honour; and at this were all the Counts displeased. And when the King thought it a fit season, he spake to him and said, that Dona Ximena Gomez, the daughter of the Count whom he had slain, had come to ask him for her hus band, and would forgive him her father's death; wherefore he besought him to think it good to take her to be his wife, in which case he would show him great favour. When Rodrigo heard this it pleased him well, and he said to the King that he would do his bidding in this, and in all other things which he might command; and the King thanked him much. And he sent for the Bishop of Palencia, and took their vows and made them plight themselves each to the other according as the law directs. And when they were espoused the King did them great honour, and gave them many noble gifts, and added to Rodrigo's lands more than he had till then possessed: and he loved him greatly in his heart, because he saw that he was obedient to his commands, and for all that he had heard him say. "VII. S Rodrigo departed from the King, and took his spouse with him to the house of his mother, and gave her to his mother's keeping. And forthwith he made a vow in her hands that he would never accompany with her, neither in the desert nor in the inhabited place, till he had won five battles in the field. And he besought his mother that she would love her even as she loved him himself, and that she would do good to her and show her great honour, for which he should ever serve her with the better good will. And his mother promised him so to do: and then he departed from them and went out against the frontier of the Moors." The history of the Cid opens about the period when the christian part of Spain was in five kingdoms, Arragon, Leon, Navarre, Castille, and Galicia. The three latter had been possessed by Fernando, who dying in the year 1065 bequeathed them to his three sons. Ambition incited them to war with each other in one of the battles the Cid distinguished himself, and releases his king Don Sancho of NaANN. REV. VOL. VII. varre, who at length united in him. " XIX. When Dona Urraca knew that her brother King Don Alfonso had filed to Toledo, she sent to him three good men of the kingdom of Leon, that they should be his counsellors, for she loved him well. These were Don Pero Ansures, and Don Ferran Ansures, and Don Gonzalo Ansures, all three brethren: and they went with King Don Sancho's permission, for it was God's pleasure. Now Alimaymon re joiced in the King Don Alfonso, and loved him as if he had been his own son. And Don Alfonso made a cove nant with him to love him and defend him and serve him alway, so long as he should remain with him, and not to depart from him without his leave; and the King covenanted on his side to love him and honour him, and defend him to the utmost of his power. And Alimaymon ordered fair palaces to be edified. for him, by the wall of the Alcazar, on the outer part, that the Moors of the city might do no displeasure neither to him nor to his companions: and they were hard by a garden of the King's, that he might go out and disport himself therein whensoever it pleased him. And for these things King Don Alfonso loved to serve King Alimaymon. Nevertheless when he saw the great honour of the King of Toledo, and how powerful he was, and that he was the Lord of so great chivalry, and of the noblest city which had belonged unto the Gothic Kings, from whom he himself was des cended, it grieved him in his heart to see that city in the hand of the Moors: and he said within his heart, Lord God and Father Jesus Christ, it is wholly in thy power to give and to take away, and right it is that thy will should be done, even as thou hast done it to me, to whom will to take it away from me, and thou gavest a kingdom, and it was thy thou hast made me come hither to serve the enemies who were at the service of the King my father. Lord, H I put my hope in thee that thou wilt deliver me from this servitude, and give me a land and kingdom to command, and that thou wilt show unto me such favour that this land and this city shall by me be won, that thy holy body may be sacrificed in it to the honour of Christendom. This prayer he made with great devotion and with many tears; and the Lord God heard him, as hereafter you shall hear in this history. In those days King Alimaymon was at war with other Moorish kings his enemies, and king Don Alfonso fought against them on his side, and did such good service that he quelled their power, and they durst no longer offend him. And in time of peace Don Alfonso and his companions went fowling along the banks of the Tagus, for in those days there was much game there, and venison of all kinds; and they killed venison among the mountains. And as he was thus sporting he came to a place which is now called Bribuega, and it pleased him well, for it was a fair place to dwell in, and abounded with game, and there was a dismantled castle there, and he thought that he would ask the king for this place. And he returned to Toledo and asked it of the king, and king Alimaymon gave it him, and he placed there his huntsinen and his fowlers who were Christians, and fortified the place as his own. And the lineage of these people continued there till Don Juan, the third archbishop of Toledo, enlarged it, and peopled the parish of St. Pedro." In besieging a town of his sister's patrimony, the ambitious King Sancho was slain by traud, and Alphonso by his death acceded to his throne. But the Cia refused to do him homage because he suspected that he was privy to his brother's assassination: Soon after Alphonso took occasion to banish him.' The account of his exile is interesting. " XVIII. Now my Cid knew the evil disposition of the king towards him, and when he received his bidding, he made answer that he would meet him between Burgos and Bivar. And the king went out from Burgos and came nigh unto Bivar; and the Cid came up to him and would have kissed his hand, but the king withheld it, and said an grily unto him, Ruydiez, quit my land, Then the Cid clapt spurs to the mule upon which he rode, and vaulted into a piece of ground which was his own in heritance, and answered, Sir, I am not in your land, but in my own. king replied full wrathfully, Go out of And the my kingdoms without any delay. And the Cid made answer, Give me then thirty days time, as is the right of the hidalgos; and the king said he would not, but that if he were not gone in nine days time he would come and look for him. The Counts were well pleased at this; but all the people of the land were sorrowful. And then the king and the Cid parted. And the Cid sent for all his friends, and his kinsmen and vassals, and told them how king Don Alfonso had banished him from the land, and asked of them who would follow him into banishment, and who would remain at home. Then Alvar Fanez, who was his cousin-german, came forward and said, Cid, we will all go with you, through desert and through peopled country, and never fail you. In your` service will we spend our mules and horses, our wealth and our garments, and ever while we live be unto you loyal friends and vassals. confirmed what Alvar Fanez had said; And they all and the Cid thanked them for their love, and said that there might come a time in which he should guerdon them. "XIX. And as he was about to home, and when he saw his ball deserted, depart he looked back upon his own the household chests unfastened, the doors open, no cloaks hanging up, no the perches, the tears came into his eyes, seats in the porch, no hawks upon and he said, My enemies have done this: God be praised for all things. And he turned towards the East, and knelt and said, Holy Mary Mother, and all Saints, pray to God for me, that he Pagans, and to win enough from them may give me strength to destroy all the to requite my friends there with, and all those who follow and help me. called for Alvar Fanez and said unto Then he him, Cousin, the poor have no part in the wrong which the king hath done us ; see now that no wrong be done unto them along our road: and he called for his horse. And then an old women who was standing at her door said, Go in a lucky minute, and make spoil of whatever you wish And with this proverb he rode on, saying, Friends, b. God's good pleasure we shall return to Castille with great honour and great gain. And as they went out from Bivar they had a crow on their right hand, and when they came to Burgos they had a crow on the left. "XX. My Cid Ruydiez entered Burgos, having sixty streamers in his company. And men and women went forth to see him, and the men of Bargos and the women of Burgos were at their windows, weeping, so great was their sorrow; and they said with one accord, God, how good a vassal if he had but a good Lord! and willingly would each have bade him come in, but no one dared so to do. For king Don Alfonso in his anger had sent letters to Burgos, saying that no man should give the Cid a lodg⚫ ing; and that whosoever disobeyed should lose all that he had, and more over the eyes in his head. Great sorrow had these Christian folk at this, and they hid themselves when he came near them because they did not dare speak to him; and my Cid went to his Posada, and when he came to the door he found it fastened, for fear of the king. And his people called out with a loud voice, but they within made no answer. And the Cid rode up to the door, and took his foot out of the stirrup, and gave it a kick, but the door did not open with it, for it was well secured; a little girl of nine years old then came out of one of the houses and said unto him, O Cid, the king hath forbidden us to receive you. We dare not open our doors to you, for we should lose our houses and all that we have, and the eyes in our head. Cid, our evil would not help you, but God and all his Saints be with you. And when she had said this she returned into the house. And when the Cid knew what the king had done, he turned away from the door and rode up to St. Mary's, and there he alighted and knelt down, and prayed with all his heart; and then he mounted again and rode out of the town, and pitched his tent near Arlanzon, upon the Glera, that is to say, upon the sands. My Cid Ruydiez, he who in a happy hour first girt on his sword, took up his lodging upon the sands, because there was none who would receive him within their door. He had a good company round about him, and there be lodged as if he had been among the mountains." ART. III. A History of the early Part of the Reign of James the Second; with an introductory Chapter. By the Right Hon. CHARLES JAMES FOX. To which is added an Appendix. 4to. pp. 486. THIS publication was one which naturally excited in a very uncom mon degree the attention of the public. We come to the consideration of it, when the flush of novelty has worn off, when, curiosity being now satiated, the sober reflections, which the work suggests, may be expected to come home with peculiar welcome to the breasts of our readers. The bustling inquiries; "Is the work equal to the reputation of Mr. Fox-what sort of a style does it exhibit?-what sentiments does it adopt?-whom does he praise?whom does he blame ?"-all these, we suppose, every reading man, and every reading woman, in the nation, have long ago answered to themselves. On these points, therefore, we shall, in the present article, very carefully circumscribe our observations. The work offers ground for reflections of a different stamp, so important and so numerous, that the narrowness of our li mits is the principal subject of regret. The tone of expectation with which the book was received, arose from the tone of feeling with which the talents of public men are reviewed by the multitude. Great transactions appear to them in such a mysterious, and magnificent light, and they know so little of the laws according to which they are produced, that the man who, with any consider able reputation, has been conversant in them, must, as they suppose, be endowed with a wisdom and ingenuity, and possess a knowledge, of which it is difficult for them to form any conception. According to these sentiments, a history from the pen of Mr. Fox could be nothing less than a prodigy. A few of the most zealous among those who looked with abhorrence upon his political principles, expected his work to be very wicked, but they expected it to be something extremely powerful in its wickedness. For us, our opinion of the talents of public men is formed upon a different principle. We have Jong observed that public affairs are of such a nature as very much to conduct themselves; and that they are greatly left to their own guidance, the public man, in general, giving himself very little trouble about them. The knowledge of this, and the observation of the sort of talents which are most commonly selected for great affairs, have given us a wonderful leaning to the declared opinion of that great practical statesman, the Chancellor Oxenstiern. His son, whom he was sending on a very important mission to a congress of ambassadors and statesmen, charged with the interests of the principal kingdoms of Europe, was strongly affected with the magnitude of the occasion, and expressed his fears at the thought of meeting so many eminent men. "Go!" said his father, "and see with how little wisdom the world is governed." We have many things passing before our eyes which might satisfy almost the least reflecting among us, that the observation of the Swedish Chancellor is not unfounded. While things go on in their established course, and while the great man has nothing to do but to write let ters according to the forms left him in the office by his predecessors, to give the same orders this year which were given twenty years before, to let his clerks and secretaries do the business while he looks idly on, he appears to perform great things without a heavy disbursement of talent. But, let the course of transactions become altered, let a time succeed, when letters written according to the forms left in the office, when orders given according to the model of twenty years ago, will no longer answer; then, with hardly any exception, are public men proved unequal to the occa sion. Let us look at the French revolution. Did it not find such a set of ministers in the management of affairs in every country in Europe? And with what success has it triumphed over them? The French revolution presented a new scene in Europe. Letters written, and orders given upon the old plan would no longer do. But the ministers every where knew no other; and we live to be the unhappy wit nesses of the consequences. If the world, however, learn from this instructive spectacle to abate the foolish admiration which they so indiscriminately bestow upon public men, the calamities of the present times will not be without some useful results. From these reflections on the talents usually employed in the management of public affairs, we did not look forward to the publication of this work as a thing which must of necessity be wonderful, as coming from a wonderful man. It is not being the champion of a party in the field of common place politics, managing the weapons of trite controversy, and declaiming on the superficial topics of debate with rather more than ordinary address, that constitutes to us sufficient evidence of a great man. Far less is it running the beaten round of office, in any of the departments of the ministry, as the duty of these departments is almost always performed. We looked forward to the publication, however, with considerable curiosity, as affording evidence of the real extent of Mr. Fox's abilities and knowledge, more decisive and accurate than any thing we had yet received. Statesmen, in general, seem to be afraid of this touch-stone; and betray their own consciousness that they receive credit from the world for much higher talents than they possess. We own that we received a favourable impression of Mr. Fox from the very circumstance of his not declining to present himself undisguised before us, in this manner; challenging the public and posterity to estimate him at his real worth, and to bestow upon him no more admiration than he truly deserved. Mr. Pitt would have lived long before he had given us any such test of himself. We are decidedly of opinion that he was far from being qualified to write so good a book as this, though they are not talents of the first rate, nor any thing like it, which even this denotes. On the severest principles of criticism, however, the fragment now presented to us must be allowed to be a fine production, and to afford evidence that, had the work been completed, it would not have ranked low, in the class of historical compositions. It presents to us a species of history, unusual, or rather new, in modern times. From the complaints which have been urged against the Greek and Roman historians, of wanting philosophy, those of greatest genius among the moderns who have turned their attention to historical composition, have resolved not to be defective in this essential requisite. But they have, from this anxiety, been too little careful of some other important virtues of history. They have laboured, much more successfully than their predecessors, towards the analyses of the great principies of society and government; they trace the phenomena of government to far more general laws; they mark with more precision the progress of the human race from barbarity to refinement, and assign more instructively the causes. But with this effort they seem to be in a great measure exhausted. In addition to this, their histories contain little more than a dry statement of vulgar, historical facts. We read them, accordin ly, with a species of cold interest, compounded of that with which we peruse a philosophical dissertation, and a common chronicle. To the young, and to those in whom imagination and feeling predominate, the perusal of them is a task. Even those of our historians who have most industriously cultivated the agreeable, as Robertson, please rather by the magnitude and magnificence of the pictures they present, than by any exquisite touches of nature they have imparted to them. Besides what may be called (for want of a better word) the speculative part of the philosophy of history, to which the modern historians have so usefully turned their attention, there is what may be called the moral part, in which the ancients so infinitely farther excelled, and by which they communicated so exquisite a charm to their compositions. This moral part, as well as the speculative, is found, upon examination, to consist of several ingredients. In the first place, it implies lessons of common morality. On this, the ancients laid, and with justice, the greatest stress. According to Cicero, the historic muse is by right, and ought always to be in fact, magistra vite. The course of history should be so directed as to present in clear and instructive light the natural rewards of virtue, and the punishments of vice. In |