When Almanzor was exalted to the throne of his father, he became no lefs remarkable for the strict adminiftration of justice, the judicious difcharge of the functions of government, than for his piety and beneficence of difpofition, his military prowels, and his knowledge in fcience. To each of these objects he regularly appropriated a determined portion of his time; but of all his purfuits literature was that in which he took the greateft delight. Learned men he invited from all quarters, treated them honourably, and purchased their writings with a munificent liberality. So much was learning cultivated by the Moors in general at that time, that during the courfe of his own reign only, he collected a library that confifted of fifty-five thousand feven hundred and twenty-two books, on all manner of sciences, and in various languages. In every part of the actions of this prince we difcover the great and the good man; and they are defcribed in the very fhort relation that is here given of them in the plaineft and most perfpicuous manner, without affectation of any fort.

In the courfe of the work Abulcacim gives a concife geographical defcription of the kingdom of Spain, as he himself had feen it, and of the manners and cuftoms of the natives, with whom he had lived in great intimacy for many years.--He likewife defcribes, with fingular perfpecuity, the conduct of a war in Africa carried on by the generals of Abilgualit, fon of Almanzor, to reduce fome revolted governors of provinces to obedience, in which the devices adopted by the fagacious general to prevent the effufion of blood, and to effect his purpose with little expence or inconvenience to his master or the other party, are difplayed with much diftinctnefs, which difcover a stretch of cautious and able military conduct, conjoined with mildness and moderation that has feldom been equalled in any country. The work concludes with a hif tory of the divifion of Spain into many kingdoms, af

ter the death of the family of Almanzor when each governor of a province erected it into an independant kingdom for himself. Altogether, this work comprehends the hiftory of Spain from the year 712 to the year 763, during the greateft part of which time the writer himself had born an active part in most of the transactions he relates.

The ftile is every where concise and clear, and the writer, throughout the whole, maintains a dignified character, and difcovers, upon all occafions, the most fcrupulous attention to truth. The tranflator Miguel de Luna accounts in a very fatisfactory manner, in his preface, for the brevity of ftile that every where prevails in this work, and, as he fays, in other Arabic manufcripts: as printing, he obferves, was not then known, it was a matter of great labour to multiply copies of books, it therefore became the principal ftudy of writers to exprefs their meaning in the feweft words poffible. If other manuscripts, written about the fame period, difplay the fame elegance of taste, maturity of judgement, and candour of difpofition, they deferve to be searched for with care.

In fome future numbers of this work I shall present the reader with a few excerpts from this fingular and valuable performance, which will open up a wide field for reflections to fuch of our readers as are anxious to trace the progress of the human mind, under various fituations and circumftances,

t

HAPPIN

ORIGIN OF DESPAIR.

APPINESS depends upon the gratification of our defires and paffions. The happiness of Titus arose from the indulgence of a beneficent temper; Epaminondas reaped enjoyment from the love of his country: the love of fame was the fource of Cæfar's felicity; and

the gratification of grovelling appetites gave delight to Vitellius. It has also been obferved that fome one paffion generally affumes a pre-eminence in the mind, and not only predominates over other appetites and defires, but contends with Reafon, and is often victorious. In proportion as one paffion gains ftrength, the reft languish and are enfeebled. They are feldom exercised; their gratifications yield tranfient pleasure, become of flight importance, are difpirited, and decay! Thus our happiness is attached to one ruling and ardent paffion; but our reafonings concerning future events are weak and short-fighted: we form schemes of felicity that never can be realized; we cherish affections that can never be gratified.

If, therefore, the disappointed paffion has been long encouraged-if the gay vifions of Hope and Imagination have long administered to its violence, if it is confirmed by habit in the temper and conftitution,-if it has fuperfeded the operation of other active principles, and fo enervated their ftrength, its difappointment will be embittered;-and Sorrow, prevented by no other paffion, will prey unabating on the defolate and abandoned fpirits. We may also obferve, that none are more liable to afflictions of this fort than thofe to whom Nature has given extreme fenfibility. Alive to every impreffion, their feelings are exquifite; they are eager in every purfuit; their imaginations are vigorous, and well adapted to fire them. They live, for a time, in a ftate of anarchy, expofed to the inroads of every paffion; and, though poffeffed of fingular abilities, their conduct will be capricious. Glowing with the warmeft affections, open, generous, and candid, yet prone to inconftancy, they are incapable of lafting friendship.-At length, by force of repeated indulgence, fome one paffion becomes habitual, occupies the heart, feizes the understanding, and impatient of refiftance or controul, weakens or extirpates every oppofing principle. Difappointment enfues; no paffion remains to adminifter

comfort; and the original fenfibility which prompted this difpofition will render the mind more fufceptible of anguifh, and yield it a prey to defpondency. We ought, therefore, to beware of limiting our felicity to the gratification of any individual paffion. Nature, ever wife and provident, has endowed us with capacities for various pleasures, and has opened to us many fountains of happinefs;-let no tyrannic pallion, let no rigid doctrine deter thee;-drink of the ftreams, be moderate, and be grateful. A. M.

Hiftorical Difquifitions on the British Conflitution,

PART IV.

[Continued from Vol. V. page 16§.]

Of the conftitutional hiftory of Britain, during the time of the Saxons, few particulars can with certainty be known; but from incidental circumftances it may eafily be inferred that the conftituent members of legiflation and government were neither well understood, nor their respective rights and privileges accurately defined. The very deed upon which William the Norman founded his claim to the British throne, (the will of Edward,) is, alone, a fufficient evidence of these facts.

After the conqueft, the hiftory of England is involved in lefs obfcurity; but every fact upon record, refpecting the conflitution; ferves to prove that our forefathers were then entirely in the dark with regard to many constitutional privileges, now fully ascertained, and that they only gradually groped their way, correcting errors as they came into view, and fupplying defects when they were felt, till by imperceptible degrees that goodly establishment was formed which we with juftice admire: not as perfect, indeed, but as more compleat than any other which has hitherto ap

peared, and which, by attention and care, may be still brought nearer and nearer to that perfection we inceffantly ought to aim at. It is not, therefore, by looking back, and implicitly striving to adopt the imperfect inftitutions of our forefathers, as many perfons have afferted, that our conftitution is to be improved; but by looking forward towards ftill higher attainments, that we ought to proceed. This will be fully proved by the few facts that follow, which might have been made ten times more numerous, did the limits of our work permit.

National Councils how called.

So indefinite were the ideas of mankind with refpect to the great national affembly, that it did not, even till a very late period, receive a distinct appropriated name. A fefsion of parliament has been denoted indifferently by the names curia regalis-curia imperiales-curia folennes-curia magna-congregationis-concilium principum-concilium generale-conventus-conventus generalis conventus publicus-placitum-fynodum;-and in Germany, where the same system of government prevailed, folius Germaniæ concilium. It is now there called Diet, in Britain a Parliament, in France a National Affembly, and in Spain and Portugal Cortes.

The conftituent members of that national affembly were in like manner indifferently called populus--principes ---proceres-primores-duces-patres, c.-fcarcely any thing, in fhort, was fixed and afcertained refpecting

them.

Mode of holding Parliaments.

They were not more uncertain as to the name, than they were indeterminate as to the mode of holding their parliaments. Nothing is now better understood than that the King cannot be prefent during the debates in parliament, and for good and obvious reasons; but for many years after the conqueft this regulation had evidently not been adopted. Thus, in the year 11-94, Richard I. fat in his parliament at Nottingham, and along with him, as many affert, his mother Elea VOL. VI.

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