ving a full and
accurate, yet graphic history of the Crusades. He belongs to the
elevated class in thought; he is far removed, indeed, from the
utilitarian school of modern days. Deeply imbued with the romantic and
chivalrous ideas of the olden time, a devout Catholic as well as a
sincere Christian, he brought to the annals of the Holy Wars a profound
admiration for their heroism, a deep respect for their
disinterestedness, a graphic eye for their delineation, a sincere
sympathy with their devotion. With the fervour of a warrior, he has
narrated the long and eventful story of their victories and defeats;
with the devotion of a pilgrim, visited the scenes of their glories and
their sufferings. Not content with giving to the world six large octavos
for the narrative of their glory, he has published six other volumes,
containing his travels to all the scenes on the shores of the
Mediterranean which have been rendered memorable by their exploits. It
is hard to say which is most interesting. They mutually reflect and
throw light on each other: for in the History we see at every step the
graphic eye of the traveller; in the Travels we meet in every page with
the knowledge and associations of the historian.

Michaud, as might be expected from his turn of mind and favourite
studies, belongs to the romantic or picturesque school of French
historians; that school of which, with himself, Barante, Michelet, and
the two Thierrys are the great ornaments. He is far from being destitute
of philosophical penetration, and many of his articles in that
astonishing repertory of learning and ability, the _Biographie
Universelle_, demonstrate that he is fully abreast of all the ideas and
information of his age. But in his history of the Crusades, he thought,
and thought rightly, that the great object was to give a faithful
picture of the events and ideas of the time, without any attempt to
paraphrase them into the language or thoughts of subsequent ages. The
world had had enough of the flippant _persiflage_ with which Voltaire
had treated the most heroic efforts and tragic disasters of the human
race. Philosophic historians had got into discredit from the rash
conclusions and unfounded pretensions of the greater part of their
number; though the philosophy of history can never cease to be one of
the noblest subjects of human thought. To guard against the error into
which they had fallen, the romantic historians recurred with anxious
industry