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if our fpecies could pretend to excel mankind in any thing that is bad ? MI confefs that custom feems to me unreasonable.

0. Then how often do you hear e epithet of a fupid dog? Give leave to tell you, Sir, however nly you may think of us, we re endowed by nature with fenfe, reafen, inint, or whatever you plafe to call it, fufficient to direct &in the pursuit of our proper happines, and to accomplish the ends of that station allotted us in the fcale of being. Can mankind boat of

mere?

A. Not fo much, I am afraid. 0. Then, Sir, I have heard a man fo very fhameless, as to call another a ungrateful dog. I am fure you must be convinced, ingratitude is what I and all my kind perfe&tly abhor. It is a vice entirely human, with your leave, mafter.

M. I am forry for it.

O. Again, Sir, a fawning dog is become a proverbial expreflion, to the great fcandal of truth and common fenfe. I challenge all mankind to adduce a fingle inftance of a dog fawning upon one whom in his heart he defpifed., No; to fhew complaifance, to profefs eftcem to the really defpicable, to neglect, or look ftrange on merit out of fashion, is the prerogative of the lords of the world. Nay, mailer, I think I have feen you yourself look complaifantly on one whom I am fure you despised in your heart.

M. Not often, I believe; at leaft, as feldom as any one. But to convince you that merit is with me the only plea, I affare you, I love and efteem my dear little honest Othello, more than two thirds of mankind.

COMPENDIOUS HISTORY OF FRANCE. [Continued.]

TTENRY, King of Germany, Hhad been involved in a long had been involved in a long dipure with the count of Flanders and fome Lords of Lorrain, which, at length, it was agreed fhould be left to the arbitration of the King of France. In order to this, thefe two great princes had an interview on the banks of the Meufe. As all meetings of this kind are commonly perplexed with difputes about ceremonies, the interview was very near being poftponed on that account; but Henry, who was fo good a prince, that he had obtained the furname of Saint, preferred bufinefs to forms, and paffing the river early one morning, furprized King Robert in his apartment. After this thofe princes faw each other as friends, and, without any flate or ceremony at all, icttled the affair on which they met, to the fatisfaction of all parties concerned, and parted with great re

gret. They had agreed to go into Italy together, in order to oblige pope Boniface VIII. to confent to certain terms, which they held it neceffary to prefcribe. The death of the pope prevented that journey, and the very next year Henry himfelf died. He was fucceeded in his hereditary dominions, and the kingdom of Germany, by Conrade, Duke of Worms, who expected likewife to be received as King of Italy, and to be honoured with the imperial diadem. To this, however, many of the princes and prelates of Italy were by no means inclined: they were become weary of German mafters, and had a mind to try what market they could make in fome other court; and, with this view, they fent deputies to offer the imperial crown, and the kingdom of Italy, to the King of Frane.. for himself or for his fun. Bat Ro

Lert

bert, very wifely confidering that this must of neceflity involve him in a war with Conrade: that the Italians were naturally very inconflant; and that fettled peace, and the moft perfect efteem of all his neighbours, would be very ill exchanged for an uncertain dominion and a pompous title, he difmiffed the deputies, and declined the offer. His fub1023. jects in particular, and Europe in general, were quickly convinced that he had form ed a true notion of things, and judged right; for William Duke of Guienne, who was both a wife and a powerful prince, having accepted this propofal, the greater part of thofe who made it deferted him on the first appearance of Conrade, who, partly by addrefs, and partly by force of arms, obtained all that he fought, and fecured to himself the kingdom of Italy, in confequence of which pope John XIX. placed the imperial crown upon his head. Robert was indeed inclined to have taken the advantage of thofe difputes to recover the kingdom of Lorrain, or at leaft the homage of the princes who held it; but finding this could not be done without a war, and perceiving that by his late fuccefs Conrade became very powerful, he very prudently declined it.

The year following proved unfortunate to the King, in the lofs of his eldet fon Hugh, affociated with him in the fovereignty, who died in the flower of his age, and when he was become both obedient and affifting to his father. The king appeared very much chagrined, but the queen fhewed but very little concern. Robert, as foon as he had recovered the free ufe of his thoughts, inclined to affociate Henry, who was now become his eldeft fon, which his mother oppofed with equal heat and obftinacy; fo that it excited two factions at court; many, to gain the Queen's favour, and from a perfuafion that the King would yield at

laft, declaring in behalf of the younger fon Robert. But the major part of the nobility adhered to Henry, and the King, contrary to expectation, remaining firm, the Queen changed her battery, and perfuaded him to adopt neither, in hopes, if the furvived him, to place her own favourite upon the throne. The King penetrated her scheme; and therefore, without paying any deference to her counfels, affociated, with the advice of his parliament, his eldet furviving fon Henry. Queen Conftance, provoked in the highest degree, endeavoured to inflame her fon Robert, and to embarrafs him with his brother. In which, not finding him fo ready as the expected, the affection fhe had hitherto fhewn him turned into hatred, the perfecuted them both to fuch a degree, that they retired from court, and took up arms, not fo much with an ambitious view to

disturb the ftate, as that 1026. they might obtain fome

places in which they might live quiet. At length, however, the flame rofe fo high, that the king was obliged to raise an army and march against his fons into Burgundy. An abbot interpofed, with which the King was not at all difpleafed; and, having reprefented to him that the young princes did not mean to refift his authority, but merely to obtain a fubfiftence, he admitted them to his prefence, and compromifed things to their fatisfaction, employing his forces to reduce fome lords of Burgundy, who had taken the oppornuity of thefe troubles to raife fortreffes on their cftates, which the King could not endure. He left the elections of Bifhops, in general, free: but finding it abfolutely neceffary, for the fafety of his government, to have a prelate he could depend on at Langres, he named a Bishop, whom the monks thought fit to poifon; upon which he appointed another, and fent his fon Henry to

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fee him installed: and it was while the young prince was thus employed, that the King breathed his laft at Lelun, on the 20th of July, when he tad reigned thirty-three, and lived about threefcore years. There is not a monarch in the French history Lore generally or more highly commended, or on whofe death the lamentations of all ranks of people were louder or more fincere. The monks fpoke the fenfe of the whole nation, when they deplored him in thefe words; "We have loft a father who governed us in peace; we lived under him in fecurity, for he did not opprefs or fuffer oppreffion; we loved him, and there was nobody whom we feared." He maintained Eis own authority amongst the nobility, by fuffering them to exercife theirs.

Henry, at the time of his acceffion to the throne, was about twenty. feven years of age, and with all the vigour of a young man, had the fagacity and prudence of one more advanced in years, which fecured him from having the crown fhaken from his head, almost as foon as it was placed there. His mother, who mortally hated him, and who refolved always to govern, had drawn a great many Lords and Bishops to her party, whom he would have perfuaded to fet her fon Robert upon the throne. At the head of this faction was the Count of Flanders, and Eudes, Count of Champagne, the author of all the troubles that France felt during his life. Their views, whatever they inight pretend to the Queen, was to get fomething for themselves; and Eudes would not fo much as take up arms till he had ftipulated for half the town of Sens. This being promifed him, he marched with a numerous army; and having reduced Sens, Melun, and Soiffons, all the reft of the places in the neighbourhood, either through fear, or the intrigues of the Queen Dowager, opened their gates and declared for January 1764.

him. The King was fo diftreffed, that, with his friends and fervants, he made but the twelfth perfon when he retired to Frefcamp to demand fucccur from Robert, Duke of Normandy. He was received by that Prince with all the refpect poffible, who affured him that the treafures and forces of his duchy were entirely at his difpofal; and he kept his word; fo that an army of Normans entered France on one fide, while the King, when he had affembled a fufficient force, entered it on the other. Robert, though a mild and generous Prince, burnt all the country before him, and gave no quarter to fuch as fell into his hands, from whence he obtained the furname of Robert le Diable; but, by this extreme feverity, the Duke foon made them fick of the war. The King, on his fide, beat the Count of Champagne thrice, and was near taking him prifoner. At length Foulques, Count of Anjou, interpofed; and, by his mediation, things were compromifed with the Queen Dowager and Prince Robert, to whom the King gave the duchy of Burgundy: as to the Queen, the died the next year of mere vexation. The King recovered all that he had loft; compelled the Counts of Flanders and Champagne to fubmit; and as to the leffer nobility, he punished fome, aud humbled all. As glorioufly as the war ended for the King, it coft the crown dear; for as the fuccefs was due to Robert of Normandy, Henry added to his duchy Gifors, Chaumont, Pontoife, and that part of the Vexin which yet remained to the crown.

The King, having now acquired the peaceable poffeffion of his dominions, and a high reputation, thought it time to provide for the fucceffion; and therefore contracted himfelf to Matilda, the daughter of the Emperor Conrade, one of the worthief Princes who had worn the imperial crown fince the days of

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Charlemagne, but it is doubtful whether this marriage ever took eff &t. The death of Rodolph, King of Burgundy, occafioned a great war, of which it is neceffary to fay fomething, though the King took no fhare therein. Eudes, Count of Champagne, looked upon himself as the undoubted heir of this kingdem, as being the nephew of the King by his filter Bertha, who, after the deceafe of this Count's father, efpoufed Robert Duke of France; and it is not impoffible he had fucceeded, but for his own petulant temper; for infifting that the 1033. King fhould acknowledge him for his prefumptive heir, that Prince, who was defpifed by his fubjects, and apprehended he might dethrone him, had recourfe to the Emperor for protection; in gratitude for which, and in confi. deration of his being his great nephew by another fifter, he fent him, on his death-bed, the regalia of the two kingdoms of Burgundy and Arles. Eudes, little regarding this, immediately made an irruption into the county of Burgundy, and having long held a fecret correfpondence with fome of the nobility, got poffeffion of a great of part it, the Emperor being embarraffed with a rebellion in the most remote parts of his dominions; but he quickly returned on the news of the event, and as quickly difpoffeffed Eudes of his new government. It was upon this occafion, that Humbert, Count of Maurienne and Savoy, the Counts in the country of Swifferland, of La Breffe, Dauphine, and the Lyonnois, on the other fide the Rhone, did homage to the Emperor for their eflates. Eudes, as foon as he had recruited his forces, attacked the country of Lorrain, made himfelf master of Bar, and might very probably have given the Emperor inuch more trouble, if he had not been killed at a fiege, which releafed that monarch from any farther

disturbance on account of thefe pretenfions, which might have prevailed in better hands.

Eudes, at the time of his demise, left his eftates to his two fons, Thibaud, Count de Beauffe, Touraine, and Beauvoife, and Stephen, Count of Champagne, who were exactly of their father's temper, and fet out with refufing homage to King Henry, afferting that the obligations between the Lord and the vaffal were reciprocal; and that the King having given their father no affiftance in this war with the Emperor, they were not obliged to own him for their Lord, or to do him homage. But, in all probability, they had not ventured upon this, if they had not had fomething alfo in view. The King, befides Robert Duke of Burgundy, had another brother whofe name was Eudes, but whether elder or younger admits of fome doubt; fome fay, that he was elder than the King, and set afide for his incapacity; others, with much more probability, that he was the youngest, that his difcontent arose from his not having had fome eftablishment affigned him. However it was, he took arms, in conjunction with the two Counts, and the war proved fatal to them all; for the King having routed their forces, took Eudes prifoner, and fent him to Orleans, where he was confined for about three years. The Count of Champagne loft a great part of his lands, and Thibaud was difpoffeffed of Touraine. Galeran, Count of Meulan, who was likewife embarked in this defign, was attainted of felony, and his country united to the crown, which was the first inftance of its kind, and fhews that the conftitution began now to be fettled on a firmer bafis.

The troubles that arofe in Normandy next occupied the King's thought. Duke Robert, according to the humour that prevailed in

thofe

ticle times, thought fit to make a Fgrimage into the Holy Land, hav, ing firft procured his fon William, Bagh born out of wedlock, for ich he was afterwards furnamed Baftard, to be acknowledged his er, recommending him to the care Henry King of France, and Alain ke of Bretagne. This did not nder the whole country from falling into great confufion; not only the principal Lords, but even thofe of the least confideration in the duchy, threw off almost all dependance, and committed great diforders. The Duke de Bretagne came to appease their quarrels ; and, after being very indifferently treated, retured home with a flow poifon in his body, of which he died. King Henry, forgetting the obligations he was under to the father of the young Duke, inclined to avail himelf of these troubles, invaded the frontiers, burnt the town of Argentan, and took the caftle of Thilleres, which he pterended had been built

without his confent, and which he had therefore a right to demolish. Soon after this difputes arofe in that country about the fucceffion; and the minifters about the perfon of the young Duke, paffing over what had happened, applied themfelves to the King, reprefenting the honour he would obtain in fuccouring an in. fant prince, in fecuring the affec tions of the Normans, and maintaining a friendly intercourfe with Duke William as with his father. Henry, prevailed upon by thefe arguments, marched in perfon with a good army, and having joined the Duke's forces, gave the malecontent lords battle at Val de Dunes; where, expofing himself more than was neceffary, he was beaten from his horfe, and very near being killed. At length, after an obstinate difpute, the male contents were totally routed, and Duke William to this victory ftood indebted for the poffeffion of his dominions.

To the Authors of the BRITISH MAGAZINE. GENTLEMEN,

IT

T has been often obferved by perfons of genius and learning, that no fpecies of writing is more dificult than the epiftolary; and I will venture to add, that it is the fair part of the creation that excells in that province. Eafe without affectation, the politeit expreffion, the happiest art of telling news or trifles, the most engaging turns of fentiment or paflion, are frequently found in letters from women who have lived in any fphere above the vulgar: while, on the other hand, orators write affectedly, minifters obfcurely, poets floridly, learned men pedantically, and foldiers tolerably when hey can fpell. No perfon indeed would have his daughter write like Eoifa, becaufe none would have his

daughter feel what he felt; yet who ever wrote fo movingly, fo forcibly to the heart? The amiable Madam de Sevigné is the ftandard of easy, engaging writing to call her the pattern of eloquent writing will not. be thought an exaggeration, when I refer my readers to the accounts of Marthal de Turenne : fome little. fragments of her letters, in the appendix to Ramfay's life of that hero, give a ftronger picture of him than, the hiftorian was able to do in his voluminous work. If this fair one's ep ftles are liable to any cenfure, it is for a fault in which he is not likely to be often imitated, the excess of tenderness for her daughter. The English reader will be foon convinced that I have not flattered the produc

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