litical,” published by De Sercy at Paris, 1666, 4to, and often reprinted; but this was the work of a grandson, of both his names, who was drowned in his passage from England
, lord of Someldyck and Spyck,
one of the most celebrated negociators of the United Provinces, was the son of Cornelius Aarsens, (who was greffier, or secretary of state, from 1585 to 1623,) and was
born at the Hague in 1572. His father put him under the
care of Duplessis Mornay at the court of William I. prince
of Orange. The celebrated John Barnevelt sent him afterwards as agent into France; and, after residing there
some time, he was recognised as ambassador, the first
whom the French Court had received in that capacity from
the United States; and the king, Louis XIII. created him
a knight and baron. After holding this office for fifteen
years, he became obnoxious to the French Court, and was
deputed to Venice, and to several German and Italian
princes, on occasion of the troubles in Bohemia. But such
was the dislike the French king now entertained against
him, that he ordered his ambassadors in these courts not
to receive his visits. One cause of this appears to have
been a paper published by Aarsens in 1618, reflecting on
the French king’s ministers. In 1620 he was sent as ambassador to England, and again in 1641: the object of this
last embassy was to negociate a marriage between prince
William, son to the prince of Orange, and a daughter of
Charles I. Previous to this, however, we find him again
In France, in 1624, as ambassador extraordinary, where
it appears that he became intimate with and subservient to
the cardinal Richelieu; who used to say that he never
knew but three great politicians, Oxenstiern, chancellor
of Sweden, Viscardi, chancellor of Montferrat, and Francis Aarsens. His character, however, has not escaped just
censure, on account of the hand he had in the death of
Barnevelt, and of some measures unfriendly to the liberties
of his country. He died in 1641. The editors of the Diet.
Historique attribute to him “A Journey into Spain, historical and political,
” published by De Sercy at Paris,
which was given to the Bodleian library by Dr. Edward Corbet, rector of Haseley in Oxfordshire, his grandson by his only daughter the wife of sir Nathaniel Brent .
Bishop Abbot’s works are: 1. “The mirror of Popish
Subtleties,
” Lond. 4to, The exaltation of the
kingdom and priesthood of Christ,
” sermons on the first
seven verses of the 110th Psalm, 4to, Lond. 1601. 3. “Antichristi demonstratio, contra fabulas Pontificias, et ineptam Rob. Bellarmini de Antichristo disputationem,
”
Lond. 4to, Defence of the reformed Catholic of Mr.
W. Perkins, against the bastard counter-Catholic of Dr.
William Bishop, seminary priest,
” in three parts, 4to,
The Old Way; a sermon at St.
Mary’s, Oxon.
” 4to, Lond. The true ancient Roman
Catholic; being an apology against Dr. Bishop’s reproof
of the defence of the reformed Catholic,
” 4to, Antilogia; adversus apologiam
Andreae Eudaemon-Johannis, Jesuitse, pro Henrico Garnetto Jesuita proditore;
” Lond. 4to. De gratia
et perseverantia Sanctorum, Exercitationes habitse in Academiae Oxon.
” Lond. 4to, In Ricardi Thomsoni Angli-Belgici diatribam, da
amissione et intercessione justificationis et gratiae, animadversio brevis.
” Lond. 4to, De Suprema
Potestate Regia, exercitationes habitse in Academia Oxoniensi, contra Rob. BellarminunV et Franciscum Suarez,
”
Lond. 4 to, 1619, also a posthumous publication. He left
behind him various sermons in manuscript, lectures on St.
Matthew, and commentaries on some parts of the Old and
New Testament, particularly a commentary in Latin upon
the whole epistle to the Romans, in four folio volumes,
which was given to the Bodleian library by Dr. Edward
Corbet, rector of Haseley in Oxfordshire, his grandson by
his only daughter the wife of sir Nathaniel Brent .
, grandson of the preceding, and son of. Clearchus Achillini and Poly xena
, grandson of the preceding, and
son of. Clearchus Achillini and Poly xena Buoi, was born at
Bologna in 1574. After studying grammar, the belles
lettres, and philosophy, he entered on the study of the
law, and prosecuted it with so much success, that he was
honoured with a doctor’s degree at the age of twenty,
Dec. 16, 1594, and became a professor of that science at
Bologna, Ferrara, and Parma, where he acquired great
reputation. His learning was so much admired that an
inscription to his honour was put up in the public schools,
and both popes and cardinals gave him hopes, which were
never realized, of making his fortune. Towards the end
of his life he lived principally in a country house called Il
Sasso, and died there Oct. 1, 1640. His body was carried to Bologna, and interred in the tomb of his ancestors
in the church of St. Martin. He is principally known now
by his poetry, in which he was an imitator of Marino, and
with much of the bad taste of his age. It has been asserted
that he received a gold chain worth a thousand crowns
from the court of France, for a poem on the conquests of
Louis XIII.; but this reward was sent him by the Cardinal
Richelieu, in consequence of some verses he wrote on the
birth of the dauphin. His poems were printed at Bologna,
1632, 4to, and were reprinted with some prose pieces,
under the title “Rime e Prose,
” Venice, Decas Epistolarum ad Jacobum Gaufridum,
” Parma,
, or Adelard, born about the year 753, was son of count Bernard, grandson of Charles Martel, and cousin-german of Charlemagne. He had
, or Adelard, born about the year 753,
was son of count Bernard, grandson of Charles Martel,
and cousin-german of Charlemagne. He had been invited to the court in his youth, but, fearing the infection
of such a mode of life, had retired; and, at the age of 20
years, became a monk of Corbie in Picardy, and was at
length chosen abbot of the monastery. His imperial relation, however, forced him again to attend the court, where
he still preserved the dispositions of a recluse, and took
every opportunity, which business allowed, for private
prayer and meditation. After the death of Charlemagne,
he was, on unjust suspicions, banished by Lewis the Meek,
to a monastery on die coast of Acquitaine, in the isle of
Here. After a banishment of five years, Lewis, sensible
of his own injustice, recalled Adalard, and heaped on him
the highest honours. The monk was, however, the same
man in prosperity and in adversity, and in the year 823
obtained leave to return to Corbie. Every week he addressed each of the monks in particular 5 he exhorted
them in pathetic discourses, and laboured for the spiritual
good of the country around his monastery. His liberality
seems to have bordered on excess; and his humility induced him to receive advice from the meanest monk.
When desired to live less austerely, he would frequently
say, “I will take care of your servant, that he may be enabled to attend on you the longer.
” Another Adalard,
who had governed the monastery during his banishment,
by the direction of our Adalard, prepared the foundation
of a distinct monastery, called New Corbie, near Paderborn, as a nursery for ecclesiastical laboarers, who.
should instruct the northern nations. Our Adalard now
completed this scheme; went himself to New Corbie
twice, and settled its discipline. The success of this
truly charitable project was great: many learned and
zealous missionaries were furnished from the new seminary, and it became a light to the north of Europe. Adalard promoted learning in his monasteries, for he was
himself a man of great learning; and instructed the people
both in Latin and French: and after his second return
from Germany to old Corbie, he died ill the year 827,
aged 73. Such is the account given us of Adalard,
a character, there is reason to believe, of eminent
piety and usefulness in a dark age. To convert monasteries into seminaries of pastoral education, was a
thought far above the taste of the age in which he
lived, and tended to emancipate those superstitious institutions from the unprofitable and illiberal bondage
in which they had long subsisted. His principal work
work was “A treatise on the French Monarchy;
” but
fragments only of any of his works have come down to our
times. Hincmar has incorporated the treatise on the
French monarchy in his: fourteenth Opusculum, “for the
instruction of king Carloman.
” The ancient statutes of
of the abbey of Corbie, by our author, are in the fourth
volume of D'Achery’s Spicilegium.
is name, for the education of poor students. Afterwards Maximilian I. appointed him preceptor to his grandson Charles V. and sent him as ambassador to Ferdinand king of Spain,
, pope, who deserves some notice on account of his personal merit, was born in Utrecht, 1459, of
parents reputed mean, who procured him a place among
the poor scholars in the college of Louvain, where his application was such as to induce Margaret of England, the
sister of Edward IV. and widow of Charles duke of Burgundy, to bear the expences of his advancement to the degree of doctor. He became successively a canon of St.
Peter, professor of divinity, dean of the church of Louvain,
and fastly, vice-chancellor of the university. Recollecting
his own condition, he generously founded a college at Louvain, which bears his name, for the education of poor students. Afterwards Maximilian I. appointed him preceptor
to his grandson Charles V. and sent him as ambassador to
Ferdinand king of Spain, who gave him the bishoprick of
Tortosa. In 1517 he was made cardinal, and during the
infancy of Charles V. became regent; but the duties of the
office were engrossed by cardinal Ximenes. On the death
of Leo X. Charles V. had so much influence with the cardinals as to procure him to be chosen to the papal chair, in
1522. He was not, however, very acceptable to the college, as he had an aversion to pomp, expence, and pleasure.
He refused to resent, by fire and sword, the complaints
urged by Luther; but endeavoured to reform such abuses
in the church as could neither be concealed or denied. To
this conduct he owed the many satires written against him
during his life, and the unfavourable representations made
by the most learned of the Roman Catholic historians. Perhaps his partiality to the emperor Charles might increase
their dislike, and occasion the suspicion that his death,
which took place Sept. 24, 1523, was a violent one. For
this, however, we know no other foundation, than a pasquinade stuck upon the house of his physician “To the deliverer of his country.
” He is said to have composed an epitaph for himself, expressing, that the greatest misfortune of
his life was his being called to govern. He has left some
writings, as, 1. “Questiones et Expositiones in IV. Sententiarum,
” Paris, 1512 and 1516, fol.; 1527, 8vo. In this
he advanced some bold sentiments against papal infallibility.
Although he wrote the work before he was pope, he reprinted it without any alteration. 2. “Questiones Quodlibeticae,
” Louvain, Analecta Historica de Adriano VI. Trajectino,
Papa Romano,
” Utrecht, 1727, 4to.
, an eminent lawyer, the grandson of Matthew Afflitto, counsellor-royal in 1409 under Ladislaus,
, an eminent lawyer, the grandson of Matthew Afflitto, counsellor-royal in 1409 under Ladislaus, was born at Naples about 1430. Being attached to the study of law from his youth, he made great progress, and acquired so much reputation, that he was promoted to the council of state by king Ferdinand I. and shared the confidence of that prince and of his son, afterwards Alphonsus II. He was afterwards appointed president of the royal chamber, and was employed in public transactions of the greatest importance under five successive kings of Naples. To the knowledge displayed in his works, he joined the strictest probity and most amiable manners. Camerario, lieutenant of the royal chamber, and an eminent feudal lawyer, gives him the character of the most learned and excellent man of his own or the preceding age; nor are Ferron and Fontanella more sparing of their praises. Pancirollus only considers him as rather laborious than acute in his writings. Notwithstanding the distractions of the times in which he lived, and his numerous labours, he reached the age of eighty, and died in 1510. He was interred in the conventual church of Monte-Vergine in Naples, under a monument representing St. Eustachius, from whom his family derived their origin. He was twice married, and from his second wife, Diana Carmignana, are descended the Afflittos, barons of Rocca-Gloriosa.
etarum Italorum,” and a funeral oration in the collection of “Florentine Prose,” vol. IV. He was the grandson of Ludovico Alemanni, one of the five brothers of the celebrated
Alamanni left two sons, who shared in the good fortune
due to his talents and reputation. Baptist was almoner to
queen Catherine de Medicis, afterwards king’s counsellor,
abbot of Belle-ville, bishop of Bazas, and afterwards of
Macon; he died in 1581. Nicholas, the other son, was a
knight of St. Michael, captain of the royal guards, and
master of the palace. Two other persons of the name of
Louis Alamanni, likewise natives of Florence, were
distinguished in the republic of letters. One was a colonel in
the French service, and in 1591 consul of the academy of
Florence. Salvino Salvini speaks of him in “Fastes Consulaires.
” The other lived about the same time, and was
a member of the same academy. He wrote three Latin
eclogues in the “Carmina illustrium Poetarum Italorum,
”
and a funeral oration in the collection of “Florentine
Prose,
” vol. IV. He was the grandson of Ludovico Alemanni, one of the five brothers of the celebrated poet.
, grandson of the constable de Luynes, was the ninth child of Louis-Charles,
, grandson of the constable
de Luynes, was the ninth child of Louis-Charles, duke de
Luynes, grand almoner of France. He was born in 1672,
and had in his youth the title of the chevalier d‘Albert. In
1688, he served as a volunteer at the siege of Philipshurgh;
in 1690 he was twice wounded in the battle of Fleurus; and
in 1693, commanded the Dauphin regiment of dragoons at
Steinkirk, where he was again wounded. In 1703, he accompanied marshal Villars into Bavaria, where the elector
promoted him to the rank of lieutenant-general. He was
then known by the title of count d’ Albert, and was successively chamberlain, master of the horse, minister, and
colonel of the Bavarian guards. The elector having arrived
at the throne in 1742, by the royal title of Charles VII.
appointed count d' Albert field marshal, and sent him to
France as ambassador extraordinary. The same year the
emperor created him a prince of the holy Roman empire,
by the title of prince of Grimberghen, taken from the rich
domains he acquired by marrying a princess of Berghes.
He died Nov. 10, 1758, aged eighty-seven. Amidst all
his campaigns and political engagements, he cultivated a
taste for literature. His works are “Le Songe d'AlcU
biade,
” a supposed translation from the Greek, Paris, Timandre instruit par son genie,
”
and other pieces, published at Amsterdam, Recueil de differentes pieces de litterature.
”
ret and lady Mary. Henry Alexander settled in England, and was succeeded in titles and estate by his grandson Henry, who died in 1739, and was the last male descendant of
He left, by his lady, 1. William, lord Alexander, viscount Canada, his eldest son, who died in the office of his majesty’s resident in Nova Scotia, during his father’s lifetime: William, the son of this young nobleman succeeded his grandfather in the earldom, but died about a month after him 2. Henry Alexander, afterwards earl of Stirling 3. John, and two daughters, lady Margaret and lady Mary. Henry Alexander settled in England, and was succeeded in titles and estate by his grandson Henry, who died in 1739, and was the last male descendant of the first earl. A claimant appeared in 1776, but, being unable to prove his descent before the house of peers, was ordered not to assume the title .
es it down so low as 1576. He left a son, Roger Alley, who was archdeacon of Cornwall; and his great grandson, the rev. Peter Alley, died so lately as August 1763, at the
, bishop of Exeter in
the reign of queen Elizabeth, was born at Great Wycomb
in Buckinghamshire, and educated at Eton school. In
1528 he went from thence to King’s college, Cambridge,
where he took a bachelor’s degree, but removed to Oxford,
and spent some time in the academical studies of that unitersity. He afterwards married, was presented to a living,
and became a zealous reformer. On queen Mary’s accession he left his cure, and retired into the north of Epgland, where he maintained himself by keeping a school
and practising physic. On queen Elizabeth’s accession,
when he could avow his principles with safety, he went to
London, and was appointed to read the divinity lecture at
St. Paul’s, in which he acquired great reputation; and in
July 1560, was consecrated bishop of Exeter. He was
not created doctor of divinity until November 1561. He
died April 15, 1570, and was buried at Exeter. He wrote,
I. “The Poor Man’s Library,
” 2 vols. folio, 1571. These
volumes contain his twelve lectures at St. Paul’s, on the
first epistle of St. Peter. 2. “A Hebrew Grammar,
” but
it is uncertain whether it was ever published. He translated
the Pentateuch in the version of the Bible undertaken by
command of queen Elizabeth. Three epistles of Alley to
Matthew Parker, in Latin, are preserved among the Mss.
of Corpus Christi college, Cambridge. His “Judgment
concerning the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church
” is in
Strype’s Annals. Wood and Godwin agree in placing
b shop Alley’s death in 1570; but Tanner says, that it
was on April 15, 1571, and Fuller carries it down so low
as 1576. He left a son, Roger Alley, who was archdeacon of Cornwall; and his great grandson, the rev. Peter
Alley, died so lately as August 1763, at the very
extraordinary age of one hundred and ten years and two months.
He was for seventy-three years rector of Donamow, in
Queen’s County, Dublin, and served his own cure till
within a few days of his death.
of the ninth century, ascended the throne in the year 814. He was the son of Harun-AlRashid, and the grandson of Almanzor. His name is otherwise written Mamon, Almaon, Almamun,
, caliph of Bagdat, a philosopher and astronomer in the beginning of the ninth century, ascended the throne in the year 814. He was the son of Harun-AlRashid, and the grandson of Almanzor. His name is otherwise written Mamon, Almaon, Almamun, Alamoun, or Al-Maimon. Having been educated with great care, and with a love for the liberal sciences, he applied himself to cultivate and encourage them in his own country. For this purpose he requested the Greek emperors to supply him with such books on philosophy as they had among them; and he collected skilful interpreters to translate them into the Arabic language. He also encouraged his subjects to study them; frequenting the meetings of the learned, and assisting in their exercises and deliberations. He caused Ptolemy’s Almagest to be translated in the year 827; and in his reign, and doubtless by his encouragement, an astronomer of Bagdat, named Habash, composed three sets of astronomical tables. Almamon himself, however, made many astronomical observations, concerning the obliquity of the ecliptic, and caused skilful observers to procure proper instruments to be made, and to exercise themselves in such observations. Under his auspices also a degree of the meridian was measured; and he revived the sciences in the East so successfully that many learned men were found, not only in his own time, but after him, in a country where the study of the sciences had long been forgotten. This learned king died near Tarsus in Cilicia, by having eaten too freely of dates, on his return from a military expedition, in the year 833, in the 48th or 49th year of his age.
, grandson, or according to Saxius, nephew, to the preceding, was born
, grandson, or according to Saxius, nephew, to the preceding, was born at Herrenberg, in the duchy of Wirtemberg, in 1586. After studying at Tubingen, and travelling in France and Italy, he was promoted to several ecclesiastical offices in his own country, and at the time of his death in 1654, was abbé of Adelberg, and Lutheran almoner to the duke of Wirtemberg. Being much concerned to see the principles of the Christian religion employed only in idle disputes, and the sciences subservient only to the pride of curiosity, he passed much of his life in contriving the means by which both should be rendered of more practical utility to mankind. In particular, he employed the influence he had with his sovereign and with the duke of Brunswic-Wolfenbuttel, in procuring a reformation of the state of public instruction in their dominions. The propensity to mysticism in all these patriotic efforts, his extensive knowledge, and his more extensive correspondence, and the frequent mysterious allusions, capable of many senses, which occur in his works, have occasioned an opinjon that he was in reality the founder of the famous order of the Rosicrucians. The late M. Herder has discussed this question in the German museum for 1779, and determines against Andreas; but two learned Germans, M. Chr. G. de Murr (in his history of the origin of the Rosicrucians, printed at Sulzbach, 1803, 8vo), and M. J. G. Buhle (in a dissertation read in 1803 before the Royal Society of Gottingen, on the same subject, and published in 1804, in German), are of opinion, that if Andreas was not the founder, he at least gave that new organization to the Rosicrucians which identified them with the free-masons, in whose societies the memory of Andreas is still held in veneration. And if we find no proofs of the fact in the life which he left of himself, and which Seybold published in 1799, in the second volume of his Autobiography, it must on the other hand be confessed, that in the works which he published in his life-time, he is perpetually reasoning on the necessity of forming a society solely devoted to the regeneration of knowledge and manners/ The question, however, is not yet absolutely determined, nor, except in Germany, will it perhaps appear a matter of much consequence. There is nothing in the history of the Rosicrucians to excite much respect for its founder, or for those who fancied they improved upon it by the late more mischievous society of the Illuminati.
ruary 1609, she was detected in an intrigue with Mr. William Seymour, son to the lord Beauchamp, and grandson to the earl of Hertford, to whom, notwithstanding, she was.
, commonly called the lady Arabella, was so often talked of for a queen, that custom seems
to have given her a right to an article in this manner under
her Christian name, as that by which our historians distinguish her. She was the daughter of Charles Stuart, earl
oY Lenox, who was younger brother to Henry lord Darnley,
father to king James VI. of Scotland, and First of England,
by Elizabeth, daughter of sir William Cavendisu, km. She
was born, as near as can be computed, in 1577, and educated at London, under the eye of the eld countess of
Lenox, her grand-mother. She was far from being either
beautiful in her person, or from being distinguished by
any extraordinary qualities of mind; and yet she met with
many admirers, on account of her royal descent and near
relation to the crown of England. Her father dviug in
1579, and leaving her thereby sole heiress, as some understood, of the house of Lenox, several matches were projected for her at home and abroad. Her cousin, king
James, inclined to have married her to lord Esme Stuart,
whom he had created duke of Lenox, and whom before his
marriage he considered as his heir; but this match was
prevented by queen Elizabeth, though it was certainly a
very fit one in all respects. As the English succession was
at this time very problematical, the great powers on the
Continent speculated on many husbands for the lady Arabella, such as the duke of Savoy, a prince of the house of
Farnese, and others. In the mean time, this lady had some
thoughts of marrying herself at home, as Thuanus relates,
to a son of the earl of Northumberland, but it is not credible that this took effect, though he says it did privately.
The very attempt procured her queen Elizabeth’s displeasure, who confined her for it. In the mean time her title
to the crown, such as it was, became the subject, amongst
many others, of father Persons’ s famous book, wherein are
all the arguments for and against her, and which served to
divulge her name and descent all over Europe; and yet
this book was not very favourable to her interest. On the
death of the queen, some malcontents framed an odd design of disturbing the public peace, and amongst other
branches of their dark scheme, one was to seize the lady
Arabella, and to cover their proceedings by the sanction of
her title, intending also to have married her to some
English nobleman, the more to increase their interest, and
the better to please the people. But this conspiracy was
fatal to none but its authors, and those who conversed with
them; being speedily defeated, many taken, and some executed. As for the lady Arabella, it does not appear that
she had any knowledge of this engagement in her behalf,
whatever it was; for domestic writers are perplexed, and
foreign historians ruu into absurdities, when they
endeadeavour to explain it. She continued at liberty, and in
apparent favour at court, though her circumstances were
narrow till the latter end of the year 1608, when by
some means she drew upon her king James’s displeasure.
However, at Christmas, when mirth and good-humour prevailed at court, she was again taken into favour, had a service of plate presented to her of the value of two hundred
pounds, a thousand marks given her to pay her debts, and
some addition made to her annual income. This seems to
have been done, in order to have gained her to the interest
of the court, and to put the notions of marriage she had
entertained out of her head; all which, however, proved
ineffectual; for in the beginning of the month of February
1609, she was detected in an intrigue with Mr. William
Seymour, son to the lord Beauchamp, and grandson to the
earl of Hertford, to whom, notwithstanding, she was. privately married some time afterwards. Upon this discovery,
they were both carried before the council, and severely reprimanded, and then dismissed. In the summer of 1610,
the marriage broke out, on which the lady was sent into
close custody, at the house of sir Thomas Parry, in Lambeth; and Mr. Seymour was committed to the Tower for
his contempt, in marrying a lady of the royal family without the king’s leave. It does not appear that this confinement was attended with any great severity to either; for
the lady was allowed the use of sir Thomas Parry’s house
and gardensj and the like gentleness, in regard to his high
quality, was shewn to Mr. Seymour. Some intercourse
they had by letters, which after a time was discovered,
and a resolution taken thereupon to send the lady to Durham, a resolution which threw her into deep affliction.
Upon this, by the interposition of friends, she and her
husband concerted a scheme for their escape, which was
successfully executed in the beginning, though it ended
unluckily. The lady, under the care of sir James Crofts,
was at the house of Mr. Conyers, at Highgate, from whence
she was to have gone the next day to Durham, on which
she put a fair countenance now, notwithstanding the trouble
she had before shewn. This made her keepers the more
easy, and gave her an opportunity of disguising herself,
which she did on Monday the 3d of June, 1611, by drawing over her petticoats a pair of large French-fashioned
hose, putting on a man’s doublet, a peruke which covered
her hair, a hat, black cloak, russet boots with red tops, and
a rapier by her side. Thus equipped, she walked out between three and four with Mr. Markham. They went a
mile and half to a little inn, where a person attended with
their horses. The lady, by that time she came thither, was
so weak and faint, that the hostler, who held the stirrup
when she mounted, said that gentleman would hardly hold
out to London. Riding, however, so raised her spirits,
that by the time she came to Blackwall, she was pretty well
recovered. There they found waiting for them two men,
a gentlewoman, and a chambermaid, with one boat full of
Mr. Seymour’s and her trunks, and another boat for their
persons, in which they hasted from thence towards Woolwich. Being come so far, they bade the watermen row on
to Gravesend. There the poor fellows were desirous to
land, but for a double freight were contented to go on to
Lee, yet being almost tired by the way, they were forced
to lie still at Tilbury, whilst the rowers went on shore to
refresh themselves; then they proceeded to Lee, and by
that time the day appeared, and they discovered a ship
at anchor a mile beyond them, which was the French
bark that waited for them. Here the lady would have lain
at anchor, expecting Mr. Seymour, but through the importunity of her followers, they forthwith hoisted sail and put
to sea. In the mean time Mr. Seymour, with a peruke and
beard of black hair, and in a tawny cloth suit, walked alone
without suspicion, from his lodging out at the great west
door of the Tower, following a cart that had brought him
billets. From thence he walked along by the Towerwharf, by the warders of the south gate, and so to the iron
gate, where one Rodney was ready with a pair of oars to
receive him. When they came to Lee, and found that the
French ship was gone, the billows rising high, they hired
a fisherman for twenty shillings, to put them on board a
certain ship that they saw under sail. That ship they
found not to be it they looked for, so they made forwards
to the next under sail, which was a ship from Newcastle.
This with much ado they hired for forty pounds, to carry
them to Calais, and the master performed his bargain, by
which means Mr. Seymour escaped, and continued in Flanders. On Tuesday in the afternoon, my lord treasurer being advertised that the lady Arabella had made an escape,
sent immediately to the lieutenant of the Tower to set
strict guard over Mr. Seymour, which he promised, after
his yxrt manner, “he would thoroughly do, that he would;
”
but, coming to the prisoner’s lodgings-, he found, to his great
amazement, that he was gone from thence one whole day
before. A pink being dispatched from the Downs into
Calais road, seized the French bark, and brought back the
lady and those with her; but, before this was known, the
proclamation issued for apprehending them. As soon as
she was brought to town, she was, after examination, committed to the Tower, declaring that she was not so sorry for
her own restraint, as she should be glad if Mr. Seymour
escaped, for whose welfare, she affirmed, she was more concerned than for her own. Her aunt, the countess of Shrewsbury, was likewise committed, on suspicion of having
prompted the lady Arabella, not only to her escape, but to
other things, it being known that she had amassed upwards
of twenty thousand pounds in ready money. The earl of
Shrewsbury was confined to his house, and the old earl of
Hertford sent for from his seat. By degrees things grew
cooler, and though it was known that Mr. Seymour continued in the Netherlands, yet the court made no farther
applications to the archduke about him. In the beginning of 1612, a new storm began to break out; for the
lady Arabella, either pressed at an examination, or of her
own free will, made some extraordinary discoveries, upon
which some quick steps would have been taken, had it not
shortly after appeared, that her misfortunes had turned her
head, and that, consequently, no use could be made of her
evidence. However, the countess of Shrewsbury, who before had leave to attend her husband in his sickness, was,
very closely shut up, and the court was amused with abundance of strange stories, which wore out by degrees, and
the poor lady Arabella languished in her confinement till
the 27th of September, 1615, when her life and sorrows
ended together. Even in her grave this poor lady was not
at peace, a report being spread that she was poisoned, because she happened to die within two years of sir Thomas
Overbury. Sir Bull. Whitlocke has put this circumstance
in much too strong a light; for it was a suspicion at most,
and never had the support of the least colour of proof. As
for her husband, sir William Seymour, he soon after her
decease, procured leave to return, distinguished himself
by loyally adhering to the king during the civil wars,
and, surviving to the time of the Restoration, was restored to his great-grandfather’s title of duke of Somerset, by an act of parliament, which entirely cancelled
his attainder and on the giving his royal assent to this act,
king Charles II. was pleased to say in full parliament, what
perhaps was as honourable for the family as the title to
which they are restored, flis words were these: “As this
is an act of an extraordinary nature, so it is in favour of a
person of no ordinary merit: he has deserved of my father,
and of myself, as much as any subject possibly could do;
and I hope this will stir no man’s envy, because in doing it
I do no more than' what a good master should do for such a
servant.
” By his lady Arabella, this noble person had no
issue: but that he still preserved a warm affection for her
memory, appears from hence, that he called one of his
daughters by his second wife, Frances, daughter and coheiress of Robert Devereux, earl of Essex, Arabella Seymour.
y, made him professor of Greek at Florence, and appointed him preceptor to his son Peter, and to his grandson Lorenzo. He had several illustrious pupils at Florence, to whom
was one of the first of those learned persons who fled into Italy upon the taking of Constantinople by Mahomet II. in 1453, and contributed to the revival of Greek learning in the west. Cosmo de Medicis, duke of Tuscany, made him professor of Greek at Florence, and appointed him preceptor to his son Peter, and to his grandson Lorenzo. He had several illustrious pupils at Florence, to whom he read lectures in the Greek language and philosophy; and amongst the rest Angelas Politianus^ Acciaioli, and Reuchlinus. In 1456, he went into France, to ask the assistance of Charles VII. in behalf of some friends and relations, whom he wanted to redeem from Turkish slavery. He continued many years in his professorship at Florence; but, the plague at length obliging him to quit it, he went to Rome, where he publicly read lectures upon the Greek text of Aristotle. He died of an autumnal fever, which was brought on by an intemperate eating of melons, in the 70th year of his age, and (as is believed) soon after his settlement in Rome; but the time of his death is uncertain, yet it must have been after 1478, because he survived Theodorus Gaza, who died in that year. He was allowed to be very learned, but learning does not seem to have civilized or softened his manners, for he is represented as having been very capricious and very morose. He affirmed, that Cicero understood neither the Greek language nor philosophy, and is supposed to have conceived this peculiar prejudice against Cicero for saying, that the Greek was a language veibonim inops t poor and scanty in words. He was also a notorious epicure, and spent all his salaries, though very considerable, in the luxuries of the table. He was not so serious about his latter end, but that he bequeathed his debts in form to his richer friends, almost in the very act of dying. He translated several pieces of Aristotle into Latin, which language he also understood very well.
e still quoted by all historians, though the facts related in them greatly displeased the Dutch. His grandson published in 1737, “Memoirs of Hamburgh,” in 12mo, also by him.
, sieur du Maurier, accompanied
his father on his embassy into Holland, from whence he
proceeded to Berlin, to Poland, and to Rome. On his return to Paris, he acquired the favour of the queen-mother;
but this not being followed by promotion, he relinquished
his attendance at court, and retired to his estate to pass
the remainder of his days in reading and compilation, and
there he died in 1687. His “Memoires pour servir a
l'histoire de Hollande,
” 2 vols. 12mo, have been and are
still quoted by all historians, though the facts related in
them greatly displeased the Dutch. His grandson published in 1737, “Memoirs of Hamburgh,
” in 12mo, also
by him. We are likewise indebted to him for a relation
of the execution of Cabrieres and Merindol, Paris, 1645,
in 4to.
he Strand, on the 25th of Nov. 1774, aged seventy-seven. His wife died in 1762; and he left only one grandson, William Baker, who was born Feb. 17, 1763, and to whom, on
In April 1729, he married Sophia, youngest daughter
of the famous Daniel Defoe, who brought him two sons,
both of whom he survived. On the 29th of January 1740,
Mr. Baker was elected a fellow of the society of antiquaries; and, on the 12th of March following, the same
honour was conferred upon him by the royal society. In
1744, sir Godfrey Copley’s gold medal was bestowed upon
him, for having, by his microscopical experiments on the
crystallizations and configurations of saline particles, produced the most extraordinary discovery during that year.
This medal was presented to him by sir Hans Sloane, thjen
president of the royal society, and only surviving trustee
of sir Godfrey Copley’s donation, at the recommendation
of sir Hans’s worthy successor, Martin Folkes, esq. and of
the council of the said society. Having led a very useful
and honourable life, he died, at his apartments in the
Strand, on the 25th of Nov. 1774, aged seventy-seven.
His wife died in 1762; and he left only one grandson,
William Baker, who was born Feb. 17, 1763, and to whom,
on his living to the age of twenty-one, he bequeathed the
bulk of his fortune, which he had acquired by his profession of teaching deaf and dumb persons to speak. This
gentleman is now rector of Lyndon and South Luffenham,
in the county of Rutland. He gave also by his will a hundred pounds to the royal society, the interest of which
was to be applied in paying for an annual oration on natural
history or experimental philosophy, now known by the
name of the Bakerian oration. He gave to each of his two
executors one hundred pounds and his wife’s gold watch
and trinkets in trust to his daughter-in-law Mary Baker for
her life, and to be afterwards given to the future wife of
his grandson. To Mrs. Baker he gave also an annuity of
fifty pounds. His furniture, printed books, curiosities, and
collections of every sort, he directed should be sold, which
was accordingly done. His manuscripts are in the possession of his grandson. His fine collection of native and
foreign fossils, petrifactions, shells, corals, vegetables, ores,
&c. with some antiquities and other curiosities, were sold
by auction, March 13, 1775, and the nine following days,
He was buried, as he desired, in an inexpensive mannef,
in the church-yard of St. Mary le-Strand within which
church, on the south wall, he ordered a small tablet to be
erected to his memory, but owing to some particular regulations annexed to the new churches under the act of
queen Anne, leave for this could not be obtained. “An
inscription for it,
” he said, “would probably be found
among his papers if not, he hoped some learned friend
would write one agreeably to truth.
”
r and heir of Thomas Dinely, and widow of George Barret, who brought him two sons sir Richard (whose grandson was created a baronet) and John and three daughters Elizabeth,
, a statesman of some note in the reigns of Henry VIII. Edward VI. and Mary, is said to have been the son of Thomas Baker, a Kentish gentleman, but his pedigree in the' college of arms begins with his own name. He was bred to the profession of the laws, and in 1526, when a young man, was sent ambassador to Denmark, in company with Henry Standish, bishop of St. Asaph, according to the fashion of those times, when it was usual to join in foreign negociations, the only two characters which modern policy excludes from such services. At his return he was elected speaker of the house of commons, and was soon after appointed attorney-general, and sworn of the privy council, but gained no farther preferment till 1545, when, having recommended himself to the king by his activity in forwarding a loan in London, and other imposts, he was made chancellor of the exchequer. Henry constituted him an assistant trustee for the minor successor, after whose accession his name is scarcely mentioned in history, except in one instance, which ought not to be forgotten he was the only privy counsellor who steadfastly denied his assent to the last will of that prince, by which Mary and Elizabeth were excluded from inheriting the crown. Sir John married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Thomas Dinely, and widow of George Barret, who brought him two sons sir Richard (whose grandson was created a baronet) and John and three daughters Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Scott; Cecily, married to the lord treasurer Dorset, and Mary to John Tufton, of Heathfield in Kent. He died in 1558, and was bu ied at Sissingherst in Kent, where he had a fine estate, formerly belonging to the family of De Berham; and a noble mansion built by himself, called Sissingherst Castle, which remained with his posterity till the family became extinct about sixty years since, and has since bowed down its battlements to the unfeeling taste of the present day.
, grandson of the preceding, and son of John, the youngest son of sir John
, grandson of the preceding, and son of John, the youngest son of sir John Baker by Catherine daughter of sir Reynold Scot of Scot’s hall in Kent, was born at Sissingherst in Kent, about the year 1568. In 1584, he was entered a commoner at Hart-hall in Oxford, where he remained three years, which he spent chiefly in the study of logic and philosophy. From thence he removed to one of the inns of court in London, and afterwards travelled abroad, in order to complete his education. In 1594, he was created master of arts at Oxford and in May 1603, received the honour of knighthood from James I. at Theobalds. In 1620, he was high-sheriff of Oxfordshire, having the manor of Middle-Aston and other estates in that county, and was also in the commission of the peace. He married Margaret, daughter of sir George Manwaring, of Ightfield in Shropshire, knight and having become surety for some of that family’s debts, was thereby reduced to poverty, and thrown into the Fleet prison, where he died Feb. 18, 1645, and was buried in St. Bride’s church, Fleet-street. He was a person tall and comely (says Mr. Wood), of a good disposition and admirable discourse, religious, and well-read in various faculties, especially in divinity and history, as appears from the books he composed.
, grandson of the preceding, was born in 1454. After a slight education
, grandson of the preceding,
was born in 1454. After a slight education at Venice, he
was placed, when very young, under the tuition of Matteo
Bosso, then resident at Verona. At the age of eight he
became the scholar of Pomponius Lactus at Rome, and
studied under him for the space of ten years, commencing
an intimacy with the most celebrated literati of the age,
and in particular with Theodore Gaza, who formed the
most honourable opinion of his talents. On his return to
Venice, by his father’s advice he went to reside at Padua,
in order to finish his education in that university. Here he
first applied himself to the version of “Themistii Paraphrasis,
” which was finished in the nineteenth, but not
published until (1473) the twenty-sixth year of his age.
The following year he was nominated to pronounce the
funeral oration of the doge Niccolo Marcello, a composition
which is at present extant. Retiring again to Padua, he
was authorised, by a special faculty from the senate, to
read lectures on philosophy, and with great public approbation expounded Aristotle’s Ethics, and drew up an epitome of them for the benefit of his hearers. Hermolaus
spent five years uninterruptedly at this seat of learning, and
having attained his twenty-third year, was, by the general
approbation, created a doctor of the civil and canon law.
In 1479 he returned to his native city, where he was speedily admitted to all those honours which were compatible
with his rank and age. Yet persevering in his studies, he
this year interpreted “Aristotelis Rhetorica,
” published
his “Themistius
” in the following in and in 1484,
” Aristotelis Dialecticen,"
besides a number of poems and other occasional productions.
an of considerable eminence, was born at Medbury, in Devonshire, 1704, the son of Edward Battie, and grandson of William Battie, D. D. He received his education at Eton,
, an English physician of considerable eminence, was born at Medbury, in Devonshire, 1704, the son of Edward Battie, and grandson of William Battie, D. D. He received his education at Eton, where his mother resided after her husband’s death, in order to assist her son, on the spot, with that advice, and those accommodations, which would have been more useless and expensive, had she lived at a greater distance. In 1722 he" was sent to King’s college, Cambridge, and on a vacancy of the Craven scholarship, he succeeded to it by a com-1 bination of singular circumstances. The candidates being reduced to six, the provost, Dr. Snape, examined them all together, that they might, as he said, be witnesses to the successful candidate. The three candidates from King’s were examined in Greek authors, and the provost dismissed them with this pleasing compliment, that not being yet determined in his choice, he must trouble them to come again. The other electors were so divided, as, after a year and a day, to let the scholarship lapse to the donor’s family, when lord Craven gave it to Battle. Probably the remembrance continued with him, and induced him to make a similar foundation in the university, with a stipend of 20l. a year, and the same conditions for the beuetit of others, which is called Dr. Battie’s foundation. He nominated to it himself, while living, and it is now filled up by the electors to the Craven scholarships. To Battie this scholarship was of much importance, and, as appears by a letter he wrote in 1725, when he got it, he was enabled to live comfortably. In 1726, he took his bachelor’s, and in 1730, his master’s degree.
, grandson of the preceding, was born in 1694. He was first educated at
, grandson of the preceding, was born in 1694. He was first educated at Konigsburgh, where, besides philosophy and theology, he
devoted much of his time to the study of the Oriental
languages, under some rabbis, and under Dr. Abraham
Wolff, professor of theology. In 1713 he began the
study of the Chinese language, but his severe and uninterrupted application having injured his health, he was
recommended to try change of air. With this view he
went to Dantzic, to John Sartorius, professor of rhetoric,
who was his maternal great-uncle, and as soon as he was
able to return to Konigsburgh, he went through his disputation, and obtained a pension. Soon after, he went to
Berlin, where M. Grabe, a privy-counsellor, assisted him
with the means of prosecuting his studies, and there he
formed an intimacy with de la Croze, Jablonski, des Vignoles, Chauvin, and many other learned men of the time.
At Halle, professor Frank introduced him to Solomon Assadi, whose lessons removed many of the difficulties he had
encountered in learning the Arabic; and M. Michaelis and
Heineccius furnished him with much useful information
respecting the Ethiopian and Greek churches. From Halle
he went to Leipsic, where, in Feb. 1717, he was admitted
to the degree of M. A. Here M. Sieber permitted him the
free use of his fine library, and M. Goetze gave him access
to the manuscripts of the public library, of which he made
a catalogue. At the request of M. Mencke he drew up
several curious articles for the Leipsic “Acta eruditorum,
”
particularly one on the triumphal arch of Trajan, another
on the Malabaric new Testament, a third on the Coptic
new Testament, &c. with all which Mencke was so well satisfied, as to make him very advantageous offers if he would
consent to reside at Leipsic. The magistrates of Konigsburgh wrote to him at the same time, that if he wished to
continue his travels, his expences should be defrayed; but
the bad state of his health obliged him to return home.
Recovering a little, he went to Wirtemberg and Berlin,
where M. de la Croze gave him some lessons in the Coptic;
and at Stettin he had the happiness to be admitted to inspect the Chinese collections made by Andrew Muller,
which are preserved there. About the end of autumn
1717, having returned to Konigsburgh, the magistrates
appointed him librarian, and in 1720 and 1721 he was
chosen co-rector and pro-rector of the principal college.
About the beginning of 1726, he was invited to Petersburgh to be professor of Greek and Roman antiquities.
The same year he delivered some orations in the presence
of the empress Catherine, who laid the foundation of the
new academy, in honour of the coronation of Peter II. In
1730 the royal academy of Berlin enrolled him among its
members. He was about to have retired to Konigsburgh,
with his family, when he was attacked by a disorder which
proved fatal, Feb. 21, 1738. Besides a number of philological and antiquary dissertations in the literary journals, he
published, 1. “Museum Sinicum, in quo Sinicae Linguae et
Literaturae ratio explicatur; item grammatica, lexicon, et
diatribae Sinicce reperiuntur,
” Petrop. Historia regni Graecorum
Bactriani,
” ibid. Historia Osrhoena et
Edessena ex nummis illustrata, in qua Edessae urbis, Osrhoeni regni, Abgarorum regum, &c. fata explicantur,
” ib.
St. John’s colleges in Cambridge, was the only daughter and heir of John Beaufort, duke of Somerset ( grandson of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster), and of Margaret Beauchamp
, the foundress of Christ’s and St. John’s colleges in Cambridge, was the only daughter and heir of John Beaufort, duke of Somerset (grandson of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster), and of Margaret Beauchamp his wife. She was born at Bletshoe in Bedfordshire) in 1441. About the fifteenth year of her age, being a rich heiress, the great duke of Suffolk, minister to Henry the Vlth. solicited her in marriage for his son; while the king wooed her for his half-brother Edmund, then earl of Richmond. On so nice a point the good young lady advised with an elder gentlewoman; who, thinking it too great a decision to take upon herself, recommended her to St. Nicholas, the patron of virgins. She followed her instructions, and poured forth her supplications and prayers with such effect, that one morning, whether sleeping or waking she could not tell, there appeared unto her somebody in the habit of a bishop, and desired she would accept of Edmund for her husband. Whereupon she married Edmund earl of Richmond; and by him had an only son, who was afterwards king Henry the VI 1th. Edmund died, Nov. 3, 1456, leaving Henry his son and heir but fifteen weeks old: after which Margaret married sir Henry Stafford, knight, second son to the duke of Buckingham, by whom she had no issue. Soon after the death of sir Henry Stafford, which happened about 1482, she was married again to Thomas lord Stanley, who was created earl of Derby, Oct. 27, 1485, which was the first year of her son’s reign; and this noble lord died also before her in 1504.
ne the 29th.” This lady was the daughter and sole heiress of John Beaufort duke of Somerset, who was grandson to John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward the
Lady Margaret, however, could do both; and there are
some of her literary performances still extant. She published, “The mirroure of golde for the sinful 1 soule,
”
translated from a French translation of a book called, * Speculum aureum peccatorum,' very scarce. She also translated out of French into English, the fourth book of Gerson’s treatise “Of the imitation and following the blessed
life of our most merciful Saviour Christ,
” printed at the
nd of Dr. William Atkinson’s English translation of the three
first books, 1504. A letter to her son is printed in Howard’s “Collection of Letters.
” She also made, -by her
son’s command and authority, the orders, yet extant, for
great estates of ladies and noble women, for their precedence, &c. She was not only a lover of learning, but a
great patroness of learned men; and did more acts of real
goodness for the advancement of literature in general, than
could reasonably have been expected from so much superstition. Erasmus has spoken great things of her, for the
munificence shewn in her foundations and donations of
several kinds; a large account of which is given by Mr.
Baker, in the preface prefixed to the “Funeral Sermon.
”
What adds greatly to the merit of these donations is, that
some of the most considerable of them were performed in
her life-time; as the foundation of two colleges in Cambridge.
Her life was checquered with a variety of good and' bad
fortune: but she had a greatness of soul, which seems to
have placed her above the reach of either; so that she wasneither elated with the former, nor depressed with the
latter. She was most affected with what regarded her
only child, for whom she had the most tender affection.
She underwent some hardships on his account. She saw
him from an exile, by a wonderful turn of fortune, advanced
to the crown of England, which yet he could not keep
without many struggles and difficulties; and when he had
reigned twenty-three years, and lived fifty-two, she saw him
carried to his grave. Whether this might not prove too great
a shock for her, is uncertain; but she survived him only
three months, dying at Westminster on the 29th of June,
1509. She was buried in his chapel, and had a beautiful
monument erected to her memory, adorned with gilded
brass, arms, and an epitaph round the verge, drawn up by
Erasmus, at the request of bishop Fisher, for which he had
twenty shillings given him by the university of Cambridge.
Upon this altar-tomb, which is enclosed with a grate, is
placed the statue of Margaret countess of Richmond and
Derby, in her robes, all of solid brass, with two pillars on
each side of her, and a Latin inscription, of which the following is a translation: “To Margaret of Richmond, the
mother of Henry VII. and grandmother of Henry VIII.
who founded salaries for three monks in this convent, for a
grammar-school at Wymborn, and a preacher of God’s
word throughout England; as also for two divinity-lecturers, the one at Oxford, the other at Cambridge; in
which last place she likewise built two colleges, in honour
of Christ and his disciple St. John. She died in the year
of our Lord 1509, June the 29th.
” This lady was the
daughter and sole heiress of John Beaufort duke of Somerset, who was grandson to John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward the Third. Her mother, Margaret Beauchamp, was daughter and heiress of the lord
Beauchamp of Powick. Bishop Fisher observes, “that by
her marriage with the earl of Richmond, and by her birth,
she was allied to thirty kings and queens, within the fourth
degree either of blood or affinity; besides earls, marquisses, dukes, and princes: and since her death,
” as Mr.
Baker says, “she has been allied in her posterity to thirty
more.
” Her will, which is remarkably curious, is printed
at length in the “Collectioii of Royal and Noble Wills,
”
ct. 4, 1736. His life was published by J. M. Gl-tsener, at Ilildesheim in the same year. His son and grandson were both physicians and medical writers. The former published,
, a German physician of
note, was born at Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Aug. 26,
1660. After studying medicine he was admitted to the
degree of doctor at Helmstadt in 1684. In 1712, he was
appointed court-physician to the duke of Brunswick Lunenburgh. He published many essays and dissertations in
the Memoirs of the German Imperial academy, of which
he was a member, and other works separately, both in
German and Latin. The principal of these, are, 1. “De
constitutione artis medicae,
” Helmstadt, The Legal Physician,
” in German, ibid. 8vo, containing
several medico-legal questions, and the history of sudden
deaths, with the appearances on dissection. 3. “Selecta
medica de medicinæ natura et certitudine,
” Francfort and
Leipsic, 1708, an inquiry into the history of medicine, its
sects, c. 4. “Selecta Disetetica, seu de recta ac convoniente ad sanitatem vivendi ratione tractatus,
” Francfort, Trias casuum memorabilium medicorum,
”
Guelpherbiti (Wolfenbuttel), De imaginario quodam miraculo in gravi oculorum rnorbo, &c.
”
Brunopolis (Brunswick), De felicitate
medicorum aucta in terris Brunsvicensis,
” ibid.
Of his private character we have lately had some information from his grandson Richard Cumberland, esq. who in his own Memoirs, published a
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.
ence de la religion Chretienne,” ibid. 1714, 2 vols. 8vo a translation of which was published by his grandson, Mr. Bernard, of Doncaster, Load. 1793, 8vo, with the life of
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.
rs 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
, 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.
, the grandson of the preceding John, was born at Basil Nov. 4, 1744, and died
, the grandson of the preceding
John, was born at Basil Nov. 4, 1744, and died at Berlin
July 13, 1807. He studied at Basil and Neufchatel, attaching himself chiefly to philosophy, mathematics, and
astronomy. At the age of nineteen, he was invited to the
place of astronomer in the academy of Berlin, and some
years after, having obtained permission to travel, he visited Germany, England, and France, and in his subsequent travels, Italy, Russia, Poland, &c. From the year
1779, he resided at Berlin, where he was appointed head
of the mathematical class of the academy. He was also a
member of the academies of Petersburg^ and Stockholm,
and of the royal society of London. Like all the other
branches of his family, he was a laborious writer. The
following are the principal productions of his pen, 1. “Recueil pour les Astronomes,
” Lettres sur diflPerents sujets, ecrites pendant le cours
d‘un voyage par PAllemagne, la Suisse, la France meridionale, et I’ltalie,in 1774 and 1775,
” 3 vols. 8vo. 1777—79.
3. “Description d'un Voyage en Prusse, en Russie, et en
Pologne, en 1777 et 1778,
” first published in German,
Lettres Astronomiques,
” A collection of voyages,
” in German, 16 vols. 1781—1785. 6. “The Archives, or records of History and Geography,
” in German,
8 vols. 1783 1788. 7. “De la reforme politique des
Juifs,
” translated from the German of Dohm, Elemens d‘Algebre d’Euler,
” from the German, Lyons, Nouvelles litteraires de divers
pais,
” Berlin, Mathematical Magazine,
” and wrote many papers in the
Memoirs of the Berlin Academy, and the Astronomical
Ephemerides, published in Berlin.
dest son of Peregrine lord Willoughby, of Eresby, by Mary, daughter to John Vere earl of Oxford, and grandson of Richard Bertie, esq. by Catherine, duchess of Suffolk. He
, earl of Lindsey, and lord high chamberlain of England in the reign of Charles I. was the eldest son of Peregrine lord Willoughby, of Eresby, by Mary, daughter to John Vere earl of Oxford, and grandson of Richard Bertie, esq. by Catherine, duchess of Suffolk. He was born in 1582, and in 1601, upon the death of his father, succeeded to his title and estate. In the first year of the reign of James I. he made his claim to the earldom of Oxford, and to the titles of lord Bulbech, Sandford, and Badlesmere, and to the office of lord high chamberlain of England, as son and heir to Mary, the sole heir female of that great family; and, after a considerable dispute, had judgment given in his favour for the office of lord high chamberlain, and the same year took his seat in the house of lords above all the barons. On the 22d of November, 1626, he was advanced to the dignity of earl of Lindsey; and four years after made knight of the garter; and the next year constable of England for the trial of the lord Rea and David Ramsey in the court military. In 1635 he was constituted lord high admiral of England; and a fleet of forty ships of war was sent out under him. In 1639, upon the Scots taking arms, he was made governor of Berwick. The year following he was appointed lord high constable of England at the trial of the earl of Strafford. In 1642, he was constituted general of the king’s forces and on the 23d of October the same year received his death’s wound in his majesty’s service at the battle of Edgehill in the county of Warwick.
d his discourse, the judges pronounced in favour of Bias, who immediately expired in the arms of his grandson.
Bias is said to have composed above two thousand verses,
containing prudential maxims, many of which may be found
in Stanley, and other writers on the lives of the philosophers.
The following have been selected by Brucker “It is a
proof of a weak and disordered mind to desire impossibilities. The greatest infelicity is, not to be able to endure
misfortunes patiently. Great minds alone can support a
sudden reverse of fortune. The most pleasant state is, to
be always gaining. Be not unmindful of the miseries of
others. II you are handsome, do handsome things if deformed, supply the defects of nature by your virtues. Be
slow in undertaking, but resolute in executing. Praise
hot a worthless man for the sake of his wealth. Whatever
good you do, ascribe it to the gods. Lay in wisdom as the
store for your journey from youth to old age, for it is the
most certain possession. Many men are dishonest; therefore love your friend with caution, for he may hereafter
become your enemy.
” This last, however, would have
better become a Rochefoucault, or a Chesterfield. Bias
happened to be at Priene, when it was taken and sacked,
and when asked, why he did not, like the rest, think of
saving something, answered, “So I do, for I carry my all
with me.
” The action by which his days were terminated
was no less illustrious than those of h s former life. He
caused himself to be carried into the senate, where he zealously defended the interest of one of his friends, but being
now very old, it fatigued him much. He leaned his head
on the breast of one of his daughter’s sons, who had accompanied him. When the orator, who pleaded for his
opponent, had finished his discourse, the judges pronounced in favour of Bias, who immediately expired in the
arms of his grandson.
waa seized the autumn before. In 1757, the abbé Perau published Bignon’s life, two parts, 12mo. His grandson, John Paul Bignon, was librarian to the king, a man of great
Upon his return from his travels, he applied himself to
the practice of the bar with great success. His father procured for him the post of advocate general in the grand
council; which office he discharged with such reputation,
that the king nominated him some time after counsellor of
state, and at last advocate general in the parliament. In
1641 he resolved to confine himself entirely to his business
in the council of state, and therefore resigned his place of
advocate-general to Mr. Briquet his son -in- law,. The year
following he was appointed the king’s librarian. His sonin-law dying in 1645, he was obliged to resume his post
of advocate- general, in order to preserve it for his son.
He had also a considerable share in the ordinance of the
year 1639; and he discharged with great integrity various commissions with which he was intrusted at different
times. Queen Anne of Austria, during her regency, sent
for him to council upon the most important occasions. He
adjusted the differences between Mr. d‘Avaux and Mr.
Servien, plenipotentiaries at Minister and he had a share,
with M. de Brienne and d’ Emery, in making the treaty of
alliance with the states of Holland in 1649. He was appointed, in 1651, to regulate the great affair of the succession of Mantua; and in 1654, to conclude the treaty
with the Hans Towns. Mr. Bignon died, aged 66, on the
7th of April, 1656, of an asthma, with which he waa
seized the autumn before. In 1757, the abbé Perau published Bignon’s life, two parts, 12mo. His grandson,
John Paul Bignon, was librarian to the king, a man of great
erudition, and a writer of great powers of invention, if he
could compose, as we are told he did, four panegyrics on
St. Louis, all different, two of which were pronounced the
same day, one at the French academy, and the other at
the academy of inscriptions. He wrote also “Vie de
Francois Levesque,
” Les Aventures
d‘Abdalla, fils d’Hanif.
”
bishop of London, Dr. Lowth, expressly assigns that reason for bestowing a comfortable living on his grandson. “I venerate (says he in a letter which conveyed the presentation)
Of such importance have the works of this eminent writer been esteemed in foreign countries, that they have all
been correctly translated into Latin by Grichow, a divine
of Halle in Germany, 11 vols. 4to, 1724 38, and were
reprinted in 1751—61. But he did not live to receive
this flattering mark of approbation, for he died in 1723.
Here it may not be amiss to observe how frequently it occurs that the merits of an eminent ancestor derive honour
and emolument on their posterity. It is presumed that
the character of the person whose life we have been writing, was the means of procuring the living of Havant for
his eldest son, and the late learned and excellent bishop
of London, Dr. Lowth, expressly assigns that reason for
bestowing a comfortable living on his grandson. “I venerate (says he in a letter which conveyed the presentation)
the memory of your excellent grandfather, my father’s
particular and most intimate friend. He was not rewarded
as he ought to have been I therefore give you this living
as a small recompense for his great and inestimable merits.
”
We shall conclude this article by giving the general character of this divine As a writer his learning was extensive
and acute his style zealous and persuasive, and his application uncommonly persevering. His temper, on all
common and indifferent occasions, was mild and benevolent and to these he united great zeal in the cause in
which he was engaged. Though his passions were so
wholly subject to the guidance of religion and virtue, that
no worldly losses were sufficient to discompose him, yet
whenever he believed the important interests of the church
to be in danger, he was always eager to step forth in its
defence.
, an English divine, probably the son or grandson of the rev. John Biscoe of New Inn hall, Oxford, a nonconformist,
, an English divine, probably the
son or grandson of the rev. John Biscoe of New Inn hall,
Oxford, a nonconformist, was himself educated at a dissenting academy kept by Dr. Benion at Shrewsbury, and
was ordained a dissenting minister, Dec. 19, 1716. In
1726, he conformed and received deacon’s and priest’s
orders in the church of England, and in 1727 was presented
to the living of St. Martin Outwich, in the city of London,
which he retained until his death, July 1748. He held
also a prebend of St. Paul’s, and was one of his majesty’s
chaplains in ordinary. He is now chiefly known for a
learned and elaborate work, entitled “The History of the
Acts of the Holy Apostles confirmed from other authors
and considered as full evidence of the truth of Christianity,
with a prefatory discourse upon the nature of that evidence
” being the substance of his sermons preached at
Boyle’s lecture, in 1736, 1737, 1738, and published in
2 vols. 1742, 8vo. Dr. Doddridge frequently refers to it,
as a work of great utility, and as shewing “in the most convincing manner, how incontestably the Acts of the Apostles demonstrates the truth of Christianity.
”
respectable merchant in that city, was a descendant of the ancient family of Blair, in Ayrshire, and grandson of the famous Mr. Robert Blair, minister of St. Andrew’s, chaplain
, D.D. an eminent divine of the church
of Scotland, was born at Edinburgh, April 7, 1718. His
father, John Blair, a respectable merchant in that city,
was a descendant of the ancient family of Blair, in Ayrshire, and grandson of the famous Mr. Robert Blair, minister of St. Andrew’s, chaplain to Charles I. and one of
the most zealous and distinguished clergymen of the peilod in which he lived. Of the two sons who survived him,
David, the eldest, was a clergyman of eminence in Edinburgh, and father to Mr. Robert Blair, minister of Athelstanford, the author of the well-known poem entitled
“The Grave.
” From his youngest son, Hugh, who engaged in business as a merchant, and had the honour to
fill a high station in the magistracy of Edinburgh, the object of the present memoir descended.
e in his time to establish episcopacy in Scotland. It is recorded also that he wrote some poems. His grandson, the object of the present article, was born in the year 1699,
, a Scotch divine and poet, was the
eldest son of the rev. David Blair, one of the ministers
of Edinburgh, and chaplain to the king. His grandfather
was the rev. Robert Blair, sometime minister of the gospel
at Bangor, in Ireland, and afterward at St. Andrew’s, in
Scotland. Of this gentleman, some “Memoirs,
” partly
taken from his manuscript diaries, were published at Edinburgh, in 1754. He was celebrated for his piety, and by
those of his persuasion, for his inflexible adherence to
presbyterianism, in opposition to the endeavours made in
his time to establish episcopacy in Scotland. It is recorded
also that he wrote some poems. His grandson, the object
of the present article, was born in the year 1699, and
after the usual preparatory studies, was ordained minister
of Athelstaneford, in the county of East Lothian, where
he resided until his death, Feb. 4, 1747. The late right
hon. Robert Blair, president of the court of session in.
Scotland, who died in 1811, was one of his sons, and the
late celebrated Dr. Hugh Blair, professor of rhetoric and
belles-lettres, was his cousin.
, Lord Delamer, the son of William Booth, esq. and grandson of sir George Booth, bart. rendered himself remarkable by heading
, Lord Delamer, the son of William
Booth, esq. and grandson of sir George Booth, bart. rendered himself remarkable by heading an insurrection in
Cheshire, about a year after the death of Oliver Cromwell.
He received a commission from king Charles II. under his
signet and sign-manual, bearing date July 22, 1659, by
which he was constituted commander in chief of all forces
to be raised for his majesty’s service in Cheshire, Lancashire, and North Wales. A duplicate of this was dated
at Brussels, Aug. 9, the same year, but sir George did
not openly profess to act by the king’s authority, or with
a view to his restoration, but only in opposition to the
tyranny of the parliament. He assembled about four thousand men, took possession of Chester, and was joined by
the earl of Derby, sir Thomas Middleton, and major Brook.
Bui the parliamentary forces pursued sir George and his
adherents so closely, that they could not avoid coming to
an action; and, after a sharp contest, on the 19th of August, 1659, Lambert totally routed sir George Booth’s
troops, pursued them a considerable way, and killed and
took many of them. Ludlow informs us, that “Sir George
Booth, after his defeat, put himself into a woman’s habit,
and with two servants hoped to escape to London, riding
behind one of them. The single horseman going before,
went to an inn on the road; and, as he had been ordered,
bespoke a supper for his mistress, who, he said, was
coming after. The pretended mistress being arrived,
either by alighting from the horse, or some other action,
raised a suspicion in the master of the house, that there
was some mystery under that dress. And thereupon resolving to make a full inquiry into the matter, he got together some of his neighbours to assist him, and with them
entered the room vyhere the pretended lady was. But sir
George Booth suspecting their intentions, and being unwilling to put them to the trouble of a farther search, discovered himself. Whereupon they took him into their
custody, and sent him up to London, where the parliament committed him prisoner to the Tower.
” Sir George
made applications to many of the parliament and council,
by his friends, for favour; was examined by Haselrig and
Vane, who referred his examination to the council of state;
and applications were made from the lord Say, and others,
to save his life.
country and his sovereign. When Louis XIV. formed the camp of Compiegne, to serve as a lesson to his grandson the duke of Burgundy, and as a spectacle to the court, Bouflers
, peer and maréchal, distinguished in the French history, was born Jan.
10, 1644. His dispositions for the art of war having displayed themselves at a very early period, he was chosen
in 1669 to be colonel of a regiment of dragoons, at the
head of which he demonstrated his bravery under the
marechal de Crequi, and under Turenne. He received a
dangerous wound at the battle of Voerden; and another in
the affair of Entsheim, to the capture whereof he contributed much, by the confession of Turenne. After several
signal exploits, he gained immortal renown by the defence
of Lille in 1708. The siege lasted near four months.
Bouflers said to his officers, “Gentlemen, I trust to you;
but I answer for myself.
” Prince Eugene carried on the
siege with so much vigour that it was obliged to submit.
“I am very vain,
” said he to Bouflers, “on having taken
Lille; but I had rather still have the glory of having defended it like you.
” The king rewarded him for this service as if he had gained a battle. He was created a peer
of France; had the honours of first gentleman to the king,
and the reversion of the government of Flanders for his
eldest son. When he entered the parliament for his first
reception in it, turning to a crowd of officers who had
defended Lille with him, he said, “It is to you that I am
indebted for all the favours that are heaped upon me, and
on you I reflect them I have nothing to glory in but the
honour of having been at the head of so many brave men.
”
During the siege, one of his party having proved tojiim
that he could easily kill prince Eugene, “Your fortune is
made,
” returned Bouflers, “if you can take him prisoner:
but you shall be punished with the utmost severity if you
make an attempt on his life; and if I but suspected that
you had any such intention, I would have you shut up for
the rest of your life.
” This generosity, which formed a
part of his character, induced him to ask permission to
serve under the orders of marechal de Villars, though he
was his senior. At the battle of Malplaquet in 1709, he
made the retreat in such good order, that he left behind
him neither cannon nor prisoners. The marquis de Bouflers
united the virtues of a good citizen with the activity of a
general; serving his prince as the ancient Romans served
their republic; accounting his life as nothing when the
safety of his country was in question. The king having
ordered him to go and succour Lille, and having left to
himself the choice of his lieutenants; he set out that instant, without settling his affairs, or taking leave of his
family, and chose for his officers a man that had been disgraced, and a prisoner of the Bastille. His magnificence
was equal to his love for his country and his sovereign.
When Louis XIV. formed the camp of Compiegne, to
serve as a lesson to his grandson the duke of Burgundy,
and as a spectacle to the court, Bouflers lived there in
such a splendid style, that the king said to Livri, his
maitre-d'hotel, “The duke of Burgundy must not keep a
table; we cannot outdo the marechal; the duke of Burgundy shall dine with him when he goes to the camp.
”
This patriot general died at Fontainbleau, Aug. 22, 1711,
aged 68. “In him (writes madame de Maintenon) the
heart died last.
” We read in the continuation of the
history of England by Rapin, an anecdote too honourable
to the memory of this great man to be passed over here in
silence. King William having taken Namur, in 169,
made Bouflers prisoner, in violation of the articles that
had been agreed on. Surprised at so unjust a proceeding, the marechal, fresh from the glorious defence he
had made, demanded the reason of this perfidious treatment. He was answered that it was by way of reprisals
for the garrison of Dixmude and of Deinse, which the
French had detained contrary to capitulation. “If that be
the case (said Bouflers), then my garrison ought to be
arrested, and not I.
” “Sir (he was answered), you are
valued at more than ten thousand men.
”
n 1625 when the Spaniards took it, and retired to Leyden: here he superintended the education of his grandson, the subject of the present article, who lost his father when
, an eminent philologer,
historian, and antiquary, born Sept. 12, 1612, was the son
of James Zuerius, minister at Bergen-op-Zoom, by Anne
Boxhorn, the daughter of Henry Boxhorn, a minister of
Breda, originally a Roman Catholic, but who embracing the
reformed religion, became minister first in the duchy of
Cleves, then at Woorden in Holland, and lastly at Breda,
which place he left in 1625 when the Spaniards took it, and
retired to Leyden: here he superintended the education of
his grandson, the subject of the present article, who lost
his father when only six years old, and as he had no male
children, gave young Zuerius his name of Boxhorn. Under
his tuition, the youth made great progress in his studies,
and in 1629 published some good poetry on the taking of
Boisleduc, and some other victories which the Dutch had
gained. This was when he was only seventeen years old,
and he was but twenty when he published some more considerable works, as will appear in our list, which induced the
curators of the university of Leyden in the same year, 1632,
to promote him to the professorship of eloquence. His reputation extending, chancellor Oxenstiern, the Swedish
ambassador, made him great offers in queen Christina’s
name, but preferring a residence in his own country, he
was afterwards appointed professor of politics and history
in the room of Daniel Heinsius, now disabled by age. For
some time he carried on a controversy with Salmasius, but
they were afterwards apparently reconciled. Besides his
numerous works, he contributed frequently to the labours
of his learned friends: his career, however, was short, as
he died, after a tedious illness, at Leyden, Oct. 3, 1653, at
the age of only forty -one. How industriously this time was
employed will appear from the following list of his publications. 1. “Poemata,
” Granatarum
encomium,
” Amsterdam, Historian Augustas Scriptores,
” a new edition with his notes, Leyden,
Theatrum, sive Descriptio Comitatus et Urbium Hollandiae,
” ibid. Plinii Panegyricus,
” Leyden, Leyden, 1632 and 1645, 12mo. 7.
” Poetae Satiric!
minores, cum Commentariis,“ibid. 1632, 8vo. 8.
” Respublica Leodiensium,“ibid. 1633, 24mo. 9.
” Apologia pro Navigationibus Hollandorum, adversus Pontum
Heuterum,“ibid. 1633, 24mo, and reprinted at London, 1636, 8vo. 10.
” Emblemata Politica, et Dissertationes Politicae,“Amsterdam, 1634 and 1651, 12mo.
11.
” Julii Csesaris Opera, cum commentariis variorum,“ibid. 16:34, fol. 12.
” Grammatica regia, &c. pro Christina Succor um regina,“Holm. 1635, 12nio, Leyden, 1650.
13.
” Catonis Disticha, Gr. Lat. cum Notis,“Leyden,
1635, 8vo. 14.
” Orationes duae de vera Nobilitate et ineptiis sseculi,“ibid. 1635, fol. 15.
” Oratio inauguralis de
maj estate eioqueuti Romanae,“ibid. 1636, 4to. 16.
44 Orationes Tres, de theologia paganorum, fabulis poetarum, et animarum immortalitate,
” ibid. 1636, 4to. 17.
“Oratio funebris in obitum Dominici Molini,
” ibid. Character causarum Patroni,
” ibid. ibid. 1637, 4to. 20.
” Panegyricus
Principi Fred. Henrico, post Bred am oppugnatam dictus,“Leyden, 1637, fol. 21.
” Quaestiones Roman se, cum Plutarchi qucetionibus Romanis, commentario uberrimo explicatis,“ibid. 1637, 4to, and reprinted in Graevius, vol. V.
22.
” Monumenta illustrium virorum seri incisa et elogia,“ibid. 1633, fol. 23.
” JuStinus, cum notis,“Amsterdam,
1638. 24.
” Panegyricus in classem Hispanorum profligatam,“Leyden, 1639, fol. 25.
” Oratio de Somniis,“ibid. 1639, 4to. 26.
” Historia obsidionis Bredanae,
&c.“ibid. 1640, fol. 27.
” De Typographies artis inventione et inventoribus, Dissertatio,“ibid. 1640, 4to.
In this he is inclined to think that the art of printing
was first discovered at Haerlem, and not at Mentz, as he first
supposed. 28. “Dissertatio de Trapezitis, vulgo Longobardis,” ibid. 1640, 8vo, and Groningen, 1658, 4to. 29.
“Panegyricus in Nuptias principis Arausionensium Gulielmi, et Mariae, Britanniae regis filiae,” Leyden, 1641, fol.
30.
” Oratio in excessum Cornelii Vander Myle,“ibid.
1642, fol. 31.
” Oratio qua Ser. Henricae Mariae, magnae
Britannise reginae urbem Leydensem subeuntis adventum
veneratur,“ibid. 1642, fol. This compliment to our exiled
queen, and a subsequent publication, Bayle informs us,
was disliked by some republicans. 32.
” Oratio in excessum principis Const. Alexandri,“ibid. 1642, fol. 33.
” Commentarius in vitam Agricolae Corn. Taciti,“ibid.
1642, 12mo, and an Apology for this edition,
” adversus
Dialogistam,“Amsterdam, 1643, 12mo. 34.
” Animadversiones in Corn. Taciturn, Amsterdam,“1643, and often
reprinted. 35. The Belgic History to the time of Charles
V. in Dutch, Leyden, 1644, 1649, 4to. 36.
” Chronicon
Zelandiae,“Middleburgh, 1644, 4to. 37. On the worship
of the goddess Nehalennia, in Dutch, Leyden, 1647, 4to.
38.
” Plinii Epistolae cum ejus Panegyrico,“ibid. 1648,
and Amsterdam, 1659, 12mo. 39.
” Dissertatio de Amnestia,“ibid. 1648, 12mo. 40.
” Dissertatio de successione
etjure primogenitorum, in adeundo principatu, ad Carolum
II. Magnse Britanniae regem,“ibid. 1649, 4to. 41.
” De
Majestate Regum, Principumque liber singularis,“a defence
of the former, ibid. 1649, 4to. 42.
”Com.mentariolusde Statu
Fcederatarum Provinciarum Belgii, Hague, 1649. Somi
offence taken by the States of Holland obliged the author to
alter part of this work in the edition 1650. 43. “Oratio
funebris in excessum Adriani Falkoburgii Med. Doct.
” Leyden, Hayraonis Hist, ecclesiastics Breviarium,
” ibid. Disquisitiones Politicae, ex
omni historia selectae,
” Hague, Dissertatio de Groecse, Romanae, et Germanics? Linguarum harmonia,
” Leyden, Historia Universalis Sacra et Profana a nato Christo ad annum 1650,
” ibid.
Orationes varii argumenti,
” Amst. Oratio in excessum
Gul. principis Arausiee, comitis Nassovii, Leyd. 1651, fol.
50.
” Metamorphosis Anglorurn,“Hague, 1653, 12mo.
51.
” Originum Gallicaruna liber,“Amst. 1654, 4to. This
critical history of ancient Gaul procured him much reputation. He was employed on it in his latter days, but did
not live to publish it. The following are also posthumous
52.
” Ideae orationum e selection materia modern! status
politici desumptae,“Leyden, 1657, ]2mo, and Leipsic,
1661, 12mo. 53.
” Institutionum seu disquisitionum Politicarum Libri Duo,“Leipsic, 1659, Amst. 1663. 54.
” Chronologia sacra et prophana,“edited by Bosius,
Francf. 1660, fol. 55.
” Epistolae et Poemata,“Amst.
1662, 12mo, with his life written by James Baselius, a Calvinist minister, and reprinted at Leipsic in 1679, with a
preface by Thomasius. 56.
” Dissertatio de Imperio Romano," Jena, 1664, 12mo.
22, 1718. Dr. Boydell was an excellent scholar, and for some time superintended the education of his grandson, intending him for the church, but dying in 1731, the youth
, a liberal patron of the arts, and an
honour to his country, was born at Stanton in Shropshire,
Jan. 19, 1719. His grandfather was the rev. John Boydell, D. D. vicar of Ashbourne, and rector of Mapleton in
Derbyshire, whose son Josiah married Mary Milnes, eldest daughter of Samuel Milnes, esq. of Ash-house near
Turnditch, Derbyshire, Jan. 22, 1718. Dr. Boydell was
an excellent scholar, and for some time superintended the
education of his grandson, intending him for the church,
but dying in 1731, the youth was brought up by hisfatlver,
a land-surveyor, who very naturally intended him for his
own profession, and as a taste for drawing generally discovers itself very early, he might probably foresee great
advantages from his son’s possessing this talent. Fortunately, however, for young Boydell, and for the arts, a
trifling accident gave a more decided direction to his mind,
and led him to aim at higher efforts in the art than the
mere mechanism of ground-plans and outlines. This was
no other than the sight of a print by Toms, a very indifferent artist, of sir John Glynne’s seat and the old castle
attached to it, in “Baddeley’s Views of different Country
Seats.
” An exact delineation of a building that he had
so often contemplated, afforded him pleasure, and excited
some reflections which gave a new turn to his ambition.
Considering it as an engraving, and from the copper of
which might be taken an almost indefinite number of impressions, he determined to quit the pen, and take up
the graver, as an instrument which would enable him to
disseminate whatever work he could produce, in so much
wider a circle. This resolution was no sooner made, than
it was put in execution; for, with that spirit and perseverance which he manifested in every succeeding scene of
life, he, at twenty-one years of age, walked up to the
metropolis, and bound himself apprentice for seven years
to Mr. Toms, the engraver of the print which had so forcibly attracted his attention. These, and accidents equally
trifling, sometimes attract men of strong minds into the
path that leads direct to fame, and have been generally
considered as proving that they were born with some peculiar genius for some peculiar study. Sir J. Reynolds
had the first fondness for his art excited by the perusal of
“Richardson’s Treatise on Painting
” and Mr. Boydell
was induced to learn the art of engraving, by a coarse
print of a coarse artist, representing a mis-shapen gothic
castle.
y of king James’s soldiers, with the duke of Berwick at their head; Lionel, then earl of Orrery, and grandson to our author, being a minor, and abroad on his travels.
chief treasure, and only real strength, is the affections of
his people. 11. “A treatise upon the Art of War.
” 12.
Poems on the Fasts and Festivals of the Church.“His
posthumous works are: 1.
” Mr. Anthony, a comedy,“1692. 2.
” Guzman, a comedy,“1693. 3.
” Herod the
great, a tragedy,“1694. 4.
” Altemira, a tragedy,“brought upon the stage by Mr. Francis Manning, in 1702,
with a prologue by Henry St. John, esq. afterwards lord
viscount Boiingbroke, and an epilogue by the hon. Charles
Boyle, esq. the late earl of Orrery, who also interspersed
several songs in the work itself. 5.
” State letters," published in 1742, fol. Mr. Morrice the editor, who was his
biographer and chaplain, says that his patron drew up a
very curious account of what was done in the court or
camp, in which he had any part, or could speak of with
certainty. But this has never been published. The duke
of Ormond having by his majesty’s command consulted
with the earl of Orrery upon the propositions to be laid
before the parliament of Ireland in 1677, his lordship delivered to him five sheets of paper containing the most effectual methods of protecting the nation from foreign and
domestic enemies, advancing the Protestant interest, increasing the revenue, and securing private property. But
these, with other papers, were destroyed when lord Orrery’s house was burnt to the ground in 1690, by a party of
king James’s soldiers, with the duke of Berwick at their
head; Lionel, then earl of Orrery, and grandson to our
author, being a minor, and abroad on his travels.
, grandson of James, the subject of the last article, followed the profession
, grandson of James, the
subject of the last article, followed the profession of the
law, in which he became very eminent. He was born at
Basil, Sept. 1617, and was educated partly in that city,
and partly at Montbeliard. After taking his master’s degree, in 1634, he applied particularly to the study of civil
law, but without neglecting philology and philosophy.
According to the custom of his countrymen, he travelled fot
some time in France, England, Holland, and Germany,
where he became acquainted, and established a correspondence with the literati of those countries, particularly
with Salmasius. In 1649 he was made doctor of laws, and in
1652 professor of the institutes at Basil: and fourteen
years afterwards professor of the Pandects. He was also
twice rector of the university. His reputation brought a
great concourse of students thither, particularly foreigners,
and his agreeable conversation and temper not a little
contributed to increase the number of his pupils. Besides
his fame as a lawyer, he was not less esteemed for his acquaintance with Roman antiquities and polite literature in
general. It is said he wrote verse with as great facility as
prose, but his talents in versification have probably been
over- rated. He had more reputation from his success as
a teacher, and the perspicuous manner in which he lectured on subjects of law. He died Sept. 1677, leaving
several professional works “Dispntationes de lege
”
“Manuductio ad jus canonicum et civile
” “Dubia Juridica,
” &c.
ory in the church of Holt in Norfolk. He married Hannah, sole daughter and heiress of Edmund Hobart, grandson to sir Henry Hobart, lord chief justice of the common pleas
, an eminent physician, was son of
Augustine Briggs, esq. who was descended of an ancient
family in Norfolk, and had been four times member of
parliament for the city of Norwich, where this son was
born about the year 1650, although his biographers differ
very widely on this point. At thirteen years of age he
was sent to Bene't-college in Cambridge, and placed under
the care of Dr. Thomas Tenison, afterwards archbishop of
Canterbury, whom he succeeded in his fellowship. He
took both his degrees in arts, and was chosen fellow of his
college, Nov. 1668. His genius leading him to the study
of physic, he travelled into France, where he attended the
lectures of the famous anatomist Mons. Vieussens at Montpelier; and, after his return, published his “Ophthalmographia
” in Theory
of Vision
” was published by Hooke. In Theory of Vision,
” at the
desire of Mr. (afterwards sir) Isaac Newton, with a recommendatory epistle from him prefixed to it. And for completing this curious and useful subject relating to the eye,
he promised, in the preface, two other treatises, one “De
usu partium oculi;
” and the other “De ejusdem affectibus;
” neither of which', however, appears to have been
ever published: but, in 1687, came out a second edition
of his “Ophthalmographia.
” He was afterwards made
physician in ordinary to king William, and continued in
great esteem for his skill in his profession till he died at
Town-Malling in Kent, Sept. 4, 1704, and was there
buried, although a cenotaph is erected to his memory in
the church of Holt in Norfolk. He married Hannah, sole
daughter and heiress of Edmund Hobart, grandson to sir
Henry Hobart, lord chief justice of the common pleas in
the reign of James I. by whom he left three children,
Mary, Henry, and Hannah. Henry died in 1748, rector
of Hoit.
d to print it; Erasmus at the same time advised More to take no notice of it. The chancellor’s great- grandson and biographer, More, seems to think that he had written something
, a learned Frenchman, was born about the end of the fifteenth century, at
Auxerre, or in that diocese; and in his education made
great progress in the learned languages, particularly the
Greek, from which he translated into Latin, Chrysostom’s
treatise on the priesthood; his first eight homilies on the
epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, and some other works,
which contributed very much to his reputation. He used
frequently to compose Greek verses, with which he entertained the literati at his house, where they were sure of an
open table. From 1512 he was secretary to queen Anne,
and archdeacon of Albi. In 1515 he had a canonry conferred upon him in the church of Auxerre, which, in 1520,
he resigned, on being promoted to the same rank at Paris.
He calls himself almoner to the king in the title of his rare
book “Germani Brixii, gratulatoriae quatuor ad totidem
viros classissimos, &c.
” Paris, Christ. Longolii perduellionis rei detensiones duae,
” Chordigera,
”.
where in three hundred hexameter verses, he described a
battle fought that year by a French ship, la Cordeliere,
and an English ship, the Regent. More, who was not
then in the high station which he afterwards reached, composed several epigrams in derision of this poem. Brixius,
piqued at this affront, revenged himself by the “AntiMorus,
” an elegy of about Flores
Epigrammatum
” of Leodegarius a Quercu, or Leger du
Che'ne. The third is in the “Corpus Poetarum Latinorum
” collected by Janus Gruterus, under the anagrammatic name of Ranutius Gerus. Erasmus says that More
despised this poem so much as to have intended to print
it; Erasmus at the same time advised More to take no notice of it. The chancellor’s great-grandson and biographer,
More, seems to think that he had written something in
answer to Brixius, before he received this advice from
Erasmus, but called in the copies, “so that,
” says his
biographer, “it is now very hard to be found; though
some have seen it of late.
” Much correspondence on the
subject may be perused in our authorities.
own, of Tol thorp, in Rutlandshire, esq. (though born at Northampton, according to Mr. Collier), and grandson of Francis Brown, whom king Henry VIII. in the eighteenth year
, an English divine of the sixteenth
and beginning of the seventeenth century, from whom the
sect of the Brownists derived its name, was descended of
an ancient and worshipful family, says Fuller, (one whereof founded a fair hospital in Stamford), and was nearly allied
to the lord-treasurer Cecil. He was the son of Anthony
Brown, of Tol thorp, in Rutlandshire, esq. (though born at Northampton, according to Mr. Collier), and grandson
of Francis Brown, whom king Henry VIII. in the eighteenth year of his reign, privileged by charter to wear
Jiis cap in the presence of himself, his heirs, or any of his
nobles, and not to uncover but at his own pleasure;
which charter was confirmed by act of parliament. Robert
Brown studied divinity at Cambridge, in Corpus Christi
college, and was afterwards a schoolmaster in Southwark. He was soon discovered by Dr. Still, master of
Trinity-college, to have somewhat extraordinary in him
that would prove a great disturbance to the church. Brown
soon verified what the doctor foretold, for he not only jm^
bibed Cartwright’s opinions, but resolved to refine upon
his scheme, and to produce something more perfect of his
own. Accordingly, about the year 1580, he began to inveigh openly against the discipline and ceremonies of the
church of England, and soon shewed that he intended to
go much farther than Cartwright had ever done. In his
discourses the church government was antichristian; her
sacraments clogged with superstition; the liturgy had a
mixture of Popery and Paganism in it; and the mission of
the clergy was no better than that of Baal’s priests in the
Old Testament. He first preached at Norwich, in 1581,
where the Dutch having a numerous congregation, many
of them inclined to Ahabaptism; and, therefore, being the
more disposed to entertain any new resembling opinion,
he made his first essay upon them; and having made some
progress, and raised a character for zeal and sanctity, he
then began to infect his own countrymen; for which purpose he called in the assistance of one Richard Harrison, a
country schoolmaster, and they formed churches out of
both nations, but mostly of the English. He instructed
his audience that the church of England was no true
church; that there was little of Christ’s institution in the
public ministrations, and that all good Christians were
obliged to separate from those impure assemblies; that
their only way was to join him and his disciples, among
whom all was pure and unexceptionable, evidently inspired by the Spirit of God, and refined from all alloy and
prophanation. These discourses prevailed on the audience; and his disciples, now called Brownists, formed a
society, and made a total defection from the church, refusing to join any congregation in any public office of
worship. Brown being convened before Dr. Freake, bishop
of Norwich, and other ecclesiastical commissioners, he
maintained his schism, to justify which he had also written
a book, and behaved rudely to the court, on which he was
committed to the custody of the sheriff of Norwich; but
his relation, the lord treasurer Burghley, imputing his
error and obstinacy to zeal, rather than malice, interceded
to have him charitably persuaded out of his opinions, and
released. To this end he wrote a letter to the bishop of
Norwich, which procured his enlargement. After this,
hisjordship ordered Brown up to London, and recommended him to archbishop Whitgift for his instruction and
counsel, in order to his amendment; but Brown left the
kingdom, and settled at Middleburgh in Zealand, where
he and his followers obtained leave of the states to form a
church according to their own model, which was drawn in
a book published by Brown at Middleburgh in 1582, and
called “A treatise of Reformation, without staying for any
man.
” How long he remained at Middleburgh, is not
precisely known; but he was in England in 1585, when
he was cited to appear before archbishop Whitgift, to
answer to certain matters contained in a book published by
him, but what this was, we are not informed. The archbishop, however, by force of reasoning, brought Brown
at last to a tolerable compliance with the church of England; and having dismissed him, the lord treasurer Burgh.Jey sent him to his father in the country, with a letter to
recommend him to his favour and countenance, but from
another letter of the lord treasurer’s, we learn that Brown’s
errors had sunk so deep as not to be so easily rooted out as
was imagined; and that he soon relapsed into his former opinions, and shewed himself so incorrigible, that his good old
father resolved to own him for his son no longer than his son
owned the church of England for his mother; and Brown
chusing rather to part with his aged sire than his new schism,
he was discharged the family. When gentleness was found
ineffectual, severity was next practised; and Brown, after
wandering up and down, and enduring great hardships, at
length went to live at Northampton, where, industriously
labouring to promote his sect, Lindsell, bishop of Peterborough, sent him a citation to come before him, which Brown
refused to obey; for which contempt he was excommunicated. This proved the means of his reformation; for he was
so deeply affected with the solemnity of this censure, that
he made his submission, moved for absolution, and received
it; and from that time continued in the communion of the
church, though it was not in his power to close the chasrn^
or heal the wound he had made in it. It was towards the
year 1590 that Brown renounced his principles of separation, antl was soon after preferred to the rectory of
Achurch, near Thrapston in Northamptonshire. Fuller
does not believe that Brown ever formally recanted his
opinions, either by word or writing, as to the main points
of his doctrine; but that his promise of a general compliance with the church of England, improved by the countenance of his patron and kinsman, the earl of Exeter, prevailed upon the archbishop, and procured this extraordinary favour for him. He adds, that Brown allowed a
salary for one to discharge his cure; and though he opposed his parishioners in judgment, yet agreed in taking
their tithes. He was a man of good parts and some learning, but was imperious and uncontroulable; and so far
from the Sabbatarian strictness afterwards espoused by
some of his followers, that he led an idle and dissolute life.
In a word, says Fuller, he had a wife with whom he never
lived, and a church in which he never preached, though
he received the profits thereof: and as all the other scenes
of his life were stonny and turbulent, so was his end: for
the constable of his parish requiring, somewhat roughly,
the payment of certain rates, his passion moved him to
blows, of which the constable complaining to justice St.
John, he rather inclined to pity than punish him but
Brown behaved with so much insolence, that he was sent
to Northampton gaol on a feather-bed in a cart, being
very infirm, and aged above eighty years, where he soon
after sickened and died, anno 1630, after boasting, “That
he had been committed to thirty-two prisons, in some of
which he could not see his hand at noon-day.
” He was
buried in his church of Achurch in Northamptonshire.
is marriage with Anne, daughter of Isaac Hawkins, esq. all whose estate, at length, came to his only grandson and heir-at-law, the subject of this article. Our author received
, esq. F. R. S. and a very ingenious and elegant poet of the last century, was born at Burton-upon-Trent, January 21, 1705-6; and was the son of the rev. William Browne, minister of that parish, where he chiefly resided, vicar of Winge, in Buckinghamshire, and a prebendary of Litchfield, which last preferment was given him by the excellent bishop Hough. He was possessed, also, of a small paternal inheritance, which he greatly increased by his marriage with Anne, daughter of Isaac Hawkins, esq. all whose estate, at length, came to his only grandson and heir-at-law, the subject of this article. Our author received his grammatical education, first at Litchfield, and then at Westminster, where he was much distinguished for the brilliancy of his parts^ and the steadiness of his application. The uncommon rapidity with which he passed through the several forms or classes of Westminster school, attracted the notice, and soon brought him under the direction of the head master, Dr. Freind, with whom he was a peculiar favourite. Mr. Browne stayed above a year in the sixth, or head form, with a view of confirming and improving his taste for classical learning and composition, under so polite and able a scholar. When he was little more than sixteen years of age, he was removed to Trinity-college, Cambridge, of which college his father had been fellow. He remained at the university till he had taken his degree of M. A. and though during his residence there he continued his taste for classical literature, which through his whole life was his principal object and pursuit, he did not omit the peculiar studies of the place, but applied himself with vigour and success to all the branches of mathematical science, and the principles of the Newtonian philosophy. When in May 1724, king George the First established at both universities, a foundation for the study of modern history and languages, with the design of qualifying young men for employments at court, and foreign embassies, Mr. Browne was among the earliest of those who were selected to be scholars upon this foundation. On the death of that prince, he wrote an university copy of verses, which was the first of his poems that had been printed, and was much admired. About the year 1727, Mr. Browne, who had been always intended for the bar, settled at Lincoln’s-inn. Here he prosecuted, for several years, with great attention, the study of the law, and acquired in it a considerable degree of professional knowledge, though he never arrived to any eminence in the practice of it, and entirely gave it up long before his death. He was the less solicitous about the practice of his profession, and it was of the less consequence to him, as he was possessed of a fortune adequate to his desires; which, by preserving the happy mean between extravagance and avarice, he neither diminished nor increased.
8vo. The second collection was of the “Posthumous Works,” edited in 1722 by Owen Brigstock, esq. his grandson by marriage.
The reputation of Browne encouraged some low writer
to publish, under his name, a book called “Nature’s cabinet unlocked,
” translated, according to Wood, from the
physics of Magirus, but Browne advertised against it. In
1658, the discovery of some ancient urns in Norfolk gave
him occasion to write “Hydriotaphia, Urn -burial, or a
discourse of Sepulchral Urns,
” 8vo, in which he treats
with his usual learning, on the funeral rites of the ancient
nations; exhibits their various treatment of the dead; and
examines the substances found in these Norfolk urns.
There is, perhaps, none -of his works which better exemplifies his reading or memory. To this treatise was
added “The Garden of Cyrus, or the Quincunxial lozenge, or net-work plantation of the ancients, artificially,
naturally, mystically considered.
” This is a more fanciful
performance than the other, but still it exhibits the fancy
of a man of learning. Besides these, he left some papers
prepared for the press, of which two collections have been
published, the first by Dr. Thomas Tennison, afterwards
archbishop of Canterbury, in 1684, 8vo, entitled, “A
Collection of Miscellaneous Tracts,
” and these, with what
had been published in his life-time, were printed in one
vol. fol. in 1686. In 1690 his son, Dr. Edward Browne,
of whom we have already spoken, published a single tract,
entitled “A Letter to a friend upon occasion of the death
of his intimate friend,
” 8vo. The second collection was
of the “Posthumous Works,
” edited in
are publicly read, and copies of them sent, by the successful candidates, to sir Martin Folkes, his grandson by his only daughter. The first, to him who writes the best
Sir William Browne’s will, an attested copy of which is now before us, is not the least singular of his compositions, and may be said to be written in Greek, Latin, and English. From many of the legacies, however, and particularly his mode of introducing them, we perceive the kindness and benevolence of his heart, which, in the circle of his more immediate friends, probably atoned for his many oddities. The above account of his works sufficiently shows that he was a very weak man, and with all the conceit which usually accompanies defective judgment. With the periodical critics, he was long an object of ridicule, and conquered them only by writing faster than they had patience to read. Unsuccessful, however, as he was himself, he determined that better writers should not be without encouragement, and therefore by his will, directed three gold medals, of five guineas each, to be given yearly to three undergraduates of Cambridge on the Commencement day, when the exercises are publicly read, and copies of them sent, by the successful candidates, to sir Martin Folkes, his grandson by his only daughter. The first, to him who writes the best Greek ode in imitation of Sappho; the second for the best ode in imitation of Horace; the third for the best Greek and Latin epigrams, the former after the manner of Anthologia, the latter after the model of Martial. These have been adjudged since 1775. He also left a perpetual rent charge of 2 1/, per annum, upon sundry estates, for founding a scholarship, which is tenable for seven years; but the possessor, if of another college, must remove to the founder’s college, Peter-house, and reside there every entire term during his under-graduatesbip.
the first duke of Ormond, to travel in the same capacity with the young earl of Ossory, his grace’s grandson and heir-apparent. These honourable connections introduced him
, a most ingenious and learned
writer, was born at Croft, in Yorkshire, about the year
1635. His first education was at the free-school of North-Alverton, in that county, from whence he was removed in
June 1651, to Clare-hall in Cambridge, where he had
Dr. Tillotson for his tutor. Dr. Cud worth was at that time
master of Clare-hall, but removed from it to the mastership
of Christ’s college, in 1654; and thither our author followed him. Under his patronage he was chosen fellow in
1657, commenced M. A. in 1658, and became senior
proctor of the university in 1661; but it is uncertain how
long after ward she continued his residence there. He was
afterwards governor to the young earl of Wiltshire, son of
the marquis of Winchester, with whom he travelled abroad ^
and gave such satisfaction, that, soon after his return to
England, he was invited and prevailed on by the first duke
of Ormond, to travel in the same capacity with the young
earl of Ossory, his grace’s grandson and heir-apparent.
These honourable connections introduced him into what
may properly be called the world: in which he afterwards
confirmed the reputation he already had for talents ad
learning, by the publication of his “Telluris theoria sacra,
orbis nostri originem & mutationes generales, quas olim
subiit et subiturus est, complectens.
” This Sacred Theory
of the Earth was originally published in Latin, in 2 vols.
4to, the two first books concerning the deluge, and paradise, 1681; the two last, concerning the burning of the
world, and the new heavens and new earth, in 1689. The
uncommon approbation this work met with, and the particular encouragement of Charles II. who relished its
beauties, induced the author to translate it into English.
Of this translation he published the two first books in 1684,
folio, with an elegant dedication to the king; and the two
last in 1689, with a no less elegant dedication to queen
Mary. “The English edition,
” he tells us, “is the same in
substance with the Latin, though, he confesses, not so
properly a translation, as a new composition upon the
same ground, there being several additional chapters in it,
and several new moulded.
”
, a very eminent divine among the nonconformists, grandson to Mr. Edmund Calamy, minister of Aldermanbury, by his eldest
, a very eminent divine among the
nonconformists, grandson to Mr. Edmund Calamy, minister
of Aldermanbury, by his eldest son Mr. Edmund Calamy
(who was ejected out of the living of Moreton in Essex, on St. Bartholomew’s day, 1662), was born April 5, 1671.
Having made a considerable progress in grammar learning
at several private schools, and under Mr. Hartcliffe at Merchant Taylors, where he contracted a close friendship with
Mr. Dawes, afterwards sir William Dawes, and archbishop
of York, as also with Mr. Hugh Boulter, the primate of
Ireland, he went through a course of logic, natural philosophy, and metaphysics, under the tuition of Mr. Samuel
Craddock at the academy kept by him at Wickham Brook
in Suffolk. In March 1688, he went over to the university of Utrecht, where he studied philosophy under De
Vries, and civil law under Vander Muyden, and attended
Graevius’s lectures upon Sophocles and Puffendorf’s Introduction. His application to his studies at this place
was so great, that he spent one whole night every week
among his books; and his proficiency gained him -the
friendship of two of his countrymen at that university, who
rose afterwards to very high stations in church and state,
lord Charles Spencer, the famous earl of Sunderland, and
his tutor Mr. Charles Trimnell, afterwards successively
bishop of Norwich and of Winchester, with both of whom
he kept up his acquaintance as long as he and they lived.
Whilst he resided in Holland, an oiler of a professor’s chair
in the university of Edinburgh was made him by Mr. Carstairs, principal of that university, sent over on purpose to
find a person properly qualified lor such an office; which
he declined, and returned to England in 1691, bringing
with him letters from Graevius to Dr. Pocock, canon of
Christ-church, and regius professor of Hebrew, and to Dr.
Edward Bernard, Savilian professor of astronomy, who obtained leave for him to prosecute his studies in the Bodleian
library; and his resilience at Oxford procured him the acquaintance of the learned Mr. Henry Dodvvell. Having
resolved to make divinity his principal study, he entered
into an examination of the controversy between the conformists and nonconformists, and was led to join the latter.
Coming to London in 1692, he was unanimously chosen
assistant to Mr. Matthew Sylvester at Blackfriars; and oa
June 22, 1694, was ordained at Mr. Annesley’s meetinghouse in Little St. Helen’s, which was the first public transaction of the kind, after the passing of the act of uniformity, and was not undertaken without some timidity on
the part of the elder nonconformists, such as Mr. Howe
and Dr. Bates, who seemed afraid of giving offence to government. Six other young ministers were ordained at
the same time, and the ceremony lasted from ten o'clock
in the morning to six in the evening. He was soon after
invited to become assistant to Mr. Daniel Williams in
Hand-alley, Bishupsgate-street. Oct. 20, 1702, he was chosen
one of the lecturers at Salters’-lmll, and in 1703 succeeded
Mr. Vincent Alsop, as pastor of v. congregation in Westminster. He drew up the table of contents to Mr. Baxter’s
History of his life and times, which was sent to the press
in 1696, made some remarks on the work itself, and added
to it an index; and reflecting on the usefulness of the
book, he saw the expediency of continuing it, for Mr.
Baxter’s history came no lower than 1684. Accordingly
he composed an abridgment of it; with an account of many
others of those ministers who were ejected after the restoration of Charles II. their apology for themselves and their
adherents; containing the grounds of their nonconformity
and practice, as to stated and occasional communion witlx
the church of England; and a continuation of their history
till the year 1691. This work was published in 1702. The
following year Mr. Hoadly (afterwards bishop of
Winchckter) published the two parts of his “Reasonableness of
Conformity to the Church of England, &c. in answer to Mr.
Calamy’s Abridgement of Mr. Baxter’s history, &c.
” As a
reply to these treatises, Mr. Calamy published the same
year, “A Defence of moderate Nonconformity;
” and soon
after Mr. Hoadly sent abroad, “A serious admonition to
Mr Calamy,
” occasioned by the first part of his “Defence,
of moderate Nonconformity.
”
ms. in the Biog. Britannica, by Dr. Kippis, who was favoured with the perusal of it by the author’s grandson Edmund Calamy, esq. barrister at law; but there does not appear
Dr. Calamy left behind him a ms. in 3 vols. folio, entitled “An historical account of my own life, with some
reflections on the times I have lived in.
” Some account
is given of this ms. in the Biog. Britannica, by Dr. Kippis,
who was favoured with the perusal of it by the author’s
grandson Edmund Calamy, esq. barrister at law; but there
does not appear to be much in it that would now be
thought interesting. His most valuable work is undoubtedly
his Lives of the Nonconformists, to which, whatever objections may be offered to individual passages, every student
of English biography must acknowledge his obligations.
An abridgment of this work, in 2 vols. 8vo, under the title
of “The Nonconformist’s Memorial,
” was published by the
rev. Sam. Palmer of Hackney, in 1775, and republished,
with additions, in 1802, 3 vols. 8vo.
, second duke of Argyle, and duke of Greenwich and baron of Chatham, grandson to the unfortunate earl of Argyle, was born on the 10th of October,
, second duke of Argyle, and duke of Greenwich and baron of Chatham, grandson to the unfortunate earl of Argyle, was born on the 10th of October, 1678. He was son to Archibald, duke of Argyle, by Elizabeth, daughter of sir Lionel Talmash, of Helmingham, in the county of Suffolk. He very early -gave signs of spirit and capacity, and at the age of fifteen, made considerable progress in classical learning, and in some branches of philosophy, under the tuition of Mr. Walter Campbell, afterwards minister of Dunoon, in Argyleshire. It soon, however, appeared, that his disposition was towards a military life; and being introduced at the court of king William, under the title of Lord Lorn, he was preferred by that prince to the command of a regiment of foot in 1694, when he was not quite seventeen years of age; and in that station he gave signal proofs of courage and military capacity during the remainder of king William’s reign, and till the death of his father, the first duke of Argyle, 28th of September, 1703, whom he succeeded in his honours and estate and was soon after sworn of queen Anne’s privy council, appointed captain of the Scotch horseguards, and one of the extraordinary lords of session. He was likewise made one of the knights of the order of the thistle the following year, on the restoration of that order.
icus the elder, but lost his favour about 1320, by addicting himself too much to the interest of his grandson Andronicus. In 1328, when the grandson seized the empire, he
, emp.eror of Constantinople, and a celebrated Byzantine historian, was born at Constantinople about the year 1295, of a very ancient and noble family; his father being governor of Peloponnesus, and his mother a near relation of the emperor’s. He was bred to letters and to arms, and afterwards to the highest offices of statej in which he acquitted himself in such a manner as to gain the favour of both court and city. He was made prelect of the bedchamber to the emperor Andronicus the elder, but lost his favour about 1320, by addicting himself too much to the interest of his grandson Andronicus. In 1328, when the grandson seized the empire, he loaded Cantacuzenus with wealth and honours; made him generalissimo of his forces; did nothing without consulting him; and fain would have joined him with himself in the government, which Cantacuzenus refused. In 1341 Andronicus died, and left to Cantacuzenus the care of the empire, till his son John Paleologus, who was then but nine years of age, should be fit to take it upon himself: which trust he discharged very diligently and faithfully. But the empress dowager, the patriarch of Constantinople, and some of the nobles, soon growing jealous and envious of Cantacuzenus, formed a party against him, and declared him a traitor: upon which a great portion of the nobility and army besought him to take the empire upon himself, and accordingly he was crowned at Hadrianopolis in May 1342. A civil war raged for five years, and Cantacuzenus was conqueror, who, however, came to the following terms of peace with John Paleologus; viz. that himself should be crowned, and that John should he a partner uith him in the empire, though not upon an equal footing, till he should arrive at years sufficient. He gave him also his daughter Helen, to whom he had formerly been engaged, for a wife; and the nuptials were celebrated in May 1347. But suspicions and enmities soon arising between the new emperors, the war broke out again, and lasted till John took Constantinople in 1355. A few days after that city was taken, Cantacuzenus, unwilling to continue a civil war any longer, abdicated his share of the empire, and retired to a monastery, where he took the habit of a monk, with the new name of Joasaphus, and spent the remainder of his life in study and writing. His wife retired also at the same time to a nunnery, where she changed her own name Irene for the new one of Eugenia.
rd earl of Effingham, by whom he had a numerous issue, and was succeeded in titles and estate by his grandson Arthur Henry Carleton, a minor.
In August 1777, sir Guy was made a lieutenant-general in the army, and in 1781 was appointed to succeed sir Henry Clinton as commander in chief in America, where he remained until the termination of the contest, when, after an interview with general Washington, he evacuated New-York, and returned to England. In April 176, he was once more appointed governor of Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and, as a reward for his long services, was in August following raised to the peerage, by the title of lord Dorchester, of Dorchester in the county of Oxford. His lordship remained in this extensive government for several years; and returning at length to England, passed his old age in the bosom of his family; first at Kempshot, near Basingstoke, in Hampshire, and afterwards at his seat near Maidenhead. He died Nov. 10, 1808, aged eightyfive, at which time he was colonel of the fourth regiment of dragoons, and a general in the army. In 1772 his lordship married lady Maria, third daughter of Thomas Howard earl of Effingham, by whom he had a numerous issue, and was succeeded in titles and estate by his grandson Arthur Henry Carleton, a minor.
, bishop of Chester, and supposed to be grandson to the preceding, was born at Northampton, Sept. 1, 1634. His
, bishop of Chester, and
supposed to be grandson to the preceding, was born at
Northampton, Sept. 1, 1634. His father was for some
time master of the endowed school of Brentwood, in Essex,
and he appears to have been educated in the religious principles which prevailed among the anti-episcopal party.
He was entered of Magdalen hall, Oxford, but was soon
removed to Queen’s college by the power of the parliamentary visitors in 1649; and after taking orders, became
chaplain of that college, and vicar of Walthamstow in
Essex. In 1659, he was preacher at St. Mary Magdalen’s,
Fish-street. After the restoration, he recommended himself so powerfully by professions of loyalty, as to be made
domestic chaplain to Henry duke of Gloucester, prebendary of Twyford, in the church of St. Paul; of Chalford,
in the church of Wells; a chaplain in ordinary to the
king, and rector of St. Thomas Apostle, London, and was
created D. D. although not of standing for it. To these,
in 1672, was added a prebend of Durham; and in 1677,
he was made dean of Rippon. He had likewise a hard
struggle with Dr. Womack for the bishopric of St. David’s;
but in the reign of James II. in 1686, he succeeded to
that of Chester, for boldly asserting in one of his sermons,
that the king’s promises to parliament were not binding.
The most remarkable event of his life, was his acting as
one of the commissioners in the memorable attempt which
his infatuated master made to controul the president and
fellows of Magdalen college, Oxford, when they rejected
a popish president intruded upon them by the king. Upon
the revolution he fled to France, where he officiated as
minister to the protestant part of the king’s household;
and upon the death of Dr. Seth Ward, became titular
bishop of Salisbury. He afterwards accompanied the abdicated monarch to Ireland, where he died of a dysentery,
April 15, 1689, and was sumptuously interred in the choir
of Christ-church, Dublin. The report by Richardson, in
his edition of Godwin, of his having died in the communion of the church of Rome, seems doubtful; but on his
death-bed his expressions were certainly equivocal. His
“Speech spoken to the society of Magdalen college,
” his
examination of Dr. Hough, and several occasional sermons,
enumerated by Wood, are in print. He appears to have
been a man too subservient to the will of James, to act
with more prudence or principle than his master, who, it
is said, looked upon him as neither protestant nor papist,
and had little or no esteem for him.
fth wife of Henry VIII. was daughter of lord Edmund Howard (third son of Thomas duke of Norfolk, and grandson of John first duke of Norfolk), by Joyce, daughter of sir Richard
, queen of England, and fifth wife of Henry VIII. was daughter of lord Edmund Howard (third son of Thomas duke of Norfolk, and grandson of John first duke of Norfolk), by Joyce, daughter of sir Richard Culpepper, of Holingbourne in Kent, knight. Her mother dying while she was young, she was educated under the care of her grandmother, the duchess dowager of Norfolk; and when she grew up, the charms of her person soon captivated the affections of Henry VIII, who, upon his divorce from Anne of Cleves, married her, and shewed her publicly as queen, Aug. 8, 1540, But this marriage proved of the utmost prejudice to the cause of the reformation, which had begun to spread itself in the kingdom. ' The queen being absolutely guided by the counsels of the duke of Norfolk, her uncle, and Gardiner bishop of Winchester, used all the power she had over the king to support the credit of the enemies of the protestants, In the summer of 1541, she attended his majesty to York, to meet his nephew the king of Scotland, who had promised to give him an interview in that city, but was diverted by his clergy, and a message from the court of France, from that resolution; and during that progress she gained so entire an ascendant over the king’s heart, that at his return to London, on All-Saints day, when he received the sacrament, he gave public thanks to God for the happiness which he enjoyed by her means and desired his confessor, the bishop of Lincoln, to join with him in the like thanksgiving. But this proved a very short-lived satisfaction, for the jiext clay, archbishop Cranmer came to him with information that the queen had been unfaithful to his bed. By the advice of the lord chancellor and other privy counsellors, the archbishop wrote the particulars on a paper, which he delivered to the king, being at a loss how to open so delicate a matter in conversation. When the king read it, he was much confounded, and his attachment to the queen made him at first consider the story as a forgery, but having full proof, the persons with whom the queen Jiad been guilty, Dierham and Mannoch, two of the duchess dowager of Norfolk’s domestics, were apprehended, and not only confessed what was laid to their charge, but revealed some other circumstances, which placed the guilt of the queen in a most heinous light. The report of this struck the king so forcibly, that he lamented his misfortune with a flood of tears. The archbishop and some other counsellors were sent to examine the queen, who at first denied every thing, but finding that her crime was known, confessed all, and subscribed the paper. It appeared likewise, that she had intended to continue in that scandalous course of life; for as she had brought Dierham into her service, she had also retained one of the women, who had formerly been privy to their familiarities, to attend upon her in her bed-chamber; and while the king was at Lincoln, by the lady Rochford’s means, one Culpepper was brought to her at eleven at night, and stayed with her till four next morning; and at his departure received from her a gold chain. Culpepper being examined, confessed the crime: for which he, with Dierham, suffered death on the 1 Oth of December.
, commonly called Cato Minor, or Cato of Utica, was great- grandson of Cato the censor. It is said, that from his infancy he discovered
, commonly called Cato Minor,
or Cato of Utica, was great-grandson of Cato the censor.
It is said, that from his infancy he discovered an inflexibility of mind, and a disposition to go through whatever he
undertook, even though the task was ill-suited to his
strength. He was rough towards those that flattered him,
and quite intractable when threatened; was rarely seen to
laugh, or even to smile; was not easily provoked to anger, but, if once incensed, hard to be pacified. Sylla, having had a friendship for the father of Cato, sent often for
him and his brother, and talked familiarly with them. Cato,
who was then about fourteen years of age, seeing the heads
of great men brought there, and observing the sighs of
those that were present, asked his preceptor, “Why does
no body kill this man?
” “Because,
” said the other, “he
is more feared than he is hated.
” The boy replied, “Why
then did you not give me a sword when you brought me
hither, that I might have stabbed him, and freed my country
from this slavery?
”
country when very young, and went to Rome, where he got into employment under pope Paul III. and his grandson Octavius Farnese. He also served under Henry II. in the war
, an Italian writer of
considerable fame, was born at Florence in 1503. After
being educated in polite literature, he left his country
when very young, and went to Rome, where he got into employment under pope Paul III. and his grandson Octavius
Farnese. He also served under Henry II. in the war of the
Siennese, as long as that republic was able to maintain the
conflict with assistance from France. He appears also
to have been entrusted with the management of several
political affairs, and when peace was concluded between
the French and Spaniards, he retired to Padua, and passed
the rest of his days in literary pursuits. He died there
Dec. 9, 1562. His principal works were his Rhetoric,
“liettorica,
” Venice, 1559, and often reprinted, and his
essay on the best forms of republics, “Trattati sopra gli
ottirni reggimenti dellaRepubliche antiche e moderne,
” Venice, Castrametation
” of Polybius, which was published
with some other military treatises, at Florence, 1552, 8vo.
, an eminent man-midwife, was grandson to Dr. Peter Chamberlen, who, with his fathers and uncles, were
, an eminent man-midwife,
was grandson to Dr. Peter Chamberlen, who, with his
fathers and uncles, were physicians to the kings James I.
Charles I. and II. James II. William, and queen Anne.
He was born in 1664, and educated at Trinity college,
Cambridge, where he took his master’s degree in 1683,
and that of M. D. in 1690. He has a Latin poem in the
“Hymenæus Cantabrigiensis,
” on the marriage of prince
George of Denmark with the princess Anne, 1683. He, his
father, and brothers, invented among them an obstetric
forceps, with which they were enabled to deliver women with
safety in cases where, before this discovery, the child was
usually lost. In 1672 he went to Paris, but happening to
be unsuccessful in a case there, he thought it adviseable to
remove to Holland, where he is said to have succeeded
better. Here he imparted his secret to two eminent practitioners, and received a considerable reward. On his
return to London he had great practice, and realized a handsome fortune. In 1683 he published his translation of
“Mauriceau’s Midwifery,
” a work in great request, and
republished as late as 1755. Mauriceau mentions him
often in some of his works, but always with the littleness
of jealousy. Chamberlen’s forceps, improved by Smellie
and some other practitioners, continues in use, and gives
the inventor an honourable rank among the improvers of
art. In 1723 we find him attending bishop Atterbury in
the Tower, in lieu of Dr. Freind, who was himself a prisoner. He died at his house in Covent-garden, June 17,
1728; and a very fine marble monument was erected to his
memory in Westminster-abbey at the expence of Edmund,
duke of Buckingham. The long Latin epitaph, the production of bishop Atterbury, records, besides his skill, his
benevolence, liberality, and many other amiable personal
characteristics. Dr. Chamberlen was thrice married; and
his widow, the daughter of sir Willoughby Aston, bart.
was afterwards married to sir Thomas Crew, of Utkinton,
in Cheshire, knight, who also left her a widow, but she
died suddenly, April 6, 1734, and that year Dr. Chamberlen’s library was sold by Fletcher Gyles.
very considerably to his reputation. His poetical “Epistle from a father to a son, on the birth of a grandson,” gained him the prize of the French academy, although it appears
, an ingenious French writer, and one of the victims of the revolution, was born in 1741, in a bailiwick near Clermont, in
Auvergne. In supporting a revolution which levelled all
family distinctions, he had no prejudices to overcome,
being the natural son of a man whom he never knew. This
circumstance, however, did not diminish his affection for
his mother, who was a peasant girl, to supply whose wants
he often denied himself the necessaries of life. He was
taken at a very early age into the college des Prassins at
Paris, as a bursar, or exhibitioner, and was there known
by his Christian name of Nicolas. During the first two
years he indicated no extraordinary talents, but in the
third, out of the five prizes which were distributed annually, he gained four, failing only in Latin verses. The
next year he gained the whole, and used to say, “I lost
the prize last year, because 'I imitated Virgil; and this
year I obtained it, because I took Buchanan, Sarbievius,
and other moderns for my guides.
” In Greek he made a
rapid progress, but his petulance and waggish tricks threw
the class into so much disorder, that he was expelled, and
not long after left the college altogether. Thrown now on
the world, without friends or money, he became clerk to
a procurator, and afterwards was taken into the family of
a rich gentleman of Liege, as tutor. After this he was
employed on the “Journal Encyclopedique,
” and having
published his Eloges on Moliere and La Fontaine, they
were so much admired as to be honoured with the prizes
of the French academy, and that of Marseilles. About
this time he had little other maintenance than what he derived from the patronage of the duke de Choiseul and
madame Helvetius, and therefore was glad to take such
employment as the booksellers offered. For them he compiled a “French Vocabulary,
” and a “Dictionary of the
Theatres.
” While employed on this last, he fancied his
talents might succeed on the stage, and was not disappointed. His tragedy of “Mustapha,
” acted in Epistle from a father to a son, on the birth of a
grandson,
” gained him the prize of the French academy,
although it appears inferior to his “L'Homme de Lettres,
discours philosop.hic|iic en vers.
” At length he gained a
seat in the academy, on the death of St. Palaye, on whom
he wrote an elegant eloge. His tragedy of “Mustapha
”
procured him the situation of principal secretary to the
prince of Conde, but his love of liberty and independence
prevented him from long discharging its duties. After resigning it, he devoted himself wholly to the pleasures of
society, where he was considered as a most captivating
companion. He also held some considerable pensions,
which, however, he lost at the revolution.
ion of his relation Mr. Stephens of Salisbury, he informs him that he is descended from Fitzstephen, grandson of the venerable Od, earl of Blois, and lord of Holderness,
During all these various pursuits, he employed his pen
in essays, in prose and verse, chiefly of the satirical kind.
He appears to have read the party pamphlets of the day,
and imbibed much of their abusive spirit. In 1769, we
find him a very considerable contributor to the Town and
Country Magazine, which began about that time. His
ambition seems to have been to rise to eminence, entirely
by the efforts of his genius, either in his own character, or
that of some of the heroes of the Redcliffe chest, in which
he was perpetually discovering a most convenient variety
of treasure, with which to reward his admirers and secure
their patronage. Mr. Burgum, another pewterer, maintains the authenticity of Rowley’s poems. Chatterton rewards him with a pedigree from the time of William the
Conqueror, allying him to some of the most ancient
fanrilies in the kingdom, and presents him with the “Romaunt
of the Cnyghte,
” a poem, written by John de Bergham,
one of his own ancestors, about four hundred and fifty
years before. In order to obtain the good opinion of his
relation Mr. Stephens of Salisbury, he informs him that he
is descended from Fitzstephen, grandson of the venerable
Od, earl of Blois, and lord of Holderness, who flourished
about the year 1095. In this manner Chatterton contrived
to impose on men who had no means of appreciating the
value of what he communicated, and were willing to believe
what, in one respect or other, they wished to be true.
, grandson of the preceding Chemnitz, the reformer, was bora at Stettin
, grandson of the
preceding Chemnitz, the reformer, was bora at Stettin
May 9, 1605, and after completing his education, served
in the army, first in Holland, and afterwards in Sweden,
where his merit raised him from the rank of captain to that
of counsellor of state, and historiographer of Sweden.
Queen Christina also granted him letters of nobility, with
the estate of Holstaedt in that country, where he died in
1678. He wrote, in six books, an account of the war
carried on by the Swedes in Germany, which was published
in 2 vols. folio, the first at Stettin in 1648, and the second
at Holme in 1653; the whole in the German language:
the second volume is most highly esteemed, owing to the
assistance the author received from count Oxenstiern.
The abbe Lenglet mentions a Latin edition, at least of the
first volume, entitled “Beilum Germanicum ab ejus ortu
anno 1612, ad mortem Gustavi Adolphi anno 1632.
”
Chemnitz is also said to be the author of “De ratione Status Imperii Romano- Germanici,
” which was published at
Stettin in Des Interets des princes d'Allemagne,
”
Friestad, Les vrais interets de
l'Allemagne,
” Hague, with notes and applications to the
then state of German politics.
rt of it, with very little alteration. He died Feb. 24, 1700-1, in his seventy-fifth year. The great grandson of the Martyrologist was Dr. Samuel Clarke, or Clark (for his
, son of the preceding, was educated at Pembroke-hall, Cambridge, where he lost his
fellowship, in the time of the Rump parliament, for refusing to take the engagement. He had, however, enough
of the, non-conformist, to resign, after the restoration, the
living of Grendon in Buckinghamshire. He applied himself early to the study of the scriptures; and the books
which he published, as helps to others in the same course
of study, are proofs of his industry and abilities. His
“Annotations on the Bible,
” Scripture Promises,
” a popular work, often reprinted. This Dr. Samuel Clark was father to the late rev.
Samuel Clark of Birmingham, who was assistant to Dr.
Doddridge in his academy, and died by a fall from his
horse in 1769; and also to Mrs. Rose, wife of Dr. Rose of
Chiswick, a gentleman well known in the literary world.
hat gentleman’s “Miscellaneous Tracts,” and in “The Progress of Maritime Discovery,” by Mr. Clarke’s grandson. But Mr. Clarke’s chief work was “The Connexion of the Roman,
, a learned divine and antiquary,
was horn at Haghmon abbey, in Shropshire, in the year
1696, and was educated at Shrewsbury school, under the
care of Mr. Lloyd, for whom he always entertained the
greatest regard. From Shrewsbury he was removed to
St. John’s college, in the university of Cambridge, where
he became a fellow, Jan. 22, 1716-17. His election at
so early a period of life was owing to a number of vacancies, occasioned by the removal of several non-juring fellows, in consequence of an act of parliament. He commenced B. A. 1715; in 1719 became M. A.; and the reputation which he acquired when young was such, that he
was chosen to be chaplain to Dr. Adam Ottley, bishop of
St. David’s: but this prelate dying in 1723, he does not
appear to have received any advantage from the appointment. He was afterwards domestic chaplain to Thomas
Holies, duke of Newcastle; in which situation he did not
continue long, as in 1724, he was presented by archbishop
Wake to the rectory of Buxted, in Sussex, without any solicitation of his own, partly on account of his extraordinary
merit, and partly from a regard to the special recommendation of the learned Dr. William Wotton, whose
daughter he married. In 1738, he was made prebendary
and residentiary of the prebend of Hova Villa in the cathedral church of Chichester, Some years before this he had
given to the public a specimen of his literary abilities, in a
preface to his father-in-law Dr. Wotton’s “Leges Walliae
Ecclesiastical,
” Discourse on the Commerce of the Romans,
” which was
highly extolled by Dr. Taylor, in his “Elements of the
Civil Law,
” came either from his hand or from that of his
friend Mr, Bowyer. It is reprinted in that gentleman’s
“Miscellaneous Tracts,
” and in “The Progress of Maritime Discovery,
” by Mr. Clarke’s grandson. But Mr.
Clarke’s chief work was “The Connexion of the Roman,
Saxon, and English Coins; deducing the antiquities,
customs, and manners of each people to modern times; particularly the origin of feudal tenures, and of parliaments:
illustrated throughout with critical and historical remarks
on various authors, both sacred and profane,
” 1767, 4to,
dedicated to the duke of Newcastle. It had been perused
in manuscript by Arthur Onslow, esq. speaker of the house
of commons, who honoured him with some useful hints
and observations: but he was chiefly indebted to Mr.
Bowyer, who superintended the publication, drew up several of the notes, wrote part of the dissertation on the
Roman sesterce, and formed an admirable index to the
whole. By this work our author acquired great reputation. Mr. Pinkerton, in his Essay on Medals, says that a
student cannot begin with a better book in this science.
, son of Isaac Claude, pastor at the Hague, and grandson of the celebrated minister of that name, was born January 16,
, son of Isaac Claude, pastor at
the Hague, and grandson of the celebrated minister of that
name, was born January 16, 1684, in that city, and from
his infancy displayed a taste for reading and literary research. At fifteen he wrote a curious Latin dissertation
on the manner of saluting among the ancients, and published it at eighteen, with another dissertation, in the
same language, on nurses and paedagogues, under the title
“J. J. Claudii Dissertatio de Salutationibus Veterum, cui
addita est Diatribe de Nutricibus et Paedagogis,
” Utrecht,
Behold,
my dear child, of what use the belles lettres are, when a
man is reduced to my situation.' 7 These words made so
deep an impression on the young scholar, that he determined from that time to make divinity his chief study. He
afterwards came over to England, and became pastor of the
Drench church in London, 1710, where he died of the
small-pox, March 7, 1712, lamented by the friends of
learning and piety. A volume of his
” Sermons" was
published by his brother in 1713. They are only ten in
number, but were highly praised in the literary journals of
the time, and occasioned redoubled regret that the world
had been so soon deprived of his talents
ectory of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, which he resigned March 20, 1767, in favour of his patron’s grandson, the rev. Thomas Willis, and this very honourably, and merely
, an eminent antiquary and benefactor
to the history and antiquities of England, was the son of
William Cole, a gentleman of landed property, at Baberham in Cambridgeshire, by his third wife, Catharine,
daughter of Theophilus Tuer, of Cambridge, merchant,
but at the time she married Mr. Cole, the widow of
Charles Apthorp . He was born at Little Abington, a
village near Baberham, Aug. 3, 1714, and received the
early part of “his education under the Rev. Mr. Butts at
Saffron-Walden, and at other small schools. From these
he was removed to Eton, where he was placed under Dr.
Cooke, afterwards provost, but to whom he seems to have
contracted an implacable aversion. After remaining five
years on the foundation at this seminary, he was admitted
a pensioner of Cla/e hall, Cambridge, Jan. 25, 1733; and
irt April 1734, was admitted to one of Freeman’s scholarships, although not exactly qualified according to that benefactor’s intention: but in 1735, on the death of his father, from whom he inherited a handsome estate, he entered himself a fellow-commoner of Clare Hall, and next
year removed to King’s college, where he had a younger
brother, then a fellow, and was accommodated with better
apartments. This last circumstance, and the society of
his old companions of Eton, appear to have been his principal motives for changing his college. In April 1736, he
travelled for a short time in French Flanders with his halfbrother, the late Dr. Stephen Apthorp, and in October of
the same year he took the degree of B. A. In 1737, in
consequence of bad health, he went to Lisbon, where he
remained six months, and returned to college May 1738.
The following year he was put into the commission of the
peace for the county of Cambridge, in which capacity he
acted for many years. In 1740 his friend lord Montfort,
then lord lieutenant of the county, appointed him one of
his deputy lieutenants and in the same year he proceeded
M. A. In 1743, his health beting again impaired, he
took another trip through Flanders for five or six weeks,
visiting St. Omer’s, Lisle, Tournay, &c. and other principal places, of which he has given an account in his ms
collections. In Dec. 1744 he was ordained deacon in the
collegiate church of Westminster, by Dr. Wilcocks, bishop
of Rochester, and was in consequence for some time curate to Dr. Abraham Oakes, rector of Wethersfield in
Suffolk. In 1745, after being admitted to priest’s orders,
he was made chaplain to Thomas earl of Kinnoul, in
which office he was continued by the succeeding earl,
George. He was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1747; and appears to have resided at Haddenham in the Isle of Ely in 1749, when he was collated by
bishop Sherlock to the rectory of Hornsey in Middlesex,
which he retained only a very short time. Speaking of that
prelate, he says,
” He gave me the rectory of Hornsey,
yet his manner was such that I soon resigned it again to
him. I have not been educated in episcopal trammels,
and liked a more liberal behaviour; yet he was a great
man, and I believe an honest man." The fact, however,
was, as Mr. Cole elsewhere informs us, that he was inducted Nov. 25; but finding the house in so ruinous a condition as to require rebuilding, and in a situation so near
the metropolis, which was always his aversion, and understanding that the bishop insisted on his residing, he resigned within a month. This the bishop refused t accept,
because Mr. Cole had made himself liable to dilapidations
and other expences by accepting of it. Cole continued
therefore as rector until Jan. 9, 1751, when he resigned it
into the hands of the bishop in favour of Mr. Territ. During this time he had never resided, but employed a curate,
the rev. Matthew Mapletoft. In 1753 he quitted the university on being presented by his early friend and patron,
Browne Willis, esq. to the rectory of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, which he resigned March 20, 1767, in favour
of his patron’s grandson, the rev. Thomas Willis, and this
very honourably, and merely because he knew it was his
patron’s intention to have bestowed it on his grandson had
he lived to effect an exchange.
hed by him. From his correspondence, and from a ms account of his life left in his family, his great grandson, the rev. T. Comber of Jesus college, Cambridge, published in
Besides the works already noticed, Dr. Comber wrote,
1. “A Scholastical History of the primitive and general
use of Liturgies in the Christian Church; together with an
Answer to Mr. David Clarkson’s late Discourse concerning
Liturgies,
” Lond. 1690, dedicated to king William and
queen Mary. 2. “A Companion to the Altar; or, an
Help to the worthy Receiving of the Lord’s Supper, by
Discourses and Meditations upon the whole Communionoffice.
” 3. “A brief Discourse upon the Offices of Baptism, Catechism, and Confirmation,
” printed at the end of
the Companion to the Altar.“4.
” A Discourse on the
occasional Offices in the Common Prayer, viz. Matrimony, Visitation of the Sick, Burial of the Dead, Churching of Women, and the Commination.“5.
” A Discourse
upon the Manner and Form of making Bishops, Priests,
and Deacons,“London, 1699, 8vo, dedicated to archbishop
Tenison. 6.
” Short Discourses upon the whole Common
Prayer, designed to inform the judgment, and excite the
devotion of such as daily use the same;“chiefly byway of
paraphrase, London, 1684, 8vo, dedicated to Anne, princess of Denmark, to whom the author was chaplain. 7.
f Roman Forgeries in the Councils during the first four
Centuries; together with an Appendix, concerning the
forgeries and errors in the annals of Baronius,
” ibid. 1689,
4to. It seems doubtful whether the edition of Fox’s
“Christus Triumphans,
” which appeared in Memoirs
of the Life and Writings of Thomas Comber, D. D.
some time dean of Durham; in which is introduced a
candid view of the scope and execution of the -several
works of Dr. Comber, as well printed as ms.; also a fair
account of his literary correspondence.
” Of this we have
availed ourselves as to the preceding facts, and must still
refer to it for a more satisfactory detail of Dr. Comber’s
public services and private character. He was unquestionably a pious, learned, and indefatigable supporter of
the doctrine and discipline of the church of England; and
his private character added a very striking lustre to his
public professions. His principal works, not of the controversial kind, are those he wrote on the various parts of
the liturgy, which, although in less reputation now than
formerly, unquestionably were the first of the kind, and
rendered the labours of his successors Nichols, Wheatley,
&c. more easy. His style is in general perspicuous, although void of ornament, and the phraseology, somewhat
peculiar; but these liturgical commentaries are chiefly
valuable for the accumulation of learned references and
authorities. As to his private character, his biographer
assures us, that “his modesty and inambition were singularly remarkable. Content with a moderate fortune, he
was desirous of continuing in a private station, though
possessed of abilities and integrity capable of adorning the
most exalted and splendid rank. Insensible equally to the
calls of ambition and the allurements of wealth, we behold
him declining situations of honour and emolument, to obtain which thousands have made shipwreck of their honour
and conscience. When the importunity of his friends had
at last prevailed on him to lay aside his thoughts of continuing in obscurity, and induced him to step forward into
a more public life, we see him respected by all the great
and good men of his time, and frequently receiving public
marks of esteem from the lips of royalty itself. The same
modesty which had made him desirous of continuing in a
private station, still adhered to him when preferred to an
eminent dignity in the church: unassuming and humble in
private life, in public he was dignified without pride, and
generous without ostentation.
”
, LL. D. grandson to the preceding Dr. Comber, dean of Durham, was educated at
, LL. D. grandson to the preceding
Dr. Comber, dean of Durham, was educated at Jesus
college, Cambridge, where he took his degrees of B. A. 1744,
M. A. 1770, and LL. D. 1777. He was rector of Kirkby
Misperton, Yorkshire, and afterwards rector of Morborne
and Buckworth in Huntingdonshire. He was a man of
considerable parts and learning, and the author of several
controversial tracts, among which are: 1. “The Heathen
rejection of Christianity in the first ages considered/' 1747,
8vo. 2.
” An Examination of a late introductory Discourse concerning Miraculous Power,“by Dr. Middleton, a
pamphlet in which Warburton discovered marks of genius
and sense, but with some puerilities. 3.
” A Vindication
of the great Revolution in England in 1688, &c.“1758,
8vo. 4.
” A Free and Candid Correspondence on the
Farmer’s Letter to the people of England, &c. with the
Author,“1770, 8vo. 5.
” A Treatise of Laws, from the
Greek of Sylburgius’s edition of Theodoret, bishop of Cyprus, &c.“177G, 8vo. 6.
” Memoirs of the Life and
Death of the right hon. the Lord Deputy Wandesforde,“Cambridge, 1778, 12mo. Dr. Comber was great great
grandson to this nobleman. This last is a very curious and
a very scarce performance. It is marked on the title-page,
vol. II. and was to be considered as the second volume of a
work published by our author in 1777, entitled
” A Book
of Instructions, written by sir Christopher Wandesforde to
his son, but they are seldom found together." Dr. Comber died in 1778.
2, a noble monument, with a large inscription, was erected by Anthony earl of Shaftesbury, his great grandson.
After he had thus quitted the court, he continued to make a great figure in parliament: his abilities enabled him to shine, and he was not of a nature to rest. In 1675, the treasurer, Danby, introduced the test-bill into the house of lords, which was vigorously opposed by the earl of Shaftesbury; who, if we may believe Burnet, distinguished himself more in this session than ever he had done before. This dispute occasioned a prorogation; and there ensued a recess of fifteen months. When the parliament met again, Feb. 16, 1677, the duke of Buckingham argued, that it ought to be considered as dissolved: the earl of Shaftesbury was of the same opinion, and maintained it with so much warmth, that, together with the duke before mentioned, the earl of Salisbury, and the lord Wharton, he was sent to the Tower, where he continued thirteen, mouths, though the other lords, upon their submission, were immediately discharged. When he was set at liberty he conducted the opposition to the earl of Danby' s administration with such vigour and dexterity, that it was found impossible to do any thing effectually in parliament, without changing the system which then prevailed. The king, who desired nothing so much as to be easy, resolved to make a change; dismissed all the privy-council at once, and formed a new one. This was declared April 21, 1679; and at the same time the earl of Shaftesbury was appointed lord president. He did not hold this employment longer than October the fifth following. He had drawn upon himself the implacable hatred of the duke of York, by steadily promoting, if not originally inventing, the project of an exclusion bill: and therefore the duke’s party was constantly at work against him. Upon the king’s summoning a parliament to meet at Oxford, March 21, 1681, he joined with several lords in a petition to prevent its meeting there, which, however, failed of success. He was present at that parliament, and strenuously supported the exclusion bill: but the duke soon contrived to make him feel the weight of his resentment. For his lordship was apprehended for high treason, July 2, 1681; and, after being examined by his majesty in council, was committed to the Tower, where he remained upwards of four months. He was at length tried, acquitted, and discharged; yet did not think himself safe, as his enemies were now in the zenith of their power. He thought it high time therefore to seek for some place of retirement, where, being out of their reach, he might wear out the small remainder of his life in peace. It was with this view, November 1682, he embarked for Holland; and arriving safely at Amsterdam, after a dangerous voyage, he took a house there, proposing to live in a manner suitable to his quality. He was visited by persons of the first distinction, and treated with all the deference and respect he could desire. But being soon seized by his old distemper, the gout, it immediately flew into his stomach, and became mortal, so that he expired Jan. 22, 1683, in his 62d year. His body was transported to England, and interred with his ancestors at Winbprne; and in 1732, a noble monument, with a large inscription, was erected by Anthony earl of Shaftesbury, his great grandson.
estminster, near the house of commons; and very much augmented by his son sir Thomas Cotton, and his grandson sir John (who died in 1702, aged 71). In 1700 an act of parliament
But, without intending to derogate from the just merits of this learned and knowing man as an author, it may reasonably be questioned, whether he has not done more service to learning by securing, as he did, his valuable library for the use of posterity, than by all his writings. This library consists wholly of Mss. many of which being in loose skins, small tracts, or very thin volumes, when they were purchased, sir Robert caused several of them to be bound up in one cover. They relate chiefly to the history and antiquities of Great Britain and Ireland, though the ingenious collector refused nothing that was curious or valuable in any point of learning. He lived indeed at a time when he had great opportunities of making such a fine collection: when there were many valuable books yet remaining in private hands, which had been taken from the monasteries at their dissolution, and from our universities and colleges, at their visitations when several learned antiquaries, such as Joceline, Noel, Allen, Lambarde, Bowyer, Elsinge, Camden, and others, died, who had made it their chief business to scrape up the ^scattered remains of our monastical libraries: and, either by legacy or purchase, he became possessed of all he thought valuable in their studies. This library was placed in his own house at Westminster, near the house of commons; and very much augmented by his son sir Thomas Cotton, and his grandson sir John (who died in 1702, aged 71). In 1700 an act of parliament was made for the better securing and preserving that library in the name and family of th\ Cottons, for the benefit of the public; that it might not be sold, or otherwise disposed of and embezzled Sir John, great grandson of sir Robert, having sold Cotton -house to queen Anne, about 1706, to be a repository for the royal as well as the Cottonian library, an act was ma le for the better securing of her Majesty’s purchase of that house; and botli house and library were settled and vested in trustees. The books were then removed into a more convenient room, the former being very damp; and Cotton-house was set apart for the use of the king’s library-keeper, who had there the royal and Cottonian libraries under his care. In 1712 the Cottonian library was removed to Essex house, in Essexstreet; and in 1730 to a house in Little DeanVyard, Westminster, purchased by the crown of the lord Ashburnham; where a fire happening, Oct. 23, 1731, 111 books were lost, burnt, or entirely defaced, and 99 rendered imperfect. It was thereupon removed to the Old Dormitory belonging to Westminster-school; and finally, in 1753, to the British Museum, where they still remain.
0, July 12, 1749, the tide became extinct. He had one son, John, who died before his father; and one grandson, John, who died of the small-pox, on his return from his travels,
He died of a fever, at his house in Westminster, May 6, 1631, aged 60 years, three months, and 15 days. He married Elizabeth, one of the daughters and coheirs of William Brocas, of Thedingworth in the county of Leicester, esq, by whom he left one only son, sir Thomas the second baronet, who died 1662, and was succeeded by sir John the third, and he, 1702, by his son John, who died in the life-time of his father, 1681, leaving two sons, of whom the elder, John, succeeded his grandfather, and died without issue 1731. The title and part of the estate went to his uncle Robert, by whose death, at the age of 80, July 12, 1749, the tide became extinct. He had one son, John, who died before his father; and one grandson, John, who died of the small-pox, on his return from his travels, in 1739.
bruary 26th, the next year, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, leaving a very large estate to his grandson, sir Nicholas Crispe. His corpse was interred with his ancestors,
, an eminent and loyal citizen in the reigns of king Charles the First, and king Charles the Second, the son of a very eminent merchant of London, was born in 1598, and bred, according to the custom of those times, in a thorough knowledge of business, though heir to a great estate. He made a considerable addition to this by marriage; and being a man of an enterprizing genius, ever active and solicitous about new inventions and discoveries, was soon taken notice of at court, was knighted, and became one of the farmers of the king’s customs. When the trade to Guinea was under great difficulties and discouragements, he framed a project for retrieving it, which required a large capital, but his reputation was so great, that many rich merchants willingly engaged with him in the prosecution of the design; and to give a good example, as well as to shew that he meant to adhere to the work that he had once taken in hand, he caused the castle of Cormantyn upon the Gold Coast, to be erected at his own expence. By this judicious precaution, and by his wise and wary management afterwards, himself and his associates carried their trade so successfully, as to divide amongst them fifty thousand pounds a year. When the rebellion began, and the king was in want of money, sir Nicholas Crispe, and his partners in the farming of the customs, upon very short warning, and when their refusing it would have been esteemed a merit with the parliament, raised him one hundred thousand pounds at once. After the war broke out, and in the midst of all the distractions with which it was attended, he continued to carry on a trade to Holland, France, Spain, Italy, Norwaj', Moscovy, and Turkey, which produced to the king nearly one hundred thousand pounds a year, besides keeping most of the ports open and ships in them constantly ready for his service. All the correspondence and supplies of arms which were procured by the queen in Holland, and by the king’s agents in Denmark, were consigned to his care, and by his prudence and vigilance safely landed in the north, and put into the hands of those for whom they were intended. In the management of so many nice and difficult affairs, he was obliged to keep up a very extensive correspondence, for which he hardly ever made use of cypher, but penned his letters in such a peculiar style, as removed entirely his intentions from the apprehension of his enemies, and yet left them very intelligible unto those with whom he transacted. He had also great address in bringing any thing to bear that he had once contrived, to which it contributed not a little, that in matters of secrecy and danger he seldom trusted to any hands but his own, and made use of all kinds of disguises. Sometimes, when he was believed to be in one place, he was actually at another; letters of consequence he carried in the disguise of a porter; when he wanted intelligence he would be at the water side, with a basket of flounders upon his head, and often passed between London and Oxford in the dress of a butter-woman on horseback, between a pair of panniers. He was the principal author of a well-laid design for publishing the king’s commission of array at London, in which there was nothing dishonourable, so far as sir Nicholas Crispe was concerned, which, however, Clarendon inadvertently confounds with another design, superinduced by Mr. Waller, of surprizing the parliament, in bringing which to bear he proceeded very vigorously at first, till, finding that he had engaged in a matter too big for his management, he suddenly lost his spirits, and some of the chief men in the house of commons gaining intelligence that something was in agitation to their prejudice, May 31st, 1643, they presently seized Mr. Waller, and drew from him a complete discovery, which, from the account they published, plainly distinguished these two projects. By the discovery of this business, sir Nicholas Crispe found himself obliged to declare openly the course he meant to take; and having at his own expence raised a regiment of horse for the king’s service, he distinguished himself at the head of it as remarkably in his military, as he had ever done in his civil capacity. When the siege of Gloucester was resolved on, sir Nicholas Crispe was charged with his regiment of horse to escort the king’s train of artillery from Oxford, which important service he very gallantly performed; but in the month of September following, a very unlucky accident occurred, and though the circumstances attending it clearly justified his conduct to the world, yet the concern it gave him was such as he could not shake off so long as he lived. He happened to be quartered at Rouslidge, in Gloucestershire, where one sir James Ennyon, bart. of Northamptonshire, and some friends of his took up a great part of the house, though none of them had any commands in the army, which, however, sir Nicholas bore with the utmost patience, notwithstanding he was much incommoded by it. Some time after, certain horses belonging to those gentlemen were missing, and sir James Ennyon, though he had lost none himself, insinuating that some of sir Nicholas’s troopers must have taken them, insisted that he should immediately draw out his regiment, that search might be made for them. Sir Nicholas answered him with mildness, and offered him as full satisfaction as it was in his power to give, but excused himself from drawing out his regiment, as a thing improper and inconvenient at that juncture, for reasons which he assigned. Not content, however, sir James left him abruptly, and presently after sent him a challenge, accompanied with a message to this effect, that if he did not comply with it, he would pistol him against the wall. Upon this, sir Nicholas Crispe taking a friend of his with him, went to the place appointed, and finding sir James Ennyon and the person who brought him the challenge, sir Nicholas used his utmost endeavours to pacify him; but he being determined to receive no satisfaction, unless by the sword, they engaged, and sir James received a wound in the rim of the belly, of which he died in two days. Before this, however, he sent for sir Nicholas Crispe, and was sincerely reconciled to him. Upon the 2d of October following, sir Nicholas was brought to a court-martial for this unfortunate affair, and upon a full examination of every thing relating to it, was most honourably acquitted. He continued to serve with the same zeal and fidelity during 1644, and in the spring following; but when the treaty of Uxbridge commenced, the parliament thought fit to mark him, as they afterwards did in the Isle of Wight treaty, by insisting that he should be removed from his majesty’s presence; and a few months after, on April 16th, 1645, they ordered his large house in Breadstreet to be sold, which for many years belonged to his family. Neither was this stroke of their vengeance judged a sufficient punishment for his offences, since having resolved to grant the elector palatine a pension of eight thousand pounds a year, they directed that two thousand should be applied out of the king’s revenue, and the remainder made up out of the estates of lord Culpeper and sir Nicholas Crispe, Sir Nicholas finding himself no lon^ev in a capacity to render his majesty any service, thought it expedient to preserve himself; and in April 1646 embarked with lord Culpeper and colonel Monk for France, but as he had many rich relations who had interest with those in power, they interposed in his favour; and as sir Nicholas perceived that he could be of no service to the royal cause abroad, h did not look upon it as any deviation from his duty, to return and live quietly at home. Accordingly, having submitted to a composition, he came back to London, to retrieve his shattered fortunes, and very soon engaged again in business, with the same spirit and success as before. In this season of prosperity he was not unmindful of the wants of Charles II. but contributed cheerfully to his relief, when his affairs seemed to be in the most desperate condition. After the death of Oliver Cromwell, he was instrumental in reconciling many to their duty, and so well were his principles known, and so much his influence apprehended, that when it was proposed that the royalists in and about London should sign an instrument signifying their inclination to preserve the public tranquillity, he was called upon, and very readily subscribed it. He was also principally concerned in bringing the city of London, in her corporate capacity, to give the encouragement that was requisite to leave general Monk without any difficulties or suspicion as to the sincerity and unanimity of their inclinations. It was therefore very natural, after reading the king’s letter and declaration in common-council, May 3d, 1660, to think of sending some members of their own body to preSent their duty to his majesty; and having appointed nine aldermen and their recorder, they added sir Nicholas Crispe, with several other worthy persons, to the committee, that the king might receive the more satisfaction from their sentiments being delivered by several of those who had suffered deeply in his own and in his father’s cause. His majesty accordingly received these gentlemen very graciously, as a committee, and afterwards testified to them separately the sense he had of their past services, and upon his return, sir Nicholas Crispe and sir John Wolstenholme, were re-instated as farmers of the customs. Sir Nicholas was now in years, and somewhat infirm, spent a great part of his time at his noble country seat near Hammersmith, where he was in some measure the founder of the chapel, and having an opportunity of returning the tbligation he had received from some of his relations, he procured for them that indemnity from the king, gratis, for which he had so dearly paid during the rebellion. The last testimony he received of his royal master’s favour, was his being created a baronet, April 16th, 1665, which he did not long survive, dying February 26th, the next year, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, leaving a very large estate to his grandson, sir Nicholas Crispe. His corpse was interred with his ancestors, in the parish church of St. Mildred, in Bread-street, and his funeral sermon was preached by his reverend and learned kinsman Mr. Crispe, of Christ-church, Oxford. But his heart was sent to the chapel at Hammersmith, where there is a short and plain inscription upon a cenotaph erected to his memory; or rather upon that monument which himself erected in grateful commemoration of king Charles I. as the inscription placed there in sir Nicholas’s life-time tells us, under which, after his decease, was placed a small white marble urn, upon a black pedestal, containing his heart.
y of her judgment. Frances, the protector’s youngest daughter, was married first to Mr. Robert Rich, grandson to the earl of Warwick, in 1657, who died Feb. 16th following;
Oliver’s second son, Henry, born Jan. 20, 1627, he
sent over into Ireland, where he raised him gradually to
the post of lord lieutenant. Though in this he seemed to
give him the preference to Richard, yet in reality he used
him more harshly; for though his abilities were good, his
manners irreproachable, and his submission exemplary,
yet he paid no great deference to his recommendations,
and allowed him as little power as could well be imagined.
This son died March 25, 1674, having married a daughter
of sir Francis Russel, of Chippenham, in Cambridgeshire.
He was buried in the church of Wicken, in the same county,
in which Spinney-abbey, his mansion-house, stood, and
has this simple epitaph in the chancel: “Henricus Cromwell de Spinney obiit 23 die Martii, anno Christi 1673,
unnoque ætatis 47.
” His lady died April 7, 1687, aged 52,
and was buried by him. Cromwell married all his daughters
well, and was kind to their husbands; but it is said that he
gave them no fortunes. Bridget, his eldest, first married
commissary-general Ireton, and after his decease, lieutenantgeneral Fleetwood. Cromwell is said never to have had
but one confidant, and that was Ireton, whom he placed
at the head of affairs in Ireland, where he died of the
plague in 1651. This daughter was a republican, as were
her two husbands, and consequently not quite agreeable
to her father; otherwise a woman of very good sense, and
regular in her behaviour. By Ireton she had one daughter
of her own name, married to Mr. Benclish. Elizabeth,
his second and favourite daughter, was born in 1630, and
married John Claypole, esq. a Northamptonshire gentleman, whom the protector made master of the horse,
created a baronet in 1657, and appointed him one of his
lords. Mary, his third daughter, born in 1636, was married with great solemnity to lord Fauconberg, Nov. 18,
1657; but the same day more privately by Dr. Hewett, according to the office in the common prayer-book. She
was a lady of great beauty, and of a very high spirit; and,
after her brother Richard was deposed, is thought to have
promoted very successfully the restoration of king Charles;
for it is remarkable, that all Cromwell’s daughters, except
the eldest, had a secret kindness for the royal family, of
which, however, he was not ignorant. Lord Fauconberg
was sent to the Tower by the committee of safety, and
was in very high favour with Charles II. He was raised
to the dignity of an earl by king William, and died Dec.
31, 1700. His lady survived him to March, 1712, and
distinguished herself to her death, by the quickness of her
wit and the solidity of her judgment. Frances, the protector’s youngest daughter, was married first to Mr. Robert Rich, grandson to the earl of Warwick, in 1657, who
died Feb. 16th following; and, secondly, to sir John
Russel, of Chippenham, in Cambridgeshire, by whom she
had several children, and lived to a great age.
ld be found so by those who meddled with it. The project, however, was pursued by James Tyrrel, esq. grandson to the famous archbishop Usher, who published his performance
, a very learned divine, and
bishop of Peterborough, the son of an honest citizen of
London, who by his industry acquired a competent, though
not a great fortune, was born in the parish of St. Anne, near
Aldersgate, July 15th, 1632. He was educated at St.
Paul’s school, under the care of Mr. John Langley, and was
moved from thence to Magdalen-college, in Cambridge,
probably in 1649, where he was contemporary with some
very worthy and learned persons; such as Dr. Hezekiah
Burton, his intimate friend and acquaintance, a very
learned and pious divine; Dr. Hollings, an eminent physician at Shrewsbury; sir Samuel Moreland, admired for
his skill in the mathematics; the celebrated Mr. Pepys,
secretary to the admiralty; and the lord keeper Bridgeman, to whom himself, and his friend Dr. Burton, were
chaplains at the same time. He was very remarkable,
while fellow of his college, for his diligent application to
his studies, as well as for the unaffected piety and unblemished probity of his life. He took his degree of B. A.
in 1653, and in 1656 he became M. A. at which time he
had thoughts of applying himself to physic, which he actually studied for some time. He was incorporated M. A.
in the university of Oxford, July 14th, 1657, and went
out B. D. at a public commencement at his own university,
A. D. 1663, with universal applause. His first preferment
was the rectory of Brampton, in the deanery of Haddon,
in the archdeaconry and county of Northampton, which
was given him by sir John Norwich, a gentleman who descended of a most ancient and noble family, and was advanced to the dignity of a baronet by king Charles the
First. Mr. Cumberland was admitted December 3d, 1658,
upon the demise of the reverend Mr. John Ward; and
after the restoration, having never had the least scruple to
the authority of the church, he had a legal institution, and
read the Thirty-nine Articles, as directed by law, November 24th, 1661, and was the same year appointed one
of the twelve preachers in the university of Cambridge.
This, however, was a temporary avocation only, owing to
the high character he had raised by the masterly manner
in which he had performed all academical exercises, and
from which he quickly returned to the duties of his parochial charge. In this rural retirement he minded little else
than the duties of his function, and his studies. His relaxations from these were very few, besides his journies
to Cambridge, which he made frequently, to preserve a
correspondence with his learned acquaintance in that place.
Here he might probably have remained during the course
of his whole life, if his intimate friend and kind benefactor,
sir Orlando Bridgeman, upon his receiving the seals in
1667, had not sent for him up to London, made him his
chaplain, and soon after bestowed upon him the living of
Alhallows, in Stamford. He discharged the functions of
his ministry in that great town with indefatigable diligence;
for, besides the duties incumbent upon him by his parochial charge, he accepted of the weekly lecture, and
then preached three times every week in the same church,
and at the same time cultivated his philosophical, mathematical, and philological studies. He gave a noble proof
of this, and one which equally demonstrated the soundness
of his morals and the solidity of his parts, in publishing
his work “De Legibus Naturae Disquisitio philosophica,
”
Lond. A brief Disquisition of the Law of Nature, according to the principles
and method laid down in the reverend Dr. Cumberland’s
(now lord bishop of Peterburgh’s) Latin treatise on that
subject, &c.
” London,
His great grandson, the subject of the next article, informs us upon the authority
His great grandson, the subject of the next article, informs us upon the authority of his father, Dr. Denison
Cumberland, that at the end of every year, whatever overplus bishop Cumberland found upon a minute inspection
of his accounts, was by him distributed to the poor, reserving only one small deposit of 25l. in cash, found at his
death in his bureau, with directions to employ it for the
discharge of his funeral expences; a sum, in his modest
calculation, fully sufficient to commit his body to the
earth. The late Mr. Cumberland deposited in the library
of Trinity-college, Cambridge, a copy of the bishop’s work
“De Legibus Naturae,
” interleaved and corrected throughout by Dr. Bentley.
, a late dramatic and miscellaneous writer, was the great grandson of the preceding. His father, Denison, so named from his mother,
, a late dramatic and miscellaneous writer, was the great grandson of the preceding. His father, Denison, so named from his mother, was educated at Westminster school, and from that admitted fellow-commoner of Trinity college, Cambridge. He married, at the age of twenty-two, Joanna, the younger daughter of Dr. Richard Bentley (the Phoebe of Byron’s Pastoral); by whom he had a daughter, Joanna, and Richard, the subject of this article. Though in possession of an independent fortune, he was readily prevailed upon by his father-in-law to take the rectory of Stanwick, in. Northamptonshire, given to him by lord chancellor King, as soon as he was of age to hold it. From this period he fixed his constant residence in that retired spot, and sedulously devoted himself to the duties of his function, never holding any other preferment for thirty years, except a small prebend in the church of Lincoln, given him by his uncle bishop Reynolds, He was in the commission of the peace, and a very active magistrate in the reconcilement of parties rather than in the conviction of persons. When the rebels were on the march, and had advanced to Derby, he raised among the neighbouring parishes two companies of 100 men each for the regiment then enrolling under the command of the earl of Halifax, and marched them in person to Northampton. The earl, as a mark of his consideration, insisted upon bestowing one of the companies upon his son, who being too young to take the command, an officer was named to act in his place. Some time after, on the approach of the general election for the county of Northampton, a contest took place with the rival parties of Knightly and Hanbury, or, in other words, between the tories and the whigs. His politics accorded with the latter, and he gave a very active and effectual support to his party. His exertions, though unsuccessful, were not overlooked by the earl of Halifax, who was then high in office, and lord lieutenant of the county. Offers were pressed upon him; yet, though he was resolute in declining all personal favours, he was persuaded to lend an ear to flattering situations pointed out for his son, who was shortly afterwards employed by lord Halifax as his confidential secretary. In 1757 he exchanged the living of Stanwick for Fulham, in order to be nearer his son, whose attendance on the earl of Halifax required his residence in town. On the earl being appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland, he was made one of his chaplains; and in 1763, at the close of his lordship’s administration, was promoted to the bishopric of Clonfert. In this situation he much ingratiated himself with all classes of people by his benevolence and generosity. He introduced many improvements and comforts among the Irish peasantry. He encouraged the English mode of agriculture by judicious rewards; and, as one of the members of the linen trade, introduced a number of spinning-wheels, and much good linen was made in consequence. This improving manufacture formed an interesting occupation also to his lady, and flourished under her care. The city of Dublin presented him with his freedom in a gold box, an honour never before (except in the remarkable instance of dean Swift) conferred on any person below the rank of a chief governor; and the deed which accompanied it assigned as the motive, the great respectability of his character, and his disinterested protection of the Irish clergy. In 1772 he was translated to the see of Kilmore. Some alarming symptoms soon after indicated the breaking up of his constitution, which was increased by the anxiety he experienced, through the debility and loss of health of his, amiable lady. When his son took leave of him at the end of his summer visit, the bishop expressed an intention of attempting a journey to England; but died in the winter of the same year; and this sad event was speedily succeeded by the death of his lady, whose weak and exhausted frame sunk under the blow, May 27, 1775.
, after having invented several machines, and composed a commentary on the sphere of Sacrobosco. His grandson Vincent Dante, an able mathematician, like him, was at the same
, a native of Perugia, of the
family of Rainaldi, imitated so well the verses of the poet
Dante, that he was generally called by his name. He was
not less distinguished by the delicacy of his poetry, than
by his skill in the mathematics and in architecture. He
died in 1512, in an advanced age, after having invented
several machines, and composed a commentary on the
sphere of Sacrobosco. His grandson Vincent Dante, an
able mathematician, like him, was at the same time painter and sculptor. His statue of Julius III. has been generally looked upon as a master-piece of the art. Philip II.
king of Spain, offered him a large salary to induce him to
come and finish the paintings of the Escurial; but the delicacy of Dante’s constitution would not permit him to quit
his natal air. He died at Perugia in 1576, at the age of
forty-six. There is extant by him, “The lives of those
who have excelled in drawings for statues.
”
at mathematician, and greater enthusiast, the son of Rowland Dee, gentleman sewer to Henry VIII. and grandson of Bedo Dee, standard bearer to lord de Ferrars at the battle
, a great mathematician, and greater enthusiast, the son of Rowland Dee, gentleman sewer to
Henry VIII. and grandson of Bedo Dee, standard bearer
to lord de Ferrars at the battle of Tournay, was born at
London, July 13, 1527; and, after some time spent at
school there, and at Chelmsford in Essex, sent to John’s
college in Cambridge, where he informs us of his progress
in the following words: “Anno 1542, I was sent, by my
father Rowland Dee, to the university of Cambridge, there
to begin with logic, and so to proceed in the learning of
good arts and sciences; for I had before been meetly well
furnished with understanding of the Latin tongue, I being
then somewhat above 15 years old. In the years 1543,
1544, 1545, I was so vehemently bent to study, that for
those years I did inviolably keep this order, only to sleep
four hours every night; to allow to meat and drink, and
some refreshing after, two hours every day; and of the
other eighteen hours, all, except the time of going to, and
being at, the divine service, was spent in my studies and
learning.
” In 1547 he went into the Low Countries, on.
purpose to converse with Frisius, Mercator, &c. and other
learned men, particularly mathematicians; and in about
eight months alter returned to Cambridge, where, upon
the founding of Trinity college by Henry VIII. he was
chosen one of the fellows, but his bias was to the study of
mathematics and astronomy. He brought over with him
from the Low Countries several instruments “made by the
direction of Frisius, together with a pair of large globes
made by Mercator; and his reputation was very high. His
assiduity, however, in making astronomical observations,
which in those days were always understood to be connected with the desire of penetrating into futurity, brought
some suspicion upon him; which was so far increased by a
very singular accident that befel him, as to draw upon him
the imputation of a necromancer, which he deserved afterwards rather mre than now. This affair happened soon
after his removal from St. John’s-college, and being chosen
one of the fellows of Trinity, where he
” was assigned to
he the under-reader of the Greek tongue, Mr. Pember
being the chief Greek reader then in Trinity-college.
Hereupon,“says he,
” I did set forth, and it was seen of
the university, a Greek comedy of Aristophanes, named in
Greek Eijpwij in Latin, Pax; with the performance of the
scarabaeus, or beetle, his flying up to Jupiter’s palace with
a man and his basket of victuals on his back; whereat was
great wondering, and many vain reports spread abroad of
the means how that was effected."
, an excellent painter and engraver, was the son of William Delft, and a near relation ( grandson, according to Pilkington) of Michael Miravelt, and born at Delft
, an excellent painter and engraver, was the son of William Delft, and a near relation (grandson, according to Pilkington) of Michael Miravelt, and born at Delft in 1619. He drew and painted portraits with excellent taste; and having been instructed by Miravelt, acquired a similar mode of design and colouring, and successfully imitated him in the management of his pencil, so that he is said to have equalled Miravelt in force and delicacy. He is, however, more generally known as an engraver; and his best prints are highly finished: some of them are executed in a bold, powerful, open style, which produces a fine effect. Such was his portrait of Hugo Grotius, dated 1652; and others in a neat and much more finished manner, as we find, says Strutt, in the admirable portrait of Michael Miravelt, from a picture of Vandyke. It does not appear that he was ever in England; and yet he engraved several English portraits, as Charles I. of England, Henrietta Maria, his queen, George Villars, duke of Buckingham, &c. and, accor.lmg to lord Orf'ord, styled himself the king’s engraver He died in 1661.
to the celebrated John Gregory, of Christchurch, Oxford. The no less celebrated Dr. Wilkins was his grandson, and born in his house at Fawesley, in 1614, a date which seems
, usually styled the Decalogist, from his
Commentary on the commandments, and called by Fuller,
the “last of the Puritans,
” was a native of Shotledge, in.
Cheshire; in which county there were several ancient families of the Dods; but to which of them he belonged, we
have not been able to ascertain. He was born, the youngest
of seventeen children, in 1547, and sent to school at WestChester, but Mr. Cole says he was educated at Winchester,
a name which he probably transcribed hastily for the other.
In 1561, when he was fourteen years of age, he was entered of Jesus college, Cambridge, of which he was chosen
fellow in 1585, according to a ms note of Mr. Baker;
and Mr. Cole adds, that he was junior proctor in 1614;
both which dates must belong to some other person, as it
does not appear that he remained in all more than sixteen years at college. At what time he took his master’s
degree is uncertain, but a few years after, being appointed
to oppose in the philosophy act at the commencement, he
exhibited such a display of talents, as highly gratified his
hearers, and in consequence, he had liberal offers to remove to Oxford. These he declined, but was incorporated M. A. in that university in 1585. Associating much
with Drs. Fulke, Chaclerton, and Whitaker, he imbibed
the principles and strictness for which they were famous,
and conceived an early dislike to some of the ceremonies
or discipline of the church, but to what we are not told.
After taking orders, he first preached a weekly lecture at
Ely, until invited by sir Anthony Cope to be minister of
Hanwell, in Oxfordshire, in 1577, where he became a
constant and diligent preacher, and highly popular. Nor
was his hospitality Jess conspicuous, as he kept an open
table on Sundays and Wednesdays lecture days, generally entertaining on these occasions from eight to twelve
persons at dinner. At Hanwell he remained twenty years,
in the course cf which he married, and had a large family;
but, owing to his nonconformity in some points, he was
suspended by Dr. Bridges, bishop of Oxford. After this,
he preached for some time at Fenny-Compton, in Warwickshire, and from thence was called to Cannons Ashby,
in Northamptonshire, where he was patronized by sir Erasmus Dryden but here again he was silenced, in consequence of a complaint made by bishop Neale to king
James, who commanded archbishop Abbot to pronounce
that sentence. During this suspension of his public services, he appears to have written his Commentary on the
Decalogue and Proverbs, which he published in conjunction with one Robert Cleaver, probably another silenced
puritan, of whom we can find no account. At length, by
the interest of the family of Knightley, of Northamptonshire, after the death of king James, he was presented in
1624, to the living of Fawesley, in that county. Here he
recommended himself as before, not more by his earnest
and affectionate services in the pulpit, than by his charity
and hospitality, and particularly by his frequent visits and
advice which last he delivered in a manner peculiarly
striking. A great many of his sayings became almost proverbial, and remained so for above a century, being, as
may yet be remembered, frequently printed in a small
tract, or on a broad sheet, and suspended in every cottage.
On the commencement of the rebellion he suffered considerably, his house being plundered, as the house of a
puritan, although he was a decided enemy to the proceedings of the republicans. When they were about to
abolish the order of bishops, &c. Dr. Brownrig sent to Mr.
Dod, for his opinion, who answered, that “he had been
scandalized with the proud and tyrannical practises of the
Marian bishops; but now, after more than sixty years’ experience of many protestant bishops, that had been worthy
preachers, learned and orthodox writers, great champions
for the protestant cause, he wished all his friends not to
be any impediment to them, and exhorted all men not to
take up arms against the king; which was his doctrine, he
said, upon the fifth commandment, and he would never
depart from it.
” He died in August, 1645, at the very
advanced age of ninety-seven, and was buried on the I9th
of that month, at Fawesley, in Northamptonshire. Fuller
says, “with him the Old Puritan seemed to expire, and
in his grave to be interred. Humble, meek, patient,
charitable as in his censures of, so in his alms to others.
Would I could truly say but half so much of the next generation!
” “He was,
” says the same author, “a passive
nonconformist, not loving any one the worse for difference
in judgment about ceremonies, but all the better for their
unity of affections in grace and goodness. He used to
retrench some hot spirits when inveighing against bishops,
telling them how God under that government had given a
marvellous increase to the gospel, and that godly men
might comfortably comport therewith, under which learning
and religion had so manifest an improvement.
” He was
an excellent scholar, particularly in the Hebrew language,
which he taught to the celebrated John Gregory, of Christchurch, Oxford. The no less celebrated Dr. Wilkins was
his grandson, and born in his house at Fawesley, in 1614,
a date which seems to interfere with that given above as
the date of Mr. Dod’s presentation to Fawesley, which we
have taken from the register in Bridges’s Northamptonshire, but he might probably have resided there previous
to the living becoming vacant. Of his works we know
only that which conferred on him the name of the Decalogist, “A plain and familiar Exposition of the Ten Commandments,
” London, A plain and
familiar Exposition
” of certain chapters of the Book of
Proverbs, not far off ninety-five years old,
”
which has enabled us to ascertain his age, hitherto incorrectly given by his biographers.
tauban in Lano-uedoc in 1649, was the son of Dr. Peter Duncan, professor of physic in that city, and grandson to William Duncan, an English gentleman, of Scottish original,
, an eminent physician, born at
Montauban in Lano-uedoc in 1649, was the son of Dr.
Peter Duncan, professor of physic in that city, and grandson to William Duncan, an English gentleman, of Scottish original, who removed from London to the south of
France about the beginning of the last century. Having
lost both his parents while yet in his cradle, he was indebted, for the care of his infancy and education, to the
guardianship of his mother’s brother, Mr. Daniel Paul, a
leading counsellor of the parliament of Toulouse, though
a firm and professed protestant. Mr. Duncan received the
first elements of grammar, polite literature, and philosophy, at Puy Laurens, whither the magistracy of Montauban had transferred their university for a time, to put an
end to some disputes between the students and the citizens.
The masters newly established there, finding their credit
much raised by his uncommon proficiency, redoubled their
attention to him; so that he went from that academy with
a distinguished character to Montpellier, when removed
thither by his guardian, with a view to qualify him for a
profession which had been for three generations hereditary
in his family . His ingenuity and application recommended him to the esteem and friendship of his principal
instructor there, the celebrated Dr. Charles Barbeyrac
(uncle to John Barbeyrac the famous civilian), whose medical lectures and practice were in high reputation. Having taken his favourite pupil into his own house, the professor impressed and turned to use his public and private
instruction by an efficacious method, admitting him, at
every visit he paid to his patients, to consult and reason
with him, upon ocular inspection, concerning the effect of
his prescriptions. When he had studied eight years under
the friendly care of so excellent a master, and had just
attained the age of twenty-four, he was admitted to the
degree of M. D. in that university. From Montpellier he
went to Paris, where he resided nearly seven years. Here
he published his first work, upon the principle of motion
in the constituent parts of animal bodies, entitled: “Explication nouvelle & mechanique des actions an i males,
Paris, 1678.
” It was in the year following that he went
for the first time to London, to dispose of some houses
there, which had descended to him from his ancestors.
He had, besides, some other motives to the journey; and
among the rest, to get information relative to the effects of
the plague in London in 1665. Having dispatched his
other business, he printed in London a Latin edition of
his “Theory of the principle of motion in animal bodies.
”
His stay in London, at this time, was little more than
two years; and he was much disposed to settle there entirely. But in 1681 he was recalled to Paris to attend a
consultation on the health of his patron Colbert, which was
then beginning to decline. Soon after his return he produced the first part of a new work, entitled, “La chymie
naturelle, ou explication chymique & mechanique de la
Tiourriture de Tanimal,
” which was much read, but rather
raised than satisfied the curiosity of the learned; to answer
which he added afterwards two other parts, which were
received with a general applause. A second edition of the
whole was published at Paris in 1687. In that year likewise came out his “Histoire de l'animal, ou la connoissance
du corps animé par la méchanique & par la chymie.
” He
left Paris in 1683, upon the much-lamented death of Colbert, the kind effect of whose esteem he gratefully acknowledged, though in a much smaller degree than he
might have enjoyed, if he had been less bold in avowing
his zeal for protestantism, and his abhorrence of popery.
He had some property in land adjoining to the city of
Montauban, with a handsome house upon it, pleasantly
situated near the skirts of the town. It was with the purpose of selling these, and settling finally in England, that
he went thither from Paris. But the honourable and
friendly reception he met with there determined his stay
some years in his native city. In 1690, the persecution
which began to rage with great fury against protestants
made him suddenly relinquish all thoughts of a longer
abode in France. Having disposed of his house and land
for less than half their value, he retired first to Geneva,
intending to return to England through Germany; an intention generally kept in petto, but for many years unexpectedly thwarted by a variety of events. Great numbers
of his persuasion, encouraged by his liberality in defraying
their expences on the road to Geneva, had followed him
thither. Unwilling to abandon them in distress, he spent
several months in that city and Berne, whither great numbers had likewise taken refuge, in doing them all the service in his power. The harsh and gloomy aspect which
reformation at that time wore in Geneva, ill agreeing with
a temper naturally mild and cheerful, and the sullen treatment he met with from those of his profession, whose ignorance and selfishness his conduct and method of practice
tended to bring into disrepute, occasioned his stay there
to be very short. He listened therefore with pleasure to
the persuasion of a chief magistrate of Berne, who invited
him to a residence more suited to his mind. He passed
about 8 or 9 years at Berne, where to his constant practice
of physic was added the charge of a professorship of anatomy and chemistry. In 1699, Philip landgave of Hesse
sent for him to Cassel. The princess, who lay dangerously ill, was restored to life, but recovered strength very
slowly. Dr. Duncan was entertained for three years with
great respect, in the palace of the landgrave, as his domestic physician. During his stay at that court, he wrote
his treatise upon the abuse of hot liquors. The use of tea,
which had not long been introduced into Germany, and in
the houses of only the most opulent, was already at the
landgrave’s become improper and immoderate, as well as
that of coffee and chocolate. The princess of Hesse, with
a weak habit of body inclining to a consumption, had been
accustomed to drink these liquors to excess, and extremely
hot. He thought fit, therefore, to write something against
the abuse of them, especially the most common one last
mentioned. Their prudent use, to persons chiefly of a
phlegmatic constitution, he allowed. He even recommended them, in that case, by his own example, to be
taken moderately warm early in the morning, and soon
after dinner; but never late in the evening, their natural
tendency not agreeing with the posture of a body at rest.
He wrote this treatise in a popular style, as intended for
the benefit of all ranks of people; the abuse he condemned
growing daily more and more epidemical. Though he
deemed it too superficial for publication, he permitted it
to be much circulated in manuscript. It was not till five
years after that he was persuaded by his friend Dr. Boerhaave to print it, first in French, under the title of “Avis
salutaire a tout le monde, contre Tabus cles liqueurs chaudes,
& particulierement du caffe, du chocolat, & du the.
”
Rotterdam, J
on and elsewhere, with his mansion-house in Charterhouse church-yard, descended to sir Richard Dyer ( grandson of his elder brother John), whose grandson Ludowick, in 1653,
Leaving no issue by his wife Margaret, daughter of sir Maurice à Barrow, of Hampshire, and relict of the celebrated philologist sir Thomas Elyot, his estates at Stoughton and elsewhere, with his mansion-house in Charterhouse church-yard, descended to sir Richard Dyer (grandson of his elder brother John), whose grandson Ludowick, in 1653, sold Stoughton to sir Edward Coke of Derbyshire (from whom it is now, by purchase, vested in the family of Walter), and the line which, in 1627, was honoured with the title of Baronet, is now extinct, the last of the family dying in a state of extreme indigence.
sticiary, in 1194. After his death she supported the succession of John her son, in prejudice of her grandson Arthur. She died in 1202; though, according to some writers,
of Guienne, queen of France and England, was married in 1137, at the age of fifteen, to Louis VII. king of France, by whom she had two daughters, but, when she had accompanied him to Palestine, her intrigues with the prince of Antioch, and with a young handsome Turk named Saladin, led to a divorce in 1152. In the following year she married Henry duke of Normandy, who succeeded to the throne of England, in 1154, under the title of Henry II. and by his wile’s influence became a formidable rival to the French king. Eleanor at length became jealous of Henry with the fair Rosamond and this produced the rebellion of her sons against the king, whose unnatural conduct has been imputed wholly to her instigation. She was at length seized, and imprisoned, just as she was attempting to escape to France. In confinement she remained several years, but on the accession of Richard I. in 1189, she was set at liberty, and was when he went upon his crusade, made regent of the kingdom. The zeal which she manifested for this prince led her to considerable exertions on his behalf: she went to Navarre, to procure him, for a wife, Berengaria, daughter of the king of the country; and when Richard on his return from Palestine, was imprisoned in Germany, she proceeded thither with a ransom, accompanied by the chief justiciary, in 1194. After his death she supported the succession of John her son, in prejudice of her grandson Arthur. She died in 1202; though, according to some writers, she took the veil this year, at the abbey of Fontevrault, and there finished her busy and chequered life in 1204.
but Empedocles the tragedian was another person; Suidas, upon some unknown authority, calls him the grandson of the philosopher. Georgias Leontinus, a celebrated orator,
The skill which Empedocles possessed in medicine and
natural philosophy enabled him to perform many wonders,
which he passed upon the superstitious and credulous multitude for miracles. He pretended to drive away noxious
winds from his country, and hereby put a stop to epidemical diseases. He is said to have checked, by the power
of music, the madness of a young man, who was threatening his enemy with instant death; to have cured Pantha,
a woman of Agrigentum, whom all the physicians had declared incurable; to have restored a woman to life, who
had lain breathless for thirty days; and to have done many
other things equally astonishing, after the manner of Pythagoras: on account of which he was an object of universal admiration, so that when he came to the Olympic
games, the eyes of all the people were fixed upon him.
Besides medical skill, Empedocles possessed poetical talents. The fragments of his verses, which are dispersed
through various ancient writers, have been in part collected
by Henry Stephens, in the “Poesis philosophica,
” The
Golden Verses of Pythagoras.
” He is said also to have
been a dramatic poet; but Empedocles the tragedian was
another person; Suidas, upon some unknown authority,
calls him the grandson of the philosopher. Georgias Leontinus, a celebrated orator, was his pupil; whence it may
seem reasonable to infer, that he was an eminent master of
the art of eloquence. The particulars of his death are
variously related. Some report, that during the night,
after a sacred festival, he was conveyed away towards the
heavens, amidst the splendour of celestial light; others
that he threw himself into the burning crater of Mount
Etna. Much reliance cannot be placed on either of these
stories. There is more probability that towards the close
of his life he went into Greece, and died there, at what
time is uncertain. Aristotle says he died at sixty years of
age. The substance of his philosophy, according to Brucker, is this: It is impossible to judge of truth by the
senses without the assistance of reason; which is. led, by
the intervention of the senses, to the contemplation of the
real nature, and immutable essences, of things. The first
principles of nature are of two kinds, active and passive
the active is unity, or God the passive, matter. The
active principle is a subtle, ethereal fire, intelligent and
divine, which gives being to all things, and animates all
things, and into which all things will be at last resolved.
Many daemons, portions of the divine nature, wander
through the region of the air, and administer human affairs. Man, and also all brute animals, are allied to the
divinity; and it is therefore unlawful to kill or eat animals.
The world is one whole, circumscribed by the revolution
of the sun, and surrounded, not by a vacuum, but by a.
mass of inactive matter. The first material principles of
the four elements are similar atoms, indefinitely small, and
of a round form. Matter, thus divided into corpuscles,
possessed the primary qualities of friendship and discord,
by means of which, upon the first agitation of the original
chaotic mass, homogeneous parts were united, and heterogeneous separated, and the four elements composed, of
which all bodies are generated. The motion of the corpuscles, which excites the qualities of friendship and discord, is produced by the energy of intellectual fire, or
divine mind; all motion, and consequently all life and
being, must therefore be ascribed to God. The first principles of the elements are eternal nothing can begin to
exist, or be annihilated but all the varieties of nature are
produced by combination or separation. In the formation
of the world, ether was first secreted from chaos, then fire,
then earth; by the agitation of which were produced water
and air. The heavens are a solid body of air, crystallized
by fire. The stars are bodies composed of fire, they are
fixed in the crystal of heaven; but the planets wander
freely beneath it. The sun is a fiery mass, larger than the
moon, which is in the form of a hollow plate, and twice as
far from the sun as from the earth. The soul of man consists of two parts, the sensitive, produced from the same
principles with the elements; and the rational, which is a
daemon sprung from the divine soul of the world, and sent
down into the body as a punishment for its crimes in a former state, where it transmigrates till it is sufficiently purified to return to God.
, great grandson of the foregoing, and inheritor of the literary industry of
,
great grandson of the foregoing, and inheritor of the literary industry of his ancestor, was born at Lisbon in 1673.
He bore arms with distinguished merit; and obtained in
1735 the title of camp-master general and counsellor at
war. He died in 1743, in the seventieth year of his age,
member of the academy of Lisbon, of that of the arcades
of Rome, and of the royal society of London, to which last
he was admitted in 1738, and was then director of the
royal academy of history in Portugal. He did not put on
the airs of a man of quality among the learned, but was
easy, “polite, and communicative. Pope Benedict XIII.
honoured him with a brevet; the king of France made
him a present of the catalogue of his library, and 21
Volumes of engravings, The academy of St. Petersburg
addressed its memoirs to him; several writers of France,
England, Italy, &c. paid him the compliment of their
works. His ancestors had left him a select and numerous
library, which he augmented with 15,Ooo volumes and
1000 manuscripts. He marked his literary career by upwards of a hundred different publications. The most
known of them are, 1.
” Memoirs on the value of the
Coins of Portugal, from the commencement of the monarchy,“1738, 4to. 2.
” Reflections on academical studies.“3.
” Fifty-eight Parallels of illustrious men, and
twelve of illustrious women.“4.
” The Henriade, an
Heroic Poem, with observations on the rules to be observed
in Epic Poetry," 1741, 4to. Among his manuscripts were
found a quantity of essays on the number 22, on occasion
of the 22 sorts of Roman coins presented to the king, and
dug up at Lisbon the 22d of October 1711, on which day
that prince completed his 22d year; and from these accidental circumstances, he proves the number 22 to be the
most perfect of all. Such puerilities are sometimes found
in otherwise judicious heads.
ceeded by sir Frederick Evelyn, on whose death, in 1812, the title descended to Mr. John Evelyn, the grandson of Charles, a younger son of the first baronet of the Wotton
, third son of the former, was born at his
father’s house at Sayes-court, near Deptford, January 14,
1654-5, and was there very tenderly educated in his infancy, being considered (after the death of his brother Richard Evelyn, January 27, 1657, who, though but five years of age, was esteemed a kind of prodigy) as the heir
of the family. He was likewise universally admired for
the pregnancy of his parts, of which he gave a pleasing
proof in a Latin letter written to his father in Dec. 1665,
and which induced his father to send him in 1666 to Oxford, where he remained in the house of the ingenious and
learned Dr. Ralph Bathurst, then president of Trinity-college, before he was admitted a gentleman-commoner, which
was in Easter term 1663. It is not clear at what time he
left Oxford; but Mr. Wood seems to be positive that he took
no degree there, but returned to his father’s house, where
he prosecuted his studies under the directions of that great
man. There is, however, good reason to believe that it
was during his residence in Trinity-college, and when he
was not above fifteen years of age, that he wrote that elegant Greek poem which is prefixed to the second edition
of the Sylva, and is a noble proof of the strength of his
genius, and wonderful progress in learning in the early
part of his life. In Nov. 1675, he set out for Paris with
lord Berkley, ambassador to the French court; and in May
1676, returned to England. He discovered his proficiency
soon afterwards, both in the learned and modern languages,
by his elegant translations, as well as his intimate acquaintance with the muses, in some original poems which were
very justly admired. If we consider the father’s turn of
mind, we need not wonder that he should employ his pen
first upon gardening, especially in the easy way of translation, and from a book so justly as well as generally admired as the French Jesuit’s has ever been. The title of
our author’s little treatise was, 1. “Of gardens, four
books, first written in Latin verse, by Renatus Rapinus;
and now made English by John Evelyn, esq.
” Sylva,
” and it must be allowed that the sense is very
faithfully rendered, and the poetry is more easy and harmonious than could have been expected from a youth of
his age. 2. “The life of Alexander the great,
” translated from the Greek of Plutarch, printed in the fourth
volume of Plutarch’s lives by several hands. 3. “The history of the grand visiers, Mahomet and Achmet Coprogli;
of the three last grand signiors, their sultanas, and chief
favourites; with the most secret intrigues of the seraglio,
”
&c. Lond. 1677, 8vo. This was a translation from the
French, and has been esteemed an entertaining and instructive history. Our author wrote also several poems
occasionally, of which two are printed in Dryden’s Miscellanies, and more are in Nichols’s Collection of Poems.
The one entitled “On virtue,
” has been esteemed excellent in its kind by the best judges and the other, styled
“The remedy of love,
” has been also much admired. On
Feb. 24, 1679-80, he married Martha, daughter and coheiress of Richard Spenser, esq. Turkey merchant, whose
widow married sir John Stonehouse, of Radley, in Berks,
bart. Mr. Evelyn, who had a turn for business as well as
study, and had been introduced to the prince of Orange
in 1688, was in 1690 made one of the chief clerks of the
treasury, and quitting that situation in 1691, became one
of the commissioners of the revenue in Ireland, which
country he visited in 1692. He would probably have been
advanced to higher employments if he had not been cut
off in thd flower of his age, dying at his house in Berkeleystreet, London, March 24, 1698, in the forty-fifth year of
his age. He had by his wife two sons and three daughters.
His eldest son, Richard, -died an infant at Sayes-court, as
did his eldest daughter Martha Mary. His second daughter, Elizabeth, married Simon Harcourt, esq. eldest son
and heir of Simon lord viscount Harcourt, lord high chancellor of Great Britain, by whom she became mother to
the first earl Harcourt. Jane, his third daughter, died an
infant at his house in the parish of St. Martin’s in the fields,
and was interred at Kensington. John Evelyn, his second
and only surviving son, born at Sayes-court, March 2,
1681, succeeded to his grandfather’s estate. He was married at Lambeth chapel, September 18,- 1705, to Anne,
daughter of Edward Boscawen, of Worthivil, co. Cornwall, esq. He was by letters-patent bearing date July 30,
1713, created a baronet. This worthy gentleman, who inherited the virtue and learning as well as the patrimony of
his ancestors, made several alterations and additions to the
family-seat at Wotton, in 1717, one of which was the
erecting a beautiful library, forty-five feet long, fourteen
feet broad, and as many high, for the reception of that
large ajtd curious collection of books made by his grandfather, his father, and himself, and where they still remain. He was long one of the commissioners of the
customs, a fellow of the royal society, and was succeeded by
his eldest son, John, who dying in 1767, was succeeded
by sir Frederick Evelyn, on whose death, in 1812, the
title descended to Mr. John Evelyn, the grandson of
Charles, a younger son of the first baronet of the Wotton
branch.
tory, was the son of C. Fabius Pictor, who was consul with Ogulnius Callus in the year 271 B. C. and grandson of the Fabius who painted the temple of health, from whom this
, a Roman historian, the first prose writer on the subject of Roman history, was the son of C. Fabius Pictor, who was consul with Ogulnius Callus in the year 271 B. C. and grandson of the Fabius who painted the temple of health, from whom this branch of the family obtained the name of Pictor. He was nearly related to the preceding Fabius, and after the battle of Cannae was sent to the Delphic oracle to inquire by what supplications the gods might be appeased. He wrote the history of this war with Hannibal, and is cited by Livy as authority in it. The fragments of his annals that remain in the works of the ancients, whether in Greek or Latin, for he wrote in both, relate chiefly to the antiquities of Italy, the beginnings of Rome, or the acts of the Romans. He is censured by Polybius, as too partial to the Romans, and not even just to the Carthaginians. His style was doubtless that of his age, unformed, and imperfect. An history, circulated as his, consisting of two books, one on the golden age, the other on the origin of Rome, is now known to have been a forgery of Annius of Viterbo,
war, and of Louisa de la Brosse, niece of Guy de la Brosse, physician in ordinary to Louis XIII. and grandson of a physician in ordinary to Henry IV. He studied first in
, an eminent French physician in the reign of Louis XIV. was born at Paris, May
11, 1638. He was the son of Henry Fagon, commissioner
in ordinary of war, and of Louisa de la Brosse, niece of
Guy de la Brosse, physician in ordinary to Louis XIII.
and grandson of a physician in ordinary to Henry IV. He
studied first in the Sorbonne, under M. Gillot, an eminent
doctor, with whom he resided as student, and who persuaded him to chuse the medical profession. M. Fagon
never forgot M. Gillot in his highest prosperity; but, if he
met him in the street, alighted from his coach, and conducted him to the house where he was going. This young
physician had scarcely begun to dispute, when he ventured
to maintain, in a thesis, the circulation of the blood, which
was at that time held as a paradox among the old doctors;
and also another on the use of tobacco, published long
afterwards; “An frequens Nicotian ye usus vitam
abbreviet,
” Paris, 1699, 4to. He took his doctor’s degree 1664,
M. Vallot wishing to repair and replenish the royal garden,
M. Fagon offered his services; and going, at his own
expence, to Auvergne, Languedoc, Provence, the Alps,
and the Pyrenees, returned with an ample collection of
curious and useful plants. He had the principal share in
the catalogue of the plants in that garden, puhlished 1665,
entitled “Hortus Regius,
” to which he prefixed a little
Latin poem of his own. M. Fagon was made professor of
botany and chemistry at the royal garden, and began to
have the plants engraved; but there are only forty -five
plates finished, which are very scarce. The king appointed
bim first physician to the dauphiness in 1680, and to the
queen some months after. In 1693 he was made first physician to the king, and superintendant of the royal garden
in 1698, to which he retired after the king’s death, and,
for the improvement of which, he persuaded Louis XIV.
to send M. de Tournfort into Greece, Asia, and Egypt,
which produced the scientific voyage so well known to the
learned world. Fagon died March 11, 1718, aged near
eighty. The academy of sciences had chosen him an
honorary member in 1699. He left “Les Qualités du
Quinquina,
” Paris,
ter; the first the son, and the second one of the grandsons of Mr. Farmer’s great patron. To another grandson, the rev. Robert Jacomb, our author bequeathed his library,
As a minister Mr. Farmer received every mark of honour from the dissenters which it was in their power to bestow. For a great number of years he preached twice a day at Walthamstow: but, an associate being at length provided for him at that place, he became in 1761 afternoonpreacher to the congregation of Salters-hall, and some time after was chosen one of the Tuesday-lecturers at Salters-hall. He was also a trustee of the rev. Dr. Daniel Williams’ s various bequests; and he was likewise one of Mr. Coward’s trustees; in which capacity he became a dispenser of the large charities that had been left by the gentleman with whom he had been connected in early life. As Mr. Farmer advanced in years, he gradually remitted of his employments as a divine. He resigned first, in 1772, the being afternoon-preacher at Salters-hall; after which, in 1780, he gave up the Tuesday lectureship of the same place. In his pastoral relation at Walthamstow he continued a few years longer, when he quitted the pulpit entirely. In these several cases his resignations were accepted with peculiar regret. After he had ceased to be a preacher, it was his general custom to spend part of the winter at Bath. Early in 1785, Mr. Farmer was afflicted with almost a total failure of sight, which, however, was restored by the skill, first of Baron Wenzel, and afterwards of Mr. Wathen. Infirmities, however, growing upon him, he departed this life on the 6th of February, 1787, in the seventy-third year of his age, and was buried in Walthamstow church-yard, in the same grave with his friends Mr. and Mrs. Snell. On Sunday, the 18th, his funeral sermon was preached by Mr. Urvvick, of Clapham, whose discourse was printed. In his last will, besides providing handsomely for his relations, and remembering his servants, he left a hundred pounds to the fund for the widows of dissenting ministers, and forty pounds to the poor of Walthamstow parish. His regard to the family with which he had so long been connected, and to which he had been so peculiarly obliged, was testified by his bequeathing pecuniary legacies to every member of that family. Smaller legacies were left by him to others of his friends. His executors were William Snell, esq. of Clapham, and William Hood, esq. of Chancery-lane, barrister; the first the son, and the second one of the grandsons of Mr. Farmer’s great patron. To another grandson, the rev. Robert Jacomb, our author bequeathed his library, with the exception of such classic books as Mr. Snell might select; who also was a residuary legatee, in conjunction with his sister, Mrs. Hood. In this will he also made his request (for that is the term used), that his executors would burn his sermons and manuscripts, unless he should direct otherwise by a separate paper; and, in case they should not do it, the legacies of a hundred pounds each, which he had left them, were to be null and void. He had nearly completed a second volume on the demonology of the ancients; a curious dissertation on the story of Balaam, which he had transcribed for the press, and for the printing of which he had given his directions, and had made preparations for a second edition of his Treatise on Miracles, by which it would have been considerably enlarged, and highly improved; all which were destroyed, as, in the opinion of the executors, coming within the intent of his will. His biographer laments bitterly this undistinguishing destruction, which, indeed, seems rather too much to resemble what happened in Don Quixote’s library.
, son of Isaac, and grandson of the preceding Manasses de Pas, was born in 1648, but did
, son
of Isaac, and grandson of the preceding Manasses de Pas,
was born in 1648, but did not greatly signalize himself by
his military talents till he was forty years old, when, in Germany, he performed so extraordinary services, at the head
of only 1000 horse, that in the ensuing year, 1689, he was
advanced to the rank of mareschal-de-camp. He then distinguished himself greatly in Italy, and was promoted to
be a lieutenant-general in 1693, in which capacity he
served till his death in 1711. Before his death he wrote
to solicit the protection of Louis XIV. for his only son, and
was successful in his application. The marquis of Feuquieres was an excellent officer, of great theoretical knowledge, but of a severe and censorious turn, and rendered
not the less so by being disappointed of the mareschal*s
staff. It was said by the wits, “that he was evidently the
boldest man in Europe, since he slept among 100,000 of
his enemies,
” meaning his soldiers, with whom he was no
favourite. His “Memoirs,
” are extant in 4to, and in four
volumes 12mo. They contain the history of the generals
of Louis XIV. and except that the author sometimes misrepresents, for the sake of censuring, are esteemed as
among the best books on the art military. The clearness
of the style, the variety of the facts, the freedom of the
reflections, and the sagacity of the observations, render
these Memoirs well worthy of the attention, not only of
officers, but of all enlightened students and politicians.
, great grandson of the former, was born at Dijon in 1710, and educated to the
, great grandson of the former, was born at Dijon in 1710, and educated to the profession of the law. By distinguishing himself in some great causes, he obtained a pension from the
government. He laboured for several years in the publication of a new edition of Le Long’s “Bibliothe*que Historique de la France,
” and compiled so much matter as to
extend that work from a single volume in folio, to four
vast folios, besides a fifth containing indexes, &c. At
the time of his death, which happened in 1772, he was a
member of the French academy of Belles-lettres, and director of the university of Dijon. He was a man pleasing
in society, and of much zeal, both literary and patriotic.
He lived to see only two volumes of his edition of Le Long
published. The rest were edited by Barbeau de Bruyere.
earl of Desmond, and brother to William third earl of Denbigh, nephew to Basil the second earl, and grandson to William, who was first raised to the peerage. Edmund Fielding
, beyond all comparison the first
novel-writer of this country, was born at Sharpham Park
in Somersetshire, April 22, 1707. His father, Edmund
Fielding, esq. was the third son of John Fielding, D. D.
canon of Salisbury, who was the fifth son of George earl
of Desmond, and brother to William third earl of Denbigh, nephew to Basil the second earl, and grandson to
William, who was first raised to the peerage. Edmund
Fielding served under the duke of Maryborough, and towards the close of king George the First’s reign, or the
accession of George II. was promoted to the rank of a
lieutenant-general. His mother was daughter to the first
judge Gould, and aunt to sir Henry Gould, lately one of
the judges of the common pleas. This lady, besides Henry,
who seems to have been the eldest, had four daughters,
and another son named Edmund, who was an officer in the
sea-service. Afterwards, in consequence of his father’s
second marriage, Fielding had six half-brothers, George,
James, Charles, John, William, and Basil. Of these nothing memorable is recorded, except of John, who will be
the subject of a subsequent article as will also Sarah, the
sister of Henry Fielding. His father died in 1740.
Henry Fielding received the first rudiments of his education at home, under the care of the rev. Mr. Oliver, for
whom he seems to have had no great regard, as he is said
to have designed a portrait of him in the very humorous
yet unfavourable character of parson Tralliber, in his “Joseph Andrews.
” From this situation he was removed to
Eton school, where he had an opportunity of cultivating a
very early intimacy and friendship with several young men
who afterwards became conspicuous personages in the
kingdom, such as lord Lyttelton, Mr. Fox, Mr. Pitt, sir
Charles Hanbury Williams, &c. who ever through life retained a warm regard for him. But these were not the
only advantages he reaped at that great seminary of education; for, by an assiduous application to study, and the
possession of strong and peculiar talents, he became, before he left that school, uncommonly versed in Greek
authors, and a master of the Latin classics. Thus accomplished, at about eighteen years of age he left Eton, and
went to Leyden, where he studied under the most celebrated civilians for about two years, when, the remittances
from England not coming so regularly as at first, he was
obliged to return to London.
, grandson of sir Anthony, and a very ingenious and learned man, was born
, grandson of sir Anthony, and a very ingenious and learned man, was born in the county of Stafford, in 1552; and sent to either Exeter or Lincoln-college, in Oxford, in 1568. But having been bred a catholic, the college was uneasy to him; and though he would now and then hear a sermon, which was permitted him by an old Roman priest, who lived privately in Oxford, and to whom he recurred for instruction in matters of religion, yet he would seldom go to prayers, for which he was often admonished by the sub -rector of the house. At length, seeming to be wearied with the heresy of the times, as he called it, he receded without a degree to his patrimony: where also refusing to go to his parish church, he was imprisoned about 1572; but being soon set at liberty, he became still more zealous in his religion, maintaining publicly, that catholics ought not to go to protestant churches; for which, being like to suffer, he withdrew, and lived obscurely with his wife and family. In 1580, when the Jesuits Campian and Parsons came into England, he went to London, found them out, was exceedingly attached to them, and supplied them liberally: by which, bringing himself into dangers and difficulties, he went a voluntary exile into France, in 1582, where he solicited the cause of Mary queen of Scots, but in yam. After the death of that princess, and of his own wife, he left France, and went to Madrid, in order to implore the protection of Philip II.; but, upon the defeat of the armada, in 1588, he left Spain, and accompanied the duke of Feria to Milan. This duke had formerly been in England with king Philip, had married an English lady, and was justly esteemed a great patron of the English in Spain. Fitzherbert continued at Milan some time, and thence went to Rome; where, taking a lodging near the English college, he attended prayers as regularly as the residents there, and spent the rest of his time in writing books. He entered into the society of Jesus in 1614, and received priest’s orders much about the same time; after which he speedily removed into Flanders, to preside over the mission there, and continued at Brussels about two years. His great parts, extensive and polite learning, together with the high esteem that he had gained by his prudent behaviour at Brussels, procured him the government, with the title of rector, of the P^nglish college at Rome. This office he exercised for twenty-two years, vrith unblemished credit, during which time he is said to have been often named for a cardinal’s hat. He died there, Aug. 27, 1G40, in his eighty-eighth year, and was interred in the chapel belonging to the English college.
, grandson also to sir Anthony Fitzherbert, and cousin to Thomas, was born
, grandson also to sir Anthony Fitzherbert, and cousin to Thomas, was born about
1550, and became a student of Exeter college in Oxford.
About 1572, be left his native country, parents, and patrimony, for religion, as a voluntary exile. At first he
settled at Bologna in Italy, 'to obtain the knowledge of the
civil law, and was there in 1580. Not long after he went
to Rome, and in 1587 began to live, as his secretary, in
the family of William Alan, the cardinal of England. He
continued with him till his death, after having distinguished
himself by his knowledge in the laws, and in polite literature. He was unfortunately drowned, 1612, in a journey
he made from Rome. He published the following pieces:
1. “Casao Galataei de bonis moribus,
” Oxoniensis in Anglia Academiae Descriptio,
” De Antiquitate et Continuatione
Catholicse Religionis in Anglia,
” Vitse Cardinalis Alani Epitome,
”
he sole merit of preferring you.” Louis XIV. a little before he died, appointed him preceptor to his grandson, in which office he succeeded Bossuet and Fenelon. In 1726 he
, the celebrated cardinal of that name, was born in 1653, at Lodeve in Languedoc, but was brought to Paris at the age of six, and
there educated for the church. He distinguished himself
in the progress of his studies; and when he began to mix
with the world, appeared there with the natural advantages of a handsome figure, pleasing address, and wellmanaged wit. His first preferment was that of a canon of
Montpellier; he was also a doctor of the Sorbonne. But
his friends becoming numerous, much interest was made
for him, and in 1698, Louis XIV. named him bishop of
Frejus. “I have made you wait a long time,
” said the
king, “but you have so many friends, that I was determined to stay till I could have the sole merit of preferring
you.
” Louis XIV. a little before he died, appointed him
preceptor to his grandson, in which office he succeeded
Bossuet and Fenelon. In 1726 he was made cardinal, and
soon after advanced to the place of prime-minister. He
was then turned seventy. Yet the weight of this active:
post did not alarm him; and, to the age of ninety, he
manifested a mind in full vigour, and capable of conducting affairs. From 1726 to 1740, every thing prospered.
He commenced and brought to a glorious conclusion for
his country, the war for the succession in Spain; and he
added Lorraine to the French territory. In the war which
commenced in 174-0 he was not so fortunate; and in 1743
he died, full of grief for a succession of misfortunes, of
which the nation reproached him as the author. A too
rigid attention to economy had led him to neglect the marine of his country; and the successes of England by sea
completed the evil which had been thus begun. We was
of a mild and tranquil character, a lover of peace, and
not a man to make himself feared. He governed, says
Millot, if not like a sublime genius who executes great
things, at least like a prudent man, who accommodates his
plans to circumstances, prefers essential to specious adVantages, and regards tranquillity and order as the foundation of public happiness. He had neither the pride of
Richelieu, nor the avarice of Mazarin. No minister could
be less costly to the state; his income did not amount tq
five thousand pounds sterling a year, one half of which
was employed in secret acts of benevolence. In the state
of disorder to which the profusion of Louis XIV. had reduced the finances of France, it was happy for that country
to have such a minister as Fleury, whose pacific turn counterbalanced the impetuosity of Villars, which would continually have plunged the country in new wars.
g survive this laborious undertaking: he died in 1595, and his talents were inherited by his son and grandson, who successively filled his station as physician at Metz.
, a celebrated physician, was bofti
at Mentz, in 1528, and educated at Paris, where he acquired a taste for the works of the Greek physicians, under
ins preceptors Houllier and Goupile, who facilitated his
progress in that course of study, by procuring books and
Mss. for his perusal and under whose direction he copied some very ancient manuscripts of Hippocrates from
the library of Fontainbleau and the Vatican, but his narrow circumstances obliged him to return for practice to
Mentz about 1556 or 7, where his reputation became so
great, even in distant provinces, that several princes endeavoured by promises of great honour and emolument,
to draw him from his native place; but his attachment to
it was immoveable. During his practice, he found leisure
to peruse the works of Hippocrates, in which he thought
he discovered the most important observations relative to
diseases, and the most correct delineation of their nature
and progress. This produced his first work, printed at
Basil in 1650, entitled “Hippocratis Coi Liber secundus
de morbis vulgaribus, difficillimus et pulcherrimus: olim
a Galeno Commentariis illustratus qui temporis injurid, interciderunt; nunc vero pene in integrum restitutus Commentariis sex, et Latinitate donatus,
” 8vo. In the following year he published a “Pharmacopeia medicamentorum omnium, quie hodie ad publica medentium munia
in officinis extant, tractationem et usum ex antiquorum
Medicorum pnescripto continens,
” Basilea), GEconomia Hippocratis alphabet! serie distincta, in qua dictionum apud Hippocratem omnium, pra?jsertim obscurionnn, usus explicatur, et velut ex amplissimo penu depromitur: ita ut Lexicon Hippocraticum
merito dici possit,
” Francofurti, Magni Hippocratis, Medicorum omnium facile Principis,
Opera omnia Cjiub extant, in octo sectiones ex Erotiani
uiente distributa: nunc recens Latina interpretatione et
aiinotationibus iliustrata,
” folio, Francofurti, 1593, &c.
Geneva;, 1657. Foesius did not long survive this laborious undertaking: he died in 1595, and his talents were
inherited by his son and grandson, who successively filled
his station as physician at Metz.
trologer, was born at Quidham, near Wilton, in Wiltshire, Dec. 30, 1552, of a good family, being the grandson of sir Thomas Forman, of Leeds, and great grandson of another
, a celebrated astrologer, was born
at Quidham, near Wilton, in Wiltshire, Dec. 30, 1552,
of a good family, being the grandson of sir Thomas Forman, of Leeds, and great grandson of another sir Thomas
Forman. As an introduction to his astrological history, we
are told that, at six years old and after, he was much
troubled “with strong dreams and visions.
” His education at Salisbury was of a very humble kind, his master
being only able to teach him English, and something of
the accidence. From him he was sent to the free school at
Salisbury, where he continued two years. His next preceptor was one Minterne, a prebendary of the cathedral,
of whom we are only informed that he used to carry his
wood from place to place in winter to warm himself, and
made Simon do the same, “so gaining heat without fire.
”
In 1563 Ford’s father died, a very unfortunate event, for
his mother not caring for him, made him keep sheep, and
plow, and pick up sticks. At the age of fourteen, however, he became apprentice to a dealer in grocery and
drugs at Salisbury, and acquired some knowlege of the
latter, which he endeavoured to improve by books, but his
master would not let him read. Yet such was his avidity
to learn, that his master having a young boarder in the
house who wept to school at Salisbury, Ford learned of
him what he had been taught in school, although that was.
but little. ~At length, in consequence of a quarrel with
his master’s wife, he obtained leave to quit his service,
and went again to school for about eight weeks, applying
very diligently to his books until his “illnatured and
clownish mother
” refused to maintain him. At length,
when in his eighteenth year, he became schoolmaster at
the priory of St. Giles’s, and by teaching thirty boys for
half a year, scraped together forty shillings. With this,
accompanied by an old schoolfellow, he travelled on foot
to Oxford, and became a poor scholar of Magdalen college, being partly maintained by a bachelor of arts; but
this person employed him in so many menial employments
during his college frolics, that he left the university after
two years’ residence.
, count of Belle-Isle, more known by the name of marechal Bellisle, grandson of the preceding, was born in 1684. Politics and history attracted
, count of
Belle-Isle, more known by the name of marechal Bellisle,
grandson of the preceding, was born in 1684. Politics and
history attracted his attention from his very infancy, to
which studies he afterwards added that of mathematics.
He had hardly finished his education when Louis XIV. gave
him a regiment of dragoons. He signalized himself at the
siege of Lisle, received other steps of promotion, and at
the peace returned to court, where the king entirely forgot
the faults of the grandfather in the merits of his descendant.
When war again broke out, after the death of Louis XIV.
he proceeded to distinguish himself, but a change of
ministry put a check to his career. He shared the disgrace of the minister Le Blanc, was for a time im-prisoned
in the Bastile, and then banished to his own estate. In
this retreat he composed a complete justification of himself, was recalled to court, and from that time experienced
only favour, fortune, and promotion. In the war of 1733,
he obtained a principal command in Flanders, distinguished
himself before Philipsburg, and commanded during the
rest of the campaign in Germany. In 1735 he was decorated with the order of the Holy Ghost, and was the confidential adviser of the minister, cardinal Fleury. About
this time, taking advantage of an interval of peace, he
wrote memoirs of all the countries in which he had served:
but on the death of the emperor Charles VI. in 1740, he
urged the cardinal to declare war. Ambition prompted
this advice, and his ambition was not long without gratification. In 1741, he was created marechal of France. The
witlings attacked him on his elevation, but he despised
their efforts: “These rhymers,
” said he, “would gain
their ends, should I do them the honour to be angry.
” At
the election of the emperor in 1742, marechal Bellisle was
plenipotentiary of France at the diet of Francfort, where
his magnificence was no less extraordinary than the extent
of his influence in the diet. He appeared rather as a principal elector than an ambassador, and secured the election
of Charles VII. Soon after, by the desertion of the Prussians and Saxons, the marechal found himself shut up in
Prague, and with great difficulty effected a retreat. He
was obliged to march his army over the ice, and three
thousand troops left in Prague were compelled to surrender,
though with honour. On his return to Francfort, Charles
VII. presented him with the order of the golden fleece,
having already declared him a prince of the empire. In
December 1743, as he was going again into Germany, he
was taken prisoner at Elbingerode, a small town encircled
by the territory of Hanover, and was carried into England,
where he remained till August 1744. He then served
against the Austrians in Provence; and, returning to Versailles to plan the campaign of 1748, was created a peer
of France. He had enjoyed the title of duke of Gisors,
from 1742. Afterthe peace in 1743, his influence at
court continued to increase, and in 1757 he became prime
minister; but in this situation he lived only four years;
falling a victim, it is said, to his application to business,
his sorrow for the misfortunes of France, and his anxious
cares to extricate her from them. This patriotic character
coincides with other anecdotes related of him. Having
lost his brother, whom he tenderly loved, at a very critical
period of public affairs, he suppressed his private grief as
soon as possible, saying, “I have no brother; but I have
a country, let me exert myself to save her.
” He died in
January, 1761, at the age of 77.
which they rise to superior stations. He died October 16, 1772, leaving two daughters married, and a grandson, his son’s child. This son died before Frezier, on board a king’s
, or probably Frazer, (Amadeus Francis),
was born at Chamberri, 1682, descended from a distinguished family of the robe, originally of Scotland. He
was intended for the office of magistrate, but his family,
in compliance with his inclination, permitted him to go
into the military service, from which he entered the corps
of engineer! in 1707. He was sent by the court, in 1711,
to examine the Spanish colonies at Peru and Chili; and
employed his talents for fortifications at St. Malo, at St.
Domingo 1719, and at Landau 1728, in which year he
also received the cross of St. Louis, and married. Frezier
was afterwards employed in Bretany, but rose no higher
than the rank of lieutenant-colonel, the various commissions in which he had been engaged having prevented his
being present at more than two sieges; and the number of
sieges at which the officers of engineers have been present, are the steps by which they rise to superior stations.
He died October 16, 1772, leaving two daughters married, and a grandson, his son’s child. This son died before Frezier, on board a king’s ship, in the storm of 1768,
which sunk him with all his property. His works are,
“Tr. des Feux d‘ Artifice/’ 1747, 8vo.
” Voyage de la
Mer du Sud,“1716, 4to.
” Theorie et Pratique de la
Coupe des Pierres et des Bois,“Strasburg, 1769, 3 vols.
4 to; an abridgment of this work, by the title of
” Eleinens
de Stereotomie," Paris, 1759, 2 vols. 8vo.
glish poet, was the son of a gentleman, who had been post-master in the reign of queen Anne, and the grandson of sir Philip Frowde,a loyal officer in king Charles I.'s army.
, an English poet, was the son of a
gentleman, who had been post-master in the reign of queen
Anne, and the grandson of sir Philip Frowde,a loyal officer
in king Charles I.'s army. He was sent to the university of
Oxford, where he had the honour of being distinguished
by Addison, who took him under his protection. While
be remained there be became the author of several pieces
of poetry, some of which, in Latin, were pure and elegant
enough to entitle them to a place in the “Muse Anglicanae.
” He wrote likewise two tragedies: “The Fall of
Saguntum,
” dedicated to sir Robert Walpole; and “Philotas,
” addressed to the earl of Chesterfield. Neither of
these were very successful on the stage, to which they were
thought less adapted than to the closet. He died at his
lodgings in Cecil-street in the Strand, Dec. 19, 1738; and
in the London Daily-Post had the following character
given him': “Though the elegance of Mr. Frowde’s writings has recommended him to the general public esteem,
the politeness of his genius is the least amiable part of his
character; for he esteemed the talents of wit and learning,
only as they were conducive to the excitement and practice
of honour and humanity. Therefore, with a soul chearful,
benevolent, and virtuous, he was in conversation genteelly
delightful, in friendship punctually sincere, in death Chnstianly resigned. No man could live more beloved; no
private man could die more lamented.
”
Telepta, or Tellepte, about the year 468. He was of an illustrious family, the son of Claudius, and grandson of Gordianus, a senator of Carthage. Claudius dying early, left
, an ecclesiastical writer, was borti at Telepta, or Tellepte, about the year 468. He was of an illustrious family, the son of Claudius, and grandson of Gordianus, a senator of Carthage. Claudius dying early, left his son, then very young, to the care of his widow Mariana. He was properly educated in the knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages, and made such progress in his studies, that while yet a boy he could repeat all Homer, and spoke Greek with fluency and purity. As soon as he was capable of an employment he was made procurator or receiver of the revenues of his province. But this situation displeased him, because of the rigour he was forced to use in levying taxes; and therefore, notwithstanding the tears and dissuasions of his mother, he left the world, and took the monastic vows under Faustus, a bishop persecuted by the Arian faction, who had founded a monastery in that neighbourhood. The continued persecutions of the Arians soon separated him and Faustus; and not long after, the incursions of the Moors obliged him to retire into the country of Sicca, where he was whipped and imprisoned. Afterwards he resolved to go into Egypt; but in his voyage was dissuaded by Eulalius bishop of Syracuse, because the monks of the East had separated from the catholic church. He consulted also a bishop of Africa, who had retired into Sicily; and this bishop advised him to return to his own country, after he had made a journey to Rome. King Theodoric was in that city when he arrived there, which was in the year 500. After he had visited the sepulchres of the apostles he returned to his own country, where he built a monastery.
97. He was possessed of a considerable estate at Scruten, in Yorkshire, now in the possession of his grandson Henry Gale, esq. and represented North Allerton, in that county,
, esq. F. R. and A. Ss. eldest son of the preceding, was born in 1672, and was educated under his father at St. Paul’s school, whence he was admitted of Trinity-college, Cambridge, 1691, made scholar of 'that house 1693, and afterwards fellow (being then B. A.) in 1697. He was possessed of a considerable estate at Scruten, in Yorkshire, now in the possession of his grandson Henry Gale, esq. and represented North Allerton, in that county, in 1705, 1707, 1706, and 1710. His name was added to the commissioners of stamp duties, Dec. 20, 1714, and was continued in a subsequent commission, May 4, 1715-, and he was appointed a commissioner of excise Dec. 24 of the same year. In this he continued uutii 1735, when he was wantonly displaced by sir Robert Waipole, for which no other reason was assigned than that sir Robert wanted to provide for one of his friends, an act of arbitrary tyranny which cannot be too severely condemned. Mr. Gale was the first vice-president of the society of antiquaries; and when that learned body, in 1721, proposed to collect accounts of all the ancient coins relative to Great Britain and its dominions, Mr. Gale undertook the Reman series, and his brother Samuel the Danish. Though he was considered as one of the most learned men of his fege, he only published the following books:
antiquaries, of his time; and the late Mr. George Allan of Darlington possessed, by the gift of his grandson, a large collection of letters to and from him, the principal
1. “Antonini Iter Britanniarum Commentariis illnstratutn Thomae Gale, S, T. P. nuper Decani Ebor. Opus posthumum revisit, auxit, edidit R. G. Accessit Anonymi Ravennatis Britannia; Chorographia, cum amographo Regis
Galliae Mss. & cociice Vaticano collata adjiciuntur
conjecturse plurimae, cum nominibus locorum Anglicis, quotquot iis assignari potuerint,
” Lond. 1709, 4to. In the
preface to this book, Mr. Gale very properly points out what
parts of it were his father’s and what his own. Mr. Gough
had, among the books which he bequeathed to the Bodleian library, three copies of this edition, enriched with
many valuable ms notes by Mr. Roger Gale, Nicholas
Man, esq. and Dr. Abraham Francke, fellow of Trintycollege, Cambridge, and rector of West Dene in Wiltshire, 1728; and a fourth with ms various readings from
the two Mss. whence H. Stephens first printed this Itinerary . 2. “The Knowledge of Medals, or Instructions
for those who apply themselves to the study of Medals
both ancient and modern, by F. Jobert,
” translated from
the French, of which two editions were published without
his name; one of them in 1697, the other in 1715, 8vo.
3. “Registrum Honoris de Richmond,
” Lond. Remarks on a Roman Inscription found at Lanchester,
” in
the Philosophical Transactions, vol. XXX. p. 823 and in
vol. XLIII. p. 265, extracts of two of his letters to Mr.
Peter Collinson, F. R. S. concerning “the vegetation of
melon seeds 33 years old,
” and of “a fossil skeleton of a
man found at Lathkill-dale near Bakewell, in the county
of Derby,
” dated in 1743 and 174-1-f. “Explanation of a
Roman altar found at Castle Steeds in Cumberland,
” in
Gent. Mag. vol. XII. p. 135. In Horsley’s “Britannia
Romana,
” p. An Account of a
Roman Inscription found at Chichester. By Roger Gale,
esq.
” “Observations on an Inscription at Spello, by Fred.
Passarini and Roger Gale, esq.
” are printed in the Archaeologia, vol. II. p. 25. He presented to Mr. Drake’s History
of York a plate of a beautiful little bronze female bust,
which he supposed to be a Lucretia, found at York, and
in his possession, engraved by Vertue. To him also Mr.
Drake acknowledges himself obliged for a discovery that
fixes the building of the Chapter-house at York to
archbishop Grey. He died at Scruton, June 25, 1744, in
his 72d year, universally esteemed, and much lamented
by all his acquaintance; and left all his Mss. by will to
Trinity-college, Cambridge, of which he was once fellow,
and his cabinet of Roman coins to the public library there,
with a complete catalogue of them drawn up by himself,
of which Mr. Nichols printed twenty copies in 1780, for
the use of particular friends. His correspondence included
all the eminent antiquaries, of his time; and the late Mr.
George Allan of Darlington possessed, by the gift of his
grandson, a large collection of letters to and from him,
the principal of which are printed in the “Reliquiae Galeanae,
” as a valuable addition to antiquarian literature.
The originals are still in the possession of Henry Gale,
esq. The “Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica,
” No. II.
contains many other fragments and notices of the labours
of Mr. Gale.
, an unrivalled actor, was grandson of Mr. Garrick, a merchant in France, who, being a protestant,
, an unrivalled actor, was grandson
of Mr. Garrick, a merchant in France, who, being a protestant, fled to England as an asylum, upon the revocation
of the edict of Nantes in 1685; and son of Peter Garrick,
who obtained a captain’s commission in the army, and
generally resided at Lichfield. Peter Garrick was on a
recruiting party in Hereford, when his son David was born;
and, as appears by the register of All-saints in that city,
baptized Feb. 28, 17^16. His mother was Arabella, daughter of Mr. dough, one, of the vicars in Lichfield cathedral.
At ten years of age, he was sent to the grammar-school at
Lichfield; but, though remarkable for declining puerile
diversions, did not apply himself with any assiduity to his
books. He had conceived an early passion for theatrical
representation; and, at little more than eleven years of age,
procured “The Recruiting Officer
” to be acted by young
gentlemen and ladies, himself performing the part of serjeat Kite. From school he went on invitation to an uncle,
a wine-merchant, at Lisbon; but returning shortly to
Lichfield, he was sent once more to the grammar-school,
where, however, he did not make any considerable progress in learning.
, was grandson of M. de Garsault, groom of the king’s grand stable, whom M.
, was grandson
of M. de Garsault, groom of the king’s grand stable, whom
M. de Colbert made inspector general of the studs
throughout the kingdom in 1663. His uncle was captain
of the ktng’s studs, and he was appointed captain in reversion, but did not succeed to the place; he nevertheless
paid much attention to horses, and was by that means qualified to publish his “Nouveau parfait Marechal,
” the
fourth edition of which is, Anatomy of a Horse
” from the English, which translation appeared in Le Guide du Cavalier,
” les Fails des Causes
celebres,
” 12mo; *‘ le Notionaire de ce qu’il y a de plus
utile dans les Connoissances acquises," 8vo. He wrote
also in the collection of the academy of the sciences, thd
arts of the tennis-racket maker, the peruke-maker, tha
taylor, the sempstress, the shoemaker, the harness-maker,
the sadler, and a collection of plants engraved, in 4 vols, 8vo.
A palsy brought him insensibly to his grave, November
1778, at the age of 85.
, D. D. son of Emanuel, and grandson of Andrew Gifford, both dissenting ministers of the baptist
, D. D. son of Emanuel, and
grandson of Andrew Gifford, both dissenting ministers of
the baptist persuasion, was born Aug. 17, 1700, and educated at Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, under the Rev.
Mr. Jones, author of the “History of the Canon of the
Scripture,
” whose seminary produced, among other eminent men, archbishop Seeker, bishop Butler, and Dr.
Chandler. Mr. Gifford finished his studies under the celebrated Dr. Ward, and being afterwards baptised, was
joined to his father’s church at Bristol, but in 1723 removed to the baptist meeting in Devonshire-square, London. In 1725 his first ministerial duties appear to have
been performed at Nottingham, where he was very
popular. In Feb. 1730 he was invited to London and ordained.
The following year he commenced an intimacy with sir
Richard Ellys, bart. (see Ellys) and became his chaplain,
taking the lead in family worship. Lady Ellys continued
him in the same office, with an annual present of forty
guineas, until her second marriage in 1745. One of Mr.
Gifford’s sermons preached in commemoration of the great
wind in 1703, and published in 1734, was dedicated to sir
Richard. In 1754 Mr. Gifford received the degree of D.D.
from Marischal college, Aberdeen. His favourite study
was that of antiquities, and although at no time a man of
opulence, he made a very large collection of curious
books, Mss. coins, &c. for which he gave liberal prices.
It is said that his collection of coins, which was a very
valuable one, was purchased by George II. as an addition
to his own cabinet. His reputation as an antiquary, recommended him to the situation of assistant librarian of the
British Museum in 1757, in which he was placed by the
interest of the lord chancellor Hardwicke, and some other
friends, but not, as his biographer says, by that of sir
Richard Ellys, who had been dead some years before this
period. To a man of literary curiosity and taste, no situation can be more interesting than that of librarian in the
British Museum, and Mr. Gifford knew how to improve the
opportunities which it affords. Having the talent to receive
and communicate information with unaffected politeness,
his acquaintance among the nobility and gentry soon became extensive. Some of them honoured him by a mutual exchange of friendly visits, and others of the first
rank discovered their respect for him, either by an occasional attendance on his ministry, or by an obliging correspondence and intimacy. Amongst these were the marquis of Lothian, the earl of Halifax, lord Dartmouth, lady
Buchan, lady Huntingdon, &c.
, a grandson of the preceding, war born at Broad Hinton in 1664, and became
, a grandson of the preceding, war
born at Broad Hinton in 1664, and became at the age of
fourteen a commoner of Trinity-college, Oxford. He
studied law afterwards in Lincoln’s-inn, and was admitted
to the bar. He is known by some minor poems, the best
of which may be seen in Mr. Nichols’s Collection. He
made the first English translation of Fontenelle’s “Plurality of Worlds.
” He died at Broad Hinton in
, a brave and loyal officer, grandson of the preceding, was born in 1596. He was educated at Exeter
, a brave and loyal officer,
grandson of the preceding, was born in 1596. He was
educated at Exeter college, Oxford, where his accomplishments were acknowledged, and his principles of loyalty
and religion indelibly fixed, under the care of Dr. Prideaux.
After taking possession of his estate he sat in parliament;
and in 1638 attended the king with a troop of horse, raised
at his own expence, in an expedition to Scotland, on which
occasion he received the honour of knighthood. Abhorring
the principles which then broke out in open rebellion, he
joined the royal army, and had a command at the battle of
Stratton, in 1643, when the parliamentary forces were defeated, and greatly distinguished himself in other engagements, particularly that at Lansdown, near Bath, fought
successfully against sir William Waller, July 5, 1643, but
received a fatal blow with a pole-axe. Many of his brother officers fell with him, and their bodies were found
surrounding his. Lord Clarendon says, “That which
would have clouded any victory, was the death of sir Bevil Greenville. He was, indeed, an excellent person, whose
activity, interest, and reputation was the foundation of
what had been done in Cornwall, and his temper and affection so public, that no accident which happened could
make any impression on him; and his example kept others
from taking any thing ill, or at least seeming to do so; in
ft word, a brighter courage and gentler disposition were
never married together, to make the most cheerful and
innocent conversation.
” His descendant, lord Lansdowne,
erected a monument on the spot where he was killed.
hter and youngest son. The male line of the family became extinct in 1784, by the death of his great grandson, Matthew Haje, esq. barrister at law. To enter more minutely
Judge Hale, probably in consequence of his rule of favouring and relieving those that were lowest, and perhaps
owing to the connections he had formed in early life, was
now very charitable to the nonconformists, and screened
them as much as possible from the severities of the law.
He thought many of them had merited highly in the affair
of the king’s restoration, and at least deserved that the
terms of conformity should not have been made stricter
than they were before the war. In 1671 he was promoted
to the place of lord chief justice of England, and behaved
in that high station with his usual strictness, regularity, and
diligence; but about four years and a half after this advancement, he was attacked by an inflammation in the
diaphragm, which in two days time broke his constitution
to that degree that he never recovered; for his illness
turned to an asthma, which terminated in a dropsy. Finding himself unable to discharge the duties of his function,
he petitioned in January 1675-6, for a writ of ease; which
being delayed, he surrendered his office in February. He
died December 25th following, and was interred in the
church-yard of Alderley, among his ancestors; for he did
not approve of burying in churches, but used to say, “That
churches were for the living, and church-yards for the
dead.
” He was twice married, having by his first wife ten
children, all of whom he outlived except his eldest daughter and youngest son. The male line of the family became
extinct in 1784, by the death of his great grandson, Matthew Haje, esq. barrister at law.
To enter more minutely into the character of this great
and good man would be to enlarge this article beyond all
reasonable bounds. The testimonies to the excellence of
his character are numerous. Whoever knew him spoke
well of him. One enemy only, Roger North (in his Life of the Lord Keeper North) has endeavoured to lessen the
respect due to sir Matthew Hale’s character; but in so
doing, it has been justly remarked, has degraded his own.
Sir Matthew was, for the brightness and solidity of his genius, the variety and elegance of his learning, and the politeness of his manners, the delight and envy of his contemporaries. His knowledge in divinity and humanity was
a radicated habit: and there was scarce ever any appeal
from his judgment as a casuist or a critic. Biirnet’s Life
of Hale cannot be too often read.
hysiology of plants, was the sixth son of Thomas Hales, esq. of Beakeborn, or Beckesbourn, Kent, and grandson of sir Robert Hales, bart. of Beckesbourn, where he was born,
, an eminent natural philosopher, particularly distinguished by his experiments on the physiology of plants, was the sixth son of Thomas Hales, esq. of Beakeborn, or Beckesbourn, Kent, and grandson of sir Robert Hales, bart. of Beckesbourn, where he was born, Sept. 17, 1677, and was admitted a pensioner of Bene't college, Cambridge, under the tuition of Mr. Moss, June 19, 1696, where, after taking his first degree in arts, he was admitted a fellow, Fob. 25, 1702-3. He proceeded M. A. at the next commencement, and was admitted B. D. in 1711. The degree of D. D. was conferred on him by the university of Oxford in 1733. Botany and anatomy formed his studies of relaxation while at Cambridge, his companion in which was the celebrated antiquary Dr. Stukeley. He was advanced successively to the perpetual curacy of Teddington, Middlesex, and to the livings of Portlock, Somersetshire, and Farringdon, Hampshire. He married Mary, the daughter and heiress of Dr. Henry Newce of Much-Hadham, in the county of Hertford, and rector of Halisham in Sussex. This lady died at the end of two years, leaving no issue, nor did he ever marry strain. He resided to the end of his life at Teddington, wliere he was visited by persons of rank and taste, amongst others by Frederick late prince of Wales, after whose death Dr. Hales was made clerk of the closet to the princess dowager, who always entertained a high respect for him, and after his decease erected a handsome monument to his memory in Westminster-abbey, near that of Handel. On this is liis bust in a large medallion, supported by a female figure representing Botany, accompanied by Religion. The epitaph is in Latin. He refused a canonry 01 Windsor, that he migbt continue to devote himself to his parochial duties, and his favourite scientific pursuits; and as piety, truth, and virtue were the principles of his character, he lived in universal esteem to the age of eighty-four, dying at Teddington, January 4, 1761, where he was buried, under the church tower, which he had rebuilt at his own expence.
, a polite and ingenious scholar, was the younger son of the rev. Gideon Hardinge, and grandson of sir Robert Hardinge, of King’s Newton, a small hamlet in
, a polite and ingenious scholar, was the younger son of the rev. Gideon Hardinge, and grandson of sir Robert Hardinge, of King’s Newton, a small hamlet in the parish of Melbourne in Derbyshire, who was knighted in the civil wars. He was born in 1700, and educated at Eton school, which he left in 17 Is for King’s college, Cambridge, where he took his degree of B. A. in 1722, and that of M. A. in 1726. When he left the university, he studied law, and was called to the bar; but obtained in 1731 the office of chief clerk of the house of commons, which he held until 1752, when he was appointed joint secretary of the treasury, in which post he died April 9, 1758.
itten only for private use. But so it was, that the book coming into the hands of one John Chetwind, grandson by a daughter to the author, a person deeply principled in
“In the said book the author Harrington doth, by imitating his godmother, queen Elizabeth, shew himself a
great enemy to married bishops, especially to such as had
been married twice; and many things therein are said of
them, that were by no means fit to be published, being
written only for private use. But so it was, that the book
coming into the hands of one John Chetwind, grandson by
a daughter to the author, a person deeply principled in
presbyterian tenets, did, when the press was open, print
it at London in 1653; and no sooner was it published, and
came into the hands of many, but it was exceeding clamoured at by the loyal and orthodox clergy, condemning
him that published it.
”
onal Verses,” published in 1665, by his son Henry Herbert, and dedicated to Edward lord Herbert, his grandson; hut they form no claim to the poetical character. Christian
His most useful work, the “History of the Life and
Reign of Henry VIII.
” was published in 1649, a year after
his death, and has always been much admired. Nicolson
says, that lord Herbert “acquitted himself in this history
with the like reputation, as the lord chancellor Bacon
gained by that of Henry Vllth. For in the public and
martial part this honourable author has been admirably
particular and exact from the best records that were extant; though as to the ecclesiastical, he seems to have
looked upon it as a thing out of his province, and an undertaking more proper for men of another profession.
” Although it has been considered as a very valuable piece of
history, there is not, perhaps, so much candour displayed
in every part as could be wished. In 1663, appeared his
book “De Religione Gentilium, errorumque apud eos
causis.
” The first part was printed at London, in The ancient Religion of the
Gentiles, and causes of their errors considered. The mistakes and failures of the Heathen Priests and wise men, in
their notions of the Deity and matters of Divine Worship,
are examined with regard to their being destitute of Divine Revelation.
” Lord Herbert wrote also in Expeditio Buckingham! ducis in Ream insulam,
” which
was published in Occasional Verses,
” published in De Veritate,
” has ranked him with
Hobbes and Spinosa, in his dissertation entitled “De
tribus impostoribus magnis, Edvardo Herbert, Thoma
Hobbes, & Benedicto Spinosa, Liber,
” printed at Kilon m
nted at Montauban, 1688, 8vo. He died 1704. M. Lewis de Hericourt, an eminent advocate at Paris, his grandson, who died 1753, was author of “Traite” des Loix Ecclesiastiques,
, an ingenious member of
the academy at Soissons, and that of ^the Ricovrati at Padua, was born at Soissons of a noble family; and the meetings held at his hoTise gave rise to the academy afterwards
established in that place. He was entrusted with some important commissions by the French court, and wrote a history of the academy of Soissons, in Latin, printed at Montauban, 1688, 8vo. He died 1704. M. Lewis de Hericourt, an eminent advocate at Paris, his grandson, who
died 1753, was author of “Traite
” des Loix Ecclesiastiques,
mises dans leur ordre naturel,“1771,fol. an abridgement
of pere Thomassins’s
” Discipline de PEglise,“with remarks, 4to;
” Traite de la Vente des Immeubles," 4to;
and some posthumous works, 4 vols. 4to.
es; of his mother, Dryo. The city of Halicarnassus being at that time under the tyranny of Lygdamis, grandson of Artemisia queen of Caria, Herodotus quitted his country,
, an ancient Greek historian of Halicarnassus in Caria, was born in the first year of the 74th
olympiad; about 484 years before Christ. This time of
his birth is fixed by a passage in Aulus Gellius, Book xv.
chap 23. which makes Helianicus 65, Herodotus 53, and
Thucydides 40 years old, at the commencement of the
Peloponnesian war. The name of his father was Lyxes; of
his mother, Dryo. The city of Halicarnassus being at that
time under the tyranny of Lygdamis, grandson of Artemisia queen of Caria, Herodotus quitted his country, and
retired to Samos; whence he travelled over Egypt, Greece,
Italy, &c. and in his travels acquired the knowledge of the
history and origin of many nations. He then began to
digest the materials he had collected into order, and composed that history which has preserved his name ever
since. He wrote it in the isle of Samos, according to the
general opinion; but the elder Pliny affirms it to have
been written at Thurium, a town in that part of Italy then
called Magna Graecia, whither Herodotus had retired with
an Athenian colony, and where he is supposed to have
died, not however before he had returned into his own
country, and by his influence expelled the tyrant Lygdamis. At Samos he studied the Ionic dialect, in which
he wrote, his native dialect being Doric. Lucian informs
us, that when Herodotus left Caria to go into Greece, he
began to consider with himself, what he should do to obtain celebrity and lasting fame, in the most expeditious
way, and with as little trouble as possible. His history,
he presumed, would easily procure him fame, and raise his
name among the Grecians, in whose favour it was written;
but then he foresaw, that it would be very tedious, if not
endless, to go through the several cities of Greece, and
recite it to each respective city; to the Athenians, Corinthians, Argives, Lacedaemonians, &c. He thought it most
proper, therefore, to take the opportunity of their assembling all together; and accordingly recited his work at the
Olympic games, which rendered him more famous than
even those who had obtained the prizes. None were ignorant of his name, nor was there a single person in
Greece, who had not either seen him at the Olympic games,
or heard those speak of him who had seen him there; so
that wherever he came, the people pointed to him with
their ringers, saying, “This is that Herodotus, who has
written the Persian wars in the Ionic dialect; this is he
who has celebrated our victories.
”
, but which were lost. A manuscript, however, was preserved, entitled “Institution, or Advice to his Grandson,” of which an abridgment was published by Barksdale, 1660, 12mo.
, a polite writer in the seventeenth century, was born in 1580, at or near Alderton,
Gloucestershire, and became a gentleman commoner of
Oriel college, Oxford, in 1595. He was soon, however,
removed to Corpus Christi, where his father William Higford, esq. and his grandfather sir John Higford, had both
studied, the latter under the celebrated bishop Jewell, and
both, as well as the subject of the present article, became
zealous puritans. At Corpus Christi, Mr. Higford was
placed under the tuition of Seb. Benefield, and was accounted an accomplished scholar and gentleman. After
taking a degree in arts, he went home, was admitted into
the commission of the peace, and was much respected by
the lord Chandois, and other persons of quality in his
country. He died at his house at Dixton, near Alderton,
April 6, 1657. He left behind him some things fit for the
press, but which were lost. A manuscript, however, was
preserved, entitled “Institution, or Advice to his Grandson,
” of which an abridgment was published by Barksdale, 1660, 12mo. This sensible volume is amply described in the “Censura Literaria.
” A descendant of the
author’s, the rev. Henry Higford, died at Dixton, aged
eighty-six, March 25, 1795.
, the Nasi, or prince, another famous Jew, was great grandson of Judas Hakkadosh, or the holy, author of the Misua. This latter
, the Nasi, or prince, another famous Jew, was great grandson of Judas Hakkadosh, or the holy, author of the Misua. This latter Hillel lived in the fourth century, was the first compiler of the present Jewish calendar, and was one of the principal doctors of the Gemara. That correct edition of the Hebrew text which bears the name of Hillel, and is mentioned in the preceding article, is attributed to him by most of the Jewish writers, among whom, however, there have been several others named Hillel.
story of British India, was the son of Zephaniah Holwell, timber-merchant and citizen of London, and grandson of John Holwell, a mathematical writer of much fame in the seventeenth
, a learned English
gentleman, well known in the history of British India,
was the son of Zephaniah Holwell, timber-merchant and
citizen of London, and grandson of John Holwell, a mathematical writer of much fame in the seventeenth century.
The father and grandfather of this John Holwell both fell
in support of the royal cause during the usurpation, and
the family estate of Holwell-hall, in Devonshire, was lost
to their descendants for ever; for although Mr. Holwell
applied to king Charles at the restoration, the only recompense he obtained was to be appointed royal astronomer and surveyor of the crown lands, and the advancement
of his wife to a place of some honour, but of little emolument, about the person of the queen. Some years after
he was appointed mathematical preceptor to the duke of
Monmouth, for whom he conceived a warm attachment,
and, believing him to be the legitimate sou of the king,
was induced to take a very active and imprudent part
against the succession of the duke of York, which in the
end proved his ruin. Having published in 1683 a small
Latin tract called “Catastrophe Mundi,
” which was soon
after translated, and is a severe attack on the popish party,
he was marked for destruction as soon as the duke of York
came to the throne. Accordingly, in 1685, it was contrived that, in quality of surveyor to the crown, he should
be sent to America, to survey and lay down a chart of the
town of New York; and at the same time secret orders
were sent to the government agents there, to take some
effectual means to prevent his return. In consequence of
this, it is said, that he had no sooner executed his commission, than he died suddenly, and his death was attributed,
at the time and on the spot, to the application of poison
administered to him in a dish of coffee. His son was father
to the subject of the present article.
1696. He was descended from an ancient and honourable family; being on his father’s side, the great grandson of sir John Home of Renton, whose ancestor was a cadet of the
, usually called Lord Kames, an eminent Scotch lawyer, philosopher, and critic, the son of George Home of Kames, in the county of Berwick, was born at Kames in 1696. He was descended from an ancient and honourable family; being on his father’s side, the great grandson of sir John Home of Renton, whose ancestor was a cadet of the family of the earls of Home, who held the office of lord justice-clerk in the reign of king Charles II. His mother was a daughter of Mr. Walkinshaw of Barrowfield, and grand-daughter of Mr. Robert Baillie, principal of the university of Glasgow, of whom an account is given in our third volume. His father having lived beyond his income, and embarrassed his affairs, Henry, on entering the world, had nothing to trust to but his own abilities and exertions, a circumstance which although apparently unfavourable, was always most justly regarded by him as the primary cause of his success in life. The only education he had was from private instructions at home from a tutor of the name of Wingate, of whom he never spoke in commendation.
, the son and grandson of two Dutch painters of considerable reputation, was born,
, the son and grandson of two Dutch painters of considerable reputation, was born, at Utrecht in 1636, and carefully trained up to the profession by his father. He chose the same subjects; but, in his manner, he surpassed not only his master, but even the best of his contemporaries, in a very high degree. Till he was seventeen years of age he practised under his father’s direction, and accustomed himself to paint several sorts of birds; but he was particularly pleased to represent cocks, hens, ducks, chickens, and peacocks, which he described in an elegant variety of actions and attitudes. After the death of his father, in 1653, he received some instructions from his uncle John Baptist Weeninx; but his principal and best instructor was nature, which he studied with intense application, and that enabled him to give to every animal he painted such truth, such a degree of force, expression, and life, as seemed to equal nature itself; nor did any artist take more pains to study every point that might conduce to the perfection of his art. His pencil was wonderfully neat and delicate; his touch light, his colouring exceedingly natural, lively, and remarkably transparent; and the feathers of his fowls were expressed with such a swelling softness, as might readily and agreeably deceive the eye of any spectator. It is reported, that he had trained up a cock to stand in any ajttitude he wanted to describe, and that it was his custom to place that creature near his easel; so that, at the motion of his hand, the bird would fix itself in the proper posture, and would continue in that particular position, without the smallest perceptible alteration, for several hours at a time.
ent professor of botany in the university of Edinburgh, was the son of Mr. Robert Hope, surgeon, and grandson of lord Rankeilar, one of the sena tors of the college of justice
, an eminent professor of botany in the university of Edinburgh, was the son of Mr. Robert Hope, surgeon, and grandson of lord Rankeilar, one of the sena tors of the college of justice in Scotland. He was bori May 10, 1725, and educated at the university of Edinburgh, where his attention was first directed to the medical art. He afterwards visited other medical schools, particularly Paris, where he studied his favourite science, botany, under the celebrated Bernard Jussien. On hi; return to Scotland, he obtained the degree of M. D. from the university of Glasgow in 1750, and being a few monthi after admitted a member of the royal college of physicians Edinburgh, entered upon the practice of medicine in that city. On the death of Dr. Alston, in 1761, he was appointed king’s botanist in Scotland, superintendant of the royal garden, and professor of botany and materia medic. The latter, the professorship of materia medica, he resignd in 1768, and by a new commission from his majesty, was nominated regius professor of medicine and botany in the university, and had the offices of king’s botanist and supeintendant of the royal gardens conferred upon him for lit;, which till that time had been always granted during pleasnre only. While he thus enjoyed his honours at horn;, he received the most flattering marks of esteem from t/e learned of other countries, having been elected a member not only of the royal society of London, but also of several celebrated foreign societies, and having been enrolledin the first class of botanists even by Linnæus, who denoiiinated a beautiful shrub by the name of Hopea and a time when he might be justly considered as at the very head of his profession in Edinburgh, holding the distingnished office of president of the royal college of pysicians, he was seized with an alarming illness, which in the space of a few days, put a period to his life, Nov. 10, 1786. This gentleman richly deserves to be remembred as one of the earliest lecturers on the vegetable physiology, as well as an experienced practical botanist. Edinbrgli is indebted to his spirit and perseverance, in establihing and providing suitable funds for its botanic garden, one of the first in the kingdom. Besides some useful manuals for facilitating the acquisition of botany by his students, Dr. Hope was long engaged in the composition of an extensive work, on which he bestowed much study and reflection; the object of which was, to increase the advantages which result from the highly ingenious artificial system of Linnæus, by conjoining with it a system of vegetables distributed according to their great natural orders. He had made very considerable progress in this valuable work; and it is much to be regretted by every lover of botany, that it was left imperfect at his death. Two valuable dissertations were published by him in the Philosophical Transactions, one on the Rheum palmatum, and the other on the Femla Assafoetida, in which he demonstrates the practicability of cultivating these two officinal plants in our own country. The true rhubarb has been since extensively and successfully cultivated; but that of the assafaetida plant has not been equally attended to.
ry,” in which he himself excelled and of some law treatises, in ms. which became the property of his grandson, sir John Hoskins, -knt. and bart. master in chancery, but better
He was much admired for his. talent in Latin and English poetry, and highly respected by the most eminent
men of his time, Camclen, Selden, Daniel, Dr. Donne,
sir Henry Wotton, sir Walter Raleigh, whose “History
”
he revised before it was sent to press; and others, particularly Ben Jonson, who used to say, “'t was he that
polished me, I do acknowledge it.
” Wood speaks of him,
as the author of the Greek lexicon already mentioned, left
in ms. and imperfeqj of several epigram-: and epitaphs,
ill Latin and English, interspersed in various collections;
“The Art of Memory,
” in which he himself excelled and
of some law treatises, in ms. which became the property
of his grandson, sir John Hoskins, -knt. and bart. master in chancery, but better known to the world as a philosopher, and one of the first members of the royal society,
of which he was president in 1682.
earl of Nottingham, lord high admiral of England, was son of William lord Howard of Effingliam, and grandson of Thomas second duke of Norfolk/ He was born in 1536, and initiated
, earl of Nottingham, lord high admiral of England, was son of William lord Howard of Effingliam, and grandson of Thomas second duke of Norfolk/ He was born in 1536, and initiated early into the affairs of state, being sent in 1559, on the death of Henry II. king of France, with a compliment or condolence to his successor Francis II. and to congratulate him on "his accession to the throne, &c. On his return he was elected one of the knights of the shire for the county of Surrey in 1562, and in 1569 was general of the horse under the earl of Warwick, in the army sent against the earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, then in rebellion. The year following he went with a fleet of men of war to convoy the princess Anne of Austria, daughter of the emperor Maximilian, going into Spain, over the British seas; and in 1573, upon the death of his father, succeeded him in honours and estate. The same year he was installed knight of the garter, and likewise made lord chamberlain of the household; and in 1585 constituted lord high admiral of England.
fixed Stars,” with notes. This Ulugh Beig was a great Tartajr monarch, the son of Shahrokn, and the grandson of Timur Beig, or, as he is usually called, Tamerlane. In the
In 1658 he went to Oxford, and was admitted of Queen’s
college, where he was soon after made Hebrew rea ler.
The year after, Richard Cromwell, then chancellor of that
university, directed his letters to the delegates, signifying,
that “Mr. Hyde was of full standing, since his admission,
into the university of Cambridge, for the degree of master
of arts, and that he had given public testimony of his more
than ordinary abilities and learning in the Oriental languages;
” on which they made an order that he should
accumulate that degree by reading only a lecture in one
of the Oriental languages in the schools; and having ac-.
cordingly read upon the Persian tongue, he was created
M. A. in April 1659. Soon after he was made underkeeper of the Bodleian library, upon the ejection of Mr,.
Henry Stubbe; and behaved himself so well in this employment, that, when the office of head -keeper became
vacant, he was elected into it with the unanimous approbation of the university. In 1665 he published a Latin translation from the Persian of Uiugh Beig’s “Observations
concerning the Longitude and Latitude of the fixed Stars,
”
with notes. This Ulugh Beig was a great Tartajr monarch,
the son of Shahrokn, and the grandson of Timur Beig, or,
as he is usually called, Tamerlane. In the pre/ace he informs us, “that the great occupations of government hindered him from performing in person, so much as he would
have done towards the completing this useful work: but
that he relied chiefly on his minister Salaheddin, and t.iat
he dying before the work was finished, his colleague Gaiatheddin Giamshed and his son Ali al Cousin were afterwards
employed, who put the last hand to it.
” It was written
originally in the Arabic tongue, but afterwards translated
twice into the Persian.
untingdon (for he died, according to Beilarmine, in 1112) gives an account of the passage of Brutus, grandson of Ascanius, from Greece to Albion, at the head of the exiled
Leland, Bale, and Pits inform us, that Walter Mapreus,
or Mapes, alias Calenius, who was at this time archdeacon
of Oxford, and of whom Henry of Huntingdon, and other
historians, as well as Jeffery himself, make honourable
mention, as a man very curious in the study of antiquity,
and a diligent searcher into ancient libraries, and especially
after the works of ancient authors, happened while he was
in Armorica to meet with a history of Britain, written in
the British tongue, and carrying marks of great antiquity.
Being overjoyed at his discovery, he in a short time came
over to England, where inquiring for a proper person to
translate this curious but hitherto unknown book, he very
opportunely met with Jeffery of Monmouth, a man profoundly versed in the history and antiquities of Britain,
excellently skilled in the British tongue, and besides (considering the time) an elegant writer, both in verse and
prose; and to him he recommended the task. Jeffery accordingly undertook to translate it into Latin; which he
performed with great diligence, approving himself, according to Matthew Paris, a faithful translator. At first he
divided it into four books, written in a plain simple style,
a copy of which is said to be at Bene't-college, Cambridge,
which was never yet published; but afterwards made some
alterations, and divided it into eight books, to which he
added the book of “Merlin’s Prophecies,
” which he had
also translated from British verse into Latin prose. A great
many fabulous and trifling stories are inserted in the history,
upon which account Jeffery’s integrity has been called in
question and many authors, Polydore Vevgil, Buchanan,
and some others, treat the whole as fiction and forgery.
On the other hand, he is defended by very learned men,
such as Usher, Leland, Sheringham, sir John Rice, and
many more. His advocates do not deny, that there are
several absurd and incredible stories inserted in this book;
but, as he translated or borrowed them from others, the
truth of the history ought not to be rejected in the gross,
though the credulity of the historian may deserve censure.
Canulen alleges, that his relation of Brutus, and his successors in those ancient times, ought to be entirely disregarded, and would have our history commence with Caesar’s
attempt upon the island, which advice has since been followed by the generality of our historians. But Milton pursues the old beaten tract, and alleges thai we cannot be
easily discharged of Brutus and his line, with the whole
progeny of kings to the entrance of Julius Ca-sar; since it
is a story supported by descents of ancestry, and long continued laws and exploits, which have no appearance of
being borrowed or devised. Cainden, indeed, would insinuate, that the name of Brutus was unknown to the ancient Britons, and that Jeffery was the first person who
feigned him founder of their race. But Henry of Huntingdon had published, in the beginning of his history, a
short account of Brutus, and made the Britons the descendants of the Trojans, before he knew any thing of
Jeffery’s British history: and he professes to have had this
account from various authors. Sigibertus Gemblacensis,
a French author, somewhat more early than Jeffery, or
Henry of Huntingdon (for he died, according to Beilarmine, in 1112) gives an account of the passage of Brutus,
grandson of Ascanius, from Greece to Albion, at the head
of the exiled Trojans and teljs us, that he called the
people and country after his own name, and at last left
three sons to succeed him, after he had reigned twentyfour years. Hence he passes summarily over the affairs of
the Britons, agreeably to the British history, till they were
driven into Wales by the Saxons.
hops Grosseteste, Overal, and Patrick. Whiston had the latter, which is probably in the hands of his grandson, Samuel Knight, esq. His own publications were the “Life of
Dr. Knight, whose attention appears to have been much
directed to literary and ecclesiastical history, was an useful assistant to many authors of his time, and his assistance was acknowledged by Peck, Grey, Ward, and others.
He had made collections for the lives of bishops Grosseteste,
Overal, and Patrick. Whiston had the latter, which is
probably in the hands of his grandson, Samuel Knight, esq.
His own publications were the “Life of Erasmus,
” Dean Colet,
”
, grandson of the preceding, was born in 1709, at Keil, where his father,
, grandson of the preceding,
was born in 1709, at Keil, where his father, Sebastian Kortholt, was professor. He discovered an early disposition
towards the sciences, and made so rapid a progress in
them, that he was admitted at twenty to assist in the
“Journal of Leipsic,
” in which may be found some good
pieces of his till 1736, and some well chosen extracts from
works on ecclesiastical history. Kortholt visited Holland
and England, and was esteemed by the learned there.
While in England he drew up a short account of the society of Antiquaries of London, “Epistola ad Kappium de
Soc. Ant. Lond.
” Leipsic, De Ecclesiis suburbicariis
” “De Enthusiasmo Muhammedis
” and several excellent “Dissertations.
” The most
esteemed of those in German are, a “Treatise on the truth
of Christianity
” “Sermons,
” &c. He published four volumes of Latin letters by Leibnitz, a volume of his French
letters, and a collection of various pieces on philosophy,
mathematics, history, &c. by the same author.
h courts of justice in England.” It was not published until 1635, some years after his death, by his grandson, Thomas Lambarde. Of this work there are two editions of the
In 1579 Lambarde was appointed a justice of peace for
the county of Kent, an office which he not only performed
with great diligence and integrity, but endeavoured to explain and illustrate for the benefit of other magistrates, in his
“Eirenarcha, or the Office of the Justices of Peace, in
four books,
” The Duties of Constables,
” &c. Pandecta Rotulorum.
” In the mean time he had written,
though not published, another work, entitled “Archeion,
or a Discourse upon the high courts of justice in England.
”
It was not published until
, an eminent physician, the son of captain Thomas Lawrence of the royal navy, and grandson of Dr. Thomas Lawrence, first physician to queen Anne, was born
, an eminent physician, the son of captain Thomas Lawrence of the royal navy, and grandson of Dr. Thomas Lawrence, first physician to queen Anne, was born May 25, 1711, in the parish of St. Margaret, Westminster. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. Gabriel Soulden, merchant of Kinsale in Ireland, and widow of colonel Piers. His father’s residence being at Southampton, he was placed under the care of the rev. Mr. Kingsman, master of the free-school at that place, but had previously received some education at Dublin, where his father was in 1715. In 1727 he was entered as a commoner of Trinity college, Oxford, under the tuition of the rev. George Huddesford, afterwards president of that college; and here he pursued his studies until some time in 1734. He then removed to London, and took a lodging in the city for the convenience of attending St. Thomas’s hospital, and became a pupil of Dr. Nicholls, who was at that time reading anatomical lectures, with uncommon celebrity. Mr. Lawrence made a suitable progress under so able an instructor, and at those lectures formed many of the friendships which he most valued during the remainder of his life; among others he became here first acquainted with Dr. Bathurst, who introduced him to the friendship of Dr. Johnson.
archbishop of York, was born in 1482, and was the son of Richard Lee, of Lee Magna in Kent, esq. and grandson of sir Richard Lee, km. twice lordmayor of London. He was partly
, archbishop of York, was born in 1482,
and was the son of Richard Lee, of Lee Magna in Kent,
esq. and grandson of sir Richard Lee, km. twice lordmayor of London. He was partly educated in both universities, being admitted of Magdalen college, Oxford,
about 1499, where he took his degrees in arts, and then
removed to Cambridge, and completed his studies. He
was accounted a man of great learning and talents, which
recommended him to the court of Henry VIII. in which,
among others, he acquired the esteem of sir Thomas More.
The king likewise conceived so high an opinion of his political abilities, that he sent him on several embassies to the
continent. In 1529 he was made chancellor of Sarum, and
in 1531 was incorporated in the degree of D. D. at Oxford,
which he had previously taken at some foreign university.
The same year he was consecrated archbishop of York, but
enjoyed this high station a very short time, dying at York,
Sept. 13, 1544. He was buried in the cathedral. He lived
to witness the dawn of the reformation, but adhered to the
popish system in all its plenitude, except, says his popish
biographer, that he “was carried away with the stream as
to the article of the king’s supremacy.
” He was a zealous
opponent of Luther, and had a controversy with Erasmus,
respecting his annotations on the New Testament. This
somewhat displeased sir Thomas More, who was greatly
attached to Erasmus, but it did not lessen his friendship
for Lee Wood says, “he was a very great divine, and
very well seen in all kinds of learning, famous as well for
his wisdom as virtue, and holiness of life; a continual
preacher of the gospel, a man very liberal to the poor, and
exceedingly beloved by all sorts of men.
” His works
were, 1. “Comment, in universum Pentateuchum,
” ms.
2. “Apologia contra quorundam calumnias, 11 Lovan, 1520,
4to. 3.
” Index annotationum prioris libri,“ibid. 1520.
4.
” Epistola nuncupatoriaad Desid. Erasmum,“ibid. 1520.
3.
” Annot. lib. duo in annotationes Novi Test. Erasmi.“6.
” Epistola apologetica, qua respondet D. Erasmi epistolis.“7.
” Epistolae sexcenta;.' 8. “Epiceuia clarorum
virorum.
” The two last articles are in ms. or partially
printed. Some of his Mss. are in the Harleian, and some
in the Cotton library."
to buy them, and they were purchased by sir Thomas Seabright, of Beachwood, in Hertfordshire, whose grandson dispersed them by auction in 1807. Of the sale and the chief
Armorick English Vocabulary.“5. uf Irish Manuscripts.
”
"Some Welsh Words omitted in Dr.
of a quarrel between him and Dr. Wynne, then fellow,
afterwards principal of the college, and bishop of St. Asaph,
the latter refused to buy them, and they were purchased
by sir Thomas Seabright, of Beachwood, in Hertfordshire,
whose grandson dispersed them by auction in 1807. Of
the sale and the chief articles, an account was given by
Mr. Gough in the Gentleman’s Magazine for May of that
year. Carte made extracts from Mr. Lhuyd’s Mss. about or
before 1736; but these were chiefly historical. Many of
his letters to Lister, and other learned contemporaries,
were given by Dr. Fothergill to the university of Oxford,
and are now in the Ashmolean museum. Lhuyd undertook
more for illustrating this part of the kingdom than any
one man besides ever did, or than any one man can be
equal to.
reign of Charles I. was descended, by a collateral branch, from the preceding judge Littleton, being grandson of John Littleton, parson of Mouuslow in Shropshire, and son
, lord keeper of the great seal of England in the reign of Charles I. was descended, by a collateral branch, from the preceding judge Littleton, being grandson of John Littleton, parson of Mouuslow in Shropshire, and son of sir Edward Littleton of Henley in that county, one of the justices of the inarches, and judge of North Wales. He was born in 1589, and admitted a gentleman commoner of Christchurch, Oxford, in 1606, where he took the degree of bachelor of arts in 1609. Some time after, being designed for the law by his father, he removed to the InnerTemple, and soon became eminent in his profession. In 1628, we find him in parliament; and on the 6th of May he was appointed, together with sir Edward Coke and sir Dudley Digges, to carry up the petition of right to the house of lords. He had also the management of the charge made against the duke of Buckingham, concerning king James’s death; on which occasion he behaved himself with universal applause, although he had to consult both the jealousy of the people and the honour of the court. His first preferment in the law was the appointment to succeed his father as a Welch judge; after which he was elected recorder of London, and about the same time counsel for the university of Oxford. In 1632, he was chosen summer-reader of the Inner-Temple, and in 1634, appointed solicitor-general, and received the honour of knighthood in 1635. In 1639, he was constituted lord chief-justice of the common-pleas; and, in 1640, on the flight of lord-keeper Finch from the resentment of the parliament, the great seal was put into his custody, with the same title. In February following, he was created a peer of England, by the title of lord Littleton, baron of Mounslow in Shropshire.
enteenth century, was son of Mr. George Lloyd, minister of Wonson or Wonsington near Winchester, and grandson of Mr. David Lloyd, vicar of Lockford near Stockbridge in Hampshire.
, a learned English writer in the
seventeenth century, was son of Mr. George Lloyd, minister of Wonson or Wonsington near Winchester, and grandson of Mr. David Lloyd, vicar of Lockford near Stockbridge in Hampshire. He was born at Hoi ton in Flintshire in 1634, and educated at Wykeham’s school near
Winchester, and admitted a scholar of Wadham college,
Oxford, from Hart-hall, October 20, 1653. He afterwards
became a fellow of Wadham, and July 6, 16.58, took the
degree of roaster of arts. In 1665, when Dr. Blandford,
warden of that college, became bishop of Oxford, our
author was appointed chaplain to him, being about that
time rector of St. Martin’s church in Oxford, and continued
with the bishop till he was translated to the see of Worcester in 1671. The year following, the rectory of St. Mary
Newington, in Surrey, falling void, the bishop of Worcester presented Mr. Lloyd to it, who kept it to his death,
which happened Nov. 27, 1680. He was interred in the
chancel of the church there, leaving behind him the character of an harmless quiet man, and an excellent philologist.
His “Dictionarium Historicum,
” &c. although now obsolete, was once reckoned a valuable work. The first edition
was published at Oxford in 1670, folio. The second edition was printed at London in 1686, folio, under the fMlowing title: “Dictionarium Historicum, geographicum,
poeticum, gentium, hominum, deorum gentilium, regionum, insularum, locorum, civitatum, aequorum, fluviorum,
sinuum, portuum, promontoriorum, ac montium, antiqua
recentioraque, ad sacras & profanas historias, poetarumque fabulas intelligendas nccessaria, Nomina, quo decet
erdine, complectens & illustrans. Opus admodum utile &
apprime necessarium; a Carolo Stephano inchoatum; ad
incudem vero revocatum, innumerisque pene locis auctum
& emaculatum per NicolaumV.Lloydium, Collegii Wadhami in celeberrima Academia Oxoniensi Socium. Editio
novissima.
” He left several unpublished Mss. consisting
principally of commentaries and translations. He had a
younger brother, John, somewhat of a poet, who appears
to have shared the friendship and esteem of Addison.
, a very learned English bishop, was originally of Welsh extraction, being grandson of David Lloyd of Henblas, in the isle of Anglesey. He was born
, a very learned English bishop, was originally of Welsh extraction, being grandson of David Lloyd of Henblas, in the isle of Anglesey. He was born at Tilehurst, in Berkshire, in 1627, of which place his father, Mr. Richard Lloyd, was then vicar, and also rector of Sunning, in the same county. Having been carefully instructed by his father in the rudiments of grammar and classical learning, he understood Greek and Latin, and something of Hebrew, at eleven years of age; and was entered, in 1638, a student of Oriel college, in Oxford, whence, the following year, he was elected to a scholarship of Jesus college. In 1642 he proceeded B. A. and left the university, then garrisoned for the use of the king; but, after the surrender of it to the parliament, he returned, was chosen fellow of his college, and commenced M. A. in 1646. In 1649 he was ordained deacon by Dr. Skinner, bishop of Oxford, and afterwards became tutor to the children of sir William Backhouse, of Swallowfield, in Berkshire. In 1654, upon the ejection of Dr. Pordage by the Presbyterian committee, he was presented to the rectory of Bradfield, in the same county, by Elias Ashmole, esq. patron of that living in right of his wife; but this right being disputed by Mr. Fowler and Mr. Ford, two ministers at Reading, who endeavoured to bring in Dr. Temple, pretending the advowson was in sir Humphrey Forster, he chose to resign his presentation to Mr. Ashmole, rather than involve himself in a contest. In 1656 he was ordained priest hy Dr. Brownrig, bishop of Exeter, and the same year went to Wadham college, in Oxford, as governor to John Backhouse, esq. a gentleman-commoner, with whom he continued till 1659. In Sept. 1660, he was incorporated M. A. at Cambridge; and, about the same time, made a prebendary of Rippon, in Yorkshire. In 1666 he was appointed king’s chaplain; and, in 1667, was collated to a prebend of Salisbury, having proceeded D. D. at Oxford in the act preceding. In 1668 he was presented by the crown to the vicarage of St. Mary’s in Reading; and, the same year, was installed archdeacon of Merioneth, in the church of Bangor, of which he was made dean in 1672. This year he obtained also a prebend in the church of St. Paul, London. In 1674 he became residentiary<of Salisbury; and, in 1676, he succeeded Dr. Lamplugh, promoted to the see of Exeter, in the vicarage of St. Martin’s in the Fields, Westminster; upon which occasion he resigned his prebend of St. Paul’s.
, a physician of considerable reputation, was the son of Stephen Lobb, a dissenting minister, and grandson of Richard Lobb, esq. M. P. for St. Michael in Cornwall. He
, a physician of considerable reputation, was the son of Stephen Lobb, a dissenting minister,
and grandson of Richard Lobb, esq. M. P. for St. Michael
in Cornwall. He was born Aug. 17, 1678, and educated
for the ministry among the dissenters, which he exchanged
for the study of medicine, and having obtained a diploma
from Scotland, practised in London, and left several works
on medical topics. He died May 19, 1763, in the eightyfifth year of his age. The following are the titles of his
publications: “Treatise of the Small-pox,
” London, Rational method of curing Fevers, deduced from the
structure of the human body,
” ibid. Medical
Practice in curing Fevers,
” ibid. A practical
treatise on painful Distempers, with some effectual methods of curing them,
” ibid. A Treatise on Solvents of the Stone, and on curing the Stone and the Gout
by Aliments,
” ibid. Letters concerning the Plague and other contagious Distempers,
” ibid. A Compendium of the Practice
of Physic,
” ibid.
, a very learned oriental scholar, was the second son of sir Adam Loftus, and great grandson of Dr. Adam Loftus, who was archbishop of Armagh, then of Dublin,
, a very learned oriental scholar, was the second son of sir Adam Loftus, and great grandson of Dr. Adam Loftus, who was archbishop of Armagh, then of Dublin, and one of the lords justices, and lord chancellor of Ireland. He was born in 1618, at Rathfarnam, near Dublin, a stately castle built by his ancestor the archbishop, and was educated in Trinity college, where he was admitted fellow- commoner in 1635. About the time he took his first degree in arts, the extraordinary proficiency he had made in languages attracted the notice of arciibishop Usher, who earnestly advised his father to send him to Oxford, where he might improve his oriental learning, a matter which that worthy prelate considered as highly important in the investigation of the history and principles of the Christian religion. Mr. Loftus was accordingly sent by his father to Oxford, and entered of University college, where he was incorporated B. A. in November 1639, About this time he commenced the study of the law, with a view to take his bachelor’s degree in that faculty, but at the persuasion of his friends in University college, took his degree of master of arts in 1641, and then returned to Ireland at the moment the rebellion broke out. His father, who was at that time vice-treasurer, and one of the privy council, procured a garrison to be placed in his castle of Rathfarnam, and gave the command of it to his son Dudley, who displayed his skill and courage, by defending the city from the incursions of the Irish inhabiting the neighbouring mountains. He was afterwards made one of the masters in chancery, vicargeneral of Ireland, and judge of the prerogative court and faculties, all which offices he held to the time of his death. He was also a doctor of the civil law, and esteemed the most learned of any of his countrymen in that faculty. Towards the latter part of his life, his talents and memory were very much impaired, and when about seventy-six years of age, he married a second wife, but died the year following, in June 1695, and was buried in St. Patrick’s church, Dublin.
tes, in the reigns of David and Solomon. According to the Arabians, he was tlje son of Baura, son or grandson of a sister or aunt of Job. Some say he worked as a carpenter,
, sometimes called
Abre Anam, or father of Anam, was a philosopher of great
account among the Easterns, but his personal history is
involved in much obscurity, and what we have is probably
fabulous. Some say he was an Abyssinian of Ethiopia or
Nubia, and was sold as a slave among the Israelites, in
the reigns of David and Solomon. According to the Arabians, he was tlje son of Baura, son or grandson of a sister
or aunt of Job. Some say he worked as a carpenter, others
as a tailor, while a third sort will have him to be a shepherd; however that be, he was certainly an extraordinary
person, endowed with great wisdom and eloquence, and
we have an account of the particular manner in which he
received these divine gifts; being one day asleep about
noon, the angels saluted Lokman without making themselves visible, in these terms: “We are the messengers
of God, thy creator and ours; and he has sent us to declare to thee that he will make thee a monarch, and his
vice-gerent upon earth.
” Lokman replied, “If it is by
an absolute command of God that I am to become such a
one as you say, his will be done in all things; and I hope
if this should happen, that he will bestow on me all the
grace necessary for enabling me to execute his commands
faithfully; however, if he would grant me the liberty to
chuse my condition of life, I had rather continue in my
present state, and be kept from offending him; otherwise,
all the grandeur and splendours of the world would be
troublesome to me.
” This answer, we are told, was so
pleasing to God, that he immediately bestowed on him the
gift of wisdom in an eminent degree; and he was able to
instruct all men, by a multitude of maxims, sentences,
and parables, amounting to ten thousand in number, every
one of which his admirers reckon greater than the whole
world in value.
published in 1620, along with those of his relation John- Peter Lotich, a physician of eminence, and grandson of the above- mentioned Christian, who exercised his profession
, surnamed Secundus, a distinguished
modern Latin poet, was nephew to a celebrated abbot of
the monastery of Solitaire, in the county of Hanau, in
Germany, who in 1543 established the protestant religion
in his society, and died in 1567. He was born Nov. 2,
1528, at Solitaire, received the early part of his education
at a convent in his native place, and pursued his tnaturer
studies at Francfort, Marpurg, and Wittemburg, at which last
place he contracted an intimacy with Melancthon and Camerarius. During the war in Saxony in 1546, when Melancthon and his colleagues were obliged to leave Wittemburg,
Lotich being in great perplexity what to do, at length
entered, among the troops of John Frederic, elector of
Saxony, with some of his fellow-students; but in 1548 we
find him again at Erfurth, and afterwards at Wittemburg,
pursuing his studies. In 1550 he visited France with some
young persons to whom he was governor, and he continued
there nearly four years. He afterwards went to Italy,
where he had nearly been destroyed by poison prepared
for another purpose: he recovered from the effects of it,
but was subject to frequent relapses, one of which carried
him off in the year 1560. He had taken his degree
of doctor of physic at Padua, and in 1557 was chosen professor in that science at Heidelberg. In this situation he
was honoured with the friendship of the elector-palatine,
and by the excellence of his disposition, and the singular
frankness and sincerity of his character, rendered himself
universally beloved. A collection of his Latin poems was
published in 1561, the year after his decease, with a dedicatory epistle by Joachim Camerarius, who praises him
as the best poet of his age. This has been often reprinted,
but a complete and correct edition of all his works was
published at Amsterdam in 1754, 2 vols. 4to, by Peter
Burman, nephew of the celebrated writer of those names.
Lotich had a younger brother Christian, likewise a poet,
and educated by his uncle, the abbot. A collection of his
poems was published in 1620, along with those of his
relation John- Peter Lotich, a physician of eminence, and
grandson of the above- mentioned Christian, who exercised
his profession at Minden and at Hesse, and became
professor of medicine at Rintlen in Westphalia. He
died very much regretted in 1652. His principal works
are, “Conciliorum et Observationum Medicinalium;
”
“Latin Poems;
” “A Commentary on Petronius,
” and
“A History of the Emperors Ferdinand II. and III.
” in
four volumes, is attributed to him.
ommentaries on the Minor Prophets,” 4to, published at Leipsic, 1609, by Poly carp Lyserus, his great- grandson, who has added some remarks on Haggai, according to his ancestor’s
, a learned Protestant theologian,
was born at Winendeen in the territory of Wittemberg, in
the year 1552. He was educated at Tubingen, at the expence of the duke of Saxony, and became a minister of
the church of Wittemberg in 1577. He was one of the
first to sign the “Concord,
” and was deputed, with James
Andreas, to procure the signature of the divines and ministers in the electorate of Saxony. He died at Dresden,
where he was then minister, February 14, 1601, aged 50,
leaving a great number of works, both in German and Latin. The principal are, 1. “Explanations of Genesis,
” in
six parts, or six volumes, 4to, each of which bears the
name of the patriarch whose history it explains. 2.
“Comraentaries on the two first chapters of Daniel,
” 2 vols. 4to.
3. “A Paraphrase on the History of the Passion,
” 4to, or
12mo. 4. “Explanation of Psalm CI,
” 8vo. 5. “Commentaries on the Minor Prophets,
” 4to, published at Leipsic, Commentaries on the Epistle to the
Hebrews.
” 7. “Centuria qutestionum de articulis libri
Christiana; Concordia?,
” 4to. 8. “Christianismus, Papismus, Calvinismus,
” 8vo. 9. “Harmonia Calvinianorum et
Photinianorum in Doctrina de Sacra Cena,
” 4to. 10. “Vindiciae Lyserianse, an sincretismus in rebus fidei cum Calvinianis coli prodest,
” 4to. II. “Disputationes IX. Anti Steiniance quibus examinatur defensio concionis Irenicse
Pauli Steinii,
” 4to. 12. “Harmonia Evangelistarum continuata ad Christianam Harmoniam et ejusdem Epitome,
”
8vo. 13. “Disput. de Deo patre Creatore coeli et terrae,
”
4to. 14. “De seternitate Filii Dei,
” 4to. 15. “De sacramentis decades duae,
” 4to. He published also the
“History of the Jesuits,
” written by Elias Hasenmuller,
who having quitted that society, and turned Lutheran, retired to Wittemberg, and died there before his work was
printed. Father Gretser attacked this history, and Lyserus
answered him by “Strena ad Gretserum pro honorario
ejus,
” 8vo.
, said to be a lineal descendant (Mr. Nichols says great- grandson) of the preceding, was born in 1723, and became an Augustine
, said to be a lineal descendant (Mr. Nichols says great-grandson) of the preceding, was born in 1723, and became an Augustine monk at Lisbon, but, having renounced the Roman Catholic religion, came to reside in England, about 1764. He was an able linguist, and well versed in chemistry and other branches of natural philosophy. He published several treatises in that science, particularly a work on mineralogy, taken principally from Crons’tadt; an account of various philosophical instruments; and a narrative of the last days of* Rousseau, to which his name is not affixed. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1774, and was a member of several foreign academies. He died at his lodgings at Islington, Feb. 7, 1790.
, duke of Lauderdale, grandson of the preceding, was a statesman of great power and authority,
, duke of Lauderdale, grandson of
the preceding, was a statesman of great power and authority, but of most inconsistent character. On the breaking
out of the wars in Scotland in the reign of Charles I. he
was a zealous covenanter; and in Jan. 1644-5, one of the
commissioners at the treaty of Uxbridge, during which,
upon the death of his father the earl of Lauderdale, he
succeeded to his titles and estate. He took an active but
not very useful part in the above treaty; “being,
” says
lord Clarendon, “a young man, not accustomed to an orderly and decent way of speaking, and having no gracious
pronunciation., and full of passion, he made every thing
much more difficult than it was before.
” In April 1647,
he came with the earl of Dumfermling to London, with a
commission to join with the parliament commissioners in
persuading the king to sign the covenant and propositions
offered to him; and in the latter end of the same year, he,
in conjunction with the earl of Loudon, chancellor of Scotland, and the earl of Lanerick, conducted a private treaty
with his majesty at Hampton court, which was renewed
and signed by him on Dec. 26 at Carisbrook castle. By
this, among other very remarkable concessions, the king
engaged himself to employ the Scots equally with the
English in all foreign employments and negociations; and
that a third part of all the offices and places about the
king, queen, and prince, should be conferred upon persons of that nation; and that the king and prince, or one
of them, should frequently reside in Scotland. In August
the year following, the earl of Lauderdale was sent by the
committee of estates of Scotland to the prince of Wales,
with a letter, in which, next to his father’s restraint, they
bewailed his highness’s long absence from that kingdom;
and since their forces were again marched into England,
they desired his presence to countenance their endeavours
for religion and his father’s re-establishment. In 1649, he
opposed with great vehemence the propositions made by
the marquis of Montrose to king Charles II.; and in 1651
attended his majesty in his expedition into England, but
was taken prisoner after the battle of Worcester in September the same year, and confined in the Tower of London, Portland-castle, and other prisons, till the 3d of
March, 1659-60, when he was released from his imprisonment in Windsor-castle.
, marquis of Granby, was son of John duke of Rutland, and grandson of John the first duke, and was born in January 1721. He was
, marquis of Granby, was son of John duke of Rutland, and grandson of John the first duke, and was born in January 1721. He was bred to the army, and in the rebellion of 1745 raised a regiment of foot at his own expence, for the defence of the country against the rebels. In 1755 he was advanced to the rank of majorgeneral, and in 1758 was appointed lieutenant-general and colonel of the blues. With this rank he went into Germany with the British forces, which were sent to serve under prince Ferdinand of Brunswick; and in 1759 was promoted to the general command of the British troops, an appointment which gave much satisfaction, and for which he appears to have been well qualified. If he had not the great abilities requisite to a commander in chief, he had all the qualifications for an admirable second in command. With a competent share of military skill, he possessed that personal valour and ardour in the service, which inspired his soldiers with confidence; and that humane and generous attention to their comfort and welfare, joined with affability and open-hearted cheerfulness, which strongly attached them to his person. In 1760 he justified the high opinion which prince Ferdinand had expressed of him after the battle of Minden, by his good conduct at Warburg, where the British cavalry were particularly signalized. In the beginning of the ensuing campaign, he commanded under the hereditary prince, in his attack on the frontier towns of Hesse; and at the battle of KirkDenkern, bore the first and most violent onset of the enemy, and by the firmness of his troops contributed much to that victory. He maintained the same character at Grsebesteein and Homburgh, in 1762. He died at Scarborough, Oct. 19, 1770 He had been made a member of the privycouncil in 1760, and resigning the office of lieutenantgeneral of the ordnance, was in May 1763 constituted master-general of that department. In Feb. 1764, he was declared lord-lieutenant and custos rotulorum of Derbyshire. In 1766 he was constituted commander in chief of his majesty’s land forces in Great Britain; which he resigned a little before his death. He married Sept. 3, 1750, lady Frances Seymour, eldest daughter of Charles duke of Somerset, by whom, among other issue, he had Charles, the late duke of Rutland, who died lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1787; and lord Robert Manners, a gallant officer of the navy, who died Jan. 23, 1782, of the wounds he received in an engagement, Sept. 1, 1781, in the West Indies, on board his majesty’s ship the Resolution, of which he was captain. A monument in hoiiour of his memory was ordered at the national expence for him, capt. Blair, and capt. Bayne, which is now in St. Paul’s cathedral.
hn Mason, rector of Water-Stratford in Buckinghamshire, whose “Select Remains” were published by his grandson, the subject of this article: “a little work,” we are told by
, a non-conformist divine, chiefly known
for his excellent work entitled “Self-Knowledge,
” was
descended from ancestors who were for several generations
beneficed clergymen of the established church. His grandfather was the rev. John Mason, rector of Water-Stratford
in Buckinghamshire, whose “Select Remains
” were published by his grandson, the subject of this article: “a little work,
” we are told by his biographer, “highly esteemed
and warmly recommended by Dr. Watts.
” This little
work we have not seen, but from two accounts of the author’s life, one published anonymously in 1694, 4to, and
the other by the rev. H. Maurice, rector of Tyringham in
Bucks, in 1695, 4to, we are justified in ranking him among
those enthusiasts who have done much to bring religion
into disgrace; and our readers will probably be of the same
opinion, when we inform them, that after having discharged
his pastoral duties for several years, as a pious and useful
clergyman, he propagated the notion that Christ’s second
appearance was to be at Water- Stratford, where all his
faithful people were to be collected, and reign with him a
thousand years. This brought a great many persons to reside at that place, in hopes of meeting the Saviour, who
were for some time called Mr. Mason’s followers; nor was
it until his death had disappointed their hopes, that this
delusion gradually abated. One of the sons of this enthusiast, John, the father of our author, became a dissenter, and, while pastor of a congregation at Dunmow in
Essex, his son was born there, in 1705-6. He was educated at a dissenting academy, and in 1730 accepted an
invitation to the pastoral charge of a congregation at
Dorking in Surrey, where he had a numerous auditory.
His earliest production was a Sermon on “Subjection to
the higher powers,
” preached Nov. 5, 1740, and published
at the request of the congregation.
, a divine and antiquary, probably a relative of the preceding, was the great- grandson of sir William Masters of Cirencester, in Gloucestershire. His
, a divine and antiquary, probably a relative of the preceding, was the great-grandson of sir William Masters of Cirencester, in Gloucestershire. His father, William, was a clergyman, who among other livings, held that of St. Vedast, Foster-lane, London, where the subject of this article was born in 1713. He was admitted of Corpus-Christi college, Cambridge, in 1731, took his degree of B. A. in 1734, that of M. A. in 1738, and that of S. T. B. in 1746. He also obtained a fellowship of the college, and was tutor from 1747 to 1750. In 1752 he was chosen a fellow of the society of antiquaries, and was presented by Corpus college, in 1756, to the rectory of Landbeach in Cambridgeshire. He was also presented to the vicarage of Linton, which he resigned for that of Waterbeach in 1759; but this last he afterwards, by leave of the bishop of Ely, resigned tr his son. In 1797 he resigned, by consent of the respective colleges, the living of Landbeach to one of his sons-in-law, the rev. T. C. Burroughs, but continued to reside there. He was in the commission of the peace for the county of Cambridge. He died at Landbeach July 5, 1798, in his eightythird year.
, grandson of the count de Pontchartrain, who was minister under Louis
,
grandson of the count de Pontchartrain, who was minister
under Louis XIV. was born in 1701, anJ obtained an appointment of secretary at court so early as 1715. He was
superintendant of the king’s household in 1718, and of the
marine in 1723. In 1738 he was appointed minister of
state, and was in all situations full of genius, activity, and
sagacity. Being exiled to Bourges in 1749, by the intrigues of a lady very powerful at court, he made no secret
of the manner in which he felt that change. “The first
day,
” said he, “I was piqued, the second I was contented.
”
When he arrived at the place of his exile, he talked in a
lively manner of the dedications he should lose, and of the
disappointments of the authors who had wasted their fine
phrases upon him. He continued to amuse himself with
the pleasures of society, and enjoyed the invariable esteem
of many Valuable friends, and of the public. Being
recalled to the ministry in 1774, by Louis XVI. who treated
him with unbounded confidence, he disdained to revenge
any former neglect oy ill offices, and lived rather with the
ease of a rich private gentleman, than with the ostentation
of a minister. His views of objects were rapid, yet were
generally considered as profound; though in recommending the conduct which France pujsued with respect to
America, at the time of the revolt of that country, he certainly laid the foundation for the destruction of the French
monarchy. He was, however, a man of much public spirit,
and one who contributed not a little to the improvement of
the French marine. His correspondence was a model of
precision, expressing much meaning in very few words.
He died at the age of eighty, Nov. 21, 1781. He left
some curious “Memoirs,
” of which there are three editions,
published in
nd him one only daughter, who brought her great fortune in marriage to the marquis de Montpouvillan, grandson of the marshal duke de la Force; but she died in childbed at
, baron of Albone, first
physician to their Britannic majesties James I. and Charles I.
was the son of Louis de Mayerne, author of a “General
History of Spain,
” and of the “Monarchic aristo-democratique,
” dedicated to the States-general. His mother
was Louisa, the daughter of Antoine le Masson, treasurer
of the army to Francis I. and Henry II. in Piedmont.
Louis de Mayerne retired to Geneva about the end of 1572,
after having had two houses at Lyons pulled down on account of his religion. On Sept. 28, 1573, his son Theodore was born, and had for his godfather Theodore Beza.
He learnt polite literature in his own country, and he was
thence sent to Heidelberg, where he stayed some years;
after which, as he had made choice of physic for his profession, he went to Montpellier, and there he took the
degree of bachelor in 1596, and of doctor in 1597. Thence
he went to Paris, where, by way of introducing himself
into practice, he gave lectures in anatomy to the young
surgeons, and in pharmacy to the apothecaries. He acquired reputation by his prescriptions, and became known
to Riverius, first physician to Henry IV. who recommended him so effectually to the king, that he made him
one of his physicians in ordinary; and, in 1600, appointed
him to attend Henry duke of Rohan, in his embassies from
France to the princes of Germany and Italy. Upon his
return, he acquitted himself in the exercise of his office
very much to his credit, and was in high favour with the
king, who promised to do great things for him, provided
he would change his religion; and, it is said, notwithstanding that obstacle, would have appointed him his first physician, if the Jesuits, who were aware of it, had not prevented him by the means of queen Mary de Medicis. Of
this circumstance and intended favour, Mayerne knew
nothing till he learnt it, in 1642, in England, from Caesar
duke of Vendosme, a natural son of France. In 1607, he
had under his care an Englishman of quality, who after
his recovery carried him into England, where he had a
private conference with king James. He then returned to
Paris, and remained there till after the assassination of
Henry IV. in May 1610. In the following year, the king
of England caused him to be invited by his ambassador, to
serve in quality of first physician to himself and his queen,
and gave him a patent, sealed with the great seal of England; in which office he served the whole royal family
with great honour and approbation, till the day of his
death. He was admitted to the degree of doctor in both
universities, and into the college of physicians, and treated
with the greatest respect by these learned bodies. He incurred some obloquy on account of the fatal sickness of
Henry prince of Wales, in October 1612; in the treatment of which he differed in opinion from the other physicians, with respect to the use of blood-letting. But his
conduct obtained the approbation of the king and council,
of which certificates, couched in the most satisfactory
terms, were given him. He received the honour of knighthood from James, in 1624; and on the accession of
Charles I. he was appointed first physician to him and his
queen, and rose to high favour, particularly with the latter.
During the civil commotions he still adhered to the royal
party, for he was appointed first physician to Charles II.
after the death of his father, although the office was not
merely nominal. Thus he enjoyed the extraordinary
honour of serving four kings successively in his medical
capacity; and during all this period he -was most extensively employed by persons of the first rank in this kingdom, by which he accumulated a large fortune. He made
an exact collection of his prescriptions. He composed a
very curious dispensatory of medicines, galenical and chemical but never published any of his works, except an
“Apology
” for himself, against the faculty of physic at
Paris, who had attacked him for his application to the
practice of chemistry, which was greatly cried down by
the physicians of that place. Guy Patin has given an account of this dispute; in which he has shewn himself
greatly prejudiced against Mayerne, and calls him a quack,
on account of his pretensions to chemistry. He died
March 15, 1655, at Chelsea, of the effects of bad wine, a
slow, which, says Granger, the weakness of old age rendered a quick poison. He foretold the time of his death to
his friends, with whom he had been moderately drinking at
a tavern in the Strand; and it happened according to his prediction. He was buried at St. Martin’s-in-the-tields. He
left behind him one only daughter, who brought her great
fortune in marriage to the marquis de Montpouvillan,
grandson of the marshal duke de la Force; but she died
in childbed at the Hague, in 1661.
, grandson of the preceding, was born Jan. 1, 1448. From his earliest years
, grandson of
the preceding, was born Jan. 1, 1448. From his earliest
years he gave proofs of a vigorous mind, which was carefully cultivated, and exhibited many traits of that princely
and liberal spirit which afterwards procured him the title of
“Magnificent.
” In polite literature he cultivated poetry,
and gave some proofs of his talents in various compositions. At the death of Cosmo, on account of the infirmities of his father Peter de Medici, he was immediately
initiated into political life, although then only in his sixteenth year. He was accordingly sent to visit the principal courts in Italy, and acquire a personal knowledge of
their politics and their rulers. In 1469 his father died,
leaving his two sons Lorenzo and Julian heirs of his power
and property; but it was Lorenzo who succeeded him as
head of the republic. Upon the accession of Sixtus IV. to
the papal throne, he went, with some other citizens, to
congratulate the new pope, and was invested with the office of treasurer of the holy see, and while at Rome took
every opportunity to add to the remains of ancient art
which his family had collected. One of the first public
occurrences after he conducted the helm of government,
was a revolt of the inhabitants of Volterra, on account of
a dispute with the Florentine republic; by the recommendation of Lorenzo, means of force were adopted, which
ended in the sack of the unfortunate city, an event that
gave him much concern. In 1472, he re-established the
academy of Pisa, to which he removed in order to complete the work, exerted himself in selecting the most eminent professors, and contributed to it a large sum from his
private fortune, in addition to that granted by the state of
Florence. Zealously attached to the Platonic philosophy,
he took an active part in the establishment of an academy
for its promotion, and instituted an annual festival in honour of the memory of Plato, which was conducted with
singular literary splendour. While he was thus advancing
in a career of prosperity and reputation, a tragical incident was very near depriving his country of his future services. This was the conspiracy of the Pazzi, a numerous
and distinguished family in Florence, of which the object
was the assassination of Lorenzo and his brother. In the
latter they were successful; but Lorenzo was saved, and
the people attached to the Medici collecting in crowds,
putto death or apprehended the assassins, whose designs were thus entirely frustrated, and summary justice
was inflicted on the criminals. Salviati, archbishop of
Pisa, was hanged out of the palace window in his sacerdotal robes; and Jacob de Pazzi, with one of his nephews, shared the same fate. The name and arms of the
Pazzi family were suppressed, its members were banished,
and Lorenzo rose still higher in the esteem and affection of
his fellow-citizens. The pope, Sixtus IV. who was deep
in this foul conspiracy, inflamed almost to madness by the
defeat of his schemes, excommunicated Lorenzo and the
magistrates of. Florence, laid an interdict upon the whole
territory, and, forming a league with the king of Naples,
prepared to invade the Florentine dominions. Lorenzo
appealed to all the surrounding potentates for the justice
of his cause; and he was affectionately supported by his
fellow-citizens. Hostilities began, and were carried on with
various success through two campaigns. At the close of
1479, Lorenzo took the bold resolution of paying a visit
to the king of Naples, and, without any previous security,
trusted his liberty and his life to the mercy of a declared
enemy. The monarch was struck with this heroic act of
confidence, and a treaty of mutual defence and friendship
was agreed upon between them, and Sixtus afterwards
consented to a peace. At length the death of Sixtus IV.
freed him from an adversary who never ceased to bear him
ill-will; and he was able to secure himself a friend in his
successor Innocent VIII. He conducted the republic of
Florence to a degree of tranquillity and prosperity which
it had scarcely ever known before; and by procuring the
institution of a deliberative body, of the nature of a
senate, he corrected the democratical part of his constitution.
vo edition of Milton were designed by him, but Mr. Walpole does not tell us of what date. Sir John’s grandson, John Medina, the last of the family, died at Edinburgh in 1796.
, a portrait-painter, was the son of Medina de TAsturias, a Spanish captain, who had settled at Brussels, where this son was born in 1659, and was instructed in painting by Du Chatel. He married young, and came into England in 1686, where he drew portraits for several years. The earl of Leven encouraged him to go to Scotland, and procured him a subscription of five hundred pounds worth of business. He accepted the otFer, and, according to Walpole, carried with him a large number of bodies and postures, to which he painted heads. He returned to England for a short time, but went again to Scotland, where he died in 1711, aged fifty-two, and was buried in the Grey Friars church-yard. He was knighted by the duke of Queensbury, lord high commissioner, being the last instance of that honour conferred in Scotland while a separate kingdom. He painted most of the Scotch nobility; but was not rich, having twenty children. The portraits of the professors in the Surgeons’ hall at Edinburgh were painted by him. Walpole notices other portraits by him in England, and adds, that he was capable both of history and landscape. The duke of Gordon presented his portrait to the grand duke of Tuscany, who pLiced it in the gallery at Florence, among the series of eminent artists painted by themselves. The prints in an octavo edition of Milton were designed by him, but Mr. Walpole does not tell us of what date. Sir John’s grandson, John Medina, the last of the family, died at Edinburgh in 1796. He practised painting in some measure, although all we have heard specified is the repair he gave to the series of Scottish kings in Holy rood -house, which are well known to be imaginary portraits.
and civil confusion. They passed thence into the hands of sir James Melvil of Halhill, the author’s grandson, from whom the editor George Scott received them, and published
His “Memoirs
” were accidentally found in the castle of
Edinburgh, in 1660, somewhat imperfect, and injured by
time and civil confusion. They passed thence into the
hands of sir James Melvil of Halhill, the author’s grandson,
from whom the editor George Scott received them, and
published them in 1683, in folio, under this title, “The
Memoirs of sir James Melvil, of Halhill, containing an impartial account of most of the remarkable affairs of state,
during the last age, not mentioned by other historians:
more particularly relating to the kingdoms of England and
Scotland, under the reigns of queen Elizabeth, Mary queen
of Scots, and king James: in all which transactions the
author was personally and publicly concerned. Now published from the original manuscript.
” There is an epistle
to the reader, prefixed by the editor, from which we have"
made this extract. It is remarkable, that nobody knew how
these memoirs came to be deposited in the castle of Edinburgh, or when they were so: and also, that they were
preserved almost entire, in a place which could not secure
the public records of the kingdom from the rude incursions of civil discord. Notwithstanding some mistakes,
owing to the advanced age of the writer^ they are much
esteemed, and have been reprinted both in French and
English.
irst decade of” Mother Grim’s Tales,“afterwards appeared; and next, the second part, by Jodocus, her grandson. Some years after, the piece called,” Mob contra Mob.“The whole
Meston is said to have been one of the best classical
scholars of his time, and by no means a contemptible philosopher and mathematician. His wit also was very lively,
and shone particularly in jovial meetings, to which unhappily he was rather too strongly addicted. His poems
were first published separately, as they were written, and
doubtless by way of assisting him in his necessities.
That called “the Knight/* appears to have been first
printed in 1723; and, after it had received several corrections, a second edition was printed at London. The
first decade of
” Mother Grim’s Tales,“afterwards appeared; and next, the second part, by Jodocus, her grandson. Some years after, the piece called,
” Mob contra
Mob.“The whole were first collected in a small volume,
12 mo, at Edinburgh, in 1767, to which a short account of
his life is prefixed, whence the present memoirs have been
extracted. The Knight,
” and several others of his
poems, are in the style of Butler, whom he greatly adinired and imitated, perhaps too servilely, yet with some
success. In the second decade, written under the name
of Jodocus, there are several poems in Latin, and the
title was in that language. It runs thus: “Decadem alteram, ex probatissimis auctoribus, in usum Juventutis
Jinguse Latinse, prsesertim verse poeseos studiosse, selectam,
et in scholis ad propagandam fidem legendam: admixtis
subinde nonnullis, in gratiam Pulchrioris Sexus, vernaculis,
subjunxit Jodocus Grimmus Aniculae nostrae pronepos.
”
His Latin poetry is of no great excellence.
, an English divine and antiquary, was the grandson of the rev. Isaac Milles, rector of High Clear in Hampshire,
, an English divine and antiquary, was the grandson of the rev. Isaac Milles, rector of High Clear in Hampshire, probably by his second son Jeremiah. His eldest son was Dr. Thomas Milles, bishop of Waterford and Lismore, of whom it may be necessary to give some account, as Mr. Harris the editor and continuator of Ware has admitted a few mistakes, calling him Mills, and stating that he was the son of Joseph Mills. He was educated at Wadham college, Oxford, where he took the degree of B. A. in 1692, and that of M. A. in 1695. He was ordained by bishop Hough. In 1704 he took the degree of B. D. and in 1706 was appointed Greek professor of Oxford. In 1707 he attended the earl of Pembroke, lord lieutenant of Ireland, into that kingdom, and by him was promoted to the see of Waterford and Lismore. He died at Waterford May 13, 1740. He published a few controversial tracts, enumerated by Harris, but is best known by his valuable edition of the works of St. Cyril, published at Oxford in 1703, folio.
iter of France, whose original name was Pocquelin, was born at Paris about 1620. He was both son and grandson to valets de chambres on one side, and tapissiers on the other,
, the celebrated comic writer of France, whose original name was
Pocquelin, was born at Paris about 1620. He was both
son and grandson to valets de chambres on one side, and
tapissiers on the other, to Louis XIII. and was designed for
the latter business, that of a domestic upholsterer, whose
duty was to take care of the furniture of the royal apartments. But the grandfather being very fond of the boy,
and at the same time a great lover of plays, used to take
him often with him to the hotel de Bourgogne; which presently roused up Moliere’s natural genius and taste for dramatic representations, and created in him such a disgust to
his intended employment, that at last his father consented
to let him study under the Jesuits, at the college of Clermont. During the five years that he resided here, he made
a rapid progress in the study of philosophy and polite literature, and, if we mistake not, acquired even now much
insight into the varieties of human character. He had
here also an opportunity of contracting an intimate friendship with Chapelle, Bernier, and Cyrano. Chapelle, with
whom Bernier was an associate in his studies, had the famous Gassendi for his tutor, who willingly admitted Moliere to his lectures, as he afterwards also admitted Cyrano.
When Louis XIII. went to Narbonne, in 1641, his studies
were interrupted: for his infirm father, not being able to
attend the court, Moliere was obliged to go there to supply his place. This, however, he quitted on his fathers
death; and his passion for the stage, which had induced
him first to study, revived more strongly than ever. Some
have said, that he for a time studied the law, and was admitted an advocate. This seems doubtful, but, if true, he
soon yielded to those more lively pursuits which made him
the restorer of comedy in France, and the coadjutor of
Corneille, who had rescued the tragic Muse from barbarism. The taste, indeed, for the drama, was much improved in France, after cardinal de Richelieu granted a
peculiar protection to dramatic poets. Many little societies now made it a diversion to act plays in their own
houses; in one of which, known by the name of “The
illustrious Theatre,
” Moliere entered himself; and it was
then, in conformity to the example of the actors of that
time, that he changed his name of Pocquelin for that of
Moliere, which he retained ever after. What became of
him from 1648 to 1652 we know not, this interval being
the time of the civil wars, which caused disturbances in
Paris; but it is probable, that he was employed in composing some of those pieces which were afterwards exhibited to the public. La Bejart, an actress of Champagne,
waiting, as well as he, for a favourable time to display her
talents, Moliere was particularly kind to her; and as their
interests became mutual, they formed a company together, and went to Lyons in 1653, where Moliere produced
his first play, called “L'Etourdi,
” or the Blunderer, and
appeared in the double character of author and actor.
I his drew almo_st all the spectators from the other company of comedians, which was settled in that town; some
of which company joined with Moliere, and followed him
to Beziers in Languedoc, where he offered his services to
the prince of Co'nti, who gladly accepted them, as he had
known him at college, and was among the first to predict
his brilliant career on the stage. He now received him as
a friend; and not satisfied with confiding to him the management of the entertainments which he gave, he offered
to make him his secretary, which the latter declined, saying, “I am a tolerable author, but I should make a very
bad secretary.
” About the latter end of were so well approved, that his majesty gave orders for
their settlement at Paris. The hall of the Petit Bourbon
was granted them, to act by turns with the Italian players.
In 1663, Moliere obtained a pension of a thousand livres:
and, in 1665, his company was altogether in his majesty’s
service. He continued all the remaining part of his life
to give new plays, which were very much and very justly
applauded: and if we consider the number of works which
he composed in about the space of twenty years, while he
was himself all the while an actor, and interrupted, as he
must be, by perpetual avocations of one kind or other,
we cannot fail to admire the quickness, as well as fertility
of his genius; and we shall rather be apt to think with
Boileau,
” that rhime came to him,“than give credit to
some others, who say he
” wrote very slowly."
, great grandson of the preceding, and a major-general in the army, was born
, great grandson of the preceding, and a major-general in the army, was born about 1728, and was the son of John Monckton, the first viscount Galway, and baron of Killard, by his wife the lady Elizabeth Manners, daughter to John second duke of Rutland. He was sent with a detachment to Nova Scotia in 1755, and served under general Wolfe against Quebec. He dislodged a body of the enemy from the point of Levi, and formed a plan for landing the troops near the heights of Abraham, and assisted in the execution for conducting the right wing at the oattle of Quebec, where he was dangerously wounded. He received the thanks of the House of Commons, and afterwards went to New York, where he recovered of his wounds. He was also at the taking of Martinico, and was sometime governor of Portsmouth, where Fort Monckton was so called in honour of him. He died in 1782, leaving the character of a brave, judicious, and humane officer. In his account of the taking of Martinico in 1762, he mentions an attack made by the French troops from Morne Gamier on some of our posts, in which they were repulsed, and such was the ardour of our troops, that they passed the ravine with the enemy, seized their batteries, and took post there. It is also said that on this occasion the English party had no colours with them when they took possession of the batteries, and supplied the want of them by a shirt and a red waistcoat. From the many instances which have been given of General Monckton’s liberality, the following may be selected as deserving to be remembered. When the troops were sent to Martinico, general Amherst took away the usual allowance of baugh and forage- money. General Monckton, knowing the difficulties which subaltern officers have to struggle with in the best situation, felt for their distress, and in some degree to make it up to them, ordered the negroes which were taken, to be sold, and the money divided among the subalterns. On finding that it would not produce them five pounds a-piece, he said he could not offer a gentleman a less sum, and made up the deficiency, which was about 500l. out of his own pocket. He kept a constant table of forty covers for the army, and ordered that the subalterns chiefly should be invited, saying, he had been one himself; and if there was a place vacant, he used to reprimand his aid-de-camp.
arried to Edward Montague, esq. of Denton-hall in Northumberland and Sandleford priory in Berkshire, grandson of the first earl of Sandwich, and member of several successive
She had early a love for society, and it was her lot to be introduced to the best. In 1742, she was married to Edward Montague, esq. of Denton-hall in Northumberland and Sandleford priory in Berkshire, grandson of the first earl of Sandwich, and member of several successive parliaments for the borough of Huntingdon. By his connections and her own she obtained an extensive lange of acquaintance, but selected as her especial friends and favourites persons distinguished for taste and talents. By Mr. Montague, who died without issue in 1775, she was left in great opulence, and maintained her establishment in the learned and fashionable world for many years with great eclat, living in a style of most splendid hospitality. She died in her eightieth year, at her house in Portman-square, Aug. 25, 1800.
, an English poetical and miscellaneous writer, was the grandson of the rev. John Moore of Devonshire, one of the ejected no
, an English poetical and miscellaneous writer, was the grandson of the rev. John Moore of
Devonshire, one of the ejected non-conformists, who died
Aug. 23, 1717, leaving two sons in the dissenting ministry.
Of these, Thomas, the father of our poet, removed to
Abingdon Hi Berkshire, where he died in 1721, and where
Edward was born March 22,. 1711-12, and for some time
brought up under the care of his uncle. He was afterwards placed at the school of East Orchard in Dorsetshire,
where he probably received no higher education than would
qualify him for trade. For some years he followed the business of a linen-draper, both in London and in Ireland,
but with so little success that he became disgusted with his
occupation, and, as he informs us in his preface, “more
from necessity than inclination,
” began to encounter the
vicissitudes of a literary life. His first attempts were of
the poetical kind, which still preserve his name among the
minor poets of his country. In 174-4, he published his
“Fables for the Female Sex,
” which were so favourably
received as tointroducehim into the society of some learned
and some opulent contemporaries. The hon. Mr. Pelham
was one of his early patrons; and, by his “Trial of Selim,
”
he gained the friendship of lord Lyttelton, who felt himself
flattered by a compliment turned with much ingenuity, and
decorated by wit and spirit. But as, for some time, Moore
derived no substantial advantage from patronage, his chief
dependance was on the stage, to which, within five years,
he supplied three pieces of considerable, although unequal, merit. “The Foundling,
” a comedy, which was first
acted in Conscious Lovers.
” His “Gil Bias,
” which appeared in The Gamester,
” a tragedy, first acted
Feb. 7, 1753, was our author’s most successful attempt,
and is still a favourite. In this piece, however, he deviated
from the custom of the modern stage, as Lilio had in his
“George Barnwell,
” by discarding blank verse; and perbaps nothing short of the power by which the catastrophe
engages the feelings, could have reconciled the audience
to this innovation. But hisobject was the misery of the life
and death of a gamester, to which it would have been
difficult to give a heroic colouring; and his language became
what would be most impressive, that of truth and nature.
Davies, in his Life of Garrick, seems inclined to share the
reputation of the “Gamester
” between Moore and Garrick. Moore acknowledges, in his preface, that he was indebted to that inimitable actor for “many popular passages,
” and Davies believes that the scene between Lewson and Stukely, in the fourth act, was almost entirely his,
because he expressed, during the time of action, uncommon pleasure at the applause given to it. Whatever may
be in this conjecture, the play, after having been acted to
crowded houses for eleven nights, was suddenly withdrawn. The report of the day attributed this to the intervention of the leading members of some gaming clubs.
Davies thinks this a mere report “to give more consequence to those assemblies than they could really boast.
”
From a letter, in our possession, written by Moore to Dr.
Warton, it appears that Garrick suffered so much from,
the fatigue of acting the principal character as to require
some repose. Yet this will not account for the total neglect, for some years afterwards, of a play, not only popular, but so obviously calculated to give the alarm to reclaimable gamesters, and perhaps bring the whole gang
into discredit. The author mentions, in his letter to Dr.
Warton, that he expected to clear about four hundred
pounds by his tragedy, exclusive of the profits by the sale
of the copy.
It is asserted by Dr. Johnson, in his life of lord Lyttelton, that, in return for Moore’s elegant compliment, “The
Trial of Selim,
” his lordship paid him with “kind words,
which, as is common, raised great hopes, that at last were
disappointed.
” It is possible, however, that these hopes
were of another kind than it was in his lordship’s power to
gratify*; and it is certain that he substituted a method of
serving Moore, which was not only successful for a considerable time, but must have been agreeable to the feelings
of a delicate and independent mind. Abouttheyears 175 1-2,
periodical writing began to revive in its most pleasing form,
but had hitherto been executed by men of learning only.
Lord Lyttelton projected a paper, in concert with Dodsiey,
which should unite the talents of certain men of rank, and
receive such a tone and consequence from that circumstance, as mere scholars can seldom hope to command or
attain. Such was the origin of the “World,
” for every
paper of which Dodsiey stipulated to pay Moore three
guineas, whether the papers were written by him, or by
the volunteer contributors. Lord Lyttelton, to render this
bargain more productive to the editor, solicited and obtained the assistance of the earls of Chesterfield, Bath, and
Corke, and of Messrs. Walpole, Cambridge, Jenyns, and
other men of rank and taste, who gave their assistance,
some with great regularity, and all so effectually as to render the “World
” far more popular than any of its contemporaries.
r, Henrietta, married to Alexander second duke of Gordon. He was succeeded in titles and estate by a grandson, Charles. He married as his second wife Mrs. Anastasia Robinson,
His lordship married Carey, daughter to sir Alexander
Fraser, of Dotes, in the shire of Mearns, in Scotland, and
by her (who died May 13, 1709) he had two sons, John
and Henry, who both died before him, and a daughter,
Henrietta, married to Alexander second duke of Gordon.
He was succeeded in titles and estate by a grandson,
Charles. He married as his second wife Mrs. Anastasia
Robinson, a celebrated singer, of whom Dr. Burney has
given a very particular account in vol. IV. of his “History
of Music.
” To this lady he was ardently attached, and
behaved to her with great delicacy and propriety, but his
pride revolted at the match, and he kept it secret until a
very short period before his death. Of the lady herself he
had, according to every account, no reason to be ashamed;
but a connection of this kind had not then become so common as we have of late witnessed. How long he was married to her does not appear. She survived him fifteen
years, residing in an exalted station, and visited by persons of the first rank, partly at Bevis Mount, his lordship’s
seat near Southampton, and partly at Fulham, or perhaps
at Peterborough-house at Parson’s green. Lord Peterborough had written his “Own Memoirs,
” which this lady
destroyed, from a regard to his reputation. Tradition says,
that in these memoirs he confessed his having committed
three capital crimes before he was twenty years of age.
This we hope has been exaggerated; but it seems allowed
that his morals were loose, and that he was a freethinker.
f trade in the reign of queen Anne; and his mother was the daughter of Mr. Smyth, who left this, his grandson, an handsome estate, upon which account he obtained an act of
, was the son of Arthur More, esq. one of the lords-commissioners of trade in
the reign of queen Anne; and his mother was the daughter of Mr. Smyth, who left this, his grandson, an handsome
estate, upon which account he obtained an act of parliament to change his name from More to Smyth; and, besides this estate, at the death of his grandfather, he had
his place of pay-master to the band of gentlemen-pensioners, with his younger brother Arthur More, esq. He
was bred at Worcester college, Oxford; and, while he was
there, wrote a comedy, called “The Rival Modes.
” This
play was condemned in the acting, but he printed it in
1727, with the following motto, which the commentator
on the Dunciad, by way of irony, calls modest: “Hie
csestus artemque repono.
” Being of a gay disposition, he
insinuated himself into the favour of the duke of Wharton;
and being also, like him, destitute of prudence, he joined
with that nobleman in writing a paper, called “The Inquisitor;
” which breathed so much the spirit of Jacobitism,
that the publisher thought proper to sacrifice his profit to
his safety, and discontinue it. By using too much freedom
with Pope, he occasioned that poet to stigmatize him in
his Dunciad:
house of the Clarendon press until the above-mentioned period, when it was published by the author’s grandson, the late Dr. Samuel Musgrave, of Exeter, a gentleman once noted
Being a man of very extensive learning, he composed, at
his leisure-hours, several curious works, as, 1. “De Arthritide symptomatica Dissertatio, 1703,
” 8vo. 2. “De Arthritide^anomala sive interna Dissertatio, 1707,
” 8vo. Of
these two books, one upon the regular, the other upon the
irregular or inward gout, he gave an account in the “Philosophical Transactions.
” 3. “Julii Vitalis Epitaphitim:
cum Commentario, 1711,
” 8vo, a work much praised by
Mr. Moyle. 4. “De Legionibus Epistola.
” This letter
concerning the Roman legions was addressed to sir Hans
Sloane. 5. “De Aquilis Romania Epistola, 1713,
” 8vo,
addressed to Gisbert Cuper, consul of Deventer, who had
affirmed that the Roman eagles were of massy gold or
silver; while Musgrave maintained, that they were only
plated over, in which opinion he was joined by Moyle. 6.
“Inscriptio Terraconensis; cum Commentario.
” 7. “Geta
Britannicus. Accedit Domus Severianae Synopsis chronologica; et de Icuncula quondam M. Regis jElfridi Dissertatio, 1715,
” 8vo. That is, “Observations upon a
fragment of an equestrian stone Statue, found near Bath,
which Musgrave believes to have been set up in honour of
Geta, after his arrival in Britain; together with a chronological Synopsis of the family of Severus; and a dissertation upon a piece of Saxon antiquity found at Athelney in
Somersetshire, being king Alfred the Great’s Amulet.
” 8.
“Belgium Britannicum;
” or, “An account of that part of
South Britain which was anciently inhabited by a people
called Belgae, and now comprehends Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Somersetshire,
” De Arthritide primogenia et regulari,
”
8vo. He had left the manuscript to his son William Musgrave, M. B. by whom it was committed to the press, but
he dying when the work was nearly completed, the sheets
remained in the warehouse of the Clarendon press until
the above-mentioned period, when it was published by the
author’s grandson, the late Dr. Samuel Musgrave, of Exeter, a gentleman once noted (about 1761) for his pretended political discoveries respecting the private history
of the peace, and afterwards as a Greek scholar and critic.
He studied at Leyden, where in 1762 he published “Exercitationum in Euripidem libri duo,
” 8vo, and when he
took his degree, “Apologia pro medicina Empirica,
”
Two Dissertations,
” on the Grecian mythology, and the
chronology of the Olympiads.
ing to her acquaintance with Bossuet, and conversations at Rome with cardinal Philip Howard, who was grandson of the earl of Arundel, the collector of the Arundelian marbles,
In 1680 he was chosen F. R. S. probably by the introduction of his friend and school-fellow, Dr. Halley, for
whom he had a particular regard, and in whose company
he set out on his travels the same year. In the road to
Paris they saw the remarkable comet which gave rise to
the cometical astronomy of sir Isaac Newton; and our
author, apparently by the advantage of his fellow-traveller’s instructions, sent dean Tillotson a description of
it. Before he left Paris he received a letter from a friend
in the English court, suggesting to him to purchase a place
there, and promising his assistance in it. But although
Nelson had a great affection for king Charles and the duke
of York, and was at first pleased with the thoughts of aU
taching himself to the court, on which, however, at that
time, he was more likely to confer honour, than to derive
any from it, yet he could not resolve upon an affair of
such consequence without the approbation of his mother
and uncle. He first, therefore, applied to Tillotson to
obtain their opinion, with assurances of determining himself by their and the dean’s advice; but, finding no encouragement from either of the parties, he relinquished his
intention, and pursued his journey with his fellow-traveller
to Rome. Here he became acquainted with a lady considerably older than himself, the lady Theophila Lucy,
widow of sir Kingsmili Lucy, of Broxburne, Herts, bare,
and second daughter of George earl of Berkeley, who soon
discovered a strong passion for him, which concluded in a
marriage, after his arrival in England, in 1682. His disappointment was, however, very great, when he found
that she had deceived him in one very essential point, that
of her having been won over to the popish religion while
on this tour; and it was some time before she confessed
this change, which was owing to her acquaintance with
Bossuet, and conversations at Rome with cardinal Philip
Howard, who was grandson of the earl of Arundel, the
collector of the Arundelian marbles, &c. and had been
raised to the purple by Clement X. in May 1675. Nor
was this important alteration of her religious sentiments
confined to her own mind, but involved in it her daughter
by her first husband, whom she drew over to her new religion; and her zeal for it prompted her even to become a
writer in one of the controversies so common at that time.
She is the supposed authoress of a piece printed in 1686,
4to, under the title of “A Discourse concerning a Judge
of Controversy in matters of Religion, shewing the necessity of such a judge.
”
, M. A. son of a worthy clergy, man in Herefordshire, and great grandson, by his mother’s side, to the famous Spenser, was born in 1675,
, M. A. son of a worthy clergy,
man in Herefordshire, and great grandson, by his mother’s
side, to the famous Spenser, was born in 1675, and was,
for some time, educated at Corpus Christi college, Oxford; but we do not find his name among the Graduates.
He was afterwards chaplain to the second duke of Richmond, and rector of Stopham in Sussex, in 1734, when
he published a translation of “Velleius Paterculus.
” For
some time before this he lived at Hackney, in rather distressed circumstances. So early as 1718, he was author
of an excellent poem, under the title of “Bibliotheca,
”
which is preserved in the third volume of Nichols’s “Select Collection of Miscellany Poems,
” and on which Dr.
Warton thinks Pope must have formed his goddess
Dulness, in the “Dunciad.
” Besides the many productions of
Dr. Newcomb reprinted in that collection, he was author of
several poems of merit; particularly of “The last Judgment
of Men and AngeU, in twelve books, after the manner of
Milton,
” To her late majesty queen Anne, upon
the Peace of Utrecht;
” “An Ode to the memory of Mr.
Rowe;
” and another, “To the memory of the countess of
Berkeley.
” He also translated several of Addison’s Latin
poems, and Philips’s “Ode to Mr. St. John.
”
, an eminent English mathematician and divine, the grandson of John Newton, of Axmouth, in Devonshire, and the son of Humphrey
, an eminent English mathematician
and divine, the grandson of John Newton, of Axmouth, in
Devonshire, and the son of Humphrey Newton of Oundle,
in Northamptonshire, was born at Oundle in 1622, and
was entered a commoner of St. Edmund’s hall, Oxford,
in 1637. He took the degree of B. A. in 1641; and the
year following, was created master, in precedence to several gentlemen that belonged to the king and court, then
residing in the university, on account of his distinguished
talents in the higher branches of science. His genius
being inclined to astronomy and the mathematics, he made
great proficiency in these sciences, which he found of service during the times of the usurpation, when he continued stedfest to his legal sovereign. After the restoration he was created D. D. at Oxford, Sept. 1661, was
made one of the king’s chaplains, and rector of Ross, in
Herefordshire, in the place of Mr. John Toombes, ejected
for non-conformity. He held this living till his death,
which happened at Ross, Dec. 25, 1678. Mr. Wood gives
him the character of a capricious and humoursome person; but whatever may be in this, his writings are sufficient
monuments of his genius and skill in the mathematics.
These are, 1. “Astronomia Britannica, &c. in three parts,
”
Help to Calculation; with tables of declination, ascension, &c.
” Trigonometria Britannica, in two books,
” Chiliades centum Logarithmorum,
” printed with, 5. “Geometrical Trigonometry,
” Mathematical Elements, three parts,
” A perpetual Diary, or Almanac,
” Description of
the use of the Carpenter’s Rule,
” Ephemerides,
shewing the Interest and Rate of Money at six per cent.
”
&c. Chiliades centum Logarithmorum, et tabula partium proportionalium,
” The Rule of
Interest, or the case of Decimal Fractions, &c. part II.
”
1668, 8vo. 12. “School-Pastime for young Children,
”
&c. Art of practical Gauging,
” &c. Introduction to the art of Rhetoric,
” The
art of Natural Arithmetic, in whole numbers, and fractions
vulgar and decimal,
” The English Academy,
” Cosmography.
” 18. “Introduction to Astronomy.
” 19. “Introduction to Geography,
”
the price was only six shillings each copy. In 1784, a volume of his “Sermons” was published by his grandson, S.Adams, LL. B. 8vo.
“He died at Lavendon Grange, extremely lamented by
all the poor of that neighbourhood, to whom he was a kind
benefactor, and by all his friends and acquaintance throughout the kingdom. Upon his death-bed, he ordered all his
writings to be destroyed, as his worthy widow informed
me; and she was a conscientious person. His friend, Dr t
Hunt, advised her to be cautious, and to be sure she did
not mistake his meaning, especially with regard to some
articles. I also, to whom she paid a favourable regard,
presumed to suggest the same caution. How far that
good lady proceeded in the proposed destruction of the
worthy doctor’s papers, I am not able to say; but do hitherto suppose she reduced them to ashes. Upon a
vacancy of the public orator’s place at Oxford, Newton
offered himself a candidate; but Digby Cotes, then fellow
of All Souls-college, and afterwards principal of Magdalenhall, carried the point against him. Newton’s friends
thought him to be by far the more qualified person for that
eminent post; though orator Digby was also, I think, a
man of worth as well as reputation. Newton survived him.
Dr. Newton was well skilled in the modern foreign languages, as well as in the ancient ones of Greece and Rome.
A well-polished gentleman, and, at the same time, a sincere Christian. He carried dignity in his aspect, but
sweetened with great modesty, humility, and freedom of
conversation. This I know, having carefully observed
bim, and having always found him even and uniform, both
in his temper and in his conduct. One thing comes novr
into my mind. Being a guest for a night or two at his
house at Lavendon, in the summer-1749, and in my way
to Oxford and London, &c. I had much familiar and free
discourse with him, and particularly upon the subject of a
reasonable reform in some particulars relating to our ecclesiastical establishment a reform, to which he was a hearty
welt- wisher. One evening, there being present his worthy vice-principal Mr. Saunders, and an ingenious young
gentleman of fortune, a pupil of Saunders, the doctor
was pleased to propose to us this question: What share are
ifce to allow to Common Sense and Reason in matters of lieKgion? Those two gentlemen and myself being silent, he
addressed himself particularly to me, who was, in pqiuT-qf
age, superior to them both. I freely answered, that, in
my poor opinion, the due exercise of common sense and
reason^ and private judgment in all matters of religion,
ought to be allowed to all Christians. He said, he was of
the same mind. He read prayers in his family at Lavendon, morning and evening, being select parts of the public liturgy. On Wednesdays and Fridays the litany only.
He appointed to his studious guests several separate apartments (being parlours) for private study, with pen, ink,
and paper, for each, and the use of his library, which was
near those apartments, &c. When Pelham was minister,
that station corrupted the man, and made him like other
ministers; for when he was asked why he did not place, in
proper station, the able and meritorious Dr. Newton, he
said, `How could I do it? he never asked me' forgetting
his tutor. Mr. Pelham more than once employed Dr.
Newton to furnish king’s speeches.
”
His foundation of Hertford-college, for which chiefly he
is now remembered, was an unfortunate speculation, ft
was preceded by some publications calculated to make
known his opinions on academic education. The first of
these, which appeared in 1720, was entitled “A Scheme of
Discipline, with Statutes intended to be established by a
royal charter for the education of youth in Hert-hall;
” and
in University Education,
” which chiefly relates
to the removal of students from one college to another,
without the leave of their respective governors, or of the
chancellor. This appears to have involved him in some
unpleasant altercations with his brethren. His application,
for a charter to take Hert-hall from under the jurisdiction
of Exeter- college, and erect it into an independent college,
occasioned a controversy between him and Dr. Conybeare,
then rector of Exeter, and afterwards bishop of Bristol and
dean of Christ church. In August 1740, however, he obtained the charter for raising Hert-hall into a perpetual
college, for the usual studies; the society to consist of a
principal, four senior fellows or tutors, eight junior fellows
or assistants, eight probationary students, twenty-four actual students, and four scholars. He contributed an annuity of 55l. 6s. Sd. issuing out of his house at Lavendon,
and other lands in that parish, to be an endowment for the
four senior fellows at the rate of 13l. 6s. Sd. each yearly.
He then purchased some houses in the neighbourhood of
Hert-hall for its enlargement, and expended about 1500l.
on building the chapel and part of an intended new quadrangle. Very few benefactors afterwards appeared to
complete the establishment, which, by the aid of independent members subsisted for some years, but has of late
gradually fallen off, and it is but within these few months
that a successor could be found to the late principal Dr.
Bernard Hodgson, who died in 1805. Dr. Newton’s radical error in drawing up the statutes, was his fixing the
price of every thing at a maximum, and thus injudiciously
overlooking the progress of the markets, as well as the
state of society. He seems indeed to have been more intent on establishing a school upon rigid and ceconomical
principles, than a college which, with equal advantages in
point of education, should keep pace with the growing
liberality and refinement of the age.
Besides some single sermons, Dr. Newton published in
answer to the learned Wharton on pluralities, a volume
entitled “Pluralities indefensible,
” Proposals for printing by subscription 4000 copies
of the Characters of Theophrastus, for the benefit of Hertford-college;
” but this did not appear until a year after
his death, when it was published by his successor Dr. William Sharp, in an 8vo volume. The produce to the college
is said to have amounted to 1000l., which we much doubt,
as the price was only six shillings each copy. In 1784, a
volume of his “Sermons
” was published by his grandson,
S.Adams, LL. B. 8vo.
, 1672. He was the son of John Olearius, professor of Greek and theology in that university, and the grandson of Godfrey Olearius, a learned Lutheran divine. From his earliest
, the most considerable of a
family of learned men of thU name, originally of Saxony,
was horn at Leipsic July 23, 1672. He was the son of
John Olearius, professor of Greek and theology in that
university, and the grandson of Godfrey Olearius, a learned
Lutheran divine. From his earliest years he discovered a
thirst for knowledge, and a capacity which enabled him to
rm.ke a distinguished figure during his studies. When his
academic course was completed, in his twenty-first year
he went to Holland, and then to England, attracted by
the reputation of the university of Oxford and the Bodleian
library, to which he gained admittance, and pursued his
learned inquiries there a year. On his return home he was
appointed professor of Greek at Leipsic; and in 1708 succeeded to the theological chair. In 1709 he obtained a
canonry at Meissen; was appointed inspector of the students maintained by the elector, and in 1714 assessor to
the electoral and ducal consistory. He died Nov. 10, 1715,
when only forty-three years of age. He was an able divine and philosopher, and particularly distinguished for a
critical knowledge of the Greek language. Among his
works are, I.-“Dissertatio de miraculo Piscinae Bethesdae,
”
Leipsic, Dissert, de adoratione Dei Patris
per Jesum Christum,
” ibid. Introduction to the Roman and German history, from the foundation of Rome to the year 1699,
” ibid.
History of the Apostles’ Creed,
” Philostratus,
” Gr.
& Lat. Leipsic, History of Philosophy,
” ibid. Observationes
sacrae in Evangelium Matthaei,
” Leipsic,
auz; who adds, that Onkelos was contemporary with Gamaliel the elder, St. Paul’s master, who was the grandson of Hillel, who lived twentyeight years after Christ, and did
Azarias, the author of a book entitled “Meor Ena'im,
”
or the Light of the Eyes, tells us, that Onkelos was a proselyte in the time of Hillel and Samnai, and lived to see
Jonathan Ben Uzziel one of the prime scholars of Hillel.
These three doctors flourished twelve years before Christ,
according to the chronology of Gauz; who adds, that Onkelos was contemporary with Gamaliel the elder, St. Paul’s
master, who was the grandson of Hillel, who lived twentyeight years after Christ, and did not die till eighteen years
before the destruction of Jerusalem. However, the same
Gauz, by his calculation, places Onkelos 100 years after
Christ; and, to adjust his opinion with that of Azarias, extends the life of Onkelos to a great length. The Talmudists tell us, that he assisted at the funeral of Gamaliel,
and was at a prodigious expence to make it most magnificent. Some say, he burnt on the occasion goods and effects to the value of 7000 crowns; others, that he provided
seventy pounds of frankincense, which was burnt at the
solemnity.
, grandson of the preceding Andrew, was born at Blauberen, in the duchy
, grandson of the preceding
Andrew, was born at Blauberen, in the duchy of Wirtemburg, in 1562, and became a Lutheran minister; after
which he became deacon of the church of Aurach, and
pastor of the church of Gigligen. He was next appointed
preacher and counsellor to prince Lewis of Wirtemburg,
and in 1592 he received the degree of doctor of divinity at
“Tubingen. After various other promotions and honours,
he died in 1617. He was the editor of
” Biblia Sacra,
Latine vulgata, cum Emendationibus et Explicationibus superiorum Versionum, et Observationibus ex Thebl. Andreoe,
Herbrandi," &c. which passed through five editions in a few
years, and is highly commended by father Simon, in his
Crit. Hist, of the Old Testament. He was like wise author
of several theological works.
by Catharine of Austria, that king’s widow, who was regent of the kingdom during the minority of her grandson Sebastian. When this prince became of age to take the administration
, a learned Portuguese divine, descended from an illustrious family, was born at Lisbon in 1506. Discovering an extraordinary inclination for literature, he was sent, at thirteen, to the university of Salamanca; where having studied Greek and Latin, and law, he removed at nineteen to Paris, to be instructed in Aristotle’s philosophy, which was then the vogue. From Paris he went to Bologna, where he devoted himself to the study of the sacred Scriptures, and the Hebrew language; and he acquired such reputation, as a theologist, that, on his return home, John III. king of Portugal appointed him professor of divinity at Coimbra, Taking priest’s orders, the care of the church of Tavora was given him by Don Lewis infant of Portugal; and, soon after, the archdeaconry of Evora by cardinal Henry, archbishop of that province, and brother to king John; and at last he was nominated to the bishopric of Sylves in Algarva, by Catharine of Austria, that king’s widow, who was regent of the kingdom during the minority of her grandson Sebastian. When this prince became of age to take the administration of the kingdom into his own hands, he resolved upon an expedition against the Moors in Africa, much against the persuasions of Osorio who, to avoid being an eye-witness of the calamities he dreaded, made various pretences to go to Rome. Here pope Gregory XIII. gave him many testimonies of his esteem: but he had not been absent above a year, when the king recalled him home; and not long after, Sebastian was killed in the battle of Alcazer, against the Moors, Aug. 4, 1578. During the tumults in Portugal which succeeded this fatal event, Osorio took every means to prevent the people of his diocese from joining in them; but the miseries of his country at this juncture are said to have broke his heart, and he died of grief, Aug. 20, 1580, aged seventy-four.
ished about 1670, but attained less fame than his son John, who was born at St. Quentin in 1661. The grandson John Baptist Michel was the most successful in his art, especially
, was one of a family of engravers
on wood, who obtained considerable reputation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He flourished about
1670, but attained less fame than his son John, who was
born at St. Quentin in 1661. The grandson John Baptist Michel was the most successful in his art, especially
in those engravings which represent foliage and flowers,
many beautiful specimens of which are inserted in his publication on the art of engraving in wood; and the whole
prove that he was a very skilful master in every branch of
the art he professed. The human figure he seems to have
been the least acquainted with, and has consequently failed
most in those prints into which it is introduced. He died
in 1776; about ten years before which event he published
in 2 vols. 8vo, his “Traite historique et pratique de la
gravure en bois,
” a work of great merit as to the theory of
an art, which, it is almost needless to add, has of late
years been brought to the highest perfection by some
ingenious men of our own country, led first to this pursuit by the excellent example and success of the Messrs.
Bewickes.
which is inserted in Collins’s Peerage, it appears that he died in Nov. 1556, aged eighty. His great grandson, Edward lord Morley, who married Elizabeth, sole daughter and
Parker (Henry) Lord Morley, a nobleman of literary taste in the reign of Henry VIII. was the son and heir
of sir William Parker, knight, by Alice, sister and heir of
Henry Lovel, and daughter of William Lovel, a younger
son of William lord Lovel of Tichmersh, by Alianore,
daughter and heir of Robert Morley, lord Morley, who
died 21 Henry Vlth. He was educated at Oxford, but at
what college, or at what time, does not appear. After
leaving the university, he retired to his estate in Northamptonshire, and in the 21st year of the reign of Henry
VIII. was summoned to parliament by the title of lord
Morley. He was one of the barons, who, in the year following, signed the memorable declaration to pope Clement Vji. threatening him with the loss of his supremacy
in England, unless he consented to the king’s divorce, but
he still remained a bigoted adherent to the popish religion.
In the 25th of the same reign, having a dispute for precedence with lord Dacre of Gillesland, his pretensions were
confirmed by parliament. Anthony Wood says, that “his
younger years were adorned with all kind of superficial
learning, especially with dramatic poetry, and his elder
with that which was divine.
” Wood adds, that he was
living, “an ancient man, and in esteem among the nobility,
in the latter end of Henry VIII.
” But from his epitaph,
which is inserted in Collins’s Peerage, it appears that he
died in Nov. 1556, aged eighty. His great grandson, Edward lord Morley, who married Elizabeth, sole daughter
and heir of William Stanley, lord Montegle, had issue
Mary, who by her husband Thomas Habington, of Henlip
in Worcestershire, was mother of William Habington the
poet, and was supposed to have been the person who wrote
to her brother William, lord Morley and Montegle, the
famous letter of warning respecting the gun-powder plot.
sword. His father was a soldier of rank, and Paterculus was a military tribune, when Caius Caesar, a grandson of Augustus, had an interview with the king of the Parthians,
, an ancient Roman historian, who flourished in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, was born in the year of Rome 735. His ancestors were illustrious for their merit and their offices. His grandfather espoused the party of Tiberius Nero, the emperor’s father; but being old and infirm, and not able to accompany Nero when he retired from Naples, he ran himself through with his sword. His father was a soldier of rank, and Paterculus was a military tribune, when Caius Caesar, a grandson of Augustus, had an interview with the king of the Parthians, in an island of the river Euphrates, in the year 753. He commanded the cavalry in Germany under Tiberius, and accompanied that prince for nine years successively in all his expeditions. He received honourable rewards from him but we do not find that he was preferred to any higher dignity than the proctorship. The praises he bestows upon Sejanus give some probability to the conjecture, that he was looked upon as a friend of this favourite; and, consequently, that he was involved in his ruin. His death is placed by Dodwell in the year 784, when he was in his fiftieth year.
a young man*, on whom he bestowed the valuable rectory of Stone, in consideration of his being great grandson of his first patron, the earl of Macclesfield, whose favours,
Being now disengaged from his deanry, bishop Pearce seemed to consider himself as freed from half his burthen, and with such vigour as time had left him, and such alacrity as hope continued to supply, he prosecuted his episcopal functions and private studies. It redounds greatly to his honour, that in the disposal of ecclesiastical preferments, he never gave occasion to censure, except in the single instance of a young man*, on whom he bestowed the valuable rectory of Stone, in consideration of his being great grandson of his first patron, the earl of Macclesfield, whose favours, conferred forty years before, his gratitude did not suffer him to forget.
he whole of Mr. Peck’s Mss. relative to this work, were purchased by sir Thomas Cave, in 1754, whose grandson, with equal liberality and propriety, presented them to Mr.
The greater part of Mr. Peck’s Mss. became the property of sir Thomas Cave, bart. Among others, he purchased 5 vols. in 4to, fairly transcribed for the press, in.
Mr. Peck’s own neat hand, under the title of “Monasticon
Anglicanum.
” These volumes were, on the 14th of May,
1779, presented to the British Museum, by the last sir
Thomas Cave, after the death of his father, who twenty
years before had it in contemplation to bestow them on that
excellent repository. They are a most valuable and almost
inestimable collection, and we hope will not be neglected
by the editors of the new edition of Dugdale. Mr. Peck’s
other literary projects announced in the preface to his
“Desiderata,
” and at the end his “Memoirs of Cromwell,
”
are, 1. “Desiderata Curiosa,
” vol. III. Of this Mr. Nichols has a few scattered fragments. 2. “The Annals of
Stanford continued.
” 3. “The History and Antiquities
of the Town and Soke of Grantham, in Lincolnshire.
”
4. “The Natural History and Antiquities of Rutland.
”
5. “The Natural History and Antiquities of Leicestershire.
” The whole of Mr. Peck’s Mss. relative to this
work, were purchased by sir Thomas Cave, in 1754, whose
grandson, with equal liberality and propriety, presented
them to Mr. Nichols for the use of his elaborate history of
that county. It appears from one of Mr. Peck’s Mss. on
Leicestershire, that he meditated a chapter on apparitions,
in which he cordially believed. 6. “r rhe Life of Mr. Nicholas Ferrar, of Little Gidding, in the county of Huntingdon, gent, commonly called the Protestant St. Nicholas, and the pious Mr. George Herbert’s Spiritual Brother,
done from original Mss.
” This ms. of Ferrar is now in the
possession of Mr. Gilchrist of Stamford, before mentioned,
who informs us that there is nothing in it beyond what may
be found in Peckard’s Life of Ferrar. 7. “The Lives of
William Burton, esq. author of the Antiquities of Leicestershire, and his brother Robert Burton, B. D. student of
Christ-church, and rector of Seagrave, in Leicestershire,
better known by the name of Democritus jun.
” Mr. Nichols had also the whole of this ms. or plan, which was
merely an outline. 8. “New Memoirs of the Restoration
of King Charles the Second (which may be considered also as an Appendix to secretary Thurloe’s Papers), containing
the copies of Two Hundred and Forty-six Original Letters
and Papers, all written annis 1658, 1659, and 1660 (none of them ever yet printed). The whole communicated by
William Cowper, esq, Clerk of the Parliament.
” In Account of the Asshebys and
De la Launds, owners of Bloxham, in the county of Lincoin,
” a ms. in the British Museum. Mr. Gilchrist has
a copy of Langbaine’s Lives, carefully interlined by him,
whence it should seem that he meditated an enlargement
of that very useful volume. Mr. Peck also left a great
many ms sermons, some of which are in the possession of
the same gentleman, who has obligingly favoured us with
some particulars of the Stamford antiquary.
lmost uninterrupted literary labours, made him very generally known. In 1791, when on a visit to his grandson, sir Christopher Pegge, of Oxford, he was created LL. D. by
Being now possessed of a living, and of some independent personal property inherited from his mother, he married, in April 1732, miss Anne Clarke, the only daughter of Benjamin Clarke, esq. of Stanley, near Wakefield, in Yorkshire. While he resided in Kent, which was for the space of twenty years, he made himself universally acceptable by his general knowledge, his agreeable conversation, and his vivacity. Having an early propensity to the study of antiquities as well as of the classics, he here laid the foundation of what in time became a considerable collection of books, and his cabinet of coins grew in proportion; by which two assemblages, so scarce among country gentlemen in general, he was qualified to pursue those collateral studies, without neglecting his parochial duties, to which he was always assiduously attentive. Here, however, the placid course of his life was interrupted by the death of Mrs. Pegge, whom he lamented with unfeigned sorrow; and now meditated on some mode of removing himself, without disadvantage, to his native country, either by obtaining a preferment tenable with his present vicarage, or by exchanging this for an equivalent. Having been induced to reside for some time at Surrenden, to superintend the education of Sir Edward Dering’s son, that baronef obtained for him the perpetual curacy of Brampton, near Chesterfield, in the gift of the dean of Lincoln; but the parishioners insisting that they had a right to the presentation, law proceedings took place, before the termination of which in favour of the dean of Lincoln, Mr. Pegge was presented by the new dean of Lincoln, Dr. George, to the rectory of Whittington, near Chesterfield. He was accordingly inducted Nov. 11, 1751, and resided here upwards of forty-four years without interruption. About a fortnight after, by the interest of his friend sir Edward Dering with the duke of Devonshire, he was inducted into the rectory of Brinhill, or Brindle, in Lancashire, on which he resigned Godmersham. Sir Edward also obtained for him in the same year a scarf from the marquis of Hartington (afterwards the fourth duke of Devonshire) who was then called up to the house of peers by the title of baron Cavendish of Hard wick. In 1758 Mr. Pegge was enabled, by the acquiescence of the duke of Devonshire, to exchange Brinhill for Heath, alias Lown, which lies within seven miles of Whittington; a very commodious measure, as it brought his parochial preferments within a smaller distance of each other. The vicarage of Heath he held till his death. His other preferments were, in 1765, the perpetual curacy ofWingerworth; the prebend of Bobenhull, in the church of Lichfield, in 1757; the living of Whittington in Staffordshire, in 1763; and the prebend of Louth, in Lincoln church, in 1772. Towards the close of his life he declined accepting a residentiaryship in the church of Lichfield, being too old to endure, with tolerable convenience, a removal from time to time. His chief patron was archbishop Cornwallis, but he had an admirer, if not a patron, in every dignitary of the church who knew him; and his protracted life, and his frequent and almost uninterrupted literary labours, made him very generally known. In 1791, when on a visit to his grandson, sir Christopher Pegge, of Oxford, he was created LL. D. by that university. He died, after a fortnight’s illness, Feb. 14, 1796, in the ninety-second year of his age, and was buried, according to his own desire, in the chancel of the church of Whittington, near Chesterfield, where his son placed a mural tablet of black marble, over the east window, with a short inscription.
Dr. Pegge left many Mss. a considerable part of which are in the possession of his grandson. While vicar of Godmersham, he collected a good deal relative
Dr. Pegge left many Mss. a considerable part of which
are in the possession of his grandson. While vicar of Godmersham, he collected a good deal relative to the college
at Wye, in that neighbourhood, which he thought of publishing, and engraved the seal, before engraved in Lewis’s
seals. He had “Extracts from the rental of the royal
manor of Wye, made about 1430, in the hands of Daniel
earl of Winchelsea;
” and “Copy of a survey and rental
of the college, in the possession of sir Windham Knatchbull, 1739.
” He possessed also a ms “Lexicon Xenophonticum
” by himself; a Greek Lexicon in ms.; an
“English Historical Dictionary,
” in 6 vols. foi. a French
and Italian, a Latin, a British and Saxon one, in one volume each all corrected by his notes a “Glossarium
Generate
” two volumes of collections in English history;
collections for the city and church of Lincoln, now in Mr.
Gough’s library at Oxford; a “Monasticon Cantianuin,
”
2 vols. folio; and various other ms collections, which afford
striking proofs of unwearied industry, zeal, and judgment.
esmen whom this country has produced, was the son of Robert Pitt, esq. of Boconnock in Cornwall, and grandson of Thomas Pitt, governor of Madras, who was purchaser of the
, earl of Chatham, one of the most
illustrious statesmen whom this country has produced, was
the son of Robert Pitt, esq. of Boconnock in Cornwall, and
grandson of Thomas Pitt, governor of Madras, who was
purchaser of the celebrated diamond, afterwards called the
Regent. The family was originally of Dorsetshire, where
it had been long and respectably established. William
Pitt was born Nov. 15, 1708, and educated at Eton;
whence, in January 1726, he went as a gentleman-commoner to Trinity-college, Oxford. It has been said, that
he was not devoid of poetical talents, of which a few specimens have been produced; but they do not amount to
much, and of his Latin verses on the death of George the
First, it is natural to suspect that the whole merit was not
his own. When he quitted the university, Pitt was for a
time in the army, and served as a cornet; but his talents
leading him more decisively to another field of action, he
quitted the life of a soldier for that of a statesman, and
became a member of parliament for the borough of Old
Sarum, in February 1735. In this situation his abilities
were soon distinguished, and he spoke with great eloquence
against the Spanish convention in 1738. It was on the occasion of the bill for registring seamen in 1740, which he
opposed as arbitrary and unjustifiable, that he is said to
have made his celebrated reply to Mr. Horatio Walpole,
who had attacked him on account of his youth (though then thirty-two), adding, that the discovery of truth is
little promoted by pompous diction and theatrical emotion.
Mr. Pitt retorted, with great severity, “I will not undertake to determine whether youth can justly be imputed
to any man as a reproach; but I will affirm, that the
wretch who, after having seen the consequences of repeated
errors, continues still to blunder, and whose age has only
added obstinacy to stupidity, is surely the object of
either abhorrence or contempt, and deserves not that his
grey head should secure him from insults. Much more is
he to be abhorred, who, as he has advanced in age, has
receded from virtue, and becomes more wicked with less
temptation; who prostitutes himself for money which he
cannot enjoy; and spends the remains of his life in the
ruin of his country.
” Something like this Mr. Pitt might
have said, but the language is that of Dr. Johnson, who
then reported the debates for the Gentleman’s Magazine.
t. Peter Cheap, and prebendary of St. Paul’s, with the consent of the rev. John Pocock, the doctor’s grandson. The contents of these two volumes are the “Porta Mosis,” and
He was interred in one of the north ailes joining to the
choir of the cathedral of Christ church, Oxford; and a
monument is erected to him on the north wall of the north
isle of that church, with the following inscription. “Edwardus Pocock, S. T. D. (cujus si nomen audias, nil hie de fama desideres) natus est Oxoniae Nov. 8, ann. Dom. 1604,
socius in Collegium Corp. Christi cooptatus 1628, in Linguae Arabicse Lecturam publice habendam primus est institutus 1636, deincle etiam in Hebraicam Professori Regio
successit 1648. Desideratissimo Marito Sept. 10, 1691,
in ccelum reverso, Maria Burdet, ex qua novenam suscepit
sobolem, tumuium hunc mcerens posuit.
” His Theological works were republished at London in 1740, in 2 vo,l$.
fol. by Mr. Leonard Twells, M. A. to which is prefixed a
Life of the Author. Of this we have availed ourselves in
the present sketch, but not without omitting many very
curious particulars relating both to Dr. Pocock and to the
history of his times, which render Mr. Twells’ s work one of
the most interesting biographical documents. Dr. Pocock’s
life was first attempted by the rev. Humphrey Smith, a
Devonshire clergyman, who was assisted by the doctor’s
eldest son, the rev. Edward Pocock, rector of Minall in
Wiltshire, and prebendary of Sarum. What they could
collect was, after a long interval, committed to the care of
the rev. Leonard Tvvells, M. A. rector of the united parishes of St. Matthew’s Friday-street, and St. Peter Cheap,
and prebendary of St. Paul’s, with the consent of the rev.
John Pocock, the doctor’s grandson. The contents of these
two volumes are the “Porta Mosis,
” and his English commentaries on Hosea, Joel, Micah, and Malachi. The Arabic types were supplied by the society for the promoting
Christian knowledge, in consequence of an application
made to them by the rev. Arthur Bedford, chaplain to the
Haberdashers’ hospital, Hoxton. But what renders this
edition peculiarly valuable is, that it was corrected for the
press by the rev. Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Thomas Hunt, one of
Dr. Pocock’s learned successors in the Arabic chair.
corrections for a second edition, which has not yet appeared but the ms. remains in the hands of his grandson. Purver appears, in this great work, a strenuous advocate for
He was apprenticed to a shoemaker, who, like the master of George Fox, mentioned in this work, employed his
apprentice in keeping sheep. This gave our young student leisure for reading; and he occupied it in the indis-.
criminate perusal of such books as came into his hands
but the Scriptures had the preference in his mind.
Among other books which came'in his way, was one written
by Samuel Fisher, a Quaker, entitled “Rusticus ad Academicos,
” in which some inaccuracies in the translation of
the Bible being pointed out, Purver determined to examine
for himself; and, with the assistance of a Jew, soon acquired a knowledge of the Hebrew language. About the
20th year of his age he kept a school in his native country;
but afterwards, for the sake of more easily acquiring the
means of prosecuting his studies, he came to London,
where he probably resided when he published, in 1727, a
book called “The Youth’s Delight.
” The same year he
returned to his native place, and a second time opened a
school there; but previous to this, in London, he had embraced the principles, and adopted the profession of the
Quakers. He is said to have been convinced of the truth
of their tenets at a meeting held at the Bull and Mouth in
Aldersgate-street; whether by means of the preaching of
any of their ministers, we are not informed; but on the
day month ensuing, he himself appeared as a minister
among them, at the same meeting*house. On his second
settling at Husborn, he began to translate the books of the
Old Testament and applied himself also to the study of
medicine and botany but, believing it his duty to travel
in his ministerial function, he again quitted his school and
his native place; not, however, probably, until after he
had resided there some years; for his course was to London, Essex, and through several counties to Bristol; near
which city, at Hambrook, he was in the latter part of
1738. At this place he took up his abode, at the house of
one Josiah Butcher, a maltster, whose son he instructed
in the classics, and there he translated some of the minor
prophets, having before completed the book of Esther,
and Solomon’s Song. Here he became acquainted with
Rachael Cotterel, who, with a sister, kept a boardingschool for girls, at Frenchay, Gloucestershire; and whom,
in 1738, he married, and soon after himself opened a
boarding-school for boys at Frenchay. During his residence in Gloucestershire, (which was not at Frenchay all the time) he attempted to publish his translation of the
Old Testament in numbers at Bristol; but he did not meet
with sufficient encouragement; and only two or three numbers were published.
In 1758, he removed to Andover, in Hampshire; and
here, in 1764, he completed his translation of all the books
of the Old and New Testament, a work which has not
often been accomplished before by -the labour of a single
individual. It consists of two volumes, folio, published in
1764, at the price of four guineas. It appears, that this
work was originally intended to be printed in occasional
numbers; for, in 1746, the late Dr. Fothergill wrote a
letter to the Gentleman’s Magazine, in which he strongly
recommended the author of a work then under publication,
which was to be continued in numbers if it should meet
with encouragement. This was a translation of the Scriptures, under the title of “Opus in sacra Biblia elaboratum.
” Purver is not named, but that he was intended is
known by private testimony. After speaking in high terms
of his learning, Dr. Fothergill says, “As to his personal
character, he is a man of great simplicity of manners,
regular conduct, and a modest reserve; he is steadily attentive to truth, hates falsehood, and has an unconquerable aversion to vice; and to crown the portrait, he is not
only greatly benevolent to mankind, but has a lively sense
of the divine attributes, and a profound reverence of, and
submission to the Supreme Being.
” The mode of publication in numbers was probably unsuccessful, and soon
dropped; yet he went on with his translation, which he
completed, after the labour of thirty years. He was still
unable to publish it, nor could he find a bookseller who
would run the hazard of assisting him. At length his
friend Dr. Fothergill generously interfered gave him a
thousand pounds for the copy, and published it at his own
expence. Purver afterwards revised the whole, and made
considerable alterations and corrections for a second edition, which has not yet appeared but the ms. remains in
the hands of his grandson. Purver appears, in this great
work, a strenuous advocate for the antiquity, and even the
divine authority, of the Hebrew vowel points. He is also
a warm assertor of the purity and integrity of the Hebrew
text, and treats those who hold the contrary opinion with
great contempt; particularly Dr. Kennicott, of whom,
and his publication on the state of the Hebrew text, he
never speaks but with the greatest asperity. He has taken
very considerable pains with the scriptural chronology, and
furnishes his reader with a variety of chronological tables.
He prefers the Hebrew chronology in all cases, to the
Samaritan and Greek, and has throughout endeavoured to
connect sacred and profane history. His version is very
literal, but does not always prove the judgment or good
taste of the author. Thus, he says, that “The Spirit of
God hovered a top of the waters
” and instead of the majestic simplicity and unaffected grandeur of “Let there be
light, and there was light,
” he gives us, “Let there be
light, which, there was accordingly
” Thus his translation,
though a prodigious work for an individual, will rather be
used for occasional consultation than regular perusal; and
though it may afford many useful hints, will not supply the
place of the established translation.
er of them came to the possession of it, being survived by Lewis XIV. who was succeeded by his great grandson, son to the duke of Burgundy, and now Lewis XV. Ramsay, having
The subsequent course of his life received its direction from his friendship and connections with this prelate. Feiielon had been preceptor to the duke of Burgundy, heirapparent, after the death of his father the dauphin, to the crown of France; yet neither of them came to the possession of it, being survived by Lewis XIV. who was succeeded by his great grandson, son to the duke of Burgundy, and now Lewis XV. Ramsay, having been first governor to the duke de Charteau-Thiery and the prince de Turenne, was made knight of the order of St. Lazarus; and afterwards was invited to Rome by the chevalier de St. George, styled there James III. king of Great Britain, to take the charge of educating his children. He went accordingly to that court in 1724; but the intrigues and dissentions, which he found on his arrival there, gave him so much uneasiness, that, with the Pretender’s leave, he presently returned to Paris. Thence he returned to Scotland, and was kindly received by the duke of Argyle and Greenwich; in whose family he resided some years, and employed his leisure there in writing several of his works. In 1730 he had the degree of doctor of law conferred on him at Oxford, being admitted for this purpose of St. Mary hall in April of that year, and presented to his degree by the celebrated tory Dr. King, the principal of that house. After his return to France, he resided some time at Pontoise, a seat of the prince de Turenne, duke de Bouillon with whom he continued in the post of intendant till his death, May 6, 1743, at St. Germaiu-en-Laie, where his body was interred; but his heart was deposited in the nunnery of St. Sacrament at Paris.
, another English divine, of a somewhat different stamp, was the son and grandson of two successive rectors of Bishops Hampton, in Warwickshire,
, another English divine, of a somewhat different stamp, was the son and grandson of two
successive rectors of Bishops Hampton, in Warwickshire,
where he was horn, Dec. 27, 1660, and educated at the
free-school there. In Lent-term 1675, he entered of Trinity college, Oxford, but soon after removed to Hart hall,
where he took his degrees in arts, and went into holy orders. Wood celebrates him as a man of extraordinary memory, and independent of the common helps to that faculty,
either in the pulpit or in conversation. The latter he enlivened by quotations of uncommon accuracy, particularly
from the classics, and would even give the page, &c. if required* His sermons he carefully studied, yet delivered
them fluently without notes, and, as Wood says, in elegant
and correct language. In July 1689, he was inducted to
the small rectory of Slapton, near Towcester, in Northamptonshire. He died of the small-pox, while on a visit
at London, June 8, 1694, and was buried in St. Saviour’s,
Southwark. Wood speaks of him as a true son of the
church of England, in opposition to all extremes, and his
writings shew him a friend to the revolution. These writings are mostly poetical, published without his name. As
we have not seen any of them, we can only deduce from
some expressions used by Wood, that they were not all
becoming the character of a divine; their titles are, 1.
“Lux occidentalis or Providence displayed in the coronation of king William and queen Mary,
” Lond. The Loyal and Impartial Satyrist, containing eight miscellany poems,
” ibid. A Poesy for Lovers,
” &c. ibid. The conspiracy of guts
and brains; or an answer to the Turn-shams,
” ibid. A true Protestant Bridle; or some
cursory remarks upon a Sermon preached (by William Stephens, rector of Sutton) before the Lord Mayor, &c. Jan.
30, 1693,
” ibid. Commonwealthsman unmasked,
” a rebuke, as he calls it, to the “Account
of Denmark,
” by Molesworth. This he dedicated, and
had the honour to present to king William, who received it
very graciously.
lent father for so great a loss, to celebrate the memory of so noble a son, and to excite his worthy grandson, the heir of such mighty hopes, more cheerfully to emulate and
After the restoration of king Charles II. the earl of Bedford, notwithstanding his past conduct, was so far in his
favour, that at the solemnity of his coronation, on April 23,
1661, he had the honour to carry St. Edward’s scepter;
and, on May 29, 1672, was elected a knight of the most
noble order of the garter. When the prince and princess
of Orange came to the throne, he was sworn one of their
privy council and at their coronation, on April 11, 1689,
carried the queen’s scepter with the dove. They constituted his lordship, on May 10, 1689, lord lieutenant of the
counties of Bedford and Cambridge; and, on March 1,
1691, lord lieutenant and custos rotulorum for the county
of Middlesex, and the liberties of Westminster. He sought
for no other honours or employments; but their majesties,
on May 11, 1694, created him marquis of Tavistock and
duke of Bedford, and, in enumerating his merits in the
patent it is expressed, “That this was not the least, that
he was father to the lord Russel, the ornament of his age,
whose great merits it was not enough to transmit by history
to posterity; but they were willing to record them in their
royal patent, to remain in the family, as a monument consecrated to his consummate virtue; whose name could
never be forgot, so long as men preserved any esteem for
sanctity of manners, greatness of mind, and a love to their
country, constant even to death. Therefore to solace his
excellent father for so great a loss, to celebrate the memory
of so noble a son, and to excite his worthy grandson, the
heir of such mighty hopes, more cheerfully to emulate and
follow the example of his illustrious father, they intailed
this high dignity upon the earl and his posterity.
”
This duke, in 1695, having made the settlements previous to his grandson’s marrying Elizabeth, only daughter and heir of John Howlancl,
This duke, in 1695, having made the settlements previous to his grandson’s marrying Elizabeth, only daughter and heir of John Howlancl, of Stretham, esq. who was one of the greatest fortunes of that time, it was thought convenient, for the honour of this alliance, to make him baron Howland, of Stretham in Surrey, on June 13 the same year. His grace died in the eighty-seventh year of his age, September 7, 1700, and was buried with his ancestors at Cheneys, where a most noble monument is erected for him and his countess (who died on May 10, 16S1-, aged sixty-four), their two figures being exhibited under a canopy, supported by two pillars of the Corinthian order.
Richard Sackville, who died in 1566, by Winifred Brydges (afterwards marchioness of Winchester), and grandson of John Sackville, esq. who died in 1557, by Anne Boleyne, sister
, lord Buckhurst and earl of
Dorset, an eminent statesman and poet, was born at Withyam in Sussex, in 1527. He was the son of sir Richard
Sackville, who died in 1566, by Winifred Brydges (afterwards marchioness of Winchester), and grandson of John
Sackville, esq. who died in 1557, by Anne Boleyne, sister
of sir Thomas Boleyne, earl of Wiltshire and great grandson of Richard Sackviiie, esq. who died in 1524, by Isabel,
daughter of John Digges, of Digues 1 s place in Barham,
Kent, of a family which for many succeeding generations
produced men of learning and genius. He was first of the
university of Oxford, and, as it is supposed, of Hart-hall,
now Hertford-college; but taking no degree there, he removed to Cambridge, where he commenced master of arts,
and afterwards was a student of the Inner Temple. At
both universities he became celebrated both as a Latin and
English poet, and carried the same taste and talents to the
Temple, where he wrote his tragedy of “Gorboduc,
” which
was exhibited in the great hall by the students of that society, as part of a Christmas entertainment, and afterwards
before queen Elizabeth at Whitehall^ Jan. 18, 1561. It
was surreptitiously printed in 1563, under the title of
“The Tragedy of Gorboduc,
” 4to; but a correct edition
under the inspection of the authors (for he was assisted by Thomas Norton), appeared in 1571, entitled “The Tragedie of Ferrex and Porrex.
” Another edition appeared
in the dawn of our English poetry was in Chaucer’s time,
but that it shone out in him too bright all at once to last
long. The succeeding age was dark and overcast. There
was indeed some glimmerings of genius again in Henry
VIII's time but our poetry had never what could be called
a fair settled day-light till towards the end of queen Elizabeth’s reign. It was between these two periods, that lord
Buckhurst wrote; after the earl of Surrey, and before
Spenser.
” Warton’s opinion of this tragedy is not very
favourable. He thinks it never was a favourite with our
ancestors, and fell into oblivion on account of the nakedness anil uninteresting nature of the plot, the tedious
length of the speeches, the want of discrimination of character, and almost a total absence of pathetic or critical
situations. Yet he allows that the language of “Gorboduc
” has great merit and perspicuity, and that it is entirely free from the tumid phraseology of a subsequent age
of play-writing.
the age of fifty-one, B. C. 35. Having no children of his owfl, his ample possessions passed to the grandson of his sister; and the family flourished, with undiminished
He appears to have been advanced to the office of quaestor in the year of Rome 693, and in 701 was made tribune of the people. It was now that he employed all the
arts of faction to inflame the minds of the people against
Milo, the murderer of Clodius; and those biographers who
admit the fact of his being disgraced by Milo, as we have
above related, impute to him motives of revenge only; and
he was equally industrious in raising a clamour against
Cicero, in order to deter him from pleading Milo’s cause.
In 703 he was expelled the senate by the then censors,
Appius Claudius and Calphurnius Piso, on account of his
profligacy, but restored in the following year by Julius
Caesar, and was likewise made quaestor, an office which
he employed in accumulating riches by every corrupt measure. During Caesar’s second dictatorship he was made
praetor, and when Caesar went into Africa with part of his
army, he took Sallust with him, who performed some important services, in return for which Caesar made him governor of Numidia. It is here that his public character
appears most atrocious and indefensible. He seems to
have considered this province as a fund destined to the improvement of his private fortune, and plundered it in the
most iRhuman manner. In vain did the oppressed Numidians exclaim against his rapacity, and commence a prosecution against him. His wealth was a sufficient guard
against the arm of justice, and by sharing with Csesar a
part of the spoils, he easily baffled all inquiry into his provincial administration. On his return, laden with this
wealth, he purchased a country house at Tivoli, and one
of the noblest dwellings in Rome on the Quirinal mount,
with beautiful gardens, which to this day are called the
gardens of Sallust. In this situation it is supposed that he
wrote his account of “Catiline’s conspiracy,
” and the
“Jugurthine war,
” and that larger history, the loss of
which there is so much reason to deplore. He died at the
age of fifty-one, B. C. 35. Having no children of his
owfl, his ample possessions passed to the grandson of his
sister; and the family flourished, with undiminished splendour, to a late sera of the Roman empire.
mily of Margaret, his eldest sister, married to Henry Milbourne, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne; whose great grandson, William Henry Milbourne, was high sheriff of Cumberland in
In 1704 he published a translation of “Original Letters
from William III. whilst Prince of Orange, to Charles II.,
Lord Arlington, and others, with an Account of the Prince’s
Reception at Middleburgh, and his Speech on that occasion;
” dedicating the book to lord Woodstock. He also
wrote “A History of Henry V.
” in the way of annals, in
nine volumes, of which the first four have been lost, and
the others still remain in manuscript amongst his papers.
In 1714 he became a candidate for the place of
historiographer to queen Anne, and received a very handsome offer
of assistance from Matthew Prior, at that time ambassador
to the court of France. His success, however, was prevented by the change of ministry which succeeded on the
queen’s death. On the 28th of November, 1726, he was
appointed usher of the high court of chancery, by sir Joseph Jekyll, the master of the rolls. He succeeded, in
1727, by the death of an elder brother, to a considerable
landed property in Cumberland, the north riding of Yorkshire, and Durham. After this, though he continued
chiefly to reside in London, he occasionally visited his
country seat at Armathwaite castle, a mansion pleasantly
situated on the banks of the Eden, about ten miles from
Carlisle. He was married four times; for the last time to
Elizabeth Hickes of London, when he had completed his
70th year. He died Dee. 25, 1741, at his house in Chancery-lane, in the 79th year of his age, and was buried in
Red-Lion-Fields. He was a devout man, well read in divinity, attached to the forms of the church of England, and
very regular in his attention to public and private worship.
He was slightly acquainted with the Hebrew language, and
conversant in the Greek, Latin, Spanish, Italian, and
French. He made a choice collection of books in various
languages, and left behind him several volumes of Mss.
relating chiefly to history, and the court of chancery, and
including a transcript of Thurloe’s State Papers. He kept
a diary, in which he noted down, with minute attention,
the slightest occurrences of his life. As he left no issue,
his estates d^cended, on the death of his last wife, in
1753, to the family of Margaret, his eldest sister, married
to Henry Milbourne, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne; whose
great grandson, William Henry Milbourne, was high sheriff of Cumberland in 1794.
laying it aside. The elder Daille told me, that in going to and coming from Rome with de Villarnoud, grandson to Mornay, whose preceptor he was, he had passed by Venice,
His tranquillity was now interrupted by other causes.
Upon leaving Venice to go to Rome, he had left his friends
under the direction of Gabriel Collissoni, with whom he
had formerly joined in redressing certain grievances. But
this man did not answer Paul’s expectation, being guilty of
great exactions: and, when Paul intended to return to
Venice, dissuaded him from it, well knowing that his return
would put an end to his impositions. He therefore artfully
represented, that, by staying at Rome, he would be sure
to make his fortune: to which Paul, with more honesty
than policy, returned an answer in cypher, that “there
was no advancing himself at the court of Rome, but by
scandalous means; and that, far from valuing the dignities
there, he held them in the utmost abomination.
” After
this he returned to Venice; and, coming to an irreconcileable rupture with Collissoni, on account of his corrupt
practices, the latter shewed his letter in cypher to cardinal
Santa Severina, who was then at the head of the inquisition.
The cardinal did not think it convenient to attack Paul
himself, although he shewed his disaffection to him by persecuting his friends; but when Paul opposed Collissoni’s
being elected general of the order, the latter accused him
to the inquisition at Rome of holding a correspondence with
the Jews; and, to aggravate the charge, produced the letter in cypher just mentioned. The inquisitors still did not
think proper to institute a prosecution, yet Paul was ever
after considered as an inveterate enemy to the court of
Rome. He was charged also with shewing too great respect
to heretics, who, on account of his reputation, came to see
him from all parts; and this prevented pope Clement VIII.
from nominating him, when he was solicited, to the see of
Noia. He was also accused of being an intimate friend of
Mornay, of Diodati, and several eminent Protestants; and,
that when a motion was*made at Rome to bestow on him a
cardinal’s hat, what appeared the chief obstacle to his advancement was, his having more correspondence with heretics than with Catholics. “Diodati informed me,
” says
Ancillon, in his “Melange de Literature,
” that, “observing in his conversations with Paul, how in many opinions
he agreed with the Protestants, he said, he was extremely
rejoiced to find him not far from the kingdom of heaven;
and therefore strongly exhorted him to profess the Protestant religion publicly. But the father answered, that it
was better for him, like St. Paul, to be anathema for his
brethren; and that he did more service to the Protestant
religion in wearing that habit, than he could do by laying
it aside. The elder Daille told me, that in going to and
coming from Rome with de Villarnoud, grandson to Mornay, whose preceptor he was, he had passed by Venice,
and visited Paul, to whom Mornay had recommended him
by letters; that, having delivered them to the father, he
discovered the highest esteem for the illustrious Mr. Da
Plessis Mornay; that he gave the kindest reception to Mr.
de Villarnoud his grandson, and even to Mr. Daille; that
afterwards Mr. Daille
” became very intimate with father
Paul," &c. All this is confirmed by father Paul’s letters,
which on every occasion express the highest regard for the
Protestants.
, eminent as a Christian, a scholar, and a gentleman, one of the sons of Dr. Thomas Sharp, and grandson to the archbishop, was born in 1734. He was educated for the
, eminent as a Christian, a scholar,
and a gentleman, one of the sons of Dr. Thomas Sharp,
and grandson to the archbishop, was born in 1734. He
was educated for the bar, but did not practise at it. When
he quitted the legal profession, he obtained a place in the
ordnance office, which he resigned at the commencement
of the American war; of the principles of which he did
not approve. He now took chambers in the Temple, and
devoted himself to a life of study; at the same time, laying
himself out for public utility. He first became known to
the public in the case of a poor and friendless negro, of
the name of Somerset. This person had been brought
from the West Indies to England, and falling into bad
health, was abandoned by his master, and turned into the
streets, either to die, or to gain a miserable support by
precarious charity. In this destitute state, almost, it is
said, on the point of expiring on the pavement of one of
the public streets of London, Mr. Sharp chanced to see
him. He instantly had him removed to St. Bartholomew’s
hospital, attended personally to his wants, and in a short
time had the happiness to see him restored to health. Mr.
Sharp now clothed him, and procured him comfortable employment in the service of a lady. Two years had elapsed,
and the circumstance almost, and the name of the poor
negro, had escaped the memory of his benefactor, when
Mr. Sharp received a letter from a person, signing himself
Somerset, confined in the Poultry Compter, stating no
cause for his commitment, but intreating his interference to
save him from a greater calamity even than the death from
which he had before rescued him. Mr. Sharp instantly
went to the prison, and found the negro, who in sickness
and misery had been discarded by his master, sent to
prison as a runaway slave. Mr. Siiarp went immediately to
the lord major, William Nash, esq. who caused the parties
to be brought before him; when, after a long hearing, the
upright magistrate decided that the master had no property
in the person of the negro, in this country, and gave the
negro his liberty. The master instantly collared him, in
the presence of Mr. Sharp and the lord mayor, and insisted
on his right to keep him as his property. Mr. Sharp now
claimed the protection of the English law, caused the master to be taken into custody, and exhibited articles of peace
against him for an assault and battery. After various legal
proceedings, supported by him with most undaunted spirit,
the twelve judges unanimously concurred in an opinion that
the master had acted criminally. Thus did Mr. Sharp
emancipate for ever the race of blacks from a state of
slavery, while on British ground, and in fact banished slavery
from Great Britain. Such an incident could not fail deeply
to impress a benevolent mind; and slavery, in every shape
and country, became the object of his unceasing hostility.
In 17G9, he published a work, entitled “A Representation
of the injustice and dangerous tendency of toleratinaSlavery, or of admitting the least claim of private property
in the persons of men in England. 7 ' Having succeeded in
the case of an individual negro, he interested himself in the
condition of the many others who were seen wandering
about the streets of London, and at his own expence collected a number of them, whom he sent back to Africa,
where they termed a colony on the river Sierra Leone. He
performed a still more essential service to humanity, by becoming the institutor of the
” Society for the abolition of
the Slave trade;“which, after contending against a vast
mass of opposition, at length succeeded, as far as this
country was concerned, and it is hoped will soon be universal. Similar principles led Mr. Sharp to use his endeavours
to restrain the practice of marine impressment; and a
citizen of London having been carried off by a press-warrant, Mr. Sharp obtained a habeas corpus from the court of
king’s bench, to bring him back from a vessel at the Nore;
and by his arguments obliged the court to liberate him.
His political principles led him to become the warm advocate of
” parliamentary reform,“and he published
” A
Declaration of the people’s natural right to a share in the
legislature, which is the fundamental principle of the British
constitution of state." In this he proposed to restore the
ancient tithing$, hundreds, &c. and the whole body of the
people were to form a national militia, each thousand to
constitute a regiment, the alderman or magistrate to be the
colonel; and each hundred to constitute a company, the
constable of each fo.r the time being to be their captain.
So many of the thousands to be summoned once in every
year, by their magistrate, as would have a right to vote in
their respective hundreds, before the constable, in the
choice of their part of the representative legislature.
After stating that the division of this kingdom into tithings
and hundreds was instituted by the immortal Alfred, he
endeavours to prove that such a division is consistent with
the most perfect state of liberty that man is capable of enioying, and yet fully competent to answer all the purposes of mutual defence, to secure the due execution of
the laws, and maintain public peace. Mr. Sharp was
educated in the principles of the established church, and
through life shewed a warm attachment to them. This led
him to recommend an episcopal church in America; and
he introduced the first bishops from that country to the
archbishop of Canterbury for consecration.
ornaments of the court of queen Elizabeth, was born Nov. 29, 1554, at Penshurst in Kent. He was the grandson of sir William Sidney, knight banneret, and chamberlain and
, a very accomplished English gentleman, and one of the greatest ornaments of the court of queen Elizabeth, was born Nov. 29, 1554, at Penshurst in Kent. He was the grandson of sir William Sidney, knight banneret, and chamberlain and steward of the household to Henry VIII. His father, Henry Sidney, was from his infancy the companion and bosom friend of Edward VI., who conferred upon him the honour of knighthood, constituted him ambassador to France, and afterwards promoted him to several appointments near his person. He was at this time universally beloved and admired, as the most ac^ complished gentleman in the court of the youthful monarch, who expired in his arms. Sir Henry, after this melancholy event, retired to his seat at Penshurst. He afterwards enjoye'd the favour of queen Mary, and gave his son the name of Philip, in compliment to her husband the king of Spain. In Elizabeth’s reign his abilities were more immediately called forth, and proved him a brave soldier, a consummate general, an able counsellor, and a wise legislator, while in private life he was no less estimable as a husband, father, and a friend; firmly attached to the church of England, and adorning his Christian profession by his temperance and exemplary piety. He was lord president of Wales, and for the space of eleven years discharged the administration of lord deputy of Ireland, with extraordinary justice and probity, and left to provincial governors an example of integrity, moderation, and wisdom, which was never surpassed. The mother of Philip Sidney, was Mary, the eldest daughter of the unfortunate duke of Northumberland, a lady no less illustrious and amiable than her husband.
them, falling into the hands of sir Randolph Crew, knt. lord chief justice of the King’s bench, his grandson, sir Randolph Crew, gave them to the public. These materials,
, herald and antiquary, was born in
Cheshire, and descended from the Smiths or Smyths of
Oldhough. He was educated at Oxford, but in what college Wood has not ascertained, there being several of
the same names about the latter part of the sixteenth century. When he left the university, we cannot trace his
progress, but on his application at the Heralds’ college for
the office of Rouge- Dragon, it was said that he had been a
merchant and traveller. He was recommended by sir
George Carey, knight marshal; and “The Society of Arms
finding, by many, that he was honest, and of a quiet conversation, and well languaged,
” joined in the supplication,
which gained him this office. Anstis says, that he had
long resided abroad, and had kept an inn, at Nuremburgh,
in Germany, the sign at the door of which was the Goose.
He wrote a description of Cheshire, which, with his historical collections made about 1590, or a copy of them, falling
into the hands of sir Randolph Crew, knt. lord chief justice
of the King’s bench, his grandson, sir Randolph Crew, gave
them to the public. These materials, and the labours of
William Webb, form the bulk of “King’s Vale-Royal,
” published in fol. The Image of Heraldrye, &c.
” a sort of introduction to
the science, which forrrierly belonged to Anstis the other,
“Genealogies of the different potentates of Europe, 1578,
”
formerly Peter Le Neve’s. A new edition, with additions,
of the “Vale-Royal,
” was published at Chester,
, a historian, novelist, and poet of considerable reputation, was the grandson of sir James Smollett of Bonhill, a member of the Scotch parliament,
, a historian, novelist, and poet of considerable reputation, was the grandson of sir James Smollett of Bonhill, a member of the Scotch parliament, and one of the commissioners for framing the treaty of union. He married Jane, daughter of sir Aulay Macauley, bart. of Ardincaple, by whom he had four sons and two daughters. The fourth son, Archibald, married without asking his father’s consent, Barbara Cunningham, daughter of Mr. Cunningham of Gilbertfield s in the 7ieighbourhood of Glasgow. His father, however, allowed him an income of about 300l. a-year. He unfortunately died, after the birth of two sons and a daughter, who, with their mother, were left dependent on the grandfather, and we do not find that he neglected them. Tobias, the subject of this memoir, and the youngest of those children, was born in the house of Dalquhnrn, near Renton in the parish of Cardross, in 1721, and christened Tobias George; but this latter name he does not appear to have used.
alicarnasscnsis, and author of a Tract on the Greek accents, wuo died March 12, 1767, was greatgreat- grandson of sir Henry Spelman.
, youngest son of sir Henry, was a
eounsellor-at-law, and made puisne baron of the exchequer upon the restoration of Charles II. He published
some pieces relating to the government, and a large preface to his father’s book, “De non temerandis ecclesiis.
”
He died in June
rnor of Fort St. George in the East-Indies, by whom he had several children. The present earl is his grandson.
is attacked; as in thjs instance lord break a blood-vessel. time governor of Fort St. George in the East-Indies, by whom he had several children. The present earl is his grandson.
minent lawyer in the sixteenth century, was the son of William Staunford, of London, mercer, and the grandson of Richard Staunford of Rowley in Staffordshire. He was born
, an eminent lawyer in the sixteenth century, was the son of William Staunford, of London, mercer, and the grandson of
Richard Staunford of Rowley in Staffordshire. He was
born in 1509, at Hadley in Middlesex, where his father
had purchased some property, and had married a London
lady of the name of Gedney. After studying for some time
at Oxford, he applied to municipal law in Gray’s Inn, and
soon acquired reputation for knowledge of his profession.
In 1545, he was chosen autumn-reader to this society, but
did not read until Lent following, owing, as Wood says, to
the plague: the year after he was appointed attorney-general. In 1551 he was double Lent reader at Gray’s-inn,
made serjeant at law the next year, and queen’s serjeant in
1553, when Mary came to the throne, as he was a zealous
adherent to her religion. In 1554 he became a judge of
the common-pleas, and the same year received the honour
of knighthood. He died Aug. 28, 1553, and was buried in
Hadley church. While both at the bar and on the bench,
he was much esteemed, and obtained no small fame by his
writings, which still perpetuate his name. They are
1. “Placita coronac,
” in French, 4to, Exposition of the
King’s prerogative,
” printed with the former. He left also
many Mss. His “Placita corona;
” were published in an
epitomized form, by Walter Young, Lond. 1660, 8vo. and
1663.
rast in Pembrokeshire, but born at London in 1663. It has been conjectured that he was either son or grandson of Charles third son of sir John Stepney, the first baronet
, an English poet and statesman,
was descended from a family at Pendigrast in Pembrokeshire, but born at London in 1663. It has been conjectured that he was either son or grandson of Charles third
son of sir John Stepney, the first baronet of that family:
Mr. Cole says his father was a grocer. He received his
education at Westminster-school, and was removed thence
to Trinity-college, Cambridge, in 1682; where he took
his degree of A.B. in 1685, and that of M.A. in 1689.
Being of the same standing with Charles Montague, esq.
afterwards earl of Halifax, a strict friendship grew up between them, and they came to London together, and are said
to have been introduced into public life by the duke of Dorset. To this fortunate incident was owing all the preferment
Stepney afterwards enjoyed, who is supposed not to have
had parts sufficient to have risen to any distinction, without such patronage. When Stepney first set out in life,
he seems to have been attached to the tory interest; for
one of the first poems he wrote was an address to James II.
upon his accession to the throne. Soon after, when Monmouth’s rebellion broke out, the Cambridge men, to shew
their zeal for the king, thought proper to burn the picture
of that prince, who had formerly been chancellor of the
university, and on this occasion Stepney wrote some good
verses in his praise.
Upon the Revolution, he embraced another interest,
and procured himself to be nominated to several foreign
embassies. In 1692 he went to the elector of Brandenburg’s court, in quality of envoy; in 1693, to the Imperial court, in the same character; in 1694, to the elector
of Saxony; and, two years after, to the electors of Mentz,
Cologn, and the congress at Francfort; in 1698, a second
time to Brandenburg; in 1699, to the king of Poland; in
1701, again to the emperor; and in 1706, to the States
General; and in all his negotiations, is said to have been
successful. In 1697 he was made one of the commissioners of trade. He died at Chelsea in 1707, and was buried
in Westminster-abbey; where a fine monument was erected
over him, with a pompous inscription. At his leisure
hours he composed poetical pieces, which are republished
in the general collection of English poets. He likewise
wrote some political pieces in prose, particularly, “An
Essay on the present interest of England, in 1701: to
which are added, the proceedings of the House of Commons in 1677, upon the French king’s progress in Flanders.
” This is reprinted in the collection of tracts, called
“Lord Somers’s collection.
”
Stephen in his own cathedral, where an elegant monument uas afterwards erected to his memory by his grandson Richard Sterne, of Eivington, esq.
, archbishop of York, the son of
Simon Sterne, was descended from a family in Suffolk,
but was born at Mansfield in Nottinghamshire in 1596.
He was admitted of Trinity-college, Cambridge, in 1611,
whence, having taken his degrees of A. B. in 1614, and
A. M. in 1618, he removed to Bene't-college in 1620,
and was elected fellow July 10, 1623. He then took
pupils with great credit to himself and to the college, and
proceeded B. D. the following year, and was incorporated
in the same degree at Oxford in 1627. He had been appointed one of the university preachers the year before,
and was in such high reputation, that he was made choice
of for one of Dr. Love’s opponents in the philosophical act,
kept for the entertainment of the Spanish and Austrian
ambassadors, and fully answered their expectations. In
1632 he was made president of the college; and upon Dr.
Beale’s translation from the mastership of Jesus to that of
St. John’s college soon alter, was put in his room in March
1633. His promotion is thus noticed in a private letter
“One Stearne, a solid scholar (who first summed up the 3600 faults that were in our printed Bibles of London) is
by his majesty’s direction to the bishop of Ely (who elects there) made master of Jesus.
” This occasioned him to
take the degree of D.D. in 1635, and he then assumed the
government of the college, to which he proved a liberal
benefactor, and it was by his means that the north side of
the outer court was built. In 1641 he was nominated by
a majority of the fellows to the rectory of Harletpn in
Cambridgeshire; but some contest arising, he did not get
possession of it till the summer following. He had, however, from March 1634 enjoyed that of Yeovilton in the
county of Somerset, through the favour of archbishop
Laud, one of whose chaplains he was, and so highly
esteemed, that he chose him to do the last good offices for
him on the scaffold. On the breaking out of the rebellion,
he incurred the fiercest anger of the usurper for having
conveyed to the king both the college plate and money,
for which he was seized by Cromweii y and carried up to
London. Here, after suffering the severest hardships in
various prisons, he was ejected from all his preferments.
Few men indeed suffered more cruel treatment; and it was
some years before he was finally released, and permitted
to retire to Stevenage in Hertfordshire, where he kept a
private school for the support of his family till the restoration. Soon after that event, while he was carrying on the
repairs of the college, he was appointed bishop of Carlisle,
and was concerned in the Savoy conference, and in the
revisal of the hook of Common-prayer. On the decease
of Dr. Frevveii, he was translated to the archiepiscopal see
of York, over which he presided with becoming dignity,
till the time of his death, Jan. 18, 1683, in the eightyseventh year of his age. He was buried in the chapel of
St. Stephen in his own cathedral, where an elegant monument uas afterwards erected to his memory by his grandson Richard Sterne, of Eivington, esq.
, said to be great- grandson of the preceding, was the son of Roger Sterne, "lieutenant of
, said to be great-grandson of the preceding, was the son of Roger Sterne, "lieutenant of the army. He was born at Clonmel in the South of Ireland, Nov. 24, 1713. It has been thought that his affecting story of Le Fevre was founded on the circumstances of his father’s family, which had long to struggle with poverty and hardships on the slender pay of a lieutenant. As soon as Lawrence was able to travel, his father and family left Ireland and went to Elvington near York, where his father’s mother resided, but in less than a year, they returned to Ireland, and afterwards moved from place to place with the regiment, until Lawrence was placed at a school near Halifax in Yorkshire. In 1731 his father died.
lebury and canon of Windsor, and Anne, married afterwards to Humphrey Tyshe, of Gray’s-Inn, esq. His grandson is the subject of the next article.
“When I was a young man,
” says the present venerable bishop of Llandaff, “I had formed a mean opinion of
the reasoniog faculties of bishop Stillingfleet, from
reading Mr. Locke’s Letter and two replies to him but a better acquaintance with the bishop’s works has convinced me
that my opinion was ill-founded. Though no match for Mr.
Locke in strength and acuteness of argument, yet his
`Origines Sacræ,' and other works, show him to have been
not merely a searcher into ecclesiastical antiquities, but a
sound divine and a good reasoner.
” This confession from
one, perhaps a little more latitudinarian than our author
in some important points, has probably contributed to revive an attention to Stillingfleet’s works, which have accordingly risen very highly in value. Indeed if we consider the variety of subjects on which he wrote, and wrote
with acknowledged skill and with elegance of style, and
the early fame he acquired and uniformly preserved, it will
not be thought too much to rank him in the first class of
learned men of the seventeenth century. While he was
rector of Sutton, he married a daughter of William Dobyns, a Gloucestershire gentleman, who lived not long
with him; yet had two daughters who died in their infancy,
and one son, Dr. Edward Stillingfleet, afterwards rector
of Wood-Norton in Norfolk. Then he married a daughter
of sir Nicholas Pedley of Huntingdon, Serjeant at law,
who lived with him almost all his life, and brought him
seven children, of whom two only survived him; James
rector of Hartlebury and canon of Windsor, and Anne,
married afterwards to Humphrey Tyshe, of Gray’s-Inn,
esq. His grandson is the subject of the next article.
, grandson to the preceding, and an eminent naturalist and poet, was the
, grandson to the preceding, and an eminent naturalist and poet, was the son of
Edward Stillingfleet, who was first a physician, but afterwards entered into holy orders. He died in 1708. Hia
only son, Benjamin, was born in 1702, and educated at
Norwich school, where he made a considerable proficiency
in classical literature. In 1720 he entered as a subsizar at
Trinity-college, Cambridge, where, while he improved his
classical knowledge, he attached himself with success to
mathematical studies. On May 3, 1723, he was admitted
a scholar, and the same year took the degree of B. A.
Soon after this he left the university, and in 1724 lived in
the family of Ashe Windham, esq. of Felbrig, as preceptor
to William, his only son, then about seven years old. In
the beginning of 1726, he returned to Cambridge, in
hopes of succeeding to a fellowship, there being then four
vacancies. But in this he was disappointed, “by the influence, it is said, of Dr. Bentley, who has been accused
of repaying with this instance of ingratitude the obligations
he had received from the father of the unprotected candidate.
” Although we are unwilling to credit so serious a
charge, it appears that Mr. Stillingfleet considered it as
just, and “seldom afterwards omitted an opportunity of
testifying his resentment against Bentley,
” a circumstance
which we are sorry to hear, even if the charge had been
proved.
, a near relation to the celebrated dean of St. Patrick’s, being grandson to Godwin Swift, the dean’s uncle, was in 1739 recommended by
, a near relation to the celebrated dean
of St. Patrick’s, being grandson to Godwin Swift, the dean’s
uncle, was in 1739 recommended by Swift to the notice of
Pope, as “the most valuable of any in his family.
” “He
was first,
” says the dean, “a student in this university
[Dublin], and finished his studies in Oxford, where Dr.
King, principal of St. Mary Hall, assured me, that Mr.
Swift behaved with reputation and credit: he hath a very
good taste for wit, writes agreeable and entertaining verses,
and is a perfect master, equally skilled in the best Greek
and Roman authors. He hath a true spirit for liberty, and
with all these advantages is extremely decent and modest.
Mr. Swift is heir to a little paternal estate of our family at
Goodrich, in Herefordshire. He is named Deane Swift,
because his great grandfather, by the mother’s side, was
admiral Deane, who, having been one of the regicides, had
the good fortune to save his neck by dying a year or two
before the Restoration.
” He published, in 1755, “An Essay upon the Life,' Writings, and Character of Dr. Jonathan
Swift;
” in Letters.
” Mr.
Swift died at Worcester, July 12, 1783: he had long meditated a complete edition of his relation’s works, and had
by him many new materials for that purpose.
y-sixth of his reign. When he found death approaching, he called the princes together, appointed his grandson to be his heir, and died, professing his implicit faith in the
, or Timur Bec, the great conqueror of
the East, was born in 1335, in the village of Kesch, belonging to the ancient Sogdiana. His name of Tamerlane
is derived by some writers from Timur Lenc 9 or Timur the
lame, as he had some defect in his feet. His origin is uncertain, some reporting him to be the son of a shepherd,
and others of the royal blood. He raised himself, however, by his personal courage and talents. He was distinguished early by these qualities; and, having acquired
some followers devoted to his fortunes, his first conquest
was that of Balk, the capital of Khorasan, on the frontiers
of Persia. He then made himself master of the whole province of Candahar, and returning to subdue the people
beyond the Oxus, took Bagdad. He now determined to
undertake the conquest of India; but his soldiers, fatigued
by their former efforts, refused at first to follow him. On
this occasion he employed a pretended prophet to exhort
them in the name of heaven; and having made them
ashamed of their reluctance, and filled them with a strong
enthusiasm, led them on to greater victories. Delhi fell
before him, aiifl he became possessed of the immense treasures of the Mogul empire. Returning from his Indian
exploits, he entered Syria and took Damascus: and Bagclad having attempted to revolt, he made a terrible example, by putting many thousands of the inhabitants to the
sword, and delivering the city to pillage. Bajazet, emperor of the Turks, now attracted his notice, and to him
he sent an embassy, requiring him to do justice to some
Mahometan princes whom he had deposed, and to abandon
the siege of Constantinople. This haughty message being
as haughtily answered, war was commenced between them.
Tamerlane marched towards Bajazet, whom, in 1402, he
engaged, conquered, and took prisoner, in the plains of
Ancyra near Phrygia. The battle lasted three days. The
Turkish writers say, that after this event, Tamerlane asked
JBajazet what he would have done to him, if he had been
victorious. “I would have shut you up,
” said Bajazet,
“in an iron cage.
” Upon which he was himself condemned to the same punishment. Some writers, however,
boast of the generosity and magnanimity of the conqueror.
Be this as it may, he certainly carried his victories to a
wonderful extent: while he was engaged in the war with
Bajazet, he vanquished Egypt, and seized the immense
treasures of Grand Cairo, nor could any thing in the East
withstand him. He died about three years after his victory, on the first of April, 1405, in the seventy-first year
of his age, and the thirty-sixth of his reign. When he
found death approaching, he called the princes together,
appointed his grandson to be his heir, and died, professing
his implicit faith in the Koran, and repeating the sacred
words of the Mahometans, “There is no God but God,
and Mahomet is his prophet.
”
, a gentleman who deserves to be recorded among the benefactors to literature, was great grandson to sir Richard Tancred, who was knighted for his services and
, a gentleman who deserves to be recorded among the benefactors to literature, was great grandson to sir Richard Tancred, who was knighted for his services and severe sufferings during the rebellion. This sir Richard was the son of Charles Tancred, esq. who purchased the manor and rectory of Whixley, anciently Qnixley, situated between York and Aidborough. Christopher Tancred, the subject of this article, died in 1754 unmarried, and left his house and estate at Whixley for the maintenance of twelve decayed gentlemen who have borne arms in the service of their country, each of whom receive twenty-two guineas annually, and a separate apartment is assigned to each of them, but the whole dine in common. He also founded four medical exhir bitions at Caius college; four in divinity at Christ’s college, Cambridge, and four law studentships at Lincoln’sJnn, of which he was a bencher. These were originally of the yearly value of 50l., but are now 100l. each. The trustees in this foundation are the masters of Caius and Christ’s college, the president of the college of Physicians, the treasurer of Lincoln’s-Inn, the master of the Charterhouse, the president of Christ’s hospital, and the governor of Greenwich hospital. These exhibitions continue for about eight years, three years after taking the degree of M. A. or M. B. and after being called to the bar; and a Latin oration is spoken annually, by one of the exhibitioners and students, in commemoration of their liberal benefactor.
ind by study; and an essay, entitled “Contemplatio Philosophica,” printed, but not published, by his grandson, sir William Young, in 1793, was probably written at this time,
In the interval between 1721 and his death, he appears
to have been in part disabled by ill health, and in part diverted by other objects from severe study. “A Treatise
on Logarithms,
” addressed to his friend lord Paisley, afterwards lord Abercorn, is almost the only fruit of his labour
which has been found to belong to that period; and 'this
has never been published. After the loss of his second
wife, he seems to have endeavoured to divert his mind by
study; and an essay, entitled “Contemplatio Philosophica,
”
printed, but not published, by his grandson, sir William
Young, in 1793, was probably written at this time, and for
this purpose. It was the effort of a strong mind, and affords
a most remarkable example of the close logic of the
mathematician, applied to metaphysics. The effort, however, was
Tain, and equally vain were the earnest endeavours of his
friends to amuse and comfort him by social gratifications.
Dr. Taylor is proved by his writings to have been a finished
scholar, and a profound mathematician: he is recorded to
have been no less a polished gentleman, and a sound and
serious Christian. It is said of him, that “he inspired partiality on his first address; he gained imperceptibly on acquaintance; and the favourable impressions which he made
from genius and accomplishments, he fixed in further intimacy, by the fundamental qualities of benevolence and
integrity.
” His skill in drawing is also commended in the
highest terms. “He drew figures,
” says his biographer,
“with extraordinary precision and beauty of pencil. Landscape was yet his favourite branch of design. His original
landscapes are mostly painted in water-colours, but with all
the richness and strength of oils. They have a. force of
colour, a freedom of touch, a varied disposition of planes
of distance, and a learned use of aerial as well as linear
perspective, which all professional men who have seen these
paintings have admired. Some pieces are compositions;
some are drawn from nature: and the general characteristic of their effect may be exemplified, by supposing the
bold fore-grounds of Salvator Rosa to be backed by the
ession of distances, and mellowed by the sober harmony which distinguishes the productions of Caspar Poussin. The small figures, interspersed in the landscapes,
would not have disgraced the pencil of the correct and classic Nicolas.
”
ew member of a corporation:” this gentleman, after the death of their son, undertook the care of his grandson; which trust he executed with the greatest care and attention,
, bishop of Worcester, was son of
Mr. John Thomas, a linen-draper in the city of Bristol, who
lived in a house of his own on the bridge in that town, where
the bishop was born on Thursday, February 2, 1613, and
baptized there in St. Nicholas’s church, on the Friday following. He was of a very ancient and noble family, as
appears by a pedigree taken out of the Heralds’ -office by
William Thomas lord bishop of Worcester in 1688, to
prove his right to the Herbert arms. His mother was Elizabeth Blount, descended from the Blounts of Eldersfield,
in the county of Worcester. His grandfather, William
Thomas, was recorder of Carmarthen, where he and his
family had for a long time lived in great credit; and the
earl of Northampton, then lord president of Wales, gave
him this character, “that he was the wisest and most prudent person he ever knew member of a corporation:
” this
gentleman, after the death of their son, undertook the care
of his grandson; which trust he executed with the greatest
care and attention, placing him under the tuition of Mr.
Morgan Owen, master of the public school at Caermarthen,
afterwards bishop of Landaff: here he continued till he
went to St. John’s college, Oxford, in the sixteenth year
of his age, in Michaelmas term, 1629; from hence he removed to Jesus college, where he tqok his degree of B, A.
1632, and soon after was chosen fellow of the college, and
appointed tutor by the principal. Here, according to the
fashion of the times, he studied much school philosophy
and divinity, epitomizing with his own hand all the works
of Aristotle: he took his degree of M.A. Feb. 12, 1634,
was ordained deacon by John Bancroft, bishop of Oxford,
at Christ Church, June 4, 1637, and priest in the year following at the same place, and by the same bishop. Soon,
after he was appointed vicar of Penbryn, in Cardiganshire,
and chaplain to the earl of Northumberland, who presen ed
him to the vicarage of Laugharn, with the rectory of Lansedurnen annexed. This presentation being disputed, he
determined to give it up; but the earl encouraged him to
persevere, assuring him that he would be at all the expence
and trouble: in consequence of which, the dispute was soon
ended, and Mr. Thomas instituted: here he determined to
reside, having no other thought but how best to perform his
duty; and that he might be more fixed, and avoid the inconveniences of a solitary single life, he resolved to marry.
The person he chose was Blanch Samyne, daughter of Mr.
Peter Samyne, a Dutch merchant in Lime-street, London,
of an ancient and good family, by whom he had eight children; William, who died young, Peter, John, Blanch, Bridget,
William, Sarah, and Elizabeth. Here he religiously
performed every duty of a parish priest, esteeming his employment not a trade, but a trust, till about 1644, a party
of the parliament horse came to Langharn, and inquired
whether that popish priest Mr. Thomas was still there,
and whether he continued reading the liturgy, and praying for the queen; and one of them adding, that he should
go to church next Sunday, and it' Mr. Thomas persevered
in praying for that drab or the whore of Babylon, he would
certainly pistol him. Upon this, Mr. Thomas’s friends earnestly pressed him to absent himself; but he refused, thinking it would be a neglect of duty. He no sooner began
the service, than the soldiers came and placed themselves
in the next pew to him, and when he prayed for the queen,
one of them snatched the book out of his hand, and threw
it at his head, saying, “What do you mean by praying for
a whore and a rogue?
” The preacher bore it with patience
and composure; but the soldier who had committed the
affront was instantly seized with such anxiety and compunction, that his companions were forced to carry him
away. Mr. Thomas continued the service, and delivered
the sermon with his usual emphasis and 'propriety; and
when he returned to his house, he there found the soldiers
ready to beg his pardon, and desiring his prayers to God
for them. When this happened, he was about thirty-three
years old. Soon after, the parliament committee deprived
him of the living of Laugharn; and though a principal
member of that body had been his pupil and particular
friend, yet he refused to shew him any favour, saying, “If
he was his father, he would do him no service unless he
would take the covenant.
” From this time till the restoration, Mr. Thomas endured great hardships, being a sufferer to the amount of above fifteen hundred pounds, and,
for the support of his family, obliged to teach a private
school in the country; and though his friends often made
him liberal presents, yet his wiie and numerous family
were frequently in want of common necessaries.