128 
ander, publifhed by Eumenes, his fecre- 
tary ; alfo the Itinerary, defcribed by Di- 
ognetes and Beton,: geometers, employed 
in the fuite of the army; and, alfo the 
Defcription of the Provinces compofing 
the Empire of Alexander, compiled by 
his order, and which was communicated 
to Patroclus, by Xenocles, keeper of the 
royal treafure. Thefe valuable monu- 
ments exifted in the time of Arrian.” 
_Add to this, that, as an author of the 
beft treatife on the tactics of the Greeks, 
and ‘being a great captain himfelf, this 
writer leaves us nothing to defire with re- 
fpe& to the military details which he de- 
fcribes. And, laftly, asa difciple of Epic- 
tetus, he has imprefled on his works the 
character of a pure and fevere morality. 
«s Arrian was furnamed the New Xeno- 
phon. Here a remarkable particularity 
attracts our notice. Alexander had chofen 
Achilles as his model, and Arrian pro- 
pofes Xenophon as his; he even carries 
this imitation to fingularity. Xenophon 
had compiled the fayings of Socrates ; 
Arrian defcribes thofe of Epiétetus: Xe- 
nophon had publifhed feven books on the 
-expedition of Cyrus, founder of the em- 
pire of the Perfians: Arrian compofed 
feven books on the expedition of Alexan- 
der, who deftroyed that empire; and he 
even affected, like his model, to make ufe 
of the Attic diale&t. The Hellenics of 
Xenophon gave rife to the Bithynics, and 
to the Alanics of Arrian.” 
Xenophon had treated of the chace and 
of tactics; Arrian treated of taétics and 
the chace. 
<< A copyift, at once, of the ftyle and 
of the character of Xenophon, Arrian 
fhewed himfelf as jealous of the reputation 
of a good general, as of that of a good 
writer, 
<¢ In reading thefe two authors with at- 
tention, we find Xenophon more natural 
(zaif.) and Arrian more dry or fevere 
(/ec) ; in one we recognize the difciple of 
Socrates, in the other that of Epictetus. 
As to other matters, without having either 
the graces of Xenophon, or the mafculine 
vigour of ‘Thucydides, the ftyle of Arrian 
is fuch as is conformable to  hiftory, 
perfpicuous, fimple, and poffefling a na- 
tive elegance. In fome orations (and he 
has the prudence not to multiply them) 
we trace the charaéter of the original 
Greek eloquence, fimple, beautiful, and 
impaffioned. Among the moderns, elo- 
guence is too often nothing but rheto- 
ric ; among the Greeks, it is the move- 
ment of dialeétics (logic), well nigh firip- 
ped of every ornament. Photius (Bzbsiotd. 
Tranflation of Arrian’s Alexander. 
{ March ly 
Col. 225 ef 228) has made a grand eulo 
gium on the nobie fimplicity of the ftyle 
of Arrian. 
We fhall not do fo much injuftice to 
this writer, as tocompare him with Quin- 
tus Curtius. The work of Quintus 
Curtius is a brilliant amplification, half _ 
oratorical, and half poetical. In throw- 
ing fome flowers (according to the ex- 
preffion of Montefquieu) on one of the 
moft enormous coloffi of antiquity, ‘he imi- 
tates the bad tafte of Nero, who caufed a 
ftatue of Alexander, the work of Lyfip- 
pus, to be covered with a gilt varnifh. 
Confiderable omiffions, fabulous recitals, 
the ftyle of a rhetorician, ignorance of 
geography, of tactics, and of the firft 
elements of the fciences,—fuch are the 
faults that are juftly laid to the charge of 
Quintus Curtius.’ . 
In addition to all the qualities that are. 
wanting in Quintus Curtius, Arrian joing 
the double merit, fo rare and fo valuable, 
in hiftory, of accuracy and truth. A num- 
ber of admitted facts eftablith the veracity 
of Arrian, and we may decide upon the 
reft by analogy. In fact all the voyages 
to the Eaft Indies, made for the laft itty 
years, faid Lamotte Levayer, bear tefti- 
mony to the truth of Arian’s defcriptions. 
A circumftance, adds Dr. Vincent, (in 
his Voyage of Nearchus) which fhould be 
remarked, to the glory of Arrian, is, that 
we are enabled to appreciate the merit of 
his relation the better, in proportion as we 
fix a more attentive eye on the events, the 
memory of which he has tranf{mitted to 
us. As the Europeans become gradually 
acquainted with the ftate of India, the 
accuracy of his hiftorical refearches has 
been a{certained: in like manner, alfo, the 
further we extend the limits of our geo- 
graphical knowledge, we find the more 
verity in the illuftrations which he fur- 
rifhes, and we are more firmly convinced 
of the excellent fources from which they 
have been derived. 
Tranflation.—The tranflation of this 
work was a defideratum in literature; 
for, independently of the infidelities 
in the tranflation of Perrot d’Ablan- 
court, that work was not a little dif 
agreeable to the reader of thefe Expedi- 
tions—1. Becaufe he had neglected to di- 
vide his books into chapters and fections. 
2. Becaufe he had not illuftrated the text 
by acommentary, which was indifpenfae 
ble; and, 3. Becaufe he had not intro- 
duced plans and explications of. military 
tactics. | 
But it muft be confeffed, that fuch a 
tranflation was eafier to be made in our 
days, 
