630-— 
have been, the better to point out what 
they ought to be. 
“© What an important tafk is affigned 
to the hiftorian! Placed on the limits 
of the two worlds, he waits unti! time 
and death fhall have chofen their viétims. 
—Yefterday that man did not exift; he 
fhall difappear to-morrow, and yet his 
aétions, which ceafe alfo to exift, are 
impreffed with the feal of immortalicy. 
«© Tr belongs ‘to the hiftorian to pro- 
nounce on the merits of human aétions; 
it is he who, in the firft inftance, hoids as 
it were the balance’ of the divinity ; 
equity ought, therefore, to prefide at 
his decifions : it is his province to weigh 
the fuffiages, to examine the witneffes, 
and to liften amidf the filence of the 
tombs, where the paifions are buried, to 
the voice of virtue, which lives for 
ever.——”’ 
The work now before us prefuppofes a 
long feriesof Rudiesand reflections: While 
tracing the duties of the hiftorian, the au- 

thor. himfelf has profoundly meditated on 
the fubjeé&. His ftyle, which is elevated, 
reminds us of the manner of ‘Thomas. 
‘«* Hiftoire des principaux Evénemens 
du Regne de Frederic Guillaume IJ. 
&c.”? Hiftory of the principal events of 
the Reign of Frederick- William II. King 
of Pruffia, and a Political Account of 
Europe, from 1786 to 1796 (4th year of 
the French Republic), containing a 
Summary of the Revolutions of Holland, 
of Brabant, of Poland, and of France. 
By L. P. Segur, the elder, ex-ambafla- 
dor. 3 vols. 8vo. 1220. pages; Paris, 
on vellum paper, 24 livres. 
The fubjeéts and events difeuffed in 
this work are, perhaps, the moft import- 
ant that ever occurred in the annals of 
the univerfe. Inthe firf{ volume, Segur, 
after ‘an excellent introduction, prefents 
his readers with an interefting compa- 
rifon between the occurrences of ancient 
and modern hiftory. He then exhibits 
a piéiure of the manners of the inhabi- 
tants of Germany, and having taken a 
view of the princes of the houfe of 
Brandenburgh, he gives a brief analyfs 
of the reign of Frederick the Great. 
The work itlelf- commences with an 
account of the political ftate of Europe, 
when Frederick-William afcended ‘the 
throne. Having drawn his character, 
and noticed the intrigues of his court, he 
recounts the particulars of the celebrated 
journeys. of .Catharine and Jofeph int 
the Crimea, and alfo of the war which, 
according to him, took place between the 
Retrofpect of French Literature.—Hyftory. 
Turks and Ruffians, in confequence of 
the arts recurred to by the courts of Lon-. 
don and Berlin. ‘He then paffes on to 
the troubles in Poland, and coscludes by 
an abridged relation of the reyolution in 
Holland. ; 
The fecond volume embraces the 
events which enfued immediately after 
that memorable epoch, particularly the 
negociations of France with Rufha, 
Aufria,-and Spain, in order to forma 
coalition that might counterbalance the 
league of the Prufhans, Dutch, Turks, 
Poles, and Swedes. 
After giving an account of the Anglo~ 
Pruffan league, of the war between 
Guftavus JII. and Catharine, of the 
firft revolution of Poland, and of the pre- 
parations for war on the part of the 
King of Pruffia againft the Emperor, 
the author conduéts his readers back to 
France, whofe fituation at this epoch he 
deferibes; and having examined the 
caufes which produced and annihilated 
the feudal fyftem, as well as engendered 
the revolution, he explores the moft me- 
morable events that have occurred fince 
that epoch, as well as the ftruggle be- 
tween the various parties, until the ac- 
ceptance of the conftitution of 1791. 
In the courfe of the following chapter 
he recounts the particulars of the revolu- 
tion in Brabant. He rotices the influeace 
of the French revolution, and the emi- 
gration of the nobility and clergy on the 
politics of Europe; he then developes 
the caufes which changed the fyftem of 
Frederick- William, and, produced the 
convention of Reichenbach, as well as 
the treaties of Siftow and Warcla. Next 
enfues an account of the progrefs of the 
republican party in France, of the de- 
cadence of the conftitutional party, of the 
negociations at, Pilnitz, &c, &c. » This 
volume is terminated with the particulars 
of the revolution of the roth of Auguft, 
of the maffacres of September, of the 
foundation of the French republic, of the 
invafion of the Prufhans, and the ever me- 
morable retreat of Frederick- William. 
The hiftory of the national conven- 
tion, the trial of Louis XVI. the difputes 
between the Gironde and the Mountain, 
the revolution of the 31ft of May, the 
tyranny and the fubfequent punithment 
of Robefpierre, the  viétories of the 
French, and their, conquefts, together 
with what is here termed “ the intrigues 
and ambition oF the Englifh miniftry :” 
thefe furnifh fufficient materials for the 
‘Jaft volume. 
a “ Inftruétion. 
