perseverance, put in practice every artifice, to induce her lover to forbid her approach. She represented to him, that it was sufficient glory for Octavia, to bear the title of his wife, while herself, a sovereign princess, submitted to that of mistress; nor, so ardent was the passion with which he had inspired her, could she think herself degraded by the proofs she had given him of her affection, while he did not, by separating himself from her, plunge her into despair. The friends of Antony, on the other side, pressed him to send back Cleopatra from Ephesus, whither she had followed him, and to avert, by this measure, the storm which threatened him from Rome. But the influence of his mistress triumphed over the subjected mind of her lover, whom she prevailed on to take her with him wherever he should remove. On their arrival at Athens, where Octavia had been received with peculiar distinction, the queen of Egypt courted popularity by the most lavish generosity.

The war, which the imprudence of Antony at length provoked, terminated in his ruin. After the battle of Actium, in which, betrayed by Cleopatra, he fled covered with disgrace, Octavia, by repeated messages, entreated him to authorzie her mediation with her brother, and to allow her to be the pledge of his future conduct, while she assured him of her forgiveness of the past, and her determination never, by recrimination or reproach, to revive the memory of his disaster. But vain were all the efforts of this heroic and unfortunate woman; Antony, deaf to her supplications, chose rather to die with her perfidious rival.

Octavia, illustrious in virtue and in descent, to whom nature and fortune had been equally lavish, the dawn of whose life promised a brilliant and unclouded day, beheld the sun of her prosperity set at noon; over the remainder of her life thick darkness rested, while towards its close, the gloom deepened. Marcus Claudius Marcellus, her son by her former marriage, who inherited the virtues of his parents, was the pride and boast of Rome; while united to the daughter of Augustus, he was regarded as presumptive heir of the empire. This son, so dear to Octavia, in whom his father seemed yet to survive, died in the flower of his age. From a blow thus severe, which seemed

to fill up the measure of her calamities, Octavia never recovered. The eulogy of Marcellus, composed by Virgil, is inserted in the Ænead, book VI. verse 860. On its recital by the poet, in the presence of Augustus and his sister, the emperor melted into tears, and the unhappy mother swooned away.

Octavia gave up the remainder of her life to solitude; in which, brooding incessantly over her misfortunes her temper became soured, and her mind broken; cherishing a spirit of misanthropy, she even sickened at the glory of her brother. She could not endure to hear any woman named who possessed the happiness of being a mother; she would suffer no person to speak to her of her son, on whom, notwithstanding, her thoughts perpetually dwelt; she rejected all comfort and amusement, appeared buried in the most profound sadness, and sought darkness and solitude; clothed in deep mourning, she appeared to have lost all interest in life, and to become indifferent to the fate of her children who survived. Repeated sorrows had exhausted her fortitude; the spring of her mind was weakened by suffering. If at times she returned to the studies in which she had before delighted, philosophy was found ineffectual to heal the wound of a deeply lacerated spirit.

In this situation she suffered life thirteen years, and died universally esteemed and pitied, in 744, at Rome. She left two daughters, the offspring of her union with Antony, who formed advantageous alliances. A temple, it is said by Pausanius, was erected at Corinth, in honor of her constancy and virtues. She took into her own family the children of Cleopatra, whose daughter she gave in marriage to the king of Mauritania, celebrated for his wisdom and knowledge of the sciences.

PHOEBE PHILLIPS.

This remarkable woman, who died at Andover, in the year 1818, was born at Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Mr. Foxcroft, a gentleman of wealth and high standing, who gave her a good education for the times. To her intimate acquaintance with the faculty of Harvard University from childhood, may, in some measure, be attributed her elegant style of conversation, which surpassed

that of any one, inale or female, in this country. She saw the subject under consideration, in all its bearings, and clothed it in most felicitous language. There was no redundancy—no stint -no singularity, except that of supreme refinement-nothing to excite surprise, in her conversation; but the most learned listened with profound admiration at her taste and skill in language. She was fond of her pen, and took delight in keeping up an extensive correspondence with literary and religious persons. She wrote with great ease and rapidity, in a chirography, at once plain as a printed page, and whose beauty was only exceeded by the thought it contained. She was married to Samuel Phillips, of Andover, a young man, at that period most zealously engaged in the cause of his country, anxious for its political prosperity, and for its advancement in learning; and he found a most admirable coadjutor in his wife. During the dark period of the revolution, she sat up until midnight, with the females of her household, to make garments for the poor destitute soldiers, and in scraping lint or cutting bandages for the hospitals. The sick. in her neighborhood, of all classes, were inquired after, and every thing that could administer to their comfort was sent from her hospitable mansion.

The academy, founded by her husband and his uncle, was in the immediate vicinity of her residence, and every pupil's health was a subject of her attention; and to those who had come from a distance, and had no natural guardian near, she acted the part of a parent, at all times. Devoted to religion, with more than "the cloistered maiden's zeal," she had not a particle of bigotry in her disposition, and one might have lived with her for years without knowing her sentiments upon any particular point in divinity. At her table-for her husband was so deeply engaged in politics and business, that he left all the household cares upon her-might be found, almost every day in the week, clergymen who met no where else, from a difference in creeds, and persons of distinction in the various callings of life, and from different parts of the country. For more than forty years this hospitality was uninterrupted, and her cares unceasing.

Her person was striking, tall above most women; her mien

was majestic, without any awkwardness from her height; her features were prominent, but softened by a fine mild expression; and her large blue eye was full of sweetness of temper, while it beamed with genius. Seldom has it been that any woman was so capable of doing good as she, and more seldom have been the opportunities to exercise the capacity. There has scarcely been a single individual who ever knew her, that had not some remembrance of her talents and virtues in his mind, and most of them could relate some acts of kindness toward themselves. She made no parade of attainments; but all her information seemed to flow in conversation, as though it were intuitive, and addressed to those in company, as if she considered every one about her superior to herself, in memory and reasoning powers -in fact, in every attainment and gift. Her charity for all, was that which suffers long, but her discrimination was admirable. She saw at a glance into the elements of character. The writer of this faint sketch of a most excellent woman, recollects numerous prophecies upon the future developement of the talents of children about her, and hardly one of them but has nrowed true of those who lived to form a character. When others judged by a lesson, or a few recitations, she formed her opinion from some act or remark of the boy which might have passed unnoticed by others. With all her firmness of soul, she had a heart most feelingly alive to the misfortunes of others. Often "her pity gave ere charity began ;" and she was distressed even at the sufferings of the wicked. Her maxims sunk deep into the minds of those who had the good fortune of hearing them, and her commands were never forgotten. A lad, seeing from her window a wretched looking man, going to the whipping post to receive corporeal punishment for a petty larceny, sentenced by a justice of the peace to this ignominy, strove to conceal a tear, but this excellent woman observed it. With one starting in her own eye, she emphatically said to him, "When you become a law maker, examine the subject of corporal punishment, and see if it is not unnatural, vindictive, and productive of much evil." In early manhood he became a legislator, and remembering the words which made a strong

impression at the time, he called the attention of the assembly to the subject, and in the course of a short time, had the satisfaction of announcing to her, that the statute book had been expurgated, in this respect, and that there was, in future, to be no more corporal punishment for any offence less than capital. After her husband's death she was one of the founders of the Theological Seminary at Andover, and took a deep interest in the institution as long as she lived.

FALCONIA ANICIA, or VALERIA PROBA, wife of Anicius Probus, who was a Roman consul in 371, with the emperor Gratian. She rendered herself illustrious by her understanding and piety. St. Augustine, Chrysostom, and Jerome, have praised her in the highest manner. She composed a life of our Savior, by putting together divers lines and passages of Virgil, with which she formed what the Latins call a Centos, a sort of composition with more conceit than merit in it. printed at Venice in 1472, and again, by Wolius, in 1734, 4to.

This work was

PHILLIPPA, of Hainault, queen of England, was betrothed to Edward, when prince of Wales, in 1325, through the mediation of Isabella his mother, who sojourned a short time at the court of the earl of Hainault, when preparing to pass over to England with her son, both of whom had been declared traitors. After the death of the king, and the coronation of Edward III., certain ambassadors were sent to demand the lady Phillippa, who was conveyed to England in great state, and on the day of the conversion of St. Paul, the marriage and coronation of the queen was solemnized. The rejoicings, &c., lasted three weeks. She founded Queen's College, Oxford, about 1366,

CHRISTINA DE PISAN, an Italian lady, was born at Venice in 1363. At the age of fifteen she was married, but became a widow two years afterwards; on which she had recourse to her pen for support. She wrote poems which were printed at Paris in 1529; the "Treasure of the city of Dames" was printed in 1497: and the "Long Way," translated by Chaperon, in 1549.