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“HIS LITERARY WORKS. 107 
entered on this new branch at the beginning of 1767, by 
asking for the éloge of Charles V. 
Bailly entered the lists, but his essay obtained only an 
honourable mention. 
Nothing is more instructive than to search out at what 
epoch originated the principles and opinions of persons 
who have acted an important part on the political scene, 
and how those opinioris developed themselves. By a 
fatality much to be regretted, the elements of these in- 
vestigations are rarely numerous or faithful. We shall 
not have to express these regrets relative to Bailly. 
Each composition shows us the serene, candid, and vir- 
tuous mind of the illustrious writer, in a new and true 
point of view. The ¢éloge of Charles, V. was the start- 
ing point, followed by a long series of works, and it 
ought to arrest our attention for a while. 
The writings, crowned with the approbation of the 
French Academy, did not reach the public eye till they 
had been submitted to the severe censure of four Doctors 
in Theology. <A special and digested approbation by the 
high dignitaries of the Church, whom the illustrious 
assembly always possessed among her members, was not 
a sufficient substitute for the humbling formality. If we 
are sure that we possess the éloge of Charles V. such as 
it flowed from the author’s pen; if we have not reason to 
fear that the thoughts have undergone some mutilation, 
we owe it to the little favour that the discourse of Bailly 
enjoyed in the sitting of the Academy in 1767. Those 
thoughts, however, would have defied the most squeamish 
mind, the most shadowy susceptibility. The panegyrist 
unrolls with emotions the frightful misfortunes that 
assailed France during the reign of King John. The 
temerity, the improvidence of that monarch; the dis- 
