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