XIX.

Where may the wearied eye repose
When gazing on the Great ; (1)
Where neither guilty glory glows,
Nor despicable state?

(1) [In one of Lord Byron's MS. Diaries, begun at Ravenna in May, 1821, we find the following:-"What shall I write ?-another Journal? I think not. Any thing that comes uppermost, and call it

My Dictionary.

Augustus. I have often been puzzled with his character. Was he a great man? Assuredly. But not one of my great men. I have always looked upon Sylla as the greatest character in history, for laying down his power at the moment when it was

'Too great to keep or to resign,' and thus despising them all. As to the retention of his power by Augustus, the thing was already settled. If he had given it up - the commonwealth was gone-the republic was long past all resuscitation. Had Brutus and Cassius gained the battle of Philippi, it would not have restored the republic. Its days ended with the Gracchi; the rest was a mere struggle of parties. You might as well cure a consumption, or restore a broken egg, as revive a state so long a prey to every uppermost soldier, as Rome had long been. As for a despotism, if Augustus could have been sure that all his successors would have been like himself- (I mean not as Octavius, but Augustus) or Napoleon could have insured the world that none of his successors would have been like himself - the ancient or modern world might have gone on, like the empire of China, in a state of lethargic prosperity. Suppose, for instance, that, instead of Tiberius and Caligula, Augustus had been immediately succeeded by Nerva, Trajan, the Antonines, or even by Titus and his father-what a difference in our estimate of himself!-So far from gaining by the contrast, I think that one half of our dislike arises from his having been heired by Tiberius- and one half of Julius Cæsar's fame, from his having had his empire consolidated by Augustus. Suppose that there had been no Octavius, and Tiberius had 'jumped the life' between, and at once succeeded Julius? And yet it is difficult to say whether hereditary right or popular choice produce the worser sovereigns. The Roman Consuls make a goodly show; but then they only reigned for a year, and were under a sort of personal obligation to distinguish themselves. It is still more diffi cult to say which form of government is the worst- all are so bad. As for democracy, it is the worst of the whole; for what is, in fact, democracy? - an aristocracy of blackguards."— E.]

Yes-one-the first-the last-the best-
The Cincinnatus of the West,
Whom envy dared not hate,

Bequeath'd the name of Washington,
To make man blush there was but one! (1)

(1) [On being reminded by a friend of his recent promise not to write any more for years" There was," replied Lord Byron, "a mental reservation in my pact with the public, in behalf of anonymes; and, even had there not, the provocation was such as to make it physically impossible to pass over this epoch of triumphant tameness. 'Tis a sad business; and, after all, I shall think higher of rhyme and reason, and very humbly of your heroic people, till Elba becomes a volcano, and sends him out again. I can't think it is all over yet."-E]