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cipal of the University of Edinburgh, and for the same period the controlling spirit of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. He was the author of The Situation of the World at the Time of Christ's Appearance, and its Connection with the Success of his Religion Considered, a Sermon, Edin., 1755, 8vo; The History of Scotland during the Reigns of Queen Mary and of King James VI. till his Succession to the Crown of England, etc., Lond., 1758-59, 2 vols. 4to, 17th edit., 1806, 3 vols. 8vo; The History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V., etc., Lond., 1769, 3 vols. 4to, 10th edit., 1802, 4 vols. 8vo; the History of America, Books I-VIII., Lond., 1777, 2 vols. 4to, Books IX. and X., Lond., 1796, 4to and 8vo; An Historical Disquisition Concerning the Knowledge which the Ancients had of India, etc., Lond., 1791, 4to. Collective editions of Robertson's Works have frequently been published (most of them with Stewart's Life of Robertson). Among the last editions are those of London, 1828, 9 vols. 8vo, 1840, 8 vols. 8vo, 1860, imp. 8vo, 1865, imp. 8vo.

"Inferior probably to Mr. Gibbon in the vigour of his powers, unequal to him perhaps in comprehension of intellect and variety of knowledge, the Scottish historian has far surpassed him in simplicity and perspicuity of narrative, in picturesque and pathetic description, in the sober use of figurative language, and in the delicate perception of that scarcely discernible boundary which separates

ornament from exuberance and elegance from affectation."-SIR J. MACKINTOSH: Lond. Month. Review.

"Robertson's style, Mr. Prescott remarked, was that of a schoolmistress. He thought him greatly wanting in narrative power, and in the faculty of picturesque description. He instanced the bald and commonplace account of the battle of Pavia as a specimen of Robertson's inability to do justice to a great and splendid subject. At the same time he did justice to that historian's eminent qualities of another kind,-to his clearness, penetration, and philosophic tone. He attributed his defects of style to his age rather than to any defect in himself."-Recollections of Prescott by his former Secretary: Prescott Memorial, 1859, pp. 21, 22.

CHARACTER OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. To all the charms of beauty and the utmost elegance of external form she added those accomplishments which render their impression irresistible. Polite, affable, insinuating, sprightly, and capable of speaking and of writing with equal ease and dignity. Sudden, however, and violent in all her attachments, because her heart was warm and unsuspicious. Impatient of contradiction, because she had been accustomed from her

infancy to be treated as a queen. No stranger, on some occasions, to dissimulation, which in that perfidious court where she received her education was reckoned

among the necessary arts of government. Not insensible of flattery, or unconscious of that pleasure with which almost every woman beholds the influence of her own beauty. Formed with the qualities which we love, not with the talents that we admire, she was an agreeable woman rather than an illustrious queen. The vivacity of her spirit, not sufficiently tempered with sound judg ment, and the warmth of her heart, which was not at all times under the restraint of discretion, betrayed her both into errors and into crimes.

To say that she was always unfortunate will not account for that long and almost uninterrupted succession of calamities which befell her: we must likewise add that she was often imprudent. Her passion for Darnley was rash, youthful, and excessive. And though the sudden transition to the opposite extreme was the natural effect of her ill-requited love, and of his ingratitude, insolence, and brutality, yet neither these nor Bothwell's artful address and important services can justify her attachment to that nobleman. Even the manners of the age, licentious as they were, are no apology for this unhappy passion; nor can they induce us to look on that tragical and infamous scene which followed upon it with less abhorrence. Humanity will draw a veil over this part of her character which it cannot approve, and may, perhaps, prompt some to impute her actions to her situation, more than to her dispositions, and to lament the unhappiness of the former, rather than accuse the perverseness of the latter. Mary's sufferings exceed, both in degree and in duration, those tragical distresses which fancy has feigned to excite sorrow and commiseration; and while we survey them, we are apt altogether to forget her frailties; we think of her faults with less indignation, and approve of our tears as if they were shed for a person who had attained much nearer to pure virtue.

With regard to the queen's person, a circumstance not to be omitted in writing the history of a female reign, all contemporary authors agree in ascribing to Mary the utmost beauty of countenance and elegance of shape of which the human form is capable. Her hair was black, though, according to the fashion of that age, she frequently wore borrowed locks, and of different colours. Her eyes were a dark grey, her complexion was exquisitely fine, and her hands and arms remarkably delicate, both as to shape and colour. Her stature was of a height that rose to the majestic. She danced, she walked, and rode with equal grace. Her taste for music was just, and she both sung and played upon the lute with uncommon skill. Towards the end of her life she began to

WILLIAM ROBERTSON.

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mand, as rendered him equal in reputation and success to the most able generals of the age. But Charles possessed in the most eminent degree the science which is of greatest importance to a monarch, that of knowing men, and of adapting their talents to the various departments which he allotted to them Fom the death of Chievres to the end of his reign, he employed no general in the field, no minister in the cabinet, no ambassador to a foreign court, no governor of a province, whose abilities were inadequate to the trust which he reposed in them.

Almost all

As Charles was the first prince of his age in rank and dignity, the part which he acted. whether we consider the variety, or the success of his undertaking, was the most Though destitute of that bewitching affaconspicuous. It is from an attentive obser- bility of manner which gained Francis the vation to his conduct, not from the exaghearts of all who approached his person, he gerated praises of the Spanish historians, or was no stranger to the virtues which secured the undistinguishing censure of the French, fidelity and attachment. He placed unthat a just idea of Charles's genius and abili- bounded confidence in his generals; he reties is to be collected. He possessed quali-warded their services with munificence; he ties so peculiar, as strongly mark his char- neither envied their fame, nor discovered acter, and not only distinguish him from the any jealousy of their power. princes who were his contemporaries, but the generals who conducted his armies may account for that superiority over them which be placed on a level with those illustrious he so long maintained. In forming his personages who have attained the highest schemes he was, by nature as well as by eminence of military glory: and his advanhabit, cautious and considerate. Born with tages over his rivals are to be ascribed so talents which unfolded themselves slowly, manifestly to the superior abilities of the and were late in attaining maturity, he was commanders whom he set in opposition to accustomed to ponder every subject that de- them, that this might seem to detract, in some degree, from his own merit, if the talent of discovering and employing such instruments were not the most undoubted proof of his capacity for government.

manded his consideration with a careful and

deliberate attention. He bent the whole force of his mind towards it, and dwelling upon it with serious application, undiverted by pleasure, and hardly relaxed by any amusement, he revolved it in silence in his own breast: he then communicated the matter to his ministers; and after hearing their opinions took his resolution with a decisive firmness which seldom follows such slow consultations. In consequence of this, Charles's measures, instead of resembling the desultory and irregular sallies of Henry VIII., or Francis I., had the appearance of a consistent system, in which all the parts were arranged, the effects were foreseen, and the accidents were provided for. His promptitude in execution was no less remarkable than his patience in deliberation. He consulted with phlegm, but he acted with vigour; and did not discover greater sagacity in his choice of the measures which it was proper to pursue, than fertility of genius in finding out the means for rendering his pursuit of them successful. Though he had naturally so little of the martial turn that during the most ardent and bustling period of life he remained in the cabinet inactive, yet when he chose at length to appear at the head of his armies, his mind was so formed for vigorous exertions in every direction, that he acquired such knowledge in the art of war, and such talents for com

There were, nevertheless, defects in his political character which must considerably abate the admiration due to his extraordinary talents. Charles's ambition was insatiable; and though there seems to be no foundation for an opinion prevalent in his own age, that he had formed the chimerical project of establishing an universal monarchy in Europe, it is certain that his desire of being distinguished as a conqueror involved him in continual wars, which exhausted and oppressed his subjects, and left him little leisure for giving attention to the interior police and improvement of his kingdoms, the great objects of every prince who makes the happiness of his people the end of his government.

History of the Reign of the Emperor
Charles V.

CHARACTER OF MARTIN LUTHER.

As he [Luther] was raised up by Providence to be the author of one of the greatest and most interesting revolutions recorded in history, there is not any person, perhaps, whose character has been drawn with such opposite colours. In his own age, one party, struck with horror and inflamed with rage, when they saw with what a daring hand he

overturned everything which they held to be sacred, or valued as beneficial, imputed to him not only all the defects and vices of a man, but the qualities of a demon. The other, warmed with the admiration and gratitude which they thought he merited as the restorer of light and liberty to the Christian church, ascribed to him perfections above the condition of humanity, and viewed all his actions with a veneration bordering on that which should be paid only to those who are guided by the immediate inspiration of heaven. It is his own conduct, not the undistinguishing censure or the exaggerated praise of his contemporaries, that ought to regulate the opinions of the present age concerning him. Zeal for what he regarded as truth, undaunted intrepidity to maintain his own system, abilities, both natural and acquired, to defend his principles, and unwearied industry in propagating them, are virtues which shine so conspicuously in every part of his behaviour, that even his enemies must allow him to have possessed them in an eminent degree. To these may be added, with equal justice, such purity and even austerity of manners as became one who assumed the character of a reformer; such sanctity of life as suited the doctrine which he delivered; and such perfect disinterestedness as affords no slight presumption of his sincerity. Superior to all selfish considerations, a stranger to the elegancies of life, and despising its pleasures, he left the honours and emoluments of the church to his disciples, remaining satisfied himself in his original state of professor in the university, and pastor of the town of Wittemberg, with the moderate appointments annexed to these offices. His extraordinary qualities were alloyed with no inconsiderable mixture of human frailty and human passions. These, however, were of such a nature that they cannot be imputed to malevolence or corruption of heart, but seem to have taken their rise from the same source with many of his virtues. His mind, forcible and vehement in all its operations, roused by great objects, or agitated by violent passions, broke out, on many occasions, with an impetuosity which astonishes men of feebler spirits, or such as are placed in a more tranquil situation. By carrying some praiseworthy dispositions to excess, he bordered sometimes on what was culpable, and was often betrayed into actions which exposed him to censure. His confidence that his own opinions were well-founded, approached to arrogance; his courage in asserting them, to rashness; his firmness in adhering to them, to obstinacy; and his zeal in confuting his

adversaries, to rage and scurrility. Accus tomed himself to consider everything as subordinate to truth, he expected the same deference for it from other men; and without making any allowances for their timidity or prejudices, he poured forth against such as disappointed him in this particular a torrent of invective mingled with contempt. Regardless of any distinction of rank or character when his doctrines were attacked, he chastised all his adversaries indiscrimi nately with the same rough hand: neither the royal dignity of Henry VIII., nor the eminent learning and abilities of Erasmus, screened them from the same gross abuse with which he treated Tetzel or Eccius.

But these indecencies of which Luther was guilty must not be imputed wholly to the violence of his temper. They ought to be charged in part on the manners of the age. Among a rude people, unacquainted with those maxims which, by putting continual restraint on the passions of individuals, have polished society and rendered it agreeable, disputes of every kind were managed with heat, and strong emotions were uttered in their natural language without reserve or delicacy. At the same time the works of learned men were all composed in Latin, and they were not only authorized, by the example of eminent writers in that language, to use their antagonists with the most illiberal scurrility, but in a dead tongue, indecencies of every kind appear less shocking than in a living language, whose idioms and phrases seem gross, because they are familiar.

In passing judgment upon the characters of men, we ought to try them by the principles and maxims of their own age, not by those of another: for although virtue and vice are at all times the same, manners and customs vary continually. Some parts of Luther's behaviour which appear to us most culpable, gave no disgust to his contemporaries. It was even by some of those qualities which we are now apt to blame, that he was fitted for accomplishing the great work which he undertook. To rouse mankind, when sunk in ignorance or superstition, and to encounter the rage of bigotry armed with power, required the utmost vehemence of zeal, as well as a temper daring to excess. A gentle call would neither have reached nor excited those to whom it was addressed. A spirit more amiable but less vigorous than Luther's would have shrunk back from the dangers which he braved and surmounted.

History of the Reign of the Emperor
Charles V.

TOBIAS GEORGE SMOLLETT.

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born in Dumbartonshire, Scotland, 1721, died at Leghorn, Italy, 1771, was the author of many works, of which the following are the best known: The Adventures of Roderick Random, Lond., 1748, 2 vols. 12mo; The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, 1751, 4 vols. 12mo; The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom, 1752, 2 vols. 12mo; Don Quixote, Translated from the Spanish, 1755, | 2 vols. 4to; A Compendium of Authentic and Entertaining Voyages, 1757, 7 vols. 12mo; A Compleat History of England to 1748, 1757-1758, 4 vols. 4to; The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves, 1762, 2 vols. 12mo; Gil Blas, Translated from the French of Le Sage, 1761, 4 vols. 12mo;, Travels through France and Italy, 1766, 2 vols. Svo; The History and Adventures of an Atom, 1749 (really 1769), 2 vols. 12mo; The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker, 1771, 2 vols. 12mo; The Adventures of Telemachus, Translated from the French of Fénelon, 1776, 2 vols. 12mo. As a poet he is best known by his Tears of Scotland, 1746. His Plays and Poems, with Memoirs, 1777, 8vo. Of the collective editions of his Works we notice that of T. Roscoe, Lond., 1840, etc., med. 8vo, and Nimmo's, Edin., 1869, r. 8vo.

"Smollett seems to have had more touch of

romance than Fielding, but not so profound and intuitive a knowledge of humanity's hidden treasures. There is nothing in his works comparable to Parson Adams; but then, on the other hand, Fielding has not anything of the kind equal to Strap. Partridge is dry and hard, compared with this poor barber boy, with his generous overflow. ings of affection. Roderick Random, indeed, with its varied delineation of life, is almost a romance. Its hero is worthy of its name."-SIR T. N. TALFOURD: New Month. Mag., and in his Crit. and Miscell. Writings.

"Smollett inherited from nature a strong sense of ridicule, a great fund of original humour, and a happy versatility of talent, by which he could accommodate his style to almost every species of writing. He could adopt, alternately, the solemn, the lively, the sarcastic, the burlesque, and the vulgar. To these qualifications he joined an inventive genius and a vigorous imagination."LORD WOODHOUSLEE (TYTLER): Essay on the Principles of Translation.

FEAST IN THE MANNER OF THE ANCIENTS.

Our young gentleman [Peregrine Pickle], by his insinuating behaviour, acquired the full confidence of the doctor, who invited him to an entertainment, which he intended to prepare in the manner of the ancients. Pickle, struck with this idea, eagerly embraced the proposal, which he honoured

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with many encomiums, as a plan in all respects worthy of his genius and apprehension; and the day was appointed at some distance of time, that the treater might have leisure to compose certain pickles and confections which were not to be found among the culinary preparations of these degenerate days.

With a view of rendering the physician's taste more conspicuous, and extracting from it the more diversion, Peregrine proposed that some foreigners should partake of the banquet; and the task being left to his care and discretion, he actually bespoke the company of a French marquis, an Italian count, and a German baron, whom he knew to bo egregious coxcombs, and therefore more likely to enhance the joy of the entertain

ment.

The mutual compliments that passed on this occasion were scarce finished when a servant, coming into the room, announced dinner; and the entertainer led the way into another apartment; where they found a long table, or rather two boards joined together, and furnished with a variety of dishes, the steams of which had such evident effect upon the nerves of the company that the marquis made frightful grimaces, under pretence of taking snuff; the Italian's eyes watered, the German's visage underwent several distortions of feature; our hero found means to exclude the odour from his sense of smelling by breathing only through his mouth; and the poor painter, running into another room, plugged his nostrils with tobacco. The doctor himself, who was the only person then present whose organs were not discomposed, pointing to a couple of couches placed on each side of the table, told his guests that he was sorry he could not procure the exact triclinia of the ancients, which were somewhat different from these conveniences, and desired they would have the goodness to repose themselves without ceremony, each in his respective couchette, while he and his friend Mr. Pallet would

place themselves upright at the ends, that they might have the pleasure of serving those that lay along. This disposition, of which the strangers had no previous idea, disconcerted and perplexed them in a most ridiculous manner; the marquis and baron stood bowing to each other on pretence of disputing the lower seat, but, in reality, with a view of profiting by the example of each other; for neither of them understood the manner in which they were to loll; and Peregrine, who enjoyed their confusion, handed the count to the other side, where, with the most mischievous politeness, he insisted upon his taking possession of the upper place.

In this disagreeable and ludicrous suspense, they continued acting a pantomime of gesticulations, until the doctor earnestly entreated them to waive all compliment and form, lest the dinner should be spoiled be- | fore the ceremonial could be adjusted. Thus conjured, Peregrine took the lower couch on the left-hand side, laying himself, gently down, with his face towards the table. The marquis in imitation of this pattern (though he would have much rather fasted three days than run the risk of discomposing his dress by such an attitude), stretched himself upon the opposite place, reclining upon his elbow in a most painful and awkward situation, with his head raised above the end of the couch, that the economy of his hair might not suffer by the projection of his body. The Italian, being a thin, limber creature, planted himself next to Pickle, without sustaining any misfortune but that of his stocking being torn by a ragged nail of the seat, as he raised his legs on a level with the rest of his limbs. But the baron, who was neither so wieldly nor so supple in his joints as his companions, flounced himself down with such precipitation, that his feet, suddenly tilting up, came in furious contact with the head of the marquis, and demolished every curl in a twinkling, while his own skull, at the same instant, descended upon the side of his couch with such violence that his periwig was struck off, and the whole room filled with pulvilio.

The drollery of distress that attended this disaster entirely vanquished the affected gravity of our young gentleman, who was obliged to suppress his laughter by cramming his handkerchief in his mouth; for the bare-headed German asked pardon with such ridiculous confusion, and the marquis admitted his apology with such rueful complaisance, as were sufficient to awake the mirth of a Quietist.

This misfortune being repaired, as well as the circumstances of the occasion would permit, and every one settled according to the arrangement already described, the doctor graciously undertook to give some account of the dishes as they occurred, that the company might be directed in their choice; and with an air of infinite satisfaction thus began: "This here, gentlemen, is a boiled goose, served up in a sauce composed of pepper, lovage, coriander, mint, rue, anchovies, and oil. I wish, for your sakes, gentlemen, it was one of the geese of Ferrara, so much celebrated among the ancients for the magnitude of their livers, one of which is said to have weighed two pounds; with this food, exquisite as it was, did the tyrant Heliogabalus regale his hounds. But I beg pardon, I had almost forgot the soup, which I hear is so necessary

an article at all tables in France. At each end there are dishes of the salacacabia of the Romans: one is made of parsley, pennyroyal, cheese, pine-tops, honey, vinegar, brine, eggs, cucumbers, onions, and henlivers: the other is much the same as the soup-maigre of this country. Then there is a loin of boiled veal with fennel and caraway seed, on a pottage composed of pickle, oil, honey, and flour, and a curious hashis of the lights, liver, and blood of a hare, together with a dish of roasted pigeons. Monsieur le Baron, shall I help you to a plate of this soup?" The German, who did not at all disapprove of the ingredients, assented to the proposal, and seemed to relish the composition; while the marquis, being asked by the painter which of the silly-kickabys he chose, was, in consequence of his desire, accommodated with a portion of the soup-maigre; and the count, in lieu of spoon-meat, of which he said he was no great admirer, supplied himself with a pigeon, therein conforming to the choice of our young gentleman, whose example he determined to follow through the whole courso of the entertainment.

The Frenchman having swallowed the first spoonful, made a full pause: his throat swelled as if an egg had stuck in his gullet, his eyes rolled, and his mouth underwent a series of involuntary contractions and dilatations. Pallet, who looked steadfastly at this connoisseur, with a view of consulting his taste before he himself would venture upon the soup, began to be disturbed at these emotions, and observed, with some concern, that the poor gentleman seemed to be going into a fit; when Peregrine assured him that these were symptoms of ecstacy, and, for further confirmation, asked the marquis how he found the soup. It was with infinite difficulty that his complaisance could so far master his disgust as to enable him to answer, 66 Altogether excellent, upon my honour!" And the painter being certified of his approbation, lifted the spoon to his mouth without scruple; but far from justifying the eulogium of his taster, when this precious composition diffused itself upon his palate, he seemed to be deprived of all sense and motion, and sat like the leaden statue of some river god, with the liquor flowing out at both sides of the mouth.

The doctor, alarmed at this indecent phenomenon, earnestly inquired into the cause of it; and when Pallet recovered his recollection, and swore that he would rather swallow porridge made of burning brimstone than such an infernal mess as that which he had tasted, the physician, in his own vindication, assured the company that, except the usual ingredients, he had mixed nothing in

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