238 Critical Objcrvations on the Morgante Moggiorc. [Oct. 1 , 



C^ninded fuch judgment on the infonna- 

 tion of perfons rclident on the fccne of 

 action. Fabius, to a furprifin.; forecull, 

 added threat good fenfe ; he fonned liis 

 plans withjiidstncnt, and executed them 

 with unlhukcii perfcveriince. By at- 

 ti^ndiu'j; to the Roman hiftorv, v.e (hall 

 iiud that he -vas the only General ever 

 known to follow up fuccellive cuinpaitrns 

 by invariably acting on the defeulive ; 

 and to this may be nttrihutcd the want of 

 that public pane'.'vric his talents claimed, 

 as it uas the policy of the Senate always 

 to attack the enemies of the republic. 

 In the wwT fuftaincd by the Romans 

 agaiull the army of X'iriatus, we read 

 with aflonifliment of a (liepherd, who 

 fed liis ilocks on the hills fcparating 

 Spain and Portugal, ractaniorphofed into 

 a General, capable of the moll hardy en- 

 terprife ; yet free from ruAmcfs. Of a 

 foldicr, always cuardcd for a retreat ; 

 difperlinc; or rallying his troops as if by 

 magic ; harulfnig his enemy in every di- 

 rection, and at the fame moment ; im- 

 peding theii' march ; cutting otf their 

 fupplies ; in fliort, difplaying all the art 

 of Ikirmilhing with fuch peculiarity of vi- 

 cour aud elfecf, that the Romans, tle- 

 Ipairing of being able to conquer hirn, 

 caufed h-m to be alfafiinated. The hirto- 

 ry by Titus Livius is moftly founded on 

 that of his prcdccefiors, and particularly 

 of Polybius. As he was not a military 

 man, he feems merely to have confulted 

 the elegance and gracefnlnefs of his pe- 

 riods, lie even forgets that military tac- 

 tics had undergone a revolution, and 

 moll awkwardly confounds the practice 

 of his own era with that of the Scijiio^. 



Sir \bo nas a Grecian author. Of all 

 his writings none remains excejil his Geo- 

 graphy, lie had failed from Armenia to 

 the extremities of Tufcany, and from the 

 lluxine Sea to the fouthernmoit parts of 

 Anibia ; and was known to have written 

 a moll faithful and correct account of 

 the ditVerent countne<; he h:id vilited. 



Qui NTUs Curt n;s excels eminently in 

 his defcriptions of battles ; his ftyle is 

 very iinpofmg ; but the merit of his work 

 is dellroyed by unpardonable errors in 

 his dates and geographical defcriptions. 

 He is alio accufed of c:nbellilhing events 

 with fiction. Yet all the biographers of 

 Alexander reprefent him as a kind of 

 fupernatural hero ; and even our own 

 obfervations alnioll daily teach us, that 

 the extraordinary vicilfitudes of fome 

 mens' lives have all the air of a romance. 

 — TheJ'ubjcH mil be re/umcd in our neri 

 Xumber. 



For the MimHily Magazhic. 



r.E.M.\r.KS on the jionr.ANTE .magcioreo/ 



Ll'Kil rui.ci. 



THE fame of the knight of the lion 

 had in the mean time reached the 

 dillrcired city of Caradoro : the Paladins 

 are met on their way by his ambalVador.s, 

 who reprefent the tyraimical conduct of 

 their oppretr>r Manfiedonio, and the in- 

 vincible fury of the unknown kiVight who 

 had lately joined his baimer, in term* 

 calculated to excite the compaliion and 

 refentment of the Chrillian kuights. 

 Bent on the laudable enterprife of free- 

 ing the fair Meridiana from her terrible 

 lover, they purine their wanderings 

 through a gloomy foreft, which foon be- 

 comes fertile in adventures. Their 

 whimlical meeting with Rinaldo's couftn 

 ]\i ilagigi, (a perfonage funed in all the 

 Italian romances for his (kill in the art of 

 magic,) his jom-ney back to Montaubaii 

 in a day on his enchanted palfrev, the 

 defcription of tlic favagc inan who meets 

 them on their way, and the feartul com- 

 bat which enfues, all thefc we mull beg 

 leave to pafs over, but will juft notice the 

 f/iirilcd conchifion of the lall-mentioncii 

 adventure. Tin; terrible favage ha>l in« 

 trenched himfelf in hi= cavern, and clofed 

 the mouth with an enormous ftone, 

 whii^h no lirenglh but his own wa.-* ca- 

 pable of raifnii:. Hut the bold Kinaldo, 

 (probably remembering that Alexandir 

 cut the Gordian knot wliieh he could nut 

 untie,) with a moll powerful ftroke of his 

 charmed hvord Frulberta, not oidy cleav- 

 ed the rock in two. 



So that the cavern's hollow vaults refounfled, 

 And heav'n and earth re-echoed with the 

 noife, 

 Loud as the cannon's dreadful ronr, rebounded. 

 From hill to hill, or thunder's loader 

 voice : 

 Ten thoufand fragments all around were dri- 

 ven, 

 And the briglic Iparkles (IrcamM and flalVd to 

 heaven } 



but with the fame blow he ftruck the fa- 

 vage on the head, and (lliou2,l) it was 

 harder than adamant,) divided the fl<nll 

 and the whole body into tv\o equal por- 

 tions, and, linally, buried Frulberta a yard 

 under groimd. The adventure iichieved, 

 Oliver, attentive to the fame of his bro» 

 ther of the lion,-car\ed with his fword on 

 the rock the hillory of the achievement. 

 " The infcription (adds our poet,) may 

 yet he read by all who, journeying to 

 JNIount Sinai, ehoofe to avoid the perilous 

 palVage of tlic nver Balai ; and the place 



