, an ingenious and learned German, was born at Hamburg in 1596; and
, an ingenious
and learned German, was born at Hamburg in 1596; and after
a liberal education in his own country, went to France, and
at Paris distinguished himself by uncommon parts and learning. He was educated a protestant, but afterwards by the
persuasions of Sirmond the Jesuit, embraced the Roman
catholic religion, and going from France to Rome, attached
himself to cardinal Francis Barberini; who took him under
his protection, and recommended him to favour. He was
honoured by three popes, Urban VIII. Innocent X. and
Alexander VII. The first gave him a canonry of St.
Peter’s; the second made him librarian of the Vatican;
and the third sent him, in 1665, to Christina of Sweden,
whose formal profession of the Catholic faith he received at
Inspruck. He spent his life in study, and died at Rome
in 1661, Cardinal Barberini, whom he made his heir,
caused a marble monument to be erected over his grave,
with a Latin inscription much to his honour. He was very
learned both in sacred and profane antiquity, was an acute
critic, and wrote with the utmost purity and elegance.
His works consisted chiefly of notes and dissertations, which
have been highly esteemed for judgment and precision.
Some of these were published by himself; but the greater
part were communicated after his death, and inserted by
his friends in their editions of authors, or other works that
would admit them. His notes and emendations upon Eusebius’s book against Hierocles, upon Porphyry’s “Life of
Pythagoras,
” upon Apollonius’s “Argonautics,
” upon the
fragments of Demophilus, Democrates, Secundus, apd Sallustius the philosopher, upon Stephanus Byzantinus de
Urbibus, &c. are to be found in the best editions of those
authors. He wrote a “Dissertation upon the Life and
Writings of Porphyry,
” which is printed with his notes on
Porphyry’s “Life of Pythagoras;
” and other dissertations/
of his are inserted in Grsevius’s “Collection of Roman Antiquities,
” and elsewhere.