thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make unto us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us, and Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them. Now therefore hearken to their voice: howbeit, yet solemnly protest unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, this shall be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen, and some shall run before his chariot. And he will take your daughters to be confectioners, and to be cooks and to be bakers.' And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers and to his servants. And he will take your men servants and your maid servants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He He will take the tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day, because of your king, and the Lord will not hear you in that day. OLD TESTAMENT. Samuel, b. i. chap. viii. AND all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king. * And when they told it to Jotham he went and stood in the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive-tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive-tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the trees said unto the fig-tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig-tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, * The word king here plainly means despot, and such are perpetual objects of invective in holy writ. wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. And Jotham ran away and fled for fear of Abimelech his brother. When Abimelech reigned three years over Israel; Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Sheche.n, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech. Ib. Judges, cb. ix. TO THE NETTLE. VILE weed, irascible! whene'er I view I thee full and firm-that power is dead. Much do I meditate on grandeur's throneThe awe of subjects, and the might of kings, Like thee, they punish those whom they appal; Like thee, when firmly grasp'd, to native nothing fall. ANONYMOUS. Morning Chronicle. -LORD supreme o'er all this formal race, But robb'd of moisture, sickens, droops, and dies. R. P. KNIGHT. Landscape: a Didactic Poem, b. ii. (1794.) ARISTO ARISTOCRACY. BY a tyrant is meant a sovereign who makes his humour the law, who seizes on the property of his subjects, and afterwards inlists them to go and give his neighbours the like treatment. These tyrants are not known in Europe. Tyranny is distinguished into that of one person and of many. A body invading the rights of other bodies, and corrupting the laws, that it may exercise a despotism apparently legal, is the latter tyranny. But Europe likewise has none of these tyrants. Under which tyranny would you chuse to live? Under none; but had I the option, the tyranny of one person appears to me less odious and dreadful than that of many. A despot has always some intervals of good humour, which is never known in an assembly of despots. If a tyrant has done me an injury, there is his mistress, his confessor, or his page, by means of whom I may appease him and obtain redress; but a set of supercilious tyrants is inaccessible to all applications. Under one despot, I need only stand up against a wall when I see him coming by, or prostrate myself, or knock my |