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ment, it was-to borrow the image of a friend-like the elephant, who fometimes gives a fhock to armies, and fometimes permits himself to be led by a naked infant.

THE ORIGIN OF LITERARY JOURNALS.

If we abound with a multitude of fcribblers, what an infinite number muit there be of critics, fince, according to the computation of one of the first

the first number of his Journal des Sçavans. What is remarkable, he publifhed his ETay in the name of the Sour de Hédouville, who was his foorman. One is led to fuppofe by this circum ftance, that he entertained but a fant hope of its fuccefs; or, perhaps, he might be fanctioned by its fuppofed au thought that the fcurrility or criticifm thor. The work, however, met with fo favourable a reception, that Sullo had the fatisfaction of teeing it, in he next year, imitated through. ut Eu.

Ten cenfure wrong, for one who writes rope; and his Journal, at the fame

amifs!

In the last century, it was a confo. lation, at least, for the unfuccefs'ul writer, that he fell infenfibly into oblivion. If he committed the private folly of printing what no one would purchase, he had only to fettle the matter with his publisher: he was not arraigned at the public tribunal, as if he had committed a crime of magnitude. But, in thofe times, the nation was little addicted to the cultivation of letters: the writers were then few, and the readers were not many. When, at length, a tafte for literature spread itfelf through the body of the people, vanity induced the inexperienced and the ignorant to afpire to literary honours. To oppose thefe inroads into the haunts of the, Mufes, Periodical Criticifm brandished its formidable weapon; and it was by the fall of others that our greateft geniufes have been taught to rife. Multifarious writings produced multifarious Arictures; and if the rays of criticism were not always of the frongest kind, yet so many continually iffuing, formed a focus, which has enlightened thofe whofe occupations had otherwife never permitted them to judge on literary compofitions.

The origin of fo many Literary Journals takes its birth in France. Denisde Sallo, Ecclefiaftical Counsellor in the Parliament of Paris, invented the fcheme of a work of this kind. On the 30th of May 1665 appeared

time, tranflated into various languages. But, as moft authors lay themielies tooopen to the fovere critic, the antraadversions of Sallo were given with fuch malignity of wit and afperity of criticiful, that the Journal excited loud murmurs, and the most heartmoving complaints poffible. Sallo, after having publifhed only his third Journal, felt the irritated wafps of literature thronging fo thick about him, that he very gladily abdicated the throne of Criticifm

He

The reign of his fucceffor, Abbé Galloys-intimidated by the face of Sallo was of a milder kind. contented himself with only giving the titles of books, accompanied with extracts. Such a conduct was not offenfive to their authors, and yet was not unufeful to the public. I do not, however, mean to favour the idea, that this fimple manner of noticing books is equal to found and candid criticifm..

On the model of the Journal des Sçavans were formed our Philofophical Tranfactions; with this difference, however, that they only notice objects of fcience, fuch as Phyfics and Mathematics. The Journal of Leipfic, entitled Acta Eruditorum, appeared in 1682, under the conduct of the erudite Menkenius, Profeffor in the Univerfity of that city. The famous Bayle undertook, for Holland, a fimilar work, in 1684; and his Nouvelles de la Republique de Lettres ap

peared

peared the first of May in that year. This new Journal was every where well received, and deserved to be fo; for never were criticfms given with greater force. He poffeffed the art of comprifing, in short extracts, the jufteft notion of a book, without adding any thing irrelevant or impertineut. Bayle difcontinued this work in 1687, after having given thirty-fix volums in 12m. Others continued it to 1710, when it was finally closed.

A Mr de la Roche formed an English Journal, entitled Memoirs of Literature, about the commencement of this century, which is well fpoken of in the Bibliotheque Raifonnée. It was afterwards continued by Mr Reid, under the title of The Prefent State of the Republic of Letters. He fucceeded very well; but, being obliged to make a voyage to China, it interrupted his ufeful labours. He was fucceeded by Mellieurs Campbell and Webster; but the laft, for reafons of which I am ignorant, being difmiffed, it was again refumed by Mr Campbell. This Journal does by no means rival our modern Reviews. I do not

perceive that the criticifm is more valuable; and certainly the entertainment is inferior. Our elder Journals feem only to notice a few of the beft publications; and this not with great animation of fentiment, or elegance of diction.

Of our modern Journals it becomes me to fpeak with caution. not treading on afhes ftill glowing It is with latent fire, as Horace expreff's it, but it is rufhing through confuming flames. Let it be futficient, that from their pages I acknowledge to have acquired a rich fund of critical obferva. tion; and, if I have been animated by their eulogiums, I afcribe this honour, not fo much to the confined abilities nature has beftowed on me, as to their ftrictures, which have taught me fomething of the delicacy of talte, and fomething of the ardour of Genius.

THE SCALIGER9.

445

reluctantly, perhaps that the lite THE Man of Letters must confefs rature which ftores the head with fo many ingenious reflections, and fa much admirable intelligence, my at the fame time have little or no influence over the virtues of the heart The fame vices, and the fame follies, difgrace the literate and the illiterate. Who poffeffed a profounder knowledge erudite critic, than Burman? Yet of the Grecian learning, or was a more this man lived unobfervant of every ordinary decency and moral duty. Who difplayed more mind, and a wider circle of literaacutenels of ture, than the Scaligers? Yet, from the anecdotes and characters I colle& of them, let the reader contemplate the men.

The two Scaligers, father and fon, of vanity. Schioppius has tore the were two prodigies of learning and mafk of that principality with which the father had adorned himself; for the elder Scaliger maintained that he Verona. was defcended from the Princes of

now credited, that he was originally
Schioppius fays, and he is
named Jules Burden; that he was
born in the fhop of a gilder; had paf-
fed fome part of his life with a fur-
gon; and then became a cordelier
The elevation of his mind made him
threw of his frock, and took the degree
afpire to honours greater than thefe: he
character he appeared at Venice, and
of Doctor in Phyfic at Paris: In this
in Piedmont. He there attached him-
felf to a Prelate of the noble House of
Rovezza, and followed him to Agen,
He there married the daughter of an
of which his patron was made Bithop.
apothecary. Such were the parents.
of Jofeph Scaliger; who, finding this
chimerical principality in his family,
paffed himself for a prince; and to ren-
der the impofitions of his father more
credible, he added many of his own.

Naudé fpeaks thus concerning them
They fay, in Italy, that Scaliger's
father

father married, at Agen, the daughter of an apothecary; though others affirm, the baftard of a bishop; probably, of the prelate he followed. His fon Scaliger was vifited in the character of a prince at Leyden.'

By this, I think, it appears that Naudé gives him credit for the principality; for he feems not in the leaft to fimile at the honour.

The Duke de Nevers, having paid him a vifi, offered him a confi derable prefent, which Scaliger civilly refufed.' The pride of this fuppofititious Prince, who was but a poor ftudent, mult have run high!

Schioppius,' adds Naudé, muft have been under the influence of fome demon when he wrote fo bad a book against Scaliger:' yet Menage obferves of this work, that Jofeph Scaliger died of the chagrin he felt on the occafion of Schioppius's book being published, entitled, Scaliger Hypobolymæus.

Yet we may,' obferves Huet, fay, with Lipfus, that if the two Scaligers were not actually Princes, they richly merited a principality for the beauty of their genius and the extent of their erudition; but we can offer no apology for their ridiculous and fingular haughtiness.

When a friend was delineating his character, the father wrote to him in thefe terms " Endeavour to collect whatever is most beautiful in the pages of Mafinilla, of Xenophon, and of Plato, and you may then form a portrait which, however, will refemble me but imperfectly."

Yet this man poffeffed little delica. cy of tafte, as he evinces by the falfe judgments he paffes on Homer and Mafæus; and, above all, by thofe unformed and rude poems with which he has difhonoured Parnaffus. I have read fomewhere a French fonnet by this man, which is beneath criticifm. Ménage fays, that the collection of Scaliger's poems, which forms a thick

tavo volume, will hardly find its

equal for bad compofition, confider ing them as the protections of a man of letters. Of a great number of epigrams, there are but four or five which are id the leaft tolerable.

Huet thinks that his fon compofed thefe letters which pass under his name; and, as he is an exquifite judge of tyle, we fhould credit his opinion. But, tho his poetry is fo deftiture of fpirit or grace, his profe, it must be allowed, is excellent: nothing can be more noble, higher polifhed, or more happily turned.

The fon poffeffed a finer tafte: his ftyle is more flowing and cafy, and yet is not the lefs noble. His writings, like thofe of the father, breath fingular haughtiness and malignity. The Scaligerana will convince us that he was incapable of thinking or fpeaking favourably of any perfon. Although he has reflected honour on his age by the extenfiveness of his learning, we must confefs that he has not feldom fallen into grofs errors, even on thofe fubjects to which he had most applied. As for inftance, Chronology, which was his favourite stady; and although he imagined that he ftretched the fceptre over the realms of criticism, no one has treated this topic with lefs felicity. It was the reform of the Calendar then pending at Rome which engaged him in th's ftudy. He wished to fhew the world that he was more capable than all thofe who had been employed. If the fuccefs of this labour had depended on the extent and variety of erudition, he had eminently furpaffed all thofe who had applied to this talk; but he was their inferior in the folidity of his judgment, in the exactnefs of his arguments, and the profundity of his fpeculations. When he fondly believed that he had found the Quadrature of the Circle, he was corrected, and turned into ridicule, by an obfcure schoolmatter; who, having clearly pointed out the paralogifm which de

seived

nifh at his touch.

eived him, made his cyclometrics va- they were conftrained to remove themselves from that fpot, and they then fixed their refidence at Port Royal des Champs. There again the court difturbed them, after a refidence of little more than two months; but, . about a year afterwards, they again returned. With thefe illuftrious Reclufes many perfons of diftinguished merit now retired; and it was this community which has been fince called the Society of Port Royal.

Scaliger, the father, was,' fays Patin, an illuftrious impoftor. He had never been at any war, nor at any court of the Emperor Maximilian, as he pretended. He paffed the first thirty years of his life in one continued ftudy. Afterwards, he threw off his monk's frock, and palmed on all Europe the fingular impoftion of his being a defcendant of the Princes of Verona, who bore the name of Scaliger.

Julius Scaliger had this peculiarity in his manner of compofition: he wrote with fuch accuracy, that his manufcript and the printed copy always correfponded page for page, and fine for line. This may appear trifling information; but I am perfuaded that a habit of correctnefs in the leffer parts of compofition afflifts the high

er.

THE PORT ROYAL SOCIETY.

EVERY lover of letters must have heard of the Port Royal Society, and probably has benefited by the labours of thefe learned men: but, perhaps, few have attended to their origin, and to their diffolution.

The Society of the Port Royal des Champs-that was the original title took this name from a valley about fix leagues from Paris.

In the year 1637, Le Maitre, a celebrated advocate, renounced the bar, and refigned the honour of being Confeiller d'Etat, which his uncommon merit had obtained him, though then only twenty-eight years of age. His brother, De Sericourt, who had followed the military profes fion, quitted it at the fime time. Both confecrating themfelves to the fervice of God, they retired into a little house near the Port Royal of Paris. Their brothers, De Sacy, De St Elme, and De Valmont, joined them. For fome political reafon,

Amongst the members, was the celebrated Arnauld, and others, whole names would reflect a luftre on any fociety.

Here were no rules, no vows, no conftitution, and no cells formed. Prayer and ftudy were their only occupations. They applied themfelves to the education of young men, and initiated the rifing generation into fcience and into virtue.

Racine here received his education; and, on his death-bed, defired to be buried in the cemetery of the Port Royal, at the feet of M. Hamon. An amiable inftance, this, of the Poet's fenfibility!

Anne de Bourbon, a Princefs of the blood-royal, erected a houfe near the Port Royal, and was, during her life, the powerful patronefs of thefe folitary and religious men: but her death happening in 1679, gave the fatal ftroke which difperfed them for

ever.

The envy and the fears of the Jefuits, and their rancour against Arnauld, who with fuch ability had expofed their defigns, occafioned the deftruction of the Port Royal Society.

IMPOSITIONS OF AUTHORS. THERE have been fome Authors who have practifed fingular impofi tions on the public. Varillas, the French Hiftorian enjoyed for fome time a great reputation in his own country for his Hiftoric Compofitions. When they became more known, the fcholars of other countrics deft:oyed

the

the reputation he had unjustly acquired. His continual profeffions of fincerity prejudiced many in his favour, and made him pafs for a writer who had penetrated into the inmoft receffes of the cabinet: but the public were at length undeceived, and were: convinced that the Hiftorical Anecdotes, which Varillas put off for authentic facts, had no foundation, being wholly his own inventing though he endeavoured to make them pafs for calities, by affected citations of titles, inftructions, letters, memoirs, and relations, all of them imaginary !' Melchifedec Thevenot, Librarian to the French King, was never out of Europe; yet he has compofed fome folio volumes of his Voyages and Travels,' by information and memoirs, which he collected from thofe who had travelled. Travels,' obferves the Compiler of the Biographical Dictionary, related at fecond-hand, can never be of any great authority or moment.' Affuredly not; but they may be pregnant with errors of all kinds.

Gemelli Carreri, a Neapolitan gentleman, who, for many years, never quitted his chamber, being confined. by a tedious indifpofition, amufed himfelf with writing a voyage round the world; giving characters of men, and deferiptions of countries, as if he hade ly vifited them. Du Halde, who has written fo voluminous an account of China, compiled it from the Memoirs of the Miffionaries, and never traveled ten leagues from Paris in bis life; though he appears, by his writings, to be very familiar with the Chincle fcenery.

This is an excellent obfervation of an anonymous Author. Writers who never vifited foreign countries, and traveil is who have run through immenfe regions with fleeting pace, have given us long accounts of various untries and people; evidently collected on the idle reports and abfurd traditions of the ignorant vulgar, from

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whom only they could have received thofe relations which we fee accumulated with fuch undifcerning credulity.

ON THE EDITIONS OF THE CLASSICS, IN
USUM DELPHINI.

THE Scholiafts, or the Interpreters of the Dauphin, in ufum Sereniffimi Delphini, were undertaken under the conduct of Meflicurs de Montaufier, Boffuet, and Huet. To a correct text, they have added a clear and concife paraphrafe of the text, with notes. The diffimilarity of the genius, and the peculiar, characters, of all thefe authors, have been one great caufe that they have not all been treated with the fame ability, and with equal felicity: but ftill, it must be allowed, they form the most beautiful body in literature that the public has ever been gratified with,

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Another critic prefents us with a more fatiafactory account of this celebrated edition of the Claffics. The greater part of thefe interpreters, have but indifferently executed their em ployment: they have followed, in their text, the inferiour editions, inftead of making ufe of the beft: and they have left in the notes thofe fame faults which were fo much cenfured in the Dutch editions, with the Nates a Variorum. There is, however, onę thing valuable in the Paris editionsa Verbal Index, by which any paffage may be found on recollecting a few words. However, it must be confefled, the munificent patronage of a great monarch has pot produced the adequate effects The project was excellent, but the performance was bad."

I cannot conclude this article without obferving what benefits the ftudent derives from Verbal Indexes. He not only Laves a great expence of time, which is fquandered in the examination for paffages; but he may more eafily trace the imitations of others, when they happen to catch the words of the original.

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