by the Norman kings, an individual of an enterprising character, but not possessed in a sufficient degree, of the knowledge necessary for the execution of his arduous plan, conceived the project of supplying the deficiency of authentic materials, by fabricating a very copious correspondence between the governors of Sicily, and the Arabian monarchs of Africa, on whom they depended. The scheme succeeded beyond all probability. The author of it, the Abbé Vella, whose knowledge of the Arabian extended no further, than the ability to speak the Maltese idiom, published at first in Italian only, with the aid of the government of the two Sicilies, six volumes in quarto, under the title Codice Diplomatico de Sicilia, and afterwards a volume in folio, under the title of Libro del Consiglio d'Egitto. He did not however mean to stop there; but was printing a second volume at the expense of the Sicilian government, when suspicions conceived and suggested by some of the learned, reached the ears of the king. Mr. Hager who was then at Naples, was commissioned to inquire into the affair, and his report having opened the eyes of the government, the impostor received the reward which he merited."

We shall now pass to the section of history, which opens a wider field for remark and reprehension than any of the rest, and merits a much more ample discussion than our limits will admit.—It is written in a spirit of the grossest egotism, and of the most servile partiality, claiming for the historians of France a monopoly of excellence, and censuring indiscriminately, in such of them as have written since the revolution, whatever is adverse to the genius or supposed preferences of the present government. The authors unmindful of the ostensible scope of the Report, which promises only a survey of the progress of history, since the year 1789, dedicate several pages to a chronological enumeration of the historians of France from the earliest period, accompanied by a suitable panegyric on each, in order to show that France retained at all times" the palm of history."

We have already spoken of the invidious comparison instituted in this section, between their own and the English historians. It may not be without interest for our readers to have before them, the list of those whom they oppose so confidently to the Humes, the Robertsons, the Gibbons, the Clarendons, the Middletons, the Henrys, and the Fergusons. In enumerating their worthies, the Institute are compelled to acknowledge defects in some of them, which, together with others of a more serious nature not suggested, have in fact degraded their works

to a secondary rank, in the estimation of all impartial critics both at home and abroad.

"It was in the eighteenth century," says the Report," that history was most assiduously cultivated in France, and that our writers distinguished themselves most conspicuously in this department. They have, in general, attracted their readers, by the merit of style, and have displayed more respect for truth, than the majority of their predecessors. We may cite from the number, without speaking of Montesquieu* and Voltaire, who enjoy so much celebrity for their success in other departments of writing;-Pere Daniel, so estimable under many points of view, notwithstanding the censures which have been so deservedly pronounced upon him;-Velly and his continuators who have excelled Pere Daniel, principally because they were not Jesuits, and because they enjoyed assis tance of which he was deprived;-the judicious Abbé Fleury whose work the king of Prussia, Frederick II. did not himself disdain to abridge;-Rapin de Thoiras who made Europe acquainted with the history of England, when the English had no historians of their own;-Pere du Halde, the historian of the Chinese, who is accused, perhaps without reason, of having flattered them;-Rollin, a good writer, but rather too diffuse, and who is sometimes deficient in discrimination; -Dubos and Mably, who took such opposite views of the first ages of the French monarchy;-the Abbe de la Bléterie, who is guilty of some little affectation in his style, and le Beau, who is rather turgid;-de Guignes, who, in his history of the Huns, the fruit of immense labour, has comprised in great part, that of the East and the West;-Raynal, who has spoiled his work by unseasonable beauties, by rash conceptions, and by an almost continual affectation of philosophy;-Désormeaux, more to be commended for his "Abridgment of the History of Spain," than for his history of the House of Bourbon, in which all the princes of that house are metamorphosed into great men;-Mallet de Geneve, the author of a good history of Denmark, preceded by a very useful introduction concerning the history of the ancient people of the North, and particularly the Francs;-Hénault, Pfeffel, Don Clément, historical chronologists; the Abbé de Condillac, whose "Cours d'Histoire," is so rich in thought;-the Abbé Millot, who succeeded so happily in the art of abridging; and others besides,

* We know not upon what ground it is that Montesquieu can be classed among the historians. As well might the same title be given to Adam Smith or to Warburton.

D

of whom, a nation less opulent in this respect than we are, and therefore less fastidious, would justly be proud."

Such is the galaxy of historians that, according to the Institute, illustrated France during the eighteenth century, and sustained the ascendency which she had previously enjoyed, in this species of composition, over the other nations of Eu rope. Those of our readers, who are capable of estimating, the real merits of Rapin and Raynal, and la Bléterie and de Guignes and the other champions of the French school, and who have had the patience to toil through their verbose, oppressive volumes, must be somewhat unwilling to admit the pretensions, which they are here declared to authorize. The English literature of the last century can in fact produce numbers, superior to these, in almost every leading excellence of historical composition;-a multitude of works, of but inferior repute, and consigned to comparative neglect, on which alone, England, if she did not possess the unrivalled chefs-d'œuvre of Robertson, and the others whom we have enumerated, might found a claim, at least to equality with her neighbour. -The French language can boast of no truly philosophical historian; of none that deserves to be classed in the same rank, with the great masters of the Scottish school. Raynal, who has given so lofty an epithet to his history of the two Indies, is execrable in almost every respect; insufferably prolix and declamatory; grossly incorrect and licentious in his narrative; unsound in his political morality; and full of the most extravagant hyperboles of sentiment and theory.

The travels of Anacharsis, by Barthelemi, of which the authors of the Report proceed to speak in some detail, although they acknowledge it to have been published in 1788, is indeed a work of the highest excellence, but cannot properly be said to belong to the department of history.* It is sui generis, and unquestionably one of the most beautiful productions of the human mind. Although not without serious defects, it is to be regarded as a masterpiece of elegant literature, communicating the most valuable instruction in a more delectable shape, than any thing that has ever been written on the subject of the ancients.-It is already well known in this country, but never can become too popular, nor be too earnestly recom

*The celebrated " Athenian Letters" for the first time given to the public at large, in 1798, might, with still greater propriety, be ranked under the head of history. Upon this work less extensive in the design, but perhaps more perfect in the execution, than the travels of Anacharsis, Barthelemi himself, in the Memoirs which he has written of his own life, pronounces a most exalted, and well-merited eulogium.

mended to the attentive meditation of the students not only of antiquity, but of the French language, in which it is a splendid model of diction.

Relegat qui semel percurrit
Qui nunquam legit, legat.

The following is a part of the just eulogium passed upon this work by the Institute. "The author instructs while he amuses the idle man, and affords a pleasant relaxation to the laborious; he instructs even the erudite, either by recalling to them what had escaped their memory, or by showing them certain objects under new aspects. It has been suggested that when he makes the Greeks speak, he often gives them a French air, and manners very nearly French; but it is known to all the learned, that his narrative is but a tissue of passages from Greek authors, interwoven with great skill, and translated with elegance."*

The description given by Barthelemi, in the twentieth chapter of his 2d book, of the manners and amusements of the Athenians, would strikingly apply to the Parisians.-Whoever has been in Paris, will be immediately reminded of several of the scenes which that capital presents, by the following passages from the chapter of Anacharsis, just mentioned."

"In the intervals of the day, particularly in the morning before twelve o'clock, and in the evening after supper, the Athenians walk upon the borders of the Ilissus and about the city, and enjoy the extreme freshness of the air, and the delightful views which present themselves on all sides; but, in general, they go to the public square which is more frequented than any other part of the city. As it is there that the general assembly is often held, and that the palace of the senate and the tribunal of the first Archon are situated, almost all the inhabitants are attracted thither, either by their own affairs or those of the republic. Many are seen there also merely for past-time, and others because they want some employment. At certain hours when it is freed from the incumbrances of the market, it offers an open field to those who wish to enjoy the spectacle of the crowd, or to mix in it themselves.

"In the vicinity ofthe square, are shops of perfumers, goldsmiths, barbers, &c. open to all, where they argue loudly upon the interests of the state, relate anecdotes of families, and talk freely of the vices and peculiarities of individuals. From the bosom of these meetings, which the impulse of the moment separates and brings together again without cessation, a thousand ingenious and sometimes biting sarcasms are sent forth, against those who appear upon the walk with a negligent exterior, or who do not fear to display there a revolting arrogance: for this people, fond of raillery to excess, employ a species of pleasantry so much the more formidable, as its malig nity is carefully concealed. Sometimes a select company, and instructive conversation are found in the porticoes distributed throug' the city. This species of rendezvous has multiplied in Athens. Their insatiable love of news, the natural consequence of the activity of their minds, and the indolence of their lives, induces them to mix much with one another.

"This taste so animated which has given them the name of cockneys,* (badauds) gathers new strength in time of war. Then it is that in public, and

*V. ii. ch. 20. p. 303

The history of the Roman republic by Mr. Levesque, is mentioned with respect in this section of the Report. We could not read this work with any degree of patience, nor can we speak of it without indignation. In point of literary execution, it is below mediocrity, and in spirit detestable. With a view of recommending himself to his government-probably at its instigation, he has attempted to falsify the records of the republican era of Rome, and to blacken the reputation of the illustrious champions of Roman freedom. The reader may judge of the real drift of Mr. Levesque, by the account given of his labours in the Report. "He has," says the Institute,

in private, their conversations constantly turn upon the subject of military expeditions; that they never meet without eagerly demanding if there is any thing new; that the crowds of newsmongers are seen on all sides tracing upon the earth or upon the wall the chart or map of the country where the army may be situated, announcing its success with a loud voice, but carefully concealing the reverse; seeking and exaggerating reports which precipitate the city into the most immoderate joy, or plunge it into the most ter rible despair."

We have often been struck with the close resemblance in some points, between the comparative character of the Athenians and Lacedemonians, and that of the French and English. The following extract from the parallel between the former drawn by Thucydides in his first book, will leave the same impression on the reader. The Corinthian deputies are made by the historian to address the Lacedemonians thus

"The Athenians are a people fond of innovations, quick not only to con trive, but to put their schemes in effectual execution: Your method is, to preserve what you already have, to know nothing further, and when in ac tion to leave something needful ever unfinished. They again are daring be yond their strength, adventurous beyond the bounds of judgment, and in extremities full of hope. Your method is, in action to drop below your pow er, never resolutely to follow the dictates of your judgment, and in the pres sure of a calamity to despair of deliverance. Ever active as they are, they stand against you who are habitually indolent; ever roaming abroad, against you who think it misery to lose sight of your homes. Their views in shifting place is to enlarge their possessions. You imagine, that in foreign attempts, you may lose your present domestic enjoyments. They, when once they have gained superiority over enemies, push forward as far as they can go; and if defeated, are dispirited the least of all men. Whenever in their schemes they meet with disappointments, they reckon they have lost a share of their property. When those schemes are successful, the acquisition seems small in comparison with what they have further in design; if they are baffled in executing a project, invigorated by reviving hope, they catch at fresh expedients to repair the damage. They are the only people who instantaneously project and hope and acquire; so expeditious are they in executing whatever they determine. Thus through toils and dangers they labour forwards so long as life continues, never at leisure to fully enjoy what they already have, through a constant eagerness to acquire more. They have no other notion of a festival than of a day whereon some needful point should be accomplished; and inactive rest is more a torment to them than laborious employment. In short, if any one adjudging their characters should say, they are formed by nature never to be quiet themselves, nor suffer others to be so, he describes them justly,"