from all invaders. If these are treasures worthy of his acceptance,
he may lead his conquering troops to take possession of our country. But
he will find men who are not softened by luxury, or vanquished by their
own vices; men who prize their liberty at a dearer rate than all other
mortals do their riches or their lives, and to whom dishonour is more
formidable than wounds and death. If he can vanquish such men, it will,
however, become his prudence to reflect whether he can vanquish the
obstacles which nature herself has opposed to his ambition. If he should
attempt to pass our deserts, he will have to struggle with famine and
consuming thirst, from which no enemy has hitherto escaped, even when he
has failed to perish by the arrows of the Arabians.''----

"'Happy and generous people,' exclaimed Sophron, 'how well do they
deserve the liberty they enjoy! With such sentiments they need not fear
the attack of kings or conquerors. It is the vices of men, and not the
weakness of their nature, that basely enslave them to their equals; and
he that prizes liberty beyond a few contemptible pleasures of his senses
may be certain that no human force can ever bereave him of so great a
good.'

"'Such sentiments,' replied Chares, 'convince me that I have not made a
false estimate of the inhabitants of these mountainous districts. It is
for this reason that I have been so particular in the description of
Egypt and Arabia. I wished to know whether the general spirit of
indolence and pusillanimity had infected the hardy inhabitants of
Lebanon; but from the generous enthusiasm which animates your
countenance at the recital of noble actions, as well as from what I have
experienced you are capable of attempting, I trust that these solitary
scenes are uninfected with the vices that have deluged the rest of Asia,
and bent its inhabitants to the yoke'"----

Here the impatience of Tommy, which had been increasing a considerable
time, could no longer be restrained, and he could not help interrupting
the story, by addressing Mr Barlow thus: "Sir, will you give me leave to
ask you a question?"

_Mr Barlow._--As many as you choose.

_Tommy._--In all these stories which I have heard, it seems as if those
nations that have little or nothing are more good-natured, and better
and braver than those that have a great deal.

_Mr Barlow._--This is indeed sometimes the case.

_Tommy._--But, then, why should it not be the case here, as well as in