, great grandson of the foregoing, and inheritor of the literary industry
,
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.