ADOLPHUs’s HISTORY OF FRANCE: 
sney of our naval power, by exciting 
the northern powers to a confederacy 
against us, in consequence of our deten- 
tion and search of neutral vessels.— 
*The battle of Copenhagen, however, 
destroyed the hopes of our enemies, and 
Lord St. Helens was deputed embassa- 
_ dor to Petersburgh, for the final ar- 
_ rangement of all disputes between the 
contending nations. After several na- 
val successes on ovr part, means were 
pursued for reconciling Great Britain 
and France, and a correspondence on 
this subject was maintained through the 
medium of M. Otto. Peace, however, 
was not to be attained, until the sticcess 
_of an expedition sent from England to 
attempt the expulsion of the French 
from their unjust possession of Egypt, 
should be decided. With the account 
of this campaign in Egypt, so glorious 
to the British arms, the history of Mr. 
Adolphus terminates. 
Although we think it altogether a re- 
spectable work, it does not seem to flow 
from that philosophic mind which, not 
satisfied with the barren detail of events, 
loves to explore their causes, and pursue 
their consequences. Mr. Adolphus rarely 
indulges himself in reflections of this 
sort, and he very often degenerates into 
@ mere journalist: military operations 
are generally related with precision and 
distinctness, and they occupy a great 
portion of these volumes. The omis- 
/ instead of being referred to Debrett’s 
Collection, or Rivington’s Register, we 
ought to have had Louis’s letter to his 
foreign ambassadors before our eyes, 
the treaty of Pilnitz should have been 
_ inserted, and if Lord Hood’s proclama- 
- tion to, and treaty with the ‘Toulonese 
had been given at length, we should 
probably have not felt such emotions of 
sion of all state papers is unpardonable :. 
273 
unmingled triumph, as the narrative of 
our historian is calculated to inspire. 
(See our review of Rose’s History of 
the Naval War, in the former vol. of our 
Review.) Some interesting events in 
the revolution are too hastily passed 
over: the queen’s trial and execution 
are hurried over in less than four pages, 
and those of the kine are related in a 
very meagre manner. ‘When we read 
a history, we consider the references at 
the bottom of the page as mere vouchers 
for the fidelity of the historian: here 
they must often be consulted for that 
informatioa which ought to have been 
extracted from them. An index to the 
work is a desideratum. 
In a short introduction to these vo- 
lumes, Mr. Adolphus adverts to the va- 
rious causes, many too remote and fan- 
tastic, as he properly observes, to merit 
attention, which have been suggested 
by different writers as bringing about 
the French revolution. He conceives 
that its origin, character, and progress 
may, with the smallest probability of 
error, be ascribed to a faction long 
nourished in the academies and cities of 
France, and other continental domi- 
nions, connected with numerous societies 
through all parts of Europe, meditating 
a total change in manners, laws, and the 
course of public worship, and projecting 
an entirely new distribution of power 
among nations, witha general overthrow” 
of all established authorities. For the 
existence of such a sect, we are gravely 
referred to the reveries, the ¢gri insomnia, 
of Barruel and Robison. Many causes 
unquestionably concurred to produce 
this mighty event; but instead of enu- 
merating among them the intrigues of 
sophists and illuminati, we are rather 
disposed to state the intolerable and ac- 
cumulating weight of taxes, the disor- 
*Siace the publication of Mr. Adolphus’s History, a convention has been agreed on rela- 
"tive to this subject, between his Britannic Majesty and the King of Sweden, signed by their 
_ respective plenipotentiaries at London, July 25, 1803. This convention, which is a very 
_ important one, 1s comprehended in four articles : The first states, that in the event of one 
_ of the contracting parties being neutral during a war in which the other may be belligerent, 
_ the vessels of the neutral party shall not carry to the enemy of the belligerent party money, 
arms, or any instruments of war, or ships of war and guard-ships, xor any manufactured 
articles immediately serving for the equipment of the same. Vhe second article states, that 
the cruisers of the belligerent power shall exercise the right of bringing in the ships of the 
~ neutral power, going to the ports of an eaemy, laden with cargoes of provisions, or with 
cargoes of pitch, tar, hemp, and generally all unmanufactured articles whatever, serving for 
‘the equipment of ships of all descriptions, and likewise all unmanufactured articles serving 
for the equipment of merchant vessels, (herrings, iron in bars, steel, rose copie brass and 
brass wire, deal, planks, not being oak, and spars however excepted ;) and if the cargoes so 
exported in the bottoms of the neutral power are the produce of the territories of the said 
neural power, and going on account of the subject thereof, shall have the might of pre- 
| emption. These are the two most material articles —Rev. 
Any. Ry, Vou. Il,. Mi | g 
