was deaf to the voice of misery. To the dictates of self-interest he lent an exclusive attention, and he was never drawn aside by the temptations which beset more generous natures. That he was not addicted to intemperance, or dissolved in the enchantments of courtezans, was owing to the natural frigidity of his babit. A proficient in the arts of intrigue, he was destitute of every nobler quality of the mind, as well as the heart. Immoderately ambitious, the constitutional timidity of Octavius shrunk from those daring measures by which superior spirits command their fortune. Every act of his life was the result of craft or cowardice; but it was to his hypocrisy, chiefly, which enabled him to delude the world with the show of virtues which nature had denied him, that this consummate deceiver was indebted for his elevation.

These are but faint and imperfect sketches of the characters of men who now divided between them the power and resources of the Roman empire. Contented with his share, and absorbed in luxury, the lover of Cleopatra was desirous only of inglorious repose: but the Intrigues of Octavius would not allow his colleague to abandon himself wholly to a life so unworthy of his station, and a Roman. Antony speedily perceived the designs of Octavius, whose unsocial ambition detested the equality of a rival. The sparks of secret enmity were fanned into a fierce and open flame by the suggestions of flattery or fear: a mutual declaration of war was immediately succeeded by actual hostilities; and the nations of the earth were involved in a private quarrel, which might have been more quickly and happily settled by the sword of a patriot.

Athiens is enumerated among those states which espoused the cause of Antony, and the conviction that his success would be less dangerous to freedom than the triumph of his crafty antagonist, affords a clear and honourable explanation of her conduct. The same policy that had governed the Lacedemonian councils during the late civil war, attached Sparta to Octavius. The battle of Acfium decided the fate of Antony, and the high-spirited Athenians were exposed to the malignity of the conqueror, whose revenge; when his victory had subdued his apprehensions, proved that he was as incapable of rivaling the magnanimity, as of emulating the genius or prowess of his adopted father. His triumph established the dynasty of Cæsar; the triumvir was transformed into the emperor;

with his name, his nature seemed changed; and while they experienced the beneficence of Augustus, the Romans might be tempted to forget the proscriptions of Octavius. The general complexion of his administration was such as is produced by the union of justice and humanity; yet, as it is the fate of all artificial characters to be not more detested for the vices which are their own, than despised for the virtues they affect, the conduct which in Trajan or the Autonines would have engendered unmingled veneration, excited only horror and derision when exhibited by the assassin of Cicero. The benevolence of egotism and hypocrisy must be content with its own panegyric.

Of the immense dominions now under the sway of Augustus, Athens was the single spot in which the name of liberty had not either become obsolete, or lost its wonted attraction. The siege of Sylla, and the oppressions of Octavius would have unnerved the courage of any people in whom the love of independence did not burn with the fervour of a bereditary passion. The unresisted tyranny of Augustus had produced among the inhabitants of the Roman empire a spiritless uniformity of character: but the insurrection of the Athenians against that usurper, four years before his death, proves with what impatience the descendants of Cimon and Miltiades bore the yoke of a foreign tyrant.

The reign of Tiberius succeeded, and Athens remained tranquil and undisturbed in the enjoyment of her domestic laws and institutions. The chief event relating to this celebrated city during a period so unfortunate to Rome, was the visit of the nephew of Tiberius to a spot that was still reverenced as the abode of learning and the arts. The deportment of Germanicus was mild and unassuming, and during his residence at Athens, to evince his respect for her former glories, he divested himself of the ensigns of his dignity, and walked through the streets, and inspected the public edifices, preceded by a single lictor. Sparta-the proud, inflexible Sparta-experienced in the same reign, a signal mortification. Involved in a dispute with the Messenians, she referred her cause to the arbitration of Roman judges, whose sentence was pronounced in favour of her rivals. It is not a little remarkable, that the right of possession in the temple of Limnan Diana, a goddess, the celebration of whose festival gave birth to the first Messenian war, should have been the subject of contention.

The reigns of Nero, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, offer nothing remarkable respecting either Athens or Sparta. The luxuries of Rome could not satiate the extravagant profligacy of Nero. That abandoned miscreant visited Greece for the purpose of bringing away with him some of the singers, cooks, and buffoons, for which a country once renowned for the simplicity of her manners, had lately acquired an infamous celebrity. Corinth might not esteem his residence a dishonour; but his refusal to enter the walls of Athens and Sparta, is a striking eulogium on the countrymen of Solon and Lycurgus.

Under Vespasian and Titus, Achaia was formally constituted a Roman province, and the elder Pliny, in the course of his Natural History, speaks of many monuments either of use or ornament erected in Greece during the government of those wise and beneficent princes.

Of Sparta, in the same period, we hear nothing; but Apollonius of Tyana, who visited that city in the reign of Domitian is reported to have found the laws of Lycurgus in full vigour.

The death of Domitian terminated the race, real or fictitious, of Cæsar; and Nerva his successor, presented, in every respect, a pleasing contrast to the wretches who had disgraced the name of Julius. Greece was happy in the favourable regards of that gentle prince, whose respect for justice was strikingly displayed in the case of a noble Athenian. Atticus was connected with the most illustrious families of his state; nor were the virtues of Cimon and Miltiades sullied by the character of their descendant. His wealth, however, was inconsiderable; and he must have been reduced to poverty, had not his exigencies been relieved by the seasonable discovery of an immense store of hidden wealth. The law adjudged all treasure-trove to the emperor, and Atticus was so magnanimous as to become an informer against himself. Nerva replied to his communication by desiring him to use the riches with which chance had presented him. The prudent Athenian urged the greatness of the treasure as incompatible with the modesty of a private station; he knew "not how to use it." "Abuse it then," retorted the equitable monarch, "it is your own." The justice of Nerva was nobly emulated by the generosity of Atticus; the gifts of fortune were principally applied to the service and embellishment of his native city, nor can we ascribe his constant heneficence to a motive less pure or ele.

vated than that which is born of a fervent and disinterested patriotism.

The cares of Atticus were divided between his country and his son, whose education he superintended with the tenderness of a wise and affectionate father. The most celebrated teachers of Greece and Asia were allured by his generosity to direct the studies of the young Herodes. The progress of their pupil corresponded with the most sanguine expectations of his parents and preceptors; so fair and auspicious a morning gave promise of a glorious noon and Atticus might contemplate with calmness his own approaching dissolution in the certainty of leaving behind him so accomplished a representative. As an orator, Herodes surpassed his contemporaries: he practised without effort or ostentation the rules of virtue and philosophy; and when' the young Athenian discharged the duties of a magistrate, his countrymen might cease to regret the days of Aristides or Phocion.

aque

The liberality of Atticus was a hereditary virtue. Promoted by Hadrian to the prefecture of the free cities of Asia, Herodes displayed in that subordinate station a munificence that would have been remarkable even in the sovereign of a wealthy kingdom. The town of Troas was ill supplied with water. A representation of the fact was made to Hadrian, and for the erection of a new duct, the emperor granted a sum equivalent to a hundred thousand pounds. The actual cost, however, amounted to more than double the sum, and the officers of the revenue murmured at the excess, when the youthful prefect silenced their complaints by the declaration that he would undertake the discharge of all expenses beyond the estimate. The cities of Asia were embellished by his liberality, and the people of Epirus and Thessaly confessed their obligations to his munificence. Greece, generally, experienced, the effects of his bounty: the temple of Neptune in the Isthmus he decorated with the most sumptuous ornaments; while a theatre at Corinth, a stadium at Delphi, a bath at Thermopylee, and an aqueduct at Canusium in Italy, proved. that Herodes regarded his fortune rather as the property of the public than his own. Yet the lustre of these extraordinary works was eclipsed by the splendour of the edifices with which he adorned his native city. The stadium which he built at Athens, whilst he was preșident of the Attic Games, was six hun-. dred feet in length, and constructed of

the whitest marble. A theatre, dedicated to the memory of his wife Regilla, was raised at his sole expense; and of this structure alone, the charges must have surpassed the ordinary limits of private wealth, since in the frame-work no wood was employed except the precious and incorruptible cedar, whose value, besides, was enhanced by the laborious ingenuity of the carver. The Odeum, or theatre of music, where also it was customary to pehearse new tragedies, had been erected under the administration of Pericles. The masts of Persian gallies, captured at Salamis and Mycale, were employed as beams in whatever part of the edifice they were required; its design and elevation were entrusted to the most skilful architects; the chisel of Phidias, the pencil of Pancenus, had peopled its walls with the animated forms of gods and heroes; and for centuries it had subsisteda monument of Athenian genius,-a trophy of Athenian valour. Time at length, and perhaps the accidents of war, had injured its original beauty, and notwithstanding the repairs bestowed by a Cappadocian prince, the venerable structure no longer exhibited its ancient perfection. In this state it was beheld by Herodes; he lamented its decay, he restored its splendour; and the re-edification of the Odeum was the work of a patriot who, scattering benefits wherever he appeared, reserved the largest measure of his generosity for a city whose noblest ornament was himself.

But it was not only to the family of Atticus that Athens was indebted for her renovation in the reign of Hadrian. The successor of Trajan was distinguished from the crowd of princes by a genius various and profound, a learning comprehensive and minute. From his earliest youth he had cherished a partial fondness for the language, the history, the antiquities of Greece; and if in his maturer years, the ridicule of the Romans was excited by the Greek studies of the emperor, the love borne by Hadrian to the literature of an illustrious nation, called forth the grateful applause of Athens and the Peloponesus. The solid benefactions which he bestowed upon Greece were worthy of her ancient renown, and the discreet munificence of an enlightened monarch. Under his reign and direction the boundaries of the Athenian city were so considerably enlarged, and adorned with so many new edificest

of public utility or magnificence, that a second Athens seemed to have arisen under his auspices; and the antique splendour of the capital of Theseus was rivaled by the youthful beauty of the city of Hadrian.

From the ascension of Nerva to the death of Marcus Antoninus, nearly a century elapsed, during which the Roman world might felicitate itself in the posses sion of princes, the patrons of genius and virtue. The lineal inheritance of the purple had been a uniform source of the miseries and degradation of Rome. Nursed in the luxury and corruption of the palace, the ruinous administration of the Cæsars had exhibited the genuine results of their education. The union of vice and imbecility was rapidly dissolving the vigour of the commonwealth, when collecting the remains of her expiring strength, she assaulted and destroyed her tormentors. The virtues and talents of five successive sovereigns,* unconnected with each other by the ties of kindred, restored the blessings of regular government, and the brilliant tranquillity of their reigns is a severe and immortal satire on the doctrine of hereditary succession.

If we except the regret of former independence, we may sincerely believe that the felicity of Athens and Greece, in this fortunate period, was perfect and uninterrupted. Indeed, the happiness enjoyed by the whole empire might be accepted as a triumphant defence of arbitrary power, could the succession to the throne be so regulated as to secure the perpetual dominion of genius and integrity.

(To be continued.) .

G. F.B.

Observations on the remains of civilization and population, extant on the vast plains situated south of the North-American Lakes; communicated by CALEB ÅTWATER, Esq. of Circleville, Ohio, to the Hon. SAMUEL L. MITCHILL, of NewYork, in a letter, dated January 16,

1818.

SIR,

When the President of the United States was here, last summer, he viewed our ancient forts and mounds at this place, and proposed certain questions to me concerning them, which I then answered in substance as I have done in the communication which accompanies this note. The President's remarks were accompanied by a request that I would put my ideas on paper in the form of a letter

Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Autorines

First, then, the situations in which we uniformly find them, corroborates the idea that they were real fortifications. They are generally found on high ground, in commanding situations, and at the confluence of navigable waters. Take the following as examples:-Very remarkable ones are found at the junction of several streams on Licking creek, near Newark; on the high grounds in and about Columbus, near the junction of the Whetstone branch of the Scioto river; near the place where Hargus' creek enters the same river at Circleville; and I might add, at all such-like places where the surrounding country is fertile. These forts are frequently found where one side at least is inaccessible, as the large one on the Little Miami, where one side of the fort is a very high perpendicular bank of rock. Besides, there were some places, which we not unfrequently find, in the vicinity of these forts, and which evidently were mere places of amusement. There are several such places near the forts at Circleville, and one very remarkable one on the road from the place last mentioned to Chillicothe. It is perhaps twenty-five or thirty rods in length, and about four rods in width, with a ridge about two feet in height all around it. It is perfectly smooth, and gently ascends towards the south. Here the ancient inhabitants ran foot-races, wrestled, boxed, and practised other athletic exercises. The arena of the Romans, and Olympic games of the Greeks, on seeing the place I have described, present themselves to the recollection of the reader of history. Again, the great labour these works must have cost in their erection, forms a strong argument in favour of the opinion here advanced. What but dire necessity would ever have induced any people to erect such works? The walls of the forts at this place, are as high and the ditch as deep as those of fort Oswego, on the south side of lake Ontario, which were in use in 1755; nay, the walls are as high and the ditch as deep as those of fort Stanwix, at Rome, in New-York, and which we all know was in use only forty years since; what then must have been the enormous height of the walls of these old forts, and what the depth of these ditches two thousand years ago? And were people more inclined to labour in ancient times than they are now? Let history give the answer.

For what purpose were those lofty mounds erected, which on every side strike the eye of the beholder with a sotemn awe? That they contain the bones of

those who raised them, admits not the shadow of a doubt. Mankind, in the early ages of the world, in some way or other imbibed, what we deem the preposterous idea, that in order to worship the Deity acceptably, a high place was the most suitable spot on which to cele brate it, and the higher the place the more acceptable the worship: hence Babel was built, and mount Moriah was selected as the place for Solomon's temple. The Jews for ages worshipped in high places, and there they transacted their most important public business. In so doing, are they not frequently reproached by the sacred penmen, as following the universally vicious example of all their heathen neighbours? But let us hasten to another important inquiry:From whence did these people originate? For reasons which I shall proceed to lay before you, I am led to believe their origin was Asiatic. It will be recollected that Asia and America are separated by Behring's Strait, in width only eighteen miles, which Captain Cook informs us is crossed daily by the natives in their canoes. Dr. Clark, in his travels from Moscow to the Crimea, informs us that he saw at one time nearly one hundred mounds, which we, who have seen ours, must at once be convinced, from his description of them, are exactly such as ours. To the travels of that learned tourist, in Russia, permit me to refer the President. From the Jordan to the Euphrates, and from thence to the Don, California, the western foot of the Atlantic and the Mexican Gulf, it is believed that mounds like ours are every where to be found. The external appearance of the mounds in Tartary is similar to ours. Were they not raised by the same race of men? Let us examine the contents of these mounds, and scepticism itself must yield its willing assent to our proposition. James M'Dougal, of Chillicothe, a gentleman of the strictest veracity, some eighteen months since, in removing a large mound which stood in that town, discovered a cavity near the bottom of the mound, in which was deposited the mortal remains of some distinguished chieftain. Around his neck was a string of ivory beads, and on his breast lay a stone about three inches in length, with a hole near each end in order to fasten it to the wearer's neck. It was rather thicker in the centre than it was at the extremities; was flat on the side next the breast, and the remainder of it round, and made of a species of black marble. The beads I saw, and the stone was described to me by Mr. M'Dougal