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Article CHARACTER OF REGULUS. ← Page 2 of 3 →
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Character Of Regulus.
Happy would it have been for himself , and for several hundred thousands of his fellow-creatures , if he had observed injhe cause of Rome the same moderation as in his own private concerns ; but with sorrow must we own , that when Carthage lay at his feet , supplicating for peace , Regulus refused to grant it , except on the most oppressive terms . Shocking and inhuman was this action , but it is not
certain to what cause we are to attribute it : whether to orders which Regulus received on this head from the government at Rome , or to the erroneous principles of patriotism , by which he himself probably was misled . Permit me , my dear fellow-students , on this occasion to express my wishesthat none of you may ever forgetthat patriotism is a
, , virtue far inferior to philanthropy . In your private concerns , may you continue to abhor all sentiments of avarice and ambition ; nor think yourselves at liberty to encourage the far more hurtful ambition and avarice of the public , if any of you should ever be called to preside at the helm of the British state .
Permit me also to breathe a wish , that the present British government may be influenced by a Christian , not a Roman spirit , in putting a speedy end to all the miseries of this present war ; a war which has . stained with blood the seas and shores of the four quarters of the globe . May this dismal havoc be soon changed into a just and moderate , and therefore most wise and most honourable peace 1 I cannot forbear communicating to some lines of a of
you copy verses , which my dear pupil composed some weeks ago on the evening of the first day of May . O gentle . breeze , which from th' Egerian grot Mildly exhal'st , sweet as the censer's fume ; Extend thy gracious influence ! breathe forth O ' er Germany ' s waste plains , the blood-stain'd banks Of Oder and sad Albis ! 0 breathe forth 1
More welcome thou to that afflicted land , More fragrant thou than vernal Zephyrus , Tho' scatt ' ring dews benign , and flow ' rs of thousand hues . Come , gentle breeze ! calm all this storm of war ; Breathe forth thy balm , to heal fall ' n Gallia's wounds , » ¦ And smooth in Albion ' s seas each swelling wave .
But let me spare the blushes of my dear pupil ( I had almost called him my dear son ) , and return to our Roman studies . In the hand of Providence any instrument is sufficient for any work . The arrival of one man at Carthage ( nor was he of any considerable rank , figure , or name ) changed the whole scene . The Roman pride and power were laid level with the dust by one Spartan , and this at time when
a Sparta itself was in a very low state . - O my dear sir , ( in saying this Crito addressed himself to the eldest of the young gentlemen ) , how very similar is this catastrophe of Regulus to that of Nicias ; the account of which 1 remember your reading at Cambridge with much pleasure , in the favourite part of your favourite author Thucydides ? One single Spartan was then able to overthrow all the Athenian , as now all the Roman power . If you Should extend your travels to Syracuse , with what pleasing melanchol y will you there survey the scenes of the misfortunes- of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Character Of Regulus.
Happy would it have been for himself , and for several hundred thousands of his fellow-creatures , if he had observed injhe cause of Rome the same moderation as in his own private concerns ; but with sorrow must we own , that when Carthage lay at his feet , supplicating for peace , Regulus refused to grant it , except on the most oppressive terms . Shocking and inhuman was this action , but it is not
certain to what cause we are to attribute it : whether to orders which Regulus received on this head from the government at Rome , or to the erroneous principles of patriotism , by which he himself probably was misled . Permit me , my dear fellow-students , on this occasion to express my wishesthat none of you may ever forgetthat patriotism is a
, , virtue far inferior to philanthropy . In your private concerns , may you continue to abhor all sentiments of avarice and ambition ; nor think yourselves at liberty to encourage the far more hurtful ambition and avarice of the public , if any of you should ever be called to preside at the helm of the British state .
Permit me also to breathe a wish , that the present British government may be influenced by a Christian , not a Roman spirit , in putting a speedy end to all the miseries of this present war ; a war which has . stained with blood the seas and shores of the four quarters of the globe . May this dismal havoc be soon changed into a just and moderate , and therefore most wise and most honourable peace 1 I cannot forbear communicating to some lines of a of
you copy verses , which my dear pupil composed some weeks ago on the evening of the first day of May . O gentle . breeze , which from th' Egerian grot Mildly exhal'st , sweet as the censer's fume ; Extend thy gracious influence ! breathe forth O ' er Germany ' s waste plains , the blood-stain'd banks Of Oder and sad Albis ! 0 breathe forth 1
More welcome thou to that afflicted land , More fragrant thou than vernal Zephyrus , Tho' scatt ' ring dews benign , and flow ' rs of thousand hues . Come , gentle breeze ! calm all this storm of war ; Breathe forth thy balm , to heal fall ' n Gallia's wounds , » ¦ And smooth in Albion ' s seas each swelling wave .
But let me spare the blushes of my dear pupil ( I had almost called him my dear son ) , and return to our Roman studies . In the hand of Providence any instrument is sufficient for any work . The arrival of one man at Carthage ( nor was he of any considerable rank , figure , or name ) changed the whole scene . The Roman pride and power were laid level with the dust by one Spartan , and this at time when
a Sparta itself was in a very low state . - O my dear sir , ( in saying this Crito addressed himself to the eldest of the young gentlemen ) , how very similar is this catastrophe of Regulus to that of Nicias ; the account of which 1 remember your reading at Cambridge with much pleasure , in the favourite part of your favourite author Thucydides ? One single Spartan was then able to overthrow all the Athenian , as now all the Roman power . If you Should extend your travels to Syracuse , with what pleasing melanchol y will you there survey the scenes of the misfortunes- of