ms of Petrarch, by which Aldus corrected the edition of them published by him in 1501. That printer, who lay under various other literary obligations to Bembo, in his
While he resided at Rome, he had many opportunities
of indulging his taste for antiquities, and he is ranked
among the most scientific collectors of statues, medals, and
other ancient and classical remains. Besides other literary
curiosities in his museum, particular mention is made of
two beautiful and finely ornamented manuscripts of Virgil
and Terence, which were supposed to have survived the
ravages of upwards of a thousand years; the other is an
autograph of the Italian poems of Petrarch, by which Aldus corrected the edition of them published by him in
1501. That printer, who lay under various other literary
obligations to Bembo, in his preface to the edition of
Pindar, published in 1513, terms him “Decus eruditorum retatis nostrae, et magnae spes altera Roma3.
”
rg, April 1, 1745, and received the first instructions in his art from his father, John Christopher, who was painter to the court. He then went to Nuremberg, and studied
, a landscape painter, was born at Bamberg, April 1, 1745, and received the first instructions in his art from his father, John Christopher, who was painter to the court. He then went to Nuremberg, and studied the works of the best masters, some of whose styles, as in the trees of Waterloo, and the rocks of Berghem, Salvator Rosa, Meyer, &c. he imitated with considerable success. His favourite subjects were sea-views, tempests, fires, and sun-rising and setting, which were in much request in England. He died at Nuremberg, Nov. 26, 1796, without having been able to finish some pictures bespoke for England.
ibuted with singular skill; and his skies are usually clear, warm, and natural. His son John George, who died in 1723, was also an artist of some eminence, especially
, also a landscape painter, and probably an ancestor of the preceding, was born at Utrecht in 1630, and was one of the best scholars of Herman Sachtleven, or Zaftleven. For improvement he afterwards visited Rome, and sketched every beautiful scene that occurred to him as he travelled in the neighbourhood of Rome, and particularly about Tivoli, by wnich means he furnished himself with excellent materials for his future compositions. He then settled at Nuremberg, where his principal works were long to be seen, and where he died Nov. 10, 1708. His colouring is lively and natural, if not sometimes a little too green; but his figures, and the boats, barges, and other vessels, which he always introduces on the rivers, or stationed near the banks, are well designed, and touched with spirit. His trees, indeed, are somewhat stiff and formal; but in general his pictures have a pleasing effect, as the distances are conducted with judgment, and every part handled in a masterly manner. The lights and shadows of his landscapes are distributed with singular skill; and his skies are usually clear, warm, and natural. His son John George, who died in 1723, was also an artist of some eminence, especially for his battle-pieces.
some occasions, as in his “Observationes legales,” is said to have been in compliment to his father, who was a native or' that city.
, in Latin Marcus Mantua Benavidius,
an eminent lawyer, the son of John Peter Benavidio, a physician, was born at Padua, in 1489. He
excelled in the study of polite literature and the civil and
canon law, which last he taught for sixty years at Padua,
with distinguished approbation. During this honourable
career, he was often solicited to leave his situation for
higher preferment, particularly by the university of Bologna, the king of Portugal, the pope, and other sovereigns, but he preferred living in his own country, where
he received and deserved so much respect. He was three
times honoured by the title of chevalier, by the emperor
Charles V. in 1545, by Ferdinand 1. in 1561, and by pope
Pius IV. in 1564. He died March 28, 1582, in the ninety-third year of his age. His principal works are: 1. “Dialogus de concilio,
” Venice, Epitome illustriumjurisconsultorum,
” Padua,
Illustrium jurisconsultorum
imagines,
” Rome, Observationes legales,
” Venice, Polymatbise Libri duodecim,
” Venice, Collectanea super jus Csesareum,
” Venice, Observationes legales,
” is said to have been in compliment to
his father, who was a native or' that city.
at the sight of the Moors’ heads, and no less astonished at the account of the captain’s adventure, who with so small a force had been able to defeat such a number
, a brave English admiral, descended
of an ancient Shropshire family, reduced in fortune by its
adherence to Charles I. was born about the year 1650,
at Coton-hill, Shrewsbury, an ancient house now occupied
by Mr. Bishop, a maltster of that place. His father, colonel John Benbow, dying when he was very young, this
son had no other provision than being bred to the sea, a
profession which he eagerly adopted, and in which he was
so successful, that before he was thirty he became master,
and partly owner, of a ship called the Benbow frigate,
employed in the Mediterranean trade, in which he would
have probably acquired a good estate, if an accident had
not brought him to serve in the British navy. In the year
1686, he was attacked in his, passage to Cadiz by a Sallee
rover, against whom he defended himself, though very
unequal in' the number of men, with the utmost bravery,
and, although the Moors boarded him, they were quickly
beat out of the ship again, with the loss of thirteen men,
whose heads captain Benbow ordered to be cut off, and
thrown into a tub of pork pickle. When he arrived at
Cadiz, he went ashore, and ordered a negro servant to
follow him, with the Moors heads in a sack. He had
scarcely landed before the officers of the revenue inquired
of his servant, what he had in his sack? The captain answered, “Salt provisions for his own use.
” The officers
insisted upon seeing them, which captain Benbow refused.
The officers told him that the magistrates were sitting,
and he might appeal to them, but that it was not in their
power to act otherwise. The captain consented to the
proposal, and the magistrates treated him with great civility, told him they were sorry to make a point of such a
trifle, but that since he had refused to shew the contents
of his sack to their officers, the nature of their employments obliged them to demand a sight of them; and that
as they doubted not they were salt provisions, the shewing
them could be of no great consequence. “I told you,
”
said the captain sternly, “they were salt provisions for my
own use. Caesar, throw them down upon the table, and,
gentlemen, if you like them, they are at your service.
”
The Spaniards were exceedingly struck at the sight of the
Moors’ heads, and no less astonished at the account of the
captain’s adventure, who with so small a force had been
able to defeat such a number of barbarians. This anecdote, in our opinion, reflects but little credit on the
feelings of our seaman, nor does it clearly appear why he
should think this barbarous display necessary for his reputation. These magistrates, however, sent an account of
the matter to the court of Madrid, and Charles II. then
king of Spain, invited Benbow to court, where he was received with great respect, dismissed with a handsome
present, and his Catholic majesty wrote a letter in his
'behalf to king James, who, upon the captain’s return,
gave him a ship, which was his introduction to the royal
navy. After the revolution he was constantly employed,
and frequently at the request of the merchants, was appointed to cruize in the channel, where he ably protected
our own trade, and annoyed and distressed that of the
enemy. He was likewise generally made choice of for
bombarding the French ports, in which he shewed the
most intrepid courage, by going in person in his boat to
encourage and protect the engineers, sharing in all their
hardships. It is certain that several of those dreadful bombardments spoiled several ports, and created a terror on the
French coast, notwithstanding all the precautions their government could take to keep up their spirits. This vigour
and activity recommended Benbow so effectually to king
William, that he was very early promoted to a flag, and
intrusted with the care of blocking up Dunkirk; the privateers from thence proving extremely detrimental to our
trade during all that war. In 1695, we find him thus employed with a few English and Dutch ships, when the famous Du Bart had the good luck to escape him, with nine
sail of clean ships, with which he did a great deal of mischief, both to our trade and to that of the Dutch. Rearadmiral Benbow, however, followed him as well as he
could; but the Dutch ships having, or pretending to have
no orders, quitted him, which hindered from going to the
Dogger-bank, as he intended, and obliged him to sail to
Yarmouth roads; and here he received advice that Du Bart
had fallen in with the Dutch fleet of seventy merchantmen,
escorted by five frigates, and that he had taken all the latter,
and thirty of the vessels under their convoy; which might
probably have been prevented, if the rear-admiral could
have persuaded the Dutch to have continued with him.
As it was, he safely convoyed a great English fleet of
merchantmen to Gottenburgh, and then returned to Yarmouth roads, and from thence to the Downs, for a supply
of provisions. He afterwards resumed his design of seeking
Du Bart; but his ships being much cleaner than the
rear-admiral’s, he escaped him a second time, though
once within sight of him. In 1697, he sailed the 10th of
April, from Spithead, with seven third-rates and two fireships, and after some time returned to Portsmouth for
provisions; after which he had the good fortune to convoy
the Virginia and West-India fleets safe into port. He
then repaired to Dunkirk, where he received from captain
Bowman two orders or instructions from the lords of the
admiralty; one to pursue M. Du Bart, and to destroy his
ships if possible, at any place, except under the forts in
Norway and Sweden; the other to obey the king’s commands, pursuant to an order from his majesty for that
purpose. On the 30th of July, rear-admiral Vandergoes
joined him with eleven Dutch ships, when he proposed
that one of the squadrons should be so placed, as that
Dunkirk might be south of them, and the other in or near
Ostend road, that if Du Bart should attempt to pass, they
might the better discover him: but the Dutch commander
objected that his ships being foul, they were not in a condition to pursue him. Rear-admiral Benbow being disappointed in this project, immediately formed another; for,
observing in the beginning of August that ten French frigates were hauled into the bason to clean, he judged their
design was to put to sea by the next spring-tide; and therefore, as his ships were all foul, he wrote up to the board, to
desire that four of the best sailers might be ordered to Sheerness to clean, and that the others might come to the Downs,
not only to take in water, but also to heel and scrub, which
he judged might be done before the next spring-tide gave
the French an opportunity of getting over the bar. But
this was not then thought advisable, though he afterwards
received orders for it, when it was too late. By this unlucky accident, the French had an opportunity of getting
ut with five clean ships; which, however, did not hinder
the admiral from pursuing them as well as he was able,
and some ships of his squadron had the good luck to take a
Dunkirk privateer of ten guns and sixty men, which had done
a great deal of mischief. This was one of the last actions
of the war, and the rear-admiral soon after received orders
to return home with the squadron under his command. It
is very remarkable, that as the disappointments we met
with in the course of this war occasioned very loud complaints against such as had the direction of our maritime
affairs, and against several of our admirals, there was not
one word said, in any of the warm and bitter pamphlets
of those times, to the prejudice of Mr. Benbow. On the
contrary, the highest praises were bestowed upon him in
many of those pieces, and his vigilance and activity made
him equally the favourite of the seamen and the merchants; the former giving him always the strongest marks
of their affection, and the latter frequently returning him
thanks for the signal services he did them, and for omitting
no opportunity that offered of protecting their commerce,
even in cases where he had no particular orders. With
respect to political parties, he never seems to have had
any attachments, which probably made him be respected
by them all. On one occasion king William consulted
him about a question agitated in those times, respectingthe expediency of preferring tars, as they were called, or
gentlemen in the navy; and though Mr. Benbow considered himself, and was considered by all the world, as
one of the former, yet he told the king it was safest to
employ both, and that the danger lay in preferring gentlemen without merit, and tars beyond their capacities.
ity of the Spanish governor, he would scarcely permit him to take. This highly incensed the admiral, who sent his own lieutenant to the governor, with a message, importing
Rear-admiral Benbow sailed in the month of November
1698, and did not arrive in the West Indies till the Feb.
following, where he found that most of our colonies were
in a bad condition, many of them engaged in warm disputes
with their governors, the forces that should have been kept
up in them for their defence so reduced by sickness, desertion, and other accidents, that little or nothing was to
be expected from them; but the admiral carried with him
colonel Collingwood’s regiment, which he disposed of to
the best advantage in the Leeward Islands. This part of
his charge being executed, he began to think of performing the other part of his commission, and of looking into
the state of the Spanish affairs, as it had been recommended to him by the king; and a proper occasion of doing this
very speedily offered, for, being informed that the Spaniards at Carthagena had seized two of our ships, with an
intent to employ them in an expedition they were then
meditating against the Scots at Darien, he resolved to restore those ships to their right owners. With this view he
stood over to the Spanish coast, and coming before Boccacbica castle, he sent his men ashore for wood and water,
which, though he asked with great civility of the Spanish
governor, he would scarcely permit him to take. This
highly incensed the admiral, who sent his own lieutenant
to the governor, with a message, importing that he not
only wanted those necessaries, but that he came likewise
for the English ships that lay in the harbour, and had been
detained there for some time, which, if not sent to him immediately, he would come and take by force. The governor answered him in very respectful terms, that if he would
leave his present station, in which he seemed to block up
their port, the ships would be sent out to him. With this
request the admiral complied, but finding the governor
trifled with him, and that his men were in danger of falling
into the country distemper, he sent him another message,
that if in twenty-four hours the ships were not sent him, he
would have an opportunity of seeing the regard an English
officer had to his word. The Spaniards immediately sent
out the ships, with which the admiral returned to Jamaica.
There he received an account, that the Spaniards at PortoBello had seized several of our ships employed in the slavetrade, on the old pretence, that the settlement at Darien
was a breach of peace. At the desire of the parties concerned, the admiral sailed thither also, and demanded these
ships, but received a rude answer from the admiral of the
Barlovento fleet, who happened to be then at Porto-Bello.
Rear-admiral Benbow expostulated with him, insisting, that
as the subjects of the crown of England had never injured
those of his Catholic majesty, he ought not to make prize
of their ships for injuries done by another nation. The
Spaniards replied shrewdly, that since both crowns stood on
the same head, it wa; no wonder that he took the subjects
of the one crown for the other. After many altercations,
however, and when the Spaniards saw the colony at Darien
received no assistance from Jamaica, the ships were restored. On his return to Jamaica, towards the latter end
of the year, he received a supply of provisions from England, and, soon after, orders to return home, which he did
with six men of war, taking New England in his way, and
arrived safe, bringing with him from the Plantations sufficient testimonies of his having discharged his duty, which
secured him from all danger of censure; for, though the
house of commons expressed very high resentment at some
circumstances that attended the sending this fleet, the
greatest compliments were paid to his courage, capacity,
and integrity, by all parties; and the king, as a signal mark
of his kind acceptance of his services, granted him an
augmentation of arms, which consisted in adding to the
three bent bows he already bore, as many arrows. His majesty also consulted him as much or more than any man of
his rank, and yet without making the admiral himself vain,
or exposing him in any degree to the dislike of the ministers.
When the new war broke out, his majesty’s first care was to
put his fleet into the best order possible, and to distribute
the commands therein to officers that he could depend
upon, and to this it was that Mr. Benbow owed his being
promoted to the rank of vice-admiral of the blue. He was
at that time cruising off Dunkirk, in order to prevent an
invasion; but admiral Benbow having satisfied the ministry
that there was no danger on this side, it was resolved to
send immediately a strong squadron to the West Indies,
consisting of two third-rates and eight fourths, under the
command of au officer, whose courage and conduct might
be relied on. Mr. Benbow was thought on by the ministry,
as soon as the expedition was determined, but the king
would not hear of it. He said that Benbow was in a manner just come home from thence, where he had met with
nothing but difficulties, and therefore it was but fit some
other officer should take his turn. One or two were named
and consulted; but either their health or their affairs were
in such disorder, that they mo^t earnestly desired to be
excused. Upon which the king said merrily to some of
his ministers, alluding to the dress and appearance of these
gentlemen, “Well then, I find we must spare our Beans,
and send honest Benbow
” His Majesty accordingly sent
for him upon this occasion, and asked him whether he was
willing to go to the West Indies, assuring him, that if he
was not, he would not take it at all amiss if he desired to be
excused. Mr. Benbow answered bluntly, that he did not understand such compliments, that bethought he had no right
to druse his station, and that if his majesty thought fit to send
him to the East or West Indies, or any where else, he would
cheerfully execute his orders as became him. To conceal,
however, the design of this squadron, and its force, sir
George Rooke, then admiral of the fleet, had orders to
convoy it as far as the Isles of Scilly, and to send a strong
squadron with it thence, to see it well into the sea, aH which
he punctually performed. It is certain that king William
formed great hopes of this expedition, knowing well that
Mr. Benbow would execute, with the greatest spirit and
punctuality, the instructions he had received, which were,
to engage the Spanish governors, if possible, to disown
ling Philip, or in case that could not be brought about, to
make himself master of the galleons. In this design it is
plain that the admiral would have succeeded, notwithstanding the smallness of his force; and it is no less certain, that the anxiety the vice-admiral was under about
the execution oi his orders, was the principal reason for
his maintaining so strict a discipline, which proved unluckily the occasion of his coming to an untimely end.
The French, who had the same reasons that we had to be
very attentive to what passed in the West Indies, prosecuted their designs with great wisdom and circumspection,
sending a force much superior to ours, which, however,
would have availed them little, if admiral Benbow’s officers hatl done their duty. Bis squadron, consisting of
two third and eight fourth rates, arrived at Barbadoes on
the 3d of November, 1701, from whence he sailed to
the Leeward Islands, in order to examine the state of the
French colonies and our own. He found the former in
some confusion, and the latter in so good a situation, that
he thought he ran no hazard in leaving them to go to Jamaica, where, when he arrived, his fleet was in so good a
condition, the admiral, officers, and seamen being most of
them used to the climate, that he had not occasion to send
above ten men to the hospital, which was looked upon as a
very extraordinary thing. There he received advice of two
French squadrons being arrived in the West Indies, which
alarmed the inhabitants of that island and of Barbadoes very
much. After taking 'care, as far as his strength would permit, of both places, he formed a design of attacking Petit
Guavas; but before he could execute it, he had intelligence that Monsieur du Casse was in the neighbourhood of
Hispaniola, with a squadron of French ships, in order to
settle the Assiento in favour of the French, and to destroy
the English and Dutch trade for negroes. Upon this he
detached rear-admiral Whetstone in pursuit of him, and on
the 11 th of July, 1702, he sailed from Jamaica, in order to
have joined the rear-admiral; but having intelligence that
du Casse was expected at Leogane, on the north side of Hispaniola, he plied for that port, before which he arrived on
the 27th. Not far from the town he perceived several
ships at anchor, and one under sail, who sent out her boat
to discover his strength, which coming too near was taken;
from the crew of which they learned that there were six
merchant ships in the port, and that the ship they belonged
to was a man of war of fifty guns, which the admiral pressed
so hard, that the captain seeing no probability of escaping,
ran the ship on shore and blew her up. On the 28th the
admiral came before the town, where he found a ship of
about eighteen gnns hauled under the fortifications, which,
however, did not hinder his burning her. The rest of the
ships had sailed before day, in order to get into a better
harbour, viz. Cui de Sac. But some of our ships between
them and that port, took three of them, and sunk a fourth.
The admiral, after alarming Petit Guavas, which he found
it impossible to attack, sailed for Donna Maria Bay, where
he continued till the 10th of August, when, having received
advice that Monsieur du Casse was sailed for Carthagena,
and from thence was to sail to Porto Bello, he resolved to
follow him, and accordingly sailed that day for the Spanish
coast of Santa Martha. On the 19th of August, in the afternoon, he discovered ten sail near that place, steering
westward along the shore, under their topsails, four of them
from sixty to seventy guns, one a great Dutch-built ship of
about thirty or forty, another full of soldiers, three small
vessels, and a sloop. The vice-admiral coming up with
them, about four the engagement began. He had disposed
his line of battle in the following manner: viz. th^ Defiance, Pendennis, Windsor, Breda, Greenwich, Ruby, and
Falmouth. But two of these ships, the Defiance and
Windsor, did not stand above two or three broadsides before they loofed out of gun-shot, so that the two ster.imost
ships of the enemy lay on the admiral, and galled him very
much; nor did the ships in the rear come up to his assistance with the diligence they ought to have done. The
fight, however, lasted till dark, and though the firing then
ceased, the vice-admiral kept them company all night.
The next morning, at break of day, he was near the French
ships, but none of his squadron except the Ruby was with
him, the rest being three, four, or five miles a-stern. Notwithstanding this, the French did not fire a gun at the
vice-admiral, though he was within their reach. At two in
the afternoon the French drew into a line, though at the
same time they made what sail they could without fighting.
However, the vice-admiral and the Ruby kept them company all night, plying their chase-guns. Thus the viceadmiral continued pursuing, and at some times skirmishing
with the enemy, for four days more, but was never duly
seconded by several of the ships of his squadron. The
23d, about noon, the admiral took from them a small English ship, called the Anne Galley, which they had taken off
Lisbon, and the Ruby being disabled, he ordered her to
Port Royal. About eight at night the whole squadron was
up with the vice-admiral, and the enemy not two miles off.
There was now a prospect of doing something, and the
vice-admiral made the best of his way after them, but his
whole squadron, except the Falmouth, fell astern again.
At two in the morning, the 24th, the vice-admiral came up
with the enemy’s stern most ship, and fired his broadside,
which was returned by the French ship very briskly, and
about three the vice-admiral’s right leg was broken to
pieces by a chain-shot. In this condition he was carried
down to be dressed, and while the surgeon was at work, one
of his lieutenants expressed great sorrow for the loss of
his leg, upon which the admiral said to him, “I am sorry
for it too, but I had rather have lost them both, than have
seen this dishonour brought upon the English nation.
But, do ye hear, if another shot should take me off, behave
like brave men, and fight it out.
” As soon as it was practicable, he caused himself to be carried up, and placed,
with his cradle, upon the quarter-deck, and continued the
fight till day. They then discovered the ruins of one of
the enemy’s ships, that carried seventy guns, her main-yard
down and shot to pieces, her fore top-sail yard shot away,
her mizen-mast shot by the board, all her rigging gone,
and her sides tore to pieces. The admiral, soon after, discovered the enemy standing towards him with a strong gale
of wind. The Windsor, Pendennis, and Greenwich, ahead of the enemy, came to the leeward of the disabled
ship, fired their broadsides, passed her, and stood to the
southward. Then came the Defiance, fired part of her
broadside, when the disabled ship returning about twenty
guns, the Defiance put her helm a-weather, and run away
right before the wind, lowered both her top-sails, and ran.
in to the leeward of the Fahnouth, without any regard to
the signal of battle. The enemy seeing the other two
ships stand to the southward, expected they would have
tacked and stood towards them, and therefore they brought
their heads to the northward; but when they saw those
ships did not tack, they immediately bore down upon the
admiral, and ran between their disabled ship and him, and
poured in all their shot, by which they brought down his
main top-sail yard, and shattered his rigging very much,
none of the other ships being near him or taking the least
notice of his signals, though captain Fogg ordered two
guns to be fired at the ship’s head, in order to put them in
mind of their duty. The French, seeing things in this
condition, brought to, and lay by their own disabled ship,
remanned, and took her into tow. The Breda’s rigging
being much shattered, she was forced to lie by till ten
o'clock, and being then refitted, the admiral ordered the
captain to pursue the enemy, then about three miles to the
leeward, his line of battle signal out all the while; and
captain Fogg, by the admiral’s orders, sent to the other
captains, to order them to keep the line and behave like
men. Upon this captain Kirkby came on board the admiral, and told him, “He had better desist, that the French
were very strong, and that from what had passed he might
guess he could make nothing of it.
” The brave admiral
Benbow, more surprised at this language than at all that
had hitherto happened, said very calmly, that this was but
one man’s opinion, and therefore made a signal for the rest
of the captains to come on board, which they did in obedience to his orders; but when they came, they fell too
easily into captain Kirkby’s sentiments, and, in conjunction
with him, signed a paper, importing, that, as he had before
told the admiral, there was nothing more to be done; though
at this very time they had the fairest opportunity imaginable of taking or destroying the enemy’s whole squadron;
for ours consisted then of one ship of seventy guns, one of
sixty-four, one of sixty, and three of fifty, their yards,
masts, and in general all their tackle, in as good condition
as could be expected, the admiral’s own ship excep-ted, in
which their loss was considerable; but in the rest they had
eight only killed and wounded, nor were they in any want
of ammunition necessary to continue the fight. The enemy, on the other hand, had but four ships of between sixty
and seventy guns, one of which was entirely disabled and in
low, and all the rest very roughly handled; so that even
now, if these officers had done their duty, it is morally certain they might have taken them all. But vice-admiral
Benbow, seeing himself absolutely without support (his own captain having signed the paper before mentioned)
determined to give over the fight, and to return to Jamaica,
though he could not help declaring openly, that it was
against his own sentiments, in prejudice to the public service, and the greatest dishonour that had ever befallen the
English navy. The French, glad of their escape, continued
their course towards the Spanish coasts, and the English
squadron soon arrived safe in Port-Royal harbour, where,
as soon as the vice-admiral came on shore, he ordered the
officers who had so scandalously misbehaved, to be brought
out of their ships and confined, and immediately after directed a commission to rear-admiral Whetstone to hold a
court-martial for their trial, which was accordingly done,
and upon the fullest and clearest evidence that could be
desired, some of the most guilty were condemned, and suffered death according to their deserts. Although now so
far recovered from the fever induced by his broken leg,
as to be able to attend the trials of the captains who deserted him, and thereby vindicate his own honour, and that of
the nation, yet he still continued in si declining way,
occasioned partly by the heat of the climate, but chiefly from
that grief which this miscarriage occasioned, as appeared
by his letters to his lady, in which he expressed much more
concern for the condition in which he was like to leave the
public affairs in the West Indies, than for his own. During all the time of his illness, he behaved with great calmness and presence of mind, having never flattered himself,
from the time his leg was cut off, with any hopes of recovery? but shewed an earnest desire to be as useful as he
could while he was yet living, giving the necessary directions for stationing the ships of his squadron, for protecting commerce, and incommoding the enemy. He continued
thus doing his duty to the last moment of his life. His
spirits did not fail him until very near his end, and he preserved his senses to the day he expired, Nov. 4, 1702. He
left several sons and daughters; but his sons dying without
issue, his two surviving daughters became coheiresses, and
the eldest married Paul Calton, esq. of Milton near Abington in Berkshire, who contributed much of the admiral’s
memoirs to the Biographia Britannica. One of his sons,
John, was brought up to the sea, but in the year his father
died was shipwrecked on the coast of Madagascar, where,
after many dangerous adventures, he was reduced to live
with, and in manner of the natives, for many years, and at
last, when he least expected it, he was taken on board by a
Dutch captain, out of respect to the memory of his father,
and brought safe to England, when his relations thought
him long since dead. He was a young gentleman naturally
of a very brisk and lively temper, but by a long series of
untoward events, his disposition was so far altered that he
appeared very serious or melancholy, and did not much affect speaking, except amongst a few intimate friends. But
the noise of his remaining so long, and in such a condition,
upon the island of Madagascar, induced many to visit him;
for though naturally taciturn, he was very communicative
on that subject, although very few particulars relating to it
can now be recovered. It was supposed by Dr. Campbell,
jn his life of the admiral, that some information might have
been derived from a large work which Mr. John Benbow
composed on the history of Madagascar, but it appears from
a letter in the Gent. Mag. vol. XXXIX. p. 172, that this
was little more than a seaman’s journal, the loss of which
may perhaps be supplied by Drury’s description of Madagascar, one of the fellow-sufferers with Mr. Benbow, of
which work a new edition was published a few years ago,
Mr. Benbow’s ms. was accidentally burnt by a fire which
took place in the house, or lodgings, of his brother William,
a clerk in the Navy office, who died in 1729. The whole
family is now believed to be extinct, and a great part of the
admiral’s fortune is said to remain in the bank of England,
in the name of trustees, among the unclaimed dividends.
One William Briscoe, a hatter, and a member of the corporation of Shrewsbury, who was living in 1748, was supposed
to be his representative, but was unable to substantiate his
pretensions.
and flatterers, and in, buying curiosities. He gave a handsome fortune with a niece named Philippa, who was married to Blount, of Maple-Durham in Oxfordshire, esq.;
, a poet
of considerable note in his day, was son and heir of Andrew
Bendlowes, esq. and born in 1613. At sixteen years of
age he was admitted a fellow-commoner of St. John’s
college in Cambridge, to which he was afterwards a benefactor; and as such his portrait is hung up in the master’s
lodge. From Cambridge he travelled through several
countries, and visited seven courts of princes, and returned
home a most accomplished gentleman both in behaviour
and conversation, but a little tinctured with the principles
of popery. Being very imprudent in the management of
his worldly concerns, he made a shift (though he was never married) to squander away his estate, which amounted to
seven hundred or a thousand pounds a year, on poets, musicians, buffoons, and flatterers, and in, buying curiosities.
He gave a handsome fortune with a niece named Philippa,
who was married to Blount, of Maple-Durham in Oxfordshire, esq.; but being security for the debts of some
persons, which he was not able to discharge, he was put
into prison at Oxford, and upon his release spent the remainder of his life, which was eight years, in that city.
He was esteemed in his younger days a great patron of the
poets, especially Quarles, Davenant, Payne, Fisher, &c.
who either dedicated books to him, or wrote epigrams and
poems on him. His flatterers used to style him “Benevolus,
” byway of anagram on his name, in return for his generosity towards them. About the latter end of his life,
he was drawn off from his inclination to popery, and would
often take occasion to dispute against the Papists and their
opinions, and particularly disliked the favourers of Arminius
and Socinus. This gentleman, reduced, through his own
indiscretion, to great want, died at Oxford, Dec. 18, 1686,
and was buried in the north aile of St. Mary’s church, the
expences of his funeral being defrayed by a contribution of
several scholars who respected him. His picture is in the
Bodleian gallery.
hors are often strained and far-fetched, and he sometimes loses himself in mystic divinity. Granger, who thinks his Latin verses better than his English, quotes a passage
Among his poetical pieces Wood mentions the following,
1. “Sphinx Theologica, seu Musica Templi, ubi discordia
concurs,
” Camb. Honorifica armorurii
cessatio, sive pacis et fidei associatio,
” Feb. 11, 1643, 8vo.
3. “Theophila, or Love-Sacrifice,
” a divine poem, Lond.
A summary
of Divine Wisdom,
” London, A glance at
the glories of Sacred Friendship,
” London, De Sacra Amicitia,
” printed with the former in Latin verse and prose.
7. “Threnothriambeuticon, or Latin poems on king Charles
II.'s Restoration,
” London, 1660, printed on a side of a
large sheet of paper. A few were printed on white satin,
one copy of which, in a frame suitable to it, he gave to the
public library at Oxford. 8. “Oxonii Encomium,
” Oxon.
Oxonii Elogia,
” Oxon. Oxonii Elegia
” II. “Academicis Serenitas
” III. “Academicis Temperantia
” IV. “Studiosis
Cautela,
” and some other pieces. 10. “Magia Caelestis,
”
Oxon. Echo veridica joco-seria,
”
Oxon. Truth’s touch-stone,
” consisting of an hundred distichs, printed on one side of a long sheet of paper,
and dedicated to his niece Mrs. Phiiippa Blount. 13. “Annotations for the better confirming the several truths in the
said poem;
” uncertain when printed. 14. Mr. Bendlowes
wrote a “Mantissa
” to Richard 'Fenn’s “Panegyricon Inaugurale,
” entitled, “De celeberrima et florentiss. Trinobantiados Augustoe Civ. Praetori, reg. senatui populoque,
”
Lond. Turmae Equestris in Com. Essex. Prsefectus.
” These
writings, according to Wood, acquired Mr. Bendlowes the
name of a Divine Author, but we fear the value of that character is considerably suok; although we cannot agree with
Pope, that “Bendlowes, propitious to blockheads, bows,
”
nor with his commentator Warburton, that “Bendlowes
was famous for his own bad poetry, and for patronising bad
poets.
” In his “Theophila
” there are many uncommon
and excellent thoughts, but it must be allowed that his metaphors are often strained and far-fetched, and he sometimes loses himself in mystic divinity. Granger, who
thinks his Latin verses better than his English, quotes a
passage from his prayer in “Theophila,
” which has been
deservedly admired for piety and sense.
etired life, and shut himself up in a cavern, where nobody knew any thing of him except St. Romanus, who, we are told, used to descend to him by a rope, and supply him
, the founder of the order of the Benedictin monks, was a native of Norcia, formerly an episcopal see in Umbria, and was born about the year 480. He
was sent to Rome when he was very young, and there received the first part of his education. At fourteen years
of age he was removed from thence to Sublaco, about forty
miles distant. Here he lived a most retired life, and shut
himself up in a cavern, where nobody knew any thing of
him except St. Romanus, who, we are told, used to descend
to him by a rope, and supply him with provisions; but
being afterwards discovered by the monks of a neighbouring
monastery, they chose him for their abbot. Their manners,
however, not agreeing with those of Benedict, he returned to
his solitude, whither many persons followed him, and put
themselves under iiis direction, and in a short time he was
enabled to build twelve monasteries. About the year 528,
he retired to Mount Cassino, where idolatry was still prevalent, a temple of Apollo being erected there. He instructed the people in the adjacent country, and having converted
them, broke the image of Apollo, and built two chapels on
the mountain. Here he founded also a monastery, and instituted the order of his name, which in time became so
famous, and extended over all Europe. It was here too
that he composed his “Regula Monachorum,
” which Gregory the Great speaks of as the most sensible and best
written piece of that kind ever published. Authors are not
agreed as to the place where Benedict died; some say at
Mount Cassino, others affirm it to have been at Rome,
when he was sent thither by pope Boniface. Nor is the
year ascertained, some asserting it to have been in 542 or
543, and others in 547, but the calendar fixes the day on
Saturday, March 25. St. Gregory the Great has written
his life in the second book of his Dialogues, where he has
given a long detail of his pretended miracles. Du Pin
says, that the “Regula Monachorum
” is the only genuine
work of St. Benedict. There have been several editions
of these rules. Several other tracts are, however, ascribed
to him, as particularly a letter to St. Maurus; a sermon
upon the decease of St. Maurus a sermon upon the passion
of St. Placidus and his companions and a discourse “De
ordine monasterii.
”
t one the first entitled “Vita Thomae Cantuariensis” the other, “Miracula Thomae Marty ris.” Leland, who mentions only “the Life of Becket” as written by our author,
, abbot of Peterborough in the twelfth
century, was educated at Oxford, became a monk in the
monastery of Christ’s church, Canterbury, and some time
after was chosen prior by the members of that society.
Though he had been a great admirer of archbishop Becket,
and wrote a life of that prelate, he was so much esteemed
by Henry II. that by the influence of that prince he was
elected abbot of Peterborough, in 1177. He assisted at
the coronation of Richard I. 1189, and was advanced to
be keeper of the great seal in 1191, but he did not long
enjoy this high dignity, as he died on Michaelmas day,
1193. He composed a history of Henry II. and Richard I.
from 1170 to 1192, which has been esteemed by many of
our antiquaries, as containing one of the best accounts of
the transactions of those times. A beautiful edition of this
work was published at Oxford by Hearne, 1735, 2 vols. 8vo.
With respect to his life of Becket, Bale and Pits speak of
two pieces, which probably are but one the first entitled
“Vita Thomae Cantuariensis
” the other, “Miracula
Thomae Marty ris.
” Leland, who mentions only “the
Life of Becket
” as written by our author, gives it the character of an elegant performance. But Bale treats it as a
mere heap of lies and forgeries, in order to palm Becket
on the multitude for a first-rate saint, and intercessor with
God. Nor is this author’s zeal confined to Benedict, but
extends itself to the monks of those times in general, whom
he represents as a set of debauchees and impostors, concealing their vices under a mask of piety, and cheating
the people with the most diabolical illusions. Dr. Cave
tells us, that the author of the “Quadrilogus
” transcribed
a great part of Benedict’s Life of Becket into the third and
fourth books of his work. This “Quadrilogus, or De Vita
et Processu S. Thomse Cantuariensis et Martyris super
Libertate ecelesiastica
” (Nicolson tells us), is collected out
of four historians, who were contemporary and conversant
with Becket, in his height of glory, and lowest depression; namely, Herbert de Hoscham, Johannes Carnotensis, William of Canterbury, and Alan of Teuksbury;
who are brought in us so many several relaters of matters
of fact, interchangeably. Here is no mention of our Benedict in this list; so that either the doctor is mistaken in
his assertion, or the bishop is not exact in his account of the
authors from whence the Quadrilogus was compiled.
collection of the most valuable books. Then he went to the court of Egfrid, king of Northumberland, who had succeeded Oswi. That prince, with whom he was highly in
, a famous abbot in
the seventh century, was born of a noble family among
the English Saxons, and flourished under Oswi and Egfrid
kings of Northumberland. In the twenty-fifth year of his
age, he abandoned all temporal views and possessions, to
devote himself wholly to religion, and for this purpose travelled to Rome in the year 653, where he acquired a
knowledge of ecclesiastical discipline, which, upon his return home, he laboured to establish in Britain. In the
year 665, he took a second journey to Rome; and after
some months stay in that city, he received the tonsure in.
the monastery of Lerins, where he continued about two
years in a strict observance of the monastic discipline. He
was sent back by pope Vitalian, and upon his return, took
upon himself the government of the monastery of Canterbury, to which he had been elected in his absence. Two
years after, he resigned the abbey to Adrian, an abbot,
and went a third time to Rome, and returned with a very
large collection of the most valuable books. Then he went
to the court of Egfrid, king of Northumberland, who had
succeeded Oswi. That prince, with whom he was highly
in favour, gave him a tract of land on the east side of the
mouth of the river Were; where he built a large monastery, called, from its situation, Weremouth; in which, it
is said, he placed three hundred Benedictine monks.
The church of this convent was built of stone after the
Roman architecture, and the windows glazed by artificers
brought from France, in the year of Christ 674, and the
fourth of king Egfrid; and both the monastery and the
church were dedicated to St. Peter. In the year 678,
Benedict took a fourth journey to Rome, and was kindly
received by pope Agatho. From this expedition he returned loaded with books, relics of the apostles and
martyrs, images, and pictures, when, with the pope’s consent, he brought over with him John, arch-chanter of St.
Peter’s, and abbot of St. Martin’s, who introduced the
Roman manner of singing mass. In the year 682 kingEgfrid gave him another piece of ground, on the banks of
the Tyne, four miles from Newcastle where he built
another monastery called Girwy or Jarrow, dedicated to
St. Paul, and placed therein seventeen monks under an
abbot named Ceolfrid. About the same time he appointed
a Presbyter named Easterwinus to be a joint abbot with
himself of the monastery of Weremouth soou after which,
he took his fifth and last journey to Rome, and, as before,
came back enriched with a farther supply of ecclesiastical
books and pictures. He had not been long at home before he was seized with the palsy, which put an end to his
life on the 12th of January, 690. His behaviour during
his sickness appears to have been truly Christian and exemplary. He was buried in his own monastery of Weremouth. He wrote some pieces, but Leland ascribes to
him only a treatise on the Agreement of the rule of the
Monastic life. Bale and Pits give this book N the title of
“Concordia Regularum,
” and the last-mentioned author
informs us, that the design of this book was to prove, that
the rules of all the holy fathers tallied exactly with that of
St. Benedict, founder of the Benedictines. He wrote
likewise “Exhortationes ad Monachos;
” “De suo Privilegio.
” And “De celebratione Festorum totius anni.
”
Mr. Warton, in his History of Poetry, mentions Benedict
Biscop as one of the most distinguished of the Saxon ecclesiastics. The library which he added to his monastery,
was stored with Greek and Latin volumes. Bede has
thought it worthy to be recorded, that Ceolfrid, his successor in the government of Weremouth abbey, augmented
this collection with three volumes of Pandects, and a book
of cosmography, wonderfully enriched with curious workmanship, and bought at Rome. The historian Bede, who
wrote the lives of four of the abbots of Weremouth and
Jarrow, was one of the monks in those convents, and pronounced a homily on the death of Benedict. His body
was deposited in the monastery of Thorney, in Cambridgeshire.
when Boniface was taken and imprisoned in his own palace at Anagni, he was one of the two cardinals who remained with him, when all the others fled. On the death of
, was a native of Trevigi, belonging to the state of Venice, and the son of a shepherd,
or, as some say, of a notary. His name was Nicholas
Bocasini. For some time he earned a livelihood by teaching children at Venice, but becoming afterwards a Dominican, he applied himself diligently to his studies, and
acquired such superiority among his order, that in 1298
he was appointed general; and, by Boniface VIII. created
cardinal bishop of Sabina, from which he was soon after
translated to that of Ostia. He discharged likewise several embassies with great reputation, and having returned
from Hungary when Boniface was taken and imprisoned in
his own palace at Anagni, he was one of the two cardinals
who remained with him, when all the others fled. On the
death of that pope, in 1303, our cardinal bishop was
chosen to succeed him, and took the name of Benedict,
the Christian name of his predecessor, in honour of him
who had been the cause of his advancement from a low
station. Among his first measures he granted absolution
to the king of France, and annulled the decrees of Boniface against him, which restored peace to that country, and
this he farther promoted by reinstating the Colonna family
in all their honours and possessions. He made it his study
to quiet the disturbances that his predecessor had raised,
not only in France, but in most other kingdoms, and to
regain by conciliatory measures those whom the haughty
and imperious behaviour of his predecessor had alienated
from the apostolic see; but his pontificate was short. He
died the year following his election, July 6, 1304, not
without suspicion of poison, administered, as some think,
by the relations of Boniface? in revenge for his having received that pope’s enemies into favour, but others impute
this crime to the Florentines, whose city he had laid under
an interdict, when it was distracted by two barbarous factions, called the Neri and the Bianchi. The writers of
Benedict’s time concur in reporting that he was a man
exemplary in every respect, inclined to peace and conciliation, and one who had no desire to enrich his family.
One trait of his character seems to support this last instance
of forbearance. His mother approaching him in a very
rich dress to congratulate him on his promotion, he affected to consider her as an impostor, and said: “My
mother is not a princess, but a poor woman;
” but next
day, when she returned in her ordinary dress, he embraced
her with affection, and treated her with every mark of respect. He wrote comments on the gospel of St. Matthew,
the book of Job, and the Revelations, besides several
sermons, and letters to the king of France and other
princes, concerning the reformation of abuses that had
crept into the church in their respective kingdoms; but of
his works, the only one printed is a comment on the fifth
chapter of Matthew, and some letters in Rainald, Wadding, and Cherubini.
which we may be certain were beneficial and wise, because they raised the indignation of the monks, who have on that account painted his character in, the blackest
Benedict was as much surprised as any of his brethren,
and either out of humility, or because he was conscious he
knew little of public affairs, candidly told them that they
had elected an ass. His actions, however, did not justify
this comparison. He was indeed a stranger to the arts of
the court, but he was a learned divine, well versed in the
civil and canon law, and a man of exemplary life and probity. His first act was that of liberality. The day after
his election, he distributed among the cardinals 100,000
florins out of the treasure left by his predecessor; and a
few days after gave 50,000 for repairing the churches of
Rome. In nis first public sermon he preached on the
beatific vision, and maintained that the just on their death
saw God face to face, before the day of the general resurrection, contrary to the doctrine held by his predecessor;
and he was so impressed with the necessity of establishing
this doctrine, that he published in 1336 a constitution, as
it was called, directly in opposition to the notion of
purgatory in any shape. The whole of his political administration appears to have been of the pacific kind, and in
providing for the interests of the church, he preferred
men of merit to vacant benefices, and was an enemy to
pluralities; and in some of the religious orders he introduced reformations which we may be certain were beneficial and wise, because they raised the indignation of the
monks, who have on that account painted his character in,
the blackest colours. His last effort for the peace of Europe was to reconcile the kings of France and England,
then at war, but while employed on this, he died of a short
illness, the consequence of suppressed evacuation, April
25, 1342. Like his predecessor, he avoided aggrandizing
his family, as most other popes had done, and could
scarcely be prevailed upon to admit his relatives into his
presence, when they came to congratulate him on his promotion. He used to say “James Fournier had relations,
but pope Benedict has none,
” and contented himself with
ordering the expences of their journey to be defrayed out
of the apostolic chamber. The monks whom he had reformed, however, contrary to all contemporary evidence,
have accused him of avarice, debauchery, and in particular, of an intrigue with the sister of the celebrated Petrarch. On the other hand, all the best historians havei
extolled him as a man of sanctity and a pattern of every
virtue. He wrote two volumes on the state of the soul
before the general judgment; eleven questions upon the
same subject sermons for the chief festivals of the year;
all which are in ms. in the Vatican library. He wrote,
likewise, several constitutions relating to the reformation
of some religious orders, commentaries upon the psalms,
various letters, and some poetical pieces.
wrote to Benedict, commanding him to meet him, The doctor on this consulted with the pope’s legate, who was then at Paris, and advised him to answer the king, that
, a famous doctor of
the Sorbonne, and curate of St. Eustathius at Paris in the
sixteenth century, was born at Sevenieres near Angers.
He was a secret favourer of the protestant religion; and
that his countrymen might be able to read the Bible in their
own tongue, he published at Paris the French translation
which had been made by the reformed ministers at Geneva.
This translation was approved by several doctors of the
Sorbonne before it went to the press; and king Charles IX.
had granted a privilege for the printing of it, yet when
published it was immediately condemned. In 1587 king
Henry III. appointed Benedict to be reader and regius
professor of divinity in the college of Navarre at Paris.
He had been before that time confessor to the unhappy
Mary queen of Scotland, during her stay in France, and
attended her when she returned into Scotland. Some time
before the death of Henry III. Benedict, or some of his
friends with his assistance, published a book, entitled
“Apologie Catholique,
” to prove that the protestant religion, which Henry king -of Navarre professed, was not a
sufficient reason to deprive him of his right of succeeding
to the crown of France; first, because the Huguenots admitted the fundamental articles of the catholic faith, and
that the ceremonies and practices which they exploded had
been unknown to the primitive church. Secondly, because the council of Trent, in which they had been condemned, was neither general, nor lawful, nor acknowledged
in France. After the murder of Henry III. a factious divine wrote an answer to that book, which obliged Benedict to publish a reply. When king Henry IV. was
resolved to embrace the Roman Catholic religion, he wrote
to Benedict, commanding him to meet him, The doctor
on this consulted with the pope’s legate, who was then at
Paris, and advised him to answer the king, that he could
not go to him without the pope’s leave, which exasperated
the people at Paris, because they understood by this advice, that he favoured the Spanish faction, and endeavoured only to protract the civil war. However, Benedict
assisted some time after at the conference which was held
at St. Dennis, and in which it was resolved, that the king,
having given sufficient proofs of his fa^h and repentance,
might be reconciled to the church, without waiting for the
pope’s consent. Benedict also assisted at that assembly, in
which king Henry abjured the reformed religion, and having embraced the Roman Catholic faith, was absolved by
the archbishop of Bourges. The king promoted him afterwards, about 15^7, to the bishopric of Troyes in Champagne,
but he could never obtain the pope’s bulls to be installed,
and only enjoyed the temporalities till 1604, when he resigned it with the king’s leave to Renatus de Breslay, archdeacon of Angers, He died at Paris, March 7, 1608, and
was buried near the great altar in his parish church of St.
Eustathius. Dr. Victor Cayet made his funeral oration.
Besides the books, which we have mentioned, he wrote
three or four other pieces, the titles of which are mentioned
by father le Long, but they are of little note, except perhaps his history of the coronation of king Henry III. “Le
Sacre et Couronnement du roi Henry III. Pan 1575, par
Rene Benoit, docteur en theologie,
” Reims, 1575, 8vo,
and inserted in Godefrey’s “Ceremonial de France,
” Paris,
ral was attended by persons of all religious denominations, and by many hundred negroes. An officer, who had served in the American army during the late war, in returning
, an American philanthropist, in
early life was put apprentice to a merchant; but finding
commerce opened temptations to a worldly spirit, he left
his master, and bound himself apprentice to a cooper.
Finding this business too laborious for his constitution, he
declined it, and devoted himself to school-keeping; in
which useful employment he continued during the greatest
part of his life. He was author of “A Caution to Great
Britain and her Colonies, in a short representation of the
calamitous state of the enslaved negroes in the British dominions,
” Some historical account of Guinea,
with an enquiry into the rise and progress of the Slave
Trade, its nature, and lamentable effects,
” Wist ye not
that I must be about my Father’s business?
” He used to
say, “the highest act of charity in the world was to bear
with the unreasonableness of mankind.
” He generally
wore plush clothes; and gave as a reason for it, that after
he had worn them for two or three years, they made comfortable and decent garments for the poor. He once informed a young friend, that his memory began to fail him
“but this,
” said he, “gives me one great advantage over
you; for you can find entertainment in reading a good
book only once but I enjoy that pleasure as often as I
read it; for it is always new to me.
” Few men since the
days of the apostles ever lived a more disinterested life;
and yet upon his death-bed he said, he wished to live a
little longer, that “he might bring down self.
” The last
time he ever walked across his room, was to take from his
desk six dollars, which he gave to a poor widow whom he
had long assisted to maintain. He died at Philadelphia in
1784. His funeral was attended by persons of all religious
denominations, and by many hundred negroes. An officer, who had served in the American army during the late
war, in returning from the funeral, pronounced an eulogium upon him. It consisted only of the following words:
“I would rather,
” said he, “be Anthony Benezet in that
coffin, than George Washington with all his fame.
”
. He was, says the writer of the meagre account in the Diet. Hist, the first of the Lutheran divines who published a learned, profound, and complete criticism on the
, a learned
German divine, principally known in this country for his
excellent edition of the Greek Testament, was born June
24, 1687, at Winneden in the duchy of Wirtemberg. He
was, says the writer of the meagre account in the Diet.
Hist, the first of the Lutheran divines who published a
learned, profound, and complete criticism on the New
Testament, or rather an accurate edition. He became a
critic from motives purely conscientious. The various and
anxious doubts which he entertained, from the deviations
exhibited in preceding editions, induced him to examine
the sacred text with great care and attention, and the result of his labours was, 1. his “Novi Testarmenti Graeci
recte cauteque adornandi prodromus,
” Stutgard, Notitia Nov. Test. Grrcc. recte cauteque adornati,
”
ibid. Novum Test.
Grace, cum introdnctione in Crisin N. T. Apparatu Critico,
et Epilogo,
” ibid. Gnomon Nov. Test, in quo ex nativa verborum vi simplicitas, profunditas, concinnitas sensuum ccelestium indicatur,
” ibid. Apparatus
Criticus
” was published, with many additions, by Phil. D,
Burkius, 4to. Bengal’s most formidable enemies were
Ernesti and Wet stein, neither of whom treated him with
the courtesy that becomes men of letters. His edition of
the New Testament is unquestionably a lasting monument
of the author’s profound learning and solid piety, and has
often been reprinted to gratify the public demand. In
1745, Bengel published “Cyclus, sive de anno magno
solis, luna?, stellarum consideratio, ad incrementum doctrinse propheticre atque astronomies accommodata,
” Ulm,
8vo, and after his death, which took place in Ordo temporifm, a principio per periodos
ceconomise divinoe historicas atque propheticas, at finem
usque ita deductus, ut tota series et quarumvis partium
analogia sempiternae virtutis ac sapientiae cultoribus ex
script. Vet. et Nov. Test, tanquam uno revera documento
proponatur,
” Stutgard, Introduction to his Exposition to the Apocalypse,
” was
translated and published by John Robertson, M. D. London, 1757.
t from thence the other names flowed. He was the son of Sesgnen, a man of wealth and power in Meath, who, in the war in 433, hospitably entertained St. Patrick in his
, archbishop of Armagh in Ireland, was
the immediate successor of St. Patrick in that see, anno 455
though it must be confessed, that this is a point which lias
afforded some controversy. Writers differ as to his name:
some call him Stephen, some Beneneus, others Beona, and
by an Irish termination of the word Benin, in Latin Benignus. It is probable that St. Patrick baptized him by the
name of Stephen, and that he obtained the name of Benin
from his sweet disposition, and his great affection to St.
Patrick, the word bin, in the Irish language, signifying
sweet; and that from thence the other names flowed. He
was the son of Sesgnen, a man of wealth and power in
Meath, who, in the war in 433, hospitably entertained St.
Patrick in his journey from the port of Colp, where he
landed, to the court of king Leogair at Tarah, and, with
his whole family, embraced Christianity and received baptism. The youth grew so fond of his father’s guest, that
he could not be separated from his company. St. Patrick
took him away with him at his departure, and taught him
his first rudiments of learning and religion: Benin profited
greatly under such a master, and became afterwards a man
eminent for piety and virtue, whom St. Patrick thought
worthy to fill the see of Armagh, which he resigned to him
in the year 455. Benin died in the year 468, on the ninth
of November, having also resigned his see three years before his death. The writers of the dark ages, however different they are from one another in other particulars, yet
in the main agree as to the succession of St. Benin in the
government of the see of Armagh, but there is some discordance among them as to the place of his death and burial, which we shall not attempt to reconcile; some contending he died and was buried at Armagh, and others at
Glastonbury. The following writings are ascribed to him
1 “A book partly in Latin, and partly in Irish, on the
virtues and miracles of St. Patrick
” to which Jocelin confesses he was indebted. 2. “An Irish Poem, written on
the Conversion of the people of Dublin to the Christian
Faith.
” 3. “The Minister Book of reigns,
” called by some
Leabhar Bening, or Bening’s Book, and by others Leabhar
na Geart, qu. d. the book of Genealogy, which is ascribed
to him by Nicolson.
, a celebrated poet of Florence, who died in 1542, aged eighty-nine, was one of the first who, following
, a celebrated poet of Florence,
who died in 1542, aged eighty-nine, was one of the first
who, following Lorenzo de Medici and Politian, contributed essentially to the advancement of Italian poetry.
The greater part of his poems turn upon divine love. His
“Canzone dell' Amor celeste e divino
” was in great esteem,
as containing, what now is thought its chief defect, the
sublime ideas of the philosophy of Plato, on love. This
work was printed at Florence in 1519, in 8vo, with other
poetical pieces of the same author. There had already
been an edition of his works, at Florence, in folio, 1500,
which is extremely scarce. Another performance of his is
entitled, “Commento di Hieronimo Benivieni, cittadino
Florentine, sopra a piu sue Canzone e Sonnetti deilo
amore e della belleza divina,
” &c. printed at Florence in
in Berkshire; but upon Mr. Bateman’s having got another presentation to the same living, a gentleman who was his contemporary at Oxford, they agreed jointly to perform
, a nonconformist clergyman of Dorsetshire, was born at or near Egremond, in Cumberland,
Nov. 1600, and educated at St. Bees. Thence he entered
Queen’s college, Oxford, Wood thinks, as a servitor, but
left the university without taking a degree, on obtaining a
presentation to the living of Oakingriain, in Berkshire;
but upon Mr. Bateman’s having got another presentation
to the same living, a gentleman who was his contemporary
at Oxford, they agreed jointly to perform the duty, and
divide the profits, rather than contest the matter at law.
Mr. Benn became afterwards chaplain to the marchioness
of Northampton, with whom he resided in Somersetshire,
leaving Oakingham to Mr. Bateman In 1629, the celebrated Mr. White, usually called the patriarch of Dorchester, invited him to that town, by whose interest he obtained the rectory of All Saints; and, excepting two years
ttiat he attended Mr. White at Lambeth, continued here
until Bartholomew-day, when he was ejected for nonconformity. Not satisfied with his constant labours in the
church, while he held his rectory, he preached gratis, on
week-days, to prisoners in the gaol, and the room not being large enough for his auditory, he built a chapel within
the prison limits, principally at his own expence. In 1654,
he was one of the assistants to the commissioners for ejecting such as were called scandalous, ignorant, and insufficient ministers, and school-masters. After his own ejectment, he continued to preach occasionally, and was sometimes fined and imprisoned. He died March 22, 1680,
and was buried in All Saints church-yard. Wood records
three particulars of him the first, that he was, as already
mentioned, assistant to the commissioners, &c. secondly,
that although he lived to be eighty, he never used spectacles, and yet read and wrote much, writing all his sermons as he delivered them; and thirdly, that he prayed
in his study seven times a day, and commemorated certain
deliverances from dangers which he had experienced on
certain days of his life. His only works were an “Answer
to Mr. Francis Bamph'eld’s Letter, in vindication of the
Christian Sabbath against the Jewish,
” Lond. Soul prosperity,
”
ment some advances were evidently made towards the interest of Rome; since the new secretary was one who secretly espoused the cause of popery, and had much influenced
, earl of Arlington, was descended from an ancient family, and was second son of sir John Bennet of Arlington in Middlesex, by Dorothy, daughter of sir John Crofts of Saxham in the county of Norfolk. He was born in 1618, and educated at Christ-church in the university of Oxford, where he took the degree of master of arts, and distinguished himself by his poetical compositions, several of which were occasionally inserted in books of verses published under the name of the university, and in others in that time. In the beginning the civil war, when king Charles I. fixed his chief residence at Oxford, he was appointed under-secretary to lord George Digby, secretary of state; and afterwards entered himself as a volunteer in the royal cause, and served very bravely, especially at the sharp encounter near Andover in Hampshire, where he received several wounds. When the wars were ended, he did not leave the king, when success did, but attended his interest in foreign parts; and, in order to qualify himself the better for his majesty’s service, travelled into Italy, and made his observations on the several countries and states of Europe. He was afterwards made secretary to James, duke of York, and received the honour of knighthood from king Charles II. at Bruges in March, 1658, and was soon after sent envoy to the court of Spain; in which negociation he acted with so much prudence and success, that his majesty, upon his return to England, soon called him home, and made him keeper of his privy purse. On the 2d of October, 1662, he was appointed principal secretary of state in the room of sir Edward Nicholas; but by this preferment some advances were evidently made towards the interest of Rome; since the new secretary was one who secretly espoused the cause of popery, and had much influenced the king towards embracing-that religion, the year before his restoration, at Fontarabia on Which' account he had been so much threatened by lord Culpepper, that it was believed he durst not return into England, till after the death of that nobleman.
was one of the cabinet council, distinguished by the title of the Cabal, and one of those ministers, who advised the shutting up of the exchequer. April 22, 1672, he
In March 14, 1664, he was advanced to the degree of a
baron, by the title of Lord Arlington of Arlington in Middlesex, and in 1670, was one of the cabinet council, distinguished by the title of the Cabal, and one of those
ministers, who advised the shutting up of the exchequer.
April 22, 1672, he was created viscount Thetford and
earl of Arlington and on the 15th of June following, was
made knight of the garter. On the 22d of the same month
he was sent to Utrecht, with the duke of Buckingham and
lord Hallifax, as ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiaries, to meet jointly with such as should be appointed by the king of France, and with the deputies from
the States-General, but this negociation had no great effect. In April 1673, he was appointed one of the three
plenipotentiaries from the court of Great Britain to Cologne, in order to mediate a peace between the emperor
and king of France. In January following, the house of
commons resolving to attack him, as well as the dukes of
Lauderdale and Buckingham, who were likewise members
of the Cabal, the last endeavoured to clear himself by casting all the odium upon the earl of Arlington; who being
admitted to make his defence in that house, answered some
parts of the duke of Buckingham’s speech, but was so far
from giving them satisfaction with regard to his own conduct, that they immediately drew up articles of impeachment against him, in which he was charged to have been a
constant and vehement promoter of popery and popish
councils; to have been guilty of many undue practices in
order to promote his own greatness; to have embezzled
and wasted the treasure of the nation; and to have falsely
and traiterously bet ayed the important trust reposed in
him, as a counsellor and principal secretary of state. Upon this he appeared before the house of commons, and
spoke much more than was expected; excusing himself,
though without blaming the king. This had so good an
effect, that though he, as secretary of state, was more exposed than any other, by the many warrants and orders
which he had signed; yet he was acqu.tted by a small majority. But the care, which he took to preserve himself,
and his success in it, lost him his high favour; with the
king, as the duke of York was greatly offended with him;
for which reason he quitted his post, and was made lord
chamberlain on the lith of September 1671-, with this
public reason assigned, that it was in recompence of his
long and faithful service, and particularly for having performed the office of principal secretary of state for the
space of twelve years to his majesty’s great satisfaction.
But finding, that his interest began sensibly to decline,
while that of the earl of Danby increased, who succeeded
lord CiiHord in the office of lord high treasurer, which had
ever been the height of lord Arlington’s ambition, he conceived an implacable hatred against that earl, and used his
utmost effort* to supplant him, though in vain. For, upon
his return from his unsuccessful journey to Holland in
1674-5, his credit was so much sunk, that several persons
at court took the liberty to mimic his person and behaviour,
as had been formerly done against lord chancellor Clarendon; and it became a common jest for some courtier to
put a black patch upon his nose, and strut about with a
white staff in his hand, in order to divert the king. One
reason of his majesty’s disgust to him is thought to have
been the earl’s late inclining towards the popular opinions,
and especially his apparent zealous proceedings against
the papists, while the court knew him to be of their religion in his heart, [n confirmation of this a remarkable
story is told; that col. Richard Talbot, afterwards earl of
Tyrconnel, having been some time absent from the court,
upon his return found lord Arlington’s credit extremely
low; and seeing him one day acted by a person with a
patch and a staff, he took occasion to expostulate this matter with the king, with whom he was very familiar, remonstrating, how very hard it was, that poor Harry Ben net
should be thus used, after he had so long and faithfully
served his majesty, and followed him every where in his
exile. The king hereupon began to complain too, declaring what cause he had to be dissatisfied with his conduct, “who had of late behaved himself after a strange
manner; for, not content to come to prayers, as others
did, he must be constant at sacraments too.
” “Why,
”
said colonel Taibot interrupting, “does not your majestydo the same thing?
” “God’s fish,
” replied the king with
some warmth, “I hope there is a difference between Harry
Bennet and me.
” However, in
as Bennet, knt. second son, doctor of the civil law, and master in chancery; and Matthew, third son, who died unmarried. His eldest son, sir John Bennet of Dawley, received
, knt. grandfather to the preceding, and second son of sir Richard Bennet, was created on the 6th of July, 1589, doctor of laws by the university of Oxford, having been one of the proctors there. He was afterwards vicar-general in spirituals to the archbishop of York, and prebendary of Langtoft in the church of York. In the 24th of ELz. bearing the title of doctor of laws, he was in commission with the lord-keeper Egerton, the lord-treasurer Buckhurst, and several other noblemen, for the suppression of heresy. He was also in that reign returned to parliament for the city of York, and was a leading member of the house of commons, as appears from several of his speeches in Townshend’s collections. He received the honour of knighthood from king James before his coronation, on the 23d of July 1603, at Whitehall, and was made in that reign chancellor to queen Anne (consort of king James), judge of the prerogative court of Canterbury, and chancellor to the archbishop of York. In the beginning of 1617, he was sent ambassador to Brussels to question the archduke, in behalf of his master the king of Great Britain, concerning a libel written and published, as it was supposed, by Erycius Puteanus, but he neither apprehended the author, nor suppressed the book, until he was solicited by the king’s agent there: he only interdicted it, and suffered the author to fly out of his dominions. In 1620, sir John Bennet being entitled judge of the prerogative court of Canterbury, was in a special commission with the archbishop of Canterbury, and other noblemen, to put in execution the laws against all heresies, great errors in matters of faith and religioH, &c. and the same year bearing the title of chancellor to the archbishop of York, he was commissioned with the archbishop of York, and others, to execute all manner of ecclesiastical jurisdiction within the province of York. He died in the parish of Christ church in London, in the beginning of 1627, having had issue by Anne his wife, daughter of Christopher Weekes of Salisbury, in the county of Wilts, esq. sir John lien net, his son and heir; sir Thomas Bennet, knt. second son, doctor of the civil law, and master in chancery; and Matthew, third son, who died unmarried. His eldest son, sir John Bennet of Dawley, received the honour of knighthood in the life-time of his father, at Theobalds, on the 15th of June, 1616. He married Dorothy, daughter of sir John Crofts of Saxham, in the county of Norfolk, knt. by whom he had issue six sons, the second of whom was afterwards created earl of Arlington. This account drawn up also by Dr. Campbell as a note to his life of Arlington, partakes of the partiality of that account by suppressing that in 1621, certain mal-practices were detected in the judicial conduct of sir John, and he was committed to the custody of the sheriffs of London, and afterwards to prison, fined 20,000l. and deprived of his offices. In consequence of this, according to Mr. Lodge, he died in indigence and obscurity, in the parish of Christ church, in Surrey, not in London, at the time mentioned above; but another account says that he was merely required to find security to that amount for his appearance to answer to the charges brought against him. If the fine was imposed, we may conclude it was remitted; for in a letter from lord Bacon to king James, we read these words, “Your majesty hath pardoned the like (corruption) to sir John Bennet, between whose case and mine (not being partial to myself, but speaking out of the general opinion), there was as much difference, I will not say, as between black and white, but as between black and grey or ash-coloured.”
receiving the Lord’s Supper, taken out of the confutation of Quakerism,“Cambr. For the sake of those who wanted either money to purchase, or time to peruse, the Confutation
, an eminent divine in the
eighteenth century, was born at Salisbury, May 7, 1673,
and educated in the free-school there; where he made so
great a progress in learning, that he was sent to St. John’s
college, Cambridge, in the beginning of 1688, before he
was full fifteen years of age. He regularly took the degrees of bachelor and master of arts; the latter in 1694,
when but twenty-one years old; and was chosen fellow of
his college. In 1695, he wrote a copy of Hebrew verses
on the death of queen Mary, printed in the collection of
poems of the university of Cambridge upon that occasion.
The first of his publications was “An answer to the dissenters pleas for Separation, or an abridgment of the London cases; wherein the substance of those books is digested into one short and plain discourse,
” Lond. A confutation of Popery, in three parts,
”
Canibr. 8vo. About the same time, he was engaged in
a controversy with some dissenters, which produced
the following book of his, “A discourse of Schism
shewing, 1 What is meant by schism. 2. That schism is
a damnable sin. 3. That there is a schism between the
established church of England and the dissenters. 4. That
this schism is to be charged on the dissenters’ side. 5. That
the modern pretences of toleration, agreement in fundamentals, &c. will m;t excuse the dissenters from being
guilty of schism. Written by way of letter to three
dissenting ministers in Essex, viz. Mr. Gilson and Mr. Gledhili ol Colchester, and Mr. Shepherd of Brain tree. To
which is annexed, an answer to a book entitled
” Thomas
against Bennet, or the Protestant dissenters vindicated from
the charge of schism,“Cambr. 1702, 8vo. This book
being animadverted upon by Mr. Shepherd, our author
published
” A defence of the discourse of Schism; in
answer to those objections which Mr. Shepherd has made in
his three sermons of Separation, &c.“Cambr. 1703, 8vo.
And, towards the end of the same year,
” An answer to
Mr. Shepherd’s considerations on the defence of the discourse of Scnism,“Cambr. 8vo. As also a treatise entitled
” Devotions, viz. Confessions, Petitions, Intercessions, and
Thanksgivings, for every day in the week and also before,
at, and after, the Sacrament with occasional prayers for
all persons whatsoever,“8vo. In 1705, he published
” A
confutation of Quakerism; or a plain proof of the falsehood of what the principal Quaker writers (especially Mr. R. Barclay, in his Apology and other works) do
teach concerning the necessity of immediate revelation
in order to a saving Christian faith, &c.“Cambr. 8vo.
In 1707 he caused to be printed in a small pamphlet,
12mo,
” A discourse on the necessity of being baptized
with Water and receiving the Lord’s Supper, taken out of
the confutation of Quakerism,“Cambr. For the sake of
those who wanted either money to purchase, or time to peruse, the Confutation of Quakerism, the year following he
published
” A brief history of -the joint use of precomposed set forms of Prayer,“Cambr. 8vo. The same year
he published likewise
” A discourse of joint Prayer,“Cambr. 8vo. Towards the end of the same year he published
” A paraphrase with annotations upon the book of
Common Prayer, wherein the text is explained, objections
are answered, and advice is humbly offered, both to the
clergy and the laity, for promoting true devotion in the use
of it,“Lond. 8vo. The next thing he printed was
” Charity Schools recommended, in a sermon preached in St.
James’s church in Colchester, on Sunday, March 26, 1710,“8vo. The same year he wrote
” A letter to Mr. B. Robinson, occasioned by iiis * Review of the case of Liturgies,
and their imposition';“and
” A second letter to Mr. B.
Robinson, &c. on the same subject,“Lond. 1710, 8vo. In
17 11 he published
” The rights of the Clergy of the Christian church; or, a discourse shewing that God has given and
appropriated to the clergy, authority to ordain, baptize,
preach, preside in church-prayer, and consecrate the Lord’s
supper. Wherein also the pretended divine right of the
laity to elect either the persons to be ordained, or their own
particular pastors, is examined and disproved,“London,
1711, 8vo. He had begun a second part of this work, but
it was never published, in which he intended to shew, that
the clergy are, under Christ, the sole spiritual governors of
the Christian church, and that God has given and appropriated to them authority to enact laws, determine controversies, inflict censures, and absolve from them. The pre^tended divine institution of lay elders was also disproved,
and the succession of the present clergy of the established
church vindicated. And to this was annexed a
” Discourse
of the Independency of the Church on the State, with an
account of the sense of our English laws, and the judgment
of archbishop Cranmer touching that point.“About this
time he took the degree of D. D. In 1714 he published
<c Directions for studying, I. A general system or body of
divinity; II. The thirty-nine articles of religion. To which
is added St. Jerom’s epistle to Nepotianus,
” London, 8vo.
The year following was published his “Essay on the thirty-nine articles of Religion, agreed on in 1562, and revised
in 1571, wherein (the text being first exhibited in Latin and English, and the minutest variations of eighteen the most ancient and authentic copies carefully noted) an account is given of the proceedings of convocation in framing
and settling the text of the articles, the controverted clause
of the twentieth article is demonstrated to be genuine, and
the case of subscription to the articles is considered in point
of law, history, and conscience; with a prefatory epistle to
Anthony Collins, esq. wherein the egregious falsehoods and
calumnies of the author of ‘Priestcraft in perfection’ are
exposed,
” London, The Non juror’s separation
from the public assemblies of the church of England examined, and proved to be schismatical upon their own
principles,
” London, 8vo. And “The case of the Reformed Episcopal Churches in Great Poland and Polish
Prussia, considered in a sermon preached on Sunday, November 18, 1716, at St. Lawrence-Jewry, London, in the
morning, and St. Olave’s, Southwark, in the afternoon,
”
London, 8vo. Soon after, he was presented by the dean
and chapter of St. Paul’s, to the vicarage of St. Giles’s,
Cripplegate, London, which afforded him a plentiful income of nearly five hundred pounds a-year. But he had
little quiet enjoyment of it; for, endeavouring to recover
some dues that unquestionably belonged to that church,
he was obliged to engage in tedious law-suits, which, hesides the immense charges they were attended withal, gave
him a great deal of vexation and uneasiness, and very much
embittered his spirits; however, he recovered a hundred
and fifty pounds a-year to that living. After he was settled
in it, in 1717, he married Mrs. Elizabeth Hunt of Salisbury,
a gentlewoman of great merit, and by her he had three
daughters. The same year he published “A Spital sermon preached before the lord mayor, aldermen. &c. of
London, in St. Bridget’s church, on April 24, 1717,
” London, 8vo; and in A discourse of the ever-blessed
Trinity in Unity, with an examination of Dr. Clarke’s Scripture doctrine of the Trinity,
” London, 8vo. But, from this
time, the care of his large parish, and other affairs, so engrossed his thoughts, that he had no time to undertake any
new work, except an Hebrew grammar, which was published at London in 1726, 8vo, a,ud is reckoned one of the
best of the kind. He mentions, indeed, in one of his books
written about 1716, that he had then “several tasks
” in
his hands, “which would find him full employment for
many years;
” but whatever they might be, none of them
were ever finished or made public. He died of an apoplexy at London, October 9th, 1728, aged fifty-live years,
five months, and two days, and was buried in his own
church.
d being told, in his youth, by Dr. Doddridge, that the dissenting ministers, in and near Colchester, who endeavoured to answer Dr. Bennet, and particularly Mr. Shepherd,
Dr. Bennet was undoubtedly a divine of eminent piety and distinguished learning. The zeal and diligence with which he engaged in the studies and duties of his profession were highly commendable, and shew that h had no conception that the life of a clergyman was to be an idle or trifling life. Several of his works, however, being upon subjects of temporary controversy, are, we apprehend, not much read at present. This will ever be the case when disputes turn upon matters which are not of lasting importance, or upon some trivial circumstances in questions otherwise momentous, and it will especially be the case, when a man of abilities has to contend with insufficient adversaries. Dr. Kippis remembered being told, in his youth, by Dr. Doddridge, that the dissenting ministers, in and near Colchester, who endeavoured to answer Dr. Bennet, and particularly Mr. Shepherd, were persons of very mean talents. The doctor, in some of his subsequent writings, met with far abler 'antagonists. The question concerning-schism was deemed of gr^at importance during the last century, and in the beginning of the present. The Papists charged this crime upon the Protestants, and the members of the church of England upon the Dissenters. A concise and rational account of the general controversy with regard to schism, and of the variations and inconsistencies to which it hath given rise, would be no incurious subject in the history of theological literature.
ly wished to avoid, but, no doubt, sincerely abhorred. This was an unfortunate circumstance in a man who, in another work, had employed himself in vindicating the Athanasian
Dr. Bennet was perhaps too ready to engage in the debates of his time, upon questions of divinity, which led him sometimes into difficulties, obliged him to have recourse to distinctions and refinements which would not always bear examination, and laid him open to the attacks of his adversaries. Of all the doctor’s controversial pieces, those on the doctrine of the Trinity, and on subscription to the articles of the church of England, have been the most brought into view in the present age. This is owing to these subjects being still eagerly debated, and on account of their acknowledged importance, will probably long continue to be debated. Dr. Bennet’s explication of the Trinity is singular; and it would require much logical nicety to defend it from that heterodoxy which the learned author not only wished to avoid, but, no doubt, sincerely abhorred. This was an unfortunate circumstance in a man who, in another work, had employed himself in vindicating the Athanasian creed. However, he was but in the same case with many other eminent and learned divines, who, while they have imagined that they were defending Athanasianism, have, in fact, run into Sabellianism or Socinianism.
Another Benning or Benningius (John), president of the provincial court of Luxemburgh, and who died Jan. 30, 1638, wrote a history of the duchy of Luxemburgh,
Another Benning or Benningius (John), president of the provincial court of Luxemburgh, and who died Jan. 30, 1638, wrote a history of the duchy of Luxemburgh, which has not been printed.
, or Benno, a writer of the eleventh century, was created a cardinal by the anti-pope Guibert, who assumed the name of Clement III. Benno, who was one of his most
, or Benno, a writer of the eleventh century, was created a cardinal by the anti-pope Guibert, who
assumed the name of Clement III. Benno, who was one
of his most zealous partisans, made many attacks on the
popes, accusing Sylvester II. of magic, Gregory VI. of
simony, &c. and wrote, under the title of a “Life of Gregory VII.
” a bitter satire against that pontiff. He died
about the close of the eleventh century. His life of Gregory was printed in the “Fasciculus rerum Expetendarum
et Fugiendarum,
”
, the son of a Calvinist, who was keeper of the hotel de laTremouille, was born in 1640. In
, the son of a Calvinist, who was keeper of the hotel de laTremouille, was born in 1640. In his
youth he appears not to have been exempt from dissipation, but the love of study predominated, and after the regular course he was chosen minister of Alenc.on. While
there, he had a dispute with father Larue, a Jesuit, on the
pretended falsifications in the Geneva translation of the
Bible, and the celebrated Huet took his part so far as to
blame the intemperance of this Jesuit. The letters which
passed on this occasion may be seen in the first volume of
a collection published by the abbe Tilladet. On the revocation of the edict of Nantes, Benoit went to Delft, and
became minister of the Walloon church, in which situation
he remained until his death in 1728. Much of this long
life was embittered by his marrying a woman of a mean,
sordid, and irritable temper, and some part of it was
disturbed by controversy. Besides the dispute already mentioned, he had another with Jacquelot, respecting the union
of the two churches; one likewise with Le Clerc, on the
first chapter of the gospel of St. John, and one with Van
der Honert, on the style of the New Testament. His principal works were, 1. “Histoire de Pedit de Nantes,
”
Delft, Histoire et Apologie
de la retraite des pasteurs a cause de la persecution,
”
Francfort, Defense
” of this apology
against d'Artis, ibid. Melanges de remarques critiques, historiques, philosophiques, et theologiques,
” against some of Toland’s writings, Delft, Sermons et des Lettres.
”
n he was very young; and when about seven or eight years of age, he went to be confirmed, the bishop who performed the ceremony asked him “if he was not willing to change
, a French poet and wit of
the seventeenth century, was born at Lyons-la-Foret, a
small town in Upper Normandy, in 1612. He was born
but not educated a Protestant, his father having turned
Catholic when he was very young; and when about seven
or eight years of age, he went to be confirmed, the bishop
who performed the ceremony asked him “if he was not
willing to change his name of Isaac for one more Christian.
”
*' With all my heart,“replied he,
” provided I get any
thing by the exchange.“The bishop, surprized at such
a ready answer, would not change his name.
” Let his
name be Isaac still,“said he,
” for whatever it is, he will
make the most of it." Benserade lost his father when he
was very young; and being left with little fortune, and
this much involved in law, he chose rather to give it up
than sue for it. His mother’s name, however, being Laporte, he claimed relationship to the cardinal Richelieu,
who without examining too nicely into the matter, had him
educated, and would have provided for him in the church
if he had not preferred the court, where he soon became
famous for his wit and poetry; and Richelieu granted him
a pension, which was continued till the death of this cardinal. It is probable that Benserade would have found the
same protection in the duchess of Aiguillon, if the following four verses, which he had made on the death of the
cardinal, had not given her great offence:
re was an original turn in them which characterised at once the poetical divinities, and the persons who represented them. “With the description of the gods and other
Benserade had surprising success in what he composed
for the court dramatic entertainments. There was an
original turn in them which characterised at once the poetical divinities, and the persons who represented them.
“With the description of the gods and other personages,
”
says the author of the “Recueil de bons contes,
” supposed to be M. de Calliere, “who were represented in
these interludes, he mixed lively pictures of the courtiers,
who represented them, discovering their inclinations, attachments, and even their most secret adventures; but in
a manner so agreeable and delicate, that those who were
rallied were pleased, and his jests left no resentment or
concern in their minds.
” The sonnet which Benserade
sent to a young lady, with his paraphrase on Job, implying
that Job could reveal his griefs, but he was obliged to
suffer in silence, rendered his name very famous. A parallel was drawn betwixt it and the Urania of Voiture; and
a dispute thence arose, which divided the wits, and the
whole court. Those who gave the preference to that of
Benserade were styled the Jobists, and their antagonists
the Uranists. The prince of Conti declared himself a
Jobist, and the duchess de Longueville, an Uranist.
Benserade wrote rondeaus upon Ovid, some of which are
reckoned tolerable, but upon the whole the attempt was
too absurd for serious approbation; and his Ovid, without
occasioning any controversy, dropt into oblivion almost as
soon as it was published, although it appeared in a highly
ornamented 4to, printed at Paris, 1676, with engravings
to theexpence of which the king contributed 10,000 livres.
So much was he attached to the rondeau, that his preface
and even his errata are in the same species of composition.
The latter is perhaps the best of the whole; as he candidly acknowledges that he can discover but two errors of
any consequence, viz. the plan and the execution:
deavouring to stop the effusion of blood, Fan away Commire, his friend and confessor, was called in, who arrived in time to witness his death, Oct. 19, 1691. He had
Mr. Voltaire is of opinion that these inscriptions were the best of his productions, and he regrets that they have not been collected. Benserade suffered at last so much from the stone, that, notwithstanding his great age, he resolved to submit to the operation of cutting. But his constancy was not put to this last proof, for a surgeon letting him blood by way of precaution, pricked an artery, and, instead of endeavouring to stop the effusion of blood, Fan away Commire, his friend and confessor, was called in, who arrived in time to witness his death, Oct. 19, 1691. He had been a member of the French academy from 1674. Pascal says he was the repeater of many bad bons-mots, and those which his biographers have recorded are certainly of that description. His theatrical pieces, Cleopatra, the death of Achilles, &c. were printed singly from 1636 to 1641, 4to; but his whole works, including a selection from his rondeaus taken from Ovid, were printed at Paris, 1697, 2 vols. 12mo.
ministers, he began to preach; first at Chertsey, and afterwards in London. The learned Dr. Calamy, who was his great friend, and kindly took him for a time into his
, a learned and eminent dissenting teacher, was born at Great Salkeld, in Cumberland, September 1699. He was early destined by his parents for the ministry, on account of the seriousness of his disposition and his love of learning; which was so strong and successful, that at eleven years of age he was able to read the Greek testament. After finishing his grammar learning, he went to an academy kept by Dr, Dixon at Whitehaven, from whence he removed to Glasgow; where, with great application and success, he pursued his studies until May 1721, when he left the university. Towards the close of the year he came to London; and having been examined and approved by several of the most eminent presbyterian ministers, he began to preach; first at Chertsey, and afterwards in London. The learned Dr. Calamy, who was his great friend, and kindly took him for a time into his family, recommended him to go to Abingdon in Berkshire; where, after preaching as a candidate, he was unanimously chosen their pastor, by the congregation of protestant dissenters in that town. During his stay here, which was about seyen years, he preached and published three serious practical discourses, addressed to young persons, which were well received. But he afterwards suppressed them, as not containing what be thought on further inquiry the exact truth, in relation to some doctrines of Christianity. He had been educated a Calvinist, but was now, like many of his brethren, receding from those principles. In 1729 he received a call from a society of protestant dissenters in Southwark, among whom he laboured with diligence and fidelity for eleven years, and was greatly beloved by them. In 1740 he was chosen by the congregation at Crutched Friars, colleague to Dr. Lardner; and when infirmities obliged Dr. Lardner to quit the service of the church, the whole care of it devolved on him.
r meeting, when it was suggested that it would be proper to take the opinion of some other builders, who reported that the building was in very good condition. The lords,
He became member of parliament for Shaftesbury in
the first parliament of George I. and in 17 Is was made
surveyor general, in the place of sir Christopher Wren, on
which occasion he vacated his seat in parliament. Why
such a disgrace should be inBicted on sir Christopher
Wren, now full of years and honours, cannot be ascertained. Benson, however, gained only an opportunity,
and that soon, to display his incapacity, and the amazing
contrast between him and his predecessor. Being em-ployed to survey the house of lords, he gave in a report
that that house and the painted-chamber adjoining were
in immediate danger of falling. On this the lords were
about to appoint some other place for their meeting, when
it was suggested that it would be proper to take the opinion of some other builders, who reported that the building was in very good condition. The lords, irritated at
Benson’s ignorance and incapacity, were about to petition
the king to remove him, when the earl of Sunderland,
then secretary, assured them that his majesty would anticipate their wishes. Benson was accordingly dismissed.
He was in some measure consoled, however, by the assignment of a considerable debt due to the crown in Ireland, and by the reversion of one of the two offices of
auditor of the imprests, which he enjoyed after the death
of Mr, Edward Harley. In 1724, he published “Virgil’s
Husbandry, with notes critical and rustic;
” and in Letters concerning poetical translations, and Virgil’s
and Milton’s arts of verse.
” This last was followed by an
edition of “Arthur Johnston’s Psalms,
” accompanied with
the Psalms of David, according to the translation in the
English Bible, printed in 4to, 8vo, and 12mo; with a
“Prefatory discourse,
” A conclusion
to his prefatory discourse
” and in the same year, “A
supplement to it, in which is contained, a comparison betwixt Johnston and Buchanan.
” In this comparison, given
in favour of Johnston, he was so unlucky, or, rather for
the sake of taste, so lucky as to excite the indignation of
the celebrated Ruddiman, who wrote an elaborate and unanswerable defence of Buchanan, in a letter to Mr. Benson,
under the title of “A Vindication of Mr. George Buchanan’s
Paraphrase of the Book of Psalms,
” Edinburgh, Benson,
” says that amiable critic, “is here
spoken of too contemptuously. He translated faithfully,
if not very poetically, the second book of the Georgics,
with useful notes he printed elegant editions of Johnston’s
psalms; he wrote a discourse on versification he rescued
his country from the disgrace of having no monument
erected to the memory of Milton in Westminster-abbey;
he encouraged and urged Pitt to translate the yEneid; and
he gave Dobson of.1000 for his Latin translation of Paradise Lost.
” Another testimony we have of his liberality
which ought not to be suppressed. In 1735, a book was
published, entitled “The cure of Deism.
” The author,
Mr. Elisha Smith, was at that time confined in the Fleet
prison for a debt of ^^Oo. Benson, pleased with the
work, inquired who was the author, and having received
an account of his unfortunate state, not only sent him a
handsome letter, but discharged the whole debt, fees, &o.
and set him at liberty.
Samuel Bentham, was a very worthy clergyman, and vicar of Witchford, a small living near that city; who having a numerous family, his son Edward, on the recommendation
, canon of Christ-church, Oxford, and king’s professor of divinity in that university,
was born in the college at Ely, July 23, 1707. His father,
Mr. Samuel Bentham, was a very worthy clergyman, and
vicar of Witchford, a small living near that city; who having a numerous family, his son Edward, on the recommendation of Dr. Smalridge, dean of Christ-church, was
sent in 1717 to the school of that college. Having there
received the rudiments of classical education, he was in
Lent term 1723, when nearly 16 years of age, admitted of
the university of Oxford, and placed at Corpus-Christi
college under his relation Dr. John Burton. In this situation, his serious and regular deportment, and his great
proficiency in all kinds of academical learning, recommended him to the notice of several eminent men; and,
among others, to the favour of Dr. Tanner, canon of
Christ-church, by whose death he was disappointed of a
nomination to a studentship in that society. At CorpusChristi college he formed a strict friendship with Robert
Hoblyn, esq. of Nanswydden in Cornwall, afterwards representative for the city of Bristol, whose character, as
a scholar and a member of parliament, rendered him deservedly esteemed by the lovers of literature and of their
country. In company with this gentleman and another
intimate friend, Dr. Ratcliff, afterwards master of Pembroke college, Mr. Bentham made, at different times, the
tour of part of France, and other countries. Having taken
the degree of B. A. he was invited by Dr. Cotes, principal
of Magdalen-hall, to be his vice-principal; and was accordingly admitted to that society, March 6, 1730. Here
he continued only a short time, for, on the 23d of April
in the year following, he was elected fellow of Oriel college. In act term, 1732, he proceeded to the degree of
M. A. and, about the same time, was appointed tutor in
the college; in which capacity he discharged his duty, in
the most laborious and conscientious manner, for more
than twenty years. March 26, 1743, Mr. Bentham took
the degree of B. D.; and April 22, in the same year, was
collated to the prebend of Hundreton, in the cathedral
church of Hereford. July 8, 1749, he proceeded to the
degree of D. D.; and in April 1754 was promoted to the
fifth stall in that cathedral. Here he continued the same
active and useful course of life for which he had always
been distinguished. He served the offices of sub-dean
and treasurer, for himself and others, above twelve years.
The affairs of the treasury, which Dr. Bentham found in
great confusion, he entirely new modelled, and put into a
train of business in which they have continued ever since,
to the great ease of his successors, and benefit of the society. 80 intent was he upon the regulation and management of the concerns of the college, that he refused several preferments which were offered him, from a conscientious persuasion that the avocations they would produce
were incompatible with the proper discharge of the offices
he had voluntarily undertaken. Being appointed by the
king to fill the divinity chair, vacant by the death of Dr.
Fanshavve, Dr. Bentham was, with much reluctance, and
after having repeatedly declined it, persuaded, by archbishop Seeker and his other learned friends, to accept of
it; and, on the 9th of May, 1763, he was removed to the
8th stall in the cathedral. His unwillingness to appear in
this station was increased by the business he had to transact in his former situation, and which he was afraid would
be impeded by the accession of new duties: not to say
that a life spent in his laborious and sedentary manner had
produced some unfavourable effects on his constitution,
and rendered a greater attention than he had hitherto shewn
to private ease and health, absolutely necessary. Besides,
as the duties, when properly discharged, were great and
interesting, so the station itself was of that elevated and
public nature to which his ambition never inclined him:
66 latere maluit atque prodesse.“The diffidence he had of
his abilities had ever taught him to suspect his own sufficiency; and his inauguratory lecture breathed the same
spirit, the text of which was,
” Who is sufficient for these
things?" But whatever objections Dr. Bentham might have
to the professorship before he entered upon it, when once
he had accepted of it, he never suffered them to discourage
him in the least from exerting hi* most sincere endeavours
to render it both useful and honourable to the university.
He set himself immediately to draw out a course of lectures for the benefit of young students in divinity, which
he constantly read at his house at Christ-church, gratis-^
three times a week during term-time, till his decease. The
course took up a year; and he not only exhibited in it a
complete system of divinity, but recommended proper
books, some of which he generously distributed to his auditors. His intense application to the pursuit of the plan
he had laid clown, together with those concerns in which
his affection for his friends, and his zeal for the public
good in every shape, involved him, proved more than a
counterbalance for all the advantages of health and vigour
that a strict and uniform temperance could procure. Jt is
certain that he sunk under the rigorous exercise of that
conduct he had proposed to himself: for though 6-; years
are a considerable proportion in the strongest men’s lives,
yet his remarkable abstemiousness and self-denial, added to
a disposition of body naturally strong, promised, in the
ordinary course of things, a longer period. Dr. Bentham
was a very early riser, and had transacted half a day’s
business before many others begin their day. His countenance was uncommonly mild and engaging, being strongly
characteristic of the piety and benevolence of his mind;
and at the same time it by no means wanted expression,
but, upon proper occasions, could assume a very becoming and affecting authority. In his attendance upon the
public duties of religion, he was exceedingly strict and
constant; not suffering himself ever to be diverted from it
by any motives, either of interest or pleasure. Whilst he
was thus diligent in the discharge of his own duty, he was
not severe upon those who were not equally so in theirs.
He could scarcely ever be prevailed upon to deliver his
opinion upon subjects that were to the disadvantage of
other men; and when he could not avoid doing it, his sentiments were expressed with the utmost delicacy and candour. No one was more ready to discover, commend, and
reward every meritorious endeavour. Of himself he never
was he? rd to speak and if his own merits were touched
upon in the slightest manner, he felt a real uneasiness.
Though he was not fond of the formalities of visiting, he
entered into the spirit of friendly society and intercourse
with great pleasure. His constant engagements, indeed,
of one kind or other, left him not much time to be devoted
to company; and the greater part of his leisure hours he
spent in the enjoyment of domestic pleasures, for which
his amiable and peaceable disposition seemed most calculated.
eminent example of bishop Tanner (a prebendary of the same stall which Mr. Bentham afterwards held), who had honoured the family with many marks of his kindness and
, M. A. and F. A. S. prebendary of
Ely, rector of Bow-brick-hill in the county of Bucks, and
domestic chaplain to the right-hon. lord Cadogan, was the
brother of the above-mentioned Edward. Having received
the rudiments of classical learning in the grammar-school
of Ely, he was admitted of Trinity college, Cambridge,
March 26,1727, where he proceeded B. A. 1730, and M. A.
1738, and was elected F. A. S. 1767. In the year 1733 he
was presented to the vicarage of Stapleford in Cambridgeshire, which he resigned in 1736, on being made minor
canon in the church of Ely. In 1767 he was presented by
bishop Mavvson to the vicarage of Wymondharn in Norfolk,
which he resigned in the year following for the rectory of
Feltwell St. Nicholas, in the same county. This he resigned in 1774 for the rectory of Northwold, which in 1779
he was induced by bishop Keene to change for aprebendal
stall in the church of Ely, though he was far from improving his income by the change. But his attachment to his
native place, with which church the family had been connected without any intermission for more than 100 years,
surmounted every other consideration. In 1783 he was
presented to the rectory of Bow-brick-hill, by the rev.
Edward Guellaume. From his first appointment to an office in the church of Ely, he seems to have directed his
attention to the study of church architecture. It is probable that he was determined to the pursuit of ecclesiastical antiquities by the eminent example of bishop Tanner
(a prebendary of the same stall which Mr. Bentham afterwards held), who had honoured the family with many marks
of his kindness and friendship. For researches of this kind
Mr. Bentham seems to have been excellently qualified.
To a sound judgment and a considerable degree of penetration, accompanied by a minuteness and accuracy of inquiry altogether uncommon, Mr. Bentham added the most
patient assiduity and unwearied industry. The history of
the church with which he was connected afforded him full
scope for the exercise of his talents. It abounds with almost all the various specimens of church architecture used
in England to the time of the reformation. Having previously examined with great attention every historical monument and authority which could throw any light upon
his subject, after he had circulated, in 1756, a catalogue
of the principal members of this church (Ely), viz. abbesses, abbots, bishops, priors, deans, prebendaries, and
archdeacons, in order to collect further information concerning them, he published “The History and Antiquities
of the conventual and cathedral Church of Ely, from the
foundation of the monastery, A. D. 675, to the year 1771,
illustrated with copper-plates,
” Cambridge,
nd ingenious remarks, which occurred in this part of the work, soon attracted the attention of those who had turned their thoughts to the subject. This short essay was
In the introduction the authorthought it might be useful
to give some account of Saxon, Norman, and what is usually
called Gothic architecture. The many novel and ingenious
remarks, which occurred in this part of the work, soon attracted the attention of those who had turned their thoughts
to the subject. This short essay was favourably received
by the public, and has been frequently cited and referred
to by most writers on Gothic architecture. By a strange
mist-ike, these observations were hastily attributed to the
celebrated Mr. Gray, merely because Mr. Bentham has
mentioned his name among that of others to whom he conceived himself indebted for communications and hints. Mr.
Bentham was never informed of this extraordinary circumstance till the year 1783, when he accidentally met with it
in the Gentleman’s Magazine for the month of February
in that year; upon which he immediately thought it necessary to rectify the mistake, and to vindicate his own
character and reputation as an author from the charge of
having been obliged to Mr. Gray for that treatise, when
he had published it as his own; and this he was enabled to
do satisfactorily, having fortunately preserved the only letter which he had received from Mr. Gray on the subject.
The truth was, that Mr. Bentham had written the treatise
long before he had the honour of any acquaintance with
Mr. Gray, and it was that which first introduced him to
Mr. Gray. What his obligations were will appear by reference to a copy of that letter, which he received from
Mr. Gray when he returned the six sheets which Mr. Bentham had submitted to him at his own request. It happened
that the two last sheets, though composed, were not worked off, which gave Mr. Bentham an opportunity of inserting some additions alluded to in Mr. Gray’s letter. In the
Magazine for July 1784, may be seen the full and handsome apology which this explanation produced from a correspondent, who, under the signature of S. E. had inadvertently ascribed these remarks to Mr. Gray. These remarks have been since printed in an excellent collection
of “Essays on Gothic Architecture,
” published by Mr.
Taylor, of Holborn. When the dean and chapter of Ely
had determined upon the general repair of the fabric of
their church, and the judicious removal of the choir from
the dome to the presbytery at the east end, Mr. Bentham
was requested to superintend that concern as clerk of the
works. With what indefatigable industry and attention he
acquitted himself in that station, and how much he contributed to the improvement and success of the publ.c works
then carrying on, appears as well by the minutes of those
transactions, as by the satisfaction with which the body
recognized his services. This employment gave him a
thorough insight into the principles and peculiarities of
these antient buildings, and suggested to him the idea of
a general history of antient architecture in this kingdom,
which he justly considered a desideratum of the learned
and inquisitive antiquary. He was still intent upon this
subject, and during the amusement of his leisure hours
continued almost to the last to make collections with a view
to some further illustration of this curious point, though his
avocations of one kind or another prevented him from reducing them to any regular form or series. But he did
not suffer these pursuits to call him off from the professional duties of his station, or from contributing his endeavours towards promoting works of general utility to the
neighbourhood. To a laudable spirit of this latter kind,
animated by a zeal for his native place, truly patriotic, is
to be referred his steady perseverance in recommending
to his countrymen, under all the discouragements of obloquy and prejudice, the plans suggested for the improvement of their fens by draining, and the practicability of
increasing their intercourse with the neighbouring counties by means of turnpike roads; a measure till then unattempted, and for a long time treated with a contempt
and ridicule due only to the most wild and visionary projects, the merit of which he was at last forced to rest upon
the result of an experiment made by himself. With this
view, in 1757, he published his sentiments under the title
of “Queries offered to the consideration of the principal
inhabitants of the city of Ely, and towns adjacent, &c.
” and
had at length the satisfaction to see the attention of the
public directed to the favourite object of those with whom
he was associated. Several gentlemen of property and
consideration in the county generously engaged in contributing donations towards setting on foot a scheme to establish turnpike roads. By the liberal example of lord-chancellor Hardwicke, lord Royston, and bishop Mawson, and
the seasonable bequest of 200l. by Geo. Riste, esq. of
Cambridge, others were incited to additional subscriptions.
In a short time these amounted to upwards of 1000l. and
nearly to double that sum on interest. The scheme being
thus invigorated by these helps, and by the increasing
loans of those whose prejudices began now to wear away,
an act was obtained in 1763 for improving the road from
Cambridge to Ely. Similar powers and provisions were in
a few years obtained by subsequent acts, and the benefit
extended to other parts of the isle in all directions, the success of which hath answered the most sanguine expectations
of its advocates. With the same beneficent disposition,
Mr. Bentham in 1773 submitted a plan for inclosing and
draining a large tract of common in the vicinity of Ely,
called Gruntiten, containing near 1300 acres, under the
title of “Considerations and Reflections upon the present
state of the fens near Ely,
” &c. Cambridge, Finis hie officii
atque laboris.
” A fourth brother, the Rev. Jeffery Bentham, precentor of the church of Ely, &c. died in 1792,
aged seventy two. A fifth, the Rev. Edmund Bentham, B.D.
rector of Wootton-Courtnay, Somersetshire, died in Oct.
1781, at Moulsey Grove, near Hampton. Mr. Cole, who
in his ms Athenae, gives some account of the Benthams,
with a mixture of spleen and respect, remarks that this Edmund died in a parish in which he was not buried, was
buried in a parish with which he had no connexion, and
has a monument in a church (Sutton) where he was not
buried, but of which he had been curate for near forty
years.
th some others, professor of divinity at London, by Laurence Humphrey, S.T.P. and John Kenal, LL. D. who were deputed by the university of Oxford for that purpose; and
, a learned and pious English divine, bishop of Litchfield and Coventry in the sixteenth
century, was born about the year 1513, at Shirebourne in
Yorkshire, and educated at Magdalen-college in Oxford.
He took his bachelor’s degree in arts, Feb. 20, 1543, and
was admitted perpetual fellow of that college, November
16, 1546, and took his master’s degree in arts the year
following, about which time he applied himself wholly to
the study of divinity and the Hebrew language, in which
he was extremely well skilled, as well as in the Latin and
Greek tongues. The compiler of “Anglorum Speculum
”
tells us, that he was converted from popery in the first
year of queen Mary; but we find him very zealous
against the popish religion during the reign of king Edward VI. upon which account, and his assisting one Henry
Bull of the same college, in wresting the censer out of the
bands of the choristers, as they were about to offer their
superstitious incense, he was ejected from his fellowship
by the visitors appointed by queen Mary to regulate the
university; soon after which he retired to Zurich, and afterwards to Basil in Switzerland, and became preacher to
the English exiles there, and expounded to them the entire
book of the Acts of the Apostles; a proper subject and
portion of scripture, Fuller observes, to recommend patience to his banished countrymen; as the apostle’s sufferings so far exceeded theirs. This exposition was left by
him at the time of his death, very fairly written, and
fit for the press, but it does not appear to have been
printed. In exile, as at home and in college, he led a
praise-worthy, honest, and laborious life, with little or no
preferment. Afterwards, being recalled by some of his
brethren, he returned to London under the same queen’s
reign, where he lived privately and in disguise, and was
made superintendent of a protestant congregation in that
city; whom Bentham, by his pious discipline, diligent care
and tuition, and bold and resolute behaviour in the protestant cause, greatly confirmed in their faith and religion;
so that they assembled with the greatest constancy to divine worship, at which there often appeared an hundred,
sometimes two hundred persons; no inconsiderable congregation this to meet by stealth, notwithstanding the
danger of the times, daily, together at London, in spite
of the vigilant and cruel Bonner. At length, when queen
Elizabeth came to the throne, he was, in the second year
of her reign, nominated for the see of Litchfield and Coventry, upon the deprivation of Dr. Ralph Bayne, and had
the temporalities of that see restored to him, Feb. 20, 1559,
being then about forty-six years of age. On the 30th of
October 1556, he was created, with some others, professor of divinity at London, by Laurence Humphrey, S.T.P.
and John Kenal, LL. D. who were deputed by the university of Oxford for that purpose; and in the latter end of
October 1568, he was actually created doctor of divinity,
being then highly esteemed on account of his distinguished
learning. He published a Sermon on Matth. iv. 1—11,
printed at London, 8vo. Bishop Burnet, in his History of
the Reformation, tells us, that our author translated into
English the Book of Psalms, at the command of queen
Elizabeth, when an English version of the Bible was to
be made, and that he likewise translated Ezekiel and
Daniel. He died at Eccleshal in Staffordshire, the seat belonging to the see, Feb. 19, 1578, aged sixty-five years,
and was buried under the south wall of the chancel of that
church.
ge the negociations that were set on foot, betwixt his highness and the English nobility and gentry, who had recourse to him to rescue them from the danger they were
, earl of Portland, &c. one of the greatest statesmen of his time, and
the first that advanced his family to the dignity of the
English peerage, was a native of Holland, of an ancient
and noble family in the province of Guelderland. After a
liberal education, he was promoted to be page of honour
to William, then prince of Orange (afterwards king William III. of England), in which station his behaviour and
address so recommended him to the favour of his master,
that he preferred him to the post of gentleman of his bedchamber. In this capacity he accompanied the prince into
England, in the year 1670, where, going to visit the university of Oxford, he was, together with the prince, created
doctor of civil law. In 1672, the prince of Orange being
made captain-general of the Dutch forces, and soon after
Stadtholder, M. Bentinck was promoted, and had a share
in his good fortune, being made colonel and captain of the
Dutch regiment of guards, afterwards esteemed one of the
finest in king William’s service, and which behaved with
the greatest gallantry in the wars both in Flanders and
Ireland. In 1675, the prince falling ill of the small-pox,
M. Bentinck had an opportunity of signalizing his love and
affection for his master in an extraordinary manner, and
thereby of obtaining his esteem and friendship, by one of
the most generous actions imaginable: for the small-pox
not rising kindly upon the prince, his physicians judged it
necessary that some young person should lie in the same
bed with him, imagining that the natural heat of another
would expel the disease. M. Bentinck, though he had
never had the small-pox, resolved to run this risque, and
accordingly attended the prince during the whole course
of his illness, both day and night, and his highness said
afterwards, that he believed M. Bentinck never slept; for
in sixteen days and nights, he never called once that he
was not answered by him. M. Bentinck, however, upon
the prince’s recovery, was immediately seized with the
same distemper, attended with a great deal of danger, but
recovered soon enough to attend his highness into the field,
where he was always next his person; and his courage and
abilities answered the great opinion his highness had formed of him, and from this time he employed him in his most
secret and important affairs. In 1677, M. Bentinck was
sent by the prince of Orange into England, to solicit a
match with the princess Mary, eldest daughter of James,
at that time duke of York (afterwards king James II.) which
was soon after concluded. And in 1685, upon the duke
of Monmouth’s invasion of this kingdom, he was sent over
to king James to offer him his master’s assistance, both of
his troops and person, to head them against the rebels,
but, through a misconstruction put on his message, his
highness’s offer was rejected by the king. In the year
1688, when the prince of Orange intended an expedition
into England, he sent M. Bentinck, on the elector of Brandenburgh'a death, to the new elector, to communicate to
him his design upon England, and to solicit his assistance.
In this negociation M. Bentinck was so successful as to
bring back a more favourable and satisfactory answer than
the prince had expected; the elector having generously
granted even more than was asked of him. M. Bentincfc
had also a great share in the revolution; and in this difficult and important affair, shewed all the prudence and sagacity of the most consummate statesman. It was he that
was applied to, as the person in the greatest confidence
with the prince, to manage the negociations that were set
on foot, betwixt his highness and the English nobility and
gentry, who had recourse to him to rescue them from the
danger they were in. He was also two months constantly
at the Hague, giving the necessary orders for the prince’s
expedition, which was managed by him with such secrecy,
that nothing was suspected, nor was there ever so great a
design executed in so short a time, a transport fleet of
500 vessels having been hired in three days. M. Bentinck
accompanied the prince to England, and after king James’s
abdication, during the interregnum, he held the first place
among those who composed the prince’s cabinet at that
critical time, and that, in such a degree of super-eminence,
as scarcely left room for a second: and we may presume
he was not wanting in his endeavours to procure the crown
for the prince his master; who, when he had obtained it,
was as forward on his part, in rewarding the faithful and
signal services of M. Bentinck, whom he appointed groom
of the stole, privy purse, first gentleman of the royal bedchamber, and first commoner upon the list of privy counsellors. He was afterwards naturalised by act of parliament; and, by letters patent bearing date the 9th of April
1689, two clays before the king and queen’s coronation, he
was created baron of Cirencester, viscount Woodstock,
and earl of Portland. In 1690, the earl of Portland,
with many others of the English nobility, attended king
William to Holland, where the earl acted as envoy for his majesty, at the grand congress held at the
Hague the same year. In 1695, king William made this
nobleman a grant of the lordships of Denbigh, Bromtield,
Yale, and other lands, containing many thousand acres, in
the principality of Wales, but these being part of the
demesne thereof, the grant was opposed, and the house
of commons addressed the king to put a stop to the passing
it, which his majesty accordingly complied with, and recalled the grant, promising, however, to find some other
way of shewing his favour to lord Portland, who, he said,
had deserved it by long and faithful services. It was to
this nobleman that the plot for assassinating king William
in 1695 was first discovered; and his lordship, by his indefatigable zeal, was very instrumental in bringing to light
the whole of that execrable scheme. The same year another affair happened, in which he gave such a shining proof
of the strictest honour and integrity, as has done immortal
honour to his memory. The parliament having taken into
consideration the affairs of the East India company, who,
through mismanagement and corrupt dealings, were in
danger of losing their charter, strong interest was made
with the members of both houses, and large sums distributed, to procure a new establishment of their company by
act of parliament. Among those noblemen whose interest
was necessary to bring about this affair, lord Portland’s was
particularly courted, and an extraordinary value put upon
it, much beyond that of any other peer; for he was offered no less than the sum of 50,000l. for his vote, and his
endeavours with the king to favour the design. But his
lordship treated this offer with all the contempt it deserved, telling the person employed in it, that if he ever
so much as mentioned such a thing to him again, he would
for ever be the company’s enemy, and give them all the
opposition in his power. This is an instance of public
spirit not often mst with, and did not pass unregarded;
for we find it recorded in an eloquent speech of a member
of parliament, who related this noble action to the house
of commons, much to the honour of lord Portland. It was
owing to this nobleman, also, that the Banquetting-house at
Whitehall was saved, when the rest of the Palace was destroyed by fire. In February 1696, he was created a knight
of the garter, at a chapter held at Kensington, and was installed at Windsor on the 25th of March, 1697, at which
time he was also lieutenant-general of his majesty’s forces:
for his lordship’s services were not confined to the cabinet;
he likewise distinguished himself in the field on several
occasions, particularly at the battle of the Boyne, battle of
Landen, where he was wounded, siege of Limerick, Namur, &c. As his lordship thus attended his royal master
in his wars both in Ireland and Flanders, and bore a principal command there, so he was honoured by his majesty
with the chief management of the famous peace of Ryswick; having, in some conferences with the marshal
BoufHers, settled the most difficult and tender point, and
which might greatly have retarded the conclusion of the
peace. This was concerning the disposal of king James;
the king of France having solemnly promised, in an open
declaration to all Europe, that he would never lay down his
arms tilt he had restored the abdicated king to his throne,
and consequently could not own king William, without
abandoning him. Not long after the conclusion of the
peace, king William nominated the earl of Portland to be
his ambassador extraordinary to the court of France; an,
honour justly due to him, for the share he had in bringing
about the treaty of Hysvvick; and the king could not have
fixed upon a person better qualified to support his high
character with dignity and magnificence. The French
likewise had a great opinion of his lordship’s capacity and
merit; and no ambassador was ever so respected and caressed in France as his lordship was, who, on his part, filled
his employment with equal honour to the king, the British
nation, and himself. According to Prior, however, the
earl of Portland went on this embassy with reluctance, having been for some time alarmed with the growing favour of
a rival in king William’s affection, namely, Keppel, afterwards created earl of Albermarle, a DutchmLin, who had
also been page to his majesty. “And,
” according to Prior,
“his jealousy was not ill-grounded for Albemarle so prevailed in lord Portland’s absence, that he obliged him, by
several little affronts, to lay down all his employments,
after which he was never more in favour, though the king
always shewed an esteem for him.
” Bishop Burnet says
“That the earl of Portland observed the progress of the
king’s favour to the lord Albemaiie with great uneasiness
they grew to be not only incompatible, as all rivals for favour must be, but to hate and oppose one another in every
thing; the one (lord Portland) had more of the confidence,
the other more of the favour. Lord Portland, upon his
return from his embassy to France, could not bear the visible superiority in favour that the other was growing up to;
so he took occasion, from a small preference given lord
Albemarle in prejudice of his own post, as groom of the
stole, to withdraw from court, and lay down all his employments. The king used all possible means to divert
him from this resolution, but could not prevail on him to
alter it: he, indeed, consented to serve his majesty still in
his state affairs, but would not return to any post in the
household.
” This change, says bishop Kennet, did at first
please the English and Dutch, the earl of Albermarle having cunningly made several powerful friends in both nations, who, out of envy to lord Portland, were glad to see
another in his place; and it is said that lord Albemarle was
supported by the earl of Sutherland and Mrs. Villiers to
pull down lord Portland: however, though the first became
now the reigning favourite, yet the latter, says bishop
Kennet, did ever preserve the esteem and affection of king
William. But king William was not one of those princes
who are governed by favourites. He was his own minister
in all the greater parts of government, as those of war and
peace, forming alliances and treaties, and he appreciated
justly the merit of those whom he employed in his service.
It is highly probable, therefore, that lord Portland never
Jost the king’s favourable opinion, although he might
be obliged to give way to a temporary favourite. The
earl of Albemarle had been in his majesty’s service from
a youth, was descended of a noble family in Guelderland, attended king William into England as his page of
honour, and being a young lord of address and temper,
with a due mixture of heroism, it is no wonder his majesty took pleasure in his conversation in the intervals of
state business, and in making his fortune, who had so
long followed his own. Bishop Burnet says, it is a difficult matter to account for the reasons of the favour shewn
by the king, in the highest degree, to these two lords,
they being in all respects, not only of different, but of
quite opposite characters; secrecy and fidelity being the
only qualities in which they did in any sort agree. Lord
Albetnarle was very cheerful and gay, had all the arts of
a court, was civil to all, and procured favours for many;
but was so addicted to his pleasures that he could scarcely
submit to attend on business, and had never yet distinguished himself in any thing. On the other hand, lord
Portland was of a grave and sedate disposition, and indeed,
adds the bishop, was thought rather too cold and dry, and
had not the art of creating friends; but was indefatigable
in business, and had distinguished himself on many occasions. With another author, Mackey, his lordship has the
character of carrying himself with a very lofty mien, yet
was not proud, nor much beloved nor hated by the people.
But it is no wonder if the earl of Portland was not acceptable to the English nation. His lordship had been for ten
years entirely trusted by the king, was his chief favourite
and bosom-friend, and the favourites of kings are seldom
favourites of the people, and it must be owned king William was immoderately lavish to those he personally loved.
But as long as history has not charged his memory with
failings that might deservedly render him obnoxious to the
public, there can be no partiality in attributing this nobleman’s unpopularity partly to the above reasons, and partly
to his being a foreigner, for which he suffered not a little
from the envy and malice of his enemies, in their speeches,
libels, &c. of which there were some levelled as well
against the king as against his lordship. The same avereion, however, to foreign favourites, soon after shewed itself
against lord Albemarle, who, as he grew into power and
favour, like lord Portland, began to be looked upon with
the same jealousy; and when the king gave him the order
of the garter, in the year 1700, we are told it was generally disliked, and his majesty, to make it pass the better,
at the same time conferred the like honour on Jord Pembroke (an English nobleman of illustrious birth). Yet it
was observed, that few of the nobility graced the ceremony
of their installation with their presence, and that many
severe reflections were then made on his majesty, for giving the garter to his favourite. The king had for a long
time given the earl of Portland the entire and absolute government of Scotland; and his lordship was also employed,
in the year 1698, in the new negociation set on foot for
the succession of the Crown of Spain, called by the name
of the partition treaty > the intention of which being frustrated by the treachery of the French king, the treaty itself fell under severe censure, and was looked upon as a
fatal slip in the politics of that reign; and lord Portland
was impeached by the house of commons, in the year
1700, for advising and transacting it, as were also the
other lords concerned with him in it. This same year,
lord Portland was a second time attacked, together with
lord Albemarle, by the house of commons, when the affair of the disposal of the forfeited estates in Ireland was
under their consideration; it appearing upon inquiry, that
the king had, among many other grants, made one to lord
Woodstock (the earl of Portland’s son) of 135,820 acres of
land, and to lord Albemarle two grants, of 108,633 acres
in possession and reversion; the parliament came to a resolution to resume these grants; and also resolved, that
the advising and passing them was highly reflecting on the
king’s honour; and that the officers and instruments concerned in the procuring and passing those grants, had
highly failed in the performance of their trust and duty;
and also, that the procuring or passing exorbitant grants,
by any member now of the privy-council, or by any other
that had been a privy -counsellor, in this, or any former
reign, to his use or benefit, was a high crime and misdemeanour. To carry their resentment still farther, the
commons, immediately impeached the earls of Portland and
Albemarle, for procuring for themselves exorbitant grants.
This impeachment, however, did not succeed, and then
the commons voted an address to his majesty, that no person who was not a native of his dominions, excepting his
royal highness prince George of Denmark, should be admitted to his majesty’s councils in England or Ireland, but
this was evaded by the king’s going the very next day to
the house of lords, passing the bills that were ready, and
putting an end to the session. The partition treaty was
the last public transaction we find lord Portland engaged
in, the next year after his impeachment, 1701, having
put a period to the life of his royal and munificent master,
king William III.; but not without having shewn, even in
his last moments, that his esteem and affection for lord
Portland ended but with his life: for when his majesty
was just expiring, he asked, though with a faint voice, for
the earl of Portland, but before his lordship could come,
the king’s voice quite failed him. The earl, however,
placing his ear as near his majesty’s mouth as could be, his
lips were observed to move, but without strength to express his mind to his lordship; but, as the last testimony
of the cordial affection he bore him, he took him by the
hand, and carried it to his heart with great tenderness,
and expired soon after. His lordship had before been a
witness to, and signed his majesty’s last will and testament,
made at the Hague in 1695; and it is said, that king
William, the winter before he died, told lord Portland, as
they were walking together in the garden at Hampton
court, that he found his health declining very fast, and
that he could not live another summer, but charged his
lordship not to mention this till after his majesty’s death.
We are told, that at the time of the king’s death, lord
Portland was keeper of Windsor great park, and was displaced upon queen Anne’s accession to the throne: we are
not, however, made acquainted with the time when his
lordship became first possessed of that post. After king
William’s death, the earl did not, at least openly, concern
himself with public affairs, but betook himself to a retired
life, in a most exemplary way, at his seat at Bulstrode in
the county of Bucks, where he erected and plentifully
endowed a free-school; and did many other charities.
His lordship had an admirable taste for gardening, and
took great delight in improving and beautifying his own
gardens, which he made very elegant and curious. At
length, being taken ill of a pleurisy and malignant fever,
after about a week’s illness he died, November 23, 1709,
in the sixty-first year of his age, leaving behind him a very
plentiful fortune, being at that time reputed one of the
richest subjects in Europe. His corpse being conveyed to
London, was, on the third of December, carried with,
great funeral pomp, from his house in St. James’s square
to Westminster-abbey, and there interred in the vault
under the east window of Henry the Seventh’s chapel.
er as governor to Jamaica, 1722, and died there 1726, aged forty-five. William his son, second duke, who died in 1762, married lady Margaret Cavendish Harley, only child
Henry, his son, second earl, was created duke of Portland, 1716, and having incurred great loss of fortune by the South Sea bubble, went over as governor to Jamaica, 1722, and died there 1726, aged forty-five. William his son, second duke, who died in 1762, married lady Margaret Cavendish Harley, only child of the second earl of Oxford, and heiress to the vast estates of the Cavendishes, formerly dukes of Newcastle. This lady, after the duke’s death, lived with splendid hospitality at Bulstrode, which was the resort not only of persons of the highest rank, but of those most distinguished for talents and eminence in the literary world. To her, posterity will ever be indebted, for securing to the public the inestimable treasures of learning contained in the noble manuscript library of her father and grandfather, earls of Oxford, now deposited in the British museum, by the authority of parliament, under the guardianship of the most distinguished persons of the realm, easy of access, and consequently of real use to the philosopher, the statesman, the historian, and the scholar. She died July 17, 1785, and the following year her own museum, collected at vast expence to herself', and increased by some valuable presents from her friends, was disposed of by auction, by the late Mr. Alderman Skinner. The sale lasted thirty-seven days. Among the books was the fine Missal, known by the name of the Bedford Missal, of which Mr. Gough published an account, as will be noticed in his life. This splendid volume was purchased by, and is now in the very curious and valuable library of James Edwards, esq. of Harrow-on-the-hill.
egal. During the progress of the Ameiican war, his grace continued invariably to vote with the party who opposed the measures of administration, and became perhaps more
, third duke of Portland, was born in 1738, and educated at Christchurch, Oxford, where he was created M. A. Feb. 1, 1757. He afterwards travelled for some time on the continent, and on his return was elected M. P. for Weobly, but in 1762 was called up to the house of peers on the death of his father. From that period, we find him generally dividing on important questions with the minority, and having connected himself with the late marquis of Rockingham, during that nobleman’s short-lived administration in 1765, he held the office of lord chamberlain. In 1767-8, his grace was involved in a long dispute with government respecting the grant of the forest of Inglewood to sir James Lowther, which had been part of the estates belonging to the duke’s ancestors, but by a decision of the court of exchequer in 1771, the grant was declared to be illegal. During the progress of the Ameiican war, his grace continued invariably to vote with the party who opposed the measures of administration, and became perhaps more closely united to them by his marriage with lady Dorothy Cavendish, sister to the duke of Devonshire. When the administration of lord North, which had conducted that unfortunate war, was dissolved in 1782, and replaced by the marquis of Rockingham, and his friends, the duke of Portland was appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland, but owing to the death of the marquis, he remained in this office only about three months. In consequence of the same event, some of the party were for earl Fitzwilliam, and some for the duke of Portland, as the ostensible head of the new arrangement, but in the mean time his majesty preferred the earl of Shelburne, Mr. Pitt, &c. The memorable coalition then took place between lord North and Mr. Fox, supported by many of the friends of the latter; but soon was not more unacceptable to his majesty than to the nation, whose confidence in public professions was shaken to a degree of indifference from which perhaps it has never since recovered. The coalition-ministry, however, having the voice of the house of commons in their favour, his majesty determined to appeal to the people by a general election, the issue of which was completely unfavourable to his grace’s friends; and Mr. Pitt, who had been appointed first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer, found a decided majority of the parliament and of the country on his side. An attempt was indeed made to engage Mr. Pitt and the duke in the same administration, but as the latter insisted as a preliminary, that Mr. Pitt should resign, the negociation was soon broken off.
Clement VIII. was determined to take possession of Ferrara, under the pretence that Caesar of Este, who succeeded the childless duke Alphonsus, was of an illegitimate
, celebrated in the Romish church as a cardinal, and in literature as a historian, was of the same family with the preceding, and born at Ferrara in 1579. After studying there for some time, he went to Padua, where he soon had occasion to display his prudence and address. When pope Clement VIII. was determined to take possession of Ferrara, under the pretence that Caesar of Este, who succeeded the childless duke Alphonsus, was of an illegitimate branch, the marquis Hippolyto Bentivoglio, brother to Guy, a general officer in the service of Alphonsus, and attached to Caesar, excited the anger of cardinal Aldobrandini, who commanded the expedition, under the title of General of the holy church. Guy, who was now only nineteen years old, went immediately to the cardinal, to negociate for his brother, by the mediation of cardinal Bandini, a friend to his family, and contributed very essentially to make his brother’s peace, after the treaty had been concluded between the pope and the duke in January 1598. The pope having gone in person to take possession of Ferrara, admitted young Bentivoglio into his presence, and gave him the title of his private chamberlain.
gent of France at the court of Rome. Here he soon became the confidential friend of pope Urban VIII. who, in 1641, bestowed on him the bishopric of Palestrina. On the
After he had passed some years at Rome, where he made
many friends, pope Paul V. appointed him his referendary,
and sent him, with the title of archbishop of Rhodes, as
apostolic nuncio, into Flanders, where he arrived in 1607.
After remaining there nine years, he was, in 1617, appointed nuncio in France, and acted with so much dexterity
with respect to the affairs of both courts, that when he was
made cardinal, Jan. 11, 1621, Louis XIII. chose him to be
the agent of France at the court of Rome. Here he soon
became the confidential friend of pope Urban VIII. who,
in 1641, bestowed on him the bishopric of Palestrina. On
the death of this pope in 1644, it was generally thought that
cardinal Bentivoglio would be his successor; but he had
scarcely entered the conclave when the heat overpowered
him, and brought on a fever, of which he died September
7, of that year. He was interred in the church of the
Theatins of St. Silvester, in a private manner, agreeably to
his own desire, owing to his affairs being deranged. He
owed large sums at his death, in order to pay part of which
he had been obliged, some time before, to sell his palace
at Rome. A magnificent style of living was then one of
the means by which the Romish ecclesiastics endeavoured
to acquire the humble title of “Servant of servants,
” and
Bentivoglio had not neglected this or any other expedient.
He was in truth a consummate politician, knew how to re^
concile clashing interests, and how to assume every necessary change of character; his historical memoirs partake
of this character, being cautious, reserved, yet amusing
and illustrative of the characters and events of the times
in which he lived. His works are, 1. “Relazioni del
card. Bentivoglio in tempo delle sue nunziature di Fiandra e di Francia, date in luce da Ericio Puteano (Henry Dupuy), Antwerp, 1629; Cologne, 1630; Paris, 1631; all
in 4to; translated into English by Henry earl of Monmouth, London, 1652, folio. 2.
” Delia guerra di Fiandra,“in six books, printed at various times, but all included
in the edition of Cologne, 1639, 4to, which is considered as
the best. This likewise was translated into English by the
earl of Monmouth, 1654, folio. 3.
” Kaccolta di lettere
scritte in tempo delle sue nunziature di Fiandra et di Francia,“Cologne, 1631, 4to. A fine edition of this was lately
published by M. Biagioli, at Didot’s press, Paris, 1807,
12mo, with French notes, grammatical and philosophical,
and a literal translation was published at London, 1764, for
the use of learners of the Italian tongue, but it was feebly
executed. In 1727, an edition of the original was printed
at Cambridge. 4.
” Memorie^ owero diario del cardinal
Bentivoglio,“Amst. 1648, 8vO. He wrote these memoirs
in 1642, with a view, as he says in his preface, to please
himself, and he relates what he would wish posterity to
know of his history and character. The whole of his works,
with the exception of his
” Memoirs," were published together at Paris, 1645, folio, and apparently reprinted 1648,
but this is the same publication with a new title-page.
They were also printed, including the Memoirs, at Venice,
1668, 4to.
collections. His brother Louis and his sister Cornelia were also cultivators of poetry. The latter, who died in 1711, is highly spoken of by Crescembini in his history
, of Arragon, a cardinal
and poet, one of the sons of the preceding, was born at
Ferrara, March 27, 1668, and in the course of his studies,
distinguished himself by the progress he made in the belleslettres, philosophy, theology, and law, and was an able and
successful supporter of the literary establishments of his
country. Having afterwards gone to reside at Rome, he
was promoted by Clement XI. to be his domestic prelate,
and clerk of the apostolic chamber, and in 1712 was sent as
nuncio to France, with the title of archbishop of Carthage.
There, having discovered much zeal in the affair of the bull
Unigenitus, he acquired high favour at the court of Louis
XIV. vvhicii he did not preserve after the death of that monarch. The pope, on that event, recalled him from Paris,
and at Ferrara he was made cardinal in November, 1719.
He then settled at Rome, where many other dignities were
conferred upon him, and where he died, December 30,
1732. Amidst his whole career of ecclesiastical promotions
and duties, he found leisure to cultivate his taste for polite
literature. There are extant several of his harangues pronounced on various occasions; that which he delivered at
Rome, in the academy of design, in which he investigates
the uses, to taste and morals, of the arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture, was printed under the title “Utile
delle belle arti riconosciuto per l'accademia del disegno,
orazione,
” &c. liome, 1707, and reprinted in vol. II. of the
“Prose degli A-rcadi.
” The work, however, which entitles him to a place among the poets of Italy, is his beautiful translation of Statius, “La Tebaidadi Stazio tradotto
in verso sciolto da Seivaggio Porpora,
” (a fictitious name),
Rome,
y 27, 1661-2, at Oulton, in the parish of Wakefield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His ancestors, who were of some consideration, possessed an estate, and had a seat
, regius professor of divinity, and
master of Trinity college, Cambridge, a very eminent critic
of*he last age, was born January 27, 1661-2, at Oulton, in
the parish of Wakefield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
His ancestors, who were of some consideration, possessed
an estate, and had a seat at Hepenstall, in the parish of Halifax. His grandfather, James Bentley, was a captain in
king Charles I.'s army, at the time of the civil wars, and being involved in the fate of his party, had his house plundered, his estate confiscated, and was himself carried prisoner to Pomfret castle, where he died. Thomas Bentley,
the son of James, and father of Dr. Bentley, married the
daughter of Richard Willis of Oulton, who had been a major in the royal army. This lady, who was a woman of exceeding good understanding, taught her son Richard his
accidence. To his grandfather Willis, who was left his
guardian, he was, in part, indebted for his education; and
having gone through the grammar-school at Wakefield with
singular reputation, both for his proficiency and his exact
and regular behaviour, he was admitted of St. John’s college, Cambridge, under the tuition of Mr. Johnson, on the
24th of May, 1676, being then only four months above
fourteen years of age. On the 22d of March, 1681-2, he
stood candidate for a fellowship, and would have been unanimously elected, had he not been excluded by the statutes, on account of his being too young for priest’s orders.
He was then a junior bachelor, and but little more than
nineteen years old. It was soon after this that he became
a schoolmaster at Spalding. But that he did not continue
Jong in this situation is certain from a letter of his
grandfather Willis’s, still preserved in the family, from which it
appears that he was with Dr. Stillingfleet, at the deanery of
St. Paul’s, on the 25th of April, 1683. He had been recommended by his college to the dean, as preceptor to his
son and Dr. Stillingfleet gave Mr. Bentley his choice,
whether he would carry his pupil to Cambridge or Oxford.
He fixed upon the latter university, on account of the Bodleian library, to the consulting of the manuscripts of which
he applied with the closest attention. Being now of age,
he made over a small estate, which he derived from his family, to his elder brother, and immediately laid out the
money he obtained for it in the purchase of books. It is
recorded of him, that having, at a very early age, made
surprising progress in the learned languages, his capacity
for critical learning soon began to display itself. Before
the age of twenty-four, he had written with his own hand
a sort of Hexapla, a thick volume in 4to, in the first column
of which was every word of the Hebrew bible, alphabetically
disposed, and in five other columns all the various interpretations of those words, in the Chalclee, Syriac, Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, and Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodosian,
that occur in the whole Bible. This he made for his own
private use, to know the Hebrew, not from the late rabbins,
but the ancient versions, when, excepting Arabic, Persic,
and Ethiopic, he must then have read over the whole Polyglott. He had also at that time made, for his own private
use, another volume in 4 to, of the various lections and
emendations of the Hebrew text, drawn out of those ancient
versions, which, though done at such an early age, would
have made a second part to the famous Capellus’s “Critica Sacra.
”
on’s “Principia Mathematica,” to demonstrate the being of God, and altogether silenced the Atheists, who, in this country, have since that time, for the most part, sheltered
On the 4th of July, 1.689, being already M.A. in the
university of Cambridge, he was incorporated as such in
the university of Oxford, in Wadham college, and is mentioned by Anthony Wood (though then but a young man, a good deal under thirty) as a genius that was promising,
and to whom the world was likely to be obliged, for his future studies and productions. In 1691 he published a Latin epistle to John Mill, D.D. containing some critical
observations relating to Johannes Malala, Greek historiographer, published at the end of that author, at Oxon, in
1691, in a large 8vo. This was the first piece that our
author published. Nor was religion less indebted to him
than learning, for in 1691-2, he had the honour to be
selected as the first person to preach at Boyle’s lectures
(founded by that honourable gentleman, to assert and vindicate the great fundamentals of natural and revealed religion), upon which occasion he successfully applied sir Isaac
Newton’s “Principia Mathematica,
” to demonstrate the
being of God, and altogether silenced the Atheists, who, in
this country, have since that time, for the most part, sheltered themselves under Deism. The subject of his discourses was the folly of atheism, even with respect to the
present life, and that matter and motion cannot think; or a
confutation of atheism from the faculties of the soul, from
the structure and origin of human bodies, and the origin
and trame of the world itself; and though he was bnt
young, and even only in deacon’s orders, he laid the basis
and foundation upon which all the successors to that worthy
office have since built. Though this was a task of great
extent, and no small difficulty, yet Mr. Bentley acquitted
himself with so much reputation, that the trustees not only
publicly thanked him for them, but did moreover, by especial command and desire, prevail upon him to make the
said discourses public, upon which he gave the world a volume, 1693, 4to, containing eight sermons, which have not
only undergone a number of editions, but have been translated abroad into several languages. On the 2d of October, 1692, he was installed a prebendary of Worcester by
bishop Stillingfleet. Upon the death of Mr. Justel, Mr.
Bentley was immediately thought upon to succeed him, as
keeper of the royal library at St. James’s; and accordingly,
a few months after his decease, he had a warrant made out
for that place, from the secretary’s office, December 23,
1693, and had his patent for the same in April following.
Soon after he was nominated to that office, before his patent was signed, by his care and diligence he procured no
less than a thousand volumes of one sort or other, which
had been neglected to be brought to the library, according
to the act of parliament then subsisting, which prescribed
that one copy of every book printed in England, should
be brought and lodged in this library, and one in each
university library. It was about this time and upon this
occasion of his being made library-keeper, that the famous
dispute between him and the honourable Mr. Boyle, whether the epistles of Phalaris were genuine or riot, in some
measure, at first took rise, which gave occasion to so maiw
books and pamphlets, and has made so much noise in the
world. This controversy upon a point of learning, in itself
not very entertaining, was managed with a wit and humour
which rendered it interesting to the public. The world
was at that time a little biassed in favour of the production
of the young nobleman, at least as to the genteel raillery
of his pieces; for as to the dispute itself, viz. the genuineness of the Epistles of Phalaris, the best judge^s almost universally now give the preference to Dr. Bentley; nor does
he much, if at all, fall short of Mr. Boyle, in throwing a deal
of life and spirit into the controversy, particularly in his
answer to Mr. Boyle, which is interspersed, as well as Mr.
Boyle’s piece, with abundance of wit and humour, and is,
upon the whole, reckoned much the best book. When, in
1696, he was admitted to his degree of D. D. he preached,
on the day of the public commencement, from 1 Peter iii.
15. “Be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you.
”
About this time the university entered upon a design of
publishing some editions, in 4to, of some classic authors,
for the use of the duke of Gloucester. Dr. Bentley, who
was consulted upon the occasion, advised Laughton, to
whose care the edition of Virgil was committed, to follow
Heinsius very close, but his advice was not complied
with. Terence was published by Leng, Horace byTalbot,
and Catullus, Tibnllus, and Propertius, by Mr. Annesley,
afterwards earl of Anglesey. Dr. Bentley procurecUfrom
Holland the types with which these books were printed.
At the express desire of his friend Mr. Graevius, he published his “Animadversions and remarks on the poet Callimachus,
” making, at the same time, a collection of some
scattered pieces or fragments of that author. These he
finished and sent over to Mr. Grarmus, towards the latter
end of his dispute with Mr. Boyle, and Mr. Graevius published them abroad in 1697. in 1700, upon the death of
Dr. Montague, he was by the crown presented to the mastership of Trinity-college, Cambridge, which is reckoned
worth near 1000l. per annum, upon obtaining which preferment he resigned his prebend of Worcester; but June
12, 1701, on Dr. Say well’s death, he was collated archdeacon of Ely. What next employed his critical genius
were the two first comedies of Aristophanes. Upon these
he made some curious annotations, which were published at
Amsterdam in 1710; as was much about the same time, at
Rheims, his emendations, &c. on the fragments of
Menancler and Philemon, in the feigned name of “Philcleutherus
Lipsiensis.
” Under this character he appeared again, in
The odes and epodes of Horace
in Latin and English, with a translation of Dr. Bentley’s
notes. To which are added notes upon notes, done in the
Bentleian style and manner.
” In the preface they “humbly hope that the reader will encourage the following
essays, upon several accounts. First, as they are designed
to shew him the best author of Augustus’s age in his native
purity. Secondly, to give him a further proof how far all
attempts to render him into English, even after the best
version now extant has succeeded no better, must fall short
of the original. Thirdly, to convince him how ridiculous
it is to presume to correct Horace without authority, upon
the pretended strength of superior judgment in poetry.
And lastly, how easily such a presumption may be turned
upon the authors, and sufficiently expose them in their
own way.
” This last paragraph seems indeed to express
the greatest part of the design of this work, which is executed with a great deal of spirit and humour. On the 5th
of November, 1715, the doctor preached a sermon before
the university against popery, on which somebody soon
after published remarks, which occasioned Dr, Bentley’s
answer, entitled “Reflections on the scandalous aspersions
cast on the Clergy, by the author of the Remarks on Dr.
Bentley’s Sermon on Popery, &c.
” This was printed in
The time, manner, and
other circumstances of these proposals,
” says he, “make
it but too evident, that they were hastened out to serve
quite different ends than those of common Christianity;
and I think it my duty to obviate, as far as I am able, the
influence they might have on some, whom big words, and
bold attempts, are apt to lead implicitly into an high opinion and admiration of the merit and abilities of the undertaker.
” Dr. Middleton then proceeds to criticise, paragraph by paragraph, Dr. Bentley’s proposals. Soon after
these Remarks, paragraph by paragraph, the Proposals
appeared, with a pamphlet entitled “A full answer to all
the Remarks of a late pamphleteer, by a member of Trinity
college, Cambridge,
” Remarks, &c. containing a full answer to the editor’s late defence -of his
Proposals, as well as all his objections there made against
my former remarks, by Conyers Middleton, D. D.
” As
also, an anonymous letter to the reverend master of Trinity
college, Cambridge, editor of a new Greek Testament.
We also find, under the Catalogue of the doctor’s works in
the Bibliotheca Bodleiana,-much about this time, another
publication, somewhat analogous, and relating to this affair,
viz. “An enquiry into the authority of the primitive Complutensian edition of the New Testament, in a letter to
archdeacon Bentley,
” that some noise should be made
in the world in his favour, to support his declining character by something great and popular, to recover esteem and
applause to himself, and throw an odium and contempt
upon his prosecutors, &c.
” In 1725, at a public commencement on the 6th of July, the doctor made an elegant
Latin speech, on creating seven doctors of divinity, in
which, at the several periods, by little notes below, is set
forth the whole form of the creation of a doctor of divinity.
This piece is usually joined to his edition of Terence and
Phsedrus: at least it is added to the Amsterdam edition of
them in 1727, a very neat edition, corrected for the press by
the doctor. To these notes on Terence, he has also added
those of the learned Gabriel Faernius, and taken great
pains in amending and correcting the author, not only from
those ancient manuscripts which Gabriel Faernius had procured, but also from whatever manuscripts the royal library, those of Cambridge, or any of his friends, could
afford; some of which, he assures us, were of great antiquity, and at least next, and very little inferior, to those of
Faernius, the orthography of which, as the most ancient
manuscript, he altogether follows. He has likewise altered the text in abundance of places, and assigns in the
notes the reason for such alteration. Then follows the
Schediasma of the metre and accents of Terence, by which
the doctor proves that Terence is written all in Verse.
This, however', was a matter of some controversy betw-een
the learned bishop Hare and our author; and during the
warmth of the debate. Will. Whiston remarked how intolerable it was, that while Grotius, Newton, and Locke, all
laymen, were employing their talents on sacred studies, such
clergymen as Dr. Bentley and bishop Hare were fighting
about a play-book. About 1732, the doctor published his
Milton’s “Paradise Lost,
” when he was, as he says in his
preface, about seventy years old. This is a very elegant
and beautiful edition of that poem, but cannot be said to
have contributed much to the editor’s deputation. Dr.
Bentley tells us, that he had prepared a new edition of the
poet Manillas for the press, which he would have published,
had not the clearness of paper, and the want of good types,
and some other occasions, hindered him. He had also
some design of publishing an edition of Hesychius, as we
find by Mr. Graevius’s letter to him, and assured Dr. Mill,
he could, if he pleased, correct five thousand faults in that
author. His emendations on the Tusculan Questions of
Cicero are adjoined to Mr. Davis’s edition of that author.
From this produce of his studious, we must now pass to
that of his more active, life, in the memorable complaints
of rrial -administration urged against him by the college,
which were the occasion of a long suit, whether the Crown‘
or the bishop of Ely was general visitor. A party in the
college, displeased at some of his regulations, began to
talk of the fortieth statute, de Magistri (si res exigat)
Amotionc, and meditated a complaint to the bishop of Ely.
The master hearing this, went to bishop Patrick, then at
Ely, who told him, he had never heard before, that, as
bishop of Ely, he had any thing to do in the royal college
of Trinity; called his secretary to him, and bid him seek
if there was any precedent for it in the bishop’s archives;
but not one was found, nor so much as a copy of Trinity
college statutes. Upon that, the doctor lent him one; and
during that bishop’s time the matter was dropped. But in
his successor Dr. Moore’s time, the party were encouraged to apply to the bishop, in 1709, and avast number
of articles about dilapidations, but not one of immorality,
bribery, or fraud, were exhibited against the master.
These were, however, the subject of many pamphlets on
both sides. His lordship received the charge, intending
to proceed upon it, which he conceived himself sufficiently
authorised to do, and required Dr. Bentley’ s answer, which
he declined for some time to give, pleading want of form
in the charge; because other members of the college,
besides the seniors, had joined in the accusation, and the seniors themselves, as he alleged, had never yet admonished
him; from whence he inferred, that all proceedings on
such a charge, and whatsoever should follow on the same
foot, would be ipso facto null and void. The bishop, however, did not, it seems, think this plea to be material; for
he insisted upon Dr. Bentley’s answer to the charge; who,
upon that, began to question what authority his lordship had over him; and, by a petition presented to queen
Anne, prayed “that her majesty would take him and the
college into her protection, against the bishop’s pretensions, and maintain her sole power and jurisdiction
over her royal foundation, and the masters thereof.
”
This petition was referred to the then attorney and solicitor-general, and they were ordered fully to consider the
matter, and report their opinions. Notice was given at
the same time to the bishop, that her majesty having taken
this affair into her cognizance, his lordship was to stay
proceedings till the queen’s pleasure was farther known.
Mr. attorney and solicitor-general took some time to consider; and were of opinion, the bishop had power over the
master. But this report not proving satisfactory to some
persons then in administration, a letter was brought to the
bishop from Mr. secretary St. John, dated 18th June, 1711,
acquainting him, “that the matter of the petition of Dr.
Richard Bentley, master of Trinity-college in Cambridge,
together with the report of Mr. attorney and Mr. solicitorgeneral, being then before the queen, and ordered to be
taken into consideration by my lord keeper, assisted by
her majesty’s counsel learned in the law, her majesty
thought it to be a business of such weight and consequence,
that she had commanded him (the secretary) to signify her
pleasure to his lordship, that he should stop all further
proceedings, according to her majesty’s direction.
” But
the master seeing that all discipline and studies would be
lost in the college, if that controversy were not one way
or other decided, requested of the ministry that he might
be permitted to take his trial under any visitor the queen
should appoint; or if none could be so appointed, that he
might have leave, salvo jure regio, to be voluntarily tried
under the bishop. Upon this the inhibition was taken off
by Mr. secretary St. John, by order of the queen, signifying, “that his lordship was at liberty to proceed, so far as
by the law he might.
” But his lordship did not think fit to
proceed, till he was served uith a rule of court from the
king’s-bench, in Easter-term 1714, to shew cause why a
writ of mandamus should not issue out against him. The
bishop, being then at Ely, was applied to by joint messengers on both sides, to go to the college, where he might
have ended the matter in two days. But this was not
thought so proper, and Ely-house at London was pitched
on, where, instead of two days, the trial lasted at least six
weeks, and the college paid a thousand pounds for it;
three learned lawyers, who could know but very little of
the matter, being admitted on each side, to make eloquent
harangues, answers, and replies, upon questions arisingfrom above fifty articles, in which there was scarcely any
thing material that might not easily be determined upon a
bare inspection of the college statutes, registers, and books
of accounts. The trial being ended, and the cause ripe
for sentence, the bishop’s death prevented his giving judgment. Thus the matter dropped for the present; but was
afterwards revived in 1728, when new articles of complaint
against Dr. Bentley, charging him with having in many
instances made great waste of the college revenue, and
violated the statutes, all founded on the 40th of Elizabeth,
were again exhibited to the bishop of Ely, as specially authorised and appointed to receive the same, and to proceed thereupon; though the matter had been long before
decided in favour of the crown, as having the general visitatorial power. Upon this, a petition was subscribed by
the college, and presented to his majesty under the common-seal, the 10th of August 1728, and the cause carried
before the king in council for the college itself now engaged as party in the cause against the bishop, and above
fifteen hundred pounds out of the revenues of the college,
were spent in carrying it on. This being referred to a
committee of his majesty’s most honourable privy-council,
Dr. Fleetwood, the lord bishop of Ely, on the 2nd of November, 1728, also presented a petition to his majesty, to
be heard touching his right, which was likewise referred
to the said committee. The lords committee, just before
the clay appointed for a hearing, viz. March 13, 1728, had
a printed pamphlet put into their hands, entitled, “The
Case of Trinity-college; whether the Crown or the Bishop
of Ely be General Visitor;
” at the end of which, as well
as in their petition, the college applied to the king, to take
the visitatorial power (as by the opinion of council he might with their consent) into his own hands, that they might b0
only visited by the crown, but not with a view or intent of
avoiding a visitation or inquiry into the state of the society,
for which they were very pressing, both in their petition,
and at the end of this pamphlet. On the fifteenth the cause
came on before the lords of the committee of privy-council,
but was from thence referred to the king’s bench, where
the May following it was tried by way of prohibition, and
after a long pleading, the judges unanimously determined
it in favour of the bishop, as to his visitatorial power over
the doctor; and the June following, the fellows exhibited
their articles of complaint against him before the bishop of
Ely, his lordship having two assistants, viz. sir Henry Penrice, and Dr. Bettesworth. But it being urged, that the
bishop was going to exercise a general visitatorial power,
another petition was preferred to his majesty and council,
by the master and fellows, and a farther hearing appointed
in the cause, in the court of king’s bench, in November,
1729, &c. and in November, 1731, we find the cause had
gone against the bishop of Ely, by his taking out a writ of
error, for carrying the' cause by appeal into the house of
lords. The crown, however, at last, to put an end to the
dispute and disturbance, (as fully impowered to do) took
both college and master, according to their petition, into
its own jurisdiction and visitation, and here the matter
ended.
ld restore the money if it wasjiot afterwards determined to be his right. In the next meeting, those who had paid the fee were created, but he refused, to create such
The proceedings of the university against Dr. Bentley
in 1717 also, which were represented as violent and unjustifiable, as the effects of a power falsely usurped, or
scandalously abused, and as arising from the malice of a
party disaffected to the government, were the cause of
great ferment and uneasiness in the university, and raised
the curiosity, and drew the eyes of the whole nation
upon them; for which reason we shall be a little particular in our account, that we may give the reader a
just idea of the affair. In October 1717, the day after
his majesty’s visit to the university, when several doctors in divinity, named by mandate, were attending in the
senate-house to receive their degrees, Dr. Bentley, on
creation, made a demand of four guineas from each of
them, as a fee due to him as professor, over and above a
broad -piece, which had by custom been allowed as a present on this occasion; and absolutely refused to create any
doctor till this fee was paid him. This occasioned a long
and warm dispute, till at last many of the doctors, and Dr.
Middleton among the rest, consented to pay the fee in
question, upon this condition, that Dr. Bentley should restore the money if it wasjiot afterwards determined to be
his right. In the next meeting, those who had paid the
fee were created, but he refused, to create such as would
not pay it; upon which Dr. Grigg, then vice-chancellor,
gave orders that some other doctor should perform the
ceremony instead of him; and accordingly Dr. Fisher, the
master -of Sydney-college, created several for the usual
gratuity of a broad-piece. Upon this, they sent a state of
the case to the chancellor, the duke of Somerset. Dr.
Bentley still insisted upon his claim; but at last, instead
of money, was content with a note from the rest, promising the payment of it, if it should be determined for
him by the king, or any authority delegated from him;
and at last submitted to create one of the king’s doctors,
who came last, and some others who commenced afterwards, without either fee or note. Matters went on thus
for near a twelvemonth, the doctor being in quiet possession of the money and notes: but nothing being determined about his right or title to it, Dr. Middleton thought
he had reason to expect his money again; and accordingly
(as it is said) he made a demand of it, first by letter, which
was taken no notice of, and afterwards in person, and then
applied to the vice-chancellor for a decree, which, from
the tender regard the vice-chancellor had for Dr. Bentley,
he was some time before he could obtain. At length, however, the decree was granted, and a known enemy of Dr.
Bentley’s employed to serve it, who went to Trinity-lodge
on Tuesday the 23d of September; but whether through
ignorance in his own business, or that he believed Dr.
Bentley, who told him that it signified nothing, not having
the consent of nine heads to it, or that he had some other
design than that of arresting him, he left the arrest, decree, &c. with theloctor, and came away without executing the vice-chancellor’s orders at all. Dr. Bentley was
afterwards arrested by another beadle, on the 1st of October, with a second decree, which doubtless argued the
invalidity of the first. The professor supposing the authority of the arrest not sufficient, refused to submit to it;
but on farther consideration obeyed the writ, and put in
bail. Every one, but such as were let into the secret, expected this four guineas affair would end here. Friday,
the 3d of October, being appointed for the trial, the doctor only appeared there by his proctor, which was looked
upon as a contempt of the vice-chancellor’s jurisdiction.
Dr. Middleton, therefore, by the leave of the court, appointed Mr. Cook his proctor, who accused Dr. Bentley
of contempt for not appearing, and moved for some censure upon it, and called for the beadle to make a return of
the first decree. But he being confined in his chamber by
a lit of the gout, there made an affidavit, by improving
some circumstantial talk he had with the doctor and some
other gentlemen, the subject of which was, a complaint of
the ill usage he had met with in his attending at Dr.
Bentley’s lodgings. Among other things, the beadle deposed, That Dr. Bentley said to him, “I will not be concluded by what the vice-chancellor and two or three of his
friends shall determine over a bottle;
” (thereby reflecting on the clandestine way in which they had proceeded against him, without the formal consent of such a number of heads as he thought necessary to make a statutable arrest). For
this expression, the vice-chancellor suspended the doctor
from all his degrees, who had no citation, no hearing, not
so much as any notice, from any hand, of what was then
doing; and the vice-chancellor declared that he would vacate the doctor’s professorship in two or three days, if he
did not make his humble submission. Three court days
are allowed for this submission, viz. the 7th, 9th, and 15th
of October. On the two former days his name was not
mentioned, and on the last, the vice-chancellor would certainly have forgot to summon him, if he had not been reminded by his brother the clean of Chichcster. That same
day the vice-chancellor required the professor to submit,
and own himself rightly suspended, which he refused, but
had recourse to the only remedy that was now left, viz.
an appeal to the delegates of the university which was arbitrarily refused him. On this the vice-chancellor, thinking it prudent to have the sanction of the university to
back him, called a congregation, and on the third court
day after the suspension, informed the university of the
steps he had taken, and the message he had sent the professor, which was, that he required him to come and acknowledge his crime, the legality of his suspension, and
humbly beg to be restored to his degrees; to which the
gentleman (he said) had returned no answer; and then he
commanded it to be registered, that he would deliberate
farther of what was to be done, towards the maintenance of
the university privileges and his own authority. Eight
heads were present in the consistory, viz. two visitors of
Bene't-college, Dr. Cove! and Dr. Balderston three late
chaplains to his majesty, Dr. Laney, Dr. Adams, and Dr.
Sherlock; the rival professor, Dr. Fisher; the masters of
Clhre-ha!l and St. John’s college, Dr. Grigg and Dr. Jenkin. These gentlemen, at a consultation the same afternoon, in the master of Peterhouse’s lodge, appointed a
congregation the next morning to degrade the professor.
But,“”when the time came, a friend of the professor’s being
that day one of the caput, other business was proposed,
but not concluded. On Friday morning, no mention was
made, as ought to have been, of the proceedings at the
last congregation; but, in the afternoon, Oct. 3, 1718, a
vote of the body deprived Dr. Bentley of all the privileges,
honours, and degrees, that he had received from it. Upon
this, Dr. Bentley drew up a petition, which he presented
to his majesty Oct. 30, 1718, complaining of the proceedings of the vice-chancellor and university, and begging his majesty’s relief and protection, as supreme visitor
of the university. The king in council taking the said
petition into consideration, was pleased to order the same
to be sent to the reverend Dr. Gooch, vice-chancellor;
who was thereby directed to attend his majesty in council
on Thursday the 6th of November 1718, to give an account of the proceedings which occasioned this complaint.
On this day the case was heard between the university and
the doctor, before the king and council, and afterwards
referred to a committee of council; but the ministry
being unwilling to interpose their authority with regard
to the proceedings, the matter was farther referred, in
a judicial way, to the court of king’s bench, where it was
kept some time in agitation. At length, however, the
proceedings of the university were reversed by that
court; and on February the 7th, 1723-4, the court of
king’s bench sent down a mandamus to the university of
Cambridge, to restore Mr. Bentley, master of Trinity
college, to all his degrees, and whatever he had been deprived of, &c. This was agreeable to a prophetic passage
at the end of one of the pamphlets, at that time printed
in his defence: “When our present heats are over, I
question not but our professor’s case will be looked upon
with another eye, if it be not already seen, that the honour
of the university was made a pretext only to cover the resentments of some particular persons amongst its members.
As the determination of it lies at present before a judgment where merit and not malice is likely to be regarded,
we shall in a little time, I make no doubt, with a more
scholar-like pleasure than can be perceived in this usage
of the learned Bentley, congratulate ourselves upon his
restoration to his well -merited honours.
”
dant without genius. The unjust light in which he was placed, was not entirely owing to the able men who opposed him in the Boylean controversy. It arose, perhaps, principally
The life of this eminent scholar and critic, as given in
the Biographia Britannica, although professedly corrected
from the first edition of that work, remains a confused collection of materials, from which we have found it difficult
to form anything like a regular sketch. Few names were
more familiar to the scholar and the wit in the first
three reigns of the eighteenth century, than that of Bentley, but no approach has yet been made to a regular and
impartial narrative of his life. This is the more to be regretted, because he occupied a large space of the literary
world, and was connected by friendship or controversy
with some of the most eminent writers of his age, both at
home and abroad. It has been justly observed, that when
we consider the great abilities and uncommon eruvlition of
Dr. Bentley, it reflects some disgrace on our country, that
even his literary reputation should so long be treated with
contempt, that he should be represented as a mere verbal
critic, and as a pedant without genius. The unjust light
in which he was placed, was not entirely owing to the able
men who opposed him in the Boylean controversy. It
arose, perhaps, principally from the poets engaging on
the same side of the question, and making him the object
of their satire and ridicule. The “slashing Bentley
” of
Pope will be remembered and repeated by thousands who
know nothing of the doctor’s real merit. Perhaps it may
be found that this asperity of Mr. Pope was not entirely
owing to the combination of certain wits and poets against
Dr. Bentley, but to personal resentment. We are told
that bishop Atterbury having Bentley and Pope both at
dinner with him, insisted on knowing what opinion the
doctor entertained of the English Homer; he for some
time eluded the question, but, at last, being urged to
speak out, he said: “The verses are good verses; but the
work is not Homer, it is Spondanus.
”
his private character we have lately had some information from his grandson Richard Cumberland, esq. who in his own Memoirs, published a few years since, has given the
Of his private character we have lately had some information from his grandson Richard Cumberland, esq. who in his own Memoirs, published a few years since, has given the following particulars: His " ordinary style of conversation was naturally lofty, and his frequent use of thee and thou with his familiars, carried with it a kind of dictatorial tone that savoured more of the closet than the court. This is readily admitted; and this, on first approaches, might mislead a stranger but the native candour and inherent tenderness of his heart could not long be veiled from observation, for his feelings and affections were at once too impulsive to be long repressed, and he too careless of concealment to attempt at qualifying them. Such was his sensibility towards human sufferings, that it became a duty with his family to divert the conversation from all topics of that sort; and if he touched upon them himself, he was betrayed into agitations, which, if any one ascribes to paralytic weakness, he will greatly mistake a man, who, to the last hour of his life, possessed his faculties firm and in their full vigour. His emotions on these occasions had no other source and origin but in the natural and pure benevolence of his heart.
8vo.; and previous to that,” A short account of Dr. Bentley’s humanity and justice to those authors who have written before him, with an honest vindication of Thomas
We shall now attempt a catalogue of Dr. Bentley’s
works, not hitherto noticed, and of the principal of those
published respecting his controversies, as far as the latter
can be ascertained. His first publication, as already noticed, was his epistle to Dr. Mill, under the title: 1. “Johannis Antiocheni Cognomento Malaise Historia Chronica
e Mss. Cod. Bibliothecre Bodleianae, nunc primum edita,
cum interp. et notis Edm. Chilmeadi et triplice indice rerum, autorum et vocum barbarum. Prsemittitur dissertatio
de autore, per Humfredum Hodium, S. T. B. Coll. Wadhami Socium. Accedit Epistola Richardi Bentleii ad CI.
V. Jo. Millium, S. T. P. cum indice scriptorum, qui ibi
emendantur,
” Oxonii, 1691, 8vo. 2. His “Sermons at
Boyle’s Lectures,
” Dissertation upon the Epistles of Themistocles, Socrates, Euripides, Phalaris, and the Fables of
Æsop,
” at the end of the second edition of Wotton’s
“Reflections on ancient and modern learning.
” This occasioned Mr. Boyle’s work, “Dr. Bentley’s Dissertation
on the Epistles of Phalaris and the Fables of Æsop
examined, 1698; usually known by the title of
” Boyle
Against Bentley.“Dr. fientley then published, 4.
” Dr.
Bentley’s answer to the above,“commonly known by the
name of
” Bentley against Boyle,“a curious piece, interspersed with a great deal of true wit and humour. This
was for some time a scarce book; but it was reprinted in
1777, by Bowyer and Nichols, with the advantage of
several valuable notes and observations, either collected
from, or communicated by, bishops Warburton and Lowth,
Mr. Upton, Mr. W. Clarke, Mr. Markland, Dr. Salter, Dr.
Owen, and Mr. Toup. These were the several pieces
which appeared in this great dispute, excepting some few
that were published against the doctor, hardly any of which
are now known, except
” A short review of the controversy between Mr. Boyle and Dr. Bentley,“1701, 8vo.;
and previous to that,
” A short account of Dr. Bentley’s
humanity and justice to those authors who have written
before him, with an honest vindication of Thomas Stanley,
esq. and his notes on Callimachus. To which are added
some other observations on that poet, in a letter to the
honourable Charles Boyle, esq. with a Postscript, in relation to Dr. Bentley’s late book against him. To which is
added an Appendix, by the bookseller, wherein the doctor’s misrepresentations of all the matters of fact, wherein
he is concerned, in his late book about Phalaris’s Epistles,
are modestly considered, with a letter from the honourable
Charles Boyle on that subject,“Lond. 1699, 8vo. 5.
” Annotationes, in Callimachum ultra, Of this
an edition was published in 1741, 8vo. 6.
” Remarks
upon a late discourse on Free-thinking (by Collins) in two
parts, by Phileleutherus Lipsiensis,“Lond. 1713, 8vo
1719, 1725. 7.
” Q. Horatius Flaccus ex recensione, et
cum notis et emendationibus R. Bentleii,“Camb, 1711,
4to; Amst. 1713 and 1728, 8vo Leipsic, 1763, 2 vols.
8.
” Proposals for printing a new edition of the Greek
Testament,“Lond. 1721, 4to. Of the pamphlets pro and
con respecting his disputes with his college and with the university, a very correct catalogue may be seen in Gough’s
” British Topography."
he does not specify. He adds, however, that there was not a man of literary talents in the kingdom, who stood so high in favour with the premier, lord Bute, as Mr.
About the conclusion of the last reign, his nephew, Mr.
Cumberland, brought him acquainted with the celebrated
Bubb Doddington, afterwards lord Melcombe, and by his
means he got some situation under administration, which
he does not specify. He adds, however, that there was
not a man of literary talents in the kingdom, who stood so
high in favour with the premier, lord Bute, as Mr. Bentley, and though, when his lordship went out of office, Mr.
Bentley lost every place of profit that could be taken from
him, he continued to enjoy a pension of 500 per annum,
in which his widow had her life, and received it many years
after his decease. It was in consequence of this connection that he wrote in 1765, “Patriotism,
” a satirical poem,
attacking Wilkes and his friends; reprinted in Dilly’s Repository, vol. IV. Before this he had composed his drama
of “The Wishes,
” which was privately rehearsed at lord
Melcombe’s villa, but was unsuccessful on the stage. Mr.
Bentley in 1761 wrote his poetical “Epistle to lord Melcolmbe,
” and Mr. Cumberland regrets that, if it be in the
hands of any of Mr. Bentley' s family, it should be withheld from the public, not knowing that Mr. Bentley published it himself in the St. James’s Chronicle in April 1763,
in consequence of Lloyd, the poet, having printed an incorrect copy in his “St. James’s Magazine.
” Mr. Bentley’s other dramas were, “Philodamus,
” Prophet,
” a posthumous
comedy,
nd, a party of whom had declared themselves at Cracow, observing that the count was one of the first who had signed their union at Warsaw, wrote to him to join them
, an adventurer of very dubious, but not uninteresting character, one of the Magnates of the kingdoms of Hungary and Poland, was born in the year 1741, at Verbowa, the hereditary lordship of his family, situated in Nittria, in Hungary. After receiving the education which the court of Vienna affords to the youth of illustrious families, at the age of fourteen years, he fixed on the profession of arms. He was accordingly received into the regiment of Siebenschien, in quality of lieutenant; and joining the Imperial army, then in the field against the king of Prussia, was present at the battles of Lowositz, Prague, Schweidnitz, and Darmstadt. In 17,38, he quitted the Imperial service and hastened into Lithuania, at the instance of his uncle the starost of Benyowsky, and succeeded as his heir to the possession of his estates. The tranquillity, however, which he now enjoyed was interrupted by intelligence of the sudden death of his father, and that his brothers-in-law had taken possession of his inheritance. These circumstances demanding his immediate presence in Hungary, he quitted Lithuania with the sole view of obtaining possession of the property of his family; but his brothers-in-law by force opposed his entrance into his own castle. He then repaired to Krussava, a lordship dependant on the castle of Verbowa, where, after having caused himself to be acknowledged by his vassals, and being assured of their fidelity, he armed them, and by their assistance gained possession of all his effects; but his brothers, having represented him at the court of Vienna as a rebel and disturber of the public peace, the empress queen issued a decree in chancery against him, by which he was deprived of his property, and compelled to withdraw into Poland. He now determined to travel; but after taking several voyages to Hamburgh, Amsterdam, and Plymouth, with intention to apply himself to navigation, he received letters from the magnates and senators of Poland, which induced him to repair to Warsaw, where he joined the con?federation then forming, and entered into an obligation, upon oath, not to acknowledge the king, until the confederation, as the only lawful tribunal of the republic, should have declared him lawfully elected to oppose the Russians by force of arms and not to forsake the colours of the confederation so long as the Russians should remain in Poland. Leaving Warsaw, in the month of December, he attempted to make his rights known at the court of Vienna; but disappointed in this endeavour, and deprived of all hope of justice, he resolved to quit for ever the dominions of the house of Austria. On his return to Poland, he was attacked, during his passage through the county of Zips, with a violent fever and being received into the house of Mr. Hensky, a gentleman of distinction, he paid his addresses and was married to one of his three daughters, but did not continue long in possession of happiness or repose. The confederate states of Poland, a party of whom had declared themselves at Cracow, observing that the count was one of the first who had signed their union at Warsaw, wrote to him to join them and, compelled by the strong tie of the oath he had taken, he departed without informing his wife, and arrived at Cracow on the very day count Panin made the assault. He was received with open arms by martial -Czarnesky, and immediately appointed colonel general, commander of cavalry, and quarter-master-general. On the 6th of July 1768, he was detached to Navitaig to conduct a Polish regiment to Cracow, and he not only brought the whole regiment, composed of six hundred men, through the camp of the enemy before the town, but soon afterwards defeated a body of Russians at Kremenka rechiced Landscroen, which prince Lubomirsky, who had joined the confederacy with two thousandregular troops, had attempted in vain and, by his great gallantry and address, contrived the means of introducing supplies into Cracow when besieged by the Russians but the count, having lost above sixteen hundred men in affording this assistance to the town, was obliged to make a precipitate retreat the moment he had effected his purpose; and being pursued by the Russian cavalry, composed of cossacks and hussars, he had the misfortune to have his horse killed under him, and fell at last, after receiving two wounds, into the hands of the enemy. Apraxin, the Russian general, being informed of the successful manoeuvre of the count, was impressed with a very high opinion of him, and proposed to him to enter into the Russian service but rejecting the overture with disdain, he was only saved from being sent to Kiovia with the other prisoners by the interposition of his friends, who paid 962 1. sterling for his ransom. Thus set at liberty, he considered himself as released from the parole which he had given t the Russians; and again entering the town of Cracow, he was received with the most perfect satisfaction by the whole confederacy. The town being no longer tenable, it became an object of the utmost consequence to secure another place of retreat and the count, upon his own proposal and request, was appointed to seize the castle of Lublau, situated on the frontier of Hungary; but after visiting the commanding officer of the castle, who was not apprehensive of the least danger, and engaging more than one half of the garrison by oath in the interests of the confederation, an inferior officer, who was dispatched to assist him, indiscreetly divulged the design, and the count was seized and carried into the fortress of Georgenburgh, and sent from thence to general Apraxin. On his way to that general, however, he was rescued by a party of confederates, and returned to Lublin, a town where the rest of the confederation of Cracow had appointed to meet, in order to join those of Bar, from which time he performed a variety of gallant actions, and underwent great vicissitudes of fortune. On the 19th of May, the Russian colonel judging that the count was marching towards Stry, to join the confederate parties at Sauok, likewise hastened his march, and arrived thither half a day before the count, whose forces were weakened by fatigue and hunger. In this state he was attacked about noon by colonel Brincken, at the head of four thousand men. The count was at first compelled^ to give way but, on the arrival of his cannon, he, in his turn, forced the colonel to retire, who at last quitted the field, and retreated towards Stry. The advantage of the victory served only to augment the misery of the count, who iivthis single action had threahundred wounded and two hundred and sixty-eight slain, and who had no other prospect before him than either to perish by hunger with his troops in the forest, or to expose himself to be cut to pieces by the enemy. On the morning of the 20th, however, by the advice of his officers and troops, he resumed his march, and arrived about ten o‘clock at the village of Szuka, where, being obliged to halt for refreshment, he was surprised by a party of cossacks, and had only time to quit the village and form his troops in order of battle on the plain, before he was attacked by the enemy’s cavalry, and soon, after by their infantry, supported by several pieces of cannon, which caused the greatest destruction among his forces. At length, after being dangerously wounded, the Russians took him prisoner. The count was sent to the commander in chief of the Russian armies, then encamped at Tam’pool, who not only forbade the surgeons to dress his wounds, but, after reducing him to bread and water, loaded him with chains, and transported him to Kiow. On his arrival at Polene, his neglected wound had so far endangered his life, that his conductor'was induced to apply to colonel Sirkow. the commanding officer at that place, and he was sent to the hospital, cured of his wounds, and afterwards lodged in the town, with an advance of fifty roubles for his subsistence. Upon the arrival, however, of brigadier Bannia, who relieved colonel Sirkow in his command, and who had a strong prejudice against the count, he was ac^ain loaded with chains, and conducted to the dungeon with the rest of the prisoners, who were allowed no other subsistence than bread and water. Upon his entrance he recognized several officers and soldiers who had served under him and their friendship was the only consolation he received in his distressed situation. Twentytwo days were thus consumed in a subterraneous prison, together with eighty of his companions, without light, and even without air, except what was admitted through an aperture which communicated with the casements. These unhappy wretches were not permitted to go out even on their natural occasions, which produced such an infection, that thirty-five of them died in eighteen or twenty days; and such were the inhumanity and barbarity of the commander, that he suffered the dead to remain and putrefy among the Ining. On the 16th of July the prison was opened, and one hundred and forty- eight prisoners, who had survived out of seven hundred and eighty-two, were driven, under every species of cruelty, from Polene to Kiow, where the strength of the count’s constitution, which had hitherto enabled him to resist such an accumulation of hardships and fatigue, at length gave way, and he was attacked with a malignant fever, and delirium. The governor, count Voicikow, being informed of his quality, ordered that i-.e should be separately lodged in a house, and that two roubles a day should he paid him for subsistence but when he was in a fair way of recovery, an order arrived from Petersburgh to send all the prisoners to Cazan, and this severity bringing on a relapse, the officer was obliged co leave the count at Nizym, a town dependant on the government of Kiow. At this place, a Mr. Lewner, a German merchant, procured him comfortable accommodation, superintended the restoration of his health, and on his departure made him a present of two hundred roubles, which he placed for safety in the hands of the officer until his arrival at Cazan, but who had afterwards the effrontery to deny that he had ever received the mont.y, accused the count of attempting to raise a revolt among the ^riauners, and caused him. to be loaded with chains and committed to the prison of Cazan, from which he was delivered at the pressing instances of marshal Czarnesky Potockzy, and the young Palanzky. He was then lodged at a private house, and being invited to dine with a man of quality in the place, he was solicited, and consented to join in a confederacy against the government. But on the 6th of November 1769, on a quarrel happening between two Russian lords, one of them informed the governor that the prisoners, in concert with the Tartars, meditated a design against his person and the garrison. This apostate lord accused the count, in order to save his friends and countrymen, and on the 7th, at eleven at night, the count not suspecting any such event, heard a knocking at his door. He came down, entirely undressed, with a candle in his hand, to inquire the cause; and, upon opening his door, was surprised to see an officer with twenty soldiers, who demanded if the prisoner was at home. On his replying in the affirmative, the officer snatched the candle out of his hand, and ordering his men to follow him, went hastily up to the count’s apartment. The count immediately took advantage of his mistake, quitted his house, and, after apprising some of the confederates that their plot was discovered, he made his escape, and arrived at Petersburgh on the 19th of November, where he engaged with a Dutch captain to take him to Holland. The captain, however, instead of taking him on-board tho ensuing morning, pursuant to his promise, appointed him to meet on the bridge over the Neva at midnight, and there betrayed him to twenty Russian soldiers collected for the purpose, who carried him to count Csecserin, lieutenantgeneral of the police. The count was conveyed to the fort of St. Peter and St. Paul, confined in a subterraneous dungeon, and after three days fast, presented with a morsel of bread and a pitcher of water; but, on the 22d of November 1769, he at length, in hopes of procuring his discharge, was induced to sign a paper promising for ever to quit the dominions of her imperial majesty, under pain of death.
re with great solemnity mutual friendship and eternal fidelity. Among the number of unhappy wretches who had long groaned under the miseries of banishment, was a Mr.
The count having signed this engagement, instead of
being set at liberty, was re-conducted to his prison, and
there confined till 4th December 1769, when, about two
hours after midnight, an officer with seven soldiers came
to him and he was thrown upon a sledge to which two
horses were harnessed, and immediately driven away with
the greatest swiftness. The darkness of the night prevented the count from discerning the objects around him
but on the approach of day-light he perceived that major
Wynblath, Vassili Panow, Hippolitus Stephanow, Asaph
Baturin, Ivan Sopronow, and several other prisoners, were
the companions of his misfortunes and after suffering
from the brutality of their conductor a series of hardships,
in passing through Tobolzk, the capital of Siberia, the
city of Tara, the town and river of Tomsky, the villages
of Jakutzk and Judorua, they embarked in the harbour of
Ochoczk, on the 26th October 1770, and arrived at
Kamschatka on the 3d December following. The ensuing
day they were conducted before Mr. Nilow, the governor;
when it was intimated to them that they should be set at
liberty on the following day, and provided with subsistence
for three days, after which they must depend upon themselves for their maintenance that each person should receive from the chancery a musket and a lance, with one
pound of powder, four pounds of lead, a hatchet, several
knives and other instruments, and carpenter’s tools, with
which they might build cabins in any situations they chose,
at the distance of one league from the town but that they
should be bound to pay in furs, during the first year, each
one hundred roubles, in return for these advantages; that
every one must work at the corvee one day in the week
for the service of government, and not absent themselves
from their huts for twenty-four hours without the governor’s
permission and after some other equally harsh terms, it
was added, that their lives being granted to them for no
other purpose than to implore the mercy of God, and the
remission of their sins, they could be employed only in
the meanest works to gain their daily subsistence. Under
these regulations the exiles settled the places of their habitations, built miserable huts to shelter, themselves from
the inclemency of the weather, formed themselves into a
congress, and after choosing the count de Benyowsky their
chief or captain, they swore with great solemnity mutual
friendship and eternal fidelity. Among the number of
unhappy wretches who had long groaned under the miseries
of banishment, was a Mr. Crustiew, who had acquired
considerable ascendancy over his fellow-sufferers; and to
obtain the particular confidence and esteem of this man
was the first object of the count’s attention in which he
sogn succeeded,. The pains and perils incident to the
situation to which these men were reduced, were borne for
some time in murmuring sufferance, until the accidental
finding an old copy of Anson’s Voyage inspired them with an
idea of making an escape from Kamschatka to the Marian
islands; and the count, Mr. Panow, Baturin, Stephanow,
Solmanow, majors Wynblath, Crustiew, and one Wasili, an
old and faithful servant of the count’s, who had followed his
master into exile, formed a confederacy for this purpose.
While these transactions were secretly passing, the fame
of count Benyowsky’s rank and abilities reached the ear of
the governor and as he spoke several languages, he was
after some time admitted familiarly into the house, and at
length appointed to superintend the education of his son.
and his three daughters. “One day,
” says the count,
ft while I was exercising my office of language-master, the
youngest of the three daughters, whose name was Aphanasia, who was sixteen years of age, proposed many questions concerning my thoughts in my present situation^
which convinced me that her father had given them some
information concerning my birth and misfortunes. I therefore gave them an account of my adventures, at which
my scholars appeared to be highly affected, but the
youngest wept very much. She was a beautiful girl, and
her sensibility created much emotion in my mind but,
alas, I was an exile" The merits of the count, however,
soon surmounted the disadvantages of his situation, in the
generous mind of miss Nilow, and the increasing intimacy
and confidence which he daily gained in the family, joined
to the advantages of a fine person and most insinuating
address, soon converted the feelings of admiration into
the flame of love; and on the llth of January 1771, madame Nilow, the mother, consented that her daughter
should do the honours of an entertainment then in contemplation, and be publicly declared his future spouse.
But the count, though he had cultivated and obtained the
affections of his fair pupil, had acted more from policy
than passion, and, intending to use her interest rather as
a means of effectuating the meditated escape of himself
and his companions, than as any serious object of matrimonial union, contrived to suspend the nuptials, by persuading the governor to make an excursion from Kamschatka to the neighbouring islands, with a view or under
pretence of establishing a new colony. During these transactions the exiles were secretly at work; and in order to
conceal their design from all suspicion, Mr. Crustiew and
Mr. Panow were on the 30th of March deputed to wait on
the governor with five and twenty of their associates, to
request that he would be pleased to receive the title of
Protector of the new colony; and the embassy was not
only favourably received, but orders were given to prepare every thing that might be necessary for the execution
of the project. At this crisis, however, an accident occurred which had nearly overturned the success of the
scheme; and as it tends to discover the disposition of the
count, we shall relate it in his own words.
that such was my resolution.” “Why then,” interrupted she, “did you conceal your intention from me, who am ready to follow you to the farthest limits of the universe?”
“You may recollect, my dear friend, the account I
gave you of tny birth, and the rank I held in Europe I remember the tears you shed on that occasion. The misfortune of being exiled to Kamschatka would long since have
compelled me to deliver myself from tyranny by death, if
your acquaintance and attachment had not preserved me:
I have lived for you, and if you could read my heart, I am
sure I should have your pity; for the possession of your
person is become as necessary to my existence as liberty itself. The liberty I speak of is not that which your worthy
father has given me, but implies the possession of my estate
and rank. J have hoped for the possession of your person,
with a view of rendering you happy in the participation of
my fortune and dignity. These views cannot be accomplished at Kamschatka. What rank can I bestow on rny
lore but that of an exile The favours of your worthy father may be of the shortest duration. His successor may
soon recal his ordinances, and plunge me again into that
state of suffering and contempt, from which I was delivered
for a short moment. Represent to yourself, my dearest
friend, the affliction and despair that would overwhelm my
soul, when I beheld you a sharer in my pain and disgrace;
for you well know that all the Russians esteem the exiles as
dishonoured persons. You have forced me to this declaration of my intentions, in which I have been guided by the
attachment and sincerity of my heart. I deferred the
communication to you, but I swear that such was my resolution.
” “Why then,
” interrupted she, “did you conceal
your intention from me, who am ready to follow you to the
farthest limits of the universe?
” This assurance encouraged
me to proceed, and engage this charming young lady in my
interests. I told her, therefore, that I was prevented only
by the fear lest she should refuse my proposals on account
of her attachment to her parents; but that, as I now had
nothing to fear in that respect, I could inform her, that my
intention being to leave Kamschatka, I had determined to
carry her off; and in order to convince her, I was ready to
call Mr. Crustiew, who would confirm the truth. On this
assurance she embraced me, and entreated me to forgive
her want of confidence, at the same time that she declared
her readiness to accompany me.
at arose from the communication having been made to her servant. I mentioned my fears to miss Nilow, who removed them, by assuring me that her servant was too much attached
“This degree of confidential intercourse being established, I persuaded her to dismiss every fear from her
mind. Many were the trials I made of her resolution, and
the event convinced me that she was perfectly determined
to follow my fortunes. The secret being thus secure, by
her promise to keep it inviolably, I had no other uneasiness
remaining but what arose from the communication having
been made to her servant. I mentioned my fears to miss
Nilow, who removed them, by assuring me that her servant
was too much attached to her to betray her secret, and had,
besides, an affection for Kudrin, so that she could answer
for her discretion. Thus agreeably ended our conversation, though the commencement was rather tragical, and I
received the vows of attachment and fidelity from an artless
and innocent mind.
”
e night, in case an attack should be made by the cossacks of the town, and soldiers of the garrison, who, it was rumoured, were busied in preparing their arms. At five
The apprehensions of this faithful girl for the safety of the man she loved, were far from being without foundation; and on the 26th of April she sent the count two red ribbands, to signify the double danger to which she perceived he was exposed. The count, however, coolly prepared to brave the impending storm, and gave orders to the leaders of his associates, amounting in all to fifty-nine persons, to place themselves at the head of their divisions, and station themselves round his house, in readiness to act in the night, in case an attack should be made by the cossacks of the town, and soldiers of the garrison, who, it was rumoured, were busied in preparing their arms. At five o'clock in the evening, a corporal, with four grenadiers, stopped at the count’s door, demanding admittance in the name of the empress, and ordered him to follow the guard to the fort. The count, however, proposed, from a window, to the corporal, that he should enter alone and drink a glass of wine; but, on his being admitted, the door was instantly shut upon him, and four pistols clapped to his breast, by the terror of which he was made to disclose every thing that was transacting at the fort, and at length obliged to call the four grenadiers separately into the house, under pretence of drinking, when they were all five bound together, and deposited safely in the cellar.
This measure was, of course, the signal of resistance, and the count marshalling his associates, who had secretly furnished themselves with arms and ammunition by
This measure was, of course, the signal of resistance,
and the count marshalling his associates, who had secretly
furnished themselves with arms and ammunition by the
treachery of the store-keepers, issued forth from the house
to oppose, with greater advantage, another detachment who
had been sent to arrest him. After levelling several soldiers to the ground, the count, by the mismanagement of
their commander, seized their cannon, turned them with
success against the fort itself, and, entering by means of the
drawbridge, dispatched the twelve remaining guards who
were then within it. “Madame Nilow and her children,
”
says the count, “at sight of me implored my protection
to save their father and husband. I immediately hastened
to his apartment, and begged him to go to his children’s
room to preserve his life, but he answered that he would
first take mine, and instantly fired a pistol, which wounded
me. I was desirous nevertheless of preserving him, and
continued to represent that all resistance would be useless,
for which reason I entreated him to retire. His wife and
children threw themselves on their knees, but nothing would
avail he flew upon me, seized me by the throat, and left
me no other alternative than either to give lip my own life,
or run my sword through his body. At this period the
petard, by which my associates attempted to make a breach,
exploded, and burst the outer gate. The second was open,
and I saw Mr. Panow enter at the head of a party. He entreated the governor to let me go, but not being able to
prevail on him, he set me at liberty by splitting his skull.
”
The count by this event became complete master of the
fort, and by the cannon and ammunition which he found on
the rampart, was enabled, with the ready and active assistance of his now increased associates, to repel the attack
which was made upon him by the cossacks; but flight,
not resistance, was the ultimate object of this bold commander; and in order to obtain this opportunity, he dispatched a drum and a woman as a sign of parley to the
cossacks, who had quitted the town and retired to the
heights, with a resolution to invest the fort and starve the
insurgents, informing them of his resolution to send a detachment of associates into the town to drive all the women
and children into the church, and there to burn them all to
death, unless they laid down their arms. While this embassy was sent, preparation was made for carrying the
threat it contained into immediate execution; but by submitting to the proposal, the execution of this horrid measure was rendered unnecessary, and the count not only
received into the fort fifty-two of the principal inhabitants of
the town, as hostages for the fidelity of the rest, but procured
the archbishop to preach a sermon in the church in favour of
the revolution. The count was now complete governor of
Kamschatka; and having time, without danger, to prepare
every thing necessary for the intended departure, he amused
himself with ransacking the archives of the town, where he
found several manuscripts of voyages made to the eastward
of Kamschatka. The count also formedt chart, with details, respecting Siberia and the sea-coast of Kamschatka,
and a description of the Kurelles and Aleuthes islands.
This chart has not survived the fate of its composer.
on the coast of Beering’s island, where they found the celebrated captain Ochotyn and his followers, who had also escaped from exile in Siberia, and were wandering in
The conspirators, previous to their hostilities against the governor, had prudently secured a corvette of the name of St. Peter and St. Paul, which then rode at anchor in the port of Bolsha, and their subsequent success afforded them the means of providing her with such stores as were necessary for the intended voyage. On the llth of May 1771, the count, as commander in chief, attended by Mr. Crustiew as second, by sixteen of his fellow-captives as quarterguards, and by fifty-seven foremast men, together with twelve passengers and nine women, among whom was the lovely Aphanusia, disguised in sailor’s apparel, went on board this vessel; and on the next day weighed anchor, and sailed out of the harbour on a southern course, intending to continue their voyage to China. On the 20th of May, they anchored their vessel in a bay on the coast of Beering’s island, where they found the celebrated captain Ochotyn and his followers, who had also escaped from exile in Siberia, and were wandering in search of that settlement which, from their restless dispositions, they were doomed never to find.
and civility, particularly don Hieronymo Pacheco, formerly captain at the port of Cavith at Manilla, who had fled from that employment to the island of Formosa, in consequence
The count, however, was not to be detained by the blandishments of friendship he departed from this island, and arrived, after experiencing many hardships and dangers at sea, at the harbour of Usilpatchar in Japan on the 2d of August from whence, not meeting with a very friendly reception, he again immediately set sail, and arrived oirSunday the 28th of August at the island of Formosa. The inhabitants of Formosa at first appeared inclined to treat him with respect and civility, particularly don Hieronymo Pacheco, formerly captain at the port of Cavith at Manilla, who had fled from that employment to the island of Formosa, in consequence of his having in a moment of rage massacred his wife and a Dominican whom he had found in her company but these professions were soon found to be deceitful; for on sending his men on shore to fetch water, they were attacked by a party of twenty Indians, many of them dangerously wounded, and Mr. Panow, the count’s most faithful friend, killed. Don Hieronymo, however, contrived to exculpate himself from any concern in this treachery, and to advise the count to seek revenge by a> conquest of the island but he contented himself with provoking the natives to a second attack, and repulsing them with considerable slaughter. His men, however, insisted on going in quest of the Indians, in order to make them feel their further vengeance. The remonstrances of the count were to no effect; and at length, complying with their desires, he requested don Hieronymo to guide them towards the principal residence of the nation who had given him so bad a reception, where, after a short and unequal conflict, he killed eleven hundred and fifty-six, took six hundred and forty-three prisoners, who had prostrated themselves on the ground to beg for mercy from their assailants, and set fire to their town. The prince of the country, notwithstanding this massacre of his subjects, was introduced to the count by his Spanish friend, and a cordiality at length took place between them to such a degree, that the count entered into a formal treaty for returning and settling at Formosa; but his secret motives for making this engagement appear to have been, the execution of a project he had silently conceived of establishing a colony on the island.
erpreter, informed me, that the old negress Susanna, whom I had brought from the isle of France, and who in her early youth had been sold to the French, and had lived
The island of Madagascar, as is well known, is of vast
extent, and is inhabited by a great variety of different nations. Among these is the nation of Sambarines, formerly
governed by a chief of the name and titles of Rohandrian
Ampansacab6 Ramini Larizon whose only child, a lovely
daughter, had, it seems, been taken prisoner, and sold as
a captive and from this circumstance, upon the death of
Ramini, his family was supposed to be extinct. “On the
2d of February,
” says the count, “M. Corbi, one of my
most confidential officers, with the interpreter, informed
me, that the old negress Susanna, whom I had brought
from the isle of France, and who in her early youth had
been sold to the French, and had lived upwards of fifty
years at the isle of France, had reported, that her companion, the daughter of Ramini, having likewise been made
a prisoner, was sold to foreigners, and that she had certain marks that I was her son. This officer likewise represented to me, that in consequence of her report the
Sambarine nation had held several cabars to declare me
the heir of Ramini, and consequently proprietor of the
province of Manahar, and successor to the title of Ampansacabe, or supreme chief of the nation. This information
appeared to me of the greatest consequence, and I determined to take the advantage of it, to conduct that brave
and generous nation to a civilized state. But as I had no
person to whom I could entruLo the secret of my mind, I
lamented how blind the minister of Versailles was to the
true interests of France. On the same day I interrogated
Susanna on the report she had spread concerning my birth.
The good old woman threw herself at my knees, and excused herself by confessing that she had acted entirely
upon a conviction of the truth. For she said that she had
known my mother, whose physiognomy resembled mine,
and that she had herself been inspired in a dream by the
Zahanhar to publish the secret. Her manner of speaking
convinced me that she really believed what she said. J
therefore embraced her, and told her that I had reasons
for keeping the secret respecting my birth; but that nevertheless if she had any confidential friends she might acquaint them with it. At these words she arose, kissed my
hands, and declared that the Sambarine nation was informed of the circumstances, and that the Rohandrian
Raffangour waited only for a favourable moment to acknowledge the blood of Ramini.
”
count, however, was not abated by these disappointments he pretended to look with contempt on kings who could be so blind to^the interests and advantages oftheir people
This account concludes his narrative; but among the memoirs and papers which fill the remaining part of the volume, it appears, that on his arrival in Europe his proposals to the court of France were rejected that he made subsequent offers of his service to the emperor of Germany, which met with no better success; and that on the 25th of December, 1783, he offered, in the character of sovereign of the island of Madagascar, terms for an offensive and defensive alliance with the king of Great Britain but this proposal was also declined. The ardour of the count, however, was not abated by these disappointments he pretended to look with contempt on kings who could be so blind to^the interests and advantages oftheir people and, sending for his family from Hungary, he sailed from London with some of his associates for Maryland, on the 14th of April, 1784, with a cargo of the value of near 4,00p/. sterling, consisting, it seems, of articles intended for the Madagascar trade. A respectable commercial house in Baltimore was induced to join in his scheme, and supplied him with a ship of 450 tons, whose lading was estimated at more than 1,000l. in which he sailed from that place on the 2.5th of Oct. 1784, and landed at Antangara on the island of Madagascar, on the 7th of July 1785, from whence he departed to Angouci, and commenced hostilities against the French by seizing their storehouse. Here he busied himself in erecting a town after the manner of the country, and from hence he sent a detachment of one hundred men to take possession of the French factory at Foul Point but they were prevented from carrying their purpose into execution by the sight of a frigate which was at anchor off the Point. In consequence of these movements, the governor of the isle of France sent a ship with sixty regulars 'on board, who landed and attacked the count on the morning of the 23d of May 1786. He had constructed a small redoubt defended by two cannon, in which himself, with two Europeans and thirty natives, waited the approach of the enemy. The blacks fled at the first fire, and Benyowsky, having received a ball in his right breast, fell behind the parapet whence he was dragged by the hair, and expired a few minutes afterwards.
During his subsequent travels he happened to arrive at Bender, where Charles XII. was. This prince, who had more taste for the pursuit of scientific knowledge than
, archbishop of Upsal, and brother tc the preceding, was born at Strengnes in 1689, and
studied at Upsal. During his subsequent travels he happened to arrive at Bender, where Charles XII. was. This
prince, who had more taste for the pursuit of scientific
knowledge than is generally supposed, was desirous at this
tim to send some men of learning to the East, and Benzehus was one whom he applied to, and who accordingly
began his travels in 1714, visiting Syria, Palestine, and
Egypt, and returning to Sweden through Italy, Germany,
and Holland. The journal of this tour is preserved in manuscript at Upsal but a considerable part of Benzelius’s
observations were printed in a Latin collection, under the
title of “Syntagma dissertationum in Academia Lundensi
habitarum,
” Leipsic,
, a Milanese, was born about 1519. His father, who was not rich, having suffered by the war, sent him on his travels,
, a Milanese, was born about 1519.
His father, who was not rich, having suffered by the war,
sent him on his travels, to seek his fortune in Italy, France,
Spain, and Germany. He did not find what he sought,
but became so captivated with the accounts recently received from the new world, that he determined to go there.
Accordingly in 1541, he went to Spain, and embarked for
America, where he remained fourteen years. In 1556, he
returned to his country, rich only in the observations he
had made, and which he communicated to the public, in a
“History of the New World,
” in Italian, Venice,
cted in the above assembly, where he signed the famous protest of Sept. 12, 1791. CamilleDesmoulins, who had been his pupil, celebrated him in his verses entitled “Mes
, a doctor
of the Sorbonne, formerly professor of eloquence, and
afterwards grand master of the college of Louis-le-Grand,
was born at Paris in 1720. He was deputy from the clergy
of Paris, in the constituent assembly, and died at Paris in
1794. He had acquired great reputation in the university,
and was not less respected in the above assembly, where he
signed the famous protest of Sept. 12, 1791. CamilleDesmoulins, who had been his pupil, celebrated him in his
verses entitled “Mes adieux an college
” and from a singular caprice, this revolutionist chose to receive the nuptial benediction from Berardier, although one of the nonjuring priests, and of totally opposite principles. St. Just
and Robespierre were the witnesses on this occasion and
such was the regard Camille-Desmoulins had for him, that
he protected him from the massacres of the 2d of September 1792. Berardier wrote, 1. “Precis de l'Histoire universelle,
” a very excellent introduction to the study of history, which has gone through several editions. 2. “Essai
sur le recit,
” Anti-Lucrece en
vers Francais,
” Principes de la
foi sur le gouvernment de l‘Eglise, en opposition a la constitution civile du clerge, ou refutation de l’opinion de M.
Camus,
” 8vo. Of this fourteen editions were printed within six months, and it has likewise been published under the
title of “Vrais Principes de la Constitution du Clerge.
”
ce of all the astronomers for ten years before. In all his results, he entirely agreed with Lalande, who had made the same observations at Paris, and with the celebrated
, a French mathematician and astronomer, was born at Lyons, March 5, 1703, entered
among the Jesuits, and became professor of humanity at
Vienne and at Avignon, and of mathematics and philosophy at Aix. In 1740 he was invited to Lyons and appointed professor of mathematics, director of the observatory, and keeper of the medals and the same year he became astronomer to the academy, the memoirs of which are
enriched by a great many of his observations, particularly
that on the passage of Mercury on the Sun, May 6, 1753,
during which he saw and demonstrated the luminous ring
round that planet, which had escaped the notice of all the
astronomers for ten years before. In all his results, he
entirely agreed with Lalande, who had made the same observations at Paris, and with the celebrated Cassini. All
his observations, indeed, are creditable to his talents, and
accord with those of the most eminent astronomers.
Among his other papers, inserted in the memoirs of the
academy, we find several on vegetation, on the evaporation of liquids, and the ascent of vapours, on light, a physical theory on the rotation of the earth and the inclination
of its axis, &c. In meteorology, he published observations on the tubes of thermometers, with an improvement
in the construction of them, which was the subject of three
memoirs read in the academy of Lyons in 1747. He has
also endeavoured to account for metals reduced to calcination weighing heavier than in their former state, and maintains, against Boyle, that fire is incapable of giving this
additional weight, and likewise refutes the opinion of those
who attribute it to air, or to substances in the air which the
action of fire unites to the metal in fusion. This memoir
was honoured with the prize by the academy of Bourdeaux
in 1747, and contained many opinions which it would have
been difficult to contradict before the experiments of
Priestley, Lavoisier, and Morveau. In 1748, he received
the same honour, from that academy, for a paper in which
he maintained the connexion between magnetism and electricity, assigning the same cause to both. In 1760, he received a third prize from the same academy, for a dissertation on the influences of the moon on vegetation and animal oeconomy. Beraud was also a corresponding member
of the academy of sciences in Paris, and several of his
papers are contained in their memoirs, and in those of the
academy of Lyons. He wrote several learned dissertations
on subjects of antiquity. On the dissolution of the society
of Jesuits, he left his country for some time, as he could
not conscientiously take the oaths prescribed, and on his
return, notwithstanding many pressing offers to be restored
to the academy, he preferred a private life, never having
recovered the shock which the abolition of his order had
occasioned. In this retirement he died June 26, 1777.
His learning and virtues were universally admired he was
of a communicative disposition, and equal and candid temper, both in his writings and private life. Montucla, Lalande, and Bossu, were his pupils and father Lefevre of
the Oratory, his successor in the observatory of Lyons,
pronounced his eloge in that academy, which was printed
at Lyons, 1780, 12mo. The Dict. Hist, ascribed to Beraud, a small volume, “La Physique des corps animus,
”
12mo.
, a French artist, who practised in England, was born in France, in 1659, and at the
, a French artist, who practised in England, was born in France, in 1659, and at the age of fifteen was placed under the care of La Fosse, with whom his improvement was so considerable, that in three years he was qualified to be employed in one of the royal palaces. In 1681 he went to England, where he worked under Rambour, a French painter of architecture; and afterwards he was engaged in different works for several of the English nobility. The ceiling in the chapel of Trinity college, in Oxford, was painted by this master; he also painted the staircase at the duke of Schomberg’s in London, and the summer-house at Ranelagh. His drawings in the academy were much approved but towards the latter part of his life, he only painted small pieces in the historical style, for which the subjects were taken from fabulous history; -ind his last performance was a Bacchanalian, to which he affixed his name the very day before he died, in 1720.
glected or proscribed by graver writers, or rather as having been probably disclaimed by its author, who saw it at length in the light of a juvenile performance, abounding
, whose name we find disguised
under Bercheure, Berchoire, Bercorius, Bercherius,
&c. was born in the beginning of the fourteenth century,
at St. Pierre-du-Chemin, near Mailiezais, in Poitou. He
entered the order of the Beredictines, and became celebrated for his learning, and attached hi n self to cardinal
Duprat, archbishop of Aix, whose advice was very useful
to him in his writings. Among his other accomplishments,
he is said to have been so well acquainted with his Bible,
as to be able to quote texts and authorities on all subjects
without any assistance but from memory. He died at Paris
in 1362, prior of the monastery of St. Eloy, since occupied by the Barnabites, which has induced some biographers to think him a member of that order, but the Barnabites were not an order until a century after this period.
Berchorius wrote several works which are lost those which
remain are in 3 vols. fol. under the title of “Reductorium,
Repertorium, et Dictionarium morale utriusque Testamenti, Strasburgh,” 1474; Nuremberg, 1499; and Cologne,
1631—1692. “Whoever,” says Warton, in his “History of Poetry,” “shall have the patience to turn over a few
pages of this immense treasure of multifarious erudition,
will be convinced beyond a doubt, from a general coincidence of the plan, manner, method, and execution, that
the author of these volumes, and of the
” Gesta Romanorum,“must be one and the same. The
” Reductorium“contains all the stories and incidents in the Bible, reduced
into allegories. The
” Repertorium“is a dictionary of
things, persons, and places all which are supposed to be
mystical, and which are therefore explained in their moral
or practical sense. The
” Dictionarium Morale“is in two
parts, and seems principally designed to be a moral repertory for students in theology.” Mr. Warton successfully
pursues this argument in his
” Dissertation on the Gesta
Romanorum,“to which we refer the reader. He mentions
also that Berchorius was author of a comment on a prosody
called
” Doctrinale metricum,“which was used as a schoolbook in France, till Despauter’s manual on that subject
appeared. Some biographers mention his
” Tropologia,“his
” Cosmographia,“and his
” Breviarium“but the
” Tropologia“is nothing more than his
” Reductorium“on the Bible, and probably the
” Breviarium“is the same.
The
” Cosmographia“seems to be the fourteenth book -of
his
” Repefforiom Moraie.“He is said by his biographers
to have written other smaller pieces, which they have not
named nor described. Among these, Mr. Warton thinks
his
” Gesta" is comprehended which we may conceive to
have been thus undistinguished, either as having been
neglected or proscribed by graver writers, or rather as
having been probably disclaimed by its author, who saw it
at length in the light of a juvenile performance, abounding
in fantastic and unedifying narrations, which he judged
unsuitable to his character, studies, and station. Besides
the works above-mentioned, Berchorius translated Livy,
by order of king John, of which there was a beautiful ms.
in the library of the oratory of Troyes, and other copies,
not less beautiful, are in the imperial library at Paris.
This translation was published in 1514 1515, at Paris,
3 vols. fol.
, who was born, according to Vossius, in the Palatinate, studied at
, who was born, according
to Vossius, in the Palatinate, studied at Groningen. He
became tutor to the children of the king of Bohemia, and
was by the queen’s interest appointed professor of philosophy at Utrecht, 1640, and eight years afterwards professor
of eloquence. He succeeded also in poetry, but his style
has been objected to as containing many new-coined words
and affected phrases. He died July 24, 1667, leaving several works, of which the principal were, l.“Exercitationes ethicae, ceconomicge, politicae,
” Utrecht, Dissertatio de Cometis, utrum sint signa, an causae, an
utrumque, an neutrum,
” Utrecht, Examen elementorurn philosophicorum de bono cive,
” which remains in manuscript.
taught the same studies. He was there, however, accused of having intended to dissect two Spaniards who had the venereal disorder, and had applied to him for advice,
, a physician and anatomist of the sixteenth century, was a native
of Carpi in Modena, whence some biographers have called
him by the name of Carpius, or Carpensis. He took his
doctor’s degree at Bologna, and first taught anatomy and
surgery at Pavia. He afterwards returned to Bologna in
1520, and taught the same studies. He was there, however, accused of having intended to dissect two Spaniards
who had the venereal disorder, and had applied to him for
advice, which, it was said, he meant to perform while
they were alive, partly out of his hatred to that nation,
and partly for his own instruction. Whatever may be in
this report, it is certain that he was obliged to leave Bologna, and retire to Ferrara, where he died in 1550. By
his indefatigable attention to the appearances of disease,
and especially by his frequent dissections, which in his
time, were quite sufficient, without any other demerit, to
raise popular prejudices against him, he was enabled to
advance the knowledge of anatomy by many important discoveries. His works were, 1. “Commentaria, cum amplissimis additionibus, super anatomia Mundini,
” Bologna,
Isagogtc breves in anatomiam corporis
humani, cum aliquot figuris anatomicis,
” Bologna, De Cranii fractura, tractatus,
” Bologna,
, surnamed the Bastard, but that young prince summonsed a meeting of the ablest bishops and divines, who again condemned Berengarius, and the council of Paris, in Oct.
, or Berenger, the celebrated archdeacon of Angers, was born at Tours in the beginning of
the eleventh century, of an opulent family, and became
the disciple of the famous Fulbert of Chartres, under whom
he made rapid progress in grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, and
what were then called the liberal arts. On his return to his
country in 1030, he was appointed scholastic, or master
of the school of St. Martin. His reputation soon reaching
foreign parts, the number of his scholars greatly increased,
and many of them were afterwards advanced to high rank
in the church; nor did he quit his school when made archdeacon of Angers in 1039. The opinions, which have
given him a name in ecclesiastical history, were said to
have been first occasioned by a pique. In a dispute with
Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, on a very trivial question, he happened to be defeated, and what was worse,
his scholars began to go over to that rival. Berengarius,
on this, took Erigena for his model, and attacked the mystery of the eucharist, as the popish writers term it, but in
plain language, the doctrine of transubstantiation. Bruno,
bishop of Angers, Hugh, of Langres, and Adelman, of
Brescia, in vain endeavoured to cure him of his heresy,
and his writings, which were taken to Rome, were condemned in two councils held by pope Leo IX. in 1050, and
himself excommunicated. He then went to the abbey of
Preaux in Normandy, hoping to be protected by duke
William, surnamed the Bastard, but that young prince
summonsed a meeting of the ablest bishops and divines,
who again condemned Berengarius, and the council of
Paris, in Oct. 1050, deprived him of all his benefices.
This loss he is said to have felt more severely than their
spiritual inflictions, and it disposed him to retract his sentiments in the council of Tours, in 1055, in consequence
of which he was received into church-communion. In 1059
he was cited to the council at Rome, by pope Nicholas II.
and having been confuted by Abbo and Laniranc, he
abjured his errors, burnt his books, yet had no sooner
reached France, than he protested against his recantation,
as extorted by fear, and returned to his studies with the
same spirit of inquiry. At length, however, Gregory VII
having called a new council at Rome in 1078, Berengei
more seriously abjured his opinions, returned to France,
and passed the remaining years of his life in privacy and
penance. He died Jan. 6, 1088, aged ninety. There
have been many disputes betwixt protestant and popish
authors, as to the reality or sincerity of his final recantation. His sentiments, however, did not perish on his recantation, or his death, and he may be considered as having contributed to that great reformation in the church
which afterwards was carried into lasting effect by his successors. The greater part of his works are lost, but some
are preserved among the works of Lanfranc, in the collections of d'Acheri and Martenne; and, in 1770, Lessing discovered and published his answer to Lanfranc, “De corpore et sanguine Jesu Christi.
”
hich he was invited by the political troubles of his country. As by birth he was classed among those who are at Geneva called natives, but who do not acquire the rank
, a French miscellaneous
writer, was born at Geneva in 1740, and in early life quitted the mechanical employment to which he had been
deslined by his parents, for those studies to which he was invited by the political troubles of his country. As by birth
he was classed among those who are at Geneva called natives, but who do not acquire the rank of citizens, because
born of foreign parents, his first effort was to establish, in
some of his writings, the necessity of equal political rights.
This dispute being referred to arms, Berenger, after his
party was defeated, was banished, along with many others,
by a decree of the sovereign power, February 10, 1770.
On this he retired to Lausanne, and employed his time
in various literary undertakings, until his return to Geneva,
where he died in June, 1807. He published, 1. An edition of the works of Abauzit. 2. “Histoire de Geneve,
depuis son origine jusqu'a nos jours,
” Tableau historiquede revolutions
de Geneve,
” may be considered as a sequel. 3. “Geographic de Busching abregee, &c.
” Busching’s work is
here abridged in some parts and enlarged in others, Lausanne, 1776 79, 12 vols. 8vo. 4. “Collection de tous
les voyages faits autour de monde,
” Amants Republicains, ou Lettrea
de Nicias et Cynire,
” Cours de geographic historique, ancienne et moderne de feu Ostervald,
”
Dictionnaire geographique
” of Vosgien (Ladvocat), Laura and Augustus,
” and of“Cook’s Voyages.
” 9. “J. J. Rousseau justifie envers sa patrie
” and some lesser pieces mentioned in
Ersch’s “France Litteraire.
” M. Bourrit attributes to him
a translation of Howard’s history of Prisons, but this, it is
thought, was executed by mademoiselle Keralio.
, a man utterly unknown, who appeared in Holland in 1670, was thought to be a Jesuit, or
, a man utterly unknown, who appeared
in Holland in 1670, was thought to be a Jesuit, or a renegade from some other religious fraternity. He got his bread
by sweeping chimnies and grinding knives, and died at
length in a bog, suffocated in a fit of drunkenness. His
talents, if the historians that mention him are to be credited, were extraordinary. He versified with so much ease,
that he could recite extempore, and in tolerably good
poetry, whatever was said to him in prose. He has been
known to translate the Flemish gazettes from that language
into Greek or Latin verse with the utmost facility. The
dead languages, the living languages, Greek, Latin, French,
and Italian, were us familiar to him as his mother tongue.
He could repeat by heart Horace, Virgil, Homer, Aristophanes, and several pieces of Cicero and of the Plinies;
and, after reciting long passages from them, point out the
book and the chapter from whence they were taken. It is
supposed that the “Georgarchontomachia sive expugnatae
Messopolis
” is by him.
, and was employed there, either? as a workman, or as a corrector of the press. John Conrad Zeltner, who is of this last opinion, has accordingly asigned him a short
, the author of a poem,
in praise of printing, written in Latin hexameters and pentameters, has escaped tlfe researches of biographers as to
much personal history. It is, however, conjectured, that
his proper name was Arnold or Arnold i, and that he was
called Bergellauus from his country. It is supposed also
that he came to Mentz, and was employed there, either?
as a workman, or as a corrector of the press. John Conrad
Zeltner, who is of this last opinion, has accordingly asigned him a short article in his Latin history of the correctors of the press, p. 79, 80, where he calls him John
Anthony, instead of John Arnold. Struvius (Introd. in not. rei litterariae, p. 892) considers Bergellanus as the
first historian of printing, but in this he is mistaken. Mentel, in his “Paraenesis de vera origine Typographic, p. 52,
says that Bergellanus’s poem was printed in 1510, which
could not be the case, as mention is made in it of Charles
V, who was not emperor until 1519. Walkius, who wrote
in 1608, asserts that Bergellanus wrote or published his
poem eighty years before, which brings us to 1528, but in
tact it was not written or published until 1540 and 1541, as
appears clearly by the author’s dedication to cardinal Albert, archbishop of Mentz and marquis of Brandebourg.
There have been six editions of it, separate or joined to
other works on the subject. The two last are by Prosper
Marchand in his History of Printing, Hague, 1740, 4to,
and by Woltius in his
” Monumenta typographica."
irs on various plants and animals. His academical dissertations on anatomy were published by Haller, who particularly praises those on the intercostal nerve and on the
Bergen is the author of a great many works on botany,
and various branches of natural history. In 1742 he published a dissertation to prove the superiority of the system
of Linnæus to that of Tournefort, but afterwards he
changed his opinion, and his “Francfort Flora,
” published
in Vade Mecum
” of Johrenius, one of his
predecessors in the botanical chair, but unquestionably his
additions were then new and important. He also proposed
a new classification of shells, published observations on the
anatomy of frogs, and several dissertations or memoirs on
various plants and animals. His academical dissertations
on anatomy were published by Haller, who particularly
praises those on the intercostal nerve and on the cellular
membrane. His works not included in that collection are,
1. “Icon nova ventriculorum cerebri,
” Francfort, Programma de pia matre,
” Nuremberg, Programma de nervis quibusdam cranii ad novem paria hactenus non relatis,
” Francfort, Methodus
cranii ossa dissuendi, et machinse hunc in finem constructs,
delineatio,
” Pentas obervationum anatomico-physiologicarum,
” Elementa physiologias,
” Geneva, Anatomes experimentalis, pars
prima et s’ecunda,
” Francfort, Programma,
” already mentioned, on the comparative
merits of the Linnsean and Tournefortian systems, Francfort, 1742, 4to Leipsic, 1742, 4to. 10. “Dissertatio de
Aloide,
” Francfort, Catalogus
stirpium quas hortus academiie Viadrinae (Francfort) cotnplectitur,
” 1744, 8vo. 12. “Flora Francofurtanaj
” ibid.
Classes conchy liorum,
” Nuremberg,
juris," 1731, folio'. Berger left three sons, Christopher Henry, Frederic Louis, and John Augustus, who all followed the profession of the law with distinguished merit.
, a learned lawyer, was born
at Gera, Jan. 27, 1657, and studied at Halle, Leipsic, and
Jena. He afterwards was appointed professor of law at
Wittemberg, and counsellor at Dresden. In 1713,
Charles VI. invited him to Vienna in quality of aulic
counsellor of the empire, and he died there November
25, 1732. Of his numerous works, which have been often
reprinted, the following are the principal: 1. “Electa
processus executivi, processorii, provocatorii et matrimonialis,
” Leipsic, Electa disceptationum
forensium,
” the best edition of which is that of Th.
Hayme, Electa jurisprudentise
criminalis,
” Leipsic, Responsa ex omni
jure,
”
, 4to. 7. “De Trajano non Optimo,” 1725, 4to. 8. “De Stephanophoris veterum,” 1725, 4to, &c. Saxius, who has given a much fuller list of his dissertations, praises him
, brother to the preceding,
was professor of eloquence at Wittemberg, aulic counsellor
to the elector of Saxony, Augustus It. king of Poland, and
died in 1751. He wrote several interesting dissertations,
mostly on points of ancient history and literature, among
which are, 1. “Dissert. Sex de Libanio,
” Wittemberg,
De antiqua poetarum sapientia
”
De Virgilio oratore,
” Dissert, tres de Lino,
” Disciplina Longini
selecta,
” De Mysteriis Cereris et Bacchi,
”
De Trajano non Optimo,
” De Stephanophoris veterum,
” De naturali pulchritudine orationis,
” Conspectus Bibliothecae Bergerianae;
” also “Libri Manuscript! et irnpressi, collati curn Manuscriptis ex Bibliotheca Jo. Gul. de
Berger,
” Physiologica medica,
” Wittemberg, De Thennis Carolmis commentatio,
” ibid.
mposed many works, in which he shewed some genius and extravagance of imagination, Marshal. Gassion, who loved men of wit and courage, because he had both himself, would
, was born about
1620, in the castle of Bergerac in Perigord, and was at
first very indifferently educated by a poor country priest.
He afterwards came to Paris, and gave himself up to every
kind of dissipation. He then entered as a cadet in the
regiment of guards, and endeavoured to acquire reputation on the score of bravery, by acting as second in
many duels, besides those in which he was a principal,
scarce a day passing in which he had not some affair of this
kind on his hands. Whoever observed his nose with any
attention, which was a very remarkable one, was sure to be
involved in a quarrel with him. The courage he shewed
upon these occasions, and some desperate actions in which
he distinguished himself when in the army, procured him
the name of the Intrepid, which he retained to the end of
his life. He was shot through the body at the siege of
Mouzon, and run through the neck at the siege of Arras, in
1640; and the hardships he suffered at these two sieges, the
little hopes he had of preferment, and perhaps his attachment to letters, made him renounce war, and apply himself
altogether to certain literary pursuits. Amidst all his follies he had never neglected literature, but often withdrew
himself, during the bustle and dissipation of a soldier’s life,
to read and to write. He composed many works, in which
he shewed some genius and extravagance of imagination,
Marshal. Gassion, who loved men of wit and courage, because he had both himself, would have Bergerac with him
but he, being passionately fond of liberty, looked upon this
advantage as a constraint that would never agree with him,
and therefore refused it. At length, however, in compliance with his friends, who pressed him to procure a patron
at court, he overcame his scruples, and placed himself with
the duke of Arpajon in 1653. To this nobleman he dedicated his works the same year, fur he had published none
before, consisting of some letters written in his youtH, with
a tragedy on the death of Agrippina, widow of Germanicus.
He afterwards printed a comedy called “The Pedant,
”
but his other works were not printed till after his death.
His “Comic history of the states and empires of the
Moon
” was printed in Comic history of the
states and empires of the Sun,
” several letters and dialogues, and a fragment of physics, were all collected and
published afterwards in a volume. These comic histories
and fragments shew that he was well acquainted with the
Cartesian philosophy. He died in 1655, aged only thirtyfive years, his death being occasioned by a blow upon his
head which he unluckily received from the fall of a. piece
of wood a few months before.
speak of him in the following manner “Cyrano de Bergerac is a French author of a singular character, who had a very peculiar turn of wit and humour, in many respects
The earl of.Orrery, in his “Remarks on the life and
writings of Swift,
” has taken occasion to speak of him in
the following manner “Cyrano de Bergerac is a French
author of a singular character, who had a very peculiar turn
of wit and humour, in many respects resembling that of
Swift. He wanted the advantages of learning and a regular education; his imagination was less guarded and correct, but more agreeably extravagant. He has introduced
into his philosophical romance the system of des Cartes,
which was then much admired, intermixed with several fine
strokes of just satire on the wild and immechanical inquiries of the philosophers and astronomers of that age; and
in many parts he has evidently directed the plan which the
dean of St. Patrick’s has pursued.
” This opinion was first
quoted in the Monthly Review (vol. X), when Derrick
translated a. id published Bergerac’s “Voyage to tha
Moon,
” Plurality
of Worlds,
” and Voltaire, in his “Micromegas,
” have taken
many hints and sketches from this eccentric writer. There
have been various editions of his works at Paris, Amsterdam, Trevoux, &c. the last was printed at Paris, 1741, 3
vols. 12 mo.
studies at the university of that city, he became preceptor to the children of count de St. Souplet, who always testified his respect for him on account of the pains
, an eminent French antiquary,
was born at Rheims, March 1, 1567, and not 1557, as asserted by Bayle, Moreri, and Niceron. After finishing his
studies at the university of that city, he became preceptor
to the children of count de St. Souplet, who always testified his respect for him on account of the pains he bestowed
on their education. He then was admitted an advocate,
and appointed law-professor and syndic of the city, a place
which he filled during many of the elections. His talents
and virtues were so highly estimated by his fellow-citizens,
that as a mark of their confidence they employed him on
their affairs at Paris. During his visits to that metropolis,
he commenced a friendship with Dupuy and Peiresc, and
formed an acquaintance with the president de Bellievre,
who obtained for him the place of historiographer by brevet, with a pension of two hundred crowns. He was on a
visit at the country-house of this celebrated magistrate,
when he was attacked by a fever, which terminated fatally,
August 18, 1623, in his fifty -seventh year. The president
honoured him with an affectionate epitaph, which is printed
in his two principal works. He is particularly known in the
literary world by his “Histoire des grands chemins de
l'empire Remain,
” a work in which he was assisted by his
friend Peiresc, who furnished him with many necessary
documents. It was first printed in 4to, 1622, and in the
course of a century became very scarce. In 1712 the first
book of it was translated into English, and published at London, in 8vo, entitled “The general history of the Highways
in all parts of the world, particularly in Great Britain.
” In
De viis antiquorum Romanorum in Italia,
” and
doubtless would have availed himself of Bergier’s labours.
Besides this history of the Roman roads, Bergier had begun a history of Rheims, the manuscript of which the president de Bellievre wished Andre Duschesne to complete,
but some obstruction arising on the part of the chapter of
Rheims, who refused Duschesne access to their archives,
he declined proceeding with the undertaking. The son of
the author, however, John Bergier, unwilling that the whole
should be lost, published the two books left complete by his
father, with a sketch of the other fourteen of which it^as to
consist. This wasentitled “Dessein de I'Histoire de Reims,
”
ibid. Le point
du Jour, ou Traite du Commencement des Jours et de l'endroit ou il est etabli sur la terre,
” Rheims, Archemeron.
” His object is to attain some general rule for avoiding the disputes respecting the celebration of the Catholic
festivals. 2. “Le Bouquet royal,
” Paris, Police generale de la France,
”
his adversaries in public. He had another more contemptible antagonist, the noted Anacharsis Cloots, who published what he, and perhaps no man else, would have called
, a French writer of
considerable note, was born at Darnay in Lorraine, December 31, 1718. In the career of promotion he was first curate of Flangebouche, a small village in Frunche-Comte,
then professor of theology, principal of the college of Besai^on, a canon of the church of Paris, and confessor to
the king’s aunts. Throughout life he was one of the most
strenuous opponents of the modern philosophers of France.
He acquired an early name by some essays on various literary subjects, to which the prizes were adjudged at Besanon and his reputation was considerably heightened by his
very ingenious and plausible work, entitled “Elements
primitifs des Langues, &c.
” Paris, Origine des Dieux du Pagunisme et
les sens des Fables decouvert, par une explication suivie
des Poesies d'Hesiode,
” Paris, 1767, 2 vols. 12mo. When
about the same time he found religion attacked in every
quarter by a combination of men of talents in France, he
determined to endeavour to counteract their schemes.
With this view he wrote “La Certitude des Preuves du
Christianisme,
” Examen critique des Apologistes de la religion Chretienne,
” improperly attributed to Freret; and it was allowed
to have been written with much sense, precision, and moderation. This work, which occasioned more friends and
more enemies to Bergier than any other, passed through
three editions in the same year, besides being translated
into Italian and Spanish. Voltaire, to whom the popularity
of any writings of this tendency must have been peculiarly
unpleasant, affected to answer it in his “Conseils raisonables,
” written with his usual art, but more remarkable for
wit than argument. Bergier answered the “Conseils,
”
the only instance in which he noticed any of his adversaries
in public. He had another more contemptible antagonist,
the noted Anacharsis Cloots, who published what he, and
perhaps no man else, would have called “Certitude des
Preuves du Mahometisme.
” About this time the clergy of
France, sensible of Bergier’s services, gave him a pension
of two thousand livres, and offered him some valuable benefices, but he would only accept of a canonry in Notre
Dame, and it was even against his inclination that he was
afterwards appointed confessor to the mesdames, the last
king’s aunts. Free from ambition, modest and simple in
dress and manners, he was desirous only of a retired life,
and at Paris he lived as he had done in the country, in the
midst of his books. This study produced, successively,
1. “Le Deisme refute par lui-meme,
” Paris, Apologie de la Religion Chretienne contre l'auteur du Christianisme devoid,
” (the baron Holbach) Paris, Examen du
Materialisme, ou refutation du systeme de la Nature,
” Paris, Traite historique et dogmatique de la vraie Religion, &c.
” Paris, Discours sur le
Manage des Protestants,
” Observations
surle Divorce,
” ibid. Encyclopedic methodique,
” 3 vols. 4to. The abbé“Barruel says,
that when this work was first undertaken, some deference
was still paid to religion, and Bergier thought it incumbent
on him to yield to the pressing solicitations of his friends,
lest the part treating of religion should fall into the hands
of its enemies, but in this they were deceived. Bergier,
indeed, performed his task as might have been expected
but in other parts of the work the compilers exceeded their
predecessors in licentious sentiments, and at the same time
availed themselves of the name of Bergier as a cloak. M.
Barbier attributes to our author the sketch of Metaphysics
inserted in the
” Cours d‘etude de l’usage de l'Ecole militaire." In all his works there is a logical arrangement and
precision, and the only objection the French critics have is
to his style, which is sometimes rather diffuse. He died at
Paris, April 9, 1790. He was a member of the academy of
Besangon, and an associate of that of inscriptions and belleslettres.
that the coccus aquaticus is the egg of this animal, from whence issue ten or twelve young. Linnæus, who had at first denied this fact, was struck with astonishment
, a celebrated chemist and
natural philosopher, was born March 20, 1735, at Catharineberg in Westgothland. His father was receiver-gene^
ral of the finances, and had destined him to the same employment but nature had designed him for the sciences,
to which he had an irresistible inclination from his earliest
years. His first studies were confined to mathematics and
physics, and all efforts that were made to divert him from
science having proved ineffectual, he was sent to Upsal
with permission to follow the bet of his inclination. Linnaeus at that time filled the whole kingdom with his fame.
Instigated by his example, the Swedish youth flocked
around him; and accomplished disciples leaving his school,
carried the name and the system of their master to the most
distant parts of the globe. Bergman, struck with the
splendour of this renown, attached himself to the man whose
merit had procured it, and by whom he was very soon distinguished. He applied himself at first to the study of insects, and made several ingenious researches into their
history; among others into that of the genus of tenthredo,
so often and so cruelly preyed on by the larvae of the ichneumons, that nestle in their bowels and devour them. He
discovered that the leech is oviparous, and that the coccus
aquaticus is the egg of this animal, from whence issue ten
or twelve young. Linnæus, who had at first denied this
fact, was struck with astonishment when he saw it proved.
“Vidi et obstupui
” were the words he pronounced, and
which he wrote at the foot of the memoir when he gave it
his sanction. Mr. Bergman soon distinguished himself as
an astronomer, naturalist, and geometrician; but these are
not the titles by which he acquired his fame. The chair of
chemistry and mineralogy, which had been filled by the
celebrated Wallerius, becoming vacant by his resignation,
Mr. Bergman was among the number of the competitors
and without having before this period discovered any particular attention to chemistry, he published a memoir on the
preparation of alum, that astonished his friends as well av
his adversaries but it was warmly attacked in the periodi^cal publications, and Wallerius himself criticised it without
reserve. The dispute, we may suppose, was deemed of
high importance, since the prince Gustavus, afterwards
king of Sweden, and then chancellor of the university,
took cognizance of the affair, and after having consulted
two persons, the most able to give him advice, and whose
testimony went in favour of Bergman, he addressed a memorial, written with his own hand, in answer to all the objections urged against the candidate, to the consistory of
the university and to the senate, who elected him agreeably
to his highness’s wishes.
Bergman had now to satisfy the hopes that were conceived of him to justify the opinion of those who recommended him to fill the place of Wallerius uud to put ecivy
Bergman had now to satisfy the hopes that were conceived of him to justify the opinion of those who recommended him to fill the place of Wallerius uud to put ecivy to silence; nor was he unsuccessful in any of these attempts. He did not follow the common track in the study of chemistry. As he had received the lessons of no master, he was tainted with the prejudices of no school. Accustomed to precision, and having no time to lose, he applied himself to experiments without paying any attention to theories; he repeated those often which he considered as the most important and instructive, and reduced them to method, an improvement till then unknown. He first introduced into chemistry the process by analysis, which ought to be applied to every science for there should be but one method of teaching and learning, as there is but one of judging well. These views have been laid down by Mr. Bergman in an excellent discourse, which contains, if we may use the phrase, his profession of faith in what relates to the science. It is here that he displays himself without disguise to his reader, and here it is of importance to study him with attention. The productions of volcanoes had never been analysed when Messrs. Ferber and Troil brought a rich collection of them into Sweden, at the sight of which Mr. Bergman conceived the design of investigating their nature. He examined first of all the matters least altered by the fire, and the forms of which were still to be discerned he followed them in their changes progressively; he determined, he imitated their more complicated appearances he knew the effects which would result from the mixture and decomposition of the saline substances whick are found abundantly in these productions. He discovered such as were formed in the humid way and then in his laboratory he observed the process of nature that combat of flames and explosions that chaos in which the Clements seem to clash and to confound one another, unveiled themselves to his eyes. He saw the fire of volcanoes kindled in the midst of pyritical combinations, and sea-salt decomposed by clays he saw fixed air disengaged from calcined calcareous stones, spreading upon the snrface of the earth, and filling caverns in which flame and animal life are equally extinguished he saw the sulphureous acid thrown out in waves, convert itself into the vitriolic by mere contact with the air and distillinothrough the rocks, from the alum veins of the solfatara. He saw the bitumens as they melted the inflammable and sulphureous airs exhaling and the waters become mineral and impregnated with the fire and vapours of those stu2 pendous furnaces, preparing for the beings that move and dispute on the crust of the abyss, a remedy for pain and a balsam for disease.
t Odensee, the ca-, pital of Funen, at the private press of Thomas Kingorius, bishop of that island, who spared no expence to make an elegant book. The bookseller, however,
, a Latin poet, born in Denmark in
1627, whose taste for letters does not appear to have
impeded his fortune, was a member of the royal council of
finances, and historiographer to his majesty. It was to
justify his promotion to this last office, that he published
“Florus Danicus, sive Danicarum rerum a primordio regni
ad tempera usque Christian! I. Oldenburgici Breviarium.
”
This work was printed in fol. Deliciae quorundam Danorum,
” Leyden,
every paper he wrote in the Guardian. Swift recommended him to the celebrated earl of Peterborough, who being appointed ambassador to the king of Sicily and the Italian
In 1710 appeared “The Principles of human knowledge;
” and, in Dialogues between Hylas and
Philonous
” but to them the same praise has not been
given, and to this day their real tendency is a disputed
point. The object of both pieces is to prove that the commonly received notion of the existence of matter is false
that sensible material objects, as they are called, are not
external to the mind, but exist in it, and are nothing more
than impressions made upon it by the immediate act of
God, according to certain rules termed laws of nature,
from which, in the ordinary course of his government, he
never deviates and that the steady adherence of the Supreme Spirit to these rules is what constitutes the reality
of things to his creatures. These works are declared to.
Lave been written in opposition to sceptics and atheists
and the author’s inquiry is into the chief cause of error
and difficulty in the sciences, with the grounds of scepticism, atheism, and irreligion which cause and grounds
are found to be the doctrines of the existence of matter.
He seems persuaded that men never could have been deluded into a false opinion of the existence of matter, if
they had not fancied themselves invested with a power of
abstracting substance from the qualities under which it is
perceived and hence, as the general foundation of his
argument, he is led to combat and explode a doctrine
maintained by Locke and others, of there being a power
in the mind of abstracting general ideas. Mr. Hume says,
that these works “form the best lessons of scepticism,
which are to be found either among the ancient or modern
philosophers, Bayle not excepted.
” Dr. Beattie also considers them as having a sceptical tendency. He adds, that
if Berkeley’s argument be conclusive, it proves that to b
false which every man must necessarily believe, every moment of his life, to be true, and that to be true which no
man since the foundation of the world was ever capable of
believing for a single moment. Berkeley’s doctrine attacks
the most incontestable dictates of common sense, and pretends to demonstrate that the clearest principles of human
conviction, and those which have determined the judgment
of men in all ages, and by which the judgment of all reasonable men must be determined, are certainly fallacious.
It may just be observed, that Berkeley had not reached
his 27th year when he published this singular system. The
author of his life in the Biog. Brit, asserts that “the airy
visions of romances, to the reading of which he was much
addicted, disgust at the books of metaphysics then received
in the university, and that inquisitive attention to the
operations of the mind which about this time was excited
by the writings of Locke and Malebranche, probably gave
birth to his disbelief of the existence of matter.
” Whatever influenre the oth^r causes here assigned might have
had, we have the authority of his relict, Mrs. Berkeley,
that he had a very great dislike to romances, and indeed
it would be difficult to discover in any of these volumes
of absurd fiction the grounds of such a work as Berkeley’s.
In 1712 he published three sermons in favour of passive
obedience and non-resistance, which underwent at least
three editions, and afterwards had nearly done him sonic
injury in. his fortune. They caused him to be represented
as ajlacobite, and stood in his way with the house of Hanover, till Mr. Molineux, above-mentioned, took off the
impression, and first made him known to queen Caroline,
whose secretary, when princess, Mr. -Molineux had been.
Acuteness of parts and beauty of imagination were so conspicuous in his writings, that his reputation was now established, and his company courted even where his opinions
did not find admission. Men of opposite parties concurred
in recommending him sir Richard Steele, for instance,
and Dr. Swift. For the former he wrote several papers in
the Guardian, and at his house became acquainted with
Pope, with whom he afterwards lived in friendship. It is
said he had a guinea and a dinner with Steele for every
paper he wrote in the Guardian. Swift recommended him
to the celebrated earl of Peterborough, who being appointed
ambassador to the king of Sicily and the Italian states,
took Berkeley with him as chaplain and secretary in November 1713. He returned to England with this nobleman in August 1714, and towards the close of the year
had a fever, which gave occasion to Dr. Arbuthnot to indulge a little pleasantry on Berkeley’s system. “Poor
philosopher Berkeley,
” says he to his friend Swift, “has
now the idea of health, which was very hard to produce in
him; for he had an idea of a strange fever on him so strong,
that it was very hard to destroy it by introducing a contrary one.
”
urious tract “De Motu,” which was inserted in the memoirs of the royal academy of sciences at Paris, who had proposed the subject. He arrived at London in 1721; and,
His hopes of preferment expiring with the fall of queen
Anne’s ministry, he some time after embraced an offer
made him by Dr. St. George Ashe, bishop of Clogher, of
accompanying his son in a tour through Europe. When he
arrived at Paris, having more leisure than when he first
passed through that city, Mr. Berkeley took care to pay
his respects to his rival in metaphysical sagacity, the illustrious Pere Malebranche. He found this ingenious father
in his cell, cooking in a small pipkin a medicine for a
disorder with which he was then troubled, an inflammation
on the lungs. The conversation naturally turned on our
author’s system, of which the other had received some
knowledge from a translation just published. But the
issue of this debate proved tragical to poor Malebranche.
In the heat of disputation he raised his voice so high, and.
gave way so freely to the natural impetuosity of a man of
parts and a Frenchman, that he brought on himself a
violent increase of his disorder, which carried him off a
few days after. In this excursion Mr. Berkeley employed
four years and, besides those places which fall within,
the grand tour, visited some that are less frequented. He
travelled over Apulia (from which he wrote an account of the tarantula to Dr. Freind), Calabria, and the whole
island of Sicily. This last country engaged his attention
so strongly, that he had with great industry collected very
considerable materials for a natural history of it, but unfortunately lost them in the passage to Naples. What injury the literary world has sustained by this mischance,
may be collected from the specimen of his talents for observation and description, in a letter to Mr. Pope concerning the island of Inarime (now Ischia) dated October 22,
1717; and in another from the same city to Dr. Arbuthnot,
giving an account of an eruption of Vesuvius. On his
way homeward, he drew up at Lyons a curious tract “De
Motu,
” which was inserted in the memoirs of the royal
academy of sciences at Paris, who had proposed the subject. He arrived at London in 1721; and, being much
affected with the miseries of the nation, occasioned by the
South Sea scheme in 1720, published the same year “An
essay towards preventing the ruin of Great Britain;
” reprinted in his miscellaneous tracts.
. Pope introduced him to lord Burlington, and lord Burlington recommended him to the duke of Grafton who, being lord-lieutenant of Ireland, took him over as one of his
His way was open now into the very first company. Mr.
Pope introduced him to lord Burlington, and lord Burlington recommended him to the duke of Grafton who,
being lord-lieutenant of Ireland, took him over as one of
his chaplains in 1721, and November this year he is said
to have accumulated the degrees of bachelor and doctor in
divinity; but a writer in the Gent. Mag. 1776 asserts that
he never went to Ireland as chaplain to any lieutenant, and
that he was created D. D. by his college in 1717, when he
was in Italy. The year following he had a very unexpected increase of fortune from Mrs. Vanhomrigh, the
celebrated Vanessa, to whom he had been introduced by
Swift this lady had intended Swift for her heir, but, perceiving herself to be slighted by him, she left near 8000l.
between her two executors, of whom Berkeley was one.
In his life in the Biog. Brit, it is said that Swift had often
taken him to dine at this lady’s house, but Mrs. Berkeley,
his widow, asserts that he never dined there but once, and
that by chance. Dr. Berkeley, as executor, destroyed as
much of Vanessa’s correspondence as he could find. Mr.
Marshal, the other executor, published the “Cadenus and
Vanessa,
” which, according to Dr. Delany, proved fatal
to Stella. May 18, 1724, he was promoted to the deanery
of Derry, worth 1100l. per annum, and resigned his fellowship.
r a settlement in the Atlantic ocean at 40l. a year he procured his plan to be laid before George I. who commanded sir Robert Walpole to lay it before the commons and
In 1725 he published, and it has since been re-printed
in his miscellaneous tracts, “A proposal for converting
the savage Americans to Christianity, by a college to be
erected in the Summer Islands, otherwise called the Isles
of Bermuda
” a scheme which had employed his thoughts
for three or four years past; and for which he was disposed
to make many personal sacrifices. As what he deemed
necessary steps he offered to resign all his preferment, and
to dedicate the remainder of his life to instructing the
American youth, on a stipend of 100l. yearly; he prevailed with three junior fellows of Trinity college, Dublin,
to give up all their prospects at home, and to exchange
their fellowships for a settlement in the Atlantic ocean at
40l. a year he procured his plan to be laid before George I.
who commanded sir Robert Walpole to lay it before the commons and further granted him a charter for erecting a college in Bermuda, to consist of a president and nine fellow?:,
who were obliged to maintain and educate Indian scholars
atlO/. a year each he obtained a grant from the commons of
a sum, to be determined by the king and accordingly 20,000l.
was promised by the minister, for the purchase of lands,
and erecting the college. Trusting to these promising appearances, he married the daughter of John Forster, esq.
speaker of the Irish house of commons, the 1st of August
3728; and actually set sail in September following for
Rhode Island, which lay nearest to Bermuda, taking with
him his wife, a single lady, and two gentlemen of fortune.
Yet the scheme entirely failed, and Berkeley was obliged
to return, after residing near two years at Newport. The
reason given is, that the minister never heartily embraced
the project, and the money was turned into another channel. During his residence in America, when he was not
employed as an itinerant preacher, which business could
not be discharged in the winter, he preached every Sunday at Newport, where was the nearest episcopal church,
and to that church he gave an organ. When the season
and his health permitted, he visited the continent, not only
in its outward skirts, but penetrated far into its recesses.
The same generous desire of advancing the best interests
of mankind which induced him to cross the Atlantic, uniformly actuated him whilst America was the scene of his
ministry. The missionaries from thfe English society, who
resided within about a hundred miles of Rhode Island,
agreed among themselves to hold a sort of synod at Dr.
Berkeley’s house there, twice in a year, in order to enjor
the advantages of his advice and exhortations. Four of
these meetings were accordingly held. One of the principal points which the doctor then pressed upon his fellowlabourers, was the absolute necessity of conciliating, by
all innocent means, the affection of their hearers, and also
of their dissenting neighbours. His own example, indeed,
very eminently enforced his precepts upon this head for
it is scarcely possible to conceive a conduct more uniformly kind, tender, beneficent, and liberal than his xvas.
He seemed to have only one wish in his heart, which was
to alleviate misery, and to diffuse happiness. Finding, at
length, that the fear of offending the dissenters at home,
and of inclining the colonies to assert independency, had
determined the minister to make any use, rather than the
best use, of the money destined for, and promised to St.
Paul’s college, the dean of Derry took a reluctant leave of
a country, where the name of Berkeley was long and justly
revered more than that of any European whatever. At his
departure, he gave a farm of a hundred acres, which 1,-jy
round his house, and his house itself, as a benefaction to
Yale and Harvard colleges: and the value of that land,
then not insignificant because cultivated, became afterwards very considerable. He gave, of his own property,
to one of these colleges, and to several missionaries, books
to the amount of five hundred pounds. To the other college he made a large donation of books purchased by
others, and trusted to his disposal.
ffected to consider his philosophy and his Bermuda project as the reveries of a visionary. Sherlock ( who was afterwards bishop of London) on the other hand warmly espoused
We have already related by what means, and upon what
occasion, Dr. Berkeley had first the honour of being known
to queen Caroline. This princess delighted much in attending to philosophical conversations between learned
and ingenious men for which purpose she had, when
princess of Wales, appointed a particular day in the week,
when the most eminent for literary abilities at that time in
England were invited to attend her royal highness in the
evening a practice which she continued after her accession to the throne. Of this company were doctors Clarke,Hoadly, Berkeley, and Sherlock.- Clarke and Berkeley
were generally considered as principals in the debates that
arose upon those occasions; and Hoadly adhered to the
former, as Sherlock did to the latter. Hoadly was no friend
to our author: he affected to consider his philosophy and
his Bermuda project as the reveries of a visionary. Sherlock
(who was afterwards bishop of London) on the other hand
warmly espoused his cause and particularly, when the
“Minute Philosopher
” came out, he carried a copy of it
to the queen, and left it to her majesty to determine, whether such a work could be the production of a disordered
understanding. After dean Berkeley’s return from Rhode
Island, the queen often commanded his attendance to discourse with him on what he had observed worthy of notice
in America. His agreeable and instructive conversation,
engaged that discerning princess so much in his favour,
that the rich deanery of Down in Ireland falling vacant,
he was at her desire named to it, and the king’s letter
actually came over fqr his appointment. But his friend
lord Burlington having neglected to notify the royal intentions in proper time to the duke of Dorset, then lord
lieutenant of Ireland, his excellency was so offended at
this disposal of the richest deanery in Ireland, without his
concurrence, that it was thought proper not to press the
matter any farther. Her -majesty upon this declared, that
since they would not suffer Dr. Berkeley to be a dean in
Ireland, he should be a bishop and accordingly, in 1733,the bishopric of Cioyne becoming vacant, he was by letters patent, dated March 17, promoted to that see, and
was consecrated at St. Paul’s church in Dublin, on the
19th of May following, byTheophilus archbishop of Cashel,
assisted by the bishops of Raphoe and Killaloe. His lordship repaired immediately to his manse-house at Cioyne,
where he constantly resided (except one winter that he attended the business of parliament in Dublin) and applied
himself with vigour to the faithful discharge of all episcopal duties. He revived in his diocese the useful office of
rural dean, which had gone into disuse visited frequently
parochially and confirmed in several parts of his see.
Addison,” replied he, “I have good reason not to believe those trifles, since my friend Dr. Halley, who has dealt so much in demonstration, has assured me, that the
About this time he engaged in a controversy with the
mathematicians, which made a good deal of noise in the
literary world and the occasion of it is said to have been,
this: Mr. Addison had, many years before this, given him
an account of their common friend Dr. Garth’s behaviour
in his last illness, which was equally un pi easing to both
these advocates of revealed religion. For, when Addison.
went to see the doctor, and began to discourse with him
seriously about another world, “Surely, Addison,
” replied
he, “I have good reason not to believe those trifles, since
my friend Dr. Halley, who has dealt so much in demonstration, has assured me, that the doctrines of Christianity
are incomprehensible, and the religion itself an imposture.
”
The bishop, therefore, addressed to him, as to an infidel
mathematician, a discourse called the “Analyst
” with-a
view to show that mysteries in faith were unjustly objected
to by mathematicians, who admitted much greater mysteries, and even falsehoods in science, of which he endeavoured to prove, that the doctrine of fluxions furnished
a clear example. This attack gave occasion to a smart
controversy upon the subject of fluxions the principal answers to the “Analyst
” were written by a person under
the name of Philalethes Cantabrigiensis, generally supposed to be Dr. Jurin, who published a piece entitled
“Geometry no friend to Infidelity,
” A Defence of Freethinking in Mathematics,
” The minute Mathematician, or
the Freethinker no just thinker
” and here the controversy ended, and whatever fault, mathematicians may
find in this hostile attempt of our bishop, it must be acknowledged they have reaped no inconsiderable advantage
from it, inasmuch as it gave rise to the Treatise of Fluxions
by Maclaurin, in which the whole doctrine is delivered
with more precision and fulness than ever was done before,
or probably than ever would have been done, if no attack
had been made upon it.
t time at least 1400l. per annum. So uncommon a. petition excited his majesty’s curiosity to inquire who was the extraordinary man that preferred it: being told that
But the bishop, ever, active and attentive to the public
good, was continually sending forth something or o-ther
in 1735, the “Querist;
” in A Discourse addressed to Magistrates,
” occasioned by the enormous licence
and irreligion of the times and many other things afterwards of a smaller kind. In 1744 came forth his celebrated
and curious book, entitled, “Siris a chain of philosophical reflections and inquiries concerning the virtues of Tar
Water
” a medicine which had been useful to himself in a
case of nervous colic. This work, he has been heard to
declare, cost him more time and pains than any other he
had ever been engaged in. It underwent a second impression, with additions and emendations, in 1747 and was
followed by “Farther thoughts on Tar Water,
” in I desire to add one more to the
list of churchmen, who are evidently dead to ambition and
avarice.
” Just before his embarkation for America, queen
Caroline endeavoured to stagger his resolution, by the offer of an English mitre but, in reply, he assured her
majesty, that he chose rather to be president of St. Paul’s
college, than primate of all England.
n account of him was drawn up by his brother, the Rev. Dr. Robert Berkeley, vicar-general of Cloyne, who died in 1787. This was first inserted in the Biog. Britannica,
Dr. Berkeley has not been very fortunate in his biographers. An account of him was drawn up by his brother,
the Rev. Dr. Robert Berkeley, vicar-general of Cloyne,
who died in 1787. This was first inserted in the Biog.
Britannica, and many mistakes pointed out, and additions
made to it in a subsequent volume of that work. Previously to this, in 1776, an “Account of his Life
” was published in a thin octavo volume, at London, which probably
was drawn up from family information. Of this a second
edition was published in 1784, professedly “with improvements,
” but the errors both of the first edition and of the
Biog. Brit, which had then appeared, are retained. In
1784 a new edition of the bishop’s entire works was published at Dublin and London, 2 vols. 4to, with the octavo
life prefixed. The third vol. of the Biog. Brit, contains
some important information from the bishop’s widow (who died 1786) and which we have endeavoured to incorporate.
It remains only to be noticed that the romance called the
“Adventures of Signer Gaudentio di Lucca,
” often attributed to our author, was certainly not his production.
since the reformation. In 1759, also, he took the degree of M. A. The kindness of archbishop Seeker ( who testified the highest respect for bishop Berkeley’s memory by
, second son of the preceding, by Anne, eldest daughter of the right hon. John Forster, a privy-counsellor and speaker of the Irish house of commons, by Anne, daughter to the right hon. John Monck, brother to the duke of Albemarle, was born on the 28th of September 1733, old style, in Grosvenor-street, Grosvenor-square. In his infancy he was removed with the family to Ireland, where he was instructed in the classics by his father only, the bishop taking that part of the education of his sons on himself. Instructed in every elegant and useful accomplishment, Mr. Berkeley was, at the age of nineteen, sent over to Oxford his father leaving it to his own choice to enter a gentleman commoner, either at Christ church or St. John’s college. But bishop Conybeare, then dean of Christ church, on his arrival offering him a studentship in that society, he accepted it, finding many of the students to be gentlemen of the first character for learning and rank in the kingdom. His first tutor was the late learned archbishop of York, Dr. Markham; on whose removal to Westminsterschool, he put himself under the tuition of Dr. Smallwell, afterwards bishop of Oxford. Having taken the degree of B. A. he served the office of collector in the university, and as he was allowed by his contemporaries to be an excellent Latin scholar, his collector’s speech was universally admired and applauded. In 1758 he took a small living from his society, the vicarage of East Garston, Berks, from which he was removed, in 1759, by archbishop Seeker, his sole patron, to the vicarage of Bray, Berks of which he was only the fifth vicar since the reformation. In 1759, also, he took the degree of M. A. The kindness of archbishop Seeker (who testified the highest respect for bishop Berkeley’s memory by his attention to his deserving son) did not rest here he gave him also the chancellorship of Brecknock, the rectory of Acton, Middlesex, and the sixth prebendal stall in the church of Canterbury. In 1768 he had taken the degree of LL. D. for which he went out grand compounder, and soon afterwards resigned the rectory of Acton. Some time after he had obtained the chancellorship of Brecknock, he put himself to very considerable expence in order to render permanent two ten pounds per annum, issuing out of the estate, to two poor Welch curacies. The vicarage of Bray he exchanged for that of Cookham near Maidenhead, and had afterwards from the church of Canterbury the vicarage of East-Peckham, Kent, which he relinquished on obtaining the rectory of St. Clement’s Danes which with the vicarage of Tyshurst, Sussex (to which he was presented by the church of Canterbury in 1792, when he vacated Cookham), and with the chancellorship of Brecknock, he; held till his death. His illness had been long and painful, but borne with exemplary resignation and his death was so calm and easy that no pang was observed, no groan was heard, by his attending wife and relations. He died Jan. 6, 1795, and was interred in his father’s vault in Christ church, Oxford. Not long before his death, he expressed his warmest gratitude to Mrs. Berkeley, of whose affection he was truly sensible, and of whom he took a most tender farewell. Dr. Berkeley’s qualifications and attainments were such as occasioned his death to be lamented by many. He was the charitable divine, the affectionate and active friend, the elegant scholar, the accomplished gentleman. He possessed an exquisite sensibility. To alleviate the sufferings of the sick and needy, and to patronize the friendless, were employments in which his heart and his hand ever co-operated. In the pulpit his manner was animated, and his matter forcible. His conversation always enlivened the social meetings where he was present; for he was equalled by few in affability of temper and address, in the happy recital of agreeable anecdote, in the ingenious discussion of literary subjects, or in the brilliant display of a lively imagination.
have some reason to think, was drawn up for the preceding edition of this work, by his widow, a lady who claims some notice on her own account. She died at Kensington,
This memoir, we have some reason to think, was drawn
up for the preceding edition of this work, by his widow, a
lady who claims some notice on her own account. She died
at Kensington, Nov. 4, 1800, leaving a character rather
difficult to appreciate. In 1797, she published the “Poems
”
of her son George Monck Berkeley, esq. in a magnificent
quarto volume, with a very long, rambling preface of anecdotes and remarks, amidst which she exhibits many traits
of her own character. She was unquestionably a lady of
considerable talents, but her fancy was exuberant, and her
petty resentments were magnified into an importance visible perhaps only to herself. She had accumulated a stock
of various knowledge, understood French perfectly and
spoke it fluently. She likewise read Spanish and Hebrew,
and always took her Spanish Prayer-book with her to
church. This was but one of her peculiarities. In conversation, as in writing, she was extremely entertaining,
except to those who wished also to entertain; and her stories and anecdotes, although given in correct and fluent
language, lost much or their effect, sometimes from length,
and sometimes from repetition. She had, however, a warm
friendly heart, amidst all her oddities and her very numerous contributions to the Gentleman’s Magazine contain no small portion of entertainment and information.
Her son, the above-mentioned George Monck Berkeley,
published in 1789, an amusing volume of anecdote and
biography, under the title of “Literary Kelics.
”
, descended in a direct line from Robert Fitzharding, who was of the royal house of Denmark. He with his nephew, Charles
, descended in a direct
line from Robert Fitzharding, who was of the royal house
of Denmark. He with his nephew, Charles Berkeley, had
the principal management of the duke of York’s family,
and was one of the privy council in the reign of Charles II.
James II. and William III. At the restoration he manifested great loyalty for Charles II. and was advanced to the
dignity of viscount Dursley and earl of Berkeley in 1679.
One of his most munificent acts was his bestowing on the
public library of Sion college, a valuable collection of
books formed by sir Robert Coke. He died Oct. 14, 1698,
aged seventy-one, and was buried at Cranford in Middlesex. Lord Orford attributes to him, on good authority,
a curious and scarce work of the religious cast, entitled
“Historical applications and occasional meditations upon
several subjects. Written by a person of honour,
” Lord Plausible,
” in the Plain Dealer, from him a circumstance that
cannot detract much from his lordship’s reputation, for
Wycherley was a poor judge of men of “strict virtue and
piety.
” Besides the above work, of which a third edition
appeared in 1680, lord Berkeley published, the same year,
“A speech to the Levant Company at their annual election, Feb. 9, 1680.
”
his descendants yet live and was by the female line, descended from Thomas Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, who flourished in the reigns of Henry IV. and V. In the 12 James
, one of the justices of the
king’s bench in the time of Charles I. was born in 1584,
the second son of Rowland Berkeley, esq. of Spetchly in
Worcestershire, where his descendants yet live and was
by the female line, descended from Thomas Mowbray,
duke of Norfolk, who flourished in the reigns of Henry IV.
and V. In the 12 James I. he served the office of high
sheriff for the county of Worcester in the 3d Charles I.
was made king’s serjeant, and in the 8th of the same reign,
was made a justice of the court of king’s bench. While
in this office, he, with eleven of his brethren, gave his
opinion in favour of ship-money; and if we may judge
from the tenor of his conduct in private life, as well as
upbn the bench, from honest motives but as he had been
active on other occasions in what he seems to have thought
his duty, and was a man of fortune, he was singled out by
parliament as a proper object of their vengeance. He was
accordingly impeached of high treason, and adjudged to
pay a fine of 20,000l. to be deprived of his office of judge,
and rendered incapable of holding any place, or receiving
any honour in the state or commonwealth: he was also to
be imprisoned in the Tower during the pleasure of the
house of lords. Having made some “satisfaction
” for his
fine to the parliament, he was by their authority, discharged from the whole, and set at liberty, after he had
been upwards of seven months in the Tower. But he af
terwards suffered greatly by the plunderings and exactions
of the rebels, and a little before the battle of Worcester,
the Presbyterians, though engaged in the king’s service,
retained their ancient animosity against him, and burnt his
house at Spetchly to the ground. He afterwards converted the stables into a dwelling-house, and lived with content, and even dignity, upon the wreck of his fortune. He
was a true son of the church of England, and suffered more
from the seduction of his only son Thomas to the church of
Home, at Brussels, than from all the calamities of the civil
war. He died Aug. 5, 1656.
irginia, however, was not long a place of safety; the parliament sent some ships with a small force, who took possession of the province without difficulty, and removed
, a native of London, was
the youngest son of sir Maurice Berkeley, and brother of
John lord Berkeley of Stratton. He was elected probationer fellow of Merton college, Oxford, in 1625, and four
years after was admitted M. A. In 1630, he set out on his
travels, where he seems to have acquired that knowledge
which fitted him for public business, and on his return, became gentleman of the privy-chamber to Charles I. In
1646, he went on some commission to Virginia, of which
province he had afterwards the government. He invited
many of the royalists to retire thither as a place of security,
and hinted in a letter to king Charles I. that it would not
be an unfit place as a retreat for his majesty depending,
perhaps, more upon the improbability of its being attacked,
than on its means of defence. Virginia, however, was not
long a place of safety; the parliament sent some ships with
a small force, who took possession of the province without
difficulty, and removed sir William Berkeley from the government, but suffered him to remain unmolested upon his
private estate. In 1660, on the death of colonel Matthews,
in consideration of his services, particularly in defending
the English from being killed by the natives, and in destroying great numbers of the Indians without losing three of
his own men, he was again made governor, and continued in
that office until 1676, when, he returned to England, after
an absence of thirty years. He died the following year,
and was buried July 13, in the parish church of Twickenham. His writings are, “The Lost Lady,
” a tragi-comedy,
Lond. Cornelia,
” sir William Bartley.
” He wrote also a
“Description of Virginia,
” fol. In Francis Moryson’s edition of “The Laws of Virginia,
” Lond.
e son of Tecelinus, a military nobleman, renowned for what was then deemed piety. His mother, Aleth, who has the same character, had seven children by her husband, of
, one of the most, if not the most distinguished character of the twelfth century, was born at
Fountaine, a village of Burgundy, in 1091, and was the
son of Tecelinus, a military nobleman, renowned for what
was then deemed piety. His mother, Aleth, who has the
same character, had seven children by her husband, of
whom Bernard was the third. From his infancy he was
devoted to religion and study, and made a rapid progress
in the learning of the times. He took an early resolution,
to retire from the world, and engaged all his brothers, and
several of his friends in the same monastic views with himsell. The most rigid rules were most agreeable to his inclination, and hence he became a Cistertian, the strictest
of the orders in France. The Cistertians were at that time
but few in number, men being discouraged from uniting
with them on account of their excessive austerities. Bernard, however, by his superior genius, his eminent piety, and
his ardent zeal, gave to this order a lustre and a celebrity,
which their institution by no means deserved. At the age
of twenty-three, with more than thirty companions, he
entered into the monastery. Other houses of the order
arose soon after, and he himself was appointed abbot of
Clairval. To those noviciates who desired admission, he
used to say, “If ye hasten to those things which are within, dismiss your bodies, which ye brought from the world
let the spirits alone enter the flesh profiteth nothing.
”
Yet Bernard gradually learned to correct the harshness
and asperity of his sentiments, and while he preached
mortification to his disciples, led them on with more
mildness and clemency than he exercised towards himself. For
some time he injured his own health exceedingly by austerities, and, as he afterwards confessed, threw a stumbling
block in the way of the weak, by exacting of them a degree of perfection, which he himself had not attained. After he had recovered from these excesses, he began to
exert himself by travelling and preaching from place to
place, and such were his powers of eloquence, or the character in which he was viewed, that he soon acquired an
astonishing prevalence, and his word became a law to
princes and nobles. His eloquence, great as it was, was
aided in the opinion of his hearers by his sincerity and
humility, and there can be no doubt that his reputation for
those qualities was justly founded. He constantly refused
the highest ecclesiastical dignities, among which the
bishoprics of Genoa, Milan, andRheims, may be instanced,
although his qualifications were indisputable. Such was
his influence, that during a schism which happened in the
church of Rome, his authority determined both Louis VI.
king of France and Henry I. king of England, to support
the claims of Innocent II., one instance, among many, to
prove the ascendancy he had acquired. Yet although no
potentate, civil or ecclesiastical, possessed such real
power as he did, in the Christian world, and though he
stood the highest in the judgment of all men, he remained
in his own estimation the lowest, and referred all he did
to divine grace.
lways employed to the best purposes. The crusade of Louis VII. was supported by Bernard’s eloquence, who unhappily prevailed to draw numbers to join that monarch in
His power, however, was not always employed to the best purposes. The crusade of Louis VII. was supported by Bernard’s eloquence, who unhappily prevailed to draw numbers to join that monarch in his absurd expedition, which was, in its consequences, pregnant with misery and ruin. In his dispute with the celebrated Abelard, he appears more in character. At a council called at Soissons in 1121, Abelard was’ charged with tritheism, and with having asserted, that God the father was alone Almighty. He was ordered to burn his books, and to recite the symbol of Athanasius, with all which he complied, and was set at liberty: but it was long after this before Bernard took any particular notice of Abelard, having either heard little of the controversy, or not being called upon to deliver his sentiments. Abelard, however, notwithstanding his retractations, persevered in teaching his heresies, and it became, at length, impossible for his errors to escape the observation of the abbot of Clairv.il. Having studied the subject, his first step was to admonish Abeiard in a private conference, but finding that that had no effect, he opposed him in some of his writings, on which Abelard challenged him to dispute the matter at a solemn assembly which was to be held at the city of Sens in 1140. Bernard was at first unwilling to subu-it these important doctrines to a decision which was rather that of personal talent, than of deliberative wisdom, and would have declined appearing, had not his friends represented that his absence might injure the cause. He accordingly met his antagonist, and began to open the case, when Abelard very unexpectedly put an end to the matter by appealing to the pope. Bernard, who afterwards wrote to the same pope an account of Abelard’s conduct, very justly blames him for appealing from judges whom he had himself chosen. Notwithstanding this tippeal, however, Abelard’s sentiments were condemned, and the pope ordered his books to be burned, and himself confined in some monastery; and that of Cluni being chosen, he remained in it until his death about two years after.
acter. On the other hand, although his learning was but moderate, he could have been no ordinary man who attained such influence, not only over public opinion, but over
Bernard has had the fate of most of the eminent characters during the early ages of the church, to be excessively applauded by one party, and. as much and as unjustly depreciated by the other. Of his austerities and his miracles, little notice need be now taken. The former he was himself willing to allow were unjustifiable, and the latter are probably the forgeries of a period later than his own. In his conduct as well as his writings we see many intolerant prejudices and much superstition a strong predilection for the Roman hierarchy, and particularly for the monastic character. On the other hand, although his learning was but moderate, he could have been no ordinary man who attained such influence, not only over public opinion, but over men of the highest rank and power and he has been praised by the protestant writers for deviating in many respects from the dogmas of the popish religion, and maintaining some of those essential doctrines which afterwards occasioned a separation between the two churches. He denied transubstantiation, allowed of only two sacraments, and placed salvation on the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, denying all works of supererogation, &c. As to his talents, one of his modern biographers allows that his style was lively and florid, his thoughts noble and ingenious, his imagination brilliant^ and fertile in allegories. He is full of sensibility and tenderness, first gains the mind by a delicate and insinuating manner, then touches the heart with force and vehemence. The Holy Scripture was so familiar to this writer, that he adopts its words and expressions in almost every period and every phrase. St. Bernard’s sermons are considered as master-pieces of sentiment and force. Henry de Valois preferred them to all those of the ancients, whether Greek or Latin. It appears that he preached in French that monks who were not learned assisted at his conferences, and that Latin was then not understood by the people. His Sermons are to be seen in old French at the library of the fathers Fuillautines, rue St. Honore at Paris, in a ms. which is very near St. Bernard’s time; and the council of Tours, held in the year 813, ordered the bishops when they delivered the homilies of the fathers, to translate them from Latin into Langue romance, that the people might understand them. This proves that it was the custom to preach in French long before the time of St. Bernard. The best edition of the works of St. Bernard, who is regarded as the last of the fathers, is that of Mabillon, 2 vots. 1690, fol. the first of which contains such pieces as are undoubtedly Bernard’s. Those in the second volume are not of equal authority. Besides the lives prefixed to this edition by various writers, there are three separate lives, one by Lemaistre, Paris, 1649, 8vo; another by Villefore, 1704, 4to and a third by Clemencet, 1773, 4to, which is usually considered as the thirteenth volume of the literary history of France.
, a monk in the tenth century, who was born in the year 923, in the neighbourhood of Annecy, of
, a monk in the tenth century, who was born in the year 923, in the neighbourhood of Annecy, of one of the most illustrious houses of Savoy, rendered himself not more celebrated in the annals of religion than of benevolence, by two hospitable establishments which he formed, and where, for nine hundred years, travellers have found relief from the dangers of passing the Alps in the severe part of the season. Bernard, influenced by pious motives and a love of study, refused in his early years a proposal of marriage to which his parents attached great importance, and embraced the ecclesiastical life. He afterwards was promoted to be archdeacon of Aoste, which includes the places of official and grand-vicar, and consequently gave him considerable weight in the government of the diocese. This he employed in the laudable purposes of converting the wretched inhabitants of the neighbouring mountains, who were idolaters, and made very great progress in ameliorating their manners, as well as religious opinions. Affected at the same time with the dangers and hardships sustained by the French and German pilgrims in travelling to Rome, he resolved to build on the summit of the Alps two hospitia, or hotels, for their reception, one on mount Joux (mons Jcrffis, so called from a temple of Jupiter erected there), and the other, the colonnade of Jove, so called from a colonnade or series of upright stones placed on the snow to point out a safe track. These places of reception were afterwards called, and are still known by the names of the Great and Little St. Bernard. The care of them the founder entrusted to regular canons of the order of St. Augustin, who have continued without interruption to our days, each succession of monks during this long period, zealously performing the duties of hospitality according to the benevolent intentions of St. Bernard. The situation is the most inhospitable by nature that can be conceived even in spring, the cold is extreme; and the whole is covered with snow or ice, whose appearances are varied only by storms and clouds. Their principal monastery on Great St. Bernard, is probably the highest habitation in Europe, being two thousand five hundred toises above the sea. Morning and evening their dogs, trained for the purpose, trace out the weary and perishing traveller, and by their means, many lives are saved, the utmost care being taken to recover them, even when- recovery seems most improbable. After thus establishing these hospitia, Bernard returned to his itinerant labours among the neighbouring countries until his death in May 28, 1008. The Bollandists have published, with notes, two authentic lives of St. Bernard de Menthon, one written by Richard, his successor in the archdeaconry of Aoste y by which it appears that he was neither a Cistertian, nor of the regular canons, as some writers have asserted. The two hospitals possessed considerable property in Savoy, of which they were deprived afterwards, but the establishment still subsists, and the kind and charitable duties of it have lately been performed by secular priests.
in 1690. It is thought she composed these pieces conjointly with Fontenelle and the two Corneille’s, who were her relations. She wrote also some other poems with ease
, of the academy of the Ricovrati of Padua, was born at Rouen, and died at Paris in
J7 12. She acquired some poetical fame, her works being
everal times crowned by the French academy, and that of
the Jeux floraux. Two of her tragedies were represented
at the French theatre, “Laodamia,
” in Brutus
” in Recueil de vers choisis
du pere Bouhours.
” She discontinued writing for the
theatre at the instance of madame de Pont-Chartrain, who
gave her a pension. She even suppressed several little
pieces, which might have given a bad impression of her
manners and religion. Three romances are likewise ascribed to her “The count d'Amboise,
” in 12mo “The
miseries of Love;
” and “Ines of Cordova,
” 12mo. Some
of the journalists have attributed to mademoiselle Bernard
the account of the isle of Borneo, and others to FonteneHe.
“It may be doubted,
” says the abbé Trublet, “whether
it be hers and it is to be wished that it is not.
” It is an
allegorical account of the religious disputes of that period.
Beauchamps says she wrote the tragedy of “Bradamante,
”
represented in Histoire du Theatre Francois.
”
” ibid.' 1646, fol. This account of the life of the author was written by Charles Sorel, his nephew, who also continued the work down to 1643. The abbé de Gendre says
, king’s counsellor, and historiographer of France, was born at Paris Dec. 25, 1571,
and died in 1640. The chief part of his labours were directed to the history of France; on which he wrote, l.“La
Conjunction des mers,
” on the junction of the ocean with
the Mediterranean by the Burgundy canal, 1613, 4to. 2.
“Discours surl'etatdes Finances,
” Paris, Histoire des guerres de Louis XIII. centre les religionnaires rebelles,
” ibid. 1633, fol. Of this only abont three
dozen copies were printed, but the whole was afterwards
inserted in his history of Louis XIII. 4. “Carte genealogique de la royale maison de Bourbon, avec des Eloges
des princes, &c.
” ibid. Genealogie de la maison de Bourbon.
” 5. “Histoire
de Louis XIII. jusqu‘a la guerre declaree contre les Espagnols, avec un Discours sur la vie de l’auteur,
” ibid.'
1646, fol. This account of the life of the author was written by Charles Sorel, his nephew, who also continued the
work down to 1643. The abbé de Gendre says that Bernard is deficient both in style and taste, dealing too much
in trifles and digressions, and too prolix in his descriptions of works of architecture, as well as in common-place
reflections. He allows, however, that he gives a good account of military affairs, and developes with great skill the
intrigues of the court, with which he had a good opportunity of being acquainted.
appy hy his good offices, for which purpose he one day presented a petition to, a nobleman in place, who being of a Very hasty temper, flew into a violent passion, and
, called Father Bernard, or the
Poor Priest, was born December 26, 1588, at Dijon, sou
of Stephen Bernard, lieut.-gen. of Chalons-sur-Saone. He
had a lively imagination and wit, which, joined to a jovial
temper, made him a welcome guest in all gay companies.
Going to Paris with M. de Bellegarde, governor of Dijon,
he gave himself up to public amusements, and all the vanities of the age, making it his business to act comedies for
the diversion of such persons of quality as he was acquainted with but at length he grew disgusted with the
world, and devoted himself wholly to relieving and comforting the poor. He assisted them by his charities and
exhortations to the end of his days, with incredible fervour,
stooping and humbling himself to do the meanest offices
for them. Father Bernard having persisted in refusing all
the benefices offered him by the court, cardinal Richelieu
told him one day, that he absolutely insisted on his asking
him for something, and left him alone to consider of it.
When the cardinal returned half an hour after, Bernard
said, “Monseigneur, after much study, I have at last
found out a favour to ask of you When I attend any sufferers to the gibbet to assist them in their last moments,
we are carried in a cart with so bad a bottom, that we are
every moment in danger of falling to the ground. Be
pleased, therefore, Monseigneur, to order that some better boards may be put to the cart.
” Cardinal Richelieu
laughed heartily at this request, and gave orders directly
that the cart should be thoroughly repaired. Father Bernard was ever ready to assist the unhappy hy his good offices, for which purpose he one day presented a petition to,
a nobleman in place, who being of a Very hasty temper,
flew into a violent passion, and said a thousand injurious
things of the person for whom the priest interested himself,
but Bernard still persisted in his request; at which the nobleman was at last so irritated, that he gave him a box on
the ear. Bernard immediately fell at his feet, and, presenting the other ear, said, “Give me a good blow on
this also, my lord, and grantmy petition.
” The nobleman was so affected by this apparent humility as to grant
Bernard’s request. He died March 23, 1641. The French
clergy had such a veneration for him as often to solicit that
he might be enrolled in the calendar of saints. In 1638
he founded the school of the Thirty-three, so called from
the number of years our Saviour passed on earth, and a
very excellent seminary. Immediately after his death appeared “Le Testament du reverend pere Bernard, et ses
pensdes pieuses,
” Paris, Le Recit des
choses arrivees a la mort du rev. pere Bernard,
” same year.
The abbé Papillon also quotes a work entitled “Entretiens
pendant sa derniere maladie.
” His life was written by several authors, by Legauffre, Giry, de la Serre, Gerson,
and Lempereur the Jesuit. This last, which was published
at Paris, 1708, 12mo, is too full of visions, revelations, and
miracles, to afford any just idea of Bernard.
Northampton but his father dying when he was very young, his mother sent him to an uncle in London, who entered him at Merchant-taylors-school, in 1648 here he continued
, a learned critic and astronomer, was born at Perry St. Paul, commonly called Pauler’s Perry, near Towcester in Northamptonshire, the 2d of May 1638. He received some part of his education at Northampton but his father dying when he was very young, his mother sent him to an uncle in London, who entered him at Merchant-taylors-school, in 1648 here he continued tillJune 1655, when he was elected scholar of St. John’s college in Oxford, of which also he became afterwards fellow. DuTing his stay at school, he had accumulated an uncommon fund of classical learning, so that when he went to the university, he was a great master of the Greek and Latin tongues, and not unacquainted with the Hebrew. He had also previously acquired a good Latin style, could compose verses well, and often used to divert himself with writing epigrams, but he quitted these juvenile employments when at the university, and applied himself to history, philology, and philosophy, and made himself master of the Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, and Coptic. He applied himself next to the mathematics, under the famous Dr. J. Wallis. He took the degree of B. A. Feb. the 12th, 1659 that of master, April 16, 1662 and that of B. D. June 9, 1668. Decem,ber following he went to Leyden, to consult several Oriental manuscripts left to that university by Joseph Scaliger and Levinus Warner, and especially the 5th, 6th, and 7th books of Apollonius Pergieus’s conic sections; the Greek text of which is lost, but which are preserved in the Arabic version of that author. This version had been brought from the East by James Golius, and was in the possession of his executor, who, pleased that Mr. Bernard’s chief design in coming to Holland was to examine this manuscript, allowed him the free use of it. He accordingly transcribed these three books, with the diagrams, intending to publish them at Oxford, with a Latin version, and proper commentaries; but was prevented from completing this design. Abraham Echellensis had published a Latin translation of these books in 1661, and Christianus Ravius gave another in 1669: but Dr. Smith remarks, that these two authors, though well skilled in the Arabic language, were entirely ignorant of the mathematics, which made it regretted that Golius died while he was preparing that work for the press; and that Mr. Bernard, who understood both the language and the subject, and was furnished with all the proper helps for such a design, was abandoned by his friends, though they had before urged him to. undertake it. It was, however, at last published by Dr. Halley in 1710.
he examined and collated the most valuable manuscripts in the Bodleian library; which induced those who published ancient authors, to apply to him for observations
At his return to Oxford, he examined and collated the most valuable manuscripts in the Bodleian library; which induced those who published ancient authors, to apply to him for observations or emendations, which he readily imparted, and by this means became engaged in a very extensive correspondence with the learned in most countries. In 1669, the celebrated Christopher Wren, Savilian professor of astronomy at Oxford, having been appointed surveyor-general of his majesty’s works, and being much detained at London by this employment, obtained leave to name a deputy at Oxford, and pitched upon Mr. Bernard, which obliged the latter to confine his application more particularly to the study of astronomy. In 1672, the master and fellows of his college presented him to the rectory of Cheame in Surrey and February following, Dr. Peter Mews, the master, being advanced to the bishopric of Bath, and Wells, appointed Mr. Bernard one of his chaplains. But the following year he quitted all views of preferment, by accepting the Savilian professorship of astronomy, vacant by the resignation of sir Christopher Wren for, by the statutes of the founder, sir Henry Savile, the professors are not allowed to hold any other office either ecclesiastical or civil.
eme was set on foot at Oxford, of collecting and publishing the ancient mathematicians. Mr. Bernard, who had first formed the project, collected all the books published
About this time a scheme was set on foot at Oxford, of
collecting and publishing the ancient mathematicians. Mr.
Bernard, who had first formed the project, collected all
the books published on that subject since the invention of
printing, and all the Mss. he could discover in the Bodleian and Savilian libraries, which he arranged in order of
time, and according to the matter they contained. Of this
he drew up a synopsis or view, which he presented to
bishop Fell, a great encourager of the undertaking. This
was published by his biographer, Dr. Thomas Smith, at
the end of his life. As a specimen, Mr. Bernard published
also a few sheets of Euclid, in folio, containing the Greek
text, and a Latin version, with Proclus’s commentary in
Greek and Latin, and learned scholia and corollaries. He
undertook also an edition of the “Parva syntaxis Alexandrina
” in which, besides Euclid, are contained the small
treatises of Theodosius, Autolycus, Menelaus, Aristarchus,
and Hipsicles but it was never published. In 1676, he
was sent to France by Charles II. to be tutor to the dukes
of Grafton and Northumberland, natural sons of the king,
by the duchess of Cleveland, with whom they then lived
at Paris; but the plainness and simplicity of his manners
not suiting the gaiety of the duchess’s family, he continued
with them only one year, when he returned to Oxford
having reaped however the advantage, during his stay at
Paris, of becoming acquainted with most of the learned
men in that city, particularly Justel, Huet, Mabillon,
Quesnel, Dacier, Renaudot, and others.
s, Perizonius, Ryckius, Gallaeus, Rulaeus, and especially Nicholas Witsen, burgomaster of Amsterdam, who presented him with a Coptic dictionary, brought from Egypt by
In 1683, he went again to Leyden, to be present at the
sale of Nicholas Heinsius’s library; where he purchased,
at a great price, several of the classical authors, thut had
been either collated with manuscripts, or illustrated with
the original notes of Joseph Scaliger, Bonaventure Vulcanius, the two Heinsiuses, and other celebrated critics.
Here he renewed his acquaintance with several persons of
eminent learning, particularly Gruevius, Spanheim, Triglandius, Gronovius, Perizonius, Ryckius, Gallaeus, Rulaeus, and especially Nicholas Witsen, burgomaster of Amsterdam, who presented him with a Coptic dictionary,
brought from Egypt by Theodore Petraeus of Holsatia;
and afterwards transmitted to him in 1686, the Coptic and
Ethiopic types made of iron, for the use of the printingpress at Oxford. With such civilities he was so much
pleased, and especially with the opportunities he had of
making improvements in Oriental learning, that he would
have settled at Leyden, if he could have been chosen professor of the Oriental languages in that university, but not
being able to compass this, he returned to Oxford. He
began now to be tired of astronomy, and his health declining, he was desirous to resign but no other preferment
offering, he was obliged to hold his professorship some
years longer than he intended; in 1684 he took his degree of D. D. and in 1691, being presented to the rectory
of Brightwell in Berkshire, he quitted his professorship,
and was succeeded by David Gregory, professor of mathematics at Edinburgh. In 1692, he was employed in drawing up a catalogue of the manuscripts in Great Britain and
Ireland, which was published at Oxford 1697, fol. Dr.
Bernard’s share in this undertaking was the drawing up a
most useful and complete alphabetical Index to which he
prefixed this title, “Librorum manuscriptorum Magnae
Britanniae et Hibernise, atque externarum aliquot Bibliothecarum Index secundum alphabetum Edwardus Bernardus construxit Oxonii.
” In this Index he mentions a
great number of valuable Greek manuscripts, which are to
be found in several foreign libraries, as well as our own.
Towards the latter end of his life, he was much afflicted
with the stone, yet, notwithstanding this and other infirmities, he took a third voyage to Holland, to attend the
sale of Golius’s manuscripts. After six or seven weeks absence, he returned to London, and from thence to Oxford.
There he fell into a languishing consumption, which put
an end to his life, Jan. 12, 1696, before he was quite
fifty-nine years of age. Four days after, he was interred
in St. John’s chapel, where a monument of white marble
was soon erected for him by his widow, to whom he had
been married only three years. In the middle of it there
is the form of an Heart carved, circumscribed with these
words, according to his own direction a little before he
died, Habemus Cor Bernard!: and underneath
E. B. S. T. P. Obiit Jan. 12, 1696. The same is also repeated on a small square marble, under which he was
buried. As to this learned man’s character, Dr. Smith,
who knew him well, gives him a very great one. “He
was (says he) of a mild disposition, averse to wrangling
and disputes and if by chance or otherwise he happened
to be present where contests ran high, he would deliver
his opinion with great candour and modesty, and in few
words, but entirely to the purpose. He was a candid
judge of other men’s performances; not too censorious
even on trifling books, if they contained nothing contrary
to good manners, virtue, or religion and to those which
displayed wit, learning, or good sense, none gave more
ready and more ample praise. Though he was a true son
of the Church of England, yet he judged favourably and
charitably of dissenters of all denominations. His piety
and prudence never suffered him to be hurried away by an
immoderate zeal, in declaiming against the errors of others.
His piety was sincere and unaffected, and his devotions
both in public and private very regular and exemplary.
Of his great and extensive learning, the works he published, and the manuscripts he has left, are a sufficient evidence.
” This character is supported by the concurring
evidence of all his learned contemporaries. The works
he published were 1. “Tables of the longitudes and latitudes of the fixed Stars.
” 2. “The Obliquity of the Ecliptic from the observations of the ancients, in Latin.
”
3. “A Latin letter to Mr. John Flamsteed, containing observations on the Eclipse of the Sun, July 2, 1684, at
Oxford.
” All these are in the Philosophical Transactions,
4, “A treatise of the ancient Weights and Measures,
”
printed first at the end of Dr. Edward Pocock’s Commentary on Hosea, Oxford, 1685, fol. and afterwards reprinted
in Latin, with very great additions and alterations, under
this title, “De mensuris & ponderibus antiquis, libri tres,
”
Oxon. Private Devotions, with a brief
explication of the Ten Commandments,
” Oxford, Orbis eruditi Literatura a charactere Samaritico deducta
” printed at Oxford from a copper-plate,
on one side of a broad sheet of paper: containing at one
view, the different forms of letters used by the Phoenicians,
Samaritans, Jews, Syrians, Arabs, Persians, Brachmans,
and other Indian philosophers, Malabarians, Greeks,
Cophts, Russians, Sclavonians, Ethiopians, Francs, Saxons,
Goths, &c. all collected from ancient inscriptions, coins,
and manuscripts together with the abbreviations used by
the Greeks, physicians, mathematicians, and chymists.
7. “Etymologicum Britannicum, or derivations of the
British and English words from the Russian, Sclavonian,
Persian, and Armenian languages printed at the end of
Dr. Hickes’s Grammatica Anglo- Saxonica & Moeso-Gotthica,
” Oxon. Misnoe pars prima, ordinis primi Zeraim tituli
septem,
” Oxon. Chronologiae Samaritanae
Synopsis,
” in two tables the first containing the most
famous epochas, and remarkable events, from the beginning of the world the second a catalogue of the Samaritan High Priests from Aaron, published in the “Acta Eruditqrum Lipsiensia,
” April Notse in fragmentum
Seguierianum Stephani Byzantini
” in the library of monsieur Seguier, chancellor of France part of which, relating
to Dodone, were published by Gronovius, at the end' of
his “Exercitationes de Dodone,
” Leyden, Adnotationes in Epistolam S. Barnabce,
” published in bishop
Fell’s edition of that author, Oxon. 1685, 8vo. 12. “Short
notes, in Greek and Latin, upon Cotelerius’s edition of
the Apostolical Fathers, printed in the Amsterdam edition
of them. 13.
” Veterum testimonia de Versione LXXII
interpretum," printed at the end of Aristeae Historia LXXII
interpretum, published by Pr. Henry Aldrich, Oxon.
1692, 8vo. 14. He translated into Latin, the letters of
the Samaritans, which Dr. R. Huntington procured them
to write to their brethren, the Jews in England, in
1673|while he was at Sichem. Dr. Smith having obtained a
copy of this translation, gave it to the learned Job LudoL
fus, when he was in England, who published it in the collection of Samaritan Epistles, written to himself and other
learned men. Besides these works, he also assisted several
learned men in their editions of books, and collated manuscripts for them and left behind him in manuscript many
books of his own composition, with very large collections
which, together with the books enriched in the margin
with the notes of the most learned men, and collected by
him in France and Holland, were purchased by the curators of the Bodleian library, for the sum of two hundred
pounds. They likewise bought a considerable number of
curious and valuable books out of his library, which were
wanting in the Bodleian, for which they paid one hundred
and forty pounds. The rest of his books were sold by
auction, all men of letters striving to purchase those which
had any observations of Dr. Bernard’s own hand.
ellor of the diocese of Durham, is well known as a scholar and philanthropist. In 1752, sir Francis, who cultivated a highly classical taste, published “Antonii Alsopi
The favourable sentiments which the province entertained for sir Francis before the controversy took place between Great Britain and the colonies, are shown by the
expressions of acknowledgement and affection in their several addresses to him up to that period, and the constant
approbation with which he was honoured by his majesty,
appears from the dispatches of the different secretaries of
state laid before the House of Commons, and printed by
their order. His “Case before the Privy Council,
” printed
in Select Letters,
” in Antonii Alsopi Odarum
libri duo,
” 4to. (See Alsop), dedicated in an elegant copy
of verses to Thomas duke of Newcastle.
ent to Ganda to preach in his turn, which was about four times a year. About the same time Le Clerc, who was his relation, procured him a small supply from the town
, professor of philosophy and mathematics, and minister of the Walloon church at Leyden,
was born Sept. 1, 1658, at Nions in Dauphine. He received the rudiments of his education in a protestant academy, at Die in Dauphine, and went afterwards to Geneva,
where he studied philosophy, and acquired a critical knowledge of the Hebrew language under the professor Michael
Turretin. He returned to France in 1679, and was chosen
minister of Venterol, a village in Dauphine. Some time
after he was removed to the church of Vinsobres in the
same province but the persecutions raised agaiitst the
protestants in France having obliged him to leave his native country, he retired to Geneva in 1683, and as he did
not think himself sufficiently secure there, he went to
Lausanne, where he remained until the revocation of the
edict of Nantes. He then proceeded to Holland, where
he was appointed one of the pensionary ministers of Ganda,
and taught philosophy but having married after he came
to Holland, and the city of Ganda not being very populous, he had not a sufficient number of scholars to maintain his family; and therefore obtained leave to reside at
the Hague, but went to Ganda to preach in his turn,
which was about four times a year. About the same time
Le Clerc, who was his relation, procured him a small supply from the town of Tergow, as preacher; and at the
Hague he farther improved his circumstances by teaching
philosophy, belles-lettres, and mathematics. Before he
went to live at the Hague, he had published a kind of political state of Europe, entitled “Histoire abregee de
l'Europe,
” &c, The work was begun in July Lettres Historiques,
” containing an account of the most important
transactions in Europe, with reflections, which was also
published monthly, till 1698: it was afterwards continued
by other hands, and contains a great many volumes. Mr.
Le Clerc having left off his “Bibliotheque Universelle,
”
in Actes et negotiations de la Paix de Ryswic,
” four
vols. 12mo a new edition of this collection was published
in 1707, five vols. 12mo. He did not put his name to any
of these works, nor to the general collection of the treaties
of peace, which he publ.shed in 1700; and which consists
of the treaties, contracts, acts of guaranty, &c. betwixt
the powers of F.urope, four vols. fol. The first contains
the preface, and the treaties made since the year 536 to
1.500. The second consists of Mr. Amelot‘de la Houssay’s
historical and political reflections, and the treaties from.
150’-) to 1600. The third includes the treaties from 1601
to 1661 and the fourth, those from 1661 to 1700, with a
general alphabetical index to the whole. He prefixed his
name, however, to his continuation of Bayle’s “Nouvelles
de la llepublique des Lettres,
” which was begun in
him for one of their ministers but they could not accomplish their desire whilst king William lived, who refused twice to confirm the election of Mr. Bernard, as being
Mr. Bernard having acquired great reputation by his
works, as well as by his sermons at Ganda and the Hague,
the congregation of the Walloon church at Leyden were
desirous to have him for one of their ministers but they
could not accomplish their desire whilst king William lived,
who refused twice to confirm the election of Mr. Bernard,
as being a republican in his principles, and having delivered his sentiments too freely in a sermon before this
prince yet these appear to have been the same sentiments
which justified the revolution to which that sovereign owed
the crown of these kingdoms. After king William’s death,
however, he was unanimotisly chosen in 1705; and about
the same time appointed professor of philosophy and mathematics at Leyden the university presenting him with
the degrees of doctor of philosophy, and master of arts.
In 1716, he published “A Supplement to Moreri’s dictionary,
” in two vols. folio. The same year he resumed
his “Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres,
” and continued it till his death, which happened the 27th of April
1718, in the 60th year of his age.
Mr. Bernard was well skilled in polite literature, and a
perfect master of the Hebrew tongue. He studied the
scriptures with great attention and though he was not
reckoned of the first class of mathematicians, yet he could
explain the principles of that science in a very clear and
able manner. As to philosophy, he had applied himself
to that of Des Cartes yet alter he came into Holland,
having learned the EngLsh tongue, he used to read the
best books from England, and had acquired some taste for
the Newtonian philosophy. Besides the works above mentioned, he published, 1. “Le Theatre des etats du due de
Savoie, traduit du Latin de Bleau,
” Hague, Traite
de la repentance tardive,
” Amst. De
I'excellence de la religion Chretienne,
” ibid.
tions of the text. As he did not put his name to this edition, Messrs. Boden, Dutens, and Villoison, who were also editors of Longus after him, knew no other way of
, a learned Dutch physician, was born in 1718, at Berlin, where his father, Gabriel Bernard, was a minister of the reformed church. His
son came to Holland to study physic and determined to remain there. Having an extraordinary fondness for the
study of Greek, in which he had made great progress, he
wished to render this knowledge subservient to his profession, and with that view projected a new edition of the
lesser Greek physicians, whose works were become very
scarce and dear. He began first at Leyden, in 1743, with
Demetrius Pepagomenus on the gout; and next year published an introduction to anatomy by an anonymous author,
and a nomenclature of the parts of the human body by
Hypatius, both in one volume. In 1745, he published
Palladius on fevers, and an inedited Chemical glossary,
with some extracts, likewise inedited from the different
poetical chemists. The same year appeared his edition of
Psellus on the virtues of stones. In 1749, he published
Synesius on fevers, hitherto inedited, and wrote, in the
ninth volume of Dorville’s “Miscellaneae Observationes
Novae,
” an account of the variations of a manuscript
copy of the lexicons or glossaries of Erotian, and Galen.
In 1754, when Neaulme, the Dutch bookseller, designed
a new edition of Longus’s romance, Bernard read the
proofs, and introduced some important corrections of the
text. As he did not put his name to this edition, Messrs.
Boden, Dutens, and Villoison, who were also editors of
Longus after him, knew no other way of referring to him
than as the “Paris editor,
” being deceived hy Neaulrne’s
dating the work from Paris, instead of Amsterdam, where it
was printed. In 1757, he superintended an edition of
Thomas Magister, but his professional engagements not allowing him sufficient leisure, the preface was written by
Oudendorp. From this time, Bernard having ceased to
write, and having retired to Arnheim, was completely forgot until, says the editor of the Biog. Universelle, his death
was announced by Saxius in 1790 but this seems a mistake. Saxius gives an account of him, as of some other
living authoi’s, but leaves his death blank. Bernard, however, to contradict such a rumour, or, as his biographer expresses himself, in order to “show some signs of life,
”
published a Greek fragment on the dropsy. It was his purpose next to publish Theophilus Nonnus, “De curatione
morborum.
” This work, on which he had bestowed the
labour of many years, and which is one of his best editions,
was published at Gotha in 1794, a year after his death. A
short time before this event, he sent to the society of arts
and sciences at Utrecht, remarks on some Greek authors,
which appeared in the first volume of the “Acta Litteraria
” of that society. In Bernardi Reliquiae medico-criticae.
” Several very learned and curious letters from Bernard were also published in
Reiske’s Memoirs, Leipsic, 1783.
n of Rabelais, 1741, 3 vols. 4to, with Picart’s cuts, a well-known and most beautiful book. Bernard, who nourished as a bookseller of great eminence from the year 1711,
, an industrious and learned bookseller of Amsterdam, distinguished himself about
the beginning of the last century, both as author and editor of various works of considerable importance. He wrote
rather learnedly than elegantly, yet with so much impartiality and candour, that he had many readers. The following list has been given of the principal works of which
he was editor 1. “Recueil de voyages au Nord, contehant divers memoires tres-utiles an commerce et a la navigation,
” Amst. Memoires du comte de Brienne, rninistre d'etat
sous Louis XIV. avec des notes,
” ibid. 1719, 3 vols. 12mo.
3. “Picart’s Religious Ceremonies,
” ibid. Superstitions anciennes et modernes,
” Dialogues critiques et philosophiques, par
D. Charte-Livry (J.F.Bernard),
” ibid. Reflections morales, satyriques et comiques,
” Liege,
Histoire critique des
Journaux, par Camusat,
” Amst. Dissertations melees sur divers sujets importans et curieux,
” Amst.
ath of a woful Sinner; or, the penitent death of John Atherton, late bishop of Waterford in Ireland, who was executed at Dublin the fifth of December, 1640; with some
, a learned English divine of
the seventeenth century, was educated in the university of
Cambridge, where he took the degree of M. A. and was incorporated to the same degree at Oxford, July 15, 1628.
He was probably created D. D. of the university of Dublin,
but this has not been exactly ascertained. He was ordained by primate Usher, in 1626, in St. Peter’s church,
Drogheda, while he was only B. A. and made his chaplain,
and soon after, by his interest, was promoted to the deanery of Ardagh. His Grace having daily opportunities ojf
taking notice of the learning and judgment of Mr. Bernard,
employed him in making collections for some works he was
then meditating, particularly for the antiquities of the British churches; which did not appear till 1639. The primate always expressed great friendship and esteem for him;
and upon taking his leave of him at Drogheda in 1640,
gave him “A serious preparative against the heavy sorrows and miseries that he should feel before he saw him
again, and spoke of them with that confidence, as if they
had been within his view.
” This serious discourse proved
in the event to be a prophecy, as will be noticed in the
life of that prelate. The year following, Dr. Bernard published a book and a sermon which gave offence. These
were entitled, 1. “The penitent death of a woful Sinner;
or, the penitent death of John Atherton, late bishop of Waterford in Ireland, who was executed at Dublin the fifth of
December, 1640; with some annotations on several passages,
” London, A sermon
preached at the burial of John Atherton, the next night
after his execution, in St. John’s church, Dublin,
” Lond.
The
whole proceedings of the siege of Drogheda,
” London and
Dublin, A Dialogue
tetweeu Paul and Agrippa,
” London, A farewell sermon
of comfort and concord, preached at Drogheda,
” The life and death of Dr. James Usher, late archbishop
of Armagh, primate and metropolitan of all Ireland, in a
sermon preached at his funeral in the abbey of Westminster, on the 17th of April, 1656,
” London, The judgment of the late archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland concerning first,
the extent of Christ’s death and satisfaction secondly, of
the Sabbath, and observation of the Lord’s day,
” &c. London,
Respondet Petrus or, the answer
of Peter Heylyn, D. D. to so much of Dr. Bernard’s book
entitled
” The judgment of the late primate of Ireland, &c.
as he is made a party by the said lord primate in the point
of the Sabbath,“London, 1658, 4to. He also published
several letters which passed between him and Dr. Heylyn,
and published and enlarged several posthumous works of
Dr. Usher as,
” His judgment on Babylon being the present see of Rome, Rev. xviii. 4, with a sermon of bishop
Bedell’s upon the same words,“London, 1659.
” Devotions of the ancient church, in seven pious prayers,“&c.
London, 1660, 8vo.
” Clavi trabales, or nails fastened by
some great masters of assemblies, confirming the king’s
supremacy, the subject’s duty, and church government by
bishops being a collection of some pieces written on
these subjects by archbishop Usher, Mr. Hooker, bishop
Andrews, and Dr. Hadrian Saravia; with a preface by the
bishop of Lincoln," London, 1661, 4to.
n in 1710. Being sent to the college of Jesuits at Lyons, he made rapid progress under able masters, who were desirous of attaching him to their body but the young scholar,
, a French poet, was the
son of a sculptor at Grenoble in Dauphine, and born in
1710. Being sent to the college of Jesuits at Lyons, he
made rapid progress under able masters, who were desirous
of attaching him to their body but the young scholar, too
fond of liberty and pleasure, would not consent to that
Confinement. Being drawn to Paris by the wish to make a
figure in the poetical world, he was obliged to employ himself for two years as clerk to a notary. The light pieces of
poetry he sent abroad at intervals, of which the best are the
epistle to Claudine, and the song of the Rose, procured
him a patron in the marquis de Pezay, who took him with
him to the campaign of Italy. Bernard was at the battles
of Parma and Guastalla and behaved with considerable
bravery. Being presented to the marechal de Coigni, who
commanded there, he was lucky enough to please him by
his wit and agreeable manners. The marechal took him
to be his secretary, admitted him to his intimacy, and
some time afterwards procured him the place of secretarygeneral of the dragoons. From gratitude he attached himself constantly to this Maecenas, till 1756, when he was
deprived of him by death. He was in great request in all
the select companies of the court and of Paris; whom he
delighted by the brilliant wit, and warmth of his verses
and airs, of which some are worthy of Anacreon. In
1771 the sudden loss of his memory put an end to his
happiness, and he fell into a state of mental imbecillity.
In this condition he went to a revival of his opera of Castor,
and was incessantly asking, “Is the king come Is the
king pleased with it Is madame de Pompadour pleased
with it
” thinking he was all the while at Versailles and
rioting in the delirium of a courtly poet. He died in this
unhappy state, Nov. 1, 1775. Besides his lighter pieces
of poetry, which got him the appellation of le gentil Bernard,
several operas added much to his reputation. In 1803 an
edition of his works was published in 2 vols. 8vo, and 4 vols.
18mo, comprehending several pieces not before published;
but upon the whole, according to the opinion of his countrymen, his talents were not of the first order, and his
popularity appears to have been owing more to his gratifying the passions than the taste of his companions and
readers.
uis XV. when in need of similar help, sent certain persons to Bernard, whose answer was, that “those who wanted his assistance might at least take the trouble to apply
, an opulent financier of France,
was the son of Samuel Bernard, an engraver (mentioned by^trutt), whodied in 1687. He was born in 1651, but
how educated, or by what means he raised his fortune, we
are nor told Under the ministry of Chamillard he became
a farmer general, and accumulated a capital of thirty-three
mi i lions, of which he made a very liberal use, but seems
to have been proudly aware of the superiority of lender
0ver borrower. When Louis XIV. wanted supplies, Bernard grained them, but always in consequence of his majesty’s applying to him in person. Louis XV. when in
need of similar help, sent certain persons to Bernard, whose
answer was, that “those who wanted his assistance might
at least take the trouble to apply themselves.
” He was
accordingly presented to the king, who said many flattering things to him, and ordered the courtiers to pay him
every mark of respect. Bernard was now called the saviour
of the state all the courtiers entertained him in succession he dined with the marshal Noailles, and supped
with the duchess of Tallard, and played and lost what they
pleased. They sneered at his manners, which were citizen-like, and he lent the millions which they demanded.
Bernard, however, was of a benevolent turn the poor of
the military order were particularly the subjects of his
bounty, and, frequently as they might apply, they never
were refused, On his death it was found that he had lent
ten millions, of which he never received a farthing in return. In his speculations he was both bold and successful.
One day he had asked a person of distinction to dine with
him, and had promised to treat him with some excellent
mountain, not knowing at that time that his stock was exhausted. After dinner his servant announced this lamentable deficiency, and Bernard, not a little hurt at the unseasonable discovery, immediately dispatched one of his
clerks to Holland, with instructions to purchase every
drop of mountain in the port of Amsterdam, by which he
afterwards gained an immense sum. Of his family, so
little was known, that he was supposed to be of Jewish
descent, but without any reason. He used to say, that if
they would make him a chevalier, his name would no longer
hurt their delicate feelings, and accordingly, he received
letters of nobility. He then purchased several estates
with titles, and among others, those of the counts of Coubert; and during the last years of his life, he was generally
called the chevalier Bernard. One of his sons, president
of one of the chambers of inquiry in parliament, bore the
name of Rieux another was called the count de Coubert,
and his grandson, Anne-Gabriel-Henry Bernard, assumed
the title of marquis de Boulainvilliers. He married his
daughter to Mole, first president, and thus became grandfather to the duchess de Cosse-Brissac and his family,
by these revolutions, became allied to the great names of
Biron, Duroure, and Boulainvilliers. Bernard was the
friend of the keeper of the seals, Chauvelin, and remained
faithful to him when disgraced. It is said that he was, or
in his old age became superstitious, and fancied his life
connected with that of a black fowl, of which he took great
care, convinced that its death would be the prelude to his
own. He lived, however, to the advanced age of eightyeight, dying in 1739. Another account informs us, that
the greater part of his thirty-three millions was dissipated
within ten years after his death, and that one of his sons,
who was president of the parliament of Paris, died a bankrupt. Such vicissitudes are too common in all ages to
excite much surprize.
dinal Hyppolito de Medicis, whose friendship he preferred to the brilliant offers made by Charles V. who was very desirous of his residing in Spain. At Rome, Bernard
, so called from Castel Bolognese in the Romania, where he
was born in 1495, distinguished himself for his admirable
skill in engraving on precious stones. After having resided
for several years with Alphonso duke of Ferrara, where his
works excited universal admiration, he went to Rome, and
attached himself to the cardinal Hyppolito de Medicis,
whose friendship he preferred to the brilliant offers made
by Charles V. who was very desirous of his residing in
Spain. At Rome, Bernard executed some medals in honour of Clement VII. of such exquisite beauty, as to meet
with the applause even of his rivals. Among the chefsd'oeuvre which he left, are two engravings on crystal,
which have been particularly noticed by connoisseurs. The
subjects are the “Fall of Phaeton,
” and “Tityus with
the vulture,
” from designs by Michael Angelo, both which
were thought to approach to the perfection of the ancients.
Enriched by the patronage of cardinal de Medicis, and
esteemed by all who knew him, he passed his latter days in
a charming retreat, at Faenza, which he had enriched
with a fine collection of pictures, and where he died in
1555.
her alternative, and probably wishing for no other, he followed the abdicated James II. into Ireland who, soon after, sent him on some commission into Scotland, from
, usually called major Bernardi, an adventurer of whom there is a very prolix, but not very interesting account in the Biographia Britannica, was born at Evesham, in 1657, and was descended from an honourable family which had flourished at Lucca in Italy, from the year 1097. His grandfather Philip, a count of the Roman empire, lived in England as resident from Genoa twenty-eight years, and married a native of this country. His father Francis succeeded to this office but, taking disgust at some measures adopted by the senate of Genoa, resigned, and retiring to Evesham, amused himself with gardening, on which he spent a considerable sum of money, and set a good example in that science to the town. John, his son, the subject of this article, of a spirited and restless temper, having received some harsh usage from his father, at the age of thirteen ran away to avoid his severity, and perhaps without any determinate purpose. He retained, notwithstanding, several friends, and was for some time supported by them, but their friendship appears to have gone little farther for soon after he enlisted as a common soldier in the service of the prince of Orange. In this station he showed uncommon talents and bravery, and in a short time obtained a captain’s commission in the service of the States. In April 1677, he married a Dutch lady of good family, with whom he enjoyed much conjugal happiness for eleven years. The English regiments in the Dutch service being recalled by James II. very few of them, but among those few was Bernard!, would obey the summons, and of course, he could not sign the association, into which the prince of Orange wished the regiments to enter. He thus lost his favour, and having no other alternative, and probably wishing for no other, he followed the abdicated James II. into Ireland who, soon after, sent him on some commission into Scotland, from whence, as the ruin of his master now became inevitable, he once more retired to Holland. Venturing, however, to appear in London in 1695, he was committed to Newgate March 25, 1696, on suspicion of being an abettor of the plot to assassinate king William, and although sufficient evidence could not be brought to prove the fact, he was sentenced and continued in prison by the express decree of six successive parliaments, with five other persons, where he remained for more than forty years. As this was a circumstance wholly without a precedent, it has been supposed that there must have been something in his character particularly dangerous, to induce four sovereigns and six parliaments to protract his confinement, without either legally condemning or pardoning him.
nt with such resignation and evenness of temper, as to have excited much respect and love in the few who enjoyed his acquaintance. In the earlier part of life he had
In his confinement he had the courage to venture on a second marriage, which proved a very fortunate event to him, as he thus not only enjoyed the soothing converse of a true friend, but was even supported during his whole imprisonment by the care and industry of his wife. Ten children were the produce of this marriage, the inheritors of misery and confinement. In the mean time he is said to have borne his imprisonment with such resignation and evenness of temper, as to have excited much respect and love in the few who enjoyed his acquaintance. In the earlier part of life he had received several dangerous wounds, which now breaking out afresh, and giving him great torment, afforded a fresh trial of his equanimity and firmness. At length he died Sept. 20, 1736, leaving his wife and numerous family probably in a destitute state; but what became of them afterwards is not known. Bernard! was a little, brisk, and active man, of a very cheerful disposition;, and, as may appear even from this short narrative, of great courage and constancy of mind.
, who was born Feb. 8, 1582, at Hallstadt, in Austria, became rector
, who was born Feb. 8, 1582,
at Hallstadt, in Austria, became rector of the college,
and professor of history at Strasburgh, where he died
Feb. 3, 1640. He was esteemed one of the best critics of
his time, and had particularly studied the works of Thucydides, Tacitus, Suetonius, and Sallust. Niceron (vol. XXVII) has a large catalogue of his writings, of which
the principal are: 1. “Hypobolimaea D. Maria? Deiparoe
Camera, seu Idolum Lauretanum, &c. dejectum,
” Strasburgh, De jure eligendi reges et principes,
” ibid. Epistolae mutuas H. Grotii et Matt. Berneggeri,
” Strasburgh, Epistolae Joannis Kepleri, &c.
”
ibid. Observationes miscellanei
” on history, &c. were published by
his son in
the field were not thought inconsistent with the character of a religious lady of this eminent rank, who resembled an abbot in respect of exercising an extensive manerial
, on account of her being one of
the earliest female writers in England, is entitled to some
notice in this work, although the most painful research
has discovered very little of her personal history. She
is frequently called Juliana Barnes, but Berners was her
more proper name. She was an Essex lady, and,
according to Mr. Ballard, was probably born at Roding in that
county, about the beginning of the fifteenth century being
the daughter of sir James Berners of Berners Roding, and
sister of Richard lord Berners. If, however, as is generally agreed, sir James Berners was her father, her birth
could have been very little after 1388 for in that year sir
James Berners was beheaded, as an enemy to the public,
together with other favourites and corrupt ministers of
king Richard the second. The education of Juliana seems
to have been the very best which that age could afford,
and her attainments were such, that she is celebrated by
various authors for her uncommon learning and her other
accomplishments, which rendered her every way capable
and deserving of the office she bore which was that of
pfioress of Sopewell nunnery. This was a cell to, and
very near St. Alban’s, -end a good part of the shell of it is
still standing. Here she lived in high esteem, and flourished, according to Bale, Tanner, and Ballard, about
the year 1460 but if what we have said concerning her
birth be the true account, she must have flourished somewhat earlier. She was a very beautiful lady, of great
spirit, and loved masculine exercises, such as hawking,
hunting, &c. With these sports she used to recreate herself, and so thoroughly was she skilled in them, that she
wrote treatises of hawking, hunting, and heraldry. “From
an abbess disposed to turn author,
” says Mr. Warton, “we
might more reasonably have expected a manual of meditations for the closet, or select rules for making salves, or
distilling strong waters. But the diversions of the field
were not thought inconsistent with the character of a religious lady of this eminent rank, who resembled an abbot
in respect of exercising an extensive manerial jurisdiction,
and who hawked and hunted in common with other ladies
of distinction.
” So well esteemed were Juliana Berners’s
treatises, and indeed so popular were the subjects on which
they were written, that they were published in the veryinfancy of the art of printing. The first edition is said to
have been printed at St. Alban’s, in 1481. It was certainly printed at the same place in 1486, in a small folio;
and again, at Westminster, by W. de Worde, in 1496, in
4to. Among Cryne’s books in the Bodleian library, there
is a black letter copy of this work, “imprynted at London
in Paul’s Churchyarde by me Hary Tab.
” It was again
printed, with wooden cuts, by William Copland, without
date, and entitled, “The boke of Hawkyng, Hunting,
Fishing, with all the properties and medecynes that are
necessary to be kept.
” Here the tract on Armory is
omitted, which seems to have been first inserted that the
work might contain a complete course of education for a
gentleman. The same title is in W. Powel’s edition, 1550.
The last impression of it was in 4to, at London, in 1595,
under the following title, “The gentleman’s academic
or the book of St. Albans containing three most exact and
excellent books; the first of Hawking, the second of all the
proper terms of Hunting, and the last of Armory; all compiled by Juliana Barnes, in the year from the incarnation of
Christ, 1486. And now reduced into better method by
G. M.
” This editor is certainly mistaken in saying that
the whole work was composed in 1486. Juliana Berners
could scarcely have been living at that time and even if
she was not then dead, the book must have been written
by her in a more early period of life. It is said, indeed,
in the Colophon at the end of the St. Alban’s edition,
“And here now endith the Boke of blasyng of armys,
translatyt and compylyt togedyr at Saynt Albons the
yere from thyncaruacyon of our Lorde Jhesu Crist
MCCCCLXXXVI.
” But all we can justly infer from
hence is, that that part of the work which relates to heraldry was not drawn up by Juliana Berners. It is observable, that though the whole treatise is usually ascribed
to her, her name is only subjoined to the book on hawking
and hunting and that what relates to the biasing of arms
contains no more than abstracts from a performance of
Nicholas Upton, written about 1441. It is highly probable, therefore, that this latter part, if it was compiled
so late as in 1486, was added by another hand and, indeed, if Juliana Berners was the daughter of sir James
Berners, there can be no doubt about the matter. That
part of our abbess’s work which relates to hunting, is
written in rhyme. It is spoken in her own person in
which, being otherwise a woman of authority, she assumes
the title of Uame. Mr. Warton suspects the whole to be
a translation from the French or Latin. The barbarism of
the times strongly appears in the indelicate expressions
which Juliana Berners often uses, and which are equally
incompatible with her sex and profession. The book on
armory begins with the following curious piece of sacred
heraldry “Of the offspring of the gentilman Jafeth, come
Habraham, Moyses, Aron, and the profettys and also
the kyng of the right lyne of Mary, of whom that gentilman Jhesus was borne, very God and man; after his
manhode kynge of the land of Jude and of Jues, gentilman
by his modre Mary, prince of cote armure, &c.
” The
most diligent inquirers have not been able to determine
the exact period of Juliana Berners’s decease but from
what is mentioned above, it is probable that she died
sooner than lias commonly been imagined.
ished family of Florence. In his nineteenth year he went to Koine, to his relation cardinal Bibiena, who according to his own account, did him neither good nor harm.
, called by some writers Berna or Bernia, was
one of the most celebrated Italian poets of
the sixteenth century. He was born about the conclusion
of the fifteenth, at Lamporecchio, in that part of Tuscany
called Val-di-Nievole, of a noble but impoverished family
of Florence. In his nineteenth year he went to Koine, to
his relation cardinal Bibiena, who according to his own account, did him neither good nor harm. He was then obliged
to take the office of secretary to Giberti, bishop of Verona,
who was datary to pope Leo X. On this he assumed the
ecclesiastical habit, in hopes of sharing some of that prelate’s patronage, but the mean and dull employment of his
office of secretary, and for which he was ill paid, was very
unsuitable to his disposition. There was at Rome what he
liked better, a society or academy of young ecclesiastics as
gay as himself, and lovers of wit and poetry like himself,
who, no doubt in order to point out their taste for wine,
and their thoughtless habits, were called Vignajuoli, vinedressers. To this belonged Mauro, Casa, Firenzuola, Capilupij and many others. In their meetings they laughed
at every thing, and made verses and witticisms on the most
grave and solemn subjects. The compositions Berni contributed on these occasions, were so superior to the others,
that verses composed in the same style began to be called
“La poesia Bernesca.
”
exander would have caused him to be poisoned, for not having concurred in the destruction of a rival who had been dead probably a year; but there is nothing in the character
Berni was at Rome in 1527, when it was plundered by the army of the constable of Bourbon, and lost all he possessed. He then travelled with his patron Giberti to Verona, Venice, and Padua, but being tired of the service, and having no longer any hopes of adding to a canonry in the church of Florence, which he had possessed some years, he retired to that city with a view to a life of independence and moderation. Here an acquaintance which he unhappily formed with two great men proved fatal to him, Alexander de Medici, duke of Florence, and the young cardinal Hippolito de Medici, each of whom is supposed to have contended with the other, which should first destroy his rival by poison. One of them is said to have been desirous of employing Berni in this detestable project, and he having refused his assistance, fell a victim to the revenge of his patron, by a death of similar treachery. The cardinal certainly died in 1535, and, according to all historians, by poison. The death of Berni is fixed on July 26, 1536, from which long interval it has been thought improbable that the duke Alexander would have caused him to be poisoned, for not having concurred in the destruction of a rival who had been dead probably a year; but there is nothing in the character of Alexander to make us think he would scruple at this additional crime, and that for a very good reason, to get rid of one who was privy to his desiga upon the cardinal.
l as with Alexander VII. and Clement IX. his successors, and the dukes of Mantua, Charles I. and II. who conferred upon him the title of Count. His poetical talents
, a lawyer, philosopher, orator,
and poet, of Ferrara, was born in 1610. After having pursued his studies with great success, and taken his law degrees, in the university of his native city, he was chosen
professor of the belles lettres, then first secretary, and in
that quality was sent to compliment pope Innocent X. on
his election to the papal chair. He lived in considerable
favour with that pope, as well as with Alexander VII. and
Clement IX. his successors, and the dukes of Mantua,
Charles I. and II. who conferred upon him the title of
Count. His poetical talents were principally devoted to
the drama and one of his plays “Gli Sforzi del Desiderio,
”
represented at Ferrara in Accademia,
” Ferrara, 2 vols. 4to,
without date, and reprinted in 1658. Many of his lyric
poems are in the collections.
elebrated Ninon de Lenclos, madame de la Sabliere, Chapelle, whose eloge he wrote, and St. Evremont, who represents him as deserving, by his fine figure, manners and
was distinguished in the brilliant age of Louis XIV. as a philosopher and traveller, and his merit, in both respects, was enhanced by his personal accomplishments, which procured him a degree of celebrity when living, that has not yet perished. His treatises on philosophy, it is true, are no longer read, for which the progress of science since the seventeenth century may account, but his voyages and travels are still in high estimation. They made the world acquainted with countries which no European had before visited, and none have since described so well, and threw light on the revolutions of India at a very interesting period, the time of AurengZeb. George Forster places Bernier in the first class of Indian historians, praises his simple and engaging style, his judgment and his accuracy; and the letter in which Forster bestows this encomium was written from Cachemire, which Bernier has so well described. Bernier lived in intimacy with the most illustrious characters of his time, and was particularly intimate with the celebrated Ninon de Lenclos, madame de la Sabliere, Chapelle, whose eloge he wrote, and St. Evremont, who represents him as deserving, by his fine figure, manners and conversation, the title of the Genteel Philosopher. He assisted Boiieau in fabricating a burlesque decree in favour of Aristotle, which the president Lamoignon had almost signed, when he saw through the joke, and candidly confessed that it had prevented him from signing a decree that would have been fully as ridiculous.
he sequel he did not follow their track. The pope expressed a desire to see this extraordinary child who had astonished the artists, and when introduced, asked him if
, called the Cavalier BerNiN, and by some styled the modern Michael Angelo, because he united the knowledge and practice of painting,
statuary, and architecture, owes his extensive reputation
prinqipally to his excellence in the latter, branch. His
father Peter Bernini, left Tuscany when young, and went
to Rome to study painting and sculpture. Having acquired
considerable skill in both, he removed to Naples, and practised with great success. There in, 15.98, his son, the subject of this memoir, was born, and from his earliest years
discovered a surprising capacity for the fine arts, having at
the age of eight executed a head in marble, which was
considered as a prodigy. His father, desirous of cultivating so promising a genius, brought him to Rome, and
imparted to him a taste for the great masters, which he
never altogether lost, although in the sequel he did not
follow their track. The pope expressed a desire to see
this extraordinary child who had astonished the artists, and
when introduced, asked him if he knew how to sketch a
head, “Whose head
” said Bernini. “You know then
how to draw any let it be that of St. Paul,
” replied the
pope.' The boy performed the task before him in about
half an hour, and the pope, enchanted with the specimen,
recommended him warmly to cardinal Barberini, that celebrated patron of the arts. “Direct his studies,
” added his
holiness, “and he will become the Michael Angelo of the
age.
” About the same time, happening to be in St. Peter’s church, with Annibal Carrache, and some other celebrated artists, Carrache, looking to the cupola, said it would
be very desirable to find a man of genius great enough to
form and erect two objects in the middle, and at the end
of that temple, which should correspond to its dimensions.“The young Bernini instantly exclaimed with enthusiasm,
” Would I were that man," little thinking that one day he
was to fulfil Carrache’s wish.
p, which is far from being a general expression, and still farther from being dignified but Bernini, who was as yet young, might have seen it in one or two instances,
One of Bernini’s first works was a portrait in marble of the prelate Montajo, a likeness so striking, that it was said to be Montajo petrified. He afterwards made busts of the pope, some of the cardinals, and some large figures after nature; a St. Laurence, a groupe of ^neas and Anchises, and David about to sling the stone at Goliath, of which our great artist sir Joshua Reynolds observes, that Bernini has given a very mean expression to David, representing him as biting his under lip, which is far from being a general expression, and still farther from being dignified but Bernini, who was as yet young, might have seen it in one or two instances, and mistook accident for generality. He was but in his eighteenth year when he executed his Apollo and Daphne, a work, from which, as sir Joshua remarks, the world justly expected he would rival the best productions of ancient Greece, but this was not ultimately the case. We are told, however, that when, about the close of his life, he surveyed this groupe, he allowed that since that time he had made very little progress. In truth his style was now more pure, and had less of manner in it than afterwards.
His success in the mean time was great, and Gregory XV. who succeeded Paul V. being equally struck with his merit, created
His success in the mean time was great, and Gregory
XV. who succeeded Paul V. being equally struck with his
merit, created him a knight; but it was left for cardinal
Barberini, when he came to the pontificate, to complete
Bernini’s good fortune. Immediately after that event he
said to Bernini, “If you are happy to see me pope, I am
more proud yet that you live under my pontificate,
” and
from that time began to employ him in designs for embellishing Rome, and gave him a pension of three hundred
crowns per month. Without altogether quitting statuary,
therefore, Bernini now employed his talents on architecture, and recollecting Carrache’s wish, he designed the
canopy for the principal altar, called the confessional of
St. Peter, supported by four wreathed columns, enriched
with figures and ornaments of exquisite taste. When this
magnificent work was completed, in about nine years, the
pope rewarded him with six thousand crowns, besides increasing his pensions, and extending his liberality to Bernini’s brothers. Another work of his was the fountain of
Barcaccia, which has been praised more than it merits, at
least it is inferior to that of the Barberini palace.
In 1644, cardinal Mazarin, who had known Bernini at Rome, endeavoured, but in vain, to induce
In 1644, cardinal Mazarin, who had known Bernini at Rome, endeavoured, but in vain, to induce him to visit France, and offered him, on the part of Louis XIV. places to the value of 12,000 crowns. Yet he was not happy at home. When Urban VIII. his steady patron, died, and Innocent X. succeeded, envy at his superior talents and high favour with the pontiff, began to appear. The campanile which he had constructed for St. Peter’s, over the portico, which it appeared was not on a secure foundation, threatened to fall, and immediately it was industriously reported that the weight of the campanile would endanger the portico, and perhaps even the dome itself. Although all this was exaggerated, it became necessary to remove the campanile, and the enemies of Bernini triumphed, while the pope, prejudiced against him, deprived him of one part of his labours, and allowed the rest to be suspended. In the mean time he executed for the church of St. Mary the fine groupe of St. Theresa and the angel, one of his most admired works; and became at length a favourite with the pope by a stratagem of his holiness’s nephew. The pope, having an intention of building a new fountain in the piazza. Navona, consulted all the artists of Rome, with the exception of Bernini, whom he affected to forget but his nephew prince Ludovisi having procured a model from our artist, contrived to shew it to the pope, who was so much struck with it, as to receive Bernini into favour, and appoint him to the work, which he executed with his usual taste. About the same time he built the palace of Monte Citorio.
Alexander VII. who succeeded pope Innocent X. and who had a high respect for Bernini,
Alexander VII. who succeeded pope Innocent X. and who had a high respect for Bernini, and was an encourager of the arts, requested him to make a design for the further decoration of St. Peter’s, which produced the celebrated circular colonnade, so appropriate to the building as to seem part of the scheme of the original architect. Ha was not, however, so successful in the composition of the pulpit of St. Peter’s, supported by colossal figures representing the four doctors of the church, which, although altered from his first model, has neither the freedom nor spirit of his other works among which may now be enumerated the Odechalchi palace, the rotunda of St. Riccio, and the noviciate of the Jesuits at Monte Cavallo.
lready built, Perrault’s plan was afterwards^adopted: In the mean time, he made a bust of Louis XIV. who frequently sat to him, and took pleasure in his conversation,
Bernini now began his operations on the Louvre, but he
did not see, as has been reported, Perrault’s celebrated
colonnade, the design of which was not presented to the
king until after his departure, nor was it finished until live
years after, so that the surprize with which it is said to
have struck him, and the liberal praise he bestowed upon
it, to which Voltaire has given currency in his poems, are
founded on a mistake. During Bernini’s five months residence at Paris, he laid the foundation, from his own design, of the colonnade of the Louvre, which was to join it
to the Tuileries by a gallery but as this could have been
executed only by destroying all that had been already built,
Perrault’s plan was afterwards^adopted: In the mean time,
he made a bust of Louis XIV. who frequently sat to him,
and took pleasure in his conversation, which sometimes
appears to have been rather familiar. One day after his
majesty had sat a whole hour, the artist, delighted with so
great an honour, exclaimed “A miracle a great monarch,
young, and a Frenchman, has sat quiet for an hour
”
Another time, wishing to see more of the king’s forehead,
he put back the curis of hair which covered the place, and
said, “Your majesty can shew your face to all the world;
”
and the courtiers, always intent upon some frivolous compliment, made a fashion of this disposition of the hair,
which they called “la coeffure a la Bernin
”
rn to Rome. Accordingly, on pretence that the pope required his presence, he took leave of the king, who made him a present of ten thousand crowns, and settled a pension
Bernini, however, was not wholly reconciled to his errand here. The“great work for which he came was not
carried on after his designs, and he is said to have met
with some disgust, which inclined him to return to Rome.
Accordingly, on pretence that the pope required his presence, he took leave of the king, who made him a
present of ten thousand crowns, and settled a pension on
him of two thousand, and another of four hundred on his
son. The expenses of his return were also defrayed by his
majesty, who, with a view to immortalize the visit, caused
a medal to be struck, with a portrait of the artist, and on
the reverse the muses of his art, with this inscription,
” Singularis in singulis, in omnibus unicus." Before his
departure, Bernini engaged to make an equestrian statue
of Louis XIV. in marble, and of colossal proportion, which
he finished in four years but whether from its having no
resemblance of the king, or from some fault found with
the composition, it was, soon after its arrival, changed into
Curtius leaping into the gulph, and is now in the gardens at Versailles.
to have been for some time an obstruction to promotion. The cardinal de Fleury, then prime-minister, who had the patronage of all favours, and who had promised him his
, count of
Lyons, and a cardinal and statesman of France, was born
at MarceJ de l'Ardeche, May 22, 1715, of a noble and
ancient family, but not very rich which circumstance
induced his friends to bring him up to the church, as the
most likely profession in which he might rise. In this they
were not disappointed, as he gradually attained the highest
ecclesiastical dignities. When young he was placed at
the seminary of St. Sulpice in Paris, and after remaining
there some years, he appeared in the world with every
personal accomplishment that could introduce him into
notice; but his morals appear to have been for some time
an obstruction to promotion. The cardinal de Fleury,
then prime-minister, who had the patronage of all favours,
and who had promised him his countenance, thinking him
of a spirit too worldly for the church, sent for him and
gave him a lecture on his dissipated conduct, concluding
with these words “You can have no expectations of promotion, while I live,
” to which the young abbé“Bernis,
making a profound bow, replied,
” Sir, I can wait"
Some think this bon mot, which became very current, was
not original but it is certain that Bernis remained for a
long while in a state not far removed from poverty, and
yet contrived, by means of strict parsimony, to make a
decent figure at the houses to which he was invited.
Being a writer of verses, and consequently a dealer in
compliments, he was always acceptable, and at length by
madame Pompadour’s interest, was introduced to Louis XV.
The good effects of this, at first, were only an apartment
in the Tuileries, to which his patroness added the furniture,
and a pension of fifteen hundred livres yet it soon led to
greater matters. Having been appointed ambassador to
Venice, he was remarked to have acquired the good opinion
and confidence of a state rather difficult to please in appointments of this description, and of this they gave him a
strong proof, in a contest they had with pope Benedict XIV.
who appointed Bernis as his negociator. On this occasion
the state of Venice approved the choice, the consequence
of which was, that Bernis effected a reconciliation to the
entire satisfaction of both parties. On his return, he became a great favourite at court, acquired considerable influence, and at length, being admitted into the council,
was appointed foreign minister. But in this situation he
was either unskilful or unfortunate the disasters of the
seven years war, and the peace of 1763, were laid to his
charge but according to Duclos, he was less to blame than
his colleagues, and it is certain that in some instances he
has been unjustly censured. It was said, in particular,
that he argued for a declaration of war against Prussia, because Frederick the Great had ridiculed his poetry in the
following line,
figures andflowers. Voltaire used to call him Eabet-la-Bouquetiere, the name of a fat nosegay woman, who used to ply at the door of the Opera. In other respects, Voltaire
As a poet, the cardinal was very early noticed, and his
poems were so highly esteemed as to procure his being admitted into the French academy long before he had risen
in the world. They have not, however, preserved their
reputation, and no person perhaps could judge more
severely of them than the cardinal himself, of whose
talents they certainly were not worthy, nor did he like to
hear them mentioned. After his death a poem of his
composition was published, “Religion vengee,
” which was
at least more becoming his rank than his juvenile effusions.
It contains some spirited passages and excellent sentiments,
but has too much of the coldness and philosophy of age.
His early poems were censured for being overloaded with
gorgeous figures andflowers. Voltaire used to call him
Eabet-la-Bouquetiere, the name of a fat nosegay woman,
who used to ply at the door of the Opera. In other respects, Voltaire had a high opinion of Bernis 1 s talents, as
appears from their correspondence (published in 1799, 8vo.)
in which Bernis appears to great advantage, and very superior to the flippant freedoms of his correspondent’s style.
In 1790, a volume of Bernis’ letters to M. Paris du Verney,
was published at Paris but these are not very interesting,
unless as exhibiting some agreeable features in his character. The cardinal’s works, in prose and verse, have been
often printed, and form 2 vols. 8vo. or 18mo. His poem
on Religion was magnificently printed by Bodoni in fol.
and 4to. and Didot printed a beautiful edition of his complete works in 1797, 8vo.
, and from that to Basil, where some of them arrived at the chief offices of the republic. The first who occurs in biographical collections is, [see Bernoulli, James]
, the name of a family which has produced a succession of learned men, eminent in the study of mathematics. Eight of its members, within the space of a century, have been particularly distinguished in this science. The Bernoulli’s were originally of Antwerp, but were obliged to leave their country for the sake of religion, during the persecution raised by the duke of Alva. They then came to Francfort, and from that to Basil, where some of them arrived at the chief offices of the republic. The first who occurs in biographical collections is, [see Bernoulli, James]
, who was born at Basil, Dec. 27, 1654. After he had studied polite
, who was born at Basil, Dec. 27,
1654. After he had studied polite literature, he learned
the old philosophy of the schools and, having taken his
degrees in the university of Basil, applied himself to divinity, not so much from inclination, as complaisance to
his father. He gave very early proofs of his genius for
mathematics, and soon became a geometrician, without any
assistance from masters, and at first almost without books
for he was not allowed to have any books of this kind and
if one fell by chance into his hands, he was obliged to conceal it, that he might not incur the displeasure of his father, who designed him for other studies. This severity
made him choose for his device, Phaeton driving the chariot of the sun, with these words, “Invito patre sidera
verso,
” “I traverse the stars against my father’s inclination
” it had a particular reference to astronomy, the part
of mathematics to which he at first applied himself. But
these precautions did not avail, for he pursued his favourite study with great application. In 1676 he began
his travels. When he was at Geneva, he fell upon a method to teach a young girl to write, though she had lost
her sight when she was but two months old. At Bourdeaux he composed universal gnomonic tables, but they
were never published. He returned from France to his
own country in 1680. About this time there appeared a
comet, the return of which he foretold, and wrote a small
treatise upon it, which he afterwards translated into Latin.
He went soon after to Holland, where he applied himself
to the new philosophy, and particularly to that part of the
mathematics which consists in resolving problems and demonstrations. After having visited Flanders and Brabant,
he went to Calais, and passed over to England. At London he contracted an acquaintance with all the most eminent men in the several sciences and had the honour of
being frequently present at the philosophical societies held
at the house of Mr. Boyle. He returned to his native
country in 1682; and exhibited at Basil a course of
experiments in natural philosophy and mechanics, which consisted of a variety of new discoveries. The same year he
published his “Essay on a new system of Comets
” and
the year following, his “Dissertation on the weight of the
Air.
” About this time Leibnitz having published, in the
Acta Eruditorum at Leipsic, some essays on his new “Caiulus Differentialis,
” but concealing the art and method
of it, Mr. Bernoulli and his brother John discovered, by
the little which they saw, the beauty and extent of it: this
induced them to endeavour to unravel the secret; which
they did with such success, that Leibnitz declared that the
invention belonged to them as much as to himself.
principles of the Integral Calculus. Our author, with messieurs Huygens and Leibnitz, was the first who gave the solution of the problem proposed by James Bernoulli,
, the brother of the preceding, and a celebrated mathematician, was born at Basil the 7th of August 1667. His father intended him for trade; but his own inclination was at first for the belles-lettres, which however, like his brother, he left for mathematics. He laboured with his brother to discover the method used by Leibnitz, in his essays on the Differential Calculus, and gave the first principles of the Integral Calculus. Our author, with messieurs Huygens and Leibnitz, was the first who gave the solution of the problem proposed by James Bernoulli, concerning the catenary, or curve formed by a chain suspended by its two extremities.
invitations of the magistrates of Utrecht to come to that city, and of the university of Groningen, who wished to retain him. The academic senate of Basil soon appointed
John Bernoulli had the degree of doctor of physic at Basil, and two years afterward was named professor of mathematics in the university of Groningen. It was here that he discovered the mercurial phosphorus or luminous barometer; and where he resolved the problem proposed by his brother concerning Isoperimetricals. On the death of his brother James, the professor at Basil, our author returned to his native country, against the pressing invitations of the magistrates of Utrecht to come to that city, and of the university of Groningen, who wished to retain him. The academic senate of Basil soon appointed him to succeed his brother, without assembling competitors, and contrary to the established practice: an appointment which he held during his whole life.
sciences, which were contended for by the most illustrious mathematicians in Europe. The only person who has had similar success of the same kind, is Euler, his countryman,
Daniel Bernoulli wrote a multitude of other pieces, which
have been published in the Mem. 'Acad. of Sciences at
Paris, and in those of other academies. He gained and
divided ten prizes from the academy of sciences, which
were contended for by the most illustrious mathematicians
in Europe. The only person who has had similar success
of the same kind, is Euler, his countryman, disciple, rival,
and friend. His first prize he gained at twenty-four years
of age. In 1734 he divided one with his father; which
hurt the family union for the father considered the contest itself as a want of respect and the son did not sufficiently conceal that he thought (what was really the case) his own piece better than his father’s. And besides,
he declared for Newton, against whom his father had contended all his life. In 1140 our author divided the prize,
“On the Tides of the Sea,
” with Euler and Maclaurin.
The academy at the same time crowned a fourth piece,
whose chief merit was that of being Cartesian but this was
the last public act of adoration paid by the academy to the
authority of the author of the Vortices, which it had
obeyed too long. In 1748 Daniel Bernoulli succeeded his
father John in the academy of sciences, who had succeeded
his brother James; this place, since its first erection in
1699, having never been without a Bernoulli to fill it.
en him more pleasure than all the other honours he had received. Travelling with a learned stranger, who, being pleased with his conversation, asked his name “I am Daniel
Our author was extremely respected at Basil; and to
bow to Daniel Bernoulli, when they met him in the streets,
was one of the first lessons which every father gave every
child. He was a man of great simplicity and modesty of
manners. He used to tell two little adventures, which he
said had given him more pleasure than all the other honours he had received. Travelling with a learned stranger,
who, being pleased with his conversation, asked his name
“I am Daniel Bernoulli,
” answered he with great modesty “And I,
” said the stranger (who thought he meant to laugh at him), “am Isaac Newton.
” Another time
having to dinner with him the celebrated Koenig the mathematician, who boasted, with some degree of self-complacency, of a difficult problem he had resolved with much
trouble, Bernoulli went on doing the honours of his table,
and when they went to drink coffee he presented Koenig
with a solution of the problem more elegant than his own.
After a long, useful, and honourable life, Daniel Bernoulli
died the 17th of March 1782, in the eighty-third year of
his age.
gen. Bernstorf was likewise a liberal patron of manufactures, commerce, and the fine arts. It was he who induced Frederick V. to give a pension for life to the poet
, minister of state in Denmark, was born at Hanover, May 13, 1712.
Some relations he happened to have in Denmark invited
him thither, where his talents were soon noticed, and employed by the government. After having been ambassador in several courts, he was placed by Frederick V. at
the head of foreign affairs. During the seven years war
(1755 62) he preserved a system of strict neutrality, which
proved eminently serviceable to the commerce and internal prosperity of Denmark. In 1761, when the emperor
of Russia, Peter III. threatened Denmark with war, and
inarched his troops towards Holstein, Bernstorf exerted
the utmost vigour in contriving means for the defence of
the country, and the“sudden death of Peter having averted
this storm, he employed his skill in bringing about an alliance between the courts of Copenhagen and St. Petersburgh. In 1767 he succeeded in concluding a provisional
treaty, by which the dukedom of Holstein, which Paul,
the grand duke of Russia, inherited by the death of Peter
III. was exchanged for Oldenburgh, which belonged to
the king of Denmark. This finally took place in 1773,
and procured an important addition to the Danish territories. Soon after Bernstorf put a stop to the long contest
that had been maintained respecting the house of Holstein
having a right of sovereignty over Hamburgh, and that city
vVas declared independent on condition of not claiming repayment of the money the city had advanced to the king of
Denmark and the dukes of Holstein. These measures contributed highly to the reputation of count Bernstorf as a
politician, but perhaps he derived as much credit from his
conduct in other respects. He had acquired a large estate
in the neighbourhood of Copenhagen, the peasants on
which, as was the case in Denmark at that time, were
slaves, and transferred like other property. Bernstorf,
however, not only gave them their liberty, but granted
them long leases, and encouraged them to cultivate the
land, and feel that they had an interest in it. His tenants,
soon sensible of the humanity and wisdom of his conduct,
agreed to express their gratitude by erecting an obelisk
in honour of him on the side of the great road leading to
Copenhagen. Bernstorf was likewise a liberal patron of
manufactures, commerce, and the fine arts. It was he
who induced Frederick V. to give a pension for life to the
poet Klopstock. On the death of that monarch, Bernstorf
was continued in the ministry lor the first years of the
new reign, until 1770, when Struenzee being placed at
the head of the council, Bernstorf was allowed to resign
with a pension. He then retired to Hamburgh, but, after
the catastrophe of Struenzee, he was recalled, and was
about to set out for Copenhagen when he died of an
apoplexy, Feb. 19, 1772. The political measures of this statesman belong to history, but his private character has been
the theme of universal applause. Learned, social, affable,
generous, and high spirited, he preserved the affections
of all who knew him, and throughout his whole administration had the singular good fortune to enjoy at the same
time courtly favour and popular esteem. His nephew,
count Andrew Peter Bernstorf, who was born in 1735, and
eventually succeeded him as foreign minister for Denmark,
displayed equal zeal and knowledge in promoting the true
interests of his country, which yet repeats his name with
fervour and enthusiasm. It was particularly his object to
preserve the neutrality of Denmark, after the French revolution had provoked a combination of most of the powers
of Europe; and as long as neutral rights were at all respected, he succeeded in this wise measure. His state
papers on the
” principles of the court of Denmark concerning neutrality,“in 1780, and his
” Declaration to the
courts of Vienna and Berlin," in 1792, were much admired. In private life he followed the steps of his uncle,
by a liberal patronage of arts, commerce, and manufactures,
and like him was as popular in the country as in the court.
He died Jan. 21, 1797.
onstance and condemned to be burnt, a fate from which he was preserved by the kindness of an officer who favoured his escape. He then went to Orleans, Rochelle, and
, was born at
St. Denis near Paris, and was educated at the college of
the cardinal Lemoine, where he made great proficiency in
the learned languages, and became an able theologian,
mathematician, philosopher, and historian. In 1550 he was
at Agen as preceptor to Hector Fregosa, afterwards bishop
of that city, and here he was converted to the Protestant
religion along with Scaliger and other learned men. When
he arrived at Paris in 1558, he was chosen preceptor to
Theodore Agrippa d' Aubigne“but the persecution arising,
he was arrested at Constance and condemned to be burnt,
a fate from which he was preserved by the kindness of an
officer who favoured his escape. He then went to Orleans,
Rochelle, and Sancerre, and distinguished himself by his
courage during the siege of this latter place by the marshal
de Lachatre. In 1574 we find him at Geneva, officiating
as minister and professor of philosophy. His death is
supposed to have taken place in 1576. He wrote a curious
book entitled
” Chronicon, sacrse Scripture auctoritate
constitutnm,“Geneva, 1575, fol. In this he maintains that
all chronological authorities must be sought in the holy
scriptures Vossius and Scaliger speak highly of his talents. Draudius, in his
” Bibliotheca Classica,“mentions
another work in which he was concerned,
” G. Mercatoris
et Matthei Beroaldi chronologia, ab initio mundi ex eclipsis et observationibus astronomicis demonstrata," Basil,
1577, Cologne, 1568, fol. We have some doubts whether
this is not the same as the work mentioned above.
etonius, Apuleius, Aulus Gellius, Lucan, and some other classics, with notes. He had a son, Vincent, who is ranked among the Bolognese writers, only for having given
Beroaldo’s chief merit was his publication of good editions of the ancient Roman authors, with learned commentaries. His own style, however, some critics think, is affected, and more like that of his favourite Apuleius than
that of Cicero, and his judgment is rather inferior to his
learning. Among his publications we may enumerate,
(referring to Niceron, vol. XXV. for the whole), 1. “Caii
Plinii historia naturalis,
” Parma, Annotationes in commentaries
Servii Virgilianos,
” Bologna, Propertii
opera cum commentariis,
” Bologna, Annotationes in varies authores antiques,
” Bologna, Orationes,
” Paris, Orationes, prefationes, praelectiones, &c.
” Paris, Declamatio ebriosi, scortatoris, et aleatoris,
” Bologna,
II Constante.
”
Bolognetti was his uterine brother, and he wrote these
explanations from the poem when in manuscript, and when
it consisted of twenty cantos, but as it consisted of sixteen
when published in 1566, his friend Mai tacheti, to whom
he bequeathed his explanation, published only what related to these sixteen, under the title of “Dichiarazione
di tutte levoci proprie del Constante, &c.
” Bologna,
the city of Rome as his residence, he there attracted the notice of Leo X. then cardinal de Medici, who received him into his service, as his private secretary and
, the younger, a noble Bolognese, was born at Bologna, Oct. 1, 1472. He was the nephew and pupil of the elder Beroaldo, the subject of the preceding article, under whose instructions he made such early proficiency in the Greek and Latin languages, that in 1496, when he was only twenty-four years of age, he was appointed public professor of polite literature at Bologna. Having afterwards chosen the city of Rome as his residence, he there attracted the notice of Leo X. then cardinal de Medici, who received him into his service, as his private secretary and when Leo arrived at the pontificate, Beroaldo was nominated president of the Roman academy, but probably relinquished this office on being appointed librarian of the Vatican. Bembo, Bibiena, Molza, Flaminio, and other learned men of the time, were his particular friends at Rome. He appeared also among the admirers of the celebrated Roman courtesan Imperiali, and is said to have been jealous of the superior pretensions of Sadoleti (afterwards cardinal) to her favour. The warmth of his temperature, indeed, sufficiently appears in some of his poems, but such was the taste of that age, and particularly of the licentious court of LeoX. His death, which happened in 1518, is said to have been occasioned by some vexations which he experienced from that pontiff, as librarian, but this seems doubtful.
Paris, 1608, all in fol. This edition is dedicated to LeoX. at whose request it was undertaken, and who gave five hundred sequins for the manuscript, from which it
He was equally learned with the elder Beroaldo, and
wrote with more taste, particularly in poetry, but he
was less laborious, his only productions being, 1. “Taciti
Annalium libri quinque priores,
” Home, Odarum libri tres, et epigrammatum liber
unus,
” Rome, Delitiae poet. Italorum
” of
Toscano.
nothing; and in all probability would at this time have suffered death, had not some of the judges, who perceived the violence of his accusers, procured the affair
, a gentleman of Artois, and a
man of great learning, was burnt for being a Protestant,
at Paris, 1529. He was lord of a village, whence he took
his name, and for some time made a considerable figure at
the court of France, where he was honoured with the title
of king’s counsellor. Erasmus says, that his great crime
was openly professing to hate the monks and hence arose
his warm contest with William Quernus, one of the most
violent inquisitors of his time. A charge of heresy was
contrived against him, the articles of his accusation being
extracted from a book which he had published, and he was
committed to prison, but when the affair came to a trial,
he was acquitted by the judges. His accusers pretended
that he would not have escaped, had not the king interposed his authority; but Berquin himself ascribed it entirely to the justice of his cause, and went on with equal
courage in avowing his sentiments. Some time after, Noel
Beda and his emissaries made extracts from some of his
books, and having accused him of pernicious errors, he
was again sent to prison, and the cause being tried, sentence was passed against him; viz. that his books be committed to the flames, that he retract his errors, and make
a proper submission, and if he refuse to comply, that he
be burnt. Being a man of an undaunted inflexible spirit,
he would submit to nothing; and in all probability would
at this time have suffered death, had not some of the judges,
who perceived the violence of his accusers, procured the
affair to be again heard and examined. It is thought this
was owing to the intercession of madame the regent. In the
mean time Francis I. returning from Spain, and finding the
danger his counsellor was in from Beda and his faction, wrote
to the parliament, telling them to be cautious how they
proceeded, for that he himself would take cognizance of
the affair. Soon after Berquin was set at liberty, which
gave him such courage, that he turned accuser against his
accusers, and prosecuted them for irreligion, though, if he
had taken the advice of Erasmus, he would have esteemed
it a sufficient triumph that he had got free from the persecution of such people. He was sent a third time to
prison, and condemned to a public recantation and perpetual
imprisonment. Refusing to acquiesce in this judgment,
he was condemned as an obstinate heretic, strangled on the
Greve, and afterwards burnt. He suffered death with
great constancy and resolution, April 17, 1529, being then
about 40 years of age. The monk, who accompanied him
on the scaffold, declared, that he had observed in him
signs of abjuration which Erasmus however believes to be
a falsehood. “It is always,
” says he, “their custom in
like cases. These pious frauds serve to keep up their
credit as the avengers of religion, and to justify to the
deluded people those who have accused and condemned
the burnt heretic.
” Among his works are, 1 “Le vrai
moyen de bien et catholiquement se confesser,
” a translation from the Latin of Erasmus, Lyons, 1S42, 16mo. 2.
“Le Chevalier Chretien,
” In 1523, May 23, the parliament ordered the books of
Lewis de Berquin to be seized, and communicated to the
faculty of divinity, for their opinion. The book
” De abroganda Missa“was found upon him, with some others of
Luther’s and Melancthon’s books and seven or eight
treatises of which he was the author, some under these
titles
” Speculum Theologastrorum“” De usu & officio
Missae, &c.“” Rationes Lutheri quibus omnes Christianos
esse Sacerdotes molitur suadere,“” Le Debat de Pieté &
Superstition.“There were found also some books which
he had translated into French, as
” Reasons why Luther
has caused the Decretals and all the books of the Canon
Law to be burnt“” The Roman Triad,“and others. The
faculty, after having examined these books, judged that
they contained expressly the heresies and blasphemies of
Luther. Their opinion is dated Friday, July 26, 1523, and
addressed to the court of parliament. After having given
their censure upon each book in particular, they conclude
that they ought all to be cast into the fire that Berquiu
having made himself the defender of the Lutheran heresies, he ought to be obliged to a public abjuration, and to
be forbidden to compose any book for the future, or to
snake any translation prejudicial to the faith.
”
ees of bachelor and doctor in divinity. In 1723, Dr, Berriman lost his patron, the bishop of London, who, in testimony of his regard to his chaplain, bequeathed him
, a pious and learned English
divine, was born in London, September 24, 1688. His
father, John Berriman, was an apothecary in Bishopsgatestreet; and his grandfather, the reverend Mr. Berriman,
was rector of Bedington, in the county of Surrey. His
grammatical education he received partly at Banbury, in
Oxfordshire, and partly at Merchant-taylors’ school, London. At seventeen years of age he was entered a commoner at Oriel college, in Oxford, where he prosecuted
his studies with great assiduity and success, acquiring a
critical skill in the Greek, Hebrew, Chaldee, Arabic, and
Syriac. In the interpretation of the Scriptures, he did not
attend to that momentary light which fancy and imagination seemed to flash upon them, but endeavoured to explain
them by the rules of grammar, criticism, logic, and the
analogy of faith. The articles of doctrine and discipline
which he drew from the sacred writings, he traced through
the primitive church, and confirmed by the evidence of
the fathers, and the decisions of the more generally received councils. On the 2d of June, 1711, Mr. Berriman
was admitted to the degree of master of arts. After he
left the university, he officiated, for some time, as curate
and lecturer of Allhallows in Thames-street, and lecturer
of St. Michael’s, Queenhithe. The first occasion of his
appearing in print arose from the Trinitarian controversy.
He published, in 1719, “A seasonable review of Mr. Whiston’s account of Primitive Doxologies,
” which was followed,
in the same year, by “A second review.
” These pieces
recommended him so effectually to the notice of Dr. Robinson, bishop of London, that in 1720, he was appointed
his lordship’s domestic chaplain and so well satisfied was
that prelate with Mr. Berriman’s integrity, abilities, and
application, that he consulted and entrusted him in most
of his spiritual and secular concerns. As a further proof
of his approbation, the bishop collated him, in April 1722,
to the living of St. Andrew-Undershaft. On the 25th of
June, in the same year, he accumulated, at Oxford, the
degrees of bachelor and doctor in divinity. In 1723, Dr,
Berriman lost his patron, the bishop of London, who, in
testimony of his regard to his chaplain, bequeathed him
the fifth part of his large and valuable library. In consequence of the evidence our learned divine had already
given of his zeal and ability in defending the commonlyreceived doctrine of the Trinity, he was appointed to preach
lady Moyer’s lecture, in 1723 and 1724. The eight sermons he had delivered on the occasion, were published in
1725, under the title of “An historical account of the
Trinitarian Controvery.
” This work, in the opinion of
Dr. Godolphin, provost of Eton college, merited a much
greater reward than lady Moyer’s donation. Accordingly,
he soon found an opportunity of conferring such a reward
upon Dr. Berriman, by inviting him, without solicitation,
to accept of a fellowship in his college. Our author was
elected fellow in 1727, and from that time he chiefly resided at Eton in the Summer, and at his parsonage-house
in the Winter. His election into the college at Eton was a
benefit and ornament to that society. He was a faithful
steward in their secular affairs, was strictly observant of
their local statutes, and was a benefactor to the college, in
his will. While the doctor’s learned productions obtained
for him the esteem and friendship of several able and valuable men, and, among the rest, of Dr. Waterland, it is
not, at the same time, surprising, that they should excite
antagonists. One of these, who then appeared without a
name, and who at first treated our author with decency
and respect, was Dr. Conyers Middleton but afterwards,
when Dr. Middleton published his Introductory Discourse
to the Inquiry into the miraculous powers of the Christian
church, and the Inquiry itself, he chose to speak of
Dr. Berriman with no small degree of severity and contempt. In answer to the attacks made upon him, our divine printed in 1731, “A defence of some passages in
the Historical Account.
” In Brief
remarks on Mr. Chandler’s introduction to the history of
the Inquisition,
” which was followed by “A review of the
Remarks. His next publication was his course of sermons
at Mr. Boyle’s lecture, preached in 1730, 1731, and 1732,
and published in 2 vols r 1733, 8vo. The author, in this
work, states the evidence of our religion from the Old
Testament; vindicates the Christian interpretation of the
ancient prophecies; and points out the historical chain
and connection of these prophecies. In the preface, he
asserts the authority of Moses, as an inspired historian and
law-giver, against his old antagonist Dr. Middleton who,
in a letter to Dr. Waterland, had disputed the literal account of the fall, and had expressed himself with his usual
scepticism concerning the divine origin of the Mosaic institution, as well as the divine inspiration of its founder.
Besides the writings we have mentioned, Dr. Berrimaii
printed a number of occasional sermons, and, among the
rest, one on the Sunday before his induction to his living
of St. Andrew Undershaft, and another on Family Religion.
He departed this life at his house in London, on the 5th
of February, 1749-50, in the 62d year of his age. His
funeral sermon was preached by the rev. Glocester Ridley,
LL. B. containing many of the particulars here noticed.
Such was Dr. Berriman’s integrity, that no ill usage could
provoke him, no friendship seduce him, no ambition tempt
him, no interest buy him, to do a wrong, or violate his conscience. When a certain right reverend prelate, unsolicited, and in pure respect to his distinguished merit,
offered him a valuable prebend in his cathedral church of
Lincoln, the doctor gratefully acknowledged the generosity
of the offer, but conscientiously declined it, as he was
bound from accepting of it by the statutes of his college.
The greatest difficulty of obtaining a dispensation was from
himself. In the year of his decease, forty of his sermons
were published, in two volumes, 8vo, by his brother, John
Berriman, M. A. rector of St. Alban’s, Wood-street, under
the title of
” Christian doctrines and duties explained and
recommended." In 1763, nineteen sermons appeared in
one volume, under the same title. With respect to Dr.
Berriman’s practical discourses, it is allowed that they are
grave, weighty, and useful and well fitted to promote
pious and virtuous dispositions, but belong to a class which
have never been eminently popular.
nt proofs of his talents in the Prado of Madrid, and the Alhambra of Grenada. The emperor Charles V. who admired his extensive and various talents, bestowed on him the
, an eminent Spanish painter, sculptor, and architect, was born at Parades de Nava, near Valladolid. He went when young into Italy, studied under Michael Angelo, and became the friend and intimate of Andrea del Sarto, Baccio, Bandine*lli, and other celebrated artists. After having finished his education, he returned to Spain, and afforded eminent proofs of his talents in the Prado of Madrid, and the Alhambra of Grenada. The emperor Charles V. who admired his extensive and various talents, bestowed on him the order of knighthood, and appointed him gentleman of his chamber. After establishing a high reputation and a great fortune, Berruguete died at Madrid in 1545, advanced in years. In the cathedral of Toledo, is one of his finest sculptures, the Transfiguration, and some other beautiful carvings in the choir, one side of which was thus decorated by him, the other by Philip de Borgona. His style possessed much of the sublime manner of his great master, and he was justly admired by his countrymen, as being the first who introduced the true principles of the fine arts into Spain.
ommander, a native of evonshire, where he was born in 1635, became successful against the Buccaneers who infested the Atlantic ocean, and distinguished himself at the
, a naval commander, a native of evonshire, where he was born in 1635, became successful against the Buccaneers who infested the Atlantic ocean, and distinguished himself at the famous battle of Southwold-bay, for which he was knighted. In 1682, he commanded the Gloucester frigate, on board of which the duke of York embarked for Scotland; but by the carelessness of the pilot, the vessel was lost at the mouth of the Humber. In the midst of this confusion, sir John retained that presence of mind for which he was always remarkable, and by that means preserved the duke and as many of his retinue as the long-boat would carry. Soon after he was promoted to a flag, and commanded as vice-admiral under lord Dartmouth, at the demolition of Tangier, and on his return was made a commissioner of the navy; which post he enjoyed till his death. He was in great favour with king James II. who made choice of him to command under lord Dartmouth, when the prince of Orange landed in England; and when his lordship left the fleet, the whole command devolved on sir John Berry, who held it till the ships were laid up. After the revolution sir John continued in his posts, and was frequently consulted by king William, who entertained a high opinion of his abilities in military affairs; but he was poisoned in the beginning of February, 1691, on board one of his majesty’s ships at Portsmouth, where he was paying her off, in the 56th year of his age. The cause of this catastrophe was never discovered, and it was probably accidental. His body v/as brought to London and interred at Stepney, and a fine monument afterwards erected to his memory.
, an ingenious Scotch artist, was one of those who owe more to nature than to instruction of his parentage we have
, an ingenious Scotch artist, was one of those who owe more to nature than to instruction of his parentage we have no account, but he appears to have been born about 1730, and at the usual time bound apprentice to Mr. Proctor, a seal engraver in Edinburgh. How long he remained with him is uncertain, but for some years after he began business for himself, he pursued the same branch with his teacher. At this time, however, his designs were so elegant, and his mode of cutting so clean and sharp, as soon to make' him be taken notice of as a superior artist. At length by constantly studying and admiring the style of the antique entaglios, he resolved to attempt something of that sort himself; and the subject he chose was a head of sir Isaac Newton, which he executed in a style of such superior excellence, as astonished all who had an opportunity of observing it. But as he was a man of the most unaffected modesty, and as this head was given to a friend in a retired situation in life, it was known only to a few in the private circle of his acquaintance; and for many years was scarcely ever seen by any one who could justly appreciate its merit. Owing to these circumstances, Mr. Berry was permitted to waste his time, during the best part of his life, in cutting heraldic seals, for which he found a much greater demand than for fine heads, at such a price as could indemnify him for the time that was necessarily spent in bringing works of such superior excellence to perfection. He often told the writer of this account, that though some gentlemen pressed him very much to make fine heads for them, yet he always found that, when he gave in his bill for an article of that kind, though he had charged perhaps not more than half the money that he could have earned in the same time at his ordinary work, they always seemed to think the price too high, which made him exceedingly averse to employment of that sort.
were admired, as superior to every thing produced in modern times, unless it was by Piccler of Rome, who in the same art, but with much greater practice in it, had justly
Mr. Berry possessed that very nice perceptive faculty, which constitutes the essence of genius in the fine arts, in such a high degree, as to prove even a bar to his attaining that superior excellence in this department, which nature had evidently qualified him for. Even in his best performance he thought he perceived defects, which no one else remarked, and which the circumstances above alluded to prevented him from correcting. While others admired with unbounded applause, he looked upon his own performances with a kind of vexation, at finding the execution not to have attained the high perfection he conceived to be attainable. And not being able to afford the time to perfect hirnself in that nice department of his art, he became extremely averse to attempt it. Yet, in spite of this aversion, the few pieces above named, and some others, were extorted from him by degrees, and they came gradually to be known: and wherever they were known, they were admired, as superior to every thing produced in modern times, unless it was by Piccler of Rome, who in the same art, but with much greater practice in it, had justly attained a high degree of celebrity. Between the excellence of these two artists, connoisseurs differed in opinion; some being inclined to give the palm to Berry, while others preferred Piccler. The works of these two artists were well known to each other and each declared, with that manly ingenuousness, which superior genius alone can confer on the human mind, that the other was greatly his superior.
pression of a seal that the duchess dowager had got cut a good many years before by a Jew in London, who was dead before the duke thought of his seal, and which had
Besides the heads above named, he also executed some
full length figures both of men and other animals, in a
style of superior elegance. But that attention to the interests of a numerous family, which a man of sound principles, as Mr. Berry was, could never allow him to lose
sight of, made him forego these amusing exertions, for the
more lucrative, though less pleasing employment, of cutting heraldic seals, which may be said to have been his
constant employment from morning to night, for forty
years together, with an assiduity that has few examples in
modern times. In this department, he was without dispute
the first artist of his time but even here, that modesty
which was so peculiarly his own, and that invariable desire
to give full perfection to every thing he put out of his
hands, prevented him from drawing such emoluments from
his labours as they deserved. Of this the following anecdote will serve as an illustration, and as an additional testimony of his very great skill. A certain noble duke, when
he succeeded to his estate, was desirous of having a seal
cut with his arms, &.c. properly blazoned upon it. But as
there were no less than thirty-two compartments in the
shield, which was of necessity confined to a very small
space, so as to leave room for the supporters, and other
ornaments, within the compass of a seal of an ordinary size,
he found it a matter of great difficulty to get it executed.
Though a native of Scotland himself, the duke never expected to find a man of the first-rate eminence in Edinburgh but applied to the most eminent seal-engravers in
London and Paris, all of whom declined it as a thing beyond their power. At this time Berry, of whom he had
scarcely heard, was mentioned to him in such a manner
that he went to him, accompanied by a friend, and found
him, as usual, sitting at his wheel. Without introducing
the duke, the gentleman showed Berry an impression of a
seal that the duchess dowager had got cut a good many
years before by a Jew in London, who was dead before the
duke thought of his seal, and which had been shewn to the
others as a pattern, asking him if he would ciu a seal the
same with that. After examining it a little, Mr. Berry
answered readily that he would. The duke, pleased and
astonished at the same time, cried out, “Will you, indeed
” Mr. Berry, who thought this implied some sort of
doubt of his abilities, was a little piqued at it; and turning
round to the duke, whom he had never seen before, nor
knew; “Yes (said he,) sir; if I do not make a better seal
than this, I shall take no payment for it.
” The dukej
highly pleased, left the pattern with Mr. Berry, and went
away. The pattern seal contained, indeed, the various
devices on the thirty-two compartments, distinctlyenough
to be seen, but none of the colours were expressed. Mr.
Berry, in a proper time, finished the seal; on which the
figures were not only done with superior elegance, but the
colours on every part so distinctly marked, that a painter
could delineate the whole, or a herald blazon it, with the
most perfect accuracy. For this extraordinary exertion of
talents, he charged no more than thirty- two guineas, though
the pattern seal had cost seventy-five. Thus it was, that,
notwithstanding he possessed talents of the most superior
kind, and assiduity almost unequalled, observing at all
times a strict economy in his family, Mr. Berry died at
last, in circumstances that were not affluent, on the 3d of
June, 1783, in the 53d year of his age, leaving a numerous
family of children. Besides his eminence as an artist, he
was distinguished by the integrity of his moral character,
and the strict principles of honour which on all occasions
influenced his conduct.
mineral waters of France, a correspondent of the academy of sciences, and member of that of Auxerre, who died in 1754, is chiefly known as the projector of the “Collection
, physician in ordinary to the king,
and intendaut of the mineral waters of France, a correspondent of the academy of sciences, and member of that of
Auxerre, who died in 1754, is chiefly known as the projector of the “Collection Academique,
” containing extracts
of the most important articles in the memoirs of various
learned societies. He published the first two volumes at
Dijon, 1754, 4to. The plan was good, but he gave the
articles so much at length, that an abridgment would be
necessary to render it useful. It was continued by Messrs.
Guenau de Montbeillard, Buffon, Daubenton, Larcher, &c.
and forms 33 vols. 4to, with the tables of the abbé“Rozier.
Berryat also published
” Observations physiques et medicinales sur les eaux mineraies d'Epoigny," in the neighbourhood of Auxerre, and printed at Auxerre, 1752, 12mo.
and Greek, and took delight in travelling over France and Italy for forming acquaintance with those who were in most reputation among the literati. On his return, he
, a native of Germany, was born March 11, 1538, at Annaberg, a little town of Misnia, near the river Schop, on the side of Bohemia. He waseducated with care, and made great progress in the sciences. He was particularly fond of the study of medicine, physics, the belles-lettres, and the learned languages. He excelled in Latin and Greek, and took delight in travelling over France and Italy for forming acquaintance with those who were in most reputation among the literati. On his return, he was successively professor of poetry and Greek at Wittemberg and Leipsic, but being unwilling to sign the formulary of concord, he was dismissed in 1580, and went into the territories of the priuce of Anhalt-Zerbst, where he died the 5th of October 1611, in the seventy-third year of his age. Bersmann put into verse the Psalms of David, and published editions of Virgil, 1581, Ovid, 1582, JEsop,1590, and of Horace, Lucan, Cicero, and other authors of antiquity. He was not less fertile in body than in mind having fourteen sons and six daughters by his marriage with a daughter of Peter Hellebron. Freyer, however, says that he had only four sons.
ributed. He was uncle to madame de Motteville, first woman of the bedchamber to Anne of Austria, and who published the memoirs of that princess. His “Oeuvres poetiques”
, first chaplain to queen Catherine
de Medicis, secretary of the cabinet and reader to Henry
III. counsellor of state, abbot of Aulnai, and lastly bishop
of Seez, was born at Caen in the year 1522, and died the
8th of June 1611, aged fifty-nine. He was the contemporary and friend of Ronsard and Desportes, and was
thought superior to either. Some of his stanzas are written with ease and elegance and have not been excelled
by the best poets of our own times. He has left poems
sacred and profane, canticles, sengs, sonnets, and psalms.
They.re interspersed with several happy thoughts, but
turned in points, a taste which he caught from Seneca.
He seems to have conducted himself with great propriety
after his being advanced to the prelacy, and the bishop
blushed at the gaiety of the courtier, but he had too
much fondness for his early productions to consign them
to oblivion, and he published them with his pious pieces,
“the bane and antidote.
” He left also a translation of
some books of St. Ambrose, several controversial tracts,
imperfect sermons for the principal festivals of the church,
and a funeral discourse on Henry IV. to whose conversion
he had greatly contributed. He was uncle to madame de
Motteville, first woman of the bedchamber to Anne of
Austria, and who published the memoirs of that princess.
His “Oeuvres poetiques
” were printed at Paris,
as educated, 1631, 8vo, and the deliverance of Casal, “Casalluni bis liberatum.” Cardinal Richelieu, who valued him, would have promoted him to a bishopric, but he was
, a French historian, was born
at Sens in 1600, and entered early into the congregation
of the oratory, where he taught rhetoric at Marseilles, after
that college had been founded in 1625. In 1659, he became titular of the archdeaconry of Dunois in the church
of Chartres, and next year he obtained a canonry, and in
1666 was promoted to the deanery of the same church.
His “Florus Gallicus,
” and “Florus Franciscus,
” which
were long popular works, and esteemed the best abridgments of French history, are praised by Le Long for their
style but the work from which he derived most reputation
was his learned dissertation “De Ara,
” Nantes, Casalluni bis liberatum.
” Cardinal
Richelieu, who valued him, would have promoted him to
a bishopric, but he was dissuaded by father Sancy de Marlay, who, among all Berthaulcl’s powers, did not discover
that of governing a diocese. He died Oct. 19, 1681.
the Jesuits by order of Louis XIV. for having bad the weakness or curiosity to consult a prophetess who made a noise among the credulous at Paris. He then entered among
, a learned Jesuit, was born at Tarascon in Provence, Feb. 24, 1622. Possessed of a remarkable memory, he made great proficiency in ancient and
modern languages, and acquired much fame as a teacher
of humani r y, philosophy, and divinity in the various colleges of his order. He also engaged in public disputations
at Lyons, with the clergy of Geneva and Grenoble, but
was dismissed from the Jesuits by order of Louis XIV. for
having bad the weakness or curiosity to consult a prophetess who made a noise among the credulous at Paris.
He then entered among the Benedictines, and died at their
college at Otilx, in 1692. He published, 1. “Traite de
la presence reelle.
” 2. “Traite historique de la charge de
grand aumomer de France,
” a very curious work. 3. “TraiUi
sur la chapelle cles dues de Bourgogne.
” He wrote also
several other pieces on the Tuetonic order, the abbey of
Cluni, the rights of the king to Avignon and Venaissin, the
East Indies, the Italian language, and chronology some
of which still remain in manuscript; and various Latin,
French, Italian, and Provencal pieces of poetry. His correspondence with men of learning both in France and foreign countries was very extensive.
his panegyric on Louis XV. pere Berthier saw it in no other light than as the attempt of a young man who was hunting after antitheses, though not destitute of ingenuity.
, a French writer of
considerable note, was born at Issoudun en Berri April 7,
1704, and entered among the Jesuits in 1722. He was
professor of humanity at Blois, of philosophy at Rennes
and Rouen, and of divinity at Paris. The talents he displayed in these offices made him be chosen in 1742 to
succeed father Brumoy, in the continuation of his “History of the Gallican Church.
” This he executed with
general approbation. In the worthy rival
of Homer and Sophocles,
” the journalist put coldly in a
note, “We are not acquainted with him.
” But what
raised the anger of Voltaire to its utmost pitch, was a very
just censure of several reprehensible passages in his essay
on general history. The irritated poet declared openly in
1759 against the Jesuit in a sort of diatribe, which he
placed after his ode on the death of the margravine of Bareith. The Jesuit repelled his shafts with a liberal and
manly spirit in the Journal de Trevoux. Upon this the
poet, instead of a serious answer, brought out in 1760 a
piece of humour, entitled “An account of the sickness,
confession, and death of the Jesuit Berthier.
” The learned
Jesuit did not think proper to make any reply to an adversary who substituted ridicule for argument, and continued
the Journal de Trevoux till the dissolution of the society
in France. He then quitted his literary occupations for
retirement. At the close of 1762 the dauphin appointed
him keeper of the royal library, and adjunct in the education of Louis XVI. and of monsieur. But eighteen months
afterwards, when certain events occasioned the dismission,
of all ex-jesuits from the court, he settled at Ossenbourg,
from which the empress queen invited him to Vienna and
he was also offered the place of librarian at Milan, but he
refused all and after residing here for ten years, obtained
permission to go to Bourges, where he had a brother and
a nephew in the church. Here he died of a fall, Dec. 15,
1782, just after being informed that the French clergy
had decreed him a pension of a thousand livres. The
chapter of the metropolitan church gave him distinguished
honours at his interment; a testimony due to a man of
such eminent piety, extensive erudition, and excellent
judgment.
, a French philosopher, a native of Lyons, who died in 1799, was first distinguished at Montpelier, as professor
, a French philosopher,
a native of Lyons, who died in 1799, was first distinguished
at Montpelier, as professor of natural philosophy, an office established by the states of Languedoc, and afterwards as professor of history at Lyons. He was a man of
mild manner, communicative and accommodating, and, of
great industry. He was the friend of Dr. Franklin, and
according to his plan, was employed to erect a great
number of conductors, to preserve buildings from lightning,
in Paris and at Lyons. Few writers on subjects of natural
philosophy, &c. have been so successful, scarce a year
passing without two or three prizes being adjudged to him
by the academy, for the best dissertation on the subject
proposed. The month of August, in which the prizes are
usually distributed, he used familiarly to call his harvest.
His principal works are, 1. “Moyen de determiner ie
moment ou le vin en fermentation a acquis toute sa force,
”
De l'electricité du corps humain en etat de sauté et de maladie,
”
De I'electricité des vegetaux,
” Paris, a new conquest added to the empire
which electricity is assuming over the natural world.
”
4. “Preuves de l'efficacité des paratonneres,
” Des avantages que la physique et les arts peuvent
retirer des aerostats,
” Memoires sur les
moyens qui ont fait prosperer les manufactures de Lyon,
”
c. De l'electricité
” des meteores,“1787.
8. Theorie des incendies, &c.
” 1787, 4io. 9. “De
l'eau la plus propre a la vegetation,
” Journal de
sciences miles,
” begun in
ndon, and of the legion of honour, was born March 19, 1727, at Plancemont in Neufchatel. His father, who was an architect and justiciary, had destined him for the church;
, an eminent French marine clock-maker, a member of the institute, of the royal society of London, and of the legion of honour, was born March 19, 1727, at Plancemont in Neufchatel. His father, who was an architect and justiciary, had destined him for the church; but the youth having had an opportunity, when only sixteen years of age, to examine the mechanism of a clock, became so fond of that study as to attend to nothing else. His father then very wisely encouraged an enthusiasm so promising, and after having employed an able workman to instruct his son in the elements of clockmaking, consented that he should go to Paris to perfect his knowledge of the art. He accordingly came to Paris in 1745, and there constructed his first specimens of marine clocks, which soon were universally approved and adopted. Bjerthoud and Peter Leroi were rival makers of these longitudinal clocks, and came very near each other, although by different methods, in the construction of them but Berthoud’s superior experience made the preference be
i luoghi,” Rome, 1747, 4to. It is the more necessary to notice this work, because the editor Giorgi, who has given very little of his own, does not once mention Berti'
, a learned Italian, was
born at Lucca, Dec. 23, 1686. He entered when sixteen
into the congregation, called the Mother of God at Naples,
and prosecuted his studies with success and perseverance.
On his return to Lucca he acquired great reputation as a
general scholar and preacher, and in 1717, taught
rhetoric at Naples. The marquis cie Vasto having appointed
him to be his librarian, he increased the collection with a
number of curious books, of which he had an accurate
knowledge, and also greatly enlarged the library of his
convent. He introduced among his brethren a taste for
polite literature, and t brined a colony of Arcadians. In
1739, he settled finally at Rome, where he was appointed
successively vice-rector, assistant-general, and historian of
his order. He was one of the most distinguished members
of the society of the Arcadians at Home, and of many
other societies. He died at Rome, of an apoplexy, March
23, 1752. Mazzuihelli has given a catalogue of twentyfour works published by him, and of twenty-one that remain in manuscript. Among these we^may notice, I. “La
Caduta de' decemviri clella Roman a republica per la funzione della serenissima republica di Lucca,
” Lucca, Canzone per le vittorie coritro il Turco del principe
Eugenio,
” ibid, without date, 4to. 3. The lives of several of the Arcadians, printed in the prose memoirs of that
academy, under his academic name of Nicasio Poriniano.
4. Translations into the Italian of several French authors
and poetical pieces in various collections. 5. We owe
to him chiefly an important bibliographical work, “Catalogo della iibreria Capponi, con annotazioni in diversi
luoghi,
” Rome, Memorie degli scrittori Lucchesi,
” a
collection of the lives of the writers of Lucca. It being
well known, as early as 1716, that this was ready for the
press, Mazzuchelii, who had waited very patiently for
what was likely to be of so much service to himself, at
length, in 1739, took the liberty to inquire of Berti the
cause of a delay so unusual. Berti answered that the difficulties he had met -with had obliged him to re- write his
work, and dispose it in a new order that the names were
ranged according to the families the most ancient families
had been replaced by new ones in the various offices of
dignity in that little republic, and the new heads and all,
their relations were not very fond of being reminded that
their ancestors were physicians, men of learning, and
“people of that sort.
”
the example of Bellelli his brother- monk. The archbishop of Vienna [Salmon], or rather the Jesuits who managed him, published under his name in 1744, two pieces against
, a famous Augustine monk,
born May 28, 1696, at Serravezza, a small village in Tuscany, was called to Rome by his superiors, and obtained
the title of assistant-general of Italy, and the place of prefect of the papal library. His great proficiency in theological studies procured him these distinctions, and appeared
to advantage in his grand work, “De disciplinis theologicis,
” printed at Rome in 8 vols. 4to. He here adopts the
sentiments of St. Augustine in their utmost rigour, after
the example of Bellelli his brother- monk. The archbishop
of Vienna [Salmon], or rather the Jesuits who managed
him, published under his name in 1744, two pieces against
the two Augustine theologues, inveighing against them as
being too severely Augustine. The first is entitled,
“Ba'ianismus redivivus in scriptis pp. Bellelli et Berti,
” in
4to. The second bore this title “Jansenismus redivivus
in scriptis pp. Bellelli et Berti,
” in 4to. At the same time
father Berti was accused to pope Benedict XIV. as a disciple of Ba'ius and of Jansenitis. The prudent pontiff, without returning any answer to the accusers, advised Berti to
defend himself; which he accordingly did in a work of
two vols. 4to, 1749. In this apology, rather long, though
learned and lively, he laid down the difference there is
between Jansenism and Augustinianism. After this piece
Berti brought out several others, the principal of which is
an ecclesiastical history in Latin, in 7 vols. 4to: it made
however but little way out of Italy, by reason of the dryness of the historian, and of his prejudices in favour of
exploded tenets. He speaks of the pope, both in his theology and in his history, as the absolute monarch of kingdoms and empires, and that all other princes are but his
lieutenants. Berti wrote also dissertations, dialogues, panegyrics, academical discourses, and some Italian poems,
which are by no means his best productions. An edition
in folio of all his works has been printed at Venice. He
died at the age of 70, May 26, 1766, at Pisa, whither he
had been called by Francis I. grand duke of Tuscany.
of his own regiment of foot being commanded by the principal knights and gentlemen of Lincolnshire, who engaged themselves in the service principally out of their personal
The fortune, which he inherited from his ancestors, was a very considerable one; and though he did not manage it with such care, as if he desired much to improve it, yet he left it in a very fair condition. He was a man of great honour, and spent his youth and the vigour of his age in military actions and commands abroad. And though he indulged himself in great liberties, yet he still preserved a very great interest in his country; as appears by the supplies, which he and his son brought to the king’s army, the companies of his own regiment of foot being commanded by the principal knights and gentlemen of Lincolnshire, who engaged themselves in the service principally out of their personal affection to him. He was of a very generous nature, and punctual in what he undertook, and in exacting what was due to him which made him bear the restriction so heavily, which was put upon him by the commission granted to prince Rupert, who was general of the horse, in which commission there was a clause exempting him from receiving orders from any but the king himself; and by the king’s preferring the prince’s opinion in all matters relating to the war before his. Nor did he conceal his resentment for the day before the battle, he said to some friends, with whom he had used freedom, that he did not look upon himself as general; and therefore he was resolved, when the day of battle should come, that he would be at the head of his regiment as a private colonel, where he would die. He was carried out of the field to the next village; and if he could then have procured surgeons, it was thought his wound would not have proved mortal. As soon as the other army was composed by the coming on of the night, the earl of Essex about midnight sent sir William Balfour, and some other officers, to see him, and designed himself to visit him. They found him upon a little straw in a poor house, where they had laid him in his blood, w.hich had run from him in great abundance. He said, he was sorry to see so many gentlemen, some whereof were his old friends, engaged in so foul a rebellion wishing them to tell the earl of Essex, that he ought to throw himself at the king’s feet to beg his pardon which if he did not speedily do, his memory would be odious to the nation. He continued his discourse with such vehemence, that the officers by degrees withdrew themselves, and prevented the visit, which the earl of Essex intended him, who only sent him the best surgeons; but in the very opening of his wounds he died, before the morning, by the loss of blood. He had very many friends, and very few enemies, and died generally lamented. His body was interred at Edenham in Lincolnshire.
er nine sons and five daughters, and was succeeded in his titles and estate by his eldest, Mountagu, who at the battle of Edge-hill, where he commanded the royal regiment
He married Elizabeth, only child of Edward, the first lord Mountagu of Boughton in Northamptonshire, and had issue by her nine sons and five daughters, and was succeeded in his titles and estate by his eldest, Mountagu, who at the battle of Edge-hill, where he commanded the royal regiment of guards, seeing his father wounded and taken prison, was moved with such filial piety, that he voluntarily yielded himself to a commander of horse of the enemy, in order to attend upon him. He afterwards adhered firmly to his majesty in all his distresses, and upon the restoration of king Charles II. was made knight of the garter.
France. He was intimately connected with chevalier de Parny, another poet of the amatory class, and who was termed the French Tibullus, and they lived together in the
, a modern French poet of the
Ovidian cast, was born in the isle of Bourbon, Oct. 10,
1752, and died at St. Domingo June 1790. He was
brought to France for education at the age of nine, and
after studying for some time in the college of Plessis, entered the military service, and became a captain of horse
and a chevalier of St. Louis. In his twentieth year he distinguished himself as a poet, although his effusions were
circulated principally among his friends; but in 1782,
when he published four books of elegies under the title of
“Amours,
” a very honourable rank appears to have been
assigned to him among the minor poets of France. He
was intimately connected with chevalier de Parny, another
poet of the amatory class, and who was termed the French
Tibullus, and they lived together in the utmost amity, although rivals in the public favour. About the end of the
year 1789, Bertin went to St. Domingo to marry a young
creole, with whom he had formed an acquaintance in Paris,
but on the day of marriage he was seized with a violent
fever, of which he died in a few days. His works were
collected and published at Paris in 1785, 2 vols. 18mo,
and reprinted in 1802 and 1306.
disputes with his brethren, by which neither party gained much credit. His son Joseph Maria Xavier, who died in 1756, was also a physician, and of far more celebrity
, an Italian physician,
and a man of learning and skill, yet perhaps less known
for these qualities, than for his literary disputes, was born at
Castel Fiorentino Dec. 28, 1658. After studying at
Sienna and Pisa a complete course, not only of medicine,
but mathematics, astronomy, belles-lettres, &c. he was,
in 1678, created doctor in philosophy and medicine, and
then settled at Florence, where after very successful practice for many years, he died Dec. 10, 1726. His first
publication was entitled “La Medicina difesa contra la
calunnie degli nomini volgari e dalle opposizioni del dotti,
divisa in due dialoghi,
” Lucca, Dell' uso esterno e interno del Mercurio, discorso, &c.
”
4to.
ges and Ypres, Nov. 14, 1565. He was brought into England when but three months old, by his parents, who dreaded the persecution of the protestants which then prevailed
, cosmographer and historiographer
to Louis XIII. of France, and regius professor, of mathematics, was born at Beveren in Flanders, on the confines
of the dioceses of Bruges and Ypres, Nov. 14, 1565. He
was brought into England when but three months old, by
his parents, who dreaded the persecution of the protestants
which then prevailed in the Netherlands. He received the
rudiments of his education in the suburbs of London, under
Christian Rychius, and his learned daughter-in-law, Petronia Lansberg. He afterwards completed his education at
Leyden, whither his father, then become protestant minister at Rotterdam, removed him in his twelfth year. In
1582, when only seventeen years of age, he began the
employment of teaching, which he carried on at Dunkirk,
Ostend, Middleburgh, Goes, and Strasburgh but a desire for increasing his own stock of learning induced him
to travel into Germany with Lipsius, and the same object
led him afterwards into Bohemia, Silesia, Poland, Russia,
and Prussia. On his return to Leyden he was appointed
to a professor’s chair, and to the care of the library, of
which, after arranging it properly, he published a' catalogue. In 1606, he was appointed regent of the college,
but afterwards, having taken part with the disciples of Arminius, and published several works against those of Gomarus, he was dismissed from all his employments, and
deprived of every means of subsistence, with a numerous
family. In March 1620, he presented a petition to the
states of Holland for a pension, which was refused. Two
years before, Louis XIII. had honoured him with the title
of his cosmographer, and now constrained by poverty and
the distress of his family, he went to France and embraced
the popish religion, a change which gave great uneasiness
to the protestants. Some time after he was appointed
professor of rhetoric in the college of Boncourt, then historiographer to the king, and lastly assistant to the regius
professor of mathematics. He died Oct. 3, 1629. A veryline engraving of him occurs at the back of the dedication
to Louis XIII. of his “Theatrum Geographise veteris,
”
but (the collectors will be glad to hear) only in some copies
of that work, which are supposed to have been presents
from the author.
most of which, however, had been greatly neglected, and even destroyed by the ignorant inhabitants, who converted every remains of antiquity in stone to the common
, an Italian antiquary of
the last century, was born of a noble family, at Mereto inthe Frioul, March 13, 1676, and after studying at Venice,
was ordained a priest in 1700. The same year he became
canon -coadjutor of the patriarchal church of Aquileia, and
soon after titular. He had already acquired a decided taste
for the study of antiquities, and was in a country abounding with objects to gratify it, most of which, however, had
been greatly neglected, and even destroyed by the ignorant
inhabitants, who converted every remains of antiquity in
stone to the common purposes of building. To prevent
this for the future, Bertoli formed a society of men of
learning and similar taste, who began with purchasing
every valuable relic they could find, and placed the collection in the portico of the canons’ house, where it soon
became an object of curiosity, not only to travellers, but
to the Aquileians themselves. At the same time he copied,
or caused to be copied, all the monuments in the town, and
in the whole province, and entered into an extensive correspondence with many eminent characters, particularly
Fontanini, to whom he liberally communicated his discoveries, in hopes they might be useful to that learned prelate; but he having deceased in 1736, Bertoli resolved to
take upon himself what he had expected from him, and
was encouraged in this design by Muratori and Apostolo
Zeno. Accordingly he began to publish a series of memoirs and dissertations on subjects of antiquity, which he
wrote at his native place, Mereto, where he resided for
such periods as his official duties at Aquileia permitted.
In 1747 he was elected a member of the Columbarian society of Florence, and next year of that of Cortona, and
died a few years afterwards, but the date is not ascertained
in either of our authorities. His principal publication is
entitled “Le Aritichita di Aquileja profane e sacre,
” Venice
r of mendicants, and six seculars, consisting of divines and lawyers, to examine Wickliff’s opinions who accordingly declared him an heretic. He wrote likewise several
, an eminent divine of the fourteenth century, and doctor in that faculty, flourished about
the year 1381, in the reign of Richard II. and was some
time chancellor of the university of Oxford. He is chiefly
remarkable for his opposition to the doctrines of Wickliff:
for, by virtue of his office, as governor of the university,
he appointed twelve censors, six of the order of mendicants, and six seculars, consisting of divines and lawyers,
to examine Wickliff’s opinions who accordingly declared
him an heretic. He wrote likewise several pieces upon the
subject of Wickliff’s pretended heresy particularly “Determinations against Wickliff; a treatise concerning his just
condemnation
” and another “against the Articles extracted from his writings.
” Bale and Pits give him very
different characters, according to their principles.
, an eminent anatomist and surgeon, was born at Turin, Oct. 18, 1723. His father, who was only a poor phlebotomist and barber, contrived to give him
, an eminent anatomist and surgeon, was born at Turin, Oct. 18, 1723. His
father, who was only a poor phlebotomist and barber, contrived to give him an education, and intended to bring him
up to the church, which was thought most likely to afford
him a maintenance, but one of their friends Sebastian
Klingher, then professor of surgery, induced him to study
that branch, in which he soon evinced great talents. He
was only twenty- two when he read a dissertation on Ophthalmography, on which Haller and Portal bestowed the
highest praise. The celebrated Bianchi connected himself with him, but after a few years their friendship was
interrupted by the literary disputes which took place between Bianchi and Morgagni, and Bertrandi preferring“what he thought truth to a friendship which was of great
importance to him, was obliged to leave Bianchi. In 1747
he was elected an associate of the college of surgery, and
the same year published his
” Dissertation on the Liver,“which, Haller says, contains many useful observations. In,
1752, the king, Charles Emmanuel, offered to bear his expenses to Paris and London. He accordingly went to Paris,
where he increased his knowledge and practice of the art
of surgery, and in consequence of his two papers read in
the academy,
” De Hydrocele,“and
” De hepatis abscessibus qui vulneribus capitis superveniunt,“was admitted
as a foreign member. In 1754 he went to London, and
lodged for a year with sir William Bromfield, our late
eminent surgeon, during which time, as at Paris, he studied hospital practice, and cultivated the acquaintance of
men of science. On his return to Turin, the king founded
for his sake a new professorship of practical surgery and
anatomy, and at Bertrandi’s request, built a handsome
amphitheatre in the hospital of St. John. He was afterwards appointed first surgeon to the king, and professor
of chemistry in the university. Surgery now, which had
been practised in Piedmont only by regimental surgeons,
began to wear a new face and a literary society, which
was afterwards completely established under the title of
the
” Royal Academy of Sciences,“began now to hold its
meetings, and Bertrandi contributed some valuable papers
to the first volume of their Memoirs. His principal publication was his
” Trattato delle operazioni di Chirurgia,"
Nice, 1763, 2 vols. 8vo, which was afterwards translated
into French and German. He was employed on a treatise
on anatomy and a comparative history of ancient and modern surgery, when death deprived science and humanity
of his valuable labours, in 1765, in his forty-second year.
His works already published, and his posthumous works,
edited by Penchienati and Brugnone form 13 vols. 8vo.
, a botanist, who was born in 1561, at Nuremberg, where he carried on the business
, a botanist, who was born in 1561, at
Nuremberg, where he carried on the business of an apothecary, and died there in 1629, is entitled to notice chiefly
for having published the most beautiful botanical work that
had then appeared, the celebrated “Hortus Eystettensis,
”
Nuremberg, Phytobasanos
” of Columna, that were engraved on
copper, all botanical engravings being formerly on wood.
They are in general well designed, but do not point out
the parts of fructification, and are classed only according
to the seasons. Basil Besler had the care of this work, and
although he was deficient in literature, and was not even
acquainted with Latin, yet his zeal and love of the science
enabled him to perform his task with considerable skill.
Jerome Besler, his brother, a man of more learning, supplied the synonymy of the plants, and part of the descriptions, and Louis Jungermann, professor at Giessen, was
the author of the text. A second edition appeared at Nuremberg in 1640, at the expence of Marquard II. bishop
of Aichstaedt, in large folio, but is inferior to the first.
Basil Besler also collected a museum of many of the curiosities of the three kingdoms of nature, which he had engraven at his own expence, and published under the title
of “Fasciculus rariorum et aspectu digniorum, varii generis quae collegit et suis impensis aeri ad vivum incidi curavit Basilius Besler,
” Nuremberg,
, a physician at Nuremberg, the son of Jerome and nephew of Basil, who was born in 1601, and died in 1661, wrote, 1. “Gazophylacium
, a physician at Nuremberg, the son of Jerome and nephew of Basil, who was
born in 1601, and died in 1661, wrote, 1. “Gazophylacium rerum naturalium,
” Nuremberg, Rariora mussel Besleriani,
” Nuremberg, Admirandae fabrics humanae mulieris partium, &c. delineatio,
”
Nuremberg, Observatio anatomico-medica, &c.
”
an account of a monstrous birth, Nuremberg, Mantissa ad viretum stirpium Eystettense-Beslerianum,
” ibid. Hortus Eystettensis.
”
e, which he refused. Orsini, however, tendered his vote on the same terms to the cardinal de Rovere, who had none of Bessarion’s scruples, and was elected. Paul Jovius
, one of the revivers of literature in the fifteenth century, was born, not at Constantinople, as some writers assert, but at Trebisond, in 1389, a date which is ascertained by his epitaph written by himself, but as all the copies of this epitaph do not agree, Bandini, one of his biographers, gives 1395, as the time of his birth. He entered into the order of St. Basil, and passed twentyone years in a monastery of Peloponnesus, employed in the study of divinity and polite literature. The philosopher Gemistus Pletho was one of his masters. In 1438, when the emperor John Paleologus formed the design of going to the council of Ferrara, to re-unite the Greek with the Latin church, he drew Bessarion from his retirement, made him bishop of Nice, and engaged him to accompany him into Italy with Pletho, Marcus Eugenius, archbishop of Ephesus, the patriarch of Constantinople, and several other Greeks eminent for talents or rank. In the sittings of this council, the archbishop of Ephesus distinguished himself by his powers of reasoning, and Bessarion by the charms of his eloquence, but unfortunately from being rivals in talents, they soon became enemies. Eugenius was not favourable to the scheme of uniting the Greek and Latin churches; and Bessarioii, after having been of a contrary opinion, declared for the Latins, which was the side the emperor took. The union was accordingly announced, and in December 1439, pope Eugenius IV. to reward the zeal of Bessarion, created him a cardinal priest. ‘ Being now, in consequence of his new dignity, fixed in, Italy, a step which was at the same time rendered necessary by the commotions in Greece, where he was very unpopular, and the union universally rejected, Bessarion returned to the studious and simple life he had led in his convent in the Peloponnesus. His house became the resort of the learned, and when he appeared abroad, his train was composed of such men as Argyropulus, Philelphus, Valla, Theodore Gaza, George of Trebisonde, and Calderino. He obtained the confidence and friendship of several popes. Nicholas V. appointed him archbishop of S’ponto, and cardinal-bishop; and Pius II. in 1463, conferred upon him the title of Patriarch of Constantinople. On the death of Nicholas V. the college of cardinals would have elected him his successor, but this purpose was defeated by the intrigues of cardinal Alain. Some years after, Bessarion, was likely to have succeeded Paul II. but to accomplish this, it was necessary to secure the vote of the cardinal Orsini by an act of injustice, which he refused. Orsini, however, tendered his vote on the same terms to the cardinal de Rovere, who had none of Bessarion’s scruples, and was elected. Paul Jovius tells a foolish story of Bessarion’s having lost this election, by the blundering reply of his servant; and Gibbon, credulous enough when the object of belief is worth nothing, has repeated it after him, nor knowing that our countryman Hody had amply refuted it.
espect for these two sages, he rebuked, in strong terms, the inconsiderate zeal of young Apostoiius, who, without understanding the question, had written a violent and
Bessarion’s writings are numerous. Almost all those on
theological subjects remain in manuscript, except some
that are inserted in the acts of the council of Florence, in
vol. XIII. of Labbe’s collection, and in vol. IX. of Hardouin’s. Complete catalogues of his philosophical treatises,
discourses, an,d letters, may be consulted inFabricius’sBibl.
Grace, and in Body. His most celebrated works were his
Latin translations of Xenophon’s Memorabilia, and Aristotle’s Metaphysics, and his treatise “Contra calumniatorem Platonis.
” That calumniator was George of Trebisond, and Bessarion composed the work during the heat
of the violent contest supported about the middle of the
fifteenth century, between the followers of Plato and those
of Aristotle, of wHich Boivin wrote the history in the second volume of the Academy of Belles Lettres. Gemistus
Pletho, an enthusiastic admirer of Plato, wrote a small tract
in which he attacked the Peripatetic philosophy with virulent invective. Three learned Greeks of the age, Gennadius, George of Trebisond, and Theodore Gaza, had taken
up their pens in vindication of Aristotle. Bessarion endeavoured to reconcile the parties by shewing that Plato
and Aristotle were not so far removed from each other in
opinion as was usually thought and having a great respect
for these two sages, he rebuked, in strong terms, the inconsiderate zeal of young Apostoiius, who, without understanding the question, had written a violent and unreasonable declamation against Aristotle. George, however, far
from following the example of this moderation, published,
in Latin, under the title of “Comparatio Platonis et Aristotelis,
” a long dissertation, in which he endeavoured to
demonstrate the vast superiority of Aristotle, and inveighed,
with great violence, against Plato and his followers. Bessarion then wrote the treatise above-mentioned against this
calumniator of Plato, in which he endeavours to prove that
the doctrine of Plato is conformable to that of the Scriptures, and that his morals were as pure and irreproachable
as his doctrine. Having thus defended Plato, he attacks
George of Trebisond, proving that he had mistaken the
sense of a great many passages, and that he had no right
to give his opinion of a philosopher whose works he did not
understand. Of this book there have been three editions,
all of which are scarce the first was printed at Rome in
1469, and the others at Venice by Aldus, 1503 and 1516.
med for the mutual assistance and illustration of each other’s genius! How Shakspeare wrote, all men who have a taste for nature may read and know; but with what higher
, a celebrated English actor,
was born in Tothill-street, Westminster, 1635; and, after
having left school, is said to have been put apprentice to
a bookseller. The particulars, however, relating to the
early part of his life, are not ascertained. It is generally
thought that he made his first appearance on the stage in
1656, at the opera-house in Charter-house-yard, under
the direction of sir William Davenant, and continued to
perform here till the restoration, when king Charles grained
patents to two companies, the one called the king’s cornpa ly, and the other the duke’s. The former acted at the
theatre royal in Drury-lane, and the latter at the theatre
in Lincoln’s-Inn-fields. Betterton went over to Paris, at the
command of king Charles II. to take a view of the French
scenery, and at his return made such improvements as
added greatly to the lustre of the English stage. For several
years both companies acted with the highest applause, and
the taste for dramatic entertainments was never stronger
than whilst these two companies played . The two companies were however at length united; though the time of
this union is not precisely known, Gildon placing it in
1682, and Cibber in 1684. But however this may be, it
was in this united company that Mr. 'Betterton first shone
forth with the greatest degree of lustre for, having survived the famous actors upon whose model he had formed
himself, he was now at liberty to display his genius in its
full extent. His merit as an actor cannot now be very accurately displayed, and much of the following passage
from Gibber’s Apology, seems to be mere stage-cant and
declamation. Cibber says, “Betterton was an actor,
as Shakspeare was an author, both without competitors,
formed for the mutual assistance and illustration of each
other’s genius! How Shakspeare wrote, all men who
have a taste for nature may read and know; but with what
higher rapture would he still be read, could they conceive
how Betterton played him! Then might they know the
one was born alone to speak what the other only knew to
write! Pity it is that the momentary beauties, flowing
from an harmonious elocution, cannot, like those of poetry, be their own record! that the animated graces of
the player can live no longer than the instant breath and
motion that present them, or at best can but faintly glimmer through the memory or imperfect attestation of a few
surviving spectators! Could how Betterton spoke be as
easily known as what he spoke, then might you see the
muse of Shakspeare in her triumph, with all her beauties
in her best array, rising into real life, and charming her
beholders. But alas! since all this is so far out of the
reach of description, how shall I shew you Betterton?
Should I therefore tell you that all the Othellos, Hamlets,
Hotspurs, Macbeths, and Brutuses, you have seen since
his time, have fallen short of him, this still would give you
no idea of his particular excellence. Let us see then what
a particular comparison may do, whether that may yet
draw him nearer to you? You have seen a Hamlet perhaps, who, on the first appearance of his father’s spirit,
has thrown himself into all the straining vociferation requisite to express rage and fury; and the house has thundered
with applause, though the misguided actor was all the
while (as Shakspeare terms it) tearing a passion into rags.
I am the more bold to offer you this particular instance,
because the late Mr. Addison, while I sat by him to see
this scene acted, made the same observation asking me,
with some surprise, if I thought Hamlet should be in so
violent a passion with the ghost, which, though it might
have astonished, had not provoked him? For you may
observe, that in this beautiful speech, the passion never
rises beyond an almost breathless astonishment, or an impatience, limited by a filial reverence, to inquire into the
suspected wrongs that may have raised nim from his peaceful
tomb and a desire to know what a spirit so seemingly
distrest might wish or enjoin a sorrowful son to execute
towards his future quiet in the grave. This was the light
into which Betterton threw this scene; which he opened with
a pause of mute amazement! Then rising slowly to a
solemn, trembling voice, he made the ghost equally terrible to the spectator as to himself. And in the descriptive part of the natural emotions which the ghastlyvision gave him, the boldness tit‘ his expostulation was still
governed by decency manly, but not braving his voice
never rising into that seeming outrage, or wild deli an ce,
of what he naturally revered. But, alas to preserve this
medium between mouthing, and meaning too little, to
keep the attention more pleasingly awake by a ’tempered
spirit, than by mere vehemence of voice, is, of all the
master strokes of an actor, the most difficult to reach. In.
this none have equalled Betterton. He that feels not himself the passion he would raise, will talk to a sleeping audience. But this was
” never the fault of Be item n. A farther excellence in him was, that he could vary iiis spirit to
the different characters he acted. Those wild impatient
starts, that fierce and flashing fire which he threw into
Hotspur, never came from the unruffled temper of his
Brutus (for I have more than once seen a Brutus as warm as Hotspur): when the Betterton Brutus was provoked in
his dispute with Cassius, his spirits flew out of his eyes his
steady looks alone supplied that terror which he disdained
an intemperance in his voice should rise to. Thus, with a
settled dignity of contempt, like an unheeding rock, he
repelled upon himself the foam of Cassius; not but in some
part of this scene, where he reproaches Cassius, his temper is not under this suppression, but opens into that
warmth which becomes a man of virtue; yet this is that
hasty spark of anger, which Brutus himself endeavours to
excuse. But with whatever strength of nature we see the
poet shew at once the philosopher and the hero, yet the
image of the actor’s excellence will be still imperfect to
you, unless language could put colours in our words to
paint the voice with. The most that a Vandyck can arrive at is, to make his portraits of great persons seem to
think a Shakspeare goes farther yet, and tells you what
his pictures thought; a BetU-rton steps beyond them both,
and calls them from the grave to breathe, and be themselves again in feature, speech, and motion, at once united
and gratifies at once-your eye, your ear, your understanding. From these various excel lenci s, Betterton had so
full a possession of the esteem and regard of his auditors,
that, upon his entrance into every scene, he seemed to
seize upon the eyes and ears of the giddy and inadvertent.
To have talked or looked another way, would have been
thought insensibility or ignorance. In all his soliloquies of
moment, the strongest intelligence of attitude and aspect
drew you into such an impatient gaze and eager expectation, that you almost imbibed the sentiment with your eye,'
before the er could reach it."
, they were unable to keep up their run of success, above two or three seasons. Vanbrugh and Gibber, who wrote for the other house, were expeditious in their productions
En lowed with such excellences, it is no wonder that
Bettertcrti attracted the notice of his sovereign, the protection of the nobility, and the general respect of all ranks
of people. The patentees, however, as there was now only
one theatre, began to consider it as an instrument of accumulating wealth to themselves by the labours of others;
and this had such an influence on their conduct, that the
actors had many hardships imposed upon them, and were
oppressed in the most tyrannical manner. Betterton endeavoured to convince the managers of the injustice and
absurdity of such a behaviour which language not pleasing them, they began to give away some of his capital
parts to young actors, supposing this would abate his influence. This policy hurt the patentees, and proved of
service to Betterton for the public resented having plays
ill acted, when they knew they might be acted better.
The best players attached themselves wholly to Betterton,
urging him to turn his thoughts on some method of procuring himself and them justice. Having a general ao
quaintance with people of fashion, he represented the affair in such a manner, that at length, by the intercession
of the earl of Dorset, he procured a patent for building a
new playhouse in Lincoln’s-inn-fields, which he did by
subscription. The new theatre was opened in 1695. Mr.
Congreve accepted a share with this company, and the
first piay they acted was his comedy of Love for Love.
The king honoured it with his presence when Betterton
spoke a prologue, and Mrs. Bracegirdle an epilogue on the
occasion. But notwithstanding all the advantages this
company enjoyed, and the favourable reception they at
first met with, they were unable to keep up their run of
success, above two or three seasons. Vanbrugh and Gibber, who wrote for the other house, were expeditious in
their productions and the frequency of new pieces gave
such a turn in their favour, that Bctterton’s company, with
all their merit, must have been undone, had not the
“Mourning Bride
” and the “Way of the World
” come
to their relief, and saved them at the last extremity. In
a few years, however, it appearing that they could not
maintain tneir independence without some new support
from their friends, the patrons of Betterton opened a subscription for building a theatre in the Haymarket, which
was finished in 1706. Betterton however being now grown
old, and his health being much impaired by constant application, declined the management of this house, resigning it entirely to sir John Vanbrugh and Mr. Congreve;
but from the decay of Betterton, many of the old players
dying, and other accidents, a re-tmion of the companies
seemed necessary, and accordingly took place soon after.
attended the ceremony, and two days after published a paper in the Tatler to his memory. Mr. Booth, who knew him only in his decline, used to say, that he never saw
Betterton got by this benefit 500l. and a promise was
given him, that the favour should be annually repeated as
long as he lived. Sept. 20, in the succeeding winter, he
performed the part of Hamlet with great vivacity. This
activity of his kept off the gout longer than usual, but the
fit returned upon him in the Spring with greater violence,
and it was the more unlucky, as this was the time of his
benefit. The play he fixed upon was, the “Maid’s Tragedy,
” in which he acted the part of Melanthns and notice was given thereof by his friend sir Richard Steele in
the Tatler but the fit intervening, that he might not disappoint the town, he was obliged to submit to external
applications, to reduce the swelling of his feet, which
enabled him to appear on the stage, though he was obliged
to use a slipper. “He was observed that day to have a
more than an ordinary spirit, and met with suitable applause but the unhappy consequence of tampering with
his distemper was, that it flew into his head, and killed
him.
” He died April 28, 1710, and was interred in Westminster-abbey. Sir Richard Steele attended the ceremony, and two days after published a paper in the Tatler
to his memory. Mr. Booth, who knew him only in his
decline, used to say, that he never saw him off or on the
stage, without learning something from him; and frequently observed, that Betterton was no actor, that he put
on his part with his clothes, and was the very man he undertook to be till the play was over, and nothing more. So
exact was he in following nature, that the look of surprise
he assumed in the character of Hamlet, astonished Booth
(when he first personated the ghost) to such a degree, that
he was unable to proceed in his part for some moments.
The following dramatic works were published by Mr. Betterton, 1. a The Woman made a justice,“a comedy. 2.
” The Unjust judge, or, Appius and Virginia,“a tragedy,
written originally by Mr. John Webster, an old poet, who.
fiourisiied in the reign of James I. It was only altered by
Mr. Betterton. 3.
” The Amorous widow, or the wanton
wife," a play written on the plan of Moliere’s George
Dandin.
rmany to Italy, bringing with him two young princes, the sons or nephews of the prince of Hohenlohe, who had intrusted him with their education. The following year he
, one of the most
eminent Italian scholars of the last century, was born at
Mantua, July 18, 1718. After having studied among the
Jesuits in his own country and at Bologna, he entered that
society as a noviciate in 1736. He then commenced a
new course of studies, including the belles lettres, from
1739 to 1744, at Brescia, where cardinal Quirini, count
Mazzuchelli, count Duranti, and other learned men, formed an illustrious academy, and there he became first noticed by some poetical compositions for scholastic exercises. When sent to Bologna to pursue his theological
course, he continued to court his muse, and wrote for the
theatre of the college, his tragedy of “Jonathas.
” The
number of literary characters in this city surpashed that
which he had found at Brescia. The Institute recently
founded by count Marsigli, the Clementine academy of
design, the school of the astronomical poet Manfredi, and
the growing reputation of his learned and ingenious pupils
Zanotti, Algarotti, &c. contributed to fix the attention of
the literary world on Bologna. In this society Bettinelli
completed his education, and attained the age of thirty.
In 1748, he went to Venice to teach rhetoric, and was frequently employed in a similar manner in other places. His
superiors intended him for a display of his oratorical
talents, but the weakness of his lungs obliged him to decline this. In 1751, he was appointed director of the college of nobles at Parma, and remained here superintending "their poetical and historical studies for eight years,
occasionally visiting the principal vines of Italy, on business, or for health. In 1755, ne travelled through part of
Germany, to Strasburgh and Nancy, and returned through
Germany to Italy, bringing with him two young princes,
the sons or nephews of the prince of Hohenlohe, who had
intrusted him with their education. The following year
he took a trip to France with the eldest of these princes,
and resided at Paris, in the college of Louis-le-Grand. It
was during this trip that he wrote the celebrated letters of
Virgil which were printed at Venice with those of Frugoni
and Algarotti. The opinions, and we may add, the literary
heresies, very ingeniously urged in these letters against
the reputation of the two great luminaries of Italian poetry,
and especially against Dante, created him many enemies,
and what gave him most uneasiness, involved him with
Algarotti. (See Algarotii). From Paris he made several excursions into Normandy, Lorraine, &c. and paid a
visit to Voltaire. From Geneva he went to Marseilles, &c.
and arrived at Parma in 1759. The same year he went to
Verona, where he resided until 1767, and resumed his
offices of preaching and education. He was afterwards
for some years at Modena, and when the order of the Jesuits
was suppressed, he was appointed professor of rhetoric.
On his return to his own country, he applied to his literary
pursuits with fresh ardour, and published many works, and
having regretted that he had published so much without
writing any thing to please the fair sex, doubtless owing
to his ecclesiastical character, he afterwards endeavoured
to make up for this. in some respect by publishing his correspondence between two ladies, his letters to Lesbia, and
lastly, his twenty-four dialogues on love. These he published in 1796, when the war raged in all parts of Italy,
and when the siege of Mantua by the French obliged him
to leave it. He then removed to Verona, but in 1797,
after the surrender of Mantua, he returned again, and
although now almost in his eightieth year, resumed his
literary labours with his accustomed spirit. In 1799, he
began a new edition of his works, which was completed at
Venice in 1801, in 24 vols. 12mo. He still preserved his
usual gaiety and health at the age of ninety, until Sept. 13,
1805, when he died after fifteen days illness, with the
firmness, says his biographer, of a philosopher and a Christian.
iew of the revival of arts and sciences after the tenth century, and as interfering with Tiraboschi, who was then employed on the same subject, but to those who may
His principal works, according to his own arrangement
in the edition above mentioned are, 1. “Ragionamend
filosofici
” con anuotazioni,“a work both religious, moral,
and philosophical. 2.
” Dell' entusiasmo delle belle arti“the professed design of which was to maintain and revive
the studies of imagination; but Bettinelli was not himself
a decided enthusiast, and instead of the fire of imagination, we have here much of the coldness of method. 3.
Eight
” Dialoghi d'amore,“in which he expatiates on the
influences which imagination, vanity, friendship, marriage,
honour, ambition, science, &c. produce on that passion.
In this work is an eloge on Petrarch, one of his most happy
compositions. 4.
” Risorgirnento negli stucii, nelle arti e
ne' costumi dopo il mille.“This in Italy is considered as
a superficial view of the revival of arts and sciences after
the tenth century, and as interfering with Tiraboschi, who
was then employed on the same subject, but to those who
may think Tiraboschi’s work, what it certainly is, insufferably tedious, this will afford much useful information in a
shorter compass. The dissertation on Italian poetry is
particularly valuable. 5.
” Delle lettere e delle arti Mantovane lettere ed arti Modenesi,“an excellent work as
far as regards the literary history of Mantua, which was
now, if we mistake not, written for the first time. 6.
” Lettere dieci di Virgilio agli Arcadi.“Of these letters we
have already spoken, and his attack on Dante and Petrarch, although not altogether without such a foundation as
strict and cold criticism may lay, will not soon be forgiven
in Italy. 7.
” Letters on the Fine Arts from a lady to her
friend, &c.“8. His
” Poetry,“containing seven small
poems, or
” poemetti,“six epistles in familiar verse, sonnets, &c. In all these he is rather an elegant, easy, and
ingenious poet, than a great one. His
” Raccolte“is a
spirited satire on the insipid collections of verses so common in Italy. 9.
” Tragedies,“entitled Xerxes, Jonathan,
Demetrius, Poliorcetes, and Rome saved, with some French
letters, and an Italian dissertation on Italian tragedy. The
” Rome saved“is a translation from Voltaire, indifferently
performed. He also wrote three other tragedies, but inferior to the former, in which there is an evident attempt
at the manner of Racine. 10.
” Lettere a Lesbia Cidonia
sopra gli epigrammi,“consisting of twenty-five letters, with
epigrams, madrigals, and other small pieces, some translated and some original. 11. An
” Essay on Eloquence,“with other essays, letters, miscellanies,
” &c. As a poet,
critic, metaphysician, and historian, Bettinelii’s merit is
esteemed by his countrymen as of the first rate and with
respect to the art of composition, they account him one of
the purest and most elegant writers of the last century,
one of the few who laboured to preserve the genuine Italian idiom from any foreign mixture.
At an hundred and twenty (or, more probably, an hundred and two), he married Catherine Milton, who had a child by him and after that sera of his life he was employed
At an hundred and twenty (or, more probably, an hundred and two), he married Catherine Milton, who had a child
by him and after that sera of his life he was employed in
threshing, and other husbandry work. When he was above
an hundred and fifty-two years of age, he was brought up
to London, by Thomas, earl of Arundel, and carried to
court. The king said to him, “You have lived longer
than other men, what have you done more than other
men
” He replied, “I did penance when I was an hundred years old.
” He slept away most of his time while he
lived in London, which was only two months. He died
in the Strand, on the 15th of November, 1635, and was
buried in Westminster-abbey. His death is thought to
have been accelerated by the change of his place and mode
of living, and by the troublesome concourse of visitors and
spectators. There is said to be a portrait of him in Belvoir castle, and another in Ashmole’s museum. The most
valuable was in the collection of the duchess of Portland.
The fullest account of him extant, is in his “Life,
” by
Taylor, in the Harleian Miscellany.
pers of Barrow, as the minister and churchwardens should agree, regard being had especially to those who had been most constantly at prayers, and at the sacrament of
, a learned divine in the seventeenth century, and bishop of St. Asaph, was born at
Barrow in Leicestershire (where his grandfather, father, and brother, were vicars) in 1636-7. On the 24th of May,
1653, he was admitted of St. John’s college, Cambridge,
and took his degrees of bachelor of arts in 1656, master of arts in 1660, and of doctor of divinity in 1679.
At his coming to the university, he closely applied himself to the study of the learned languages and, by
his great diligence and application, soon became so well
skilled, particularly in all Oriental learning, that when
he was not above eighteen years of age, he wrote a
treatise of the excellency and use of the Oriental tongues,
especially the Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and
Samaritan, with a Syriac Grammar, in three books; which
he published when he was about twenty years of age.
He also distinguished himself, at the same time, by his
early piety and seriousness of mind, and by his exemplary sobriety and integrity of life, all which procured
him great esteem and veneration. January 3, 1660-1,
he was ordained deacon in the church of St. Botolph,
Aldersgate, by Robert, bishop of Lincoln and priest, in
the same place, the 31st of that month. About this time,
Dr. Sheldon, bishop of London, collated him to the vicarage of Ealing in Middlesex. On the 22d of November,
1672, he was chosen, by the lord-mayor and aldermen of
London, rector of St. Peter’s, Cornhill, London, and then
he resigned the vicarage of Ealing. He now applied himself, with the utmost labour and zeal, to the discharge of
his ministry, and so instructive was he in his discourses
from the pulpit, so warm and affectionate in his private
exhortations, so regular and uniform in the public worship of the church, and in every part of his pastoral function, and so remarkably were his labours crowned with
success, that as he himself was justly styled “the great
reviver and restorer of primitive piety,
” so his parish was
deservedly proposed, as the best model and pattern, for
the rest of its neighbours to copy after. His singular merit having recommended him to the favour of his diocesan,
bishop Henchman, he was collated by him, on the 22d of
December, 1674, to the prebend of Chiswick, in the cathedral of St. Paul’s, London and, by his successor bishop Compton, he was also, on the 3d of November, 1681,
collated to the archdeaconry of Colchester. In this dignity
he behaved, as he had done before in every station of life,
In a most regular, watchful, and exemplary manner and
not satisfied with the false, or at least imperfect, reports
given in by church-wardens at visitations, he visited everjr
parish within his archdeaconry in person. November the
5th, 1684, he was installed prebendary of Canterbury, and
became also chaplain to king William and queen Mary.
In 1691, he was offered, but refused the see of Bath and
Wells, then vacant by the deprivation of Dr. Thomas Kenn,
for not taking the oaths to king William and queen Mary.
liut though he refused that see, because, probably, being
a man of a tender conscience, he would not eat Dr. Kenn’s
tread, adtording to the language of those times, he afterwards accepted of that of St. Asaph, vacant by the translation of Dr. George Hooper to Bath and Wells, and was
consecrated July 16, 1704. Being placed in this eminent
station, his care and diligence increased in proportion as
his power in the church was enlarged and now when his
authority was extended to larger districts, he still pursued
the same pious and laborious methods of advancing the
honour and interest of religion, by watching over both
clergy and laity, and giving them all necessary direction
and assistance, for the effectual performance of their respective duties. Accoruingly, he was no sooner advanced
to the episcopal chair, but in a pathetic letter to the clergy
of his diocese, he recommended to them the “duty of
catechising and instructing the people committed to their
charge, in the principles of the Christian religion to the
end they might know what they were to believe and do
in order to salvation
” and told them, “he thought it necessary to begin with that, without which, whatever else
he or they should do, would turn to little or no account,
as to the main end of the ministry.
” And to enable them
to do this the more effectually, he sent them a plain and
easy “Exposition upon the Church Catechism.
” This
good man did not enjoy his episcopal dignity above three
years seven months and twenty days for he died at his
lodgings in the cloisters in Westminster- abbey, March
5, 1707-8, in the seventy-first year of his age, and was
buried in St. Paul’s cathedral. He left the greatest part of
liis estate to the societies for propagating the gospel, and
promoting Christian knowledge. To the curacy of MountSorrel in particular, and vicarage of Barrow in the county
of Leicester, in a thankful remembrance of God’s mercies
vouchsafed to him thereabouts, he bequeathed twenty
pounds a year for ever, on condition that prayers be read
morning and evening every day, according to the Liturgy
of the church of England, in the chapel, and parish church
aforesaid; with the sum of forty shillings yearly, to be divided equally upon Christmas-eve, among- eight poor housekeepers of Barrow, as the minister and churchwardens
should agree, regard being had especially to those who
had been most constantly at prayers, and at the sacrament
of the Lord’s Supper, the foregoing year. And if it should
so happen, that the Common- Prayer could not be read in
the church or chapel aforesaid, his will then was, that what
should have been given in either place for that, be in each
place allowed to one chosen by the vk-ar of Barrow to teach
school, and instruct the youth in the principles of the
Christian religion, according to the doctrine of the church
of England. His works were many, and full of great variety of learning. Those published by himself were a?
follows: 1. “De Linguarum Orientalium, praesertim HeIpraicce, Chaldaica?, Syriacae, Arabicae, et Samaritans, praestantia et usu,
” &c. mentioned above. Loud. Institutionum Chronologicarum libri duo, una cum totidem Arithmetices Chronoiogicae libellis,
” Loud. Swvo'&Kov, sive Pandectse Canonum Ss. Apostolorum, et Conciliorum ab Ecclesia Graeca receptoium
necnon Canonicarum Ss. Patrum Epistolarum una cum
Scholiis antiquorum singulis eorurn annexis, et scriptis
aliis hue spectantibus quorum plurima e Bibliothecae Bodleianae aliarumque Mss. Codicibus nunc primum edita
reliqua cum iisdem Mss. summa fide et diligentia collata,
”
Oxonii, 1672, 2 vols. fol. 4. “Codex Canonum Ecclesiae
Primitivae vindicatus et illustratus,
” Lond. The Church Catechism explained, for the use of the
diocese of St. Asaph,
” Lond. J Private Thoughts upon Religion, digested into
twelve articles, with practical resolutions formed thereupon.
” Written in his younger years (when he was about twenty-three years old), for the settling of his principles
and conduct of life, Lond. 1709. 2. “Private Thoughts
upon a Christian Life or, necessary directions for its beginning and progress upon earth, in order to its final perfection in the Beatific Vision,
” part II. Lond. 1709. 3.
“The great necessity and advantage of Public Prayer and
frequent Communion. Designed to revive primitive piety
with, meditations, ejaculations, and prayers, before, at,
and after the sacrament,
” Lond. One hundred and fifty Sermons and Discourses on several subjects,
” Lond. 170S, &c. in 12 vols. 8vo, reprinted at London, 17iy, in 2 vols. fol. 5. “Thesaurus Theologians
or, a complete system of Divinity, summed up in brief
notes upon select places of the Old and New Testament;
wherein the sacred text is reduced under proper heads;
explained and illustrated with the opinions and authorities
of the ancient fathers, councils, &c.
” Lond. A defence of the book of Psalms, collected
into English metre by Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins,
and others with critical Observations on the New Version,
compared with the Old,
” Lond. Exposition of the XXXIX Articles,
” Lond. 1710, 1716, fol.
Bishop Beveridge’s character is in general represented
in a most advantageous light. He was a person of the
strictest integrity, of true and sincere piety, of exemplary charity, and of great zeal for religion, and so
highly esteemed, that when he was dying, one of the
chief of his order deservedly said of him, “There goes
one of the greatest and of the best men that ever England
bred.
” He is also celebrated as a man of extensive and
almost universal learning; furnished, to a very eminent
degree, with all useful knowledge; and much to be admired for his readiness in the scriptures, which he had
thoroughly studied, so that he was able to produce suitable
passages from them on all occasions, and happy in explaining them to others. Mr. Nelson says, that he cannot forbear acknowledging the favourable dispensation of Providence to the present age, in blessing it with so many of
those pious discourses, which our truly primitive prelate
delivered from the pulpit; and that he the rather takes
the liberty to call it a favourable dispensation of Providence, because the bishop gave no orders himself that
they should be printed, but humbly neglected them, as
not being composed for the press. But that this circumstance is so far from abating the worth of the sermons,
or diminishing the character of the author, that it raises
the excellency of both, because it shews at once the
true nature of a popular discourse which is to improve
the generality of hearers, and for that purpose to speak
to them in a plain and intelligible style.
Dr. Henry Felton says, that our learned and venerable
bishop delivered himself with those ornaments alone,
which his subject suggested to him, and wrote in that
plainness and solemnity of style, that gravity and simplicity, which gave authority to the sacred truths he taught,
and unanswerable evidence to the doctrines he defended.
That there is something so great, primitive, and apostolical, in his writings, that it creates an awe and veneration
in our mind that the importance of his subjects is above
the decoration of words and what is great and majestic in
itself looketh most like itself, the less it is adorned. The
author of one of the Guardians, having made an extract
out of one of the bishop’s sermons, tells us, that it may
for acuteness of judgment, ornament of speech, and true
sublime, compare with any of the choicest writings of the
ancients, who lived nearest to the apostles’ times. But
the author of a pamphlet published in 1711, entitled “A
short view of Dr. Bevericlge’s Writings,
” passes a very different judgment upon bishop Beveridge’s works, in order
to stop, as he says, the mischief they are doing, and that
which the publication of his Articles may do. With regard
to the bishop’s language, he observes, that he delights in
jingle and quibbling; affects a tune and rhyme in all he
says, and rests arguments upon nothing but words and
sounds, &c. &c. But perhaps this animadverter will “by
some be ranked among the persons, of whom Dr. Lupton
gives the following character
” Those who are censorious
enough to reflect with severity upon the pious strains,
which are to be found in bishop Beveridge, &c. may possibly
be good judges of an ode or essay, but do not seem to
criticise justly upon sermons, or express a just value for
spiritual things.“After all, whatever faults may be found
in bishop Beveridge’s posthumous works, must be charged
to the injudiciousness of his executor. He must himself
have been an extraordinary man who, with all the faults
pointed out by the author of
” The short view," could
have conciliated the good opinion and favour of men of all
principles, and the most eminent patrons of the church
and the estimation in which his works continue to be held
to this day, prove how little he was injured by the captious
quibblings of a writer who was determined to find fault
with' that, into the spirit of which he could not enter. The
life of bishop Beveridge, prefixed to the folio edition of
his works, was written by Mr. Kimber, a dissenting minister of the Baptist persuasion, in London.
n the warmth of my imprudent youth I detest my loose style and my libertine sentiments. I thank God, who has removed from my eyes the veil which blinded my sight in
, born at Midclleburgh in Zealand, in 1653 or 1654, was a man of genius, but prostituted his talents by employing them in the composition
of loose and impious pieces. He took the degree of
doctor of law, and became an advocate; but his passion
for polite literature diverted him from any pursuits in that
way. He was a passionate admirer of Ovid, Catullus, Petronius, and appears to have derived from them that corruption of morals which, more or less, appeared in the
whole of his life and writings. Mr. Wood tells us, that
Beverland was at the university of Oxford in 1672. In
1675, he published his treatise on original sin. It is entitled “Peccarnm orlginale we Eo%W, sic nuncupaturn
philologice problem aticos elncubratum a Tiiemidis alunrmo.
Vera redit facies, tiissimuluta pent. Eleutheropali. Extra
plateum obscuram, privilegio authoris, absqtie ubi et
quan Jo.
” At the end of tue book are these words “In
horto Hesperidum typis Ad ami Evse Terrae fiiii, 1673.
”
His design in this piece is to shew, that Adam’s sin consisted entirely in the commerce with his wife, and that
original sin is nothing else but the inclination of the sexes
to each other. For this he was summoned before the university of Leyden, sent to prison, and his name struck out
of the list of students but he was discharged after he had
paid a fine, and taken an oath that he would never write
again upon such subjects. He then removed to Utrecht,
where he led a most dissolute life, and boasted every
where of his book, which had beeu burnt at Leyden. His
behaviour at length obliged the magistrates to send him
notice privately, that they expected he should immediately
leave the city. He wrote a severe satire against the magistrates and ministers of Leyden, under the title of
“Vox claaiantis in deserto,
” which was dispersed in manuscript but finding after this, that it would not be safe
for him to remain in Holland, he went over to England,
where Dr. Isaac Vossius procured him a pension. His income was inconsiderable, yet he spent the greatest part of
it in purchasing scarce books, indecent prints, pictures,
medals, and strange shells. He seems afterwards to have
repented of his irregular life: and as an atonement, he is
said to have published his treatise “De Fornicatione cavenda,
” in I
condemn the warmth of my imprudent youth I detest my
loose style and my libertine sentiments. I thank God,
who has removed from my eyes the veil which blinded my
sight in a miserable manner, and who would not suffer me
any longer to seek out weak arguments to defend this
crime. He has likewise inspired me with such a resolution, that I have burnt all that I have written upon this
subject, and sent to the rector magniticus of the university
of Leyden, the books `De Prostibulis Veterum.' I desire all persons who have procured any manuscript of my
writing either privately, or in any other method, to return
it to me, that I may burn it myself. And if any person
should refuse this, I wish him all the misfortunes which
use to happen to one who violates his trust.
” Yet, notwithstanding these expressions, his sincerity has been suspected; and it has been alleged, that he wrote this last
piece with no other view than to raise the curiosity of
mankind, to inquire after the former. After Vossius’s
death, he fell into extreme poverty, and incurred universal hatred from the many violent satires which he had written against different persons. Besides this misfortune, his
reason began to be affected; and in the year 1712, he
wandered from one part of England to another, imagining
that two hundred men had confederated together to assassinate him. It is probable that he died soon after; for we
hear no more of him from that time. In 1746, twelve
Latin letters of Beverland were published, addressed to
some learned men of his time; but our authority does not
state where this publication made its appearance. While
in England, he must at one time have been in some reputation, as sir Godfrey Kneller made a fine portrait of him,
dated 1689, which is now in the picture gallery, Oxford.
shop of Canterbury, and was justly esteemed one of the best scholars of his time. Alfred of Beverly, who wrote his life, pretends that he studied at Oxford, and took
, in Latin Beverlacius, archbishop of York in the eighth century, was born of a noble
family among the English Saxons, at Harpham, a small
town in Northumberland. He was first a monk, and afterwards abbot of the monastery of St. Hilda. He was instructed in the learned languages by Theodore, archbishop
of Canterbury, and was justly esteemed one of the best
scholars of his time. Alfred of Beverly, who wrote his
life, pretends that he studied at Oxford, and took there
the degree of master of arts; but bishop Godwin assures
us this cannot be true, because such distinction of degrees
was not then known at Oxford, nor any where else. Our
abbot’s merit recommended him to the favour of Alfred,
king of Northumberland, who, in the year 685, advanced
him to the see of Hagustald, or Hexham, and, upon the
death of archbishop Bosa in 687, translated him to that of
York. This prelate was tutor to the famous Bede, and
lived in the strictest friendship with Acca, and other AngloSaxon doctors, several of whom he put upon writing comments on the scriptures. He likewise founded, in 704, a
college at Beverly for secular priests. After he had governed the see of York thirty-four years, being tired with
the tumults and confusions of the church, he divested himself of the episcopal character, and retired to Beverly;
and four years after died May 7, 721. The day of his
death was appointed a festival by a synod held at London
in 1416. Bede, and other monkish writers, ascribe several miracles to him. Between three and four hundred years
after his death, his body was taken up by Alfric, archbishop of York, and placed in a shrine richly adorned with
silver, gold, and precious stones. Bromton relates, that
William the conqueror, when he ravaged Northumberland
with a numerous army, spared Beverly alone, out of a religious veneration for St. John of that place. This prelate
wrote some pieces, 1. “Pro Luca exponendo;
” an essay
towards an exposition of St. Luke, addressed to Bede.
2. “Homiliee in Evangelia.
” 3. Epistolae ad Hildara Abbatissam.“4.
” Epistolse ad Herebaldum, Andenum, et
Bertinum.“- -Pits mentions another John of Beverly, so
called from the place of his nativity, who was a Carmelite
monk in the fourteenth century, and a very learned man,
and doctor and professor of divinity at Oxford. He flourished about 1390, in the reign of Richard II. and wrote,
1.
” Questiones in magistrum sententiarum“in four
books. 2.
” Disputationes ordinariae" in one book.
nded with many illustrious personages of his time, and among others with Christina, queen of Sweden, who often requested of him copies of his sermons and poems. The
, a learned Italian of the
seventeenth century, was born at Lucca, May 5, 1629.
In classical learning he made such progress, that, when
only fifteen, he wrote notes and comments on the principal poets of the Augustan age, which drew the notice and
approbation of the learned. In his sixteenth year, he
went to Rome and entered the congregation of the regular
clerks, called the congregation of the “Mother of God.
”
After completing his theological studies, he taught divinity
for four years, at the end of which he was invited to Lucca
to be professor of rhetoric. From the salary of this place
he was enabled to maintain his aged father and family, and
would not afterwards accept of any promotion from his congregation, that his studies might not be interrupted by
affairs of business. He corresponded with many illustrious
personages of his time, and among others with Christina,
queen of Sweden, who often requested of him copies of
his sermons and poems. The facility with which he wrote
appears by his translation of the Eneid, which he says, in
the preface, he completed in thirteen months. He died
of a malignant fever, Oct. 24, 1686. He left a great
many works, of which his biographer, Fabroni, has given a
minute catalogue. The principal are 1. “Saeculum niveum Roma virginea et Dies niveus,
” three small
Latin collections on the same subject, “De nivibus Exquilinis, sive de sacris nivibus,
” Rome,
een so long left in that state it is entitled “Annalium ah origine Lucensis urbis Lib. XV.” Fabroni, who highly praises these annals, seems at a loss to account for
1653, 12mo, Venice, 1682. 4. “Carminum Lib. VII.
”
ibid. 1674, 12mo. 5. “Eneide di Virgilio, trasportata in
ottavo rima,
” ibid, Prediche, discorsi, e lezioni,
” a posthumous work, Vienna, Syntagma de pondaribus et mensuris,
” another posthumous
work, Lucca, Annalium ah
origine Lucensis urbis Lib. XV.
” Fabroni, who highly
praises these annals, seems at a loss to account for their
not having been published, but informs us that Beverini
had his enemies as well as his admirers.
nicated the result of many years study and experience in a treatise which is highly commended by all who have taken occasion to speak of it. This book was published
, a musician eminently skilled in the
knowledge of practical composition, flourished towards the
end of queen Elizabeth’s reign. He was of Welch extraction, and had been educated under Tallis, upon whose
recommendation it was that in 1589 he was sworn in gentleman extraordinary of the chapel; from whence he was
expelled in 1637, it being discovered that he adhered to
the Romish communion. He was also organist of Bristol
cathedral, but forfeited that employment at the same time
with his place in the chapel. Child, afterwards doctor,
was his scholar. He has composed sundry services, and
a few anthems. Before Bevin’s time the precepts for the
composition of canons was known to few. Tallis, Bird,
Waterhouse, and Farmer, were eminently skilled in this
most abstruse part of musical practice. Every canon, as
given to the public, was a kind of enigma. Compositions
of this kind were sometimes exhibited in the form of a
cross, sometimes in that of a circle there is now extant
one resembling a horizontal sun-dial, and the resolution,
(as it was called) of a canon, which was the resolving it
into its elements, and reducing it into score, was deemed
a work of almost as great difficulty as the original compoition. But Bevin, with a view to the improvement of
students, generously communicated the result of many
years study and experience in a treatise which is highly
commended by all who have taken occasion to speak of it.
This book was published in 1631, 4to, and dedicated to
Goodman bishop of Gloucester, with the following title:
“A briefe and short instruction of the Art of Musicke, to
teach how to make discant of all proportions that are in
use; very necessary for all such as are desirous to attain
to knowledge in the art; and may, by practice, if they
sing, soone be able to compose three, four, and five parts,
and also to compose all sorts of canons that are usuall, by
these directions of two or three parts in one upon the plain
song.
” The rules contained in this book for composition
in general are very brief; but for the composition of canons there are in it a great variety of examples of almost
all the possible forms in which it is capable of being constructed, even to the extent of sixty parts.
, whose name often occurs in works of Bibliography, but who has not laid bibliographers under many obligations, was a bookseller
, whose name often occurs
in works of Bibliography, but who has not laid bibliographers under many obligations, was a bookseller at Emmerich, about the end of the seventeenth century. His
design in his compilations was evidently to serve the cause
of literature, but although all his plans were good, they were
imperfectly executed, and have proved perplexing and
useless. His principal publications in this department
were: 1. “Bibliographia Juridica et Politica,
” Amsterdam,
Bibliotheca medica et physica,
” Gallia critica et experimentalis ab anno 1665 usque ad 1681,
” Amst. Journal des
Savans.
” 4. “Bibliographia mathematica et artificiosa,
”
Bibliographia historica, chronologica, et geographica,
” Bibliographia
crudilorum critico-curiosa, seu apparatus ad historian!
literariam,
” Amst. 1689—1701, 5 vols. 12mo, a sort of
general index to all the literary journals, but containing
too many alphabets to be easily consulted. It extends
from 1665 to 1700. 7. “Incunabula typographic, sive
Catalogus librorum proximis ab iwentione typographic
annis ad annum 1500, editorum,
” Amst.
, a divine and historian in the seventh century, was a Briton by birth, who taught the celebrated Nennius, afterwards abbot of the monastery
, a divine and historian in the seventh
century, was a Briton by birth, who taught the celebrated
Nennius, afterwards abbot of the monastery of Bangor;
and applied himself from his earliest youth to the study
of learning, which he joined to the greatest purity of
morals. Bale tells us. that he was master of a very extensive knowledge of things, and a great fluency of style,
and was actuated by a warm zeal for the propagation of
truth. He had a son, the subject of the following article;
which is a proof, as the historian above-mentioned observes, that the priests in Britain were not at that time
prohibited to marry; though Pits is of opinion that our
author was not ordained when his son was born. He was
extremely industrious in examining into the antiquities of
nations, and tracing out the families of the English Saxons
after they had entered Britain and from these collections
he is said to have written a work “De Geneaiogiis Gentium.
” He flourished in the year English Historical Library
” calls him Benlanius,
and confounds him with his son.
, and a lawyer, was born at Leipsic in 1665, and died in 1714. He was the first, according to Camus, who gave a course of lectures on legal bibliography, at Wittemberg,
, another bibliographer, and a lawyer, was born at Leipsic in 1665, and died in 1714. He
was the first, according to Camus, who gave a course of
lectures on legal bibliography, at Wittemberg, in 1698.
This produced, 1. “Notitiae auctorum juridicorum et juris
arti inservientium, tria specimina,
” Leipsic, Declinatio juris divini naturalis et positivi universalis,
” Wittemberg,
appointed a counsellor at the court of Friesland. He died in 1598, leaving a daughter, and two sons, who were both educated in their father’s profession. He wrote several
, an eminent lawyer, was born at
Dockum in Holland, in 1546, or according to Foppen,
in 1539. After having studied law, and taken a licentiate’s
degree at Orleans, he practised at Leuwarden, in Friesland, until, being suspected of Lutheranism, he was obliged
to retire into Germany, where he taught law at Wittemberg, for ten years. The times becoming more
favourable, he returned to his own country, and obtained the
law chair in the university of Leyden. After having
taught here with great success for fifteen years, he was,
in 1596, invited to Franeker, in the same office, but after
a year, he quitted the business of public instruction, being
appointed a counsellor at the court of Friesland. He died
in 1598, leaving a daughter, and two sons, who were both
educated in their father’s profession. He wrote several
dissertations on subjects of law, which were published in
1 vol. 4to, at Louvain, 1645. In 1598, the year of his death,
a collection of theses maintained by Beyma and his friend
Schotanus, appeared under the title “Disputationes juridicæ,
sociata cum collega H. Schotano opera, editæ,
” Franeker.
, a celebrated printer of the sixteenth century, who was the first after those who printed the works of Ramus, that
, a celebrated printer of the sixteenth century, who was the first after those who printed the works of Ramus, that made a distinction in his printing between the consonants j and v, and the vowels i and u. Ramus was the inventor of this distinction, and employed it in his Latin grammar of 1557, but we do not find it in any of his works printed after that time. Beys adopted it first in Claude Mignaut’s Latin commentary on Horace. He died at Paris April 19, 1593. He married a daughter of the celebrated Plantin of Antwerp, by whom he had a son, who was probably the poet above-mentioned, as the following burlesque epitaph was written on him
Bourdelot. He passed his first years at Paris, with his uncle Nicholas, a counsellor of parliament, who sent him to Orleans, at the age of six, for education. His master,
, one of the chief promoters of the
Reformation, was born at Vezelai, a small town of Nivernais, in France, June 24, 1519. His father was Peter
Beza, or cle Beze, bailiff of the town, and his mother
Mary de Bourdelot. He passed his first years at Paris,
with his uncle Nicholas, a counsellor of parliament, who
sent him to Orleans, at the age of six, for education.
His master, Melchior Wolmar, a man of greater learning,
and particularly eminent as a Greek scholar, and one of
the first who introduced the principles of the reformation
into France, having an invitation to become professor at
Bourges, Beza accompanied him, and remained with him
until 1535. Although at this period only sixteen, he had
made very uncommon progress in learning and in the ancient languages, and having returned to Orleans to study
law, he took his licentiate’s degree in 1539. These four
last years, however, he applied less to serious studies than
to polite literature, and especially Latin poetry; and it
was in this interval that he wrote those pieces which were
afterwards published under the title of “Poemata Juvenilia,
” and afforded the enemies of the reformation a better handle than could have been wished to reproach his
early morals.
to Paris he was presented to the priory of Longjumeau, and another benefice; and one of his uncles, who possessed a rich abbey, had an intention to resign in his favour.
On his return to Paris he was presented to the priory of Longjumeau, and another benefice; and one of his uncles, who possessed a rich abbey, had an intention to resign in his favour. Beza thus enjoying an ample revenue, with the prospect of an easy increase, joined too freely in the amusements and dissipations of youth, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his parents and friends: and although in the actual possession of benefices, had not yet taken orders, nor for some years did he associate with persons of the reformed religion, although he could not forget the progress that it had made in his mind when under the tuition of Wolmar. Here he contracted an attachment to a young woman, who, some say, was of a noble family, others, of inferior birth, to whom he secretly promised marriage, but was prevented from accomplishing this, through fear of losing his promotions. At leng:h, however, in 1548, when recovering from a severe illness, he resigned his priory, and went to Geneva, and married the lady to whom he had now been engaged about four years. At the same time he abjured popery, and alter a short stay at Geneva, went to Tubingen, to his old master, Wolmar, for whom he always had the sincerest esteem.
for heresy, in answer to a work apparently on the other side of the question by Sebastian Castalio, who took the liberty to doubt whether it was just or useful to put
The following year he was appointed Greek professor at
Lausanne, where he remained for ten years, and published
several works which extended his reputation. His French
tragedy of “Abraham’s Sacrifice,
” was translated into
Latin, and became very popular. In 1556, he published
his translation of the New Testament, of which a number
of editions afterwards appeared, with alterations and corrections; but, of all his works, while he was at Lausanne,
that which was accounted the most remarkable, was his
apology for, or defence of the burning of Servetus for heresy, in answer to a work apparently on the other side of
the question by Sebastian Castalio, who took the liberty to
doubt whether it was just or useful to put heretics to death.
Beza’s answer was entitled “De haereticis a civili magistratu puniendis,
” and as at that time the principles of the
reformation were legal heresies, we cannot be surprised
that the enemies of the reformation should wish to turn
Beza’s arguments against him.
e some of the German princes to intercede with the king of France for toleration of the Protestants, who were then very cruelly persecuted in that kingdom. Next year
In 1558, Beza endeavoured to induce some of the German princes to intercede with the king of France for toleration of the Protestants, who were then very cruelly persecuted in that kingdom. Next year he left Lausanne to settle at Geneva, where he was admitted a citizen, at the request of Calvin. In Geneva at this time, much pains were taken to promote learning, and diffuse a taste for the sciences, and an academy being about to be formed, Calvin refused the title of rector, offered to himself, and recommended it to be given to Beza, who was also to teach divinity. About the same time, the persons of rank in Fiance who had embraced the reformed religion, perceiving that they would need the support of a crowned head, cast their eyes on Beza, as the proper person to convert the king of Navarre, and confer with him on other matters of consequence respecting the reformation. In this Beza had complete success, and the reformed religion was publicly preached at Nerac, the residence of the king and queen of Navarre. A church was built, and in the course of the following year, 1560, such was the zeal of the queen of Navarre, that she ordered all the churches monasteries of Nerac to be destroyed. Beza remained at Nerac until the beginning of 1561, when the king signified his pleasure that he should attend at the conference of Poissi, to which the senate readily consented. At this conference, appointed for reconciling the disputes between the Popish and Protestant divines, the princes, cardinals, and many of the nobility attended, and the king presided. It was opened Sept. 9, 1561, by the chancellor De l'Hospital, who declared that the king’s intention in assembling them was to discover, from their sentiments, a remedy for the disorders which religious disputes had occasioned in his kingdom that -they should therefore endeavour to correct such things as required it, and not separate until they had put an end to all differences by a sincere reconciliation. In his speech he also honoured this conference with the name of the National Council, and compared it to the provincial synods of Orleans, Aries, and Aix, which the emperor Charlemagne had caused to be held. The conference lasted two months, and many points were eagerly debated. The Protestant clergy, and particularly Beza, spoke with great freedom. Beza, to much learning, added a facility of expression which gave him much advantage he had also from his earliest years a ready wit, which in those years he had employed on subjects perhaps not unsuitable to it, and could not afterwards restrain in controversy on more serious points, nor could he repress the zeal and fervour of his mind when he had to contend for the reformed religion. In this conference some strong expressions he used respecting the eucharist, and against transubstantiation, occasioned an unusual clamour, and a cry of blasphemy! from the adherents to that opinion. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to add, that the purposes of all these debates were not accomplished.
ontroversy. He wrote incessantly against the Roman catholics, against the Lutherans, and against all who were unfriendly to the character or opinions of his friend Calvin,
Theodore Beza’s character has been variously represented, as might be expected from the age in which he
lived, and the conduct which he pursued. His talents, his
eminence, his important services in the cause of the reformation, must make his memory as dear to Protestants, as
it was obnoxious to their enemies. In what follows, however, of his character, we shall chiefly follow an authority
that will not be suspected of religious partiality at least.
Beza’s reputation has been often attacked, and it is scarcely
possible that it could have been otherwise. He had but
just embraced the reformed religion, when he took a part
in every dispute and every controversy. He wrote incessantly against the Roman catholics, against the Lutherans,
and against all who were unfriendly to the character or
opinions of his friend Calvin, and although such a disputant
would be in any age exposed to frequent attacks, in his
time religious controversies were carried on with peculiar
harshness and strong resentments. Beza’s first writings,
his poems, gave occasion for just reproach, and although he
had long repented, and confessed his error in this respect,
his enemies took the most effectual method to harass his
mind, and injure his character, by frequently reprinting
these poems. This measure, however, so unfair, and discreditable to his opponents, might have lost its effect, if
he had not in some of his controversial pieces, employed
his wit with too much freedom and extravagance. We
cannot wonder, therefore, that such raillery should produce
a corresponding sense of irritation in those who hated his
principles, and felt the weight of his talents. It would be
unnecessary to repeat all the calumnies, some of the most
gross kind, which have been gravely advanced against him,
because they now seem to be given up by the general consent of all modern writers but we may advert to one accusation still maintained by men of considerable note. Poltrot, who assassinated the duke of Guise, that merciless
persecutor of the protestants, declared in his first examination that he was set on by Beza, and although this appeared
at the time wholly groundless, and Poltrot retracted what
he had said, and persisted to his last moments, to exculpate our reformer, yet Bossuet, while he does not accuse
Beza of having directly encouraged the assassin, still endeavours to impute his crime to Beza’s preaching, and deduces Beza’s consent, from the joy he and his party expressed on hearing of the death of their implacable enemy,
a consequence which it is surely unfair to draw from such
premises. He has also been accused of having, on many
occasions, excited the French protestants to take up arms,
and to have thus had a considerable hand in the civil wars
of France. But, although the oppressions suffered by the
French protestants, then a very numerous body, had unquestionably excited his zeal in promoting resistance, the
history of the times shew that these civil wars were not occasioned by this course only, far less by any desire the
reformed had to propagate their principles by force. The
Ablest writers are agreed that in those days there was more
of discontent than protestantism in the case; “plus de malcontentement que de Huguenoterie.
” It would be unjust,
therefore, to consider Beza, and the other preachers of the
reformation, as the sole cause of these commotions. It is
much more probable that they were occasioned in a great
measure by the rival contests of the Guises and the princes
of the blood. Without, therefore, exculpating Beza from
having that share in the civil wars which did not very well
become a preacher of the gospel of peace, it may be safely
affirmed that he was not one of the chief causes. The
same assassin Poltrot, who accused Beza, accused also the
admiral Coligny, whose character never was stained with a
blemish, unless in the bigoted mind of Bossuet, who yet
cannot bring a single circumstance in proof; and as far as
regards Beza, we may add that the accusation never obtained any belief among his contemporaries.
subject by father Cæsar Calino, a Jesuit. When he had completed this work, the elder of his pupils, who by the death of his father bad succeeded to the estate, and
, an Italian scholar of the last
century, was born at Parma, March 12, 1673. Aftertaking ecclesiastical orders, he was engaged in 1702 by the
illustrious house of Sanvitali, both as domestic chaplain
and tutor to the two young sons of that family, and at his
leisure hours cultivated the study of history, chronology,
and antiquities. One of his works was written while in
this family, a very elaborate treatise, “Trattinemento
Istorico e Chronologico,
” &c. Naples, 2 vols. 4to, in which
he endeavours to prove that Josephus’s history is neither
false nor contrary to scripture, positions which had been
denied in a treatise written on the subject by father Cæsar
Calino, a Jesuit. When he had completed this work, the
elder of his pupils, who by the death of his father bad succeeded to the estate, and was very much attached to the
Jesuits, informed Biacca that the publication of it would
not be agreeable to him. On this Biacca entrusted his
manuscript to the celebrated Argelati, at Milan, and either
with, or without his consent, it was printed at Naples in
1728. This provoked Sanvitali to forget his own and his
father’s attachment to Biacca, who had resided twenty-six
years in the family, and he ordered him to leave his house.
Biacca, however, was received with respect into many other
families, who each pressed him to take up his abode with
them. After having lived at Milan for some years, he
died at Parma, 8ept. 15, 1735. Being a member of the
Arcadians, he, according to their custom, assumed the
name of Parmindo Ibichense, which we find prefixed to
several of his works. Besides his defence of Josephus, he
wrote, 1. “Ortographia Manuale, o sia arte facile di correttamento Scrivere e Parlare,
” Parma, Notizie storiche di Rinuccio cardinal Pallavicino, di Pompeo Sacco Parmigiano, di Cornelio Magni, e del conte
NiccoloCicognari Parmigiano,
” printed in vols. I. and II. of
the “Notizie istoriche clegli Arcadi morti,
” Rome, Le Selve de Stazio, tradotte in verso sciolto.
”
He translated also Catullus, and both make part of the collection of Italian translations of the ancient Latin authors,
printed at Milan. In the poetical collections, there are
many small pieces by Biacca.
young man, although it is probable from the merit and character of his poems, that he found patrons who procured him leisure and competence.
, a native of Venice, deserves
some notice in a work of this description, on account of
his poems, which were the production of nature, without
any aid from instruction or cultivation. He lived about
the middle of the last century, and was a gondolier or
waterman’s boy when he wrote, 1. “II Davide, re d'Israele,
poema-eroico-sagro, di Antonio Bianchi, servitor di gondola
Veneziano, canto XII.
” Venice, 1751, fol. and reprinted
the same year with an oratorio entitled “Elia sur Carmelo,
” ibid. 8vo. In this, although we do not find a strict
attention to the laws of the epic, nor the most perfect
purity of language, yet there are many truly poetical,
nervous, and highly animated passages. The same may
be said of his, 2. “II Tempio owero il Salomone, canti
X.
” Venice, 1753, 4to, with historical and theological
notes, which are believed to be from the same pen. In
his first poem, he promised two others, one a heroi-comic, under the title of “Cuccagna distrutta,
” the other
“La Formica contro il Leone,
” but it does not appear
that either was published. He gave, however, a specimen of his critical talents, in a volume entitled “Osservazioni contro-critiche di Antonio Bianchi, sopra un trattato
della commedia Italiana, &c. Venice, 1752, 8vo. Joseph
Antony Costantini, the author of this treatise on Italian
comedy, wrote an answer, and asserted that the
” Observations“were not written by Bianchi, and that the poem of
David was not his. Bianchi, however, in the preface to
his second poem,
” The Temple of Solomon," offered
every kind of proof that he was the author of both. We
have no farther account of this extraordinary young man,
although it is probable from the merit and character of his
poems, that he found patrons who procured him leisure
and competence.
der his academic name, Lauriso Tragiense, he defends the opinion of Maffei against that of Concilia, who had published a dissertation “De spectaculis theatralibus,”
, called by Fabroni Blanchius, a
religious of the order of the Minorites, was bora
Oct. 2, 1686. For some years he taught philosophy and
theology, and was afterwards provincial of his order in the
Roman province, visitor of that of Bologna, one of the
counsellors of the inquisition at Rome, and an examiner of
the Roman clergy. He died Jan. 18, 1758. Amidst all
these graver employments, he found leisure to indulge his
taste for the belles lettres, and especially dramatic poetry,
which procured him admission into the academy of the
Arcadjans. His works were published under his assumed
name of Farnabio Gioachino Annutini, a childish anagram
of Fra Giovanni Antonio Bianchi. They are, principally,
1. “Tragedie sacre e morali,
” four in number, one upon
the history of sir Thomas More, and all in prose, Bologna,
1725, 8vo. 2. Other tragedies “La Dina,
” “II Demetrio,
” &c. published separately from 1734 to 1738. 3.
“De‘ vizj e dei diflfeti del moderno teatro, e del modo di
corregerli e d’emendarli, ragionamenti vi,
” Rome, 17.53.
In this, which he published under his academic name, Lauriso Tragiense, he defends the opinion of Maffei against
that of Concilia, who had published a dissertation “De
spectaculis theatralibus,
” in which he maintained that dramatic exhibitions were unfriendly to religion and morals,
an opinion which has not been confined, as usually said,
to the puritans or methodists of England. 4. “Delia poteste e polizia deila Chiesa, trattati due contro le nuove
opinion! di Pietro Giannone,
” Rome,
to the degree of doctor. His master in mathematics and natural philosophy was the learned Montanari, who became much attached to him, and bequeathed to him his collection
, a very learned Italian astronomer and philosopher, was born at Verona, Dec. 13, 1662. After being instructed in the elements of education in his own country, he removed to Bologna, where he went through a course of rhetoric and three years of philosophy, in the Jesuits’ college. He afterwards studied mathematics and design, and made a great progress in both. In 1680 he removed to Padua, where he studied divinity, and was admitted to the degree of doctor. His master in mathematics and natural philosophy was the learned Montanari, who became much attached to him, and bequeathed to him his collection of mathematical instruments. At Padua Bianchini learned also anatomy, and, with rather more pleasure, botany. His inclination being for the church, he went next to Rome, where he was kindly received by cardinal Peter Ottoboni, who knew his family, and appointed him his librarian. Here, as was usual for persons with his views, he went through a course of law, but without losing sight of his favourite studies, experimental philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy. He was admitted a member of the physico-mathematical academy, established by Ciampini, and read many learned papers at their sittings.
ry on him in the cfiurch of St. Lawrence in Damaso, invited him to reside in his palace. Clement XI. who was elected pope in 1700, bestowed on him, the year following,
In 1686 he returned to his own country, and was very active in re-founding the academy of the Aletophili, or lovers of truth, recommending to them more attention to mathematical studies, and to assist them, he presented the society with the instruments which Montanari had bequeathed for him; but this academy entirely depended on his presence, and on his return to Rome two years after, gradually dissolved. Settled after this at Rome, he became connected with the most eminent men of his time, and enriched his stores of knowledge, by an acquaintance with Greek, Hebrew, and French. Antiquities likewise became one of his favourite pursuits. He often passed whole days among the splendid ruins of Rome, assisted at every research, and digging among them, visited all the museums, and made elegant and correct drawings of all the monuments of antiquity. On the death of Innocent XI. cardinal Ottoboni, his protector, being chosen pope by the name of Alexander VIII. continued to interest himself in the fortune of Bianchini, gave him a canonry in the church of St. Mary Rotunda, appointed him guardian and librarian to cardinal Peter Ottoboni his nephew, gave him two pensions, and would have promoted him yet farther, if he had lived, and if Bianchini would have taken orders but he had not made up his mind to take deacon’s orders until 1699, and never would proceed farther. On the death of Alexander VIII. in 1691, the cardinal, his nephew, continued his kindness, and besides bestowing a canonry on him in the cfiurch of St. Lawrence in Damaso, invited him to reside in his palace. Clement XI. who was elected pope in 1700, bestowed on him, the year following, the title of chamberlain of honour, authorized him to wear that dress of a prelate called the mantellone, and assigned him apartments in the palace of Monte-Cavallo.
easury was at this time very low, the scheme was abandoned. The pope, however, to console Bianchini, who had it very much at heart, gave him a canonry in the church
Having, in 1703, been appointed president of antiquities, he exhibited to the pope, a plan for forming a collection of sacred antiques, or an ecclesiastical museum, intended to furnish materials for ecclesiastical history but as this, would have been attended with very great expence, and the papal treasury was at this time very low, the scheme was abandoned. The pope, however, to console Bianchini, who had it very much at heart, gave him a canonry in the church of St. Mary Maggiore, and, in 1712, sent him to Paris with a cardinal’s hat for Armand de Rohan-Soubise, who was promoted to that dignity. The object was trifling, but the journey was important, as serving to introduce Bianchini to the literati of France, who received him with the utmost respect. At Paris he was constant in his attendance at the sittings of the academy of sciences, who had many years betore elected him an honorary member, and he presented them witii a very ingenious improvement in the construction of the larger telescopes, to prevent those of uncommon length from, bending in the middle, an inconvenience which had been thought without remedy. Reaumur wrote a description of this, which is inserted in the memoirs of the academy for 1713. Before returning to Rome, Bianchini took a trip to Lorraine, Holland, and Flanders, and thence into England, visiting and examining every museum and place where objects of curiosity were to be seen, and was every where received with the respect due to his talents. During his residence at Oxford, it is said that the university defrayed the expenses of his lodging such is his biographer’s ao count, by which is probably meant that he was invited to lodge in one of the colleges.