532 



Remarks on the Morgante Maggiore. 



[Jan. 1, 



judgment, lie has compoi'ed a feparate 

 trt'iUiiie on the pi-o;,^rels of" civilization. 

 lie iliews both taltc and judgment in his 

 felcttions from tlie Greets and Konian 

 fchools : perfons, therefore, who take a 

 hvcly intereft ia retracing events of fo 

 mucli antiquity, vmII hnd ample gratifi- 

 cation in the perufal of lloUin. 



CuEViER lias written a Continuation 

 of RoUin's Roman Iliriory ; and added 

 thereto that of the Emperors. A cri- 

 tical correttncfs is the chief merit of 

 this work, which (hews, as others have 

 done, how extremely diliicnlt it is to 

 avoid a dull ftyle in this fpecies of com- 

 pofition. 



Le Beatj's Iliflory of the Lower Em- 

 pire has confidcraliie merit. The litera- 

 ture of thefe times partook of the coii- 

 fufion which difordurcd the Ihite; and 

 it required elahorate perfeverance in a 

 ■writer to reconcile oppoiing flatemcnts, 

 to rummage the ruins of antiquity, and 

 from the mafs of imdigclted matter to 

 incorporate forms or rei'emblanccs. Le 

 Beau wanted nothing hut the Ityle of an 

 hifiorian. The uncertainty which others 

 left us Tmder as to the Lcgi(jn, has been 

 defined by his unceafmg ilcadinefs in the 

 purluit ; and he records its pro^^refs from 

 the f lundation to the fall of Rome. 



The works of the Abbe Mellot, and 

 the recent ones of Dr. Mavok, are very 

 well as elements of hillory, and in that 

 fenfe deferve to be received in all pri- 

 mary fchools. 



Desclaisoks has drawn a jiarallel be- 

 tween the charaO-(crs of Alexander the 

 Great and Julius Ca;rar, in tiicir mili- 

 tary capacities ; and the enquiry leads 

 to very inltruCtive details on tlie refpec- 

 tive merits of tlie piiahmx and of the 

 legion, on the ordinances of tlie Ma- 

 cedonians and the Romans, and on 

 their reipcftive tactics. This work might 

 be al.iidiied \\itliout iiijni y ; hut llill 

 it polffifcs merit, althouj^h little kiioirn. 



V'ellv's Hiftory of France is evident- 

 ly the fpeculation of a bookfellcr; its 

 prolixity is infnfrcrahie ; but it may fer\e 

 as a vehicle of ini'ormation to military 

 men, ^vho arc anxiouv; to trace the pro- 

 grefs of their profeliion, without the in- 

 convenience of Itudying original memoirs 

 on that fiit)jei-t. This work i^ tiic united 

 production of many; 1 ut \'^clly vvns 

 the founder, and tliat was the grand dif- 

 ficulty of the undertaking : he wants 

 perception, and frcr[uently confounds 

 thole tiii.igs which he altenipts to illuf- 

 trate. 



ViLLikREX was his fuccciloi-, and took 



great painr. to efla'olifli the facts he re* 

 lated: his ftylc is too declamatory. 



Garmer fucceeded him, and was the 

 ableft of the three. 



X'oLTAiRE, as the hiftorian of Charles 

 XII. and of Louis XIV. and XV., may 

 he claffcd among military compilers. A 

 ftyle equally brilliant and rapid, deduc- 

 tions clear and perceptible, fa^ts com- 

 prehenfive and free from fuperfluity, 

 characlcri/e and recommend this work. 

 His fituation as hilloriographer to the 

 court, and the extenfive correfpondcnce 

 his talents procured him among the molt 

 dillincuiflicd perfonages in Europe, gave 

 him exclufi\e opportunities of making 

 difcoveries, or cltablilhing fatts. In- 

 deed, his exactitude in events and dates 

 have been confirmed by the archives of 

 the war depot, and ftamp fuch decided 

 authenticity on his works, that even hie 

 flanderers have been filcnced. ['Jb be 

 contimted .'\ 



For the Monthly Magazine. 



HEMAKKS 071 the MORGAN! E MAGGIORZ 



of Luioi i>i;i.ci. 



THE order of our hitlory carries us 

 back from the city of Caradoro to 

 that of Charlemagne, where the wiles 

 of Gano had plunged tiie court and army 

 into the greatcft conllernation : for, not 

 fatisfied with expelling his rivals Orlando 

 and Rinaldo from their native country, 

 he had determined to ruin their poffef- 

 lions aho ; and had already begun hit 

 operations, by perluading a powerful Sa- ' 

 raceii monarch, the domcflic and inve- 

 terate enemy of the latter hero, that the 

 city of Montauban was deprived of its 

 principal defence, and lay open to the 

 defigns of a bold invader. His negoti- 

 ations appear to have been more fuccefs- 

 ful than he liinifelf intended. Lionfante, 

 the ammirante or admiral of Syria, and 

 Saliiicorn, brother of king Erminion, 

 invade France with two powerful armius. 

 'Ihe firll fits down before Montauban, 

 which is defended by the brothers of 

 Rinaldo ; and the latter fends a giant 

 wiih a challenge to Charles's court, who 

 in fingle comljat overcomes all the re- 

 maining l'aladms,'one after another, and 

 (by the terms of the chal!ei;ge) makes 

 tlicm ])rifoners of war. 



The fame of thefc unfortunate affairs 

 fooii i!ew to the court of Caiadoro, and 

 awakened the Chriftian knights from the 

 trance of picafure and-wllcnefs in which 

 they harl been ioll ever Gnce their vittory 

 o\cr Manfrcdonio. Oliver had given 

 fiee iudulgence, during this feafim of 

 4 dilllpatiua^ 



