ordinem nobis egregium inter rerum naturam uindicamus ad propria ipsorum officia uiliores euenimus. Quanto magis quisque populus doctrinae inops, tanto sui iactantior. Horum gloriae et saluti Deum praecipue studere semper creditur, exercitibus uictoriam, doctoribus sapientiam praebere: horum magi diuinorum consiliorum participes dicuntur: heros unusquisque satellites tam caelestes quam mortales sibi circumdat. * * * Semper igitur in saeculis et regionibus rudibus saeuisque gignuntur heroes et μídeo; qui multitudinem adeunt naturam hominum eo pluris aestimantem quia quantum possit ignorat, et homines pro numinibus libenter habentem quia Dei aeque et hominum naturam parum intelligit. W. E. C. XVIII. CONCILIUM. Cliuus sollicitudine cruciari. Socii neque fidei neque animo credere ; neque quamuis suae rei militaris peritiae et militum uirtuti fidenti leue erat contra exercitum suo uicies tanto maiorem in acie contendere. In fronte amnis, traiectu facilis, quem uero clade accepta nemo e manu exigua iterum superaturus erat. Tum primum ac postremum intrepidus eius animus graue onus desti the fearful responsibility of making a decision. He called a council of war. The majority pronounced against fighting; and Clive declared his concurrence with the majority. Long afterwards, he said that he had never called but one council of war, and that, if he had taken the advice of that council, the British army would never But scarcely had the meet have been masters of Bengal. ing broken up when he was himself again. He retired alone under the shade of some trees, and passed near an hour there in thought. He came back determined to put every thing to the hazard, and gave orders that all should be in readiness for passing the river on the morrow. LORD MACAULAY. XIX. THE BATTLE OF SENLAC. The night was spent in a manner which prognosticated the event of the following day. On the part of the Normans it was spent in prayer, and in a cool and steady preparation for the engagement; on the side of the English in riot and a vain confidence that neglected all the necessary preparations. The two armies met in the morning; from seven to five the battle was fought with equal vigour; until at last the Norman army pretending to break in confusion, a stratagem to which they had been regularly formed, the English, elated with success, suffered that firm order in which their security consisted to dissipate: which when William observed, he gave the signal to his men to regain their former disposition, and fall upon the English, broken and dispersed. Harold in this emergency did every thing which became nandae rationis horrebat. Concilium conuocat. Plurimi proelium detrectare; ipse accessit. Multo post dixit, se semel tantum eiusmodi concilium conuocasse, cui si paruisset nunquam sub dicionem exercitus Britannici uenturum fuisse Indicum imperium.' Sed uix etiam coetu dimisso ad se redit. Cum sub umbram aliquarum arborum solus se recepisset, horae prope spatium cogitando consumpsit. Reuerso fortunae summam rerum committere certum erat. Omnia parari iubet ut fluuium cum luce traiicerent. W. E. C. XIX. PUGNA AD LACUM SANGUINEUM. Diversa utrobique nox crastinae sortis augurium habebat, venerantibus deos Normannis, sedate ac fortiter in proelium consulentibus, lascivis insolentia Anglis ac providenda aspernatis. Mane collatis signis usque ad vergentem solem pari virtute pugnatum est; postremo Normannis meditata fallacia tanquam trepidis fugam simulantibus laeti secundis hostes caput salutis aciem resolverunt. Neque ignarus Normannorum dux signum suis dedit ut ordines restituerent, fusis perrupta acie Anglis incumberent. Nihil omisit Haroldius quod in him, every thing possible to collect his troops and to renew the engagement; but whilst he flew from place to place, and in all places restored the battle, an arrow pierced his brain; and he died a king, in a manner worthy of a warrior. The English immediately fled; the rout was total, and the slaughter prodigious. The consternation which this defeat and the death of Harold produced over the kingdom, was more fatal than the defeat itself. If William had marched directly to London, all contest had probably been at an end; but he judged it more prudent to secure the sea-coast, to make way for reinforcements; distrusting his fortune in his success more than he had done in his first attempts. BURKE. XX. NOVARA. It was all in vain. Fortune did not desert the great battalions, and when the day was over, four thousand Piedmontese had died for Italy. Each of them had his story, but yet in the record of Novara, I think that history will dwell, in no servile spirit, on the figure of the hero-king. Wherever the danger was the greatest, there he was found, and as the day closed and went against him, he was seen to ride up to the batteries of the enemy, seeking death. But "even death," he said, "refused to help him,” and his last prayer, that he might be allowed to die as a soldier and a king, was not granted to him. Then when all was lost he called his generals round him and spoke in words not soon forgotten : tanto discrimine deceret, nihil non tentavit quomagis revocato exercitu pugnam instauraret; quem ubique frequentem ac certamen hinc illinc integrantem sagitta cerebrum transfixit, incolumi dignitate pro milite peremptum. Sequitur fuga Anglorum; recta victoria, strages ingens. Mox gravior ipsa caede pavor orbum duce regnum incessit, ut, si Londinium occupasset hostis, debellatum iri videretur. Cui magis placuit obtento litore subsidiis viam aperire, prosperis haud perinde confiso quam initiis audendi. R. C. J. XX. NOVARA. Frustra tamen omnia erant. Fortuna maioribus non defuit legionibus: ubi nox pugnam diremit quatuor milia Taurinorum pro tota Italia occiderant. Horum quiuis memoria haud indignus: sed cladem Nouarensem referentibus, principis prope diuinum exemplum erecto animo contemplari semper placiturum credo. Ipse aderat ubicunque maximum periculum; uergente denique infausto sole, hostium telis obequitare, et mortem ultro petere uisus est. Sed ne mortem quidem sibi subuenire uoluisse,' questus est, neque ultimis precibus impetrauit 'exitum regi militique honestum.' Cum demum fractae res erant, conuocatos duces uerbis haud facile obliui |