6S4 
their banishment, first to: Smolensko, 
and then to Siberia, was: a most out- 
-Tageous act on the part of the Russians. 
Te their honor, when confined separate- 
-ly, and in prison, they rejected their li- 
-berty, on the condition that they would 
-engace ueither to oppose her Imperial 
Majesty’s will, nor the operations of her 
ainbassador at Warsaw. 
_ Werefer the curious reader to the 
swork. itself} for the character of Fre- 
devick of Prussia, and of Prince Kau- 
mtz, whe so long ruled the councils of 
the house of Austria; we shall content 
curselves with stating a few. particulars, 
respecting the latter, as he is less 
Enown, both in England, and Europe, 
than the former peronage. 
His birth, we are told, was illustrious; 
he inherited a petty sovereignty from 
Kis mother, while nature bestowed on 
inmself an elerant person... It was to 
bis education perbaps, that he was in- 
skcbted for a certain constrained air of 
gallantry, a pride that was conspicuous 
ta all, and an appearance of indiffer- 
ace, "that exhibited the heart of the 
cuurtier, without he himself knowing it. 
zt wilt scarcely be now believed, _ that 
the prime minister of the court of Vi- 
enna, while destined by the duties of 
dis othee to @& constant and uninter- 
supted attention to affairs of magnitude, 
was accustomed to dedicate whole days 
te the curhny of his hair. ‘The delicacy, 
or rather the feebleness gf his organs, 
Was So great, that he not only dreaded 
‘ath paintul emotions, and shuddered at 
the very idea of death, bat was even 
«darmed at the customary changes of 
the atmosphere. Notwithstanding these 
os slefects, he possessed a quick 
cernment, ah exquisite memery> and 
a-most comprehensive judgment. Our 
auather traces his conduct to tio ape 
‘teal maxims, by which, accordiins 
din, it was constantly regulated, The 
one wag, ‘ that a state ought never to 
anterpose its own power, when it can 
act by secondary tleans;” the other, 
* that in foreign pohtics a dexterous 
aiplomatist may achieve every thing.” 
‘These positions, however. betray but 
little reach of thought, and would never 
have entitled this celebrated minister to 
the high reputation whichhe maintained 
inthe councils of Austria durimg more 
than ftty years.) .. 
| Upon, the whole, this is a most in- 
teresting work, and ought to be perused 
“hy all those whore desirous of becom- 
10g Li tii an with. Europe—not as it 
ar 
Rétrospect of French Literature—Biography. 
now stands, but as it stood alittle beyond 
the middle of the last century. | 
BIOGRAPHY, &c. 
_ “ Le Genie de Bossuet, ou Recueil des 
plus grandes pensees i des plus beaux 
morceaur, &c.” ‘The Genius of Bossuet, 
or a collection: of the, greatest ideas 
and noblest specimens. ‘of eloquence: 
contained in the Works of that cele~ 
brated Writer: the whole, preceded by 
an Eloge, written by D’Alembert. By 
hr. L***, author of the Spirit of the 
Christian Orators. 1 vol. 8vo. 1808. 
Imported by De Boffe, Nassau-street, 
Soho, 1809, price 10s. 
The name of Bossuet has become 
znother term for genius, in France. No 
man was ever better known, or more 
praised, and yet but few are acquainted 
with his pretensions to. that reputation 
which he has so long enjoyed, for of all 
his works, his Funeral Orations, and the 
Discourse on Universal History, are 
alone quoted, while he has. written fitty 
other tracts, which are confined to the 
shelves of the libraries of his native 
country. To remedy this, the. present 
Editor has. perused ‘all his works, and 
endeavoured to collect all his beauties > 
and by way of introduction, he has 
given the Eloge of the Bishop of Meaux, 
by D’Alembert, on the admission of the 
_ former into the French Academy, Jung 
8, 1671. 
Jacques-Benigne Bossuet, born at 
Dyjon, on the 27th of September, 1627, 
was descended from a family distin- 
guished in the parliament of Burgundy. 
From his early infancy, he addicted 
himself to study, with the avitlity of 
a rising genius, that seizes on and de- 
vours every thing. » The Jesuits, who 
were his first. instructors, did net fail to 
perceive in-such a disciple, the seeds of . 
future greatness. Accordingly, they 
made use of the most adroit insinuations 
to attract him, in order that he might 
become a member of their sactety, prac- 
_Uising on this occasion those arts by which 
_they.bave obtained so many able men. 
The fathers already tlattered themselves 
_with the hopes including young Bossuet 
in the circle of their conquests ; but his 
uncle, who watched over his mterests, 
and was well acquainted with the plans 
of those who superintended his studies, 
dissipated all their intrigues, by car- 
rying away his nephew to Paris.:__ 
, As he was destined to become an ec- 
clesiastic, he cultivated all the branches. 
of education either useful or necessary 
to the state for which he was destined, 
~ Trot 
