THE GENERAL
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OF THE
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BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
V'EBES, the author of a well-known and beautiful all&- gory in Greek, entitled " A Picture of Human Life," is supposed to have flourished about 400 B. C. The piece is mentioned by some of the ancient writers, by Lucian, Diogenes Laertius, Tertullian, and Suidas ; but of Cebes himself we have no account, unless that he is once men- tioned by Plato, and once by Xenophon. The former says of him, in his " Phaedo," that he was a sagacious investigator of truth, and never assented without the most convincing reasons ; the latter, in his " Memorabilia," ranks him among the few intimates of Socrates, who ex- celled the rest in the innocency of their lives ; but the abbe* Sevin and professor Meiners have endeavoured to prove that tfie " Picture" is the work of a more modern author. Brucker seems to be of a different opinion. It is evidently Socratic in its moral spirit and character, altbongh not without some sentiments which appear to have been borrowed from the Pythagorean school. It was translated by the rev. Joseph Spence for Dodsley's " Museum," and was afterwards inserted in his " Preceptor," and in other moral collections. There are many separate editions of the original, but for above a century, it has usually b«en printed with Epictetus's " Enchiridium," for the use of schools.1
CECCO D'ASCOLI, is the adopted name of Francis, or Francesco Stabili; a native of Ascoli, in the march of Ancona, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, whg
» Fabriiii Bibl. Oracc.-^Mortri.— Bruck«?r.
VOL. IX. B
2 CECCO.
acquired considerable reputation, unfortunately for himself, as a critic and poet. Among the many anachronisms and contradictions in the accounts given of his life, which Tira- botchi has endeavoured to correct, we find that when young, he was professor of astrology in the university of Bologna, that he published a book on that science, which being denounced to the Inquisition, he escaped by re* canting what was offensive ; but that the same accusations being afterwards renewed at Florence, he was condemned to be burnt, and suffered that horrible deatb in 1327, in the seventieth year of his age. We have already seen, in former lives, that it was no uncommon thing for enraged authors to apply to the secular arm for that revenge which they could not otherwise have inflicted on one another. The pretence for putting this poor man to death, was his "Commentary on the Sphere of John de Sacrabosco," in which, following the superstition of the times, he asserted that wonderful things might be done by the agency of cer- tain demons who inhabited the first of the celestial spheres. This was foolish enough, but it was the prevalent folly of the times, and Cecco probably believed what he wrote. That he was not an impostor wiser than those whom he duped, appears from his conduct to Charles, duke of Ca- labria, who appointed him his astrologer, and who, having consulted him on the future conduct of his wife and daugh- ter, Cecco, by his art, foretold that they would turn out very abandoned characters. Had he not persuaded him- self into the truth of this, he surely would have conciliated so powerful a patron by a prediction of a more favourable kind ; and this, as may be supposed, lost him the favour of the duke. But even the loss of his friend would not have brought him to the stake, if he had not rendered himself unpopular by attacking the literary merit of Dante and Guido Cavalcanti, in his poem entitled " Acerba." This provoked the malice of a famous physician, named Dino del Garbo, who never desisted until he procured him to be capitally condemned. This poem " Acerba," properly " Acerbo," or " Acervo," in Latin Acervus, is in the sesta rima divided into five books, and each of these into a number of chapters, treating of the heavens, the ele- ments, virtues, vices, love, animals, minerals, religion, &c. The whole is written in a bad style, destitute of har- mony, elegance, or grace; and, according to a late au- thor, much of the plan, as well as the materials, are taken
C E C C O.
from the " Tresor" of Brunetto Latini. It is, however, a work in demand with collectors, and although often printed, most of the editions are now very scarce. The first was printed at Venice in 1476, 4to, with the commen- tary of Nicolo Massetti, and was reprinted in 1478. Haym (in the edition of his Biblioteca, 1771) speaks of a first edition as early as 1458, which we apprehend no bib- liographer has seen.1
CECIL (WILLIAM), lord Burleigh, an illustrious states- man of the sixteenth century, descended from the ancient and honourable family of Sitsilt, or Cecil, of Alterennes, in Herefordshire, was the son of Richard Cecil*, master of the robes to Henry VIII. by Jane, daughter and heiress of William Hickington, of Bourne, co. Lincoln, esq. He was born in the house of his grandfather, David Cecil, at
* This Richard, by the interest of fcis falher, David Cecil, or Cyssel, of Stamford, in Lincolnshire, esq. was preferred in the eighth year of Henry VIII. to be one of the pages of the crown. In 1520 he waited on the king at that famous interview with the king of France, between Calais and Guiennes; and in 1530, being groom of the robes to that king, obtained a grant of the office of constable of War- wick-castle, then in the crown. In 3335, being one of the grooms of the wardrobe, he had a grant of the office •f bayliff of the king's water called Wittlcsey-mere, and the custody of the swans, and of those waters called Great Crick and Merys, in the coun- ties of Cambridge, Lincoln, Hunting- don, and Northampton, for the term of thirty years, after the expiration of the term granted to David Cyssell his father. In 1539 he was sheriff of Rut- landshire. In 1540, being written Richard Cecyll of Hurley, in the county of Northampton, esq, he had a grant to him, his heirs, and ass-igns for ever, of the site of St. Michael's priory near Stamford, and the church, and 299 acres of arable land, lying in the parish of St. Martin's, in Stamford, in the county of Northampton. In 1542, being then yeomaa of the wardrobe, be was made yeoman of the king's manors of Nassington, Yarwel, and Upton, in the county of Northampton,
for life. In 1544 he purchased the manor of Esyngdon, in the county of Rutland, then also in the crown, as a parcel of the earl of Warwick's lands, and the following year he sur- rendered his custody of Warwick- castle. He remained yeoman of the robes to king Edward VI. to tke last day of his life, which was the nine- teenth of May, 1552; and dying at court, his body was interred in the parish church of St. Margaret's West- minster. In the month of April, 1553, a commission was issued to sir Ri- chard Cotton, sir Ralph Sadler, and sir Walter Mildmay, knights, together with Edmund Pidgeon, clerk of the wardrobes, any three or two of them, to take an account of Jane Cecil, auJ. sir William Cecil, knt. administrators of the testament of Richard Cecil, for certain robes, apparel, and jewels of the king, in the custody of the said Richard. His widow, who survived him thirty-five years, was a very grave, religious, and virtuous lady, delighting much in works of piety and charity, as well in her life-time as at her de- cease, March 10, 1587, aged eighty- seven. The lord-treasurer Burl^fc caused to be erected at the upper end of the north chancel in St. Martin'* church at Stamford, a noble monu- ment to the memory of his parents; and by it is bis own.
• Tiraboscbi. — Moreri.— Ginguenfc Hist. Lit. d'ltalte, vol. II,— -M«sb«ina Jr. Axculanns,
4 CECIL.
Bourne, in Lincolnshire, Sept. 13, 1520, and was first edu- cated at the grammar-school at Grantham, whence he afterwards removed to Stamford. On May 27, 1535, he entered of St. John's-college, Cambridge, and was no less distinguished by the regularity of his life, than by an un- commonly diligent application to his studies. Finding several persons of eminent talents at that time students there, this inspired him with such a thirst for learning, that he made an agreement with the bell-ringer to call him up at four o'clock every morning, and this sedentary life brought on a humour in his legs, which, although removed with some difficulty, his physicians considered as one of the principal causes of that inveterate gout with which he was tormented in the latter part of his life. Dr. Nicholas Medcalfe, who was at this time master of the college, was his principal patron, and frequently gave him money to encourage him ; but the string passion he had to excel his contemporaries, and to distinguish himself early in the university, was the chief spur to his endeavours. At six- teen he read a sophistry lecture, and at nineteen a Greek lecture, not for any pay or salary, but as a gentleman for his pleasure, and this at a time when there were but few who were masters of Greek, either in that college or in the university. But though he applied himself with so much assiduity to Greek literature, he laid up at the same time a considerable stock of general knowledge, having then no particular predilection to any single branch of science.
About 1541, his father placed him in Gray's-inn, with a view to the profession of the law, where he pursued the same indefatigable application, until by an accidental dis- play of his knowledge, he became known at court. One O'Neil, an Irish chief, brought to court two of his chap- lains, who falling in with Mr. Cecil, engaged in a dispute with him on the power of the Roman pontiff, in which he had so much the superiority, that the matter was men- tioned to Henry VIII. who expressed a desire to see him, admired his abilities, and gave him the reversion of the place of custos brevium.
Such early encouragement diverted Mr. Cecil from the profession of the law, and his marriage with the sister of the celebrated sir John Cheke, who introduced him to the earl of Hertford, afterwards duke of Somerset, probably directed his views to politics. In the beginning of the
CECIL. 5
reign of Edward VI. he came into possession of his office of custos brevium, worth 240/. a year, and having married, as his second wife, Mildred, daughter of sir Anthony Cook, his interest at court became more considerable. In 1547, his patron the protector duke of Somerset, bestowed on him the place of master of requests, and took him with him in his expedition into Scotland, in September of that year, where he was present at the battle of Musselburgh, and very narrowly escaped a cannon-shot. On his return to court, Edward VI. advanced him to the high post of secre- tary of slate, which he enjoyed twice in that reign, first in 1548, and then, after an interval, in 1551, but histo- rians are not agreed in these dates, although what we have given appear to be pretty near the truth. When the party was formed against the protector, Mr. Cecil shared in his fall, which followed soon afterwards, and was sent to prison in November 1549, where he remained three months,
On his being liberated, he was again introduced to court, where his acknowledged abilities regained him his office, under the duke of Northumberland, the enemy and ac- complisher of the ruin of his old patron the duke of So- merset. This re-appointment took place, as we have no- ticed, in September 1551, and in October following he was knighted, and sworn of the privy-council. He has been much blamed for this transfer of his services, as a sa- crifice of his gratitude to his interest ; and many excuses, palliations, and even justifications, have been urged for him. The best seems to be that his pretensions to the promotion were founded, not on his servility and depen- dence on one or the other of these great men, but on his su- perior fitness for the office. It is universally allowed that he possessed great abilities, and his credit now increased with the young king, for whom he is said to have written many of those papers, &c. which are generally attributed to Edward. The princess Mary affected on one occasion to discover this, for when a letter from his majesty was presented to her on her obstinate adherence to the popish religion, she cried, " Ah ! Mr. Cecil's pen took great pains here."
Sir William Cecil acted \yith such caution and prudence in the various intrigues for the crown on the death of king Edward, that on queen Mary's accession, although known to be a zealous protestaut, he remained unmolested in
e CECIL.
person, property, or reputation. Rapin has given a very unfair colouring to sir William's conduct at this critical period. After stating that he waited upon the queen, was graciously received, and might have kept his employment, if he would have complied so far as to have declared him- self of her majesty's religion, he closes with the following remark : " He was nevertheless exposed to no persecution on account of his religion, whether his artful behaviour gave no advantages against him, or his particular merit procured him a distinction above all other protestants." As to the artfulness of his behaviour, it will best appear from the answer he gave to those honourable persons, who by command of the queen communed with him on this subject, to whom he declared, " That he thought himself bound to serve God first, and next the queen ; but if her service should put him out of God's service, he hoped her majesty would give him leave to chuse an everlasting, ra- ther than a momentary service ; and as for the queen, she had been his so gracious lady, that he would ever serve and pray for her in his heart, and with his body and goods be as ready to serve in her defence as any of her loyal subjects, so she would please to grant him leave to use his conscience to himself, and serve her at large as a private man, which he chose rather than to be her greatest coun- sellor," The queen took him at his word, and this was all the art that sir William used to procure liberty of con- science for himself; unless we should call it art, that he behaved himself with much prudence and circumspection afterwards. Nor is it true, as insinuated by Rapin, that he was the only protestant unmolested in this reign. Among others, the names of sir Thomas Smith, and the celebrated Roger Ascham, may be quoted ; but as Mary's bigotry increased with her years, it may be doubtful whe- ther those would have been long spared. Almost the last act of her life was an attempt to kindle the flames of per- secution in Ireland.
During the reign of Mary, sir William Cecil represented the county of Lincoln ; and was active in the mollifying of a bill for confiscating the estates of those who had fled the kingdom for their religion, and while thus employed, he carried on a private correspondence with the princess Eli- zabeth, the presumptive heir to the crown. In these transactions he seems to have abated somewhat of that caution imputed to him by historians, and certainly en-
C E £ I L. 7
countered some danger; but his character, bold, spirited, and open, seems to have afforded him protection, while he refers his courage to a higher source. In his diary, he says, " I spoke my mind freely, whereby I incurred some displeasure. But better it is to obey God than man."
All this was very gratefully acknowledged by Elizabeth, on her accession to the throne, Norember 16, 1558. The first service that he rendered her was on that day, when he presented her with a paper, consisting of twelve parti- culars, which were necessary for her to dispatch imme- diately. At the time of her sister's decease, queen Eliza* beth was at her manor of Hatfield, whither most of the leading men repaired to her ; and on the 20th of the same month, her council was formed, when sir William Cecil was first sworn privy-counsellor and secretary of state ; and as he entered thus early into his sovereign's favour, so he continued in it as long as he lived ; which if in one sense it does honour to the abilities and services of Cecil, it was in another no less glorious to the queen his mistress, who, in this respect, did not act from any spirit of par- tiality or of prepossession, but with that wisdom and pru- dence which directed her judgment in all things. She saw plainly that sir William Cecil's interests were inter- woven with her own, and that he was fittest to be her counsellor whose private safety must depend upon the success of the counsel he gave ; and though there were other persons, who were sometimes as great or greater fa- vourites than Cecil, yet he was the only minister whom, she always consulted, and whose advice she very rarely rejected. The first thing he advised was to call a parlia- ment, for the settlement of religion ; and caused a plan of deformation to be drawn with equal circumspection and moderation ; for, though no man was a more sincere pro- testant, yet he had no vindictive prejudices against papists, nor did he on the other hand lay any greater weight upon indifferent things, than he judged absolutely necessary for preserving decency and order. It was his opinion that without an established church, the state could not at that time subsist ; and whoever considers the share he had in establishing it, and has a just veneration for that wise and excellent establishment, cannot but allow that the most grateful reverence is due to his memory.
The remainder of his administration would in fact be a history of that memorable reign, and in such a sketch as
8 CECIL.
tjie present, we can advert only to the leading events. He had not been long seated in his high office, before foreign affairs required his care. France, Spain, and Scot- land, all demanded the full force of his wisdom and skill. Spain was a secret enemy ; France was a declared one, and had Scotland much in her power. By the minister's ad- vice, therefore, the interest of the reformed religion in Scotland was taken under Elizabeth's protection. This produced the convention of Leith ; and Cecil, as a remu- neration for his services in this affair, obtained the place of master of the wards, Jan. 10, 1561, an office which he did not take as a sinecure, but of which he discharged the load of business with patience and diligence to the satis- faction of all. In his management of the house of commons, sir William exhibited equal caution, address, and capa- city. The question of the future succession to the crown was often brought forward, sometimes from real and well- founded anxiety ; sometimes from officiousness ; and often from factious motives. On this subject both the sovereign and the minister preserved an unbroken reserve, from which neither irritation nor calumny could induce him to depart. Perhaps this reserve, on his part, arose from his deference to the queen, but it seems more likely that his advice influenced her behaviour on this critical point. There were no less than three claimants publicly men- tioned, viz. the queen of Scots, the family of Hastings, and the family of Suffolk ; and the partizans of each of these were equally vehement and loud, as appears by " Leicester's Commonwealth," Doleman's " Treatise of the Succession," and other pieces on the same subject. The queen observed a kind of neutrality, but still in such a manner as sufficiently intimated she favoured the firs.* title, or rather looked upon it as the best, notwithstanding^ the jealousies she had of her presumptive successor. This, appeared by her confining John Hales, who wrote a book in defence of the Suffolk line, and by imprisoning one Thornton, upon the complaint of the queen of Scots, for writing against her title. The secretary kept himself clear of all this, and never gave the least intimation of his own sentiments, farther than that he wished the question of the succession might rest during the queen's life, or till she, thought proper to determine it in a legal way.
Sir William early penetrated into the hostile feelings of II. of Spain ; but he advised his mistress to keep ou
CECIL. 9
her guard against that monarch ; and yet not to break with him. With France he proposed ether measures ; the pro- testants had there created very powerful internal dissen- tions, and England, he thought, might avail herself of that hostility with effect, while it opened a probability of success, and afforded an opportunity for our troops to gain experience, and our navy strength. His rival, Leicester, in vain misrepresented and censured the advice now given, for the purpose of destroying the queen's confidence in him ; and a plot laid by that subtle favourite for overthrow- ing him utterly failed, through her majesty's penetration and spirit. The affair is thus related :
Some Spanish ships, having great treasure on board, put into the English ports to secure it from the French, and afterwards landed it, the queen's officers assisting, and the Spanish ambassador solemnly affirming it was his mas- ter's money, and that he was sending it into the Nether- lands for the pay of his army. The secretary, in the mean time, received advice that this was not true, and that it was the money of some Genoese bankers, who were in the greatest terror lest the duke of Alva should convert the same to his master's use, in order to carry on some great design, which the court of Spain kept as an impenetrable secret. Cecil therefore advised the queen to take the money herself, and give the Genoese security for it, by . which she would greatly advantage her own affairs, distress the Spaniards, relieve the Netherlands, and wrong nobody. The queen took his advice, and when upon this the duke of Alva seized the effects of the English in the Netherlands, she made reprisals, and out of them immediately indemni- fied her own merchants. The Spanish ambassador at Lon- don behaved with great violence upon this occasion, giving secretary Cecil ill language at the council-table, and li- belling the queen, by appealing to the people against their sovereign's administration. This produced a great deal of disturbance, and Leicester and his party took care to have it published every where, that Cecil was the sole author of this counsel. While things were in this ferment, Leicester held a private consultation with the lords he had drawn to his interest, wherein he proposed that they should take this occasion of removing a man whom they unani- mously bated. Some of the lords inquiring how this could be 4one ? sir Nicholas Throgmorton answered, " Let him be charged with some matter or other in council when the
10 CECIL.
queen is not present, commit him to the Tower thereupon, and when he is once in prison we shall find things enow against him.'* It so happened, that about this time a fla- grant libel being published against the nobility, lord Lei- cester caused Cecil to be charged before the council, either with being the author of it, or it's patron ; of which he offered no other proof than that it had been seen on Cecil's table. This the secretary readily confessed, but insisted that he looked upon it in the same light they did, as a most scandalous invective ; in support of which he produced his own copy with notes on the margin, af- firming that he had caused a strict inquiry to be made after the author and publisher of the work. All this, how- ever, would have been but of little use to him, if the queen had not had private notice of their design. While therefore the secretary was defending himself, she sud- denly and unexpectedly entered the council-room, and having in few words expressed her dislike of such cabals, preserved her minister, and shewed even Leicester himself that he could not be overthrown. The affair of the duke of Norfolk's ruin followed, not long after he had been embarked in the faction against Cecil ; and therefore we find this minister sometimes charged, though very un- justly, with being the author of his misfortunes, a calumny from which he vindicated himself with candour, clearness, and vivacity, as equally abhorring the thoughts of revenge, and hazarding the public safety to facilitate his private advantage. Cecil, indeed, had no greater share in the duke's misfortune, than was necessarily imposed upon him by his office of secretary, and which consequently it was not in his power to avoid; to which we may add, that the duke himself was in some measure accessary thereto, by acting under the delusive influence of his capital enemy as well as Cecil's. The duke's infatuated conduct, after having once received a pardon, rendered his practices too dangerous to be again forgiven. It cannot be doubted that this great nobleman was the tool of the views of the ca- tholic party : and there is reason to believe that the pre- vious design of ruining Cecil was to get rid of him before this plan was ripe, from a just fear of his penetration, and his power to defeat it. Cecil's fidelity was followed by much, public and some severe private revenge. His son- in-law, lord Oxford, put his threat into execution of ruin-
CECIL. 11
ing his daughter, by forsaking her bed, and wasting the fortune of her posterity, if the duke's life was not spared.
The queen was so sensible of the great importance of Ce- cil's service on this occasion, that, however sparing of her honours, she raised him to the peerage by the title of Baron of Burleigh in February 1571, when he had not much to support his rank, for in a confidential letter written about this time, he calls himself " the poorest lord in England.'1 The queen's favour did not in other respects add to his comfort, nor protect him from new attempts to destroy him. A conspiracy of the private kind was now formed against his life : and the two assassins, Barney and Matter, charged it, at their execution, on the Spanish ambassador, for which and other offences the ambassador was ordered to quit the kingdom. As a consolation, however, for these dangers, he was honoured with the order of the garter in June 1572; and in September following, on the death of the marquis of Winchester, was appointed lord high treasurer.
The weight of business that now lay upon him, and the variety of his duties, was such as it seems almost incredible that one man could discharge ; yet he went through them all with the utmost strictness and punctuality. All his power, talents, industry, and fortitude, could not however at all times place him above anxiety and disgust at the intrigues, troubles, and dangers that surrounded him. He had even thoughts of a resignation, which the queen would not hear of. The popish and Spanish factions were his incessant enemies ; and the favourite Leicester never slackened in his arts to lower and counteract him. His vi- gour however was not lessened ; and the next great affair in which he was engaged required it all. The trial of the queen of Scots approached ; and the lord treasurer is charged with having been a strong promoter of this mea- sure. Of an affair which has engaged the pens and pas- sions of so many able historians, it would be impossible in this place to discuss the merits. We shall only add in the words of an able authority, whom we have in various in- stances followed, that the measure was a tremendously strong one : but there might be a state- necessity for it. Burleigh was not a man of blood ; Mary's intrigues were incessant ; and her constant intercourse and machinations with a truly dangerous, powerful, and unappeasable fac- tion, notorious.
12 CECIL.
In March 1587, the lord treasurer lost his mother at a great age, with which he was much affected ; and on April 4, 1589, he lost his beloved wife, daughter of sir Anthony Cook, whose death he mourned with the deepest regret*. He had but lately been delivered from the fatigue of draw- ing up schemes for the defence of the country against the threatened Spanish armada. Not long afterwards he again requested to resign, but the queen still refused to spare his services, and the remaining part of his life was spent in the unabated discharge of his high office. In 1592 he managed the concerns of a supply, which he furthered in the upper house by a speech of great knowledge and ta- lent. In short, even at this late period of his age, almost all the important affairs of state were under his guidance, and ecclesiastical affairs, in particular, required much of his moderating wisdom. Besides the catholic party, he had to contend with some of the ablest of the puritans, who maintained a hostility of a different kind with the esta- blished church. Matters of finance, and the affairs of the admiralty, were all continually referred to him ; and he let nothing pass him without due consideration. The maxim which aided him through these complicated concerns was this, that " the shortest way to do many things was only to do one thing at once."
The last memorable act of his life was the attempt to bring about a peace with Spain, in which he was vehe- mently opposed by Essex, then in the fire of youth, which might animate him to daring deeds to gratify his own am- bition. The young soldier was warm in the debate, which induced the venerable minister to pull out a prayer-book, and point to the words " Men of blood shall not live out
* This lady was wonderfully learn- be bought in the name of the dean of ed, especially in the Greek tongue, as Westminster, and by him assigned to appears from the testimony of the the college. She likewise gave the lord Burleigh himself, and of several Haberdashers' company in London, a other great men, and of which she left sum to enable them to lend to six poor clear evidence, in a letter penned by men twenty pounds a-piece every tw» her in thai language to the university years ; and a charity of the like kind of Cambridge, upon her sending thi- of twenty marks, to six poor people ther a Hebrew Bible, by way of pre- at Waltham and Cheshunt in Hertford- sent to the library. She had read most shire. Four times every year she re- of the Greek fathers with great dili- lieved all the poor prisoners in Lon- gence and critical .accuracy, and was den, and many other acts of benevo- one of the greatest patronesses of her lence she did, with as great secrecy as time, maintaining for many years two generosity ; so that she seems to have scholars at St. John's college in Cam- well deserved all the praises that have bridge ; and before her death rendered b«en by different writers bestowed this perpetual, by procuring lands to upon her memory.
CECIL. 13
half their days."— At length worn out with age, and more than forty years' uninterrupted and unexampled labours in the state, on the 4th of August, 1598, about four in the morning, in the presence of twenty children, friends and servants, he yielded up the ghost with wonderful serenity, being upwards of seventy-seven years old.
With regard to his person, though he was not remark- ably tall, nor eminently handsome, yet his person was always agreeable, and became more and more so, as he grew in years, age becoming him better than youth. The hair of his head and beard grew perfectly white, and he preserved almost to his dying day a fine and florid com- plexion. His temper contributed much towards making him generally beloved, for he was always serene and cheerful ; so perfect a master of his looks and words, that what passed in his mind was never discoverable from either; patient in hearing, ready in answering, yet without any quickness, and in a style suited to the understanding of him to whom he spoke. Idleness was his aversion ; and though from twenty-five years of age, at which he was sworn a privy counsellor, being then the youngest, as at his death the oldest in Europe, he laboured under a great weignt of public business ; yet when he had any vacant .moments he spent them not in trifles, or in pursuit of sen- sual pleasures, but in reading, meditating, or writing. He had a perfect knowledge, not only of foreign countries, but of foreign courts ; knew the genius of every prince in Europe, his counsellors and favourites. At home he kept exact lists of all the great officers, and particularly of the sages in the law. He was acquainted with the course of every court of judicature in England, knew its rise, juris- diction, and proper sphere of action ; within which he took care that it should act with vigour, and was no less careful that it should not exceed its bounds. He wrote not only elegant Latin in prose, but also very good verses in that, and in the English language. He understood Greek as well as most men in that age ; and was so learned in divi- nity, that divines of all persuasions were desirous o£ sub- mitting to his judgment*. His peculiar diversions were
* He was very much pressed by unanimous opinion upon some of the some divines of his time, who waited disputed points. They returned, bow- on bim in a body, to make some al- ever, to him very soon, without b«ing terations in the Liturgy. He desired able to agree. " Why, gentlemen," them to go into the next room by said he, " how can you expect that I aad bring him in their shall alter any point in dispute, when
14 CECIL
the study of the state of England, and the pedigrees of its nobility and gentry : of these last he drew whole books with his own hand, so that he was better versed in descents and families, than most of the heralds ; and would often surprize persons of distinction at his table, by appearing better acquainted with their manors, parks, woods, &c. than tfcey were themselves. To this continual application, and to his genius, naturally comprehensive, was owing that fund of knowledge, which made him never at a loss in any company, or upon any subject. It was also owing to this that he spoke with such wonderful weight on all public oc- • casions, generally at the end of the debate, but without repetition of what was said before, stating the matter clearly, shewing the convenience sought, the inconve- niences feared ; the means of attaining the former, and the methods by which the latter might be avoided, with a succinctness and accuracy which, perhaps, hardly ever fell to any other man's share. But what was stiH more sur- prising, was the great facility with which he did this ; for he required no preparation, no time for his most laboured speeches, nor ever turned a book for his most learned writings, but thought, and spoke, digested, and dictated, without any hesitation, with the greatest perspicuity of sen- timent, and the utmost fulness of diction.
With regard to his domestic habits, he had during queen Elizabeth's reign, four places of residence ; his lodgings at court, his house in the Strand, his family seat at Bur- leigh, and his own favourite seat at Theobalds. At his house in London he had fourscore persons in family, ex- clusively of those who attended him at court. His ex- pences there, as we have it from a person who lived many years in his family, were thirty pounds a week in his ab- sence, and between forty and fifty when present. At Theobalds he had thirty persons in family; and besides a constant allowance in charity, he directed ten pounds a week to be laid out in keeping the poor at work in his gar- dens, &c. The expences of his stables were a thousand marks a year: so that as he had a great income, and left a good estate to his children, he was not afraid of keeping
you, who must be more competent, translation of Cicero's Epistles, says,
from your situation, to judge than I that this great statesman made them
can possibly be, cannot agree among " his glasse, bis rule, his
yourselves in what manner you would and bis pocket-book,'1 fcave me alter it?" Dr. Wall, iu his
CECIL. *5
up also a style suited to his offices. He also kept a stand- ing table for gentlemen, and two other tables for persons of meaner condition, which were always served alike, whe- ther he were in town or out of town. About his person he had people of great distinction, and had twenty gentlemen retainers, who had each a thousand pounds a year ; and as many among his ordinary servants, who were worth from lOOOl. to 3, 5, 10, and 20,000. Twelve times he enter- tained the queen at his house for several weeks together, at the expence of 2 or 3000/. each time. Three fine houses he built, one in London, another at Burleigh, and the third at Theobalds : all of which were less remarkable for their largeness and magnificence, than for their neatness and excellent contrivance. Yet with all this mighty expence, it was the opinion of competent judges, that an avaricious man would have made more of his offices in seven years, .than he did in forty. At his death he left about 4000/. a year inland, ll,000/. in money, and in valuable effects about 14,000/.
He was considered as the best parent of his time, for he had all his children, and their descendants, constantly at his table ; and in their conversation lay the greatest plea- sure of his life, especially while his mother lived, who was able to see the fifth descent from herself, there being no degree of relation, or consanguinity, which at festival times were not to be found at lord Burleigh's table. It was there that, laying aside all thoughts of business, he was so affable, easy, and merry, that he seemed never to have thought of any, and yet this was the only part of his life which was entirely free therefrom ; and his frankness and familiarity brought so many persons of high rank to his house, as did him great credit and service. In respect to his friends, he was always easy, cheerful, and kind ; and whatever their condition was, he talked to them, as if they had been his equals in every respect ; yet it is said, that he was held a better enemy than friend ; and that this was so well known, that some opposed him from a view of in- terest. It is certain, that those who were most intimate with him, had no sort of influence over him, and did not care to ask him for any thing ; because he did not readily grant, and was little pleased with such sort of suits. One reason of this was, that most of those whom he preferred became his enemies, because he would not gratify them in farther pretensions. His secrets he trusted with none, in-
16 CECIL.
dulged a general conversation, and would not suffer affairs of state to be canvassed in mixed company, or when friends were met to divert themselves. With respect to his ene- mies, he never said any thing harsh of them, farthered on every occasion their reasonable requests, and was so far from seeking, that he neglected all opportunities of re- venge; always professing, that he never went to bed out of charity with any man ; and frequently saying, that pa- tience, and a calm bearing of aspersions and injuries, had wrought him more good than his own abilities. He was far, however, from being an ungrateful man, for without intreaty he would serve his friends as far as it was just ; and for his servants, and those about him, he was very careful of their welfare, mostly at his own expence. He never raised his own rents, or displaced his tenants ; and as the rent was when he bought land, so it stood ; insomuch, that some enjoyed, for twenty pounds a year, during his whole life, what might have been let for two hundred : yet in his public character he was very severe ; and as he never meddled with the queen's treasure himself, so he would see that it was not embezzled by others ; for it was his saying, that whoever cheated the crown oppressed the people. In the midst of all his grandeur he was ever easy of access, free from pride, and alike complaisant to all degrees of people : for as he was grave in council, exact in courts of justice, familiar towards his friends, outwardly and inwardly fond of bis children, so when he went into the country he would converse with all his servants as kindly as if he had be$ n their equal ; talk to country peo- ple in their own style and manner, and would even conde- scend to sooth little children in their sports and plays ; so gentle was his temper, and so abundant his good- nature. At Theobalds he had fine gardens, which cost him a great deal of money, and which were laid out according to his own directions. He had a little mule, upon which he rode up and down the walks ; sometimes he would look on those who were shooting with arrows, or playing with bowls ; but as for himself, he never took any diversion, taking that word in its usual sense. He had two or three friends, who were constantly at his table, because he liked their com- pany ; but in all his life he never had one favourite, or suffered any body to get an ascendant over him. His equipage, his great house-keeping, his numerous depend- ents, were the effects of his sense, and not at all of his
CECIL. 17
passions, for he delighted little iri any of them ; and when- ever he had any time to spare, he fled, as his expression was, to Theobalds, and buried himself in privacy.
The queen's regard to lord Burleigh, though sincere and permanent, was occasionally intermixed with no small de- gree of petulance and ill humour. He was severely re- proached by her in 1594, on account of the state of affairs in Ireland ; and, on another occasion, when he persisted, against her will, in a design of quitting the court for a few days, for the purpose of taking physic, she called him " a froward old fool." He fell also under her majesty's displeasure because he disagreed with her in opinion con- cerning an affair which related to the earl of Essex. Hav- ing supported the earl's claim, in opposition to the queen, her indignation was so much excited against the trea- surer, that she treated him as a miscreant and a coward. Lord Burleigh being in the latter part of his life much subject to the gout, sir John Harrington observes, in a letter to his lordship, that he did not invite the stay of .such a guest by rich wines, or strong spices. It is pro- .bable that the frequent return of this disorder, in conjunc- tion with the weight of business, and the general infirmi- ties of age, contributed to the peevishness into which he was sometimes betrayed. In a conversation which he had with Mons. de Fouquerolles, an agent from Henry the Fourth, king of France, he lost himself so much, as to yeflect in the grossest terms upon that monarch. This was, indeed, an astonishing act of imprudence, in a man of his years and experience ; and affords a striking instance of the errors and inadvertencies to which the wisest and best persons are liable. When the lord treasurer died, queen Elizabeth was so much affected with the event, that she took it very grievously, shed tears, and separated her- self, for a time, from all company.
Besides these lesser failings of this great man, he has been accused of ilsiberality to the poet Spenser, which perhaps may be attributed to his dislike of Leicester, under whose patronage Spenser had come forward, but perhaps more to his want of relish for poetry. On the other hand, our historians are generally agreed in their praises of his high character. Smollett only has endeavoured to lessen it, but as this is coupled with a disregard for historical truth, the attempt is entitled to little regard, and the ad- vocates for Mary queeft of Scots cannot be supposed t<?
VOL. IX. C
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forgive the share he had in her fate. Lord Orford has given lord Burleigh a place among his " Royal and Noble Authors," but at the same time justly observes, that he is one of those great names, better known in the annals of his coun- try than in those of the republic of letters. Besides lord Burleigh's answer to a Latin libel published abroad, which he entitled " Slanders and Lies," and " A Meditation of the State of England, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth," lord Orford mentions " La Complainte de PAme peche- resse," in French verse, extant in the king's library; " Car» mina duo Latina in Obitum Margaretae Nevillee, Reginoe Catherine a Cubiculis ;" " Carmen Latinum in Memoriain Tho. Challoneri Equitis aurati, prsefixum ejusdem Libro de restaurata Republica ;" " A Preface to Queen Catherine Parr's Lamentation of a Sinner." When sir William Cecil accompanied the duke of Somerset on his expedition to Scotland, he furnished materials for an account of that war, which was published by William Patten, under the title of " Diarium Expeditions Scoticae," London, 1541, 12mo. This is supposed to be the reason why lord Bur- leigh is reckoned by Holinshed among the English histo- rians. " The first paper or memorial of sir William Cecil \ anno primo Eliz." This, which is only a paper of memo- randums, is printed in Somers's tracts, from a manuscript in the Cotton library. "A Speech in Parliament, 1592." This was first published by Strype in his Annals, and has since been inserted in the Parliamentary History. " Lord Burleigh's Precepts, or directions for the well-ordering and carriage of a man's life," 1637. " A Meditation on the Death of his Lady." Mr. Ballard, in his Memoirs of Bri- tish Ladies, has printed this Meditation from an original formerly in the possession of James West, esq. but now in the British Museum. Lord Burleigh was supposed to be the author of a thin pamphlet, in defence of the punish- ments inflicted on the Roman catholics in the reign of queen Elizabeth: it is called "The Execution of Justice in England, for maintenance of public and Christian peace, against certain stirrers of sedition, and adherents to the traitors and enemies of the realm, without any persecution of them for questions of religion, as it is falsely reported, &c." London, 1583, second edition. Other political piece* \vere ascribed to him, and even the celebrated libel, en- titled " Leicester's Commonwealth," It was asserted, that the hints, at least, were furnished by him for that compo-
CECIL. 19
sition. But no proof has been given of this assertion, and it was not founded on any degree of probability. His lordship drew up also a number of pedigrees, some of which are preserved in the archbishop of Canterbury's library at Lambeth. These contain the genealogies of the kings of England, from William the Conqueror to Edward the Fourth ; of queen Anne Boleyn ; and of several princely houses in Germany.
Out of the large multitude of lord Burleigh's letters, which are extant in various places, many have found their way to the press. Thirty-three are printed in Peck's De- siderata Curiosa, and three in Howard's Collections. Many more may be met with in Dr. Forbes's, Haynes's, and Murdin's State Papers. The two last publications are spe- cifically taken from the original letters, and other authen- tic memorials left by lord Burleigh, and now remaining at Hatfield -house, in the library of the earl of Salisbury. Haynes's collection, which was published in 1740, extends from 1542 to 1570. Murdin's, which appeared in 1759, reaches from 1571 to 1596. Both these publications throw great light on the period to which they relate, and have been of eminent service to our recent historians. The whole course of the proceedings, relative to Mary queen of Scots, is particularly displayed in these collections ; on which account much use has lately been made of them by Dr. Gilbert Stuart. In the original papers of Mr. Anthony Bacon, are several letters of lord Burleigh, from which various extracts have been given by Dr. Birch, in his " Me- moirs of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth." There is also in the Nugsc Antiques, a letter of advice, written by his lord- ship in 1578, to Mr. Harrington (afterwards sir John Har- rington), then a student at the university of Cambridge. In the earl of Hardwicke's miscellaneous State Papers, besides a number ot letters addressed to Cecil, there are seven of his own writing, relative to important public concerns. One of them shews in a striking view, the friendly beha- viour of lord Burleigh to the earl of Leicester, when that nobleman laboured under the queen's displeasure, and reflects great honour on the old treasurer's memory. It is strange, says the earl of Hardwicke, that Camden passes it over in silence : but, indeed, adds his lordship, that histo- rian's omissions are very unpardonable, considering the lights he had. As to lord Burleigh's unpublished papers, they are still exceedingly numerous, and are extant in the
C2
20 CECIL.
British Museum, in the libraries of the earls of Salisbury and Hardwicke, and in other places.
His lordship was buried at Stamford, where an elegant monument is erected to his memory. By his first wife he had his son and heir Thomas earl of Exeter, and by his second a numerous issue, who all died before him except the subject of the following article, to whom he addressed those valuable " precepts" so often reprinted. Few men knew better than lord Burleigh how to advise the young. Peacham, in his " Gentleman," informs us that when any one came to the lords of the council for a licence to travel, he would first examine him of England, and if he found him ignorant, he would bid him stay at home, and know his own country first. *
CECIL (ROBERT), earl of Salisbury, son to the pre- ceding, was born, probably, about the year 1550, and being of a weakly constitution, was tenderly brought up by his mother, and educated under a careful and excellent tutor till he was sent to St. John's college, Cambridge. Here he had conferred upon him the degree of M. A. and was afterwards incorporated in the same degree at Oxford. In the parliaments of 1585 and 1586 he served for the city of Westminster; as he did afterwards, in 1588, 1592, 1597, and 1600, for the county of Hertford. In 1588 he was one of the young nobility who went volunteers on board the English fleet sent against the Spanish armada. He was a courtier from his cradle, having the advantage of the instructions and experience of his illustrious father, and living in those times when queen Elizabeth had most need of the ablest persons, was employed by her in affairs of the highest importance, and received the honour of knight- hood in the beginning of June 1591, and in August fol- lowing was sworn of the privy-council. In 1596 he was appointed secretary of state, to the great disgust of the earl of Essex, who was then absent in the expedition against Cadiz, and had been zealous for the promotion of sir Thomas Bodley. Whilst he was in that post he shewed an indefatigable address in procuring foreign intelligence from all parts of the world, holding, at his own charge, a correspondence with all ambassadors and neighbouring states. By this means he discovered queen Elizabeth's
» Biog. Brit. — Sir E. Brydges's edition of Collins. — Park's edition of Royal and Noble Authors. — Strype's Annals, Memorials, and Lives, patsim, &e.— Lodge's Illustrations, vol. II. — Peck's Desiderata, Sec.
CECIL.
21
enemies abroad, and private conspiracies at home* and was on this account as highly valued by die queen as he was hated by the popish party, who vented their malice against him in several libels, both printed and manuscript, and threatened to murder him ; to some of which he re- turned an answer, both in Latin and English, declaring that he despised all their threats for the service of so good a cause as he was engaged in, that of religion and his country.
In 1597 he was constituted cbancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. In February 1597-8 he went to France with Mr. Herbert and sir Thomas Wylkes, to endeavour to di- vert Henry IV. from the treaty at Verviris ; and in May 1599, succeeded his father in the office of master of the court of wards, for which he resigned a better place, that of chancellor of the duchy, being so restrained in the court of wards, by new orders, that he was, as he expressed it, a ward himself. He succeeded his father likewise in the post of principal minister of state, and from that time public affairs seem to have been entirely under his direc- tion. During the last years of bis queen, he supported her declining age with such vigour and prudence as at once enabled her to assist her allies the States General, when they were ingloriously abandoned by France, and to defeat a dangerous rebellion in Ireland, which was che- rished by powerful assistance from Spain. But though he was a faithful servant to his mistress, yet he kept a secret correspondence with her successor king James, in which lie was once in great danger of being discovered by the queen. As her majesty was taking the air upon Black- heath, near her palace at Greenwich, a post riding by, she inquired from whence it came ; and being told from Scotland, she stopped her coach to receive the packet. Sir Robert Cecil, who attended her, knowing there were in it some letters from his correspondents, with great presence of mind, called immediately for a knife to .open it, that a delay might not create suspicion. When he came to cut it open, he told the queen that it looked and smelt very ill, and therefore was proper to be opened and aired before she saw what it contained ; to which her ma- jesty consented, having an extreme aversion to bad smells. Upon her decease he was the first who publicly read her will, and proclaimed king James ; and his former services to that prince, or the interest of sir George Hume, after-
22 CECIL.
wards earl of Dunbar, so effectually recommended him to his majesty, that he took him into the highest degree of favour, and continued him in his office of principal minis- ter ; and though in that reign public affairs were not car- ried on with the same spirit as in the last, the fault cannot justly be charged on this minister, but on the king, whose timid temper induced him to have peace with all the world, and especially with Spain at any rate. But though sir Robert Cecil was far from approving, in his heart, the measures taken for obtaining that inglorious peace, yet he so far ingratiated himself with his sovereign that he was raised to greater honours; being on May 13, 1603, created baron of Essenden, in Rutlandshire ; on the 20th of Au- gust, 1604, viscount Cranborne, in Dorsetshire (the first of that degree who bore a coronet), and on May 4, 1605, earl of Salisbury.
He shewed himself upon all occasions a zealous servant to his prince, without neglecting at the same time, the real advantage of his country, and never heartily espousing the Spanish interest, though it was the only one coun- tenanced by king James ; and some of the courtiers, by encouraging it, acquired great riches. The court of Spain was so sensible of his disinclination to them, that they en- deavoured to alienate the king's favour from him by means of the queen ; and it was moved there in council, to send complaints to England of his malignant humour, or envy to the Spanish nation ; upon which, if he did not alter his conduct, then a shorter course should be taken with him, by destroying him. Afterwards they entertained great hopes of him, and resolved to omit no means to gain him over to their side. But when all the popish designs were defeated by the discovery of the gunpowder plot, which has since been represented by some of that party as a po- litical contrivance of his, his activity in the detection of it, and zeal for the punishment of those concerned in it, enraged them to such a degree, that several of the papists formed a combination against him. This, however, tak- ing no effect, they again attempted to ruin him in the king's favour, by reporting that he had a pension of forty thousand crowns from the States of the United Provinces, for being their special favourer and patron. They branded him likewise with the appellation of a puritan, a name pe- culiarly odious to king James. At last they conspired to murder him by a musquet-shot out of the Savoy, pr some
CECIL. 23
house near, as he was going by water to court. But these nefarious designs proved abortive, though it appears they had not desisted from them in 1609. Upon the death of sir Thomas Sackville, earl of Dorset, lord-high-treasurer, in April I60S, he succeeded him in that post ; and his ad- vancement to it was universally applauded, a great re- formation being expected from him in the exchequer, which he accordingly effected. Finding it almost totally exhausted, he devised several means for replenishing it with money, particularly by causing the royal manors to be surveyed, which before were but imperfectly known ; by reviving the custody of crown lands ; by commissions of assets ; by taking care to have the king's woods and timber viewed, numbered, marked, and valued ; by having an exact survey made of the copyholds held of the crown, which he ordered to be printed ; by compounding with the copyholders of the inheritance, and the possessors of wastes and commons, originally appertaining to the king ; by appointing commissioners to gather in the fines arising from penal laws, and such as accrued from the king's ma- nors ; by improving the customs from 86, GOO/, to 120,000/. and afterwards to 135,000/. per ann. and by surrendering up his patent of master of the wards to the king, for his benefit and advantage.
His indefatigable application to business having ruined his constitution, he died at Marlborough in his return from Bath, May 24, 1612, and was buried at Hatfield. He was undoubtedly a very able minister, but not very popular while living, nor characterised with much praise since his death. Dr. Birch, however, appears his ablest advocate, in his " Historical View of the Negociations," &c. and his researches being carried farther than perhaps those of any modern writer, what he advances seems more entitled to credit.
It will be but justice, says Dr. Birch, to the character of so eminent a person as the earl of Salisbury, to consider him as he now appears to us from fuller and more impar- tial lights than the ignorance or envy of his own time would admit of; and which may be opposed to the general invectives and unsupported libels of Weldon and Wilson, the scandalous chroniclers of the last age. He was evi- dently a man of quicker parts, and a more spirited writer and speaker than his father, to whose experience he was at the same time obliged for his education and introduction
24 CECIL.
into public business, in the management of which he was accounted, and perhaps justly, more subtle, and less open. And this opinion of his biass to artifice and dissimulation was greatly owing to the singular address which he shewed in penetrating into the secrets and reserved powers of the foreign ministers with whom he treated ; and in evading, with uncommon dexterity, such points as they pressed, when it was not convenient to give them too explicit an answer. His correspondence with king James, during the life of queen Elizabeth, was so closely and artfully managed, that he escaped a discovery, which would have ruined his interest with his royal mistress, though he afterwards justi^ fied that correspondence from a regard to her service. " For what," says he, " could more quiet the expectation of a successor, so many ways invited to jealousy, than when he saw her ministry, that were most inward with her, wholly bent to accommodate the present actions of state for his future safety, when God should see his time !" — He was properly a sole minister, though not under the denomination of a favourite, his master having a much greater awe of than love for him ; and he drew all business, both foreign and domestic, into his own hands, and suf- fered no ministers to be employed abroad but who were his dependents, and with whom he kept a most constant and exact correspondence : but the men whom he pre- ferred to such employments, justified his choice, and did credit to the use he made of his power. He appears to have been invariably attached to the true interest of his country, being above corruption from, or dependence upon, any foreign courts ; which renders it not at all sur* prising, that he should be abused by them all in their turns ; as his attention to all the motions of the popish faction made him equally odious to them. He fully un- derstood the English constitution, and the just limits of the prerogative ; and prevented the fatal consequences which might have arisen from the frequent disputes between king James I. and his parliaments. In short, he was as good a minister as that prince would suffer him to be, and as was consistent with his own security in a factious and corrupt court ; and he was even negligent of his personal safety, whenever the interest of the public was at stake. His post of lord treasurer, at a time when the exchequer was exhausted by the king's boundless profusion, was at- tended with infinite trouble to him, in concerting schemes
CECIL. 25
for raising the supplies; and the manner in which he was obliged to raise them, with the great fortune which he ac- cumulated to himself, in a measure beyond perhaps the visible profits of his places, exposed him to much detrac- tion and popular clamour, which followed hi ui to his grave; though experience shewed1, that the nation sustained an important loss by his death ; since he was the only minister of state of real abilities during the whole course of that reign. He has been thought too severe and vindictive in the treatment of his rivals and enemies : but the part which he acted towards the earl of Essex, seems entirely the result of his duty to his mistress and the nation. It must, however, be confessed, that his behaviour towards the great but unfortunate sir Walter Raleigh is an impu- tation upon him, which still remains to be cleared up ; and it probably may be done from the ample memorials of his administration in the Hatfield library.
A more elaborate apology for the earl of Salisbury was written soon after his decease, and addressed to king James, by sir Walter Cope. This may be seen in Gutch's " Col- lectanea Curiosa," vol. I. from which, as well as from the account of his death in Peck's u Desiderata," the ambi- tious may derive a salutary lesson. His " Secret Cor- respondence" with king James, was published by lord Hailes in 1766, and the conclusion which his lordship thinks the reader will draw is, that Salisbury was no less solicitous to maintain his own power than to settle the succession to his aged benefactress queen Elizabeth. Various letters, speeches, memorials, &c. from his pen are mentioned in our authorities. Lord Salisbury married Elizabeth, sister tp the unhappy Henry Brooke, lord Cobham, by whom, who died in 1591, he had a daughter Frances, married to Henry Clifford, earl of Cumberland, and an only son, Wil- liam, second earl of Salisbury. His descendant, James, the seventh earl of Salisbury, was advanced to the title of marquis in 1789. l
CECIL (RICHARD), a late clergyman of the church of England, was born in Chiswell-street, London, on -Nov. 8, 1743. His father and grandfather were scarlet-dyers to the East India company. His mother was the only child of Mr. Grosvenor, a merchant of London, and was a strict
1 Biog. Brit. — Park's Royal and Noble Authors.-rSecret Correspondence, \>j sir D. Dalrymple, 1766, 12mo. — Birch's Negociatiens.— History of Q. Eliza- bell), and Life of Prince Henry. — Harrington's Nugae Antiquse.
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dissenter, but his father belonged to the established church. In his early years his father intended him for business, but the son had a stronger predilection for general literature; and the success of some juvenile attempts, inserted in the periodical journals, with a taste for music and painting, diverted him still more from trade. At length his father determined to give him an university education, and, by the advice of Dr. Phanuel Bacon, an old acquaintance, sent him to Oxford, where he entered of Queen's college, May 19, 1773. Before this he had fallen into a course of read- ing which dispelled the religious education of his infancy, and had made him almost a confirmed infidel. Previously, however, to going to the university, he had recovered from this infatuation, and became noted for that pious conduct and principles which he maintained through life. With his studies he combined his former attachment to the fine arts, particularly music and painting, and might be deemed a connoisseur in both, and upon most subjects of polite literature manifested a critical taste and relish for the pro- ductions of genius and imagination, of both which he had himself no small portion. In 1776 he was ordained dea- con, and in 1777 priest, having only taken his bachelor's degree, after which he withdrew his name from the college .books, and exercised his talents as a preacher in some churches in Lancashire. Soon after, by the interest of some friends, two small livings were obtained for him at Lewes in Sussex, together in value only about 80/. a year. These he did not long enjoy, a rheumatic affection in his head obliging him to employ a curate, the expence of which required the whole of the income, but he continued to hold them for some years, and occasionally preached at Lewes. Removing to London, he officiated in different churches and chapels, particularly the chapel in Orange- street and thai in Long-acre, &c. In 1780 he was invited .to undertake the duty of the chapel of St. John's, in Bed- ford-row, and by the assistance of some friends who ad- vanced considerable sums of money, was enabled to repair it, and collected a most numerous and respectable congre- gation. But for many years he derived little emolument I from it, as he devoted the produce of the pews most con^ .scientiously to the discharge of the debts incurred. Even in 1798, a debt of 500/. remained on it, which his friends and hearers, struck with his honourable conduct, gene- rously defrayed by a subscription. In this year appeared
CECIL. 27
that complaint, of the schirrous kind, which more or less afflicted him with excruciating pain during the remainder of his life, and frequently interrupted his public labours, but which he bore with incredible patience and constancy. In 1800 he was presented by the trustees of John Tiiornton, esq. to the livings of Chobham and Bisley in Surrey, by which 150/. was added to his income, the remainder of their produce being required to provide a substitute at St. John's chapel, and defraying the necessary travelling ex- pences. In these parishes, notwithstanding the precarious state of his health, he pursued his ministerial labours with unabated assiduity, and conciliated the affections of his people by his affectionate addresses, as well as by an ac- commodation in the matter of tithes, which prevented all disputes. In 1807 and 1808 two paralytic attacks under- mined his constitution, and at length terminated in a fit of apoplexy, which proved fatal August 15, 1810. Few men have left a character more estimable in every quality that regards personal merit, or public services, but for the de- tail of these we must refer to the " Memoirs" prefixed to an edition of his Works, in 4 vols. 8vo, published in 1811 for the benefit of his family. Such was the regard in which he was held, that the whole of this edition of 1250 copies, was subscribed for by his friends and congregation. The first volume contains his " Life of Mr. Cadogan," printed separately in 1798; that of " John Bacon, esq. the cele- brated sculptor," in 1801 ; and that of the " Rev. John Newton" in 1808. Vol. II. contains his "Miscellanies," practical tracts published in the course of his life ; vol. Ill; his " Sermons," and vol. IV. his " Remains," consisting of remarks made by Mr. Cecil in conversation with the editor (the rev. Josiah Pratt, B. D.) or in discussions when he was present, with an appendix communicated by some friends. l
CECILIA (ST.), the reputed patroness of music, was a Roman virgin of distinguished birth, who lived in the second century. She was eminent for her piety, and had vowed virginity, but contrary to her inclinations-, was espoused by her parents to a heathen nobleman of the name of Valerian, whom she is said to have kept from her bed, by informing him that she had an angel appointed to protect her, and she engaged that Valerian should see this
i Memoir as above.
23 CECILIA.
angel, in case he would prepare himself for such a favour by becoming a Christian. Valerian consented, saw the angel, abstained from Cecilia as a wife, and was converted along with his brother Tiburtius. Valerian arid Tiburtius suffered martyrdom, and Cecilia was honoured with the same death some days after. These martyrdoms are va- riously placed under M. Aurelius, between 176 and 180, and under Alexander Severus, about 231. The body of St. Cecilia was found by pope Pascal I. in the cemetery of a church called by her name, which occurs as early as the sixth century ; and her body and her husband's, found in the same place, were translated in 821 to a monastery founded by pope Pascal in honour of the martyrs Tibur- tius and Maximus, near the church of St. Cecilia in Rome, usually called in Trastevere, to distinguish it from two others dedicated to the sama saint.
Musical and other historians have not been able to as- sign any better reason for honouring St. Cecilia as the pa- troness of music, than what may be found in her " Acts," which still exist in Surius, but are now considered as of no authority. Yet as they were credited in more credulous times, painters fixed upon organs as the appropriate em- blem of this saint ; musicians chose her for their patroness, and poets have described her as the in ven tress of the or- gan, and as charming angels to leave their celestial spheres, in order to listen to her harmony. The earliest notice of her as the tutelar saint of music seems to have been in the works of the great painters of the Italian school ; some re- presenting her as performing on the harp, and others on the organ. Raphael, in his celebrated portrait of the saint, has placed in her hands a column of organ pipes, or rather the front of a portable instrument called the regals, which in Roman catholic times used to be carried by one person and played by another in processions. But of the celebra- tion of her birth-day by assemblies of musicians, we have been able to discover no instance earlier than the latter end of the seventeenth century, when there was a rage among the votaries of music for celebrating the birth-day of this saint, November 22, not only in London, but in all the considerable cities and provincial towns in the kingdom, where music was cultivated. Dryden's Ode to St. Cecilia has led Mr. Malone into a prolix and probably very accu- rate history of this saint, and into a chronological account of all the great Cecilian festivals held in London from 1683
CECILIA. 29
to 1740, with a list of all the odes written expressly for the celebration of St. Cecilia, by whom written, and by whom set to music. l
CEDRENUS (GEORGE), a Grecian monk, who lived in the eleventh century, wrote annals, or an abridged history, from the beginning of the world to the reign of Isaac Com- nenus, emperor of Constantinople, who succeeded Michael IV. in 1057. This work is no more than an extract from several historians, and chiefly from Georgius Syncellus, whose chronology lie has followed from the creation to the reign of Dioclesian. Theophanes is another historian he has made use of from Dioclesian to Michael Curopalates. The next he borrows from is Thracesius Scylitzes from Curopalates to his own time. This compilation, although not executed with much judgment, was probably once in request. It was translated into Latin by Xylander, Basil, 1566, and was again printed at Paris in 1647, 2 vols. folio, with the Latin version of Xylander, and the notes of father Goar, a Dominican.2
CELESTINE V. (PETER), POPE, and the only one of his name who seems to deserve much notice, was born in Apulia about the year 1221, and lived as a hermit in a lit- tle cell. He was admitted into holy orders ; but after that, he lived five years in a cave on mount Morroni near Sul- mona, where he founded a monastery in 1274. The see of Rome having been vacant two years and three months, Celestine was unanimoifsly chosen pope on account of the fame of his sanctity. The archbishop of Lyons, present- ing him with the instrument of his election, conjured him to submit to the vocation. Peter, in astonishment, pro- strated himself on the ground : and after he had continued in prayer for a considerable time, consented to his election, and' took the name of Celestine V. Since the days of the fir* Gregory, no pope had ever assumed the pontifical dignity with more purity of intention. But he had not Gregory's talents for business and government; apd the Roman see was far more corrupt in the thirteenth than it was in the sixth century. Celestine soon became sensible of his incapacity. He attempted to reform abuses, to re- trench the luxury of the clergy, to do, in short, what he found totally impracticable. He committed mistakes, and
* Butler's Lives of the Saints. — Burnoy and Hawkins's Hist, of Music. Geat. Mag. vol. LXIII. p. 25 and 33.
a Dupin, — Cave. — Fabric. Uibl, Grace. — Moreri.
SO CELESTINE.
exposed himself to ridicule. His conscience, in the mean time, was kept on the rack through a variety of scruples, from which he could not extricate himself ; and from his ignorance of the world and of canon law, he began to think he had done wrong in accepting the office. He spent much of his time in retirement; nor was he easy there, because his conscience told him, that he ought to be discharging the pastoral office. In this dilemma he consulted cardinal Cajetan, who told him he might abdicate, which he accord- ingly did in 1294, after having endeavoured to support the rank of pope for only four or five months, and before his abdication made a constitution that the pontiff might be allowed to abdicate, if he pleased ; but there has been no example since of any pope taking the benefit of this con- stitution. Cajetan succeeded him under the title of Boni- face VIII. and immediately imprisoned him in the castle of Fumone, lest he should revoke his resignation, although nothing was more improbable, and treated him with such harshness as brought him to his grave, after ten months imprisonment, in 1296. Clement V. canonized him in 1313. Several of his " Opuscula" are in the Bibl. Pa- trum. The order of the Celestins, which takes its name from him, still subsists.1
CELLARIUS (CHRISTOPHER), an eminent critic and geographer, was born 1638, at Smalcalde, a little town in Franconia, where his father was minister. His mother, Mary Zehners, was daughter of the famous divine, Joachim Zehners. He came of a family in which learning seems to have been hereditary. When three years old, he had the misfortune to lose his father, but his mother took care of his education. He began his studies in the college of Smal- calde, and at eighteen was removed to Jena, to finish his studies in that university. During a residence of three years in this place, he applied to classical learning under Bosius, to philosophy under Bechman, to the Oriental languages under Frischmuth, and to mathematics under Weigelius. In 1659 he quitted Jena to go to Giessen, to study divinity under Peter Haberkorn. He afterwards re- turned to Jena, and took a doctor's degree there in 1666. The year following he was made professor of Hebrew and morai philosophy at Weissenfels, in which office he con-
1 Milner's Church Hist vol. IV. p. 36. — Dupin. — Bower's Lives of the Popes, •— Platina. — Moreri.
CELLARIUS. 31
tinned for seven years. In 1673 he was called to Weimar, to be rector of the college there, which, at the end of three years, he exchanged for a similar rank at Zeits. After two years stay here, the college of Mersbourg was offered to him, which he accepted. His learning, his abilities, and his diligence, soon rendered this college famous, and drew a great number of students; and the place was so agreeable to him, that he determined to end his days there ; but Providence disposed of him otherwise. For the king of Prussia, having founded an university at Halle in 1693, prevailed upon him to be professor of eloquence and his- tory in it, and here he composed a great part of his works. His great application shortened his days, and hastened on the infirmities of old age. He was a long time afflicted with the stone, but never could be persuaded to seek as- sistance from medicine. He died, 1707, in his sixty-ninth year.
He published good editions of above twenty Latin and Greek authors; and should we give a complete catalogue of his own works, it would shew an astonishing example of literary industry. But although he was a very volu- minous writer, he published nothing in haste, and nothing but what was in general correct and useful. His works relate chiefly to grammar, to geography, to history, and to the Oriental languages. As they are so very numerous, we shall only mention some of the most considerable: 1. "A Latin Grammar," in German, 1689, 8vo. 2. " Anti- barbarus Latinus, sive de Latinitate mediae et infimae aetatisl," 1677, 12mo. Before he published this book, Glaus Bor- richius had published, at Copenhagen, a work entitled " Cogitationes de variis linguae Latinos aetatibus, &c." which Celiarius having not'seen, and reading afterwards, was the occasion of his making an addition to his own, un- der the title of, 3. " Curie posteriores de barbarismis et idiotismis sermonis Latini," 1686, 12mo. 4. " Orthogra- phia Latina ex vetustis monumentis, hoc est nummis, mar- moribus, &c. excerpta, digesta, novisque observationibtis illustrata," 1700, 8vo. 5. " Historia universalis brev-iter ac perspicue exposita, in antiquam et medii aevi ac novam divisa, cum notis perpetuis," 1703, 3 vols. 12mo. 6. "Col- lectanea Historic Samaritanae, quotquot inveniri potue- runt," 1688, 4to. He had a design of writing a complete history of the Samaritans ; but for want of materials was forced to give it up. He collected, however, in this work,
32 CELLARIUS.
%
what he could find relating to their manners, religion, &c^ 7. " Historia gentis & religionis Samaritanae ex nova Sichemitarum epistola aucta," 1699, 4to. 8. (t Gramma- tica Hebrasa in tabulis synopticis una cum consilio 24 heris- discendi linguam sanctam." To which he added, " Rab- binismus, sive institutio grammatica pro legendis Rabbino- rum scriptis," 1684, 4to. 9. " Canones de linguae sanctce idiotismis," 1679, 4to. 10. " Sciagraphia philoiogiae sa- crae, cum etymologico radicum deperditarum ex aliis lin- guis, Arabica praesertim, restitutarum," 1678, 4to. 11. " Chaldaismus, sive grammatica nova linguae Chaldaica?," &c. 1685, 4to. 12. " Porta Syriae, sive grammatica Sy- riaca," 1684, 4to. 13. " Horae Samaritans," &c. 1682, 4to. 14. " Isagoge in linguam Arabicam," 1686, 4to.
His works in geography are well known, as excellent helps to the understanding of ancient authors. His e( No- titia Orbis Antiqui," was published at Cambridge in 1703, 2 vols. 4to, and Leipsic, 1731. And a sixth edition of the abridgement, by Patrick, was published at London, in 1731 ; but for a more particular account of the author and his works, the reader may be referred to J. G. Wal- chius's discourse of his life and writings, prefixed to his <c Dissertationes Academicae," published at Leipsic, 1712* 8vo» This volume alone would have been sufficient to have procured him a considerable name in the learned world. The principal classics, &c. edited by him are, " Ciceronis Epist. act Familiares ;" " Plinii Epist. ;" " Corn. Nepos;" " Quintus Curtius;'* " Eutropius ;" " Sextus Jlufus;" "Velleius Paterculus;" « Duod. Panegyr. An- tiq.;" "Lactantius;" " Minutius Felix;" "St. Cyprian, de Vanit. Idol. ;" « Sedulius ;" " Prudentius ;" " Silius Italicus;" " Pici Mirandul. Epist. ;" " Zosimus;" " Paeani- us ;" the " Thesaurus of Faber,M with large additions. l
CELLIER (REMI), a voluminous French biographer, was born at Bar-le-duc in 1688, and was soon noted for learning and piety. He attached himself to the congrega- tion of the Benedictines of St. Vanne and St. Hidulphe, and after he took the habit of that order, was intrusted with various business belonging to it, and became titular prior of Flavigni. He died in 1761. He published " His- toire generale des auteurs sacres et ecclesiastiques," 1729 — 1763, 23 vols. 4to, containing their lives, a critical ac-
1 Life by Walch, as above. — Moreri.
C E L L I E R. 33
count of their works, the history of councils, &c. This compilation is accurate, rather more so, his countrymen think, than that of Dupin ; but he had not Dupin's art of arranging and compressing, nor, we suspect, his candour. That it is diffuse heyond all patience appears from these twenty-three volumes extending no farther than the time of St. Bernard in the twelfth century. His numerous ex- tracts and translations are, however, Useful to those who cannot read the fathers in the original languages. In 1782 an index to this work was published at Paris, 2 vols. 4to, a proof that the work still holds its reputation. His only other publication was " Apologie de la Morale .des Peres contre Barbeyrac," 1718, 4to, a learned treatise badly written. Cellier was fond of retirement and study, and conciliated the affections of hi-s brethren by his amiable personal character. !
CELLINI (BfiNVENUTO), 'a celebrated sculptor and en- graver of Florence, was horn 'in 1500, and intended to be trained to music ; but, 'at fiftei n years of age, bound him- self, contrary to his father's inclinations, apprentice to a jeweller and goldsmith, under whom he made such a pro- gress, as presently to rival the most skilful in the business. He had also a turn for other arts: and in particular an early taste for drawing and designing, which he afterwards cultivated. Nor did he neglect music, but must have ex- celled in some degree in it; for, assisting at a concert before Clement VII. that pope took him into his service, in the double capacity of goldsmith and musician. He applied himself also to seal-engravingj learned to make curious da- inaskeenings of steel and silver on Turkish daggers, &c. and was very ingenious in medals and rings. But Cellini excel- led in arms, as well as in arts ; and Clement VII. valued him as much for his bravery as for his skill in his profession. When the duke of Bourbon laid siege to Rome, and the city was taken and plundered, the pope committed the castle of St. Angelo to Cellini ; who defended it like a man bred to arms, and did not suffer it to surrender but by c?.pitulation. Meanwhile, Cellini was one of those great wits, wh'o may truly be said to have bordered upon madness ; he was of a desultory, capricious, unequal humour, which in- volved him perpetually in adventures that often threat- ened to prove fatal to him. He travelled among the cities
i Did. Hist,
VOL. IX. D
34 CELLINI.
of Italy, but chiefly resided at Rome ; where he was some- times in favour with the great, and sometimes out. He consorted with all the first artists in their several ways, with Michael Angelo, Julio Romano, &c. Finding himself at length upon ill terms in Italy, he formed a resolution of going to France ; and, passing from Rome through Flo- rence, Bologna, and Venice, he arrived at Padua, where he was most kindly received by, and made some stay with, the famous Pietro Bembo. From Padua he travelled through Swisserland, visited Geneva in his way to Lyons, and, after resting a few days in this last city, arrived safe at Paris. He met with a gracious reception from Francis I. who would have taken him into his service ; but, conceiv- ing a dislike to France from a sudden illness he fell into there, he returned to Italy. He was scarcely arrived, when, being accused of having robbed the castle of St. Angelo of a great treasure at the time that Rome was sacked by the Spaniards, he was arrested and sent pri- soner thither. When set at liberty, after many hardships and difficulties, he entered into the service of the French king, and set out with the cardinal of Ferrara for Paris : where when they arrived, being highly disgusted at the cardinal's proposing what he thought an inconsiderable salary, he abruptly undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He was, however, pursued and brought back to the king, who settled a handsome salary upon him, assigned him a house to work in at Paris, and granted him shortly after a naturalization. But here, getting as usual into scrapes and quarrels, and particularly having offended madame d'Estampes, the king's mistress, he was exposed to endless troubles and persecutions; with which at length being wearied out, he obtained the king's permission to return to Italy, and went to Florence ; where he was kindly re- ceived by Cosmo de Medici, the grand duke, and engaged himself in his service. Here again, disgusted with some of the duke's servants (for he could not accommodate him- self to, or agree with, any body), he took a trip to Venice, where he was greatly caressed by Titian, Sansovino, and other ingenious artists ; but, after a short stay, returned to Florence, and resumed his business. He died in 1570. His life was translated into English by Dr. Nugent, and published in 1771, 2 vols. 8vo, with this title: " The Life of Benevenuto Cellini, a Florentine artist ; containing a variety of curious and interesting particulars relative to
CELLINI. 35
painting, sculpture, and architecture, and the history of his own time." The original, written in the Tuscan lan- guage, lay in manuscript above a century and a half. Though it was read with the greatest pleasure by the learned of Italy, no man was hardy enough, during this long period, to introduce to the world a book, in which the successors of St. Peter were handled so roughly ; a narrative, where artists and sovereign princes, cardi- nals and courtezans, ministers of state and mechanics, are treated with equal impartiality. At length, in 1730, an enterprising Neapolitan, encouraged by Dr. Antonio Cocchi, one of the politest scholars in Europe, published it in one vol. 4to, but it soon was prohibited, and became scarce. According to his own account, Cellini was at once a man of pleasure and a slave to superstition ; a despiser of vulgar notions, and a believer in magical incantations ; a fighter of duels, and a composer of divine sonnets ; an ardent lover of truth, and a retailer of visionary fancies ; an admirer of papal power, and a hater of popes ; art offender against the laws, with a strong reliance on divine providence. Such heterogeneous mixtures, however, ge- nerally form an amusing book, and Cellini's life is amus- ing and interesting in a very high degree. It must not, however, be omitted, that Cellini published two treatises on the subject of his art, " Duo trattati, uno intorno alle oito principal! arti dell* oreficiera, Paltro in materia dell* arte della scoltura," &c. 1568, 4to.1
CELS (JAMES MARTIN), a French botanist, and member of the Institute, was born at Versailles in 1745, and having been early introduced into the office of one of the farmers- general, acquired the once lucrative place of receiver. Amidst the duties of this office, he found leisure for study, 4ind became so fond of books, as to attempt a new arrange- ment of libraries, which he published in 1773, under the title of " Coup-d'ceil eclaire d'une grande bibliotheque a Tusage de tout possesseur de livres," 8vo. He became also partial to the study of botany, and formed an exten- sive botanical garden, which he enriched by correspon- dence and exchanges with other horticulturists. When the revolution took place, he retired to the village of Montrouge near Paris, and confined himself entirely to
1 tife as above.— Sir John Hawkins's edit, of Johwson's works, rol, IX, p. 360.
D 2
3« CELS.
the cultivation and selling of plants. The principal works on descriptive botany which have appeared in France, as those of Heretier, Decandolle, Redoute, &c. have been indebted to his assistance ; but it is to Ventenat that Gels' future fame will be due, who published the " Description des plantes rare du jardin de M. Cels." Cels died May 13, 1806. l
CELSUS (AuRELius CORNELIUS), an ancient and ele- gant writer on the subject of physic, flourished in the first century, under the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius ; but of his personal history, his family, or even his profession, we know little. It has been doubted whether he practised physic, but without the experience arising from practice, it is difficult to conceive how he could have so accurately described diseases and given the remedies. Dr. Freind, who studied his works with great attention, decides in fa- vour of his having practised, and agrees with Le Clerc that he was a Roman by birth, and probably of the Corne- lian family. He is said to have written on rhetoric and other subjects; but his " De iVlediciua iibri octo," on which his fame rests, is the only work now remaining, and has gone through a great number of editions. The surgi- cal part is most esteemed as corresponding nearest to the present practice ; but the whole is written in a style so pure and elegant, as to entitle him to a place among the Latin classics. Dr. Clarke has enumerated nearly forty editions, the best of which are thought to be AUneloveen's, Padua, 1722, Svo, reprinted in 1750, and one by Krause, Leipsic, 1766, 8vo, with the notes of Scaliger, Casaubon, Almeloveen, Morgagni, &c. to which we may add a very recent edition published at Edinburgh and London in 1809, Svo. In 1756, an English translation, with notes, was published by Dr. Grieve, the historian of Kamshatka. A short abridgement of rhetoric, " De arte dicendi," at- tributed to Celsus, was first published at Cologne in 1569, Svo, and is inserted in the Bibl. Lat. of Fabricius, but it is generally thought to have been the production of Julius JSeverianus. 2
CELSUS, a celebrated philosopher of the Epicurean sect, flourished in the second century under Adrian and Antoninus Pius, and is the person to whom Lucian has
1 Diet. Hist. 2 Freind's Hist, of Physic.— Haller Bibl, Mod. et Chirwry,
— Moreri. — Saxii Onomasticon, &c.
C E L S U S. 37
dedicated his " Pseudamantis." He wrote a bitter invec- tive against the Christian religion, under the title of " The true Word," which was answered by Origen with great ability in a work consisting of eight books. His " True Word'* is lost ; but his objections against Christianity may be known from the extracts which are preserved of it in Origen's answer. It is agreed on all hands, that he was a most subtle adversary, perfectly versed in all the arts of controversy, and as learned as he was ingenious : so that it is no wonder if the primitive Christians thought nothing less than such a champion as Origen a match for him. Although he sometimes recurs to Platonic and Stoic modes of reasoning, he is expressly ranked by Lucian, as well as Origen, among the Epicureans ; and this supposition best accounts for the violence with which he opposed the Chris- tian religion ; for an Epicurean would of course reject, without examination, all pretensions to divine communi- cations or powers. Yet his hostility, or the great pains lie took to display it, affords some strong testimonies in favour of the Christian religion, as may be seen in Lardner, and other writers. *
CELTES (CONRAD), a Latin poet, called also PnoTu- cius and MEISSEL, was born at Sweinfurt near Wetrtzburg in 1459, and died at Vienna in 1508, after having gained the poetic laurel. He has left, 1. " Odes," Strasburg, 1513, 8vo. 2. " Epigrams," and a poem on the manners of the Germans, 1610, 8vo. 3. "An historical account of the city of Nuremberg," Strasburg, 1513, 4to; and various other works, enumerated by Moreri, all in Latin. He was not deficient in the sallies of imagination, though not exempt from the defects of the age in which he wrote. He is censurable for negligence in point of style, and with preferring sentiments more for their brilliancy than their solidity. His four books in elegiac verse, on the same number of mistresses he boasts to have had, were published at Nuremberg in 1502, 4to. This volume is scarce. The emperor Maximilian made him his librarian, and granted him the privilege of conferring the poetic crown on whom- soever he judged worthy of it. "
CENE. See LE CENE.
CENSOR1NUS, a celebrated critic, chronologer, anti- quary, and grammarian, for such Priscian calls him, flou-
j Lardner's Woiks, vol. VIII, — Dupin. — Brucker. — Moshi'im. — Cave. « Moreri.—Dict. Hist-
38 CENSORINUS.
rished at Rome in the time of Alexander Severus, and is supposed to have been of the Martian family. His talents as a grammarian appear only in his book " concerning Accents," frequently cited by Sidonius Apollinaris, and other things, which are lost ; and not in his " De die jiatali," which is the only piece remaining of him. This treatise was written about the year 238, and dedicated to Quintus Cerellius, a Roman of the equestrian order, of whom he speaks very highly in his 15th chapter. Vossius, in one place, calls this " a little book of gold ;" and, in another, declares it to be " a most learned work, and of the highest use and importance to chronologers, since it connects and determines with great exactness some princi- pal aeras in history." It is however a work of a miscellane- ous nature, and treats of antiquities as well as chronology. It was printed at Hamburgh in 1614, with a commentary by Lindenbrog, whose notes were adopted afterwards in an edition printed at Cambridge, in 1695; and there is an edition by Havercamp, 1743, reprinted at Leyden, 1767, 8vo. Sir John Hawkins has translated Censorinus's re- marks on music, which are curious. l
CENTLIVRE (SUSANNAH), an ingenious dramatic wri- ter, was daughter of Mr. Freeman, a gentleman of Hal- beach in Lincolnshire, and was born about the year 1667. Her father had been possessed .of an estate of no incon- siderable value ; but being a dissenter, and having disco- vered a zealous attachment to the cause of the parliament, was at the restoration under a necessity of flying into Ire- land, and his estate was confiscated. Our poetess's mother was daughter of Mr. Markham, a gentleman of fortune at Lynn Regis in Norfolk, who is represented as having en- countered similar misfortunes with those of Mr. Free- man, in consequence of his political principles, which were the same with those of that gentleman, and he also was obliged to take refuge in Ireland. The subject of this article is asserted to have been born in Lincoln- shire ; but some h^ve conjectured that she was born in, Ireland, which May, not improbably, have been the case, if her birth was so late as 1667. The editor, however, of sir James Ware's Works does not claim her as an Irish \yriter. She had the unhappiness to lose her father before she was three years old, and her mother before she hac} completed her twelfth year. At an early period she dis-.
* Moreri.—Dict. Hist^Hawkhs's Hist, of Music r-Saxii On«mastico»,
C E N T L I V ft E. 39
covered a propensity to poetry, and is said to have written a song before she was seven years old.
Being harshly treated by those to whose care she was committed after the death of her mother, she resolved, whilst very young, to quit the country, and to go up to London to seek her fortune. The circumstances of her life at this period are involved in much obscurity, and the par- ticulars which are related seem somewhat romantic. It is said that she attempted her journey to the capital alone, and on foot, and on her way thither was met by Anthony Hammond, esq. father of the author of the " Love Ele- gies." This gentleman, who was then a member of the university of Cambridge, was struck with her youth and beauty, and offered to take her under his protection. Her distress and inexperience inducing her to comply with his proposal, she accompanied him to Cambridge, where, having equipped her in boy's clothes, he introduced her to his intimates at college, as a relation who was come down to see the university, and to pass some time with him. Under this disguise an amorous intercourse was car- ried on between them for some months ; but at length, being probably apprehensive that the affair would become known in the university, he persuaded her to go to Lon- don. He provided her, however, with a considerable sum of money, and recommended her by letter to a lady in town with whom he was acquainted. He assured her at the same time, that he would speedily follow her, and re- new their connection. This promise appears not to have been performed : but notwithstanding her unfavourable in- troduction into life, she was married in her sixteenth year to a nephew of sir Stephen Fox, who did not live more than a twelvemonth after their marriage ; but her wit and personal attractions soon procured her another husband, whose name was Carrol, who was an officer in the army, but who was killed in a duel about a year and a half after their marriage, when she became a second time a widow She is represented as having a sincere attachment to Mr. Carrol, and consequently as having felt his loss as a severe affliction.
It was at this period of her life that she commenced dra- matic author ; to which she was probably in some degree induced by the narrowness of her circumstances. Some of her earlier pieces were published under the name of Car- rol. Her first attempt was in tragedy, in a play called " The Perjured Husband," which was performed at Drury-
40 CENTLIVRE.
lane Theatre in 1700, and published in 4to the same year. In 1703, she produced " The Beau's Duel, or a Soldier for the Ladies, a comedy ;" and " Love's Contri- vances," which is chiefly a translation from Moliere ; and the following year another comedy, entitled " The Stolen Heiress, or the Salamanca Doctor outwitted." In 1705, her comedy of " The Gamester" was acted at Lincoln's- inn-fields, which met with considerable success, and has since been revived at Drury-lane. The plot of this piece "was chiefly borrowed from a French comedy, called " Le Dissipateur." The Prologue was written by Mr. Rowe.
Her attachment to the theatre was so great, that she not only distinguished herself as a writer for it, but also became a performer on it; though she probably did not attain to any great merit as an actress, as she seems never to have played at the theatres of the metropolis. But in 1706, we are told, she performed the part of Alexander the Great, in Lee's Rival Queens, at Windsor, where the court then was; and in this heroic character, she made so powerful an impression upon the heart of Mr. Joseph Centlivre, yeoman of the mouth, or principal cook to queen Anne, that he soon after married her, and with him she lived happily till her death.
The same year in which she married Mr. Centlivre, she produced the comedies of the "Basset-table," and "Love at a venture." The latter was acted by the duke of Graf- ton's servants, at the new theatre at Bath. In 1708, her most celebrated performance, " The Busy Body," was acted at Drury-lane theatre. It met at first with so un- favourable a reception from the players, that for a time they even refused to act in it, and were not prevailed upon to comply till towards the close of the season ; and even then Mr. Wilks shewed so much contempt for the part of sir George Airy, as to throw it down on the stage, at the TShearsal, with a declaration, " that no audience would endure such stuff." But the piece was received with the greatest applause by the audience, and still keeps posses- sion of the stage. In 1711, she brought on at Drury-lane theatre, " Marplot, or the second part of the Busy Body." This play, though much inferior to the former, met with a favourable reception ; and the duke of Portland, to whom it was dedicated, made Mrs. Centlivre a present of forty guineas. Her comedy of " A Bold Stroke for a Wife," was performed at Lincoln's-Inn Fields in 1717. She was assisted in this play by Mr. Mottley, who wrote a scene or
C E N T L I V R E. 41
two entirely. It was extremely well received, and is still frequently performed, though Mr. Wilks had also enter- tained a very unfavourable opinion of it. Besides those which have been already mentioned, she also produced several other dramatic pieces, enumerated in the Bio- graphia Dramatica.
Mrs. Centlivre enjoyed, for many years, the intimacy and esteem of some of the most eminent wits of the time, particularly -«ir Richard Steele, Mr. Rowe, Dr. Sewell, and Mr. Farquhar. P^ustace Budgell was also of the number of her acquaintance. But she had the misfortune to incur the displeasure of Mr. Pope, who introduced her into the Duncia-1, for having written a ballad against his Homer. She died in Spring-garden, Charing-cross, on the first of December, 1723, and was buried at St. Martin's in the Fields. She possessed a considerable share of beauty, was of a friendly and benevolent disposition, and in conversa- tion was sprightly and entertaining. Her literary acquisi- tions appear to have been merely the result of her own ap- plication ; but she is supposed to have understood the French, Dutch, and Spanish languages, and to have had some knowledge of the Latin. An extensive acquaintance with men and manners is exhibited in her dramatic wri» tings; but they are sometimes justly censurable for their licentiousness. In 1761, her dramatic works were col- lected to Tether, and printed in three volumes 12 mo. She was also the author of " several copies of verses on divers subjects and occasions, and many ingenious letters, en- titled, Letters of Wit, Politics, and Morality," which were collected and published by Mr. Boyer. l
CENTOKIO (AsuANius), of an illustrious family of Milan, but originally of Rome, bore arms in the sixteenth century, in which he was as much the philosopher as the soldier. He took advantage of the leisure afforded him by the peace, to reduce to order the military and historical memoirs he had collected during the tumult of war. They are very much esteemed in Italy, not less for, their excel- lence than their rarity. They appeared at Venice in 1565 and 1569, in 2 vols. 4to, commonly bound in one. The former, in six books, treats of the wars of Transilva- nia, and the other of those of his time in eight books. He wrote also some poems, and treatises on the military art, in Italian and Latin. 2
» Biog. Brit.— Gibber's Lives. * Diet. Hist.— Haym BiW. Jtal.
42 C E R A T I N U S.
CERATINUS (JAMES), whose family name was Teyng, which he exchanged for Ceratinus, from xsfag, horn, an allusion to Horn or Hoorn in Holland, was born there in the beginning of the sixteenth century. It appears from Erasmus's letters, that he thought Ceratinus one of the most profound scholars in Greek and Latin which the age afforded ; yet, when he came to be ordained priest at Utrecht, he was rejected for ignorance of the rules of grammar ; but when the examiners understood that he had given superior proofs of learning, they re-called him, pleaded that they were obliged to certain forms in their examination, and granted him letters of ordination. On the recommendation of Erasmus, George, elector of Sax- ony, appointed him to succeed Mosellanus in his profes- sorship at Leipsic ; and on this occasion Erasmus declared that he was worth, in point of learning, ten such as Mo- sellanus. He was also offered the Greek professorship in the college of three languages at Louvain. At Leipsic he did not meet with the reception he deserved, owing to its being suspected that he had imbibed Lutheran principles. He died at Louvain April 10, 1530, in the flower of his age. His works were, A very elegant translation of Chrysostom's " Treatise concerning the Priesthood ;" an improved edition of the " Graeco- Latin Lexicon," printed by Froben, in 1524, with a preface by Erasmus; and a treatise " De Sono Graecarum Literarum," printed in 1529, 8vo, with a dialogue from the pen of Erasmus on pronun- ciation. These were reprinted ' by Havercamp in his " Sylloge Scriptorum," or collection of commentators on the pronunciation of the Greek, Leyden, 1736. *
CERCEAU (JOHN ANTONY DU),* a French Jesuit, was born at Paris in 1670, and was early distinguished by spirit, vivacity, and a turn for poetry, which, while he wrote in Latin, procured him considerable reputation. This, however, he forfeited by his French verses, in imi- tation of Marot, in which he mistook burlesque and trifling, for the familiar and simple. He wrote also some theatrical pieces of an inferior order ; but was more successful in his " Defense de la Poesie Francoise," and other dissertations on the same subject. He wrote also, 1. " L'Histoire de Thamas Kouli-Kan, sophi de Perse," Amsterdam, 1741,
J Moreri. — Gen. Diet.— Foppen Bibi. Belg. — Baillet Jugemens. — Jortin's Enumiuu
C E R C E A U. 43
2 vols. 12mo. 2. " Histoire de la Conjuration de Rienzi," 12mo, which was completed by father Brumoy. 3. A cri- ticism on the abbe Boileau's " History of the Flagellants.7' He contributed also a great many papers to the Journal de Trevoux, and was long engaged in a controversy with one of the authors of the Journal des Savans, occasioned by two dissertations printed at the end of the second volume of Sannadon's Horace, relative to a passage in Horace concerning the music of the ancients. This produced from Cerceau some valuable essays on the subject. His Latin poetry was published in 1696, 12mo, under the title •" Varia de variis argumentis Carmina a multis e societate Jesu." The other authors in this volume are Vaniere and Tarillon. In 1807, his dramatic pieces were reprinted at Paris, in 3 vols. 18mo, under the title " Theatre a 1'usage des colleges," He died suddenly in 1730, at Veret, near Tours. *
CERDA (JOHN LEWIS), a Spanish Jesuit, and native of Toledo, who entered among the Jesuits in 1574, was a man of great learning, and, as his brethren have repre- sented him, of as great simplicity and candour. He distin- guished himself by several productions; and the fame of his parts and learning was so great, that Urban VIII. is said to have had his picture in his cabinet; and, when that pope sent his nephew cardinal Barberini ambassador into Spain, it was part of his business to pay Cerda a visit, and to assure him of the pope's esteem. Cerda's " Commen- taries upon Virgil," Paris, 1624 — 1641, 3 vols. fol. con- tain many useful and learned remarks, buried, however, in a multitude of what are superfluous and trifling. Baillet says, there are some good things in them, and some very moderate. His Commentaries upon the works of " Ter- tullian," begun in 2 vols. but not finished, have not been so much esteemed; Dupin says, they are long and te- dious, full of digressions and explications of passages which are too clear to need any explaining. There is also of Cerda's a volume of " Adversaria Sacra," printed in folio at Lyons, in 1626. He died in 1643, aged above 80. * CERDO, a famous Heresiarch, who lived at the end of the first, or beginning of the second century, is said to have maintained the existence of two gods, one good, the Creator of heaven, the other bad, and Creator of the
1 Moreri. — Di*:t, Hist, 2 Morcri. — Dupin.
44 C E R D O.
earth ; to have rejected the law, the prophets, and all the New Testament, except part of St. Luke's gospel, and some of St. Paul's epistles. He is also said to have been Mansion's master; but it is much more probable that he was only his disciple, if, as is asserted, he taught that the body assumed by Jesus Christ was a phantom, i. e. an ap- parent body, but not a real one, composed of flesh and bones like the human body; and all the ancient writers call Marcion the author of this heresy. The report of Cerdo's having retracted his errors is doubted by Lardner, who gives a very ample account of him and his opinions. l CERINTHUS, an ancient heretic, was contemporary with St. John towards the end of the first, or the commence- ment of the second century. He is said to have been a Jew, educated at Alexandria, but resident at Antioch. Authors differ as to his moral character, but Dr. Lardner has found nothing of a vicious kind imputed to him. With respect to his opinions, he ascribed the creation of the world, and the legislature of the Jews, to a created being, who derived from the Supreme. God extraordinary vir- tues and powers, but afterwards became apostate and degraded. He supposed that Jesus was a mere man, born of Joseph and Mary; but that, in his baptism, the Holy Ghost, or the Christ, who was one of the ^ons, de- scended upon him in the form of a dove ; and that he was commissioned to oppose the degenerate god of the Jews, and to destroy his empire. In consequence of which, by his instigation, the man Jesus was seized and crucified ; but Christ ascended up on high, without suffering at all. He recommended to his followers the worship of the Su- preme God in conjunction with his Son ; he required them to abandon the lawgiver of the Jews ; and though they were permitted to retain circumcision and the rites of the Mosaic law, and, according to Jerom, this was the princi- pal error of Cerinthus, that he was for joining the law with the gospel ; yet they were to make the precepts of Christ the rule of their conduct. For their encouragement, he promised them the resurrection of the body ; after which the millennium was to commence under the government of Christ united to the man Jesus : and this he represented as consisting in eating and drinking, nuptial entertain- ments, and other festivities. Cerinthus' opinions, however,
1 Lardaer's Works, vol. IX. — ^Josheim.
CERINTHUS. 45
as a millenarian, have been doubted by some, and the question is accurately examined by Lardner, although with some degree of leaning towards Cerinthus's opinion of Jesus Christ. l
CERISANTE. See DUNCAN (MARK).
CERQUOZZI (MICHAEL ANGELO), an eminent painter, called M. A. DI BATTAGUE, from his excellence in paint- ing battles, and BAMBOCCIATE, from his turn for painting markets, fairs, &c. was born at Rome in 1600, or 1602. His father, a jeweller, perceiving his disposition to the art, placed him with James d'As6, a Flemish painter, then in credit at Rome ; after three years study with him, he went to the school of P. P. Cortonese, whom he quitted to become the disciple and imitator of Bamboccio. He sur- passed all his fellow-students in taste, and had a manner of painting peculiar to himself. His chearful temper ap- peared in his pictures, in which ridicule was strongly re- presented. The facility of his pencil was such, that on the recital of a battle, a shipwreck, or any uncommon figure, he could express it* directly on his canvas. His colouring was vigorous, and his touch light. He never made designs or sketches, but only re-touched his pictures until he hud brought them to all the perfection of which he was capable. Such was his reputation that he could hardly supply the commissions he received, and he became so rich that the cares of wealth began to perplex him. He on one occasion took all his wealth to a retired place in order to bury it, but when he arrived, was so alarmed lest it should be found, that he brought it back, with much trouble, and having been two nights and a day without sleep or sustenance, this, it is said, injured his health, and brought on a violent fever which proved fatal in 1660. His personal character is highly praised. Mr. Fuseli says, that he differs from Bamboccio in the character and phy- siognomy of his figures ; instead of Dutch or Flemish mobs, he painted those of Italy. Both artists have strong- and vivid tints ; Bamboccio is superior to him in landscape, and he excelis Bamboccio in the spirit of his figures. One of his most copious works is in the palace Spada at Rome, in which he has represented an arrny df fanatic Lazzaroni, who shout applause to Masaniello. 2
1 Lardner. — Mosheim. — Gen. Diet.
9 Burges's Lives of Painters,— Argrenville, vol. I.-— Pilkington.
46 C E R R A T I.
CERRATI, or CERATO (PAUL), a lawyer and Latin poet, was born of the noble family of Alba in Lombardy, in 14-85, and died in 1541. He composed a heroic poem in three books, entitled " De Virginitate," Paris, 1629; and a long " Epithalamium" of 555 verses on the marriage of William IX. marquis of Montferrat with Anne of Alen- 9011 in 1508, of which there have been several editions. Scaliger and Baillet speak highly of him as a Latin poet, but according to their account his style was too lofty and pompous, as he was apt to describe a fly in as solemn terms as he would a hero. His works are in the u Delicise Poe- tarum Ital." but were more recently published separately by Vernazza in 1778, with a life of the author. J
CERVANTES SAAVEDRA (MIGUEL DE), the author of Don Quixote, was born at Alcala de Henares in 1547. He was the son of Rodrigo de Cervantes and Donna Leo- nora de Cortinas, and baptised Sunday, Oct. 9 of that year, as appears from the parish register of Santa Maria la Mayor in Alcala. Several concurring testimonies furnished the clue for this discovery, although six other places, Se- ville, Madrid, Esquivias, Toledo, Lucena, and Alcazar de San Juan, called him their son, and each had their ad- vocates to support their claims, in which respect his fame resembles that of Homer's. His parents designed him for the profession of letters, and although he had at home the opportunity of instruction in the university, he studied Latin in Madrid. He afterwards resided there in 1568, but two years afterwards we find him at Rome in the ser- vice of cardinal Aquaviva in the capacity of chamberlain. Some time after this, pope Pius V. Philip II. of Spain/ and the republic of Venice, united in a league, which was con- cluded May 29, 1571, against Selim the grand Turk. Cervantes, not satisfied with an idle court life, desirous of military renown, determined to commence soldier. Marco Antonio Colonna being appointed general of the pope's galleys, Cervantes went with him, and was present in the famous battle of Lepanto, where he was so wounded in his left hand by a gun-shot as totally to lose the use of it ; but he thought this such an honour, that he afterwards declared he would rather have been present in this glorious enter- prise, than to be whole in his limbs, and not to have there at all.
1 Moreri.—Diet. Hist.
CERVANTES. 47
Colonna returned to Rome in the end of 1572, and it is probable that Cervantes was with him, ;as he tells us that for some years he followed his conquering banners. He was ordered to join his regiment at Naples, notwithstanding his being maimed. In his " Viage del Parnaso," he tells us that he walked its streets more than a year: and in the copy of his ransom, it appears that he was there a long time. Don J. A. Pellicer supposes that in this city he em- ployed his leisure hours in cultivating his knowledge of the Italian tongue, and in reading of its good writers, with whom he appears conversant in his works. As he was go- ing from Naples to Spain on board the galley of the Sun, Sept. 26, 1575, he had the misfortune to fall into the hands of the Moors, who carried him captive to Algiers. The several hardships he underwent in his five years' captivity are noticed by a contemporary writer : and though the events mentioned in the story of " The Captive," in the first part of Don Quixote, cannot strictly be applied to himself, yet they could hardly have been so feelingly de- scribed but by one who had been a spectator of such treat- ment as he relates. Several extraordinary and dangerous attempts were made by him and his companions to obtain their liberty, which was effected at last by the regular way of ransom, which took place Sept. 19, 1580. The price was 500 escudos ; towards which his mother, a widow, con- tributed 250 ducats, and his sister 50.
Upon his return to Spain in the spring of the year fol- lowing, he fixed his residence in Madrid, where his mother and sister then lived. Following his own inclination to letters, he gave himself up anew to the reading of every kind of books, Latin, Spanish, and Italian, acquiring hence a great stock of various erudition. The first product of his genius was his " Galatea,1' which he published in 1584, and on Dec. 12 of the same year he married at Esquivias, Donna Catalina de Salazar y Palacios. Madrid was still his place of residence in the years 1585 — 6 and 7. He turned his studies to the theatres, for which he wrote several pieces, which have never yet been published.- In the year 1596, he lived in Seville, and wrote an ironical sonnet upon the duke of Medina's triumphal entry into Cadiz, after the earl of Essex had plundered and left the place. Probably Cervantes had a respect for the English from this event. In the fourth of his novels which takes its rise hence, he introduces La Espan'ola Inglesa to our queen
48 CERVANTES.
Elizabeth, who gives her a very cordial reception, and bids her speak to her in Spanish. In 1598 he was still in Seville, where he wrote a sonnet upon a majestic tomb of enormous height, to celebrate the exequies of Philip II. which he then spoke of as the honour of his writings. It is probable that he had relations in this city, as the illus- trious family of the Cervantes y Saavedras was established here. From this year, however, there is a void in his his- tory, and nothing more is known of him till 1604. Some have been willing to supply this defect, and suppose him sent upon a commission to Toboso ; that the natives brought a charge against him, threw him into prison, and that he in resentment made Don Quixote and Dulcinea Manchegans. Certain it is that he describes with such accuracy the chorography of that province, and paints with such marks of propriety the manners, dresses, and customs of its natives, that it may be suspected that he had been an eye-witness of the whole. This probably is the whole foundation of the conjecture, for there is no document in proof of this, or any other appointment of Cervantes iq La Mancha. What is certainly known is, that at the begin- ning of the seventeenth century he was in prison, but for an offence (as don Gregorio Mayans observes) which could not be ignominious, as he himself makes express mention of it. And from the same testimony it is kno.vn, that when in this prison, he wrote his history of " Don Quixote," of which he published the first part at Madrid in 1605. There was a second edition of this in 1608, at the same place and by the same printer, much corrected and improved, no notice of which is taken by Pellicer, who speaks of that of Valentia of 1605. supposing such to exist, but which he had not seen, ,7'here is another of Lisbon in 1 605, curious only on the score of its great loppings and amputations.
In 1606, Cervantes returned from Valladolid to Madrid, where he passed the last ten years of his life. In 161 0, his second patron, don Pedro Fernandez de Castro, count of Lemos, was named viceroy of Naples, and from thence continued to him his protection and liberality : and the cardinal don Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, archbishop of Toledo, after the example of his cousin the count of Le- mos, assigned him a pension, that he might bear with less inconvenience the troubles of old age. Although Madrid was now Cerva :es's home, he passed certain seasons in Esquivias, either to take care of some effects of his wife, or
CERVANTES. 49
to avoid the noise of the court, and to enjoy the quiet of the village, which afforded him opportunity to write more at his ease. Availing himself of this convenience, he has- tened, as he was advanced in years, to publish the greater part of his works. He printed his "Novels" in 1613; his "Journey tq Parnassus" in 16 14-; his "Comedies and Interludes" in 1615; and in the same year the second part of his "Don Quixote." He finished also his " Per- silas and Sigismunda," which was not published till after his death. In the mean time an incurable dropsy seized him, and gave him notice of his approaching dissolution, which he saw with Christian constancy and with a cheerful countenance. He has minutely described this in the pro- logue to his posthumous work. One of his late biogra- phers says, that good-nature and candour, charity, hu- manity, and compassion for the infirmities of man in his abject state, and consequently an abhorrence of cruelty, persecution, and violence, the principal moral he seems to inculcate in his great work, were the glorious virtues and predominant good qualities of his soul, and must transmit his name to the latest ages with every eulogium due to so exalted a character. At length, on the same nominal day with his equally great and amiable contemporary Shak- speare, on the 23d of April, 16 16, died Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and was buried in the church of the Trinitarian nuns in Madrid.
Of all the accounts hitherto published relative to Cer- vantes, we have given the preference to the preceding, for which we are indebted to the late rev. John Bowie, whose enthusiasm for " Don Quixote" is well known. It was translated by him from a work published in 1778 at Madrid by don Juan Antonio Pellicer y Safo^ada, one of the royal librarians, in a work entitled " Ensayo de una Bibliotheca de Traductores Espan'oles. Preceden varias Noticias Litterarias," 4to. The particulars being the result of re- search in the only quarters where information could be procured, seem more worthy of confidence than the con- jectures of some of Cervantes's earlier biographers, whose chief object seems to have been to represent him as a man depressed and degraded by poverty or imprudence, and whose fate was a disgrace to his nation. It is necessary however to add that the above account was prefixed to the splendid edition of Don Quixote published by the Spanish academy about thirty years ago. from this M. Florian
VOL, IX. E
50 CERVANTES.
wrote a life prefixed to his translation of Cervantes's "Ga- latea," and added not a little of the marvellous when de- tailing Cervantes's adventures in captivity at Algiers. Flo- rian's account was translated into English by a Mr. Wil- liam Walbeck, and published at Leeds in 1785, 12mo. Dr. Smollett has made a very interesting story in his life of Cervantes, but wanting th§ accurate information which has lately been recovered, he too hastily adopts the common opinions, and presents an almost unvaried detail of miseries and poverty. Cervantes's own account of his person is the following : " His visage was sharp and aquiline, his hair of a chesnut colour, his forehead smooth and high, his nose bookish or hawkish, his eye brisk and chearful, his mouth little, , his beard originally of a golden hue, his up- per lip furnished with large mustachios, his complexion fair, his stature of the middling size ;" and he adds, " that he was thick in the shoulders, and not very light of foot."
Of all Cervantes's writings his " Don Quixote" is that only which now is entitled to much attention, although some of his " Novels" are elegant and interesting. But on his " Don Quixote" his fame will probably rest as long as a taste for genuine humour can be found. It ought also, says an elegant modern critic, to be considered as a most useful performance, that brought about a great re- volution in the manners and literature of Europe, by ba- nishing the wild dreams of chivalry, and reviving a tasta for the simplicity of nature. In this view, the publication of Don Quixote forms an important era in the history of mankind. Don Quixote is represented as a man, whom it is impossible not to esteem for his cultivated understanding, and the goodness of his heart ; but who, by poring night and day upon old romances, had impaired his reason to such a degree, as to mistake them for history, and form the design of traversing the world, in the character, and with the accoutrements, of a knight-errant. His distem- pered fancy takes the most common occurrences for ad- ventures similar to those he had read in his books of chi- valry. And thus, the extravagance of these books being placed, as it were, in the same groupe with the appear- ances of nature and the real business of life, the hideous disproportion of the former becomes so glaring by the contrast, that the most inattentive reader cannot fail to be struck with it. The person, the pretensions, and the ex- ploits, of the errant-knight, are held up to view in a thou-
CERVANTES. $j
sand ridiculous attitudes. In a word, the humour and sa- tire are irresistible ; and their effects were instantaneous. This work no sooner appeared than chivalry vanished. Mankind awoke as from a dream. They laughed at them- selves for having been so long imposed on by absurdity ; and wondered they had not made the discovery sooner. They were astonished to find, that nature and good sense could yield a more exquisite entertainment than they had ever derived from the most sublime phrenzies of chivalry. This, however, was the case; and that Don Quixote was more read, and more relished, than any other romance had ever been, we may infer from the sudden and powerful effects it produced on the sentiments of mankind, as well as from the declaration of the author himself; who tells us, that upwards of 12,000 copies of the first part (printed at Madrid in 1605) were circulated before the second could be ready for the press ; an amazing rapidity of sale, at a time when the readers and purchasers of books were but an inconsiderable number compared to what they are in our days. " The very children (says he) handle it, boys read it, men understand, and old people applaud the perfor- mance. It is no sooner laid down by one than another takes it up ; some struggling, and some intreating, for a sight of it. In fine (continues he) this history is the most delightful, and the least prejudicial entertainment, that ever was seen ; for, in the whole book, there is not the least shadow of a dishonourable word, nor one thought unworthy of a good catholic." Don Quixote occasioned the death of the old romance, and gave birth to the new. Fiction from this time divested herself of her gigantic size> tremendous aspect, and frantic demeanour: and, descend- ing to the level of common life, conversed with man as his equal, and as a polite and chearful companion. Not that every subsequent romance-writer adopted the plan, or the manner of Cervantes ; but it was from him they learned to avoid extravagance and to imitate nature. And now pro- bability was as much studied, as it had been formerly neglected.
These sentiments, which we have adopted from Dr. Seattle's " Dissertations," are the sentiments of sober criticism ; but those who have allowed their imaginations to be heated by a frequent perusal of Don Quixote, have not scrupled to attribute to Cervantes more serious puiv poses than he could possibly have had in contemplation.
E 2
52 CERVANTES.
They have supposed that his object was to bring knight- errantry into ridicule, and they infer that he was so suc- cessful as to banish knight-errantry from the nations of Europe. But no assumption can be worse founded than the existence of knight-errantry in Cervantes's time. No man in all Europe at that time went about defending vir- gins, redressing grievances, and conquering whole armies with the assistance of enchanters. Such imaginary beings and events existed only in the old romances, which being the favourite reading in Spain, Cervantes very properly levelled his satire at them in the person of Don Quixote, whom he describes as become insane by a constant perusal of them ; and so far is he from insinuating that knight- errantry existed, that he makes his hero the ridicule of every person he meets. Cervantes's sole purpose was to introduce a better style of writing for popular amusement, and he fully succeeded; and we may say with Dr. Warton, how great must be the native force of Cervantes's humour, when it can be relished by readers even unacquainted with Spanish manners, with the institution of chivalry, and with the many passages of old romances, and Italian poems, to which it perpetually alludes ! The great art, says the same critic, of Cervantes, consists in having painted his mad hero with such a number of amiable qualities, as to make it impossible for us totally to despise him. This light and shade in drawing characters, shews the master. It is thus that Addison has represented his sir Roger de Coverley, and Shakspeare his Falstaff. We know not, how- ever, how to applaud what Dr. Warton calls a striking pro- priety in the madness of Don Quixote, " not frequently taken, notice of," namely, his time of life. Thuanus in- forms us that madness is a common disorder among the Spaniards at the latter part of life, about the age in which the knight is represented. Without resting on this asser- tion, for which we know no better authority than the " Per- roniana et Tlmana," we conceive it highly probable that Cervantes made his hero elderly, that his pretended vigour of arm, and above all, his love addresses, might appear more ridiculous. We adopt with more satisfaction a sen- timent of the late Mr. Owen Cambridge, in the preface to his " Scribleriad," because it exalts Cervantes's great work to that superiority of rank, as a mock-heroic, to which it seems justly entitled, and in which it is likely to remain undisturbed. Mr. Cambridge says, that in reading the
CERVANTE S. 53
four celebrated mock-heroic poems, the Lutrin, Dispen- sary, Rape of the Lock, and Dunciad, he perceived they had all some radical defect; but at last he found, by a diligent perusal of Don Quixote, that PROPRIETY was the fundamental excellence of that work ; that all the mar- vellous was reconcileable to probability, as the author leads his hero into that species of absurdity only, which it was natural for an imagination heated with the con- tinual reading of books of chivalry, to fall into; and that the want of attention to this was the fundamental error of those poems above mentioned.
The editions of Don Quixote have been so many as to render it impossible to give a correct list ; nor of a work so easily accessible, is .it, perhaps, necessary. The English public have been long familiarized with it in the transla- tions of Jarvis and Smollett, the comparative merits of which are so admirably adjusted in the late lord VYood- houselee's Essay on Translation. The French have also good translations.
Mr. D'Israeli, in his" " Curiosities of Literature," has published an anecdote from the " Segraisiana," which seems to have escaped the biographers of Cervantes. " M. du Boulay accompanied the French ambassador to Spain when Cervantes was yet alive. He has told me, that the ambassador one day complimented Cervantes on the great reputation he had acquired by his Don Quixote ; and that Cervantes whispered in his ear, " Had it not been for the Inquisition, I should have made my book much more en- tertaining." In what manner he would have done so it would be useless to conjecture.
The last act of Cervantes' s life was to write a dedication of his novel of " Persilas and Sigismunda" to his patron, the count of Lemos. As this appeared in the last edition of this Dictionary, and illustrates in some respect the cha- racter of the writer, we shall conclude this sketch with it.
" There is an old ballad, which in its day was much in vogue, and it began thus : ' And now with one foot in the stirrup,' &c. I could wish this did not fall so pat to my epistle, for I can almost say in the same words,
f And now with one foot 'in the stirrup,
Setting out for the regions of death, To write this epistle I chear up, •
And salute my lord with my last breath.'
Yesterday they gave me the extreme unction, and to-day
54 CERVANTES.
I vVrite this. Time is short, pains increase, hopes di- minish ; and yet, for all this, I would live a little longer, methinks, not for the sake of living, but that I might kiss your excellency's feet ; and it is not impossible but the pleasure of seeing your excellency safe and well in Spain might make me well too. But, if I am decreed to die, heaven's will be done : your excellency will at least give me leave to inform you of this my desire ; and like- wise that you had in me so zealous and well-affected a servant as was willing to go even beyond death to serve you, if it had been possible for his abilities to equal his sincerity. However, I prophetically rejoice at your ex- cellency's arrival again in Spain ; my heart leaps within me to fancy you shewn to one another by the people, * There goes the Conde de Lemos !' and it revives my spirits to see the accomplishment of those hopes which I have so long conceived of your excellency's perfections. There are still remaining in my soul certain glimmerings of * The Weeks of Garden,' and of the famous Bernardo. If by good luck, or rather by a miracle, heaven spares my life, your excellency shall see them both, and with them the * second part' of * Galatea,' which I know your ex- cellency would not be ill-pleased to see. And so I con- clude with my ardent wishes, that the Almighty will pre- serve your excellency.
Your excellency's servant, Madrid, April 19, 1616. MICHAEL DE CERVANTES." *
CERUTI (FREDERICK), a learned philologist, was born at Verona in 1541, and was brought to France in his in- fancy, by John Fregosa, bishop of Agen : here he was educated, and for some time served in the army, after which his patron sent him to Rome, with a view to the ec- clesiastical life. Ceruti, however, being disinclined to this, returned to his native country, and married. He afterwards opened a school at Verona, in which he had great success, and along with Guarinoni was at the head of the academy of the Moderati. In 1585 he published an edition of Horace at Verona, with a paraphrase, 4to, and in 1597 an edition of Juvenal and Persius, 4to. He also wrote commentaries on some parts of Cicero, and on the Georgics of Virgil, but it does not appear that they were
1 Life as above. — Ditto by Smollett. — Seattle's Dissertations, p, 562. — War- Ion's Essay on Pope.— Saxii Onomasticon.
C E R U T I. 55
printed. His other published works are, two Letters in the " Amphotides Scioppiana ;" a " Dialogus de Co- mcedia," Verona, 1593, 8vo ; another, " De recta ado- lescentulorum institutione," and a collection of Latin poems in 1584. He died in 1579.1
CERUTTI (JOSEPH ANTHONY JOACHIM), a French poet and miscellaneous writer, was born at Turin in 1738, and after being educated among the Jesuits, joined their order, and became professor of their college at Lyons. In 1761 he gained two academical prizes at Toulouse and Dijon ; the subject of the one was " Duelling," and the other an answer to the question " Why modern republics have ac- quired less splendour than the ancient." This last, be- fore Cerutti was known as its author, was attributed to Rousseau. It was printed at the Hague in 1761, 8vo, and reprinted at Paris in 1791. When the order of the Jesuits was about to be abolished, Cerutti wrote in their defence " L'Apologie de Pinstitut des Jesuites," 1762, two parts, Svo, the materials being furnished by the two Jesuits Menoux and Griffet. Some time after, he was obliged to appear before the procurator-general of the parliament of Paris, to abjure the order which he had de- fended. It is said that after he had taken the prescribed oath, he asked if there was any thing to subscribe, to which the magistrate answered, " Yes, the Alcoran." His " Apo- logy," however, was much admired, and recommended him to the Dauphin, who welcomed him to court. Here he contracted an unhappy and violent passion for a lady of the first rank, which brought on a tedious illness, from which the friendship of the duchess of Brancas recovered him, and in her house at Fleville he found an honourable asylum for fifteen years. This lady, who appears to have been somewhat of the romantic kind, as soon as she re- ceived him into her house, put a ring on his finger, telling him that friendship had espoused merit. When the revo- lution broke out, he came to Paris, and became a zealous partizan, and was much employed by Mirabeau in drawing up reports. His Memoir on patriotic contributions pro- cured him a place in the legislative body, but he died in 1792, after which the municipality of Paris honoured him by giving his name to one of the new streets. Besides the works already mentioned, he published 1. " L'Aigle
1 Moreri.
56 C E R U T T I.
et le hibou," an apologue in verse, Glasgow and Paris, 1783, 2. <c Recueil de quelques pieces de literature en prose et en vers," ibid. 1784. The best of these is a dis- sertation on antique monuments, occasioned by some Greek verses discovered on a tomb at Naples, in 1756.
3. " Les Jardins de Betz," a descriptive poem, 1792, 8vo.
4. " Lettre sur les avantages et 1'origine de la gaiete" Francaise," Lyons, 1761, 12mo ; Paris, 1792, 8vo. 5. An essay on the question " Combien un esprit trop subtil ressemble a un esprit faux," 1750, 8vo. 6. "Les vrais plaisirs ne sont fails que pour la vertu," 1761, 4to. These two last were honoured with the academical prizes of Montauban. 7. " Pourquoi les arts utiles ne sont-ils pas cultives preferablement aux arts agreables," 1761, 4to.
8. " Sur 1'origine et les effets du desir de transmettre son nom a la posterite," Hague, 1761, 8vo ; Paris, 1792, 8vo.
9. " Traduction libre de trois odes d' Horace," 1789. 10. *' De Tinteret d'un ouvrage dans le sujet, le plan, et le style," Paris, 1763, 8vo. Besides these, he published some tracts on the subjects which arose' out of the revolu- tion, and was joint editor with Rabaut de St. Etienne, of the " Feuille. villageoise," a paper calculated to spread the revolutionary delusions among the country people, but his style was not sufficiently simple and popular. In 1793, a collection of his works was published in an 8vo volume. Those which are on subjects of literature are ingenious and interesting, but as a poet he cannot be allowed to rank high. '
CESARINI (ViRGiNio), a very accomplished Italian scholar, was born at Rome in Oct. 1595, the son of Julian Cesarini, duke of Citta Nuova, and of Livia Ursini. Such was his application to study, that at an age when most scholars are but beginning, he was acquainted with lan- guages, philosophy, theology, law, medicine, mathematics, arid sacred and profane history. Cardinal Bellarmin com- pared him in knowledge, personal character, and accom-» plishments, to Picus de Mirandula, and such was the ge- neral esteem in which he was held, that a medal was struck with the heads of Cesarini and Picus crowned with laurel, and on the reverse two phenixes. His modesty and pro- bity were not less conspicuous than his learning. Pope Urban VIII. intended to have made him a cardinal, but he
i Diet. Hist.
C E S A R I N I. 57
died in the flower of his age, in 1624, then a member of the academy of the Lyncei. His Latin and Italian poems were printed in the collection entitled " Septem illustrium virorum poemata," Antwerp, 1662, 8vo, and since re- printed. He wrote also a treatise against astrology, and on other subjects, which have not been published. Au- gustin Favoriti, secretary of the college of cardinals, wrote his life in Latin, which is in the *' Memoria philosophorum, &c. curante Henningo Witten, decas prima," Francfort, 1677, 8vo. Bianchi also, in his account of the academi- cians of the Lyncei, Milan, 1744, notices Cesarmi. l
CESI (BARTHOLOMEW), an artist born in 1556, was one of the masters whose principles were respected by the school of the Caracci. From him Tiarini learnt the prac- tice of fresco ^ his works contain the germ of Guido's elegance. Indeed they are not easily distinguished from Guide's earlier performances. He seldom dares ; follows nature, fond of her best forms, and as shy to supply her with ideal ones ; his draperies are broad, his attitudes con- siderate ; his tints have more suavity than strength. Such are the altar-pieces at S. Jacopo and at S. Martino, works which Guido is said to have often spent whole hours in contemplating. In fresco he is more vigorous, and treats copious subjects with equal judgment, variety, and power of execution ; thus he treated the History of ^Eneas, in the palace Favi, and with still greater felicity the Transac- tions of Clement VIII. on the arch of Forli, which, though exposed to the air for so many years, retains all the vi- vacity of its tints. He was esteemed by the Caracci, and generally loved by the professors for his honesty of cha- racter and attachment to the art. To his exertions chiefly is ascribed the secession of the painters in 1595, from cutlers, chasers, and sadlers, with whom they had been incorporated for some centuries. And though at the for- mation of their new society he could not rid them of the cotton-workers' body (Bambagiai), he established their precedence and superiority of rank. Cesi died in 1627.3
CESPEDES (PAUL), a painter of Cordova, acquired fame in the sixteenth century, both in Spain and Italy. His manner approaches somewhat to that of Correggio ; the same exactness in the drawing, the same force in the expression, the same vigour in the colouring. It is im-
> Moreri.— Baiilet Jugemens,— Erythrei Pinacotheca. a Tiikiogton.
5S CESPEDES.
possible to contemplate without emotion his picture of the Last Supper in the cathedral of Cordova ; where each of the apostles presents a different character of respect and affection for their master ; the Christ displays at once an air of majesty and kindness ; and the Judas a false and . inaligpant countenance. The talents of Cespedes were not confined to painting, if we may trust the enthusiasm of the Spanish authors in his behalf; he was at the same time philosopher, antiquary, sculptor, architect ; an adept in the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Italian lan- guages, a great poet, and a prolific author. He died in 160S, aged upwards of seventy. !
CHABANON ( DE), a French writer of eminence
in polite literature, is said to have been born in America, of French parents, in 1730, and died in Paris July 12, 1792, but our only authority does not give his Christian name, nor have we been able to discover it in any of the French catalogues. He was a member of the French academy, and of that of the belles-lettres, a dramatic au- thor, an indifferent poet, but much esteemed for his writings respecting criticism and elegant literature. His principal works are: 1. " Eponine," a tragedy, 1762, which did not succeed. 2. " Eloge de Rameau," 1764, Svo. 3. " Sur le sort de la poesie, en ce siecle philo- sophe, avec un dissertation sur Homere," 1764, Svo. 4. " Euxodie," a tragedy, 1769, 12mo. 5. t( Discours sur Pindar," with a translation of some of his odes, 1769, Svo. 6. " Les Odes Pithiques de Pindare," translated, with notes, 1771, Svo. This, in the opinion of Voltaire, is an excellent translation. 7. "Vie de Dante," 1775, Svo.
8. " Sabinus," a lyric tragedy, but unsuccessful, 1775.
9. " Epitre sur la manie des jardins Anglois," 1775, Svo. The design of this is to modify, or rather to attack the principle that engages many to respect all the caprices of nature, and to shew that this principle, or at least its un- restrained application, may be prejudicial to the arts, but he displays more ingenuity than taste in this discussion.
10. " Jdylles de Theocrite," a new translation, 1777, Svo. The most valuable part of this volume is a judicious and elegant essay on the Bucolic poets, in which, however, he is thought to treat Fontenelle and madame Deshoulieres with too much severity. 11. " Vers sur Voltaire," 1778,
1 Pilkington. — Cumberland's Spanish Painters.
C H A B A N O N. 5,9
Svo. 12. " De la Musique considered en elle meme, efc dans ses rapports avec la parole, les langues, la poesie, et la theatre," 1788, 2 vols. Svo. The first volume, if we mistake not, was published in 1735. In this, says Dr. Burney, he discovers a refined taste, nice discernment, much me- ditation and knowledge of the subject, and an uncommon spirit of investigation ; and although Dr. Burney's senti- ments are not always in unison with the opinions and rea- soning of M. de Chabanon, yet there are such enlarged views and luminous and elegant observations in analysing the sensations which music excites, in assigning reasons for the pleasures which this art communicates to ears that vibrate true to musical intervals and concordant sounds, that he thinks its perusal will generate reflections on the art, and set the mind of a musician at work, who had never before regarded music but as a mere object of sense. This book was written in the midst of the war of musical opinions between the Gluckists and Piccinists. The author is said to have been not only an excellent judge of instru- mental composition and performance, but among dilettanti ranked high as a performer on the violin. 13. The " Dis- cours" he pronounced on his admission into the academy Jan. 20, 1780, 4to. In 1795 was published from his ma- nuscript, " Tableau de quelques circonstances de ma vie," Svo, containing a faithful but not very pleasing disclosure of his conduct and sentiments. It appears that in his youth he was a devot, as serious as madame Guyon, but that afterwards he went into the other extreme, no uncom- mon transition with his countrymen. !
CHABOT (PETER WALTER), a learned philologer, was born at Sainloup in Poitou, in 1516, and studied the Latin tongue at Sainloup, and afterwards went to Poitiers, at twenty-four years of age, to study the Greek there ; but he was soon recalled from thence, to teach youth in his native place. He taught there six years, after which he went to Paris, and went through a course of philoso- phical studies under Omer and Talon, in the college de Prele. Having spent three years and a half in study, he took his degree of M. A. and professed teaching. The children of several persons of distinction were com- mitted to his care ; and he acquired so much reputation as
1 Diet. Hist. — Dr. Burney, in Rees's Cyclopaedia, who by mistake says Cha- banou died iu 1800. — Month. Rev. See Index.
60 C H A B O T.
a preceptor, that chancellor de PHopital resolved to en- gage him to live at his seat in the country, to teach his grandsons. He got Peter Ramus and John Mercier, the regius professors, to make proposals to him. Chabot ac- cepted them, and lived twelve years in the chancellor's family, viz. five years before the chancellor died, and seven years after. His chief work was a Commentary on Horace, on which he exhausted all the fruits of his studies. He was a man of great regularity in life and manners, and submitted three times, with great patience, to the plunder of his effects during the civil wars. He died of an ad- vanced age, about 1597. He is said to have been once professor in the university of Paris, which Bayle doubts, but Freher seems to confirm it. His commentary on Ho- race was printed 1615, fol. according to Bayle. Dr. Clarke mentions an 8vo, Paris, 1582, and says it is a very rare edition, but this appears to be an abridgment of the larger work. *
CHABRIT (PETER), member of the supreme council of Bouillon, and advocate in the parliament of Paris, died in that capitol in 1785. Born to no fortune, his days were shortened by difficulties and cares. His works give proof of considerable talents, and his manners are said to have attracted universal esteem. His *book entitled " Of the French monarchy and its laws," 1785, 2 vols. 12mo, dis- plays a novelty in the design, and a variety of knowledge in the execution. He is thought to have taken Montes- quieu for his model, whose energy and precision he copies, as well as his dryness. He obtained in 1782 the prize of the French academy for the encouragement of literature. Diderot proposed him to Catherine II. of Russia as a proper person to assist her in her new code of laws, and as one profoundly versed in the subject, but Chabrit died before her imperial majesty returned an answer. ?
CHADERTON (LAURENCE), first master of Emanuel- college, Cambridge, a.nd a benefactor to that house, was born of an ancient family at Chatterton, in Lancashire, in 1546. His parents were papists, and educated him in that religion, sending him afterwards to study law in one of the inns of court, but in the twentieth year of his age, he re- nounced this pursuit, and went to Cambridge, where his talents and industry recommended him to a scholarship in
i Gen. Diet.— Freheri Theatrutn. 2 Diet. Hist.
CHADERTON. 61
Christ's- college. His father, enraged at this, sent him a bag with a groat in it, and told him he might beg, as he meant to disinherit him, and afterwards executed his threat. Young Chaderton, however, persisted in his studies, and in 1567, when B.A., was chosen fellow of his college. In 1578 he commenced B, D. and in the same year preached a sermon at St. Paul's cross, which he afterwards printed, He was then chosen lecturer of St. Clement's church, Cambridge, where he preached for about sixteen years, much followed and admired. Such was his reputation for learning and piety, that when sir Walter Mildmay re- founded Emanuel college, in 1584, he chose Chaderton for the first master, and on his expressing some reluctance, declared that if Chaderton would not be master, the foun- dation should not go on. In the beginning of the reign of James I. he was one of the four divines for the con- ference at Hampton-court, and the same year was chosen one of the . translators of the Bible, and was one of the Cambridge divines who translated from Chronicles to Can- ticles inclusive. In 1612, when the prince elector palatine visited Cambridge, he requested Mr. Chaderton to com- mence D. D. with which he complied ; and having regretted that the founder of Emanuel had provided for only three fellows, he made such application among his friends, as to make provision for twelve fellows, and above forty scholars, and procured some church livings for the college. To- wards the close of his life, when Arminian doctrines be- came prevalent, dreading lest he might have an Arminian successor, he resigned in favour of Dr. Preston, but sur- vived him, and lived also to see Drs. Sancroft and Holds- worth masters. He was a man of acknowledged piety, benevolence, and learning, and lived in great respect for many years after his resignation. He died Nov. 1640, aged about ninety-four, and was buried in St. Andrew's church. He appears to have been related to Dr. William Cha-derton, successively bishop of Chester and Lincoln, of whom some account is given by Peck in the preface to his " Desiderata." Besides the sermon noticed above, Dr. L. Chaderton wrote a treatise on Justification, which Anthony Thysius, professor of divinity at Leyden, pub- lished with other tracts on the same subject; and some of his MSS. are still in the public libraries, particularly in the Brit, Mus, among the Harleian MSS. Moreri says his
62 C H A D E R T O N.
" Life" was published by William Dillingham, at Cam- bridge, in 1700, but this we have not seen.1
CHADUC (LEWIS), an able antiquary, was of a good family of Riom, in Auvergnjg, where he was born, in 1564, and was educated at Bourges for five years, under the ce- lebrated Cujas. On his return to Riom, he was in 1594 made a counsellor of the presidial, and discharged the du- ties of that office with great ability and integrity for the space of forty-four years. During this time he found lei- sure to improve his knowledge of antiquities, and accumu- lated a large library, and many series of medals. In order to gratify his curiosity more completely, he took a journey to Italy, and visited at Rome all the valuable remains of antiquity, receiving great kindness from the literati of that place, and particularly from cardinal Bellarmin. From this tour he brought home many curious MSS. scarce books, medals, antique marbles, and above two thousand gems, which rendered his collection one of the most va- luable then in France. After his return he caused all these gems to be engraven on copper-plate, ranging them under fifteen classes, of which he made as many chapters of explanation, but the bad state of his health during his latter years prevented his publishing this curious work. He also wrote a treatise " De Annulis," which he modestly withheld from the press on hearing that Kirch man, a Ger- man antiquary, had published on the same subject. Not- withstanding his not appearing in print, he was well known to the learned of his time, and held a correspondence with most of them. Savaro, in his Commentary upon Sidonius Apollinaris, and Tristan, in his " Historical Commenta- ries," speak highly of him, nor was he less esteemed by Bignon, Petau, and Sirmond. He died at Riom, Sept. 19, 1638, of a sickness which lasted two years, almost with- out any interruption. His heirs sent all his curiosities to Paris, where they were purchased by the president de Mesmes, who gave them to the duke of Orleans, and from him they passed to the royal^ cabinet. 2
CHAIS (CiiARLES), an eminent protestant divine, was born in 1701, at Geneva, where he probably received the first rudiments of education. The church being chosen for his profession, after passing through the usual proba- tionary exercises, he was admitted into the order of priest-
i Clarke's Lives.— Fuller's Worthies.— Strype's Whitgift, p. 435, 474, and Appendix, p. 155-6.-— Moreri. * Memoirs d« Trevoux, March 1727.
C H A I S. 63
hood. In the ministry his reputation as a preacher and an orator soon became so popular and extensive, that in 1728 he was elected pastor at the Hague, and his conduct in this establishment, while it contributed to his own reputa- tion, redounded no less to the honour of those who had appointed him. Having adorned his ministry by the purity of his manners, the excellence of the discourses which he delivered from the pulpit, and his numerous writings in defence of revealed religion, he died in 1786, at the age of eighty -five, after having punctually discharged his duty as a pastor during the period of fifty-eight years* The unfortunate supported by his consolation, the youth enlightened by his instructions, and the poor succoured by his charity, lamenting the loss which they had sustained by the death of a benefactor and a friend, proved more eloquent attestations of his merit, than any panegyric which might have been pronounced by the most sublime orator. His sermons were distinguished by a per- spicuous style and a pure morality. They seemed to flow not only from a man who practised what he taught, but from one who, acquainted with the inmost recesses of the human heart, could exert his eloquence to win his hearers to the interests of virtue and religion. His portrait, which is prefixed to his translation of the Holy Bible, seems to confirm the relation of his friends, who say that his coun- tenance was interesting and attractive. In his manners he was polite and attentive ; in his address mild and insi- nuating. His literary excellence consisted in a judicious and happy arrangement of his subjects, delivered in a plain and unaffected style. He made no pretensions to origi- nality, but he illustrated the works of other writers, by introducing them to his countrymen in a language that was more familiar to them.
His works were: 1. " La Sainte Bible, avec un com- mentaire literal & des notes choisies, tirees de divers au- teurs Anglois," printed at the Hague. The publication of this work was begun in 1742, and continued till 1777, forming 6 vols. in 4to. The 7th volume was left by the author in MS. and published in 1790, by Dr. Maclaine, who wrote also the preliminary dissertations. This volume completes the historical books of the Old Testament. 2. " Le sens literal de Tecriture sainte traduit de PAnglois de Stack- house," ibid. 1751, 3 vols. 8vo. 3. " Lettres historiques et dogmatiques sur les Jubiles," ibid, 1750/1751, 3 torn,
64- C H A I S.
8vo. 4. " Theologie de Tecriture S. ou la Science da Salut, comprise dans une ample collection de passages du V. & N. Testament," ibid. 1752, 2 torn. 8vo. 5. " Es- sai apologetique sur F Inoculation," ibid. 1755 ; and several volumes of " Sermons." Besides these works, he super- intended the publication of Hainault's History of France, which was published at the Hague in 1747, 8vo. He was besides engaged as a writer in the " Bibliotheque Histo- rique," which was begun at the Hague in 1738, and also contributed some articles in the " Bibliothecjue des sci- ences et beaux arts." l
• CHAISE (FRANCIS DE LA), a Jesuit of uncommon abili- ties, and confessor to Lewis XIV. was born in the chateau of Aix, in 1624, of an ancient but reduced family. He gave early indications of talents when at school, and per- formed his philosophical exercises under father de Vaux, who was afterwards advanced to the highest employments in his order. When he was arrived at a proper age, he was ordained priest ; and became afterwards professor of divi- nity in the province of Lyons, and rector and provincial of a college there. He spent at several seasons a good deal of time in Paris, where his great address, his wit, and love of letters, made him almost universally known : and in 1663, the bishop of Bayeux introduced him to cardinal Mazarine, who shewed him many marks of favour, and offered him his patronage. In 1665, he presented la Chaise to the king, as a person of whose great abilities and merit he was well convinced, and afterwards got him admitted into the council of conscience, which indeed was no less than to make him coadjutor to the confessor, and when the cardinal died, he was made, in 1675, confessor to the king ; and about ten years after, was the principal adviser and director of his marriage with madame de Main- tenon. The king was then arrived at an age when confes- sors have more than an ordinary influence : and Ja Chaise found himself a minister of state, without expecting, and almost before he perceived it. He did business regularly with the king, and immediately saw all the lords and all the prelates at his feet. He had made himself a master in the affairs of the church ; which, by the disputes that often arose between the courts of France and Rome, were be- come affairs of state.
1 From the preceding edit, of this Diet,— Life by Dr. Madame,
CHAISE* 65
Yet, in spite of all his address and the influence which he had gained over the king, he was sometimes out of favour with his master, and in danger of being disgraced. Provoked at the ill success of the affair concerning the electorate of Cologn in 1689, the king shewed his displea- sure to the confessor, by whose counsels he had been in- fluenced. La Chaise excused himself, by laying the blame upon the marquis de Louvois ; but the king told him with some indignation, " that an enterprise suggested by Jesuits had never succeeded ; and that it would be better if they would confine themselves to teaching their scholars, and never presume to meddle in affairs of state." La Chaise was very solicitous to establish an interest with madam e de Maintenon ; but does not appear to have done it effectu- ally, till that favourite found herself unable, by all her intrigues and contrivances, to remove him from the place of confessor. The Jesuit, it has been said, had not reli- gion enough for this devout lady. He loved pleasures, had a taste for magnificence, and was thought too luke- warm in the care of his master's conscience. The jealousy and dislike with which she regarded him were expressed in her letters ; but her unfavourable representations of his temper and character were counteracted by those of the duke of St. Simon, who describes him as mild and mode- rate, humane and modest, possessed of honour and pro- bity, and though much attached to his family, perfectly disinterested. La Chaise died Jan. 1709, and possessed to the very last so great a share of favour and esteem with the king, that his majesty consulted him upon his death- bed about the choice of his successor. *
CHALCIDIUS was a Platonic philosopher, concerning whose history ecclesiastical writers are much divided ; Cave, Hody, Beausobre, and Lardner, have examined all the evidence they could find without coming to a conclu- sion, nor does it appear from his writings whether he was a Christian or a Gentile. It is supposed that he flourished about the year 330. He translated into Latin the former part of the Tima3iis of Plato, with a commentary, which afforded great scope for the speculations of the philoso- phers of the middle ages. This was printed in Gr. & Lat. by Meursius at Ley den, 1617, 4to, and reprinted by Fa-
1 Diet. HUt.
VOL. IX. F
66 CHALCONDYLES.
bricius in the second volume of his edition of the works of Hyppolitus, Hamburgh, 1718, fol.1
"CHALCONDYLES (DEMETRIUS), a native of Athens, of the fifteenth century, and the scholar of Theodore Gaza, was one of those Greeks who about the time of the taking of Constantinople went into the west. At the in- vitation of Lorenzo de Medici, he became professor of the Greek language at Florence in 1479 ; where he had for his rival Angelus Politianus, to whom Laurence had com- mitted the tuition of one of his sons. After the death of Laurence, Chalcondyles was invited to Milan by Lewis Sfortia; which invitation he accepted, either because he was tired of contending with Politian, or because he was hurt with Politian's acknowledged superiority in Latin learning. Such is the usually-received account, which rests only on the authority of Paul Jovius, who was always hostile to the character of Politian ; but Mr. Roscoe in his life of Lorenzo has proved that the story is without foun- dation. At Milan, however, Chalcondyles taught Greek a long time with great reputation ; and did not die before 1510, when there is reason to think he was above 80 years of age. Among the learned Greeks whom pope Nicolas V. sent to Rome to translate the Greek authors into Latin, Chalcondyles was one; from which we may collect, that he probably travelled into the west before the taking of Constantinople in 1453, since Nicolas died in 1455. He published a grammar, of which we shall presently take notice ; and under his inspection and care was first pub- lished at Florence, in 1499, the Greek Lexicon of Suidas. Pierins Valerianus, in his book " De infelicitate literato- rum," says, that Chalcondyles, though a deserving man in his moral as well as literary character, led nevertheless a very unhappy life ; and reckons perpetual banishment from his country among the chief of his misfortunes. Others have mentioned domestic evils that have attended him. The particulars of his life are very imperfectly given. Dr. Hody has probably collected all that now can be found, but he has merely given the notices from various •authors, without attempting a regular narrative. Some •have thought that he was at one time a printer, and that he printed the folio Homer of Florence, which goes by his name, and which was executed in 1488; but this report
i Cave.— Lardner's Works, vol. VIII. — Moreri. — Saxii Onemasticou.
CHALCONDYLES. 67
no doubt arose from the care he took in correcting the press, as the printers' names are given in that rare edition. The " domestic evils" above alluded to have a better foun- dation, as he was unhappy in his wife, whose chastity was suspected, and in his sons : Theophilus, the eldest, who taught Greek at Paris, was assassinated in the streets in a riotous squabble; and two others, Saleucus and Basil, both of promising talents, died young.
The " Erotema, sive Institutiones Grammaticoe," of De- metrius Chalcondyles, is supposed to have been printed at Milan about the end of the fifteenth century. It is a quarto, of great rarity, without date. The second edi- tion of this " Greek Grammar" is that of Paris, 1525, 4to. l
CHALCONDYLES (LAONicus), was also a native of Athens, who flourished in the latter part of the fifteenth century, but nothing farther is known of his history, and his name is perpetuated only by his work " De Origine et' rebus gestis Turcoman," Paris, 1650, fol. containing, in ten books, a history of the Turks from 1298 to J462. He describes the ruin of the empire of Constantinople, and at the end are the " Annales Sultanorum," translated into Latin by -Leunclavius. There is a French translation of it by Blaise de Vignere, 1660, 2 vols. fol. continued by Mezerai and others. It is esteemed a work of consider- able authority. 2
CHALES. See DECHALES.
CHALONER (Sir THOMAS), a gallant soldier, an able statesman, and a very learned writer in the sixteenth cen- tury, was descended from a good family in Wales, and born at London about 1515. His quick parts discovered themselves even in his infancy ; so that his family, to pro- mote that passionate desire of knowledge for whidh he was so early distinguished, sent him to the university of Cam- bridge, where he remained some years, and obtained great credit, as well by the pregnancy of his wit as his constant and diligent application, but especially by his happy turn for Latin poetry, in which he exceeded most of his con.- temporaries. Upon his removing from college he came up to court, and being there recommended to the esteem and friendship of the greatest men about it, he was soon sent abroad into Germany with sir Henry Knevet, as the
1 Hodius de Graecis illustribus. — Fabric. Bibl. Grace. — Roscoe's Lorenzo.— Moreri. — Saxii Onumasticon. * Moreri.— -Diet. Hi&t.
F 2
68 CHALONER.
custom was in the reign of Henry VIII. when young men of great hopes were frequently employed in the service of ambassadors, that they might at once improve and polish themselves by travel, and gain some experience in busi- ness. He was so well received at the court of the emperor Charles V. and so highly pleased with the noble and gene- rous spirit of that great monarch, that he attended him in his journies, and in his wars, particularly in that fatal ex- pedition against Algiers, which cost the lives of so many brave men, and was very near cutting short the thread of Mr. Chaloner's; for in the great tempest by which the emperor's fleet was shattered on the coast of Barbary in 1541, the vessel, on board of which he was, suffered ship- wreck, and Mr. Chaloner having quite wearied and ex- hausted himself by swimming in the dark, at length beat his head against a cable, of which laying hold with his teeth, he was providentially drawn up into the ship to which it belonged. He returned soon after into England, and as a reward of his learning and services, was promoted to the office of first clerk of the council, which he held during the remainder of that reign. In the beginning of the next he came into great favour with the duke of Somerset, whom he attended into Scotland, and was in the battle of Mussleburgh, where he distinguished himself so remarka- bly in the presence of the duke, that he conferred upon him the honour of knighthood Sept. 28, 1547, and after his return to court, the duchess of Somerset presented him with a rich jewel. The first cloud that darkened his patron's fortune, proved fatal to sir Thomas Chaloner's pretensions ; for being a man of a warm and open temper, and conceiving the obligation he was under to the duke as a tie that hindered his making court to his adversary, a stop was put to his preferment, and a vigilant eye kept upon his actions. But his loyalty to his prince, and his exact discharge of his duty, secured him from any farther danger, so that he had leisure to apply himself to his studies, and to cultivate his acquaintance with the worthiest men of that court, particularly sir John Cheke, sir An- thony Coke, sir Thomas Smith, and especially sir William Cecil, with whom he always lived in the strictest intimacy. Under the reign of queen Mary he passed his time, though safely, yet very unpleasantly ; for being a zealous protes- tant, he could not practise any part of that complaisance which procured some of his friends an easier life. He
CHALONER. 69
interested himself deeply in the affair of sir John Cheke, and did him all the service he was able, both before and after his confinement. This had like to have brought sir Thomas himself into trouble, if the civilities he had shewn in king Edward's reign, to some of those who had the greatest power under queen Mary, had not moved them, from a principle of gratitude, to protect him. Indeed, it appears from his writings, that as he was not only sincere, but happy in his friendships, and as he was never wanting to his friends when he had power, he never felt the want of them when he had it not, and, which he esteemed the greatest blessing of his life, he lived to return those kind- nesses to some who had been useful to him in that dan- gerous season. Upon the accession of Elizabeth, he ap- peared at court with his former lustre ; and it must afford us a very high opinion of his character as well as his capa- city, that he was the first ambassador named by that wise princess, and that also to the first prince in Europe, Fer- dinand I. emperor of Germany. .. In this negociation, which was of equal importance and delicacy, he acquitted him- self with great reputation, securing the confidence of the emperor and his ministers, and preventing the popish powers from associating against Elizabeth, before she was well settled on the throne, all which she very gratefully acknowledged. After his return from this em- bassy, he was very soon thought of for another, which was that of Spain ; and though it is certain the queen could not give a stronger proof than this of her confidence in his abilities, yet he was very far from thinking that it was any mark of her kindness, more especially considering the terms upon which she then stood with king Philip, and the usage his predecessor, Chamberlain, had met with at that court. But he knew the queen would be obeyed, and therefore undertook the business with the best grace he could, and embarked for Spain in 1561. On his first arrival he met with some of the treatment which he dreaded. This was the searching of all his trunks and cabinets, of which he complained loudly, as equally injurious to him- self as a gentleman, and to his character as a public mini- ster. His complaints, however, were fruitless ; for at that time there is great probability that his Catholic majesty was not over desirous of having an English minister, and more especially one of sir Thomas's disposition, at his court, and therefore gave him no satisfaction. Upon this
70 CHALONER.
sir Thomas Chaloner wrote home, set out the affront that he had received in the strongest terms possible, and was very earnest to be re-called : but the queen his mistress contented herself with letting him know, that it was the duty of every person who bore a public character, to bear with patience what happened to them, provided no per- sonal indignity was offered to the prince from whom they came. Yet, notwithstanding this seeming indifference on her part, the searching sir Thomas Chaloner's trunks was, many years afterwards, put into that public charge which the queen exhibited against his Catholic majesty, of inju- ries done to her before she intermeddled with the affairs of the Low Countries,' Sir Thomas, however, kept up his spirit, and shewed the Spanish ministers, and even that haughty monarch himself, that the queen could not have entrusted her affairs in better hands than his. There were some persons of very good families in England, who, for the sake of their religion, and no doubt out of regard to the interest to which they had devoted themselves, desired to have leave from queen Elizabeth to reside in the Low Countries or elsewhere, and king Philip and his ministers made it a point to support their suit. Upon this, when a conference was held with sir Thomas Chaloner, he an- swered very roundly, that the thing in itself was of very little importance, since it was no great matter where the persons who made this request spent the remainder of their days ; but that considering the rank and condition of the princes interested in this business, it was neither fit for the one to ask, nor for the other to grant ; and it appeared that he spoke the sense of his court, for queen Elizabeth would never listen to the proposal. In other respects he was not unacceptable to the principal persons of the Spanish court, who could not help admiring his talents as a minister, his bravery as a soldier, with which in former times they were well acquainted, his general learning and admirable skill in Latin poetry, of which he gave them many proofs during his stay in their country. It was here, at a time when, as himself says in the preface, he spent the winter in a stove, and the summer in a barn, that he composed his great work of " The right ordering of the English republic." But though this employment might in some measure alleviate his chagrin, yet he fell into a very grievous fit of sickness, which brought him so low that his physicians despaired of his life. In this condition he
CHALONER. 7r
addressed his sovereign in an elegy after the manner of Ovid, setting forth his earnest desire to quit Spain and return to his native country, before care and sickness forced him upon a longer journey. The queen granted his petition, and having named Dr. Man his successor in his negociation, at length gave him leave to return home from an embassy, in which he had so long sacrificed his private quiet to the public conveniency. He accordingly returned to London in the latter end of 1564, and published the first five books of his large work before-mentioned, which he dedicated to his good friend sir William Cecil ; but the remaining five books were probably not published. in his life-time. He resided in a fair large house of his own building in Clerkenwell-close, over-against the de- cayed nunnery ; and Weever has preserved from oblivion an elegant fancy of his, which was penciled on the frontis- piece of his dwelling*. He died Oct. 7, 1565, and was buried in the cathedral church of St. Paul with great funeral solemnity, sir William Cecil, then principal secretary of state, assisting as chief mourner, who also honoured his memory with some Latin verses, in which he observes, that the most lively imagination, the most solid judgment, the quickest parts, and the most unblemished probity, which are commonly the lot of different men, and when so dispersed frequently create great characters, were, which very rarely happens, all united in sir Thomas Chaloner, justly therefore reputed one of the greatest men of his time. He also encouraged Dr. William Malim, formerly fellow of King's college in Cambridge, and then master of St. Paul's school, to collect and publish a correct edition of our author's poetical works ; which he accordingly did, and addressed it in an epistle from St. Paul's school, dated August 1, 1579, to lord Burleigh. Sir Thomas Chaloner married Ethelreda, daughter of Edward Frodsham of EJton, in the county palatine of Chester, esq. by whom he had issue his only son Thomas, the subject of the next article. This lady, not long after sir Thomas's decease, married
* The lines are these, evidently alluding to the ruins of the nunnery : Casta fides superest, velatsc tecta sorores
Ista relegatae, deseruere licet: Nam venerandus Hymen, hie vota jugalia servat;
Vestalemque focem mente fovere studet.
To him also is ascribed the following line, under a sun-dial, at the entrance into the nunnery :
Non aliter pereo species quam futilis umbra?.
72 CHALONER.
sir * * * Brockett, notwithstanding which the lord Bur- leigh continued his kindness to her, out of respect to that friendship which he had for her first husband. Sir Tho- mas's epitaph was written by one of the best Latin poets of that age, Dr. Walter Haddon, master of requests to queen Elizabeth.
Sir Thomas was the author of several tracts, but all that can now be discovered are, 1. " A little Dictionary for children," mentioned by Bale. 2. " The Office of Ser- vants," translated from the Latin of Gilbert Cognatus, 1543. 3. " Moriae Encomium," translated from Erasmus, and printed in 1 549. 4. " In laudem Henrici Octavi, regis Angliae prsestantissimi, carmen panegyricum." 5. " De Republica Anglorum instauranda, libri decem," Lon- dini, 1579, 4to. 6. " De illustrium quorundam encomiis miscellanea, cum epigrammatibus ac epitaphiis nonnullis.'* This collection of panegyrics, epigrams, and epitaphs, is printed with the book before-mentioned. Besides these there are some of his letters in Haynes's Collection of State Papers. l
CHALONER (SiR THOMAS) the younger, the son of the former by his wife Ethelreda, daughter of Mr. Frod- sham of Elton in Cheshire, was born in 1559, and being very young at the time of his father's decease, and his mother soon after marrying a second husband, he owed his education chiefly to the care and protection of the lord- treasurer Burleigh, by whom he was first put under the care of Dr. Malim, master of St. Paul's school, and after- wards removed to Magdalen college in Oxford, where he closely pursued his studies at the time when his father's poetical works were published ; and as a proof of his vene- ration for his father's friend, and gratitude for the many kindnesses himself had received, he prefixed a dedication to this work to his patron the lord Burleigh, He left the college before he took any degree, but not before he had acquired a great reputation for parts and learning. He had, like his father, a great talent- for poetry, which he wrote with much facility both in English and in Latin, but it does not appear that he published any thing before he left England, which was probably about the year 1580. He visited several parts of Europe, but made the longest stay in Italy, fprmed an acquaintance with the gravest and
» i Bio£. Brit.
CHALONER. ?S
wisest men in that country, who very readily imparted to him their most important discoveries in natural philosophy, which he had studied with much diligence and attention., At his return home, which was some time before 1584, he appeared very much at court, and was esteemed by the greatest men there, on account of his great learning and manners. About this time he married his first wife, the daughter of his father's old friend sir William Fleetwood, recorder of London, by whom he had several children. In the year 1591 he had the honour of knight- hood conferred upon him, as well in regard to his own per- sonal merit" as the great services of his father; and some years after, the first alum mines that were ever known to be in this kingdom, were discovered, by his great sagacity, not far from Gisborough in Yorkshire, where he had an estate*. In the latter end of queen Elizabeth's reign, sir Thomas Chaloner made a journey into Scotland, whether out of curiosity, with a view to preferment, or by the direction of sir Robert Cecil, afterwards earl of Salisbury, who was his great friend, is uncertain; but he soon grew into such credit with king James, that the most consider- able persons in England addressed themselves to him for his favour and recommendation. Amongst the rest, sir Francis Bacon, afterwards chancellor, wrote him a very warm letter, which is still extant, which he sent him by his friend Mr. Matthews, who was also charged with another to the king ; a copy of which was sent to sir Thomas Cha- loner, and Mr. Matthews was directed to deliver him the original, if he would undertake to present it. He accom-
* The time when this discovery was came into the hands of the crown. It
made is not fixed ; but from a com- was then granted to sir Paul Pindar,
parison of circumstances it appears to under the following rent, viz. twelve
have been about 1600, or perhaps thousand five hundred pounds a year
a little earlier. Very considerable to the king, one thousand six hundred
sums of money were spent before the and forty pounds a year to the earl of
project was brought to bear; which Mulgrave, and six hundred pounds a
probably was owing to the difference year to sir William Pennyman. But
of climates, and that different manner notwithstanding these high rents, and
of working, which this rendered neces- that no less than eight hundred person*
sary. But at length, by the bringing were employed in the manufacture at
over privately Lambert Russell, a a time, the farm of the alum mines
Walloon, and two other workmen, produced a vast profit to sir Paul Pin-
smployed in this business at Rochelle dar, who kept up the commodity at
in France, the matter was completed, the rate of twenty-six pounds a ton.
but very little to the profit of the pro- The Long Parliament voted this a
prietors, since upon this it was ad- monopoly, and restored the alum work*
judged to be a mine royal, and so to their original proprietors.
7* C H A L O N E R.
parried the king in his journey to England, and by his learning, conversation, and address, fixed himself so effec- tually in that monarch's good graces, that, as one of the highest marks he could give him of his kindness and con- fidence, he thought fit to intrust him with the care of prince Henry's education, August 17, 1603, not as his tutor, but rather governor or superintendant of his house- hold and education. He enjoyed this honour, under several denominations, during the life-time of that excellent prince, whom he attended in 1605 to Oxford, and upon that occasion was honoured with the degree of master of arts, with many other persons of distinction. It does not appear that he had any grants of lands, or gifts in money, from the crown, in consideration of his services, though sir Adam Newton, who was preceptor to prince Henry, appears to have received at several times the sum of four thousand pounds by way of free gift. Sir Thomas Cha- loner had likewise very great interest with queen Anne, and appears to have been employed by her in her private affairs, and in the settlement of that small estate which she enjoyed. What relation he had to the court after the death of his gracious master prince Henry, does no where appear ; but it is not at all likely that he was laid aside. He married some years before his death his second wife Judith, daughter to Mr. William Biount of London, and by this lady also he had children, to whom he is said to have left a considerable estate, which he had at Steeple- Claydon in the county of Buckingham. He died Novem- ber 17, 1615, and was buried in the parish church of Chis- wick in the county of Middlesex. His eldest son William. Chaloner, esq. was by letters patents dated July 20, in the 18th of James I. in 1620, created a baronet, by the title of William Chaloner of Gisborough in the county of York, esq. which title was extinct in 1681. Few or none, either of our historians or biographers, Anthony Wood excepted, have taken any notice of him, though he was so considerable a benefactor to this nation, by discovering the alum mines, which have produced vast sums of money, and still continue to be wrought with very great profit. Dr. Birch, indeed, in his " Life of Henry Prince of Wales," has given a short account of sir Thomas, and has printed two letters of his, both of which shew him to hare been a man of sagacity and reflection. In the Lam- beth library are also some letters of sir Thomas Chaloner' s^
CHALONER. 75
of which there are transcripts by Dr. Birch in the British Museum. The only publication by sir Thomas Chalouer is entitled " The virtue of Nitre, wherein is declared the sundry cures by the same effected," Lond. 1584, 4to. In this he discovers very considerable knowledge of chemistry and mineralogy. *
CHALONER (EDWARD), second son of the preceding, was born in 1590 at Chiswick in Middlesex, where his father and mother lived and died. He was educated at Oxford, first in Magdalen college, where he completed his degrees in arts in 1610, and next year was chosen fellow of All Souls. Entering into orders, he was made chap- lain to James I. and doctor of divinity, and principal of Al ban -hall. He was reputed a very learned man for his time, an able preacher, and good disputant. "His compo- sitions were much valued by the greatest men then in the church ; and the sermons which he published in his life- time, as also those published after his death, in all thir- teen, were then looked upon as choice pieces, very ser- viceable to the church and commonwealth. He died of the plague at Oxford, July 25, 1625, and was buried in St. Mary's church-yard, where a monument was afterwards erected to his memory. Of his works, six of his " Ser- mons" were published, Lond. 1623, 8vo; one Lond. 1624, 4to ; and six after his death, Oxford, 1629, 4to. He wrote also on " The Authority, Universality, and Visibility of the Church," Lond. 1625, 4to, and 1638, 12mo, and left some MSS. behind him. 2
CHALONER (THOMAS), younger brother to the prece- ding Edward, was also sent to Oxford, and spent some time there at Exeter college, after which he went abroad, and having travelled through France and Italy, returned home a very well- accomplished gentleman, being much distinguished for the vivacity of his wit, and his extensive knowledge in all kind of polite literature : but having contracted a dislike to the royal family, on the score of the alum mines, of which his father had been deprived, he joined the malcontents, and being elected member for Aldborough in the county of York, became an active member of the Long Parliament. He sat as one of the king's judges, and was elected one of the members of the council of state. Upon a prospect of the king's return he
1 Biog. Brit.— Lodge's Illustrations, vol. III.— Ath. Ox. vol. 1,— Birch's Prince Henry. 2 Ath. Ox. vol. I.
76 CHALONER.
printed a paper, entitled " A Speech, containing a Plea for Monarchy," in which he hinted at some limitations and restrictions. He soon after thought fit to retire to Holland, and was excepted out of the Act of Oblivion, and very soon after died at Middleburg in Zealand.1
CHALONER (JAMES), another brother of the pre- ceding, was a commoner of Brazen-nose college in Oxford, and afterwards studied in the inns of court. He was a man of great learning, and distinguished himself as an anti- quary, as also by writing the History of the Isle of Man, a manuscript copy of which was in the valuable museum of Mr. Thoresby, of Leeds, and afterwards bought by Ed- mondson, but it has been also printed at the end of King's " Vale Royal of Cheshire," in 1656. He was likewise a member of the Long Parliament, deep in the transactions of those times, and one of the king's judges; for which, at the restoration, he was excepted from the benefit of his estate, but his life spared ; and this distinction seems to have been owing to his not having, signed the warrant for the king's death, which his brother Thomas did. He mar- ried Ursula, daughter of sir William Fairfax, of Seeton, in the county of York, and dying in 1661, was succeeded in his estate by his only son Edmund. Wood says he poi- soned himself, when a search was making for him. One James Chaloner made collections of arms, &c. in the city of Chester, which, Mr. Gough informs us, came into Vin- cent's hands; but this perhaps is one of the three Chaloners who were herald-painters of that city, and no wise related to sir Thomas Chaloner's family, although in a late history of Chester, 1791, James the herald-painter is said to be the author of the History of the Isle of Man. Mr. Gough also informs us that the author of that history made collec- tions of arms, monuments, &c. in Shrophire, which in 1700 were in the Heralds' office, numbered 2 SO among Vincent's books ; but they were purloined from thence (probably when lord Oxford was collecting his library, and gave any price for MSS.), and are now in the British Mu- seum, No. 2163, Harl. Cat. But it appears from other parts of the British Topography, that even Mr. Gough has not always kept in view the distinction between the two James Chaloners. 2
' Ath. Ox. rol. I.
* Ath. Ox. vol. II. — Biog, Brit— Cough's British Topography,— Gent. Mag, vol. LXVII. p. 1087,
C H A L V E T. 77
CHALVET (MATTHEW DE), in Latin CALVENTIUS, pre- sident of the Inquests of the parliament of Toulouse, was born in May 1523. He was brought to Paris in 1539 by Mr. Lizet his uncle, at that time advocate-general in the parliament of Paris, who kept him six years to his studies under Orontius Fineus, Tusan, Buchanan, and some other learned persons. He went to Toulouse in 1546, to learn the civil law, and lodged in the same house with Turne- bus, Mercerus, and Govea. He travelled into Italy in 1550, in order to pursue his studies, and was Alciat's dis- ciple at Pavia, and Socinus's at Bologna. Being returned to France, he went to Toulouse, and there completed his course of law-studies, and was associated with Roaldes and Bodinus, reading law lectures together in the public schools with reputation. Having taken his doctor's degree in that university, he resolved to go to Paris, in order to make his fortune ; but though this resolution of his was strengthened by some letters he received from Mr. Lizet, yet he chose rather to settle in Toulouse, where he married, in 1552, Jane de Bernuy, daughter of the lord de Palficat, baron of Villeneufve. He was admitted counsellor in the parliament of that city in 1553, afterwards created judge of French poesy, and maintainer of the floral sports. He was ap- pointed president of the inquests by the parliament in 1573. Being of a peaceable temper, he retired to his house in Auvergne, during the first and last furies of the civil wars, in order that he might not be an eye-witness of the confusions which he saw would break out in Toulouse. It was in this retirement he studied and translated Seneca, to administer some consolation to himself during the wild havock that was then making, and to employ -his leisure to advantage. His attachment to his sovereign gained him the particular esteem of Henry IV. who in 1603 appointed him counsellor of state and privy counsellor. The year after, he resigned his dignity of president to Francis Chalvet sieur de Fenouiliet, one of his sons, and retired from business to spend the remainder of his days in peace and among his books. He spent two years in this -retire- ment, with so much satisfaction to himself, that he used frequently to declare to his relations, that he could not say he had lived during the previous years of his life. He died at Toulouse the 20th of June, 1607, being seventy-nine years of age. Several authors have honoured him with eulogiums.
78 C H A L V E T.
His " Translation of Seneca," was published at Paris, 1604, folio, and reprinted there in 1638, with a life of the translator, and some encomiastic verses in French and Latin. Chalvet himself wrote much French and Latin poetry, which was not published. Huet, in his treatise " De claris interpretibus," thinks that his translation of Seneca is too diffuse. 1
CHAMBER, or CHAMBRE (JOHN), a learned phy- sician in -the sixteenth century, noted chiefly for being one of the founders of the college of physicians, London, was educated in Merton college in Oxford, of which he was fellow. He took his degree of master of arts about the year 1502; after which, travelling into Italy, he studied physic at Padua, and there took his degree of doctor in that faculty. After his return, he became physician to Henry VIII. ; and with Thomas Linacre and others, found- ed the college of physicians. Henry VHIth's charter, for the foundation of this college, bears date at Westminster, September 23, 1518, and is said to have been obtained at the request of Dr. John Chamber, Thomas Linacre, Fer- nandez de Victoria, his physicians ; and of Nicolas Halse- well, John Fraunces, and Robert Yaxley, of the same fa- culty : but especially through the intercession and inte- rest of cardinal Wolsey. The first college of this society was in Knight Rider-street, being the gift of Dr. Linacre. Afterwards they removed to Amen -corner, where they bought an house and ground : but the house being burnt down in 1666, the fellows purchased a large piece of ground in Warwick-lane, upon which they erected the present college. The number of fellows at first was but thirty. Charles II. at their request, augmented the num- ber to forty. And James II. in their new charter, was pleased to increase the number to eighty, and not to ex- ceed. To the college belong, at present, a president, four censors, and twelve electors.
Dr. Chamber, being in holy orders, became in 151O canon of Windsor, and in 1524 archdeacon of Bedford, and was likewise prebendary of Comb and Harnham in the cathedral church of Sarum. In 1525 he was elected war- den of Merton college ; and about the same time was made dean of the royal chapel and college adjoining to Westminster- hall, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St.
1 Gen, Diet. — Moreri.
CHAMBER. 79
Stephen. He built to it a very curious cloister, at the expence of 11,000 marks, and gave the canons of that chapel some lands, which he saw, upon the dissolution of the monasteries, taken into the king's hands. Afterwards he was made treasurer of Wells cathedral, beneficed in Somersetshire and Yorkshire, and probably had other dignities and preferments. October 29, 1531, he was in- corporated doctor of physic at Oxford. In May 1543, he resigned his treasurership of Wells ; and his wardenship of Merton college in 1545. He died in 1549. He never published any thing. 1
CHAMBERLAIN (JOHN), esq. was born about the mid- dle of January 1552, and was educated at Cambridge. To the knowledge of the learned languages, which he cul- tivated there, he added that of the French and Italian. He enjoyed great intimacy with the most considerable men in England, with sir Henry Savile, bishop Andrews, sir Thomas Boclley, sir Thomas Edmondes, sir Dudley Carle- ton, and sir Ralph Win wood. In the confidence of the last of these he had a very great share, while that honest and able minister was secretary of state, and the character of the latter appears in a very advantageous light in the letters of Mr. Chamberlain. Having a fortune sufficient to satisfy a quiet and unambitious temper, he enjoyed the satisfactions of private life in the society of his friends till a good old age, dying after the year 1626, and before April 1631, for his name does not appear among those of the commissioners for the repairing of St. Paul's, in the se- cond commission dated the 10th of that month, though he had been appointed a commissioner in the first. His cor- respondence is in the British Museum.2
CHAMBERLAYNE (EDWARD) was descended from an ancient family, and born at Odington in Gloucestershire, 1616. He was educated at Gloucester ; became a com- moner of St. Edmund-hall in Oxford in 1634 ; took both his degrees in arts; and was afterwards appointed rhetoric reader. During the civil war in England, he made the tour of Europe. In 1658 he married the only daughter of Richard Clifford, esq. by whom he had nine children. In 1668 he was chosen F. R. S. and in 1669 attended Charles earl of Carlisle, sent to Stockholm with the order of the garter to the king of Sweden, as his secretary. In
1 Biog. Brit. — Ath. Ox. vol. I.
* Maty 'a Review, vol. V. p. 130. from Dr. Birch's M9S.
80 C H A M B E R L A Y N E.
1670 the degree of LL. D. was conferred on him at Cam- bridge, and two years after he was incorporated in the same at Oxford. He was appointed to be tutor to Henry duke of Grafton, one of the natural sons of Charles II. about 1679 ; and was afterwards appointed to instruct prince George of Denmark in the English tongue. He died at Chelsea in 1703, and was buried in a vault in the church-yard of that parish ; where a monument was soon after erected to his memory, by Walter Harris, M. D. with a Latin inscription, which informs us, among other things, that Dr. Chamberlayne was so desirous of doing service to all, and even to posterity, that he ordered some of the books he had written to be covered with wax, and buried with him ; which have been since destroyed by the damp. The six books vanity or dotage thus consigned to the grave, are, 1. " The present war paralleled; or a brief relation of the five years' civil wars of Henry III. king of England, with the event and issue of that unnatural war, and by what course the kingdom was then settled again ; extracted out of the most authentic historians and records," 1647. It was reprinted in 1660, under this title, "The late war paralleled, or a brief relation," &c. 2. " England's wants; or several proposals probably beneficial for England, offer- ed to the consideration of both houses of parliament,** 1667. 3. " The Converted Presbyterian ; or the church of England justified in some practices," &c. 1668. 4. " Anglix Notitia ; or the Present State of England ; with divers reflections upon the ancient state thereof," 1668. The second part was published in 1671, &c. This work has gone through many editions ; the first twenty of wkich were published by Dr. Edward Chamberlain, and the rest by his son. 5. " An academy or college, wherein young ladies or gentlewomen may, at a very moderate expence, be educated in the true protestant religion, and in all vir- tuous qualities that may adorn that sex, &c." 1671. 6. " A Dialogue between an Englishman and a Dutchman, concerning the last Dutch war,' ' 1672. He translated out of Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, into English, 1. "The rise and fall of count Olivarez the favourite of Spain." 2. " The unparalleled imposture of Mich, de Molina, exe- cuted at Madrid," 1641. 3. "The right and title of the present king of Portugal, don John the IVth." These three translations were printed at London, 1653.1
1 Biog. Brit
CHAMBERLAYNE.
81
CHAMBERLAYNE (JOHN), son to the preceding, was admitted into Trinity college, Oxford, 1685; but it does not appear that he took any degree. He continued his father's " Angliae Notitia," or " Present State," as long as he lived, and it was continued after his death until 1755, which, we believe, is the last edition. He translated, 1. from French and Spanish, " The manner of making Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate, London," 1685, 8vo. 2. From Italian into English, " A Treasure of Health," London, 1686, 8vo, written, by Castor Durant de Gualdo, physician and citizen of Rome. 3. " The Arguments of the books and chapters of the Old and New Testament, with practi- cal observations ; written originally in French, by the rev. Mr. Ostervald, professor of divinity, and one of the mi- nisters of the church at Neufchatel in Swisserland, and by him presented to the society for promoting Christiaa knowledge," Lond. 1716, &c. 3 vols. 8vo. Mr. Chamber- lay ne was a member of that society. 4. " The Lives of the French Philosophers, translated from the French of M. de Fontenelle, republished since in 1721, under the title of " Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris, epitomized, with t[ie lives of the late members of that so- ciety," 8vo. 5. " The Religious Philosopher; or, the right use of contemplating the works of the Creator, &c. translated from the original Dutch of Dr. Nieuwentyt," Lond. 1713, &c. 3 vols. 8vo, reprinted several times since in 8vo, and once in 4to. 6. " The History of the Refor- mation in and about the Low Countries, translated from the Dutch of Gerrard Brandt," Lond. 1721, &c. 4 vols. fol. 7. "The Lord's Prayer in 100 languages, 8vo, which is erroneously attributed by Mr. Whiston the bookseller, in a MS note in his copy of this Dictionary, to a Thomas Cham- berlayne. 8. " Dissertations historical, critical, theolo- gical, and moral, on the most memorable events of the Old and New Testaments ; wherein the spirit of the sacred writings is shewn, their authority confirmed, and the sen- timents of the primitive fathers, as well as the modern, critics, with regard to the difficult passages therein, con- sidered and compared; vol. I. comprising the events related in the Books of Moses : to which are added, chronological tables, fixing the date of each event, and connecting the several dissertations together," 1723, folio. He likewise was elected F. R. S. in 1702, and communicated three pieces, inserted in the Philosophical Transactions ; one, VOL. IX. G
$2 CHAMBERLAYNE.
concerning the effects of thunder and lightning at Samp- ford Courtney in Devonshire, Oct. 7, 1711. 2. An ac- count of the sunk Islands in the Humber, recovered from the sea. 3. Remarks on the Plague at Copenhagen in 171 1. It was said of him, that he understood ten languages ; but it is certain that he was master of the Greek, Latin, French, Dutch, German, Portuguese, and Italian. Though he was well qualified for employment, he had none but that of gentleman usher to George prince of Denmark. After a useful and well-spent life, he died in Oct. 1723. He was then in the commission of the peace for Middlesex and Westminster. He was a very pious and good man, and earnest in promoting the advancement of religion and the interest of true Christianity : for which purpose he kept a large correspondence abroad, in his capacity as secretary to the society for promoting Christian knowledge. By one of bishop Atterbury's letters it appears that he once endea- voured to obtain the state- paper office, but did not suc- ceed. At this time, in 1702, the bishop, somewhat super- ciliously, calls him " one Chamberlayne, secretary to the reformers, and to the committee for propagating religion in the Indies." There are some of tylr. Chamberlayne's letters in bishop Nicolson's " Epistolary Correspondence" lately published. The bishop wrote a preface to Mr. Cham- berlayne's " Lord's Prayer in 100 Languages."1
CHAMBERLEN (Hucn), 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 " Hymenaeus 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 prac- titioners, and received a considerable reward. On his re*
' Bir>£. Brit. — Nichols's Atterbury's Correspondence, vol. I. p. 134.— Nicol- son's Correspondence, vol. II, 409, 413, 427.
CHAMBERLEN. 33
I
turn to London he had great practice, and realized a hand- some 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 pri- soner. 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 pro- duction 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. Chamber- len's library was sold by Fletcher Gyles. l
CHAMBERS, or CHALMERS (DAVID), a Scotch his- torian, priest, and lawyer, was born in the shire of Ross about the year 1530, and educated in the university of Aberdeen. From thence he went to France and Italy, and continued some time, particularly at Bologna, where in 1556 he was a pupil of Marianus Sozenus. After his return to Scotland he was appointed by queen Mary, par- son of Suddy, and chancellor of Ross. He was soon after employed in digesting the laws of Scotland, and was prin- cipally concerned -in publishing the acts of parliament of that kingdom by authority in 1566, which, from the type, were commonly called the " Black Acts." Not long after this he was appointed one of the lords of session, by the title of lord Ormond, and continued attached to the queen until the decline of her power, when he and her other ad- herents were obliged to go abroad. He then went into Spain, and to France, in both which countries he was kindly received by their respective sovereigns, Philip and Charles IX. to which last in 1572 he presented his " Abridg- ment of the History of Scotland, France, and Ireland." He
i Nichols's Atterbury's Correspondence.— Rees's Cyclopaedia. G 2
84 CHAMBERS.
died at Paris in 1552, much regretted by all who knew fiirrL .His works, which were published in one vol. 8vo, Paris, 1579, and which relate to the succession to the crown, the right of Mary to that of England, &c. consist of, 1. " His- toire abreg£e de tous les Roys c'e France, Angleterre, et Escosse." 2. " La recherche des singularitez plus re- markables concernant le estat d'Ecosse." 3. " Discours de la legitime succession des femmes aux possessions de leurs parens, et du government des princesses aux empires et royaumes." Machenzie gives a full analysis of all these, but bishop Nicolson has not so high an opinion of the soundness of the author's principles. Dempster and others highly extol his learning and character. !
CHAMBERS (EPHRAIM), author of the scientific dic- tionary which goes under his name, was born at Kendal in the county of Westmorland, the youngest of three bro- thers. His parents were dissenters of the presbyterian persuasion ; and not quakers, as has been reported ; and their occupation was that of farming. He was sent early to Kendal school, where he received a good classical edu- cation. But his father, who had already placed his eldest son at Oxford, and could not afford the same expence a second time, determined to bring up Ephraim to trade. He was accordingly, at a proper age, sent to London, and spent some time in the shop of a mechanic in that city ; but, having an aversion to the business, he tried another, to which he was equally averse, and was at last put appren- tice to Mr. Senex the globe maker, a business which is connected with literature, and especially with astronomy and geography. It was during Mr. Chambers's residence with this skilful mechanic, that he contracted that taste for science and learning which accompanied him through life, and directed all his pursuits, and in which his master very liberally encouraged him. It was even at this time that he formed the design of his grand work, the " Cyclo- paedia ;" and some of the first articles of it were written be- hind the counter. Having conceived the idea of so great an undertaking, he justly concluded that the execution of it would not consist with the avocations of trade ; and, therefore, he quitted Mr. Senex, and took chambers at Gray's-inn, where he chiefly resided during the rest of his days. The first edition of the " Cyclopaedia," which was
' MachenEie's Scotch writers, vol. III. — Nicolson's Scotch Library,
CHAMBERS. 85
the result of many years intense application, appeared in. 1728, in 2 vols. folio. It was published by subscription, the price being 4/. 4i\ ; and the list of subscribers was very numerous. The dedication, to the king, is dated Oct. 15, 1727. The reputation that Mr. Chambers acquired by his execution of this undertaking, procured him the honour of being elected F. R. S. Nov. 6, 1729. In less than ten years' time, a second edition became necessary ; which accordingly was printed, with corrections and additions, in 1738*. It having been intended, at first, to give a new work instead of a new edition, Mr. Chambers had prepared a considerable part of the copy with that view, and more than twenty sheets were actually printed off. The purpose of the proprietors, according to this plan, was to have published a volume in the winter of 1737, and to have proceeded annually in supplying an additional volume, till the whole was completed. But from this design they were diverted, by the alarm they took at an act then agitated in parliament, in which a clause was contained, obliging the publishers of all improved editions of books to print the improvements separately. The bill, which carried in it the appearance of equity, but which, perhaps, might have created greater obstructions to the cause of literature than a transient view of it could suggest, passed the house of commons, but was rejected in the house of lords. In an advertisement prefixed to the second edition of the " Cyclo- paedia," Mr. Chambers endeavoured to obviate the com- plaints of such readers as might have been led to expect (from a paper of his published some time before) a new- work, instead of a new edition. So favourable was the public reception of the second edition of Chambers's dic- tionary, that a third was called for in the very next year, 1739 ; a fourth two years afterwards, in 1741 ; and a fifth in 1746. This rapid sale of so large and expensive a work, is not easily to be paralleled in the history of literature : and must be considered, not only as a striking testimony
* Some years afterwards, when he jected the teaming solicitation of men
was in France for the recovery of his who were provoking him to a sordid
health, he received an intimation, that retractation of the compliments be
if he would publish a new edition there, had paid to his lawful sovereign. Gent.
and dedicate it to Lewis XV. he would Mag. vol. LV. p. 671, an article from
be liberally rewarded : but these pro- which we have been enabled to correct
posals, says our informant, his British and improve the account formerly
fceart received vviih disdain, and he re- given of Mr. Chambers.
$6 CHAMBERS.
of the general estimation in which it is held, but likewise as a strong proof of its real utility and merit.
Although the " Cyclopaedia" was the grand business of Mr. Chambers's life, and may be regarded as almost the sole foundation of his fame, his attention was not wholly confined to this undertaking. He was concerned in a periodical publication entitled " The Literary Magazine," which was begun in 1735, and continued for a few years, containing a review of books on the analytical plan. In this work he wrote a variety of articles, and particularly a review of Morgan's " Moral Philosopher." He was en- gaged likewise, in conjunction with Mr. John Marty n, F. R. S. and professor of botany at Cambridge, in pre- paring for the press a translation and abridgment of the " Philosophical history and memoirs of the royal academy of sciences at Paris ; or an abridgment of all the papers relating to natural philosophy which have been published by the members of that illustrious society." This under- taking, when completed, was comprised in five volumes, 8vo, which did not appear till 1742, some time after our author's decease, when they were published in the joint names of Mr. Martyn and Mr. Chambers. Mr. Marty n, in a subsequent publication, passed a severe censure upon the share which his fellow-labourer had in the abridgment of the Parisian papers ; which, indeed, he appears to have executed in a very slovenly manner, and to have been un- acquainted with the French terms in natural history. The only work besides, that we find ascribed to Mr. Chambers, is a translation of the " Jesuit's Perspective," from the French ; which was printed in 4to, and has gone through several editions. How indefatigable he was in his literary and scientific collections, is manifest from a circumstance which used to be related by Mr. Airey, who was so well known to many persons by the vivacity of his temper and conversation, and his bold avowal of the principles of in- fidelity. This gentleman, in the very early part of his life, was five years (from 1728 to 1733) amanuensis to Mr. Cham- bers ; and, during that time, copied nearly 20 folio vo- lumes, so large as to comprehend materials, if they had been published, for printing 30 volumes in the same size. Mr. Chambers however acknowledged, that if they were printed, they would neither be sold nor read. His close and unremitting attention to his studies at length impaired his health, and obliged him occasionally to take a lodging
CHAMBERS. 37
at Canonbury-house, Islington. This not having greatly contributed to his recovery, he made an excursion to the south of France, of which he left an account in MS. but did not reap that benefit from the journey which he had himself hoped and his friends wished. Returning to Eng- land in the autumn of 1739, he died at Canonbury-house, and was buried at Westminster ; where the following in- scription, written by himself, is placed on the north side of the cloisters of the abbey :
" Multis pervulgatus,
Faucis notusj Qui vitam, inter lucem et umbram,
Nee eruditus, nee idiota,
Literis deditus, transegit j sed ut homo
Qui humani nihil a se alienum putat.
Vita simul, et laboribus functus,
Hie requiescere voluit, EPHRAIM CHAMBERS, R. S. S. Obiit xv Maii, MDCCXL."
His writings were those of a man who had a sound judg- ment, a clear and strong memory, a ready invention, an easy method of arranging his ideas, and who neither spared time nor trouble. His life was spent rather in the company of books than men, and his pen was oftener employed than his tongue : his style is in general good, and his defini- tions clear and unaffected. In language he applied rather to the judgment than to the ear; and if he deserves to be censured for baldness, it should also be remembered how difficult technical expression is, which must be accommo- dated at once to the scholar and the artificer. In his epis- tolary correspondence, some specimens of which may be seen in the Gentleman's Magazine, he was lively and easy.
His personal character had many peculiarities. What we record with most regret is that his religious sentiments leaned to infidelity, although it has been said in excuse that he avoided propagating his opinions, and certainly did not introduce them in his writings. His mode of life was reserved, for he kept little company, and no table. An intimate friend who called on him one morning, was "asked by him to stay and dine. " And what will you give me, Ephraim ?" said the gentleman, " I dare engage you have nothing for dinner;" to which Mr. Chambers calmly re- plied, " Yes, I have a fritter ; and if you'll stay with me, I'll have two." Yet, though thus inattentive to himself, he
8$ CHAMBERS.
was very^generous to the poor. He was likewise sufficient!/ conscious of his defects in social qualities, and when urged to marry that he might then have a person to look after him, which his health required, he replied somewhat has- tily, " What ! shall 1 make a woman miserable, to contri- bute to my own ease ? For miserable she must be the mo- ment she gives her hand to so unsocial a being as myself."
It has been said in former accounts of Mr. Chambers, that he was not treated in the most liberal manner by the booksellers with whom he was concerned; but this was far from being the case, as he experienced the most gene- rous behaviour from them. It is true that the price of literary labour was not then so high as it has since risen, but he was paid up to the standard of his time. Among his employers Mr. Longman in particular (grand uncle of the present Mr. Longman) used him with great liberality and tenderness; his house was ever open to receive him, and when he was there, every attention was paid to his pecu- liarities ; and during his illness, jellies and other proper refreshments were industriously left for him at those places where it was least likely he should avoid seeing them. When we consider that he was a single man, with few wants and fewer wishes, and that by the assistance of his friends he was enabled to live happily, and die at last possessed of considerable property, he can scarcely be deemed unsuc- cessful. Every deficiency he supplied by ceconomy ; and in pecuniary matters he was remarkably exact. In his last will, made not long before his death, and which it has been erroneously said was never proved, he declared that he owed no debts, excepting to his tailor for his rocquelaure.
We have already mentioned that the " Cyclopaedia" came to a fifth edition in 174*6. After this, whilst a sixth edition was in agitation, the proprietors thought that the work might admit of a supplement, in two additional folio volumes : this supplement, which was published in the joint names of Mr. Scott and Dr. Hill, though containing a number of valuable articles, was far from being uniformly conspicuous for its exact judgment and due selection; a small part only of it being executed by Mr. Scott, and Dr. Hill's task having been discharged with his usual rapidity. Thus the matter rested for some years, when the pro- prietors determined to combine the whole into one work ; and after several ineffectual efforts for accomplishing their plan, the business devolved on the rev. Dr. Abraham Rees,
CHAMBERS. 89
F. R. S. who derived from the favour of the public, and the singularly rapid and extensive sale of the work, a recom- pense, which, independently of every other consideration, he reckoned amply adequate to his labour. This edition began to be published in weekly numbers in 1778, and the publication was continued without a single interruption, till it was completed in the year 1785. The work was dedicated and presented to his majesty. The popularity of the " Cyclopaedia" gave rise to a variety of similar pub- lications ; of many of which it may be truly said, that most of the articles which compose them, are extracted ver- batim, or at least with very few alterations and additions, from this dictionary ; and that they manifest very little labour of research, or of compilation. One defect seems to have been common to them all, with hardly any excep- tion ; and that is, that they do not furnish the reader witli references to the sources from which their materials are derived, and the authorities upon which they depend. This charge was alleged by the editors of the French Encyclo- pedic, with some justice, but at the same time with un- warrantable acrimony, against Mr. Chambers. The editors of that work, while they pass high encomiums on Mr. Chambers's Cyclopaedia, blend with them censures that are unfounded. They say, e. g. that the " merited honours it has received would, perhaps, never have been produced at all, if, before it appeared in English, we had not had in our own tongue those works, from which Chambers has drawn without measure, and without selection, the greatest part* of the articles of which his dictionary is composed. This being the case, what must Frenchmen think of a mere translation of that work? It must excite the indignation of the learned, and give just offence to the public, to whom, under a new and pompous title, nothing is presented but riches of which they have a long time been in possession ?" They add, however, after appropriate and justly deserved commendation ; " We agree with him, that the plan and the design of his dictionary are excellent, and that, if it were executed to a certain degree of perfection, it would alone contribute more to the progress of true science, than one half of the books that are known." However, what their vanity has led them to assert, viz. that the greatest part of Chambers's Cyclopaedia is compiled from French authors, is not true. When Mr. Chambers engaged in his great undertaking, he extended his researches for materials to
30 CHAMBER S.
a variety of publications, foreign and domestic, and in the mathematical articles he was peculiarly indebted to Wol- fius : and it cannot be questioned, that he availed himself no less of the excellent writers of his native land than those of France. As to the imperfections of which they com- plain, they were in a great measure removed, as science advanced, by subsequent improvements; nor could the work, in its last state, be considered as the production of a single person. Nevertheless it cannot be conceived, that any scientific dictionary, comprised in four volumes, should attain to the full standard of human wishes and human imagination. The proprietors, duly sensible of this circumstance, and of the rapid progress of literature and science in the period that has elapsed since the publi- cation of Chambers' s " Cyclopaedia," have undertaken a work on a much larger scale, which, with the encourage- ment already received and further reasonably expected, will, it is hoped, preclude most of the objections urged against the former dictionary. Of this a very considerable proportion has already been published, and the editor bids fair to accomplish what was once thought impossible. The learned Mr. Bowyer once conceived an extensive idea of improving Chambers's Cyclopaedia, on which his corre- spondent Mr. Clarke observes, " Your project of improving and correcting Chambers is a very good one ; but alas ! who can execute it ? You should have as many undertakers as professions ; nay, perhaps as many antiquaries as there are different branches of ancient learning." This, in fact, which appeared to Mr. Clarke so impracticable, has been accomplished under Dr. Rees's management, by combining the talents of, gentlemen who have made the various sciences, arts, &c. their peculiar study. — Of the contem- porary Cyclopaedias, or Encyclopaedias, it may be suffi- cient to notice in this place, that printed at Edinburgh under the title of " Encyclopaedia Britannica," the plan of which is different from that of Dr. Rees, but which has been uncommonly successful, a third edition (in twenty vols. 4to) being now in the press; and one begun by Dr. Brewster on a lesser scale, seems to be edited with care and accuracy.1
1 Biog. Brit. — Nichols's Bowyer. — Gent. Mag. see Index, and vol. LVII. p. 314, 381. — ^Martyn's Dissertations on the JEneids, Appendix to the Preface, itfo. 12. — Rees's Cyclopaedia.
CHAMBERS. $i
CHAMBERS (Sm ROBERT), for several years chief justice of the supreme court of judicature in Bengal, a man of too exalted merit to be passed with a slight notice, was born in 1737, at Newcastle on Tyne, the eldest son of Mr. Robert Chambers, a respectable attorney of that town. He was educated, as well as his brothers, at the school of Mr. Moises in Newcastle, which had also the honour of training his younger friends sir William Scott and the present lord chancellor, whose attachment to him, thus commenced almost in infancy, was continued not only without abatement, but with much increase, to the very end of his life. Mr. Chambers, and the Scotts afterwards, went to Oxford without any other preparation than was afforded by this Newcastle school, but his abilities soon rendered him conspicuous; and in July 1754 he was chosen an exhibitioner of Lincoln college. He afterwards became a fellow of University college, where he was again united with the Scotts, and with other eminent men, among whom it may suffice to mention sir Thomas Plomer and the ]ate sir William Jones. In January 1762, Mr. Chambers was elected by the university Vinerian professor of the laws of England ; a public testimony to his abilities, of the strongest and most unequivocal nature. In 1766, the earl of Lichfield, then chancellor of Oxford, gave him the appointment of principal of New-inn hall ; which office, as it required no residence or attendance, he continued to hold through life. He was now advancing honourably in the practice of the law, and was employed in many re- markable causes, in which his professional abilities were evinced. About the same period, and probably by the same means, he attracted the notice and lasting friendship of the ablest men of the time, many of whose names have since been absorbed in well-earned titles of nobility. Among these may be mentioned, the earls Bathurst, Mans- field, Liverpool, and Rosslyn, lords Ashburton, Thurlow, Auckland, and Alvanley ; to which list we may add the names of Johnson, Burke, Goldsmith, Garrick, and others of that class, whose judgment of mankind was as accurate as their own talents were conspicuous. At Oxford, he en- joyed the intimacy of Thurlow, afterwards bishop of Dur- ham : and his Vinerian lectures were attended by many pupils, who have since done honour to the profession of the law, or to other public situations.
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It is a strong proof that his knowledge and talents were highly estimated at an early period, that in 1768, when he was only thirty-one years old, he was offered the appoint- ment of attorney-general in Jamaica, which, from various considerations, he thought proper to decline. From this time he continued the career of his profession, and of his academical labours, till, in 1773, another situation of pub- lic trust and honour was proposed to him, which he was more easily induced to accept. This was the appointment of second judge to the superior court of judicature in Ben- gal, then first established. On this occasion, the esteem, and regard of the university of Oxford for their Vinerian professor was fully evinced. The convocation allowed three years for the chance of his return, from ill health or any other cause : during which interval his office was held for him, and his lectures read by a deputy.. Immediately before his departure for the East Indies, Mr. Chambers married Miss Wilton, the only daughter of the celebrated statuary of that name, and his mother, Mrs. Chambers, a woman of uncommon virtues, talents, and accomplishments, undertook the voyage with them, and continued an inmate in their family till her death, which happened in 1782. They sailed for India in April, 1774; and the climate not proving unfriendly, the Vinerian professorship was in due time resigned.
The honour of knighthood was not conferred on Mr. Chambers at the time of his appointment, but, within four years after, was sent out to him unsolicited, as an express mark of royal approbation. How well his original nomi- nation, and his subsequent advancement to the office of chief justice were deserved, it is not necessary here to demonstrate. They who acted with him, or were present in any arduous discussions, can bear witness how often his mild but convincing arguments contributed most essen- tially to the public service. Without taking a violent part in any contentions of politics, sir Robert Chambers was steady in pursuing the course which his mature judgment approved ; and, in all the struggles that arose, no oppo- nent ever ventured to insinuate a doubt of his integrity.
The unfortunate loss of the Grosvenor East Indiaman, in 1782, was a calamity in which the private share of sir Robert Chambers was disproportionately heavy. He lost his eldest son, a promising youth, then going to England
CHAMBERS. 93
for education ; and the uncertain circumstances of the case left to imagination the most dreadful materials for conjec- ture. In this, as in every other situation, in proportion to the exigence, the firm and truly Christian piety of sir Robert Chambers afforded a great example ; and he ap- peared a worthy son of that excellent national church which, on some occasions, he had strenuously defended while he was an advocate. On the resignation of sir Elijah Impey, in 1791, sir Robert Chambers was advanced to the office of chief justice : and in 1797 he became president of the Asiatic society. At length, after having remained in India twenty-five years, he also obtained permission to resign, and was succeeded by sir John Anstruther.
He returned to England in 1799, but in a state of health which forbade the expectation of enjoying his friends and his well-earned leisure. In the autumn of 1802 his lungs were so much affected that he was advised to winter in the milder air of France, and was to have proceeded to the southern provinces : but the season was then too far ad- vanced, and he remained at Paris, where, after a partial recovery, he had an attack of a paralytic nature, and died Maj 9, 1803. The body was brought to England, and interred on the 23d of the same month in the Temple church. He had been a bencher of the Middle Temple, and his funeral was attended by a considerable number of that society, and many private friends.
Sir Robert Chambers had that love for books which na- turally arises from a sound education and early habits of study. His collection, therefore, was considerable, and his knowledge proportionally extensive. Even at the close of his life, of which so large a part had been engaged in the practice or administration of the laws, he had not lost his academical accomplishments : and a Latin epitaph on his friend sir William Jones, inscribed by Flaxman on a monument erected at Oxford in 1803, may testify that the cares of the judge had not obliterated the studies of the professor. His collection of Oriental books was particu- larly valuable. That his fortune, after so long continuance in office, was extremely moderate, must be considered as an important topic of his praise, since it was occasioned by his strict integrity and extensive bounty. He received no presents, and he gave abundant charities. On his re- signation, therefore, he could not attempt to decline the
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pension which parliament has now assigned to the judges of India, after a much less period of service. l
CHAMBERS (SiR WILLIAM), an eminent architect, was a native of Sweden, but originally descended from the family of Chalmers in Scotland, barons of Tartas, in France. His grandfather was an opulent merchant, who supplied the armies of Charles XII. with money and military stores, and suffered considerably in his fortune by being obliged to receive the base coin issued by that monarch. This circumstance occasioned his son to reside many years in, Sweden, in order the more effectually to prosecute his pe- cuniary claims. The subject of this article was born in that country, and for what reason is not known, was brought over from Sweden in 1723, at the age of two years, and placed at a school at Rippon, in Yorkshire. His first entrance into life was as a supercargo to the Swedish East India company. In this capacity he made one voyage to China ; and, it appears, lost no opportunity of observing what was curious in that country. At the age of eighteen, however, he quitted this profession, and with it all com- mercial views, to follow the bent of his inclination, which led him to design and architecture.
His first residence in London was in Poland- street, but not, as has been asserted, in the business of a carpenter. At a very early period of his life he was considered as one of the best architects and draughtsmen in Europe; and his abilities introduced him to the patronage of the late John eari of Bute, by whose interest he was appointed to be drawing master to his present majesty, then prince of Wales. The first work of consequence in which he was engaged was the villa of the late earl of Besborougb, at Roehampton, in Surry. He delivered to his lordship his plan as architect, and his estimate as surveyor, and, on being applied to afterward to know whether he would un- dertake to complete the building himself for the money mentioned in the estimate, he readily consented, and, in the execution of his contract, gave and received that sa- tisfaction which seldom fails to result from the happy con- currence of professional taste and skill with the most dis- tinguished character for punctuality and probity. His conduct on this occasion became the most honourable in-
i From a pamphlet privately printed, and entitled " A few Memorials of the late sir Robert Chambers, knt." obligingly communicated to the editor by Mr. Nichols.
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troduction to considerable employment among the nobility and gentry.
As an author, Mr. Chambers very soon distinguished himself. In 1759 he published " Designs for Chinese Buildings," and a " Treatise on Civil Architecture." Soon after his present majesty's accession to the throne, he was employed to lay out and improve the royal gardens at Kevv. The result of his labours appeared in 1765, in a splendid publication in large folio, entitled " Plans, ele- vations, sections, and perspective views of the Gardens and Buildings at Kew in Surry, the seat of her royal high- ness the princess of Wales." In the execution of this magnificent work, the talents of several of our ablest de- signers and engravers are eminently displayed : the archi- tectural designs being drawn by Mr. Chambers, the figures by Cipriani, and the views by Kirby, Thomas Sandby, and Marlow. The engravings were executed by Paul Sandby, Woollett, Major, Grignion, Rooker, and others. The plate^ were, consequently, universally admired, but with respect to the designs, the greater part were considered rather as objects of curiosity than of taste ; and Mr. Chambers him- self, as if apprehensive that the style of decoration he had adopted would be censured, anticipates the objections by an apology for the disadvantages of situation under which he laboured.' " The gardens at Kew," he observes, "are not very large : nor is their situation by any means ad- vantageous, as it is low, and commands no prospects. Originally, the ground was one continued dead flat : the soil was, in general, barren, and without either wood or water. With so many disadvantages, it was not easy to produce any thing even tolerable in gardening; but princely munificence, and an able director, have overcome all dif- ficulties, and converted what was once a desert into an Eden."
Such is the apology of Mr. Chambers ; and it must be acknowledged, perhaps, that these gardens are laid out as well as the nature of the place would permit ; but, witty regard to the ornaments and buildings, it cannot be-suf-i ficiently regretted, that a fondness for the unmeaning faU balas of Turkish and Chinese chequer- work should prevail over a taste for the beautiful models of Grecian and Roman architecture. It is yet more to be regretted that our ar- chitect proved in a subsequent publication that he was not so much constrained by the situation of the place, as im-
96 CHAMBERS.
pelled by an irresistible predilection for the Chinese mode of gardening.
In 177J, Mr. Chambers was announced in the catalogue of the royal academy as a knight of the Swedish order of the Polar Star ; and the following year he published the work just alluded to, and entitled " A Dissertation on Oriental Gardening," 4to. The design of this work is to demonstrate, that notwithstanding the boasted improvement of our national taste in ornamental gardening, we are yet in a state of ignorance and barbarism with respect to this pleasing art, of which the Chinese alone are masters. In. the preface he says, that his account of the Chinese man- ner of gardening was collected from his own observations in China, from conversations with their artists, and remarks transmitted to him at different times by travellers. Be- sides sir William's failure in proving his main point, this publication was very unlucky in another respect. A sketch of it had been published some years before ; but the per- formance itself appearing immediately after the publica- tion of Mr. Mason's " English Garden," it was suggested, very invidiously perhaps, that our author's intention was to depreciate the designs of our English gardeners, in order to divert his sovereign from his plan of improving Rich- mond gardens into the beautiful state in which they now appear. The strange and horrible devices described in this " Dissertation" have been much ridiculed, but are no more than what had been before published by father Attirer, in his account of the emperor of China's gardens, near Pekin, translated by Mr. Spence (under the assumed lite- rary name of sir Harry Beaumont) in 1753, and since re- published in Dodsley's " Fugitive Pieces." In whatever light, however, the " Dissertation" might be considered, it was certainly productive of amusement, and the cause of gardeners and gardening was amply revenged by a publi- cation which appeared next year, and was generally at- tributed to Mr. Mason, entitled " An Heroic Epistle to sir William Chambers, knt. comptroller- general of his majesty's works, and author of a late Dissertation on Ori- ental Gardening; enriched with explanatory notes, chiefly extracted from that elaborate performance." A vein of solemn irony, and delicate yet keen satire, runs through this poetical commentary; and sir William's principles of design in gardening, or rather the Oriental principles, which he had so fondly adopted, are treated with very
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little respect. It was followed in 1774, by ".An Heroic Postscript."
In 1775, sir W. Chambers was appointed to conduct the building of that great national work, Somerset-place. This appointment was worth 2000/. a, year to him, nor was he too liberally rewarded. The terrace behind this magnifi- cent building is a bold effort of conception. His designs for interior arrangements were excellent, but his staircases were his master-pieces, particularly those belonging to the royal and antiquary societies. He did not live, however, to see the whole finished according to the original plan, and all intention of completing what would be truly a national honour, and a great ornament to the metropolis, seems now to be given up. Sir William, however, continued for many years in the highest rank of his profession, and be- sides being architect to the king, he was surveyor-general of his majesty's board of works, treasurer of the royal academy, F. It. S. and F. S. A. and member of the royal academy of arts at Florence, and of the royal academy of architecture at Paris.
Previously to his death, he had sustained a long and severe illness, arising from a derangement of the nervous system, for which many remedies were applied without success. He died at his house in Norton-street, Mary- bone, March 8, 1796, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and was interred on the 18th, in Poets-corner, Westmin- ster-abbey. He left a son and three daughters, who shared his ample fortune, which he acquired with great honour, and enjoyed with hospitality bordering on magnificence. His country retirement for some years had been at Whit^ ton-place, near Hounslow-heath ; in the improvement of which delightful spot he appears to have studied the deco- rations of an Italian villa. His character in private life was very amiable, and the courtesy and affability with which he treated the workmen employed under him en- deared him to them, and made it easy for him to collect a numerous and able body of artificers when any of his works required extraordinary expedition.1
CHAMBHE (FRANCIS ILLHARRART DELA), an ingenious doctor of the Sorbonne, was born Jan. 2, 1698, at Paris. He lived a sedentary life, was appointed canon of St. Be- noit, and died of a malignant fever at Paris, August 16,
i Gentleman's and European Magazine?.
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1753, aged fifty-six. His genius was extremely accurate, with great clearness and precision of ideas ; his temper mild, easy, and sociable. The principal works of this author which have been printed are : a " Treatise on the Truth of Religion," 5 vols. 12mo ; a " Treatise on the Formulary," 4 vols. 1 2mo ; another on the " Bulls against Baius," 2 vols. 12mo ; another on the " Constitution Uni- genitus," 2 vols. 12mo; and a volume in 12mo entitled " La Realite du Jansenisme." It appears from all these treatises, that a good Thomist may accept the bulls against Baius and Jansenius, and the Constitution Unigenitus. The dogma is unfolded with much clearness and solidity; the theological opinions treated in a very methodical manner, and with great precision. His other works are, " Introduction a la Theologie," 1 vol. 1 2mo. " Exposi- tion claire et precise des differens points de doctrine qui ont raport aux matieres de religion," Paris, 1745, 12mo. This contains the substance of twenty-two theological trea- tises ; " Tr. de PEglise," 6 vols. 12mo ; " Tr. de la Grace," 4 vols. 12mo ; " La Logique, la Morale, et la Metaphysique," Paris, 1754, 2 vols. 12mo, &C.1
CHAMBRE (MARIN CUREAU DE LA), a native of Mans, and king's physician in ordinary. He was received into the French academy 1635, afterwards into that of sciences. Chancellor Sequier and cardinal Richelieu gave him public testimonies of their esteem ; and he acquired great repu- tation by his knowledge in physic, philosophy, and the belles-lettres. He died November 29, 1669, at Paris, aged seventy-five, and left many works, the principal oif which are : " Les Characteres des Passions," 4 vols. 4to ; or Amsterdam, 1658, 5 vols. 12mo. " L'Art de connoitre les Hommes." " De la Connoissance des Betes.'* " Con- jectures sur la Digestion." " De 1'Iris." " De la Lu- miere." " Le Systeme de TAme." " Le Debordement du Nil," each 1 vol. 4to. Peter de la Charnbre, his se- cond son, was curate of St. Bartholomew, and one of the forty members of the French academy, and died 1693, leaving several panegyrics, printed separately in 4to. a
CHAMFORT (SEBASTIAN ROCHE NICOLAS), an inge- nious French writer, and one of the victims of the revolu- tion, was born in 1741, in a bailiwick near Clermont, in
1 I/Advocat Diet. Hist.
•• Ibid. — Moreri. — Eloges des Academician*, vol. I.
i
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Auvergnc. 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 annu- ally, 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 de- rived from the patronage of the duke de Choiseul and niadame Helvetius, and therefore was glad to take such employment as the booksellers offered. For them he com- piled 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 disap- pointed. His tragedy of " Mustapha," acted in 1778, was acknowledged to have great beauties ; and Voltaire, who witnessed the performance, said with an exclamation, that he Was reminded of Racine. This was followed by two comedies, fugitive pieces of poetry, letters, epigrams, translations of the Anthology, and of Martial, all which contributed 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 inferior to his " L'Homme de Lettres, discours philosop.hic|iic en vers." At length he gained a
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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 re- signing 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, \yhich, however, he lost at the revolution.
When this great event took place, his intimacy with Mirabeau led him to join the revolutionists, and he assisted Mirabeau in many of his works. He even obtained ad- mission into the Jacobin-club, and in 1791 was appointed secretary, but soon saw through their hypocrisy, detested their sanguinary principles, and left them. After the 10th of August, Roland procured, him to be appointed national librarian, in conjunction with Carra. He saw with horror the excesses of all parties, and when the words " Frater- nity or Death" appeared on all the walls of Paris, he ex- claimed " The fraternity of these fellows is that of Cain and Abel." These, and other sarcasms, made him ob- noxious to Robespierre, and he was apprehended, and en- deavoured to commit suicide. He only, however, mangled himself shockingly on this occasion, and lived till April 1794. He was unquestionably a man of talents, but in his political conduct inconsistent and frivolous, attaching himself to no party, yet maintaining the pernicious prin- ciples from which each party had arisen. In 1795, his friend Ginguene published his works in 4 vols. 8vo, with a Life. They are entirely of the miscellaneous kind, and the fourth volume consists of Maxims and Opinions, which have since been published separately under the title of " Chamfortiana." Many of them are founded on an accu- rate observation of human nature, and of the manners of his age and country. l
CHAMIER (DANIEL), an eminent French protestant divine, was born in Dauphiny, and was long minister at Montelimart, in that province, from whence he removed in 16 12 to Montaubon, to be professor of divinity; and was killed at the siege of that place by a cannon ball in 1621. He was no less distinguished among his party as a
1 Diet. Hist.— Biog. Moderne, — Anecdotes of the Founders of the French Republic,
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statesman than as a divine. No man opposed the artifices employed by the court to distress the protestants with more steadiness and inflexibility. Varillas says it was he who drew up the edict of Nantz. Though politics took up a great part of his time, he acquired a large fund of ex- tensive learning, as appears from his writings. His trea- tise " De cecumenico pontifice," and his " Epistolae Je- suiticae," are commended by Scaliger. Hjs principal work is his " Catholica Panstratia, or the Wars of the Lord," in which the controversy between the protestants and Roman catholics is learnedly handled. It was written at the desire of the synod of the reformed churches in France, to confute Bellarmine The synod of Privas, in 1612, ordered him 2900 livres to defray the charges of the impression of the first three volumes. Though this work makes four large folio volumes, it is not complete : for it wants the controversy concerning the church, intended for a fifth volume, which the author's death prevented him from finishing. This body of controversy was printed at Geneva in 1626, under the care of Turretin, professor of divinity. An abridgment of it was published in the same city in 1643, in one vol. folio, by Frederick Spanheim, the father. His " Corpus Theologicum," and his " Epis- tolae Jesuiticae," were printed in a small folio volume, 1693, but there are Svo editions of the latter, one Genev. 1599, and the " De cecumenico pontifice" was also published in Svo, Genev. 160 1.1
CHAMILLARD (STEPHEN), a learned French antiquary, was born at Bourges, in 1656. In 1673 he entered among the Jesuits, and according to their custom, for some time taught grammar and philosophy, and was a popular preacher for about twenty years. He died at Paris, in 1730. He was deeply versed in the knowledge of anti- quity. He published: 1. A learned edition of " Pru- dentius" for the use of the Dauphin, with an interpreta- tion and notes, Paris, 1687, 4to, in which he was much indebted to Heinsius. It is become scarce. 2. Disserta- tions, in number eighteen, on several medals, gems, -and other monuments of antiquity, Paris, 1711, 4to. Smitten with the desire of possessing something extraordinary, and which was not to be found in the other cabinets of Europe, he strangely imposed on himself in regard to two medals
1 Gen, Diet.— M<m:4ri. — Saxii Onomast.
302 C H A M I L L A R D.
which he imagined to be antiques. The first was a Paea- tiar/us of silver, a medal unknown till his days, and which is so still, for that it was a' perfect counterfeit has heen generally acknowledged since the death of its possessor. The other medal, on which he was the dupe of his own fancy, was an Annia Faustina, Greek, of the true bronze. The princess there bore the name of Aurelia ; whence father Chainillnrd concluded that she was descended from the family of the Antonines. It had been struck, as he pretended, in Syria, by order of a Quirinus or Cirinus, descended, he asserted, from that Quit-in us who is spoken of by St. Luke. Chamillard displayed his erudition on the subject in a studied dissertation; but while he was enjoying his triumph, a dealer in antiques at Rome de- clared himself the father of Annia Faustina, at the same time shewing others of the same manufacture.1
CHAMOUSSET (CHARLES HUMBERT PIARRON DE), was born at Paris in 1717, and destined to supply his father's place in the parliament of that city as a judge, as well as that of his uncle in the same situation. He made choice of the one of them that would give him the least trouble, and afford him the most leisure for his benevolent projects. Medicine was his favourite study. This he practised on the poor only, with such an ardour and activity of mind, that the hours which many persons give to sleep, he be- stowed upon the assistance of the sick. To make himself more useful to them, he had learned to bleed, which ope- ration he performed with all the dexterity of the most ex- perienced surgeon. His disposition to do good appeared so early that when he was a boy, he used to give to the poor the money which other boys spent in general in an idle and unprofitable manner. He was once very much in love with a young lady of great beauty and accomplishment ; but imagining that she would not make him a suitable assistant in his attendance upon the poor, he gave over all thoughts of marriage ; not very wisely, perhaps, sacrificing to the extreme delicacy of one woman only his attachment to that sex, in whose tenderness of disposition, and in whose instinctive quickness of feeling, he would have found tluufc reciprocation of benevolence he was anxious to procure. He was so forcibly struck with the wretched situation of the great hospital of Paris (the Hotel Dieu, as it is callttll,
J Moreri. — Saxii Onornastieon.
C H A M O U S S E T. 103
where the dead, the dying, and the living, are very often crowded together in the same bed (five persons at a time occasionally occupying the same bed), that he wrote a plan of reform for that hospital, which he shewed in ma- nuscript to the famous John James Rousseau, requesting him to correct it for him. " What correction," replied Rousseau, " can a work want, that one cannot read with- out shuddering at the horrid pictures it represents? What is the end of writing if it be not to touch and interest the passions ?" M. de Chamousset was occasionally the author of many benevolent and useful schemes ; such as the esta- blishment of the penny post at Paris ; the bringing good water to that city ; a plan for a house of association, by which any man, for a small sum of money deposited, may be taken care of when he is sick ; and many others ; not forgetting one for the abolition of begging, which is to be found in " Lesvues d'uncitoyen." M. de Chamousset was now so well known as a man of active and useful bene- volence, that M. de Choiseul (when he was in the war department) made him, in 1761, intendant-general of the military hospitals of France, the king, Louis XV. telling him, " that he had never, since he came to the throne, made out an appointment so agreeable to himself;" and added, " I am sure I can never make any one that will be of such service to my troops." The pains he took in this employment were incredible. His attention to his situa- tion was so great, and conducted with such good sense and understanding, that the marshal de Soubise, on visiting one of the great military hospitals at Dusseldorf, under the care of M. de Chamousset, said, " This is the first time I have been so happy as to go round an hospital without hearing any complaints." Another marshal of France told his wife : " Were I sick," said he, " I would be taken to the hospital of which M. de Chamousset has the manage- ment." M. de Chamousset was one day saying to the minister, that he would bring into a court of justice the peculation and rapine of a particular person. " God for- bid you should !" answered the minister, " you run a risk of not dying in your bed." " I had rather," replied he, " die in any manner you please, than live to see my coun- try devoured by scoundrels."
This good man died in 1773, at the age of 56 years only. He is supposed to have hastened his death by not taking sufficient care of himself in his illness, saying
104 C H A M O U S S E T.
always, when pressed to do so, that he had not time to spare for it. He died as he lived, with the sentiments of 3, good Christian, and left a considerable sum of money in charity ; not, however, without providing for his relation* and dependents. *
CHAMPAGNE (PHILIP DE), a celebrated painter, was born at Brussels in 1602. He discovered an inclination to painting from his youth ; and owed but little to masters for the perfection he attained in it, excepting that he learned landscape from Fouquiere. In all other branches of his art nature was his master, and he is said to have followed her very faithfully. At nineteen years of age he set off for Italy, taking France in his way ; but he proceeded, as it happened, no farther than Paris, and lodged in the college pf Laon, where Poussin also dwelt; and these two painters became very good friends. Du Chesne, painter to queen Mary of Medicis, was employed about the paintings in the palace of Luxembourg, and set Poussin and Champagne at work under him. Poussin did a few small pieces in the cieling, and Champagne drew some small pictures in the queen's apartment. Her majesty liked them so well, that du Chesne grew jealous, of him; upon which Champagne, who loved peace, returned to Brussels, with an intent to go through Germany into Italy. He was scarcely got there, when a letter came to him from the abbot of St. Ambrose, who was surveyor of the buildings, to advertise him of du Chesne's death, and to invite him back to France. He accordingly returned thither, and was presently made (director of the queen's paintings, who settled on him a yearly pension of 1200 livres, and allowed him lodgings in the palace of Luxembourg. Being a lover of his business, he went through a great deal of it. There are a vast num- ber of his pieces at Paris, and other parts of the kingdom : and among other places, some of his pictures are to be seen in the chapter-house of Notre-dame at Paris, and in several churches in that city ; without reckoning an in- finity of portraits, which are noted for their likeness, as well as for being finished to a very high degree. The queen also ordered him to paint the vault of the Carmelites, church in the suburbs of St. James, where his crucifix is much esteemed : but the best of his works is thought to be his cieling in the king's apartment at Vincennes, composed on the subject of the peace in 1659. After this hi.1 was
i Last edition of this Dictionary, — Diet. Ilitf.
CHAMPAGNE. 105
made rector of the royal academy of painting, which office he exercised many years.
He had been a long while famous in his profession, when le Brun arrived at Paris from Italy ; and, though le Brun was soon at the head of the art, and made principal painter to the king, he shewed no disgust at the preference that was given to his detriment and loss. There is another in- stance upon record of Champagne's goodness of disposition and integrity. Cardinal Richelieu had offered to make his fortune, if he would quit the queen-mother's service ; but Champagne refused. The cardinal's chief valet-de-cham- bre assured him farther, that whatever he would ask, his eminency would grant him : to which Champagne replied, " if the cardinal could make me a better painter, the only thing I am ambitious of, it would be something ; but since that was impossible, the only honour he begged of his eminency was the continuance of his good graces." It is said, the cardinal was highly affected with the integrity of the painter ; who, though he refused to enter into his ser- vice, did not however refuse to work for him. Among . other things he drew his picture, and it is supposed to be one of the best pieces he ever painted. Sir Robert Strange had his portrait of Colbert, which he thought claimed a rank with the finest of Vandyke's.
Champagne died in 1674, having been much beloved by all that knew him, both as a good painter and a good man. He had a son and two daughters by his wife, du Chesne's daughter, whom he married after her father's death : but two of these children dying before him, and the third retiring to a nunnery (for she was a daughter), he left his substance to John Baptiste de Champagne, his nephew. • John Baptiste was also born at Brussels, and bred up in the profession of painting under his uncle ; whose manner and gusto he always followed, though he spent fifteen months in Italy. He lived in the most friendly and affec- tionate manner with his uncle, and died professor of the academy of painting- at Paris, in 1688, aged 42 years.1
CHAMPEAUX (WILLIAM DE), in Latin CAMPELLENSIS, was a native of the village of Champeaux near Melun, in the province of Brie, and flourished in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. After studying law under Ansehn, dean i)f the cathedral church of Melun, he was ordained arch-
1 D* Piles.— "Ar^enville — De-scamps.— Pillcington. — Strange's Catalogue, p 24,
106
C II A M P E A U X.
deacon of Paris, and appointed to read lectures on logic in the schools of that church. Some time after he retired with some of his pupils to a monastery, in which was St. Victor's chapel, near Paris, and there founded the abbey of regular canons. He continued to teach in that convent, and, as generally supposed, was the first public professor of scholastic divinity. He was made bishop of Chalons in 1113, and died in Jan. 1121. None of his works are ex- tant, for the " Dialogue between a Christian and a Jew,'* printed under his name in the " Bibliotheca Patrum," belongs to Gilbert of Westminster. It is thought that he wrote a book of sentences before Peter Lombard, of wiiich a MS copy was in the library of Notre-dame at Paris. He maintained the doctrine of the Realists, who held that all individual things partake of the one essence of their spe- cies, and are only modified by accident. He had the ap- pellation of the Venerable Doctor. Brucker has given a Jong account of his disputes with Abelard, who was one of his scholars, and who ventured to question the opinions of his master, and leaving him, opened a school of his own at Melun, where the splendour of his superior talents in dispu- tation attracted general admiration, and eclipsed the fame of Champeaux. 1
CHAMPIER (BENEDICT CURTIUS SYMPHORIEN), a most voluminous medical and historical writer, was born in 1472. After stutlying medicine he took his degree of doctor at Pavia in 1515, and in 1520 was made consul at Lyons, an honour which he again enjoyed in 1533, on returning from Italy, whither he had accompanied Anthony duke of Lorrain as his army physician, and by whom he was knighted for his bravery as well as skill. He died in 1539 or 1540, after having founded the college of physicians at Lyons. His works amount to twenty -four volumes, mostly quarto, of which a list may be seen in our authorities, but there is not one of them that can be noticed for excellence either of matter or style. Perhaps the best of his historic cal compilations is, " Les Grandes Chroniques des dues jde Savoie," Paris, 1516, fol.2
CHAMPION (ANTHONY), a miscellaneous writer, was the son of Peter Champion, a gentleman of an ancient and respectable family, seated at St. Columb in Cornwall, who Acquired a considerable fortune as a merchant at Leghorn :
Dupin. — Brucktr.
2 Moreri. — Diet, Hist.— Saxii Onomasticon.
CHAMPION. 107
he was born February 5, 1724-5, at Croydon, in Surrey, and received his first instruction in the Greek and Latin languages at Cheani school in that county ; from whence, in 173y, he was removed to Eton, and in February 1742, became a member -of the university of Oxford ; having been placed at St. Mary-hall, under the care of the rev. Walter Harte, a celebrated tutor, who was selected at a later period by the earl of Chesterfield to finish his son Mr. Stanhope's education in classical literature. After having passed two years at Oxford, he was entered as a student of law at the Middle Temple, where he continued to reside to the day of his decease ; and was a bencher of that society, to which he bequeathed one thousand pounds. He served in two parliaments, having been elected in 1754 for the borough of St. Germain's, and in 1761 for Liskard in Cornwall ; but the same great modesty and re- serve restrained him from displaying the powers of his very discerning arid enlightened mind in that illustrious assem- bly, which prevented him also from communicating to the world his poetical effusions, a collection of which was published in an elegant volume in 1801, by William Henry lord Lyttelton, who prefixed a biographical article, from which the above account is taken. He died Feb. 22, 1 80 1, beloved and "lamented, as his noble friend says, by all who were acquainted with the brightness of his genius, his taste for the finer arts, his various and extensive learning, and the still more valuable qualities of his warm and bene- volent heart. From his " Miscellanies in prose and verse, English and Latin," it is discernible that he was a polite scholar, and had many qualities of a poet, but not unmixed with a love for those disgusting images in which Swift delighted. l
CHAMPION (JOSEPH), a celebrated English penman, was born at Chatham in 1709, and received his education chiefly under Snell, \\ho kept sir John Johnson's free writing-school in Foster-lane, Cheapside, and with whom he served a regular clerkship, lie kept a boarding-school in- St. Paul's church-yard, and taught many of the nobility and gentry privately. He was several years settled in the New academy, in Bed ford -street, where he had a good number of scholars, whom he instructed with great success; and he has not hitherto been excelled in his art. The
I " JMiscellanie$," as above.
108 CHAMPION.
year of his death we cannot precisely ascertain. His first performance appears to have been his " Practical Arith- metic," 1733, 8vo; and in 1747 he published his "Tutor's assistant in teaching arithmetic," in 40 plates, 4to. But his most elaborate and curious performance is his " Com- parative Penmanship," 24 oblong folio plates, 1750. It is engraved by Thorowgood, and is an honour to British pen- manship in general. His " New and complete alphabets," with the Hebrew, Greek, and German characters, in 21 plates oblong folio, engraved by Bickham, came out in 1754, and in 1758 he began to publish his "Living- hands," or several copy-books of the different hands in common use, upwards of 40 plates, 4to. He contributed 47 folio pieces for Bickham's " Universal Penman," in which he displays a beautiful variety of writing, both for use and ornament. His principal pieces besides are " En- grossing hands for young clerks," 1757. " The young Penman's practice," 1760. " The Penman's employment," folio, 1759 — 1762. In 1754 he addressed and presented to the Ro}Tal Society a large body of penmanship, in 20 leaves, folio, which remains in MS. l
CHAMPLAIN (SAMUEL DE), born in Saintonge, was sent by Henry IV. on a voyage to the newly-discovered continent of America, in quality of captain of a man of war. In this expedition he signalized himself not less by his courage than his prudence, and may be considered as the founder of New France. It was he who caused the town of Quebec to be built ; he was the first governor of that colony, and greatly exerted himself in the settling of a new commercial company at Canada. This company, established in 1628, was called the company of associates, and the cardinal de Richelieu put himself at their head. He published : " Voyages de la Nouvelle France, dite Canada," 1632, 4to. He goes back to the first discoveries made by Verazani, coming down to the year 1631. This work is excellent in regard to material points, and the simple and natural manner in which they are exhibited. If he is censurable for any thing, it is for rather too much credulity. The author seems to be a person of sound judgment and strong resolution ; disinterested, and zealous for the religion and interests of his country. He was ex- pelled, with the French, from the colony in 1631, but
l Wassey's Origin *nd Progress of Letters.
C H A M P L A I N. 109
when restored at the peace, he returned again in 1634, and was appointed governor-general. He died about 1635. Lake Champlain in North America had its name from him, He discovered it in 1608, and before his time it was called Corlaer's lake. '
CHANDLER (EDWARD), a learned English prelate, was the son of Samuel Chandler, esq. of the city of Dublin, by his wife Elizabeth, whose maiden name was Calvert. Our prelate was probably born in that city, but received his academical education at Emanuel college, Cambridge, where at the age of twenty-five, he commenced M. A. was ordained priest, and made chaplain to Lloyd, bishop of Winchester, in 1693. He was prebendary of Pipa Minor, April 27, 1697, and afterwards canon of Lichfield and Worcester. He was nominated to the bishopric of Lich- field, Sept. 5, 1717, and consecrated at Lambeth, Nov. 17. From that see he was translated to Durham, Nov. 5, 1730 ; and it was then publicly said that he gave 9000/. for that opulent see, which is scarcely credible. He was, it is uni- versally acknowledged, a prelate of great erudition, having rendered himself justly valued and esteemed as a worthy father of the church of England, and patron of the truth, by his learning and convincing writings, particularly " A Defence of Christianity from the prophecies of the Old Testament, wherein are considered all the objections against this kind of proof advanced in a late Discourse on the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion," Lon- don, 1725, 8vo. This was reckoned a very learned and elaborate work, and compelled Collins to produce in 1727 a second book, particularly in answer to the bishop of Lichfield, which rank our author then held : this was en- titled " The Scheme of Literal Prophecy considered," and this occasioned a second answer from the learned bishop, entitled " A Vindication of the Defence of Christianity, from the prophecies of the Old Testament," published in 1728 : in this he largely and very solidly vindicates the antiquity and authority of the book of Daniel, and the ap- plication of the prophecies there contained to the Messiah, against Collins's objections ; and also fully obviates what he had farther advanced against the antiquity and univer- sality of the tradition and expectation among the Jews concerning the Messiah. His other publications were
1 Moreri. — Diet, Hist.
110 CHANDLER.
eight occasional Sermons, the " Chronological Disserta- tion" prefixed to Arnald's Ecclesiasticus, and a preface to a posthumous work of Dr. Ralph Cudworth's, entitled " A Treatise concerning eternal and immutable MotaKty." He died at his house in Grosvenor-square July 20, 1750, of the stone, several large ones being found in his body, when opened, and was buried at Farnham Royal, in the county of Bucks. Whilst he was bishop of Durham, he gave 50/. towards augmenting Monkwearmouth living, also 20O/. to purchase a house for the minister of Stockton, and 2000/. to be laid out in a purchase for the benefit of cler- gymen's widows in the diocese of Durham ; and it is re- corded, much to his honour, that he never sold any of his patent offices.1
CHANDLER (MARY), an ingenious English lady, sister to the subject of the following article, was born at Malms- bury, in Wiltshire, in 1687, and was carefully trained up in the principles of religion and virtue. As her father's circumstances rendered it necessary that she should apply herself to some business, she was brought up to that of a milliner. But, as she had a propensity to literature, she employed her leisure hours in perusing the best modern writers, and as many as she could of the antient ones, especially the poets, as far as the best translations could assist her. Amongst these, Horace was her particular fa- vourite, and she greatly regretted that she could not read him in the original. She was somewhat deformed in her person, in consequence of an accident in her childhood. This unfavourable circumstance she occasionally made a subject of her own pleasantry, and used to say, " That as her person would not recommend her, she must endeavour to cultivate her mind, to make herself agreeable." This she did with the greatest care, being an admirable cecono- rnist of her time; and it is said, that she had so many ex- cellent qualities in her, that though her first appearance could create no prejudice in her favour, yet it was impos- sible to know her without valuing and esteeming her. She thought the disadvantages of her shape were such, as gave her no reasonable prospect of being happy in the married state, and therefore chose to remain single. She had, however, an honourable offer from a worthy country gen-
1 Shaw's Hist, of Staffordshire. — Hutchinson's Durham. — Lelawi's View of Deistical Writers. — Gent. Mng. vol. LX1II. in which there is an account of hi* family ami descendants. — Whiston's Life. — Nichols's Bowycr,
CHANDLER. m
tleman, of considerable fortune, who, attracted merely by the goodness of her character, took a. journey of an hun- dred miles to visit her at Bath, where she kept a milliner's shop, and where he paid her his addresses. But she de- clined his offers, and is said to have convinced him that such a match could neither be for his happiness, nor her own. She published several poems in an 8vo volume, but that which she wrote upon " Bath" was the best re- ceived. It passed through several editions. She intended to have written a large poem upon the being and attributes of God, and did execute some parts of it, but did not live to finish it. It was irksome to her to be so much confined to her business, and the bustle of Bath was sometimes dis- agreeable to her. She often languished for more leisure and solitude : but the dictates of prudence, and a desire to be useful to her relations, whom she regarded with the warmest affection, brought her to submit to the fatigues of her business for thirty-five years. She did, however, sometimes enjoy occasional retirements to the country seats of some of her acquaintance; and was then extremely delighted with the pleasures of solitude, on which she wrote some beautiful verses, and the contemplation of the works of nature. She was honoured with the esteem and regard of the countess of Hertford, afterwards duchess of Somerset, who several times visited her. Mr. Pope also visited her at Bath, and complimented her for her poem on that place, and the celebrated Mrs. Howe was one of her particular friends. She had the misfortune of a very valetudinary constitution, which was supposed to be, in some measure, owing to the irregularity of her form. By the advice of Dr. Cheyne, she entered on a vegetable diet, and adhered to it even to an extreme. She died en the llth of September, 1745, in the fifty-eighth year of her age, after about two days illness. 1
CHANDLER (SAMUEL), an eminent dissenting minister, was born at Hungerford, in Berkshire, in 1693, where his father was then pastor of a congregation of protestant dis- senters. He early discovered a genius for literature, which was carefully cultivated ; and being placed under proper masters, he made a very uncommon progress in classical learning, and especially in the Greek tongue. As it was intended by his friends to bring him up for the ministry,
1 Gibber's Lives, written by her brother. — Bk>§. Brit.
112 CHANDLER.
he was sent to an academy at Bridgewater ; but was sbort removed to Gloucester, that he might become a pupil to Mr. Samuel Jones, a dissenting minister of great erudition and abilities, who had opened an academy in that city, afterwards transferred to Tewkesbury. Such was the at- tention of that gentleman to the morals of his pupils, and to their progress in literature, and such the skill and dis- cernment with which he directed their studies, that it was a singular advantage to be placed under so able and ac- complished a tutor. Chandler made the proper use of so happy a situation, applying himself to his studies with great assiduity, and ^particularly to critical, biblical, and oriental learning. Among the pupils of Mr. Jones, were Mr. Joseph Butler, afterwards bishop of Durham, and Mr. Thomas Seeker, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, with whom he contracted a friendship that continued to the end of their lives, notwithstanding the different views by which their conduct was afterwards directed, and the dif- ferent situations in which they were placed.
On leaving the academy, he continued his studies at Leyden, and these being finished, he began to preach about July 1714 ; and being soon distinguished by his ta- lents in the pulpit, he was chosen, in 1716, minister of the presbyterian congregation at Peckham, near London, in which statioji he continued some years. Here he en- tered into the matrimonial state, and began to have an in- creasing family, when, by the fatal South-sea scheme of 1720, he unfortunately lost the whole fortune which he had received with his wife. His circumstances being thereby embarrassed, and his income as a minister being inadequate to his expences, he engaged in the trade of a bookseller, and kept a shop in the Poultry, London, in partnership with John Gray, who afterwards became a dis- senting minister, but conformed, and had a living in York- shire. Mr. Chandler continued this trade for about two or three years, still continuing to discharge the duties of the pastoral office. It may not be improper to observe, that in the earlier part of his life Mr. Chandler was subject to frequent and dangerous fevers ; one of which confined him more than three months, and threatened by its effects to disable him for public service. He was, therefore, ad- vised to confine himself to a vegetable diet, which he ac- cordingly did, and adhered to it for twelve years. This produced so happy an alteration in his constitution, that
CHANDLER. m
though he afterwards returned to the usual way of living, he enjoyed an uncommon share of spirits and vigour till seventy.
While Mr. Chandler was minister of the congregation at Peckham, some gentlemen of the several denominations of dissenters in the city, came to a resolution to set up and support a weekly evening lecture at the Old Jewry, for the winter half year. The subjects to be treated in this lec- ture were the evidences of natural and revealed religion, and answers to the principal objections against them. Two of the most eminent young ministers among the dissenters were appointed for the execution of this design, of which Mr. Chandler was one, and Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Lardner, who is so justly celebrated for his learned writings, was another. But after some time this lecture was dropped, and another of the same kind set up, to be preached by one person only, it being judged that it might then be conducted with more consistency of reason and uniformity of design ; and Mr. Chandler was appointed for this ser- vice. In the course of this lecture he preached some sermons on the confirmation which miracles gave to the divine mission of Christ, and the truth of his religion; and vindicated the argument against the objections of Collins, in his " Discourse of the grounds and reasons of the Christian religion." These sermons, by the advice of a friend, he enlarged, and threw into the form of a con- tinued treatise, and published in 1725, 8vo, under the following title : " A Vindication of the Christian Religion, in two parts, I. A discourse on the nature and use of Mi- racles ; II. An answer to a late book, .entitled a Discourse on the grounds and reasons of the Christian religion." Having presented a copy of this book to archbishop Wake, his grace expressed his sense of the value of the favour, in a letter, which is an honourable testimony to Mr. Chandler's merit. It appears from the letter, that the archbishop did not then know that the author was any other than a bookseller ; for he says : " I cannot but own myself to be surprised to see so much good learning and just rea- soning in a person of your profession ; and do think it a pity you should not rather spend your time in writing books than in selling them. But I am glad, since your circum- stances oblige you to the latter, that you do not wholly omit the former." Besides gaining the archbishop's ap-
VQL. JX. I
114 CHANDLER.
probation, Mr. Chandler's performance considerably ad- vanced his reputation in general, and contributed to his receiving an invitation, about 1726, to settle as a minister with the congregation in the Old Jewry, which was one of the most respectable in London. Here he continued, first as assistant., and afterwards as pastor, for the space of forty years, and discharged the duties of the ministerial office with great assiduity and ability, being much esteemed and regarded by his own congregation, and acquiring a dis- tinguished reputation, both as a preacher and a writer.
His writings having procured him a high reputation for learning and abilities, he might easily have obtained the degree of D. D. and offers of that kind were made him ; but for some time he declined the acceptance of a diploma, and, as he once said in the pleasantness of con versation, " be- cause so many blockheads had been made doctors." How- ever, upon making a visit to Scotland, in company with his friend the earl of Finlater and Seafield, he with great pro- priety accepted of this honour, which was conferred upon him without solicitation, and witb every mark of respect, by the two universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. He had likewise the honour of being afterwards elected F. R. and A. SS. the former in 1754. On the death of George II. in 1760, Dr. Chandler published a sermon on that event, in which he compared that prince to king David. This gave rise to a pamphlet, which was printed in 1761, en- titled " The History of the Man after God's own Heart ;" in which the author ventured to exhibit king David as an example of perfidy, lust, and cruelty, fit only to be ranked with a Nero or a Caligula; and complained of the insult that had been offered to the memory of the late British monarch, by Dr. Chandler's parallel between him and the king of Israel. This attack occasioned Dr. Chandler to publish, in the following year, " A Review of the History of the Man after God's own Heart ;" in which the falsehoods and misrepresentations of the historian are exposed and corrected. He also prepared for the press a more elaborate work, which was afterwards published in 2 vols. 8vo, under the following title : " A Critical His- tory of the Life of David ; in which the principal events are ranged in order of time ; the chief objections of Mr. Bayle, and others, against the character of this prince, and the scripture account of him, and the occurrences of
CHANDLER. us
his reign, are examined and refuted ; and the psalms which refer to him explained." As this was the last, it was, likewise, one of the best of Dr. Chandler's productions. The greatest part of this work was printed off at the time of our author's death, which happened May &> 1766, aged seventy-three. During the last year of his life, he was visited with frequent returns of a very painful disorder, which he endured with great resignation and Christian for- titude. He was interred in the burying-ground at Bun- hill-fields, on the 16th of the month; and his funeral was very honourably attended by ministers and other gentle- men. He expressly desired, by his last will, that no de- lineation of his character might be given in his funeral sermon, which was preached by Dr. Amory. He had several children ; two sons and a daughter who died before him, and three daughters who survived him. His library was sold the same year.
Dr. Chandler was a man of very extensive learning and eminent abilities ; his apprehension was quick and his judgment penetrating; he had a warm and vigorous ima- gination ; he was a very instructive and animated preacher; and his talents in the pulpit, and as a writer, procured him very great and general esteem, not only among the dis- senters, but among large numbers of the established church. He was well known and much respected by many persons of the highest rank, and wa* offered considerable preferment in the church ; but he steadily rejected every proposition of that kind. He was principally instrumental in the establishment of the fund for relieving the widows and orphans of poor protestant dissenting ministers : the plan of it was first formed by him ; and it was by his in- terest and application to his friends that many of the sub- scriptions for its support were procured.
Dr. Chandler's other works were: 1. " Reflections on the Conduct of the Modern Deists, in their late writings against Christianity," 1727. 2. " A Vindication of the Antiquity and Authority of Daniel's Prophecies," 1728, 3. A translation of Limborch's " History of the Inquisi- tion," 1731, 2 vols. 4to. To this he prefixed "A large introduction, concerning the rise and progress of perse- cution, and the real and pretended causes of it." This was attacked by Dr. Berriman, in a pamphlet entitled " Brief Remarks on Mr. Chandler's Introduction to the History of the Inquisition." Our author published, in the
I 2
116 CHANDLER.
form of a letter, an answer to these " Remarks," which engaged Dr. Berriman to write " A Review of his Re- marks," to which Mr. Chandler replied in " A second Letter to William Berriman, D. D. &c. in which his Re- view of his Hemarks on the Introduction to the History of the Inquisition is considered, and the Characters of St. Athanasius, and Martyr Laud, are farther stated and sup- ported." This publication was soon followed by another, entitled " A Vindication of a passage of the Right Reve- rend the Lord Bishop of London, in his second Pastoral Letter, against the misrepresentations of William Berri- man, D. D. in^ a Letter to his Lordship ;" and here the controversy ended. 4. " The Dispute better adjusted about the proper time of applying for a repeal of the Cor- poration and Test Acts," &c." 1732, 8vo. 5. " A Para- phrase and critical Commentary on the prophecy of Joel," 1 735, 4to. This was part of a commentary on the whole of the prophets, which he did not live to finish. 6. " The History of Persecution," 1736, 8vo. 7. " A Vindication of the History of the Old Testament," in answer to Mor- gan's " Moral Philosopher," 1741, 8vo. 8. " A Defence of the Prime Ministry and Character of Joseph," 1742, 8vo. 9. " The Witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ re-examined, and their Testimony proved consistent," 1744, 8vo. 10. " The Case of Subscription to explana- tory articles of faith, &c. calmly considered," 1748, 8vo. 11. "A Letter to the rev. Mr. John Guyse, occasioned by his two sermojis on Acts ix. 20. in which the scripture no- tion of preaching Christ is stated and defended, and Mr. Guyse's charges against his brethren are considered and proved groundless," 1729, 8vo. 12. " A second Letter to the rev. Mr. John Guyse, in which Mr. Guyse's latitude and restrictive ways of preaching Christ are proved to be entirely the same ; the notion of preaching Christ is far- ther cleared and defended ; the charge alledged against 'him of defaming his brethren is maintained and supported; and his solemn arts in controversy are considered and ex- posed," 1730, 8vo. 13. "A Letter to the right hon. the Lord Mayor ; occasioned by his lordship's nomination of five persons, disqualified by act of parliament, as fit and proper persons to serve the office^ of Sheriffs, in which the nature and design of the corporation act is impartially con- sidered and stated," 1738, Svo. 14. " An Account of the Conferences held in Nicholas-lane, Feb. 13, 1734, be-
C H A N D L E R. n7
tween two Romish priests and some protestant divines ; with some remarks on a pamphlet entitled The Confer- ences, £c. truly stated/7 1735, 8vo. 15. " Cassiodori Senatoris Complexiones in Epistolas, Acta Apostolorum, & Apocalypsin, e vetustissimis Canonicorum Veronensium membranis nuper erutee. Editio altera ad Florentinam fideliter expressa, opera & cura Samuelis Chandleri," 1722, 12mo. 16. "A short and plain Catechism, being an explanation of the Creed, Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer, by way of question and answer," 1742, 12mo. 17. " Great Britain's Memorial against the Pre- tender and Popery ; to which is annexed, the method of dragooning the French protestants after the revocation of the edict of Nantes," 17i5, 12mo. This piece was thought so seasonable at the time of the rebellion, that it passed through ten editions. 18. " Many occasional sermons." Dr. Chandler also wrote about fifty papers in the weekly publication called " The Old Whig, or Consistent Pro- testant." In 1768, 4 vols. of his sermons were published by Dr. Amory, according to his own directions in his last will ; to which was prefixed a neat engraving of him, from an excellent portrait by Mr. Chamberlin. He also ex- pressed a desire to have some of his principal pieces, re- printed in 4 vols. 8vo ; proposals were accordingly pub- lished for that purpose, but did not meet with sufficient encouragement. But in 1777, another work of our author was published, in 1 vol. 4to, " A Paraphrase and Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians, with doctrinal and practical Observations; together with a critical and practical Commentary on the two Epistles of St. Paul to the Thessalonians." In this there are some valuable criticisms, but all are not entitled to that praise. Dr. Chandler also left in his interleaved Bible, a large number of critical notes, chiefly in Latin, and which were intended to be published ; but the design has not yet been executed, and the four gentlemen to whom they were in- trusted, Dr. Kippis, Mr. Farmer, Dr. Price, and Dr. Sa- vage, are all dead, nor have we heard in what manner they disposed of the copy. '
CHANDLER (RICHARD), D. D.an eminent scholar and antiquary, was born in 1738, and educated at Magdalen- college, Oxford, of which he was some time fellow. He
1 Biog. Brit,— Nichols's Bowyer,— Leland's Deistical Writers,
118 CHANDLER.
took his degree of M. A. Oct. 15, 1761, that of B. D. April 23, 1773, and in December of the same year that of D.D. Having entered into holy orders, he had the college living of Worldlyham, in Hampshire, and was afterwards rector of Tilehurst, in Berkshire. His first appearance in the republic of letters was as editor of the " Oxford Marbles,'' in which capacity he was employed by the university. The " Marmora Oxoniensia" were accordingly printed at the Clarendon press, in a magnificent folio, in 1763, with an elegant Latin preface by the editor, and a very copious index by his friend Mr. Loveday. Mr. Chandler also cor- rected the mistakes of the former editors, and in some of the inscriptions, particularly that of the Parian Chronicle, supplied the lacuna by many ingenious conjectures.
His next publication arose from his connection with the Dilletanti, a society so called, composed originally (in 1734) of some gentlemen who had travelled in Italy, and were desirous of encouraging at home a taste for those ob- jects which had contributed so much to their entertainment abroad. On a report of the state of this society's finances in 1764, it appeared that they were in possession of a con- siderable sum above what their current services required. Various schemes were proposed for applying part of this money to some purpose which might promote taste, and do honour to the society; and after some consideration it was resolved, that persons properly qualified should be sent, with sufficient appointments, to certain parts of the east, to collect information relative to the former state of those countries, and particularly to procure exact descrip- tions of the ruins of such monuments of antiquity as are yet to be seen in those parts. Three persons were accor- dingly selected for this undertaking ; Mr. Chandler was appointed to execute the classical part of the plan; the province of architecture was assigned to Mr. Revett ; and the choice of a proper person for taking views and copying bas-reliefs, fell upon Mr. Pars, a young painter of pro- mising talents.
These gentlemen embarked June 9, 1764, on board a ship bound for Constantinople ; and were landed at the Darda- nelles on the 25th of August. Having visited the Sigean promontory, the ruins of Troas, with tjie islands of Tenedos and Scio? they arrived at Smyrna on the 1 1th of September, and from that city, as their head-quarters, they made seve- ral excursions. In August 1765, they arrived at Athens ;
CHANDLER. 119
where they staid till June 1766"; visiting Marathon, Eleasis, Salamis, Megara, and other places in the neighbourhood. Leaving Athens, they proceeded by the little island of Calauna, to Traszene, Epidaurus, .Argos, and Corinth. Thence they visited Delphi, Patrae, Elis, and Zante ; and on the 31st of August they set sail for Bristol, and arrived in England November 2, following. The result of this tour was published in 1769, under the title of " Ionian Antiquities, published with permission of the society of Dilletanti. By R. Chandler, M. A. F. S. A. N. Revett, architect, and W. Pars, painter.'7 Imp. fol. a volume which while it did honour to the society, amply justified the ex- pectations formed of the talents employed.
In 1774, Mr. (now Dr.) Chandler, published what maybe considered as a valuable supplement to the collections of ancient inscriptions by Gruter, Muratori, &c. under the title of " Inscriptiones antiques, pleraeque nondum editac, in Asia Minore et Graecia, praeseriim Athenis coilectse," fol. Clarendon press. The year following he gratified a much larger proportion of the public by his " Travels in Asia Minor ; or an Account of a Tour made at the expence of the Society of Dilletanti," 4to, a work of considerable learning, and replete with curious information. This was immediately followed by his '< Travels in Greece," 1776, 4to : the principal part of this volume consists of a descrip- tion of Attica and its celebrated capital Athens, which is highly interesting, although, both in this and the preceding volume of travels, there are marks of carelessness and haste which frequently obscure the author's meaning. •
In 1802, he published " The History of Ilium or Troy : including the adjacent Country, and the opposite Coast of the Chersonesus of Thrace."
After his return from his travels, Dr. Chandler, if we are not mistaken, resided chiefly on his living at Tilehurst, where he undertook, at the instance of the late Mr. Loveday of Ca- versham, to collect materials for a life of William Waynflete, founder of Magdalen college. These he had put together in a state fit for the press as early as 1791, but why he did not then publish them does not appear. Before his death he gave the MS. to the late Charles Lambert, esq. F. S. A. of the Inner Temple, with a request that he would arrange the notes and prepare the whole for publication in the best and speediest manner possible. The notes, however, were found in a very confused state, and we suspect that, if the learned author had himself revised the work, he would
120 CHANDLER.
have discovered other imperfections. It was, however, published in an elegant volume in 1811, 8vo, and may be considered as a very valuable addition to collegiate history. Dr. Chandler died at Tilehurst-house, Feb. 9, 1810, leav- ing by his wife Miss Dorrien, whom he married in 1785, a son and daughter. l
CHANTEREAU-LE-FEBURE, orLE FEVRE (Louis), a learned French antiquary, was born at Paris, Sept. 12, 1538, and became highly distinguished for general erudi- tion, and especially for his knowledge of civil and canon law, history, politics, and the belles lettres. Nor was he less admired for the excellence of his private character. Louis XIII. made him intendant of the fortifications of the gabelles, or excise on salt, &c. in the principality of Sedan, and lastly intendant of the finances of the duchies of Bar and Lorrain. He compiled, from original records, " His- torical Memoirs of the Houses of Lorrain and Bar ;" the first part of which only was published at Paris, 1642, folio. He also published other works on detached parts of French history ; and after his death, his son published his " Trea- tise on Fiefs," 1662, folio, in which he maintains an opi- nion, which has been thought to be erroneous, viz. that hereditary fiefs commenced only after the time of Hugh Capet. He died at Paris in 1658. 2
CHANTREAU (PETER NICHOLAS), an ingenious French writer, the son of an advocate, was born at Paris in 1741, and became teacher of the French language in a military school in Spain, where he published a French grammar, entitled " Arte de Hablar bien Frances," Madrid, 4ta, which went through six editions. On his return to France he was appointed professor of history in the central school of Gers, and afterwards in the imperial school at Fountain- bleau. He died at Auch, Oct. 15, 1808. His works were, 3. " Dictionnaire des mots et usages introduits par la reso- lution," 8vo, a curious medley of cant phrases, which he published under the name of M. L'Epithete of Politicopolis, 2. "Voyage dans les trois royaumes d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse, et d'Irlande :" this journey he took in 1788 and 1789, and the work appeared in 1792, 3 vols. 8vo. 3. " Lettres ecrites de Barcelonne a un zelateur de la liberte" qui voyage en Allemande," 1792, 8vo. 4. " Voyage philosophique, politique, et litteraire, fait en Russie pendant les annees
1 Gent. Mag. 1810 Month, Rev. vols, XLII. LII. LIV. and LV.— Nichols's
Bowyer. * Moreri. — Diet. Hist:.
CHANTREAU. 121
1788 and 1789, &c." 2 vols. 8vo, replete with curious and original information. 5. " Essai didactique sur la forme que doivent avoir les livres elementaires faits pour les ecoles nationales," 1795, 8vo. 6. " Tables chronolo- giques," a translation of Blair's Chronology, 1797, 4to. 7. The Index to Beau marc hais's edition of Voltaire's works, which forms the 71st and 72d volume of that edition. 8. " Rudimens de i'histoire," a work of very considerable merit. 9. " La Science de I'histoire," 1803, et seqq. 4 vols. 4to. This work is peculiarly happy in the plan, and judi- cious and accurate in its execution. 10. " Histoire de France abregee ct chronologique depuis les Gaulois et les Francs jusqu'en 1808,*' 2 vols. 8vo. *
CHAPELAIN (JOHN), a celebrated French poet, was born at Paris Dec. 4, 1595, and having been educated under Frederic Morel, Nicholas Bourbon, and other emi- nent masters, became tutor to the children of the marquis de la Trousse, grand marshal of France, and afterwards steward to this nobleman. During an abode of seventeen years in this family, he translated " Guzman d'Alfarache," from the Spanish, and directed his particular attention to poetry. He wrote odes, sonnets, the last words of cardinal Richelieu, and other pieces of poetry ; and at length dis- tinguished himself by his heroic poem called " La Pucelle," or " France delivree." Chapelain was thought to have succeeded to the reputation of Malherbe, and after his death was reckoned the prince of the French poets. Gas- sendi, who was his friend, has considered him in this light; and says, that "the French muses have found some com- fort and reparation for the loss they have sustained by the death of Malherbe, in the person of Chapelain, who has now taken the place of the defunct, and is become the arbiter of the French language and poetry." Sorbiere has not scrupled to say, that Chapelain " reached even Virgil himself in heroic poetry ;" and adds, that " he was a man of great erudition as well as modesty." He possessed this glorious reputation for thirty years ; and, perhaps, might have possessed it now, if he had suppressed the " Pucelle :" but the publication of this poem in 1656, ruined his poetical character, in spite of all attempts of his friends to support it. He had employed a great many years about it; the expectation of the public was raised to the utmost; and, as is usual in such cases, disappointed. The conse-
J Diet. Hist.
122 C H A P E L A I N.
quence of this was, that be was afterwards set as much too low in his poetical capacity as perhaps before he was too high.
Chapelain died at Paris, Feb. 22, 1674, aged seventy- nine. He was of the king's counsellors ; very rich, and had some amiable qualities, but was covetous. " Pelisson and I," says Menage, " had been at variance a long time with Chapelain ; but, in a fit of humility, he called upon me and insisted that we should go and offer a reconciliation to him, for that it was his intention, " as much as possible, to live in peace with all men." We went, and I protest I saw the very same billets of wood in the chimney which I had observed there twelve years before. He had 50,OOO crowns in ready cash by him ; and his supreme delight was to have his strong box opened and the bags taken out, that he might contemplate his treasure. In this manner were his bags about him when he died ; which gave occa- sion to a certain academician to say, " there is our friend Chapelain just dead, like a miller among his bags." He had no occasion therefore to accept of cardinal Richelieu's offer. Being at the height of his reputation, Richelieu, who was fond of being thought a wit as well as a statesman, and was going to publish something which he would have pass for an excellent performance, could not devise a bet- ter expedient than prefixing Chapelain's name to it. " Chapelain," says he, " lend me your name on this oc- casion, and I will lend you my purse on any other." The learned Huet endeavoured to vindicate his great poem, but could not succeed against the repeated attacks of Boileau, Racine, and Fontaine. Chapelain, however, was a man of learning, and a good critic, and he has found an able defender in the abbe cT Olivet, in his History of the French Academy, It was at the desire of Malherbe and Vaugelas that Chapelain wrote the famous preface to the " Adone" of Marino; and it was he who corrected the very first poetical composition of Racine, his " Ode to the Queen," who introduced Racine to Colbert, and procured him a pension, for which Racine repaid him by joining the wits in decrying his poem.1
CHAPELLE (ARMAND DE LA), minister of the Walloon church at the Hague, died in that city in 1746. He was reputed a man of great piety and learning, and deserves
' J Mereri. — Diet. Hist. — Biographia Gallica.
CHAPELLE. 123
notice here as the editor of the " Bibliotheque Anglaise," a species of Review, which he carried on from 1716 to 1727, making 15 vols. 12mo, and of the " Bibliotheque raisonnee des Ouvrages des Savans," from July 1728 to June 1735, 14 vols. In these he had the occasional as- sistance of other literary men, and they contain many va- luable pieces of criticism. He also translated Ditton on the " Resurrection," and a treatise on the " Necessity of public Worship," the latter in favour of the protestants of Languedoc. V
CHAPELLE (CLAUDE EMANUEL LULLIER), a celebrated French poet, called Chapelle from the place of his nativity, a village between Paris and St. Denys, was born in 1621. He was the natural son of Francis Lullier, a man of con- siderable rank and fortune, who was extremely tender of him, and gave him a liberal education. He had the cele- brated Gassendi for his master in philosophy ; but he dis- tinguished himself chiefly by his poetical attempts. There was an uncommon ease in all he wrote ; and he was ex- cellent in composing with double rhymes. We are obliged to him for that ingenious work in verse and prose, called " Voyage de Bachaumont," which he wrote in conjunc- tion with Bachaumont. Many of the most shining parts in Moliere's comedies it is but reasonable to ascribe to him : for Moliere consulted him upon all occasions, and paid the highest deference to his taste and judgment. He was intimately acquainted with all the wits of his time, and with many persons of quality, who used to seek his com- pany : and we learn from one of his own letters to the marquis of Chilly, that he had no small share in the favour of the king, and enjoyed, probably from court, an annuity of 8000 livres. He is said to have been a very pleasant, but withal a very voluptuous man. Among other stories in the Biographia Gallica, we are told that Boileau met him one day ; and as he had a great value for Chapelle, ventured to tell him, in a very friendly manner, that " his inordinate love of the bottle would certainly hurt him." Chapelle seemed very seriously affected ; but this meeting happening unluckily by a tavern, " Come," says he, " let us turn in here, and L promise to attend with patience to all that you shall say." Boileau led the way, in hopes of converting him, but both preacher and hearer became
l Diet. Hist.
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so intoxicated that they were obliged to be sent home in separate coaches. Chapelle died in 1686, and his poetical works and " Voyage" were reprinted with additions at the Hague in 1732, and again in 1755, 2 vols. 12mo. 1
CHAPELLE (JOHN DE LA), the descendant of a noble family, was born at Bourges in 1655, and came to Paris in his youth, wliere he was trained up to business, and ob- tained the place of receiver-general of the finances at Rochelle. During this employment he found leisure to indulge his taste for polite literature, and the prince of Conti having heard of his merits made -him one of his se- cretaries in 1687. The prince also sent him into Svvisser- land on political business, and the king being afterwards informed of his talents, employed him in the same capa- city. La Chapelle disclosed his knowledge of the politics of Europe in a work printed at Paris in 1703, under the disguise of Basil, in 8 vols. 12mo, entitled " Lettres d'un Suisse a un Francois," explaining the relative interest of the powers at war. He wrote also " Memoires historiques sur la Vie d'Armand de Bourbon, prince de Conti," 16$9, 4to, and, if we are not mistaken, translated and published in English in 1711, 8vo. He also wrote poetry, and some dramas, in which last he was an unsuccessful imitator of Racine. In 168S he was admitted a member of the French academy. He died at Paris in 1723.2
CHAPMAN (GEORGE), a dramatic poet, and translator of Homer, was born in 1557, as generally supposed, in Kent, but we have no account at what school he was edu- cated : he was, however, sent to the university when he was about seventeen years of age, and spent about two years at Trinity college, Oxford, where he paid little at- tention to logic or philosophy, but was eminently distin- guished for his knowledge in the Greek and Roman clas- sics. About the year 1576 he quitted the university, and repaired to the metropolis, where he commenced a friend- ship with Shakspeare, Spenser, Daniel, Marlow, and other celebrated wits. In 1595 he published, in 4to, a poem entitled " Ovid's Banquet of Sauce, a coronet for his mistress philosophy, and his amorous zodiac :" to which he added, a translation of a poem into English, called " The amorous contention of Phillis and Flora," written in Latin by a friar in 1400. The following year he published
1 Moreri,— Diet. Hist.— Biographia Gallica, 2 Moreri.— Diet. Hist.
CHAPMAN. 125
in 4to, " The Shield of Achilles,'7 from Homer; and soon after, in the same year, a translation of seven books of the Iliad, in 4to. In 1600, fifteen books were printed in a thin folio ; and lastly, without date, an entire translation of the Iliad, in folio, under the following title : " The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets. Never before in any language truly translated. With a comment upon some of his chief places : done according to the Greek by George Chapman. At London, printed by Nathaniel Butter."
In 1598 he produced a comedy entitled " The Blind Beggar of Alexandria, most pleasantly discoursing his va- rious humours in disguised shapes, full of conceit and pleasure," 4to, but not divided either into acts or scenes, and dedicated to the earl of Nottingham, lord high ad- miral. The following year he published another comedy in 4to, called " Humorous Day's Mirth,'' which was acted by the earl of Nottingham's servants. He is said to have been much countenanced and encouraged by sir Thomas Walsingham, who, as Wood informs us, had a son of the same name, " whom Chapman loved from his birth." Henry, prince of Wales, and Carr, earl of Somerset, also patronized him; but the former dying, and the latter be- ing disgraced, Chapman's hopes of preferment by their means were frustrated. His interest at court was likewise probably lessened by the umbrage taken by king James at some reflections cast on the Scotch nation in a comedy _ called " Eastward Hoe," written by Chapman, in con- junction with Ben Jonson and John Marston. He is sup- posed, however, to have had some place at court, either under king James, or his queen Anne.
In 1605 he published a comedy in 4to, called "All Fools," the plot of which is founded on Terence's Heauton- tiniorumenos, and which was performed at Black Friars. Jacob says that " it was accounted an excellent play in those days, and was acted before king James." The fol- lowing year he produced two other comedies ; one called " The Gentleman Usher," and the other " Monsieur D'Olive." They were both printed in quarto : it is un- certain whether the first was ever performed ; but the latter was often acted with success at Black Friars. In 1607 he published in 4to, " Bussy d'Amboise, a Tragedy," which was often exhibited at St. Paul's in the reign of James I. a»d after the Restoration was revived with success. The
126 C H A P M A N.
same year he published in 4to, " Caesar and Pompey, a lloman Tragedy, declaring their wars, out of whose events is evicted this proposition, Only a just man is a free man." The following year he produced '* The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles, duke of Biron, marshal of France," 4to, performed at Black Friars, in two parts. In 1611 he published in 4to, " May-day," which is styled a witty comedy, and which was acted at Black Friars ; and in 1612 another comedy, called " The Widow's Tears ;" acted both at Black and White Friars. It has been observed, that " some parts of this play are very fine, and the inci- dents affecting and interesting :" but the catastrophe is thought exceptionable.
About this time he published an " Epicede, or Funeral Song on prince Henry ;" and when the societies of Lin- coln's Inn and the Middle Temple, in 1613, had resolved to exhibit a splendid masque at Whitehall, in honour of the nuptials of the Palsgrave and the princess Elizabeth, Chapman was employed for the poetry, and Inigo Jones for the machinery. The same year he published, in 4to, a tragedy entitled " Bussy d'Amboise his Revenge," not acted with much applause. In 1714 he published in 4tq, "Andromeda liberata; or, the Nuptials of Perseus and Andromeda," dedicated, in a poetical epistle, to Robert, earl of Somerset, and Frances, his countess. The same year he printed his version of the " Odyssey," which he also dedicated to the earl of Somerset. This was soon fol- lowed, by the " Batrachomuomachy," and the " Hymns," and "Epigrams." In 1616 he published in 12mo, a trans- lation of " Musceus," with a dedication to Inigo Jones, in which he is addressed as the most skilful and ingenious architect that England had yet seen. Mr. Warton re- marks, that " there was an intimate friendship between our author and this celebrated restorer of Grecian palaces.'* Chapman also published a paraphrastic translation, in- verse, of Petrarch's " Seven Penitential Psalms," with " A xHymn to Christ upon the Cross;" "The Tragedy of Al- >phonsus, emperor of Germany ;" " Revenge for Honour," a tragedy ; and some attribute to him the " Two Wise Men," a comedy. He is also supposed to have translated " Hesiod," but it does not appear to have been printed.
He died in 1634, at the age of seventy-seven, and was buried on the south side of St. Giles's church in the Fields. His friend Inigo Jones planned and erected a monument
C H A P M A N.' 127
to his memory, which was unfortunately destroyed with the old church. He appears to have been much respected in his own time; and, indeed, the man who communicated Homer to his countrymen, even in such language as that of Chapman, might justly be considered as their benefac- tor ; and in estimating the merit of his version, candid allowance ought to be made for the age in which he lived, and the then unimproved state of our language. Of this translation Mr. Warton says, Chapman " is sometimes paraphrastic and redundant, but more frequently retrenches or impoverishes what he could not feel and express. In the mean time he labours with the inconvenience of an aukward, inharmonious, and unheroic measure, imposed by custom, but disgustful to modern ears. Yet he is not always without strength or spirit. He has enriched our language with many compound epithets, much in the manner of Homer, such as the silver-footed Thetis, the •stivtr-ttorntd Juno, the triple-feathered helme, the high- walled Thebes, t\\efair~hairedr boy, the silver -flowing floods, the hugely-peopled towns, the Grecians navy-bound, the strong-winged lance, and many more which might be col- lected. Dryden reports, that Waller never could read Chapman's Homer without a degree of transport. Pope is of opinion that Chapman covers his defects £ by a daring fiery spirit, that animates his translation, which is some- thing like what one might imagine Homer himself to have written before he arrived to years of discretion.' But his fire is too frequently darkened by that sort of fustian which now disfigured the face of our tragedy.'* Mr. Warton's copy once belonged to Pope ; in which he has noted many of Chapman's absolute interpolations, extending sometimes to the length of a paragraph of twelve lines. A diligent observer will easily discern that Pope was no careless reader of his rude predecessor. Pope complains that Chapman took advantage of an unmeasureable length of line : but in reality, Pope's lines are longer than Chap- man's. If Chapman affected the reputation of rendering line for line, the specious expedient of chusing a 'pro- tracted measure which concatenated two lines together, undoubtedly favoured his usual propensity to periphrasis. — As a dramatic writer, he had considerable reputation among his contemporaries, and was justly esteemed for the excellence of his moral character. Wood says that he was
128 CHAPMAN.
a person of most reverend aspect, religious and temperate, qualities rarely meeting in a poet." *
CHAPMAN (GEORGE), LL. D. a learned schoolmaster in Scotland, was born at Alvah in the county of Banff, in August 1723, and educated at the grammar-school of Banff, whence in 1737 he removed to King's college, Aberdeen. During the academical vacation, which lasts from April to October, he engaged as a private tutor in the family of a gentleman, by whose interest he was appointed master of the school of Alvah, and being indulged with a substi- tute, he continued his academical course until April 1741, when he took the degree of master of arts. Feeling now a strong propensity to tuition, in order to qualify himself for conducting some respectable establishment of that kind, and in a situation of great publicity, he became assistant teacher in the grammar-school of Dalkeith. On the re- commendation of his friend and patron Dr. George Stewart, professor of humanity in the university of Edinburgh, he ,was in February 1747 admitted joint master of the gram- mar-school of Dumfries with Mr. Robert Trotter, on whose resignation from age and infirmity, three years after, Mr. Chapman was promoted to be rector or head-master ; and in this laborious office he continued with increasing reputa- tion and success, until Martinmas 1774. A few years after he had formed and experienced the good effects of the plan of education which he adopted in this seminary, he committed it to writing, and occasionally submitted it, in the various stages of progression, to the inspection and ob- servations of his particular friends, of whose animadversions he availed himself by subjecting them to the test of atten- tive experiment. In the autumn of 1774, desirous of some relief from his accumulated labours, the consequence of his extensive fame as a teacher, he resigned his office in the school, and confined himself to the instruction of a few pupils who boarded in his house, until conceiving that this limited kind of academy, which parents were often solicit- ing him to enlarge, might affect the interest of his succes- sor in the school, he removed, in 1801, to Inchdrewer near Banff, a farm that had long been occupied by his father, and to the lease of which he had succeeded on his death.
1 Biog. Brit. — Wartoa's Hist, of Poetry, see Index.— Biog. Dram. — Gibber's Lives. — Ellis's Specimens. — Malone's Dryden, vol. III. p. 55. IV. p. 287. — ..Nichols's Miscellany Poemy.
CHAPMAN. 129
On this he erected a handsome dwelling-house, capable of accommodating a considerable number of boarders for tuition, an employment he could never relinquish, and for which few men were better qualified. He afterwards re- ceived the degree of LL. D. from the Marischal college of Aberdeen, and about the same time removed to Edinburgh to superintend a printing-house for the benefit of a rela- tion, and occasionally gave his assistance to the students of the university. He died at his house in Rose-street, Edin- burgh, Feb. 22, 1806, in the' eighty-third year of his age, leaving a character, as a schoolmaster, and a gentleman, which will not soon be forgotten by his numerous pupils and friends. His publications were ; 1. " A treatise on Education," 1773, 8vo, already noticed, and which added much to his reputation. It is now in the fifth edition.
2. " Hints on the Education of the Lower Ranks of the People, and the appointment of Parochial Schoolmasters."
3. " Advantages of a Classical Education, £c." 4. " An abridgment of Mr. Ruddiman's Rudiments and Latin. Grammar." 5. " East India Tracts ; viz. Collegium Ben- galense, a Latin poem, Translation and Dissertation.7' This Latin poem, in Sapphic verse, and in which there is a considerable portion of fancy, with correct versification, may be considered as a very uncommon instance of vigour of mind at the advanced age of eighty-two. A new edi- tion of his works, for the benefit of his family, was an- nounced soon after his death, in a " Sketch of his Life," published in 1808, 8vo, and was to have been sent to press as soon as a requisite number of subscriptions were receiv- ed, but we are sorry to find that this undertaking has not been so liberally patronized as might have been expected.1
CHAPMAN (JOHN), D. D. was the son of the rev. Wil- liam Chapman, rector of Stratfield-say in Hampshire, where he was probably born in 1704. He was educated at King's college, Cambridge, A. B. 1727, and A. M. 1731. His first promotion was the rectory of Mersham in Kent, and of Alderton, with the chapel of Smeeth ; to which he was appointed in 1739 and 1744, being then domestic chaplain to archbishop Potter. He was also archdeacon of Sudbury, and treasurer of Chichester, two options. Being educated at Eton, he was a candidate for the pro- vostship of that college, and lost it by a small majority,
1 Sketch as above.
VOL, IX, K
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i
and after a most severe contest with Dr. George. Among his pupils he had the honour to class the first lord Cam- den, L)r. Ashton, • Horace Walpole, Jacob Bryant, sir W. Draper, sir George Baker, and others who afterwards at- tained to considerable distinction in literature. His first publication was entitled " The Objections of a late anony- mous writer (Collins) against the book of Daniel, consi- dered/' Cambridge, 1728, 8vo. This was followed by his " Remarks on Dr. Middleton's celebrated Letter to Dr. Waterland," published in 1731, and which has passed through three editions. In his " Eusebius," 2 vols. 8vo, he defended Christianity against the objections of Mor-- gan, and against those of Tindal in his " Primitive Anti- quity explained and vindicated." The first volume of Eusebius, published in 1739, was dedicated to archbishop Potter ; and when the second appeared, in 1741, Mr. Chapman styled himself chaplain to his grace. In the same year he was made archdeacon of Sudbury, and was honoured with the diploma of D. D. by the university of Oxford. He is at this time said to have published the ** History of the ancient Hehrews vindicated, by Theo- phanes Cantabrigiensis," 8vo ; but this was the production of Dr. Squire. He published two tracts relating to " Phlegon," in answer to Dr. Sykes, who had maintained that the eclipse mentioned by that writer had no relation to the wonderful darkness that happened at our Saviour's cru- cifixion. In 1738 Dr. Chapman published a sermon preached at the consecration of bishop Mavvson, and four other single sermons, 1739, 1743, 1748, and 1752. In a dissertation written in elegant Latin, and addressed to Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Tunstall, then public orator of the university of Cambridge, and published with his Latin epistle to Dr. Middleton concerning the genuineness of some of Cicero's epistles, 1741, Dr. Chapman proved that Cicero published two editions of his Academics ; an ori- ginal thought that had escaped all former commentators, and which has been applauded by Dr. Ross, bishop of Exe- ter, in his edition of Cicero's " Epistolse ad familiares," 1749. In 1744 Mr. Tunstall published "Observations on the present Collection of Epistles between Cicero and M. -Brutus, representing several evident marks of forgery in those epistles," &c. to which was added a "Letter from Dr. Chapman, on the ancient numeral characters of the Roman legions." Dr. Middleton had asserted, that the
CHAPMAN. isi
Roman generals, when they had occasion to raise new legions in distant parts of the empire, used to name them according to the order in which they themselves had raised them, without regard to any other legions whatever. This notion Dr. Chapman controverts and confutes. According to Dr. Middleton there might have been two thirtieth le- gions in the empire. This Dr. Chapman denies to have been customary from the foundation of the city to the time when Brutus was acting against Anthony, but affirms no- thing of the practice after the death of Brutus. To this Dr. Middleton made no reply. In 1745 Dr. Chapman was employed in assisting Dr. Pearce, afterwards bishop of Rochester, in his edition of " Cicero de Officiis*." About this time Dr. Chapman introduced Mr. Tunstall and Mr. Hall to archbishop Potter, the one as his librarian, the other as his chaplain, and therefore had some reason to resent their taking an active part against him in the option cause, though they both afterwards dropped it. Dr. Chap- man's above-mentioned attack on Dr. Middleton, which he could not parry, and his interposition in defence of his much-esteemed friend Dr. Waterland, provoked Dr. Mid- dleton to retaliate in 1746, by assailing him in what he thought a much more vulnerable part, in his Charge to the archdeaconry of Sudbury, entitled <e Popery the true bane of letters." In 1747, to Mr. Mounteney's edition of some select orations of Demosthenes, Dr. Chapman prefixed in Latin, without his name, observations on the Commenta- ries commonly ascribed to Ulpian, and a map of ancient Greece adapted to Demosthenes. Mr. Mounteney had been schoolfellow with Dr. Chapman at Eton, and was afterwards a baron of the exchequer in Ireland. If arch- bishop Potter had lived to another election, Dr. Chapman was intended for prolocutor. As executor and surviving trustee to that prelate, his conduct in that trust, particularly his presenting himself to the precentorship of Lincoln, void
* This Dr. Chapman always called tibi, lector, illis referenda sunt; in
" our edition." Its excellence was primis eruditissimo Joh. Chapmanno,
mentioned with high encomium by a cujus non paucas notas & utiles &
cardinal at Rome to Mr. Guthrie. doctas meis adjunxi, ejus nomine ad
Our author's assistance was thus finem uniuscujusque apposito. Mul-
acknowledged in the preface : " Ne turn debet iili viro respublica litei aria,
quid vero huic editioni deesset quod qui nonnulla alia lectu digni^sima jam
a me parari posset a doctissimis in lucem protulit, plora (ut spero)
quibusdam viris, amicis meis, im- prolaturus, cum omni fere doctrin»
petravi, ut bos libros de officiis rele- generi se tradit, incredibili pene 8*
gerent, et mecum sua quisque anno- eadem fclici diligentia," tata commuuicarent. Gratis igitur
K 2
13* C H A P M A N.
by the death of Dr. Trimnell (one of his grace's options), was brought into chancery by the late Dr. Richardson, tvben lord keeper Henley in 1760 made a decree in Dr. Chapman's favour; but, on an appeal to the house of lords, the decree was reversed, and Dr. Richardson ordered to be presented, When Mr. Yorke had finished his argument, in which he was very severe on Dr. Chapman, Mr. Pratt, afterwards lord Camden, who had been his pupil, and was then his counsel, desired him, by a friend, not to be un- easy, for that the next day he " would wash him as white as snow." Thinking his case partially stated by Dr. Burn, in his " Ecclesiastical Law,'1 vol. I. (article BISHOPS), as it was taken from the briefs of his adversaries, he expostu* lated with him on the subject by letter, to which the doctor candidly replied, " that he by no means thought him crimi- nal, and in the next edition of his work would certainly add his own representation." On this affair, however, Dr. Hurd passes a very severe sentence in his correspondence with Warburton lately published. Dr. Chapman died the 34th of October, 1784, in the 80th year of his age.1
CHAPMAN (THOMAS), D. D. the son of John Chap, man, of Billingham, in the county of Durham, was born at that place in 1717, and educated at Richmond school in Yorkshire. He afterwards entered of Christ college, Cambridge, where he took his degrees of A. B. 1737, A.M. 174-J, and obtained a fellowship. In 1746 he was chosen master of Magdalen college, and had the degree of LL. D. conferred on him in 1748, and that of D. D. in 1749. In 1748 he served the office of vice-chancellor, and was ap- pointed one of his majesty's chaplains. In 1749, he was rector of Kirby-over-blovver in Yorkshire. In 1750 he was presented by the king to a prebendal stall in the cathedral of Durham; and in 1758, was appointed official to the dean and chapter. He died at Cambridge, June 9, 1760, in his forty-third year, and was interred in the chapel of Magdalen college. " He died," says bishop Hurd, " in the flower of his life and fortune ; I knew him formerly very well. He was in his nature a vain and busy man." Dr. Chap- man is now known only by his " Essay on the Roman Se- nate," 1750, in which he coincides with Dr Middleton's opinion on the same subject. They were both animad-
1 Bibl. Topog. Britan. — Harwood's Alumni Etonenses. — Nichols's Bowyer,— Leland*0 Deistical Writers.
C H A P O N £. 133
verted on by Mr. Hooke, the Roman historian, in his " Observations, &c." published in 1758, 4to. l
CHAPONE (HESTER), an ingenious English lady, was the daughter of Thomas Mulso, esq. of Tvvy well in North- amptonshire, and was born Oct. 27, 1727. At a very early age she exhibited proofs of a lively imagination and superior understanding. It is said that at nine years of age she composed a romance, entitled " The Loves of Amoret and Melissa," which, we are told, exhibited " fer- tility of invention, and extraordinary specimens of genius.*' Her mother was a beauty, with all the vanity that unhap- pily attaches to beauty, and fearing that her daughter's understanding might become a more attractive object than the personal charms on which she valued herself, she took no pleasure in the progress which Hester seemed to make, and if she did not obstruct, employed at least no extraor- dinary pains in promoting her education. This mother, however, died when her daughter was yet young, and a circumstance which otherwise might have been of serious consequence, seemed to strengthen the inclination miss Mulso had shewn to cultivate her mind. She studied the French and Italian languages, and made some progress in the Latin. She read the best authors, especially those who treat of morals and philosophy. To these she added & critical perusal of the Holy Scriptures, but history, we are told, made no part of her studies until the latter part of her life. Her acquaintance with Richardson, whose novels were the favourites of her sex, introduced her to Mr. Chapone, a young gentleman then practising law in the Temple. Their attachment was mutual, but not hasty, or imprudent. She obtained her father's consent, and a social intimacy continued tor a considerable period, before it ended in marriage. In the mean time, miss Mulso be- came acquainted with the celebrated miss Carter ; a cor- respondence took place between them, which increased their mutual esteem, and a friendship was thus cemented, which lasted during a course of more than fifty years.
Miss Mulso's first production appears to have^ been the Ode to Peace, and that addressed to miss Carter on her intended publication of the translation of Epictetus. About the same lime she wrote the story of Fidelia, which miss
1 Hutchinson's Durham, vol. II, p. 182. — Hurd and Warburton's Letters, p. 225, 226, 4to.
134 C H A P O N E.
Carter aftd her other friends who had read it, persuaded her to send to the editor of the " Adventurer."
In 1760 she was married to Mr. Chapone, removed to London, and for some time lived with her husband in lodgings in Carey-street, and afterwards in Arundel-street. She enjoyed every degree of happiness which mutual at- tachment could confer, but it was of short duration. In less than ten months after they were married, Mr. Chapone was seized with a fever which terminated his life, after about a week's illness. At first Mrs. Chapone seemed to bear this calamity with fortitude, but it preyed on her health, and for some time her life was despaired of. She recovered, however, gradually, and resigned herself to a state of life in which she yet found many friends and many consolations. Most of her time was passed in London, or in occasional visits to her friends, among whom she had the happiness to number many distinguished characters of both sexes, lord Lyttelton, Mrs. Montague, and the circle who usually visited her house. In 1770 she accompanied Mrs. Montague into Scotland. In 1773 she published her " Let- ters on the Improvement of the Mind," originally in- tended for the use of her niece, but given to the world at the request of Mrs. Montague, and her other literary friends. As this was her first avowed publication, it made her name more generally known, and increased the number of her admirers. This work was followed by a " Volume of Mis- cellanies," including some pieces formerly published with- out her name.
The latter years of her life were embittered by the loss t)f the greater part of the friends of her youth ; and after the death of her brother in 1799, as London had no more charms for her, she determined to settle at Winchester, where her favourite niece was married to the rev. Ben. Jeffreys; but the death of this young lady in child-bed, made her relinquish the design, and remain in her cheerless lodgings in London. So many privations had now begun to affect her mind, and her sympathizing friends persuaded her to remove to Had ley, where she died Dec. 25, 1801, in the seventy- fourth year of her age. In 1807, her whole works were published in 2 vols. 12mo, with a portion of her literary correspondence, and an interesting memoir of her life, to which we are indebted for the above sketch. *
1 Life as above, — British Essayists, vol. XX1I1, Preface to the Adventurer, P. 33.
C II A P P £. 135
CHAPPE D'AUTEROCHE (JOHN), an eminent French astronomer, was born at Mauriac, a town in Upper Au- vergne, on the 23d of May, 1728, of John Chappe, lord of tlie barony of Auteroche, and Magdalen de la Farge, daughter of Peter de la Farge, lord of larPierre. From his birth he enjoyed the valuable advantage of not being under the necessity of struggling, like many men of genius, with adversity and penury. The distinguished rank which his parents held in their province, added to their wealth and opulence, enabled them to bestow upon their son an excellent education, the foundation of which was laid at Mauriac, where he began his studies. Having made con- siderable progress here, lie went afterwards to finish them at the college de Louis le Grand. M. Chappe, from his earliest infancy, shewed a surprising turn for drawing and the mathematics. Descartes was scarcely eight years of age when he was styled a philosopher, and Chappe at that age might have been called a mathematician. An irresistible impulse, and singular disposition, as if innate, led him to draw plans and make calculations ; but these pursuits, quite forojgn to the studies in which he was then engaged, occupied no part of that time which was allotted for them. He applied to the former only at those mo- ments which the regulations. of the college suffered him to call his own.
His active genius discovered to him in the silence and solitude of the cloister resources which he had little ex- pected. During his course of philosophy, he formed an acquaintance with a carthusian, named Dom Germain, from whom he learned the elements of the mathematics and of astronomy. In these two sciences he made a rapid progress ; for the zeal of the master was well seconded by the diligence of the scholar, who followed his literary pur- suits with the same ardour and enthusiasm as the generality of young men follow dissipation and pleasure. So singular a phenomenon could not long remain unknown. Father de la Tour, then principal of the college, being struck with young Chappe, mentioned him to M. Cassini, and spoke of the progress he had made in such high terms, that the latter became very desirous to see some of his works. After causing him to make a few experiments in his pre- sence, that celebrated academician could not help admir- ing his happy disposition; but he did not coufine himself to praises only. Being a warm patron and protector of merit,
136 CHAPPE-
he from that moment resolved to cultivate young Chappe' s talents, and to endeavour to render them useful to society. With this view he employed him in taking plans of several of the royal buildings, and made him assist in delineating the general map of France.
The abbe Chappe, however, made himself known in the astronomical world by a work of much greater importance. This was a translation of the works of Dr. Halley from the English. This translation appeared in 1752; and the ad- ditions made by the translator, and the new inferences he drew from the labours of the English astronomer, placed him almost on a level with the author. The abbe Chappe had now given too striking a specimen of his talents not to attract the notice of government. The king having ordered plans of several places in the district at Bitche in Lorraine to be taken, and the forest in the neighbourhood of the town of that name to be surveyed, the abbe Chappe's merit procured him the superintendance and direction of this business ; and the event shewed, that the ministry could not have chosen a person more deserving of their confidence. On his return from this expedition he was elected a member of the royal academy of sciences ; and on the 17th of January 1759, he obtained the place of assistant astronomer, vacant by the promotion of M. de la Lande to that of associate.
The two comets which appeared in 1760 gave the abbe an opportunity of shewing that he was not unworthy of the honour conferred on him ; he observed them both with the greatest assiduity and attention, and the result of his ob- servations was published in the memoirs of that year, with reflections on the zodiacal light, and an aurora boreal is which appeared about the same period. As the transit of Venus over the sun's disk, which Halley announced would happen on the 6th of June 1761, seemed to promise great advantage to astronomy, it very much excited the curiosity of the learned throughout all Europe. It was necessary, however, in order to derive benefit from it, that it should be observed in some very remote places ; and as Tobolsk, the capital of Siberia, and the island of Roderigo in the East- Indies, were thought to be the properest, the diffi- culty was to find astronomers bold enough to transport themselves thither. But what will not the love of science prompt men to do ? M. Pinge offered to go to the island of Roderigo, and Tobolsk remained to the abb6 Chappe,
C H A P P E. 137
who, had the matter been left to himself, would have made no other choice.
The abbe set out for the place of his destination in the month of November 1760. After encountering a variety of almost incredible difficulties, he arrived at Tobolsk, where ignorance and superstition prepared new danger for him. The simple Russians, attentive to all his actions, beheld his preparations with the utmost terror ; the obser- vatory which he caused to be erected, and the instruments he transported thither, increased their alarm ; and the overflowing of the river Irtish, which inundated part of the city, a natural consequence of the thaw that took place, served still more to confirm them in their suspicions. The governor of Tobolsk, a man of education, to whom the world is indebted for a correct chart of the Caspian, was obliged to give the abb£ a guard for his protection. The moment so long wished for, and purchased by such fatigue and peril, being at length arrived, the abbe", on the 5th of June, made every necessary preparation for observing the transit ; but the pleasure which he anticipated from the success of his expedition was not free from a mixture of pain, for the sky, during the night, became quite overcast. This was a new source of uneasiness to the abbe ; but luckily for science, a favourable wind, which sprung up at sun-rise, revived his hopes, by withdrawing the veil that obscured the object of his researches. The observation was made with the necessary precision, in presence of M. Jsmailof, count Poushkin, and the archbishop of Tobolsk : and the academy of sciences at Paris, as well as that of Petersburg, received the particulars of this event soon after by a courier whom M. Ismailof immediately dispatched. The glory of this observation had preceded the abbe", and prepared new honours for him at St. Petersburg. The empress, with a view of inducing him to settle there, made him an offer, by means of baron de Breteuil, of the distin- guished place which had been occupied by M. Delisle. But choosing rather to pass his days at home, he rejected the offers made him. On his arrival in France he .began, to prepare an account of his journey, which was published in 1768, in 3 vols. 4to, elegantly printed and adorned with engravings. Besides the account of the particular object of his journey, the philosopher finds in it the history of mankind and of nature ; and the statesman the political system and interest of nations. The great labour required
138 C H A P P E,
to prepare this work for publication did not interrupt the abba's astronomical pursuits. He enriched the memoirs of the academy with several instructive pieces ; and that which he presented in 1767 is the more valuable, as it confirms the experiments made upon electricity at To- bolsk, and demonstrates the identity of the electric fluid with lightning.
Another transit of Venus, which, according to astrono- mical calculation, was to happen on the 3d of June 1769, afforded the abbe Chappe a new opportunity of manifest- ing his zeal for the advancement of astronomy. California was pointed out as the properest place in that quarter for observing this phenomenon ; and the abbe, who had tri- umphed over the rigours of the north, thought he could brave also the ardours of the torrid zone. He departed therefore from Paris in 1768, in company with M. Pauli, an engineer, and M. Noel, a draftsman, whose talents gave reason to hope, that he might contribute to render the expedition interesting in more respects than one. He carried with him also a watchmaker, to take care of his instruments, and to keep them in proper repair. On his arrival at Cadiz, the vessel belonging to the Spanish flota, in which he was to embark for Vera Cruz, not being ready in time, he obtained an order for equipping a brigantine, which carried twelve men. The fragility of this vessel, which would have alarmed any other person, appeared to the abbe as adding to the merit of the enterprise. Judging of its velocity by its lightness, he considered it as better calculated to gratify his impatience ; and in this he was not deceived : for he arrived safe at the capital of New Spain, where he met with no delay. The marquis de Croix, governor of Mexico, seconded his activity so well, that he reached St. Joseph nineteen days before the time marked out for the observation. The village of St. Joseph, where the abb6 landed, was desolated by an infectious disorder, which had raged for some time, and destroyed great numbers of the inhabitants. In vain did his friends, from a tender solicitude for his preservation, urge him to remove from the infection, not to expose himself impru- dently, and to take his station at some distance towards Cape San Lucar. His lively and ardent zeal for the pro- motion of science, shut his ears against all these remon- strances; and the only danger he dreaded was, that of losing the opportunity of accomplishing the object of his
CHAPPE. 139
wishes. He had the good fortune, however, to make his observation in the completes! manner on the 3d of June : but, becoming a victim to his resolution, he was three days after attacked by the distemper which seemed hitherto to have respected him. Surrounded by his acquaintances, either sick or dying, and destitute of that assistance which he had given them as long as health remained, the abb6 was struggling between life and death, when by his owa imprudence he destroyed every ray of hope, and hastened that fatal period which deprived the world of this valuable member of society. The very day he had taken physic he insisted upon observing an eclipse of the moon ; but, scarcely had he finished his observation, when his disorder grew considerably worse, and the remedies administered not being able to check its progress, he died on the 1st of August 1769, in the 42d year of his age.
Had it not been for the care of a very respectable French academician, the fruits of' this observation would have been entirely lost to the learned. The abbe" Chappe hav- ing at his death committed his papers to the care of M. Pauli, they were afterwards arranged and published by M. Cassini, the son, who at an age when others only afford hopes of their future celebrity, had acquired the highest reputation ; and if any thing could console the public for the loss occasioned by the abbe being prevented from put- ting the last hand to his work, it certainly was the seeing it appear under the auspices of so able an editor.
The evening before his departure from Paris, being at supper with count de Merci, the Imperial ambassador, several of his friends represented to him, that he ought not to undertake such a voyage, and offered to lay a consider- able wager that he would never return. " Were I certain," replied the abbe", " that I should die the next morning after I had made my observation, I would not hesitate a moment, nor- be in the least deterred from embarking." An heroic sentiment, which paints in a few words the cha- racter of this learned man.
The published works of M. Chappe, are, 1. " The As- tronomical Tables of Dr. Halley ; with observations and additions," 1754, 3vo. 2. 4< Travels into Siberia," 1763, 2 vols. fol. 3. " Voyage to California to observe the transit of Venus over the Sun, the 3d of June 1769,'* 1772, 4to. 4. He had a considerable number of papers inserted in the Memoirs of the Academy, for the years
140 CHAPPEL.
1760, 1761, 1764, 1765, 1766, 1767, and 1768, chiefly relating to astronomical matters. l
CHAPPEL (WILLIAM), a very learned and pious divine, bishop of Cork, Cloyne, and Ross, in Ireland, was de- scended, as he himself tells us, from parents in narrow circumstances, and was born at Lexington, in Notting- hamshire, Dec. 10, 1512. He was sent to a grammar- school at Mansfield, in the same county ; and thence, at the age of seventeen, removed to Christ' s-college, in Cam- bridge ; of which, after having taken his degrees of B. and M. A. he was elected fellow in 1 607. He became a very eminent tutor, and was also remarkable for his abilities as a disputant, concerning which the following anecdotes are recorded. In 1624 king James visited the university of Cambridge, lodged in Trinity-college, and was enter- tained with a philosophical act, and other academical per- formances. At these exercises Dr. Roberts of Trinity- college was respondent at St. Mary's, where Chappel as opponent pushed him so hard, that, finding himself unable to keep up the dispute, he fainted. Upon this, the king, who valued himself much upon his skill in such matters, undertook to maintain the question, but with no better success than the doctor; for Chappel was so much his su- perior at these logical weapons, that his majesty openly professed his joy to find a man of great talents so good a subject. Many years after this, sir William St. Leger riding to Cork with the popish titular dean of that city, Chappel, then dean of Cashel, and provost of Dublin, ac- cidentally overtook them ; upon which sir William, who was then president of Munster, proposed that the two deans should dispute, which, though Chappel was not forward to accept, yet he did not decline. But the popish dean, with great dexterity and address, extri- cated himself from this difficulty, saying, " Excuse me, sir ; I don't care to dispute with one who is wont to kill his man."
It is probable that he would have spent his days in col- lege, if he had not received an unexpected offer from Laud, then bishop of London, of the deanery of Cashel, in Ireland ; which preferment, though he was much dis- turbed at Cambridge by the calumnies of some who envied his reputation, he was yet very unwilling to accept. For
» From the last edit, of this Dictionary.— Diet. Hist.
C H A P P E L. HI
being a man of a quiet easy temper, he had no inclination to stir, nor was at all ambitious of dignities ; but he de- termined at length to accept the offer, went over to Ire- land accordingly, and was installed August 20, 1633. Soon after he was made provost of Trinity-college, Dublin, by Laud, then archbishop of Canterbury, and chancellor of the university of Dublin, who, desirous of giving a new form to the university, looked upon Chappel as the fittest person to settle the establishment that was proposed. Chappel took great pains to decline this charge, the bur- den of which he thought too heavy, and for this purpose returned to England in May 1634, but in vain. Upon this he went down to Cambridge, and resigned his fellow- ship ; which to him, as himself says, was the sweetest of earthly preferments. He also visited his native country, and taking his last leave of his ancient and pious mother, he returned to Ireland in August. He was elected provost of Trinity- college, and had the care of it immediately committed to him ; though he was not sworn into it till June 5, 1637, on account of the new statutes not being sooner settled and received. The exercises of the univer- sity were never more strictly looked to, nor the discipline better observed than in his time ; only the lecture for teaching Irish was, after his admission, wholly waved. Yet, that he might mix something of the pleasant with the profitable, and that young minds might not be oppressed with too much severity, he instituted, as sir James Ware tells us, among the juniors, a Roman commonwealth, which continued during the Christmas vacation, and in which they had their dictators, consuls, censors, and other of- ficers of state in great splendour. And this single cir- cumstance may serve to give us a true idea of the man, who was remarkable for uniting in his disposition two very different qualities, sweetness of temper, and severity of manners.
In 1638 his patrons, the earl of Strafford, and the arch- bishop of Canterbury, preferred him to the bishoprics of Cork, Cloyne, and Ross; and he was consecrated at St. Patrick's, Dublin, Nov. 11, though he had done all he could to avoid this honour. By the king's command he continued in his provostship till July 20, 1640; before which time he had endeavoured to obtain a small bishopric in England, that he might return to his native country, as he tells us, and die in peace. But his endeavours were
142 C H A P P E L.
fruitless; and he was left in Ireland to feel all the fury of the storm, which he had long foreseen. He was attacked in the house of commons with great bitterness by the pu- ritan party,' and obliged to come to Dublin from Cork, and to put in sureties for his appearance. June 1641, articles of impeachment were exhibited against him to the house of peers, consisting of fourteen, though the substance of them was reduced to two ; the first, perjury, on a sup- posed breach of his oath as provost ; the second, malice towards the Irish, founded on discontinuing the Irish lec- ture during the time of his being provost. The prosecu- tion was urged with great violence, and, as is supposed, for no other reason but because he had enforced uniformity and strict church discipline in the college. This divine's fate was, somewhat peculiar, for although his conduct was consistent, he was abused at Cambridge for being a pu- ritan, and in Ireland for being a papist. Yet as we find the name of archbishop Usher among his opponents in Ireland, there seems reason to think that there was some foundation for his unpopularity, independent of what was explicitly stated. While, however, he laboured under these troubles, he was exposed to still greater, by the breaking out wf the rebellion in the latter end of that year. He was under a kind of confinement at Dublin, on account of the impeach- ment which was still depending ; but at length obtained leave to embark for England, for the sake of returning thence to Cork, which, from Dublin, as things stood, he could not safely do. He embarked Dec. 26, 1641, and the next day landed at Milford-haven, after a double escape, as himself phrases it, from the Irish wolves and the Irish sea. He went from Milford-haven to Pembroke, and thence to Tenby, where information was made of him to the mayor, who committed him to gaol Jan. 25. After lying there seven weeks, he was set at liberty by the in- terest of sir Hugh Owen, a member of parliament, upon giving bond in 1000/. for his appearance ; and March 16, set out for Bristol. Here he learnt that the ship bound from Cork to England, with a great part of his effects, was lost near Minehead ; and by this, among other things, he lost his choice collection of books. After such a series of misfortunes, and the civil confusions increasing, he with- drew to his native soil, where he spent the remainder of his life in retirement and study; and died at Derby, where he had some time resided^ upon Whitsunday, 1649.
C H A P P E L.
He published the year before his death, " Methodus eoncion.andi," that is, the method of preaching, which for its usefulness was also translated into English. His " Use of Holy Scripture," was printed afterwards in 1653. He left behind him also his own life, written by himself in Latin, which has been twice printed ; first from a MS. in the hands of sir Philip Sydenham, bart. by Hearne, and a second time by Peck, from a MS. still preserved in Tri- nity-hall, Cambridge, for the author left two copies of it. Mr. Peck adds, by way of note upon his edition, the fol- lowing extract of a letter from Mr. Beaupre Bell : " 'Tis certain * The whole Duty of Man7 was written by one who suffered by the troubles in Ireland ; and some lines in this piece give great grounds to conjecture that bishop Chappel was the author. March 3, 1734." Thus we see this prelate, as well as many other great and good persons, comes in for part of the credit of that excellent book ; yet there is no explicit evidence of his having been the author of it. It appears indeed to have been written before the death of Charles I. although it was not published till 1657, and the manner of it is agreeable enough to this prelate's plain and easy way of writing ; but then there can be no reason given why his name should be suppressed in the title-page, when a posthumous work of his was actually published with it but a few years before. l
CHAPPKLOW (LEONARD), an eminent oriental scholar, of whom we regret that our information is so scanty, was born in 1683, and educated at St. John's college, Cam- bridge, where he took his bachelor's degree in 1712, his master'sin 1716, and that of B. D. in 1723. To his other studies he united an uncommon application to oriental languages, in which such was his reputation, that he was chosen to succeed the learned Simon Ockley in 1720, as Arabic professor. He held also a fellowship in his college, until they bestowed on him the livings of Great and Little Hormead, in Hertfordshire. To this fellowship he was chosen in 1717, in the room of a Mr. Tomkinson, one of the nonjuror-fellows ejected at that time by act of parlia- ment. The celebrated Mr. Baker was another, and always afterwards designated himself " Socius ejectus." In Fe- bruary 1734-5, we find Mr. Chappelovv a candidate for the mastership of St. John's college, but he failed, although
1 Bi^. Brit,— Peck's Desiderata.
144 C H A P P E L-O W.
after a very severe contest. Mr. Chappelow constantly read lectures during one term on the Oriental languages, for which he had a peculiar enthusiasm, and in which he was critically versed. This inclined him to the publication of the first work by which his name was more extensively known, his edition of Spencer " De Legibus Hebraeorum Ri- tualibus." Spencer, after the first publication of this capital work in 1685, had continued to make improvements in it, and by will left such of his papers and writings as were perfect, to be added in their proper places, if ever there should be occasion to reprint it ; with the full right and property of them to his executor, bishop (afterwards arch* bishop) Tenison, who bequeathed them to the university of Cambridge, after having caused them to be prepared for the press, with fifty pounds towards the expences of printing. These the senate, by grace, gave leave to Mr. Chappelow to publish, and as an encouragement, bestowed upon him the archbishop's benefaction likewise. The work was accordingly executed in 1727, 2 vols. fol. by a sub- scription of two guineas the small, and three guineas the large paper, begun in 1725. B en e't college, on this oc- casion, was at the expence of prefixing an elegant engra- ving of the author, as a small testimony of gratitude to their munificent benefactor. In 1730, he published "Ele- menta Linguae Arabicae," chiefly from Erpenius.
Mr. Chappelow' s next publication, at a considerable dis- tance of time, was "A Commentary on the book of , lob, in which is inserted the Hebrew text, and English translation ; with a paraphrase from the third verse of the third chapter, where it is supposed the metre begins, to the seventh verse of the forty-second chapter, where it ends," 1752, 2 vols. 4to. In this curious work Mr. Chappelow maintains that an Arabic poem was written by Job himself, and that it was modelled by a Hebrew at a later period, but this pe- riod he does not take upon him to ascertain. In other re- spects his opinions, as to the intention of this sublime book, are judicious. In 1758 he published "The Traveller; an Arabic poem, entitled Tograi, written by Abu Ismael ; translated into Latin, and published with notes in 1661, by Dr. Pocock, and now rendered into English in the same Iambic measure as the original ; with some additional notes to illustrate the poem," 4to. This, although ably exe- cuted, is rather a paraphrase than a translation, but well expresses the sense of the original. In 1765 he published
CHAPPELOW.
" Two Sermons concerning the State of the Soul on its im- mediate separation from the body ; written by bishop Bull, together with some extracts relating to the same subject; taken from writers of distinguished note and character. With a preface," 8vo. This preface is all that belongs to Mr. Chappelow, and is very short. He coincides with bishop Bull's opinion, that the final state of man is deter- mined at death, and he supports it by extracts from Til- lotson, Whitby, Lightfoot, Stanhope, Smalridge, and Limborch. His last publication was entitled " Six Assem- blies ; or Ingenious Conversations of learned men among the Arabians, &c. formerly published by the celebrated Schultens, in Arabic and Latin, with large notes and ob- servations, &c." 1767, 8vo. This amusing collection of prose and poetry is part of a larger work written in Arabic by Hariri of Barsa, a city in the kingdom of Babylon, and throws considerable light upon many passages of Scripture. The editor's notes are very valuable. Mr. Chappelow, after holding his professorship with much reputation for nearly half a century, died Jan. 14, 1768, in his seventy- fifth year, leaving a widow, who died July 1779, at Cam- bridge. l
CHAPUZEAU (SAMUEL), a protestant writer, born at Geneva, whose family were originally of Poitiers, was preceptor to William III. king of England ; afterwards go-* vernor of the pages to George duke of Brunswick Lunen* burg, which post he held till his death, August 31, 1701, at Zell. Three days before his death he wrote a sonnet, in which he complains of being old, blind, and poor. He collected and printed " Tavernier's Voyages," 1675, 4to. Jurieu having written against what is there said of the Dutch, in his book entitled " L'Esprit de M. Arnauld," Chapuzeau answered him in 1691, by a work called " De- fense du Sieur Samuel Chapuzeau contre 1'Esprit de M. Arnauld." He wrote, besides, " Eloge de la Ville de Lyons," 4to. « Une Relation de Savoye ; 1'Europe vi- vante, ou relation nouveile, historique, politique, et de tous les Etats, tels qu'ils etoient en 1666," Paris, 1667, 4to. He also published " Traite de la maniere de Pre'cher, suivi de quatre Sermons prononc6es a Cassel." Chapuzeau tried every kind of writing, even comedies, the greatest part
1 Cole's MS Athense in Brit. Mus. — Biog. Brit, art, Spencer, —Month, ami Crit. Reviews. — Nichols's Bowyer.
VOL, IX, L
US CHAPUZEAU.
of which have been collected under the title of " La Muse enjouee, ou le Theatre Comique." In 1694 he published the plan of an " Historical, Geographical, and Philological Dictionary,'' on which he employed many years, but it was not finished at his death. He complains, however, of Moreri having availed himself of his manuscripts, but does not inform us where he found them. ]
C HARAS (MosEs), a skilful apothecary, born at Usez, in Upper Languedoc, in 1618, followed ins profession at Orange, from whence he went and settled at Paris. Having obtained a considerable share of reputation by his treatise on the virtues and properties of treacle, he was chosen to deliver a course of chemistry at the royal garden of plants at Paris, in which he acquitted himself with general applause during nine years. His " Pharmacopeia," 1673, of which an improved edition by Monnier was published in 1753, 2 vols. 4to, was the fruit of his lectures and his studies, an'd has been translated into all the languages of Europe, and even into the Chinese, for the accommodation of the emperor. The edicts against the Calvinists obliged him to quit his country in 1680. He went over to England, from thence to Holland, and afterwards into Spain with the ambassador, who brought him to the assistance of his master Charles II. Languishing in sickness from his birth. Every good Spaniard was at that time convinced that the vipers for twelve leagues round Toledo were innoxious, ever since they were deprived of their venom by the fiat of a famous archbishop. The French doctor endeavoured to combat this error, and the physicians of the court, envious of the merit of C haras, failed not to take umbrage at this im- piety ; they complained of him to the inquisition, from whence he was not dismissed till he had abjured the pro- testant faith. Charas was then seventy -two years old. He returned to Paris, and was admitted a member of the royal academy, and there he continued until his death, Jan. 17, 1698. 9
CHARDIN (SiR JOHN), a celebrated traveller, the son of an opulent protestant jeweller, was born at Paris Nov. 16, 1643. For some time it is probable that he followed his father's profession ; but he was only twenty-two years old when, in 1664 (not 1665, as Niceron says), he went to the East Indies. There he remained for six years, pass-
i Moreri.— L'Avocat. 2 Mareri.— Diet. Hist.— Haller Bibl. Med.
CHARDIN. 14t
ing his time chiefly in Persia. He published no regular account of this voyage, which he modestly says he con- ceived might be uninteresting, but confined himself to a detail of certain events of which he had been an eye-wit- ness. This was contained in a twelves volume printed at Paris in 1671, the year after he returned, under the title of " Le Couronnement de Soliman II. roi de Perse, et ce qui s'est passe de plus memorable darts les deux premieres an- ne*es de son regne." In this work he was assisted by a Persian . nobleman, Mirza Sefi, one of the most learned men of the kingdom, who was at that time in disgrace, and confined to his palace at Ispahan, where Mr. Chardin was entertained and instructed by him in the Persian lan- guage and history. It is introduced by a dedication to the king which, according to the " Carpenteriana," was writ- ten by M. Charpentier. M. Petis de la Croix criticised the work with soijae severity, as to the orthography and etymology of some Persian words, and Tavernier objected to the title, insisting that Soliman never wore the crown ; but Chardin found an able defender in P. Ange de la Brosse. »
After Chardin' s return to Paris, he remained there only fifteen months, the king of Persia having made him his agent in 1666, and commissioned him to purchase several trinkets of value. Chardin accordingly left Paris Aug.|l7, 1671, and set sail in November from Leghorn in a vessel bound for Smyrna, again visited Persia, and did not return to Europe until 1677. He now determined to settle in England, and came to London in April 1681, and on the 24th of that month was knighted by Charles II. The same day he married a young lady of Rouen, the daughter of a protestant refugee in London. Next year he was chosen a fellow of the royal society. After this, Charles II. sent him to Holland; and in 1683, we find him there as agent for the English East India Company. In 1686 he publish- ed the first part of his Voyages, (the other not appearing until 1711), under the title of " Journal du .Voyage de Chardin en Perse, et aux Inde? Orientates, par la Mer Noire et par la Colchide," folio. This was immediately translated into English under his inspection, and published the same year. The dedication to James II. is singular for a high complimentary strain, arising from his gratitude to Charles and James for their patronage of him, and, what he was more unfortunate in attempting, a prophecy of the
L 2
148 C H A R D I N;
duration of James's reign. After this he carried on a con- siderable trade in jewels, but continued his studies of the oriental languages and antiquities. The continuation of his Travels was published along with the first part much enlarged at Amsterdam in 3 vols. 4to, and 10 vols. 8vo, with plates on which he employed the skill of M. Grelot, being himself no draftsman. There was also a new edition at Amsterdam in 1735, 4 vols. 4to*. He died, according to Musgrave's u Adversaria," on Dec. 26, and not Jan. 5, 1713, as the French biographers report, and the register of C his wick proves that he was buried there December 29. There is no memorial of him at C his wick, but there is a monument to his memory in Westminster Abbe}r, with only this inscription, " Sir John Chardin. — Nomen sibi fecit enndo." He lived in his latter days at a house in Turnham-green, which at his death was sold to Thomas Lutvvyche, esq. His Travels have been translated into English, or at least large extracts in Harris's and other collections of voyages, and into German, and Flemish ; and as they contain authentic and valuable information with regard to the religion, manners, products, and commerce, &c. of the countries he visited, they obtained an extensive circulation. Among other curious particulars, he records several medical facts ; and particularly an account of his own case, when he was attacked with a dangerous fever at Gombron, and cured by the country physicians, who em- ployed the repeated affusion of cold water. This fact has suggested an useful hint to modern practitioners.
In the preface to his Voyages, he promised other works, as "A Geography of Persia;" "• A Compendious History of that Empire, taken from Persian Authors ;" and " Ob- servations on Passages of the Holy Scripture, explained by the manners and customs of the East," but the two former never appeared, and the latter was discovered by a public advertisement In 1770, sir John's descendants adver- tised a reward of twenty guineas for this manuscript, which they call " A Commentary or Explanation of the Old Tes- tament, from the manners and customs of the East, written in French by sir J. Chardin," and which, they add, about twenty years before, i. e. 1750, was seen by a gentleman
* Two years ago M. L. Langles, las, Paris, 1811; but we find no par- keeper of the French Imperial library, ticulars of Chardin's life which we published a new edition of Chardin's had not before collected. Travels, 10 vo!s. 8vo, with a folio At-
C H A R D I N. 149
in the possession of Dr. Oldfield. It was describecTto have been a thin quarto volume, in a very small hand. But when Mr. Harmer compiled his " Observations on divers passages of Scripture, &c." illustrated by books of travels, he recovered this treasure by means of sir William Jlus- grave, bart. in whose possession it was, not a single quarto volume, but six small MS volumes, the principal part of which Mr. Harmer incorporated in his valuable work.1
CHARES, an ancient statuary, a native of Lindas, and disciple of Lysippus in the seventh century, immortalized himself by the Colossus of the Sun at Rhodes, which has been reckoned one of the seven wonders of the world. This statue was of brass, and above 100 feet high ; and was placed at the entrance of the harbour at Rhodes, with the feet upon two rocks, in such a manner, that ships could pass in full sail betwixt them. Chares employed twelve years upon it ; and after standing forty-six, it was thrown down by an earthquake. Moavius, a caliph of the Sara- cens, who invaded Rhodes in the year 667, sold it to a Jew merchant, who is said to have loaded 900 camels with the materials of it.2
CHARITON, of Aphrodisium, secretary to a rhetorician named Athenagoras, lived at the end of the fourth century, if these are not fictitious names, which there is great rea- son to think. A Greek romance, in his style, was some years ago found, entitled " The Loves of Chsereas and Callirhoe," an edition of which was published by M. d'Or- ville, professor of history at Amsterdam, 1750, 4to, with a Latin translation and notes. A French translation appeared at Paris, 1763, 2 vols. 8vo, and M. Fallet published a new one, 1775, 8vo. Gesner, Fabricius, and M. Huet, had spoken of this romance as being only known by name. It is a very amusing composition, and the notes of D'Orville contain a treasure of critical learning. They were adopted afterwards by "Reiske in his edition of Leipsic, 1783, 8vo, and the novel was translated into English, 1763, 2 vols. 12mo, with a preface giving all the account that is known of the author. 3
1 Chaufrpie. — Moreri. — Sir Win. Musgrave's Adversaria in Brit. Mus. — Lysons's Environs, vol. 11. — Hanner's Preface. — Ilaller Bibl. Botan. — Saxii. Ouomasticon.
2 Diet. Hist.— Plin. Nat. Hist.
? Preface, as above.— Fabric. Bibl. Grace. — Saxii Onomasf. —Diet. Hist.
150 C H A R K E.
*
CHARKE (CHARLOTTE) was youngest daughter of Colley Gibber the player, and afterwards poet-laureat. At eight years old she was put to school, but had an education more suitable to a boy than a girl ; and as she grew up, followed the same plan, being more frequently in the stable than in the bed-chamber, and mistress of the curry-comb, though ignorant of the needle. Her. very amusements all took the same masculine turn ; shooting, hunting, riding races, and digging in a garden, being ever her favourite exercises. She also relates an act of her prowess when a mere child, in protecting the house when in expectation of an attack from thieves, by the firing of pistols and blunder- busses out at the windows. All her actions seem to have had a boyish mischievousness in them, and she sometimes appears to have run great risque of ending them with the most fatal consequences. This wildness, however, was put some check to, by her marriage, when very young, with Mr. Richard Charke, an eminent performer on the violin*; immediately after which she launched into the billows of a stormy world, where she was, through the remainder of her life, buffeted about without ever once reaching a peaceful harbour. Her husband's insatiable passion for women soon gave her just cause of uneasiness, and in a short time appears to have occasioned a separation.
She then applied to the stage, apparently from inclina- tion as well as necessity ; and opened with the little part of Mademoiselle in the " Provoked Wife," in which she met with all the success she could expect. From this she rose in her second and third attempts to the capital cha- racters of Alicia in " Jane Shore," and Andromache in the " Distressed Mother ;" in which, notwithstanding the re- membrance of Mrs. Porter and Mrs. Oldfield, she met with great indulgence from the audience ; and being remarkable
* Dr. Burney says he was a danc- by Dr. Pepusch, in the overture to the
ing-master, an actor, a man of hu- Beggar's Opera, brought on the stage
mour, and a performer on the violin, in 1728, and Charke's medley over-
•with a strong hand. He was leader of ture bears date 1755. There is a slang
the band at Drury-lane theatre. As hornpipe under Charke's name, which.
a composer, he only distinguished used to be a favourite among the tars,
himself by being supposed the fi,rst We believe him to have been a face-
who produced that species of musical tious fellow, gifted with a turn for low
buffoonery called a " Medley Over- humour, of which, and of his tricks
ture," wholly made up of shreds and and stories, Dr. Arne, in moments of
patches of well-known vulgar tunes, jocularity, used to give specimens.
But we believe that this very easy spe- Rees's Cyclopaedia, cies of pleasantry was first suggested
C H A R K E. .\5i
for reading well, was suffered upon sudden emergencies to read characters of no less importance than those of Cleo- patra and queen Elizabeth. She was after this engaged at a good salary and sufficient supply of very considerable parts, at the Haymarket, and after that at Drury-lane. She now seemed well settled, and likely to have made no in- glorious figure in theatrical life ; but that ungovernable impetuosity of passions, which ran through all her actions, induced her to quarrel with Fleetwood, the then manager ; whom she not only left on a sudden without any notice given, but even vented her spleen against him in public, by a little dramatic farce, called " The Art of Manage- ment;" and though Fleetwood forgave that injury, and restored her to her former station, yet she acknowledges that she afterwards very ungratefully left him a second time, without any blame on his part.
Her adventures during the remainder of her life are no- thing but one variegated scene of distresses, of a kind to which no one can be a stranger, who has either seen or read the accounts of tnose most wretched of all human, beings, the members of a strolling company of actors : we may therefore be excused the entering into particulars. In 1755 she came to London, where she published the " Nar- rative of her own Life :" whether the profits of her book enabled her to subsist for the short remainder of it, with- out seeking for farther adventures, is uncertain. Death, however, put a period to it, and thereby to one continued, course of misery, April 6, 1760.1
CHARLES XII. (king of Sweden)*, was born June 27, 1682 ; and set off in the style and with the spirit of Alex- ander the Great. His preceptor asking him, what he thought of that hero ? " I think," says Charles, " that I should choose to be like him." Ay, but, says the tutor, he only lived 32 years: " Oh, answered the prince, that is long enough, when a man has conquered kingdoms." Impatient to rei^n, he caused himself to be declared of age at 15 : and at his coronation, he snatched the crown from the archbishop of Upsal, and put it upon his head himself, with an air of grandeur which struck the people.
* This account obtained a place in characteristics and anecdotes, than the the last edition of this Dictionary, and lives of crowned heads in general, we have been unwilling to displace an which belong to history, and seldom article that contains more personal can be usefully separated from it.
* 13 log. Dram.
152 CHARLES.
Frederic IV. king of Denmark, Augustus king of Poland, and Peter tzar of Muscovy, taking advantage of his mi- nority, entered into a confederacy against this youth. Charles, aware of it, though scarce 18, attacked them one after another. He hastened first to Denmark, besieged Copenhagen, forced the Danes into their entrenchments, and caused a declaration to be made to king Frederic, that, " if he did not justice to the duke of Holstein, his brother- in-law, against whom he had committed hostilities, he must prepare to see Copenhagen destroyed, and his kingdom laid waste by fire and sword." These menaces brought on the treaty of Frawendal; in which, without any advan- tages to himself, but quite content with humbling his ene- my, he demanded and obtained all he wished for his ally.
This war being finished in less than six weeks, in the course of the year 1700, he marched against the Russians, •who were then besieging Narva with 100,000 men. He attacked them with 8000, and forced them into their en- trenchments. Thirty thousand were slain or drowned, 20,000 asked for quarter, and the rest were taken or dis- persed. Charles permitted half the Russian soldiers to return without arms, and half to repass the river with their arms. He detained none but the commanders in chief, to whom, however, he returned their arms and their money. Among these there was an Asiatic prince, born at the foot of mount Caucasus, who was now to live captive amidst the ice of Sweden; " which," says Charles, " is just the same as if I were some time to be a prisoner among the Crim-Tartars :" words, which the capriciousness of for- tune caused afterwards to be recollected, when this Swedish hero was forced to seek an asylum in Turkey. It is to be noted, that Charles had only 1200 killed, and 80O wounded, at the battle of Narva.
The conqueror turned himself now, to be revenged upon the king of Poland. He passed the river Puna, beat marshal Stenau, who disputed the passage with him, forced the Saxons into their ports, and gained a signal victory over them. He hastened to Courland, which surrendered to him, passed into Lithuania, made every thing bow down before him, and went to support the intrigues of the cardi- nal primate of Poland, in order to deprive Augustus of the crown. Being master of Warsovia, he pursued him, and gained the battle of Clifsaw, though his enemy opposed tb him prodigies of valour. He again fell in with the
CHARLES. 153
Saxon army commanded by Stenau, besieged Thorn, and caused Stanislaus to be elected king of Poland. The ter- ror of his arms carried all before them : the Russians were easily dispersed ; Augustus, reduced to the last extremi- ties, sued for peace ; and Charles, dictating the condi- tions of it, obliged him to renounce his kingdom, and ac- knowledge Stanislaus.
This peace was concluded in 1706, and now he might and ought to have been reconciled with the tzar Peter; but he chose to turn his arms against him, apparently with a design to dethrone him, as he had dethroned Augustus* Peter was aware of it, and said, that " his brother Charles affected to be Alexander, but would be greatly disap- pointed if he expected to find him Darius." Charles Jeft Saxony in the autumn of 1707, with an army of 43,000 men : the Russians abandoned Grodno at his approach He drove them before him, passed the Boristhenes, treated with the Cossacks, and came to encamp upon the Dezena; and, after several advantages, was marching to Moscow through the deserts of the Ukraine. But fortune aban- doned him at Pultowa, July 1709 ; where he was beaten by Peter, wounded in the leg, had all his army either destroy- ed or taken prisoners, and forced to save himself by being carried off in a litter. And, thus reduced to seek an asy- lum among the Turks, he gained Otchakof, and retired to Bender. All which replaced Augustus on the throne of Poland, and immortalized Peter.
The grand seignor gave Charles a handsome reception, and appointed him a guard of 400 Tartars. The king of Sweden's view, in coming to Turkey, was to excite the Porte against the tzar Peter : but, not succeeding either by menaces or intrigues, he grew in time obstinate and restive, and even braved the grand seignor, although he was his prisoner. The Porte wanted much to get rid of their guest, and at length was compelled to offer a little violence. Charles entrenched himself in his house at JBender, and defended himself against an army with 40 (domestics, and would not surrender till his house was on fire. From Bender he was removed to Dcmotika, where he grew sulky, and was resolved to lie in bed all the time he should be there : and he actually did lie in bed 10 months, feigning to be sick.
Meanwhile his misfortunes increased daily. His ene- jyiies, taking advantage of his absence, destroyed his army,
154 CHARLES.
and took from him not only his own conquests, but those of his predecessors. At length he left Demotika ; travelled post, with two companions only, through Franconia and Mecklenbourg ; and arrived on the llth day at Stralsund, Nov. 22, 1714. Beset in this town, he saved himself in Sweden, now reduced to a most deplorable condition. But his misfortunesTTad not cooled his passion for warring : he attacked Norway with an army of 20,000 men : he formed the siege of Frederickshall in Dec. 17 IS, where, as he was visiting the works of his engineers by star-light, he was struck upon the head with a ball, and killed upon the spot. His death happened on December 11.
Thus perished Charles and all his projects : for he was meditating designs which would have changed the face of Europe. The tzar was uniting with him to re-establish Stanislaus, and dethrone Augustus. He was about to fur- nish ships to drive the house of Hanover from the throne of England, and replace the pretender in it; and land forces at the same time to attack George I. in his states of Han- over, and especially in Bremen and Verden, which he had taken from Charles. " Charles XII." says Montesquieu, ic was not Alexander, but he would have been Alexander's best soldier." Heriaut observes, " that Charles in his pro- jects had no relish for the probable: to furnish gout to him, success must lie beyond the bounds of probability." Doubt- less he might be called the Quixote of the north. He car- ried, as his historian says, all the virtues of tne hero to an excess, which made them as dangerou-s and pernicious as the opposite vices. His firmness was obstinacy, his libe- rality profusion, his courage rashness, his severity cruelty : he was in his last years less a king than a tyrant, and more a soldier than an hero. The projects of Alexander, whom he affected to imitate, were not only wise, but wisely exe- cuted : whereas Charles,' knowing nothing but arms, never regulated any of his movements by policy, according to the exigencies of the conjuncture, but suffered himself to be borne along by a brutal courage, which often led him into difficulties, and at length occasioned his death. He was a singular man, rather than a great man.
As to his person, he was tall and of a noble mien, had a fine open forehead, large blue eyes, flaxen hair, fair com- plexion, an handsome nose, but little beard, and a laugh not agreeable. His manners were harsh and austere, not to say savage : and, as to religion, he was indifferent to-
CHARLES, 155
wards all, though outwardly a Lutheran. A few anecdotes will illustrate his character. No dangers, however great, made the least, impression upon him. When a horse or two were killed under him at the battle of Narva in 1700, he leaped nimbly upon fresh ones, saying, " These people find me exercise." One day, when he was dictating letters to a secretary, a bomb fell through the roof into the next room of the house, where they were sitting. The secretary, terrified lest the house should come down upon them, let his pen drop out of his hand: " What is the matter," says the king calmly. The secretary could only reply, " Ah, .sir, the bomb." " The bomb !" says the king ; " what has the bomb to do with what I am dictating ? Go on."
He preserved more humanity than is usually found among conquerors. Once, in the middle of an action, finding a young Swedish officer wounded and unable to march, he obliged the officer to take his horse, and con- tinued to command his infantry on foot. The princess Lubomirski, who was very much in the interest and good graces of Augustus, falling by accident into the hands of one of his officers, he ordered her to be set at liberty ; saying, " that he did not make war with women." One day, near Leipsic, a peasant threw himself at his feet, with a complaint against a grenadier, that he had robbed him of certain eatables provided for himself and his family. " Is it true," said Charles sternly, " that you have robbed this man ?" The soldier replied, " Sir, I have not done near so much harm to this man, as your majesty has done to his master : for you have taken from Augustus a king- dom, whereas I have only taken from this poor scoundrel a dinner.'7 Charles made the peasant amends, and pardoned the soldier for his firmness : " however, my friend," says he to him, " you will do well to recollect, that, if I took a kingdom from Augustus, I did not take it for myself."
Though Charles lived hardily himself, a soldier did not fear to remonstrate to him against some bread, which was very black and mouldy, and which yet was the only pro- vision the troops had. Charles called for a piece of it,, and calmly ate it up; saying, "that it was indeed not good, but that it might be eaten." From the danger he was in in Poland, when he beat the Saxon troops in 1702, a comedy was exhibited at Marienburg, where the combat was represented to the disadvantage of the Swedes, " Oh," says Charles, hearing of it, " J am far from envying them
156 C H A R L E T O N.
in this pleasure. Let them beat me upon the theatres as long as they will, provided I do but beat them in the field.'*1 CHARLETON (WALTER), a very learned physician, and voluminous writer, the son of the rev. Walter Charle- ton, M. A. some time vicar of Ilminster, and afterwards rector of Shepton Mallet, in the county of Somerset, was born at Shepton Mallet, February 2, 1619, and was first educated by his father, a man ot extensive capacity, though but indifferently furnished with the goods of for- tune. He was afterwards sent to Oxford, and entered of Magdalen Hall in Lent term 1635, where he became the pupil of the famous Dr. John Wilkins, afterwards bishop of Chester, under whom he made great progress in logic and philosophy, and was noted for assiduous application and extensive capacity, which encouraged him to aim at the accomplishments of an universal scholar. But as his circumstances confined him to some particular profession, he made choice of physic, and in a short time made as great a progress in that as he had done in his former studies. On the breaking out of the civil war, which brought the king to Oxford, Mr. Charleton, by the favour of the king, had the degree of doctor of physic conferred upon him in February 1642, and was soon after made one of the phy- sicians in ordinary to his majesty. These honours made him be considered as a rising character, and exposed him to that envy and resentment which he could never entirely conquer. Upon the declension of the royal cause, he came up to London, was admitted of the college of physicians, acquired considerable practice, and lived in much esteem with the ablest and most learned men of the profession ; such as sir Francis Prujean, sir George Ent, Dr. William Harvey, and others. In the space of ten years before the Restoration, he wrote and published several very ingenious and learned treatises, as well on physical as other subjects, by which he gained great reputation abroad as well as at home; and though they are now less regarded than per- haps they deserve, yet they were then received with al- most universal approbation. He became, as Wood tells us, physician in ordinary to king Charles II. while in exile, which honour he retained after the king's return; and, upon the founding of the royal society, was chosen one of the first members. Among other patrons and friends were
i Modern Univ. Hist. — Life by Voltaire, &c.
CHARLETON.
William Cavendish, duke of Newcastle, whose life Dr. Cliarleton translated into Latin in a very clear and elegant style, and the celebrated Hobbes, but this intimacy, with: his avowed respect for the Epicurean philosophy, drew some suspicions upon him in regard to his religion, not- withstanding the pains he had taken to distinguish between the religious and philosophical opinions of Epicurus in his own writings against infidelity. Few circumstances seem to have drawn more censure on him than his venturing to differ in opinion from the celebrated Inigo Jones respecting Stonehenge, which Jones attributed to the Romans, and asserted to be a temple dedicated by them to the god Coe- lus, or Coelum ; Dr. Charleton referred this antiquity to later and more barbarous times, and transmitted Jones's book, which was not published till after its author's death, to Olaus Wormius, who wrote him several letters, tending to fortify him in his own sentiment, by proving that this work ought rather to be attributed to his countrymen the Danes. With this assistance Dr. Charleton drew up a treatise, offering many strong arguments to shew, that this could not be a Roman temple, and several plausible rea- sons why it ought rather to be considered as a Danish mo- nument; but his book, though learned, and enriched with a great variety of curious observations, was but indifferently received, and but coldly defended by his friends. Jones's son-in-law answered it with intemperate warmth, and many liberties were taken by others with Dr. Charleton's cha- racter, although sir William Dugdale and some other emi- nent antiquaries owned themselves to be of our author's opinion ; but it is now supposed that both are wrong. Notwithstanding this clamour, Dr. Charleton's fame was advanced by his anatomical prelections in the college theatre, in the spring of 1683, and his satisfactory defence of the immortal Harvey's claim to the discovery of the circulation of the blood, against the pretence that was set up in favour of father Paul. In 1689 he was chosen pre- sident of the college of physicians, in which office he con- tinued to the year 1691. A little after this, his circum- stances becoming narrow, he found it necessary to seek a retreat in the island of Jersey ; but the causes of this are not explained, nor have we been able to discover how long he continued in Jersey, or whether he returned afterwards to London. All that is known with certainty is, that he died in the latter end of 1707, and in the eighty-eighth year
158 CHARLETON.
of his age. He appears from his writings to have been a man of extensive learning, a lover of the constitution in church and state, and so much a lover of his country as to refuse a professor's chair in the university of Padua. Jn his junior years he dedicated much of his time to the study of philosophy and polite literature, was as well read in the Greek and Roman authors as any man of his time, and he was taught very early by his excellent tutor, bishop Wilkins, to digest his knowledge so as to command it readily when occasion required. In every branch of his own profession he has left testimonies of his diligence and his capacity ; and whoever considers the plainness and per- spicuity of his language, the pains he has taken to collect and produce the opinions of the old physicians, in order to compare them with the moderns, the just remarks with which these collections and comparisons are attended, the succinctness with which all this is dispatched, and the great accuracy of that method in which his books are written, will readily agree that he was equal to most of his contemporaries. As an antiquary, he had taken much pains in perusing our ancient historians, and in observing their excellencies as well as their defects. But, above all, he was studious of connecting the sciences with each other, and thereby rendering them severally more perfect ; in which, if he did not absolutely succeed himself, he had at least the satisfaction of opening the way to others, of show- ing the true road to perfection, and pointing out the means of applying and making those discoveries useful, which have followed in succeeding times. There is also good reason to believe, that though we have few or none of his writings extant that were composed during the last twenty years of his life, yet he was not idle during that space, but committed many things to paper, as materials at least for other works that he designed. There is now a large collection of his MS papers and letters on subjects of philosophy and natural history in the British Museum. (Ayscough's Catalogue.) His printed works are, 1. " Spiritus Gorgonicus vi sua saxipara exutus, sive de causis, signis, et sanatione Lithiaseos," Leyden, 1650, 8vo. This book is usually called De Lithiasi Diatriba. 2. " The darkness of Atheism discovered by the light of nature, a physico- theological treatise," London, 1651, 4to. 3. " The Ephe- sian and Cimmerian Matrons, two remarkable examples of the power of Love and Wit/7 London, 1653 and 1658, 8vo.
CHARLETON. 159
4. " Physiologia Epicuro-Gassendo-Charletoniana : or a fabric of natural science erected upon the most ancient hypothesis of atoms," London, 1654, in fol. 5. " The Im- mortality of the human Soul demonstrated by reasons na- tural," London, 1657, 4to. 6. " Oeconomia Animalis no- vis Anatomicorum inventis, indeque desumptis moderno- rum Medicorum Hypothesibus Physicis superstructa et mechanice explicata," London, 1658, 12mo; Amsterdam, 1659, 12mo; Leyden, 1678, 12mO; Hague, 1681, 12mo. It is likewise added to the last edition of " Gulielmi Cole de secretione animali cogitata." 7. " Natural history of nutrition, life, and voluntary motion, containing all the new discoveries of anatomists," &c. London, 1658, 4to. 8. " Exercitationes Physico-Anatomicse de Oeconomia Ani- mali," London, 1659, 8vo ; printed afterwards several times abroad. 9. " Exercitationes Pathologic*, in quibus morborum pene omnium natura, generatio, et causae ex npvis Anatomicorum inventis sedulo inquiruntur," London, 1£60, and 1661, 4to. 10. " Character of his most sacred Majesty Charles II. King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland," London, 1660, one sheet, 4to. 1 1. " Disquisi- tiones duae Anatomico-Physica? ; altera Anatome pueri de ccelo tacti, altera de Proprietatibus Cerebri humani," Lon- don, 1664, 8vo. 12. " Chorea Gigantum, or the most famous antiquity of Great Britain, vulgarly called Stone- henge, standing on Salisbury Plain, restored to the Danes," London, 1663, 4to. 13. " Onomasticon Zoicon, plero- rumque animalium differentias et nomina propria pluribus linguis exponens. Cui accedunt Mantissa Anatomice, et quiedam de variis Fossilium generibus," London, 1668 and 1671, 4to; Oxon. 1677, fol. 14. " Two . Philosophical Discourses ; the first concerning the different wits of men ; the second concerning the mystery of Vintners, or a dis- course of the various sicknesses of wines, and their re- spective remedies at this day commonly used, &c. Lon- don, 1663, 1675, 1692, Svo. 15. " De Scorbuto Liber singularis. Cui accessit Epiphonema in Medicastros," London, 1671, Svo; Leyden, 1672, 12mo. 16. " Natural History of the Passions," London, 1674, Svo. 17. " En- quiries into Humane Nature, in six: Anatomy-prelections in the new theatre of the royal college of physicians in Lon- don," London, 1680, 4to. 18. " Oratio zlnniversaria ha- bita inTheatro inclyti Collegii Medicorum Londinensis 5to Augusti 1680, in commemorationem Beneficiorum a Doc-
160 C H A R L E T O N.
tore Harvey aliisque praestitorum," London, 1680, 4^. 19. " The harmony of natural and positive Divine Laws," London, 1682, 8vo. 20. " Three Anatomic Lectures con- cerning, l.The motion of the blood through the veins and arteries. 2. The organic structure of the heart. 3. The efficient cause of the heart's pulsation. Read in the 19th, 20th, and 21st day of March 1682, in the anatomic theatre of his majesty's royal college of Physicians in London," London, 1683, 4to. 21. " Inquisitio Physlca de causis Catameniorum, et Uteri Rheumatismo, in quo probatur sanguinem in animali fermentescere nunquam," London, 1685, 8vo. 22. " Gulielmi Ducis Novicastrensis vita," London, 1668, fol. This is a translation from the English -original written by Margaret, the second wife of William duke of Newcastle. 23. " A Ternary of Paradoxes, of the magnetic cure of wounds, nativity of tartar in wine, and image of God in man," London, 1650, 4to. 24. " The errors of physicians concerning Defluxions called Delira- menta Catarrhi, " London, 1650, 4to, both translations from Van Helmont. 25. " Epicurus his Morals," London, 1655, 4to. This work of his is divided into thirty-one chapters, and in these he fully treats all the principles of the Epi- curean philosophy, digested under their proper heads ; tending to prove, that, considering the state of the hea- then world, the morals of Epicurus were as good as any, as in a former work he had shewn that his philosophic opi- nions were the best of any, or at least capable of being explained in such a manner as that they might become sa in the hands of a modern philosopher. This work was translated into several modern languages. 26. " The Life of Marcellus," translated from Plutarch, and printed in the second volume of " Plutarch's Lives translated from the Greek by several hands," London, 1684, 8vo. '
CHARLEVAL (CHARLES, or as in the Diet. Hist. JOHN LEWIS FAUCON DE Ris, lord of), was born in 1613, with a very delicate body, and a mind of the same quality. He was passionately fond of polite literature, and gained the love of all that cultivated it. His conversation was mingled with the gentleness and ingenuity that are apparent in his writings. Scarron, who was ludicrous even in his praises, speaking of the delicacy of his genius and taste, said, " that the muses had fed him upon, blanc-mange and
* Biog. Brit.-~Atk. Ox. vol. II.
CHARLEVAL. 161
chicken broth." His benevolence was active and muni- ficent. Having learnt that M. and madame Dacier were about to leave Paris, in order to live more at their ease in the country, he offered them ten thousand francs in gold, , and insisted on their acceptance of it. Notwithstanding the feebleness of his constitution, by strictly adhering to the regimen prescribed him by the faculty, he spun out his life to the age of eighty. The frequent use of rhubarb heated him so much, that it brought on a fever, which the physicians thought of curing by copious bleeding, and one of them said to the rest : " There, the fever is now going off." " I tell you," replied Thevenot, the king's librarian, who happened to be present, " it is the patient that is going off;" and Charleval died in an hour or two after, in 1693. J His poetical pieces fell into the hands of the president de Ris, his nephew, who never would consent to publish them. A small collection, however, was printed in 1759, 12mo; but they have scarcely supported their Ori- ginal reputation, although in France several of his epi- grams are yet frequently quoted in all companies. The conversation of the marechal d'Horquincourt and father Canaye, printed in the works of St. Evremond, a piece full of originality and humour, is the composition of Char- leval, excepting the little dissertation on Jansenism and Molinism, which St. Evremond subjoined to it; but it falls far short of the ingenuity of the rest of the work. *
CHARLEVOIX (PETi R FRANCIS XAVIER DE), a learned and industrious French Jesuit, was born at St. Quintin in 1684, and died in 1761, aged 78. His fame rests chiefly on the histories of his travels, which were extensive, and his accounts, although diffuse, are in general reckoned very godd authority. They consist of: 1. " Histoire et description gene*rale du Japon," 1738, 2 vols. 4to ; and 1754, 6 vols. 12mo. 2. " Histoire de PIsle de St. Domi- nique," 1720, 2 vols. 4to. 3. " Histoire generale de la Nouvelle France," 1744, 3 vols. 4to, and 6 vols. 12mo. 4. " Histoire ge*ne>ale du Paraguay," 1756, 6 vols. 12mo, and 3 vols. 4to. From these were translated into English, the " Journal of a Voyage to North America," 1760, 2 vols. 8vo, abridged afterwards under the title of " Letters to the duchess of Lesdiguieres, giving an account of a voyage to Canada," &c. 1763, 8vo; and " The History of
» Moreri.-l-Dict. Hist,
TOL. IX. M
162 CHABLEVOIX.
Paraguay,1' 1769, 2 vols. 8vo. Charlevoix also published in 1724, " Vie de Mere Marie de 1'Incarnation," 12mo; and he was for twenty-four years employed on the " Journal de Trevoux," which he enriched with many valuable arti- cles. l
C HAULIER, JOHN. See GERSON.
CHARLTON, WALTER. See CHARLETON.
CHARNOCK (JOHF), esq. F. S. A. an ingenious but unfortunate writer, was born Nov. 28, 1756, the only son of John Charnock, esq. a native of the island of Barbadoes, and formerly an advocate of eminence at the English bar, by Frances, daughter of Thomas Boothby, of Chingford in Essex, esq. About 1767 he was placed at the rev. Reynell Cotton's school at Winchester, and went from thence to the college, where, in the station of a commoner, he was under the immediate care of the celebrated Dr. Joseph Warton, the head master, in whose house he boarded, and became the peculiar favourite of that eminent tutor. Having attained to the seniority of the school, and gained the prize medal annually given for elocution, he removed from Winchester to Oxford, and was, in 1774, entered a gentleman-commoner of Merton college. Here he soon discovered his passion for literary composition, in a multiplicity of fugitive pieces on various subjects, which appeared in the periodical papers ; many of them, how- ever, were not of a kind likely to confer permanent repu- tation, being invectives against the American war, written in a vehement spirit of opposition, under the signatures of Casca, Squib, or Justice.
He left the university to return to a domestic life totally nnsuited to the activity both of body and mind for whicU he was remarkable, but which, amidst some family differ- ences, he contrived to employ on the study of naval and military tactics ; and with no other assistance than that of his mathematical knowledge, aided by a few books, he made a very considerable proficiency. The noble collec- tion of drawings which he left, executed during that short period solely by his own hand, would alone furnish an am- ple proof of his knowledge of these subjects, and of the indefatigable zeal with which he pursued them. He now became anxious to put into practice what he had learnt, and earnestly pressed for permission to embrace the naval
» Diet, Hist.
CHARNOCK,
163
or military profession. He was at this time sole heir to a very considerable fortune, and the darling of his parents, but derived none of the advantages which usually follow these circumstances. His request being denied, he entered a volunteer into the naval service, and very soon attained that proficiency of which his publications on the subject will be lasting monuments. A sense of duty afterwards withdrew him again into private life ; but his mind had re- ceived a wound in the disappointment, and other circum- stances, which, his biographer says, it would be indelicate to particularize, contributed to keep it open. By the un- kindness of those to whom he had most reason to look up, and partly by his own imprudence, he was obliged to have recourse to his pen for support, and although he employed it with talent and industry, it did not yield him the due recompence of his labours, nor the necessary sup- plies for his own maintenance and that of a beloved wife* Hence he became embarrassed in his circumstances, and the sources from .which he had the fairest right to expect relief being unaccountably closed against him, he was suf- fered to linger out the remainder of life in the prison of the King's- Bench, in which he died May 16, 1807. His funeral deserves to be recorded. It was not that of an insolvent debtor. To the surprise of all who knew his me- lancholy history, he was interred with great ceremony and expence at Lea, near Biackheath, in the same grave which, within two years after, received his father and mother.
His works, besides many smaller pieces, were, 1. " The Rights of a Free People," 1792, 8vo, an irony on the de- mocracy of that period. 2. " Biographia Navalis," 1794, &c. 6 vols. 8vo. 3. " A Letter on Finance and on Na- tional Defence,'7 1798. 4. " A History of Marine Archi- tecture," 3 vols. 4to. 5. " A Life of Lord Nelson," 1806. His " Biograpliia Navalis" is a truly valuable work, and supplies those deficiencies in the previous naval biographies of Campbell and Berkenhout, over whom Mr. Charnock 'had the superior advantage of professional knowledge. After his death was printed, " Loyalty ; or Invasion de- feated," 1810, an historical tragedy. l
CHARNOCK (STEPHEN), son of Richard Charnock an. attorney, descended from an ancier.t family of that name in Lancashire, was born in London in 1628, and educated
i Ceusura Literaria, vol. V.— -Biog. Dram, M 2
164 CHARNOCK.
first in Emanuel college in Cambridge, from whence be removed to New college, Oxford, in 1649, and obtained a fellowship by the parliamentarian interest. Afterwards he went into Ireland, where he preached, and was much ad- mired by the presbyterians and independents. Upon the restoration of king Charles II. he refused to conform, but returned into England, and lived mostly in London, where adhering to the principles of the nonconformists, he preached in private meetings, and had the reputation of a man of good parts, learning, and elocution. He died in July 27, 1680. He printed only a single sermon in his life-time, which is in the " Morning Exercise ;" but after his death, two folio volumes from his manuscripts were published in 1683, and still bear a high price. Wood says that those who differed from him in opinion, admired his extensive learning, into which he was first initiated at Emanuel college, Cambridge, by his tutor, Dr. Sancroft, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury. *
CHARPENTIER (FRANCIS), dean of the French acade- my, was born at Paris, Feb. 1620. His early discovery of great acuteness made his friends design him for the bar : but his taste led him to prefer the repose and stillness of the closet, and he became more delighted with languages and antiquity, than with the study of the law. He was made a member of the French academy in 1651, and had the advantage of the best conversation for his improvement. When Colbert became minister of state, he projected the setting up a French East-India company ; and to recom- mend the design more effectually, he thought it proper that a discourse should be published upon this subject. Accordingly he ordered Charpentier to draw one up, and was so pleased with his performance, published in 1664, that he kept him in his family, with a design to place him in another academy which was then founding, and which was afterwards known by the name of " Inscriptions and Medals." The learned languages, in which Charpentier was a considerable master, his great knowledge of anti- quity, and his exact and critical judgment, made him very serviceable in carrying on the business of this new- academy ; .and it is agreed on all hands, that no person of that learned society contributed more than himself towards that noble series of medals, which were struck of the most
* Ath. Ox. vol. JIi— Calamy, —Funeral Sermon by Johnson,
CHARPENTIER. 165
considerable events that happened in the reign of Lewis XIV. but his adulation of the king exceeded that of all his contemporaries.
He died April 22, 1702, aged 82. His harangues and discourses, delivered before the academy, or when he was chosen to make a speech to the king, are extant in the collections of the academy. As to the character of his works, it rnay be said in general, that wit and learning are every where visible ; but although we meet with some high flights of eloquence, and masterly strokes of compo- sition, his taste has not been thought equal to his learning. His principal works are, " La Vie de Socrate," 1650, 12mo. A translation of the " Cyropredia," 1659, 12 mo. " Dis- cours touchant TEtablissement d'une Compagnie Frangoise pour le Commerce des Indes Orientales," 4to. " De Pex- cellence de la Langue Francoise," 1683, 2 vols. 12mo. " Carpentariana," 12mo, &c. in which there are some amusing anecdotes, but they are not esteemed the best of the Ana. l
CHARRON (PETER), was born at Paris in 1541. Though his parents were in narrow circumstances, yet discovering their son's capacity, they were particularly attentive to his education. After making a considerable proficiency in grammar-learning, he applied to logic, metaphysics, moral and natural philosophy, and afterwards studied civil and common law at the universities of Orleans and Bourges, and commenced doctor in that faculty. Upon his return to Paris, he was admitted an advocate in the court of par- liament. He always declared the bar to be the best and most improving school in the world ; and accordingly at- tended at all the public hearings for five or six years : but foreseeing that preferment in this way, if ever attained at all, was like to come very slow, as he had neither private interest, nor relations among the solicitors and proctors of the court, he gave over that employment, and closely ap- plied to the study of divinity. By his superior pulpit eloquence, he soon came into high reputation with the greatest and most learned men of his time, insomuch that the bishops seemed to strive which of them should get him into his diocese ; making him an offer of being theological canon or divinity lecturer in their churches, and of other dignities and benefices, besides giving him noble presents*
* Moreri, — G«n. Diet.-— Diet. Hist.
166 C H A R R O N.
He was successively theologal of Bazas, Aqcs, Lethoure, Agen, Cahors, and Condom, canon and schoolmaster in the church of Bourdeaux, and chanter in the church of Condom. Queen Margaret, duchess of Bulois, enter- tained him for her preacher in ordinary; and the king, though at that time a protestant, frequently did him the honour to be one of his audience. He was also retained by the cardinal d'Armagnac, the pope's legate at Avignon, who had a great value for him ; yet amidst all these pro- motions, he never took any degree or title in divinity, but satisfied himself with deserving and being capable of the highest. After about eighteen years absence from Paris, he resolved to end his days there; and being a lover of retirement, vowed to become a Carthusian. On his arrival at Paris, he communicated his intention to the prior of the order, but was rejected, notwithstanding his most pressing entreaties. They told him that he could not be received on account of his age, then about forty-eight, and that the order required all the vigour of youth to support its auste- rities. He next addressed himself to the Celestines at Paris, but with the same success, and for the same reasons : in this embarrassment, he was assured by three learned casuists, that as he was no ways accessary to the non -per- formance of his vow, it was no longer binding ; and that he might, with a very safe conscience, continue in the world as a secular. He preached, however, a course of Lent sermons at Angers in 1589. Going afterwards to Bourdeaux, he contracted a very intimate friendship with Michael de Montagne, author of the well known Essays, from whom he received all possible testimonies of regard ; for, among other things, Montagne ordered by his last will, that in case he should leave no issue-male of his own, M. Charron should, after his decease, be entitled to bear the coat of arms plain, as they belonged to his noble family, and Charron, in return, made Montagne's brother- in-law his residuary legatee. He staid at Bourdeaux from 1589 to 1593; and in that interval composed his book, entitled, " Les Trois Verge's," which he published in 1594. These three truths are the following : 1. That there is a God and a true religion : 2. That of all religions the Christian is the only true one : 3. That of all the Christian communions the Roman catholic is the only true church. This work procured him. the acquaintance of M. de Sulpice, Bishop and count of Cahors, who sent for him and offered
C H A R R O N. 167
him the places of his vicar-general and canon theological in his church, which he accepted. He was deputed to the general assembly of the clergy in 1 595, and was chosen first secretary to the assembly. In 1599 he returned to Cahors ; and in that and the following year composed eight discourses upon the sacrament of the Lord's supper ; and. others upon the knowledge and providence of God, the redemption of the world, the communion of saints, and likewise his " books of Wisdom." Whilst he was thus employed, the bishop of Condom, to draw him into his diocese, presented him with the chaptership in his church; and the theologal chair falling vacant about the same time, made him an offer of that too, which -Charron accepted, and resolved to settle there. In 1601 he printed at Bour- deaux his books " of Wisdom," which gave him a great reputation, and made his character generally known. October 1603, he made a journey to Paris, to thank the Bishop of Boulogne ; who, in order to have him near him- self, had oifered him the place of theologal canon. This he was disposed to accept of; but the moisture and cold- ness of the air at Boulogne, and its nearness to the sea, not only made it, he said to a friend, a melancholy and unpleasant place, but very unwholesome too ; adding, that the sun was his visible god, as God was his invisible sun. At Paris he began a new edition of his books " of Wisdom," of which he lived to see but three or four sheets printed, dying Nov. 16, 1603, of an apoplexy. The impression of the new edition of his book " of Wisdom," with alterations by the author, occasioned by the offence taken at some p^sages in the former, was completed in 1604, by the care of a friend ; but as the Bourdeaux edition contained some things that were either suppressed or softened in the subsequent one, it was much sought after by the curious. Hence the booksellers of several cities reprinted the book after that edition ; and this induced a Paris bookseller to print an edition, to which he subjoined all the passages of the first edition which had been struck out or corrected, and all those which the president Jeannin, who was em- ployed by the chancellor to examine the book, judged necessary to be changed. This edition appeared in 1707. There have been two translations of it into English, the last by George Stanhope, D. D. printed in 1697. Dr. Stanhope says, that M. Charron " was a person that feared God, led a pious and good life, was charitably disposed,
168 C H A R R O N.
a person of wisdom and conduct, serious and considerate ; a »great philosopher, an eloquent orator, a famous and powerful preacher, richly furnished and adorned with the most excellent virtues and graces both moral and divine ; such as made him very remarkable and singular, and de- servedly gave him the character of a good man and a good Christian ; such as preserve a great honour and esteem for his memory among persons of worth and virtue, and will continue to do so as Ions: as the world shall last." From
o
this high praise considerable deductions may surely be made. Charron's fame has scarcely outlived his century ; his book on " Wisdom'' certainly abounds in ingenious and original observations on moral topics, but gives a gloomy picture of human nature and society. Neither is it free from sentiments very hostile to revealed religion, but so artfully disguised as to impose on so orthodox a di- vine as dean Stanhope. l
CHARTIER (ALAIN), a native of Bayeux, one of the first French writers who aspired to elegance, flourished about 1430. He was secretary to the kings Charles VI. and VII. and employed in several embassies. His compo- sitions in prose excelled those that were poetical, and he spoke as well as he wrote, so that he was esteemed the fa- ther of French eloquence. The following curious anec- dote relating to him is recorded : Margaret of Scotland, first wife to the dauphin, afterwards Lewis XI. as she passed through the Louvre, observed Alain asleep, and went and kissed him. When her attendants expressed their surprize that she should thus distinguish a man re- markable for his ugliness, she replied, " I do not kiss the man, but the mouth that has uttered so many charming things." His works were published by the elder Du Chesne, in 1617, 4to ; the first part consisting of his works in prose, viz. the " Curial;" a "Treatise on Hope;1" the " Luadrilogus Invectif," against Edward III. ; and others, partly spurious ; and the second part containing his poems, which are for the most part obscure and te- dious. Alain Chartier died at Avignon in 1449. We find much difference in the biographers of Chartier, some as- cribing to him the " Chroniques de St. Denys," Paris, 1493, 3 vols. fol. and others to his brother John ; and the " History of Charles VII." likewise attributed to him, is given by Du
1 Gen. Diet. — Moreri. — Brucker. — Diet. Hist.
C H A R T I E R. 169
Chesne to Berri, first herald to Charles VII. and by Moreri to Gilles de Bouvier. l
CHARTIER (RENE'), a native of Vendome, studied me- dicine at Paris, where he took his doctor's degree in 1608, and was afterwards professor of surgery, and physician to the king. He is principally known as the editor of a very splendid edition of the works of Hippocrates and Galen, on which he expended all his fortune. It was printed in 13 vols. fol. usually bound in nine, the dates of which ap- pear to be from 1639 to 1649, and that of the supple- mentary volumes about 1672. We have no account of his death, but he appears to have died before I63y.2
CHASLES (GREGORY DE), who was born August 17, 1659, at Paris, studied at the college de la Marche, and there became acquainted with M. de Seigneley, who pro- cured him an employment in the marine. The greatest part of his life passed in voyages to the Levant, Canada, and the East Indies. In Canada he was taken prisoner by the English ; he was also a prisoner in Turkey. Chasles was gay, sprightly, and loved good cheer, but yet satiri- cal, particularly against the monks, and the constitution. He was banished from Paris to Chartres, for some of these liberties, where he was living in a sordid manner, in 1719 or 1720. He wrote " Les Illustres Francoises," 3 vols. 12mo, containing seven histories, to which two others are added in the edition of Utrecht, 1737, 4 vols. 12mo, and of Paris, 4 vols. ; but these two are much inferior to the rest. " Journal d'un Voyage fait aux Indes Orientales sur Tescadre de M. du Quesrie en 1690 et 1691," Rouen, 1721, 3 vols. 12mo; and a sixth volume of Don Quixote. Though Chasles was an advocate, the " Diet, de Justice, Police, et Finances,", written by Francis James Chasles, 1725, 3 vols. fol. must not be ascribed to him.3
CHASSENEUZ (BARTHOLOMEW), was born at Issy- TEveque, in Burgundy, 1480. He held theoffice of king's advocate at Autiin till 1522, when Francis I. appointed him counsellor to the parliament of Paris, then president of that of Provence. Chasseneuz was in the latter office when that court gave sentence against the inhabitants of Cabrieres and Merindol. He prevented the execution of it during his life, and died 1542, leaving several works i
l Gen. Diet.— Moreri.— Diet. Hist.
* Moreri.— Haller Bibl. Med.— Saxii Onomast. 3 Diet. Hist.
170 C H A S S E N E U Z.
among the rest, a " Commentary on the Custom of Bur- gundy," of which there were five editions in his life-time, and above fifteen since. The last edition is by the pre- sident Bouhier, 1717, 4to, new modelled in that which he has since published in 2 vols. fol. l
CHASTELAIN (CLAUDE), canon of the cathedral church of Paris, his native place, where he was born in 1639, possessed a very superior degree of knowledge in the liturgies, rites, and ceremonies of the church ; and had for that purpose travelled over Italy, France, and Ger- many ; studying every where the particular customs of each separate church. He died 1712, aged seventy-three, leaving a " Universal Martyrology," Paris, 1 709, 4to, and the " Life of St. Chaumont," 1697, 12mo. He also pub- lished the " Hagiographicai Dictionary," which was in- serted by Menage in his etymologies of the French tongue, with great praise of the author, as one whose merit was not duly estimated by the age he lived in.a
CHASTELAIN (GEORGE, or CASTELLANUS), a Flemish gentleman, who was educated at the court of the dukes of Burgundy, and esteemed as one of those by whom the French language was at that time best understood. John Molinet was his pupil. He died 1475, leaving in French verse, an account of all the extraordinary things which happened in his time, 1531, 4to ; and at the end of the Legend of Fairfeu, 1723, 8vo; " Le Chevalier delibere, ou la Mort du Due de Bourgogne devant Nanci," 1489, 4to. Some attribute this work to Oliver de la Marche. " Hist, du Chevalier Jaques de Lalain," Antwerp, 1634, 4to; " Les Epitaphes d'Hector et d'Achille," 1525, 8vo.3
CHASTELET (GABRIEL EMILIA DE BRETEUIL, MAR- CHIONESS), descended of a very ancient family of Picardy, was born December 17, 1706. Among the women of her nation who have rendered themselves illustrious, she is certainly entitled to the first rank. Before her, many of them had acquired reputation by agreeable romances, and by poetical pieces, in which there appeared the graces of wit, and the charms of sentiment. Several also, by applying themselves to the study of languages, by making their beauties to pass into their own, and by enriching their versions with valuable commentaries, had deserved
1 t>ict. Hist. — Moreri. — Niceron. 2 Morcri. — Diet. Hist.
» L' Arc-cat. — Diet. Hist. — Moreri in Chatelain.
C H A S T E L E T. 171
well of the republic of letters. By composing works on subjects which unfold themselves only to men of rare ge- nius, she has classed herself, in the opinion of her country- men, with the greatest philosophers, and may be said to have rivalled Leibnitz and Newton. From her early youth she read the best authors, without the medium of a trans- lation : Tasso, Milton, and Virgil were alike familiar to her ; and her ear was particularly sensible to the melody of verse. She was endowed with great eloquence, but not of that sort which consists only in displaying wit or ac- quirements ; precision was the character of her's. She would rather have written with the solidity of Pascal than with the charms of S6vigne. She loved abstract sciences, studied mathematics deeply, and published an explana- tion of the philosophy of Leibnitz, under the title of " In- stitutions de Physique," in 8vo, addressed to her son, the preliminary discourse to which is said to be a model of reason and eloquence. Afterwards she published a treatise on " The Nature of Fire." To know common geometry did not satisfy her. She was so well skilled in the philo- sophy of Newton, that she translated his works, and en- riched them by a commentary, in 4 vols. 4to ; its title is " Principes Mathematiques de la Philosophe Naturelle." This work, which cost her infinite labour, is supposed to have hastened her death, which took place in 1749. With all her talents and personal qualifications, however, it is ge- nerally admitted that she had no pretensions to chastity.1
CHASTELLUX (FRANCIS JOHN, MARQUIS DE), a marshal in the French army, and a member of the French academy, and of many other literary societies, was born in 1734, of a distinguished family. His military talents raised him to the rank of brigadier-general, and he is said to have served in that capacity with great reputation in America. Of his military, however, we know less than of his literary ca- reer, which he pursued amidst all his public employments. He had early in life a strong passion for poetry and music. Many of his comedies, written for private theatres, and heard with transport, might have been equally successful on the public stages, had he had courage sufficient to make the experiment. He was an officer in the French guards in 1765, when he published his ingenious " Essay on the Union of Poetry and Music." This essay was the conse-
1 Diet. Hist,
172 CHASTELLUX.
quence of a voyage into Italy, where he seems to have adopted an exclusive taste for the dramatic music of that country, as Rousseau had done before. He even adopts some of Rousseau's ideas upon music ; but in general he thinks for himself, both deeply and originally. By his re- flections on the musical drama, he not only offended the musicians of France, but the lyric poets of every country ; not scrupling to assert that in an opera, music, which ought to be the principal consideration, had been too long a slave to syllables ; for since the cultivation of the melo-drama, it was found that music had its own language, its tropes, metaphors, colouring, movements, passions, and expres- sion of sentiment. This little tract, for it was but a pamphlet of 90 or 100 pages, 12mo, gave birth to a long controversy in France, in which the author was supported by the abbe Arnaud, M. D'Alembert, the abb£ Morellet, and M. Marmontel. His chief antagonist was the author of a " Treatise on the Melo-Drama," who, loving poetry better than music, wished to reduce the opera to a mere recitative or musical declamation. During the subsequent feuds between the Gluckists and Piccinists, the opponents of the marquis de Chastellux enlisted with the former, and his friends with the latter of these sects.
The next work which the marquis wrote, was his essay <£ De la felicite publique," published at Amsterdam, with- out his name, which was given to the English public in a translation entitled " An Essay on Public Happiness, in- vestigating the state of human nature, under each of its par- ticular appearances, through the several periods of history to the present times," London, 2 vols. 8vo. While the marquis was engaged on this work he frequently shifted his abode, and was also obliged to attend his regiment (that of Guienne) during four months of the year : at these times he could only have recourse to such books as were at hand, many of which were translations, and but a small number originals ; yet, notwithstanding these disadvantages, he has brought together a great variety of historical informa- tion, accompanied with many useful, and some fanciful observations. Viewing the then placid state of society in his own and neighbouring countries, he was deceived by his love of peace and happiness, into a kind of prediction that wars would be no more so frequent, or produce such great calamities, as they had in ages past ! The transla-
C H A S T E L L U X. 173
tion, we have heard, was by J. Kent, esq. a country gen- tleman.
We have already noticed that the marquis served in America, under Rochatnbeau, during the war with Great Britain. This produced his " Voyage dans 1'Amerique," which was immediately translated into English, under the title " Travels in North- America, in the years 1780, 1781, 1782," 1787, 2 vols. 8vo. In this work, which is rather to be read as amusing than relied on as authentic, there is much of that enthusiasm for theoretic liberty and happiness which pervades the marquis's former work ; but his want of impartiality did not escape even his own countrymen. Brissot de Warville wrote an " Examen Critique'7 of the travels, in which he convicted the writer of great partiality, as well as of unjust representations of events ; and the same charges were brought against him by an anonymous writer in our own country, who4, after the appearance of the translation, published " Remarks on the Travels, &c." 1787, 8vo. The only other publication of the marquis's pen, was "Notice sur la vie et les ecrits d'Helvetius," printed with his poem " Du Bonheur." We give this on the authority of the Diet. Hist, but it has been attributed to Duclos, to Saurin, and to the baron Holbach. The marquis de Chastellux died suddenly at Paris, Oct. 24, 1788.1
CHATEL (PETER DU), in Latin CASTELLANUS, a very learned French prelate, is said by some to have been of obscure birth, but his biographer Galland makes him of an ancient family, and the son of a brave knight. Yet this is doubtful, if what he said to king Francis I. be more than a witticism. The king once asked him if he was a gentle- man ; to which Chatel answered " that there were three in the ark, but he did not really know from which of them he descended." He was, however, born at Arc, in Bur- gundy, and in the eleventh year of his age, before which his parents died, he was sent to Dijon, for education, where he made an astonishing progress, and before he had been there six years, was appointed a teacher, in which capacity he soon distinguished himself, and on one occa- sion made a public display of more than grammatical talents. His master, Peter Turreau, was accused of being
* Diet. Hist. — Essay on Public Happiness, notes to vol. I.— Burners Me- moirs of Metaatasio, rol, U. p. 329.
174 C H A T E L,
an astrologer, and Chatel pleaded his cause so ably that he was acquitted. He afterwards travelled, in order to cultivate the acquaintance of the learned men of his time, and particularly of Erasmus, whom he met at Basil, and who conceived such a high opinion of his learning, as to recommend him to Frobenius, to be corrector of the Greek and Latin authors, printed at his celebrated press. While here he had also an opportunity of correcting some of Erasmus's works ; but they left Basil together, when the popish religion was established there. Erasmus retired to Fribourg, and Chatel returned to France, where he ac- cepted the offer made him by some persons of distinction, to be tutor to certain young men who were to study law at Bourges, under the celebrated Alciat. As they were not yet prepared to depart, he read public lectures on the Greek text of St. Paul's epistle to the Romans ; and un- fortunately for his reputation, was entrapped into an in- trigue with a young woman, a circumstance on which Bayle expatiates with his usual delight ~in what is indeli- cate. ChatePs scholars, however, being at length ready, he accompanied them to Bourges, and studied law, filling up his leisure hours with topics of polite literature. His diligence was unremitting, as he slept scarcely three hours in the night, and the moment he waked ran with eagerness to his books. This method of study he preserved, even af- terwttrds, when appointed reader to the king.
Having an inclination to visit Italy, the bishop of Auxerre, who was going there in a diplomatic character, took him with him, but at Rome he found little enjoyment except in contemplating the remains of antiquity. The corruption of morals at the court of Rome appeared so atrocious in his eyes, that for many years afterwards he could not speak on the subject without indignation, and appears indeed to have conceived as bad an opinion of the court of Rome as any of the reformers, and expressed himself with as much severity. From Rome he went to Venice, and was induced to accept the office of teaching polite literature in the island of Cyprus, with a pension of two hundred crowns, and there he read lectures for two years with great success. He afterwards went into Egypt, Jerusalem, and Constantinople, and on his return home, the French ambassador at the Porte gave him letters of strong recommendation to Francis I. who appointed him his reader; arid entertained him with the utmost familiarity.
C H A T E L. m
Chatel availed himself of this favour to procure advantages to learning and learned men ; but although his sentiments were so far liberal as to admit that the church wanted re- forming, he supported the catholic religion, and even as- sisted the inquisitors and informers. He was also averse to capital punishments for heresy, and involved himself in danger by pleading for some pretended heretics, who, it was reported, were to be put to death. He likewise ap- peased the king's wrath against the Waldenses before the slaughter of Cabrioles and Merindol, and once delivered Dolet out of prison. His zeal for maintaining the rights of the Gallican church against the pretensions of the court of Rome, rendered him odious there, and the doctors of the Sorbonne were not less displeased with him for the protection he granted in 1545, to Robert Stephens, thfe celebrated printer. These were favourable symptoms of liberality, at least, if not of an inclination to befriend the cause of the reformation, and soften the rigours of perse- cution. But Chatel wanted firmness, and withdrawing his protection from Stephens, the latter was forced to retire into another country. Chatel was perhaps influenced by the favours heaped upon him by Francis T. who made him bishop of Tulle in 1539, and afterwards bishop of Macron. He is said never to have appeared to more advantage as a divine and a man of eloquence than when he prepared Francis I. for death, and delivered his funeral oration. Yet in this oration, by hinting that the s.oul of Francis had immediately gone to heaven, he alarmed the doctors of the Sorbonne, who complained that he was heretic enough to oppose the doctrine of purgatory. A more valid objec- tion, perhaps, might have been his high praise of Fran- cis I. whose character was not that of perfect purity.
Henry II. the successor of Francis, finding that Chatel intended to leave the court, by way of detaining him, be- stowed on him the important office of grand almoner, and translated him to the bishopric of Orleans, in which he is said to have introduced some salutary reformation among the ignorant and vicious priests. Here he frequently preached, and very wonderful accounts are given of the effects of his eloquence upon the most hardened impe- nitents. On one of these occasions he was seized with a fit of the palsy, which proved fatal Feb. 3, 1552, and which some protestant writers considered as a judgment on him for maintaining a conduct contrary to the convictions
176 C H A T E L.
of his own mind. He was undoubtedly a man inclined to moderation, but appears to have been ambitious, and too much ensnared by a court life. His learning was very ex- tensive ; but we have only in print a Latin letter from Francis I. to Charles V. ascribed to him, and his funeral oration on Francis I. both printed in his life by Galland, published by Baluze, Paris, 1674, 8vo. There was, how- ever, an edition of the oration printed in 1547, under the title " Le trepas, obseques, et enterrement de Francois I. avec les deux sermons fu neb res," &c. 4to. l
CHATELET (PAUL HAY, lord of), a gentleman de- scended from .an ancient family in Bretany, one of the members of the French, academy, advocate-general to the parliament of Rennes, afterwards master of the requests, and counseller of state, was born in 1593. The court entrusted him with several important commissions ; but, upon his refusing to be among the judges at the trial of the marechal de Marillac, he was sent to prison, but set at liberty some time after. It is said, that, being one day with M. de St. Preuil, who was soliciting the due de Mont- morenci's pardon, the king said to him, " I believe M. du Chatelet would willingly part with an arm to save M. de Montmorenci." To which he replied, " I would, sire, that I could lose them both, for they can do you no service, and save one who has gained many battles for you, and would gain many more." After his release from prison above noticed, he went to the king's chapel ; but that prince affecting to look another way that he might not meet the eyes of a person to whom he had lately done such a flagrant injury, Du Chatelet whispered one of the noblemen, " Be so good, my lord, as to tell the king, that I freely forgive him, and beg the honour of one look." This made the king smile, and Du Chatelet was forgiven. It was after the same release, that, when the cardinal de Richelieu (most of whose state papers were the products of Lis pen) made some excuses for his detention, he an- swered, " I make a great difference betwixt any ill your eminency does of yourself, and any which you permit to be done ; nor shall you find me the less devoted to your service." Du Chatelet died April 6, I636> leaving several works in prose and verse, the principal of which are, 1.
i Gen. Diet. — Moreri.— Diet. Hist. — Jortin's Erasmus. — Crevier Hist, de i'Universitfc de Paris.
CHATELET. 177
" Histoire de Bertrand du Gueschin, connetable de France," 1666, fol. and 1693, 4to. 2. " Observations sur la vie et la condamnation du mareschal de Marillac," Paris, 1633, 4to. 3. " Plusieurs de pieces pour servir a 1'Histoire," 1635, fol. and some satires and poems which are not in much estimation. l
CHATTERTON (THOMAS), an English poet of sin- gular genius and character, was born Nov. 20, 1752. His father was originally a writing usher to a school in Bristol, afterwards va singing man in the cathedral, and lastly, master of the free-school in Pyle-street in the same city. He died about three months before this son was born. It is not quite unimportant to add that our poet was descended from a long line of ancestors who held the office of sexton of St. Mary Reclcliffe ; since it was in the muniment room of this church that the materials were found from which he constructed that system of imposture which has rendered his name celebrated, and his history interesting. At five years of age he was sent to the school in Pyle-street, then superintended by a Mr. Love ; but here he improved so little that his mother took him back. While under her care his childish attention is said to have been engaged by the illuminated capitals of an old musical manuscript in French, which circumstance encouraged her to initiate him in the alphabet, and she afterwards taught him to read from an old black-letter Testament or Bible. That a per- son of her rank in life should be able to read the black- letter is somewhat extraordinary, but the fact rests upon her authority, and has been considered as an introduction to that fondness for antiquities for which he was afterwards distinguished.
His next removal was to Colston's charity school, at the age of eight years, where he was taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, at the daily rate of nine hours in summer, and seven in winter. Such at least was the prescribed discipline of the school, although it was far more than a boy of his capacity required. One of his masters, Phillips, whom he has celebrated in an elegy, was a frequent writer of verses in the magazines, and was the means of exciting a degree of poetical emulation among his scholars, but to this Chatterton appeared for some time quite indifferent. About his tenth year he began to read from inclination ;
l Moreri. — Diet. Hist.
VOL. IX. N *.
17S CflATTERTON.
sometimes hiring his books from a circulating library, and sometimes borrowing them from his friends ; and before he was twelve, had gone through about seventy volumes, principally history and divinity. Before this time also he had composed some verses, particularly those entitled " Apostate Will ;" which, although they bear no compa- rison with what he afterwards produced, discover at that early age a disposition to personal satire, and a conscious- ness of superior sense. It would be more remarkable, were it true, that while at this school he is said to have shown to his master Phillips, one of those mawuscripts which he pretended had been found in a chest in Redcliffe church, but as neither Phillips or another person to whom this treasure was exhibited, could read it, the commencement of his Rowleian impostures must be postponed to a future period.
At school he had gathered some knowledge of music, drawing, and arithmetic, and with this stock he was bound apprentice July 1767, to Mr. John Lambert, an attorney at Bristol, for seven years. His apprenticeship appears to have been of the lower order, and his situation more resembling that of a servant than a pupil. ' His chief em- ployment was to copy precedents, which frequently did not require more than two hours in a day. The rest of his time was probably filled up by the desultory course of read- ing which he had begun at school, and which terminated chiefly in the study of the old English phraseology, he- raldry, and miscellaneous antiquities : of the two last he acquired, not a profound knowledge, but enough to en- able him to create fictions capable of deceiving those who had less. His general conduct during his apprenticeship was decent and regular. On one occasion only Mr. Lam- bert thought him deserving of correction for writing an abusive letter in a feigned hand to his old school-master. So soon did this young man learn the arts of deceit, which he was now preparing to practise upon a more extensive scale.
In the beginning of October 1768, the completion of the new bridge at Bristol suggested to him a fit oppor- tunity for playing off the first of his public deceptions. This was an account of the ceremonies on opening the old bridge, said to be taken from an ancient manuscript, a copy of which he sent to Farley's Bristol Journal, in a short letter signed Dunhelmus Bristoliensis. Such a memoir, at
CHATTERTON. 179
so critical a time, naturally excited attention ; and Farley, who was called upon to give up the author, after touch inquiry, discovered that Chatterton had sent it. Chatter- ton was consequently interrogated, probably without much ceremony, where he had obtained it. And here his un- happy disposition shewed itself in a manner highly affect- ing in one so young, for he had not yet reached his six- teenth ) ear, and according to all that can be gathered, had not been corrupted either by precept or example. " To the threats," we are told, " of those who treated him (agreeably to his appearance) as a child, he returned no- thing but haughtiness, and a refusal to give any account. By milder usage he was somewhat softened, and appeared inclined to give ail the information in his power."
The effect, however, of this mild usage was, that instead of all or any part of the information in his power, he tried two different falsehoods : the first, " that he was employed to transcribe the contents of certain ancient manuscripts by a gentleman, who had also engaged him to furnish complimentary verses inscribed to a lady with whom that gentleman was in love." But as this story was to rest on proofs which he could not produce, he next asserted, " that he had received the paper in question, together with many other manuscripts, from his father, who had found them in a large chest in the upper room over the chapel, on the north side of Redcliffe church."
As this last story is the foundation of the whole contro- versy respecting Chatterton, it will be necessary to give the circumstances as related in his life written for the Biographia Britannica, and prefixed to the recent edition of his works.
" Over the north porch of St. Mary Redcliffe church, which was founded, or at least rebuilt, by Mr. W. Canynge (an eminent merchant of Bristol, in the fifteenth century, and in the reign of Edward the Fourth), there is a kind of muniment room, in which were deposited six v or seven chests, one of which in particular was called Mr. Canynge's cofre: this chest, it is said, was secured by six keys,- two of which were entrusted to the minister and procurator of the church, two to the mayor, and one to each of the church-wardens. In process of time, however, the six keys appear to have been lost: and about the year 17g7, a notion prevailed that some title deeds, and other vyrjtings pf value, wtrje contained in Mr. Ciniynge's cofre. jii con-
N 2
180 C H A T T E R T O N.
sequence of this opinion an order of vestry was made, that the chest should be opened under the inspection of an attorney ; and that those writings which appeared of con- sequence should be removed to the south porch of the church. The locks were therefore forced, and not only the principal chest, but the others, which were also sup- posed to contain writings, were all broken open. The deeds immediately relating to the church were removed, and the other manuscripts were left exposed as of no value. Considerable depredations had, from time to time, been committed upon them by different persons : but the most insatiate of these plunderers was the father of Chatterton. His uncle being sexton of St. Mary Redcliffe gave him free access to the church. He carried off, from time to time, parcels of the parchments, and one time alone, with the assistance of his boys, is known to have filled a large basket with them. They were deposited in a cupboard in the school and employed for different purposes, such as the covering of copy-books, &c. : in particular, Mr. Gibbs, the minister of the parish, having presented the boys with twenty Bibles, Mr. Chatterton, in order to preserve these books from being damaged, covered them with some of the parchments. At his death, the widow being under a necessity of removing, carried the remainder of them to her own habitation. Of the discovery of their value by the younger Chatterton, the account of Mr. Smith, a very intimate acquaintance, which he gave to Dr. Glynn of Cambridge, is too interesting to be omitted. When young Chatterton was first articled to Mr. Lambert, he used fre- quently to come home to his mother, by way of a short visit. There one day his eye was caught by one of these parchments, which had been converted into a thread-paper. He found not only the writing to be very old, the charac- ters very different from common characters, but that the subject therein treated was different from common subjects. Being naturally of an inquisitive and curious turn, he was very much struck with their appearance, and, as might be expected, began to question his mother what those thread- papers were, how she got them, and whence they came. Upon further inquiry, he was led to a full discovery of all the parchments which remained ; the bulk of them con- sisted of poetical and other compositions, by Mr. Canynge, and a particular friend of his, Thomas Rowley, whom Chatterton at first called a monk, and afterwards a secular
CHATTERTON. 181.
priest of the fifteenth century. Such, at least, appears to be the account which. Chatterton thought proper to give, and which he wished to be believed. It is, indeed, con- firmed by the testimony of his mother and sister. Mrs. Chatterton informed a friend of the dean of Exeter (Dr. Milles), that on her removal from Pyle-street, she emptied the cupboard of its contents, partly into a large long deal box, where her husband used to keep his clothes, and partly into a square oak box of a smaller size ; carrying both with their contents to her lodgings, where, according to her account, they continued neglected and undisturbed till her son first discovered their value ; who having ex- amined their contents, told his mother ' that he had found a treasure, and was so glad nothing could be like it.' That he then removed all these parchments out of the large long deal box in which his father used to keep his clothes, into the square oak box : that he was perpetually ransacking every corner of the house for more parchments ; and from time to time, carried away those he had already found by pockets full. That one day happening to see Clarke's History of the Bible covered with one of those parchments, he swore a great oath, and stripping the book, put the cover into his pocket, and carried it away ; at the same time stripping a common little Bible, but finding no wri- ting upon the cover, replaced it again very leisurely. Upon being informed of the manner in which his father had pro- cured the parchments, he went himself to the place, and picked up four more."
Such is the story of the discovery of the poems attri- buted to Rowley, which Chatterton evidently made up from the credulity of his mother and other friends, who could not read the parchments on which he affected to set so high a value, and which he afterwards endeavoured to render of public importance by producing these wonderful treasures of Canynge's cofre. In his attempt already re- lated, respecting the old bridge, he had not been eminently successful, owing to his prevarication. He now imparted some of these manuscripts to George Catcot, a pewterer of Bristol, who had heard of the discovery, and desired to be introduced to Chatterton. The latter very readily gave him the " Bristow Tragedy," Rowley's epitaph on Ca- nynge's ancestor, and some smaller pieces. These Catcot communicated to Mr. Barret, a surgeon, who was writing a History of Bristol, and would naturally be glad to add to
182 C H A T T E R T O N.
its honours that of having produced such a poet as Rowley, In his conversations with Barret and Catcot, he appears to have been driven to many prevarications, sometimes own- . ing that he had destroyed several of these valuable manu- scripts, and at other times asserting that he was in posses- sion of others which he could not produce. These contra- dictions must have entirely destroyed his evidence in any other case, in the opinion of thinking and impartial judges; but the historian of Bristol could not forego the hopes of enriching his book by originals of so great importance; and having obtained from Chatterton several fragments, some of considerable length, actually introduced them as au- thentic in his history, long after the controversy ceased, which had convinced the learned world that he had been egregiously duped.
In return for these contributions, Barret and Catcot supplied Chatterton occasionally with money, and intro- duced him into company. At his request, too, Mr. Barret lent our poet some medical authors, and gave him a few instructions in surgery, but still his favourite studies were heraldry and English antiquities, which he pursued with as much success as could be expected from one who knew no language but his own. Camden's Britannia appears to have been a favourite book ; and he copied the glossaries of Chaucer and others with indefatigable perseverance, storing his memory with antiquated words. Even Bailey's dictionary has been proved to have afforded him many of those words which the advocates for Rowley thought could be known only to a writer of his pretended age.
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 pewferer, main- tains the authenticity of Rowley's poems. Chatterton re- wards him with a pedigree from the time of William the Conqueror, allying him to some of the most ancient fanri-
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lies 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.
But the most remarkable of his pretended discoveries issued in an application to one who was not so easily to be deceived. This \yas the celebrated Horace Walpole, the late lord Orford, who had not long before completed his " Anecdotes of Painters." In March 1769, Chatterton, with his usual attention to the wante or prejudices of the persons on whom he wished to impose, sent Mr. Walpole a letter, offering to furnish him with accounts of a series of great painters who had flourished at Bristol, and remitted also a small specimen of poems of the same remote sera. Mr. Walpole, although he could not, as he informs us, very readily swallow " a series of great painters at Bristol," appears to have been in some measure pleased with the offer, and discovered beauties in the verses sent. He there- fore returned a polite and thankful letter, desiring farther information. From this letter Chatterton appears to have thought he had made a conquest, and therefore, in his answer, came to the direct purpose of his application. He informed his correspondent that he was the son of a poor widow, who supported him with great difficulty ; that he was an apprentice to an attorney, but had a taste for more elegant studies ; he affirmed that great treasures of ancient poetry had been discovered at Bristol, and were in the hands of a person who had lent him the specimen already transmitted, as well as a pastoral (" Elinoure and Juga") which accompanied this second letter. He hinted also a wish that Mr. Walpole would assist him in emerging fron* so dull a profession, by procuring some place, in which he might pursue the natural bias of his genius. Mr. Walpole immediately submitted the poems to Gray and Mason, who at first sight pronounced them forgeries, on which he re- turned Chatterton an answer, advising him to apply to the duties of his profession, as more certain means of attaining
184 C H A T T E R T O N.
the independence and leisure of which he was desirous. This produced a peevish letter from Chatterton, desiring the manuscripts back, as they were the property of another, and after some delay, owing to Mr. Walpole' s taking a trip to Paris, the poems were returned in a blank cover. This affront, as Chatterton considered it, he never forgave, and at this no man need wonder, who reflects how difficult it must ever be for an impostor to forgive those who have attempted to detect him.
The only remarkable consequence of this correspondence was the censure Mr. Wai pole incurred from the admirers of Chatterton, who, upon no other authority than the cir- cumstances now related, persisted in accusing him of bar- barous neglect of an extraordinary genius who solicited his protection, and finally of being the cause of his shock- ing end. Mr. Walpole, when he found this calumny trans- mitted from hand to hand, and probably believed by those who did not take the trouble to inquire into the facts, drew up a candid narrative of the whole correspondence, which was broken off nearly two years before Chatterton died, during which two years the latter had resided, with every encouragement, in London ; and, according to his own account, was within the prospect of ease and independence, without the aid of Mr. Walpole' s patronage. Of all this Mr. Walpole' s accusers could not be ignorant, if they knew any thing of Chatterton's history. They must have known that Chatterton did not apply to Walpole, as a poet, but merely as a young man who was transmitting the property of another, and who had no claims of his own, but that he was tired of a dull profession, and wished for a place in which he might indulge his taste in what was more lively. A patron must have had many places in his gift and few applicants, if he could spare one to a person who professed no other merit than an inclination to exchange labour for ease. Yet Walpole has been held forth to public indigna- tion as the cause of Chatterton's death.
About this time (1769) we are told that Chatterton be- came an infidel ; but whether this was in consequence of any course of reading into which he had fallen, or that he found it convenient to get rid of the obligations which stood in the way of his past or future schemes, it is not very ma- terial to inquire. Yet although one of his advocates, the fore- most to accuse Mr. Walpole of neglecting him, asserts £hat " his profligacy was at least as conspicuous as his abilities/'
C H A T T E R T O N. 185
it does not appear that he was more profligate in the in- dulgence of the grosser passions, than other young men who venture on the gaieties of life at an early age. While at Bristol he had sot mixed with improper company ; his few associates of the female sex were persons of character. In London the case might have been otherwise ; but of this we have no direct proof; and he practised at least one rule which is no inconsiderable preservative, he was remark- ably temperate in his diet. In his writings, indeed, we find some passages that are more licentious than could have been expected from a young man unhackneyed in the ways of vice, but not more so than might be expected in one who was premature in every thing, and had exhausted the stock of human folly at an age when it is usually found unbroken. All his deceptions, his prevarications, his poli- tical tergiversation, &c. were such as we should have looked for in men of an advanced age, hardened by evil associa- tions, and soured by disappointed pride or avarice. One effect of liis infidelity, we are told, was to render the idea of suicide familiar. This he had cherished before he left Bristol, and when he could not fairly complain of the world's neglect, as he had preferred no higher pretensions than those of a man who has by accident discovered a treasure which he knows not how to make current. Be- sides repeatedly intimating to Mr. Lambert's servants that be intended to put an end to his life, he left a paper in sight of some of the family, specifying the day on which he meant to carry this purpose into execution. The rea- son assigned for this appointment was the refusal of a gen- tleman whom he had occasionally complimented in his poems, to supply him with money. It has since been sup- posed to be merely an artifice to get rid of his apprentice- ship ; and this certainly was the consequence, as Mr. Lam- bert did not choose that his house should be honoured by such an act of heroism. He had now served this gentle- man about two years and ten months, during which he learned so little of law as to be unable to draw up the necessary7 document respecting the dissolution of his ap- prenticeship. We have seen how differently he was em- ployed ; and there is reason to think that he had fabri- cated the whole of his ancient poetry and antique manu- scripts during his apprenticeship, and before he left Bristol. His object now was to go to London, where he had full confidence that his talents would be duly honoured. He
186 C H A T T E R T O N.
had written letters to several booksellers of that city wha encouraged him to reside among them. Some literary ad- venturers would have entered on such a plan with diffi- dence ; and of many who have become authors by profes- sion, the greater part may plead the excuse that they nei- ther foresaw, nor could be made to understand the many mortifications and difficulties that are to be surmounted. Chatterton, on the contrary, set out with the confidence of a man who has laid his plans in such deep wisdom, that he thinks it impossible they should fail. He boasted to his correspondents of three distinct resources, one at least of which was unfortunately in his own power. He first meant to employ his pen ; then to turn methodist preacher , and if both should fail, to shoot himself. As his friends do not appear to have taken any steps to rectify his notions on these schemes, it is probable they either did not consider him as serious ; or had given him up, as one above all advice, and curable only by a little experience, which they were not sorry he should acquire in his own way, and at his own expence.
His first literary attempts by which he was to realize the dreams of presumption, were of the political kind, chiefly satires against the members and friends of administration. In March 1770, he wrote a poem called " Kew Gardens," part of which only has been published, but enough to show that he had been supplied by some patriotic preceptor with the floating scandal of the day against the princess dowager, lord Bute, and other statesmen. It is highly improbable that a boy who had spent the greater part of his time since he left school, in fabricating or deciphering the -poetry, heraldry, and topography of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, should on a sudden become well acquainted with the intrigues of political men and their families. In all this, his materials must have been supplied by some persons who lived by propagating the calumnies of personal and political history, and who would rejoice in the daunt- less spirit of their new associate. Another poem, of the same description, was entitled " The Whore of Babylon.'* Of both these there are specimens in his works, but it does not appear that the whole of them were printed.
On his arrival in London, near the end of April, he received, according to his own account, the most flattering encouragement, and various employment was recom- mended. Among other schemes was a History of London,
C H A T T E R T O N. 187
which, if he had lived to complete it, must have been a suitable companion to Mr. Barret's History of Bristol. In the meati time he wrote for many of the magazines and newspapers; his principal contributions appeared in the Freeholder's Magazine, the Town and Country, the Court and City, the Political Register, and the Gospel Maga- zine. He wrote songs also for the public gardens, and for some time got so much money that he thought himself comparatively affluent, and able to provide for his mother and sister, whose hearts he gladdened by frequent intima- tions of his progress. During' this career he became ac- quainted with Wilkes, and with Beckford, who was then lord mayor. These patriots, however, he soon discovered were not so ready with their money as with their praise, and as the former appears to have been his only object, he had some thoughts of writing for the ministerial party. After Beck Ford's death, which he affected to lament as his ruin, he addressed a letter to lord North, signed Mode- rator, complimenting administration for rejecting the city remonstrance, and one of the same date signed Probus, abusing administration for the same measure, While this unprincipled young man was thus demonstrating how un- safe it would be for any party to trust him, his letters to all his friends continued to be full of the brightest prospects of honours and wealth. But about the month of July some revolution appears to have taken place in his mind or his affairs, which speedily put an end to all his hopes.
Of what nature this was, remains yet a secret. About the time mentioned, he removed from a house in Shore- ditch, where he had hitherto lived, to the house of a Mrs. Angel, a sack- maker in Brook-street, Holborn, where he became poor and unhappy, abandoning his literary pur- suits, and projecting to go out to Africa, as a naval sur- geon's mate. He had picked up some knowledge of sur- gery from Mr. Barret, and now requested that gentleman's recommendation, which Mr. Barret, who knew his versa- tile turn, and how unfit in other respects he was for the situation, thought proper to refuse. If this was the im- mediate cause of his catastrophe, what are we to think of his lofty spirit? It is certain, however, that he no longer employed his pen, and that the short remainder of his days were spent in a conflict between pride and poverty. On the day preceding his death, he refused with indig- nation, a kind offer from Mrs. Angel to partake of her
188 C H A T T E R T O N.
dinner, assuring her that he was not hungry, although he had not eaten any thing for two or three days. On the 25th of August, 1770, he was found dead, in consequence, as is supposed, of having swallowed arsenic in water, or some preparation of opium. He was buried in a shell in the burying-ground belonging to Shoe-lane workhouse. Previous to this rash act he appears to have destroyed all his manuscripts, as the room when broken open was found covered with little scraps of paper.
It has been regretted that we know very little of the life of this extraordinary young man, whose writings have since become an object of so much curiosity ; and great surprize has been expressed, that from the many with whom he appears to have been acquainted, such scanty information has been obtained. For this, however, various reasons may be assigned, which will lessen the wonder. In the first place, his fame, using that word in its most common application, was confined principally to his native city, and there it appears that his friends under- valued his talents, because they considered him in no better light than that of an unprincipled young man, who had accidentally become possessed of certain ancient ma- nuscripts, some of which he had given up, some he had mutilated, and the rest he had destroyed. He was with them an illiterate charity-boy, the run-away apprentice or hackney-writer of an attorney, and after he came to London, they appear to have made very few inquiries after him, congratulating themselves that they had got rid of a rash, impetuous, headstrong boy, who would do some mischief, and disgrace himself and his relations. Again, in London, notwithstanding his boasting letters to his mother and sister, he rose to no high rank among the re- putable writers of the day, his productions being confined to publications of the lower order, all of which are now forgotten. But there cannot be a more decisive proof of the little regard he attracted in London, than the secrecy and silence which accompanied his death. This event, although so extraordinary, for young suicides are surely not common, is not even mentioned in any shape, in the Gentleman's Magazine, the Annual Register, the St. James's or London Chronicles, nor in any of the respectable pub- lications of the day. He died, a coroner's jury sat upon the body, and he was buried among paupers, so long be- fore his acquaintance heard of these circumstances, that it
CHATTERTON. 189
was with some difficulty they could be traced with any de- gree of authenticity. And lastly, it does not appear that any inquiries were made into his early history for nearly seven years after his death, when the Poems of Rowley were first published, and led the way to a very acute and long protracted discussion on their merits. It may be added, too, that they who contended for the authenticity of the poems, were for sinking every circumstance that could prove the genius of Chatterton, until Mr. Thomas Warton and some others took the opposite side of the question, brought the poems to the test of internal evi- dence, and discovered that however extraordinary it was for Chatterton to produce them in the eighteenth century, it was impossible that Rowley could have written them in the fifteenth.
When public attention was at length called to Chatter- tori's history, his admirers took every step to excite com- passion in his favour. It became the fashion to repeat that he was starved by an insensible age, or suffered, by the neglect of patrons, to perish in want of the common ne- cessaries of life. But of this there is no satisfactory evi- dence. On the contrary, he appears to have been fully employed by his literary friends almost up to the day of his death, and from one of them he solicited money a very little before that catastrophe, and received it with an as- surance that he should have more if he wanted it. This benefactor was the late Mr. Hamilton senior, the pro- prietor of the Critical Review, a man of well-known li- berality, both of mind and purse. One who knew him well, when in London, and who wrote under the inspection of Mr. Hamilton in the Critical Review, gives it as a pro- bable conjecture, that " he wished to seal his secret with his death. He knew that he and Rowley were suspected to be the same ; his London friends spoke of it with little scruple, and he neither confessed nor denied it. He might fear somewhat from himself; might dread the effects of increasing obligations, and be struck with horror at the thought of a public detection. He sometimes seemed wild, abstracted, and incoherent ; at others he had a Settled gloominess in his countenance, the sure presage of his fatal resolution. In short, this was the very tempera- ment and constitution from which we should, in similar cir- cumstances, expect the same event. He was one of those irregular meteors which astonish the universe for a moment,
190 C H A T T E R T O N.
and then, disappear for ever." This is at least plausible ; but the immediate cause of his death must perhaps yet re- main a mystery. He had written so recently to his Bristol friends (about a month before), without a syllable indi- cating discontent or despair, that it was wholly unexpected on their part ; but suicide, at one time or other, his bio- graphers have proved, was his fixed purpose, and the execution of it was probably to depend on his disappoint- ment in whatever wild or impracticable scheme he might meditate. He got enough in London by his literary la- bours, to supply the decent necessaries of life, but his dreams of affluence were over, and had probably left that frightful void in his mind at which despair and disappointed pride entered.
The person of Chatterton is said to have been like his genius, " premature; he had a manliness and dignity be- yond his years ; and there was a something about him un- commonly prepossessing. His most remarkable feature was his eyes, which, though grey, were uncommonly piercing; when he warmed in argument, or otherwise, they sparkled* with fire, and one eye, it is said, was still more remarkable than the other."
As to his genius, it must ever be the subject of admira- tion, whether he was, or was not, the author of the poems ascribed to llowley. If we look at the poems avowedly his own, together with his productions in prose, where shall we find such and so many indubitable proofs of ge- nius at an early age, struggling against many difficulties? Let us contemplate him as a young man, without classical education, and who knew nothing of literary society, but during the few months of his residence in London ; and if to this we add what has been most decidedly proved, that he was not only the author of the poems attributed to Rowley, but consumed his early days in the laborious task of disguising them in the garb of antiquity, perpetually harassed by suspicion and in dread of discovery ; if likewise we reflect that the whole of his career closed before he had completed his eighteenth year, we must surely allow that he was one of the most extraordinary young men of modern times, and deserves to be placed high among those instances of pro- mature talents recorded by Kleferus in his " Bibliotheca Eruditorurn Praecocium," and by Baillet in his " Enfans Celebres." Still our admiration should be chastened by confining it to the single point of ChtUterton's extreme
C H A T T E R T O N. 191
youth. If we go farther, and consider Rowley's poems as the most perfect productions of any age ; if, with dean Milles, we prefer him to Homer, Virgil, Spenser, and Shakspeare, we go far beyond the bounds of sober criti- cism, or rather we defy its laws. Wonderful as those poems are, when considered as the productions of a boy, many heavy deductions must be made from them, if we consider them as the productions of a man, of one who has bestowed labour as well as contributed genius, and who has learned to polish and correct, who would not have ad- mitted such a number of palpable imitations and plagia- risms, and would have altered or expunged a multitude of tame, prosaic, and bald lines and metres.
The general character of his works has been both fairly and elegantly appreciated by lord Orford, in the last edition of his lordship's works. His life, says this critic, should be compared with " the powers of his mind, the perfection of his poetry, his knowledge of the world, which though in some respects erroneous, spoke quick intuition ; his humour, his vein of satire, and above all, the amazing number of books he must have looked into, though chained down to a laborious and almost incessant service, and con- fined to Bristol, except at most for the last five months of his life, the rapidity with which he seized all the topics of conversation then in vogue, whether of politics, literature, or fashion ; and when added to all this 'mass of reflection, it is remembered that his youthful passions were indulged to excess, faith in such a prodigy may well be suspended — and we should look for some secret agent behind the curtain, if it were not as dificult to believe that any man who possessed such a vein of genuine poetry would have sub- mitted to lie concealed, while he actuated a puppet; or would have stooped to prostitute his muse to so many un- worthy functions. But nothing in Chatterton can be se- parated from Chatterton. His noblest flight, his sweetest strains, his grossest ribaldry, and his most common- place imitations of the productions of magazines, were all the effervescences of the same ungovernable impulse, which, cameleon-like, imbibed the colours of all it looked on. It was Ossian, or a Saxon monk, or Gray, or Smolldt, or Ju- nius — antl if it failed most in what it most affected to be, a poet of the fifteenth century, it was because it could not imitate what had not existed."
192 CHATTERTON.
The facts already related are principally taken from the account drawn up originally for the Biographia Britannica, and at the distance of eighteen years, prefixed to an edi- tion of his works, without any addition or alteration. Something yet remains to be said of his virtues, which, if the poetical eulogiums that have appeared deserve any credit, were many. Except his temperance, however, already noticed, we find only that he preserved an affec- tionate attachment for his mother and sister, and even concerning this, it would appear that more has been said than is consistent. It has been asserted that he sent pre- sents to them from London, when in want himself; but it is evident from his letters that these were unnecessary ar- ticles for persons in their situation, and were not sent when he was in want *. Six weeks after, when he felt himself in that state, he committed an act which affection for his relations, since he despised all higher considerations, ought to have retarded. His last letter to his sister or mother, dated July 20, is full of high-spirited hopes, and contains a promise to visit them before the first of January, but not a word that can imply discontent, far less an in- tention to put an end to his life. What must have been their feelings when the melancholy event reached them ! How little these poor women were capable of ascertaining his character appears from the very singular evidence of his sister, who affirmed that he was " a lover of truth from the earliest dawn of reason." The affectionate prejudices of a fond relation may be pardoned, but it was surely unne- cessary to introduce this in a life every part of which proves his utter contempt for truth at an age when we are taught to expect a disposition open, ingenuous, and candid.
With regard to the controversy occasioned by the pub- lications attributed to Rowley, it is unnecessary to enter upon it, although it has lately been attempted to be re- vived, but without exciting much interest. Whether the object of this controversy was not disproportioned to the warmth it excited, and the length of time it consumed, the reader may judge from a perusal of the whole of Chat- terton's productions. /The principal advocates for the ex- istence of Rowley, and the authenticity of his poems, were Mr. Bryant, Dean Milles, Dr. Glynn, Mr. (now Dr.)
* See a Note in the Biog. Britannica, vol. IV. p, 588, signed O: written by Dr. Lort, but omitted m the Lite lately published.
C H A T T E K T O N. 193
Henley*, Dr. Langhorn (in the Monthly Review), and Mr. James Harris. Their opponents were Mr. Tyrwhitt, Horace Walpole, the two Wartons, Dr. Johnson, Mr. Steevens, Dr. Percy (bishop of Dromore), Mr. Gibbon, Mr. Jones, Dr. Farmer, Mr. Colman, Mr. Sheridan *, Dr. Lort, Mr. Astle, Mr. (sir Herbert) Croft*, Mr. Hayley *, lord Camden, Mr. Gough, Mr. Mason, the writer of the Critical Review, Mr. Badcock (in the Monthly Review), the Reviewers in the Gentleman's Magazine, and various Correspondents in the same Miscellany. To these may be added, Mr. Malone, who lived to detect another forgery by a very young impostor, in the history of which the reader will probably recollect many corresponding circum- stances ; and will be inclined to prefer the shame of Chat- terton, fatal as it was, to the unblushing impudence and unnatural fraud of one who brought disgrace and ruin on a parent.
In 1803, an edition of Chatterton's works, far more complete than any that had yet appeared, was published under the care of Messrs. Southey and Cqttle, for the benefit of Mrs. Newton, Chatterton's sister (since dead), and of her daughter ; but the coldness with which it was received by the public is perhaps a proof that it will not be possible to perpetuate the fame of an author, who has con- cealed his best productions under the garb of a barbarous language, which few will be at the trouble of learning. The controversy is no longer interesting, and perhaps the warmth with which so many great names engaged in it, may hereafter be reckoned as surprising as the object itself. '
CHAUCER (JEFFERY OR GEOFFREY), styled the Father of English poetry, is one of whose birth and family nothing has been decided. It has been contended on the one hand, that he was of noble origin ; on the other> that he descended from persons in trade. Even the meaning of his name in French, Chaucier, a shoemaker, has been brought in evidence of a low origin, while the mention of the name Chaucer, in several records, from the time of William the conqueror to that of Edward I. has been thought sufficient to prove the contrary. Leland says he was nobili loco natus ; but Speght, one of his early biogra-
i
* These gentlemen are the only survivors (1813) of this celebrated dispute. 1 Johnson and Chalmers's English Poets, 1810. — Life in Biqg. Brit. &c.
VOL. IX. O
194 CHAUCER.
pbers, informs us, that <; in the opinion of some heralds, he descended not of any great house, which they gather by his arms ;" and Mr. Tyrwhitt is inclined to believe the heralds rather than Leland. Speght, however, goes far- ther, and makes his father a vintner, who died in J348, and left his property to the church of St. Mary Aldermary, where he was buried. This is confirmed by Stowe, who says, " Richard Chawcer, vintner, gave to that church his tenement and tavern, with the appurtenance, in the Royal - streete the corner of Kerion-lane, and was there buried, 1348." But neither Stowe nor Speght afford any proof that this Richard Chawcer was the father of our poet.
With respect to the place of his birth, we cannot pro- 'duce better authority than his own. In his " Testament of Love," he calls himself a Londoner, and speaks of the city of London as the place of his " kindly engendrure." In spite of this evidence, however, Leland, who is more than usually incorrect in his account of Chaucer, reports him to have been born in Oxfordshire or Berkshire. The time of his birth is, by general consent, fixed in the se- cond year of Edward III. 1328, and the foundation of this decision seems to have originally been an inscription on his tomb, signifying that he died in 1400 at the age of seventy-two. Collier fixes his death in 1440, but he is so generally accurate, that this may be supposed an error of the press. Phillips is more unpardonable ; for, contrary to all evidence, he instances the reigns of Henry IV. V. and VI. as those in which Chaucer flourished.
His biographers have provided him with education both at Oxford and Cambridge, a circumstance which we know occurred in the history of other scholars of that period, and is not therefore improbable. But in his u Court of Love," which was composed when he Vvas about eighteen, he speaks of himself under the name of " Philogenet, of Cam- bridge, clerk." Mr. Tyrwhitt, while he cloes not think this a decisive proof that he was really educated at Cam- bridge, is willing to admit it as a strong argument that he was not educated at Oxford. Wood, in his Annals (vol. I. book I. 484.) gives a report, or rather tradition, that " when WicklifF was guardian or warden of Canterbury college, he had to his pupil the famous poet called Jeffry Chaucer (father of Thomas Chaucer, of Ewelme in Ox- fordshire, esq.) who following the steps of his master, re- flected much upon the corruptions of the clergy." This is
CHAUCER. 195
something like evidence if it could be depended on ; at least it is preferable to the conjecture of Leland, who sup- poses Chaucer to have been educated at Oxford, merely because he had before supposed that he was born either in Oxfordshire or Berkshire. Those who contend for Cam- bridge as the place of his education, fix upon Solere's hall, which he has described in his story of the Miller of Trompinoton ; but Solere's hall is merely a corruption of Soler hall, i. e. a hall with an open gallery, or solere win- dow *. The advocates for Oxford are inclined to place him in Merton college, because his contemporaries Strode and Occleve were of that college. It is equally a matter of conjecture that he was first educated at Cambridge, and afterwards at Oxford. Wherever he studied, we have sufficient proofs of his capacity and proficiency. He ap- pears to have acquired a very great proportion of the learning of his age, and became a master of its philosophy, poetry, and such languages as formed the intercourse between men of learning. Leland says he was " acutus Dialecticus, dulcis Rhetor, lepidus Poeta, gravis Philosophies, ingeniosus Mathematicus, denique sanctus Theologus" It is equally probable that he courted the muses in those early days, in which he is said to have been encouraged by Gower, although there are some grounds for supposing that his acquaintance with Gower was of a later date.
After leaving the university, we are told that he travelled through France and the Netherlands, but the commence- ment and conclusion of these travels are not specified. On his return, he is said to have entered himself of the Middle Temple, with a view to study the municipal law, but even this fact depends chiefly on a record, without a date, which, Speght informs us, a Mr. Buckley had seen, where Jeffery Ohaucer was fined " two shillings for beating a Franciscane frier in Fleet-street." Leland speaks of his frequenting the law colleges after his travels in France, and perhaps before. Mr. Tyrwhitt doubts these travels in France, and has indeed satisfactorily proved that Leland's account of Chaucer is full of inconsistencies — Leland is certainly in- consiste:>r. as to dates, but from the evidence Chaucer gave in a case of chivalry, we have full proof of one journey in France, although the precise period Cannot be fixed.
* Mr. Warton thinks that Solere- circurv tance to distinguish and deno-
hall was Aula Solarii, the hall with the min* e one of the academical hospitia.
upper 3to»y, at that time a sufficient Hi«t. 04 Poeiry, vol, I. p. 432, w»t« a,
O 2
196 CHAUCER.
Whatever time these supposed employments might have occupied, we discover, at length, with tolerable certainty, that Chaucer betook himself to the life of a courtier, and probably with all the accomplishments suited to his ad- vancement in the court of a monarch who was magnificent in his establishment, and munificent in his patronage of learning and gallantry. At what period of life he obtained a situation here, is uncertain. The writer of the life prefixed to Urry's edition supposes he was not more than thirty, because his first employment was in quality of the king's page ; but the first authentic memorial, respecting Chaucer at court, is the patent in Rymer, 41 Edward III. by which that king grants him an annuity of twenty marks, about 200/. of our money, by the title of Valettus nosier*, " our yeoman," and this occurred when Chaucer was in his thirty-ninth year. Several mistakes have arisen re- specting these grants, from his biographers not under- standing the meaning of the titles given to our poet. Speght mentions a grant from king EdwTard four years later than the above, in which Chaucer is styled valettus hospitiij which he translates grome of the pallace, sinking our author, Mr. Tyrwhitt observes, as much too low, as his biographer in Urry's edition had raised him too high, by translating the same words gentleman of the king's privy chamber. Valet or yeoman was, according to the same acute scholiast, the intermediate rank between squier and grome.
It would be of more consequence to be able to deter- mine what particular merits were rewarded by this royal bounty. Mr. Tyrwhitt can find no proof, and no ground for supposing that it was bestowed on Chaucer for his poe- tical talents, although it is almost certain that he had distinguished himself, as a poet, before this time. The " Assemblee of Foules," the " Complaint of the Blacke Knight," and the translation of the " Roman de la Rose," were all composed before 1367, the sera which we are now considering. What strengthens Mr. Tyrwhitt' s opinion of the king's indifference to Chaucer's poetry, is his appoint- ing him, a few years after, to the office of comptroller of
* Mr. Ellis observes that this office, of which was acquired, together with «' by whatever name we translate it, the habits of chivalry, by passing in might be held even by persons of the gradation through the several menial highest rank, because the only science offices about the court." Ellis's Spa- then in request among the nobility cimens, vol. I. p. 202. was that of etiquette, the knowledge
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the custom of wool, with an injunction that " the said Geffrey write with his own hand his rolls touching the said office in his own proper person, and not by his substitute." The inferences, however, which Mr. Tyrwhitt draws froin this fact, viz. " that his majesty was either totally insen- sible of our author's poetical talents, or at least had no mind to encourage him in the cultivation or exercise of them," savours rather too much of the conjectural spirit which he professes to avoid. He allows that, notwith- standing what he calls " the petrifying quality, with which these Custom-house accounts might be expected to operate upon Chaucer's genius," he probably wrote his " House of Fame" while he was in that office. Still less candid to the memory of Edward will these inferences appear, if we apply modern notions of patronage to the subject; for in tvhat manner could the king more honourably encourage the genius of a poet, than by a civil employment which rendered him easy in his circumstances, and free from the suspicious obligations of a pension or sinecure ?
Chaucer's biographers have given some particulars of his life, before the office just mentioned was conferred upon him. He is said to have been in constant attendance on. his majesty, and when the court was at Woodstock, re- sided at a square stone house near the park gate, which long retained the name of Chaucer's house ; and many of the rural descriptions in his works have been traced to Woodstock park, the favourite scene of his walks and studies. But besides his immediate office near the royal person, he very early attached himself to the service of the celebrated John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, and from this connection his public life is to be dated. The author of the life prefixed to Urry's edition observes, that the duke's " ambition requiring all the assistance of learned men to give it a plausible appearance, induced him to do Chaucer many good offices, in order to engage him in his interest." But although the assistance of learned men to an ambitious statesman is very well understood in modern times, it is somewhat difficult to conceive what advantage could be derived from such assistance before the invention of printing. It is more probable that the duke had a relish for the talents and taste of Chaucer, and became his patron upon the most liberal grounds, although Chaucer might afterwards repay his favours by exposing the conduct of
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the clergy, who were particularly obnoxious to the duke by their monopoly of power.
One effect of this connection was the marriage of our poet, by which he became eventually related to his illus- trious patron. John of Gaunt' s duchess, Blanche, enter- tained in her service one Catherine Rouet, daughter of sir Payne, or Pagan Rouet, a native of Hainault, and Guion king at arms for that country. This lady was after- wards married to sir Hugh Swinford, a knight of Lincoln, who died soon after his marriage, and on his decease, his lady returned to the duke's family, and was appointed governess of his children. While in this capacity, she yielded to the duke's solicitations, and became his mistress. She had a sister, Philippa, who is stated to have been a great favourite with the duke and duchess, and by them, as a mark of their high esteem, recommended ta Chaucer for a wife. He accordingly married her about 1360, when he was in his thirty-second year, and this step appears to have increased his interest with his patron, who took every opportunity to promote him at court. Besides the instan- ces already given, we are told that Jie was made shield - bearer to the king, a title at that time of great honour, the shield-bearer being always next the king's person, and generally, upon signal victories, rewarded with military honours. But here again his biographers have mistaken the meaning of the courtly titles of those days.- In the 46 Ed- ward III. 1372, the king appointed him envoy, with two others, to Genoa, by the title of scutifer noster, " our squier." Scutifer and armiger, according to Mr. Tyrwhitt, are synonymous terms with the French escuier ; but Chau- cer's biographers thinking the title of squier too vulgar, changed it to shield -bearer, as if Chaucer had the special office of carrying the king's shield. With respect to the nature of this embassy to Genoa, biography and history are alike silent, and from that silence, the editor of the Canterbury tales is inclined to doubt whether it ever took place, or whether he had that opportunity of visiting Pe- trarch, an event which his biographers refer to the same period.
But although history is silent as to the object of Chau- cer's embassy, his biographers have endeavoured to sup- ply the defect, by conjecturing that it might be for the purpose of hiring ships for the king's navy. They find that in those days, though we frequently made great naval
CHAUCER.
armaments, we had but very few ships of our own, and were therefore obliged to hire them from the free states either of Germany or Itaiy. Having thus discovered an object for Chaucer's embassy, they represent it as heing so suc- cessful, that the king bestowed new marks of favour upon him ; and it is certain, whatever might be the cause, that at the distance of two years, namely, in the 48th year of that reign, 1374, he had a grant for life of a pitcher of wine daily ; and in the same year a grant, which has al- ready been mentioned, during pleasure, of the offices of comptroller of the custom of wools, and comptroller of the parva custuma vinorum, <kc. in the port of London. This office, we are told, he filled with great integrity, as well as advantage, his conduct not being in the least tainted with any of those connivings or frauds which had become frequent in the customs, and were detected towards the latter end of Edward's reign.
About a year after this, the king granted to him the wardship of sir Edmund Staplegate's heir, tor which he re- ceived 104/. and in the next year some forfeited wool to the value of 111. 4s. 6d. These, and his other pecuniary advantages, are said to have raised his income to a thousand pounds per annum, a prodigious sum at that time, but quite incredible. Whatever his income was, however, he informs us in the " Testament of Love," it enabled him to live with dignity and hospitality. In the last year of king Edward III. 1377, he was sent to France, with sir Gui- chard Dangle, and Richard Stau or Sturry, to treat of a marriage between the prince of Wales, Richard, and a daughter of the French king. Such is Froissart's account; but the English historians, Hollingshed and Barnes, inform us, that the principal object of this mission was to com- plain of some infringement of the truce concluded with the French, and that although they were not very success- ful in that remonstrance, it produced some overtures to- wards the said marriage, and this ended in a new treaty. Whichever of these accounts is the true one, it appears that this was the last political employment which Chaucer filled, although he did not cease to take an interest in the measures of his patron, the duke of Lancaster. On the accession of Richard II. in 1377, his annuity of twenty marks was confirmed, and another annuity of twenty marks granted to him in lieu of the daily pitcher of wine. He was also confirmed in his office of comptroller.
200 C H A U C E R.
When Richard II. succeeded his grandfather, he was but eleven years of age, and his uncle the duke of Lan- caster was consequently entrusted with the chief share in the administration of public affairs. One of his first mea- sures was to solemnize the young king's coronation with great pomp, previously to which a court of claims was established to settle the demands of those who pretended to have a right to assist at the ceremony. Among these, Chaucer claimed in right of his ward, who was possessed of the manor of Billington in Kent; and this was held of the crown, by the service of presenting to the king three maple cups on the day of his coronation ; but this claim was contested, and if it had not, is remote enough from the kind of information which it would be desirable to obtain respecting Chaucer. All we know certainly of this period, is, that the duke of Lancaster still preserved his friendship for our poet, and probably was the means of the grants just noticed having been renewed on the accession of the young king.
Soon after this, however, Chaucer's biographers concur in the fact that he experienced a very serious reverse in his affairs, which in the second year of Richard II. were in such disorder, that he was obliged to have recourse to the king's protection, in order to screen him from the impor^ tunities of his creditors. But as to the cause of this em- barrassment, we find no agreement among those who have attempted a narrative of his life. Some think his distresses were temporary, and some that they were artificial. Among the latter, the writer of his, life in the Biographia Britan- nica hazards a supposition which is at least ingenious. He is of opinion that Chaucer about this time found out a rich match for his son Thomas, namely, Maud, the second daughter of sir John Burghershe ; and in order to obtain this match, he was obliged to bring his son somewhat upon a level with her, by settling all his landed estates upon him : and that this duty might occasion those demands which put him under the necessity of obtaining the king's protection. The conclusion of the matter, according to this conjecture, must be, that Chaucer entailed his estates upon his son, and found means to put off his creditors, a measure not very honourable. But we are still in the dark as to the nature of those debts, or the existence of his landed property, and it is even doubtful whether this Tho-?
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mas Chaucer was his son*. We know certainly of no son but Lewis, who was born in 1381, twenty-one years after his marriage, if the date of his marriage before given be . correct.
It appears from the historians of Richard II. that the duke of Lancaster, about the third or fourth year of that monarch's reign, began to decline in political influence, if not in popularity, owing to the encouragement he had given to the celebrated reformer Wickliffe, whom he supported against the clergy, to whose power in state affairs he had long looked with a jealous eye. Chaucer's works show evidently- that he concurred with the duke in his opinion of the clergy, and have procured him to be ranked among the few who paved the way for the reformation. Yet when the insurrection of Wat Tyler was imputed to the princi- ples of the Wicklevites, the duke, it is said, withdrew his countenance from them, and disclaimed their tenets. Chaucer is likewise reported to have altered his sentiments, but the fact, in neither case, is satisfactorily confirmed. The duke of Lancaster condemned the doctrines of those followers of Wickliff only, who had excited public disturb- ances ; and Chaucer was so far from abandoning his for- mer notions f, that in 1384, he exerted his utmost interest in favour of John Comberton, commonly called John of Northampton, when about to be re-chosen mayor of London. Comberton was a reformer on WicklifFs principles, and so obnoxious on that account to the clergy, that they stirred up a commotion on his re-election, which the king was
* " After reading, in the circum- sister to Catherine Rouet, who married stantial accounts of Chaucer's bio- a sir John Swynford, and was the fa- graphers, that be was married in i860 vourite mistress, and ultimately the to Philippa Rouet, by whom he had wife, of the duke of Lancaster; and issue Thomas Chaucer and other chil- that Chaucer himself mentions no son dren, we are surprised to learn that it but Lewis, whom he states to have is doubtful whether Thomas Chaucer been born in 1381, a date which seems was his son ; that the earliest known to agree with the record above men- evidence of his marriage is a record of tioned, and to place the date of his 1381, in which he receives a half- marriage in 1380." Ellis's Specimens, year's payment of an annuity of ten vol. I. p. 206.
marks, granted by Edward III. to his f His biographers say he died a
wife as one of the maids of honour member of the church of Rome. Fox
(domkilla>) lately in the. service of claims him as a reformer. Acts and
queen Philippa; that the name of Monuments, vol.11, p. 42, edit. 1684.
Philippa Rouet does not occur in the Dr. Warton (Essay on Pope) observes
list of these maids of honour, but that that Chaucer, as well as Dante, as-
/Chaucer's wife may possibly have been serted that the church of Rome was
Philippa Pykard ; that notwithstand- Antichrist, a notion Bossuet has taken
jug this, his said wife was certainly much pains to refute.
202 CHAUCER,
obliged to quell by force. The consequence was, that some lives were lost, Comberton was imprisoned, and strict search was made after Chaucer, who contrived to escape first to Hainault, then to France, and finally to Zealand. The date of his flight has not been ascertained, but it was no doubt upon this occasion that he lost his place 'in the customs.
While in Zealand, he maintained some of his country- men who had fled thither upon the same account, by sharing the money he brought with him, an act of liberality which soon exhausted his stock. In the mean time, the partizans of his cause, whom he left at home, contrived to make their peace, not only without endeavouring to pro- cure a pardon for him, but without aiding him in his exile, where he became greatly distressed for want of pecuniary supplies. Such ingratitude, we may suppose, gave him more uneasiness than the consequences of it; but it did not lessen his courage, as he soon ventured to return to England. On this he was discovered, and committed to the Tower, where, after being treated with great rigour, he was promised his pardon, if he would disclose all he knew, and put it in the power of government to restore the peace of the city. His former resolution appears now to have forsaken him, or, perhaps, indignation at the ungrate- ful conduct of his associates induced him to think disclo- sure a matter of indifference. It is certain that he complied with the terms offered ; but we are not told what was the amount of his confession, or what the consequences of it were to others, or who they were whom he informed against. We know only that he obtained his liberty, and that an oppressive share of blame and obloquy followed. To alle- viate his regret for this treatment, and partly to vindicate his conduct, he now wrote the " Testament of Love;" and although this piece, from want of dates, and obscurity of style, is not sufficient to form a very satisfactory bio- graphical document, it at least furnishes the preceding account of his exile and return.
The decline of the duke of Lancaster's interest contri- buted not a little to aggravate the distresses of our author, and determined him to take leave of the court and its in- trigues, and retire in pursuit of that happiness which his years and habits of reflection demanded. With this view it was necessary to dispose of those pensions which had been bestowed upon him in the former reign ; and which,
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notwithstanding his espousing a cause not very acceptable to the sovereign, had been continued to him in the present, Accordingly in May 1388, he obtained his majesty's licence to surrender his two grants of twenty marks each, in favour of one John Scalby. After this he retired/ to his favourite Woodstock ; and, according to Speght, employed a part of his time in revising and correcting his writings, and enjoy- ing the calm pleasures of rural contemplation. It is thought that the composition of his " Canterbury Tales" was be- gun about this time, 1389, when he was in the sixty-first year of his age, and when, contrary to the usual progress of mind, his powers seem to have been in their fullest vigour*.
It was not long after this period that the duke of Lan- caster resumed his influence at court; but whether Chaucer was enabled to profit by this reverse, or whether he had seen too much of political revolutions to induce him to quit his retreat, his biographers are doubtful. It appears, however, probable that the duke of Lancaster had it still as much in his will as in his power to befriend him ; and it might be owing to his grace's influence, that in 1389 we find him clerk of the works at Westminster; and in the following year at Windsor and other palaces : but Mr. Tyrwhitt doubts whether these offices were sufficient to indemnify him for the loss of his place in the customs. In the " Testament of Love," he complains of " being berafte out of dignitie of office, in which he made a gatheringe of worldly godes ;" and in another place he speaks of himself as "once glorious in worldly vvelefulnesse, and having such godes in welthe as maken men rich.e." All this implies a very considerable reverse of fortune ; although Speght's tradition of his having been possessed of " lands and revenues to the yearly value almost of a thou- sand pounds," remains utterly incredible.
But the king's favour did not end with the offices just mentioned. In the seventeenth year of his reign, 1394, he granted to Chaucer a new annuity of twenty pounds ; in 1398, his protection for two years ; and in 1399, a pipe of wine annually. From the succeeding sovereign Henry IV. he obtained, in the year last mentioned, a confirmation
* Chaucer's fame rests chiefly on venty, and Chaucer before he finished
ibis Canterbury Tales, and Dryden's what we have of his Tales was pro-
on his Fables, both written towards bably not much less, the decline of life. Dryden was fie-
204 CHAUCER.
of his two grants of 207. and of the pipe of wine, and at the same time an additional grant of an annuity of forty marks. Notwithstanding this dependent state of his affairs, some of his biographers represent him as possessed of Dun- nington castle in Berkshire, which he must hare purchased at the time he received the above annuity of twenty pounds; for up to that date (1394) it was in the possession of sir Richard Abberbury. Mr. Tyrwhitt remarks that the tra- dition which Evelyn notices in his Sylva, of an oak in Dunnington park called Chaucer's oak, may be sufficiently accounted for, without supposing that it was planted by Chaucer himself, as the castle was undoubtedly in the hands of Thomas Chaucer for many years. During his retire- ment in 1391, he wrote his learned treatise on the Astro- labe, for the use of his son Lewis, who was then ten years old ; and this is the only circumstance respecting his family which we have on his own or any authority that deserves credit. Leland, Bale, and Wood place this son under the tuition of his father's friend Nicholas Strode (whom, how- ever, they call Ralph) of Merton college, Oxford; but if Wood could trace Strode no farther than the year 1370, it is impossible he could have been the tutor of Chaucer's son - in 1391.
The accounts we have of Chaucer's latter days are ex- tremely inconsistent. His biographers bring him from Woodstock to Dunnington castle, and from that to London to solicit a continuation of his annuities, in which he found such difficulties as probably hastened his end. Wood, in his Annals, informs us that although he did not repent at the last of his reflections on the clergy, " yet of that he wrote of love and baudery, it grieved him much on his death-bed : for one that lived shortly after his time, maketh report*, that when he saw death approaching, he did often cry out, 'Woe is me, woe is me, that I cannot recall and annull those things which I have written of the base and filthy love of men towards women : but alas ! they are now continued from man to man, and I cannot do what I de- sire'." To this may be added, that the affecting lines " Gode Counsaile of Chaucer," are said to have been made by him when on his death-bed, and in great anguish.
* Th. Gascoigne in 2 parte Die- seri Armigeri, qui Thomas sepult. iu tionar. Theolog. p. 377. MS. " Fuit Nuhelm juxta Oxcmiain." idem Chavvserus pater Thomae Chaw-
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It seems generally agreed that he died Oct. 25, 1400, and was buried in Westminster-abbey, in the great south cross-aile. The monument to his memory was erected above a century and a half after his decease, by Nicholas Brigham, a gentleman of Oxford, a poet, and warm ad- mirer of our author. It stands at the north end of a mag- nificent recess, formed by four obtuse foliaged arches, and is a plain altar, with three quatrefoils, and the same num- ber of shields. The inscription, and figures on the back, are almost obliterated.
Although Chaucer has been generally hailed as the founder of English poetry and literature, the extent of the obligations which English poetry and literature owe to him has not been decidedly ascertained. The improvement he introduced in language and versification has been called in question, not only by modern but by ancient critics. The chief faults attributed to him, are the mixture of French in all his works, and his ignorance of the laws of versifica- tion. With respect to the mixture of -French words and phrases in Chaucer's writings, it must be observed that the French language was prevalent in this country several cen- turies before his time. Even previously to the conquest, the Normans had made it a fashion to speak French in the English court, and from thence it would .naturally be adopted by the people ; but after the conquest this became the case in a much greater proportion. It was a matter of policy in the conqueror to introduce his own language, and it would soon become a matter of interest in the people to acquire it. We uniformly find that where new settlers appear, even without the superiority of conquerors, the aborigines find it convenient to learn their language. The history of king William's conquest and policy shows that his language must soon extend over a kingdom which he had parcelled out among his. chiefs as the reward of their valour and attachment. One step which he took must above all others have contributed to naturalize the French language. He supplied all vacancies in the ecclesiastical •establishment with Norman clergy ; and if, with all this influence, the French language did not universally prevail, it must at least have interfered in a very considerable degree with the use of the native tongue. At schools, French and Latin were taught together in the reign of Edward III. and it was usual to make the scholars construe their Latin lessons into French, a practice which must have great!/
206 CHAUCER.
retarded the progress of the native tongue towards refine- ment. Some check, indeed, appears to have been given to this in the reign of the same sovereign ; but the pro- ceedings in parliament and the statutes continued to be promulgated in French for a far longer period.
These circumstances have been advanced to prove that Chaucer ought not to be blamed for introducing words and phrases with which his countrymen were familiar long be- fore his time, and which they probably considered as ele- gancies. If Chaucer was taught at school, as other youths were, it is plain that he must have learned French while he was learning his mother tongue, and was taught to give a preference to the former by making it the vehicle of translation.
The language, therefore, in use in Chaucer's days, among the upper classes, and by all that would be thought learned, was a Norman-Saxon dialect, introduced by the influx and influence of a court of foreigners, and spread wherever that influence extended. Journeys to France were also common, for the purposes of improvement in. such accomplishments as were then fashionable, and this kind of intercourse, which is always in favour of the country visited, would perhaps tend to introduce a still greater proportion of French phraseology. But still the founda- tion was laid at home, in the prevailing modes of edu- cation. With respect to the progress of this mixture, and the effectjs of the accessions which in the course of nearly three centuries, the English language received from Nor- mandy, the reader is referred to Mr. Tyrwhitt's very elaborate " Essay on the Language and Versification of Chaucer," prefixed to his edition of the " Canterbury Tales." It appears, upon the whole, that " the language of our ancestors was complete in all its parts, and had served them for the purposes of discourse, and even of composition in various kinds, long before they had any in- timate acquaintance with their French neighbours." They had therefore "no call from necessity, and consequently no sufficient inducement, to alter its original and radical con- stitutions, or even its customary forms." And accordingly, notwithstanding the prevalence of the French from the causes already assigned, it is proved by Mr. Tyrwhitt that " in all the essential parts of speech, the characteristical features of the Saxon idiom were always preserved; and the crowds of French words' which from time to time were
CHAUCER. 207
imported, were themselves made subject, either imme- diately, or by degrees, to the laws of that same idiom."
As to what English poetry owes to Chaucer, Dr. John- son has pronounced him " the first of our versifiers who wrote poetically," and Mr. Warton has , proved " that in elevation and elegance, in harmony and perspicuity of versification, he surpasses his predecessors in an infinite proportion; that his genius was universal, and adapted to themes of unbounded variety; that his merit was not less in painting familiar manners with humour and propriety, than in moving the passions, and in representing the beau- tiful or the grand objects of nature with grace and sub- limity. In a word, that he appeared with all the lustre and dignity of a true poet, in an age which compelled him to struggle with a barbarous language, and a national want of taste ; and when to write verses at all, was regarded as a singular qualification."
The Saxons had a species of writing which they called poetry, but it did not consist of regular verses, nor was it embellished by rhime. The Normans, it is generally thought, were the first who introduced rhime or metre, copied from the Latin rythmical verses, a bastard species, which belongs to the declining period of the Latin language. To deduce the history of versification from the earliest periods is impossible, for want of specimens. Two very- trifling ones only are extant before the time of Henry II. namely, a few lines in the Saxon Chronicle upon the death of William the Conqueror, and a short canticle, which, according to Matthew Paris, the blessed virgin was pleased to dictate to Godric, an hermit near Durham. In the time of Henry II. Layamon, a priest, translated chiefly from, the French of Wace, a fabulous history of the Britons, en- titled Le Brut, which Wace himself, about 1155, had translated from the Latin of Geffry of Monmouth. In this there are a number of short verses, of unequal lengths, but exhibiting something like rhime. But so common was it to write whatever was written, in French or Latin, that another century must be passed over before we come to another specimen of English poetry, if we except the Or- mulum*, and a moral piece upon old age, &c. f noticed
* A paraphrase on the Gospel histories, written by one Orme or Ormin. f A specimen of this is given in Dr. Johnson's Introduction to his Dic- tionary.
203 CHAUCER.
by Mr. Tyrwhitt, and which he conjectures to have heen written earlier than the reign of Henry Jtl.
Between the latter end of the reign of Henry III. and the time of Chaucer, the names of many English rhimers have been recovered, and many more anonymous writers, or rather translators of romances, flourished about this period ; but they neither invented nor imported any im- provements in the art of versification. Their labours, how- ever, are not to be undervalued. Mr. Warton has very justly remarked, that " the revival of learning in most countries appears to have first owed its rise to translation. At rude periods the modes of original thinking are un- known, and the arts of original composition have not yet been studied. The writers, therefore, of such periods are chiefly and very usefully employed in importing the ideas of other languages into their own." But, as many of these metrical romances were to be accompanied by music, they were less calculated for reading than reci- tation.
These authors, whatever their merit, were the only English poets, if the name may be used, when Chaucer appeared, and the only circumstances under which he found the poetry of his native tongue, were, that rhime was established very generally ; that the metres in use were principally the long Iambic, consisting of not more than fifteen, nor less than fourteen syllables, and broken by a caesura at the eighth syllable ; the Alexandrine metre, con- sisting of not more than thirteen syllables, nor less than twelve, with a caesura at the sixth ; the octosyllable metre; and the stanza of six verses, of which the first, second, fourth and fifth were in complete octosyllable metre, and the third and last catalectic, i. c. wanting a syllable, or even two.
Such were the precedents which a new poet might be expected to follow. But Chaucer composed nothing in the first or second of these four metres. In the fourth he wrote only the Rhime of sir Thopas, which being intended tor ridicule the vulgar romances, seems to have been pur- posely written in their favourite metre. In the third, or octo- syllable metre *, he wrote several of his compositions, par- ticularly an imperfect translation of the Roman de la Rose,
* So called by Mr. Tyrwhitt, (whose although it often consists of nine, and
opinions are chiefly followed on this sometimes of ten syllables, the eighth
subject) from what he apprehends to is always the last accented syllable, have been its original form, in which,
CHAUCER. 209
the House of Fame, the Dethe of the Diichesse Blanche, and his Dreme, all which are so superior to the versifica- tion of his contemporaries and predecessors, as to establish. his pre-eminence, and prove that the reformer of English poetry had at length appeared.
But the most considerable part of his works entitle him to the honour of an inventor. They are written in the he- roic metre, and there is no evidence of any English poet having used it before him. He is not indeed to be con- sidered as the inventor in the most extensive sense, as the heroic metre had been cultivated by Dante, Petrarch, and Boccace, but he was the first to introduce it into his na- tive language, in which it has been employed by every poet of eminence, to the present day.
The age of Chaucer had little of what we now under- stand by refinement. The public shows and amusements were splendid and sumptuous. They had all somewhat of a dramatic air; at their tournaments and carousals the principal personages acted parts, with some connection of story, borrowed from the events, and conducted according to the events and manners of chivalry. But the national manners and habits were barbarous, unless where the re- straints of religion repressed public licentiousness ; and, with respect to taste, the spectacles in which the higher orders indulged, were such as would not now be tolerated perhaps even at a fair. What influence they had on public decency, it is difficult to ascertain. In Chaucer's time there was indeed no public, because there was little or no- thing of that communication of sentiment and feeling which we owe to the invention of printing.
In such an age, it is the highest praise of Chaucer, that he stood alone, the first poet who improved the art by melody, fancy, and sentiment, and the first writer, whe- ther we consider the quantity, quality, or variety of his productions. It is supposed that many of his writings are lost. What remain, however, and have been authenti- cated with tolerable certainty, must have formed the oc- cupation of a considerable part of his life, and been the result of copious reading and reflection. Even his transla- tions are mixed with so great a portion of original matter as, it may be presumed, required time and study, and those happy hours of inspiration, which are not always within command. The principal obstruction to the plea- sure we should otherwise derive from Chaucer's works, is Vox.. JX. P
210 C HA U C E R.
that profusion of allegory which pervades them, particu- larly the " Romaunt of the Rose," the " Court of Love," " Flower and Leaf," and the " House of Fame." Pope, in the first edition of*his Temple of Fame, prefixed a note in defence of allegorical poetry, the propriety of which cannot be questioned, but which is qualified with an ex- ception which applies directly to Chaucer. " The inci- dents by which allegory is conveyed, should never be spun too long, or too much clogged with trivial circumstances, or little particularities." But this is exactly the case with Chaucer, whose allegories are spun beyond all bounds, and clogged with many trivial and unappropriate circum- stances.
For upwards of seventy years after the death of Chau- cer, his works remained in manuscript. Mr. Tyrwhitt enumerates twenty-six manuscripts which he had an op- portunity of consulting in the various public and private libraries of London, Oxford, Cambridge, &c. but of all these he is inclined to give credit to only five. Caxton, the first English printer, selected Chaucer's " Canterbury Tales," as one of the earliest productions of his press, but happened to copy a very incorrect manuscript. This first edition is supposed by Mr. Ames to have been printed in 1475 or 1476. There are only two complete copies extant, one in his majesty's library, and another in that of Merton-college, both without preface or advertisement. About six years after, Caxton printed a second edition, and in his preface apologized for the errors of the for- mer. No perfect copy of this edition is known. Ames mentions an edition " collected by William Caxton, and printed by Wynken de Worde, 1495, folio,'K but the existence of this is doubtful. Pynson printed two edi- tions ; the first, it is conjectured, in 1491, and the second in 1526, which was the first in which a collec- tion of some other pieces of Chaucer was added to the Canterbury Tales. Ames notices editions in 1520 and 1522, but had not seen them, nor are they now known. In 1532 an edition was printed by Thomas Godfrey, and edited by Mr. Thynne, which Mr. Tyrwhitt informs usv was considered, notwithstanding its many imperfections, as the standard edition, and was copied, not only by the booksellers, in their several editions of 1542, 1546, 1555, and 1561, but also by Mr. Speght, in 1597 and 1602. Speght's edition was reprinted in 1687, and in 1721 ap-
CHAUCER. 211
peared Mr. Urry's, who, while he professed to compare a great many manuscripts, took such liberties with his au- thor's text as to render this by far the worst edition ever published.
There is an interleaved copy of Urry's edition in the British Museum, presented by Mr. William Thomas, a brother of Dr. T. Thomas, who furnished the preface and glossary, and upon whom the charge of publishing devolved after Mr. Urry's death. This copy has many manuscript notes and corrections. From one of them we learn that the life of Chaucer was very incorrectly drawn up by Mr. Dart, and corrected and enlarged by Mr. William Thomas ; and from another, that bishop Atterbury prompted Urry to this undertaking, but " did by no means judge rightly of Mr. Urry's talents in this case, who though in many re- spects a most worthy person, was not qualified for a work of this nature." Dr. Thomas undertook to publish it, at the request of bishop Smalridge. In the Harleian collec- tion is a copy of an agreement between William Brome, executor to Urry, the dean and chapter of Christ Church, and ^Bernard Lin tot the bookseller. By this it appears that it was Urry's intention to apply part of the profits to- wards building Peckwater quadrangle. Lintot was to print a thousand copies on small paper at I/. 10s. and two hundred and fifty on large paper at 2l. IQs. It does not appear that this speculation succeeded. Yet the edition, from its having been printed in the Roman letter, the copiousness of the glossary, and the ornaments, &c. continued to be the only one consulted, until the publication of the " Can- terbury Tales" by Mr. Tyrwhitt, in 1775. This very acute critic was the first who endeavoured to restore a pure text ty the collation of MSS. a labour of vast extent, hut which, must be undertaken even to greater extent, before the other works of Chaucer can be published in a manner worthy of their author. Mr Warton laments that Chaucer has been so frequently considered as an old, rather than a good poet ; and recommends the study of his works. Mr. Tyrwhitt, since this advice was given, has undoubtedly introduced Chaucer to a nearer intimacy with the learned public, but it is not probable that he can ever be restored to popularity. His language will stift remain an insur- mountable obstacle with that numerous class of readers to whom poets must look for universal reputation. Poetry is
P 2
212 C H A U F E P I E.
the art of pleasing ; but pleasure, as generally understood^ admits of very little that deserves the name of study. *
CHAUFEPIE (JAMES GEORGE DE), author of a very useful Biographical Dictionary, was descended from the ancient and noble family of the Calfopedi of Florence, which removed into France under Francis I. At the revo- cation of the edict of Nantz, Samuel de Chaufepie", the representative of the family, and pfotestant minister at Couh6 in Poitou, was obliged to take refuge inf Friesland, where he died pastor of the church of Leuwarden in 17O4. He had ten children by his wife Maria Marbceuf de la Rimbaudiere, of whom the subject of the present article was the youngest, and born at Leuwarden, Nov. 9, 1702. He was educated partly at Franeker, under professor An- dala, as appears by his maintaining an academical thesis before that professor, in 1718> on "Innate Ideas," and probably about the same time, a second on " The punish- ment of the Ctoasj" which was afterwards published in a collection by Gerdes, in 1734. After being admitted into the ministry, he preached for some time at Flushing, then at Delft, and lastly at Amsterdam, where he was^pastor of the Walloon church, and where he died, highly Vespected for piety and learning, and much lamented, July 3, 1786. He was not more diligent in the discharge of his profes- sional functionsj than attached to studious researches, which he pursued throughout the whole of his long life. In 173& he published^ " Lettres sur divers sujets importans de la Religion," 12mO) and in 1746 prefixed a life or histo- rical eulogium to the sermons of John Brutel de la Ri- viere. In 1756 he published three sermons, intended to prove the truth of the Christian religion from the present state of the Jews ; and wrote an account of the life and writings of our celebrated poet Pope, which was prefixed to a French translation of his works, printed at Amsterdam in 1758. He also translated from the Dutch an abridge- ment, in question and answer, of the history of his country ; and from the English, part of Shuckford's wOrks, with additions, and several volumes of the " Universal His- tory," which he improved very considerably, particularly in the history of Venice. This labour, however, he discon- tinued in 1771, and does not appear after that to have
* Johnsen and Chalmers's English Poets, 1810,— Biog. Brit.— Tyrwhitt's Can- terbury Tales.— -Ellis's Specimens,— Warton's ttist. of English Poetry jf see Index.
C H A U F E P I £. 213
published any thing of consequence, confining himself to his pastoral duties, if we except his " Life of Servetus," which in 1771 was translated into English, by James Yair, minister of the Scots church at Campvere, and published at London, 8vo. The chief object of it seems to be to vindicate Calvin from the reproaches usually thrown upon him for the share he had in the prosecution of Servetus ; but some will probably think that he has at least been equally successful in throwing new and not very favourable light on the conduct and principles of Servetus.
A selection of Chaufepie's " Sermons" was published after his death by his nephew and colleague in the church at Amsterdam, Samuel de Chaufepie. But the work which gives him the best title to a place here, is his " Nouveau Dictionaire Historique et Critique pour servir de Supple- ment, ou de Continuation au Dictionaire de M. Pierre Bayle," Amsterdam, 1750 — 1756, 4 vols. fol. The editors of the French Diet. Historique, of 1804, messieurs Chau- don and Delandine, speak of this as an ill-digested work, and say that the author, in continuing Bayle, has imitated him neither in his good nor his bad qualities, and that he does not interest his readers like the philosopher of Rot- terdam, his style being inferior and incorrect. They allow, however, that he respects religion, although he declaims sometimes against the Roman Catholics; and they give due praise to his researches respecting the lite- rature of France, England, and Holland. That he de- claims against the Roman catholics sometimes, is an ob- jection very natural to the editors of the French dictionary, but frequent recourse to Chaufepie's work convinces us that he speaks with impartiality, and engages as little as possible with points of controversy. The work was origi- nally intended as a supplement to Bayle, but various cir- cumstances stated by the author in his preface, prevented the booksellers from prosecuting this plan, and it may rather be considered as a new work, founded partly on Bayle, and partly on the English " General Dictionary,'* 10 vols. fol. The new articles from the pen of Chaufepi6 are in general accurate, and this work ought to be better known in this country, because, owing to the author's re- ligious principles, less use has been made of it abroad than it deserves. The English articles, although this circum- stance is not perhaps of much importance here, are more full than in any other work published on the Con-
214 CHAUFEPIE.
tinent, and the additions the author has made not only to them, but to Bayle's series, afford a very favourable idea of the labour and research he must have employed. He ap- pears to have been first applied to by the booksellers of Amsterdam in 1739, and to have spent several years in preparing it for the press. With respect to the charge that it is less interesting to readers than Bayle, we can only re- mark that in proportion as any biographer follows Bayle, he will render his work a tissue of interrupting impertinen- cies and crude sentiments. l
CHAULIEU (WILLIAM ANFREYE DE), was born at Fon- tenay in Normandy, in 1639. His father, counsellor of state at Rouen, placed him in the college de Navarre at Paris, where he acquired a profound knowledge of the an- cient authors, and contracted an intimacy with the duke de Rochefoucault and the abbe" Marsillac, whose patronage he acquired by his lively conversation and his various talents ; and while he was countenanced by them, he formed an acquaintance that had a great influence on his poetical efforts. The duchess of Bouillon, a niece of cardinal Ma- zarin, was about to lay out a large garden, and for that pur- pose thought it necessary to obtain a piece of ground be- longing to the estate of the family of Chaulieu. The poet, with much address, brought the treaty to effect agreeably to the desires of the duchess, and thus acquired the favour of a lady, who afterwards became the inspirer of his son- nets. Her house was a temple of the muses ; she encou- raged, rewarded, and -inspired all such as shewed marks of poetic genius; and evinced a particular regard for Chau- lieu. Through her he became known to the duke de Vendome, a great friend of the muses, who, as grand prior of France, presented him with a priorate on the isle of Oleron, with an annual revenue of 28,000 livres. To this were afterwards added the abbacies of Pouliers, Renes, Aumale, and St. Stephen, the profits of which enabled niin to pass his life in ease and affluence. The first thing by which Chaulieu became known as a poet was a rondeau on Benserade's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses. He soon found opportunities for appearing frequently before the public ; and his acquaintance with Chapelle determined him entirely for jovial poetry. Chaulieu was no poet by profession ; he sung with the flask in his hand, and we are
1 Diet. Hist. — Chaufepie's preface. — Saxii Onomast.
C H A U L I E U. 215
told that in the circle of genial friends he acquired those delicate sentiments which render his poetry at once so na- tural and so charming. The muses were the best comforts of his age, as they had frequently been in his younger
Cars, when he was visited by the gout, the pains of which contrived to alleviate, by conversations with his friends and the muses, and prolonged his life to a very advanced age, dying in 1726, in his 81st year. He was extremely desirous of becoming a member of -the academy of fine arts ; and, on seeing another preferred to him, he took his revenge by satirical attacks on the management of the in- stitution. It was the perfect consonance of his life with his poems, that gave them the natural air for which they have ever been so greatly admired. The philosophy of the graces, that animates his works, was also the rule of his life. But few of his poems were published during his life- time, and those occasionally and detached ; the trouble of collecting them he left to his friends after his death. The first editions were very imperfect, till Camusac and St. Marc took the pains to publish them in a completer collec- tion, 1750, 2 vols. 12mo. They consist of epistles in verse, and letters in prose intermingled with verses. Both are characterised by an easy gaiety, agreeable pictures, lively strokes, genuine wit, pleasing fictions, Epicurean morality, or " sagesse commode,'' as Saint Marc used to call it, and a style varied as the subject requires. They are not, however, without flat, incorrect, and puerile pas- sages. His versification is flowing and harmonious, but frequently faulty and contrary to the rules of speech, and sometimes designedly negligent, in imitation ef the simple style of Marot. Some find great harmony in the continual recurrence of the same rhymes, in which he followed Cha- pelle, and is praised by Dubos ; and Camusac thinks that such verses are eminently adapted to music. Saint Marc, on the other hand, and the younger Racine, complain of their monotony, and conceive that the beauty of them consists solely in the conquest of greater difficulties, and that the French language is not so poor in sonorous phrase- ology as to stand in need of such a practice. Though the letters of Chaulieu were all actually written, and mostly directed to Bouillon, yet they are frequently interspersed with ingenious fictions. Excepting that to the chevalier Bouillon, the most remarkable letter is that addressed to M. la Fare, as the poet, with great frankness, gives us in
216 C H A U L N E S.
it his own portrait. — Chaulieu's odes are not of the higher species. l
CHAULNES (ALBERT DUKE DE), a peer of France, but more remarkable as an astronomer and mathematician, -was born at Paris Dec. 30, 1714. He soon discovered a singular taste and genius for the sciences; and in the tu- mults of armies and camps, he cultivated mathematics, astronomy, mechanics, &c. He was named honorary^acade- mician the 27th of February 1743, and few members were more punctual in attending the meetings of that body, where he often brought different constructions and corrections of in- struments of astronomy, of dioptrics, and achromatic tele- scopes. These researches were followed with a new paral- lactic machine, more solid and convenient than those that were in use ; as also with many reflections on the manner of applying the micrometer to those telescopes, and of measuring exactly the value of the parts of that instrument. The duke of Chaulnes proposed many other works of the same kind, which were interrupted by his death Sept. 23, 1769.
Several of his papers are published in the volumes of Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences; particularly, 1. Ob- servations on some Experiments in the 4th part of the 2d book of Newton's Optics, an. 1755. 2. Observations on the Platform for dividing mathematical instruments, 1765. 3. Determination of the distance of Arcturus from the Sun's limb, at the summer solstice, 1765. 4. On some means of perfecting astronomical instruments, 1765. 5. Of some experiments relative to dioptrics, 1 767. 6. The art of dividing mathematical instruments, 1768. 7. Obser- vations of the Transit of Venus, June 3, 1769; 1769. 8. New method of dividing mathematical and astronomical instruments. 2
CHAUNCY (CHARLES), an eminent nonconformist* and great uncle to the historian of Hertfordshire, was the fifth and youngest son of George Chauncy, esq. of Yard- ley-bury and New-place in Hertfordshire, by Agnes, the daughter of Edward Welch, and widow of Edward Hum- berstone, and was born in 1592. He was educated at Westminster school, from which he went to Trinity college, Cambridge, where he was admitted to his several degrees,
* Chaufepie. — Moreri. — Niceron.-—01ivet's Hist, de 1' Academic.— Diet. Hi»tf ? Button's Dictionary.
CHAUNCY. 217
till he became bachelor of divinity. His reputation for learning was such as gained him the esteem and friendship of the celebrated Dr. Usher, archbishop of Armagh. In consequence of his distinguished skill in Oriental litera- ture, he was chosen, by the heads of houses, Hebrew pro- fessor; but Dr. Williams, the vice-chancellor, preferring a relation of his own, Mr. Chauncy resigned his preten- sions, and was appointed to the Greek professorship. He was the author of the sTriKpuris which is prefixed to Leigh's " Critica Sacra'7 upon the New Testament. When Mr. Chauncy quitted the university, he became vicar of Ware in Hertfordshire. Being of puritanical principles, he was jnuch offended with the " Book of Sports ;" and opposed, although with less reason, the railing in of the Communion table. Besides this, he had the indiscretion to say in a sermon, that idolatry was admitted into the church ; that much Atheism, Popery, Arminianism, and Heresy had crept into it ; and that the preaching of the gospel would be suppressed. Having by these things excited the indig- nation of the ruling powers, he was questioned in the high commission ; and the cause being referred, by order of that court, to the determination of his ordinary, he was imprisoned, condemned in costs of suit, and obliged to make a recantation ; which, as it had been extorted from him through fear, lay heavy on his mind. He continued, indeed, some years in his native country, and officiated at Marston Lawrence, in the diocese of Peterborough ; but at length retired to New England, where he made an open acknowledgment of his crime in signing a recanta- tion contrary to the dictates of his conscience. For some considerable time succeeding his arrival at New England in 1637, he assisted Mr. Reyner, the minister of that place; after which he removed to a town at a little dis- tance, called " Scituate," where he continued twelve years in the discharge of his pastoral office. When the republican party became predominant in England, Mr. Chauncy was invited, by his old parishioners at Ware, to return back to his native country, and had thoughts of complying, but was so earnestly pressed by the trustees of Harvard college, in Cambridge, which then wanted a pre- sident, to accept of the government of that society, that he could not resist their solicitations. This event took place in 1654; and from that time to his death, which happened on the 19th of February, 1671-2, in the 80th
215 C H A U N C Y.
year of his age, Mr. Chauncy continued with great reputa- tion at the head of the college, discharging the duties of his station with distinguished attention, diligence, and ability. So high was the esteem in which he was held, that when he had resided about two years in Cambridge, the church of that town, to whom he was united, and among whom he preached, kept a whole day of thanksgiv- ing to God, for the mercy they enjoyed in their connection with him. Mr. Chauncy, by his wife Catherine, whose life was published, had six sons, all of whom were brought up for the ministry. Isaac the eldest of them, became pastor of a nonconformist society in London, and wrote several treatises *. Mr. Charles Chauncy had a number of descendants, who long flourished both in Old and New England. One of them was the late Dr. Chauncy the phy- sician, who died in 1777, well known for his skill and taste in pictures, and for his choice collection of them, afterwards in the possession of his brother, Nathaniel Chauncy, esq. of Castle-street, Leicester-fields, who died in 1790.1
CHAUNCY (MAURICE), whose name we find some- times spelt Chamney, Chancy, and Channy, was a monk of the Charter-house, London, and with many others of the same order, was imprisoned in the reign of Henry VIII. for refusing to own his supremacy. When the monastery was dissolved, and several of his brethren executed in 1535, Chauncy and a few others contrived to remain unmolested partly in England and partly in Flanders, until the accession of queen Mary, when they were replaced at Shene near Richmond, a monastery formerly belonging to the Carthusians. On the queen's death, they were per- mitted to go to Flanders, under Chauncy, who was now their prior. The unsettled state of the reformation there obliged them to remove from Bruges to Doway, and from
* This Isaac Chauncy, at the resto- rernment, that they left him, and he
ration, was in possession of the rectory left off preaching, and was succeeded
of Woodborough in Wiltshire, and by the celebrated Dr. Watts, who knew
came afterwards to London, with a the business of the pulpit, and recalled
view to practise physic, but was in- the congregation. Chauncy was after-
duced to accept a call from a dissent- wards appointed tutor of a dissenting
ing meeting, in which he preached for academy, which was afterwards con-
fourteen years, but being a bigotted ducted by Dr. Ridgley. He died Feb.
independent, he so tormented his hear- 28, 1712. Calamy. ers with declamations on church go-
1 Biog. Brit. art. Henry Chauncy. — Gent. Mag. rol. LX. — NeaPs History of England, and of the Puritans.
C H A U N C Y. 219
Doway to Louvain, where they remained until a house was prepared for them at Nieuport, and there at length they obtained a settlement under the crown of Spam, Chaun- cy, however, died at Bruges July 15, 1581, highly re- spected by those of his own order. Of his works one only is worth mentioning, entitled " Historia aliquot nostri saeculi Martyrum, cum pia, turn lectu jucunda, nuuqua.ni antehac typis excusa," printed at Mentz, 1550, 4to, with eurious copper-plates. This work, which is very rare, contains the epitaph of sir Thomas More, written by himself; the captivity and martyrdom of Fibber, bishop of Rochester ; and the same of sir Thomas More ; and of other eminent persons, who were executed in Henry VIII.'s reign. Wood mentions a second edition at Cologne in 1608, which we think we have seen. '
CHAUNCY (SiR HENRY), knt. author of the " Histori- cal Antiquities of Hertfordshire," which bears a higher price than any other topographical volume, was descended from a family which came into England with William the conqueror. He was born in 1632, and had his grammati- cal education at Bishop's Stortford school, under Mr. Thomas Leigh ; and in 1647, was admitted in Gonvil and Caius college in Cambridge. He removed, in 1649, to the Middle-Temple; and in 1656, was called to the bar. In 1661, he was constituted a justice of peace lor aie county of Hertford ; made one of the benchers of the Mid- dle-Temple in 1675, and steward of the Burgh-coujt in Hertford; and likewise, in 1680, appointed by charter, recorder of that place. In 1681, he was elected reader of the Middle-Temple ; and on the 4th of June, the same year, received the honour of knighthood at Windsor-castle, from king Charles II. He was chosen treasurer of the Middle-Temple in 1685. On the llth of June, 1688, he was called to the degree of a serjeant at law, and the same year advanced to be a Welsh judge, or one of his majesty's justices for the counties of Glamorgan, Brecknock, and Radnor, in the principality of Wales. He married three wives; 1. Jane, youngest daughter of Francis Flyer, of Brent-Pelham, in Hertfordshire, esq. by whom he had seven children. She died December 31, 1672. 2. Eliza- beth, the relict of John Goulsmith, of Stredset, in Norfolk, esq one of the coheirs of Gregory Wood, of Risby, in Suffolk, gent. By her he had no issue. She died Au>
J Ath. Ox. vol. I.— Dodd's Church History.— Tanner.
C H A U N C Y.
gust 4, 1677. 3. His third wife was Elizabeth, the second daughter of Nathaniel Thruston, of Hoxny, in Suffolk, esq. by whom he had two children. He died April 1719, and May 1, was buried at Tardley-Bury. He published " The Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire," 1700, fol. To this work he left some additions, which afterwards came into the hands of Salmon, and were the foundation of his History of Hertfordshire. The first essay towards a deline- ation of Hertfordshire was attempted by John Norden, in his " Speculum Britanniae," published in 1593 ; but it is not to be compared, in point of compleatness and perfecr tion, with sir Henry Chauncy's historical description. Sir Henry's digressions, however, are pedantic, and the work would have admitted of greater care with respect to the execution of the engravings. Mr. Forester, of Bradfield in this county, father of Dr. Pulter Forester, chancellor of Lincoln, and a near relation of sir Henry Chauncy, had made large additions to sir Henry's book. The copy was in the hands of the late William Forester, esq. who died about 1767. Mr. Cole was possessed of another copy, with great manuscript additions by the late Browne Willis. A third copy, with large additions, by Peter Le Neve, is in the library of the Society of Antiquaries. Two copies, with copious additions in MS. were given by Mr. Gough to the Bodlefan Library. The rev. Dr. Paul Wright, vicar of Oakley in Essex, and who formerly resided, as curate and lecturer, in the town of Hertford, having received some manuscript papers relative to sir Henry Chuancy's work, proposed to publish an accurate edition of it with continua- tions to the present time, but this was never executed. A new edition has lately been announced by Mr. Clutterbuck of Watford, who has purchased the MS Collections of Mr. Blore. !
CHAUSSE (MICHAEL ANGELO DE LA), a learned anti- quary of Paris in the last century, went early in life to, Rome for the sake of studying antiquities ; and the same taste that had led him to that famous city induced him to remain there. His " Musaeum Romanum," Rome, 1690, fol. and augmented to 2 vols. fol. in 1746, evinced the success of his application. This valuable collection com- prises a numerous succession of antique gems, which had never before been given by impression to the public, en-
1 Biog. Brit. — Gongh's Topography. — MS communication by Henry Ellii, esq. respecting the date of bis death, which is grossly erroneous in the Biog. Brit*
C H A U S S E. 221
graved on two hundred and eighteen plates. It has gone through several editions. Graevius inserted part of it in his " Thesaurus Antiq. Romanorum." The same author published at Rome a collection of engraved gems, entitled " Gemme antiche figurate," Rome, 1700, 4to; and " Au- xeus Constantini nummus, &c. explicatus," Rome, 1703, 4to. His last publication was " Le Pitture antiche delle Grotte di Roma e del Sepolcro di Nasoni, &c." the plates by Pietro Santo and Bartoli, Rome, 1706, foi. These different works present a great stock of erudition and sa- gacity, and are much consulted by the curious ; we have no account of the author's death. l
CHAUSSEE. See NIVELLE.
CHAUVEAU (FRANCIS), a painter, engraver, and de- signer of great talents and industry, was born at Paris in 1613) and died there in 1676. His first performances were some engravings from the pictures of Laurence de la Hire, who was his master ; but the liveliness of his ima- gination not comporting with the tardiness of the graving tool, he began to delineate his own thoughts in aquafortis. If his works have not the delicacy and mellowness that dis- tinguish the engravings of some other artists, yet he threw into them all the fire, all the force and sentiment of which his art is susceptible. He worked with surprising facility. His children used to read to him after supper the passages of history he intended to draw. He instantly seized the most striking part of the subject, traced the design of it on the plate of copper with the point of his graver; and, before he went to bed, fitted it for being corroded by the aquafortis the next day, while he employed himself in engraving or drawing something else. He supplied not only painters and sculptors with designs, but also carvers and goldsmiths, jewellers and embroiderers, and even join- ers and smiths. Besides 4000 pieces engraved by his hand, and 1400 executed from his designs, he painted several small pictures, which were much admired, and many of them were purchased by Le Brun. The multitude of works on which he was employed brought their authors to his house, and their frequent meetings and conversa- tions there terminated in the establishment of the French academy. He was admitted into the royal academy of painting and sculpture in 1663, and obtained a pension far-
* Diet. Hist,— Saxii Onomasticon,
222 CHAUVEAU.
engraving the plates of the Carousal. His small plates, JVJr. Strutt says, are executed in a style much resembling that of Le Clerc, founded upon that of^Callot. In his large prints he approaches near to that coarse, dark style, which was adopted by his tutor, La Hire. Among the sets of prints executed from his own compositions, are those for the " Bible History ;" the " History of Greece ;" the " Metamorphosis of Benserade ;" the " Jerusalem of Tas- so ;" the " Fables of La Fontaine ;" " Alaric," or " Rome conquered ;" and several romances. Among the prints en- graved from other masters are, " Christ with the Disciples at Emmaus," from Titian ; a " Concert," from Dominichino; the " Life of St. Bruno," from Le Sueur; " Apollo and Daphne," from N. Poussin ; " A Virgin and Child, with St. John and little Angels," finely etched, and finished with much taste; and " Meleager presenting the Head of the Boar to Atalanta." With all his talents and fame, Perrault assures us that he was a man of great modesty. *
CHAUVEAU (RENE), son of the foregoing, was born in 1663, and followed the footsteps of his father. Like him, he had an admirable facility in inventing subjects and in embellishing them, and a variety and ingenious turn in the disposition of his figures ; but he particularly distin- guished himself as a sculptor. He worked for Louis XIV. and for several foreign princes. The marquis de Torci was the last that employed him, at his chateau de Sable. This nobleman having asked him what wages he would have by the day ? Chauveau, provoked at the question, which he thought degrading, abruptly quitted both his work and employer, and came to Paris, where he died in 1722, at the age of fifty-nine, from the fatigue of the journey, in addition to the vexation he suffered from having changed his money into bank notes.*
CHAUVIN (STEPHEN), a protestant clergyman, was born at Nismes in 1640, and being obliged to leave his country upon the revocation of the edict of Nantes, went to Rotterdam, and afterwards to Berlin, where he became professor of philosophy. He died in 1725 at the age of eighty-five. He published, 1. A " Lexicon philosophicum,'* Rotterdam, 1692, fol. and at Leuwarden, 1713, with plates. 2. A new " Journal des S§avans," begun in 1694 at Rot- terdam, and continued at Berlin, but less esteemed than
1 More.ri.— Diet. Hist,-— Perrault les Homines lllustres. • Morcri.— -Diet. Hist.
C H A U V I N. 223
the <c Histoire desOuvrages des Ssavans" by Basnage, who on the continent was considered as a better writer, and a man of more taste. l
CHAZELLES (JOHN MATTHEW DE), a French mathe- tician and engineer, was born at Lyons July 24, 1657, and educated there in the college of Jesuits, from whence he removed to Paris in 1675. He first made an acquaint- ance with du Hamel, secretary to the academy of sciences ; who, observing his genius to lie strongly towards astronomy, presented him to Cassini. Cassini took him with him to the observatory, and employed him under him, where he made a very rapid progress in the science. In 1683, the academy carried on the great work of the meridian to the north and south, begun in 1670, and Cassini having the southern quarter assigned him, took in the assistance of Chazelles. In 1684, the duke of Montemart engaged Chazelles to teach him mathematics, and the year after procured him the preferment of hydrography-professor for the gailies of Marseilles, where he set up a school for young pilots designed to serve on board the gailies. In 1686, the gailies made four little campaigns, or rather four courses, for exercise, during which Chazelles always went on board, kept his school on the sea, and shewed the practice of what he taught. He likewise made a great many geometrical and astronomical observations, which enabled him to draw a new map of the coast of Provence. In 1687 and 1688 he made two other sea campaigns, and drew a great many plans of ports, roads, towns, and forts, which were so much prized as to be lodged with the ministers of state. At the beginning of the war which ended with the peace of Ryswick, Chazelles and some marine officers fancied the gailies might be so contrived as to live upon the ocean, and might serve to tow the men of war when the wind failed, or proved contrary ; and also help to secure the coast of France upon the ocean. He was sent to the western coasts in July 1689 to prove this scheme; and in 1690 fifteen gailies, new-built, set sail from Rochefort, cruised as far as Torbay in England, and proved serviceable at the descent upon Tinmouth. Here he performed the functions of an engineer, and shewed the courage of a soldier. The general officers he served under declared that when they sent him to take a
i Diet. Hist.— Saxii Onoraast.
224 CHAZELLES.
view of any post of the enemy, they could rely entirely upon his intelligence. The gallies, after their expedition^ came to the mouth of the Seine into the basons of Havre de Grace and Honfleur; but could not winter because it was necessary to empty these basons several times, to pre- vent the stagnation and stench of the water. He proposed to carry them to Rohan ; and though all the pilots were against him, objecting insuperable difficulties, he suc- ceeded in the undertaking* While he was at Rohan he digested into order the observations which he had made on the coasts, and drew distinct maps, with a portulan to them, viz. a large description of every haven, of the depth, the tides, the dangers and advantages discovered, &c. which were inserted in the " Neptune Francois," pub- lished in 1692, in which year he was engineer at the descent at Oneille. In 1693 M. de Pontchartrain, then secretary of state for the marine, and afterwards chancel- lor of France, resolved to get the " Neptune Frai^ois'* carried on to a second volume, which was also to include the Mediterranean. Chazelles desired that he might have a year's voyage in this sea, for making astronomical ob- servations ; and, the request being granted, he passed by Greece, Egypt, and the other parts of Turkey, with his quadrant and telescope in his hand. When he was in Egypt he measured the pyramids, and found that the four sides of the largest lay precisely against the four quarters of the world. Now as it is highly probable that this exact position to east, west, north, and south, was designed 3000 years ago by those that raised this vast structure, it follows, that, during so long an interval, there lias been no alteration in the situation of the heavens ; or, that the poles of the earth and the meridians have all along con- tinued the same. He likewise made a report of his voyage in the Levant, and gave the academy all the satisfaction they wanted concerning the position of Alexandria : upon which he was made a member of the academy in 1695. Chazelles died Jan. 16, 1710, of a malignant fever. He was a very extraordinary and useful man ; and, besides his great genius and attainments, was also remarkable for his moral and religious endowments. l
CHEFFONTAINES (CHRISTOPHER), in Latin, a Capite Fontium, a learned divine, fifty- fifth general of the cor-
> Eloge by Fontenelle.— Moferi.—Hutton's Diet.
C H E F F O N T A I N E S. 225
deliers, was a native of Bretany, descended from a noble and ancient family, and born in 1632. He was titular archbishop of Csesarea, to exercise the episcopal office in the diocese of Sens, in the absence of cardinal de Peleve. He died May 26, 1595, at Rome, leaving several theolo- gical works ; among them, " De necessaria Theologian Scholasticse correctione," Paris, 1586, 8vOj of which bib- liographers desire us to be careful that the leaf marked E be not wanting, or is not from another book, it being fre- quently wanting. He wrote also a volume against duels, entitled " Confutation du Point d'Honneur," 1579, 8vo, and " De Virgiuitate Marias et Josephi," 1578> 8vo, &c. Dupin has a very long article on Chefforitaines. He ap- pears to have been a man of great learning, and under- stood six languages besides his native Bas Breton. l
CHEKE (SiR JOHN), a learned writer of the sixteenth century, descended from an ancient family in the Isle of Wight, was born at Cambridge, June 16, ,1514, being the son of Peter Cheke, gent, and Agnes, daughter of Mr. Dutfbrd of Cambridgeshire. After receiving his gramma- tical education under Mr. John Morgan, he was admitted into St. John's college, Cambridge^ in 1531, where he became very eminent for his knowledge in the learned languages, particularly the Greek tongue, which was then almost universally neglected. Being recommended as such, by Dr. Butts, to king Henry VIII. he was soon after made kind's scholar, and supplied by his majesty with money for his education, and for his charges in travelling into foreign countries. While he continued in college he in- troduced a more substantial and useful kind of learning than what had been received for some years; and encou- raged especially the study of the Greek and Latin lan- guages, and of divinity. After having taken his degrees in arts he was chosen Greek lecturer of the university. There was no salary belonging to tnat place: but king Henry having founded, about the year 1540, a professor- ship of the Greek tongue in the university of Cambridge, with a stipend oi forty pounds a year, Mr. Cheke, though but twenty-six years of age, was chosen the first professor. This place he held long after he left the university, namely, till October 1551, and was highly instrumental in bringing the Greek language into repute. He endeavoured parti-
* .Dupin. — Moreri.
VOL. IX. Q
226 C H E K E.
cularly to reform and restore the original pronunciation of -it, but met with great opposition from Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, chancellor of the university, and their correspondence on the subject was published. Cheke, however, in the course of his lectures,- went through all Homer, all Euripides, part of Herodotus, and through Sophocles twice, to the advantage of his hearers and his own credit. He was also at the same time university- orator. About the year 1543 he was incorporated master of arts at Oxford, where he had studied some time. On the 10th of July 1544 he was sent for to court, in order to be school- master, or tutor, for the Latin tongue, jointly with sir Anthony Cooke, to prince Edward : and, about the same time, as an encouragement, the king granted him, being then, as it is supposed, in orders, one of the canonries in his new- founded college at Oxford, now Christ Church ; but that college being dissolved in the beginning of 1545, a pension was allowed him in the room of his canonry. While he was entrusted with the prince's edu- cation, he made use of all the interest be had in promoting men of learning and probity. He seems also to have sometimes had the lady Elizabeth under his care. In 1 547, he married Mary, daughter of Richard Hill, ser- jeant of the wine-cellar to king Henry VIII. When his royal pupil, king Edward VI. came to the crown, he re- warded him for his care and pains with an annuity of one hundred marks ; and also made him a grant of several lands and manors *. He likewise caused him, by a man- damus, to be elected provost of King's college, Cambridge, vacant by the deprivation of George Day, bishop of Chi- chester. In May 1549, he retired to Cambridge, upon some disgust he had taken at the court, but was the same Summer appointed one of the king's commissioners for vi-
* ID 1548 he granted to him and serves. The next year he obtained the
Walter Moyle, the very advantageous house and site of the late priory of
purchase of the college of St. John Spalding in the county of Lincoln, the
Baptist of Stoke, near Clare, in Suffolk, manor of Hunden in the same county,
and likewise all the messuages, tene- and divers other Jands and tenements
ments, &c. with the appurtenances in the counties of Lincoln and Suffolk,
belonging to the college of Corpus to the yearly value of 118/. McL q. and
Christi, in the parish of St. Laurence no rent reserved. As we hear no more
, Poultney, London, lately dissolved j of church preferments given to him, it
together with divers other lands and seems doubtful whether he ever was in
tenements in the counties of Suffolk, orders, and it is certain that the ca-
Devon, Kent, and in London ; for the nonry of Christ Church, mentioned in
sum of 958A 3$. 5d. ob. a good penny- the text, might have been held by a
worth, undoubtedly, as Mr. Strype ob- layman at that time.
C H E K £. 227
siting that university. The October following, be was one of the thirty-two commissioners appointed to examine the old ecclesiastical law books, and to compile from thence a body of ecclesiastical laws for the government of the church ; and again, three years after, he was put in a new commission issued out for the same purpose. He returned to court in the winter of 1549, but met there with great uneasiness on account of some offence given by his wife to Anne, duchess of Somerset, whose dependent she was. Mr. Cheke himself was not exempt from trouble, being of the number of those who were charged with having sug- gested bad counsels to the duke of Somerset, and after- wards betrayed him. But having recovered from these imputations, his interest and authority daily increased, and he became the liberal patron of religious and learned men, both English and foreigners. In 1550 he was made chief gentleman of the king's privy -chamber, whose tutor he still continued to be, and who made a wonderful progress through his instructions. Mr. Cheke, to ground him well in morality, read to him Cicero's philosophical works, and Aristotle's Ethics ; but what was of greater importance, in- structed him in the general history ,, the state and interest, the laws and customs of England. He likewise directed him to keep a diary of all the remarkable occurrences that happened, to which, probably, we are indebted for the king's Journal (printed from the original in the Cottonian library) in Burnett's History of the Reformation. In Octo- ber, 1551, his majesty conferred on him the honour of knighthood ; and to enuhle him the better to support that rank, made him a grant, or gift in fee simple (upon consideration of his surrender of the hundred marks above- mentioned), of the whole manor of Stoke, near Clare, ex- clusively of the college before granted him, and the ap- purtenances in Suffolk and Essex, with divers other lands, tenements, &c. all to the yearly value of 145/. 19$. 3d. And a pasture, with other premises, in Spalding ; and the rectory, and other premises, in Sandon. The same year he held two private conferences with some other learned persons upon the subject of the sacrament, or transubstan- tiation. The first on November the 25th, in -secretary Cecil's house, and the second December 3d the same year, at sir Richard Morison's. The auditors were, the lord Russel, sir Thomas Wroth of the bed-chamber, sir An- thony Cooke, one of the king's tutors, Throgmorton,
Q 2
228 C H E K E.
chamberlain of the exchequer, Mr. Knolles, and Mr. Har- rington, with whom were joined the marquis of Northamp- ton, and the earl of Rutland, in the second conference. The popish disputants for the real presence were, Fecken- ham, afterwards dean of St. Paul's, and Yong ; and at the second disputation, Watson. The disputants on the other side were, sir John Cheke, sir William Cecil, Horn, dean of Durham, Whitehead, and Grindal. Some account of these disputations is still extant in Latin, in the library of MSS. belonging to Bene't college, Cambridge ; and from thence published in English by Mr. Strypein his interesting Life of sir John Cheke. Sir John also procured Bucer's MSS. and the illustrious Leland's valuable, collections for the king's library ; but either owing to sir John's misfor- tunes, or through some other accident, they never reached their destination. Four volumes of these collections were given by his son Henry Cheke, to Humphrey Purefoy, esq. one of queen Elizabeth's council in the north, whose son, Thomas Purefoy, of Barvvell in Leicestershire, gave them to the famous antiquary, William Burton, in 1 6 1 2 ; and he made use of them in his description of Leicestershire. Many years after, he presented them to the Bodleian li- brary at Oxford, where they now are. Some other of these collections, after Cheke's death, came into the hands of William lord Paget, and sir William Cecil. The original of the " Itinerary," in five volumes, 4to, is in the Bod- leian library ; and two volumes of collections, relating to Britain, are in the Cottonian.
Mr. Cheke being at Cambridge at the commencement in 1552, disputed there against Jesus Christ's local descent into hell. On the 25th of August, the same year, he was made chamberlain of the exchequer for life; and in 1553 constituted clerk of the council ; and, soon after, one of the secretaries of state, and a privy-counsellor. In May the same year, the king granted to him, and hb heirs male, the honour of Clare in 'Suffolk, with divers other lands, to the yearly value of one hundred pounds. His zeal for the protestant religion induced him to approve of the settle- ment of the crown upon the lady Jane Grey; and he acted, but for a very short time, as secretary to her and her .council after king Edward's decease, for which, upon queen Mary's accession to the throne, he was committed to the Tower, and an indictment drawn up against him, the 12th or 13th of August. The year following, after he
C H E K E. 229
was almost stripped of his whole substance, he obtained the queen's pardon, and was set at liberty September 3, 1554. But not being able to reconcile himself to po- pery, and foreseeing the days of persecution, having ob- tained a licence from the queen to travel for some time into foreign parts, he went first to Basil, where he staid some time ; and thence passed into Italy. At Padua he met with some of his countrymen, whom he directed in their studies, and read and explained to them some Greek orations of Demosthenes. Upon his return from Italy he settled at Strasburgh, where the English service was kept up, and many of his pious and learned friends resided. But this having offended the popish zealots in England, his whole estate was confiscated to the queen's use, under pretence that he did notcome home at the expiration of his travel. Being now reduced in circumstances, he was forced to read a Greek lecture at Strasburgh for his subsistence.
In the beginning of the year 1556, his wife being come to Brussels, he resolved, chiefly upon a treacherous invita- tion he received from the lord Paget and sir John Mason, to go thither. But first he consulted astrology, in which he was very credulous, to know whether he might safely undertake that journey ; and being deceived by that delu- sive art, he fell into a fatal snare between Brussels and Ant- werp. For, by order of king Philip II. being way- laid there by the provost-marshal, he was suddenly seized on the 15th of May, unhorsed, blindfolded, bound, and thrown into a waggon ; conveyed to the nearest harbour, put on board a ship under hatches, and brought to the Tower of London, where he was committed close prisoner. He soon -found that this was on account of his religion ; for two of the queen's chaplains were sent to the Tower to endeavour to reconcile him to the church of Rome, though without suc- cess. But the desire of gaining so great a man, induced the queen to send to him Dr. Feckenham, dean of St. Paul's, a man of a moderate temper, and with whom he had been acquainted in the late reign. This man's arguments being inforced by the dreadful alternative, " either comply, or burn," sir John's frailty was not able to withstand them. He was, therefore, at his own desire, carried before cardi- nal Pole, who gravely advised him to return to the unity of the church : and in this dilemma of fear and perplexity, he endeavoured to escape by drawing up a paper, consist- ing of quotations out of the fathers that seemed to counte-
230 C H E K E.
nance transubstantiation, representing them as his own opinion, and hoping that would suffice to procure him his liberty, without any other public declarations of his change. This paper he sent to cardinal Pole, with a letter dated July 1 5, in which he desired him to spare him from making an open recantation ; but that being refused, he wrote a letter to the queen the same day, in which he declared his readiness to obey her laws, and other orders of religion. After this, he made his solemn submission before the car- dinal, suing to be absolved, and received into the bosom of the Roman catholic church ; which was granted him as a great favour. But still he was forced to make a public recantation before the queen, on the 4th of October, and another long one before the whole court ; and submitted to whatever penances should be enjoined him by the pope's legate, i. e. the cardinal. After all these mortifications, his lands were restored to him, but upon condition of an exchange with the queen for others*. The papists, by way of triumph over him and the protestants, obliged him to keep company generally with catholics, and even to be present at the examinations and convictions of those they called heretics. But his remorse, and extreme vexation for what he had done, sat so heavy upon his mind, that pining away with shame and regret, he died September 13, 1557, aged forty-three, at his friend Mr. Peter Osborne's house, in Wood-street, London, and was buried in St. Al- ban's church there, in the north chapel of the choir, the 16th of September. A stone was set afterwards over his grave, with an inscriptionf. He left three sons; John and Edward, the two youngest, died without issue ; Henry, the eldest, was secretary to the council in the north, and knighted by queen Elizabeth : he died about the year 1586. Thomas, his eldest son and heir, was knighted by
* Upon his surrendering the lands " Doctrinoj lumen Checus, vitaeque
mentioned, the queen granted him, magister,
April 12, 1556, the reversion of the Aurea naturas fabrica, morte jacet.
manor of Brampton- Abbot in Devon- Non erat e muitis unus, sed prsestitit
shire, and the annual rents of 377. 2*. unus
6rf. ob. and the reversion of customary Omnibus, et patria? flos erat ille suae.
lands of Freshford, and Woodwick, in Gemma Britanna fuit, tarn magnum
Somersetshire; the capital messuage of nulla tulerunt
Batokysborough ; the manor of Ays- Tempora thesaurum, tempora nulla
cote ; and the manor of Northlode, in ferent."
the same county; the manor of More Langbaine and Wood give the first
in Devonshire ; and some other things, verse somewhat differently :
•f- It was composed by his learned " Doctrine Checus linguaeque utrius-
friend Dr. Walter Haddon. que magister.''
C H E K E. 231
James I. He purchased the seat of Pyrgo near Romford in Essex, where he and his posterity were settled several years. He was buried March 25, 1659, in St. Albau's, Wood-street, near his grandfather. Sir Thomas's second son, Thomas, commonly known by the name of colonel Cheke, inherited the estate, and was lieutenant, of the Tower in the reigns of Charles II. and James II. This Thomas had two sons, Henry, who died young, and Ed- ward, who succeeded him in his estates. Edward dying in 1707, left two sons; but they died both under age; and the estate devolved to Edward's younger sister Anne, wife of sir Thomas Tipping of Oxfordshire, bart. who left only two daughters, whereof Catherine, the youngest, was mar- ried to Thomas Archer of Underslade in Warwickshire, esq. the late possessor of the Essex estate of the Chekes.
As to his character, he was justly accounted one of the best and most learned men of his age, and a singular orna- ment to his country. He was one of the revivers of polite literature in England, and a great lover and.encourager of the Greek language in particular. The authors he chiefly admired and recommended were Demosthenes, Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Isocrates, and Cicero. He was very happy in imitating the ancient and best writers, and discovered great judgment in translating them. In the orthography and pronunciation of the Latin and Greek languages, he was very critical and exact ; and also took great pains to correct, regulate, and improve the English tongue; but his notions on this subject were rather capricious, and never have been adopted. He was a steady adherent to the re- formed religion, and extremely beneficent, charitable, and communicative. His unhappy fall is indeed a great ble- mish to his memory, and a memorable example of human frailty. With regard to his person, he had a full comely countenance, somewhat red, witfi a yellow large beard ; and, as far as can be judged by his picture, he was tall .and well made.
His works are: 1. A Latin translation of two of St. Chrysostom's Homilies, never before published, " Contra observatores novilunii;" and " De dormientibus in Chris- to," London, 1543, 4to. 2. A Latin translation of six homilies of the same father, " De Fato," and " Providentia Dei," Lond. 1547. 3. " The hurt of Sedition, how griev- ous it is to a commonwealth." The running title is, " The true subject to the rebel*" It was published in
233 C H E K E.
1549, on occasion of the insurrections in Devonshire and Norfolk ; and besides being inserted in Holinshed's Chro- nicle, under the year 1549, was reprinted in 1576, as a seasonable discourse upon apprehension of tumults from malcontents at home, or renegadoes abroad. Dr. Gerard Langbaine of Queen's college, Oxon, caused it to be re- printed again about 1641, for the use and consideration of those who took arms against Charles I. in the time of the civil wars, and prefixed to it a short life of the author. 4. A Latin translation of the English "Communion-book;" done for the use of M. Bucer, and printed among Bucer's " Opuscula Angiicana." 5. " De obitu doctissimi et sanc- tissimi Theologi domini Martini Buceri, &c. Epistolae duse," Lond. 1551, 4to, printed in Bucer's " Scripta Angii- cana." He also wrote an epicedium on the death of that learned man. 6. " Carmen heroicum, or Epitaphium, in Antonium Deneium clarissimum virum," Lond. 4to. This sir Anthony Denny was originally of St. John's college in Cambridge, and a learned man : afterwards he became one of the gentlemen of the privy chamber, and groom of the stole to Henry VIII. and one of the executors of his will. 7. " De Pronuntiatione Graecse potissimum linguae disputa- tiones," &c. containing his dispute on this subject with Gardiner, Basil, 1555, 8vo. 8. " De superstitione ad re- gem Henricum." This discourse on superstition was drawn up for king Henry's use, in order to excite that prince to a thorough reformation of religion. It is written in very ele- gant Latin, and was prefixed by the author, as a dedicar tion to a Latin translation of his, of Plutarch's book of Su- perstition. A copy of this discourse, in manuscript, is still preserved in the library of University college, Oxon, cu- riously written, and bound up in cloth* of silver, which makes it probable, that it was the veiy book that was pre- sented to the king. An English translation of it, done by the learned W. Elstob, formerly fellow of that college, was published by Mr. Strype, at the end of his Life of sir John Cheke. 9. Several " Letters" of his are published in the Life just now mentioned, and eight in Harrington's " Nugae antiquae," and perhaps in other places. 10. A Latin trans- lation of Archbishop Cranmer's book on the Lord's Supper, was also done by sir John Cheke, and printed in 1553. 1 1. He likewise translated " Leo de apparatu bellico," Basil, 1 554, 8 vo. Strype gives also a long catalogue of his unpub- lished writings, which are probably lost. Sir John Cheke, like
C H E K E. 233
some other learned men of his time, particularly Smith, Cecil, and Ascham, wrote a very fair and beautiful hand. l
CHELSUM (JAMES), D. D. a learned divine of the church of England, was born about 1740 in Westminster, and educated at Westminster school, on bishop Williams' s foundation. From that school he went to St. John's college, Cambridge, but did not continue long there ; as Dr. Freind, one of the canons of Christ church, gave him a studentship in that celebrated college. Here he resided for many years, taking his master's degree in 1762, that of bachelor of divinity in 1772, and that of D. D. in 1773. It has been said he was for some time usher at Westminster school ; but this is doubtful. At Oxford he entered into orders in. 1.762, and was presented to the college curacy of Lathbury near Newport Pagnel, and to the benefice of Badger in Shropshire, by Isaac Hawkins Browne, esq, His otiier and chief preferment, was the rectory of Droxford in Hampshire, given him by Dr. North, bishop of Winchester, whose chaplain he was. His learning was extensive ; and his manners, though somewhat austere, were yet amiable. Bad health, however, created an unequal flow of spirits, which injured the powers of his mind towards the close of his life. He died in 1801, and was buried at Droxford. Besides some fugitive pieces without his name, and a tew occasional sermons, he wrote one of the ablest series of "Remarks on Gibbon's Roman History," 1772, 8vo, which Gibbon having noticed in a contemptuous manner, Dr. Chelsum answered him in a " Reply to Mr. Gibbon's Vindi- cation," 1735, 8vo. The best edition of his " Remarks" was the second, published in 1773, much enlarged. Dr. Chel- sum is also supposed to have had a share in the collection of papers published at Oxford under the title of " Olla Podrida," and to have published an " Essay on the History of Mezzotinto." As an amateur of the fine arts, he made a valuable collection of prints and gems, especially Tassie's imitations, to whom he was an early and zealous patron.2
CHEMINAIS (TiMOLEON), a celebrated French preacher, was born at Paris Jan. 3, 1652, and entered the society of Jesuits in 1667, where he made a considerable figure, and afterwards taught classical literature and rhe- toric at Orleans : but his talents being peculiarly calcu-
» Life by Strype, 1V05, 8ro.— Biog. Brit— Ath. Ox. vol. L— -Wood's Annalfi J»y Gutch. — Strype's Life of Cranroer, passim.— Strype's Parker, p. 23. * Gent. Mag. vol. LXXI. p. 1176, and LXXII. p. 100. 293.
134 C H E M I N A I S.
lated for the pulpit, he became one of the most popular preachers of his time in the churches of Paris. It became the fashion to say that Bourdaioue was the Corneille, and Cheminais the Racine of preachers ; but his fame was eclipsed by the superior merit of Massillon. When on ac- count of his health he was obliged to desist from his public services, he went every Sunday, as long as he was able, to the country to instruct and exhort the poor. He died in the flower of his age Sept. 15, 16S9. Bretonneau, an- other preacher of note, published his "Sermons" in 1690, 2 vols. 12mo, which were often reprinted, and Bretonneau added a third volume, but the fourth and fifth, which ap- peared in 1729, were neither written by Cheminais, nor edited by Bretonneau. The only other production of Che- minais was his " Sentimens de Piete," 1691, 12mo, but it is said he had a turn for poetry, and wrote some verses of the lighter kind.1
CHEMNITZ (MARTIN), an eminent Lutheran divine, and one of the reformers in Germany, was born at Britzen, a town in the marquisate of Brandenburg, in 1522. His father was a poor wool-comber, who found it difficult to give him much education, but his son's industry supplied the want in a great measure. After having learned the rudiments of literature in a school near home, he went to Magdeburg, where he made some progress in arts and lan- guages. Then he removed to Francfort upon the Oder, to cultivate philosophy under his relation George Sabinus; and to Wittenburg, where he studied under Philip Melanc- thon. Afterwards he became a school-master in Prussia ; and, in 1552, was made librarian to the prince. He now devoted himself wholly to the study of divinity, though he was a considerable mathematician, and slfilled particularly in astronomy. After he had continued in the court of Prussia three years, he returned to the university of Wit- temberg, and lived in friendship with Melancthon, who employed him in reading the com-mon-places. From thence he removed to Brunswick, where he spent the last thirty years of his life as pastor, and commenced D. D. at Ros- tock. He died April 8, 1586. His principal works are, 1. " Harmonia Evangeliorum," Francfort, 1583 and 1622, Geneva, 1623, 4to. 2. " Examen Concilii Tridentini." 3. " A treatise against the Jesuits," wherein he explained
i Moreri.— Diet. Hist.
CHEMNITZ. 23*
to the Germans the doctrines and policy of those crafty devisers, &c. His " Examination of the Council of Trent" has always been reckoned a very masterly performance, and was translated and published in English, J582, 4to.
Chemnitz, according to Thuanus and many others, was a man of great parts, learning, judgment, and of equal modesty ; and was very much esteemed by the princes of his own communion, who often made use of him in the public affairs of the church. Some protestant writers have not scrupled to rank him next to even Luther himself, for the services he did in promoting the reformation, and ex- posing the errors of the church of Rome. Blount has an ample collection of these encomiums. His son of the same names, who was born at Brunswick Oct. 15, 1561, studied at Leipsic and Francfort, and became successive! v syndic of the council of Brunswick, professor of law at Rostock, chancellor and counsellor at Stettin, and lastly chancellor at Sleswick, where he died Aug. 26, 1627. He wrote several works, and among them " Historia Navigations Indiae Orientalis." 1
CHEMNITZ (BOGESLAUS PHILIP), 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 1#53; 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 Sta- tus Imperii Romano- Germanici," which was published at Stettin in 1640, under the assumed name of Hyppolitus a Lapide. Its object is to impugn the claims of the house
1 Melcbior Adam in vitis Theolog. — Freheri Theatrutn. — Fuller's Ab«l Redi- vivus. — Saxii Onomast. — Blount's Ceusura.— Moreri.
236 CHEMNITZ.
of Austria, and it was answered by an anonymous writer, Franefort, 1657, by Bruggeman, at Jena, 1667, and by Henry Boeder, at Strasbtirgh, in 1674. It was after- wards translated into French by Bourgeois de Chastelet, under the title of " Des Interets des princes d'Allemagne," Friestad, 1712, 2 vols. 12mo, and by Samuel Formey, as late as 1762, under the title of " Les vrais interets de 1'Allemagne," Hague, with notes and applications to the then state of German politics. *
CHERON (ELIZABETH SOPHIA), daughter of Henry Cheron, a painter in enamel, of the town of Meaux, was born at Paris in 1648, studied under her father, and at the age of fourteen had acquired a name. The celebrated Le Brun in 1676 presented her to the academy of painting and sculpture, which complimented her talents by admit- ting her to the title of academician. This ingenious lady divided her time between painting, the learned languages, poetry, and music. She drew on a large scale a great num- ber of gems, a work in which she particularly excelled. These pictures were no less admirable for a good taste in drawing, a singular command of pencil, a fine style of colouring, and a superior judgment in the chiaroscuro. The various manners in painting were all familiar to her. She excelled in history, in oil-colours, in miniature ena- mels, in portrait painting, and especially in those of fe- males. It is said that she frequently executed the portraits of absent persons, merely from memory, to which she gave as strong a likeness as if the persons had sat to her. The academy of Ricovrati at Padua honoured her with the sur- name of Erato, and gave her a place in their society. She died at Paris, Sept. 3, 1711, at the age of 63, two years after she had been induced to marry M. La Hay, engineer to the king, who was also advanced in years. Strutt says she amused herself with engraving. Of the gems which she designed, three were etched by herself, viz. Bacchus and Ariadne, Mars and Venus, and Night scattering her poppies. She also engraved a " Descent from the Cross," and a " Drawing-book," consisting of 36 prints in folio.2
CHERON (LEWIS), the brother of Elizabeth Cheron, was born at Paris in 1660; and having been taught the rudiments of the art in his own country, he travelled to Italy, where his sister supplied him with a competency, to
* Moreri,— Diet. Hist. 2 Pilkington.— D'ArgenviHe, vol. IV.— Strutt.
C H E R O N. 237
enable him to prosecute his studies for eighteen years. During his continuance in Italy, he made the works of Ra- phael and Julio Romano the principal object of his studies, by which his future compositions had always a certain air of the antique, though he had no great portion of grace, and his figures were frequently too muscular. Two of his pictures are in the church of Notre Dame, at Paris ; the one, of Herodias holding the charger with the head of St. John the Baptist ; the other, of Agabus foretelling the per- secution of St. Paul. On account of his religion, being a Calvinist, he was compelled to quit his native country, and settled in London, the happy retreat of all distressed artists ; and there he found many patrons among the no- bility and gentry, particularly the duke of Montague, for whom he painted the Council of the Gods, the Judgment of Paris, and he was also employed at Burleigh and Chats- worth ; but finding himself eclipsed by Baptist, Rousseau, and La Fosse, he commenced painting small historical pieces. His most profitable employment, however, was designing for painters and engraver ^ and his drawings were by some preferred to his paintings. He etched several of his own designs, and in particular, a series of twenty-two small prints for the life of David, with which Giffart, a bookseller at Pans, ornamented a French edition of the Psalms published in 1713. Strutt notices also two en- gravings which he executed from his own designs, of great taste, " The Death of Ananias and Sapphira,' and " St. Paul baptising the Eunuch." His private character was excellent. He died in 1713, of an apoplexy, at his lodg- ings in the Piazza, CovenNgarden, and was buried in the porch of St. Paul's church in that parish. He had some time before sold his drawings from Raphael, and his aca- demy figures, to the earl of Derby, for a large sum of money. 1
CHESELDEN (WILLIAM), an eminent surgeon and anatomist, and a celebrated writer, was born Oct. 19, 1688, at Burrovv-on-the-Hill, near Somerby in Leicestershire. After having received a classical education, and been instructed in the rudiments of his profession at Leices- ter, he was placed about 1703, under the immediate tuition of the celebrated anatomist Cowper, and resided in his house, and at the same time studied surgery under
> Pilkingtoo.—D'Argenville, vol. IV. — Strutt.— -Walpole'a Anecdotes,
238 C H E S E L D E N.
Mr. Feme, the head surgeon of St. Thomas's hospital. Such was the proficiency he made under these able mas- ters, that he himself began, at the age of twenty-two, to read lectures in anatomy, a syllabus of which, in 4to, was first printed in 1711. Lectures of this kind were then, somewhat new in this country, having been introduced, not many years before, by M. Bussiere, a French refugee, and a surgeon of high note in the reign of queen Anne. Till then, the popular prejudices had run so high against the practice of dissection, that the civil power found it difficult to accommodate the lecturers with proper subjects ; and pupils were obliged to attend the universities, or other public seminaries, where, likewise, the procuring of bodies was no easy task. It is an extraordinary proof of Mr. Cheselden's early reputation, that he had the honour of being chosen a member of the royal society in 1711, when he could be little more than twenty- three years of age ; but he soon justified their choice, by a variety of curious and useful communica- tions. Nor were his contributions limited to the royal society, but are to be found in the memoirs of the royal academy of surgeons at Paris, and in other valuable repositories. In 1713 Mr. Cheselden published in 8vo, his " Anatomy of the Human Body," reprinted in 1722, 1726, 1732; in folio in 1734, and in 8vo, 1740, and an eleventh edition aslate as 1778. During the course of twenty years, in which Mr. Cheselden carried on his anatomical lectures, he was con- tinually rising in reputation and practice, and upon Mr. Feme's retiring from business, he was elected head surgeon of St. Thomas's hospital. At two other hospitals, St. George's, and the Westminster Infirmary, he was chosen consulting surgeon ; and at length had the honour of being appointed principal surgeon to queen Caroline, by whom he was highly esteemed ; and was indeed generally regarded as the first man in his profession.
In 1723 he published in 8vo, his " Treatise on the high operation for the Stone." This work was soon attacked in an anonymous pamphlet, called u Lithotomus castratus, or an Examination of the Treatise of Mr. Cheselden," and in which he was charged with plagiarism. How unjust this accusation was, appears from his preface, in which he had acknowledged his obligations to Dr. James Douglas and Mr. John Douglas, from one of whom the attack is sup- posed to have come. Mr. Cheselden's solicitude to do justice to other eminent practitioners is farther manifest,
C H E S E L D E N. 239
from his having annexed to his book a translation of what had been written on the subject by Franco, who published " Traite des Hernies," &c. at Lyons, in 1561, and by Rosset, in his " Csesarei Partus Assertio Historiologica,'* Paris, 1590. The whole affair was more candidly explained in 1724, by a writer who had no other object than the public goodj in a little work entitled " Methode de la Tailie au haut appareile recuillie des ouvrages du fameux Tri- umvirat." This triumvirate consisted of Rosset, to whom the honour of the invention was due ; Douglas, who had revived it after long disuse ; and Cheselden, who had practised the operation with the most eminent skill and success. Indeed Mr. Cheselden was so celebrated on this account, that, as a lithotomist, he monopolized the prin- cipal business of the kingdom. The author of his eloge, in the " Memoires de L' Academic Royale de Chirurgerie.," who was present at many of his operations, testifies, that one of them was performed in so small a time as fifty-four seconds. In 1728, Mr. Cheselden added greatly to his reputation in another view, by couching a lad of nearly fourteen years of age, who was either born blind, or had lost his sight so early, that he had no remembrance of his having ever seen. The observations made by the young gentleman, after obtaining the blessing of sight, are sin- gularly curious, and have been much attended to, and reasoned upon by several writers on vision. They may be found in the later editions of the " Anatomy." In 1729, our author was elected a corresponding member of the royal academy of sciences at Paris; and in 1732, soon after the institution of the royal academy of surgery in that city, he had the honour of being the first foreigner asso- ciated with their learned body. Mr. Cheselden's " Osteo- graphy, or Anatomy of the Bones," inscribed to queen Caroline, and published by subscription, came out in 1733, a splendid folio, in the figures of which all the bones are represented in their natural size. Our author lost a great sum of money by this publication, which in 1735 was at- tacked with much severity by Dr. Douglas, whose criticism appeared under the title of " Remarks on that pompous book, the Osteography of Mr. Cheselden." The work received a more judicious censure from the celebrated Haller, who, whilst he candidly pointed out its errors, paid the writer that tribute of applause which he so justly de- " served. Heister, likewise, in his " Compendium of Ana-
240 CHESELDEN.
tomy," did justice to his merit. Mr. Cheselden having1 long laboured for the benefit of the public, and accom- plished his desires with respect to fame and fortune^ began at length to wish for a life of greater tranquillity and re- tirement ; and in 1737 he obtained an honourable situa- tion of this kind, by being appointed head surgeon to Chelsea hospital; which place he held, with the highest reputation, till his death. He did not, however, wholly remit his endeavours to advance the knowledge of his pro- fession ; for, upon the publication of Mr. Gataker's trans- lation of Mons. le Dran's " Operations of Surgery," he contributed twenty-one useful plates towards it, and a variety of valuable remarks, some of which he had made so early as while he was a pupil to Mr. Feme. This was the last literary work in which he engaged. In 1751, Mr. Cheselden, as a governor of the Foundling hospital, sent a benefaction of fifty pounds to that charity, enclosed in a paper with the following lines, from Pope :
" Tis what the happy to th'unhappy owe j For what man gives, the gods by him bestow."
In the latter end of the same year, he was seized with a paralytic stroke, from which in appearance he soon per- fectly recovered. The flattering prospect, however, of his continuanc6 in life, soon vanished ; for, on the 1 Oth of April, 1752, he was suddenly carried off by a fit of an apoplexy, at Bath, in the sixty -fourth year of his age. He married Deborah Knight, a citizen's daughter, and, if we mistake not, sister of the famous Robert Knight, cashier to the South-sea company in 1720. By this lady Mr. Cheselden had only one daughter, Wilhelmina Deborah, who was married to Charles Cotes, M. D. of Woodcote, in Shropshire, and member of parliament for Tamworth, in Staffordshire. Dr. Cotes died without issue, on the 2 1st of March, 1748 ; and Mrs. Cotes, who survived him, died some years since at Greenhithe, in the parish of Swans- combe, in the county of Kent. Mrs. Cheselden died in 1764. Mr. Cheselden's reputation was great in anatomy, but we apprehend that it was still greater, and more justly founded, in surgery. The eminent surgeon Mr. Sharp, in a dedication to our author, celebrates him as the ornament of his profession ; acknowledges his own skill in surgery to have been chiefly derived from him; and represents, that posterity will be ever indebted for the signal services he has done to this branch of the medical
CHESELDEN. 241
art In surgery he was undoubtedly a great improver^ having introduced simplicity into the practice of it, and laid aside the operose and hurtful French instruments which had been formerly in use. Guided by consummate skill, perfectly master of his hand, fruitful in resources, he was prepared for all events, and performed every ope- ration with remarkable dexterity and coolness. Being fully competent to each possible case, he was successful in all. He was at the same time eminently distinguished by his tenderness to his patients. Whenever he entered the hospital on his morning visits, the reflection of what he was unavoidably to perform, impressed him with un- easy sensations ; and it is even said that he was generally sick with anxiety before he began an operation, though during the performance of it he was, as hath already been, observed, remarkably cool and self-collected. Our author's eulogist relates a striking contrast between him and a French surgeon of eminence. The latter gentleman, having had his feelings rendered callous by a course of sur- gical practice, was astonished at the sensibility shewn by Mr. Cheselden previously to his operations, and considered it as a great mark of weakness in his behaviour. Yet the same gentleman, being persuaded to accompany Mr. Che- selden to the fencing-school, who frequently amused him* self with it as a spectator, could not bear the sight, and was taken ill. The adventure was the subject of conver- sation at court, and both were equally praised for goodness of heart ; but the principle of humanity appears to have been stronger in Mr. Cheselden, because the feeling of it was not weakened by his long practice.
The connections of our eminent surgeon and anatomist were not confined to persons whose studies and pursuits were congenial to those of his own profession. He was fond of the polite arts, and cultivated an acquaintance with men of genius and taste. He was honoured, in particular, with the friendship of Pope, who frequently speaks of dining with him, but once had an interview rather of an unpleasing kind. In 1742, Mr. Cheselden, in a conver- sation with Mr. Pope at Mr. Dodsley's, expressed his sur- prize at the folly of those who could imagine that the fourth book of the Dunciad had the least resemblance in stylo, wit, humour, or fancy, to the three preceding books. Though he was not, perhaps, altogether singular in this opinion, which is indeed a very just one, it was no small
VOL. IX, R
242 C H E S E L D E N.
mortification to him to be informed by Pope, tbat he him- self was the author of it, and was sorry that Mr. Cheseldeti did not like the poem. Mr. Cheseklen is understood to have too highly valued himself upon his taste in poetry and architecture, considering the different nature of his real accomplishments and pursuits. His skill in the latter art is said not to have been displayed to the best advantage in Surgeons' -hall, in the Old Bailey, which was principally built under his direction. These, however, are trifling shades in eminent characters.1
CHESNE (ANDREW DTJ)^ an eminent historian, and justly considered as the father of French history, was born- in the Isle of Bouchard; in Torrairie, May 1584. He was the youngest of the four sons of Tanneguy Du Chesne^ lord of Sausoniere. His name has been Latinized in dif- ferent forms. He has at different times called himself Quema3us, Quercetanus, Duchenius ; and by others he has been called Querceus, a Quercu, Chesneus, and Ches- nius. In his historical works he assumed no other title than that of geographer to the king, except in his history of the house of Bethune, printed in 1639, where he calls himself historiographer to the king. His family produced many men of talents in the army and at the bar. He was first educated at Loudun, and after a course of grammar and rhetoric, came to Parisj where he studied philosophy, in the college of Boncours, under Julius Caesar Boulanger, an eminent philosopher, and one of the best historians of that period.
Du Chesne's first attempt as an author, was a duodecimo1 volume^ printed in 1602, and dedicated to Boulanger, entitled rt Egregiarum seu Electarum Lectionum et Anti- quitatum liber." The same year he dedicated another to M. de Cerisy, archbishop of Tours, entitled " Januariae Kalendae, seu de solemnitate anni tain Ethnica quam Christiana brevis tractatus," with a Latin poem$ " Gryphus de Ternario numero.'* In 1605 he composed for a young lady whom he married in 1608, " Les figures mystiques du riche et precieux Cabinet des Dames," apparently a moral work. In his twenty-third year he began a transla- tion of Juvenal, which he published with notes, in 1607. This is a work of very rare occurrence. In 16-09 he pub- lished " Antiquitez et Recherches de la grandeur et ma-
1 Biog. Brit. — Nichols's Bowyer, in which are some additional particulars.
C H E S N E. 243
jeste des Rois de France," dedicated to Louis XIII. then dauphin. In 1610 he wrote a poem, " Chandelier de Justice," and also a panegyrical discourse on the cere- monies of the coronation of queen Mary of Medicis, with a treatise on the ampulla and fleur-de-lys, &c. but owing to the assassination of the king, which happened after this ceremony, these productions were lost. The same year he published a funeral discourse on king Henry IV. and the first edition of his " Antiquitez et Recherches des Villes et Chateaux de France," which has been often re- printed. In 1611, appeared his translation and abridge- ment of the controversies and magical researches of Delrio, the Jesuit, 8vo. In 1612 and 1613, he was employed on his " Histoire d'Angleterre," the first edition of which was published in 1614 ; and the same year, in conjunction with father Marrier, he published in folio, a collection of the works of the religious of Cluny, under the title " Biblio- theca Cluniacensis." This was followed in 1615, by his " Histoire des Papes," fol. reprinted in 1645, but as this last edition was very incorrect, his son Francis Du Chesne published a new one in 1653, enlarged and illustrated with portraits. In 1616 he published the " Works of Abelard," with a preface and notes/ which are rarely found to» gether.
In 1617 he undertook an edition of the " Histoire de la Maison de Luxembourg," written in 1574, by Nicholas Viguier, and continued it to the year 1557. He was also editor this year of the works of Alain Chartier, and of Al- cuinus, and at the same time projected two great works ; the one, u A Geographical Description of France," which was to extend to many volumes. This work, of which he published a specimen, was begun to be printed in Hoi- land, but was not continued ; the other was that on which his fame chiefly rests, his collection of French his- torians, under the title " Historia Francorum Scriptores cocetanei ab ipsius gentis origine ad nostra usque tempora." In the preface to his collection of the historians of Nor- mandy, he gives some account of the plan, which may be seen in the life of Bouquet, in this Dictionary, (vol. VI.) Peter Pithou and Marquard Freher had given him the idea of it, and he undertook it by order of Louis XIII. who encouraged him, by a pension of 2400 livres, which he enjoyed till his death, with the title of royal geographer and historiographer in ordinary. As a preparation for this
n 2
244 C H E S N £.
work, he published in 1618, his " Bibliotheque des Au- teurs qui ont ecrit Histoire et Topographic de la France," Svo, which is now superseded by the more extensive work of Le Long. It appears that in forming his collections for the French historians, he was assisted by Peiresc, who ex- amined the church and monastic libraries for him.
In 1619, he published his " Histoire des Rois, Dues, et Comtes de Burgogne," a new edition of the " Letters of Stephen Pasqnier,*' and his 6i Historic Normannorum Scriptores antiqui," which forms the first volume of his collection of French historians. The following year ap- peared his " Histoire genealogique de la Maison de Chas- tillou-sur-Marue, &c." As his intended publication of the geographical history of France was interrupted in Hol- land, he published an abridgment of it at Paris, under the title of " Antiqnitez et Recherches desvilles, chateaux, et places remarkables de la France selon Pordre et les ressorfc ties parlemens," which passed through several editions, as already noticed ; that of 1647 was edited and improved by his son. In 1621 was printed his " Histoire genealogique de la Maison de Montmorency," folio, which Le Long thinks a capital work of the kind ; it was followed in 1626 by a similar history of the house of De Vergy. In 1629 lie published a second volume of the history of Burgundy, under the title of " Histoire genealogique des Dues de Bonrgogne," and in 1631, two other genealogical histories of the houses of Guines, Ardres, Dreux, &c. The accu- racy of these family histories has been very generally acknowledged, but it is unnecessary to specify the dates of each publication.
With respect to his collection of French historians, he published the first two volumes in 1636, fol. after having two years before issued a prospectus of the whole, and the third and fourth volumes were in the press, when on May 30, 1640, he was crushed to death by a cart, as he was going to his country-house at Verrieres. He was at this time in full health, and bade fair for long life and useful- ness. The two volumes, then in the press, were completed by his son, and published in 1641, to xvhich he added a fifth volume in 1649, without any assistance from go- vernment, as the pension granted to his father, and con- tinued to hirn on his death, was taken from him about three years after that event. Some particulars of the con- tinuation of the work to the present time may be seen in
C H E S N E< 24$
our life of Bouquet. In Du Chesne's " Historic Nor- luannorum," is the " Emmae Anglorum reginse encomium,** of which an edition, with William of Puictier's history of William the Conqueror, and other historical documents, was published, or rather printed for private distribution, in 1783, 4to, by the learned Francis Maseres, esq. F. 11. S. cursitor-baron of the court of exchequer.
Extensive as Du Chesne's published labours were, they give but a faint idea of his immense industry in collecting historical materials, and of the works which might have been expected from him. He had intended to confine his collection of French historians to 24 folio volumes; but according to Le Long, fortys'would not be sufficient to contain the manuscripts worthy of publication, and which •were discovered after his death ; and he had himself written with his own hand above an hundred folio volumes of extracts, transcripts, observations, genealogies, &c. most of which were deposited, for the use of his successors, in the king's library. Du Fresuoy speaks with less respect of Da Chesne's labours than they deserve. In collecting so many original authorities, and producing so many tran- scripts from valuable and perishing MSS. he has surely proved himself a great benefactor to general history; and it is much to his honour that he always was ready to com-, municate his discoveries to persons engaged in the same study, but who did not always acknowledge their obli- gations. !
CHESNE (JOSEPH DU), called also QUERCETANUS, lord of La Violette, and physician to the French king, was born at Armagnac, about the middle of the sixteenth century. After having passed a considerable time in Germany, and being admitted to the degree of M. D. at Basle, 1573, he practised his art in Paris, and was made physician to Henry IV. He had made great progress in the study of chemistry, to which he was particularly devoted. The success that attended his practice in this science, excited the spleen of the rest of the physicians, and especially that of Guy Patin, who was continually venting sarcasms and satires against him, but experience has since shewn that Du Chesne was better acquainted with the properties of antimony than Patin and his colleagues. This learned chemist, who is called Du Quesne by Moreri, died at Paris,
i Le Long Bibl. Hist. — Niceron, vol. VI f. — Saxii QnomasU
246 C H £ S N E.
at a very advanced age, in 1609. He wrote in French verse, " The Folly of the World," 1583, 4to. 2. "The great Mirror of the World," 1593, 8vo. He also com- posed several books of chemistry, which had great repu- tation once, although they are now forgotten. Haller has given the titles of them, and analyses of the principal of their contents. The most celebrated among them, which passed through the greatest number of editions, is his " Pharmacopoeia Dogmaticorum restituta, pretiosis, selec- tisque Hermeticorurn Floribus illustrata," Giesse Hess. 1607. This is said to have been recommended by Boer- haave to his pupils. 1
CHETWOOD (KNIGHTLY), D. D. was born in 1652. He was educated at Eton, and thence removed to Cam- bridge, where he was fellow of King's-college in 1683, when he contributed the life of Lycurgus to the transla- tion of Plutarch's Lives, published in that year. He was intimately connected with Wentworth, earl of Roscom- mon, whose life, written by him, is preserved in the public library of Cambridge, among Baker's MS Col- lections, (vol. XXXVI.) and furnished Fenton with some of the anecdotes concerning that nobleman, which are found among his notes on Waller's poems. The life of Virgil, and the preface to the Pastorals, prefixed to Dry den's Virgil, were written by Dr. Chetwood, for whom Dryden had a great regard, a circumstance very necessary to be mentioned, as that life has always been ascribed to Dryden himself.
Jacob mentions that Dr. Chetwood had a claim to an ancient English barony, which was fruitlessly prosecuted by his son, and which accounts for his being styled " a person of honour," in a translation which he published of some of St. Evremont's pieces. By the favour probably of the earl of Dartmouth, he was nominated to the see of Bristol by king James II. but soon after his nomination, the king's abdication took place. In April 1707, he was installed dean of Gloucester, which preferment he enjoyed till his death, which happened April 11, 1720, at Temps- ford, in Bedfordshire, where he had an estate, and where he was buried. He married a daughter of the celebrated Samuel Shute, esq. sheriff of London in the time of Charles II. by whom he left a son, John, who, was fellow
* Moreri.— Diet. Hist.— Haller and Manget. — Gen. Diet.
CHETWOOD. 247
of Trinity-hall, Cambridge, and died in 1735. Two co- pies of verses by Dr. Chetwood, one in English, and the other in Latin, are prefixed to lord Roscommon's " Essay on translated Verse," 1685, 4to. He was author also of several poems, some of which are preserved in Dryden's Miscellany, and in Mr. Nichols's Collection. He likewise published three single sermons, and " A Speech to the Lower House of Convocation, May 20, 1715, against the late riots."
The following particulars concerning Dr. Chetwood are found in one of Baker's MSS. in the British Museum, {MS. Harl. 7038), " Knightley Chetwode, extraordinarie electus, born at Coventry, came into the place of Tho. Brinley [as fellow of King's-college] ; chaplain to the lord Dartmouth, to the princess of Denmark, and to king James II. ; prebend of Wells ; rector of Broad Rissington, Gloucestershire ; archdeacon of York ; nominated bishop pf Bristol by king James, just before his abdication ; went afterwards chaplain to all the English forces [sent] into Holland under the earl of Marlborough 1689; commenced D.D. 1691; dean of Gloucester." 1
CHETWOOD (WILLIAM RUFUS), was once a bookseller jn Covent-garden, and many years after prompter at Drury- lane Theatre, arid an instructor of young actors. After passing through the miserable vicissitudes of inferior dra- matic rank, he died poor, March 1766. He wrote some pieces, long since forgotten, for the stages, and in 1749, published " A General History of the Stage," which al- though undervalued by the editors of the Biographia Dra- matica, is amusing, and contains much of the information transferred since into compilations of that kind.8
CHETWYND (JoiiN), was the son of Dr. Edward Chet- vvynd, dean of Bristol, who published some single sermons, enumerated by \Vood, and died in 1639. His mother was Helena, daughter of the celebrated sir John Harrington, author of the " Nugae Antiques." He was born in 1623, at Ban well in Somersetshire, and admitted commoner of Exeter college, Oxford, in 1638, where he took one degree in arts ; but in 1642 left the college. Having espoused the cause of the presbyterians, he returned to Oxford, when the parliamentary visitors had possession of the uni-
1 Nichols's Poems, vols. 1. and III. — Atterbury's Correspondence, vol. I. p. 13, 430.— Malone's JDryden, vol. IY. p. 547. « Biog. Dramatic*.
248 C H E T W Y N D.
versity, and in 1648 took his master's degree. He was afterwards one of the joint-pastors of St. Cuthbert in Wells, 'and printed some occasional sermons preached there, or in. the neighbourhood : but on the restoration he conformed, and became vicar of Temple in Bristol, and one of the city lecturers, and a prebendary of the cathedral. He was much admired as a preacher, and esteemed a man of great piety. He died Dec. 30, 1692, and was buried in the chancel of the Temple church. Besides the " Sermons" already no- ticed, he published a curious and scarce book, entitled " Anthologia Historica ; containing fourteen centuries of memorable passages, and remarkable occurrences, &c." Lond. 1674, 8vo, republished in 1691, with the title of " Collections Historical, Political, Theological, &c." He was also editor of his grandfather sir John Harrington's " Briefe View of the State of the Church of England, &c. being a character and history of the Bishops," 1653, ISmo.1 CHEVALIER (ANTONY RALPH LE), aprotestant divine, was born at Montchamps near Vire in Normandy, in 1507. He learned Hebrew under Vatablus at Paris, and having gone to England, became of the household of the princess, afterwards queen Elizabeth, whom he taught French. He then went to Germany, where he married the daughter of Tremellius, and this alliance procured him the assistance of Tremellius in his Hebrew studies, in which he made very distinguished progress, and became one of the first Hebrew scholars and critics of his age. In 1559 he was invited to Strasburgh, and thence went to Geneva, where he taught Hebrew, and published an improved edition of Pagninus's Dictionary of that language. His love, however, for his native country induced him to return to Caen, which the civil wars soon obliged him to leave, and take refuge in England : he again returned on the peace, but the mas- sacre of St. Bartholomew's day obliged him to escape to the island of Guernsey, where he died in 1572. He translated from the Syriac into Latin the " Targum Hiero- solymitanum;" and two years after his death, his " Rudi- menta Hebraicse linguae," a very accurate work, was pub- lished at Wittemberg, 4to. He had designed to publish an edition of the Bible in four languages, but did not live, to accomplish it.2
> Ath, Ox. rols, I. and II. * Moreri,-— Baillet Jugemens,
CHEVILLIER. 249
CHEVILLIER (ANDREW), a doctor and librarian of the Sorbonne, was born at Ponioise in the isle of France in 1636, of po<.r parents. One of his uncles, a clergyman of Veaux in the diocese of Rouen, undertook his education, and afterwards sent him to Paris, where he took his degrees in divinity, and he was received into the house and society of the S6rbonne in 1658, where he was equally admired for learning, piety, and charity, often stripping himself to clothe the poor, and even selling his books to relieve them, which, all book-collectors will agree, was no small stretch of benevolence. Having been appointed librarian to the Sor- bonne, his studies in that collection produced a valuable work, well known to bibliographers, entitled " Origine de I'lmprimerie de Paris, dissertation historique et critique," Paris, 1694, 4to. Maittaire frequently quotes from this dissertation. 2. A translation, or rather paraphrase of the "Grand Canon de 1'Eglise Grecque," written by Andrew of Jerusalem, archbishop of Candy, Paris, 1699, i2mo. He also published in 1664, a Latin dissertation on the council of Chalcedon, on formularies of faith, and had some hand in the catalogue of prohibited books which appeared ia 1685. Chevillier died Sept. 8, 1700. *
CHEVREAU (URBAN), was born at Loudun, a town of Poitou in France, May 12, 1613. His inclination led him to the study of the belles lettres, in which he made so con- siderable progress, that he obtained a distinguished rank among the learned. His application to letters, however, did not unqualify him for business; for he was a man of great address and knowledge of the world, and on that account advanced to be secretary to Christina queen of Sweden. The king of Denmark engaged him also at his court. Several German princes entertained him, and among the rest the elector palatine Charles Lewis, father to the duchess of Orleans. He continued for some time at this court, sat at the council-board, and helped to bring over the princess just mentioned to the Romish commu- nion. At his return to Paris, he was made preceptor and afterwards secretary to the duke of Maine. Then he re- tired to Loudun, where he had built an elegant habitation for the repose of his old age ; and, after spending there the last twenty years of his life in study and retirement, he died Feb. 15, 1701, almost 88 years of age.
' Moreri.
250 C H E V R E A U.
He left a very noble library behind him, and was him? self the author of some works : 1. " Le Tableau de la For- tune," 1651, 8vo, in which he relates all the considerable revolutions that have happened in the world. It was re- printed, with alterations, under the title of " Effets de la Fortune," a romance, 1656, 3vo. 2. tf L'Histoire du Monde," 1686, frequently reprinted; the best edition is that of Paris, 1717, 8 vols. 12mo, with additions by Bour- geois de Chastenet: but although the author had recourse to original information, his quotations are not always to be depended on. He often mistakes in matters of fact, and the style is harsh and unpolished. Jn 1697 were printed at the Hague, 2 volumes of his " Oeuvres melees,'* consisting of miscellaneous letters and pieces in prose anci verse. He wrote also notes on Petronius and Mai her be, and was esteemed a good critic. Much of his turn of mind and sentiments may be seen in the " Chevraeana," Paris, 1697 and 1700, 2 vols.1
CHEYNE (GEO&GE), a physician of considerable emi- nence and singular character, was descended from a good family in Scotland, ' where he was born in 1671. He received a regular and liberal education, and was at first intended by his parents for the church, though that design was afterwards laid aside. He passed his youth, as he him- self informs us, in close study, and in almost continual ap- plication to the abstracted sciences ; and in these pursuits his chief pleasure consisted. The general course of his life, therefore, at this time, was extremely temperate and sedentary ; though he did occasionally admit of some relax- ation, diverting himself with works of imagination, and " rousing nature by agreeable company and good cheer." But upon the slightest excesses he found such disagree- able effects, as led him to conclude, that his glands were naturally lax, and his solids feeble: in which opinion he was confirmed, by an early shaking of his hands, and a dis- position to be easily ruffled on a surprize. He studied physic at Edinburgh under the celebrated Dr. Pitcairne, to whom he was much attached, and whom he styles " his great master and generous friend." Having taken the degree of doctor of physic, he repaired to London to prac- tise as a physician, when he was about thirty years of age. On his arrival in the metropolis, he soon quitted the regular
1 Moreri,— Baillet Jugemens des Savans, — Gen, Diet,— Niciron, vol. XI,
C H E Y N E. 251
and temperate manner of life to which he had been chiefly accustomed, and partly from inclination, and partly from, a view to promote his practice, he passed much of his time in company, and in taverns. Being of a cheerful temper, and having a lively imagination, with much acquired knowledge, he soon rendered himself very agreeable to those who lived and conversed freely. He was, as he says, much caressed by them, u and grew daily in bulk, and in friendship with these gay gentlemen, and their acquaint- ances." But, in a few years, he found this mode of living very injurious to his health : he grew excessively fat, short- breathed, listless, and lethargic.
But before his health was in this unfavourable state, he had published a medical treatise, in 8vo, under the follow- ing title : " A new Theory of acute and slow-continued Fevers: wherein, besides the appearances of such, and the manner of their cure, occasionally the structure of the Glands, and the manner and laws of Secretion, the opera- tion of purgative, vomitive, and mercurial medicines are mechanically explained." To this he prefixed " An essay concerning the Improvements of the Theory of Medicine.'* This treatise on fevers was drawn up by Dr. Cheyne, at the desire of Dr. Pitcairne ; but it was a hasty performance ; and therefore, though it seems to have been favourably received, our author never chose to prefix his name to it. His next publication was a piece on abstracted geometry and algebra, entitled " Fluxionum Methodus inversa; sive quantitatum fluentium leges generaliores." He afterwards published a defence of this performance, although he never had a very good opinion of it, against Mr. De Moivre, under the following title : " Rudimentorum Methodi Fiuxionurn inversae Specimina, adversus Abr. De Moivre." In 1705, when he was about thirty-four years of age, at which time he was a fellow of the royal society, he pub- lished, in 8vo, " Philosophical Principles of Natural Reli- gion : containing the Elements of Natural Philosophy, and the proofs for Natural Religion arising from them " This piece he dedicated to the earl of Roxburgh, at whose de- sire, and for whose instruction, it appears to have* been originally written.
In consequence of the free mode of living in which our author had for some time indulged himself, besides the ill consequences that have been already mentioned, he at length brought on himself, as he informs us, an autumnal
252 C H £ Y N E.
intermittent fever; but this he removed in a few weeks by taking the bark. He afterwards went on tolerably well for about a year, though neither so clear in his faculties, nor so gay in his temper, as he had formerly been. But the following autumn, he was suddenly seized with a verti- ginous paroxysm, so alarming in its nature, as to approach nearly to a fit of an apoplexy. By degrees, his disorder turned to a constant violent head-ach, giddiness, and low- i>ess of spirits : upon which he entirely left off suppers, which he never resumed, and also confined himself at din- ner to a small quantity of animal food, drinking but very little fermented liquors." The decline of his health and spirits occasioned him to be deserted by many of his more airy and jovial companions ; and this circumstance contri- buted to the increase of his melancholy. He soon after retired into the country, into a fine air, and lived very low ; ami at this time he employed himself in the perusal of some of the most valuable theological writers. He bad never, even in his freer moments, deserted the great principles of natural religion and morality ; but in his present retire- ment he made divine revelation the more immediate ob- ject of his attention. The books that he read were recom- mended to him by a worthy and learned clergyman of the church of England, whom he does no|^ name, but whom he represents to be the man, that of all his numerous acquaint- ance, he the most wished to resemble.
Dr. Cheyne's retirement into the country, and low regi- men, having not entirely removed his complaints, he was persuaded by his medical and other friends, to try the Bath waters. He accordingly went to Bath, and for some time found considerable relief from drinking the waters. But he afterwards returned to London for the winter season, and had recourse to a milk diet, from which he derived the most salutary consequences. He now followed the busi- ness of his profession, with great diligence and attention, in summer at Bath, and in the winter at London, applying himself more particularly to chronical, and especially to low and nervous cases : and at this period of his life, he generally rode on horseback ten or fifteen miles every day, both summer and winter: in summer on the Downs at Bath, and in winter on the Oxford road from London.
After our author had found his health to be thoroughly established, he again made a change in his regimen, gra- dually lessening the quantity of his milk and vegetables^
C H E Y N E. 253
and by slow degress, and in moderate quantities., living on the lightest and tenderest animal food. This he did for some time, and at last gradually went into the common mode of living, and drinking wine, though within the bounds of temperance ; and appears to have enjoyed good health for several years. But his mode of living, though he indulged in no great irregularities, was still more free than his constitution would admit-, and at length produced very ill effects. In the course of ten or twelve years he continued to increase in size, and at length weighed more than thirty-two stone. His breath became so short, that upon stepping into his chariot quickly, and with some effort, he was ready to faint away, and his face would turn black. He was not able to walk up above one pair of stairs at a time, without extreme difficulty ; he was forced to ride from door to door in a chariot even at Bath ; and if he had but a hundred paces to walk, he was obliged, as he informs us himself, to have a servant following him with a stool to rest upon. He had also some other complaints, and grew extremely lethargic; and at Midsummer in 1723, he was seized with a severe symptomatic fever, which ter- minated in a most violent erisipelas. He continued to be in a very bad state of health for about a year and a half, having now resided for a considerable time almost entirely at Bath. But in December 1725, he went to London, where he had the advice of his friend Dr. Arbuthnot, Dr. Mead, Dr. Freind, and some other physicians. From no- thing, however, did he find so much, relief as from a milk and vegetable diet ; by a strict adherence to which, in. somewhat more than two years, his health was at length thoroughly established ; and he almost entirely confined himself to this regimen during the remainder of his life.
In the mean time, our author continued to publish some other medical works ; particularly " An essay of the truk nature and due method of treating the Gout, together with an account of the nature and quality of Bath Waters, the manner of using them, and the diseases in which they are proper: jas also of the nature and cure of most Chronical distempers." This passed through at least five editions ; and was followed by " An essay on Health and Long Life ;" which was well received by the public, but occasioned sundry reflections to be thrown out against him by some persons of the medical profession. In 1726, he published the same work in Latin, enlarged', under the following title :
23* C H E Y N E.
** GeorgiL Cheynsei Tractatus de Infirmorum Sanitate tuenda, Vitaque producenda, libro ejusdern argument! Ang- lice edito longe auctior et limatior; huic accessit de natura fibrse ej usque laxae sive resolutae morbis tractatus mine pri- mum editus." In 1733, he published a piece in 8vo, under the title " The English Malady : or, a treatise of Nervous diseases of all kinds ; as Spleen, Vapours, Lowness of Spirits, Hypochondriacal and Hysterical distempers, &c." His next publication, which was printed in 1740, was en- titled " An essay on Regimen ; together with five dis- courses, medical, moral, and philosophical : serving to illustrate the principles and theory of philosophical Medi- cine, and point out some of its moral consequences." The last work of our author, which he dedicated to the earl of Chesterfield, was entitled " The natural method of curing the Diseases of the Body, and the Disorders of the Mind depending on the $ody ; in three parts. Part I. General reflections on the ceconomy of nature in animal Life. Part II. The means and methods for preserving life and faculties ; and also concerning the nature* and cure of acute, contagious, and cephalic disorders. Part III. He- flections on the nature and cure of particular chronical distempers.'*
Dr. Cheyne died at Bath, April 12, 1743, in the seventy- second year of his age. He had great reputation in his own time, both as a practitioner and as a writer ; and most of his pieces passed through several editions. He is to be ranked among those physicians who have accounted for the operations of medicine, and the morbid alterations which take place in the human body, upon mechanical principles. A spirit of piety and of benevolence, and an ardent zeal for the interests of virtue, are predominant throughout his writings. An amiable candour and inge- nuousness are also discernible, and which led him to re- tract with readiness whatever appeared to him to be censurable in what he had formerly advanced*. Some of
* Of this we have a remarkable in<- far as it is personal or peevish, and ask
stance in the preface to his Essay on him and the world pardon for itj as I
Health and Long Life, in which is the do for the defence of Dr. Pitcairne's
following passage : " The defence of Dissertations, and the New Theory of
that book (his Methodus Fluxiommi Fevers, against the late learned and
inversa) against the learned and acute ingenious Dr. Oliphant. I heartily
Mr. Abr. de Moivre, being written in a condemn and detest all personal reflec-
^pirit of levity and resentment, I most tions, all malicious and unmannerly
sincerely retract, and wish undone, so terms, and all false and unjust repre-
C H E Y N E. 255
the metaphysical notions winch he has introduced into his books may perhaps justly be thought fanciful and ill- grounded ; but there is an agreeable vivacity in his pro- ductions, together with much openness and frankness, and in general great perspicuity. — Of his relations, his half- brother, the rev. William Cheyne, vicar of Weston near Bath, died Sept. 6, 1767, and his son the rev. John Cheyne, vicar of Brigstock, Northamptonshire, died August 11, 1768. *
CHEYNE (JAMES), professor of philosophy, and rector of the Scotch college at Doway in Flanders, was of the an- cient family of Arnage, or Arnagie in Aberdeenshire, where he was born in the early part of the sixteenth cen- tury. After studying classical and philosophical learning in the university of Aberdeen, he applied to divinity under Mr. John Henderson, a celebrated divine of that time; but on the establishment of the reformation, Cheyne (as well as his master) went over to France, and taught philosophy for fcome time in the college of St. Barbe at Paris. From thence he went to Doway, where he taught philosophy for several years, and was made rector of the Scotch college, and canon and great penitentiary of the cathedral ofTournay. He died in 1602, and was buried in that church under a marble monument,'\vith an inscription. The authors quoted by Machenzie give him the character of one of the first mathematicians and philosophers and most learned men of his time. He wrote, 1. " Analysis in Philosophiam Aristot." Duac. (Doway), 1573, 1595, Svo. 2. " De sphaera sen globi ccelestis fabrica," ibid. 1575. 3. " De Geographia, Kb. duo," ibid. 1576, Svo. 4. " Orationes duo, de per- fecto Philosopho, &c." ibid. 1577, 8vo. 5. " Analysis et scholia in Aristot. lib. XIV." ibid. 1578, Svo. »
CHEYNELL (FRANCIS), a nonconformist of some note, the son of John Cheyne 11 a physician, was born at Oxford in 1608; and after he had been educated in grammar
seotations, as unbecoming gentlemen, to adhere: "To neglect nothing to scholars, and Christians; and disprove secure his eternal peace, any more and undo both performances, as far as than if he had been certified he should in me lies, in every thing that does not die within the day; nor tq mind any strictly and barely relate to the argu- thing that his secular obligations and uient." Another of Dr. Cheyne's reso- duties demanded of him less, than if lutions ought never to be forgotten, h« had been insured to live fifty yeaif and to which he sincerely endeavoured more.'*
» Biog. Brit. — Chesterfield's Miscellanies. — Gent. Mag. see Index.
2,i\lachenzie's Scotch writers, vol. 111. — Dempster Jlist, Eccles. — Tanner.
256 CHEYNELL,
learning, became a member of the university there fri 1623. .When he had taken the degree of B. A. he was, by the interest of his mother, at that time the widow of Abbot, bishop of Salisbury, elected probationer fellow of Merton college in 1629. Then he went into orders, and officiated in Oxford for some time ; but when the church began to be attacked in 1640, he took the parliamentarian side, and became an enemy to bishops and ecclesiastical ceremonies. He embraced the covenant, was made one of the assembly of divines in 1643, and was frequently appointed to preach before the members of parliament. He was one of those who were sent to convert the university of Oxford in 1646, was made a visitor by the parliament in 1647, and the year after took possession by force of the Margaret professorship of that university, and of the pre- sidentship of St. John's college. But being found an improper man for those places, he was forced to retire to the rectory of Petworth in Sussex, to which he had been presented about 1 643, where he continued an useful mem- ber to his party till the time of the restoration, when he was ejected from that rich parsonage.
Dr. Cheynell (for he had taken his doctor's degree) was a man of considerable parts and learning, and published a great many sermons and other works ; but now he is chiefly memorable for his conduct to the celebrated Chillingworth, in which he betrayed a degree of bigotry that has not been defended by any of the nonconformist biographers. In 1643, when Laud was a prisoner in the Tower, there was printed by authority a book of Cheynell's, entitled <s The rise, growth, and danger of Socinianism," and unques- tionably one of his best works. This came out about six years after Chillingworth' s more famous work called " The Religion of Protestants," &c. and was written, as we are told in the title-page, with a view of detecting a most horrid plot formed by the archbishop and his adherents against the pure Protestant religion. In this book the arcfrbishop, Hales of Eton, Chillingworth, and other emi- nent divines of those times, were strongly charged with Socinianism. The year after, 1644, when Chilimgworth was dead, there came out another piece of CheyneJPs with this strange title, " Chillingworthi Novissima ; or, the sick- ness, heresy, death and burial of William Chillingworth." This was also printed by authority ; and is, as the writer of Chillingworth' s life truly observes, a most ludicrbus
CHEYNELL. 257
as well as melancholy instance of fanaticism, or religious madness. To this is prefixed a dedication to Dr. Bayly, Dr. Prideaux, Dr. Fell, &c. of the university of Oxford, who had given their imprimatur to Chillingworth's book ; in which those divines are abused not a little, for giving so much countenance to the use of reason in religious mat- ters, as they had given by their approbation of Chilling- worth's book. After the dedication follows the relation itself; in which Cheynell gives an account how he came acquainted with this man of reason, as he calls Chilling- worth ; what care he took of him ; and how, as his illness increased, " they remembered him in their prayers, and prayed heartily that God would be pleased to bestow saving graces as well as excellent gifts upon him ; that He would give him new light and new eyes, that he might see and acknowledge, and recant his error ; that he might deny his carnal reason, and submit to faith :" in all which he is supposed to have related nothing but what was true. For he is allowed by bishop Hoadly to have been as sincere, as honest, and as charitable as his religion would suffer him to be ; and, in the case of Chillingworth, while he thought it his duty to consign his soul to hell, was led by his hu- manity to take care of his body. Chillingworth at length died ; and Cheynell, though he refused, as he tells us, to bury his body, yet conceived it very fitting to bury his book. For this purpose he met Chillingworth' s friends at the grave with his book in his hand; and, after a short preamble to the people, in which he assured them " how happy it would be for the kingdom, if this book and all its fellows could be so buried that they might never rise more, unless it were for a confutation," he exclaimed, t( Get thee gone, thou cursed book, which has seduced so many precious souls : get thee gone, thou corrupt rotten book, earth to earth, and dust to dust : get thee gone into the place of rottenness, that thou mayest rot with thy author, and see corruption."
Cheynell's death happened in 1665, at an obscure vil- lage called Preston, in Sussex, where he had purchased an estate, to which he retired upon his being turned out of the living of Petworth. The warmth of his zeal, in- creased bv the turbulence of the times in which he lived, and by the opposition to which the unpopular nature of some of his employments exposed him, was at last height- ened to distraction, and he was for some years disordered VOL. IX. S
258 C H E Y N E L L.
in his understanding. Wood thinks that a tendency to madness was discoverable in a great part of his life ; Ca-> lamy, that it was only transient and accidental, though he pleads it as an extenuation of that fury with which his kindest friends confess him to have acted on some occa- sions, particularly, we may add, at Oxford, when one of the parliamentary visitors, where his behaviour was savage enough to justify more than the retaliation inflicted on his party. Wood declares that he died little better than dis- tracted ; but Calamy, that he was perfectly recovered be- fore the restoration. He had many good qualities, parti- cularly a hospitable disposition, and a contempt for money ; but his extravagant zeal marred his usefulness, and re- flected no honour on his general character, or on his party. With regard, however, to his charging Chillingworth with Socinianism, that is now universally allowed. l
CHIABRERA (GABRIELO), an Italian poet, was born at Savone, in 1552. He went to study at Rome, where Aldus Manutius andMuretus gave him their friendship and advice, and pope Urban VIII. arid the princes of Italy honoured him with many public marks of their esteem. In 1624 Urban, himself a poet, as well as a protector of poets, invited him to Rome for the holy year ; but Chiabrera excused himself on account of old age and infirmities. He died at Savone in 1638, aged eighty-six. His Lyric Poems, Rome, 1718, 3 vols. 8vo, and " Amadeida," Napoli, 1635, 12mo, are particularly admired. All his works were collected at Venice, 1731, 4 vols. 8 vo.2
CHIARAMONTI (Scipio), in Latin CLARAMONTIUS, an eminent Italian astronomer and philosopher, was born at Cesena in the province of Romagna in June 1565. .His father was a physician at Cesena. He studied at Perugia and Ferrara, and became distinguished for his progress in philosophy and mathematics;, the former of which he taught for some time at Pisa. He passed, however, the greater part of his long life at Cesena, and in his history of that place, which he published in 1641, he informs us, that for fifty -nine years he had served his country in a pub- lic capacity. He was, in particular, frequently deputed to Home, either to offer obedience to the pope in the name
1 From the few incidents of his life Dr. Johnson drew out an elegant narrative in IT 51, now printed in his works. See also, Ath. Ox. vol. II. — Wood's Anti- quities of Oxford, by Gutch. — Calamy. — Neal's Puritans, &c.
2 '['iraboschi,— Baillet Jugenaens, — Erythraei Pinacotheca. — Moreri.
C H I A R A M O N T I. 259
of his countrymen, or on other affairs. He had married a Jady whom he calls Virginia de Abbatibus, but becoming a widower at the age of eighty, he went into the church, received priest's orders, and retired with the priests of the congregation of the oratory, for whom he built a church at Cesena, and there he died Oct. 3, 1652, in his eighty- seventh year. He established at Cesena the academy of the Oifuscati, over which he presided until his death. His works, written partly iu Italian and partly in Latin, are very numerous, and filled a considerable space in the li- terary history of his time : 1. " Discorso della Cometa po- gonare dell' anno 1618, &c." Venice, 1619, 4to, in which he suggests that comets are sublunary, and not celestial bodies. 2. " Anti-Tycho, in quo contra Tychonem Brahe, et nonnullos alios, &.c. demonstrator Cometas esse sublu- nares," Venice, 1621, 4to. Kepler on this occasion stept forward in defence of Tycho Brahe, who had been dead some years. 3. " De conjectandis cuj usque moribus et latitantibus animi affectibus semeiotice moralis, seu de sig- nis libri decem," ibid. 1625, 4to, reprinted by Herman Conringius, who calls it an incomparable work, at Helm- stadt, in 1665, 4to. MorhofT also praises it highly. M. Trichet Dufresne brought a copy of it for the first time into France, and M. de la Chambre availed himself of it in his work on the passions. 4. " Notse in moralem suam semeioticam, seu de signis," Cesena, 1625, 4to. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to inform our readers that physio- gnomy was a favourite study from the beginning of the fifteenth to the end of the sixteenth century, and Chiara- monti appears to have made as much progress in it as any of his contemporaries. 5. An answer to Kepler, under the title " Apologia pro Anti-Tychone suo adversus Hypcras- piten Joannis Kepleri," Venice, 1626, 4to. 6. " De tri- bus novis stellis, quse annis 1572, 1600, et 1604, com- paruere," Cesena, 1628, 4to. Galileo now took the part of Tycho Brahe, and published in Italian a work against Chiaramonti, who answered it in, 7. " Difesa di Scipioni Chiaramonti, &c." Florence, 1633, 4to. 8. " Delia 'ra- gione di stato libri tre, nel quale trattato da primi priti- cipii dedotto si suo prona la natura, le massime, e le specie cle' governi buoni, cattivi e mascherati," Florence, 1635, 4to, and translated into Latin, Hamburgh, 1679, 4to. 9. " Examen ad censuram Joannis Camilli Gloriosi in hbrum de tribus novis stellis," ibid. 1636, 4to. 10. " De sed*
s 2
260 CHIARAMONTI.
sublunari Cometarum, opuscula tria," Amst. 1636, 4to. If. " Castigatio J. Camilli Gloriosi adversus Claramontium castigata ab ipso Claramontio," Cesena, 1638, 4to. 12. " De methodo ad doctrinam spectante, libri quatuor, &c." ibid. 1639, 4to. 13. " Csesense Historia libris sexdecim, ab initio civitatis ad haec tempera," with a sketch of the general history of Italy during the same period, Cesena, 1641, 4to. 14. " De atrabile, quoad mores attinet," Pa- ris, 1641, 8vo, dedicated to Naude, but in the licence it is erroneously said that the author was physician to the pope. 15. " Anti-Philolaus, in quo Philolaus redivivus de terrse motu et solis ac fixarum quiete impugnalur," &c. Cesena, 1643, 4to. This was written against Bullialdus's attempt to revive the system of Philolaus, but in this we doubt whether our author was equal to his antagonist. 16. " Defensio ab oppugnationibus Fortunii Liceti de sede Co- metarum," Cesena, 1644, 4to. 17. " De Universo, libri sexdecim," Cologne, 1644, 4to. 18. One of his best works, " De altitudine Caucasi liber unus, cura Gab. Nau- dasi editus," Paris, 1649, 4to, and 1680, 4to. 19. " Phi- losophia naturalis methodo resolutiva tradita, &c." Cesena,
1652, 4to. 20. " Opuscula varia mathematica," Bologna,
1653, 4to. 21. " Commentaria in Aristotelem de iri.de, &c." ibid. 1654, 4to. 22. " In quatuor meteorum Aristo- telis librum commentaria," Venice, 1668, 4to. 23. " Delle, scene, e theatri opera posthuma," Cesena, 1675, 4to. *
CHICHELE (HENRY), archbishop of Canterbury, and founder of All Souls college, Oxford, was born, probably in 1362, at Higham-Ferrars in Northamptonshire, of pa- rents who, if not distinguished by their opulence, were at least enabled to place their children in situations which qualified them for promotion in civil and political life. Their sons, Robert and Thomas, rose to the highest dig- nities in the magistracy of London ; and Henry, the sub- ject of this memoir, was, at a suitable age, placed at Win- chester school, and thence removed to New college, where he studied the civil and canon law. Of his pro- ficiency here, we have little information, but the progress of his advancement indicates that he soon acquired distinc- tion, and conciliated the affection of the first patrons of the age. From 1392 to 1407, he can be traced through
1 Moreri — Saxii Onomast. in Claramontius, ami Morhoff Polyhist. in ths ianu\— Nicero», vol. XXX.
C H I C H E L E. 261
various ecclesiastical preferments and dignities, for some at least of which he was indebted to Richard Metford, bishop of Salisbury. This valuable friend he had the mis- fortune to lose in the last mentioned year ; but his repu- tation was so firmly established, that king Henry IV. about this time employed him on an embassy to pope In- nocent VII. on another to the court of France, and on a third to pope Gregory XII. who was so much pleased with his conduct as to present him to the bishopric of St. David's, which happened to become vacant during his residence at the apostolic court in 1408. In the following year he was deputed, along with Hallum, bishop of Salis- bury, and Chillingdon, prior of Canterbury, to represent England in the council of Pisa, which was convoked to settle the disputed pretensions of the popes Gregory and Benedict, both of whom were deposed, and Alexander V. chosen in their room, who had once studied at Oxford.
On our founder's return, he passed some months in dis- charging the functions of his diocese. In May 1410, he was again sent to France, with other negociators, to ob- tain a renewal of the truce between the two kingdoms ; but this was not accomplished until the year following, nor without considerable difficulties. For nearly two years after this, we .find him residing on his diocese, or paying occasional visits to the metropolis, which his high charac- ter as a statesman rendered no less necessary than grateful to his royal master.
On the accession of Henry V. he was again consulted and employed in many political measures, and appears to have completely acquired the confidence of the new sove- reign, who sent him a third time into France on the sub- ject of peace. The English were at this time in possession of some of the territories of that country, a circumstance which rendered every treaty of peace insecure, and created perpetual jealousies and efforts towards emancipation on the part of the French.
In the spring of 1414, Chichele succeeded Arundel as archbishop of Canterbury, which he at first refused in- de- ference to the pope ; but on the pontiff's acceding to the election made by the prior and monks, he was put in com- plete possession, and soon had occasion to exert the whole of his talents and influence to preserve the revenues of the church, which the parliament had more than once advised the king to take into his own hands. The time was criti-
262 C H I C H E L E.
cal ; the king bad made demands on the court of France, wlrch promised to end in hostilities, and large supplies were wanted. The clergy, alarmed for the whole, agreed to give up a part of their possessions, and Chichele under- took to lay their offer before parliament, and as far as eloquence could go, to render it satisfactory to that assem- bly. It is here that historians have taken occasion to cen- sure his conduct, and to represent him as precipitating the king into a war with France, in order to divert his atten- tion from the church. But while it is certain that he strongly recommended the recovery of Henry's hereditary dominions in France, and the vindication of his title to that crown, it is equally certain that this was a disposition which he rather found than created ; and in what manner he could have thwarted it, if such is to be supposed the wiser and better course, cannot be determined without a more intimate knowledge of the state of parties than is now practicable. The war, however, was eminently suc- cessful, and the battle of Azincourt gratified the utmost hopes of the nation, and has ever since been a proud me- mento of its valour. During this period, besides taking the lead in political and ecclesiastical measures at home, Chichele twice accompanied the king's camp in France.
After the death of Henry V. in 1422, and the appoint- ment of Humphrey duke of Gloucester to be regent during the minority of Henry VI., Chichele retired to his pro- vince, and began to visit the several dioceses included in it, carefully inquiring into the state of morals and religion. The principles of Wickliffe had made considerable pro- gress, and it was to them chiefly that the indifference of the public towards the established clergy, and the efforts which had been made to alienate their revenues, were attributed. Officially, therefore, we are not to wonder that Chichele, educated in all the prejudices of the times, en- deavoured to check the growing heresy, as it was called ; but from the silence of Fox on the subject, there is reason to hope that his personal interference was far more gentle than that of his predecessor Arundel. On the other hand, history has done ample justice to the spirit with which he resisted the assumed power of the pope in the disposition of ecclesiastical preferments, and asserted the privileges of the English church. In all this he was supported by the nation at large, by a majority of the bishops, and by the university of Oxford, nor at this time was more zeal
C H I C H E L E. 263
shown against the Lollards, or first protestants, than against the capricious and degrading encroachments of the court of Home. Among the vindications of Chichele's character from the imputations thrown upon it by the agents of the pope, that of the university of Oxford must not be omitted. They told the pope, that " Chichele stood in the sanctu- ary of God as a firm wall that heresy could not shake, nor simony undermine, and that he was the darling of the people, and the foster parent of the clergy." These re- monstrances, however, were unsatisfactory to the proud and restless spirit of Martin V. but after he had for some time kept the terrors of an interdict hanging over the na- tion, the dispute was dropped without concessions on either side, and the death of this pope, soon after, relieved the archbishop from farther vexation.
He was now advancing in years, and while he employed his time in promoting the interests of his province, lie conceived the plan of founding a college in Oxford, which he lived to accomplish on a very magnificent scale, pne benefit he conferred, about the same time, of a more gene- ral importance to both universities. During the sitting of one of the convocations in 1438, the universities presented a remonstrance, stating the grievances they laboured under from wars, want of revenues, and the neglect of their members in the disposal of church livings. Chichele im- mediately procured a decree that all ecclesiastical patrons should, for ten years to come, confer the benefices in their gift on members of either university exclusively ; and that vicars general, commissaries and officials, should be chosen out of the graduates in civil and common law.
He had now held eighteen synods, in all of which he distinguished himself as the guardian of the church, and was eminently successful in conciliating the parliament and nation, by such grants on the part of the clergy as showed a readiness, proportioned to their ability, to sup- port the interests of the crown and people. The most noted of his constitutions were those which enjoined the celebration of festivals ; regulated the probates of wills ; provided against false weights ; and augmented the sti- pends of vicars. That which is most to be regretted was, his instituting a kind of inquisition against Lollardism.
In 1442, he applied to pope Eugenius for an indulgence to resign his office into more able hands, being now nearly eighty years old, and, as he pathetically urges, " heavy
264 C H I C H E L E.
laden, aged, infirm, and weak beyond measure/* He in- treats that he may be released from a burthen which he was no longer able to support either with ease to himself, or advantage to others. He died, however, before the issue of this application could be known, on the 12th of April 1443, and was interred with great solemnity in the cathedral of Canterbury, under a monument of exquisite workmanship built by himself. As a iarther mark of re- spect, the prior and monks decreed that no person should be buried in that part of the church where his remains were deposited.
His character, when assimilated to that of the age in which he lived, is not without a portion of the dark senti- ment, and barbarous spirit of persecution, which obstructed the reformation ; but on every occasion where he dared to exert his native talents and superior powers of thinking, we discover the measures of an enlightened statesman, and that liberal and benevolent disposition which would confer celebrity in the brightest periods of our history.
The foundation of All Souls college is not the 6rst in- stance of his munificent spirit. In 1422, he founded a collegiate church at his native place, Higham-Ferrars, so amply endowed, that on its dissolution by Henry VIII. its revenues were valued at 156£ This college consisted of a quadrangular building, of which the church only now re- mains, and is used as a parish church. To this he attached an hospital for the poor, and both these institutions were long supported by the legacies of his brothers Robert and William, aldermen of London *. He also expended large sums in adorning the cathedral of Canterbury, founding a library there, and in adding to the buildings of Lambeth palace f, Croydon church, and Rochester-bridge.
His first intentions with respect to Oxford ended in the erection of a house for the scholars of the Cistercian order, who at that time had no settled habitation at Oxford. This mansion, which was called St. Bernard's College, was after-
* Robert Chichele, citizen and gro- lard's Tower, at the top of which is a
cer, served the office of sheriff in 1402, prison room. Before the reformation,
and -that of lord mayor twice, in 1411 the archbishops had prisons for eccle-
and 1422. He died without issue, siastical offenders, who, if persons of
William served the office of sheriff in rank, were kept in separate apartments,
1409, and his son, John, was cham- and used to eat at the archbishop's
berlam of London. He had a very table. Lysons's Environs, art. LAM-
numerous issue. BETH, ami Churtou's Lives of the Foun-
f He built the great tower at the ders, p. 189, etseqq. . wrest euU of the chapel, called the Loi-
C H I C H E L E. 265
wards alienated to sir Thomas White, and formed part of St. John's college. The foundation of All Souls, however, is that which has conveyed his memory to our times with the highest claims of veneration. Like his predecessor and friend Wykeham, he had amassed considerable wealth, and determined to expend it in facilitating the purposes of education, which, notwithstanding the erection of the pre- ceding colleges, continued to be much obstructed during those reigns, the turbulence of which rendered property insecure, and interrupted the quiet progress of learning and civilization.
At what time he first conceived this plan is not recorded. It appears, however, to have been in his old age, when he obtained a release from interference in public measures. The purchases he made for his college consisted chiefly of Berford hall, or Cherleton's Inn, St. Thomas's hall, Tinge- wick hall, and Godknave hall,- comprising a space of one hundred and seventy-two feet in length in the High street, ana one hundred and sixty-two in breadth in Cat, or Cathe- rine street, which runs between the High street and Hert- ford college : to these additions were afterwards made, which enlarged the front in the High street. The foundation stone was laid with great solemnity, Feb. 10, 1437. John Druell, archdeacon of Exeter, and Roger Keyes, both afterwards fellows of the college, were the principal archi- tects, and the charter was obtained of the king in 1438, and confirmed by the pope in the following year. In tne charter, the king, Henry VI. assumed the title of founder, at the archbishop's solicitation, who appears to have paid him this compliment to secure his patronage for the insti- tution, while the full exercise of legislative authority was reserved to Chichele as co-founder.
According to this charter, the society was to consist of a warden and twenty fellows, with power in the warden to increase their number to forty, and to be called The war- den and college of the souls of all the faithful deceased, Collegium Omnium slnimarum Fiddium defunctorum de Oxon. The precise meaning of this may be understood from the obligation imposed on the society to pray for the good estate of Henry VI. and the archbishop during their lives, and for their souls after their decease ; also for the souls of Henry V. and the duke of Clarence, together with those of all the dukes, earls, barons, knights, esquires, and other subjects of the crown of England, who had fallen
266 C H I C H E L E.
in the war with France ; and for the souls of all the faithful deceased.
Sixteen of the fellows were to study the civil and canon laws, and the rest, philosophy and the arts, and theology. But the most remarkable clause in this charter, when com- pared to former foundations, is that which gives the society leave to purchase lands to the yearly value of 300/. a sum very far exceeding what we read of in any previous foun^ dation, and which has more recently been increased to 1050/. by charters from Charles I. and George II. Ano- ther charter of very extensive privileges was granted soon after the foundation by Henry VI. ; and this, and the char- ter of foundation, were confirmed by an act of parliament 14 Henry VII. 1499.
It was not till within a few days of his death that the archbishop gave a body of statutes for the regulation of his college, modelled after the statutes of his illustrious pre- cursor Wykeham. After the appointment of the number of fellows, already noticed, he ordains that they should be born in lawful wedlock, in the province of Canterbury, with a preference to the next of kin, descended from his brothers Robert and William Chichele*. To the society were also added chaplains, clerks, and choristers, who appear to have been included in the foundation, although they are not mentioned in the charter.
For the more ample endowment of this college, the founder purchased and bestowed on it the manor of Wedon and Weston, or Wedon Pinkeney in Northamptonshire. King's college, Cambridge, became afterwards possessed of a part of it, but All Souls has, besides the advowsort of the churches belonging to it, the largest estate, and the lordship of the waste. The founder also gave them the manors of Horsham, and Scotney, or Bletching-court in Kent, and certain lands called the Tariffs or Friths in
* This part of the founder's statutes puted and disputable claims. In 1776, has occasioned much litigation, as the on an application to Cornwallis, arch- farther the time is removed from his bishop of Canterbury, as visitor, he age, the difficulty of ascertaining con- decreed that the number of fellows to sanguinity becomes almost insupera- be admkted on claim of kindred should ble. According- to the " Stemmata be limited to twenty. In 1792, on the Chicheleana," published in 1765, the claim of kindred by a person, when the collateral descendants of our founder number of twenty happened to be corn- were then to be traced through nearly plete, tbe matter was re-heard, and the twelve hundred families; but this, former archbishop's decree ratified and which seems at first to administer faci- confirmed, lity, is in fact the source of many dis-
C H I C H E L E. 267
Wapenham, Northamptonshire ; with the suppressed alien priories of Romney in Kent; the rectory of Upchurch ; the priory of New Abbey near Abberbury, in Shropshire ; of St. Clare in Carmarthenshire, and of Llangenith in Glamorganshire. Wood says, that king Edward IV. took into his hands all the revenues of this college and these priories, because the society had sided with Henry VI. against him ; but it appears by the college archives, that the king took only these alien priories, and soon restored them, probably because he considered it as an act of jus- tice to restore what had been purchased from, and not given, by the crown. Besides these possessions, the trus- tees of the founder purchased the manors of Edgware, Kingsbury, and Malories, in Middlesex, &c.; and he be- queathed the sums of 134/. 6s. Sd. and a thousand marks, to be banked for the use of the college *.
These transactions passed chiefly during the building of the college, which the aged founder often inspected. In 1442, it was capable of receiving the warden and fellows, who had hitherto been lodged at the archbishop's expense in a hall and chambers hired for that purpose. The cha- pel was consecrated, early in the same year, by the founder, assisted by the bishops of Lincoln (Alnwick), Worcester (Bourchier), Norwich (Brown), and others who were suffragans. The whole of the college was not finished before the latter end of 1444, and the expense of building, according to the accounts of Druell and Keys, may be estimated at 41 56/. 6s. 3jd The purchases of ground, books, chapel furniture, &c. amounted to 4302/. 3s. Sd. The subsequent history of this college is amply detailed in our authorities. *
CH1COYNEAU (FRANCIS), counsellor of state, and first physician to the French king, was born at Montpellier in 1672. Having obtained his doctor's degree, though no more than twenty years old, he was sent to stop the pro- gress of the plague then raging at Marseilles, by the duke of Orleans, regent of the kingdom. The boldness and confidence with which he entered that city, where every
* He gave also 1'23/. 6s. Bd. to New to the members, and subscribed largely college, and the same sum to the uni- to the public library, versity chest, as a fund for small loans
i Chalmers's Hist, of Oxford.—Life of Chichele by Duck, and a better one by Spenser, 1783, 8vo. — Biog.Brit. — Wood's Colleges and Hall*, and Annals.— Batesiae Vitae, p. 1.
268 C H I C O :Y N E A U.
one seemed only waiting for death, had a striking effect on their fears. He encouraged the inhabitants, and quieted their alarms by his presence ; and his success was beyond expectation. His services were rewarded by marks of honour and a pension from the king. In 1731 he was called to court to be physician to the royal children, by the interest of Chirac, whose daughter he had married ; and after whose death he was made first physician to the king, counsellor of state, and superintendent of the mine- ral waters of the kingdom. He died at Versailles in 1752, aged near 80. The most curious of his works is that wherein he maintains that the plague is not contagious, entitled " Observations et reflexions touchant la nature, les everiements, et le traitement de la Peste de Marseilles," Paris, 1721, 12mo. He published also a valuable collec- tion of facts relative to the plague, under the title of " Traitedes causes, &c. de la Peste," Paris, 1744, 4to. *
CHICOYNEAU (AiME FRANCIS), born at Montpellier in 1702, was brought up under his father, the subject of the foregoing article. The famous Chirac afterwards taught him the elements of physic, and he was instructed in anatomy by Du Vernay and Winslow, and botany by Vaillant, under whom he made great progress. The de- monstration of the virtues of plants was his first function in the university of Montpellier, which he executed with great success, and the royal garden of that town, the most ancient in the kingdom, the work of Henry IV. was en- tirely renewed in a very short time. He died in 1740, at the age of 38, professor and chancellor of the university of Montpellier, being the fifth of his family that had enjoyed that dignity. 3
CHIFFLET (JOHN JAMES), a physician and politician, was born at Besan§on, a town of Franche Comte, in 1588. He was descended from a family distinguished by literary merit, as well as by the services it had done its country. He was educated at Besanc/ni, and then travelled through several parts of Europe, where he became acquainted with all the men of letters, and in every place made his way into the cabinets of the curious. At his return he applied himself to the practice of physic ; but being sent by the town of Besan^on, where he had been consul, on an em- bassy to Elizabeth Clara Eugenia, archduchess of the Low
> Moreri.— Diet. Hist. 2 Ibid.
CHIFFLET. 269
Countries, that princess was so pleased with him, that she prevailed with him to continue with her in quality of phy- sician in ordinary. Afterwards he became physician to Philip IV. of Spain, who honoured him very highly, and treated him with great kindness. Chifflet imagined, that these bounties and honours obliged him to take up arms against all who were at variance with his master ; and ac- cordingly wrote his book entitled " Vindiciae Hispanicse," against the French. He wrote several pieces in Latin, which were both ingenious and learned, and were collected and published at Antwerp, 1659, fol.
His medical works were, u Singulares ex curationibus et cadaverum sectionibus observationes," Paris, 1611, 8vo, in which he is weak enough to suppose many diseases to be produced by the influence of the stars, but there are nevertheless some useful and valuable observations in this volume. " Pulvis febrifugtis orbis Americani ventilatus," Lorain, 1653, 4to. Intermittents that had been stopped by taking the kPeruvian bark, frequently, he says, return, and with increased violence ; he therefore dissuades from using it.
Chifflet died in 1660, leaving a son, John Chifflet, who afterwards made a figure in the republic of letters, parti- cularly for his knowledge of the Hebrew. He had another son, called Julius Chifflet, well skilled in languages and in the civil law, and who had the honour to be invited to Madrid by the king of Spain in 1648, where he was made chancellor of the order of the golden fleece. He published the " Hist. duChevalierJaq.de Lalain," Brussels, 1634, 4to ; " Ge*nealogie de la Maison de Rye," 1644, folio ; " Ge'ne'alogie de la Maison de Tassis," 1645, fol.; His- toria Velleris Aurei," Ant. 1652, 4to. There was also Philip Chifflet, canon of Besanc,on, &c. ; Laurence and Peter Francis Chifflet, Jesuits, who were all men of high reputation in the learned world. The last-mentioned, who died May 11, 1682, aged ninety-two, left various works : among the rest, " L'Histoire de PAbbaye de Tournus," 1664, 4to ; " Lettre sur Beatrix Comtesse de Champagne." There have been other learned men of this name, as may be seen in Moreri, who is rather prolix on this family.1
CHILD (WILLIAM), Mus. D, was a native of Bristol, and a disciple of Elway Bevin. In 1631, being then of
i Moreri.— Haller Bibl. Med,— Saxii Onoaaast
270 CHILD.
Christ- church college, Oxford, he took his degree of ba- chelor in music; and in 1636, was appointed one of the organists of St. George's chapel at Windsor, in the room of Dr. John Munday, and soon after one of the organists of the royal chapel at White-hall. After the restoration he was appointed chanter of the king's chapel, and one of the chamber musicians to Charles II. In 1663, the uni- versity of Oxford conferred on him the degree of doctor in music, at an act celebrated in St. Mary's church. Dr. Child, after having been organist of Windsor chapel sixty- five years, died in that town 1697, at ninety years of age. In the inscription on his grave -stone, in the same chapel, it is recorded that he paved the body of that choir at his own expense; he likewise gave 20l: towards building the town -hall at Windsor, and 50/. to the corporation to be disposed of in charitable uses, at their discretion. His works are " Psalms for Three Voices," &c. with a con- tinued base either for the organ or theorbo, composed after the Italian way, London, 1639. " Catches, Hounds, and Canons," published in Hilton's " Catch that Catch can," 1652. " Divine Anthems and Compositions to se- veral Pieces of Poetry," some of which were written by Dr. Thomas Pierce, of Oxford. Some of his secular com- positions likewise appeared in a book entitled " Court Ayres," printed 1655. But his principal productions are his services and full anthems, printed in Dr. Boyce's col- lection. His style was so remarkably easy and natural, compared with that to which choirmen had been accus- tomed, that it was frequently treated by them with de- rision. Indeed, his modulation, at present, is so nearly modern, as not to produce that solemn and seemingly new effect on our ears, which we now experience from the productions of the sixteenth century. There are several inedited and valuable compositions by Dr. Child preserved in Dr. Tudvvay's manuscript " Collection of English Church Music," in the British Museum.1
CHILDREY (JosHUA), a divine and natural philoso- pher, was born in 1623, and educated at Rochester, whence he removed to Magdalen-college, Oxford, in 1640. and became one of the clerks of the house, but ap- pears to have left the university on the breaking out of the rebellion. When Oxford was surrendered to the par-
1 Burney and Hawkins's Hist, of Music.
C H 1 L D R E Y. 271
liamentary forces, he returned and took his bachelor's degree, but two years after was expelled by the parlia- mentary visitors. He then subsisted by teaching school at Feversham, in Kent, although not without interruption from the republican party ; but on the restoration, he was made chaplain to Henry lord Herbert, was created D. D. and had the rectory of Upway, in Dorsetshire, bestowed upon him. Jn Jan. 1663, he was collated to the arch- deaconry of Salisbury, and in June 1664 to the prebend of Yatminster prima in the same church, by bishop Earle, who valued him as a learned and pious divine, and a great virtuoso. He died at Upway, Aug. 26, 1670, and was buried in the chancel of his church. He published, 1. a pamphlet entitled " Indago Astrologica," 1652, 4to. 2. " Syzygiasticon instauratum, or an Ephemerisof the places and aspects of the Planets, &c." Lond. 1653, Svo. In both *hese is somewhat too much leaning to the then fashionable reveries of astrology ; but it appears by his Correspondence with the secretary of the royal society, that he had made large collections for a more sound pursuit of the subjects usually investigated by that learned body, particularly of natural curiosities. His other publication was entitled " Britannia Baconica, or the natural rarities, of England, Scotland, and Wales, historically related, ac- $ording to the precepts of lord Bacon," &c." Lond. 1661, 8vo. It was this work which first suggested to Dr. Plot his " Natural History of Oxfordshire.'71
CHILLINGWORTH (WILLIAM), a divine of the church of England, celebrated for his controversial talents, was the son of William Chillingworth, citizen, afterwards mayor of Oxford, and born there October 1602. He was bap- tized on the last of that month, Laud, archbishop of Can- terbury, but then fellow of St. John's -college, being his godfather. After he had been educated in grammar learning at a private school in that city, he was admitted a scholar of Trinity-college, June 2, 1618, and elected fejlow June 10, 1628; after having taken his degrees of B A. and M. A. in the regular way. He did not confine ^is studies to divinity : he applied himself with great suc- cess to mathematics ; and, what shews the extent of his genius, he was also accounted a good poet. Accordingly,
1 Ath, Ox. vol. II — Wafer's Sufferings of the Clergy.
272 CHILLINGWORTH.
sir John Suckling has mentioned him in his Session of the Poets :
tf There was Selden, and he set hard by the chair j Wainman not far off, which was very fair. Sands with Townshend, for they kept no order, Digby and Chillingsworth a little further."
The conversation and study of the university scholars, in his time, turned chiefly upon the controversies between the church of England and the church of Rome, occa- sioned by the uncommon liberty allowed the Romish priests by James I. and Charles I. Several of them lived at or near Oxford, and made frequent attempts upon the young scholars ; some of whom they deluded to the Romish re- ligion, and afterwards conveyed to the English seminaries beyond sea. x\mong these there was the famous Jesuit, John Fisher, alias John Perse, for that was his true name, who xvas then much at Oxford ; and Chillingworth being accounted a very ingenious man, Fisher used ail possible means of being acquainted with him. Their conversation, soon turned upon the points controverted between the two churches, but particularly on the necessity of an infallible living judge in matters of faith. Chillingworth found him- self unable to answer the arguments of the Jesuit on this head ; and being convinced of the necessity of such a judge, he was easily brought to believe that this judge was to be found in the church of Rome ; that therefore the church of Rome must be the true church, and the only church in which men could be saved. Upon this he for- sook the communion of the church of England, and cor- dially embraced the Romish religion.
In order to secure his conquest, Fisher persuaded him to go over to the college of the Jesuits at Doway ; and he was desired to set down in writing the motives or reasons which had engaged him to embrace the Romish religion. But his godfather, Laud, who was then bishop of London, hearing of this affair, and being extremely concerned at it, wrote to him ; and Chillingworth's answer expressing much moderation, candour, and impartiality, that prelate continued to correspond with him, and to press him with several arguments against the doctrine and practice of the Romanists, This set him upon a new inquiry, which had the desired effect. But the place where he was not being suitable to the state of a free and impartial inquirer, he resolved to come back to England, and left Doway in
C H I L L I N G W O R T H. 27*
i after a short stay there. Upon his return, he was received with great kindness and affection hy bishop Laud, who approved his design of retiring to Oxford, of which university that prelate was then chancellor, in order to complete the important work he was then upon, t( A free Enquiry into Religion." At last, after a thorough exami- nation, the protestant principles appearing to him the most agreeable to holy scripture and reason, he declared for them ; and having fully discovered the sophistry of the motives which had induced him to go over to the church of Rome, he wrote a paper about J634 to confute them, but did not think proper to publish it. This paper is now lost ; for though we have a paper of his upon the same subject, which was first published in 1687, among his ad- ditional discourses, yet it seems to have been written on some other occasion, probably at the desire of some of his friends. That his return to the church of England 'was owing to bishop Laud, appears from that prelate's appeal to the letters which passed between them j which appeal was made in his speech before the lords at his trial, in order to vindicate himself from the charge of popery.
As, in forsaking the church of England, as well as in returning to it, he was solely influenced by a love of truth, so, upon the same principles, even after his return to pro- testantism, he thought it incumbent upon him to re-exa- mine the grounds of it. This appears from a letter he wrote to Sheldon, containing some scruples he had about leaving the church of Rome, and returning to the church of England ; and these scruples, which he declared in- genuously to his friends, seemed to have occasioned a re- port that he had turned papist a second time, and then protestant again. It would have been more just, perhaps, to conclude that his principles were still unsettled, but, as his return to the protestant religion made much noise, he became engaged in several disputes with those of the Homish ; and particularly with John Lewgar, John Floyd a Jesuit, who went under the name of Daniel, or Dan. a. Jesu, and White. Lewgar, a great zealot for the church of Rome, and one who had been an intimate friend of our author, as soon as he heard of his return to the church of England, sent him a very angry and abusive letter; to which Chillingvvorth returned so mild and affectionate an answer, that Lewgar could not help being touched with it, and desired to see his old friend again. They had a conference
VOL. IX. T
274 C H I L L I N G W O R T H,
upon religion before Skinner and Sheldon ; and we have a paper of Chillingworth printed among the additional dis- courses above-mentioned, which seems to contain the abs- tract or summary of their dispute. Besides the pieces already mentioned, he wrote one to demonstrate, that " the doctrine of infallibility is neither evident of itself, nor grounded upon certain and infallible reasons, nor war- ranted by any passage of scripture." And in two other papers, he shews that the church of Rome had formerly erred ; first, " by admitting of infants to the eucharist, and holding, that without it they could not be saved ;" and secondly, " by teaching the doctrine of the millenaries, viz. that before the world's end Christ shall reign upon the earth 1000 years, and that the saints should live under him in all holiness and happiness ;" both which doctrines are condemned as false and heretical by the present church of Rome. He wrote also a short letter, in answer to some objections by one of his friends, in which he shews, that " neither the fathers nor the councils are infallible wit- nesses of tradition ; and that the infallibility of the church of Rome must first of all be proved from Scripture." Lastly, he wrote an answer to some passages in the dialogues pub- lished under the name of Rush worth. In 1635 he was engaged in a work which gave him a far greater opportu- nity to confute the principles of the church of Rome, and to vindicate the religion of protestants. A Jesuit called Edward Knott, though his true name was Matthias Wilson, had published in 1630 a little book called " Charity mis- taken, with the want whereof catholics are unjustly charged, for affirming, as they do with grief, that protestancy unre- pented destroys salvation." This was answered by Dr. Potter, provost of Queen Vcollege, Oxford, in 1633, in a tract entitled " Want of Charity justly charged on all such Romanists as dare without truth or modesty affirm, that protestancy destroyeth salvation." The Jesuit in 1634 published an answer, called "Mercy and Truth, or Charity maintained by catholics : . . . . with the want whereof they are unjustly chargetl, for affirming that protestancy destroyeth salvation." Knott being in- formed of Chillingworth's intention to reply to this, resolved to prejudice the public both against the author and his book, in a pamphlet called " A Direction to be observed by N. N. if he means to proceed in answering the book entitled Mercy and Truth, &c. printed in 1636,
CHILLINGWORTH.
permissu superiorum :" in which he makes no scruple to represent Chillingworth as a Socinian, a charge which has been since brought against him with more effect. Chil- lingworth's answer to Knott was very nearly finished in the beginning of 1637, when Laud, who knew our author's freedom in delivering his thoughts, and was under some apprehension he might indulge it too much in his book, recommended the revisal of it to Dr. Prideaux, professor of divinity at Oxford, afterwards bishop of Worcester; and desired it might be published with his approbation annexed to it. Dr. Baylie, vice-chancellor, and Dr. Fell, lady Margaret's professor in divinity, also examined the book ; and at the end of the year it was published, with their ap- probation, under this title : " The religion of Protestants a safe way to Salvation : or, an answer to a book entitled Mercy and Truth, or Charity maintained by Catholics, which pretends to prove the contrary." It was presented by the author to Charles I. with a very elegant dedication i from whence we learn this remarkable circumstance, that Dr. Potter's vindication of the protestant religion against Knott's books was written by special order of the king 5 and that, by giving such an order, that prince, besides the general good, had also some aim at the recovery of Chillingworth from the danger he was then in by the change of his religion. This work was received with general ap- plause ; and what perhaps never happened to any other controversial work of that bulk, two editions of it wer6 published within less than five months : the first at Oxford, 1638, in folio; the second at London, with some small improvements, the same year. A third was published in 1664 ; to which were added some pieces of Chil- lingworth; a fourth in 1674; a fifth in 1684, with the addition of his Letter to Lewgar, mentioned above. In 1687, when the nation was in imminent danger of popery, and this work was in its Cull popularity, Dr. John Patrick, at the request of the London clergy, published an abridg- ment of it in 4to, with the additional pieces, which we have taken notice of already. The sixth edition of the original appeared in 1704, with the " Additional- Dis- courses," but full of typographical errors.; the seventh.
edition in 1719; the eighth in ; and the ninth in
1727. This last edition was prepared from that of 1664, carefully examined and compared with the two preceding editions. The various readings of these editions are. taken
T 2
276 CHILLINGWORTfl.
notice of at the bottom of each page, with the words Oxf, or Lond. after them. The tenth and last edition is of the year 1742, with the "Life of Mr. Chillingworth,"by Dr. Birch', which life was copied into the General Dictionary, 10 vols. fol. The Jesuit Knott, as well as Floyd and Lacy, Jesuits, wrote against ChiHingworth j but their answers were soon forgotten.
lit the mean time he had refused preferment, which was offered him by sir Thomas Coven try $ keeper of the great seal, because his conscience would not £tllow him tc> sub- scribe the thirty-nine articles. Considering that, by sub- scribing the articles, he must not only declare, willingly, and ex animo, that every tine of the articles is agreeable to the word of God, but also that the book of common prayer contained nothing contrary to the word of God ; that it might lawfully be used ; and that he himself would use it : and conceiving at the same time that, both in the articles and in the book of common prayer, there were some things repugnant to the scripture, or which were5 not lawful to be used, he fully resolved to lose for ever all hopes of preferment, rather than comply with the sub^ scriptions required. One of his chief objections to the common prayer related to the Athanasian dreed, the damnatory clauses of which he lodked upon as contrary to the word of God. Another objection concerned the fourth corttmantlmentj which, by the prayer subjoined to it, f; Lord, have mercy updn us," &c. appeared to him to be mfcde a part of the Christian law, and consequently to bind Christians to the observation of the Jewish sabbath. These* scruples of but authoi'j about subscribing the articles, fur- nished his antagonist Knott with an objection against him^ as an improper champion for the protestant caw&e. To which he answers in the close of his preface to the " Re- ligion of Protestants." He expresses here not only his readiness to subscribe, but also what he conceives to be the sense and intent of such a subscription ; that is, a sub- scription of peace or union, and not of belief or assent, as he formerly thought it was. This was also the sense of archbishop Laud, with which he could not then be unac- quainted ; and of his friend Sheldon, who laboured to convince him of it, and was, no doubt, the person that Brought him at last into it. For there is in Des Maizeaux's Account, a letter which he wrote to Sheldon upon this oc~ j and it seems there passed several letters between
CHILLINGWOIiTH. 277
them upon this subject. Such at least is the apqjqgy which his biographers have offered for his ready subscription, after it had appeared to every impartial person that his ob- jections were insurmountable. The apology we tiring as weak, as his subscription was strong and decisive,, running in the usual language, " omnibus hisce articulis et singulis in iisdem contentis volens, et ex animo subscribe, et con- spnsum meum iisdem praebeo." The distinction, after such a declaration, between peace and union, and belief and assent, is, we fear, too subtle for common understandings. When, by >vbateyer means, he had got the better of his scruples, he was prompted to the chancellorship of Salis- bury, with the prebend of Bri$wqrth, in Northamptonshire, annexed ; and, as appears from the subscription-book of the church of Salisbury, upon July 2Q, 1638, complied with the usual subscription^ in the manner just related. About the same time he was appointed master of Wigston's hospital, in Leicestershire ; " both which," says Wood, " and perhaps some other preferments, lie kept to his dying day." In 1646 he was deputed by the chapter of Salisbury their proctor in convocation. He was likewise deputed to the convocation which met the same year with the new parliament, and was opened Nov. 4. In 1642 he was put into the roll with some others by his majesty, to be created D. D. ; but the civil war breaking out, he never received it. He was zealously attached to the royal party, and at the siege of Gloucester^ begun Aug. 10, J643, was present in the king's army, where he advised and directed the making certain engines for assaulting the town, after the manner of the Roman testudines cum pluteis, but which the success of the enemy prevented him from employing. Soon afterf having accompanied the lord Hopton, general of the king's forces ip the west, to Arundel castle, in Sussex, and choosing to repose himself in that garrison, on account of an indisposition, occasioned by the severity of the sea- son, he was taken prisoner Dec, 9, 1643, by the parlia- ment forces under \he command of sir William Waller, when the castle surrendered. But his illness increasing, and not being able to go to London with the garrison, he obtained leave to be conveyed to Chichester; where he was lodged in the bishop's palace ; and where, after a short illness, he died. We have a very particular account of his sickness and death, written by his great adversary, Mr. Cheynell, in his " Chillingworthi Novissima, or the sick-
278 C H I L L I N G W O R T H.
ness, heresy, death, and burial, of William Chilling- worth, &c." London, 1644, 4to. Cheynell accidentally met him at Arundel castle, and frequently visited him at Chichester, till he died. It was indeed at the request of this gentleman, that our author was removed to Chichester; where Cheynell attended him constantly, and behaved to him with as much compassion and charity as his bigotted and uncharitable principles would suffer him. There is no reason, however, to doubt the truth of Cheynell's account, as to the most material circumstances, which prove that Chillingworth was attended during his sickness, and pro- vided with all necessaries, by one1 lieutenant Golledge, and his wife Christobel, at the command of the governor of Chichester ; that at first he refused the assistance of sir William Waller's physician, but afterwards was persuaded to admit his visits, though there were no hopes of his re- covery ; that his indisposition was increased by the abusive treatment he met with from most of the officers who were taken prisoners with him in Arundel castle, and who looked upon him as a spy set over them and their proceedings ; and that during his whole illness he was often teased by Cheynell himself, and by an officer of the garrison of Chi- chester, with impertinent questions and disputes. And on the same authority we may conclude that lord Clarendon was misinformed of the particulars of his death ; for, after having observed that he was taken prisoner in Arundei castle, he adds : " As soon as his person was known, which would have drawn reverence from any noble enemy, the clergy that attended that army prosecuted him with all the inhumanity imaginable ; so that by their barbarous usage, he died within a few days, to the grief of all that knew him, and of many who knew him not, but by his book, and the reputation he had with learned men." From this it appears that the noble historian did not know, or had forgot, that he was sent to Chichester, but believed that he died in Arundel castle, and within a few days after the taking of it by sir William Waller. Wood tells us also, that the royal party in Chichester looked upon the impertinent discourses of Cheynell to our author, as a shortening of his days. He is supposed to have died Jan. 30, though the day is not precisely known, and was bu- ried, according to his own desire, in the cathedral church of Chichpster, Cheynell appeared at his funeral, and gave
CHILLINGWORTH. 279
that instance of bigotry and buffoonery which we have related already under his article.
For his character Wood has given the following : <c He was a most noted philosopher and orator, and, without doubt, a poet also; and had such an admirable faculty in reclaiming schismatics and confuting papists,, that none in his time went beyond him. He had also very great skill in mathematics. — He was a subtle and quick disputant, and would several times put the king's professor to a push. Hobbes of Malmesbury would often say, that he was like a lusty fighting fellow, that did drive his enemies before him, but would often give his own party smart back-blows ; and it was the current opinion of the university, that he and Lucius lord Falkland," who by the way was his most intimate friend, " had such extraordinary clear reason, that, if the great Turk or devil were to be converted, they were able to do it. He was a man of little stature, but of great soul : which, if times had been serene, and life spared, might have done incomparable services to the church of England." Archbishop Tillotson has spoken of him in the highest terms : " I know not how it comes to pass," says that eminent prelate, " but so it is, that every one that offers to give a reasonable account of his faith, and to establish religion upon rational principles, is presently branded for a Socinian ; of which we have a sad instance in that incomparable person Mr. ChillingwoYth, the glory of this age and nation : who, for no other cause that I know of, but his worthy and successful attempts to make the Christian religion reasonable, and to discover those firm and solid foundations upon which our faith is built, has been requited with this black and odious character. But, if this be Socinianism, for a man to inquire into the grounds and reasons of Christian religion, and to endea- vour to give a satisfactory account why he believes it, I know no way, but that all considerate and inquisitive men, that are above fancy and enthusiasm, must be either Soci- nians or atheists." Mr. Locke has also spoken of Chilling- worth with equal commendation. In a small tract, con- taining " Some thoughts concerning reading and study for a gentleman," after having observed that the art of speak- ing well consists chiefly in two things, namely, perspicuity and right reasoning, and proposed Dr. Tillotson as a pat« tern for the attainment of the art of speaking clearly, he adds : " Besides perspicuity, there masjt-be also right
280 C H I L L I N G W O R T H.
reasoning, without which, perspicuity serves but to expose the speaker. And for attaining of this, I should propose the constant reading of Chillingworth, who, by his example, •will teach both perspicuity and the way of right reasoning, better than any book that I know: and therefore will de- serve to be read upon that account over and over again ; not to say any thing of his argument.'*
Lord Clarendon's character of him, however, appears superior to any given by those who had no personal know- ledge of Chillingworth. " Mr. Chillingworth,1' says that admirable portrait-painter, ** was of a stature little supe- rior to Mr. Hales, (and it was an age in which there were many great and wonderful men of that size) and a man of so great a subtilty of understanding, and so rare a temper in debate, that as it was impossible to provoke him into any passion, so it was very difficult to keep a man's self from being a little discomposed by his sharpness, and quickness of argument, and instances, in which he had a rare facility, and a great advantage over all the men I ever knew. He had spent all his younger time in disputation ; and had arrived to so great a mastery, as he was inferior to no man in those skirmishes ; but he had, with his nota- ble perfection in this exercise, contracted such an irreso- lution, and habit of doubting, that by degrees he grew confident of nothing, and a sceptic at least, in the greatest mysteries of faith.
** This made him from first wavering in religion, and indulging to scruples, to reconcile himself too soon, and too easily to the church of Rome ; and carrying still his own inquisitiveness about him, without any resignation to their authority (which is the only temper can make that church sure of its proselytes) having made a journey to St. Omers (Doway), purely to perfect his conversion, by the conversation of those who had the greatest name, he found as little satisfaction there, and returned with as much haste from them; with a belief that an entire ex- emption from error was neither inherent in, nor necessary to any church : which occasioned that war, which was car- ried on by the Jesuits with so great asperity and re- proaches against him, and in which he defended himself by such an admirable eloquence of language, and clear and incomparable power of reason, that he not only made them appear unequal adversaries, but carried the war into their own quarters $ and made the pope's infallibility to be
CHILLINGWORTH. 281
as much shaken, and declined by their own doctors (and as great an acrimony amongst themselves upon that subject) and to be at least as much doubted, as in the schools of the reformed or protestant; and forced them since, to defend and maintain those unhappy controversies in reli- gion, with arms and weapons of another nature, than were used, or known in the church of Rome, when Bellarmine died ; and which probably will in time undermine the very foundation that supports it.
'* Such a levity and propensity to change is commonly attended with great infirmities in, and no less reproach and prejudice to the person ; but the sincerity of his heart was so conspicuous and without the least temptation of any corrupt end, and the innocence and candour in his nature so evident and without any perverseness ; that all who knew him, clearly discerned, that all those restless motions and fluctuations proceeded only from the warmth and jea- lousy of his own thoughts, in a too nice inquisition for truth. Neither the books of the adversary, nor any of their persons, though he was acquainted with the best of both, had ever made great impression upon him : all his doubts grew out of himself, when he assisted his scruples with all the strength of his own reason, and was then too hard for himself; but finding as little quiet and repose in those victories, he quickly recovered, by a new appeal to his own judgment; so that he was in truth, upon the mat- ter, in. all his sallies, and retreats, his own convert ; though he was not so totally divested of all thoughts of this world, but that when he was ready for it, he admitted some great and considerable churchmen to be sharers with him in his public conversion.
" He did readily believe all war to be unlawful ; and did not think that the parliament (whose proceedings he perfectly abhorred) did in truth intend to involve the na- tion in a civil war, till after the battle of Edgehill ; and then he thought any expedient, or stratagem that was like to put a speedy end to it, to be the most commendable.
" He was a man of excellent parts, and of a cheerful disposition ; void of all kind of vice, and endued with many notable virtues ; of a very public heart, and an in- defatigable desire to do good ; his only un happiness pro- ceeded from his sleeping too little, and thinking too much ; which sometimes threw him into violent fevers."
282 C H I L L I N G W O R T H.
With respect to his inclination to Sociniau tenets, that point has been so clearly demonstrated by the late Mr. Whitaker, in his " Origin of Arianism disclosed," p. 482 — 492, as to admit of no doubt. Dr. Kippis, in the last edition of the Biographia Britannica, acknowledged him- self to be convinced by Mr. Whitaker' s testimonies and reasonings, and therefore retracted what he had said on the subject, in a preceding volume.
Besides the works already noticed, there are extant of Mr. Chillingworth's, " Nine Sermons on occasional sub- jects," 1664, 4to; and a tract called "The Apostolical Institution of Episcopacy," 1644, 4to. It was also added to an edition of a tract on the same subject, by Dr. Morton, bishop of Durham, entitled " Confessions and proofs of protestant divines," 1644, 4to. A volume of his manu- script tracts, chiefly of the controversial kind, is among the manuscripts in the Lambeth library, which archbishop Tenison purchased of Mr. Henry Wharton. Mr. Chilling- worth left his relations residuary legatees to his property, after a few trifling legacies, and the sum of 400/. to the corporation of Oxford for charitable purposes. l
CHILMEAD (EDWARD), an excellent Greek and Latin, scholar and mathematician, was born in 1610 at Slow in the Wold, in Gloucestershire, and became one of the clerks of Magdalen college, Oxford; and in 1632, one of the petty canons or chaplains of Christ church. Being ejected from this by the parliamentary visitors in 1648, he came to London in great necessity, and took lodgings in the house of Thomas Est, a musician and music printer, in Alders- gate street. There being a large room in this house, Chil- mead made use of it for a weekly music meeting, from the profits of which he derived a slender subsistence, and pro- bably improved it by being employed as translator. He died in 1653, having for some years received relief from Edward Bysshe, esq. garter king at arms, and sir Henry Hoibrook, the translator of Procopius. He was interred in the church of St. Botolph without Aldersgate. Among his works, our musical historians notice his tract " De musica antiqua Graeca," printed in 1672, at the end of the Oxford edition of Aratus : he also wrote annotations on three odes of Dionysius, in the same volume, with the
1 Life by Des Maizeaux, London, 1725, Svo. — Gen. Diet. — Bio£. Brit.-— Cheynell's Chillingvvorthi Novissima.— Clarendon's Life. — Ath. Ox. vol. li.
C H I L M E A D. 283
ancient Greek musical characters, which Chilmead ren- dered in the notes of Guide's scale. His other works are, 1 . " Versio Latina et Annotationes in Joan. Malalae Chro- nographiam," Oxf. 1691, 8vo. 2. A translation, from the French of Ferrand, of " A Treatise on Love, or Erotic Melancholy," 1640, 8vo. 3. Gaffarel's " Unheard-of Cu- riosities." 4. Campanella's " Discourse touching the Spanish monarchy," which not selling, Prynne prefixed an epistle and a new title, " Thomas Campanella's advice to the king of Spain, for obtaining the universal monarchy of the world," Lond. 1659, 4to. 5. Hues' " Treatise of the Globes," ibid. 1639 and 1659 ; and 6. Modena's " History of the Rites, Customs, &c. of the Jews," ibid. 1650. He also compiled the " Catalogus MSS. Grsecorum in Bibl. Bodl." 1636, a manuscript for the use of the Bodleian, and the most complete of its time. *
CH1LO, one of the wise men of Greece, as they are called, flourished about the first year of the fifty-sixth Olympiad, or 556 B. C. Diogenes Laertius, however, thinks he was an old man in the fifty-second olympiad. Fenelon, with his usual respect for the ancient philoso- phers, asserts that he was a perfect model of virtue. About the fifty-fifth olympiad, he was made one of the ephori at Lacedaemon, a dignity which counterbalanced the au- thority of the kings. He appears to have been supersti- tiously attached to divination, and stories are told of his foretelling future events, which he contended might be done by the human intellect. He died at Pisa, through excess of joy, when embracing his son, who had returned from the Olympic games, crowned as victor. He executed the offices of magistracy with so much uprightness, that in his old age, he said, that he recollected nothing in his public conduct which gave him uneasiness, except that, in one in- stance, he had endeavoured to screen a friend from punish- ment. He held, however, the selfish maxim of Pittacus, that " we ought to love as if we were one day to hate, and hate, as if we were one day to love." The more valuable of his precepts and maxims, were : — Three things are dif- ficult : to keep a secret, to bear an injury patiently, and to spend leisure well. — Visit your friend in misfortune rather than in prosperity. — Never ridicule the unfortunate. — Think jbefore you speak. — Do not desire impossibilities.
,« Atb. Ox. vol. II.— Hawkins's Hist, of Music.
284 C H I L O.
— Gold is tried by the touchstone, and men are tried by gold. — Honest loss is preferable to shameful gain ; for by the one, a man is a sufferer but once ; by the other, always. — In conversation use no violent motion of the hands ; in walking, do not appear to be always upon business of life or death ; for rapid movements indicate a kind of phrenzy. — If you are great, be condescending ; for it is better to be loved then feared.— Speak no evil of the dead.— Re- \erence the aged. — Know thyself. l
CHIRAC (PETER), an eminent French physician, was born 1650, at Conques in ^anguedoc. M. Chicoineau entrusted him with the education of his two sons, and per- Suaded him to study physic. Chirac became a member of the faculty at Montpellier, and in five years time taught physic there, which he afterwards practised, taking M. Barbeyrac for his model, who then held the first rank at Montpellier. In 1692 he was appointed physician to the army of Roussillqn j the year following a dysentery became epidemical among the troops, and ipecacoanha proving unsuccessful, Chirac gave miHt mi^ed with lye, made of vine branches, which cured almost ajl the sick. Some years after he returned to his situation of professor and phy- sician at Montpellier, and was engaged in two disputes, which were the subjects of much conversation ; one with M. Vieussens, an eminent physician at Montpellier, on the discovery of the acid of the blood ; the other with M. Sorazzi, an Italian physician, on the structure of the hair. He attended the duko of Orleans into Italy 1706, whom he cured of q. wound in the arm, by putting it into the water of Balaruc, which was sent for on purpose. In 1707, he accompanied the s^me prince into Spain, and was ap- pointed his first physician 1713 ; admitted a free associate of the academy of sciences the following year, and sue- .ceeded M. Fagon as superintendant of the king's garden, 1718. In 1728 he received letters of nobility from his majesty; and in 1730, the place of first physician, vacant by the death of M. Dodart, was conferred upon him. — He died March 11, 1732, aged 52. He left 30,000 livres to the university of Montpellier for the purpose of founding two anatomical professorships. M. Chirac was skilful in surgery, and sometimes performed operations himself. He gained great honour during the epidemical disorder whjch
i Diogenes Laertius. — Stanley's Philosophy. -^-Fcnelon'a Lives of the Philoso- phers.—Brucker's Hist, of Philosophy.
CHIRAC. 285
prevailed at Ilochefort, and was called the Siam sickness. When there was danger of an inflammation on the brain in the small-pox, he advised bleeding in the foot. His Dis- sertations and Consultations, are printed with those of Silva, 3 vols. 12 mo. 1
CHISHULL (EDMUND), a learned divine and antiquary, was born at Ey worth, in Bedfordshire, and was the son of Paul Chishull, formerly bible clerk of Queen's college, Cambridge, and master of arts, as a member of Pembroke college, Oxford. His son being intended for the church, was sent to Oxford, became a scholar of Corpus Christi college, and received the degree of master of arts in February 1693; and lie was chosen, likewise, a fellow of his college. Previously to his commencing master of arts, he had published in 1692, a Latin poem, in .quarto, on occasion of the famous battle of La Hogue, entitled, " Gu- lielmo Tertio terra manque principi invictissimo in Gallos pugna navali nuperrime devictos, ' carmen heroic urn," Oxon. When queen Mary died, on the 28th of Decem- ber 1694, Mr. Chishull was one of the Oxford gentlemen who exerted their poetical talents in deploring that me- lancholy event, and his tribute of loyalty is preserved in the third volume of the Musse Anglicans, but is rather a school exercise, than a production of genius. In 1698, having obtained a grant of the traveller's place, from the society of Corpus Christi college, he sailed from England on the 12th of September, and arrived on the 19th of No- vember following at Smyrna. Before he set out on his voyage, he preached a sermon to the Levant company, which was published, and probably procured him to be appointed chaplain to the English factory at Smyrna, in. which station he continued till the 12th of February, 1701-2. On the 16th of June, 1705, he was admitted to the degree of bachelor in divinity. In the next year he engaged in a controversy, which at that time excited considerable attention, by publishing " A charge of He- resy maintained against Mr. Dodwell's late Epistolary Dis- course concerning the Mortality of the Soul," London, 8vo. This was one of the principal books written in answer to Dodwell on that subject. In 1707, Chishull exerted his endeavours in opposing the absurdities and enthusiasm of the French prophets, and their followers, in
i Chaufepie.— L'Avocat.— Hallcr Bib!. Med — Moreri.
C H I S H U L L.
a sermon, on the 23d of November, at Serjeant's-inn chapel, in Chancery-lane, which was published in the beginning of 1708, and was entitled, " The great Danger and Mistake of all new uninspired Prophecies relating to the End of the World," with an appendix of historical collections applicable to subject. On the 1st of Septem- ber, in the same year, he was presented to the vicarage of Walthamstow, in Essex ; and in 1711, he had the honour of being appointed one of the chaplains in ordinary to the queen. About the same time, he published a visitation and a few other occasional sermons, preached on public occasions, all which were favourably received. But he, soon became more distinguished for his researches in an- cient literature and history.
One of h(is, first publications in these sciences appeared in 1721, and was entitled, " Inscriptio Sigaea antiquissima BOT2TPO$HAON exarata. Commentario earn Historico- Grammatico-Critico illustravit Edmundus Chishull, S.T.B. regiae majestati a sacris," folio. This was followed by " Notarum ad inscriptionem Sigaeam appendicula; addita a Sigaeo altera Antiochi Soteris inscriptione," folio, in fifteen pages, without a date, Both these pieces were afterwards incorporated in his " Antiquitates Asiaticae." When Dr. Mead, in 1724, published his Harveian oration, delivered in the preceding year at the royal college of physicians, Mr. Chishull added to it, by way of appendix, *' Dissertatio de Nummis quibusdam a Smyrnseis in Medi- corum honorem percussis," which gave rise to a contro- versy very interesting to the professors of the medical art, and amusing to the learned world in general. The ques- tion was, whether the physicians of ancient Rome were not usually vile and despicable slaves, or whether there were not some, at least, among them, who enjoyed the privileges of a free condition, and the respect due to their services. The history of this controversy will be found in the articles of Mead and Middleton ; but Mr. Chishull has not been deemed happy in all his explanations of the Smyrnsean inscriptions. In 1728 appeared in folio, his great work, " Antiqui- tates Asiaticoe Christianam ^Eram antecedentes ; ex pri- mariis Monumentis Graecis descriptae, Latine versae, Notis- que et Commentariis illustratae. Accedit Monumentum Latinum Ancyranum." Dr. Mead contributed fifty-one guineas, Dr. William Sherard twenty, and Dr. Lisle five guineas towards this book, which was published by sub-
C H I S H U L L. 287
scription, at one guinea the common copy, and two o-ui- neas the royal paper. The work contains a collection of inscriptions made by consul Sherard, Dr. Picenini, and Dr. Lisle, afterwards bishop of St. Asaph, which was de- posited in the earl of Oxford's library, and is now in the British Museum. Mr. Chislmll added to the " Antiquitates Asiatics;" two small pieces which he had before published, viz. "Conjectaneade Nummo CKHIII inscripto," and "her Asite Poeticum," addressed to the rev. John Horn. Our author not having succeeded in his explication of an in- scription to Jupiter Ourios, afterwards cancelled it, and substituted a different interpretation by Dr. Ashton, which was more satisfactory ; but our author did not submit in, this case with so good a grace as might have been wished, and was reasonably to be expected. He added also, at the same time, another half sheet, with the head of Homer, of which only fifty copies 'were printed. He had formed the design of publishing a second volume, under the title of " Antiquitates Asiatics? ; pars altera diversa, diversarum Urbium inscripta Marmora complectens," and the printing was begun ; but the author's death put a stop to the pro- gress of it, and the manuscript was purchased at Dr. As- kew's sale in 1785 for the British Museum, for about 60/. It is to be regretted that the learned Thomas Tyrwhitt de- clined being the editor of this second volume. Mr. Chi- shulPs printed books were sold by a marked catalogue by Whiston in 1735. In 1731, Mr. Chishull was presented to the rectory of South-church in Essex. This preferment he did not long live to enjoy ; for he departed the present life at Walthamstow, on the 18th of May, 1733. Mr. Clarke, of Chichester, writing to Mr. Bowyer, says, " I was very sorry for Mr. Chishull' s death as a public loss." That our author sustained an excellent character, as a clergy- man and a divine, cannot be doubted. Two letters, writ- ten by him to his friend Mr. Bowyer, and which Mr. Nichols has preserved, are evident proofs both of the piety and benevolence "of his disposition. With respect to his literary abilities, Dr. Taylor styles him " Vir celeberrimus ingenii acumine et literarum peritia, quibus excellebat maxime ;" and Dr. Mead has bestowed a high encomium upon him, in the preface which introduces Mr. ChishulPs Dissertation on the Smyrnxan Coins. The same eminent physician testified his regard to the memory of his learned friend, by publishing in 1747 our author's "Travels in
283 C H I S H U L L.
Turkey, and back to England," fol. They were originally published at a guinea, in sheets, and in 1759, the remain- ing copies, which were numerous, were advertised by the proprietors at fourteen shillings bound. *
CHISI, or CHIGI, or GHISI (AoosTiNi), a merchant at Rome, and a patron of literature and the arts, was a na- tive of Siena, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, who having frequent occasion, in his mercantile concerns, to resort to Rome, at length fixed his abode there, and erect- ed for himself a splendid mansion in the Transtevere, which he decorated with works in painting and sculpture by the greatest artists of the time. He had long been considered as the wealthiest merchant in Italy ; and on the expedition of Charles VIII. against the kingdom of Naples, had ad- vanced for the use of that monarch a considerable sum of money, which it is thought he never recovered,* His wealth he employed in encouraging painting, sculpture, and every branch of the fine arts, and likewise devoted himself to the restoration of ancient learning. Among the learned men whom he distinguished by his particular favour, was Cor-^ nelio Benigno of Viterbo, who united to a sound critical judgment an intimate acquaintance with the Greek tongue, and had before joined with a few other eminent scholars in revising and correcting the geographical work of Ptolo- msEUs, which was published at Rome in 1507. Under the patronage of Chisi, Cornelio produced at Zaccaria Callier- go's press, the fine edition of the works of Pindar, 1515, 4to, the first Greek book printed at Rome ; and from the same press issued the correct edition of the Idyilia and Epigrams of Theocritus, 1516. It is said that it was not only in his patronage of letters and of the arts that Chisi emulated the Roman pontiffs, but vied with them also in the luxury of his table, and the costly and ostentatious ex- travagance of his feasts. His death is said to have occurred in 1520. After this event, his family were driven from Rome by Paul III. who seized upon their mansion in the Transtevere, and converted it into a sort of appendage to the Farnese palace, whence it has since been called the Farnesina. But in the ensuing century, the family of Chisi, or Chigi, rose to pontifical honours in the person of Alexander VII. Fabio Chigi ; who established it in great!
1 Biog. BriL from information chiefly in Nichols's Bowyer, where are soraa curious letters of i\Ir. Chishull. — Ath. Ox«voJ. If.
C H I S I. 289
credit, without, however, restoring to it the family man- sion, which has descended with the possessions of the Far- nese to the king of Naples, to whom it now belongs. l
CHOISI (FRANCIS TIMOLEON DE), dean of the cathedral at Bayeux, and one of the members of the French aca- demy, was born April 16, 1644, at Paris. He was sent to the king of Siam, with the chevalier de Chaumont in 1685, and ordained priest in the Indies by the apostolical vicar. He died October 2, 1724, at Paris, aged 81. Although his life in our authorities is very prolix, he seems entitled to very little notice or respect. His youth was very irregular. Disguised as a woman, under the name of comtesse des Barres, he abandoned himself to the libertinism which such a disguise encouraged ; but we are told that he did not act thus at the time of writing his ecclesiastical history ; though such a report might probably arise from his having been so accustomed from his youth to dress in woman's clothes, to please Monsieur, brother of Louis XIV. who liked such amusements, that he wore petticoats at his house as long as he lived, equally a disgrace to himself and his patron. The principal of his works are, 1. "Quatre Dialogues sur 1'Im- mortalite de I'Ame," &c ; which he wrote with M. Dan- geau, 12mo. 2. " Relation du Voyage de Siam," 12mo. 3. "Histoires de Piett- et de Morale," 2 vols. 12mo. 4. " Hist. Ecclesiastique," 11 vols. in 4to, and in 12mo. 5. " La Vie de David, avec une Interpretation des Pseaumes," 4to. 6. " The Lives of Solomon 3 of St. Louis, 4to ; 'of Philip de Valois, and of king John, 4to ; of Charles V. 4to; of Charles VI. 4to ; and of Mad. de Miramion, 12mo ; his Memoirs, 12mo. These are all superficial works, and have found readers only from their being written in that free and natural style which amuses the attention. What he wrote on the French history has been printed in 4 vols. 12mo. His life was published at Geneva, 1748, 8vo, supposed to be written by the abbe tT Olivet, who has inserted in it the History of la comtesse des Barres, 1736, small 12mo, written by t)ie abbe" Choisi himself. 2
CHOKIER (JOHN ERNEST DE), the brother of Erasmus de Surlet, lord of Chokier (one of the ablest lawyers of his time, who died in 1625), was born at Liege Jan. 14, 1571, of an ancient and noble family. He studied law at the university of Lovaine, and especially the Roman history
1 Roscoe'sLeo. — Gen. Diet. art. Chigi.
* D'Alembert's Hist, de 1'acad. Franc. — Moreri,
VOL. IX. U
290 C H O K I E R.
and antiquities under Lipsius. After taking the degree of doctor in canon and civil law at Orleans, he went to Rome, and was introduced to pope Paul V. On his return to Liege, he received some promotion in the church ; and Ferdinand of Bavaria, bishop and prince of Liege, made him vicar-general of his diocese, and one of his counsel- lors. Chokier was not more esteemed for his learning than for his benevolence, which led him to found two hospitals, one for poor incurables, and the other for female penitents. He died at Liege, either in 1650 or 1651; but his bio- graphers have not specified the particular time, although they notice that he was buried in the cathedral of Liege, under a magnificent tomb. Among his works, are, 1. " Notae in Senecse libellum de tranquillitate animi," Leige, 1607, Svo. 2. " Thesaurus aphorismorum politicorum, seu commentarius in Justi-Lipsii politica, cum exemplis, notis et monitis," Rome, 1610, Mentz, 1613, 4to, and with corrections and the addition of some other treatises, at Liege, 1642, folio. Andrew Hetdemann translated this work into German, but with so little fidelity, as to oblige, the author to publish against it in a volume entitled " Spe- cimen candoris Heidemanni," Liege, 1625, Svo. 3. "Notae et dissertationes in Onosandri strategicum," Gr. and Lat. 1610, 4to, and inserted in the latter editions of his ** Aphorismi." 4. " Tractatus de permutationibus bene- ficiorunV 1616, Svo, and afterwards Rome, 1700, folio, with other treatises on the same subject. 5. " De re num- jnaria prisci sevi, collata ad aestimationem monetae presen- tis," Cologne, 1620, Svo, Liege, 1649. Another title of this work we have seen is " Monetae antiquae diversarum gentium maxime Romanae consideratio et ad nostram ho- diernam reductio." He published some other works on law subjects and antiquities of the courts of chancery, the office of ambassador, &c. ; and some of controversy against the protestants, and one against the learned Samuel Ma- rets, entitled ff Apologeticus adversus Samuel Maresii librum, cui titulus, Candela sub modio posita per clerum Romanum," 1635, 4to ; but he had not complete success in proving that the Roman catholic clergy at that time did not ¥ hide their candle under a bushel."
CHOMEL (JAMES FRANCIS), a French physician, was the son of Noel Chomel, an agriculturist, and the author of
1 Moreri.— Foppen BibJ. Belg.— Saxii Onomast,
C H O M E L, 291
the " DictionTiaire ceconomique," of which we have an English translation by Bradley, 1725, 2 vols. folio. He was born at Paris towards the end of the seventeenth century, and studied medicine at Montpellier, where he took his degree of doctor, in 1708. Returning to his native city, he was appointed physician and counsellor to the king. The following year he published " Universal Medicince Theoricse pars prima, seu Physiologia, ad usum scholae ac- commodata," Montpellier, 1709, 12mo; and in 1734, " Traite des Eaux Minerales, Baines et Douches de Vichi," 1734, 12mo, and various subsequent editions. To that of the year 1738 the author added a preliminary discourse on mineral waters in general, with accounts of the principal medicinal waters found in France. His elder brother, PETER JOHN BAPTISTE, studied medicine at Paris, and wa's admitted to the degree of doctor there in 1697. Applying himself more particularly to the study of botany, while making his collection, he sent his observations to the royal academy of sciences, who elected him one of their mem- bers. He was also chosen, in November 1738, dean of the faculty of medicine, and the following year was re- elected, but died in June 1740. Besides his "Memoirs" sent to the academy of sciences, and his " Defence of Tournefort," published in the Journal des Savans, he pub- lished " Abrege de L'Histoire des PI antes usuelles," Paris, 1712, 12mo. This was in 1715 increased to two, and in 1730, to three volumes in I2mo, and is esteemed an useful manual. His son, JOHN BAPTISTE LEWIS, was educated also at Paris, and took his degree of doctor in medicine in 1732. He was several years physician in ordinary to the king, and in November 1754 was chosen dean of the faculty. He died in 1765. He published in 1745, 1. " An account of the disease then epidemic among cattle," and boasts of great success in the cure, which was effected, he says, by using setons, imbued with white hellebore. 2. " Dissertation historique sur la Mai de Gorge Gangre- neaux, qui a regne parmi les enfans, en 174S:" the ma- lignant sore throat, first treated of in this country by Dr. Fothergill, about ten years later than this period. 3. " Es- sai historique sur la Medicine en France," 1762, 12mo. He also wrote, " Vie de M. Morin," and " Eloge historique de M. Louis Duret," 1765.1
» Diet. Hist— Haller Bib!. Med. et Bibl. Botan. U 2
292 € H O P I N.
CHOPIN (E,ENE), an eminent lawyer, born 1537, at Bailleul in Anjou, was counsellor to the parliament of Paris, in which situation he pleaded with great reputation a long time, and afterwards, confining himself to his study, composed a considerable number of works, printed in 1663, 5 vols. folio ; and there is a Latin edition of them in 4 vols. He was consulted from all parts, and was ennobled by Henry III. in 1578, for his treatise " De Domanio." What he wrote on the custom of Anjou, is esteemed his best work, and gained him the title and honours of sheriff of the city of Angers. His books " De sacra Politia Monastica," and " De Privilegiis Rusticorum," are also much valued. Cho- pin's attachment to the league drew upon him a macaronic satire, entitled " Anti-Chopinus," 1592, 4to, attributed to John de Villiers Hoi man ; but the burlesque style of this piece being unsuitable to the subject, it was burned by a decree of council. The occasion of its being written was, " Oratio de Pontificio Gregorii XIV. ad Gallos Diplomate a criticis notis vindicate," Paris, 159J, 4to, which is not among Chopin's works. On the day that the king entered Paris, Chopin's wife lost her senses, and he received orders to leave the city ; but remained there through the interest of his friends, upon which he wrote the eulogy of Henry IV. in Latin, 1594, 8vo, which is also omitted in his works, as well as " Bellum Sacrum Gallicum, Poema," 1562, 4to. He died at Paris Jan. 30, 1606, under the hands of the sur- geon, who was cutting him for the stone. l
CHOUET (JOHN ROBERT), a learned philosopher, and one of the most eminent magistrates of Geneva, was born there in 1642. He was the first who taught the philosophy of Descartes at Saumur. In 1669, he was recalled to Ge- neva, and gave lectures there with great applause. Chouet became afterwards counsellor and secretary of state at Ge- neva, and wrote a history of that republic. He died Sep- tember 17, 1731, aged 89. His publications are, "An Introduction to Logic," in Latin, 1672, 8vo ; "Theses Physicae de varia Astrorum luce," 1674, 4to; " Memoire succinct sur la Reformation," 1694; " Reponses a des Questions de Milord Townsend sur Geneve ancienne fakes, en 1696, et publiees en 1774." Besides these, he left in MS. in 3 vols. folio, a work, entitled " Diverses Recherches
1 Diet. L'Advocat, — Diet, Hist. — Moreri.
C H O U L. 293
sur 1'Hist. cle Geneve, sur son Gouvernement et sa Con- stitution."1
CHOUL (WILLIAM DU), a gentleman of Lyons, of the sixteenth century, bailiff of the mountains of Dauphiny, travelled over Italy to improve himself in the knowledge of antiquity ; and is principally known by a scarce and ex- cellent treatise of the " Religion and Castrametation of the ancient Romans," folio, Lyons, 1556, 1569, 4to, and 1580, 4to. This singular work of antiquities is remarkable, espe- cially for its second part, which treats of the manner of pitching and fortifying the camps used by the Romans, of their discipline and their military exercises. It has been translated into Latin, Italian, and Spanish : the Latin, Amst. 1685, 4to, the Italian, Lyons, 1559, folio; both edi- tions are scarce, but less so than the French original, though not so well executed. He has the honour of being one of the earliest French antiquaries, but his countrymen have preserved no memorials of his personal history. The last edition of the French Diet. Hist, attributes to him two other treatises, "Promptuaire des Medailles," and "Traite des Bains des Grecs et des Remains," but we suspect this last is included in the larger work above mentioned.2
CHRETIEN (FLORENT), or as he was called Quintus Septimus Florens Christianus, a French poet, was born at Orleans Jan. 26, 1541. He was called Quintus, because he was his father's fifth child, and Septimus, because he was born in the seventh month of his mother's pregnancy. He was well skilled in languages and in the belles lettres ; and was tutor to Henry IV. whom he educated in the re- formed religion ; but he himself returned to the Roman catholic church before his death, which happened in 1596. He was author of some satires against Ronsard, under the
C? ^
name of " La Baronnie," 1564, 8vo ; poems, printed se- parately in 8vo, and some translations ; the principal of which is that of Oppian, 4to. He had a part in the Satyrae Menipeae. Notwithstanding his disposition to satire, he preserved the attachment of his friends, and the general esteem of the public. William his father, physician -to Francis I. and Henry II. translated some medical works into French. 3
0
1 Moreri. — Hist. Lit. de Geneve. 3 Moreri. --Diet. Hist,— Saxii Onomast 8 Moreri. — Diet. Hist, — Baillet Jugeineiis des Savans.
294 CHRISTIE.
CHRISTIE (THOMAS), an ingenious writer, was the son of a merchant of Montrose in Scotland, where he was born in October 1761 ; and after a good school education, was placed in the counting-house by his father, whose opinion was, that whatever course of life the young man might adopt, a system of mercantile arrangement would greatly facilitate his pursuits. It is probable that he went through the routine of counting-house business with due attention, especially under the guidance of his father ; but his leisure hours were devoted to the cultivation of general literature with such assiduity, that at a very early age he was qualified to embrace any of the learned professions with every pro- mise of arriving at distinction. His inclination appears to have led him at first to the study of medicine, and this brought him to London in 1787, where he entered himself at the Westminster Dispensary, as a pupil to Dr. Simmons, for whom he ever after expressed the highest esteem. At this time Mr. Christie possessed an uncommon fund of ge- neral knowledge, evidently accumulated in a long course of reading, and knew literary history as well as most vete- rans. While he never neglected his medical pursuits, and to all appearance had nothing else in view, his mind con- stantly ran on topics of classical, theological, and philoso- phical literature. He had carefully perused the best of the foreign literary journals, and could refer with ease to their contents ; and he loved the society in which subjects of literary history and criticism were discussed. The writer of this article, somewhat his senior in years, and not wholly inattentive to such pursuits, had often occasion to be sur- prized at the extent of his acquirements. It was this ac- cumulation of knowledge which suggested to Mr. Christie the first outline of a review of books upon the analytical plan ; and finding in the late Mr. Johnson of St. Paul's Church-yard, a corresponding spirit of liberality and enter- prise, the "Analytical Review" was begun in May 1788; and, if we mistake not, the preface was from Mr. Christie's pen, who, at the same time, and long afterwards contributed many ingenious letters to the Gentleman's Magazine, with the editor of which (Mr. Nichols) he long lived in habits of friendship.
Having studied medicine for some time, under Dr. Sim- mons, he spent two winters, attending the medical classes at Edinburgh, and afterwards travelled, in search of general knowledge, to almost every considerable town in the king-
CHRISTIE. 295
dom, where his letters of recommendation, his insatiable thirst for information, and above all, his pleasing manners, and interesting juvenile figure, procured him admission to all who were distinguished for science, and by many of the most eminent literary characters he was welcomed and encouraged as a young man of extraordinary talents. He then went to the continent for further improvement ; and while he was at Paris, some advantageous offers from a mercantile house in London, induced him to resume his original pursuit, and to become a partner in that house. This journey to Paris, however, produced another effect, not quite so favourable to his future happiness. Becoming acquainted with many of the literati of France, and among them, with many of the founders of the French revolution, he espoused their principles, was an enthusiast in their cause, and seemed to devote more attention, more stretch of mind, to the study and support of the revolutionary measures adopted in that country, than was consistent with the sober pursuits of commerce. This enthusiasm, in which it must be confessed he was at that time not singular, produced in 1790, "A Sketch of the New Constitution of France," in two folio sheets ; and in 1791, he enlisted himself among the answerers of Mr. Burke's celebrated " Reflections," in " Letters on the Revolution of France, and the new Con- stitution established by the National Assembly," a large 8vo volume, which was to have been followed by a second ; but the destruction of that constitution, the anarchy which followed, and the disappointment of his, and the hopes of all the friends of liberty, probably prevented his prose- cuting the subject. In 1792, having dissolved partnership with the mercantile-house above alluded to, he became a partner in the carpet-manufactory of Messrs. Moore and Co. in Finsbury- square ; but in 1796, some necessary ar- rangements of trade induced him to take a voyage to Suri- nam, where he died in the prime of life in October of that year.
The materials Mr. Christie had collected for his Thesis, when intending to take a medical degree, were afterwards published in the " London Medical journal" in a letter to Dr. Simmons. But his most valuable publication, although much less known than it deserves, was a first volume of " Miscellanies, philosophical, medical, and moral," 1789, a thick crown 8vo, containing 1. Observations on the lite- rature of the primitive Christian writers ; being an attempt
296 CHRISTIE.
to vindicate them from the imputation of Rousseau and Gibbon, that they were enemies to philosophy and human learning, originally read in the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. At the time he wrote this, his mind was much occupied by theological inquiries. 2. Reflections sug- gested by the character of Pamphilus of Csesarea,
3. Hints respecting the state and education of the people.
4. Thoughts on the origin of human knowledge, and on the antiquity of the world. 5. Remarks on professor Meiners's History of ancient opinions respecting the Deity. 6. Ac- count of Dr. Ellis' s work on the origin of sacred knowledge. Most, if not all these were prepared for the press before he had reached his twenty- fifth year, and afford such an instance of extensive reading and thinking as rarely occurs at that age. ]
CHRISTIE (WILLIAM), M. A. probably a relation of the preceding, was born near Montrose in 1730, and edu- cated in King's college, Aberdeen, where he took his de- grees, and was licensed to preach as a probationer ; but not having interest to procure a living in the church, he accepted of the place of master of the grammar-school of Montrose, where he was greatly celebrated for his easy and expeditious method of teaching the classics. He wrote a " Latin Grammar," and an " Introduction to the making of Latin,'7 both of which are well esteemed. He died at Montrose in 1774, aged 44. 2
CHRISTINA, queen of Sweden, one of the few sove- reigns whose history is entirely personal, was the only child of the great Gustavus Adolphus, by Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. She was born Dec. 18, 1626, and succeed- ed to the throne of her father when she was only five years of age. During her minority, the long war with the Ger- man empire, in consequence of the invasion of Gustavus, as supporter of the protestant league, was carried on by able men, and particularly Oxentiern. Her education was conducted upon a very liberal plan, and she possessed a strong understanding, and was^early capable of reading the Greek historians. Thucydides, Polybius, and Tacitus, were her favourite authors ; but she as early manifested a dis- taste for the society and occupations of her sex, and de- lighted in manly sports and exercises. She affected like-'
i Gent. Mag. 1797. — Personal knowledge . % From the last edition of this Dictionary.
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wise an extraordinary love of letters, and even for abstract speculations. When at the age of eighteen she assumed the reins of government, she was courted by several princes of Europe, but rejected their proposals from various motives, of which the true one appears to have been a con- ceited sense of superiority, and a desire to rule uncon- trouled. Among her suitors were the prince of Denmark, the elector Palatine, the elector of Brandenburgh, the kings of Portugal and Spain, the king of the Romans, and Charles Gustavus, duke of Deux Ponts, her first cousin. Him the people, anxious for her marriage, recommended to her; but she rejected the proposal, and to prevent its renewal, she solemnly appointed Gustavus her successor. In 1650, when she was crowned, she became weary and disgusted, with public affairs, and seemed to have no am- bition but to become the general patroness of learning and Jearned men. With this view, she invited to her court men of the first reputation in various studies : among these were Grotius, Descartes, Bochart, Huet, Vossius, Paschal, Sal- masius, Naude, Heinsius, Meibom, Scudery, Menage, Lu- cas, Holstenius, Lambecius, Bayle, and others, who did not fail to celebrate her in poems, letters, or literary pro- ductions of some other kind, the greatest part of which are now forgotten. Her choice of learned men seems to have been directed more by general fame, than by her own judgment, or taste for their several excellencies, and she derived no great credit either as a learned lady, or as a discriminating patroness of literature. She was much under the influence of Bourdelot the physician, who gained his ascendancy by outrageous flattery : and her inattention to the high duties of her station disgusted her subjects. She was a collector of books, manuscripts, medals, and paintings, all which she purchased at such an enormous expence as to injure her treasury, and with so little judg- ment, that having procured some paintings of Titian at a most extravagant price, she had them clipped to fit the pannels of her gallery.
In 1652 she first proposed to resign in favour of her successor, but the remonstrances of the States delayed this measure until 1654, when she solemnly abdicated the crown, that she might be at perfect liberty to execute a plan of life which vanity and folly seem to have presented to her imagination, as a life of true happiness, the royal cum dignitatc. Some time before this step, Anthony
298 CHRISTINA.
Macedo, a Jesuit, was chosen by John IV. king of Portugal, to accompany the ambassador he sent into Sweden to queen Christina; and this Jesuit pleased this princess so highly, that she secretly opened to him the design she had of chang- ing her religion. She sent him to Rome with letters to the general of the Jesuits ; in which she desired that two of their society might be dispatched to her, Italians by nation, and learned men, who should take another habit that she might confer with them at more ease upon matters of religion. The request was granted ; and two Jesuits were immediately sent to her, viz. Francis Malines, divinity professor at Turin, and Paul Casati, professor of mathe- matics at Rome, who easily effected what Macedo, the first confidant of her design, had begun. Having made her abjuration of the Lutheran religion, at which the Roman catholics triumphed, and the protestants were discontented, both without much reason, she began her capricious tra- vels : from Brussels, or as some say, Inspruck, at which she played the farce of abjuration, she went to Rome, where she intended to fix her abode, and where she ac- tually remained two years, and met with such a reception as suited her vanity. But some disgust came at last, and she determined to visit France, where Louis XIV. received her with respect, but the ladies of the court were shocked at her masculine appearance, and more at her licentious conversation . Here she courted the learned, and appointed Menage her master of ceremonies, but at last excited general horror by an action, for which, in perhaps any other coun- try, she would have been punished by death. This was the murder of an Italian, Moualdeschi, her master of the horse, who had betrayed some secret entrusted to him. He was summoned into a gallery in the palace, letters were then shewn to him, at the sight of which he turned pale, and intreated for mercy, but he was instantly stabbed by two of her own domestics in an apartment adjoining that in which she herself was. The French court was justly of- fended at this atrocious deed, yet it met with vindicators, among whom was Leibnitz, whose name was disgraced by the cause which he attempted to justify. Christina was sensible that she was now regarded with horror in France, and would gladly have visited England, but she received no encouragement for that purpose from Cromwell : she therefore, in 1658, returned to Rome, and resumed her amusements in the arts and sciences. But Rome had no
CHRISTINA. 299
permanent charms, and in 1660, on the death of Gustavus, she took a journey to Sweden for the purpose of recovering her crown and dignity. She found, however, her ancient subjects much indisposed against her and her new religion. They refused to confirm her revenues, caused her chapel to be pulled down, banished all her Italian chaplains, and, in short, rejected her claims. She submitted to a second renunciation of the throne, after which she returned to Rome, and pretended to interest herself warmly, first in behalf of the island of Candia, then besieged by the Turks, and afterwards to procure supplies of men and money for the Venetians. Some differences with the pope made her resolve, in 1662, once more to return to Sweden ; but the conditions annexed by the senate to her residence there, were now so mortifying, that she proceeded no far- ther than Hamburgh, and from Hamburgh again to Rome, where she died in 1689, leaving a character in which there is little that is amiable. Vanity, caprice, and irresolution deformed her best actions, and Sweden had reason to re- joice at the abdication of a woman who could play the tyrant with so little feeling when she had given up the power. She left some maxims, and thoughts and reflec- tions on the life of Alexander the Great, which were trans- lated and published in England in 1753 ; but several let- ters attributed to her are said to be spurious. J
CHRISTOPHERSON (JOHN), a learned English bishop, was a Lancashire man by birth, and educated in St. John's college, Cambridge. He was one of the first fellows of Trinity college after its foundation by Henry VIII. in 1546, and shortly after became master of it; and in 1554 was made dean of Norwich. In the reign of Edward VI. he lived abroad in a state of banishment, in which, as he tells us in the preface to his translation of Philo Judxus, he was all the while supported by his college ; but upon queen Mary's succeeding to the crown, returned, and was made bishop of Chichester. He is said to have died a little before this queen in 1558. He translated Philo Ju- daeiis into Latin, Antwerp, 1553, 4to, and also the eccle- siastical histories of Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomen, Evagrius, and Theodoret, Louvain, 1570, 8vo; Cologn, 1570, fol. ; hut his translations are very defective. Valesius, in his
t Lacomb's Life of Christina. — Univ. History.— Whitelocke,'s Journal of the Swedish Embassy, 17752, 2 vols. 4to. — Coxe's Travels.
300 C H R I S T O P H E R S O N.
preface to Eusebius, says, that compared with Rufinus and Musculus, who had translated these historians before him, he may be reckoned a diligent and learned man ; but yet that he is very far from deserving the character of a good translator : that his style is impure, and full of barbarism ; that his periods are long and perplexed : that he has fre- quently acted the commentator, rather than the translator; that he has enlarged and retrenched at pleasure ; that he has transposed the sense oftimes, and has not always pre- served the distinction even of chapters. The learned Huet has passed the same censure on him, in his book " De In- terpretatione." Hence it is that all those who have followed Christopherson as their guide in ecclesiastical antiquity, and depended implicitly upon his versions, have often been led to commit great faults ; and this has happened not seldom to Baronius among others.
Christopherson wrote also, about the year 1546, the tragedy of Jephtha, both in Latin and Greek, dedicated to Henry VIII. which was most probably a Christmas play for Trinity college. It was said that he was buried in Christ Church, London, Dec. 28, 1558, but Tanner thinks he was buried in Trinity college chapel, as in his will, proved Feb. 9, 1562, he leaves his body to be buried on the south side of the altar of that chapel. Strype, how- ever, in the Introduction to his Annals, p. 3 1, describes his pompous funeral at Christ Church. It is more certain that he joined his brethren in queen Mary's reign in the mea- sures adopted to check the reformation.1
CHRYSIPPUS, a celebrated stoic philosopher, was born at Soli, a city of Cilicia, afterwards called Pompeiopolis, and was not the disciple of Zeno, as some have said, but of Cleanthes, Zeno's successor. He had a very acute genius, and wrote a great many books, above 700, as we are told, several of which belonged to logic ; for he ap- plied himself with great care to cultivate that part of phi- losophy. Val. Maximus relates, that he began his 39th book of logic when he was eighty years old : and Lucian, who sought out absurdities in order to laugh at them, could not forbear ridiculing the logical subtilties of this philoso- pher. The great number of books he composed will not appear so surprising if it be considered that his manner was to write several times upon the same subject ; to set
1 Tanner. — Dodd'g Church History.
C H R Y S I P P U S. . 301
down whatever came into his head ; to take little pains in correcting his works ; to crowd them with an infinite num- ber of quotations : add to all these circumstances, that he was very laborious, and lived to a great age. Of his works nothing remains except a few extracts in the works of Cicero, Plutarch, Seneca, and Aulus Gellius. He had an unusual. portion of vanity, and often said to Cleanthes, " Shew me hut the doctrines; that is sufficient for me, and all I want ; I shall find the proofs of them myself." A person asked him one day whom he should choose for a tutor to his son ? " Me," answered Chrysippus ; " for, if I knew any body more learned than myself, 1 would go and study under him." There is another apophthegm of his preserved, which does him much more honour than either of these ; and therefore we hope it is not spurious. Being told that some persons spoke ill of him, " It is no matter," said he, " I will live so, that they shall not be believed.'*
The stoics complained, as Cicero relates, that Chrysip- pus had collected so many arguments in favour of the scep- tical hypothesis, that he could not afterwards answer them himself; and had thus furnished Carneades their antagonist with weapons against them. This has been imputed to his vanity, which transported him to such a degree, that he made no scruple of sacrificing the doctrines of his sect for the sake of displaying the subtlety of his own conceits. The glory which he expected, if he could but make men say that he had improved upon Arcesilaus himself, and had expressed the objections of the academics in a much stronger manner than he, was his only aim. Thus most of the contradictions and absurd paradoxes which Plutarch imputes to the stoics, and for which he is very severe upon them, are taken from the works of Chrysippus. Plutarch charges him with making God the author of sin, and this probably arises from his definition of God, as it is preserved by Cicero, which shews that he did not distinguish the deity from the universe. He thought the gods mortal, and even asserted that they would really perish in the confla- gration of the world: and, though he excepted • Jupiter, yet he thought him liable to change. He wrote a book concerning the amours of Jupiter and Juno, which abounded with so many obscene passages that it was loudly exclaimed against, but Brucker seems to be of opinion that what he advanced of this kind was merely in the way of paradoxi- cal assertion, thrown out in the course of disputation, and
302 CHRYSIPPUS.
for the sake of displaying his ingenuity. He is inclined likewise to think that he is not justly chargeable with any other kind of impiety than may be charged upon the sect which he supported. It is, however, easy to guess that the stoics had not much reason to be pleased with his writings ; for, as he was a considerable man among them, — so considerable as to establish it into a proverb, that " if it had not been for Chrysippus, the porch had never been," — it gave people a pretence to charge the whole body with the errors of so illustrious a member. Accord- ingly we find that the celebrated authors among the stoics, Seneca, Epictetus, Arrian, though they speak very highly of Chrysippus, yet do it in such a manner as to let us see that they did not at the bottom cordially esteem him. There does not appear to have been any objection brought against his morals, and he was sober and temperate.
Chrysippus aimed at being an universal scholar; and wrote upon almost every subject, and even condescended to give rules for the education of children. Quintilian has preserved some of his maxims upon this point. He ordered the nurses to sing a certain kind of songs, and advised them to choose the most modest. He wished, that, if it were possible, children might be nursed by none but learned women. He would have children be three years under the care of their nurses; and that the nurses should begin to instruct them without waiting till they were older; for he was not of the opinion of those who thought the age of seven years soon enough to begin. He died in the 143d olympiad, eighty-three years of age, B. C. 208, and had a monument erected to him among those of the illustrious Athenians. His statue was to be seen in the Ceramicus, a place near Athens, where they who had been killed in the war were buried at the expence of the public. He accepted the freedom of the city of Athens, which neither Zeno nor Cleanthes had done ; and is censured for it, but without much reason, by Plutarch. l
CHRYSOLORAS (£MANUEL), the principal of those learned men who brought the Greek language and litera- ture into the West, was born at Constantinople, as it is supposed, about 1355. He was of considerable rank, and descended from so ancient a family that his ancestors are
1 Gen. Diet, — Brucker's Hist, of Philosophy. -— Diog. Laertius, &c. — Saxii Onomast.
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said to have removed with Constantine from Rome to By- zantium. He was sent ambassador to the sovereigns of Europe by the emperor John Palseologus in 1387, to solicit assistance against the Turks, and was here in England in the reign of Richard II. In an epistle which he wrote at Rome to the emperor, containing a comparison of ancient and modern Rome, he says that he was two years before at London with his retinue. When he had finished this em- bassy in somewhat more than three years, he returned to Constantinople ; but afterwards, whether through fear of the Turks, or for the sake of propagating the Greek learn- ing, left it again, and came back into Italy about 1396, by invitation from the city of Florence, with the promise of a salary, to open a school there for the Greek language. With this he complied, and taught there for three years, and had Leonard Aretin for his scholar. From Florence he went to Milan, at the command of his emperor, who was come into Italy, and resided in that city ; and while he was here, Galeazzo, duke of Milan, prevailed with him to accept the Greek professorship in the university of Pavia, which had lately been founded by his father. This he held till the death of Galeazzo, and then removed to Ve- nice on account of the wars which immediately followed. Between 1406 and 1409 he. went to Rome upon an invita- tion from Leonard Aretin, who had formerly been his scholar, but was then secretary to pope Gregory XII. In this city his talents and virtues procured him the honour of being sent, in 1413, into Germany by pope Martin V. as ambassador to the emperor Sigismund, along with cardinal Zarabella, in order to fix upon a place for holding a ge- neral council ; and Chrysoloras and the cardinal fixed upon Constance. Afterwards he returned to his own emperor at Constantinople, by whom he was sent ambassador with others as representatives of the Greek church, to the coun- cil of Constance ; but a few days after the opening of the council he died, April 15, 1415. He was buried at Con- stance ; and a handsome monument was erected over him, with an inscription upon it by Peter Paul Vergerid. His scholar Poggio also honoured his memory with an elegant epitaph, and a volume of eulogies upon him lately existed in the monastery at Camaldoli, justly due to one who con- tributed so essentially to revive Grecian literature, which had lain dormant in the West for seven hundred years. Emanuel had a nephew, John Chrysoloras, who likewise
30i C II R Y S O L O R A S.
taught Greek in Italy, and died in 1425. Emanuel's. Greek Grammar was published soon after the invention of printing, and there are a great many editions from 1480 to 1550, 4to and 8vo, almost all of which are very scarce. !
CHRYSOSTOM (JOHN), one of the most learned and eloquent of the fathers, was born at Antioch, of a noble fa- mily, about the year 354. His father, Secundus, dying when he was very young, the care of his education was left to his mother, Anthusa. He was designed at first for the bar, and was sent to learn rhetoric under Libanius ; who had such an opinion of his eloquence, that when asked who would be capable of succeeding him in the school, he an- swered, " John, if the Christians had not stolen him from us." He soon, however, quitted all thoughts of the bar, and being instructed in the principles of the Christian re- ligion, was afterwards baptized by Meletius, and ordained -by that bishop to be a reader in the church of Antioch, where he converted his two friends, Theodorus and Maxi- mus. While he was yet young, he formed a resolution of entering ugon a monastic life, and in spite of all remon- strances from his mother, about the year 374, he betook himself to the neighbouring mountains, where he lived four years with an ancient hermit , then retired to a more secret part of the desert, and shut himself up in a cave, in which situation he spent two whole years more ; till at length, worn out almost by continual watchings, fastings, and other severities, he was forced to return to Antioch, to his old way of living.
He was ordained deacon by Meletius, in the year 381, and now began to compose and publish many of his works. Five years after, he was ordained a priest by Flavian, in which office he acquitted himself with so much reputation, that, upon the death of Nectarius, bishop of Constanti- nople, in the year 397, he was unanimously chosen to fill that see. The emperor Arcadius, however, was obliged to employ all his authority, and even to use some strata- gem, before he could seduce Chrysostom from his native Antioch, where he was held in so much admiration and esteem. He sent in the mean time, a mandate to Theo- philus, bishop of Alexandria, to consecrate Chrysostom bishop of Constantinople ; which was done in the year
1 Hody de Gr«c. illmtribus. — Borner de Graecig Lit. Grwc. in Italia instau- ratoribus.
C H R Y S O S T O M. 305
398, notwithstanding the secret and envious attempts of Theophilus to prevent it. But Chrysostom was no sooner at the head of the church of Constantinople, than that zeal and ardour, for which he was afterwards famous, was em- ployed in endeavouring to effect a general reformation of manners. With this disposition, he begun with the clergy, and next attacked the laity, but especially the courtiers, whom he soon made his enemies ; and his preaching is said to have been eminently successful among the lower classes. Nor was his zeal confined altogether within the precincts of Constantinople; it extended to foreign parts, as appears from his causing to be demolished some temples and sta- tues in Phoenicia; but all writers are agreed that his temper, even in his best duties, was violent, and afforde'd his ene- mies many advantages.
In the year 400, he went into Asia, at the request of the clergy of Ephesus ; and by deposing thirteen bishops of Lydia and Phrygia, endeavoured to settle some disorders which had been occasioned in that church. But while he was here, a conspiracy was formed against him at home, by Severian, bishop of Gabala, to whom Chrysostom had committed the care of his church in his absence^ and who endeavoured to insinuate himself into the favour of the no- bility and people, at Chrysostom's expence. He had even formed a confederacy against him with his old adversary, Theophilus of Alexandria, which the empress Eudoxia en- couraged, for the sake of revenging some liberties which Chrysostom had taken in reproving her. By her intrigues, chiefly, the emperor was prevailed upon to call Theophilus from Alexandria, and he, who wanted an opportunity to ruin Chrysostom, came immediately to Constantinople, and brought several Egyptian bishops with him. Those of Asia, also, whom Chrysostom had deposed for the tumults they raised at Ephesus, appeared upon this occasion at Constantinople against him. Theophilus now arrived, but instead of taking up his quarters with his brother Chrv- sostom, as was usual, he had apartments in the empress's palace, where he called a council, and appointed judges. Chrysostom, however, with much spirit, excepted against the judges, and refused to appear before the council ; de- claring that he was not accountable to strangers for any supposed misdemeanour, but only to the bishops of his own and the neighbouring provinces. Notwithstanding this, Theophilus held a synod of bishops, to which he sum-
VOL. IX. X
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tnoned Chrysostom to appear, and answer to various ar- ticles of accusation. But Chrysostom sent three bishops and two priests to acquaint Theophilus and his synod, that though he was very ready to submit himself to the judg- ment of those who should be regularly assembled, and have a legal right to judge him, yet he absolutely refused to be judged by him and his synod ; and having persisted in this refusal four several times, he was in consequence de- posed in the beginning of the year 403. The news of his deposition was no sooner spread about Constantinople, than all the city was in an uproar, and when the emperor ordered him to be banished, the people determined to detain him by force. In three days, however, to prevent any further disturbance, he surrendered himself to those who had orders to seize him, and was conducted by them to a small town in Bithynia, as the residence of his banish- ment. His departure made the people more outrageous than ever : they prayed the emperor that he might be re- called ; they even threatened him ; and Eudoxia was so frightened with the tumult, that she herself solicited^for it. A numerous synod, assembled at Constantinople, now re- scinded all former proceedings, and Chrysostom was re- called in triumph ; but his troubles were not yet at an end. The empress about the latter end of this year had erected her own statue near the church ; and the people, to do honour to her, had celebrated the public games be- fore it. This Chrysostom thought indecent ; and the fire of his zeal, far from being extinguished by his late misfor- tunes, urged him to preach against those who were con* cerned in it. His discourse provoked the empress, who still retained her old enmity to him ; and made her resolve once more to have him deposed from his bishopric. He irritated her not a little, as soon as he was apprized of her machinations against him, by most imprudently beginning one of his sermons with these remarkable words : " Behold the furious Herodias, insisting to have the head of John Baptist in a charger!'* We are not to wonder, therefore, that a synod of bishops was assembled, who immediately deposed him, alleging that he stood already deposed, by virtue of the former sentence given against him ; which, they said, had never been reversed, nor himself re-esta- blished in hk see, in that legal and orderly manner which the canons required. In consequence of that judg- ment, the emperor forbade him to enter the church
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any more, and ordered him to be banished. His followers and adherents were now insulted and persecuted by the soldiery, and stigmatized particularly by the name of Jo- hannites. He had, indeed, a strong party among the people, who would now have armed themselves in his de- fence; but he chose rather to spend the remainder of his days in banishment, than be the unhappy cause of a civil war to his country ; and therefore surrendered himself a second time to those who were to have the care of him. He set out in June 404, under a guard of soldiers, to Nicca, where he did not make any long stay, but pursued his jourrjey to Cucusus, the destined place of his banish- ment, at which he arrived in September. It is remarkable that the very day Chrysostom left Constantinople, the great church was set on fire and burnt, together with the palace, which almost adjoined to it, entirely to the ground. The same year there fell hail-stones of an extraordinary size, that did considerable damage to the town ; which calamity was also followed by the death of the empress Eudoxia, and of Cyrinus, one of Chrysostom's chief ene- mies. All these were considered by the partisans of Chry- sostom, as so many judgments from heaven upon the country which thus persecuted Chrysostom.
Cucusus was a city of Armenia, whose situation was remarkably barren, wild, and inhospitable ; so that Chry- sostom was obliged to change his place of residence fre* quently, on account of the incursions which were made by the barbarous nations around him. He did not, however, neglect his episcopal functions ; but sent forth priests and monks to preach the gospel to the Goths and Persians, and to take care of the churches of Armenia and Phoenicia. This probably provoked his enemies, not yet satiated with revenge, to molest him even in this situation, wretched as it was, and they prevailed with the emperor to have him sent to a desert region of Pontus, upon the borders of the Euxine sea. But the fatigue of travelling, and the hard usage he met with from the soldiers, who were conducting him thither, had such an effect upon him, that he was seized with a violent fever, and died in a few hours, at Comanis, in Armenia, in the year 407. Afterwards, the western and eastern churches were divided about him; the former holding him in great veneration, while the latter considered him as a bishop excommunicated. But the death of Arcadius happening about five months after, the
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eastern churches grew softened by degrees ; and it is cer- tain, that about thirty years after, his bones were removed to Constantinople, and deposited in the temple of the holy apostles, with all pomp and solemnity. It was from his eloquence, that the name of Chrysostomns, or golden^ mouth, was given to him after his death, his usual name being only John.
Chfysostom was undoubtedly one of the most distin^ guished of the Greek fathers, and one of the most eloquent preachers of his time. In his works he appears to have aimed earnestly at reformation of manners, and much of the manners of the times may be gleamed from his various ^writings. We have seen that the intemperance of his zeal sometimes furnished his enemies with advantages which they wduld have sought without success in the purity of his life. He is said to have been from his youth of a peevish and morose temper" ; but he was open and sincere, spoke what he thought, and was regardless of consequences. The machinations, however, of his enemies, prevailed at last, and shortened the life of one of the mast learned, eloquent, pious, and charitable men of his age. His language, says Dr. Blair, is pur"e^ and his style highly figured. He is copious, smooth, and sometimes pathetic. But he fetains, at the same time, much of that character which has been always attributed to the Asiatic eloquence, which is diffuse and redundant to a great degree, and often over-wrought and tumid. He may be read, however, with advantage, for the eloquence of the pulpit, as being freef from false ornaments than the Latin fathers.
The editions of his works are very numerous. We shall mention only that beautifully printed one by sir Henry Saville^ Eton, 1613, 8 vols. folio, the Greek only; and Montfaucon's in Gr. & Lat. 171S---1738, 13 vols. fdl.1
CHUBB (THOMAS)j once a noted deistical writer, and the idol of that party, was born at East Harnham, a small village near Salisbury, Sept. 29, 1679. His father, a maltster, dying when he was young, and the widow having threte more children to maintain by her labour, he received no other education: than being instructed to read and write ati ordinary hand. At fifteen he was put apprentice to a glover in Salisbury ; and when his term was expired, con-
1 Dqpiti.—Life by Erasmus.— Tillemoftt and Palladitu.— Milner's Ch. Mist, TO!. II. p. 279.
CHUBB. SOD
tinued for a time to serve his master as a journeyman, but this trade being prejudicial to his eyes, he was admitted by a tallow-chandler, an intimate friend of his, as com- panion and sharer with him in his own business. Being endued with considerable natural parts, and fond of reading, he employed all his leisure to gain such knowledge as could be acquired from English books ; for of Latin, Greek, or any of the learned languages, he was totally ignorant : by dint of perseverance- he also acquired a smat- itering of mathematics, geography, aud many other branches of science.
But divinity was, unfortunately for himself, his favourite fitudy ; and it is said that a little society was formed at Salisbury,, under the management and direction of Chubb, for the sake of debating upon religious subjects. Here the scriptures were at first read, under the guidance of some commentator ; but in time every man delivered his senti- ments freely, and without reserve, and commentators were no longer in favour, the ablest disputant being the man who receded most from established opinions. About this time the controversy upon the Trinity was carried on very warmly between Clarke and Waterland ; and falling under the cognizance of this theological assembly, Chubb, at the request of the members, drew up his sentiments about it, in # kind of dissertation ; which, after it had undergone some correction, and been submitted to Whiston, who saw not much in it averse to his own opinions, published it under the title of " The Supremacy of the Father as- serted, &c." A literary production from one of a mean and illiberal education will always create wonder, and a tallow-chandler arbitrating between such men as Clarke and Waterland, could not fail to excite attention. Those who would have thought nothing of the work had it come from the school of Clarke, discovered in this piece of Chubb's, great talents in reasoning, as well as great per- spicuity and correctness in writing; so that he began to be considered as one much above the ordinary size of men. Hence Pppe, in a letter to his friend Gay, was led to' ask him if he had ^ seen or conversed with Mr. Chubb, who is a wonderful phenomenon of Wiltshire?" and says, in re- lation to a quarto volume of tracts, which were printed afterwards, that he had " read through his whole volume with admiration of the writer, though not always with ap- probation of Jus doctrine." How far Pope, was a judge of
310 6 H U B B.
controversial divinity is not now a question, but the friend* of Chubb appear to have brought forward his evidence with triumph.
Chubb had no sooner commenced author, than his sue* cess in this new capacity introduced him to the personal knowledge of several gentlemen of eminence and letters, from whose generosity he received occasionally presents of money. We are even told that sir Joseph Jekyll, master of the rolls, took him into his family, and used, at his hours of retirement, to refresh himself from the fatigues of business with his conversation ; but the value of this patronage is considerably lessened, when it is added that sir Joseph occasionally employed him to wait at table, as a servant out of livery* Chubb, however, as what is called an un- taught genius, was generally caressed ; for nobody sus- pected as yet, to what prodigious lengths he would suffer his reasoning faculty to carry him. He did not coptinue many years with sir Joseph Jekyll, though it is said he was tempted to it by the offer of a genteel allowance, but re- tired to his friend at Salisbury, where he spent his days in reading and writing, and assisting at the trade, which, by the death of his partner, had devolved on a nephew, and was to the last period of his life a coadjutor in it. Yet that this may not appear a degradation, we are gravely told that he only sold candles by weight in the shop, and did not actually make them. In this mixed employment he passed his life, and died suddenly at Salisbury, Feb. 8, 1746-7, in the sixty-eighth year of his age.
He left behind him two volumes of posthumous works, which he calls " A Farewell to his readers," from which we may fairly form this judgment of his opinions : " that he had little or no belief of revelation ; that indeed he plainly rejects the Jewish revelation, and consequently the Chris- tian, which is founded upon it ; that he disclaims a future judgment, and is very uncertain as to any future state of ex- istence ; that a particular providence is not deducible from the phenomena of the world, and therefore that prayer cannot be proved a duty, &c. &c." With such a man we may surely part without reluctance. The wonder is that he should have ever drawn any considerable portion of public attention to the reveries of ignorance, presumption, and disingenuous sophistry. Like his legitimate successor, the late Thomas Paine, he was utterly destitute of that learning and critical skill which is necessary to the expla- nation of the sacred writings, which, however, he tortured
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to his meaning without shame and candour, frequently bringing forward the sentiments of his predecessors in scepticism, as the genuine productions of his own unassisted powers of reasoning. His writings are now indeed probably little read, and his memory might long ago have been con- signed to oblivion, had not the editors of the last edition of the Biographia Britannica brought forward his history and writings in a strain of prolix and laboured panegyric. By what inducement such a man as Dr. Kippis was persuaded to admit this article, we shall not now inquire, but the perpetual struggle to create respect for Chubb is evidently as impotent as it is inconsistent. While compelled to admit his attacks upon all that the majority of Christians hold sacred, the writer tells us that " Chubb's views were not inconsistent with a firm belief in our holy religion/' and in another place, lie says that " Chubb appears to have had very much at heart the interests of our holy religion." To his own profound respect for Chubb, this writer also unites the " admiration1* of Dr. Samuel Clarke, bishop Hoadly, Dr. John Hoadly, archdeacon Rolleston, and Mr. Harris ; but he does not inform us in what way the admiration of these eminent characters was expressed ; and the only evi- dence he brings is surely equivocal. He tells us that " several of his tracts, when in manuscript, were seen by these gentlemen ; but they never made the least correc- tion in them, even with regard to orthography, in which Chubb was deficient." Amidst all these efforts to screen Chubb from contempt, his biographer has not suppressed the character of him given by Dr. Law, bishop of Carlisle, in his " Considerations on the theory of religion," and which, from the well-known .candour of that prelate, may be adopted with safety. " Chubb," says Dr. Law, " not- withstanding a tolerably clear head, and strong natural parts, yet, by ever aiming at things far beyond his reach, by attempting a variety of subjects, for which his narrow circumstances, and small compass of reading and know- ledge, had in a great measure disqualified him ; from a fashionable, but a fallacious kind of philosophy, (with which he set out, and by which one of his education might very easily be misled), fell by degrees to such confusion in divinity, to such low quibbling on some obscure passages in our translation of the Bible, and was reduced to such wretched cavils as to several historical facts and circum- stances, wherein a small skill either in the languages or
312 CHUBB.
sciences, might have set him right; or a small share of real modesty would have supplied the want of them, by putting him upon consulting those who could and would have given him proper assistance ; — that he seems to have fallen at last into an almost universal scepticism; and quit* ting that former serious and sedate sobriety which gave him credit, contents himself with carrying on a mere farce for some time ; acts the part of a solemn grave buffoon ; sneers at all things he does not understand ; and after all his fair professions, and the caveat he has entered against such a charge, must unavoidably be set down in the seat of the scorner." Every point in this charge is fully proved in the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Dr. Leland's View of Deistical Writers. l
CflUBLEIGH (LADY MARY), who had the character of a very philosophic and poetic lady, was born in 1656, and was the daughter of Richard Lee, of Winsloder, in De- vonshire, esq. She was married to sir George Chudleigh, bart. by whom she had several children ; among the rest, Eliza-Maria, who dying in the bloom of life, was lamented by her mother in a poem entitled " A Dialogue between Lucinda and Marissa." She wrote another poem called ** The Ladies Defence," occasioned by an angry sermon preached against the fair sex. These, with many others, were collected into a volume in 1703, and printed a third time in 1722. She published also a volume of Essays upon various subjects in verse and prose, in 1710, which have been much admired far delicacy of style. These were de- dicated to her royal highness the princess Sophia, electress and duchess dowager of Brunswick ; on which occasion that princess, then in her eightieth year, honoured her with a very polite epistle.
This lady is said to have written other things, as tra- gedies, operas, masques, &c. which, though not printed, are preserved in her family. She died in 1710, in her fifty-fifth year. She was a woman of a sound understanding, but as a poetess, cannot be allowed to rank very high. It was her merit, however, that although she had an educa- tion in which literature seemed but little regarded, being taught no other than her native language, her fondness for books, great application, and uncommon abilities, en- abled her to figure among the literati of her time. Amidst
C H U D L E I G H. 313
the charms of poetry, in which she took great delight, she dedicated some part of her time to the severer studies of philosophy. This appears from her Essays, in which she discovers a great degree of piety and good sense. Several of her letters are in the " Memoirs of -Richard Gwinnett and Mrs. Thomas," 1731, 2 vols. Svo, and in Curll's Col- lection of Letters, vol. III. l
CHURCH (THOMAS), D. D. was born in 1707, and educated at Brasen Nose college, Oxford, where he took liis degree of M. A. in 1731. In 1740 he was instituted to the vicarage of Battersea, which, with a prebendai stall in St. Paul's cathedral, was the only preferment he obtained. He distinguished himself much in the field of controversy, in which he engaged with men of very opposite talents and pursuits ; with Wesley and Whitfield, for their industry in promoting methodism, and with Middleton for equal zeal in attacking the doctrines of Christianity. Against the latter he published " A Vindication of the Miraculous Powers which subsisted in the three Centuries of the Christian Church, in answer to Dr. Middleton's Free In- quiry. By which it is shewn, that we have no sufficient reason to believe, from the Doctor's reasonings and objec- tions, that no such powers were continued to the church after the days of the Apostles. With a preface, containing some observations on Dr. Mead's account of the Demo- niacs, in his Medica Sacra," 1749. This was followed about a year after, by " An Appeal to the serious and un- prejudiced, or a Second Vindication, &c." These were so highly approved of, that the university of Oxford con- ferred on him the degree of D. D. by diploma. He was also too zealously attached to religion to let the opinions of lord Bolingbroke pass unnoticed, notwithstanding he had been his patron. His publication upon this subject, however, was anonymous, " An Analysis of the Philoso- phical Works of the late lord Bolinghroke," 1755. Dr. Church published eight single sermons between 1748 and 1756, in which last year he died.2
CHURCHILL (CHARLES), an English poet of unques- tionable genius, was born in Vine-street, in the parish of St. John the Evangelist, Westminster, some time in Fe- bruary, 1731. His father was for many years cqrate and
1 Ballard's Memoirs.— Gibber's Lives.
* Lysons's Environs.—- Nichols's Bowyer, vol. II.
31* CHURCHILL.
lecturer of that parish, and rector of Rainham, near Grays*, in Essex. He placed his son, when ahout eight years of age, at Westminster-school, which was then superintended by Dr. Nichols and Dr. Pierson Lloyd. His proficiency at school, although not inconsiderable, was less remarkable than his irregularities. On entering his nineteenth year he applied for matriculation at the university of Oxford, where it is reported by some, he was rejected on account of his deficiency in the learned languages, and by others, that he was hurt at the trifling and childish questions put to him, and answered the examiner with a contempt which was mistaken for ignorance. It is not easy to reconcile these accounts, and, perhaps, not of great importance. Churchill, however, was afterwards admitted of Trinity college, Cambridge, but immediately returned, to London, and never visited the university any more.
The reason of his abandoning the university may have been an attachment which he formed while at Westminster- school, and which ended in a clandestine marriage at the Fleet. This was a severe disappointment to his father's hopes, but he wisely became reconciled to what was un- avoidable, and entertained the young couple in his house about a year, during which his son's conduct was irre- pr^achable. In 1751 he retired to Sunderland, in the north of England, where he applied himself to such studies .as might qualify him .for the church, and at the customary age he received deacon's orders from Dr. Willes, bishop of Bath and Wells, and in 1756 was ordained priest by Dr. Sherlock, bishop of London. He then exercised his clerical functions at Cadbury in Somersetshire, and at Rainham, his father's living, but in what manner, or with what display of abilities, is not remembered. A story was current some time after his death that he received a curacy of 30/. a year in Wales, and kept a public house to supply his deficiencies, but for this there appears to have been no other foundation than what the irregularities of his more advanced life supplied. So regardless was he of character, that his enemies found ready credit for any fiction at his expence. While at Rainham, he endeavoured to provide for his family by teaching the youth of the neighbourhood, an occupation which necessity rendered eligible, and habit might have made pleasing ; but in 1758 his father's death opened a more flattering prospect to him in the metropolis, where he was chosen his successor in the curacy and lee-
CHURCHILL. 515
tureship of St. John's. For some time he performed the duties of these offices with external decency at least, and employed his leisure hours in the instruction of some pu- pils in the learned languages, and was also engaged as a teacher at a ladies' boarding-school.
He was in his twenty-seventh year when he began to relax from the obligations of virtue, and more openly to enter into those dissipations, which, while they ruined his character and impaired his health, were, not indirectly, the precursors to his celebrity in public life. He was im- moderately fond of pleasure ; a constant attendant at the theatres, and the associate of men who united wit and profligacy, and qualified themselves for moral teachers by practising the vices they censured in others. Lloyd, the poet, had been one of his school-fellows at Westminster, and their intimacy, renewed afresh, became now a close partnership in debt and dissipation. In one respect this proved beneficial to Churchill. Dr. Lloyd, his compa- nion's father, persuaded Churchill's creditors to accept of five shillings in the pound, and to grant releases ; nor ought it to be concealed, that there is some reason for believing that Churchill, as soon as he had acquired money by his publications, voluntarily paid the full amount of the original debts.
At what period he made the first experiment of his po- etical talents is not known. He had, in conjunction with Lloyd, the care of the poetical department in the " The Library," a kind of magazine, of which Dr. Kippis was editor, and he probably wrote some small pieces in that work, but they cannot now be distinguished. About the year 1759 or 1760, he wrote a poem of some length, en- titled " The Bard," which was rejected by an eminent bookseller, perhaps justly, as the author did not publish it afterwards, when it might have had the protection of his name. He wrote also " The Conclave," a satire levelled at the dean and chapter of Westminster, which his friends prevailed upon him to suppress. Thus disappointed in his first two productions, his constant attendance at the theatres suggested a third, levelled at the players. This was his celebrated " Hosciad," in which the professional characters of the performers of Drury Lane and Co vent Garden theatres were examined with a severity, yet with an acuteness of criticism, and easy flow of humour and sarcasm, which rendered what he probably considered as a
316 CHURCHILL.
temporary trifle, a publication of uncommon popularity; He had, however, so little encouragement in bringing this poem forward, that five guineas were refused as the price he valued it at ; and he printed it at his own risk when he had scarcely ready money enough to pay for the necessary advertisements. It was published in March 1761, and its sale exceeded all expectation, but as his name did not appear to the first edition, and Lloyd had not long before published " The Actor,1' a poem on the same subject, the Kosciad was generally supposed to be the production of the same writer; while, by others, it was attributed to those confederate wits, Colman and Thornton. Churchill, however, soon avowed a poem which promised so much fame and profit, and as it had been not only severely handled in the Critical Review, but positively attributed to another pen, he published " The Apology : addressed to the Critical Reviewers," 1761. In this he retaliated with great bitterness of personal satire.
The success of the « Rosciad," and of " The Apology," opened new prospects to their author. He saw in his genius a source of plentiful emolument, but unfortunately also he contemplated it as an object of terror, which might be employed against the friends of virtue, with whom he no longer thought it necessary to keep any terms. While insulting public decency by the grossest immorality, he aimed his vengeance on those who censured him, with a sprightliness of malignity and force of ridicule which he deemed irresistible. His conduct, as a clergyman, had long shocked his parishioners, and incurred at length the displeasure of Dr. Pearce, the dean of Westminster, who remonstrated as became his station. But Churchill was now too far gone in profligacy, and being, as his friends have been pleased to say, too honest to dissemble, he re- signed his curacy and lectureship *, and with this acknow- ledged sacrifice to depravity, threw off all the external restraints which his former character might be thought to impose. That his contempt for the clerical dress might be more notorious, he was seen at all public places habited in a blue coat with metal buttons, a gold-laced waistcoat, a gold-laced hat, and rufHes.
In February 1761 a separation took place between him and his wife, whose imprudence is said to have kept pace
* See a letter from him on this subject, in the Ge«t. Mag. vol. XLVIII. p. 471.
CHURCHILL. SiT
With his own * ; but from a licentious passage in one of his letters to Wiikes, it appears that he was tired of her person, and probably neglected her in pursuit of vagrant amours. As his conduct in this and other matters was too notorious to pass without animadversion, he endeavoured to vindicate it in a poem entitled " Night," addressed to his wretched partner Lloyd. The poetical beauties of this poem, which are very striking, can never atone for the absurdity as well as immorality of his main argument, that avowed vice is more harmless than concealed ; and did not prevent his readers from perceiving, that he who maintains it, must have lost shame as well as virtue.
His next publication was "The Ghost," 1762, ex- fended, at irregular intervals, to four books. This was founded on the well-known imposture of a ghost having disturbed a family in Cock-lane ; but our poet contrived to render it the vehicle of many characteristic sketches, and desultory thoughts on various subjects unconnected with its title. About this time he appears to have formed a connection with the celebrated John Wiikes, an impostor of more ingenuity, who encouraged him to add faction to profligacy, and increase the number of his enemies by re- viling every person of rank or distinction with whom Wiikes chose to be at variance. His pen is said to have been also employed in Wiikes' s " North Briton," and in " The Prophecy of Famine." Churchill's next production was originally sketched in prose for that paper. What other contributions he made cannot now be ascertained, but it may be suspected that Churchill's satirical talent would ill submit to the tameness of prose, nor indeed was such an employment worthy of the author of " The llosciad," and " The Apology."— Wiikes suggested " The Prophecy of Famine," as a more suitable vehicle for the bitterness of national scurrility, and he was not mistaken.
The " Epistle to Hogarth" which followed, was occa- sioned by that artist's having taken some liberties in his political engravings, with the characters of the earls Tem- ple and Chatham. The only revenge he now took was a paltry print representing Churchill as a Russian bear, but whether this preceded or followed the " Epistle" is not quite clear. The parties had been once intimate, and
* This has been denied. She survived him, however, and he bequeathed to her an anyuity of CQl, a year.
318 CHURCHILL.
Churchill paid due reverence to the talents of Hogarth, but in his present humour he stuck at nothing which could vex and irritate. Hogarth died soon after, and some of Churchill's friends asserted, with malicious satisfaction, that the poem had accelerated that event. Mr. Nichols, in his copious life of Hogarth, starts some reasonable doubts on this subject.
In 1763 Churchill formed an intimacy with the daughter of a tradesman * in Westminster, and prevailed with her to live with him, but within a fortnight his passion was satiated, and she had leisure to repent. Her father re- ceived her back, and she might probably have been re- formed had she not been insulted by a sister, and her si- tuation rendered so disagreeable that she preferred the company of her seducer. Churchill thought himself bound in honour and gratitude to receive her, and perpetuate her wretchedness by a more lengthened connexion. While this affair was the general subject of public indignation, he wrote " The Conference,*' in which he assumes the lan- guage of repentance and atonement with such pathetic effect, that every reader must hope he was sincere.
The duel which took place between Wilkes and Martin gave rise to "The Duellist," 1763, which he extended to three books, and diversified, as usual, by much personal satire. In •" The Author," published about the end of the same year, he gave more general satisfaction, as the topics were of a more general satire. His first publication in 1764 was " Gotham," which, without a definite object, or much connexion of parts, contains many passages of ster- ling merit. The " Candidate" was written soon after, to expose lord Sandwich, who was a candidate for the office of high steward of the university of Cambridge. His lord- ship's deficiencies in moral conduct were perhaps no unfair objects for satire ; but this from the pen of a man now de- bilitated by habitual excess, served only to prove that Churchill was a profligate in contempt of knowledge and reason.
The " Farewell," " The Times," and " Independence," were hasty compositions that added little to his fame ; and, except perhaps u The Times," announced the decline of
* Of a celebrated statuary, says Mr. " spinster" mentioned in Churchill'* Cole, who was knighted by his majesty wilt, and who was, if we are not mis- some years before. Mr. Cole adds the taken, the lady he seduced. — Cole** name, but it is not the name of a MS. Athena; in Brit. Mus.
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his powers. " Independence" appeared in September* 1764, and was the last of his productions published in his life-time. " The Journey," and " The Fragment of a Dedi- cation to Dr. Warburton," were brought to light by his friends soon after his death.
Towards the end of October, 1764, he accompanied Humphrey Cotes, one of Wilkes's dupes, to visit this pa- triot in his voluntary exile in France. The party met at Boulogne, where Churchill, immediately on his arrival, was attacked by a miliary fever, which terminated his iife, Nov. 4, in the thirty- fourth year of his age. It was re- ported, that his last words were, (t What a fool have I been !" but Wilkes, who was present, thought it his duty, on aJi occasions, to contradict this. He considered it as a calumny on a man whose "firmness of philosophy," he gravely in* forms us, "shone in full lustre during the whole time of his very severe illness." His body was brought from Bou- logne for interment at Dover, where it was deposited in the old church-yard, formerly belonging to the collegiate church of St. Martin. A stone was afterwards placed oa his grave, on which are inscribed his age, the time of his death, and this Hue from his works :
" Life to the last enjoy'd, here Churchill lies/'
Of the nature of his life and its enjoyments, enough has been said. — He left two sons, Charles and John, the charge of whose education was generously undertaken by sir Richard Jebb ; but they soon died, like their father, victims to imprudence and intemperance.
The year after his death, a volume of Sermons was pub- lished, which he is said to have prepared for the press, but this seems wholly improbable. They bear no marks of his composition ; and it has been conjectured by the editor of the Biographia, that they were some of his father's, which he had copied for his own use. Churchill was not a hypo- crite, and would not have published sermons for a serious purpose; nor could he be tempted by necessity to avail himself of public curiosity. His poetry supplied all his wants ; and if we may credit his will, he left behind him a considerable sum of money.
The merit of Churchill, as a poet, has but lately been, appreciated with impartiality. During his life, his works were popular beyond all competition. While he continued to supply that species of entertainment which is more gene-
320 CHURCHILL.
*ally gratifying than a good mind can conceive, or a bad one xvill acknowledge, he was more eagerly and more frequently read than any of his contemporaries. Churchill was ad- mirably suited to the time in which he lived. But if his poems were popular with those who love to see worth de- preciated, and distinctions levelled, with the vulgar, the envious, and the malignant, they were no less held in ab- horrence by those who were as much hurt at the prostitu- tion, as charmed by the excellence of his talents, and who were afraid to praise his genius lest they should propagate his writings. Few men, therefore, made so much noise during their lives, or so little after their deaths. His part- ners in vice and faction shrunk from the task of perpetuating his memory, either from the fear of an alliance with a cha- racter so obnoxious as to injure their party, or from the neglect with which bad men usually treat their associates, when they can be no longer useful. Lloyd, to whom he had been more kind than Colman or Thornton, did not survive him above a month. Colman and Thornton preserved a cautious silence about a man whom to praise was to en- gage with the many enemies he had created ; and Wilkes, to whom he bequeathed the editorship and illustration of his poems by notes, &c. neglected the task, until he had succeeded in his ambitions manoeuvres, became ashamed of the agents who had supported him, and left his poorer parti zans to shift for themselves. Even when Dr. Kippis applied to him for such information as might supply a life of Churchill for the Biographia, he seemed unwilling or unable to contribute much ; and a comparison of that life with the scattered accounts previously published, may con- vince the reader that Dr. Kippis thanked him for more as- sistance than he received.
While the friends of Churchill were thus negligent of his fame, it was not to be expected that his enemies would be very eager to perpetuate the memory of a man by whom they had suffered so severely. Perhaps no writer ever made so many enemies, or carried his hostilities into so many quarters, without provocation. If we except the ease of Hogarth, it is doubtful whether he ever attacked the character of one individual who did him an injury, or stood in his way. Such wantonness of detraction must have naturally led to the general wish that his name and works might be speedily consigned to oblivion. His wri- tings, however, may now be read with more calmness, and
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his rank as a poet assigned with the regards due to genius, however misapplied. Jf those passages in which his genius shines most conspicuously were to be selected from the mass of defamation by which they are surrounded, he might be allowed to approach to Pope in every thing but correct- ness ; and even of his failure in this respect, it may be justiy said that he evinces carelessness rather than want of taste. But he despised regularity in every thing, and whatever was within rules, bore an air of restraint to which his proud spirit could not submit ; hence he persisted in despising that correctness which he might have attained with very little care. The opinion of Cowper i:^>on this subject is too valuable to be omitted. Churchill "is a careless writer for the most part, but where shall we find in. any of those authors, who finish their works with the exactness of a Flemish pencil, those bold and daring strokes of fancy, those numbers so hazardously ventured upon, and so happily finished, the matter so compressed, and yet so clear, and the colouring so sparingly laid on, and yet with such a beautiful effect ? In short it is not his least praise, that he is never guilty of those faults as a writer which he lays to the charge of others. A proof, that he did not judge by a borrowed standard, or from rules laid down by critics, but that he was qualified to do it by his own native powers, and his great superiority of genius*." The superiority of his genius, indeed, is so obvious from even a slight perusal of his works, that it must ever be re- gretted that his subjects were temporary, and his manner irritating, and that he should have given to party and to passion what might have so boldly chastised vice, promoted the dignity of virtue, and advanced the honours of poetry. His fertility was astonishing, for the whole of his poems were designed and finished within the short space of three years and a half. Whatever he undertook, he accomplished with rapidity, although such was the redundancy of his imagination, and such the facility with which he committed his thoughts to paper, that he has not always executed what he began, and perhaps delights too much in excursions
* Hayley's Life of Cowper, vol. III. his talents by some beautiful lines in
p. 27, 8vo edit. Cowper had been the his Table Talk. Between Cowper and
associate of Colman and Thornton, and Churchill, in point of moral character,
wrote a few papers in the Connoisseur, the distance is so great, that it is im-
Whether he was equally intimate with possible to suppose there could ever
Churchill does not appear, but he was have beeo any cordiality. an*>ng the first to revive the memory of
VOL. IX. Y
322 € H U R C H I L L,
from his principal subject. Of this "The Prophecy of Famine," which, for original creative power, may perhaps be preferred to all his other writings, appears to be a striking example. It consists of a long introduction which might suit any other subject, and detached parts which have no natural connexion, and of which the order might be changed without injury. " The Rosciad" seems to have owed its popularity more to its subject, and the cla- mour of the players and their friends, than to its poetry. In his other works, there are few of the essential qualities of a poet which he has not frequently exemplified. He has fully proved that he was not incapable of the higher species of poetry ; he has given specimens of the sublime and the pathetic, " the two chief nerves of all genuine poesy.'* In personification he is peculiarly happy, and sometimes displays the fine fancy of Spenser united with great strength of colouring and force of expression. His bursts of indignation are wonderfully eloquent, and with a love of virtue, he might have been her irresistible advo- cate, and the first of ethic writers. Where he does put on the character of a moral satirist, he is perhaps inferior to none of the moderns. But unfortunately his genius was biassed by personal animosity, and where he surpasses all other writers, it is in the keenness, not of legitimate satire, but of defamation. His object is not to reform, but to re- venge ; and that the greatness of his revenge may be justi- fied, he exaggerates the offences of his objects beyond all bounds of truth and decency.
In some cases, the poet may be considered separate from the man, and indeed of many eminent poets we know too little to be able to determine what influence their character had on their writings. But ChurchilPs productions are SQ connected with his turbulent and irregular life, that they must necessarily be brought in contact. He frequently alludes to his character and situation, and takes every op- portunity to vindicate what seems to redound most to his discredit, his vices and his associates ; and as his works will probably long be read with admiration as works of genius, or from curiosity as specimens of obloquy, it is necessary to be told that he had very little veneration for truth, that he drew his characters in extravagant dispro- portion, and that he was regardless of any means by which he could bring temporary or lasting disgrace on the per- sons whom either faction or revenge made him consider
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as enemies. Mr. Tooke, of Gray's-inn, lately published an edition of Churchill's works, illustrated by much contem- porary history ; and we owe some particulars of Churchill's life to the well- written memoirs prefixed to this work.1
CHURCHILL (Sir WINSTON), a distinguished English gentleman, son of John Churchill, esq. of Minthorn in Dorsetshire, by Sarah, daughter and coheiress of sir Henry Winston, of Standiston in Gloucestershire, was descended from a very ancient family, and born at Wooton Glanville in Dorsetshire, or, according to Wood, at London, in 1620. He was sent to St. John's college in Oxford when he was scarce sixteen years of age, where he made an un- common progress in his studies ; but, on account of the civil commotions which arose soon after, was obliged to leave the university before he had taken a degree. He engaged on the side of the king, for which he suffered se- verely in his fortune ; and having married a daughter of sir John Drake of Ashe in Devonshire, was forced to seek refuge in that gentleman's house, where many of his chil- dren were born. At the restoration he represented Wey- inouth in the parliament which met in May 8, 1661. In 1663, Charles II. conferred on him the honour of knight- hood ; and soon after the foundation of the Royal Society, he was, for his Icnown love of letters and conversation with learned men, elected a member of it in Dec. 1664. In the same year he was appointed one of the commissioners of the court of claims in Ireland ; and, upon his return, one of the clerks comptrollers of the green cloth. Not- withstanding his engagements in these public offices, he found time to draw up a kind of political essay upon the history of England, which was published in folio, 1675, under the title of " Divi Britannici, being a remark upon the lives of all the kings of this isle, from the year of the world 2855, unto the year of grace 1660.'* It was dedi- cated to Charles II ; and in the dedication the author takes notice, that having served his majesty's father as long as he could with his sword, he spent a great part of those leisure hours, which were forced upon him by his misfor-^ tunes, in defending that prince's cause, and indeed' the cause of monarchy itself, with his pen : and he frankly- owns, that he considered his work as the funeral oration of
' Biog. Brit.— Life by Mr. Tooke as above.— Johnson and Chalmers's Eng-; Fish Poets, 1810,— Mason's Life of VYhitehead, p, 109.
Y 2 J
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that deceased government, or rather, as his title speaks it, the apotheoses of departed kings. We are told by Wood, that there were some passages in this work about the king's power of raising money without parliament, which gave such offence to the members then sitting, that the author had them cancelled, and the book reprinted. Nicolsou speaks very slightly of this performance, and represents it as " only giving the reader a diverting view of the arms and exploits of our kings down to the restoration in 1660;" but it is very accurate as to dates and authorities.
After the dissolution of the parliament in 1678, sir Win- ston was dismissed from the post of clerk of the green cloth, much against his master's will, who restored him again, and continued him in it during the rest of his reign. He enjoyed the same degree of favour from court, during the short reign of James II. ; and having lived to see his eldest son raised to the peerage, he departed this life, March 26, 1688. Besides three sons, and as many daugh- ters, who died in their infancy, sir Winston had several sons and daughters, who lived to grow up. The eldest of his sons was John Churchill, afterwards duke of Marlbo- rough, of whom we shall speak largely in the next article. Arabella, the eldest of his children, born in March 1 648,. was maid of honour to the duchess of York, and mistress to the duke, afterwards James II. by whom she had two sons and two daughters. The eldest, James Fitz-James, was created by his father duke of Berwick : he was also knight of the garter and of the golden fleece, marshal of France, and grandee of Spain of the first class. He was reputed one of the greatest officers in his time ; and when generalissimo of the armies of France, fell by a cannon-shot at the siege of Phillipsburg in 1734. Henry Fitz-James, grand prior of France, lieutenant-general and admiral of the French gal lies, Was born in 1673, and died in 1702. Henrietta, born in 1670, married sir Henry Waldgrave of Cheuton, and died 1730. The youngest daughter was a nun ; but afterwards married colonel Godfrey, by whom $he had two daughters. !
CHURCHILL (JoiiN), duke of Marlborough, and prince of the holy Roman empire, was eldest son of sir Winston Churchill, and born at Ashe in Devonshire on Midsummer- day in 1650. A clergyman in the neighbourhood in- structed him in the first principles of literature, and he
» Biog. Bri».
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was for some time educated at St. Paul's school * ; but his father, having other views than what a learned education afforded, carried him to court in the twelfth year of his age, where he was particularly favoured by James duke of York. He had a pair of colours given him in the guards, during the first Dutch war, about 1666; and afterwards obtained leave to go over to Tangier, then in our hands, and besieged by the Moors, where he resided for some time, and cultivated the science of arms. Upon his return to England, he attended constantly at court, and was greatly respected by both the king and the duke. In 1672, the duke of Monmouth commanding a body of English auxiliaries in the service of France, Churchill attended him, and was soon after made a captain of grenadiers in his grace's own regiment. He had a share in all the ac- tions of that famous campaign against the Dutch ; and at the siege of Nimeguen, distinguished himself so much, that he was particularly taken notice of by the celebrated marshal Turenne, who bestowed on him the name of the handsome Englishman. He appeared also to so much ad- vantage at the reduction of Maestricht, that the French king thanked him for his behaviour at the head of the line, and assured him that he would acquaint his sovereign with it, which the duke of Monmouth also confirmed, telling the king his father how much he had been indebted to the bravery of captain Churchill.
The laurels he brought from France could not fail to gain him preferment at home ; accordingly the king made him a lieutenant-colonel, and the duke made him gentle- man of his bed-chamber, and soon after master of the robes. The second Dutch war being over, colonel Churchill was again obliged to pass his days at court, where he behaved with great prudence and circumspection in the troublesome times that ensued. In 1679, when the duke of York was constrained to go to the Netherlands, colonel Churchill
* It is rather singular that this fact article " Vegetius de re Militari." should have escaped the notice of his " From this very book, John Church- biographers, especially as Knight, in ill, scholar of this school, afterwards his Lite of Dean Colet, mentions him the celebrated duke of Marlborough, among the eminent scholars of St. first learnt the elements of the art of Paul's. The fact, however, is corrobo- War; as was told me, George North, rated by the following MS note of on St. Paul's day 1724-5, by an old George North, ofCodicote, in his copy clergyman, who said lie was a con- of Colei's Life, sent with Mr. Cough's temporary scholar, was then well ae- books to the Bodleian library. The quainted with him, and frequently saw note occurs in p. 483 of the Catalogue him read it. This I testify to be true. Of the Library of St, Paul'*, umter the " G. NORTH.-"
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attended him ; as he did through all his peregrinations, till he was suffered to reside again in London. While he waited upon the duke in Scotland, he had a regiment of dragoons given him ; and thinking it now time to take a consort, he made his addresses to Sarah Jennings, who waited on the lady Anne, afterwards queen of Great - Britain. This young lady, then about twenty-one years of age, and universally admired both for her person and wit, he married in 1681, and by this match strengthened the interest he had already at court. In 1682 the duke of York returned to London ; and, having obtained leave to quit Scotland, resolved to bring his family from thence by sea. For this purpose he embarked in May, but unluckily ran upon the Lemon Oar, a dangerous sand, that lies about 1 6 leagues from the mouth of the Humber, where his ship was lost, with some men of quality, and upwards of 120 persons on board. He was particularly careful of colonel Churchill's safety, and took him into the boat in which himself escaped. The first use made by his royal highness of his interest, after he returned to court, was to obtain a title for his favourite ; who, by letters patent, bearing date Dec. 1, 1682, was created baron of Eymouth in Scotland, and also appointed colonel of the 3d troop of guards. He was continued in all his posts upon the accession of James II. who sent him also his am- bassador to France to notify that event. On his return, he assisted at the coronation in April 1685 ; and May fol- lowing was created a peer of England, by the title of baroti Churchill of Sandridge in the county of Hertford.
In June, being then lieutenant-general of his majesty's forces, he was ordered into the west to suppress Mon- mouth's rebellion ; which he did in a month's time, with an inconsiderable body of horse, and took the duke him- self prisoner. He was extremely well received by the king at his return from this victory ; but soon discerned that it only served to confirm the king in an opinion that, by virtue of a standing army, the religion and government of England might easily be changed. How far lord Churchill concurred with or opposed the king, while he was forming this project, has been disputed by historians. According to bishop Burnet, " he very prudently declined meddling much in business, spoke little except when his advice was asked, and then always recommended moderate measures." It i& said he declared very early to lord Galway, that if his master attempted to overturn the established religion^
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he would leave him ; and that he signed the memorial transmitted to the prince and princess of Orange, by which they were invited to fill the throne. Be this as it will, it is certain that he remained with the king, and was entrusted by him, after the prince of Orange was landed in 1688. He attended king James when he marched with his forces to oppose the prince, and had the command of 5000 men ; yet the earl of Feversham, suspecting his inclinations, ad- vised the king to seize him. The king's affection to him was so great, that he could not be prevailed upon to do it ; and this left him at liberty -to go over to the prince, which accordingly he did, but without betraying any post, or car- rying off any troops. Whoever considers the great obliga- tions lord Churchill lay under to king James, must natu- rally conclude, that he could not take the resolution of leaving him, and withdrawing to the prince of Orange, but with infinite concern and regret; and that this was really the case, appears from a letter, which he left for the king, to shew the reasons of his conduct, and to ex- press his grief for the step he was obliged to take.
Lord Churchill was graciously received by the prince of Orange ; and it is supposed to have been in consequence of his lordship's solicitation, that prince George of Den- mark took the same step, as his consort the princess Anne did also soon after, by the advice of lady Churchill. He was entrusted in that critical conjuncture by the prince of Orange, first to re-assemble his troop of guards at London, and afterwards to reduce some lately-raised regiments, and to new model the army, for which purpose he was invested with the rank and title of lieutenant-general. The prince and princess of Orange being declared king and queen of England, Feb. 6, 1689, lord Churchill was on the 14th sworn of their privy council, and one of the gentlemen of the bed-chamber to the king ; and on the 9th of April following, raised to the dignity of earl of Marlborough in the county of Wilts. He assisted at the coronation of their majesties, and was soon after made commander in chief of the English forces sent over to Holland. He pre- sided at the battle of Walconrt, April 15, 1689, and gave such extraordinary proofs of his skill, that prince Waldeck, speaking in his commendation to king William, declared, that " he saw more into the art of war in a day, than some generals in many years." It is to be observed, that king William commanded this year in Ireland, which was the reason of the earl of Marlborough's being at the head
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of the English troops in Holland, where he laid the foun- dation of that fame among foreigners, which he afterwards extended all over Europe. He next did great services for king William in Ireland, by reducing Cork and some other places of much importance ; in all which he shewed such uncommon abilities, that, on his first appearance at court after his return, the king was pleased to say, that " he knew no man so fit for a general, who had seen so few campaigns." All these services notwithstanding did not hinder his being disgraced in a very sudden manner: for, being in waiting at court as lord of the bed-chamber, and having introduced to his majesty lord George Hamil- ton, he was soon followed to his own house by the same lord, with this short and surprising message, " That the king had no farther occasion for his services ;" the more surprising, as his majesty just before had not discovered the least coldness or displeasure towards him. The cause of this disgrace is not even at present known ; but only suspected to have proceeded from his too close attachment to the interest of the princess Anne. This strange and un- expected blow was followed by one much stranger, for soon after he was committed to the Tower for high treason ; but was released, and acquitted, upon the principal ac- cuser being convicted of perjury and punished; yet it is now believed ihat a correspondence had been carried on between the earl of Marlborough and the exiled king ; and during queen Mary's life, he kept at a distance from court, attending principally, with his lady, on the princess Anne. After queen Mary's death, when the interests of the two courts were brought to a better agreement, king William thought fit to recall the earl of Marlborough to his privy council; and in June 1698, appointed him governor to the duke of Gloucester, with this extraordinary compliment, " My lord, make him but what you are, and my nephew will be all I wish to see him." He continued in favour to the king's death, as appears from his having been three times appointed one of the lords justices during his ab- sence; namely, July 16, 1698; May 31, 1699; and June 27, 1700. As soon as it was discerned that the death of Charles II. of Spain would become the occasion of another general war, the king sent a body of troops over to Hol- land, and made lord Marlborough commander in chief of them. He appointed him also ambassador extraordinary
minister plenipotentiary to their high mightinesses.
king following, and taking a view of the forces, dined
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with him at his quarters in Sept. 1700 ; and this was one of the last favours he received from king William, who died the 8th of March following, unless we reckon his recom- mendation of him to the princess of Denmark, a little be- fore his death, as the fittest person to be trusted with the command of the army which was to protect the liberty of Europe. About a week after, he was elected knight of the most noble order of the garter, and soon declared captain- general of all her majesty's forces in England and abroad ; upon which he was immediately sent over to the Hague with the same character that he had the year before. His stay in Holland was very short, but enough to give the States General the necessary assurances of his mistress's sincere intention to pursue the plan that had formerly been settled. The States concurred with him in all that he pro- posed, and made him captain-general of all their forces, appointing him 100,000 florins per annum.
On his return to England, he found the queen's council already divided ; some being for carrying on the war as auxiliaries only, others for declaring against France and Spain immediately, and so becoming principals at once. The earl of Marlborough joined with the latter ; and these carrying their point, war was declared May 4, 1702, and approved afterwards by parliament, though the Dutch at that time had not declared. The earl took the command June 20 ; and discerning that the States were made uneasy by the places which the enemy held on their frontiers, he began with attacking and reducing them. Accordingly, in this single campaign, he made himself master of the castles of Gravenbroeck and Waerts, the towns of Venlo, Rure- mond, and Stevenswaert, together with the city and citadel of Liege ; which last was taken sword in hand. These ad- vantages were considerable, and acknowledged as such by the States ; but they had like to have been of a very short date : for, the army separating in the neighbourhood of Liege, Nov. 3, the earl was taken the next day in his passage by water, by a small party of thirty men from the garrison at Gueldres ; but it being towards night, and the earl insisting upon an old pass given to his brother, and now out of date, was suffered to proceed, and arrived at the Hague, when they were in the utmost consternation at the accident which had befallen him. The winter ap- proaching, he embarked for England, and arrived in Lon- don Nov. 28. The queen had been complimented some time before by both houses of parliament, on the success
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of her arms in Flanders ; in consequence of which there had been a public thanksgiving Nov. 4, when her majesty went in great state to St. Paul's. Soon after a committee of the house of commons waited upon him with the thanks of the house ; and Dec. 2, her majesty declared her in- tention in council of creating him a duke : which she soon did, by the title of marquis of Blandford, and duke of Marlborough. She likewise added a pension of 5000/. per annum out of the post-office, during her own life, and sent a message to the house of commons, signifying her desire that it might attend the honour she had lately conferred ; but with this the house would not Comply, contenting themselves, in their address to the queen, with applauding fyer manner of rewarding public service, but declaring their inability to make such a precedent for alienating the reve- nue of the crown.
He was on the point of returning to Holland, when, Feb. S, 1703, his only son, the marquis of Blandford, died at Cambridge, at the age of 18, and was interred in the magnificent chapel of King's college. This very afflicting accident did not however long retard him ; but he passed over to Holland, and arrived at the Hague March 6. The nature of our work will not suffer us to relate all the mili- tary acts in which the duke of Marlborough was engaged : it is sufficient to say, that, numerous as they were, they were all successful. The French had a great army this year in Flanders, in the Netherlands, and in that part of Germany which the elector of Cologn had put into their hands ; and prodigious preparations were made under the most experienced commanders : but the vigilance and activity of the duke baffled them all. When the campaign was over, his grace went to Dusseldorp to meet the late emperor, then styled Charles III. king of Spain, who made him a present of a rich sword from his side, with very high compliments; and then returning to the Hague, after a very short stay, came over to England. He arrived Oct. 13, 1703 ; and soon after king Charles, whom he had ac- companied to the Hague, came likewise over to England, and arrived at Spithead on Dec. 26 ; upon which the dukes, of Somerset and Marlborough were immediately sent down to receive and conduct him to Windsor. In January the States desired leave of the queen for the duke to come to the Hague; which being granted, he embarked on the 15th, and passed over to Rotterdam. He went immedi- ately to the Hague, where he communicated to the pen-
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• ;
sionary his sense of the necessity there was of attempting something the next campaign for the relief of the emperor ; whose affairs at this time were in the utmost distress, hav- ing the Bavarians on one side, and the Hungarian malcon- tents on the other, making incursions to the very gates of Vienna, while his whole force scarce enabled him to main- tain a defensive war. This scheme being, approved of, and the plan of it adjusted, the duke returned to England in the middle of February.
When measures were properly settled at home, April 6, 1704, he embarked for Holland; where, staying about a month to adjust the necessary steps, he began his march towards the heart of Germany ; and after a conference held with prince Eugene of Savoy, and Lewis of Baden, he arrived before the strong entrenchments of the enemy at Schellenburg, very unexpectedly, on June 21 ; whom, after an obstinate and bloody dispute, he entirely routed. It was on this occasion that the emperor wrote the duke a letter with his own hand, acknowledging his great services, and offering him the title of a prince of the empire, which he modestly declined, till the queen afterwards commanded him to accept of it. He prosecuted this success, and the battle of Hochstet was fought by him and prince Eugene, on August 2 ; when the French and Bavarians were the greatest part of them killed and taken, and their com- mander, marshal Tallard, made a prisoner. After this glo- rious action, by which the empire was saved, and the whole electorate of Bavaria conquered, the duke continued his pursuit till he forced the French to repass the Rhine. Then prince Lewis of Baden laid siege to Landau, while the duke and prince Eugene covered it ; but it was not taken before the 12th of November. He made a tour also to Berlin ; and by a short negotiation, suspended the dis- putes between the king of Prussia and the Dutch, by which he gained the good will of both parties. When the cam- paign was over, he returned to Holland, and, Dec. 14, ar- rived in England. He brought over with him marshal Tallard, and 26 other officers of distinction, 121 standards, and 179 colours, which by her majesty's order were put up in Westminster-hall. He was received by the queen with the highest marks of esteem, and had the solemn thanks of both houses of parliament. Besides this, the commons addressed her majesty to perpetuate the memory of this victory, which she did, by granting Woodstock, with the hundred of Wotton, to him and his heirs for ever. This
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was confirmed by an act of parliament, which passed on the 14th of March following, with this remarkable clause, that they should be held by tendering to the queen, her heirs and successors, on August 2, every year for ever, at the castle of Windsor, a standard with three fleurs de lys painted thereon. Jan. 6, the duke was magnificently en- tertained by the city ; and Feb. 8, the commons addressed the queen, to testify their thanks for the wise treaty which the duke had concluded with the court of Berlin, by which a large body of Prussian troops were sent to the assistance of the duke of Savoy.
The next year, 1705, he went over to Holland in March, with a design to execute some great schemes, which he had been projecting in the winter. The campaign was attended with some successes, which would have made a considerable figure in a campaign under any other general, but are scarcely worth mentioning where the duke of Marlborough commanded. He could not carry into exe- cution his main project, on account of the impediments he met with from the allies, and in this respect was greatly disappointed. The season for action being over, he made a tour to the courts of Vienna, Berlin, and Hanover. At the first of these he acquired the entire confidence of the new emperor Joseph, who presented him with the prin- cipality of Mindelheim : at the second, he renewed the contract for the Prussian forces : and at the third, he restored a perfect harmony, and adjusted every thing to the elector's satisfaction. After this he returned to the Hague, and towards the close of the year embarked for, and arrived safe in England. In January the house of commons came to a resolution, to thank his grace of Marl- borough, as well for his prudent negotiations, as for his great services : but notwithstanding this, it very soon ap- peared that there was a strong party formed againjt the war, and steps were taken to censure and disgrace the duke.
All things being concerted for rendering the next year's campaign more successful than the former, the duke, in the beginning of April, 1706, embarked for Holland. This year the famous battle of Ramilies was fought, and won upon May 12, being Whitsunday. The duke was twice here in the utmost danger, once by a fall from his horse, and a second time by a cannon-shot, which took off the head of colonel Bingfield, as he was. holding the stirrup for him to remount. The advantages gained by this vie-
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tory were so far improved by the vigilance and wisdom of the duke, that Louvain, Brussels, Mechlin, and even Ghent and Bruges, submitted to king Charles without a stroke ; and Oudenard surrendered upon the first summons. The city of Antwerp followed this example ; and thus, in the short space of a fortnight, the duke reduced all Brabant, and the marquisate of the holy empire, to the obedience of king Charles. He afterwards took the towns of Ostend, Menin, Dendermonde, and Aeth. The forces of the allies after this glorious campaign being about to separate, his grace went to the Hague Oct. 16, where the proposals, which France had made for a peace, contained in a letter from the elector of Bavaria to the duke of Marlborough, were communicated to the ministers of the allies, after which he embarked for England, and arrived at London Nov. 1 8, 1 706 ; and though at this time there was a party formed against him at court, yet the great services he had done the nation, and the personal esteem the queen always had for him, procured him an universal good reception. The house of commons, in their address to the queen, spoke of the success of the campaign in general, and of the duke of Marlborough's share in particular, in the strong- est terms possible ; and the day after unanimously voted him their thanks, as did the lords. They went still far- ther; for, Dec. 17, they addressed the queen for leave to bring in a bill to settle the duke's honours upon the male and female issue of his daughters. This was granted ; and Blenheim-house, with the manor of Woodstock, was, after the decease of the duchess, upon whom they were settled in jointure, entailed in the same manner with the honours. Two days after this, the standards and colours taken at Ramilies being carried in state through the city, in order to be hung up in Guildhall, the duke, by invitation, par- took of a grand dinner with the lord-mayor. The last day of the year was appointed for a general thanksgiving, and her majesty went in state to St. Paul's ; in which there was this singularity observed, that it was the second thanks- giving within the year. Jan. 17, the house of commons presented an address to the queen, in which they signified, that as her majesty had built the house of Blenheim to per- petuate the memory of the duke of Marlborough* s services, and as the house of lords had ordered a bill for continuing his honours, so they were desirous to make some provision for the more honourable support of his dignity. In conse*
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quence of this, and of the queen's answer, the pension of 50001. per ann. from the post-office was settled in the manner the queen had formerly desired of another house of commons, which happened not to be in quite so good a temper.
These points adjusted, the duke made haste to return to his charge, it being thought especially necessary he should acquaint the foreign ministers at the Hague, that the queen of Great Britain would hearken to no proposals for a peace, but what would firmly secure the general tran- quillity of Europe. The campaign of the year 1707 proved the most barren he ever made, which was chiefly owing to a failure on the part of the allies, who began to be remiss in supporting the common cause. Nor did things go on more to his mind at home ; for upon his return to England, after the campaign was over, he found that the fire, which he suspected the year before, had broke out in his absence; that the queen had a female favourite, who was in a fair way of supplanting the duchess ; and that she listened to the insinuations of a statesman who was no friend to him. He is said to have borne all this with firmness and patience, though he easily saw whither it tended ; and went to Hol- land as usual, early in the spring of 1708, arriving at the Hague March 19. The ensuing campaign was carried on by the duke, in conjunction with prince Eugene, with such prodigious success, that the French king thought fit, in the beginning of 1709, to set on foot a negotiation for peace. The house of commons this year gave an uncom- mon testimony of their respect for the duke of Marl- borough ; for, besides addressing the queen, they, Janu- ary 22, 1709, unanimously voted him thanks, and ordered them to be transmitted to him abroad by the speaker. He returned to England Feb. 25, and on his first appearance^ in the house of lords, received the thanks of that august assembly. His stay was so very short, that we need not dwell upon what passed in the winter. It is sufficient to say, that they who feared the dangerous effects of those artful proposals France had been making for the conclu- sion of a general' peace, were also of opinion, that nobody was so capable of setting their danger, in a true light in Holland as his grace of Marlborough. This induced the queen to send Mm thither, at the end of March, with the character of her plenipotentiary, which contributed not a little to the enemy's disappointment, by defeating all their projects.
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335
Marshal Villars commanded the French army in the cam- paign of 1709 ; and Lewis XIV. expressed no small hopes of him, in saying a little before the opening of it, that " Villars was never beat." However the siege of Tournay, and the battle of Malplaquet, convinced the monarch that Villars was not invincible. Upon the news of the glorious victory gained Aug. 1, 1709, the city of London renewed their congratulatory addresses to the queen ; and her ma- jesty in council, Oct. 3, ordered a proclamation for a ge- neral thanksgiving. The duke of Marlborough came t6 St. James's Nov. 10, and soon after received the thanks of both houses : and the queen, as if desirous of any occasion to shew her kindness to him, appointed him lord lieutenant and custos rotulorum of the county of Oxford. But amidst these honours, preferments, and favours, he was really chagrined to the last degree. He perceived that the French intrigues began to prevail both in England and Holland : the affair of Dr. Sacheverell had thrown the na- tion into a ferment : and the queen was not only estranged from the duchess of Marlborough, but had taken such a dislike to her that she seldom appeared at court.
In the beginning of 1710 the French set on foot a new negotiation for a peace, which was commonly called the treaty of Gertruydenburg. The States upon this having shewn an inclination to enter into conferences with the French plenipotentiaries, the house of commons imme- diately framed an address to the queen, that she would be pleased to send the duke of Marlborough over to the Hague. Accordingly, towards the latter end of February he went to the Hague, where he met with prince Eugene, and soon after set out with him for the army, which was assembled in the neighbourhood of Tournay. This cam- paign was very successful, many towns being taken and fortresses reduced : notwithstanding which, when the duke came over to England, as he did about the middle of De- cember, he found his interest declining, and his services undervalued. The negotiations for peace were carried on during a great part of the summer, but ended at last in nothing. In the midst of the summer, the queen began the great change in her ministry, by removing the earl of Sunderland from being secretary of state ; and on Aug. 8, the lord treasurer Godolphin was likewise removed. Upon the meeting of parliament no notice was taken in the ad- dresses of the duke of Marlborough's success : an attempt
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indeed was made to procure him the thanks of the house of peers, but it was eagerly opposed by the duke of Argyle. His grace was kindly received by the queen, who seemed desirous to have him live upon good terms with her new ministry ; but this was thought impracticable, and it was every day expected that he would lay down his commission. He did not do this ; but he carried the golden key, the ensign of the duchess of Marl borough's office, January 19, 1711, to the queen, and resigned all her employments with great duty and submission. With the same firmness and composure he consulted the necessary measures for the next campaign, with those whom he knew to be no friends of his ; and treated all parties with candour and respect. There is no doubt that the duke felt some in- ward disquiet, though he shewed no outward concern, at least for himself: but when the earl of Galway was very indecently treated in the house of lords, the duke of Marl- borough could not help saying, " it was somewhat strange, that generals, who had acted according to the best of their understandings, and had lost their limbs in their service, should be examined like offenders about insignificant things.'* An exterior civility, in court language styled a good understanding, being established between the duke and the new ministry, the duke went over to the Hague, to prepare for the next campaign, which at the same time he knew would be his last. He exerted himself in an uncom- mon manner, and was attended with the same success as usual. There was in this campaign a continued trial of skill between the duke of Marlborough and marshal Villars; and brave and judicious as the latter was, he was obliged at length to submit to the former. The duke embarked for England when the campaign was over, and came to London Nov. 8 ; and happening to land the very night of queen Elizabeth's inauguration, when great rejoicings were intended by the populace, he continued very prudently at Greenwich, and the next day waited on the queen at Hampton-court, who received him graciously. He was visited by the ministers, and visited them ; but he did not go to council, because a negotiation of peace was then on the carpet, upon a basis which he did by no means ap- prove. He acquainted her majesty in the audience he had at his arrival, that as he could not concur in the measures of those who directed her councils, so he would not dis- tract them by a fruitless opposition. Yet finding himself
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attacked in the house of lords, and loaded with the impu- tation5 of having protracted the war, he vindicated his con- duct and character with great dignity and spirit; ami in a most pathetic speech appealed to the queen his mistress, who was there incognito, for the falsehood of thut imputa- tion ; declaring, that he was as much for peace as any man, provided it was such a peace as might be expected from a war undertaken on such just motives, and carried on with uninterrupted success. This had a great effect on that august assembly, and perhaps made some impres- sion on the queen ; but at the same time it gave such an edge to the resentment of his enemies, who were then in power, that they resolved at all adventures to remove him. Those who were thus resolved to divest him of his commis- sion, found themselves under a necessity to engage the queen to take it from him. This necessity arose chiefly from prince Eugene's being expected to come over with a commission from the emperor; and to give some kind of colour to it, an inquiry was promoted in the house of com- mons, to fix a very high imputation upon the duke, as if he had put very large sums of public money into his own pocket. When a question to this purpose had been carried, the queen, by a letter, conceived in very obscure terms, ac- quainted him with her having no farther occasion for his service, and dismissed him from all his employments.
He was from this time exposed to a most painful perse- cution. On the one hand, he was attacked by the clamours of the populace, and by those hirelings of the press who are always ready to espouse the quarrels of a ministry, and to insult without mercy whoever they know may be insulted with impunity : on the other hand, a prosecution was com- menced against him by the attorney-general, for applying public money to his private use ; and the workmen em- ployed in building Blenheim-house, though set at work by the crown, were encouraged to sue him for the money that was due to them. All his actions were also shamefully misrepresented. These uneasinesses, joined to his grief for the death of the earl of Godolphin, induced him* to gratify his enemies, by going into a voluntary exile. Ac- cordingly he embarked at Dover, November 14, 1712; and landing at Ostend, went to Antwerp, and so to Aix la Chapelle, being every where received with the honours due to his high rank and merit. The duchess also attended her lord in all his journeys, and particularlyin his visit to tbe
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338 CHURCHILL.
principality of Mindelheim, which was given him by the emperor, and exchanged for another at the peace, which was made while the duke was abroad. The conclusion of that peace was so. far from restoring harmony among the several parties of Great- Britain, that it widened their dif- ferences exceedingly : insomuch that the chiefs, despair- ing of safety in the way they were in, are said to have secretly invited the duke back to England. Be that as it will, ic is very certain that he took a resolution of return- ing, a little before the queen's death ; and landing at Dover, came to London, Aug. 4, 1714. He was received with all demonstrations of joy, by those who, upon the demise of the queen, which had happened upon the 1st, were entrusted with the government ; and upon the arrival of George I. was particularly distinguished by acts of royal favour: for he was again declared captain-general and commander in chief of all his majesty's Jand forces, colonel of the first regiment of foot guards, and master of the ordnance.
His advice was of great use in concerting those measures by which the rebellion in 1715 was crushed ; and this ad- vice was the last effort he made in respect to public affairs; for his infirmities increasing with his years, he retired from business, and spent the greatest part of his time, during the remainder of his life, at one or other of his country- houses. During his last years he suffered a decay of his mental faculties, which terminated in his death June 16, 1722, in his 73d year, at Windsor-lodge; and his corpse, on Aug. 9, was interred with the highest solemnity in Westminster-abbey. Besides the marquis of Bland ford, whom we have already mentioned, he had four daughters, who married into the best families of the kingdom.
Various characters have been given of this illustrious nobleman, whom party prejudice misrepresented in his life-time, and who has since been censured by succeeding writers, some of whom seem to have become more bold in proportion to their distance from his time, and from all opportunities of judging with impartiality. A late historian, however, seems with great justice to characterise him as possessing the accomplishments of a statesman and courtier in a degree inferior to none of his contemporaries ; while his military talents raised him far above all rivalship and competition. The natural advantages of a fine figure and dignified mien, embellished with all the graces of the court,
CHURCHILL. 339
to which he was introduced at an early stage of life, hefore his more useful qualifications were discovered, made lord Churchill the first object of notice and admiration in every polite circle. While these exterior excellencies recom- mended him as the fittest person to be employed on busi- ness of compliment at foreign courts, his fascinating ad- dress, his political knowledge, and his acute penetration into characters, rendered him the most able and successful negociator in the more weighty affairs of state. His early proficiency in every branch of warlike science, and his meritorious exploits in the station of a subaltern com- mander, had excited a general expectation of his ascending to distinguished superiority in the line of his profession. The history of ten eventful campaigns demonstrated that nothing was expected from him which he did not perform; and that there was not a single accomplishment of a general, in which he did not excell. His comprehensive and various capacity was equally adapted to complicated and detached objects. In the several departments of plan and stratagem, and of enterprize and action, he was alike successful. The general arrangement of the campaign, and the dispositions which he made in the day of battle, the choice of ground, his composure and presence of mind in the heat of an. engagement, his improvement of victory, and" his ready expedients under bad fortune, for a defeat he never knew, were all evidences of such diversity of talents, and such a stupendous pitch of military genius, as never were sur- passed by those of the greatest commanders in ancient and modern times.
The only personal failing attributed to the duke of Marl- borough, upon any fair evidence, was avarice ; but how far he owes the imputation of that to himself, or to the mis- conduct and caprice of one nearly allied to him. and to whom it was his weakness to be too subservient, may admit of a doubt. That Sarah, duchess of Marlborough, brought her husband into frequent trouble and disgrace seems to be generally acknowledged ; and Swift was not far wrong when he said that the duke owed to her both his greatness (his promotions) and his fall. No woman was perhaps ever less formed by nature and habit for a court, yet she arrived to such a pitch of grandeur at the court of queen Anne, that her sovereign was, in fact, but the second person in it. Never were two women more the reverse of one another in their natural dispositions, than queen Anne and the duchess
2 2
340 CHURCHILL.
of Marlborough ; yet never had any servant a greater as- cendancy over a mistress, than the latter had over the for- mer. But though the duchess did not rise by a court, yet she rose by a party, of which she had the art to put her mistress at the head, who was merely the vehicle of her sentiments, and the minister of her avarice. Few sove- reign princes in Europe could, from their own revenues, command such sums of ready money, as the duchess did during the last thirty-five years of her life. Conscious at length that she had incurred the contempt of the nation, she employed Hooke, the Roman historian, at the price of 5000/. to write a defence of her, which was published in 1742, under the title of " An account of the conduct of the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough, from her first coming to court to the year 1710. In a letter from her- self to my lord ." This work excited considerable
attention at the time of its appearance, and gave rise to many strictures and some controversy. The ease and ele- gance with which the book is composed, the anecdotes it relates, and the original letters it contains, render it by no means an uninteresting performance ; and it is not without its use in the elucidation of our general history. Never- theless, from the prejudice and passion wherewith the duchess, or rather her amanuensis, writes, from her severity to her enemies, and from the malignity she displays against the memories of king William and queen Mary, she has contrived to make her own character stand in no higher a degree of -estimation than that in which it was held before. Lord Orford, who, on account of this book, has introduced her among his "Royal and Noble Authors," very justly remarks on it, that " it is seldom the public receives in- formation on princes and favourites from the fountain-head : flattery or invective is apt to pervert the relations of others. It is from their own pens alone, whenever they are so gra- cious, like the lad^ in question, as to have * a passion for fame and approbation,' that we learn exactly, how trifling and foolish and ridiculous their views and actions were, and how often the mischief they did proceeded from the most inadequate causes."
It is well known that Pope's character of Atossa was de- signed for her ; and when these lines were shewn to her grace, as if they were intended for the portrait of the duchess of Buckingham, she soon stopped the person that was reading them to her, and called out aloud-*" I cannot
CHURCHILL. 341
l^e so imposed upon — I see plainly enough for whom they are designed ;" and abused Pope for the attack, though she was afterwards reconciled to, and courted him. The vio- lence of the duchess of Marlborough' s temper, which is so strongly painted in the character of Atossa, frequently broke out into wonderful and ridiculous indecencies. In the last illness of the great duke her husband, when Dr. Mead left his chamber, the duchess, disliking his advice, followed him down stairs, swore at him bitterly, and was going to tear oft' his perriwig. Dr. Hoadly, the late bishop of Winchester, was present at this scene. Disappointed ambition, great wealth, and increasing years, rendered her more and more peevish. She hated courts, says lord Hailes, over which she had no influence, and she became at length the most ferocious animal that is suffered to go loose — a violent party-woman. In the latter part of her life she became bed-ridden. Paper, pens, and ink were placed by her side, and she used occasionally to write down either what she remembered, or what came into her head. A se- lection from these loose papers was made in the way of diary, by sir David Dalryraple, lord Hailes, under the title of " The Opinions of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, published from the original MSS." 1788, 12mo, which Mr. Park, who has given a specimen, very properly cha- racterises as the effusions of caprice and arrogance. This lady died Oct. 18, 1744.1
CHURCHYARD (THOMAS), a voluminous poet of the sixteenth century, w,as born in Shrewsbury about the year 1520. Wood, who has given a long account of him, says he was of a genteel family, and well educated ; and that at the age of seventeen, his father gave him a sum of money, and sent him to court, where he lived in gaiety while his finances lasted. He does not seem, however, to have gained any thing by his attendance at court, except his introduction to the celebrated earl of Surrey, with whom he lived some time as domestic, and by whose encourage- ment he produced some of his poems. He certainly had no public employment either now or in queen Elizabeth's
1 Biog. Brit. — Lediard's Life of the Duke of Marlborough. — Swift's Works, see Index. — Barnet's Own Times. — Chesterfield's Letters and Memoirs by Dr. Maty. — Bowles's edition of Pope's Works. — Somerville's History of Queen Anne, p. 251. — Continuation of Rapin's History. — Park's edition of the Royal and Noble Authors. — Mirror, No. 21, a paper by Lord Hailes. — Gent. Mag. 1742. Dr. Johnson's R«marl« on tho Duchess's Apology.-— C«xe's Memoirs of Walpole,
342 CHURCHYARD.
reign, although some have denominated him poet laureat, merely, as Mr. Malone thinks, " because he had addressed many of the noblemen of Elizabeth's court for near forty years, and is called by one of his contemporaries, the old court poet." He appears, however, to have continued with the earl of Surrey, until this virtuous and amiable noble- man was sacrificed to the tyrannical caprice of Henry VIII. Churchyard now became a soldier, and made several cam- paigns on the continent, in Ireland, and in Scotland. Tanner is inclined to think that he served the emperor in Flanders against the French in the reign of Henry VIII. ; but the differences of dates between his biographers are not now so reconcileable as to enable us to decide upon this part of his history. Wood next informs us that he spent some time at Oxford, and was afterwards patronized by the earl of Leicester. He then became enamoured of a rich widow ; but his passion not meeting with success, he once more returned to the profession of arms, engaged in foreign service, in which he suffered great hardships, and met with many adventures of the romantic kind ; and in the course of them appears to have been always a favourite among the ladies. At one time, in Flanders, he was taken prisoner, but escaped by the l( endeavours of a lady of considerable quality;" and at another time, when condemned to death as a spy, he was reprieved and sent away by the " endeavours of a noble dame." On his return he published a great variety of poems on all subjects ; but there ~is reason to think that by these he gained more applause than profit, as it is very certain that he lived and died poor. The time of his death, until lately was not ascertained ; Winstanley and Cibber place that event in 1570, Fuller in 1602, and Oldys in 1604, which last is correct. Mr. George Chalmers, in. his " Apology for the believers in the Shakspeare MSS." gives us an extract from the parish register, proving that he was buried April 4, of that year, in St. Margaret's church, Westminster, near the grave of Skelton. Mr. D' fsraeli, who has introduced him in his " Calamities of Authors," very aptly characterises him as " one of those unfortunate men, who have written poetry all their days, and lived a long life, to complete the misfortune." His works are minutely enumerated by Ritson in his " Biblio- graphia Poetica," and some well- selected specimens have lately appeared in the Censura Literaria. The best of his poems, in point of genius, is his " Legende of Jane Shore,"
CHURCHYARD. 343
and the most popular, his "Worthiness of Wales," 1580, 8vo, of which an edition was published in 1776. It may be added, as it has escaped his biographers, that he is men- tioned by Strype, in his life of Grind*!, as " an excellent soldier, and a man of honest principles," who in 1569 gave the secretary of state notice of an intended rising at Bath (where Churchyard then was) among the Roman catholics.* CHYTR^EUS (DAVID), whose family name was Koch-' hafe, or Rochhafe, was an eminent Lutheran divine, and a promoter of the reformation. He was born at Ingelsing in Suabia, in 1530, of parents who, discerning his capacity, bestowed much pains on his education, and in his ninth year sent him to Tubingen, where he was placed under the ablest masters. Such was his proficiency that he was soon after admitted into the university of that place, and at the age of fifteen took his master's degree with the greatest credit. He then went to Wittemberg, and studied under Melancthon, who expressed himself surprised at his having so early attained academic honours, and received him into his house. There also he heard some of Luther's lectures. After Luther's death, and the interruption which the wars occasioned to the university of Wittemberg, Chytreeus went to Heidelberg, where he studied Hebrew, and to Tubingen, where he took some lessons in mathematics; but prince Maurice having restored the university of Wit- temberg, and recalled Melancthon, Chytraeus went back also, and completed his theological course. In 1548, hav- ing raised some money by private teaching, he visited a considerable part of Italy, and on his return was invited to become one of the professors of the university of Rostock, where he acquired such reputation for learning, that various offers were made to him by the princes of Germany, and by the universities, all which he declined ; and yet when prince John Albert offered to increase his stipend as an inducement for him to remain at Rostock, he refused to accept it. He travelled, however, occasionally during his residence here to such places as he was invited to assist the reformation, or to give advice in founding schools and colleges, but always returned in time for his regular courses
l Wood's Ath. Ox. vol. I. — Tanner. — Fuller's Worthies. — Winstanley's Poets, —Warton's Hist, of Poetry, vol. III. p. 11, 214, 215, 260, 280, 381, 291, 421. — Philips's Tlieatrum, by sir E. Brydges, p. 71. — Censura Literaria, vol. II. HI, and IV.— Cooper's Muses' Librury, p. 117.— Strype's Grindal, 117.
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of lectures; and amidst bis many public employments, found leisure to write a great many works on subjects of theology, philology, and history, which extended his fame, lie died June 25, 1600. His principal works are, a commentary on the Revelations, and " C|ironologia his- torice lierodoti et Thucydidis," Strasburgh, 1563, 8vq ; "Chroniconanni 1593, 1594, etinitii 1595," Leipsic, 1595, 8vo. We have also, written by his son, " Vita D. Chytruei memoriae posteritatis orationibus et carminibus consecrata," Rostock, 1601, 4to. There is an edition of his wjiole works, printed at Hanover, 1604, 2 vols. folio ; but'Freytag gives the preference to the life of Chytvoeus, written by Otto Frederic Schurzius, under the title " De vitaD. Chy- trasi commentariorum libri quatuor, ex editis et ineditis monumentis ita conpinnata, ut sit annalium instar et sup- plementorum pist_ Eccles. seculi XVI. speciatim rerum in Lutherana ecclesia et academia Rostochiensi gestarum," IJamtmrgh, 1720 — 1728, 4 vols. 8vo, Of so much import- ance was Chytncus above a century after his death, that hi$ personal history was thought a proper foundation and con- necting medium, for a general history of the Lutheran church, 1
CIACONIUS, or CHACO (ALPHONSUS), a Spanish author of considerable celebrity, a Dominican, and titular patriarch of Alexandria, was born in 1540 at Baec,a in An- dalusia, and died at Rome in February 1599, but some writers say that he was living in 1601. A great number of his works remain ; the most considerable among which is entitled " Vitse et gesta Romanorum pontificum et car- dinalium ;" which, with the continuation, was printed at Rome, 1676, 4 vols. folio ; the sequel down to Clement XII. was published by ]\larie Guarnacci, Rome, 1751, 2 vols. folio; " Bibliotheca Scriptorum ad annum 1383," Paris, 1731, folio, and Amsterdam, 1732, folio. This last con- sists of the Paris edition, which the Dutch bookseller had bought, with some additions by the editors, and goes no farther than E. Kte wrote also " Historja utriusque Belli Dacici, in columna Trajana expressi, cum figuris ;rneis/* Rome, 1616, oblong folio. In this work he betrays no little superstition, by labouring to prove that the soul of
1 Melchipr Adam in viths Ger. Theol,— Freheri Theatrura.— Freytag Adparat, Litcrar.— Saxii Onomast.
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Trajan was delivered out of hell at the iutercession of St. Gregory. !
CIACONIUS (PETER), brother to the preceding, and a very learned critic of Spain, was born at Toledo in 1525, and died at Rome in 1581. He was employed with others by pope Gregory XIII. in correcting the calendar, and also in revising an edition of the Bible, and of some other works printed at the Vatican. He wrote learned notes upon Arnobius, Tertullian, Cassian, Caesar, Pliny, Te- rence, &c. He was the author, likewise, of some sepa- rate little treatises, one particularly, " De Triclinio Ro- mano;" which, with those of Fuivius Ursinus and Mercu* rialis upon the same subject, was published at Amsterdam, 168$, in 12mo, with figures to illustrate the descriptions.2 CIAMPINI (JOHN JUSTIN), a learned Italian, was born at Rome April 11, 1633. He quitted the study of the civil law for the practice of the apostolical chancery, and at the same time found leisure to cultivate the sciences and polite literature. It was by his care and activity that the academy of ecclesiastical history was instituted at Rome in 1671, and in 1677 he established under the auspices of the famous queen Christina, an academy of mathematics and natural history, which, by the merit of its members, soon became known throughout Europe. Ciampini died July 12, 1698, aged sixty-five. His writings are: I. " Conjecturae de perpetuo azymorum usu in ecclcsia La- tina," 1688, 4to. 2. " Vetera monumenta, in quibus praecipua Musiva opera, sacrarum profanarumque aedium structura, dissertationibus iconibusque illustrantur," Rome, 1690, 1699, 2 vols. fol. This is an investigation of the origin of the most curious remains of the buildings be- longing to ancient Rome, with explanations and plates of those monuments, 3. " Synopsis historica de sacris aedi- ficiis a. Constantino Magno constructs," 1693, fol. 4. An examination of the " Lives of the Popes" said to be writ- ten by Anastasius Bibliothecarius, calculated to prove that Anastasius wrote only the lives of Gregory IV. Sergius II. Leo IV. Benedict III. and Nicholas I. and that the others were written by different authors, as we have already no- ticed in our account of Anastasius. Ciampini published
1 Moreri. — Marchand Diet. Hist. — Dupin.— Ffeheri Theatrum.— Saxii Ono- masticon.
6 Ibid. — Bount's Censura.— Baillet Jugenwns,— Freytag Adparat. Lit.-— Morbof Polyliist.
346 C I A M P I N I.
many other dissertations, both in Italian and Latin, and left a great many manuscripts, of both which Fabroni has the most complete catalogue. l
CIBBER (CoLLEY), poet-laureat to George II. and a dramatic writer of considerable genius, was born in South- ampton-street, London, November 6, 1671. His father, Caius Gabriel Cibber, was an eminent statuary*, and his mother was the daughter of William Colley, esq. of an an- cient family of Glaiston, in Rutland. He took his Chris- tian name from her brother, Edward Colley, esq. In 16812 be was sent to the free-school of Grantham, in Lincoln- shire ; and such learning he tells us, as that school could give him, is the most he ever pretended to, neither utterly forgetting, nor much improving it afterwards by study. In 1687 he stood at the election of Winchester scholars, upon the credit of being descended by his mother's side from William of Wykeham, the founder ; but not suc- ceeding, he prevailed with his father, who intended him for the church, to send him to the university. The revo- lution of 1688, however, gave a turn to Gibber's fortune; and instead of going to an university, he supplied his fa- ther's place in the army, under the earl of Devonshire, at Nottingham, who was on his road to Chatsworth, in Derbyshire. There his father was then employed, with
* Cams Gabriel Cibber, or Cibert, cuted also most of the statues of sou of a cabinet-maker to the king of kings round the Royal Exchange, as Denmark, was born at Fiensburg, in far as king Charles; and that of sir the duchy of Hoi stein, and discovering Thomas Gresham, in the piazza be- a talent for sculpture, was sent at the ueath. The fi rot duke of Devonshire king's expence to Rome. He came employed him much at Chatsworth, to England not long before the restora- where • two sphinxes on large bases, tton, and worked for John St<>ne, son well executed, and with ornaments in of Nicholas, who, going to Holland, good taste, are of his work ; and till and being seized with a palsy, Cibber very lately there was a statue of Nep- his foreman was sent to conduct him tune in a fountain, still better. He home. He afterwards became carver carved there several door-cases of ala- to the king's closet. He was twice baster, with rich foliage, and many married. It was his second wife wW > ornaments in the chapel ; and on each was the mother of Colley. The most side of the altar is a statue by him, capital of his works are the two admi- Failh and Hope ; the draperies have rable figures of Melancholy and raving great merit, but the airs of the heads Madness, before the front of Bethlehem, are not so good as that of the Neptune. His other works are the bas-reliefs on Cibber built the Danish church in Lou- two sides of the Monument ; the foun- don, and was buried there himself, tain in Soho-square ; and one of the with his second wife, for whom a mo- fine vases at Hampton-court, said to nument was erected in 1696. He died be done in competition with a foreigner himself about 1700, at the age of se- who executed the other, but nobody venty. Walpole*s Anecdotes of Paint- has told us which is Cibber's ; he exe- ing, &c.
* Moreri.— Fabroni Vitae Ital. col. VI.
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other artists of all kinds, changing the architecture and decorations of that seat. The revolution having been ac- complished without bloodshed, Gibber had no opportunity of proving his valour, and immediately determined to gra- tify a very early inclination he had somehow formed for the stage. Here, however, he did not meet with much encouragement at first, being full three quarters of a year before he was taken into a salary of 105. per week; yet this, with the assistance of food and raiment at his father's house, he tells us he then thought a most plentiful acces- sion, and himself the happiest of mortals. The first part in which he appeared with any success, was the chaplain in the " Orphan," which he performed so well, that Good- man, an old celebrated actor, affirmed with an oath, that he would one day make a good actor. This commendation from an acknowledged judge, filled his bosom, as he tells us, with such transports, that he questioned whether Alexander himself, or Charles XII. of Sweden, felt greater at the head of their victorious armies. The next part he played, was that of Lord Touchwood, in Congreve's " Double Dealer," acted before queen Mary ; which he pre- pared upon only one day's notice, by the recommendation of the author, and so well, that Congreve declared he had not only answered, but exceeded his expectations; and from the character he gave of him, his salary was raised from 1 5s. a week, as it then stood, to 20s. The part of Fondlewife, in the " Old Batchelor," was the next in which he distinguished himself.
AH this applause, however, did not advance him in the manner he had reason to expect ; and therefore, that his ambition might have another trial, he resolved to shew himself as a writer. With this view he wrote his first play, called " Love's last Shift," acted Jan. 1695, in which he performed the part of sir Novelty Fashion. This comedy met with great success, and the character of the fop was so well executed, that from that time Gibber was consi- dered as having no equal in parts of the same cast. He now turned his attention principally to writing, and it is observable, says he, " that my muse and my spouse (for he was married at this time) were equally prolific ; the one was seldom the mother of a child, but in the same year the other made me the father of a play. I think we had a dozen of each sort between us ; of both which kinds some
348 {JIBBER.
died in their infancy, and near an equal number of each were alive when I quitted the theatre."
The " Careless Husband," which is reckoned his best play, was acted in 1704 with great success, a great por- tion of which he very handsomely places to the account of Mrs. Oldfield, a celebrated actress, who gave great spirit to the character of Lady Betty Modish ; yet not more than the author himself in the part of Lord Foppington, wherein he was inimitable. But of all his plays, none was of more importance to the public and to himself, than his comedy called the " Nonjuror," which was acted in 1717, and dedicated to the king : the hint of it he took from the TartufFe of Moliere. It was considered, however, as a party piece, and it is said that, as he foresaw, he had never after fair-play given to any thing he wrote, and was the constant butt of Mist in his " Weekly Journal," and of all the Jacobite faction. But this is not an exact state of the case. It is true that he incurred the ridicule of the Ja- cobites, but the Jacobites only laughed at him in common with all the wits of the day. This general contempt was afterwards heightened by Pope's making him the hero of the " Duneiad" instead of Theobald, a transfer un- doubtedly mean and absurd on Pope's part, since what was written for Theobald, a dull plodder, could never suit Cibber, a gay lively writer, and certainly a man of wit» However, if the Nonjuror brought upon its author some imaginary evils, it procured him also some advantage, for when he presented it to George I. the king ordered him 200/. and the merit of it, as he himself confesses, made him poet-laureat in 1730. Here again he incurred the ridicule of his brother wits, by his annual odes, which had no merit but their loyalty, lyric poetry being a species of writing for which he had not the least talent, arid which he probably would not have attempted, had not his office rendered it necessary. These repeated efforts of his ene- mies sometimes hindered the success of his dramatic pieces ; and the attacks against him, in verse and in prose, were now numerous and incessant, as appears by the early volumes of the Gentleman's Magazine*. But he appears to have been so little affected by them, that he joined
* Among the opponents of Cibber, we know of no individual who returns so «ften to the charge as Fielding, both in his novels and plays, nor with such fyree •f humonr.
e I B B E R. 349
heartily in the laugh agaiost himself:, and even contri- buted to increase the merriment of the public at his own expence.
The same year (1730) he quitted the stage, though he occasionally appeared on it afterwards; in particular, when " Papal Tyranny in the reign of king John," a tragedy of his own, was acted in 1744, he performed the part of Pandulph, the pope's legate, with great spirit and vigour, though he was at that time above seventy years of age. He died Dec. 12, 1757. His plays, such of them as he thought worth preserving, he collected and published in 2 vols. 4to. Though Pope has made him the prince of dunces, yet he was a man of parts, but vain, and never so happy as when among the great, making sport for people who had more money, but less wit than himself. Dr. Johnson says he was by no means a blockhead, but by ar- rogating to himself too much, he was in danger of losing that degree of estimation to which he was entitled. Of this we have a proof in a work he published in 1747, entitled " The Character and Conduct of Cicero con- sidered, from the History of his Life by the Rev. Dr. Mid- dletonj with occasional Essays and Observations upon the most memorable Facts and Persons during that Period," 4to. Gibber was much better qualified to estimate the merits of his brother comedians, than to investigate the conduct of Cicero. As to his moral character, we know not that any thing mean or dishonourable has ever been imputed to him, and his " Letter to Pope," expostulating with him for placing him in the Dunciad, does some credit to his spirit, and is a more able defence of his conduct than Pope could answer. Although addicted to the promiscuous gallantries of the stage, and affecting the " gay seducer" to the last, he pleased the moral Richardson so well by his flattery, that the latter conceived a high idea of him, and wondered on one occasion, that Dr. Johnson, then a young man, could treat Gibber with familiarity ! The best edition of Gibber's Works is that of 1760, in 5 vols. i2mo. His " Life," from which much of this article is taken, has been »ften reprinted. 1
> Biog. Brit. — P-ioj. Dram. — Life written by himself; and that prefixed to his works. — Swift's Works j see Index. — Victor's Works, vol. I. p. 71,7'2, 93, 94, &c. — Davies's Life of Garrick, vol. I. and Dramatic Miscellanies. — Richard- son's Correspondence. — Bowles's edit, of Pope's Works, — Ruffhead's Life of 4W, p. 299. — Boswell-'s Life of Johnson.
350 GIBBER.
GIBBER (THEOPHILUS), son of the above, was born in 1703, and about 1716 sent to Winchester school; from which, like his father, he passed almost directly to the stage, on which the power his father possessed as a manager, enabled him to come forward with considerable advantages, and, by his merit, he soon attained a share of the public favour. His manner of acting was in the same walk of characters which his father had supported, although, owing to some natural defects, he did not attain equal excellence. His person was far from pleasing, and the features of his face rather disgusting. His voice had the shrill treble, but not the musical harmony of his father's. Yet still an appa- rent good understanding and quickness of parts, a perfect knowledge of what he ought to express, together with a confident vivacity in his manner, well adapted to the cha- racters he was to represent, would have ensured his suc- cess, had his 'private conduct been less imprudent or im- moral. But a total want of ceconomy led him into errors, the consequences of which it was almost impossible he should ever be able to retrieve. A fondness for indul- gences, which a moderate income could not afford, induced him to submit to obligations, which it had the appearance of meanness to accept ; and his life was one continued series of distress, extravagance, and perplexity, till the winter, 1757, when he was engaged by Sheridan to go over to Dublin. On this expedition Gibber embarked at Park Gate, on board the Dublin Trader, some time in October ; but the high winds, which are frequent tjien in St. George's Channel, and which are fatal to many vessels in their passage from this kingdom to Ireland, proved particularly so to this. The vessel was driven on the coast of Scotland, where it was cast away ; and Gibber lost his life. A few of the passengers escaped in a boat, but the ship was so entirely lost, that scarcely any vestiges of it remained, excepting a box of books and papers, which were known to be Gibber's, and which were cast up on the western coast of Scotland.
As a writer, he has not rendered himself very conspi- cuous, excepting in some appeals to the public, written in a fantastical style, on peculiar circumstances of his own distressed life. He altered for the stage three pieces of other authors, and produced one of his own, viz. 1. " Henry VI." a tragedy from Shakspeare. 2. " The Lover," a comedy. 3. " Pattie and Peggy," a ballad opera. 4. An alteration of Shakspeare's " Romeo and
C I B B E R. S51
Juliet." His name has also appeared to a series of ** The Lives of the Poets," 5 vols.,12mo, with which some have said he had no concern. Two accounts, however, have lately heen published, which we shall endeavour to incor- porate, as they do not difl'er in any material point, and indeed the one may be considered as a sequel to the other. The first is taken from a note written by Dr. Caider for the edition of the Tatler printed in 1786, 6 vols. 12mo. By this we learn that Mr. Oldys, on his departure from London, in 1724, to reside in Yorkshire, left in the care of the rev. Mr. Burridge, with whom he had lodged for several years, among many other books, &c. a copyr of Lang* baine's " Lives, &c." in which he (Mr. Oldys) had written notes and references for further information. Returning to London in 1730, Mr. Oldys discovered that his books were dispersed, and that Mr. Thomas Coxeter had bought this copy of Langbaine, and would not even permit Mr, Oldys to transcribe his notes from it into another copy of Langbaine, in which he likewise wrote annotations. This last annotated copy, at an auction of Oldys's books, Dr, Birch purchased for a guinea, and left it by will, with his other books, to the British Museum. Mr. T. Coxeter, who died in April 1747, had added his own notes to those of Mr. Oldys, in the first copy of Langbaine above-men- tioned, which, at the auction of Mr. Coxeter' s books, was bought by Theophilus Cibber. On the strength of it, the compilation called " The Lives of the Poets" was under- taken.
The question now is, as to the share Cibber had in the compilation, The authority we have hitherto followed, attributes a very inconsiderable part to him, and makes Robert Shiels, one of Dr. Johnson* s amanuenses, the chief writer; but from an article in the Monthly Review, appa- rently drawn up by the late proprietor of it, and who must have been well acquainted with all the circumstances of compilation and publication, we learn that although Shiels was the principal collector ami digester of the materials for the work, yet, as he was very raw in authorship, an indifferent writer in prose, and his language full of -Scot- ticisms, Cibber, who was a clever lively fellow, and then soliciting employment among the booksellers, was engaged to correct the style and diction of the whole work, then intended to make only four volumes, with power to alter, expunge, or add, as he liked, and he was to supply notes
•352 C I B B E R.
occasionally, especially concerning those dramatic poets with whom he had been chiefly conversant. He also en- gaged to write several of the lives ; which (says this autho- rity, " we are told") he accordingly performed. He was further useful in striking out the Jacobitical and Tory sen- timents, which Shiels had industriously interspersed where- ever he could bring them in ; and as the success of the work appeared, after all, very doubtful, he was content with 2 \L for his labour, besides a few sets of the books to disperse among his friends. Shiels had nearly 70/. be- sides the advantage of many of the best lives being com- municated by his friends, and for which he had the same consideration as for the rest, being paid by the sheet for the whole. Such is the history of this work, in which Dr. Johnson appears to have sometimes assjsted Shiels, but upon the whole it was not successful to the proprietors. l
CIBBER (SUSANNA MARIA), wife of the preceding, and for several years the best actress in England, was the daughter of an eminent upholsterer in Covent-garden, and sister to Dr. Thomas Augustin Arne, the musician. Her first appearance on the stage was as a singer, in which the sweetness of her voice rendered her very conspicuous, although she had not much judgment, nor a good ear. It was in this situation, that, in April 1734, she married Theoph. Cibber, then a widower for the second time. The first year of their nuptials was attended with as much fe- licity as could be expected, but the match was by no means agreeable to his father, who had entertained hopes of settling his son in a higher rank in life than the stage ; but the amiable deportment of his daughter-in-law, and the seeming reformation of his son, induced him to take the young couple into favour. As he was a manager of Drury-lane play-house at that time, and his son having hinted somewhat respecting Mrs. Cibber's talents as an actress, he desired to hear a specimen. Upon this her first attempt to declaim in tragedy, he was happy to dis- cover that her speaking voice was perfectly musical, her expression both in voice and feature, strong and pathetic at pleasure, and her figure at that time perfectly in pro- portion. He therefore assiduously undertook to cultivate those talents, and produced her in 1736, in the character
* Biog. Dramatica.— Victor's Works, vol. I. p. 20, 24, 201.— Tatler, TO!S. I. and IV. 8vo edit. 1806.— Johnson's Works.— Boswell's Life of John»9u,~~ Monthly Rev. far J7»2, Review of Boswell's Life.
GIBBER. 353
of Zara, in Aaron Hill's tragedy, being its first repre- sentation. The audience were both delighted and asto- nished. The piece, which was at best an indifferent trans- lation, made its way upon the stage ; and Mrs. Gibber's, reputation as an actress was fully established, with its agreeable concomitants, a rise of salary, &c. The cha- racter, however, which she acquired in public, was lost in private life. She was married to a man who was luxurious and prodigal, and rapacious after money to gratify his passions or vanity, and at length he resolved to make a profit of the honour of his wife. With this view, there- fore, he cemented the closest friendship with a gentleman, whom he introduced to hjs wife, recommended to her, gave them frequent interviews, and even saw them put, as if by accident, in the same bed, and had then the impu- dence to commence a trial for criminal correspondence, which brought to light his nefarious conduct. He laid his damages at 5000/. but the jury discerning the baseness of his conduct, gave only 10/. costs; a sum not sufficient to reimburse him a fortieth part of his expences. From that time Mrs. Gibber discontinued living with her husband, and resided entirely with the gentleman who was the defen- dant in this abominable trial.
As an actress, she was thought most excellent in tender parts, till, during the rebellion, she appeared in the cha- racter of Constance, in Shakspeare's King John, in which she manifested not only the maternal tenderness of a Me- rope, but such dignity, spirit, and passion, as perhaps have never been exceeded, if equalled, on any stage. Handel himself was exceedingly partial to her, and took the trouble of teaching her the parts expressly composed for her limited compass of voice, which was a mezzo so- prano, almost, indeed, a contralto, of only six or seven notes, with all the drudgery of repetition necessary to un- dergo in teaching persons more by the ear than the eye. He and Quin usually spent their Sunday evenings at Mrs. Gibber's, where wit and humour were more frequently of the party, than Melpomene, Euterpe, or Orpheus*.
* A gentleman wlio was in com- parry the artless thrusts, and despise
pany with.Mr. fiarrick when the news the coarse language of some Of my other
of her death was brought, heard him heroines ; but whatever was Cibber's
thus pronounce her eulogium : " Then object, a new part, or a new dress, she
Tragedy expired with her; and yet was always sure to carry her point, by
she was the greatest fcipale plague be- the acuteness of her invention, and the
Jouging to my house. I could" easily steadiness of her perseverance,"
VOL. IX, A A
354 C I B B E R.
Besides her excellence as an actress, she has some claims as a translator, the "Oracle of St.,Foix" being rendered by her into English in 1752, and played for her benefit, not entirely without success. The disorder of which she died was supposed to be a rupture of one of the coats of the stomach, which formed a sack at the bottom of it, into which the food passed, and thus prevented digestion. She died Jan. 30, 1766, and was buried in one of the cloisters of Westminster-abbey ; leaving one child by the gentleman with whom she cohabited. l
CICERO (MARCUS TULLIUS), one of the greatest ora- tors of antiquity, was born Jan. 3, in the 647th year of Rome, about 107 years before Christ. His mother, Helvia, was rich and well descended. His father's family was ancient and honourable in that part of Italy in which it resided, and of equestrian rank, from its first admission to the freedom of Rome. The place of his birth was Arpi- num, a city anciently of the Samnites, now part of the kingdom of Naples, and which produced two citizens, C. Marius and Cicero, who had, each in his turn, preserved Rome from ruin.
The family seat, about three miles from the town, in a situation extremely pleasant, and well adapted to the na- ture of the climate, was surrounded with groves and shady walks, leading from the -house to a river, called Fibrenus ; which was divided into two equal streams by a little island, covered with trees and a portico, contrived both for study and exercise, whither Cicero used to retire, when he had any particular work upon his hands. The clearness and rapidity of the stream, murmuring through a rocky chan- nel; the shade and verdure of its banks, planted with tall poplars ; the remarkable coldness of the water; and, above all, its falling by a cascade into the noble river Liris, a little below the island, form the parts of a scene which Cicero himself has, in several parts of his works, depicted. But there cannot be a better proof of its delightfulness, than that it was afterwards and in very modern times pos- sessed by a convent of monks, and called the Villa of St. Dominic.
He was educated at Rome with his cousins, the young Aculeos, by a method approved and directed by L. Crassus, and placed there in a public school under an eminent Greek master. His father, indeed, discerning the promis-
1 Bi<>£. Dram, — Kees's Cyclopedia.
CICERO. 355
ing genius of his son, spared no expence in procuring the ablest masters ; among whom was the poet .A re hi as, who came to Rome with a high reputation, when Cicero was about five years old ; and who was afterwards defended by Cicero in a most elegant oration, still extant.
After finishing the course of his juvenile studies, he took the manly gown, or the ordinary robe of the citizens, at the accustomed age of sixteen : and being then introduced into the forum, was placed under the care of Q. Mucius Scoevola the augur, the principal lawyer as well as states- man of that age ; and after his death under that of Scaevola, who had equal probity and skill in the law. Under these masters he acquired a complete knowledge of the laws of his country ; which was thought to be of such consequence at Rome, that boys at school learned the laws of the twelve tables by heart, as a school exercise. In the mean time he did not neglect his poetical studies, which he had pur- 'sued under Archias : for he now translated " Aratus on the phenomena of the Heavens,'* into Latin verse, of which many fragments are still extant; and published also an original poem of the heroic kind, in honour of his country- man C. Marius. This was much admired and often read by Atticus ; and old Sca3vola was so pleased with it, that in the epigram, which he seems to have made upon it, he fondly declares, that it would live as long as the Roman name and learning subsisted. But though some have said, that Cicero's poetical genius would not have been inferior to his oratorial, if it had been cultivated with the same diligence, it is more generally agreed that his reputation is least of all indebted to his poetry. He may, however, have been a critic, and it is certain jhat Lucretius sub- mitted his poem to him for correction.
The peace of Rome being now disturbed by a domestic war, which writers call the Italic, Social, or Marsic, Cicero served as a volunteer under Sylla. For though his natural inclination was not much bent on military renown, yet even those who applied themselves to studies and civil affairs at Rome, found it necessary to acquire a com- petent share of military skill, that they might be qualified to govern provinces and command armies, to which they all succeeded of course in the administration of the great offices of state. Cicero's natural disposition, however, led him chiefly to improve himself in those studies which con- duced eventually to the establishment of his high fame
A A 2
356 CICERO.
He was constant in his attendance upon orators and philo- sophers ; resumed his oratorial studies under Molo the Rbodian, one of the ablest of that profession, and is sup- posed to have written those rhetorical pieces on the subject of invention, which he afterwards condemned in his ad- vanced age, as unworthy of his maturer judgment. He also became the scholar of Philo the academic ; studied logic with Diodorus the stoic ; and declaimed daily in Latin and Greek with his fellow students M. Piso and Q. Pompeius, both somewhat older than himself, with whom he had contracted an intimate friendship. And that he might neglect nothing which could any ways contribute to his perfection, he spent the intervals of his leisure with such ladies as were remarkable for their politeness and knowledge of the fine arts, and in whose company his manners acquired a polish. Having now run through all his course of oratory, he offered himself to the bar at the age of twenty-six, and pleaded some causes in a manner which gained him the applause of the whole city, thus be- ginning his career at the same age in which Demosthenes first began to distinguish himself in Athens. Three years afterwards he travelled to Greece and Asia, then the fashionable tour either for curiosity or improvement. His first visit was to Athens, the seat of arts and sciences, where he met with his school-fellow T. Pomponius, who, from his love to and long residence in Athens, obtained the surname of Atticus : and here they revived and con- firmed that memorable friendship which subsisted between them through life, with exemplary constancy. From Athens he passed into Asia, and after an excursion of two years, came back again to Italy.
On his arrival at Rome, after one year more spent at the bar, he obtained the dignity of quaestor. The quaes- tors were the general receivers or treasurers of the repub- lic, and were sent annually into the provinces distributed to them by lot, and Lilybseum, one of the provinces of the island of Sicily, happened to fall to Cicero's share ;. and he acquitted himself so as to gain the love and admiration of all the Sicilians, and in his leisure hours he employed himself very diligently, as he used to do at Rome, in his. rhetorical studies. Before he left Sicily, he made the tour of the island, and at the city of Syracuse discovered the tomb of Archimedes, and pointed it out to the magis- trates, who, to his surprise, knew nothing at all of any such
CICERO. 357
tomb. He came away from Sicily, highly pleased with the success of his administration, and flattering himself that ail Rome was celebrating his praises, and that the people would grant him whatever he should desire. With these hopes he landed at Puteoli, a considerable port ad- joining to Baiie, where .was a perpetual resort of the rich and great ; but here he was not a little mortified by the first friends he met, whose conversation convinced him that his fame was not so extensive as he imagined.
We have no account of the precise time of Cicero's mar- riage with Terentia, but it is supposed to have been cele- brated immediately alter his return from his travels to Italy, when he was about thirty years old. He was now dis- engaged from his quaestorship in Sicily, by which office he had gained an immediate right to the senate, and an actual admission into it during life; and settled again in Rome, where he employed himself constantly in defending the persons and properties of its citizens, and was indeed a general patron. Five years were almost elapsed since Cicero's election to the qusestorship, the proper interval prescribed by law, before he could hold the next office of sedile ; to which he was now, in his thirty-seventh year, elected by the unanimous suffrage of all the tribes. But before his entrance into the office, he undertook the cele- brated prosecution of C. Verres, the late praetor of .Sicily ; who. was charged with many flagrant acts of injustice,, rapine, and cruelty, during his triennial government of that island. This was one of the most memorable trans- actions of his life ; for which he was greatly and justly celebrated by antiquity, and for which he will in all ages be admired and esteemed by the friends of mankind. The public administration was at that time, in every branch of it, most infamously corrupt, and the prosecution of Verres was both seasonable and popular, as it was likely to give some check to the oppressions of the nobility, and admi- nister relief to the distressed subjects. Cicero had no sooner agreed to undertake it, than an unexpected rival started up, one Q,. Caecilius, a Sicilian by birth, who had been quaestor to Verres ; and by a pretence of personal injuries received from him, and a particular knowledge of his crimes, claimed a preference to Cicero in the task of accusing him, or at least to bear a joint share with him. But this pretended enemy was in reality a secret friend, employed by Verres himself to get the cause into his hands
358 CICERO.
in order to betray it : and on the first bearing Cicei'o easily shook off this weak antagonist, rallying his character and pretensions with a great deal of wit and humour, and the cause being committed to Cicero, an hundred and ten days were granted to him by law for preparing the evi- dence; to collect which, he was obliged to go to Sicily, in order to examine witnesses, and facts to support the indictment. Aware that all Verres' s art would be employed to gain time, in hopes to tire out the prosecutors, and allay the heat of the public resentment, he took along with him his cousin L. Cicero, that he might be enabled to finish his
' &
progress the sooner. The Sicilians received him every where with all the honours due to the pains he was taking in their service ; and all the cities concurred in the im- peachment, excepting Syracuse and Messana, with which Verres had kept up a fair correspondence, and which last continued throughout firm in its engagements to him. Cicero came back to Rome, to the surprise of his adver- saries, much sooner than he was expected, with most am- ple proofs of Verres's guilt, but found, what he suspected, a strong cabal formed to prolong the affair by all the arts of delay which interest or money could procure. This suggested to him to shorten the method of the proceeding, so as to bring it to an issue before the present praetor M. Glabrio, and his assessors, whom he considered as impar- tial judges. Instead, therefore, of spending any time in employing his eloquence, as usual, on the several articles of the charge, he only produced his witnesses to be inter- rogated-: whose evidence so confounded Hortensius, though the reigning orator at the bar, and usually styled the King of the forum, that he had nothing to say for his client. Verres, despairing of all defence, submitted immediately, without waiting for the sentence, to a voluntary exile; where he lived many years, forgotten and deserted by all his friends. He is said to have been relieved in this miserable situation by the generosity of Cicero ; yet was proscribed and murdered after all by Marc Antony, for the sake of those fine statues and Corinthian vessels of which he had plundered the Sicilians : " happy only," as Lactan- tius spys, " before his death, to have seen the more de- plorable end of his old enemy and accuser Cicero."
After the expiration of his sedileship, his cousin L. Cicero, the late companion of his journey to Sicily, died ; an event the more unfortunate at this juncture, because he wanted
CICERO. 359
his help in making interest for the prsetorship, for which he now offered himself a candidate. However, such was the people's regard for him, that in three different assem- hlies convened for the choice of praetors, two of which were dissolved without effect, he was declared every time the first proctor, by the suffrages of all the centuries. This year"a law was proposed by Manilius, one of the tribunes, that Pompey, who was then in Cilicia, extinguishing the remains of the piratic war, should have the government of Asia added to his commission, with the command of the Mithridatic war, and of all the Roman armies in those parts. Cicero supported this law with all his eloquence in a speech still extant, from the rostra, which he never mounted till this occasion ; where, in displaying the cha- racter of Pompey, he drew the picture of a consummate general, with great strength and beauty. He was now in sight of the consulship, the grand object of his ambition ; and therefore, when his praetorship was at an end, he would not accept any foreign province, the usual reward of that magistracy, and the usual object with those who held it. So attached indeed was he to a certain path to renown, that amidst all the hurry and noise of his busy life, he never neglected those arts and studies in which he had been educated, but paid a constant attention to every thing which deserved the notice of a scholar and a man of taste. Even at this very juncture, though his ambition was eagerly fixed on the consulship, he could find time to write to Atticus about statues and books. Atticus resided many. years at Athens, where Cicero employed him to buy statues for the ornament of his several villas ; especially his favourite Tusculum, his usual retreat from the hurry and fatigues of the cit}^ Here he had built several rooms and galleries, in imitation of the schools and porticos of Athens ; which he called likewise by their Attic names of the Academy and Gymnasium, and designed for the same use, of philosophical conferences with his learned friends. He had given Atticus a general commission to purchase for him any piece of Grecian art or sculpture, that was elegant and curious, illustrative of literature, or proper for the furniture of his academy ; which Atticus executed to his great satisfaction. Nor was he less eager in collecting Greek books, and forming a library, by the assistance of Atticus, who, having the same taste and free access to all the libraries of Athens, procured copies of the works of their
360 CICERO.
best writers, not only for his own use, but for sale also. Having with much pains made a very large collection of choice and curious books, he signified to Cicero his de- sign of selling them ; yet seems to have intimated that he expected a larger sum for them than Cicero could easily spare ; which induced Cicero to beg of him to reserve the whole number for him, till he could raise money enough for the purchase.
Cicero being now in his forty-third year, the proper age required by law, declared himself a candidate for the con- sulship along with six competitors. The two first were patricians ; the two next plebeians, yet noble ; the two last the sons of fathers, who had first imported the public honours into their families : Cicero was the only new man, as he was called, amongst them, or one born of equestrian rank. Two of them, C. Antonius and Catiline, employed bribery on this occasion in the most shameful manner, but as the election approached, Cicero's interest appeared to be superior to that of all the candidates, and in his case, instead of choosing consuls by a kind of ballot, or little tickets of wood distributed to the citizens with the names of the several candidates severally inscribed upon each, the people loudly and universally proclaimed Cicero the first consul ; so that, as he himself says, " he was not chosen by the votes of particular citizens, but the common suffrage of the city ; nor declared by the voice of the crier, but of the whole Roman people." This year several alter- ations happened in his own family. His father died ; his daughter Tullia was given in marriage at the age of thirteen to C. Piso Frugi, a young nobleman of great hopes, and one of the best families in Rome ; and his son and heir was also born in the same year.
His first care, after his election to the consulship, was to gain the confidence of Antonius, who was elected with him, by the offer of power to his ambition, and money to his pleasures ; and it was presently agreed between them, that Antonius should have the choice of the best province, which was to be assigned to them at the expiration of their year. Immediately after his coming into office, he had occasion to exert himself against P. Servilius Rullus, one of the new tribunes, who had been alarming the senate with the promulgation of an Agrarian law : the purpose of which was, to create a decemvirate, or ten commissioners, with absolute power for five years over all the revenues of
CICERO. 361
the republic, to distribute them at pleasure to the citizens;, &c. These laws used to be greedily received by the po- pulace, and were proposed therefore by factious magis- trates, as oft as they had any point to carry with the mul- titude, so that Cicero's first business was to quiet the ap- prehensions of the city, and to baffle, if possible, the intrigues of the tribune. After defeating him therefore in the senate, he pursued him into the forum ; where he persuaded the people to reject this law. Another alarm was occasioned by the publication of a law of L. Otho, for the assignment of distinct seats in the theatres to the equestrian order, who used before to sit promiscuously with the populace, a very invidious distinction, which might have endangered the peace of the city, if the effects of it had not been prevented by the authority of Cicero.
The next transaction of moment in which he was en- gaged, was the defence of C. Rabirius, an aged senator, in whose favour there is an oration of his still extant. But that which constituted the glory of his consulship, was the suppression of that horrid conspiracy which was formed by Catiline, the model of all traitors since, for the subver- sion of the commonwealth. Catiline was now renewing his efforts for the consulship with greater vigour than ever, and by such open methods of bribery, that Cicero pub- lished a new law against it, with the additional penalty of a ten years' exile. Catiline, who knew the law to be level- led at himself, formed a design to kill Cicero, with some other chiefs of the senate, on the day of election, which was appointed for October 20. But Cicero gave informa- tion of it to the senate, the day before, upon which the election was deferred, that they might have time to deli- berate on an affair of so great importance : and the day following, in a full house, he called upon Catiline to clear himself of this charge; where, without denying or excus- ing it, he bluntly told them,> that " there were two bodies in the republic," meaning the senate and the people, "the one of them infirm with a weak head ; the other firm with- out a head ; which last had so well deserved of him, that it should never want a head while he lived." He had made a declaration of the same kind, and in the same place, a few days before, when, upon Cato's threatening him with an impeachment, he fiercely replied, that, " if any flame should be excited in his fortunes, he would extinguish it, not with water, but a general ruin." These declarations
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startled the senate, and convinced them, that nothing but a desperate conspiracy, ripe for execution, could inspire so daring an assurance :. so that they proceeded immedi- ately to that decree, which was the usual refuge in all cases of imminent danger, " of ordering the consuls to take care that the republic received no harm."
Catiline, repulsed a second time from the consulship, and breathing nothing but revenge, was now eager and impatient to execute his grand plot. He called a council therefore of all the conspirators, to settle the plan of the work, and divide the parts of it among themselves, and fix a proper day for the execution. The number of their chiefs was above thirty-five ; partly of the senatorial!, partly of the equestrian order : the senators were P. Cor- nelius Lentulus, C. Cethegus, P. Autronius, L. Cassius Longinus, P. Sylla, Serv. Sylla, L,. Vargtinteius, Q. Curius, Q. Annius, M. Porcius Lecca, L. Bestia. At a meeting of these it was resolved that a general insurrection should be raised through Italy, the different parts of which were assigned to different leaders : that Rome should be fired in many places at once, and a massacre begun at the same time of the whole senate and all their enemies; that in the consternation of the fire and massacre, Catiline should be ready with his Tuscan army, to take the benefit of the public confusion, and make himself master of the city, where Lentulus in the mean time, as first in dignity, was to preside in their general councils ; Cassius to manage the affair of firing it ; Cethegus to direct the massacre. But the vigilance of Cicero being the chief obstacle to all their hopes, Catiline was very desirous to see him taken off before he left Rome : upon which two knights of the company undertook to kill him the next morning in his bed, in an early visit on pretence of business. They were both of his acquaintance, and used to frequent his house ; and knowing his custom of giving free access to all, made no doubt of being readily admitted, as one of the two after- wards confessed. But the meeting was no sooner over, than Cicero had information of all that passed in it ; for by the intrigues of a woman named Fulvia, he had gained over Curius her gallant, one of the conspirators of sena- torian rank, to send him a punctual account of all their deliberations. He presently imparted his intelligence to some of the chiefs of the city, who were assembled that evening, as usual, at his house ; informing them not only
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of the design, but naming the men who were to execute it, and the very hour when they would he at his gate. All which fell out exactly as he foretold ; for the two knights came before break of day, but had the mortification to find the house well guarded, and all admittance refused to them.
This was the state of the conspiracy, when Cicero de- livered the first of those four speeches which were spoken upon the occasion of it, and are still extant. The meeting of the conspirators was on November 6, in the evening ; and on the 8th he summoned the senate to the temple of Jupiter in the capitol, where it was not usually held but in times of public alarm. Catiline himself, though his schemes were not only suspected, but actually discovered, had the confidence to come to this very meeting, which so shocked the whole assembly, that none of his acquaintance durst venture to salute him ; and the consular senators quitted that part of the house in which he sat, and left the whole clear to him. Cicero was so provoked by his impudence, that instead of entering upon any business, as he designed, he addressed himself directly to Catiline, and laid open the whole course of his villanies, and the notoriety of his treasons. Catiline, astonished by the thunder of his speech, had little to say for himself in answer to it : but as soon as he was got home, and began to reflect on what had passed, perceiving it in vain to dissemble any longer, he resolved to enter into action immediately, before the troops of the republic were increased, or any new levies made : so that after a short conference with Lentulus, Ce- thegus, and the rest, about what had been doncerted at the last meeting, and promising a speedy return at the .head of a strong army, he left Rome that very night with a small retinue, and made the best of his way to Manlius's camp in Etruria; upon which he and Manlius were both declared public enemies by the senate.
In the midst of all this hurry, and soon after Catiline's flight, Cicero found leisure, according to his custom, to defend L. Muraena, one of the consuls elect, who was now brought to a trial for bribery and corruption. Catb had declared in the senate, that he would try the force of Ci- cero's late law upon one of the consular candidates ; and he was joined in the accusation by one of the disappointed candidates, S. Sulpicius, a person of distinguished worth and character, and the most celebrated lawyer of the age ;
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for whose service, and at whose instance, Cicero's law against bribery was chiefly provided. Muraena was unani- mously acquitted : but the parties in this trial were singu- larly opposed to each other. Cicero had a strict intimacy all this while with Sulpicius, whom he had supported in this very contest for the consulship ; and he had a great friendship also with Cato, and the highest esteem of his integrity. Yet he not only defended this cause against them both, but, to take off the prejudice of their authority, laboured even to make them ridiculous ; rallying the pro- fession of Sulpicius as trifling and contemptible, the prin- ciples of Cato as absurd and impracticable, with so much humour and wit, that he not only amused his audience, but forced Cato to cry out, " what a facetious consul have we !" This, however, occasioned no interruption to their friend- ship. Cicero, who survived both, procured public ho- nours for the one, and wrote the life and praises of the other.
In the mean time Lentulus, and the rest of Catiline's associates, who were left in the city, were preparing for the execution of their grand design, and soliciting men of all ranks, who seemed likely to favour their cause. Among the rest they agreed to make an attempt upon the ambas- sadors of the Allobroges ; a warlike, mutinous, faithless people, inhabiting the countries now called Savoy and Dauphiny, greatly disaffected to the Roman power, and already ripe for rebellion. These ambassadors, who were preparing to return home, much out of humour with the senate, and without any redress of the grievances they were sent to complain of, received the proposal at first very greedily; but reflecting afterwards on the difficulty and danger of the enterprise, discovered what they knew to Q. Fabius Sanga, the patron of their city, who immediately gave intelligence of it to the consul. Cicero advised the ambassadors to feign the same zeal which they had hitherto shewn, till they had got distinct proofs against the par- ticular actors in it : and that then upon their leav- ing Rome in the night, they might be arrested with their papers and letters about them. All this was successfully executed, and the whole company brought prisoners to Cicero's house by break of day. Cicero summoned the senate to meet immediately, and sent at the same time for Gabinius, Statilius, Cethegus, and Lentulus ; who all came, suspecting nothing of the discovery. With them, and the
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ambassadors in custody, he set out to meet the senate : and after he had given an account of the whole affair, Vultur- cius, one of the conspirators who was taken with the am- bassadors, was called in to be examined separately ; who soon confessed, that he had letters and instructions from Lentulus to Catiline, to press him to accept the assistance of the slaves, and to lead his army with all expedition to- wards Rome, to the intent that when it should be set on fire in different places, and the general massacre Gegun, he might be at hand to intercept those who escaped, and join with his friends in the city. The ambassadors were examined next; who produced letters to their nation from Lentulus, Cethegus, and Statilius, which so confounded the conspirators, that they had nothing to say. After the criminals were withdrawn and committed to close custody, the senate unanimously resolved that public thanks should be decreed to Cicero in the amplest manner; by whose virtue, council, and providence, the republic was delivered from the greatest dangers. Cicero however thought it prudent to bring the question of their punishment without further delay before the senate, which he summoned for that purpose the next morning. As soon as he had opened the business, Silanus, the consul elect, advised, that those who were then in custody, with the rest who should after- wards be taken, should all be put to death. To this all who spoke after him readily assented, except J. Caesar, then praetor elect, who gave it as his opinion, that the estates of the conspirators should be confiscated, and their persons closely confined in the strong towns of Italy. This had Jike to have been adopted, when Cicero rose up, and made his fourth speech which now remains on the subject of this transaction ; which turned the scale in favour of Silanus's opinion. The vote was no sooner passed, than Cicero re- solved to put it in execution, lest the night, which was coming on, should produce any new disturbance. He went therefore from the senate, attended by a numerous guard ; and taking Lentulus from his custody, conveyed him through the forum to the common prison, where he was presently strangled, as were Cethegus, Statilius, and Gabinius. Catiline in the mean time was enabled to make a stouter resistance than they iuiagined, having filled up his troops to the number of two legions, or about 12,000 fighting men ; but when the account came of the death of Lentulus and the. rest, his army began to desert, and after
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many fruitless attempts to escape into Gaul by long marches and private roads through the Apennines, he was forced at length to a battle ; in which, after a sharp and bloody action, He and all his army were entirely destroyed. Thus ended this famed conspiracy : and Cicero, for the great part he acted in the suppression of it, was honoured with the glorious title of Pater Patria3, which he. retained for a long time after.
Cicero was now about to resign the consulship, accord- ing to custom, in an assembly of the people, and to take the usual oath of having discharged it with fidelity ; which also was generally accompanied with a speech from the expiring consul. He had mounted the rostra, and was ready to perform this last act of his office, when Metellus, one of the new tribunes, would not suffer him to speak, or to do any thing more, than barely take the oath : declaring, that he who had put citizens to death unheard, ought not to be permitted to speak for himself. Upon which Cicero, who was never at a loss, instead of pronouncing the ordi- nary form of an oath, exalting the tone of his voice, swore out aloud, that he had saved the republic and city from ruin : which the multitude below confirmed with an uni- versal shout. Yet he became now the common mark of all the factious, against whom he had declared perpetual war, and who at length drove him out of that city, which he had so lately preserved. He now, however, upon the ex- piration of his consulship, sent a particular account of his whole administration to Pompey, who was finishing the Mithridatic war in Asia ; in hopes to prevent any wrong impression there, from the Calumnies of his enemies, and to draw from him some public declaration in his favour. But Pompey, being prejudiced by Metellus and Caesar, an- swered him with great coldness, and took no notice at all of his services in the affair of Catiline.*
About this time Cicero bought a house of M. Crassus on the Palatine hill, adjoining to that in which he had always lived with his father, and which he is now supposed to have given up to his brother Quintus. The house cost him near 30,000/. and seems to have been one of the noblest in Rome. The purchase of so expensive a house occasioned some censure of Cicero, especially as it was made with borrowed money. This circumstance he himself does not dissemble, but says facetiously upon it, that " he was now
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so plunged in debt, as to be ready for a plot, only tbat tbe conspirators would not trust him."
The most remarkable event that happened in this year, the forty-fifth of Cicero's life, was the pollution of the mysteries of the Bona Dea by P. Clodius ; which, by an unhappy train of consequences, deeply involved Cicero. Clodius had an intrigue with Caesar's wife Pompeia, who, according to annual custom, was now celebrating in her house those awful sacrifices of the goddess, to which no male creature ever was admitted ; and where every thing masculine was so scrupulously excluded, that even male portraits were covered during the ceremony. Clodius, however, eager to witness it, dressed himself in a woman's habit, but was detected before he could execute his pro- ject; and when brought to trial, endeavoured to prove himself absent at the time of the fact ; but Cicero deposed, that Clodius had been with him that very morning at his house in Rome. Ciodius, however, was absolved by a majority of thirty-one to twenty-five of his judges, the ini- quity of which decision, Cicero constantly inveighed against. In revenge for this, about a year after, Clodius endeavoured to get himself chosen tribune, and in that office to drive Cicero out of the city, by the publication of a law, which by some stratagem or other he hoped to ob- trude upon the people. Caesar was at the bottom of the scheme, and Pompey secretly favoured it : not that they intended to ruin Cicero, but to lessen his importance. Cicero affected to treat all this with contempt, sometimes rallying Clodius with much pleasantry, sometimes ad- monishing him with no less gravity ; but it appears to have alarmed him, and to have inclined him to unite himself more closely with Pompey, in hopes of his protection against a storm, which he saw ready to burst upon him.
The first triumvirate, as it has commonly been called, was now formed ; which was in reality a traitorous conspi- racy of three of the most powerful citizens of Rome, Pom- pey, Caesar, and Crassus, to extort from their country by violence, what they could not obtain by law. Cicero might have been admitted a partner in their league : but he would not enjer into any engagements, which he and all the friends of the republic abhorred. Clodius now began to threaten Cicero with all the -terrors of his tribunate, to which he had been chosen without any opposition. Ctesar's
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whole aim was to subdue Cicero's spirit, and force him to A dependence upon him : and therefore while he was pri- vately encouraging Clodius, he vras proposing expedients to Cicero for his security. But though his enemies seemed to gain ground, he was unwilling to owe the obligation of his safety to Caesar, whose designs he always suspected, and whose measures he never approved, and who now therefore resolved to assist Clodius with all his power to oppress him ; while Pompey gave him the strongest as- surances, confirmed by oaths and vows, that he would sooner be killed himself, than suffer him to be hurt. Clo- dius in the mean time was courting the people by several new laws, contrived chiefly for their advantage, that he might introduce with a better grace the banishment of Cicero : which was now directly attempted by a special law, importing, that whoever had taken the life of a citizen uncondemned and without trial, should be prohibited from fire and water. Though Cicero was not named, yet he was marked out by the law : his crime was, the putting Cati- line's accomplices to death ; which, though done by a ge- neral vote of the senate, was alleged to be illegal, and contrary to the liberties of the people. Cicero, finding himself thus reduced to the condition of a criminal, changed his habit upon it, as was usual in the case of a public impeachment ; which, however, was thought an hasty and inconsiderate step, since he was not named in the law, which reached only to those who had taken the life of a citizen illegally : but it seems doubtful whether his taking no notice of it would have saved him, as the com- bination against him was deeply laid. Even Caesar, who affected great moderation, was secretly his adversary ; and Pompey became reserved, and at last flatly refused to help him : while the Clodian faction treated his character and consulship with the utmost derision, and even insulted his person in the public streets. Cicero now called a council of his friends, to decide whether it was best to defend him- self by force, or to save the effusion of blood by retreating till the storm should blow over : and the issue was, that he should submit to a voluntary exile.
As soon as it was known that Cicero was gone, Clodius had influence enough with the populace to procure a law in form against him for putting citizens to death unheard and uncondemned, and confirming his banishment in the usual terms, employed on such occasions. This law having
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passed without opposition, Clodius immediately began to plunder, burn, and demolish Cicero's houses both in the city and the country. The news of this seems to have deprived Cicero of the accustomed firmness of his charac- ter, and of the resignation of one conscious of his inte- grity, and suffering in the cause of his country ; and his friends were forced to admonish him sometimes, to rouse his courage, and remember his former character : yet, in the midst of this affliction, before he had been absent two months, a motion was made in the senate by one of the tribunes,* who was his friend, to recall him, and repeal the law of Clodius, to which the whole house readily agreed t and in spite of the opposition of the Clodian faction, passed a vote, that no other business should be done, till Cicero's return was carried ; which at last it was, and in so splendid and triumphant a manner, that he had reason, he says, to fear, lest people should imagine that he himself had con- trived his late flight, for the sake of so glorious a restora- tion.
Cicero, now in his fiftieth year, was restored to his for- mer dignity, and a compensation made to him for his estates and houses, which last were built up again by himself with more magnificence than before. But he had domestic grievances about this time, which touched him very nearly; arising chiefly from the petulant humour of his wife, which ended at last in a divorce. As to his public concerns, his chief point was how to support his former authority in the city, which it was not easy to do : and, therefore, we find him acting a subservient part, and managing the trium- virate in the best manner he could for the public welfare. In the fifty-sixth year of his age he was sent into Asia, and obliged to assume a new character, that of governor of a province, and general of an army ; which preferments had no charms for Cicero, who, as we have noticed, was averse to them in his early life. However, he acquitted himself ably in administering the civil affairs of his province of Cilicia; nor was he deficient in military affairs, for he had the honour of a supplication decreed to him at Rome, and was not without some expectation even of a triumph.
As to the public news of the year, the grand affair that engagc-ii all people's thoughts was the expectation of a breach between Caesar and Pompey, which seemed to be now in. avoidable, and which Cicero soon learned from his friends, as he was returning from uis province of Cilicia, VOL. IX. B B
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But as he foresaw the consequences of a war more coolly and clearly than any of them, his first resolution was to apply all his endeavours and authority to the mediation of a peace. He-had not yet declared for either side, although his inclination was to follow Pompey ; and while he was endeavouring to remain neuter, he had an interview with Pompey, who, finding him wholly bent on peace, con- trived to have a second conference with him hefore he reached the city, in hopes to prevent any project of an accommodation. Cicero, however, the more he observed the disposition of both parties, the more he perceived the necessity of it ; and that a war must necessarily end in a tyranny of some kind or other. When he arrived at the city, he found the war in effect proclaimed : for the senate had just voted a decree, that Caesar should dismiss his army by a certain day, or be declared an enemy; and Cesar's sudden march towards Rome effectually confirmed it. In the midst of all this hurry and confusion, Caesar was ex- tremely solicitous to prevail with Cicero to stand neuter, but in vain, for Cicero was impatient to be gone to Pom- pey. In the mean time Caesar's letters on the subject afford a striking proof of the high esteem and credit in which Cicero flourished at this time in Rome : when, in a contest for empire, which force alone was to decide, the chiefs on both sides were so solicitous to gain a man to their party, who had no peculiar talents for war. Steadfast to his purpose, he embarked at length for Dyrrhachium ; and arrived safely in Pompey's camp with his son, his bro- ther, and his nephew, committing the fortunes of the whole family to the issue of that cause. But he soon had reason to dislike every thing which they had done, or designed to do ; and saw that their own councils would ruin their cause. In this disagreeable situation he declined all employment ; and finding his counsels wholly slighted, resumed his usual way of raillery, for he was a great jester, and what he could not dissuade by his authority, endeavoured to make ridiculous by his jests. When Pompey put him in mind of his coming so late to them : " How can I come late,'* said he, " when I find nothing in readiness among you ?" and upon Pompey's asking him sarcastically, where his son-in-law Dolabella was ; " He is with your father-in-law," replied he. To a person newly arrived from Italy, and informing him of a strong report at Rome, that Pompey was blocked up by Caesar ; " And you sailed hither therefore," said he»
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*' that you might see it with your own eyes." By the fre* quency of these splenetic jokes, he is said to have provoked Pompey so far as to tell him, " I wish you would go over to the other side, that you may begin to fear us."
After the battle of Pharsalia, in which Pompey was de- feated, Cicero returned to Italy, and was afterwards re- ceived into great favour by Caesar, who was now declared dictator for the second time, and Marc Antony his master of the horse. At his interview with Caesar he had no oc- casion to depart from the dignity of his character, for Caesar no sooner saw him than he alighted, and ran to embrace him, and walked with him alone, conversing very fami- liarly for several furlongs. About the end of the year, Caesar embarked for Africa, to pursue the war against the Pompeian generals, and Cicero, despairing of any good from either side, chose to live retired ; and whether in the city or the country, shut himself up with his books ; which, as he often says, " had hitherto been the diversion only, but were now become the support of his life." In this retreat he entered into a close friendship and correspondence with M. Terentius Varro, who is said to have been the most learned of ali the Romans ; and wrote two of those pieces upon orators and oratory, which are still extant in his works. He was now in his sixty-first year, and having been di- vorced from his* wife Terentia, he incurred both censure and ridicule for marrying a handsome young woman named Publilia, of an age disproportioned to his own, and to whom he was guardian. But at present he was yet more imprudent in frequently hazarding Caesar's displeasure by bis sarcastic remarks. Some of these jests upon Caesar's administration are still preserved, and shew an extraor- dinary want of caution in times so critical. Caesar had advanced Laberius, a celebrated player, to the order of knights ; but when he stepped from the stage to take his place on the equestrian benches, none of the knights would admit him to a seat amongst them. Cicero, however, as he was marching off therefore with disgrace, said, " I would make room for you here on our bench, if we were not already too much crowded :" alluding to Caesar's filling up the senate also with the lowest of his creatures, and even with strangers and barbarians. At another time, being desired by a friend in a public company to procure for his *on the rank of a senator in one of the corporate towns of Italy, « He shall have it," says he, " if you please, at
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Rome ; but it will be difficult at Pompeii." An acquaint- ance likewise from Laodicea, coming to pay his respects to him, and being asked what business had brought him to Rome, said, that he was sent upon an embassy to Caesar, to intercede with him for the liberty of his country : upon which Cicero replied, " If you succeed, you shall be an ambassador also for us." Caesar, it must be allowed, to his honour, preserved such a reverence for his character, that he gave him many marks of personal favour ; and this influence Cicero employed only to screen himself in the general misery of the times, and to serve those unhappy men who were driven from their country and families for the adherence to that cause which he himself had espoused. Cicero was now oppressed by a new affliction, the death of his beloved daughter Tullia ; who died in childbed, soon after her divorce from her third husband Dolabella. She was about thirty-two years old at the time of her death, and was most affectionate to her father. To the usual graces of her sex, she added the more solid accom- plishments of knowledge and polite letters, was qualified to be the companion as well as the delight of his age ; and was justly esteemed not only as one of the best, but the most learned of the Roman ladies. His affliction for the death of this daughter was so great, that lie endeavoured to shun all company by removing to Atticus's house, where h'e lived chiefly in his library, turning over every book he could meet with on the subject of moderating grief. But, rinding his residence even here too public, he retired to Asturia, one ol his seats near Antium, a little island on the Latian shore, at the mouth of a river of the same name, covered with woods and groves, cut out into shady walks ; a scene of all others the fittest to indulge melancholy, and where his whole time was employed in reading and writing. After the death of Caesar, Cicero was freed at once from all subjection to a superior, whose power he perpetually dreaded, and was now without competition the first citizen in Rome, the first in credit and authority both with the senate and people. The conspirators had no sooner killed Caesar in the senate-house, which Cicero tells us he had the pleasure to see, than Brutus, lifting up his bloody dagger, called upon him by name, to congratulate with him on the recovery of their liberty. It is evident from several of his letters, that he had an expectation- of such an attempt; for he prophesied very early, that Caesar's
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reign could not last six months, but must necessarily fall, either by violence, or of itself ; nay farther, he hoped to live to see it; yet it is equally certain that he had no hand in it, nor was at all acquainted with it.
But though the conspiracy had succeeded against Csesar, it drew after it a train of consequences, which, in little more than a year, ended in the destruction not only of the commonwealth, but of even Cicero himself. The detail of all this belongs to history : it may be sufficient here to notice, that when Antony had driven Brutus and Cassuis from Rome, Cicero also left it, not a little mortified to see things take so wrong a turn by the indolence of his friends. In his retreat he had frequent meetings and conferences with his old friends of the opposite party, the late ministers of Caesar's power; among whom were Hirtius, and Pansa, who, if they must have a new master, were disposed, for the sake of Caesar, to prefer his heir and nephew, Octavius, and presented Wim to Cicero immediately upon his arrival, with the strongest professions on the part of the young man, that he would be governed entirely by his direction. Cicero, however, could not be persuaded to enter heartily into his affairs, and when he did consent at last to unite himself to Octavius' s interests, it was with no other view than to arm him with a power sufficient to oppress Antony, and so limited, that he should not be able to oppress the republic.
In the hurry of these politics, he was still prosecuting his studies, and besides some philosophical pieces, now finished his book of Offices, for the use of his son ; a work admired by all succeeding ages, as a perfect system of heathen morality. At the same time, he missed no oppor- tunities to attempt the recovery of the republic, as appears from those memorable Philippics, which he published against Antony; but notwithstanding this struggle in sup- port of expiring liberty, Brutus was disposed at last to throw all the blame upon him, charging him chiefly, that by a profusion of honours on young Caesar, he had inspired him with an ambition incompatible with the safety of the republic, and armed him with that power which he was now employing to oppress it ; whereas the truth is, that by these honours Cicero did not intend to give Caesar any new power, but to apply that which he had acquired by his own vigour to the public service, and the ruin of An- tony ; in which he succeeded even beyond expectation ;
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and would certainly have gained his end, had he not bee'tt prevented by accidents which could not be foreseen.
Octavius had no sooner settled the affairs of the city> and subdued the senate to his mind, than he marched back towards •Gaul to meet Antony and Lepidus, who had al- ready passed the Alps, and brought their armies into Italy, in order to have a personal interview with him ; which had been privately concerted for settling the terms of a triple league, the substance of which was, that the three should fee invested jointly with supreme power for the term of five years, with the title of triumvirs, for settling the state of the republic ; that they should act in all cases by common consent ; nominate the magistrates and governors both at home and abroad, and determine all affairs relating to the public by their sble will and pleasure, &c. The last thing which they adjusted was, the list of a proscription, which they were determined to make of their enemies, consisting of 300 senators and 2000 knights, among whom was Ci- cero, who was at his Tusculan villa when he first received this unexpected news, and immediately set forward towards Asturia, the nearest village which he had upon the sea, where he embarked in a vessel ready for him ; but the winds being unfavourable, he landed at Circaeum, and spent a night near that place in great anxiety and irresolution. This at last ended in his returning to his Formian villa, about a mile from the coast, weary of his life and the sea, and declaring he would die in that country which he had so often saved. Here he slept soundly for several hours, till his slaves forced him into his litter or portable chair, and carried him away towards the ship, having just heard that soldiers were already come into the country in quest of him. As soon as they were gone, the soldiers arrived at the house, and pursuing towards the sea, overtook him in the wood. As soon as they appeared, the servants prepared to defend their master's life at the hazard of their own ; but Cicero commanded them to set him down, and to make no re- sistance. Then looking upon his executioners with great presence and firmness, and thrusting his neck as forwardly as he could out of the litter, he bade them do their work, and take what they wanted. Upon which they cut off his head, and both his hands, and returned with them in all haste and great joy towards Rome, as the most agreeable present which they could carry to Antony. Popilius, the commander of the soldiers, whom Cicero had formerly
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fended In an accusation for a capital crime, charged himself with the conveyance, without reflecting on the infamy of carrying that head which had saved his own. He found Antony in the forum, and upon shewing from a distance the spoils which he brought, he was rewarded upon the spot with the honour or' a crown, and about 8000/. sterling. Antony ordered the head to be fixed upon thd rostra be- tween the two hands ; and, satiated with Cicero's blood, declared the proscription at an end. This barbarous murder was committed Dec. 7, B. C. 43, A. U. C. 710, and in the sixty-fourth year of Cicero's age.
After this long account, which, however, we have abridged from our last edition, little need he added of Cicero's character. It will appear that though he che- rished ambition, he wanted firmness to pursue it. His lot was cast in times unfavourable to his natural temper, which was averse to contention, and he knew not how to regulate his conduct with steadiness in political commotions and civil war. His chief delight was in the society and con- versation of learned men, and his works afford a decisive proof that his excellence lay in the accumulation of learning, and the display of eloquence, in which he can be com- pared only with Demosthenes. Their respective charac- ters have been considered as the two great models on which all eloquence ought to be formed. In all his orations, says a modern critic, his art is conspicuous ; he begins com- monly with a regular exordium ; and with much address prepossesses the hearers, and studies to gain their affections'. His method is clear, and his arguments are arranged with exact propriety. In a superior clearness of method, he has an advantage over Demosthenes. Every thing appears in its proper place. He never tries to move till he has at- tempted to convince ; and in moving, particularly the softer passions, he is highly successful. No one ever knew the force of words better than Cicero. He rolls them along with the greatest beauty and magnificence ; and in the structure of his sentences is eminently curious and exact. He amplifies every tiling ; yet though his manner is generally diffuse, it is often happily varied and accommodated to the subject. When an important public object rouses his mind, and demands indignation and force, he departs considerably from that loose and decla^ matory manner to which he at other times is addicted, and becomes very forcible and vehement. This great orator,
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however, is not without hi? defects. In most of his ora- tions there is too much art, even carried to a degree of ostentation. He seems often desirous of obtaining admi- ration rather than of operating by conviction. He is some- times, therefore, showy rather than solid, and diffuse where he ought to have been. urgent. His sentences are always round and sonorous. They cannot be accused of mono- tony, since they possess variety of cadence; but from too great a fondness for magnificence, he is on some occa- sions deficient in strength. Though the services which he had performed to his country were very considerable, yet he is too much his own panegyrist. Ancient manners, which imposed fewer restraints on the side of decorum, may in some degree excuse, but cannot entirely justify his vanity.
As a philosopher, he rather related the opinions of others than advanced any new doctrines of his own con- ceptions. He attached himself chiefly to the Academic sect, but did not neglect to inform himself of the doctrines of other sects, and discovered much learning and inge- nuity in refuting their dogmas. He was an admirer of the doctrine of the stoics concerning natural equity and civil law, and adopted their ideas concerning morals, although not with servility. The seer to which he was most averse was the Epicurean, but upon the whole, from the general cast of his writings, the Academic sect was best suited to his natural disposition. Through all his philosophical works, he paints in lively colours, and with all the graces of fine writing, the opinions of philosophers; and relates, in the diffuse manner of an orator, the arguments on each side of the question in dispute ; but we seldom find him diligently examining the exact weight of evidence in the scale of reason, carefully deducing accurate conclusions from certain principles, or exhibiting a series of arguments in a close and systematic arrangement. On the contrary, we frequently hear him declaiming eloquently, instead of reasoning conclusively, and meet with unequivocal proofs, that he was better qualified to dispute on either side with the Academics, than to decide upon the question with the Dogmatists, and therefore appears rather to have been a warm admirer and an elegant memorialist of philosophy, than himself to have merited a place in the first order of philosophers.
CICERO. 377
The editions of Cicero's works, in whole, or in parts, are far too numerous to be specified in this place. We may, however, notice among the most curious or valuable: 1. his whole works, first edition, by Minutianus, Milan, 1498—1499, 4 vols. fol. of great rarity and price ; 2. By Paul Manutius, Venice, 1540 — 41> 10 vols. 8vo; 3. By R, Stephens, Paris, 1543, 8 vols. 8vo ; 4. By Lambinus, Paris, 1566, 2 vols. fol.; 5. Elzivir, Leyden, 1642, 10 vols. 8vo; 6. Gronovius, 11 vols. 12mo, and 4 vols. 4to;
7. Verburgius, Amst. 1724, 2 voLs. fol.; 4 vols. 4to;
8. Ernest, Leipsic, 1774, 8 vols. 8vo ; 9. Olivet, Paris, 1740, 9 vols. 4to; Geneva, 1758, 9 vols. and Oxford, 1783, 10 vols. 4to ; 10. Foulis, Glasgow, 1749, 20 vols. 12mo; 11. Lallemande, Paris, 1768, 12 vols. 12mo. For his separate pieces we must refer to Dibdin and Clarke. Most of his productions have been translated into various languages, and several into English, by Melmoth, Guthrie, Jones, and others. Melmoth, as well as Middleton, has written a life of Cicero, both with some degree of par- tiality, but with great ability. *
CICERO (MARCUS), the son of Marcus Tullius Cicero, was born, as has been observed in the foregoing article, in the year that his father obtained the consulship : that is, in the year of Rome 690, and about 64 years before Christ. In his early youth, while he continued under the eye and discipline of his father, he was modest, tractable, and du- tiful ; diligent in his studies, and expert in his exercises : so that in the Pharsalic war, at the age of seventeen, he acquired great reputation in Pornpey's camp. Not long after Pompey's death he was sent to Athens to study under Cratippus; and here first his irregularity of conduct and extravagance of expence made his father uneasy, but he was soon made sensible of his folly, and recalled to his duty by the remonstrances of his friends, and particularly of Atticus; so that his father readily paid his debts, and en- larged his allowance, which seems to have been about 700/. per annum. From this time, all the accounts from the principal men of the place as well as his Roman friends who had occasion to visit Athens, are uniform in 'their praises of him. When Brutus arrived there, he entrusted him, though but twenty years old, with a principal com-
1 Lives as above. — Brucker. — Blair's Lectures. — Saxii Onomast. where are many useful references for information and opinions, respecting Cicero, 3axius has bestowed much pains on this article.
37S C I C E R O.
mand in his army, in which he acquitted himself with great courage and conduct ; and in several expeditions and en- counters with the enemy, where he commanded in chief, always came off victorious. After the battle of Philippi, and the death of Brutus, he escaped to Pompey, who had taken possession of Sicily with a great army, and fleet su- perior to any in the empire. This was the last refuge of the poor republicans, where young Cicero was received again with particular honours ; and continued fighting in the defence of his country's liberty, till Pompey, by a treaty of peace with the triumvirate, obtained, as one of the conditions of it, the pardon and restoration of all the proscribed and exiled Romans, who were then -in arms with him. Cicero therefore took his leave of Pompey, and re- turned to Rome with the rest of his party, where he lived for some time in the condition of a private nobleman, re- mote from all public affairs ; partly through the envy of the times, averse to his name and principles ; partly through choice, and his zeal for the republican cause, which he retained to the last. But here at the same time he sunk into a life of indolence and pleasure, and the intemperate love of wine, which began to be the fashionable vice of this age.
Augustus, however, now made him a priest or augur, as well as one of those magistrates who presided over the coinage of the public money : and no sooner became the sole master of Rome, than he took him for his partner in the consulship : and by these favours to the son, Augustus made some atonement for his treachery to the father. Soon after his consulship, he was made proconsul of Asia, or, as Appian says, of Syria, one of the most considerable provinces of the empire : from which time we find no far- ther mention of him in history. He died probably soon after ; before a maturity of age and experience had given him an opportunity of retrieving the reproach of his in- temperance, and distinguishing himself in the councils of the state. But from the honours already mentioned, it is evident that his life, though blemished by some scandal, yet was not void of dignity ; and, amidst all the vices with which he is charged, he is allowed to have retained his father's wit and politeness.1
» Ibid.— Vallambert's " Hist. M, T, Ciceronis, Marci filii," Pans, 1545, 8v<x
C I G N A N I. 379
CIGNANI (CARLO), an eminent artist, was born at Bo- logna (some say at Rome) in 162S, and was taught his ait by Giovanni Battista Cairo Casalasco ; and afterwards be- came the disciple of Albano, in whose school he appeared with promising and superior talents, but although these, while he studied with Albano, were exceedingly admired, yet, to improve himself still farther in correctness of de- sign, and also in the force and relief of his figures, he studied Raphael, Annibale Caracci, Caravaggio, Correg- gio, and Guido; and combined something of each in a manner of his own. He is accounted very happy in his taste of composition, and excellent in the disposition of his figures; but a judicious writer says, that he was censured for bestowing too much labour on the finishing of his pic- tures, which considerably diminished their spirit; and also for affecting too great a strength of colouring, so as to give his figures too much relief, and make them appear as if not united with their grounds. However well or ill-founded these observations may be, yet through all Europe he is deservedly admired for the force and delicacy of his pen- cil, for the great correctness of his design, for a distin- guished elegance in his compositions, and also for the mel- lowness which he gave to his colours. The draperies of his figures are in general easy and free ; his expression of the passions is judicious and natural ; and there appears a remarkable grace in every one of his figures.
The cardinal San Csesareo passing through Forli, where Cignani at that time resided with his family, desired to have one of his paintings ; and Carlo shewed him a picture of Adam and Eve, which he had painted for his own use, intending to have kept it by him. On viewing that per- formance, the cardinal was so pleased that he gave him five hundred pistoles, and politely told Carlo, that he only paid him for the canvas, and accepted the painting as a present. In the Palazzo Zambeccari, at Bologna, is a Sampson by Cignani, in a noble and grand style ; in the superb col- lection of the duke of Devonshire, there is a picture of Joseph disengaging himself from the immodesty of his Mistress ; and one of the same subject is in the Palazzo Arnaldi, at Florence. Sir Robert Strange, who had two pictures by Cignani, " Bacchanalian Boys," and " Ma- dona with the child and St. John," speaks highly of his ta- lents ; but there was in the Dusseidorp gallery, when sir
380 C I G N A N I.
Joshua Reynolds visited it, an immense picture of the Ascension of the Virgin, which sir Joshua thought heavy, and in no point excellent. Cignani died at Forli, 1719, in his ninety-first year. !
CIMABUE (GIOVANNI), another renowned painter, was born at Florence in 1240, and was the first who revived the art of painting in Italy. Being descended of a noble fa- mily, and of sprightly parts, he was sent to school to study the belles lettres, but he generally betrayed his natural bias by drawing figures upon paper, or on his books. The fine arts having been extinct in Italy, ever since the irrup- tion of the barbarians, the senate of Florence had sent at that time for painters out of Greece. Cimabue was their first disciple, and used to elope from school and pass whole days in viewing their work. His father, therefore, agreed with these Greeks to take him under their care, and he soon surpassed them both in design and colouring. Though he wanted the art of managing his lights and shadows, was but little acquainted with the rules of perspective, and in other particulars but indifferently accomplished, yet the foundation which he laid for future improvement, entitled him to the name of the " father of the first age, or infancy of modern painting."
Cirnabue painted, according to the custom of those times, in fresco and in distemper; the art of painting in oii being not then discovered. He painted a great many pieces at Florence, some of which are yet remaining : but, as his fame began to spread, he was sent for to many remote places, and among the rest to Asceci, a city of Umbria, and the birth-place of St. Francis. There in the lower church, in company with those Greek painters, he painted some of the cieling and the sides of the church, with the stories of the lives of our Saviour and St. Francis ; in all which he so far outdid his coadjutors that he resolved to paint by himself, and undertook the upper church in fresco. Being returned to Florence, he painted for the church of Sancta Maria Novella, where he first went to school, a jpiece of our Lady, which was the largest picture that had been seen in those days, and is still to be seen in good preservation. It then excited so much wonder, that it was carried from Ciinabue's house to the church with trumpets
1 Pilkington.-— D'Argenville, vol. II. — Burges's Lives of Painters.— Reynolds's Works.
C I M A B U E. SSI
before it, and in solemn processibn ; and he was highly re- warded and honoured by the city for it. There is a tra- dition, that while Cimabue was employed on this piece in a garden he had near the gate of St. Peter, Charles of Anjou, king of Naples, came through Florence, where, being received with all possible demonstrations of respect, the magistrates, among other entertainments, carried him to see this piece. And because nobody had yet seen it, all the gentry of Florence waited upon him thither, and with such extraordinary rejoicings, that the name of the place was changed u/Borgo Allegri, that is, the Merry Suburb ; which name it long retained.
Cimabue was also a great architect as well as painter, and concerned in the fabric of Sancta Maria del Fior in Florence ; during which employment he died in 1 300. He left many disciples, and among the rest Giotto, who proved an excellent master, and was his first rival. Dante men- tions him in the eleventh canto of his purgatory as with- out a rival till Giotto appeared. Cimabue's portrait, by Simon Sanese, was in the chapel-house of Sancta Maria Novella. It is a figure which has a lean face,* a little red beard, in point ; witfa a capuche, or monk's hood upon his head, after the fashion of those times. *
C1MAROSA (DoMiNico), an eminent musician and com- poser, was born at Capo di Monte, Naples: he studied music at the couservatorio of Loretto, and was a disciple of the admirable Duronte. He was carefully educated in other respects, and his docility and sweetness of temper, during his youth, gained him the affection of all who knew him. On quitting the conservatorio his talents were soon noticed, and his operas, chiefly comic, became the delight of all Italy. But though he composed for buffo singers, his st}*le was always graceful, never grotesque or capricious. There is an ingenuity in his accompaniments which embellishes the melody of the voice part, without too much occupying the attention of the audience. His operas of " II Pittore Parigino," and " L'ltaliana in Lon- dra," Were carried to Rome, and thence to the principal cities of Italy, wnere their success was so great in 1782 and 1783, that he received an order from Paris to compose a cantata for the birth of the dauphin, which was performed
1 Vasari.— Aglionby's Painting Illustrated, 1685, 4to. — Pilkiugton.
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by a band of more than 100 voices and instruments. In 1784 he was engaged to compose for the theatres and cities which seldom had operas expressly composed for them j bringing on their stage such as were set for great capitals, such as Rome, Naples, Venice, and Milan. By these means the expences of poet and composer were saved. He composed operas likewise at Petersburgh and Madrid, and his success arid fame were more rapid than those of any composer of the last century, except Piccini, and the fame of his comic opera of " L'ltaliana in Londra," seems to have been as extensive as that of the " Buona Figliuola."
Cimarosa, unfortunately for his fame and fortune, mani- fested a partiality for the French during their possession of Naples, which occasioned his disgrace at the court of his patron and natural sovereign, and he narrowly escaped the fate of convicted rebels and traitors. He was, however, allowed to die in his bed in 1801, in the fiftieth year of his age, extremely regretted by the lovers "of music, as an original and exquisite composer, and an amiable man. *
CINCINNATUS (Lucius QUINTIUS), was a celebrated Roman, who was taken from the plough to be consul ; and, a second time, to be dictator, 458 A. C. when the army of the consul, Marcus Minutius, was on the point of being forced in its entrenchments by the -/Equi and Volsci. Cin* cinnatus conquered these enemies, made them pass under the yoke ; and, having triumphed, returned to his plough. He was created dictator a second time when eighty years of age, vanquished the Praenestians, and abdicated twenty- one days after. The time of his death is not known. Front the leading trait in his history, a society was formed in Ame- rica at the close of the revolutionary war in 1783, called the order of the Cincinnati, but it met with some opposi- tion, although it still subsists, principally in the form of a charitable institution. 2
CINELLI (JOHN), a physician at Florence, where he tvas born in 1625, had not only great skill in his profession, but very extensive literary knowlege, and few men were better acquainted with books of rarity and curiosity. He was a member of the academy of Apatisti at Florence, and of the academy of Parrna, and of other learned societies. But he had, unfortunately, the art of creating enemies by
1 Rees's Cyclopaedia, * Roman History, &c.
C I N E L L I. 333
the severity of his censures and personal remarks; and having taken some liberties of this kind in his " Biblioteca volante" with Dr. Moniglia, first physician to Cosmo III. he was sent to prison, and released only on condition of retracting what he had so imprudently advanced. After this, he quitted the dominions of the grand duke, and having travelled over most part of Italy, settled at Loretto, where he practised physic, and where he died in 1706. In 1677 he published the first two parts of his " Biblioteca volante," or fugitive library ; a curious and useful collec- tion of remarks and information respecting rare books, in which he was assisted by the learned Magliabechi, who was his intimate friend. The third, fourth, and fifth parts he published at Naples about the year 1686. The whole was reprinted, with additions by Sancassani, at Venice, 4 vols. 4to, 1734 — 1747. He had a design of publishing an account of Tuscan authors, which we are sorry to find was prevented by his poverty and want of encouragement. The only other publication we know of Cinelli's, was a nevr edition, with improvements, of " Bocchi's Curiosities of Florence," 1677, 8vo. l
CINNAMUS (JOHN), surnamed the Grammarian, was secretary to the emperor Manuel Comnenus in the twelfth century, and served under him in the army. Little else is known of his personal history, unless that he was living when Andronicus Comnenus usurped the throne. He wrote a history of the reigns of the two emperors John and Manuel Comnenus, from 1118 to 1176. Leo Allatius in general praises his style, but blames his frequent use of foreign terms and metaphors. His history was published by Du Cange in Greek and Latin, Paris, 1670, folio. 2
CINO (DA PISTOIA), a celebrated Italian lawyer and poet of the fourteenth century, who usually is known by that name, although he was of the ancient family of the Sinibaldi or Sinibuldi, and his first name was Guittoncino (not Ambrogino, as Le Quadrio says), the diminutive of Guittone, and by abbreviation Cino. Much pains were bestowed on his education, and according to the fashion of the times, he studied law ; but nature had made him a poet, and he cultivated that taste in conjunction with his aca-
* l Diet. Hist. — Moreri. — G^nt. Mag. 1746, p. 293. — Haym Bibliot. Italians, — Morhof Polyhist. but a fuller notice in Fabric, Conspectus Thesauri Litt* Italia. 5 Cave,— Dupin, — Blount's Ceusura.
384 C I N O.
demical exercises. He took his first degree in civil law at Bologna, and in 1 307 was appointed assessor of civil causes ; but at that time was obliged to leave Pistoia, owing to the civil commotions. Cino was a zealous Ghibelin, and was now glad to seek an asylum in Lombardy, whither he fol- lowed his favourite Selvaggia, whose charms he so often celebrates in his poems, but where he had the misfortune to lose her. After her death he travelled for some time in Lombardy, and is thought to have visited P/aris, the uni- versity of which was at that time the resort of many fo- reigners. On his return, however, to Bologna in 1314, he published his " Commentary on the first nine Books of the Code," a very learned work, which placed him among the ablest lawyers of his time, and has been often printed, first at Pavia in 1483; the best edition is that improved by Cisnez, Franefort, 1578. He now took his doctor's degree, ten years after he had received that of bachelor, and his reputation procured him invitations to become law-pro- fessor, an office which he filled for three years at Trevisa, and for seven years at Perugia. Among his pupils in the latter place was the celebrated Bartolo, who studied under him six years, and declared that he owed his knowledge entirely to the writings and lessons of Cino. From Perugia he went to Florence, but his reputation was confined to the civil law. At this time the canonists and legists were sworn enemies, and Cino, not only in his character as a legist, but as a Ghibelin, had a great aversion to decretals, canons, and the whole of papal jurisprudence. It is not true, how- ever, as some have asserted, that he taught civil law to Petrarch, or canon law to Boccaccio, although he commu- nicated with Petrarch on poetical matters, and exhibited to him a style which Petrarch did not disdain to imitate.
Cino was professor at Florence in 13. '54, when he was appointed gonfalonier at Pistoia, where his party had gained the ascendancy ; but either from a partiality for his present situation, or some other motive, he declined accepting the honour. We find him, however, on his return to his na- tive country, when he was seized with a disorder which proved fatal in 1336, or the beginning of 1337, and not, according to Tiraboschi, in 1341, leaving, as his biographer says, two reputations which long subsisted without injuring one another, that of one of the revivers of civil jurispru- dence, and one of the founders of Italian poetry. It is ia
C I N O. 385
the latter character that his fame has been of longest dura- tion, and in which he has been praised by Dante, and more abundantly by Petrarch, who chose him for one of his models. Modern critics, however, have discovered among many beauties, an occasional flatness and obscurity in some of his poetical pieces. They were first printed at Rome in 1559, and reprinted thirty years after with a second part, and are in several collections. l
CIPRIANI (JOHN BAPTIST), an eminent artist, claimed by the English school, from England being so long the theatre of his art, was born at Pistoia, about the year 1727. He received his first instructions from an English artist of the name of Heckford (who had settled in that city), and afterwards went under the tuition of Gabbiani, by the study of whose works he became a vigorous designer. Italy pos- sesses few of his pictures, but Lanzi mentions two, painted for the abbey of St. Michele, in Pelago, in the neighbour- hood of Pistoia ; the one of St. Tesauro, the other of Gre- gory VII. In 1750 he went to Rome, where he had much employment, but chiefly in drawing; and in August 1755 came to England with Mr. Wilton and sir William Cham- bers, who were then returning from the continent. His reputation having preceded him, he was patronized by lord Tilney, and the late duke of Richmond, and other noble- men. When, in 1758, the duke of Richmond opened the gallery at his house in Privy- garden as a school of art, Wilton and Cipriani were appointed to visit the students ; the former giving them instructions in sculpture, and the latter in painting; but this scheme was soon discontinued. At the foundation of the Royal Academy, ,Cipriani was chosen one of the founders, and was also employed to make the design for the diploma, which is given to the acade- micians and associates at their admission. For this work, which he executed with great taste and elegance, the pre- sident and council presented him with a silver cup, "as an acknowledgment for the assistance the academy received from his great abilities in his profession." The original drawing of this diploma was purchased at the marquis of Lansdovvne's sale of pictures, drawings, &c. in 1806 for thirty-one guineas by Mr. G. Baker.
Among other avocations, he was employed to clean and repair the pictures of Rubens, in the ceiling of Whitehall
» Gen. Diet.— Ginjfuenfc Hist. Litt, d'ltalie.— Tiraboschi.
VOL. IX. Cc
386 CIPRIANI.
chapel, which he completed with great success in 1778. He had before repaired the paintings of Verrio at Windsor, assisted by Mr. Ricnards ; and there is a ceiling at Buck- ingham house, in the antique style, the compartments of which he painted. We may also notice a room, decorated with poetical subjects, in the house of the late sir William Young at Standlynch in Wiltshire. Some of the few pic- tures he left are at the seat of Mr. Coke, at Holkham, and four are in the ceiling in the library of the Royal Academy. But his greatest excellence was in his drawings, where Mr. Fuseli says, the fertility of his invention, the graces of his composition, and the seductive elegance of his forms, were only surpassed by the probity of his character, the sim- plicity of his manners, and the benevolence of his heart. These designs were disseminated over all Europe by the graver of Francis Bartolozzi and his pupils, and bought up with avidity. He died Dec. 14, 1785, and was buried in the cemetery at Chelsea, adjoining the King's road. He left two sons. '
CIRILLO (DOMINICK), nephew to Nicolas Cirillo, a Nea- politan physician of considerable eminence, was born at Naples .in 1730, and liberally educated. His principal study was medicine, as a profession ; but his inclination led him more particularly to natural history ; and at the age of thirty he was appointed botanical professor at Na- ples. In 1761, he published his " Introductio ad Botani- cam," which in the then state of botany was considered as a useful book. In the mean time, his knowledge of the English language made him be consulted by all visitors from that nation, and among others by lady Wai pole, who engaged him to accompany her to England, as her travel- ling physician ; and here he attended Dr. Hunter's, and probably other medical lectures. On his return he pub- lished his "Nosologiae methodicse rudimenta," 1780 ; and in 1784 another work, " De essentialibus nonnullarum plantarum characteribus," which was followed by other bo- tanical treatises, learned, but badly written, his Latin and Italian style being both ungrammatical and uncouth. His most splendid work was an account of the " Papyrus," printed by Bodoni in 1796, and this was his last. He soon caught the delusion of French liberty ; and when the French army entered Naples, he not only joined them,
* Echrards's Supplement to Walfcolp.— Pilkingtojt.
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but was appointed a functionary, for which treasoiij on the restoration of the lawful government, he was executed in 1799. 1
CISNER (NICHOLAS), whom we have just mentioned as the editor of Cino da Pistoia's works, was a learned Lutheran, born at Mosbach in the Palatinate, March 24, 1529. He studied at Heidelberg, and took his master's degree in 1547, and afterwards taught the Aristotelian philosophy and mathematics. To improve himself farther he went to Strasburgh, where Bucer, the celebrated re- former, and his relation, instructed him in the principles of the reformation, and where he was confirmed in them by studying divinity under Lutheran professors. The fame of Melancthon induced him next to visit him at Wittemberg, whence he returned in 1552 to Heidelberg, and was ap- pointed by the elector Frederic to the chair of professor of moral philosophy. He also lectured on Aristotle's Ethics and Cicero " De Finibus, until in 1553, the plague break- ing out, he went to France- and Italy ; and was m>ade doctor of laws at Pisa in 1559. The same year he returned to Heidelberg, where he was appointed professor of the Pandects, and counsellor to the elector Palatine Frederic III. Some time after he succeeded Baudoin as professor of civil law; ancfin 1563 he filled the office of rector of the university of Heidelberg, and several -other honourable situations under the elector Lewis. He died at Heidel- berg March G, 1583. The principal of his original works were published in a thick octavo of 1031 pages, with a life by the editor Reuter, under the title of u N. Cisneri, &c. opuscula historica et politico-philologica, distributa in libros quatuor," Francfort, 1611. This contains twenty- three treatises, on subjects of history, philology, biography, &c. besides poems and letters. He published also some works on law, and was editor, as we have noticed, of the works of Cino da Pistoia, of Aventinus's annals, Albert Krantz's " Saxonia," Duarenus's works, 1578, 2 vols. folio, and of " Simonis Chardii Scriptores rerum Germanicarum," Basil, 1574, 4 vols. folio.2 ,*
C1VOLE, orCIGOLI. See CARDI.
CLAGETT (NICHOLAS), an English divine, was born in Canterbury about the year 1607, and in 1628 was entered a student of Merton-college, in Oxford, where in October
1 Diet. Hist. * Moreri. — Niceron, vol. XXI L
CC 2
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1 63 1, he took his degree of B. A. Afterwards he remoYed to Magdalen-hall, and took his degree of M. A. in June 1634, being then generally esteemed a very able mode- rator in philosophy. About 1636 he became vicar of Mel- bourne, in Dorsetshire ; and some years after was elected preacher at St. Mary's church, in St. Edmundsbury, Suf- folk, where he was held in great veneration for his edifying manner of preaching, and for his singular piety. He died Sept. 12, 1663, and was buried in the chancel of St. Mary's Church, before mentioned. He published, " The Abuses of God's Grace, discovered in the kinds, causes, &c. pro- posed as a seasonable check to the wanton libertinism of the present age," Oxon. 1659, 4to. Though he was a man eminent in himself, he was more so for being the fa- ther of the two following divines.1
CLAGETT (WILLIAM), eldest son of the preceding, was born at St. Edmundsbury, in Suffolk, September 14, 1646, and educated in the free-school there, under the care of Dr. Thomas Stephens, author of the notes on Sta- tius's Sylvse, who took very early notice of the promising parts of his scholar. Before he was full thirteen years of age, he was admitted a pensioner in Emanuel-college, in Cambridge, September 5, 1659, under the tuition of Mr. Thomas Jackson, where he took his degree of A. B. 1663, A.M. 1667, and commenced D. D. in 1683. He was then chosen one of the preachers of St. Edmundsbury, which office he discharged for seven years with universal reputation. From thence, at the instance of some con- siderable men of the long robe, whose business at the as- sizes there gave them opportunities of being acquainted with his great worth and abilities, he was thought worthy by the society of Gray's-inn, to succeed the eminent Dr. Cradock, as their preacher, which he continued to be all the remaining part of his life, much to the satisfaction of the society. He was also presented by the lord keeper North (who was his wife's kinsman) to the rectory of Farn- ham-royal, in Buckinghamshire, into which he was insti- tuted May 14, 1683 ; but what he most valued next to his preacher's place at Gray's-inn, was the lectureship of St. Michael Bassishaw, to which he was elected by that parish about two years before his death. He was also chaplain in ordinary to his majesty. He was cut off, however, in the prime of life. He was seized with the small-pox on a
1 Ath. Cx. vol. II.— Biog. Brit.
C L A G E T T. 389
Sunday evening, March the 16th, after having preached at St. Martin in the Fields, in his Lent course there; and died March 28, 1638. He was buried in a vault under part of the church of St. Michael Bassishaw, in the grave with his wife, Mrs. Thornasin North, a most virtuous and accomplished woman, who died eighteen days after him, of the s.iine disease. We are assured by the testimony of Dr. Sharp, that no man of a private condition, in the last age, died more lamented, and his private virtues .and public services are spoken of by all his contemporaries iu the highest terms. Bishop Burnet ranks him among those worthy and eminent men whose lives and labours in a great measure rescued the church from those reproaches that the follies of others drew upon it; nor ought it to be for- gotten, that he was one of those excellent divines who made that noble stand against popery in the reign of king James II. which will redound to their immortal honour. The several things published by Dr. Clagett, are as fol- lows : 1. " A Discourse concerning the Operations of the Holy Spirit ; with a confutation of some part of Dr. Owen's book upon that subject," Part I. Lond. 1677, 8vo ; Part II. Lond. 1680, 8vo. In this second part there is an an- swer to Mr. John Humphreys's Animadversions on the first Part. The author intended a third part, proving that the Fathers were not on Dr. Ovven's side, which was burnt by an accidental fire, and the author never found leisure to re-write it. We are not of opinion, however, that what is published ranks among his most successful performances. In 1719 Dr. Stebbing published an abridgment of the two parts mentioned above. 2. " A Reply to a pamphlet called The Mischief of Impositions, by Mr. Alsop, which pre- tends to answer the dean of St. Paul's (Dr. Stiilingfleet's) Sermon concerning the Mischief of Separation," Lond. 1681, 4to. 3. " An Answer to the Dissenters' Objections against the Common Prayers, and some other parts of the divine service prescribed in the Liturgy of the Church of England," Lond. 1683, 4to. 4. " The Difference of the Case between the Separation of Protestants from .the Church of Rome, and the Separation of Dissenters from the Church of England," Lond. 1683, 4to. 5. " The State of the Church of Rome when the Reformation be- gan, as it appears by the advices given to pope Paul III. and Julius III. by creatures of their own." 6. "A Dis- course concerning the Invocation of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints," Lond. ^686, 4to. 7. " A Paraphrase,
390 C L A G E T T.
with notes, upon the sixth Chapter of St. John, shewing that there is neither good reason, nor sufficient authority to suppose that the Eucharist is discoursed of in that chapter, much less to infer the doctrine of Transubstan- tiation from it." Lond. 1686, 4to. Reprinted in 1689, 8vo, at the end of his second volume of sermons. 8, " Of the Humanity and Chanty of Christians. A Sermon preached at the Suffolk Feast, at St. Michael, Cornhill, London, November 30, 1686." 9. " A Discourse con- cerning the pretended Sacrament of Extreme Unction, &.c." in three parts. " With a letter to the Vindicator of the bishop of Condom,1' Lond. 1687, 4to. 10. "A se- cond letter to the Vindicator of the bishop of Condom," Lond. 1637, 4to. 11. "Authority of Councils, and the Rule of Faith, with an answer to the Eight Theses laid down for the Trial of the English Reformation." The first
part, about Councils, by Hutchinson, esq. the rest
by Dr. Clagett, 4to. 12. " Notion of Idolatry considered and confuted/' Lond. 1688. 13. " Cardinal Bellarmine's seventh note, of the Union of the Members among them- selves, and with the Head." 14. " His twelfth note, Of the Light of Prophecy, examined and confuted." 15. "A View of the whole Controversy between the Representer and the Answerer ; in which are laid open some of the methods by which Protestants are misrepresented by Pa- pists," Lond. 1687, 4to. 16. " An Answer to the Repre- senter's Reflections upon the State and View of the Con- troversy. With a Reply to the Vindicators full Answer ; shewing that the Vindicator has utterly ruined the new design of expounding and representing Popery," London, J688, 4to. 17. " Several captious Queries concerning the English Reformation, first in Latin, and afterwards by T. W. in English, briefly and fully answered," Lond. J688, 4to. 18. *f A Preface concerning the Testimony of Miracles, prefixed to The School of the Eucharist estab- lished upon the miraculous respects and acknowledgements, which Beasts, Birds, and Insects, upon several occasions, have rendered to the Sacrament of the Altar." Translated by another hand, from the original French of F. Toussain Bridoul, a Jesuit," Lond. 1687, 4to. Besides these, after his decease, his brother, Mr. Nicolas Ciagett, published four volumes of his sermons: the first in 1689, contained se- venteen sermons; one of which was greatly admired by queen Mary, who desired to have it read more than once during her last illness : Text, Job ii. 10. The second vo-,
C L A G E T T, 391
lume, printed in 1693, contained eleven sermons; a Para- phrase and Notes upon the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth Chapters of the Gospel of St. John. The Paraphrase, and Notes on the sixth Chapter, which had been published before: A Discourse of Church- Unity, with Directions now, in this divided State of Christendom, to keep within the Unity of the Church : A Discourse of Humanity and Charity : And a Letter concerning Protestants Charity to Papists ; published by Dr. Clagett. The third and fourth voluau-s did not come out till 1720, at so great a distance of tune from the two former volumes, that the booksellers would not call them the third and fourth volumes, but the first and second volumes, as well as the former; only no- tice was given, that they were never before published.1
CLAGETT (NICOLAS), younger brother to the pre- ceding, was born in May 1654, and educated in the free- school of Bury St. Edmund's, under Mr. Edward Leeds, a Greek scholar of considerable eminence. He was ad- mitted of Ciirist's-college, Cambridge, January 12, 1671, under the tuition of Dr. Widdrington, and regularly took his degrees in arts, and in 1704 commenced D. D. Upon his brother's removal to Gray's- inn, he was elected in his room, March 21, 1680, preacher at St. Mary's, in St. Ed- mundsbury. In this station, which he held near forty-six years, he was a constant preacher, and diligent in every other part of his ministry. On the first of February, 1683, he was instituted to the rectory of Thurlo parva. Dr. John Moore, then bishop of Norwich, who was well acquainted with his merit and abilities, collated him on the 14th of June, 1693, to the archdeaconry of Sudbtfry ; and in March J 707, he was instituted to the rectory of Hitchain, in Suf- folk. This eminent divine, extremely valued and re- spected on account of his exemplary charity and other virtues, died January 27, 1726-7, in the seventy-third year of his age, and was buried in the chancel of the parish church of St. Mary's, in St. Edmundsbury. Among other children, he had Nicolas, afterwards bishop of Si. David's, and of Exeter, who died Dec. 8, 1746. Dr. Clagett published some occasional sermons, a pamphlet entitled " A Persuasive to an ingenuous Trial of Opinions in Religion," Lond. 1685, 4to, and a volume entitled " Truth defended, and Boldness in Error rebuked ; or,
» Bio?. Brit. — Life prefixed to Sermons.— -Burnet'* Own Timcs.-»Cole'» MS. Atheuoe in Brit. Mus.
392 C L A G E T T.
a Vindication of those Christian Commentators who have expounded some Prophecies of the Messias not to be meant only of him. Being a Confutation of part of Mr. Whiston's book, entitled, The Accomplishment of Scripture Pro- phecies; wherein he pretends to disprove all duplicity of sense in prophecy. To which is subjoined, an Examina- tion of his hypothesis, That our Saviour ascended up into Heaven several times after his Resurrection. And in both, there ar,e some remarks upon other Essays of the said author, as likewise an Appendix and a Postscript. With a large Preface," Lond. 1710, 8vo. l
CLAIRAULT (ALEXIS CLAUDE); a celebrated French mathematician and academician, was born at Paris, May 13, 1713, and died May 17, 1765. His father, a teacher of the mathematics at Paris, who was his sole instructor, taught him even the letters of the alphabet on the figures of Euclid's Elements, by which he was able to read and write at four years of age, and by. a similar stratagem calculations were rendered familiar to him. At nine years of age he put into his hands Guisnee's " Application of Algebra to Geo- metry ;" at ten he studied 1'HopitaPs " Conic Sections;*1 and between twelve and thirteen, he read a memoir to the academy of sciences, concerning four new geometrical curves of his own invention. About the same time he laid the first foundation of his work upon curves that have a double curvature, which he finished in 1729, at sixteen years of age. He was named adjoint-mechanician to the academy in 1731, at the age of eighteen, associate in 1733, and pensioner in 1738. During his connection with the academy, he sent a great multitude of learned and in- genious communications to their Memoirs, from 1727, almost every year, to 1762, and wrote several other works, which he published separately, as, 1. "On Curves of a Double Curvature," in 1730, 4to. 2. " Elements of Geo- metry,'* 1741, 8vo. 3. " Theory of the- Figure of the Earth," 1743, 8vo. 4. " Elements of Algebra," 1746, 8vo. 5. "Tables of the Moon," 1754, 8vo. 2
CLARE or CLARA (ST.), the founder of the Clares, an order of nuns so called from her, was born at Assisi, in 1 193, and was a model of piety and devotion from her in- fancy, according to her biographers, whose account is certainly a model of credulity and superstition. Her pa-
1 Biog. Brit.
* Hution's Dictionary. — Montucla Hist, de Math, by La Lande, vol. IV. — Diet. Hist.
CLARE. 393
rents were persons of rank, from whom in 1212 she ran away, and went to St. Francis, who cloathed her in his hahit, a piece of sackcloth tied about her with a cord, and sent her to a Benedictine nunnery, and from this epoch the poor Clares date their foundation. She was next placed by St. Francis in a new house of nuns, of which she was appointed the superior, and which was soon crowded with devotees of rank. This female community practised austerities, " of which," we are toKi, " people in the world have hardly any conception." They not only went with- out shoes and stockings, lay on the groiuul, and kept per- petual abstinence, but were enjoined profound silence, unless in cases of the greatest necessity. Pope Innocent IV* in 1251, confirmed to this order the privilege of po- verty, without any property in common. St. Clare's abs- tinence and mortifications brought her into a miserable state of disease, from which she was released Aug. 11, 1253, and was buried the day following, on which her festival is kept. Alexander IV. canonized her in 1255. The nuns of St. Clans are divided into Damianists and Urbanists. The former follow the rule given by St. Francis to St. Clare ; the latter are mitigated, and follow the rules given by Urban IV. From their name, Minoresses, sometimes given them, our Minories near Aldgate, is derived, where they had a nunnery from the year 1293.1
CLARIDGE (RICHARD), a writer of eminence among the Quakers, was born at Farmborough, in Warwickshire, in 1649, and after school-education, in which he made con- siderable proficiency, was entered of BalioUcollege, Ox- ford, in 1666, but removed to St. Mary-hall, where he took bis bachelor's degree in 1670. He soon after received ordination, and in 1673 was presented to the rectory of Peopleton, in the county of Worcester, although it does not appear that he took his master's degree until 1676. At Peopleton he lived in good esteem, and was accounted an energetic preacher, but after several years, he entertained many serious scruples, not only on the subject of personal religion, which he was afraid he had recommended to others, while a stranger to it himself, but also respecting certain doctrines and ceremonies of the church of England ; and these scruples dwelt so strongly on his mind, that after much deliberation, he voluntarily resigned his benefice in 1691, a step which must have been conscientious, as hi-s
1 Butler's Lives of UrcSaiuts.
394 C L A R I D G E.
living was of considerable emolument, and after quitting it, he does not appear to have possessed any certain in- come. The same year he joined himself in communion with the Baptists, after submitting to their mode of ini- tiation. An incident on this occasion made a lasting im- pression on his mind. Immediately after the ceremony of baptism, while his wet clothes were still upon him, a person accosted him thus, " You are welcome, sir, out of one form into another." But, although this struck him for- cibly at the time, it led to no sudden alteration, and he continued for some years in connection with the baptists ; till at length his desires after what he conceived to be greater spirituality in religion, induced him to leave their communion ; and having adopted the principles of the Quakers, he became one of their society about 1697. With the Quakers he continued in religious fellowship the re- mainder of his life, and was a well-approved minister amongst them. In 1700 he removed from London, where he had some time resided, to Barking, in Essex. At Barking, and afterwards at Tottenham, in Middlesex, he kept a boarding-school for several years, but in the latter place he met with difficulty from a suit commenced against him. under the Stat. 1 Jac. 1. for teaching school without
' ^
license from the bishop of the diocese. The cause came to be tried in the court of king's-bench, before lord chief justice Holt, who at the same time that he discountenanced the 'prosecution, declined determining whether the de- fendant was within the reach of the Act, and directed the jury to return a special verdict; upon which the adverse party thought proper not to proceed any further, and Cla- ridge continued his useful occupation unmolested. In 1713, finding his health decline, and having a competency for his subsistence, he gave up the employment of school- keeping, and returned into London, where he appears to have passed serenely, but not inactively, the remainder of his time, and where he died, in 1723, in the seventy- fourth year of his age. In his last illness, which was short, " he expressed," says his biographer, " his peace and sa- tisfaction of soul, and an humble resignation to the will of God." He left some descendants, the children of a daughter who died before him.
In private life Pvlr. Claridge was a man of very estimable character, and his services to the religious society whose principles he finally espoused, are considered eminent, both as a minister and author. Amongst his writings in
C L A R I D G E. 395
explanation and defence of their principles are, " Lux Evangelica attestata," and " Melius inquirendum," both, controversial ; the former in answer to Keith, the latter to Cockson ; also a Treatise concerning the Holy Scriptures, under the title of " Tractatus Hierographicus." This last was not printed until after his decease. Several others of his Tracts were also not published by himself, but ap- peared in his " Life and Posthumous Works," an 8vo vo- lume, printed in 1726. The " Life" is from the pen of his friend Joseph Besse. The " Works" comprise, be- sides some less considerable pieces, Essays on the fol- lowing subjects: Baptism and the Supper; the Doctrine of the Trinity ; the Doctrine of Satisfaction ; Tithes ; and, Liberty of Conscience. As a writer, Claridge is said to be methodical and perspicuous, and in his style to have apparently made it his aim to adapt himself to readers in general, by the use of received terms. His works have been repeatedly quoted by the Quakers of the present day, when engaged in vindicating their society from the charge of Socinianism. *
CLARIUS or CLARIO (IsiDORUS), one of the most learned divines in the sixteenth century, was born at the castle of Chiaria, near Brescia, 1495. He entered among the religious of Mount Cassino, and appeared with great distinction at the council of Trent. Paul III. gave him the archbishopric of Fuligno, where he died May 28, 1555, aged sixty, in great reputation for sanctity. He left: " Scholia in Biblia," Venice, 1564, fol. " Scholia in N. Test." 1544, 8vo, two learned and very useful works, for correcting the text of the Vulgate, and explaining dif- ficult passages in the Scripture; one tblip volume of Latin Sermons, and two in 4to. His Letters, with two " Opus- cula," vyere published at Modena, 1705, 4to. 2
CLARK'E (Dr. ALURED), an English divine, who de- serves to be recorded among the benefactors of mankind, was the son of Alured Clarke, gent, by Ann, the fourth daughter of Charles Trimnell, rector of Abbots Riptou in Hampshire, and a sister or the bishop of Winchester of that name. He was born in 169C; and alter receiving his early education at St. Paul's school, was admitted pen- sioner in Corpus Christi college, Cambridge, April 1, 1713, where after taking the degree of A. B. he was made fellow in 1718, and proceeded A.M. two years after. At thU
* Life as above, — Private Communication. * Dupin.— »MorerK
396 CLARKE.
early age hfc became a candidate with Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Ward, tor the professorship of rhetoric in Gresham college, but without success. In May 1723, he was collated to the rectory of Chilbolton in Hampshire, and installed preben- dary of Winchester on the 23d of that month. He was appointed one of the chaplains in ordinary to king George I. and continued in the same dignity in the subsequent reign, when George II. on his visit to Cambridge in April 1728, honoured him with the degree of D. D. and promoted him to a prebend in the church of Westminster, in which he was installed May 8, 1731 ; being then one of the deputy clerks of the closet. As a farther mark of the royal favouiy his majesty advanced him to the deanery of Exeter May 12, 1740; but he did not enjoy this long, being always of an infirm and weak constitution, which was worn out before he had completed his forty-sixth year. He died May 31, 1742, and was interred without any monument in West- minster.
His printed works are few, consisting only of four occa- sional sermons, and an " Essay," published in 1738, " towards the character of queen Caroline," whom he highly reverenced, and with whom he had long been a considerable favourite. By some this Essay has been given to lord Hervey, but Mr. Masters was assured it was Dr. Clarke's.
As a man, his character stands very high. He is said to have spent the whole surplus of his annual income in works of hospitality and charity ; and determined with himself never to have in reserve, how great soever his revenue might be, more than a sum sufficient to defray the ex- pences of his funeral. The most remarkable instance of his active benevolence was in the case of the sick hospital at Winchester. Its institution, which was the first of the kind in England, those of the metropolis only excepted, owes its existence chiefly to the industry and indefatigable zeal of Dr. Alured Clarke, who in 1736 recommended the scheme to the public by every art of persuasion, and was so successful, that the first annual subscription amounted to upwards of 600/. And when the greafutiiity of such a foundation became more apparent, its revenue soon in- creased to upwards of a thousand pounds per ann. and in- stitutions of a like nature were in a short time established throughout the kingdom. The orders and constitutions of Winchester infirmary were drawn up by Dr. Clarke, and
CLARKE. 397
are a proof of great wisdom in a branch of political ceco- nomy, at that time very little understood. He began a similar institution upon his removal to Exeter, (where he had, with his usual liberality, expended a large sum of money upon the repair of his deanry house), but did not live long enough to see his laudable design fully executed. Dr. Clarke's brother, Charles Clarke, esq. applied to the study of the law, in which he acquired great eminence, and was nominated one of the barons of the Exchequer in 1742. In the execution of this office, he caught the in- fectious disorder at the Old Bailey sessions in 1750, which proved at the same time fatal to the lord mayor, sir Samuel Pennant, sir Daniel Lambert, sir Thomas Abney, and others in court. Baron Clarke died in May, and was buried at Godmanchester. One of his sons is the present sir Alured Clarke, K. B. '
CLARKE (JEREMIAH), an English organist and compo- ser of church music, was educated in the Chapel Royal, under Dr. Blow, who seems to have had a paternal affection for hir». In 1693 he resigned, in his favour, the place of master of the children and almoner of St. Paul's, of which cathedral Clarke was soon after likewise appointed organist. In 1700 Dr. Blow and his pupil were appointed gentlemen extraordinary in the King's chapel; of which, in 1704, on the death of Mr. Francis Pigoot, they were jointly admitted to the place of organist. The compositions of Clarke are not numerous, as an untimely aud melancholy end was put to his life before his genius had been allowed time to expand. Early in life he was so unfortunate as to conceive a violent and hopeless passion for a very beautiful lady of a rank far superior to his own ; and his sufferings, under these cir- cumstances, became at length so intolerable, that he re- solved to terminate them by suicide. The late Mr. Samuel Wiley, one of the lay-vicars of St. Paul's, who was very intimate with him, related the following extraordinary story. " Being at the house of a friend in the country, he found himself so miserable, that he suddenly determined to return to London : his friend, observing in his behaviour great marks of dejection, furnished him with a horse, and a servant to attend him. In his way to town, a fit of me- lancholy and despair having seized him, he alighted, and
» Masteis'a Hist, of C. C. C. C. — History of Winchester — Gent. Ma«f. LXII. p. 1221 ; and for one of his Sermons see vol. II. p. 535. £06.
398 CLARK E.
giving his horse to the servant, went into a field, in the corner of which there was a pond surrounded with trees, which pointed out to his choice two ways of getting rid of life ; but not being more inclined to the one than the other, he left it to the determination of chance; and taking a piece of money out of his pocket, and tossing it in the air, •determined to abide by its decision ; but the money falling on its edge in the clay, seemed to prohibit both these means of destruction. His mind was too much disordered to receive comfort, or take advantage of this delay ; he therefore mounted his horse and rode to London, deter- mined to find some other means of getting rid of life. And in July 1707, not many weeks after his return, he shot himself in his own hotise in St. Paul's church -yard ; the late Mr. John Reading, organist of St. Dunstan's church, a scholar of Dr. Blow, and master of Mr. Stanley, inti- mately acquainted with Clarke, happening to go by the door at the instant the pistol went off, upon entering the house, found his friend and fellow-student in the agonies of death." /
The anthems of this pathetic composer, which Dr. Boyce has printed, are not only more natural and pleasing than those of his master Dr. Blow, but wholly free from licen- tious harmony and breach of rule, He is mild, placid, and seemingly incapable of violence of any kind. In his first anthem (vol. ii.) which required cheerfulness and jubi- lation, he does not appear in his true character, which is tender and plaintive. The subject of the next is therefore better suited to the natural bias of his genius. There is indeed nothing in this anthem which indicates a master of grand and sublime conceptions ; but there are a clearness and accuracy in the score, and melancholy cast of melody and harmony suitable to the words, which are likewise well accented, that cannot fail to soothe and please every ap- petite for music which is not depraved. Tenderness is, indeed, so much his characteristic, that he may well be called the Musical Otvvay of his time. '
CLARKE (SAMUEL), celebrated for his skill in oriental learning, was the son of Thomas Clarke, of Brackley in Northamptonshire, where it is supposed he was born, in 1623, and became a student at Merton college, Oxford,
1 Burners Hist, of Music.— Han-kins'? Hist, of Musi<v
CLARKE. % 399
in 1638. He resided in that university three years, and then left it, when the town was about to be garrisoned for the use of Charles I. : but after its surrender to the parlia- ment, he returned to his college, submitted to the visitors appointed by the powers in being; and the same year, 1 648, took the degree of M. A. The year following he was de- signed the tirst architypographus of the university, and for his better encouragement in that office, had the grant of the superior beadleship of the civil law, when it should become vacant, given to him, and to his successors in that place for ever ; but Clarke, after all, was the last in whose per- son these offices were united. In 1650 he was master of a boarding-school at Islington, near London, during his continuance at which place he assisted in correcting and publishing Walton's Polyglott Bible. In 1658 he returned a second time to the university ; and, in contemplation of the death of him who held the superior beadleship of law, was elected architypographus May the 14th that year, and on the 29th superior beadle of the civil law; both which places he held to the time of his death, which happened at Holy well in the suburbs of Oxford, Dec. 27, 1669.
He was well versed in Greek and Latin, and had also uncommon skill in the oriental languages. His works are ; 1. " Varise lectiones et observationes in Chaldaicam para- phrasim :" inserted in the sixth volume of the Polyglott Bible, beginning at page 17th. 2. " Scientia metrica & rhythmics; seu tractatus de prosodia Arabica ex authori- bus probatissimis eruta," Oxon. 1661, 8vo. And 3. " Sep- tinium Bibliorum Polyglottftm volumen cum versionibus antiquissimis, non Chaidaica tantum, sed Syriacis, ^Ethio- picis, Copticis, Arabicis, Persicis contextum," a MS. not yet printed. He also translated from the original MS. of the public library at Cambridge, " Paraphrastes Chaldosus in libr. Paralipomenon ;" which Dr. Edmund Castell con- sulted, as he tells us in the preface to his " Lexicon Hep- taglotton," when he composed that elaborate work. Clarke also assisted in correcting the Hebrew text, Chaldee pa- raphrase, and the Persian gospels in the Polyglott Bible, which last he translated into Latin ; and there goes' also under his name a translation out of Hebrew into Latin of another piece, entitled " Massereth Beracoth. Titulus Talmudicus, in quo agitur de benedictionibus, precibus et gratiarum actionibus, adjecta versione Latina. In usum
400 CLARKE.
X
studiosorum literarum Talmudicarum in aede Christi," Oxon. 1667, 8vo. *
CLARKE (SAMUEL), a very industrious and useful writer of the seventeenth century, less known than his services deserved, and particularly entitled to notice in a work of this kind, was born Oct. 10, 1599, at Woolston, in the county of Warwick, of which place his father had been minister for upwards of forty years. Under his tui- tion he remained until he was thirteen years old, when he was sent to school under one Crauford, an eminent teacher at that time. Here he informs us that he fell into loose practices from keeping bud company, but occasionally felt the reluctance which a pious education usually leaves. At the end of four years he was sent to Cambridge, and entered of Emanuel, which was then, according to his ac- count, the Puritan college. After taking his bachelor's degree, his father recalled him home, and he was for some time employed as a family-tutor in Warwickshire, after which, being now in orders, he was invited into Cheshire, as assistant to Mr. Byrom, who had the living of Thornton, and with whom he continued almost two years, .preaching twice every Sunday during that time. Some scruples respecting the ceremonies occasioned him much trouble, and. he had an intention of removing to London; but happening to receive a pressing invitation from the in- habitants of Wirrall, a peninsula beyond West Chester, he consented to settle among them at Shotwick, where no regular service had been performed, and became here very useful as a preacher, and very popular through an exten- sive district. After, however, five years' quiet residence here, a prosecution was instituted against him for the omission of ceremonies (what they were he does not inform us) in the Chancellor's court; and while about to leave Shotwick in consequence of this, the mayor, aldermen, and many of the inhabitants of Coventry, invited him to preach a lecture in that city, which he accepted, and carried on for some time ; but here likewise he excited the displea- sure of Dr. Buggs, who held the two principal livings in Coventry, and who prosecuted him before the bishop, Dr. Morton. After this, by the influence of Robert earl of Warwick, he was enabled to preach at Warwick, and although complained of, was not molested in any great
1 Ath, Ox. vol. II.
CLARKE. 401
degree. Soon after, lord Brook presented him to the rectory of Alcester, where he officiated for nine years, and, as he informs us, " the town, which before was called * drunken Alcester,' was now exemplary and eminent for religion." When the et c<etcra oath was enjoined, the clergy of the diocese met and drew up a petition against it, which Mr. Clarke and Mr. Arthur Salway presented to his majesty at York, who returned for answer, that they should not be molested for refusing the oath, until the consideration of their petition in parliament. This busi- ness afterwards requiring Mr. Clarke to go to London, he was chosen preacher of the parish of St. Bennet Fink, a curacy which is said to have been then, as it is now, in the gift of the canons of Windsor. Walker, from having included this among the livings sequestered by the parlia- mentary reformers, would seem to intimate that Mr. Clarke must have succeeded to it at the expence of the incum- fyent ; but the fact is, there was no incumbent at the time. We learn from Clarke's dedication of his " Mirror" to Philip Holman, esq. of Warkworth in. Northamptonshire, a native of St. Bennet Fink, and a great benefactor to it, that for many years before this time (probably before 1646) the parish had little maintenance for a minister; theif tithes, being impropriated, went another way. They had no stock, no land, no house for the minister, no lecture, nor any one gift sermon in the year. This Mr. Holman, however, had furnished a house for the curate and settled it upon feoffees in trust, and had promised to add some- thing towards his further maintenance. Such was the situation of the parish when Mr. Clarke was elected, and he remained their preacher until the restoration. During the whole of this period, he appears to have disapproved of the practices of the numerous sectaries which arose, and retained his attachment to the constitution and doctrines of the church, although he objected to some of those points respecting ceremonies and discipline, which ranks him among the ejected non-conformists. Most of his works ap- pear to have been compiled, as indeed they are generally dated there, at his house in Threadneedle- street, and it was the sole business of his future life, to enlarge and re- publish them. In 1660, when Charles II. published a decla- ration concerning ecclesiastical affairs, the London clergy drew up a congratulatory address, with a request for the removal of re-ordination and surplices in colleges, &,c, VOL. IX. D D
402 CLARKE.
which Mr. Clarke was appointed to present. In the fol- lowing year he was appointed one of the commissioners for revising the book of Common Prayer, but what parti- cular share he took we are not informed ; nor are we told more of his history, while in the church, than that he was seven or eight years a governor, and two years president of Sion college. When ejected for non-conformity, such was his idea of schism and separation, that he quietly sub- mitted to a retired and studious life. From the church, which he constantly attended as a hearer, he says, he dared not to separate, or gather a private church out of a true church, which he judged the church of England to be. In this retirement he continued twenty years, partly at Hammersmith, and partly at Isleworth, revising what he had published, and compiling other works, all of which appear to have been frequently reprinted, notwithstand- *ig their size and price. He died Dec. 25, 1682, univer- sally respected for his piety, and especially for his modera* tion in the contests which prevailed in his time.
His principal publications were, 1. " A Mirror or Look- ing-glass for Saints and Sinners," containing remarkable examples of the fate of persecutors, and vicious persons of all descriptions, and notices of the lives of persons eminent for piety. This was a 12mo volume of 227 pages, published in 1646, which was so successful, and the author so partial to the subject, that in 1 655 he republished it in an 8vo of 42 sheets, and in 1657 in a folio of 240 sheets, to which in 1 671 he added another volume of equal size. In this enlarged form, we know not any work, except Turner's " Provi- dences," or Wanley's " Wonders," both of which follow his plan, that contains a greater portion of the marvellous as well as the useful. He must have turned over a prodi- gious number of volumes to accumulate such a mass of anecdote. 2. " The Marrow of Ecclesiastical History, containing the lives of the Fathers, Schoolmen, Reform- ers, and eminent modern Divines, &c." 1649, 4to. Dr. "Berkenhout gives the priority to Fuller's " Abel Redivivus," but he does not appear to have heard of Clarke, who un- questionably was the first who published any collection of Biography in English, and who is respectfully noticed by Fuller, as his predecessor. In 1650 he published a second part, and both together, with additions, in a thick quarto of above 1000 pages, in 1654, with many portraits in wood copper; but the best edition is that of 1675, folio.
CLARKE. 403
3. <c A General Marty rology," or abridgement of Fox and of some more recent authors, 1651, fol.; to this, in 1652, he added an " English Martyrology," reprinted together in 1660, and in 1677, with an additional series of the lives of Divines. The value of most of his lives is, that they are taken from scarce volumes and tracts, which it would now be extremely difficult as well as expensive to procure.
4. " The Lives of sundry eminent persons In this latter age," 1683, fol. with portraits better executed than in his other works, which has imparted a particular value to this volume in the estimation of portrait- collectors. Mr. Clarke's other works are " The Marrow of Divinity, with sundry cases of Conscience," 1659, fol.: a treatise against the toleration of schismatics and separatists, entitled "Gol- den Apples, or seasonable and serious Counsel," &c. 1659, 12mo ; and some lesser historical tracts and sermons. l
CLARKE (SAMUEL), son of the preceding, was edu- cated at Pembroke-hall, Cambridge, where he lost his fellowship, in the time of the Rump parliament, for re- fusing 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 him- self early to the study of the scriptures ; and the book* 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," 1690, fol. printed together with the sacred text, was the great work of his life. It is commended in very high terms by Dr. Owen and Mr. Bax- ter, as a laborious and judicious performance, and has been an excellent fund for some modern commentators, who have republished a great part 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 posterity dropped the e], pastor of a congregation of dissenters at St. Alban's, and author of " Scripture Promises," a popular work, often re- printed. 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.2
1 Life by himself prefixed to his Lives, 1683, fol.— Calaiuy.— Fuller's Wor- thies. 2 Calamy. — Granger.
D D 2
404 CLARKE.
CLARKE (Dr. SAMUEL), a very celebrated English di- vine, the son of Edward Clarke, esq. alderman of Nor- wich, and M. P., was born there Oct. 1 1, 1675. He was in- structed in classical learning at the free-school of that town; and in 1691 removed thence to Caius college in Cambridge, where his uncommon abilities soon began to display themselves. Though Des Cartes was at that time the established philosopher of the university, yet Clarke easily mastered the new system of Newton ; and in order to his first degree of arts, performed a public exercise in the schools upon a question taken from it; and contributed to its establishment, by a translation of " Renault's Phy- sics," which he finished bafore he was twenty-two years of age. It was first published 1697, 8vo. The system of natural philosophy then generally taught in the university, was that written by Rohault, founded altogether upon Cartesian principles, and very badly translated into Latin. Clarke gave a new translation, and added to it such notes as might lead students insensibly to more sound notions.
Afterwards, in order to fit himself for the sacred func- tion, he studied the Old Testament in the Hebrew, the New in the Greek, and the primitive Christian writers. Having taken orders, he became chaplain to Moore bishop of Norwich, by the introduction of the celebrated Whiston, then chaplain to the bishop, who in 1698, being collated to the living of Lowestoff in Suffolk, resigned his chaplain- ship, and was succeeded by Clarke. In this station Clarke lived for near twelve years, with all the freedom of an equal rather than as an inferior t(5 the bishop, who esteemed him highly while he lived, and at his death gave him a striking proof of confidence, by leaving solely in his hands all the concerns of his family : a trust which Clarke exe- cuted very faithfully, and to the entire satisfaction of every person concerned. In 1699 he published two treatises: one entitled, " Three practical essays on Baptism, Con- firmation, and Repentance ;" the other, " Some reflections on that part of a book called Amy n tor, or a defence of Milton's life (written by Toland), which relates to the writings of the primitive fathers, and the canon of theNevv Testament. In a letter to a friend." This was published without a, name, but was afterwards added to his letter to Dodwell, &c. In 1701 he published a paraphrase upon the gospel of St. Matthew ; which was followed in 1702 by the paraphrases upon the gospels of St. Mark and St, Luke,
CLARKE. 405
and soon after by a third volume upon St. John ; after- wards often printed together in 2 vols. 8vo. He had be- gun a paraphrase upon the Acts of the Apostles, and was to have extended his labours to the remaining books of the New Testament, but something accidentally interrupted the execution, which he himself used to say, was made Jess necessary by the labours of several worthy and learned persons since the appearance of his work upon the four gospels.
Meanwhile bishop Moore, his patron, gave him the rectory of Drayton near Norwich, and procured for him a parish in that city ; and these he served himself in that season when the bishop resided at Norwich. His preach- ing was without notes, until he became rector of St. James's. In 1704 he was appointed to preach BoyieV lecture ; and the subject he chose was, " The Befog and Attributes of God." He succeeded so well in this, and gave such high satisfaction, that he was appointed to preach the same lecture the next year; when he chose for his subject, " The1 Evidences of natural and revealed Religion." These sermons were first printed in two distinct volumes : the former in 1705, the latter in 1706. They have since been printed in one volume, and have passed through seve- ral editions. In the fourth or fifth were added several letters to Clarke from Butler, afterwards bishop of Dur- ham, relating to the demonstration of the being and attri- butes, with the doctor's answers. In the sixth edition was added, a discourse concerning the connection of the pro- phecies in the Old Testament, and the application of them to Christ : and an answer to a seventh letter concerning the argument a priori. It may not be amiss to observe, that Clarke's sermons concerning the being and attributes of God occasioned a controversy, but we dp not find that Clarke himself ever appeared in it *.
* This controversy produced several sidered the najture of Space, Duration, pieces for and against Dr. Clarke's and necessary Existence: being an an- •' Demonstration of the Being and At- swer to a late book entitled, ' A Trans- tributes of Gorl." It was animad- lat ion of Dr. King's Origin of Evil,' and verted upon by Mr. Edmund Law, the some other objections : together with a late bishop of Carlisle, in his «« Notes Compendium of a Demonstration of the upon archbj*hop King's Essay on the Being and Attributes of God," London, Origin of Kvil," translated from the 1732, 8vo. Mr. Law vindicated hi* Latin. This occasioned a piece enti- Remarks in a " Postscript" to the se- tled, " A Defence of Dr. Clarke's De- cond edition of Dr. King's Essay : which inonstrationof the Being and Attributes oecasioned, <{ A second Defence of Dr. $f Cod : whtrein is particularly con- Clarke's Demonstration of the
406 CLARKE.
About this time, Whiston tells us, he discovered tha'6 Clarke had been looking into the primitive writers, and suspected that the Athanasian doctrine of the Trinity was not the doctrine of those early ages. Mr. Whiston adds, that he heard him say, that he never read the Athanasian creed in his parish, at or near Norwich, but once ; and that was. only by mistake, at a time when it was not appointed by the rubric. In 1706 he published a letter to Mr. Dod- weil, as an answer to all the arguments in his epistolary discourse against the immortality of the soul, and repre- senting the judgment of the fathers, to whom Mr. Dodweli had appealed, concerning that matter. This appears to have given universal satisfaction, but the controversy did not stop here; for the celebrated Collins, as a second to Dodweil, went much farther into the philosophy of the dispute, and indeed seemed to produce all that could pos- sibly be said against the immateriality of the soul, as well as the liberty of human actions. This enlarged the scene of the dispute ; into which our author entered, and wrote with such a spirit of clearness and demonstration, as at once shewed him greatly superior to his adversaries in me- taphysical and physical knowledge ; and made every intel- ligent reader rejoice, that such an incident had happened to provoke and extort from him that copious and strong reasoning and perspicuity of expression, which were in- deed very much wanted upon this intricate and obscure subject. Clarke's letter to Dodweil was soon followed by four defences of it, in four several Letters to the author of a Letter to the learned Mr. Henry Dodweil ; containing some
and Attributes of God : in answer to a Eternity, as also the Self-Existence, Postscript, &c. By the author of the necessary Existence, and Unity of the first Defence," London, 1732, in Svo. DivineNature, by Edmund Law,M. A." The same year was published a pam- the other entitled, " An Examination pbk-t, eiUit'U-d, <( Dr. Clarke's notion of Dr. Clarke's notion of Space, by Jo- of Space examined : ia vindication of seph Clarke, M. A." Mr. John Clarke; the translation of archbishop King's author of the two Defences of Dr. ' Origin of Evil :V being an answer to Clarke's Demonstration, having pub- two late pamphlets entitled, A Defence, lished a third, Mr. Joseph Clarke pub- &c." Mr. John Jackson published a lished " A farther Examination of Dr. piece, entitled, " The Existence and Clarke's notions of Space, with some Unity of God, proved from his Nature considerations on the possibility of and Attributes : being a Vindication of Eternal Creation : in reply to Mr. 3)r. Claike's Demonstration of the John Clarke's third Defence, &c. To lleing and Attributes of God," London, which are added, some remarks oa 1734, in Svo. The same year appeared Mr. Jackson's exceptions to Dr. Clarke's two pamphlets, printed at Cambridge ; notions of Space examined in his Ex- one entitled, " An Enquiry into thev istence and Unity," &c, ideasxof Space, Time, Immensity, and
CLARKE. 407
remarks on a pretended demonstration of the immateriality and natural immortality of the soul, in Mr. Clarke's answer to his late epistolary discourse, &c. . They were after- wards all printed together; and the answer to Toland's Amyntor added to them. In the midst of all these labours he found time to shew his regard to mathematical and physical studies, which were not a little improved by the friendship of sir Isaac Newton, at whose request he trans- lated his " Optics" into Latin in 1706. With this ver- sion sir Isaac was so highly pleased, that he presented him with the sum of 500/. or 100/. for each child, Clarke having then five children.
This same year also, bishop Moore procured for him the rectory of St. Bennet's, Paul's Wharf, London ; and soon after carried him to court, and recommended him to the favour of queen Anne. She appointed him one of her chaplains in ordinary ; and, in consideration of his great merit, and at the request of the bishop, presented him to the rectory of St. James's Westminster, in 1709. From this time he left off preaching without notes, and wrote his sermons at length, with much care arid fit for the press, in which state they were found at his death. Upon his advancement to St. James's rectory, he took the degree of D. D. ; when the public exercise which he performed for it at Cambridge was much admired. The questions which he maintained were these: 1. " Nullum fidei Christiana? dogma, in sacris scripturls traditum, est rectse rationi dis- sentaneum:" that is, No article of the Christian faith, de- livered in the holy scriptures, is discordant to right reason. 2. " Sine action am humanarum libertate nulla potest esse religio :" that is, Without the liberty of hunpan actions there can be no religion. His thesis was upon the first of these questions; which being thoroughly sifted by that most acute disputant professor James, he made an extem- pore reply in a continued discourse for near half an hour, with so little hesitation, that many of the auditors declared, that if they had not been within sight of him, they should have supposed him to have read every word of it from a paper. After this, through the course of the syllogistical disputation, he guarded so well against the arts which the professor was a complete master of; replied so readily to the greatest difficulties such an objector could propose ; and pressed him so close and hard with clear and intel* ligible ausvyers, that perhaps there never was such a
408 CLARKE.
flict heard in those schools. The professor, who was a man of humour as well as learning, said to him at the end of the disputation, " Profecto me probe exereuisti,'7 that is, " On my word, you have worked me sufficiently ;" and the members of the university expressed their astonishment that a man even of Clarke's abilities, after an absence of so many years, should acquit himself as if this sort of aca- demical exercise had been his constant employment; and with such fluency and purity of expression, as if he had been accustomed to no other language in conversation but Latin. The same year, 1709, he revised and corrected Whiston's translation of the " Apostolical Constitutions'* into English, at the author's particular request.
In 1712 he published a most beautiful and splendid edi- tion of " Caesar's Commentaries," adorned with elegant engravings. It was printed in 1712, fbl. and afterwards in 1720, 8vo. It was dedicated to the great duke of Marl- borough, " at a time," says bishop Hoadly, " when his unequalled victories and successes had raised his glory to the highest pitch abroad, and lessened his interest and favour at home." In the publication of this book, the doctor took particular care of the punctuation. In the an- notations, he selected what appeared the best and most judicious in former editors, with some corrections and emendations of his own interspersed.
The same year, 1712, he published his celebrated book entitled "The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity, &c." which -is divided into three parts. The first is, a collection and explication of all the texts in the New Testament relating to the doctrine of the Trinity : in the second, the foregoing doctrine is set forth at large, and explained in particular and distinct propositions ; and in the third, the principal passages in the liturgy of the church of England, relating to the doctrine of the Trinity, are considered. Whiston informs us, that some time before the publication of this book, there was a message sent to him from lord Godol- phin, and others of queen Anne's ministers, importing, " that the affairs of the public were with difficulty then kept in the hands of those that were for liberty ; that it was therefore an unseasonable time for the publication of a book that would make a great noise and disturbance; and that, therefore, they desired him to forbear till a fitter op- portunity should offer itself." Which message, says he, the doctor paid no regard to, but went on, according to
CLARKE. 409
the dictates of his own conscience, with the publication of his book. The ministers, however, were right in their conjectures; for the work occasioned a great number of books and pamphlets, written by himself and others *. It also made its author obnoxious to the ecclesiastical power, and his book was complained of by the lower house of con- vocation. Their complaint being sent to the upper house June 2, 1714, the bishops returned in two days an answer, " that they approved the zeal of the lower house ; thought they had just cause of complaint, and would take it into their consideration :" and on the 12th sent a message to them directing an extract to be made of particulars out of the books complained of. On the 23d the said extract was laid before the bishops. The doctor drew up a reply to this extract, dated June 26, which, it seems, was pre- sented to some of the bishops ; but, for reasons unknown, not laid before the house. After this, there appearing in almost the whole upper house a great disposition to pre- vent dissensions and divisions, by some moderate step, Dr. Clarke was prevailed upon to lay before the house a paper, dated July 2, which concludes with these words : " I am sorry that what I sincerely intended for the honour
* We shall subjoin a list of those taining Observations upon his book published by our author, referring, for entitled A plain Scripture Argument the rest, to a pamphlet entitled " An against Dr. Clarke's Doctrine concern- account of all the considerable books ing the ever-blessed Trinity." 5. " A and pamphlets that have been written Letter to the author of a book, entitled on either side, in the Controversy con- The true Scripture Doctrine of the most cerning the Trinity, since the year 17T2. holy and undivided Trinity, continued, In which is also contained an account and vindicated : Recommended first of the pamphlets written this last year by Mr. Nelson, and since by Dr. Wa- on each side by the Dissenters, to the terland." The two last pieces pub- end of the year 1719," London, 1720, lished together, London, 1719, 8vo, at 8vo. Dr. Clarke's tracts are as fol- the end of a tiact by another author, low : 1. A Letter to the rev. Dr. Wells, entitled "The modest Plea for the Bap- in answer to his Remarks," London, tismal and Scriptural notion of the Tri- 1714, 8 vo. 2. " A Reply to the Ob- nity," &c. 6. " The modest Plea con- jections of Robert Nelson, esq. and of tinuetl ; or, a brief and distinct Answer an anonymous author, (supposed to be to Dr. Waterland's queries relating to Dr. James Knight, vicar of St. Se- the Doctrine of the Trinity," LoncW, pulchre's, London) against Dr.Clarke's 1720, 8vo. 7. " Observations on Dr. Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity: be- Wuterland's second Defence of bis ing a commentary on forty select T?xts Queries," London, 1724, 8vo. 8. " Dr. of Scripture." 5. " An Answer to the Clarke's Replies to the author of three Remarks of the author, (Dr. Gastrel, Letters to Dr. Clarke, from a clergy- bishop of Chester), of some Considera- man of the church of England, con- tions concerning the Trinity, and the cerning his Scripture Doctrine of the ways of managing that Controversy," Trinity." The Letters and Replies pub - These t>vo last published together ; lished together, by the author of the London, 1714, Svo. 4. " A Letter to the Letters, London, 1714-, 8ro. late rev. Mr. R.M.(Richard Mayo), cun-
410 CLARKE.
and glory of God, and so to explain this great mystery, as to avoid the heresies in both extremes, should have given any offence to this synod, arid particularly to my lords the bishops. I hope my behaviour for the time to come, with relation hereunto, will be such as to prevent any future complaints against me."
After this paper had been before the upper house, being apprehensive that, if it should be published separately, as afterwards happened, without any true account of the pre- ceding and following circumstances, it might be misunder- stood in some particulars, he caused an explanation, dated July 5, to be presented to the bishop of London, the next time the upper house met: setting forth, " That whereas the paper laid before their lordships the Friday before, was, through haste and want of time, not drawn up with sufficient exactness, he thought himself indispensably obliged in conscience to acquaint their lordships, that he did not mean thereby to retract any thing he had written, but to declare that the opinion set forth at large in his Scripture Doctrine, &c. is, that the Son was eternally be- gotten by the eternal incomprehensible power and will of the Father, &c. and that, by declaring he did not intend to write any more concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, he did not preclude himself from a liberty of making any inoffensive corrections in his former books, if they should come to another edition, or from vindicating himself against any misrepresentations or aspersions, which might possibly hereafter be cast upon him, on occasion of this controversy." After the delivery of this explanation, the upper house resolved, July 5,. to proceed no farther upon the extract, laid before them by the lower house ; and or- dered Dr. (Clarke's papers to be entered in the acts of that house. But the lower house, not so satisfied, resolved, July 7, that the paper subscribed by Dr. Clarke, and com- municated to them by the bishops, does not contain in it any recantation of the heretical assertions and offensive passages complained of in their representation, and after- wards produced in their extract ; nor gives such satisfac- tion for the great scandal occasioned thereby, as ought to put a stop to any farther examination and censure thereof. Thus ended. this affair ; the most authentic account of which we have in a piece entitled, " An Apology for Dr. Clarke, containing an account of the late proceedings in convoca^ tion, upon his writings concerning the Trinity, 1714, 8vo,"
CLARKE. 411
written, Whiston tells us, by a clergyman in the country, a common friend of his and Dr. Clarke's, with the know- ledge and assistance of the latter. The " Scripture Doc- trine of the Trinity," as we have observed, was first pub- lished in 1712 ; afterwards there was a second edition, with many alterations, in 1710; and there has been, since his death, a third edition, with very great additions, left un- der the doctor's hand ready prepared for the press. Bishop Hoadly assures us, in opposition to those who have sup- posed Clarke to have retracted his notions concerning the Trinity, that, " from the time of publishing this book to the day of his death, he found no reason, as far as he was able to judge, to alter the notions which he there pro- fessed." Mr. Whitaker, in his "Origin of Arianism dis- closed," has taken uncommon pains to support the truth of chevalier Ramsay's assertion, that Dr. Clarke greatly re-^ pented of his ever having published his work upon the Trinity. The testimonies on the other side of the question Mr. Whitaker endeavours to reconcile, by supposing that the doctor occasionally avowed his repentance, and yet continued his practices. He avowed fully " to Mr. Ramsay what he was too timid to avow to his son, to a Hoadly, or to an Emlyn ; and what he even took pains to conceal from them, in a seeming continuance of opinion, and in an actual perseverance of conduct." All this, however, has been most confidently denied by Dr. Clarke's friends.
In 1715 and 1716 he had a dispute with the celebrated Leibnitz, relating to the principles of natural philosophy and religion : and a collection of the papers which passed between them was published in 1717 ; and remarks upon a book entitled " A philosophical enquiry concerning Hu- man Liberty," by Anthony Collins, Svo. The letters from Cambridge, which Clarke answers in this volume, were written by Richard Bulkeley, esq. author of a poem in 12 books, .entitled "The Last Day," who died in 1718, at about twenty-four years of age. All the pieces contained in this volume were translated into French, and published by Des Maizeaux in the first volume of " Recueil de di- verses pieces sur la philosophic, la religion naturelle, Phistoire, les mathematiques, &c. par Messrs. Leibnitz, Clarke, Newton, et autres auteurs celebres," printed at Amsterdam in 1720, 2 vols. 12 mo. This book of the doctor's is inscribed to her late majesty queen Caroline, then princess of Wales, who was. pleased to have the con-
412 CLARK E.
troversy pass through her hands, and was the witness and judge of every step of it. It related chiefly to the im- portant and difficult subjects of liberty and necessity. Whiston says, " I confess, I look upon these letters of Dr. Clarke as among the most useful of his performances in natural philosophy." He has also preserved an anecdote relating to this controversy^; which is, that sir Isaac New- ton once pleasantly told Clarke, that " he had broke Leib- nitz's heart with his reply to him."
About 1718 Clarke made an alteration in the forms of doxology in the singing psalms, in a collection of " Psalms and Hymns" for the use of St. James's church, which pro- duced no small disturbance, and occasioned some pam- phlets to be written. The alteration was this Y
To God, through Christ, his only son,
Immortal glory be, £c. And,
To God, through Christ, his son, crar Lord, All glory be therefore, &c.
A considerable number of these " Select Psalms and Hymns" having been dispersed by the Society for promoting Chris- tian knowledge, before the alteration of the doxologies was taken notice of, he was charged with a design of im- posing upon the society, whereas it was answered that the edition of them had been prepared by him for the use of his own parish only, before the society had thoughts of purchasing any of the copies : and as the usual forms of doxology were not established by any legal authority, ec- clesiastical or civil, in this he had not offended. Robin- son, however, bishop of London, so highly disliked this alteration, that he thought proper to publish a letter to the incumbents of all churches and chapels in his diocese, against their using any new forms of doxology. The letter is dated Dec. 26, 1718, and begins thus: "Reverend brethren, there is an instance of your care and duty, which I conceive myself at this time highly obliged to offer, and you to regard, as necessary for tl*e preservation of the very foundations of our faith. Some persons, seduced, I fear, by the strong delusions of pride and self-conceit, have lately published new forms of tioxology, entirely agreeable to those of some ancient heretics, who impiously denied a trinity of persons in the unity of the Godhead, I do there- fore warn and charge it upon your souls, as you hope to obtain mercy from God the Father? through the merits of
CLARKE.
413
Jesus Christ our Lord, and by the sanctifi cation of the Holy Ghost, three persons and one God blessed for ever, that you employ your best endeavours to prevail with your several flocks, to have a great abhorrence for the above- mentioned new forms, and particularly that you do not suffer the same to be used, either in your churches, or in any schools, where you are to prevent that most pernicious abuse, &c." This letter was animadverted upon by Whis- ton, in " A Letter of Thanks to the right reverend the lord bishop of London, for his late letter to his clergy against the use of new forms of Doxology, &c." Jan. 17, 1719; and in a pamphlet entitled " An humble apology for St. Paul and the other apostles ; or, a vindication of them and their doxologies from the charge of heresy. By Cornelius Paets," 1719. Soon after came out an ironical piece en- titled " A Defence of the Bishop of London, in answer to Winston's Letter of Thanks, &c. addressed to the arch- bishop of Canterbury. To which is added, a Vindication of Dr. Sacheverell's late endeavour to turn Mr. Winston out of his church." Winston's Letter of Thanks occa- sioned likewise the two following pieces; viz. u The lord bishop of London's Letter to his Clergy vindicated, <kc. by a Believer, 1719;" and " A seasonable review of Mr. Winston's account of primitive Doxologies, &c. by a Presbyter, &c. 1719." This presbyter was supposed to be Dr. William Berriman. To the latter Whiston replied in a second letter to the bishop of London ; and the author of " The seasonable Review^ &c." answered him in a se- cond Review, &c. As to Clarke's conduct in this affair, we are not surprised to find Whiston declaring it to be one of the most Christian attempts towards somewhat of refor- mation, upon the primitive foot, that he ever ventured upon : but he adds," that the bishop of London, in the way of modern authority, was quite too hard for Dr. Clarke, in the way of primitive Christianity."
About this time Dr. Clarke was presented by the lord Lechmere, chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, to the mastership of Wigston's hospital in Leicester. In 1724 he published seventeen sermons preached on several occasions, eleven of which were never before printed ; and the year following a sermon preached at the parish church of St. James, upon the erecting a charity-school for the educa- tion of women servants. In 1727, upon the death of sir Isaac Newton, he was offered by the court the place of
414 CLARK E.
master of the mint, worth communibus annis 1200 or 1500/. a year. Upon this offer, Whiston tells us, the doctor ad- vised with his friends, and particularly with Mr. Emlyn and himself, ahout accepting or refusing it. They advised him against accepting it, as what he wanted not; as what was entirely remote from his profession, and would hinder the success of his ministry. He was himself generally of the same opinion with them, could not thoroughly reconcile himself to this secular preferment, and therefore absolutely refused it. Whiston seems to wonder that Clarke's ad- mirers should lay so little stress upon this refusal, as to mention it not at all, or at least very negligently ; while "he takes it," he says, " to be one of the most glorious actions of his life, and to afford undeniable conviction that he vvas in earnest in his religion."
In 1728 was published, "A Letter from Dr. Clarke to Mr. Benjamin Hoadly, F. R. S. occasioned by the contro- versy relating to the proportion of velocity and force in bodies in motion," and printed in the Philosophical Trans- actions, No. 401 ; and in 1729, he published the twelve first books of " Homer's Iliad," in 4to, and dedicated to the duke of Cumberland. The Latin version is almost en- tirely new ; and annotations are added to the bottom of the pages. Homer, bishop Hoadly tells us, was Clarke's admired author, even to a degree of something like enthu- siasm, hardly natural to his temper ; and that in this he went a little beyond the bounds of Horace's judgment, and was so unwilling to allow the favourite poet ever to nod, that he has taken remarkable pains to find out and give a reason for every passage, word, and tittle, that could create any suspicion. It has however so long and so justly been the popular edition of Homer, that it would be unnecessary to expatiate on its merits in this place. Whiston informs us, that he had begun this work in his younger years ; and that " the notes were rather transcribed than made new." The twelve last books of the Iliad were published in 1732, in 4to, by our author's son, Samuel Clarke ; who informs us in the preface, that his father had finished the annota- tions to the three first of those books, and as far as the 359th verse of the fourth; and had revised the text and version as far as verse 510th of the same book.
While Clarke was thus employed in finishing the re- maining books of Homer, he was interrupted with an ill- ness which ended in his Heath. Though not robust,, he
CLARKE. 415
had all his life long enjoyed a firm state of health, without any indisposition severe enough to confine him, except the small-pox in his youth; till, on Sunday May 11, 1729, going out in the morning to preach before the judges at Serjeants'-inn, he was there seized with a pain in his side, which quickly became so violent, that he was obliged to be carried home. He went to bed, and thought himself so much better in the afternoon, that he would not suffer himself to be blooded ; against which remedy he had strong prejudices. But the pain returning violently about two the next morning, made bleeding absolutely necessary : he appeared to be out of danger, and continued to think himself so, till the Saturday morning following ; when, to the inexpressible surprise of all about him, the pain re- moved from his side to his head ; and, after a very short interval, took away his senses, in which state he con- tinued breathing till between seven and eight of the evening of that day, May 17, 1729, and then died, in his 54th year. The same year was printed his " Exposition of the Church Catechism," and ten volumes of sermons, in 8vo, by his brother Dr. John Clarke, dean of Sarum*. His "Exposi- tion'* is made up of those lectures he read every Thursday morning for some months in the year at St. James's church. In the latter part of his time he revised them with great care, and left them completely prepared for the press. This performance was immediately animadverted upon by Dr. Waterland, and defended by Dr. Sykes, in a con- troversy which produced some pamphlets.
The character of Dr. Clarke has been thus drawn by Dr. Hare, bishop of Chichester, and by bishop Hoadly. Dr. Hare, in his pamphlet entitled " The difficulties and dis-
* Dr. John Clarke, dean of Sarum, lations were Grotius " De Veritate,"
our author's brother, besides the pieces with Le Clerc's notes, 12rao, and 8vo,
occasionally mentioned in the course and the notes annexed to Wollaston'*
of the article, published two volumes, *' Religion of Nature delineated." He
in 8vo, on the " Origin of Evil;" being was at first, apprentice to a weaver at
the substance of a set of sermons which Norwich, but \yas sent to the university
he had preached at Mr. Boyle's lecture by his brother, and by his interest af-
in 1724 — 25. In accounting for moral terwards preferred to a prebend in Nor-
evil, be solves the difficulty on the wich, and to the deanery of Sarum,
common system of the liberty of the where he chiefly resided. He died
human will. He also published a about 1759, full seventy years old,
" Demonstration of the principal sec- and left two or three daughters, one of
tions of Sir Isaac Newton's Principia," whom was married to Dr. Jacob, a phy-
8vo, and translated into English " Ro- sician of eminence at Salisbury. MS
hauit's Physics," with his brother's note by John Whiston in his copy of
notes, 2 vols. 8vo. His other trans- this Dictionary.
416 CLARKE.
couragements which attend the study of the Scripture, in the way of private judgement," says that he is " a man who has all the good qualities that can meet together to recom- mend him. He is possessed of all the parts of learning that are valuable in a clergyman, in a degree that few pos- sess any single one. He has joined to a good skill in the three learned languages a great compass of the best philo- sophy and mathematics, as appears by his Latin works ; and his English ones are such a proof of his own piety, and of his knowledge in divinity, and have done so much ser- vice to religion, as would make any other man, that was not under the suspicion of heresy, secure of the friendship and esteem of all good churchmen, especially of the clergy. And to all this piety and learning, and the good use that has been made of it, is added a temper happy beyond ex- pression : a sweet, easy, modest, inoffensive, obliging be- haviour adorns all his actions; and no passion, vanity, in- solence, or ostentation, appears either in what he writes or says : and yet these faults are often incident to the best men, in the freedom of conversation, and writing against impertinent and unreasonable adversaries, especially such as strike at the foundation of virtue and religion. This is the learning, this the temper of the man, whose study of the scriptures has betrayed him into a suspicion of some heretical opinions."
Bishop Hoadly writes thus of Clarke : " He was a person of a natural genius, excellent enough to have placed him in the superior rank of men without the acquirements of learn- ing ; and of learning enough to have rendered a much less cdmprehensive genius very considerable in the ways of the world. But in him they were both united to such a de- gree, that those who were of his intimate acquaintance 'knew not which to admire most. The first strokes of knowledge, in some of its branches, seemed to be little less than natural to him: for they appeared to lie right in his mind, as soon as any thing could appear ; and to be the very same, which afterwards grew up with him into perfection, as the strength and cultivation of his mind in- creased. He had one happiness very rarely known among the greatest men, that his memory was almost equal to his judgment, which is as great a character as can well be given of it." Then, after observing how great the doctor was in "all branches of knowledge and learning, he goes on thus : " If in any one of these many branches he had ex-
CLARKE. 417
celled only so much as he did in all, this alone would justly have entitled him to the name of a great man. But there is something so very extraordinary, that the same person should excel, not only in those parts of knowledge which require the strongest judgment, but in those which want the help of the strongest memory also ; and it is so seldom seen, that one who is a great master in theology, is at the same time skilfully fond of all critical and classical learn- ing, or excellent in the physical and mathematical studies, or well framed for metaphysical and abstract reasonings ; that it ought to be remarked, in how particular a manner, and to how high a degree, divinity and mathematics, ex- perimental philosophy and classical learning, metaphysics and critical skill, all of them, various and different as they are amongst themselves, united in Dr. Clarke." After- wards the bishop informs us, how earnestly his acquaintance and friendship was sought after by the greatest lovers of virtue and knowledge ; what regard was paid to him by the chief persons of the law; and, above all, what pleasure her late majesty queen Caroline took in his conversation and friendship : for " seldom a week passed,0 says he, " in which she did not receive some proof of the greatness of his genius, and of the force of his superior understanding.'*
" If any one should ask," continues the bishop, " as it is natural to do, how it came to pass that this great man was never raised higher in the church ? I must answer, that it was neither for want of merit, nor interest, nor the favour of some in whose power it was to have raised him. But he had reasons within his own breast, which hindered him from either seeking after, or accepting any such promo- tion. Of these he was the proper, and indeed the only judge : and therefore I say no more of them.'* The truth is, his scruples about subscription were very great ; as we are informed by Sykes, who observes, in his eulogium of Clarke, printed at the end of Whiston's Historical Me- moirs, that "the doctor would often wish, that those things which were suspected by many, and judged unlawful by some, might be seriously considered, and not made terms of communion. He thought it would be the greatest hap- piness to see the occasions of good and learned men's scruples removed out of the public forms of divine service, and the doctrines of Christianity reduced to the New Tes- tament only ; and that it would be right to have nothing required from the preachers of the gospel, but what was
VOL. IX,
418 CLARKE.
purely primitive. This he thought to be the only means of making the minds of sincere Christians easy and quiet. This he believed would make men much more charitable to one another : and make the governors of the church and state transact their important affairs with greater ease and freedom from disturbances." Upon the whole, bishop Hoadly makes no scruple to declare, that " by Dr. Clarke's death, the world was deprived of as bright a light, and masterly a teacher of truth and virtue, as ever yet appeared amongst us ; and," says he in the conclusion of his account, " as his works must last as long as any language remains to convey them to future times, perhaps I may flatter myself that this faint and imperfect account of him may be trans- mitted down with them. And I hope it will be thought a pardonable piece of ambition and self-interestedness, if, being fearful lest every thing else should prove too weak to keep the remembrance of myself in being, I lay hold on his fame to prop and support my own. I am sure, as I have little reason to expect that any thing of mine, with- out such an assistance, can live, I shall think myself greatly recompensed for the want of any other memorial, if my name may go down to posterity thus closely joined with his ; and I myself be thought of, and spoke of, in ages to come, under the character of The FRIEND of Dr. CLARKE." ' On the other hand, Whiston, who wrote his Life, and held him in as high estimation as either Dr. Hare or Dr. Hoadly, candidly mentions those failings, some of which, perhaps, may occur to the reader in perusing the preceding pages, and considerably lessen our opinion of his consis- tency. In the lirst place, he blames Clarke for subscribing the articles, at a time when he could not, with perfect truth and sincerity, assent to the Athanasian parts of them; namely, at his taking the degree of doctor in divinity. Mr. Whiston, then professor of mathematics at Cambridge, en- deavoured to dissuade him from it ; and, when he could not prevail on that head, he earnestly pressed him to de- clare openly, and in writing, in what sense he subscribed the suspected articles : but he could not prevail on this head neither. Upon this occasion, professor James, who suspected Dr. Clarke of an inclination to heretical pravity, said to him, upon his subscribing the articles, " he hoped he would not go from his subscription." The doctor re- plied, " He could promise nothing as to futurity, and eould only answer as to his present sentiments*" However,
CLARKE. 419
Mr.Whiston acknowledges, that Dr. Clarke, for many years before he died, perpetually refused all, even the greatest preferments, which required subscription, and never encouraged those who consulted him to subscribe. In the next place, he objects to Dr. Clarke his not acting sincerely, boldly, and openly, in the declaration of his true opinions, and his over-cautious and over-timorous way of speaking, writing, and acting, in points of the highest consequence. When Mr. Whiston gave him frequent and vehement admonitions upon this head, his general answer, he tells us, was, who are those that act better than I do ? " Very few of which," says he, " I could ever name to him ; though I did not think that a sufficient excuse." Lastly, Mr. Whiston is greatly displeased with Dr. Clarke's conduct in relation to the affair of the convocation, and concludes the account of that affair with these words : " Thus ended this unhappy affair ; unhappy to Dr. Clarke's own conscience ; unhappy to his best friends ; and above all unhappy as to its consequences, in relation to the opi- nion unbelievers were hereupon willing to entertain of him, as if he had prevaricated all along in his former writings for Christianity."
Some anecdotes respecting Dr. Clarke's personal cha- racter, lately collected by the rev. Mr. Jones of Welwyn, are not incurious. We learn from them, that Dr. Clarke was of a very humane and tender disposition. When his young children amused themselves with tormenting and killing flies upon the windows, he not only forbad such practices, but calmly reasoned with them, in such a fami- liar manner, as was calculated to make a powerful impres- sion upon their minds. He was very ready and conde* scending in answering applications to him with respect to scruples ; numberless instances of which occurred in the course of his life. One thing of which Dr. Clarke was pe- culiarly cautious was, not to lose the least minute of his time. He always carried some book about him, which he would read whilst riding in a coach, or walking in the fields, or if he had any leisure moments free from company or his other studies. Nay, he would read even in company it- self, where he might take such a liberty without offence to good manners, and yet with all this value for time, we are told that he would spend whole hours in playing cards.
When our author was a young student at the university, he was so distinguished by the excellence of his exercises,
££ 2
420 CLARK E.
and by other marks of unusual proficiency in literature, that he was commonly spoken of, among the rest of the scho- lars, by the title of " The lad of Cains." His public ex- ercise, which we have mentioned above, was long remem- bered in the university, and by the learned men of that period. Dr. Henry Yarborough, prebendary of York, and rector of Tewing, Herts, declared, that he never heard any act equal to it or like it. The same gentleman, when at the age of seventy- seven, said, that he would gladly take a ride to Cambridge, to hear such another act as had been kept by Dr. Clarke. Dr. Clarke's memory was remarkably strong. He told Mr. Pyle, of Lynn, that he never forgot any thing which he had once thoroughly apprehended and understood. The doctor, with his intimate friends, was perfectly free and easy ; but if strangers were introduced, he behaved with much circumspection, conversing only upon common topics. When he visited Dr. Sykes, his usual way was to sit with him upon a couch, and, reclining upon his bosom, to discourse with him, in the most fami- liar manner, upon such subjects as were agreeable to the taste and judgment of both.
When sir John Germaine lay upon his death-bed, and was in great confusion and trouble of mind, he sent for Dr. Clarke, and requested to know of him whether he should receive the Sacrament, and what he should do in his sad condition. The doctor, who was well acquainted with sir John's pursuits and course of life, sedately replied, that he could not advise him to receive the Sacrament, and that he did not think it likely to be of any avail to him with respect to his final welfare. Having said this, he departed, without administering the communion, having first recom- mended the dying man to the mercy of God. Mr. Pope has a kind of reflection upon Dr. Clarke's frequenting the court ; to which the poet was stimulated by resentment against the doctor, because he refused to use his interest for obtaining the recall of lord Bolingbroke from France, with a general pardon.
Dr. Clarke married Katherine, only daughter of the rev. Mr. Lockwood, rector of Little Massingham in Norfolk, by whom he had seven children, two of which died before him, and one a few weeks after him. His widow had a pension from queen Caroline of 105/. per annum. One of his sons was living in 1771; and in an article inserted in the London Evening Post, Dec. 7, of that year, positively contradicted
CLARKE. 421
"the report that his father had ever retracted his opinions on the Trinity. l
CLARKE (WILLIAM), 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 vacan- cies, occasioned by the removal of several non-juring fel- lows, in consequence of an act of parliament. He com- menced B. A. 1715 ; in 1719 became M. A. ; and the repu- tation 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 appoint- ment. 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 so- licitation of his own, partly on account of his extraordinary merit, and partly from a regard to the special recom- mendation 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 cathe- dral 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," 1730; and it is thought that an excellent " 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 Mari- time 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, cus-
1 Dr. Clarke's character i« so much involved in controversy, that we found it impossible to enter more fully into it. Much information, however, may be de- rived from the Biog. Britannica, a professed defence of his principles and con- duct; and from the lires of him written by "Whiston and Hoaclly. — Whitaker'g Origin of Arianism. — Warburton's Letters.— Nichols's Bowyer; — and above all, the pamphlets noticed above. Hig ;MS notes for reforming the Liturgy are in the British Museum. — See also Tytler's Memoirs of Lord Kames, rol. I, p. 26,
422 CLARKE.
toms, and manners of each people to modern times ; parti- cularly 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 se- veral 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 reputa- tion. Mr. Pinkerton, in his Essay on Medals, says that a student cannot begin with a better book in this science.
In 1768 Mr. Clarke obtained from archbishop Cornwallis permission to resign the rectory of Buxted (after having held it more than thirty- four years)> to his son Edward, through the unsolicited interest of the late marquis Corn- wallis, who recollected on this occasion the intimacy that had subsisted between himself and the rev. Edward Clarke in the island of Minorca. In June 1770, he was installed chancellor of the church of Chichester, to which office the rectories of Chittingley and Pevensey are annexed ; and in August that year was presented to the vicarage of Amport. These preferments he did not long enjoy, as he died Oct. 21, 1771. In the "Anecdotes of Bowyer'* are many letters and extracts of letters, written to that learned printer and other persons, by Mr. Clarke, which exhibit him to great advantage as a man of piety, a friend, and a scholar. Be- sides the writings already mentioned, Mr. Clarke joined with Mr. Bowyer in the translation of Trapp's Lectures on poetry, and in annotations on the Greek Testament ; and was the author of several of the notes subjoined to the English version of Bleterie's Life of the Emperor Julian. He left behind him a considerable number of manuscripts, among which are some volumes of excellent sermons, the best of which were given to the late Ashburnham, bishop of Chichester, and at his death were inadvertently burnt with some other papers. Bishop Bagot had strongly re- commended the publication of a selection of Mr. Clarke's sermons.
Although antiquities were the favourite study of Mr. Clarke, he was a secret, and by no means an unsuccessful votary of the muses. He wrote English verse with ease,
CLARKE. 423
elegance, and spirit. Perhaps there are few better epi- grams in our language than that which he composed on seeing the words Domus ultima inscribed on the vault be- longing to the dukes of Richmond in the cathedral of Chi- chester*. Among the happier I'ittle pieces of his sportive poetry, there are in the Life of Bowyer some animated stanzas, describing the character of the twelve English poets, whose portraits, engraved by Vertue, were the fa- vourite ornament of his parlour : but he set so modest and humble a value on his poetical compositions, that they were seldom committed to paper, and are therefore very imper- fectly preserved in the memory of those, to whom he some- times recited them. His taste and judgment in poetry ap- pears, indeed, very striking in many parts of his learned and elaborate " Connexion of Coins." His illustration of Nestor's cup, in particular, may be esteemed as one of the happiest examples of that light and beauty, which the learning and spirit of an elegant antiquary may throw on a cloudy and mistaken passage of an ancient poet. He gave a very beneficial proof of his zeal for literature, by the trouble he took in regulating the library of the cathedral to which he belonged. He persuaded bishop Mavvson to be- stow a considerable sum towards repairing the room appro- priated to this purpose. He obtained the donation of many valuable volumes from different persons ; and by his con- stant and liberal attention to this favourite object, raised an inconsiderable and neglected collection of books, into a very useful and respectable public library.
By his only wife, Anne, daughter of Dr. Wotton, Mr. Clarke had three children, two of whom survived him ; Edward, of whom in the next article, and a daughter, who inherited not only the virtues of her parents, but their taste for literature. She died at Chichester, and was buried in a cemetery adjoining the cathedral. His widow died July 11, 1783. l
CLARKE (EDWARD), son to the preceding, was born at Btixted, March 16, 1730, and was educated at St. John's
* " Did lie, who thus inserrb'd.the wall, Not read, or not believe St. Paul, Who says there is, where'er it stands, ' Another house not made with hand.; ;' Or ojay we gather from these words, That house is not a house, of lords ? "
1 Nichols's Bowyer. — Biog. Brit.
4-24- C L A B K E.
college, Cambridge, where he took his degree of B. A,. 1752, and after being elected a fellow, proceeded M. A. 1755. In 175S he was presented to the rectory of Pepper- harrow, in Surrey. He was, like his father, a man of genius and an excellent scholar. His taste and wit gave peculiar charms to his conversation, in which he particularly ex- celled. His first publication, we believe, was a copy of Greek hexameters on the death of Frederic prince of Wales, in the " Luctus Academias Cantabrigiensis," 1751. Jn 1755, he published "A Letter to a Friend in Italy, and verses on reading Montfaucon." In concert with Mr. Itowyer, he projected the improvement of a Latin dic- tionary, by reducing that of Faber from its present radical to a regular form. One single sheet of this work was com- pleted, when the design dropped for want of due encou- ragement. In 1759, he published a thanksgiving sermon, for the victory over the French fleet ; and the following year, went as chaplain to the embassy at Madrid, and during a residence there of two years, collected the materials of a very curious work which he published on his return, entitled " Letters concerning the Spanish nation, written at Madrid during the years 1760 and 1761,'* 1763, 4to. In this year also, he married Anne, daughter of Thomas Grenfield, esq. and soon afterwards attended general James Johnstone to Minorca (of which island that officer had been appointed lieutenant-governor), as secretary and chaplain. In 1767 he published " A defence of the conduct of the lieutenant- governor, in reply to a printed libel." On his return from Minorca, about 1768, he was inducted to the vicarages of Willingdon and Arlington, in Sussex, through the interest of his father, by whose resignation also he succeeded to the rectory of Buxted, on which he principally resided, de- voting his whole life to literature. In 1769 he resigned Pepperharrow, from a dislike, very honourable to him, of the character of a pluralist. In 1778, he printed proposals for an edition in folio of the " Greek Testament," with a selection of notes from the most eminent critics and com- mentators, but sufficient encouragement was not given. The copy, however, is in the possession of his son the rev. James Stanier Clarke, with another that was interleaved and filled with notes by his grandfather Mr. William Clarke. He died November 1786, and was buried at Buxted. He left three sons, and a daughter married to capt. Parkinson of the royal navy. Of his sons, the youngest, capt. George
CLARKE. 425
Clarke of the royal navy, a brave and skilful officer, was unfortunately drowned by the upsetting1 of a pleasure-boat in the Thames, Oct. 1, 1805. It would be unnecessary to add how much the literary honours of this family are likely to be perpetuated by his other sons, the rev. James Stanier Clarke, LL. B. and F. K. S. the biographer of Nelson, and the rev. Edward Daniel Clarke, LL. D. a gentleman of consummate abilities in the antiquities of literature, and author of two volumes of " Travels" just published, which have interested the public in no common degree. *
CLARKSON (DAVID), a nonconformist divine of con- siderable celebrity, and one of the tutors of archbishop Tiilotson, was the son of Robert Clarkson of Bradford in Yorkshire, where he was born February 1622, and educated at Clare-hall, Cambridge^and was some time fellow of that col- lege. He was then tutor to Tiilotson, who succeeded him in his fellowship in 1651. He was, according to Baxter, a divine of extraordinary worth for solid judgment, healing mode- rate principles, acquaintance with the fathers, great minis- terial abilities, and a godly upright life. He held for some time the living of Mortlake in Surrey, from which he was ejected for nonconformity in August 1662. After this he shifted about, according to Neal, from one place of obscu- rity to another, until, in 1682, he was chosen co-pastor with Dr. Owen, whom he succeeded the year following. He died June 14, 1686. Of his works, which principally consist of occasional Sermons, and a volume of " Sermons1' in folio, the most remarkable were, one entitled " No evi- dence of Diocesan Episcopacy in the primitive times,'* 1681, 4to, in answer to Dr. Stillingfleet; and another on the same subject, printed after his death, under the title of " Primitive Fpiscopacy," 1688; this was answered by Dr. Henry Maurice in 1691, in his " Defence of Diocesan Episcopacy." Tiilotson, notwithstanding Clarkson's non- conformity, always preserved a very high respect for him.2
CLAUDE (LORRAINE), properly CLAUDE GELE'I;, an inimitable landscape painter, was born at Lorraine in 1600, and served an apprenticeship to the trade of a pastry-cook. In the early part of his life he shewed no symptoms of- that astonishing genius, which in his more advanced years at- tracted the admiration of the world. He was very little
1 Nichols's Bowyer.
- Culamy. — Biich's Life of Tiilotson. — Neal's Puritans. — Tomm's Biogra- phical Collections, vol. II. — Lysons's Environs, vol. IV.
426 CLAUDE.
indebted to any master for instruction, except Agostino Tassi, who had been a disciple of Paul Bril, and with great labour taught Claude some of the rules of perspective, and the method of preparing his colours. But although at first be could with difficulty comprehend the rudimentsyof the art, yet in the progress of his instructions his rnind seemed to expand ; his ideas improved ; his imagination became more lively ; and with wonderful eagerness he applied him- self to his studies. During these he explored the true principles of painting, by an incessant examination of na- ture, usually studying in the open fields, where he very frequently continued frofn sun-rise till the dusk of the evening. There he sketched whatever he thought beauti- ful or striking; and every curious tinge of light, on all kinds of objects, he marked in his sketches with a similar colour ; from which he gave his landscapes such an appear- ance of nature and truth, as has rarely been discovered in any artist that ever painted in that style. Sandrart relates, that Claude used to explain to him, as they walked through the fields, the causes of the different appearances of the same prospect at different hours of the day, from the re- flections or refractions of light, from dews or vapours, in the evening or morning, with all the precision of a philo- sopher.
He worked on his pictures with great care, endeavour- ing to bring them to perfection, by touching them fre- quently over again ; and if any performance did not an- swer his idea, it was customary with him to alter, to deface, and repaint it again several times over, till it corresponded with that image pictured in his mind. But, whatever struck his imagination, while he observed nature abroad, was so strongly impressed on his memory, that, on his re- turn to work, he never failed to make the happiest use of it. His skies are warm, and full of lustre, and every ob- ject is properly illumined. His distances are admirable, and in every part a delightful union and harmony never fail to excite our applause and admiration. His invention is pleasing, his colouring delicate, and his tints have such an agreeable sweetness and variety, as to have been but imperfectly imitated by the best subsequent artists, but were never equalled. He frequently gave an uncommon tenderness to his finished trees, by glazing ; and in his large compositions which he painted in fresco, he was so exact, that the distinct species of every tree might readily
CLAUDE. 427
be distinguished. Among several of his performances in that manner of painting, one was on the four walls of a magnificent saloon at Rome, belonging to a nobleman named Mutius, the height of the walls being very considerable. On the first side he represented the vestiges of an ancient palace, bounded by a deep grove of trees, incomparably •expressed as to the forms, stems, barks, branchings, and foliage ; the proportional grandeur of those trees, as well as the length of the grove, were perspectively and beauti- fully set off by the shrubs and plants with which his ground was diversified ; and the eye was pleasingly conducted to the second wall, which seemed, by an artful contrivance and disposition, to be only a continuation of the same scene, the same elevation of the horizontal line being ob- served through the whole work. On the second side, he shewed an extensive plain interspersed with mountains and falls of water, as also with a variety of trees, plants, travel- lers, and animals; and this part of the composition was likewise connected with the third wall. In that, the lengthened prospect shewed a sea-port at the foot of some high hills, with a view of the ocean, and vessels labouring amongst the waves, which appeared in violent agitation ; and on the fourth wall were represented caverns among- rude rocks, ruins of buildings, and fragments of antique -statues ; the composition, though divided into so many parts, constituting in the whole but one entire connected prospect, the beauty, truth, and variety of which, the power of language cannot sufficiently represent. As to his figures, if he painted them himself, they are very in- different ; though Sandrart assures us, that he spent a great deal of time and labour in practising to design them; that he drew for some years in the academy at Rome, after living models, as well as after statues j and that he took much more pains in endeavouring to form his hand to draw figures correctly, than to perfect himself in landscape, in which he was confessedly superior to all. And he was so conscious of his deficiency in figures, that he usually en- gaged other artists who were eminent to paint them for him ; of which number were Courtois, and Philippo Laura. His pictures are very rare, especially such as are un- damaged ; and those are at this time so valued, that no price, however great, is thought to be superior to their merit. There are some of uncommon excellence in this country ; and a few years ago the vast price of 6000 gui-
428 CLAUDE.
neas was given for two of them. In order to avoid a re- petition of the same subject, and also to detect such copies of his works as might be injurious to his fame by being sold for originals, it was his custom to draw (in a paper book prepared for his purpose) the designs of all those pictures which were transmitted to different countries ; and on the back of the drawings he wrote the name of the person who had been the purchaser. That book, which he titled " Libro di Verita," is now in the possession of the duke of Devonshire. For his amusement Claude etched a set of twenty-eight middling-sized landscapes, lengthways, from his own compositions. They are very slight, but very spirited, and abundantly testify the hand of the master. De Piles says he died in 1678, but all other writers place his death in 1682. 1
CLAUDE (JOHN), an eminent French protestant clergy- man, was born at Sauvetat in the province of Angenois, in 1619, and studied grammar and philosophy under his fa- ther Francis Claude, also a minister, ~and a man of great piety, and afterwards went through a course of divinity at Montauban, where he was ordained in 1645. He was made minister of the church of la Treyne, where he offi- ciated a }rear, and then became minister of a church of St. Afric in Rovergne ; and eight years after, pastor of that of Nismes. As the protestants had an university in the city of Nismes, Claude had an opportunity of displaying one of his chief talents, that of happily explaining a theo- logical subject ; and he used to read private lectures to such as were candidates for the ministry. He had under- taken to refute the piece called " The Method," which was written by cardinal Richelieu against the protestants ; but hearing that Martel, an eminent professor of divinity, had a synodical commission for that purpose, he laid aside that design. Havfng opposed, in the synod of the Lower Languedoc, a person whom the court had won over to at- tempt a re-union between the Roman catholics and pro- testants, he was forbid, by a decree of council, the func- tions of a minister in Languedoc, after he had exercised them eight years at Nismes. He went to Paris to get this resolution taken off; and, after staying there six months to no purpose, he went to Montauban, preached the day
1 D'Argenville,— Pilkington. — Strutt.
CLAUDE. 429
after his arrival, and accepted an offer from the people of that church.
During this journey, he wrote a little book, which gave rise to the most famous dispute that ever was carried on in. France between the protestants and Roman catholics. Mess, de Port-Royal in their endeavours to make a convert of Mr. de Turenne to the Romish religion, presented hi«n with a work in which they pretended to shew that the pro- testant churches had always believed what is taught in that of the Romanists concerning the real presence, and that a change of belief, such as the protestants suppose, is im- possible. Mr. de Turenne's lady, who always dreaded, what happened after her decease, namely, that her husband would turn Roman catholic, was very anxious to confirm him in the protestant faith, and employed Claude to write an answer to the piece of Mess, de Port-Royal, which he executed with so much ability, that several copies were taken and circulated as extensively, both in Paris and in the provinces, as if it had been printed. Mess, de Port- Royal, hearing of this, thought themselves absolutely ob- liged to answer it, by publishing in 1664, the famous work entitled " The perpetuity of the catholic church in regard to its doctrine of the Eucharist." It contains the first piece, and a reply to Claude's answer, who was then at Montauban ; and published in 1666, with his first answer, a work entitled " An answer to two treatises, entitled The perpetuity, &c." There is no doubt but the intrinsic merit of Claude's book contributed greatly to its fame; but he had also the Jansenists on his side, who hoped that it would vex the gentlemen of the Port-Royal ; and there- fore, for their own sake, they spread in all places his name and merit. Arnauld undertook to refute Claude's book, and published a large volume in 1669. Father Nonet also, a famous Jesuit, engaged in the controversy, and published a book against Claude, who wrote an answer to it, which was printed in 1668, and which some prefer to his other pieces ; and we are told it was his own favourite piece. The author of the " Journal des S^avans" opposed Claude, by inserting an extract of that Jesuit's book, which induced Claude to publish an anonymous letter, entitled " A Letter from a provincial to a friend, occasioned by the journal of the 28th of June, 1667 ;" and this obtained a reply from the journalist some time after, which terminated
430 CLAUD E.
this contest ; but as Arnauld had added two more volumes to the former, Claude was forced to engage in a very laborious study, in order to examine the tenets ot the Greek church, and those of the eastern schismatics, and shewed great learn- ing and abilities in the answer he made to him. The Jan- senists only made a general reply to Claude's book. They published their " Just prejudices against Calvinism :'* which Claude refuted by one of the ablest vindications of protestantism, entitled -"' Defense de la Reformation," Roan, 1673, and Hague, 1682.
Claude, as we have observed, was elected minister of the church of Montauban, about 1662 ; but four years after he was forbid by the court to exercise his functions there, which obliged him to go a second time to Paris, where he , continued near nine months, without being able to remove the obstacles of his return to Montauban. During this interval, he was invited to the church of Bourdeaux ; but the congregation of Charenton, being unwilling to lose a person of Claude's abilities, gave him also an invitation in 1666. From that time to the revocation of the edict of Nantz, he did very great service to the cause of the French protestants by his excellent works, and by the minute at- tention he paid to the affairs which the deputies of pro- vinces communicated to him. No man was ever better qualified to head either a consistory or a synod, or to ma- nage a personal dispute. He discovered this latter talent in the last conference, which Mad. de Duras desired to hear. This lady would not forsake her religion till she had heard Claude and the bishop of Meaux dispute in her presence; and they accordingly disputed at the countess de Roie's, her sister's, the 1st of March, 1678. Each dis- puta'nt wrote the relation of his conference, and ascribed the victory to himself. These relations were at first only handed about in MS. but at last the bishop of Meaux pub- lished his in 1682, and that of Claude followed soon after. Claude was distinguished from the rest of the ministers, by the manner in which the court ordered him to leave the kingdom. He, like them, had a fortnight allowed him to leave it : but the Romish clergy found means to shorten even that time. For, Oct. 22, 1685, the day on which the revocation of the edict of Nantz was registered at Paris, Claude at ten in the morning was ordered to leave France in twenty-four hours. He obeyed with the utmost sub- mission ; and set out, attended by one of the king's foot-
CLAUDE. 431
men, who was ordered to conduct him to the frontiers of France ; and who, though he executed his orders faithfully, yet treated him with civility. He travelled in the Brussels coach; and his fame flying before him, procured him much kind and hospitable attention during his journey. He passed through Cambray, where he lay; and was there present- ed with some refreshments by the Jesuits. Even their rector paid him a visit, which Claude returned ; and the differ- ence of religion did not interrupt this interchange of civilities.
Having arrived at Holland, he met with a very kind re- ception, and was honoured with a considerable pension by the prince of Orange. He used to preach occasionally at the Hague; and his last sermon was on Christmas-day, 1686, so eloquent and impressive, that the princess of Orange was greatly affected. Claude had not a pleasing voice; which gave pccasion to the witticism of Morus, " that all the voices will be for him except his own :" but this did not lessen the effect of his sermons, nor the popu- larity of the preacher. At the conclusion of the last-men- tioned sermon, he was seized with an illness, of which he died Jan. 12L, 1687 ; and his death was just matter of grief to his whole party, who lost a man of great abilities, and one likely to have healed the- animosities which afterwards took place in some of the protestant churches.
Claude married in 1648 Elizabeth de Malcare, by whom he had a son, Isaac Claude, born March 5, 1653, of whom he was very fond, and bred him to the ministry. He studied in the universities of France; after which he re- turned to his father, who completed his education for the pulpit. He was examined at Sedan in 1678, and approved; he was invited by the congregation of the church of Cler- mont in Beauvoisis ; and his father had the satisfaction to impose his hands on him in 1678, and to see him minister of the Walloon church at the Hague, when he retired to Holland in 1685. He died at the Hague, July 29, 1695, after having published many excellent works of his de- ceased father, particularly 5 vols. 12mo of posthumous theological and controversial treatises, Amst. 1689. ,Lavo- cat, a Roman catholic writer, allows that his works are written in a manly, exact, elegant and close style, disco- ver great genius and learning, and an uncommon talent for employing all the subtleties of logic. So candid a critic may be forgiven for adding, " happy had he not talents by writing against the catholic church."
432 CLAUDE.
These volumes just mentioned contain (s An answer to a treatise on the Sacrament," supposed to be written by cardinal le Camus, bishop of Grenoble ; Four Letters on the same subject ; an " Essay on the composition of a Ser- inon ;" a " Body of Christian Divinity ;" expositions of parts of Scripture, Letters, &c. His Life, written by M. de la Devaize, was translated into English by G. P. and published Lond. 1688, 4to. His " Historical Defence of the Reformation" was published in English by T. B. Lond. 1683, 4to, and his " Essay on the Composition of a Ser- mon," which he wrote about the year 1676, for the use of his son, was translated and published in English, in 1778, by the late rev. Rob. Robinson, of Cambridge, 2 vols. 8vo, with a Life of the author, and notes, all which, as displaying an implacable and unprovoked hostility to the established church, have been very properly omitted in a new edition of the translation published in 1796, by the rev. Charles Simeon, of King's college, Cambridge. 1 • CLAUDE (JOHN JAMES), 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 re- search. At fifteen he wrote a curious Latin dissertation on the manner of saluting among the ancients, and pub- lished 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, 1702, 12mo. He then studied at Utrecht, under Burman, and devoted himself entirely to the belles lettres ; but M. Martin, his relation and tutor, who was minister there, falling dangerously ill, and seeing M. Claude one day by his- bed-side, said to him, among other things, "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 deter- mined 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
» Life, by Devaize.— Gen, Diet— Moreri.— Saxii Onomast.
CLAUDE. 433
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 \
CLAUDE, Bishop of Turin. See CLAUDIUS.
CLAUDIANUS (CLAUDIUS), a Latin poet, who flou- rished in the fourth century, under the emperor Theo- dosius and his sons Arcadius and Honorius, was born 19 the year 365. Many learned men imagine him to have been born at Alexandria, in Egypt ; others, however, have made a Spaniard of him, others a Frenchman, and Plutarch and Politian suppose Florence to have been the place of his nativity. It is certain that he came to Rome in the year 395, and insinuated himself into Stilico's favour, who, being a person of great abilities, both for civil and military affairs, though a Goth by birth, was now become so con- siderable under Honorius, that he may be said for many years to have governed the western empire. Stilico after- wards fell into disgrace, and was put to death ; and it is more than probable, that the poet was involved in the misfortunes of his patron, whom he had egregiously flat- tered, arid severely persecuted by Hadrian, who was cap- tain of the guards to Honorius, and seems to have succeeded Stilico. There is a reason, however, to think that he rose afterwards to great favour, and obtained several honours both civil and military. Arcadius and Honorius are said to have granted him an honour, which seems to exceed any that had ever been bestowed upon a poet before, having at the senate's request ordered a statue to be erected for him in Trajan's forum, with a very honourable inscrip- tion ; and this is said to be confirmed by the late discovery of a marble, supposed to be the pedestal of Claudiau's statue in brass. The inscription runs thus: " To Claudius Claudianus, tribune and notary, and among other noble accomplishments, the most excellent of poets : though his own poems are sufficient to render his name immortal, yet
fa testimony of their approbation, the most learned and "nappy emperors Arcadius and Honorius have, at the re- quest of the senate, ordered this statue to be erected and placed in the forum of Trajan." Under the inscription was placed an epigram' in Greek, signifying that he had united the perfections of Homer and Virgil. The princes* Serena had a great esteem for Claudian, and recommended
> Life prefixed to the Seimons,— CbaufepVs D ;t. Hist.— Saxii Ooomait. j
VOL. IX. F P
434 CLAUDIANUS.
and married him to a lady of great quality and fortune in Libya, as he acknowledges very gratefully in an epistle which he addresses to Serena from thence, a little before his wedding day.
There are a few little poems on sacred subjects, which, through mistake, have been ascribed by some critics to daudian, and have made him be thought a Christian, But St. Austin, who was contemporary with him, expressly says that he was a heathen ; and this is confirmed by Paulus Orosius, another contemporary. They are with more propriety ascribed to Claudianus Mamertus, the sub- ject of the following article. The time of Claudian's death is uncertain, nor do we know any farther particulars of his life than what are to be collected from his works.
In consequence of Orosius pronouncing him a heathen, "an obstinate pagan," Cave thinks it may be reasonably inferred that he had written against the Christian religion. This Fabricius opposes, but Lardner says it may be reckoned somewhat remarkable, that a learned man, a devout worshipper of all the gods, a wit and a poet, and author of many works, should never say any thing disre- spectful of Christianity. He allows, however, that it is somewhat more extraordinary that Claudian should so excel in Latin verse, as to approach the best writers of the Au- gustan age in purity and elegance. Gibbon's character of Claudian, corresponding with this, is written with more than usual care and discrimination. If, says this historian, we fairly balance Claudian's merits and defects, we shall acknowledge that he does not either satisfy, or silence our reason. It would not be easy to produce a passage that deserves the epithet of sublime or pathetic ; to select a verse that melts the heart, or enlarges the imagination. We should vainly seek in the poems of Claudian, the happy invention and artificial conduct of an interesting fable, or the just and lively representation of the characters and situations of real life. For the service of his patron, he published occasional panegyrics and invectives ; and the design of these slavish compositions encouraged his propensity to exceed the limits of truth and nature. These imperfections, however, are compensated in some degree by the poetical virtues of Claudian. He was endowed with the rare and precious talent of raising the meanest, of adorning tjie most barren, and of diversifying the most si- milar topics ; tys colouring, mere specially in descriptive
C L A U D I A N U S. 435
poetry, is soft and splendid ; and he seldom fails to dis- play, and even to abuse, the advantages of a cultivated understanding, a copious fancy, an easy, and sometimes forcible expression ; and a perpetual flow of harmonious versification. To these commendations, independent of any accidents of time and place, we must add the peculiar merit which Claudian derived from the unfavourable cir- cumstances of his birth. In the decline of arts, and of em- pire, a native of Egypt, who had received the education of a Greek, assumed in a mature age the familiar use and absolute command of the Latin language, soared above the heads of his feeble contemporaries, and placed himself, after an interval of three hundred years, among the poets of an- cient Rome. Strada, in his Prolusions, allows him to contend with the five heroic poets, Lucretius, Virgil, Ovid, Lucan, and Statius. His patron is the accomplished courtier, Bal- thazar Castiglione. His admirers are numerous and pas- sionate. Yet the rigid critics reproach the exotic weeds, or flowers, which spring too luxuriantly in his Latian soil, and for which Dr. Warton, one probably ranked by Gib* bon among these " rigid critics," places Claudian with Statius and Seneca the tragedian, as authors into which no youth of genius ought to be suffered to look.
The first edition of Claudian was supposed to be one of 1470, but as the best critics reject it, the claim of priority is allowed to that of 1482, fol. The best editions are those of Barthius, Francfort, 1650, 4to ; of Heinsius, Leyden, 1650, 12mo ; Amst. 1665, 8vo ; of Gesner, Leipsic, 1759, 2 vols. 8vo, and thought the edit. opt. j and of Burmann, Amst. 1760, 4to. *
CLAUDIANUS ECDICIUS MAMERTUS, a learned presbyter of Vienna, flourished about the year 460. He is celebrated for his eloquence and his general knowledge; and particularly for his acquaintance with the dialectics of Aristotle, which were made use of by the orthodox fathers, as weapons both offensive and defensive, against heretics. He wrote on the state of the soul, " De statu animte, lib. tres," printed by Mosellanus, Basil, 1520, 4to, and afterwards reprinted in the collections of the fathers, as well as separately. A hymn in praise of Christ has been attri-
' Crusius's Lives of the Poets. — Vossius. — Fabric. Bibl. tat. and Bibl. Med, Jfsr\. — Blount's Censura. — - Saxii Onomast. — Cave. — Lardner's Works.r-*-Gib« bon's Roman History.— VVarUm'i Essay on Pope.-*-GuardiaQ, Nos. 115, J1P»
ni, is*.
F F 2
436 CLAUDIANUS.
buted to him, and as we have already noticed, to Claudian the poet. *
CLAUDIUS, or, as some add, CLAUDIUS CLEMENS, bishop of Turin in the ninth century, and one of the ear- liest reformers of popish superstitions, was a native of Spain, and in his youth a disciple of Felix bishop of Urgel, whom he accompanied into France, Italy, and Germany, but whose errors he afterwards renounced, and obtained access to the court of Lewis le Debonnaire, emperor and king of France. Lewis admitted him among his almoners and chaplains, and having preached before the court, a thing very rare in those days, he was much admired as an ex- pounder of the Scriptures, of which Fleury assures us he had great knowledge. On this account Lewis, who per- ceived the ignorance of a great part of Italy, and was will- ing to provide the churches of Piedmont with one who might stem the growing torrent of image worship, pro- moted Claudius to the see of Turin, about the year 817, in which he fully answered his expectations, and both in his preaching and writings successfully combated the prevailing superstitions. His commentaries on several parts of the Old and New Testaments are still extant in manuscript, in va- rious French libraries ; but his " Commentary on the Gala- tians," Paris, 1542, is the only part of his works which has been printed, except bis " prefaces" to the book of Leviticus and to the Epistle to the Ephesians, which father Mabillon published ; an abridged " Chronicle" which father Labbe attributes to him ; and a letter addressed to the emperor Charlemagne on the two eclipses of the year 8 10, which is in the tenth vol. of D'Acheri's collection. In his commen- tary on the Galatians, he every where asserts the equality of all the apostles with St. Peter, and owns Jesus Christ as the proper head of the church. He inveighs against the doctrine of human merits, and against raising traditions to a height of credibility equal to that of the divine word. He maintains salvation by faith alone, admits the fallibility of the church, exposes the futility of praying for the dead, and of the idolatrous practices then supported by the Ro- man see. These tenets involved him in a controversy with a recluse named Dungal, and with Jonas, bishop of Orleans; and created many more dangerous enemies, from whom>
» Brucker.— Ssnui Onomast.— Fabric. Bibl. Lat. Med. /Evi.
CLAUDIUS. 4T7
however, he appears to have been protected by the French court, and died in peace in the year 339. l
CLAVIUS (CHUISTOPHER), a German Jesuit, was born at Bamberg, in Germany, in 1537. He became a very studious mathematician, and elaborate writer, his works making five large folio volumes ; and containing a com- plete body or course of the mathematics. They are mostly elementary, and commentaries on Euclid and others ; having very little of invention of his own. His talents and writings have been variously spoken of, and it must be acknowledged that he exhibits more of industry than ge- nius. Fie was sent for tu Rome, to assist, with other learned men, in the reformation of the calendar, by pope Gregory ; which he afterwards undertook a defence of, against Scaliger, Vieta, and others, who attacked it. He died at Rome, the 6th of February, 1612, after more than fifty years close application to the mathematical sci- ences. 8
CLAYMOND (JOHN), one of the presidents of Mag- dalen college, Oxford, and nr>»t president of Corpus Christ! college, in that university, was born at Frampton, in Lin- colnshire, of parents who, although not opulent, were enabled to afford him a liberal education. He was first sent to a grammar-school in Oxford, and then entered of Magdalen college, where he became fellow, D, D. about 1507, and held several valuable benefices. In 1516-17, bishop Fox, the founder of Corpus Christi college, re- quested him to become president of that new foundation, and, as it was inferior in value to that of Magdalen, be* stowed on him the rectory of Cleeve, in Gloucestershire, Claymond presided above twenty years, and died in 1537, and was buried in the chapel of Corpus. He left a con- siderable part of his property, in scholarships and other be- nefactions, to Brazen-nose, Magdalen, and Corpus Christi colleges He appears from his manuscripts, some of which are in the library of Corpus, to have been a classical scho- lar, and acquainted with natural history, his works con- sisting of commentaries on Aulua Gellius and Plautus, and notes and observations on Pliny. From these, likewise, we learn that he was the correspondent of Grynaeus, Eras-
1 Moreri. — Dnpin. — Mosheim and Mi!ner*8 Church Hist. — Saxii Onomast. * Mutton's Diet. — Moreri. — Allegambe tie Script. Soc. Jesu. — Martiii'* Fuiio jQphioa. — > Ceu. Diet.— Blouut's C«Biura,»»-Sa»i Oqooiail,
438 C L A Y M O N D.
mus, and other learned men of his time. With Erasmui he became personally acquainted at Oxford, and Erasmus afterwards dedicated to him some tracts of Chrysostom.1
CLAYTON (ROBERT), bishop of Clogher, was born at Dublin in 1695, a descendant of the Claytons of Ful- wood, in Lancashire, whose estate he became possessed of, by right of inheritance. His father, Dr. Clayton* mi- nister of St. Michael's, Dublin, and dean of Kildare, sent him to Westminster-school, under the private tuition of Zachary Pearce, afterwards bishop of Rochester, with whom he held a lasting friendship. From Westminster school Dr. Clayton removed his son to Trinity college, Dublin, of which, in due time, he became a fellow, and afterwards made the tour of Italy and France. From whom Mr. Clayton received holy orders, what preferments he had before he was raised to the episcopacy, and when he took his degrees, we are not informed ; only we find that he was become D. D. in 1729. In 1728, having come into the possession of an affluent estate, in consequence of his father's decease, he married Catharine, daughter of lord chief baron Donnellan, and gave her fortune, which was not considerable, to her sister. He behaved with the same generosity to his own three sisters, and gave to each of them the double of what had been bequeathed to them by their father's will.
Soon after Dr. Clayton's marriage, he went with his lady to England, and while at London, a person in dis- tressed circumstances applied to him for assistance, with the testimony of Dr. Samuel Clarke for a recommenda- tion, upon which, instead of the usual donation on such occasions, he gave to the necessitous man the sum of three hundred pounds, which was the whole that he wanted to make him easy in the world. This circumstance intro- duced him to Dr. Clarke, and the result of their acquaint- ance was, Dr. Clayton's embracing the Arian principles, to which he adhered during the remainder of his life. Dr. Clarke having carried to queen Caroline an account of Dr. Clayton's remarkable beneficence, it made a powerful impression on her majesty's mind in favour of his cha- racter ; which impression was strongly enforced by her bed-chamber woman, Mrs. Clayton, afterwards lady Sun-
» Ath. Ox. vol. I.— Wood's Colleges and Halls.— Chalmers's Hist, of Oxford, W~ DodcJ's Cimrcb Hist .-^Tanner.— JQrtin and Knight's tire* of
CLAYTON. 439
*
d.on. Such a powerful interest procured an immediate recommendation to lord Carteret, then chief governor of Ireland, for the very first bishopric tbat should become vacant, and accordingly, he was advanced to that of Killala, January 1729-30. In this situation he continued till November 1735, when he was translated to the see of Cork, and in 1745 to that of Clogher. Excepting a letter written to the royal society upon a subject of no great consequence, his first publication was an " Introduction to the History of the Jews," which was afterwards trans- lated into French, and printed at Leyden. His next work was " The Chronology of the Hebrew Bible vindicated : the facts compared with other ancient histories, and the diffi- culties explained, from the flood to the death of Moses; together with some conjectures in relation to Egypt during that period of time ; also two maps, in which are attempted to be settled the journeyings of the children of Israel," 1747, 4to, and containing a variety of observations which deserve the attention of the learned reader. In 1749 he published a " Dissertation on Prophecy," in which he en- deavoured to shew, from a joint comparison of the Pro- phecies of Daniel, and the Revelation of St. John, that the final end of the dispersion of the Jews will be coin- cident with the ruin of the popedom, and take place about 2000. This was followed by an " Impartial Enquiry into the time of the coming of the Messiah," in two letters to an eminent Jew, printed first separately, and then together, in 1751. In the same year (1751), appeared the " Essay on Spirit," a performance which excited very general at- tention, and was productive of a fruitful controversy. Its object was to recommend the Arian doctrine of the infe- riority of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and to prepare the way for suitable alterations in the Liturgy. His bio- grapher, who is at the same time his warm panegyrist, allows that in this performance he has indulged too freely in imagination and conjecture; and that he might have confined the question with greater advantage to the direct and simple standard of Scripture. The work, after all, was not Dr. Clayton's, but one of his adoption, the real authoi being a young clergyman in his diocese, who shewed the ma- nuscript to his lordship, but had not the courage to print it in his own name. The bishop, with what is called a romantic ge- nerosity, conveyed it to the press, and managed th«j affair in such a manner, that the treatise was universally ascribed to
440 CLAYTON.
him in all the attacks to which it was exposed, and the senti- ments certainly were his*. One effect of this conduct was, his being prevented from rising higher in the church. In 1752, he was recommended by the duke of Dorset, then viceroy of Ireland, to the vacant archbishopric of Tuam, but this was refused, solely on account of his being re- garded as the writer of the Essay.
The next appearance of Dr. Clayton from the press, was in a work undoubtedly his own, " A Vindication of the Histories of the Old and New Testament ; in answer to the Objections of the late Lord Bolingbroke ; in two letters to a young nobleman," 1752, 8vo ; a work of great ability, in which some of lord Bolingbroke's objections to several parts of scripture are well exposed and confuted. In 1753, he published " A Journal from Grand Cairo to Mount Sinai, and back again. Translated from a manuscript written by the Prefetto of Egypt, in company with the Missionaries de propaganda Fids at Grand Cairo. To which are added, some remarks on the origin of hieroglyphics, and the mythology of the ancient heathens." Dedicated to the Society of Antiquaries, London, 4to and 8vo. The bishop,, having become possessed of the original Journal from Grand Cairo to Mount Sinai, and which had been mentioned by Dr. Pococke in his Travels through the East, communicated this translation of it to the Society of An- tiquaries, with a view of exciting them to make some inquiry into certain ancient characters, which, as appears from the Journal, are discovered in great numbers in the Wil- derness of Sinai, at a place well known by the name of •Gebel el Mokatah, or the Written Mountains. It does not appear that any measures were taken by the Society of
* The controversy to which the •« Es- trines of Sooinus." On the " Essay on say on Spirit" gave rise, continued but Spirit" Dr. Warhnrton says in a letter a short time. The best answers to the to Dr. Hurd, 1751 : " The bishop of work were, " A Full Answer, &c." Clogher, or some such heathenish J753, 8vo, by the late rev. William name, in Ireland, has just published Jones, ,the friend and biographer of a book. It is made up out of the rub- bishop Home, and " A Vindication of bish of the heresies ; of a much ranker the Doctrine of the Trinity," in three cast than common Arianism. Jesus parts, with an Appendix, by the rev. Christ is Michael, and the Holy Ghost, Dr. Randolph, father to the present Gabriel, &c. This might be heresy in bishop of London. Dr. Kippis ex- an English bishop, but in an Irish, >ti» presses his opinion that the " Essay only a blunder. But thank God, our on Spirit," and the tracts in defence of. bishops are far from making or vending it, were the means of diffusing the -heresies; though for the good of the Arian sentiments, which, however, he church, they have excellent eyes at adds, " are at present upon the decline, spying it out wherever it skulks or l»s the Unitariani tending fast to the doc- bid."
CLAYTON. 441
Antiquaries ; but the celebrated Mr. Edward Wortley Mon- tagu, who went from Cairo to the Desert of Sinai, with, the express purpose of seeing and describing the objects proposed by the bishop, was greatly disappointed, and convinced that the characters were not written by the Israelites ; and we believe the researches of more recent travellers have been equally unsuccessful.
.In 1754, the bishop of Clogher favoured the literary world with the second part of his " Vindication of the Histories of the Old and New Testament," but written with more ingenuity than judgment. His account of the formation of the earth and of the deluge, was successfully attacked by Mr. Alexander Catcott. Our prelate's next publication was in 1755, and consisted only of some letters which had passed between his lordship, when bishop of Cork, and Mr. William Penn, on the subject of baptism, in which he contended that the true Christian baptism is to continue to the end of the world ; whereas the baptism of the Holy Ghost ceased with the ceasing of miracles. We have already noticed that his object in publishing the " Essay on Spirit" was to recommend Arianism, and con- sequently, alterations in the Liturgy. He now determined to avow the same sentiments in his legislative capacity; and accordingly, on Monday the 2d of February, 1756, he proposed in the Irish house of lords, that the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds should for the future be left out of the Liturgy of the church of Ireland. The speech which our prelate delivered upon this occasion being taken down in short-hand, was afterwards published, and passed through several editions. Though so declared and avowed an at- tack upon the establishment was regarded in a very unfa- vourable light, no measures were taken for calling Dr* Clayton to an account for it till he had published the third part of his " Vindication of the Histories of the Old and New Testament," 1757, in which he renewed his attacks upon the Trinity, and gave up so many doctrines as inde- fensible, and advanced others so contradictory to the thirty- nine articles, that the governors of the church of Ireland determined to proceed against him. Accordingly his late majesty ordered the lord-lieutenant to take the proper steps toward a legal prosecution of the bishop of Clogher. A day was fixed for a general meeting of the Irish prelates at the house of the primate, to which Dr. Clayton was sum- moned, that he might receive from them the notification1 of their intentions. A censure was certain ; a deprivation wa*
442 CLAYTON.
apprehended. But, before the time appointed, he was seized with a nervous fever, of which he died February 26, 1753. It is on all hands agreed, that the agitation of mind into which the bishop was thrown by the prosecution commenced against him, was the immediate cause of his death. When informed of the prosecution, he consulted a celebrated lawyer on the subject, and asked him if he thought he would lose his bishopric ? " My lord," he answered, " I believe you will." " Sir," he replied, " you have given me a stroke I'll never get the better of." What followed is surely very inconsistent with the story reported by his biographer, namely, that after he had delivered hi$ speech in the house of lords, the bishop declared " that his mind was eased of a load which had long lain upon it : and that he now enjoyed a heart- felt pleasure, to which he had been a stranger for above twenty years before."
In private life Dr. Clayton displayed many amiable qua- lities* The objects of bis chanty were uncommonly nu- merous ; the sums bestowed by him large, and given with such privacy that his beneficiaries seldom saw the hand by which they were relieved. Being a member of the linen board, he got a great many wheels and reels for the poor about Clogher, and thus kept the most of them em- ployed. As to his literary abilities, it is apparent from his writings that he was a man of a great capacity, of a vi- gorous imagination, but deficient in judgment, and too Frequently carried into the regions of conjecture.
Our prelate left behind him several works in manuscript in the possession of his executor, Dr. Barnard, dean of Derry, but these have not been thought worthy of publi- cation. Dr. Clayton was a member of the royal society, and of the society of antiquaries. He maintained a regu- lar correspondence with several gentlemen of eminent literature in this country ; and, among the rest, with the learned printer, Mr. Bowyer, to whom he made a present of the copy-right of all his works published in England. His Lancashire estate he bequeathed to his nearest male heir, Richard Clayton, esq. chief justice of the common pleas in Ireland ; but the greatest share of his fortune fell to Dr. Barnard, who married his niece. Some interesting' anecdotes of the bishop are given in Burdy's Lite of the rev. Philip Skelton, to whom he was neither a liberal nor impartial patron. !
l Biog. Brit— Nichols's Bowyer.— Burdy's Life of Skeltow, p. 84, 98, 101, 107, 128.— Warburton's Letters, p. 68, 4to edition,
CLEANTHES. 443
CLEANTHES, a celebrated Greek philosopher, of the stoical sect, son of Phanias, and disciple of Zeno, was born at. Assus in Lydia, 33<J B. C. He subsisted by draw- ing water during the night, that he might pursue his stu- dies by day. Being cited before the areopagus to declare how he gained his livelihood, he brought with him a gar- dener and a country-woman, saying that he drew water for the one, and kneaded dough for the other. The judges were ordering him a present; but Cleanthes refused to accept of it. This philosopher was for many years so poor, that he was obliged to write the heads of his master's lectures upon shells and bones, for want of money to buy paper. But, notwithstanding all his poverty, he perse- vered in the study of philosophy, and remained a pupil of Zeno nineteen years. His natural faculties were slow; but resolution and perseverance enabled him to overcome every difficulty ; and he at last became so complete a master of the stoic system, that he was perfectly qualified to suc- ceed Zeno in his school. His fellow disciples often ridi- culed him for his dulness, by calling him an ass ; but he took no other notice of the sarcasm, than by saying in his defence, that if he was an ass, he was the better able to bear the burthen of Zeno's doctrine. Being reproved for his timidity, he replied, " It is to this quality that I am indebted for my innocence." Though he was not of the school of Arcesilaus, when he heard him condemned for undermining by his doctrine the foundations of virtue, he candidly apologized for him, by remarking, that though he might seem an enemy to virtue in his discourses, he showed himself her friend in his conduct. Arcesilaus being informed of the handsome apology which Clean- thes had made for him, said to him, " You know how much I dislike flattery ; why will you flatter me ?" " Is it then flattery," replied Cleanthes, " to say of you, that you speak one thing, and do another ?" Cleanthes fre- quently advised his pupils to conceive of pleasure, as a deity sitting on her throne, attended by the virtues, who are ready on every occasion to whisper in her ear, " Do nothing which will occasion pain or grief 'to yourself or others." A friend observing him silent in company, said, (t One would think, Cleanthes, from your silence, that you took no pleasure in conversing with your friends :" Cleanthes replied, " It is because I know the value of this pleasure, that I am silent ; for I wish my friends to
444- 6 L E A N T H E S.
enjoy it as well as myself." The reason which he assigned for the superiority of former philosophers above the pre- sent was, that formerly philosophers studied things, where- as now they study only words. When he was old, he still retained the entire use of his faculties, arid often said, that he should always think life worth preserving as long as he should be able to write and "study. Long after his death; which happened in his ninetieth year, the Roman senate paid respect to his memory, by ordering a statue to be erected in honour of him at Assus.
He wrote many pieces, none of which are come down to us, except his " Hymn to Jupiter," and a few fragments; the several editions of which have "been enumerated, with the various readings, and critical remarks, by the learned reviewer of Butler's edition of " Marcus Musurus," &c. containing this hymn, and other fragments. It was first published by Fulvius Ursinus, in 1568 ; then by Henry Stephens, in his " Poesis Philosophica," in 1573; after- wards by Cudworth, in his " Intellectual System," 1678, fol. ; again in Mosheim's Latin translation of Cudworth, in 1733 ; a fifth time in the third dissertation added to Daniel Secundum Septuagint, Rom. 1773, fol.; a sixth time in the 2d edition of Mosheim's translation of Cudworth, pub- lished after his death, Leyd. Bat. 1773, fol.; again in Brunck's " Analecta," in 1776, and afterwards by Brunck, in his edition of the " Gnomici Poetae ;" a ninth time in, the " Eclogss Physicse" of John Stoboeus, published at Gottingen, 1792, Svo, by A. H. Heeren, It has also been translated into German, Latin, and English, the latter by Mr. West, at the desire of a friend, who was pleased to find such just sentiments of the deity in a heathen, and so much poetry in a philosopher. *
CLEGHORN (GEORGE), a learned physician, was born of reputable parents, at Granton, in the parish of Cram- mond, near Edinburgh, on the 13th of December 1716. His father died in 1719, and left a widow and five children. George, who was the youngest son, received the rudi- ments of his education in the grammar-school of Cram- mond, and in 1728 was sent to Edinburgh to be further instructed in the Latin, Greek, and French ; where, to a singular proficiency in these languages, he added a consi-
> Diogenes Laertius. — Brucker. — Moreri.— Month, Rev. rol. XXV. N. S,— » Cyclopaedia. — Saxii Guomast*
C L E G H O R N. 445
derable stock of mathematical knowledge. In the begin- ning of 1731 he resolved to study physic and surgery, and had the happiness of being placed under the tuition of the late Dr. Alexander Monro, and under his roof. In one of his letters his pupil appeared to dwell with peculiar pleasure upon this circumstance ; observing, that " his amiable manners and unremitting activity in promoting the public welfare, endeared him to all his acquaintance, but more particularly to those who lived under his roof, and had daily opportunities of admiring the sweetness of his conversation, and the invariable benignity of his disposi- tion." For five years he continued to profit by the in- struction and example of his excellent master, visiting pa- tients in company with him, and assisting at the dissections in the anatomical theatre ; at the same time he attended in their turn the lectures in botany, materia medica, chemis- try, and the theory and practice of medicine ; and by ex- traordinary diligence he attracted the notice of all his pre- ceptors. On Dr. Fothergill's arrival from England at this university in 1733, Dr. Cleghorn was introduced to his acquaintance, and soon became his inseparable companion. These twin pupils then studied together the same branches of science under the same masters, with equal ardour and success ; they frequently met to compare the notes they had collected from the professors, and to communicate their respective observations. Their moments of relaxa- tion, if that time can be called relaxation which is devoted to social studies, were spent in a select society of fellow- students, of which Fothergill, Russel, and Cuming, were associates ; a society since incorporated under the name of The Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh.
Early in the year 1736, when young Cleghorn had scarcely entered into his twentieth year, so great had been his progress, and so high a character had he acquired, that at the recommendation of Dr. St. Clair he was appointed «urgeon in the 22d regiment of foot, then stationed in Minorca, under the command of Gen. St. Clair. During a residence of thirteen years in that island, whatever time could be spared from attending the duties of his station, he employed either in investigating the nature of epidemic diseases, or in gratifying the passion he early imbibed for anatomy, frequently dissecting human bodies, and those of apes, which he procured from Barbary, and comparing1 structure with the descriptions of Galen and Vesalius.
446 C L E G H O R N.
In these pursuits he was much assisted by his correspondent Dr. Fothergill, who he acknowledges was indefatigable in searching the London shops for such books as he wanted, and in forwarding them by the earliest and best oppor- tunities.
In 1749 he left Minorca, and came to Ireland with the S2d regiment; and in autumn 1750 he went to London, and, during his publication of " The Diseases of Minorca," attended Dr. Hunter's anatomical lectures. In the publi- cation of his book he was materially assisted by Dr. Fother- gill. This work not only exhibits an accurate state of the air, but a minute detail of the vegetable productions of the island ; and concludes with medical observations, impor- tant in every point of view, and in some instances either new, or applied in a manner which preceding practitioners had not admitted. We are indebted to Dr. Cleghorn for recommending acescent vegetables in low, remittent, and putrid fevers, and the early and copious exhibition of bark, which had been interdicted from mistaken facts, deduced from false theories.
In 1751 the doctor settled in Dublin; and, in imitation of Monro and Hunter, began to give annual courses of anatomy. A few years after his coming to Dublin he was admitted into the university as lecturer in anatomy. In 1784 the college of physicians there elected him an ho- norary member; and since that time, from lecturer in anatomy he was made professor ; and had likewise the ho- nour of being one of the original members of the Irish Academy for promoting arts and sciences, which is now established by royal authority. In 1777, when the royal medical society was established at Paris, he was nomi- nated a fellow of it. About 1774, on the death of his only brother in Scotland, he sent for his surviving family, con- sisting of the widow and nine children, and settled them in Dublin under his own eye, that he might have it more in his power to afford them that protection and assistance which they might stand in need of. His elder nephew William he educated in the medical profession ; but after giving him the best education which Europe could afford, and getting him joined with himself in the lectureship, his hopes were unfortunately frustrated by the young gentle- snan's death, which happened about 1784. He died uni- versally and sincerely regretted by all who knew him, QQ
C L E G H O R N. 447
account of his uncommon abilities and most amiable dis- position.
Dr. Cleghorn, with an acquired independence, devoted his moments of leisure from the severer studies of his pro- fession, to farming and horticulture ; but his attention to this employment did not lessen his care of his relations, who, from a grateful and affectionate regard, looked up to him as a parent ; the duties of which station he so tenderly filled up, as to induce Dr. Lettsom, from whose memoirs this account is taken, to apply to him the words of Horace, " Notus in fratres animi paterni." Dr. Cleghorn died in December 1789. l
CLEIVELAND (JOHN). See CLEVELAND.
CLELAND (JOHN), was the son of colonel Cleland, that celebrated fictitious member of the Spectator's Club whom Steele describes under the name of Will Honeycombe. He was educated at Westminster- school, to which he was admitted in 1722, and was there the contemporary of lord Mansfield, He was early in life sent as consul to Smyrna, where perhaps he first imbibed those loose principles which in the infamous work he afterwards wrote, are so dangerously exemplified. On his return from Smyrna, he went to the East Indies; but, quarrelling with some of the members of the presidency of Bombay, he made a precipitate retreat from the east, with little or no benefit to his fortune. Be- ing without profession, or any settled means of subsistence, he soon fell into difficulties ; a prison and its miseries were the consequences. In this situation, about the year 1750, one of those booksellers who disgrace the profession, of- fered him a temporary relief for writing a work most grossly immoral, and fit only for the brothels, which brought a stigma on his name that time has not obliterated. The sum given for the copy was 20 guineas ; the sum received for the sale could not be less than 10,000/. For this pub- lication he was called before the privy council ; and the circumstance of his distress being known, as well as his being a man of some parts, John earl Granville, the then presi- dent, nobly rescued him from the like temptation, by get- ting him a pension of 100/, a. year, which he enjoyed "to his death, and which had so much the desired effect, that ex- cept tjbe " Memoirs of a Coxcomb," which has some smack
> Letteom's Memoirs of Medicine.
448 C L E L A N D.
of dissipated manners, and the " Man of Honour," written as an amende honorable for his former exceptionable book, he dedicated the rest of his life to political, dramatic, and philological studies. In 1765 he published " The Way to Things by Words, and to Words by Things," 8vo, which wast followed in 1768 by " Specimens of an Etymological Vocabulary, or Essay by means of the Analytic method to retrieve the ancient Celtic," and Proposals for publishing by subscription, in 2 vols. 4to, " The Celtic retrieved by the Analytic method, or reduction to Radicals ; illustrated by various and especially British antiquities ;" but he does not appear to have received encouragement sufficient to enable him to print this work. In these publications, how- ever, he has displayed a fund of ingenuity and erudition, not unworthy the education he received at Westminster. His political effusions appeared chiefly in the Public Adver- tiser, under the signatures A Briton, Modestus, &c. but were tedious and dull. His dramatic trifles and occasional poems were more lively, although they had not strength to survive their day. He Jived within the income of his pen- sion, with some addition from his newspaper labours, in a retired situation in Petty France, where he died Jan. 23, 1789, in his eightieth year, having survived his infamous publication long enough to see, we trust with shame and sorrow, the extensive misery it created, and which it never was in his power to check. l
CLEMENCET (CHARLES), was born at Painblanc, in the diocese of Autun, in 1704, and entered among the Benedictines of the congregation of St. Maur, 1723. His piety and strict attachment to the observance of all his du- ties, made him admired and respected by the nuns and solitaries of Port Royal, whose history he wrote under the title of " Hist, generale du Port Royal,'' 1755, 10 vols. J2mo. He died April 5, 1778, in the monastery des Blanc-Manteaux, aged 75. He composed with D. Durand " PArt de verifier les dates," 1750, 4to, reprinted in 1769, folio, and continued the " Hist. Litte*raire de la France," with D, Clement; which consists of 12 vols. 4to. He pub- lished alone the letters to Morenas on his abridgement of Fleury's ecclesiastical history, 1757, J2mo, and the post- humous works of Racine, 1759, 12mo. He published also
» Nichols's Bowyer.
CLEMEN S. 449
the " Conferences de la Mere Angelique, de St. Jean Ar- naud de Port Royal," 1760, 3 vols. 12mo. l
CLEMENS (ROMANUS) is said to have been born at Rome, where he probably became the companion and fellow labourer of St. Paul ; and was one of those, as it is generally imagined, whom St. Paul mentions as having their " names written in the book of life." Origen calls him a disciple of St. Peter; and it is not unlikely that he might aid and assist this apostle in founding the church at Rome. It is certain, that he was afterwards bishop of that see ; but when he was made so, cannot be clearly deter- mined. Some follow the authority of Tertullian and Euse- bius, that Clemens was consecrated by St. Peter, but ad- mitted at first to preside over that part only of the church which comprised the Jewish converts ; and that he did not come into the full possession and administration of his office till the death of Linus, who had been ordained by St. Paul, bishop of the Gentile church, and of Anacletus, who succeeded him : and this has been fixed to the year 93. Others have contended, that Clemens succeeded to the care of the whole church in the year 64 or 65, and that he held it to the year 81, or, as others again will have it, 83 ; but all this, with the other circumstances of this fa- ther's life, are matters of conjecture.
We have nothing remaining of his works, of whose ge- nuineness we can be certain, excepting one epistle, which Dr. Lardner thinks was written in the year 95 or 96. It was written to the church of Corinth, in the name of the church of Rome, to quiet some disturbances which had been raised by unruly brethren in the former; and to re- establish and confirm them in that faith which had been delivered to them by the apostles, but from which some of them had revolted. This epistle has usually been es- teemed one of the most valuable monuments which have come down to us of ecclesiastical antiquity, and affords ample testimony to the antiquity, genuineness, or authority of the books of the New Testament, while it bears itself all the characters of primitive simplicity. References to, and quotations from it, are often to be found among the early writers for Christianity. Here Clemens exhorts the Co- rinthians to be united, and at peace with one another : he enjoins obedience particularly, and submission to their spi*
I Diet. Hist
VOL. IX. G G
450 CLEMENS.
ritual governors : lie declares those who had formed cabals against their pastorss and had troubled the church with their seditions, utterly unworthy of the name of Christians : he points out to them the fatal consequences of such divisions : he presses them to return immediately to their duty, by submitting to their rightful pastors, and practising all hu- mility, kindness, and charity one towards another.
The only manuscript copy of this epistle, which exists in the world, as far as we know, is in the British Museum, written on vellum, and bound up with the Alexandrian Bible. It is said to have been written by Thecla, a woman of rank, in the fourth century, which shows how highly it was esteemed as far down as. the council of Nice. When Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, was translated to the pa- triarchate of Constantinople, in the seventeenth century, he brought with him out of Egypt a valuable collection of manuscripts, and among them this copy of the Bible and Clemens's Epistle, which he generously sent as a most valuable present to king Charles I. by sir Thomas Roe, at that time his majesty's ambassador at the Porte. The first edition of it was printed at Oxford, by P. Junius, Gr. and Lat. 1633, 4to, again by Dr. Fell, Gr. and Laf. ibid. 1677, and at London, 1687, 8vo, by Paul Colornesius ; but the best is said to be that by Wotton, Gr. and Lat. Cambridge, 1718, 8vo. The first English translation was by William Burton in 1647, and afterwards by abp. Wake, a fourth edition of which was printed in 1737, with the epistles of the other apostolic fathers. We know of no other English translation, unless a very scarce and beautifully printed one, by an anonymous author, Aberdeen, 1768, i2mo, more literal than Wake's, and with a very sensible preface. Other writings are attributed to Clemens, particularly a second epistle, but none of them are considered as genuine.*
CLEMENS (TiTUS FLAVIUS), an eminent father of the church in the end of the second and beginning of the third century, was an Athenian, or according to others an Alex- andrian; on which account he is usually called CLEMENS ALEXANDRINES, by way of distinguishing him from Clemens Romanus. When Pantsenus was sent by Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria, to preach the gospel to the Indians, at th6 request of their ambassadors, about the year 1 9 1 , Clemens
* Cave, vol. I. — Dupin. — Lardner's Works. — Mosheim- aad Milner's Church Histories. — Saxii Onomasticon.
CLEMENS. 45*
succeeded him in the catechetical school. He acquitted himself admirably well in this employment, and had many eminent pupils, as Origen and Alexander bishop of Jem* salem. Clemens's method of instructing the catechumens is said to have been this. He pointed out to them, and explained all that was good in the pagan philosophy ; and then led them on insensibly to Christianity. In his philo- sophic character, which he too much preserved, he was an eclectic ; that is, not attached to any particular sect of philosophers, but a selector of what he thought good and sound in them all.
After holding the office of catechist, Clemens was raised to the priesthood, probably at the beginning of the em- peror Severus's reign ; since Eusebius, in his history of the evert ts of the year 195, gives Clemens the title of priest. About this time he undertook a defence of Christianity against pagans and heretics, in a work entitled "Stromata," on account of the variety of matter of which it treats — • Stromata signifying discourses abounding with miscella- neous matter. In this work he has made so great a collec- tion of heathen learning, for the sake of shewing the con- formity there is between some opinions which the Chris- tians and the philosophers held in common, as shews that his reading must have extended to almost everything that had been written. When Severus began a persecution against the Christians, for which he pleaded a rebellion of the Jews (for the pagans had not as yet learned to distin- guish Jews and Christians), Clemens left Egypt to escape the violence of it ; and upon this occasion drew up a dis- course, to prove the lawfulness of flying in times of perse- cution : for this expedient, though explicitly allowed and even enjoined in the gospel, had been rejected by some early converts, especially Tertullian, as a base desertion of the cause. He then went to Jerusalem, and took up his abode for some time with Alexander, who was soon after bishop of that see. During his stay there he was of great service to the 'church, as appears from a letter of Alex- ander to the church of Antioch, which Clemens himself carried : in which Alexander says, that " Clemens was a man of great virtue, as the church of Antioch knew already, and would know better when he came among them ; and that having been at Jerusalem, he had, by God's blessing, greatly confirmed and strengthened that church."
G G 2
452 CLEMENS.
r From Antioch he returned to Alexandria ; but we know not how long he lived. He appears to have survived Pan- toenus at least some years, and was not old when he com- posed his " Stromata ;" for he tells us, that he had made that collection with a view of its serving him in his old age, when his faculties should fail him. His memory appears to have been highly reverenced at Alexandria, as we learn from an extract of a letter from Alexander to Origen, pre- served by Eusebius. Among several works which Clemens wrote, there are only three considerable ones remaining :
1. " Protrepticon ad gentes," or, An exhortation to the pagans : in which he refutes the error and falsehood of their religion, and exhorts them to embrace Christianity,
2. " Paedagogus," or, the schoolmaster : or, a regular plan of duty for the Christian convert. And, 3. The " Stro- mata." Daniel Heinsius has well enough compared these three works of Clemens to the three different degrees which the heathen mystagogues and philosophers observed, when they introduced a candidate to the knowledge of the jnysteries : the first of which was purgation, the second initiation, and the third intuition. Clemens, he adds, in his " Protrepticon" has laboured to purge his pupil from the filth of heathen idolatry and superstition : in his " Pse- dagogus" he has initiated him into the rites and duties of a Christian : and in his " Stromata" he has admitted him. to a sight of those mysteries which the adepts only were qualified to contemplate ; but it must be allowed that his philosophical opinions frequently tended to obscure his theology, and he is less explicit than most of the fathers on the leading principles of Christianity.
Besides these works, there are preserved some pieces of Clemens, of a smaller kind ; as an homily entitled " Quis dives salvetur ?" What rich man can be saved ? Paris, 1672, and Oxford, 1683, with some other fragments in Greek and Latin. All these have been printed in the lat- ter editions of his works ; the best of which is that pub- lished in two volumes, folio, by Potter, afterwards arch- bishop of Canterbury, at Oxford in 1715, a most splendid and elaborate edition. *
CLEMENT V. one of the popes so called, whose proper name was Bertrand de Gouth, or de Goth, was appointed
i Cave.— Dupin —Fabric. Bibl. Grsec.— Mosheim and Milner's Church His- tories.— Lardner's Works. — Brucker. — Blount's Censura.— Saxii Onomast.
CLEMENT. 453
bishop of Comminges, then archbishop of Bourdeaux by Boniface VIII. and afterwards elected pope at Perugia, June 5, 1305. The ceremony of his coronation was per- formed at Lyons, Sunday, November 10, but interrupted by a wall giving way, from being overloaded with spec- tators : by which accident John II. duke of Bretany was ^killed, the king wounded, and the tiara thrown from the pope's head. This accident was considered as a presage of the misfortunes which afflicted Italy and all Christendom during the pontificate of Clement V. He was the first pope who resided at Avignon. In 1311, he held the general council of Vienne, appropriated to himself the first year's revenue of all the English benefices, which was the origin of first fruits, abolished the order of templars, and made the collection of what are called the " Clementine Consti- tutions ;" of which there are some scarce editions; Mentz, 1460, 1467, and 1471, fol. They formed afterwards part of the body of canon law. Clement V. died at Roque- roaure on the Rhone, April 20, 1314, as he was going to Bourdeaux for change of air. It is generally allowed that he was a reproach to the church, and the high office he held in it. l
CLEMENT XIV. See GANGANELLI.
CLEMENT (DAVID), an eminent German bibliographer, was a French preacher at Hanover, a man profoundly ac- quainted with the history of literature, and the author of a well-known collection of bibliography, entitled "Biblio- theque curieuse, historique, et critique, ou Catalogue rai- sonne de livres difficiles a trouver," 9 vols. 4to, Gottingen, &c. 1750 — 1760, at which last date^this useful work was interrupted by his death, and has never been completed. It is in alphabetical order, and extends no farther than the letter H. Its only fault is that the author marks many books as rare, which are very common. He published also " Specimen Bibliothecae Hispano-Maiansianae, sive idea novi catalog! critici operum scriptorum Hispanorum, quse kabet in sua bibliotheca Gregorius Maiansius," Hanover, 1753, 4to.a
CLEMENT (FRANCIS), a learned French historian,- and a Benedictine of the congregation of St. Maure, was born
1 Bower's History of the Popes. — Mosheim,
• Diet. IIistt— Saxii Onomast,— Dibdin's Bibliomania.
454 CLEMENT.
at Beze in Burgundy, April 7, 1714, After his first stu- dies at the college of Dijon, he embraced the monastic life in the abbey of Vendome, where he studied so hard as to injure his health. Being afterwards ordered to Paris by his superiors, he devoted himself principally to history, to which his attention was drawn by that vast collection of French historical documents, of which we have already spoken so largely in the lives of Bouquet and Andrew du Chesne, and which was continued by Haudiquier, Hous- seau, Precieux, and Poirier. Clement became now their successor in this great work, and in conjunction with fa- ther B rial, published in 1770 the twelfth volume, and in 1786 the thirteenth, enriched by two hundred articles of great value and curiosity. Clement wrote also, 1. " Nou- veaux eclaircissemens sur 1'origine de Pentateuque des Samaritains," a work begun by Poncet, and completed with a preface, &c. by Clement. 2. " A Catalogue of the MSS. in the library of the Jesuits at St. Germain-des-Pres. 3. " L'art de verifier les dates," 1780 — 1792, 3 vols. folio. This work, which is accounted in France a master-piece of learning, was begun by the Benedictins Antine, Cle- mencet, and Durand, whose labours, however, are far in- ferior to those of Clement, who employed thirty years of his life upon it, almost without any intermission. The only objection is to the chronological table, or index, which is said to be somewhat inaccurate. Clement was a free asso- ciate of the academy of inscriptions, but his studies were interrupted by the revolution, which obliged him to quit one convent after another, and at last seek an asylum with a nephew. The remainder of his days were employed in a work to introduce the former, under the title of " L'art de verifier les dates avant J. C." In this he had made considerable progress, when he was carried oft by a stroke of apoplexy, March 29, 1793. l
CLENARD (NICHOLAS), was a native of Diest, who, after teaching ethics at Louvaine, travelled into France, Spain, Portugal, and Africa, and died at Granada, 1542.. He left some curious and scarce letters in Latin, concern- ing his travels, 1606, 8vo; a Greek grammar, which has been revised and corrected by several grammarians, and among others by Vossius, who published an edition of it at
1 Diet. Hist.
CLEOPATRA. 455
Amsterdam, 1650, 8vo, a Hebrew grammar, Louvain, 1529, and other works. 1
CLEOPATRA, the celebrated queen of Egypt, was the daughter of Ptolemy Auletes, king of that country ; who, dying in the year 51 B. C. bequeathed his crown to the eldest of his sons and the eldest of his daughters ; ordering them to be joined to each other in marriage, according to the usage of their family, and jointly to govern. They were both of them very young, Cleopatra the eldest being only seventeen ; and therefore he committed them to the tuition of the Roman senate. They, however, could not agree, either to be married, or to reign together, and Ptolemy, the brother, having deprived Cleopatra of that share in the government which was left her by Auletes's will, and driven her out of the kingdom, she raised an army in Syria and Palestine, and commenced a war with him. At this time Julius Caesar, who was in pursuit of Pompey, came to Alexandria, and began to arbitrate be- tween Ptolemy and his sister Cleopatra. But Cleopatra, considering that Cossar was extravagantly addicted to women, laid a plot to attach him first to her person, and next to her cause : and requested that she might be peiv mitted to plead her cause in person before him. This being granted, she came secretly into the port of Alexandria in a small skiff towards the dusk of the evening ; and con- trived to be carried to Caesar's apartment, who was too sensible of the charms of beauty not to be touched with those of Cleopatra. She was then in the prime of her youth, about the twentieth year of her age ; a perfect beauty, with a commanding address, and a voice har- monious and bewitching. All these charms she prostituted immediately to Caesar, who next morning sent for Ptolemy, and pressed him to receive his sister again upon her own terms : but Ptolemy appealed to the people, and a war commenced, in which Ptolemy lost a battle, and his life, in endeavouring to escape. Caesar then settled the king- dom upon Cleopatra, and the surviving Ptolemy, her younger brother, as king and queen. This Ptolemy, how- ever, was at this time only eleven years old, and Cleopa- tra, when he was grown up, and capable of sharing the royal authority, causeu him to be poisoned, and thus
' Diet. Hist. — Moreri,— Autouio B.ibl. Hisp. — Melchior Adam. — Saxii Ono- masticon.
456 CLEOPATRA.
reigned alone in Egypt. However, she followed Caesar to Rome, and was there when he was killed in the senate- house ; but being terrified by that accident, and the sub- sequent disorders of the city, she made her escape with great precipitation.
After the battle of Philippi, Cleopatra was accused by Antony of favouring the interest of Cassius. Against this charge, she again depended on her wit and beauty ; and approached Antony, who waited for her at Tarsus in Cili- cia, in a manner calculated to display her whole charms. At the mouth of the river Cydnus, she embarked in a vessel whose stern was of gold, sails of purple silk, oars of silver, and a concert of several instruments that kept time with the oars. She herself was laid under a canopy of a rich cloth of gold, dressed like Venus rising out of the sea : about her were lovely children like Cupids fanning her: the handsomest of her women, habited like Nereids and Graces, were leaning negligently on the sides and shrouds of the vessel : the sweets that were burning perfumed the banks of the river, which were covered wijh an infinite number of people, who ran thither with such earnestness, that Antony, who was mounted on a throne to make a shew of majesty, was left quite alone ; while the multitude at the river shouted for joy, and cried, that " the goddess Venus was come to visit the god Bacchus for the happiness of Asia." By these arts, and the charms of her person, she drew Antony into those snares which held him enslaved to her as long as he lived, and finally caused his death.
It would not be to our purpose to be particular in rela- ting the war between Antony and Caesar; the battle of Actium, as is well known, determined the victory in favour of the latter, and Cleopatra flying first, Antony hastened after. He conceived however great displeasure against her upon this occasion, and continued three days without seeing her; but afterwards recovered his usual humour, and devoted himself to pleasure. Meanwhile, Cleopatra made trial of all sorts of poisons upon criminals, even to the biting of serpents ; and finding, after many experi- ments, that the sting of an asp gave the quickest and the easiest death, it is believed she made choice of that kind of death, if she should be driven to despair. After they were returned to Egypt, and found themselves abandoned by all their allies, they sent to make proposals to Caesar. Cleopatra asked the kingdom of Egypt for her children \
CLEOPATRA. 457
and Antony desired he might live as a private man at Athens, if Caesar was not willing he should remain in Egypt. Cuesar absolutely rejected Antony's proposal, and sent to Cleopatra that he would refuse her nothing that was just and reasonable, if she would rid herself of Antony, or drive him out of her kingdom. She refused to act openly against Antony ; but betrayed him in every effort that he made, till she obliged him to put an end to his own life, for fear of falling into Crcsar's hands. When Antony was dead, Cleopatra could not forbear most passionately bemoaning the loss of him : however, upon Caesar's ap- proach to Alexandria, she began to consult her own se- curity. Near the temple of Isis she had raised a stately building, which she designed for her sepulchre : into this she now retired ; and into this was carried by her order all her treasure, as gold, jewels, pearls, ivory, ebony, cinna- mon, and other precious woods. It was filled besides with torches, faggots, tow, and other combustible matter : so that Caesar, who had notice of it, was afraid lest out of despair she should burn herself in it, with all those vast riches ; and therefore contrived to give her hopes from time to time that she might expect all good usage, from, the esteem he had for her. It was his secret wish to ex- pose this queen in his triumph to the Romans; and with this view he sent Proculus to employ all his art and address in seizing her, which he at length accomplished, and Cassar, although extremely glad to have her in his pos- session, commanded her to be served in all respects like a queen. She became, however, inconsolable for the loss of her liberty, and fell into a fever, which gave her hopes that all her sorrows would soon end with her life. She had besides resolved to abstain from eating; but this being known, her children were threatened with death if she per- sisted in that. Caesar at length resolved to see her, and by his civilities endeavoured to reconcile her to life. He found her upon a low bed ; but as soon as she saw Caesar, she rose up in her shift, and threw herself at his feet. Caesar civily raised her up, and sat down at her bed's head. She began to justify herself; but the proofs against her being too notorious, she turned her justification into prayers, and put into his hand an inventory of all her trea- sure and jewels. Having private notice soon after, that she was to be carried to Rome within three days, to grace
45S CLEOPATRA.
Caesar's triumph, she caused herself to be bitten by an asp, which, it is said, was brought to her concealed in a basket of figs ; and of this she died. Caesar, deprived as he was of the greatest ornament of his triumph, yet ordered her a very magnificent funeral ; and her body, as she desired, was laid by that of Antony.
Thus died this princess, whose wit and beauty made so much noise in the world, after she had reigned from the death of her father twenty-two years, and lived thirty-nine. She was a woman of great parts as well as of great vice and wick- edness. She spoke several languages with the utmost readi-i ness ; for, being well skilled in Greek and Latin, she could converse with Ethiopians, Troglodites, Jews, Arabians, Syrians, Medes, and Persians, without an interpreter ; and always gave to such as were of these nations, as often as they had occasion to address her, an answer in their own language. In her death ended the reign of the family of the Ptolemies in Egypt, after it had continued from the death of Alexander 294 years ; for, after this, Egypt was re- duced into the form of a Roman province, and so remained 670 years, till it was taken from them by the Saracens in 641. '
CLERC (DANIEL LE), the son of Stephen Le Clerc, a physician and Greek professor at Geneva, was born Feb. 4, 1652, at that place, and educated in his father's profession. After studying at Montpellier and Paris, he took his doc- tor's degree at Valentia in 1672, then returned to his own country, and practised physic with great success. He was also an excellent Greek and Latin scholar and antiquary, and distinguished for his knowledge of medals. He pub- lished a " Bibliotheque Anatomique" in conjunction with Manget, in 1681, 2 vols. fol. reprinted in 1699. His " History of Medicine," which extends to the time of Galen, was published at Geneva in 1696, but the best edi- tion is that of Amsterdam, 1723, 4to. This work is much praised by Dr. Freind, except the continuation to the six- teenth century. In 1704 he succeeded his father as coun- sellor of state in the republic of Geneva, after which he practised very little. In 1715, the king of Sardinia, then king of Sicily, being at Thonon in Savoy, consulted him on his own health and that of his queen. The same year he published his " Historia latorum lumbricorum," which
* Univ. History. — Plutarch in the Lives of Caesar and Antony.
C L E R C. 459
was afterwards published in English, 8vo. He died June 8, 1728.1
CLERC (JOHN LE), brother to the preceding, a cele- brated writer, and universal scholar, was born at Geneva, March 19, 1657. He was sent to a grammar-school at eight years of age ; where he soon discovered an insatiable inclination to books, and such a genius for poetry, that he flattered himself, if he had duly cultivated it, he would probably have gained no small reputation. But the more serious studies, to which he applied himself, made him entirely neglect poetry, and he never wrote verses but on particular occasions. Thus, in 1689, having translated into French two sermons of bishop Burnet, preached before king William, on account, he says, of the friendship which subsisted between himself and that prelate, he subjoined to the one a small poem in heroic, and to the other an epigram in. elegiac verse, upon England restored to liberty.
When he was about sixteen years old, he was removed from the grammar-school, and placed under M. Chouet, to study philosophy, in which he spent two years, but did not yet enter upon the study of divinity, thinking it better to employ another year on the belles lettres, and also in acquiring the elements of the Hebrew tongue. He now read all the books that could any ways improve him in this pursuit; and it was this constant assiduity and application, to which he inured himself in his youth, that enabled him afterwards to go through so much uninterrupted, fatigue of reading and writing, and to publish such a vast variety of works. At nineteen years of age he began to study divi- nity under Philip Mestrezat, Francis Turretin, and Lewis Tronchin, and he attended their lectures above two years.
After he had passed through the usual forms of study at Geneva, and had lost his father in 1676, he resolved to go for some time into France; and thither he went in 1678, but returned the year after to Geneva, and was ordained with the general applause of his examiners. Soon after, he met with the works of Curcellseus, his great uncle by his father's side, which had been published by Lim- borch in 1674, but were not easily to be got at Ge- neva among the Calvinists, who had no intercourse with the Arminians ; and by reading these he became so con- vinced that the remonstrants had the better of the argu-
1 Moreri. — Ualler Bibl. Anat,~ Mauget.
460 C L E R C.
ment against all other protestants, that he resolved to leave both his own country and France, where the contrary principles were professed. In 1680 he went to Sauraur, a protestant university, where he first read the works of Episcopius, with whose learning and eloquence he was much pleased. He also began to make notes and obser- vations upon the Old Testament, which he read in the Polyglott, which notes he afterwards used in his commen- taries. While he was at Saumur, there came out a book with this title, " Liberii de sancto amore, epistolae theo- Jogicae, in quibus varii scholasticorum errores castigantur." 8vo, consisting of " eleven theological epistles, in which several errors of the schoolmen are corrected." It was ascribed by some to le Clerc, while others thought it too learned to be written by a young man of twenty-four. It is certain that though he never owned it, yet he speaks of it in such a manner as must almost convince us that he was really the author of it, and it contains many of those free opinions respecting the Trinity, &c. which could not fail to give offence, and induce him for a time to conceal his name.
In 1682, Le Clerc, intending to visit England, travelled through Paris, and arrived at London in May, chiefly with a view to learn the English language ; which, with the help of a master, he soon effected. He preached se- veral times in the French churches at London, and visited several bishops and men of learning ; but the air of the town not agreeing with his lungs, he returned to Holland, after less than a year's stay, in company with the cele- brated historian Gregorio Leti, who formerly lived at Ge- neva, and was then retiring to Holland. He visited Lim- borch at Amsterdam, from whom he learned the condition of the remonstrants in the United Provinces, but did not yet join them, although he discovered his real sentiments to Limborch, with whom he entered into a strict friend- ship, which lasted till the death of that great man. He had not been long in Holland before his friends and rela- tions entreated him to return to Geneva, but not being able when there to dissemble his opinions, which wexe contrary to those established by law, he thought it prudent to return to Holland at the latter end of 1683. The year after he preached sometimes in French in the church of the remonstrants, but was soon obliged to leave off preach- ing j for what reason is not known, but his friends have
C L E R C. 461
thought proper to impute it to the jealousy of the Walloon ministers, who finding their audiences very thin when Le Clerc preached, prevailed upon the magistrates to forbid bis preaching any more. In 1634, when the remonstrants held a synod at Rotterdam, he preached once more before them ; and was then admitted professor of philosophy, the Hebrew tongue, and polite literature in their school at Amsterdam. The remainder of his life offers nothing to us but the history of his works, and of the controversies in which he was engaged ; which were numerous, and dis- played undoubted talents.
The first thing he published, after he was settled at Amsterdam, was a work of his uncle David Le Clerc, late professor of the oriental languages at Geneva, entiled " Theological Dissertations," Amst. 1685, 8vo; to which are subjoined dissertations on the same subject by Stephen. Le Clerc, his father, with the lives of both, and notes, in which he frequently differs from them in opinion. In 1687 he published another volume by them, consisting of a " Computus Ecclesiasticus" by David, and some philoso- phical dissertations by Stephen. About the same time he was editor of his friend Charles Le Cene's " Dialogues upon several theological subjects," to which he added five of his own, pointing out the mischiefs that metaphysics have occasioned to religion. Between the first and second publication of his father's and uncle's pieces, commenced his celebrated controversy with the learned father Simon, who had just published his " Critical History of the Old Testament." Le Clerc, in 1685, published a criticism, upon it, entitled " Sentimens de quelques theologiens de Hollande," &c. In this he vented several bold opinions, which he afterwards retracted or explained into a more harmless sense, such as that the Pentateuch was not writ- ten by Moses, that the writers of the Old and New Testa- ment were not inspired, &c. Even Bayle, although not scrupulous to make bold assertions, disapproved Le Clerc's sentiments, as tending to confirm the Calvinists in their dislike of the Arminians, as a sect, which he strongly says, they considered as the common sink of all the Atheists, Deists, and Socinians in Europe.
In the same year, we find him better employed in writing his " Bibliotheque universelle et historique," a literary journal of great utility. The first eight and part of the ninth volume he wrote in conjunction with de la Crose ; the tenth is Le Clerc's, and the 1 1th La Grose's; the rest
462 CLERC.
to the 19th Le CHerc's, and the remainder to the 25th, which is the last, were written by Mr. Bernard. While employed on this work, Le Clerc published various others. In the years 1687 — 89, he published French translations of bishop Burners " Reflections upon Varillas's History," &c. and of some of his sermons ; and in 1690 the last book of Stanley's " Lives of the Philosophers," translated into Latin, with notes. The same year he revised and cor- rected the sixth edition of Moreri's Dictionary ; and wrote a French letter to Jurieu, vindicating the character of Epis- copius, whom Jurieu had classed among Socinians. Be- sides these labours, he continued to read regular lectures, as professor of philosophy and the belles-lettres, at Am- sterdam ; and in 1691, published his "Logic, Ontology, and Pneumatology," which, in order to complete the course, were followed in 1695, by his " Natural Philo- sophy." These were all written in Latin, and were re- printed, in a fourth edition, Amst. 1710, 4 vols. 8vo, to which was subjoined also in Latin, his life, written by himself, 1711, which makes a fifth volume, and in 1712 was translated into English, and published at London. In 1693 he published the first volume of his " Commentary on the Bible," a work he had long projected, and for which he had been long collecting materials. He published the remainder, at different times, until 1731, when the Com- mentary on the Prophets appeared, but it was still left in- complete, owing to that decay of his faculties which interrupted all his labours in the latter part of his life.
In 1696 he published the two first volumes of what is said to have been his Favourite work, his " Ars Critica," to which he added, in 1699, his " Epistolae Criticae & Ec« clesiasticae," as a third volume. The censures he passes upon Quintus Curtius at the end of the second volume, involved him in a controversy with certain critics ; and Perizonius in particular. His third volume is employed chiefly in defending himself against exceptions which had been made by the learned Dr. Cave to some assertions in the tenth volume of his " Bibliotheque Universelle," and elsewhere, Le Clerc had said, that Cave, in his " Historia Literaria," had concealed many things of the fathers, for the sake of enhancing their credit, which an impartial historian should have related ; and that, instead of lives of the fathers, he often wrote panegyrics upon them ; Le Clerc had also asserted the Arianism of Eusebius. Both these assertions Cave endeavoured to refute, in a Latin
C L E R C. 463
dissertation published at London, in 1696, which, with a defence of it, was reprinted in the second edition of his " Historia Literaria." To this dissertation Le Clerc's third volume is chiefly an answer ; and the first six letters, containing the matters of dispute between him and Cave, are inscribed to three English prelates, to whom Le Clerc thought fit to appeal for his equity and candid dealing ; the first and second to Tenison, archbishop of Canterbury ; the third and fourth to Burnet, bishop of Salisbury ; and the fifth and sixth to Lloyd, bishop of Worcester. The seventh, eighth, and ninth, are critical dissertations upon points of ecclesiastical antiquity ; and the tenth relates to an English version of his additions to Hammond's annota- tions on the New Testament ; wherein the translator, not having done him justice, exposed him to the censure of Cave and other divines here. At the end of these epistles, there is addressed to Limborch, what he calls an ethical dissertation, in which this question is debated, " An sem- per respondendum sit calurnniis theologorurn ;" but the previous question should undoubtedly have been whether the answers of his opponents deserved the name of calum- nies ? The fourth edition of the " Ars Critica," which had been corrected and enlarged in each successive edi- tion, was printed at Amsterdam in 1712.
In 1694, he published his " Life of Cardinal Richelieu,'1 2 vols. 8vo, of which a second edition appeared in 1696, and a third in 1714. In 1696 he also published two tracts on " Lotteries," and on " Incredulity." In 1697, his " Compendium of Universal History" appeared, and al- though merely an abridgment of Petavius, has been found so useful as to pass through several editions. In 1698, he published his Latin translation of Hammond's " Paraphrase and Notes on the New Testament," 2 vols. fol. but took many liberties, as already noticed, with Hammond's sentiments. This was again reprinted in 1714. In 1699, he published, with a dedication to Dr. Sharp, archbishop of York, his " Har- monia Evangelica," Gr. and Lat. and in the same year the first of his " Parrhasiana" or thoughts upon various subjects, moral and literary. This does not appear to have given universal satisfaction, and involved him in a long dispute with Bayle on the principles of the Manicheans, and in another with the same gentleman, on the system of plastic natures advanced by Cudworth and Dr. Grew. We are not of opinion that a longer account of these disputes would HOW be very interesting, yet those who have patience to
464 C L E R C.
peruse the several attacks and replies of the combatants* will be frequently struck with their talents, ingenuity, and perseverance. ^
In 1701, another controversy produced his " Questiones Hieronymianae," an attack on the character of that father, as to his skill in the Greek and Hebrew languages, and on Martinay, who some time before had published an edition of Jerom's works. In 1701 he published a very indifferent edition of Hesiod, and the following year, under the name of Theodore Gorallus, he edited " P. Cornelii Severi Etna," which involved him in a philosophical dispute with Burman, who had no respect for his verbal accuracy. In 1703, under another assumed name, Johannes Phereponus, he added to the Amsterdam edition of St. Augustine's works, some animadversions on that father, which were answered by Dr. Jenkin, master of St. John's college, Cambridge, in a work printed in 1707. In 1703, his French translation of the " New Testament" occasioned him to be ranked among Socinians, and some steps were taken, although in vain, to have it suppressed. The same year, he returned to his more useful employment, by be- ginning his " Bibliotheque choisee," as a supplement to his " Bibliotheque Universelle." This was continued to the year 1714, and consists of 28 vols. 12mo. It was imme- diately followed by his " Bibliotheque ancienne et mo- derne," which extended to 29 vols. These 83 little vo- lumes contain a great mass of very valuable materials, of critical disquisitions and bibliographical notices and me- moirs, and well deserve a place in the library of every li- terary man. The public are indebted to them for the documents from which Dr. Jortin principally composed his life of Erasmus.
In J709 he published an elegant edition, with notes of his own, of " Sulpicius Severus," and also of *4 Grotius de veritate," &c. to which, besides notes, he added a treatise " De eligenda inter Christianos dissentientes sen- tentia." The same year he published and dedicated to lord Shaftesbury, the celebrated author of the Charac- teristics, &c. " A Collection of the remains of Menander and Philemon," a completer collection than had been made by Grotius and others, to which he added a new Latin version, and notes. As it is allowed by Le Clerc's friends, that he committed several errors in this work, which pro- ceeded from his not having carefully enough attended to the metre, it is not surprising that it should have exposed
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him to the censure of the critics and philologers. The attack was begun by our learned Bentley, under the name of Phileleutherus Lipsiensis ; whose censure, it is said, we know not how truly, vexed Le Clerc to such a degree, that it threw him into a fit of sickness, which lasted several days. Bentley's " Emendatioues," as they are called, of Le Clerc's edition, were published at Utrecht in 1710, with a preface written by Burman ; in which there is a very large proportion of critical rancour, to which Le Clerc did net think proper to make any reply, as he was conscious that he had given some reason for the exceptions that were made, although they might not justify the language em- ployed. He was defended, however, by an unknown per- son, who assumed the name of Philargyrius Cantabrigi- ensis; and published it in 1711, with a preface written by himself. This Philargyrius Cantabrigiensis is said to have been Cornelius de Pauw, a gentleman who distinguished himself by philosophical and critical publications.
Our predecessors affect to wonder that Le Clerc, who always expressed an high regard for the English nation, dedicated several of his principal works to the prelates and great men of it, and was so instrumental, by means of his " Bibliotheques," in spreading the abilities, learning, and merits of its ablest writers throughout Europe, should yet be so frequently attacked by some or other of its scholars and divines, and this they explain by adding that Le Clerc's Arminian principles were directly opposite to the non- juring and high church principles, which then prevailed much in England ; that though he expressed a zeal for Christianity, yet he abhorred any thing which looked like an hierarchy ; and that hence he was often led to speak favourably, and perhaps with some degree of approbation, of books published here, which were in the mean time, together with their authors, anathematised by our own divines. Tindal's " Rights of the Christian Church," which came out in 1706, affords a memorable instance, which Le Clerc, in his " Bibliotheque Choisie" of the same year, not only approved, but even epitomised, and recom- mended it in the strongest terms imaginable. It may be remembered also, that about the same time, or perhaps a little before, there was a scheme formed among some great personages, to bring Le Clerc over -to England, and to make a better provision for him than he enjoyed at Ana-
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sterdam ; for this some affirm to have been one cause of the jealousy and ill-will conceived against him; but after what we have said of Le Clerc's religious principles, it will not perhaps be thought that any other reason is neces- sary to explain the zeal of his opponents, or their opinion that such a determined enemy to the establishment and its doctrines would have proved no great acquisition to the church of England.
In 1710, Le Clerc, never successful in his classical at- tempts, published a very inaccurate edition of " Livy," 10 vols. 12mo, and the year after the "Three Dialogues of^Eschinus Socraticus," to which he added his " Sylvoj Philologies." In 1716 appeared his " Ecclesiastical His- tory of the first two centuries," and a " History of the United Provinces," 1723 and 1724, the last of his original works which it is necessary to mention. Besides these, however, he was frequently employed as an editor, and added prefaces and notes to the works published under his inspection, as " Cotelerii Patres Apostolici," 1698; Pe- tavius de Theologicis dogmatibus," 1700; " Martini! Lex- icon philologicum," 1701; and the fine edition of Eras- mus's works, 10 vols. fol. 1703 — 1707. He was unques- tionably a most laborious, as well as a very learned many but frequently deficient in correctness, owing to the vast quantity of labour undertaken by him.
He always enjoyed a very good state of health till 1728, when he was seized with a palsy and fever, which deprived him of speech and almost of memory. The malady in- creased daily ; and after spending the last six years of his life with little or no understanding, he died Jan. 8, 1736, in his seventy-ninth year. He had been married in 1691, when he was abuut thirty-four years old ; and his wife, who was the daughter of Gregorio Leti, brought him four children, who all died young. Le Clerc was not ambitious of either honours or riches. He was satisfied with a com- petency of fortune, if indeed he could be said to have it; and though it may be supposed that he was driven to write so much for the sake of the profits attending it, yet he tells us in that life which he wrote of himself to 1711, that he had received for all his labours little else from the booksel- lers than books. Whatever projects might be on foot for his coming into England, they do not seem to have been begun on his side : for he always appeared happy in the studious and philosophic ease which he enjoyed at Am-
CLERC,
467
sterdam, dividing his time between his pupils and his books. >
CLERC (SEBASTIAN LE), an eminent designer and en- graver, was born at Metz, in 1637, of a family in such an humble condition, that he entered while very young into the abbey of St. Arnould, in that city, in quality of helper in the kitchen. He had such a natural talent for drawing, that all the moments of leisure he could get from his em- ployment he Hlled up in making little portraits with a pen on such scraps of paper as he found about the kitchen. The prior of the house caught him one day occupied in this manner ; and, on examining his performance, per- ceived in it such marks of genius as allowed him not to doubt that young Le Clerc would attain to excellence if assisted by art. He immediately took the resolution to cultivate his natural talents, put the crayon into his hand, and gave him to the care of one of the monks, with orders to get him instructed. At ten years old he could handle the graver. At the same time he applied himself to the study of geometry, perspective, fortification, and archi- tecture, in which he made as rapid a progress as in drawing and engraving. Marshal de la Ferte made choice of him for his geographical engineer ; Louis XIV. for his engraver in ordinary, at the solicitation of Colbert; and pope Cle- ment XI. honoured him with the title of a Roman knight. In addition to this superior merit, and this strong capacity for the arts, Le Clerc had kind affections and an insinuating address. He died at Paris the 25th of October, 1714, at the age of seventy-seven. This master treated every sub- ject with equal excellence ; as landscapes, architecture, ornaments, discovering a lively and glowing imagination kept under due restraint, a correctness of design, a won- derful fertility, and elegant expression and execution. The productions of his graver, amounting to upwards of 3000, would have been sufficient of themselves to have gained him great reputation, independently of those of his pen. The principal of the latter kind are : 1. " A Treatise of Theoretic and Practical Geometry," reprinted in 174-5, 8vo, with the life of the author. Colbert, informed of the success of this work, ordered Le Clerc a pension of 600 crowns, and apartments in the Gobelins. But he presently after gave up this pension, which confined him to the
1 Life by himself. — Gen. Diet — Moreri.— Chaufepie. — Saxii Onoojast-
H II 2
468 C L E R C.
king's service, in order to work more freely, and on sub- jects of his own choice. 2. " A Treatise on Architecture," 12 vols. 4to. 3. " A Discourse on Perspective," in which the author shews a profound knowledge of his subject. After Callot, he is the engraver who has most distinctly shewn five or six leagues extent of country in a small space.
He had a son of both his names, who was born in 1677, studied historical painting under Bon Boulogne, and became a painter of some note, if we can judge from the number of prints engraved from his works. There is an altar picture by him at the abbey church at Paris, repre- senting the death of Ananias. He was made a member of the royal academy of Paris in 1704, and died, aged eighty-six, in 1763. Another of his sons, Laurent Josse le Clerc, was a man of considerable learning, and pub- lished three volumes of remarks on Moreri's Dictionary, which contributed to improve that work, and compiled the " Bibliotheque des Auteurs cites dans le Dictionnaire cle llichelet," which was printed with it in the Lyons edition, 1729, 3 vols. fol. but omitted in the 4to Amsterdam edi- tion. He wrote several essays in the literary journals of the time, and died May 6, 1736, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. *
CLEVELAND, or rather CLEIVELAND (for so he and his family spelt their name) (JOHN), a noted loyalist and popular poet in the reign of Charles I. was the eldest son of the rev. Thomas Cleiveland, M. A. some time vicar of Hinckley, and rector of Stoke, in the county of Leices- ter. He was born in 1613, at Loughborough, where his father was then assistant to the rector; but educated at Hinckley, under the rev. Richard Vynes, a man of genius and learning, who was afterwards as much distinguished among the presbyterian party as his scholar was among the cavaliers. In his fifteenth year our poet was removed to Cambridge, and admitted of Christ's college, Sept. 4, 1627, where he took the degree of B. A. in 163 1 . He was thence transplanted to the sister foundation of St. John's college in the same university, of which he was elected fellow March 27, 1634, and proceeded to the degree of M. A. in 1635. Of this society he continued many years a
1 See the Catalogue raisonne de 1'ccuvre de Sebastien le Clerc, with his life, l>y M. Jombert, Paris, 1775, 3 vols. 8vo, a very curious and interesting work. — Moreri,— Strutt.
CLEVELAND. 469
principal ornament, being one of the tutors, and highly respected by his pupils, some of -whom afterwards attained to eminence. By the statutes of that college, he should have taken orders within six years after his being elected fellow : but he uas admitted on the law line (as the phrase there is) November 2, 1640, and afterwards on that of physic, January 31, 1642, which excused him from com- plying with this obligation ; though it does not appear that he made either law or physic his profession : for, remaining at college, he became the rhetoric reader there, and was usually employed by the society in composing their speeches and epistles to eminent persons (of which specimens may be seen in his works), being in high repute at that time for the purity and terseness of his Latin style. He also be- came celebrated for his occasional poems in English, and, at the breaking out of the civil wars, is said to have been the first champion that appeared in verse for the royal cause ; which he also supported by all his personal influ- ence : particularly by exerting his interest in the town of Cambridge, to prevent Oliver Cromwell (then an obscure candidate, but strongly supported by the puritan partv) from being elected one of its members. Cromwell's stronger genius in this, as hi every other pursuit, prevail- ing, Cleveland is said to have shown great discernment, by predicting at so early a period, the fatal consequences that long after ensued to the cause of royalty. Cromwell got his election by a single vote, which Cleveland declared " had ruined both church and kingdom.'* The parliament party carrying all before them in the eastern counties, Cleveland retired to the royal army, and with it to the king's head quarters at Oxford, where he was much ad- mired and caressed for his satirical poems on the opposite faction, especially for his satire on the Scottish covenant- ers, entitled " The Rebel Scot." In his absence he was deprived of his fellowship, Feb. 13, 1644, by the earl of Manchester, who, under the authority of an ordinance of parliament, for regulating and reforming the university of Cambridge, ejected such fellows of colleges, &c. as re- fused to take the solemn league and covenant. From Ox- ford Cleveland was appointed to be judge-advocate in the garrison at Newark, under sir Richard Willis the governor, and has been commended for his skilful and upright con- duct in this difficult office, where he also distinguished his pen occasionally, by returning smart answers to the sum-
470 CLEVELAND.
mons, and other addresses to the garrison. Newark, after holding out the last of all the royal fortresses, was at length, in 164fi, by the express command of the king (then a prisoner in the Scots army), surrendered upon terms, which left Cleveland in possession of his liberty, but destitute of all means of support, except what he de- rived from the hospitality and generosity of his brother loyalists, among whom he lived some years, obscure and unnoticed by the ruling party, till, in November 1655, he was seized at Norwich, as " a person of great abilities," adverse and dangerous to the reigning government; and being sent to Yarmouth, he was there imprisoned for some time, till he sent a petition to the lord-protector, wherein the address of the writer has been much admired, who, while he honestly avows his principles, has recourse to such moving topics, as might sooth his oppressor, and pro- cure his enlargement : in which he was not disappointed, for the protector generously set him at liberty, disdaining to remember on the throne the opposition he had received in his canvass for parliament as a private burgess. Cleve- land thence retired to London, where he is said to have found a generous Maecenas ; and, being much admired among all persons of his own party, became member of a club of wits and loyalists, which Butler, the author of Hiir dibras, also frequented. Cleveland then lived in chambers at Gray's-inn (of which Butler is said to have been a mem- ber), and, being seized with an epidemic intermitting fever, died there on Thursday morning, April 29, 1659. His friends paid the last honours to his remains by a splen- did funeral : for his body was removed to Hunsdon -house, and thence carried for interment, on Saturday May 1, to the parish church of St. Michael Royal, on College-hill, London, followed by a numerous attendance of persons eminent for their loyalty or learning : to whom his funeral sermon was preached by his intimate friend Dr. John Pear- son, afterwards bishop of Chester, author of the Exposi- tion of the Creed.
Cleveland has had the fate of those poets, who, " pay- ing their court to temporary prejudices, have been at one time too much praised, and at another too much neg- lected." Both his subjects, and his manner of writing, made his poems extremely popular among his contempo- raries, but entirely forgotten and disregarded since. For his manner, he excelled among that class of writers so
CLEVELAND. ., 471
much admired in the last century, whom our great critic has aptly termed " metaphysical poets, who abound with witty rather than just thoughts, with far-fetched conceits, and learned allusions, that only amuse for a moment, ut- terly neglecting that beautiful simplicity and propriety which will interest and please through every age." For his subjects he generally chose the party disputes of the day, which are now no longer understood or regard-ed. Contemporary with Milton, he was in his time exceedingly preferred before him ; and Milton's own nephew, Phillips, tells us, he was by some esteemed the best of the English poets. But Cleveland is now sunk into oblivion, while Milton's fame is universally diffused. Yet Milton's works could, with difficulty, gain admission to the press, at the time when it was pouring forth those of Cleveland in in- numerable impressions; and the press now continually teems with re- publications of the Paradise Lost, &c. whereas the last edition of Cleveland's works was in 1687, Svo.
One of the poofs brothers, William, was rector of Old- bury and Q.uat, near Bridgnorth in Shropshire, and dying 1666, left a son, who was grandfather of the rev. William Cleiveland, M. A. late rector of All-saints parish in Wor- cester, who died in 1794- ; and four daughters, whereof the youngest was grandmother of Dr. Percy, the late bishop of Dromore in Ireland, who wrote the poet's life for the last edition of the Biographia Britannica. A sister of theirs, Elizabeth, married Mr. Wrilliam II iff, of Hinck- ley, from whom are descended a respectable family, to which by marriage is allied the Historian of Leicestershire, in whose collection of Poems are many written by his an- cestor, and many curious anecdotes of the author. l
CLEVES, ANNE of. See ANNE.
CLEYN (Fi(ANCis), an artist of very considerable talents, of the fifteenth century, who practised in England, was born at Rostock, and retained in the service of Christian IV. king of Denmark; but the excellence of his genius prompted him to the search of better models than he found in that northern climate. He travelled into Italy, and re- mained there four years, where he probably acquired a taste for the beautiful and ornamental grotesque, in which
1 Biog. Brit. — Nichols's Hist, of Leicestershire, and Select Collection of Miscellany Poems. — Lloyd's Memoirs, fol. p. 617.
472 C L E Y N.
he afterwards shone. At Venice he became known to sir Henry Wotton, and sir Robert Anstruther recommended him to prince Charles, afterwards Charles I. He arrived in England, while the prince was in Spain, but notwith- standing was graciously received by king James, who men- tions that circumstance in a Latin letter (preserved in Fuller's Worthies) which he wrote to the king of Denmark, desiring leave to detain Cleyn in England, though with a permission to return first to Copenhagen and finish a work he had begun there, and promising to pay the expence of his journey. The request being granted', Cleyn returned to London, and appears to have been first employed in jdesigns for sir Francis Crane's manufactory of tapestry at Mortlack, by which those works were carried to singular perfection. Five of the celebrated cartoons were also sent thither to be copied by him in tapestry. He had an annuity of 100/. which he held until the rebellion, and enjoyed very high reputation by his paintings at Somerset house, and the houses of several of the nobility. There is still extant a beautiful chamber adorned by him at Holland house, with a ceiling in grotesque, and small compart- ments on the chimneys, in the style and not unworthy of Parmegiano. Lord Orford mentions other works by his hand, and he also made designs for engravers. This in- genious artist, whom Evelyn records as a man of piety also, died in 1658.1
CLIFFORD (ANNE), sole daughter and heir to George earl of Cumberland, was born at Skipton castle in Craven, Jan. 30, 1589, and married first, to Richard lord Buck- hurst, afterwards earl of Dorset, by whom she had three sons, who died young, and two daughters, Margaret who married John, earl of Thanet, and Isabel, who married James, earl of Northampton. She married, secondly, to Philip Herbert, earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, by whom she had no issue. This lady, who by the failure of the male line, possessed the great hereditary estates of the Clifford Cumberland family, has lately become celebrated, particularly from a letter of hers published in the " World," No. 14, by lord Orford, addressed to sir Joseph William- son, who, when secretary of state to king Charles the second, had written to name a candidate to her for the Borough of Appleby. The brave countess, with all the
' Lord Orford's Works.— Lysons's Environs.
CLIFFORD. 473
spirit of her ancestors, and with all the eloquence of inde- pendent Greece, returned the following laconic answer :
" I have been bullied by an usurper, I have been neg- lected by a court, but I will not be dictated to by a sub- ject : your man shan't stand.
" ANNE, Dorset, Pembroke, and Montgomery."
Few letters have excited a more general admiration ; the reason of which is thus explained by Dr. Campbell, in his "Philosophy of Rhetoric.'* " We shall find," says he, " that the very same sentiment expressed diffusely, will be admitted barely to be just ; expressed concisely, will be admired as spirited. To recur to examples, the famous answer returned by the countess of Dorset, to the letter of sir Joseph Williamson, secretary of state to Charles the Second, nominating to her a member for the borough of Appleby, is an excellent illustration of this doctrine. — If we consider the meaning, there is mention made of two facts, which it was impossible that any body of common sense, in this lady's circumstances, should not have ob- served, and of a resolution in consequence of these, which it was natural for every person who had a resentment of bad usage to make. Whence then results the vivacity, the fire which is so manifest in the letter? Not from any thing extraordinary in the matter, but purely from the laconism of the manner. An ordinary spirit would have employed as many pages to express the same thing, as there are affirmations in this short letter. The epistle might in that case have been very sensible, and withal very dull ; but would never have been thought worthy of being recorded as containing any thing uncommon, or deserving a reader's notice."
Mr. Pennant characterizes lady Anne Clifford as the most eminent person of her age for intellectual accom- plishments, for spirit, magnificence, and deeds of bene- volence ; and he has given a particular description of two portraits of her, in the side-leaves of a family picture. Both the paintings are full lengths ; one representing her at the age of thirteen, and the other in her middle age, in the state of widowhood. The books, in the first of these pictures, inform us of the fashionable course of reading among people of rank in her days. There are among them Eusebius, St. Augustine, sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, God- frey of Boulogne, the French Academy, Camden, Ortelius,
474 CLIFFORD.
and Agrippa on the Vanity of Occult Sciences. Above are the heads of Mr. Samuel .Daniel, her tutor, and Mrs. Anne Taylor, her governess ; and this memorial of the in- structors of her youth, is a most grateful acknowledgment of the benefits she received from them. The books in the second picture consist wholly of the Bible, Charron on. Wisdom, and pious treatises, excepting one of Distilla- tions and excellent Medicines ; from which may be col- lected what were the chief objects of the countess's studies, in the retirement of her later days.
Mr. Walpole, who, besides introducing her in the " World," has given a place to this celebrated lady in his " Catalogue of noble Authors," represents her as hav- ing written *' Memoirs of her husband Richard earl of Dorset;" and " Sundry memorials of herself and her pro- genitors." With regard to the first of these articles, we apprehend there never has appeared in the countess's ma- nuscripts any account of him, except what is occasionally to be met with in the History of her own life, a curious manuscript in the Harleian collection (6177), the title of which is, " A Summary of the Records, and a true Me- morial of the Life of me the lady Anne Clifford, who by birth being sole daughter and heir to my illustrious father George Clifford the third earl of Cumberland, by his vir- tuous wife Margaret Russel my mother, in right descent from him, and his long continued noble ancestors the Ve- teriponts, Cliffords, and Veseys, baroness Clifford, West- moreland, and Vesey, high sheriffess of Westmoreland, and ladye of the honor of Skypton in Craven, was by my lirst marriage countess dowager of Dorset, and by my second marriage countess dowager of Pembroke and Mont- gomery." It is written in a manner extremely tedious, abounding with repetitions of matters, for the most part, equally minute and uninteresting, and may perhaps in- cline some to doubt Mr. Pennant's character of her, as the most eminent person of her age for intellectual accom- plishments. Some circumstances, however, respecting her being brought into the world, are related with an accuracy which biographers will never, perhaps, in any other in- stance be able to attain. She informs us, that, through the merciful providence of God, she was begotten by her valiant father, and conceived with child by her worthy mother, the first day of May in 1589, in the lord Wharton's house in Channel-row, in Westminster, hard by the river
CLIFFORD. 475
«F Thames, as Psalm 139; yet that she was not born till the 30th day of January following, when her blessed mo- ther brought her forth in one of her father's chief nouses, called Skypton castle, in Craven.
The countess's funeral sermon was preached on the 14-th of April, 1676, at Appleby, by Dr. Edward Rainbow, bishop of Carlisle. The text chosen by him, in reference to the numerous works of architecture in which she was perpetually employed, was from the Proverbs of Solomon : " Every wise woman buildeth her house." The bishop has entered very largely into her character, and in describing the extent of her understanding, informs us, that Dr. Donne said to her ladyship, in her younger years, " That she knew well how to discourse of all things, from predes- tination to slea-silk." Her munificence and spirit in build- ing were very conspicuous. One of her first structures was a pillar, in the highway, at the place where she and her mother last parted, and took their final farewell ; and besides a monument to her tutor Samuel Daniel, the poe- tical historian, and another to Spenser, she founded two hospitals, and repaired or built seven churches and six castles. l
CLIFFORD (GEORGE), third earl of Cumberland, and father to the preceding, was very eminent for his skill in navigation. He was born at Brougham castle, We*stmore- land, Aug. 8, 1558, and educated at Peterhouse, Cajn- bridge, where his tutor was the celebrated John Whitgift^ afterwards archbishop of Canterbury. In this place he applied himself chiefly to the study of the mathematics, to which his genius led him, and by which he became quali- fied for the several great expeditions he afterwards under- took. His first public employment, of a melancholy kind indeed, was in 1586, when he was one of the peers who sat in judgment upon Mary queen of Scots. But having a greater inclination to act by sea than by land, and, ac- cording to the fashion of the times, being bent on making foreign discoveries, and defeating the ambitious designs of the court of Spain, then preparing the armada that was to conquer England, he fitted out, at bis own charge, a little fleet, consisting of three ships and a pinnace, with a view
to send them into the South Sea, to annoy the Spanish
i
l Biog. Brit. — Park's edition of the Royal and Noble Authors.— Pennant'* • Tour in "Scotland, and especially Whitaker's Hist, of Craven, which we regret jaot having seen until this article had nearly gone through the press.
476 C L I F F O R D.
settlements there. They sailed from Gravesend, June 26, 1586, and from Plymouth Aug. J7 ; but were forced back hy contrary winds into Dartmouth, from whence putting out again on the 29th, they fell in with the coast of Bar- bary the 17th September, and the next day sailed into the road of Santa Cruz. On the 25th they came to the river Oro, just under the northern tropic, where they anchored. Searching upwards the next day, they found that river to be as broad all the way for fourteen or fifteen leagues, as at the mouth, which was two leagues over ; but met with no town nor house. On the last of September they de- parted for Sierra Leone ; where they arrived the 2 1st of October, and going on shore, they burned a town of the negroes, and brought away to their ships about fifteen tons of rice ; and having furnished themselves with wood and water, they sailed the 2 1st of November from Sierra Leone, making the straights of Magellan. The 2d of January 1587 they discovered land ; and on the 4th of that month fell in with the American shore, in 30 deg. 40 min. south lat. Continuing their course southward, they took, Janu- ary 10, not far from the river of Plata, a small Portuguese ship ; and the next day another ; out of which they fur- nished themselves with what necessaries they wanted. The 12th of January they came to Seal Island, and two days after to the Green Island, near which they took in water. Returning to Seal Island, a consultation was held on the 7th of February, whether they should continue their course for the South Sea, and winter in the straights of Magellan, or spend three or four months upon the coast of Brazil, and proceed on their voyage in the spring. The majority being for the former, they went as far as 44 de- grees of southern latitude. But meeting with storms and contrary winds, they took a final resolution, on the 21st of February, to return to the coast of Brazil. Accordingly they fell in with it the 5th of April, and, after taking in water and provisions in the bay of Camana, came into the port of Baya the llth. Eight Portuguese ships being there, they found means to carry off four of them, the least of which were of a hundred and thirty tons, notwith- standing all the resistance made by the enemy ; and also brought a supply of fresh provision from the shore. In this spirited manner, the earl undertook no less than eleven expeditions, fitted out at his own expence, in which he made captures to a prodigious amount 5 and, on his return,
CLIFFORD. 477
was graciously received by his royal mistress, who created him knight of the garter in 1591. In 1601 he was one of the lords that were sent with forces to reduce the earl of Essex to obedience. He departed this life at the Savoy in London, Oct. 30, 1605, and was buried at Skipton, in Yorkshire, the 30th of March following; where a fine toinb was afterwards erected to his memory.
Pennant informs us that at an audience which the earl had after one of his expeditions, queen Elizabeth, perhaps designedly, dropped one of her gloves. His lordship took it up, and presented it to her ; upon which she graciously desired him to keep it, as a mark of her esteem. In this manner, Pennant adds, his ambition was gratified with a reward that suited her majesty's avarice. With the ro- mantic gallantry of the times, he adorned this glove with diamonds, and wore it in the front of his high-crowned hat on days of tournament, as is expressed in the fine print of him, by Robert White. Another instance of the queen's favour to the earl of Cumberland, was her appointing him her champion in all her tilting matches, from the thirty- third year of her reign. In this office he succeeded the gallant old knight sir Henry Lea, who resigned it with much ceremony in 1590. Mr. Wai pole, in his Miscella- neous Antiquities, has obliged the public with an enter- taining account of his lordship's investiture. He excelled 'all the nobility of his time in the exercises of tiltings, turn- ings, and courses of the field. His magnificent armour worn on such occasions, adorned with roses and fleurs de lis, is actually preserved at Appleby castle. In Skipton castle is a picture of the earl of Cumberland and his family, which is deemed a curious performance. It is tripartite, in form of a screen. The earl, who occupies the centre, is dressed in armour, spotted with stars of gold; but much of it is concealed by a vest and skirts reaching to his knees : his helmet and gauntlet, lying on the floor, are studded in like manner. His lady stands by him in a pur- ple gown, and white petticoat, -embroidered with gold. She pathetically extends one hand to two beautiful boys, as if in the action of dissuading her lord from the dangerous voyages in which he engaged, when more interesting and tender claims urged the presence of a parent. " How must he have been affected," says Mr. Pennant, " by his refusal, when he found that he had lost both on his return from two expeditions, if the heart of a hero does not too
478 CLIFFORD.
often divest itself of the tender sensations !" The letters of Margaret, the earl of Cumberland's lady, are extant in manuscript, and also her Diary ; from which it appears that she unfortunately married without liking, and met with the same return. She complains greatly of the coolness of her lord, and of his neglecting their daughter, Anne Clif- ford. The countess of Cumberland even endured great poverty, of which she writes in a most moving strain to king James I. to several great persons, and to the earl him- self. Mr. Pennant observes, that all her letters are hum- ble, suppliant, and pathetic, though the earl was said to have parted with her on account of her high spirit. But although this lady might sometimes be obliged, from pe- culiar circumstances, to write in a strain of humiliation, it is certain that she was a woman who possessed great for- titude and magnanimity of mind. This is apparent from the account her daughter has given of her ; nor do we perceive, in that account, any traces of the poverty which the letters seen by Mr. Pennant represent her to have en- dured. Her conduct, after the death of her lord, in the contest between her and Francis, earl of Cumberland, her brother-in-law, for the family estate, was truly spirited, as she would never submit to give up her daughter's right. With regard to her quarrel with her husband, the blame was principally on his side, as he was irregular in his man- ners, and appears, particularly, to have engaged in an amour with a lady of quality. A reconciliation, however, seems to have been effected between the earl and the countess ; for she was present with him at the time of his decease, and he then expressed much affection towards her. We learn, from the inscription on the picture before mentioned, that, during the latter part of his life he felt the good effects of his early education ; for he died peni- tently, willingly, and christianly. !
CLIVE (ROBERT), son of Richard Clive, esq. was born on the 29th of September 1725, at Styche, the seat of his ancestors, in the parish of Moreton-Say, near Market Dray- ton. His father, who possessed but a small estate by in- heritance, had, to increase his income, engaged in the profession of the law. At an early period of his youth, Robert was sent for his education to a private school at
» Biog. Brit.— Park's edit, of the Hoyal and Nob!e Authors.— Pennant's Tour in Scotland. — Whitaktr's Hist, of Craven,
C L I V E. 479
Lostock in Cheshire. The master, Dr. Eaton, soon dis- covered in his scholar a superior courage and sagacity which prognosticated the future hero. " If this lad," he would say, " should live to be a man, and an opportunity be given for the exertion of his talents, few names wdi be greater than his." At the age of eleven he was removed from Lostock to a school at Market Drayton, of which the reverend Mr. Burslem was the master. On the side of a high hill in that town is an ancient church, with a lofty steeple, from nearly the top of which is an old stone spout, pro- jecting in the form of a dragon's head. Young Clive ascended this steeple, and, to the astonishment of the spectators below, seated himself on the spout. Having re- mained a short time at Mr. Burslem's school, he was placed in that of Merchant Taylors' at London, which, however, did not long retain him as a scholar. His father having reverted to what seems to have been a predilection for pri- vate schools, committed him to the care of Mr. Sterling, at Hemel Hempstead, in Hertfordshire, with whom he con- tinued till, in 1743, he received an appointment as a writer to the East India company. From the frequency of his removals, to which perhaps was added an intractable disposition, he obtained no applause, but rather the re- verse, from the several masters to whom the care of his education had been entrusted.
To fulfil his engagement in the service to which he had been appointed, he embarked in one of the ships belong- ing to the East India company, and arrived at Madras in 1744. In his new employment he however discovered the same dislike to application, and the same aversion to con- troul, by which his character had hitherto been distin- guished. This intractable disposition proved as disagree- able to his superiors as it must have been the occasion of much inconvenience to himself. One instance is related. Having acted or neglected something inconsistently with the discipline of office, his misconduct was reported to the governor, who commanded him to ask pardon of the secretary whom he had offended. He made his submission in terms of contempt, which the secretary mistaking for a compliment, invited him to dinner. — " No, sir," replied Clive, " the governor did not command me to dine with you."
When in 1746 Madras was surrendered to the French, under. the command of their admiral M. de la Bourdonnais,
480 C L I V E.
the officers both civil and military, who had served under the East India company, became prisoners on parole. M. Dupleix, however, who was chief commander of the mi- litary forces in India, not having been present at the sur- render, refused to ratify the treaty, unless they would take another parole under the new governor. The Eng- lish, in consequence of this new stipulation, thought them- selves released from their engagements with Bourdonnais, and at liberty not only to make their escape, but to take up arms, if they should find an opportunity. Mr. Clive, accordingly, disguised as a Moor, in the dress of the coun- try, escaped with a few others to St. David's, a fortress which is situated to the south of Madras, at about the dis- tance of 2 1 miles.
He had not been long arrived at St. David's before he lost some money in a party at cards with two ensigns, who were detected in the -act of cheating. They had won considerable sums ; but as the fraud was evident, the losers at first refused payment, but at length were intimidated by the threats of the successful gamesters. Clive alone persisted in his refusal, and accepted a challenge from the boldest of his antagonists. They met, each with a single pistol. Clive fired without success. His antagonist, quit- ting the ground, presented a pistol to his head, and com- manded him to ask his life, with which demand, after some hesitation, he complied ; but, being required to recant his expressions, he peremptorily refused. The officer told him, if he persisted in his refusal, he would fire. " Fire, and be d — d I" replied Clive. " I said you cheated ; I say so still ; nor will I ever pay you." The ensign, finding every expedient to obtain the money ineffectual, threw away the pistol, and declared that his adversary was a madman. Clive replied to the compliments of some of his friends on his conduct in this affair ; " The man has given me my life, and I have no right in future to mention his behaviour at the card table ; although I will never pay him, nor ever keep him company." In 1747 Mr. Clive was pro- moted to the commission of an ensign in the military ser- vice; but had no opportunity of displaying his talents till the following year, when the siege of Pondicherry afforded an ample scope for their exertion. At this memorable at- tack the young ensign distinguished himself by his courage in defence of the advanced trench. He received a shot in his hat, and another in his coat ; some officers in the same
C L I V E. 481
detachment having been killed. The early rains, how- ever, and admiral Boscawen's want of experience in mili- tary operations, compelled tiie English to raise the siege, and to return to Fort St. David's.
On the attack^ when the powder was almost exhausted, Clive, instead of sending a serjeant to procure a fresh supply, ran to the trench, and brought it. In consequence of this action, an officer ventured to insinuate, in his ab- sence, that he had relinquished his post through fear. A friend, having informed him of this aspersion, was accord- ingly requested to go with him to the .person who had thus malignantly defamed him. The charge, though true, was at first denied : Clive, however, insisting upon immediate satisfaction, they withdrew ; but while they were retiring, he received a blow from his antagonist, who was following him. Instantly he drew his sword, as did the other, re- lying on the interposition of the company. Both having been put under an arrest, were obliged to submit to a court of inquiry, which decided that the officer should ask pardon at the head of the battalion, for a causeless aspersion, without notice of the blow, for which offence he might otherwise have been disbanded. Unwilling to in- jure the service, Mr. Clive declined speaking of this quar- rel till the return of the army to St. David's, when, calling upon the officer, he reminded him of the late transaction. Admitting that he was satisfied with the decision of the court, and the consequent compliance of the officer, he still insisted that he must call him to account for the blow, of which no notice had been taken. The officer, on the contrary, alledged that his compliance with the opinion of the court ought to be admitted as satisfactory, and refused to make any other concession. Mr. Clive accordingly waved his cane over his head, saying, that as he thought him too contemptible a coward for beating, he should content him- self with inflicting on him that mark of infamy. On the following day tiie officer resigned his commission.
When the season for military operations was over, the troops remained at St. David's, and before the rctunrof spring they received news of a cessation of hostilities be- tween Great Britain and France. Still, however, the sense of ancient rivalship. the reciprocal aggravation of recent injuries, an opposition of interests, a mutual confidence in strength, seemed to animate botli nations to n renewal of the war. The dominions of the rajah of Tanjore had at
VOL. IX. I i
182 C L I V E.
that time been claimed by his brother, with a declaration that he, though deposed by his subjects, was their rightful sovereign ; and that the reigning rajah was an usurper. The English of St. David's, convinced by these allegations, determined to espouse the cause of the deposed rajah. They resolved to begin their attack upon a fort of the rajah's, called Devi Cdtah. On their advance, rinding the approaches difficult, and the ramparts covered with innumerable forces, they were at first deterred from their enterprize. Clive, however, insisted that the attempt, though dangerous, was not hazardous. He thought the town might easily b$ taken by storm ; recommending only to advance the cannons in the night, as by them the gates might be effectually destroyed. Captain Cope, the com- mander, refused to listen to the advice, as too desperate ;* till, after having exhausted his ammunition by a fruitless cannonade, he was compelled to retreat to Fort St. David's. The disgrace of this discomfiture ; its pernicious influence upon their trade 5 and the exultation of their common enemy the French, induced the English once more to at- tempt the reduction of Devi Cotah. The command of this expedition was entrusted to major Lawrence, an officer at that time but little known, but who was afterwards dis- tinguished for his abilities in the service. As a breach was made in the walls, Clive, who then possessed only the rank of a lieutenant, solicited the command of the forlorn hope. Lawrence, willing to preserve him from so dan- gerous a station, told him the service did not then fall in his turn. Clive replied, that knowing it did not, he came rather to ask it as a favour, than to demand it as a right ; but that on such an occasion he hoped the request of a volunteer would not be rejected. Major Lawrence con- sented ; and Clive, in consequence of his appointment to the command of thirty-four British soldiers and seven hun- dred Sepoys, was ordered to storm the breach. Accord, ingly they led the way ; but in passing a rivulet between the camp and the fort, four of the English fell by the fire of the enemy. The Sepoys were alarmed, and halted as soon as they had passed the stream ; but the English per- . severed, and, advancing closely upon the breach, pre- sented their musquets, when a party of horse, which had been concealed in the tower, rushed upon their rear, and killed twenty-six. Clive, by stepping aside, escaped a stroke which had been aimed at him by oqe of the horse
C L I V E,
483
&s they passed him. He ran towards the rivulet, and, having passed, had the good fortune to join the Sepoys. Of the whole fouj>and- thirty, himself and three others were all that were left alive. Major Lawrence, seeing the disaster, commanded all the Europeans to advance. Clive still marched in the first division. The horse renewed their attack, but were repulsed with such slaughter that the garrison, dismayed at the sight, gave way as the Eng- lish approached the breach, and, flying through the op- posite gate, abandoned the town to the victors. Alarmed at the success of the English, the rajah sent them overtures of peace ; to which, on condition that a settlement should be made on his rival, and the fort of Devi Cutah, with the adjoining district, be ceded to the company, the English readily agreed.
The war being thus concluded, lietenant Clive, to whose active mind the idleness which in time of peace attends a soldier's life was intolerably irksome, returned to the civil establishment, and was admitted to the same rank as that he would have held had he never quitted tiie civil for the military line. His income was now considerably increased by his appointment to the office of commissary to the British troops ; an appointment which the friendship of major Lawrence had procured him. He had not long been settled at Madras, when a fever of the nervous kind de- stroyed his constitution, and operated so banefully on his spirits that the constant presence of an attendant became absolutely requisite. As the disease however abated, his former strength was in some degree renewed ; but his frame had received so rude a shock, that, during the remainder of his life, excepting when his mind was ardently engaged, the oppression on his spirits frequently returned.
The cessation of hostilities between the English and the French had given to the latter an opportunity of executing the important projects they had formed ; which brought the affairs of the company into such a state as to induce Clive to resume the military character ; in which he per- formed most signal acts of prowess, and encountered a variety of uncommon difficulties and dangers, too nu- merous to be particularised in our limited work, but which the reader will find amply detailed in the history of the times, and in his lite in the Biographia Britannica.
Whoever contemplates the forlorn situation of the com- pany when lord Clive first .arrived at Calcutta in 1756, and
i I 2
484 C L I V E.
then considers the degree of opulence and power they pos- sessed when he finally left that place in 1767, will be con- vinced that the history of the world has seldom afforded an instance of so rapid and improbable a change. At the first period they were merely an association of merchants strug- gling for existence. One of their factories was in ruins; their agents were murdered ; and an army of 50,000 men, to which they had nothing to oppose, threatened the im- mediate destruction of their principal settlement. At the last period, distant from the first but ten years, they were become powerful princes, possessed of vast revenues, and ruling over fifteen millions of people. When the merits of those who contributed to this great revolution shall be weighed in the impartial judgment of future times, it will be found that Watson, Pocock, Adams, and Monro, de- served well of the company ; but that Clive was its pre- server, and the principal author of its greatness.
After lord Clive's last return from India, he was made, in 1769, one of the knights companions of the noble order of the bath.
Though his exploits will excite the admiration, and re- ceive the plaudits of posterity, yet in his lifetime the same ingratitude was shewn him, which the greatest men, in all ages and countries, have experienced; for, on the pre- tence (t that all acquisitions made under the influence of a military force, or by treaty with foreign powers, do of right belong to the state," a party in the house of com- mons, countenanced by the minister, attempted to ruin both his fortune and his fame. A motion was made in this assembly, on the 21st of February, 1773, to resolve, that, " in the acquisition of his wealth, lord Clive had abused the powers with which he was entrusted." The speech he made on the occasion concluded with the following words : " If the resolution proposed should receive the assent of the house, I shall have nothing left that I can call my own, except my paternal fortune of 500/. a year ; and which has been in the family for ages past. But upon this I am content to live ; and perhaps I shall find more real content of mind and happiness, than in the trembling affluence of an unsettled fortune. But to be called, after sixteen years have elapsed, to account for my conduct in this manner; and after an uninterrupted enjoyment of my property, to be questioned, and considered as obtaining it unwar- rantably, is hard indeed ! and a treatment of which I
C L I V E. 485
should not think the British senate capable. Yet if this should be the case, I have a conscious innocence within me, which tells me that my conduct is irreproachable. — Frangas non fades. — They may take from me what I have*, they may, as they think, make me poor, but I will be happy. Before I sit down, I have one request to make to the house, that when they come to decide upon my honour, they will not forget their own." The house of commons rejected the motion, and resolved, " that lord Clive had rendered great and meritorious services to his country."
When the disputes between Great Britain and her colo- nies had arisen to such a height that they were not likely to be terminated any other way than by open hostilities, overtures were made to lord Ciive to accept of the chief command in America; but he declined the proposal, on account of the ill state of his health, and from a conscious- ness that the vigour of his mind was not equal to what it had before been.
Lord Clive was one of the few men whose conduct was always directed by the dictates of his own mind, and whose decisions were therefore secret. Like the first of the Cae- sars, the talents of other men could add nothing to the reach of his genius, or the correctness of his judgment. Lord Chatham emphatically called him a heaven-born ge- neral ; as, without experience, or being versed in military affairs, he surpassed all the officers of his time. In parlia- ment, he represented, from the year 1760, to his decease, the ancient borough of Shrewsbury, the chief town of the county wherein he was born. The interest which he took in the disputations of this assembly, was seldom sufficient to induce him to speak ; but when the attack upon his conduct had called into action the powers of his mind, his eloquence was such as has not been often surpassed.
The severe illness with which lord Clive was attacked, during his first residence in the East Indies, gave an injury to his constitution which was never fully repaired ; and his health was farther weakened by his successive visits to the unwholesome climates of that country. Hence it was that he became subject at times to a depression of spirits. His ardent and active mind, when not called into exertion by some great occasion, frequently preyed upon itself. In the latter part of his life, having nothing peculiarly important and interesting to engage his attention, and his body grow- ing more and more infirm, the depression increased ; and
486 C L I V E.
to this was owing bis decease, by his own band, on the 22d of November, 1774, not long after he had entered into the 50th year of his age. He was interred at Mon ton- Say, the parish in which he was born. In the various relations of private life, lord Clive was highly beloved and esteemed; for he was a man of the kindest affections, and of every social virtue. His secret charities- were numerous and ex- tensive ; but the present he made of seventy thousand pounds, as a provision for the invalids of the company's service, was the noblest donation of its kind that ever came fron» a private individual. His person was of the largest of the middle size ; his countenance inclined to sadness ; and the heaviness of his brow imparted an unpleasing ex- pression to his features. It was a heaviness that arose not from the prevalence of the unsocial passions (for of these lew men had a smaller share), but from a natural fullness in the flesh above the eye-lid. His words were few ; and his manner, among strangers, was reserved ; yet it won the confidence of men, and gained admission to the heart. Among his intimate friends he had great pleasantness and jocularity, and on some occasions was too open. In Fe- bruary 1753, immediately before he embarked for England, Jie married Margaret, daughter of Edmund Maskelyne, esq. of Purton in Wiltshire, and sister to the rev. Dr. Nevil Maskelyne, the late astronomer royal. By this lady he had Edward, the present lord Clive, born March 7, 1754; Rebecca, born September 15, 1760; Charlotte, born January 15, 1762; Margaret, born August 15, 1763; and Robert, 'horn August 31, 1769. '
CLIVE (CATHERINE), an actress of great merit, whose piaiden name was Raftor, was born in 1711, and shewed a very early inclination and genius for the stage. Being recommended to Gibber, he immediately engaged her at a small salary, and she made her first appearance on the stage in boy's clothes, in the character of Is- nienes, the page of Ziphores, in the play of " Mithri- dates," at Drury-lane theatre. Continuing to improve in her profession, she added both to her salary and her fame. In 1731 her performance of Nell in the "Devil to pay," fixed her reputation as the greatest performer of her time in that species of character, in which for more than thirty years she remained without a rival. In the next year,
C L I V E. 48?
1732, she united herself in marriage with George Clive, a gentleman of the law, and brother to baron Chve ; an union which was not productive of happiness to either party. They soon agreed to separate, and for the rest of their lives had no intercourse together. Mr. Clive, if we mistake not, died at Bath in 1780, but we doubt whether he was brother to the baron of the exchequer, as above mentioned. In 1768, Mrs. dive's intimate friend Mrs. Pritchard quitted the stage ; and the succeeding year she determined to follow her example ; but certainly might have continued several years longer to delight the public in various characters adapted to her figure and time of life, as to the last she was admirable and unrivalled. From this time Mrs. Clive retired to a small but elegant house near Strawberry-hill, Twickenham, where she passed the re- mainder of her life in ease and independence, respected by the world, and beloved by a circle of friends ; at which place, after a short illness, she departed this life, Decem- ber 6, 1785. A'more extensive walk in comedy than that of Mrs. Clive cannot be imagined ; the chambermaid, in every varied shape which art or nature could lend her; characters of whim and affectation, from the high-bred lady Fanciful, to the vulgar Mrs. Heidelberg ; country girls, romps, hoydens, and dowdies ; superannuated beauties, viragoes, and humourists. To a strong and pleasing voice, with an ear for music, she added all the sprightly action requisite to a number of parts in ballad farces. Her mirth was so genuine, that whether it was restrained to the arch sneer and the suppressed half-laugh, widened to the broad grin, or extended to the downright honest burst of loud laughter, the audience was sure to accompany her. Mrs. Clive, in private life, was so far above censure, that her conduct in every relation of it was not only laudable but exemplary. For her benefits she introduced some trifling pieces on the stage, written by herself or hejr friends, but of no great merit. !
CLOP1NEL. See MEUN.
CLO8TERMAN (JOHN), a painter who practised his art in England, was born at Osnaburgh in 1656, and- with his countryman, one Tiburen, went to Paris in 1679, where he worked for De Troye. In 1681, they came to England, and Closterman at first painted draperies for Riley ; and
1 Biog. Drain.— Daries's Life of Garrick, vol. II.
488 C L O S T E R JVI A N.
afterwards they painted in conjunction, Riley still exe- cuting most of the heads. On his death Closterman finished several of his pictures, which recommended him to the duke of Somerset, who had employed Riley. He painted the duke's children, but lost his favour on a dis- pute about a picture of Guercino, which he had bought for liis grace, and which was afterwards purchased by lord Hnlifax. Closterman, however, did nof want business. He drew Gibbons the carver and his wife in one piece, which pleased, and there is a mezzotinto from it. He was even set in competition with sir Godfrey Kneller, and there is a story, not very credible, that sir Godfrey refused to paint a picture with him for a wager. Closterman painted the duke and duchess of Marlborough and all their children in one picture, and the duke on horseback ; on which subject, however, he had so many disputes with the duchess, that the duke said, " It has given me more trouble to reconcile my wife and you, than to fight a battle." Closterman, who sought reputation, went by invitation to Spain in 1696, where he drew the king and queen, and from whence he wrote several letters on the pictures in that country to Mr, Richard Graham. He also went twice to Italy, anil brought over several good pictures. The whole length of queen Anne in Guildhall is by him, and another at Chats- worth of the first duke of Rutland ; and in Painters'-hall, ti portrait of Mr. Sannders. Elsum has bestowed an epigram on his portrait of Dryden ; yet Closterman was a very mo- derate performer: his colouring strong, but heavy; and his pictures without any idea of grace. Yet he might have enjoyed very affluent circumstances, had he not shewn a foolish and infatuated fondness (as Houbraken tells us) for a girl that he kept in his house. That insidious young woman, who had persuaded him that she was entirely at- tached to his person and interest, watched a proper oppor- tunity, and robbed him of all his money, plate, jewels, and every costly moveable, and fled out of the kingdom. So sudden and so unexpected a misfortune, against which he was totally unprepared, affected Closterman so violently, that he pined away his life ; not long surviving the loss of his effects, and the infidelity of his mistress, which even impaired his understanding. He died in 1713, and was buried in Cbvent-garden churchyard.1
1 Lord Orford's Works.—Pilkington.
CLOVER, 489
CLOVER (JOSEPH), an ingenious professor of the vete- rinary art, was born at Norwich, Aug. 12, 1725. His fa- ther was a blacksmith, in humble life, and could only afford to allow his son a short time for instruction, in the ele- ments of reading, writing, and arithmetic. He was taken from school before he had made much progress in his edu- cation ; and when he was seventeen years old, he was obliged, by the death of his father, to carry on the busi- ness for the .benefit (>i liis mother and her family, which consisted of four children. About the year 1750, he was first noticed by Dr. Kirwan Wright, an eminent physician, and a man of learning, who encouraged him to direct his mind to th'.1 investigation and treatment of the diseases of horses. To this pursuit he devoted his attention with great zeal and success. Through the same friend he was induced to ac- quire a knowledge of the Latin and French languages, in. order to make himself acquainted with the best authors on farriery and medicine, but particularly Vegetius and La Fosse. His Latin teacher was a Mr. Pagan, under whose tuition lie made a rapid progress : and in French he in- structed himself without the help of any master. He was much assisted in his Latin studies by acting as an ama- nuensis, and sometimes read in^ Latin books, to Dr. Wright,
O ' O '
who had the misfortune to be deprived of his sight. During this time he was a hard worker as well as a hard student. He used to work at the forge, the regular hours, from six- o'clock in the morning until eight at night, and then fre- quently got ready the nails requisite for his men the next day. To his labours as a blacksmith, a veterinary prac- titioner, a student of Latin and French, he added others, as a student of mathematics. He became a member of a society established in Norwich, among men of original minds and small incomes, for improvement in mathematics and experimental philosophy, under the direction of Mr. Peter Bilby. Here ho associated with John Fransham, with Mr. Arderon, F. 11. S. a friend and correspondent of Baker, whose inquiries with the microscope excited gene- ral interest .at that time, and with other working and think- ing men. Mr. Clover had a greater quickness of appre- hension, and excelled Fransham in mathematics; but the latter had made a greater proficiency in the classics, and was therefore qualified to become his master. After his return from his eccentric excursion to Newcastle, Mr. Clover employed Fransham occasionally to ride the horses
490 CLOVE R.
home after they were shod, and whilst the iron was heating, they used both to be employed in Latin exer^ses and ma- thematical problems, worked upon a slate hung against the forge. Thus the tutor assisted in all the labours of his pupil, and, ' after correcting an exercise, or discussing the properties of a circle, he earned his frugal meal by con- ducting home the horses which his pupil had shod. Natu- ral philosophy, natural history, and botany, engaged much of this little Bilbean society's attention. Mr. Clover de- monstrated at several of their meetings the origin and pro- gress of the bots found in the stomach and intestines of horses, so early as 1753. He discovered the manner in which the larvae of these insects f&strus equij are conveyed from the coat of the horse, where they are deposited by the fly, into the animal's stomach ; and he illustrated, by many experiments, the whole progress of their transformation, which has been since so well described by Mr. B. Clarke, in the Linnean Transactions for 1796. In 1765, Mr. Clo- ver's reputation had increased so much that he relinquished working at the forge, and devoted himself wholly to the veterinary art. In this he was assisted by the most eminent medical practitioners of those days, particularly Mr. Gooch, who has inserted in the second volume of his surgical cases, a letter from Mr. Clover, giving a description and a drawing of an ingenious machine invented by him for the cure of ruptured tendons and fractured legs in horses. For many years Mr. Clover was severely afflicted with giddi- ness and pain in his head, which obliged him to decline business in 178!. He continued, however, to interest himself in every improvement that was made, and always took delight in recounting the results of his extensive ex- perience. One of his greatest amusements was to talk with those who studied physic and surgery ; and he con- tinued to read the new medical publications, and to deliver short private lectures on the theory and practice of the healing art, with a lively interest, until the very day of his death. It is to be regretted that he never could be pre- vailed upon to extend the usefulness of his knowledge and experience in the diseases of animals, by any publication of his observations ; but he felt a diffidence and fastidious- ness in writing that could never be overcome, though his readiness to communicate information was universally ac- knowledged. The latter end of his life was cheered by the amusement of gardening, in which he excelled. fie
CLOVER. 491
marked the gradual decay of his bodily organs with perfect tranquillity and composure, and watched his declining pulse when he expired Feb. 19, 1811, in the eighty-sixth year of ais age. With an understanding vigorous and acute, and n. power of discrimination and discernment peculiar to himself, Mr. Clover possessed the external advantage of a stronir muscular frame of body, which was tall and well proportioned. *
CLOV1O (Juuus), justly celebrated for his astonishing miniatures and illuminations in missals and other religious books, was born in Sclavonia in the year 1498. He was originally educated for the church, and took orders, but was afterwards suffered to relinquish the sacerdotal habit by a dispensation from the pope. Soon after the age of eighteen, his love of painting prompted him to travel to Rome, where he was taken into the service of the cardinal Grimani, by whom he was, for the space of three years, employed in making careful pen-drawings from the finest medals. He afterwards became the scholar of Julio Ro- mano, and made considerable advancement in oil-painting; but his master, perceiving the extraordinary talent which he evinced for miniature, succeeded in persuading him to apply himself entirely to that branch of the art ; and' it may with justice be said, that we owe to the sagacity of Julio Romano, and the unexampled assiduity of Clovio, the most exquisite and delicately finished performances of that kind in the known world ; since he not only far sur- passed all who went before him, but to this day stands un- rivalled, by all those who have since attempted to walk in his footsteps. In addition to the instruction which our artist received from the favourite scholar of Raffaele, he derived great benefit from the works of Buonarotti, many of which he copied in a most beautiful and finished man- ner ; and he afterwards reaped great advantage from the friendship and experience of Girolamo da1 Libri, a minia- ture painter of great note at Verona : the result of all these studies was a style of drawing, partaking of the purity of the Roman, and the grandeur of the Florentine school ; united, not unfrequently, to the rich colouring of Titian or the ambient hue of Correggio.
Among the suprising labours of Clovio, described by Va-sari, that writer particularly dwells upon an. " ufficio
* G«nt. Ma£. vol. LXXXI. Part II.
492 C L 6 V I O.
della madonna," painted for the cardinal Farnese. In this work many portraits were introduced, and the figures, though in some cases no longer than so many ants, were represented with as much distinctness in all their parts, as if they had been drawn the size of life. A beautiful missal, illuminated by Clovio, formerly belonging to Alexander Champernoun, esq. is now in the possession of the Townley family. Several prints from t;;e works of this master, are cited by Heinecken. He died aged 80, in the year 1578.1
CLOWES (WILLIAM), an eminent surgeon, of whom little is known, except what can be collected from his works, flourished in the time of queen Elizabeth, and was for some time a navy surgeon, serving on board one of the queen's ships, called the Aid, when the emperor's daugh- ter married Philip II. king of Spain, in 1570. He returned home, and resided several years at London, where he ac- quired great reputation, as may be inferred from his having been several years surgeon of St. Bartholomew's and Christ's hospitals, before he was sent for by letters from the earl of Leicester, general of the English forces in the Low Countries, to take upon him the care of the sick and wounded in 1586. He was surgeon to her majesty, and mentions his having served with Banister under the earl of Warwick ; and also speaks in another place of having been a retainer to lord Abergavenny. He seems to have been in full practice about 1596, the date of his last publication, a treatise on the venereal disease, reprinted in 1637 ; and he laments the frequency of this disorder in England ; of which he gives this proof, that in the space of five years he had cured upwards of a thousand venereal patients in vSt. Bartholomew's hospital. His most capital performance is his approved Practice for all young chirurgeons, 1591, re-printed in 1596 and 1637. He is a strong advocate for writing medical chirurgical books in the vernacular lan- guage, and his practice was always ingenious, and often successful. 2
CLUBBE (JOHN), rector of Whatfield, and vicar of De- benham, in Suffolk, was the son of the rev. George Clubbe, 3V1. A. of Catherine-hall, Cambridge, and was born in 1703. He was admitted of King's-college, Cambridge, by an
1 Pilkington. — Rees's Cyclopaedia.
Q Aikin's Biographical Memoirs of Medicine.
C L U B B £. 493
unlucky mistake of an uacle, who did not know until too late, that his not proceeding from Eton school was a bar to his promotion in that college. He left it, therefore, after talcing his bachelor's degree, in 1725. At what time he was presented to his livings, is not mentioned. He married one of Dr. Jortin's daughters, by whom he had a large fa- mily. He had the misfortune to lose his sight some time before his death, March 2, 1773, but never his placid and agreeable humour. His „ publications, besides a single " Sermon" before the incorporated Society for the Relief of Clergymen's Widows and Orphans at Ipswich, 1751, are, 1. " The History and Antiquities of the ancient villa of Wheatfield, in the county of Suffolk," 1758 ; an ad- mirable piece of irony at the expence of modern antiqua- ries, which was reprinted by Dodsley in the second volume of his " Fugitive Pieces." 2. " Physiognomy ; being a. sketch of a larger work upon the same plan, wherein the different tempers, passions, and manners of men, will be particularly considered." 3. t( A Letter of free advice to a young Clergyman," 1763. *
CLUSIUS. See ECLUSE.
CLUVERIUS (PHILIP), or CLUVIER), a celebrated geo- grapher, was born of an ancient and noble family at Dantzic, in 1580, and educated by his father with a great deal of care, and sent to Leyden to study the civil law. But Cluver had no inclination for law, and his genius inclining him early to the love of geography, Joseph Scaliger is said to have advised him to make that his particular study, and not to do violence to his inclinations any longer. This ad- vice was followed, upon which Cluver presently set out for the Low Countries, in order to take a careful survey of them ; but passing- through Brabant, for the sake of paying a visit to Justus Lipsius, he had the misfortune to be rob- bed, which obliged him to return immediately to Leyden. Meanwhile, his father, incensed by his deserting the study of the law, refused to furnish him with money, which drove him to bear arms, as he afterwards did two years in Hun- gary arid Bohemia. It happened at that time, that the baron of Popel, who was his friend, was arrested by an order from the emperor ; and thinking himself extremely ill used, he drew up a kind of manifesto by way of apology, which he sent to Cluver to translate into Latin. This
* Nichols's Bowyer, vol. II.— -Cole's MS Athense in Brit. Museum,
49* „ C L U V E R I U S.
Ciuver having performed, caused it to be printed at Ley- den ; which so displeased the emperor, that he complained by his ambassador to the States, and had Cluvcr arrested. Ciuver, however, was soon set at liberty, upon which he returned to his geographical studies, and travelled through several countries, particularly England, France, Germany, and Italy. He was also a great linguist, being able to talk with ease and fluency, as we are told, no less than ten languages. He died at Ley den, 1623, only forty -three years old, justly esteemed the first geographer who had put his researches in order, and reduced them to certain principles.
His residence in England has been overlooked by his biographers. It was in 1609 that he became a sojourner at Exeter college, Oxford, for the sake of Drs. Holland and Prideaux, whose fame attracted many foreigners to this college ; and here he wrote his first work " De Tribus Rheni alveis et ostiis," which was published at Leyden, in 1611, 4to. It appears also that after his return from Italy, he again visited Oxford, where Dr. Prideaux, probably, who had a high opinion of him, procured him offers of promotion ; but his attachment to Leyden induced him to return thither, and the curators of the university there be- stowed an annual stipend on him, to assist him in his pur- suits. He left a son, John Sigismund Cluverius, who was born during his father's residence in England, in St. Sa- viour's parish, and was matriculated a member of Exeter college in 1633, as " a Londoner born, and the son of Philip Cluverius, a priest?'
Cluverius published in his life-time, besides the work already mentioned, " Germania antiqua. Sicilia antiqiia. Italia antiqua," Leyden, 1619, folio. And Vorstins published after his death another work, entitled " Intro- ductio in uaiversam geographiam tarn veterem quam no- vam, &c." But, as Cellarius observed, there is not that nicety and exactness shewn in this last work as in his for- mer, especially in his " Italia Antiqua," and " Sicilia An- tiqua." l
COBB (SAMUEL), an ingenious poet, and a man of taste, wit, and learning, was master of the grammar-school of Christ's hospital, where he was himself educated. He
l Moreri. — Freheri Theatrum,— Ath. Ox. vol. I. — Blount's Censura. — S?xii Onomasticoa.
C O B B. 495
took the degree of B. A. in 1698, and of M. A. in 1702, in Trinity- college, Cambridge. He died at London, in 1713, in the prime of life, and was buried in the cloisters of Christ's hospital. Jacob says that his " Observations on Virgil" shew that he was well acquainted with that poet. He published in 1707, " A Collection of Poems on several occasions, &c. to which is prefixed a Discourse on Criti- cism, and the Liberty of Writing, by way of letter to a friend." He translated the third, and part of the fourth book of Howe's editi6n of the " Callipapdia," and assisted Ozell in the translation of Boileau's " Lutrin." His other known productions are, 1. "The Miller's Tale," from Chaucer. 2. A translation of the " Muscipula." 3. " The Oak and the Briar," a tale. His excellent ode, " The Female Reign," was printed in Dodsley's Collection, and afterwards in the Gent. Mag. 1753, with alterations by Dr. Watts, who thought it " the truest and best Pindaric he had ever read," an opinion in which we find Dr. Warton coinciding, in one of his notes on Pope's works.1
CO3DEN (EDWARD), D. D. and a chaplain in ordinary to George II. was educated at Trinity college, Oxford, where he took his bachelor's degree, but appears to have removed to King's college, Cambridge, where he took his master's degree, in 1713. In 1723 we find him again at Trinity college, Oxford, where he took the degrees of B. and D. D. July 6 of that year. He became early in life chaplain to bishop Gibson, to whose patronage he was indebted for the following preferments ; viz. the united rectories of St. Austin and St. Faith, in London, with that of Acton, in Middlesex, a prebend in St. Paul's, another at Lincoln, and the archdeaconry of London, in which last he succeeded Dr. Tyrwhitt in July 1742. His whole works were collected by himself, in 1757, under the title of " Discourses and Essays, in prose and verse, by Edward Cobden, D. D. archdeacon of London, and lately chaplain to his majesty king George II. above twenty-two years, in which time most of these discourses were preached before him. Published chiefly for the use of his parishioners," one large 4to volume, divided in two parts. Of this vo- lume 250 copies only were printed, 50 of which were ap- propriated to a charitable use.
i Jacob's T.ivos, — Nichols's Poems, in which are some of Cobb's. — Dodaley's l. I.
496 C O B D E N.
In 1748 he preached a sermon before the king at St. James's, entitled " A Persuasive to Chastity," which was not a virtue exemplified at that time in the highest place, and he is said to have lost his situation of chaplain by it. Among his works is his " Concio ad Clerum, xi cal. Mail, 1752," and three sermons preached after the noted one on " Chastity." The last time he preached hefore the king was Dec. 8, 1751. He resigned his warrant for chap- lain Nov. 23, 1752, after having delivered into his ma- jesty's hands his reasons in writing for so doing. His income, he says, was hut moderate (all his preferments together not exceeding S50/. per annum clear, which, he added, was as much as he desired, and more than he deserved. This income, frugality and moderation converted into plenty, and contentment into happiness) ; but about this time he met with losses amounting to above 2000/. which reduced his substance very low. In 1762, Dr. Cobden lost his wife ; whom he survived little more than two years, dying April 22, 1764, aged more than eighty. He appears to have been a good and conscien- tious man, but with a mixture of oddity in his character as well as style, and not so wholly free from ambition as "he would make us believe. His poetical talents, which he was fond of gxercising, are not of the first rate.1 COCCAIO. See FOLENGO.
COCCEIUS (HENRY), an eminent lawyer, was born March 25, 1644, at Bremen. He was professor of law at Heidelberg, Utrecht, and Francfort on the Oder, where he died August 18, 1719, aged seventy-six, leaving several children. In 1670 the degree of LL. D. was conferred on him by the university of Oxford, at the same time with the prince of Orange, afterwards William III. He was employed in various affairs of importance, and received the dignity of baron of the empire from the emperor, 1713, as a reward for his services. He left several works on the science he professed, among which are : " Juris publici prndentia," Francfort, 1695, 8vo ; " Hypomne- mata Juris," 1698, Svo, &c. 2
COCCEIUS (SAMUEL), son to the preceding, was born at Francfort on the Oder, towards the close of the seven- teenth century, and died in 1755. He rose by his profound
* Nichols's Bowyer. — Whiston's Life. — Cole's MS Athene in Brit Mus. a Moreri. — Diet. Hist. — Bibliothrque German, where is a long account of h;« hfe.
C O C C E I U S. 497
knowledge of the civil law, to the post of minister of state, and grand chancellor to the late king of Prussia. That royal philosopher entrusted the baron Cocceius with the reform of the administration of justice throughout his do- minions. The " Frederkian Code," which this minister compiled in 1747, proved him worthy of the choice of his prince, and as much a philosopher as himself. Besides this work, which is in 3 vols. 8vo, the world is indebted to baron Cocceius for a Latin edition of " Grotius de jure belli ac pacis," more ample than any that had before ap- peared, printed 1755 at Lausanne, 5 vols. 4to. The first volume, which serves as an introduction to the work, is by Cocceius the father. !
COCCEIUS or COCK (JOHN), was a famous Hebrew professor at Bremen, where he was born in 1603. In J650 he was chosen to teach theology at Leyden, which he did with great reputation, and died there 1669, aged sixty-six, leaving a son. Cocceius wrote long commen- taries on the Bible, and other works, which made much noise in Holland, and were printed at Amsterdam, 1701, 10 vols. fol. In 1708 was published his " Opera Anec- dota Theologica et Philologica," 2 vols. fol. His singular method of interpreting the Holy Scriptures raised him op* ponents in Voetius, Desmarets, and several other pro- testants ; but he had nevertheless, and has still, numerous disciples in Holland, who are called Cocceians, and be- lieve, like him, and like many other divines in other coun- tries, that there will be a visible reign of Christ upon earth, by which that of antichrist shall be abolished ; and that during this reign, the Jews and all nations being converted, the church should attain its highest glory. In explaining the Scriptures, he always looked beyond the literal meaning to something that should wear the appearance of mystery. He regarded the Old Testament as a perpetual repre- sentation or mirror of the history of Christ, and his church; he maintained that all the Jewish prophecies have a rela- tion to Christ, and that his miracles, actions, and sufferings, and those of his apostles, were types of future events.2 .
COCCIO. See SABELL1CUS.
COCCHI (ANTHONY), of Florence, professor of physic at Pisa, afterwards of surgery and anatomy at Florence, was born there in 1693, and died in 1758, at the age of
1 Diet. Hist. « Moreri. — Mosheiou
VOL. IX. K K
498 C O C C H I.
sixty-two. In the course of his travels he became the in- timate friend of Newton, Boerhaave, and Dr. Mead. The emperor made him his antiquary. He was esteemed both for his theoretical and practical knowledge. He wrote : 1. " Grsecorum Chirurgici Libri ; Sorani unus de Frac- turarum signis, Oribasii duo de Fractis, et Luxatis, ex Collectione Nicetse, Florent." 1754, fol. 2. " O ratio de Usu Artis Anatomicse, Florent." 1736, 4to. 3. " Medi- cinae laudatio in Gymnasio Pisis habita," 1727, 4to, spoken on opening a course of lectures at Pisa, where he had been appointed professor, prior to his returning to Florence. 4. "Del vitto Pythagorico," Flor. 1743, and 1750, 8vo. It has been several times reprinted, and in 1762 translated into English. He wrote also " On the Baths at Pisa, and Sopra Asclepiadea." This was published by his son, Raymond Cocchi, who succeeded his father as professor of anatomy, and physician to the public hospital at Florence.
Cocchi, the father, was invited to England by the earl of Huntingdon, and passed three years in London, during which he published an edition of " Xenophont. Ephesii Ephesiacorum Libri V. de Amoribus Anthite et Abrocomse," printed by Bowyer, 1726, 4to. The earl of Corke, in one of his letters to Mr. Duncombe, represents Cocchi as a man of most extensive learning, studious, polite, modest, humane, and instructive. A very long account of him is given in our authority.1
. COCHIN (HENRY), an eminent French lawyer, was born at Paris June 10, 1687, and admitted a counsellor in 1706, in the grand council, where he acquired such repu- tation, that at the age of thirty, he was looked upon as one of the ablest canonists, and he now determined, with the advice of his friends and clients, to plead in the parliament. He was heard there with universal applause, and, from that time till his death, there was scarce any affair of import- ance at the palace but the public crowded to hear him, and returned convinced that M. Cochin possessed all the ex- traordinary talents which characterise a great orator. He was consulted from every part of the kingdom, and never ceased to serve the public by his assiduous and unremitted labours. He died at Paris, after several attacks of an apoplexy, February 24, 1747, aged 60. His works were
* Fabroni Vita Italorum.
COCHIN. 499
.published at Paris, 1751, and the following year, 6 vols. 4to, with his life. These, however, have not preserved his reputation undiminished ; and M. la Cretelle, in along article on them in the French Mercure for April 1782, concludes with asserting that Cochin was an advocate of great merit, but a genius of the second order. This sen*- tence, however, seems in some measure to proceed from an opinion that no man can be a genius who does not intro- duce novelties in his profession. France has unfortunately abounded of late years in such geniuses. *
COCHIN (CHARLES NICHOLAS), a famous French en- graver, was born in 1688, and received into the royal aca- demy of Paris in 1731. His works are full of spirit, cor- rectness, and harmony. The principal are from the paint- ings of the invalids, which employed him full ten years. He painted also Rebecca, St. Basil ; the Origin of Fire, from Le Moine, Jacob and Laban, from Restout, The vil- lage Wedding, after Watteau, and the prints for the Lu- trin, besides many upon the occasion of the dauphin's marriage, and the general collection of the gallery of Ver- sailles. He xlied in 1754.
COCHIN (CHARLES NICHOLAS), son of the preceding artist, was born at Paris in 1715, and, assisted by the in- structions of his father, and his mother Louise Madeleine Hortemels, became an engraver of considerable celebrity. In 1749, he travelled to Italy with the marquis de Marigny, and after his return, was in 1752 made a member of the royal academy of Paris, and, in the sequel, appointed secre- tary and historian to that society. In addition to these honours, he was made a knight of the order of St. Michael, and keeper of the king's drawings. Of his works, then extremely numerous, Mr. Jombert published a catalogue in 1770. He died April 29, 1790, after having published some works connected with his profession, as, 1. " Lettres sur les Peintures d'Herculaneum," 1751, 12mo. 2. "Dis- sertation sur 1'effet de la lumiere et des ombres, relative- ment a la peinture," 1757, 12mo. 3. "Voyage d'ltalie, ou Recueil d' observations sur les ouvrages ({'architecture, de peinture, et de sculpture, que 1'on voit dans les princi- pales villes d'ltalie," Lausanne, 1773, 3 vols. 8vo. 4. "Les Mysotechniques aux enfers," 1763, 12mo. 5. " Lettres sur les Vies de Slodz et de Deshays," 1765, 12rao. 6.
> Moreri.— Diet Hist KK 2
500 COCHIN.
" Projet d'une salle de spectacle," 1765, 12mo. Cochin gave the design for the monument of the mareschal D'Har- court, executed by Pigal, which is now in the French museum. *
CQCHLvEUS (JOHN), a native of Nuremberg, canon of Breslau, was born in 1479, and became a bigotted ad- herent to the Roman catholic religion, and disputed warmly against Luther, Osiander, Bucer, Melancthon, Calvin, and the other patriarchs of the reformation ; but he is too full of invective, even by the confession of the catholics them- selves. In 1539 he received from England a refutation by Richard Morrison, D. D. of the tract he had published against the marriage of Henry VJII. He replied in a publication bearing this title : 'f The broom of Johannes Cochlfeus for sweeping down the cobwebs of Morrison." $Jorrison had reproached him with having been made canon of Mersberg on condition that he should write no more against Luther, and for having forfeited his word, on be- ing bought over by promises from the pope. Cochloeus declares that he is not canon of Mersberg ; that prince George of Saxony sent for him to Mentz, where he was canon of St. Victor, to give him a canonry in the cathedral of Misnia, in order to assist Jerom Emser in the defence of the catholic faith ; adding, that it is so far from being true that he had promised to write no more against Luther, that in the preceding year he had published no less than six writings against him. He defends what he had written against the divorce of Henry VIII. and boasts that Eras- mus had approved his work. The principal productions of this author are : 1. " Historia Hussitarum," folio ; a scarce and curious/work, and one of his best performances. 2. 1* De actis et scriptis Lutheri," 1549, folio. 3. " Specu- lum circa Missam," 8vo. 4. " De vita Theoxlorici regis Ostrogothorum," Stockholm, 1699, 4to. 5. " Consilium cardinalium anno 1538," Svo. 6. " De emendanda eccle- sia," 1539, 8vo, very scarce. He died at Breslau, January 10, |5S2, at the age of 72. a
COCHRAN (WILLIAM), a Scotch artist, was born Dec. 12, 173.8, at Strathaven in Clydesdale, Having early shewn a genius in design, he was put as a scholar to the academy of .painting in the college of Glasgow in 1754?
l Diet. Hist— Strutt.
* Momi.— Dupin,— - Freheri Theatrum. — Saxii Onomasticon.
C O C H R A N. 501
then chiefly under the inspection of those eminent printers Messrs. Robert and Andrew Fonlis. After some time spent there, he went to Italy about the end of 176J, where he studied for five years, mostly at Rome, under the cele- brated Mr. Gavin Hamilton ; since which time he followed his profession in Glasgow, with honour and advantage to himself, and satisfaction to his friends. In portrait paint- ing of a large size he excelled, and in miniature and other sizes he had great merit; his drawing was correct, and he seldom failed of producing a most striking likeness. In history, some pieces done by him are now in Glasgow, particularly " Daedalus and Icarus," " Diana and Endy- mion," both essay pieces executed at Rome, that would do credit to any pencil ; yet, from an unusual modesty and diffidence, he never could be prevailed upon to put his name to his works. A dutiful attachment to an aged mo- ther and other relations fixed him in Glasgow : ambition with him was no ruling passion, nor was he eager after riches; but a natural philanthropic disposition, and an assiduity to please, were conspicuous traits of his character. By permission1 of the lord provost and magistrates, he was buried in the choir of the cathedral church, where a neat marble is erected to his memory, with this inscription : " In memory of Mr. William Cochran, portrait painter in Glasgow, who died October 23, 1785, aged 47 years. The works of his pencil and this marble bear record of an emi- nent artist, and a virtuous man." !
COCKAINE. See COKAINE.
COCKBURN (CATHARINE), a lady much distinguished by her literary accomplishments, was born in London, August 16, 1679, the daughter of captain David Trotter, who was a native of Scotland, and a commander in the royal navy, in the reign of king Charles the Second. Her mother was Mrs. Sarah Ballenden, nearly related to the noble lord of that name, and to the illustrious families of Maitland, duke of Lauderdale, and Drumrnond, earl of Perth. She had the misfortune to lose her father when very young ; an event which also reduced her mother to narrow circumstances. In her childhood, she surprised a company of her relations and friends with some extem- porary verses, on an incident which had happened in the street, and which excited her attention. By her own ap-
1 From the last edition of this Dictionary.
502 C O C K B U R N.
plication and diligence, without any instructor, she learned to write, and also made herself mistress of the French lan- guage ; but had some assistance in the study of the Latin grammar and logic ; and of the latter she drew up an abs- tract for her own use. She was educated in the protestant religion, but having an early intimacy with several Roman catholic families of distinction, she was led, when very young, to embrace the Romish communion, and continued in it for some years.
In 1693, when she was only fourteen years of age, she wrote some verses, and sent them to Mr. Bevil Higgons, tf on his sickness and recovery from the small-pox," and was only in her seventeenth year when she produced a tra- gedy, entitled " Agnes de Castro," which was acted with applause at the Theatre-Royal in 1695, and printed the fol- lowing year in 4to, without her name. The play is founded upon a French novel of the same title, printed at Paris in 1688. In 1697, she addressed some verses to Mr. Con- greve on his " Mourning Bride ;" which gave rise to an acquaintance between her and that celebrated . writer. In 1698, her tragedy, entitled " Fatal Friendship," was per- formed at the new theatre in Lincoln's-inn-fields, and printed the same year in 4to, with a dedication to the - princess Anne of Denmark. This play was considered as the most perfect of her dramatic performances ; and it was praised by Hughes and Farquhar*. On the death of Mr. Dry den, in 1701, our poetess joined with several other ladies, in paying a just tribute to his memory in verse. Their performances were published together in that year, under the title of " The Nine Muses ; or, Poems written l>y so many Ladies, upon the death of the late famous John Dryden, esq." The same year she also brought upon the stage a comedy, called " Love at a Loss ; or, most votes carry it," acted at the Theatre-Royal, and published in quarto ; but on account of her absence from London while it was in the press, it was so incorrectly printed, that she would gladly have suppressed the edition ; and many years after she revised it, with a view to a second performance,
* We are more inclined to agree unmarried women of that age are com-
with Dr. Beattie, that this tragedy monly supposed to be." He refers
ought to have been suppressed. That the blame, however, to " her youth,
critic adds, "'It does her no credit, and the licentiousness of the English
and shews her to have been at eighteen stage in the end of tbe last (seventeenth)
a greater adept in love matters than century." Forbes's Life of Beattie.
COCK-BURN. 503
which never took place. Soon after, before the close of the year 1701, she produced another tragedy, called " The Unhappy Penitent," which was performed at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-lane, also printed in 4to. In the midst of this attention to poetry and dramatic writing, she spent much of her time in metaphysical studies. She was a great admirer of Mr. Locke's " Essay on Human Under- standing;" and drew up a defence of that work, against some remarks written by Dr. Thomas Burnet, master of the Charter-house. This was published in May 1702, without a name, lest the public should be prejudiced against a metaphysical treatise written by a woman. She also pro- fessed herself to be desirous of concealing her name, from an unwillingness tobe known to Mr. Locke, under the character of his defender. But her name was not long concealed ; and Mr. Locke desired his cousin, Mr. King, afterwards lord chancellor, to pay her a visit, and make her a present of books ; and upon her owning her performance, he wrote her a letter of acknowledgment*. She also received a letter of thanks for this piece from Mrs. Burnet, the last wife of the celebrated prelate of that name. It appears, that at the latter end of 1701, she was some time at Salis- bury, on a visit to her relations in that city.
Mrs. Trotter still continued in the communion of the church of Rome ; and the sincerity of her attachment to it, in all its outward severities, obliged her to so strict an observance of its fasts, as proved extremely injurious to her health. This occasioned Dr. Denton Nicholas, an inge- nious and learned physician of her acquaintance, to advise her by a letter, dated October 19, 1703, to abate of those rigours of abstinence to which she addicted herself; which he represented as insupportable to a constitution naturally infirm : and he desired her to shew his letter to her friends and confessor for their satisfaction. What effect this re- monstrance had, we are not told.
Her friend Mr. Burnet continued to keep up a corre- spondence with her during his travels ; and upon his arri- val at the court of Berlin, where he was received with great
* In her defence of Mr. Locke, Mrs. doctrines of Christianity: and she Trotter endeavoured to prove that there maintained, that it was of dangerous was nothing in his sentiments which consequence to assert, that the doc- weakened the evidences of a future state, trine of the immortality of the soul de~ or which was inconsistent with the prin- pended on its immateriality, ciples of morality, or with any of the
504 C O C K B U R N.
marks of respect by Sophia Charlotte, queen of Prussia, daughter to the princess Sophia, he took an opportunity of writing to that princess in such advantageous terms of Mrs. Trotter, that her royal highness, in her answer to him from Hanover, on the 29th of July, 1704, declared herself " charmed with the agreeable picture which he had drawn of the new Scots Sappho, who seemed to deserve all the great things which he had said of her." Jn 1704, Mrs. Trotter addressed some verses to the duke of Marlborough, upon his return from Germany, after the battle of Blen- heim; and in 1706, after the battle of Ramillies, she also addressed a second poem to the duke of Marlborough. The same year, her tragedy called " The Revolution of Sweden," was acted at the queen's theatre in the Hay- market, and printed at London in 4to. It is founded upon the revolution in Sweden under Gustavus Erickson.
She had now for some time begun to entertain doubts concerning the Romish religion ; which led her into a thorough examination of the grounds of it, by consulting the best books on both sides of the question, and convers- ing with persons of the best judgment, both papists and protestants, amongst her acquaintance. The result of her inquiries was, a full conviction of the falseness of the pre- tensions of the Romish church, and a return to the com- munion of the church of England, about the beginning of 1707 ; and she continued a firm protestant during the re- mainder of her life. In the course of her inquiries, the great question concerning " a Guide in Controversies," was particularly discussed by her ; and two letters which she wrote on this subject, were published this year under the following title : " A Discourse concerning a Guide in Controversies, in two Letters : written to one of the church of Rome, by a person lately converted from that com- munion."
A considerable part of the summer of 1707 was spent by Mrs. Trotter at Ockham- Mills, near Ripley, in the county of Surrey. During her retirement there, Mr. Fenn, a young clergyman of an excellent character, paid his ad- dresses to her, but she had previously engaged in a cor- respondence by letters with Mr. Cockburn *, which ter-
* The father of this gentleman was to quit it, on account of his inflexible
Dr. Cockburn, an eminent and learned adherence to the protestant religion -y
divine of Scotland, at first attached to then for some time minister of the epis-
tbe court of St. Germain's, but obliged copal church at Amsterdam, and at;
COCKBURN. 505
minated in a mirriage in the beginning of 1708. Mr. Cockburn had taken orders in the church of England but a short time before his marriage ; and soon after that event, he had the donative of Nayland in Suffolk, where for some time they settled ; but Mr. Cockburn removed to London to be curate of St. Dunstan's church in Fleet-street. Ii* this situation he remained till the accession of king G^oFge the First, when, entertaining some doubts about taking the oath of abjuration, he was obliged to quit his curacy, and for ten or twelve years was reduced to great difficulties in procuring subsistence for his family. During that period, he was employed in instructing the youth of an academy in Chancery-lane in the Latin tongue. But in 1726, by con- sulting the lord chancellor King, and his own father, upon the meaning and intent of the oath of abjuration, and by- reading some papers which were put into his hands upon the subject, he was at length reconciled to taking it. In consequence of this, being the following year invited to be minister of the episcopal congregation at Aberdeen, he qualified himself conformably to the law; and on the day of king George the Second's accession, he preached there a sermon on the duty and benefit of praying for the govern- ment. This sermon was printed, and being animadverted upon, he published a reply to the remarks on it, with some papers relative to the oath of abjuration, which were much commended. Soon after his settlement at Aberdeen, the lord chancellor King presented him to the living of Long- Horseley, near Morpeth, in Northumberland, in order to enable him the better to support his family, and he was permitted to remain at Aberdeen, till the negligence and ill behaviour of the curates, whom he employed at Long- last collated to the rectory of Northall and Religion," another very curiout in Middlesex, by Or. Robinson, bishop volume entitled " The History and Ex- of London, at the recommendation of animation of Duels," 1720, 8vo, and queen Anne, who intended him for one some tracts on religious subjects. He of the bishops of our American Planta- died Nov. 20, 1729, and was buried in tions, if the scheme of establishing the chancel at Northall. — Birch's Life them had been executed. He was a of Mrs. Cockburn, and Lysons's Envi- man of considerable learning, and pub- rons, vol. III. There was a contem- lished, in the Weekly Miscellany, a porary, a Dr. William Cockburn, a defence of prime ministers, in the cha- physician, and author of some medical racter of Joseph j and likewise wrote tracts, probably a relation of Dr. John a treatise on the Mosaic deluge, pub- Cockburn, who died in 1739. There lished since his death, a volume of Ser- is some account of him in Rees's Cy- mons, several single discourses, a fu- clopaedia, and in Noble's Continuation peral sermon for bishop Compton, a of Granger, but scarcely important work called " Right notions of God euougli for a separate article.
506 C O C K B U R N.
/
Horseley obliged him to quit his station at Aberdeen in 1737, whereby his income was considerably lessened.
Mrs. Cockburn, after her marriage, was almost entirely prevented from any application to her studies, for many years, in consequence of her close attention to the duties of a wife and of a mother. To the ordinary cares of an increasing family, were added those resulting from the straitened circumstances of her husband ; so that she had little time for reading. But in 1726, when she had been married about eighteen years, she published, " A Letter to Dr. Holdsworth," in vindication of Mr. Locke. Dr. Holdsvvorth, who was a fellow of St. John's college in Ox- ford, had preached a sermon before the university, on John v. 28, 29, concerning the resurrection of tfee same body. This sermon he afterwards printed in 8vo, pro- fessing, in his title page, to examine and answer " the cavils, false reasonings, and false interpretations of scrip- ture, of Mr. Locke, and others, against the resurrection of the same body." Mrs. Cockburn remonstrated, in her publication, against the manner in which Dr. Holdsworth had treated Mr. Locke : and urged, that it could be of no service to the church, nor was it in any respect prudent, to take so much pains to rank Mr. Locke amongst here- tics, and the worst enemies of Christianity. Dr. Holds- worth, however, renewed the charge in his " Defence of the doctrine of the Resurrection of the same Body," 8vo, 1727. To this Mrs. Cockburn wrote a reply, which she entitled, " A Vindication of Mr. Locke's Christian Princi- ples, from the injurious imputations of Dr. Holdsworth." But as she could meet with no bookseller who would un- dertake to print it at his own hazard, it continued in ma- nuscript, until printed in the edition of her works, by Dr. Birch.
In 1732, she wrote a poem on occasion of " the Busts set up in the Queen's Hermitage," which was afterwards printed in the Gentleman's Magazine, for May 1737, with some alterations, which she thought to its disadvan- tage. About two years after, she wrote " Remarks upon some writers in the controversy concerning the foundation of Moral Duty and Moral Obligation ; particularly the translator of archbishop King's Origin of Moral Evil, and the author of the Divine Legation of Moses : to which are prefixed, some cursory thoughts on the controversies con- cerning necessary existence, the reality and infinity of
C O C K B U R N. 507
space, the extension and place of spirits, and on Dr. Watts's notion of substance*." These remarks continued in manuscript till the year 1743, when they were printed in " The History of the Works of the Learned." She had the misfortune this year to lose a daughter ; and it appears also, that she had at this time a son in Germany, in some office connected with the army, and who was afterwards clerk of the cheque at Chatham.
When Dr. Rutherforth's " Essay on the Nature and Ob- ligations of Virtue'* appeared, it soon engaged the atten- tion of Mrs. Cockburn, who undertook to write a confuta- tion of that elaborate discourse, and transmitted her manu- script to Mr. Warburton, afterwards the celebrated bishop of Gloucester, who published it in 1747, under the title of " Remarks upon the Principles and Reasonings of Dr. Rutherforth's Essay on the Nature and Obligations of Virtue, in vindication of the contrary principles and reasonings, enforced in the writings of the late Dr. Samuel Clarke." In the preface to this confutation of Dr. Rutherforth, Mr. Warburton says, that " it contains all the clearness of ex- pression, the strength of reason, the precision of logic, and attachment to truth, which makes books of this nature really useful to the common cause of virtue and religion." The merit of this performance, and the general reputation of her writings, at length induced her friends to propose to her an edition of them by subscription, but she did not live to discharge the office of editor ; which, in conse- quence of her death, was afterwards undertaken by Dr. Birch. She lost her husband on the 4th of Jan. 1748-9, in" the seventy-first year of his age ; and did not long sur- vive the shock. She died on the llth of May, 1749, in her seventy-first year, after having long supported a pain- ful disorder, with the utmost patience and resignation. Her memory and understanding continued unimpaired, till
* Mrs. Cockburn's name was not concerning the foundation of morality,
preGxed or subjoined to these remarks; that she maintained the opinion of Dr.
but they were " inscribed, with the Samuel Clarke, that there are eternal
utmost deference, to Alexander Pope, and immutable relations, essential dif-
esq. by an admirer of his moral cha- ferences of things, and fitnesses re-
racter." She had conceived an high stilting from them, independently of
veneration for Mr. Pope, and was de- the will of God, which are obligatory
sirous of being made known to him, on all reasonable beings, antecedently
but seems to have known little of him, to any positive appointment, or decla-
as among his virtues, she enumerates ration of the will of God concerning
his friendship for Patty Blount. It them. appears by her remarks on the writers
508 C O C K B U R N.
within a few days of her death. She was interred, near her husband and youngest daughter, at Long-Horseley, with this short sentence on their tomb : " Let their works praise them in the gates," Prov. xxxi. 31.
In her younger years, Mrs. Cockburn was much cele- brated for her beauty, as well as for her genius and other accomplishments. She was small of stature, but was dis- tinguished by the unusual vivacity of her eyes, and the delicacy of her complexion, which continued to her death. In her private character she appears to have been benevo- lent and generous ; and remarkable for the uncommon evenness and chearfulness of her temper. Her conversa- tion was innocent, agreeable, and instructive : she had not the least affectation of being thought a wit ; but was modest and diffident, and constantly endeavoured to adapt her discourse to her company. Throughout the whole course of her life, she seems to have been in very narrow and straitened circumstances ; and after her marriage she had little leisure for study, and was very ill provided with books. But she endured the inconveniences of her situa- tion, with a patience and fortitude that were truly exem- plary. It is justly observed by Dr. Birch, that " her abi- lities as a writer, and the merit of her works, will not have full justice done them, without a due attention to the pe- culiar circumstances in which they were produced j her early youth, when she wrote some ; her very advanced age, and ill state of health, when she drew up others ; the uneasy situation of her fortune, during the whole course of her life ; and an interval of nearly twenty years, in the vigour of it, spent in the cares of a family, without the least leisure for reading or contemplation. After which, with a mind so long diverted and encumbered, resuming her studies, she instantly recovered its entire powers, and in the hours of relaxation from her domestic employments, pursued, to their utmost limits, some of the deepest in- quiries of which the human mind is capable." It was in 1751, that her works were published by Dr. Birch, 2 vols. 8vo, under the following title : " The Works of Mrs. Ca- therine Cockburn, theological, moral, dramatic, and poe- tical." None of her dramatic pieces were included in this collection, excepting " The Fatal Friendship," it being found, that ail her writings could not be comprised in the two volumes proposed to be printed for those who had sub- scribed for her works. Besides the other pieces already
C O C K B U R N. 503
mentioned in the course of this account of her life, Dr. Birch's collection contains, a letter of advice to her son ; letters between Dr. Sharp, archdeacon of Northumber- land, and prebendary of Durham, and Mrs, Cockburn, concerning the foundation of moral virtue ; letters between Mrs. Cockburn and several of her friends ; and some short essays in prose, with several songs, and other poems. 1
COCKBURN (PATRICK), professor of the Oriental lan- guages at Paris, was a son of the family of Langton in the Merse, and educated at St. Andrew's, Scotland, where he studied the belles lettres, philosophy, the Oriental lan- guages, and philosophy. After taking holy orders, he went to the university of Paris, where he taught the Oriental languages for several years with great applause. In 1551, he published a book on the usefulness and ex- cellency of the word of God, " Oratio de utilitate et ex- cellentia Verbi Dei," Paris, 1551, 8vo; and next year another on the style of the holy Scriptures, " De vulgari Sacrae Scriptura? phrasi," Paris, 1552, 8vo, which two brought him under the suspicion of favouring the opinions of the reformers, and rendered it necessary for him to leave Paris. The suspicion was fully confirmed when he returned home, and embraced the doctrines of the reformation. He taught the languages for some years at St. Andrew's, and in 1555, published there some pious meditations on the Lord's prayer, " In orationem dominicam pia medita- tip," St. And. 1555, I2mo; and afterwards he was chosen minister at Haddingdon, being the first protestant preacher in that place. He died, far advanced in years, in 1559. Dempster and Bale unite in considering him as one of the greatest scholars and ablest divines of his age, and as a reformer, attached to moderate measures. Besides his published works, he left several manuscripts on subjects of divinity, and some letters and orations, of which a treatise on the " Apostles Creed," was published at London, 1561, 4to. *
COCKER (EDWARD), a name almost proverbial in the schools of arithmetic, was a very ingenious penman and engraver, and born, probably in London, in 163f. He became deservedly reckoned among the improvers of the sjrts of writing and arithmetic, having published no less
1 Life by Birch.r-Biog. Brit— Forbes's Life of Seattle,— Gibber's Lives. * MackenzU's Lives, vol. III.-~Tanner.-- Ba!?.
510 COCKER.
than fourteen copy-books, engraved by his own hand. Some of his calligraphical pieces, which were done on silver plates, have a neatness and delicacy superior to the rest. Mr Evelyn mentions Cocker, Gery, Gething, and Billingsley, as comparable to the Italian masters both for letters and flourishes. His Vulgar Arithmetic has been often printed, first in 1677, a fortieth edition in 1723, and often since. His Decimal Arithmetic appeared in 1695, but has been less popular. He also compiled a small dic- tionary, and a book of sentences for writing, called Cocker's Morals. He died in 1677, and his two books on arithmetic were published from his MSS. after his death. l
COD1NUS (GEORGE), one of the curopalates, or offi- cers who had the care of the imperial palace of Constan- tinople, appears to have flourished in the latter part of the fifteenth century, and wrote a treatise concerning the origin of that city in the Greek language, and another concerning the officers of the palace, and those of the great church in that city. These works were translated into the Latin by George Douza and Francis Junius, and printed in Greek and Latin at Paris, in 1615. His Anti- quities of Constantinople were published by Goar, at the royal press, in 1648, fol.2
CODRINGTON (CHRISTOPHER), a brave soldier and a distinguished benefactor to All Souls college, Oxford, was born at Barbadoes in 1668, and had part of his education in that island. He afterwards came over to England, and was admitted a gentleman-commoner of Christ-church in Oxford, 1685; where having taken a degree in arts, he was elected a probationer fellow of All Souls college in 1639. He became perfect, it is said, not only in logic, history, and the ancient and modern languages, but like- wise in poetry, physic, and divinity. Thus qualified, he went into the army, but without quitting his fellowship ; and being a well-bred and accomplished gentleman, as well as a scholar, he soon recommended himself to the favour of king William. He was made captain in the first regiment of foot guards, and seems to have'been instru- mental in driving the French out of the island of St. Chris- topher's, which they had seized at the breaking out of the war between France and England: but it is more certain
1 Massey's Origin and Progress of Letters, a prolix but somewhat curious article. 2 Moreri,
C O D R I N G T O N. 511
that he was at the siege of Namur in 1695. Upon the conclusion of the peace of Ryswick, he was made captain- general and governor in chief of the Leeward Caribhee Islands, in which office he met with some trouble : for in 1701 several articles were exhibited against him to the house of commons in England, but he was honourably ac- quitted from all imputations. In 1703 he was at the at- tack upon Guadaloupe, belonging to the French, in which he shewed great bravery, though that enterprise happened to be unsuccessful. Some time after, he resigned his go- vernment of the Leeward islands, and led a studious and retired life. For a few years before his death, he chiefly applied himself to church history and metaphysics ; and his eulogist tells us, that " if he excelled in any thing, it was in metaphysical learning, of which he was perhaps the greatest master in the world." He died in Barbadoes, April 7, 1701, and was buried there the day following; but his body was afterwards brought over to England, and interred, June 19, 1716, in All Souls chapel, Oxford. Two Latin orations to his memory were spoken there by two fellows of that college; one by Digby Cotes, M. A. the university orator, at his interment ; the other the next day by Ed- ward Young, LL. B. at the laying the foundation stone of his library. Over his grave a black marble stone was soon after laid, with no other inscription on it but CODRING-
TON.
By his last will he bequeathed his two plantations in Bar- badoes, and part of the island Barbuda, to the society for propagating the gospel in foreign parts ; and left a noble legacy to All Souls college, of which he had been fellow. This legacy consisted of his books, which were valued at 6000/. and 10,000/. to be laid out; 6000/. in building a library, and 4000/. in furnishing it with books. He was the author of some poems in the Musse Anglicanoe, printed at London in 1741; and of a copy of verses inscribed to sir Samuel Garth upon his " Dispensary," of which two lines have at least been uncommonly fortunate in having been adopted as the common-place compliment of all lovers.
Thou hast no faults, or I no faults can spy, Thou art all beauty, or all blindness I. l
I Bio*. Brit.— Chalmers's History of Oxford.
512 C O D R I N G T O N.
CODRINGTON (ROBERT), a miscellaneous writer and translator of the seventeenth century, and probably an ancestor of the preceding, was born of an ancient family in Gloucestershire, in 1602, and educated at Oxford, where he was elected demy of Magdalen college, in July 1619, and completed his degree of M. A. in 1626. He then travelled, and on his return settled as a private gen- tleman in Norfolk, where he married. Wood says he was always accounted a puritan. He died of the plague in London, in 1665. His publications are : 1. " The Life and Death of Robert earl of Essex," Loud. 1646, 4to, in which, according to Wood, he shewed himself a " rank parliamentarian." 2. " A Collection of Proverbs." 3. " The Life of ^Esop," prefixed to Barlow's edition of the Fables, 1666, fol. 3. A translation of Du Moulin "On the Knowledge of God," Lond. 1634. 4. " Heptameron, or the History of the Fortunate Lovers," ibid. 1654, 8vo. The original of this was written by Margaret de Valois, queen of Navarre. He published also translations of Justin, Quiutus Curtius, the comedy of Ignoramus, and the pro- phecies of the German Prophets, &c. *
CCECK (PETER), called likewise P. VAN AELST, from the place of his nativity, a town in Flanders, was, if we may judge from the writers who have spoken of him, or from the admirable prints remaining from his designs, one of the greatest painters which either Germany or Flanders produced in his age. After he had been some time in- structed in the school of Bernard of Brussels, he went to Rome to complete his studies, and soon proved himself an excellent designer, and a bold and spirited painter, as well in fresco as in oil. At his return to his own country he married, but his wife soon dying, he once more tra- velled, and at the solicitations of a merchant, a friend of his, accompanied him to Constantinople in 1531. Having stayed some time with the Turks, and drawn some most animated representations of their customs and ceremonies, which he afterwards cut in wood, he once more arrived in the place of his nativity, and took a second wife. Towards the latter part of his life he wrote some excellent treatises upon geometry, architecture, and perspective. His pic- tures of history, as well as his portraits, were much es- teemed. He was made painter to the emperor Charles V.
1 Ath. Ox. vol. II.— Bio£. Dram.
C CE C K. 513
and died at Antwerp in 1550. After his death, the prints which he had made of Turkish costume were published by his widow. This admirable work consists of seven large pieces, which, when joined together, form a frieze, di- vided into compartments by Cariatides ; on a tablet in the first block is written in old French : t( Les moeurs et fachom de faire de Turcz, avecq les regions y appertenantes, ont est au vif contrefaicetze par Pierre Cceck d'Alost, luy estant en Turque, Tan de Jesu Christ MDXXXIII. lequel aussy de sa main propre a pourtraict ces figures duysantes a Pimpression dy'celles ;" and on the last is this inscrip- tion : " Marie ver hulst, vefue du diet Pierre d'Alost, tres passe en Tan MDL. a faict imprimer les diet figures, soubz grace et privilege dTimperialle majeste en Tan MCCCCCLIII." These prints are very rare.1
COEFFETAU (NICHOLAS), a learned Dominican, and bishop of Dardania in partibus, was born at St. Calais on the Maine, in 1574. He rose by his merits to the first charges of his order, and died in 1623, after having been named to the bishopric of Marseilles, by Lj&vis XIII. He was eloquent in his sermons, and wrote ^Hh purity, con- sidering the age. His principal pieces are a Roman his- tory from Augustus to Constantine, folio, which was read with pleasure in the seventeenth century. It was published in 1647, fol. He translated Florus, and was chosen by Henry IV. of Francej at the recommendation of cardinal du Perron, to answer the book which James I. of England had published ; and at the instance of Gregory XV. he wrote against Duplessis Mornay, and Marc. Anton, de Dominis, archbishop of Spalatro : his answer to the latter was entitled " Pro sacra monarchia ecclesiae catholic^, &c. libri quatuor Apologetici, adversus Rempublicam M. A. de Dominis, &c." Paris, 1623, 2 vols. fol."
COEUR (JAMES), an eminent French merchant, was the richest subject in Europe in the fifteenth century. He enjoyed an office of trust in the court of Charles VII. of France, and his industry was of more service to that country, than the boasted bravery of a Dunois or a Maid of Orleans. He had established the greatest trade that had ever been carried on by any private subject in Europe; and since his time Cosmo de Medicis is the only person that equalled him. He had 300 factors in Italy and the
1 Strutt. — Baldinucci.— Rees's Cyclopaedia. 2 Moreri.
VOL. IX. L L
514 C O £ U R.
Levant. He lent 200,000 crowns of gold to his master, Charles VII. without which he never could have recovered Normandy ; and therefore nothing can be a greater stain to the annals of this reign, than the persecution of so use- ful a man. After he had represented his prince in foreign states, he was accused of having poisoned the beautiful Agnes Sorel, Charles's mistress ; but this was without foundation, and the real motive of his persecution is not known. He was by the king's order sent to prison, and the parliament tried him : all that they could prove against him was, that he had caused a Christian slave to be re- stored to his Turkish master, whom this slave had robbed and betrayed ; and that he had sold arms to the sultan of Egypt. For these two facts, one of which was lawful, and the other meritorious, his estate was confiscated, and he was condemned to the amende' honorable, and to pay a fine of 100,000 crowns. He fotmd more virtue in his clerks than in the courtiers who ruined him : the former contri- buted to reliew; him under his misfortunes, and one of them particuldRy, who had married his niece, facilitated his escape out of his confinement and out of France. He went to Home, where Calixtus III. filled the papal chair, who gave him the command of part of a fleet which he had equipped against the Turks. He died on his arrival at the Isle of Chio, in 1456 ; therefore Mr. de Voltaire is mis- taken in saying, in his " Essay on Universal History," that " he removed to Cyprus, where he continued to carry on his trade; but never had the courage to return to his un- grateful country, though strongly invited." Charles VII. afterwards restored some part of Coeur's property to his children. *
COGGESHALLE (RALPH), a learned English monk and Jiistorian, lived Jn the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. He was of the Cistercian order, and was esteemed a man of uncommon knowledge for his time. The surname under which we here place this article, was given him from the abbey over which he presided. The principal work of his which is come down to us, is a chronicle of the Holy Land ; and it is so much the more valuable, as he was an eye-wit- ness of the facts he relates. He was at Jerusalem, and was even wounded there, during the siege of that city by Sa- ladin. It is thought that he died in 1228. This chronicle was published in 1729, by the fathers Martenne and Du-
» Moreri.— Diet. Hist.
COGGESHALLE. 515
rand, in the fifth volume of the " Amplissima collectio veterum scriptorum et monumentorum," &c. In this vo- lume are likewise two other works of the same author ; the first entitled " Chronicon Anglicanum ab anno 1066 ad annum 1200;" and the second, " Libellus de motibus Anglicanis sub Johanne rege." Some of his MSS. are in our public libraries.1
COHAUSEN (JoflN HENRY), a learned and ingenious physician, was born at Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, towards the end of the seventeenth century. Being educated to the practice of medicine, after taking the degree of doctor, he went to M.unster, where he soon distinguished himself by his superior skill and abilities. His works, which are nume- rous, bear ample testimony to the vigour of his intellects, and of his application to letters. His last work, " If ermippus Redivivus," in which he professes to shew the practica- bility of prolonging the lives of elderly persons to 1 15 years, by receiving the breath and transpirations of healthy young females, was written, or first published, when he was in his seventy-seventh year. This was translated into English, and published, with additions and improvements, by the late Dr. John Campbell, under the title of " Hermippus liedivivus, or the Sage's triumph over old Age and the Grave." A vein of humour runs through this, and indeed through most of the productions of this writer, which gave them great popularity when first published, though they are now little noticed, excepting, perhaps, the work ju$t mentioned, in which the irony is extremely delicate ; in his rhapsody against the prevailing passion of taking snuff, he affects to consider a passion for taking snuff as a dis- ease of the nostrils, similar to that affecting the stomach of girls in chlorosis, and therefore calls it the pica nasi. The title of this production is, " Dissertatio satyrica, physico-medico-moralis, de Pica Nasi sive Tabaci sternu- tatorii moderno abusu, et noxa," Amstelodami, 1716, 12rno.
Ruysch, in the latter part of his life, imagined he had discovered a muscle at the ftindus uteri, to which he de- legated the office of expelling the placenta, and to w-hich he thought the performance of that duty might be left. This our author has ridiculed in a little \olume, to which he gave the title of " Lucina Ruyschiana, sive musculus
1 Bale. — Pits.— -Tanner. — Cave. — Fabricius Bibl. Lat. Med. ,/Evi.— Moreri. L L 2
516 C O H A U S E N.
uteri orbicularis a clarissimo D. D. Ruyschio delectus," published at Amsterdam, 1731. He published, the pre- ceding year, " Archaeus faber febrium et medicus," and in 1716, " Neothea," written to shew the folly of sending to China for tea, when we have so many herbs at hand, as pleasant, and more healthy ; but his wit was not powerful enough to make either the use of tea or tobacco unfashion- able. For the titles of others of his works, see Boerhaave's Methodus Studii Medici. Cohausen died at Munster, July 18, 1750, in the eighty-fifth year of his age.1
COHORN (MEMNON), the Vauban of the Dutch, was born in 1632, or, according to Saxius, in 1641. His ge- nius for the art of war, and for constructing fortifications, displayed itself early in life. Being engineer and lieute- nant-general in the service of the States-general, he forti- fied and defended the greater part of their places. It was a curious spectacle, says the president Heinault, to see in 1692, at the siege of Namur, the fort Cohorn besieged by Vauban, and defended by Cohorn himself. He did not surrender till after he had received a wound judged to be mortal, but which, however, did not prove to be so. In 1703 the elector of Cologne, Joseph Clement, having espoused the part of France, and received a French garrison into Bonn, Cohorn kept up such a strong and terrible fire upon the place, that the commandant surrendered it three days afterwards. This great man died at the Hague in 1704, leaving the Hollanders several places fortified by his in- dustry and skill, Bergen-op-zoom, which he called his master-piece, but which, it ought to be mentioned, he left unfinished, was taken in 1747 by the marshal de Loewen- dahl, notwithstanding its fine fortifications, which caused it to be regarded as impregnable. We have a treatise by Cohorn, in Dutch, on the new method of fortifying places.
Our countryman, Benjamin Robins, F. R. S. in his " New Principles of Gunnery," acknowledges the superior merit of Cohorn, who was undoubtedly, he says, the ablest for- tifier that the world had ever seen, and yet had much trouble in introducing his system, and was vexatiously op- posed by the old engineers, who affected to consider him as a self-conceited pretender.*
1 Diet, Hist,— Rees's Cyclopzeciia. * Diet. Hist.
COINTE. 517
COINTE (CHARLES LE), a French historian, was born at Troyes, the 4th of November, J61 1, and entered very early into the congregation of the oratory, where he was received by the cardinal de Berulle. Father Bourgoin, one of the cardinal's successors in the generalship, con- sidered him for a long time as a useless being, because he applied himself to the study of history. The prejudice of Bourgoin was so strong in that respect, that when he wanted, according to Richard Simon, to denote a blockhead, he said, he is an historian. Notwithstanding this, when Ser- vien, plenipotentiary at Munster, asked him for a father of the oratory as chaplain to the embassy, he gave him Le Cointe, who attended him, assisted him in making preliminaries of peace, and furnished the memorials ne- cessary to the treaty. Colbert obtained for him the grant of a pension of 1000 livres in 1659 ; and three years after, another of 500. It was then that he began to publish at Paris his grand work, entitled " Annales ecclesiastici Fran- corum," in 8 volumes, folio, from the year 235 to 835. It is a compilation without the graces of style, but of im- mense labour, and full of curious particulars. His chro- nology frequently differs from that of other historians ; but whenever he departs from them, he usually gives his rea- sons for it. The first volume appeared in 1665, and the last in 1679. Father Le Cointe died at Paris, the 18th of January, 1681, at the age of seventy. l
COKAYNE (Sm ASTON), an English poet, the son of Thomas Cokayne, esq. of Ashbourne-hall, in Derbyshire, and of Pooley, in Warwickshire, was born in 1608, at Elvaston, in Derbyshire, the seat of the family of his mo- ther, Anne, daughter of sir John Stanhope, of Elvaston, knt, He was educated at Trinity- college, Cambridge, and in 1632 set out on his travels through France and Italy, of which he has given an account in a poem to his sou Mr. Thomas Cokayne. On his return he married Anne, daughter of sir Gilbert Kniveton, of Mercaston, in Der- byshire, knt. and retiring to his lordship of Fooley, gave himself up to his books and boon companions. Fie boasts, among his poetical friends, of Donne, Suckling/ Ran- dolph, Drayton, Massinger, Habington, Sandys, and May; and appears also to have cultivated the acquaintance of sir William Dugdale, and other antiquaries. During the
1 Moreri. — Niceron. — Le Long Bibl. Historique.— Saxii Onomait.
518 € O K A Y N E.
civil war, he suffered greatly for his religion, the Romari Catholic, and for what was then as obnoxious, his loyalty to Charles I. under whom he claimed the title of ,a ba- ronet. His losses also were increased by his want of ceco- nomy, and he was obliged to part with his estates during his life, which terminated in Feb. 1684, when he was privately buried in the chancel of Polesworth church. His poems and plays, with altered title-pages, were printed and re- printed in 1658, and are now purchased at high prices, chiefly as curiosities. His mind appears to have been much cultivated with learning, and it is clear that he possessed considerable talents, but he scarcely exhibits any marks of genius. He is never pathetic, sublime, or even ele- gant; but is generally characterized by a kind of familiarity which amounts to doggrel, and frequently to flatness and insipidity. Still, as our valuable authority adds, it is im» possible to read notices of so many of his contemporaries, whose habits of life are recalled to our fancies, without feeling a subordinate kind of pleasure that gives these do- mestic rhymes a lively attraction. l
rLife of Sir C. Aston, in the Bibliographer, rol. II. by Sir E. Brydges, with specimens. — See also Gent. Mag. vol. LXVII. — B"iog. Dram. — Ellis's Speci- mens.—Ath. Ox. vol. II.— Cibber's Lives. — WinStanley and Jacob, — Dodd'fc Church Hist. vol. II L— Topographer, vol. III.
INDEX
TO THE
NINTH VOLUME.
Those marked thus * are new. Those marked f are re-written, with additions.
Page
CEBES 1
*Cecco D'Ascoli ib.
fCecil, William 3
* Robert .30
* Richard &5
*Cecilia, St 27
Cedrenus, George 29
*Celestine V. pope ib.
Cellarius, Christopher 3O
*Cellier, Remi 32
Cellini, Benvenuto 33
*Cels, James Martin 35
fCelsus, A. C 36
philosopher ib.
Celtes, Conrad 37
Censorinus ib.
fCentlivre, Susannah 38
Centorio, Aacanius 41
*Ceratinus, James 42
*Cerceau, J. A. du ib.
Cerda, John Lewis 43
*Cerdo ib.
*C*rinthus . ..44
Page
*Cerquozzi, M. A 45
*Cerrati, Paul 46
•{•Cervantes Saavedra ib.
*Ceruti, Frederic . . 54
*Cerutti, J. A. J 55
*Cesarini, Virginio ., 56
*Cesi, Bartholomew , 57
Cespedes, Paul ib,
*Chabanon 58
*Chabot, P. W 59
Chabrit, Peter 60
*Cbaderton, Lawrence ib.
*Chaduc, Lewis 62
Chaise, Charles ib.
Francis de la .... 64
*Chalcidius 65
Chalcondyles, Dem. ...... 66
^ Laonicus .... 67
fChaloner, Sir Thos ib.
•j" the younger .... 72
Edward 75
* Thomas ib.
* James 76
520
INDEX.
Page
*Chalvet, Matt, de 77
^Chamber, John '78
•^Chamberlain, John 79
Chamberlayne, Edward . . ib.
. John . ....81
*Chamberlen, Hugh 82
•^Chambers, David . . , 83
• Ephraim 84
* Sir Robert 91
* Sir William ... 94
*Chambre, F. I. de la . . . . 97
* Marin Cureau de 98
*Chamfort, S. R. N ib.
Chamier, Daniel 100
Chamillard, Stephen 101
Chamousset, C. H. P. de . . 102
Champagne, Philip de . . . . 104
*Champeaux, Will, de .... 105
*Champier, B.C. Symph. . . 106
*Champion, Anthony ib.
Joseph 107
Champlain, Samuel de . . 108
*Chandler, Edward 109
f Mary 110
* Richard 117
Samuel . . ... ..Ill
*Chantereau Le Fevre 120
*Chantreau, P. N. ib.
Chapelain, John 121
*Chapelle, Armand de la 122
C.E. Lullier.... 123
* John de la 124
-[Chapman, George ib.
* LL. D. 128
John 129
* Thomas 132
*Chapone, Hester 133
Chappe D'Auteroche . . '. . 135
Chappel, William 140
*Chappelow, Leonard .... 143
*Chapuzeau, Sam 145
Charas, Moses 146
fChardin, Sir John ib.
Chares 149
*Chariton ib.
Charke, Charlotte ISO
Charles XII. 151
•JCharleton, Walter 156
Charleval, Charles 160
Charleyoixj P. F. X. de . . 161
Page
*Charnock, John 162
Charnock, Stephen .163
Charpentier, Francis .... 164
Chbrron, Peter 165
fChartier, Alain 168
*- Rene 169
*Chasles, Gregory de ib.
•*Chasseneux, Barth ib.
*Chastelain, Claude 170
* George ib.
Chastelet, Marchioness . . ib. *Chastellux, Marquis de . . 171
*Chatel, Peter du 173
*Chatelet, Paul Hay 176
fChatterton, Thomas 177
fChaucer, JefFery 193
*Chaufepie, J. G. de 212
Chaulieu, W. A. de 214
*Chaulnes, Albert 216
*Chauncy, Charles ib.
* Maurice 218
f Sir Henry 219
Chausse, M. A. de la 220
Chauveau, Francis 221
Rene 222
Chauvin, Stephen ib.
Chazelles, J. M. de 223
*Cheffontaines, Christopher 224
fCheke, Sir John 225
*Chelsum, James 233
*Gheminais, Timoleon . . . . ib.
Chemnitz, Martin 234
* __ B. Philip ...... 235
Cheron, Eliz 236
* Lewis ib.
fCheselden, William ..... 237
fChesne, And. du 242
Joseph du '. 245
fChetwood, Knightly .... 246
* Will. Rufus .... 247
*Chetwynd, John ib.
*Chevalier, Ant. Ralph de . . 248
*Chevillier, Andrew 249
Chevreau, Urban ........ ib.
fCheyne, George 250
* James 255
Cheynell, Francis ib.
Chiabrera, Gabriel 25S
*Chiaramonti, Scipio ib.
tChichele, Henry . . . . 360
INDEX.
521
Page
Chicoyneau, Francis 267
Aime Francis 268
Chifflet, John James . . . . ib.
*Child, William 269
*Childrey, Joshua 270
Chillingworth, Will 271
*Chilmead, Edward 282
*Chilo 283
fChirac, Peter 284
fChishull, Edmund 285
*Chisi, Agostini 288
Choisi, F. T. de 289
*Chokier, J. E. de ib.
*Chomel, J. Francis . 290
* Peter John . . 291
* John B. L ib.,
*Chopin, Rene 292
*Chouet, John Robert ib.
Choul, William du 293
^Chretien, Florent ib.
*Christie, Thomas 294
William 296
tChristina, Queen ib.
Christopherson, John .... 299
Chrysippus 30O
Chrysoloras 302
Chrysostom 304
Chubb, Thomas 308
Chudleigh, Lady Mary ..312
*Church, Thomas '. ... 313
jChurchill, Charles 313
Sir Winston . . 323
John 324
fChurchyard, Thomas 341
*Chytra3us, David 343
tCiaconius, Alphonsus .... 344
Peter 345
Ciampini, John Justin . . . . ib.
Cibber, Colley 346
t Theophilus 350
Susanna ........ 352
Cicero, M. T. .... ..'....354
L Marcus 377
JCignani, Carlo 378
Cimabue 38O
*Cimarosa, Dom 381
*Cincinnatus . . . . - 382
*Cinelli, John ib.
*Cinnamus, John 383
4Cino da Pistoia , ib.
Page
fCipriani, J. B 385
*Cirillo, Dominick 386
*Cisner, Nich 387
*Clagett, Nich ib.
t WiUiam 388
| _ Nich. jun 391
fClairault, A. C 392
*Clare, St ib.
*Claridge, Richard 393
*Clarius, Isidorus 395
*Clarke, Alured ib.
* Jeremiah 397
Samuel 398
t — Sam. biographer. . 400
* jun 403
Dr 404
t William 421
f Edward 423
*Clarkson, David 425
j-Claude Lorraine ib.
John 428
* John James .... 432
Claudianus, Claudius .... 433
# Ecdicius Ma-
mertus 435
*Claudius Clemens 436
fClavius, Christ. 437
*Claymond, John ib.
fClayton, Robert 438
fCleanthes 443
Cleghorn, George 444
Cleland, John 447
fClemencet, Charles 443.
Clemens Romanus 449,
Alexandrinus . . 450
* Clement V. pope 452
* David 453
* Francis ib.
*Clenard, Nich 454
Cleopatra 455
*Clerc, Daniel Le 458
John Le 459
Sebastian Le 467
Cleiveland, John 4C8
*Cleyn, Francis 471
•^Clifford, Anne 472
George 475
Clive, Robert „ .... 478
Catherine 486
*Clostermari, John 487
522
INDEX.
Page
^Clover, Joseph 489
*Ciovio, Julius 491
Clowes, William 492
*Clubbe, John ib.
Cluverius, Philip 493
fCobb, Samuel . . 494
Cobden, Edward 495
*Cocceius, Henry 496
Samuel ib.
*- or Cock, John . . 497'
Cocchi, Anthony ib.
*Cochin, Henry . > 498
Charles Nich 499
*• son ib.
Cochlseus, John 50O
Page
Cochran, Will 500
fCockburn, Cath 501
* — Patrick 509
Cocker, Edward ib.
*Codinus, George . . . .... 510
Codrington, Christopher . . ib.
* Robert 512
*Coeck, Peter ib.
CoefFetau, Niel> 513
Coeur, James ib.
Coggeshalle, Ralph 514
*Cohausen, John Henry . . 515
Cohorn, Memnon 516
Cointe, Charles le 517
fCokayne, Sir Aston ill
END OF THE NINTH VOLUME.
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