pinched with hunger, yet willing to make ufe of the little ftrength he had left, he travelled by the fea-fide, encouraging his companions by prophecies, upon which he said he depended. He told them, that when he was a child, he brought home an eagle's neft, in which were feven young ones, and that his parents, much astonished at the accident, (for it is faid, that an eagle never hatches more than two) having confulted the Diviners, thefe had declared, that he would be the greatest amongst men, and be seven times possessed of the highest magiftracy in his country. When he and his company were now about two miles and a half from Minturnæ, they efpied a troop of horse making towards them with all speed, and, at the fame time, two fhips pretty near the fhore. Hereupon they ran as fast as they could to the fea, and plunging themselves into it, fwam to the fhips. Granius, and those that were with him, got into one of them, and paffed over to the oppofite ifland, called Enaria. Marius, heavy and unwieldy, was, with much difficulty, borne above. the water by two flaves, and put aboard the other ship. In this inftant, the foldiers arrived at the fea-fide, and from thence called out to the mariners, to bring their veffel to fhore, or elle to throw out Marius. He, on the other hand, befought them with tears, not to deliver him up to his enemies. The mariners, after a consultation, wherein they inclined fometimes to the one fide, fometimes to the other, at length anfwered pofitively, that they would not deliver up Marius. But, foon after the foldiers. were gone away, and out of fight, the failors brought the veffel to an anchor, at the mouth of the Liris, where it makes a great marth; and then they advised Marius to go en fhore, and refresh himself, till the wind fhould come fair, which, they faid, would foon happen; for that when the fea breeze fell, there generally arose a fresh gale from the marfh. Marius liftened to their advice, and when they had fet him on fhore, he laid himfelf down in a place not far from the fea, not in the leaft fufpe&ting what was to befal him: for the mariners, presently after weighed anchor, and failed away; not thinking it excufable to deliver Marius into the hands of those who thought to deftroy him, nor confiftent with their own fafety to protect him. Deferted thus by all, he lay a good while filent on the ground: at length, collecting the remains of his ftrength, he got up, and travelled along moft difconfolately. After wading through bogs, and ditches full of water and mud, he at last stumbled upon an old man's cottage, who worked in the fens. Falling at his feet, he befought him to give affiftance to a person who, if he escaped the prefent danger, would make him returns beyond his expectation. The poor man, whether he had formerly known Marius, or were then moved, fays Plutarch, with the majefty of his countenance, answered, "If you want only reft you may repofe yourfelf conveniently in my cottage; but if you are Aying from an enemy, I will hide you in a more retired and fecret place." Marius having defired he would do him that good office, the old man led him to a cave by the river fide, and there covered him with reeds, and other light things, which would conceal, but not burden him. Scarce had he laid himfelf down, when he was difturbed by a great noife from the cottage. His enemy, Geminius, had fent horfemen from Tarracina in purfuit of him, and fome of them happening to come that way, moft feverely menaced the poor old man, as one who had entertained and concealed an enemy of Rome. Marius, thinking himself in eminent danger, ftripped off his clothes, and, leaving his concealment, plunged himself into a great pool of water. From thence his purfuers dragged him naked, and all covered with mud, and, in that condition, carried him away to Minturna, where they delivered him into the hands of the Magiftrates. There had been published throughout all the towns of Italy, a decree of the Senate, importing, that fearch fhould be made for him, and that he fhould be put to death, if he were found. The Magiftrates therefore, in obedience to this decree, caft him into prifon, and fent a flave belonging to the public, a Cimbrian by birth, to cut off his head; for none of their own Citizens would undertake the office. Several Authors have reported, that Marius, feeing the flave enter the prifon, faid to him with a strong voice, Haft thou the audacioufnefs to kill Marius? and that, at thefe words, the Cimbrian inftantly ran away into the town, and throwing down his fword before the people, cried out, I have not the power to kill Marius: nevertheless, it would feem, from certain paffages in Cicero, that this story is an invention of fome of the later Writers. Be that as it will, the Minturnenfes furnished Marius with a fhip and provifions; he failed firft to Ænaria, where having found Granius, and the rest of his company, that had efcaped thither, he, together with them, fteered his courfe towards Africa. Want of water forced him to put in near Eryx in Sicily. A Roman Quaeftor, who guarded that coaft, fell upon Marius at his landing, flew fixteen of his men, and was near taking him prifoner. The illuftrious fugitive, however, at length arrived in Africa, and went on fhore near Carthage, in the hope that Sextilius, the Prætor of that province, a man to whom he had done neither good nor harm, would, out of mere , compaflion, aflift him in his diftrefs. But fcarce was he landed, when an Officer from Sextilius forbid him to fet foot in that country, and declared to his, that if he did not obey, he would be treated conformably to the decree of the Senate, as an enemy of of Rome. Marius, ftruck with aftonishment at this meffage, remained a confiderable time without fpeaking a word, his eyes fixed upon the meflenger. The man at length afked him, what anfwer he should carry back to the Prætor: "Go tell him, (faid Marius) that you have feen Marius, an exile from his country, and fitting among the ruins of Carthage:" meaning by this, fays Plutarch, to propofe the fortune of that city, and his own fortune, as inftructive leffons to the Prætor. He went again on board, and wandered about in thofe feas a great part of the winter. His fon Marius, who had taken refuge in the court of Mandreftal, or, as Plutarch calls him, Hiempfal, King of Numidia, came from thence, and joined his father.' The recital of fuch diftrefs cannot but move our pity; but we lofe all compaffion for the fufferer, when we reflect on the cruelties which, in revenge, he practifed at his return, and which he carried to fuch an excefs of butchery, that his foldiers made it their practice to murder every man whose falutation Marius did not return: fo that even his friends never approach ed him but with terror. The eleventh and laft chapter of the feventh book, gives an account of-The progrefs of Mithridates, after his defeating the three Roman Generals-The arrival of Sylla in Greece, where he vanquishes the armies of Mithridates-The voyage of Sylla into Afia, where he concludes a peace with the King of Pontus, and returns into Greece, in 669, from whence he writes a menacing letter to the Senate, who had fuffered him to be declared an exile, and to be loaded with other injuries and indignities-Of his landing in Italy in 670, when he totally fubdued the Marian faction; and profcribed those of his enemies who had efcaped his fword; and, in 671, was conftituted Perpetual Dictator, [To be concluded in our next.] The NUN: An Elegy. By the Author of the Magdalens. Ο 4to. 6d. DodЛley. F this Author's poetical abilities, we have given an account more than once. His Nunnery, an Elegy, was not deftitute of pathetic fentiment, or agreeable description; and in the Elegy before us, which may be confidered as a fup *See Revie.v, vol. XXVI. page 358, in the article Nunnery; and vcl. XXVIII, page 112, in the article Magdalens. plement to that poem, he introduces a Nun defcribing, in her And, (blush ye parents!) by a father's hand. The blazing altar, and the Priests around: With blooming chaplets wove around their head. And heaven's unfully'd glories gilt the fane. This is not an imaginary, but a real picture of thofe temporary heightenings of pleasure and magnificence, which are made ufe of to delude the innocent victim, that is to be devoted to the fequeftered life. It is no wonder that these arts fhould generally fucceed; for nothing can be more captivating to the young ima gination, than fcenes of facred grandeur, and religious folemnity. It is, however, an unhappy circumftance, that minds of the greatest fenfibility, are moft liable to be thus led away, because that fuch minds, being formed for the reciprocation of focial enjoyments, muft naturally languifh under the identity of the monaftic life. Thus our poor Nun quickly finds the delufion of that magnificent fcenery which had invited her to the abode of folitary fanctity: This temporary tranfport foon expir'd, My drooping heart confefs'd a dreadful void No wakening joy informs my fullen breast, No dream of blifs the dreary night beguiles. Here Here haggard Difcontent ftill haunts my view; Chills every prayer, and cancels every grace. The gloomy grotto, and unfocial wood: The hollow gale, and hoarfe-refounding flood. Her reflections on the part her parents took in her unhappy deftination, are extremely affecting, and worked up with that kind of pathos which springs from the heart, and leads to it: Yet ne'er did her maternal voice unfold This cloyfter'd fcene in all its horrors dr. ft, And giv'n (oh blasting thought!) thy heart to bleed? Oh hafte, and bear her from this lonesome gloom! She then turns to her friend Ophelia, to whom, as a Noviciate, she at first addreffed herself, and calls upon her, in the most pathetic manner, to attend her in the last melancholy offices that friendship can perform : Ah! when extended on th' untimely bier, To yonder vault this form fhall be convey'd, Thou'lt not refufe to fhed one grateful tear, And breathe the Requiem to my fleeting fhade.. With pitious footstep join the fable train, As thro' the lengthening ifle they take their way: A glimmering taper let thy hand sustain, Thy foothing voice attune the funeral lay. We hope the Author does not owe the merit of this fenfibility to the lofs of a Miftrefs, in fome fair Devotee. |