1807.] 



--JFriler^ of all Ages and Conntries. 



.531 



Ijciu'htcns the value of tiic work, and ea- 

 haiK-cs tlie merit of the uutlior. 



Dk'L'hol- hus eudcavouied to iinitiite, 

 and fomctiule^i witli fuccefs, tiic dignity 

 ot' the aiieieiits. His chanicters are 

 /inelv drawn, ;ind the fccue of ;u:tion 

 admirably fullaiiicd. liis veiiuirks on 

 Praucc limy he depended upon, but not 

 .thofc oil f )r(tii!;n countries. 



PniLfi'K DC CoMMENi;-; excelled his 

 countrvinen in the liMipiieity and can- 

 dour of his defcriptioiis. The e|joeli iic 

 rf.'jireients alii) hei^^hiens tlie intend of 

 the work; as the coni|uel't of -Naples, 

 by Charles V., was the uioft imjjortanc 

 e\peduioi! undertaken after the re-efla- 

 LJilliment of I'taudinij; armies. 



Dli Til. r.ET will ever be difting'uiilicd 

 in the elal's of compilers and critics. 

 J lis lliltory of the Albigenhau War is 

 fearce, and much I'oujjhl after. 



iliftory made a rapid progrefs durin;^ 

 the reii^n of Louis Xl\'., notwithihuid- 

 in^ that peiiod of the lall century was 

 1 he lealt eventful. The hiltorians of thele 

 duys, however, were all influenced by 

 pri'.ate fueling ; eitlier fniarting under 

 the rod of power, or balking in the fuu- 

 iliine of roval favour. From the one 

 Howcd all the sail of envenomed fatire : 

 from the other arofe the perfumed in- 

 ctude of cxtravai^ant jjanegyric. They 

 were either nnaeriuuiuted with the mili- 

 t;;ry profellion, or biall'ed in their de- 

 tails. Literature was better adapted to 

 tiic manners of the times. The names 

 .of Le Coiule, Lc Labourcur, \'alois, 

 JJubois, (Sl'o. \\111 be lone; remembered 

 >vilh plcafure, and cited with praile. 



The eulcom of entertaining penlioned 

 Jiillorioi^raphers was very prejudicial to 

 Jiiftory. 'j'lic uenerality of our authors 

 f rr in their feleetiou of materials; they 

 Ihonld leave to the more learned of their 

 «iaf3 all that their own abilities cannyt 

 eompaf-i. 



M>:/f,i(.AV is too much attached to the 

 marvellous ; liis writing,* are nut to be 

 relied on. 



JJamu. fpeaks of war without firiflcr- 

 fiandin^; it. Jlis great fauh is, drawing 

 x:oncluilon^ on tlie ufi»<sof the ancients 

 from peiliinal oblervuiion. 



The Ililtorians of iLevolutions have 

 borrowed the livle and character ol' their 

 works from abridgments. 



rATiii;ii ii'Oni.KANS and the Abbf. de 

 \'juiiroT have excelled in tiiis way. 

 'J'hi?irs are |;leafant Iketclies, iiiterfperfed 

 w itii tlie marvellous ; but tlie military 

 details of I'a.ther Orleans arc all very 

 v.j^ue, probably becaufc he was by p.-j- 



fcirion a Jefiiit. Ilis unqualified prailes 

 of Louis XI\'., and of James IL during' 

 the revolutions of his reign in Ln.,laii(l, 

 proves hiiu to have been more guided by 

 eircumilnnces than fads. 



Tlic Abbe de Vertot would not have 

 been a bad model for polterity, had he 

 not too evideiitly facri.'iced truth to 

 rhetoric, in iiis ilo.uan Uevuhitions lie 

 e;|unlly wants the judgment of I'oljbius 

 and tiie pencil of ."jalluit : but thole in 

 i'ortug-.il would be mallerly, were his 

 auilioiities more correct. His militarj 

 view of ^Lilt.i is altogether a fiction. 



Saixt Rkat. may be confidered tljc 

 pupil of SalUifl. His Confpiracy of Ve- 

 nice com'prehends ail that ovumatic fpi- 

 rit which animated the works of the un- 

 tie ats. 



Ba.sstF.T his produced an tlnlvcrnj 

 niftory, ori;;,inal m its compoUtion, and 

 exrellent beyond imitation. Always elo- 

 quent, yet free from dechimation, he in- 

 Itineiively penetrate* evei-y object. In 

 the tint part of his work he collects ;dl 

 his materials t(jgethcr, with vvliich he 

 makes an uuiiiterrupted chain, compre- 

 hending tiie characters of different na- 

 tions, of their difiiiiguilhed leaders, of 

 tlieir revolutions. In the third part, he 

 compares eauies with ctfects, and dil- 

 clofes in his progrefs every feature eflen- 

 tial to the portrait. In lliort, it forms 

 an extended plain of objects; and is 

 placed fo immediately under the obfer-. 

 vation of the reader, that he has an op- 

 portunity of analyzing the whole. 



QtiNCV wrote a very voluminous hif- 

 tory of the reis>n of Louis XIV., crowd- 

 ed with official report.?, witiiout method 

 or order. His aun appears to have been 

 a general diijjiay of warlike operations, 

 conducted by the genius of generals who 

 at that time gave celebrity to our arms. 

 He concludes with frivolous remarks on 

 tiie art C)f \v\it. 



The Hiltory of the Groat Conde's 

 can;paigns in Flunder.s, 1G74; thofe of 

 Turenne, from 1672 to lfi/5 ; and of 

 the lalt live campaigns by the Marllial de 

 Luxeinbouig ; from ti;e pen of Glll.M- 

 v.iRD, with plate^ by Br.ALEir.i,', are 

 highly delei ving of recommendation, from 

 the importance of the objei;ts they ejn- 

 brace. This brilliantepoch In theaiuirdsof 

 warfare contains much inllruction on the 

 nature of innrciies, encampments, and 

 other ojieralions, exemplified by well- 

 executed maps. 



K.oi.i,i\, by introducing liiftory into 



the fcliools, h:;« given youth a talle fofj 



that fori of rcadin^j. For tliofc of riper 



judgment, 



