45 4
titled : Monumenta inediia rerum Germanicarum , &c. ; but whether he changed his mind,or fome other caufe prevented him, M. de Weftphalen died without fulfilling his inten-tion, and the printed flieets of the fourth volume of the Atlantica are at preterit as rareas they were fixty years ago.
Many learned men, principally in Germany and Denmark, fuch as Prcsfchius, Leib-nitz, Tentzel, Spener , Loefcber , Keiflcr , Vachrer, Beyer, Dithmar , Mauller, Sperlingiu. f,and others,, have upbraided Rudbeck with being blinded by an ill-founded zeal for theglory of his country, and attributing to Sweden prerogatives and advantages of whichit was never in poffeffion. Notwithftanding this cenfure, many of thefe gentlemen havefollowed his heps and profited by his labours. The author of the obfervation, deincer -titudine hiftorica, which was infer ted in th eadditamenta ad obfervationes Hallenfcs, book ii.p. 156, is not more favourable to Rudbeck ; and more recently, to wit, in 1745, aoounfellor in Pomerania , of the name of Hoefer, formed a fimilar defign of refuting ourantiquary, and fpecially demonftrating in a publication, that all which the learned Swede alleges in favour of his own country, is only fuitable to the provinces in the north ofGermany , along the flioresofthe Baltic. I am ignorant whether this book, advertifedin our literary news as ready for the prefs, has ever come to light; but I am perfuadedthat if it {hould have been publifhed, it will in no degree have injured the work of Rud-beck . The celebrated Sperlingius has gone kill farther, and, on account of the Atlan-tica, has nearly been prompted to condemn the whole Swedifh nation, as may be feenby reference to fome of his letters to Gijb. Guper, printed in the fourth volume of Jo.
,Poleni Thefaurus novus antiquitatum, Venet. 1737, in folio.
Two celebrated French writers have examined with more judgment and equity thework of Mr. Rudbeck. The firft, Mr. Freret, a member of the Royal Academy ofln-feriptions and Belles Lettres, fays: “ It mud be allowed that Rudbeck frequently goes toofar through an ambition of rendering his country illuftrious; neverthelefs, not all hisconjectures are on this account undeferving ; fome of them are certainly ingenious, andfeme far from improbable.” See the Tranfactions of the Academy alluded to,book ix. p. 340, of the Amfterdam edition. The fecond is the Abbe Banier ; hethinks “ that few will follow the fyftem. of Rudbeck ; a fyftem which after all, addethhe, is fo firongly fupported by conjecture, that notwithftanding one may be of a differentway of thinking from the author, one cannot yet refule him the honour of having em-ployed the molt profound erudition for the purpofe of glorifying his country.” Thisopinion is given in les Melanges d'Hiftoire & dc Literature, by Mr. de Vigneul Marville,bookiii. p. 5, and following pages; Paris edition,]725, 121110.: and I attribute it notto Vigneul Marville , or as that author was properly called, D. Bonnaventure d’ Argonne,but to the Abbe Banier , on account of the third volume of les Melanges being almoftwholly written by that learned man, according to the Abbe d’Artigny, Nouveaux Me-moires d'H'Jloirc, &c. book i. p. 312.
I {hall not repeat the praife which the Atlantica of Rudbeck has acquired in Sweden ;let it fuffice to obferve, that our moffc modem hiftorians have given it attention. Bicsur-ner is of opinion : cuivis diligenti et frugi antiquario omninb convenirc diurnd noclurndque•verfare tnanu incomparabilis hujus viri Atlanticam. Mr. Wilde , a competent judge,efteemed it highly, notwithftanding he differed from him occafionally, particularly withrefpect to ancient geography. M. Dalin, even although he varies ftill more thanMr. Wilde in opinion from Rudbeck , and notwithftanding he follows a fyftem of chro-nology perfectly oppofite, yet allows that he throws great light on different points of hit-tory in the early ages, and that none can read the Atlantica without admiration of theprofound genius of the author, his prodigious learning, and keen penetration.
Olaus