ightier spirit, which, amidst their conflicting passions,
has developed the truest principles, and even the errors, of Political
Freedom!

None of these historians, we have seen, published their works in their
lifetime. I have called them the saints of history, rather than the
martyrs. One, however, had the intrepidity to risk this awful
responsibility, and he stands forth among the most illustrious and
ill-fated examples of HISTORICAL MARTYRDOM!

This great historian is Giannone, whose civil history of the kingdom of
Naples is remarkable for its profound inquiries concerning the civil and
ecclesiastical constitution, the laws and customs of that kingdom. With
some interruptions from his professional avocations at the bar, twenty
years were consumed in writing this history. Researches on
ecclesiastical usurpations, and severe strictures on the clergy, are the
chief subjects of his bold and unreserved pen. These passages, curious,
grave, and indignant, were afterwards extracted from the history by
Vernet, and published in a small volume, under the title of "Anecdotes
Ecclesiastiques," 1738. When Giannone consulted with a friend on the
propriety of publishing his history, his critic, in admiring the work,
predicted the fate of the author. "You have," said he, "placed on your
head a crown of thorns, and of very sharp ones." The historian set at
nought his own personal repose, and in 1723 this elaborate history saw
the light. From that moment the historian never enjoyed a day of quiet!
Rome attempted at first to extinguish the author with his work; all the
books were seized on; and copies of the first edition are of extreme
rarity. To escape the fangs of inquisitorial power, the historian of
Naples flew from Naples on the publication of his immortal work. The
fugitive and excommunicated author sought an asylum at Vienna, where,
though he found no friend in the emperor, Prince Eugene and other nobles
became his patrons. Forced to quit Vienna, he retired to Venice, when a
new persecution arose from the jealousy of the state-inquisitors, who
one night landed him on the borders of the pope's dominions. Escaping
unexpectedly with his life to Geneva, he was preparing a supplemental
volume to his celebrated history, when, enticed by a treacherous friend
to a catholic village, Giannone was arrested by an order of the King of
Sardinia; his manuscripts were sent to Rome, and the historian
imprisoned in a fort. It is curious that the