6CS 



Retrofpe^ of French Literature. — Hl/lory. 



the conqucfl; of it more facile to Caelar, 

 who after ten years ot combats com- 

 piciciy overcame them; but for this he 

 was ino;e inJebted to the power of his 

 genius, than the valour of his troops. 



" Several traits," it is aJ;le<l, " have 

 been accidentally recorded by hiftoriani, 

 tending to prove that the Gauls c!it!.rtain- 

 eii jull: ideas of grandeur and generollty. 

 Tcnifcle in battle, and cruel to the van - 

 quifhed, they were at the fame time hol- 

 pitable, fnithful, and fiuceie; ab. ve all 

 things, tlieyhiki treachery iji abhorrence. 

 Among tliuin, the women were refpefted ; 

 and they merited to be fo, by tl.eir virtues, 



♦' 7hey were dcubtlels fuperliitious and 

 barbarous : but had the Romans any riglit 

 to reproach them wiih this ? Let us de- 

 cide by Ibme fafls felccfed at the begin- 

 ning, ihe nvddle, and the end of a long 

 war between thcle rival nations. 



" The fult time that the Gauls at- 

 taclctd the Rrmans and laid liege to their 

 city, was to avenge the violation of the 

 law of nations, tor which thty had in 

 vain demanded juttice by mears of their 

 deputies. 



" On another occafion, v.-htn their ap- 

 prSach once more carried terror to Rome, 

 the citizen^, with a view of rendering the 

 jfods favourable, inferred a living man 

 and woman appertaining to the Gauls. 



" At a third ptrind, when Casiar had 

 overcome them, Vercingetoiix, who 

 might have efcaped, entered his tamp lo 

 implore the clcniency, and confide i)im(elf 

 to the geneiofity of the viftor, hut iie 

 was feizcd, conducted to Rome, and 

 jtrvtd 10 grace the tr.uiripk of ilie con- 

 • queror." 



" Examen critique des anciens Hifto- 

 rieps d'Alexandre le Grand." — A critical 

 Examinatii n of ihe ancient Hiltaiians of" 

 Aiexander iheGieat. 



The author of this work, in 1771, was 

 hr.noured with the prize ot the Academy 

 of Belles Letires, tor h'S difiertation on 

 tlie fame iabjeiSl. Ii received, at ihe lan e 

 liine, the apprDbatlon of the leaineJ 

 throughoiit Europe, and was trar flatcd in- 

 to a variety cf foreign languages. Not 

 content wi.ii t lis, M. de SaiNte Croix 

 has rc-caft aiid re wijtten all his materials, 

 in order to render his labours more dt.- 

 ferving of the eulogies of the pubic. 



In a weii-^written introduftion, wfe are 

 prefcnted with a fketch of the ancient 

 biitory of Greece, in which he traces the 

 original mct'ves of the hatred of the in- 

 habitants to the Afiatlcs. We at the 

 lame time kain the true caufe of the Tro- 

 jan war, the expediticn of Xei'xes> and of 



the difputes of the Grecian cities, v?fiO, 

 after triumphing over- their enemies, quar- 

 relled with each other. 



At length the fovereign or a petty king- 

 dom was enabled to efftS what the 

 mighty monarchs of the Eait could never 

 accomplifli. Phih'p King of Macedon, 

 alter remaining nine years as anhoflageat 

 Thebes, durine; which period he had re- 

 ceived the inftruftioiii ot Epaminondas, 

 ar.d obtained a perfe6l knowledge of the 

 charatter of the native*, returned to his 

 own dom.inions. On his ai rival he in- 

 (iantly appeafcd the troubles which had 

 long prevailed there, fitted the admini- 

 rtration of public aftairs, formed the in- 

 vincible Macedonian p' ala-ix, and, becom- 

 ing niafttr of fome mine-- of gold, recruit- 

 ed his exhauiled finance.^, extended his 

 conquefts, and, by means cf his immenfe 

 wealth, kept up thofe futal divifions in 

 Greece which, at length, enabled him to 

 I'ubdue it. 



Being thusdifengaged from all his fears, 

 he (urncd his views lowartis Afia, whither 

 At'alus and Parmenio had already con- 

 duifcd a body of his troops, and he him- 

 fi;tf was preparing to follo^v, >^hen he was 

 itabbed during a feftival, at the age of 

 fbrty-fix, leaving the execution cf his im- 

 menfe projects to his Ton, 



Before he undertakes to examine tlie 

 charafttrs of the hiilorians cf Alexander, 

 M. de Sainte Croix deems it proper to 

 give feme account of thofe who immedi- 

 ately preceded them, for the purpole of 

 affording the means of cotTpirifan. Dio- 

 dorus, Ai rian, Quintus Curtius, Plutarch, 

 and Jullin, tiien pafs in review, and their 

 merits are examined with themoft fcrupu- 

 lons impartiality. In addition to this, he 

 recurs tu the Arabian and Perfian authors 

 who have mentioned Alexander, and 

 makes ufe of the extra6ls which have been 

 (urniihed him by M. Silvcftre de Sacy 

 from Macrizi, NovaiM', Mirkhond, &c. 

 ft ought to be obferved, however, that 

 thefe have ad.uitted into their hiftories a 

 v.'.rieiy of incidents, fo novel and fj won- 

 dtrful, that they dei'erve infertion in the 

 vclumes of the Arabian Niijhts, rather 

 than in the annals of this c;lebraied con- 

 queror. 



" Eflais hiftoriqucs furPari-s pn«r faire 

 .fuite aux ElTais hiituriques de M. Poul- 

 lain deSt. Foix," &c. — Hiltoiical Eflays 

 relative to faris, forming a Coniinuaiion 

 of the hirtorical Eflays of M. Poulhin de 

 St. Foix, by AuousTiN Poull.->in de 

 St. Foix. 



This work abounds with a multitude 



Uiftorical itefleftions fuggi-tted by the ap- 



pcarance 



