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