ais discharge. Does he obey you? No. He does not stir a step! He sets his arins a-kimbo, and thus accosts your messenger: "Mr Jack-or Thomas, or William, or Walter -present my duty to my master, and say, that when steward such-a-one receives his discharge, I'll accept mine. I should like to see your face, Mr. Chairman, upon your receiving his message. I fear it would require Bomething more than the caresses of your wife, and the prattling of your infant family, to preserve it in its natural smoothness. What would you do with the rascal? I need not follow the supposition further. You would do what you could You would have him fined. imprisoned, whipped, put in the pillory, hanged; and yet, sir, such a man-though acting upon a larger scale--was the immortal Casar It makes one sick to hear the cause of such a fellow advocated! And let me recal to the recollection of those gentlemen, the truth, that greatness cannot consist in any thing, that is at the disposal of chance; or, rather, that exists by chance. Had not fortune favored Cæsar in his first battles, he would have been recalled, perhaps, brought to trial, and banished; and then he would have been Little Caesar.

1

Aud, now, sir, in the name of common sense. what mighty acts did Caesar perform, when I became the master of his country? We are told, that the servile senate created him reformer of manners--a fine reformer of mauners, whose own manners stood so much in need of reforming! Sir, they should rather have made him inspector of markets; for it was in that capacity he shone the most conspicuously. It is said, he limited the expenses of feasts, and that his officers used to enter the houses of the citizens, and snatch from off their tables any meats that were served up, contrary to his prohibition! should like to see a constable enter my parlor at din ter-time, and hand away a dish, just as it had been placed upon the table! I'd cut his fingers off with the carving-knife! But the best of it is, his restrictious affected certain orders only. Men of rank might do as they pleased. They might have their litters, and their embroidered robes, and their jewels; aye! and, I dare say, their dishes, without limit of number. or of quality, or of variety. Give me no great Caesar for the governor of my country. Give me such government, as leaves the management of a man's table to

self! Give me such cities, as have markets without informers; where a cook may ride in a carriage, as fine as his own gilt and figured pastry; and a pin-maker may set you down to as many different dishes, as there are

In fine, Mr. Chairman, my opinion of Cæsar is this: He was a very fine fighter; a very bad patriot; a very selfish master; and a very great rogue!

made an affecting appeal to your feelings, in favor of your old companions, the bachelors of your acquaintance; but, trust, his cratory will not be so successful, as to induce you to pay the tax for them, while this assembly presents so many fair and irresistible arguments in favor of the marriage state!

As to the gentleman's eloquence, in opposition to Cæsar's greatness, he himself tells you, what degree of importance you are to attach to his opinions, for he very ingeniously says, you are not to expect any thing serious from him; but that you must accept of undigested ideas, and rash conclusions, in the place of sober reflection, and logical reasoning: his arguments, therefore, pass for nothing, and do not add to the strength of his cause, or subtract from that of ours."

In one instance, however, I shall comment upon what he has said; because a man should not be frivolous, even in his jesting. I allude to his wit, respecting the restraints that Cæsar laid upon luxury. Surely, the gentleman cannot have been so great a victim to his mirth, as to have laughed away the fruit of his academic labors! Surely he cannot have forgotten, that Caesar had proud authority for the policy he pursued, in the respect alluded to! Surely, he remembers a few of the laws of Lycurgus, particularly that which prescribed the diet of the Spartans, and enjoined all ranks to eat, without distinction, in one cominon hall, where the simplest repast was provided! Surely, I need not remind him, that the heroes of Greece fared upon black broth, and drew their glory no less from the moderation of their appetite, than from the excess of their courage and patriotism.

The gentleman says, it makes him sick to hear the cause of such a man as Cesar advocated! I shall prescribe for his sickness. Let him take a dose of common sense, and use a little mental exercise--that will remove his sickness. I am sure it makes me sick to hear the arguments of Cæsar's oppo

nents.

Sir, he was a man of stupendous loftiness of mind! A man above all influence of fortune! Himself, where other men would have been-nothing! Observe him, when he is surprised by the Nervii. His soldiers are employed in pitching their camp. The ferocious enemy sallies from his concealment, puts the Roman cavalry to the route, and falls upon the foot. Every thing is alarm, confusion, and disorder! Every one is doubtful what course to takel Every one, but Cesar! He causes the banner to be erected-the charge to be sounded-the soldiers, at a distance. recalled-all in a moment! He runs from place to place-his whole frame is in action-his words, his looks, his motion, his gestures, exhort his men to remember their former valor! He draws them up, and causes the signal to be given-all in a moment! The

legions are entirely surrounded! He seizes a buckler from one of the private men; puts himself at the head of his broken troops! darts into the thick of the battle! rescues his legions, and overthrows the enemy!

One

You must confess, Mr. Chairman, you preside over an assembly whose members entertain a very respectful sense of your merits. has made you the father of a happy family. Another has bestowed on you a handsome estate. Allow me, sir. to recommend

a

physician to you; one who will be a faithful guardian of your health; who will watch, with skilful eye, the delicate complexion of your wife; and regulate, with gentle and innocent doses, your children's habit of body. What sir, is the blessing of a wife, of children, of fortune, if sickness spreads langor through our nerves, or fever through our veins? Believe me, sir, the gentleman's merit does not consist in his diploma, only; it has its foundation in knowledge, in science, and experience. Nor is his ability confined to his mere professional walk; he is, as you may perceive, from the speech that he has just made you, a philosopher, and a moralist. Unlike Macbeth's physician, he

"CAN minister to a mind diseased;

Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow;
Raze out the written troubles of the brain,
And, with some sweet oblivious antidote,
Cleanse the foul bosom of that perilous stuff,
That weighs upon the heart."

I regret, however, Mr. Chairman, that, notwithstanding my eulogium, I must dissent from him, with regard to his admiration of Cæsar. I cannot, I confess, behold those incidents he has just named, in Cesar's life, in the same light that he does When Cesar was surprised by the Nervii, he had a great cause at stake, and his conduct was the natural result of that consideration. That consideration made him collected, and gave him coolness, to employ the readiest means of extricating himself from the danger that threatened him. Besides, he was no raw commander; he had subdued the Helvetians, the Germans, and the Belgians: nor, was his rescuing the two legions, that were surrounded

by the enemy, so wonderful an exploit. He was joined, at that critical moment, by the force that he had left to guard his baggage; nor was his success more the consequence of his courage. in leading his men into the thickest of the fight, than of the enthusiasm of his soldiers, who followed their general, and whose dearest honor was, then, most particularly, concerned in his safety.

Caesar, an ambitious general, attempted to cross the sea ir. a fishing-bark! A lover swank across the Hellespont! Caesar's fortunes and life were at stake. He had only a handful of men with him, and Antony was loitering, as he supposed, near Brundusium. Leander had his mistress at stake! I will not, Mr. Chairman, trespass any longer on your patience. I am sure you will agree with me, that great exploits have noble ends; and then, indeed they make the executor great.

"Who wickedly is wise, or madly brave,

Is but the more a fool-the more a knave! Who noble ends, by noble means, obtains, Or, failing, smiles, in exile or in chains; Like good Aurelius, let him sigh, or bleed Like Socrates--that man is great indeed!" said, that the man whose rule secures the H. H. Mr. Chairman, a gentleman has happiness, prosperity, and glory of a nation. I assert, that the man, who obtains the rule deserves to rule it. With equal confidence, of his country, by violating its laws-how it happy, prosperous, and great-does not much soever he may contribute to make deserve to rule it. He sets a bad example, virtues seem to palliate the atrocity of his an example, the more pernicious, as his usurpation. He leaves it in the power of without his excellence, to quote his name, any wretch, who may possess his ambition, and use it as an authority for the commission of similar crime.

No gentleman has yet presumed to say, laws of Rome; those laws, that guarded 'move that Caesar's conduct was sanctioned by the cautiously against the approaches of tyranny, than against the invasion of a foreign enemy; those laws, which justified any private man in putting to death the person, whom he could afterwards prove to have been guilty of meditating usurpation. Cæsar, then, did not deserve to rule his country, for he violated its laws. A good man respects the laws of his country; Cisar was not, in this view, a good Cæsar was not, in this view, a great man: for goodness is an essential part of greatness.

man.

freed-men. foreigners, and so forth I say, sir, to adopt such measures as these, had not a tendency to secure the happiness or prosperity of his country. But, upon what ground does the gentleman assert, that Cæsar secured the greatness of his country? Was it by extending the fame of its arms? There was another kind of fame, which the Roman people valued more than the fame of their Arms-the fame of their liberty! There was another kind of greatness, dearer to their pride than all the wealth, or honor, that could result from foreign victory; that kind of greatness, which gloried, not in the establish ing, but in the destroying of tyranny; which drove a Tarquin from the throne, and cast an Appins into prison; which called their proudest heroes from the heads of armies, and the rule of conquered nations, into the equal ranks of private citizens.

A gentleman, speaking of Cesar's benevolent disposition, and of the reluctance with which he entered into the civil war, observes, How long did he pause upon the brink of the Rubicon!" How came he to the brink of that river! How dared he cross it! Shail private men respect the boundaries of private property, and shall a man pay no respect to the boundaries of his country's rights! How dared he cross that river! Oh! but he paused upon the brink! He should have perished upon the brink, ere he had crossed it! Why did he pause? Why does a man's heart palpitate, when he is on the point of committing an unlawful deed! Why does the very murderer, his victim sleeping before him, and his glaring eye taking the measure of the blow, strike wide of the mortal part? Because of conscience! Twas that made Cæsar pause upon the brink of the Rubicon. Compassion! What compassion? The compassion of an assassin, that feels a momentary shudder, as his weapon begins to cut! Cæsar paused upon the brink of the Rubicon! What was the Rubicon? The boundary of Caesar's province. From what did it separate his province? From his country. Was that country a desert? No; it was cultivated and fertile; rich and populous! Its sons were men of genius, spirit, and generosity! Its daughters were lovely, susceptible, and chaste! Friendship was its inhabitant! Love was its inhabitant! Domestic affection was its inhabitant! Liberty was its inhabitant! All hounded by the stream of the Rubicon! What was Cæsar, that stood upon the brink of that stream? A traitor, bringing war and pestilence into the heart of that country! No wonder that he paused! No wonder, if, his imagination wrought upon by his conscience, he had beheld blood, instead of water; and heard groans, instead of murmurs! No wonder, if some gorgon horror had turned him into stone upon the spot! But, no! he cried. "The die is cast!" He plunged! he crossed! and Rome was free no more!

Again. It has been observed, " How often did he attempt a reconciliation with Pompey, and offer terms of accommodation!" Would gentlemen pass tricks upon us for honest actions! Examine the fact. Cæsar keeps

his army on foot; because Pompey docs so What entitles either of them to keep his army on foot? The commission of his country. By that authority they levied their armies; by that authority they should disband them. Had Caesar that authority to keep his army on foot? No. Had Pompey? Yes. What right, then, had Cæsar to keep his army on foot, because Pompey did so? His army! It was the army of his country enrolled by the orders of his country; maintained by the treasure of his country; fighting under the banners of his country; seduced by his flatteries, his calumnies, and his bribes, to espouse the fortunes of a traitor! Sir, he never sincerely sought an accommodation. Had he wished to accomplish such an object. he would have adopted such measures were likely to obtam it. He would have obeyed the order of the senate; disbanded his troops; laid down his command; and appeared in Rome a private citizen. Such conduct would have procured him more dignity, more fame, more glory, than a thousand sceptres; he would not have come to parley with the trumpet, and the standard; the spear, and the buckler; he would have proved himself to have been great in virtue!

as

Upon the same principle, his clemency must go for nothing. Clemency! To attribute clemency to a man, is to imply that he has a right to be severe; a right to punish Cæsar had no right to punish. His clemency! it was the clemency of an outlaw, a pirate, a robber, who strips his prey, but then abstains from slaying him!

You were also told, that he paid the most scrupulous respect to the laws. He paid the most scrupulous respect to the laws! he set his foot upon them; and, in that prostrate condition, mocked them with respect!

But, if you would form a just estimate of Caesar's arms, look to his triumphs, after the surrender of Utica-Utica, more honored in being the grave of Cato, than Rome, in having been the cradle of Caesar!

You will read, sir, that Caesar triumphed four times. First, for his victory over the Gauls; secondly, over Egypt; thirdly, over Pharnaces; lastly, over Juba, the friend of Cato. His first, second, and third triumphs were, we are told, magnificent. Before him, marched the princes and noble foreigners of the countries he had conquered; his soldiers, crowned with laurels, followed him; and the whole city attended with acclamations. This was well! the conqueror should be honored. His fourth triumph approaches-as magnifi cent as the former ones. It does not want its royal captive, its soldiers crowned with laurels, or its flushed conqueror, to grace it; nor is it less honored by the multitude of its spectators; but they send up no shout of exultation; they heave loud sighs; their cheeks are frequently wiped; their eyes are fixed upon one object, that engrosses all their senses, their thoughts, their affections. It is the statue of Cato! carried before the victor's chariot! It represents him, rending open his wound and tearing cut his bowels; as he did in Utica, when Roman liberty was no more!

Now, ask if Caesar's aim was the welfare of his country? Now, doubt if he was a man governed by a selfish ambition! Now, question whether he usurped, for the mere sake of usurping! He is not content to triumph over the Gauls, the Egyptians, and Pharnaces; he must triumph over his own countrymen! He is not content to cause the statue of Scipio and Petreius to be carried before him; he must be graced by that of Cato! He is not content with the simple effigy of Cato; he must exhibit that of his suicide! He is not satisfied to insult the Romans with triumphing over the death of liberty; they must gaze upon the representation of her expiring agonies, and mark the writhings of her last, fatal struggle !

Mr. Chairman, I confidently anticipate the triumph of our cause.

F. IV. Sir, with great reluctance, I present myself to your notice, at this late hour. We have proved, that your patience is abundant; we cannot presume that it is inexhaustible. I shall exercise it for only a few moments. Were our cause to be judged by the approbation which our opponents have received, it would appear to be lost. But that is far from being the case, Mr. Chairman. The approbation they receive, is unaccompanied by conviction. It is a tribute-and a merited one-to their cloquence, and has not any reference to the justice of the part they take. Our cause is not lost-is not in danger-does not apprehend danger. We are us strong as ever; as able for the contest, and as confident of victory. We fight under the banners of Cæsar; and Cæsar never met an open enemy, without subduing him.

We grant that Casar was a usurper; but we insist, that the circumstances of the times justifiel his usurpation. We insist, that he became a usurper for the good of his country; for the salvation of the republic; for the preservation of its very existence! What must have been the state of Roman liberty, when such men as Marius and Sylla could become usurpers? Monsters, against whose domination nature and religion reclaimed!

Gentlemen talk very prettily about the criminality of usurpation. They know it is a popular theme. All men are tenacious of their property; and the gentlemen think, that if they can carry the feelings of their auditors along with them, in this respect, they may be certain of success in every other. We have not any objection to their flattering themselves with such fancies; but the cause of justice shall not be sacrificed to their gratification; surely, those gentlemen must be ignorant of the State of the republic, in those times; surely, they have never heard, or read, that massacre was the common attendant of public elections; that the candidates brought their money, openly, to the place of election, and distributed it among the heads of the different factions; that those factious employed force and violence, in favor of the persons who paid, them; and that scarce any office was disposed of, without being disputed, sword in hand, and without costing the lives of many

citizens !

A gentleman very justly said, that the love of country is the first, the second, and the last principle of a virtuous mind. Now, sir, it appears that the Roman people sold their country! its offices; its honors; its liberty; sold them to the highest bidder, as they would sell their wares, a sheep, or the quarter of an ox; and that, after they had struck the bargain, they threw themselves into it, and fought mantuily for the purchaser! Cicero and Cato lived in these times. Cicero, that saved Rome from the conspiracy of Cataline. Cato, who would not survive the liberty of his country. The latter attempted to stop the progress of the corruption; but his efforts were fruitless. He could neither restrain its progress, nor mitigate its virulence. Thus, sir, the independence of the republic was virtually lost, before Cæsar became a usurper; and, therefore, to say that Cæsar destroyed the independence, or liberty of his country, is to assert that he destroyed a nonentity.

It was happily remarked, that the power of interfering with the tribunes, was fatal to the Roman people. Yes, sir, it was fatal. The tribunes ought to have been independent of the people, from the moment of their entering on their office, to that of their laying it down. You were told, the people had a right to the direction of their own affairs. Yes, sir; they had a right. We do not dispute that. But it was a right, by the abandonment of which, they would have been gainers. It was a fatal right, by grasping which they lost every thing. It was inconsistent right, for they stood as much in need of being protected from themselves, as of being protected from the nobility. Why does any man put his affairs into the hands of another, but because he cannot manage them so well himself? If he cannot manage them so well himself, why should be interfere with the person, to whose conduct he intrus's them? Because he has a right! I know he has; but it is an unfortunate right. for it leaves it in his power to ruin himself, in spite of good counsel and friendship!

an

Gentlemen talk of what are called the people, as if they were the most enlightened part of the community! Are they the guardiaas of learning or of the arts? or of the sciences? Do we select counsellors from them? or judges? or legislators? Do we inquire among them for rheto.icians? logicians or philosophers? or, rather, do we not consider them as little cultivated in mind? little regulated by judg ment? much inflamed by prejudice greatly subject to caprice? chiefly governed by passion! Of course, sir, I speak of what are generally called the people, the crowd, the mass of the community. But you ask me for a proof of the bad effects. that resulted to the Roman people, from the liberty they po-sessed, of legislating directly for themselves. Look. sir, to the proceedings of the forum! What they did, they undid; what they erected, they threw down; they enacted laws, and they repealed them; they elected patriots,” and they betrayed them; they humbled tyrants, and they exalted them! You will find, that the great converted the undue

power, which the people possessed, into the means of subjugating the people. If they feared a popular leader, it was only necessary to spread, by their emissaries, a suspicion of bis integrity, or set the engine of coruption to work, upon that frailest of all fortifications, popular stability; and thus, sir, they carried their point, humbled their honest adversaries, and laughed in the face of the wisest and most salutary laws.

Mr. Chairinan, I think that the times in which Cæsar lived, called for, and sanctioned, bis usurpation. I think his object was, to extinguish the jealousies of party; to put a stop to the miseries that resulted from them; and to unite his countrymen. I think the divided state of the Roman people exposed them to the danger of a foreign yoke; from which they could be preserved, only by receiving a domestic one. I think that Cæsar was a great man; and I conclude my trial of your patience, with the reply made to Brutus by Statilius, who had once determined to die in Utica with Cato; and by Favonius, an esteemed philosopher of those times. Those men were sounded by Brutus, after he had entered into the conspiracy for murdering Cesar. The former said, he "would rather patiently suffer the oppressions of an arbitrary master, than the cruelties and disorders which generally attend civil dissensions." The latter declared, that, in his opinion, "a civil war was worse than the most unjust tyranny.' J. G. Mr. Chairman, as the opener of this debate, I am entitled to reply; but it is a privilege by which I shall not profit. I leave our cause to the fate it merits. But, allow me to remark that, how much soever we may disagree in our opinion of Caesar's character, there is a subject upon which we cannot have the slightest difference of sentiments: namely, that your patience, indulgence, and impartiality, have been great, and claim our gratitude.

[The Dialogues having F. F. D. affixed, are ORIGINAL. and copyrighted, and taken, by express contract, (and for a large pecuniary consideration,) from an excellent work, entitled, Familiar Dialogues and Popular Discussions, for Exhibition in Schools and Academies of either Sex, and for the Amusement of Social Parties :" prepared and edited by WILLIAM B. FOWLE, Esq., who has had much experience in getting up books for educational purposes. The author of this work received express permission to select such Dialogues as he pleased, at a stipulated price. He has done so; and, from the specimens here given, he is justified in recommending these FAMILIAR DIALOGUES" to parents and teachers, as worthy of introduction into our schools, not only on account of their good qualities, but of their neat execution: and the price is only 37 cents.]

751. THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.-ORIGINAL. MRS. VESTRY, the Minister's Wife. MRS. BLUNT, the Deacon's Wife. MRS. BRIEP, the Lawyer's Wife. MRS. PILL, the Doctor's Wife. Mas. SQUASH, a Farner's Wife. MRS. LUG, a Widow Lady, rather deaf. Miss PRIM, an ancient Maiden, once a SchoolMistress. Miss SNAP, a satirical young Lady. Miss FAIRMAN, the Candidate for the Village School.

[All present but Miss Fairman.] Mrs. Vestry. LADIES, we are all assembled, and the young lady who has applied for the

village school is in the next room. Shall I invite her in?

Mrs. Blunt. Is she handsome? I have no idee of employing any beauty, to be running after the boys when she should be teaching the children,

Mrs. Vestry. She makes no pretensions to any other beauty than that of the mind, İ believe.

Mrs. Blunt. Let her come in, then.

[Mrs. V. introduces Miss Fairman to Mrs. Brief, who takes her by the hand, and says,]

Mrs. Brief. Allow me to introduce you to Mrs. Pill, the lady of our physician-to Mrs Blunt, the wife of our worthy deacon

Mrs. Blunt. And as well entitled to be called lady as the best of you, let me teil you! Wife! forsooth!

Mrs. Brief. I plead not guilty, as we lawyers say, of any intentional disrespect. [She then goes on introducing Miss Fairman.} This is Miss Prim, who may be called a fellow laborer with you in the field of education.

Miss Prim. No longer so, I desire to be thankful! I left the profession before every body entered it.

Miss Snap. You left it when your pupus left you, I have been told; but it was so long age, I do not remember the circumstances.

Miss Prim to Miss Snap. A few more years would be of infinite service to some folks.

Mrs. Brief. Miss Fairman, this is Mise Snap, whom you will find a rendy assistant in cutting such twigs as you may not be able to bend. [She lets go Miss Fairman, whore hand Mrs. Vestry takes, and says,]

Mrs Vestry. Let me introduce yon, Miss. to Mrs. Squash, the wife of one of our richest parishioners; and Mrs. Lug, who is rather hard of hearing, but whom you will find zealously interested in the cause of education.

Mrs. Blunt. You had better take cheers. ladies, and set down while the examination goes on. [All sil.] Young woman, come here. I warn you that you will have a severe examination; for we ladies have complained so much of former schoolma'ams, that the met have made us a committee to examine apph cants, and suit ourselves; and we are going to do the thing thoroughly. Pray, what's your name, young woman?

Miss Fairman. Susan Fairman, madam. Mrs. Blunt. How old are you?

Miss Prim. I object to that question, as an improper one. I would not tell my age to any one.

Miss Snap. The young lady may not have the same objection.

Miss Fairman. I shall be eighteen in a few days.

Mrs. Lug. [Hoiding her hand up to her ear as a deaf person does.] Did you say you were eighty years old, Miss?

Miss Farman. No, madam; only eighteen. Mrs. Squash. Why, you have hardly left off tires! Pray, can you make a punkcin

pie?

Miss Snap. If she can't, I dare say she can make one of squash.