Kennet, Basil

, younger brother of the preceding, was born Oct. 21, 1674, at Postling in Kent, the vicarage | of his father, who bred this son also to the church. He was sent to Corpus Christ! college, Oxford, in 1690, where he soon distinguished himself by his uncommon abilities, and extraordinary advances in classical literature. He took the degree of M. A. in 1696, and commenced author the same year, by the publication of his “Romas Antiquae Notitia, or, The Antiquities of Rome; in two parts; 1. A short History of the Rise, Progress, and Decay of the Commonwealth. 2. A Description of the City an Account of the Religion, Civil Government, and Art of War with the remarkable Customs and Ceremonies, public and private with Copper Cuts of the principal Buildings, &c. To which are prefixed, Two Essays, concerning the Roman Learning, and the Roman Education,” in 8vo. The dedication is addressed to his royal highness William duke of Gloucester; and the work must have been written for his use particularly, if any credit may be given to a report, then at Oxford, that Mr. Ken net was to be appointed subpreceptor to that darling of the nation. This book being very well received by the public, he was encouraged to go on with his design of facilitating the study of classical learning; and with this view published, in 1697, “The Lives and Characters of the ancient Grecian Poets,” in 8vo, which he also dedicated to the duke of Gloucester. This, however, did not succeed so well as the “Roman Antiquities,” which is scarcely yet superseded in common use. The same year he was admitted fellow of his college, and became a tutor. About this time he entered into orders; and, some years after, gave proofs of the progress he had made in the study of divinity. In 1705 he published “An Exposition of the Apostles Creed, according to bishop Pearson, in a new Method, by way of Paraphrase and Annotations,” in 8vo, which was followed by “An Essay towards a Paraphrase on the Psalms, in Verse; with a Paraphrase on the third Chapter of the Revelations,” 1706, 8vo.

The same year he was, by the interest of his brother, appointed chaplain to the English factory at Leghorn; where he no sooner arrived than he met with great opposition from the papists, and was in great danger of the inquisition. This establishment of a church-of-England chaplain was a new thing; and the Italians were so jealous of the Northern heresy, that, to give as little offence as possible, he performed the duties of his office with the | utmost privacy and caution. But, notwithstanding this, great offence was taken at it; and complaints were immediately sent to Florence and Rome. Upon this, the pope, and the court of inquisition at Home, declared their resolution to expel heresy, and the public teacher of it, from the confines of the holy see; and therefore secret orders were given to apprehend Mr. Kennet at Leghorn, and to hurry him away to Pisa, and thence to some other religious prison, to bury him alive, or otherwise dispose of him in the severest manner. Upon notice of this design, Dr. Newton, the English envoy at Florence, interposed his offices at that court; where he could obtain no other answer, but that “he might send for the English preacher, and keep him in his own family as his domestic chaplain; otherwise, if he presumed to continue at Leghorn, he must take the consequences of it; for, in those matters of religion, the court of inquisition was superior to all civil powers.” The envoy communicated this answer of the great duke to the earl of Sunderland, then secretary of state, who sent a menacing letter by her majesty’s order; and then the chaplain continued to officiate in safety, though he was with much difficulty preserved from their intended fury till that letter arrived.

He continued at Leghorn, and persevered with great steadiness in his duty, till the bad state of his health obliged him to think of returning to his native air. He arrived at Oxford in 1714: he was also admitted D. D. the same year. But he lived to enjoy these new honours a very short time; for, his health having been much impaired in Italy, he died of a slow fever, Jan. 1714-15. A little before his death, he finished the preface to a volume, which came out under the title of “Sermons on several occasions, preached before the Society of British Merchants in foreign Parts.” Lond. 1715, 8vo.

Besides this collection, and the pieces already mentioned, of his own composing, he published English translations of eminent authors, the chief of which are as follow: 1. “Puffendorf of the Law of Nature and Nations.” 2. “Placette’s Christian Casuist.” 3. “Godeau’s Pastoral Instructions.” 4. “Pascal’s Thoughts on Religion.” To which he prefixed an account of the manner in which those thoughts were delivered by the author. 5. “Balsac’s Aristippus; with an Account of his Life and Writings.” 6. “The Marriage of Thames and Isis;” from a Latin poem of | Mr. Camden. Dr. Basil Kennet is said to have been a very amiable man; of exemplary integrity, generosity, and modesty. 1

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It is said that when Dr. Kennicott hnd taken orders, he came to officiate in his clerical capacity in his native town: when his father as clerk proceeded to place the surplice on his shoulders, a ktruggle ensued between the modesty of the son and the honest pride of the parent, who insisted on paying that respect to his son which he had been accustomed to shew to other clergymen: to this filial obedience was obliged to submit. A circumstance is added, that his mother had often declared she should never be able to support the joy of hearing her son preach; and that on her attendance at the church for the first time, she was so overcome as to be taken out in a state of temporary insensibility. The following anecdotes are from Polwhele’s History of Devonshire. “In his younger days Dr. Kennicott was much attached to the study and practice of music. I have at this time in my possession an anthem, to which the tenor and counter-tenor were added by him. He also taught the choir at Totnes church, and much delighted to walk into the fields with a few of the best of the singers, and would there join with them in the praise of that God to whose honour he has erected so lasting a monnment. I have been assured that his voice and manner far exceeded mediocrity. He was also a ringer; and there is an inscription on a brass chandelier in the belfry, where his name is mentioned as being one of its donors, to the ringers of Totnes church, for ever. I shall further add, that when the doctor first returned from Oxford, in orders, he was thought by his benefactors to aff.‘ct a little too much the gentleman, and i vm to assume so far as to pay ev to the sister of one of his subscribers: this gave offence, and the doctor desisted but this repulse gave his mother an opportunity to say, `Truly, I think it a lucky thing; for if my son had married Miss, he would have been a country curate all his life, but I now trust I shall live to see him a bishop.’ ”As I have already taken notice that the doctor was a ringer, some regulations, in his own hand-writing, for the establishment of a society for the cultivation of that amusement, are here copied. The disposition of a man is more strongly marked by trifles of this sort, than by matters of more weighty import, as the mind is here biassed neither by interest nor ambition. "Totnes, Nov. 8th, 1742. Among the many recreations approved of by the eons of pleasure, ringing is a diversion that may be emphatically said to bear away the bell, and so much does it engage the natives of Great Britain, beyond all other nations, that it has even the distinguishing appellation of the ‘ringing isle.’ The art, then, for which this kingdom is renowned, shews a judicious taste in those of its inhabitants who have, by their performances, contributed thereto: since this art wants no foreign encomiast, but the harmonious bells are the heralds of your own praise. The ingenuity required for, the diversion administered in, and the health subsequent upon, this exercise, give it a particular sanction among mankind, and recommend it as an employment at vacant hours, worthy the regard of all denominations. We, therefore, whose names are subscribed, taking into consideration the great pleasure that results from this manly employment, the innocence with which it is performed, and the advantage enjoyed

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from so healthy an exercise of our bodies; and also, having the peculiar satisfaction of ringing with ease a get of eight bells, of established fame and applauded excellence, do hereby agree to meet together, in the usual place of ringing, every Monday evening, at six o‘clock, for our improving this science: and for the greater certainty of attendance, we do hereby severally promise to forfeit the sum of three-pence, if not attending at the hour aforesaid, and sixpence if not present at seven o’clock, to be deposited in the hands of the treasurer for the time being, and spent as the major part of the society shall deem fit. And for the better regulation of this our fraternity, we do also hereby agree, that we remain in the bell fry during pleasure, and then, for the fnrther pleasure and benefit of conversa­ tion, adjourn to any house the company shall chuse, and there tarry till the hour of ten, and no longer. And whereas the stays supporting the bells are liable to damage from unskilful hands, we agree, that whoever hurts, shall repair the same at his own proper charge. We make no rules for conversation, nor penalties for any misbehaviour in it, resolving to render it innocently agreeable to each other; and whenever a breach of this rule is committed, that a reprimand be admitted from the society. In all cases and disputes not hereinbefore decided, the majority of the company shall determine; that so this society, amicably begun, may be amicably carried on, and not meet the fate of others that have gone before it.

(Signed) Benj. Kennicott."