stitutional; but from which he was roused by an accidental acquaintance with some jovial companions, who gave a more gay turn to his sentiments. On his father’s death,
This calamity, the distresses of 4iis family, and a disappointment in a love affair, threw him for some time into
a state of melancholy, which he seems to have considered
as constitutional; but from which he was roused by an
accidental acquaintance with some jovial companions, who
gave a more gay turn to his sentiments. On his father’s
death, he took a farm in conjunction with his brother, with
the honourable view of providing for'their large and orphan
family. On this farm our poet entered, with a resolution
to be wise: he read books on agriculture, calculated crops,
and attended markets. But here, too, he was doomed to
be unfortunate, although, in his brother Gilbert, he had a
coadjutor of excellent sense, a man of uncommon powers
both of thought and expression. During his residence on.
this farm with his brother, he formed a connexion with a
young woman, the consequences of which could not be
long concealed. In this dilemma, the imprudent couple
agreed to make a legal acknowledgment of an irregular and
private marriage, and projected that she should remain
with her father, while he, having lost all hopes of success
at home, was to go to Jamaica “to push his fortune.
”
This proceeding, however romantic it may appear, would
have rescued the lady’s character, consonant to the laws of
Scotland, which allow of greater latitude in the terms and
period of the marriage-contract than those of England;
but it did not satisfy her father, who insisted on having all
the written documents respecting the marriage Cancelled,
and by this unfeeling measure he intended that it should
be rendered void. The daughter consented, probably under the awe of parental authority; and our poet, though
with much anguish and reluctance, was also obliged to
flubmit. Divorced now from all he held dear in the world,
he had no resource but in his projected voyage to Jamaica,
which was prevented by a circumstance which eventually
laid the foundation of his future fame. For once, his
poverty stood his friend: he was destitute of every necessary for the voyage, and was therefore advised to raise a
sum of money by publishing his poems in the way of subscription. They were accordingly printed at Kilmarnock,
in 1786, in a small volume, which was encouraged by subscriptions for about 350 copies. It is hardly possible, say
his countrymen who were on the spot at this time, to express with what eager admiration and delight these poems
were every where received. Old and young, high and
low, grave and gay, learned and ignorant, all were alike
delighted, agitated, transported. Such transports would
naturally find their way into the bosom of the author* especially when he found that, instead of the necessity of flying
from his native land, he was now encouraged to go to
Edinburgh and superintend the publication of a second
edition.
cipally to extend his fame into the sister kingdom* was his fortunate introduction to Mr. Mackenzie, who^ in the 97th paper of the Lounger, then published periodically
This was the most momentous period of his life, in which he was to emerge from obscurity and poverty to distinction and wealth. In the metropolis he was soon introduced into the company and received the homage of men of literature, rank, and taste; and his appearance and behaviour at this time, as they exceeded all expectation, heightened and kept up the curiosity which his works had excited. He became the object of universal admiration and fondness, and was feasted, caressed, and flattered, as if it had been impossible to reward his merit too highly, or to grace his triumphal entry by too many solemnities. But what contributed principally to extend his fame into the sister kingdom* was his fortunate introduction to Mr. Mackenzie, who^ in the 97th paper of the Lounger, then published periodically at Edinburgh, recommended his poems by judicious specimens, and such generous and elegant criticism, as placed the poet at once in the rank he was destined to hold. From this time, whether present or. absent, Burns and his genius were the objects which engrossed all attention and all conversation.
certain convivial clubs of higher rank was, to say the least, an injudicious mark of respect to one who, whatever his talents, was destined, unless very uncommon aad
It cannot be surprising if so much adulation, in this new scene of life, produced effects an Burns which were the source of much of the unhappiness of his future life: for, while he was admitted into the company of men of taste, delicacy, and virtue, he was also seduced, by pressing invitations, into the society of those whose habits, without being very gross, are yet too social and inconsiderate; and the festive indulgences of these his companions and professed admirers were temptations which often became irresistible. Among his superiors in rank and merit, his behaviour was in general decorous and unassuming; but among his more equal or inferior associates, he: was permitted to dictate the mirth of the evening, and repaid the attention and submission of his hearers by sallies of wit. which, from one of his birth and education, in addition to their sterling value, had all the fascination of wonder. His introduction, about thasame time, into certain convivial clubs of higher rank was, to say the least, an injudicious mark of respect to one who, whatever his talents, was destined, unless very uncommon aad liberal patronage should interpose, to return to the plough, and to the simple and frugal enjoyments of a peasant’s life.
course of his journey was hospitably received at the houses of many gentlemen of worth and learning, who introduced him to their friends and neighbours, and repeated
During, his residence at Edinburgh, his finances were considerably improved by the new edition of his poems; and thjs enabled him not only to partake of the pleasures of that city, but to visit several other parts of his native country. He left Edinburgh May 6, 1787, and in the course of his journey was hospitably received at the houses of many gentlemen of worth and learning, who introduced him to their friends and neighbours, and repeated the applauses on which he had feasted in the metropolis. Of this tour he wrote a journal, which still exists, and of which some specimens have been published. He afterwards travelled into England as far as Carlisle. In the beginning of June he arrived at JVfossgiel, near Mauchlin, in Ayrshire, after an absence of six months, during which he had experienced a happy reverse of fortune, to which the hopes of few men in his situation could have aspired. He performed another journey the same year, of which there are a few minutes in the work already referred to, and which furnished him with subjects for his muse. His companion in some of these tours was a Mr. Nicol, a man of considerable talents, but eccentric manners, who was endeared to Burns not only by the warmth of his friendship, but by a certain congeniality of sentiment and agreement in habits. This sympathy, in some other instances, made our poet capriciously fond of companions, who, in the eyes of men of more regular conduct and more refined notions, were insufferable.
, and stocked it with part of this money, besides generously advancing 200l. to his brother Gilbert, who was struggling with many difficulties in the farm of Mossgiel.
During the greater part of the winter, 1787—8, Burns again resided in Edinburgh, and entered with peculiar, relish into its gaieties. By his patrons of the higher order he was still respected and caressed; but, as the singularities of his manner displayed themselves more openly, and as the novelty of his appearance wore off, he brcame less an object of general curiosity and attention. He lingered long in this place, however, in hopes that some situation would have been offered which might place him in independence: but as it did not seem probable that any thing of that kind would occur soon, he began seriously to reflect that he had as yet acquired *io permanent situation in the world, and that tours of pleasure and praise would not provide for the wants of a family. Influenced by these considerations, and probably ashamed of a delay which was not in unison with his native independence of mind, he quitted Edinburgh in the month of February 1788. Finding himself master of nearly 500l. from the sale of his poems, after discharging all expences, he took the farm of Ellisland, near Dumfries, and stocked it with part of this money, besides generously advancing 200l. to his brother Gilbert, who was struggling with many difficulties in the farm of Mossgiel. He was now al^o legally united to Mrs. Burns, who joined him, with their children, about the end of this year; and now rebuilt the dwelling-house on his farm, to render it more commodious to his family; and while the regulations of the farm had the charm of novelty, he passed his time in more tranquillity than he had lately experienced. But, unfortunately, his old habits were rather interrupted than broken. He was again invited into social parties, with the additional recommendation of a man who had seen the world, and lived with the great; and again partook of those irregularities for which men of warm imaginations, and conversation-talents, find too many apologies. But a circumstance now occurred which presented a new species of temptations, and threw many ob-? stacles in his way as a farmer.
er addressed to one of the board with much spirit and skill. He wrote another letter to a gentleman, who, hearing that he had been dismissed from his situation, proposed
The emoluments of his office, which now composed his. whole fortune, soon appeared insufficient for the maintenance of his family. He did not, indeed, from the first, expect that they could; but he had hopes of promotion at no great distance of time, and would probably have at'tained it, if he had not forfeited the favour of the board of excise, by some conversations on the state of public affairs, the revolution of France, &c. which were deemed highly improper, and were, probably, reported to the board in a way not calculated to lessen their effect. An inquiry was therefore instituted into his conduct, the result of which, although rather favourable, was not so much so as to reinstate him in the good opinion of the commissioners. Interest was necessary to enable him to retain his office; and he was informed that his promotion was deferred, and must depend on his future behaviour. He is said to have defended himself on this occasion in a letter addressed to one of the board with much spirit and skill. He wrote another letter to a gentleman, who, hearing that he had been dismissed from his situation, proposed a subscription, for him. In this last he gives an account of the whole transaction, and endeavours to vindicate his loyalty; he also contends for an independence of spirit, which he certainly possessed, and which, in many instances, he decidedly proved, but which yet appears to have partaken of that ardent zeal and extravagance of sentiment which are fitter to point a stanza than to conduct a life.
whose company his humour was guarded and chaste, it had also allurements for the lowest of mankind, who know no difference between freedom and licentiousness, and are
As to the person of our poet, he is described as being nearly five feet ten inches in height, and of a form that indicated agility as well as strength. His well -raised forehead, shaded with black curling hair, expressed uncommon capacity. His eyes were large, dark, full of ardour and animation. His face was well formed, and his countenance uncommonly interesting. Of his general behaviour, some traits have already been given. It usually bespoke a mind conscious of superior talents, not however unmixed with the affections which beget familiarity and affability. It was consequently various, according to the various modes in which he was addressed, or supposed himself to be treated: for it may easily be imagined that he often felt disrespect where none was meant. His conversation is universally allowed to have been uncommonly fascinating, and rich in wit, humour, whim, and occasionally in serious and apposite reflection. This excellence, however, proved a lasting misfortune to him: for while it procured him the friendship of men of character and taste, in whose company his humour was guarded and chaste, it had also allurements for the lowest of mankind, who know no difference between freedom and licentiousness, and are never so completely gratified as when genius condescends to give a kind of sanction to their grossness. Yet with all his failings, no man had a quicker apprehension of right and wrongvin human conduct, or a stronger sense of what was ridiculous or mean in morals or manners. His own errors he well knew and lamented, and that spirit of independence which he claimed, and so frequently exhibited, preserved him from injustice or selfish insensibility. He died poor, but not in debt, and left behind him a name, the fame of which will not be soon eclipsed.
eed, if it has any thing singular in its appearance, or apposite in its resemblance. Yet the reader, who has been accustomed to study nature, and the varieties of the
Of his poems, which have^been so often printed, and so eagerly read, it would be unnecessary here to enter into a critical examination. All readers of taste and sensibility have agreed to assign him a high rank among the rural poets of his country. His prominent excellencies are humour, tenderness, and sublimity; a combination rarely found in modern times, unless in the writings of a few poets of the very highest fame, with whom it would be improper to compare him. As he always wrote under the impression of actual feeling, much of the character of the man may be discovered in the poet. He executed no great work, for he never was in a situation which could afford the means of preparing, executing, and polishing a work of magnitude. His time he was compelled to borrow from labour, anxiety, and sickness. Hence his poems are short, various, and frequently irregular. It is not always easy to predict, from the beginning of them, what the conclusion or general management will be. They were probably written at one effort, and apparently with ease. He follows the guidance of an imagination, fertile in its images, but irregular in its expressions, and apt to be desultory. Hence Jie mixes the most affecting tenderness with humour almost coarse, and from this frequently soars to a sentiment of sublimity, a lofty flight, indicative of the highest powers of the art. Although in pursuit of flowers, he does not scruple to pick up a weed, if it has any thing singular in its appearance, or apposite in its resemblance. Yet the reader, who has been accustomed to study nature, and the varieties of the human mind, will always find something in unison with his boldest transitions.
have risen to very high distinction in epistolary or essay writing. Upon the whole, Burns was a man who undoubtedly possessed great abilities with great failings. The
The character of Burns will still be incomplete, without some notice of his abilities as a prose-writer; for of these we have ample proofs in his familiar correspondence. That his letters were never intended for the public eye, that many of them are mutilated, and that some, perhaps, might have been suppressed, are deductions which do not affect their merit as the effusions of a very uncommon mind, enriched with knowledge far beyond what could have been reasonably expected in his situation. He appears to have cultivated English prose with care, and certainly wrote it with a sprightly fluency. His turns of expression are various and surprizing, and, when treating the most common topics, his sentiments are singular and animated. His letters, however, would have attained a higher portion of graceful expression, and would have been more generally pleasing, had they not been too frequently the faithful transcripts of a disappointed mind, gloomily bent on one set of indignant and querulous reflections. But with this, and another exception which might be made to these letters, from a frequent imitation of the discursive manner of Sterne, they must ever be considered as decided proofs of genius. They contain many admirable specimens of critical acumen, and many flights of humour, and observations on life and manners, which fully justify our belief that, had he cultivated his prose talents only, he might have risen to very high distinction in epistolary or essay writing. Upon the whole, Burns was a man who undoubtedly possessed great abilities with great failings. The former he received from nature, he prized them highly, and he improved them; the latter were exaggerated by circumstances less within his controul, and by disappointments which, trusting to the most liberal encouragement ever offered to genius, he could not have foreseen. They may yet serve to guard ambitious and ardent minds from similar irregularities and wanderings, and to explain why such a man, after the first burst of popular applause was past, lived and died more unhappily than would probably have been the case had he never known what it was to be caressed and admired.
, knt. garter king at arms, is said to have been the son of a gardener or a brewer at Sandwich, who appears, however, to have been a person of considerable opulence,
, knt. garter king at arms, is
said to have been the son of a gardener or a brewer at
Sandwich, who appears, however, to have been a person of
considerable opulence, as he married into the family of the
Dennes of Dennehili, and gave his son a very liberal education. He studied law in Gray’s-inn, and in 1623, was
appointed keeper of the records in the Tower, and about
the same time became secretary to the Earl Marshal. In
the former reign (Elizabeth) he had been created Mowbray
herald extraordinary, to enable him to become a king at
arms, upon, a vacancy, and was knighted by king James I.
July 17, 1624. He attended Charles I. when he wetit to
Scotland to be crowned. In 1633 he was made garter
king at arms. In 1636, he obtained a grant to entitle him
to the fees and perc “e. of his office, because he had
been abroad upon the L^siness of the crown, which enabled him to take his share of the dues of his office, the
same as if he had been personally present in the college.
In 1640, he attended the treaty held by the sovereign with
his subjects in Scotland, and upon the civil war breaking
out, withdrew from the college, to attend his duty upon
his royal master. Whilst in this service, a grace passed
in convocation at Oxford for the degree of LL. D. but
Wood says it does not appear by the register whether he
was admitted, which, however, is highly probable. He
died at Oxford, Oct. 21, 1643, and was buried in Christ
church cathedral. He wrote, 1.
” Impetus juveniles, et
quaedam sedatioris aliquantulum animi epistolae,“Oxon.
1643, 8vo, in which his name is Latinized into Burrhus.
Most of the epistles are written to Philip Bacon, sir Francis
Bacon (lord Verulam), Thomas Famabie, Thomas Coppin,
sir Henry Spelman, &c. 2.
” The Sovereignty of the
British Seas, proved by records, &c.“written in 1633, but
not published until 1651, 12mo. Wood says he also made
” A Collection of Records in the Tower of London."
There are many ms pedigrees remaining of his drawing
up. In the Inner Temple library is a commentary in ms.
from his pen, on the formulary for combats before the
constable and marshal. His abilities and erudition were
universally acknowledged during his life.
1636, he was summoned to appear before Dr. Duck, one of the commissioners for causes ecclesiastical, who tendered to him the oaths ex officio, to answer to certain articles
In April 1625, he presented a letter to king Charles,
remonstrating against Dr. Neile and Dr. Laud, his majesty’s continual attendants, as popishly affected; and for
this was forbidden the court. Soon after he was presented
to the rectory of -St, Matthew’s, in Friday-street, London.
In Dec. 1636, he was summoned to appear before Dr.
Duck, one of the commissioners for causes ecclesiastical,
who tendered to him the oaths ex officio, to answer to certain articles brought against him, for what he had advanced
in two sermons preached in his own church on the preceding 5th of November . Burton, instead of answering,
appealed to the king: but a special high-commission court,
which was called soon after at Doctors’ Commons, suspended him, in his absence, from both his office and benefice; on which he thought fit to abscond, but published his
two sermons under the title of “For God and the King;
”
together with an apology justifying his appeal. February 1,
a serjeant at arms, with other officers, by virtue of a warrant from the star-chamber, broke open his doors, seized
his papers, and took him into custody. Next day, he was,
by an order of the privy-council, committed to the Fleet
prison; from which place he dated one epistle to his majesty, another to the judges, and a third to the “truehearted nobility.
” March 1!, he was proceeded against
in the star-chamber, for writing and publishing seditious,
schismatical, and libellous books, against the hierarchy of
the church, and to the scandal of the government. To
this information he (and Bastwick and Prynne who were indicted with him) prepared answers . In the end of
May 1637, a person came to the Fleet to examine Burton
upon his answer; but hearing that the greatest part of
it had been expunged, he refused to be examined, unless his answer might be admitted as it was put in, or he
permitted to put in a new answer. June 2, it was ordered
by the court, that if he would not answer to interrogatories
framed upon his answer, he would be proceeded against
pro confesso. Accordingly, June 14, Burton, and the two
others, being brought to the bar, the information was read;
and no legal answer having been put in in time, nor filed
on record, the court began for this contempt to proceed
to sentence. The defendants cried out for justice, that
their answers might be read, and that they might not be
condemned unheard, but because their answers were not
filed on record, the court proceeded to pass sentence:
which was, that Burton, Prynne, and Bastwick pay a fine
of 50OO/. each, and that Burton in particular be deprived
of his ecclesiastical benefice, degraded from his ministerial
function and degrees in the university, be set on the pillory, have both his ears cut off there, confined to perpetual
close imprisonment in Lancaster-castle, debarred the access
of his wife or any other except his keeper, and denied the
use of pen, ink, and paper: all which, except the fine
and the solitary part of the confinement, was executed accordingly, and the cutting off his ears with circumstances
of great cruelty, they being pared so close, that the
temporal artery was cut. During his twelve weeks imprisonment in the common gaol at Lancaster, great crowds
pitying his misfortunes resorted to him, and some of his
papers being dispersed in London, he was removed, by an
order of council, to Cornet-castle in the isle of Guernsey,
October 1637, where he was shut up almost three years;
till in November 1640, the house of, commons, upon his
wife’s petition, complaining of the severity of his sentence,
ordered that he should be brought to the parliament in
safe custody. Burton, on his arrival at London, presented
a petition to the house of commons, setting forth his sufferings, and there was now a house of commons willing
enough to listen to more trifling complaints. In consequence of this, the house resolved that the sentence
against him was illegal, and ought to be reversed; that he
be freed from the fine of 5000l. and from imprisonment,
and restored to his degrees in the university, orders in the
ministry, and to his ecclesiastical benefice in Friday-street,
London; also have recompense for his imprisonment, and
for the loss of his ears, which they fixed at six thousand
pounds; but owing to the ensuing confusions in the kingdom, he never received that sum. He was, however, restored to his living of St. Matthew’s, after which he declared himself an Independent, and complied with all the
alterations that ensued; but, according to Wood, when
he saw to what extravagant lengths the parliament went,
he grew more moderate, and afterwards fell out with his
fellow-sufferers Prynne and Bastwick, and with Mr. Edmund Calamy. He died Jan. 7, 1648. Besides the tracts
mentioned above, he wrote several others, which are
thus enumerated. 1. “A Censure of Simony,
” Loud.
A Plea to an Appeal, traversed Dialoguewise,
” Lond. The baiting of the Pope’s Bull,
”
Lond. A Tryal of private Devotions, or a Dyal
for the Hours of Prayer,
” Lond. Israel’s Fast;
or, Meditations on the 7th Chapter of Joshua,
” Lond.
Seven Vials, or an Exposition on the loth and
16th Chapters of the Revelations,
” Lond. Babel no Bethel; i. e. The Church of Rome no true visible
Church of Christ, being an Answer to Hugh Cholmeley’s
Challenge, and Robert Butterfield’s Maschil.
” 8. “Truth’s
Triumph over Trent, or the great Gulph between Sion
and Babylon,
” Lond. The Law and the Gospel reconciled against the Antinomians,
” Lond. Christian’s Bulwark, or the Doctrine of Justification,
” Lond. Exceptions against a passage in Dr. Jackson’s Treatise of the Divine Essence and
Attributes.
” 12. “The sounding of the two last Trumpets; or, Meditations on the 9th, 10th, and llth Chapters
of the Revelations,
” Lond. The Protestation protested, or a short Remonstrance, shewing what
is principally required of all those that have or do take the
last Parliamentary Protestation,
” London, Relation of Mr. Chillingworth.
” 15. “A Narration
of his own Life,
” Lond. A Vindication
of Independent Churches, in answer to Mr. Prynne’s two
books of Church-Government, and of Independency,
”
Lond. Parliament’s Power for Laws in
Religion,
” Vindiciae Veritatis: Truth
vindicated against Calumny: In a brief Answer to Dr.
Bastwick’s two late books, entitled, Independency not
God’s Ordinance,
” Lond. Truth shut
out of Doors; or, A brief Narrative of the Occasion and
Manner of Proceeding of Aldermanbury Parish, in shutting their Church-Door against him,
” Lond. Conformity’s Deformity, in a Dialogue between
Conformity and Conscience,
” Lond.
to his offence, he appears to have been a man of a violent and vindictive temper, and an enthusiast, who knowing how to adapt his harangues to the correspondent enthusiasm
However disproportioned Burton’s punishment was to his offence, he appears to have been a man of a violent and vindictive temper, and an enthusiast, who knowing how to adapt his harangues to the correspondent enthusiasm of the people, was considered as one of the most dangerous agents of the party who were undermining the constitution. His works are now little read, although often inquired after, and it has been justly observed, that punishment made him an object of pity who never was an object of esteem.
men under his tuition should be well instructed in these points. With regard to those of his pupils who were upon charitable foundations, he was solicitous that the
, a learned divine, was born in 1696
at Wemb worth in Devonshire, of which parish his father
wag rector. The first part of his grammatical education
he received at Okehampton, and the remainder at Ely,
under the rev. Sam. Bentham, his first cousin by the mother’s side. Such were the proofs which young Burton
afforded at school of his capacity, diligence, and worthy
dispositions, that the learned Dr. Ashton, master of Jesuscollege, Cambridge, designed to have him admitted into
his own college. But in the mean time, Dr. Turner, president of Corpus-Christi college, Oxford, having made an
accidental trial of Mr. Burton’s literary improvements, procured him a scholarship in that college in 1713, when he
was 17 years of age. Here he made so distinguished a
progress, that Dr. Mather, the president, appointed him
to the important office of tutor, when he was only B. A.
Soon after, the college conferred upon him the honour of
reading the Greek lecture. During the whole course of
his studies, he recommended himself both to the affection
of his equals and the esteem of his superiors. Dr. Potter,
in particular, at that time bishop of Oxford, conceived a
great regard for him. March 24, 1720, Mr. Burton was
admitted to the degree of M. A. In the exercise of his
duty as a tutor, no one could exceed him in attention,
diligence, and a zealous concern for the improvement of
his pupils. As he was himself unacquainted with mathematics, and ignorant of the Hebrew tongue, he took effectual care that the young men under his tuition should be
well instructed in these points. With regard to those of
his pupils who were upon charitable foundations, he was
solicitous that the acquisition of knowledge should be rendered as cheap to them as possible; and was so disinterested and beneficent in the whole of his conduct, that,
after having discharged the office of a tutor almost fifteen
years, he was scarcely possessed of 50l. when he quitted
the university. In revising, correcting, and improving
the exercises of the students, Mr. Burton displayed surprising patience and indefatigable diligence; and there
are still extant his themes, declamations, orations, and
poems of every kind, which he composed for the use of
his own pupils, and even of others. His attention was
also laudably and liberally directed to the restoration of
the credit of the university press, and to enable editors to
carry on their literary undertakings with diminished expence. With this view, he often prevailed upon Dr. Mather, Dr. Holmes, and other vice-chancellors, to order
new types; and, by the assistance of some noble friends,
he was so strenuous in behalf of the learned Hutchinson,
the editor of Xenophon, that no editors since that time
have had any delay or difficulty in obtaining the exemption from the duty on paper, which has been granted by
parliament to books printed at the Clarendon press. It was
also by Mr. Burton’s persuasion, that Mr. (afterwards lord)
Rolle gave WOl. to the university, for the purpose of lending it to editors; and that Dr. Hodges, provost of Orielcollege, bequeathed 200l. to the same use. In 1725,
when our learned tutor was pro-proctor and master of the
schools, he spoke, before the determining bachelors, a
Latin oration, entitled “Heli,
” which was both written
and published with a design of enforcing the salutary exercise of academical discipline. The same subject was still
more fully considered by him in four Latin sermons,
preached before the university; which, likewise, with appendices, were afterwards given to the public. Indeed,
the labour that Mr. Burton, during two years, cheerfully
went through, as master of the schools, was immense.
July 19, 1729, Mr. Burton was admitted to the degree of
B. D.; and in 1732, when the settlement of the colony of
Georgia was in agitation, being solicitous to give his assistance in promoting that undertaking, he preached a sermon
in its recommendation; and his discourse was afterwards
published, with an appendix concerning the state of the
colony. He was likewise, through his whole life, an ardent promoter of Dr. Bray’s admirable scheme of parochial
libraries.
Among other youths who were committed to the tuition of Mr. Burton, there were several
Among other youths who were committed to the tuition
of Mr. Burton, there were several from Eton school, who
excelled in genius and learning. This circumstance introduced him to an epistolary correspondence, and a social
intercourse, with the masters of the school and the provost and fellows of the college; the consequence of which
was, that they formed so good an opinion of his disposition and character, as to elect him, in 1733, into a fellowship of their society. About the same time, upon the
death of Dr. Edward Littleton, he was presented to the
vicarage of Maple-derham in Oxfordshire; which may be
considered as a grand sera in Mr. Burton’s life. Upon
going to take possession of his new preferment, he found
the widow of his predecessor, and three infant daughters,
without a home and without a fortune. A sight so affecting inspired him with compassion: compassion was followed by love, and love by marriage . Mr. Burton
shewed the same contempt for money, and perhaps carried it to an excess, after he was settled in his living. His
situation being remarkably pleasant, nothing gave him a
greater delight than repairing, enlarging, and adorning
his house, embellishing his gardens, planting trees, clearing fields, making roads, and introducing such other improvements as he believed would be of advantage to his
Successors . Works of a similar kind were undertaken by
him, when in 1766 he was instituted to the rectory of
Worplesdon in Surry. In 1748, the death of his wife affected him in the tenderest manner, as is evident from the
several parts of his “Opuscula metrico-prosaica;
” but
did not lessen his regard for her three orphan daughters,
towards whom he continued to exert the greatest affection
and liberality. After this event, he spent the principal
part of the year at Eton-college; where he gave himself
entirely up to the study of literature, and the assistance of
his friends; but punctually attended any public meetings
on literary or ecclesiastic affairs, whether at Oxford, London, or Cambridge. July 1, 1752, he took the degree of
D. D. and afterwards published his lectures on that occasion. He was intimately connected with many of the bishops; and whilst caressed by the governors of the church,
was equally dear to the lowest of the clergy. Nothing was
more agreeable to him, than to see all around him easy,
cheerful, and happy. To such of the young scholars at
Eton as appeared so be of promising abilities and dispositions, he shewed a particular attention, made them the
companions of his leisure hours, and afforded them every
encouragement which lay in his power.
ities of his native country, and his indefatigable researches, met with due encouragement from those who had many important materials in their hands; and he was himself
, M.D. and F. R. S. and F. S.A. an
eminent antiquary, of whom our accounts are very scanty,
was born at Rjppon in Yorkshire 1697, and educated hi
Christ church college in Oxford for some time, but took
his degree in some foreign university; and on his settling
at York, became very eminent in his profession. In 1745
it is said that he proposed joining himself to the pretender,
then at Manchester; but that his friends had interest sufficient to dissuade him from a measure which must have terminated in his ruin. His conduct, therefore, appears to
have unjustly exposed him to censure, if his own account
may be relied on, to this purpose, that “going out of
York, with leave of the mayor, &c. to take care of his estates, on the approach of the rebels, he was taken by
them, and in consequence of that was apprehended Dec. 3,
1745, and detained till March 25, 1746—7.
” This is explained in “British liberty endangered, demonstrated by
the following narrative, wherein is proved from facts, that
J. B. has hitherto been a better friend to the English constitution, in church and state, than his persecutors. Humbly dedicated to the most reverend and worthy the archbishop of Canterbury, late of York (Herring). With a
proper preface, by John Burton, of York, M. D.
” London,
3 749. There was afterwards published “An account of
what passed between Mr. George Thomson of York, and
doctor John Burton of that city, physician and manmidwife, at Mr. sheriff Jubb’s entertainment, and the consequences thereon, by Mr. George Thomson,
” London,
A Treatise on the Non-naturals, in which the
great influence they have on human bodies is set forth, and
mechanically accounted for. To which is subjoined, a
short Essay on the Chin-Cough, with a new method of
treating that obstinate distemper,
” York, 1738, 8vo. In
the title of this work, he calls himself “M. B. Cant, and
M. D. Rhem.
” by which it would appear that his bachelor’s
was a Lambeth degree, and that he graduated as doctor at
Rheims. In 1751, he published “An Essay towards a
complete new system of Midwifery,
” 8vo, and in A Letter to William Smellie, M. D. containing critical
and practical remarks upon his Treatise on the theory and
practice of Midwifery,
” 8vo. But the work by which he is
principally known, and for which he was employed in
making collections during his latter years, was, his “Monasticon Eboracense; and the Ecclesiastical History of Yorkshire, &c.
” the first volume of which was published in
a little beholden to him:“but for nearly a century, the perusal of it was confined to those readers who are called” The Curious;“and within our memory it was usually
“Burton upon Melancholy,
” says archbp. Herring (Letters, but for nearly a
century, the perusal of it was confined to those readers
who are called
” The Curious;“and within our memory
it was usually rejected from the catalogues of eminent
booksellers, as a work fitter for the stalls. Of late years,
however, its reputation has revived in an uncommon degree, partly by incidental notices of it by Dr. Johnson,
Messrs. Steevens and Malone, and the other annotators of
Shakspeare, and partly by the attention paid to it by Dr.
Ferriar of Manchester, who, in his
” Illustrations of Sterne,“has ingeniously pointed out how much that writer owes to
Burton. Mr. T. Warton, in his History of Poetry, had also
frequently referred to the
” Anatomy." All this not only
raised the price of the old editions, but encouraged the
publication of a new one in 1800, which sold rapidly; yet
Burton is a writer so much above the common level, that
we suspect that, even now, he has acquired more purchasers than readers.
enth and beginning of the eighteenth century, and sold by Nath. Crouch, a bookseller of that period, who is supposed to have composed them. In the Bodleian Catalogue,
was a name placed in the titlepages of a numerous set of popular volumes printed about
the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth
century, and sold by Nath. Crouch, a bookseller of that
period, who is supposed to have composed them. In the
Bodleian Catalogue, Burton is called “alias Nat Crouch,
”
of whom Dunton says, “I. think I have given you the very
soul of his character, when I have told you that his talent
lies at * Collections.' He has melted down the best of
our English histories into Twelve-penny-Books, which
are filled with Wonders, Rarities, and Curiosities, for
you must know his title-pages are a little swelling.
” Of
his brother Samuel Crouch, Dunton speaks more favourably: “He is just and punctual in all his dealings; never
speaks ill of any man; has a swinging soul of his own;
would part with all he has to serve a friend; and that’s
enough for one bookseller.
” These Burton’s books were
formerly confined to the perusal of the lowest classes of
readers, and were long called chapmen’s books, and sold
only by the petty booksellers, and at fairs, &c. But of
late years they have become a favourite object with collectors, and their price has risen accordingly; and more completely to gratify the trifling taste of the age, some of them
have been reprinted in a pompous and expensive manner.
Being, therefore, from whatever cause, the subjects of modern attention, we shall subjoin a list of them, for which
we are indebted to Mr. Malone. 1. “Historical Rarities
in London and Westminster,
” Wars in England, Scotland, and Ireland,
” Wonderful prodigies of Judgment and Mercy,
” Strange and
prodigious religious Customs and Manners of sundry Nations,
” English Empire in America,
” Surprising Miracles of Nature and Art,
” Admirable Curiosities of Nature,
”
History of Scotland,
” 1685. 9.
” Two Journies to Jerusalem,“1685.
10.
” Nine Worthies of the World,“1687. 11.
” Winter’s Evening’s Entertainments,“1687. 12.
” The English
Hero, or the Life of Sir Francis Drake,“1687. 13.
” Memorable Accidents, and unheard-of Transactions,“1693.
14.
” History of the House of Orange,“1693. 15. Martyrs in flames,
” 1695. 16. “Curiosities of England,
” History of Oliver Cromwell,
” Unparalleled Varieties,
” Unfortunate Court Favourites of England,
” History of the Lives
of English Divines,
” Ingenious Riddles.
”
22. “Unhappy Princesses, or the history of Anne Boleyn,
and Lady Jane Grey,
” Esop’s Fables in prose
and verse,
” History of Virginia,
” English acquisitions in Guinea and the East Indies,
”
1728. 27.
” General History of Earthquakes,“1736.
8.
” The English Heroine, or the Life and Adventures of
Mrs. Christian Davis, commonly called Mother Ross.“29.
” Youth’s Divine Pastime."
whose beauty has long been shadowed and obscured;” and in his preface declares himself one of those who hold that “gloria totius res est vanissima mundi;” and that
, author of the “History of Leicestershire,
” and eldest son of Ralph Burton, esq. of
Lindley in Leicestershire, was born August 24, 1575, educated
at the school of Nuneaton in Warwickshire, and while
there distinguished himself by no common taste and skill in
Latin poetry. He was admitted of Brazen-nose college,
Oxford, 1591, and of the Inner Temple May 20, 1593,
B. A. June 22, 1594, and was afterwards a barrister and
reporter in the court of common pleas. But “his natural
genius,
” says Wood, “leading him to the studies of heraldry, genealogies, and antiquities, he became excellent
in those obscure and intricate matters; and, look upon him
as a gentleman, was accounted by all that knew him to be
the best of-his time for those studies, as may appear by his
description of Leicestershire.
” The author himself says, he
began his History of Leicestershire in 1597, not many ): ears
after his coming into the Inner Temple. In 1602 he corrected Saxton’s map of that county, with the addition of
eighty towns. His weak constitution riot permitting him
to follow his business, he retired into the country; and his
great work, the “Description of Leicestershire,
” was published in folio, he has undertaken to remove an eclipse from the sun without art or astronomical
dimension, to give light to the county of Leicester, whose
beauty has long been shadowed and obscured;
” and in his
preface declares himself one of those who hold that “gloria
totius res est vanissima mundi;
” and that he was unfit and
unfurnished for so great a business: “unfit,
” to use his
own words, “for that myself was bound for another study,
which is jealous, and will admit no partner; for that all
time and parts of time, that could possibly be employed
therein, were not sufficient to be dispensed thereon, by
reason of the difficulty of getting, and multiplicity of kinds
of learning therein. Yet if a partner might be assigned or
admitted thereto, there is no study or learning so fit or
necessary for a lawyer, as the study of antiquities.
” He
was assisted in this undertaking by his kinsmen John Beaumont of Gracedieu, esq. and Augustus Vincent, rougecroix; but the church notes were taken by himself. He
drew up the corollary of Leland’s life, prefixed to the
“Collectanea,
” with his favourite device, the sun recovering from an eclipse, and motto “Rilucera,
” dated Faledi
Antiquitates de Dadling-ton, manerio com. Leic, sive exemplificatio scriptorum,
cartarum veterum, inquisitionum, rotulorum curiarum, recordorum, et evidentium probantium antiquitates dicti
manerii de Dadlingtori, et hsereditatem de Burton in dicto
manerio de Dadlington, quoe mine sunt penes me Will'mum
Burton de Lindley com. Leic. modernum dominum dicti
manerii de Dadlington. Lahore et studio mei Will 1 mi
Burton de Lindley, apprenticii legum Angliae, et socii
Interioris Templi Londini; nuper habitatitis apud Falde
com. Staff, nunc apud Lindley, 25 Aug. 1625, set, 50.
”
He died at Falde, after suffering much in the civil wars
April 6, 1645, and was buried in the parish church thereto
belonging, called Hanbury. He left several notes, collections of arms and monuments, genealogies, and other
matters of antiquity, which he had gathered from divers
churches and gentlemen’s houses. Derby collections are
mentioned in Gascoigne’s notes, p. 53, probably by himself. In Osborne’s Catalogue, 1757, was “Vincent on
Brooke,
” with ms notes by William Burton, probably not
more than those on Cornwall, which Dr. Rawlinson had.
He was one of sir Robert Cotton’s particular friends, and
had the honour to instruct sir William Dugdale. He was
acquainted with Somner; and Michael Drayton, esq. was
his near countryman and acquaintance, being descended
from the Draytons of Drayton, or Fenny Drayton, near
Lindley. He married, 1607, Jane, daughter of Humphry
Adderley, of Wedington, Warwickshire; by whom he had
one son, Cassibelan, born 1609, heir of his virtues as well
as his other fortunes, who, having a poetical turn, translated Martial into English, which was published 1658. He
consumed the best part of his paternal estate, and died
Feb. 28, 1681, having some years before given most, if
not all, his father’s collections to Mr. Walter Chetwynd, to
be used by him in writing the antiquities of Staffordshire.
Several printed copies of Burton’s Leicestershire, with ms
notes by different persons, are existing in various collections *. “The reputation of Burton’s book,
” as Mr.
Gough justly observes, “arises from its being written early,
and preceded only by Lambarde’s Kent 1576, Carew’s Cornwall 1602, and Norden’s Surveys; and it is in comparison
only of these, and not of Dugdale’s more copious work,
that we are to understand the praises so freely bestowed
on it, and because nobody has treated the subject more remotely and accurately; for Dugdale, says Burton, as well
as Lambarde and Carevv, performed briefly. The present
volume, though a folio of above 300 pages, if the unnecessary digressions were struck out, and the pedigrees reduced
into less compass, would shrink into a small work. The
typographical errors, especially in the Latin, are so numerous, and the style, according to the manner of that time,
so loose, that the meaning is often doubtful. The description is in alphabetical order, and consists chiefly of pedigrees and moot-cases.
” The author, sensible of its defect,
greatly enlarged and enriched it with the addition of Roman, Saxon, and other antiquities, as appears from his letter
to sir Robert Cotton, dated Lindley, June 9, 1627, still extant among Cotton’s correspondences, in his library, Jul.
C. iii. This book, thus augmented, was, with other Mss.
by the same author, in the possession of Mr. Walter Chetwynd, of Ingestry, in Staffordshire, whom Camden in
Staffordshire calls “venerandae antiquitatis cultor maximus;
” and afterwards came to, or was borrowed by, Mr.
Charles King, tutor to Mr. Chetwynd, in whose hands
Brokesby mentions it, and says Mr. Chetwynd made considerable additions to it. He died in 1693. Lord Chetwynd
lent it to sir Thomas Cave, in whose hands Mr. Ashby saw
it in 1763 f. It is continued to 1642. It is not necessary to
say more of a work now so totally eclipsed, and rendered
useless, by the more elaborate, accurate, and satisfactory
“History of Leicestershire
” lately published by Mr.
Nichols, to which we may refer for many curious particu* These are particularized in the History of Hinckley, p. 131. A new edition
of the Description of Leicestershire was absurdly printed in 1777, without the
least improvement.
lars of Burton’s life, and especially an account by himself
in the form of a diary.
ord, in 1625. When at the university, he was patronised by the learned Mr. Allen, of Glocester-hall, who appointed him Greek lecturer there. His indigence obliging him
, another antiquary of the seventeenth century, son of William Burton of Atcham in Shrop^
shire, was born in Austin Friars, London, educated in St.
Paul’s school, and became a student in Queen’s college,
Oxford, in 1625. When at the university, he was patronised by the learned Mr. Allen, of Glocester-hall, who appointed him Greek lecturer there. His indigence obliging
him to leave the university in 1630, after he had taken the
degree of bachelor of the civil law, he was for some time
usher to Mr. Thomas Farnaby, a famous schoolmaster in
Kent. He was afterwards master of the free grammarschool at Kingston upon Thames, in which station he continued till within two years of his death, when he retired
to London, where he died in 1657, and was buried in St.
Clement’s Danes, Strand. He published, 1. “Laudatio*
funebris in obitum D. Thomae Alleni,
” Oxon. Annotations on the first Epistle of Clement the Apostle to the Corinthians,
” Lond. Graecse Linguae Historia,
” ibid. Veteris Linguae Persicae Historia,
” with a recommendatory epistle by Langbaine. 4. “A Commentary on Antoninus’s Itinerary, or
Journey of the Roman Empire, so far as it concerneth Britain,
” Lond. The beloved city, or the Saints’ reign on
earth a thousand years, &c.
” Lond. Commentary on Antoninus
” procured him, from bishop
Kennett, the character of the best topographer since Camden.
adorned any age or nation . But he met with great uneasiness from the second master, Edward Bagshaw, who endeavoured to supplant him; but was himself removed out of
, the most eminent schoolmaster in
his time, was the second son of Richard Busby, of the
city of Westminster, gent, but born at Lutton in Lincolnshire, September 22, 1606. He received his education in
Westminster-school, as a king’s scholar; and in 1624 was
elected student of Christ Church. He took the degree of
bachelor of arts Oct. 21, 1628; and that of master June
18, 1631; at which time he was esteemed a great master
of the Greek and Latin tongues, and a complete orator.
Towards the expence of taking his degrees, a sum was honourably voted him by the vestry of St. Margaret, Westminster (in all 11l. 13s. 4d.) which he afterwards as honourably repaid, adding to it an annual sum towards the
maintenance of the parish school. On the 1st of July
1639, he was admitted to the prebend and rectory of Cudworth, with the chapel of Knowle annexed, in the church
of Wells; of which he lost the profits during the civil
wars; but found means to keep his student’s place, and
other preferment. He was appointed master of Westminster-school, December 13, 1640; in which laborious station he continued above fifty-five years, and bred up the
greatest number of learned scholars that ever adorned any
age or nation . But he met with great uneasiness from
the second master, Edward Bagshaw, who endeavoured to
supplant him; but was himself removed out of his place
for his insolence, in May 1658 (See Edward Bagshaw).
After the restoration, Mr. Busby’s merit being noticed>
his majesty conferred on him a prebend of Westminster,
into which he was installed July 5, 1660; and the llth of
August following, he was made treasurer and canon-residentiary of Wells. On October 19, 1660, he took the
degree of D. D. At the coronation of king Charles II.
April 1661, he carried the Ampulla. In the convocation,
which met June 24, the same year, he was proctor for the
chapter of Bath and Wells; and one of those who approved and subscribed the Common Prayer-Book. He
gave two hundred and fifty pounds towards repairing and
beautifying Christ Church college and cathedral; and intended, but never completed the foundation of two lectures in the same college, one for the Oriental languages,
and another for the mathematics; but he left a stipend
for a catechetical lecture, 10 be read in one of the parish
churches in Oxford, by a member of Christ Church . He
contributed also to the repair of Lichfield church. As for
his many other benefactions, they are not upon record,
because they were done in a private manner. This great
man, after a loBg, healthy, and laborious life, died April
6, 1695, aged eighty-nine, and was buried in Westminsterabbey, where there is a curious monument erected to him.
He composed several books for the use of his school, as,
1. “A short institution of Grammar,
” Cambr. Juvenalis et Persii Satira?,
” Lond. An English Introduction to the
Latin Tongue,
” Lond. Pvlartiaiis Epigrammata selecta,
” Lond. Grsecae Grammaticae Rudimenta,
” Lond. Nomenclatura Brevis Reformata, adjecto cum Syllabo Verborum et
Adjectivorum,
” At the end is printed “Duplex Centenarius Proverbiorum Anglo-Latino-Graecorum,
” Lond.
Ανθολογία δευτέρα: sive Græcorum Epigrammatum Florilegium novum,
” Lond. 1673, &c. 8vo.
8. “Rudimentum Anglo-Latinum, Grammatica literalis et
numeralis,
” Lond. Rudimentum Grammaticæ Græco-Latinæ Metricum,
” Lond.
As to his character, we are told by those who had the best opportunities of knowing him, that he was acquainted
As to his character, we are told by those who had the best
opportunities of knowing him, that he was acquainted with
all parts of learning, especially Philology; and of his skill
in grammar, his works are sufficient proof. Notwithstanding his being the greatest master of it, he was the freest
man in the world from that pedantic humour and carriage
which hath made some of that profession ridiculous to the
more sensible part of the world. No one ever trained up
a greater number of eminent men, both in church and
state, than himself; which was a plain demonstration of
his uncommon skill and diligence in his profession. He
extremely liked, and even applauded, and rewarded, wit
in any of his scholars, though it reflected upon himself;
of which many instances, are still remembered. We are
farther told, that there was an agreeable mixture of seventy and sweetness in his manners; so that if his carriage
was grave, it was at the same time full of good-nature, as
his conversation was always modest and learned; but in
his school he was extremely severe, and his character in
this respect, probably exaggerated by tradition, is become
almost proverbial. Several letters, however, from his scholars have been lately discovered, by which it appears that
he was much beloved by them. His piety was unfeigned
and without affectation, and his steadfast zeal to the
church^ and loyalty to the crown, were eminent, and not
without trials in the worst of times. But his greatest virtue was chanty; in the discharge of which none ever took
more care that his right hand should not know what his
left did. As to his constitution of body, he was healthy to
such a degree, that his old age proved altogether free from
those diseases and infirmities which most commonly attend
other persons: and as this was the consequence and reward of his chastity, sobriety, and temperance, so he
spent this bodily strength altogether upon his indefatigable
labours, in the education of youth in Westminster-school;
which he never remitted till he was released of it by death,
‘to which he submitted with the utmost constancy and patience. Mr. Seward informs us that he is said not to have
allowed notes to any classical author that was read at Westminster. According to the late Dr. Johnson, Busby used
to declare that his rod was his sieve, and that whoever
J c’ould not pass through that was no boy for him. He early
discovered the genius of Dr. South, lurking, perhaps, under idleness and obstinacy. “I see,
” said he, “great
talents in that sulky boy, and I shall endeavour to bring
them out,
” which he is said to have effected by means of
very great severity. When the rev. Philip Henry, who
was one of his scholars, requested leave to attend the nonconformist morning lecture at Westminster abbey, Busby
granted his, or rather his mother’s request, but did not
suffer him to abate any part of his school-tasks. Henry
says he never punished him but once, and that for telling
a lie, and appointed him also to make a penitential copy of
Latin verses, which When he brought, he gave him sixpence, and received him 'into favour. Henry farther informs us of the great pains Dr. Busby took with his scholars when they were to partake of the sacrament. When
afterwards Henry was ejected for non-conformity, his old
master said, “Prithee, child, who made
” thee a non-conformist?“to which Henry answered,
” Truly, sir, you
made me one, for you taught me those things that hindered me from conforming.“Many of Busby’s witticisms
are in circulation. His biographers give us the following:
Once, in a large company, he sat at table between Mrs.
South and Mrs. Sherlock, when the conversation turned
upon wives. Dr. Busby said that he believed wives, in general, were good;
” though, to be sure, there might be a
bad one here, and a bad one there." The late Mr. Duncombe informed the editors of the Biographia Brit, that
the face on Dr. Busby’s monument is said to have been
copied from a cast taken after his death, as he would never
sit for his picture; if so, whence came the portraits of him
in Christ Church, Oxford?
y was equal to that of Busching. “I have heard,” says Thiebault, “of two or three persons in Europe, who said there were, in their time, no more than three great men,
, an eminent geographer, was born at Stadthagen in Germany in 1724. After
having been instructed in the learned languages, mathematics, and astronomy, by M. Hauber, at Copenhagen, he
went, in 1744, to study divinity at Halle. In 1746, he
published his first work, “An Introduction to the Epistle
of St. Paul to the Philippians,
” which was followed by his
“Lectures
” on Isaiah and on the New Testament. Having been employed, in 1748, to superintend the education
of the son of count Lynar, he accompanied that nobleman
to Petersburgh in 1749, and in the course of this journey
planned his new system of geography, for the completion
of which he went in 1752 to Copenhagen. Here he edited
a periodical work on the state of the arts and sciences in
Denmark. In 1759, he accepted the office of extraordinary professor of philosophy at Gottingen, with a salary
of 200 rix-dollars to enable him to complete his geography. In consequence of the death of Mosheim, he wished
to succeed to the theological chair of Gottingen, but he
had so openly avowed the principles of the new German
theological school, that he was not only denied the professorship, but ordered afterwards to abstain from lecturing
on the subject, or publishing any thing not approved of by
the privy council of Hanover. This, however, did not
prevent his being appointed professor of philosophy in
1759; and in 1761 he became pastor to a Lutheran congregation at Petersburgh, where he established a public
school, sanctioned by Catherine the empress. He had a
dispute soon after with his congregation, and removed to
Altona. In 1766, he was appointed director of a school
at Berlin, where he passed the remainder of his life. He
died in 1793, and according to his own desire, was buried
in his garden, where he had formerly buried his wife,
In his own delineation of his character, he acknowledges, that though he was candid and open-hearted, affable, ready to assist others, and of a compassionate disposition, he had behaved with harshness to many persons,
and on various occasions. He expresses his confidence in
* the Supreme Being, his firm faith in the Saviour of the
world, and his satisfaction with the dispensations of providence. His temper, he says, was warm, and occasionally
irritable; and his firmness had sometimes assumed the appearance of obstinacy; and his quickness had betrayed
him occasionally into precipitation. “I am moderate,
”
says he, “in all things; contented with little, and master
of my appetites. In my intercourse with the world I expect too much from myself; I am therefore often dissatisfied with my own conduct; and on that account wish to
confine my intercourse within a very narrow circle, and to
shun society. I am free from pride, but not void of ambition, though I often struggle with this passion, and on
reflection endeavour to suppress it. I am so much attached
to labour, that it seems to me a requisite to life, and that
my impulse to it is greater than to any sensual pleasure
whatever.
” Thiebault, in his “Original Anecdotes of
Frederic the Great,
” assures us that in no country he met
with a man whose vanity was equal to that of Busching.
“I have heard,
” says Thiebault, “of two or three persons
in Europe, who said there were, in their time, no more
than three great men, Voltaire, Frederic, and themselves.
To these persons M. Busching cannot be compared, for he
never acknowledged any man to be so great as himself; in
short, his excessive vanity rendered him absolutely intolerable.
”
, of Nottelen in Westphalia, a Jesuit, who died 1668, wrote a small “Meduila Theologize Moralis,” 12mo,
, of Nottelen in Westphalia,
a Jesuit, who died 1668, wrote a small “Meduila Theologize Moralis,
” 12mo, which La Croix, one of his brethren, has enlarged to two vols. folio; the last edition is
1757. The idea of the pope’s authority, even over the
persons of kings, is carried, in this work, to the height of
extravagancy: all secular tribunals, therefore, united in
its condemnation. The parliament of Toulouse in 1757,
and that of Paris in 1761, ordered it to be burnt.
d, as Wood thinks, in Baliol college. He was afterwards taken into the service of sir Francis Bacon, who, when lord chancellor, made him seal-bearer, and in other respects
, a man once of considerable eminence for his philosophical pursuits, was born about 1594,
of a good family at Cleve Prior, in Worcestershire, and
was educated at Oxford, as Wood thinks, in Baliol college. He was afterwards taken into the service of sir
Francis Bacon, who, when lord chancellor, made him
seal-bearer, and in other respects patronized him liberally.
He afterwards travelled, directing his attention chiefly to
mineralogy, some curious experiments in which he made
at Enston in Oxfordshire, where he constructed a curious
cistern, erected a banquetting house, &c. which in 1636,
he exhibited to king Charles 1. and his queen, who gave
orders that the place should be called after her, Henrietta.
Here likewise he entertained the royal visitors with a kind
of mask, poetical addresses, &c. which were afterwards
published under the title of “The several Speeches and
Songs at the presentment of the Rock at Enston, to the
queen’s most excellent majesty,
” Oxon. A just and true remonstrance of his Majesty’s Mines Royal in Wales,
” Lond. Extract, or Abstract of the lord chancellor Bacon’s Philosophical Theory of Mineral Prosecutions,
” Lond.
e of Arlon in Luxemburgh, in the sixteenth century, owed his success in life to his brother Francis, who died archbishop of Besangon in 1500. By his interest he became
, a native of Arlon in Luxemburgh, in the sixteenth century, owed his success in life to his brother Francis, who died archbishop of Besangon in 1500. By his interest he became master of requests, a member of the sovereign council of Mechlin, and held several ecclesiastical benefices. His genius and learning recommended him to the friendship and correspondence of many of the learned men of his time, particularly Erasmus and sir Thomas More. He was employed in embassies to pope Julius II. Francis I. of France, and Henry VIII. of England; and in 1517, he was sent into Spain by Charles V. but falling sick at Bourdeaux, he died August 26 of that year. He left a considerable property to found three professorships at Louvain for Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, which composed what was called the Collegium Trilingue. Erasmus says this institution gave much disgust to the illiterate members of the church there, who, he adds, were vexed that three tongues should be in request. Several verses, speeches, and epistles written by Buslidius, were found after his death, but the only piece published is a letter prefixed to sir Thomas More’s Utopia.
the education of Mr. Edward Howard, his nephew and presumptive heir, whom he accompanied abroad, but who died soon. During his being at Paris, on this occasion, he completed
, author of the “Lives of the Saints,
”
the second son of Simon Butler, esq. of Appletree, in the
county of Northampton, was born in 1710, and educated
for a short time at a school in Lancashire, whence in his
eighth year he was sent to the English college at Douay,
where he applied himself with uncommon diligence to the
studies prescribed in that Roman catholic seminary, and
was admired for his early piety. After completing his
course, he was admitted an alumnus, and appointed professor of philosophy, in lecturing on which he followed the
Newtonian system, then gaining ground in the foreign
universities, in preference to the systems of Wolfe and
Leibnitz, in which he discovered some things irreconcileable with the opinions of the church. He was next appointed professor of divinity, and while at this college
published his first work, “Letters on the History of the
Popes, published by Mr. Archibald Bower,
” which were
written with ease and good humour, and shew various and
extensive learning. In 1745 he accompanied the late earl
of Shrewsbury, and the hon. James and Thomas Talbot, on
their travels through France and Italy. On his 1 return from
these travels, he was sent on the English mission, and
wished to be settled in London; where he might have access to literary society and the public libraries, with a view
to complete his “Lives of the Saints,
” on which he had
long been engaged; but the vicar apostolic of the middle
district claimed him, as belonging to that district, and appointed him, much against his will, to a mission in Staffordshire. Here, however, he did not remain long, being
appointed chaplain to Edward duke of Norfolk, and to
superintend the education of Mr. Edward Howard, his
nephew and presumptive heir, whom he accompanied
abroad, but who died soon. During his being at Paris, on
this occasion, he completed and sent to press his “Lives
of the Saints, which is said to have cost him the labour of
thirty years. At the finishing of it he gave, what hisbiographer very truly calls, a very edifying instance of
humility. The manuscript of the first volume having been,
submitted to Mr. Cnalloner, the vicar-apostolic of the
London district, he recommended the omission of all the
notes, that the work might be less expensive and more
useful. It is easy to suppose what it must have cost our
author to consign to oblivion the fruit of so much labour.
He obeyed, however, and to this circumstance it is owing,
that in the first edition the notes.are omitted. Some years
after, he published the
” Life of Mary of the Cross,“a
nun in the English convent of the poor Clatvs at Rouen,
not, strictly speaking, apiece of biography, but a vehicle for
instructions on religious life on Roman catholic principles.
Sometime after our author’s return to England from his
travels with Mr. Edward Howard, he was chosen president
of the English college at St. Omer’s, in which station he continued until his death. He had projected many works
besides those already mentioned, and among them, his
treatise on the
” Moveable Feasts,“which was published,
after his death, under the inspection of Mr. Challoner.
He proposed writing the lives of bishop Fisher and Sir
Thomas More, and had made copious collections for both,
some of which are in the hands of his biographer. He had
begun a treatise on
” Natural and revealed religion,“being dissatisfied with what Bergier had published on those
subjects. Three volumes of his
” Discourses“have been
published since his decease. As a preacher, however, we
are told, that he almost wholly failed. His sermons were
sometimes interesting and pathetic; but they were always
desultory, and almost always immeasurably long. His
” Short
life of Sir Toby Matthews,“has lately been published by
his biographer. His literary correspondence was very extensive, and among other correspondents of distinction,
may be mentioned the learned Lambertini, afterwards pope
Benedict XIV. and the late Dn Lowth, bishop of London;
and the assistance he afforded to English men of literature
has been liberally acknowledged by Dr. Kennicot, and
others. After a life spent in devotion to his profession,
and in various studies, he died May 15, 1773, in the sixtythird year of his age; and was interred in the chapel of
the English college at St. Omers, where a monument of
white marble was erected to his memory, with an elegant
Latin inscription. His
” Lives of the Saints," although
run free from the peculiarities of his predecessors in that
branch of biography, is a work of great value and research.
It was first published in 1745, 5 vols. 4to; and in 1779, or
1780, an edition was published at Dublin, in 12 vols. 8vo;
and in 1799 1800, at Edinburgh, in the same form, to
which his nephew, Charles Butler, esq. barrister at law,
prefixed a life, from which the preceding sketch is taken.
tle, and his father was styled by courtesy viscount Thurles. After the death of his father, in 1619, who left a widow and seven children in embarrassed circumstances,
, duke of Ormond, an eminent statesman, the son of Thomas Butler, esq. a branch of the Ormond family, was born at Newcastle house, in Clerkenwell, 1610. Oh the decease of Thomas, earl, of Ormond, his grandfather Sir Walter Butler, of Kilcash, assumed the title, and his father was styled by courtesy viscount Thurles. After the death of his father, in 1619, who left a widow and seven children in embarrassed circumstances, this title devolved upon him. In 1620 he was sent over to England by his mother, and educated partly at a school at Finchtey, in Middlesex, but king James claiming the wardship of him, he was put under the tuition of. archbishop Abbot, who instilled in him that love for the protestant religion which he afterwards displayed on so many occasions. On the death of king James he was taken home by his grandfather the carl of Ormond; and in 1629 he married his cousin, lady Elizabeth Preston, a match which terminated some disputes that had long been agitated between the families. In 1630 he purchased a troop of horse in Ireland, and two years after succeeded, by the death of his grandfather, to the earldom of Ormond. During the earl of Stratford’s viceroyalty in Ireland, his talents were much noticed by that nobleman, who predicted his future fame. On the commencement of the rebellion in Ireland in 1641, he was appointed lieutenant-generaJ and commander in chief of an army of only 3000 men, but with this inconsiderable force, and a few additional troops raised by himself, he resisted the progress of the rebels, and in 1642 dislodged them from the Naes near Dublin, raised the blockade of Drogheda, and routed them at Kiirush. His exertions, however, being impeded by the jealousies of the lords justices and of the lord lieutenant, the king, that he might act without controui, gave him an independent commission under the great seal, and created him marquis of Ormond. In 1643 he obtained a considerable victory with a very inferior force over the rebels under the command of the Irish general Preston, but for want of suitable encouragement, he was under a necessity of concluding a cessation of hostilities, for which measure he was much blamed in England; though he availed himself of it by sending over troops to the assistance of the king, who was then at war with the parliament. His majesty, however, duly appreciating his services, appointed him lord lieutenant of Ireland, in the room of the earl of Leicester, in the beginning of the year 1644; but in the exercise of this office, he had to contend both with the rebellious spirit of the old Irish, and the machinations of the English parliament, and after maintaining an unsuccessful struggle for three years, he was, in 1647, obliged to sign a treaty with the parliament’s commissioners, and to come over to England, where he waited on 'the king at Hampton-court, and obtained his majesty’s full approbation of all his proceedings; but in the hazardous state of public affairs he thought it most prudent to provide for his own safety by embarking for France.
of his purpose, his accomplices dragged the duke out of his coach, and placed him behind one of them who was on horseback, in order to convey him to Tyburn, and execute
During his short residence in this country, he corresponded with the Irish for the purpose of inducing them to
engage in the royal cause; and having engaged lord Inchiquin to receive him in Munster, he landed at Cork,
after escaping the imminent danger of shipwreck, in 1648,
and on his arrival, adopted measures which were not a little
assisted by the abhorrence which the king’s death excited
through the country; and in consequence of this favourable
impression, the lord lieutenant caused Charles II. to be immediately proclaimed. But Owen O'Neile, instigated by
the pope’s nuncio, and supported by the old Irish, raised
obstacles in his way, which he determined to overcome by
the bold enterprise of attacking the city of Dublin, then
held for the Parliament by governor Jones. This enterprise, however, failed, with very considerable loss on the
part of the marquis; and soon after Cromwell arrived in
Ireland, and having stormed Drogheda, surrendered it to
military execution, thus striking tenor into the Irish, so
that they becoming dissatisfied with the lord lieutenant,
and insisting on his leaving the kingdom, he embarked for
France, in 1650, and joined the exiled family. In order to
retrieve his affairs, the marchioness went over to Ireland, and having in some measure succeeded in exempting
her own estate from forfeiture, she remained in the country, and never saw her husband till after the restoration.
In the mean while the marquis was employed in various
Commissions in behalf of the king; and he rendered
essential service to his cause by rescuing the duke of Gloucester out of the hands of the queen-mother, and preventing her severe treatment from inducing him to embrace the
Catholic religion. He was also instrumental in detaching
the Irish Catholic regiments from the service of France,
one of which he was appointed to command, and in obtaining the surrender of the town of St. Ghilan, near
Brussels, to the Spaniards. In a secret embassy to England for the purpose of inquiring into the actual state of
the royal party, he had some narrow escapes from the spies
of Cromwell; and at length, when Charles II. was restored
to the throne of his ancestors, the Marquis accompanied
him, and not only recovered his large estates in the county
of Tipperary, but was raised to the dignity of duke of
Ormond, and officiated as lord high steward of England at
the king’s coronation. In 1662, he was again appointed
lord lieutenant, and had considerable success in reducing
the country to a state of tranquillity; and he promoted
various very important and lasting -improvements, particularly with respect to the growth of flax and manufacture
of linen. His attachment to earl Clarendon, however, involved him in the odium which pursued that great man;
and notwithstanding the purity of his conduct, he was
deprived of his government by the machinations of the
duke of Buckingham, in 1669; but in the same year he
was elected to the office of chancellor of the university of
Oxford. In 1670 a desperate design was formed ' against
him by colonel Blood, whom he had imprisoned in Ireland
on account of his having engaged in a plot for the surprisal
of D.ublin castle. Blood, being at this time in London,
determined to seize his person, in his return from an entertainment given in the city to the Prince of Orange; and
in the prosecution of his purpose, his accomplices dragged
the duke out of his coach, and placed him behind one of
them who was on horseback, in order to convey him to
Tyburn, and execute him on the pubiic gallows; or, as
others say, to take him out of the kingdom, and compel
him to sign certain papers relating to a forfeited estate of
Blood. The duke by his struggles threw both the man and
himself from the horse, and by seasonable assistance he
was released from the custody of these assassins. This
daring act of violence excited the king’s resentment; but
Blood, for certain reasons, having been taken into favour,
hi* Majesty requested the duke to forgive the insult. To
which message he replied, “that if the king could forgive
Blood for attempting to steal his crown, he might easily
forgive him for an attempt on his life; and that he would
obey his Majesty’s pleasure without inquiring into his reasons.
” For seven years the duke was neither in favour
with the court nor employed by it; but at length, in 1677,
he was surprised by a message announcing the king’s intention to visit him. The object of this visit was to disclose his Majesty’s resolution of appointing him to the
lord lieutenancy of Ireland; and this resolution had been
adopted by the influence of the duke of York, who had
reason to imagine, that the “cabal,
” or court party, proposed to introduce the duke of Monmouth into this high
station in the room of the earl of Essex, who had been removed. In order to counteract this plan, the duke of York
recommended his grace of Ormond to the king, as the most
likely person to engage general confidence, and to unite
discordant parties in both countries. On this the duke consented, and upon his arrival adopted vigorous measures for
disarming the papists and maintaining public tranquillity;
and though he did not escape calumny, the king determined to support him against all attempts for removing him,
and declared with an oath, *' that while the duke of Ormond lived, he should never be put out of that government." He opposed the duke only in the measure of calling a parliament in Ireland for settling affairs, to which
the king would not give his consent. In 1682, when he
came over to England to acquaint the king with the state
of his government, he was advanced to the dignity of an
English dukedom; but, notwithstanding this mark of royal
favour, he had given such offence by his importunity with
respect to an Irish parliament, that immediately on his
return he was apprised of an intention to remove him.
Upon the accession of James, the duke caused him to be
proclaimed, and soon after resigned his office and came
over to England.; Although the duke’s principles did
not suit the projects of the new reign, he was treated
with respect by the king, and received from him the
honour of a visit whilst he was confined to his chamber with the gout. He died at Kingston ^hall, in Dorsetshire, July 21, 1688, in the seventy-eighth year of
his age, and was buried in Westminster-abbey.
y, united to the greatest gentleness and modesty, which very early excited the jealousy of Cromwell, who committed him to the Tower; where, falling ill of a fever, after
, earl of Ossory, son of the former,
was born in the castle of Kilkenny, July 9, 1634. He
distinguished himself by a noble bravery, united to the
greatest gentleness and modesty, which very early excited
the jealousy of Cromwell, who committed him to the
Tower; where, falling ill of a fever, after being confined
near eight months, he was discharged. He afterwards
went over to Flanders, and on the restoration attended the
king to England; and from being appointed colonel of foot
in Ireland, was raised to the rank of lieutenant-general of
the army in that kingdom. On the 14th of September
1666, he was summoned by writ to the English house of
lords, by the title of lord Butler, of Moore-park. The
same year, being at Euston in Suffolk, he happened to
hear the firing of guns at sea, in the famous battle with
the Dutch that began the 1st of June. He instantly prepared to go on board the fleet, where he arrived on the
3d of that month; and had the satisfaction of informing
the duke of ^Ibemarle, that prince Rupert was hastening
to join him. He had his share in the glorious actions of
that and the succeeding day. His reputation was much
increased by his behaviour in the engagement off Southwold Bay. In 1673 he was successively made rear-admiral
of the blue and the red squadrons; and on the 10th of
September, the same year, was appointed admiral of the
whole fleet, during the absence of prince Rupert. In
1677 he commanded the English troops in the service of
the prince of Orange; and at the battle ojf Mons contributed greatly to the retreat of marshal Luxemburg, to
whom Lewis XIV. was indebted for the greatest part of his
military glory. His speech, addressed to the earl of
Shaftesbury, in vindication of his father, was universally
admired: it even confounded that intrepid orator, who
was in the senate what the earl of Ossory was in the field.
He died July 30, 1680, aged forty-six. The duke of Ormond his father said, “he would not exchange his dead
son for any living son in Christendom.
”
y through this connection that Dr^Hayter, bishop of London, appointed Mr. Butler his first chaplain, who obtained also the living of Everley in Wiltshire, about the
, late bishop of Hereford, was born at Hamburgh, probably of English parents, Dec. 1717. In his early days he acted as private tutor in the family of Mr. Child the banker. He was then a popular preacher in London, and possessed of sound parts, indefatigable industry, a good figure, and agreeable manners. Being introduced to Mr. Bilson Legge, he assisted that gentleman in the political controversy with lord Bute^ and rendered him farther services in calculations on public finance. It was probably through this connection that Dr^Hayter, bishop of London, appointed Mr. Butler his first chaplain, who obtained also the living of Everley in Wiltshire, about the same time. On the recommendation of lord Onslow, he was constituted one of the king’s chaplains, and obtained a prebend in Winchester cathedral. Commencing a political writer, he espoused the cause of lord North in all the measures of administration, and particularly in that of the American war, which he endeavoured to justify in several pamphlets. In reward of these services, he was n^ade archdeacon of Surrey, and procured-a Lambeth degree of D. D. from the archbishop of Canterbury. His next promotion was to the see of Oxford, which was given him by the minister (lord North) in 1777, on the advancement of Dn Lowth to the bishoprick of London; and the living of Cuddesden was held by Dr. Butler at the same time, being annexed to the see of Oxford; but this preferment was rendered locally unpleasant from the circumstance of his not having been regularly graduated at either of the universities. He, however, retained it till 1788, when he was advanced to the bishopric of Hereford, over which he presided until his death at his palace at Hereford, Dec. 10, 1802. He was twice married. His first wife was the mistress of a boarding-school in Westminster; his second, the sister and one of the coheiresses of sir Charles Vernon, of Farnham in Surrey; but he had issue by neither. He underwent the operation of lithotomy at the age of sixty, which he long survived, although in his latter days he was kept alive by great care and attention. Although charitable and even munificent in his lifetime, he left a very considerable fortune to his executors and friends. He was an eloquent, pleasing, and impressive preacher, always from short-hand notes, and very distinct and audible in his delivery, although his voice was weak.
d character and abilities, was born at Wantage in Berkshire, in 1692. His father, Mr. Thomas Butler, who was a reputable shopkeeper in that town, observing in his son
, a prelate of the most distinguished
character and abilities, was born at Wantage in Berkshire,
in 1692. His father, Mr. Thomas Butler, who was a reputable shopkeeper in that town, observing in his son
Joseph an excellent genius and inclination for learning,
determined to educate him for the ministry, among the
protestant dissenters of the presbyterian denomination.
For this purpose, after he had gone through a proper
course of grammatical literature, at the free grammarschool of his native place, under the care of the rev. Mr.
Philip Barton, a clergyman of the church of England,
he was sent to a dissenting academy, then kept at Gloucester, but which was soon afterwards removed to Tewkesbury, the principal tutor of which was Mr. Jones, a man of
uncommon abilities and knowledge. At Tewkesbury, Mr.
Butler made an extraordinary progress in the study of divinity; of which he gave a remarkable proof in the letters
addressed by him, whilst he resided at Tewkesbury, to
Dr. Samuel Clarke, laying before him the doubts that
had arisen in his mind concerning the conclusiveness of
some arguments in the doctor’s “Demonstration of the
Being and Attributes of God.
” The first of these letters
was dated November the 4th, 1713; and the sagacity and
depth of thought displayed in it immediately excited Dr.
Clarke’s particular notice. This condescension encouraged Mr. Butler to address the doctor again upon the
same subject, which, ^likewise, was answered by him; and
the correspondence being carried on in three other letters,
the whole was annexed to the celebrated treatise before
mentioned, and the collection has been retained in all the
subsequent editions of that work. The management of
this correspondence was entrusted by Mr. Butler to his
friend and fellow-pupil Mr. Seeker, who, in order to
conceal the affair, undertook to convey the letters to the
post-office at Gloucester, and to bring back Dr. Clarke’s
answers. When Mr. Butler’s name was discovered to the
doctor, the candour, modesty, and good sense with which
he had written, immediately procured him his friendship.
Our young student was not, however, during his continuance at Tewkesbury, solely employed in metaphysical
speculations and inquiries. Another subject of his serious
consideration was, the propriety of his becoming a dissenting minister. Accordingly, he entered into an examination of the principles of non-conformity; the result of
which was, such a dissatisfaction with them, as determined
him to conform to the established church. This intention
was at first very disagreeable to his father, who endeavoured to divert him from his purpose; and with that view
called in the assistance of some eminent presbyterian divines; but finding his son’s resolution to be fixed, heat
length suffered him to be removed to Oxford, where he
was admitted a commoner of Oriel college, on the 17th of
March, 1714. At what time he took orders is uncertain,
but it must have been soon after his admission at Oxford,
if it be true, as is asserted, that he sometimes assisted Mr.
Edward Talbot in the divine service, at his living of Hendred near Wantage. With this gentleman, who was the.
second son of Dr. William Talbot, successively bishop of
Oxford, Salisbury, and Durham, Mr. Butler formed an
intimate friendship at Oriel college, which laid the foundation of all his subsequent preferments, and procured for
him a very honourable situation when he was only twentysix years of age. In 1718, at the recommendation of Mr.
Talbot and Dr. Clarke, he was appointed by sir Joseph
Jekyll to be preacher at the Rolls. This was three years
before he had taken any degree at the university, where
he did not go out bachelor of law till the 10th of June,
1721, which, however, was as soon as that degree could
statutably be conferred upon him. Mr. Butler continued
at the Rolls till 1726, in the beginning of which year he
published, in one volume 8vo, “Fifteen Sermons preached
at that Chapel.
” In the mean time, by the patronage of
Dr. Talbot, bishop of Durham, to whose notice he had
been recommended (together with Mr. Benson and Mr. Seeker) by Mr. Edward Talbot on his death-bed, our author had been presented first to the rectory of Haughton,
near Darlington, in 1722, and afterwards to that of Stanhope in the same diocese, in 1725, At Haughton there
was a necessity for rebuilding a great part of the parsonagehouse, and Mr. Butler had neither money nor talents for
that work. Mr. Seeker, therefore, who had always the
interest of his friends at heart, and had acquired a very
considerable influence with bishop Talbot, persuaded that
prelate to give Mr. Butler, in exchange for Haughton,
the rectory of Stanhope, which was not only free from any
such incumbrance, but was likewise of much superior
value, being indeed one of the richest parsonages in England. Whilst our author continued preacher at the Rolls
chapel, he divided his time between his duty in town and
country; but when he quitted the Rolls, he resided, during seven years, wholly at Stanhope, in the conscientious
discharge of every obligation appertaining to a good parish
priest. This retirement, however^ was too solitary for his
disposition, which had in it a natural cast of gloominess:
and though his recluse hours were by no means lost either
to private improvement or public utility, yet he felt at
times very painfully the want of that select society of
friends to which he had been accustomed, and which could
inspire him with the greatest chearfulness. Mr. Seeker,
therefore, who knew this, was extremely anxious to draw
him out into a more active and conspicuous scene, and
omitted no opportunity of expressing this desire to such as
he thought capable of promoting it. Having himself been,
appointed king’s chaplain in 1732, he took occasion, in a
conversation which he had the honour of holding with
queen Caroline, to mention to her his friend Mr. Butler.
The queen said she thought he had been dead. Mr.
Seeker assured her he was not. Yet her majesty afterwards asked archbishop Blackburne if he was not dead?
His answer was, “No, madam, but he is buried.
” Mr.
Seeker, continuing his purpose of endeavouring to bring
his friend out of his retirement, found means, upon Mr.
Charles Talbot' s being made lord chancellor, to have Mr.
Butler recommended to him for his chaplain. His lordship accepted and sent for him; and this promotion calling
him to town, he took Oxford in his way, and was admitted
there to the degree of doctor of law, on the 8th of December, 1733. The lord chancellor, who gave him also a
prebend in the church of Rochester, had consented that
he should reside at his parish of Stanhope one half of the
year.
a certain degree, the cause of superstition. 'Under that apprehension, an able and spirited writer, who was understood to be a clergyman of the church of England, published
Dr. Butler being thus brought back into the world, his
merit and talents soon introduced him to particular notice,
and paved the way for his rising to those high dignities
which he afterwards enjoyed. In 1736, he was appointed
clerk of the closet to queen Caroline; and, in the same
year, he presented to her majesty a copy of his celebrated
treatise, entitled “The Analogy of Religion, natural and
revealed, to the constitution and course of Nature.
” His
attendance upon his royal mistress, by her especial command, was from seven to nine in the evening every day;
and though this was interrupted by her death in 1737, yet
he had been so effectually recommended by her, as well
as by the late lord chancellor Talbot, to his majesty’s favour, that, in the next year, he was raised to the highest
order of the church, by a nomination to the bishopric of
Bristol; to which see he was consecrated on the 3d of
December, 1738. King George II. not being satisfied with
this proof of his regard to Dr. Butler, promoted him, in
1740, to the deanry of St. Paul’s London; into which he
was installed on the 24th of May in that year, and finding
the demands of this dignity to be incompatible with his
parish duty at Stanhope, he immediately resigned that
rich benefice. Besides our prelate’s unremitted attention
to his peculiar obligations, he was called on to preach several discourses on public occasions, which were afterwards
separately printed, and have since been annexed to the
later editions of the Sermons at the Rolls chapel. In 1746,
upon the death of Dr. Egerton, bishop of Hereford, Dr. But>
ler was made clerk of the closet to the king; and in 1750, he
received another distinguished mark of his majesty’s favour,
by being translated to the see of Durham on the 16th of October in that year, upon the decease of Dr. Edward
Chandler. Our prelate, being thus appointed to preside
over a diocese with which he had long been connected,
delivered his first, and indeed his last charge to his clergy,
at his primary visitation in 1751. The principal subject
of it was, “External Religion.
” The bishop having observed, with deep concern, the great and growing neglect
of serious piety in the kingdom, insisted strongly on the
usefulness of outward forms and institutions, in fixing and
preserving a sense of devotion and duty in the minds of
men. In doing this, he was thought by several persons to
speak too favourably of pagan and popish ceremonies, and
to countenance, in a certain degree, the cause of superstition. 'Under that apprehension, an able and spirited
writer, who was understood to be a clergyman of the
church of England, published in 1752, a pamphlet, entitled “A serious inquiry into the use and importance of
External Religion: occasioned by some passages in the
right reverend the lord bishop of Durham’s Charge to the
Clergy of that diocese; humbly addressed to his lordship.
” Many persons, however, and, we believe, the greater
part of the clergy of the diocese, did not think our prelate’s
charge so exceptionable as it appeared to this author.
The charge, which was first printed at Durham, was afterwards annexed to Dr. Butler’s other works, by Dr. Halifax.
By his promotion to the see of Durham, our worthy bishop
was furnished with ample means of exerting the virtue of
charity, the exercise of which was his highest delight. But
this gratification he did not long enjoy. He had been but
a short time seated in his new bishopric, when his health
began visibly to decline; and having been complimented,
during his indisposition, upon account of his great resignation to the divine will, he is said to have expressed some
regret, that he should be taken from the present world so
soon after he had been rendered capable of becoming
much more useful in it. In his last illness, he was carried
to Bristol, to try the waters of that place; but, these proving ineffectual, he removed to Bath, where, being past
recovery, he died on the 16th of June, 1752. His corpse
was conveyed to Bristol, and interred in the cathedral
there, where a monument, with an inscription, is erected
to his memory. On the greatness of bishop Butler’s intellectual character we need not enlarge; for his profound
knowledge, and the prodigious strength of his mind, are
amply displayed in his incomparable writings. His piety
was of the most serious and fervent, and perhaps somewhat
of the ascetic kind. His benevolence was warm, generous,
and diffusive. Whilst he was bishop of Bristol, he expended, in repairing and improving the episcopal palace,
four thousand pounds, which is said to have been more
than the whole revenues of the bishopric amounted to,
during his continuance in that see. Indeed he used to say
that the deanery of St. Paul’s paid for it. Besides his
private benefactions, he was a contributor to the' Infirmary
at Bristol, and a subscriber to three of the Hospitals at
London. He was, likewise, a principal promoter, though
not the first founder, of the Infirmary at Newcastle, in
Northumberland. lu supporting the hospitality and
dignity of the rich and powerful diocese of Durham, he was
desirous of imitating the spirit of his patron, bishop Talbot. In this spirit, he set apart three clays every week for
the reception and entertainment of the principal gentry of
the country. Nor were even the clergy who had the
poorest benefices neglected by him. He not only occasionally invited them to dine with him, but condescended
to visit them at their respective parishes. By his will, he
left five hundred pounds to the society for propagating the
gospel in foreign parts, and some legacies to his friends
and domestics. His executor was his chaplain, the rev.
Dr. Nathaniel Forster, a divine of distinguished literature,
who was especially charged to destroy all his manuscript
sermons, letters, and papers. Bishop Butler was never
married. The bishop’s disposition, which had in it a natural ca’st of gloominess, was supposed to give a tincture
to his devotion. As a proof of this, and that he had even
acquired somewhat of a superstitious turn of mind, it was
alleged, that he had put a. cross in his chapel at Bristol.
The cross was a plain piece of marble inlaid. This circumstance, together with the offence which some persons had
taken at his charge delivered at Durham, might possibly
give rise to a calumny, that, almost fifteen years after his
death, was advanced concerning him, in an obscure and
anonymous pamphlet, entitled “The Root of Protestant
Errors examined.
” It was there said, that our prelate died
in the communion of the church of Rome. Of this absurd
and groundless charge, we shall take no other notice, than
to transcribe what the worthy and learned Dr. Porteus has
written concerning it, in his Life of Archbishop Seeker.
“This strange slander, founded on the weakest pretences
and most trivial circumstances that can be imagined, no
one was better qualified to confute than the archbishop;
as well from his long and intimate knowledge of bishop
Butler, as from the information given him at the time by
those who attended his lordship in his last illness, and
were with him when he died. Accordingly, by an article
in a newspaper, signed Misopseudes, his grace challenged
the author of that pamphlet to produce his authority for
what he had advanced; and in a second article defended
the bishop against him; and in a third (all with the same signature) confuted another writer, who, under the name
of ‘A real Protestant,’ still maintained that ridiculous
calumy. His antagonists were effectually subdued, and
his superiority to them was publicly acknowledged by a
sensible and candid man, who signed himself, and who
really was ‘A dissenting Minister.’ Surely, it is a very
unwise piece of policy, in those who profess themselves
enemies to popery, to take so much pains to bring the
most respectable names within its pale; and to give it the
merit of having gained over those who were the brightest
ornaments and firmest supports of the protestant cause.
”
ons him as competently wealthy; but the author of the short account of Butler, prefixed to Hudibras, who, Dr. Johnson erroneously says, was Mr. Longueville, asserts
, a poet of a very singular cast, was
born at Strensham in Worcestershire, and baptized Feb.
8, 1612. His father’s condition is variously represented.
Wood mentions him as competently wealthy; but the
author of the short account of Butler, prefixed to Hudibras,
who, Dr. Johnson erroneously says, was Mr. Longueville,
asserts he was an honest farmer with some small estates
who made a shift to educate his son at the grammar-school
of Worcester, under Mr. Henry Bright, from whose care
he removed for a short time to Cambridge; but, for want
of money, was never made a member of any college. Wood
leaves us rather doubtful whether he went to Cambridge of
Oxford; but at last makes him pass six or seven years at
Cambridge, without knowing in what hall or college: yet
it can hardly be imagined that he lived so long in either
university, but as belonging to one house or another; and
it is still less likely that he could have so long inhabited a
place of learning with so little distinction as to leave his
residence uncertain. Dr. Nash has discovered that his
father was owner of a house and a little land, worth about
eight pounds, a year, still called Butler’s tenement. Wood
had his information from his brother, whose narrative placed
him at Cambridge, in opposition to that of his neighbours,
which sent him to Oxford. The brother’s seems the best
authority, till, by confessing his inability to tell his hall
or college, he gives reason to suspect that he was resolved
to bestow on him an academical education, but durst not
name a college, for fear of detection. Having, however,
discovered an early inclination for learning, his father
placed him at the free-school of Worcester; whence he
was sent, according to the above report, for some time to
Cambridge. He afterwards returned to his native country,
and became clerk to one Mr. Jefferys of Earl’s Croomb, an
eminent justice of the peace for that county, with whom
he lived some years in an easy and reputable station. Here
he found sufficient leisure to apply himself to whatsoever
learning his inclinations led him; which was chiefly history and poetry; adding to these, for his diversion, music
and painting. He was afterwards recommended to that
great encourager of learning, Elizabeth countess of Kent;
in whose house he had not only the opportunity of consulting all kinds of books, but of conversing with Mr. Seldeo,
who often employed him to write letters beyond sea, and
translate for him. He lived some time also with sir Samuel
Luke, a gentleman of an ancient family in Bedfordshire,
and a famous commander under Oliver Cromwell. Whilst
he resided in this gentleman’s family, it is generally supposed that he planned, if he did not write, the celebrated
Hudibras; under which character it is thought he intended
to ridicule that knight. After the restoration of Charles II.
he was made secretary to Richard earl of Carbury, lord
president of the principality of Wales, who appointed him.
steward of Ludlow-castle, when the Court was revived there.
In this part of his life, he married Mrs. Herbert, a gentlewoman of a good family; and lived, says Wbod^ upon her
fortune, having studied the common law, but never practised it. A fortune she had, says his biographer, but it
was lost by bad securities. In 1663 was published the first
part, containing three cantos, of the poem of “Hudibras,
”
which, as Prior relates, was made known at court by the
taste and influence of the earl of Dorset, and when known,
it was necessarily admired: the king quoted, the courtiers
studied, and the whole party of the royalists applauded it.
Every eye watched for the golden shower which was to fall
upon the author, who certainly was not without his share
in the general expectation. In 1664 the second part appeared; the curiosity of the nation was rekindled, and the
writer was again praised and elated. But praise was his
whole reward. Clarendon, says Wood, gave him reason
to hope for “places and employments of value and credit;”
but no such advantages did he ever obtain. It is reported,
that the king once gave him 300 guineas; but of this temporary bounty we find no proof. Wood relates that he was
secretary to Villiers duke of Buckingham, when he was
chancellor of Cambridge: this is doubted by the other
writer, who yet allows the duke to have been his frequent
benefactor. That both these accounts are false there is
reason to suspect, from a story told by Pack, in his account
of the life ef Wycherley, and from some verses which Mr.
Thyer has published in the author’s Remains. “Mr. Wycherley,” says Pack, “had always laid hold of any opportunity which offered of representing to the duke of Buckingham how well Mr. Butler had deserved of the royal
family, by writing his inimitable Hudibras; and that it
was a reproach to the court, that a person of his loyalty
and wit should suffer in obscurity, and under the wants he
did. The duke always seemed to hearken to him with
attention enough; and, after some time, undertook to recommend his pretensions to his majesty. Mr. Wycherley,
in Jiopes to keep him steady to his word, obtained of his
grace to name a day, when he might introduce that modest and unfortunate poet to his new patron. At last an
appointment was made, and the place of meeting was
agreed to be the Roebuck. Mr. Butler and his friend attended accordingly: the duke joined them; but, as the
devil would have it, the door of the room where they sat
was open, and his grace, who had seated himself near it,
observing a pimp of his acquaintance (the creature too was a knight) trip by with a brace of ladies, immediately quitted his engagement, to follow another kind of business, at
which he was more ready than in doing good offices to
men of desert; though no one was better qualified than
he, both in regard to his fortune and understanding, to
protect them; and, from that time to the day of his death,
poor Butler never found the least effect of his promise!”
Such is the story. The verses are written with a degree
of acrimony, such as neglect and disappointment might
naturally excite; and such as it would be hard to imagine
Butler capable of expressing against a man who had any
claim to his gratitude. Notwithstanding this discouragement and neglect, he still prosecuted his design; and in.
1678 published the third part, which still leaves the poem
imperfect and abrupt. How much more he originally intended, or with what events the action was to be concluded,
it is vain to conjecture. Nor can it be thought strange
that he should stop here, however unexpectedly. To write
without reward is sufficiently unpleasing. He had now arrived at an age when he might think it proper to be in
jest no longer, and perhaps his health might now begin to
fail. He died Sept. 25, 1680; and Mr. Longueville, having unsuccessfully solicited a subscription for his internment in Westminster abbey, buried him at his own cost
in the chureb-yard of Covent Garden. Dr. Simon Patrick
read the service. About sixty years afterwards, Mr. Barber, a printer, lord mayor of London, bestowed on him a
monument in Westminster abbey.
or his character discovered. Some verses, in the last collection, shew him to have been among those who ridiculed the institution of the Royal Society, of which the
After his death were published three small volumes of his posthumous works, and lately, two volumes more have been printed by Mr. Thyer of Manchester, indubitably genuine. From none of these pieces can his life be traced, or his character discovered. Some verses, in the last collection, shew him to have been among those who ridiculed the institution of the Royal Society, of which the enemies were for some time very numerous and very acrimonious; for what reason it is hard to conceive, since the philosophers professed not to advance doctrines, but to produce facts; and the most zealous enemy of innovation must admit the gradual progress of experience, however he may oppose hypothetical temerity. In this mist of obscurity passed the life of Butler, a man whose name can only perish with his language. The mode and place of his education are unknown; the events of his life are variously related; and all that can be told with certainty is, that he^ was poor.
lar in his practice, and the oddity of his manners gave him a very great character among the vulgar, who conceived that he must possess extraordinary abilities. Mr.
, one of the greatest physicians, and most capricious humourists of his time, was born at Ipswich, about 1535, and educated at Clare-hall, Cambridge, of which he became fellow. He afterwards settled at Cambridge as a physician, without taking a medical degree. His sagacity in judging of distempers was very great, and his method of cure was sometimes as extraordinary; he was bold and singular in his practice, and the oddity of his manners gave him a very great character among the vulgar, who conceived that he must possess extraordinary abilities. Mr. Aubrey informs us, that it was usual for him to sit among the boys, at St. Mary’s church, in Cambridge; and that when he was sent for to king James at Newmarket, he suddenly turned back to go home, and that the messenger was forced to drive him before him. We find he was consulted along with sir Theodore Mayerne and others in the sickness which proved fatal to prince Henry; and it is said that at the first sight of him, Butler from his cadaverous look made an unfavourable prognostic. The reputation of physic was very low in England before Butler’s time; hypothetical nonsense was reduced into system, not only in medicine, but also in other arts and sciences. Many droll stories have travelled down to us, of some extraordinary cures as strangely performed; for these the reader is referred to Winwood’s Memorials, vol. III. Richardi Parkeri, Sceletos Cantabrigiensis, Fuller, Prax. Mayern. p. 66; and Wood in his account of Francis Tresham, esq. He died Jan. 29, 1618, aged eighty-two, and lies buried in St. Mary’s church, in Cambridge, with an elegant and pompous epitaph over him. He left no writings behind him.
o his calculation without any confusion, or the loss of more time than the answer required. A person who had heard of his astonishing performances, meeting with him
, an extraordinary calculator, was born at Elmeton, or Elmton, a small village not far from Chesterfield, in Derbyshire. His grandfather John Buxton was vicar of Elmeton, and his father William Buxton was schoolmaster in the same parish. We cannot precisely ascertain the year in which Jedediah was born; but it is probable that it was in 1704 or 1705. Notwithstanding the profession of his father, Jedediah’s education seems to have been totally neglected, for he was never taught either to read or write. How he came first to know the relative proportions of numbers, their denominations and powers, he never could remember; but upon these his attention was constantly riveted, and he scarcely took any notice of external objects, except with respect to their numbers. If any space of time was mentioned before him, he would soon after say that it contained so many minutes; and if any distance, he would assign the number of hair breadths in it, even when no question was asked him by the company. His power of abstraction was so great, that no noise whatever could disturb him, and when asked any question, he would immediately reply, and return to his calculation without any confusion, or the loss of more time than the answer required. A person who had heard of his astonishing performances, meeting with him accidentally, in order to try his calculating powers, proposed to him the following question: In a body whose three sides are 23,145,789 yards, 5,642,732 yards, and |4,965 yards, how many cubical eighths of an inch? After once naming the several figures distinctly, one after the other, in order to assure himself of the several dimensions, this self-taught calculator fell to work amidst more than a hundred of his fellow-labourers, and the proposer of the question leaving him for about five hours, returned and found Jedediah ready with his answer, which was exactly right. A variety of questions, too numerous to be here inserted, he would solve in very little time, by the mere force of memory. He would multiply any number of figures, either by the whole or any part of them, and at different times, and store up the various products in his memory, so as to give the answers several months after. He would work at several questions; first begin one and work it half through; then another, and so on, working in this manner six or eight questions, and would either as soon as finished, or several months after, tell the result. This extraordinary man would stride over a piece of land, and tell the contents of it with as much exactness as if he had measured it by the chain; and in this manner he measured the whole lordship of Elmton, of some thousand acres, belonging to sir John Rhodes, and brought him the contents, not only in acres, roods, and perches, but in square inches, and after this reduced them into square hair-breadths, computing forty-eight to each side of the inch, which produced an incomprehensible number,
the Jews; which, though it abounds, in learning, does not greatly shew the judgment of the compiler, who insists too much upon trifles, merely for the sake of rendering
, the first of a learned family, was
born at Camen, in Westphalia, in 1564, and became an
eminent Calvinist divine, and professor of the Hebrew and
Chaldaic languages at Basil, a situation which he filled
with great reputation until his death, in 1629. During
his Hebrew studies, he availed himself of the assistance
of the ablest Jews, and from them acquired a fondness for
rabbinical learning. The first of his works was his great
dictionary, entitled “Lexicon Chaldaicum, Talmudicum
et Rabbinicum,
” printed at Basil in Treasury of the Hebrew Grammar,
” 2 vols. 8vo. He
also printed a great Hebrew Bible at Basil, in 1618, 4 vols.
fol. with the Rabbins, the Chaldaic paraphrases, and the
Massora, after the manner of the great Bible of Venice;
but father Simon thinks it incorrect. To this Bible is
commonly added the Tiberias of the same author, which
is a commentary upon the Massora; where he explains at
large what the Rabbins think of it, and expounds in Latin
the terms of the Massora, which are very difficult. He
follows rabbi Elias the Levite, in his exposition of those
terms. He has also published “Synagoga Judaica,
” Bibliotheca of the Rabbins, a curious
work; but there have been since his time a great many
discoveries made in that part of learning. They who have a
mind to write Hebrew, may make use of the collection of
Hebrew letters, which he has published under the title of
” Institutio Epistolaris Hebraica,“1629, 8vo. He compiled also,
” Concordantia3 Hebraicse," published by his
son in 1632.
Many learned men, who admire the rabbinical excellence of these two great men, are
Many learned men, who admire the rabbinical excellence of these two great men, are not always satisfied
with their judgment. They believe these authors too
much led by the Rabbins; and that Capellus, though not
so deep in Hebrew, has written more judiciously upon
this argument. They add, that the strong fancy which a
great part of the German and Geneva divines have for the
Hebrew points, proceeds in good measure from the regard
they had for the two Buxtorfs, whose opinions they implicitly followed. Father Simon has spoken but slightly
of them: “The two Buxtorfs,
” says he, “who have got
much reputation, especially among the Protestants, have
in most of their works, only shewn themselves extremely
prejudiced in favour of the Rabbins, without paving consulted any other authors.
” But Buxtorf the father received the highest encomiums from all the learned of his
time. In particular, Gerard Vossius, in the funeral oration which he made for Erpenius, says, that “Europe had
not a more knowing and learned man, nor one who was
better versed in the Rabbins, and in such books as related
to the Talmud, than Buxtorf.
” Joseph Scaliger goes
farther, and says, that Buxtorf “ought to be considered
as the master of the Rabbins. He declares him to be the
only man who understood the Hebrew language thoroughly;
and that notwithstanding his grey beard, he would gladly
be his scholar;
” which was the highest compliment that
could be paid to so young a man as Buxtorf then was.
Isaac Casaubon entertained exactly the same opinion of
him as Scaliger; and adds, that “there is a great deal of
candour, and an air of honesty, which runs through all
Jiis writings.
”
, nephew of the second Buxtorf, was the fourth professor of Oriental languages, of that family, who occupied that post during a whole century. They have been all
, nephew of the second Buxtorf, was the fourth professor of Oriental languages, of that family, who occupied that post during a whole century. They have been all censured for too great an attachment to Rabbinism, to the accents and vowel-points of the Hebrew tongue. This Buxtorf died in 1732, leaving treatises on the Hebrew language, dissertations, verses, seiv mons, and a son who shewed himself worthy of his learned ancestors.
diocese, to be their clerk in convocation. In the beginning of the rebellion he was one of the first who were apprehended for their loyalty, but making his escape, joined
, D.D. a learned preacher and loyalist
in the seventeenth century, the son of Laurence Byam,
of Luckham, or East Luckham, near Dunster, in Somersetshire, was born there Aug. 31, 1580, and in Act term
1697, was entered of Exeter college, Oxford, where, in
1699, he was elected a student of Christ-church. In both
colleges his application was such as to make him be considered as one of the greatest ornaments x)f the university;
and when he took orders, one of the most acute and eminent preachers of the age. After taking the degree of
B. D. in 1612, he succeeded his father in the rectory of
Luckham, and a Mr. Fleet in that of Salworthy, adjoining.
In 1631 he became a prebendary of Exeter, and on the
meeting of parliament, was unanimously chosen by the
clergy of his diocese, to be their clerk in convocation. In
the beginning of the rebellion he was one of the first who
were apprehended for their loyalty, but making his escape,
joined the king at Oxford, where he was, with others,
created D. D. In the king’s cause his zeal and that of
his family could not fail to render him obnoxious. He
had not only assisted in raising men and horse for his majesty, but of his five sons, four were captains in the
army. His estate, therefore, both clerical and private,
was exposed to the usual confiscations; and to add to his
sufferings, his wife and daughter, in endeavouring to escape to Wales by sea, were both drowned. When the
prince Charles, afterwards Charles II. fled from England,
Dr. Byam accompanied him first to the island of Scilly,
afterwards to that of Jersey, where he officiated as
chaplain until the garrison was taken by the parliamentary
forces. He contrived afterwards to live in obscurity until
the restoration, when he was made canon of Exeter, and
prebendary of Wells, but we do not find that his services
were rewarded by any higher preferment. He died June
16, 1669, and was buried in the chancel of the church at
Luckham, where a monument with an inscription by Dr.
Hamnet Ward was erected to his memory. His works
were: “Thirteen Sermons, most of them preached before
his majesty Charles II. in his exile,
” Lond. 1675, 8vo
These were published after his death by Hamnet Ward,
M. D. vicar of Sturminster-Newton-Castle, in Dorsetshire,
with some account of the author. Dr. Byam was the father of the governor alluded to in Southern’s play of
Oroonoko, whom the profligate Mrs. Behn endeavoured to
stigmatize from private pique.
nd continued there for several years, “much followed and admired,” says Wood, “by the precise party, who esteemed his preaching profitable, and his life pious.” He was
, a puritan divine of considerable
eminence in the beginning of the seventeenth century,
was the son of Richard Byfield, minister of Stratford-uponAvon, and was born in Warwickshire about the year 1579.
He became a servitor of Exeter college, Oxford, in Lent
term 1596, and remained at the university upwards of
four years, but left it without taking a degree. He was
admitted, however, into holy orders, and was soon after
invited to be pastor of St. Peter’s church, Chester, which
he gladly accepted, and continued there for several years,
“much followed and admired,
” says Wood, “by the precise party, who esteemed his preaching profitable, and his
life pious.
” He was a strict observer of Sunday, on which
subject he preached and wrote, and this involved him in
a controversy, particularly with Edward Brerewood the
mathematician. (See Brerewood.) The observation of
the Sabbath was at this time a subject of much controversy, and many pamphlets were written on both sides,
with the warmth natural at a period of increasing religious
dissension. From Chester Mr. Byfield removed, in 1615,
to the vicarage of Isleworth, where he died in 1622,
leaving behind him an excellent character for learning,
success in his ministry, and a pious and peaceable disposition. He was the author of many popular works, which
are enumerated by Wood. Of these, his “Commentary
on the First Epistle of St. Peter,
” 1637, fol. and “on
Colossians,
” 1628, fol. are held in the highest estimation,
and confirm the character which Wood, somewhat reluctantly, gives of him. Dr. Gouge, of Blackfriars, who drew
up an account of his death, informs us that on his body
being opened, a stone was taken out of his bladder that
weighed thirty-three ounces; and was in length and
breadth about thirteen inches, and solid, like a flint. A
print of him was published by Richardson, in 1790, with
an account of this very remarkable case. The noted Adonrram Byfield, a zealous adherent to the commonwealth
revolution, was his son; and Richard Byfield, another
ejected non-conformist, was his half brother; but neither
had his meek, loyal, and submissive spirit. Adoniram
is one of the few persons who have been, by name, stigmatized by Butler in his “Hudibras.
” He was the father
of Dr. Byfield, the noted Sal volatile doctor, who in his
epitaph is said to be “Diu volatilis tandem Jfcms.
”
f his majesty’s ship the Phoenix to the East Indies where, engaging and boarding a Zinganian pirate, who maintained a desperate fight, most of those who entered with
, lord viscount Torrington, an eminent naval officer, was descended from a family long seated in Kent, his direct ancestor Robert Byng, of Wrotham, inthat county, being high sheriff of it in the 34th year of queen Elizabeth; and he was the eldest son of John Byng, esq. by Philadelphia, daughter of Mr. Johnson, of Loans, Surrey. He was born in 1663, and went a Volunteer to sea in 1678, at the age of fifteen, with the king’s letter given him on the recommendation of the duke of York. In 1681 he quitted the sea-service upon the invitation of general Kirk, governor of Tangier, and served as a cadet in the grenadiers of that garrison; until on a vacancy, which soon happened, the general made him ensign of his own company; and soon after a lieutenant. In 1684, after the demolition of Tangier, lord Dartmouth, general of the sea and land forces, appointed him lieutenant of the Oxford; from which time he constantly kept to the sea-service, remaining likewise an officer in the army several years after. In 1685 he went lieutenant of his majesty’s ship the Phoenix to the East Indies where, engaging and boarding a Zinganian pirate, who maintained a desperate fight, most of those who entered with him were killed, himself much wounded, and the pirate sinking, he was taken out of the sea with scarce any remains of life. In 1688, being first lieutenant to sir John Ashby, in the fleet commanded by lord Dartmouth, fitted out to oppose the designs of the prince of Orange, he was in a particular manner intrusted and employed in the measures then carrying on amongst the most considerable officers of the fleet in favour of that prince; and was the person confided in by them to carry their secret assurances of obedience to his highness, to whom he was privately introduced, at Sherburn, by admiral Russel, afterwards earl of Orford. After his return to the fleet, lord Dartmouth sent him with capt. Aylmer, and capt. Flastings, to carry a message of submission to the prince at Windsor; and made him captain of the Constant Warwick, a ship of the fourth rate. In 1690 he commanded the Hope, a third rate, and was second to sir George Rooke, in the battle off Beachy head. In the years 1691 and 1692, he was captain of the Royal Oak, and served under admiral Russel, who commanded in chief their Majesty’s fleet. In F693, that great officer distinguished him in a particular manner, by promoting him to the rank of his first captain; in which station he served in 1694 and 1695 in the Mediterranean, where the designs of the French against Barcelona were prevented: and also the next year, 1696, in the Channel, to oppose the intended invasion of king James with a French army from the coast of France; which, upon the appearance of the fleet, was laid aside. In 1702, upon the breaking out of the war, he accepted of the command of the Nassau, a third rate, and was at the taking and burning of the French and Spanish fleets at Vigo. The year following he was made rearadmiral of the red, and served in the fleet commanded by *ir Cloudesley Shovel, in the Mediterranean; who detached him with a squadron to Algiers, where he renewed and improved our treaties with that government. In 1704 he served in the grand fleet in the Mediterranean, and commanded the squadron that attacked and cannonaded Gibraltar; and, by landing the seamen, whose valour was very remarkably displayed on this occasion, the town was taken. He was in the battle of Malaga, which followed soon after, and, for his behaviour in that action, had the honour of knighthood conferred on him by his Majesty. In the winter of this year he was sent oat with a squadron to cruise against the French, which he^ did with great success, taking about twenty of their largest privateers in about two months time, with the Thetis, a French man of war of fifty guns. In 1705 he was made vice-admiral of the blue: and upon the election of a new parliament, was returned burgess for Plymouth, which place he represented in every succeeding parliament to the year 1721, when he was advanced to the peerage.
aly, according to the obligation England was under by treaty, against the invasion of the Spaniards, who had the year before surprized Sardinia, and had this year landed
During the summer of 1705, he commanded in chief a squadron in the channel, and blocked up the French fleet in Brest, with a much inferior strength. In 1706, king Charles of Spain, the late emperor, being closely beseiged in Barcelona, by sea and land, by the duke of Anjou, and the place reduced to great extremity, and our fleet in the Mediterranean being too weak to relieve it, sir George Byng was appointed to command a strong squadron fitting out in England; in the hastening of which service, he used such diligence and activity, and joined our fleet with such unexpected dispatch, that the saving of that city was entirely owing to it. He assisted at the other enterprizes of that campaign, and commanded the ships detached for the reduction of Carthagena and Alicant, which he accomplished. In 1707 he served in the second post under Sir Cloudesley Shovel, at the seige of Toulon: and the year following was made admiral of the blue, and commanded the squadron which was fitted out to oppose the invasion designed against Scotland by the pretender with a French army from Dunkirk; which he fortunately prevented, by arriving off the Frith of Edinburgh before their troops could land, and obliged them to betake themselves to flight. On his return from this expedition, he was offered by the queen the place of one of the prince of Denmark’s council in the admiralty, which he then declined. He continued to command all that summer in the channel, and upon the marriage of the queen of Portugal, had the honour of conducting her majesty to Lisbon, where a commission was sent to him to be admiral of the white. In 1709 he commanded in chief her majesty’s fleet in the Mediterranean; and, after his return to England, was made one of the commissioners of the admiralty, and continued so till some time before the queen’s death; when, not falling in with the measures of the court, he was removed, but upon the accession of George I. he was restored to that station. In 1715, upon the breaking out of the rebellion which was at first secretly supported with arms "and warlike stores from France, he was appointed to command a squadron, with which he kept such a watchful eye along the French coast, by examining ships even in their ports, and obtaining orders from the court of France to put on shore at Havre de Grace great quantities of arms and ammunition shipped there for the pretender’s service; that, in reward for his services, the king on Nov. 15, 1715, created him a baronet, and gave him a ring of great value, and other marks of his royal favour. In 1717, upon the discovery of some secret practices of the ministers of Sweden against this kingdom, he was sent with a squadron into the Baltic, and prevented the Swedes appearing at sea. In 1718 he was made admiral and commander in chief of the fleet, and being sent with a squadron into the Mediterranean for the protection of Italy, according to the obligation England was under by treaty, against the invasion of the Spaniards, who had the year before surprized Sardinia, and had this year landed an army in Sicily, he gave a total defeat to their fleet near Messina: for which action he was honoured with a letter from the king, written with his own hand, and received congratulatory letters from the emperor and the king of Sardinia; and was further honoured by his imperial majesty with his picture set in diamonds. He remained for some time in these seas, for composing and adjusting the differences between the several powers concerned, being vested with the character of plenipotentiary to all the princes of Italy; and that year and the next he supported the German arms in their expedition to Sicily; and enabled them, by his assistance, to subdue the greatest part of that island. After performing so many signal services, he attended his majesty, by his command, at Hanover, who made him rear-admiral of England, and treasurer of the navy, and, on his return to England, one of his most honourable privy-council; and on Sept 19, 1721 he was called to the peerage by the title of baron Byng, of Southill, in the county of Bedford, and viscount Torrington, in Devonshire; and 1725 was made one of the knights of the bath on the revival of that order. In 1727, his late majesty, on his accession to the crown, placed him at the head of his naval affairs, as first lord of the admiralty, in which station he died, Jan. 17, 1732-3; and was interred at Southill, in Bedfordshire. Lord Torrington married, in 1691, Mary, daughter of James Master, of East Langdon, in the county of Kent, esq. by whom (who died in 1756) he had eleven sons and four daughters. His fourth son, was the unfortunate John Byng, admiral of the blue, who was condemned by the sentence, of a court-martial in 1757, and shot at Portsmouth March 14th of that year, for a breach of the twelfth article of war. From the best accounts published on this affair, it may be concluded that he was a sacrifice to popular clamour artfully directed to the wrong object.
, an eminent landscape engraver, was born in 1742, and educated under an uncle, who engraved heraldry on plate; but young Byrne having succeeded
, an eminent landscape engraver,
was born in 1742, and educated under an uncle, who engraved heraldry on plate; but young Byrne having succeeded in a landscape after Wilson, which obtained a premium from the society for the encouragement of arts, it
was regarded as the precursor of talent of a superior order,
and he was sent to Paris, at that time the chief seminary in
Europe for the study of engraving. There he studied successively under Aliamet and Wille: from the former of
whom he imbibed the leading traits of that style of engraving which he afterwards adopted as his own r under the
latter he engraved a large plate of a storm after Vernet;
but the manual dexterity of Wille was alien to his mind,
and probably contributed not rnuch to his improvement,
although he alw r ays spoke of Wille’s instructions with respect. When he returned to England, the success of
Woollett, as a landscape engraver, had set the fashion in
that department of the art; but Byrne, disdaining to copy
what he did not feel, or perhaps scorning the infiuence of
fashion in art, preserved the independence of his style;
and continued to study, and to recommend to his pupils*,
nature, Vivares, and the best examples of the French
school. His larger performances are after Zuccarelli and
Both: but his principal works (containing probably his best engraving) are the “Antiquities of Great Britain,
” after
Hearne; a set of “Views of the Lakes,
” after Farringdon;
and Smith’s “Scenery of Italy.
” His chief excellence
consisting in his aerial perspective, and the general effect
of his chiaroscuro, he was more agreeably and more beneficially employed, in finishing than in etching, and hence
he generally worked in conjunction with his pupils, who
were in his later years his own sons and daughters. His
manners were unassuming; his professional industry
unremitting; and his moral character exemplary. This ingenious artist died at his house in Great Titchfield street,
Sept. 24, 1805.
ddresses to Miss Bentley. His object was rather to recommend himself to the attention of her father, who was an admirer of the Spectators, and liLely to notice a poem
His inclination to poetry appeared very early, but was
imparted principally to his friends and fellow-students.
The first production which brought him into general notice,
was probably written in his twenty-third year. At this
time the beautiful pastoral of “Colin and Phebe
” appeared
in the eighth volume of the Spectator; and was, as it continues to be, universally admired. The Phebe of this pastoral was Joanna, daughter of the celebrated Dr. Bentley,
master of Trinity college: this young and very amiable
lady was afterwards married to Dr. Dennison Cumberland,
bishop of Clonfert and Kilialoe, in Ireland, and was the mother of Richard Cumberland, esq. the well-known dramatic
writer. It has been asserted, but without any foundation,
that Byrom paid his addresses to Miss Bentley. His object
was rather to recommend himself to the attention of her
father, who was an admirer of the Spectators, and liLely to
notice a poem of so much merit, coming, as he would soon
be told, from one of his college. Byrom had before this
sent two ingenious papers on the subject of dreaming to
the Spectator; and these specimens of promising talent
introduced him to the particular notice of Dr. Bentley,
by whose interest he was chosen fellow of his college, and
soon after admitted to the degree of master of arts.
Amidst this honourable progress, he does not appear to
have thought of any profession, and as he declined going
into the church, the statutes of the college required that
he should vacate his fellowship. Perhaps the state of his
health created this irresolution, for we find that in 1716
it became necessary for him to visit Montpelier upon that
account; and his fellowship being lost, he returned no
more to the university.
have been at first rather a disciple of the celebrated Mr. Law, and a warm opponent of those divines who were termed latitudinarian. His admiration of Malebranche, and
During his residence in France, he met with Malebranche’s “Search after Truth,
” and some of the works
of Mademoiselle Bourignon, the consequence of which,
Dr. Nichols informs us, was, that he came home strongly
possessed with the visionary philosophy of the former, and
the enthusiastic extravagances of the latter. From the
order of his poems, however, which was probably that of
their respective dates, he appears to have been at first
rather a disciple of the celebrated Mr. Law, and a warm
opponent of those divines who were termed latitudinarian.
His admiration of Malebranche, and of Bourignon, afterwards increased, but he never followed either so far as to
despise human learning, in which his acquirements were
great; and the delight which he took in various studies,
ended only with his life. By what means he was maintained abroad, or after his return, are matters of conjecture. His biographer tells nothing of his father’s inclination or abilities to forward his pursuits. It is said that he
studied medicine in London for some time; and thence
acquired, among his familiar friends, the title of Doctor
Byrom. But this pursuit was interrupted by his falling In
love with his cousin, Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Bylom, a mercer at Manchester, then on a visit in London.
To this young lady he disclosed his passion, and followed
her to Manchester, where the ardour of his addresses soon
procured a favourable return. Her father, however, was
extremely averse to the match, and when it took place
without his consent, refused the young couple any means
of support. Dr. Nichols assigns two reasons for this conduct, which are not very consistent: the one, that the
father was in opulent circumstances; the other, that he
thought our poet out of his senses, and therefore would
not permit him to superintend the education of his children, but took that care upon himself. If so, however
wrong his reasons might be, he could not be said to withdraw his support; and he was probably soon convinced that
he had formed an erroneous estimate of Viis son-in-law’s
understanding and general character.
m had recourse to the teaching of short-hand writing, as a means of supporting himself and his wife, who adhered to him with affectionate tenderness in all his vicissitudes.
In this dilemma, however, Mr. Byrom had recourse to
the teaching of short-hand writing, as a means of supporting himself and his wife, who adhered to him with affectionate tenderness in all his vicissitudes. Dr. Nichols informs us, that he had invented his short-hand at Cambridge
on the following occasion: Some manuscript sermons being
communicated to him, written in short-hand, he easily discovered the true reading, but observing the method to be
clumsy and ill-contrived, he set about inventing a better.
The account given by the editor of his System, published
in 1764, is somewhat different. It is said that the first occasion of his turning his attention that way arose from his
acquaintance with Mr. Sharp of Trinity college, son to
archbishop Sharp. Mr. Sharp had been advised by his
father to study the art, and Mr. Byrom joined him. All
the systems then in vogue appearing inadequate to the
end, he devised that which now goes by his name. This
discovery was made, not without considerable exultation,
and provoked Weston, then the chief stenographer, to a
trial of skill, or rather a controversy, which terminated in
favour of Byrom. Weston published his system in 1725,
and the dispute was carried on probably about that time.
Into the respective merits of these systems, it is unnecessary to enter. Angel, another professor of the art, who
prefixed a short history of Stenographers to his own system
(published in 1758) considers Weston' s method as one
that few have either capacity, patience, or leisure to learn.
He also tells us that Dr. Byrom “so far distinguished himself as a professor or teacher of the art of short-writing,
that about the year 1734, he obtained an act of parliament,
(perhaps he means a patent) for that purpose, as presuming he had discovered a wonderful secret; and great
care has since been taken to preserve it inviolably such,
except to his pupils, in hopes that by exciting a greater
curiosity, it might increase their number;
” and, as Mr.
Angel had a new system to propose, it was necessary for
him to add, “that he could discover no peculiar excellence
in Byrom’s, either in the form of the letters, the rules, or
the application of them.
” Byrom, however, preserved his
system in manuscript as long as he lived. When his friends
wished to publish it after his death, they found no part of
it finished for the press, although he had made some
progress in drawing it up in form, enoilgh, says his editor, to
show the plan upon which he intended to proceed. Among
his pupils, of whom an ample list is given, in honour of
his system, we find the names of many distinguished scholars, of Isaac Hawkins Browne, Martin Folkes, Dr. Hoadley, Dr. Hartley, lord Camden, &c. Lord Chesterfield,
according to Dr. Nichols, was likewise taught by him,
which appears to be doubtful. The same biographer informs us, that it was Byrom’s practice to read a lecture to
his scholars upon the history and utility of short-hand, interspersed with strokes of wit that rendered it very entertaining. About the same time he became acquainted with
that irregular genius Dr. Byfield, with whom he used to
have skirmishes of humour and repartee at the Rainbow
coffee-house, near Temple Bar. Upon that chemist’s decease, who was the inventor of the Sal volatile oleosum, Byrom wrote the following impromptu:
gland, by this argument chiefly, that the English were converted by Gregory the First, or the Great, who sent over St. Austin for that purpose; and he conceives that
Byrom’s lines “On the Patron of England
” are worthy
of notice, as having excited a controversy which is, perhaps, not yet decided. In this poem he endeavoured to
prove the non-existence of St. George, the patron saint of
England, by this argument chiefly, that the English were
converted by Gregory the First, or the Great, who sent
over St. Austin for that purpose; and he conceives that in
the ancient Fasti, Georgius was erroneously set down for
Gregorius, and that George nowhere occurs as patron until the reign of Edward III. He concludes with requesting
that the matter may be considered by Willis, Stukeley,
Ames, or Pegge, all celebrated antiquaries, or by the society of antiquaries at large, stating the plain question to
be, “Whether England’s patron was a knight or a pope?
”
This challenge must have been given some time before the
year 1759, when all these antiquaries were living, but in
what publication, if printed at all, we have not been able
to discover. Mr. Pegge, however, was living when Byrom’s collected poems appeared, and judged the question
of sufficient importance to be discussed in the society. His
“Observations on the History of St. George
” were printed
in the fifth volume of the Archseologia, in answer, not only
to Byrom, but to Dr. Pettingal, who in 1760 expressed
his unbelief in St. George by a “Dissertation on the
Equestrian Figure worn by the knights of the Garter:
”
Mr. Pegge is supposed to have refuted both. The controversy was, however, revived at a much later period (1795)
by Mr. Milner, of Winchester, who, in answer to the assertions of Gibbon, the historian, has supported the reality
of the person of St. George with much ingenuity.
, an able linguist, was a native of Poland, who came to Oxford when somewhat advanced in life, was matriculated,
, an able linguist, was a native of Poland, who came to Oxford when somewhat advanced in life, was matriculated, and read a Hebrew
lecture for many years in the hall of Christ Church, and
before the rebellion in 1642 instructed many scholars in
that language. Even after being disturbed by the revolutionary confusions, he published some works for the use of
his pupils. After leaving Oxford he went to Cambridge,
and thence to London, and Wood thinks, returned to Oxford. About 1664 he retired into Cornwall, and practised
physic, but the time of his death has not been ascertained.
He wrote, 1. “Lethargy of the Soul, &c.
” Tabula directoria: in qua totum Totexnikon Linguae Sanctae, ad amussim delineator,
” Ox. 1637. 3. “Lingua eruditorum,
” usually called his Hebrew Grammar, Ox.
Manipulus messis magnae,
sive Grammat exemplaris,
” Lond. Clavis
Linguæ Sanctæ,
” Camb. Lyra prophetica Davidis regis: sive Analysis Critico-Practica Psal morum,
” Lond
and he was also severely treated in the “Apology of Lewis of Bavaria,” published by George Herwart; who affirms, that Bzovius had not acted in his annals like a man
, a learned Polander, and a very
voluminous writer, was descended from a good family, and
born in 1567. His parents dying when he was a child, he
was educated by his grandmother on the mother’s side, in
the city of Prosovitz; and made so good use of the instructions of one of his uncles, that at ten years of age he could
write Latin, compose music, and make verses. After this,
he went to continue his studies at Cracow, and there took
the habit of a Pominican. Being sent into Italy, he read
lectures of philosophy at Milan, and of divinity at Bologna.
After he returned into his own country, he preached in
Posnania, and in Cracow, with the applause of all his
hearers; and taught philosophy and divinity. He was principal of a college of his own order; and did several considerable services to that and to his country. Afterwards
he went to Rome; where he was received with open arms
by the pope, and lodged in the Vatican. From his holiness he certainly deserved that reception, for he imitated
Baronius closely in his ambition to favour the power, and
raise the glory, of the papal see. His inconsiderate and
violent zeal, however, led him to representations in his
history of which he had reason to repent. He had very
much reviled the emperor Lewis of Bavaria, and razed him
ignominiously out of the catalogue of emperors. The
duke of Bavaria was so incensed at this audaciousness, that,
not satisfied with causing an apology to be wrote for that
emperor, he brought an action in form against the annalist,
and got him condemned to make a public retractation, and
he was also severely treated in the “Apology of Lewis of
Bavaria,
” published by George Herwart; who affirms, that
Bzovius had not acted in his annals like a man of honesty,
or wit, or judgment, or memory, or any other good quality of a writer. Bzovius would probably have continued
in the Vatican till his deat^h, if the murder of one of his
servants, and the loss of a great sum of money, which was
carried off by the murderer, had not struck him with such
a terror, as obliged him to retire into the convent of Minerva, where he died in 1637, aged seventy. The letter
which the king of Poland writ to the pope in 1633, does
our Dominican much honour; for in it the king supplicates
Urban VIII. most humbly to suffer the good old man to
return into Poland, that he might employ him in composing a history of the late transactions there. He declares, that he shall esteem himself much indebted to his
holiness, if he will be pleased to grant him that favour,
which he so earnestly requests of him.
, or Cab-Ben-Zohair, a distinguished Arabian poet, was one of the rabbis among those Arabians who had embraced Judaism. Mahomet, irritated by a satirical poem
, or Cab-Ben-Zohair, a distinguished Arabian poet, was one of the rabbis among those Arabians who
had embraced Judaism. Mahomet, irritated by a satirical
poem which Caab had written against him and his new
sect, made war on the Jewish Arabian tribes, in hopes of
seizing him and putting him to death. Caab, however,
contrived to escape his fury, until Mahomet had made himself master of Arabia, when he had the art to be reconciled to him, turned Mahometan, and altered his poem by
inserting the name of Abubeker wherever that of Mahomet
occurred; and as these concessions did not seem to effect
a complete reconciliation, he wrote a poem in favour of
one of his mistresses, which was so successful that Mahomet received him into friendship, and bestowed on him his
own mantle, which the caliph Moavias purchased when he
came to the throne, and it became the dress of his successors on state occasions. Caab is also said to have had
a considerable hand in drawing up the Alcoran. According
to Herbelot he died in the first year of the hegira, or A. C.
622. An edition of his poem in praise of Mahomet was
published under the title “Caab Ben-Zohair carmen
panegyricum in laudem Mohammedis, &c.
” Leyden,
he Jegislative body. He was connected, we are told, wkh a great part of the writers and philosophers who contributed to enlighten the eighteenth century. During his
, a French physician
of considerable eminence, the son of Mons. Cabanis, an
able agriculturist, was born about 1756 and in his youth
shewed much taste for scientific as well as polite literature,
which he pursued with success; although having caught the
revolutionary phrensy, his studies became interrupted by
his polkical engagements. He is said, however, to have
had no hand in any of the excesses which arose out of the
fury of contending parties. He was connected with Alirabeau, and attended him in his professional capacity on
his death-bed. He was also one of the Council of Five Hundred; and it was in consequence of a motion made by him,
that the Directory was dissolved. His principles, however,
do not appear to have been much more steady and consistent than those of his brethren. He published, 1. “Observations sur les Hopitaux,
” Paris, Journal
de la maladie et de la mort de Mirabeau,
” ibid. Travail sur I'education publique,
” a posthumous work of
Mirabeau, edited by Cabanis, 1791, 8vo. 4. “Melanges de
Litterature Allemande,
” Dudegrede certitude
delamedecine,
”Quelques considerations sur l'organization sociale en generale,
” &c. Des rapports du physique et du morale de Pnomme,
”
Coup d'ceil sur les revolutions
et la reforme de la medicine,
” Observations
sur les affections Catarrhales,
” &c. Magazin Encyclopedique;
”
and in the Moniteur for
ivision between the Greek and Latin churches is owing in a great measure to the conduct of the Pope, who wishes to act independently of an œcumenical council, contrary
, archbishop of Thessalonica in
the fourteenth century, under the empire of the Andronicus’s, wrgainst the Latins; the first to prove
that the division between the Greek and Latin churches
is owing in a great measure to the conduct of the Pope, who
wishes to act independently of an œcumenical council, contrary to the usage of the church the second is a 'more
direct attack on the infallibility of the Pope, and reduces
his primacy to merely a primacy of honour; and he urges
many arguments against the assumed power of the pope
which are perfectly consistent with the opinions on which
the reformers afterwards proceeded. These treatises, Du
Pin says, are written with method, perspicuity, and learning. They were at first printed at London in Greek, without date, according to Du Pin, but we have not been able
to discover this edition. They were, however, published in
English at London, in 1560; or at least the latter of them,
under the title “A Treatise containing a declaration of the
Pope’s usurped primacie; written in Greek above seven
hundred yeares since by Nilus archbishop of Thessalonica.
Translated by Thomas Gressop, student in Oxford,
” 8vo.
There are also editions in Greek and Latin at Basil, 1544,
Francfort, 1555, and with Salmasius’s notes, 1608. Our
author also wrote a large work on the procession of the
Holy Ghost, in opposition to the Latins.
, of Aix, was a celebrated priest of the oratory, who taught the canon law at Avignon, and died September 25, 1685,
, of Aix, was a celebrated priest of
the oratory, who taught the canon law at Avignon, and
died September 25, 1685, at Aix, aged eighty one. His
chief works are: “Juris Canonici theoria, et praxis,
” a new
edition of which was published by M. Gibert, 1738, foL with
notes; an " Account of the Ecclesiastical History of the
Councils and Canons,*' in Latin, the best edition of which
is 1680, fol. In the edition of 1670, 8vo, are some Dissertations not to be found in that of 1680. Few ecclesiastics have been more praised for excellence of private
character than Cabassut.
and abilities, was born at Bristol about the year 1477. He was son of John Cabot, a Venetian pilot, who resided much in England, and particularly in the city of Bristol;
, a navigator of great eminence? and abilities, was born at Bristol about the year 1477. He was son of John Cabot, a Venetian pilot, who resided much in England, and particularly in the city of Bristol; and who was greatly celebrated Cor his skill in navigation. Young Cabot was early instructed by his father in arithmetic, geometry, geography, and those branches of knowledge which were best calculated to form an able and skilful seaman; and by the time he was seventeen years of age, he had already made several trips to sea, in order to add to the theoretical knowledge which he had acquired, a competent skill in the practical part of navigation. The first voyage of any importance in which he was engaged, appears to have been that made by his father, for the discovery of unknown lands; and also, as it is said, of a northwest passage to the East Indies. John Cabot was encouraged to this attempt by the discoveries of Columbus. It was in 1493 that Columbus returned from his first expedition; and in 1495, John Cabot obtained from king Henry VII. letters patent, empowering him and his three sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Sanctius, to discover unknown lands, and to conquer and settle them, for which they were to be admitted to many privileges the king reserving to himself one- fifth part of the neat profits; and with this single restraint, that the ships they fitted O ut should be obliged to return to the port of Bristol. It was not till the year after these letters patent were granted, that any preparations were made for fitting out vessels for the intended voyage; and then John Cabot had a permission from his majesty, to take six English ships in any haven of the realm, of the burden of two hundred tons and under, with as many mariners as should be willing to go with him. Accordingly, one ship was equipped at Bristol, at the king’s expence; and to this the merchants of that city, and of London, added three or four small vessels, freighted with proper commodities.
seems he had entered into a close connexion with sir Tljomas Pert, then vice-admiral of England, and who procured him a good ship of the king’s, in order to make discoveries.
After the voyage in which Newfoundland was discovered, there is a considerable chasm in the life of Sebastian Cabot; for we have no distinct accounts of what he performed for the space of twenty years together, though he probably performed several voyages during that period. Nor have we any account at what time, or in what place, his father John Cabot died; though it is supposed to have been in England. The next transaction concerning Sebastian Cabot, of which we meet with any mention, was in the eighth year of the reign of King Henry VIII. and our accounts relative to this are not very clear. But it seems he had entered into a close connexion with sir Tljomas Pert, then vice-admiral of England, and who procured him a good ship of the king’s, in order to make discoveries. It is supposed, however, that he had now changed his route, and intended to have passed by the South to the East Indies; for he sailed first to Brazil, and missing there of his purpose, shaped his course for the islands of Hispaniola and Porto Rico, where he carried on some traffic, and then returned, failing absolutely in the design upon which he went; not through any want either of courage or of conduct in himself, but from the timidity of his coadjutor, sir Thomas Pert.
had killed many of the Indians; but they slew twenty-five of his Spaniards, and took three of them, who went out to gather palmetos.
It was this disappointment which is supposed to have induced Sebastian Cabot to leave England, and go over into Spain. There he was treated with great respect, and appointed pilot-major, or chief pilot of Spain; and by his office entrusted with the reviewing of all projects for discovery; which at that period were numerous and important. His great capacity and reputation as a navigator, induced many opulent merchants to treat with him, in 1524, about a voyage to be undertaken at their expence by the new-found passage of Magellan to the Moluccos; and Cabot accordingly agreed to engage in the voyage. He set sail from Cadiz, with four ships, about the beginning of April 1525, first to the Canaries, then to the Cape Verd islands, and from thence to Cape St. Augustine, and the island of Patos, or Geese; and near Bahia de Todos los Santos, or the bay of All Saints, he met a French ship. When he came to the island just mentioned, he was in great want of provisions; but the Indians treated him with much kindness, and supplied him with provisions for all his ships. This he returned by an act of base ingratitude, carrying off with him by force four sons of the principal persons of the island. He then proceeded to the river of Plate, having left ashore, on a desert island, Martin Mendez, his vice-admiral, captain Francis do Rojas, and Michael de Rojas, because they censured his conduct. He was now prevented from prosecuting his original design of going to the Spice Islands, both by a scarcity of provisions, and a mutiny among his men. He sailed, however, up the river of Plate; and about thirty leagues above the mouth he found an island, which he called St. Gabriel, about a league in compass, dnd half a league from the continent towards Brazil. There he anchored; and, rowing with the boats three leagues higher, discovered a river he called San Salvador, or St. Saviour, very deep, and a safe harbour for the ships on the same side; whither he brought up his vessels, and unloaded them, because there was not much water at the mouth of the river. Having built a fort, and left some men in it, he determined to proceed up that river with boats, and a flat-bottomed caravel, in order to make discoveries; for he thought his voyage might thereby be rendered beneficial, though he did not pass through the Straits to the Spice Islands. When he had advanced thirty leagues, he came to a river called Zarcarana; the inhabitants in the neighbourhood of which he found to be intelligent, and not unfriendly; and here he erected another fort, calling it Santi Spiritus, i. e. of the Holy Ghost, and his followers by another name, viz. Cabot’s Fort. He then discovered the shores of the river Parana, where he found several islands and rivers, and at length came to the river Paraguay, in the neighbourhood of which he found people tilling the ground; a circumstance which had not occurred to him before in that part of the world. But here the natives opposed him with so much vigour, that he advanced no farther, though he had killed many of the Indians; but they slew twenty-five of his Spaniards, and took three of them, who went out to gather palmetos.
returned together to the fort of the Holy Ghost, from whence they sent messengers into Spain. Those who were dispatched by Cabot were Francis Calderon and George Barlow,
Cabot’s ship lay, about the beginning of 1527. Directing his course towards the river Parana, he arrived at the fort built by Cabot and about one hundred and ten leagues from this fort he found Cabot himself, in the port of St. Anne, After a short stay there, they returned together to the fort of the Holy Ghost, from whence they sent messengers into Spain. Those who were dispatched by Cabot were Francis Calderon and George Barlow, who gave a very favourable account of the fine countries bordering on the river La Plata, shewing how large a tract of land he had not only discovered, but subdued; and producing gold, silver, and other valuable commodities, as evidences in favour of their commander’s conduct. They then demanded on his behalf, that a supply should be sent of provisions, ammunition, goods proper to carry on a tra'de, and a competent recruit of seamen and soldiers. But the merchants, by whom Cabot’s squadron was fitted out, would not agree to these requisitions, rather choosing to resign their rights to the crown of Castile. The king then took the whole upon himself; but was so dilatory in his preparations, that Cabot, who had been five years employed in this expedition, being quite tired out, determined to return home; which he accordingly did, embarking the remainder of his men and all his effects onboard the largest of his ships, and leaving the rest behind him. He arrived at the Spanish court, where he gave an account of his expedition, in the spring of 1531. But he was not well received: for he had created himself enemies by the rigour with which he had treated his Spanish mutineers; and he had also disappointed the expectations of his owners by not prosecuting his voyage to the Moluccos. Notwithstanding these unfavourable circumstances, he found means to keep his place, and continued in the service of Spain many years after, till at length he resolved to return again to England. What were his particular inducements to this we meet with no certain account, but it was probably about the latter end of the reign of king Henry VIII. that Cabot returned to England, where he resided at Bristol. In the beginning of the following reign he was introduced to the duke of Somerset, then lord protector, who received him into great favour, and by whom he was made known to king Edward VI. That young prince, who was very solicitous to acquire knowledge, and who had much more skill in maritime affairs than could have been expected from his years, took great pleasure in the conversation of Cabot, to whom a pension was granted, by letters patent, dated January 6, 1549, of 166l. 13s. 4rf. a year: and, according to Hakluyt, this annuity was allowed him as grand pilot of England. From this time he continued highly in the king’s favour, and was consulted upon all affairs relative to trade, and particularly in the great case of the merchants of the Steel-yard in 1551.
ended discovery, he entered into the dance himself.” This is the last circumstance related of Cabot; who is supposed to have died some time in the following year, when
He was also governor of the Russia company. A charter
was granted by king Philip and queen Mary, in the first
of their reign, to the merchants of Russia, since styled
the Russia Companany; whereby Cabot wus made governor
for life, on account of his being principally concerned in
fitting oat the first ships employed in that trade. Letters
patent were likewise issued, dated St. James’s, November
27, 1555, in the second and third years of Philip and Mary;
wherein their majesties granted him an annuity of one hundred sixty-six pounds thirteen shillings and four-pence,
during his natural life. He was very active in the affairs
of the Russia company; and in the journal of Stephen
Burroughs, it is observed, that on the 27th of April, 1556,
he went down to Gravesend, and there going on board the
Serch-thrift, a small vessel fitted out under the command
of Mr. Burroughs for Russia, he gave generously to the
sailors; and, on his return to Gravesend, he extended his
alms very liberally to the poor, desiring them to pray for
the success of this voyage. It is also mentioned, as an
evidence of his cheerful temper, that he caused a grand
entertainment to be made at the sign of the Christopher,
at Gravesend, on this occasion; and, as Mr. Burroughs
says, “for the very joy he had to see the towardness of our
intended discovery, he entered into the dance himself.
”
This is the last circumstance related of Cabot; who is supposed to have died some time in the following year, when
he was probably near eighty; though his age cannot now
be exactly ascertained. He was a very able and skilful
navigator, and had a very high reputation in^iis own time:
and Dr. Campbell observes of him, that “by his capacity and
integrity, he contributed not a little to the service of mankind in general, as well as of this kingdom; for it was he
who first took notice of the variation of the compass, which
is of such mighty consequence in navigation, and concerning which the learned have busied themselves in their
inquiries ever since.
”
Portugal and having then proceeded to Calecut, he entered into a treaty with the zamorin or emperor, who allowed him to build a factory for the Portuguese, and although
, another skilful navigator. the son of Ferdinand Cabral, a Portuguese nobleman, was appointed commander of the second fleet which the king of Portugal sent to the Indies in 1500. After sailing for a month, he was driven by a storm on an unknown coast, to which he gave the name of Saint Croix, but which is better known since by that of Brazil, and is at present the seat of the Portuguese monarchy. Cabral took possession of this country on April 24, 1500. He then sailed for Sofala in AtVica, where he arrived with only seven out of thirteen ship* with which he left Portugal and having then proceeded to Calecut, he entered into a treaty with the zamorin or emperor, who allowed him to build a factory for the Portuguese, and although die zamorin behaved treache r rously afterwards, Cabral, by chastising his insolence, finally atchieved his purpose. He entered into a similar treaty with the prince of Cananpr, and in 1501 returned to Portugal with his fleet richly laden. Of his future life we have no account, but he wrote a detail of his voyage, which liamusio translated into Italian, and published with some others at Venice.
probably the greatest in Europe; and was succeeded by his only son, Thomas, and Mr. William Davies, who entered at that time into partnership. Accustomed, however,
In 1794 Mr. Cadell retired from business, in the full possession of his health and faculties, and with an ample fortune corresponding to the magnitude of the concerns he had so long carried on, and which were probably the greatest in Europe; and was succeeded by his only son, Thomas, and Mr. William Davies, who entered at that time into partnership. Accustomed, however, from his early days to business, Mr. Cadell senior, with a laudable ambition, sought, and most honourably obtained, a seat in the magistracy of the city of London, being unanimously elected, March 30, 1798, to the office of alderman of Waibrook ward; and the following year was elected master of the worshipful company of Stationers, whose hall he decorated with a magnificent window in stained and painted glass. At Midsummer 1800, a period when party-spirit ran high, he was elected by a very honourable majority on a poll, with his friend Mr. Perring (now sir John Perring, bart.) to the shrievalty of London and Middlesex: an office which he discharged with the entire approbation of his constituents. His conscientious attendance on its duties, for he was never absent a single Sunday from the chapel of one of the prisons, we are sorry to add, seems to have laid the foundation of that asthmatic complaint, which so fatally terminated at a period when the citizens of London, who justly esteemed him as an independent, humane, and intelligent magistrate, anticipated the speedy approach of his attainment to the highest civic honours. A sudden attack of the asthma proved fatal in the night of Sunday, Dec. 27, 1802, to the lasting regret of a numerous circle of friends, and to the loss of many public institutions of which he had been an active governor, and to which he had been a liberal contributor. He was interred in the family vault, in the church-yard of Eltham, Kent.
es III. and having reported to his grace that ten battalions were in the city and castle of Antwerp, who seemed inclined to surrender on honourable terms, the duke sent
, first earl of Cadogan, the son of Henry Cadogan, a counsellor at law, by Bridget, daughter to sir Hardress Waller, knt. was educated to a military life, and in 1701 was made quarter-master-general of the army. In 1703 he was constituted colonel of the second regiment of horse, and on August 25, 1704, brigadiergeneral, having that year behaved with great gallantry at the attack of Schellenberg, and the battle of Hochstet. In June 1705 he was elected member of parliament for Woodstock; and on July 18th of the same year, at the forcing of the French lines near Tirlemont, he behaved with remarkable bravery at the head of his regiment, xvhich first attacking the enemy had such success, that they defeated four squadrons of Bavarian guards, drove them through two battalions of their foot, and took four standards. He was also in the battle of Ramilies, fought on May 12, 1706; after which the duke of Marlborough sent from his camp at Meerlebeck, on June 3, brigadier Cadogan, with six squadrons of horse, and his letter to the governor of Antwerp, to invite him and the garrison to the obedience of king Charles III. and having reported to his grace that ten battalions were in the city and castle of Antwerp, who seemed inclined to surrender on honourable terms, the duke sent him authority to treat with them. And after some conferences, they complied, and the garrison, consisting of six French and six Spanish regiments, were allowed to march out in three days, and be conducted to Quesnoy. But of the Walloon regiment, consisting of 600 men each, only 372 men marched out; the rest entering into the service of king Charles, except some few who were not in condition to serve, and returned to their respective dwellings. Afterwards, towards the close of the campaign that year, he was taken prisoner when on a foraging party, and was carried into Tournay, but he remained there only three days, the duke of Vendosme sending him, on August 19, to the duke of Marl bo rough’s camp, upon his parole and five days after he was exchanged for the baron Palavicini, a major-general in the French service, taken at the battle of Ramilies. On Jan. 1, 1706-7, he was promoted to the rank of major-general of her majesty’s forces. On Mr. Stepney’s decease in 1707, he succeeded him as minister plenipotentiary in the government of the Spanish Netherlands. And he soon after, in conference, brought to a conclusion the negotiation for the speedy exchange of prisoners; and, having shared in the most difficult enterprizes throughout the war, was constituted a lieutenant-general on January 10, 1708-9.
neral. He set out for Utrecht, on Jan. 28, 1716, to wait on the king, expected there that afternoon; who was pleased to command his attending him to Great Britain. And
When the duke of Marlborough was disgraced, and went abroad, he resigned all his employments, choosing, as he had a share in his grace’s prosperity, to be a partaker in his adversity; but first served the campaign, in 1712, under the duke of Ormond. At the accession of George I. on August 1, 1714, he was made master of the robes, and colonel of the second regiment of foot-guards; also envoy extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the States General. In 1715, he was appointed governor of the Isle of Wight; and having extinguished the remains of the rebellion in Scotland, he was elected a knight of the thistle in June 1716, and on the 30th of the same month was created a peer by the title of Lord Cadogan, baron of Reading. His lordship soon after was again sent ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the States of Holland; and arriving at Brussels, on Sept. 15, 1716, signed, at the Hague, the treaty of defensive alliance between Great Britain, France,and the States General. He set out for Utrecht, on Jan. 28, 1716, to wait on the king, expected there that afternoon; who was pleased to command his attending him to Great Britain. And Mr. Leathes, his majesty’s secretary at Brusels, was appointed to reside at the Hague, during his lordship’s absence.
turned to the Hague on June 2 following, and communicated to the States his transactions at Antwerp, who appeared sensible of his friendly offices, and of the great
On lis return, he was sworn of the privy council, on March 30, 1717; and in the month of July ensuing, was constituted general of all his majesty’s foot forces employed, or to be employed, in his service. The following year he was again appointed ambassador extraordinary at the Hague, where he arrived on Sept. 17, 1717; and, havingbrought his negotiations to a conclusion, embarked at the Brill for England, on Nov. 7, and put to sea the same evening. Qn May 8, 1718, he was advanced to the dignity of Baron of Oakley, viscount Caversham, and earl of Cadogan, with remainder of the barony of Oakley to Charles his brother. He set out for the Hague immediately after, where he arrived May 15, 1718, and on the 18th was visited by the public ministers, and by the president of the States General in the name of that body. Ten days after he was at Antwerp, where he conferred with tjie marquis de Prie, governor for the emperor in the Netherlands, in order to put an end to the difficulties that had long obstructed the execution of the barrier treaty; and bringing him to comply with what was demanded, he returned to the Hague on June 2 following, and communicated to the States his transactions at Antwerp, who appeared sensible of his friendly offices, and of the great obligations they were under to his Britannic majesty. And having fixed for his public entry the king his master’s birth-day, it was conducted with great splendour and magnificence. He then laboured with great diligence to adjust the difficulties, which deferred the finishing of the convention for the entire execution of the treaty of barrier, and had frequent conferences with the Imperial ministers and the State? General for that purpose.
earl became extinct, and the barony of Oakley devolved on Charles, his brother, second lord Cadogan, who died in 1776.
His lordship married Margaretta- Cecilia Munter, daughter of William Munter, counsellor of the court of Holland, by his wife Cecilia Trip, of Amsterdam; and by her left issue only two daughters; the lady Sarah, married to Charles, second duke of Richmond; and the lady Margaret, married to Charles John count Bentinck, second son to William earl of Portland, by his second wife. His lordship dying on July 17, 1726, was buried in Westminsterabbey. Her ladyship survived him till August, 1749, when she departed this life at the Hague, from whence her corpse was brought the next month, and interred by his lordship’s in Westminster-abbey. As they left no male issue, the titles of viscount and earl became extinct, and the barony of Oakley devolved on Charles, his brother, second lord Cadogan, who died in 1776.
c principles, and was conferred on Mr. Cadogan, unsolicited, in the following manner. Lord Bathurst, who was then chancellor, called at lord Cadogan’s house in Privy
, grand nephew of the preceding, and second son of Charles Sloan Cadogan, third baron, and first earl Cadogan of the new creation (1800), was born Jan. 22, 1751, at his father’s house in Bruton-street, and was educated at Westminster-school, whence he was removed to Christ church college, Oxford, where he took the degree of B. A. At this university, he distinguished himself by obtaining several prizes for classical learning, and by a diligent application to the study of the holy scriptures. In 1774, the vicarage of St. Giles’s, Reading, became vacant, by the death of the rev. William Talbot, a very popular preacher of Calvinistic principles, and was conferred on Mr. Cadogan, unsolicited, in the following manner. Lord Bathurst, who was then chancellor, called at lord Cadogan’s house in Privy Gardens, and desired to see him. Lord Cadogan was not at home; and the servants, seeing lord Bathurst plainly dressed, admitted him no farther than the hall, on the table of which he wrote a note, requesting lord Cadogan to accept the vicarage of St. Giles’s for his son. The offer of so valuable a preferment, and so near to the family seat at Caversham, was peculiarly acceptable to lord Cadogan: but his son not being in priest’s orders, it was held by sequestration till he was ordained priest in 1775. Soon after, he was presented by lord Cadogan to the rectory of Chelsea, but as he could not hold two livings without being a master of arts, that degree was conferred upon him by archbishop Cornwallis and in the following year, being then of sufficient standing in the university, he was regularly admitted to the same degree of Oxford.
d have no inclination to do the duties himself, and might, perhaps, continue Mr. Halvvard as curate, who had been appointed to that office by Mr. Talbot, and was highly
The parishioners of St. Giles’s were deeply affected by the death of Mr. Talbot, and equally grieved at the appointment of his successor; and their only hopes were, that as he was a youth of noble family, he would have no inclination to do the duties himself, and might, perhaps, continue Mr. Halvvard as curate, who had been appointed to that office by Mr. Talbot, and was highly acceptable to them. Upon a petition, however, being presented to Mr. Cadogan in favour of Mr. Halward, he rejected it with the strongest marks of disapprobation, and the congregation that usually met in St. Giles dispersed themselves among the dissenting meetings, and some of them went so far as to erect a meeting in lady Huntingdon’s connection. On this occasion several letters passed between Mr. Cadogan and Mrs. Talbot, whose house was opened for religious exercises. At first he was highly offended; but at length his views of religious doctrines became materially altered, and he attained before his death a popularity equal, or rather superior, to that of his predecessor, and a corresponding change took place in his manner and habits. He had usually divided his time between Reading and Chelsea; but finding his labours there attended with little or no success, and having been prevailed upon to let the rectory-house, he left that populous parish to the care of his curate, the rev. Erasmus Middleton, except at the season of Lent, and of the monthly sacrament. At Reading, besides preaching on Sundays, morning and evening, he preached on Thursday evenings; and on Tuesday evenings he prayed and expounded the scriptures in his own house; but finding the number of his hearers too large, he removed this instructive exercise into the chancel. He also instituted four Sunday schools, in which upwards of 120 poor children were instructed. These schools he constantly attended, encouraging those who made the greatest improvement, by presents of money or books; and supplying every deficiency in the collections of the parishioners at his own expence. He was usually in his study by six o'clock, and devoted the greater part of his mornings to reading the scriptures in the original languages; the remainder he employed in exercise, or in visiting the sick and poor. He passed much time in secret prayer, and has been frequently surprised on his knees by his servant, when the family had retired to rest. His generosity and charity were truly great; nor could an object of distress be mentioned to him by any of his congregation without experiencing his liberality. Many clergymen, in circumstances of indigence or affliction, have received assistance from him, which was conveyed in the most private way. He had great politeness in his manners and behaviour: in his conversation, the scholar, the gentleman, and the Christian were united. In the pulpit, he endeavoured to reform the sinner, and display to all men the blessings of salvation. His voice was not pleasing, but his delivery was forcible; and he commanded attention by the earnestness with which he impressed upon his hearers the sublime truths of the gospel. Amidst these Christian duties, Mr. Cadogan was seized on a Thursday evening after his lecture, with an inflammation in his bowels, which, after a short interval of relief, proved fatal Jan. 18, 1797.
herbal did not contain nine hundred species, a fact fully proved by the Florentine botanist Micheli, who had it in his possession. A provision of this kind was too small
, an eminent botanist and
physician, was born at Arezzo, in the district of Florence,
in 1519. He was educated under Luke Ghinus, superintendant of the public garden at Pisa, where he appears
to have acquired his taste for botanical pursuits. There
also he was appointed first professor of physic and botany
in the university, and afterwards first physician to pope
Clement VIII. a promotion which required his residence at
Home, where he died in 1603. He described, says Dr.
Pulteney, with exquisite skill, the plants of his own country, and left an herbarium of 768 species. He extended
Gesner’s idea, and commenced the period of systematic
arrangement. In his “Libri XVI de Plantis,
” published
in 1583, at Florence, he has arranged upwards of 800
plants into classes, founded, after the general division of
the trees from herbs, on characters drawn from the fruit
particularly, from the number of the capsules and cells;
the number, shape, and disposition of the seeds; and from
the situation of the corculum, radicle, or eye of t]ie seed,
which he raised to great estimation. The orders, or subdivisions, are formed on still more various relations. On
the other hand, the biographer of Linnceus remarks, that,
though his genius was inventive, his knowledge of botany
was neither original nor universal. He missed both leisure
and opportunity. Clusius had discovered more fresh plants
than he ever was acquainted with. His herbal did not contain nine hundred species, a fact fully proved by the Florentine botanist Micheli, who had it in his possession. A
provision of this kind was too small to give a comprehensive view of botany, and the knowledge which Ca?salpinus
acquired of the internal structure of plants was too defective
to point out the most perfect order. He was only directed
by the fruit, and mostly by that part on which tlui shoots or
germins repose. This system had its defects, but it brought
CiEsalpinus much nearer to the truth, and he discovered more
real similarities, more natural classes, than all the botanists
who preceded, and many who followed him. His speculations in anatomy are still more ingenious. He describes
very clearly the circulation of the blood through the heart,
and was acquainted with the uses of the valves. Douglas
thinks him entitled to equal praise with Harvey, who only completed what he had nearly achieved. He clearly, Douglas
says, describes the contraction and dilatation of the heart,
which is shewn from the following passage from his fourth
book “Question um Peripateticarum.
” “The lungs,
” he
says, “drawing the warm blood through a vein (the pulmonary artery) like the arteries, out of the right ventricle
of the heart, and returning it by an anastomosis to the
venal artery (the pulmonary vein) which goes to the left
ventricle of the heart, the cool air being in the mean time
let in through the canals of the aspera arteria, which are
extended along the venal artery, but do not communicate
with it by inosculations, as Galen imagined, cools it only
by touching. To this circulation of the blood out of the
right ventricle of the heart through the lungs into its left
ventricle, what appears upon dissection answers very well:
for there are two vessels which end in the right ventricle, and
two in the left: but one only carries the blood in, the other
sends it out, the membranes being contrived for that purpose.
” His works on the practice of medicine have also
their portion of merit. “Questionum Medicarum Libri
ii.;
” “De Facultatibus Medicamentorum Libri duo,
” Venet.
Speculum Artis Medicae Hippocraticae, exhibens dignoscendos curandosque morbos, in quo multa visuntur, quae a prjcclarissimis medicis intacta relicta erant,
”
Lyons,
, the illustrious Roman general and historian, was of the family of the Julii, who pretended they were descended from Venus by Æneas. The descendants
, the illustrious Roman general and
historian, was of the family of the Julii, who pretended
they were descended from Venus by Æneas. The descendants of Ascanius son offlLneas and Creusa, and surnamed
Julius, lived at Alba till that city wns ruined by Tullus
Hostilius, king of Rome, who carried them to Rome, where
they flourished. We do not find that they produced more
than two branches. The first bore the name of Tullus, the
other that of Cæsar. The most ancient of the Caesars were
those who were in public employments in the llth year of
the first Punic war. After that time we find there was always some of that family who enjoyed public offices in the
commonwealth, till the time of Caius Julius Cæsar, the
subject of this article. He was born at Rome the 12th of
the month Quintilis, year of the city 653, and lost his
father anno 669, and the year after he was made priest of
Jupiter. Sylla was aware of his ambition, and endeavoured
to remove him but Cæsar understood his intentions, and,
to avoid discovery, changed every day his lodgings. He
was received into Sylla’s friendship some time after; and
the dictator told those who solicited the advancement of
young Cæsar, that they were warm in the interest of a man
who would prove some day or other the ruin of their
country and of their liberty. When Cæsar went to finish
his studies at Rhodes, under Apollonius Molo, he was
seized by pirates, who offered him his liberty for thirty
talents. He gave them forty, and threatened to revenge
their insults; and he no sooner was out of their power than
he armed a ship, pursued them, and crucified them all.
His eloquence procured him friends at Rome; and the
generous manner in which he lived, equally served to promote his interest. He obtained the office of high priest at
the death of Metellus; and after he had passed through the
inferior employments of the state, he was appointed over
Spain, where he signalized himself by his valour and intrigues. At his return to Rome he was made consul, and
soon after he effected a reconciliation between Crassus and
Pompey. He was appointed for the space of five years
over the Gauls, by the interest of Pompey, to whom he
had given his daughter Julia in marriage. Here he enlarged the boundaries of the Roman empire by conquest,
and invaded Britain, which was then unknown to the Roman people. He checked the Germans, and soon after
had his government over Gaul prolonged to five other
years, by means of his friends at Rome. The death of
Julia and of Crassus, the corrupted state of the Roman
senate, and the ambition of Cassar and Pompey, soon became the causes of a civil war. Neither of these celebrated
Romans would suffer a superior, and the smallest matters
were sufficient ground for unsheathing the sword. Cæsar’s
petitions were received with coldness or indifference bjr
the Roman senate; and by the influence of Pompey, a
decree was passed to strip him of his power. Antony, who
opposed it as tribune, fled to Cæsar’s camp with the news;
and the ambitious general no sooner heard this, than he
made it a plea of resistance. On pretence of avenging
the violence which had been offered to the sacred office of
tribune in the person of Antony, he crossed the Rubicon,
which was the boundary of his province. The passage of
the Rubicon was a declaration of war, and Cæsar entered
Italy sword in hand. Upon this, Pompey, with all the
friends of liberty, left Rome, and retired to Dyrrachium
and Cæsar, after he had subdued all Italy, in sixty days,
entered Rome, and provided himself with money from the
public treasury. He went to Spain, where he conquered
the partizans of Pompey, under Petreius, Afranius, and
Varro; and at his return to Rome was declared dictator,
and soon after consul. When he left Rome he went in
quest of Pompey, observing that he was marching against
a general without troops, after having defeated troops
without a general in Spain. In the plains of Pharsalia,
B.C. 48, the two hostile generals engaged, Pompey was
conquered, and fled into Egypt, where he was basely murdered. Cæsar, after he had made a noble use of victory,
pursued his adversary into Egypt, where he sometime
forgot his fame and character in the arms of Cleopatra, by
whom he had a son. His danger was great while at Alexandria but he extricated himself with wonderful success,
and made Egypt tributary to his power. After several
conquests in Africa, the defeat of Cato, Scipio, and Juba,
and that of Pompey‘a sons in Spain, he entered Rome,
and triumphed over five different nations, Gaul, Alexandria, Pomus, Africa, and Spain, and was created perpetual dictator. But now his glory was at an end, his uncommon success created him enemies, and the chiefest of
the senators, among whom was Brutus his most intimate
friend, conspired against him, and stabbed him in the seriate house on the ides of March. He died, pierced with
tuenty-tliree wounds, the 15th of March, B. C. 44, in the
fifty-sixth year of his age. Casca gave him the first blow,
and immediately he attempted to make some resistance;
but when he saw Brutus among the conspirators, he submitted to his fate, and fell down at tlu-ir feet, muffling up
his mantle, and exclaiming, M Tu quoque Brute 1*’ Cæsar
might have escaped the sword of the conspirators if he had
listened to the advice of his wife Calpurnia, whose dreams,
on the night previous to the day of his murder, were
alarming. He also received, as he went to the senatehouse, a paper from Artemidorus, which discovered the
whole conspiracy to him; but he neglected the reading of
what might have saved his life. When he was in his first
campaign in Spain, he was observed to gaze at a statue of
Alexander, and even he shed tears at the recollection that
that hero had conquered the world at an age in which he
himself had done nothing. The learning of Cæsar deserves
commendation, as well as his military character. He reformed the calendar. He wrote his commentaries on the
Gallic wars on the spot where he fought his battles, and
the composition has been admired for the elegance as well
as the correctness of its style. This valuable book was
nearly lost and when Cæsar saved his life in the bay of
Alexandria, he was obliged to swim from his ship, with his
arms in one hand and his commentaries in the other. Besides the Gallic and civil wars, he wrote other pieces which
are now lost. The history of the war in Alexandria and
Spain is attributed to him, and by others to Hirtius.
Cæsar has been blamed for his debaucheries and expences, and the first year he had a public office, his debts
were rated at 830 talents, which his friends discharged
yet, in his public character, he must be reckoned one of
the few heroes that rarely make their appearance among
mankind. His qualities were such, that in every battle he
could not be but conqueror* and in every republic, master;
and to his sense of his superiority over the rest of the world,
or to his ambition, we are to attribute his saying, that he
wished rather to be first in a little village, than second at
Rome. It was after his conquest over Pharnaces in one
day, that he made use of these remarkable words, to express the celerity of his operations, “Veni, vidi, vici.
”
Conscious of the services of a man, who in the intervals of
peace beautified and enriched the capital of his country
with pubiic buildings, libraries, and porticoes, the senate
permitted the dictator to wear a laurel crown on his bald
head; and it is said, that, to reward his benevolence, they
were going to give him the title or authority of king all
ovftr the Roman empire, except Italy, when he was murdered. In his private character, Cæsar has been accused
of seducing one of the Vestal virgins, and suspected of
being privy to Catiline’s conspiracy and it was his fondness for dissipated pleasures, which made his countrymen say, that he was the husband of all the women
at Rome. It is said that he conquered 300 nations,
took 800 cities, and defeated three millions of men, one
of which fell in the field of battle. Pliny says?, that he
could employ at the same time, his ears to listen, his
eyes to read, his hand to write, and his mind to dictate. His death was preceded, as many authors mention,
by uncommon prodigies and immediately after his death,
a large comet made its appearance. Cæsar when young,
was betrothed to Cossutia, a rich heiress, whom he dismissed to marry Cornelia, the daughter of Cinna, by whom
he had Julia. His attachment to Cornelia was so great,
that he never could be prevailed upon by the arts or threats
of Sylla to divorce her; but her attachment he boldly
preferred to his own personal safety. After her early
death, which he lamented with great bitterness of grief, he
married Pompeia, the grand-daughter of Sylla; and for
his fourth wife he took Calpurnia, the daughter of the
consul Piso, a connection formed from political motives.
The best editions of Cesar’s Commentaries, are the magnificent one by Dr. Clarke, Lond. 1712, Hoi.; that of Cambridge, with a Greek translation, 1727, 4to; that of Oudendorp, 2 vols. 4to, L. Bat. 1737; that of Elzevir, 8vo,
L. Bat. 1635; that of Homer, London, 1790, 2 vols. 8vo
and of Oberlin, Leipsic, 1805, 8vo.
ity of Trevigio in Italy, LL. D. sprung from those of his name living at Cividad del Friuli. Julius, who is the subject of this article, had his education in the university
, a learned civilian, was born near
Tottenham, in Middlesex, in 1557. His father was Cæsar
Adelmar, physician to queen Mary and queen Elizabeth
lineally descended from Adelmar count of Genoa, and admiral of France, in the year 806, in the reign of Charles
the Great. This Cæsar Adelmar’s mother was daughter to
the duke de Cesarini, from whom he had the name of
Cæsar which name Mary I. queen of England, ordered
to be continued to his posterity and his father was Peter
Maria Dalmarius, of the city of Trevigio in Italy, LL. D.
sprung from those of his name living at Cividad del Friuli.
Julius, who is the subject of this article, had his education in
the university of Oxford, where he took the degree of B. A.
May 17, 1575, as a member of Magdalen hall. Afterwards
he went and studied in the university of Paris where, in
the beginning of 1581, he was created D. C. L. and had
letters testimonial for it, under the seal of that university,
dated the 22d of April, 1531. He was admitted to the
same degree at Oxford, March the 5th, 1583; and also
became doctor of the canon law. In the reign of queen Elizabeth, he was master of requests, judge of the high court
of admiralty, and master of St. Catherine’s hospital near
the Tower. On the 22d of January, 1595, he was present
at the confirmation of Richard Vaughan, bishop of Bangor,
in the church of St. Mary-le-Bow, London. Upon kingJames’s accession to the throne, having before distinguished
himself by his merit and abilities, he was knighted by that
prince, at Greenwich, May 20, 1603. He was also constituted chancellor and under- treasurer of the exchequer
and on the 5th of July, 1607, sworn of his majesty’s privy
council. January 16th, in the eighth of king James I. he
obtained a reversionary grant of the office of master of the
rolls after sir Edward Phillips, knight; who, departing this
life September 11, 1614, was succeeded accordingly by
sir Julius, on the 1st of October following; and then he
resigned his place of chancellor of the exchequer. In
1613 he was one of the commissioners, or delegates employed in the business of the divorce between the earl of
Essex and his countess; and gave sentence for that divorce.
About the same time, he built a chapel at his house, <on
the north side of the Strand, in London, which was consecrated, May 8, 1614. As he had been privy-counsellor
to king James I. so was he also to his son king Charles I.;
and appears to have been custos rotulorum of the county
of Hertford. We are likewise informed by one author,
that he was chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. After
having thus passed through many honourable employments,
and continued in particular, master of the rolls for above
twenty years, he departed this life April 28, 1636, in the
seventy-ninth year of his age. He lies buried in the church
of Great St. Helen’s within Bishopgate, London, under
a fair, but uncommon monument, designed by himself;
being in form of a deed, and made to resemble a ruffled
parchment, in allusion to his office as master of the rolls.
With regard to his character, he was a man of great gravity and integrity, and remarkable for his extensive bounty
and charity to all persons of worth, or that were in want:
so that he might seem to be almoner-general of the nation.
Fuller gives the following instance of his uncommon charity
“A gentleman once borrowing his coach (which was as well known to poor people as any hospital in England)
was so rendezvouzed about with beggars in London, that
it cost him all the money in his purse to satisfy their importunity, so that he might have hired twenty coaches on
the same terms.
” He entertained for some time in hisr
house the most illustrious Francis lord Bacon, viscount
St. Alban’s. He made his grants to all persons double
kindnesses by expedition, and cloathed (as one expresses it) his very denials in such robes of courtship, that it was
not obviously discernible, whether the request or denial
were most decent. He had also this peculiar to himself,
that he was very cautious of promises, lest falling to an
incapacity of performance he might forfeit his reputation,
and multiply his certain enemies, by hisoiesign of creating
uncertain friends. Besides, he observed a sure principle
of rising, namely, that great persons esteem better of such
they have done great courtesies to, than those they have
received great civilities from; looking upon this as their
disparagement, the other as their glory.
er, as waste-paper, for the sum often pounds; but some of them happened to be shewn to Mr. Paterson, who instantly discovered their value. He then digested a masterly
In December 1757, sir Julius Cæsar’s collection of manuscripts, which had long been preserved in the family, was sold by public auction by Sam. Paterson. By the lapse of time and the decay of the family, they had fallen into the hands of some uninformed persons, and were on the point of being sold by weight to a cheesemonger, as waste-paper, for the sum often pounds; but some of them happened to be shewn to Mr. Paterson, who instantly discovered their value. He then digested a masterly catalogue of the whole collection, and distributing it in several thousands of the most singular and interesting heads, caused them to be sold by auction, which produced 356l. Many of them were in the library of the late marquis of Lansdowne, and are now, consequently, in the British museum.
; and though the simplicity inseparable from real grandeur vras not a principle to be courted by him who aimed at captivating the debauched Venetian eye, he gave proofs,
, a celebrated artist, called Paul Veronese, the great master of what is called the ornamental style, was born at Verona in 1530, and was the disciple of Antonio adile. When young, in concurrence with Batista del Moro, Domenico Brusasorci, and Paol Farinato, he painted at the summons of cardinal Ercole Gonzaga, in the cathedral of Mantua, and left no doubt of his superiority in the. contest. He then went to Venice, and with the procurator Grimani to Rome, where, from the frescos of M. Angelo and Raffael, he acquired the idea of that breadth which distinguishes him in all his allegorical and mythologic pictures; and though the simplicity inseparable from real grandeur vras not a principle to be courted by him who aimed at captivating the debauched Venetian eye, he gave proofs, that, if he did not adopt, he had a sense for its beauties. The Apotheosis of Venice in the ducal palace, in magnificence of combination, loftiness, splendor, variety, offers in one picture the principles and the elemental beauties of his style. It was, however, less to this work, than to his Cene, or convivial compositions, that Paolo owed his celebrity. He painted four at Venice, for four refectories of convents, all of enormous dimensions and equal copiousness of invention. The first, with the Nuptials of Cana, once in the refectory of*St. Giorgio Maggiore, now in the Louvre, and known by numerous copies, is thirty palms long, comprizes 130 figures, with a number of distinguished portraits; and yet was painted, says Lanzi, for no more than ninety ducats. The second, better preserved, was painted for the convent of S. Giovanni and Paolo, and represents the call of St. Matthew; it is chiefly praised for the character of the heads, which Ricci copied for his studies at an advanced age. The third, at St. Sebastian, is the Feast of Simon, which is likewise the subject of the fourth, painted for the refectory o/ the Servi, but sent to Lewis XIV. and placed at Versailles. This, perhaps, is the master-piece of the four, though placed in an unfavourable light, and greatly injured by neglect, and the dampness of the place.
cipal men of his time; and so much admired by the great masters, as well his contemporaries as those who succeeded him, that Titian himself used to say, he was the ornament
This great artist was highly esteemed by all the principal men of his time; and so much admired by the great masters, as well his contemporaries as those who succeeded him, that Titian himself used to say, he was the ornament of his profession. And Guido Reni being asked, which of the masters his predecessors he would choose to be, were it in his power, after Raphael and Corregio, named Paul Veronese, whom he always called his Paolino. He died of a fever at Venice in 1588, and had a tomb and a statue of brass erected in the church of St. Sebastian.
Paul left great wealth to his two sons, Gabriel and Charles, who were painters, and lived very happily together. They joined
Paul left great wealth to his two sons, Gabriel and Charles, who were painters, and lived very happily together. They joined in finishing several pieces left imperfect by their father; and followed his manner so closely in other works of their own, that the connoisseurs do not easily distinguish them from those of Paul’s hand. Charles had a genius for painting, and at eighteen years of age had done some excellent pieces. It is thought, if he had lived, that he would have exceeded his father; but contracting an imposthume in his breast, by applying too intensely to his profession, he died of it in 1596, when he was only twenty-six years old. Gabriel had no great genius for painting; and therefore, after his brother’s decease, applied himself to merchandise. Yet he did not quite lay aside his pencil, but painted a considerable number of portraits, and some historical pieces of good taste. He died of the plague in 1631, aged sixty-three.
There was also Benedict Cagliari, a painter and sculptor, who was Paul’s brother, and lived and studied with him. He assisted
There was also Benedict Cagliari, a painter and sculptor, who was Paul’s brother, and lived and studied with him. He assisted him, and afterwards his sons, in finishing several of their compositions; but was most successful in. painting architecture, in which he delighted. His style in painting was like his brother’s; and not being ambitious enough of fame to keep his productions separate, they are, in a great measure, confounded with Paul’s. He practised for the most part in fresco; and some of his best pieces are in chiaro-obscuro. He possessed moreover a tolerable stock of learning, was something of a poet, and had a peculiar talent in satire. He died in 1598, aged 'sixty-six.
was still a child when his father died; and was therefore brought up by the relations of his mother, who caused him to be instructed in the first principles of religion
, a noted impostor, whose true name was Joseph Balsamo, was born at Palermo the 8th of June 1743; Peter Balsamo being his father, and Felix Braconieri his mother, both of humble parentage. He was still a child when his father died; and was therefore brought up by the relations of his mother, who caused him to be instructed in the first principles of religion and philosophy, but it was not long before he shewed how little he was disposed to either, by running away more than once from the seminary of St. Roche at Palermo, where he had been placed for education. In his thirteenth year his guardians delivered him to the care of the general of the friars of mercy, who took him along with him to the monastery of that order at Cartagirone; where he was entered as a novice, and committed to the tuition of the apothecary; under whom, as he says, he found means of acquiring the first elements of chemistry and physic. But neither here did he make any long stay. He continued to shew himself on his worst side, and his superiors were frequently obliged to give him correction for obliquities in his conduct. When, according to the custom oi monastic foundations, it came to his turn to read during dinner-time, he never read what was contained in the book, but delivered a lecture according to the dictates of his fancy. He himself confesses, that in reading from the martyrology, instead of the names of the holy women, he inserted those of the most noted courtesans of the town. At length, being weary of repeated chastisement, he threw off the cowl, and went back to Palermo, where for a time he studied drawing; and without making any reform in his manners, addicted himself to excesses of every kind. It was his greatest pleasure to rove about armed, and to frequent the company of the most profligate young men of the town. There was no fray in which he was not concerned, and he enjoyed nothing more than when he could resist the magistrate, and deliver the prisoner from his authority. He even stooped to the mean felony of forging the tickets of admission to the theatres; and from an uncle, with whom he lived, he stole considerable sums of money and other property. In a love intrigue between a person of rank and a cousin of his, he made himself the letter-carrier, and occasionally demanded of the lover at one time money, at another a watch, and always something of value, in the name of the fair one, which he appropriated to himself. He then insinuated himself into the good graces of a notary, to whom he was related; and, for the sake of a bribe, counterfeited a will in favour of a certain marchese Maurigi. The forgery was discovered some years afterwards, and the affair being brought before the judges, was fully proved; but this was at a time when the persons interested were not at Palermo. He was likewise charged with having murdered a canon, and with obtaining several sums of money from a monk for giving him written permits of absence from his convent at various times; all of which papers were found to be forged.
if practising some magical rites, which terminated in the appearance of some accomplices of Balsamo, who, in the disguise of theatrical devils, belaboured the shoulders
For such transactions as these he was several times arrested and put into prison; but either for want of sufficient evidence, or from the complicated nature of the business, or from the extensive influence of his relations, he as often found means of soon regaining his liberty. At length he was forced to take to night for cheating a silversmith, named Marano, of upwards of sixty ounces of gold, under pretence of shewing him a treasure hid in a cave. On bringing him to the place, he began to exhibit a variety of fantastical mummeries, as if practising some magical rites, which terminated in the appearance of some accomplices of Balsamo, who, in the disguise of theatrical devils, belaboured the shoulders of poor Marano. The silversmith, though highly incensed at this infamous treatment, thought it not prudent to have recourse to the law, but resolved to have his revenge by murdering the impostor, which being suspected by Balsamo, he thought it expedient to remove to another place.
n was grounded on two circumstances. The former, that, under pretext of relieving one of his sisters who was possessed by a devil, he obtained from a countryvicar, named
From a newspaper of the time of his being arrested at Rome it appears that he was strongly suspected of witchcraft, which suspicion was grounded on two circumstances. The former, that, under pretext of relieving one of his sisters who was possessed by a devil, he obtained from a countryvicar, named Bagario, a pledget of cotton dipped in holy oil, though none of his sisters were possessed. The other was the apparition of a lady. It was affirmed, that, being asked in a certain company, in what attitude and employment the absent lady was at the moment they were speaking of her; Balsamo, to satisfy their curiosity, immediately drew a quadrangle on the floor, and passing his hands to and fro above it, she was fairly seen upon the floor playing at cards with three other persons. A servant was directly dispatched to the lady’s house; who found her exactly in the attitude and employment with the three friends as represented in the figure.
Balsamo, who had quitted his country, Palermo, in the manner above mentioned,
Balsamo, who had quitted his country, Palermo, in the manner above mentioned, now began to roam about the world. We can here only follow his own account, till we meet him at Rome, for want of other traces and informations. With the money he had procured by his fraud on the silversmith he travelled to Messina. Here he got acquainted with a certain Altotas, a Greek, or, according to others, a Spaniard, who was versed in several languages, possessed a number of Arabic writings, and gave himself out for a great chemist. With this new friend he took ship, visited the Archipelago, and landed at Alexandria in Egypt, where they staid about forty days, and his fellow traveller undertook a variety of chemical operations, and among the rest that of making a sort of silky stuff from temp and flax, by which he got much money. From Alexandria they proceeded to Rodi, where they likewise obtained some money by chemical operations. Quitting the isle of Rodi they bent their course to Grand Cairo, but by contrary winds were driven to Malta, where they remained some time, working in the laboratory of the grandmaster Pinto. Here Altotas died; and Balsamo resolved to go, in company with a knight to whom he was recommended by the grand-master himself, to Naples.
had translated part of the Bible word for word from it. For this purpose he made use of two persons, who understood the language well, the one a Jew, the other a Christian,
Sixtus Senensis tells us, that he was a most subtle logician, an admirable philosopher, and an incomparable
divine. He wrote commentaries upon Aristotle’s philosophy, and upon Thomas Aquinas’ s theology; the latter,
however, by no means calculated to give us a favourable
idea of his logic, or his perspicuity, He gave a literal
translation of all the books of the Old and New Testaments
from the originals, excepting Solomon’s Song and the Pro-'
phets, which he had begun, but did not live to proceed far
in; and the Revelations of St. John, which he designedly
omitted, saying, that to explain them, it was necessary for
a man to be endued, not with parts and learning, but with
the spirit of prophecy. Father Simon’s account of him,
as a translator of the Bible, is critical and historical: “Cardinal Cajetan,
” says he, “was very fond of translations of
the Bible purely literal; being persuaded, that the Scripture could not be translated too literally, it being the word
of God, to which it is expressly forbid either to add or
diminish any thing. This cardinal, in his preface to the
Psalms, largely explains the method he observed in his
translation of that book; and he affirms, that although heknew nothing of the Hebrew, yet he had translated part of
the Bible word for word from it. For this purpose he
made use of two persons, who understood the language
well, the one a Jew, the other a Christian, whom he desired to translate the Hebrew words exactly according to
the letter and grammar, although their translation might
appear to make no sense at all. I own, says he, that my
interpreters were often saying to me, this Hebrew diction
Is literally so; but then the sense will not be clear unless
it is changed so: to whom I, when I heard all the different
significations, constantly replied, Never trouble yourselves
about the sense, if it does not appear to you; because
is not your business to expound, but to interpret: do you
interpret it exactly as it lies, and leave to the expositors
the care of making sense of it.
” Cardinal Pullavicini, who
looked upon this as too bold, says, that Cajetan, “who
has succeeded to the admiration of the whole world in his
other works, got no reputation by what he did upon the
Bible, because he followed the prejudices of those who
stuck close to the Hebrew grammar.
” But father Simon
is of opinion that he “may in some measure be justified:
for he did not, says he, pretend to condemn the ancient
Latin translator, or the other translators of the Bible; but
would only have translations of the Bible to be made from
the original as literally as can be, because there are only
these originals, which can be called the pure word of God;
and because in translations, which are not literal, there are
always some things which do not thoroughly express the
original.
” These “Commentaries on the Holy Scriptures,
”
if they deserve the name, were published at Lyons in 5
vols. fol. 1639.
re with his religious duties. His turn for astronomy soon connected him with the celebrated Cassini, who procured him an apartment in the observatory; where, assisted
, an eminent French
Inathematician and astronomer, was born at Rumigiiy in
the diocese of Rheims on March 15, 1713. His father
having quitted the army, in which he had served, amused
himself in his retirement with studying mathematics and
mechanics, in which he proved the author of several inventions of considerable use to the public. From this example of his father, our author “almost in his infancy took a
fancy to mechanics, which proved of signal service to him
in his maturer years. At school he discovered early tokens
of genius. He came to Paris in 1729; where he studied
the classics, philosophy, and mathematics, and afterwards
divinity in the college de Navarre, with a view to the
church, but he never entered into priest’s orders, apprehending that his astronomical studies, to which he had
become much devoted, might too much interfere with his
religious duties. His turn for astronomy soon connected
him with the celebrated Cassini, who procured him an
apartment in the observatory; where, assisted by the counsels of this master, he soon acquired a name among the
astronomers, in 1739 he was joined with M. Cassini de
Thury, son to M. Cassini, in verifying the meridian through
the whole extent of France; and in the same year he was,
named professor of mathematics in the college of Mazarine.
In 1741 or author was admitted into the academy of
sciences as an adjoint member for astronomy and had
many excellent papers inserted in their memoirs; beside
which he published several useful treatises, viz. Elements
of Geometry, Astronomy, Mechanics, and Optics. He also
carefully computed all the eclipses of the sun and moon
that had happened since the Christian sera, which were
printed in the work entitled
” L'Art de verifier les dates,“&c. Paris, 1750, 4to. He also compiled a volume of astronomical ephemerides for the years 1745 to 1755; another
for the years 1755 to 1765 and a third for the years 1765
to 1775 as also the most correct solar tables of any; and
an excellent work entitled
” Astronomic fundamenta novissimis solis et stellarum observationibus stabilita."
power of chusing two out of four, or four out of six, elected within a certain circuit, Dr. Sheldon, who was then bishop, was so kind as to excuse both of them; which,
, an eminent nonconformist divine in the seventeenth century, was the sou of a citizen of London, and born there in February 1600. July 4, 1616, he was admitted of Pembroke-hall 5 in the university of Cambridge. In 1619, he took, the degree of bachelor of arts and in 1632, that of bachelor of divinity. He shewed himself very early no friend, to the Arminian party, which was the reason that he could not obtain a fellowship in that society, even when he seemed to be entitled to it from his standing, as well as from his learning and unblemished character. At last, however, he so far conquered all prejudices, that he was elected Tanquam Socius of that hall, which entitled him to wear the cap, and take pupils, but he had no share in the government of the house. Dr. Felton, the pious and learned bishop of Ely, had so great a regard to his diligence in study, and unaffected zeal for religion, that he made him his chaplain, and paid him, during his residence in his family, uncommon marks of respect. His lordship gave him likewise, as a farther mark of his favour, the vicarage of St. Mary’s in Swaffham- Prior, in Cambridgeshire, in which capacity he did much good, though he diid not reside on his cure by reason of its small distance from the episcopal place. But after the death of the bishop in 1626, Mr. Calamy being chosen one of- th$; lecturers of St. Edmund’s-Bury, in Suffolk, he resigned his vicarage, and applied himself wholly to the discharge of his function at Bury. He continued there ten years, and, as some writers say, was during the greatest part of that time a strict conformist. Others, and indeed himself, say the contrary. The truth seems to be, that he was unwilling to oppose ceremonies, or to create a disturbance in the church about them, so long as this might, in, his opinion, be avoided with a safe conscience; but when bishop Wren’s articles, and the reading of the book of sports, came to be insisted on, he thought himself obliged to alter his conduct, and not only avoid conforming for the future, but also to apologize publicly for his former behaviour. He caine now to be considered as an active nonconformist, and being in great favour with the earl of Essex, he presented him to the living of Rochford in Essex, a rectory of considerable value, and yet it proved a fatal present to Mr. Calamy; for, removing from one of the best and wholesomest airs in England, that of St. Edmund’sbury, into the hundreds of Essex, he contracted such an illness as broke his constitution, and left behind it a dizziness in his head, which he complained of as long as he Jived. Upon the death of Dr. Stoughton, he was chosen minister of St. Mary Aldermanbury, which brought him tip to London, 1639. The controversy concerning churchgovernment was tlu n at its greatest height, in which Mr. Calainy had a very large share. In the month of July 1639, he was incorporated of the university of Oxford, which, however, did not take him off from the party in which he was engaged. In 1640 he was concerned in writing that famous book, called Smectymnuus, which himself says, gave the first deadly blow to episcopacy, and therefore we find frequent references to it in all the defences and apologies for nonconformity which have been since published. In 1641 he was appointed by the house of lords a member of the sub-committee for religion, which consisted of very eminent divines, whose conduct, however, has been differently censured. He made a great figure in the assembly of divines, though he is not mentioned in Fuller’s catalogue, and distinguised himself both by his learning and moderation. He likewise preached several times before the house of commons, for which his memory has been very severely treated. He was at the same time one of the Cornhill lecturers, and no man had a greater interest in the city of London, in consequence of his ministerial abilities. He preached constantly in his own parish church for twenty years to a numerous audience, composed of the most eminent citizens, and even persons of great quality. He steadily and strenuously opposed the sectaries, and gave many pregnant instances of his dislike to those violences which were committed afterwards, on the king’s being brought from the Isle of Wight, He opposed the beheading of his sovereign king Charles I. with constancy ^ncl courage. Under the usurpation of Cromwell he was passive, and lived as privately as he could; yet he gave no reason to suspect that he was at all a well-wisher to that government. When the times afforded a favourable opportunity, he neglected not promoting the return of king Charles II. and actually preached before the house of commons on the day they voted that great question, which, however, has not hindered some from suggesting their suspicions of his loyally. After this step was taken, he, Mr. Ash, and other eminent divines were sent over to compliment the king in Holland, by whom they were extremely well received. When his majesty was restored, Mr. Calainy retained still a considerable share in his favour, and in June 1660, was appointed one of his chaplains in ordinary, and was offered the bishopric, of Coventry and Litchfield, which he refused. When the convocation came to be chosen, he and Mr. Baxter were elected, May 2, 1661, for London; but the bishop of that diocese having the power of chusing two out of four, or four out of six, elected within a certain circuit, Dr. Sheldon, who was then bishop, was so kind as to excuse both of them; which, perhaps, was owing to the share they had in the Savoy conference. After the miscarrying of that design, Mr. Calamy made use of all his interest to procure the passing of an act agreeable to the king’s declaration at Breda: but when this was frustrated, and the act of uniformity passed, he took a resolution of submitting to ejection, and accordingly preached his farewel sermon at Aldermanbury, August 17, 1662. He made, however, a last effort three days afterwards, by presenting a petition to his majesty to continue in the exercise of his ministerial office. This petition was signed by many of the London clergy, and Dr. Man ton and Dr. Bates assisted at the presenting it, when Mr; Calamy made a long and moving speech; but neither it nor the petition had any good effect, though the king expressed himself in favour of toleration. He remained, however, in his parish, and came constantly to church, though another was in the pulpit, which proved an occasion of much t;rouble to him for on December 28, 1662, the expected preacher not coming in time, some of the principal persons in the parish prevailed upon Mr. Calamy to supply his place, which, with some importunity, he did; but delivered himself with such freedom, that he was soon after, by the lord mayor’s warrant, committed to Newgate for his sermon. But the case itself being thought hard, and some doubt arising how far the commitment was legal, his majesty in a few days discharged him. He lived to see London in ashes, the sight of which broke his heart. He was driven through the ruins in a coach to Enfield, and was so shocked at the dismal appearance, that he could never wear off the impression, but kept his chamber ever after, and died October 29, 1666, within two naonths after this accident happened. He was, though a very learned man, yet a plain and practical preacher, and one who was not afraid to speak his sentiments freely of and to the greatest; men . He was twice married. By his first wife he had a son and daughter; and by his second seven children, some of whom we shall have occasion to mention in succeeding articles.
harity agreeable to his calling. He was, though a nonconformist, a man of very free notions, and one who never pretended to confine the church of Christ within the bounds
, eldest son of the preceding, was born at St. Edmund’s-Bury, in Suffolk, about the year 1635. In h,is junior years he was carefully instructed by his father, and when he had acquired a sufficient fund of learning, he was transferred to the university of Cambridge, where he was entered of Sidney college, March 28, 1651. He took the degree of bachelor of arts in 1654-5. Then be removed to Pembroke-hall, where he took the degree of master of arts in 1658. He became afterwards fellow of that colleg e; and on April 20, 1659, was presented to the living of Moreton in Essex, which he held till he was removed by f;he act of uniformity in 1G62. After his ejectment he ret ired to London, and kept a meeting privately in his house in Aldermanbury. When Charles II. published his declarati< >n for indulgence, he set up a public meeting in Curriers-hall, near Cripplegate. But when the dissenters were again persecuted, he had recourse to his former methodl and though he was very assiduous in his duty, yet he escaped imprisonment, notwithstanding warrants were frequently out against him but he had the misfortune, with several other of his brethren, to fall under a crown-office prosecution, which put him to a great deal of trouble and expence. As he was a person of much learning and unaffected piety, so he was very careful to avoid whatever might draw upon him the imputation of party. In the earlier part of life he declined taking the covenant, and through the whole course of it shewed a spirit of moderation and charity agreeable to his calling. He was, though a nonconformist, a man of very free notions, and one who never pretended to confine the church of Christ within the bounds of any particular sect. He had a great contempt for the goods of this world, and was such a lover of obscurity and retirement, that though he was a very able preacher, and was known to have done much good in the space of three and twenty years that he exercised the ministry in London, yet he would never be prevailed on to appear in print, but satisfied himself with the consciousness of having performed his duty. Having thus led a private and peaceable, though not a quiet life, he exchanged it for a better in the month of May 1685, being taken off by a consumption. He left behind him a son and four daughters.
at Bow church with great effect, and this excited a zealous nonconformist, one Mr. Thomas De Laune, who had been formerly a schoolmaster, to write against it; which
, an eminent divine of the church
of England, was the son of Mr. Edmund Calamy, minister
of Aldermanbury before-mentioned, by a second wife, and
received the first tincture of learning at St. Paul’s school,
from whence he was sent, when very young, to the university of Cambridge, and there entered of Catherine-hall.
In 1664-5, he took the degree of bachelor of arts; in
1668, that of master of arts, and became also fellow of that
hall, and a very eminent tutor there. April 25, 1677, he
was chosen in the room of Dr. Simon Ford, minister of St.
Mary Aldermanbury; and soon after appointed one of his
majesty’s chaplains in ordinary. In 1680, he took his degree of doctor in divinity. In 1683, he preached in that
church his famous sermon, which he afterwards published
under the title of “A Discourse about a Scrupulous Conscience,
” than which no piece of its kind or size gamed
more credit to its author, or was more taken notice of by
the public. This sermon he preached a second time at
Bow church with great effect, and this excited a zealous
nonconformist, one Mr. Thomas De Laune, who had been
formerly a schoolmaster, to write against it; which he did
in such a manner as drew upon him a fatal imprisonment,
which he endeavoured by all means to ascribe to Dr. Calamy, though his complaints on this head had little or no
foundation. In 1683, Dr. Calamy was admitted to the
vicarage of St. Lawrence Jewry, with St. Mary Magdalen
Milk-street annexed, to which he was collated by the dean
and chapter of St. Paul’s, in the room of Dr. Benjamin
Whichcot. June 18, 1685, he was, on the decease of Dr.
John Wells, installed into the prebend of Harleston, in the
cathedral church of St. Paul. These preferments are
abundant proofs of his merit, and of his great interest in
the city of London, which he maintained, not by attaching
himself to any party, but by living in great intimacy with
the best men of all parties. He was particularly acquainted
with alderman Cornish, who was his parishioner, and for
whom he had so great a respect, that he gave testimony in
his favour when he was tried for high-treason, October 16,
1685, which was no ordinary mark of friendship in those
times. It is thought, that a sense of public calamities had
a great share in bringing his last illness upon our author,
who fell into a declining state in the autumn of the year
last mentioned, and died of a pleuritic fever in the month
of January 1686. He was a man equally valuable for the
abilities which he possessed, and the uses to which he
applied them. He was a sincere son of the church of England, and very intent on gaining over dissenters of all sorts
to her communion; and had an extensive charity, and a
just aversion to persecution. He was heartily loyal, but
without bitterness or passion; and his loyalty occasioned
his grief, when he saw those steps taken which could end
in nothing but public confusion. His own virtues, however, exempted him in a great measure from envy and
scandal, even in the worst of times; insomuch, that the
greatest men of all sects and all parties readily joined in
paying a just tribute of praise to his memory. Though
few in his situation were either better or more frequent
preachers, yet he left behind him very little in print. Some
sermons of his were after his decease, published by his
brother, which served only to raise a great regret in the
world, as that so many more of his excellent performances
were buried in oblivion. His sermons are still valued as
well for the beauty of their language as the excellent sentiments contained in them.
mists, grandson to Mr. Edmund Calamy, minister of Aldermanbury, by his eldest son Mr. Edmund Calamy ( who was ejected out of the living of Moreton in Essex, on St. B
, a very eminent divine among the
nonconformists, grandson to Mr. Edmund Calamy, minister
of Aldermanbury, by his eldest son Mr. Edmund Calamy
(who was ejected out of the living of Moreton in Essex, on St. Bartholomew’s day, 1662), was born April 5, 1671.
Having made a considerable progress in grammar learning
at several private schools, and under Mr. Hartcliffe at Merchant Taylors, where he contracted a close friendship with
Mr. Dawes, afterwards sir William Dawes, and archbishop
of York, as also with Mr. Hugh Boulter, the primate of
Ireland, he went through a course of logic, natural philosophy, and metaphysics, under the tuition of Mr. Samuel
Craddock at the academy kept by him at Wickham Brook
in Suffolk. In March 1688, he went over to the university of Utrecht, where he studied philosophy under De
Vries, and civil law under Vander Muyden, and attended
Graevius’s lectures upon Sophocles and Puffendorf’s Introduction. His application to his studies at this place
was so great, that he spent one whole night every week
among his books; and his proficiency gained him -the
friendship of two of his countrymen at that university, who
rose afterwards to very high stations in church and state,
lord Charles Spencer, the famous earl of Sunderland, and
his tutor Mr. Charles Trimnell, afterwards successively
bishop of Norwich and of Winchester, with both of whom
he kept up his acquaintance as long as he and they lived.
Whilst he resided in Holland, an oiler of a professor’s chair
in the university of Edinburgh was made him by Mr. Carstairs, principal of that university, sent over on purpose to
find a person properly qualified lor such an office; which
he declined, and returned to England in 1691, bringing
with him letters from Graevius to Dr. Pocock, canon of
Christ-church, and regius professor of Hebrew, and to Dr.
Edward Bernard, Savilian professor of astronomy, who obtained leave for him to prosecute his studies in the Bodleian
library; and his resilience at Oxford procured him the acquaintance of the learned Mr. Henry Dodvvell. Having
resolved to make divinity his principal study, he entered
into an examination of the controversy between the conformists and nonconformists, and was led to join the latter.
Coming to London in 1692, he was unanimously chosen
assistant to Mr. Matthew Sylvester at Blackfriars; and oa
June 22, 1694, was ordained at Mr. Annesley’s meetinghouse in Little St. Helen’s, which was the first public transaction of the kind, after the passing of the act of uniformity, and was not undertaken without some timidity on
the part of the elder nonconformists, such as Mr. Howe
and Dr. Bates, who seemed afraid of giving offence to government. Six other young ministers were ordained at
the same time, and the ceremony lasted from ten o'clock
in the morning to six in the evening. He was soon after
invited to become assistant to Mr. Daniel Williams in
Hand-alley, Bishupsgate-street. Oct. 20, 1702, he was chosen
one of the lecturers at Salters’-lmll, and in 1703 succeeded
Mr. Vincent Alsop, as pastor of v. congregation in Westminster. He drew up the table of contents to Mr. Baxter’s
History of his life and times, which was sent to the press
in 1696, made some remarks on the work itself, and added
to it an index; and reflecting on the usefulness of the
book, he saw the expediency of continuing it, for Mr.
Baxter’s history came no lower than 1684. Accordingly
he composed an abridgment of it; with an account of many
others of those ministers who were ejected after the restoration of Charles II. their apology for themselves and their
adherents; containing the grounds of their nonconformity
and practice, as to stated and occasional communion witlx
the church of England; and a continuation of their history
till the year 1691. This work was published in 1702. The
following year Mr. Hoadly (afterwards bishop of
Winchckter) published the two parts of his “Reasonableness of
Conformity to the Church of England, &c. in answer to Mr.
Calamy’s Abridgement of Mr. Baxter’s history, &c.
” As a
reply to these treatises, Mr. Calamy published the same
year, “A Defence of moderate Nonconformity;
” and soon
after Mr. Hoadly sent abroad, “A serious admonition to
Mr Calamy,
” occasioned by the first part of his “Defence,
of moderate Nonconformity.
”
on of the account of the ministers, lecturers, masters, and fellows of colleges, and school-masters, who were ejected and silenced after the restoration in 1660, by,
Next year Mr. Calamy published the second part of bin
“Defence of moderate Nonconformity
” with an answer to
Mr. Hoadly’s Serious Admonition. In 1705 he sent abroad
the third part of his Defence; to which was added, “A
letter to Mr. Hoadly, in answer to his Defence of the Reasonableness of Conformity.
” In that the world may judge (he says in the preface) how
fairly the ejected ministers have been often represented as
irreconcileable enemies to all liturgies.
” In 1718 he wrote
a vindication of his grandfather and several other persons,
against certain reflections cast upon them by Mr. archdeacon Echard in his History of England; and in 1728 appeared his continuation of the account of the ministers, lecturers, masters, and fellows of colleges, and school-masters,
who were ejected and silenced after the restoration in 1660,
by, or before the act of uniformity. He died June 3, 1732,
greatly regretted, not only by the dissenters, but also by
the moderate members of the established church, both
clergy and laity, with many of whom he lived in great intimacy. Mr. Daniel Mayo, by whom his funeral sermon
preached, observes, “that he was of a candid and
benevolent disposition, and very moderate with regard to
differences in point of religion.
” Besides the pieces already
mentioned, he published a great many sermons on several
subjects and occasions, particularly a vindication of that
celebrated text, 1 John v. 7, from being spurious, and an
explanation of it on the supposition of being genuine, in
Jour sermons, preached at the Salters’-hall lectures. He
was twice married, and had thirteen children.
he times I have lived in.” Some account is given of this ms. in the Biog. Britannica, by Dr. Kippis, who was favoured with the perusal of it by the author’s grandson
Dr. Calamy left behind him a ms. in 3 vols. folio, entitled “An historical account of my own life, with some
reflections on the times I have lived in.
” Some account
is given of this ms. in the Biog. Britannica, by Dr. Kippis,
who was favoured with the perusal of it by the author’s
grandson Edmund Calamy, esq. barrister at law; but there
does not appear to be much in it that would now be
thought interesting. His most valuable work is undoubtedly
his Lives of the Nonconformists, to which, whatever objections may be offered to individual passages, every student
of English biography must acknowledge his obligations.
An abridgment of this work, in 2 vols. 8vo, under the title
of “The Nonconformist’s Memorial,
” was published by the
rev. Sam. Palmer of Hackney, in 1775, and republished,
with additions, in 1802, 3 vols. 8vo.
was an Indian philosopher who followed Alexander the Great in his expedition to the Indies.
was an Indian philosopher who followed
Alexander the Great in his expedition to the Indies. Being
tormented with the colic after passing eighty-three years in
health, he petitioned the conqueror to cause a funeral pile
to be erected whereon he might finish his days according
to the custom of his country. That prince, who loved and
esteemed him, reluctantly yielding to his entreaties, ordered his army to range itself in order of battle round the
funeral pile. Calanus, crowned with flowers, and magnificently habited, ascended the pile with a tranquil and
composed countenance, saying as he went up, that “having lost his health, and seen Alexander, life had nothing
more to interest him.
” He bore the action of the fire
without discovering any signs of uneasiness or pain and,
on being asked if he had nothing to say to Alexander
“No,
”returned the philosopher, “I reckon soon to receive
him at Babylon.
” The hero dying three months afterwards in that city, the brachman was thought to have been
a prophet; a circumstance which added not a little of the
marvellous to his history. Calanus’s death took place in
the fourth year of the 113th Olympiad, or 325 B. C.
, 1747, 4 vols, folio; but very incorrectly, as it is said and the fidelity of the principal editor, who was a follower of Hutchinson, has upon that account been suspected,
was a Franciscan, and professor of
the Hebrew language at Rome, but we have no other information respecting his personal history. He published
at Rome in 1621, a “Concordance of the Bible,
” which
consisted of four great volumes in folio. This work, which
is properly a concordance of Hebrew words, has been
highly approved and commended by both papists and protestants. Besides the Hebrew words in the Bible, which
are in the body of the book, with the Latin version over
against them, there are in the margin the differences between the Septuagint version and the Vulgate; so that
at one view may be seen wherein the three Bibles agree,
and wherein they differ; and at the beginning of every
article there is a kind of dictionary, which gives the signification of each Hebrew word, and affords an opportunity
of comparing it with other oriental languages, viz. wifch the
Syriac, Arabic, and Chaldee; whichjs extremely useful for
determining more exactly the true meaning of the Hebrew
words. The plan of this Hebrew concordance was takea
from a concordance of rabbi Nathan, which was printed
first at Venice, and afterwards at Basil, much augmented
by rabbi Mordochee. Calasio’s concordance was published
in London by Romaine, Rowe Mores, and Lutzena, a
Portuguese Jew, 1747, 4 vols, folio; but very incorrectly,
as it is said and the fidelity of the principal editor, who
was a follower of Hutchinson, has upon that account been
suspected, probably without justice, but it is certain- that
the learned give the preference to the old edition.
istinction, was born at Ferrara in 1479, and, as generally supposed, was the natural son of a person who was an apostolic notary. He studied under Peter Pomponazzo,
, a canon of the church of Ferrara, and a poet and orator of considerable distinction,
was born at Ferrara in 1479, and, as generally supposed,
was the natural son of a person who was an apostolic notary. He studied under Peter Pomponazzo, but devoting
himself to a military life, served under the emperor Maximilian. He afterwards engaged in the service. of Julius II.
and was employed in several important negociations. Returning to Ferrara, he obtained the particular favour of the
family of Este, and was chosen to accompany the cardinal
Ippolito on his journeyMiuo Hungary. About the year
1520, he was appointed professor of the belles lettres in
the university of Ferrara, which situation he filled with
great credit until his death in 1541. He was interred in
the library of the Jacobins, to which he bequeathed his
books, and on which are two inscriptions to his memory,
one signifying that “by continual study, he had learned to
despise earthly things, and not to be insensible of his own
ignorance,
” (ignorantiam suam non ignorare.) His works
were published at Basil in 1541, one vol. folio, or according to Moreri, in 1544, and contain sixteen books of epistles, and philosophical, political, and critical dissertations
on various subjects, and he also wrote some Latin poetry,
which the critics of his time prefer to his prose, the latter
being heavy, unequal, and affected; his poetry was published with the poems of John Baptista Pigna and Louis
Ariosto, at Venice, 1553, 8vo. He appears to have corresponded with Erasmus, whom, like many others, he
blamed for his undecided character in the questions which
arose out of the reformation.
, that he imitated the works of Raphael with such exactness, as to deceive the connoisseurs. Vasari, who knew him at Naples, says that it is impossible to observe in
, a historical and portrait painter, was born at Calcar, a city of Cleves, in 1499, and was the principal disciple of Titian; and by the precepts of that great master, made such progress, that several of his designs and paintings have been accounted, by very sufficient judges, the work of Titian’s own hand. Even Goltzius himself, when at Naples he was examining some of Calcar’s portraits, was of opinion they were Titian’s, nor could he be undeceived till he saw the name of Calcar inscribed on others, which were equally excellent. It is also affirmed by Sandrart, that he imitated the works of Raphael with such exactness, as to deceive the connoisseurs. Vasari, who knew him at Naples, says that it is impossible to observe in the works of this master, the smallest traces of the Flemish taste. He designed all the heads for the works of Vasari, and the anatomical figures in the works of Vesalius. Rubens possessed a most capital picture by Calcar, a nativity, afterwards purchased by Sandrart, and sold by him to the Emperor Ferdinand. Calcar died in 1546.
this design was very warmly opposed by many of the ministers, and particularly by David Calderwood, who, when James Law, bishop of Orkney, came to visit the presbyteries
, a famous divine of the
church of Scotland, and a distinguished writer in behalf
of the presbyterians, was descended of a good family in
that kingdom, and born in 1575. Being early designed
for the ministry, he applied with great diligence to the
study of the scriptures in their original tongues, the works
of the fathers, the councils, and the best writers of church
history. He was settled, about 1604, at Crailing, not far
from Jedburgh, in the south of Scotland. James VI. of
that country, and the first of Great Britain, being desirous
of bringing the church of Scotland to a near conformity
with that of England, laboured earnestly to restore the
episcopal authority, and enlarge the powers of the bishops
in that kingdom; but this design was very warmly opposed
by many of the ministers, and particularly by David Calderwood, who, when James Law, bishop of Orkney, came
to visit the presbyteries of the Merse and Teviotdale, declined his jurisdiction, by a paper under his hand, dated
May 5, 1603. The king, however, having its success
much at heart, sent the earl of Dunbar, then high-treasurer of Scotland, Dr. Abbot, afterwards archbishop of
Canterbury, and two other divines, into that kingdom,
with instructions to employ every method to persuade both
the clergy and the laity, of his majesty’s sincere desire to
promote the good of the church, and of his zeal for the
Protestant religion, in which they succeeded. Calderwood, however, did not assist at the general assembly held at
Glasgow, June 8, 1610, in which lord Dunbar presided as
commissioner; and it appears from his writings, that he
looked upon every thing transacted in it as null and void.
Exceptions were also taken by him and his party, against
a great part of the proceedings of another general assembly >
held with much solemnity at Aberdeen, Aug. 13, 1616.
In May following, king James went to Scotland, and in
June held a parliament at Edinburgh; at the same time
the clergy met in one of the churches, to hear and advise with the bishops; which kind of assembly, it seems,
was contrived in imitation of the English convocation. Mr.
Calderwood was present at it, but declared publicly that
he did not take any such meetings to resemble a convocation; and being opposed by Dr. Whitford and Dr. Hamilton, who were friends to the bishops, he took his leave
of them in these words: “It is absurd to see men sitting
in silks and satins, and to cry poverty in the kirk, when
purity is departing.
” The parliament proceeded mean
while in the dispatch of business; and Calderwood, with
several other ministers, being informed that a bill was depending to empower the king, with advice of the archbishops, bishops, and such a number of the ministry as his
majesty should think proper, to consider and conclude, as
to matters decent for the external policy of the church,
not repugnant to the word of God; and that such conclusions should have the strength and power of ecclesiastical
laws: against this they protested for four reasons: 1. Because their church was so perfect, that, instead of needing
reformation, it might be a pattern to others. 2. General
assemblies, as now established by law, and which ought
always to continue, might by this means be overthrown.
3. Because it might be a means of creating schism, and
disturb the tranquillity of the church. 4. Because they
had received assurances, that no attempts should be made
to bring them to a conformity with the church of England.
They desired, therefore, that for these and other reasons,
all thoughts of passing any such law may be laid aside; but
in case this be not done, they protest, for themselves and
their brethren who shall adhere to them, that they can
yield no obedience to this law when it shall be enacted,
because it is destructive of the liberty of the church; and
therefore shall submit to such penalties, and think
themselves obliged to undergo such punishments, as may be
inflicted for disobeying that law. This protest was signed
by Archibald Simpson, on behalf of the members, who subscribed another separate roll, which he kept for his justification. It was delivered to Peter Hewet, who had a seat
in parliament, in order to be presented; and another copy
remained in Simpson’s hands, to be presented in case of
any accident happening to the other. The affair making
a great noise, Dr. Spotswood, archbishop of St. Andrew’s,
asked a sight of the protest from Hewet, one day at court
and, upon some dispute between them, it was torn. The
other copy was actually presented by Simpson to the
clerk register, who refused to read it before the states in
parliament. However, the protest, though not read, had
its effect; for although the bill before-mentioned, or, as
the Scottish phrase is, the article, had the consent of parliament, yet the king thought fit to cause it to be laid
aside; and not long after called a general assembly at St.
Andrew’s. Soon after, the parliament was dissolved, and
Simpson was summoned before the high commission court,
where the roll of names which he had kept for his justification, was demanded from him; and upon his declaring
that he had given it to Harrison, who had since delivered
it to Calderwood, he was sent prisoner to the castle of
Edinburgh; and Calderwood was summoned to appear before the high commission court at St. Andrew’s, on the 8th
of July following, to exhibit the said protest, and to answer for his mutinous and seditious behaviour.
n extract from it. He probably returned to Scotland about 1636, and in 1643 we find him one of those who were appointed to draw up the form of the “Directory for the
During his retirement, Calderwood collected all the
memorials relating to the ecclesiastfcal affairs of Scotland,
from the beginning of the reformation there, down to the
death of king James; which collection is still preserved,
that which was published under the title of “The true
History of Scotland,
” Directory for the public worship
of God
” by the General Assembly; and when the English
army lay at Lothian, in 1651, he went to Jedburgh, where,
we are told, he sickened and died in a good old age, but
the date is not given.
Louvain to the archbishop of St. Andrew’s, on the occasion of his death. Amongst those learned men, who upon the first persecution fled into Germany, he reckons Mr.
It may be necessary to say somewhat more of his manuscript history, which is contained in six large folio volumes,
in the Glasgow library. In the first volume, immediately
after the title-page, there is the following note. “This
work, comprehended in pages, is collected out of
Mr. Knox’s History, and his Memorials gathered for the
continuation of his History, out of Mr. James Melvil’s Observations, Mr. John Davidson his Diary, the Acts of the
General Assemblies, and Acts of Parliament, and out of
several Proclamations, and Scrolls of diverse; and comprehendeth an History from the beginning of the reign of
king James V. to the death of king James VI. but is contracted and digested in a better order, in a work of three
volumes, bound in parchment, and is comprehended in
2013 pages. Out of which work contracted, is extracted
another, in lesser bounds, but wanting nothing in substance, and comprehended in pages, which the author
desireth only to be communicated to others, and this with
the other, contracted into three volumes, to serve only for
the defence of the third, and preservation of the History,
in case it be lost.
” The first of the six volumes gives a
large introduction, in which the author undertakes to
inform us of the time when, and the persons by whom
the island of Great Britain was first inhabited; and afterwards brings down the Scottish Civil History as well
as the Ecclesiastical, from the first planting of Christianity to the end of James the Fourth’s reign. After
his account of the affairs of the state and the church,
we have a view of all the most considerable wars and
battles (domestic and foreign) wherein the people of
Scotland have been engaged before the said period, as
also of the ancient honorary titles, and their institution.
On this last head he quotes an old manuscript, sent from
Icolmkill to Mr. George Buchanan, which testifies that a
parliament was held at Forfar, in the year 1061, wherein
surnames are appointed to be taken, and several earls,
barons, lords, and knights, were created. After this general preface he begins his proper work, The History of
the Scottish Reformation. And in this volume advances as
far as the marriage of queen Mary with the lord Darnley,
in 1565. In his story of Mr. Patrick Hamilton, the protomartyr in this cause, he gives a copy of the sentence
pronounced against him, together with a congratulatory
letter from the doctors at Louvain to the archbishop of St.
Andrew’s, on the occasion of his death. Amongst those
learned men, who upon the first persecution fled into Germany, he reckons Mr. George Buchanan. In his large
account of the disputes and sufferings of the reformers,
under the administration of cardinal Beaton and the queen
regent, we have the particulars of the contentions at Frankfurt, which are mostly taken out of a book entitled “A
brief discovery of the Troubles of Mr. John Knox, for opposing the English Service Book, in 1554.
” After which
we have Knox’s Appeal from the sentence of the clergy,
to the nobility, estates, and community of Scotland, with
a great many letters from the nobility to the queen-regent
and him, on the subject of religion. All this part of the
history, which in the printed book makes no more than
thirteen pages, ends at page 57 1; from whence (to the end of the book at page 902) there is a good collection of
curious letters, remonstrances, &c. which are not in the
prints, either of Knox or Calderwood. The second volume contains the history from 1565 to the arraignment of
the earl of Moreton for treason, in December 15 So, and
contains 614 pages, wherein are many valuable discoveries
relating to the practices of David Rizzio, the king’s murder, Bothweil’s marriage and flight, &c. and a more periect narrative of the proceedings in the general assemblies,
than the printed history will afford us. The third volume
comprehends the entire history of both church and state,
from the beginning of January 1581 to July 1586, when
queen Mary’s letter to Babington was intercepted. Under
the year 1584, there is a severe character of Mr. Patrick
Adamson, archbishop of St. Andrew’s; which, in the conclusion, refers us for a farther account of him to a poem
made by one Robert Semple, and entitled “The Legend
of the Limmer’s Life.
” Here is also “An account of the
State and Church of Scotland to the Church of Geneva,
”
which was written by Andrew Melvil, in answer to the misrepresentations of the Scottish discipline scattered in foreign countries, by the said archbishop Adamson. The
fourth gives the like mixed history of affairs, from July 1586
to the beginning of 1596. Here we have a full collection
of papers relating to the trial, condemnation, and execution, of the unfortunate queen Mary, with abundance of
others, touching the most remarkable transactions of this
Decennium. In 1587 there is a large account of the
coming of the sieur du Bartas into Scotland; of his being
carried by king James to the university of St. Andrew’s, his
hearing of the lectures of Mr. A. Melvil there, and the
great opinion he had of the abilities of that professor, &c.
In 1590 there are some smart reflections on Dr. Bancroft’s
sermon at Paul’s Cross, censuring the proceedings of J.
Knox, and others of the northern reformers, with the assembly’s letter to queen Elizabeth about that sermon. The
fifth volume reaches from the beginning of January 1596,
to the same month in 1607. After the accounts of the
proceedings of the assembly in 1596, the author subjoins
this pathetic epiphonema: “Here end all the sincere assemblies general of the kirk of Scotland, enjoying the liberty
of the gospel under the free government of Christ.
” The
new and constant Platt of Planting all the Kirks of Scotland
(written by Mr. David Lindsay, one of the Octavians) is
here inserted at large, as it was presented to the king and
states in the said year 1596. The history of the conspiracy
of the Cowries, and the manner of its discovery, is likewise
here recorded at length, in the same order, wherein the
king commanded it to be published. The new form of
ojmination to bishoprics, the protestation in parliament
against the restitution of episcopacy, and the reasons offered against it by others, are the remaining matters of
consideration in this book. The sixth concludes with the
death of king James VI.
e for the tine arts, always afforded him sufficient employment, and he was a liberal patron of those who excelled in any of the various branches of art. He had studied
, a literary gentleman of Ireland, was the son of Charles Caldwell, esq. an eminent solicitor, and was born in Dublin, 1732. He received part
of his education in one of the universities in Scotland, from
whence he removed to London; and after a residence of
about five years at the Temple, returned to Dublin, where
he was admitted to the bar in 1760; but his father being
possessed of a good estate, fully adequate to his son’s wishes,
he never paid much attention to the profession of the law,
and for several years before his death had entirely quitted
it. His studious disposition, and taste for the tine arts,
always afforded him sufficient employment, and he was a
liberal patron of those who excelled in any of the various
branches of art. He had studied architecture with particular attention; and about the year 1770, published, anonymously, some very judicious “Observations on the public buildings of Dublin,
” and on some edifices, which at
that time were about to be erected in that city at the expence of the state. The only other known production of
his pen that has been published, is a very curious “Account of the extraordinary escape of James Stewart, esq.
(commonly called Athenian Stewart) from being put to
death by some Turks, in whose company he happened to
be travelling;
” the substance of which had been communicated to Mr. Caldwell by the late Dr. Percy, bishop of
Dromore, as related to his lordship by Stewart himself.
Of this narrative, of which only a small number was printed
at London in 1304, for the use of the author’s friends, it
is believed not more than a dozen copies were distributed
in this country. Mr. Cald well’s love of literature naturally
led him to collect an ample library, which was particularly
rich in natural history. His manners were gentle and
pleasing, and his benevolence, various knowledge, and cultivated taste, endeared him to a very numerous circle of
friends. He died at the house of his nephew, major-general Cockburn, near Bray in the county of Wicklow, July
2, 1808, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.
rk. It appears to have had the fate of Moreri’s Dictionary, to have fallen into the hands of editors who by repeated corrections and enlargements, rendered it a publication
, a lexicographer of considerable fame, was a native of Calepio near
Bergamo in Italy, from which he took his name, and lived
in the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century.
He took the habit of the Augustine order, and was much
esteemed for learning and personal character. His “Lexicon,
” on which he had laboured for many years, appeared
first in 1503. He died in 1510, deprived of his sight
through old age, but had employed his latter days in reviewing and correcting his work. It appears to have had
the fate of Moreri’s Dictionary, to have fallen into the
hands of editors who by repeated corrections and enlargements, rendered it a publication of some consequence. The
editors of Stephanus’ Thesaurus concur, with Erasmus,
Ludovicus Vives, Borrichius, and others, in speaking with
great contempt of Calepin, and, perhaps, with more than
he deserves. Jacobus Philippius only, of that age, speaks
respectfully of Calepin. The Lexicon, however, has gone
through fifteen editions, with successive improvements, the
best of which are that of Chifflet, Lyons, 1681, 2 vols.fol.
and that of Facciolati, Padua, 1758, also in 2 vols. fol.
Christopher Wase’s Latin Dictionary, the second edition
of which was published at Oxford in 1675, is a very judicious compendium of Calepin.
n divinity. In 1568, he preached two sermpns in Bristol cathedral, on purpose to confute Dr. Cheney, who held that see in commendam, and who had spoken disrespectfully
, a learned divine of
the sixteenth century, otherwise named Calfield, Cawfield,
Chalfhill, or Calfed, was born in Shropshire, in 1530.
Strype, however, says he was a Scotchman, and cousin to
Toby Malhew, afterwards archbishop of York. He received his education at Eton school, and from thence was
sent, in 1545, to King’s college in Cambridge, from which
he was removed, with many Other Cambridge men, in 1548,
to Christ Church in Oxford, newly founded by king Henry
VIII. Here be shewed himself to be a person of quick
wit and great capacity; being an excellent poet and author of a tragedy, with other theatrical performances. In
1549, he took his degree of bachelor of arts; and that of
master in 1552, being junior of the act celebrated in St.
Mary’s church, July 18. He was made, in 1560, canon of
the second canonry in Christ Church cathedral, Oxon; and,
On the 12th of December 1561, took the degree of bachelor
of divinity. In 1562 he was proctor for the clergy of London and the chapter of Oxford in the convocation that
made the XXXIX Articles and on the 16th of May, the
same year, was admitted to the rectory of St. Andrew
Wardrobe, London. The 4th of October following, he
was presented by the crown to the prebend of St. Pancras,
in the cathedral church of St. Paul; and May 4, 1565, was
collated by Matthew Parker, archbishop of Canterbury, to
the rectory of Booking, in Essex; and on July 16th following, to the archdeaconry of Colchester in Essex, by
Edmund Grindal, bishop of London. The same year, December 17th, he took the degree of doctor in divinity. In
1568, he preached two sermpns in Bristol cathedral, on purpose to confute Dr. Cheney, who held that see in commendam, and who had spoken disrespectfully of certain opinions of Luther and Calvin. In 1569 he made application
to secretary Cecil, chancellor of the university of Cambridge, for the provostship of king’s college, but Dr.
Goad’s interest prevailed. Upon the translation of.Dr. Edwin Sandys from the bishopric of Worcester to that of
London in 1570, Dr. Calfhiil was nominated by queen
Elizabeth to succeed him 3 but before his consecration he
died, about the beginning of August (having a little before resigned his canonry of Christ Church, and rectory of St. Andrew Wardrobe), and was buried in the chancel of
Bocking church. His works were, 1. “Querela Oxoniensis Academise ad Cantabrigiam,
” Lond. Historia de exhumatione Catherines nuper
uxoris Pet. Martyris;
” or, The History of the digging up
the body of Catherine late wife of Peter Martyr, Lond.
1562, 8vo. The remains of this lady had been deposited
in the cathedral of Christ Church, near to the relics of St.
Frideswide, and in queen Mary’s reign were dug up and
buried in the dunghill near the stables belonging to the
dean; but on the accession of queen Elizabeth, an order
was given to replace them with suitable solemnity. This
order our author partly executed, and the remains of
Martyr’s wife were on this occasion purposely mixed with
those of St. Frideswide, that the superstitious worshippers
of the latter might never be able to distinguish or separate
them. 3. Answer to John Martiall’s “Treatise of the Cross,
gathered out of the Scriptures, Councils, and ancient Fathers of the primitive Church,
” Lond. Progne,
” a tragedy, in Latin; whichprobably was never
printed. It was acted before que^n Elizabeth at Oxford
in 1566, in Christ Church hall; but, says Wood, “it did
not take half so well as the much admired play of Palsemon
and Arcyte,
” written by Edwards. 5. “Poemata varia.
”
As to his character, we are informed, that he was in his
younger days a noted poet and comedian and in his elder,
an exact disputant, and had an excellent faculty in speaking and preaching. One who had heard him preach, gives
this account of him: “His excellent tongue, and rhetorical tale, tilled with good and wholesome doctrine, so
ravished the minds of the hearers, that they were all in
admiration of his eloquence.
” One John Calfhill, chaplain to Dr. Matthew, archbishop of York, a prebendary of
Durham, &c. who died in 1619, was probably son to our
author.
, an eminent Lutheran divine, was born at Medelbui, in Holstein, Dec. 14, 1586. His father, who was also a minister, intended him for the same profession, and
, an eminent Lutheran divine, was born at Medelbui, in Holstein, Dec. 14, 1586. His father, who was also a minister, intended him for the same profession, and sent him to study at Helmstadt, Jena, and Giessen, and most of the protestant schools of Germany. He travelled also with Matthias Overbeck, a rich Lutheran, who resided in Holland, and conceiving a high opinion of Calixtus, became his liberal patron, as he had been to Herman Conringius and many others. After travelling also in France and England, Calixtus returned to Germany, and was appointed professor of theology at Helmstadt in 1614, and there he died, March 18, 1656, after a long theological warfare, both with his brethren and the Roman catholic, excited by his endeavours to effect a comprehension between the Roman and the Lutheran and Calvinist churches. According to Mosheim, Calixtus was the first person that reduced theology into a regular system, and gave it a truly scientific and philosophical form. As he had imbibed the spirit of the Aristotelian school, he arranged the substance of Christianity according to the method of the Stagirite; and divided the whole science of divinity into three parts, viz. the end, the subject, and the means. He was also the first who separated the objects of faith from the duties of morality, and exhibited the latter under the form of an independent science. These innovations rendered him the object of much censure and opposition. In his attempt to reunite the several bodies of Christians, and to comprehend " the different churches in one profession of religion, he was a principal promoter of that system which was called syncretism. The controversy which was thus occasioned, subsisted long after his death; and though he seemed, in his efforts for comprehension, to give advantage to the Romish church, no one attacked its tyranny and corruption with greater vigour. Mosheim has entered largely into his system and the consequence of it, but it appears to us to be in some parts inconsistent; and experience has shewn that all plans of comprehension are impracticable, without such sacrifices as the respective parties either cannot or will not make. His writings, which are extremely numerous, on various subjects of controversy, are enumerated by Freher, but without the necessary appendages of size, dates, &c.
f th,at of his birth; but it was probably in the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes: for Apollonius Rhodius, who was his scholar, was chosen by that prince to the care of the
We know no more of the time of this poet’s death than we do of th,at of his birth; but it was probably in the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes: for Apollonius Rhodius, who was his scholar, was chosen by that prince to the care of the Alexandrian library, and after dying in that office was buried in Callimachus’s grave.
language, and he is said to have placed his writings far above the conquests of the king of Macedon, who ought, said he, “to look for immortality more from his books
, a Greek philosopher and historian,
was a native of Olinthus, and the disciple and relation of
Aristotle, by whose advice he accompanied Alexander in
his expeditions. Aristotle gave him to his scholar, that he
might moderate the fury of his passions; but Callisthenes
was too deficient in the arts of a courtier to render truth
sufficiently palatable to the prince. His animadversions
on him were probably conveyed in repulsive language, and
he is said to have placed his writings far above the conquests of the king of Macedon, who ought, said he, “to
look for immortality more from his books than from the
madness of being the son of Jupiter/* He thus coarsely
expostulated with Alexander on the absurdity of his expecting divine honours, and he became insupportable to
the youthful hero. Callisthenes being accused, in the
year 328 before the Christian aera, of conspiring against
the life of Alexander, the prince eagerly seized that opportunity for getting rid of his censor.
” This conqueror (says the historian Justin), irritated against the philosopher Callisthenes for boldly disapproving his resolution to make himself
adored after the manner of the kings of Persia, pretended
to believe that he had engaged in a conspiracy against
him; and made use of this pretext for cruelly causing his
lips, his nose, and his ears to be cut off. In this mutilated
condition he had him drawn in his retinue, shut up with a
dog in an iron cage, to make him an object of horror and
affright to his army. Lysimachus, a disciple of this virtuous man, moved at beholding him languish in a misery he
had brought on himself only by a laudable frankness, procured him poison, which at once delivered him from his
exquisite torments and such unmerited indignity. Alexander, being informed of it, was so transported with rage,
that he caused Lysimachus to be exposed to the fury of
a hungry lion, The brave man, on seeing the beast approach to devour him, folded his cloak round his arm,
plunged it down his throat, and, tearing out his tongue,
stretched him dead upon the spot. An exploit so courageous struck the king with an admiration that disarmed his
wrath, and made Lysimachus more dear to him than ever.“
There are, however, other accounts of his death, but all
of them sufficiently shocking. It is reported that Alexander caused these words to be engraved on the tomb of
Callisthenes:
” Gdi Sophistam Qui Sibi Non Sapit." In
the seventh volume of Memoirs of the academy of belles
lettres of Paris may be seen some curious researches on
the life and writings of this philosopher by the abbe Sevin.
The philosophers that succeeded Callisthenes thought it
their duty (says M. Hardion) to avenge their brother by
launching out into furious declamations against the memory
of Alexander, whose criminality, according to Seneca, was
never to be effaced, because he was the murderer of Callisthenes.
here he had heard so much talk of; but his money failing, he joined himself to a party of Bohemians, who were going into Italy, and went with them to Florence. There
, a famous engraver, son of John. Callot, herald of arms in Lorrain, was descended from an ancient and noble family, and born at Nancy in 1593. He cherished almost from hig infancy a taste and spirit for the belles lettres, as well as for the fine arts. When he was only twelve years old he set off for Rome, without the knowledge of his parents, in order to see the many curiositjes there he had heard so much talk of; but his money failing, he joined himself to a party of Bohemians, who were going into Italy, and went with them to Florence. There he was taken under the protection of an officer of the great duke, who placed him to learn designing under Remigio Canta Gailina, a skilful painter and engraver. Afterwards he got to Rome, where he was known by a merchant of Nancy, and sent immediately home to his parents. When he was about 14 years of age he left home again, and directed his course towards Rome but being discovered by his elder*- brother, who was at Turin about business, he was brought buck a second time to Nancy. His passion, however, for seeing Rome being still ardent and irresistible, his father at length gave him leave to go in the train of a gentleman whom the duke of Lorrain sent to the pope.
and engrave first with Giulio Parigii, and afterwards with Philip Thomassin of Troyes in Champagne, who had settled in that city; but this latter having a beautiful
When he arrived at Rome, he learned to design and engrave first with Giulio Parigii, and afterwards with Philip
Thomassin of Troyes in Champagne, who had settled in
that city; but this latter having a beautiful wife, who paid
some marked attentions to Callot, a disagreement took
place, and our young artist removed to Florence, where
the great duke employed him with several other excellent
workmen. Callot at that time began to design in miniature, and had so happy a genius for it, that he became incomparable in that way. He quitted his graver, and used
aquafortis, because this was both the quickest way of working, and gave more strength and spirit to the performance,
After the great duke’s death, he began to think of returning to his own country; and about that time, prince
Charles, coming through Florence, and being uncommonly
struck with some of his curious pieces, persuaded Callot
to go along with him to Lorrain, and promised him a good
salary from his father-in-law Henry, the reigning duke.
Callot attended him, and had a considerable pension settled upon him; and, being in his 32d year, he took a wife,
who was a woman of family. His reputation was now
spread all over Europe, and the infanta of Spain sent for
him to Brussels, when the marquis of Spinola was laying
siege to Breda, that he might first draw, and afterwards,
engrave, as he did, the s:ege of that town. He went to
France in 1628, when Louis XIII. made him design and
engrave the siege of Rochelle and the isle of Roe*. Aftec
he had been amply recompensed by that monarch, he returned to Nancy; where he continued to follow the business of engraving so assiduously, that he is said to have
left 1500 pieces of his own an incredible number for so
short a life as his! When the duke of Orleans, Gaston of
France, withdrew into Lorrain, he made him engrave several silver stamps, and went to his house two hours every
day to learn to draw. In 1031, when the king of France
had reduced Nancy, he sent for Callot to engrave that new
conquest, as he had done Rochelle; hut Callot begged to
be excused, because that being a Lorrainer he could not
do any thing so much against the honour of his prince and
country. The king was not displeased at his answer, but
said, “The duke of Lorrain was very happy in having
such faithful and affectionate subjects.
” Some of the
courtiers insinuated, that he ought to be forced to do it; to
which Callot, when it was told him, replied with great firmness, “That he would sooner disable his right hand than
be obliged to do any thing against his honour.
” The king
then, instead of forcing him, endeavoured to draw him into
France, by offering to settle upon him a pension of 3000
livres; to which Callot answered, “That he could not
leave his country and birth-place, but that there he would
always be ready to serve his majesty.
” Nevertheless, when
he afterwards found the ill condition Lorrain was reduced
to by the taking of Nancy, he projected a scheme of returning with his wife to Florence; but was hindered from
executing it by his death, which happened on the 28th of
March, 1636, when he was only 43 years of age. He was
buried in the cloister of the cordeliers at Nancy, where his
ancestors lay; and had an epitaph inscribed upon a piece
of black marble, on which was engraved a half portrait of
himself. He left an excellent moral character behind him,
and died with the universal esteem of men of taste.
a single stroke, variety of character, and correctness of design. He is said to have been the first who used hard varnish in etching, which has been found much superior
This artist engraved in several styles; the first of which
was an imitation of his master Canta Gallina. He afterwards worked altogether with the graver; but without
success. His next style was the mixture of the point and
the graver, with coarse broad hatchings in the shadows.
But his best manner, is that which appears to have been
executed with the greatest freedom, by which he has- expressed, as we may say, with a single stroke, variety of
character, and correctness of design. He is said to have
been the first who used hard varnish in etching, which has
been found much superior to that which was before adopted.
The fertility of invention, and the vast variety, found in
the works of this excellent artist, are astonishing. It could
Jiarclly have been supposed possible to combine so great a
number of figures together as he has done, and to vary the
attitudes, without forced contrast, so that all of them, whether single figures or groupes, may be easily distinguished
from each other, even in the masses of shadow; more
especially when it is considered that they are often exceedingly minute. On a cursory view of some of his most
admired pieces, the whole appears confused, and without
harmony; but a careful examination discovers the richness,
the beauty, the taste, and the judgment which are bestowed on the disposition of the figures, the management
of the groupes, and the variety and propriety of the attitudes. The works of this master are very numerous and
various. In representation of all the varieties of human
life, from beggars and peasants to knights and nobles, he
excelled; characterising all with the nicest touches of nature. Of his subjects, many are of the most painful and
shocking kind, such as public executions, the miseries of
war, and the like; many are grotesque and fanciful, and
exhibit a strong imagination. Among his most admired
prints, Strutt enumerates: “The Murder of the InnocentSjJ' of which that engraved at Florence is most rare;
a fine impression of it being found with difficulty;
” The
Marriage of Cana in Galilee,“from Paolo Veronese;
” The
Passion of Christ,“the first impressions of which are very
scarce
” St. John in the island of Palma;“” The Temptation of St. Anthony;“”The Punishments,“exhibiting
the execution of several criminals;
” The Miseries of
War;“” The great Pair of Florence;“The little Fair,
”
otherwise called “The Players at Benti,
” one of the
scarcest of Callot’s prints;“” The Tilting, or the New
Street at Nancy;“The Garden of Nancy;
” “View of
the Pont Neuf;
” “View of the Louvre;
” and “Four
Landscapes.
”
the college du Bois, in Caen, and became there acquainted with Huet, afterwards bishop of Avranches, who acknowledged the assistance he derived from Cally in his studies.
, a celebrated French philosopher, was
a native of Mesnil-Hubert, near Argenton, in the diocese
of Seez. About 165.5, he studied philosophy at Caen,
and afterwards divinity at Paris, but philosophy was his
favourite pursuit, and the foundation of his fame. In
1660 he taught in the college du Bois, in Caen, and became there acquainted with Huet, afterwards bishop of
Avranches, who acknowledged the assistance he derived
from Cally in his studies. Their intimacy, however, was
interrupted by Cally’s avowal of adherence to ttie Cartesian system. CaJly was the first in France who had the
courage to profess himself a Cartesian, in defiance of the
prejudices and numbers of those who adhered to the ancient philosophy. He first broached his Cartesianism in
the way of hypothesis, but afterwards taught it more
openly, which procured him many enemies. Huet, although then very young, ventured to censure him; and
father Valois, the Jesuit, who was a contemporary professor of philosophy, attacked both Cally and his opinions
in a work which he published under the name of Louis de
la Ville, in 1680, entitled “Sentimens de M. Descartes,
touchant Pessence et les proprietes des corps, opposes a la
doctrine de Peglise, et conformesaux erreurs de Calvin sur
I'eucharistie.
” Cally, not thinking there was much in this,
did not answer it until pressed by his friends, when he
wrote an answer in Latin, which, however, was not at
this time published. When the duke de Montausier was
appointed by Louis XIV. to provide eminent classical
scholars to write notes on the classics published for the use
of the Dauphin, Cally was selected for the edition of
“Boethius de Consolatione,
” which he published, accordingly, in Institutio philosophica,
” 4to, which he
afterwards greatly enlarged, and published in 1695 under
the title “Universae philosophise institutio,
” Caen, 4 vols.
4to. In 1675 he was appointed principal of the college of
arts in Caen, on which he began a new course of philosophical lectures, and laid out ten or twelve thousand francs
on rebuilding a part of the college which had fallen into
ruin. In 1684 he was appointed curate of the parish of
St. Martin, in Caen, and the Protestants who were then
very numerous in that city, flocked to his sermons, and he
held conferences once or twice a week in his vestry, which
they attended with much pleasure, and we are told he 'made
many converts to the Popish religion. But this success,
for which every Catholic ought to have been thankful, excited the envy of those who had quarrelled with him before
on account of his Cartesianism, and by false accusations,
they procured him to be exiled to Moulins in 1686, where
he remained for two years. Finding on his return that the
Protestants were still numerous in Caen, and that they
entertained the same respect for him as before, he wrote for
their use a work entitled “Durand cornmente, ou Paccord
de la philosophie avec la theologie, tonchaut la transubstantialion.
” In this, which contained part of his answer
to father Valois, mentioned above, he revives the opinion
of the celebrated Durand, who said, if the church decided
that there was a transubstantiation in the eucharist, there
must remain something of what was bread, to make a difference between the creation and production of a thing
which was not, and annihilation or a thing reduced to
nothing. Cally sent this work in ms. to M. Basnage, who
had been one of his scholars, but received no answer. la
the mean time, unwilling to delay a work which he hoped
would contribute to the conversion of the Protestants, “he
engaged with a bookseller at Caen to print only sixty
copies, which he purposed to send to his friends at Paris,
and obtain their opinion as to a more extended publication.
The bookseller, however, having an eye only to his own
interest, undertook to assure Cally that the work would be
approved by the doctors of the Sorbonne, and he therefore
would print eight hundred. Cally unfortunately consented, and the work no sooner appeared, than he who
fondly hoped it would convert heretics, was himself treated
as a heretic. M. de Nesmond, then bishop of Bayeux,
condemned the work in a pastoral letter March 30, 1701,
and Cally in April following made his retractation, which
he not only read in his own church, but it was read in all
other churches; and he also destroyed the impression, so
that it is now classed among rare books. It was a small
vol. 12mo, 1700, printed at Cologne, under the name of
Pierre Marteau. Cally also published some of his sermons,
but they were too philosophical and dry for the closet, although he had contrived to give them a popular effect in
the pulpit. A work entitled
” Doctrine heretique, &c.
touchant la primauté du pape, enseignee par les Jesuites
dans leur college de Caen," is attributed to him, but as it
bears date 1644, he must have then been too young. He
died Dec. 31, 1709.
rote some letters against Calmet, which were communicated to him by Pinsonnat, the Hebrew professor, who did not approve of them, nor did Anquetille, the librarian of
, a learned Benedictine of the
college of St. Vanncs, was born at Mesnil-la-Horgue, near
Commercy, Feb. 26, 1672, and was first educated in the
priory of Breuii. In 1687 he went to study at the
university of Pont-a-Mousson, where he was taught a course of
rhetoric. On leaving this class, he entered among the
Benedictines in the abbey of St. Mansuy, in the fauxbourg
of Toul, Oct. 17, 1688, and mad,e profession in the same
place Oct. 23, 1689. He began his philosophical course
in the abbey of fcfe. Evre, and completed that and his theological studies in the abbey of St. Munster. At his leisure
hours he studied the Hebrew language with great attention
and success, and likewise improved his knowledge of the
Greek. In 1696 he was sent with some of his companions
to the abbey of Moyenmoutier, where they studied the
Holy Scriptures under P. D. Hyacinthe Alliot. Two years
aftef, in 1698, Calmet was appointed to teach philosophy
and theology to the young religious of that monastery, an
employment which he filled until 1704, when he was sent,
with the rank of sub-prior, to the abbey of Munster. There
he was at the head of an academy of eight or ten religious,
with whom he pursued his biblical studies, and having,
while at Moyenmoutier written commentaries and dissertations, on various parts of the Bible, he here retouched and
improved these, although without any other design, at this
time, than his own instruction. During a visit, however,
at Paris, in 1706, he was advised by the abbe Duguet, to
whom he had been recommended by Mabillon, to publish
his commentaries in French, and the first volume accordingly appeared in 1707. In 1715 he became prior of Lay,
and in 1718 the chapter-general appointed bim abb 6 of
St. Leopold, of Nancy, and the year following he was
made visitor of the congregation. In 1728 he was chosen
abbe* of Senones, on which occasion he resigned his priory
of Lay. When pope Benedict XIII. confirmed his election, the cardinals proposed to his holiness that Calmet
should also have the title of bishop in partibus infiddium,
with power to exercise the episcopal functions in those
parts of the province which are exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary; but this Calmet refused, and wrote
on the subject to Rome. The pope in Sept. 1729, addressed a brief to him, accepting of his excuses, and some
time after sent him a present of his works, in 3 vols. fol.
Calmet took possession of the abbey of Senones, January
3, 1729, and continued his studies, and increased the library and museum belonging to the abbey with several
valuable purchases, particularly of the medals of the deceased M. de Corberon, secretary of slate, and of the
natural curiosities of M, Voile. Here be died Oct. 25, 1757,
respected by all ranks, Roman catholics and Protestants,
for his learning and candour, and by his more particular
friends and those of his own order, for his amiable temper
and personal virtues. His learning, indeed, was most extensive, as the greater part of his long life was devoted to
study, but amidst such vast accumulation of materials, we
are not surprized that he was sometimes deficient in selection, and appears rather as a collector of facts, than as
an original thinker. His principal works are, 1. “Commentaire litteral sur tous les livres de l'Aneten et da Nouyeau Testament,
” Dissertations and Prefaces
” belonging to his commentary,
published separately with nineteen new Dissertations,
Paris, 1720, 2 vols. 4to. 3. “Histoire de PAncien et du
Nouveau Testament,
” intended as an introduction to Fleury’s “Ecclesiastical History,
” 2 and 4 vols. 4to; and 5 and
7 vols. 12mo. 4. “Dictionnaire historique, critique, et
chronologique de la Bible.
” Paris, Histoire ecclesiasiique et civile de la Lorraine,
” 3 vols.
fol. reprinted 1745, in 5 vols. fol. 6. “Bibliotheque des
Ecrivains de Lorraine,
” fol, Histoire
universelle sacrée et profane,
” 15 vols. 4to. This Calmet did not
live to finish, and in other respects it is not his best work.
7. “Dissertations sur les apparitions des Anges, des Demons,
et des Esprits, et sur les Revenans et Vampires de Hongrie,
”
Paris, 1754, 2 vols. 4to. 10.
” De la Poesie et Musique des anciens Hebreux," Amst. 1723, 8vo. His conjectures on this subject, Dr. Burney thinks, are perhaps as
probable as those of any one of the numerous authors who
have exercised their skill in expounding and defining what
some have long since thought involved in Cimmerian darkness. Calmet also left a vast number of manuscripts, or
rather manuscript collections, as it had long been his practice to copy, or employ others to copy, whatever he found
curious in books. In 1733, he deposited in the royal
library, a correct transcript of the Vedam, a work which
the natives of Hiudostan attribute to their legislator Brama,
who received it, according to their tradition, from God
himself. This copy came into Calmet' s possession by means
of a bramin who had been converted by the Jesuit missionaries. Calmet’s life was written by Dom Fange, his
nephew and successor in the abbey of Senones, and published in 8vo. It was afterwards translated into Italian by
Benedetto Passionei, and published at Rome in 1770.
, who was born at Venice about the year 1510, became celebrated both
, who was born at Venice about the
year 1510, became celebrated both as a comedian and an
author. He composed several comedies in prose, of which
the best is his Rodiana, which in fact belongs to him,
though printed under the name of Ruzzante. There is
also by him a volume of letters, entitled “Discorsi Piacevoli,
” Le Giocose moderne, e facetissime Egloghe Pastorali,
” Venice,
al approbation, and greatly to the satisfaction of the inhabitants, by whom he was much beloved, and who expressed the utmost regret at his departure when he quitted
In 1776, he was named intendant of the province of the Trois Eveches, and for four years fulfilled the duties of that important office with universal approbation, and greatly to the satisfaction of the inhabitants, by whom he was much beloved, and who expressed the utmost regret at his departure when he quitted that province in 1780, being appointed intendant-general of Flanders and Artois. The same affability and mild and equitable conduct in the administration of public affairs, which had procured him their esteem, conciliated no less the affections of his countrymen in Flanders, to whose commercial interests he shewed particular attention, in promoting the fisheries and every useful establishment, both during the three years of his residence at Dunkirk, and after being appointed in 1783, Comptroller-general of the finances, and minister of state. In this important office he continued until 1787, and during the period of his administration raised and maintained the public credit by a punctuality till then unknown in the payments of the royal treasury, although on his accession he found it drained to the lowest ebb, and had the mortification to perceive that the annual income had long been inadequate to the annual expenditure. To trace the cause of this deficiency, its origin and progress, was the secret work of many an hour, supposed by the public to be devoted to pleasure or repose, as he conceived it of the utmost importance to conceal the deficiency until he had explored its source, and provided such an adequate remedy for it, as might restore the proper equipoise between the annual income and expenditure, and provide a surplus for emergencies without increasing the burthens of the people beyond their ability to support. For this purpose he prevailed on the king to revive the ancient usage of national assemblies, by calling together the Notables of the kingdom; and after laying before them a true state of the finances, he boldly proposed, as a chief remedy for the deficiency, that the pecuniary privileges and exemptions of the nobility, clergy, and magistracy, should be suppressed; and although aware that a measure which appeared to militate so much against the immediate interests of the three most powerful ranks of the community must meet with opposition, he determined to risk the sacrifice of his own situation, rather than longer to conceal or palliate the evil.
omy, at least with integrity, as appeared by his inability two years afterwards to maintain his son, who served as a foot soldier in the corps of nobility in the army
When this assembly met, Calonne accused his predecessor M. Necker, of having caused the deficiency by his
system of loans, and of war without taxation; and Calonne’s
enemies, on their side, threw the blame on his personal extravagance, and his readiness in yielding to the unlimited
demands of the royal family. The comparative merits of
those two ministers, equally im fortunate in the issue, may
be probably ascertained by a perusal of the appeals they
made to the public, M. Calonne in his “Speech to the Assembly of Notables,
” in his “Requete au Roi,
” and his
“Reponse a PEcrit de M. Necker
” and M. Necker in his
“Answer to Calonne’s Speech, and Requete, &c.
” The
consequence, however, of the opposition Calonne met with,
was, that the king withdrew his confidence from him, took
from him the insignia of his order, and banished him to
Lorraine. He and his brother presented themselves to the
assemblies of the bailiwick of Bailleul in Flanders, but were
disrespectfully received, and obliged to withdraw into the
Low Countries. He returned to France for a very short
time, and in 1790 left it again, and retired to England. In
1791 the brothers of Louis XVI. summoned him to join them.
at Coblentz, where he for some time managed their finances,
if not with oeconomy, at least with integrity, as appeared
by his inability two years afterwards to maintain his son,
who served as a foot soldier in the corps of nobility in the
army of Cond6. It was at that time that he proposed a
plan of counter-revolution, which was not generally approved in the royalist party, to whom, it is certain that
many of the sentiments he expressed in his political writings, published at London in 1793 and 1796, were not acceptable. In 1802, during the consular government, the reputation of his talents, which no party has questioned, procured him permission to return to France, where he gave in
some memorials on finance, which, however, were not favourably received. He died in Paris October 29, 1802.
teur des Considerations sur Petat des affaires publiques,“1798, 8vo. The abbe” Calonne, his brother, who accompanied him to England, was for some time editor of the
In the course of his administration and exile he published,
1. “Observations et Jugemens sur plusieurs matieres du
droit civil et coutumier,
” Correspondance
cle Necker avec Calonne, 1 * 1787, 4to. 3.
” Requete an
Hoi,“1787, 8vo. 4.
” Reponse de Calonne a PEcrit de
Necker,“London, 1788, 2 vols. 8vo. 5.
” Second Lettre
au Roi,“ibid. 1789, 8vo.
” Notes sur le Memoire remis par Necker au comite* des subsistances,“ibid. 1739,
12mo. 7.
” De Petat de la France, present et a venir,“1790, 8vo. He is also the reputed author of, 1.
” De Petat
de la France, tel qu‘il peut et qu’il doit tre,“London,
1790, 8vo. 2.
” Observations sur les Finances,“ibid. 179O,
4to. 3.
” Lettres d‘un publiciste de France a un publiciste d’Allemagne,“1791, 8vo. 4.
” Esquisse de Petat de
la France,“1791, 8vo. 5.
” Tableau de PEurope en Novembre 1795,“1796, 8vo. 6.
” Des finances publiques
de la France,“1797, 8vo. 7.
” Lettre a Pauteur des Considerations sur Petat des affaires publiques,“1798, 8vo.
The abbe
” Calonne, his brother, who accompanied him to
England, was for some time editor of the “Courier de Londres,
” and died in
y inducements to detain him in that city for some time; and became the disciple of Prospero Fontana, who had every qualification requisite for the improvement of his
, an artist, was born at Antwerp in 1553, and first painted landscapes, having accustomed himself to retire to groves and fields, to study such scenes and objects after nature, as might be useful to him in that branch of his profession. But being desirous to obtain a better manner of designing figures, to adorn his landscapes, he determined to travel to Italy. In his journey he stopped at Bologna, where he unexpectedly met with many inducements to detain him in that city for some time; and became the disciple of Prospero Fontana, who had every qualification requisite for the improvement of his pupils, as well by his precepts as his performances. In such a situation Calvart applied himself diligently to his studies, not only carefully examining, but also copying the works of Coreggio and Parmigiano; and when he afterwards quitted the school of Fontana, he placed himself with Lorenzo Sabattini, with whom fie travelled to Rome, where he perfected himself in design, in perspective, architecture, and anatomy. At his return from Rome to Bologna, which city he now considered as the place of his nativity, he there opened an academy; and his style of colour procured him a large number of disciples, among whom were some of the first rank for genius; he is celebrated as the first instructor of Guido, Albano, and Domenichino, as well as of several other excellent painters. He died in 1619. In the Palazzo Ranuzzi, at Bologna, there is a fine picture by Calvart, representing two hermits, which is correctly designed, beautifully coloured, and delicately pencilled and in the Pembroke collection, at Wilton, there is a Nativity painted by him.
travels he was made secretary to Robert Cecil, one of the principal secretaries of state to James I. who continued him in his service when he was raised to the office
, descended from the ancient and noble house of Calvert, in the earldom of Flanders, and afterwards created lord Baltimore, was born at Kipling in Yorkshire, about 1582. In 1593 he became a commoner of Trinity college, Oxford, and in Feb. 1597 he took the degree of B. A. At his return from his travels he was made secretary to Robert Cecil, one of the principal secretaries of state to James I. who continued him in his service when he was raised to the office of lord high -treasurer. On Aug. 30, 1605, when king James was entertained by the university of Oxford, he was created M. A. with several noblemen and gentlemen. Afterwards he was made one of the clerks of the privy council, and in 1617 received the honour of knighthood, and in Feb. 1619 he was appointed to be one of the principal secretaries of state. Thinking the duke of Buckingham had been the chief instrument of his preferment, he presented him with a jewel of great value; but the duke returned it, acknowledging he had no hand in his advancement, for that his majesty alone had made choice of him on account of his great abilities. In May 1620 the king granted him a yearly pension of 1000l. out of the customs. After having held the seals about five years, he resigned them in 1624, frankly owning to the king, that he was become a Roman catholic. The king, nevertheless, continued him a privy counsellor all his reign; and in Feb. 1625 created him (by the name of sir George Calvert of Danbywiske in Yorkshire, knight) baron of Baltimore in the county of Longford in Ireland. He was at that time a representative in parliament for the university of Oxford.
inia; and having viewed the neighbouring country, returned to England, and obtained from Charles I. ( who had as great a regard for him as James had) a patent to him
While he was secretary of state, he had obtained a patent for him and his heirs to be absolute lord and proprietor (with the royalties of a count-palatine) of the province of Avalon in Newfoundland. This name he gave it from Avalon in Somersetshire, whereon Glastonbury stands, the first-fruits of Christianity in Britain, as the other was in that part of America. He laid out 2500l. in advancing this new plantation, and built a handsome house in Ferryland. After the death of king James he went twice to Newfoundland. When M. de PArade, with three French men of war, had reduced the English fishermen there to great extremity, lord Baltimore, with two ships manned at his own expence, drove away the French, taking sixty of them prisoners, and relieved the English; but still finding his plantation very much exposed to the insults of the French, he at last determined to abandon it. He then went to Virginia; and having viewed the neighbouring country, returned to England, and obtained from Charles I. (who had as great a regard for him as James had) a patent to him and his heirs for Maryland on the north of Virginia. He died at London, April 15, 1632, before the grant was made out; but his son Cecil Calvert, lord Baltimore, who had been at Virginia, took it out in his own name, and the patent bears date June 20, 1632. He was to hold it of the crown of England in common soccage> as of the manor of Windsor; paying yearly, on Easter r l uesday, two Indian arrows of those parts at the castle of Windsor, and the fifth part of the gold and silver ore that should be found therein. King Charles himself gave that province the name of Maryland, in honour of his queen Henrietta Maria. The first colony sent thither consisted of about 200 people, Roman catholics, the chief of whom were gentlemen of good families. The Baltimore family were in danger of losing their property on account of their religion, by the act which requires all Roman catholic heirs to profess the protestant religion, on pain of being deprived of their estates: but this was prevented by their professing the protesunt religion.
ed party (the Roman catholics), managed his business with that great respect for all sides, that all who knew him applauded him, and none that had any thing to do with
George, the first lord, was buried in the chancel of Su
Dunstan’s in the west, in Fleet-street. As to his character,
Lloyd says, “he was the only statesman, that, being engaged to a decried party (the Roman catholics), managed
his business with that great respect for all sides, that all
who knew him applauded him, and none that had any
thing to do with him complained of him.
” But archbishop
Abbot, in a letter to sir Thomas Roe (Roe’s Letters, p. 372) seems to impute his turning Roman catholic to political discontent. This nobleman wrote, 1. “Carmen funebre in D. Hen. Untonum ad Gallos bis h-gatuiu, ibique
nuper fato functum.
” 2. “Speeches in Parliament.
” 3.
“Various Letters of State.
” 4. “The Answer of Tom
Tell Truth.
” 5. “The Practice of Princes
” and 6. “The
Lamentation of the Kirk.
” There are some of his letters
in the Harleian ms collection, and some in Howard’s
collection, 4to, p. 53—61.
le merit. A copy, the only one said to be known in this country , was sold at Mr. Isaac Reed’s sale, who likewise had another performance of his lordship’s, equally
, Lord Baltimore, a descendant of the preceding, and eldest son of Charles, the sixth
lord, was born in 1731, and succeeded to the title on the
death of his father in 1751, and also to the proprietorship
of Maryland. After returning from his travels he married
lady Diana Egerton, youngest daughter of the duke of
Bridgwater. In 1768 he was indicted at the Kingston assizes for a rape, but acquitted. He went soon after to
reside on the continent, and died at Naples, Sept. 14, 1771,
without issue by marriage, leaving his fortune to his sister,
Mrs. Eden. In 1767, he published “A Tour to the East
in the years 1763 and 1764, with remarks on the city of
'Constantinople and the Turks. Also select pieces of Oriental wit, poetry, and wisdom,
” Lond. Gaudia Poetica, Latina, Anglica,
et Gallica, Lingua composita, anuo 1769. Augustse Litteris Spathianis, 1770.
” It is dedicated, in Latin, to LinIkeiis, and consists of various pieces in Latin, French, and
English, prose and verse, of very little merit. A copy,
the only one said to be known in this country , was sold
at Mr. Isaac Reed’s sale, who likewise had another performance of his lordship’s, equally rare, and valued only
for its rarity, entitled “Coelestes et Inferi,
” Venetiis,
nity in the king’s court, York. He also preached at Christ Church, and was one of the four preachers who officiated at the cathedral during the time of Oliver Cromwell.
, uncle to the preceding, was born
at York in 1606, and studied at Sidney college, Cambridge.
After being chaplain for some time to sir T. Burdet, in
Derbyshire, he held the vicarage of Trinity in the king’s
court, York. He also preached at Christ Church, and was
one of the four preachers who officiated at the cathedral
during the time of Oliver Cromwell. On passing the act
of uniformity he was ejected from Allhallows parish in that
city, and lived privately. His studies appear to have been
much directed to the scriptures in the original languages,
and to the Jewish rabbins. He was much disturbed in mind
and injured in his property by an extravagant son, but was
greatly comforted in the excellent character of his nephew,
the subject of the preceding article. He died March 1679.
His works are, 1. “Mel Cceli, an exposition of Isaiah,
chap. 53,
” The blessed Jew of Morocco
a demonstration of the true Messias, &c. by Rabbi Samuel,
a converted Jew, &c.
” Christus
Triumphans;
” “Comcedia Apocalyptica;
” Gerard’s “Schola Consolatoria,
” with additions, and wrote some poetical
pieces, elegies, and a practical work entitled “Heartsalve for a wounded Soul, &c.
”
Noyon. His father afterwards changed his resolution, and would have him study law; to which Calvin, who, by reading the scriptures, had conceived a dislike to the
, one of the chief reformers of the
church, was born at Noyon in Picardy, July 10, 1509. He
was instructed in grammar at Paris under Maturinus Corderius, to whom he afterwards dedicated his Commentary
on the first epistle of the Thessalonians, and studied philosophy in the college of Montaigu under a Spanish professor. His father, uho discovered many marks of hitf
early piety, particularly in his reprehensions of the vices of
his companions, designed him for the church, and got him
presented, May 21, 1521, to the chapel of Notre Dame
de la Gesine, in the church of Noyon. In 1527 he was
presented to the rectory of Marteville, which he exchanged
in 1529 fortlie rectory of Pont I‘Eveque near Noyon. His
father afterwards changed his resolution, and would have
him study law; to which Calvin, who, by reading the
scriptures, had conceived a dislike to the superstitions of
popery, readily consented, and resigned the chapel of Gesine and the rectory of Pont l’Eveque in 1534. He had
never, it must here be observed, been in priest’s orders, and
belonged to the church only by having received the tonsure.
He was sent to study the law first under Peter de l'Etoile
(Petrus Stella) at Orleans, and afterwards under Andrew
Alciat at Bourges, and while he made a great progress in
that science, he improved no less in the knowledge of divinity by his private studies. At Bourges he applied to the
Greek tongue, under the direction of professor Wolmar.
His father’s death having called him back to Noyon, he
staid there a short time, and then went to Paris, where he
wrote a commentary on Seneca’s treatise “De dementia,
”
being at this time about twenty- four years of age. Having
put his name in Latin to this piece, he laid aside his surname Cauvin, for that of Calvin, styling himself in the
title-page “Lucius Calvinus civis Romanus.
” He soon
made himself known at Paris to such as had privately embraced the reformation, and by frequent intercourse with
them became more confirmed in his principles. A speech
of Nicholas Cop, rector of the university of Paris, of which
Calvin furnished the materials, having greatly displeased
the Sorbonne and the parliament, gave rise to a persecu^
tion against the protestants; and Calvin, who narrowly escaped being taken in the college of Forteret, was forced to
retire to Xaintonge, after having had the honour to be introduced to the queen of Navarre, who allayed this first storm
raised against the protestants. Calvin returned to Paris in
1534. This year the reformed met with severe treatment,
which determined him to leave France, after publishing a
treatise against those who believe that departed souls are
in a kind of sleep. He retired to Basil, where he studied
Hebrew; at this time he published his “Institutions of the
Christian Religion,
” a work well adapted to spread his fame,
though he himself was desirous of living in obscurity. It
is dedicated to the French king, Francis I. This prince
being solicitous, according to Beza, to gain the friendship
of the Protestants in Germany, and knowing that they
were highly incensed by the cruel persecutions which their
brethren suffered in France, he, by advice of William de
Bellay, represented to them that he had only punished
certain enthusiasts, who substituted their own imaginations
in the place of God’s word, and despised the civil magistrate. Calvin, stung with indignation at this wicked evasion, wrote this work as an apology for the Protestants who
were burnt for their religion in France. The dedication to
Francis I. is one of the three that have been highly admired: that of Thuanus to his history, and Casaubon’s to
Polybius, are the two others. But this treatise, when first
published in 1555, was only a sketch of a larger work.
The complete editions, both in Latin and in French, with
the author’s last additions and corrections, did not appear
till 1558. After the publication of this work, Calvin went
to Italy to pay a visit to the duchess of Ferrara, a lady of
eminent piety, by whom he was very kindly received.
Prom Italy he came back to France, and having settled his
private affairs, he purposed to go to Strasbourg, or Basil,
in company with his sole surviving brother Antony Calvin;
but as the roads were not safe on account of the war, except through the duke of Savoy’s territories, he chose that
road. “This was a particular direction of Providence,
”
says Bayle; “it was his destiny that he should settle at
Geneva, and when he was wholly intent on going farther,
he found himself detained by an order from heaven, if I
may so speak.
” William Farel, a man of a warm enthusiastic temper, who had in vain used many entreaties to
prevail with Calvin to be his fellow-labourer in that part of
the Lord’s vineyard, at last solemnly declared to him, in
the name of God, that if he would not stay, the curse of
God would attend him wherever he went, as seeking himself and not Christ. Calvin therefore was obliged to
comply with the choice which the consistory and magistrates of Geneva made of him, with the consent of the,
people, to be one of their ministers, and professor of divinity. It was his own wish to undertake only this last
office, but he was gbliged to take both upon him in August
1536. The year following he made all the people declare,
upon oath, their assent to a confession of faith, which contained a renunciation of Popery: and because this reformation in doctrine did not put an entire stop to the immoralities that prevailed at Geneva, nor banish that spirit of
faction which had set the principal families at variance,
Calvin, in concert with his colleagues, declared that they
could not celebrate the sacrament whilst they kept up their
animosities, and trampled on the discipline of the church.
He also intimated, that he could not submit to the regulation which the synod of the canton of Berne had lately
made *. On this, the syndics of Geneva summoned an assembly of the people; and it was ordered that Calvin,
Farel, and another minister, should leave the town in two
days, for refusing to administer the sacrament. Calvin'
retired to Strasbourg, and established a French church in
that city, of which he was the first minister; he was also
appointed to be professor of divinity there* During his
stay at Strasbourg, he continued to give many marks of
his affection for the church of Geneva; as appears, amongst
other things, by the answer which he wrote in 1539, to the
beautiful but artful letter of cardinal Sadolet, bishop of
Carpentras, inviting the people of Geneva to return into
the bosom of the Romish church. Two years after, the
divines of Strasbourg being very desirous that he should
assist at the diet which the emperor had appointed to be
held at Worms and at Ratisbon, for accommodating religious differences, he went thither with Bucer, and had a
conference with Melancthon. In the mean time the people
of Geneva (the syndics who promoted his banishment being now some of them executed, and others forced to fly their country for their crimes), entreated him so earnestly to
return to them, that at last he consented. He arrived at
Geneva, Sept. 13, 1541, to the great satisfaction both of
the people and the magistrates; and the first measure ha
adopted after his arrival, was to establish a form of church,
discipline, and a consistorial jurisdiction, invested with,
the power of inflicting censures and canonical punishments,
churches of the canton of Berne, who Calvin refused to submit, as far as excommunication inclusively.
churches of the canton of Berne, who Calvin refused to submit, as far as excommunication inclusively. This step was exclaimed against by many, as a revival of Romish tyranny; but it was carried into execution, the new canon beinopassed into a law, in an assembly of the whole people, held on Nov. 20, 1541; and the clergy and laity solemnly promised to conform to it for ever. Agreeably to the spirit of this consistorial chamber, which some considered as a kind of inquisition, Calvin proceeded to some of those lengths which have cast a stain upon his memory in the opinion of even his warmest admirers, and had a considerable hand in the death of Michael Servetus, a Socinian writer, and in the lesser punishments inflicted on Bolsec, Castalio, and others whose opinions were at variance with his new establishment.
uncommon talents have been acknowledged not only by the most eminent persons of his age, but by all who have studied his works, or have traced the vast and overpowering
The character of Calvin, like that of Luther, and the other more eminent reformers, has been grossly calumniated by the adherents of popery, but the testimonies in its favour are too numerous to permit us for a moment to doubt that he was not only one of the greatest, but one of the best men of his time, and the deduction which necessarily must be made from this praise, with respect to his conduct towards Servetus and others, must at the same time in candour be referred to the age in which he lived, and in which the principles of toleration were not understood . On the other hand his uncommon talents have been acknowledged not only by the most eminent persons of his age, but by all who have studied his works, or have traced the vast and overpowering influence he possessed in every country in Europe, where the work of reformation was carrying on. Every society, every church, every district, every nation that had in any degree adopted the principles of the reformers, were glad to consult and correspond with Calvin on the steps they were to pursue. The court of England in particular, Edward VI. queen Elizabeth, archbishop Cranmer, and the leading prelates and reformers here, expressed their high respect for him, and frequently asked and followed his advice. In France perhaps he was yet more consulted, and at Geneva he was an ecclesiastical dictator, whose doctrines and discipline became the regular church establishment, and were afterwards adopted and still remain in full force in Scotland. Calvinism was also extensively propagated in Germany, the United Provinces, and England. In France it was abolished, as well as every other species of protestantism, by the revocation of the edict >f Nantz in 1685. During the reign of Edward VI. it entered much into the writings of the eminent divines of that period; in queen Elizabeth’s time, although many of her' divines were of the same sentiments, it was discouraged as far as it showed itself in a dislike of the ceremonies, habits, &c. of the church. In the early part of Charles Ts time it was yet more discouraged, Arminiamsm being the favourite system of Laud; but during the interregnum it revived in an uncommon degree, and was perhaps the persuasion of the majority of the divines of that period, all others having been silenced and thrown out of their livings by the power of parliament. How far it now exists in the church of England, in her articles and homilies, has recently been the subject of a very long and perhaps undecided controversy, into which it is not our intention to enter, nor could we, indeed, make the attempt within any moderate compass. One excellent effect of this controversy has been to inform those of the real principles of Calvinism, who have frequently used that word to express a something which they did not understand. Perhaps it would be well if the word itself were less used, and the thing signified referred to the decision of more than human authority. It may be added, however, that the distinguishing theological tenets of Calvinism, as the term is now generally applied, respect the doctrines of Predestination, or particular Election and Reprobation, original Sin, particular Redemption, effectual, or, as some have called it, irresistible Grace in Regeneration, Justification by faith, Perseverance, and the Trinity. Besides the doctrinal part of Calvin’s system, which, so far as it differs from that of other reformers of the same period, principally regarded the absolute decree of God, whereby the future and eternal condition of the human race was determined out of mere sovereign pleasure and free-will; it extended likewise to the discipline and government of the Christian church, the nature of the Eucharist, and the qualification of those who were entitled to the participation of it. Calvin considered every church as a separate and independent body, invested with the power of legislation for itself. He proposed that it should be governed by presbyteries and synods, composed of clergy and laity, without bishops, or any clerical subordination; and maintained, that the province of the civil magistrate extended only to its protec-r tion and outward accommodation. In order to facilitate an union with the Lutheran church, he acknowledged a Vol. VIII. H renl, though spiritual, presence of Christ in the Eucharist; that true Christians were united to the man Christ in this ordinance; and that divine grace was conferred upon them, and sealed to them, in the celebration of it: and he confined the privilege of communion to pious and regenerate believers. In France the Calvinists are distinguished by the name of Huguenots; and, among the common people, by that of Parpaillots. In Germany they are confounded with the Lutherans, under the general title Protestants; only sometimes distinguished by the name Reformed.
, was born in London, Feb. 14, 1717, of ancestors belonging to the county of Gloucester. His father, who was a younger brother, had been bred to business as a Turkey
, an ingenious English writer, was born in London, Feb. 14, 1717, of ancestors belonging to the county of Gloucester. His father, who was a younger brother, had been bred to business as a Turkey merchant, and died in London not long after the birth of his son, the care of whom then devolved on his mother and his maternal uncle Thomas Owen, esq. who adopted him as his future representative. He was sent to Eton, school, where quickness of parts supplied the place of diligence; yet although he was averse to the routine of stated tasks, he stored his mind with classical knowledge, and amuseid it by an eager perusal of works addressed to the imagination. He became early attached to the best English poets, and to those miscellaneous writers who delineate human life and character. A taste likewise for the beauties of rural nature began to display itself at this period, which he afterwards exemplified at his seat in Gloucestershire, and that at Twickenham. In 1734, he entered as a gentleman commoner of St. John’s college, Oxford, and, without wishing to be thought a laborious scholar, omitted no opportunity of improving his mind in such studies as were suitable to his age and future prospects. His first, or one of his first, poetical effusions was on the marriage of the prince of Wales, which was published with the other verses composed at Oxford on the same occasion. In 1737, he became a member of Lincoln’s-inn, where he found many men of wit and congenial habits, but as he had declined taking a degree at Oxford, he had now as little inclination to pursue the steps that lead to the bar; and in 1741, in his twenty-fourth year, he married Miss Trenchard, the second daughter of George Trenchard, esq. of Woolverton in Dorsetshire, a lady who contributed to his happiness for upwards of half a century, and by whom he had a family equally amiable and affectionate. She died Sept. 5, 1806, Laving survived her husband four years.
rges he had the honour to receive the prince and princess of Wales and other distinguished visitors, who were delighted with the elegance of his taste, and the novelty
He now settled at his family seat of Whitminster in Gloucestershire, for seven or eight years, where his life, though
easy and independent, was never idle or useless. While
he continued to cultivate polite literature, his more active
hourswere employed in heightening the beauties of the
scenery around his seat for this purpose he made the little
river Stroud navigable for some distance, and not only
constructed boats for pleasure or carriage, but introduced
some ingenious improvements in that branch of naval architecture, which were approved by the most competent
judges. In one of these boats or barges he had the honour
to receive the prince and princess of Wales and other distinguished visitors, who were delighted with the elegance
of his taste, and the novelty and utility of his various plans.
For the sports of the field he had little relish, not, however, from a motive of tenderness, for he practised the bow
and arrow, and we read, but with no great pleasure, that
“the head of a duck, swimming in the river, was a favourite
mark, which he seldom missed.
” As, however, he ever
endeavoured to unite knowledge with amusement, he studied the history of archery, and became a connoisseur in
its weapons as used by modern and ancient nations. The
collection he formed while this pursuit occupied his attention, he afterwards sent to sir Ash ton Lever’s museum.
tifarious reading. But such was his diffidence in his own powers, or in the sincerity of his friends who praised his labours, that he laid his poem aside for many years
During his residence at Whitminster, he wrote his most
celebrated poem, “The Scribleriad.
” The design he impurled to some of his particular friends, and communicated
his progress from time to time. He had naturally a rich
fund of humour, which he could restrain within the bounds
of delicacy, or expand to the burlesque, as his subject required; and the topics which he introduced had evidently
been the result of a course of multifarious reading. But
such was his diffidence in his own powers, or in the sincerity of his friends who praised his labours, that he laid his
poem aside for many years after it was completed, until he
could ascertain, by their impatience, that they consulted
his reputation in advising him to publish it.
ed twenty-one papers, which are unquestionably among the best in that collection. Lord Chesterfield, who knew and respected him, drew the following character in one
The same year in which he commenced his establishment
at Twickenham, he became known to the public as the
'author of “The Seribleriad,
” which was published in The Dialogue between a member of parliament and his servant,
” in Intruder,
” in The Fakeer,
” in The
World,
” to which he contributed twenty-one papers,
which are unquestionably among the best in that collection.
Lord Chesterfield, who knew and respected him, drew the
following character in one of his own excellent papers
“Cantabrigitis drinks nothing but water, and rides more
miles in a year than the keenest sportsman the former
keeps his head clear, the latter his body in health it is
not from himself that he runs, but to his acquaintance, a
synonimous term for his friends. Internally safe, he seeks
po sanctuary from himself, no intoxication for his mind.
His penetration makes him discover and divert himself with
the follies of mankind, which his wit enables him to expose
with the truest ridicule, though always without personal
offence. Cheerful abroad because happy at home, and
thus happy because virtuous.
”
eneral Carnac, Mr. Scrafton, major Pearson, Mr. Varelst, general Calliaud, Mr. Hastings, and others, who had gained distinguished reputation by their services in the
On the commencement of the war with France in 1756,
in the events of which he appears to have taken a more
lively interest than could have been expected from a man
of his retired disposition, he was induced to undertake a
history of the rise and progress of the British power in
India, in order to enlighten the public mind in the nature
and importance of that acquisition. At first he intended
that this work should be on a very large scale, but as recent
events demanded such information as could be immediately
procured, and promised to be useful, he produced his
“History of the War upon the Coast of Coromandel,
”
which was published in
stomary habits of life, accepting of such amusement as conversation would afford, from those friends who had the kindness to adapt their voices to his prevailing infirmity;
The conclusion of his life is thus related by his biographer: " He was considerably advanced in his eighty-third year before he was sensible, to any considerable degree of the infirmities of age; but a difficulty of hearing, which had for some time gradually increased, now rendered conversation troublesome, and frequently disappointing to him. Against this evil his books, for which his relish was not abated, had hitherto furnished an easy and acceptable resource; but, unfortunately, his sight also became so imperfect, that there were few books he could read with comfort to himself. His general health, however, remained the same, apd his natural good spirits and cheerfulness of temper experienced no alteration. Having still the free use of his limbs, he continued to take his usual exercise, and to follow his customary habits of life, accepting of such amusement as conversation would afford, from those friends who had the kindness to adapt their voices to his prevailing infirmity; and that he still retained a lively concern m all those great and interesting events, which were then taking place in Europe, may be seen in some of his latest productions. But as his deafness increased, he felt himself grow daily more unfit for the society of any but his own family, into whose care and protection he resigned himself with the most affectionate and endearing confidence, rereiving those attentions, which it was the first pleasure of his children to pay him, not as a debt due to a fond and indulgent parent, but as a free and voluntary tribute of their affection. In the contemplation of these tokens of esteem and love, he seemed to experience a constant and unabating pleasure, which supplied, in no small degree, the want of other interesting ideas.
ll and friendly attentions he was assisted, through the 'progressive stages of his slow decline; and who has repeatedly assured me, that, in the whole course of his
"It is well known, that among the many painful and humiliating effects that attend the decline of life, and follow from a partial decay of the mental powers, we have often to lament the change it produces in the heart and affections; but from every consequence of this sort my father was most happily exempt. This I allow myself to say upon the authority of the medical gentleman * of considerable eminence, by whose skill and friendly attentions he was assisted, through the 'progressive stages of his slow decline; and who has repeatedly assured me, that, in the whole course of his extensive practice, he had never seen a similar instance of equanimity and undeviating sweetness of temper.
de of a Christian. Such information as the following, so honourable to the subject of it, and to him who relates it, ought not to be suppressed.
It appears from the whole of his Son’s very interesting narrative, that few men have enjoyed a life of the same duration so little interrupted by vexation or calamity. His fortune, if not relatively great, was rendered ample by judicious management, and as he had been highly favoured by Providence in his person and in his family, he felt the importance v of these blessings with the gratitude of a Christian. Such information as the following, so honourable to the subject of it, and to him who relates it, ought not to be suppressed.
anour under the losses which hft was ordained to suffer in his own family, was such, that those only who saw him near, and knew how sacred he held the duty of submission
“This principle. of piety led him also to bear afflictions
in the most exemplary manner. Whatever trials or deprivations he experienced through life, he always met with
fortitude, and his demeanour under the losses which hft
was ordained to suffer in his own family, was such, that
those only who saw him near, and knew how sacred he
held the duty of submission to the divine will, and the
selfcommand this produced, could form any idea how poignantly they were felt.
”
certain that the ablest works on every subject have been produced, with very few exceptions, by men who have been scholars by profession, to whom reputation was necessary
Of his literary character his Son has formed a just estimate, when he says that he is to be regarded rather as an elegant than a profound scholar. Yet, where he chose to apply, his knowledge was far from being superficial, and if he had not at an early period of life indulged the prospect of filling the station of a retired country gentleman, it is probable that he might have made a distinguished figure in any of the learned professions. It is certain that the ablest works on every subject have been produced, with very few exceptions, by men who have been scholars by profession, to whom reputation was necessary as well as ornamental, and who could not expect to rise but in proportion to the abilities they discovered. Mr. Cambridge, without being insensible to the value of fame, had yet none of the worst perils of authorship to encounter. As a writer 1 he was better known to the world, but he could not have been more highly respected by his friends.
ed to have ever existed. But Cervantes is in nothing so superior, as in the delineation of his hero, who throughout the whole narrative creates a powerful interest in
The Scribleriad is one of those poems, that, with great merits, yet make their way very slowly in the world. It was received so coolly on the publication of the first two parts, that he found it necessary to write a preface to the second and complete edition, explaining his design. He had some reason to apprehend that it had been mistaken, and that the poem was in danger of being neglected. In this preface he lays down certain rules for the mock heroic, by which, if his own production be tried, it must-be confessed he has executed all that he intended, with spirit and taste. As an imitator of the true heroic he is in general faithful, and his parodies on the ancients show that he had studied their writings with somewhat different from the ardour of an admirer of poetry, or the acutencss of a critical linguist. But it may be doubted whether the rales he wishes to establish are sufficiently comprehensive, whether he has not been too faithful to his models, and whether a greater and more original portion of the burlesque would not have conferred more popularity on his performance. His preference of Don Quixote, as a true mock heroic, is less a matter of dispute. In all the attributes of that species of composition, it is unquestionably superior to any attempt ever made, and probably will ever remain without a rival, for what subject can the wit of man devise so happily adapted to the intention of the writer? Its great excellence too appears from its continuing to please every class of readers, although the folly ridiculed no longer exists, and can with some difficulty be supposed to have ever existed. But Cervantes is in nothing so superior, as in the delineation of his hero, who throughout the whole narrative creates a powerful interest in his favour, and who excites ridicule and compassion in such nice proportions as never to be undeserving of sympathy, or overpowered by contempt.
mission at Christ’s hospital as a fiction, because not mentioned by himself; but as it is by Wheare, who pronounced his funeral oration very soon after his death, it
, one of the most eminent English
antiquaries, was born in the Old Bailey, London, May 2,
1551. His father, Samson Camden, was a native of Lichfield, whence he was sent very young to London, where
he practised painting, and settling in London, became a
member of the company of Puinter-stainers. The inscription on the cup left by his son to the company calls him
Pictor Londinensis, which may refer either to his profession or to his company. His mother was of the ancient
family of the Curwens of Workington in Cumberland.
Their son received his first education at Christ’s hospital,
which was founded the year after his birth by king Edward
VI.; but the records of that house being destroyed in the
fire of London, the date of his admission is lost. Bishop
Gibson treats his admission at Christ’s hospital as a fiction,
because not mentioned by himself; but as it is by Wheare,
who pronounced his funeral oration very soon after his
death, it seems to have some foundation, especially if we
consider the lowness of his circumstances, and his dependence on Dr. Thornton at Oxford. Dr. Smith (his biographer) says, some infer from hence, that he had lost his father, and was admitted as an orphan; but it is certain
Wheare does not give it that turn. Being seized with the
plague in 1563, he was removed to Islington, or perhaps
was seized with it there, “peste correptus Islingtonue
”
but on his recovery, he completed his education at St.
Paul’s school; where under Mr. Cook or Mr. Malin, he
made such progress in learning as laid the foundation of
his future fame.
college, by the invitation of Dr. Thomas Thornton, canon of Christ church, his patron and tutor, and who had the honour to be tutor both to Camden and to sir Philip
From this school he was removed when about fifteen, years old, in 1566, to Oxford, and entered as a servitor at Magdalen college; and in the school belonging to that college perfected himself in grammar learning under Dr. Thomas Cooper, afterwards bishop of Lincoln and Winchester; but being disappointed of a demi’s place, he removed to Broadgate-hall, now Pembroke college, by the invitation of Dr. Thomas Thornton, canon of Christ church, his patron and tutor, and who had the honour to be tutor both to Camden and to sir Philip Sidney. Camden left behind him in Broadgate-hall a signal mark of the respect paid him by his contemporaries in the short Latin graces composed by him, which were used many years after by the scholars of this society. Three years after he removed from hence to Christ church, on the promotion of Dr. Thornton to a canon ry there. This kind patron provided for him during the rest of his continuance at the university, and he lived in his patron’s lodgings. At this time his acquaintance commenced with the two Carews, Richard and George; the latter of whom was by James I. created baron Clopton, and by Charles I. earl of Totness; and it has been supposed, as they were both antiquaries, their conversation might give Mr. Camden a turn to that study, which he himself informs us he had strongly imbibed before he left school, and improved at Oxford. He was also acquainted with John Packington, Stephen Powel, and Edward Lucy, knights.
pursued his studies under the patronage of Dr. Gabriel Goodman and Dr. Godfrey Goodman his brother, who supplied him both with money and books. In 1573, he applied
About this time by the encouragement of his friends, he
stood for a fellowship at All Souls, but met with a repulse,
through the interest of the Popish party, on account of his
zeal for the church of England. He met with a second
disappointment in his supplication to be admitted to the
degree of bachelor of arts in 1570, and upon this he
quitted Oxford, and came up to London the next year,
being now about twenty. He pursued his studies under
the patronage of Dr. Gabriel Goodman and Dr. Godfrey
Goodman his brother, who supplied him both with money
and books. In 1573, he applied again for the same degree, and seems to have taken it, but never completed it
by determinations. In June 1588, we find him supplicating the convocation by the name of William Camden, B. A.
of Christ church, “that vvhereas from the time he had
taken the degree of bachelor, he had spent sixteen years
in the study of philosophy and the liberal arts, he might be
dispensed with for reading three solemn lectures, and be
allowed to proceed.
” His supplication was granted on
condition that he stood in the following act, which it seems
his other engagements would not permit; for Wood says,
his name is not in the registers. When he attended the
funeral of sir Thomas Bodley in 1613, his fame was so.
great, that the university voluntarily offered him the degree of master of arts, but whether he accepted it does not
appear.
Roman orthography and terminations had obscured in some instances the British names; but the Saxons, who succeeded the Romans here, as they gained a firmer possession,
Upon leaving the university, he seems to have made the
tour of great part of England; and in 1575, by the interest of his friend Dr. Gabriel Goodman, dean of Westnii nster, he obtained the place of second master of Westminster school. The little leisure he could spare from this
important charge he devoted to his favourite study. He
was not content with pursuing it in his closet, but made
excursions over the kingdom every vacation. In 1582, for
example, he took a journey through Suffolk into Yorkshire, and returned by Lancaster. When at home he
searched into the manuscript collections of our own writers, and the published writings of foreigners respecting
us. At this time too, he meditated his great work, the
“Britannia;
” and as his reputation engaged him in an extensive correspondence both at home and abroad, Ortelius, whom he terms the great restorer of geography, happening to come over into England, applied himself to Mr.
Camden for information respecting this country. His solicitations, and the regard our author had for his native
country, prevailed on him to improve and digest the collections, which he seems to have made at first only for private satisfaction and curiosity. He entered upon this task
with every difficulty and disadvantage. It was a new
science, which was to amuse and inform an age which had
just began to recover itself from the heat and perplexity of
philosophy and school divinity. The study of geography
had been first attended to in Italy for the facilitating the
reading of Roman history. The names of places there, and
even in the rest of Europe, where the Romans had so long
kept possession, were not greatly altered; but in Britain,
which they subdued so late, and held so precariously, a
great degree of obscurity prevailed. The Roman orthography and terminations had obscured in some instances
the British names; but the Saxons, who succeeded the
Romans here, as they gained a firmer possession, made an
almost total change in these as in every thing else. Upon
their expulsion by the Normans, their language ceased to
be a living one, while that of the Britons was preserved in
a corner of the island. Very soon after the coiiquesj there
were few who could read the Saxon characters. In tracing
the Roman geography of Britain, Mr. Camden might he
assisted by Ptolemy, Antoninus’s Itinerary, and the Notitia; but before he could become acquainted with the
Saxon geography, it was necessary for him to make himself master of a language which had ceased for above 400
years. The few written remains of it were almost divided
between three collections; that of archbishop Parker, now
at Bene't college, Cambridge; that of archbishop Laud,
now at Oxford; and that of sir Robert Cotton, now in the
British Museum.
while, baffled the help of physic, and brought him very low. During this illness, Dr. Edward Grant, who had been head master of Westminster school upwards of twenty
As each new edition received large corrections and improvements from its author, he took a journey into Devon in 1589, and in June that year was, as he tells us in his diary, at Ilfracomb, which is a prebend of the church of Salisbury, and had been bestowed on him that year by Dr. John Piers, then bishop of that see and his intimate friend; and he had been installed into it by proxy Feb. 6. This preferment he held till his death; and when bishop Abbot held his general visitation at Whitsuntide in 1617, he excused himself from attending on account of his age, being then seventy, and was allowed to appear by proxy. The expence of this and other journies was defrayed by his friend Mr. Godfrey Goodman. In 1590 he visited Wales in company with the famous Dr. Godwin, afterwards bishop of Landatf‘and Hereford. On Oct. 23, 1592, he was attacked with a quartan ague, which, for a long while, baffled the help of physic, and brought him very low. During this illness, Dr. Edward Grant, who had been head master of Westminster school upwards of twenty years with great reputation, worn out with fatigue, resigned that place Feb. 1592-3; and in March following was succeeded by Camden. Mr. Wheare, Dr. Smith, and bishop Gibson, all assign this vacancy to the death of Dr. Grant; and Wood, though in two articles he expresses himself doubtfully, in another affirms that he resigned about February 1592, and was succeeded by William Camden. He adds, that Dr. Grant died in 1601, and was buried in Westminster abbey, where his epitaph, now defaced, but preserved in Mr. Camden’ s account of this abbey-church, dates his death Aug. 3, 1601.
n 1621, we find him at Sandhurst in Kent, searching without success for a camp of Alexander Severus, who was, without any foundation, supposed to have been killed there
Mr. Camden being confined many months in consequence of a hurt in his leg by a fall from his horse, Sept. 7, 1607, employed himself in putting the last hand to the complete edition of his Britannia in folio, considerably augmented, adorned with maps, and applauded by a variety of poetical compliments from his friends both at home and abroad. He did not to the last give up thoughts of revising and enlarging it, for in 1621, we find him at Sandhurst in Kent, searching without success for a camp of Alexander Severus, who was, without any foundation, supposed to have been killed there instead of at Sisila or Sicila in Gaul. Dr. Smith gave Mr. Hearne, who left it to the Bodleian library, a copy of the last edition of the Britannia, with notes and emendations by Mr. Camden himself, in the margin and on little pieces of paper fixed in their proper places; and from this copy Hearne once had thoughts of publishing a new edition of the Britannia in the original language. Before Camden undertook this elaborate and finished work, he had formed a design for writing a general history of this nation in Latin, of which the account of the conquest inserted in the Britannia, article Normans, is a part: but foreseeing that the bare collecting materials would take up a man’s life, he contented himself with publishing the volume of original historians before mentioned.
year upon the passing of the act to erect a college at Chelsea, for a certain number of learned men, who were to be employed in writing against popery, on a plan proposed
Not, however, to neglect the leisure he now enjoyed, he
began in 1608 to digest the matter which he had been
years collecting towards a history of the reign of queen
Elizabeth, to which he had been first incited by his old
patron the lord treasurer in 1597, ten years before, and
solicited by other great personages. But the death of
Burleigh next year, the queen’s decease soon after, and
the difficulty of the task, obliged him to defer it. While he
was meditating this great work, he was seized on his birthday, 1609, with a dangerous illness, and the plague breaking out in his neighbourhood, he was removed to his friend
Heather’s house, and by the care of his physician Dr. Giffard, he, though slowly, recovered his health, retired to
Chiselhurst Aug. 15 of that year, and returned Oct. 23.
This year upon the passing of the act to erect a college at
Chelsea, for a certain number of learned men, who were
to be employed in writing against popery, on a plan proposed by Dr. Sutcliffe, dean of Westminster, consisting of
a dean or provost, seventeen fellows and two historians,
Mr. Camden was appointed one of the latter. But this
design failing, as we have more than once had occasion to
notice, he received from it only the honour of being
thought qualified to fill such a department. From this time
his history of Elizabeth employed his whole attention, and
when the first part was ready, which reached to the year
1589, he obtained the king’s warrant to sir Robert Cotton
and himself to print and publish it. It was accordingly
published in 1615, folio, under the title of “Annales
rerum Anglicarum et Hibernicarum regnante Elizabetha ad
ann. salutis 1589,
” Lond.
which was preserved in the Cottonian library, and sent an exact copy of it to his friend Mr. Dupuy, who had given him the strongest assurances that he would punctually
His impartiality has been attacked on several parts of this work. He has been charged with being influenced in his account of the queen of Scots by complaisance for her son, and with contradictions in the information given by him to M. deThou, and his own account of the same particulars. It is not to be wondered if James made his own corrections on the ms. which his warrant sets forth he had perused before he permitted it to be published. It was no easy matter to speak the truth in that reign of flattery in points where filial piety and mean ambition divided the mind of the reigning monarch. An English historian in such a reign could not indulge the same freedom as Thuanus. The calumnies cast upon him for his detail of Irish affairs were thought by him beneath the notice his friends wanted to take of them. But though he declined adding his own justification to that which the government of Ireland thought proper to publish of their own conduct, we have the letters he wrote on the subject to archbishop Usher and others and it had this effect on him, that he declined publishing in his life-time the second part of his history, which he completed in 1617. He kept the original by him, which was preserved in the Cottonian library, and sent an exact copy of it to his friend Mr. Dupuy, who had given him the strongest assurances that he would punctually perform the duty of this important trust, and faithfully kept his word. It was first printed at Leyden, 1625, 8vo, again London, 1627, folio, Leyden, 1639, 8vo, &c. But the most correct edition of the whole is that by Hearne from Dr. Smith’s copy corrected by Mr. Camden’s own hand, collated with another ms. in Mr. Rawlinson’s library. Both parts were translated into French by M. Paul de Belligent, advocate in the parliament of Paris; and from thence into English with many errors, by one Abraham D'Arcy, who did not understand English. The materials whence Camden compiled this history are most of them to be found in the Cottonian library. We learn from a ms letter of Dr. Goodman’s, that he desired them as a legacy, but received for answer, that they had been promised to archbishop Bancroft, upon whose death he transferred them to his successor Abbot, and archbishop Laud said they were deposited in the palace at Lambeth, but whereever they were archbishop Sancroft could not find one of them.
poor of the parish in which he should happen to die, he bequeaths to sir Fulke Grevile, lord Brooke, who preferred him gratis to his office, a piece of plate of ten
In his last testament, after a devout introduction, and bequeathing eight pounds to the poor of the parish in which
he should happen to die, he bequeaths to sir Fulke Grevile,
lord Brooke, who preferred him gratis to his office, a piece
of plate of ten pounds; to the company of painter stainers
of London, he gave sixteen pounds to buy them a piece of
plate, upon which he directed this inscription, “Gul. Camdenus Clarenceux filius Sampsonjs, Pictoris Londinensis,
dono dedit;
” he bestowed the sum of twelve pounds on the
company of cordwainers, or shoemakers of London, to
purchase them a piece of plate, on which the same inscription was to be engraved. Then follow the legacies to his
private friends. As to his books and papers, he directs
that sir Robert Cotton of Conington, should take out such
as he had borrowed of him, and then he bequeaths to him
all his printed books and manuscripts, excepting such as
concern arms and heraldry, which, with his ancient seals,
he bequeaths to his successor in the office of Clarenceux,
provided, because they cost him a considerable sum of
money, he gave to his cousin John Wyat, what the kings
at arms Garter and Norroy for the time being should
think fit, and agreed also to leave them to his successor.
But notwithstanding this disposition of his books and papers,
Dr. John Williams, then dean of Westminster, and bishop
of Lincoln, afterwards archbishop of York, procured all
the printed books for the new library erected in the church
of Westminster. It is understood, that his collections in
support of his History, with respect to civil affairs, were
before this time deposited in the Cotton library; for as to
those that related to ecclesiastical matters, when asked for
them by Dr. Goodman, son to his great benefactor, he declared he stood engaged to Dr. Bancroft, archbishop of Canterbury. They came afterwards to archbishop Laud, and are
supposed to have been destroyed when his papers fell into the
hands of Mr. Prynne, Mr. Scot, and Hugh Peters; for upon
a diligent search made by Dr. Sancroft, soon after his promotion to that see, there was not a line of them to be found,
as we have already mentioned. His body was removed to
his house in London, and on the 19th of November, carried
in great pomp to Westminster abbey, and after a sermon
preached by Dr. Christopher Sutton, was deposited in the
south aile, near the learned Casaubon, and over against
Chaucer. Near the spot was erected a handsome monument of white marble, with an inscription, erroneous as to
his age, which is stated to be seventy-four, whereas he
wanted almost six months of seventy-three. At Oxford,
Zouch Townley, of Christ Church, who was esteemed a
perfect master of the Latin tongue in all its purity and elegance, was appointed to pronounce his funeral oration in
public, which is printed by Dr. Smith. The verses written
on his death were collected and printed in a thin quarto,
entitled “Insignia Camdeni,
” Ox.
also several editions printed abroad. The first translation of it was in 1610, by Philemon Holland, who was thought to have consulted Mr. Camden himself, and therefore
The first edition of his Britannia was in 1586, 8vo, and
not 4to, as Mr. Gough, probably by a slip t)f the pen, has
noted; and the sixth and last was in 1607, fol. This was
the first with maps. There were also several editions
printed abroad. The first translation of it was in 1610, by
Philemon Holland, who was thought to have consulted
Mr. Camden himself, and therefore great regard has been
paid by subsequent editors to his additions and explanations. Mr. Camden’s ms supplement to this edition of
1610, in the Bodleian library, expressly cautions the reader to hold only his “Latin copy for autentiq,
” but this
bishop Gibson denies; but in a later edition of his translation, 1637, fol. Holland has taken unwarrantable liberties.
Mr. Wanley supposes this second edition was published
after Holland’s death in 1636, the title being like a bookseller’s; and that he made the translation without consulting Camden.
ip’s ms. in his own copy, by his son-in-law, George Scot, esq. of Wolstonhall, near Chigwell, Essex, who died 1780. A first volume of a translation, by W. O. (William
The Britannia was translated in 1694 by bishop Gibson,
and published in folio, with large additions at the end of
each county; others are inserted in the body of the book,
distinguished from the original, and Holland’s most material notes placed at the bottom of each page. As this was
grown scarce, and many improvements were communicated
to the editor, he published a new edition 1722, 2 vols. fol.
and additions, greatly enlarged, incorporated with the
text, distinguished by hooks. This edition was reprinted
1753, 2 vols. fol. and again in 1772, with a few corrections and improvements from his lordship’s ms. in his own
copy, by his son-in-law, George Scot, esq. of Wolstonhall, near Chigwell, Essex, who died 1780. A first volume of a translation, by W. O. (William Oldys), esq. was
printed in 4to, but, as Mr. Gough thinks, was never
finished or dated. A manuscript most erroneous translation of it, without acknowledgment, by Richard Butcher,
author of the “Antiquities of Stamford,
” is in St. John’s
college library, Cambridge, with a few immaterial additions. The last and most complete translation of the Britannia, by such an antiquary as Camden would have chosen,
the late learned and excellent Richard Gough, esq. was
published in 1789, 3 vols. fol. of which we shall speak
more at large in his article. Some years afterwards he had
made preparations for a new edition, of which he superintended only the first volume, and announced that fact in
a public advertisement, which did not, however, prevent
an attempt to pass off the whole of a recent edition as his.
Of Mr. Cough’s Life of Camden we have here availed
ourselves, as far preferable to the ill-digested compilation
in the Biog. Britannica.
den’s house at Chiselhurst passed, through the hands of several possessors, to the late lord Camden, who purchased it in 1765, and enlarged 'and improved the mansion
It only remains to be mentioned that Camden’s house at Chiselhurst passed, through the hands of several possessors, to the late lord Camden, who purchased it in 1765, and enlarged 'and improved the mansion and grounds.
which gave occasion to the reformation. Camerarius was at St. Paul’s church in Leipsic with Heltus, who was his master in Greek and Latin literature, when these indulgences
, one of the most learned writers of his age, was born at Bamberg April 12, 1500. The ancient family name was Leibhard, but it was afterwards changed into that of Cammermeister, in Latin Camerarius, or Chamberlain, from one of his ancestors having held that office at court. He was sent to a school at Leipsic when he was 13 years of age, and soon distinguished himself by his application to Greek and Latin authors, which he read without ceasing. When Leipsic, on one occasion, was in a tumult, Camerarius shewed no concern about any thing but an Aldus’s Herodotus, which he carried under his arm; and which indeed to a scholar at that time was of some consequence, when printing was in its infancy, and Greek books not easily procured. It is yet more to his praise that his Greek professor, when obliged to be absent, entrusted him to read his lectures, although at that time he was but sixteen years old. In 1517 he studied philosophy under Moseilanus; and this was the year, when the indulgences were preached, which gave occasion to the reformation. Camerarius was at St. Paul’s church in Leipsic with Heltus, who was his master in Greek and Latin literature, when these indulgences were exposed from the pulpit; but Heltus was so offended with the impudence of the Dominican who obtruded them, that he went out of the church in the middle of the sermon, and ordered Camerarius to follow him. When he had staid at Leipsic five years, he went to Erford; and three years after to Wittemberg, where Luther and Melancthon were maintaining and propagating the reformation. He knew Melancthon before lived afterwards in the utmost intimacy with him and, after Melancthon' s death, wrote a very copious and accurate life of him. He was also soon after introduced to Erasnrus, and his uncommon abilities and industry made him known to all the eminent men of his time.
amily, with whom he lived forty-six years very happily, and had four daughters and five sons by her, who all did honour to their family. In 1530, the Senate of Nuremberg
In 1525, when there was an insurrection among the common people through all Germany, commonly called the war of the peasants, Camerarius went into Prussia, but he returned very soon, and was made professor of the belies lettres in an university which the senate of Nuremberg had just founded under the direction and superintendency of Melancthon. In 1526, when the diet of Spires was held, Albert earl of Mansfelt was appointed ambassador to Charles V. of Spain, and Camerarius to attend him as his Latin interpreter; but this embassy being suspended, Camerarius went no farther than Sslirigen, whence he returned home, and was married the year after to Anne Truchses, a lady of an ancient and noble family, with whom he lived forty-six years very happily, and had four daughters and five sons by her, who all did honour to their family. In 1530, the Senate of Nuremberg sent him with some other persons to the diet of Augsburgh, and four years after offered him the place of secretary; but, preferring the ease and freedom of a studious life to all advantages of a pecuniary nature, he refused it. In 1538, Ulric prince of Wittemberg sent him to Tubingen, to restore the discipline and credit of that university and in 1541, Henry, duke of Saxony, and afterwards Maurice his son, invited him to Leipsic, to direct and assist in founding an university there.
ed by the civil war. He now came over to England with his family, and was recommended to king James, who appointed him professor of divinity at Glasgow, in the room
, one of the most famous divines of
the seventeenth century, among the French Protestants,
was born at Glasgow, in Scotland, about the year 1580,
and educated at the university of his native city. After
reading lectures on the Greek language for a year, he began his travels in 1600, and at Bourdeaux evinced so much
ability and erudition, that the ministers of that city appointed him master of a college which they had established
at Bergerac, for teaching Greek and Latin; and from this
the duke de Bouillon removed him to the philosophical
professorship at Sedan, where he remained for two years.
He then went to Paris, and from Paris to Bourdeaux,
where he arrived in 1604, and began his divinity studies, and in 1608 was appointed one of the ministers
of Bourdeaux, and officiated there with such increasing
reputation, that the university of Saumur judged him worthy to succeed Gomarus in the divinity chair. Having
accepted this offer, he gave his lectures until 1620, when
the university was almost dispersed by the civil war. He
now came over to England with his family, and was recommended to king James, who appointed him professor
of divinity at Glasgow, in the room of Robert Boyd, of
Trochrig, (whom Bayle and his translators call Trochoregius), because he was supposed to be more attached to the
episcopal form of church government. This situation,
however, not suiting his taste, he returned to Saumur in
less than a year; but even there he met with opposition,
and the court having prohibited his public teaching, he was
obliged to read lectures in private. After a year passed in
this precarious state of toleration, he went in 1624 to Montauban, where he was chosen professor of divinity, but
having declared himself too openly against the party which
preached up the civil war, he created many enemies, and
among the rest an unknown miscreant who assaulted him
in the street, and wounded him so desperately as to occasion his death, which took place, after he had languished a
considerable time, in 1625. Bayle says, he was a man of
a great deal of wit and judgment, had a happy memory,
was very learned, a good philosopher, of a chcarful temper,
and ready to communicate not only his knowledge, but
even his money: he was a great talker, a long preacher,
little acquainted with the works of the fathers, obstinate
in his opinions, and somewhat troublesome. He frankly
owned to his friends, that he found several things still to
reform in the reformed churches. He took a delight in
publishing particular opinions, and in going out of the
beaten road; and he gave instances of this when he was a
youth, in his theses “De Tribus Frederibus,
” which he
published and maintained at Heidelberg, although yet
but a proposant, or candidate for the ministry. He also
mixed some novelties in all the theological questions
which he examined; and when in explaining some passages of the holy scripture, he met with great difficulties,
he took all opportunities to contradict the other divines,
and especially Beza; for he pretended that they had not
penetrated into the very marrow of that science. It was
from him that monsieur Amyraut adopted the doctrine of
universal grace, which occasioned so many disputes in
France, and will always be found, at least upon Amyraut’s
principles, to be too inconsistent for general belief. Cameron’s works are his “Theological Lectures,
” Saumur,
Myrothecium
Evangelicum.
”
His impatience, however, hurried him into some breaches of decorum, while pursuing his coy mistress, who was one of the queen’s ladies, and her parents took this opportunity
, a very celebrated
Portuguese poet, and from his much-admired poem the
“Lusiadas,
” called the Virgil of Portugal, was descended
from an illustrious, and originally, Spanish family, and was
born at Lisbon about the year 1524. His father Simon
Vaz de Camoens is said to have perished by shipwreck in
the year which gave being to his son, although this is somewhat doubtful. It appears, however, that our poet was
sent to the university of Coimbra, and maintained there
by his surviving parent. On his arrival in Lisbon, he became enamoured of Donna Catarina de Ataide, whom he
addressed with all the romantic ardour of youth and poetry,
but according to the prescribed reserve, or prudery of the
age, obtained no higher mark of her favour, after many
months of adoration, than one of the silken fillets which,
encircled her head. His impatience, however, hurried him
into some breaches of decorum, while pursuing his coy
mistress, who was one of the queen’s ladies, and her parents took this opportunity to terminate an intercourse
which worldly considerations rendered, on her part, of the
highest imprudence. This interference produced its usual
effect. Camoens was banished the court, and on the
morning of his departure, Catarina confessed to him the
secret of her long-concealed affection. Thus comforted, he
removed to Santarem, the place of his banishment, but is
said to have speedily returned to Lisbon, where he was
again detected, and again sent into exile.
. “He,” says lord Strangford, " whose best years had been devoted to the service of his country, he, who had taught her literary fame to rival the proudest efforts of
The mal-administration of affairs in India was at this
time notorious; and Camoens, with more justice than prudence, took an opportunity of expressing his disgust in a
satirical account of some amusements -exhibited before the
governor of Goa, in consequence of which he was banished
to China. His adventures, while in China, are amply detailed by Mr. Mickle. After an absence of sixteen years,
he returned to Portugal, poor and friendless as when he
departed. His Lusiad, after being delayed for some time
by the raging of the plague in Lisbon, was published in the
summer of 1572. From this display of uncommon genius,
the author derived much honour, but little emolument.
King Sebastian, it is said, rewarded him with a pension of
375 reis, a sum so small (for 20 reis make only one penny),
that we know not how to reconcile it with the lowest computation of maintenance, yet even this he lost on Sebas-,
dan’s death, and his latter years present a mournful picture,
not merely of individual calamity, but of national ingratitude. “He,
” says lord Strangford, " whose best years
had been devoted to the service of his country, he, who
had taught her literary fame to rival the proudest efforts of
Italy itself, and who seemed born to revive the remembrance of ancient gentility and Lusian heroism, was compelled in age to wander through the streets, a wretched
dependent on casual contribution. One friend alone remained to smooth his downward path, and guide his steps
to the grave with gentleness and consolation. It was Antonio, his slave, a native of Java, who had accompanied Camoens to Europe, after having rescued him from the waves,
when shipwrecked at the mouth of the Mecon. This faithful attendant was wont to seek alms throughout Lisbon, and
at night shared the produce of the day with his poor and
broken-hearted master. But his friendship was employed
in vain: Camoens sunk beneath the pressure of penury and
disease, and died in an almshouse early in 1579, and was
buried in the church of St. Anne of the Franciscans. Over
his grave, Gonçalo Coutinho placed the following inscription, which, for comprehensive simplicity, the translator
ventures to prefer to almost every production of a similar
kind;
, some of which have been lately very elegantly translated into English by lord viscount Strangford, who has also prefixed a life of the author, from which we have extracted
Camoens wrote a variety of poetical compositions, some
of which have been lately very elegantly translated into
English by lord viscount Strangford, who has also prefixed
a life of the author, from which we have extracted some
remarks. According to the researches his lordship has
made into the character of Camoens, he appears to have
possessed a lofty and independent spirit, with a disposition to gallantry which may probably have involved him in
difficulties. His genius, however, appears principally io
the “Lusiad,
” the subject of which is the first discovery of
the East Indies by Vasco de Gama the poem is conducted
according to the epic plan: both the subject and the in r
cidents are magnificent, but the machinery is perfectly
extravagant. Not only, says Blair, is it formed of a singular mixture of Christian ideas and pagan mythology,
tout it is so conducted, that the pagan gods appear to be
the true deities, and Christ and the blessed Virgin, to be
subordinate agents. One great scope of the Portuguese
expedition, our author informs us, is to propagate the
Christian faith, and to extirpate Mahometanism. In this
religious undertaking, the great protector of the Portuguese is Venus, and their great adversary is Bacchus,
whose displeasure is excited by Vasco’s attempting to rival
his tame in the Indies. Councils of the gods are held, in
which Jupiter is introduced, as foretelling the downfall of
Mahometanism, and the propagation of the gospel Vasco,
in a great distress from a storm, prays most seriously to
God; implores the aid of Christ and the Virgin; and begs
for such assistance as was given to the Israelites, when they
were passing through the Red Sea; and to the apostle
Paul, when he was in hazard of shipwreck. In return to
this prayer, Venus appears, who, discerning the storm to
be the work of Bacchus, complains to Jupiter, and procures the winds to be calmed. Such strange and preposterous machinery, shews how much authors have been
misled by the absurd opinion, that there could be no epic
poetry without the gods of Homer. Towards the end of
the work, indeed, the author gives us an awkward salvo for
his whole mythology: making the goddess Thetis inform
Vasco, that she, and the rest of the heathen deities, are no
more than names to describe the operations of Providence.
There is, however, says the same judicious critic, some
fine machinery of a different kind in the Lusiad. The genius of the river Ganges, appearing to Emanuel king of
Portugal, in a dream, inviting that prince to discover his
secret springs, and acquainting him that he was the destined monarch for whom the treasures of the East were
reserved, is a happy idea. But the noblest conception of
this sort is in the fifth canto, where Vasco is recounting to
the king of Melinda all the wonders which he met with in
his navigation. He tells him, that when the fleet arrived
at the Cape of Good Hope, which never before had been
doubled by any navigator, there appeared to them on a
sudden, a huge and monstrous phantom rising out of the
sea, in the midst of tempests and thunders, with a head
that reached the clouds, and a countenance that filled them
with terror. This was the genius, or guardian, of that
hitherto unknown ocean. It spoke to them with a voice
like thunder: menaced them for invading those seas which
he had so long possessed undisturbed, and for daring to
explore those secrets of the deep, which never had been
revealed to the eye of mortals; required them to proceed
no farther: if they should proceed, foretold all the successive calamities that were to befall them: and then, with
a mighty noise, disappeared. This is one of the most solemn and striking pieces of machinery that ever was employed, and is sufficient to show that Camoens is a poet,
though of an irregular, yet of a bold and lofty imagination.
The critical student will find a more severe censure of Canioens in Rapin, Dryden, and Voltaire. But the Lusiad
lias generally been considered as a poem of very superior
merit, and has been often reprinted and translated into
several languages, once into French, twice into Italian,
four times into Spanish; and lately, with uncommon excellence, into English, by Mr. Mickle; but it had beea
translated in the 17th century by sir Richard Fanshaw.
Mickle’s translation will be considered in his life. It was
translated into Latin by Thomas de Faria, bishop of Targa
in Africa; who, concealing his name, and saying nothing
of its being a translation, made some believe that the Lusiadas was originally in Latin. Large commentaries have
been written upon the Lusiadas; the most considerable of
which are those of Emanuel Faria de Sousa, in 2 vols. folio,
Madrid, 1639. These commentaries were followed the
year after with the publication of another volume in folio,
written to defend them; besides eight volumes of observations upon the miscellaneous poems of Camoens, which
this commentator left behind him in manuscript.
to be maintained by the Franciscans; but finding himself indisposed, he sent Campanella in his room, who argued with so much subtilty and force, as to charm his auditory.
, a celebrated Italian philosopher, was born at Stilo, a small village in Calabria, Sept. 5, 1568. At thirteen he understood the ancient orators and poets, and wrote discourses and verses on various subjects; and the year after, his father purposed to send him to Naples to study law: but young Campanella, having other views, entered himself into the order of the Dominicans. Whilst he was studying philosophy at San Giorgio, his professor was invited to dispute upon some theses which were to be maintained by the Franciscans; but finding himself indisposed, he sent Campanella in his room, who argued with so much subtilty and force, as to charm his auditory. When his course of philosophy was finished, he was sent to Cosenza to study divinity: but his inclination led him to philosophy. Having conceived a notion that the truth was not to be found in the peripatetic philosophy, he anxiously examined all the Greek, Latin, and Arabian commentators upon Aristotle, and began to hesitate more and more with regard to the doctrines of that sect. His doubts still remaining, he determined to peruse the writings of Plato, Pliny, Galen, the Stoics, the followers of Democritus, and especially those of Telesius; and he found the doctrine of his masters to be false in so many points, that he began to doubt even of uncontroverted matters of fact. At the age of twenty- two he began to commit his new system to writing, and in 1500 he went to Naples to get it printed. Some time after he was present at a disputation in divinity, and took occasion to commend what was spoken by an ancient professor of his order, as very judicious;but the old man, jealous, perhaps, of the glory which Campanella had gained, bade him, in a very contemptuous manner, be silent, since it did not belong to a young man, as he was, to interpose in questions of divinity. Campanella 'fired at this, and said, that, young as he was, he was able to teach him; and immediately confuted what the professor had advanced, tothe satisfaction of the audience. The professor conceived a mortal hatred to him on this account, and accused him to the inquisition, as if he had gained by magic that vast extent of learning which he had acquired without a master. His writings now made a great noise in the world, and the novelty of his opinions stirring up many enemies agaiast him at Naples, he removed to Rome; but not meeting with a better reception in that city, he proceeded to Florence, and presented some of his works to the grand duke, Ferdinand I. the patron of learned men. After a short stay there, as he was passing through Bologna, in his way to Padua, his writings were seized, and carried to the inquisition at Rome, which, however, gave him little disturbance, and he continued his journey. At Padua, he was employed in instructing some young Venetians in his doctrines, and composing some pieces. Returning afterwards to Rome, he met with a hetter reception than before, and was honoured with the friendship of several cardinals. In 1598 he went to Naples, where he staid but a short time, then visited his own country. Some expressions which he dropped, with regard to the government of the Spaniards, and the project of an insurrection, being reported to the Spaniards, he was seized and carried to Naples in 1599, as a criminal against the state, and put seven times to the rack, and afterwards condemned to perpetual imprisonment. At first he was not permitted to see any person, and denied the use of pen, ink, and paper; but, being afterwards indulged with these implements, he wrote several of his pieces in prison; some of which Tobias Adamus of Saxony procured from him, and published in Germany. Pope Urban VIII. who knew him from his writings, having obtained his liberty from Philip IV. of Spain in May 1626, Campanella went immediately to Rome, where he continued some years in the prisons of the inquisition, but was a prisoner only in name. In 1629 he was discharged, but the resentment of the Spaniards was not abated. The friendship shewn him by the pope, who settled a considerable pension, and conferred many other favours on him, excited their jealousy; and his correspondence with some of the French nation, gave them new suspicions of him. Being informed of their designs against him, he went out of Rome, disguised like a minim, in the French ambassador’s coach, and, embarking for France, landed at Marseilles in 1634. Mr. Peiresc, being informed of his arrival, sent a letter to bring him to Aix, where he entertained him some months. The year following he went to Paris, and was graciously received by Lewis XIII. and cardinal Richelieu; the latter procured him a pension of 2000 livres, and often consulted him on the affairs of Italy. He passed the remainder of his days in a monastery of the Dominicans at Paris, and died March 21, 1639.
led for the purpose of consulting on a league of the Christian princes against the Turks. Sixtus IV. who had been one of his scholars at Perugia, made him successively
, an Italian poet and prelate, was born in 1427 at Cavelli, a village of Campania, of parents so obscure that he bore no name but that of his country, and was employed in his early years as a shepherd, in which situation an ecclesiastic discovering some promise of talents in him, sent him to Naples, where he studied under Laurentius Valla. He went afterwards to Perugia, where he rose to be professor of eloquence, and filled that chair with so much reputation, that when, in 1459, pope Pius II. happened to pass through Perugia in his way to the council of Mantua, he bestowed his patronage on him, and made him bishop of Crotona, and secondly of Teramo. Enjoying the same favour under pope Paul II. this pontiff sent him to the congress of Ratisbon, which assembled for the purpose of consulting on a league of the Christian princes against the Turks. Sixtus IV. who had been one of his scholars at Perugia, made him successively governor of Todi, of Foligno, and of Citta di Castello; but the pope having thought proper to besiege this last named city, because the inhabitants made some scruple about receiving his troops, Campano, touched with the hardships they were likely to suffer, wrote to the pope with so much freedom and spirit as to enrage his holiness, and provoke him to deprive him of his government, and banish him from the ecclesiastical states. Campano on this went to Naples, but not rinding the reception he expected, he retired to his bishopric at Teramo, where he died July 15, 1477, of chagrin and disappointment. His works, which were first printed at Rome in 1495, fol. consist of several treatises on moral philosophy, discourses, and funeral orations, and nine books of letters, in which there is some curious information with respect both to the political and literary history of his times. This volume contains likewise, the life of pope Pius II. and of Braccio of Perugia, a famous military character, and lastly, of eight book of elegies and epigrams, some of which are rather of too licentious a nature to accord with the gravity of his profession. These, or part of them, were reprinted at Leipsic in 1707, and in 1734. Campano was at one time a corrector of the press to Udalric, called Gallus, the first printer of Rome, and wrote prefaces to Livy, Justin, Plutarch, and some other of the works which issued from that press.
rischal college, Aberdeen, was born in that city Dec. 25, 1719. His father, the rev. Colin Campbell, who was one of the ministers of Aberdeen, and a man of primitive
, a very learned divine of the church of Scotland, and principal and professor of divinity of the Marischal college, Aberdeen, was born in that city Dec. 25, 1719. His father, the rev. Colin Campbell, who was one of the ministers of Aberdeen, and a man of primitive piety and worth, died in 1728. George, the subject of this article, who was his youngest son, was educated in the grammar-school of his native city, and afterwards in Marischal college, but appears to have originally intended to follow the profession of the law, and for thatpurpose served an apprenticeship to a writer of the signet in Edinburgh. By what inducements he was made to alter his purpose we are not told; but in 1741 he began to study divinity at the university of Edinburgh, and continued the same pursuit both in King’s college and Marischal college, Aberdeen and here he delivered, with great approbation, those discourses, which are usually prescribed to students of divinity in the Scotch universities. After studying the usual number of years at the divinity hall, he was, according to the practice of the Scotch church, proposed to the Synod; and having undergone the ordinary trials before the presbytery of Aberdeen, was licensed as a probationer, or preacher of the gospel, on the llth of June, 1746. In this rank he remained two years, before he obtained a settlement in the church of Scotland, but at the end of that period was presented to the church of Banchory Ternan, about seventeen miles west from Aberdeen, and was ordained June 2, 1748.
nisters of Aberdeen in June, 1757, where his various and extensive talents were appreciated by those who knew best their worth, and where his fame was most likely to
After remaining nine years in this country parish, he
was chosen one of the ministers of Aberdeen in June, 1757,
where his various and extensive talents were appreciated
by those who knew best their worth, and where his fame
was most likely to be rewarded. Accordingly in 1759, he
was presented by his majesty to the office of principal of
Marischal college, and soon made it appear that he was
worthy of this dignity. Hume had recently published his
“Essay on Miracles,
” and despised his opponents until
principal Campbell published his celebrated “Dissertation on Miracles,
” which deservedly raised his character as
an acute metaphysician and an able polemical writer. This
“Dissertation
” was originally drawn up in the form of a
sermon, which he preached before the provincial synod of
Aberdeen, Oct. 9, 1760, and which, on their requesting
him to publish it, he afterwards enlarged into its present
form. Some circumstances attended the publication which
are rather singular, and which we shall relate in the words
of his biographer. “Before it was published, he sent a
copy of his manuscript to Dr. Blair of Edinburgh, with a
request that, after perusing it, he would communicate the
performance to Mr. Hume. The learned aud judicious
Blair read the dissertation both as a friend, and as a critic,
then showed it to his opponent, and afterwards wrote to
Mr. Campbell both what had occurred to himself, and
what Mr. Hume chose at first to write on the subject. It
soon appeared, that this sceptical philosopher, with all his
affected equanimity, felt very sensibly, on reading so
acute, so learned, and so complete an answer to his essay
on miracles. He complained of some harsh expressions,
and stated a few objections to what Mr. Campbell had advanced, shewing, in some cases, where his meaning had
been misunderstood. Instead of being displeased, his generous adversary instantly expunged, or softened, every
expression that either was severe, or was only supposed to
be offensive, removed every objection that had been made
to his arguments, and availed himself of the remarks both
of his friend, and of his opponent, in rendering his dissertation a complete and unanswerable performance. Thus
corrected and improved, it was put to the press, and a
copy of it sent to Mr. Hume. That philosopher was
charmed with the gentlemanly conduct of Mr. Campbell,
confessed that he felt a great desire to answer the dissertation, and declared that he would have attempted to do
something in this way, if he had not laid it down as a rule,
in early life, never to return an answer to any of his opponents. Thus principal Campbell, from a rnanly and
well-bred treatment of his adversary, rendered his own
work more correct, gained the esteem of his opponent,
and left an example worthy to be imitated by all polemical
writers.
” How far such an example is worthy to be imitated, may surely be questioned; in Mr. Campbell’s conduct we see somewhat of timidity and irresolution, nor
does he seem to have been aware of the impropriety of
gratifying Hume by personal respect; and after all no
good was produced, for Hume reprinted his essay again
and again without any notice of Campbell or any other of
his opponents, a decisive proof that in this respect he had
no title to the character of philosopher.
The “Dissertation on Miracles
” was published in
lectures which were usual with his predecessors, and he so arranged his subjects, that every student who chose to attend regularly during the shortest period prescribed
Dr. Campbell continued for twelve years to discharge
the offices of principal of Marischal college-, and of one of
the ministers of Aberdeen. In the former capacity he was
equally esteemed by the professors and students; as he
united great learning to a conduct strictly virtuous, and to
manners equally gentle and pleasant. lit the latter office
he lived in the greatest harmony with his colleagues, over
whom he affected no superiority; and by all his hearers
was esteemed as a worthy man, a good preacher, and one
of the best lecturers they had ever heard. In lecturing,
indeed, he excelled, while he rarely composed sermons, but preached from a few, and sometimes without
any notes. Yet his discourses on particular occasions,
were such as maintained his reputation. In June 1771,
he was, on a vacancy by resignation, elected professor of
divinity in Marischal college. This appointment was attended with the resignation of his pastoral charge, as one
of the ministers of Aberdeen; but as minister of Gray
Friars, an office conjoined to the professorship, he had to
preach once every Sunday in one of the churches, and
besides this, had the offices both of principal and professor of divinity to discharge. In the latter office he increased the times of instructing his pupils, so thak they
heard nearly double the number of lectures which were
usual with his predecessors, and he so arranged his subjects, that every student who chose to attend regularly
during the shortest period prescribed by the laws of the
church, might hear a complete course of lectures on thelgy embracing, under the theoretical part, every thing
that the student of divinity should know; and under the
practical branch, every thing that he should do, as a
reader of sacred or church history, a biblical critic, a polemic divine, a pulpit orator, a minister of a parish, and a
member of the church courts on the Scotch establishment.
Some idea may be formed of the value of his labours, by
the canons of scripture criticism, and a few other
prelections on the same subject, which are included in preliminary dissertations/printed along with his “Translation of the
Gospels,
” and by the “Lectures
” published after his death.
In Philosophy of
Rhetoric,
” which established his reputation as an excellent
grammarian, an accurate and judicious critic, a scholar of
delicate imagination and taste, and a philosopher of great
acuteness and deep penetration. Our author also published a few occasional sermons, which were much admired, but not equally. That “On the Spirit of the Gospel,
”
ve of truth, but he could not bear to be suspected of deviating from it for he neither courted those who might support, nor feared those who did oppose him. The tone
In his seventy-second year, he was seized with a severe
illness, from which he unexpectedly recovered, and though
his bodily strength was impaired, resumed his former occupations. Some years before his death, he made. a dis^
interested and unsolicited offer of resigning his professorship of divinity, provided that any one of three gentlemen
whom he named, and to whom he applied for their consent,
should succeed him; but this offer not being accepted by
the patrons of the professorship, he continued to hold his
office, lest an improper person should in his life-time be
chosen as his successor. But afterwards application was made
to him, and also to the patrons of the professorship, in Lehalf
of Dr. William Laurence Brown, late minister of the English
church, and professor of moral philosophy, &c. in the university of Utrecht. This gentleman had been driven from
these offices by the French invasion of Holland, on account
of his attachment to the house of Orange, and his native
country; and because, in some of his writings, he had
opposed the progress of French principles, and maintained
the cause of religion. Dr. Campbell, knowing the excellence of his character, instantly resigned the offices of
professor of divinity, and minister of Gray Friars church,
which were worth 160l. a year, and soon after his resignation, government, desirous of testifying in a public manner, the high respect so justly entertained of his abilities
and services, offered him, on condition of resigning the
principalship of Marischal college, a pension of 300l. a
year. Dr. Campbell accepted this token of his majesty’s
munificence, and was succeeded in the office of principal
also by Dr. Brown. This pension, however, he did not
long live to enjoy, though he continued writing till within
a week of his death; an event which he expected with
great tranquillity and composure. On the 31st of March,
1796, after some previous symptoms of uneasiness, he was
struck with the palsy, which deprived him of speech, and
under which he languished for a few days till he died.
He had long accustomed himself to prepare for death; and
in a former illness he had given the testimony of a dying
man in favour of religion. A funeral sermon was preached
on occasion of his death, by Dr. Brown, in which he has
given a sketch of his character as a public teacher, as the
head of a public seminary of learning, and as a private
Christian. His character is thus summed up in a few sentences by his biographer, Dr. Keith: “His imagination
was lively and fertile his understanding equally acute and
vigorous and his erudition was at once very deep and
wonderfully diversified. His piety was unfeigned his
morals unimpeached his temper chearful and his manners gentle and unassuming. His love of truth was even
more remarkable than the uncommon success with which
he sought after it. Where intuitive faculties could be of
service to any man, he saw at once if he saw at all. But
his deep perspicacity was not satisfied with a superficial
view of any thing; his piercing eye darted to the bottom
of every sul/ic < i to which discernment could be applied.
Where study aud reflection were necessary, he could
bestow as much time on patient thinking, as if he had been
possessed of no genius at all, and had acquired only a
small share of erudition. And when once he began to examine any subject, he was never satisfied till he had viewed
it in every light in which it could be seen. He always
sought for truth in the love of truth, but he could not bear
to be suspected of deviating from it for he neither courted
those who might support, nor feared those who did oppose
him. The tone of his mind was high, and he would not
let it down from the elevation of truth and of virtue. Whether engaged in conversation, or employed in study, he
could pass easily from the lightest subject to the most serious one. And the reach of his mind was so great, as to
comprehend a great variety of subjects. He could explore
the causes of that pleasure which arises in the mind from
dramatic entertainments, and lay down the rules of Scripture criticism. He could illustrate the whole theory of
evidence, or detect the false reasonings of Mr. Hume. He
could explain the spirit of the Gospel, marking the extremes of superstition and enthusiasm; and both as a philosopher and a divine, declare the nature, extent, and
importance of the duty of allegiance. While he zealously
contended for the faith, he could warn the Christian against
imbibing a persecuting spirit, and yet shew the influence
of religion upon civil society, warning his countrymen
against infidelity, before they had seen its dreadful effects.
He could with manly eloquence describe the success of the
fishermen of Galilee, while preaching the doctrine of the
cross to prejudiced Jews, learned Greeks, and ambitious
Romans; and at the same time, with well -applied erudition, he could delineate the characters of the pretended
successors of the apostles, and trace the progress of the
hierarchy through all the dark and middle ages, until the
reformation of religion. As the principal of a college, a
professor of divinity, or a minister of the Gospel, as a
true patriot, a good man, and a sincere Christian, qwndo
ullum invenies 'par tin
”
at the treaty of union should be rejected,” his grace went out of the house, and appeased the people who were assembled, by the calmness and strength of reason with
In 1705, he was nominated her majesty’s lord high commissioner to the Scottish parliament, though he was then
only twenty-three years of age, an appointment which gave
much satisfaction to that nation, where, on his arrival, he
was received with unusual ceremony. On the 28th of
June, his grace opened the parliament by a speech, and
was so well convinced of the advantages which would result to both kingdoms from an union between England and
Scotland, that he employed his whole interest in the promotion of that measure; for which, on his arrival in England, her majesty created him a peer of England, by the
title of Baron of Chatham, and Earl of Greenwich. In
1706, he made a campaign under the duke of Marlborough;
and greatly distinguished himself by his courage and conduct in the battle of Ramillies, in which he acted as a brigadier-general; and also at the siege of Ostend, and in the
attack of Menin, of which his grace took possession on the
25th of August. After that event, he returned to Scotland, in order to be present in the parliament of that kingdom, when the treaty for the union was agitated; and was,
as before, very active in the promotion of it, though he
declined being one of the commissioners. When a riotous
multitude came to the parliament-close, demanding, with
loud clamours, “That the treaty of union should be rejected,
” his grace went out of the house, and appeased the
people who were assembled, by the calmness and strength
of reason with which he addressed them; but his zeal in
this affair diminished his popularity, though even his enemies did justice to the rectitude of his intentions. In
1708, he commanded twenty battalions at the battle of
Oudenarde; and the troops under his command were the
first of the infantry that engaged the enemy, a*nd they
maintained their post against unequal numbers. He likewise assisted at the siege of Lisle and commanded as
major-general at the siege of Ghent, taking possession of
the town and citadel on the 3d or' January, 1703-9. He
was afterwards raised to the rank of lieutenant-general, and
commanded in chief under general Schuyiemberg, at the
attack of Tournay. He had also a considerable share, on
the llth of September, 1709, in the victory a Malplaquet, where he was much exposed, and gained great honour. On the 20th of December, 1710, he was installed a
knight of the garter; and about this time took some part
in the debates in parliament, relative to the inquiry which
was set on foot concerning the management of affairs in
Spain, when he spoke and voted with the tofies, and joined
in the censure that was passed on the conduct of the late
whig ministry.
f the politician, the senator, the gentleman, the merchant, the manufacturer; in short, of every one who has it in any degree in his power to promote the interest and
In 1749, he printed, 4. “Occasional thoughts on moral,
serious, and religious subjects,
” 8vo. In The Rational Amusement, comprehending a collection of letters on a great variety of subjects, interspersed with essays, and some little
pieces of humour,
” 8vo. 6. “An exact and authentic
account of the greatest white-herring-fishery in Scotland,
carried on yearly in the island of Zetland, by the Dutch
only,
” The Highland Gentleman’s Magazine, for Jan. 1751,
” 8vo. 8. “A Letter from the
Prince of the infernal legions, to a spiritual lord on this
side the great gulph, in answer to a late invective epistle
levelled at his highness,
” The naturalization bill confuted, as most pernicious to these united
kingdoms,
” His royal highness Frederick late prince of Wales deciphered: or a full and particular description of his character, from his juvenile years
until his death,
” A Vade Mecum: or
companion for the unmarried ladies: wherein are laid
down some examples whereby to direct them in the choice
of husbands,
” A particular but melancholy account of the great hardships, difficulties, and miseries, that those unhappy and much to be pitied creatures, the common women of the town, are plunged into
at this juncture,
” A full and particular
description of the Highlands of Scotland,
” The case of the publicans, both in town and country, laid open,
” The Shepherd of Banbury’s rules,
” a favourite pamphlet with the common people; and “The history of the war in the East-Indies,
”
which appeared in
s had rendered themselves eminent hy their knowledge, or love of literature. He received foreigners, who were fond of learning, with an affability and kindness, which
Let us now advert a little to Dr. Campbell’s personal
history. May 23, 1736, he married Elizabeth, daughter
of Benjamin Vobe, of Leominster, in the county of Hereford, gentleman, with which lady he lived nearly forty
years in the greatest conjugal harmony and happiness. So
wholly did he dedicate his time to books, that he seldom
went abroad: but to relieve himself, as much as possible,
from the inconveniencies incident to a sedentary life, it
was his custom, when the weather would admit, to walk in
his garden; or, otherwise, in some room of his house, by
way of exercise. By this method, united with the strictest
temperance in eating, and an equal abstemiousness in
drinking, he enjoyed a good state of health, though his
constitution was delicate. His domestic manner of living
did not preclude him from a very extensive and honourable acquaintance. His house, especially on a Sunday
evening, was the resort of the most distinguished persons
of all ranks, and particularly of such as had rendered themselves eminent hy their knowledge, or love of literature.
He received foreigners, who were fond of learning, with
an affability and kindness, which excited in them the
highest respect and veneration; and his instructive and
cheerful, conversation made him the delight of his friends
in general. On March 5, 1765, Dr. Campbell was
appointed his majesty’s agent for the province of Georgia, in
North America, which employment he held till his decease. His last illness was a decline, the consequence of
a life devoted to severe study, and which resisted every
attempt for his relief that the most skilful in the medical
science could devise. By this illness he was carried off,
at his house in Queen-square, Ormond-street, on Dec. 28,
1775, when he had nearly completed the 68th year of his
age. His end was tranquil and easy, and he preserved the
full use of all his faculties to the latest moment of his life.
On Jan. 4th following his decease, he was interred in the
new burying- ground, behind the Foundling-hospital, belonging to St. George the Martyr, where a monument,
with a plain and modest inscription, has been erected to
his memory. Dr. Campbell had by his lady seven children, one of whom only survived him, but is since dead.
Dr. Campbell’s literary knowledge was by no means confined to the subjects on which he more particularly treated
as an author. He was well acquainted with the mathematics, and had read much in medicine. It has been with
great reason believed, that, if he had dedicated his studies
to the last science, he would have made a very conspicuous
figure in the physical profession. He was eminently versed
in the different parts of sacred literature; and his acquaintance with the languages extended not only to the
Hebrew, Greek, and Latin among the ancient, and to the
French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch, among
the modern; but, likewise, to the oriental tongues. He
was particularly fond of the Greek language. His attainment of such a variety of knowledge was exceedingly assisted by a memory surprisingly retentive, and which, indeed, astonished every person with whom he was conversant. A striking instance of this has been given by the
honourable Mr. Daines Barrington, in his tract, entitled,
“The probability of reaching the north pole discussed .
”
In communicating his ideas, our author had an uncommon
readiness and facility; and the style of his works, which
had been formed upon the model of that of the celebrated
bishop Sprat, was perspicuous, easy, flowing, and harmonious. Should it be thought that it is sometimes rather
too diffusive, it will, notwithstanding, indubitably be allowed, that it is, in general, elegant.
ong with him a treasure belonging to cardinal Wolsey, whose downfall was at this time contrived, and who, it was suspected, intended to follow him to Rome, he was pursued
, an eminent cardinal of the Romish church, and an English bishop,
was a native of Bologna, the son of John Campegio, a learned
lawyer, and was himself professor of law at Padua. After
the death of his wife, he went into the church, and in
1510 became auditor of the Rota, and in 1512 bishop of
Feltria. Being afterwards, in 1517, created cardinal, he
was sent as pope’s legate into England in the following
year. His chief business at the English court was to persuade Henry VIII. to join the confederation of Christian
princes against the Turks. He was very favourably received on this occasion, and had several spiritualities bestowed upon him, among which was the bishoprick of Salisbury, but not having been able to accomplish the business of his mission, he returned to Rome. When the controversy respecting Henry’s divorce began, in 1527, -cardinal Campegio was sent a second time into England, to
call a legantine court, where he and his colleague cardinal
Wolsey were to sit as judges. Having arrived in London
Oct. 1528, the first session began at Blackfriars, May 31,
1529, and the trial lasted until July 23, when the queen
Catherine appealing to the pope, the court was adjourned
until Sept. 28, and was then dissolved. Afterwards Campegio was recalled to Rome, the king making him considerable presents upon his departure; but a rumour being
spread, that he carried along with him a treasure belonging to cardinal Wolsey, whose downfall was at this time
contrived, and who, it was suspected, intended to follow
him to Rome, he was pursued by the king’s orders, and
overtaken at Calais. His baggage was searched, but nothing being found of the kind suspected, he complained
louilly of this violation of his sacred character. In this,
however, he obtained no redress, and when king Henry
understood that the see of Rome was not disposed to favour
him with a divorce from his queen, he deprived Campegio
of his see of Salisbury. He died at Rome in August 1539,
leaving the character of a man of learning, and a patron of
learned men, and much esteemed by Erasmus, Sadolet,
and other eminent men of that time. His letters only remain, which contain many historical particulars, and were
published in “Epistolarum miscellanearum, libri decem,
”
Basil,
n apoplexy, at the age of 67. This stroke was brought on by a fit of passion excited by two chairmen who refused to carry him on account of his great weight. Campistron
, was born at Toulouse
in 1656, and shewed an early taste for poetry, whichwas
improved by a good education, and when he came to
Paris, he took Racine for his guide in the dramatic career.
But, though it may be allowed that Campistron approached
his merit in the conduct of his pieces, yet he could never
equal him in the beauties of composition, nor in his enchanting versification. Too feeble to avoid the defects of
Racine, and unable like him to atone for them by beautiful strokes of the sublime, he copied him in his soft manner of delineating the love of his heroes, of whom, it must
be confessed, he sometimes made inamoratos fitter for the
most comic scenes than for tragedy, in which passion
ought always to assume an elevated style. Racine, while
he was forming Campistron for the drama, was not inattentive to promote the fortune of the young* poet. Having
proposed him to the duke de Vendome for the composition
of the heroic pastoral of “Acis and Galatea,
” which he designed should be represented at his chateau of Anet, that
prince, well satisfied both with his character and his talents, first made him secretary of his orders, and then secretary general of the gallies. He afterwards got him
made knight of the military order of St. James in Spain,
commandant of Chimene, and marquis of Penange in Italy.
The poet, now become necessary to the prince, by the
cheerfulness of his temper and the vivacity of his imagination, attended him on his travels into various countries.
Campistron, some time after his return, retired to his own
country; where he married mademoiselle de Maniban,
sister of the first president of Toulouse, and of the bishop
of Mirepoix, afterwards archbishop of Bourdeaux; and
there he died May 11, 1723, of an apoplexy, at the age
of 67. This stroke was brought on by a fit of passion excited by two chairmen who refused to carry him on account of his great weight. Campistron kept good company, loved good cheer, and had all the indolence of a
man of pleasure. While secretary to the duke de Vendome, he found it a more expeditious way to burn the letters that were written to that prince than to answer them.
Accordingly, the duke, seeing him one day before a large
fire, in which he was casting a heap of papers: “There
its Campistron,
” said he, “employed in answering my
correspondents.
” He followed the duke even to the field
of battle. At the battle of Steinkerque, the duke seeing
him always beside him, said, “What do you do here,
Campistron?
” “Mon seigneur,
” answered he, “I am
waiting to go back with you.
” This sedateness of mind in
a moment of so much danger was highly pleasing to the
bero. His plays, 1750, 3 vols. 12mo. have been nearly
as often printed as those of Corneille, Racine, Crebillon,
and Voltaire. The most popular of them are his “Andronicus,
” “Alcibiades,
” “Acis and Galatea,
” “Phocion,
”
“Adrian,
” “Tiridates,
” “Phraates,
” and “Jaloux Desabuseé.
”
reux qui veulent batir,” 2 vols. 8vo. He died July 24, 177.9. Another brother, Armand Gaston Camus, who died in 1804, was a very active agent in all the revolutionary
, a French physician, was born
at Paris in 1722, and died in the same city in 1772, at 50
years of age. He practised medicine there with great success, and wrote, 1. “Medicine de l'esprit,
” Paris, Abdeker,
” or the art of preserving beauty, Memoires sur divers sujets de
medicine,
” 1760, 8vo. 4. “Memoire sur Tetat actuel de la
Pharmacia,
” Projet d'aneaniirla Petiteverole,
” Medicine pratique,
” 3 vols.
12mo, and 1 vol. 4to. 7. “Amphitheatrum poeticum,
”
a poem, Journal
Economique,
” from Dissertations sur le
bois de charpente,
” Paris, Le Genie d'Architecture,
” ibid. Traite de la force de
bois,
” Le guide de reux qui veulent
batir,
” 2 vols. 8vo. He died July 24, 177.9. Another
brother, Armand Gaston Camus, who died in 1804, was
a very active agent in all the revolutionary measures of the
different French assemblies, and being sent to arrest Dumourier in 1793, was delivered by him to the Austrians,
and afterwards exchanged for the daughter of Louis XVI.
His political conduct belongs to the history of those turbulent periods. In 1800 he was commissioned to inspect the
libraries and collections of the united departments, and
particularly examined the library of Brussels, which is rich
in Mss. He was a man of some learning, and extensive
knowledge of books; and published, 1. “Observations sur
la distribution et le classement des livres d'une bibliotheque.
” 2. “Memoire sur un livre Allemand,
” the famous
Tewrdannckhs. 3. “Memoire sur Thistoire et les procédés du Polytypage et de la Stereotype.
” 4. “Rapport
sur la continuation de la collection des Historiens de la
France, et de celle des Chartres et Diplomes.
” 5. “Notice d'un livre imprim6 a Bamberg in 1462,
” a very curious memoir of a book, first described in the Magasin Hist.
Litt. Bibliog. 1792. 6. “Memoire sur la collection des
grands et petits voyages,
” Notices
des Mss. de la Bibl. Nationale,
” vol. VI. is an interesting
memoir by him, relating to two ancient manuscript bibles,
in 2 vols. fol. adorned with 5152 pictures, each of them
having a Latin and French verse beautifully written and
illuminated beneath.
n to the concerns of an immortal life. In his time romances began to be the favourite books with all who would be thought readers of taste; and Camus, considering that
, an exemplary French prelate,
was born at Paris in 1582, and on account of his excellent
character and talents, was nominated to the bishopric of
Bellay by Henry IV. in 1609, before he was of age, but
having obtained the pope’s dispensation, he was consecrated
on Dec. 30th of the same year. From this time he appears to have devoted his time and talents to the edification
of his flock, and of the people at large, by frequent preaching, and more frequent publication of numerous works calculated to divert their attention to the concerns of an immortal life. In his time romances began to be the favourite
books with all who would be thought readers of taste; and
Camus, considering that it would not be easy to persuade
them to leave off such books without supplying them with
some kind of substitute, published several works of practical piety with a mixture of romantic narrative, by which
he hoped to attract and amuse the attention of romancereaders, and draw them on insensibly to matters of religious
importance. He contrived, therefore, that the lovers, in
these novels, while they encountered the usual perplexities,
should be led to see the vanity and perishable nature of all
human enjoyments, and to form resolutions of renouncing
worldly delights, and embracing a religious life. Among
these works we find enumerated, 1. “Dorothee, ou recit
de la pitoyable issue d'une volorite violentee,
” Paris, Alexis,
” 1^22, 3 vols. 8vo. 3. L'Hyacinte, histoire
Catalane,“ibid. 1627, 8yo. 4.
” Alcime, relation funeste,
&c.“ibid. 12mo, 1625, &c. But the principal object of
his reforming spirit was the conduct of the rnonks, or mendicant friars, against whom he wrote various severe remonstrances, and preached against them with a mixture
of religious fervour and satirical humour. Among the
works he published against them are, 1.
” Le Directeur
desinteresse,“Paris, 1632, 12mo. 2.
” Desappropriation
claustrale,“Besangon, 1634. 3.
” Le Rabat-joy e du triomphe monagal.“4.
” L'anti-Moine bien prepare,“1632,
&c. &c. These monks teazed the cardinal Richelieu to
silence him, and the cardinal told him,
” I really find no
other fault with you but this horrible bitterness against
the monks; were it not for that, I would canonize you.“”I wish that may come to pass,“said the bishop,
” “for
then we should both have our wish; you would be pope,
and I a saint.
” Many of his bons-mots were long in
circulation, and show that he had the courage to reprove
vices and absurdities among the highest classes. In 1620
he established in the city of Bellay a convent of capuchins,
and in 1622 one for the nuns of the visitation, instituted
by St. Francis de Sales. In 1629 he resigned his bishopric
that he might pass the remainder of his days in retirement,
in the abbey of Cluny in Normandy, but the archbishop of
Rouen, unwilling that so active a member of the church
should not be employed in public services, associated him
in his episcopal cares, by appointing him his grand vicar.
At length he finally retired to the hospital of incurables in
Paris, where he died April 26, 1652. Moreri has enumerated a large catalogue of his works, the principal of
which, besides what we have enumerated, are, “L' Esprit
de S. Frangois de Sales,
” 6 vols. 8vo, reduced to one by a
doctor of the Sorbonne; and “L'Avoisinement des Protestans avec TEglise Romaine,
” republished in Moyens de reunir les
Protestans avec l'Eglise Romaine.
” Simon asserted, that
Bossuet’s exposition of the catholic faith was no more than
this work in a new dress.
uarium sacrarum antiquitatum Tricassinse dicecesis, &c.” 1610, 8vo, a work of great utility to those who have the curiosity to study the history of ecclesiastical discipline.
, a French historian, was born
at Troyes in 1575. In his eighteenth year he was promoted to a canonry in the cathedral of his native city, but
appears to have devoted himself chiefly to the study of history and antiquities. He died Jan. 20, 1655, in the
eightieth year of his age, after publishing, 1. “Chronologia ab origine orbis, usque adann. 1200, auctore anonymo,
sed ccenobii S. Mariani apud Altissiodorum (Auxerre) regulu? Praemonstratensis inonacho,
” with an appendix to the
year Promptuarium
sacrarum antiquitatum Tricassinse dicecesis, &c.
” Historia
Albigensiuoi, &c. auclore Petro, coenobii Vallis-Sarnensis
ordinis Cisterciensis in dioecesi Parisiensi monacho,
” Trccis, Melanges historiques, ou recueii
de plusieurs actes, traits, et lettres missives, depuis Pan
1390 jusqu'a Tan 1580,
” ibid.
use of the camera to obtain precision, but corrected its defects in the air-tints; he was the first who shewed to artists its real use and limits. He produced great
, an eminent painter of Venice, was born in 1697, the son of one Bernardo a scene-painter. He followed the profession of his father, and acquired a wildness of conception and a readiness of hand which afterwards supplied him with ideas and dispatch for his nearly numberless smaller works. Tired of the theatre, he went young to Rome, and with great assiduity applied himself to paint views from nature and the ruins of antiquity. On his return to Venice he continued the same studies from the prospects of that city which the combination of nature and art has rendered one of the most magnificent and the most novel of Europe. Numbers of these are exact copies of the spots they represent, and hence highly interesting to those whose curiosity has not been gratified by residence in the metropolis of the Adriatic. Numbers are the compound of his own invention, graceful mixtures of modern and antique, of fancied and real beauties: such he painted for Algarotti. The most instructive and the most novel of these appears to be that view of the grand canal, in which he adopted the idea of Palladio, by substituting the Rial to for its present bridge, with the basilica of Vicenza rising in the centre, the palace Chericato and other fabrics of that great architect rounding the whole. Canaletto made use of the camera to obtain precision, but corrected its defects in the air-tints; he was the first who shewed to artists its real use and limits. He produced great effects somewhat in the manner of Tiepolo, who sometimes made his figures, and impressed a character of vigour on every object he touched: we see them in their most striking aspect. He takes picturesque liberties without extravagance, and combines his objects so congenially, that the common spectator finds nature, and the man of knowledge the art.
ar superior to his common views of Venice. They had belonged to Smyth, the English consul at Venice, who early engaged Canaletto to work for him for a long term of years,
Lord Orford informs us that he came to England in 1746, when he was about the age of fifty, by persuasion of his countryman Amiconi, and encouraged by the multitude of pictures he had sold to, or sent over to the English. He was then in good circumstances, and it was said came over to vest his money in our stocks. Lord Orford thinks he did not stay above two years. At Strawberry hill is a perspective by him of the inside of King’s college chapel, Cambridge; and at Buckingham-house are several large pieces far superior to his common views of Venice. They had belonged to Smyth, the English consul at Venice, who early engaged Canaletto to work for him for a long term of years, at low rates, but retailed the pictures to travelling English at higher prices. Canaletto died in 1768, aged seventyone. Mr. Fuseli adds, that Francesco Guardi, his scholar, has been of late considered as the rival of his fame, and his views of Venice have excited in Italy and on this side of the Alps, the admiration of those whom the brilliancy of his effect and the taste of his method prevented from perceiving how much he wants of the precision and solidity of the master. He died 1793, aged eighty-one.
quired so much reputation for his skill in medicine, that he was invited to Rome by pope Julius III. who made him archiator, and his principal physician. On the death
, one of the restorers and
improvers of anatomy, was born at Ferrara, in Italy, in
1515, where he acquired so much reputation for his skill in
medicine, that he was invited to Rome by pope Julius III.
who made him archiator, and his principal physician. On
the death of the pope he returned to Ferrara, and pursued
his anatomical researches. He first discovered the valves of
the veins, which were afterwards more completely described
by Vesalius. The work by which he is known, of which
only four complete copies are said to be in existence, is
“Musculorum humani corporis picturata dissectio,
” 4to,
printed, Haller thinks, in
ting the front of a house in fresco; but whilst he was commencing his work, some Florentine painters who were actually engaged, conceived him to be a mere grinder of
, or Cambiaso, called Luchetto, an eminent Genoese painter, was born at Oneglia, near Genoa, in 1527, and became a most expeditious painter, working with both his hands, by which unusual power he executed more designs, and finished more great works with his own pencil in a much shorter time than most other artists could do with several assistants. It is mentioned as a memorable circumstance in his life, that at the age of seventeen he was employed in painting the front of a house in fresco; but whilst he was commencing his work, some Florentine painters who were actually engaged, conceived him to be a mere grinder of colours, and when he took up his pallet and pencils they wished to have prevented his proceeding with it, lest he should spoil the work, but after a few strokes of his pencil they were convinced of their mistake, and respected his singular abilities. Of Cangiagi, it is remarked, that he practised three different modes of painting at three different periods of his life. His first manner was gigantic and unnatural, which he corrected in consequence of the remonstrances of his friend Alessi, the celebrated architect, for his best style, in forming which he consulted nature with attention, and digested his thoughts in sketches, before he began to paint. His third manner was distinguished by a more rapid execution, to which he recurred in order to make more ample provision for his wife and family, and had a great deal of the mannerist. His works at Genoa are very numerous, and he was employed by the king of Spain to adorn part of the Escurial.
, or De Hondt, the nephew of Peter Canisius, first provincial of the Jesuits in Germany, who died in 1597, was born at Nimeguen, and became not only a celebrated
, or De Hondt, the nephew of
Peter Canisius, first provincial of the Jesuits in Germany,
who died in 1597, was born at Nimeguen, and became not
only a celebrated lawyer, but a general scholar of great
reputation, particularly in ecclesiastical antiquities. After
studying at the university of Louvain, he was appointed
professor of canon law in that of Ingolstadt, which situation he retained until his death in 1610. His professional
writings were principally, 1. “Summa juris Canonici.
”
2. “Commentarium in regulas juris.
” 3. “Praelectiones
academicae,
” &c. all collected and republished by Andrew
Bouvet in “Opera Canonica Canisii,
” Louvain, Antiqute lectiones,
” Thesaurus monumentorum ecclesiasticorum &
historicorum,
” &c. Amsterdam,
he bore an implacable antipathy. On his death-bed he would not receive the sacraments from a priest who attended him, because he had administered them to the converted
, a Spanish artist, and styled the Michel Angelo of Spain, because he excelled in painting,
sculpture, and architecture, was born in the city of Grenada in 1600, where his father, an eminent architect, educated him in his own profession, and when his instructions
in this branch were completed, he applied himself to the
study of sculpture, and made an uncommon progress in a
very short time. He next went to Seville, and for eight
months studied under Pacheco, and afterwards under Juan
del Castillo, in whose academy he executed many noble
paintings for the public edifices in Seville, and at the same
time gave some specimens of his excellence in statuary,
which were highly admired, particularly a “Madonna and
Child,
” in the great church of Nebriga, and two colossal
figures of San Pedro and San Pablo. Count Olivarez was
the means of his coming to Madrid, where he was made
first royal architect, king’s painter, and preceptor to the
prince, don Balthazar Carlos of Austria. Here, as architect, he projected several additional works to the palaces,
some public gates to the city, and a triumphal arch erected
on the entrance of Mariana, second queen to Philip IV.
As a painter, he executed many celebrated compositions
in the churches and palaces of Madrid.
While in the height of his fame an event happened which
involved him in much trouhle. Returning home one evening, he discovered his wife murdered, his house robbed,
while an Italian journeyman, on whom the suspicion naturally fell, had escaped. The criminal judges held a
court of inquiry, and having discovered that Cano had been
jealous of this Italian, and also that he was known to be
attached to another woman, they acquitted the fugitive
gallant, and condemned the husband. On this he fled to
Valencia, and being discovered there, took refuge in a
Carthusian convent about three leagues from that city,
where he seemed for a time determined upon taking the
order, but afterwards was so imprudent as to return to
Madrid, where he was apprehended, and ordered to be
put to the torture, which he suffered without uttering 3r
single word. On this the king received him again into favour, and as Cano saw there was no absolute safety but
within the pale of the church, he solicited the king with
that view, and was named residentiary of Grenada. The
chapter objected to his nomination, but were obliged to
submit, and their church profited by the appointment,
many sculptures and paintings being of his donation. The
last years of his life he spent in acts of devotion and charity. When he had no money to bestow in alms, which
was frequently the case, he would call for paper, and give
a beggar a drawing, directing him where to carry it for
sale. To the Jews he bore an implacable antipathy. On
his death-bed he would not receive the sacraments from a
priest who attended him, because he had administered
them to the converted Jews; and from another he would
not accept the crucifix presented to him in his last moments, telling him it was so bungling a piece of work that
he could not endure the sight of it. In this manner died
Alonso Cano, at the age of seventy-six, in 1676; a circumstance, says his biographer, which shows that his ruling
passion for the arts accompanied him in the article of death,
superseding even religion itself in those moments when
the great interests of salvation naturally must be supposed to
occupy the mind to the exclusion of every other idea.
one hundred, you have rated your labour at the exorbitant price of four pistoles per day, whilst I, who am a counseller, and your superior, do not make half your profits
In his early days, as he was of a noble family, he disdained to accept pay for his productions, declaring that he
worked for fame and practice, and that he considered himself as yet so imperfect in his art, that he could not in
conscience admit of any recompence. As he advanced,
however, he had no scruple in accepting the just reward of
his merit; and the following anecdote, related by Mr. Cumberland, will show his spirit in asserting what was his due.
A counsellor of Grenada having refused to pay the sum of
one hundred pistoles for an image of St. Antony of Padua,
which Cano had made for him, he dashed the saint into
pieces on the pavement of his academy, while the counsellor was reckoning up how many pistoles per day Cano
had earned whilst the work was in hand. “You have been
twenty-five days carving this image of St. Antony,
” said
the counsellor, “and the purchase-money demanded being
one hundred, you have rated your labour at the exorbitant
price of four pistoles per day, whilst I, who am a counseller, and your superior, do not make half your profits
by my talents.
” “Wretch
” cried the enraged artist,
“to talk to me of your talents I have been fifty years
learning to make this statue in twenty-five days
” and so
saying, flung it with the utmost violence upon the pavement. The affrighted counsellor escaped out of the house
in terror. For this profanation, however, of the image
of a saint, he was suspended from his function by the
chapter of Grenada, and was not restored by the king until
he had finished a magnificent crucifix, which the queen
had ordered, but which he had long neglected.
1341 Andronicus died, and left to Cantacuzenus the care of the empire, till his son John Paleologus, who was then but nine years of age, should be fit to take it upon
, emp.eror of Constantinople, and a celebrated Byzantine historian, was born at Constantinople about the year 1295, of a very ancient and noble family; his father being governor of Peloponnesus, and his mother a near relation of the emperor’s. He was bred to letters and to arms, and afterwards to the highest offices of statej in which he acquitted himself in such a manner as to gain the favour of both court and city. He was made prelect of the bedchamber to the emperor Andronicus the elder, but lost his favour about 1320, by addicting himself too much to the interest of his grandson Andronicus. In 1328, when the grandson seized the empire, he loaded Cantacuzenus with wealth and honours; made him generalissimo of his forces; did nothing without consulting him; and fain would have joined him with himself in the government, which Cantacuzenus refused. In 1341 Andronicus died, and left to Cantacuzenus the care of the empire, till his son John Paleologus, who was then but nine years of age, should be fit to take it upon himself: which trust he discharged very diligently and faithfully. But the empress dowager, the patriarch of Constantinople, and some of the nobles, soon growing jealous and envious of Cantacuzenus, formed a party against him, and declared him a traitor: upon which a great portion of the nobility and army besought him to take the empire upon himself, and accordingly he was crowned at Hadrianopolis in May 1342. A civil war raged for five years, and Cantacuzenus was conqueror, who, however, came to the following terms of peace with John Paleologus; viz. that himself should be crowned, and that John should he a partner uith him in the empire, though not upon an equal footing, till he should arrive at years sufficient. He gave him also his daughter Helen, to whom he had formerly been engaged, for a wife; and the nuptials were celebrated in May 1347. But suspicions and enmities soon arising between the new emperors, the war broke out again, and lasted till John took Constantinople in 1355. A few days after that city was taken, Cantacuzenus, unwilling to continue a civil war any longer, abdicated his share of the empire, and retired to a monastery, where he took the habit of a monk, with the new name of Joasaphus, and spent the remainder of his life in study and writing. His wife retired also at the same time to a nunnery, where she changed her own name Irene for the new one of Eugenia.
gion against that of Mahomet, in four books: this he did at the request of a monk and friend of his, who had been solicited by a mussulman of Persia to desert Christianity,
Besides this history, he wrote also some theological
works, particularly an apology for the Christian religion
against that of Mahomet, in four books: this he did at the
request of a monk and friend of his, who had been solicited by a mussulman of Persia to desert Christianity, and
embrace Muimmetanism. In this he does not content himself with replying to the particular objection of the musulman to Christianity, but writes a general defence of it
against the Koran. He calls himself Christodulus as a
writer. This apology was printed in Greek and Latin at
Basil, 1543, by Bibliander and Gualtharus, from Greek Mss.
Gibbon, in his “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,
”
says, that the name and situation of the emperor John Cantacuzenus might inspire the most lively curiosity. His memorials of forty years extend from the revolt of the younger
Andronicus to his own abdication of the empire and it is
observed, that, like Moses and Cresar, he was the principal
actor in the scenes which he describes. But in this eloquent work, “we should vainly seek the sincerity of an
hero or a penitent. Retired in a cloister from the vices
and passions of the world, he presents not a confession,
but an apology, of the life of an ambitious statesman. Instead of unfolding the true counsels and characters of men,
he displays the smooth and specious surface of events,
highly varnished with his -own praises and those of his
friends. Their motives are always pure their ends always
legitimate they conspire and rebel without any views of
interest and the violence which they inflict or suffer is
celebrated as the spontaneous effect of reason and virtue.
”
, of an illustrious family in Tartary, and prince of Moldavia, was born in 1673. His father, who was governor of the three cantons of Moldavia, became prince
, of an illustrious family in
Tartary, and prince of Moldavia, was born in 1673. His
father, who was governor of the three cantons of Moldavia,
became prince of this province in 1664. Demetrius, being
sent early to Constantinople, flattered himself with the
prospect of succeeding him; but was supplanted by a rival
at the Porte. Being sent in 1710 by the Ottoman minister
to defend Moldavia against the czar Peter, he delivered
it up to that monarch and, following his new master
through his conquests, indemnified himself for all he had
lost; for he obtained the title of prince of the empire, with
full power and authority over the Moldavians, who quitted
their country to attach themselves to his fortunes. He
died, 1723, in his territories of the Ukraine, much lamented. He was studious and learned, and is said to have
understood eleven languages. He wrote in Latin a “History of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire,
”
A. D. System of the Mahometan Religion
” was written and printed
in the Russian language, by order of czar Peter; his moral
dialogues entitled “The World and the Soul,
” were
printed in Moldavia in Greek and Moldavian “The present state of Moldavia
” was printed in Latin his e< Musical
Airs with Turkish Words,“and
” An Introduction to Music," in Moldavian. He was also the author of other pieces,
which were either lost in his shipwreck, or still remain
in ms.
ied in 1744. The Russians before him had nothing in verse but some barbarous songs: he was the first who introduced any civilized poetry among them. Besides a translation
, son of the above, was born
in 1710. The most skilled at Petersburg in mathematics,
physics, history, morality, and polite literature, were employed to continue those lectures, which his father had begun to give him. The academy of Petersburg opened
their gates to him, and the ministry initiated him into
affairs of state. Successively ambassador to London and
Paris, he was equally admired as a minister and man of
letters. On his return to Russia, he conducted himself
with most consummate wisdom and prudence, during the
different revolutions which agitated that country. This accomplished person died in 1744. The Russians before him
had nothing in verse but some barbarous songs: he was the
first who introduced any civilized poetry among them.
Besides a translation of Anacreon and the epistles of. Horace, he gave them of his own, satires, odes, and fables.
He made several foreign works known to them; as, 1. The
Plurality of worlds. 2. The Persian letters. 3. The dialogues of Algarotti upon light, &c. aqd he printed
“Concordance to the Psalms
” in the Russian language.
The abbe* de Guasco, who translated his Satires, has written his life.
ars ago, at the expence of the gentlemen at Stroud; several of whom had been his school-fellows, and who continued still to regard it as a very distinguished performance.
, an ingenious natural philosopher, was born at Stroud, in Gloucestershire, July 31, 1713; and was placed, when young, under the care of a Mr. Davis, of the same place, a very able mathematician, with whom, before he attained the age of nine years, he had gone through both vulgar and decimal arithmetic. He then proceeded to the mathematics, and particularly to algebra and astronomy, wherein he made a considerable progress, when his father took him from school, and put him to learn his own business, that of a broad-cloth weaver, but this circumstance did not damp his zeal for the acquisition of knowledge. All his leisure time was devoted to the assiduous^cultivation of astronomical science; and, by the help of the Caroline tables, annexed to Wing’s astronomy, he computed eclipses of the moon and other phsenomena. His acquaintance with that science he applied, likewise, to the constructing of several kinds of dials. But the studies of our young philosopher being frequently pursued to very late hours, his father, fearing that they would injure his health, forbade him the use of a cmidle in his chamber, any longer than for the purpose of going to bed, and would himself often see that his injunction was obeye<l. The son’s thirst of knowledge was, however, so great, that it made him attempt to evade the prohibition, and to find means of secreting his light till the family had retired to rest; when he rose to prosecute undisturbed his favourite pursuits. It was during this prohibition, and at these hours, that he computed, and cut upon stone, with no better an instrument than a common knife, the lines of a large upright sun-dial; on which, besides the hour of the day, were shewn the rising of the sun, -his place in the ecliptic, and some other particulars. When this was finished, and made known to his father, he permitted it to be placed against the front of his house, where it excited the admiration of several gentlemen in the neighbourhood, and introduced young Mr. Canton to their acquaintance, which was followed by the offer of the use of their libraries. In the library of one of these gentlemen, he found Martin’s Philosophical Grammar, which was the first bodk that gave him a taste for natural philosophy. In the possession of another gentleman, a few miles from Stroud, he first saw a pair of globes; an object that afforded him uncommon pleasure, from the great ease with which he could solve those problems he had hitherto been accustomed to compute. The dial was beautified a few years ago, at the expence of the gentlemen at Stroud; several of whom had been his school-fellows, and who continued still to regard it as a very distinguished performance. Among other persons with whom he became acquainted in early life, was the late reverend and ingenious Dr. Henry Miles of Tooting, a learned member of the royal society, and of approved eminence in natural knowledge. This gentleman, perceiving that Mr. Canton possessed abilities too promising to be confined within ^the narrow limits of a country town, prevailed on his father to permit him to come to London. Accordingly he arrived at the metropolis March 4, 1737, and resided with Dr. Miles, at Tooting (who, it may here be noticed, bequeathed to him all his philosophical instruments), till the 6th of May following; when he articled himself, for the term of five years, as a clerk to Mr. Samuel Watkins, master of the academy in Spitalsquare. In this situation, his ingenuity, diligence, and good conduct were so conspicuous, that, on the expiration of his clerkship, in the month of May 1742, he was taken into partnership with Mr. Watkins for three years; which gentleman he afterwards succeeded in Spital-square, and there continued during his whole life. On December 25, 1744, he married Penelope, the eldest daughter of Mr. Thomas Colbrooke, and niece to James Colbrooke, esq. banker in London.
thoughts of most of the philosophers of Europe to that branch of natural philosophy; and our author, who was one of the first to repeat and to pursue tjie experiment,
Towards the end of the year 1745, electricity, which seems early to have engaged Mr. Canton’s notice, received a very capital improvement by the discovery of the famous Leyden phial. This event turned the thoughts of most of the philosophers of Europe to that branch of natural philosophy; and our author, who was one of the first to repeat and to pursue tjie experiment, found his assiduity and attention rewarded by many capital discoveries. Towards the end of 1749 he was concerned with his friend, the late ingenious Benjamin Robins, esq. in making experiments in order to determine to what height rockets may be made to ascend, and at what distance their light may be seen. On January 17, 1750, was read at the royal society, Mr. Canton’s method of making artificial magnets, without the use of, and yet far superior to, any natural ones. This paper procured him, March 22, 1750, the honour of being elected a member of the society; and, on the St. Andrew’s day following, the farther honour of receiving the most distinguished testimony of their approbation, in the present of their gold medal. On April 21, in the same year, he was complimented with the degree of M. A. by the university of Aberdeen; and, on November 30, 1751, was chosen one of the council of the royal society.
ns, with an explication of the reasons of the rules, were afterwards given to the rev. Dr. Jennings, who inserted them in his “Introduction to the use of the Globes.”
In 1752, when the act passed for changing the style,
Mr. Canton gave to the earl of Macclesfield several memorial canons for finding leap-year, the dominical letter, the
epact, &c. This he did with the view of having them inserted in the common-prayer book; but he happened to
be too late in his communication, the form in which they
now stand having been previously settled. These canons,
with an explication of the reasons of the rules, were afterwards given to the rev. Dr. Jennings, who inserted them
in his “Introduction to the use of the Globes.
”
On July 20, 1752, our philosopher was so fortunate as to be the first person in England, who, by attracting the electric fire from the clouds during a thunder
On July 20, 1752, our philosopher was so fortunate as to
be the first person in England, who, by attracting the electric fire from the clouds during a thunder storm, verified
Dr. Franklin’s hypothesis of the similarity of lightning and
electricity. Dec. 6, 1753, his paper, entitled, “Electrical experiments,
” with an attempt to account for their several phenomena, was read at the Royal Society. In the
same paper Mr. Canton mentioned his having discovered,
by a great number of experiments, that some clouds were
in a positive, and some in a negative state of electricity.
Dr. Franklin, much about the same time, made the like
discovery in America. This circumstance, together with
our author’s constant defence of the doctor’s hypothesis,
induced that eminent philosopher, immediately on his arrival in England, to pay Mr. Canton a visit, and gave rise
to a friendship which ever after continued without interruption or diminution. On November 14, 1754, was read
at the royal society, a letter to the right honourable the
earl of Macclesfield, concerning some new electrical experiments. On St. Andrew’s day, 1754, he was a second time
elected one of the council of the royal society for the year
ensuing. In the Lady’s Diary for 1756, our author answered the prize question that had been proposed in the
preceding year. The question was, “How can what we
call the shooting of stars be best accounted for; what is the
substance of this phenomenon; and in what state of the
atmosphere doth it most frequently shew itself?
” The solution, though anonymous, was so satisfactory to his friend
Mr. Thomas Simpson, who then conducted that work,
that he sent Mr. Canton the prize, accompanied with a
note, in which he said he was sure that he was not mistaken,
in the author of it, as no one besides, that he knew of,
could have answered the question. Our philosopher’s next
communication to the public was a letter in the Gentleman’s Magazine for September 1759, on the electrical
properties of the tourmalin, in which the laws of that wonderful stone are laid down in a very concise and elegant
manner. On Dec. 13, in the same year, was read, at the
royal society, “An attempt to account for the regular
diurnal variation of the horizontal magnetic needle; and
also for its irregular variation at the time of an aurora borealis.
” A complete year’s observations of the diurnal variations of the needle are annexed to the paper. On
Nov. 5, 1761, our author communicated to the royal society an account of the transit of Venus, June 6, 1761,
observed in Spitai- square. Mr. Canton’s next communication to the society was a letter addressed to Dr. Benjamin Franklin, and read Feb. 4, 1762, containing some remarks on Mr. Delaval’s electrical experiments. On December 16, in the same year, another curious addition was
made by him to philosophical knowledge, in a paper entitled, “Experiments to prove that water is not incompressible.
” These experiments are a complete refutation
of the famous Florentine experiment, which so many philosophers have mentioned as a proof of the incompressibility of water. On St. Andrew’s day, 1763, our author was
the third time elected one of the council of the royal society; and on Nov. 8, in the following year, were read,
before that learned body, his farther experiments and observations on the compressibility of water, and some other
fluids. The establishment of this fact, in opposition to the
received opinion, formed on the hasty decision of the
Florentine academy, was thought to be deserving of the
society’s gold medal. Tt was accordingly moved for in the
council of 1764 and after severalinvidious delays, which
terminated much to the honour of Mr. Canton, it was pro
sented to him Nov. 30, 1765.
e voluntary private societies of learned and intelligent persons, to which he belonged. By his wife, who survived him, he left several children. His eldest son, Mr.
The close and sedentary life of Mr. Canton, arising from an unremitted attention to the duties of his profession, and to the prosecution of his philosophical inquiries and experiments, probably contributed to shorten his days. The disorder into which he fell, and which carried him off, was a dropsy. It was supposed, by his friend Dr. Milner, to be a dropsy in the thorax. His death was on March 22, 1772, in the 54th year of his age, to the great regret of his family, and of his literary and other acquaintance. Nor was his decease a small loss to the interests of knowledge; since from the time of life in which he died, and his happy and successful genius in philosophical pursuits, he might have been expected to have enriched the world of science with new discoveries. Mr. Canton was a man of very amiable character and manners. In conversation he was calm, mild, and rather sparing than redundant: what he did say was remarkably sensible and judicious. He had much pleasure in attending the meetings of the Royal Society, and some voluntary private societies of learned and intelligent persons, to which he belonged. By his wife, who survived him, he left several children. His eldest son, Mr. William Canton, succeeded him in the academy in Spital -square, which he carried on with great reputation; and he also pursued with advantage the same philosophical studies to which his ingenious and worthy father was so eminently devoted.
s; “Primus me circumdedisti.” Care must be taken not to confound him with James Canus, a Portuguese, who, in 1484, discovered the kingdom of Congo.
, a Biscayan,
companion of the famous Magellan in his maritime expeditions, passed, in company with him, about the year 1520,
the straits to which that celebrated navigator gave his name.
After the death of Magellan, he reached the isles of Sunda,
from whence he proceeded to double the cape of Good
Hope. He returned to Seville in 1522, after having made
the circuit of the world by the east, in three years and four
weeks. Charles V. gave him for his device a terrestrial
globe, with these words; “Primus me circumdedisti.
”
Care must be taken not to confound him with James Canus,
a Portuguese, who, in 1484, discovered the kingdom of
Congo.
was the only son and heir of sir Henry Capel, who died in the flower of his age. He succeeded to the family estate
was the only son and heir of
sir Henry Capel, who died in the flower of his age. He
succeeded to the family estate on the death of his grandfather, sir Arthur, and following the example of his virtuous ancestors, was very eminent for his hospitality to
his neighbours, while his great charities to the poor endeared him to the hearts of the people, who chose him to
serve in parliament for the county of Hertford, in 1639
and 1640. In the following year he was made a peer by
Charles I. with the title of lord Capel, of Hadham. Upon
the breaking out of the rebellion, he raised at his own
charge some troops of horse, in defence of the royal cause,
although he hud at first sided with the parliament; and did
not attach himself particularly to the court, until he sawthat the designs of the republicans were no longer conducted with moderation or justice. He fought valiantly in
many battles and skirmishes, and continued to adhere
loyally to his king, till his majesty’s armies were dispersed,
his garrisons lost, and his“person imprisoned, when lord
Capel compounded with the parliamentarians, and retired
to his manor of Hadham. Perceiving, some time after,
the hard treatment his sovereign met with, he resolutely
ventured again, with all the force he could raise, to rescue
the king from his enemies; and joining his troops with
those of lord Goring and sir Charles Lucas, underxvent the
severest hardships in the memorable siege of Colchester,
which was at length surrendered to general Fairfax upon
articles which were immediately broke; for sir Charles
Lucas and sir George Lisle were shot, and lord Capel sent
prisoner to Windsor-castle. An act of attainder being ordered by the house of commons to be brought in against
him, the house voted, Nov. 10, 1648, that he and some
others should be banished, but that punishment not being
thought severe enough, he was removed to the Tower.
Lord Clarendon is of opinion that two or three sharp and
bitter speeches which passed between Ireton and lord
Capel, cost the latter his life. In the mean time, however, he contrived to escape out of his prison, but being
discovered and apprehended at Lambeth, on Feb. 10,
1649, he was brought before a pretended high court of
justice in Westminster- hall, to be tried for treason and
other high crimes and though he strenuously insisted that
he was a prisoner to the lord general Fairfax, that he had
conditions given him, and was to have fair quarter for his
life; yet his plea was over-ruled. In three days after he
was brought again before the court, when the counsel
moved that he should be hanged, drawn, and quartered.
This, however, was changed for beheading, and the sentence was executed March 9. He trod the fatal stage,
says lord Orford, with all the dignity of valour and conscious integrity. In these qualities all historians are agreed,
if we except Mrs. Macaulay, whose hostility to the loyalists
is rather a compliment. His literary remains were published in 1654, with the title
” Daily observations or meditations; divine, moral, written by a person of honour
and piety;“to which are added
” Certain letters written
to several persons,' 7 4to; and the whole were reprinted
afterwards in 12mo, with the title of “Excellent Contemplations, &c.
” and some account of his life. Some “Stanzas,
” by lord Capel, written when he was a prisoner in
the Tower, were inserted in the Gentleman’s Magazine
for 1757. His heart, which he had ordered to be kept,
and deposited near the remains of his royal master, was
afterwards placed in the family-vault at Hadham, as appears by a letter from the late incumbent of that parish,
Dr. Anthony Hamilton, published in the fifteenth volume
of the Archaeologia.
esorted to by noted men, especially of the Calvinist persuasion,” and was tutor to several young men who afterwards rose to high reputation, particularly Accepted Frewen,
, son of Christopher Capel, an alderman of Gloucester, was born 1586 in that city, and
after being educated there in grammar, became a commoner of Aiban hall, Oxford, in 1601, and soon after was
elected demy of Magdalen-college. In 160.9 he was made
perpetual fellow, being then M. A. the highest degree
which he took at the university. While there, Wood says,
“his eminence was great, and he was resorted to by noted
men, especially of the Calvinist persuasion,
” and was tutor
to several young men who afterwards rose to high reputation, particularly Accepted Frewen, archbishop of York,
Will. Pemble, &c. He left college on obtaining the rectory of Eastington in Gloucestershire, and became highly
popular as a plain and practical preacher, and a man of
exemplary life and conversation. In 1633, when the Book
of Sports on the Lord’s day was ordered to be read in all
churches, he refused, and resigned his rectory. He then
obtained licence from the bishop of Gloucester to practise
physic, which he did with much success for some years,
residing at Pitchcomb, near Stroud, where he had an
estate. In the commencement of the rebellion, he was
called to be one of the assembly of divines, but did not
accept the offer. Wood thinks he was restored to his benefice at this time, or had another conferred upon him,
which we believe was Pitchcomb, where he died Sept. 21,
1656, and was buried in the church there. Clarke informs
us that for some time he attended the court of James I.
until the death of sir Thomas Overbury, who was his particular friend. His principal works are, 1. “Temptations,
their nature, danger, and cure, &c.
” Lond. Apology
” against some exceptions, Remains, being an useful Appendix to the former,
”
Tentamen medicum de variolis,
” and some other tracts.
octavo, with an introduction,” 1768, printed at the expence of the principal booksellers of London, who gave him 300l. for his labours. There is not, among the various
, a gentleman well known by his
indefatigable attention to the works of Shakspeare, was
born at Troston, near Bury, Suffolk, June 11, 1713, and
received his education at the school of St. Edmund’s Bury.
In the dedication of his edition of Shakspeare, in 1768, to
the duke of Grafton, he observes, that “his father and the
grandfather of his grace were friends, and to the patronage
of the deceased nobleman he owed the leisure which enabled him to bestow the attention of twenty years on that
work.
” The office which his grace bestowed on Mr. Capell was that of deputy inspector of the plays, to which a
salary is annexed of 200l. a year. So early as the year
1745, as Capell himself informs us, shocked at the licentiousness of Hanmer’s plan, he first projected an edition of
Shakspeare, of the strictest accuracy, to be collated and
published, in due time, “ex fide codicum.
” He immediately proceeded to collect and compare the oldest and
scarcest copies; noting the original excellencies and defects of the rarest quartos, and distinguishing the improvements or variations of the first, second, and third folios.
But while all this mass of profound criticism was tempering
in the forge, he appeared at last a self-armed Aristarchus,
almost as lawless as any of his predecessors, vindicating
his claim to public notice by his established reputation, the
authoritative air of his notes, and the shrewd observations,
as well as majesty, of his preface. His edition, however,
was the effort of a poet, rather than of a critic; and Mr.
Capell lay fortified and secure in his strong holds, entrenched in the black letter. Three years after (to use his own language) he “set out his own edition, in ten volumes, small octavo, with an introduction,
” 1768, printed
at the expence of the principal booksellers of London, who
gave him 300l. for his labours. There is not, among the
various publications of the present literary aera, a more
singular composition than that “Introduction.
” In style
and manner it is more obsolete, and antique, than the age
of which it treats. It is lord Herbert of Cherbury walking
the new pavement in all the trappings of romance; but,
like lord Herbert, it displays many valuable qualities accompanying this air of extravagance, much sound sense,
and appropriate erudition. It has since been added to the
prolegomena of Johnson and Steevens’s edition. In the
title-page of this work was also announced, “Whereunto
will be added, in some other volumes, notes, critical and
explanatory, and a body of various readings entire.
” The
introduction likewise declared, that these “notes and various readings
” would be accompanied with another work,
disclosing the sources from which Shakspeare “drew the
greater part of his knowledge in mythological and classical
matters, his fable, his history, and even the seeming peculiarities of his language to which,
” says Mr. Capell,
“we have given for title, The School of Shakspeare.
” Nothing surely could be more properly conceived than such
designs, nor have we ever met with any thing better
grounded on the subject of “the learning of Shakspeare
”
than what may be found in the. long note to this part of
Mr. Capell’s introduction. It is more solid than even the
popular essay on this topic. Such were the meditated
achievements of the critical knight-errant, Edward Capell.
But, alas! art is long, and life is short. Three-andtvventy years had elapsed, in collection, collation, compilation, and transcription, between the conception and production of his projected edition: and it then came, like
human births, naked into the world, without notes or commentary, save the critical matter dispersed through the
introduction, and a brief account of the origin of the fables
of the several plays, and a table of the different editions.
Cenain quaintnesses of style, and peculiarities of printing
and punctuation, attended the whole of this publication.
The outline, however, was correct. The critic, with unremitting toil, proceeded in his undertaking. But while
he was diving into the classics of Caxton, and working his
way under ground, like the river Mole, in order to emerge
with all his glories; while he was looking forward to his
triumphs; certain other active spirits went to work upon
his plan, and, digging out the promised treasures, laid
them prematurely before the public, defeating the effect
of our critic’s discoveries by anticipation. Steevens, Malone, Farmer, Percy, Reed, and a whole host of literary
ferrets, burrowed into every hole and corner of the warren
of modern antiquity, and overran all the country, whose
map had been delineated by Edward Capell. Such a contingency nearly staggered the steady and unshaken perseverance of our critic, at the very eve of the completion
of his labours, and, as his editor informs us for, alas! at
the end of near forty years, the publication was posthumous, and the critic himself no more! we say then, as
his editor relates, he was almost determined to lay the
work wholly aside. He persevered, however (as we learn from the rev. editor, Mr. Collins), by the encouragement
of some noble and worthy persons: and to such their Cih
couragement, and his perseverance, the public was, in
1783, indebted for three large volumes in 4to, under the
title of “Notes and various readings of Shakspeare; together with the School of Shakspeare, or extracts from
divers English books, that were in print in the author’s
time; evidently shewing from whence his several fables
were taken, and some parcel of his dialogue. Also
farther extracts, which contribute to a due understanding
of his writings, or give a light to the history of his life, or
to the dramatic history of his time.
”
s to be principally taken from an ingenious criticism in vol. XLIX. of the Monthly Review; and those who wish to investigate the merits of Mr. Capell, as an editor,
This lively account of Mr. Capell, which appeared in
the two last editions of this Dictionary, seems to be principally taken from an ingenious criticism in vol. XLIX. of
the Monthly Review; and those who wish to investigate
the merits of Mr. Capell, as an editor, at a small expence
of time, may be referred to the other volumes of that review in which his works are characterised, and to the
Critical Review, vol. XLI. and LVI. In vol. XLIX. of the
Crit. Review is a list of his Mss. and printed books, which
he gave to Trinity college, Cambridge; and from a note
on one of these there is some reason to suspect that he was,
in a considerable measure, the author of a defence of himself, entitled “A Letter to George Hardinge, esq. on the
subject of a passage in Mr. Steevens’s Preface to his impression of Shakspeare,
”
erias, about 600 years after Christ . This opinion of their late invention was taken up by Capellus, who defended it in a very excellent and learned treatise entitled
, an eminent French
protestant and learned divine, was born at Sedan, a town
in Champagne, about 1579. He was professor of divinity
and of the Oriental languages in the university of Saumur;
and so very deeply skilled in the Hebrew, that our learned
bishop Hall calls him “magnum Hebraizantium oraculurn
in Gallia,
” the great oracle of all that studied Hebrew in
France. He was the author of some very learned works;
but is now chiefly memorable for the controversy he had
with the younger Buxtorf concerning the antiquity of the
Hebrew points. Two opinions have prevailed concerning
the true date and origin of these points both of which
have been very warmly espoused. The first is, that the
points are coeval with the language, and were always in
use among the Jews: the second, that the points were not
known to the Jews before their dispersion from Jerusalem,
but invented afterwards by modern rabbis to prevent the
language, which was every day decaying, from being utterly lost; viz. that they were invented by the Masoreth
Jews of Tiberias, about 600 years after Christ . This
opinion of their late invention was taken up by Capellus,
who defended it in a very excellent and learned treatise
entitled “Arcanum punctuationis revelatum,
” &c. which
work, after being refused a licence in France and at Geneva, was printed in Holland, and caused a great clamour
among the protestants, as if it had a tendency to hurt their
cause. It is, however, certain, that Luther, Calvin, Zuinglius, and others, had espoused the same notion as well as
the Scaligers, Casaubons, Erpenius, Salmasius, Grotius,
and the Heinsii; and therefore it could not be said, that
Capellus introduced any novelty, but only more solidly
established an opinion, which had been approved of by the
most learned and judicious protestants. The true reason,
perhaps, why the German protestants in general so warmly
opposed Capellus’s opinion, was, that they had been accustomed to follow that of the two Buxtorfs, whom they
considered as oracles in Hebrew learning. Buxtorf the
father had written a little treatise in defence of the antiquity of the points; and as Buxtorfs credit was justly
great among them, they chose rather to rely upon his authority than to examine his arguments, in so abstruse an
inquiry. Buxtorf the son wrote against Capellus, and
maintained his father’s opinion. Capellus, however, has
been generally supposed to have put the matter beyond
any father dispute; on which account his scholars Bochart,
Grotius, Spanheim, Vossius, Daille, and almost all the
learned in Hebrew since, have very readily acceded to
his opinion.
ch so highly displeased the protestants that they hindered the impression of it; till John Capellus, who was his son, and afterwards turned papist, got leave of the
Capellus composed another work, entitled “Critics, Sacra;
” fol. which so highly displeased the protestants that
they hindered the impression of it; till John Capellus,
who was his son, and afterwards turned papist, got leave
of the king to print it at Paris in 1650. This work is a
collection of various readings and errors, which he thought
were crept into the copies of the Bible, through the fault
of the transcribers, and must have been a work of prodigious labour, since the author acknowledges, that he had
been thirty-six years about it. The younger Buxtorf wrote
a learned answer to it, and some English protestants have
also appeared against it: but Grotius, on the other side,
very much commends it in an epistle to the author; where
he tells him to be content with the judicious approbation
of a few, rather than the blind applause of many readers.
“Contentus esto,
” says he, “magnis potius quam multis
laudatoribus.
” Father Simon quotes a letter which Morinus wrote to cardinal Francis Barbarini on the subject of
his “Critrca Sacra,
” in which he intimates that they would
do Capellus a kindness in condemning his book, because it
had procured him the hatred of his own party; but that
at the same time it would be prejudicial to the Roman
catholic 1 cause, which those “Critica
” were thought to
support. This letter was printed in England, and added
to a collection of letters entitled “Bibliotheca Orientalis.
”
Capellus died at Saumur, June 16, 1658, aged almost
eighty having made an abridgment of his life in his work
“De gente Capellorum.
”
, a native of Mantua, who died in 1548, made himself famous by a work entitled “The Stratagems
, a native of Mantua, who died
in 1548, made himself famous by a work entitled “The
Stratagems of Charles IX. against the Huguenots,
” which
he published in Italian at Rome, 1572, 4to, and a French
translation was printed 1574. He describes the massacre
of St. Bartholomew, and relates some very remarkable particulars respecting the motives and consequences of that
outrage, which very naturally gave offence to the French
court.
, of Mantua, brother of the preceding, was a celebrated poet of the sixteenth century, who acquired great n putation by his centos of Virgil, in which
, of Mantua, brother of the preceding, was a celebrated poet of the sixteenth century,
who acquired great n putation by his centos of Virgil, in
which he applies the expressions of that great poet to the
lives of the monks and the public affairs of his time. His
Cento against women, Venice, 1550, 8vo, is thought too
satirical. Part of Capilupi’s poems are in the “Delicia)
Poetarum Italorum,
” torn. I. and they are printed separately, Cento Virgilianus de Monachis,
” which is
proscribed at Rome, and may be found at the end of the
“Regnum Papisticum
” of Naogeorgus.
ds at Basil, where he continued for some years. From thence he was sent for by the elector Palatine, who made him his counsellor, and sent him on several embassies,
, an eminent Lutheran reformer, was born at Hagenau in Alsace, in 1478. His father was of the senatorian rank, and being averse to the lives of the divines of his time, had him brought up to the profession of physic at Basil, where he took his doctor’s degree, and likewise made great proficiency in other studies. After his father’s death, however, in 1504, he studied divinity, and also civil law, under Zasius, an eminent civilian, and took a degree in that faculty. At Heidelberg he became acquainted with Oecolampadius, with whom he ever after preserved the strictest intimacy and friendship. On their first acquaintance they studied Hebrew together under the tuition of one Matthew Adrian, a converted Jew, and Capito then became a preacher, first at Spire and afterwards at Basil, where he continued for some years. From thence he was sent for by the elector Palatine, who made him his counsellor, and sent him on several embassies, and Cliarles V. is said to have conferred upon him the order of knighthood. From Mcntz he followed Bucer to Strasburgh, where he astonished his hearers by preaching the reformed, or rather reforming religion, at 8t. Thomas’s church in that city, beginning his ministry by expounding St. Paul’s epistle to the Colossians. The fame of Capito and Bucer spread so wide, that James Faber and Gerard Rufus were sent privately from France to hear him, by Margaret queen of Navarre, sister to the French king; and by this means the protestant doctrine was introduced into France. Capito was a man of great learning and eloquence, tempered with a prudence which gave weight to his public services as well as to his writings. In all disputes, he insisted on brotherly love and peaceable discussion.
whom he had several children. He had before married another lady of great literary accomplishments, who lived but a short time. Moreri and the editors of the Dictionnaire
Capito was esteemed one of the first men of his age for
learning, and had a very extensive correspondence with
his learned contemporaries, Among others, he was very
importunate with Erasmus, to throw off the disguise, and
appear more decidedly for the protestant religion; but
Oecolampadius was his principal friend, and after the death
of that reformer, he married his widow, by whom he had
several children. He had before married another lady of
great literary accomplishments, who lived but a short time.
Moreri and the editors of the Dictionnaire Historique make
this lady to have been his second wife, and tell us that
she would sometimes preach when he was indisposed, but
both accounts appear improbable. Capito left the following works “Institutionum Hebraicarum libri duo
”
“Enarrationes in Habacuc et Hoseam prophetas,
” Strasburgh, Vita Johannis Oecolampadii
” “De
formando puro Theologo
” “Explicatio doctissima in
Hexhameron opus Dei.
” He was also the editor of Oecolampadius’s Commentary on Ezekiel, published at Strasburgh, 1534, 4to. His life of Oecolampadius was translated into English, and published along with those of Luther and Zuinglius, by Henry Bennet Callesian, Lond.
1561, 8vo.
r passing two years at Northampton, he was deprived of the benefit of Dr. Doddriclge’s instructions, who was obliged to leave England on account of his health, and in
, a dissenting minister of the Socinian persuasion, son of the rev. Joseph Cappe, minister
of the dissenting congregation at Mill hill in Leeds, was
born in that town Feb. 21, 1732-3, and educated for some
time under the care of his father, whom he lost in his sixteenth year. Having at this early age discovered a predilection for nonconformity, he was placed at the academy
of Dr. Aikin at Kilvvorth in Leicestershire, in 1743, and
the next year removed to that of Dr. Doddridge at Northampton. During his residence here he overcame somescruples that arose in his mintl respecting the evidences of
revealed religion, by examining them in the best writers
with great attention. After passing two years at Northampton, he was deprived of the benefit of Dr. Doddriclge’s instructions, who was obliged to leave England on
account of his health, and in 1752 went to the university
of Glasgow, where he continued three years, improving
his knowledge with great industry and success, and forming an acquaintance with many eminent men of the day,
particularly Dr. Leechman, Dr. Cullen, Dr. Adam Smith,
Dr. Moore, and the late Dr. Black. Having completed his
studies, he returned in 1755 to Leeds, and within a short
time after was chosen co-pastor, and the following year
sole pastor of the dissenting congregation at St Saviourgate, York. This situation he retained for forty years,
during which he engaged the respect and affection of his
hearers, and was distinguished as a preacher of uncommon
eloquence, and a man of great learning and amiable manners. In 1791 and 1793 he experienced two paralytic
shocks, which ever after affected both his walking and his
speech, but was enabled to employ much of his time in
preparing those works for the press which appeared after
his death. Weakened at length by paralytic affections, he
died Dec. 24, 1800. He published in his life-time, 1. “A
Sermon upon the king of Prussia’s Victory at Rosbach,
”
Nov. 5, 1757. 2. “Three Fast-day Sermons, published
during the American War.
” 3. “A Sermon on the Thanksgiving-day, 1784.
” 4. “A Fast-clay Sermon, written during the American War, but first published in 1795.
” 5
“A Sermon on the Death of the rev. Edw. Sandercock.
” 6.
“A selection of Psalms for Social Worship.
” 7. “Remarks in vindication of Dr. Priestley, in answer to the
Monthly Reviewers. 17 8.
” Letters published in the York
Chronicle, signed `A. doughty Champion in heavy armour,' in reply to the attack of Dr. Cooper (under the signature of Erasmus) upon Mr. Lindsey on his resigning
the living of Catterick, and “Discourses on the Providence and Government of God.
” ' In
ek professor, was born at Mondidier, a small town in Picardy, May 1, 1671. For some time his father, who was a tanner, employed him in that business, but he early contracted
, an eminent classical scholar and Greek professor, was born at Mondidier, a small town in Picardy, May 1, 1671. For some time his father, who was a tanner, employed him in that business, but he early contracted a fondness for reading, and even taught himself, at his leisure hours, the elements of Latin. About the beginning of 1685, Charles de St. Leger, his uncle, a Benedictine of the abbey of Corbie, happening, on a visit to Mondidier, to discover his nephew’s predilection, advised his parents to send him to the college of Mondidier, where the Benedictines of Cluny then taught Latin. There Capperonnier studied for eighteen months, and by an un% common effort of diligence combined the study of Greek with Latin, two languages which he considered as mutually aiding each other, and which he made the subject of all his future researches. In 1686 he continued his education at Amiens among the Jesuits, for two years, under father Longuemare, who observing his application to be far more incessant than that of his fellow-scholars, gave him private lessons in Greek. In 1688 he came to Paris, where at the seminary of the Trente-trois, he entered upon a course of philosophy and theology, during which he never failed to compare the fathers of the church with the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers. In 1693 and 1694 he studied the Oriental languages in the college of Ave-Maria, and in the latter year, the bishop of his diocese sent him to the community of St. George d' Abbeville to assist the ecclesiastical students in the Greek language, and in 1695 to that of St. Valois cle Monstreuil to teach humanity and philosophy; but the sea air and his excessive application disagreeing with his health, he returned to Paris in 1696, took the degree of master of arts, and followed the business of education until he found that it interfered too much with his studies. Contenting himself, therefore, with the small profits arising from giving a few lessons, he took up his abode, in May 1697, in one of the colleges, and when he had taken his bachelor’s degree in divinity went to Amiens to take orders. Returning to Paris, he became a licentiate, and obtained the friendship and patronage of cardinal Rohan, the abbe Louvois, and other persons of note. At this time, some lessons which he gave in the Greek, and a chapel ry of very moderate income in the church of St. Andr6 des Arcs, were his only resources, with which he lived a life of study and temperance, defrayed the expences of his licentiate, and even could purchase books. Mr. Colesson, however, a law- professor, and who from being his scholar had become his friend, seeing with what difficulty he could maintain himself, made him an offer of his house and table, which, after many scruples, he consented to accept. He went to his new habitation in 1700, and in the following year resigned his duty in the chapel, the only benefice he had, because it took up that time which he thought completely lost if not employed in study. In 1706, M. Viel, then rector of the university of Paris, and M. Pourchot, t.he syndic, admiring his disinterested spirit, procured him a pension of four hundred livres on the faculty of arts, to which no other condition was annexed than that he should revise the Greek booksused in the classes. M. Capperonnier expressed his gratitude on this occasion in a Greek poem, which was printed with a Latin translation by M. Viel, 4to, a pamphlet of six pages.
ept. About the end of 1710 he was induced to undertake the education of the three sons of M. Crozat, who, on his removing to his house, settled a pension of one hundred
Capperonnier was an inmate with M. Colesson when the
university of Basil invited him to the chair of the Greek
professor, with a liberal salary, and freedom of conscience;
but this he did not think proper to accept. About the end
of 1710 he was induced to undertake the education of the
three sons of M. Crozat, who, on his removing to his house,
settled a pension of one hundred pistoles upon him, which,
with his usual moderation, Capperonnier made sufficient
For all his wants, until in Oct. 1722 he was appointed
royal professor of Greek. On this occasion he delivered a
Latin discourse on the use and excellence of the Greek
language. In 1725 he published at Paris his edition of
“Quintilian,
” fol. dedicated to the king, who bestowed on
him a pension of 800 livres. Burman, who had published
an edition of Quintilian. thought it incumbent to attack
this of our author, who answered his objections with temperate and sound reasoning. Capperonnier’s is a splendid
book, and particularly useful in illustrating the author by
references to the Greek orators. In 1719 our author published “Apologie tie Sophocle,
” a pamphlet, 8vo, in answer to some objections of Voltaire tothe CEdipus. M.
Capperonnier died at Paris, July 24, 1744, leaving a character of amiable simplicity, great piety and probity, and
singular benevolence and kindness. He was distinguished
by a very retentive memory. Among various works which
he left for the press were an edition of the “Antiqui Rhetores Latini,
” with notes and illustrations, published at
Strasburghin 1756, 4to; and “Philological Observations
”
on Greek and Latin authors, which would amount to several volumes in 4to. He also completed a “Treatise on
the ancient pronunciation of the Greek language,
” and
made great additions and corrections to Stephens 1 s Latirt
Thesaurus.
r also contributed various papers to the academy of inscriptions. His son, a very learned young man, who had also a place in the royal library, was unfortunately drowned
, nephew of the preceding,
was born at Mondidier in 1716, and died at Paris in 1775.
He was a member of the academy of inscriptions, professor
of Greek in the royal college, to which he succeeded on
his uncle’s death, and librarian to the king. He inherited
much of his uncle’s taste for classical studies, and was not
less esteemed for his private character. He published, 1.
an edition of Joinville’s “History of St. Lewis,
” Paris,
Anacreon,
” Csesaris Opera,
” Paris,
Barbou, Plautus,
” with a good
glossary, by Valart, Sophocles,
”
prepared by our author, but published after his death by
Vauvilliers, Paris, 1781, 2 vols. 4to. An ample account
of this edition may be seen in Dibdin. Capperonnier also
contributed various papers to the academy of inscriptions.
His son, a very learned young man, who had also a place
in the royal library, was unfortunately drowned a few years
ago, while sailing in a pleasure-boat with some friends.
, a Genoese advocate, who lived in the seventeenth century, and acquired much fame as
, a Genoese advocate, who lived in the seventeenth century, and acquired much fame as a lawyer, is now only known as a historian. His Italian history comprehends the transactions that occurred in Italy during his own time, which he has related with clearness, and with sagacity traced to their causes; maintaining at the same time, as he says, a perfect impartiality between the powers of France and Spain, that were concerned in them. The two first parts of this history were published by Capriata in his life-time, from 1613 to 1644; and the third part, extending to 1660, was published by his son after his death. The whole was translated into English by Henry earftrfTVloninoutb, and published Lond. 1663, fol.
the Bologna school. Lewis Caracci was born in 1555, and was cousin-german to Augustine and Hannibal, who were brothers. He discovered but a.n indifferent genius for
, were celebrated painters of the Lombard school, all of Bologna, in Italy, and the founders of the Bologna school. Lewis Caracci was born in 1555, and was cousin-german to Augustine and Hannibal, who were brothers. He discovered but a.n indifferent genius for painting under his first master, Prospero Fontana who therefore dissuaded him from pursuing it any farther, and treated him so roughly that Lewis left his school. However, he was determined to supply the defects of nature by art; and henceforward had recourse to no other master but the works of the great painters. He went to Venice, where the famous Tintoret, seeing something of his doing, encouraged him to proceed iii his profession, and foretold, that he would one day be the first in it. This prophetic applause animated him in his resolutions to acquire a mastery an his art; and he travelled about to study the works of those who had excelled in it. He studied Titian’s, Tintoret’s, and Paulo Veronese’s works at Venice; Andrea del Sarto’s at Florence; Correggio’s at Parma; and Julio Romano’s at Mantua: but Correggio’s manner touched him most sensibly, and he followed it ever after.
hool, which ever since has gone by the name of the Caracci’s academy. Hither all the young students, who had a view of becoming masters, resorted to be instructed in
At length these three painters, having made all the advantages they could by observation and practice, formed a plan of association, and continued henceforward almost always together. Lewis communicated his discoveries freely to his cousins; and proposed to them that they should unite their sentiments and their manner, and act as it were in confederacy. The proposal was accepted: they painted various pictures in several places; and finding their credit to increase, they laid the foundation of that celebrated school, which ever since has gone by the name of the Caracci’s academy. Hither all the young students, who had a view of becoming masters, resorted to be instructed in the rudiments of painting; and here the Caracci taught freely and without reserve to all that came. Lewis’s charge was to make a collection of antique statues and bas-reliefs. They had designs of the best masters, and a collection of curious books on all subjects relating to their art: and they had a skilful anatomist always ready to teach what belonged to the knitting and motion of the muscles, &c. There were often disputations in the academy; and not only painters but men of learning proposed questions, which were always decided by Lewis. Every body was well received; and though stated hours were allotted to treat of different matters, yet improvements might be made at all hours by the antiquities and the designs which were to be seen.
dinary, to follow the inferior profession of a graver.” Augustine had a natural son, called Antonio, who was brought up a painter under his uncle Hannibal; and who applied
The fame of the Caracci reaching Rome, the cardinal
Farnese sent for Hannibal thither, to paint the gallery of
his palace. Hannibal was the more willing to go, because
he had a great desire to see Raphael’s works, with the antique statues and bas-reliefs. The gusto which he took
there from the ancient sculpture, made him change his
Bolognian manner for one more learned, but less natural
in the design and in the colouring. Augustine followed
Hannibal, to assist him in his undertaking of the Farnese
gallery; but the brothers not rightly agreeing, the cardinal sent Augustine to the court of the duke of Parma,
in whose service he died in 1602, being only forty-five
years of age. His most celebrated piece of painting is
that of the Communion of St. Jerom, in Bologna: “a
piece,
” says a connoisseur, “so complete in all its parts,
that it was much to be lamented the excellent author
should withdraw himself from the practice of an art, in
which his abilities were so very extraordinary, to follow
the inferior profession of a graver.
” Augustine had a natural son, called Antonio, who was brought up a painter
under his uncle Hannibal; and who applied himself with
so much success to the study of all the capital pieces in
Home, that it is thought he would have surpassed even
Hannibal himself, if he had lived hut he died at the age
of thirty- five, in 1618.
ght him, he was so surprised at the injustice done him, that he could not speak a word to the person who brought it. This confirmed him in a melancholy which his temper
Meanwhile Hannibal continued working in the Farnese gallery at Rome; and, after inconceivable pains and care, finished the paintings in the perfection they are in at present. He hoped that the cardinal would have rewarded him in some proportion to the excellence of his work, and to the time it took him up, which was eight years; but he was disappointed. The cardinal, influenced by an ignorant Spaniard his domestic, gave him but a little above 200 pounds. When the money was brought him, he was so surprised at the injustice done him, that he could not speak a word to the person who brought it. This confirmed him in a melancholy which his temper naturally inclined to, and made him resolve never more to touch his pencil; and this resolution he had undoubtedly kept, if his necessities had not compelled him to break it. It is said that his melancholy gained so much upon him that at certain times it deprived him of the right use of his senses. It did not, however, put a stop to his amours; and his debauches at Naples, whither he had retired for the recovery of his health, brought a distemper upon him, of which he died at forty-nine years of age. As in his life he had imitated Raphael in his works, so he seems to have copied that great master in the cause and manner of his death. His veneration for Raphael was indeed so great, that it was his death- bed request to be buried in the same tomb with him which was accordingly done in the pantheon or rotunda at Rome. There are extant several prints of the blessed Virgin, and of other subjects, etched by the hand of this incomparable artist. He is said to have been a friendly, plain, honest, and open-hearted man; very com^ municative to his scholars, and so extremely kind to them, that he generally kept his money in the same box with his colours, where they might have recourse to either as they had occasion.
on their works. It may be sufficient, however, in this place, to conclude with that of Mr. Fuseli, ' who, after objecting to Pilkington’s arrangement and some of his
In the excellent lectures of sir Joshua Reynolds are many remarks and criticisms on the Caracci and other authors may be referred to forvarious testimonies to their merit and opinions on their works. It may be sufficient, however, in this place, to conclude with that of Mr. Fuseli, 'who, after objecting to Pilkington’s arrangement and some of his criticisms, proceeds to characterise these artists.
s to preaching, which he cultivated with such success, as to incline all his brethren to imitate one who, throughout all Italy, was bailed as a second St. Paul. He displayed
, often
called Hobertus de Licio, from Leze“or Lecce
”, where
he was born in 1425, descended probably from the illustriou; family of Caraccioli, and became one of the most celebrated preachers of his time. Having an early inclination to the church, he entered the order of the Franciscans,
but finding their discipline too rigid, he removed to the
Conventuals, and according to Erasmus, lived with more
iVi-eJoin. He was. however, distinguished for talents, and
occupied some honourable offices, and was appointed professor oi divinity. His particular bias was to preaching,
which he cultivated with such success, as to incline all his
brethren to imitate one who, throughout all Italy, was
bailed as a second St. Paul. He displayed his pulpit eloquence not only in the principal cities of Italy, Assisa,
Florence, Venice, Ferrara, Naples, &c. but before the
popes, and is said to have censured the vices and luxury
of the Roman court with great boldness and some quaint
humour. This, however, appears not to have given serious offence, as he was employed by the popes, as well as
by the king of Naples, in several negotiations of importance, and was made successively bishop of Aquino, of
Lecce*, and of Aquila. After more than fifty years’ exercise of his talent as a preacher, he died at his native place
May 6, 14-y 5. Of his sermons eight volumes have been often
printed. 1. “Sermones de adventu,
” Venice, De Quadragesima,
” Cologne, De
Quadragesima, seu Quadragesimale perutilissimum de Pcenitentia,
” Venice, De Tempore, &c. Sanctorum,
” Naples, De Solemnitatibus totius
anni,
” Venice, De Christo,
” &c. Venice,
De timorejudiciorum Dei,
” Naples, De amore divinorum officiorum,
” ibid. Roberti de Licio Sermones,
” Leyden,
sh in 1770, is esteemed more authentic. There was another Caraccioli in this country some years ago, who called himself Charles Caraccioli, gent, and published a confused
, Marquis, was a native of Paris, where he was born in 1723, and having embraced the military life, became a colonel in the Polish
service. Having quitted that, he travelled in Italy, and
afterwards returned to his own country, where he passed a
considerable part of his time in writing and publishing, and
where he died May 29, 1803. His works, which are rather numerous than valuable, are of the moral or historic
kind. Of the first, we have, 1. “Charactere de l'Amitié,
”
2. “Conversation avec Soi- meme.
” 3. “Jouissance de
Soi-meme.
” 4. “Le Veritable Mentor,
” &c. &c. and of
the historic or biographical kind, are the lives of cardinal
de Berulle, Benedict XIV. Clement XIV. madame de
Maintenon, &c. these are each comprized in a duodecimo
volume, a quantity and form for which he appears to have
had a predilection. Above twenty other works are enumerated in the Diet. Hist, of which the only one worthy of
notice is “Ganganelli’s Letters,
” which were translated
into English some years ago, and had considerable success
in raising the opinions of the public in favour of that pontiff; but it is now generally acknowledged that they were
the composition of Caraccioli. His life of Ganganeili,
which was translated into English in 1770, is esteemed
more authentic. There was another Caraccioli in this
country some years ago, who called himself Charles Caraccioli, gent, and published a confused jumble under the
title of a Life of Lord Clive, and, if we mistake not, some
novels.