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Jn 1779 the first four volumes of his Lives of the Poets were published, and the remainder in 1781, which he wrote by uis own confession, “dilatorily and hastily, unwilling to work, and working with vigour and haste.” He had, however, performed so much more than was expected, that his employers presented him with an hundred pounds in addition to the stipulated sum. As he never was insensible to the pleasure or value of fame, it is not improbable that he was yet more substantially gratified by the eagerness with which his Lives of the Poets were read and praised. He enjoyed likewise another satisfaction, which it appears he thought not unnecessary to the reputation of a great writer. He was attacked on all sides for his contempt for Milton’s politics, and the sparing praise or direct censure he had bestowed on the poetry of Prior, Hammond, Collins, Gray, and a few others. The errors, indeed, which on any other subject might have passed for errors of judgment, were by the irascible tempers of his adversaries, magnified into high treason against the majesty of poetic genius. During his life, these attacks were not few, nor very respectful, to a veteran whom common consent had placed at the head of the literature of his country; but the courage of his adversaries was observed to rise very considerably after his death, and the name which public opinion had consecrated, was now reviled with the utmost malignity. Even some who during his life were glad to conceal their hostility, now took an opportunity to retract the admiration in which they had joined with apparent cordiality; and to discover faults in a body of criticism which, after all reasonable exceptions are admitted, was never equalled, and perhaps never will be equalled for justice, acuteness, and elegance. Where can we hope to find discussions that can be compared with those introduced in the lives of Cowley, Milton, Dryden, and Pope? His abhorrence, indeed, of Milton’s political conduct, Jed him to details and observations which can, never be acceptable to a certain class of politicians; but when he comes to analyze his poetry, and to fix his reputation on its proper basis, it must surely be confessed that no man, since the first appearance of Paradise Lost, has ever bestowed praise with a more munificent hand. He appears to have collected his whole energy to immortalize the genius of Milton; nor has any advocate for Milton’s democracy appeared, who has not been glad to surrender the guardianship of his poetical fame to Johnson.

In 1781, the public demand rendered it necessary to print an edition of the Lives in four 8vo volumes, and in 1783, another edition of the same number, but considerably enlarged, altered, and corrected by the author. We- cannot here suppress a circumstance communicated by our worthy friend Mr. Nichols, which may check the murmurs of the public, respecting improved editions. Although the corrections and alterations of the edition of 1783 were printed separately and offered gratis to the purchasers of the former, scarcely a single copy was called for!

With this work the public labours of Johnson ended; and when we consider his advanced time of life, and the almost unabated vigour of his mind, it may be surely added, that his sun set with unrivalled splendour. But the infirmities of age were now undermining a constitution that had kept perpetual war with hereditary disease, and his most valued friends were dropping into the grave before him. He lost Mr. Thrale and Mrs. Williams; his home became cheerless, and much visiting was no longer convenient. His health began to decline more visibly from the month of June 1783, when he had a paralytic stroke; and although he recovered so far as to be able to take another journey to Lichfield and Oxford, towards the close of the year, symptoms of a dropsy indicated the probability of his dissolution at no distant period. Some relief, however, having been administered, he rejoined the society of his friends, and with a mind still curious, intelligent, and active, renewed his attention to the concerns of literature, dictating information whenever it was wanted, and trying his faculties by Latin translations from the Greek poets. Nothing was so much the subject of alarm with him, as the decay of memory and judgment, of which, however, to the last he never betrayed the least symptom.

In Midsummer 1784, he acquired sufficient strength to go for the last time into Derbyshire. During his absence, his friends, who were anxious for the preservation of so valuable a life, endeavoured to procure some addition to his pension, that he might be enabled to try the efficacy of a tour to the southern part of the continent. Application was accordingly made to the lord chancellor, who seconded it in the proper quarter, but without success. He evinced, however, his high respect for Johnson, by offering to advance the sum of five hundred pounds; and Johnson, when the circumstance was communicated, thanked his lordship in a letter elevated beyond the common expressions of gratitude, by a dignity of sentiment congenial to the feelings of his noble and liberal correspondent. Dr. Brocklesby also made a similar offer, although of a lesser sum; and such indeed was the estimation in which Johnson was held, that nothing would have been wanting which money or affection could procure, either to protract his days, or to make them comfortable.

But these offers were not accepted. The scheme of a continental tour, which he once thought necessary, was never much encouraged by his physicians, and had it promised greater effects, was now beyond his strength. The dropsy and asthma were making hasty approaches, and although he longed for life, and was anxiously desirous that every means might be used to gain another day, he soon became convinced that no hopes were left. During this period, he was alternately resigned to die, and tenacious of life, tranquil in the views of eternity, and disturbed by gloomy apprehensions; but at last his mind was soothed with the consolatory hopes of religion, and although the love of life occasionally recurred, he adjusted his worldly concerns with composure and exactness, as one who was conscious that he was soon to give an account. On Monday the 13th of December, he tried to obtain a temporary relief by puncturing his legs, as had been before performed by the surgeon, but no discharge followed the operation, and about seven o'clock in the evening, he breathed his last, so gently that some time elapsed before his death was perceived.

On the 20th, his body was interred with great solemnity in Westminster-abbey, close to the grave of his friend Garrick*. Of the other honours paid to his memory, it may suffice to say that they were more in number and quality than were ever paid to any man of literature. It was his singular fate that the age, which he contributed to improve, repaid him by a veneration of which we have no example in the annals of literature; and that when his failings as well as his virtues were exhibited without disguise and without partiality, he continued to be revered by the majority of the nation, and is now, after scrutiny and censure have done their worst, enrolled among the greatest names in the history of English genius.

J3ut to delineate the character of Johnson is a task which the present writer wishes to decline. Five large editions of Mr. BoswelPs Life have familiarized Johnson to the knowledge of the public so intimately, that it would be impossible to advance any thing with which every reader is not already acquainted. The suffrages of the nation have been taken, and the question is finally decided. On mature consideration, there appears no reason to depart

* His monument was reserved for sculpture was designed and finely exeSt. Paul’s church; and the expences cuted by Bacon. The epitaph is the having bee defrayed by a liberal and composition of Dr. Parr, and is coovoluntary contribution, it stands with cise, but strongly appropriated. The that of Howard, one of the first tributes monument was completed early in of national admiration and gratitude 1796, admitted into that cathedral. The from the generally received opinions as to the rank Johnson holds among men of genius and virtue, a rank which those who yet capriciously dwell on his tailings, will find it difficult to disturb. His errors have been brought forward with no sparing hand both by his friends and his enemies, yet when every fair deduction is made from the reputed excellence of his character as a man and a writer, enough in our opinion will remain to gratify the partiality of his admirers, and to perpetuate the public esteem.

It is unpleasant, however, to quit a subject, which, the more it is revolved, serves to gladden the mind with pleasing recollections. There are surely circumstances in the history of Johnson which compel admiration in defiance of prejudice or envy. That a man of obscure birth, of manners by no means prepossessing, whose person was forbidding, whose voice was rough, inharmonious, and terrifying, whose temper was frequently harsh and overbearing; that such a man should have forced his way into the.society of a greater number of eminent characters than perhaps ever gathered round an individual; that he should not only have gained but increased their respect to a degree of enthusiasm, and preserved it unabated for so long a series of years; that men of all ranks in life, and of the highest degrees of mental excellence, should have thought it a duty, and found it a pleasure, not only to tolerate his occasional roughness, but to study his humour, and submit to his controul, to listen to him with the submission of a scholar, and consult him with the hopes of a client All this surely affords the strongest presumption that such a man was remarkable beyond the usual standard of human excellence. Nor is this inference inconsistent with the truth, for it appears that whatever merit may be attributed to his works, he was perhaps yet more to be envied in conversation, where he exhibited an inexhaustible fertility of imagination, an elegance and acuteness of argument, and a ready wit, such as never appear to have been combined in one man. And it is not too much to say that whatever opinion was entertained by tftose who knew him only in his writings, it never could have risen to that pitch of admiration which has been excited by the labours of his industrious biographer.

His death formed a very remarkable aera in the literary world. For a considerable time the periodical journals, as well as general conversation, were eagerly occupied on an event which was the subject of universal regret; and every man hastened with such contributions as memory supplied, to illustrate a character in which all took a lively interest. Numerous anecdotes were published, some authentic and some imaginary, and the general wish to knew more of Johnson was for some years insatiable. At length the proprietors of his printed works met to consider of a complete and uniform edition, but as it was feared that the curiosity which follows departed genius might soon abate, some doubt was entertained of the policy of a collection of pieces, the best of which were already in the hands of the public in various forms; but this was fortunately overruled, and these collected Works have very recently been printed for the fifth time, and will probably be long considered as a standard book in every library. Less fortunately, however, sir John Hawkins, who was one of Johnson’s executors, and professed to be in possession of materials for his Life, was engaged to write that Life, as well as to collect his Works. They accordingly appeared in 1787, in 11 vols. 8vo. Of the Life it is unnecessary to add any thing to the censure so generally passed. Sir John spoke his mind, perhaps honestly but his judgment must have been as defective as his memory,when he decided with so much prejudice and so little taste or candour, on the merits of his author, and of other eminent persons, whom, as a critic humorously said, “he brought to be tried at the Middlesex quarter sessions.” In collecting the Works, he inserted some which no man could suspect to be Johnson’s, while he omitted other pieces that had been acknowledged. A more correct arrangement, however, has been since adopted.

Two years before this edition appeared, Mr. Boswell published his Tour to the Hebrides, and exhibited such a sample of Dr. Johnson’s conversation-talents as raised very high expectations from the Life which he then announced to be in a state of preparation. Mr. Boswell’s acquaintance with Dr. Johnson commenced in 1763; and from that time he appears to have meditated what he at length executed, the most complete and striking portrait ever exhibited of any human being. His “Tour” having shown the manner in which he was to proceed, Johnson’s friends willingly contributed every document they could collect from memory or writing; and Mr. Boswell, who meditated one volume only, was soon obliged to extend his work to two bulky quartos. These were published in 1791, and bought up with an avidity which their wonderful variety of entertainment, vivacity, anecdote, and sentiment, amply justified. Five or six very large editions have since appeared, and it seems to be one of those very fortunate and fascinating books of which the public is not likely to tire.

Mr. Boswell, indeed, has proved, contrary to the common opinion, and by means which will not soon be repeated, that the life of a mere scholar may be rendered more instructive, more entertaining, and more interesting, than than that of any other human being. And although the “confidence of private conversation” has been thought to be sometimes violated in this work, for which no apology is here intended, yet the world seems agreed to forgive this failing in consideration of the pleasure it has afforded; that wonderful variety of subjects, of wit, sentiment, and anecdote, with which it abounds; and above all, the valuable instruction it presents on many of the most important duties of life. It must be allowed that it created some enemies to Dr. Johnson among those who were not enemies before this disclosure of his sentiments. Vanity has been sometimes hurt, and vanity has taken its usual rerenge. It is generally agreed, however, that Mr. Boswell’s account of his illustrious friend is impartial: he conceals no failing that revenge or animosity has since been able to discover; all his foibles of manner and conversation are faithfully recorded, and recorded so frequently that it is easier to form a just estimate of Dr. Johnson than of any eminent character in the whole range of biography.

One singular effect was produced by this extraordinary book. When it was determined to discard sir John Hawkins’s Life of Johnson, application was made to Mr. Murphy, to furnish another, to be prefixed to the second edition of the works published in 1793. This Mr. Murphy executed under the title (which he had used in the case of Fielding) of “An Essay on the Life and Genius of Dr. Johnson;” but he had conceived a prejudice of jealousy of Mr. Boswell’s fame, and notwithstanding the latter has strengthened his narrative by every possible proof, Murphy persisted in taking his facts from the very inaccurate narrative of sir John Hawkins, and the more flippant anecdotes published by Mrs. Piozzi. In his Essay, therefore, it is not wonderful that many circumstances are grossly, and considering that proofs were within his reach, we may add, wilfully misrepresented.

, an English botanist, of the seventeenth century, was born at Selby, in Yorkshire, and bred an apothecary in London. He afterwards kept a shop on Snow- hill, where, says Wood, by his unwearied pains and good natural parts, he attained to be the best herbalist of his age in England. He was first known to the public by a small piece under the title of “Iter in agrum Cantianum,” 1620; and “Ericetum Hamstedianum,” 16&2; which were the first local catalogues of plants published in England. He soon after acquired great credit by his new edition and emendation of Gerard’s “Herbal.” In the rebellion, “his zeal for the royal cause led him into the army, in which he greatly distinguished himself;- and the university of Oxford, in consideration of his merit, learning, and loyalty, conferred upon him the degree of M. D. May 9, 1643. In the army he had the rank of lieutenantcolonel to sir Marmaduke Rawdon, governor of Basinghouse. Near this place, in a skirmish with the enemy, in Sept. 1644, he received a shot in the shoulder, of which he died in a fortnight after, and, as there is reason to think, in the meridian of life. Besides the works abovementioned, and his improved edition of Gerard’s” Herbal,“which was twice printed in his life-time, in 1633 and in 1636, fol. he published in 1634,” Mercurius Botanicus, sive plantarum gratia suscepti Itineris, anno 1634, descriptio,“Lond. 8vo. This was the result of a journey, with some associates of the company of apothecaries, through Oxford, to Bath and Bristol, and back by Southampton, the Isle of Wight, and Guiklford, with the professed design to investigate rare plants. To this was added his small tract,” De Thermis Bathonicis,“with plans of the baths, and one of the city, which, to antiquaries, are now interesting. This was followed by a second part of his excursion,” Pars altera," which extends to Wales. He was among the earliest botanists who visited Wales and Snowdon, with the sole intention of discovering the rarities of that country in the vegetable kingdom, He also translated the works of Ambrose Parey, the celebrated French surgeon, published at London in 1643, and reprinted in 1678. Miller consecrated the name of Johnson by assigning it to a berry-bearing shrub of Carolina, belonging to the tetrandrous class, but it has not been retained in the LinnaDan system, where the plant is called callicarpa.

, an excellent classical scholar and editor, was born at Stadhampton, in Oxfordshire, and educated at KingVcollege, Cambridge, as Mr. Cole says, but according to others, at Magdalen -college, of which he was afterwards a fellow. He took his bachelor’s degree in 1688, and that of M. A. in 1692, after which he left the university, and married. He had also an Eton fellowship, and was assistant at the school. He was likewise usher of Ipswich school, and taught school once at Brentford, and in other places. Little else is known of his history, nor have we been able to ascertain the time of his death. Cole says his character is represented as having been dissolute, but he was an excellent scholar. He is best known as the editor of “Sophocles,” Oxon. and London, 1705, and 1746, 3 vols. He published also “Gratius, de Venatione, cum notis,” Lond. 1699, 8vi “Cebetis Tabula,” Lond. 1720, 8vi; “Novum Graecorum Epigrammatum delectus,” for the use of Eton school, repeatedly printed from 1699, &c. “The Iliad of Homer made English from the French version of Madame Dacier; revised and compared with the Greek” “Questiones Philosophic^ in usum juventiitis academics,” 173.5, 8vi, at that time a most useful manual and an edition of “PuffendoriF de Officio hominis et civis,” 4to. To these may be added, “An Essay on Moral Obligation, with a view towards settling the controversy concerning moral and positive duties,” Cambridge, 1731; “A letter to Mr. Chandler, in vindication of a passage in the bishop of London’s second Pastoral Letter,” 1734, p 8vo. In this last-mentioned year appeared the new edition of Stephens’s “Thesaurus Linguae Latinae,” of which our author was one of the editors.

, was born at Caskieben, near Aberdeen, the seat of his ancestors, in 1587, and probably was educated at Aberdeen, as he was afterwards advanced to the highest dignity in that university. The study to which he chiefly applied, was that of physic; and to improve himself in that science, he travelled into foreign countries. He was twice at Rome, but the chief place of his residence was at Padua, in which university the degree of M. D. was conferred on him in 1610, as appears by a ms copy of verses in the advocates’ library in Edinburgh. After leaving Padua, he travelled through the rest of Italy, and over Germany, Denmark, England, Holland, and other countries, and at last settled in France, where he met with great applause as a Latin poet. He lived there twenty years, and by two wives had thirteen children. At last, after twenty-four years absence, he returned into Scotland, as some say in 1632, but probably much sooner, as there is an edition of his “Epigrammata,” printed at Aberdeen in 1632, in which he is styled the king’s physician. It appears by the council-books at Edinburgh, that the doctor had a suit at law before that court about the same time. In the year following, Charles I. went into Scotland, and made bishop Laud, then with him, a member of that council; and by this accident it is probable the acquaintance began between the doctor and that prelate, which produced his “Psalmorum Davidis Paraphrasis Poetica.” We find, that in the same year the doctor printed a specimen of his Psalms at London, and dedicated them to his lordship, which is considered as a proof that the bishop prevailed upon Johnston to remove to London from Scotland, and then set him upon this work; neither can it be doubted but, after he had seen this sample, he also engaged him to perfect the whole, which took him up four years; for the first etlition'of all the Psalms was published at Aberdeen in 1637, and at London in the same year. In 1641, Dr. Johnston being at Oxford on a visit to one of his daughters, who was married to a divine of the church of England in that place, was seized with a violent diarrhoea, of which he died in a few days, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, not without having seen the beginning of those troubles which proved so fatal to his patron. He was buried in the place where he died, which gave occasion to the following lines of his learned friend Wedderburn in his “Suspiria,” on the doctor’s death:

In 1632, as already remarked, was published at Aberdeen “Epigrammata Arturi Johnstoni;” and in 1633, he translated Solomon’s Song into Latin elegiac verse, and dedicated it to his majesty; in 1637, he edited the “Deliciae Poetarum Scoticorum,” to which he was himself a large contributor, and which, says Dr. Johnson, would have done honour to any country. His Psalms were reprinted at Middleburg, 1642; London, 1657; Cambridge,; Amsterdam, 1706 Edinburgh, by William Lauder, 1739 and at last on the plan of the Delphin classics, at London, 1741, 8vo, at the expence of auditor Benson, who dedicated them to his late majesty, and prefixed to this edition memoirs of Dr. Johnston, with the testimonies of various learned persons. A laboured, but partial and injudicious comparison between the two translations of Buchanan and Johnston, was printed the same year by Benson, in English, in 8vo, entitled <* A Prefatory Discourse to Dr. Johnston’s Psalms,“&c. and” A Conclusion to it.“This was ably answered by the learned Ruddiman in” A Vindication of Mr. George Buchanan’s Paraphrase of the Book of Psalms,“1745, 8vo. Johnston’s translations of the” Te Deum, Creed, Decalogue,“&c. were subjoined to the Psalms. His other poetical works are his” Parerga,“and his” Musae Aulicse,“or commendatory verses upon persons of rank in church and state at that time. Johnston is evidently entitled to very high praise as a Latin poet; and the late lord Woodhouselee seems to admit that from his days the Latin muses have deserted the northern part of our island: Benson’s comparison between Buchanan and Johnston was absurd enough, but it is not fair that Johnston should suffer by his editor’s want of taste. The abler critic we have just mentioned, does not think Johnston’s attempt to emulate Buchanan as a translator of the Psalms, greatly beyond his powers; for, although taken as a whole, his version is certainly inferior (as indeed what modern has, in Latin poetry, equalled Buchanan) yet there are a few of his Psalms, such as the 24th, 30th, 74th, 81st, 82d, 102d, and above all, the 137th, which, on comparison, lord Woodhouselee says, will be found to excel the corresponding paraphrase of his rival. And Dr. Beattie seems to speak in one respect more decidedly. Johnston, he says,” is not so verbose as Buchanan, and has of course more vigour;" but he very justly censures the radical evil of Johnston’s Psalms, his choice of a couplet, which keeps the reader always in rnind of the puerile epistles of Ovid.

, author of <c Chrysal, or the Adventures 'of a Guinea,“and other works of a similar kind, was a native of Ireland, and descended from a branch of the Johnstons of Annandale. He was born in the early part of the last century, but in what year we have not been able to discover. After receiving a good classical education, he was called to the bar, and came over to England for practice in that profession, but being unfortunately prevented by deafness from attending the courts, he confined himself to the employment of a chamber counsel. It does not appear that his success was great, and embarrassed circumstances rendered him glad to embrace any other employment, in which his talents might have a chance to succeed. His” Chrysal“is said to have been his first literary attempt, two volumes of which he wrote while on a visit to Mount Edgecumbe, the seat of the late earl of Mount Edgecumbe. He appears to have had recourse to some degree of art, in order to apprize the public of what they were to expect from it. In the newspapers for April 1760, it is announced that” there will be speedily published, under the emblematical title of the f Adventures of a Guinea/ a dispassionate, distinct account of the most remarkable transactions of the present times all over Europe, with curious and interesting anecdotes of the public and private characters of the parties principally concerned in these scenes, especially in England; the whole interspersed with several most whimsical and entertaining instances of the intimate connection between high and low life, and the power of little causes to produce great events.“This, while it has the air of a puff, is not an unfaithful summary of the contents of these volumes, which were published in May of the same year, and read with such avidity, that the author was encouraged to add two more volumes in 1765, not inferior to the former, in merit or success; and the work has often been reprinted since. The secret springs of some political intrigues on the continent, are perhaps unfolded in these volumes, but it was the personal characters of many distinguished statesmen, women of quality, and citizens, which rendered the work palatable. A few of these were depicted in such striking colours as not to be mistaken; and the rest, being supposed to be equally faithful, although less obvious, the public were long amused in conjecturing the originals. With some truth, however, there is so much fiction, and in a few instances so much of what deserves a worse epithet, that” Chrysal“does not appear entitled to much higher praise than that of the best” scandalous chronicle of the day." In one case, it may be remembered, the author occasioned no little confusion among the guilty parties, by unfolding the secrets of a club of profligates of rank, who used to assemble at a nobleman’s villa in Buckinghamshire. In this, as well as other instances, it must be allowed, that although he describes his bad characters as worse than they were, he everywhere expresses the noblest sentiments of indignation against vice and meanness.

Mr. Johnston’s other publications, of the same kind, delineating in caricature the striking outlines of popular characters and public vices, were, “The Reverie; or a Flight to the Paradise of Fools,” 1762, 2 vols. 12mo; “The History of Arbases, prince of Betlis,” 1774, 2 vols. “The Pilgrim, or a Picture of Life,” 1775, 2 vols.; and “The History of John Juniper, esq. alias Juniper Jack,” 1781, 3 vols. None of these, however, attracted the attention of the public in any considerable degree. In 1782, he had some prospect of passing his days in comfort, if not in opulence, in India, and accordingly embarked for Bengal, with capt. Charles Mears, in the Brilliant, which was wrecked off Johanna, an island situated between Madagascar and the continent of Africa; but capt. Mears, with his son and daughter, and Mr. Johnston, and some others, were saved, and ultimately reached India. Here he employed his talents in writing essays for the Bengal newspapers, under the signature of “Oneiropolos,” and at length became a joint proprietor of a paper, and by this and some other speculations, acquired considerable property. He died there about 1800. These memoirs of a man, certainly deserving of some notice, have been derived from various anonymous authorities, and are therefore given with diffidence.

, an eminent physician at Worcester, was the fourth son of John Johnstone, esq. of Galabank, one of the most ancient branches of the family of Johnstone of Johnstone: he was born at Annan in 1730, and received the rudiments of his classical education under the rev. Dr. Henry, author of the History of Great Britain. In the school of Edinburgh, under Whytt, Plummer, Monro, and Rutherford, he learned the science of medicine; and in Paris, under Ferrein and Rouelle, he studied anatomy and chemistry. In 1750, before he had completed twenty-one years, he took the degree of doctor of medicine, publishing a thesis “De Aeris factitii imperio in corpore humano,” which gained him much credit, and some valuable friends. The following year he seated himself at Kidderminster, in Worcestershire; which at that time, and some years afterwards, was subject to a putrid fever of such peculiar malignity, as to be called the Kidderminster fever. His name first became known by the successful treatment he adopted for the cure of this dreadful disorder. Instead of bleeding and purging, means then in common use, he recommended bark, wine, mineral acids, free ventilation of air, and the affusion of water and vinegar; and so prominent was his success, that he was immediately introduced into considerable practice. Of this fever, as it appeared in 1756, he published an account in 1758, which proves him to be the discoverer of the power of mineral acid vapours to correct or destroy putrid febrile contagion: He orders for this purpose, vitriolic acid to be poured upon common salt, in a convenient vessel, over a proper heat. It is not a little singular, that the same means should be recommended by the celebrated Guyton de Morveau for the same purpose, more than twenty years after they were published by Dr. Johnstone, and be then; cried up as a great discovery.

The first sketches of Dr. Johnstone' s physiological inquiry into the uses of the ganglions of the nerves, were published in the 54th, 57th, and 60th vols. of the Phil, Trans. They were afterwards enlarged, and printed separately. In this inquiry, he considers ganglions as “little brains, subordinate springs and reservoirs of nervous power, the immediate sources of the nerves sent to organs moved involuntarily, and the check or cause which hinders our volitions from extending to them. In a word, ganglions limit the exercise of the sours authority in the animal ceconomy, and put it out of our power, by a single volition, to stop the motions of the heart, and in one capricious moment irrecoverably to end our lives.” But his physiological researches did not stop here:^ In a treatise on the Walton water, which in quality strongly resembles the Cheltenham, he has pointed out the probable function of the lymphatic glands, supposing them to be organs destined to purify, digest, and animalize the matters selected and absorbed by the lacteals and other lymphatics; thus fitting them for their union with the blood, and the nutrition of the body.

At Kidderminster Dr. Johnstone continued to act in a wide sphere of country practice, till the death of his eldest son, a physician fast rising into eminence, who fell a martyr to humanity in attending the prisoners at Worcester infected with jail-fever; and the coincidence of the death of his dearest friend the rev. Job Orton, induced him to remove to Worcester. In this city, famous from the days of Dr. Cole, the friend of Sydenham, for its physicians, he continued, vigorous, active, and sprightly, useful to the community, and beloved by his friends, to practise till a few days previous to his death. He had been subject to pulmonary complaints in his youth, which had been averted by temperance and caution. In his later years they recurred, and during the last spring he had bied himself rather too profusely. In the last attack, which was aggravated by excessive fatigue and exertion, his weakness was such as to forbid the repetition of more than one bleeding; and his strength gradually decayed, leaving his intellect clear and unimpaired. His death was a perfect euthanasia: he expired April 28, 1802, after a short and in no wise painful struggle, having sat up and conversed with his family, till within a few hours of the awful change, cheerful, patient, and resigned. He survived his wife, with whom he lived fifty years, only two months.

Dr. Johnstone was the correspondent and friend of Haller, Whytt, Cullen, and Fothergill; the bosom-friend of the virtuous Lyttelton and the pious Orton, and of many other wise and learned men, who still improve and adorn society the active and humane physician, the sagacious physiologist, the recondite antiquary and few men have occupied a larger space of professional utility and private regard, than Dr. Johnstone. Firm and undeviating in his own moral carriage, his vigorous and manly mind was perhaps, on some occasions, too little accommodating to characters and circumstances. In his temper he was cheerful, though sometimes hasty in his conversation lively and instructive in his affections warm and attached in his domestic relations, he was the best of fathers, his whole life was a sacrifice to the advantage of his children in fine, although the memory of his personal services cannot be soon forgotten, yet has he erected a still more durable monument to his fame, in those various practical improvements of the medical art, which rank his name among the benefactors of mankind.

, an eminent naturalist, was born at Sambter, in Great Poland, in 1603: he received the greater part of his education in his own country; but in 1622, he came to England, and from thence he went to Scotland, where he studied with great diligence in the university of St. Andrew’s till 1625. He afterwards studied at Leyden and Cambridge. He undertook the education of the two sons of the count de Kurtzbach, and accompanied them to Holland. While he resided with his pupils at Leyden, he took his degree as doctor of physic; and when he went a third time to England, the same honour was conferred on him by the university of Cambridge. He died in June 1675, in the seventy-second year of his age. He is known in the literary world by a number of works in the different departments of natural history, particularly “Thaumatographia naturalis in classes decem divisa,” Amst. 1632, 12mo; “Historia naturalis de Piscibus et Cetis, &c.” Francfort, 1649, folio; “Historia naturalis de Quadrupedibus,” ibid, 1652, folio; “Hist. nat. de Insectibus,” ibid. 1653, folio “Hist. nat. de Avibus,” ibid, folio; “Syntagma Dendrologicum,” and “Dendrographia,” folio. He published also some historical works, and some on ethics, &c. enumerated in our authorities.

, an eminent French statesman, who flourished about 1260, was descended from one of the noblest and most ancient families at Champagne. He was seneschal, or high-steward, of Champagne, and one of the principal lords of the court of Louis IX. whom he attended in all his military expeditions; and was greatly beloved and esteemed for his valour, his wit, and the frankness of his manners. That monarch placed so much confidence in him, that all matters of justice, in the palace, were referred to his decision; and his majesty undertook nothing of importance without consulting him. He died about 1318, at not much less than ninety years of age. Joinviile is known as an author by his “History of St. Louis,” in French, which he composed in 130.5: a very curious and interesting work. The best edition is that of Du Gauge, in 1668, folio, with learned remarks. On per-, using this edition, however, it is easily seen, that the language of the Sire de Joinviile has been altered. But aa authentic ms. of the original was found in 1748, and was published without alteration, in 1761, by Melot, keeper of the royal library at Paris. This edition is also in folio.

, a French writer, was born at Paris in 1607, and obtained a canonry in the cathedral there in 1631. Discovering also a capacity for state affairs, he was appointed to attend a plenipotentiary to Munster; and, during the commotions at Paris, he took a journey to Rome. In 1671, he was made precentor of his church, and several times official. He lived to the great age of ninety-three, without experiencing the usual infirmities of it; when, going one morning to matins, he fell into a trench, which had been dug for the foundation of the high altar. He died of this fall in 1700, after bequeathing a very fine library to his church. He was the author of many works in both Latin and French, and as well upon civil as religious subjects. One of them in French, 1652, in 12mo, is entitled t( A Collection of true and important Maxims for the Education of a Prince, against the false and pernicious politics of cardinal Mazarine;“which, being reprinted in 1663, with two” Apologetical Letters,“was burnt in 1665 by the hands of the common hangman. The same year, how-. ever, 1665, he published a tract called” Codicil d'Or, or the Golden Codicil," which relates to the former; being a further collection of maxims for the education of a prince, taken chiefly from Erasmus, whose works he is said to have read seven times over.

, king’s counsellor at the Chatelet, and syndic of the annuitants of the H6tel de Ville at Paris, attached himself to cardinal de Retz, whom he attended a long time as secretary in his troubles and adventures, but quitted his eminence when he returned to Rome. There are some “Memoirs” by him, from 164-8 to 1665, designed as an explanation and supplement to those of cardinal de Retz, with which they were printed in 2 vols. 12mo. These memoirs contain some very curious particulars. He also left some tracts, written by order of the court, in defence of the queen’s rignts, against Peter Stockmans, an eminent lawyer; particularly “The Intrigues of the Peace,” and the “Negociations” made at court by the friends of M. the prince, after his retreat to Guienne, folio, with a sequel of the same “Intrigues,” 4to.

, one of the most intelligent, learned, and affecting dramatic composers of modern times, was born at Avellino, a town about twenty-five miles from Naples, in which city he had his musical education under Leo and Durante. The first opera to which we find his name, is “Riccimero Re de' Goti,” composed for the Argentina theatre at Rome, 1740: and between that period and 1758, he composed for that city fourteen operas, besides others for Venice and different Italian theatres.

From 1758 to about 1768, he resided in Germany, being engaged in the service of the duke of Wurtemburg, at Stutgardt, or rather at Ludwigsburg, his new capital, where Jomelli’s works were performed. Here he produced a great number of operas and other compositions, by which he acquired great reputation, and totally changed the taste of vocal music in Germany. On his return to Italy, he left all these productions behind him, upon a supposition that he should again resume his station at Ludwigsburg, after visiting his native country. But as he never returned thither to claim these compositions, they fell into the hands of his patron, the duke of Wurtemburg, who preserved them as precious relics of this great master. Very few of his entire operas were ever performed in England. The first was “Attilio Regulo,” in 1753, and the second, in 1755, “Andromaca.” The operas of Jomelli will be always valuable to professors and curious collectors, for the excellence of the composition, though it has been thought necessary, in compliance with the general rage for novelty, to lay them aside and to have the same dramas new set for the stage, in order to display the talents, or hide the defects, of new singers.

As Jomelli was a great harmonist, and naturally grave and majestic in his style, he seems to have manifested abilities in writing for the church superior even to those for the stage. Dr. Burney speaks of three, the only ones he had seen, all written by Metastasio, and all admirably get. Dr. Burney had also a “Te Deum,” and a “Requiem” of his composition, which show him to have been a great master of the church style, although he appears not to have tried that species before 1751, when he, Perez, and Durante were employed to compose some music at Rome for passion week. But though he acquired considerable fame on this occasion, yet he was so far from being intoxicated by it, that in a visit to father Martini, at Bologna soon after, he told this learned contrapuntist that he had a scholar to introduce to him. Martini assured him that he should be glad to instruct any one so well recommended and, a few days after, Martini asking who and where was the disciple he had talked- of Jomelli answered that it was himself and pulling a studio of paper out of his pocket, on which he had been trying his strength in modulation and fugue upon canto fermo, begged of him to examine and point out his errors.

From this period he produced many admirable compositions for the church, in which he united elegance with learning, and grace with bold design. Among other productions of this kind, the two following merit commemoration. An “OfTertorio,” or motet, for five voices without instruments, followed by an Alleluja of four parts in chorus; and a “Missa pro defunctis,” or burial service, which he composed at Stutgardt for the obsequies of a lady of high rank and favour at the court of his patron, the duke of Wurtemburg. These compositions, which are learned without pedantry, and grave without dulness, will be lasting monuments of his abilities as a contrapuntist.

But the most elaborate of all his compositions is the <c Miserere," or fifty-first psalm, translated into Italian verse, by his friend Saverio Mattei, which he set for two voices, accompanied with instruments, in 1773, the year before his decease. In this production, which breathes a pious gravity, and compunction of heart suited to the contrite sentiments of the psalmist, there is a manifest struggle at extraneous modulation and new effects, perhaps too much at the expence of facility and grace. There are, however, admirable strokes of passion as well as science in it, which, though above the comprehension of common hearers, will afford great pleasure to those that are able to read the score, or to follow the performers through the labyrinths of art. This admirable composer had, in general, such a facility in writing, that he seldom courted the muse at an instrument; and so tenacious a memory, that Sacchini said he frequently composed an air on opening a book of lyric poetry, while, like a peripatetic, he has been walking about a room, which he remembered a year after, and then committed it to paper as fast as he could write a letter.

As Raphael had three manners of painting, Jomelli had three styles of composition. Before he went to Germany the easy and graceful flow of Vinci and Pergolesi pervaded all his productions; but when he was in the service of the duke of Wurtemburg, finding the Germans were fond of learning and complication, he changed his style in compliance with the taste and expectations of his audience; and on his return to Italy he tried to thin and simplify his dramatic muse, which, however, was still so much too operose for Italian ears, that in 1770, upon a Neapolitan being asked how he liked Jomelli' s new opera of “Demofoonte,” he cried out with vehemence, “e scelerata, Signore” The health of Jomelli began to decline in 1770, and in 1771 he had a stroke of the palsy, which, however, did not impair his intellects, as he composed “Achille in Sciro” for the Roman theatre, and a cantata for the safe delivery of the queen of Naples, in 1772; and in 1773 his Italian “Miserere,” the most elaborate and studied of all his works. He died in Sept. 1774.

His learned friend, Signer Saverio Mattei, the translator of the Psalms into Italian verse, from whose admirable version Jomelli had taken the “Miserere,” or fifty-first psalm, drew up a very interesting account of the works and public funeral of the great musician, and printed it in his “Saggio di Poesia Latine et Italiane,” published at Naples immediately after his decease.

, a learned Icelander, who acquired a great reputation for astronomy and the sciences, was coadjutor to Gundebrand of Thorbac, bishop of Holum in Iceland, who was also of that nation, a man of great learning and probity, had been a disciple of Tycho Brahe, and understood astronomy very well. After his death, the see of Holum was offered by the king of Denmark to Anagrimus, who begged to be excused; desiring to avoid the envy that might attend him in that high office, and to be at leisure to prosecute his studies. He chose therefore to continue as he was, pastor of the church of Melstudt, and intendant of the neighbouring churches of the last-mentioned diocese. He died in 1640, at the age of ninety-five. He wrote several books in honour of his country, against the calumnies of Blefkenius and others, which are well esteemed; the titles whereof are, “Idea veri magistratus,” Copenhagen, 1589, 8vo. “Brevis commentarius de Islandia, ibid. 1593,” 8vo. “Anatome Blefkeniana. Holi in Iceland, 1612,” 8vi, and at Hamburgh, 1618, 4to. “Epistola pro patria defensoria,” ibid. 1618. “'ATrorpiGv calumniae,” ibid. 1622, 4to. “Crymogeea, seu rerum Islandicarum libri tres, ibid. 1630,” 4to. This was written in 1603, and printed at Hamburgh in 1609, with a map of Denmark, and, in 1710, without the map. “Specimen Islandi.i; historicum et magna ex parte chorographicum,” Amstelod. 1634, 4to. This piece is a vindication of the author’s opinion against the arguments of John Isaacus Pontanus. Anagrimus maintained that Iceland was not peopled till about the year 874, and therefore cannot be the ancient Thule. “Vita Gundebrandi Thorlacii,” Lugd. Bat. 1630, 4to.

, an eminent German divine, and one of the first reformers, was born at Northausen, in Thuringia, June 5, 1493, where his father was chief magistrate. He first made considerable progress in the study of civil law, but relinquishing that, devoted his whole attention to theology, in which faculty he took his doctor’s degree. This was about the time that the reformation was begun and Jonas having been present at various disputations on the subject, espoused the principles of the reformers with great zeal, and, from his knowledge of civil law as well as divinity, was enabled to contribute very important assistance to their efforts, particularly Luther and Melancthon, with whom he became early acquainted. In 1521 he was made a canon of the collegiate church at Wittemberg, and appointed principal of the college and professor; and, with Spalatinus and Amsdorff, was employed by the elector of Saxony to reform the church in Misnia and Thuringia. From thence he was called to Halle in Saxony, where he greatly promoted the reformation. Luther sometimes resorted thither to him, and took him with him in his last journey to Isleben, where he died in his arms. After Luther’s death he continued for some time in the duke of Saxony’s court, and was at length appointed pastor of the church at Eisfield, where he died Oct. 9, 1555. Jonas has been ranked among the moderate reformers, being desirous of making no further alteration in the established modes of worship and even doctrine, than he thought absolutely necessary for the introduction of piety and truth. His death was therefore a serious loss to his brethren, whose cause suffered by the intemperate zeal of some of its supporters. Among his writings are enumerated a treatise in. defence of the marriage of priests, against Faber printed at Helmstadt, 1651, fol. another uponthe study of divinity and notes upon the Acts" of the Apostles; but of these his biographers have given very imperfect accounts.

, a pious divine and great benefactor to his country, Wales, was born in 1684, in the parish of Kilredin in the county of Carmarthen, and educated at Carmarthen school, where he made great proficiency in Greek, Latin, and other studies, but does not appear to have been at either university. Having, however, qualified himself for the ministry, he received deacon’s orders from bishop Bull in Sept. 1708, and priest’s orders from the same prelate in Sept. 1709. His learning and piety having recommended him to sir John Phillips, of Picton castle, bart. he was preferred by that gentleman to the rectory of Llanddowror, in Carmarthenshire. He was soon after fixed upon by the “Society for propagating the gospel in foreign parts,” as a person every way qualified to be sent as a missionary amongst the Indians, and at first gave his consent, but circumstances occurred which prevented his country from being deprived of his services. In his parish he soon became popular by his fervent and well digested discourses, delivered with a voice and action tranquil, easy, yet strongly impressive; and by his affectionate discharge of the other duties of his station in risking, catechizing, &c. But he was principally distinguished for his zeal in procuring subscriptions for the support of what were called circulating Welsh schools, to teach poor Welsh men, women, and children to read their native language; and such was his diligence, and the effect of his superintendence of these schools, that he could enumerate 158,000 poor ignorant persons who had been taught to read; and equal care was taken to catechize and instruct young people in the principles of the Christian religion. Having applied to the “Society for promoting Christian knowledge,” of which he was a corresponding member, that body caused to be printed two large editions of the Welsh Bible, of 15,000 copies each, which were sold cheap for the benefit of the poor in Wales. He likewise wrote and published several instructive treatises in the Welsh as well as the English language; and was enabled by the assistance of some charitable friends to print editions of from 8000 to 12,000 of these useful manuals, which were distributed throughout all Wales. His own charitable exertions were extensive, and having studied medicine in a certain degree, he laid in a large stock of drugs, which he made up and dispensed to the poor gratis, taking that opportunity also to give them spiritual advice. This truly good man died April 8, 1761, lamented as a father to his flock, and a general benefactor to the whole country.

, who deserves a place in the catalogue of English writers for having first introduced the numerous and popular little books for the amusement and instruction of children, which have been received with universal approbation, was born in 1721, and served his apprenticeship to Mr. Bowyer, the learned printer. His education was probably not neglected, or at least it was very much improved by his own efforts. He was many years editor of the London Chronicle and Public Ledger. He was also associated with Dr. Johnson in the “Literary Magazine,” and with Smollett and Goldsmith in “The British Magazine,” and published a great number of translations from the French, to none of which, however, was his name prefixed. One little publication, entitled “Great events from little causes,” was his composition, and met with a rapid and extensive sale. In conjunction with Mr. John Newbery, and a brother of his own, Mr. Giles Jones, he wrote many of those little books or Lilliputian histories which were the delight of the youth of many yet living. Mr. Jones, who was a very amiable man, died Sept. 12, 1786. Mr. Giles Jones, his brother (who was more than five-andforty years secretary to the Vork Buildings Water company) left a son,- Mr. Stephen Jones, who, among other literary productions, was editor of the last edition of the “Biographia Dramatica,” which was consigned to his care by the late Mr. Isaac Reed.

, a dramatic writer, was a native of Drogheda, in Ireland, and was bred a bricklayer; but, having a natural inclination for the muses, pursued his devotions to them even during the labours of his mere mechanical avocations, and composing a line of brick and a line of verse alternately, his walls and poems rose in growth together, but not with equal degrees of durability. His turn, as is most generally the case with mean poets, or bards of humble origin, was panegyric. This procured him some friends; and, in 1745, when the earl of Chesterfield went over to Ireland as lord-lieutenant, Mr. Jones was recommended to the notice of that nobleman, who, delighted with the discovery of this mechanic muse, not only favoured him with his own notice and generous munificence, but also thought proper to transplant this opening flower into a warmer and more thriving climate. He brought him with him to England, recommended him to many of the nobility there, and not only procured him a large subscription for the publishing a collection of his “Poems,” but it is said, even took on himself the alteration and correction, of his tragedy, and also the care of prevailing on the managers of Covent-garden theatre to bring it on the stage. This nobleman also recommended him in the warmest manner to Colley Gibber, whose friendly and humane disposition induced him to shew him a thousand acts of friendship, and even made strong efforts by his interest at court to have secured to him the succession of the laurel after his death. With these favourable prospects it might have been expected that Jones would have passed through life with so much decency as to have ensured his own happiness, and done credit to the partiality of his friends; but this was not the case. “His temper,” says one, who seems to have known him, “was, in consequence of the dominion of his passions, uncertain and capricious; easily engaged, and easily disgusted; and, as ceconomy was a virtue which could never be taken into his catalogue, he appeared to think himself born rather to be supported by others than under a duty to secure to himself the profits which his writings and the munificence of his patrons from time to time afforded.” After experiencing many reverses of fortune, which an overbearing spirit, and an imprudence in regard to pecuniary concerns, consequently drew on him, he died in great want, in April 1770, in a garret belonging to the master of the Bedford coffee-house, by whose charity he had been some time supported, leaving an example to those of superior capacities and attainments, who, despising the common maxims of life, often feel the want of not pursuing them when it is too late. His principal performance, “The Earl of Essex,” appeared in 1753, and he also left a tragedy unfinished, called “The Cave of Idra,” which falling into the hands of Dr. Hiffernan, he enlarged it to five acts, and brought it out under the title of “The Heroine of the Cave.” His last publications were, “Merit” “The Relief;” and “Vectis, or the Isle of Wight,” poems but his poetical worth, though not contemptible, was far from being of the first-rate kind.

, a learned dissenting divine, was born in 1693, and received his academical learning under his uncle, the rev. Samuel Jones, first of Gloucester, then of Tewksbury, the tutor of Chandler, Butler, and Seeker. He was fellow-student with the latter in 1711, and was a distinguished scholar, when he entered upon academical studies. It is apprehended, that he was a native of the North of England, and that his father was a gentleman in affluent circumstances. There was with him, at the above seminary, a younger brother, a youth of quick parts, who afterwards settled as a dissenting minister at Manchester. Mr. Jones, soon after he had finished his course of preparatory studies, became the minister of the congregation of Protestant dissenters, who assembled for worship in Forest Green, Avening, Gloucestershire, and resided at Nailsworth, where he also kept an academy. He had the character of being an eminent linguist. He was popular as a preacher; for the place of worship was considerably enlarged in his time. His discourses met with the approbation of the more judicious, for his salary amounted to one hundred pounds per annum, and the whole subscription came from persons of superior rank in life. Though a deep scholar and hard student, he was not a man of severe manners; but of an open and social disposition, and one of a bowling party at a place still called the Lodge, on Hampton common, at which healthy exercise he relaxed from his studies, and by his presence and influence preserved decorum in the company. His character secured him the marked respect of a neighbouring clergyman. His anxiety to fulfil an engagement, which he had made, to perform some ministerial service at a place on the other side of the Severn, hastened his death. It escaped his recollection, till the time drew near; to prevent disappointment, he made so much speed, that his tender constitution was injured by it, and a complaint contracted, from which he never recovered. He died in 1724, aged 31.

Mr. Jones’s first publication was “A Vindication of the former part of Saint Matthew’s Gospel, from Mr. Whiston’s charge of Dislocations, or an attempt to prove that our present Greek copies of that Gospel are in the same order wherein they were originally written by that Evangelist; in which are contained many things relating to the harmony and history of the Four Gospels, 1719.” This work, says Dr. Harwood, is very valuable; it abounds with ingenious remarks, and displays the critical acumen of the author. He prepared for the press before his deatii another excellent performance, entitled “A New and Fall Method of settling the Canonical Authority of the New Testament,” which was published in 1726, in two volumes, 8vo. They were followed by a third volume. In drawing up these works, he took care, it seems, to consult and examine the originals, instead of satisfying himself with the quotations of other learned men. They remain, as monuments of his learning, ingenuity, and indefatigable industry; and would have done credit, it has been observed, to the assiduity and ability of a literary man of sixty. They were become very scarce, and bore a high price, 'when, with the liberality and zeal which reflects honour on them, the conductors of the Clarendon press lately republished them at Oxford. Mr. Jones, observes Dr. Maltby, has brought together, with uncommon diligence and judgment, the external evidence for the authenticity and genuineness of the canonical books; and he has, with equal ability and fairness, stated his reasons for deciding against the authority of the apocryphal. In the prosecution of this important design, he has not only quoted, but translated, the greater part of the contents of Fabricius’s two first volumes. Mr. Jones intended another and distinct volume on the apostolical fathers.

, a celebrated English architect, was born about 1572, in the neighbourhood of St. Paul’s, London, where his father, Mr. Ignatius Jones, was a clothworker. At a proper age, it is said, he put his son apprentice to a joiner, a business that requires some skill in drawing; and in that respect suited well with our architect’s inclination, which naturally led him to the art of designing. It is not probable, however, that he attended long to the mechanical part of his business; for we are told that he distinguished himself early by the extraordinary progress he made with his pencil, and was particularly noticed for his skill in landscape-painting, of which there is a specimen at Chiswick-house. These talents recommended him to the earl of Arundel, or, as some say, to William earl of Pembroke. It is certain, however, that at the. expence of one or other of these lords he travelled over Italy, and the politer parts of Europe; saw whatever was recommended by its antiquity or value; and from these plans formed his own observations, which, upon his return home, he perfected by study. He was no sooner at Rome, says Walpole, than he found himself in his sphere, and acquired so much reputation that Christian IV. king of Denmark sent for him from Venice, which was the chief place of his residence, and where he had studied the works of Palladio, and made him his architect, but on what buildings he was employed in that country we are yet to learn. He had been some time possessed of this honourable post when that prince, whose sister Anne had married James I. made a visit to England in 1606; and our architect, being desirous to return to his native country, took that opportunity of coming home in the train of his Danish majesty. The magnificence of James’s reign, in dress, buildings, &c. furnished Jones with an opportunity of exercising his talents, which ultimately proved an honour to his country. Mr. Seward says, we know not upon what authority, that the first work he executed after his return from Italy, was the decoration of the inside of the church of St. Catharine Cree, Leadenhall-street. We know, however, that the queen appointed him her architect, presently after his arrival; and he was soon taken, in the same character, into the service of prince Henry, under Whom he discharged his trust with so much fidelity and judgment, that the king gave him the reversion of the place of surveyor-general of his majesty’s works.

Prince Henry dying in 1612, Mr. Jones made a second visit to Italy; and continued some years there, improving himself farther in his favourite art, till the surveyor’s place fell to him; on his entrance upon which he shewed an uncommon degree of generosity. The office of his majesty’s works having, through extraordinary occasions, in the time of his predecessor, contracted a great debt, the privycouncil sent for the surveyor, to give his opinion what course might be taken to ease his majesty of it; when Jones not only voluntarily offered to serve without pay himself, in whatever kind due, until the debt was fully discharged, but also persuaded his fellow-officers to dp the like, by which means the whole arrears were soon cleared. It is to the interval between the first and second of Jones’s travels abroad, that Walpole is inclined to assign those buildings of his which are less pure, and border too much on a bastard style of Gothic, which he reformed in his grander designs.

The king, in his progress 1620, calling at Wilton, the seat of the earl of Pembroke, among other subjects, fell into a discourse about that surprising group of stones called Stonehenge, upon Salisbury plain, near Wilton. Our architect was immediately sent for by lord Pembroke, and received his majesty’s commands to make observations and deliver his sentiments on the origin of Stone-henge. In obedience to this command, he presently set about the work; and having, with no little pains and expence, taken an exact measurement of the whole, and diligently searched the foundation, in order to find out the original form and aspect, he proceeded to compare it with other antique buildings which he had any where seen. After much reasoning, and along series of authorities, his head being full of Rome, and Roman edifices and precedents, he concluded, that this ancient and stupendous pile must have been originally a Roman temple, dedicated to Ccelus, the senior of the heathen gods, and built after the Tuscan order; that it was built when the Romans flourished in peace and prosperity in Britain, and, probably, betwixt the time of Agricola’s government and the reign of Constantine the Great. This account he presented to his royal master in the same year, 1620, and was immediately appointed one of the commissioners for repairing St. Paul’s cathedral in London.

Upon the death of king James, he was continued in his post by Charles I. whose consort entertained him likewise in the same station. He had drawn the designs for the palace of Whitehall in his former master’s time; and that part of it, the banqueting-house, in a most pure and beautiful taste, was now carried into execution. It was first designed for the reception of foreign ambassadors; and the cieling was painted, some years after, by Rubens, with the felicities of James’s reign. In June 1633 an order was issued out, requiring him to set about the reparation of St. Paul’s; and the work was begun soon after at the east end, the first stone being laid by Laud, then bishop of London, and the fourth by Jones. In this work, Mr. Walpole remarks that he made two capital faults. He first renewed the sides with very bad Gothic, and then added a Roman portico, magnificent and beautiful indeed, but which had no affinity with the ancient parts that remained, and made his own Gothic appear ten times heavier. He committed the same error at Winchester, thrusting a screen in the Roman or Grecian taste into the middle of that cathedral. Jones, indeed, was by no means successful when he attempted Gothic, the taste for which had declined before his time.

During this reign he gave many proofs of his genius and fancy in the pompous machinery for masques and interludes so much in vogue then. Several of these representations are still extant in the works of Chapman, Davenant, Daniel, and particularly Ben Jonson. The subject was chosen by the poet, and the speeches and songs were also of his composing; but the invention of the scenes, ornaments, and dresses of the figures, was the contrivance of Jones . And in this he acted in harmony with father Ben for a while; but, about 1614, there happened a quarrel between them, which provoked Jonson to ridicule his associate, under the character of Lantern Leatherhead, a hobby-horse seller, in his comedy of “Bartholomew Fair.” Nor did the rupture end but with Jonson’s death; a very few years before which, in 1635, he wrote a most virulent coarse satire, called “An Expostulation with Jnigo Jones;” and, afterwards, “An Epigram to a Friend;” and also a third, inscribed to “Inigo Marquis Would-be.” The quarrel not improbably took its rise from our architect’s rivalship in the king’s favour; and it is certain the poet was much censured at court for this rough usage of his rival: of which being advised by Mr. Howell, he suppressed the whole satire.

In the mean time, Mr. Jones received such encouragement from the court, that he acquired a handsome fortune; which, however, was much impaired by what he suffered during the rebellion; for, as he had a share in his royal master’s prosperity, so he had a share too in his ruin. Upon the meeting of the long parliament, Nov. 1640, he was called before the house of peers, on a complaint against him from the parishioners of St. Gregory’s in London, for damage done to that church, on repairing the cathedral of St. Paul. The church being old, and standing very near the cathedral, was thought to be a blemish to it, and therefore was taken down, pursuant to his majesty’s signification, and the orders of the council in 1639, in the execution of which, our surveyor no doubt was chiefly concerned. But, in answer to the complaint, he pleaded the general issue; and, when the repairing of the cathedral ceased, in 1642, some part of the materials remaining were, by order of the house of lords, delivered to the parishioners of St. Gregory’s, towards the rebuilding of their church. This prosecution must have put Mr. Jones to a very large expence; and, during the usurpation afterwards, he was constrained to pay 545l. by way of composition for his estate, as a malignant. After the death of Charles Ihe was continued in his post by Charles II.; but it was only an empty title at that time, nor did Mr. Jones live long enough to make it any better. In reality, the grief, at his years, occasioned by the fatal calamity of his former munificent master, put a period to his life July 21, 1652, and he was buried in the chancel of St. Rennet’s church, near St. Paul’s wharf, London, where there was a monument erected to his memory, which suffered greatly by the dreadful fire in 1666.

In respect to his character, we are assured, by one who knew him well, that his scientific abilities surpassed most of his age. He was a perfect master of the mathematics, and was not unacquainted with the two learned languages, Greek and Latin, especially the latter; neither was he without some turn for poetry . A copy of verses composed by him is published in the “Odcombian Banquet,” prefixed to Tom Coryate’s “Crudities,” in 1611, 4to. But his proper character was that of an architect, and the most eminent of his time on which account he is still generally styled the British Vitruvius the art of designing being little known in England till Mr. Jones, under the patronage of Charles I. and the earl of Arundel, brought it into use. This is the character given him by Mr. Webb, who was his heir; and who, being born in London, and bred in Merchant Taylors’-school, afterwards resided in Mr. Jones’s family, married his kinswoman, was instructed by him in mathematics and architecture, and designed by him for his successor in the office of surveyor-general of his majesty’s works, but was prevented by Sir John Denham. Mr. Webb published some other pieces besides his “Vindication of Stone-henge restored ;” and dying at Butleigh, his seat in Somersetshire, Oct. 24, 1672, was buried in that church. Walpole enumerates among his works which are still in part extant, the new quadrangle of St. John’s college, Oxfqrd the queen’s chapel at St. James’s the arcade of Oovent-garden and the church Gunnersbury, near Brentford Lincoln’s Inn Chapel, and one or two of the houses in Lincoln’s-inn-fields Coleshill in Berkshire, and Cobham hall in Kent; the Grange, in Hampshire; the queen’s house at Greeirwich, &c. Several other of his buildings may be seen in Campbell’s “Vitruvius Britannicus.” The principal of his designs were published by Mr. Kent in 1727, fol. as also some of his less designs in 1744, foL Others were published by Mr. Isaac Ware. Our artist left in ms. some curious notes upon Palladio’s “Architecture,” now in Worcester college, Oxford, some of which are inserted in an edition of Palladio, published at London, 1714, fol. by Mr. Leoni; which notes, he says, raise the value of the edition above all the preceding ones. His original drawings for Whitehall-palace are also in Worcester library.

, an old medical writer, was either born in Wales, or was of Welsh extraction; studied at both our universities, took a medical degree at Cambridge, and practised with great reputation at Bath, in Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire. He mentions curing a person at Louth in 1562, and the date of his last publication is 1759.

His principal pieces are, “The Dial of Agues,” 1556 “The Benefit of the antient Bathes of Buckstone,” 1572; “The Bathes of Bath’s ayde,” 1572 “A brief, excellent, and profitable Discourse of the natural beginning of all growing and living things, &c.” 1574 perhaps this is taken from “Galen’s Four Books of Elements,” which he translated and printed the same year, or is the same book with another title; “The Art and Science of preserving the Body and Soul in Health,” &c. 1579, 4to.

, a learned English Benedictine, “was born in London in 1575, although originally of a family of Brecknockshire. He was educated at Merchant Taylors’ school, from whence he was elected a scholar of St. John’s college, Oxford, in 1591, where he was chamber-fellow with Mr. Laud, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury. Here he studied civil law, took a bachelor’s degree in that faculty, and was made a fellow of the college. In consequence of a course of reading on the controversies of the time, he embraced the doctrines of popery, and, going abroad, became a Benedictine monk in Spain, assuming the name of Leander a Sancto Martino. He then pursued his studies at Compostella, and was created D. D. When the English religious of his order had formed themselves into a congregation, he was invited to Douay, and made professor of Hebrew and divinity in St. Vedast’s college, during which time he was very instrumental in founding a monastery of Benedictine nuns at Cambray. He was also appointed their confessor, prior of the monastery of Douay, and twice president of the English congregation. It has been said that archbishop Laud gave him an invitation to England, for which various reasons were assigned, and, among others, that they might consult about the reunion of the churches of England and Rome; but there seems no great foundation for this story. That he did return to England, however, is certain, as he died at London Dec. 17, 1636, and was buried in the chapel at Somerset-house. He wrote, 1.” Sacra ars memoriae, ad Scripturas divinas in promptu habendas, &c. accommodata,“Douay, 1623, 8vo. 2.” Conciliatio locorum communium totius Scripturae,“ibid. 1623. He also edited” Biblia Sacra, cum glossa interlineari,“6 vols. fol.” Opera Blosii“and” Arnobius contra gentes,“with notes, Douay, 1634; and had some hand in father Reyner’s” Apostolatus Benedictinorum," 1626.

, an English divine of some note for exciting a controversy respecting the Liturgy, was born in 1700, and is supposed to have been a native of Carmarthen. He was admitted of Worcester college, Oxford, where he took the degree of B. A. about 1721, and quitted the university in or before 1726, in which year he received priest’s orders at Buckden, from Dr. Reynolds, bishop of Lincoln. He had a curacy in that diocese, but in what partis not known. In 1741 he was resident at AbbotsRipton in Huntingdonshire, and soon after was presented to the vicarage of Alconbury, which he resigned in 1751 for the rectory of Boulne-Hurst in Bedfordshire. In 1755 he was vicar of Hitchin, and in 1759 accepted the curacy of Welwyn from Dr. Young, and continued there until 1765, when that celebrated poet died, and Mr. Jones was appointed one of his executors. He afterwards returned to Boulne-Hurst, and probably obtained no other preferment. He was killed by a fall from his horse in going to Abbots-Ripton, but in what year we have not been able to discover, although such a circumstance must have been known to his friends, who, however, have neglected to record it. After his death, many, if not all his manucripts, passed into the hands of the Rev. Thomas Dawson, M. D. a dissenting minister of Hackney, whence they passed to the dissenters’ library in Redcross-street. Some biographical notices which have appeared in the Gentleman’s Magazine were extracted from them. Mr. Nichols has given an extensive series of extracts from his literary correspondence with Dr. Birch, from which many particulars of his talents and character may be gleaned. His chief work was entitled “Free and Candid Disquisitions,” published in 1749. These contained many observations on the defects and improprieties in the liturgical forms of faith and worship of the established church, and proposals of amendments and alterations of such passages as were liable to reasonable objections. There was also a compilation of authorities taken from the writings of some eminent divines of the church of England, with a view to shew the necessity, or at least the expedience, of revising the liturgy, &c. Schemes like this have succeeded each other since the time of Dr. Clarke, but have never been attended with complete conviction, either of their necessity or expedience. The author’s name did not appear to this publication, and Mr. Blackburne, whom he consulted previous to publication, was dissatisfied with his timidity. He wrote, however, a pamphlet in defence of it, and other pamphlets appear pro and con; but the controversy was of no long duration. In 1765 he published “Catholic Faith and Practice,” and “A Letter to a Friend in the Country;” but with the subjects of these we are unacquainted.

, an eminent and learned tutor of the university of Cambridge, was born at Beriew in Montgomeryshire, June 23, 1756. His education, till he entered on his twelfth year, was confined to the instruction of a common country school, first at Beriew, and afterwards in the neighbouring parish of Kerry. During the time that he frequented the latter school, the vicar of the parish, discovering in him those talents which he afterwards so eminently displayed, advised his mother (for he lost his father at an early age) to send him to the grammar-school at Shrewsbury, where he continued nearly seven years, and was inferior to none of his schoolfellows, either in attention to study or in regularity of conduct. In May 1774, he was admitted of St. John’s college, Cambridge, and came to reside there in October following. From that time the excellence of his genius became more particularly conspicuous. He had acquired, indeed, at school, a competent share of classical learning; but his mind was less adapted to Greek and Latin composition than to the investigation of philosophical truths. At the public examinations of St. John’s college he not only was always in the first class, but was without comparison the best mathematician of his year. His first summer vacation was devoted entirely to his favourite pursuit; and at that early period he became acquainted with mathematical works, which are seldom attempted before the third year of academical study. He remained at St. John’s college till after the public examination in June 1776, when, having no prospect of obtaining a fellowship, there being already a fellow of the diocese of St. Asaph in that college, and the statutes limiting the fellowships to one from each diocese, he removed to Trinity college. Here he took his bachelor’s degree in 1779, and his superiority was so decided, that no one ventured to contend with him. The honour of senior wrangler, as it is called in academical phrase, was conceded before the examination began, and the second place became the highest object of competition. If any thing was wanting to shew his superiority, it would be rendered sufficiently conspicuous by the circumstance, that he was tutor to the second wrangler, now the learned Dr. Herbert Marsh, professor of divinity at Cambridge, who acknowledged that for the honour which he then obtained, he was indebted to the instruction of his friend. In the same year in which Mr. Jones took his bachelor’s degree he was appointed assistant tutor at Trinity college. In Oct. 1781 he was elected fellow, and in Oct. 1787, on the resignation of Mr. Cranke, he was appointed to the office of head tutor, which he held to the day of his death. In 1786 and 1787 he presided as moderator in the philosophical schools, where his acuteness and impartiality were equally conspicuous. It was about this time that he introduced a grace, by which fellow-commoners, who used to obtain the degree of bachelor of arts with little or no examination, were subjected to the same academical exercises as other under-graduates. During many years he continued to take an active part in the senate-house examinations; but for some years before his death confined himself to the duties of college- tutor. These, indeed, were sufficiently numerous to engage his whole attention and he displayed in them an ability which was rarely equalled, with an integrity which never was surpassed. Being perfect master of his subjects, he always placed them in the clearest point of view; and by his manner of treating them he made them interesting even to those who had otherwise no relish for mathematical inquiries. His lectures on astronomy attracted more than usual attention, since that branch of philosophy afforded the most ample scope for inculcating (what, indeed, he never neglected in other branches) his favourite doctrine of final causes; for arguing from the contrivance to the contriver, from the structure of the universe to the being and attributes of God. And this doctrine he enforced, not merely by explaining the harmony which results from the established Jaws of nature, but by shewing the confusion which would have arisen from the adoption of other laws. His lectures on the principles of fluxions were delivered with unusual clearness; and there was so much originality in them, that his pupils often expressed a wish that they might be printed. But such was his modesty, that though frequently urged, he never would consent; and when he signed his will a short time before his death, he made the most earnest request to Dr. Marsh, that none of his manuscripts should be printed. But it is a consolation to know, that his lectures in philosophy will not be buried in oblivion: all his writings on those subjects were delivered to his successor in the tuition, and, though less amply than by publication, will continue to benefit mankind. The only things he ever published were “A Sermon on Duelling,” and “An Address to the Volunteers of Montgomeryshire.” The former was published as a warning to the young men of the university, soon after a fatal duel had taken place there. The latter, which he wrote with great animation (for he was a zealous advocate of the volunteer system) was calculated to rouse the volunteers to a vigorous defence of their country.

As the admissions under him as tutor were numerous beyond example, the labour and anxiety attendant on the discharge of his duties gradually impaired a constitution which was naturally feeble. During many years he suffered from an infirmity of the breast, and when he seemed to have recovered from this complaint, was attacked by another of more dangerous tendency, an internal ulcer, which after some variations in the symptoms, and some appearance of relief, proved fatal on July 18, 1807. Being at that time in London for advice, he was, at his own desire, interred in the burial-ground of Dulwich-college.

His academical character has been already described. As a companion he was highly convivial; he possessed a vein of humour peculiar to himself; and no one told a story with more effect. His manners were mild and unassuming, and his gentleness was equalled only by his firmness. As a friend he had no other limit to his kindness than his ability to serve. Indeed his whole life was a life of benevolence, and he wasted his strength in exerting himself for others. The benefits he conferred were frequently so great, and the persons who subsisted by his bounty were so numerous, that he was often distressed in the midst of affluence. And though he was head tutor of Trinity-college almost twenty years, with more pupils than any of his predecessors, he never acquired a sufficient capital to enable him to retire from office, and still continue his accustomed benevolence.

In theology and politics Mr. Jones appears to have held some sentiments, to which his biographer adverts with so much delicacy and caution, that we cannot guess at them; when he adds, however, that “his sentiments on various speculative points underwent a material alteration,” we may infer that such an alteration was for the better. “Of his practical theology,” says Dr. Marsh, “which remained always the same, the best description which can be given is the description of his latter end. He waited the approach of death with a dignified firmness, a placid resignation, and an unaffected piety, which are rarely equalled. Even after his eyes w,ere grown dim and his speech began to faulter, he uttered with great fervency what he had frequently repeated during the course of his illness, that prayer in the * Visitation of the Sick,‘ * Sanctify, we beseech thee, this thy fatherly correction, that the sense of my weakness may add strength to my faith and seriousness to my repentance.’ On these last words he dwelt with peculiar emphasis. About the same time he said to his surrounding friends, as distinctly as the weakness of his voice would permit, * I am conscious, no doubt, of many failings; but I believe I have employed the abilities with which God has blessed me to the advantage of my fellowcreatures. I resign myself, then, with confidence into the hands of my Maker.' He shortly after expired, without a groan or struggle.”

, an eminent mathematician, was born in 1680, in the island of Anglesey, North Wales. His parents were yeomen, or little farmers, in that island, and gave to their son the best education which their circumstances would allow; but he owed his future fame and fortune to the diligent cultivation of the intellectual powers by which he was eminently distinguished. Addicted from early life to the study of mathematics, he commenced his career of advancement in the humble office of a teacher of these sciences on board a man of war. In this situation he attracted the notice, and obtained the friendship of lord Anson. He appeared as an author in his 22d year; when his treatise on the art of navigation was much approved. We may judge of his predominant taste for literature and science by a trivial circumstance which occurred at the capture of Vigo, in 1702. Having joined his comrades in pillaging the town, he selected a bookseller’s shop, in hope of obtaining some valuable plunder; but, disappointed in his expectations, he took up a pair of scissars, which was his only booty, and which he afterwards exhibited' to his friends as a trophy of his military success. On his return to England, he established himself as a teacher of mathematics in London; and here, in 1706, he published his “Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos; or, a new Introduction to the Mathematics,” a work which has ever since been held in the highest estimation as a compendious but comprehensive summary of mathematical science. Mr. Jones was no less esteemed and respected on account of his private character and pleasing manners, than for his natural talents and scientific attainments; so that he reckoned among his friends the most eminent persons of the period in which he lived. Lord Hardwicke selected him as a companion on the circuit, when he was chief justice; and when he afterwards held the great seal, conferred upon him the office of secretary for the peace, as a testimony of his friendship and regard. He was also in habits of intimate acquaintance with lord Parker, president of the royal society, sir Isaac Newton, Halley, Mead, and Samuel Johnson. So highly was his merit appreciated by sir Isaac Newton, that he prepared, with his permission, and very much to his satisfaction, a very elegant edition of small tracts in the higher mathematics. Upon the retirement of lord Mace lesfi eld to Sherborne castle, Mr. Jones resided in his family, and instructed his lordship in the sciences. Whilst he occupied this situation he had the misfortune, by the failure of a banker, to lose the greatest part of that property which he had accumulated Uy the most laudable industry and economy; but the loss was in a great measure repaired to him by the kind attention of his lordship, who procured for him a sinecure place of considerable emolument. He was afterwards offered, by the same nobleman, a more lucrative situation; which, however, he declined, that he might be more at leisure to devote himself to his favourite scientific pursuits. In this retreat he formed an acquaintance with miss Mary Nix, the daughter of a cabinet-maker, who had become eminent in his profession, and whose talents and manners had recommended him to an intimacy with lord Macclesfield. This acquaintance terminated in marriage; and the connection proved a source of personal satisfaction to Mr. Jones himself, and of permanent honour to his name and family. By this lady Mr. Jones had three children two sons and a daughter. One son died in infancy the other will be the subject of the next article and the daughter, who was married to Mr. Rainsford, an opulent merchant retired from business, perished miserably, in 1802, in consequence of her clothes accidentally taking fire. The death of Mr. Jones was occasioned by n polypus in the heart, which, notwithstanding the medical attention and assistance of Dr. Mead, proved incurable. He died in July 1749. Mr. Jones’s papers in the Philosophical Transactions are: “A compendious disposition of Equations for exhibiting, the relations of Goniometrical Lines,” vol. XLIV. “A Tract on Logarithms,” vol. LXI. “Account of the person killed by lightning in Tottenham-court-chapel, and its effects on the building,” vol. LXII. “Properties of the Conic Sections, deduced by a compendious method,” vol. LXIII. In all these works of Mr. Jones, a remarkable neatness, brevity, and accuracy, everywhere prevails. He seemed to delight in a very^ short and comprehensive mode of expression and arrangement; insomuch that sometimes what he has contrived to express in two or three pages, would occupy a little volume in the ordinary style of writing. Mr. Jones, it is said, possessed the best mathematical library in England; which by will he left to lord Macclesfield. He had collected also a great quantity of manuscript papers and letters of former mathematicians, which have often proved useful to writers of their lives, &c. After his death, these were dispersed, and fell into different persons hands many of them, as well as of Mr. Jones’s own papers, were possessed by the late Mr. John Robertson, librarian and clerk to the royal society at whose death Dr. Hutton purchased a considerable quantity of them. From such collections as these it was that Mr. Jones was enabled to give that first and elegant edition, 1711, in 4to, of several of Newton’s papers, that might otherwise have been lost, entitled “Analysis per quantitatum Series, Fluxiones, ac Differentias: cum Enumeratione Linearum Tertii Ordinis.”

We learn from the “Anecdotes of Bowyer,” that the plan of another work was formed by this eminent mathematician, intended to be of the same nature with the “Synopsis,” but far more copious and diffusive, and to serve as a general introduction to the sciences, or, which is the same thing, to the mathematical and philosophical works of Newton. A work of this kind had long been a desideratum in literature, and it required a geometrician of the first class to sustain the weight of so important an undertaking; for which, as M. d'Alembert justly observes, “the combined force of the greatest mathematicians would not have been more than sufficient.” The ingenious author was conscious how arduous a task he had begun; but his very numerous acquaintance, and particularly his friend the earl of Macclesfield, never ceased importuning and urging him to persist, till he had finished the whole work, the result of all his knowledge and experience through a life of near 7O years, and a standing monument, as he had reason to hope, of his talents and industry. He had scarcely sent the first sheet to the press, when a fatal illness obliged him to discontinue the impression; and a few days before his death, he intrusted the ms. fairly transcribed by an amanuensis, to the care of lord Macclesfield, who promised to publish it, as well for the honour of the author as for the benefit of his family, to whom the property of the book belonged. The earl survived his friend many years but the “Introduction to the Mathetics” was forgotten or neglected and, after his death, the ms. was not to be found whether it was accidentally destroyed, which is hardly credible, or whether, as hath been suggested, it had been lent to some geometrician, unworthy to bear the name either of a philosopher or a man, who has since concealed it, or possibly burned the original for fear of detection. Lord Teignmouth, however, informs us, in his life of Mr. Jones’s illustrious Son, that there is no evidence in his memoranda to confirm or disprove this account.

, one of the most accomplished scholars in Europe, the son of the preceding, was born Sept. 28, 1746. As his father died when he had scarcely reached his third year, the care of his education devolved on his mother, whose talents and virtues eminently qualified her for the task. Her husband, with affectionate precision, characterized her as one who “was virtuous without blemish, generous without extravagance, frugal but not niggard, cheerful but not giddy, close but not sullen, ingenious but wot conceited, of spirit but not passionate, of her company cautious, in her friendship trusty, to her parents dutiful, and to her husband ever faithful, loving, and obedient.” She must have been yet a more extraordinary woman than all this imports; for we are told that under her husband’s tuition she became a considerable proficient in Algebra, and with a view to act as preceptor to her sister’s son, who was destined for the sea, she made herself perfect in trigonometry, and the theory of navigation, sciences of which it is probable she knew nothing before marriage, and which she now pursued amidst the anxious, and, usually, monopolizing cares of a family. In educating her son, she appears to have preferred a method at once affectionate and judicious. Discovering in him a natural curiosity and thirst for knowledge, beyond what children generally display, she made the gratification of these passions to depend on his own industry, and constantly pointed to a book as the source of information. So successful was this method, that in his fourth year he was able distinctly and rapidly to read any English book, while his memory was agreeably exercised in getting by heart such popular pieces of poetry as were likely to engage the fancy of a child. His taste for reading gradually became a habit; and having in his fifth year, while looking over a Bible, fallen upon the sublime description of the Angel in the tenth chapter of the Apocalypse, the impression which his imagination received from it was never effaced.

In his sixth year an attempt was made to teach him Latin, but the acquisition of a new language had as yet no charms. At Michaelmas 1753, when he had completed his seventh year, he was placed at Harrow-school, under the tuition of Dr. Thackery. Here during the first two years he applied with diligence to his prescribed tasks, but without indicating that superiority of talents which in eminent characters biographers are desirous to trace to the earliest years. It was enough, however, that he learned what was taught, and it was fortunate that his mind was gradually informed, without being perplexed. During the vacations his mother resumed her “delightful task,” and initiated him in the art of drawing, in which she excelled. Her private instructions became more necessary and indeed indispensible, when in his ninth year his thigh-bone was accidentally fractured. During his confinement, which lasted twelve months, his mother diverted his taste for reading to the best English poets, whom he already endeavoured to imitate; but whether any of these very early efforts are in existence his biographer has not informed us.

On his return to school, he was placed in the same class which he should have attained if the progress of his studies had not been interrupted. Whether this was from favour or caprice in the master, it might have been attended with fatal consequences to young Jones, had his temper been of that irascible and wayward kind which sometimes accompanies genius. He found himself in a situation in which he was necessarily a year behind his school-fellows, and yet his master affected to presume on his equal profictency, and goaded him by punishment and degradation ta perform tasks for which he had received no preparatory instructions. In a few months, however, he applied himself so closely during his leisure hours to recover what he bad lost, that he soon reached the head of his class, and uniformly gained every prize offered for the best exercise. In his twelfth year he moved into the upper school, when he entered upon the study of the Greek, and, as was his practice when in the lower, exercised himself in various translations and compositions which, not being required by his instructors, elevated him in the eyes of his school-fellows, while his kindness prevented the usual effects of jealousy. They felt nothing unpleasant in the superiority of a school-fellow whose talents were employed in their service, either to promote their learning or their amusements. On one occasion when they proposed to act the play of the “Tempest,” but had no copy at hand, he wrote it for them so correctly from memory, that they acted it with as much reputation as they probably could have derived from the best edition. His own part was Prospero. On another occasion, he composed a dramatic piece on the story of Meleager, which was acted by his school-fellows, as a tragedy. Such efforts of memory and invention at so early an age are truly wonderful. His tragedy, indeed, will not bear criticism; but the lines which his biographer has given as a specimen, will not suffer much by a comparison with the general strain of verses in the infant asra of English tragedy.

His predilection for whatever concerned poetry, appeared in the pains he now took to study the varieties of the “Roman metre. His proficiency was indeed so superior to that of most of his associates in every pursuit, that they were glad to consult him as a preceptor, and to borrow from him, as a friend, those helps which they were otherwise unable to procure. During the holidays he learned French and arithmetic, and as he was admitted to the company of the ingenious philosopher Mr. Baker, and his learned friends, his mother recommended to him the” Spectacle de la Nature," as a book that might enable him to understand their conversation. He obeyed her injunction, as he uniformly did upon every occasion, and was probably not uninterested in many parts of that once instructive work; but he had not yet begun to make excursions into the field of natural history, and he acknowledged that he was more entertained with the Arabian Tales and Shakspeare.

Although he did not yet cease to be the boy, he frequently gave indications of the man, and perhaps in nothing more than the useful turn of his amusements, which generally had some reference to his studies, and proved that learning was uppermost in his mind. Of this disposition, the following anecdote, related by lord Teignmouth, is pleasingly characteristic. " He invented a political play, in which Dr. William Bennet, bishop of Cloyne, and the celebrated Dr. Parr, were his principal associates. They divided the fields in the neighbourhood of Harrow, according to a map of Greece, into states and kingdoms; each fixed upon one as his dominions, and assumed an ancient name. Some of their schoolfellows consented to be styled barbarians, who were to invade their territories, and attack their hillocks, which were denominated fortresses. The chiefs vigorously defended their respective domains against the incursions of the enemy; and in these imitative wars, the young statesmen held councils, made vehement harangues, and composed memorials; all doubtless very boyish, but calculated to fill their minds with ideas of legislation and civil government. In these unusual amusements, Jones was ever the leader; and he might justly have appropriated to himself the words of Catullus: ‘ Ego gymnasii flos, ego decus oleiY’

Dr. Bennet informs us that “great abilities, great particularity of thinking, fondness for writing verses and plays of various kinds, and a degree of integrity and manly courage, distinguished him even at this period.” And Dr. Thackeray, the master of the school, however niggardly in general of his praises before the objects of his esteem, confessed in private that “he was a boy of so active a mind, that if he were left naked and friendless on Salisbury Plain, he would nevertheless find the road to fame and riches.” When Dr. Sumrier succeeded Dr. Thackeray in 1761, he more publicly distinguished Mr. Jones, as one whose proficiency was marked by uncommon diligence and success. To a critical knowledge of Greek and Latin, he began now to add some acquaintance with the Hebrew, and even learned the Arabic characters, while during the vacations, he improved his former knowledge of the French and Italian languages. His ardent thirst for knowledge, however, at this time, induced him to study with so little intermission from sleep or exercise, that he was beginning to contract a weakness of sight. On this occasion, his friends interposed their advice, and for some time he consented to relax from fatigues so unsuitable to his tender age. It is probable, however, that he had already gone too far, for weakness of sight was one of the first complaints which impeded his studies when in India.

A letter to his sister, written at the age of fourteen, which his biographer has inserted at this period of his history, contains reflections on the folly of sorrowing for the death of friends, which perhaps might be placed in a more just light, but from one of his age, certainly indicate very extraordinary powers of thinking; and the transition from these to the common trifles of correspondence, shews an inclination to play the youthful philosopher, which gives considerable interest to this singular epistle. The reflections, it is true, are trite, but they could not have been trite to one just entering upon life, nor could so lively a youth have long revolved the uncertainties of fame and happiness.

When he had attained the age of seventeen, his friends determined to remove him to one of the universities, but his mother had been advised to place him in the office of some special pleader. He had, in the course of his desultory reading, perused a few law books, and frequently amused his mother’s visitors by discussing topics of legal subtlety. But the law had not taken a complete hold on his inclination at this time, and his prereptor Dr. Sumner easily prevailed in recommending an academical course. He was, accordingly, in the spring of 1764, entered of University college, Oxford, in which city his mother now took up her residence. This latter circumstance was peculiarly grateful to Mr. Jones, who was as much distinguished above the mass of mankind for filial affection, as for his literary accomplishments.

The passion he had imbibed for general learning, and the desultory manner in which his unremitting application left him at liberty to indulge it, were at first in danger of being interrupted by the necessity of attending to a routine of instructions from which he imagined he could derive very little advantage. But in time he became accustomed to the mode of study then prevalent, and without neglecting any thing which it was necessary to know, pursued his leisure hours that course of classical and polite literature which had already proved that he was not to be satiated by the common allowances of education. Oriental literature presented itself to his mind with unusual charms, as if the plan of his future life, and the avenues to his future fame, had been regularly laid down before him; and he had not applied himself long to the Arabic and Persic, before he conceived that greater advantages were to be reaped from those languages, than from the more popular treasures of Greece and Rome. Such was at the same time his enthusiasm in this undertaking, that having accidentally discovered one Mirza, a native of Aleppo, in London, he prevailed on him to accompany him to Oxford, not without hopes that he might induce some of his companions to avail themselves of this Syrian’s labours, and assist him in defraying the expence of his maintenance; but in this he was disappointed, and for some months the whole of the burthen fell upon himself.

During his residence at Oxford, his time was regularly divided into portions, each of which was filled up with the study of the ancients or moderns, and there have been few examples of such extensive accumulation of knowledge by one so young; yet, amidst this severe course of application, he regularly apportioned some time for the practice of those manly exercises which promote health. As all this necessarily became expensive, he anxiously wished for a fellowship, that he might be enabled to relieve his mother from a burthen which she could ill support. He had obtained a scholarship a few months after his matriculation, but a fellowship appeared more remote, and he was beginning to despair of achieving this object, when he received an offer to be private tutor to lord Althorpe, now earl Spencer. He had been recommended to the Spencer family by Dr. Shipley, who had seen and approved some of his performances at Harrow, and particularly a Greek oration in praise of Lyon, who founded the school at that place in the reign of Elizabeth.

This proposal was cheerfully accepted by Mr. Jones, and, in the summer of 1765, he went for the first time to Wimbledon Park, to take upon him the education of his pupil, who was just seven years old, and with whose manners he was delighted. It would be needless to point out the advantages of such a situation as this to a young man of Jones’s accomplishments and expectations. It presented every thing he could wish, liberal patronage to promote his views, elegant society to form his manners, and opportunities for study, which were inferior only to what he enjoyed at Oxford. In the course of the following summer, he obtained a fellowship, which, although not exceeding one hundred pounds, appeared to him a sufficient provision, and a solid independency. His time was now divided between Oxford, London, Wimbledon, and Althorpe; and in 1767, he visited the Continent with the Spencer family, and during this trip, which was but short, acquired some knowledge of the German language. Before setting out, and in the twenty-first year of his age, he began his Commentaries on Asiatic Poetry, in imitation of Dr. Lowth’s Prelections at Oxford on the sacred poetry of the Hebrews; and soon after his return, in the winter of 1767, he nearly completed his Commentaries, transcribed an Asiatic manuscript on Egypt and the Nile, and copied the keys of the Chinese language, which he wished to add to his other acquisitions.

Into these pursuits Mr. Jones appears to have been insensibly led, without the hopes of higher gratification than the pleasure they afforded; but a circumstance now occurred which may be considered as the first step of his progress to what finally constituted his fame as a scholar and public character. The circumstance is thus related by lord Teignmouth, nearly in Mr. Jones’s words:

“The king of Denmark, then upon a visit to this country (1768), had brought with him an eastern manuscript, containing the life of Nadir Shah, which he was desirous of having translated in England. The secretary of state, with whom the Danish minister had conversed upon the subject, sent the volume to Mr. Jones, requesting him to give a literal translation of it in the French language: but he wholly declined the task, alleging for his excuse, the dryness of the subject, the difficulty of the style, and chiefly his want both of leisure and ability, to enter upon an undertaking so fruitless and laborious. He mentioned, however, a gentleman, with whom he was not then acquainted, but who had distinguished himself by the translation of a Persian history, and some popular tales froi the Persic, as capable of gratifying the wishes of his Danish Majesty. Major Dow, the wriu-r alluded to, excuse himself on account of his numerous engagements; and tl application to Mr.lono, uus renewed. It was hinted, th his compliance would be of no small advantage to him, at his entrance into life; that it would procure him some mark of distinction, which would be pleasing to him; and above all, that it would be a reflection upon this country, if the king should be obliged to carry the manuscript to France. Incited by these motives, and principally the last, unwilling to be thought churlish or morose, and eager for reputation, he undertook the work, and sent the specimen of it to his Danish majesty, who returned his approbation of the style and method, but desired that the whole translation might be perfectly literal, and the oriental images accurately preserved. The task would have been far easier to him, if he had been directed to finish it in Latin; for the acquisition of a French style was infinitely more tedious, and it was necessary to have every chapter corrected by a native of France, before it could be offered to the discerning eye of the public, since in every language there are certain peculiarities of idiom, and nice shades of meaning, which a foreigner can never attain to perfection. The work, however arduous and unpleasant, was completed in a year, not without repeated hints from the secretary’s office, that it was expected with great impatience by the court of Denmark. The translation was not, however, published until 1770. Forty copies upon large paper were sent to Copenhagen; one of them, bound with uncommon elegance, for the king himself: and the others as presents to his courtiers.”

What reward he received for this undertaking is but obscurely related. His Danish majesty, we are told, sent him a diploma, constituting him a member of the royal society of Copenhagen, and recommended him in the strongest terms, to the favour and benevolence of his own sovereign. In all this there seems but an inadequate recompense for a work which at that time perhaps no person could have executed but himself. His noble pupil being removed to Harrow, Mr* Jones had an opportunity of renewing his intimacy with Dr. Sumner, who had always estimated his talents and learning at their full value. While here, he transcribed a Persian grammar, which he had three years before composed for the use of a schoolfellow destined for India, and also began a Dictionary of the Persian language, in which the principal words were illustrated from the most celebrated authors of the East; but he appears to have been aware of the expence attending this work, and was unwilling to continue it, unless the East India company would purchase it. In 1770 he issued proposals for a new edition of Meninski’s Dictionary, which was to have been published in 1773, but the scheme was dropt for want of encouragement.

Amidst these occupations, so far beyond the common reach of literary industry, he became a serious inquirer into the evidences of Christianity, about which he appears at this time to have entertained some doubts. In this, as in all his studies, his application was intense, and his inquiries conducted upon the fairest and most liberal principles. The result was a firm belief in the authenticity and inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, and a life dignified by purity of conduct, and the exercise of every Christian virtue.

In 1770, he passed the winter on the Continent with the Spencer family, during which, he informs one of his correspondents, his occupations were “music, with all its sweetness and feeling difficult and abstruse problems in mathematics and the beautiful and sublime in poetry and painting.” He wrote also in English a tract on “Education in the analytic manner;” a tragedy founded on the story of Mustapha, who was put to death by his father Soliman; and made various translations from the oriental poets. He appears on this tour to have been less intent on those objects of curiosity which usually interest travellers, than on adding to his knowledge of languages, and habituating himself to composition in all its modes, from the gay and familiar letter of friendship, to the serious and philosophical disquisition. Of the “Tract on Education,” just mentioned, a fragment only remains, which his biographer has published. It appears to include the pla winr-h he pursued in his own case. The tragedy has bee totally lost, except part of a preface in which he profess to have taken Shakspeare for his model, not by adopting his sentiments, or borrowing his expressions, but by aiming at his manner, and by striving to write as he supposes he would have written himself, if he had lived in the eighteenth century. The loss of such a curiosity cannot be too much regretted, unless our regret should be lessened by reflecting on the hazard of any attempt to bring Shakspeare on the modern stage. It is surely not less difficult than that of Mason, who unsuccessfully strove to write as the Greek tragedians “would have written, had they lived in the eighteenth century.”

On his return from this tour, he appears to have contemplated his situation as not altogether corresponding with the feelings of an independent mind, and with the views he entertained of aiming at the dignity and usefulness of a public character. The advice given by some of his friends, when he left Harrow school, probably now recurred to his memory, and was strengthened by additional and more urgent. motives, for he finally determined on the law as a profession; and, having resigned his charge in lord Spencer’s family, was admitted into the Temple on the 19th of September, 1770, in the twenty -fourth year of his age. Those who consider the study of the law as incompatible with a mind devoted to the acquisition of polite literature, and with a taste delighting in frequent excursions to the regions of fancy, will be ready to conclude that Mr. Jones would soon discover an invincible repugnance to his new pursuit. But the reverse was in a great measure the fact. He found nothing in the study of the law so 'dry or laborious as not to be overcome by the same industry which had enabled him to overcome, almost in childhood, the difficulties which frequently deter men of mature years; and he was stimulated by what appears to have predominated through life, an honest ambition to rise to eminence in a profession which, although sometimes successfully followed by men of dull capacity, does not exclude the most brilliant acquirements. Still, however, while labouring to qualify himself for the bar, he regarded his progress in literature as too important or too delightful to be altogether interrupted; and from the correspondence published by lord Teignmouth, it appears that he snatched many an hour from his legal inquiries, to meditate plans connected with his oriental studies. What he executed, indeed, did not always correspond with what he projected, but we find that within the first two years of his residence in the Temple, he sketched the plan of an epic poem, and of a Turkish history, and published a French letter to Anquetil du Perron, who, in his Travels in India, had treated the university of Oxford, and some of its learned members and friends of Mr. Jones, with disrespect In this letter he corrected the petulance of the French writer with more asperity than perhaps his maturer judgment would have approved, but yet without injustice, for Perron stood convicted not only of loose invective, but of absolute falsehood. Besides these Mr. Jones published, in 1772, a small volume of poems, consisting chiefly of translations from the Asiatic languages, with two elegant prose dissertations on Eastern poetry, and on the arts commonly called imitative. Most of these poems had been written long before this period, but were kept back until they had received all the improvements of frequent revisal, and the criticisms of his friends.

From his first entrance into the university, until Michaelmas 1768, when he took his bachelor’s degree, he had kept terms regularly, but from this period to 1773, only occasionally. During the Encaenia, in Easter-term 1773, he took his master’s degree, and composed an oration which he intended to have spoken in the theatre; but which was not published till about ten years after. In the beginning of 17T4, he published his “Commentaries on Asiatic poetry,” which have been already noticed as having been begun in 1766, and finished in 1769, when he was only in his twenty-third year. The same motives which induced him to keep back his poems, prevailed in the present instance; a diffidence in his own abilities, and a wish to profit by more mature examination, as well as by the opinions of his friends. By the preface to this work, it would appear that he was not perfectly satisfied with the profession in which he had engaged, and that had circumstances permitted, he would have been better pleased to have devoted his days to an uninterrupted course of study. But such was his fate, that he must now renounce polite literature; and having been admitted to the bar in 1774, he adhered to this determination inflexibly for some years, during which his books and manuscripts, except such as related to law and oratory, remained locked up at Oxford. He seems to have been seriously convinced that the new science he was about to enter upon was too extensive to admit of union with other studies; and he accordingly pursued it with his usual avidity, endeavouring to embrace the whole of jurisprudence in its fullest extent, and to make himself not only the technical but the philosophical lawyer. For some time he had but little practice, but it gradually came in, and with it a very considerable share of reputation. Towards the end of the year 1776, he was appointed a commissioner of bankrupts, a favour which he seems inclined to estimate beyond the value usually put upon it by professional men. Notwithstanding his determination to suspend the study of ancient literature, there was a gratification in it which he found it impossible to resign, while his practice continued so scanty as to afford him any disposable time. In the year last mentioned, we find him reading the Grecian orators again and again, and translating the most useful orations of Isaeus. Some part of his time, likewise, he devoted to philosophical experiments and discoveries, attended the meetings of the royal society, of which he had been elected a fellow in 1772, and kept up an extensive epistolary intercourse with many of the literati of Europe. In these letters, subjects of law seldom occur, unless as an apology for his barrenness on topics more congenial. From the commencement of the unhappy contest between Great Britain and America, he was decidedly against the measures adopted by the mother country.

In 1778, he published his translation of the “Orations of Iseeus,” in causes concerning the succession to property at Athens; with a prefatory discourse, notes historical and critical, and a commentary. This work he dedicated to earl Bathurst, who among all his illustrious friends, was as yet his only benefactor, by conferring on him the place of commissioner of bankrupts. The elegant style, profound research, and acute criticism, displayed in this translation, attracted the applause of every judge of classical learning. His next publication was a Latin ode to liberty, under the title of “Julii Mdesigoni ad Libertatem” a name formed by the transposition of the letters of* 6 Gulielmus Jonesius" In this ode, the author of which was soon known, he made a more ample acknowledgment of his political principles; and this, it is feared, had an unfavourable influence on the hopes which he was encouraged to entertain of promotion by the then administration. In 1780, there was a vacant seat on the bench of Fort William in Bengal, to svhicli the kindness of lord North Jed him to aspire; but, for some time, he had very little prospect of success. While this matter was in suspense, on the resignation of sir Roger Newdigate, he was advised to come forward as a candidate for the representation of the university of Oxford in parliament; but, finding that there was no chance of success, he declined the contest before the day of election. His principles on the great question of the American war were so avowedly hostile, not only to the measures pursued by administration, but to the sentiments entertained by the majority of the members of the university, that, although he might be disappointed, he could not be surprised at his failure, and accordingly appears to have resigned himself to his former pursuits with tranquil satisfaction.

During this year (1780), he published “An Inquiry into the legal mode of suppressing Riots, with a constitutional plan of Future Defence,” a pamphlet suggested by the dreadful riots in London, of which he had been a witness. His object is to prove that the common and statute laws of the realm then in force, give the civil state in every county a power, which, if it were perfectly understood and continually prepared, would effectually quell any riot or insurrection, without assistance from the militaiy, and even without the modern Riot-Act. In a speech which he intended to have delivered at a meeting of the freeholders of Middlesex in September following, he more explicitly declared his sentiments on public affairs, and in language rather stronger than usual with him, although suited to the state of popular opinion in that county.

During a short visit to Paris, he appears to have formed the design of writing a history of the war. On his return, however, he recurred to his more favourite studies, and his biographer has printed a curious memorandum, dated 1730, in which Mr. Jones resolves to learn no more rudiments of any kind, but to perfect himself in the languages he had already acquired, viz. Greek, Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, German, and English, as the means of acquiring a more accurate knowledge of history, arts, and sciences. With such wonderful acquisitions, he was now only in his thirty-­third year!

In the winter of 1780-1, he found leisure to complete his translation of “Seven ancient Poems” of the highest reputation in Arabia, which, however, were not published till 1783: and he celebrated, about the same time, the nuptials of lord Althorpe with MissBingham, in an elegant ode, entitled “The Muse recalled.” In his professional line he published an “Essay on the JLaw of Bailments,” a subject handled under the distinct heads of analysis, history, and synthesis; in which mode he proposed at some future period to discuss every branch of English law, civil and criminal, private and public. His object in all his legal discussions was to advance law to the honours of a science. It may be doubted which at this time predominated in his mind, his professional plans, or his more favourite study of the eastern poets. He now/ however, undertook a work in which he might gratify both duty and inclination, by translating an Arabian poem on the Mahommedan law of succession to the property of intestates. The poem had indeed but few charms to reward his labour by delighting his fancy, but in the prospect of obtaining a judge’s seat in India, he foresaw advantages from every opportunity of displaying his knowledge of the Mahommedan laws.

In 1782 he took a very active part among the societies formed to procure a more equal representation in the commons house of parliament. The speech which he delivered at the London tavern on this subject was long admired for its elegance, perspicuity, and independent spirit. He was also elected a member of the society for constitutional information, and bestowed considerable attention to the objects it professed. The “Dialogue between a farmer and a country gentleman on the Principles of Government,” which he wrote some time before, was circulated by this society with much industry. When the dean of St. Asaph (afterwards his brother-in-law) was indicted for publishing an edition of it in Wales, Mr. Jones sent a letter to lord Kenyon, then chief justice of Chester, avowing himself to be the author, and maintaining that every position in it was strictly conformable to the laws and constitution of England.

On the succession of the Shelburne administration, whose views of political affairs were in some respects more consonant to Mr. Jones’s principles than those of their predecessors, by the particular interest of lord Ashburton, he achieved the object to which for some time past he had anxiously aspired. In March 1783 he was appointed a judge of the supreme court of judicature at Fort William, on which occasion the honour of knighthood was conferred on him. In April following he rrvarried a young lady to whom he had been long attached, Anna Maria Shipley, eldest daughter of the bishop of St. Asaph. He had nowsecured, as his friend lord Ashburton congratulated him, “two of the first objects of human pursuit, those of ambition and love.”

His stay in England after these events was very short, as he embarked for India in the month of April. During the voyage his mind was sensibly impressed with the importance of the public station he was now about to fill, and began to anticipate the objects of inquiry which would engage his attention, and the improvements he might introduce in India from the experience of a life, much of which had passed in acquiring a knowledge of its learning and laws. Among other designs, very honourable to the extent of his benevolent intentions, which he formed at his outset, we find the publication of the gospel of St. Luke in the Arabic, the Psalms in Persian verse, and various law tracts in Persian and Arabic. He intended also to compose elements of the laws of England, a history of the American war, already noticed, and miscellaneous poems, speeches and letters, on subjects of taste, oratory, or general polity. But the pressure of his official duties during the short remainder of his life, prevented his completing most of those designs.

He arrived at Calcutta in September, and was eagerly welcomed by all who were interested in the acquisition of a magistrate of probity and independence, of a scholar who was confessedly at the head of oriental literature, and one in the prime and vigour of life, who bade fair to be long the ornament of the British dominions in India. His own satisfaction was not less lively and complete. He had left behind him the inconstancy and the turbulence of party, and felt no longer the anxieties of dependence and delay. New scenes were inviting his enthusiastic research, scenes which he had delighted to contemplate at a distance, and which promised to enlarge his knowledge as a scholar, and his usefulness as a public character. He was now brought into those regions, whose origin, manners, language, and religion, had been the subject of his profound inquiries; and while his curiosity was heightened, he drew nearer to the means of gratification. He had not been long in his new situation before he began, with his usual judgment, to divide his time into such regular portions, that no objects connected with duty or science should interfere. One of his first endeavours was to institute a society in Calcutta, the members of which might assist him in those scientific pursuits which he foresaw would be too numerous and extended for his individual labour; and he had no sooner suggested the scheme than it was adopted with avidity. The new association assembled for the first time in January 1784. The government of Bengal readily granted its patronage, and Mr.Hastings,then governor general, who had ever been a zealous encourager of Persian and Sanscrit literature, was offered the honorary title of president; but, as his numerous engagements prevented his acquiescence, sir William Jones was immediately and unanimously placed in the chair. The importance of this society has been long acknowledged, and their-“Transactions” are a sufficient testimony of their learning, acuteness, and perseverance, qualities the more remarkable that they have been found in men most of whom embarked for India with views of a very different kind, and which might have occupied their whole attention without their incurring the imputation of neglect or remissness. To detail the. whole of sir William Jones’s proceedings and labours, as president of this society, would be to abridge their Transactions, of which he lived to see three volumes published; but the following passage from lord Teignmouth’s narrative appears necessary to complete this sketch of his life.

Soon after his arrival “he determined to commence the study of the Sanscrit. His reflection had before suggested that a knowledge of this ancient tongue would be of the greatest utility, in enabling him to discharge with confidence and satisfaction to himself, the duties of a judge; and he soon discovered, what subsequent experience fully confirmed, that no reliance could be placed on the opinions or interpretations of the professors of the Hindoo law, unless he were qualified to examine their authorities and quotations, and detect their errors and misrepresentations. On the other hand, he knew that all attempts to explore the religion or literature of India through any other medium than a knowledge of the Sanscrit, must be imperfect and unsatisfactory; it was evident that the most erroneous and discordant opinions on these subjects had been circulated by the ignorance of those who had collected their information from oral communications only, and that the pictures exhibited in Europe, of the religion and literature of India, could only be compared to the maps constructed by the natives, in which every position is distorted, and all proportion violated. As a lawyer, he knew the value and importance of original documents and records, and as a scholar and man of science, he disdained the idea ofamusing the learned world with secondary information on subjects which had greatly interested their curiosity, when he had the means of access to the original sources. He was also aware, that much was expected by the literati of Europe, from his superior abilities and learning, and he felt the strongest inclination to gratify their expectations in the fullest possible extent.”

The plan to be promoted by his knowledge of the “Sanscrit was at this time very distant as to probability of execution, but he had carefully weighed it in his mind, and was gradually preparing the way for its accomplishment. It was, indeed, worthy of his great and liberal mind, to provide for the due administration of justice among the Indians, by compiling a digest of Hindu and Mahomoiedan Jaws, similar to that which Justinian gave to his Greek and Roman subjects. When he had made such progress in the language as might enable him to take a principal part in this important design, he imparted his views to lord Cornwallis, then (1788) governor general, in a long letter, which will ever remain a monument of his extensive understanding, benevolence, and public spirit. That his plan met with acceptance from lord Cornwallis will not appear surprizing to those who knew that excellent nobleman, who, while contemplating the honour which such an undertaking would confer on his own administration, conceived the highest hopes from sir William Jones’s offer to co-operate, or rather to superintend the execution of it.” At the period,“says his biographer,” when this work was undertaken by sir William Jones, he had not resided in India more than four years and a half; during which time he had not only acquired a thorough knowledge of the Sanscrit language, but had extended his reading in it so tar as to be qualified to form a judgment upon the merit and authority of the authors to be used in the compilation of his work; and although his labour was only applied to the disposition of materials already formed, he was enabled by his previous stuuies to give them an arrangement superior to any existing, and which the learned natives themselves approved and admired. In the dispensations of Providence, it may be remarked, as an occurrence of no ordinary nature, that the professors of the Braminical faith should so far renounce their reserve and distrust as to submit to the direction of a native of Europe, for compiling a digest of theii' own laws."

In 1789 the first volume of the “Asiatic Researches” was published, and the same year sir William Jones finished his translation of “Sacontala, or the Fatal Ring,” an ancient Indian drama, and one of the greatest curiosities that the literature of Asia had yet brought to light. In 1794 he published, as an institute, prefatory to his larger work, a translation of the ordinances of Menu, who is esteemed by the Hindus the first of created beings, and not only the oldest, but the holiest of legislators. The judgment and candour of the translator, however, led him to appreciate this work no higher than it deserved, as not being calculated for general reading, but exhibiting the manners of a remarkable people in a remote age, as including a system of despotism and priestcraft, limited by law, yet artfully conspiring to give mutual support, and as filled with conceits in metaphysics and natural philosophy, which might be liable to misconstruction. Amidst these employments, he still carried on his extensive correspondence with his learned friends in Europe, unfolding with candour his various pursuits and sentiments, and expressing such anxiety about every branch of science, as proved that even what he called relaxation, was but the diversion of his researches from one channel into another. In addition to the various studies already noticed, botany appears to have occupied a considerable share of his attention; and in this, as in every new acquisition, he disdained to stop at a moderate progress, or be content with a superficial knowledge.

The indisposition of lady Jones in 1793, rendered it absolutely necessary thatsiie should return to England; and her affectionate husband proposed to follow her in 1795, but still wished to complete a system of Indian laws before he left the situation in which he could promote this great work with most advantage. But he had not proceeded long in this undertaking before symptoms appeared of that disorder which deprived the world of one of its brightest ornaments. The following account of his dissolution is given in the words of his biographer. "On the evening of the twentieth of April, or nearly about that date, after prolonging his walk to a late hour, during which he had imprudently remained in conversation, in an unwholesome situation, he called upon the writer of these sheets, and complained of aguish symptoms, mentioning his intention to take some medicine, and repeating jocularly an old proverb, that * an ague in the spring is medicine for a king. 7 He had no suspicion at the time of the real nature of his indisposition, which proved, in fact, to be a complaint common in Bengal, an inflammation in the liver. The disorder was, however, soon discovered by the penetration of the physician, who, after two or three clays, was called in to his assistance; but it had then advanced too far to yield to the efficacy of the medicines usually prescribed, and they were administered in vain. The progress of the complaint was uncommonly rapid, and terminated fatally on the twenty-seventh of April 1794. On the morning of that day his attendants, alarmed at the evident symptoms of approaching dissolution, came precipitately to call the friend who has now the melancholy task of recording the mournful event. Not a moment was lost in repairing to his house. He was lying on his bed in a posture of meditation; and the only symptom of remaining life was a small degree of motion in the heart, which after a few seconds ceased, and he expired without a pang or groan. His bodily suffering, from the complacency of his features and the ease of his attitude, could not have been severe; and his mind must have derived consolation from those sources where he l?ad been in the habit of seeking it, and where alone, in our last moments, it can ever be found.' 1

Thus ended the life of a man who was the brightest example of rational ambition, and of extensive learning, virtue, and excellence, that modern times have produced; a man who must ever be the subject of admiration, although it can happen to the lot of few to equal, and, perhaps, of none to excel him. When we compare the shortness of his life with the extent of his labours, the mind is overpowered; yet his example, however disgraceful to the indolent, and even apparently discouraging to the humble scholar, will not be without the most salutary effects, if it be allowed to prove that no difficulties in science are insurmountable by regular industry, that the human faculties can be exalted by exercise beyond the common degrees with which we are apt to be satisfied, and that the finest taste is not incompatible with the profoundest studies. It was the peculiar felicity of this extraordinary man, that the whole plan of his life appears to have been the best that could have been contrived to forward his views and to accomplish his character. In tracing its progress we see very little that could have been more happily arranged: few adverse occurrences, and scarcely an object of serious regret, especially when we consider how gently his ambition was chastened, and his integrity purified, by the few delays which at one time seemed to cloud his prospects. In 1799 his Works were published in six volumes quarto, and have been since reprinted in thirteen volumes octavo, with the addition of his life by lord Teignmouth, which first appeared in 1804. Among the public tributes to his memory are, a monument by Flaxman in University college, at the expence of lady Jones; a monument in St. Paul’s, and a statue at Bengal, both voted by the hon. East India company. A society of gentlemen at Bengal who were educated at Oxford, subscribed a sum for a private dissertation on his character and merits, which was adjudged to Mr. Henry Philpots, M. A. of Magdalen college. Among the many poetical tributes paid to his memory, that by the rev. Mr. Maurice, of the British Museum, seems entitled to the preference, from his accurate knowledge of sir William Jones’s character and studies.

“A mere catalogue of the writings of sir William Jones,” says his biogragher, “would shew the extent and variety of his erudition; a perusal of them will prove that it was no less deep than miscellaneous. Whatever topic he discusses, his ideas flow with ease and perspicuity, his style is always clear and polished; animated and forcible, when his subject requires it. His philological, botanical, philosophical, and chronological disquisitions, his historical researches, and even his Persian grammar, whilst they fix the curiosity and attention of the reader, by the novelty, depth, or importance of the knowledge displayed in them, always delight by elegance of diction. His compositions are never dry, tedious, nor disgusting; and literature and science -come from his hands adorned with all their grace and beauty. No writer, perhaps, ever displayed so much learning, with so little affectation of it.” With regard to his law publications, it is said that his “Essay on Bailments” was sanctioned by the approbation of lord Mansfield and all his writings in this department shew that he had thoroughly studied the principles of law as a science. As to his opinion of the British constitution, it appears from repeated declarations that occur in his letters, and particularly in his 10th discourse, delivered to the Asiatic society in 1793, that he considered it as the noblest and most perfect that ever was formed. With regard to his political principles, he was an enlightened and decided friend to civil and religious liberty. Like many others of the same principles, he entertained a favourable opinion of the French revolution at its commencement, and wished success to the exertions of that nation for the establishment of a free constitution; but subsequent events must have given him new views, not so much of the principles on which the revolution was founded, as of the measures which have been adopted by some of its zealous partizans. To liberty, indeed, his attachment was enthusiastic, and he never speaks of tyranny or oppression but in the language of detestation. He dreaded, and wished to restrain, every encroachment on liberty; and though he never enlisted under the banners of any party, he always concurred in judgment and exertion with those who wished to render pure and permanent the constitution of his country.

As a judge in India, his conduct was strictly conformable to the professions which he made in his first charge to the grand jury at Calcutta. On the bench he was laborious, patient, and discriminating; his charges to the grand jury, which do not exceed six, exhibit a veneration for the laws of his country; a just and spirited encomium on the trial by jury, as the greatest and most invaluable right derived from them to the subject; a detestation of crimes, combined with mercy to the offender; occasional elucidations of the law; and the strongest feelings of humanity and benevolence. His knowledge of the Sanscrit and Arabic eminently qualified him for the administration of justice in the supreme court, by enabling him to detect misrepresentations of the Hindu or Mohammedan laws, and to correct impositions in the form of administering oaths to the followers of Brahma and Mohammed. The inflexible integrity with which he discharged the solemn duty of this station will long be remembered in Calcutta, both by Europeans and natives.

It might naturally be inquired by what arts or method he was enabled to attain that extraordinary degree of knowledge for which he was distinguished. His faculties were naturally vigorous and strengthened by exercise; his memory, as we have before observed, was, from early life, singularly retentive his emulation was ardent and unbounded and his perseverance invincible. In India his studies began with the dawn and, with the intermission of professional duties, were continued throughout the day. Another circumstance, which has been exemplified in some other instances that might be mentioned, and which gave him peculiar advantage in the exercise of his talents, was “the regular allotment of his time to particular occupations, and a scrupulous adherence to Uk* distribution which he had fixed;” so that “all his studies were pursued without interruption or confusion.” With sir William Jones it was a favourite opinion, “that all men are born with an equal capacity for improvement.”

It is needless to add any thing in commendation of his private and social virtues. The independence of his integrity, his probity and humanity, and also his universal philanthropy and benevolence, are acknowledged by all who knew him. In every domestic relation, as a son, a brother, and a husband, he was attentive to every dictate of love, and to every obligation of duty. In his intercourse with the Indian natives he was condescending and conciliatory; liberally rewarding those who assisted him, and treating his dependents as friends. His biographer records the following anecdote of a circumstance that occurred after his demise: “The pundits who were in the habit of attending him, when I saw them at a public durbar a few days after that melancholy event, could neither restrain their tears for his loss, nor find terms to express their admiration at the wonderful progress which he had made in the sciences which they professed.” Upon the whole, we may join with Dr. Parr, who knew his talents and character, in applying to sir William Jones his own words, “It is happy for us that this man was born.”

Having attained, by the assiduous exertion of his abilities, and in a course of useful service to his country and mankind, a high degree of reputation, and by economy that did not encroach upon his beneficence, a liberal competence, he was prepared, one would have thought, at the age of forty-seven years, to enjoy dignity with independence. His plans, and the objects of his pursuit, in the prospect of future life, were various and extensive and he would naturally indulge many pleasing ideas in the view of returning, at a fixed period, to his native country, and to beloved friends, who would anxiously wish for his arrival. Few persons seemed to be more capable of improving and enjoying prolonged life than sir William Jones; and few persons seemed to be better prepared for a more exalted state of progressive improvement, and of permanent felicity, than that to which the most distinguished and prosperous can attain within the regions of mortality. Since his death lady Jones has presented to the royal society a collection of Mss. Sanscrit and Arabic, which he reckoned inestimable, and also another large collection of Eastern Mss. of which a catalogue, compiled by Mr. Wilkins, is inserted in the 13th volume of sir William Jones’s Works, 8vo edition.

, a late venerable and pious divine of the church of England, was born at Lowick in Northumberland, July 30, 1726. His father was Morgan Jones, a Welsh gentleman, a descendant of Colonel Jones (but of very different principles) who married a sister of Oliver Cromwell. His mother was Sarah, the daughter of the Rev. Mr. Lettin, of Lowick. He was remarkable from his childhood for unwearied industry and ingmium versatile. As soon as he was of the proper age, he was admitted, on the nomination of the duke of Dorset, a scholar at the Charterhouse, where he made a rapid progress in Greek and Latin, and laid the foundation of that knowledge which has since given him a distinguished name in the Christian world. His turn for philosophical studies soon began to shew itself; for meeting, when at the Charter- house, with Zachary Williams, author of a magnetical theory, which is now lost, he copied some of his tables and calculations, was shewn the internal construction of his instrument for finding the variation of the compass in all parts of the world; and saw all the diagrams by which his whole theory was demonstrated and explained. At this school, too, he commenced an acquaintance with the late earl of Liverpool, which was farther cultivated at the university, where they were of the same college, and continued to the last, notwithstanding the great difference in their future destination, to entertain a respect for each other. When about eighteen years of age, he left the school, and went to University college, Oxford, on a Charterhouse exhibition. Among the several companions of his studies whom he loved and respected, there was no one dearer to him than Mr. George Home, afterwards bishop of Norwich. Between them “there was a sacred friendship a friendship made up of religious principles, which increased daily, by a similitude of inclinations, to the same recreations and studies.” Having taken the degree of B. A. in 1749, he was ordained a deacon by Dr. Thomas, bishop of Peterborough; and in 1751 was ordained a priest by another Dr. Thomas, bishop of Lincoln, at Bugden. On leaving the university, his first situation was that of curate of Finedon in Northamptonshire. There he wrote “A full Answer to bishop Clayton’s Essay on Spirit,” published in 1753. In this tract, many curious and interesting questions are discussed, and several articles in the religion and learning of heathen antiquity explained, particularly the Hermetic, Pythagorean, and Platonic Trinities. In 1754 he married Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Brook Bridges, and went to reside at Wadenhoe in Northamptonshire, as curate to his brother-in-law, the Rev. Brook Bridges, a gentleman of sound learning, singular piety, and amiable manners.

While residing here he drew up “The Catholic Doctrine of the Trinity,” which he had been revolving in his mind for some years. When this valuable work came to a third edition in 1767, he added to it “A Letter to the common people, in answer to some popular arguments against the Trinity,” which the Society for promoting Christian knowledge have since printed separately, and admitted into their list of books. Here likewise he engaged in a favourite work, for which he was eminently qualified, as the event proved, and for which some of his friends subscribed among them 300l. for three years, to enable him to supply himself with an apparatus sufficient for the purpose of making the experiments necessary to his composing a treatise on philosophy. Accordingly, in 1762, he published “An Essay on the first principles of Natural Philosophy,” 4to, the design of which was to demonstrate the use of natural means, or second causes, in the economy of the material world, from reason, experiments, and the testimony of antiquity; and in 1781 he published a larger work in 4to, under the title of “Physiological DisquisU tions, or Discourses on the Natural Philosophy of the Elements.” As it was ever his study to make philosophy the handmaid of religion, he has in this work embraced every opportunity of employing natural knowledge in the illustracion of divine truth and the advancement of virtue. "When the first volume was published, the late earl of Bute, the patron of learning ant 4 learned men, was so satisfied with it, that he desired the author not to be intimidated through fear of expence from pursuing his philosophical studies, and likewise commissioned him to direct Mr. Adams, the mathematical instrument maker, to supply him with such instruments as he might want for making experiments, and put them to his account. His lordship also handsomely offered him the use of any books he naight have occasion for.

Mr. Jones’s work on the Trinity having procured him much reputation, archbishop Seeker presented him, first to the vicarage of Bethersden in Kent in 1764, and soon after to the more valuable rectory of Pluck ley in the same county, as some reward for his able defence of that important doctrine. The income he derived from his vicarage riot being equal to what he expected, it was thought expedient by his friends, that he should eke out Ins slender pittance by taking a few pupils; and having undertaken the tuition of two young gentlemen, he continued the practice for many years after he removed to Pluckley. In 1766 he preached the “Visitation Sermon” before archbishop Seeker at Ashford, greatly to the satisfaction of his grace and the whole audience. Owing to some delicacy, it was not printed at the time, though much wished but in 1769 the substance of it was published in the form of a “Letter to a young gentleman at Oxford intended for holy orders, containing some seasonable cautions against errors in doctrine.” On the publication of “The Confessional,” the archbishop considered Mr. Jones as a proper person to write an answer to it; and accordingly he drew up some remarks, but had then neither health nor leisure to fit them for the press. But a new edition being called for of the “Answer to an Essay on Spirit,” Mr. Jones thought it advisable to add, by way of sequel, the remarks he had originally drawn up on the principles and spirit of the “Confessional,” which were published in 1770.

It is mentioned in bishop Porteus’s Life of archbishop Seeker, that all the tracts, written by Dr. Sharp in the Hutchinsonian controversy, were submitted to his grace’s inspection previous to their publication, who corrected and improved them throughout; from whence we are to conclude he approved them. But whatever his prejudices were originally against what is called Hutchinsonianism, and they were supposed at one time to be pretty strong, they must have been greatly done away before he became the patron of Mr. Jones. When the “Essay on the first principles of Natural Philosophy” was published, his grace observed to a gentleman who saw it lying on his table, “this work of Mr. Jones’s is not to be treated with neglect; it is sensibly and candidly written, and if it is not answered, we little folks shall conclude it is, because it cannot be answered:” and he told Mr. Jones himself by way of consolation (knowing probably how difficult it was to get rid of old prejudices) that he must be contented to beaccounted, for a time, an heretic in philosophy. In 1773 Mr. Jones collected together into a volume, Disquisitions on some select subjects of Scripture, which had been before printed in separate tracts; and, in 1776, in the character of a “Presbyter of the church of England,” he published, in a Letter to a friend at Oxford, “Reflections on the growth of Heathenism among modern Christians.”

When he was induced to remove from Pluckley, and accept the perpetual curacy of Nayland in Suffolk, he went thither to reside with his family. Soon after, he effected an exchange of Pluckley for Paston in Northamptonshire, which he visited annually, but he determined to settle at Nayland for the remainder of his days, nor was he (as his biographer notices with some regret for neglected merit) ever tempted to quit that post by any offer of higher preferment. The “Physiological Disquisitions” before alluded to, having received their last revise, were published in 1771, and the impression was soon sold off. A notion, says his biographer, is entertained by some persons, that the elementary philosophy naturally leads to Atheism,' and sir Isaac Newton himself is charged with giving countenance to materialism by his aether; but nothing can be farther from the truth. “It is,” adds Mr. Stevens, “the aim and study of the elementary, called the Hutcliinsoniau, philosophy, not to confound God and nature, but to distinguish between the Creator and the creature; not with the heathens to set up the heavens for God, but to believe and confess, with all true worshippers, ”that it is Jehovah who made the heavens." And td maintain that the operations in nature are carried on by the agency of the elements, which, experiment demonstrates, is no more excluding God from being the Creator of the world, than to maintain that motion once given to a watch will continue without the immediate application of the artist’s hand every moment to it, is asserting that the watch made itself. Let any one read the Physiological Disquisitions, and he will soon be convinced that North and South are not more opposite than Hutchinsonianism and materialism.

The figurative language of the Holy Scripture having been always his favourite study, after revolving the subject in his mind for many years, Mr. Jones drew up a course of lectures, which were delivered in the parish church of Nayland, in Suffolk, in the year 1786. Music was a, favourite relaxation with him, and he understpod both theory and practice. His treatise on the “Art of Music” is reckoned to display a profound knowledge of the subject, and his compositions (a morning and evening cathedral service, ten church pieces for the organ, with four anthems in score for the use of the church of Nayland) are greatly admired, as of the old school, in the true classical stile. By the advice of his learned and judicious friend, bishop Home, then become his diocesan, to whose opinion he always paid the greatest deference, he put forth, in 1790, two volumes of “Sermons” on moral and religious subjects, in which were included some capital discourses on Natural History, delivered on Mr. Fairchild’s foundation (the Royal Society appointing the preacher) at the church of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, several successive years, on Tuesday in Whitsun week. At the preaching of these sermons, the audience was not large, but it increased annually, as the fame of the preacher was noised abroad, whose manner was no less animated and engaging, than the subject was profound and important, and at the last sermon the church was full.

When democratical principles were spreading with much rapidity in 1792, Mr. Jones wrote the letter of “Thomas Bull to his brother John,” which was disseminated throughout the kingdom, was admirably calculated to open the eyes of the populace, and produced a considerable effect.

In 1792 he published a valuable collection of dissertations, extracts, &c. in defence of the church of England, under the title of “The Scholar armed against the Errors of the Time,” 2 vols. 8vo; and on the death of bishop Home in 1792, Mr. Jones, out of affectionate regard to the memory of the venerable prelate, his dear friend and patron, undertook the task of recording his life, which was published in 1795, and the second edition in 1799, with a new preface, containing a concise but luminous exposition of the leading opinions entertained by Mr. Hutchinson on certain interesting points on theology and philosophy.

In the autumn of 1798 he was presented by the archbishop of Canterbury to the sinecure rectory of Hollingbourn in Kent, benevolently intended as a convenient addition to his income, after the discontinuance of pupils; but in the following year he lost his wife, which was soon followed by another affliction, probably occasioned by the shock her death gave him, a paralytic attack which deprived him of the use of one side. In this infirm state of body, but with full exercise of his faculties, he lived several months. At length, he suddenly quitted his study, and retired to his chamber, from whence he came out no more, breaking off in the middle of a letter to a friend, which, after abrupt transition from the original subject, he left unfinished, with these remarkable words, the last of which are written particularly strong and steady. “I begin to feel as well as understand, that there was no possible way of taking my poor broken heart from the fatal subject of the grief that was daily preying upon it to its destruction, but that which Providence hath been pleased to take, of turning my thoughts from my mind, to most alarming symptoms of approaching death.” Like many other good and pious men before him, he had long very much dreaded the pains of death; but, to his own great comfort, this dread he completely overcame. The sacrament had been frequently administered to him during his confinement; and he received it, for the last time, about a week prior to his death. A little while previous to his dissolution, as his curate was standing by his bed-side, he requested him to read the 71st psalm, which was no sooner done than he took him by the hand, and said with great mildness and composure, “If this be dying, Mr. Sims, I had no idea what dying was before;” and then added, in a somewhat stronger tone of voice, “thank God, thank God, that it is n,o worse.” He continued sensible after this just long enough to take leave of his children (a son and daughter), who, being both settled at no great distance, had been very much with him, and had done every thing in their power to alleviate his sorrows; and, on the morning of Feb. 6, 1800, be expired without a groan or a sigh.

Besides the works already mentioned, Mr. Jones was the author of A Preservative against the publications of modern Socinians. A Letter to a Gentleman at Oxford, against Errors in Doctrine. The Grand Analogy; or, the Testimony of Nature and Heathen Antiquity to the Truth of a Trinity in Unity. A Detection of the Principles and Spirit of a book entitled The Confessional. On the Mosaic Distinction of Animals into clean and unclean. The Sacrifice of Isaac reconciled with the Divine Laws and the meaning is shewn, so far as it is opened in the Scripture. An Enquiry into the Circumstances and Moral Intention of the Temptation of Jesus Christ. A Survey of Life and Death; with some Observations on the Intermediate State. Considerations on the Life, Death, and Burial of the Patriarchs. On the metaphorical Application of Sleep, as an Image of Death in the Scriptures. An Essay on Confirmation. Lectures on the figurative Language of the Scriptures; with a supplemental Lecture on the Use and Intention of some remarkable Passages of the Scriptures, not commonly understood. Sermons, in two volumes, 8vo; besides several single Sermons preached on various occasions. The Book of Nature, or the Sense of Things; in two Parts. Letters from a Tutor to his Pupils. The Churchman’s Catechism. The Constitution of the Church of Christ demonstrated. Six Letters on Electricity. A Treatise on the Art of Music, with Plates of Examples. A Morning and Evening Service. Observations in a Journey to Paris, by way of Flanders, in the year 1776. Considerations on the Religious Worship of the Heathens, as bearing unanswerable Testimony to the Principles of Christianity. A Letter to the Church of England, by an old Friend and Servant of the Church. A Letter to three converted Jews, lately baptized and confirmed in the Church of England. A Letter to the Honourable L. K. on the Use of the Hebrew Language. Short wholelength of Dr. Priestley. Collection of smaller Pieces; among which are the Learning of the Beasts, and Two Letters to a Predestinarian, printed in the Anti-Jacobin Review and Magazine for January and February, 1800, &c. &c. &c. All these have been reprinted in an edition of his Works, 1801, in 12 vols. 8vo, and afford proofs of talents, zeal, piety, and learning, which are highly creditable to him. Mr. Jones was a man of strong attachments, and of strong aversions. In the pursuit of what he considered to be truth, he knew no middle paths, and would listen to no compromises. Such ardent zeal frequently brought on him the charge of bigotry, which perhaps he was the better enabled to bear, as he had to contend with men whose bigotry, in their own way, cannot easily be exceeded. It must be confessed at the same time that his judgment was by no means equal to his ardour in promulgating or vindicating his opinions; and that all the useful purposes of his writings might have been promoted with more moderation in his style and sentiments. With this exception, however, which is greatly overbalanced by the general excellence of his character as a man and an author, he deserves to be ranked among the most able defenders of the doctrines and discipline of the church of England.

, a learned philological writer, was born Oct. 20, 1624, at Flensburg in tite duchy of Sleswick. He was first educated at the school of Flensburg, and that of Kiel, and very early discovered such a talent for music, that when he went to Hamburgh, and afterwards to Crempen, he was enabled to support himself by his musical skill. In the autumn of 1645, he went to Rostock, where he studied the languages and philosophy, and probably theology, as he became a preacher in 1647. In the same year he was admitted doctor in philosophy. Leaving Rostock in 1649, he returned to Flensburg to be co-rector of the schools, an office which he filled with great credit for a year, and had for one of his scholars the celebrated Marquard Gudius. The smallness of his salary obliging him to give up his situation, he went in 1650 to Konigsberg, where he taught philosophy, and in 1652 accepted the place of rector of the schools at Flensburg. In 1656 he was presented to the rectorate of the school belonging to the cathedral; but partly owing to the bad air of the place, and partly to some discouragements and domestic troubles, he determined to leave his native country for Leipsic; and while there, the senate of Francfort offered him the place of sub-rector, which he accepted, but did not enjoy long, as he died of a violent haemorrhage in April 1659. He was the author of various philological dissertations, which indicated great learning and critical acumen; but his principal work is his “De Scriptoribus historic philosophic^, libri IV.” Fraucfort, 1659, 4to. This soon became very scarce, which determined Dornius to publish a new edition in 1716, continued to that time, with learned notes. Both editions are highly praised, as valuable works, by Gracvius, Baillet, and Brucker. Jonsius had announced other useful treatises, the completion of which was prevented by his untimely death.

, or Johnson, for so he, as well as some of his friends, wrote his name, was born in Hartshorn-lane near Charing-cross, Westminster, June 11, 1574, about a month after the death of his father. Dr. Bathurst, whose life was written by Mr. Warton, informed Aubrey that Jonson was born in Warwickshire, but all other accounts fix his birth in Westminster. Fuller says, that “with all his industry 'he could not find him in his cradle, but that he could fetch him from his long coats: when a little child, he lived in Hartshorne-lane near Charing-cross.” Mr. Malone examined the register of St. Margaret’s Westminster, and St. Martin’s in the Fields, but without being able to discover the time of his baptism. His family was originally of Annandale in Scotland, whence his grandfather removed to Carlisle in the time of Henry VIII. under whom he held some office. But his son being deprived both of his estate and liberty in the reign of queen Mary, went afterwards in holy orders, and, leaving Carlisle, settled in Westminster.

Our poet was first sent to a private school in the church of St. Martin’s in the Fields, and was afterwards removed to Westminster-school. Here he had for his preceptor the illustrious Camden, for whom he ever preserved the highest respect, and, besides dedicating one of his best plays to him, commemorates him in one of his epigrams, as the person to whom he owed all he knew. He was making very extraordinary progress at this school, when his mother, who, soon after her husband’s death, had married a bricklayer, took him home to learn his step-father’s business. How long he continued in this degrading occupation is uncertain: according to Fuller he soon left it, and went to Cambridge, but necessity obliged him to return to his father, who, among other works, employed him on the new building at Lincoln’s-inn, and here he was to be seen with a trowel in one hand and a book in the other. This, Mr. Malone thinks, must have been either in 1588 or 1593, in each of which years, Dugdale informs us, some new buildings were erected by the society. Wood varies the story, by stating that he was taken from the trowel to attend Sir Walter Raleigh’s son abroad, and afterwards went to Cambridge; but young Raleigh was not born till 1594, nor ever went abroad, except with his father in 1617 to Guiana, where he lost his life. So many of Jonson’s contemporaries, however, have mentioned his connection with the Raleigh family, that it is probable he was in some shape befriended by them, although not while he worked at his father’s business, for from that he ran away, enlisted as a common soldier, and served in the English army then engaged against the Spaniards in the Netherlands. “Here,” says the author of his life in the Biographia Britannica, “he acquired a degree of military glory which rarely falls to the lot of a common man in that profession. In an encounter with a single man of the enemy, he slew his opponent, and stripping him, carried off the spoils in the view of both armies.” As our author’s fame does not rest on his military exploits, it can be no detraction to hint, that one man killing and stripping another is a degree of military prowess of no very extraordinary kind. His biographer, however, is unwilling to quit the subject until he has informed us, that “the glory of this action receives a particular heightening from the reflection, that he thereby stands singularly distinguished above the rest of his brethren of the poetical race, very few of whom have ever acquired any reputation in arms.”

On his return he is said to have resumed his studies, and to have gone to St. John’s college, Cambridge. This fact rests chiefly upon a tradition in that college, supported by the gift of several books now in the library with his name in them. As to the question why his name does not appear in any of the lists, it is answered that he was only a sizar, who made a short stay, and his name could riot appear among the admissions, where no notice was usually taken of any young men that had not scholarships and as to matriculation, there was at that time no register. If he went to St. John’s, it seems probable enough that the shortness of his stay was occasioned by his necessities and this would be the case whether he went to Cambridge in 1588, as Mr. Malone conjectures, or after his return from the army, perhaps in 1594. In either case he was poor, and received no encouragement from his family in his education. His persevering love of literature, however, amidst so many difficulties, ought to be mentioned to his honour.

Having failed in these more creditable attempts to gain a iubsistence, he began his theatrical career, at first among the strolling companies, and was afterwards admitted into an obscure theatre called the Green Curtain, in the neighbourhood of Shored itch, from which the present Curtainroad seems to derive its name. He had not been there long, before he attempted to write for the stage, but was not at first very successful either as an author or actor. Mere* enumerates him among the writers of tragedy^; but no tragedy of his writing exists, prior to 1598, when his comedy of * Every Man in his Humour“procured him a name. Dexter, in his” Satyromastix," censures his acting as awkward and mean, and his temperas rough and untractable.

During his early engagements on the stage, he had the misfortune to kill one of the players in a due), for which he was thrown into prison, “brought near the gallows,” but afterwards pardoned. While in confinement, a popish priest prevailed on him to embrace the Roman catholic faith, in which he continued about twelve years. As soon as he was released, which appears to have been about 1595, he married, to use his own expression, “a wife who was a shrew, yet honest to him,” and endeavoured to provide for his family by his pen. Having produced a play which was accidentally seen by Shakspeare, he resolved to bring it on the stage, of which he was a manager and acted a part in it himself. What play this was, we are not told, but its success encouraged him to produce his excellent comedy of “Every Man in his Humour,” which was performed on the same stage in 1598. Oldys, in his manuscript notes on Langbaine, says that Jonson was himself the master of a play-house in Barbican, which was at a distant period converted into a dissenting meetinghouse. He adds that Ben lived in Bartholomew-close, in the house which was inhabited, in Oldys’s time, by M. James, a letter-founder. Mention is made in his writings, of his theatre, of thje &un and Moon tavern, in Aldersgatestreet, and of the Mermaid. But the want of dates renders much of this information useless.

In the following year he produced the counterpart of his former comedy, entitled “Every Man out of his Humour,” and continued to furnish a new play every year until he was called to assist in the masks and entertainments given in honour of the accession of king James to the throne of England, and afterwards on occasions of particular festivity at the courts of James and Charles I. But from these barbarous productions, he occasionally retired to the cultivation of his comic genius, and on one occasion gave an extraordinary proof of natural and prompt excellence in his “Volpone,” which was finished within the space of five weeks.

His next production indicated somewhat of that rough and independent spirit which neither the smiles nor terrors of a court could repress. It was, indeed, a foolish ebullition for a man in his circumstances to ridicule the Scotch nation in the court of a Scotch king, yet this he attempted in a comedy entitled “Eastward- Hoe,” which he wrote in conjunction with Chapman and Marston, although, as Mr. Warton has remarked, he was in general “too proud to assist or be assisted.” The affront, however, was too gross to be overlooked, and the three authors were sent to prison, and not released without much interest. Camden and Selden are supposed to have supplicated the throne in favour of Jonson on this occasion. At an entertainment which he gave to these and other friends on his release, his mother, “more like an antique Roman than a Briton, drank to him, and showed him a paper of poison, which she intended to have given him in his liquor, after having taken a portion of it herself, if sentence upon him (of pillory, &c.) had been carried into execution.” The history of the times shews the probable inducement Jonson had to ridicule the Scotch. The court was filled with them, and it became the humour of the English to be jealous’ of their encroachments. Jonson, however, having obtained a pardon, endeavoured to conciliate his offended sovereign by taxing his genius to produce a double portion of that adulation in which James delighted.

His connexion with Shakspeare, noticed above, has lately become the subject of a controversy. Pope, in the preface to his edition of Shakspeare, says, “I cannot help thinking that these two poets were good friends, and lived on amicable terms, and in offices of society with each other. It is an acknowledged fact that Ben Jonson was introduced upon the stage, and his first works encouraged by Shakspeare. And after his death, that author writes 4 To the Memory of his beloved Mr. William Shakspeare,' which shows as if the friendship had continued through life.” Mr. Malone, the accuracy of whose researches are entitled to the highest respect, has produced many proofs of their mutual dislike, amounting, as he thinks on the part of Jonson, to malignity. Mr. Steevens and Mr. George Chalmers are inclined likewise to blame Jonson; but Dr. Farmer considered the reports of Jonsou’s pride and malignity as absolutely groundless. Mr. O. Gilchrist, in a pamphlet lately published, has vindicated Jonson with much acuteness, although without wholly effacing the impression which Mr. Malone’s proofs and extracts are calculated to make. That Jonson was at times the antagonist of Shakspeare, and that they engaged in what Fuller calls “Wit-combats,” may be allowed, for such occurrences are not uncommon among contemporary poets but it is inconsistent with all we know of human passions and tempers that a man capable of writing the high encomiastic lines alluded to by Pope, could have at any time harboured a malignity in his heart against Shakspeare. Malignity rarely dies with its object, and more rarely turns to esteem and veneration.

Jonson’s next play, “Epicsene, or the Silent Woman,” did not appear until 1609, and amply atoned for his seeming neglect of the dramatic muse. It is perhaps the first regular comedy in the language, and did not lose much of this superiority by the appearance of his “Alchemist,”in 1610. His tragedy, however, of “Cataline,” in 1611, as well as his “Sejanus,” of both which he entertained a high opinion, serve only to confirm the maxim that few authors know where their excellence lies. The “Cataline,” says Dr. Kurd, is a specimen of all the errors of tragedy.

In 1613 he went to Paris, where he was admitted to an interview with cardinal Perron, and with his usual frankness told the cardinal that his translation of Virgil was “nought.” About this time he commenced a quarrel with Inigo Jones, and made him the subject of his ridicule in a comedy called “Bartholomew- Fair,” acted in 1614. Jones was architect or machinist to the masques and entertainmerits for which Jon son furnished the poetry, but the particular cause of their quarrel does not appear. “Whoever,” says lord Orford, “was the aggressor, the turbulent temper of Jonson took care to be most in the wrong. Nothing exceeds the grossness of the language that he poured out, except the badness of the verses that were the vehicle. There he fully exerted all that brutal abuse which his contemporaries were willing to think wit, because they were afraid of it; and which only serves to show the arrogance of the man who presumed to satirize Jones and rival Shakspeare. With the latter, indeed, he had not the smallest pretensions to be compared, except in having sometimes written absolute nonsense. Jonsort translated the ancients, Shakspeare transfused their very soul into his writings.” If Jonson was the rival of Shakspeare, he deserves all this; but with no other claims than his (t Cataline,“and” Sejanus,“how could he for a moment fancy himself the rival of Shakspeare?” Bartholomew Fair“was succeeded by the” Devil’s an Ass,“in 1616, and by an edition of his Works in folio, in which his” Epigrams" were first printed, although they appear to have been written at various times, and some long before this period. He was now in the zenith of his fame and prosperity. Among other marks of respect, he was presented with the honorary degree of M. A. by the university of Oxford. He had been invited to this place by Dr. Corbet, senior student, and afterwards dean of Christchurch and bishop of Norwich. According to the account he gave of himself to Drummond, he was M. A. of both universities.

Wood informs us that he succeeded Daniel as poet-laureat, in Oct. 1619, as Daniel did Spenser. Mr. Malone, however, has very clearly proved that neither Spenser nor Daniel enjoyed the office now known by that name. King James, by letters patent dated Februarys, 16,15-16, granted Jonson an annuity or yearly pension of one hundred marks during his life, “in consideration of the good and acceptable service heretofore done, and hereafter to be done, by the said B. J.” On the 23d of April, 1630, king Charles by letters patent, reciting* the former grant, and that it had been surrendered, was pleased “in consideration (says the patent) of the good and acceptable service done unto us and our father by the said B. J. and especially to encourage him to proceed in those services of his wit and pen, which we have enjoined unto him, and which we expect from him,” to augment his annuity of one hundred marks to one hundred pounds per annum during his life, payable from Christmas 1629. Charles at the same time granted him a tierce of Canary Spanish wine yearly during his life, out of his majesty’s cellars at Whitehall; of which there is no mention in the former grant. Soon after this pension was settled on him, he went to Scotland to visit his intimate friend and correspondent, Drummond of Hawthornden, to whom he imparted many particulars of his life and his opinions on the poets of his age. After his return from this visit, which appears to have afforded him much pleasure, he wrote a poem on the subject; but this, with several more of his productions, was destroyed by an, accidental fire, and he commemorated his loss in a poem entitled “An Execration upon Vulcan.”

Although it is not our purpose to notice all his dramatic pieces, it is necessary to mention, that in 1629 he produced a comedy called the “New Inn, or the light heart,” which was so roughly handled by the audience, that he was provoked to write an “Ode to Himself,” in which he threatened to abandon the stage. Threats of this kind are generally impotent, and Jonson gained nothing but the character of a man who was so far spoiled by public favour as to overrate his talents. Feltham and Suckling reflected on him with some asperity on this occasion, while Randolph endeavoured to reconcile him to his profession. His temper, usually rough, might perhaps at this time have been exasperated by disease, for we find that his health was declining from 1625 to 1629 , when his play was condemned. He was also suffering about this time the usual vexations which attend a want of ceconomy; in one case of pecuniary embarrassment, king Charles relieved him by the handsome present of an hundred pounds. This contradicts a story related by Gibber and Smollett, that when the king heard of his illness, he sent him ten pounds, and that Jonson said to the messenger, “His Majesty has sent me ten pounds, because I am old and poor, and live in an alley; go and tell him that his soul lives in an alley.” Jonson’s blunt manners and ready wit make the reply sufficiently credible, had the former part of the story been true, but the lines of gratitude which he addressed to his majesty are a satisfactory refutation. Jonson, however, continued to be thoughtlessly lavish and poor, although in addition to the royal bounty he is said to have enjoyed a pension from the city, and received occasional assistance from his friends. The pension from the city appears to have been withdrawn in 1631, if it be to it he alludes in the postscript of a letter in the British Museum, dated that year, “Yesterday the barbarous court of aldermen have withdrawn their chandler-ly pension for verjuice and mustard 33l. 6s. 8rf.” Sutton, the founder of the Charter-house, is said to have been one of his benefactors, which renders it improbable that Jonson could have intended to ridicule so excellent a character on the stage: yet, according to Mr. Oldys, “Volpone” was intended for him. But although it is supposed that Jonson sometimes laid the rich under contributions by the dread of his satire, it is not very likely that he would attack such a man as Sutton.

The “Tale of a Tub,” and the “Magnetic Lady,” were his last dramatic pieces, and bear very few marks of his original powers. He penned another masque in 1634, and we have a “New Year’s Ode” dated in 1G35, but the remainder of his life appears to have been wasted in sickness of the paralytic kind, which at length carried him off, Aug. 16, 1637, in the sixty-third year of his age. Three days afterwards he was interred in Westminster- abbey, at the north-west end near the belfrey, with a common pavement stone laid over his grave, with a short and irreverend inscription of “O rare Ben Jonson,” cut at the expence of sir John Young of Great Milton in Oxfordshire. His death was lamented as a public loss to the poetical world. About six months after this event, his contemporaries joined in a collection of elegies and encomiastic poems, which was published under the title of “Jonsonius Virbius; or the Memory of Ben Jonson revived by the friends of the Muses.” Dr. Duppa, bishop of Chichester, was the editor of this volume, which contained verses by lords Falkland and Buckhurst, sir John Beaumont, sir Francis Wortley, sir Thomas Hawkins, Messrs. Henry King, Henry Coventry, Thomas May, Dudley Diggs, George Fortescue, William Habington, Edmund Waller, J. Vernon, J. Cl. (probably Cleveland) Jasper Mayne, Will. Cartwright, John Rutter, Owen Feltham, George Donne, Shakerley Marmio'n, John Ford, R. Brideoak, Rich. West, R. Meade, H. Ramsay, T. Terrent, Rob. Wasing, Will. Bew, and Sam. Evans. A subscription also was entered hi to for a monument in the Abbey, but prevented by the rebellion. The second earl of Oxford contributed the bust in basrelievo which is now in Poet’s-corner. Jonson had several children, but survived them all. One of them was a poet, and, as Mr. Malqne has discovered, the author of a Drama written in conjunction with Brome. It should seem that he was not on good terms with his father. Fuller says that “Ben was not happy in his children.”

As many points of his character are obscure or disputed, it may not be unnecessary in this place to exhibit the evidence of his contemporaries, or of those who lived at no great distance of time. The following particulars Aubrey collected from Dr. Bathurst, sir Bennet Hoskyns, Lacy the player, and others.

“I remember when I was a scholar at Trin. Coll. Oxon. 1646, I heard Mr. Ralph Bathurst (now dean of Welles) say, that Ben: Johnson was a Warwyckshire man. ‘Tis agreed that his father was a minister; and by his epistle D. D. of Every Man to Mr. W. Camden, that he was a Westminster scholar, and that Mr. W. Camden was his schoolmaster. His mother, after his father’s death, married a bricklayer, and ’tis generally said that he wrought for some time with his father-in-lawe, and particularly on the garden wall of Lincoln’s inne next to Chancery lane; and that a knight, a bencher, walking thro‘, and hearing him repeat some Greeke verses out of Homer, discoursing with him and finding him to have a witt extraordinary, gave him some exhibition to maintain him at Trinity college in Cambridge, where he was: then he went into the Lowe Countryes, and spent some time, not very long, in the armie; not to the disgrace of [it], as you may find in his Epigrames. Then he came into England, and acted and wrote at the Greene Curtaine, but both ill; a kind of nursery or obscure playhouse somewhere in the suburbs (I think towards Shoreditch or Clerkenwell). Then he undertook again to write a play, and did hitt it admirably well, viz. Evtry Man which was his first good one. Sergeant Jo. Hoskins of Herefordshire was his Father. I remember his sonne (sir Bennet Hoskins, baronet, who was something poetical in his youth) told me, that when he desired to be adopted his sonne, No, sayd he, ’tis honour enough for me to be your brother I am your father’s sonne 'twas he that polished me I do acknowledge it. He was (or rather had been) of a clear and faire skin. His habit was very plain. I have heard Mr. Lacy the player say, that he was wont to weare a coate like a coachman’s coate, with slitts under the arm-pitts. He would many times exceede in drinke: Canarie was his beloved liquour: then he would tumble home to bed; and when he had thoroughly perspired, then to studie. I have seen his studyeing chaire, which was of strawe, such as old women used: and as Aulus Gellius is drawn in. When I was in Oxon: Bishop Skinner (Bp. of Oxford) who lay at our college was wont to say, that he understood an author as well as any man in England. He mentions in his Epigrames, a son that he had, and his epitaph. Long since in king James time, I have heard my uncle Davers (Danvers) say, who knew him, that he lived without Temple Barre at a combe- maker’s shop about the Elephant’s castle. In his later time he lived in Westminster, in the house under which you passe as you go out of the church-yard into the old palace; where he dyed. He lyes buried in the north-aisle, the path square of stones, the rest is lozenge, opposite to the scutcheon of Robert de Ros, with this inscription only on him, in a pavement square of blue marble, 14 inches square, O Rare Ben: Jonson: which was done at the charge of Jack Young, afterwards knighted, who walking there when the grave was covering, gave the fellow eighteen pence to cutt it.”

"I only knew Ben Jonson But my Lord of Winton (Dr. Morley, bishop of Winchester) knew him very well and says, he was in the 6, that is, the upermost fforme in Westminster scole, at which time his father dyed, and his mother married a brickelayer, who made him (much against his will) help him in his trade; but in a short time, his scolemaister, Mr. Camden, got him a better employment, which was to atend or acompany a son of sir Walter Rauley’s in his travills. Within a short time after their return, they parted (I think not in cole bloud) and with a loue sutable to what they had in their travilles (not to be comended). And then Ben began to set up for himselfe in the trade by which he got his subsistance and fame, of which I need not give any account. He got in time to have 100l. a yeare from the king, also a pension from the cittie, and the like from many of the nobilitie and some of the gentry, which was well pay'd, for love or fere of his railing in verse, or prose, or boeth. My lord told me, he told him he was (in his long retyrement and sickness, when he saw him, which was often) much afflickted, that hee had profained the scripture in his playes, and lamented it with horror: yet that, at that time of his long retyrement, his pension (so much as came in) was^ giuen to a woman that gouern‘d him (with whome he liu’d & dyed nere the Abie in Westminster) and that nether he nor she tooke much care for next weike and wood be sure not to want wine of which he usually took too much before he went to bed, if not oftener and soner. My lord tells me, he knowes not, but thinks he was born in Westminster. The question may be put to Mr. Wood very easily upon what grounds he is positive as to his being born their; he is a friendly man, and will resolve it. So much for brave Ben.

Fuller, in addition to what has been already quoted, says that “he was statutably admitted into Saint John’scollege in Cambridge, where he continued but few weeks for want of further maintenance, being fain to return to the trade of his father-in-law. And let not them blush that have, but those that have not a lawful calling. He helped in the building of the new structure of Lincoln’sInn, when having a trowell in his hand, he had a book in, his pocket. Some gentlemen pitying that his parts should be buried under the rubbish of so mean a calling, did by their bounty manumise him freely to follow his own ingenuous inclinations. Indeed his parts were not so ready to run of themselves as able to answer the spur, so that it may be truly said of him, that he had an elaborate wit wrought out by his own industry. He would sit silent in learned company, and suck in (besides wine) their several humours into his observation. What was ore in others, he was able to refine to himself. He was paramount in the dramatique part of poetry, and taught the stage an exact conformity to the laws of comedians. His comedies were above the Volge (which are only tickled with downright obscenity), and took not so well at the first stroke as at the rebound, when beheld the second time; yea, they will endure reading, and that with due commendation, so long as either ingenuity or learning are fashionable in our nation. If his later be not so spriteful and vigorous as his first pieces, all that are old will, and all that desire to be old should, excuse him therein.” To his article of Shakspeare, Fuller subjoins, 4< Many were the wit-combates betwixt (Shakspeare) and Ben Johnson, which two I behold like a Spanish great gallion, and an English man of war; master Johnson (like the former) was built far higher in learning; solid, but slow in his performances. Shakspeare, with the English man of war, lesser in bulk> but lighter in sailing, could turn with all tides, tack about and take advantage of all winds, by the quickness of his wit and invention."

The following particulars are transcribed from Oldys’ ms additions to Langbaine. Oldys, like Spence, picked up the traditions of his day, and left them to be examined and authenticated by his readers. Such contributions to biography are, no doubt, useful, but not to be received with implicit credit.

“Mr. Camden recommended (Jonson) to sir Walter Raleigh, who trusted him with the care and instruction of his eldest son Walter, a gay spark, who could not brook Ben’s rigorous treatment, but, perceiving one foible in his disposition, made use of that to throw oft* the yoke of his government. And this was an unlucky habit Ben had contracted, through his love of jovial company, of being overtaken with liquor, which sir Walter did of all vices most abominate, and hath most exclaimed against. One day, when Ben had taken a plentiful dose, and was fallen into a sound sleep, young Raleigh got a great basket, and a touple of men, who laid Ben in it, and then with a pole carried him between their shoulders to sir Walter, telling him their young master had sent home his tutor. This I had from a ms memorandum-book written in the time of the civil wars by Mr. Oldisworth, who was secretary, I think, to Philip earl of Pembroke. Yet in 1614, when sir Walter published his History of the World, there was a good understanding between him and Ben Jonson; for the verses, which explain the grave frontispiece before that history, were written by Jonson, and are reprinted in his” Underwoods,“where the poem is called” The Mind of the frontispiece to a book;“but he names not this book.”

“About the year 1622 some lewd, perjured, woman deceived and jilted him; and he writes a sharp poem on the occasion. And in another poem, called his picture, left in Scotland, he seems to think she slighted him for his mountain belly and his rocky face.” We have already seen by bishop Morley’s account that he lived with a woman in his latter days, who assisted him in spending his money.

“Ben Jonson,” says Oldys, “was charged in his” Poetaster," 1601, with having libelled or ridiculed the lawyers, soldiers, aud players so he afterwards joined an anologetical dialogue at the end of it, wherein he says he had been provoked for three years on every stage by slanderers, as to his self-conceit, arrogance, insolence, railing, and plagiarism by translations. As to law, he says he only brought in Ovid chid by his father for preferring poetry to it. As to the soldiers, he swears by his Muse they are friends; he loved the profession, and once proved or exercised it, as I take it, and did not shame it more then with his actions, than he dare now with his writings. And as to the players, he had taxed some sparingly, but they thought each man’s vice belonged to the whole tribe. That he was not moved with what they had done against him, but was sorry, for some better natures, who were drawn in by the rest to concur in the exposure or derision of him. And concludes, that since his comic muse had been so ominous to him, he will try if tragedy has a kinder aspect.

“A full show of those he has exposed in this play is not now easily discernible. Besides Decker, and some touches on some play that has a Moor in it (perhaps Titus Andronicus; I should hope he did not dare to mean Othello) some speeches of such a character being recited in Act III. Scene IV. though not reflected on, he makes Tucca call Histrio the player, * a lousy slave, proud rascal, you grow rich, do you and purchase your twopenny tear-mouth and copper-laced scoundrels,' &c. which language should not come very natural from him, if he ever had been a player himself; and such it seems he was before or after.” ­Howel in one of his letters delineates what the late Mr. Seward considered as the leading feature of Jonson’s character.

< I was invited yesterday to a solemn supper by B. J. where you were deeply remembered. There was good company, excellent cheer, choice wines, and jovial welcome. One thing intervened which almost spoiled the relish of the rest, that B. began to engross all the discourse; to vapour extremely of himself; and by vilifying others to magnify his own muse. T. Ca. buzzed me in the ear, that though Beit had barrelled up a great deal of knowledge, yet it seems he had not read the ethics, which, amongst other precepts of morality, forbid self-commendation, declaring it to be an ill-favoured solecism in good manners."

The account Jonson gave of himself to Drummond is jiot uninteresting. It was first published in the folia editiort of Drummond’s Works, 1711. “He,” Ben Jonson, "said that his grandfather came from Carlisle, to which he had come from Annandale in Scotland that he served king Henry VIII. and was a gentleman. His father lost his estate under queen Mary, having been cast in prison and forfeited; and at last he turned minister. He was posthumous, being born a month after his father’s death, and was put to school by a friend. His master was Camden. Afterwards he was taken from it, and put to another craft, viz. to be a bricklayer, which he could not endure, but went into the Low Countries, and returning home he again betook himself to his wonted studies. In his service in the Low Countries, he had, in the view of both the armies, killed an enemy, and taken the opima spolia from him; and since coming to England, being appealed to in. a duel, he had killed his adversary, who had hurt him in the arm, and whose sword was ten inches longer than his. For this crime he was imprisoned, and almost at the gallows. Then he took his religion on trust of a priest, who visited him in prison. He was twelve years a papist; but after this he was reconciled to the church of England, and left off to be a recusant. At his first communion, in token of his true reconciliation, he drank out the full cup of wine. He was master of arts in both universities. In the time of his close imprisonment under queen Elizabeth, there were spies to catch him, but he was advertised of them by the keeper. He had an epigram on the spies. He married a wife, who was a shrew, yet honest to him. When the king came to England, about the time that the plague was in London, he (Ben Jonson) being in the country at sir Robert Cotton’s house, with old Camden, saw in a vision his eldest son, then a young child, and at London, appear unto him with the mark of a bloody cross on his forehead, as if it had been cut with a sword; at which, amazed, he prayed unto God, and in the morning he came to Mr. Camden’s chamber to tell him, who persuaded him it was but an apprehension, at which he should not be dejected. In the mean time came letters from his wife, of the death of that boy in the plague. He appeared to him, he said, of a manly shape, and of that growth he thinks he shall be at the resurrection.

“He was accused by sir James Murray to the king, for writing something against the Scots in a play called” Eastward Hoe," and voluntarily imprisoned himself with Chapman and Marston, who had written it amongst them, and it was reported should have their ears and noses cut. After their delivery, he entertained all his friends; there were present Camden, Selden, and others. In the middle of the feast, his old mother drank to him, and showed him a paper which she designed (if the sentence had past) to have mixed among his drink, and it was strong and lusty poison; and to show that she was no churl, she told that she designed first to have drank of it herself.

"He said he had spent a whole night in lying looking to his great toe, about which he had seen Tartars and Turks, Romans and Carthaginians, fight, in his imagination.

"He wrote all his verses first in prose, as his master Camden taught him; and said that verses stood by sense, without either colours or accent.

"He used to say, that many epigrams were ill because they expressed in the end what should have been understood by what was said before, as that of sir John Davies; that he had a pastoral entitled * The May-lord' his own name is Alkin Ethra, the countess of Bedford Mogbel Overberry, the old countess of Suffolk; an enchantress; other names are given to Somerset, his lady, Pembroke, the countess of Rutland, lady Worth. In his first scene Alkin comes in mending his broken pipe. He bringeth in, says our author, clowns making mirth and foolish sports, contrary to all other pastorals. He had also a design to write a fisher or pastoral play, and make the stage of it in the Lomond Lake and also to write his foot- pilgrimage thither, and to call it a discovery. In a poem he calleth Edinburgh,

“That he had a design to write an epic poem, and was to call it Chorologia, of the worthies of his country raised by Fame, and was to dedicate it to his country. It is all in couplets, for he detested all other rhimes. He said he had written a discourse of poetry both against Campion and Daniel, especially the last, where he proves couplets to be the best sort of verses, especially when they are broke like hexameters, and that cross rhimes and stanzas, because the purpose would lead beyond eight lines, were all forced.”

Ben Jonson, continues Drummond, “was a great lover and praiser of himself, a contemner and scorner of others, given rather to lose a friend than a jest; jealous of every word and action of those about him, especially after drink, which is one of the elements in which he lived a dissembler of the parts which reign in him a bragger of some good that he wanted, thinking nothing well done, but what either be himself or some of his friends have said or done. He is passionately kind and angry, careless either to gain or keep; vindictive, but if he be well answered at himself, interprets best sayings and deeds often to the worst. He was for any religion, as being versed in both oppressed with fancy, which hath over- mastered his reason, a general disease in many poets. His inventions are smooth and easy, but above all he excelleth in a translation. When his play of the Silent Woman was first acted, there were found verses after on the stage against him, concluding, that that play was well named the Silent Woman, because there was never one man to say plaudite to it.” Drummond adds, “In short, he was in his personal character the very reverse of Shakspeare, as surly, ill-natured, proud, and disagreeable, as Shakspeare with ten times his merit was gentle, good-natured, easy, and amiable.”

Lord Clarendon’s character of our author is more favourable, and from so accurate a judge of human nature, perhaps more valuable. “His name,” lord Clarendon says, <l can never be forgotten, having by his very good learning, and the severity of his nature and manners, very much reformed the stage; and indeed the English poetry itself. His natural advantages were, judgment to order and govern fancy, rather than excess of fancy, his productions being slow and upon deliberation, yet then abounding with great wit and fancy, and will live accordingly; and surely as he did exceedingly exalt the English language in eloquence, propriety, and masculine expressions, so he was the best judge of, and fittest to prescribe rules to poetry and poets, of any man who had 'lived with, or before him, or since: if Mr. Cowley had not made a flight beyond all men, with that modesty yet, as to ascribe much of this to the example and learning of Ben Jonson. His conversation was very good, and with the men of most note; and he had for many years an extraordinary kindness for Mr. Hyde (lord Clarendon), till he found he betook himself to business, which he believed ought never to be preferred before his company. He lived to be very old, and till the palsy made a deep impression upon his body and his mind."

From these accounts it may surely be inferred that Jonson in his life-time occupied a high station in the literary world. So many memorials of character, and so many eulogiums on his talents, have not fallen to the lot of many writers of that age. His failings, however, appear to have been so conspicuous as to obscure his virtues. Addicted to intemperance, with the unequal temper which habitual intemperance creates, and disappointed in the hopes of wealth and independence, which his high opinion of his talents led him to form, degenerating even to the resources of a libeller who extorts from fear what is denied to genius, he became arrogant, and careless of pleasing even those with whom he associated. Of the coarseness of his manners there can be no doubt, but it appears at the same time that his talents were such as made his temper be tolerated for the sake of his conversation. As to his high opinion of himself, he did not probably differ from his contemporaries, who hailed him as the reformer of the stage, and as the most learned of criticsand it is no great diminution of his merit, that an age of more refinement cannot find enough to justify the superior light in which he was contemplated. It is sufficient that he did what had not been done before, that he displayed a judgment to which the stage had been a stranger, and furnished it with examples of regular comedy which have not been surpassed. His memory was uncommonly tenacious, and his learning certainly superior to that of most of his contemporaries. Pope gives him the praise of having “brought critical learning into vogue,” and having instructed both the actors and spectators in what was the proper province of the dramatic muse. His “English Grammar,” and his “Discoveries,” both written in his advanced years, display a-n attachment to the interests of literature, and a habit of reflection, which place his character as a scholar in a very favourable point of view. The editor of a recent edition: of his Discoveries, justly attributes to them “a closeness and precision of style, weight of sentiment, and accuracy of classical learning.”

Yet whatever may be thought of his learning, it is greatly over-rated, when opposed or preferred to the genius of his contemporary Shakspeare. Jonson 1 s learning contributed very little to his reputation as a dramatic poet. Where he seems to have employed it most, as in his “Cataline,” it only enables him to encumber the tragedy with servile versifications of Sallust, when he should have been studying nature and the passions. Dry den, whose opinions are often inconsistent, considers Jonson as the greatest man of his age, and observes, that “if we look upon him when he was himself (for his last plays were but his dotages) he was the most learned and judicious writer any theatre ever had.” In another place (preface to the “Mock Astrologer”), he says “that almost all Jonson’s pieces were but crambt his cocta, the same humour a little” varied and written worse."

It is certain that his high character as a dramatic writer has not descended to us undiminished. Of his fifty dramas, there are not above three which preserve his name on the stage, but these indeed are excellent. It was his misfortune to be obliged to dissipate on court masks and pageants those talents which concentrated might have furnished dramas equal to his “Volpone,” “Alchemist,” and the “Silent Woman.” Contrasted with the boundless and commanding genius of Shakspeare, Dr. Johnson has hit his character with success in his celebrated prologue.

To please by method, and invent by rule.

His studious patience, and laborious art,

Among his poems there are few which can be specified as models of excellence. The “Hymn” from “Cynthia’s Ilevels,” the “Ode to the Memory of sir Lucius Gary,” and “Sir H. Morison,” one of the first examples of the Pindaric, or irregular ode, and some of his songs, and “Underwoods,” are brightened by occasional rays of genius, and dignified simplicity, but in general he was led into glittering and fanciful thoughts, and is so frequently captivated with these as to neglect his versification. Although he had long studied poetry, it does not appear that be could pursue a train of poetical sentiment or imagery so far as to produce any great work. His best efforts were such as he could execute almost in the moment of conception, and frequently with an epigrammatic turn which is very striking. He once meditated an epic poem, but his habitual irregularities and love of company denied the necessary perseverance.

His works were printed thrice in folio in the seventeenth century, and thrice in the eighteenth. The last edition in seven volumes, 8vo, with notes and additions by Mr. Whalley, appeared in 1756, and is esteemed the most valuable, but will probably be superseded by an edition which is said to be preparing by the acute editor of Massinger’s works.

, a painter of history and portraits, possessed of very superior abilities in his art, was born at Antwerp in 1594. He first studied with Adam Van Oort, whose daughter he married at an early period of his life but it was to Rubens he stood indebted for the principal part of his knowledge; though it is dubious whether he ever was admitted into the school of that master. Certain it is, however, that he more forcibly carried into effect his principles than any of his disciples, except Vandyke. It is said by Sandrart, that Rubens was jealous of him, but this assertion is generally thought to be unfounded; yet if so great a man were capable of that mean passion, certainly the talents of Jordaens might well excite it. He painted with almost incredible force and brilliancy. Neither Rubens nor Tintoretto, in that respect, excel him; his compositions are full of bustle, and designed with great truth, even grandeur of form. His defect (and it must be allowed that it is a great one, in an art whose principal end is to adorn, to improve, to please mankind) is grossness of subject and of form; not indecent, but vulgar, low common life. His power to give rotundity and relief to his figures, is amazing; and his execution is of the most masterly kind. The French have possessed themselves of many of his principal works; two are particularly noticeable in the gallery of the Louvre, the Flemish celebration. of Twelfth night, known by the appellation of “L'e Roi boit,” and Christ driving the money-changers from the temple. He was remarkable for the rapidity of his execution, and appears to have studied his figures and effects by candle-light, or in bright sun-shine. Having obtained great renown and success, he died in 1678.

, a person distinguished more by his connections than by his works, was born at Berlin in 1702, and discovered early a taste for letters. He was brought up to the church, but becoming acquainted with Frederic, then prince, and afterwards king of Prussia, a friendship commenced between them of no common sincerity; and when Frederic came to the throne, he prevailed on Jordan to abandon the church and come to court. Here he became the confidential friend of Frederic, and had the courage to give him on all occasions the best advice, and to oppose to his face such measures as he thought hurtful. Notwithstanding this freedom he was advanced to several posts of profit and honour, and became at length vice-president of the academy of sciences at Berlin where he died in 1745. The king of Prussia erected a mausoleum over him, and also honoured him with the following eloge “Jordan,” says he, “was born with parts, lively, penetrating, yet capable of application his memory vast and retentive his judgment sure, his imagination brilliant always governed by reason, yet without stiffness in his morals; open in conversation, full of politeness and benevolence; cherishing truth, and disguising it; humane, generous, ready to serve; a good citizen; faithful to his friends, his master, and his country.” His merits as an author do not give us so high an idea of him as the above eloge, or as the more interesting account given by Thibault. His only writings were, “L‘Histoire d’un voyage literaire,” in France, England, and Holland. “Un Recueil de Littrature, de Philosophic, & de Histoire.” A Life of M. de la Croze, in French, &c.

, an English physician, and considerable writer on chemistry and mineralogy, was born in 1569, at High Halden in Kent, and probably educated at Hart-hall, Oxford. He visited foreign universities, and took his degree of doctor in that of Padua. After his return, he practised in London, where he became a member of the college of physicians, and was in high reputation for learning and abilities. He injured his fortune by engaging in a project to manufacture alum. We are ignorant where his works were situated; but it is certain, he obtained a grant from James I. of the profits of them, which was revoked at the importunity of a courtier; and though he made application for redress, he never obtained it, notwithstanding the king appeared particularly sensible of the hardship of his case. He spent the latter part of his life at Bath, and died there, of the gout and stone, in January 1632.

, a learned English divine, was born in the parish of St. Giles’s, Middlesex, Oct. 23, 1698. His father, Renatus, was a native of Bretagne in France; came over to England about 1685, when protestantism was no longer tolerated in that country was made a gentleman of the privy -chamber in 1691 became afterwards secretary to lord Orford, sir George Rooke, and sir Cloudesly Shovel; and was cast away with the last, when his ship struck upon the rocks of Scilly, Oct. 22, 1707. His mother was Martha Rogers, of an ancient and respectable family in Bucks, which had produced some clergymen, distinguished by their abilities and learning. He was educated at the Charter-house, where he made a good profiqiency in Greek and Latin: French he learned at home, and he understood and spoke that language well.

In May 1715, he was admitted of Jesus-college, Cambridge; and, about two years after, recommended by his tutor Dr. Styan Thirlby, who was very fond of him, and always retained a friendship for him, to make extracts from Eustathius, for the use of Pope’s “Homer.” He was not employed directly by Pope, nor did it ever happen to him to see the face of that poet: for, being of a shy modest nature, he felt no impulse to force his way to him; nor did the other make inquiry about him, though perfectly satisfied with what he had done for him. He took the degree of B. A. in 1718-19, and M. A. in 1722: he had been chosen fellow of his college soon after the taking of his first degree. This year he distinguished himself by the publication of a few Latin poems, entitled, “Lusus Poetici;” which were well received, and were twice reprinted, with additions. In Sept. 1723, he entered into deacon’s orders, and into priest’s the June following. In Jan. 1726 -7, he was presented by his college to Swavesey, near Cambridge; but, marrying in 1728, he resigned that living, and spon after settled himself in London, where he was engaged as a reader and preacher at a chapel in street, near Russell-street, Bloomsbury. ID this town he spent the next twenty-five years of his life: for though, in 1737, the earl of Winchelsea gave him the living of Eastvvell in Kent, where he resided a little time, yet he very soon quitted it, and returned to London. Here for many years he had employment as a preacher, in the abovementioned and other chapels; with the emoluments of which occasional services, and a competency of his own, he supported himself and family in a decent though private manner, dividing his leisure hours between his books and his friends, especially those of the literati, with whom he always kept up a close and intimate connection. In 1730, he published “Four Sermons upon the Truth of the Christian Religion:” the substance of which was afterwards incorporated in a work, entitled, “Discourses concerning the Truth of the Christian Religion, 1746,” 8vo.

In 1731, he published “Miscellaneous Observations upon Authors, ancient and modern,” in 2 vols. 8vo. This is a collection of critical remarks, of which, however, he was not the sole, though the principal, author: Pearce, Masson, Dr. Taylor, Wasse, Theobald, Dr. Robinson, Upton, Thirlby, and others, were contributors to it. This work was highly approved by the learned here, and was translated into Latin at Amsterdam, and continued on the same plan by D'Orville and Burman. In 1751, archbishop Herring, unsolicited, gave him the living of St. Dunstan in the East, London. This prelate had long entertained a high and affectionate regard for him had endeavoured to serve him in many instances with others and afterwards, in 1755, conferred upon him the degree of D. D. This same year, 1751, came out his first volume of “Remarks upon Ecclesiastical History,” 8vi. This work was inscribed to die earl of Burlington by whom, as trustee for the Boylean Lecture, he had, through the application of bishop Herring and bishop Sherlock, been appointed, in 1749, to preach that lecture. There is a preface to this volume of more than forty pages, which, with much learning and ingenuity, displays a spirit of liberty and candour. These “Remarks upon Ecclesiastical fiistory” were continued, in tour succeeding volumes, down to the year 1517, when Luther began the work of reformation; two, published by himself, in 1752 and 1754; and two, after his death, in 1773. In 1755, he published “Six Dissertations upon different Subjects,” 8vo. The sixth dissertation is, “On the state of the dead, as described by Homer and Virgil;” and the remarks in this, tending to establish the great antiquity of the doctrine of a future state, interfered with Warburton in his “Divine Legation of Moses,” and drew upon him from that quarter a very severe attack. He made no reply; but in his “Adversaria” was the following memorandum, which shews that he did not oppose the notions of other men, from any spirit of envy or contradiction, but from a full persuasion that the real matter of fact was as he had represented it. “I have examined,” says he, “the state of the dead, as described by Homer and Virgil; and upon that dissertation I am willing to stake all the little credit that I have as a critic and philosopher. I have there observed, that Homer was not the inventor of the fabulous history of the gods: he had those stories, and also the doctrine of a future state, from old traditions. Many notions of the Pagans, which came from tradition, are considered by Barrow, Serm. viii. vol. II. in which sermon the existence of God is proved from universal consent.”

In 1758, appeared his “Life of Erasmus,” in one vol. 4to; and in 1760, another vol. 4to, containing “Remarks upon the Works of Erasmus,” and an “Appendix of Extracts from Erasmus and other Writers.” In the preface to the former volume, he says, that “Le Clerc, while publishing the Works of Erasmus at Leyden, drew up his Life in French, collected principally from his letters, and inserted it in the ‘ Bibliotheque Choisie;’ that, as this Life was favourably received by the public, he had taken it as a groundwork to build upon, and had translated it, notsuperstitiously and closely, but with much freedom, and with more attention to things than to words; but that he had made continual additions, not only with relation to the history of those days, but to the life of Erasmus, especially where Le Clerc grew more remiss, either wearied with the task, or called off from these to other labours.” After mentioning a few other matters to his readers, he turns his discourse to his friends “recommending himself to their favour, whilst he is with them, and his name, when he is gone hence and intreating them to join with him in a wish, that he may pass the evening of a studious and unambitious life in an humble but not a slothful obscurity, and never forfeit the kind continuance of their accustomed approbation.” The plan of this work, however, is highly objectionable, unless as a book to be consulted. It contains, in that respect, a vast mass of tacts and opinions respecting Erasmus and his contemporaries, put together in chronological order, and of great importance in ecclesiastical or biographical researches.

But whatever Dr. Jortin’s wishes mightbe as to retirement, he was to live hereafter neither so studiously nor so obscurely as his imagination had figured out to him: more public scenes than any he had yet been engaged in still awaited him. For, Hayter, bishop of London, with whom he had been upon intimate terms, dying in 1762, and Osbaldiston, who was also his friend, succeeding to that see, he was made domestic chaplain to this bishop in March, admitted into a prebend of St. Paul’s the same month, and in October presented to the living of Kensington, whither he went to reside soon after, and there performed the office of a good parishpriest as long as he lived. In 1764, he was appointed archdeacon of London, and soon after had the offer of the rectory of St. James, Westminster; which, however, he refused, from thinking his situation at Kensington more to his honour, as well as better adapted to his now advanced age. Here he lived occupied (when his clerical functions permitted) amongst his books, and enjoying himself with his usual serenity, till Aug. 27, 1770: when, being seized with a disorder in the breast and lungs, he grew continually worse in spite of all assistance; and, without undergoing much pain in the course of his illness, died Sept. 5, in his 72d year. He preserved his understanding to the last; and, in answer to a female attendant who offered him something, “No,” said he, with much composure, “I have had enough of every thing.” He was buried in the new church-yard at Kensington, as he had directed; and had a flat stone laid over him, with this inscription, dictated by himself:

He left a widow and two children, Rogers Jortin*, of Li colnVinn, in the profession of the law and Martha, ma

This son died in July 1795. He had considerable practice in the court Exchequer. His wife, who survived him, was one of the daughters of Dr, Mat ried to the rev. Samuel Darby, fellow of Jesus-college, in Cambridge, and afterwards rector of Whatfield, in Sutfolk.

Besides his principal works, which have already been mentioned, there are some other things of a smaller nature; as, “Remarks upon Spenser’s Poems,” 1734, 8vo, at the end of which are some “Remarks upon Milton;” “Remarks on Seneca,” printed in the “Present State of the Republic of Letters,” for Aug. 1734; “A Sermon preached at the Consecration of Pearce bishop of Bangor,” 1747 a few “Remarks on Tillotson’s Sermons,” given to his friend Dr. Birch, and printed in the appendix to Birch’s Life of that prelate, 1752; “Letter to Mr. Avison, concerning the Music of the Ancients,” subjoined to a second edition of Avison’s “Essay on Musical Expression,” 1753, and a few “Remarks on Phillips’s Life of Cardinal Pole,” printed in an appendix to “Neve’s Animadversions” upon that History, 1766. In 1771, the year after his death, 4 volumes of his “Sermons,” in 8vo, were inscribed by his son Rogers Jortin, esq. to his parishioners of St. Dunstan’s, at whose request they were published; and these, being well received by the public, were reprinted in 1772, with the addition of 3 volumes more. At the end of the 7th vol. a*e “Jour Charges, delivered to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of London.” His whole Works have lately been reprinted, including his Life of Erasmus, by Messrs. White and Cochrane, in an uniform edition.

Besides great integrity, great humanity, and other qualities which make men amiable as well as useful, this learned person was oi a very pleasant and facetious turn; as his writings abundantly shew. He had, nevertheless, great sensibility, and could express himself with warmth, and even with some degreeof indignation, when he thought the occasion warranted him to do so. For instance, he had a great respect and fondness for critical learning, which he so much cultivated; and though he knew and allowed it to have been disgraced by the manners of proud, fastidious, and insolent critics, yet he thought the restoration of letters, and the civilization of Europe, so much indebted to it, that he could ill bear to see it contemptuously treated. Hence a little tartness sometimes in his writings, when this topic falls in his way.

For the motto of his “Life of Erasmus,” he chose the following words of Erasmus himself: “illud certe praesagio, de meis lucubrationibus, qualescunque sunt, candidius judicaturam Posteritatem: tametsi nee de meo seculo queri possum.' 1 Yet it is certain that he had very slight notions of posthumous fame or glory, and of any real good which could arise from it; as appears from what he has collected and written about it, in a note upon Milton, at the end of his” Remarks upon Spenser.“He would sometimes complain, and doubtless with good reason, of the low estimation into which learning was fallen; and thought it discountenanced and discouraged, indirectly at least, when ignorant and worthless persons were advanced to high stations and great preferments, while men of merit and abilities were overlooked and neglected. Yet he laid no undue stress upon such stations and preferments, but entertained just notions concerning what must ever constitute the chief good and happiness of man, and is himself believed to have made the most of them. Dr. Parr has drawn his character with his usual elegance and discrimination.” Jortin,“says he,” whether I look back to his verse, to his prose, to his critical, or to his theological works, there are few authors to whom I am so much indebted for rational entertainment, or for solid instruction. Learned he was, without pedantry. He was ingenious without the affectation of singularity. He was a lover of truth, without hovering over the gloomy abyss of scepticism, and a friend to free inquiry, without roving into the dreary and pathless wilds of latitudinarianism. He had a heart which never disgraced the powers of his understanding. With a lively imagination, an elegant taste, and a judgment most masculine, and most correct, he united the artless and amiable negligence of a school-boy. Wit without ill-nature, and sense without effort, be could at will scatter upon every subject; and in every book the writer presents us with a near and distinct view of the real man."

, i. e. the son of Gorion, a Jewish historian, is sometimes confounded by the rabbins with the more celebrated historian Josephus. He lived about the end of the ninth, or beginning of the tenth century, and left a History of the Jews, in Hebrew, which Gagnier translated into Latin, Oxford, 1706, 4to. There is also an edition in Hebrew and Latin, Gotha, 1707, 4to. It is obvious from internal Evidence, that this work could not have been written earlier than the ninth century; and that the author was, according to all appearance, a Jew of Languedoc.

, a celebrated capuchin, better known by the name of Father Joseph, was born November 4, 1577, at Paris, where his father, John de Clerc, had an office in the palace. After pursuing his studies with success, he visited Italy and Germany, entered into the army, and gave his family the most flattering expectations of his future fortune, when he suddenly renounced the world, and took the capuchins’ habit in 1599. He afterwards preached, and discharged the office of a missionary with reputation, was entrusted with the most important commissions by the court, and contributed much to the reformation of Fontevrauld. He sent capuchin missionaries into England, Canada, and Turkey, and was the intimate confidant of cardinal Richelieu, to whotn he was servilely devoted. Father Joseph founded the new order of Benedictine nuns of Calvary, for whom he procured establishments at Angers. Louis XIII. had nominated him to the cardinalate, but he died at Reuel, before he had received that dignity, December 18, 1638. The parliament attended his funeral in a body. The abbe Richard has published two lives of this capuchin, in one of which, in 2 vols. 12mo, he represents him as a saint; and in the other, entitled “Le veritable Pere Joseph,” as an artful politician, and courtier. This last is most esteemed, and probably most to be credited.

, or Josephus Iscanus, a writer of considerable taste and elegance, in an age generally reputed barbarous, was a native of Devonshire, and flourished in the close of the twelfth, and the commencement of the thirteenth centuries. He was an ecclesiastic, and patronized by Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury. Some say that he was a priest of the cathedral of Exeter, from which he took his name. According to Camden, he accompanied Richard I. of England into the Holy Land, and was a great favourite with that prince. By archbishop Baldwin’s interest he was made archbishop of Bourdeaux, where he is supposed to have died in the reign of Henry III. and to have been buried in the cathedral of that city. He was author of two epic poems in Latin heroics. The first, in six books, is on the Trojan war the other is entitled “Antiochesis,” the war of Antioch, or the Crusade; of this last only a fragment remains, in which the heroes of Britain are celebrated. His style is not only for the most part pure, but rich and ornamented, and his versification approaches the best models of antiquity. His diction is compounded chiefly of Ovid, Statius, and Claudian, the favourite poets of the age, and wants only Virgilian chastity. “Italy,” says Warton in his History of English Poetry, “had at that time produced no poet comparable to him.” He was also author of love verses, epigrams, and miscellaneous poems. His “De Bello Trojano, lib. V.” was published at Basil, 1541, 8vo; Lond. 1675, 8vo Francfcnt, 1620, 4to, and ibid. 1623; Amst. 1702, 4to. All that remains of his “Antiochesis” is printed in Warton’s “Ftistory of English Poetry.” His love-verses, &c. are lost.

, the celebrated historian of the Jews, was born at Jerusalem, of parents who belonged to the illustrious Asmonean family, about the year 37. He soon discovered great acuteness and penetration, and made so quick a progress in the learning of the Jews, that he was occasionally consulted by the chief priests and rulers of the city, even at the age of sixteen. For the purpose of studying the history and tenets of the several Jewish sects, he became for three years a pupil of Banun, a hermit, who had acquired great fame for wisdom; and with him lived a recluse and abstemious life. After this he became of the sect of the Pharisees, of which he was a very great ornament. In the year 63, he went to Rome, where a Jew comedian, who happened to be in favour with Nero, served him much at court, by making him known to Poppaea, whose protection was very useful to him, and enabled him to procure liberty for some of his countrymen. Upon his return to his country, where he found all things in confusion, he had the command of some troops, and distinguished himself at the siege of Jotapata, which he defended seven weeks against Vespasian and Titus, but was taken prisoner. A short time after, Vespasian granted him his life, at the intercession of Titus, who had conceived a great esteem for him. He now visited Egypt, and took up his residence at Alexandria, where he doubtless studied the Grecian and Egyptian philosophy. His patron, Titus, carried him with him to the siege of Jerusalem, after the taking of which, he attended Titus to Rome, where Vespasian gave him the freedom of the city, and settled a pension upon him. At Rome he cultivated the Greek language, and began to write his History. He continued ta experience favour under Titus and Domitian, and lived beyond the 13th year of Domitian, when he was fifty-six for his books of “Antiquities” end there and after that period he composed his books against Apion. In what year he died is uncertain.

His “History of the Jewish War and the Destruction of Jerusalem,” in seven books, was composed at the command of Vespasian first in the Hebrew language, for the use of his own countrymen, and afterwards in the Greek. It is singularly interesting and affecting, as the historian was an eye-witness of all he relates. With the very strong colouring of an animated style and noble expression, he paints to the imagination, and affects the heart. National vanity and partiality, however, led him to imagine that all knowledge and wisdom had originated in Judea, and had flowed thence through all the nations of the earth; a notion which, says Brucker, gave rise to many errors and misrepresentations in his writings. The authenticity of the celebrated passage in Josephus, respecting our Saviour, is ably vindicated by our learned countryman Jacob Bryant, in his “Vindiciae Flavians.”

Josephus’s “Jewish Antiquities,” in 20 books, written in Greek, is also a very noble work; their history is deduced from the origin of the world to the 12th year of Nero, when the Jews began to rebel against the Romans. At the conclusion of the “Antiquities,” he subjoined the “History of his own Life,” although in the editions of his Works it has usually been considered as a distinct production. He wrote also two books against Apion, a grammarian of Alexandria, and a great adversary of the Jews. These contain many curious fragments of ancient historians. We have also a discourse of his “upon the Martyrdom of the Maccabees,” which is a master-piece of eloquence; but its authenticity has been doubted, and Whiston would not admit it in his translation. The works of Josephus, with Latin versions, have been often published but the best editions are those of Hudson, Oxford, 1720, 2 vols. fol. and of Havercatnp, at Amsterdam, 1727, in 2 vols. folio. They have also been translated into modern languages; into English by L'Estrange, and again by Whiston, in 2 Vol$. fol.

, a supposed heretic of the fourth century, was an Italian monk, and observed all the austerities of a monastic life for a time, and taught some points of doctrine directly opposite to the growing superstitions; for this he was expelled Rome, and fled to Milan, with an intent to engage Ambrose, bishop of that place, and the emperor Theodosius, who was then in that city, in his favour; but Syricius, then bishop of Rome, dispatched three presbyters to Milan, Crescentius, Leopardus, and Alexander, with letters to that church, which are still extant in Ambrose’s works, acquainting them with the proceedings of himself and his followers, in consequence of which he was rejected by Ambrose, and driven out of the town by the emperor. From Milan, Jovinian returned to the neighbourhood of Home, where his followers continued to assemble under his direction, till the year 398, when the emperor Honorius commanded him and his accomplices to be whipped and banished into different islands. Jovinian himself was confined to Boas, a small island on the coast of Dal matin, where he died about the year 406. Jovinian wrote several books, which were answered by Jerome in the year 392, but in such a manner as to render it difficult to know what were Jovinian’s errors, or what his general character, except that he was no friend to celibacy or fasting.

, or Paullo Giovio, an Italian historian, was a native of Como, and was born in 1483. Being early deprived of his father, he was educated under the care of his elder brother Benedict, who was also a historical writer. After having studied at Padua, Milan, and Pavia, he took the degree of M. D. and practised for some time; but an early propensity led him to the study and composition of history. Having completed a volume, he presented it to Leo X. at Rome, in 1516, who expressed a very high opinion of him, and gave him a pension and the rank of knighthood. Jovius now became intimate with the literati of Rome, and wrote several Latin poems, which appeared in the “Coryciana,” and other collections. After the death of Leo, Adrian VI. presented him to a canonry in the cathedral of Como, and Clement VII. appointed him one of his attendant courtiers, provided him with a handsome establishment in the Vatican, gave him the precentorship of Como, and lastly the bishopric of Nocera. During the sacking of the city of Rome, in 1527, Jovius was robbed of a considerable sum of money and of his manuscripts, but recovered the latter. Under the pontificate of Paul III. he wished to exchange his bishopric of Nocera for that of Como, and even carried his ambition to the place of cardinal, but was disappointed in both. His favourite residence was at a beautiful villa on the banks of the lake of Como, where he pursued his studies, and in his museum made a collection of portraits of eminent characters, to each of which he affixed an inscription, or brief memoir, some highly favourable, others sarcastically severe. These memoirs have been frequently printed under the title “Elogia doctorum Virorum,” and the portraits, engraved in wood, have been published under the title of “Musaei Jovian i Imagines,” Basil, 1577. About two years before his death, he quitted his retirement, and took up his residence in Florence, where he died in 1552, and was buried in the church of St. Laurence, in that city.

His historical works, which are all in the Latin tongue, written with great facility, were first printed at Florence, 1550 52, in 2 vols. fol. and again at Strasburgh, in 1556. They are to be read with great caution, as he was not unjustly accused of flattery and malignity, and of having sacrificed his talents to servile and interested purposes. He indeed openly acknowledges the venality of his writings, and is said to have asserted that he had two pens, the one of iron, and the other of gold, which he made use of alternately, as occasion required. But his greatest blemish is the defective or perverted morality with which his works abound; yet with all this, says his late biographer, the writings of Jovius cannot be wholly rejected without the loss of much important information, copiously narrated and elegantly expressed.

His other writings are a small tract, “De Piscibus Romanis,” published in 1524, fol. and reprinted in 1527, 8vo; the lives of the twelve Visconti lords and dukes of Milan; a description of the island of Great Britain, of Muscovy, of the lake of Como; and the eulogies of men who have distinguished themselves in arms. Three of the last books of the history of Paul, with some works of his brother Benedict, have lately been discovered among the domestic Mss, of a descendant of the family. His brother Benedict appears to have been equally conversant with science and literature. Among his writings are, the history of Como, his native place; a treatise on the transactions and manners of the Swiss; a collection of 100 letters; several translations from the Greek, and some specimens of Latin poetry.

, a learned priest of Montpellier, whose father was syndic of the states of Languedoc, which office he himself held before he became an ecclesiastic, was born in 1689. He wrote an explanation of the history of Joseph, 12mo; “Caractere essentiel aux Prophe'tes,” 12mo; “Lettres sur Tlnterpretation des Saintes Ecritures,” 12mo; and Explanations of the prophecies of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, 5 vols. 12mo; of the Minor Prophets, 6 vols. 12mo; of the Revelations, 2 vols. 12 mo. His attachment to the Jansenists occasioned his being confined six weeks in the Bastille on false suspicions. He died 1763, aged seventy-four.

, a learned physician, and royal professor at Montpellier, was born at Valence, in the province of Dauphine, in France, on the 16th of December, 1529, of a good family. After he had finished his school education, he went to Mompellier, where he was matriculated in the faculty of medicine on the 1st of March, 1550, and took his degree of bachelor the following year. He afterwards studied at Padua, where he attended the lectures of the celebrated Fallopius, and at some other places; but, returning to Montpellier, he finished his exercises, and received the degree of doctor in 1558. The manner in which he had performed his acts procured for him so much of the confidence and esteem of Honore Castellan, that this professor, being summoned to court in the following year, to hold the office of first physician of Catharine de Medicis, queen of Henry II. he nominated Joubert to give the lectures in the schools during his absence; and Joubert acquitted himself in so distinguished a manner, that on the death of professor Rondelet in 1566, he was immediately named his successor, in the chair. He was likewise the second successor of Rondelet, in the dignity of chancellor, having followed Saporta in 1574. He was called to Paris by Henry III. in 1579, who entertained hopes that Joubert would be able to cure the barrenness of Louisa de Lorraine, his queen. But his attempts proved unsuccessful; and he returned to Montpellier with the title of physician in ordinary to the king, and continued to practise there to his death, October 21, 1583.

His Latin works, written with correctness and elegance, have been frequently reprinted under the title of “Operum Latinorum Tomus primus et secundus.” The first edition is that of Lyons, in 1582, folio; the subsequent ones appeared at Francfort, in 1599, 1645, and 1668, also in fol. He published also some medical treatises in French, particularly a treatise on “Laughter, its causes and effects,” 1579, 8vo; but of all his works, that in which he ventured to raise his voice against popular medical errors, was the most distinguished “Erreurs populaires touchant la Medecine,” Bourdeaux, 1579. This was printed ten successive times in the course of six months; a degree of favour, however, which it appears to have acquired by its levity of manner, and the indelicacy of some of the subjects.

, or rather Jouvancey (Joseph de), a celebrated Jesuit, was born September 14, 1643, at Paris. He taught rhetoric with uncommon reputation at Caen, la Fleche, and Paris. At length he was invited to Rome, in 1669, that he might continue “The History of the Jesuits,” with more freedom than he could have done in France, and died in that city May 29, 1719. His principal works are, two volumes of Latin Speeches, 12mo; a small tract entitled “De ratione discendi et docendi,” much esteemed; Notes, in Latin, on P-ersius, Juvenal, Terence, Horace, Martial, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, &c. The fifth part of the “History of the Jesuits,” in Latin, from 1591 to 1616, fol.; as a supplement to Fathers Orlandino, Sacchini, and Poussines. All Jouvenci’s works are written in pure Latin, and in this consists their principal excellence. His History of the Jesuits, in which he undertakes to justify his brother, Pere Guignard, who was hanged by sentence of parliament on account of Chatel’s infamous attempt, and to represent him as a martyr, being printed at Rome, 1710, fol. made much noise, and was condemned by two decrees of the parliament of Paris one Feb. 22, 1713 the other, March 24th the same year. This last sentence suppresses the work, and contains the declaration which had been demanded from the Jesuits. Several pieces appeared on this occasion against P. Jouvenci’s history, 1713, 12mo.

, an historical painter, born at Bouen, in Normandy, in 1644, received his first instructions from his father; but his principal teacher was Poussin, and his most useful studies the works of that master. He had a ready invention, and was therefore employed to adorn the apartments of Versailles and the Trianon. In the hospital of the invalids at Paris, he painted the twelve apostles; each figure 14 feet high. It must be acknowledged, however, that he failed in true taste. His style partakes too much of French flippancy the substitution of something striking for what is solid and good and his colouring is heavy. In the latter end of his life, he was struck with a palsy on his right side, and after having tried to no purpose the virtue of mineral waters, despaired of being able to paint any longer; but in one of his lectures happening to take the pencil into his left hand, and trying to retouch a piece before him, the attempt succeeded so well, that it encouraged him to make others; till at length he determined to finish with his left hand a large cieling, which he had begun in the grand hall of the parliament at Kouen, and a large piece of the Annunciation, in the choir of the church of Paris. These last works are no ways inferior to any of his best. He died at Paris in 1717.

, one of the early promoters of the reformation, was a native of the county of Bedford, and educated at Peterhouse, in Cambridge, where he took the degree of B. A. in 1513, and that of M. A. in 1517, and the same year was admitted a fellow. In 1527, being a strenuous advocate for the doctrines of the reformation, and an intimate friend of the celebrated Tindale, he was accused of heresy, which obliged him to resign his fellowship; and finding himself in danger from the continual persecutions of Wolsey, sir Thomas More, and Fisher, he retired to Germany, where he continued many years. He had a concern in the superintendance of Tindale’s Bible, printed at Antwerp in 1533, and is ranked by Ames as a printer himself; but, not content with corrections of the press, he took liberties with the translation, of which Tindale complained with justice, and Joy published an apology, Of these the reader will find ample information in Lewis. When Joy returned to England is not known, but it is said that he died in 1553, and was buried in his native country. Besides his translations of some parts of the Bible, he published, 1. “On the unity and schism of the ancient church,” Wesal, 1534, 8vo. 2. “The subversion of More V false foundation,” Embden, 1534, 12mo. 3. “Epistle to the prior of Newenham,” Strasburgh, 1527, 8vo. 4. “Commentary on Daniel, from Melancthon,” &c. Geneva, 1545, Lond. 1550, 8vo. 5. “A present consolation for the sufferance of persecution for righteousness,” 1544, 12mo: and other works, enumerated by Tanner.

, alias Lyde, second son of William, Joyner, alias Lyde*, of Horspath, near Oxford, by Anne his wife, daughter and coheir of Edward Leyworth, M. 0. of Oxford, was born in St. Giles’s parish there, ApriT 1622, educated partly in Thame, but more in Coventry free-school, elected demy of Magdalen-college, 1626, and afterwards fellow. But, “upon a foresight of the utter ruin of the church of England by the presbyterians in the time of the rebellion,” he changed his religion for that of Rome, renounced his fellowship, 1644, and being taken into the service of the earl of Glamorgan, went with him into Ireland, and continued there till the royal cause declined in that country. He then accompanied that earl in his travels abroad; and some time after being recommended to the service of the hon. Walter Montague, abbot of St. Martin, near Pontoise, he continued several years in his family as his steward, esteemed for his learning, sincere

* In the Oen?. Mag. for 1781, p 38, daleo, Oxford, on Edward Joyner, is a curious- Latin epitaph, taken from alias Lyde, who was probably the elthe parish church of St. Mary Mag- der brother of William. piety, and great fidelity. At his return he lived very retired in London; till, on the breaking out of the popish plot in 1678, he retired to Horspath, where some time after he was seized for a Jesuit, or priest, and hound to appear at the quarter-sessions at Oxford. Being found to be a mere lay-papist, and discharged, he went to Ickford, an obscure village in Buckinghamshire, near Thame, and there spent many years in devout retirement. In 1687 he was restored to his fellowship by James II. but expelled from it after a year’s enjoyment, and retired to his former recess, where, says Wood, his apparel, which was formerly gay, was then very rustical, little better than that of a day-labourer, and his diet and lodging suitable. In one of his letters to Wood, April 12, 1692, he told him that “the present place of his residence is a poor thatcht-house, where the roof is of the same stuff in the chamber where he lodged, which he assured me was never guilty of paying chimney-tax. However, he hoped that all this would not make a person neglected and despicable who had formerly slept in the royal palaces of France, under a roof fretted and embossed with gold; whereas, this is doubly and trebly interweaved only with venerable cobwebs, which can plead nothing of rarity besides the antiquity.” This personage has written, 1. “The Roman Empress,” a comedy, Lond. 1670, 4to. 2. “Some Observations on the Life of Cardinal Pole,” 1686, 8vo. 3. Various Latin and English poems, scattered in several books, especially a large English copy in “Horti Carolini Rosa altera,” 1640. He died at Ickford, Sept. 14, 1706. He was great uncle to Thomas Philips, canon of Tongres, who wrote the “Life of Cardinal Pole,” published in 1766.

, a learned Spanish mathematician, knight of Malta, and commander of the band of gentlemen marine guards, was chosen, with Ulloa, to attend the French academicians, who went to Peru', for the purpose of measuring a degree on the meridian, in order to determine the earth’s figure. They embarked May 26, 1735. Ulloa undertook the historical part of the voyage, which appeared translated into French, Amsterdam, 1752, 2 vols. 4to; and D. George Juan the astronomical part, who accordingly published a large work on the earth’s figure, printed in Spanish. On his return he went to Paris, 171 where the academy of sciences admitted him a member. He died at Madrid, 1773, leaving several works in Spanish on naval affairs, a translation of which would be useful.

, or Jehuda, Hakkadosh, or the Saint, a rabbi celebrated for his learning and riches, according to the Jewish historians, lived in the time of the emperor Marcus Antoninus, whom he made a proselyte to Judaism, and it was by his order that Jehuda compiled the Mishna, the history of which is briefly this: The sect of the Pharisees, after the destruction of Jerusalem, prevailing over the rest, the study of traditions became the chief object of attention in all the Jewish schools. The number of these traditions had, in a long course of time, so greatly increased, that the doctors, whose principal employment it was to illustrate them by new explanations, and to confirm their authority, found it necessary to assist their recollection by committing them, under distinct heads, to writing. At the same time, their disciples took minutes of the explanations of their preceptors, many of which were preserved, and grew up into voluminous commentaries. The confusion which arose from these causes was now become so troublesome, that, notwithstanding what Hillel had before done in arranging the traditions, Jehuda found it necessary to attempt a new digest of the oral law, and of the commentaries of their most famous doctors. This arduous undertaking is said to have employed him forty years. It was completed, according to the unanimous testimony of the Jews, which in this case there is no sufficient reason to dispute, about the close of the second century. This Mishna, or first Talmud, comprehends all the laws, institutions, and rules of life, which, beside the ancient Hebrew scriptures, the Jews supposed themselves bound to observe. Notwithstanding the obscurities, inconsistencies, and absurdities with which this collection abounds, it soon obtained credit among the Jews as a sacred book. But as the Mishna did not completely provide for many cases which arose in the practice of ecclesiastical law, and many of its prescriptions and decisions were found to require further comments and illustrations, the task of supplying these defects was undertaken by the rabbis Chiiam and Oschaiam, and others, disciples of Jehudah; who not only wrote explanations of the Mishna, but made material additions to that voluminous compilation. These commentaries and additions were collected by the rabbi Jochanan ben Eliezer, probably in the fifth century, under the name of the “Gemara,” because it completed the Mishna. This collection was afterwards called the Jerusalem Gemara, to distinguish it from another of the same kind made in Babylon, at the beginning of the sixth century.

, one of the reformers, son of John Judah, a German priest, was born in 1482, in Alsace. Some authors have reported that he was a converted Jew, but father Simon has proved that he neither was a Jew, nor of Jewish extraction, but the son of the above John Judah, or de Juda, who, according to the custom of those times, kept a concubine, by whom he had this Leo. He was educated at Slestadt, and thence in 1502, was sent to Basil to pursue his academical studies. Here he had for a fellowstudent, the afterwards much celebrated Zuinglius; and from him, who had at a very early age been shocked at the superstitious practices of the church of Rome, he received such impressions, as disposed him to embrace the reformed religion. Having obtained his degree of M. A. in 1512, he was appointed minister of a Swiss church, to the duties of which he applied himself with indefatigable zeal, preaching boldly in defence of the protestant religion. At length he was appointed by the magistrates and ecclesiastical assembly of Zurich, pastor of the church of St. Peter in that city, and became very celebrated as an advocate, as well from the press as the pulpit, of the reformed religion, for about eighteen years. At the desire of his brethren, he undertook a translation, from the Hebrew into Latin, of the whole Old Testament; but the magnitude of the work, and the closeness with which he applied to it, impaired his health; and before he had completed it, he fell a sacrifice to his labours, June 9, 1542, when he was about sixty years of age. The translation was finished by other hands, and was printed at Zurich in 1543, and two years afterwards it was reprinted at Paris by Robert Stephens, accompanying the Vulgate version, in adjoining columns, but without the name of the author of the new version. Judah was likewise the author of “Annotations upon Genesis and Exodus,” in which he was assisted by Xuinglius, and upon the four gospels, and the greater part of the epistles. He also composed a larger and smaller catechism, and translated some of Zuinglius’s works into Latin. The Spanish divines, notwithstanding the severity of the Inquisition, did not hesitate to reprint the Latin Bible of Leo Judah, with the notes ascribed to Vatabius, though some of them were from the pen of Calvin. Some particulars of Judah and of this translation, not generally known, may be found in a book written by a divine of Zurich, and printed in that city in 1616, entitled “Vindicise pro Bibliorum translatione Tigurina.”

, one of the principal writers of the Centuries of Magdeburg, was born Sept. 21, 1528, at Tippolswald, in Misnia. His inclination to literature induced his father to send him to study at Dresden: but the college of Wittenberg being more to his mind, he removed thither, and afterwards was driven, by necessity, to Magdeburg. Here he supported himself by being tutor in the family of a lawyer, who sent him with his son to Wittenberg, in 1546. This gave him an opportunity of completing his own studies; and he obtained the degree of M. A. in this university, 1548. He then returned to Magdeburg, and taught the second form there for some years; and in 1554, was chosen minister of St. Ulric’s church.

In 1559, he quitted his church at Magdeburg, being promoted to the divinity professor’s chair at Jena in 1559; but did not keep possession of it above eighteen months, being deprived by order of John Frederic duke of Saxony. He remained, however, six months longer at Jena, and thence returning to Magdeburg, was obliged, in six months more, to retire to Wismar. He suffered many persecutions and vexations, which appear to have shortened his days, as he died in 1564, in the very prime of life. He was a man of good morals, laborious, zealous, learned; and wrote a great many books on religious controversies; and one, very rare, “De Typographic inventione,”Copenhagen, 1566, 8vo. He understood music very well, and had s’ome knowledge of mathematics. He could write verses both in Latin and Greek, and had designed to write an ecclesiastical history of his own time. Besides the share he had in the first two Centuries of Magdeburg, he was concerned in the German translation of the first three Centuries. These Centuries form an ecclesiastical history, carried down to 1298, and were compiled by various protestant divines of Magdeburg. The title is “Historia ecclesiastics congesta per Magdeburgenses, et alios,” Basil, 1562, 13 vols. folio, whicb is the best edition.

, a learned divine of the congregation of the oratory, was born in 1650, at Varembon in Bresse, in the diocese of Lyons. He taught theology in several houses of the Oratory, and in the seminary de St. Magloire, at Paris, where he died December 16, 1713. His principal works are, a “Treatise on the Sacraments,” 2 vols. folio, in Latin; “Theological Institutions, 7 ' 7 vols. 12mo, also in Latin. This last was condemned at Rome, and by M. Godet, bishop of Chartres, and cardinal de Bissy, as reviving the errors of Jansenius. Cardinal de Noailles also prohibited it in his diocese, but was afterwards satisfied with the explanation given him by the author. Juennin wrote against the mandates of M. Godet and cardinal de Bissy; which two apologetical defences were published in 12mo, without any name. He also left an” Abridged System of Divinity,“by question and answer, for the use of persons going to be examined for holy orders;” La Théorie practique des Sacremens,“3 vols. 12mo, without the author’s name” Théologie Morale,“6 vols. 12mo,” Cas de Conscience sur la vertu de Justice et d'Equité," 4 vols. 12mo.

, an Italian Jesuit, and a celebrated writer of panegyrics, was born at Nice, and admitted into the society in 1622. He taught rhetoric for the space often years. Being afterwards called to the court of Savoy, to be entrusted with the education of prince Charles Emanuel, he began to publish his first works at Turin. He died at Messina, Nov. 15, 1653. All his works were printed together at Lucca, in 1710. This collection contains, I. A hundred panegyrics upon Jesus Christ; printed the first time at Genoa in 1641. 2. Forty panegyrics written in honour of Lewis XIII. printed at Lyons in 1644. 3. Many inscriptions, epitaphs, and encomiums, upon several subjects; printed likewise at Lyons in the same year. 4. Panegyrics upon the greatest bishops that have been in the church; printed also at Lyons in the same year, and reprinted at Genoa in 1653, with this title, “Pars Secunda Elogiorura humana complectens.”

, a Roman emperor, commonly, although perfcaps not very justly, styled the Apostate, was the younger son of Constantius, brother of Constantine the Great. He was the first fruit of a second marriage of his father with Basilina, after the birth of Gallus, whom he had by Galla his first consort. He was born Nov. 6, in the year 331, at Constantinople; and, according to the medals of him, named Fiavius Claudius Julianus. During the life of Constantine, he received the first rudiments of his education at the court of Constantinople; but, upon the death of this emperor, all his relations being suspected of criminal actions, Julian’s father was obliged to seek his safety by flight; and his son Julian’s escape was entirely owing to Marc, bishop of Arethusa, without whose care he had inevitably perished in the persecution of his family. As soon as the storm was over, and Constantius, the son of Constantine, quietly seated on the imperial throne, he sent young Julian to Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, who was related to him by his mother’s side, and who educated him in the Christian faith; but at the same time employed an eunuch called Mardonius, who was a pagan, to teach him grammar, while Eulolius, a Christian of doubtful character, was his master in rhetoric. Julian made a very quick progress in learning; and, being sent afterwards to Athens to complete his education, he became the darling of that nursery of polite literature, and particularly commenced an acquaintance with St. Basil and Gregory of Nazianzen. This last, however, observed something in him which rendered his sincerity in the Christian faith suspected: and it is certain, that, notwithstanding all the care of his preceptor Eusebius, this young prince was entirely perverted by Maximus, an Ephesian philosopher and magician. His cousin Constantius the emperor was advertised of his conduct; and Julian, to prevent the effects, and save his life, professed himself a monk, and took the habit, but, under this character in public, he secretly embraced paganism. Some time before, his brother Gallus and he had taken orders, and executed the office of reader in the church; but the religious sentiments of the two brothers were widely different.

As soon as Julian had attained the age of manhood, according to the Roman law, Constantius, at the solicitation of his consort, the empress Eusebia, raised him to the dignity of Caesar, on his birth-day, Nov. 6, in the year 355; and at the same time the emperor gave him his sister Helena in marriage, and made him general of the army in Gaul. Julian filled his command with surprizing abilities, and shewed himself every way equal to the trust; which was the more extraordinary, as he had never any instructions in the military art. The principal officers under him, from whom he was to expect assistance, were very backward in performing this service; restrained apparently by the danger of seeming too much attached to him, and thereby incurring the emperor’s displeasure, whose jealousy on this head was no secret. Under all these disadvantages, our young warrior performed wonders: he was not afraid to undertake the enterprize of driving the barbarians out of Gaul; and he completed the design in a very little time, having obtained one of the most signal victories of that age, near Strasbourg. In this battle he engaged no less than seven German kings, one of whom was the famous Chrodomairus; who had always beaten the Romans till this time, but was now Julian’s prisoner. The defeat of the Salii and Chamavi, French people, followed at the heels of this victory; and the Germans, being conquered again, were constrained to beg a peace. Our hero was crowned with these glorious laurels, when Constantius, who was hard pressed by the Persians, sent for a detachment of troops from the army in Gaul to augment his forces. This order was ill relished by the Gauls, who were reluctant to fight out of their own country. Julian took advantage of this ill humour, and got himself declared emperor by the army; but, not being able to prevail with Constantius to acknowledge him in that character, he went with these troops to Illyria, where he continued till the death of Constantius, which happened Nov. 2, 361.

Julian no sooner saw himself master of the world, than he threw off all the disguise of his religion, for it merely was a disguise. There appears very little reason to think that Julian had ever cordially embraced, or ever studied with attention, the principles of Christianity. Had this been the case, he might have seen that those principles led to a conduct very opposite to that which he beheld in the conduct of Constantius, whose cruelty to his relations perhaps first excited his hatred against Christianity. From his youth he had practised dissimulation with consummate artifice, and it was rather hypocrisy than Christianity which he had now to shake off. Accordingly he now expressly professed himself a pagan, ordered their temples to be set open, and re-established their worship: he also assumed the character and station of the sovereign pontiff, and was invested with the whole pagan ceremonial, resolving to efface the mark of his baptism by the blood of the heathen sacrifices. In short, he resolved to effect the utter ruin of Christianity, and in this attempt united solid judgment witli indefatigable assiduity. Neither address nor dexterity was wanting, nor all that the wit or prudence of man could do. We find, indeed, in this emperor all the great qualities which a projector could conceive, or an adversary would require, to secure success. He was eloquent and liberal, artful, insinuating, and indefatigable; which, joined to a severe temperance, a love of justice, and a courage superior to all trials, first gained him the affections, and soon after the peaceable possession, of the whole empire. He had been, as we have just remarked, compelled to profess the Christian religion to the time when he assumed the purple; but his aversion to his uncle Constantine and his cousin Constantius, on account of the cruelties exercised on his family, had prejudiced him against the Christian religion; and his attachment to some Platonic sophist, who had been employed in his education, gave him as violent a bias towards paganism. He was ambitious; and paganism, in some of its theurgic rites, had flattered and encouraged his views of the diadem. He was vain, which made him aspire to the glory of re-establishing the ancient rites. He was very learned, and fond of Grecian literature, the very soul of which, in his opinion, was the old theology: but, above all, notwithstanding a considerable mixture of enthusiasm, his superstition was excessive, and what nothing but the blood of hecatombs could appease.

With these dispositions he came to the empire, and consequently with a determined purpose of subverting the Christian and restoring the pagan worship. His predecessors had left him the repeated experience of the inefficacy of downright force. The virtue of the past times then rendered this effort fruitless, the numbers of the present would have made it now dangerous: he found it necessary, therefore, to change his ground. His knowledge of human nature furnished him with arms; and his knowledge of the faith he had abandoned, enabled him to direct those arms to most advantage. He began with re-establishing paganism by law, and granting a full liberty of conscience to the Christians. On this principle, he restored those to their civil rights who had been banished on account of their religion, and even affected to reconcile to a mutual forbearance the various sects of Christianity. Yet he put on this mask of moderation for no other purpose than to inflame the dissensions in the church. He then fined and banished such of the more popular clergy as had abused their power, either in exciting the people to burn and destroy pagan temples, or to commit violence on an opposite sect: and it cannot be denied, but that in the turbulent and insolent manners of some of them, he found a plausible pretext for this severity. He proceeded to revoke and take away those immunities, honours, and revenues, which his uncle and cousin had granted to the clergy. Neither was his pretence for this altogether unreasonable. He judged the grants to be exorbitant; and, besides, as they were attendant on a national religion, when the establishment came to be transferred from Christianity to paganism, he concluded they must follow the religion of the state. But there was one immunity he took away, which no good policy, even under an establishment, should have granted them and this was an exemption from the civil tribunals. He went still farther he disqualified the Christian laity for bearing offices in the state and even this the security of the established religion may often require. But his most illiberal treatment of the Christians, was his forbidding, the professors of that religion to teach polite letters, and the sciences, in the public schools; and Amm. Marcellinus censures this part of his conduct as a breach in his general character of humanity, (lib. xx. c. 10.) His more immediate design, in this, was to hinder the youth from taking impressions to the disadvantage of paganism; his remoter view, to deprive Christianity of the support of human literature. Not content with this, he endeavoured even to destroy what was already written in defence of Christianity. With this view he wrote to the governor and treasurergeneral of Egypt, to send him the library of George bishop of Alexandria, who, for his cruelty and tyranny, had been ton) in pieces by the people: nay, to such a length did his aversion to the name of Christ carry him, as to decree, by a public edict, that his followers should be no longer called Christians, but Galileans; well knowing the efficacy of a nick-name to render a profession ridiculous. In the mean time, the animosities between the different sects of Christianity, furnished him with the means of carrying on these projects. Being, for example, well assured that the Arian church oi Edessa was very rich, he took advantage of their oppressing and persecuting the Valentinians to seize every tiling belonging to that church, and divided the plunder among his soldiers; scornfully telling the Edessians, he did this to ease them of their burthens, that they might proceed more lightly, and with less impediment, in their journey to heaven. He went farther still, if we may believe the historian Socrates, and, in order to raise money to defray the extraordinary expence of his Persian expedition, he imposed a tax or tribute on all who would not sacrifice to the pagan idols. The tax, it is true, was proportioned to every man’s circumstances, but was as truly an infringement upon his act of toleration. And though he forbore persecuting to death by law, which would have been a direct contradiction to that act, yet he connived at the fury of the people, and the brutality of the governors of provinces, who, during his short reign, brought many martyrs to the stake. He put such into governments, whose inhumanity and blind zeal for their country superstitions were most distinguished. And when the suffering churches presented their complaints to him, he dismissed them with cruel scoffs, telling them, their religion directed them to suffer without murmuring.

Such were Julian’s efforts to subvert Christianity; and it cannot be denied, that the behaviour of many of the Christians at that time furnished pretence enough for most of the proceedings against them in the view of state-policy. Besides that they branded the state religion, and made a merit of affronting the public worship, it is well known that they were continually guilty of seditions; and did not scruple to assert, that nothing hindered them from engaging in open rebellion, but the improbability of succeeding in it for want of numbers. During these measures, his projects to support and reform paganism went hand in hand with his attempts to destroy Christianity. He wrote, and he preached, in defence of the Gentile superstition, and has himself acquainted us with the ill-success of his ministry at Beroea. Of his controversial writings, his answerer, Cyril, hath given us a large specimen, by which we see he was equally intent to recommend paganism, and to discredit revelation. In his reformation of the Geatile superstition, he endeavoured to hide the absurdity of its traditions by moral and philosophical allegories. These he found provided for him principally by philosophers of his own sect, the Platonists. For they, not without the assistance of the other sects, had, ever since the appearance of Christianity, been refining the theology of paganism, to oppose it to that of revelation; under pretence, that their new-invented allegories were the ancient spirit of the letter, which the first poetical divines had thus conveyed to posterity. He then attempted to correct the morals of the pagan priesthood, and regulate them on the practice of the first Christians. In his epistle to Arsacius, the chief priest of Galacia, he not only requires of them a personal behaviour void of offence, but that they reform their household on the same principle: he directs, that they who attend at the altar should abstain from the theatre, the tavern, and the exercise of all ignoble professions that in their private character they be meek and humble but that, in the acts and offices of religion, they assume a character conformable to the majesty of the immortal gods, whose ministers they are. And, above all, he recommends to them the virtues of chanty and benevolence. With regard to discipline and religious policy, he established readers in divinity planned an establishment for the order, and parts of the divine offices designed a regular and formal service, with days and hours of worship. He had also decreed to found hospitals for the poor, monasteries for the devout, and to prescribe and enjoin initiatory and expiatory sacrifices; with instructions for converts, and a course of penance for offenders; and, in all things, to imitate the church discipline at that time. In this way he endeavoured to destroy Christian principles, and at the same time to establish Christian practice.

But as the indifference and corruptions of Paganism, joined to the inflexibility and perseverance of the Christians, prevented his project from advancing with the speed he desired, he grew chagrined, and even threatened, after his return from the Persian expedition, effectually to ruin the Christian religion. He had before, in pursuance of his general scheme of opposing revelation to itself, by setting one sect against another, written to the body or community of the Jews; assuring them of his protection, his concern for their former ill usage, and his fixed purpose to screen them from future oppression, that they might be at liberty, and in a disposition to redouble their vows for the prosperity of his reign; and concluded with a promise, that, if he came back victorious from the Persian war, he would rebuild Jerusalem, restore them to their possessions, live with them in the holy city, and join with them in their worship of the great God of the universe. The rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem was thought a sure means of destroying Christianity, since the final destruction of that temple had been foretold both by Christ and his apostles; if therefore the lye could be given to their predictions, their religion would be no more. This scheme, therefore, he set about immediately. The completing of such an edifice would be a work of time, and he pleased himself with the glory of atchieving so bold an enterprize. Accordingly, the attempt was made, and what was the consequence will be seen by the following account of it from Ammianus Marcellinus. “Julian, having been already thrice consul, taking Sallust prsefect of the several Gauls for his colleague, entered a fourth time on this high magistracy. It appeared strange to see a private man associated with Augustus; a thing of which, since the consulate of Dioclesian and Aristobulus, history afforded no example. And although his sensibility of the many and great events, which this year was likely to produce, made him very anxious for the future, yet he pushed on the various and complicated preparations for this expedition with the utmost application: and, having an eye in every quarter, and being desirous to eternize his reign by the greatness of his achievements, he projected to rebuild, at an immense expence, the proud and magnificent temple of Jerusalem, which, after many combats, attended with much bloodshed on both sides, during the siege by Vespasian, was, with great difficulty, taken and destroyed by Titus. He committed the conduct of this affair to Alypius of Antioch, who formerly had been lieutenant in Britain, When, therefore, this Alypius had set himself to the vigorous execution of his charge, in which he had all the assistance that the governor of the province could afford him, horrible bails of fire breaking out near the foundations, with frequent and reiterated attacks, rendered the place from time to time inaccessible to the scorched and blasted workmen; and the victorious element continuing in this manner, obstinately and resolutely bent, as it were, to drive them to a distance, Alypius thought best to give over the enterprize. In the mean time, though Julian was still at Antioch when this happened, yet he was so wholly taken up by the Persian expedition, that he had not leisure to attend to it. He set out soon after upon that expedition, in which he succeeded very well at first; and, taking several places from the Persians, he advanced as far as Ctesipho without meeting with an) body to oppose him. However, there passed several engagements in this place, in which it is said the Romans had almost always the advantage; but the distressed condition of their army, for want of necessaries, obliged them to come to a decisive battle. This was begun June 26, in the year 363, and victory appeared to declare itself on their side; when Julian, who was engaged personally irr the fight without |iis helmet, received a mortal wound upon his head, which put a period to his life the following night.” This fact of the interruption given to the rebuilding of the temple of Jerusalem has been denied by some modern infidels, but nothing of the kind seems better attested; and although it may be supposed that the eruption was not without natural causes,' and that the seeds of it lay in the bowels of the earth, yet, as Dr. Jortin observes, the fire’s breaking out at the very instant when the Jews and Pagans were attempting to rebuild the temple, its being renewed upon their renewed attempt to go on, and ceasing when they gave over, are circumstances which plainly shew a providential interposition.

We have, in the course of his memoir, had occasion to exhibit some qualities to the disadvantage of Julian; yet we must in justice add, that he was sober and vigilant, free from the debaucheries of women; and, to sum up all, remarkably mild, merciful, good-natured, and, in general, most amiable; except in his passions which arose from his aversion to Christianity. He not only encouraged letters by his patronage, but was himself a learned writer. As a philosopher, he strictly adhered to the Alexandrian or Eclectic school. He professes himself a warm admirer of Pythagoras and Plato, and recommends an union of their tenets with those of Aristotle. The later Platonists, of his own period, he loads with encomiums, particularly Jamblichus, whom he calls “The Light of the World,” and “The Physician of the Mind.” Amidst the numerous traces of an enthusiastic and bigoted attachment to Pagan theology and philosophy, and of an inveterate enmity to Christianity, which are to be found in his writings, the candid reader will discern many marks of genius and erudition. Concerning the manners of Julian, Libanius writes, that no philosopher, in the lowest state of poverty, was ever more temperate, or more ready to practise rigorous abstinence from food, as the means of preparing his mind for conversing with the gods. Like Plotinus, Porphyry, Jambiichus, and others of this fanatical sect, he dealt in visions and extasies, and pretended to a supernatural intercourse with divinities. Suidas relates, probably from some writings of the credulous Eunapius now lost, an oracular prediction concerning his death. Besides his answer to St. Cyril, and “Misopogon,” he wrote some other discourses, epistles, &c. in which are many proofs of genius and erudition, conveyed in an elegant style. And his rescripts in the Theodosian code shew, that he made more good laws, in the short time of his reign, than any emperor either before or after him. His works were published in Greek and Latin by Spanheim in 1696, 2 vols. fol.; and a selection from them in England by Mr. Buncombe, 1784, 2 vols. 8vo, translated principally from La Bleterie, who wrote an excellent Life of Julian.

, an eminent French sculptor, professor of the schools of sculpture and painting, a member of the French Institute and of the legion of honour, was born at Paulien, in the department of the Haute-Loire, in 1731. He was the pupil first of Samuel, a sculptor in Puy en Velay, with whom he remained two years, after which he was placed at Lyons under Riache, another artist, where he made great progress in sculpture, and after gaining a prize at the academy of Lyons, came to Paris. Here he entered the school of William Coustou, statuary to the king, in 1765, and gained the prize of sculpture for a beautiful bas-relief, representing Sabinus offering his chariot to the vestals, when the Gauls were about to invade Rome. There was a simplicity in the style, taste, and character of this piece which struck the connoisseurs as something different from what they had been accustomed to see in the modern school. The artist, according to the custom of the times, enjoyed the usual pension for three years at Paris, and did not go to Rome until 1768, where, his fame having preceded him, he was employed by the president Belenger to execute a mausoleum in marble for his wife and daughter. Besides the other labours enjoined to the pensionary artists, Julien made copies, in marble, for the president Ocardi, of the Apollo Belvidere, the Flora in the Farnese palace, and the Gladiator in the Borghese palace, all which are now in the collection at Versailles. He was afterwards recalled to Paris to assist Coustou in the mausoleum for the dauphin and dauphiness. Of this he executed the figure of immortality, and had the charge of removing the whole to the cathedral of Sens, where it now is.

His fame being fully established, he was, although otherwise a man of great modesty, ambitious of a seat in the academy of painting and sculpture, and with that view presented them with a Ganymede, but notwithstanding its acknowledged merit, he did not at this time succeed. In 1779, however, he made a second effort, and his “Dying Gladiator” procured him immediate admission into the academy. He was then employed by the king to make the statue of La Fontaine, which is reckoned his masterpiece in that style. He also executed various bas-relievos for the castle of Rambouillet, and a woman bathing, which is now in the hall of the Senate at Paris, and allowed to be one of the finest specimens of modern art. His last work was the statue of Nicolas Poussin, for the hall of the Institute. This excellent artist died, after a long illness, at Paris in January 1804.

, another able French artist, and a member of the ancient academy of painting, was born in 1736, of poor parents at the village of Carigliano near Locarno in Swisserland, and was first a pupil of Bardon at Marseilles; and afterwards of Carlo Vanloo at Paris, where having gained the prize of the academy, he was sent to the French school at Rome under Natoire. The sight of the ancient and modern works of that city determined him to abandon the manner taught in France, and adopt that of the great masters of Italy. This procured him, among the wits, the name of Julien the apostate, to distingush him from others of the same name, and of the same school. His successes at Rome prolonged his stay there for ten years, after which he returned to Paris, and distinguished himself by various works of great merit. He painted for the hotel of the princess Kinski a St. Dominic, and several decorations for ceilings, mentioned in the “Reeueil des curiosites de Paris,” which attracted the attention of connoisseurs and strangers. Among the works which he exhibited to the academy, when nominated a member, was the “Triumph of Aurelian,” executed for the duke ^le Rochefoucault. In the saloon of St. Louis, he exhibited in 1788, his fine picture, “Study spreading her flowers over Time,” a work of admirable composition. This was sent into England, and engraved. Among other capital performances from his hand may be mentioned his Jupiter and Juno, and Aurora and Titan. His last important work was an altar-piece for the chapel of the archbishop of Paris at Conflans, representing St. Anthony in a trance. Notwithstanding his merit, we have to add that this artist died poor, in 1799.

, was born Oct. 16, 1668, at Dresden. He acquired great knowledge of the belles lettres and medals, and was successively teacher at Schleusingen, Eysenach, and Altenburg, where he died June 19, 1714. He had been admitted a member of the royal society at Berlin in 1711. He left a great number of German translations from ancient authors, and several editions of classic authors, with notes, in the style of those published by Minellius also, “Schediasma de Diariis eruditorum” “Centuria feminarum eruditione et scriptis illustrium” “Theatrurn Latinitatis. universae RegheroJunkerianum,” “Lineoe eruditionis universae et Historiae Philosophical;” “Vita Lutheri ex nummis,” “Vita Ludolphi,” &c. He was historiographer to the Ernestine branch of the house of Saxony. Poverty obliged him to write rather in haste, which may be discovered in his works.

, a learned physician, was born on the 3d of June, 1680, at Londorff, near Gie.ssen, in Hesse. He pursued his medical studies at Marpurg and Erfurt, and afterwards took the degree of M. D. at Halle, in 1718. He became subsequently a distinguished professor in this university, and attained a high reputation as physician to the public hospital. He died at Halle, Oct. 25, 1759. His works, which are chiefly compilations, have been much esteemed, and are still occasionally referred to, especially as they contain the best and most compendious view of the doctrines of Stahl, which he espoused and taught. They are as follows: 1. “Conspectus Medicinas Theoretico-practicoe, Tabulis 137 primaries morbos, methodo Stahliana tractandos, exhibens,” Halle, 17 Is, 4to; 2. “Conspectus ChirurgiaR,” &c. ibid. 1721, 4to 3. “Conspectus Formularum Medicarum,” &c. ibid. 1723, 4to 4. “Conspectus Therapeiae generalis, &c. Tabnlis 20 methodo Stahliana conscriptus,” ibid. 1725, 4to 5. “Conspectus Chemiae Theoretico-practicac in forma Tabularum repraesentatus, &c. Tomus prior,” ibid. 1730, 4to. This is an elementary work on chemistry, according to the principles of Becher and Stahl. 6. “Conspectus Physiologic,” ibid. 1735, 4to; and 7. “Conspectus Pathologiac,” ibid. 1736, 4to. Juncker likewise published many academical theses on medical, chirurgical, and philosophical subjects.

, in Italian Giuntino, a celebrated mathematician and astrologer of the sixteenth century, was born 1523, at Florence. He published Commentaries, in Latin, on the Sphaera of Holywood or Sacro Bosco, 1577 and 1578, 2 vols. 8vi; “Speculum Astrologiae,” Lngd. 1581, 2 vols. fol. and other works relating to astronomy. There is also a treatise written by him in French on the comet which appeared in 1577, 8vi; and another on the reformation of the calendar by Gregory XIII. 8vi, in Latin. He had quitted the Carmelite order, and became a protestant, but returned afterwards to the Catholic church, and spent the chief of his life at Lyons, where his conduct was very irregular. He died 1590. a

, a native of Leipsic, was the first who published an ancient Greek translation of “Caesar’s Commentaries,” Francfort, 1606, 2 vols. 4to, a work much in request and gave a Latin version of the “Pastorals” of Longus, with notes, Han. 1605, 8vi. Some of his letters are also printed. He died August 16, 1610, at Hanau. Lewis Jungerman, his brother, born also at Leipsic, was an excellent botanist, and to him are attributed, “Hortus Eystettensis,” “Catalogus plantarum quae circa Altorfinuui nascuntur,” Altorf, 1646, 8vi; and “Cornucopias Floras Giessensis,” Giessae, 1623, 4to. He died June 7, 1653, at Altorf. Gaspard Jungerman, another brother, was also a man of learning.

, an eminent mathematician, physician, and botanist, the son of a schoolmaster at Lubec, in Germany, was born October 21, 1587. His mother was daughter to a clergyman of the cathedral church at Lubec. Jungius, having unfortunately been deprived of his father very early in life (for he was stabbed one evening upon his return home from a convivial party), was obliged to depend almost entirely upon his own exertions for knowledge; yet in his youth, he became a very subtle logician, and ingenious disputant, and thus prepared his mind for that clearness of investigation and accuracy of judgment, which were so eminently conspicuous in the works which he published at a more advanced period of his life. Selecting the study of medicine as a profession, he travelled over a great part of Italy and Germany, in order to cultivate the acquaintance of the most distinguished physicians of that time. He had previously graduated with distinguished honour at the university of Giessen A. D. 1607, and remained there a few years as mathematical tutor. In 1625 he was chosen professor of physic at Helmstadt, but, on account of the Danish war, he was obliged, soon after his appointment, to fly to Brunswick, whence he soon returned to Helmstadt, and in 1629 was appointed rector of the school at Hamburgh.

Jungius seems to have eminently distinguished himself in the several studies of theology, medicine, mathematics, metaphysics, and botany, upon all which pursuits his opinions and observations are handed down to us in his writings, though the most famous part of his work, entitled “Doxoscopiae Physicze Minores,” is upon the last mentioned subject, botany. This book was first printed at Hamburgh, in 4to, A.D. 1662, and again, in 1679, under the care of Martin Fogel, with this additional title, “Prsecipuarum opinionum physicarum.” A copy of the former edition of this work is in the Linnoean library, having been presented to Linnæus by his pupil, professor P. D. Giseke, of Hamburgh. The botanical part of it, included in the third section of the second part, occupies about 100 pages, and contains many judicious and acute rules for making distinct species of plants, as well as some curious remarks upon genera. He was a great critic in botanical nomenclature; and constructed a variety of terms which agree with those of Linnasus, and his remarks upon botanical discrimination have been of considerable advantage to succeeding botanists, and many of his definitions are repeatedly made use of by our immortal countryman, Ray. He was the first who projected and raised a literary society in Germany, though this institution did not share a better fate than the one which had just before been founded in this country (and which appears to have served for its model) by Hugh Latimer, Thomas Linacre, and others, for the purpose of discussing and illustrating Aristotle’s philosophy. They both Bourished but for a short period, though the Heunetic or Ereunetic society, as it was called, established by professor Jungius, was on a far more comprehensive plan than the other, and may indeed be considered as having, in some measure, embraced the same views with which the royal society was afterwards instituted in Great Britain. The fame of Jungius was originally diffused through this country by his noble pupil, the honourable Charles Cavendish, who appears to have studied under him at Hamburgh. This gentleman was brother to the earl of Newcastle, who had the care of Charles I. when a youth.

After a long life, spent in the acquirement and diffusionof general philosophical knowledge, and having always manifested a strong attachment to the Lutheran church, professor Jungius departed this life September 23, 1657, iind was buried in the church of St. John at Hamburgh, where a handsome tablet was inscribed to his memory by his friend and pupil, Michael Kirsten. The following is a list of his works, as given by Martin Fogel, who edited the second edition of his “Doxoscopise.” 1. “Logica Hamburgensis,” Hamb. 1638, 8vo. 2. “Geometria Empirica,” Rostock and Hamb. 4to. 3. “Doxoscopiae Physicae Minores, sive Isagoge Physica Doxoscopica.” Hamb. 1662, 4to. 4. “Kurzer Bericht von der Didactica oder Lehrkunst Wolfgangi Ratichii, durch Christoph. Helvicum und Joach. Jungium,” Giessen, 1614, 4to. 5. “Disputationes de naturali Dei cognitione de potentia activa de loco Aristotelis, lib. 3. de ccelo, t. 66 de figuris locum replentibus de relationibus de notionibus secundis de demonstratione tritermina: de definitionibus,” &c.

, a learned Hollander, was born, in 1511 or 1512, at Hoorn, of which place his father had been secretary, and five times burgomaster. Having passed through his first studies at Haeriem and Louvain, he fixed Upon physic for his profession, and, for his improvement, resolved to travel abroad. Accordingly, going first to France, he put himself under the care of James Houlier, a celebrated physician at Paris. Thence he went to Bologna in Italy, where he was admitted M. D. and afterwards, passing through several parts of Germany, arrived in England, and became physician to the duke of Norfolk in 1543, and was afterwards retained in that quality by a certain great lady. He continued in England several years, and wrote many books there; among others, a Greek and Latin lexicon, to which he added above 6500 words. He dedicated this work, in 1548, to Edward VI. with the title of king. Edward not being acknowledged such by the pope> our author, who was of that religion, fell under the displeasure of the court of Rome for his dedication, and was prosecuted for it a long time after. His works were put into the “Index Expurgatorius,” where he was branded as a Calvinist, and an author “damnatae memories,” of condemned memory; a disgrace which gave him great uneasiness and concern; and, in order to be freed from it, having laid his case before cardinal Granville, he applied, by the advice of Arias Montanus, directly to the pope, and prepared an apology, shewing the indispensable necessity he was under of giving Edward the title of king, and at the same time protesting he had always been a good catholic.

Before the death of Edward, he returned to his own country, and led a sedentary life, closely pursuing his studies; but, upon the accession of queen Mary, he returned thither; and, being a very good poet, he published, in 1554, an epithalamium on the marriage of Philip II. with that queen, entitled “Philippis.” This address could not fail of introducing him in a favourable light to that court, whence he would probably have made a considerable fortune, had not the turbulent state of those times driven him home again. He confined himself some time in Hoorn, but, after a while, settled at Haeriem; and repaired the disappointment he sustained respecting his finances in England, by marrying a young woman of fortune, which he knew how to improve by making the most of his dedications to his books, of which he published three at Haarlem in 1556. Some years after, he accepted an offer from the king of Denmark, to be his physician, with a considerable salary, and removed to Copenhagen; but neither liking the climate nor genius of the inhabitants, he left the country about 1564, very abruptly, without taking leave of the king. Returning to Haerlem, he practised physic, and was made principal of the college, or great school, in that town. He continued there till the place was besieged by the Spaniards in 1573, when he found means to escape, by obtaining leave to attend the prince of Orange, who desired his assistance as a physician; but lost his library, in which he had left a great many works which had cost him much pains and labour; and the loss was aggravated by this circumstance, that they were almost fit for the press. In this exigency he went to Middleburgh, where the prince had procured him a public salary to practise physic; but the air of the country did not agree with his constitution, and he fell into some disorders, which, with the grief he felt for the loss of his library, put an end to his life in 1575. There was a design to have given him a professorship at Leyden, which university was but just rising when he died. He had a prodigious memory, which enabled him to treasure up a vast stock of learning. Besides his skill in physic, which was his profession, he was an historian, poet, philosopher, and understood perfectly eight languages. His works make up 24 articles, among which are, “Lexicon Graeco-Latinum,” 1548; “Adagiorum ab Erasmo omissorum centuriae octo & dimidia,” 1558 which last was published after his death, as others of his pieces were.