we fhall find the fovereigns of it in general, much better than thofe of the remote ages.

"Now-a-days, if it is in contemplation to impofe fome new burthen on the fubject, or to wage war with a neighbouring state, divines and lawyers are confulted upon the justice and propriety of the meafure; an enquiry is made, how the laws ftand with refpect to the fubject matter in question, and the archives and records are examined and turned over; and although it often happens, that from the ambitious adulation of the people confulted, a right is attributed to their prince, which in reality does not belong to him, their malice does not impeach his good faith. In former times, this was not the cafe. If a prince was difpofed to trample on the rights of his fubjects, or to fubdue his neighbours, he confulted nobody, nor made any other enquiry or examination, than whether he had forceand power fufficient to accomplish what he meditated; and the question was always decided, by his ability or inability to execute what he defigned. In times not very distant from our own, and even in the most polished kingdoms, where the true religion has humanized people's minds, when the perfon invaded by a power ful prince his neighbour, has reprefented to him, that his pretenfions to what he poffeffes are juft and legal; the invader has laughed at the representation, and anfwered favagely, in the language that was then become proverbial in the mouths of kings and minifters of state, that the rights of princes were not to be determined by old rolls of parchments, but by burnished arms.

"The further our memories carry us back through the feries of past times, we find this evil the greater; and from thence proceeds that ill opinion, which in early ages was generally entertained of kings. The Romans were ftruck with amazement, to find the Capadocians, upon their offering to make their country a free republic, inftantly request, that they would permit them to remain under kingly government; which amazement, was occafioned by their confidering in a rigorous or ftrict fenfe, that mode of rule, as a mark or type of flavery. Cato faid, this animal which is called a king, is a great devourer of human flesh. Hoc animal rex carnivorum eft; and Flavius Vopifcus, tells us of a Roman buffoon, who pleasantly and keenly remarked, that the effigies of all the good kings that had ever been known in the world, might be carved on a ring. Plato in his Georgiac dialogue, reprefents kings as appearing before Rhadamanthus in hell, loaded for the most part with injuftices, perjuries and other wickedness. Ariftotle, in his third book of politics, recognizes as tyrannical, the exercife of the regal power, by all, or nearly all, the Afiatic princes; and Livy fays, that the moft fagacious and penetrating Hannibal, never confded in the promifes of kings: fidei regum nihil fantè confifus; a legate of the Rhodians alfo, according to the faid Livy, obferved, that kings were always defirous of making flaves of their fubjects.

Thus we have the greatest reafon to conclude, that it was a common practice with the princes of those times, to pay no regard to

any

any law, whenever an opportunity offered of augmenting their authority.

"But we should not conclnde that this was all done by main force, without the intervention of art or ftratagem. The fame contrivances, the fame artifices, which we read of in Machiavel, and which have been practifed by the most crafty tyrants of these latter ages, were exerted in the early ones."

Of this, Father Feyjoo adduces numerous inftances; obferving, that almoft all the famous maxims, published by the Florentine, in his book Il Principe, are to be found in the fifth book of Ariftotle's politics.

"But," fays he, "let the truth prevail. I say the fame both of Ariftotle and Machiavel, which is, that neither of them were the inventors of systems of perverfe policy; for that they copied them, from the actions of the kings of Perfia and Egypt; from the Archelaus's and Philips's of Macedon; from the Phalaris's, the Agathocles's the Hirones's, and Dionifius's of Sicily; from the Periandros's, from the Pififtratos's, and other political pests of Greece."

The attentive reader will have observed a number of mean and low expreffions, in the English verfion of these essays, which deferve a more elegant, though perhaps not a more faithful tranflation..

N.

The Panegyric of Voltaire, written by the King of Prussia, and read at an extraordinary Meeting of the Academy of Sciences of Belles Lettres, of Berlin, 26th of November, 1778. 8vo. Is. 6d. Murray.

Had the tranflator of this PANEGYRIC on VOLTAIRE (which we suppose to have been written in French) been a Reviewer by profeffion, he could not have given a more reviewer-like account of it than he has done in his preface. We fhall take the liberty, therefore, of quoting it, as containing also a very proper definition of panegyric in general.

"Voltaire, who celebrated many kings, is himself celebrated by a king. It is the province of poets to write the panegyric of princes, but Voltaire is perhaps the first poet whose panegyric is profeffedly written by a fovereign. The following piece was compofed after the king of Pruffia had begun to withdraw his troops from Silefia, and before he returned to take up his winter quarters in that country. If it is remarkable that the king of Pruffia should write the panegyric of Voltaire, it is still more remarkable that he hould undertake this task amidst the cares, the fatigues, and the disappointments

difappointments of the field. But the fingular character of that philofophical hero renders what would appear moft extraordinary in the conduit of other men, natural and familiar with him.

"In order to eftimate the merit of the panegyric, it is neceffary to take into confideration not only the dignity of the author, and the peculiar circumftances in which he wrote, but the nature,, object, and aim of this fpecies of compofition.

Without bidding open defiance to the evidence of historic truth, the panegyrift is entitled to borrow all the colours of painting, and to employ the whole power of eloquence, to magnify the character of the hero who is the object of his praife. To thofe actions which principally tend to elevate and adorn it, he is to give prominence and relief; while he throws whatever is blameable or defective into the fhade of obfcurity. This is the great rule of pa negyric, as practifed by its inventors, the Greeks; and fuch is the nature of the encomium which their imitator Pliny bestows on his admired Trajan. Whatever is great, elevated, and noble; whatever is proper to excite a mixed paffion of furprize and approbation, by rifing fuperior to the ordinary conduct and character of men, may with propriety be introduced into a panegyric. Yet the mob of mankind, dazzled with the fplendor of external circumftances, and prone to admire what is elevated in rank and station; rather than what is eminent in abilities and virtue, feem to think that princes, warriors, and ftatefmen, are alone worthy to become the fubject of popular applaufe. With this prejudice his Pruffian majefty is obliged to contend; and it is beautiful to hear a prince, born in a country where the phantom of nobility, and the vain decoration of empty titles, are regarded with more refpectful ftupidity than in any other kingdom of Europe, raile his voice against the prevailing errors of his nation, and reinftate perfonal merit and abilities in that rank, which they are justly entitled to maintain. He proves that the fertility of M. Voltaire's genius, and his unexampled fuccefs in all the various kinds of literary compofition, render him truly deferving of univerfal admiration; while his fuccefsful ftand against that worft fpecies of tyranny, which would enflave the heart, the affections, the minds of men, entitle him to the gratitude of the whole human race. To establish thefe points, his majefty gives an analy fis of the principal works of his favourite author, and defcribes thofe tranfactions of his life, by which he added luftre to his fpeculative principles, and defended the injured caufe of fuffering humanity. The hiftory of the family of Calas and of Syrvins, makes a diftinguifhed figure; and the amiable beneficence of indulgent philofophy, is contrafted with the destructive rigour of gloomy fuperftition. With fingular propriety the royal author throws a veil over the more doubtful or licencious writings of the philofopher of Ferney. He affirms that Voltaire was convinced of the great truths of natural religion; and too intimately perfuaded of the authenticity of revealed, to imagine that the vain doubts and reafonings of a few fpeculative men, could counteract the effect of divine infpirations. The aim of his majesty throughout,

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out, is to deftroy the opinion generally entertained of the impiety of Voltaire, and to fhew that he explained the philofophy of, Epicurus, Hobbes, and Bolingbroke, without adopting their tenets, He goes ftill farther; and undertakes to prove, that the life and conduct of this celebrated writer, was, generally governed by the amiable maxims, the humanity, candour, and divine charity of the gofpel. The attempt is worthy of our terious attention; and proves that, even in the opinion of the king of Pruffia, a difrefpect for Christianity can never be employed as a topic of panegyric."

As to the panegyric itself, it is well enough, confidered as the production of a royal pen; for, with all the respect we owe to his majefty of Pruffia, he may be told, as Alexander the Great was told, ages ago, there is no royal road to the arts and fciences. We muft frankly own, indeed, we conceive we fhould have read a panegyric on the king of Pruffia, written by Voltaire, with greater pleafure than we have read the panegyric on Voltaire written by the king of Pruffia. Not that this performance, confidered as a profeffed panegyric, is contemptible. It is far from it, although we cannot help thinking fome of the encomiaft's remarks depreciating of the merit it avowedly means to enhance. In this following paffage, for inftance, the fuccefs of Voltaire's writings is attributed to a circumstance, by no means flattering to his genius.

Voltaire was diftinguifhed in his youth by that poetical vein, which made him known to Madam Rupelmonde. This celebrated lady, charmed with the vivacity and genius of the young poet, introduced him to the best focieties of Paris. Formed in the great world, his taste acquired that nice delicacy and polifhed urbanity, which have never been attained by men merely learned and reclufe, who are too far removed from the fight of good company to know what will be agreeable to it. It is principally to the ton which Voltaire received in these focieties, that we ought to afcribe the beautiful varnish fpread over his works, to which they owe their fuccefs."

It is no great compliment, we fay, to the memory of Voltaire, to impute the fuccefs of his works to an external court-varnish rather than to their intrinfic merit. The former may give, indeed, a momentary brilliancy, a transitory eclat to a work of genius, but the latter only will enfure its fuccefs to pofterity. As there is little information to be gathered from this difcourfe, refpecting the celebrated perfonage, that is the fubject of it, we fhall juft cite the best part of his character, from the conclufion of it; with an anecdote refpecting his death, not very generally known.

"M. de Voltaire paffed his life amidst the perfecution of those who envied, and the applaufe of those who admired his greatness. While

While the invectives of the former were unable to humble his mind, the approbation of the latter did not give him too high an opinion of himself. He was fatisfied with enlightening the world, and with infpiring, by his writings, the love of learning and humanity. His morality confifted not merely in delivering good precepts, but in fetting a good example. His courage affifted the unhappy family of Calas; he pleaded the caufe of the Syrvens, and plucked them from the barbarous hands of their judges; he would have raised from the dead the chevalier La Bare, had he poffeffed the power of working miracles. How delightful is it that a philofopher, from the centre of his retreat, should exalt his voice, and become the organ of humanity, in order to compel the judges of men to fufpend their unjuft decrees? This fingle ftroke in the character of Voltaire, is fufficient to entitle him to a place among the fmall number of the real benefactors of men. Philofophy and religion unite their strength in recommending the cause of virtue. Who then acted most like a Christian, the magiftrate who cruelly banished a family from their 'country, or the philofopher who protected and received them? the judge who employed the fword of the law to affaffinate an idle and unthinking youth, or the fage who wished to fave the life of a young man, and to correct his extravagance: the murderer of Calas, or the protector of a forlorn family? This, gentlemen, will ever render the memory of Voltaire dear to all who are endowed with a feeling heart, or have been born with bowels of compaffion. How precious foever may be the qualities of wit, fancy, genius, and knowledge, thofe prefents of which nature is fo rarely lavish; they can never be preferred to acts of beneficence and humanity. We admire the first, but we bless and venerate the fecond.

"Whatever uneafinefs I feel, gentlemen, in feparating myself for ever from Voltaire, the moment approaches when I must recall the grief occafioned by his death. We left him in his quiet retirement of Ferney. His affairs induced him to undertake a journey to Paris, where he expected to arrive in time to fave the wreck of his fortune from a bankruptcy in which he was involved. He wifhed not to appear in the capital of his native country without carrying with him a prefent. His time, continually divided between philosophy and the belles lettres, furnished him with a variety of performances, of which he always kept a referve. He had lately finished a new tragedy, entitled Irene, and wished to produce it on the theatre of Paris. It was his conftant practice to fubject his pieces to the fevereft criticifm before he expofed them in public; and, agreeable to this principle, he confulted men of taste of his acquaintance concerning his new tragedy, facrificing a vain confidence to the defire of rendering his labours worthy of pofterity. Docile to the enlightened advices of his friends, he fet himself with ardour to correct his piece, and employed many nights in this laborious occupation. Whether it was to divert fleep, or to restore the vigour of his fenfes, he prescribed to himself an immoderate quantity of coffee; fifty dishes a day fcarcely fatisfied his defire of this beverage, which, agitating his blood, produced a violent in

flamation,