, a Spanish statesman and writer, was born in 1731, at Barbanales, near Balbastro in Aragon. An early
, a Spanish statesman and writer, was born in 1731, at Barbanales, near Balbastro in Aragon. An early enthusiasm for the fine arts
procured him the friendship of the celebrated artist Mengs,
who was first painter to the king of Spain. After the death
of Charles III. A zara constructed, in honour of his memory,
a temple, in an antique form, in the church of St. James,
which, although not faultless, discovered very considerable
talents and taste in architecture. He was, however, soon
employed in political concerns, and was sent to Rome, under the pontificate of Clement XIII. as ecclesiastical agent
at the chancery of Rome. He was afterwards attached to
the Spanish embassy, and took a very active part in various
important negociations between the courts of Spain and
Rome. In 1796 he was employed in a more difficult undertaking, to solicit the clemency of the conqueror of Italy
in behalf of Rome, where the French nation had been insulted, and he at least acquired the esteem of general Buonaparte. About the same time he became acquainted with
Joseph Bonaparte, then French ambassador at Rome. Being afterwards sent to Paris, in a diplomatic character, he
was favourably received, and found some relief from the recollection that he had left behind him his valued friends,
his fine library, and museum of paintings and antiques.
During this mission he experienced alternate favour and
disgrace, being recalled by his court, exiled to Barcelona,
and sent again to Paris with the rank of ambassador. His
health, however, was now much impaired, and when he was
indulging the hope of being able to return to Italy, and
pass the rest of his time in the enjoyment of his friends
and favourite pursuits, his constitution suddenly gave way,
and he expired January 26, 1797. He left a very considerable fortune in furniture, pictures, busts, &c. but appears to have lost his other property. He translated, 1.
Middleton’s life of Cicero, and some fragments of Pliny
and Seneca, under the title of “Historia della Vida di M.
T. Ciceroni,
” Madrid, Introduzione alia storia naturale e alia Geografia fisica di Spagna,
” Parma, Opere di Antonio-Raffaele Mengs,
” Parma, by Bodoni,
, Lord Baltimore, a descendant of the preceding, and eldest son of Charles, the sixth lord, was born in 1731, and succeeded to the title on the death of his
, Lord Baltimore, a descendant of the preceding, and eldest son of Charles, the sixth
lord, was born in 1731, and succeeded to the title on the
death of his father in 1751, and also to the proprietorship
of Maryland. After returning from his travels he married
lady Diana Egerton, youngest daughter of the duke of
Bridgwater. In 1768 he was indicted at the Kingston assizes for a rape, but acquitted. He went soon after to
reside on the continent, and died at Naples, Sept. 14, 1771,
without issue by marriage, leaving his fortune to his sister,
Mrs. Eden. In 1767, he published “A Tour to the East
in the years 1763 and 1764, with remarks on the city of
'Constantinople and the Turks. Also select pieces of Oriental wit, poetry, and wisdom,
” Lond. Gaudia Poetica, Latina, Anglica,
et Gallica, Lingua composita, anuo 1769. Augustse Litteris Spathianis, 1770.
” It is dedicated, in Latin, to LinIkeiis, and consists of various pieces in Latin, French, and
English, prose and verse, of very little merit. A copy,
the only one said to be known in this country , was sold
at Mr. Isaac Reed’s sale, who likewise had another performance of his lordship’s, equally rare, and valued only
for its rarity, entitled “Coelestes et Inferi,
” Venetiis,
, an excellent classic scholar, was born in 1731, at Windsor, the propinquity of which to Eton was,
, an excellent classic scholar, was born in 1731, at Windsor, the propinquity of which to Eton was, fortunately for him, the motive for sending him to that college for education, where, at a very early age, he manifested great abilities, and, in an uncommon manner, baffled all the hardships which other boys in their progress usually encounter. He, however, had two considerable advantages the first, being received as a pupil by the late rev. Septimius Plumptree, then one of the assistants and the second, that he was -noticed by the reverend and very learned Dr. John Burton, vice-provost of Eton; by the abilities of the former in the Greek language, and of the latter in the Hebrew, Mr. Foster profited exceedingly. It was a matter highly pleasing to them, that they did not throw their seed on a barren soil whatever instruction he received, he cultivated incessantly and it is but justice to add, that he in a great measure excelled his contemporaries. His learning and his sobriety recommended him to many friends while he continued at Eton, which was till 1748, when he was elected to King’s college in Cambridge; a college to which, as Mr. Pote observes in his advertisement to his " Registrum Regale,' 7 Eton annually sendeth forth her ripe fruit. Mr. Foster here improved himself under the provost Dr. Wm. George, an excellent Greek, and general scholar. At the expiration of three years he there (as usual) became a fellow, and shortly afterwards was sent for to Eton by the late Dr. Edward Barnard, to be one of his assistants. Great honour was sure to attend Mr. Foster from this summons, for no man distinguished better, or could form a stronger judgment of his abilities and capacity, than Dr. Barnard: and such was his attention to the school, that he made it his primary consideration, that it should be supplied with assistants the most capable and the most deserving. At the resignation of this great master, which happened Oct. 25, 1765, when he was chosen provost on the death of Dr. Sleech, he exerted his whole interest for Dr. Foster to succeed him in the mastership, and by his weight in the college he carried his point. But it did not prove fortunate for his successor, or for the seminary; the temper, the manner, the persuasion, the politeness, the knowledge of the world, which Dr. Barnard so eminently displayed, did not appear in his successor. His learning justly entitled him to the situation; but learning is not the sole ingredient to constitute the master of such a school; more, much more, is required and Dr. Foster appeared to the greater disadvantage, from immediately succeeding so great a man. Nor could he long support himself in his situation his passions undermined his health and, notwithstanding his abilities as a scholar, his government was defective, his authority insufficient, and he judged it best to resign, that he might not destroy a fabric which he found himself unequal to support. Dr. Foster, however, did not retire unrewarded; his majesty, on the death of Dr. Sumner in 1772, bestowed on him a canonry of Windsor. But this he did not long enjoy; his ill health carried him to the German Spa, where he died in September the year following, and where his remains were interred; but afterwards were removed to Windsor, and deposited near those of his father, who had been mayor of that corporation.
ent English antiquary, was the son of Mr. Francis Grose, of Richmond, jeweller, who died in 1769. He was born in 1731, and having a taste for heraldry and antiquities,
, an eminent English antiquary, was the son of Mr. Francis Grose, of Richmond, jeweller, who died in 1769. He was born in 1731, and having a taste for heraldry and antiquities, his father procured him a place in the college of arms, which, however, he resigned in 1763. By his father he was left an independent fortune, which he was not of a disposition to add to, or even to -reserve. He early entered into the Surrey militia, of which he became adjutant and paymaster; but so much had dissipation taken possession of him, that in a situation which above all others required attention, he was so careless as to have for some time (as he used pleasantly to tell) only two books of accounts, viz. his right and left hand pockets. In the one he received, and from the other paid; and this too with a want of circumspection which may be readily supposed from such a mode of book keeping. His losses on this occasion roused his latent talents: with a good classical education he united a fine taste for drawing, which he now began again to cultivate; and encouraged by his friends, he undertook the work from which be derived both profit and reputation: his Views of Antiquities in England and Wales, which he first began to publish in numbers in 1773, and finished in 1776. The next year he added two more volumes to his English views, in which he included the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, which were completed in 1787. This work, which was executed with accuracy and elegance, soon became a favourite with the public at large, as well as with professed antiquaries, from the neatness of the embellishments, and the succinct manner in which he conveyed his information, and therefore answered his most sanguine expectations; and, from the time he began it to the end of his life, he continued without intermission to publish various works, generally to the advantage of his literary reputation, and almost always to the benefit of his finances. His wit and good-humour were the abundant source of satisfaction to himself and entertainment to his friends. He visited almost every part of the kingdom, and was a welcome guest wherever he went. In the summer of 1789 he set out on a tour in Scotland the result of which he began to communicate to the public in 1790, in numbers. Before he had concluded this work, he proceeded to Ireland, intending to furnish that kingdom with views and descriptions of her antiquities, in the same manner he had executed those of Great Britain; but soon after his arrival in Dublin, being at the house of Mr. Hone there, he suddenly was seized at table with an apoplecticfit, on the 6th May 1791, and died immediately. He was interred in Dublin.
, son of the preceding, was born in 1731. He studied law, and became a barrister of the
, son of the preceding, was born in
1731. He studied law, and became a barrister of the MiddleTemple; one of the grooms of his majesty’s privy-chamber, and one of the esquires of the king’s household. He
was, like his father, a frequent contributor to the Gentleman’s Magazine. He was also author of “Curialia; or an
historical account of some branches of the Royal Household,
” part I, Curialia
” for the press; the materials for which, and also his very amusing “Anecdotes
of the English Language,
” he bequeathed to Mr. Nichols,
who published the “Anecdotes
” in Curialia
” in History of Beauchief Abbey,
”
and wrote his father’s life, to which we have referred in
the preceding article. He died May 22, 1800, aged sixtyseven, and was buried on the west side of Kensington
church-yard. By his first wife, he had one son, Christopher Pegge, M. D. F. R. S. knighted in 1199, and now
regins professor of physic at Oxford.
, a modern French writer, was born in 1731, at Lyons. He had an employ ment in the finances
, a modern French writer,
was born in 1731, at Lyons. He had an employ ment in
the finances at Cette in Languedoc, which he held for ten
years; but having more turn for literature than calculations,
he went to Paris, and composed three tragedies upon the
Greek models, but had no more success than others who
have made similar experiments on the public taste. In
prose he published a “Refutation du Systeme de la Nature;
” a “Critical History of the opinions of the Ancients
concerning Happiness, 1778,
” 8vo; and a “Complete
Translation of the Plays of Sophocles.
” The last-named
work gained him much credit by the elegance and fidelity
of the version, and the judicious notes annexed to it. He
undertook also a complete translation of Homer’s Iliad and
Odyssey, of which the preliminary discourses and the notes
obtained more applause than the version itself, which, however, he had splendidly printed at the royal press in 1781,
in 4to. He was a member of the academy of inscriptions
and belles lettres, to which he contributed several learned
memoirs. He died in 1788, highly esteemed for a temper
in which there was nothing unsocial or selfish. He was
always, we are told, fonder of talking of other people’s
works than of his own, a case, it is added, of some singularity in literary company.