MEMOIRS. 



767 



a timid circumspection, in books of general history, 

 develop details of secret plots and projects, of which 

 the result only is noticed in history, and, under cer- 

 tain limitations, they are entitled to a high degree of 

 credit. They are no less interesting on account of 

 showing the individual character of the writer in his 

 manner of relating events, even supposing his views 

 to be partial, limited, and affected by party prejudices. 

 These qualities give them an advantage over other 

 kinds of historical writings, since they satisfy the mere 

 reader for amusement, as well as the student ; the 

 one by the pleasing negligence of their manner, and 

 the other by the value of their materials ; although 

 it must be acknowledged, that to the latter, the his- 

 torical criticism of them is a difficult task. Xeno- 

 phon's Anabasis, and Caesar's accounts of his cam- 

 paigns (Commentaries) are generally considered as 

 the oldest memoirs. But France is the native soil of 

 memoires, in the historical literature of which country 

 they form a national peculiarity, and where, since the 

 end of the fifteenth century, they have been continu- 

 ally becoming more numerous. The memoirs of 

 Philip de Comines, Brantome, Sully, Joinville, and 

 cardinal de Retz (see these articles, and French 

 Literature) deserve particular notice. The memoirs 

 of Martin du Bellay, which relate to the period from 

 1513 to 1516 (Paris, 1569, folio, edited in a modern- 

 ized form, by Lambert, Paris, 1753, 7 vols.), are dis- 

 tinguished for vigorous delineation and the national 

 feeling which they display. Blaise de Montluc, in 

 his memoirs, 1521 69, called, by Henry IV., the 

 soldier's bible (Paris, 1746, 4 vols., 12mo), is no less 

 frank in revealing his own faults than in commend- 

 ing his own virtues ; lively and striking description 

 is blended with the verboseness of an old soldier. 

 Michel de Castelnau is distinguished for the highest 

 political honesty, for the soundness, maturity, and 

 clearness of his judgment, as much as for his digni- 

 fied and tranquil manner (Memoirs, 1559 70, 

 Brussels, 1731, 3 vols. folio). Margaret of Valois, 

 the wife of Henry IV., relates the history of her 

 youth (1561 81) with much, although somewhat 

 artificial elegance and feminine adroitness, but at the 

 same time, evident good nature (Hague, 1715, 2 vols.). 

 Aubigne (1550 1600, Amsterdam, 1623, 3 vols. fol.), 

 with all his partiality, his effrontery, his freedom bor- 

 dering on calumny, and his far-fetched and often 

 unintelligible expressions, is an author of great 

 importance for the history of his times, but must be 

 consulted with caution. Rochefoucault, a nobleman 

 of the acutest wit, and a deep knowledge of human 

 nature, who described the disturbances of the 

 Fronde (1648 52) with the hand of a master, has, 

 notwithstanding his obvious partiality, great clear- 

 ness and sagacity in narrating and developing events, 

 furnishes admirable portraits of the principal person- 

 ages described, and is distinguished for animation 

 and natural colouring. His style (which is often, 

 with little propriety, compared to that of Tacitus) is 

 plain, manly, and sententious, and his language 

 pure, measured, and concise (Trevoux, 1754, 2 

 vols., 12mo ; Paris, 1804, 18mo). Among the 

 other numerous French memoirs, those of D'Etrees, 

 De Brienne, DeTorcy, and Montyon are of especial 

 interest for diplomatists. We may mention also 

 those of St Simon, Duclos, and madame D'Epinay. 

 To these may be added also the works of the Abb& 

 Soulavie ; the Confessions of Jean Jacques Rous- 

 seau ; the Correspondence of Grimm and of La 

 Harpe ; the Diary of Bachaumont ; the Considera- 

 tions sur la Revolution of Madame de Stael ; Carat's 

 work on Suard and the eighteenth century ; the 

 Memoires of Madame Laroche Jacquelin, &c. 

 Within a few years there have been begun in Paris 

 four great collections of memoirs, which are of high 



importance for libraries and collectors ; the first is 

 Collection complete des Memoires relatifs a I'histoire 

 de France depuis le Regne de Philippe Auguste 

 jusqu 1 au Commencement du dix septieme Siecle ; avcc 

 des Notes sur chaque Auteur et des Observations sur 

 chaque Ouvrage, par Monsieur Petitot. This collec- 

 tion consists of forty-two volumes, and is completed. 

 The second is a sequel and continuation of the pre- 

 ceding, under the title of Collection, etc. depuis 

 FAvenement de Henri IV., jusqu' a la Paixde Paris, 

 conclue en 1763, and is also arranged and edited by 

 Petitot. The twenty-third volume of this second 

 series appeared in April, 1823. Foucault has pub- 

 lished these two collections with the greatest typo- 

 graphical accuracy. The third is a collection of 

 memoirs, published and unpublished, relating to the 

 French revolution. This collection, edited by Ber- 

 ville and Barrie're, may be regarded as a chefd'ceuvre 

 of its kind. Each work is preceded by a life of the 

 author ; the very correct text is accompanied by 

 emendatory, explanatory, and supplementary notes, 

 and at the close are generally the pieces justificatives, 

 selected and arranged with great judgment and 

 accuracy. This collection is to consist of the me- 

 moirs of Madame Roland, the marquis of Ferrieres, 

 Linguet, Dusault, the marquis of Bouille, baron 

 Besenval, Bailly, Rabaud de St Etienne, Mourner, 

 the marquis of Lally-Tollendal, the marquis of Ro- 

 chambeau, Riouffe, Rivarol, Louvet, general Pui- 

 saye, the marquis of Montesquieu, Camille Des- 

 moulins, St Just, Necker, Clery, Mallet du Pan, 

 Barbaroux, Freron, Garat, general Doppe, Beau- 

 marchais, Ramel, Ayme, Marmontel, Phelippeau, 

 Antonelle, Courtois, Dumouriez, madame Campan, 

 Morellet, and many others. The fourth collection 

 contains memoirs of the British revolution, translated 

 and edited by Guizot. This collection is also con- 

 ducted with great judgment, accompanied with 

 introductions, notes, and documents, and deserves a 

 place in every large library. It consists of twenty- 

 five volumes, containing the memoirs of Thomas 

 May, or the history of the Long Parliament, those 

 of Sir Philip Warwick, who flourished in the reign 

 of Charles I., Sir John Berkley, Thomas Herbert 

 and Price, Hollis, Fairfax, Huntington, Mrs Hutchin- 

 son, Ludlow, lord Clarendon, Burnet, Temple, 

 Reresby, and others. In German, works of this 

 description are very rare. Among the most inter- 

 esting of these are memoirs of the margravine of 

 Bayreuth, the sister of Frederic the Great, origin- 

 ally written in the French language ; and among 

 the most important are those of Frederic the Great 

 himself, Histoire de man Temps (History of my own 

 Times), &c. Dohm's highly valuable Memoirs are 

 of a different class from those of which we treat 

 here, consisting of a series of historical treatises upon 

 the events of our times, in which Dohm has taken 

 more or less part, or respecting which he has made 

 investigations. The banishment of Napoleon to St 

 Helena, and his subsequent death, have given rise to 

 the publication of many works of this sort, from 

 which we have obtained valuable accounts of the 

 most important occurrences and most prominent 

 characters of our times. (See the works mentioned 

 in the article Napoleon.) Among the British works 

 of this description, we may mention Burnet' s 

 Memoirs of his own Times ; Pepys's Memoirs, 

 comprising his Diary, from 1659 to 1669 ; Evelyn's 

 Memoirs, comprising his Diary from 1641 to 

 1705 6 ; Horace Walpole's Memoirs of the last 

 ten Years of George II.; Calamy's Life and Times 

 (1671 to 1731); Life of Edward, Lord Her- 

 bert of Cherbury ; Melvil's Memoirs relating to 

 the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth, Mary, Queen of 

 Scots, and James I.; Lilly's Life and Times, from 



