tion. That the subject excludes all that is feminine, tender, sentimental, aids very much the high effect: all in it is energetic and grand: nothing common disturbs the esthetic emotion: one enjoys, as it were, the pure form of the dread-tragic. A high Nemesis presides over the piece, the consciousness of which penetrates the mind from the beginning to the end. To be wondered at is it, how the poet always succeeds in forcing the unpoetic matter to render up poetic booty; and how skilfully he represents that which cannot be directly represented,-I refer to his art in using symbols where the reality cannot be exhibited. No play of Shakspeare reminds me so strongly of the Greek tragedy.

It were really worth the trouble, to prepare this suite of eight pieces for our stage. An epoch might thereby be created. We must consult together about it.

'Adieu my best wishes to our friend Meyer. My Wallenstein advances daily, and I am right well satisfied with it.

SCHILLER.'

Wallenstein was the beginning of a new series of dramas. Nearly ten years had elapsed since the publication of Don Carlos. Wallenstein, which consists of three parts, cost Schiller much labor, and two years of time. But the care and study bestowed on this work, besides making it his masterpiece, and the grandest poem of this age, facilitated greatly his subsequent dramatic labors. In quick succession followed Mary Stuart, The Maid of Orleans, The Bride of Messina, and his last, William Tell. For criticism on these beautiful dramas, we refer the reader to the work before us. Schiller died in the spring of 1805, being only forty-five years of age, in the vigor of his creative energies, his mind teeming with poetic plans. It is idle to regret his early death. Instead of thinking with disappointment on what he might yet have done, let us dwell on what he has done, and be joyful over the treasures which we through him possess. For himself, he died calmly'; for the world, he has produced works, that will live forever to instruct, delight, and elevate mankind.. In conclusion, we strongly recommend this volume to the American public. It is worthy of its great subject. The selection of it, as the first of a series which he proposes to publish, gives promise, that Mr. Benjamin's plan will be executed with a judgment proportioned to the enterprise with which it has been undertaken. This plan is, 'to present from time to time to the public a book, similar in size and appearance to

the present volume, which shall be either an original work, a translation, or a republication.' Mr. Benjamin thus explains, in his general preface,' his design more fully.

'The great object in the publication of this series shall be freely to remunerate authors. If this object be encouraged, some good may be done, and some good works may be produced. If the subscriber could be, however remotely and humbly, the cause of exalting, by one volume, the literature of the age, he would feel amply rewarded. There will be those, who, with sagacious disbelief, will shake their heads on reading this preface; but the Editor, having some experience in literary matters, believes that the popular rage for temporary publications is declining, and that, with the improvement of taste, a demand for good literature is rising. The vulgar prejudice against literary men is also going out. It is no longer thought, that the man of toil, with no capital but his strength, whose "employment increases his capacity of action," deserves higher remuneration than the man of letters, who, while his mind is stored with the learning of years, is weakened by his mental labor in those physical powers, on which others confidently depend for a subsistence. Furthermore, it is believed that authorship will soon become a distinct profession in this country as it is in Europe, and that an author will be as readily paid for his book, as a physician for his advice, a lawyer for his pleading, or a clergyman for his sermon. Necessity should not be the plea of any author. Literary men should never write gratuitously; for, however well some can af ford to give away their time and talents, they should reflect that by so doing they injure others, and depreciate the value of their labor. Should there be only two or three original works published in this series, for which the proprietor would be enabled to extend a liberal compensation to authors, the cause of good literature must be in some degree advanced, It affords me gratification to state the hopeful progress of a work, intended for this series, by an author, whose well-earned fame will, on its appearance, be greatly increased, and who will be the first to lift my project to an elevation on which it will be my pride to see it placed.

'When I cannot procure original pictures for my gallery, I must be content to display copies of the first masters. The republications and translations will be edited by men reported to be most capable of the task. If I meet with a tithe of the kindness hereafter, which it has been my good fortune to experience in connexion with the present volume, I shall apprehend no difficulty, but anticipate a pleasure in my applications. I may not add

my name, humble as it is, to these remarks, which, for their meritorious brevity and business-like style, should rather be called a Prospectus than a Preface, without fully expressing my sense of gratitude to the learned Professor, who so lately delighted a large audience by his lectures on the works of Schiller, and who has now adorned this best account of the great Poet's life, by observations not less interesting than the work itself.'

Here is a liberal estimate of what is due to literary labor. Highly gratifying must it be to all who appreciate the vocation of the man of letters, and desire to see it honored and rewarded among us, to witness such a spirit manifested in practice.

ART. II.-The Philosophy of History.

Cours d'Histoire Moderne, par M. GUIZOT, Professeur d'Histoire à la Faculté des Lettres de Paris. Paris. 1829.

We propose in the present article to throw together some WE remarks upon the nature and importance of historical science, and also a few hints upon its study,-a subject which few deny to be of the last importance, but which has not always received the full attention that it deserves; so true is the observation, that we pass over many things, only because they are near and obvious and of especial moment, almost 'to fly to others which we know not of,' and which, when known, hardly reward us for our toil. We need offer no apology to our readers, for this recurrence to history; for whether we consider its great end, the making us better and more valuable members of society, or its particular excellence as a school of eloquence and philosophy, we shall not fail in either case to assign it a high and noble rank among the studies which influence the designs of men.

Lord Bacon admits three kinds in his classification of civil history; namely, civil proper, ecclesiastical and literary; the first of which he divides into pure and mixed. As a consideration of all these different branches and off-shoots would lead us far beyond the limits proper for an article of this kind, and that without being attended with any beneficial result, we shall confine ourselves to the subdivision which he styles

pure; observing, moreover, that we adopt his arrangement on account of its convenience to ourselves, and not because we deem it the most just or philosophical distribution which might be suggested.

Some conception of the extent of the study of history may be formed by a slight attention to the bulk of the materials. The single branch which we have selected is subdivided by Lord Bacon likewise into three kinds; the first, memorials, he makes to consist of two sorts, commentaries and registers, or collections of public acts; the second, which he styles perfect histories, he divides according as they represent a time, an action, or a person, or in other words, into chronicles, narrations or relations which are contemporaneous, as Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian war, and Lives. Antiquities constitute the third species, and comprehend whatever is recovered from monuments, traditions, private records and the like. To these he adds annals, which have reference to matters of state, and journals, which record facts of minor importance. We may receive this system with more confidence and consideration, perhaps, inasmuch as M. d'Alembert has adopted it in his Système figuré des connoissances humaines,* without the slightest variation.

It will be readily perceived that the bulk of historical materials must thus be immense, each of these distinct divisions containing a great number of works. In looking over an old established library, that of Paris for instance, or those of the older and even the more recent of the German universities, we are struck with the seeming disproportion between historical treatises and those in any other branch of knowledge. The former continue to increase, and in a geometrical ratio with time; the tendency to accumulation being such, undoubtedly, on account of the increase of subjects, in the multiplication of our race, in the progress of the arts of peace, and in the redemption of nations from ignorance. Every age superadds its Pelion upon the Ossa of the one preceding. The mass has thus become fearfully great, even to the most hardy and ambitious of the votaries of history. It becomes then an important question how we may render it available, and at the same time not fritter away its spirit and its utility, as has been the case with many of the methods which have been devised for the purpose

* French Encyclopedia. Vol. I.

of abridging labor, in the shape of partial histories, tables, epitomes and abridgements. We must, however, see the necessity first, before we set about to discover the remedy.

Facts are the first objects of attention in history, and this mainly for two reasons; in the first place, because they are of personal interest and come home to the bosom of every individual, and secondly, because they are more readily ascertained and understood than principles. That they are the first objects of attention is distinctly proved in the character of the effusions of the Grecian heroic bards, known as the cyclic poets, who sought to perpetuate in rude song the exploits of warriors and adventurers, as in the accounts of the Argonautic expedition and of the siege and conquest of Troy. Their subjects were invariably traditional or historical, a character which always more or less belonged to Greek poetry. On this fact we may be allowed further to remark, that we should not reject too hastily the accounts which are so received, as fabulous and purely poetical. The garb which they assumed was one of necessity, and the most appropriate for the age, as the only one calculated to ensure their preservation. History in later times has obtained a more exclusive and regular form, the result of the improvement among men and its own increased importance. For our purpose, however, it is sufficient that such was the fact; that truth, however much it might be mixed with fable, was the basis of their poetry.

As history, at least that branch of it which we are considering, relates to human conduct, it must begin to exist as soon as man begins to act or to extend his ideas beyond his mere animal existence. It is strictly personal, and we find accordingly that minstrelsy was invoked to lend its aid to immortalize, and to gratify the vanity of the strong and valiant.

So, on the other hand, their personal nature rendered the ascertainment of historical facts, in primitive times, comparatively easy. Whole tribes moved but as individuals; there were no superior private concerns to distract the attention of a part from the policy of the nation; for the abundance of the earth rendered an easy sustenance to the scattered clans of inhabitants. The facts of history were thus peculiarly liable to be known. In general, too, it treats of subjects, clear, public, and distinct, and not, like the natural sciences, of those operations which result from the occult laws of motion and matter;