years, was acquainted with no other science; but that of military murder, and diplomatic intrigue; and which, having arrived at the completion of her ambitious wifh es, confoled the world for all the miferies he had occafioned, by adopting the arts of the conquer ed nations, and establishing the age of Auguftus, next in excellence to that of Pericles. She drew, however, from Athens almost all her brightest ornaments, except Horace and Tacitus.

We may fee fome traces of an enlightened combination of men among the Arabian califs, during the reign of Charlemagne, and Aaron Rafchild, which for a fhort time illuminated the horizon of fcience history has reprefented the revival of letters in the middle age, under the tutelary guardianship of the house of Medici, as more permanent; but it was not till the commencement of the immortal age of Louis the XIVth, that it received true stability,-an age ornamented by the genius of Corneille, Mollière, and Fenelon, and capable, by its luftre, of obfcuring even the crimes of Richelieu. A defcription of the various focieties of literary men, from the firft ages, to the inftitution of thofe original academies, after which all thofe of modern Europe feem modelled, that is to fay, the Royal Society of London, and the French Academy, cannot be given but in the aggregate.

Here the hiftory of literature prefents one regular process of the human mind, advancing towards perfection; and requires to be treated in that kind of comprehenfive manner, which unites general inquiry with the minutest detail.

M

Our three academies enter ef fentially into this plan and as it is not my wifh to flatter, but to fpeak truth and to be useful, I fhall, in the course of this work, investigate both the falfe and legitimate fruit, which this fcientific tree of good and evil has produced. That which retrieves the honour of letters most is, that our academies conftantly execute with energy the important concerns government has committed to their care; and ftruggle, but with that flow circumfpection which becomes their dignity, against those anti-republicans who would with to degrade them therefore the good which they have done belongs to them as a body; and the evil to which they have given origin, is attributable only to that fceptre of iron which prefided over their infancy.

After having examined the litetary and philofophical focieties of Europe with the double torch of criticifm and liberality, I shall difcufs the merits of the Institute itfelf; I shall bring into full difplay the great advantages refulting to government, from the union round. one focus, of the scattered members of the three academies; and fhall venture, with a philofophical boldness, to hint at thofe regulations, which are still wanting to that celebrated body, to raise it to its proper eminence, and to make its members lefs the reprefentative of a literary people, than of the general republic of letters.

This treatife on the literary focieties of all ages and all nations, fo extended in its original intention, yet neceffarily confined in its execution, cannot be confidered in any other light but as the co

lonnade

lonnade of a grand edifice, which it is my intention to rear to the honour of literature.

The great work, of which this introduction may be confidered only as an outline, is the hiftory of literature fince that epocha, when the clouds which feemed to hang over it began to difperfe, that is, fince the days of Marcus Aurelius to the beginning of the French Republic.

Such a work would be unworthy the Institute and all fucceeding ages, unless it embraced these two diftinct objects: the rational hiftory of literature, and that of literary men.

The hiftory of literature, like a table of contents, must be looked upon as an aggregate: it must prefent at one glance that part of the world which it illuminates, and that which it configns to darkness and ftupidity. It is the cloudy pillar of Mofes-half-enlightened; which conducted by its bright fide the Ifraelitish army through the Red Sea, and fcattered darknefs round the hoft of Pharaoh.

The hiftory of literary men is more fimple; it only requires a judicious felection of facts, refined by criticifin, and tied together by the invifible bond of method: facts are the foul of necrology; they prevent the hiftory of art from being loft in the vortex of oratorical declamation, and, what is much more dangerous, faves it from the corruption and degeneracy of infipid panegyric.

The idea of fetting off with the hiftory of literature and of the literati, is perhaps new. Brucker, Gouget, Condorcet, &c. have treated of the firft; Bayle, and a crowd of encyclopædian authors

have only attempted at the fecond: in the mean time it is very evident, that every philofophical intention goes unanfwered, unless the history of art is illuminated by that of the artift-unlefs we give to the fabric of literature an architectural individuality, as well as totality,

It is poflible that the difficulty of uniting thefe two objects, without injury from their interference with each other, prevented those celebrated men who have written before me, from proceeding in the way I propofe; by doing which, they would have obviated the neceffity of my endeavours. Robertfon has preceded his indifferent Life of Charles the Fifth by a pompous introduction, in which he gives an outline of our laws and manners, but particularly of our literature. If one had proposed to him, from time to time to relieve our eyes from the contenplation of this brilliant mafs of hiftory, by placing before us thofe very literati who ferve as the elements of his original ideas, it is moft likely he would have refufed to defcend from his elevated walk to the petit-details of minute necrology.

But I fhould have anfwered Robertfon: It is not defcending, to write in a philofophical manner the lives of men of letters, and to expofe to public view thofe documents by which they decide on the merits of any particular enlightened age. I might have added, that the fublime hiftorian who wrote the reigns of Tiberius and Nero, thought it no degradation to repofe his pencil on the Life of Agricola, and would have thought, perhaps, the compromife with glory lefs, to have become the biogra

pher

pher of Tibullus, of Terence, or of Virgil.

I am perfuaded, the prevailing motive which deters philofophers from undertaking that grand arrangement of history which I propofe, is that they think, the first part of the hiftory of literature would be embarraffed in its execution, by the acceffory part, which is a philofophical account of the innumerable phalanx of men of letters.

But this pretext, at the bottom is it not illufory? Is there not truly a principal and fecondary part in the philofophic work, whofe plan I trace? Each object, little or great, does it not contribute to the general harmony of the whole, if its fituation is properly difpofed of, and its proportions natural?

I grant there are fome immenfe plans which feem to exclude the union I contend for. Bayle, for example, the philofopher, both from his genius and perfeverance beft calculated to undertake the hiftory of literature and literary men, in extending his Lives to four volumes in folio, has been prevented by his plan, from combining with his feparate details a wide and connected view of the whole. This general view, fpringing naturally from its conftituent parts, ought to be diftinguished by its precifion; it is a focus of rays, which lofes its activity in proportion as the sphere of its influence is extended. Befides, what unity can there be in the work of Bayle, if his lives of celebrated and obfcure characters form four

folio volumes, and the general philofophical furvey, defigned to form a key to the whole collection, fhould find itself reduced to the extent only of thirty pages?

But let us reduce to juft proportion the coloffus, more dazzling in appearance than valuable in reality, of this famous dictionary, andthe problem will be easily solved. It may be made to appear, that Bayle himself had the temerity to fupprefs articles of geography and other circumftances which did not immediately anfwer his purpose ; that he paffed over a crowd of theologians, or at leaft jumbled their obfcure names together with a careless hand; that he fpoiled the fimplicity of his text by the oftentatious erudition of his notes, and fo far reduced the edifice, that its foundations feemed to want a fuperftracture.

The confirmation of the fyftem I propofe, refults from thefe obfervations, that a philofophical difplay of literature cannot exift without a feries of generating ideas, which may vivify the detached hiftories of literary men; and that it is not impoffible to give to all parts of this grand work the proportions of nature, which never fuffers the general effect of the whole to be injured by the too great prominency of the compo nent parts.

Now the foundations are laid, you may fee at what period of hiftory the epocha fhould commence, which unites the general furvey of literature with the individual portraits of literary men. [To be continued.]

enjoy the innocent luxury of domeftic happinefs, and temperate festivity.

By way of return to my text; thefe luxuries, though neither dear bought," nor" far fetch. ed," are "fit for ladies," and gentlemen, fuch as I wish to find on the lift of my readers.

Thus much for the object of my humble effays, and the defcription of people to whom they are addreffed. Something remains to be faid on the manner. In the first place, let the author tell thee, unfashionable reader, (for fuch thou art if thou haft read Common Senfe in Difbabille,) that the ftyle and manner of thofe numbers, which appeared two or three years fince in the Farmer's Museum, will be adhered to in fucceeding ones, In thefe it was his object, to cultivate domestic virtue. In future, he will occafionally use his endeavors to prevent the importation of foreign vices and folly, He has drawn the fame conclufion, refpecting our most contagious diforders, that is generally received of the yellow fever-that it comes from abroad. In his efforts, he will adhere to a fitter maxim, which, if it have not the fanction of age, has that of truth "An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of remedy."

Having fome predilection for his own country, and not a few of thofe wild notions peculiar to knights errant of the order of the pen, he has for feveral years adopt ed the hypothefis that ideas are not entirely exotic to our foil; and that thofe, which spring up in an Anglo American's mind, are as robust and regular featured as though reared beyond the atlantic,

and tranfplanted to this country, in all the gaudy fplendor of hot preffes, and fuperfine vellum.

And, what will render him more abfurd with many, his prejudice and uncouth tafte are fo deeply rooted, that he chooses to fee thefe ideas in the fimple unaffected diction, in preference to the fine drapery of modern phrafeology.

"A dear bought, and far fetch. ed" attire "is fit for ladies," and gentlemen on certain occasions. A profufion of finery, difplayed without judgment, or tafte, efpecially in the ordinary business of the day, is ridiculous in either fex. The appearance of the floven himfelf is not more reprehenfible. A fimple, neat, ftyle of dress, for the fons and daughters of industry, is far preferable to either. fame remarks by an easy analogy, will apply to the drefs of thoughts, and how the author's taste, or perhaps the want of it.

In their application to ideas, it is his maxim that " dear bought and far fetched" ornaments, are fit only for thofe of the feminine clafs. Fine-fpun metaphors, highwrought expreflions, and all the ribbons, gauzes, and tinfel, of fine tafte, which crowd the modern writer's wardrobe, whether recommended by European extravagance, or imitated by American folly, he utterly discards.

His thoughts, reader, come before thee, on business. They are clothed accordingly. They are literally early rifers. The whole number that appear at once, are dreffed in half the time, that a more stylish young lady confumes in diftorting the graceful ornament with which nature has covered her head, into the imitation

of