ished were in some degree re-established by the formation of the institute: and M. Bitaubé was placed in the class of literature and fine arts; in which station he has read several dissertations on the first two books of Aristotle's Politics, on the government of Sparta, on Pindar, and some other subjects of ancient lite rature. A celebrated German poet (Goethe) had recently acquired great applause in his own country, by a poem in verse, consisting of nine cantos, to which latter he had (perhaps a little too ostentatiously) given the names of the nine muses. Hermann and Dorothea, the hero and heroine of the poem, are the son of an inn-keeper, and a young orphan-girl, whom the victories of the French army have forced, with the other inhabitants of their village, to flee from the left bank of the Rhine. M. Bitaubé, seduced by some imitations of the Homeric style and manners, became enthusiastic in praise of this poem; did not hesitate to honour it with the title of Epic, and to compare the author with Homer; and affirmed that he himself had found more difficulties to encounter in translating the German work, than in his Iliad and Odyssey. It will perhaps appear surprising that a critic so well acquainted with the beauties of these latter poems, should not have perceived that the simplicity of manners, and the almost domestic details, which they represent with so much truth and interest, would probably have had no charms for the Greeks, if Homer had employed his pen in recording only ordinary personages; and that those artless delineations which prove attractive in pastoral compositions, can only become pleasing in epics by the contrast between grandeur and simplicity, and by a consideration of the elevated characters whom the poet celebrates. Minerva may herself be allowed to bring forward her sparkling car, yoke her fiery Coursers with her divine hands, and give them their celestial pasture; and Achilles or Hector may perform the same offices: these details, instead of degrading the respective personages, derive a dignity from them. But if, instead of the car of war, the object presented to our fancy is a coach; instead of superb coursers, mere draught horses; and if the hero to wt.om they belong is only an inn-keeper or a peasant; will these details of rustic simplicity produce the same effect on the imagination and can we, without con founding all the distinctions, and violating the first principles, of taste, pretend to exalt to the rank of the epopee, and place on a level with the Iliad and the Eneid, a work which, both in its materials and its whole structure, is of so plebeian a class? It may certainly be believed that the principal charm of the German poem has been lost, in its prose translation into French; because such a subject requires the support of a poetical style: but whatever idea may be formed of the merit of the original, it will be difficult to think that M. Bitaubé's admiration of his author has not exceeded even the limits allowed to translators. On the new organisation of the institute, M. Bitaubé left the class of literature and the fine arts, for that of history and ancient literature, where he had the pleasure of meeting many who had been his fellow-associates of the old academy of belles-lettres; and he remained one of the most assiduous members of this class, till his death. Ever since his release from prison, every thing had seemed to concur to his happiness: he had recovered his estate, his friends, and his fortune; he had been included, without solicitation, among the men of letters who were first nominated members of the legion of honour; and no unfortunate event had disturbed the tranquillity of his peaceable and studious life. But his greatest calamity was reserved for his old age; when death deprived him of the respectable and be loved wife who was its support and consolation, and whose destiny had beea united to his above fifty years. It was easy to foresee that M. Bitaubé could not long survive this dreadful separation : in fact he sunk under its effects, rather than those of age and infirmity, on the 22nd of November, 1808; and within a single month the husband and wife were both consigned to the same tomb. MEMOIRS of the LIFE and WRITINGS of the late M. DE ST. CROIX. WILLIAM Emanuel Joseph Wilhelm de Clermont-Lodève de Sainte Croix, was born of a noble family, at Mormoiron, near Carpentras, in the Comtat Ve naissin, on the 5th of January, 1746. Both his descent, and the example of his immediate domestic connections, summoned him to a military career; and accordingly, as soon as he had finished his studies under the Jesuits at Grenoble, he set out at the beginning of his sixteenth year for the Windward Islands. with the commission of captain of cavalry, and in the additional character of aide-de-camp to his uncle the chevalier de Sainte Croix, who had distinguished himself by his defence of Belleisle, and was now appointed to the command of Martinico. This voyage, performed at an age when the mind receives its strongest impressions, gave young St. Croix rather a preference for the sea-service; but subsequent circumstances disposed of him otherwise: for, on his uncle's dying in the autumn of the same year, be returned to France with dispatches, and was attached to the regiment of Grenadiers of France till he should obtain a company. In this corps he served during six or seven years; and on quitting it, devoted himself entirely to study, his inclination for which had not been diminished by a way of life that frequently checked its indulgence. He had already, by attentively perusing and reflecting on the principal Greek and Latin writers, laid the foundation of that extensive and solid erudition which he afterward turned to so much advantage. History, in its whole diversified range, he chose for his particular province; and by daily applying the knowledge which he acquired to some determinate object, he matured his judgment, and became accustomed to bring into exercise the materials that reading supplied him with. By such means he avoided an error which is too common among men of learning; that of accumulating knowledge, without fertilising it by reflection; and of thus excluding letters from deriving any active benefit from a life dedicated to them. St. Croix was animated with but one sentiment, the love of truth. His attachment to study proceeded nei ther from a desire of signalizing himself; nor of procuring any of those advantages which sometimes attend the career of a man of letters, or shed a lustre round his declining years. A nobler and more generous passion was his ruling principle, the only one that can protect a man of genius against the illusions of a spirit of system; that spirit which changes light itself to darkness. The discovery of truth, especially in cases where it could be useful to mankind by removing their prejudices, rectifying their practical errors, or preserving them from dangers, was the reward to which alone he aspired, and which alone he thought worthy of a man of letters who felt the dignity of his vocation. This elevation of soul, united with an implicit trust in Providence and a perMONTHLY Mag. No. 197. fect resignation to its dispensations, enabled him afterward to support with tran quillity the most distressing vicissitudes. About the close of his twenty fifth year, St. Croix married mademoiselle d'Elbène; and this union proved necessarily happy, from having been founded on the most amiable qualities both of the mind and the heart. Its fruits were two sons and a daughter; one of the former bred to the military, and the other to the naval service: and all worthy of their parents, whose fondest hopes they gave every promise of fulfilling. The literary labours of St. Croix had in other respects opened flattering prospects to him. In the years 1772, 1773, and 1777, he was honoured with prizes by the academy of belles-lettres; and from the first of these dates was enrolled among the foreign associates of that illustrious society. His situation seemed thus to assure him of nearly all the bliss that a really wise man can hope or expect on earth, when suddenly be found himself involved in the furious excesses of the most violent commotions; and the finest years of his life, those which he might have expected to pass happily in the enjoyment of that respect which he had justly acquired, and in the contemplation of the virtues and felicity of those who were most dear to him, brought only an uninterrupted series of misfortunes. In the month of April 1791, he was obliged, with all his family, to leave his paternal mansion, and flee before the army of brigands that issued from Avignon; and when this first storm was succeeded by a short period of tranquillity that allowed him to return, it, was only to witness the havoc which the soldiers of Jourdan had committed there, and to undergo new sufferings. In the following year, being thrown into prison, where, after a confinement of but a few days, he saw the certain prospect of his execution, he found means to escape from Mormoiron on the 4th of October, and, by the help of a disguise, reached Paris. Madame de St. Croix, who was distinguished by her courage, fortitude, and presence of mind, had long exerted these qualities with success against the fury of the brigands, and had thus saved the life of her husband and children: she was, however, near falling a sacrifice to her zeal, for an order was issued to arrest her; but, at the moment when it was about to be carried into effect, on the 9th of March 1794, she escaped from Avignon, to which place she had retired after the flight of 2 H St. St. Croix himself, and repaired to the capital to join him. The ruffians, on seeing themselves deprived of their victim, exercised their vengeance on the property of the amiable man whose person was out of their reach: his estate was confiscated, his house given to a club, his library plundered, and his papers burnt. Still however St. Croix might have been accounted comparatively happy, if he had had nothing dearer to regret: but he was soon afterward bereft of both his sons; and now every object around him seemed only to remind him of his irreparable losses. After an interval of three years, when the deep wounds which he had thus received were beginning to heal, his daughter also was snatched from him; and this tore them all open again. Yet amidst these afflictions, being supported by the calm sunshine of the soul; and forgiving the earthly authors of his misfortunes, because he contemplated the events of life from a higher point of view; he never ceased to seek the consolation which he so much needed, in religion, in study, and in the company of some friends whom his genius, united with so much simplicity and goodness of heart, had inviolably attach ed to him. Accordingly, when attacked by a disorder which for several months appeared not to endanger his life but to threaten him with a painful old age, he saw these friends constantly around his bed, thinking themselves happy when they could make him for a moment forget his sufferings, or engage him in conversation respecting labours which he proposed to resume. But this hope proved deceitful; St. Croix died on the 12th of March, 1609: and the only consolation left to his friends, is that of knowing that his death has excited a general sympathy in their regret and affliction for his loss, among those who are capable of justly estimating talents and virtues. The number and variety of subjects discussed by St. Croix, will at once shew the extent of his acquirements. The propriety of his judgmcut is evinced on all occasions in his choice of topics for his researches, in the happiness with which he applied the stores of his erudition, in the connections which he established or pointed out between ancient and modern history, his critical exactness in balancing different testimonies, and the lessons which he deduces from the past. His genius often displays itself in sublime reflections, or sallies of the imagination, tending constantly to the promotion of virtue or the censure of vice. Indeed every one of his pages hears marks of the goodness of his heart and the nobleness of his sentiments. The following are short sketches of some of his principal productions: "Critical Examination of the Ancient Historians of Alexander the Great," published at Paris in 1775, in one volume quarto. This piece, to which the academy of inscriptions and belleslettres adjudged a prize in the year 1772, first shewed the learned world how much they had to expect from the talents of St. Croix. The celebrated author of the Bibliotheca Critica merely pronounced the opinion of all enlightened judges, in saying that it held out to our admiration a delicate judgment, experienced criticism, profound knowledge of geography and chronology, and an eloquence springing from generous sentiments and an elevated soul. The au thor himself was alone dissatisfied with it: he writes as follows, at the time when he was preparing the second edition for the press: "This is the least imperfect of my published works: it was the result of five years' labour; and had greater success than I expected, especially among foreigners. Yet what retrenchments, additions, alterations, and corrections, I shall be obliged to make in the new edition that I am preparing! In its present condition, I consider it only as a sketch which may be improved into a good work.” When this second edition appeared, in 1801, the author's prefatory observations, in which he declares his own opinion concerning the tract in its former state, and explains what he had now done to render it more deserving of the public applause, contain the following touches of an eloquence flowing from the heart: "Divine Providence having rescued me from the steel of assassins, and the other dangers of the revolution, by means of the courage and attachment of the person who is dearest to me, on whom the happiness of my life depends, and who mitigates all its bitterness, I have endeavoured to efface from my mind all painful recollections, in applying wholly and with ardour to my first labours." He confesses that this is rather a fresh work than a new edition; and in adopting this statement we may say, without fear of contradiction, that this fresh work does honour to the nation and age to which it belongs; that it offers a model which will always be difficult of imitation; and indisputably places its learned author ainong the great men who hold the first rank in historical science. M. Wyttenbach, a scholar worthy to decide on the merits of St. Croix, speaks of it as follows: "Though we should not always be of the opinion of the author, yet we may affirm that he has perfectly fulfilled all the conditions necessary for writing his tory well. Such is the richness of the materials employed, that they appear incapable of augmentation, and this single work may be considered as a repository of the history of Alexander: nothing that is known concerning that hero, is here omitted; places, dates, persons, facts, monuments of art, events, circumstances, writers, all are collected together. Nor is this the whole; for in this gallery of authors of all ages, who (as it were) pass under review, care has been taken to point out the particular merits and faults which characterise each age or epoch. This mass is animated by an intelligence that enlivens it, and that inspires every part with the principles of order, criticism, unity, a feeling of what is truly great and fine, a religious veneration for the duties of an historian, a nobleness of style, and an eloquence worthy of the thoughts and the sentiments." He adds: "May the amiable and learned writer, who is now preparing a new edition of his Inquiries concerning the Mysteries of Paganism, continue to enjoy, for the benefit of that undertaking, the love of study, the vigour of mind and body, the ease and tranquillity, and all the external advantages, which he has employed with so much benefit on the History of Alexander!" he abandoned, still however intending to answer some extravagant criticisms that had appeared on the subject of his publication; but even this purpose he did not execute. "On the Condition and Fate of the Colonies of the Ancient Nations:" printed at Philadelphia, 1779, in one volume octavo. The author, who was always severe in judging of his own works, speaks unfavourably of this, but adds: "There are however some remarks worth attention. Such, in particular, is that on the supposed article of the treaty concluded between Gelo and the Carthaginians, concerning human sacrifices, which Montesquieu affirms to do honour to the Syracusan tyrant; and of the same description are several reflections which have since been too fully justified by the French revolution." The learned Wyttenbach regards this tract, not as a desultory compilation, or a superficial survey, but as exhibiting an intimate and well-practised knowledge of ancient history, and a happy talent at properly applying it; and M. Boissy d'Anglas, who has so well appreciated the merits of St. Croix, says: "In this work his genius depicts the condition of the ancient colonies; he explains systematically the true principles which ought to regulate social institutions of this nature; and in shewing with clearness how their founders applied these, he affords both memorable examples, and judicious les sons for futurity.' "Observations on the Treaty of Peace concluded in 1763, between France and England:" Yverdon, 1782, one volume duodecimo. At the time of the publication of this tract, the two nations were on the point of terminating the war which established the independence of the United States of America. St. Croix wished to enlighten his countrymen on their true interests; and for this purpose he shewed them how humiliating and oppressive were the conditions to which Frauce had agreed in that treaty, and what great and dangerous faults had been committed in drawing up the articles of it. It is certain however that the people of England did not feel less discontent than M. St. Croix himself, at the treaty in question; and the indignant Junius charges the duke of Bedford with little less than treason in the negotiation of it on our part. The next work of St. Croix requiring to be noticed here, is "the Ezour Vedam, or an Ancient Commentary on the Vedam, containing the Exposition of the Religious and Philosophical Opinions of the Indians:" published at Yverdon in 1778, in two volumes duodecimo. In publishing this tract, accompanied with some preliminary observations, his purpose was, to shew how questionable is the boasted antiquity of the religious dogmas, and the sacred books, of the Indians. At the time of the appearance of this work, the authenticity of the Ezour Vedam was a subject of controversy; and it has been attacked since by different writers. St. Croix once thought of publishing a second edition, enriched with the fruits of the researches of some learned English authors: this design &c. "Contributions to the History of the Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire," Secret Secret Religion of the Ancient Nations, or Historical Researches on the Mysteries, of Paganism:" Paris, 1784, one volume octavo. This tract, like the Critical Examination of the Historians of Alexander, we owe to a competition proposed by the academy of belles-lettres. St. Croix, who had been long employed in researches concerning the mysteries of paganism, could not have found a more favourable opportunity for making use of the materials which he had collected on this equally obscure and curious question, than the subject proposed for the prize of St. Martin in 1777, which was, to make known the names and attributes of Ceres and Proserpine, the origin and reason of those attributes, and in short the whole worship of those divinities. St. Croix, being already prepared, by the previous direction of his studies, for an investigation of this nature, entered the lists with great advantages; and the academy, in awarding the prize to the profound and judicious treatise of their learned associate, must have felt some complacence at their selection of the topic of discussion. The prize-treatise, augmented with new illustrations, formed the printed volume of which we are speaking. Let us throw aveil over the trouble and inconvenience hich the author suffered from his too great confidence in a scholar of more learning than judgment, who undertook the superintendance of its publication, and let us forget the injuries which St. Croix himself forgot. The treatise was translated into German in 1790, and the translator suppressed all the additions which the author had disavowed. "Thus," said St. Croix," my work is to be found in German rather than in French. After its publication in 1784," added he, "I pursued further inquiries, and collected many particulars for an enlarged and corrected edition; but all these materials were burnt or thrown away by Jourdan's soldiers, who seized my paternal dwelling and turned me out of it in 1791. I am now employed, as diligently as my situation and my health allow, in repai ing that loss, in order to put a new edition to press as soon as possible. M. de V has altered and disfigured the former one in such a manner, as to make it very difficult to collect from that, those just results and consequences which should flow naturally from my inquiries. Entertaining no doubt about them himself, he seems to have considered all my labour as merely a vain parade of erudition." It will gratify all who feel an interest in the advancement of learning, and in the fame of St. Croix, to know that a copy of the first edition of this work, marked with many corrections, erasures, and additions, was found among his papers after his decease; and that the literary friend to whom he left the charge of all his manuscripts, will fulfil a part of that honourable trust, by giving this second edition to the world with all possible dispatch. "History of the Progress of the Naval Power of England:" originally published at Yverdon in 1782; the second edition at Paris, in 1786, two volumes duodecino. The author at first designed only to examine the navigation-act, and its effects on the augmentation of the naval power of England; but this examination having obliged him to consider the state of the English marine before and after that act, (a law against which the publicists inveighed, without having duly and impartially weighed its motives and consequences,) he conceived and rapidly executed the plan of this work. The first edition, though composed with precipitation, had great success; and there were even several piracies of it published. The author had, through a blameable complaisance for the editor, put his work to press before he had procured all the materials that were necessary for completing it; and besides this, as he himself said, on its publication he hardly knew it again, from its abounding with typographical errors: hence he readily complied with the general wish, by giving a new edition of it, rendered more complete and correct. The following quotation will shew in what respects he found it principally necessary to amend the first edition, and what he himself thought of the second. "Having come to Paris, I requested of the marshal de Castries, who was then minister of the marine, access to the papers of his office; and my request was very readily and obligingly granted. Though I did not make so much use of this permission as I ought to have done, yet I drew from that source several important documents; and with others, some letters of marshal Tourville, which I printed among the justificatory pieces of my new edition, and which are not its least ornaments. The work was corrected, very much augmented, and almost entirely re-written: I paid great attention to the style, and endeavoured to give it a rapidity and conciseness that should even |