At this moment a stranger broke through the press and astonished the multitude with his cries.  Then falling at the feet of Euarchus, he told him those whom he had judged were his own son, the comfort of Macedon, and his nephew, the only stay of Thessalia, who, during their wanderings, had grown out of the knowledge of their king.

Then Euarchus, after staying a good while upon himself like a valiant man that should receive a good encounter, at length said, “O Arcadians, that what this day I have said, hath been out of my assured persuasion what justice itself, and your just laws require.  Now, contrary to expectation, I find the guilty to be my only son and nephew.  But shall justice halt?  Or rather shall all my private respects give place to that holy name?  Let the remnant of my life be an inward and outward desolation; but never, never let sacred rightfulness fall.  Therefore, O Philanax, see the judgement rightly performed.”

But this pitiful matter was not entered into, for King Basilius, who had been thought dead, awoke from the sleep into which the potion had cast him, and there was much ado to make him understand what had fallen out.  Then, having weighed these things, he first sent with all honourable pomp for his Queen, Gynecia, and told them how she had warned him to take heed of the drink; and next, with princely entertainment to Euarchus, and to his inestimable joy the marriage was concluded between the peerless princes and princesses.

* * * * *

TOBIAS SMOLLETT

The Adventures of Roderick Random

Tobias George Smollett was born at Dalquhurn, Dumbartonshire, Scotland, in 1721.  He was apprenticed to a Glasgow apothecary, came to London in 1739, much in the way described in “Roderick Random,” with a tragedy in his pocket, and very little else.  The play, “Regicide,” he submitted in vain to various theatrical managers, and, reduced almost to starvation, during the same year accepted the post of surgeon’s mate on board a King’s ship.  In 1746 he returned to England, bent upon another desperate effort to make a living by his pen.  A period of adverse fortune followed, broken, however, in 1748 by the publication of “The Adventures of Roderick Random.”  Two years later Smollett obtained his M.D. degree, and for a number of years combined medical work with literature.  In 1756 he was made editor of the “Critical Review,” a post which resulted in a fine of L100 and three months’ imprisonment for a libel on Admiral Knowles.  He died on October 21, 1771.  Smollett wrote altogether five novels and a number of historical works and records of travel.  It is impossible to overestimate his influence on novel-writing.  Most of the great Victorian writers, especially Charles Dickens, owe much to his art.

I.—­My Birth, Parentage, and Childhood

I was born in the northern part of this United Kingdom, in the house of my grandfather, a gentleman of considerable fortune and influence, who was remarkable for his abilities in the law, which he exercised with great success in the station of a judge.