rcises; and
there is every reason to believe that great precocity, both of bodily
and mental powers, fitted the prince for the office which was intrusted
to him by his father."

[7] The Monk of St. Gall implies that Aix la Chapelle was the
birthplace of Charlemagne. Lib. i. c. 30.

Our admiration of the style in which Mr. James has executed his task
almost tempts us to travel with the reader, page by page, through the
volume. Our time will not allow this task; though we must be less chary
of praise than of our space. The great events are told with elegant
simplicity; the language is neither overloaded with ornament, nor made
to abound with well-rounded terms, at the sacrifice of perspicuity and
truth; but there is throughout the work an air of impartiality and
patient investigation which should uniformly characterize historical
narrative. We make a few selections from various parts of the volume
towards what may be termed a personal portrait of the illustrious
emperor:]

Above[8] the ordinary height of man, Charlemagne was a giant in his
stature as in his mind; but the graceful and easy proportion of all his
limbs spoke the combination of wonderful activity with immense strength,
and pleased while it astonished. His countenance was as striking as his
figure; and his broad, high forehead, his keen and flashing eye, and
bland, unwrinkled brow, offered a bright picture, wherein the spirit of
physiognomy, natural to all men, might trace the expression of a
powerful intellect and a benevolent heart.

[8] Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Mag. cap. xxii. Marquhard Freher, de
Statura, Car. Mag. The dissertation of Marquhard Freher on the
height of Charlemagne, (and on the question whether he wore a
beard or not,) does not satisfy me as to his precise stature.
Eginhard declares that he was in height seven times the length
of his own foot, which we have every reason to believe was not
very small, at least if he bore any resemblance to his mother,
who was known by the name of "Bertha with the long foot."

Gifted with a frame, the corporeal energies of which required little or
no relaxation, and which, consequently, never clogged and hampered his
intellect by fatigue, Charlemagne could devote an immense portion of his
time to business, and, without taking more than a very small portion of
sleep, could dedicate the clear thoughts of an untired mind to the
regulation of his kingdom, even while othe