the tax imposed upon every head; and yet thinks not much dishonour to live under the Roman obedience, though it has one of the strongest inducements in the world to revolt; I mean Alexandria, with regard to the prodigious number of its inhabitants, and its exceeding great wealth; not to mention its magnitude, which stretches full thirty furlongs in length, and no less than ten in breadth, and the taxes they pay in one month exceed all that is exacted of you in a whole year; and, setting aside the money raised among them, they supply Rome with provisions for four months; besides, the town is defended on every side, either with walls, some part of the inaccessible desert, with the sea, or with rivers and marshes; but none of these are found to prevail so much as the fortunate success of the Romans; two legions that reside there in garrison being sufficient to keep Egypt, so vast a tract of land, within the bounds of its obedience, and restrain the aspiring arms of the descendants of the Macedonians. Whom then will you take as confederates, in the war you are going to undertake, out of a country that is uninhabited, if so be all, where the world is peopled, stand on the side of the Romans? Probably, some may convey your hopes beyond the Euphrates, and have confidence to believe, that your countrymen will bring you assistance out of Adeabene.

"Let me tell you, they will never suffer themselves to be drawn into a war of such great consequence upon a frivolous reason, nor, if they go about to act anything in consequence of ill-concerted schemes, will the Parthian suffer it; for it is his interest to preserve inviolate the alliance made with

the Romans; and, should any one in his dominions presume to take up arms against them, he will determine such a one as an infringer of the truce. Your recourse, then, is to rely on divine assistance, on the aid of the God of your forefathers who led you out of the land of Egypt, and manifested so many remarkable interpositions in your favour; but you do not recollect that Moses only promises you his assistance on condition of obedience to his laws, and can you expect that assistance when you are constantly transgressing his commands, and, if your own contentions deprive you of either of these assistances, depend upon it your enemies will become your masters. The experience of slavery is a very great hardship, and the endeavour to shake off such a yoke is just and honourable; but he who is once subdued, and afterwards revolts, is deemed more a contumacious slave than a lover of liberty.

"When Pompey first made his entrance into this country, every measure ought to have been taken that the Romans should have been driven back; but your ancestors and their leaders, who had more money, stronger bodies, and braver souls than you, were not able to hold out against a small portion of the Roman power; and yet you, who have been accustomed to slavery, and are so much inferior in every respeet to those who first submitted to it, presume to withstand the whole Roman power. If I had known that all of you were resolved to run this hazard, and that there were not some among you who were inclined to cultivate peace and preserve harmony, I had never appeared before you, or presumed to give you my advice; for all words are needless, and all language superfluous, to point out those things which ought to be done,

when all who are assembled, with unanimous consent, hurry on to dangerous measures. But because some of you are so young as not to know the misfortunes that war produces, some entertain rash and ill-concerted hopes of liberty, and some may be in expectation of adding to their acquisitions, and making advantage even on the weaker side; should things fall into confusion, I have considered the means of instilling into such persons' minds notions of better use, that may make them recant their resolutions, and free themselves from the risks to which they expose themselves by following the pernicious advice of a few demagogues; and have appeared here to explain to you these circumstances, which are, I am persuaded, for your common interest and advantage.

Few

"But let no one exclaim against me, while I am speaking, if he happens to hear anything he cannot relish, for they who are resolved upon a defection are still at liberty, after my exhortation, to continue in the same sentiments as before. I am sensible that many exaggerate the injuries they have received from the Roman procurators, and very much amplify and increase the commendations of liberty. understand what liberty is, and, of those few, there are many who do not desire that it should be indiscriminately granted, for there are still in every country turbulent spirits, who would employ that liberty for individual aggrandisement, whilst they are exercising indefensible aggression. But, before I enter into any examination, who you are, and what is the character of those governors of whom you so much complain, I will lay open and separate one from another the different pretences you urge for it; for, if

you go about to revenge yourselves on those who have injured you, to what end do you boast so much of the virtue of liberty? If you are of opinion, that subjection to any foreign power is not to be tolerated, then the complaints you bring against your governors are of no moment; for, though they should govern mildly, yet the notions of servitude will present terrible ideas. Consider that the reasons you give for fomenting a war are not in themselves just, but chiefly consider to what those evils are to be attri buted, which you lay to the charge of the Roman governors. It is your business to gain the affections of those in power by friendly offices, and not to make it your daily occupation to injure them, by opprobious words and incorrect accusations. For, when you charge them with crimes of slight consequence, and convert those crimes into offences of the most flagrant nature, you are heaping that guilt upon your own heads which you endeavour to lay upon others. So

that the injuries they do you will no longer be committed in secresy, but your losses will be open, and acted above board. Nothing so much mitigates and alleviates a hardship, as patiently to bear it, and submissively to receive the injuries inflicted, for ofttimes shame and delay are impediments in the way of those who do them. But, let it be so, indeed, that the Roman governors are so troublesome as not to be borne with; yet all the Romans do not injure you, nor Cæsar, against whom you are going to undertake a war. There are no commands issued out by S. P. Q. R., I apprehend, to send you any bad governor, nor is it possible that they should cast their eyes from the east to the west, from the north to the south, into all the regions where this standard flies;

and I would have you well to reflect upon the many nations this emblem has subjected, or the power those letters represent, before you lift up your national ensign against it.

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When the war is once a foot, it will be found no easy matter to set it aside, nor will it be carried on and restrained without great losses and hardships. It is prudent, my friends, it is prudent, while the ship remains in port, to keep the anchor fast, and not put to sea in the midst of a tempest; they who unavoidably fall into dangers which they did not foresee, are worthy of our compassion and pity; but he who throws himself into a calamity which he might have seen and avoided, deserves to be branded with reproach, and must patiently abide the consequences. Think you, the Romans, proving victorious, will make a moderate use of their conquest, and deal gently with you? Rather expect, they will give other nations a lesson in it, destroy your sacred city with fire, and quite root out all your nation. Neither, supposing you should have the fortune to survive their weapons, can you hope to find any place of refuge; since all at this time obey the Romans as their masters, or are in expectation to have them as such. Nor will the calamity only fall upon your heads, for as many as are dwelling in other cities will fall a sacrifice, as there is no nation, wheresoever dispersed over the earth, but some of your countrymen reside amongst them; wherefore your revolt will bring all under condemnation, and your enemies dispatch every soul among them; and the pernicious counsel of a few men will prove the fatal cause of the streets of every city flowing with Jewish blood; and they who commit these scenes of blood