st destroyed his wife and children, and then
himself. Jocenus and the Rabbin alone remained. Their lives were
protracted to the last, that they might see everything performed,
according to their orders. Jocenus being the chief Jew, was
distinguished by the last mark of human respect, in receiving his death
from the consecrated hand of the aged Rabbin, who immediately after
performed the melancholy duty on himself.

All this was transacted in the depth of the night. In the morning the
walls of the castle were seen wrapt in flames, and only a few miserable
and pusillanimous beings, unworthy of the sword, were viewed on the
battlements, pointing to their extinct brethren. When they opened the
gates of the castle, these men verified the prediction of their late
Rabbin; for the multitude, bursting through the solitary courts, found
themselves defrauded of their hopes, and in a moment avenged themselves
on the feeble wretches who knew not how to die with honour.

Such is the narrative of the Jews of York, of whom the historian can
only cursorily observe that five hundred destroyed themselves; but it is
the philosopher who inquires into the causes and the manner of these
glorious suicides. These are histories which meet only the eye of few,
yet they are of infinitely more advantage than those which are read by
every one. We instruct ourselves in meditating on these scenes of heroic
exertion; and if by such histories we make but a slow progress in
chronology, our heart however expands with sentiment.

I admire not the stoicism of Cato, more than the fortitude of the
Rabbin; or rather we should applaud that of the Rabbin much more; for
Cato was familiar with the animating visions of Plato, and was the
associate of Cicero and of Caesar. The Rabbin had probably read only the
Pentateuch, and mingled with companions of mean occupations, and meaner
minds. Cato was accustomed to the grandeur of the mistress of the
universe; and the Rabbin to the littleness of a provincial town. Men,
like pictures, may be placed in an obscure and unfavourable light; but
the finest picture, in the unilluminated corner, still retains the
design and colouring of the master. My Rabbin is a companion for Cato.
His history is a tale

Which Cato's self had not disdained to hear.--POPE.

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEAS.

The sovereignty of the seas, which foreigners dispute with us, is as
much a conquest as any one obtained on land; it is gained