SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER 
TO THE FIFTEENTH VOLUME oF THE 
Lae 
MONTHLY MAGAZIN E. : 
—— 
Vou. 15, No:103.| 
HISTORY. 
HE Jate eventful war -has found an 
able hifttorian in Mr, ALEXANDER 
STEPHENS, whofe work, entitled * 4 
Hifiory of the Wars which arofe out of 
the French Revolution, from 1792 to the 
General Peace in 1802,” exhibits a con- 
nested and well-arranged detail of the 
moft eventful and important conteft, that 
has occurred fince the fubjugation of the 
Roman empire; and in the courle of the 
work, the author has united the intereft 
arifing out of biography, with the infruc- 
tion to be derived from hiftory ; in both 
departments his manner is dignified, his 
Janguage is eloquent, and his information 
is. obvioufly derived from the mott au- 
thentic fources, . 
The introduction, after touching on 
the great changes that have taken place 
in ancient and modern ttates, prefents a 
Differtation on the Government of France, 
in, which the’ opinions of Mezeray, Froif- 
fart, Commines, and Hottoman, are quoted 
and inveltigated. An attempt is alfo 
made, to trace the late revolution up to 
its original fource, while the leading men 
and contending’ parties are fuliyvand dif- 
tinétly pourtrayed: the charaéters of Tur- 
got, Calonne, Claviere, RKobefpierre, 
Marat, Briffot, Talleyrand, Mirabeau, 
ally, Barnave, 8&c. are accordingly de- 
veloped in fucceffion. 
Rere follows Mr. Stephens’s account of 
two of the moft celebrated members of 
the National Affembly, in language, as 
our readers will perceive, which would do 
credit toa Burke ora Gibbon. 
“The Abbé Maury, fince invefted 
with the Roman purple, in addition to a 
high reputation, had acquired confiderable 
preferment, by the fplendowr of. his cie- 
sical talents. From the firft moment of 
his appearance in the States General, he 
evinced his gratitude to his benefa&ors, 
and difplayed an extraordinary degree of 
intrepidity, zeal, and genius, in defence 
of the monarchy. Such was his attach- 
ment to the ancient government, that he 
withed to countenance: its. very -abufes ; 
MontTuty Mag. No. 103, 
JuLy 28,' 1803. 
HALF-YEARLY RETROSPECT OF DOMESTIC LITERATURE. " 
[Price Is. Od. 
———————-~- 
and fo wedded was he to the prejudices ' 
which had hitherto difgraced his ‘country, 
that he declaimed againft the decree which » 
reltored to the Jews and Comedians the” 
rights of citizenthip, Poffeffed of a ready 
wit, he was indebted for his life to ajoke¥® 
and his happy talent at unpremed tated _ 
oratory, rendered him the fecond man in 
the Affemoly. Jit 
‘¢ Mirabeau was affurediy the firfts 
Poflefling wonderful eloquence, agift in 
him derived from nature alone, he exhibits 
the rare example of ‘a’:man,: without ! 
any previous Itudy, difplaying all the rea- 
dinefs, ail the boldnefs, all the varietyjall 
the grades of a veteran and accomplithed | 
orator. Born a ndéble, but exclude iby his’ | 
own order, he became a deputy trom thé 
third effate, and for {ome time futained 
the popular caufe, with a) fluency that 
charmed, with a genius that aitonithed, 
with abiisties that enraptured, with an en- 
thufiafm that moved, animated, and elec- » 
trified the hearts, of all who heard! and 
beheld him. Such was his goed fortune, ” 
that, a few fhort intervals’ excepted, he! 
retained his celebrity even after he had 
been corrupted by the court. Such wag 
his confidence, that with a voice énfeebied 
by difeafe and death, he bequeathed a leas 
cy of his labours on a new confitution; 
deftined for their-ufe, to a mourning, but 
applauding people. 
‘6 As an author, he evinced more zeal 
than genius, and more induftry than ta< 
dents; he declaimed rather than’ argued ; 
he furprifed rather than convinced: yet 
aithough ‘his time had’ been devoted to li- 
centious pleafures, his writings were ever: : 
dedicated to the caufe of honour, huma- 
nity, and virtue. It was. as an orator 
‘alone, however, that he ftood unrivalled, -« 
But to conceive a jut notion of the effedts— 
he produced, it would have been necefia- 
ry to have witneffled the aftonithing buriis’ 
of his eloquence on great, or the ma- 
jeftic cadence of his langage, and® the 
vari d intonations of his voice, on ordi- 
nary occafions. Nor were the features 
of his face, or the geficulations of his 
41 beauty, 
