SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER 
To THE TWENTY-THIRD VOLUME of tue 
MONTHLY 
MAGAZINE. 
Vou. 23, No. 159.] 
HALF-YEARLY RETROSPECT 
Non refert quam multos libros sed quama bonos 
habeas. SENECA, 
FYNHE plan of our half-yearly Retro- 
spect has now continued so long, 
that the eeremony of an introduction may 
be waved. Learning and genius, it will 
be seen, defying or neglecting those 
events which destroy the peace of man- 
kind, continue to exert their operations, 
Though 
HISTORY 
has of late years received but few acces- 
sions of primary importance; there are 
one or two works even in the present Re- 
trospect, upon which we cannot but con- 
gratulate our readers. ‘‘ The Memoirs of 
of John Lord de Joinville,” translated by 
Mr. JoHNEs; in two volumes in quarto; 
deserve especial notice. The Sire de 
Joinville, it need hardly be said, was an 
eminent French statesman, who flourish- 
ed about 1260, aud was descended from 
one of the noblest and most ancient fa- 
miliesin Champagne. He was seneschal, 
or high steward of Champagne, and one 
of the principal lords of the court of 
Louis the Ninth, whom he accompa- 
nied in all his expeditions except 
that of Tunis; and was greatly be- 
loved and esteemed for his valour, his 
wit, and the frankness of his manners. 
That monarch placed so much confidence - 
in him, that ali matters of justice in the 
palace were referred to his decision; 
aud his majesty undertook nothing of im- 
portance without consulting him., The 
familiarity with which Louis honoured 
him, gave him an opportunity of tracing 
the links of every event in his reign: and 
the candour and simplicity of the recital 
which he has left us of these events, af- 
ford strong proofs of his exactness. He 
does not extend his account of facts far- 
ther than what he personally witnessed. 
The Memotrs, which Joinville finished in 
1309, were not published till after the 
death of Philip the Fair: and although’ 
they include a space but of six years, they 
give us sufficient information respecting 
the military system of those days, and the 
principles of administration adopted by 
St. Louis. They present to us a faithful 
picture of the customs and manpvers of 
the ancient French; charm us with tha 
Monruty Mac., No, 159, 
JuLy 30, 1807. 
[Price Is. 6d. 
OF DOMESTIC LITERATURE. 
affecting simplicity of style which is one 
of their greatest merits ; and display the 
mind of St. Louis with the most exact 
truth, ‘The contents of the first volume, 
are as follow: 1. The Genealogy of the 
House of Joinville. 2. Dissertation on the 
Life of St. Louis written by the Lord 
de Joinville, by M. le Baron de la Bas- 
tie. 3. Additions to the same. 4. The 
History of St. Louis, by John Lora de 
Joinville. 5. Notes on the above His- 
tory, by Charles du Fresne, sieur du 
Cange. The second volume is entirely 
filled with Du Cange’s Dissertations on 
the History. The work is accompanied 
by a portrait of the Lord de Joinville, 
taken from his monument ; a map of the 
Crusade of St. Louis in Egypt and in Pa- 
lestine; a map of the Delta, explanatory 
of the expedition; a view of the town 
and castle of Joinville; an outline of Sé, 
Louis, froin his monument; and a map of 
Syria and Palestine. The Lordde Joim- 
ville, died about 1318, at not much less 
than ninety years of age. he Memoirs, 
as they now stand, were the last produc- 
tion of the Hatod press; and were luckily 
expedited before the conflagration of Mr, 
Johnes’s Library ; the toss of which will 
be deplored by every lover of our ancient 
history. We understand Mr. Johnes is 
again collecting for another library; and 
trust that that spirit of research which 
prompted him to the publication of Frois- 
sart, will not end with the Memoirs of 
Joinville. 
There is another work, which, though 
written in French, we shall not hesitate 
to mention here; it is “ The Campaigns 
of Marshal Schomberg in Portugal, from 
1662 to 1668,” by Generat Dumovu- 
riEz. In an advertisement prefixed, we 
are informed that the leading outline of 
‘the campaigns has been extracted from 
the Life of the Marshal, written in Ger- 
man, by Hagner: but a perusal of the 
work convinced us it was not to be con- 
sidered as a mere translation. It contains 
many additional facts collected on the 
spot; and will be found interesting even 
to the military reader, The Duke of 
Schomberg was descended of a noble 
German family. He served first in the 
army of the United Provinces; but after- 
4 1 wards 
