l, and for removing smoke in houses,” London, 1776 12mo. 2. “Free Thoughts on the American Contest,” Edin. 1776, 8vo. 3. “Miscellaneous observations on planting and training
The following is a correct list of his works:
1. “A practical treatise on Chimneys; containing full
directions for constructing them in all cases, so as to draw
well, and for removing smoke in houses,
” London, Free Thoughts on the American Contest,
”
Edin. Miscellaneous observations on
planting and training Timber-trees, by Agricola,
” Edinburgh, Observations on the means of exciting a spirit of National Industry,
” Edin. An
enquiry into the nature of the Corn Laws, with a view to
the new Corn Bill proposed for Scotland,
” Essays relating to Agriculture and rural affairs,
” An enquiry into the causes that have hitherto
retarded the advancement of Agriculture in Europe; with
hints for removing the circumstances that have chiefly obstructed its progress,
” The interest of
Great Britain, with regard to her American Colonies, considered,
” The true interest of Great
Britain considered; or a proposal for establishing the
Northern British Fisheries,
” 1783, 12mo. 10. “An account of the present state of the Hebrides and Western
Coasts of Scotland; being the substance of a report to the
Lords of the Treasury,
” Edin. Observations on Slavery; particularly with a view to its efforts
on the British Colonies in the West Indies,
” Manchester,
Papers drawn up by him and sir John
Sinclair, in reference to a report of a committee of the
Highland Society on Shetland Wool,
” The Bee; consisting of essays, philosophical, philological,
and miscellaneous,
” 18vo ls. Edin. 1791—1794, 8vo. 14.
“Observations on the effects of the Coal Duty,
” Edin. Thoughts on the privileges and power of
Juries; with observations on the present state of the country with regard to credit,
” Edin. Remarks on the Poor Laws in Scotland,
” Edin. A practical treatise on Peat Moss, in two essays,
”
A general view of the Agriculture and
rural œconomy of the county of Aberdeen; with observations on the means of its improvement. Chiefly drawn up
for the Board of Agriculture; in two parts,
” Edin. An account of the different kinds of Sheep
found in the Russian dominions, &c. By Dr. Pallas; with
five appendixes, by Dr. Anderson,
” Edinburgh, On an Universal Character. In two letters to Edward Home, esq.
” Edin. A practical
treatise on draining Bogs and swampy grounds; with
cursory remarks on the originality of Ellungton’s mode of
Draining,
” Recreations in Agriculture,
Natural History, and Miscellaneous Literature,
” 6 vols.
8vo. 1799—1802. 23. “Selections from his own correspondence with general Washington,
” London, A calm investigation of the circumstances that have
led to the present Scarcity of Grain in Britain; suggesting
the means of alleviating that evil, and of preventing the
recurrence of such a calamity in future,
” London, A description of a Patent Hot-house, which
operates chiefly by the heat of the sun; and other subjects,
” London,
ying the Trinity, Lond. 1672, 8vo. “Dualitas,” a two-fold subject, on the honour, &c. of Magistracy, Edin. 1674, 4to.
His works are: “Fides Catholica, or the doctrine of the
Catholic church, &c.
” Loud. PanemQ.uoin defence of set forms and of the book of
Common-prayer,
” 1661, 4to. “Pater Noster,
” a treatise on the
Lord’s-prayer, Lond. Mysterium Pietatis,
” or
the mystery of godliness, &c. Lond. Doxologia,
” or the Doxology reduced to glorifying the Trinity,
Lond. 1672, 8vo. “Dualitas,
” a two-fold subject, on
the honour, &c. of Magistracy, Edin. 1674, 4to.
me date. Mackenzie erroneously divides it into two works, one “A treatise concerning Justification,” Edin. 1550, and the other, “A Catechism or Confession of Faith,”
, one of the promoters of the
reformation in Scotland, was born at Kircaldy, in the
county of Fife, in the reign of James V. and educated at
the university of St. Andrew’s. He afterwards went to
France, in order to complete his studies and, returning
to Scotland, was admitted into the family of the earl of
Arran, who at that time governed the kingdom; but in
the year 1542 the earl dismissed him, for having embraced
the Protestant religion. In 1546 he joined the murderers
of cardinal Beaton, although without having been concerned in that act, yet for this he was declared a traitor,
and excommunicated. Whilst that party were besieged
in the castle of St. Andrew’s, they sent Balnaves lo England, who returned with a considerable supply of provisions
and money but, being at last obliged to surrender to the
French, he was sent, with the rest of the garrison, to
France. He returned to Scotland about the year 1559,
and having joined the congregation, he was appointed one
of the commissioners to treat with the duke of Norfolk on
the part of queen Elizabeth. In 1563 he was made one
of the lords of session, and appointed by the general assembly, with other learned men, to revise the book of
discipline. The celebrated reformer Knox, his contemporary, gives him the character of a very learned and
pious divine, and we learn from Calderwood’s ms history,
and from Sadler’s State Papers, that he raised himself by
his talents and probity, from an obscure station to the
first honours of the state, and was justly regarded as one
of the principal supporters of the reformed cause in Scotland. It is added, that when a boy, he travelled to the
continent, and hearing of a free school at Cologne, procured admission to it, and received a liberal education.
He died at Edinburgh in 1579. It was during his confinement at Rouen in France that he wrote a treatise on
justification, and the works and conversation of a justified
man, which was revised hy Knox, who added a recommendatory dedication, and desired it might he printed.
The ms. however, was not discovered until after Knox’s
death, when it was published in 1584, 8vo, with the title
of “Confession of Faith, &c. by Henry Balnaves, of Halhill, one of the lords of council, and lords of session.
”
According to Irvine, it was printed at Edinburgh, but
M'Rie speaks of a London edition of the same date. Mackenzie erroneously divides it into two works, one “A
treatise concerning Justification,
” Edin. A Catechism or Confession of Faith,
” ib.
is works,” Lond. 1564, 2 vols. 7. “The Sick man’s salve, or directions in sickness, and how to dye,” Edin. 1613, 8vo. It has been said that he was the first Englishman
I. “Counts Dominica et Missse Papistical comparatio,
”
Basil, Various treatises,
” fol. printed
by Day, The Acts of Christe and Antichriste,
” Lond. The reliques of Rome,
”
by Day, Ætatis
suae 41, 1553,
” which makes the time of his birth 1512;
and at the time of his persecution in 1541, he must have
been about twenty-nine years of age. 5. “Postills upon
the sundry Gospels,
” Lond. 4to, His works,
”
Lond. The Sick man’s salve, or directions in sickness, and how to dye,
” Edin.
, M. A. F. R. S. Edin. Greek professor in the university of Edinburgh, keeper of the
, M. A. F. R. S. Edin. Greek
professor in the university of Edinburgh, keeper of the
university library, &c. was born in 1750, in the parish of
Rathos near Edinburgh, and was educated partly at the
parish school, but principally at Edinburgh, where his
learning and moral conduct induced the late earl of
Lautierdale to appoint him tutor to his eldest son, lord
Maitland, the present earl. With this young nobleman, he
attended a course of the lectures of the celebrated professor
Millar at Glasgow, and afterwards accompanied his lordship to Paris. On his return from the continent, Mr. Dalzcll, at the recommendation of the late earl of Landerdale,
was appointed to the professorship of Greek at Edinburgh,
an office which he rilled for many years with the highest
reputation and advantage to the university. He has thfe
credit indeed of reviving a taste for that language, which
from various causes, had been disused at Edinburgh, or
studied very superficially. To enable his pupils to prosecute this accomplishment with the more effect, and imbibe
a taste for what was elegant in the language, he compiled
and printed, at a great expence, a series of collections out
of the Greek authors, including all those passages which
he wished to explain in the course of his teaching. These
were printed in several 8vo volumes, under the titles of
“Collectanea Minora,
” and “Collectanea Majora.
” He
added to each volume short notes in Latin, explanatory of
the difficult places, and the text was printed with great
accuracy. The notes, which are in elegant Latin, are admirable for brevity, perspicuity, and judgment. He at
the same time composed and read to the students a series
of lectures on the language and antiquities, the philosophy
and history, the literature, eloquence, poetry, and fine arts
of the Greeks. By these means he became eminently successful in disseminating a taste for classical literature in the
university, nor was he less happy in the art of engaging
the affections and fixing the attention of his pupils on the
objects which he considered as the fundamentals of all
genuine scholarship.
David Dalrymple lord Hailes, published with notes a correct edition of the fifth book “De Justitia,” Edin. 12mo. Lactantius had before written a book “De Operibus Dei,”
, or Lucius Cælius, or
Cæcilius (Firmianus), an eminent father of the church,
was, as some say, an African, or, according to others, a
native of Fermo, a town in the marche of Ancdna, whence
Le is supposed to have taken his surname. Arnobius was
his preceptor. He studied rhetoric in Africa, and with so
great reputation, that Constantine the Roman emperor
appointed him preceptor to his son Crispus. This brought
him to court; but he was so far from giving into the pleasures or corruptions incident to that station, that, amidst
very great opportunities of amassing riches, he lived so
poor as even frequently to want necessaries. He is account^d the most eloquent of all the ecclesiastical Latin
authors. He formed himself upon Cicero, and wrote in
such a pure, smooth, and natural, style, and so much in
the taste and manner of the lloman orator, that he is generally distinguished by the title of “The Christian Cicero.
” We have several pieces of his, the principal of
which is his “Institutiones Divinae,
” in seven books, composed about the year De Ira Divina.
” In De Justitia,
” Edin. 12mo.
Lactantius had before written a book “De Operibus Dei,
”
in which he proves the creation of man, and the divine
providence. St. Jerome mentions other works of our author, as “Two Books to Æsclepiades;
” “Eight Books of
Letters;
” a book entitled “The Festin,
” composed before
he went to Nicomedia; a poem in hexameter verse, containing a description of his journey thither; a treatise
entitled “The Grammarian;
” and another, “De Persecutione.
” Concerning this last tract, there are various opinions. Dr. Lardner, after stating the evidence on both
sides, seems inclined to deny that it was written by LaCtantius. He allows, however, that it is a very valuable
work, containing; a short account of the sufferings of Christians under several of the Roman emperors, from the death
and resurrection of Christ to Dioclesian; and then a particular history of the persecution excited by that emperor,
with the causes and springs of it; as well as the miserable
deaths of its chief instruments. The learned judge above
mentioned, who published a translation of this work in
1782, Edin. 12mo, has also examined the opinions of those
who have treated of its authenticity, with far more acuteness than Lardner, and concludes with Baluze, Mosheim,
and other eminent critics, that the treatise “De Mortibus
Persecutorum
” was written by Lactantius. Lord Hailes’s
preface is a master-piece of critical inquiry, nor are his
notes and illustrations, which occupy one half of the volume,
of less merit or utility.
rote, 1. “A Vindication of Robert, the third king of Scotland, from the imputation of bastardy, &c.” Edin. 1695, 4to. 2. “Synopsis Apocalyptica; or a short and plain
Douglas describes him as a man of singular endowments,
great learning, well versed in the laws and antiquities of
his country, and an able statesman. Macky, or rather
Davis, adds, that “he had a great deal of wit, and was the
pleasantest companion in the world; had been very handsome in his person; was tall and fair complexioned; much
esteemed by the royal society, a great master in philosophy, and well received as a writer by men of letters.
”
Bishop Nicolson notices a copy of the continuation of
Fordun’s “Scotichronicon
” in the hand-writing of this
nobleman, whom he terms “a judicious preserver of the
antiquities of his country.
” He wrote, 1. “A Vindication of Robert, the third king of Scotland, from the imputation of bastardy, &c.
” Edin. Synopsis
Apocalyptica; or a short and plain Explication and Application of Daniel’s Prophecy, and St. John’s Revelation, in
consent with it, and consequential to it; by G. E. of C.
tracing in the steps of the admirable lord Napier of Merchiston,
” Edin. An historical Account of the
Conspiracies, by the earls of Gourie, and Robert Logan
of Restalrig, against king James VI. of glorious memory,
&c.
” Edin. 1713, 8vo. Mr. Gough has pointed out three
papers on natural curiosities, by lord Cromerty, in the
“Philosophical Transactions
” and “A Vindication,
” by
him, of the reformation of the church of Scotland, with
some account of the Records, was printed in the Scots’
Magazine, for August 1802, from a ms. in the possession
of Mr. Constable, bookseller, of Edinburgh.
Memoirs of the affairs of Scotland from 1577 to 1603, with a discourse on the conspiracy of Cowrie,” Edin. 12mo. It contains many curious particulars, which have not
, a political character, was born at
Lanerk, in Scotland, 1573, and, while very young, became one of the pages to king James, and afterwards one
of the gentlemen of his privy chamber. In that station he
continued many years, and became well acquainted with
most of the secrets at court. He was present with king
James at Perth, 1600, when the famous conspiracy of the
earl of Gowry took place; but the account he has given
us of that problematical affair contains nothing either interesting or satisfactory. He accompanied king James into
England, where he remained some years; but afterwards
returned to Scotland, and spent his days in retirement. He
kept a diary of what passed at court, the ms. of which is
now in the advocates’ library in Edinburgh; and an edition of it was printed in 1753, under the title of “Memoirs
of the affairs of Scotland from 1577 to 1603, with a discourse on the conspiracy of Cowrie,
” Edin. 12mo. It
contains many curious particulars, which have not been
taken notice of by general historians. He died at Edinburgh, 1630, aged fifty-seven.
he city, to a minister in the country, on Mr. David Williamson’s sermon before the General Assembly,“ Edin. 1703. 7.” A brief examination of some things in Mr. Meldrum’s
Bishop Sage was a man profoundly skilled in all the ancient languages, which gave him an eminent advantage
over his adversaries, the most distinguished of whom was
Mr. Gilbert Rule, principal of the college of Edinburgh,
who, with much zeal, and no mean abilities, was overmatched by the superior learning and historical knowledge
of his antagonist. Sage wrote the second and third letters,
concerning the persecution of the episcopal clergy in Scotland, which were printed at London, in 1689, the rev.
Thomas Morer having written the first, and professor
Monro the fourth. 2. “An account of the late establishment of Presbyterian Government by the parliament of
Scotland in 1690,
” Lond. The fundamental
charter of Presbytery,' 7 ibid. 1695. 4.
” The principles of
the Cyprianic age with regard to episcopal power and
jurisdiction,“ibid. 1695. 5.
” A Vindication“of the preceding, ibid. 1701. 6.
” Some remarks on a Letter from
a gentleman in the city, to a minister in the country, on
Mr. David Williamson’s sermon before the General Assembly,“Edin. 1703. 7.
” A brief examination of some
things in Mr. Meldrum’s sermon, preached May 16, 1703,
against a toleration to those of the episcopal persuasion,“ibid. 1703. 8.
” The reasonableness of a toleration of
those of the Episcopal persuasion inquired into purely on
church principles,“ibid. 1704. 9.
” The Life of Gawin
Douglas,“bishop of Dunkeld, prefixed to Ruddiman’s edition of
” Douglas’s Virgil,“1710. 10.
” An Introduction to
Drummond’s History of the Five James’s," Edin. 1711, with
notes by Ruddiman, who always spoke highly of Sage as
a scholar and companion.
folio, concerning Scotland as it was of old, and also in later times. By sir Robert Sibbald, M. D.” Edin. 1739. They were, however, at that time sold separately, or
We have hitherto considered sir Robert as a physician
and naturalist, but his reputation is more securely founded
on his having been the first who illustrated the antiquities
of his native country, in various learned essays, the titles
of which it is unnecessary to give, as the whole were printed in “A collection of several treatises in folio, concerning
Scotland as it was of old, and also in later times. By sir
Robert Sibbald, M. D.
” Edin. The liberty and independency of
the kingdom and church of Scotland asserted, from ancient
records in three parts,
” De Gestis Gul. Valise,
” Edin.
4to. 3. “Hydrostatics,” Eclin. 1672, 4to. 4. “Hydrostatical Experiments, with a Discourse on Coal,” Edin. 1680, 8vo. 5. “Principles of Astronomy and Navigation,” Edin.
He published, 1. “Tyrocinia mathematica,
” Glas. Ars Nova et Magna Gravitatis et Levitatis,
”
Rotterd. Hydrostatics,
” Eclin. Hydrostatical Experiments, with a Discourse on Coal,
”
Edin. Principles of Astronomy and Navigation,
” Edin. Ars Nova et Magna,
” and perhaps also his political principles, provoked the indignation of some persons;
on which occasion Mr. James Gregory, then professor of
mathematics at St. Andrew’s, animadverted on him rather
severely in a treatise entitled, “The great and new art of
weighing Vanity,
” &c. (See Gregory, vol. XVI. p. 278).
Besides the works above mentioned, a publication in defence
of witchcraft, entitled “Satan’s Invisible World,
” has been
ascribed to him: it bears the initials G. S. of his name; and
witchcraft was a standard article of belief in Scotland at
that time. He also translated and published under the same
initials Dickson’s “Truth’s Victory over Error,
” suppressing the author’s name (see David Dickson), for which he
is censured by Wodrow, the ecclesiastical historian and
biographer of professor Dickson, while he allows him the
merit of some good intention.