Of Charlemagne, the greatest man of the middle ages, no accurate life had ever been written.  Mr. James tells us that, in his work, he believes he has corrected some of the errors to be found in former statements, and has added a few facts to the information which the world before possessed upon the subject.  The Life is preceded by an Historical Introduction, from A.D. 476, to A.D. 749, recounting the state of Gaul from a little previous to the final overthrow of the Roman Empire, to the birth of Charlemagne.

The precise birthplace of Charlemagne is unknown;[7] neither have any records come down to us of his education, nor any particulars of those early years which are generally ornamented by the imagination of after biographers, even when the subject of their writing has left his infancy in obscurity.  The year of his birth, however, seems to have been A.D. 742, about seven years before his father, Pepin, the Brief, assumed the name of king.  The first act of Charlemagne—­a task which combined both dignity and beneficence—­was to meet, as deputy for his father, the chief of the Roman Church, and to conduct him with honour to his father’s presence.  Charlemagne was then scarcely twelve years of age.  This is the first occasion on which we find the great man mentioned in history; “but,” observes Mr. James, “the children of the Francs were trained in their very early years to robust and warlike exercises; 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.