or their ancestors, and history by degrees assumed its proper form and character. It was at first like painting the rude outline of an unskilful designer; but after repeated essays, the great masters of the art arose, and produced the harmonious light and shade, the glowing colours, and animated groups of a perfect picture.

With a particular view to the works of eminent historians, both ancient and modern, it may be useful to consider,

I. The Nature of History, and the assistance which it derives from other studies.

II. The Advantages of a knowledge of History.

III. The comparative merits of ancient and modern His

torians.

IV. The Qualifications requisite to form an accomplished Historian, in order to establish a standard, by which to measure the merits of Historians in general.

I. History, in the general sense of the word, signifies a true relation of facts and events; or, considered in a moral point of view, it is that lively philosophy, which, laying aside the formality of rules, supplies the place of experience, and teaches us to act with propriety and honour according to the examples of others. The province of history is so extensive, that it is connected with every branch of knowledge; and so various and abundant are its stores, that all arts, sciences, and professions are indebted to it for many of the materials and principles upon which they depend. It opens the widest prospect to the eyes of mankind in the spacious fields of literature, and is one of the most pleasing and important objects of study, to which the mind can be directed.

To draw the line of proper distinction between authentic and fabulous history, is the first object of the discerning rea-. der. Let him not burden his memory with events that ought perhaps to pass for fables; let him not fatigue his attention with the progress of empires, or the succession of kings, which are thrown back into the remotest ages. He will find that little dependence is to be placed upon the relations of those affairs in the Pagan world, which, preceded the invention of letters, and were built upon mere oral tradition. Let him leave the dynasties of the Egyptian kings, the expeditions of Sesostris, Bacchus and Jason, and the exploits of Hercules and Theseus, for poets to embellish, or chronologists to arrange. The fabulous accounts of these heroes of antiquity may remind him of the sandy deserts, lofty mountains, and frozen oceans, which are laid down in the maps of the ancient geographers, to conceal their igno

rance of remote countries. Let him hasten to firm ground, where he may safely stand, and behold the striking events, and memorable actions, which the light of authentic records displays to his view. They alone are amply sufficient to enrich his memory, and to point out to him well-attested examples of all that is magnanimous, as well as all that is vile;-of all that debases, and all that ennobles mankind.

History, considered with respect to the nature of its subjects, may be divided into general and particular; and with respect to time, into ancient and modern. Ancient history commences with the creation, and extends to the reign of Charlemagne, in the year of our Lord eight hundred. Modern history beginning with that period reaches down to the present times. General history relates to nations and public affairs, and may be sub-divided into sacred, ecclesiastical, and profane. Biography, memoirs, and letters, constitute particular history. Statistics refer to the present condition of nations. Geography and Chronology are important aids, and give order, regularity, and clearness to them all.

For information upon the subject of sacred history the student must resort to the holy Bible, to Josephus, and to the Annals of Archbishop Usher.

The affairs of the Christian Church, comprehending the lives, characters, and conduct of those who have maintained a pure and apostolical faith, as well as of such sectarists as have deviated from it, are comprised in Ecclesiastical history. It describes the nature of religious establishments, and displays the various opinions of Christians upon the most important of all subjects. Here we trace the progress of Christianity from obscurity and oppression, to pomp and dominion; and, after a long series of superstition and error, we see it resume its primitive character in the Reformation of the sixteenth century. This important subject has exercised the diligence and displayed the learning of many eminent writers of various ages: but the reader of general history may find sufficient gratification for his curiosity in the works of Eusebius and Mosheim.

From the people of the ancient world we first select the Jews, as the particular objects of our attention. They were favoured with the knowledge of the one true God. Their history carries us back to the most remote antiquity; and its importance is increased in the greatest degree by its connexion with the Christian Revelation.

The next branch of general history is that of Ancient Greece. It presents a ration of heroes, philosophers, poets,

orators, historians, and artists, who spoke the noblest language which ever graced the tongue of man, and who have been the guides and the instructors of all succeeding nations in arts, sciences, and philosophy. Greece was the source of light, that has irradiated a great portion of the globe.

The Romans in the order of excellence, as well as of time, followed the Grecians: their military talents were displayed in a long succession of conquests and triumphs in every part of the ancient world. The monuments of their genius, which the ravages of time have spared, render them next to the Greeks the boast of history, and the glory of mankind.

The History of England has the strongest claims to our attention. It abounds with such events and transactions, and displays such characters and actions, as it is our duty and our interest to study; and we are attracted to a perusal of its eventful records by the ties of patriotism, and a congeniality of manners.

From Modern history in general we select those parts which relate to the most important transactions and events, particularly adverting to those discoveries and institutions, which distinguish it from ancient times, and have contributed essentially to the present state of opinions and manners.

There are certain foreign nations, which, by the extent of their dominions, their civil polity, or their connexion with our own country, may excite our curiosity to learn their former state but it will not answer any important purpose to dwell, for instance, upon the affairs of France under the Merovingian, or Carlovinian, families; or upon the state of Germany before the reign of Charles V. Let not the scholar waste too much time, which may be more profitably employed in other studies, in poring over the works of Thuanus, Mariana, and Froissart; or the numerous volumes of the Universal History.

With respect indeed to foreign nations, the objects of his most useful attention are the actual power, the nature of their present governments, the state of civilization, sciences, and arts, their natural and artificial advantages, their population, produce, commerce and relative importance in the scale of political greatness. This constitutes a branch of study which has been of late years much cultivated by the Germans, and is distinguished by the name of Statistics. Travellers and statesmen must not claim this study as their own exclusive province, since it will be found extremely useful to every English gentleman, and will qualify him to form a just estimate of the relative condition, power and importance of his own country.

Biography is a branch of history, which in point of importance and moral utility ranks as high as any. The biographer by his accurate researches supplies the deficiences of the historian. What the latter gives us only in outlines and sketches, the former presents in more complete and highly finished portraits. Their province does not merely extend to those who have acted upon the great theatre of the world, as sovereigns, statesmen, and warriors; but to all who have improved human life by their useful discoveries, adorned it by their works of genius, and edified mankind by their examples. With what pleasure do we select a Bacon, a Boyle, a Newton, an Addison, a Locke, a Radcliffe, a Howard, and a Hanway, from the multitudes that surround them, and become acquainted with their particular characters and conduct! To contemplate such men, not inflamed by vain ambition, or courting empty popularity, but seeking retirement, and `giving dignity to the walks of private life by the efforts of genius, and the exertions of philanthropy, is a high gratification to the mind, and inspires it with an admiration and a love of those virtues, which come within the reach of general imitation.

"To find that great lengths have actually been gone in learning and virtue, that high degrees of perfection have actually been attained by men like ourselves, intangled among the infirmities, the temptations, the opposition from wicked men, and the other various evils of life; how does this show us to ourselves as utterly inexcusable, if we do not endeavour to reach the heights we know have been gained by others of our fellow-creatures? foBiography sets before us the whole character of a person, who has made himself eminent either by his virtues or his vices; shews us how he came first to take a right or wrong turn, the prospects which invited him to aspire to higher degrees of glory, or the delusions which misled him from his virtue and his peace; the circumstances which raised him to true greatness, or the rocks on which he split, and sunk to infamy. And how can we more effectually, or in a more entertaining manner, learn the important lesson, what we ought to pursue, and what to avoid?”*

No species of writing gives a more perfect insight into the minds of men than their Letters. In the letters of persons

* Burgh's Dignity of Human Nature, p. 167. Warton's Preface to the Life of Sir T. Pope. Blair's Lectures, v. iii, P. 55, &c. " It is a thing to be wished, that every one would study the life of some great man distinguished by employs to which himself may be destined by Providence." Du Fresnoy tom. i, p. 43.

of distinction we expect the justness of observation which belongs to history, and the ease and good humour of elegant conversation. They place us in the situation of correspondents, and we seem honoured by the confidence of the great and good, the witty and gay of various ages and countries. We observe them as they thought in their retired moments when, withdrawn from the bustle of the world, they gave free scope to their unrestrained opinions, and poured them without reserve into the bosoms of their friends. We may remark the immediate effects produced by good or bad fortune, and may catch the spirit of their virtues immediately from themselves. Here wit, humour, and genius, have indulged their natural sallies, and adorned the common occurrences of life in the most pleasing dress. Among the numerous instances, which might be selected of epistolary excellence, we distinguish the letters of Cicero, which display the sentiments of a vigorous mind, and give an insight into the eminent characters of his eventful, times. Pliny, in Epistles remarkable for neatness and precision of thought, expresses the dictates of a cultivated and generous mind. If we turn our attention to the epistolary literature of our own country, we shall find that the piety and affection of Lady Russel, the quaintness and pleasantry of Howel, the manliness and political sagacity of Strafford, the philosophical exactness and cool judgment of Locke, the simplicity of Rundle, the moralising vein of Johnson, and the taste and elegance of Gray, mark their respective letters with the strongest characters of originality, and give us the most pleasing pictures of their minds. We naturally wish to know all we can of such persons, and feel an increasing interest in their other productions; for we prize those writers the most, who combine the charms of entertainment and pleasure with the lessons of instruction. History derives considerable aid from collateral studies, which contribute to render its prospects accurate, distinct, and extensive. The sciences of Geography and Chronology are absolutely necessary to give it precision and perspicuity.

Geography gives us a description of the terraqueous globe. The land is divided into Continents, Islands, Peninsulas, Isthmuses, Capes or Promontories. The water is distinguished by Oceans, Seas, Gulfs, Lakes and Rivers. It teaches us likewise the artificial division of the globe. The two points on which the earth is supposed to perform her daily motion are the Poles: equally distant from them both is the Equator, which divides the globe into two equal parts,

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