whofe flag they bear) but this, we conceive, inay eafily be made the fubject of future investigation. It is next argued, and certainly with great ingenuity, that the fections of the treaty which relate to contraband of war" are not merely profpective, but declaratory, being exprefsly declared to be framed "to prevent all ambiguity or mifunderflanding, as to what ought to be confidered as contraband of war.' This, therefore, fays the Speech, is "the recognition of an univerfal and pre-exifting right, which, as fuch, cannot juftly be refufed to any other independent flate." But was the noble author of the Speech aware of, or had he forgotten, the preamble of this very treaty? which pointedly declares, that the object of the contracting powers is, to fettle "their principles upon the rights of neutrality, in their application to their respective monarchies, in order to unite more clofely the ties of friendfhip and intercourfe." Surely it is too much to fay, that a Convention, formed upon fuch fpecial motives, and principles thus confined in their application, fhall be deemed declaratory of the fentiments, nay, a pledge of the conduct, of the contracting parties, as to the rest of the world. Such a conclufion is, indeed, exprefsly excluded, as to thofe ftates with whom it is moft likely that fuch a queftion fhould arife, namely, Denmark, Sweden, and the States of America; all of which powers have made different ftipulations on this fubject, in their treaties with Great Britain; and we are far from thinking this exception fairly admits the conftruction put upon it in the Specch. But the difcuffion of this point would lead us far beyond the limits of a Review. The ftipulation refpecting "blockaded ports" is alfo a fubject of the noble fpeaker's pointed animadverfion. He objects to it on two grounds; firft, that it seems to countenance the unfounded notion, that a port, to be blockaded, must be attacked with an intention of reducing it; fecondly, that a blockading fquadron may be driven from before a port by ftrefs of weather, fo as not to be, at all times, "fufficiently near" to create "an evident danger of entering." Upon thefe objections, which, though not wholly unfounded, are perhaps too refined, we fhall content ourselves with remarking, in the terms of the l'indication (page 67) that "the words or fufficiently near are of much importance, as they fairly determine the point at iffue; for they establish a blockade, not only by ftationary fhips, but by cruizing fquadrons; and thefe, it was the object of the Armed Neutralities not to allow. The words have alfo that latitude of conftruction, as to the diftance of the fhips, which gives them the power of a difcretionary approach, and allows them them to appear on fuch points as they may choose, for the better accomplishment of the purposes of the blockade." The laft branch of the noble fpeaker's enquiry relates to those ftipulations in the treaty which affect the right of search. The value of this right, he confiders as purely relative, being dependant on "the extent and nature of those principles to which it is applied." He, however, very juftly afferts this right, but thinks the exercife of it not fufficiently fecured by the words "valid motive of fufpicion;" which (although the fhip's papers be regular) may warrant a further fearch. Scarcely any motive of fufpicion, he argues, can exift previously to an examination of the crew, or fearch of the veffel. We confefs, it appears to us, that a more favourable conftruction of this claufe (which might perhaps have been more clearly worded) might prevail. The fifth fection of this article exprefsly allows the examination of the mafter and crew of the neutral veffel previously to her detention. This laft claufe, therefore, fhows how the former section should be conftrued; and that the "valid motive of fufpicion" may be grounded upon an enquiry (if deemed expedient by the belligerent commander) as well as on other circumstances. This conftruction feems to be adopted, as incontrovertible, by the able author of the Vindication, fo often referred to, who has fhown this claufe in the treaty to be conformable to feveral treaties of commerce made by Great Britain with the other ftates of Europe. We have thus endeavoured to give a correct outline of a very important, and certainly a very able, Speech. The patriotic motives of the noble statesman to whom it is afcribed, we cannot for a moment doubt. Whether the chief foundation on which it refts, namely, that it was in the power of minifters (without rifque or mifchievous delay) to have infifted, upon an unqualified abandonment of every claim made by the Northern Powers, does not fail, we leave to abler politicians to determine. One of the principal objections to the treaty has been obviated by a fupplementary agreement; and the remaining defects and inaccuracies, however ingenioufly urged in this Speech, will not, we conceive, appear, on a difpaflionate confideration, to detract much from the merits of that important tranfaction, or mach diminish the applause which minifters have obtained from their country. ART. ART. VI. The Life of Poggio Bracciolini. By the Rev. William Shepherd. 4to. 487 pp. 11. 5s. Cadell and Davies. 1802. A JUDICIOUS love of letters having led to an affiduous enquiry into the lives and fortunes of the revivers of learning, Poggio is well fele&ted, by the prefent author, as affording an ample fcope for the illuffration of a long and interefling period. Born in 1380, and preferved in health and literary activity till 1459, a term of nearly fourfcore years, Poggio contributed much by his own writings, and still more by his diligence in recovering ancient authors, and the works of ancient art, to introduce true tafte, and to furnish the best models for its cultivation. The friends of claffic literature will eafily accede to the praises of Poggio, when they are informed that to his activity and zeal they owe the poffeffion, totally, or in part, of Quintilian, Lucretius, Valerius Flaccus, Vegetius, Columella, Ammianus Marcellinus, Nonius Marcellus, Tertullian, befides many productions of Cicero, and fome of Lactantius, twelve of the Comedies of Plautus, and other works enumerated in thefe Memoirs*. Poggio was one of the most illuftrious of thofe fcholars who prepared the way for the brilliant era of Leo X. and without whose efforts that period of luftre would probably have been deferred to a much later date. Though the prefent elegant work was evidently, and indeed confeffedly, occafioned by that of Mr. Rofcoe, it fhould be read and confidered as introductory to it. Poggio was patronized by Cofmo de Medicis the father, and by Lorenzo the uncle, of the great Lorenzo, whom Mr. Rofcoe celebrates; and the well directed liberality of one generation prepared the way, and gave the example, to that of the next. How deferving Poggio was, as a fcholar, of the patronage of the Medicis, and the celebration of his prefent biographer, we may explain in the words of Mr. Rofcoe. Speaking of * See p. 107, et feq. Some of these discoveries are duly celebrated by Cristoforo Landino, in a Poem which has been cited by Mr. Roscoe. As memorial verses, they should not be omitted here. "Illius ergo manu nobis, doctiffime Rhetor, Integer in Latium, Quintiliane, redis: Illius atque manu, divina poemata Sili Et, ne nos lateat variorum cultus agrorum, Et te, Lucreti, longo poft tempore, tandem Civibus et patria reddit habere tuæ." Rofcoe I. p. 28, . the industry employed under the munificent encouragement of Cofmo, to recover the works of claffic authors, that writer says: "Of all the learned men of his time, Poggio feems to have devoted himfelf the moft particularly to this employment, and his exertions were crowned with ample fuccefs. The number of manufcripts difcovered by him in different parts of Europe, during the pace of near fifty years, will remain a lafting proof of his perfeverance, and of his fagacity in these purfuits. Whilft he attended the council of Conftance in the year 1415, he took an opportunity of vifiting the convent of S. Gallo, diftant from that city about twenty miles, where he had been informed that it was probable he might find fome manufcripts of the ancient Roman writers. In this place he had the happiness to dif cover a complete copy of Quintilian, whofe works had before appeared only in an imperfect and mutilated ftate," &c. Vol. i. p. 25. Mr. R. also says, with great truth, his "writings throw a confiderable light on the hiftory of the age.' With judgment, therefore, has Mr. Shepherd taken Poggio as the fubject of his narrative, though, from the near approach of the times, many perfons characterized in the one history require alfo to be defcribed in the other. Thus, in the introductory chapter to the Life of Lorenzo (befides Poggio himfelf) the following authors are mentioned, who are fimilarly introduced in the Life of Poggio; Ambrogio Traverfari, Leonardo and Carlo Aretino, Carlo Marfuppini, Guarino Veronefe, Giovanni Aurifpa, Francefco Filelfo, &c. It must be owned, however, thrat, as the fortunes of thefe perfonages were more involved with thofe of Poggio, they are here more copioufly defcribed; and that nothing is improperly transferred from the prior writer by his fucceffor. This work of Mr. Shepherd is, in all refpects, worthy to be taken up as an introduction to that of Mr. Roscoe. The ftyle, like that of the Life of Lorenzo, is manly, pure, and elegant; the remarks on authors evince a found tafte, and the reflections on events, a difcerning and cultivated mind. Though it does not equally abound in poetical paffages and tranflations, Poggio not being addicted to poetry, yet it is not wholly deftitute of them; and the profaic citations from his author, are rendered by Mr. S. with fidelity, tafte, and fpirit. In its external form, this publication is ftudioully, as it feems, made to resemble that of Mr. Rofcoe; and not without found judgment, fince their connexion is fo intimate, that they may properly be regarded as feparate parts of one general design. The letter-prefs of this volume, which is marked as printed at Liverpool, is even fuperior to that of the Life of Lorenzo; the ink is of a deeper black, the paper finer (though perhaps rather rather too yellow) and the letter more elegant. The propor tion of the letter-prefs to the margin is, however, to our tafte too small. There are no ornaments, except a vignette in the frontispiece; which is fuch a fpecimen of cutting on wood as very feldom has been produced, and will not often be rivalled. The fubject is allegorical, and reprefents the fun rising over the ruins of Rome, among which two learned men are purfuing their refearches. A doubt may perhaps arife in fome minds, whether, notwithstanding his merits in the enquiry after ancient authors, Poggio was a perfon altogether worthy to find a biographer, and particularly of the clerical order, at the prefent day. The judgment of Erafmus against him is apparently no lefs decifive than fevere, in a paffage which has frequently been cited; Poggio, rabula adeo indoctus, ut etiamfi vacaret obfcœnitate, tamen indignus effet qui legeretur; adeo autem obfcænus, ut, etiamfi doctiffimus fuiflet, tamen effet a bonis viris rejiciendus.' Epift. 1. iv. Ep. 7. An appeal from Erafmus on fuch a subject would not be eafy, did it not feem probable that he was influenced, in this refpect, by his efteem for the merits of Laurentius Valla, whofe inveterate hatred of Poggio, and calumnies against him, are only excufed by the fimilar exceffes of that antagonist. In his Ciceronianus, the fentence of Erafmus is rather more mild," Poggius Florentinus, vividæ cujufdam eloquentiæ vir.-Naturæ fatis erat, artis et eruditionis non ita multum etiam impuro fermonis fluxu, fi Laurentio Valla, credimus." Here he takes the impurity of his Latinity on the credit of Valla, as in the other paffage he probably did the general character of the man and his writings. The truth is, that the Facetia of Poggio, which cannot be too ftrongly reprobated, for the grofs and abominable indecencies with which they are interfperfed, are the part of his writings, and perhaps the only part, that merits the feverity of Erafmus. Were this blemish removed, or purged of about one third, perhaps, of its contents, Poggio might rank among authors highly favourable to morals, by his fpirited cenfure of fome most odious In his invectives, where his fcurrility is offenfive, he only used the weapons which were thought lawful in his time, and conflantly drawn and exercifed against himfelf. But the offence of his licentious jeft-book is not to be palliated; it was a tranfgreffion against his own better knowledge, fince he had reproved others for indecency; and it ought to have been fuppreffed, or very greatly purified. Mr. S. too flightly cenfures this production; though he folidly refutes the defence of it fuggefted by Recanati, that the moft licentious stories were interpolations fubfequent to the time of the author. The col lection |