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a poet, when he ought to have exhibited the sagacity of a philosopher. It must be nevertheless confessed, that that critical investigation which is now so much required, was but little known to the ancients. Livy and Tacitus, who lived in the most enlightened ages, detail, seriously, uncommon events, to which the most preposterous superstition could only have given the smallest credit. Herodotus was more excusable; he lived in a time when the marvellous seduced every mind. However he may be reproached for his apparent or real credulity, his history contains observations upon the most celebrated people of Asia and Africa, which modern travellers have confirmed. It is exact and true in every thing that regards popular prejudices; his narrative is as pleasing as it is varied; he relates with the most attractive simplicity; we perceive no artifice in his recitals: we behold a man who says what he has seen or heard, and who exhibits such an air of sincerity, as to demand our confidence. Like Homer, he makes his heroes speak and act, and their harangues are in strict conformity with their manners and their characters: at times they convey the wisest lessons of morality and policy. Who is not delighted at seeing Solon at the court of Croesus? the philosopher humbles the pride of the monarch; but the precepts which the happy prince contemns, tend to the salvation of the unfortunate sovereign. Who does not feel an interest in the deliberation of the Magi, who dispute, after the death of Cambyses, on the best form of government? Herodotus rises above himself, when he describes the battles which the Greeks maintained with the enemies of their independence, without departing from that dignified simplicity which history requires. With more pomp of expression, with the language of

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enthusiasm, if our credulity is imposed upon by the heroic exploits he recounts, the little ostentation he intermixes in his recitals, makes us believe his sincerity.

If he be compared with the historians of his country, we shall find that he is more tender, more elegant than Thucydides; but possesses more animation, and less vigour. It is true that the latter, the painter of the misfortunes, and dissentions, of the most flourishing states of Greece, required a broader pencil than that which delineated their brilliant exploits, and admirable triumphs. Equal to Xenophon, as a writer, he is less moral and philosophical: the disciple of Socrates appears to write solely to enlighten the understanding; the historian of the Greeks, and of uncivilized nations, seems more solicitous of сарtivating the imagination, by the charms of his recitals. Compared with the Roman historians, Herodotus is as elegant as Livy; but inferior, in some respects, to Sallust; he bears not the smallest similarity to Tacitus. He read his history at the Olympic Games, which he had composed in his thirty-ninth year, B. C. 445. It was received with such universal applause, that the names of the nine muses were unanimously given to the nine books into which it is divided. The praise he received excited the enthusiasm of Thucydides, and Herodotus had a rival, but not an imitator.

In speaking of these two historians, Dionysius of Halicarnassus gives the preference to the older; both with respect to the subject of his work, and the execution. This preference would be more just, if the historian, like the poet, could dispose his matter according to his own taste. Far from reproaching Thucydides, for recording deplorable events, we ought rather to commend him, for

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giving to his countrymen important lessons, by displaying to them the fatal effects of civil dissentions, and for preserving, in the midst of factions, a character of independence and impartiality.

Herodotus had written another history of Assyria and Arabia, which is not extant. The life of Homer, generally attributed to him, is supposed, by some, not to be the production of his pen.

The two best editions of this great historian, are that of Wesseling, fol. Amsterdam, 1763; and that of Glasgow, 9 vols. 12mo. 1761.

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Engraved by George Coke

London Published by Tomor Hand & Sharpe Peulty Jan 2 2810.

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