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, an eminent Grammarian and lexicographer, was born at Woodyale, in the parish of Eccles, in Lancashire, four miles from Manchester, in September 1660, and was educated at Bolton in that county, where he afterwards taught school. On coming to London, he opened a considerable boarding-school at Bethnal-green, and in 1698 published a short treatise on grammatical instil tution, inscribed to sir William Hustler, and reprinted in 1736, 8vo, under the title of “The most natural and easy way of Institution, &c.” He soon after removed to Hackney, and successively to other villages near London, where he taught with good reputation many years, and at length having acquired a moderate fortune, he left off teaching and lived privately. He had a turn both for Latin and English poetry, some single poems of his having been printed in each of these languages, but are not now known. He was remarkably near-sighted, but wrote a beautiful hand. In the latter part of his life, he employed himself in searching the shops of obscure brokers in every quarter of the town, by which means he often recovered old coius. and other valuable curiosities at a small expence, and became possessed of a very fine collection of English coins, which he sold singly to several gentlemen a short time before his death. This happened at London, April 4, 1743, at the age of eighty-three. He was buried, according to his own desire, in the cemetery of Poplar, under the following monumental inscription, composed by himself:

, an eminent grammarian, was born (as is said) at Carthage, and lived under the Antonines. Helvius Pertinax, who had been his scholar, was his successor in the profession of grammar, and at length became emperor. He is the supposed author of the verses prefixed to the comedies of Terence, and containing the argument of them. The lines by him written upon the order Virgil gave to burn his Æeid:

, an eminent grammarian and critic, and nephew to the preceding, was born in 1650, at Lanlugan in Shropshire. His education appears to have been more irregular and neglected than that of his uncle, since at the age of eighteen, when he went to Harrow school, he could not read, nor understood one word of any language but Welch, a circumstance very extraordinary at a time when education, if given at all, was given early, and when scholars went to the universities much younger than at present. Mr. Baxter, however, must have retrieved his loss of time with zeal and assiduity, as it is certain he became a man of great learning, although we are unacquainted with the steps by which he attained this eminence, and must therefore employ the remainder of this article principally in an account of his publications. His favourite studies appear to have been antiquities and physiology. His first publication was a Latin Grammar, entitled “I)e Analogia, sive arte Linguae Latinse Comrnentariolus, &c. in usum provectioris adolescentise,” 1679, 12mo. In 1695, he published his well-known edition of “Anacreon,” afterwards reprinted in 1710, with improvements, but those improvements are said to have been derived from Joshua Barnes’s edition of 1705. Dr. Harwood calls this edition “an excellent one,” but, according to Hades and Fischer, Baxter has been guilty of unjustifiable alterations, and has so mutilated passages, that his temerity must excite the indignation of every sober scholar and critic. Mr. Boswell, in his Life of Dr. Johnson, mentions a copy of Baxter’s edition, which his father, lord Auckinlech, had collated with the ms. belonging to the university of Leytlen, accompanied by a number of notes. This copy is probably still in the library of that venerable judge.

, an eminent grammarian of Florence, in the thirteenth century, was of a noble family in that city, and during the party contests between the Guelphs and Ghibelins, took part with the former. When the Ghibelins had obtained assistance from Mainfroy, king of-Sicily, the Guelphs sent Bninetto to obtain similar aid from Alphonso king of Castillo; but on his return, hearing that the Ghibelins had defeated his party and got possession of Florence, he fled to France, where he resided several years. At length he was enabled to return to his own country, in which he was appointed to some honourable offices. He died in 1294. The historian Villani attributes to him the merit of having first introduced a degree of refinement among his countrymen, and of having reformed their language, and the general conduct of public affairs. The work which has contributed most to his celebrity, was one which he entitled “Tresor,” and wrote when in France, and in the French language, which he says he chose because it was the most agreeable language and the most common in Europe. This work is a kind of abridgment of the Bible, of Pliny the naturalist, Solinus, and other writers who have treated on different sciences, and may be called an Encyclopaedia of the knowledge of his time. It was translated into Italian about the same period, and this translation only was printed; but there are about a dozen transcripts of the original in the royal library at Paris, and there is a fine ms. of it in the Vatican, bound in crimson velvet, with manuscript notes, by Petrarch. After his return to Florence, Latini wrote his u Tesoretto,“or little treasure, which, however, is not as some have reported, an abridgment of the” Tresor,“but a collection of moral precepts in verse. He also translated into the Italian language part of Cicero” de Inventione.“His greatest honour seems to have been that he was the tutor of Dante, not however in poetry, for his” Tesoretto" affords no ground to consider him as a master of that art.

, an eminent grammarian in Italy, was born at Cosenza in the kingdom of Naples, in 1470. He was designed for the law, the profession of his ancestors but his inclination was to study classical literature. His family name was Giovanni Paulo Parisio; yet, according to the humour of the grammarians of that age, he adopted that under which we have classed him. He taught at Milan with great reputation, being particularly admired for a graceful delivery, which attracted many auditors to his lectures. He went to Rome during the pontificate of Alexander VI. and was like to have been involved in the misfortunes of the cardinals Bernardini Cajetan, and Silius Savello, whose estates were confiscateed, and themselves banished for conspiring to depose the pope. As it was well known that he had corresponded with these men, he took the advice of a friend, in retiring from Rome. Not long after, he was appointed public professor of rhetoric at Milan, where his superior merit drew upon him the envy of his contemporary teachers, who, by false accusations, rendered his situation so uneasy, that he was obliged to leave Milan, and retire to Vicenza, where he obtained the professorship of eloquence, with a larger salary; and he held this professorship, till the states of the Venetians were laid waste by the troops of the league of Cambray. He now withdrew to his native country, having made his escape through the army of the enemies. He was afterwards sent for by Leo X. who was before favourably inclined to him; and on his arrival at Rome, appointed him professor of polite literature. He had been now some time married to a daughter of Denietrius Chalcondylas; and he took with him to Rome Basil Chalcondylas, his wife’s brother, and brother of Demetrius Chalcondylas, professor of Greek at Milan. He did not long enjoy this employment conferred upon him by the pope: for; being worn out by his studies and labours, he became so cruelly afflicted with the gout, as to lose the use of his limbs. Poverty was added to his other sufferings; and in this unhappy state he left Rome, and returned into Calabria, his native country, where he died of a fever in 1533.

, an eminent grammarian of antiquity, was born at Caesarea, and afterwards went to Constantinople, where he taught the principles of his art, and was in the highest reputation about the year 525. Donatus, Servius, and Priscian, are called triumviri in “Re Grammatica,” by Laurentius Valla, who thinks them all excellent, and that none oF the ancients, who wrote after them upon the Latin language, are fit to be mentioned with them. Priscian composed a work “De Arte Grammatica,” which was first printed by Aldus, at Venice, in 1476 it is addressed to Julian, not the emperor, as some have erroneously supposed, but the consul. He wrote a book “De NaturalibusQusestionibus,” which he dedicated to Chosroes, king of Persia. He translated “Dionysius’s Description of the World,” into Latin verse: this is printed with the edition of that author, at Oxford, 1697, in 8vo. Some have pretended that this grammarian! was first a Christian, and afterwards a Pagan but there is no foundation for this opinion. Hadrian Valesius relates, that his name, in a very ancient and correct manuscript, is written Pracscianus, A person who writes false Latin is proverbially said to break Priscian’s head."

, an eminent grammarian, was born at Sawl, in Norfolk, and educated at Eton, and was admitted of King’s college, Cambridge, in 1508. He was first usher to the celebrated William Lilly, master of St. Paul’s school, and afterwards second master, but succeeded Lilly, as head master, in 1522, which situation he retained until his death, in 1532. He composed a tragedy of “Dido” out of Virgil, which was performed at St. Paul’s school by him and his pupils, before cardinal Wolsey, but deserves more notice for the improvements he introduced in Lilly’s Latin grammar, in the edition published at Antwerp in 1533. He had married Dionysia, the daughter of Lilly; and after his death she was again married to James Jacob, one of the masters of St. Paul’s, by whom she had a son, Polydore Jacob, who was probably the god-son of Polydore Virgil, who speaks of Rightwise with great respect.

, an eminent grammarian, was, according to Bale, “Eboracensis urbis alumnus” which may mean that he was educated at York; but Wood says, he was born at or near Wakefield in that county. He was originally of Queen’s college, Oxford, but afterwards a semi -commoner of Magdalen, and succeeded the famous John Stanbridge as master of the school adjoining to that college. He took his degree of M. A. in 1525, and was elected a fellow of Magdalen. In 1532 he was collated to the prebend of Welton-Westball in the cathedral of Lincoln; in the year following to that of Sleford, and in 1534, to that of Gretton, in the same church. It seems probable, but Wood does not mention it as certain, that he took his degree of U. D. in 1539, at which time he says, Robertson was esteemed the “fas et decus Oxonite” and was treasurer of the church of Salisbury. He held also the archdeaconry of Leicester and vicarage of Wakefield, to which Brownie Willis adds the rectory of St. Laud’s, at Sherrington, Bucks.