"And will you thus," faid the hero, supporting his mafter, who was almoft fuffocated with fighs and tears; "and will you thus," faid Belifarius, folding the emperor in his arms, "abandon yourself to despair? Shall a fenfe of a paft error take away the power of atoning for it? Oh my mafter! you are plunging yourself in fhame and distraction, as if you was the firft man deceived by appearances, and feduced by calumny. Though your error was even a crime, yet, why degrade yourself thus? wherefore be humbled to an abject wretch, a thing vile and abhorred? You are my fovereign ftill. Refume your ftrength, nor let the recollection of an unguarded moment rob you of a due reverence for yourself, and the true fpirit of virtue. In this confternation of your heart, reflect upon all the good you have done mankind, and let that reflection counterbalance the mistake of fudden impetuofity.-Belifarius is indeed blind; but nations are freed by your patriot toil from the yoke of barbarians; the calamities of the empire are all repaired by your princely beneficence; and thirty years of glorious ftruggle for the good of mankind have proved to the univerfe, that Juftinian is not a tyrant.-Belifarius is blind; but he forgives you and, if you defire to repair the injury you have done him, the means are eafy, and in your power. Grant me only one of the many prayers and vows I offer up for the peace of the world, and I have a full atonement.' "" "Come, then," faid the emperor, fnatching him eagerly to his heart, "come, my friend! my genius! and my guide! Oh come and teach me to expiate my guilt! come and exhibit it to my court in all its ftriking colours; and let your prefence, while it is a living memorial of my crime, be a proof of my repentance also !" In vain did Belifarius ufe every entreaty to be left in folitude. To appease the anguish of the emperor's mind, he was obliged to comply with his requeft, and to accompany him. A more unexpected revolution never difconcerted the intrigues of a court. On the arrival of Belifarius, all was hurry, diforder, and furprise. "Behold," faid Juftinian, to the train of courtiers, "fee here again the hero! Behold this upright man, whom you made me perfecute to his undoing! From henceforth, ye little fpirits, breathe in fear and trembling. His innocence and his virtues are now manifeft to me, and your lives are at his difpofal." Pale dismay, and grief, and shame, covered In Belifarius their daftard every visage. fouls beheld an inexorable judge; they dreaded him as a vindictive and terrible god. The hero continued to fupport the same modest reserve that adorned him in disgrace. Of his accufers he never deigned to know one; and, honoured through the remainder of his life with the emperor's confidence, he made it his study to obtain an amnesty for the past, and to infpire his master with a vigilant attention to immediate exigencies, and an awful severity to controul all future crimes. But, alas! he did not furvive long enough for the good of mankind, and the glory of his mafter. The emperor, quite enfeebled and difpirited, in the eve of life, paid the tribute of a tear to the memory of his departed hero; and with that short regret, all the good counfels of Belifarius paffed away, and left no trace behind. INSTANCE INSTANCE THE TWELFTH. MAHOME T*. All gentle is the faith that comes from God: At once th' Impoftor's felfifh views proclaim. A mean S this great impoftor, from a very beginning, was, by the impulse of his ambition, and by his uncommon fagacity, able to place himfelf at the head of a new fect, and to bring about one of the greateft revolutions that ever happened in the world, which gave birth to an empire, that, within eighty years from its eftablishment, extended its dominions over more kingdoms and countries than ever the Romans could in eight hundred; he is undoubtedly entitled to a place among thefe inftances of the mutability of fortune. Dr. Prideaux's Life of Mahomet. Guthrie's Hiftory of the World, vol. vi. &c. 3 Mahomet Mahomet (or, according to the pronunciation of the word in the Arabic language, Mohammed) was born at Mecca, a city of Arabia, in the month of May, in the year of the Christian æra 571; others fay the 22d of April 578; Juftin the fecond being then emperor of Conftantinople. He was of the tribe of Korafhites, which was reckoned the nobleft in that country, and was defcended in a direct line of primogeniture from PherKoraifh, the firft founder of the tribe. His father was Abdollah, the fon of Abdol Motallab, who had fucceeded, upon the death of his predeceffor Hafhem, to the government of his tribe in Mecca. But notwithstanding Mahomet derived his defcent from this refpectable origin, he was, during the early part of his life, in a very poor and defpicable fituation; for his father dying before he had attained the age of two years, and while his grandfather Abdol Motallab was still living, the power and wealth of his family devolved on his uncles, twelve in number; especially on Abu Taleb, who, after the death of Abdol Motallab, bore the chief fway in Mecca as long as he lived; and under whofe protection it chiefly was, that Mahomet was afterwards fupported in the promulgation |