s not distinguished by fluency or grace, a circumstance
to be imputed to the agitation of a public appearance; for, as
Woltmann assures us, 'the beauty, the elegance, ease, and true
instructiveness with which he could continuously express himself in
private, were acknowledged and admired by all his friends.' His
matter, we suppose, would make amends for these deficiencies of
manner: to judge from his introductory lecture, preserved in his
works, with the title, _What is Universal History, and with what views
should it be studied_, there perhaps has never been in Europe another
course of history sketched out on principles so magnificent and
philosophical.[21] But college exercises were far from being his
ultimate object, nor did he rest satisfied with mere visions of
perfection: the compass of the outline he had traced, for a proper
Historian, was scarcely greater than the assiduity with which he
strove to fill it up. His letters breathe a spirit not only of
diligence but of ardour; he seems intent with all his strength upon
this fresh pursuit; and delighted with the vast prospects of untouched
and attractive speculation, which were opening around him on every
side. He professed himself to be 'exceedingly contented with his
business;' his ideas on the nature of it were acquiring both extension
and distinctness; and every moment of his leisure was employed in
reducing them to practice. He was now busied with the _History of the
Thirty-Years War_.

[Footnote 21: The paper entitled _Hints on the Origin of
Human Society, as indicated in the Mosaic Records_, the
_Mission of Moses_, the _Laws of Solon and Lycurgus_, are
pieces of the very highest order; full of strength and
beauty; delicious to the lovers of that plastic philosophy,
which employs itself in giving form and life to the 'dry
bones' of those antique events, that lie before us so
inexplicable in the brief and enigmatic pages of their
chroniclers. The _Glance over Europe at the period of the
first Crusade_; the _Times of the Emperor Frederick I._; the
_Troubles in France_, are also masterly sketches, in a
simpler and more common style.]

This work, which appeared in 1791, is considered by the German critics
as his chief performance in this department of literature: _The Revolt
of the Netherlands_, the only one which could have vied with it, never
was completed; otherwise, in our opinion, it might have been superior.