as were fufficient for many kings.. A reverse fo extreme from his original expectations, entitles him to a place among thefe inftances of the mutability of fortune. "How can a man," fays Plutarch, in his comparison of Pyrrhus with Marius, "born of obfcure and indigent parents, who were forced to get their bread by the sweat of their brow, brought up in a little country village, with no better than a home-fpun clownish education; how can fuch a one, I fay, be compared with a prince like Pyrrhus, born on a throne? "This great and fenfible difference which Nature has raised between them, may be faid to be effaced by Fortune, who has crowned Marius with greater honours, and a larger fhare of power, than fhe had ever granted to any Roman before him. "It is no ftrange thing for a prince to recover his right, and add other poffeffions to his hereditary dominions; but for a man iffuing from the dregs of the people, from beginnings fo weak and miserable; for fuch a man to raise himself up to that pitch of grandeur, M 3 grandeur, as to merit fo many honourable employments, and the command of such invincible armies-this indeed is wonderful. It cannot be but Fortune muft discover in this man fome notable qualities, fome uncommon talents, otherwife fhe would not have made him, to his dying day, the object either of her favour or caprice. "Neither is it Fortune only, that has fet Marius upon a level with Pyrrhus: Nature puts in her share in those favours, as if she had a mind to make him fome compensation for the injury fhe had done him on account of his birth. He was by nature lively, frugal, laborious, conftant, patient, indefatigable, and of fuch prefence of mind as kept him as cool and undisturbed in the heat of action and danger as in times of repofe. He likewife had an air of majefty, but an air still more auftere and terrible," After comparing the different incidents of the lives of Pyrrhus and Marcus, Plutarch thus concludes: "Their end was very different: Pyrrhus fell unhappily in a fight, in the middle of the city of Argos, wounded by a woman, and killed outright by a foldier, who cut off his head. But Marius, notwithstand ing all the cruelties he had exercifed, ftill thirsting after blood, died in his bed. "But this death, which appeared composed and natural, was in reality more tragical than that of Pyrrhus; for he paffed the laft days of his life under fuch anxieties and terrors, that he could enjoy no reft either by day or night. He died equally tormented with the remembrance of the past, the fenfe of the prefent, and the fear of the future. "That avenging fury, which he would have delivered over to Metellus, began to punifh him in this life, and call him to a fevere account for all the blood he had spilt-So true is what Plato faith, "that the impious and wicked, at the approach of death, begin to fear every thing of which they had made a mock before. Then does dread and diftruft feize them, remorfe torments them, and their only companion, whether afleep or awake, is defpair." INSTANCE THE ELEVENTH. BELISARIU S*. "Tis not the laurel'd brow, or countless scars, Can fhield, if Envy rears her venom'd dart, BY YZANTIUM, to which the emperor Conftantine gave the name of Conftantinople, had been the capital of the eastern divifion of the Roman empire about two hundred years, when Juftinian was elevated by his uncle, the emperor Justin, to a share of the imperial throne; and during a long reign, his conduct was in general fo unexceptionable, his good qualities fo numerous, and his abilities fo brilliant, that he acquired the title of Great. One circumftance, however, which happened towards the conclufion of his reign, fullied the glories of it, and rendered him, in fome degree, unworthy of the Univerfal Hiftory, Procopius, Marmontel, &c. . appellation appellation he had attained: and this was his ingratitude to Belifarius-a man to whom he was chiefly indebted for all his fucceffes in war, and whofe character was of that unblemished caft that envy alone could throw a fhade over it. But the circumftances by which this celebrated commander, and truly great man, acquired a fame fo permanent, and the caufes of that unexpected degradation which entitles him to a place among the inftances of the mutability of fortune, require a more explicit relation. Juftinian becoming, by the death of his uncle, in the 527th year of the christian æra, fole poffeffor of the eaftern empire, he determined vigorously to profecute the war with the Perfians, who had for fome time paft made frequent inroads into the Roman territories, and appointed Belifarius to the chief command of the army fent to oppose them. This commander had been advanced to the rank of general by the emperor Justin, while he was yet a youth, and had already made feveral fuccefsful campaigns, both in Italy and Asia; upon which account he was chofen by Juftinian to command his forces against the Perfians, it being an enterprize which 2 |