vel argumentum, vel exemplum, vel testimonium ab adversario allatum sciens prætermisi, quod quidem firmitatis in se quicquam, aut probationis vim ullam habere videretur; in alteram fortasse partem culpæ propior, quòd sæpiusculè ineptiis quoque ejus et argutiis tritissimis, quasi argumentis, respondendo, id iis tribuisse videar quo dignæ non erant. Unum restat, et fortasse maximum, ut vos quoque, ô cives, adversarium hunc vestrum ipsi refutetis: quod nullâ aliâ ratione video posse fieri, nisi omnium maledicta vestris optimè factis exuperare perpetuò contendatis. Vota vestra et preces ardentissimas Deus, cum servitutis haud uno genere oppressi ad eum confugistis, benignè exaudiit. Quæ duo in vitâ hominum mala sanè maxima sunt et virtuti damnosissima, tyrannis et superstitio, iis vos gentium primos gloriosè liberavit; eam animi magnitudinem vobis injecit ut devictum armis vestris et dedititium regem judicio inclyto judicare, et condemnatum punire, primi mortalium non dubitaretis. Post hoc facinus tam illustre, nihil humile aut augustum, nihil non magnum atque excelsum et cogitare et facere debebitis. Quam laudem ut assequamini, hâc solâ incedendum est viâ, si ut hostes bello domuistis, ita ambitionem, avaritiam, opes,

et secundarum rerum corruptelas, quæ subigunt cæteras gentes hominum, ostenderitis posse vos etiam inermes mediâ in pace omnium mortalium fortissimè debellare; si, quam in repellendâ servitute fortitudinem præstitistis, eam in libertate conservandâ justitiam, temperantiam, moderationem præstiteritis. His solis argumentis et testimoniis evincere potestis, non esse vos illos, quos hic probris insequitur, "Perduelles, latrones, sicarios, parricidas, fanaticos:" non vos ambitionis aut alieni invadendi studio, non seditione, aut pravis ullis cupiditatibus, non amentiâ aut furore percitos regem trucidasse, sed amore libertatis, religionis, justitiæ, honestatis, patriæ denique charitate accensos tyrannum puniisse. Sin autem, (quod, bone Deus, ne unquam siveris,) aliter in animum induxeritis, si in bello fortes, in pace turpes eritis, qui manifestum sensistis numen vobis tam propitium, hostibus tam grave, neque exemplo tam insigni et memorando ante oculos posito, Deum vereri et justitiam colere didiceritis; quod ad me attinet, concedam sanè et fatebor, neque enim potero negare ea omnia, quæ nunc maledici et mendaces de vobis pessimè aut loquuntur aut sentiunt, vera esse: vosque multò iratiorem brevi tempore experturi estis Deum,

quâm aut infensum inimici vestri, aut vos benignum et faventem et paternum, præ cæteris omnibus terrarum orbis gentibus hodiernis, experti estis.”a

"So far, with God's assistance, have I accomplished my original purpose of defending, both at home and abroad, the proud achievements of my countrymen against the insane and malignant fury of a frantic sophist; and of vindicating, (as the enemy, not of kings but of tyrants,) the general rights of the subject from the unjust despotism of the prince. Nor have I consciously left unanswered a single argument, instance, or evidence adduced by my antagonist, which appeared to possess the smallest portion either of strength or conclusiveness, having rather perhaps inclined to the opposite fault of replying too frequently even to his irrelevant and trivial sophistries; and of treating them, as arguments, with a degree of attention of which they were undeserving. One thing alone, but perhaps the most important, remains, that you also, my countrymen, should yourselves unite with me in the confutation of your enemy: and this, in my opinion, can no otherwise be effected than by a

P. W. v. 194.

perpetual effort on your part to rise above his calumnies and to crush them with your virtues. To your ardent vows and supplications the Almighty indulgently listened when, under the yoke of your double servitude, you sued to him for deliverance. You are the first among the nations whom he has gloriously rescued from the oppression of tyranny and superstition, those two mighty evils which are the most hostile to the perfection of man: to you, the first of the human race, did he impart the magnanimity to submit to the solemnity of a judicial trial, and, when legally found guilty, to punish with a just death your vanquished and captive king. After a deed so illustrious, nothing low or narrow, nothing but what is great and exalted should enter into your thoughts and actions. To this lofty superiority of character you can rise only by showing that, as you have quelled your enemies in war so, with fortitude equally unexampled, without arms and in profound peace, you can subdue ambition and avarice, the power of wealth and the corruption of prosperity which triumph over the rest of your species; and by exhibiting in the preservation of your freedom a degree of justice, temperance, and moderation proportioned to the valour which you have evinced

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in its attainment. By these arguments and evidences alone can you satisfactorily prove that you are not, (as your calumniator affirms,) Rebels," " Robbers," "Ruffians," "Parricides," and "Fanatics;" and that you have not under the impulse of ambition or of a wish to plunder, not incited by sedition or by any depraved passions, not in a paroxysm of folly or of phrenzy murdered a king; but that, elevated and kindled with the love of liberty, of religion, of equity, of honour, and of your country, you have inflicted punishment upon a tyrant. If however, (which God avert!) your projects and purposes be different; if, notwithstanding your signal experience of a Deity so propitious to yourselves and so destructive to your foes, after all your bravery in war you are resolved to be corrupt in peace, and, unaffected by the memorable and awful example before your eyes, to disdain " to learn to do justice, and to walk humbly with your God"-for my part, I must indeed be constrained reluctantly to acknowledge the truth of all those infamous charges against you which are now uttered or conceived by the slanderers of your fame, and you will but too quickly feel the wrath of the Almighty in a much more afflicting degree than it has ever