of M. Crassus on the Palatine hill, adjoining to that in which he had always lived with his father, and which he is now supposed to have given up to his brother Quintus.
About this time Cicero bought a house of M. Crassus on
the Palatine hill, adjoining to that in which he had always
lived with his father, and which he is now supposed to have
given up to his brother Quintus. The house cost him near
30,000l. and seems to have been one of the noblest in
Rome. The purchase of so expensive a house occasioned
some censure of Cicero, especially as it was made with
borrowed money. This circumstance he himself does not
dissemble, but says facetiously upon it, that “he was now
so plunged in debt, as to be ready for a plot, only tbat the
conspirators would not trust him.
”
ing in her house those awful sacrifices of the goddess, to which no male creature ever was admitted; and where every thing masculine was so scrupulously excluded, that
The most remarkable event that happened in this year, the forty-fifth of Cicero’s life, was the pollution of the mysteries of the Bona Dea by P. Clodius; which, by an unhappy train of consequences, deeply involved Cicero. Clodius had an intrigue with Caesar’s wife Pompeia, who, according to annual custom, was now celebrating in her house those awful sacrifices of the goddess, to which no male creature ever was admitted; and where every thing masculine was so scrupulously excluded, that even male portraits were covered during the ceremony. Clodius, however, eager to witness it, dressed himself in a woman’s habit, but was detected before he could execute his project; and when brought to trial, endeavoured to prove himself absent at the time of the fact; but Cicero deposed, that Clodius had been with him that very morning at his house in Rome. Ciodius, however, was absolved by a majority of thirty-one to twenty-five of his judges, the iniquity of which decision, Cicero constantly inveighed against. In revenge for this, about a year after, Clodius endeavoured to get himself chosen tribune, and in that office to drive Cicero out of the city, by the publication of a law, which by some stratagem or other he hoped to obtrude upon the people. Caesar was at the bottom of the scheme, and Pompey secretly favoured it: not that they intended to ruin Cicero, but to lessen his importance. Cicero affected to treat all this with contempt, sometimes rallying Clodius with much pleasantry, sometimes admonishing him with no less gravity; but it appears to have alarmed him, and to have inclined him to unite himself more closely with Pompey, in hopes of his protection against a storm, which he saw ready to burst upon him.
s in reality a traitorous conspiracy of three of the most powerful citizens of Rome, Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus, to extort from their country by violence, what they
The first triumvirate, as it has commonly been called, was now formed; which was in reality a traitorous conspiracy of three of the most powerful citizens of Rome, Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus, to extort from their country by violence, what they could not obtain by law. Cicero might have been admitted a partner in their league: but he would not enjer into any engagements, which he and all the friends of the republic abhorred. Clodius now began to threaten Cicero with all the -terrors of his tribunate, to which he had been chosen without any opposition. Ctesar’s whole aim was to subdue Cicero’s spirit, and force him to A dependence upon him: and therefore while he was privately encouraging Clodius, he vras proposing expedients to Cicero for his security. But though his enemies seemed to gain ground, he was unwilling to owe the obligation of his safety to Caesar, whose designs he always suspected, and whose measures he never approved, and who now therefore resolved to assist Clodius with all his power to oppress him; while Pompey gave him the strongest assurances, confirmed by oaths and vows, that he would sooner be killed himself, than suffer him to be hurt. Clodius in the mean time was courting the people by several new laws, contrived chiefly for their advantage, that he might introduce with a better grace the banishment of Cicero: which was now directly attempted by a special law, importing, that whoever had taken the life of a citizen uncondemned and without trial, should be prohibited from fire and water. Though Cicero was not named, yet he was marked out by the law: his crime was, the putting Catiline’s accomplices to death; which, though done by a general vote of the senate, was alleged to be illegal, and contrary to the liberties of the people. Cicero, finding himself thus reduced to the condition of a criminal, changed his habit upon it, as was usual in the case of a public impeachment; which, however, was thought an hasty and inconsiderate step, since he was not named in the law, which reached only to those who had taken the life of a citizen illegally: but it seems doubtful whether his taking no notice of it would have saved him, as the combination against him was deeply laid. Even Caesar, who affected great moderation, was secretly his adversary; and Pompey became reserved, and at last flatly refused to help him: while the Clodian faction treated his character and consulship with the utmost derision, and even insulted his person in the public streets. Cicero now called a council of his friends, to decide whether it was best to defend himself by force, or to save the effusion of blood by retreating till the storm should blow over: and the issue was, that he should submit to a voluntary exile.
enough with the populace to procure a law in form against him for putting citizens to death unheard and uncondemned, and confirming his banishment in the usual terms,
As soon as it was known that Cicero was gone, Clodius had influence enough with the populace to procure a law in form against him for putting citizens to death unheard and uncondemned, and confirming his banishment in the usual terms, employed on such occasions. This law having passed without opposition, Clodius immediately began to plunder, burn, and demolish Cicero’s houses both in the city and the country. The news of this seems to have deprived Cicero of the accustomed firmness of his character, and of the resignation of one conscious of his integrity, and suffering in the cause of his country; and his friends were forced to admonish him sometimes, to rouse his courage, and remember his former character: yet, in the midst of this affliction, before he had been absent two months, a motion was made in the senate by one of the tribunes,* who was his friend, to recall him, and repeal the law of Clodius, to which the whole house readily agreed t and in spite of the opposition of the Clodian faction, passed a vote, that no other business should be done, till Cicero’s return was carried; which at last it was, and in so splendid and triumphant a manner, that he had reason, he says, to fear, lest people should imagine that he himself had contrived his late flight, for the sake of so glorious a restoration.
Cicero, now in his fiftieth year, was restored to his former dignity, and a compensation made to him for his estates and houses, which
Cicero, now in his fiftieth year, was restored to his former dignity, and a compensation made to him for his estates and houses, which last were built up again by himself with more magnificence than before. But he had domestic grievances about this time, which touched him very nearly; arising chiefly from the petulant humour of his wife, which ended at last in a divorce. As to his public concerns, his chief point was how to support his former authority in the city, which it was not easy to do: and, therefore, we find him acting a subservient part, and managing the triumvirate in the best manner he could for the public welfare. In the fifty-sixth year of his age he was sent into Asia, and obliged to assume a new character, that of governor of a province, and general of an army; which preferments had no charms for Cicero, who, as we have noticed, was averse to them in his early life. However, he acquitted himself ably in administering the civil affairs of his province of Cilicia; nor was he deficient in military affairs, for he had the honour of a supplication decreed to him at Rome, and was not without some expectation even of a triumph.
, the grand affair that engaged all people’s thoughts was the expectation of a breach between Caesar and Pompey, which seemed to be now unavoidable, and which Cicero
As to the public news of the year, the grand affair that
engaged all people’s thoughts was the expectation of a
breach between Caesar and Pompey, which seemed to be
now unavoidable, and which Cicero soon learned from his
friends, as he was returning from uis province of Cilicia,
But as he foresaw the consequences of a war more coolly
and clearly than any of them, his first resolution was to
apply all his endeavours and authority to the mediation of
a peace. He had not yet declared for either side, although
his inclination was to follow Pompey and while he was
endeavouring to remain neuter, he had an interview with
Pompey, who, finding him wholly bent on peace, contrived to have a second conference with him hefore he
reached the city, in hopes to prevent any project of an
accommodation. Cicero, however, the more he observed
the disposition of both parties, the more he perceived the
necessity of it; and that a war must necessarily end in a
tyranny of some kind or other. When he arrived at the
city, he found the war in effect proclaimed: for the senate
had just voted a decree, that Caesar should dismiss his army
by a certain day, or be declared an enemy; and Cæsar’s
sudden march towards Rome effectually confirmed it. In
the midst of all this hurry and confusion, Caesar was extremely solicitous to prevail with Cicero to stand neuter,
but in vain, for Cicero was impatient to be gone to Pompey. In the mean time Caesar’s letters on the subject
afford a striking proof of the high esteem and credit in
which Cicero flourished at this time in Rome: when, in a
contest for empire, which force alone was to decide, the
chiefs on both sides were so solicitous to gain a man to
their party, who had no peculiar talents for war. Steadfast
to his purpose, he embarked at length for Dyrrhachium;
and arrived safely in Pompey’s camp with his son, his brother, and his nephew, committing the fortunes of the whole
family to the issue of that cause. But he soon had reason
to dislike every thing which they had done, or designed to
do; and saw that their own councils would ruin their cause.
In this disagreeable situation he declined all employment;
and finding his counsels wholly slighted, resumed his usual
way of raillery, for he was a great jester, and what he
could not dissuade by his authority, endeavoured to make
ridiculous by his jests. When Pompey put him in mind
of his coming so late to them: “How can I come late
”
said he, “when I find nothing in readiness among you?
” and
upon Pompey’s asking him sarcastically, where his son-in-law
Dolabella was; “He is with your father-in-law,
” replied
he. To a person newly arrived from Italy, and informing
him of a strong report at Rome, that Pompey was blocked
up by Caesar; “And you sailed hither therefore,
” said he
“that you might see it with your own eyes.
” By the frequency of these splenetic jokes, he is said to have provoked
Pompey so far as to tell him, “I wish you would go over
to the other side, that you may begin to fear us.
”
After the battle of Pharsalia, in which Pompey was defeated, Cicero returned to Italy, and was afterwards received into great favour by Caesar, who was
After the battle of Pharsalia, in which Pompey was defeated, Cicero returned to Italy, and was afterwards received into great favour by Caesar, who was now declared
dictator for the second time, and Marc Antony his master
of the horse. At his interview with Caesar he had no occasion to depart from the dignity of his character, for Caesar
no sooner saw him than he alighted, and ran to embrace
him, and walked with him alone, conversing very familiarly for several furlongs. About the end of the year,
Caesar embarked for Africa, to pursue the war against the
Pompeian generals, and Cicero, despairing of any good
from either side, chose to live retired; and whether in the
city or the country, shut himself up with his books; which,
as he often says, “had hitherto been the diversion only, but
were now become the support of his life.
” In this retreat
he entered into a close friendship and correspondence with
M. Terentius Varro, who is said to have been the most
learned of all the Romans; and wrote two of those pieces
upon orators and oratory, which are still extant in his works.
He was now in his sixty-first year, and having been divorced from his wife Terentia, he incurred both censure
and ridicule for marrying a handsome young woman named
Publilia, of an age disproportioned to his own, and to
whom he was guardian. But at present he was yet more
imprudent in frequently hazarding Caesar’s displeasure by
his sarcastic remarks. Some of these jests upon Caesar’s
administration are still preserved, and shew an extraordinary want of caution in times so critical. Caesar had
advanced Laberius, a celebrated player, to the order of
knights; but when he stepped from the stage to take his
place on the equestrian benches, none of the knights would
admit him to a seat amongst them. Cicero, however, as
he was marching off therefore with disgrace, said, “I
would make room for you here on our bench, if we were
not already too much crowded:
” alluding to Caesar’s filling
up the senate also with the lowest of his creatures, and even
with strangers and barbarians. At another time, being
desired by a friend in a public company to procure for his
son the rank of a senator in one of the corporate towns of
Italy, He shall have it,“says he,
” if you please, at
Rome; but it will be difficult at Pompeii.“An acquaintance likewise from Laodicea, coming to pay his respects
to him, and being asked what business had brought him to
Rome, said, that he was sent upon an embassy to Caesar,
to intercede with him for the liberty of his country: upon
which Cicero replied,
” If you succeed, you shall be an
ambassador also for us." Caesar, it must be allowed, to
his honour, preserved such a reverence for his character,
that he gave him many marks of personal favour; and this
influence Cicero employed only to screen himself in the
general misery of the times, and to serve those unhappy
men who were driven from their country and families for
the adherence to that cause which he himself had espoused.
Cicero was now oppressed by a new affliction, the death
of his beloved daughter Tullia; who died in childbed,
soon after her divorce from her third husband Dolabella.
She was about thirty-two years old at the time of her
death, and was most affectionate to her father. To the
usual graces of her sex, she added the more solid accomplishments of knowledge and polite letters, was qualified
to be the companion as well as the delight of his age; and
was justly esteemed not only as one of the best, but the
most learned of the Roman ladies. His affliction for the
death of this daughter was so great, that he endeavoured
to shun all company by removing to Atticus’s house, where
h'e lived chiefly in his library, turning over every book he
could meet with on the subject of moderating grief. But,
rinding his residence even here too public, he retired to
Asturia, one ol his seats near Antium, a little island on the
Latian shore, at the mouth of a river of the same name,
covered with woods and groves, cut out into shady walks;
a scene of all others the fittest to indulge melancholy, and
where his whole time was employed in reading and writing.
After the death of Caesar, Cicero was freed at once from
all subjection to a superior, whose power he perpetually
dreaded, and was now without competition the first citizen
in Rome, the first in credit and authority both with the
senate and people. The conspirators had no sooner killed
Caesar in the senate-house, which Cicero tells us he had
the pleasure to see, than Brutus, lifting up his bloody
dagger, called upon him by name, to congratulate with
him on the recovery of their liberty. It is evident from
several of his letters, that he had an expectation- of such
an attempt; for he prophesied very early, that Caesar’s
reign could not last six months, but must necessarily fall,
either by violence, or of itself; nay farther, he hoped to
live to see it; yet it is equally certain that he had no hand
in it, nor was at all acquainted with it.
all this belongs to history: it may be sufficient here to notice, that when Antony had driven Brutus and Cassuis from Rome, Cicero also left it, not a little mortified
But though the conspiracy had succeeded against Csesar, it drew after it a train of consequences, which, in little more than a year, ended in the destruction not only of the commonwealth, but of even Cicero himself. The detail of all this belongs to history: it may be sufficient here to notice, that when Antony had driven Brutus and Cassuis from Rome, Cicero also left it, not a little mortified to see things take so wrong a turn by the indolence of his friends. In his retreat he had frequent meetings and conferences with his old friends of the opposite party, the late ministers of Caesar’s power; among whom were Hirtius, and Pansa, who, if they must have a new master, were disposed, for the sake of Caesar, to prefer his heir and nephew, Octavius, and presented Wim to Cicero immediately upon his arrival, with the strongest professions on the part of the young man, that he would be governed entirely by his direction. Cicero, however, could not be persuaded to enter heartily into his affairs, and when he did consent at last to unite himself to Octavius’s interests, it was with no other view than to arm him with a power sufficient to oppress Antony, and so limited, that he should not be able to oppress the republic.
In the hurry of these politics, he was still prosecuting his studies, and besides some philosophical pieces, now finished his book of
In the hurry of these politics, he was still prosecuting his studies, and besides some philosophical pieces, now finished his book of Offices, for the use of his son; a work admired by all succeeding ages, as a perfect system of heathen morality. At the same time, he missed no opportunities to attempt the recovery of the republic, as appears from those memorable Philippics, which he published against Antony; but notwithstanding this struggle in support of expiring liberty, Brutus was disposed at last to throw all the blame upon him, charging him chiefly, that by a profusion of honours on young Caesar, he had inspired him with an ambition incompatible with the safety of the republic, and armed him with that power which he was now employing to oppress it; whereas the truth is, that by these honours Cicero did not intend to give Caesar any new power, but to apply that which he had acquired by his own vigour to the public service, and the ruin of Antony; in which he succeeded even beyond expectation; and would certainly have gained his end, had he not bee'tt prevented by accidents which could not be foreseen.
Octavius had no sooner settled the affairs of the city> and subdued the senate to his mind, than he marched back towards
Octavius had no sooner settled the affairs of the city> and subdued the senate to his mind, than he marched back towards Gaul to meet Antony and Lepidus, who had already passed the Alps, and brought their armies into Italy, in order to have a personal interview with him; which had been privately concerted for settling the terms of a triple league, the substance of which was, that the three should be invested jointly with supreme power for the term of five years, with the title of triumvirs, for settling the state of the republic; that they should act in all cases by common consent; nominate the magistrates and governors both at home and abroad, and determine all affairs relating to the public by their sole will and pleasure, &c. The last thing which they adjusted was, the list of a proscription, which they were determined to make of their enemies, consisting of 300 senators and 2000 knights, among whom was Cicero, who was at his Tusculan villa when he first received this unexpected news, and immediately set forward towards Asturia, the nearest village which he had upon the sea, where he embarked in a vessel ready for him; but the winds being unfavourable, he landed at Circaeum, and spent a night near that place in great anxiety and irresolution. This at last ended in his returning to his Formian villa, about a mile from the coast, weary of his life and the sea, and declaring he would die in that country which he had so often saved. Here he slept soundly for several hours, till his slaves forced him into his litter or portable chair, and carried him away towards the ship, having just heard that soldiers were already come into the country in quest of him. As soon as they were gone, the soldiers arrived at the house, and pursuing towards the sea, overtook him in the wood. As soon as they appeared, the servants prepared to defend their master’s life at the hazard of their own; but Cicero commanded them to set him down, and to make no resistance. Then looking upon his executioners with great presence and firmness, and thrusting his neck as forwardly as he could out of the litter, he bade them do their work, and take what they wanted. Upon which they cut off his head, and both his hands, and returned with them in all haste and great joy towards Rome, as the most agreeable present which they could carry to Antony. Popilius, the commander of the soldiers, whom Cicero had formerly fended In an accusation for a capital crime, charged himself with the conveyance, without reflecting on the infamy of carrying that head which had saved his own. He found Antony in the forum, and upon shewing from a distance the spoils which he brought, he was rewarded upon the spot with the honour or' a crown, and about 8000l. sterling. Antony ordered the head to be fixed upon thd rostra between the two hands; and, satiated with Cicero’s blood, declared the proscription at an end. This barbarous murder was committed Dec. 7, B. C. 43, A. U. C. 710, and in the sixty-fourth year of Cicero’s age.
ue it. His lot was cast in times unfavourable to his natural temper, which was averse to contention, and he knew not how to regulate his conduct with steadiness in political
After this long account, which, however, we have abridged from our last edition, little need he added of Cicero’s character. It will appear that though he cherished ambition, he wanted firmness to pursue it. His lot was cast in times unfavourable to his natural temper, which was averse to contention, and he knew not how to regulate his conduct with steadiness in political commotions and civil war. His chief delight was in the society and conversation of learned men, and his works afford a decisive proof that his excellence lay in the accumulation of learning, and the display of eloquence, in which he can be compared only with Demosthenes. Their respective characters have been considered as the two great models on which all eloquence ought to be formed. In all his orations, says a modern critic, his art is conspicuous; he begins commonly with a regular exordium; and with much address prepossesses the hearers, and studies to gain their affections’. His method is clear, and his arguments are arranged with exact propriety. In a superior clearness of method, he has an advantage over Demosthenes. Every thing appears in its proper place. He never tries to move till he has attempted to convince; and in moving, particularly the softer passions, he is highly successful. No one ever knew the force of words better than Cicero. He rolls them along with the greatest beauty and magnificence; and in the structure of his sentences is eminently curious and exact. He amplifies every tiling; yet though his manner is generally diffuse, it is often happily varied and accommodated to the subject. When an important public object rouses his mind, and demands indignation and force, he departs considerably from that loose and declamatory manner to which he at other times is addicted, and becomes very forcible and vehement. This great orator, however, is not without hi? defects. In most of his orations there is too much art, even carried to a degree of ostentation. He seems often desirous of obtaining admiration rather than of operating by conviction. He is sometimes, therefore, showy rather than solid, and diffuse where he ought to have been. urgent. His sentences are always round and sonorous. They cannot be accused of monotony, since they possess variety of cadence; but from too great a fondness for magnificence, he is on some occasions deficient in strength. Though the services which he had performed to his country were very considerable, yet he is too much his own panegyrist. Ancient manners, which imposed fewer restraints on the side of decorum, may in some degree excuse, but cannot entirely justify his vanity.
chiefly to the Academic sect, but did not neglect to inform himself of the doctrines of other sects, and discovered much learning and ingenuity in refuting their dogmas.
As a philosopher, he rather related the opinions of others than advanced any new doctrines of his own conceptions. He attached himself chiefly to the Academic sect, but did not neglect to inform himself of the doctrines of other sects, and discovered much learning and ingenuity in refuting their dogmas. He was an admirer of the doctrine of the stoics concerning natural equity and civil law, and adopted their ideas concerning morals, although not with servility. The sect to which he was most averse was the Epicurean, but upon the whole, from the general cast of his writings, the Academic sect was best suited to his natural disposition. Through all his philosophical works, he paints in lively colours, and with all the graces of fine writing, the opinions of philosophers; and relates, in the diffuse manner of an orator, the arguments on each side of the question in dispute; but we seldom find him diligently examining the exact weight of evidence in the scale of reason, carefully deducing accurate conclusions from certain principles, or exhibiting a series of arguments in a close and systematic arrangement. On the contrary, we frequently hear him declaiming eloquently, instead of reasoning conclusively, and meet with unequivocal proofs, that he was better qualified to dispute on either side with the Academics, than to decide upon the question with the Dogmatists, and therefore appears rather to have been a warm admirer and an elegant memorialist of philosophy, than himself to have merited a place in the first order of philosophers. The editions of Cicero’s works, in whole, or in parts, are far too numerous to be specified in this place. We may, however, notice among the most curious or valuable: 1. his whole works, first edition, by Minutianus, Milan, 1498—1499, 4 vols. fol. of great rarity and price 2. By Paul Manutius, Venice, 1540 4to 10 vols. 8vo; 3. By R, Stephens, Paris, 1543, 8 vols. 8vo 4. By Lambinus, Paris, 1566, 2 vols. fol.; 5. Elzivir, Leyden, 1642, 10 vols. 8vo; 6. Gronovius, 11 vols. 12mo, and 4 vols. 4to; 7. Verburgius, Amst. 1724, 2 voLs. fol.; 4 vols. 4to; 8. Ernest, Leipsic, 1774, 8 vols. 8vo 9. Olivet, Paris, 1740, 9 vols. 4to; Geneva, 1758, 9 vols. and Oxford, 1783, 10 vols. 4to; 10. Foulis, Glasgow, 1749, 20 vols. 12mo; 11. Lallemande, Paris, 1768, 12 vols. 12mo. For his separate pieces we must refer to Dibdin and Clarke. Most of his productions have been translated into various languages, and several into English, by Melmoth, Guthrie, Jones, and others. Melmoth, as well as Middleton, has written a life of Cicero, both with some degree of partiality, but with great ability.
oing article, in the year that his father obtained the consulship: that is, in the year of Rome 690, and about 64 years before Christ. In his early youth, while he continued
, the son of Marcus Tullius Cicero, was born, as has been observed in the foregoing article, in the year that his father obtained the consulship: that is, in the year of Rome 690, and about 64 years before Christ. In his early youth, while he continued under the eye and discipline of his father, he was modest, tractable, and dutiful; diligent in his studies, and expert in his exercises: so that in the Pharsalic war, at the age of seventeen, he acquired great reputation in Pornpey’s camp. Not long after Pompey’s death he was sent to Athens to study under Cratippus; and here first his irregularity of conduct and extravagance of expence made his father uneasy, but he was soon made sensible of his folly, and recalled to his duty by the remonstrances of his friends, and particularly of Atticus; so that his father readily paid his debts, and enlarged his allowance, which seems to have been about 700l. per annum. From this time, all the accounts from the principal men of the place as well as his Roman friends who had occasion to visit Athens, are uniform in 'their praises of him. When Brutus arrived there, he entrusted him, though but twenty years old, with a principal command in his army, in which he acquitted himself with great courage and conduct; and in several expeditions and encounters with the enemy, where he commanded in chief, always came off victorious. After the battle of Philippi, and the death of Brutus, he escaped to Pompey, who had taken possession of Sicily with a great army, and fleet superior to any in the empire. This was the last refuge of the poor republicans, where young Cicero was received again with particular honours; and continued fighting in the defence of his country’s liberty, till Pompey, by a treaty of peace with the triumvirate, obtained, as one of the conditions of it, the pardon and restoration of all the proscribed and exiled Romans, who were then -in arms with him. Cicero therefore took his leave of Pompey, and returned to Rome with the rest of his party, where he lived for some time in the condition of a private nobleman, remote from all public affairs; partly through the envy of the times, averse to his name and principles; partly through choice, and his zeal for the republican cause, which he retained to the last. But here at the same time he sunk into a life of indolence and pleasure, and the intemperate love of wine, which began to be the fashionable vice of this age.
est or augur, as well as one of those magistrates who presided over the coinage of the public money: and no sooner became the sole master of Rome, than he took him for
Augustus, however, now made him a priest or augur, as well as one of those magistrates who presided over the coinage of the public money: and no sooner became the sole master of Rome, than he took him for his partner in the consulship: and by these favours to the son, Augustus made some atonement for his treachery to the father. Soon after his consulship, he was made proconsul of Asia, or, as Appian says, of Syria, one of the most considerable provinces of the empire: from which time we find no farther mention of him in history. He died probably soon after; before a maturity of age and experience had given him an opportunity of retrieving the reproach of his intemperance, and distinguishing himself in the councils of the state. But from the honours already mentioned, it is evident that his life, though blemished by some scandal, yet was not void of dignity; and, amidst all the vices with which he is charged, he is allowed to have retained his father’s wit and politeness.
, an eminent artist, was born at Bologna (some say at Rome) in 1628, and was taught his ait by Giovanni Battista Cairo Casalasco; and
, an eminent artist, was born at Bologna (some say at Rome) in 1628, and was taught his ait by Giovanni Battista Cairo Casalasco; and afterwards became the disciple of Albano, in whose school he appeared with promising and superior talents, but although these, while he studied with Albano, were exceedingly admired, yet, to improve himself still farther in correctness of design, and also in the force and relief of his figures, he studied Raphael, Annibale Caracci, Caravaggio, Correggio, and Guido; and combined something of each in a manner of his own. He is accounted very happy in his taste of composition, and excellent in the disposition of his figures; but a judicious writer says, that he was censured for bestowing too much labour on the finishing of his pictures, which considerably diminished their spirit; and also for affecting too great a strength of colouring, so as to give his figures too much relief, and make them appear as if not united with their grounds. However well or ill-founded these observations may be, yet through all Europe he is deservedly admired for the force and delicacy of his pencil, for the great correctness of his design, for a distinguished elegance in his compositions, and also for the mellowness which he gave to his colours. The draperies of his figures are in general easy and free; his expression of the passions is judicious and natural; and there appears a remarkable grace in every one of his figures.
ugh Forli, where Cignani at that time resided with his family, desired to have one of his paintings; and Carlo shewed him a picture of Adam and Eve, which he had painted
The cardinal San Csesareo passing through Forli, where
Cignani at that time resided with his family, desired to
have one of his paintings; and Carlo shewed him a picture
of Adam and Eve, which he had painted for his own use,
intending to have kept it by him. On viewing that performance, the cardinal was so pleased that he gave him five
hundred pistoles, and politely told Carlo, that he only paid
him for the canvas, and accepted the painting as a present.
In the Palazzo Zambeccari, at Bologna, is a Sampson by
Cignani, in a noble and grand style; in the superb collection of the duke of Devonshire, there is a picture of
Joseph disengaging himself from the immodesty of his
Mistress; and one of the same subject is in the Palazzo
Arnaldi, at Florence. Sir Robert Strange, who had two
pictures by Cignani, “Bacchanalian Boys,
” and “Madona with the child and St. John,
” speaks highly of his talents; but there was in the Dusseidorp gallery, when sir
Joshua Reynolds visited it, an immense picture of the
Ascension of the Virgin, which sir Joshua thought heavy,
and in no point excellent. Cignani died at Forli, 1719, in
his ninety-first year.
, another renowned painter, was born at Florence in 1240, and was the first who revived the art of painting in Italy. Being
, another renowned painter, was
born at Florence in 1240, and was the first who revived the
art of painting in Italy. Being descended of a noble family, and of sprightly parts, he was sent to school to study
the belles lettres, but he generally betrayed his natural
bias by drawing figures upon paper, or on his books. The
fine arts having been extinct in Italy, ever since the irruption of the barbarians, the senate of Florence had sent at
that time for painters out of Greece. Cimabue was their
first disciple, and used to elope from school and pass whole
days in viewing their work. His father, therefore, agreed
with these Greeks to take him under their care, and he
soon surpassed them both in design and colouring. Though
he wanted the art of managing his lights and shadows,
was but little acquainted with the rules of perspective, and
in other particulars but indifferently accomplished, yet the
foundation which he laid for future improvement, entitled
him to the name of the “father of the first age, or infancy
of modern painting.
”
Cirnabue painted, according to the custom of those times, in fresco and in distemper; the art of painting in oii being not then discovered.
Cirnabue painted, according to the custom of those times, in fresco and in distemper; the art of painting in oii being not then discovered. He painted a great many pieces at Florence, some of which are yet remaining: but, as his fame began to spread, he was sent for to many remote places, and among the rest to Asceci, a city of Umbria, and the birth-place of St. Francis. There in the lower church, in company with those Greek painters, he painted some of the cieling and the sides of the church, with the stories of the lives of our Saviour and St. Francis; in all which he so far outdid his coadjutors that he resolved to paint by himself, and undertook the upper church in fresco. Being returned to Florence, he painted for the church of Sancta Maria Novella, where he first went to school, a jpiece of our Lady, which was the largest picture that had been seen in those days, and is still to be seen in good preservation. It then excited so much wonder, that it was carried from Ciinabue’s house to the church with trumpets before it, and in solemn processibn and he was highly rewarded and honoured by the city for it. There is a tradition, that while Cimabue was employed on this piece in a garden he had near the gate of St. Peter, Charles of Anjou, king of Naples, came through Florence, where, being received with all possible demonstrations of respect, the magistrates, among other entertainments, carried him to see this piece. And because nobody had yet seen it, all the gentry of Florence waited upon him thither, and with such extraordinary rejoicings, that the name of the place was changed to Borgo Allegri, that is, the Merry Suburb which name it long retained.
Cimabue was also a great architect as well as painter, and concerned in the fabric of Sancta Maria del Fior in Florence
Cimabue was also a great architect as well as painter, and concerned in the fabric of Sancta Maria del Fior in Florence during which employment he died in 1300. He left many disciples, and among the rest Giotto, who proved an excellent master, and was his first rival. Dante mentions him in the eleventh canto of his purgatory as without a rival till Giotto appeared. Cimabue’s portrait, by Simon Sanese, was in the chapel-house of Sancta Maria Novella. It is a figure which has a lean face, a little red beard, in point; with a capuche, or monk’s hood upon his head, after the fashion of those times.
, an eminent musician and composer, was born at Capo di Monte, Naples: he studied music
, an eminent musician and composer, was born at Capo di Monte, Naples: he studied
music at the couservatorio of Loretto, and was a disciple
of the admirable Duronte. He was carefully educated in
other respects, and his docility and sweetness of temper,
during his youth, gained him the affection of all who
knew him. On quitting the conservatorio his talents were
soon noticed, and his operas, chiefly comic, became the
delight of all Italy. But though he composed for buffo
singers, his style was always graceful, never grotesque or
capricious. There is an ingenuity in his accompaniments
which embellishes the melody of the voice part, without
too much occupying the attention of the audience. His
operas of “Il Pittore Parigino,
” and “L'Italiana in Londra,
” were carried to Rome, and thence to the principal
cities of Italy, where their success was so great in 1782
and 1783, that he received an order from Paris to compose
a cantata for the birth of the dauphin, which was performed
by a band of more than 100 voices and instruments. In
1784 he was engaged to compose for the theatres and cities
which seldom had operas expressly composed for them;
bringing on their stage such as were set for great capitals,
such as Rome, Naples, Venice, and Milan. By these
means the expences of poet and composer were saved. He
composed operas likewise at Petersburgh and Madrid, and
his success and fame were more rapid than those of any
composer of the last century, except Piccini, and the fame
of his comic opera of “L'ltaliana in Londra,
” seems to
have been as extensive as that of the “Buona Figliuola.
”
Cimarosa, unfortunately for his fame and fortune, manifested a partiality for the French during their
Cimarosa, unfortunately for his fame and fortune, manifested a partiality for the French during their possession of Naples, which occasioned his disgrace at the court of his patron and natural sovereign, and he narrowly escaped the fate of convicted rebels and traitors. He was, however, allowed to die in his bed in 1801, in the fiftieth year of his age, extremely regretted by the lovers "of music, as an original and exquisite composer, and an amiable man.
, was a celebrated Roman, who was taken from the plough to be consul and, a second time, to be dictator, 458 A. C. when the army of the
, was a celebrated Roman, who was taken from the plough to be consul and, a second time, to be dictator, 458 A. C. when the army of the consul, Marcus Minutius, was on the point of being forced in its entrenchments by the -/Equi and Volsci. Cincinnatus conquered these enemies, made them pass under the yoke; and, having triumphed, returned to his plough. He was created dictator a second time when eighty years of age, vanquished the Praenestians, and abdicated twentyone days after. The time of his death is not known. From the leading trait in his history, a society was formed in America at the close of the revolutionary war in 1783, called the order of the Cincinnati, but it met with some opposition, although it still subsists, principally in the form of a charitable institution.
was born in 1625, had not only great skill in his profession, but very extensive literary knowlege, and few men were better acquainted with books of rarity and curiosity.
, a physician at Florence, where he
was born in 1625, had not only great skill in his profession,
but very extensive literary knowlege, and few men were
better acquainted with books of rarity and curiosity. He
was a member of the academy of Apatisti at Florence, and
of the academy of Parma, and of other learned societies.
But he had, unfortunately, the art of creating enemies by
the severity of his censures and personal remarks; and
having taken some liberties of this kind in his “Biblioteca
volante
” with Dr. Moniglia, first physician to Cosmo III.
he was sent to prison, and released only on condition of
retracting what he had so imprudently advanced. After
this, he quitted the dominions of the grand duke, and
having travelled over most part of Italy, settled at Loretto,
where he practised physic, and where he died in 1706. In
1677 he published the first two parts of his “Biblioteca
volante,
” or fugitive library; a curious and useful collection of remarks and information respecting rare books, in
which he was assisted by the learned Magliabechi, who
was his intimate friend. The third, fourth, and fifth parts
he published at Naples about the year 1686. The whole
was reprinted, with additions by Sancassani, at Venice,
4 vols. 4to, 1734—1747. He had a design of publishing
an account of Tuscan authors, which we are sorry to find
was prevented by his poverty and want of encouragement.
The only other publication we know of Cinelli’s, was a new
edition, with improvements, of “Bocchi’s Curiosities of
Florence,
”
, surnamed the Grammarian, was secretary to the emperor Manuel Comnenus in the twelfth century, and served under him in the army. Little else is known of his personal
, surnamed the Grammarian, was secretary to the emperor Manuel Comnenus in the twelfth century, and served under him in the army. Little else is known of his personal history, unless that he was living when Andronicus Comnenus usurped the throne. He wrote a history of the reigns of the two emperors John and Manuel Comnenus, from 1118 to 1176. Leo Allatius in general praises his style, but blames his frequent use of foreign terms and metaphors. His history was published by Du Cange in Greek and Latin, Paris, 1670, folio.
, a celebrated Italian lawyer and poet of the fourteenth century, who usually is known by that
, a celebrated Italian lawyer and
poet of the fourteenth century, who usually is known by
that name, although he was of the ancient family of the
Sinibaldi or Sinibuldi, and his first name was Guittoncino
(not Ambrogino, as Le Quadrio says), the diminutive of
Cuittone, and by abbreviation Cino. Much pains were
bestowed on his education, and according to the fashion of
the times, he studied law; but nature had made him a poet,
and he cultivated that taste in conjunction with his
academical exercises. He took his first degree in civil law at
Bologna, and in 1307 was appointed assessor of civil causes
but at that time was obliged to leave Pistoia, owing to the
civil commotions. Cino was a zealous Ghibelin, and was
now glad to seek an asylum in Lombardy, whither he followed his favourite Selvaggia, whose charms he so often
celebrates in his poems, but where he had the misfortune
to lose her. After her death he travelled for some time in
Lombardy, and is thought to have visited Paris, the university of which was at that time the resort of many foreigners. On his return, however, to Bologna in 1314, he
published his “Commentary on the first nine Books of the
Code,
” a very learned work, which placed him among the
ablest lawyers of his time, and has been often printed, first
at Pavia in 1483; the best edition is that improved by
Cisnez, Franefort, 1578. He now took his doctor’s degree,
ten years after he had received that of bachelor, and his
reputation procured him invitations to become law-professor, an office which he filled for three years at Trevisa,
and for seven years at Perugia. Among his pupils in the
latter place was the celebrated Bartolo, who studied under
him six years, and declared that he owed his knowledge
entirely to the writings and lessons of Cino. From Perugia
he went to Florence, but his reputation was confined to the
civil law. At this time the canonists and legists were sworn
enemies, and Cino, not only in his character as a legist,
but as a Ghibelin, had a great aversion to decretals, canons,
and the whole of papal jurisprudence. It is not true, however, as some have asserted, that he taught civil law to
Petrarch, or canon law to Boccaccio, although he communicated with Petrarch on poetical matters, and exhibited to
him a style which Petrarch did not disdain to imitate.
ve country, when he was seized with a disorder which proved fatal in 1336, or the beginning of 1337, and not, according to Tiraboschi, in 1341, leaving, as his biographer
Cino was professor at Florence in 13. '54, when he was appointed gonfalonier at Pistoia, where his party had gained the ascendancy; but either from a partiality for his present situation, or some other motive, he declined accepting the honour. We find him, however, on his return to his native country, when he was seized with a disorder which proved fatal in 1336, or the beginning of 1337, and not, according to Tiraboschi, in 1341, leaving, as his biographer says, two reputations which long subsisted without injuring one another, that of one of the revivers of civil jurisprudence, and one of the founders of Italian poetry. It is ia the latter character that his fame has been of longest duration, and in which he has been praised by Dante, and more abundantly by Petrarch, who chose him for one of his models. Modern critics, however, have discovered among many beauties, an occasional flatness and obscurity in some of his poetical pieces. They were first printed at Rome in 1559, and reprinted thirty years after with a second part, and are in several collections.
is first instructions from an English artist of the name of Heckford (who had settled in that city), and afterwards went under the tuition of Gabbiani, by the study
, an eminent artist, claimed
by the English school, from England being so long the
theatre of his art, was born at Pistoia, about the year 1727.
He received his first instructions from an English artist of
the name of Heckford (who had settled in that city), and
afterwards went under the tuition of Gabbiani, by the study
of whose works he became a vigorous designer. Italy possesses few of his pictures, but Lanzi mentions two, painted
for the abbey of St. Michele, in Pelago, in the neighbourhood of Pistoia; the one of St. Tesauro, the other of Gregory VII. In 1750 he went to Rome, where he had much
employment, but chiefly in drawing; and in August 1755
came to England with Mr. Wilton and sir William Chambers, who were then returning from the continent. His
reputation having preceded him, he was patronized by lord
Tilney, and the late duke of Richmond, and other noblemen. When, in 1758, the duke of Richmond opened the
gallery at his house in Privy- garden as a school of art,
Wilton and Cipriani were appointed to visit the students
the former giving them instructions in sculpture, and the
latter in painting; but this scheme was soon discontinued.
At the foundation of the Royal Academy, Cipriani was
chosen one of the founders, and was also employed to make
the design for the diploma, which is given to the academicians and associates at their admission. For this work,
which he executed with great taste and elegance, the president and council presented him with a silver cup, “as an
acknowledgment for the assistance the academy received
from his great abilities in his profession.
” The original
drawing of this diploma was purchased at the marquis of
Lansdowne’s sale of pictures, drawings, &c. in 1806 for
thirty-one guineas by Mr. G. Baker.
Among other avocations, he was employed to clean and repair the pictures of Rubens, in the ceiling of Whitehall chapel,
Among other avocations, he was employed to clean and repair the pictures of Rubens, in the ceiling of Whitehall chapel, which he completed with great success in 1778. He had before repaired the paintings of Verrio at Windsor, assisted by Mr. Ricnards; and there is a ceiling at Buckingham house, in the antique style, the compartments of which he painted. We may also notice a room, decorated with poetical subjects, in the house of the late sir William Young at Standlynch in Wiltshire. Some of the few pictures he left are at the seat of Mr. Coke, at Holkham, and four are in the ceiling in the library of the Royal Academy. But his greatest excellence was in his drawings, where Mr. Fuseli says, the fertility of his invention, the graces of his composition, and the seductive elegance of his forms, were only surpassed by the probity of his character, the simplicity of his manners, and the benevolence of his heart. These designs were disseminated over all Europe by the graver of Francis Bartolozzi and his pupils, and bought up with avidity. He died Dec. 14, 1785, and was buried in the cemetery at Chelsea, adjoining the King’s road. He left two sons.
hew to Nicolas Cirillo, a Neapolitan physician of considerable eminence, was born at Naples in 1730, and liberally educated. His principal study was medicine, as a profession
, nephew to Nicolas Cirillo, a Neapolitan physician of considerable eminence, was born at
Naples in 1730, and liberally educated. His principal
study was medicine, as a profession but his inclination
led him more particularly to natural history and at the
age of thirty he was appointed botanical professor at Naples. In 1761, he published his “Introductio ad Botanicam,
” which in the then state of botany was considered as
a useful book. In the mean time, his knowledge of the
English language made him be consulted by all visitors
from that nation, and among others by lady Walpole, who
engaged him to accompany her to England, as her travelling physician; and here he attended Dr. Hunter’s, and
probably other medical lectures. On his return he published his “Nosologiae methodicse rudimenta,
” De essentialibus nonnullarum
plantarum characteribus,
” which was followed by other botanical treatises, learned, but badly written, his Latin and
Italian style being both ungrammatical and uncouth. His
most splendid work was an account of the “Papyrus,
”
printed by Bodoni in
was a learned Lutheran, born at Mosbach in the Palatinate, March 24, 1529. He studied at Heidelberg, and took his master’s degree in 1547, and afterwards taught the
, whom we have just mentioned as
the editor of Cino da Pistoia’s works, was a learned
Lutheran, born at Mosbach in the Palatinate, March 24,
1529. He studied at Heidelberg, and took his master’s
degree in 1547, and afterwards taught the Aristotelian
philosophy and mathematics. To improve himself farther
he went to Strasburgh, where Bucer, the celebrated reformer, and his relation, instructed him in the principles
of the reformation, and where he was confirmed in them by
studying divinity under Lutheran professors. The fame of
Melancthon induced him next to visit him at Wittemberg,
whence he returned in 1552 to Heidelberg, and was appointed by the elector Frederic to the chair of professor of
moral philosophy. He also lectured on Aristotle’s Ethics
and Cicero “De Finibus, until in 1553, the plague breaking out, he went to France- and Italy and was m>ade doctor
of laws at Pisa in 1559. The same year he returned to
Heidelberg, where he was appointed professor of the
Pandects, and counsellor to the elector Palatine Frederic
III. Some time after he succeeded Baudoin as professor
of civil law; and in 1563 he filled the office of rector of
the university of Heidelberg, and several other honourable
situations under the elector Lewis. He died at Heidelberg March G, 1583. The principal of his original works
were published in a thick octavo of 1031 pages, with a life
by the editor Reuter, under the title of
” N. Cisneri, &c.
opuscula historica et politico-philologica, distributa in
libros quatuor,“Francfort, 1611. This contains twentythree treatises, on subjects of history, philology, biography,
&c. besides poems and letters. He published also some
works on law, and was editor, as we have noticed, of the
works of Cino da Pistoia, of Aventinus’s annals, Albert
Krantz’s
” Saxonia,“Duarenus’s works, 1578, 2 vols. folio,
and of
” Simonis Chardii Scriptores rerum Germanicarum,"
Basil, 1574, 4 vols. folio.
, an English divine, was born in Canterbury about the year 1607, and in 1628 was entered a student of Merton-college, in Oxford,
, an English divine, was born
in Canterbury about the year 1607, and in 1628 was entered
a student of Merton-college, in Oxford, where in October
1631, he took his degree of B. A. Afterwards he remoYed
to Magdalen-hall, and took his degree of M. A. in June
1634, being then generally esteemed a very able moderator in philosophy. About 1636 he became vicar of Melbourne, in Dorsetshire; and some years after was elected
preacher at St. Mary’s church, in St. Edmundsbury, Suffolk, where he was held in great veneration for his edifying
manner of preaching, and for his singular piety. He died
Sept. 12, 1663, and was buried in the chancel of St. Mary’s
Church, before mentioned. He published, “The Abuses
of God’s Grace, discovered in the kinds, causes, &c. proposed as a seasonable check to the wanton libertinism of
the present age,
” Oxon.
, eldest son of the preceding, was born at St. Edmundsbury, in Suffolk, September 14, 1646, and educated in the free-school there, under the care of Dr. Thomas
, eldest son of the preceding,
was born at St. Edmundsbury, in Suffolk, September 14,
1646, and educated in the free-school there, under the
care of Dr. Thomas Stephens, author of the notes on Statius’s Sylvse, who took very early notice of the promising
parts of his scholar. Before he was full thirteen years of
age, he was admitted a pensioner in Emanuel-college, in
Cambridge, September 5, 1659, under the tuition of Mr.
Thomas Jackson, where he took his degree of A. B. 1663,
A.M. 1667, and commenced D. D. in 1683. He was
then chosen one of the preachers of St. Edmundsbury,
which office he discharged for seven years with universal
reputation. From thence, at the instance of some considerable men of the long robe, whose business at the assizes there gave them opportunities of being acquainted
with his great worth and abilities, he was thought worthy
by the society of Gray’s-inn, to succeed the eminent Dr.
Cradock, as their preacher, which he continued to be all
the remaining part of his life, much to the satisfaction of
the society. He was also presented by the lord keeper
North (who was his wife’s kinsman) to the rectory of Farnham-royal, in Buckinghamshire, into which he was instituted May 14, 1683; but what he most valued next to his
preacher’s place at Gray’s-inn, was the lectureship of St.
Michael Bassishaw, to which he was elected by that parish
about two years before his death. He was also chaplain in
ordinary to his majesty. He was cut off, however, in the
prime of life. He was seized with the small-pox on a
Sunday evening, March the 16th, after having preached
at St. Martin in the Fields, in his Lent course there; and
died March 28, 1638. He was buried in a vault under part
of the church of St. Michael Bassishaw, in the grave
with his wife, Mrs. Thornasin North, a most virtuous and
accomplished woman, who died eighteen days after him,
of the same disease. We are assured by the testimony of
Dr. Sharp, that no man of a private condition, in the last
age, died more lamented, and his private virtuesand
public services are spoken of by all his contemporaries in
the highest terms. Bishop Burnet ranks him among those
worthy and eminent men whose lives and labours in a great
measure rescued the church from those reproaches that
the follies of others drew upon it; nor ought it to be forgotten, that he was one of those excellent divines who
made that noble stand against popery in the reign of king
James II. which will redound to their immortal honour.
The several things published by Dr. Clagett, are as follows: 1. “A Discourse concerning the Operations of the
Holy Spirit; with a confutation of some part of Dr. Owen’s
book upon that subject,
” Part I. Lond. A Reply to a pamphlet called
The Mischief of Impositions, by Mr. Alsop, which pretends to answer the dean of St. Paul’s (Dr. Stillingfleet’s)
Sermon concerning the Mischief of Separation,
” Lond.
An Answer to the Dissenters’ Objections
against the Common Prayers, and some other parts of the
divine service prescribed in the Liturgy of the Church of
England,
” Lond. The Difference of the
Case between the Separation of Protestants fromthe
Church of Rome, and the Separation of Dissenters from
the Church of England,
” Lond. The
State of the Church of Rome when the Reformation began, as it appears by the advices given to pope Paul III.
and Julius III. by creatures of their own.
” 6. “A Discourse concerning the Invocation of the Blessed Virgin
and the Saints,
” Lond. A Paraphrase,
with notes, upon the sixth Chapter of St. John, shewing
that there is neither good reason, nor sufficient authority
to suppose that the Eucharist is discoursed of in that
chapter, much less to infer the doctrine of Transubstantiation from it.
” Lond. 1686, 4to. Reprinted in 1689,
8vo, at the end of his second volume of sermons. 8. “Of
the Humanity and Chanty of Christians. A Sermon
preached at the Suffolk Feast, at St. Michael, Cornhill,
London, November 30, 1686.
” 9. “A Discourse concerning the pretended Sacrament of Extreme Unction,
&.c.
” in three parts. “With a letter to the Vindicator of
the bishop of Condom,
” Lond. A second letter to the Vindicator of the bishop of Condom,
”
Lond. Authority of Councils, and the
Rule of Faith, with an answer to the Eight Theses laid
down for the Trial of the English Reformation.
” The first
part, about Councils, by Hutchinson, esq. the rest
by Dr. Clagett, 4to. 12. “Notion of Idolatry considered
and confuted,
” Lond. Cardinal Bellarmine’s
seventh note, of the Union of the Members among themselves, and with the Head.
” 14. “His twelfth note, Of
the Light of Prophecy, examined and confuted.
” 15. “A
View of the whole Controversy between the Representer
and the Answerer; in which are laid open some of the
methods by which Protestants are misrepresented by Papists,
” Lond. An Answer to the Representer’s Reflections upon the State and View of the Controversy. With a Reply to the Vindicator’s full Answer;
shewing that the Vindicator has utterly ruined the new
design of expounding and representing Popery,
” London,
Several captious Queries concerning
the English Reformation, first in Latin, and afterwards by
T. W. in English, briefly and fully answered,
” Lond.
A Preface concerning the Testimony of
Miracles, prefixed to The School of the Eucharist established upon the miraculous respects and acknowledgements,
which Beasts, Birds, and Insects, upon several occasions,
have rendered to the Sacrament of the Altar.
” Translated
by another hand, from the original French of F. Toussain
Bridoul, a Jesuit," Lond. 1687, 4to. Besides these, after
his decease, his brother, Mr. Nicolas Clagett, published
four volumes of his sermons: the first in 1689, contained seventeen sermons; one of which was greatly admired by
queen Mary, who desired to have it read more than once
during her last illness: Text, Job ii. 10. The second
volume, printed in 1693, contained eleven sermons; a Paraphrase and Notes upon the first, second, third, fourth, fifth,
seventh, and eighth Chapters of the Gospel of St. John.
The Paraphrase, and Notes on the sixth Chapter, which had
been published before: A Discourse of Church- Unity, with
Directions now, in this divided State of Christendom, to keep
within the Unity of the Church A Discourse of Humanity
and Charity And a Letter concerning Protestants Charity
to Papists published by Dr. Clagett. The third and fourth
volumes did not come out till 1720, at so great a distance
of tune from the two former volumes, that the booksellers
would not call them the third and fourth volumes, but the
first and second volumes, as well as the former; only notice was given, that they were never before published.
, younger brother to the preceding, was born in May 1654, and educated in the freeschool of Bury St. Edmund’s, under Mr. Edward
, younger brother to the preceding, was born in May 1654, and educated in the freeschool of Bury St. Edmund’s, under Mr. Edward Leeds,
a Greek scholar of considerable eminence. He was admitted of Ciirist’s-college, Cambridge, January 12, 1671,
under the tuition of Dr. Widdrington, and regularly took
his degrees in arts, and in 1704 commenced D. D. Upon
his brother’s removal to Gray’s- inn, he was elected in his
room, March 21, 1680, preacher at St. Mary’s, in St. Edmundsbury. In this station, which he held near forty-six
years, he was a constant preacher, and diligent in every
other part of his ministry. On the first of February, 1683,
he was instituted to the rectory of Thurlo parva. Dr. John
Moore, then bishop of Norwich, who was well acquainted
with his merit and abilities, collated him on the 14th of
June, 1693, to the archdeaconry of Sudbtfry; and in March
1707, he was instituted to the rectory of Hitchain, in Suffolk. This eminent divine, extremely valued and respected on account of his exemplary charity and other
virtues, died January 27, 1726-7, in the seventy-third
year of his age, and was buried in the chancel of the
parish church of St. Mary’s, in St. Edmundsbury. Among
other children, he had Nicolas, afterwards bishop of Si.
David’s, and of Exeter, who died Dec. 8, 1746. Dr.
Clagett published some occasional sermons, a pamphlet
entitled “A Persuasive to an ingenuous Trial of Opinions
in Religion,
” Lond. Truth defended, and Boldness in Error rebuked or,
a Vindication of those Christian Commentators who have
expounded some Prophecies of the Messias not to be meant
only of him. Being a Confutation of part of Mr. Whiston’s
book, entitled, The Accomplishment of Scripture Prophecies; wherein he pretends to disprove all duplicity of
sense in prophecy. To which is subjoined, an Examination of his hypothesis, That our Saviour ascended up into
Heaven several times after his Resurrection. And in both,
there ar,e some remarks upon other Essays of the said
author, as likewise an Appendix and a Postscript. With
a large Preface,
” Lond. 1710, 8vo.
, a celebrated French mathematician and academician, was born at Paris, May 13, 1713, and died May 17,
, a celebrated French
mathematician and academician, was born at Paris, May 13,
1713, and died May 17, 1765. His father, a teacher of the
mathematics at Paris, who was his sole instructor, taught him
even the letters of the alphabet on the figures of Euclid’s
Elements, by which he was able to read and write at four
years of age, and by a similar stratagem calculations were
rendered familiar to him. At nine years of age he put
into his hands Guisnee’s “Application of Algebra to Geometry
” at ten he studied l'Hopital’s “Conic Sections;
”
and between twelve and thirteen, he read a memoir to the
academy of sciences, concerning four new geometrical
curves of his own invention. About the same time he laid
the first foundation of his work upon curves that have a
double curvature, which he finished in 1729, at sixteen
years of age. He was named adjoint-mechanician to the
academy in 1731, at the age of eighteen, associate in 1733,
and pensioner in 1738. During his connection with the
academy, he sent a great multitude of learned and ingenious communications to their Memoirs, from 1727,
almost every year, to 1762, and wrote several other works,
which he published separately, as, 1. “On Curves of a
Double Curvature,
” in Elements of Geometry,
” Theory of the Figure of the
Earth,
” Elements of Algebra,
” Tables of the Moon,
”
, the founder of the Clares, an order of nuns so called from her, was born at Assisi, in 1193, and was a model of piety and devotion from her infancy, according
, the founder of the Clares, an
order of nuns so called from her, was born at Assisi, in
1193, and was a model of piety and devotion from her infancy, according to her biographers, whose account is
certainly a model of credulity and superstition. Her
parents were persons of rank, from whom in 1212 she ran
away, and went to St. Francis, who cloathed her in his
habit, a piece of sackcloth tied about her with a cord, and
sent her to a Benedictine nunnery, and from this epoch
the poor Clares date their foundation. She was next
placed by St. Francis in a new house of nuns, of which she
was appointed the superior, and which was soon crowded
with devotees of rank. This female community practised
austerities, “of which,
” we are told, “people in the world
have hardly any conception.
” They not only went without shoes and stockings, lay on the ground, and kept perpetual abstinence, but were enjoined profound silence,
unless in cases of the greatest necessity. Pope Innocent
IV. in 1251, confirmed to this order the privilege of poverty, without any property in common. St. Clare’s abstinence and mortifications brought her into a miserable state
of disease, from which she was released Aug. 11, 1253,
and was buried the day following, on which her festival is
kept. Alexander IV. canonized her in 1255. The nuns
of St. Clans are divided into Damianists and Urbanists.
The former follow the rule given by St. Francis to St.
Clare; the latter are mitigated, and follow the rules given
by Urban IV. From their name, Minoresses, sometimes
given them, our Minories near Aldgate, is derived, where
they had a nunnery from the year 1293.
, a writer of eminence among the Quakers, was born at Farmborough, in Warwickshire, in 1649, and after school-education, in which he made considerable proficiency,
, a writer of eminence among
the Quakers, was born at Farmborough, in Warwickshire,
in 1649, and after school-education, in which he made considerable proficiency, was entered of Balio-college, Oxford, in 1666, but removed to St. Mary-hall, where he
took his bachelor’s degree in 1670. He soon after received
ordination, and in 1673 was presented to the rectory of
Peopleton, in the county of Worcester, although it does
not appear that he took his master’s degree until 1676.
At Peopleton he lived in good esteem, and was accounted
an energetic preacher, but after several years, he entertained
many serious scruples, not only on the subject of personal
religion, which he was afraid he had recommended to
others, while a stranger to it himself, but also respecting
certain doctrines and ceremonies of the church of England;
and these scruples dwelt so strongly on his mind, that after
much deliberation, he voluntarily resigned his benefice in
1691, a step which must have been conscientious, as his
living was of considerable emolument, and after quitting
it, he does not appear to have possessed any certain income. The same year he joined himself in communion
with the Baptists, after submitting to their mode of initiation. An incident on this occasion made a lasting impression on his mind. Immediately after the ceremony of
baptism, while his wet clothes were still upon him, a person
accosted him thus, “You are welcome, sir, out of one
form into another.
” But, although this struck him forcibly at the time, it led to no sudden alteration, and he
continued for some years in connection with the baptists;
till at length his desires after what he conceived to be
greater spirituality in religion, induced him to leave their
communion; and having adopted the principles of the
Quakers, he became one of their society about 1697. With
the Quakers he continued in religious fellowship the remainder of his life, and was a well-approved minister
amongst them. In 1700 he removed from London, where
he had some time resided, to Barking, in Essex. At
Barking, and afterwards at Tottenham, in Middlesex, he
kept a boarding-school for several years, but in the latter
place he met with difficulty from a suit commenced against
him. under the Stat. 1 Jac. 1. for teaching school without
license from the bishop of the diocese. The cause came
to be tried in the court of king’s-bench, before lord chief
justice Holt, who at the same time that he discountenanced
the prosecution, declined determining whether the defendant was within the reach of the Act, and directed the
jury to return a special verdict; upon which the adverse
party thought proper not to proceed any further, and Claridge continued his useful occupation unmolested. In
1713, finding his health decline, and having a competency
for his subsistence, he gave up the employment of schoolkeeping, and returned into London, where he appears to
have passed serenely, but not inactively, the remainder
of his time, and where he died, in 1723, in the seventyfourth year of his age. In his last illness, which was short,
“he expressed,
” says his biographer, “his peace and satisfaction of soul, and an humble resignation to the will
of God.
” He left some descendants, the children of a
daughter who died before him.
In private life Mr. Claridge was a man of very estimable character, and his services to the religious society whose principles he finally
In private life Mr. Claridge was a man of very estimable
character, and his services to the religious society whose
principles he finally espoused, are considered eminent,
both as a minister and author. Amongst his writings in
explanation and defence of their principles are, “Lux
Evangelica attestata,
” and “Melius inquirendum,
” both,
controversial; the former in answer to Keith, the latter to
Cockson; also a Treatise concerning the Holy Scriptures,
under the title of “Tractatus Hierographicus.
” This last
was not printed until after his decease. Several others of
his Tracts were also not published by himself, but appeared in his “Life and Posthumous Works,
” an 8vo volume, printed in Life
” is from the pen of
his friend Joseph Besse. The “Works
” comprise, besides some less considerable pieces, Essays on the following subjects: Baptism and the Supper; the Doctrine
of the Trinity; the Doctrine of Satisfaction; Tithes;
and, Liberty of Conscience. As a writer, Claridge is said
to be methodical and perspicuous, and in his style to have
apparently made it his aim to adapt himself to readers in
general, by the use of received terms. His works have
been repeatedly quoted by the Quakers of the present day,
when engaged in vindicating their society from the charge
of Socinianism.
born at the castle of Chiaria, near Brescia, 1495. He entered among the religious of Mount Cassino, and appeared with great distinction at the council of Trent. Paul
, one of the most
learned divines in the sixteenth century, was born at the
castle of Chiaria, near Brescia, 1495. He entered among
the religious of Mount Cassino, and appeared with great
distinction at the council of Trent. Paul III. gave him
the archbishopric of Fuligno, where he died May 28, 1555,
aged sixty, in great reputation for sanctity. He left:
“Scholia in Biblia,
” Venice, 1564, fol. “Scholia in
N. Test.
” 1544, 8vo, two learned and very useful works,
for correcting the text of the Vulgate, and explaining difficult passages in the Scripture; one folio volume of Latin
Sermons, and two in 4to. His Letters, with two “Opuscula,
” vyere published at Modena,
Clarke, gent, by Ann, the fourth daughter of Charles Trimnell, rector of Abbots Riptou in Hampshire, and a sister of the bishop of Winchester of that name. He was born
, an English divine, who deserves to be recorded among the benefactors of mankind, was the son of Alured Clarke, gent, by Ann, the fourth daughter of Charles Trimnell, rector of Abbots Riptou in Hampshire, and a sister of the bishop of Winchester of that name. He was born in 1696; and alter receiving his early education at St. Paul’s school, was admitted pensioner in Corpus Christi college, Cambridge, April 1, 1713, where after taking the degree of A. B. he was made fellow in 1718, and proceeded A.M. two years after. At this early age he became a candidate with Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Ward, for the professorship of rhetoric in Gresham college, but without success. In May 1723, he was collated to the rectory of Chilbolton in Hampshire, and installed prebendary of Winchester on the 23d of that month. He was appointed one of the chaplains in ordinary to king George I. and continued in the same dignity in the subsequent reign, when George II. on his visit to Cambridge in April 1728, honoured him with the degree of D. D. and promoted him to a prebend in the church of Westminster, in which he was installed May 8, 1731; being then one of the deputy clerks of the closet. As a farther mark of the royal favouiy his majesty advanced him to the deanery of Exeter May 12, 1740; but he did not enjoy this long, being always of an infirm and weak constitution, which was worn out before he had completed his forty-sixth year. He died May 31, 1742, and was interred without any monument in Westminster.
His printed works are few, consisting only of four occasional sermons, and an “Essay,” published in 1738, “towards the character of queen
His printed works are few, consisting only of four occasional sermons, and an “Essay,
” published in towards the character of queen Caroline,
” whom he
highly reverenced, and with whom he had long been a
considerable favourite. By some this Essay has been given
to lord Hervey, but Mr. Masters was assured it was Dr.
Clarke’s.
s very high. He is said to have spent the whole surplus of his annual income in works of hospitality and charity; and determined with himself never to have in reserve,
As a man, his character stands very high. He is said to have spent the whole surplus of his annual income in works of hospitality and charity; and determined with himself never to have in reserve, how great soever his revenue might be, more than a sum sufficient to defray the expences of his funeral. The most remarkable instance of his active benevolence was in the case of the sick hospital at Winchester. Its institution, which was the first of the kind in England, those of the metropolis only excepted, owes its existence chiefly to the industry and indefatigable zeal of Dr. Alured Clarke, who in 1736 recommended the scheme to the public by every art of persuasion, and was so successful, that the first annual subscription amounted to upwards of 600l. And when the great utility of such a foundation became more apparent, its revenue soon increased to upwards of a thousand pounds per ann. and institutions of a like nature were in a short time established throughout the kingdom. The orders and constitutions of Winchester infirmary were drawn up by Dr. Clarke, and are a proof of great wisdom in a branch of political ceconomy, at that time very little understood. He began a similar institution upon his removal to Exeter, (where he had, with his usual liberality, expended a large sum of money upon the repair of his deanry house), but did not live long enough to see his laudable design fully executed. Dr. Clarke’s brother, Charles Clarke, esq. applied to the study of the law, in which he acquired great eminence, and was nominated one of the barons of the Exchequer in 1742. In the execution of this office, he caught the infectious disorder at the Old Bailey sessions in 1750, which proved at the same time fatal to the lord mayor, sir Samuel Pennant, sir Daniel Lambert, sir Thomas Abney, and others in court. Baron Clarke died in May, and was buried at Godmanchester. One of his sons is the present sir Alured Clarke, K. B.
, an English organist and composer of church music, was educated in the Chapel Royal,
, an English organist and composer of church music, was educated in the Chapel Royal,
under Dr. Blow, who seems to have had a paternal
affection for hir. In 1693 he resigned, in his favour,
the place of master of the children and almoner of
St. Paul’s, of which cathedral Clarke was soon after
likewise appointed organist. In 1700 Dr. Blow and his
pupil were appointed gentlemen extraordinary in the
King’s chapel; of which, in 1704, on the death of Mr.
Francis Pigoot, they were jointly admitted to the place of
organist. The compositions of Clarke are not numerous,
as an untimely aud melancholy end was put to his life
before his genius had been allowed time to expand.
Early in life he was so unfortunate as to conceive a violent
and hopeless passion for a very beautiful lady of a rank far
superior to his own; and his sufferings, under these circumstances, became at length so intolerable, that he resolved to terminate them by suicide. The late Mr. Samuel
Wiley, one of the lay-vicars of St. Paul’s, who was very
intimate with him, related the following extraordinary
story. “Being at the house of a friend in the country, he
found himself so miserable, that he suddenly determined
to return to London: his friend, observing in his behaviour
great marks of dejection, furnished him with a horse, and
a servant to attend him. In his way to town, a fit of melancholy and despair having seized him, he alighted, and
giving his horse to the servant, went into a field, in the
corner of which there was a pond surrounded with trees,
which pointed out to his choice two ways of getting rid of
life; but not being more inclined to the one than the other,
he left it to the determination of chance; and taking a
piece of money out of his pocket, and tossing it in the air,
determined to abide by its decision; but the money falling
on its edge in the clay, seemed to prohibit both these
means of destruction. His mind was too much disordered
to receive comfort, or take advantage of this delay; he
therefore mounted his horse and rode to London, determined to find some other means of getting rid of life. And
in July 1707, not many weeks after his return, he shot
himself in his own hotise in St. Paul’s church -yard; the
late Mr. John Reading, organist of St. Dunstan’s church,
a scholar of Dr. Blow, and master of Mr. Stanley, intimately acquainted with Clarke, happening to go by the
door at the instant the pistol went off, upon entering the
house, found his friend and fellow-student in the agonies
of death.
”
The anthems of this pathetic composer, which Dr. Boyce has printed, are not only more natural and pleasing than those of his master Dr. Blow, but wholly free
The anthems of this pathetic composer, which Dr. Boyce has printed, are not only more natural and pleasing than those of his master Dr. Blow, but wholly free from licentious harmony and breach of rule. He is mild, placid, and seemingly incapable of violence of any kind. In his first anthem (vol. ii.) which required cheerfulness and jubilation, he does not appear in his true character, which is tender and plaintive. The subject of the next is therefore better suited to the natural bias of his genius. There is indeed nothing in this anthem which indicates a master of grand and sublime conceptions; but there are a clearness and accuracy in the score, and melancholy cast of melody and harmony suitable to the words, which are likewise well accented, that cannot fail to soothe and please every appetite for music which is not depraved. Tenderness is, indeed, so much his characteristic, that he may well be called the Musical Otway of his time.
he son of Thomas Clarke, of Brackley in Northamptonshire, where it is supposed he was born, in 1623, and became a student at Merton college, Oxford, in 1638. He resided
, celebrated for his skill in oriental learning, was the son of Thomas Clarke, of Brackley in Northamptonshire, where it is supposed he was born, in 1623, and became a student at Merton college, Oxford, in 1638. He resided in that university three years, and then left it, when the town was about to be garrisoned for the use of Charles I.: but after its surrender to the parliament, he returned to his college, submitted to the visitors appointed by the powers in being; and the same year, 1648, took the degree of M. A. The year following he was designed the tirst architypographus of the university, and for his better encouragement in that office, had the grant of the superior beadleship of the civil law, when it should become vacant, given to him, and to his successors in that place for ever; but Clarke, after all, was the last in whose person these offices were united. In 1650 he was master of a boarding-school at Islington, near London, during his continuance at which place he assisted in correcting and publishing Walton’s Polyglott Bible. In 1658 he returned a second time to the university; and, in contemplation of the death of him who held the superior beadleship of law, was elected architypographus May the 14th that year, and on the 29th superior beadle of the civil law; both which places he held to the time of his death, which happened at Holy well in the suburbs of Oxford, Dec. 27, 1669.
He was well versed in Greek and Latin, and had also uncommon skill in the oriental languages.
He was well versed in Greek and Latin, and had also
uncommon skill in the oriental languages. His works are;
1. “Varise lectiones et observationes in Chaldaicam paraphrasim:
” inserted in the sixth volume of the Polyglott
Bible, beginning at page 17th. 2. “Scientia metrica &
rhythmics; seu tractatus de prosodia Arabica ex authoribus probatissimis eruta,
” Oxon. Septinium Bibliorum Polyglottftm volumen cum versionibus
antiquissimis, non Chaidaica tantum, sed Syriacis, Æthiopicis, Copticis, Arabicis, Persicis contextum,
” a ms. not
yet printed. He also translated from the original ms. of
the public library at Cambridge, “Paraphrastes Chaldosus
in libr. Paralipomenon;
” which Dr. Edmund Castell consulted, as he tells us in the preface to his “Lexicon Heptaglotton,
” when he composed that elaborate work. Clarke
also assisted in correcting the Hebrew text, Chaldee paraphrase, and the Persian gospels in the Polyglott Bible,
which last he translated into Latin; and there goes’ also
under his name a translation out of Hebrew into Latin of
another piece, entitled “Massereth Beracoth. Titulus
Talmudicus, in quo agitur de benedictionibus, precibus et
gratiarum actionibus, adjecta versione Latina. In usum
studiosorum literarum Talmudicarum in aede Christi,
”
Oxon. 1667, 8vo.
, a very industrious and useful writer of the seventeenth century, less known than his
, a very industrious and useful
writer of the seventeenth century, less known than his
services deserved, and particularly entitled to notice in a
work of this kind, was born Oct. 10, 1599, at Woolston,
in the county of Warwick, of which place his father had
been minister for upwards of forty years. Under his tuition he remained until he was thirteen years old, when he
was sent to school under one Crauford, an eminent teacher
at that time. Here he informs us that he fell into loose
practices from keeping bud company, but occasionally
felt the reluctance which a pious education usually leaves.
At the end of four years he was sent to Cambridge, and
entered of Emanuel, which was then, according to his account, the Puritan college. After taking his bachelor’s
degree, his father recalled him home, and he was for
some time employed as a family-tutor in Warwickshire,
after which, being now in orders, he was invited into
Cheshire, as assistant to Mr. Byrom, who had the living of
Thornton, and with whom he continued almost two years,
preaching twice every Sunday during that time. Some
scruples respecting the ceremonies occasioned him much
trouble, and. he had an intention of removing to London;
but happening to receive a pressing invitation from the inhabitants of Wirrall, a peninsula beyond West Chester,
he consented to settle among them at Shotwick, where no
regular service had been performed, and became here very
useful as a preacher, and very popular through an extensive district. After, however, five years’ quiet residence
here, a prosecution was instituted against him for the
omission of ceremonies (what they were he does not inform us) in the Chancellor’s court; and while about to leave
Shotwick in consequence of this, the mayor, aldermen, and
many of the inhabitants of Coventry, invited him to preach
a lecture in that city, which he accepted, and carried on
for some time; but here likewise he excited the displeasure of Dr. Buggs, who held the two principal livings in
Coventry, and who prosecuted him before the bishop, Dr.
Morton. After this, by the influence of Robert earl of
Warwick, he was enabled to preach at Warwick, and
although complained of, was not molested in any great
degree. Soon after, lord Brook presented him to the
rectory of Alcester, where he officiated for nine years,
and, as he informs us, “the town, which before was called
* drunken Alcester,' was now exemplary and eminent for
religion.
” When the et c<etcra oath was enjoined, the
clergy of the diocese met and drew up a petition against
it, which Mr. Clarke and Mr. Arthur Salway presented to
his majesty at York, who returned for answer, that they
should not be molested for refusing the oath, until the
consideration of their petition in parliament. This business afterwards requiring Mr. Clarke to go to London, he
was chosen preacher of the parish of St. Bennet Fink, a
curacy which is said to have been then, as it is now, in
the gift of the canons of Windsor. Walker, from having
included this among the livings sequestered by the parliamentary reformers, would seem to intimate that Mr. Clarke
must have succeeded to it at the expence of the incumfyent; but the fact is, there was no incumbent at the time.
We learn from Clarke’s dedication of his “Mirror
” to
Philip Holman, esq. of Warkworth in. Northamptonshire,
a native of St. Bennet Fink, and a great benefactor to it,
that for many years before this time (probably before 1646)
the parish had little maintenance for a minister; theif
tithes, being impropriated, went another way. They had
no stock, no land, no house for the minister, no lecture,
nor any one gift sermon in the year. This Mr. Holman,
however, had furnished a house for the curate and settled
it upon feoffees in trust, and had promised to add something towards his further maintenance. Such was the
situation of the parish when Mr. Clarke was elected, and
he remained their preacher until the restoration. During
the whole of this period, he appears to have disapproved
of the practices of the numerous sectaries which arose, and
retained his attachment to the constitution and doctrines of
the church, although he objected to some of those points
respecting ceremonies and discipline, which ranks him
among the ejected non-conformists. Most of his works appear to have been compiled, as indeed they are generally
dated there, at his house in Threadneedle- street, and it
was the sole business of his future life, to enlarge and republish them. In 1660, when Charles II. published a declaration concerning ecclesiastical affairs, the London clergy
drew up a congratulatory address, with a request for the
removal of re-ordination and surplices in colleges, &,c,
Vol. IX. D D
which Mr. Clarke was appointed to present. In the following year he was appointed one of the commissioners
for revising the book of Common Prayer, but what particular share he took we are not informed; nor are we told
more of his history, while in the church, than that he was
seven or eight years a governor, and two years president
of Sion college. When ejected for non-conformity, such
was his idea of schism and separation, that he quietly submitted to a retired and studious life. From the church,
which he constantly attended as a hearer, he says, he
dared not to separate, or gather a private church out of a
true church, which he judged the church of England to
be. In this retirement he continued twenty years, partly
at Hammersmith, and partly at Isleworth, revising what
he had published, and compiling other works, all of which
appear to have been frequently reprinted, notwithstand*ig their size and price. He died Dec. 25, 1682, universally respected for his piety, and especially for his moderation in the contests which prevailed in his time.
His principal publications were, 1. “A Mirror or Looking-glass for Saints and Sinners,” containing remarkable examples of the fate of persecutors,
His principal publications were, 1. “A Mirror or Looking-glass for Saints and Sinners,
” containing remarkable
examples of the fate of persecutors, and vicious persons of
all descriptions, and notices of the lives of persons eminent
for piety. This was a 12mo volume of 227 pages, published
in 1646, which was so successful, and the author so partial
to the subject, that in 1655 he republished it in an 8vo of 42
sheets, and in 1657 in a folio of 240 sheets, to which in 1671
he added another volume of equal size. In this enlarged
form, we know not any work, except Turner’s “Providences,
” or Wanley’s “Wonders,
” both of which follow
his plan, that contains a greater portion of the marvellous
as well as the useful. He must have turned over a prodigious number of volumes to accumulate such a mass of
anecdote. 2. “The Marrow of Ecclesiastical History,
containing the lives of the Fathers, Schoolmen, Reformers, and eminent modern Divines, &c.
” Berkenhout gives the priority to Fuller’s
” Abel Redivivus,“but he does not appear to have heard of Clarke, who unquestionably was the first who published any collection of
Biography in English, and who is respectfully noticed by
Fuller, as his predecessor. In 1650 he published a second
part, and both together, with additions, in a thick quarto
of above 1000 pages, in 1654, with many portraits in wood
copper; but the best edition is that of 1675, folio.
3.
” A General Martyrology,“or abridgement of Fox and
of some more recent authors, 1651, fol.; to this, in 1652,
he added an
” English Martyrology,“reprinted together
in 1660, and in 1677, with an additional series of the lives
of Divines. The value of most of his lives is, that they
are taken from scarce volumes and tracts, which it would
now be extremely difficult as well as expensive to procure.
4.
” The Lives of sundry eminent persons In this latter
age,“1683, fol. with portraits better executed than in his
other works, which has imparted a particular value to this
volume in the estimation of portrait- collectors. Mr.
Clarke’s other works are
” The Marrow of Divinity, with
sundry cases of Conscience,“1659, fol.: a treatise against
the toleration of schismatics and separatists, entitled
” Golden Apples, or seasonable and serious Counsel," &c. 1659,
12mo and some lesser historical tracts and sermons.
, the living of Grendon in Buckinghamshire. He applied himself early to the study of the scriptures; and the books which he published, as helps to others in the same
, son of the preceding, was educated at Pembroke-hall, Cambridge, where he lost his
fellowship, in the time of the Rump parliament, for refusing to take the engagement. He had, however, enough
of the, non-conformist, to resign, after the restoration, the
living of Grendon in Buckinghamshire. He applied himself early to the study of the scriptures; and the books
which he published, as helps to others in the same course
of study, are proofs of his industry and abilities. His
“Annotations on the Bible,
” Scripture Promises,
” a popular work, often reprinted. This Dr. Samuel Clark was father to the late rev.
Samuel Clark of Birmingham, who was assistant to Dr.
Doddridge in his academy, and died by a fall from his
horse in 1769; and also to Mrs. Rose, wife of Dr. Rose of
Chiswick, a gentleman well known in the literary world.
, a very celebrated English divine, the son of Edward Clarke, esq. alderman of Norwich, and M. P., was born there Oct. 11, 1675. He was instructed in classical
, a very celebrated English divine, the son of Edward Clarke, esq. alderman of Norwich, and M. P., was born there Oct. 11, 1675. He was instructed in classical learning at the free-school of that
town; and in 1691 removed thence to Caius college in
Cambridge, where his uncommon abilities soon began to
display themselves. Though Des Cartes was at that time
the established philosopher of the university, yet Clarke
easily mastered the new system of Newton; and in order
to his first degree of arts, performed a public exercise in
the schools upon a question taken from it; and contributed
to its establishment, by a translation of “Renault’s Physics,
” which he finished bafore he was twenty-two years of
age. It was first published 1697, 8vo. The system of
natural philosophy then generally taught in the university,
was that written by Rohault, founded altogether upon
Cartesian principles, and very badly translated into Latin.
Clarke gave a new translation, and added to it such notes
as might lead students insensibly to more sound notions.
t himself for the sacred function, he studied the Old Testament in the Hebrew, the New in the Greek, and the primitive Christian writers. Having taken orders, he became
Afterwards, in order to fit himself for the sacred function, he studied the Old Testament in the Hebrew, the
New in the Greek, and the primitive Christian writers.
Having taken orders, he became chaplain to Moore bishop
of Norwich, by the introduction of the celebrated Whiston,
then chaplain to the bishop, who in 1698, being collated
to the living of Lowestoff in Suffolk, resigned his chaplainship, and was succeeded by Clarke. In this station Clarke
lived for near twelve years, with all the freedom of an
equal rather than as an inferior to the bishop, who esteemed
him highly while he lived, and at his death gave him a
striking proof of confidence, by leaving solely in his hands
all the concerns of his family: a trust which Clarke executed very faithfully, and to the entire satisfaction of every
person concerned. In 1699 he published two treatises:
one entitled, “Three practical essays on Baptism, Confirmation, and Repentance;
” the other, “Some reflections
on that part of a book called Amyntor, or a defence of
Milton’s life (written by Toland), which relates to the
writings of the primitive fathers, and the canon of the New
Testament. In a letter to a friend.
” This was published
without a name, but was afterwards added to his letter to
Dodwell, &c. In 1701 he published a paraphrase upon
the gospel of St. Matthew; which was followed in 1702 by
the paraphrases upon the gospels of St. Mark and St, Luke,
and soon after by a third volume upon St. John; afterwards often printed together in 2 vols. 8vo. He had begun a paraphrase upon the Acts of the Apostles, and was
to have extended his labours to the remaining books of the
New Testament, but something accidentally interrupted
the execution, which he himself used to say, was made
Jess necessary by the labours of several worthy and learned
persons since the appearance of his work upon the four
gospels.
Meanwhile bishop Moore, his patron, gave him the rectory of Drayton near Norwich, and procured for him a parish in that city; and these he served
Meanwhile bishop Moore, his patron, gave him the
rectory of Drayton near Norwich, and procured for him a
parish in that city; and these he served himself in that
season when the bishop resided at Norwich. His preaching was without notes, until he became rector of St.
James’s. In 1704 he was appointed to preach BoyieV
lecture; and the subject he chose was, “The Befog and
Attributes of God.
” He succeeded so well in this, and
gave such high satisfaction, that he was appointed to preach
the same lecture the next year; when he chose for his
subject, “The 1 Evidences of natural and revealed Religion.
”
These sermons were first printed in two distinct volumes:
the former in
* This controversy produced several sidered the najture of Space, Duration, pieces for and against Dr. Clarke’s and necessary Existence: being an an‘
* This controversy produced several sidered the najture of Space, Duration,
pieces for and against Dr. Clarke’s and necessary Existence: being an an‘ Demonstration of the Being and At- swer to a late book entitled, ’ A Transtributes of Gorl.“It was animad- lat ion of Dr. King’s Origin of Evil,' and
verted upon by Mr. Edmund Law, the some other objections together with a
late bishop of Carlisle, in his Notes Compendium of a Demonstration of the
upon archbj*hop King’s Essay on the Being and Attributes of God,
” London,
Origin of Kvil,“translated from the 1732, 8vo. Mr. Law vindicated his
Latin. This occasioned a piece enti- Remarks in a
” Postscript“to the setled,
” A Defence of Dr. Clarke’s De- cond edition of Dr. King’s Essay which
inonstrationof the Being and Attributes oecasioned, "A second Defence of Dr.
of Cod wherein is particularly con- Clarke’s Demonstration of the
About this time, Whiston tells us, he discovered tha'6
Clarke had been looking into the primitive writers, and
suspected that the Athanasian doctrine of the Trinity was
not the doctrine of those early ages. Mr. Whiston adds,
that he heard him say, that he never read the Athanasian
creed in his parish, at or near Norwich, but once; and that
was. only by mistake, at a time when it was not appointed
by the rubric. In 1706 he published a letter to Mr. Dodweil, as an answer to all the arguments in his epistolary
discourse against the immortality of the soul, and representing the judgment of the fathers, to whom Mr. Dodweli
had appealed, concerning that matter. This appears to
have given universal satisfaction, but the controversy did
not stop here; for the celebrated Collins, as a second to
Dodweil, went much farther into the philosophy of the
dispute, and indeed seemed to produce all that could possibly be said against the immateriality of the soul, as well
as the liberty of human actions. This enlarged the scene
of the dispute; into which our author entered, and wrote
with such a spirit of clearness and demonstration, as at
once shewed him greatly superior to his adversaries in metaphysical and physical knowledge; and made every intelligent reader rejoice, that such an incident had happened
to provoke and extort from him that copious and strong
reasoning and perspicuity of expression, which were indeed very much wanted upon this intricate and obscure
subject. Clarke’s letter to Dodweil was soon followed by
four defences of it, in four several Letters to the author of a
Letter to the learned Mr. Henry Dodweil; containing some
and Attributes of God: in answer to a Eternity, as also the Sel
and Attributes of God: in answer to a Eternity, as also the Self-Existence,
Postscript, &c. By the author of the necessary Existence, and Unity of the
first Defence,“London, 1732, in 8vo. DivineNature, by Edmund Law,M. A.
”
The same year was published a pam- the other entitled, “An Examination
pbk-t, entitled,
” Dr. Clarke’s notion of Dr. Clarke’s notion of Space, by Joof Space examined ia vindication of seph Clarke, M. A.“Mr. John Clarke;
the translation of archbishop King’s author of the two Defences of Dr.
' Origin of Evil:V being an answer to Clarke’s Demonstration, having pubtwo late pamphlets entitled, A Defence, lished a third, Mr. Joseph Clarke pub&c.
” Mr. John Jackson published a lished “A farther Examination of Dr.
piece, entitled,
” The Existence and Clarke’s notions of Space, with some
Unity of God, proved from his Nature considerations on the possibility of
and Attributes: being a Vindication of Eternal Creation: in reply to Mr.
3)r. Claike’s Demonstration of the John Clarke’s third Defence, &c. To
lleing and Attributes of God,“London, which are added, some remarks oa
1734, in 8vo. The same year appeared Mr. Jackson’s exceptions to Dr. Clarke’s
two pamphlets, printed at Cambridge notions of Space examined in his Exone entitled,
” An Enquiry into the v istence and Unity,“&c,
ideas x of Space, Time, Immensity, and
remarks on a pretended demonstration of the immateriality
and natural immortality of the soul, in Mr. Clarke’s answer
to his late epistolary discourse, &c. They were afterwards all printed together; and the answer to Toland’s
Amyntor added to them. In the midst of all these labours
he found time to shew his regard to mathematical and
physical studies, which were not a little improved by the
friendship of sir Isaac Newton, at whose request he translated his
” Optics" into Latin in 1706. With this version sir Isaac was so highly pleased, that he presented him
with the sum of 500l. or 100l. for each child, Clarke having
then five children.
his same year also, bishop Moore procured for him the rectory of St. Bennet’s, Paul’s Wharf, London; and soon after carried him to court, and recommended him to the
This same year also, bishop Moore procured for him the
rectory of St. Bennet’s, Paul’s Wharf, London; and soon
after carried him to court, and recommended him to the
favour of queen Anne. She appointed him one of her
chaplains in ordinary; and, in consideration of his great
merit, and at the request of the bishop, presented him to
the rectory of St. James’s Westminster, in 1709. From
this time he left off preaching without notes, and wrote his
sermons at length, with much care and fit for the press,
in which state they were found at his death. Upon his
advancement to St. James’s rectory, he took the degree of
D. D.; when the public exercise which he performed for it
at Cambridge was much admired. The questions which
he maintained were these: 1. “Nullum fidei Christiana?
dogma, in sacris scripturls traditum, est rectse rationi dissentaneum:
” that is, No article of the Christian faith, delivered in the holy scriptures, is discordant to right reason.
2. “Sine action am humanarum libertate nulla potest esse
religio:
” that is, Without the liberty of hunpan actions
there can be no religion. His thesis was upon the first of
these questions; which being thoroughly sifted by that
most acute disputant professor James, he made an extempore reply in a continued discourse for near half an hour,
with so little hesitation, that many of the auditors declared,
that if they had not been within sight of him, they should
have supposed him to have read every word of it from a
paper. After this, through the course of the syllogistical
disputation, he guarded so well against the arts which the
professor was a complete master of; replied so readily to
the greatest difficulties such an objector could propose;
and pressed him so close and hard with clear and intelligible ausvyers, that perhaps there never was such a
flict heard in those schools. The professor, who was a
man of humour as well as learning, said to him at the end
of the disputation, “Profecto me probe exereuisti,' 7 that
is,
” On my word, you have worked me sufficiently;“and
the members of the university expressed their astonishment
that a man even of Clarke’s abilities, after an absence of
so many years, should acquit himself as if this sort of academical exercise had been his constant employment; and
with such fluency and purity of expression, as if he had
been accustomed to no other language in conversation but
Latin. The same year, 1709, he revised and corrected
Whiston’s translation of the
” Apostolical Constitutions"
into English, at the author’s particular request.
In 1712 he published a most beautiful and splendid edition of “Caesar’s Commentaries,” adorned with elegant
In 1712 he published a most beautiful and splendid edition of “Caesar’s Commentaries,
” adorned with elegant
engravings. It was printed in at a time,
” says bishop Hoadly, “when his
unequalled victories and successes had raised his glory to
the highest pitch abroad, and lessened his interest and
favour at home.
” In the publication of this book, the
doctor took particular care of the punctuation. In the annotations, he selected what appeared the best and most
judicious in former editors, with some corrections and
emendations of his own interspersed.
cripture Doctrine of the Trinity, &c.” which is divided into three parts. The first is, a collection and explication of all the texts in the New Testament relating to
The same year, 1712, he published his celebrated book
entitled “The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity, &c.
” which
is divided into three parts. The first is, a collection and
explication of all the texts in the New Testament relating
to the doctrine of the Trinity: in the second, the foregoing
doctrine is set forth at large, and explained in particular
and distinct propositions; and in the third, the principal
passages in the liturgy of the church of England, relating
to the doctrine of the Trinity, are considered. Whiston
informs us, that some time before the publication of this
book, there was a message sent to him from lord Godolphin, and others of queen Anne’s ministers, importing,
“that the affairs of the public were with difficulty then
kept in the hands of those that were for liberty that it was
therefore an unseasonable time for the publication of a
book that would make a great noise and disturbance; and
that, therefore, they desired him to forbear till a fitter opportunity should offer itself.
” Which message, says he,
the doctor paid no regard to, but went on, according to
the dictates of his own conscience, with the publication of
his book. The ministers, however, were right in their
conjectures; for the work occasioned a great number of
books and pamphlets, written by himself and others. It
also made its author obnoxious to the ecclesiastical power,
and his book was complained of by the lower house of convocation. Their complaint being sent to the upper house
June 2, 1714, the bishops returned in two days an answer,
“that they approved the zeal of the lower house thought
they had just cause of complaint, and would take it into
their consideration:
” and on the 12th sent a message to
them directing an extract to be made of particulars out of
the books complained of. On the 23d the said extract was
laid before the bishops. The doctor drew up a reply to
this extract, dated June 26, which, it seems, was presented to some of the bishops; but, for reasons unknown,
not laid before the house. After this, there appearing in
almost the whole upper house a great disposition to prevent dissensions and divisions, by some moderate step,
Dr. Clarke was prevailed upon to lay before the house a
paper, dated July 2, which concludes with these words
“I am sorry that what I sincerely intended for the honour
and glory of God, and so to explain this great mystery, as
to avoid the heresies in both extremes, should have given
any offence to this synod, and particularly to my lords the
bishops. I hope my behaviour for the time to come, with
relation hereunto, will be such as to prevent any future
complaints against me.
”
it should be published separately, as afterwards happened, without any true account of the preceding and following circumstances, it might be misunderstood in some
After this paper had been before the upper house, being
apprehensive that, if it should be published separately, as
afterwards happened, without any true account of the preceding and following circumstances, it might be misunderstood in some particulars, he caused an explanation, dated
July 5, to be presented to the bishop of London, the next
time the upper house met: setting forth, “That whereas
the paper laid before their lordships the Friday before,
was, through haste and want of time, not drawn up with
sufficient exactness, he thought himself indispensably
obliged in conscience to acquaint their lordships, that he
did not mean thereby to retract any thing he had written,
but to declare that the opinion set forth at large in his
Scripture Doctrine, &c. is, that the Son was eternally begotten by the eternal incomprehensible power and will of
the Father, &c. and that, by declaring he did not intend
to write any more concerning the doctrine of the Trinity,
he did not preclude himself from a liberty of making any
inoffensive corrections in his former books, if they should
come to another edition, or from vindicating himself
against any misrepresentations or aspersions, which might
possibly hereafter be cast upon him, on occasion of this
controversy.
” After the delivery of this explanation, the
upper house resolved, July 5,. to proceed no farther upon
the extract, laid before them by the lower house and ordered Dr. Clarke’s papers to be entered in the acts of that
house. But the lower house, not so satisfied, resolved,
July 7, that the paper subscribed by Dr. Clarke, and communicated to them by the bishops, does not contain in it
any recantation of the heretical assertions and offensive
passages complained of in their representation, and afterwards produced in their extract; nor gives such satisfaction for the great scandal occasioned thereby, as ought to
put a stop to any farther examination and censure thereof.
Thus ended. this affair; the most authentic account of which
we have in a piece entitled, “An Apology for Dr. Clarke,
containing an account of the late proceedings in convocation, upon his writings concerning the Trinity, 1714, 8vo,
”
written, Whiston tells us, by a clergyman in the country,
a common friend of his and Dr. Clarke’s, with the knowledge and assistance of the latter. The “Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity,
” as we have observed, was first published in from the time of publishing this book to
the day of his death, he found no reason, as far as he was
able to judge, to alter the notions which he there professed.
” Mr. Whitaker, in his “Origin of Arianism disclosed,
” has taken uncommon pains to support the truth of
chevalier Ramsay’s assertion, that Dr. Clarke greatly repented of his ever having published his work upon the
Trinity. The testimonies on the other side of the question
Mr. Whitaker endeavours to reconcile, by supposing that
the doctor occasionally avowed his repentance, and yet
continued his practices. He avowed fully “to Mr. Ramsay
what he was too timid to avow to his son, to a Hoadly, or
to an Emlyn; and what he even took pains to conceal
from them, in a seeming continuance of opinion, and in
an actual perseverance of conduct.
” All this, however,
has been most confidently denied by Dr. Clarke’s friends.
In 1715 and 1716 he had a dispute with the celebrated Leibnitz, relating
In 1715 and 1716 he had a dispute with the celebrated
Leibnitz, relating to the principles of natural philosophy
and religion: and a collection of the papers which passed
between them was published in 1717; and remarks upon
a book entitled “A philosophical enquiry concerning Human Liberty,
” by Anthony Collins, 8vo. The letters from
Cambridge, which Clarke answers in this volume, were
written by Richard Bulkeley, esq. author of a poem in 12
books,entitled “The Last Day,
” who died in Recueil de diverses pieces sur la philosophic, la religion naturelle,
Phistoire, les mathematiques, &c. par Messrs. Leibnitz,
Clarke, Newton, et autres auteurs celebres,
” printed at
Amsterdam in I confess, I look upon these letters of Dr.
Clarke as among the most useful of his performances in
natural philosophy.
” He has also preserved an anecdote
relating to this controversy^; which is, that sir Isaac Newton once pleasantly told Clarke, that “he had broke Leibnitz’s heart with his reply to him.
”
Clarke made an alteration in the forms of doxology in the singing psalms, in a collection of “Psalms and Hymns” for the use of St. James’s church, which produced no
About 1718 Clarke made an alteration in the forms of
doxology in the singing psalms, in a collection of “Psalms
and Hymns
” for the use of St. James’s church, which produced no small disturbance, and occasioned some pamphlets to be written. The alteration was this:
And,
And,
A considerable number of these “Select Psalms and Hymns” having been dispersed by the Society for promoting Christian
A considerable number of these “Select Psalms and Hymns
”
having been dispersed by the Society for promoting Christian knowledge, before the alteration of the doxologies
was taken notice of, he was charged with a design of imposing upon the society, whereas it was answered that the
edition of them had been prepared by him for the use of
his own parish only, before the society had thoughts of
purchasing any of the copies: and as the usual forms of
doxology were not established by any legal authority, ecclesiastical or civil, in this he had not offended. Robinson, however, bishop of London, so highly disliked this
alteration, that he thought proper to publish a letter to
the incumbents of all churches and chapels in his diocese,
against their using any new forms of doxology. The letter
is dated Dec. 26, 1718, and begins thus: “Reverend
brethren, there is an instance of your care and duty, which
I conceive myself at this time highly obliged to offer, and
you to regard, as necessary for the preservation of the very
foundations of our faith. Some persons, seduced, I fear,
by the strong delusions of pride and self-conceit, have
lately published new forms of doxology, entirely agreeable
to those of some ancient heretics, who impiously denied a
trinity of persons in the unity of the Godhead, I do therefore warn and charge it upon your souls, as you hope to
obtain mercy from God the Father through the merits of
Jesus Christ our Lord, and by the sanctification of the
Holy Ghost, three persons and one God blessed for ever,
that you employ your best endeavours to prevail with your
several flocks, to have a great abhorrence for the abovementioned new forms, and particularly that you do not
suffer the same to be used, either in your churches, or in
any schools, where you are to prevent that most pernicious
abuse, &c.
” This letter was animadverted upon by Whiston, in “A Letter of Thanks to the right reverend the lord
bishop of London, for his late letter to his clergy against
the use of new forms of Doxology, &c.
” Jan. 17, 1719;
and in a pamphlet entitled “An humble apology for St.
Paul and the other apostles; or, a vindication of them and
their doxologies from the charge of heresy. By Cornelius
Paets,
” A Defence of the Bishop of London, in answer to
Winston’s Letter of Thanks, &c. addressed to the archbishop of Canterbury. To which is added, a Vindication
of Dr. Sacheverell’s late endeavour to turn Mr. Winston
out of his church.
” Winston’s Letter of Thanks occasioned likewise the two following pieces; viz. “The lord
bishop of London’s Letter to his Clergy vindicated, <kc.
by a Believer, 1719;
” and “A seasonable review of Mr.
Winston’s account of primitive Doxologies, &c. by a
Presbyter, &c. 1719.
” This presbyter was supposed to be
Dr. William Berriman. To the latter Whiston replied in
a second letter to the bishop of London; and the author
of “The seasonable Review, &c.
” answered him in a second Review, &c. As to Clarke’s conduct in this affair,
we are not surprised to find Whiston declaring it to be one
of the most Christian attempts towards somewhat of reformation, upon the primitive foot, that he ever ventured
upon: but he adds,“that the bishop of London, in the way
of modern authority, was quite too hard for Dr. Clarke, in
the way of primitive Christianity.
”
ublished seventeen sermons preached on several occasions, eleven of which were never before printed; and the year following a sermon preached at the parish church of
About this time Dr. Clarke was presented by the lord
Lechmere, chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, to the
mastership of Wigston’s hospital in Leicester. In 1724 he
published seventeen sermons preached on several occasions,
eleven of which were never before printed; and the year
following a sermon preached at the parish church of St.
James, upon the erecting a charity-school for the education of women servants. In 1727, upon the death of sir
Isaac Newton, he was offered by the court the place of
master of the mint, worth communibus annis 1200 or 1500l.
a year. Upon this offer, Whiston tells us, the doctor advised with his friends, and particularly with Mr. Emlyn and
himself, ahout accepting or refusing it. They advised him
against accepting it, as what he wanted not; as what was
entirely remote from his profession, and would hinder the
success of his ministry. He was himself generally of the
same opinion with them, could not thoroughly reconcile
himself to this secular preferment, and therefore absolutely
refused it. Whiston seems to wonder that Clarke’s admirers should lay so little stress upon this refusal, as to
mention it not at all, or at least very negligently; while
“he takes it,
” he says, “to be one of the most glorious
actions of his life, and to afford undeniable conviction that
he vvas in earnest in his religion.
”
o Mr. Benjamin Hoadly, F. R. S. occasioned by the controversy relating to the proportion of velocity and force in bodies in motion,” and printed in the Philosophical
In 1728 was published, “A Letter from Dr. Clarke to
Mr. Benjamin Hoadly, F. R. S. occasioned by the controversy relating to the proportion of velocity and force in
bodies in motion,
” and printed in the Philosophical Transactions, No. Homer’s Iliad,
” in 4to, and dedicated to
the duke of Cumberland. The Latin version is almost entirely new; and annotations are added to the bottom of
the pages. Homer, bishop Hoadly tells us, was Clarke’s
admired author, even to a degree of something like enthusiasm, hardly natural to his temper; and that in this he
went a little beyond the bounds of Horace’s judgment, and
was so unwilling to allow the favourite poet ever to nod,
that he has taken remarkable pains to find out and give a
reason for every passage, word, and tittle, that could create
any suspicion. It has however so long and so justly been
the popular edition of Homer, that it would be unnecessary
to expatiate on its merits in this place. Whiston informs
us, that he had begun this work in his younger years; and
that “the notes were rather transcribed than made new.
”
The twelve last books of the Iliad were published in
n his side, which quickly became so violent, that he was obliged to be carried home. He went to bed, and thought himself so much better in the afternoon, that he would
While Clarke was thus employed in finishing the remaining books of Homer, he was interrupted with an illness which ended in his death. Though not robust, he
had all his life long enjoyed a firm state of health, without
any indisposition severe enough to confine him, except the
small-pox in his youth; till, on Sunday May 11, 1729,
going out in the morning to preach before the judges at
Serjeants’-inn, he was there seized with a pain in his side,
which quickly became so violent, that he was obliged to be
carried home. He went to bed, and thought himself so
much better in the afternoon, that he would not suffer
himself to be blooded; against which remedy he had strong
prejudices. But the pain returning violently about two
the next morning, made bleeding absolutely necessary:
he appeared to be out of danger, and continued to think
himself so, till the Saturday morning following; when, to
the inexpressible surprise of all about him, the pain removed from his side to his head; and, after a very short
interval, took away his senses, in which state he continued breathing till between seven and eight of the evening
of that day, May 17, 1729, and then died, in his 54th year.
The same year was printed his “Exposition of the Church
Catechism,
” and ten volumes of sermons, in 8vo, by his
brother Dr. John Clarke, dean of Sarum. His “Exposition
” is made up of those lectures he read every Thursday
morning for some months in the year at St. James’s church.
In the latter part of his time he revised them with great
care, and left them completely prepared for the press.
This performance was immediately animadverted upon
by Dr. Waterland, and defended by Dr. Sykes, in a controversy which produced some pamphlets.
The character of Dr. Clarke has been thus drawn by Dr. Hare, bishop of Chichester, and by bishop Hoadly. Dr. Hare, in his pamphlet entitled “The difficulties
The character of Dr. Clarke has been thus drawn by
Dr. Hare, bishop of Chichester, and by bishop Hoadly.
Dr. Hare, in his pamphlet entitled “The difficulties and
discouragements which attend the study of the Scripture, in
the way of private judgement,
” says that he is “a man who
has all the good qualities that can meet together to recommend him. He is possessed of all the parts of learning
that are valuable in a clergyman, in a degree that few possess any single one. He has joined to a good skill in the
three learned languages a great compass of the best philosophy and mathematics, as appears by his Latin works;
and his English ones are such a proof of his own piety, and
of his knowledge in divinity, and have done so much service to religion, as would make any other man, that was
not under the suspicion of heresy, secure of the friendship
and esteem of all good churchmen, especially of the clergy.
And to all this piety and learning, and the good use that
has been made of it, is added a temper happy beyond expression: a sweet, easy, modest, inoffensive, obliging behaviour adorns all his actions; and no passion, vanity, insolence, or ostentation, appears either in what he writes
or says: and yet these faults are often incident to the best
men, in the freedom of conversation, and writing against
impertinent and unreasonable adversaries, especially such
as strike at the foundation of virtue and religion. This is
the learning, this the temper of the man, whose study of
the scriptures has betrayed him into a suspicion of some
heretical opinions.
”
xcellent enough to have placed him in the superior rank of men without the acquirements of learning; and of learning enough to have rendered a much less cdmprehensive
Bishop Hoadly writes thus of Clarke: “He was a person
of a natural genius, excellent enough to have placed him in
the superior rank of men without the acquirements of learning; and of learning enough to have rendered a much less
cdmprehensive genius very considerable in the ways of the
world. But in him they were both united to such a degree, that those who were of his intimate acquaintance
'knew not which to admire most. The first strokes of
knowledge, in some of its branches, seemed to be little
less than natural to him: for they appeared to lie right in
his mind, as soon as any thing could appear; and to be
the very same, which afterwards grew up with him into
perfection, as the strength and cultivation of his mind increased. He had one happiness very rarely known among
the greatest men, that his memory was almost equal to his
judgment, which is as great a character as can well be
given of it.
” Then, after observing how great the doctor
was in “all branches of knowledge and learning, he goes on
thus:
” If in any one of these many branches he had
excelled only so much as he did in all, this alone would justly
have entitled him to the name of a great man. But there
is something so very extraordinary, that the same person
should excel, not only in those parts of knowledge which
require the strongest judgment, but in those which want
the help of the strongest memory also; and it is so seldom
seen, that one who is a great master in theology, is at the
same time skilfully fond of all critical and classical learning, or excellent in the physical and mathematical studies,
or well framed for metaphysical and abstract reasonings;
that it ought to be remarked, in how particular a manner,
and to how high a degree, divinity and mathematics, experimental philosophy and classical learning, metaphysics
and critical skill, all of them, various and different as they
are amongst themselves, united in Dr. Clarke.“Afterwards the bishop informs us, how earnestly his acquaintance
and friendship was sought after by the greatest lovers of
virtue and knowledge; what regard was paid to him by the
chief persons of the law; and, above all, what pleasure her
late majesty queen Caroline took in his conversation and
friendship: for
” seldom a week passed, says he, “in
which she did not receive some proof of the greatness of
his genius, and of the force of his superior understanding.
”
hindered him from either seeking after, or accepting any such promotion. Of these he was the proper, and indeed the only judge: and therefore I say no more of them.”
“If any one should ask,
” continues the bishop, “as it is
natural to do, how it came to pass that this great man was
never raised higher in the church? I must answer, that it
was neither for want of merit, nor interest, nor the favour
of some in whose power it was to have raised him. But he
had reasons within his own breast, which hindered him
from either seeking after, or accepting any such promotion. Of these he was the proper, and indeed the only
judge: and therefore I say no more of them.
” The truth
is, his scruples about subscription were very great; as we
are informed by Sykes, who observes, in his eulogium of
Clarke, printed at the end of Whiston’s Historical Memoirs, that "the doctor would often wish, that those things
which were suspected by many, and judged unlawful by
some, might be seriously considered, and not made terms
of communion. He thought it would be the greatest happiness to see the occasions of good and learned men’s
scruples removed out of the public forms of divine service,
and the doctrines of Christianity reduced to the New Testament only; and that it would be right to have nothing
required from the preachers of the gospel, but what was
urely primitive. This he thought to be the only means of making the minds of sincere Christians easy and quiet. This he believed would make men much more charitable
Vol. IX,
purely primitive. This he thought to be the only means
of making the minds of sincere Christians easy and quiet.
This he believed would make men much more charitable
to one another: and make the governors of the church and
state transact their important affairs with greater ease and
freedom from disturbances.“Upon the whole, bishop
Hoadly makes no scruple to declare, that
” by Dr. Clarke’s
death, the world was deprived of as bright a light, and
masterly a teacher of truth and virtue, as ever yet appeared
amongst us and,“says he in the conclusion of his account,
” as his works must last as long as any language remains to
convey them to future times, perhaps I may flatter myself
that this faint and imperfect account of him may be transmitted down with them. And I hope it will be thought
a pardonable piece of ambition and self-interestedness, if,
being fearful lest every thing else should prove too weak
to keep the remembrance of myself in being, I lay hold on
his fame to prop and support my own. I am sure, as I
have little reason to expect that any thing of mine, without such an assistance, can live, I shall think myself greatly
recompensed for the want of any other memorial, if my
name may go down to posterity thus closely joined with
his; and I myself be thought of, and spoke of, in ages to
come, under the character of The Friend of Dr. Clarke.“' On the other hand, Whiston, who wrote his Life, and
held him in as high estimation as either Dr. Hare or Dr.
Hoadly, candidly mentions those failings, some of which,
perhaps, may occur to the reader in perusing the preceding
pages, and considerably lessen our opinion of his consistency. In the lirst place, he blames Clarke for subscribing
the articles, at a time when he could not, with perfect
truth and sincerity, assent to the Athanasian parts of them;
namely, at his taking the degree of doctor in divinity. Mr.
Whiston, then professor of mathematics at Cambridge, endeavoured to dissuade him from it; and, when he could
not prevail on that head, he earnestly pressed him to declare openly, and in writing, in what sense he subscribed
the suspected articles: but he could not prevail on this
head neither. Upon this occasion, professor James, who
suspected Dr. Clarke of an inclination to heretical pravity,
said to him, upon his subscribing the articles,
” he hoped
he would not go from his subscription.“The doctor replied,
” He could promise nothing as to futurity, and
eould only answer as to his present sentiments*“However,
Mr.Whiston acknowledges, that Dr. Clarke, for many
years before he died, perpetually refused all, even the
greatest preferments, which required subscription, and
never encouraged those who consulted him to subscribe.
In the next place, he objects to Dr. Clarke his not acting
sincerely, boldly, and openly, in the declaration of his true
opinions, and his over-cautious and over-timorous way of
speaking, writing, and acting, in points of the highest
consequence. When Mr. Whiston gave him frequent and
vehement admonitions upon this head, his general answer,
he tells us, was, who are those that act better than I do
” Very few of which,“says he,
” I could ever name to
him though I did not think that a sufficient excuse.“Lastly, Mr. Whiston is greatly displeased with Dr. Clarke’s
conduct in relation to the affair of the convocation, and
concludes the account of that affair with these words
” Thus ended this unhappy affair unhappy to Dr. Clarke’s
own conscience unhappy to his best friends and above
all unhappy as to its consequences, in relation to the opinion unbelievers were hereupon willing to entertain of him,
as if he had prevaricated all along in his former writings
for Christianity."
ev. Mr. Jones of Welwyn, are not incurious. We learn from them, that Dr. Clarke was of a very humane and tender disposition. When his young children amused themselves
Some anecdotes respecting Dr. Clarke’s personal character, lately collected by the rev. Mr. Jones of Welwyn, are not incurious. We learn from them, that Dr. Clarke was of a very humane and tender disposition. When his young children amused themselves with tormenting and killing flies upon the windows, he not only forbad such practices, but calmly reasoned with them, in such a familiar manner, as was calculated to make a powerful impression upon their minds. He was very ready and condescending in answering applications to him with respect to scruples; numberless instances of which occurred in the course of his life. One thing of which Dr. Clarke was peculiarly cautious was, not to lose the least minute of his time. He always carried some book about him, which he would read whilst riding in a coach, or walking in the fields, or if he had any leisure moments free from company or his other studies. Nay, he would read even in company itself, where he might take such a liberty without offence to good manners, and yet with all this value for time, we are told that he would spend whole hours in playing cards.
2 and by other marks of unusual proficiency in literature, that he
2
and by other marks of unusual proficiency in literature, that
he was commonly spoken of, among the rest of the scholars, by the title of “The lad of Cains.
” His public exercise, which we have mentioned above, was long remembered in the university, and by the learned men of that
period. Dr. Henry Yarborough, prebendary of York, and
rector of Tewing, Herts, declared, that he never heard
any act equal to it or like it. The same gentleman, when
at the age of seventy- seven, said, that he would gladly take
a ride to Cambridge, to hear such another act as had been
kept by Dr. Clarke. Dr. Clarke’s memory was remarkably
strong. He told Mr. Pyle, of Lynn, that he never forgot
any thing which he had once thoroughly apprehended and
understood. The doctor, with his intimate friends, was
perfectly free and easy; but if strangers were introduced,
he behaved with much circumspection, conversing only
upon common topics. When he visited Dr. Sykes, his
usual way was to sit with him upon a couch, and, reclining
upon his bosom, to discourse with him, in the most familiar manner, upon such subjects as were agreeable to the
taste and judgment of both.
When sir John Germaine lay upon his death-bed, and was in great confusion and trouble of mind, he sent for Dr.
When sir John Germaine lay upon his death-bed, and was in great confusion and trouble of mind, he sent for Dr. Clarke, and requested to know of him whether he should receive the Sacrament, and what he should do in his sad condition. The doctor, who was well acquainted with sir John’s pursuits and course of life, sedately replied, that he could not advise him to receive the Sacrament, and that he did not think it likely to be of any avail to him with respect to his final welfare. Having said this, he departed, without administering the communion, having first recommended the dying man to the mercy of God. Mr. Pope has a kind of reflection upon Dr. Clarke’s frequenting the court; to which the poet was stimulated by resentment against the doctor, because he refused to use his interest for obtaining the recall of lord Bolingbroke from France, with a general pardon.
rector of Little Massingham in Norfolk, by whom he had seven children, two of which died before him, and one a few weeks after him. His widow had a pension from queen
Dr. Clarke married Katherine, only daughter of the rev. Mr. Lockwood, rector of Little Massingham in Norfolk, by whom he had seven children, two of which died before him, and one a few weeks after him. His widow had a pension from queen Caroline of 105l. per annum. One of his sons was living in 1771; and in an article inserted in the London Evening Post, Dec. 7, of that year, positively contradicted "the report that his father had ever retracted his opinions on the Trinity.
, a learned divine and antiquary, was horn at Haghmon abbey, in Shropshire, in the
, a learned divine and antiquary,
was horn at Haghmon abbey, in Shropshire, in the year
1696, and was educated at Shrewsbury school, under the
care of Mr. Lloyd, for whom he always entertained the
greatest regard. From Shrewsbury he was removed to
St. John’s college, in the university of Cambridge, where
he became a fellow, Jan. 22, 1716-17. His election at
so early a period of life was owing to a number of vacancies, occasioned by the removal of several non-juring fellows, in consequence of an act of parliament. He commenced B. A. 1715; in 1719 became M. A.; and the reputation which he acquired when young was such, that he
was chosen to be chaplain to Dr. Adam Ottley, bishop of
St. David’s: but this prelate dying in 1723, he does not
appear to have received any advantage from the appointment. He was afterwards domestic chaplain to Thomas
Holies, duke of Newcastle; in which situation he did not
continue long, as in 1724, he was presented by archbishop
Wake to the rectory of Buxted, in Sussex, without any solicitation of his own, partly on account of his extraordinary
merit, and partly from a regard to the special recommendation of the learned Dr. William Wotton, whose
daughter he married. In 1738, he was made prebendary
and residentiary of the prebend of Hova Villa in the cathedral church of Chichester, Some years before this he had
given to the public a specimen of his literary abilities, in a
preface to his father-in-law Dr. Wotton’s “Leges Walliae
Ecclesiastical,
” 1730; and it is thought that an excellent
“Discourse on the Commerce of the Romans,
” which was
highly extolled by Dr. Taylor, in his “Elements of the
Civil Law,
” came either from his hand or from that of his
friend Mr, Bowyer. It is reprinted in that gentleman’s
“Miscellaneous Tracts,
” and in “The Progress of Maritime Discovery,
” by Mr. Clarke’s grandson. But Mr.
Clarke’s chief work was “The Connexion of the Roman,
Saxon, and English Coins; deducing the antiquities,
customs, and manners of each people to modern times; particularly the origin of feudal tenures, and of parliaments:
illustrated throughout with critical and historical remarks
on various authors, both sacred and profane,
” 1767, 4to,
dedicated to the duke of Newcastle. It had been perused
in manuscript by Arthur Onslow, esq. speaker of the house
of commons, who honoured him with some useful hints
and observations: but he was chiefly indebted to Mr.
Bowyer, who superintended the publication, drew up several of the notes, wrote part of the dissertation on the
Roman sesterce, and formed an admirable index to the
whole. By this work our author acquired great reputation. Mr. Pinkerton, in his Essay on Medals, says that a
student cannot begin with a better book in this science.
marquis Cornwallis, who recollected on this occasion the intimacy that had subsisted between himself and the rev. Edward Clarke in the island of Minorca. In June 1770,
In 1768 Mr. Clarke obtained from archbishop Cornwallis
permission to resign the rectory of Buxted (after having held it more than thirty-four years), to his son Edward,
through the unsolicited interest of the late marquis Cornwallis, who recollected on this occasion the intimacy that
had subsisted between himself and the rev. Edward Clarke
in the island of Minorca. In June 1770, he was installed
chancellor of the church of Chichester, to which office the
rectories of Chittingley and Pevensey are annexed; and in
August that year was presented to the vicarage of Amport.
These preferments he did not long enjoy, as he died Oct. 21,
1771. In the “Anecdotes of Bowyer
” are many letters
and extracts of letters, written to that learned printer and
other persons, by Mr. Clarke, which exhibit him to great
advantage as a man of piety, a friend, and a scholar. Besides the writings already mentioned, Mr. Clarke joined
with Mr. Bowyer in the translation of Trapp’s Lectures on
poetry, and in annotations on the Greek Testament; and
was the author of several of the notes subjoined to the
English version of Bleterie’s Life of the Emperor Julian.
He left behind him a considerable number of manuscripts,
among which are some volumes of excellent sermons, the
best of which were given to the late Ashburnham, bishop
of Chichester, and at his death were inadvertently burnt
with some other papers. Bishop Bagot had strongly recommended the publication of a selection of Mr. Clarke’s
sermons.
Although antiquities were the favourite study of Mr. Clarke, he was a secret, and by no means an unsuccessful votary of the muses. He wrote English
Although antiquities were the favourite study of Mr.
Clarke, he was a secret, and by no means an unsuccessful
votary of the muses. He wrote English verse with ease,
elegance, and spirit. Perhaps there are few better epigrams in our language than that which he composed on
seeing the words Domus ultima inscribed on the vault belonging to the dukes of Richmond in the cathedral of Chichester. Among the happier I'ittle pieces of his sportive
poetry, there are in the Life of Bowyer some animated
stanzas, describing the character of the twelve English
poets, whose portraits, engraved by Vertue, were the favourite ornament of his parlour: but he set so modest and
humble a value on his poetical compositions, that they were
seldom committed to paper, and are therefore very imperfectly preserved in the memory of those, to whom he sometimes recited them. His taste and judgment in poetry appears, indeed, very striking in many parts of his learned
and elaborate “Connexion of Coins.
” His illustration of
Nestor’s cup, in particular, may be esteemed as one of the
happiest examples of that light and beauty, which the
learning and spirit of an elegant antiquary may throw on a
cloudy and mistaken passage of an ancient poet. He gave
a very beneficial proof of his zeal for literature, by the
trouble he took in regulating the library of the cathedral to
which he belonged. He persuaded bishop Mavvson to bestow a considerable sum towards repairing the room appropriated to this purpose. He obtained the donation of many
valuable volumes from different persons; and by his constant and liberal attention to this favourite object, raised an
inconsiderable and neglected collection of books, into a
very useful and respectable public library.
otton, Mr. Clarke had three children, two of whom survived him; Edward, of whom in the next article, and a daughter, who inherited not only the virtues of her parents,
By his only wife, Anne, daughter of Dr. Wotton, Mr. Clarke had three children, two of whom survived him; Edward, of whom in the next article, and a daughter, who inherited not only the virtues of her parents, but their taste for literature. She died at Chichester, and was buried in a cemetery adjoining the cathedral. His widow died July 11, 1783.
, son to the preceding, was born at Btixted, March 16, 1730, and was educated at St. John’s college, Cambridge, where he took
, son to the preceding, was born at
Btixted, March 16, 1730, and was educated at St. John’s
college, Cambridge, where he took his degree of B. A,.
1752, and after being elected a fellow, proceeded M. A.
1755. In 1758 he was presented to the rectory of Pepperharrow, in Surrey. He was, like his father, a man of genius
and an excellent scholar. His taste and wit gave peculiar
charms to his conversation, in which he particularly excelled. His first publication, we believe, was a copy of
Greek hexameters on the death of Frederic prince of Wales,
in the “Luctus Academias Cantabrigiensis,
” A Letter to a Friend in Italy, and
verses on reading Montfaucon.
” In concert with Mr.
Itowyer, he projected the improvement of a Latin dictionary, by reducing that of Faber from its present radical
to a regular form. One single sheet of this work was completed, when the design dropped for want of due encouragement. In 1759, he published a thanksgiving sermon,
for the victory over the French fleet; and the following
year, went as chaplain to the embassy at Madrid, and during
a residence there of two years, collected the materials of a
very curious work which he published on his return, entitled
“Letters concerning the Spanish nation, written at Madrid
during the years 1760 and 1761,
” A defence of the conduct of the lieutenantgovernor, in reply to a printed libel.
” On his return from
Minorca, about Greek Testament,
” with a
selection of notes from the most eminent critics and commentators, but sufficient encouragement was not given.
The copy, however, is in the possession of his son the rev.
James Stanier Clarke, with another that was interleaved
and filled with notes by his grandfather Mr. William Clarke.
He died November 1786, and was buried at Buxted. He
left three sons, and a daughter married to capt. Parkinson
of the royal navy. Of his sons, the youngest, capt. George
Clarke of the royal navy, a brave and skilful officer, was
unfortunately drowned by the upsetting 1 of a pleasure-boat
in the Thames, Oct. 1, 1805. It would be unnecessary to
add how much the literary honours of this family are likely
to be perpetuated by his other sons, the rev. James Stanier
Clarke, LL. B. and F. K. S. the biographer of Nelson, and
the rev. Edward Daniel Clarke, LL. D. a gentleman of
consummate abilities in the antiquities of literature, and
author of two volumes of “Travels
” just published, which
have interested the public in no common degree.
, a nonconformist divine of considerable celebrity, and one of the tutors of archbishop Tiilotson, was the son of Robert
, a nonconformist divine of considerable celebrity, and one of the tutors of archbishop
Tiilotson, was the son of Robert Clarkson of Bradford in
Yorkshire, where he was born February 1622, and educated
at Clare-hall, Cambridge^and was some time fellow of that college. He was then tutor to Tiilotson, who succeeded him in
his fellowship in 1651. He was, according to Baxter, a divine
of extraordinary worth for solid judgment, healing moderate principles, acquaintance with the fathers, great ministerial abilities, and a godly upright life. He held for some
time the living of Mortlake in Surrey, from which he was
ejected for nonconformity in August 1662. After this he
shifted about, according to Neal, from one place of obscurity to another, until, in 1682, he was chosen co-pastor
with Dr. Owen, whom he succeeded the year following.
He died June 14, 1686. Of his works, which principally
consist of occasional Sermons, and a volume of “Sermons
”
in folio, the most remarkable were, one entitled “No evidence of Diocesan Episcopacy in the primitive times,
”
Primitive Fpiscopacy,
” Defence of Diocesan
Episcopacy.
” Tiilotson, notwithstanding Clarkson’s nonconformity, always preserved a very high respect for him.
, properly Claude Gele'I;, an inimitable landscape painter, was born at Lorraine in 1600, and served an apprenticeship to the trade of a pastry-cook. In the
, properly Claude Gele'I;, an inimitable landscape painter, was born at Lorraine in 1600, and served an apprenticeship to the trade of a pastry-cook. In the early part of his life he shewed no symptoms of- that astonishing genius, which in his more advanced years attracted the admiration of the world. He was very little indebted to any master for instruction, except Agostino Tassi, who had been a disciple of Paul Bril, and with great labour taught Claude some of the rules of perspective, and the method of preparing his colours. But although at first be could with difficulty comprehend the rudiments y of the art, yet in the progress of his instructions his rnind seemed to expand; his ideas improved; his imagination became more lively; and with wonderful eagerness he applied himself to his studies. During these he explored the true principles of painting, by an incessant examination of nature, usually studying in the open fields, where he very frequently continued frofn sun-rise till the dusk of the evening. There he sketched whatever he thought beautiful or striking; and every curious tinge of light, on all kinds of objects, he marked in his sketches with a similar colour; from which he gave his landscapes such an appearance of nature and truth, as has rarely been discovered in any artist that ever painted in that style. Sandrart relates, that Claude used to explain to him, as they walked through the fields, the causes of the different appearances of the same prospect at different hours of the day, from the reflections or refractions of light, from dews or vapours, in the evening or morning, with all the precision of a philosopher.
s with great care, endeavouring to bring them to perfection, by touching them frequently over again; and if any performance did not answer his idea, it was customary
He worked on his pictures with great care, endeavouring to bring them to perfection, by touching them frequently over again; and if any performance did not answer his idea, it was customary with him to alter, to deface,
and repaint it again several times over, till it corresponded
with that image pictured in his mind. But, whatever
struck his imagination, while he observed nature abroad,
was so strongly impressed on his memory, that, on his return to work, he never failed to make the happiest use of
it. His skies are warm, and full of lustre, and every object is properly illumined. His distances are admirable,
and in every part a delightful union and harmony never
fail to excite our applause and admiration. His invention
is pleasing, his colouring delicate, and his tints have such
an agreeable sweetness and variety, as to have been but
imperfectly imitated by the best subsequent artists, but
were never equalled. He frequently gave an uncommon
tenderness to his finished trees, by glazing; and in his
large compositions which he painted in fresco, he was so
exact, that the distinct species of every tree might readily
be distinguished. Among several of his performances in
that manner of painting, one was on the four walls of a
magnificent saloon at Rome, belonging to a nobleman named
Mutius, the height of the walls being very considerable.
On the first side he represented the vestiges of an ancient
palace, bounded by a deep grove of trees, incomparably
expressed as to the forms, stems, barks, branchings, and
foliage; the proportional grandeur of those trees, as well
as the length of the grove, were perspectively and beautifully set off by the shrubs and plants with which his ground
was diversified; and the eye was pleasingly conducted to
the second wall, which seemed, by an artful contrivance
and disposition, to be only a continuation of the same
scene, the same elevation of the horizontal line being observed through the whole work. On the second side, he
shewed an extensive plain interspersed with mountains and
falls of water, as also with a variety of trees, plants, travellers, and animals; and this part of the composition was
likewise connected with the third wall. In that, the
lengthened prospect shewed a sea-port at the foot of some
high hills, with a view of the ocean, and vessels labouring
amongst the waves, which appeared in violent agitation;
and on the fourth wall were represented caverns amongrude rocks, ruins of buildings, and fragments of antique
statues; the composition, though divided into so many
parts, constituting in the whole but one entire connected
prospect, the beauty, truth, and variety of which, the
power of language cannot sufficiently represent. As to
his figures, if he painted them himself, they are very indifferent; though Sandrart assures us, that he spent a
great deal of time and labour in practising to design them;
that he drew for some years in the academy at Rome, after
living models, as well as after statues; and that he took
much more pains in endeavouring to form his hand to draw
figures correctly, than to perfect himself in landscape, in
which he was confessedly superior to all. And he was so
conscious of his deficiency in figures, that he usually engaged other artists who were eminent to paint them for
him; of which number were Courtois, and Philippo Laura.
His pictures are very rare, especially such as are undamaged; and those are at this time so valued, that no
price, however great, is thought to be superior to their
merit. There are some of uncommon excellence in this
country; and a few years ago the vast price of 6000
guineas was given for two of them. In order to avoid a repetition of the same subject, and also to detect such copies
of his works as might be injurious to his fame by being sold
for originals, it was his custom to draw (in a paper book prepared for his purpose) the designs of all those pictures
which were transmitted to different countries; and on the
back of the drawings he wrote the name of the person who
had been the purchaser. That book, which he titled
“Libro di Verita,
” is now in the possession of the duke of
Devonshire. For his amusement Claude etched a set of
twenty-eight middling-sized landscapes, lengthways, from
his own compositions. They are very slight, but very
spirited, and abundantly testify the hand of the master.
De Piles says he died in 1678, but all other writers place
his death in 1682.
, an eminent French protestant clergyman, was born at Sauvetat in the province of Angenois, in 1619, and studied grammar and philosophy under his father Francis Claude,
, an eminent French protestant clergyman, was born at Sauvetat in the province of Angenois, in
1619, and studied grammar and philosophy under his father Francis Claude, also a minister, ~and a man of great
piety, and afterwards went through a course of divinity at
Montauban, where he was ordained in 1645. He was
made minister of the church of la Treyne, where he officiated a year, and then became minister of a church of St.
Afric in Rovergne and eight years after, pastor of that
of Nismes. As the protestants had an university in the
city of Nismes, Claude had an opportunity of displaying
one of his chief talents, that of happily explaining a theological subject; and he used to read private lectures to
such as were candidates for the ministry. He had undertaken to refute the piece called “The Method,
” which
was written by cardinal Richelieu against the protestants;
but hearing that Martel, an eminent professor of divinity,
had a synodical commission for that purpose, he laid aside
that design. Havfng opposed, in the synod of the Lower
Languedoc, a person whom the court had won over to attempt a re-union between the Roman catholics and protestants, he was forbid, by a decree of council, the functions of a minister in Languedoc, after he had exercised
them eight years at Nismes. He went to Paris to get this
resolution taken off; and, after staying there six months
to no purpose, he went to Montauban, preached the day
after his arrival, and accepted an offer from the people of
that church.
ich gave rise to the most famous dispute that ever was carried on in. France between the protestants and Roman catholics. Mess, de Port-Royal in their endeavours to
During this journey, he wrote a little book, which gave
rise to the most famous dispute that ever was carried on in.
France between the protestants and Roman catholics.
Mess, de Port-Royal in their endeavours to make a convert
of Mr. de Turenne to the Romish religion, presented hin
with a work in which they pretended to shew that the protestant churches had always believed what is taught in that
of the Romanists concerning the real presence, and that a
change of belief, such as the protestants suppose, is impossible. Mr. de Turenne’s lady, who always dreaded,
what happened after her decease, namely, that her husband
would turn Roman catholic, was very anxious to confirm
him in the protestant faith, and employed Claude to write
an answer to the piece of Mess, de Port-Royal, which he
executed with so much ability, that several copies were
taken and circulated as extensively, both in Paris and in
the provinces, as if it had been printed. Mess, de PortRoyal, hearing of this, thought themselves absolutely obliged to answer it, by publishing in 1664, the famous work
entitled “The perpetuity of the catholic church in regard
to its doctrine of the Eucharist.
” It contains the first
piece, and a reply to Claude’s answer, who was then at
Montauban; and published in 1666, with his first answer,
a work entitled “An answer to two treatises, entitled The
perpetuity, &c.
” There is no doubt but the intrinsic
merit of Claude’s book contributed greatly to its fame;
but he had also the Jansenists on his side, who hoped that
it would vex the gentlemen of the Port-Royal; and therefore, for their own sake, they spread in all places his name
and merit. Arnauld undertook to refute Claude’s book,
and published a large volume in 1669. Father Nonet
also, a famous Jesuit, engaged in the controversy, and
published a book against Claude, who wrote an answer to
it, which was printed in 1668, and which some prefer to
his other pieces; and we are told it was his own favourite
piece. The author of the “Journal des S^avans
” opposed
Claude, by inserting an extract of that Jesuit’s book, which
induced Claude to publish an anonymous letter, entitled
“A Letter from a provincial to a friend, occasioned by the
journal of the 28th of June, 1667
” and this obtained a
reply from the journalist some time after, which terminated
this contest; but as Arnauld had added two more volumes to
the former, Claude was forced to engage in a very laborious
study, in order to examine the tenets of the Greek church,
and those of the eastern schismatics, and shewed great learning and abilities in the answer he made to him. The Jansenists only made a general reply to Claude’s book. They
published their “Just prejudices against Calvinism:
”
which Claude refuted by one of the ablest vindications of
protestantism, entitled -“' Defense de la Reformation,
”
Roan, 1673, and Hague, 1682.
t of Nantz, he did very great service to the cause of the French protestants by his excellent works, and by the minute attention he paid to the affairs which the deputies
Claude, as we have observed, was elected minister of the church of Montauban, about 1662; but four years after he was forbid by the court to exercise his functions there, which obliged him to go a second time to Paris, where he continued near nine months, without being able to remove the obstacles of his return to Montauban. During this interval, he was invited to the church of Bourdeaux; but the congregation of Charenton, being unwilling to lose a person of Claude’s abilities, gave him also an invitation in 1666. From that time to the revocation of the edict of Nantz, he did very great service to the cause of the French protestants by his excellent works, and by the minute attention he paid to the affairs which the deputies of provinces communicated to him. No man was ever better qualified to head either a consistory or a synod, or to manage a personal dispute. He discovered this latter talent in the last conference, which Mad. de Duras desired to hear. This lady would not forsake her religion till she had heard Claude and the bishop of Meaux dispute in her presence; and they accordingly disputed at the countess de Roie’s, her sister’s, the 1st of March, 1678. Each disputa'nt wrote the relation of his conference, and ascribed the victory to himself. These relations were at first only handed about in ms. but at last the bishop of Meaux published his in 1682, and that of Claude followed soon after. Claude was distinguished from the rest of the ministers, by the manner in which the court ordered him to leave the kingdom. He, like them, had a fortnight allowed him to leave it: but the Romish clergy found means to shorten even that time. For, Oct. 22, 1685, the day on which the revocation of the edict of Nantz was registered at Paris, Claude at ten in the morning was ordered to leave France in twenty-four hours. He obeyed with the utmost submission; and set out, attended by one of the king’s footmen, who was ordered to conduct him to the frontiers of France; and who, though he executed his orders faithfully, yet treated him with civility. He travelled in the Brussels coach; and his fame flying before him, procured him much kind and hospitable attention during his journey. He passed through Cambray, where he lay; and was there presented with some refreshments by the Jesuits. Even their rector paid him a visit, which Claude returned; and the difference of religion did not interrupt this interchange of civilities.
Having arrived at Holland, he met with a very kind reception, and was honoured with a considerable pension by the prince of Orange.
Having arrived at Holland, he met with a very kind reception, and was honoured with a considerable pension by
the prince of Orange. He used to preach occasionally
at the Hague; and his last sermon was on Christmas-day,
1686, so eloquent and impressive, that the princess of
Orange was greatly affected. Claude had not a pleasing
voice; which gave pccasion to the witticism of Morus,
“that all the voices will be for him except his own
” but
this did not lessen the effect of his sermons, nor the popularity of the preacher. At the conclusion of the last-mentioned sermon, he was seized with an illness, of which he
died Jan. 13, 1687; and his death was just matter of grief
to his whole party, who lost a man of great abilities, and
one likely to have healed the- animosities which afterwards
took place in some of the protestant churches.
zabeth de Malcare, by whom he had a son, Isaac Claude, born March 5, 1653, of whom he was very fond, and bred him to the ministry. He studied in the universities of
Claude married in 1648 Elizabeth de Malcare, by whom
he had a son, Isaac Claude, born March 5, 1653, of whom
he was very fond, and bred him to the ministry. He
studied in the universities of France; after which he returned to his father, who completed his education for the
pulpit. He was examined at Sedan in 1678, and approved;
he was invited by the congregation of the church of Clermont in Beauvoisis; and his father had the satisfaction to
impose his hands on him in 1678, and to see him minister
of the Walloon church at the Hague, when he retired to
Holland in 1685. He died at the Hague, July 29, 1695,
after having published many excellent works of his deceased father, particularly 5 vols. 12mo of posthumous
theological and controversial treatises, Amst. 1689.Lavocat, a Roman catholic writer, allows that his works are
written in a manly, exact, elegant and close style, discover great genius and learning, and an uncommon talent
for employing all the subtleties of logic. So candid a
critic may be forgiven for adding, “happy had he not
talents by writing against the catholic church.
”
These volumes just mentioned contain “An answer to a
treatise on the Sacrament,
” supposed to be written by
cardinal le Camus, bishop of Grenoble; Four Letters on
the same subject; an “Essay on the composition of a Serinon;
” a “Body of Christian Divinity;
” expositions of
parts of Scripture, Letters, &c. His Life, written by
M. de la Devaize, was translated into English by G. P. and
published Lond. 1688, 4to. His “Historical Defence of
the Reformation
” was published in English by T. B. Lond.
Essay on the Composition of a Sermon,
” which he wrote about the year
, son of Isaac Claude, pastor at the Hague, and grandson of the celebrated minister of that name, was born January
, son of Isaac Claude, pastor at
the Hague, and grandson of the celebrated minister of that
name, was born January 16, 1684, in that city, and from
his infancy displayed a taste for reading and literary research. At fifteen he wrote a curious Latin dissertation
on the manner of saluting among the ancients, and published it at eighteen, with another dissertation, in the
same language, on nurses and paedagogues, under the title
“J. J. Claudii Dissertatio de Salutationibus Veterum, cui
addita est Diatribe de Nutricibus et Paedagogis,
” Utrecht,
Behold,
my dear child, of what use the belles lettres are, when a
man is reduced to my situation.' 7 These words made so
deep an impression on the young scholar, that he determined from that time to make divinity his chief study. He
afterwards came over to England, and became pastor of the
Drench church in London, 1710, where he died of the
small-pox, March 7, 1712, lamented by the friends of
learning and piety. A volume of his
” Sermons" was
published by his brother in 1713. They are only ten in
number, but were highly praised in the literary journals of
the time, and occasioned redoubled regret that the world
had been so soon deprived of his talents
, a Latin poet, who flourished in the fourth century, under the emperor Theodosius and his sons Arcadius and Honorius, was born in the year 365. Many
, a Latin poet, who flourished in the fourth century, under the emperor Theodosius and his sons Arcadius and Honorius, was born in
the year 365. Many learned men imagine him to have
been born at Alexandria, in Egypt; others, however, have
made a Spaniard of him, others a Frenchman, and Plutarch
and Politian suppose Florence to have been the place of his
nativity. It is certain that he came to Rome in the year
395, and insinuated himself into Stilico’s favour, who,
being a person of great abilities, both for civil and military
affairs, though a Goth by birth, was now become so considerable under Honorius, that he may be said for many
years to have governed the western empire. Stilico afterwards fell into disgrace, and was put to death; and it is
more than probable, that the poet was involved in the
misfortunes of his patron, whom he had egregiously flattered, and severely persecuted by Hadrian, who was captain of the guards to Honorius, and seems to have succeeded
Stilico. There is a reason, however, to think that he rose
afterwards to great favour, and obtained several honours
both civil and military. Arcadius and Honorius are said
to have granted him an honour, which seems to exceed
any that had ever been bestowed upon a poet before,
having at the senate’s request ordered a statue to be erected
for him in Trajan’s forum, with a very honourable inscription; and this is said to be confirmed by the late discovery
of a marble, supposed to be the pedestal of Claudiau’s
statue in brass. The inscription runs thus: “To Claudius
Claudianus, tribune and notary, and among other noble
accomplishments, the most excellent of poets: though his
own poems are sufficient to render his name immortal, yet
[as] a testimony of their approbation, the most learned and
[h]appy emperors Arcadius and Honorius have, at the request of the senate, ordered this statue to be erected and
placed in the forum of Trajan.
” Under the inscription
was placed an epigram in Greek, signifying that he had
united the perfections of Homer and Virgil. The princess
Serena had a great esteem for Claudian, and recommended
and married him to a lady of great quality and fortune in
Libya, as he acknowledges very gratefully in an epistle
which he addresses to Serena from thence, a little before
his wedding day.
tle poems on sacred subjects, which, through mistake, have been ascribed by some critics to daudian, and have made him be thought a Christian, But St. Austin, who was
There are a few little poems on sacred subjects, which, through mistake, have been ascribed by some critics to daudian, and have made him be thought a Christian, But St. Austin, who was contemporary with him, expressly says that he was a heathen; and this is confirmed by Paulus Orosius, another contemporary. They are with more propriety ascribed to Claudianus Mamertus, the subject of the following article. The time of Claudian’s death is uncertain, nor do we know any farther particulars of his life than what are to be collected from his works.
may be reckoned somewhat remarkable, that a learned man, a devout worshipper of all the gods, a wit and a poet, and author of many works, should never say any thing
In consequence of Orosius pronouncing him a heathen,
“an obstinate pagan,
” Cave thinks it may be reasonably
inferred that he had written against the Christian religion.
This Fabricius opposes, but Lardner says it may be
reckoned somewhat remarkable, that a learned man, a
devout worshipper of all the gods, a wit and a poet, and
author of many works, should never say any thing disrespectful of Christianity. He allows, however, that it is
somewhat more extraordinary that Claudian should so excel
in Latin verse, as to approach the best writers of the Augustan age in purity and elegance. Gibbon’s character
of Claudian, corresponding with this, is written with more
than usual care and discrimination. If, says this historian,
we fairly balance Claudian’s merits and defects, we shall
acknowledge that he does not either satisfy, or silence our
reason. It would not be easy to produce a passage that
deserves the epithet of sublime or pathetic; to select a
verse that melts the heart, or enlarges the imagination.
We should vainly seek in the poems of Claudian, the
happy invention and artificial conduct of an interesting
fable, or the just and lively representation of the characters
and situations of real life. For the service of his patron,
he published occasional panegyrics and invectives; and
the design of these slavish compositions encouraged his
propensity to exceed the limits of truth and nature. These
imperfections, however, are compensated in some degree
by the poetical virtues of Claudian. He was endowed with
the rare and precious talent of raising the meanest, of
adorning tjie most barren, and of diversifying the most similar topics; tys colouring, mere specially in descriptive
poetry, is soft and splendid; and he seldom fails to display, and even to abuse, the advantages of a cultivated
understanding, a copious fancy, an easy, and sometimes
forcible expression; and a perpetual flow of harmonious
versification. To these commendations, independent of
any accidents of time and place, we must add the peculiar
merit which Claudian derived from the unfavourable circumstances of his birth. In the decline of arts, and of empire, a native of Egypt, who had received the education
of a Greek, assumed in a mature age the familiar use and
absolute command of the Latin language, soared above the
heads of his feeble contemporaries, and placed himself, after
an interval of three hundred years, among the poets of ancient Rome. Strada, in his Prolusions, allows him to contend
with the five heroic poets, Lucretius, Virgil, Ovid, Lucan,
and Statius. His patron is the accomplished courtier, Balthazar Castiglione. His admirers are numerous and passionate. Yet the rigid critics reproach the exotic weeds,
or flowers, which spring too luxuriantly in his Latian soil,
and for which Dr. Warton, one probably ranked by Gibbon among these “rigid critics,
” places Claudian with
Statius and Seneca the tragedian, as authors into which no
youth of genius ought to be suffered to look.
1650, 4to; of Heinsius, Leyden, 1650, 12mo; Amst. 1665, 8vo; of Gesner, Leipsic, 1759, 2 vols. 8vo, and thought the edit. opt.; and of Burmann, Amst. 1760, 4to.
The first edition of Claudian was supposed to be one of 1470, but as the best critics reject it, the claim of priority is allowed to that of 1482, fol. The best editions are those of Barthius, Francfort, 1650, 4to; of Heinsius, Leyden, 1650, 12mo; Amst. 1665, 8vo; of Gesner, Leipsic, 1759, 2 vols. 8vo, and thought the edit. opt.; and of Burmann, Amst. 1760, 4to.
, a learned presbyter of Vienna, flourished about the year 460. He is celebrated for his eloquence and his general knowledge; and particularly for his acquaintance
, a learned
presbyter of Vienna, flourished about the year 460. He
is celebrated for his eloquence and his general knowledge;
and particularly for his acquaintance with the dialectics of
Aristotle, which were made use of by the orthodox fathers,
as weapons both offensive and defensive, against heretics.
He wrote on the state of the soul, “De statu animte,
lib. tres,
” printed by Mosellanus, Basil,
, or, as some add, Claudius Clemens, bishop of Turin in the ninth century, and one of the earliest reformers of popish superstitions, was a
, or, as some add, Claudius Clemens,
bishop of Turin in the ninth century, and one of the earliest reformers of popish superstitions, was a native of Spain,
and in his youth a disciple of Felix bishop of Urgel, whom
he accompanied into France, Italy, and Germany, but
whose errors he afterwards renounced, and obtained access
to the court of Lewis le Debonnaire, emperor and king of
France. Lewis admitted him among his almoners and
chaplains, and having preached before the court, a thing
very rare in those days, he was much admired as an expounder of the Scriptures, of which Fleury assures us he
had great knowledge. On this account Lewis, who perceived the ignorance of a great part of Italy, and was willing to provide the churches of Piedmont with one who
might stem the growing torrent of image worship, promoted Claudius to the see of Turin, about the year 817, in
which he fully answered his expectations, and both in his
preaching and writings successfully combated the prevailing
superstitions. His commentaries on several parts of the Old
and New Testaments are still extant in manuscript, in various French libraries; but his “Commentary on the Galatians,
” Paris, prefaces
” to the book of Leviticus
and to the Epistle to the Ephesians, which father Mabillon
published; an abridged “Chronicle
” which father Labbe
attributes to him; and a letter addressed to the emperor
Charlemagne on the two eclipses of the year 8 10, which is
in the tenth vol. of D'Acheri’s collection. In his commentary on the Galatians, he every where asserts the equality
of all the apostles with St. Peter, and owns Jesus Christ as
the proper head of the church. He inveighs against the
doctrine of human merits, and against raising traditions to
a height of credibility equal to that of the divine word.
He maintains salvation by faith alone, admits the fallibility
of the church, exposes the futility of praying for the dead,
and of the idolatrous practices then supported by the Roman see. These tenets involved him in a controversy with
a recluse named Dungal, and with Jonas, bishop of Orleans;
and created many more dangerous enemies, from whom,
however, he appears to have been protected by the French
court, and died in peace in the year 339.
a German Jesuit, was born at Bamberg, in Germany, in 1537. He became a very studious mathematician, and elaborate writer, his works making five large folio volumes;
, a German Jesuit, was born at Bamberg, in Germany, in 1537. He became a very studious mathematician, and elaborate writer, his works making five large folio volumes; and containing a complete body or course of the mathematics. They are mostly elementary, and commentaries on Euclid and others; having very little of invention of his own. His talents and writings have been variously spoken of, and it must be acknowledged that he exhibits more of industry than genius. He was sent for to Rome, to assist, with other learned men, in the reformation of the calendar, by pope Gregory; which he afterwards undertook a defence of, against Scaliger, Vieta, and others, who attacked it. He died at Rome, the 6th of February, 1612, after more than fifty years close application to the mathematical sciences.
, one of the presidents of Magdalen college, Oxford, and nr>t president of Corpus Christ! college, in that university,
, one of the presidents of Magdalen college, Oxford, and nr>t president of Corpus Christ! college, in that university, was born at Frampton, in Lincolnshire, of parents who, although not opulent, were enabled to afford him a liberal education. He was first sent to a grammar-school in Oxford, and then entered of Magdalen college, where he became fellow, D, D. about 1507, and held several valuable benefices. In 1516-17, bishop Fox, the founder of Corpus Christi college, requested him to become president of that new foundation, and, as it was inferior in value to that of Magdalen, bestowed on him the rectory of Cleeve, in Gloucestershire, Claymond presided above twenty years, and died in 1537, and was buried in the chapel of Corpus. He left a considerable part of his property, in scholarships and other benefactions, to Brazen-nose, Magdalen, and Corpus Christi colleges He appears from his manuscripts, some of which are in the library of Corpus, to have been a classical scholar, and acquainted with natural history, his works consisting of commentaries on Aulua Gellius and Plautus, and notes and observations on Pliny. From these, likewise, we learn that he was the correspondent of Grynaeus, Erasmus, and other learned men of his time. With Erasmui he became personally acquainted at Oxford, and Erasmus afterwards dedicated to him some tracts of Chrysostom.
e possessed of, by right of inheritance. His father, Dr. Clayton, minister of St. Michael’s, Dublin, and dean of Kildare, sent him to Westminster-school, under the private
, bishop of Clogher, was born at Dublin in 1695, a descendant of the Claytons of Fulwood, in Lancashire, whose estate he became possessed of, by right of inheritance. His father, Dr. Clayton, minister of St. Michael’s, Dublin, and dean of Kildare, sent him to Westminster-school, under the private tuition of Zachary Pearce, afterwards bishop of Rochester, with whom he held a lasting friendship. From Westminster school Dr. Clayton removed his son to Trinity college, Dublin, of which, in due time, he became a fellow, and afterwards made the tour of Italy and France. From whom Mr. Clayton received holy orders, what preferments he had before he was raised to the episcopacy, and when he took his degrees, we are not informed; only we find that he was become D. D. in 1729. In 1728, having come into the possession of an affluent estate, in consequence of his father’s decease, he married Catharine, daughter of lord chief baron Donnellan, and gave her fortune, which was not considerable, to her sister. He behaved with the same generosity to his own three sisters, and gave to each of them the double of what had been bequeathed to them by their father’s will.
Soon after Dr. Clayton’s marriage, he went with his lady to England, and while at London, a person in distressed circumstances applied
Soon after Dr. Clayton’s marriage, he went with his
lady to England, and while at London, a person in distressed circumstances applied to him for assistance, with
the testimony of Dr. Samuel Clarke for a recommendation, upon which, instead of the usual donation on such
occasions, he gave to the necessitous man the sum of three
hundred pounds, which was the whole that he wanted to
make him easy in the world. This circumstance introduced him to Dr. Clarke, and the result of their acquaintance was, Dr. Clayton’s embracing the Arian principles,
to which he adhered during the remainder of his life. Dr.
Clarke having carried to queen Caroline an account of Dr.
Clayton’s remarkable beneficence, it made a powerful
impression on her majesty’s mind in favour of his character; which impression was strongly enforced by her
bed-chamber woman, Mrs. Clayton, afterwards lady
Sundon. Such a powerful interest procured an immediate
recommendation to lord Carteret, then chief governor of
Ireland, for the very first bishopric tbat should become
vacant, and accordingly, he was advanced to that of
Killala, January 1729-30. In this situation he continued
till November 1735, when he was translated to the see of
Cork, and in 1745 to that of Clogher. Excepting a letter
written to the royal society upon a subject of no great
consequence, his first publication was an “Introduction
to the History of the Jews,
” which was afterwards translated into French, and printed at Leyden. His next work
was “The Chronology of the Hebrew Bible vindicated: the
facts compared with other ancient histories, and the difficulties explained, from the flood to the death of Moses;
together with some conjectures in relation to Egypt during
that period of time; also two maps, in which are attempted
to be settled the journeyings of the children of Israel,
”
Dissertation on Prophecy,
” in which he endeavoured to shew, from a joint comparison of the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Revelation of St. John, that
the final end of the dispersion of the Jews will be coincident with the ruin of the popedom, and take place about
2000. This was followed by an “Impartial Enquiry into
the time of the coming of the Messiah,
” in two letters to
an eminent Jew, printed first separately, and then together,
in 1751. In the same year (1751), appeared the “Essay
on Spirit,
” a performance which excited very general attention, and was productive of a fruitful controversy. Its
object was to recommend the Arian doctrine of the inferiority of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and to prepare
the way for suitable alterations in the Liturgy. His biographer, who is at the same time his warm panegyrist,
allows that in this performance he has indulged too freely
in imagination and conjecture; and that he might have
confined the question with greater advantage to the direct
and simple standard of Scripture. The work, after all, was
not Dr. Clayton’s, but one of his adoption, the real authoi
being a young clergyman in his diocese, who shewed the manuscript to his lordship, but had not the courage to print it in
his own name. The bishop, with what is called a romantic generosity, conveyed it to the press, and managed the affair in
such a manner, that the treatise was universally ascribed to
him in all the attacks to which it was exposed, and the sentiments certainly were his. One effect of this conduct was,
his being prevented from rising higher in the church. In
1752, he was recommended by the duke of Dorset, then
viceroy of Ireland, to the vacant archbishopric of Tuam,
but this was refused, solely on account of his being regarded as the writer of the Essay.
layton from the press, was in a work undoubtedly his own, “A Vindication of the Histories of the Old and New Testament; in answer to the Objections of the late Lord
The next appearance of Dr. Clayton from the press,
was in a work undoubtedly his own, “A Vindication of the
Histories of the Old and New Testament; in answer to the
Objections of the late Lord Bolingbroke; in two letters to
a young nobleman,
” A Journal from Grand Cairo to Mount
Sinai, and back again. Translated from a manuscript
written by the Prefetto of Egypt, in company with the
Missionaries de propaganda Fids at Grand Cairo. To which
are added, some remarks on the origin of hieroglyphics,
and the mythology of the ancient heathens.
” Dedicated
to the Society of Antiquaries, London, 4to and 8vo. The
bishop, having become possessed of the original Journal
from Grand Cairo to Mount Sinai, and which had been
mentioned by Dr. Pococke in his Travels through the East,
communicated this translation of it to the Society of Antiquaries, with a view of exciting them to make some inquiry
into certain ancient characters, which, as appears from
the Journal, are discovered in great numbers in the Wilderness of Sinai, at a place well known by the name of
Gebel el Mokatah, or the Written Mountains. It does
not appear that any measures were taken by the Society of
Antiquaries; but the celebrated Mr. Edward Wortley Montagu, who went from Cairo to the Desert of Sinai, with,
the express purpose of seeing and describing the objects
proposed by the bishop, was greatly disappointed, and
convinced that the characters were not written by the
Israelites; and we believe the researches of more recent
travellers have been equally unsuccessful.
her favoured the literary world with the second part of his “Vindication of the Histories of the Old and New Testament,” but written with more ingenuity than judgment.
In 1754, the bishop of Clogher favoured the literary
world with the second part of his “Vindication of the
Histories of the Old and New Testament,
” but written
with more ingenuity than judgment. His account of the
formation of the earth and of the deluge, was successfully
attacked by Mr. Alexander Catcott. Our prelate’s next
publication was in 1755, and consisted only of some letters
which had passed between his lordship, when bishop of
Cork, and Mr. William Penn, on the subject of baptism,
in which he contended that the true Christian baptism is
to continue to the end of the world; whereas the baptism
of the Holy Ghost ceased with the ceasing of miracles.
We have already noticed that his object in publishing the
“Essay on Spirit
” was to recommend Arianism, and consequently, alterations in the Liturgy. He now determined
to avow the same sentiments in his legislative capacity;
and accordingly, on Monday the 2d of February, 1756, he
proposed in the Irish house of lords, that the Nicene and
Athanasian Creeds should for the future be left out of the
Liturgy of the church of Ireland. The speech which our
prelate delivered upon this occasion being taken down in
short-hand, was afterwards published, and passed through
several editions. Though so declared and avowed an attack upon the establishment was regarded in a very unfavourable light, no measures were taken for calling Dr.
Clayton to an account for it till he had published the third
part of his “Vindication of the Histories of the Old and
New Testament,
” My lord,
” he
answered, “I believe you will.
” “Sir,
” he replied, “you
have given me a stroke I'll never get the better of.
” What
followed is surely very inconsistent with the story reported
by his biographer, namely, that after he had delivered hi$
speech in the house of lords, the bishop declared “that
his mind was eased of a load which had long lain upon it
and that he now enjoyed a heart- felt pleasure, to which he
had been a stranger for above twenty years before.
”
iable qualities. The objects of his chanty were uncommonly numerous; the sums bestowed by him large, and given with such privacy that his beneficiaries seldom saw the
In private life Dr. Clayton displayed many amiable qualities. The objects of his chanty were uncommonly numerous; the sums bestowed by him large, and given with such privacy that his beneficiaries seldom saw the hand by which they were relieved. Being a member of the linen board, he got a great many wheels and reels for the poor about Clogher, and thus kept the most of them employed. As to his literary abilities, it is apparent from his writings that he was a man of a great capacity, of a vigorous imagination, but deficient in judgment, and too Frequently carried into the regions of conjecture.
ut these have not been thought worthy of publication. Dr. Clayton was a member of the royal society, and of the society of antiquaries. He maintained a regular correspondence
Our prelate left behind him several works in manuscript in the possession of his executor, Dr. Barnard, dean of Derry, but these have not been thought worthy of publication. Dr. Clayton was a member of the royal society, and of the society of antiquaries. He maintained a regular correspondence with several gentlemen of eminent literature in this country; and, among the rest, with the learned printer, Mr. Bowyer, to whom he made a present of the copy-right of all his works published in England. His Lancashire estate he bequeathed to his nearest male heir, Richard Clayton, esq. chief justice of the common pleas in Ireland; but the greatest share of his fortune fell to Dr. Barnard, who married his niece. Some interesting' anecdotes of the bishop are given in Burdy’s Lite of the rev. Philip Skelton, to whom he was neither a liberal nor impartial patron.
, a celebrated Greek philosopher, of the stoical sect, son of Phanias, and disciple of Zeno, was born at. Assus in Lydia, 33<J B. C. He
, a celebrated Greek philosopher, of the
stoical sect, son of Phanias, and disciple of Zeno, was
born at. Assus in Lydia, 33<J B. C. He subsisted by drawing water during the night, that he might pursue his studies by day. Being cited before the areopagus to declare
how he gained his livelihood, he brought with him a gardener and a country-woman, saying that he drew water for
the one, and kneaded dough for the other. The judges
were ordering him a present; but Cleanthes refused to
accept of it. This philosopher was for many years so
poor, that he was obliged to write the heads of his master’s
lectures upon shells and bones, for want of money to buy
paper. But, notwithstanding all his poverty, he persevered in the study of philosophy, and remained a pupil of
Zeno nineteen years. His natural faculties were slow; but
resolution and perseverance enabled him to overcome every
difficulty; and he at last became so complete a master of
the stoic system, that he was perfectly qualified to succeed Zeno in his school. His fellow disciples often ridiculed him for his dulness, by calling him an ass; but he
took no other notice of the sarcasm, than by saying in his
defence, that if he was an ass, he was the better able to
bear the burthen of Zeno’s doctrine. Being reproved for
his timidity, he replied, “It is to this quality that I am
indebted for my innocence.
” Though he was not of the
school of Arcesilaus, when he heard him condemned for
undermining by his doctrine the foundations of virtue, he
candidly apologized for him, by remarking, that though
he might seem an enemy to virtue in his discourses, he
showed himself her friend in his conduct. Arcesilaus
being informed of the handsome apology which Cleanthes had made for him, said to him, “You know how
much I dislike flattery; why will you flatter me?
” “Is it
then flattery,
” replied Cleanthes, “to say of you, that
you speak one thing, and do another?
” Cleanthes frequently advised his pupils to conceive of pleasure, as a
deity sitting on her throne, attended by the virtues, who
are ready on every occasion to whisper in her ear, “Do
nothing which will occasion pain or grief 'to yourself or
others.
” A friend observing him silent in company, said,
“One would think, Cleanthes, from your silence, that
you took no pleasure in conversing with your friends
”
Cleanthes replied, “It is because I know the value of
this pleasure, that I am silent for I wish my friends to
enjoy it as well as myself.
” The reason which he assigned
for the superiority of former philosophers above the present was, that formerly philosophers studied things, whereas now they study only words. When he was old, he still
retained the entire use of his faculties, and often said, that
he should always think life worth preserving as long as he
should be able to write and "study. Long after his death;
which happened in his ninetieth year, the Roman senate
paid respect to his memory, by ordering a statue to be
erected in honour of him at Assus.
He wrote many pieces, none of which are come down to us, except his “Hymn to Jupiter,” and a few fragments; the several editions of which have been enumerated,
He wrote many pieces, none of which are come down to
us, except his “Hymn to Jupiter,
” and a few fragments;
the several editions of which have been enumerated, with
the various readings, and critical remarks, by the learned
reviewer of Butler’s edition of “Marcus Musurus,
” &c.
containing this hymn, and other fragments. It was first
published by Fulvius Ursinus, in 1568; then by Henry
Stephens, in his “Poesis Philosophica,
” in Intellectual System,
” Analecta,
” in Gnomici Poetae;
” a ninth time in,
the “Eclogss Physicse
” of John Stoboeus, published at
Gottingen,
n, in the parish of Crammond, near Edinburgh, on the 13th of December 1716. His father died in 1719, and left a widow and five children. George, who was the youngest
, a learned physician, was born
of reputable parents, at Granton, in the parish of Crammond, near Edinburgh, on the 13th of December 1716.
His father died in 1719, and left a widow and five children.
George, who was the youngest son, received the rudiments of his education in the grammar-school of Crammond, and in 1728 was sent to Edinburgh to be further
instructed in the Latin, Greek, and French; where, to a
singular proficiency in these languages, he added a
considerable stock of mathematical knowledge. In the beginning of 1731 he resolved to study physic and surgery,
and had the happiness of being placed under the tuition
of the late Dr. Alexander Monro, and under his roof. In
one of his letters his pupil appeared to dwell with peculiar
pleasure upon this circumstance; observing, that “his
amiable manners and unremitting activity in promoting the
public welfare, endeared him to all his acquaintance, but
more particularly to those who lived under his roof, and
had daily opportunities of admiring the sweetness of his
conversation, and the invariable benignity of his disposition.
” For five years he continued to profit by the instruction and example of his excellent master, visiting patients in company with him, and assisting at the dissections
in the anatomical theatre; at the same time he attended in
their turn the lectures in botany, materia medica, chemistry, and the theory and practice of medicine; and by extraordinary diligence he attracted the notice of all his preceptors. On Dr. Fothergill’s arrival from England at this
university in 1733, Dr. Cleghorn was introduced to his
acquaintance, and soon became his inseparable companion.
These twin pupils then studied together the same branches
of science under the same masters, with equal ardour and
success; they frequently met to compare the notes they
had collected from the professors, and to communicate
their respective observations. Their moments of relaxation, if that time can be called relaxation which is devoted to
social studies, were spent in a select society of fellowstudents, of which Fothergill, Russel, and Cuming, were
associates; a society since incorporated under the name of
The Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh.
6, when young Cleghorn had scarcely entered into his twentieth year, so great had been his progress, and so high a character had he acquired, that at the recommendation
Early in the year 1736, when young Cleghorn had scarcely entered into his twentieth year, so great had been his progress, and so high a character had he acquired, that at the recommendation of Dr. St. Clair he was appointed urgeon in the 22d regiment of foot, then stationed in Minorca, under the command of Gen. St. Clair. During a residence of thirteen years in that island, whatever time could be spared from attending the duties of his station, he employed either in investigating the nature of epidemic diseases, or in gratifying the passion he early imbibed for anatomy, frequently dissecting human bodies, and those of apes, which he procured from Barbary, and comparing structure with the descriptions of Galen and Vesalius. In these pursuits he was much assisted by his correspondent Dr. Fothergill, who he acknowledges was indefatigable in searching the London shops for such books as he wanted, and in forwarding them by the earliest and best opportunities.
In 1749 he left Minorca, and came to Ireland with the S2d regiment; and in autumn 1750 he
In 1749 he left Minorca, and came to Ireland with the
S2d regiment; and in autumn 1750 he went to London,
and, during his publication of “The Diseases of Minorca,
”
attended Dr. Hunter’s anatomical lectures. In the publication of his book he was materially assisted by Dr. Fothergill. This work not only exhibits an accurate state of the
air, but a minute detail of the vegetable productions of the
island; and concludes with medical observations, important in every point of view, and in some instances either
new, or applied in a manner which preceding practitioners
had not admitted. We are indebted to Dr. Cleghorn for
recommending acescent vegetables in low, remittent, and
putrid fevers, and the early and copious exhibition of bark,
which had been interdicted from mistaken facts, deduced
from false theories.
In 1751 the doctor settled in Dublin; and, in imitation of Monro and Hunter, began to give annual courses
In 1751 the doctor settled in Dublin; and, in imitation of Monro and Hunter, began to give annual courses of anatomy. A few years after his coming to Dublin he was admitted into the university as lecturer in anatomy. In 1784 the college of physicians there elected him an honorary member; and since that time, from lecturer in anatomy he was made professor; and had likewise the honour of being one of the original members of the Irish Academy for promoting arts and sciences, which is now established by royal authority. In 1777, when the royal medical society was established at Paris, he was nominated a fellow of it. About 1774, on the death of his only brother in Scotland, he sent for his surviving family, consisting of the widow and nine children, and settled them in Dublin under his own eye, that he might have it more in his power to afford them that protection and assistance which they might stand in need of. His elder nephew William he educated in the medical profession; but after giving him the best education which Europe could afford, and getting him joined with himself in the lectureship, his hopes were unfortunately frustrated by the young gentlesnan’s death, which happened about 1784. He died universally and sincerely regretted by all who knew him, on account of his uncommon abilities and most amiable disposition.
independence, devoted his moments of leisure from the severer studies of his profession, to farming and horticulture; but his attention to this employment did not lessen
Dr. Cleghorn, with an acquired independence, devoted
his moments of leisure from the severer studies of his profession, to farming and horticulture; but his attention to
this employment did not lessen his care of his relations,
who, from a grateful and affectionate regard, looked up to
him as a parent; the duties of which station he so tenderly
filled up, as to induce Dr. Lettsom, from whose memoirs
this account is taken, to apply to him the words of Horace,
“Notus in fratres animi paterni.
” Dr. Cleghorn died in
December
e name of Will Honeycombe. He was educated at Westminster- school, to which he was admitted in 1722, and was there the contemporary of lord Mansfield, He was early in
, was the son of colonel Cleland, that
celebrated fictitious member of the Spectator’s Club whom
Steele describes under the name of Will Honeycombe.
He was educated at Westminster- school, to which he was
admitted in 1722, and was there the contemporary of lord
Mansfield, He was early in life sent as consul to Smyrna,
where perhaps he first imbibed those loose principles which
in the infamous work he afterwards wrote, are so dangerously
exemplified. On his return from Smyrna, he went to the
East Indies; but, quarrelling with some of the members of
the presidency of Bombay, he made a precipitate retreat
from the east, with little or no benefit to his fortune. Being without profession, or any settled means of subsistence,
he soon fell into difficulties; a prison and its miseries were
the consequences. In this situation, about the year 1750,
one of those booksellers who disgrace the profession, offered him a temporary relief for writing a work most grossly
immoral, and fit only for the brothels, which brought a
stigma on his name that time has not obliterated. The
sum given for the copy was 20 guineas; the sum received
for the sale could not be less than 10,000l. For this publication he was called before the privy council; and the
circumstance of his distress being known, as well as his being
a man of some parts, John earl Granville, the then president, nobly rescued him from the like temptation, by getting him a pension of 100l. a. year, which he enjoyed to his
death, and which had so much the desired effect, that except the “Memoirs of a Coxcomb,
” which has some smack
of dissipated manners, and the “Man of Honour,
” written
as an amende honorable for his former exceptionable book,
he dedicated the rest of his life to political, dramatic, and
philological studies. In 1765 he published “The Way to
Things by Words, and to Words by Things,
” 8vo, which
wast followed in Specimens of an Etymological
Vocabulary, or Essay by means of the Analytic method to
retrieve the ancient Celtic,
” and Proposals for publishing
by subscription, in 2 vols. 4to, “The Celtic retrieved by
the Analytic method, or reduction to Radicals; illustrated
by various and especially British antiquities;
” but he does
not appear to have received encouragement sufficient to
enable him to print this work. In these publications, however, he has displayed a fund of ingenuity and erudition,
not unworthy the education he received at Westminster.
His political effusions appeared chiefly in the Public Advertiser, under the signatures A Briton, Modestus, &c. but
were tedious and dull. His dramatic trifles and occasional
poems were more lively, although they had not strength to
survive their day. He Jived within the income of his pension, with some addition from his newspaper labours, in a
retired situation in Petty France, where he died Jan. 23,
1789, in his eightieth year, having survived his infamous
publication long enough to see, we trust with shame and
sorrow, the extensive misery it created, and which it never
was in his power to check.
, was born at Painblanc, in the diocese of Autun, in 1704, and entered among the Benedictines of the congregation of St. Maur,
, was born at Painblanc, in
the diocese of Autun, in 1704, and entered among the
Benedictines of the congregation of St. Maur, 1723. His
piety and strict attachment to the observance of all his duties, made him admired and respected by the nuns and
solitaries of Port Royal, whose history he wrote under the
title of “Hist, generale du Port Royal,
” PArt de verifier les dates,
” Hist. Litte*raire de la France,
”
with D, Clement; which consists of 12 vols. 4to. He published alone the letters to Morenas on his abridgement of
Fleury’s ecclesiastical history, 1757, J2mo, and the posthumous works of Racine, 1759, 12mo. He published also
the “Conferences de la Mere Angelique, de St. Jean Arnaud de Port Royal,
”
is said to have been born at Rome, where he probably became the companion and fellow labourer of St. Paul; and was one of those, as it is
is said to have been born at
Rome, where he probably became the companion and
fellow labourer of St. Paul; and was one of those, as it is
generally imagined, whom St. Paul mentions as having
their “names written in the book of life.
” Origen calls
him a disciple of St. Peter; and it is not unlikely that he
might aid and assist this apostle in founding the church at
Rome. It is certain, that he was afterwards bishop of that
see; but when he was made so, cannot be clearly determined. Some follow the authority of Tertullian and Eusebius, that Clemens was consecrated by St. Peter, but admitted at first to preside over that part only of the church
which comprised the Jewish converts; and that he did not
come into the full possession and administration of his
office till the death of Linus, who had been ordained by
St. Paul, bishop of the Gentile church, and of Anacletus,
who succeeded him: and this has been fixed to the year
93. Others have contended, that Clemens succeeded to
the care of the whole church in the year 64 or 65, and that
he held it to the year 81, or, as others again will have it,
83; but all this, with the other circumstances of this father’s life, are matters of conjecture.
e church of Rome, to quiet some disturbances which had been raised by unruly brethren in the former; and to reestablish and confirm them in that faith which had been
We have nothing remaining of his works, of whose genuineness we can be certain, excepting one epistle, which Dr. Lardner thinks was written in the year 95 or 96. It was written to the church of Corinth, in the name of the church of Rome, to quiet some disturbances which had been raised by unruly brethren in the former; and to reestablish and confirm them in that faith which had been delivered to them by the apostles, but from which some of them had revolted. This epistle has usually been esteemed one of the most valuable monuments which have come down to us of ecclesiastical antiquity, and affords ample testimony to the antiquity, genuineness, or authority of the books of the New Testament, while it bears itself all the characters of primitive simplicity. References to, and quotations from it, are often to be found among the early writers for Christianity. Here Clemens exhorts the Corinthians to be united, and at peace with one another he enjoins obedience particularly, and submission to their spiritual governors he declares those who had formed cabals against their pastors s and had troubled the church with their seditions, utterly unworthy of the name of Christians: he points out to them the fatal consequences of such divisions: he presses them to return immediately to their duty, by submitting to their rightful pastors, and practising all humility, kindness, and charity one towards another.
epistle, which exists in the world, as far as we know, is in the British Museum, written on vellum, and bound up with the Alexandrian Bible. It is said to have been
The only manuscript copy of this epistle, which exists in the world, as far as we know, is in the British Museum, written on vellum, and bound up with the Alexandrian Bible. It is said to have been written by Thecla, a woman of rank, in the fourth century, which shows how highly it was esteemed as far down as. the council of Nice. When Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, was translated to the patriarchate of Constantinople, in the seventeenth century, he brought with him out of Egypt a valuable collection of manuscripts, and among them this copy of the Bible and Clemens’s Epistle, which he generously sent as a most valuable present to king Charles I. by sir Thomas Roe, at that time his majesty’s ambassador at the Porte. The first edition of it was printed at Oxford, by P. Junius, Gr. and Lat. 1633, 4to, again by Dr. Fell, Gr. and Laf. ibid. 1677, and at London, 1687, 8vo, by Paul Colornesius; but the best is said to be that by Wotton, Gr. and Lat. Cambridge, 1718, 8vo. The first English translation was by William Burton in 1647, and afterwards by abp. Wake, a fourth edition of which was printed in 1737, with the epistles of the other apostolic fathers. We know of no other English translation, unless a very scarce and beautifully printed one, by an anonymous author, Aberdeen, 1768, 12mo, more literal than Wake’s, and with a very sensible preface. Other writings are attributed to Clemens, particularly a second epistle, but none of them are considered as genuine.
, an eminent father of the church in the end of the second and beginning of the third century, was an Athenian, or according
, an eminent father of the church in the end of the second and beginning of the third century, was an Athenian, or according to others an Alexandrian on which account he is usually called Clemens Alexandrines, by way of distinguishing him from Clemens Romanus. When Pantsenus was sent by Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria, to preach the gospel to the Indians, at th6 request of their ambassadors, about the year 191 Clemens succeeded him in the catechetical school. He acquitted himself admirably well in this employment, and had many eminent pupils, as Origen and Alexander bishop of Jerusalem. Clemens’s method of instructing the catechumens is said to have been this. He pointed out to them, and explained all that was good in the pagan philosophy; and then led them on insensibly to Christianity. In his philosophic character, which he too much preserved, he was an eclectic; that is, not attached to any particular sect of philosophers, but a selector of what he thought good and sound in them all.
s Clemens the title of priest. About this time he undertook a defence of Christianity against pagans and heretics, in a work entitled “Stromata,” on account of the variety
After holding the office of catechist, Clemens was raised
to the priesthood, probably at the beginning of the emperor Severus’s reign; since Eusebius, in his history of the
evert ts of the year 195, gives Clemens the title of priest.
About this time he undertook a defence of Christianity
against pagans and heretics, in a work entitled “Stromata,
”
on account of the variety of matter of which it treats—
Stromata signifying discourses abounding with miscellaneous matter. In this work he has made so great a collection of heathen learning, for the sake of shewing the conformity there is between some opinions which the Christians and the philosophers held in common, as shews that
his reading must have extended to almost everything that
had been written. When Severus began a persecution
against the Christians, for which he pleaded a rebellion of
the Jews (for the pagans had not as yet learned to distinguish Jews and Christians), Clemens left Egypt to escape
the violence of it; and upon this occasion drew up a discourse, to prove the lawfulness of flying in times of persecution: for this expedient, though explicitly allowed and
even enjoined in the gospel, had been rejected by some
early converts, especially Tertullian, as a base desertion
of the cause. He then went to Jerusalem, and took up his
abode for some time with Alexander, who was soon after
bishop of that see. During his stay there he was of great
service to the 'church, as appears from a letter of Alexander to the church of Antioch, which Clemens himself
carried: in which Alexander says, that “Clemens was a
man of great virtue, as the church of Antioch knew already,
and would know better when he came among them; and
that having been at Jerusalem, he had, by God’s blessing,
greatly confirmed and strengthened that church.
”
From Antioch he returned to Alexandria; but we know
not how long he lived. He appears to have survived Pantoenus at least some years, and was not old when he composed his “Stromata;
” for he tells us, that he had made
that collection with a view of its serving him in his old age,
when his faculties should fail him. His memory appears
to have been highly reverenced at Alexandria, as we learn
from an extract of a letter from Alexander to Origen, preserved by Eusebius. Among several works which Clemens
wrote, there are only three considerable ones remaining:
1. “Protrepticon ad gentes,” or, An exhortation to the pagans in which he refutes the error and falsehood of their religion, and exhorts them to embrace Christianity.
1. “Protrepticon ad gentes,
” or, An exhortation to the
pagans in which he refutes the error and falsehood of
their religion, and exhorts them to embrace Christianity.
2. “Paedagogus,
” or, the schoolmaster: or, a regular plan
of duty for the Christian convert. And, 3. The “Stromata.
” Daniel Heinsius has well enough compared these
three works of Clemens to the three different degrees
which the heathen mystagogues and philosophers observed,
when they introduced a candidate to the knowledge of the
jnysteries: the first of which was purgation, the second
initiation, and the third intuition. Clemens, he adds, in
his “Protrepticon
” has laboured to purge his pupil from
the filth of heathen idolatry and superstition: in his “Psedagogus
” he has initiated him into the rites and duties of
a Christian: and in his “Stromata
” he has admitted him.
to a sight of those mysteries which the adepts only were
qualified to contemplate; but it must be allowed that his
philosophical opinions frequently tended to obscure his
theology, and he is less explicit than most of the fathers
on the leading principles of Christianity.
smaller kind; as an homily entitled “Quis dives salvetur?” What rich man can be saved? Paris, 1672, and Oxford, 1683, with some other fragments in Greek and Latin.
Besides these works, there are preserved some pieces of
Clemens, of a smaller kind; as an homily entitled “Quis
dives salvetur?
” What rich man can be saved? Paris,
Gouth, or de Goth, was appointed bishop of Comminges, then archbishop of Bourdeaux by Boniface VIII. and afterwards elected pope at Perugia, June 5, 1305. The ceremony
, one of the popes so called, whose proper
name was Bertrand de Gouth, or de Goth, was appointed
bishop of Comminges, then archbishop of Bourdeaux by
Boniface VIII. and afterwards elected pope at Perugia,
June 5, 1305. The ceremony of his coronation was performed at Lyons, Sunday, November 10, but interrupted
by a wall giving way, from being overloaded with spectators: by which accident John II. duke of Bretany was
^killed, the king wounded, and the tiara thrown from the
pope’s head. This accident was considered as a presage of
the misfortunes which afflicted Italy and all Christendom
during the pontificate of Clement V. He was the first pope
who resided at Avignon. In 1311, he held the general
council of Vienne, appropriated to himself the first year’s
revenue of all the English benefices, which was the origin
of first fruits, abolished the order of templars, and made
the collection of what are called the “Clementine Constitutions
” of which there are some scarce editions; Mentz,
apher, was a French preacher at Hanover, a man profoundly acquainted with the history of literature, and the author of a well-known collection of bibliography, entitled
, an eminent German bibliographer,
was a French preacher at Hanover, a man profoundly acquainted with the history of literature, and the author of
a well-known collection of bibliography, entitled “Bibliotheque curieuse, historique, et critique, ou Catalogue raisonne de livres difficiles a trouver,
” 9 vols. 4to, Gottingen,
&c. 1750 1760, at which last date^this useful work was
interrupted by his death, and has never been completed.
It is in alphabetical order, and extends no farther than the
letter H. Its only fault is that the author marks many
books as rare, which are very common. He published also
“Specimen Bibliothecae Hispano-Maiansianae, sive idea
novi catalog! critici operum scriptorum Hispanorum, quse
kabet in sua bibliotheca Gregorius Maiansius,
” Hanover,
, a learned French historian,- and a Benedictine of the congregation of St. Maure, was born at
, a learned French historian,- and
a Benedictine of the congregation of St. Maure, was born
at Beze in Burgundy, April 7, 1714, After his first studies at the college of Dijon, he embraced the monastic
life in the abbey of Vendome, where he studied so hard as
to injure his health. Being afterwards ordered to Paris by
his superiors, he devoted himself principally to history, to
which his attention was drawn by that vast collection of
French historical documents, of which we have already
spoken so largely in the lives of Bouquet and Andrew du
Chesne, and which was continued by Haudiquier, Housseau, Precieux, and Poirier. Clement became now their
successor in this great work, and in conjunction with father B rial, published in 1770 the twelfth volume, and in
1786 the thirteenth, enriched by two hundred articles of
great value and curiosity. Clement wrote also, 1. “Nouveaux eclaircissemens sur l'origine de Pentateuque des
Samaritains,
” a work begun by Poncet, and completed with
a preface, &c. by Clement. 2. “A Catalogue of the
Mss. in the library of the Jesuits at St. Germain-des-Pres.
3.
” L'art de verifier les dates,“1780 1792, 3 vols. folio.
This work, which is accounted in France a master-piece of
learning, was begun by the Benedictins Antine, Clemencet, and Durand, whose labours, however, are far inferior to those of Clement, who employed thirty years of
his life upon it, almost without any intermission. The only
objection is to the chronological table, or index, which is
said to be somewhat inaccurate. Clement was a free associate of the academy of inscriptions, but his studies were
interrupted by the revolution, which obliged him to quit
one convent after another, and at last seek an asylum with
a nephew. The remainder of his days were employed in
a work to introduce the former, under the title of
” L'art
de verifier les dates avant J. C." In this he had made
considerable progress, when he was carried oft by a stroke
of apoplexy, March 29, 1793.
s a native of Diest, who, after teaching ethics at Louvaine, travelled into France, Spain, Portugal, and Africa, and died at Granada, 1542. He left some curious and
, was a native of Diest, who, after teaching ethics at Louvaine, travelled into France, Spain, Portugal, and Africa, and died at Granada, 1542. He left some curious and scarce letters in Latin, concerning his travels, 1606, 8vo; a Greek grammar, which has been revised and corrected by several grammarians, and among others by Vossius, who published an edition of it at Amsterdam, 1650, 8vo, a Hebrew grammar, Louvain, 1529, and other works.
king of that country; who, dying in the year 51 B. C. bequeathed his crown to the eldest of his sons and the eldest of his daughters; ordering them to be joined to each
, the celebrated queen of Egypt, was the daughter of Ptolemy Auletes, king of that country; who, dying in the year 51 B. C. bequeathed his crown to the eldest of his sons and the eldest of his daughters; ordering them to be joined to each other in marriage, according to the usage of their family, and jointly to govern. They were both of them very young, Cleopatra the eldest being only seventeen; and therefore he committed them to the tuition of the Roman senate. They, however, could not agree, either to be married, or to reign together, and Ptolemy, the brother, having deprived Cleopatra of that share in the government which was left her by Auletes’s will, and driven her out of the kingdom, she raised an army in Syria and Palestine, and commenced a war with him. At this time Julius Caesar, who was in pursuit of Pompey, came to Alexandria, and began to arbitrate between Ptolemy and his sister Cleopatra. But Cleopatra, considering that Cossar was extravagantly addicted to women, laid a plot to attach him first to her person, and next to her cause: and requested that she might be peiv mitted to plead her cause in person before him. This being granted, she came secretly into the port of Alexandria in a small skiff towards the dusk of the evening; and contrived to be carried to Caesar’s apartment, who was too sensible of the charms of beauty not to be touched with those of Cleopatra. She was then in the prime of her youth, about the twentieth year of her age; a perfect beauty, with a commanding address, and a voice harmonious and bewitching. All these charms she prostituted immediately to Caesar, who next morning sent for Ptolemy, and pressed him to receive his sister again upon her own terms: but Ptolemy appealed to the people, and a war commenced, in which Ptolemy lost a battle, and his life, in endeavouring to escape. Caesar then settled the kingdom upon Cleopatra, and the surviving Ptolemy, her younger brother, as king and queen. This Ptolemy, however, was at this time only eleven years old, and Cleopatra, when he was grown up, and capable of sharing the royal authority, causeu him to be poisoned, and thus reigned alone in Egypt. However, she followed Caesar to Rome, and was there when he was killed in the senatehouse; but being terrified by that accident, and the subsequent disorders of the city, she made her escape with great precipitation.
d by Antony of favouring the interest of Cassius. Against this charge, she again depended on her wit and beauty; and approached Antony, who waited for her at Tarsus
After the battle of Philippi, Cleopatra was accused by
Antony of favouring the interest of Cassius. Against this
charge, she again depended on her wit and beauty; and
approached Antony, who waited for her at Tarsus in Cilicia, in a manner calculated to display her whole charms.
At the mouth of the river Cydnus, she embarked in a
vessel whose stern was of gold, sails of purple silk, oars of
silver, and a concert of several instruments that kept time
with the oars. She herself was laid under a canopy of a
rich cloth of gold, dressed like Venus rising out of the sea:
about her were lovely children like Cupids fanning her:
the handsomest of her women, habited like Nereids and
Graces, were leaning negligently on the sides and shrouds
of the vessel: the sweets that were burning perfumed the
banks of the river, which were covered wijh an infinite
number of people, who ran thither with such earnestness,
that Antony, who was mounted on a throne to make a
shew of majesty, was left quite alone; while the multitude
at the river shouted for joy, and cried, that “the goddess
Venus was come to visit the god Bacchus for the happiness
of Asia.
” By these arts, and the charms of her person,
she drew Antony into those snares which held him enslaved
to her as long as he lived, and finally caused his death.
It would not be to our purpose to be particular in relating the war between Antony and Caesar; the battle of Actium, as is well known, determined the
It would not be to our purpose to be particular in relating the war between Antony and Caesar; the battle of Actium, as is well known, determined the victory in favour of the latter, and Cleopatra flying first, Antony hastened after. He conceived however great displeasure against her upon this occasion, and continued three days without seeing her; but afterwards recovered his usual humour, and devoted himself to pleasure. Meanwhile, Cleopatra made trial of all sorts of poisons upon criminals, even to the biting of serpents; and finding, after many experiments, that the sting of an asp gave the quickest and the easiest death, it is believed she made choice of that kind of death, if she should be driven to despair. After they were returned to Egypt, and found themselves abandoned by all their allies, they sent to make proposals to Caesar. Cleopatra asked the kingdom of Egypt for her children; and Antony desired he might live as a private man at Athens, if Caesar was not willing he should remain in Egypt. Cuesar absolutely rejected Antony’s proposal, and sent to Cleopatra that he would refuse her nothing that was just and reasonable, if she would rid herself of Antony, or drive him out of her kingdom. She refused to act openly against Antony; but betrayed him in every effort that he made, till she obliged him to put an end to his own life, for fear of falling into Crcsar’s hands. When Antony was dead, Cleopatra could not forbear most passionately bemoaning the loss of him: however, upon Caesar’s approach to Alexandria, she began to consult her own security. Near the temple of Isis she had raised a stately building, which she designed for her sepulchre: into this she now retired; and into this was carried by her order all her treasure, as gold, jewels, pearls, ivory, ebony, cinnamon, and other precious woods. It was filled besides with torches, faggots, tow, and other combustible matter: so that Caesar, who had notice of it, was afraid lest out of despair she should burn herself in it, with all those vast riches and therefore contrived to give her hopes from time to time that she might expect all good usage, from the esteem he had for her. It was his secret wish to expose this queen in his triumph to the Romans; and with this view he sent Proculus to employ all his art and address in seizing her, which he at length accomplished, and Cassar, although extremely glad to have her in his possession, commanded her to be served in all respects like a queen. She became, however, inconsolable for the loss of her liberty, and fell into a fever, which gave her hopes that all her sorrows would soon end with her life. She had besides resolved to abstain from eating; but this being known, her children were threatened with death if she persisted in that. Caesar at length resolved to see her, and by his civilities endeavoured to reconcile her to life. He found her upon a low bed; but as soon as she saw Caesar, she rose up in her shift, and threw herself at his feet. Caesar civily raised her up, and sat down at her bed’s head. She began to justify herself; but the proofs against her being too notorious, she turned her justification into prayers, and put into his hand an inventory of all her treasure and jewels. Having private notice soon after, that she was to be carried to Rome within three days, to grace Caesar’s triumph, she caused herself to be bitten by an asp, which, it is said, was brought to her concealed in a basket of figs; and of this she died. Caesar, deprived as he was of the greatest ornament of his triumph, yet ordered her a very magnificent funeral; and her body, as she desired, was laid by that of Antony.
Thus died this princess, whose wit and beauty made so much noise in the world, after she had reigned
Thus died this princess, whose wit and beauty made so much noise in the world, after she had reigned from the death of her father twenty-two years, and lived thirty-nine. She was a woman of great parts as well as of great vice and wickedness. She spoke several languages with the utmost readi-i ness; for, being well skilled in Greek and Latin, she could converse with Ethiopians, Troglodites, Jews, Arabians, Syrians, Medes, and Persians, without an interpreter; and always gave to such as were of these nations, as often as they had occasion to address her, an answer in their own language. In her death ended the reign of the family of the Ptolemies in Egypt, after it had continued from the death of Alexander 294 years; for, after this, Egypt was reduced into the form of a Roman province, and so remained 670 years, till it was taken from them by the Saracens in 641.
, the son of Stephen Le Clerc, a physician and Greek professor at Geneva, was born Feb. 4, 1652, at that place,
, the son of Stephen Le Clerc, a
physician and Greek professor at Geneva, was born Feb. 4,
1652, at that place, and educated in his father’s profession.
After studying at Montpellier and Paris, he took his doctor’s degree at Valentia in 1672, then returned to his own
country, and practised physic with great success. He was
also an excellent Greek and Latin scholar and antiquary,
and distinguished for his knowledge of medals. He published a “Bibliotheque Anatomique
” in conjunction with
Manget, in 1681, 2 vols. fol. reprinted in 1699. His
“History of Medicine,
” which extends to the time of
Galen, was published at Geneva in 1696, but the best edition is that of Amsterdam, 1723, 4to. This work is much
praised by Dr. Freind, except the continuation to the sixteenth century. In 1704 he succeeded his father as counsellor of state in the republic of Geneva, after which he
practised very little. In 1715, the king of Sardinia, then
king of Sicily, being at Thonon in Savoy, consulted him
on his own health and that of his queen. The same year
he published his “Historia latorum lumbricorum,
” which
was afterwards published in English, 8vo. He died June
8, 1728.
, brother to the preceding, a celebrated writer, and universal scholar, was born at Geneva, March 19, 1657. He was
, brother to the preceding, a celebrated writer, and universal scholar, was born at Geneva, March 19, 1657. He was sent to a grammar-school at eight years of age; where he soon discovered an insatiable inclination to books, and such a genius for poetry, that he flattered himself, if he had duly cultivated it, he would probably have gained no small reputation. But the more serious studies, to which he applied himself, made him entirely neglect poetry, and he never wrote verses but on particular occasions. Thus, in 1689, having translated into French two sermons of bishop Burnet, preached before king William, on account, he says, of the friendship which subsisted between himself and that prelate, he subjoined to the one a small poem in heroic, and to the other an epigram in elegiac verse, upon England restored to liberty.
When he was about sixteen years old, he was removed from the grammar-school, and placed under M. Chouet, to study philosophy, in which he spent
When he was about sixteen years old, he was removed from the grammar-school, and placed under M. Chouet, to study philosophy, in which he spent two years, but did not yet enter upon the study of divinity, thinking it better to employ another year on the belles lettres, and also in acquiring the elements of the Hebrew tongue. He now read all the books that could any ways improve him in this pursuit; and it was this constant assiduity and application, to which he inured himself in his youth, that enabled him afterwards to go through so much uninterrupted fatigue of reading and writing, and to publish such a vast variety of works. At nineteen years of age he began to study divinity under Philip Mestrezat, Francis Turretin, and Lewis Tronchin, and he attended their lectures above two years.
After he had passed through the usual forms of study at Geneva, and had lost his father in 1676, he resolved to go for some time
After he had passed through the usual forms of study at
Geneva, and had lost his father in 1676, he resolved to go
for some time into France; and thither he went in 1678,
but returned the year after to Geneva, and was ordained
with the general applause of his examiners. Soon after,
he met with the works of Curcellseus, his great uncle
by his father’s side, which had been published by Limborch in 1674, but were not easily to be got at Geneva among the Calvinists, who had no intercourse with
the Arminians; and by reading these he became so convinced that the remonstrants had the better of the
argument against all other protestants, that he resolved to leave
both his own country and France, where the contrary
principles were professed. In 1680 he went to Sauraur, a
protestant university, where he first read the works of
Episcopius, with whose learning and eloquence he was
much pleased. He also began to make notes and observations upon the Old Testament, which he read in the
Polyglott, which notes he afterwards used in his commentaries. While he was at Saumur, there came out a book
with this title, “Liberii de sancto amore, epistolae theoJogicae, in quibus varii scholasticorum errores castigantur.
”
8vo, consisting of “eleven theological epistles, in which
several errors of the schoolmen are corrected.
” It was
ascribed by some to le Clerc, while others thought it too
learned to be written by a young man of twenty-four. It
is certain that though he never owned it, yet he speaks of
it in such a manner as must almost convince us that he was
really the author of it, and it contains many of those free
opinions respecting the Trinity, &c. which could not fail
to give offence, and induce him for a time to conceal his
name.
In 1682, Le Clerc, intending to visit England, travelled through Paris, and arrived at London in May, chiefly with a view to learn the English
In 1682, Le Clerc, intending to visit England, travelled through Paris, and arrived at London in May, chiefly with a view to learn the English language; which, with the help of a master, he soon effected. He preached several times in the French churches at London, and visited several bishops and men of learning; but the air of the town not agreeing with his lungs, he returned to Holland, after less than a year’s stay, in company with the celebrated historian Gregorio Leti, who formerly lived at Geneva, and was then retiring to Holland. He visited Limborch at Amsterdam, from whom he learned the condition of the remonstrants in the United Provinces, but did not yet join them, although he discovered his real sentiments to Limborch, with whom he entered into a strict friendship, which lasted till the death of that great man. He had not been long in Holland before his friends and relations entreated him to return to Geneva, but not being able when there to dissemble his opinions, which wexe contrary to those established by law, he thought it prudent to return to Holland at the latter end of 1683. The year after he preached sometimes in French in the church of the remonstrants, but was soon obliged to leave off preaching; for what reason is not known, but his friends have thought proper to impute it to the jealousy of the Walloon ministers, who finding their audiences very thin when Le Clerc preached, prevailed upon the magistrates to forbid his preaching any more. In 1634, when the remonstrants held a synod at Rotterdam, he preached once more before them; and was then admitted professor of philosophy, the Hebrew tongue, and polite literature in their school at Amsterdam. The remainder of his life offers nothing to us but the history of his works, and of the controversies in which he was engaged; which were numerous, and displayed undoubted talents.
ubjoined dissertations on the same subject by Stephen. Le Clerc, his father, with the lives of both, and notes, in which he frequently differs from them in opinion.
The first thing he published, after he was settled at
Amsterdam, was a work of his uncle David Le Clerc, late
professor of the oriental languages at Geneva, entiled
“Theological Dissertations,
” Amst. Computus Ecclesiasticus
” by David, and some philosophical dissertations by Stephen. About the same time he
was editor of his friend Charles Le Cene’s “Dialogues
upon several theological subjects,
” to which he added five
of his own, pointing out the mischiefs that metaphysics
have occasioned to religion. Between the first and second
publication of his father’s and uncle’s pieces, commenced
his celebrated controversy with the learned father Simon,
who had just published his “Critical History of the Old
Testament.
” Le Clerc, in Sentimens de quelques theologiens de
Hollande,
” &c. In this he vented several bold opinions,
which he afterwards retracted or explained into a more
harmless sense, such as that the Pentateuch was not written by Moses, that the writers of the Old and New Testament were not inspired, &c. Even Bayle, although not
scrupulous to make bold assertions, disapproved Le Clerc’s
sentiments, as tending to confirm the Calvinists in their
dislike of the Arminians, as a sect, which he strongly says,
they considered as the common sink of all the Atheists,
Deists, and Socinians in Europe.
g his “Bibliotheque universelle et historique,” a literary journal of great utility. The first eight and part of the ninth volume he wrote in conjunction with de la
In the same year, we find him better employed in writing
his “Bibliotheque universelle et historique,
” a literary
journal of great utility. The first eight and part of the
ninth volume he wrote in conjunction with de la Crose
the tenth is Le Clerc’s, and the 11th La Grose’s; the rest
to the 19th Le CHerc’s, and the remainder to the 25th,
which is the last, were written by Mr. Bernard. While
employed on this work, Le Clerc published various others.
In the years 1687 89, he published French translations
of bishop Burners “Reflections upon Varillas’s History,
”
&c. and of some of his sermons and in Lives of the Philosophers,
” translated into
Latin, with notes. The same year he revised and corrected the sixth edition of Moreri’s Dictionary; and wrote
a French letter to Jurieu, vindicating the character of Episcopius, whom Jurieu had classed among Socinians. Besides these labours, he continued to read regular lectures,
as professor of philosophy and the belles-lettres, at Amsterdam; and in 1691, published his “Logic, Ontology,
and Pneumatology,
” which, in order to complete the
course, were followed in Natural Philosophy.
” These were all written in Latin, and were reprinted, in a fourth edition, Amst. 1710, 4 vols. 8vo, to
which was subjoined also in Latin, his life, written by
himself, 1711, which makes a fifth volume, and in 1712
was translated into English, and published at London. In
1693 he published the first volume of his “Commentary
on the Bible,
” a work he had long projected, and for which
he had been long collecting materials. He published the
remainder, at different times, until 1731, when the Commentary on the Prophets appeared, but it was still left incomplete, owing to that decay of his faculties which
interrupted all his labours in the latter part of his life.
Quintus Curtius at the end of the second volume, involved him in a controversy with certain critics; and Perizonius in particular. His third volume is employed chiefly
In 1696 he published the two first volumes of what is
said to have been his Favourite work, his “Ars Critica,
” to
which he added, in Epistolae Criticae & Ec
clesiasticae,
” as a third volume. The censures he passes
upon Quintus Curtius at the end of the second volume,
involved him in a controversy with certain critics; and
Perizonius in particular. His third volume is employed
chiefly in defending himself against exceptions which had
been made by the learned Dr. Cave to some assertions in
the tenth volume of his “Bibliotheque Universelle,
” and
elsewhere, Le Clerc had said, that Cave, in his “Historia
Literaria,
” had concealed many things of the fathers, for
the sake of enhancing their credit, which an impartial
historian should have related; and that, instead of lives of
the fathers, he often wrote panegyrics upon them; Le
Clerc had also asserted the Arianism of Eusebius. Both
these assertions Cave endeavoured to refute, in a Latin
dissertation published at London, in 1696, which, with a
defence of it, was reprinted in the second edition of his
“Historia Literaria.
” To this dissertation Le Clerc’s
third volume is chiefly an answer and the first six letters,
containing the matters of dispute between him and Cave,
are inscribed to three English prelates, to whom Le Clerc
thought fit to appeal for his equity and candid dealing;
the first and second to Tenison, archbishop of Canterbury;
the third and fourth to Burnet, bishop of Salisbury; and
the fifth and sixth to Lloyd, bishop of Worcester. The
seventh, eighth, and ninth, are critical dissertations upon
points of ecclesiastical antiquity; and the tenth relates to
an English version of his additions to Hammond’s annotations on the New Testament; wherein the translator, not
having done him justice, exposed him to the censure of
Cave and other divines here. At the end of these epistles,
there is addressed to Limborch, what he calls an ethical
dissertation, in which this question is debated, “An semper respondendum sit calurnniis theologorurn;
” but the
previous question should undoubtedly have been whether
the answers of his opponents deserved the name of calumnies? The fourth edition of the “Ars Critica,
” which
had been corrected and enlarged in each successive edition, was printed at Amsterdam in 1712.
published his “Life of Cardinal Richelieu,” 2 vols. 8vo, of which a second edition appeared in 1696, and a third in 1714. In 1696 he also published two tracts on “Lotteries,”
In 1694, he published his “Life of Cardinal Richelieu,
”
2 vols. 8vo, of which a second edition appeared in 1696,
and a third in 1714. In 1696 he also published two tracts
on “Lotteries,
” and on “Incredulity.
” In Compendium of Universal History
” appeared, and although merely an abridgment of Petavius, has been found
so useful as to pass through several editions. In 1698, he
published his Latin translation of Hammond’s “Paraphrase
and Notes on the New Testament,
” 2 vols. fol. but took many
liberties, as already noticed, with Hammond’s sentiments.
This was again reprinted in 1714. In 1699, he published,
with a dedication to Dr. Sharp, archbishop of York, his “Harmonia Evangelica,
” Gr. and Lat. and in the same year the
first of his “Parrhasiana
” or thoughts upon various subjects,
moral and literary. This does not appear to have given
universal satisfaction, and involved him in a long dispute
with Bayle on the principles of the Manicheans, and in
another with the same gentleman, on the system of plastic
natures advanced by Cudworth and Dr. Grew. We are
not of opinion that a longer account of these disputes would
now be very interesting, yet those who have patience to
peruse the several attacks and replies of the combatants,
will be frequently struck with their talents, ingenuity, and
perseverance.
“Questiones Hieronymianae,” an attack on the character of that father, as to his skill in the Greek and Hebrew languages, and on Martinay, who some time before had
In 1701, another controversy produced his “Questiones
Hieronymianae,
” an attack on the character of that father,
as to his skill in the Greek and Hebrew languages, and on
Martinay, who some time before had published an edition
of Jerom’s works. In 1701 he published a very indifferent
edition of Hesiod, and the following year, under the name
of Theodore Gorallus, he edited “P. Cornelii Severi
Etna,
” which involved him in a philosophical dispute with
Burman, who had no respect for his verbal accuracy. In
1703, under another assumed name, Johannes Phereponus,
he added to the Amsterdam edition of St. Augustine’s
works, some animadversions on that father, which were
answered by Dr. Jenkin, master of St. John’s college,
Cambridge, in a work printed in 1707. In 1703, his
French translation of the “New Testament
” occasioned
him to be ranked among Socinians, and some steps were
taken, although in vain, to have it suppressed. The same
year, he returned to his more useful employment, by beginning his “Bibliotheque choisee,
” as a supplement to his
“Bibliotheque Universelle.
” This was continued to the
year Bibliotheque ancienne et moderne,
” which extended to 29 vols. These 83 little volumes contain a great mass of very valuable materials, of
critical disquisitions and bibliographical notices and memoirs, and well deserve a place in the library of every literary man. The public are indebted to them for the
documents from which Dr. Jortin principally composed his
life of Erasmus.
In 1709 he published an elegant edition, with notes of his own, of “Sulpicius Severus,” and also of * 4 Grotius de veritate,“&c. to which, besides notes,
In 1709 he published an elegant edition, with notes of
his own, of “Sulpicius Severus,
” and also of * 4 Grotius
de veritate,“&c. to which, besides notes, he added a
treatise
” De eligenda inter Christianos dissentientes sententia.“The same year he published and dedicated to
lord Shaftesbury, the celebrated author of the Characteristics, &c.
” A Collection of the remains of Menander
and Philemon,“a completer collection than had been made
by Grotius and others, to which he added a new Latin
version, and notes. As it is allowed by Le Clerc’s friends,
that he committed several errors in this work, which proceeded from his not having carefully enough attended to
the metre, it is not surprising that it should have exposed
him to the censure of the critics and philologers. The
attack was begun by our learned Bentley, under the name
of Phileleutherus Lipsiensis; whose censure, it is said,
we know not how truly, vexed Le Clerc to such a degree,
that it threw him into a fit of sickness, which lasted several
days. Bentley’s
” Emendatioues," as they are called, of
Le Clerc’s edition, were published at Utrecht in 1710, with
a preface written by Burman; in which there is a very
large proportion of critical rancour, to which Le Clerc did
net think proper to make any reply, as he was conscious
that he had given some reason for the exceptions that were
made, although they might not justify the language employed. He was defended, however, by an unknown person, who assumed the name of Philargyrius Cantabrigiensis; and published it in 1711, with a preface written by
himself. This Philargyrius Cantabrigiensis is said to have
been Cornelius de Pauw, a gentleman who distinguished
himself by philosophical and critical publications.
ssed an high regard for the English nation, dedicated several of his principal works to the prelates and great men of it, and was so instrumental, by means of his “
Our predecessors affect to wonder that Le Clerc, who
always expressed an high regard for the English nation,
dedicated several of his principal works to the prelates and
great men of it, and was so instrumental, by means of his
“Bibliotheques,
” in spreading the abilities, learning, and
merits of its ablest writers throughout Europe, should yet
be so frequently attacked by some or other of its scholars
and divines, and this they explain by adding that Le Clerc’s
Arminian principles were directly opposite to the nonjuring and high church principles, which then prevailed
much in England; that though he expressed a zeal for
Christianity, yet he abhorred any thing which looked like
an hierarchy; and that hence he was often led to speak
favourably, and perhaps with some degree of approbation,
of books published here, which were in the mean time,
together with their authors, anathematised by our own
divines. Tindal’s “Rights of the Christian Church,
”
which came out in Bibliotheque Choisie
” of the same
year, not only approved, but even epitomised, and recommended it in the strongest terms imaginable. It may be
remembered also, that about the same time, or perhaps
a little before, there was a scheme formed among some
great personages, to bring Le Clerc over -to England, and
to make a better provision for him than he enjoyed at
Anasterdam; for this some affirm to have been one cause of
the jealousy and ill-will conceived against him; but after
what we have said of Le Clerc’s religious principles, it
will not perhaps be thought that any other reason is necessary to explain the zeal of his opponents, or their opinion
that such a determined enemy to the establishment and its
doctrines would have proved no great acquisition to the
church of England.
successful in his classical attempts, published a very inaccurate edition of “Livy,” 10 vols. 12mo, and the year after the “Three Dialogues ofÆschinus Socraticus,”
In 1710, Le Clerc, never successful in his classical attempts, published a very inaccurate edition of “Livy,
”
10 vols. 12mo, and the year after the “Three Dialogues
ofÆschinus Socraticus,
” to which he added his “Sylvoj
Philologies.
” In Ecclesiastical History of the first two centuries,
” and a “History of the
United Provinces,
” Cotelerii Patres Apostolici,
” 1700;
” Martini! Lexicon philologicum," 1701; and the fine edition of Erasmus’s works, 10 vols. fol. 1703 1707. He was unquestionably a most laborious, as well as a very learned many
but frequently deficient in correctness, owing to the vast
quantity of labour undertaken by him.
He always enjoyed a very good state of health till 1728, when he was seized with a palsy and fever, which deprived him of speech and almost of memory. The
He always enjoyed a very good state of health till 1728, when he was seized with a palsy and fever, which deprived him of speech and almost of memory. The malady increased daily; and after spending the last six years of his life with little or no understanding, he died Jan. 8, 1736, in his seventy-ninth year. He had been married in 1691, when he was abuut thirty-four years old; and his wife, who was the daughter of Gregorio Leti, brought him four children, who all died young. Le Clerc was not ambitious of either honours or riches. He was satisfied with a competency of fortune, if indeed he could be said to have it; and though it may be supposed that he was driven to write so much for the sake of the profits attending it, yet he tells us in that life which he wrote of himself to 1711, that he had received for all his labours little else from the booksellers than books. Whatever projects might be on foot for his coming into England, they do not seem to have been begun on his side: for he always appeared happy in the studious and philosophic ease which he enjoyed at Amsterdam, dividing his time between his pupils and his books.
, an eminent designer and engraver, was born at Metz, in 1637, of a family in such an
, an eminent designer and engraver, was born at Metz, in 1637, of a family in such an
humble condition, that he entered while very young into
the abbey of St. Arnould, in that city, in quality of helper
in the kitchen. He had such a natural talent for drawing,
that all the moments of leisure he could get from his employment he Hlled up in making little portraits with a pen
on such scraps of paper as he found about the kitchen.
The prior of the house caught him one day occupied in
this manner; and, on examining his performance, perceived in it such marks of genius as allowed him not to
doubt that young Le Clerc would attain to excellence if
assisted by art. He immediately took the resolution to
cultivate his natural talents, put the crayon into his hand,
and gave him to the care of one of the monks, with orders
to get him instructed. At ten years old he could handle
the graver. At the same time he applied himself to the
study of geometry, perspective, fortification, and architecture, in which he made as rapid a progress as in drawing
and engraving. Marshal de la Ferte made choice of him
for his geographical engineer; Louis XIV. for his engraver
in ordinary, at the solicitation of Colbert; and pope Clement XI. honoured him with the title of a Roman knight.
In addition to this superior merit, and this strong capacity
for the arts, Le Clerc had kind affections and an insinuating
address. He died at Paris the 25th of October, 1714, at
the age of seventy-seven. This master treated every subject with equal excellence; as landscapes, architecture,
ornaments, discovering a lively and glowing imagination
kept under due restraint, a correctness of design, a wonderful fertility, and elegant expression and execution.
The productions of his graver, amounting to upwards of
3000, would have been sufficient of themselves to have
gained him great reputation, independently of those of his
pen. The principal of the latter kind are: 1. “A Treatise
of Theoretic and Practical Geometry,
” reprinted in 174-5,
8vo, with the life of the author. Colbert, informed of the
success of this work, ordered Le Clerc a pension of 600
crowns, and apartments in the Gobelins. But he presently
after gave up this pension, which confined him to the
king’s service, in order to work more freely, and on subjects of his own choice. 2. “A Treatise on Architecture,
”
12 vols. 4to. 3. “A Discourse on Perspective,
” in which
the author shews a profound knowledge of his subject.
After Callot, he is the engraver who has most distinctly
shewn five or six leagues extent of country in a small
space.
e had a son of both his names, who was born in 1677, studied historical painting under Bon Boulogne, and became a painter of some note, if we can judge from the number
He had a son of both his names, who was born in 1677,
studied historical painting under Bon Boulogne, and
became a painter of some note, if we can judge from the
number of prints engraved from his works. There is an
altar picture by him at the abbey church at Paris, representing the death of Ananias. He was made a member
of the royal academy of Paris in 1704, and died, aged
eighty-six, in 1763. Another of his sons, Laurent Josse
le Clerc, was a man of considerable learning, and published three volumes of remarks on Moreri’s Dictionary,
which contributed to improve that work, and compiled the
“Bibliotheque des Auteurs cites dans le Dictionnaire cle
llichelet,
” which was printed with it in the Lyons edition,
, or rather Cleiveland (for so he and his family spelt their name) (John), a noted loyalist and popular
, or rather Cleiveland (for so he and his family spelt their name) (John), a noted loyalist
and popular poet in the reign of Charles I. was the eldest
son of the rev. Thomas Cleiveland, M. A. some time vicar
of Hinckley, and rector of Stoke, in the county of Leicester. He was born in 1613, at Loughborough, where his
father was then assistant to the rector; but educated at
Hinckley, under the rev. Richard Vynes, a man of genius
and learning, who was afterwards as much distinguished
among the presbyterian party as his scholar was among the
cavaliers. In his fifteenth year our poet was removed to
Cambridge, and admitted of Christ’s college, Sept. 4,
1627, where he took the degree of B. A. in 163 1 He was
thence transplanted to the sister foundation of St. John’s
college in the same university, of which he was elected
fellow March 27, 1634, and proceeded to the degree of
M. A. in 1635. Of this society he continued many years a
principal ornament, being one of the tutors, and highly
respected by his pupils, some of -whom afterwards attained
to eminence. By the statutes of that college, he should
have taken orders within six years after his being elected
fellow: but he uas admitted on the law line (as the phrase there is) November 2, 1640, and afterwards on that of
physic, January 31, 1642, which excused him from complying with this obligation; though it does not appear that
he made either law or physic his profession: for, remaining at
college, he became the rhetoric reader there, and was usually
employed by the society in composing their speeches and
epistles to eminent persons (of which specimens may be seen in his works), being in high repute at that time for
the purity and terseness of his Latin style. He also became celebrated for his occasional poems in English, and,
at the breaking out of the civil wars, is said to have been
the first champion that appeared in verse for the royal
cause; which he also supported by all his personal influence: particularly by exerting his interest in the town of
Cambridge, to prevent Oliver Cromwell (then an obscure candidate, but strongly supported by the puritan partv)
from being elected one of its members. Cromwell’s
stronger genius in this, as hi every other pursuit, prevailing, Cleveland is said to have shown great discernment,
by predicting at so early a period, the fatal consequences
that long after ensued to the cause of royalty. Cromwell
got his election by a single vote, which Cleveland declared
“had ruined both church and kingdom.
” The parliament
party carrying all before them in the eastern counties,
Cleveland retired to the royal army, and with it to the
king’s head quarters at Oxford, where he was much admired and caressed for his satirical poems on the opposite
faction, especially for his satire on the Scottish covenanters, entitled “The Rebel Scot.
” In his absence he was
deprived of his fellowship, Feb. 13, 1644, by the earl of
Manchester, who, under the authority of an ordinance of
parliament, for regulating and reforming the university of
Cambridge, ejected such fellows of colleges, &c. as refused to take the solemn league and covenant. From Oxford Cleveland was appointed to be judge-advocate in the
garrison at Newark, under sir Richard Willis the governor,
and has been commended for his skilful and upright conduct in this difficult office, where he also distinguished his
pen occasionally, by returning smart answers to the
summons, and other addresses to the garrison. Newark, after
holding out the last of all the royal fortresses, was at
length, in 1646, by the express command of the king
(then a prisoner in the Scots army), surrendered upon
terms, which left Cleveland in possession of his liberty,
but destitute of all means of support, except what he derived from the hospitality and generosity of his brother
loyalists, among whom he lived some years, obscure and
unnoticed by the ruling party, till, in November 1655,
he was seized at Norwich, as “a person of great abilities,
”
adverse and dangerous to the reigning government; and
being sent to Yarmouth, he was there imprisoned for some
time, till he sent a petition to the lord-protector, wherein
the address of the writer has been much admired, who,
while he honestly avows his principles, has recourse to
such moving topics, as might sooth his oppressor, and procure his enlargement: in which he was not disappointed,
for the protector generously set him at liberty, disdaining
to remember on the throne the opposition he had received
in his canvass for parliament as a private burgess. Cleveland thence retired to London, where he is said to have
found a generous Maecenas; and, being much admired
among all persons of his own party, became member of a
club of wits and loyalists, which Butler, the author of Hiir
dibras, also frequented. Cleveland then lived in chambers
at Gray’s-inn (of which Butler is said to have been a member), and, being seized with an epidemic intermitting
fever, died there on Thursday morning, April 29, 1659.
His friends paid the last honours to his remains by a splendid funeral: for his body was removed to Hunsdon -house,
and thence carried for interment, on Saturday May 1, to
the parish church of St. Michael Royal, on College-hill,
London, followed by a numerous attendance of persons
eminent for their loyalty or learning: to whom his funeral
sermon was preached by his intimate friend Dr. John Pearson, afterwards bishop of Chester, author of the Exposition of the Creed.
ose poets, who, “paying their court to temporary prejudices, have been at one time too much praised, and at another too much neglected.” Both his subjects, and his manner
Cleveland has had the fate of those poets, who, “paying their court to temporary prejudices, have been at one
time too much praised, and at another too much neglected.
” Both his subjects, and his manner of writing,
made his poems extremely popular among his contemporaries, but entirely forgotten and disregarded since. For
his manner, he excelled among that class of writers so
much admired in the last century, whom our great critic
has aptly termed “metaphysical poets, who abound with
witty rather than just thoughts, with far-fetched conceits,
and learned allusions, that only amuse for a moment, utterly neglecting that beautiful simplicity and propriety
which will interest and please through every age.
” For
his subjects he generally chose the party disputes of the
day, which are now no longer understood or regard-ed.
Contemporary with Milton, he was in his time exceedingly
preferred before him; and Milton’s own nephew, Phillips,
tells us, he was by some esteemed the best of the English
poets. But Cleveland is now sunk into oblivion, while
Milton’s fame is universally diffused. Yet Milton’s works
could, with difficulty, gain admission to the press, at the
time when it was pouring forth those of Cleveland in innumerable impressions; and the press now continually
teems with re- publications of the Paradise Lost, &c.
whereas the last edition of Cleveland’s works was in 1687,
8vo.
One of the poet’s brothers, William, was rector of Oldbury and Quat, near Bridgnorth in Shropshire, and dying 1666, left a
One of the poet’s brothers, William, was rector of Oldbury and Quat, near Bridgnorth in Shropshire, and dying 1666, left a son, who was grandfather of the rev. William Cleiveland, M. A. late rector of All-saints parish in Worcester, who died in 1794; and four daughters, whereof the youngest was grandmother of Dr. Percy, the late bishop of Dromore in Ireland, who wrote the poet’s life for the last edition of the Biographia Britannica. A sister of theirs, Elizabeth, married Mr. W r illiam II iff, of Hinckley, from whom are descended a respectable family, to which by marriage is allied the Historian of Leicestershire, in whose collection of Poems are many written by his ancestor, and many curious anecdotes of the author.
very considerable talents, of the fifteenth century, who practised in England, was born at Rostock, and retained in the service of Christian IV. king of Denmark; but
, an artist of very considerable talents, of the fifteenth century, who practised in England, was born at Rostock, and retained in the service of Christian IV. king of Denmark; but the excellence of his genius prompted him to the search of better models than he found in that northern climate. He travelled into Italy, and remained there four years, where he probably acquired a taste for the beautiful and ornamental grotesque, in which he afterwards shone. At Venice he became known to sir Henry Wotton, and sir Robert Anstruther recommended him to prince Charles, afterwards Charles I. He arrived in England, while the prince was in Spain, but notwithstanding was graciously received by king James, who mentions that circumstance in a Latin letter (preserved in Fuller’s Worthies) which he wrote to the king of Denmark, desiring leave to detain Cleyn in England, though with a permission to return first to Copenhagen and finish a work he had begun there, and promising to pay the expence of his journey. The request being granted, Cleyn returned to London, and appears to have been first employed in jdesigns for sir Francis Crane’s manufactory of tapestry at Mortlack, by which those works were carried to singular perfection. Five of the celebrated cartoons were also sent thither to be copied by him in tapestry. He had an annuity of 100l. which he held until the rebellion, and enjoyed very high reputation by his paintings at Somerset house, and the houses of several of the nobility. There is still extant a beautiful chamber adorned by him at Holland house, with a ceiling in grotesque, and small compartments on the chimneys, in the style and not unworthy of Parmegiano. Lord Orford mentions other works by his hand, and he also made designs for engravers. This ingenious artist, whom Evelyn records as a man of piety also, died in 1658.
, sole daughter and heir to George earl of Cumberland, was born at Skipton castle
, sole daughter and heir to George
earl of Cumberland, was born at Skipton castle in Craven,
Jan. 30, 1589, and married first, to Richard lord Buckhurst, afterwards earl of Dorset, by whom she had three
sons, who died young, and two daughters, Margaret who
married John, earl of Thanet, and Isabel, who married
James, earl of Northampton. She married, secondly, to
Philip Herbert, earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, by
whom she had no issue. This lady, who by the failure of
the male line, possessed the great hereditary estates of the
Clifford Cumberland family, has lately become celebrated,
particularly from a letter of hers published in the “World,
”
No. 14, by lord Orford, addressed to sir Joseph Williamson, who, when secretary of state to king Charles the
second, had written to name a candidate to her for the
Borough of Appleby. The brave countess, with all the
spirit of her ancestors, and with all the eloquence of independent Greece, returned the following laconic answer:
"Anne, Dorset, Pembroke, and
as impossible that any body of common sense, in this lady’s circumstances, should not have observed, and of a resolution in consequence of these, which it was natural
Few letters have excited a more general admiration;
the reason of which is thus explained by Dr. Campbell, in
his “Philosophy of Rhetoric.” “We shall find,
” says he,
“that the very same sentiment expressed diffusely, will be
admitted barely to be just expressed concisely, will be
admired as spirited. To recur to examples, the famous
answer returned by the countess of Dorset, to the letter of
sir Joseph Williamson, secretary of state to Charles the
Second, nominating to her a member for the borough of
Appleby, is an excellent illustration of this doctrine. If
we consider the meaning, there is mention made of two
facts, which it was impossible that any body of common
sense, in this lady’s circumstances, should not have observed, and of a resolution in consequence of these, which
it was natural for every person who had a resentment of
bad usage to make. Whence then results the vivacity, the
fire which is so manifest in the letter? Not from any
thing extraordinary in the matter, but purely from the
laconism of the manner. An ordinary spirit would have
employed as many pages to express the same thing, as
there are affirmations in this short letter. The epistle
might in that case have been very sensible, and withal very
dull; but would never have been thought worthy of being
recorded as containing any thing uncommon, or deserving
a reader’s notice.
”
rd as the most eminent person of her age for intellectual accomplishments, for spirit, magnificence, and deeds of benevolence; and he has given a particular description
Mr. Pennant characterizes lady Anne Clifford as the most eminent person of her age for intellectual accomplishments, for spirit, magnificence, and deeds of benevolence; and he has given a particular description of two portraits of her, in the side-leaves of a family picture. Both the paintings are full lengths; one representing her at the age of thirteen, and the other in her middle age, in the state of widowhood. The books, in the first of these pictures, inform us of the fashionable course of reading among people of rank in her days. There are among them Eusebius, St. Augustine, sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia, Godfrey of Boulogne, the French Academy, Camden, Ortelius, and Agrippa on the Vanity of Occult Sciences. Above are the heads of Mr. SamuelDaniel, her tutor, and Mrs. Anne Taylor, her governess and this memorial of the instructors of her youth, is a most grateful acknowledgment of the benefits she received from them. The books in the second picture consist wholly of the Bible, Charron on. Wisdom, and pious treatises, excepting one of Distillations and excellent Medicines; from which may be collected what were the chief objects of the countess’s studies, in the retirement of her later days.
of noble Authors,” represents her as having written “Memoirs of her husband Richard earl of Dorset;” and “Sundry memorials of herself and her progenitors.” With regard
Mr. Walpole, who, besides introducing her in the
“World,
” has given a place to this celebrated lady in
his “Catalogue of noble Authors,
” represents her as having written “Memoirs of her husband Richard earl of
Dorset;
” and “Sundry memorials of herself and her progenitors.
” With regard to the first of these articles, we
apprehend there never has appeared in the countess’s manuscripts any account of him, except what is occasionally
to be met with in the History of her own life, a curious
manuscript in the Harleian collection (6177), the title of
which is, “A Summary of the Records, and a true Memorial of the Life of me the lady Anne Clifford, who by
birth being sole daughter and heir to my illustrious father
George Clifford the third earl of Cumberland, by his virtuous wife Margaret Russel my mother, in right descent
from him, and his long continued noble ancestors the Veteriponts, Cliffords, and Veseys, baroness Clifford, Westmoreland, and Vesey, high sheriffess of Westmoreland,
and ladye of the honor of Skypton in Craven, was by my
lirst marriage countess dowager of Dorset, and by my
second marriage countess dowager of Pembroke and Montgomery.
” It is written in a manner extremely tedious,
abounding with repetitions of matters, for the most part,
equally minute and uninteresting, and may perhaps incline some to doubt Mr. Pennant’s character of her, as the
most eminent person of her age for intellectual accomplishments. Some circumstances, however, respecting her
being brought into the world, are related with an accuracy
which biographers will never, perhaps, in any other instance be able to attain. She informs us, that, through
the merciful providence of God, she was begotten by her
valiant father, and conceived with child by her worthy
mother, the first day of May in 1589, in the lord Wharton’s
house in Channel-row, in Westminster, hard by the river
of Thames, as Psalm 139; yet that she was not born till
the 30th day of January following, when her blessed mother brought her forth in one of her father’s chief nouses,
called Skypton castle, in Craven.
lomon “Every wise woman buildeth her house.” The bishop has entered very largely into her character, and in describing the extent of her understanding, informs us, that
The countess’s funeral sermon was preached on the 14-th
of April, 1676, at Appleby, by Dr. Edward Rainbow,
bishop of Carlisle. The text chosen by him, in reference
to the numerous works of architecture in which she was
perpetually employed, was from the Proverbs of Solomon
“Every wise woman buildeth her house.
” The bishop has
entered very largely into her character, and in describing
the extent of her understanding, informs us, that Dr.
Donne said to her ladyship, in her younger years, “That
she knew well how to discourse of all things, from predestination to slea-silk.
” Her munificence and spirit in building were very conspicuous. One of her first structures
was a pillar, in the highway, at the place where she and
her mother last parted, and took their final farewell; and
besides a monument to her tutor Samuel Daniel, the poetical historian, and another to Spenser, she founded two
hospitals, and repaired or built seven churches and six
castles.
, third earl of Cumberland, and father to the preceding, was very eminent for his skill in navigation.
, third earl of Cumberland, and father to the preceding, was very eminent for his skill in navigation. He was born at Brougham castle, We*stmoreland, Aug. 8, 1558, and educated at Peterhouse, Cajnbridge, where his tutor was the celebrated John Whitgift^ afterwards archbishop of Canterbury. In this place he applied himself chiefly to the study of the mathematics, to which his genius led him, and by which he became qualified for the several great expeditions he afterwards undertook. His first public employment, of a melancholy kind indeed, was in 1586, when he was one of the peers who sat in judgment upon Mary queen of Scots. But having a greater inclination to act by sea than by land, and, according to the fashion of the times, being bent on making foreign discoveries, and defeating the ambitious designs of the court of Spain, then preparing the armada that was to conquer England, he fitted out, at his own charge, a little fleet, consisting of three ships and a pinnace, with a view to send them into the South Sea, to annoy the Spanish settlements there. They sailed from Gravesend, June 26, 1586, and from Plymouth Aug. J7; but were forced back hy contrary winds into Dartmouth, from whence putting out again on the 29th, they fell in with the coast of Barbary the 17th September, and the next day sailed into the road of Santa Cruz. On the 25th they came to the river Oro, just under the northern tropic, where they anchored. Searching upwards the next day, they found that river to be as broad all the way for fourteen or fifteen leagues, as at the mouth, which was two leagues over; but met with no town nor house. On the last of September they departed for Sierra Leone; where they arrived the 2 1st of October, and going on shore, they burned a town of the negroes, and brought away to their ships about fifteen tons of rice; and having furnished themselves with wood and water, they sailed the 2 1st of November from Sierra Leone, making the straights of Magellan. The 2d of January 1587 they discovered land; and on the 4th of that month fell in with the American shore, in 30 deg. 40 min. south lat. Continuing their course southward, they took, January 10, not far from the river of Plata, a small Portuguese ship; and the next day another; out of which they furnished themselves with what necessaries they wanted. The 12th of January they came to Seal Island, and two days after to the Green Island, near which they took in water. Returning to Seal Island, a consultation was held on the 7th of February, whether they should continue their course for the South Sea, and winter in the straights of Magellan, or spend three or four months upon the coast of Brazil, and proceed on their voyage in the spring. The majority being for the former, they went as far as 44 degrees of southern latitude. But meeting with storms and contrary winds, they took a final resolution, on the 21st of February, to return to the coast of Brazil. Accordingly they fell in with it the 5th of April, and, after taking in water and provisions in the bay of Camana, came into the port of Baya the llth. Eight Portuguese ships being there, they found means to carry off four of them, the least of which were of a hundred and thirty tons, notwithstanding all the resistance made by the enemy; and also brought a supply of fresh provision from the shore. In this spirited manner, the earl undertook no less than eleven expeditions, fitted out at his own expence, in which he made captures to a prodigious amount 5 and, on his return, was graciously received by his royal mistress, who created him knight of the garter in 1591. In 1601 he was one of the lords that were sent with forces to reduce the earl of Essex to obedience. He departed this life at the Savoy in London, Oct. 30, 1605, and was buried at Skipton, in Yorkshire, the 30th of March following; where a fine toinb was afterwards erected to his memory.
xpeditions, queen Elizabeth, perhaps designedly, dropped one of her gloves. His lordship took it up, and presented it to her; upon which she graciously desired him to
Pennant informs us that at an audience which the earl
had after one of his expeditions, queen Elizabeth, perhaps
designedly, dropped one of her gloves. His lordship took
it up, and presented it to her; upon which she graciously
desired him to keep it, as a mark of her esteem. In this
manner, Pennant adds, his ambition was gratified with
a reward that suited her majesty’s avarice. With the romantic gallantry of the times, he adorned this glove with
diamonds, and wore it in the front of his high-crowned hat
on days of tournament, as is expressed in the fine print of
him, by Robert White. Another instance of the queen’s
favour to the earl of Cumberland, was her appointing him
her champion in all her tilting matches, from the thirtythird year of her reign. In this office he succeeded the
gallant old knight sir Henry Lea, who resigned it with
much ceremony in 1590. Mr. Wai pole, in his Miscellaneous Antiquities, has obliged the public with an entertaining account of his lordship’s investiture. He excelled
'all the nobility of his time in the exercises of tiltings, turnings, and courses of the field. His magnificent armour
worn on such occasions, adorned with roses and fleurs de lis,
is actually preserved at Appleby castle. In Skipton castle
is a picture of the earl of Cumberland and his family,
which is deemed a curious performance. It is tripartite,
in form of a screen. The earl, who occupies the centre,
is dressed in armour, spotted with stars of gold; but much
of it is concealed by a vest and skirts reaching to his
knees: his helmet and gauntlet, lying on the floor, are
studded in like manner. His lady stands by him in a purple gown, and white petticoat, -embroidered with gold.
She pathetically extends one hand to two beautiful boys,
as if in the action of dissuading her lord from the dangerous
voyages in which he engaged, when more interesting and
tender claims urged the presence of a parent. “How
must he have been affected,
” says Mr. Pennant, “by his
refusal, when he found that he had lost both on his return
from two expeditions, if the heart of a hero does not too
often divest itself of the tender sensations!
” The letters
of Margaret, the earl of Cumberland’s lady, are extant in
manuscript, and also her Diary; from which it appears
that she unfortunately married without liking, and met with
the same return. She complains greatly of the coolness of
her lord, and of his neglecting their daughter, Anne Clifford. The countess of Cumberland even endured great
poverty, of which she writes in a most moving strain to
king James I. to several great persons, and to the earl himself. Mr. Pennant observes, that all her letters are humble, suppliant, and pathetic, though the earl was said to
have parted with her on account of her high spirit. But
although this lady might sometimes be obliged, from peculiar circumstances, to write in a strain of humiliation, it
is certain that she was a woman who possessed great fortitude and magnanimity of mind. This is apparent from
the account her daughter has given of her; nor do we
perceive, in that account, any traces of the poverty which
the letters seen by Mr. Pennant represent her to have endured. Her conduct, after the death of her lord, in the
contest between her and Francis, earl of Cumberland, her
brother-in-law, for the family estate, was truly spirited, as
she would never submit to give up her daughter’s right.
With regard to her quarrel with her husband, the blame
was principally on his side, as he was irregular in his manners, and appears, particularly, to have engaged in an
amour with a lady of quality. A reconciliation, however,
seems to have been effected between the earl and the
countess; for she was present with him at the time of his
decease, and he then expressed much affection towards
her. We learn, from the inscription on the picture before
mentioned, that, during the latter part of his life he felt
the good effects of his early education for he died penitently, willingly, and christianly.
ool at Lostock in Cheshire. The master, Dr. Eaton, soon discovered in his scholar a superior courage and sagacity which prognosticated the future hero. “If this lad,”
, son of Richard Clive, esq. was born
on the 29th of September 1725, at Styche, the seat of his
ancestors, in the parish of Moreton-Say, near Market Drayton. His father, who possessed but a small estate by inheritance, had, to increase his income, engaged in the
profession of the law. At an early period of his youth,
Robert was sent for his education to a private school at
Lostock in Cheshire. The master, Dr. Eaton, soon discovered in his scholar a superior courage and sagacity which
prognosticated the future hero. “If this lad,
” he would
say, “should live to be a man, and an opportunity be
given for the exertion of his talents, few names wdi be
greater than his.
” At the age of eleven he was removed
from Lostock to a school at Market Drayton, of which the
reverend Mr. Burslem was the master. On the side of a high
hill in that town is an ancient church, with a lofty steeple,
from nearly the top of which is an old stone spout, projecting in the form of a dragon’s head. Young Clive
ascended this steeple, and, to the astonishment of the
spectators below, seated himself on the spout. Having remained a short time at Mr. Burslem’s school, he was placed
in that of Merchant Taylors’ at London, which, however,
did not long retain him as a scholar. His father having
reverted to what seems to have been a predilection for private schools, committed him to the care of Mr. Sterling,
at Hemel Hempstead, in Hertfordshire, with whom he continued till, in 1743, he received an appointment as a
writer to the East India company. From the frequency of
his removals, to which perhaps was added an intractable
disposition, he obtained no applause, but rather the reverse, from the several masters to whom the care of his
education had been entrusted.
to which he had been appointed, he embarked in one of the ships belonging to the East India company, and arrived at Madras in 1744. In his new employment he however
To fulfil his engagement in the service to which he had
been appointed, he embarked in one of the ships belonging to the East India company, and arrived at Madras in
1744. In his new employment he however discovered the
same dislike to application, and the same aversion to controul, by which his character had hitherto been distinguished. This intractable disposition proved as disagreeable to his superiors as it must have been the occasion of
much inconvenience to himself. One instance is related.
Having acted or neglected something inconsistently with
the discipline of office, his misconduct was reported to
the governor, who commanded him to ask pardon of the
secretary whom he had offended. He made his submission
in terms of contempt, which the secretary mistaking for a
compliment, invited him to dinner. “No, sir,
” replied
Clive, “the governor did not command me to dine with
you.
”
red to the French, under. the command of their admiral M. de la Bourdonnais, the officers both civil and military, who had served under the East India company, became
When in 1746 Madras was surrendered to the French, under. the command of their admiral M. de la Bourdonnais, the officers both civil and military, who had served under the East India company, became prisoners on parole. M. Dupleix, however, who was chief commander of the military forces in India, not having been present at the surrender, refused to ratify the treaty, unless they would take another parole under the new governor. The English, in consequence of this new stipulation, thought themselves released from their engagements with Bourdonnais, and at liberty not only to make their escape, but to take up arms, if they should find an opportunity. Mr. Clive, accordingly, disguised as a Moor, in the dress of the country, escaped with a few others to St. David’s, a fortress which is situated to the south of Madras, at about the distance of 21 miles.
h were intimidated by the threats of the successful gamesters. Clive alone persisted in his refusal, and accepted a challenge from the boldest of his antagonists. They
He had not been long arrived at St. David’s before he
lost some money in a party at cards with two ensigns, who
were detected in the act of cheating. They had won
considerable sums; but as the fraud was evident, the losers
at first refused payment, but at length were intimidated
by the threats of the successful gamesters. Clive alone
persisted in his refusal, and accepted a challenge from the
boldest of his antagonists. They met, each with a single
pistol. Clive fired without success. His antagonist, quitting the ground, presented a pistol to his head, and commanded him to ask his life, with which demand, after some
hesitation, he complied; but, being required to recant his
expressions, he peremptorily refused. The officer told
him, if he persisted in his refusal, he would fire. “Fire,
and be d——d!
” replied Clive. “I said you cheated; I say
so still; nor will I ever pay you.
” The ensign, finding
every expedient to obtain the money ineffectual, threw
away the pistol, and declared that his adversary was a
madman. Clive replied to the compliments of some of his
friends on his conduct in this affair; “The man has given
me my life, and I have no right in future to mention his
behaviour at the card table; although I will never pay him,
nor ever keep him company.
” In 1747 Mr. Clive was promoted to the commission of an ensign in the military service; but had no opportunity of displaying his talents till
the following year, when the siege of Pondicherry afforded
an ample scope for their exertion. At this memorable attack the young ensign distinguished himself by his courage
in defence of the advanced trench. He received a shot in
his hat, and another in his coat; some officers in the same
detachment having been killed. The early rains, however, and admiral Boscawen’s want of experience in military operations, compelled the English to raise the siege,
and to return to Fort St. David’s.
almost exhausted, Clive, instead of sending a serjeant to procure a fresh supply, ran to the trench, and brought it. In consequence of this action, an officer ventured
On the attack, when the powder was almost exhausted, Clive, instead of sending a serjeant to procure a fresh supply, ran to the trench, and brought it. In consequence of this action, an officer ventured to insinuate, in his absence, that he had relinquished his post through fear. A friend, having informed him of this aspersion, was accordingly requested to go with him to the person who had thus malignantly defamed him. The charge, though true, was at first denied: Clive, however, insisting upon immediate satisfaction, they withdrew; but while they were retiring, he received a blow from his antagonist, who was following him. Instantly he drew his sword, as did the other, relying on the interposition of the company. Both having been put under an arrest, were obliged to submit to a court of inquiry, which decided that the officer should ask pardon at the head of the battalion, for a causeless aspersion, without notice of the blow, for which offence he might otherwise have been disbanded. Unwilling to injure the service, Mr. Clive declined speaking of this quarrel till the return of the army to St. David’s, when, calling upon the officer, he reminded him of the late transaction. Admitting that he was satisfied with the decision of the court, and the consequent compliance of the officer, he still insisted that he must call him to account for the blow, of which no notice had been taken. The officer, on the contrary, alledged that his compliance with the opinion of the court ought to be admitted as satisfactory, and refused to make any other concession. Mr. Clive accordingly waved his cane over his head, saying, that as he thought him too contemptible a coward for beating, he should content himself with inflicting on him that mark of infamy. On the following day the officer resigned his commission.
When the season for military operations was over, the troops remained at St. David’s, and before the return of spring they received news of a cessation
When the season for military operations was over, the troops remained at St. David’s, and before the return of spring they received news of a cessation of hostilities between Great Britain and France. Still, however, the sense of ancient rivalship. the reciprocal aggravation of recent injuries, an opposition of interests, a mutual confidence in strength, seemed to animate both nations to a renewal of the war. The dominions of the rajah of Tanjore had at that time been claimed by his brother, with a declaration that he, though deposed by his subjects, was their rightful sovereign; and that the reigning rajah was an usurper. The English of St. David’s, convinced by these allegations, determined to espouse the cause of the deposed rajah. They resolved to begin their attack upon a fort of the rajah’s, called Devi Cdtah. On their advance, rinding the approaches difficult, and the ramparts covered with innumerable forces, they were at first deterred from their enterprize. Clive, however, insisted that the attempt, though dangerous, was not hazardous. He thought the town might easily b$ taken by storm; recommending only to advance the cannons in the night, as by them the gates might be effectually destroyed. Captain Cope, the commander, refused to listen to the advice, as too desperate; till, after having exhausted his ammunition by a fruitless cannonade, he was compelled to retreat to Fort St. David’s. The disgrace of this discomfiture; its pernicious influence upon their trade 5 and the exultation of their common enemy the French, induced the English once more to attempt the reduction of Devi Cotah. The command of this expedition was entrusted to major Lawrence, an officer at that time but little known, but who was afterwards distinguished for his abilities in the service. As a breach was made in the walls, Clive, who then possessed only the rank of a lieutenant, solicited the command of the forlorn hope. Lawrence, willing to preserve him from so dangerous a station, told him the service did not then fall in his turn. Clive replied, that knowing it did not, he came rather to ask it as a favour, than to demand it as a right; but that on such an occasion he hoped the request of a volunteer would not be rejected. Major Lawrence consented; and Clive, in consequence of his appointment to the command of thirty-four British soldiers and seven hundred Sepoys, was ordered to storm the breach. Accord, ingly they led the way; but in passing a rivulet between the camp and the fort, four of the English fell by the fire of the enemy. The Sepoys were alarmed, and halted as soon as they had passed the stream but the English persevered, and, advancing closely upon the breach, presented their musquets, when a party of horse, which had been concealed in the tower, rushed upon their rear, and killed twenty-six. Clive, by stepping aside, escaped a stroke which had been aimed at him by oqe of the horse as they passed him. He ran towards the rivulet, and, having passed, had the good fortune to join the Sepoys. Of the whole fouj>and- thirty, himself and three others were all that were left alive. Major Lawrence, seeing the disaster, commanded all the Europeans to advance. Clive still marched in the first division. The horse renewed their attack, but were repulsed with such slaughter that the garrison, dismayed at the sight, gave way as the English approached the breach, and, flying through the opposite gate, abandoned the town to the victors. Alarmed at the success of the English, the rajah sent them overtures of peace; to which, on condition that a settlement should be made on his rival, and the fort of Devi Cutah, with the adjoining district, be ceded to the company, the English readily agreed.
time of peace attends a soldier’s life was intolerably irksome, returned to the civil establishment, and was admitted to the same rank as that he would have held had
The war being thus concluded, lietenant Clive, to whose active mind the idleness which in time of peace attends a soldier’s life was intolerably irksome, returned to the civil establishment, and was admitted to the same rank as that he would have held had he never quitted the civil for the military line. His income was now considerably increased by his appointment to the office of commissary to the British troops; an appointment which the friendship of major Lawrence had procured him. He had not long been settled at Madras, when a fever of the nervous kind destroyed his constitution, and operated so banefully on his spirits that the constant presence of an attendant became absolutely requisite. As the disease however abated, his former strength was in some degree renewed; but his frame had received so rude a shock, that, during the remainder of his life, excepting when his mind was ardently engaged, the oppression on his spirits frequently returned.
The cessation of hostilities between the English and the French had given to the latter an opportunity of executing
The cessation of hostilities between the English and the French had given to the latter an opportunity of executing the important projects they had formed; which brought the affairs of the company into such a state as to induce Clive to resume the military character; in which he performed most signal acts of prowess, and encountered a variety of uncommon difficulties and dangers, too numerous to be particularised in our limited work, but which the reader will find amply detailed in the history of the times, and in his lite in the Biographia Britannica.
contemplates the forlorn situation of the company when lord Clive firstarrived at Calcutta in 1756, and then considers the degree of opulence and power they possessed
Whoever contemplates the forlorn situation of the company when lord Clive firstarrived at Calcutta in 1756, and then considers the degree of opulence and power they possessed when he finally left that place in 1767, will be convinced that the history of the world has seldom afforded an instance of so rapid and improbable a change. At the first period they were merely an association of merchants struggling for existence. One of their factories was in ruins; their agents were murdered; and an army of 50,000 men, to which they had nothing to oppose, threatened the immediate destruction of their principal settlement. At the last period, distant from the first but ten years, they were become powerful princes, possessed of vast revenues, and ruling over fifteen millions of people. When the merits of those who contributed to this great revolution shall be weighed in the impartial judgment of future times, it will be found that Watson, Pocock, Adams, and Monro, deserved well of the company; but that Clive was its preserver, and the principal author of its greatness.
Though his exploits will excite the admiration, and receive the plaudits of posterity, yet in his lifetime the same
Though his exploits will excite the admiration, and receive the plaudits of posterity, yet in his lifetime the same
ingratitude was shewn him, which the greatest men, in all
ages and countries, have experienced; for, on the pretence “that all acquisitions made under the influence of a
military force, or by treaty with foreign powers, do of
right belong to the state,
” a party in the house of commons, countenanced by the minister, attempted to ruin
both his fortune and his fame. A motion was made in this
assembly, on the 21st of February, 1773, to resolve, that,
“in the acquisition of his wealth, lord Clive had abused
the powers with which he was entrusted.
” The speech he
made on the occasion concluded with the following words
“If the resolution proposed should receive the assent of
the house, I shall have nothing left that I can call my own,
except my paternal fortune of 500l. a year; and which has
been in the family for ages past. But upon this I am
content to live; and perhaps I shall find more real content
of mind and happiness, than in the trembling affluence of
an unsettled fortune. But to be called, after sixteen years
have elapsed, to account for my conduct in this manner;
and after an uninterrupted enjoyment of my property, to
be questioned, and considered as obtaining it unwarrantably, is hard indeed! and a treatment of which I
should not think the British senate capable. Yet if this
should be the case, I have a conscious innocence within
me, which tells me that my conduct is irreproachable.
Frangas non fades. They may take from me what I have*,
they may, as they think, make me poor, but I will be happy.
Before I sit down, I have one request to make to the house,
that when they come to decide upon my honour, they will
not forget their own.
” The house of commons rejected
the motion, and resolved, “that lord Clive had rendered
great and meritorious services to his country.
”
When the disputes between Great Britain and her colonies had arisen to such a height that they were not
When the disputes between Great Britain and her colonies had arisen to such a height that they were not likely to be terminated any other way than by open hostilities, overtures were made to lord Ciive to accept of the chief command in America; but he declined the proposal, on account of the ill state of his health, and from a consciousness that the vigour of his mind was not equal to what it had before been.
Lord Clive was one of the few men whose conduct was always directed by the dictates of his own mind, and whose decisions were therefore secret. Like the first of the
Lord Clive was one of the few men whose conduct was always directed by the dictates of his own mind, and whose decisions were therefore secret. Like the first of the Caesars, the talents of other men could add nothing to the reach of his genius, or the correctness of his judgment. Lord Chatham emphatically called him a heaven-born general; as, without experience, or being versed in military affairs, he surpassed all the officers of his time. In parliament, he represented, from the year 1760, to his decease, the ancient borough of Shrewsbury, the chief town of the county wherein he was born. The interest which he took in the disputations of this assembly, was seldom sufficient to induce him to speak; but when the attack upon his conduct had called into action the powers of his mind, his eloquence was such as has not been often surpassed.
rst residence in the East Indies, gave an injury to his constitution which was never fully repaired; and his health was farther weakened by his successive visits to
The severe illness with which lord Clive was attacked, during his first residence in the East Indies, gave an injury to his constitution which was never fully repaired; and his health was farther weakened by his successive visits to the unwholesome climates of that country. Hence it was that he became subject at times to a depression of spirits. His ardent and active mind, when not called into exertion by some great occasion, frequently preyed upon itself. In the latter part of his life, having nothing peculiarly important and interesting to engage his attention, and his body growing more and more infirm, the depression increased; and to this was owing his decease, by his own hand, on the 22d of November, 1774, not long after he had entered into the 50th year of his age. He was interred at Moreton-Say, the parish in which he was born. In the various relations of private life, lord Clive was highly beloved and esteemed; for he was a man of the kindest affections, and of every social virtue. His secret charities- were numerous and extensive but the present he made of seventy thousand pounds, as a provision for the invalids of the company’s service, was the noblest donation of its kind that ever came fron a private individual. His person was of the largest of the middle size; his countenance inclined to sadness; and the heaviness of his brow imparted an unpleasing expression to his features. It was a heaviness that arose not from the prevalence of the unsocial passions (for of these lew men had a smaller share), but from a natural fullness in the flesh above the eye-lid. His words were few; and his manner, among strangers, was reserved; yet it won the confidence of men, and gained admission to the heart. Among his intimate friends he had great pleasantness and jocularity, and on some occasions was too open. In February 1753, immediately before he embarked for England, Jie married Margaret, daughter of Edmund Maskelyne, esq. of Purton in Wiltshire, and sister to the rev. Dr. Nevil Maskelyne, the late astronomer royal. By this lady he had Edward, the present lord Clive, born March 7, 1754; Rebecca, born September 15, 1760; Charlotte, born January 15, 1762; Margaret, born August 15, 1763; and Robert, 'horn August 31, 1769.
, an actress of great merit, whose piaiden name was Raftor, was born in 1711, and shewed a very early inclination and genius for the stage. Being
, an actress of great merit, whose
piaiden name was Raftor, was born in 1711, and shewed a
very early inclination and genius for the stage. Being
recommended to Cibber, he immediately engaged her
at a small salary, and she made her first appearance
on the stage in boy’s clothes, in the character of Isnienes, the page of Ziphores, in the play of “Mithridates,
” at Drury-lane theatre. Continuing to improve in
her profession, she added both to her salary and her fame.
In 1731 her performance of Nell in the “Devil to pay,
”
fixed her reputation as the greatest performer of her time
in that species of character, in which for more than thirty
years she remained without a rival. In the next year,
1732, she united herself in marriage with George Clive, a
gentleman of the law, and brother to baron Chve; an
union which was not productive of happiness to either
party. They soon agreed to separate, and for the rest of
their lives had no intercourse together. Mr. Clive, if we
mistake not, died at Bath in 1780, but we doubt whether
he was brother to the baron of the exchequer, as above
mentioned. In 1768, Mrs. dive’s intimate friend Mrs.
Pritchard quitted the stage; and the succeeding year she
determined to follow her example; but certainly might
have continued several years longer to delight the public
in various characters adapted to her figure and time of life,
as to the last she was admirable and unrivalled. From this
time Mrs. Clive retired to a small but elegant house near
Strawberry-hill, Twickenham, where she passed the remainder of her life in ease and independence, respected
by the world, and beloved by a circle of friends; at which
place, after a short illness, she departed this life, December 6, 1785. A'more extensive walk in comedy than that
of Mrs. Clive cannot be imagined; the chambermaid, in
every varied shape which art or nature could lend her;
characters of whim and affectation, from the high-bred lady
Fanciful, to the vulgar Mrs. Heidelberg; country girls,
romps, hoydens, and dowdies; superannuated beauties,
viragoes, and humourists. To a strong and pleasing voice,
with an ear for music, she added all the sprightly action
requisite to a number of parts in ballad farces. Her mirth
was so genuine, that whether it was restrained to the arch
sneer and the suppressed half-laugh, widened to the broad
grin, or extended to the downright honest burst of loud
laughter, the audience was sure to accompany her. Mrs.
Clive, in private life, was so far above censure, that her
conduct in every relation of it was not only laudable but
exemplary. For her benefits she introduced some trifling
pieces on the stage, written by herself or hejr friends, but
of no great merit.
, a painter who practised his art in England, was born at Osnaburgh in 1656, and with his countryman, one Tiburen, went to Paris in 1679, where
, a painter who practised his
art in England, was born at Osnaburgh in 1656, and with
his countryman, one Tiburen, went to Paris in 1679, where
he worked for De Troye. In 1681, they came to England,
and Closterman at first painted draperies for Riley and
afterwards they painted in conjunction, Riley still executing most of the heads. On his death Closterman
finished several of his pictures, which recommended him
to the duke of Somerset, who had employed Riley. He
painted the duke’s children, but lost his favour on a dispute about a picture of Guercino, which he had bought for
liis grace, and which was afterwards purchased by lord
Hnlifax. Closterman, however, did nof want business. He
drew Gibbons the carver and his wife in one piece, which
pleased, and there is a mezzotinto from it. He was even
set in competition with sir Godfrey Kneller, and there is
a story, not very credible, that sir Godfrey refused to paint
a picture with him for a wager. Closterman painted the
duke and duchess of Marlborough and all their children in
one picture, and the duke on horseback; on which subject,
however, he had so many disputes with the duchess, that
the duke said, “It has given me more trouble to reconcile
my wife and you, than to fight a battle.
” Closterman,
who sought reputation, went by invitation to Spain in
the veterinary art, was born at Norwich, Aug. 12, 1725. His father was a blacksmith, in humble life, and could only afford to allow his son a short time for instruction,
, an ingenious professor of the veterinary art, was born at Norwich, Aug. 12, 1725. His father was a blacksmith, in humble life, and could only afford to allow his son a short time for instruction, in the elements of reading, writing, and arithmetic. He was taken from school before he had made much progress in his education; and when he was seventeen years old, he was obliged, by the death of his father, to carry on the business for the benefit of his mother and her family, which consisted of four children. About the year 1750, he was first noticed by Dr. Kirwan Wright, an eminent physician, and a man of learning, who encouraged him to direct his mind to the investigation and treatment of the diseases of horses. To this pursuit he devoted his attention with great zeal and success. Through the same friend he was induced to acquire a knowledge of the Latin and French languages, in. order to make himself acquainted with the best authors on farriery and medicine, but particularly Vegetius and La Fosse. His Latin teacher was a Mr. Pagan, under whose tuition he made a rapid progress: and in French he instructed himself without the help of any master. He was much assisted in his Latin studies by acting as an amanuensis, and sometimes read in^ Latin books, to Dr. Wright, who had the misfortune to be deprived of his sight. During this time he was a hard worker as well as a hard student. He used to work at the forge, the regular hours, from sixo'clock in the morning until eight at night, and then frequently got ready the nails requisite for his men the next day. To his labours as a blacksmith, a veterinary practitioner, a student of Latin and French, he added others, as a student of mathematics. He became a member of a society established in Norwich, among men of original minds and small incomes, for improvement in mathematics and experimental philosophy, under the direction of Mr. Peter Bilby. Here ho associated with John Fransham, with Mr. Arderon, F. 11. S. a friend and correspondent of Baker, whose inquiries with the microscope excited general interestat that time, and with other working and thinking men. Mr. Clover had a greater quickness of apprehension, and excelled Fransham in mathematics; but the latter had made a greater proficiency in the classics, and was therefore qualified to become his master. After his return from his eccentric excursion to Newcastle, Mr. Clover employed Fransham occasionally to ride the horses home after they were shod, and whilst the iron was heating, they used both to be employed in Latin exer^ses and mathematical problems, worked upon a slate hung against the forge. Thus the tutor assisted in all the labours of his pupil, and, ' after correcting an exercise, or discussing the properties of a circle, he earned his frugal meal by conducting home the horses which his pupil had shod. Natural philosophy, natural history, and botany, engaged much of this little Bilbean society’s attention. Mr. Clover demonstrated at several of their meetings the origin and progress of the bots found in the stomach and intestines of horses, so early as 1753. He discovered the manner in which the larvae of these insects f&strus equij are conveyed from the coat of the horse, where they are deposited by the fly, into the animal’s stomach; and he illustrated, by many experiments, the whole progress of their transformation, which has been since so well described by Mr. B. Clarke, in the Linnean Transactions for 1796. In 1765, Mr. Clover’s reputation had increased so much that he relinquished working at the forge, and devoted himself wholly to the veterinary art. In this he was assisted by the most eminent medical practitioners of those days, particularly Mr. Gooch, who has inserted in the second volume of his surgical cases, a letter from Mr. Clover, giving a description and a drawing of an ingenious machine invented by him for the cure of ruptured tendons and fractured legs in horses. For many years Mr. Clover was severely afflicted with giddiness and pain in his head, which obliged him to decline business in 178!. He continued, however, to interest himself in every improvement that was made, and always took delight in recounting the results of his extensive experience. One of his greatest amusements was to talk with those who studied physic and surgery; and he continued to read the new medical publications, and to deliver short private lectures on the theory and practice of the healing art, with a lively interest, until the very day of his death. It is to be regretted that he never could be prevailed upon to extend the usefulness of his knowledge and experience in the diseases of animals, by any publication of his observations; but he felt a diffidence and fastidiousness in writing that could never be overcome, though his readiness to communicate information was universally acknowledged. The latter end of his life was cheered by the amusement of gardening, in which he excelled. He marked the gradual decay of his bodily organs with perfect tranquillity and composure, and watched his declining pulse when he expired Feb. 19, 1811, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. With an understanding vigorous and acute, and n. power of discrimination and discernment peculiar to himself, Mr. Clover possessed the external advantage of a strong muscular frame of body, which was tall and well proportioned.
, justly celebrated for his astonishing miniatures and illuminations in missals and other religious books, was born
, justly celebrated for his astonishing miniatures and illuminations in missals and other religious books, was born in Sclavonia in the year 1498. He was originally educated for the church, and took orders, but was afterwards suffered to relinquish the sacerdotal habit by a dispensation from the pope. Soon after the age of eighteen, his love of painting prompted him to travel to Rome, where he was taken into the service of the cardinal Grimani, by whom he was, for the space of three years, employed in making careful pen-drawings from the finest medals. He afterwards became the scholar of Julio Romano, and made considerable advancement in oil-painting; but his master, perceiving the extraordinary talent which he evinced for miniature, succeeded in persuading him to apply himself entirely to that branch of the art; and' it may with justice be said, that we owe to the sagacity of Julio Romano, and the unexampled assiduity of Clovio, the most exquisite and delicately finished performances of that kind in the known world; since he not only far surpassed all who went before him, but to this day stands unrivalled, by all those who have since attempted to walk in his footsteps. In addition to the instruction which our artist received from the favourite scholar of Raffaele, he derived great benefit from the works of Buonarotti, many of which he copied in a most beautiful and finished manner; and he afterwards reaped great advantage from the friendship and experience of Girolamo da 1 Libri, a miniature painter of great note at Verona: the result of all these studies was a style of drawing, partaking of the purity of the Roman, and the grandeur of the Florentine school; united, not unfrequently, to the rich colouring of Titian or the ambient hue of Correggio.
ficio della madonna,” painted for the cardinal Farnese. In this work many portraits were introduced, and the figures, though in some cases no longer than so many ants,
Among the suprising labours of Clovio, described by
Vasari, that writer particularly dwells upon an “ufficio
della madonna,
” painted for the cardinal Farnese. In this
work many portraits were introduced, and the figures,
though in some cases no longer than so many ants, were
represented with as much distinctness in all their parts, as
if they had been drawn the size of life. A beautiful missal,
illuminated by Clovio, formerly belonging to Alexander
Champernoun, esq. is now in the possession of the Townley
family. Several prints from t;;e works of this master,
are cited by Heinecken. He died aged 80, in the year
1578.
le is known, except what can be collected from his works, flourished in the time of queen Elizabeth, and was for some time a navy surgeon, serving on board one of the
, an eminent surgeon, of whom little is known, except what can be collected from his works, flourished in the time of queen Elizabeth, and was for some time a navy surgeon, serving on board one of the queen’s ships, called the Aid, when the emperor’s daughter married Philip II. king of Spain, in 1570. He returned home, and resided several years at London, where he acquired great reputation, as may be inferred from his having been several years surgeon of St. Bartholomew’s and Christ’s hospitals, before he was sent for by letters from the earl of Leicester, general of the English forces in the Low Countries, to take upon him the care of the sick and wounded in 1586. He was surgeon to her majesty, and mentions his having served with Banister under the earl of Warwick; and also speaks in another place of having been a retainer to lord Abergavenny. He seems to have been in full practice about 1596, the date of his last publication, a treatise on the venereal disease, reprinted in 1637; and he laments the frequency of this disorder in England; of which he gives this proof, that in the space of five years he had cured upwards of a thousand venereal patients in vSt. Bartholomew’s hospital. His most capital performance is his approved Practice for all young chirurgeons, 1591, re-printed in 1596 and 1637. He is a strong advocate for writing medical chirurgical books in the vernacular language, and his practice was always ingenious, and often successful.
, rector of Whatfield, and vicar of Debenham, in Suffolk, was the son of the rev. George
, rector of Whatfield, and vicar of Debenham, in Suffolk, was the son of the rev. George Clubbe,
M. A. of Catherine-hall, Cambridge, and was born in 1703.
He was admitted of King’s-college, Cambridge, by an
unlucky mistake of an uacle, who did not know until too
late, that his not proceeding from Eton school was a bar to
his promotion in that college. He left it, therefore, after
talcing his bachelor’s degree, in 1725. At what time he
was presented to his livings, is not mentioned. He married
one of Dr. Jortin’s daughters, by whom he had a large family. He had the misfortune to lose his sight some time
before his death, March 2, 1773, but never his placid and
agreeable humour. His publications, besides a single
“Sermon
” before the incorporated Society for the Relief
of Clergymen’s Widows and Orphans at Ipswich, 1751,
are, 1. “The History and Antiquities of the ancient villa
of Wheatfield, in the county of Suffolk,
” Fugitive Pieces.
” 2. “Physiognomy; being a.
sketch of a larger work upon the same plan, wherein the
different tempers, passions, and manners of men, will be
particularly considered.
” 3. “A Letter of free advice
to a young Clergyman,
”
, or Cluvier), a celebrated geographer, was born of an ancient and noble family at Dantzic, in 1580, and educated by his father
, or Cluvier), a celebrated geographer, was born of an ancient and noble family at Dantzic, in 1580, and educated by his father with a great deal of care, and sent to Leyden to study the civil law. But Cluver had no inclination for law, and his genius inclining him early to the love of geography, Joseph Scaliger is said to have advised him to make that his particular study, and not to do violence to his inclinations any longer. This advice was followed, upon which Cluver presently set out for the Low Countries, in order to take a careful survey of them but passing- through Brabant, for the sake of paying a visit to Justus Lipsius, he had the misfortune to be robbed, which obliged him to return immediately to Leyden. Meanwhile, his father, incensed by his deserting the study of the law, refused to furnish him with money, which drove him to bear arms, as he afterwards did two years in Hungary and Bohemia. It happened at that time, that the baron of Popel, who was his friend, was arrested by an order from the emperor; and thinking himself extremely ill used, he drew up a kind of manifesto by way of apology, which he sent to Cluver to translate into Latin. This Cluver having performed, caused it to be printed at Leyden which so displeased the emperor, that he complained by his ambassador to the States, and had Cluvcr arrested. Ciuver, however, was soon set at liberty, upon which he returned to his geographical studies, and travelled through several countries, particularly England, France, Germany, and Italy. He was also a great linguist, being able to talk with ease and fluency, as we are told, no less than ten languages. He died at Ley den, 1623, only forty -three years old, justly esteemed the first geographer who had put his researches in order, and reduced them to certain principles.
s. It was in 1609 that he became a sojourner at Exeter college, Oxford, for the sake of Drs. Holland and Prideaux, whose fame attracted many foreigners to this college;
His residence in England has been overlooked by his
biographers. It was in 1609 that he became a sojourner
at Exeter college, Oxford, for the sake of Drs. Holland
and Prideaux, whose fame attracted many foreigners to
this college; and here he wrote his first work “De Tribus
Rheni alveis et ostiis,
” which was published at Leyden, in
e work already mentioned, “Germania antiqua. Sicilia antiqiia. Italia antiqua,” Leyden, 1619, folio. And Vorstins published after his death another work, entitled “Introductio
Cluverius published in his life-time, besides the work
already mentioned, “Germania antiqua. Sicilia antiqiia.
Italia antiqua,
” Leyden, Introductio in uaiversam geographiam tarn veterem quam novam, &c.
” But, as Cellarius observed, there is not that
nicety and exactness shewn in this last work as in his former, especially in his “Italia Antiqua,
” and “Sicilia Antiqua.
”
, an ingenious poet, and a man of taste, wit, and learning, was master of the grammar-school
, an ingenious poet, and a man of
taste, wit, and learning, was master of the grammar-school
of Christ’s hospital, where he was himself educated. He
took the degree of B. A. in 1698, and of M. A. in 1702,
in Trinity- college, Cambridge. He died at London, in
1713, in the prime of life, and was buried in the cloisters
of Christ’s hospital. Jacob says that his “Observations on
Virgil
” shew that he was well acquainted with that poet.
He published in 1707, “A Collection of Poems on several
occasions, &c. to which is prefixed a Discourse on Criticism, and the Liberty of Writing, by way of letter to a
friend.
” He translated the third, and part of the fourth
book of Howe’s edition of the “Callipapdia,
” and assisted
Ozell in the translation of Boileau’s “Lutrin.
” His other
known productions are, 1. “The Miller’s Tale,
” from
Chaucer. 2. A translation of the “Muscipula.
” 3. “The
Oak and the Briar,
” a tale. His excellent ode, “The
Female Reign,
” was printed in Dodsley’s Collection, and
afterwards in the Gent. Mag. the truest and best Pindaric he
had ever read,
” an opinion in which we find Dr. Warton
coinciding, in one of his notes on Pope’s works.
, D. D. and a chaplain in ordinary to George II. was educated at Trinity
, D. D. and a chaplain in ordinary
to George II. was educated at Trinity college, Oxford,
where he took his bachelor’s degree, but appears to have
removed to King’s college, Cambridge, where he took his
master’s degree, in 1713. In 1723 we find him again at
Trinity college, Oxford, where he took the degrees of
B. and D. D. July 6 of that year. He became early in
life chaplain to bishop Gibson, to whose patronage he was
indebted for the following preferments; viz. the united
rectories of St. Austin and St. Faith, in London, with that
of Acton, in Middlesex, a prebend in St. Paul’s, another
at Lincoln, and the archdeaconry of London, in which last
he succeeded Dr. Tyrwhitt in July 1742. His whole works
were collected by himself, in 1757, under the title of
“Discourses and Essays, in prose and verse, by Edward
Cobden, D. D. archdeacon of London, and lately chaplain
to his majesty king George II. above twenty-two years, in
which time most of these discourses were preached before
him. Published chiefly for the use of his parishioners,
”
one large 4to volume, divided in two parts. Of this volume 250 copies only were printed, 50 of which were appropriated to a charitable use.
In 1748 he preached a sermon before the king at St.
James’s, entitled “A Persuasive to Chastity,
” which was
not a virtue exemplified at that time in the highest place,
and he is said to have lost his situation of chaplain by it.
Among his works is his “Concio ad Clerum, xi cal. Mail,
1752,
” and three sermons preached after the noted one
on “Chastity.
” The last time he preached hefore the
king was Dec. 8, 1751. He resigned his warrant for chaplain Nov. 23, 1752, after having delivered into his majesty’s hands his reasons in writing for so doing. His
income, he says, was hut moderate (all his preferments together not exceeding S50l. per annum clear, which, he added, was as much as he desired, and more than he deserved. This income, frugality and moderation converted into plenty, and contentment into happiness);
but about this time he met with losses amounting to above
2000l. which reduced his substance very low. In 1762,
Dr. Cobden lost his wife; whom he survived little more
than two years, dying April 22, 1764, aged more than
eighty. He appears to have been a good and conscientious man, but with a mixture of oddity in his character
as well as style, and not so wholly free from ambition as
"he would make us believe. His poetical talents, which
he was fond of gxercising, are not of the first rate.
eminent lawyer, was born March 25, 1644, at Bremen. He was professor of law at Heidelberg, Utrecht, and Francfort on the Oder, where he died August 18, 1719, aged
, an eminent lawyer, was born
March 25, 1644, at Bremen. He was professor of law at
Heidelberg, Utrecht, and Francfort on the Oder, where
he died August 18, 1719, aged seventy-six, leaving several
children. In 1670 the degree of LL. D. was conferred on
him by the university of Oxford, at the same time with
the prince of Orange, afterwards William III. He was
employed in various affairs of importance, and received
the dignity of baron of the empire from the emperor,
1713, as a reward for his services. He left several works
on the science he professed, among which are “Juris
publici prndentia,
” Francfort, Hypomnemata Juris,
”
n to the preceding, was born at Francfort on the Oder, towards the close of the seventeenth century, and died in 1755. He rose by his profound knowledge of the civil
, son to the preceding, was born
at Francfort on the Oder, towards the close of the seventeenth century, and died in 1755. He rose by his profound
knowledge of the civil law, to the post of minister of state,
and grand chancellor to the late king of Prussia. That
royal philosopher entrusted the baron Cocceius with the
reform of the administration of justice throughout his dominions. The “Frederkian Code,
” which this minister
compiled in 1747, proved him worthy of the choice of
his prince, and as much a philosopher as himself. Besides
this work, which is in 3 vols. 8vo, the world is indebted
to baron Cocceius for a Latin edition of “Grotius de jure
belli ac pacis,
” more ample than any that had before appeared, printed
born in 1603. In 1650 he was chosen to teach theology at Leyden, which he did with great reputation, and died there 1669, aged sixty-six, leaving a son. Cocceius wrote
, was a famous Hebrew
professor at Bremen, where he was born in 1603. In
1650 he was chosen to teach theology at Leyden, which
he did with great reputation, and died there 1669, aged
sixty-six, leaving a son. Cocceius wrote long commentaries on the Bible, and other works, which made much
noise in Holland, and were printed at Amsterdam, 1701,
10 vols. fol. In 1708 was published his “Opera Anecdota Theologica et Philologica,
” 2 vols. fol. His singular
method of interpreting the Holy Scriptures raised him opponents in Voetius, Desmarets, and several other protestants; but he had nevertheless, and has still, numerous
disciples in Holland, who are called Cocceians, and believe, like him, and like many other divines in other countries, that there will be a visible reign of Christ upon earth,
by which that of antichrist shall be abolished; and that
during this reign, the Jews and all nations being converted,
the church should attain its highest glory. In explaining
the Scriptures, he always looked beyond the literal meaning
to something that should wear the appearance of mystery.
He regarded the Old Testament as a perpetual representation or mirror of the history of Christ, and his church;
he maintained that all the Jewish prophecies have a relation to Christ, and that his miracles, actions, and sufferings,
and those of his apostles, were types of future events.
, of Florence, professor of physic at Pisa, afterwards of surgery and anatomy at Florence, was born there in 1693, and died in 1758,
, of Florence, professor of physic
at Pisa, afterwards of surgery and anatomy at Florence,
was born there in 1693, and died in 1758, at the age of
sixty-two. In the course of his travels he became the intimate friend of Newton, Boerhaave, and Dr. Mead. The
emperor made him his antiquary. He was esteemed both
for his theoretical and practical knowledge. He wrote:
1. “Grsecorum Chirurgici Libri; Sorani unus de Fracturarum signis, Oribasii duo de Fractis, et Luxatis, ex
Collectione Nicetse, Florent.
” O ratio de
Usu Artis Anatomicse, Florent.
” Medicinae laudatio in Gymnasio Pisis habita,
” Del vitto Pythagorico,
” Flor. On
the Baths at Pisa, and Sopra Asclepiadea.
” This was
published by his son, Raymond Cocchi, who succeeded
his father as professor of anatomy, and physician to the
public hospital at Florence.
Cocchi, the father, was invited to England by the earl of Huntingdon, and passed three years in London, during which he published an edition
Cocchi, the father, was invited to England by the earl
of Huntingdon, and passed three years in London, during
which he published an edition of “Xenophont. Ephesii
Ephesiacorum Libri V. de Amoribus Anthite et Abrocomse,
”
printed by Bowyer,
, an eminent French lawyer, was born at Paris June 10, 1687, and admitted a counsellor in 1706, in the grand council, where he
, an eminent French lawyer, was born at Paris June 10, 1687, and admitted a counsellor in 1706, in the grand council, where he acquired such reputation, that at the age of thirty, he was looked upon as one of the ablest canonists, and he now determined, with the advice of his friends and clients, to plead in the parliament. He was heard there with universal applause, and, from that time till his death, there was scarce any affair of importance at the palace but the public crowded to hear him, and returned convinced that M. Cochin possessed all the extraordinary talents which characterise a great orator. He was consulted from every part of the kingdom, and never ceased to serve the public by his assiduous and unremitted labours. He died at Paris, after several attacks of an apoplexy, February 24, 1747, aged 60. His works were published at Paris, 1751, and the following year, 6 vols. 4to, with his life. These, however, have not preserved his reputation undiminished; and M. la Cretelle, in along article on them in the French Mercure for April 1782, concludes with asserting that Cochin was an advocate of great merit, but a genius of the second order. This sen*tence, however, seems in some measure to proceed from an opinion that no man can be a genius who does not introduce novelties in his profession. France has unfortunately abounded of late years in such geniuses.
, a famous French engraver, was born in 1688, and received into the royal academy of Paris in 1731. His works
, a famous French engraver, was born in 1688, and received into the royal academy of Paris in 1731. His works are full of spirit, correctness, and harmony. The principal are from the paintings of the invalids, which employed him full ten years. He painted also Rebecca, St. Basil; the Origin of Fire, from Le Moine, Jacob and Laban, from Restout, The village Wedding, after Watteau, and the prints for the Lutrin, besides many upon the occasion of the dauphin’s marriage, and the general collection of the gallery of Versailles. He died in 1754.
, son of the preceding artist, was born at Paris in 1715, and, assisted by the instructions of his father, and his mother
, son of the preceding
artist, was born at Paris in 1715, and, assisted by the instructions of his father, and his mother Louise Madeleine
Hortemels, became an engraver of considerable celebrity.
In 1749, he travelled to Italy with the marquis de Marigny,
and after his return, was in 1752 made a member of the
royal academy of Paris, and, in the sequel, appointed secretary and historian to that society. In addition to these
honours, he was made a knight of the order of St. Michael,
and keeper of the king’s drawings. Of his works, then
extremely numerous, Mr. Jombert published a catalogue
in 1770. He died April 29, 1790, after having published
some works connected with his profession, as, 1. “Lettres
sur les Peintures d'Herculaneum,
” Dissertation sur l'effet de la lumiere et des ombres, relativement a la peinture,
” Voyage d‘ltalie,
ou Recueil d’ observations sur les ouvrages d‘architecture,
de peinture, et de sculpture, que l’on voit dans les principales villes d'ltalie,
” Lausanne, Les
Mysotechniques aux enfers,
” Lettres
sur les Vies de Slodz et de Deshays,
” Projet d'une salle de spectacle,
”
, a native of Nuremberg, canon of Breslau, was born in 1479, and became a bigotted adherent to the Roman catholic religion, and
, a native of Nuremberg, canon
of Breslau, was born in 1479, and became a bigotted adherent to the Roman catholic religion, and disputed warmly
against Luther, Osiander, Bucer, Melancthon, Calvin, and
the other patriarchs of the reformation; but he is too full
of invective, even by the confession of the catholics themselves. In 1539 he received from England a refutation by
Richard Morrison, D. D. of the tract he had published
against the marriage of Henry Vjii. He replied in a
publication bearing this title “The broom of Johannes
Cochlæus for sweeping down the cobwebs of Morrison.
”
Morrison had reproached him with having been made canon
of Mersberg on condition that he should write no more
against Luther, and for having forfeited his word, on being bought over by promises from the pope. Cochlæus
declares that he is not canon of Mersberg that prince
George of Saxony sent for him to Mentz, where he was
canon of St. Victor, to give him a canonry in the cathedral
of Misnia, in order to assist Jerom Emser in the defence
of the catholic faith; adding, that it is so far from being
true that he had promised to write no more against Luther,
that in the preceding year he had published no less than
six writings against him. He defends what he had written
against the divorce of Henry VIII. and boasts that Erasmus had approved his work. The principal productions of
this author are: 1. “Historia Hussitarum,
” folio; a scarce
and curious/work, and one of his best performances. 2.
“De actis et scriptis Lutheri,
” Speculum circa Missam,
” 8vo. 4. “De vita Theoxlorici regis
Ostrogothorum,
” Stockholm, Consilium
cardinalium anno 1538,
” 8vo. 6. “De emendanda ecclesia,
”
ollege of Glasgow in 1754 then chiefly under the inspection of those eminent printers Messrs. Robert and Andrew Fonlis. After some time spent there, he went to Italy
, a Scotch artist, was born Dec.
12, 1738, at Strathaven in Clydesdale, Having early
shewn a genius in design, he was put as a scholar to the
academy ofpainting in the college of Glasgow in 1754
then chiefly under the inspection of those eminent printers
Messrs. Robert and Andrew Fonlis. After some time spent
there, he went to Italy about the end of 1764, where he
studied for five years, mostly at Rome, under the celebrated Mr. Gavin Hamilton; since which time he followed
his profession in Glasgow, with honour and advantage to
himself, and satisfaction to his friends. In portrait painting of a large size he excelled, and in miniature and other
sizes he had great merit; his drawing was correct, and he
seldom failed of producing a most striking likeness. In
history, some pieces done by him are now in Glasgow,
particularly “Daedalus and Icarus,
” “Diana and Endymion,
” both essay pieces executed at Rome, that would do
credit to any pencil; yet, from an unusual modesty and
diffidence, he never could be prevailed upon to put his
name to his works. A dutiful attachment to an aged mother and other relations fixed him in Glasgow: ambition
with him was no ruling passion, nor was he eager after
riches; but a natural philanthropic disposition, and an
assiduity to please, were conspicuous traits of his character.
By permission 1 of the lord provost and magistrates, he was
buried in the choir of the cathedral church, where a neat
marble is erected to his memory, with this inscription
“In memory of Mr. William Cochran, portrait painter in
Glasgow, who died October 23, 1785, aged 47 years. The
works of his pencil and this marble bear record of an eminent artist, and a virtuous man.
”
orn in London, August 16, 1679, the daughter of captain David Trotter, who was a native of Scotland, and a commander in the royal navy, in the reign of king Charles
, a lady much distinguished by her literary accomplishments, was born in London, August 16, 1679, the daughter of captain David Trotter, who was a native of Scotland, and a commander in the royal navy, in the reign of king Charles the Second. Her mother was Mrs. Sarah Ballenden, nearly related to the noble lord of that name, and to the illustrious families of Maitland, duke of Lauderdale, and Drumrnond, earl of Perth. She had the misfortune to lose her father when very young; an event which also reduced her mother to narrow circumstances. In her childhood, she surprised a company of her relations and friends with some extemporary verses, on an incident which had happened in the street, and which excited her attention. By her own application and diligence, without any instructor, she learned to write, and also made herself mistress of the French language; but had some assistance in the study of the Latin grammar and logic; and of the latter she drew up an abstract for her own use. She was educated in the protestant religion, but having an early intimacy with several Roman catholic families of distinction, she was led, when very young, to embrace the Romish communion, and continued in it for some years.
In 1693, when she was only fourteen years of age, she wrote some verses, and sent them to Mr. Bevil Higgons, tf on his sickness and recovery
In 1693, when she was only fourteen years of age, she
wrote some verses, and sent them to Mr. Bevil Higgons,
tf on his sickness and recovery from the small-pox,“and
was only in her seventeenth year when she produced a tragedy, entitled
” Agnes de Castro,“which was acted with
applause at the Theatre-Royal in 1695, and printed the following year in 4to, without her name. The play is founded
upon a French novel of the same title, printed at Paris in
1688. In 1697, she addressed some verses to Mr. Congreve on his
” Mourning Bride“which gave rise to an
acquaintance between her and that celebrated writer. In
1698, her tragedy, entitled
” Fatal Friendship,“was performed at the new theatre in Lincoln’s-inn-fields, and
printed the same year in 4to, with a dedication to the
princess Anne of Denmark. This play was considered as
the most perfect of her dramatic performances and it was
praised by Hughes and Farquhar. On the death of Mr.
Dry den, in 1701, our poetess joined with several other
ladies, in paying a just tribute to his memory in verse.
Their performances were published together in that year,
under the title of
” The Nine Muses; or, Poems written
l>y so many Ladies, upon the death of the late famous John
Dryden, esq.“The same year she also brought upon the
stage a comedy, called
” Love at a Loss; or, most votes
carry it,“acted at the Theatre-Royal, and published in
quarto; but on account of her absence from London while
it was in the press, it was so incorrectly printed, that she
would gladly have suppressed the edition; and many years
after she revised it, with a view to a second performance,
which never took place. Soon after, before the close of
the year 1701, she produced another tragedy, called
” The Unhappy Penitent,“which was performed at the
Theatre-Royal in Drury-lane, also printed in 4to. In the
midst of this attention to poetry and dramatic writing, she
spent much of her time in metaphysical studies. She was
a great admirer of Mr. Locke’s
” Essay on Human Understanding;" and drew up a defence of that work, against
some remarks written by Dr. Thomas Burnet, master of the
Charter-house. This was published in May 1702, without
a name, lest the public should be prejudiced against a
metaphysical treatise written by a woman. She also professed herself to be desirous of concealing her name, from an
unwillingness tobe known to Mr. Locke, under the character
of his defender. But her name was not long concealed;
and Mr. Locke desired his cousin, Mr. King, afterwards
lord chancellor, to pay her a visit, and make her a present
of books; and upon her owning her performance, he wrote
her a letter of acknowledgment. She also received a
letter of thanks for this piece from Mrs. Burnet, the last
wife of the celebrated prelate of that name. It appears,
that at the latter end of 1701, she was some time at Salisbury, on a visit to her relations in that city.
Mrs. Trotter still continued in the communion of the church of Rome; and the sincerity of her attachment to it, in all its outward severities,
Mrs. Trotter still continued in the communion of the church of Rome; and the sincerity of her attachment to it, in all its outward severities, obliged her to so strict an observance of its fasts, as proved extremely injurious to her health. This occasioned Dr. Denton Nicholas, an ingenious and learned physician of her acquaintance, to advise her by a letter, dated October 19, 1703, to abate of those rigours of abstinence to which she addicted herself; which he represented as insupportable to a constitution naturally infirm: and he desired her to shew his letter to her friends and confessor for their satisfaction. What effect this remonstrance had, we are not told.
Her friend Mr. Burnet continued to keep up a correspondence with her during his travels; and upon his arrival at the court of Berlin, where he was received
Her friend Mr. Burnet continued to keep up a correspondence with her during his travels; and upon his arrival at the court of Berlin, where he was received with great
marks of respect by Sophia Charlotte, queen of Prussia,
daughter to the princess Sophia, he took an opportunity of
writing to that princess in such advantageous terms of Mrs.
Trotter, that her royal highness, in her answer to him from
Hanover, on the 29th of July, 1704, declared herself
“charmed with the agreeable picture which he had drawn
of the new Scots Sappho, who seemed to deserve all the
great things which he had said of her.
” Jn 1704, Mrs.
Trotter addressed some verses to the duke of Marlborough,
upon his return from Germany, after the battle of Blenheim; and in 1706, after the battle of Ramillies, she also
addressed a second poem to the duke of Marlborough.
The same year, her tragedy called “The Revolution of
Sweden,
” was acted at the queen’s theatre in the Haymarket, and printed at London in 4to. It is founded upon
the revolution in Sweden under Gustavus Erickson.
orough examination of the grounds of it, by consulting the best books on both sides of the question, and conversing with persons of the best judgment, both papists and
She had now for some time begun to entertain doubts
concerning the Romish religion; which led her into a
thorough examination of the grounds of it, by consulting
the best books on both sides of the question, and conversing with persons of the best judgment, both papists and
protestants, amongst her acquaintance. The result of her
inquiries was, a full conviction of the falseness of the pretensions of the Romish church, and a return to the communion of the church of England, about the beginning of
1707; and she continued a firm protestant during the remainder of her life. In the course of her inquiries, the
great question concerning “a Guide in Controversies,
”
was particularly discussed by her; and two letters which
she wrote on this subject, were published this year under
the following title: “A Discourse concerning a Guide in
Controversies, in two Letters: written to one of the church
of Rome, by a person lately converted from that communion.
”
f 1708. Mr. Cockburn had taken orders in the church of England but a short time before his marriage; and soon after that event, he had the donative of Nayland in Suffolk,
A considerable part of the summer of 1707 was spent by Mrs. Trotter at Ockham- Mills, near Ripley, in the county of Surrey. During her retirement there, Mr. Fenn, a young clergyman of an excellent character, paid his addresses to her, but she had previously engaged in a correspondence by letters with Mr. Cockburn, which terminated in a mirriage in the beginning of 1708. Mr. Cockburn had taken orders in the church of England but a short time before his marriage; and soon after that event, he had the donative of Nayland in Suffolk, where for some time they settled; but Mr. Cockburn removed to London to be curate of St. Dunstan’s church in Fleet-street. In this situation he remained till the accession of king George the First, when, entertaining some doubts about taking the oath of abjuration, he was obliged to quit his curacy, and for ten or twelve years was reduced to great difficulties in procuring subsistence for his family. During that period, he was employed in instructing the youth of an academy in Chancery-lane in the Latin tongue. But in 1726, by consulting the lord chancellor King, and his own father, upon the meaning and intent of the oath of abjuration, and byreading some papers which were put into his hands upon the subject, he was at length reconciled to taking it. In consequence of this, being the following year invited to be minister of the episcopal congregation at Aberdeen, he qualified himself conformably to the law; and on the day of king George the Second’s accession, he preached there a sermon on the duty and benefit of praying for the government. This sermon was printed, and being animadverted upon, he published a reply to the remarks on it, with some papers relative to the oath of abjuration, which were much commended. Soon after his settlement at Aberdeen, the lord chancellor King presented him to the living of LongHorseley, near Morpeth, in Northumberland, in order to enable him the better to support his family, and he was permitted to remain at Aberdeen, till the negligence and ill behaviour of the curates, whom he employed at LongHorseley obliged him to quit his station at Aberdeen in 1737, whereby his income was considerably lessened.
cation to her studies, for many years, in consequence of her close attention to the duties of a wife and of a mother. To the ordinary cares of an increasing family,
Mrs. Cockburn, after her marriage, was almost entirely
prevented from any application to her studies, for many
years, in consequence of her close attention to the duties
of a wife and of a mother. To the ordinary cares of an
increasing family, were added those resulting from the
straitened circumstances of her husband; so that she had
little time for reading. But in 1726, when she had been
married about eighteen years, she published, “A Letter
to Dr. Holdsworth,
” in vindication of Mr. Locke. Dr.
Holdsvvorth, who was a fellow of St. John’s college in Oxford, had preached a sermon before the university, on
John v. 28, 29, concerning the resurrection of tfee same
body. This sermon he afterwards printed in 8vo, professing, in his title page, to examine and answer “the
cavils, false reasonings, and false interpretations of scripture, of Mr. Locke, and others, against the resurrection
of the same body.
” Mrs. Cockburn remonstrated, in her
publication, against the manner in which Dr. Holdsworth
had treated Mr. Locke: and urged, that it could be of no
service to the church, nor was it in any respect prudent,
to take so much pains to rank Mr. Locke amongst heretics, and the worst enemies of Christianity. Dr. Holdsworth, however, renewed the charge in his “Defence of
the doctrine of the Resurrection of the same Body,
” 8vo,
A Vindication of Mr. Locke’s Christian Principles, from the injurious imputations of Dr. Holdsworth.
”
But as she could meet with no bookseller who would undertake to print it at his own hazard, it continued in manuscript, until printed in the edition of her works, by Dr.
Birch.
ter, she wrote “Remarks upon some writers in the controversy concerning the foundation of Moral Duty and Moral Obligation; particularly the translator of archbishop
In 1732, she wrote a poem on occasion of “the Busts
set up in the Queen’s Hermitage,
” which was afterwards
printed in the Gentleman’s Magazine, for May Remarks upon
some writers in the controversy concerning the foundation
of Moral Duty and Moral Obligation; particularly the
translator of archbishop King’s Origin of Moral Evil, and
the author of the Divine Legation of Moses: to which are
prefixed, some cursory thoughts on the controversies concerning necessary existence, the reality and infinity of
space, the extension and place of spirits, and on Dr.
Watts’s notion of substance.
” These remarks continued
in manuscript till the year 1743, when they were printed
in “The History of the Works of the Learned.
” She had
the misfortune this year to lose a daughter; and it appears
also, that she had at this time a son in Germany, in some
office connected with the army, and who was afterwards
clerk of the cheque at Chatham.
When Dr. Rutherforth’s “Essay on the Nature and Obligations of Virtue” appeared, it soon engaged the attention
When Dr. Rutherforth’s “Essay on the Nature and Obligations of Virtue
” appeared, it soon engaged the attention of Mrs. Cockburn, who undertook to write a confutation of that elaborate discourse, and transmitted her manuscript to Mr. Warburton, afterwards the celebrated bishop
of Gloucester, who published it in 1747, under the title
of “Remarks upon the Principles and Reasonings of Dr.
Rutherforth’s Essay on the Nature and Obligations of Virtue,
in vindication of the contrary principles and reasonings,
enforced in the writings of the late Dr. Samuel Clarke.
”
In the preface to this confutation of Dr. Rutherforth, Mr.
Warburton says, that “it contains all the clearness of expression, the strength of reason, the precision of logic,
and attachment to truth, which makes books of this nature
really useful to the common cause of virtue and religion.
”
The merit of this performance, and the general reputation
of her writings, at length induced her friends to propose to
her an edition of them by subscription, but she did not
live to discharge the office of editor; which, in consequence of her death, was afterwards undertaken by Dr.
Birch. She lost her husband on the 4th of Jan. 1748-9,
in“the seventy-first year of his age; and did not long survive the shock. She died on the llth of May, 1749, in
her seventy-first year, after having long supported a painful disorder, with the utmost patience and resignation.
Her memory and understanding continued unimpaired, till
within a few days of her death. She was interred, near
her husband and youngest daughter, at Long-Horseley,
with this short sentence on their tomb:
” Let their works
praise them in the gates," Prov. xxxi. 31.
In her younger years, Mrs. Cockburn was much celebrated for her beauty, as well as for her genius and other accomplishments. She was small of stature, but was distinguished
In her younger years, Mrs. Cockburn was much celebrated for her beauty, as well as for her genius and other
accomplishments. She was small of stature, but was distinguished by the unusual vivacity of her eyes, and the
delicacy of her complexion, which continued to her death.
In her private character she appears to have been benevolent and generous; and remarkable for the uncommon
evenness and chearfulness of her temper. Her conversation was innocent, agreeable, and instructive: she had
not the least affectation of being thought a wit; but was
modest and diffident, and constantly endeavoured to adapt
her discourse to her company. Throughout the whole
course of her life, she seems to have been in very narrow
and straitened circumstances; and after her marriage she
had little leisure for study, and was very ill provided with
books. But she endured the inconveniences of her situation, with a patience and fortitude that were truly exemplary. It is justly observed by Dr. Birch, that “her abilities as a writer, and the merit of her works, will not have
full justice done them, without a due attention to the peculiar circumstances in which they were produced; her
early youth, when she wrote some; her very advanced
age, and ill state of health, when she drew up others; the
uneasy situation of her fortune, during the whole course
of her life; and an interval of nearly twenty years, in the
vigour of it, spent in the cares of a family, without the
least leisure for reading or contemplation. After which,
with a mind so long diverted and encumbered, resuming
her studies, she instantly recovered its entire powers, and
in the hours of relaxation from her domestic employments,
pursued, to their utmost limits, some of the deepest inquiries of which the human mind is capable.
” It was in
1751, that her works were published by Dr. Birch, 2 vols.
8vo, under the following title: “The Works of Mrs. Catherine Cockburn, theological, moral, dramatic, and poetical.
” None of her dramatic pieces were included in this
collection, excepting “The Fatal Friendship,
” it being
found, that all her writings could not be comprised in the
two volumes proposed to be printed for those who had subscribed for her works. Besides the other pieces already
mentioned in the course of this account of her life, Dr.
Birch’s collection contains, a letter of advice to her son;
letters between Dr. Sharp, archdeacon of Northumberland, and prebendary of Durham, and Mrs, Cockburn,
concerning the foundation of moral virtue letters between
Mrs. Cockburn and several of her friends and some short
essays in prose, with several songs, and other poems.
, professor of the Oriental languages at Paris, was a son of the family of Langton in the Merse, and educated at St. Andrew’s, Scotland, where he studied the belles
, professor of the Oriental languages at Paris, was a son of the family of Langton in the
Merse, and educated at St. Andrew’s, Scotland, where he
studied the belles lettres, philosophy, the Oriental languages, and philosophy. After taking holy orders, he
went to the university of Paris, where he taught the
Oriental languages for several years with great applause.
In 1551, he published a book on the usefulness and excellency of the word of God, “Oratio de utilitate et excellentia Verbi Dei,
” Paris, De vulgari
Sacrae Scriptura? phrasi,
” Paris, In orationem dominicam pia meditatio,
” St. And. Apostles Creed,
” was published at London,
, a name almost proverbial in the schools of arithmetic, was a very ingenious penman and engraver, and born, probably in London, in 163f. He became deservedly
, a name almost proverbial in the schools of arithmetic, was a very ingenious penman and engraver, and born, probably in London, in 163f. He became deservedly reckoned among the improvers of the arts of writing and arithmetic, having published no less than fourteen copy-books, engraved by his own hand. Some of his calligraphical pieces, which were done on silver plates, have a neatness and delicacy superior to the rest. Mr Evelyn mentions Cocker, Gery, Gething, and Billingsley, as comparable to the Italian masters both for letters and flourishes. His Vulgar Arithmetic has been often printed, first in 1677, a fortieth edition in 1723, and often since. His Decimal Arithmetic appeared in 1695, but has been less popular. He also compiled a small dictionary, and a book of sentences for writing, called Cocker’s Morals. He died in 1677, and his two books on arithmetic were published from his Mss. after his death.
al palace of Constantinople, appears to have flourished in the latter part of the fifteenth century, and wrote a treatise concerning the origin of that city in the Greek
, one of the curopalates, or officers who had the care of the imperial palace of Constantinople, appears to have flourished in the latter part of the fifteenth century, and wrote a treatise concerning the origin of that city in the Greek language, and another concerning the officers of the palace, and those of the great church in that city. These works were translated into the Latin by George Douza and Francis Junius, and printed in Greek and Latin at Paris, in 1615. His Antiquities of Constantinople were published by Goar, at the royal press, in 1648, fol.