XXVII.

BIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF THE REVEREND ALBAN BUTLER--CONTINUATION OF HIS LIVES OF THE

SAINTS.

IT remains for the Reminiscent to mention his life of the Rev. Mr. Alban Butler, and to say with Tacitus*, "Hic liber memoriæ patrui mei desti"natus, aut laudatus erit aut excusatus. Mr. Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, though a voluminous work,--(12 vols. 8vo.)-has undergone numerous editions: two different translations of it into the French language have been published; it has also been translated into Spanish, and the Reminiscent believes, into the Italian languages. Several abridgments of it have been published. The only objection made to it is, its alleged admission of too many miracles and visions.-To those, who deny the existence of miracles, we do not now address ourselves,―all other christians may be confidently asked, on what principle they admit the evidence for the miracles of the three first centuries, and reject the miracles of the subsequent ages? Why they deny to St. Austin, St. Gregory, the venerable Bede or St. Bernard, the confidence which they place in Justin, St. Irenæus, Theodoret or Eusebius?

The last volume of the Lives of the Saints which appeared in the life-time of Mr. Alban Butler, was

In vitâ Agricolæ.

published in 1759. loudly called for both in England and the continent, the Reminiscent published, in the present year,"A continuation of the Rev. Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints to the present time, with some biogra"phical accounts of the Holy Family, Pope Pius the "sixth, Cardinal Ximénes, Cardinal Bellarmine, "Bartholomew de Martyribus and St. Vincent of Paul;-with a re-publication of his Historical "Memoirs of the Society of Jesus." Oct. 1823.

A continuation of it being

The style of the "Lives of the Saints" is excellent; it partakes more of that of the writers of the seventeenth century, than that of the modern style of writing; Mr. Gibbon mentioned it to the Reminiscent in warm terms of commendation, and was astonished when he heard how much of the life of Mr. Alban Butler had been spent abroad. Speaking of the "Lives of the Saints," he calls it "a work "of merit, the sense and learning belong to the "author, his prejudices are those of his profession." As it is known what prejudice means in Mr. Gibbon's vocabulary, Mr. Alban Butler's relatives accept the character.

T

XXVIII.

BIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF THE CHANCELLOR L'HÔPITAL:- -AND OF THE CHANCELLOR

D'AGUESSEAU, WITH A SHORT HISTORICAL

NOTICE OF THE MISSISSIPPI SCHEME.

XXVIII. 1.

The Chancellor L'Hôpital.

THIS venerable magistrate, elegant scholar and excellent man, has been always considered in France, as one of the greatest personages, whom the nation has produced. On the Reminiscent's intimating to the late sir Samuel Romilly, that he was in want of a literary hobby,-(the horse, the Englishman's friend, has never employed much of his time),-for his amusement in the long vacation, which was just opening to them, that eminent and amiable person recommended the life of l'Hôpital to his attention, and furnished him with some materials for its composition. It is gratifying to the Reminiscent to recollect that, when he presented the result of his labours to sir Samuel, it received the honour of his approbation.

It is observable that, in the literature of France, panegyrics and funeral orations fill a considerable space those, who are most disposed to contest her claim to universal pre-eminence in the belles lettres, acknowledge that, in these branches of eloquence,

she has considerably excelled all her literary rivals. Few works of taste or genius are more admired than the funeral orations of Bossuet: those of Fléchier are of an inferior cast; but, after its twentieth perusal, his oration on the death of Turenne will again be perused with pleasure. The élôges of distinguished academicians, by Fontenelle and d'Alembert do not aspire to eloquence; they profess no more than to give a short view of the lives of the authors whom they celebrate, a very summary account of their principal works, and a slight mention of the events in the literary world, with which, in some manner or other, they were connected. The former are reproached for too frequent prettiness; the latter, for a general tameness of manner; but both occasionally abound in touches of great delicacy, and are so agreeably written, that we doubt whether any reader has perused a single élôge composed by either, without lamenting its brevity.

With these works, however, our praise of French panegyric must close. About the middle of the last century a new field was opened to it, by the prizes, which the academy then began to hold out to those, who should produce the best panegyric of the hero, -(for they were never less than literary heroes),whom the academy assigned for the theme of praise. This set all the wits of France at work: but the result was not very favourable to their reputation. The number of these encomiastic performances, which obtained the approbation of the public, is very small; if any are now read, they are the élôges composed by M. Thomas. The notes, with which he has

accompanied them, are interesting; and, if his incessant attempts, in the text, at the sublime, generally fail, they also sometimes succeed. Thus, in his élôge of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, he mentions the celebrated expression of the emperor Titus,"I have lost a day; for during this day, I have "done good to none."-"What dost thou say?" exclaims the orator," The day, in which those "words were pronounced, was not lost; on no day "wast thou so great, or so useful to the world, as "when thou gavest that eternal lesson to kings."In this passage there is both sense and grandeur; but in the writings of its author such passages are not often found.

The magistrate, whose life is the subject of the present article, was proposed by the French Academy in the year 1777, for the subject of an élôge. M. Guibert and l'abbé Rémi contended for the prize. It was adjudged to the latter; but he had the good sense not to print his work. M. Guibert was less prudent; his performance appeared in print soon after the prize was assigned; but, though it was evidently the production of a scholar of Voltaire, both Voltaire and la Harpe, his echo, expressed their contempt of it. The celebrated Condorcet afterwards entered the lists, but with equal want of success. In 1807, M. Bernardi published his “Essai sur la "Vie, les Ecrits, et les Loix de Michel de "P'Hôpital, Chancelier de France," in one volume octavo. It is written with taste and judgment; and places the magistrate, both in an amiable and a respectable point of view; but it relates more to his