surmounted hym selfe; that is to say, contrary to his owne affectes and determinate purposes, he nat onely spared, but also resceyued into tendre familyaritie his sworne enemyes. Wherfore, if the disdayne of his owne blode and alyaunce had nat traytourously slayne him, he had raigned longe and prosperously.

But amonge many other examples of mercy, wherof the histories of Rome do abounde, there is one remembred by Seneca de Seneca, whiche may be in the stede of a great nombre. Clementiâ. It was reported to the noble emperour Octauius Augustus, that Lucius Cinna, which was susters sonne to the great Pompei, had imagined his dethe. Also that Mercye Cinna was appointed to execute his feate whyles the emperour was doinge his sacrifice. This reporte was made by one of the conspiratours, and therwith diuers other thinges agreed: the old hostilite betwene the houses of Pompei and Cesar, the wilde and sedicious

shewed bi Augustus untill his enemye.

numero futuros, pronuntiavit. Quibus autem ex commendatione Pompeii ordines dederat, potestatem transeundi ad eum omnibus fecit. Motis apud Ilerdam deditionis conditionibus, cum, assiduo inter utrasque partes usu atque commercio, Afranius ac Petreius deprehensos intra castra Julianos subitâ pœnitentiâ interfecisserent, admissam in se perfidiam non sustinuit imitari. Acie Pharsalicâ proclamavit, "ut civibus parceretur :" deincepsque nemini non suorum, quem vellet, unum partis adversæ servare, concessit: nec ulli perisse nisi in prælio reperiuntur, exceptis duntaxat Afranio et Fausto et L. Cæsare juvene; ac ne hos quidem voluntate ipsius interemtos putant: quorum tamen et priores post impetratam veniam rebellaverant, et Cæsar, libertis servisque ejus ferro et igni crudelem in modum enectis, bestias quoque ad munus populi comparatas contrucidaverat. Denique tempore extremo etiam, quibus nondum ignoverat, cunctis in Italiam redire permisit, magistratusque et imperia capere. Sed et statuas L. Syllæ atque Pompeii, à plebe disjectas, reposuit. Ac, si qua posthac aut cogitarentur gravius adversus se, aut dicerentur, inhibere maluit quàm vindicare. Itaque et detectas conjurationes conventusque nocturnos non ultrà arguit, quàm ut edicto ostenderet, esse sibi notas: et acerbè loquentibus satis habuit pro concione denuntiare, ne perseverarent; Aulique Cæcinæ criminosissimo libro et Pitholai carminibus maledicentissimis laceratam existimationem suam civili animo tulit.'-Sueton. Julius, cap. 75.

• Delatum est ad eum indicium, L. Cinnam, stolidi ingenii virum, insidias ei struere. Dictum est et ubi, et quando, et quemadmodum aggredi vellet : unus ex consciis deferebat. Constituit se ab eo vindicare, consilium amicorum advocari

witte of Cinna, with the place and tyme, where and whan the emperour should be disfurnisshed of seruauntes. No wonder though the emperours mynde were inquiete, beinge in so perilous a conflicte, consideryng on the one parte, that if he shulde put to dethe Cinna, whiche came of one of the moste noble and auncient houses of Rome, he shulde euer lyue in daunger, onlas he shulde destroye all that noble familie, and cause the memorie of them to be utterly exterminate; whiche mought nat be brought to passe without effusion of the bloode of persones innumerable, and also perile of the subuercion of the empire late pacified. On the other parte, he considered the imminent daunger that his persone was in, wherfore nature stered hym to prouide for his suretie, wherto he thought than to be none other remedy but the deth of his aduersarie. To hym beinge thus perplexed came his wife Liuia, the empresse, who said unto him, Pleaseth it you, sir, to here a womans aduise. Do you as phisitians be wonte to do, where their accustumed remedies preue nat, they do assaye the contrarye. By seueritie ye haue hitherto nothing profited, proue therfore nowe what mercy may aduaile you. Forgiue Cinna; he is taken with the maynure, and may nat nowe indomage you, profite he may moche to the jussit. Nox illi inquieta erat, quum cogitaret adolescentem nobilem, hoc detracto, integrum, Cn. Pompeii nepotem damnandum. Jam unum hominem occidere non poterat cum M. Antonio proscriptionis edictum inter cœnam dictarat. Gemens subinde voces emittebat varias, et inter se contrarias. Quid ergo? ego percussorem mecum securum ambulare patiar, me sollicito? Ergo non dabit pœnas, qui tot civilibus bellis frustra petitum caput, tot navalibus, tot pedestribus præliis incolume, postquam terrâ marique pax parta est, non occidere constituit, sed immolare?' Nam sacrificantem placuerat adoriri. Rursus silentio interposito, majore multo voce sibi, quàm Cinnæ irascebatur. Quid vivis, si perire te tam multorum interest? Quis finis erit suppliciorum? Quis sanguinis? Ego sum nobilibus adolescentulis expositum caput, in quod mucrones acuant. Non est tanti vita, si, ut ego non peream, tam multa perdenda sunt.' Interpellavit tandem illum Livia uxor, et 'Admittis,' inquit, 'muliebre consilium? Fac quod medici solent: qui ubi usitata remedia non procedunt, tentant contraria. Severitate nihil adhuc profecisti: Salvidienum Lepidus secutus est, Lepidum Muræna, Murænam Cæpio, Cæpionem Egnatius, ut alios taceam, quos tantum ausos pudet: nunc tenta, quomodo tibi cedat clementia. Ignosce L. Cinnæ. Deprehensus est: jam nocere

increase of your renome and perpetuell glorie. The emperour reioysed to hym selfe that Cinna had founde suche an aduocatrice, and gyuynge her thankes he caused his counsailours, whiche he had sente for, to be countermaunded, and callyng to hym Cinna only, he commaunded the chambre to be auoyded, and an other chaire to be sette for Cinna; and that done he saide in this maner to hym: I desire of the this one thynge, that whiles I speke, thou wylt nat let or disturbe me, or in the middes of my wordes make any exclamation. What tyme, Cinna, I founde the in the hoste of myne enemyes, all thoughe thou were nat by any occasion made myne enemie, but by succession from thine auncetours borne myne enemie, I nat only saued the, but also gaue unto the all thyne inheritaunce; and at this day thou arte so prosperous and riche, that they, whiche had with me victorie, do enuie the that were vainquisshed. Thou askiddist of me a spirituall promocion, and furthwith Į gaue it the bifore many other, whose parentes had serued me in waṛres. And for that I haue done so moche for the, thou nowe hast purposed to slee me. At that worde whan Cinna cryed out, sayenge that suche madnes was farre from his mynde, Cinna, (said the emperour,) thou kepist nat promise; it was couenaunted that thou shuldest nat interrupt me. I saye thou preparest to kyll me. And thereto the Emperour named his companions, the place, tyme, and ordre of all the conspiracie, and also to tibi non potest, prodesse famæ tuæ potest.' Gavisus, sibi quod advocatum invenerat, uxori quidem gratias egit : renuntiari autem extemplo amicis, quos silium rogaverat, imperavit, et Cinnam unum ad se arcessit; dimissisque omnibus è cubiculo, quum alteram Cinnæ poni cathedram jussisset; ‘Hoc,' inquit, ‘primum à te peto, ne me loquentem interpelles, ne medio sermone meo proclames: dabitur tibi loquendi liberum tempus. Ego te, Cinna, quum in hostium castris invenissem, non factum tantum mihi inimicum, sed natum, servavi, patrimonium tibi omne concessi. Hodie tàm felix es, et tàm dives, ut victo victores invideant. Sacerdotium tibi petenti, præteritis compluribus, quorum parentes mecum militaverant, dedi. Quum sic de te meruerim, occidere me constituisti.' Quum ad hanc vocem exclamasset, procul hanc ab se abesse dementiam: Non præstas,' inquit, 'fidem, Cinna: convenerat, ne interloquereris. Occidere, inquam, me paras.' Adjecit locum, socios, diem, ordinem insidiarum, cui commissum esset ferrum. Et quum

in con

whom the sworde was committed. And whan he perceyued hym astonied, holdyng than his peace, nat for by cause that he so promised, but that his conscience him meued; For what intent dyddest thou thus? (said Augustus) Bicause thou woldest be emperour? In good faithe the publike weale is in an euyll astate, if nothing letteth the to raygne, but I onely; thou canste nat maintayne or defende thine owne house. It is nat longe sence that thou in a priuate iugement were ouer commen of a poore man but late infraunchised; therfore thou mayste nothinge do lightlyer than plede agayne the emperour. Say nowe, do I alone let the of thy purpose? Supposest thou that Paule, Fabius Maximus, the Cosses, and Seruiliis, auncient houses of Rome, and suche a sorte of noble men (nat they which haue vayne and glorious names, but suche as for their merites be adorned with their propre images) will suffre the? Finally, said the emperour, (after that he had talked with hym by the space of two houres), I gyue to the thy lyfe, Cinna, the seconde time- fyrst beinge myne enemie, nowe a traytour and murdrer of thy soueraygne lorde, whom thou oughtest to loue as thy father. Nowe from this day let amytie betwene us two begynne; and let us bothe contende whether I with a better harte haue gyuen to the thy lyfe, or that thou canste more gentilly recompence my kyndnes. Sone after Augustus gaue to Cinna the dignitie of Consull undesired, blamyng him that he darste nat aske it ; wherby he defixum videret, nec ex conventione jam, sed ex conscientiâ tacentem: 'Quo,' inquit, hoc animo facis? Ut ipse sis princeps? malè meherculè cum populo Romano agitur, si tibi ad imperandum nihil præter me obstat. Domum tueri tuam non potes; nuper libertini hominis gratiâ in privato judicio superatus es. Adeo nihil facilius potes, quàm contra Cæsarem advocare? Cedo, si spes tuas solus impedio, Paullusne te, et Fabius Maximus, et Cossi, et Servilii ferent, tantumque agmen nobilium, non inania nomina præferentium, sed eorum qui imaginibus suis decori sunt?' Ne totam ejus orationem repetendo, magnam partem voluminis occupem (diutius enim quàm duabus horis locutum esse constat), quum hanc pœnam, quâ solâ erat contentus futurus, extenderet: 'Vitam tibi,' inquit Cinna, iterum do, prius hosti, nunc insidiatori ac parricidæ. Ex hodierno die inter nos amicitia incipiat; contendamus, utrum ego meliore fide vitam tibi dederim, an tu debeas.' Post hæc detulit ultro consulatum, questus quod non

had him moste assured and loyall. And Cinna afterwarde dienge, gaue to the emperour all his goodes and possessions. And neuer after was Augustus in daunger of any treason. O what sufficient prayse may be gyuen to this moste noble and prudent emperour, that in a chambre alone, without men, ordenaunce, or waipon, and perchaunce without harnes, within the space of ii houres, with wordes well couched, tempered with maiestie, nat onely vainquisshed and subdued one mortall enemie, whiche by a malignitie, engendred of a domesticall hatred, had determined to slee him, but by the same feate excluded out of the hole citye of Rome all displeasure and rancour towarde hym, so that there was nat lefte any occasion wherof mought procede any lytell suspicion of treason, whiche other wyse coulde nat haue hapned without slaughter of people innumerable.

Also the empresse Liuia may nat of righte be forgoten, whiche ministred to her lorde that noble counsayle in suche a perplexitie; wherby he saued bothe him selfe and his people. Suppose ye that all the Senatours of Rome and counsaylours of the emperour, which were lytell fewer than a thousande, coulde haue better aduised hym? This historie therfore is no lasse to be remembred of women than of princes, takynge therby comforte to persuade swetely their husbandes to mercy and pacience; to whiche counsayle onely they shulde be

a

auderet petere; amicissimum fidelissimumque habuit; hæres solus fuit illi; nullis amplius insidiis ab ullo petitus est.'— De Clementiâ, lib. i. cap. 9.

'Men,' says Mr. Lecky, in reviewing the difference between the sexes, 'lean most to justice and women to mercy.'-Hist. of Europ. Mor, vol. ii. p. 381. Ludovicus Vives, in his Instruction to a Christian Woman, says: 'Tenebit prudens mulier fabulas, et historias, et narratiunculas, ut jucundas ita etiam puras ac honestas, quibus fessum maritum aut ægrum reficiat ac recreet, tum præcepto sapientiæ quibus vel adhortetur ad virtutem vel retrahat à vitiis. Aliqua etiam graviter dicta contra impetus assultusque utriusque fortunæ, quibus virum seu elatum secundis rebus sensim demittat in planum, seu abjectum prostratumque adversis erigat, utrinque aut ad mediocritatem reducat, si qui in eo affectus tumultuantur et sæviunt, muliebribus castis prudentibusque lenimentis tempestatem illam mitiget et sedet. Sic Placidia Theodosii filia, Athaulphum Gothorum regem maritum suum, Romanum nomen delere molientem, à tam immani cogitatione