Almici, Peter Camille

, a priest of the oratory, was born at Brescia, of a noble family, Nov. 2, 1714, and studied theology, and the Greek and Hebrew languages, in both which he became an excellent scholar. He applied himself chiefly to an investigation of the text of the sacred scriptures, and read with great care the Greek and Latin fathers. His studies were also diversified by an acquaintance with chronology, history both sacred and profane, antiquities, criticism, and whatever belongs to the character of a general scholar. In his own country, he obtained such fame that his advice was thought to be oracular. He died Dec. 30, 1779, in his sixty-fifth year. He published “Critical Reflexions” on Febronius’s work, entitled “De Statu Ecclesiae, et legitima potestate Romani Pontificis^” some dissertations and other works, particularly one on the “manner of writing the lives of illustrious characters,” with an appendix on that peculiar species of biography, writing one’s own life. He left also some unpublished works, and among them “a comparison between the Italians and French,” and “Thoughts on the life and writings of father Paul Sarpi.” ²