vouring to make his escape to Greece. The fortrefs of Gaeta is built on a promontory, about three miles from Mola; but travellers, who have the curiofity to go to the former, generally cross the gulph between the two; and immediately, as the most remarkable thing in the place, they are fhewn a great cleft in a rock, and informed that it was miraculously split in this manner at the death of our Saviour. To put this beyond doubt, they fhew, at the fame time, fomething like the impreffion of a man's hand on the rock, of which the following account is given.—A certain person having been told on what occafion the rent took place, ftruck the palm of his hand on the marble, declaring he could no more believe their ftory, than that his hand would leave its ftamp on the rock; on which, to the terror and confufion of this infidel, the ftone yielded like wax, and the impreffion remains till this day.

Nothing

Nothing is fo injurious to the cause of truth, as attempts to fupport it by fiction. Many evidences of the juftness of this obfervation occur in the course of a tour through Italy. That mountains were rent at the death of our Saviour, we know from the New Teftament; but, as none of them are there particularized, it is prefumptuous in others to imagine they can point out what the Evangelifts have thought proper to

conceal.

This rock, however, is much reforted to by pilgrims; and the Tartanes, and other veffels, often touch there, that the feamen may be provided with little pieces of marble, which they earneftly request may be taken as near the fiffure as poffible. These they wear conftantly in their pockets, in cafe of fhipwreck, from a perfuafion, that they are a more certain prefervative from drowning, than a cork jacket. Some of these poor people have the miffortune to be drowned, notwithstanding; but

the

the facred marble lofes none of its reputation on that account. Such accidents are always imputed to the weight of the unfor tunate perfon's fins, which have funk him to the bottom, in spite of all the efforts of the marble to keep him above water; and it is allowed on all hands, that a man fo oppreffed with iniquity, as to be drowned with a piece of this marble in his pocket, would have funk much fooner, if, instead of that, he had had nothing to keep him up but a cork jacket.

Strangers are next led to the Caftle, and are fhewn, with fome other curiofities, the skeleton of the famous Bourbon, Con➡ ftable of France, who was killed in the service of the emperor Charles the Fifth, as he scaled the walls of Rome.

It is remarkable that France, a nation which values itself so much on an affectionate attachment to its princes, and places loyalty at the head of the virtues, fhould have produced, in the courfe of the two

laft

laft centuries, fo many illuftrious rebels: Pourbon, Coligni, Guife, Turenne, and the Condés; all of them were, at fome period of their lives, in arms against their fovereign.

That it is the duty of subjects to preferve their allegiance, however unjuftly and tyrannically their prince may conduct himself, is one of the moft debafing and abfurd doctrines that ever was obtruded on the understanding of mankind. When Francis forgot the fervices which the gallant Bourbon had rendered him at Mirignan; when, by repeated acts of oppreffion, he forgot the duty of a king; Bourbon fpurned at his allegiance, as a fubject. The Spanish nobleman, who declared that he would pull down his house, if Bourbon fhould be allowed to lodge in it, either never had heard of the injurious treatment which that gallant foldier had received, or he betrayed the fentiments of a slave, and meant to infinuate his own implicit loyalty

to

to the Emperor. Mankind in general have a partiality for princes. The fenfes are imposed on by the fplendour which fur rounds them; and the respect due to the office of a king, is naturally converted into an affection for his perfon: there muft therefore be fomething highly unpopular in the character of the monarch, and highly oppreffive in the measures of government, before people can be excited to re bellion. Subjects feldom rife through a dea fire of attacking, but rather from an impatience of fuffering. Where men are under the yoke of feudal lords, who can force them to fight in any caufe, it may be otherwife; but when general difcontent pervades a free people, and when, in confequence of this, they take arms against their prince, they must have juftice on their fide. The highest compliment which fubjects can pay, and the best service they can render, to a good prince, is, to behave in fuch a manner, as to convince him that

they would rebel against a bad one.

VOL. II.

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