Steep'd in the cistern of Egyptian spells,

2145

'Gainst lawful charms the Roman's breast rebels.
The wily queen play'd her delusions o'er,
And more disgracing, but attach'd him more;
Expert in feigning what her heart ne'er felt,
A smile could warm him, as a tear could melt:
His pliant dotage serv'd but to proclaim

Her vicious triumph, and his hoary shame.

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With inward pangs his slighted consort mourn'd Her fond solicitude so ill return'd:

But no reproachful taunts assail'd his ear;
Her grief was silent, secret, and sincere.
From her perfidious libertine retir'd,

E'en he respected her, and all admir'd.

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Love's bond once broke, upbraiding comes too late, And often sours indifference into hate;

The tart remonstrance of a shrewish tongue,

Foe to itself, but justifies the wrong;

2160

Convention pretty much in the same manner: they are raised from the ranks to the head of armies, and very speedily afterwards conducted to

the scaffold.

For

For female rage admits of no pretence;

She who begins to rail, begins the offence.
Firm to her vows, to every duty true,

Tried to the last, submissive she withdrew :
But grown more desperate in his furious course,
He seal'd her sufferings by a rude divorce.3

2166

By

'Antony's infatuated attachment to Cleopatra was no way abated by
his marriage with Octavia, though he had by this most amiable woman
two children. The gentle patience with which she endured repeated
provocations and insults from her libertine husband, her maternal care of
his children by his former termagant wife Fulvia, her admirable beauty
joined to every female virtue and excellence of the mind, could not secure
her from the most outrageous ill treatment. Intending to affront Cæsar,
who tenderly loved his sister, and to gratify Cleopatra, who hated her,
Antony not only sent her a divorce, but a prohibition to reside in any of
his houses, or on any of his estates. Her sense of this brutal ingratitude
with her immoderate grief for the loss of her darling son Marcellus, broke
her constitution, and she expired without arriving at old age, to the infi-
nite regret of Augustus, and with the esteem and admiration of all who
knew her. Her munificent present to Virgil for his beautiful lines
to the memory of the Marcelli, has been often recorded. While
the poet was reciting the latter part of the sixth Æneid before the
emperor and his sister, at the words, "TU MARCELLUS ERIS," +
Octavia fainted. Nor is it extraordinary; for nothing can be more pa-
thetick and interesting than the whole preparation for this master-stroke
of panegyrick, which even at this moment excites considerable emotion.
The lamented virtues of her son, who really deserved the encomium, thus
unexpectedly brought to her remembrance, impressed still more by the

This pleasing anecdote I 7am sorry to find rests solely on recitation

the credit of Bonatus a Grammarian of the fourth century, and the whole fabrication is overturned by the better authority of Seneca in his comparison of the different conduct of Livia and Octavia on the loss of their respective Sons (See Seneca de consolatione ad Marciam) The general reception of the story justifies the menti -oning ir.

By the mad act was Cæsar's friendship lost;
Yet she complain'd the least, though outrag'd most.
See her forsake the interdicted plain,

And his good genius drooping in her train. 2170

Go, wrong'd Octavia! go, insulted wife!
Feel the soft comforts of sequester'd life;

Let these thy tyrant's injuries redeem,

Bless'd in mankind's, and thine own heart's esteem. But ah, what peace to that sad heart can come, While pale Marcellus points thee to the tomb?

recitation of Virgil, who was remarkable for reading his own verses with harmonious energy, may naturally be supposed to have had such an effect on the tender and affectionate heart of Octavia.-How different is the picture of Augustus in this scene from that which he exhibited as a triumvir, seated between Antony and Lepidus, and marking down for the knife of his butchers the most respectable and virtuous of his countrymen!

In drawing the character of Octavia, beside the concurrent testimony of the ancient writers who mention her, I was assisted by having before my eyes a living example in a lady with whom I have long had the happiness of being well acquainted. The likeness, without my being more explicit, will be recognized by every one, except herself,-she so strikingly resembles the Roman lady, in every thing but her misfortunes. In these happily there is no similitude; for she is tenderly beloved by an excellent husband, and has enjoyed a distinguished state of prosperity, with the cordial esteem and affection of her friends, and the grateful blessings of all who happen to be placed as objects of her protection.

There

ODL

ATGUSTUS.