362 



ROBEKTSON. 



Koberuon, books) both may maintain their own rank, have their 

 Pr> own partizans, and possess their own merit, without 

 """ Y """" * hurting each other." 



Although our author seemed from this letter to have 

 made up his mind to compose a history of England, 

 yet he afterwards abandoned the idea, and we cannot 

 doubt that this was done principally out of regard to 

 the feelings of Mr. Hume ; who, notwithstanding the 

 arguments urged in the preceding extract, could not 

 but feel that it was an inroad upon the territory.which 

 he had so successfully cultivated, and over which cour- 

 tesy had assigned to him a literary supremacy. 



Dr. Robertson therefore proceeded in completing 

 his History of the Reign (f Charles V. for which 

 he had collected materials, and which was publish- 

 ed in 1769, in three volumes quarto. In order to 

 render intelligible this portion of the history of Eu- 

 rope, he devoted a preliminary volume to an account 

 of the " Progress of Society in Europe, from the. sitbver- 

 tion and downfall oj' the Roman Empire to the beginning 

 erf the sixteenth century.'' This volume, which may be 

 considered as an introduction to the History of Modern 

 Europe, required a degree of study and of patient 

 research, which few men were capable of devoting to 

 it ; and on that account, as Mr. Stewart remarks, " it 

 is invaluable to the historical student, and suggests in 

 every page matter of speculation to the politician and 

 to the philosopher." 



In composing the history of Charles V.'s reign, Dr. 

 Robertson was naturally led to complete the narrative 

 of the events connected with it, by giving an account of 

 the affairs of Spain in the New World. As the interest 

 o such a work, however, would naturally be much 

 limited, he resolved to extend it so as to embrace the 

 transactions of all the other nations of Europe in the 

 New World ; and he had also determined to compose 

 a volume on the history of the British empire in Ame- 

 rica. The last part of this plan he never attempted to 

 execute, owing principally to the civil war which then 

 raged between America and the mother country, but 

 the first part appeared in 1 111, in two vols. 4-to, entitled 

 Tlie History of America, a work which was well receiv- 

 ed by the public, and added greatly to the reputation 

 of our author. It has been said, we think not with 

 much truth, that he has shown a disposition to palliate 

 the cruelties of the Spaniards, but this seems to have 

 been inferred, less from the expression of his own 

 sentiments, than from the compliment paid to him 

 by the Royal Academy of Madrid, who elected him, 

 in 1777, a member of the Royal Academy of History in 

 that metropolis. The Academy, at the same time, ap- 

 pointed one of its members to translate the work into 

 Spanish, and a considerable progress was made in 

 the translation, but the Spanish government inter- 

 posed its authority to stop the publication of the work. 

 In the Preface to the History of America, Dr. Robert- 

 son mentioned his intention of resuming the subject ; 

 but he does not seem to have advanced tar in the un- 

 dertaking. A fragment of the work, however, has been 

 published since his death, entitled, Two additional Chap- 

 ters of the History of America. 



Having abandoned the plan of writing a history of 

 our own empire in America, Dr. Robertson looked out 

 for some other subject worthy of his pen. Mr. Gibbon 

 recommended to him a history of the Protestants in 

 France, but several of his friends suggested the history 



of Great Britain, from the Revolution to the accession of Robert; 

 the House of Hanover, and it would appear from a let- D* 

 ter to Dr. Waddilove, Dean of Rippon, dated July 1778, ** "V 

 that he had made up his mind to encounter the respon- 

 sibilities of such a task. It appears from a letter of 

 Gibbon's, that Dr. Robertson had abandoned this plan 

 before the end of the year 1779 ; and Mr. Stewart re- 

 marks, that " whatever the motives were which induced 

 him to relinquish it, it is certain that it did not long 

 occupy his thoughts." 



This passage of Mr. Stewart's memoir evidently 

 shows that he was not in possession of the correspond* 

 ence between Dr. Robertson and Mr. Macpherson, 

 which took place respecting this projected work, and 

 it seems quite certain that Dr. Robertson abandoned 

 the project out of respect to the feelings of his friend 

 Mr. Macpherson, who had published in 1775 a his- 

 tory of the same reigns, with the most interesting col- 

 lection of original papers that had ever been given to 

 the world. It appears, indeed, from these unpublished 

 letters, which are now before the writer of this article, 

 that it was more than probable that Dr. Robertson 

 would never have completed the work, even if the feel- 

 ings of a friend had not stood in the way of its accom- 

 plishment.* Dr. Robertson was now approaching tha 

 age of sixty, a time when laborious study ceases to be 

 agreeable. He was independent in his circumstances, 

 and his reputation was as high, and his fame as widely 

 extended, as he could possibly have desired. Under 

 these circumstances, his love of easy and amusing oc- 

 cupations had probably no inconsiderable share in 

 making him abandon the project of his English His- 

 tory. 



Notwithstanding our author's resolution to write no 

 more for the public, he was accidentally led on to the 

 composition of another work. In perusing Major Ren- 

 net's Memoir of a Map of Hindoslan, he began to in- 

 quire into the knowledge which the ancients had of 

 that country, solely for his own amusement and in- 

 struction. His ideas, as he himself remarks, gradually 

 extended, and became more interesting, till he at 

 length imagined that the result of his researches might 

 prove amusing and instructive to others. In this way 

 he was led to publish his Historical Disquisition concern- 

 big the knowledge which the Ancients had of India, and 

 the Progress of Trade with that Country prior to the 

 Discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, which appeared 

 in 1791 m 4-to. 



This was the last work which Dr. Robertson publish- 

 ed. No sooner had he finished it than his health be- 

 gan visibly to decline. Strong symptoms of jaundice 

 showed themselves, and laid the foundation of a linger- 

 ing and fatal illness. In order to enjoy a better air* 

 and the relaxations of the country, he removed to 

 Grange-house in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, 

 where he was able to walk abroad, and generally spent 

 a portion of the day in a small garden attached to the 

 house. In June 1793, his disease confined him to his 

 couch, and he died on the llth of June 1793, in the 

 seventy- first year of his age. 



It would be a waste of time to attempt to give any de- 

 tailed sketch of Dr. Robertson's literary character. His 

 works have been translated into ail the languages of Eu- 

 rope; and his talents as a historian have every where been 

 reckoned superior to those of any rival author. " The 

 general strain of his composition," says Mr. Stewart, is 



* This very interesting correspondence will be toon published in ao Account of tht Lift, Writing*, and Corrstpondenct of J 

 JKacfhcrton, Etq. 



